Ezra's Place to Tranquil Ocean Day Spa, Tuesday

[spin_kick_snap]

Jar of kimchi, festooned with a bow and in a cute gift bag? Check.

Pair of tickets for a day spa? Also check.

Super-modest bathing suit bought explicitly for this occasion? Triple check.

Look, between their sort-of fight, his trip with Dante, the trouble with Zeke after prom, and his upcoming exhibition, Kathy was betting that Ez was feeling a little frayed around the edges. And, well, sometimes the best cure for that was a little bit of pampering.

Here was hoping Ez felt the same way.

Knock knock.

[For him in the post!]

Comments

[smilestopscars]

Ezra was more than a little frayed around the edges.

Not that you could really tell from how he looked as he appeared at the door, and gave her a delighted-seeming eyebrow raise.

"Darling! Aren't you a sigh for sore eyes."

[spin_kick_snap]

"Well, I'm actually hoping to be a balm to all your senses today," Kathy said, her smile soft as she looked up at him. "Starting with this one."

She offered him the bag. "One special kimchi delivery, as promised."

[smilestopscars]

"Oooh," Ezra said appreciatively as he took the bag and peered inside at the jar. "So it's ripe for the eating, is it?"

[spin_kick_snap]

"Pretty much perfect," Kathy promised, smiling a bit at him. "It'll keep fermenting for as long as you have it, so you should probably eat it soon," she added. "Or I can send along some recipes to Lock on what to do with extra-sour kimchi."

Which Kathy thought was delicious, but could acknowledge it was an acquired taste.

[smilestopscars]

"Oh, I don't think that's going to be an issue," Ezra told her, shaking his head. "I told you, things in our fridge don't last long."

Mostly because of him.

He smiled back at her, a little crooked but genuine. "Thank you, darling."

[spin_kick_snap]

That smile had Kathy returning it without even thinking, some of the tension leaving her shoulders and back. "If you like it, don't be surprised if you end up with more of it. I have a whole kimchi fridge that's supposed to arrive any day now and that just means I'm required by law to fill it."

[smilestopscars]

"There's a law for that?" Ezra teased, his head tilting a little bit. "Well, far be it from you to go against that."

[spin_kick_snap]

"Perhaps the most sacred of all Korean laws," Kathy said with a solemn nod. "'Thou shalt fill any empty refrigerator space with more kimchi.' It's the way of my people."

She glanced down at the jar in his hand and added shyly. "That's actually my mom's recipe. The kind we ate growing up. I didn't think I'd ever get my hands on it, but the multiverse is good for something."

[smilestopscars]

Ezra's eyebrows moved slowly a little further up.

"Now that sounds like a story I haven't heard," he said, gently.

[spin_kick_snap]

"Happened while you were in Thailand," Kathy said. "I ended up having a little bit of a freakout. Ended up dragging Anders to LA. The island's LA."

Because she was never, ever, ever going back to hers. Ever.

"Spent a few days kinda fucking around, not sure what I was doing. Then it all kinda clicked and I realized I was wanted to see if there was a version of my family still living in our old place. It was dumb, but..."

She'd had to know.

[smilestopscars]

"And were they?"

He was watching her pretty closely.

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy shrugged, her own smile a little crooked now. "Not sure," she said. "They moved out years ago. But the old woman who lived a couple of floors above us? She remembered them. Even had my mom's kimchi recipe."

She tucked her hair behind her ear, dropping her eyes so he wouldn't see how they glistened. "She wouldn't tell me much about them, saw right through the bullshit I was spinning. But...I think they are. I'm pretty sure that that version of me is just finishing up her junior year of college. That Sarah is getting ready to graduate. And that's...that's kinda all I needed, you know? The promise of a world where things turned out okay."

[smilestopscars]

Ezra found himself having some surprisingly complicated feelings about this whole business of that close a contact with alternate universes. But he was keeping that to himself. It was neither here nor there for what Kathy had needed and wanted.

"I'm glad you got it," he told her softly.

[spin_kick_snap]

That ship had already sailed, what with her double running around Limbo City toting bazookas and a bad attitude.

"Me too," she said softly. "I'm not brazen enough to try to look any further than that. It wouldn't be fair to anyone to try. That's not my Sarah and it would just confuse things to try to pretend." Her laugh was rueful. "For awhile, I imagined setting myself up as some kind of, like, elusive guardian or whatever. But odds are, I'd just get arrested for being a creepy, cross-dimensional stalker or something."

The realization had been a lot harder and more emotional than the joke let on. But she wasn't ready to go that deep yet.

[smilestopscars]

Ezra shrugged one shoulder. "You said it yourself," he said, still watching her. Reaching out to touch a few fingers to her chin, trying to get her to look up at him. "It wouldn't be fair. To anyone."

And by that he meant her. He didn't care about the rest.

[spin_kick_snap]

She raised her head at his touch, quickly trying to blink the last of the moisture away, and gave him a small smile. "Stupid fairness," she murmured. "But, anyway, all that's just backstory. Important thing is, you have the best kimchi in all of North America in your hands now. You're welcome."

[smilestopscars]

He brushed his thumb underneath one of her eyes, anyway.

"And I am very grateful," he told her with a mock solemn nod. "As Lock will be too, assuming he manages to get his hands on any of it."

[spin_kick_snap]

"I hope he's not holding his breath for that miracle," Kathy teased, giving Ez a grateful smile. "Assuming you even told him it was coming."

[smilestopscars]

"I did."

He nodded again, but this time it was light and easy.

"Because I thought you'd like that."

[spin_kick_snap]

"You're not wrong," Kathy said, ducking her head, positively delighted. "I'm glad you did."

Dammit, Ez. She'd come to comfort him and yet here he was, making her feel better with just a few words and a stray kindness.

"In a probably futile effort to give the poor man a chance, can I convince you to leave the house for the afternoon? My treat." She pulled out a brochure for the spa. "I thought we could both use a bit of pampering."

[smilestopscars]

Sometimes Ezra could be a distraction even from himself. It was a kind of werefox magic, he was sure.

He reached for the brochure with his free hand, his head tilting to the side as he looked it over.

"A spa?"

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy nodded. "Yep. Massages, saunas, hot tubs, and a restaurant right there, so we can get fed, too." She leaned over and pointed at one of the pictures. "Not gonna lie, I kiiiiinda fell in love with those big, super-absorbent bathrobes they give you for walking around the place. They look like they're comfortable as heck - and it's still a little too cold for this Californian to be wandering around in a wet one-piece."

[smilestopscars]

"Huh," Ezra said, looking the brochure over. Trying not to be obvious about how he was weighing the pros and the cons in his head.

She'd said 'one-piece' but he wasn't yet sure he was convinced this was a good idea.

[spin_kick_snap]

She'd very deliberately said 'one-piece' in fact. And the giant bathrobes as well.

"I mean, when was the last time you had a decent massage?" she asked. "Or just spent time relaxing in a sauna? You could consider it my version of helping get you into peak performance mode."

[smilestopscars]

God, she was kind of going full-tilt Kathy again, wasn't she?

There was a softness to his lopsided smirk as he looked up at her again, his head still tilted. "And who says I need help, darling?"