The Flying Pussyfoot, Limbo City, Wednesday

[spin_kick_snap]

Due to owning a business, Kathy sometimes got very weird, not-at-all-related-to-her-business offers from vendors trying to establish a working relationship. Most she tossed, but occasionally something really cool would end up in her inbox. Like a pair of tickets for a Murder Mystery Dinner, taking place on a newly-renovated luxury train from the 1930s. People would sign up, choose a character from the list of possible dinner attendees, and then show up and ride the train around Limbo City for a few hours, having dinner and trying to solve the whodunnit.

Kathy had been charmed from the start and had pretty much decided to go immediately. The question of who to take was answered when she spotted that one of the characters listed was a "rich rock star."

That made it easy.

One conversation of 'You don't have to dress up and you can bring your guitar!' and 'pleeeeease, it sounds like a ton of fun!' later, and Kathy and Dante had their tickets and were waiting to board the extravagant train cars of The Flying Pussyfoot for four hours of delicious, murdery fun!

[For the poor sap who agreed to this]

Comments

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"This is like, the nerdiest thing I've ever done," Dante informed her.

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"Pretty sure I'm the nerdiest thing you've ever done," Kathy said cheerfully.

Kathy, it should be noted, was not dressed up like a rock star. She had chosen 'Broadway star' instead. She would have gone with 'Opera' but had been lacking the gloves.

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Dante snickered, adjusting the guitar he had slung over his shoulder. "Aw, babe," he said, "I'd never call you a thing."

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Kathy patted his arm. "I'm Tumblr-proud of you," she said, grinning up at him. "Glad the objectification only goes one way in this relationship."

Had she spent about ten minutes ogling his ass in his jeans tonight? Yes. Yes she had.

...Dammit, all she had on offer were bared shoulders and collarbone. And a little peek of knee.

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"Well, one of us likes being objectified," Dante said, smirking at her.

... Looking her over all over again. What.

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"Something something power dynamics, something something," Kathy teased, dimpling at him. "Also, I'm jealous. Dante is such a perfect rockstar name. 'Kathy Li' doesn't have nearly as much panache."

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"It does if you cut out the 'hy' and pretend you got two e's in your last name," Dante said, smirking back at her.

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"Where were you when I was figuring out characters, huh?" Kathy asked, sticking her tongue out at him. "I just went with my middle name. "I went with my middle name, instead. Hana Li is pretty."

Even if she was probably going to spend the evening getting called Hannah by people who didn't understand the Korean pronunciation. Ah well.

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"Would still pretend you got two e's in there," Dante mused. "But not bad, otherwise."

Kat would've been more rock star, though.

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True. Which she might have been, if she hadn't wanted to get dressed up.

"That's the proper Korean way to spell it anyway," Kathy said. "We're weird cause we use the old Chinese spelling for..." She shrugged. "Reasons?"

[rebelseekspizza]

"Was it the Chinese or the Japanese your dad hated?" Dante wondered.

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"The Japanese," Kathy said immediately. "Japan wrecked Korea pretty hard in the first half of the 1900s. First there was the invasion and colonization in 1910 and that went on all the way up to World War II. My grandpa and his siblings were all old enough to be shipped off in the war."

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"So maybe he went for the Chinese spelling to stick it to the Japanese?" Dante said. "That's a thing, right?"

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"It's older than that," Kathy said. "Supposedly we're descended from some Chinese emperor, but so is half of Korea to hear the ajumma tell it. But we deliberately didn't change it to a Japanese surname in the...30s? I think? Which meant the family wasn't eligible for ration cards and stuff. A lot of families took their old names back after the Name Restoration Act, but..." She shrugged. "That never really applied to us."

And had been a very big deal to her dad. Some kind of 'pride in the face of the enemy' or something.

[rebelseekspizza]

"Damn," Dante said, blinking. "That's pretty hardcore. No rations, huh? Can't have been easy."

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"You weren't Japanese if you didn't have a Japanese surname," Kathy said quietly. "That was the whole point. Japan's whole argument for why they should be allowed to invade was that Koreans wanted their civilizing influence, that it would be good for us. So then they made taking a Japanese surname 'optional,' hung up all sorts of rights and privileges around having it, and then sat back and pointed when something like three-quarters of the country leapt at the opportunity."

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Dante slid his fingers through hers. "'Be Japanese or starve, it's your own choice!'"

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"It was enough for the Americans and the British, who gave Japan the okay to invade," Kathy said with a shrug and a wry expression. "And that's not even getting into the shit with the war."

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"Everybody sucks, I guess," Dante said, squeezing her hand.

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"I will have you know, Korea was perfectly blameless and just trying to live its best life," Kathy informed him, her nose in the air. "It's the rest of you that need to learn to behave."

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"Uh huh," Dante said, and leaned over to kiss her. "That's the right spirit for nerdy dinner theater."

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"This is penance for your shitty countrymen," Kathy said softly as they came closer to the conductor. "Korean vengeance lives on!"

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Dante poked her gently in the side, then looked up to shoot the conductor a grin. "What's up?"

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The conductor was dressed in an old-timey uniform. "Evening, sir," he said. "Tickets for you and miss?"

Kathy reached into her clutch and pulled them out, careful not to show what else she was keeping in there. "Here you are," she said, offering them with a smile.

"Very good, miss," he said, touching the brim of his hat. "Through here and then back three cars and you'll find the dining compartment. You're all gathering there for drinks and appetizers before the main event."

He nodded at the step leading up into the train proper. "Do watch your step."

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"Need me to lift you up over the treshold?" Dante teased, his eyes darting from the conducter to Kathy. "Or is that not rockstar enough?"