From the Apartment Above Luke's to Currant, Maine, Wednesday Afternoon

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy'd had trouble sleeping last night, in that she really didn't at all. Even moving to the safety of her closet hadn't helped; sure, she'd managed to fall asleep, but only long enough to have a screaming nightmare about zombies and towers and rabbit brains and then she was back up for the night. It wasn't until she noticed the date on her phone that she realized what she was responding to.

Right. Halloween. The trip to LA and then their getaway had messed with her sense of time enough that she hadn't realized how close the holiday was. Kathy used to love Halloween; she still might, if she hadn't been on the island. Last year's little...stunt had left her more than a little fucked up. Turned out her subconscious was better at keeping track of the date than the rest of her. Yay.

After the nightmare, she'd given up on sleep entirely, obsessively watching for signs that the island was going to turn her into an ex again, aware that she wouldn't notice even if it did, and that being paranoid it would was probably a good sign that it hadn't. Once dawn broke and she remained herself, that should have been the end of it - but it wasn't. Kathy had worked herself up into a panic and that wasn't responding to anything useful like 'logic' or 'thinking.' She just knew she had to get out of there. Off the island. Something.

She spent the morning in Baltimore, but when the third shitty zombie costume finally made her break down and cry in public, she realized this wasn't a viable option. Neither was Limbo City; if she was hesitant to visit most days, Halloween itself was a hard pass. That left...Ezra.

Kathy didn't even bother calling, just booked the closest portal, giving her enough time to grab a thing of donuts and go. And the irony of ironies was that Ezra wasn't even home when she got there; nobody answered her increasingly frantic knocks or her abuse of the doorbell. Eventually, she gave up, hoisting herself up to the roof of their porch. Exes couldn't climb, she would be safe on the roof while she waited. Something about that thought process was wrong, but she didn't bother to pinpoint what. Her brain was pinging safe and that was what mattered.

Curling up on the tiny bit of roof, she burrowed into her winter coat and, at some point, fell asleep.

[Ezra's house modded with permission and for said house-modded guy!]

Comments

[spin_kick_snap]

"And here I was under the impression that your favorite thing was whatever was directly in front of you at the time," Kathy said sweetly, based on...oh multiple conversations they had over the years.

[smilestopscars]

"Yes, people have a lot of misconceptions about me."

Because of the things he directly said himself. Yes.

"Nothing to be embarrasse about, darling. It happens to the best of you."

[spin_kick_snap]

"This is what happens when we listen to what you say and take it as gospel," Kathy said, nodding.

[smilestopscars]

"Yes," Ezra replied merrily. "I am very often completely full of shit."

[spin_kick_snap]

"Which is why I'm assuming that you do actually know that Korean BBQ and Korean karaoke are actually the pinnacle of their respective areas, and all your protestations to the contrary are just because you keep like being a brat," Kathy concluded. "Check and mate."

You know, if they just kept on like this all day, chattering about nothing of consequence, Kathy could almost pretend like she was totally fine and normal and this was just a regular visit and that she hadn't fled in terror.

[smilestopscars]

Good. Ezra didn't really want to put too much pressure on her. Especially not before she'd unwinded a little.

"And what are you hoping to achieve with this perceived win of yours, hmm?"

[spin_kick_snap]

"I have no idea," Kathy admitted. "Probably just revel in the feeling of being right for a bit." She wiggled in his lap, like she was shimmying into a warm, comfortable sweater. "Feels so good," she declared.

[smilestopscars]

Ezra snickered and dropped a kiss on her head. "You are such a nerd, Kathy Li."

Not really (well, not for that), but not a lot of this conversation made sense to begin with.

[spin_kick_snap]

"I'm told it's one of my most attractive qualities," Kathy sniffed.

By...exactly nobody.

[smilestopscars]

Yeah, that was exactly what he was going to question.

"By who?"

[spin_kick_snap]

"My...my many admirers," Kathy said, continuing to bullshit poorly. "Who totally exist. And think I'm the bee's knees."

Okay, at least that last little bit was deliberate nerdery.

[smilestopscars]

"Do they live in Canada, by any chance?"

[spin_kick_snap]

"...Maybe," Kathy said, chuckling. "It's entirely possible that my cadre of would-be lovers, attracted to me by my sense of humor and excessive nerd levels, do happen to live in Canada. Where they're also all swimsuit models. And volunteer firefighters."

[smilestopscars]

"They sound hot," Ezra decided without missing a beat. "I'm probably going to steal them from you."

[spin_kick_snap]

"Excuse you," Kathy said, leaning back to pout at him. "You need to be at least this nerdy to win over their affections." She raised her hand to the level of her eyes. "I don't think you qualify."

[smilestopscars]

Snort. "Please, darling, you know my hotness trumps everyone's scales, regardless of preference to nerdery." A beat. "Besides, I could wear glasses and gain enough nerd credibility with that to win their favor."

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy wrinkled her nose and stuck out her tongue. That'd show him. "I hate that that's true," she grumbled. "Even my imaginary lovers can be seduced away by you. That's some serious unfairness. Ezra."

[smilestopscars]

Ezra did what any reasonable person would've done at this point, and kissed the tip of her nose. That'd show her.

"Face it, it's what I'm best at."

[spin_kick_snap]

It startled the first laugh out of her all day; a soft little noise, yes, but loud enough to hear.

Precious in that it happened at all.

"Stop using the thing you're best at to beat out the thing I'm best at," she scolded. Or, well, tried to.

[smilestopscars]

"You can't stop me," Ezra replied, smugly. Which masked nicely just how pleased he was to get a laugh out of her. "So no, I don't think I'll be stopping."

[spin_kick_snap]

"And here I am, with head scritches and offerings of food and yet you remain cruel to me," Kathy said with a very deep sigh so he'd know just how truly heartbroken she was at this sudden and inevitable betrayal.

[smilestopscars]

Ezra raised his eyebrows. "I haven't seen any head scritches."

So that was clearly why he was being so cruel.

[spin_kick_snap]

"Yeah, but are you trying to tell me that you deserve head scritches?" Kathy asked, raising an eyebrow right back at him.

[smilestopscars]

"Always."

Duh. Had she really expected to get any other answer?

[spin_kick_snap]

"That's certainly an opinion," Kathy said, obligingly bringing not one but both hands up to lose in his dark waves. "Steal my Canadian model firefighters, though, and you'll be grounded from head scritches, just watch."