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

[smilestopscars]

"Jealous?"

He sounded quietly amused, too.

"Of what?"

[spin_kick_snap]

"You stealing a stereo for Dante," Kathy said. "It was dumb on, like, a hundred levels, starting with the fact that I didn't want a stolen stereo and going from there, but...yeah. Jealous, at least a little."

[smilestopscars]

Ezra's laugh was a rough and quiet sound. "Well," he said, "I hope winning in the long run has helped with that at least a little."

He probably shouldn't have said that. It didn't even fully work in the context.

But the whole mess of their intertwined relationships... It was complicated.

[spin_kick_snap]

"So did growing up a lot and realizing that relationships weren't zero sum games," Kathy said with a small chuckle of her own. "But then, I never wanted to win, exactly. I was just always afraid of losing. Now I'd settle for a three-way--"

She winked at him.

"--Tie."

She was hilarious.

[smilestopscars]

Not really, but Ezra wasn't going to let her know that.

He huffed a vaguely amused noise and shook his head. "You already have your threeway, darling." That was the winning part.

[spin_kick_snap]

Ah. She'd thought he'd meant with him, considering how much easier their relationship was currently.

"I do," she said softly, a hand sliding down to trace over the lines of his face. "And maybe I'm just greedy, but I'm trying to find a way to carve out room for one more."

Not as a boyfriend - not that she though Ezra would even want such a thing - but as more than a friend.

[smilestopscars]

Ezra tilted his face into the touch, on instinct. His eyes closed again. "I know, cupcake."

[spin_kick_snap]

"Good," Kathy said softly. "I just - you matter, Ezra. Whether we're flirting or fucking or just the most platonic of friends, you matter."

She wouldn't be here if he didn't. He wouldn't be safety if she didn't.

[smilestopscars]

"I know."

His voice was quieter. Softer, too.

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy knew she was on the verge of talking too much. Telling him stuff he already knew and bowling him over with words. Instead, she just kissed him, light and gentle and a butterfly.

[smilestopscars]

Ezra was surprised when it happened. Hadn't been expecting that move.

But then it happened, and he sort of... melted into it, responding in kind.

[spin_kick_snap]

She kept it short. Achingly short. Then she pulled away with regret and didn't go back in for another.

"You taste like sugar."

[smilestopscars]

She was a menace, even when she wasn't trying to be.

Ezra suppressed a sigh. "That's your fault."

[spin_kick_snap]

"That wasn't a complaint," Kathy said with a tiny smile. "It's probably as close to the donuts as I'm gonna get today."

[smilestopscars]

That was worth Ezra actually opening his eyes again. And raising his eyebrows, too. "You're not planning on eating?"

[spin_kick_snap]

Her stomach was still knotted, but that wasn't what had Kathy raising an eyebrow. "How many conversations have we had about sharing?" she asked.

[smilestopscars]

Ezra shook his head, slowly. "Those don't matter when you show up like you did."

And that's how you knew he took something seriously.

[spin_kick_snap]

"Oh," said Kathy, hand coming up to her cheek. "You really are worried about me."

She couldn't even say he was wrong to do so, either.

[smilestopscars]

Ezra pressed a quick kiss against her other cheek. "Don't get used to it," he quipped, just to try and make the situation a little lighter. He sobered immediately after, though. "But you were asleep on my porch roof."

How was he supposed not to worry?

[spin_kick_snap]

"Well, that's just logical," Kathy pointed out. "It's harder to get you when you're up high. Few things look up, too."

...Might not be as reassuring as you thought there, sweetheart.

[smilestopscars]

"Halfway in the woods," Ezra pointed out gently. "In Currant."

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy shrugged. "Just...just in case," she said. "I don't know when I'll be able to fall asleep without taking precautions again. Especially by myself. Or outside."

The Kathy who had just fallen asleep on the beach without a second thought beyond suntan lotion was long gone. It was a toss-up if she'd ever make her way back.

[smilestopscars]

"Did you talk to Dante?" Ezra asked. "Or Anders?"

[spin_kick_snap]

"Today?" Kathy shook her head. "They'd want me to come there, even if they didn't say so. And I just...can't. Today. And I don't want them to feel bad."

That hadn't quite been how it had gone in her brain this morning, but it was more of a panicked shortcut to the same destination, just without all the details.

[smilestopscars]

"Okay," Ezra said, his nod a short and precise movement, but his tone was soft. "Okay. You could've texted me though." Had to be said. "Or called. And I don't mean in advance, but... once you were here. I would've shown up quicker."