The Island to Various Rifts, Friday Through Sunday

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This is what happens when you stopped listening to the radio for the island; you were taken by surprise when you stepped on the island and saw that half of it looked like it belonged somewhere and somewhen else. Like, even moreso than usual.

Even with all the differences in the island, the first rift took Kathy by surprise as it opened up under her feet, too wide for her to bounce out. It reminded her a little too much of that column of light that had grabbed her to bring her to LA. Only this time it was down instead of up and when she looked around...

"Okay, I am not in Kansas anymore."

[For thems what are there with her.]

Comments

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"Only like fifty times," Kathy said. "The reason I'd started drinking is because I was cutting off the lower half of my hanbok and mentioned how good it was to get some air on my nethers, only nethers wasn't the word I used. In front of Eliot."

Who had only been a beloved teacher back then.

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"So how badly did you die when things went back to normal?" Dante said, grinning.

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"I don't think I was able to talk to Eliot without squeaking for a solid month," Kathy admitted. "Oh god, I learned two new-to-me slurs in that thing, too - it was a wreck."

It had also been the second time her heroism had gotten her killed. Oy.

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"I mean... learning's good, right?" Dante said. "You know, if we wind up with the cowboys next."

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"You refer to me as sideways pussy and I will gut you," Kathy threatened, picking up her butter knife like that was gonna do anything other than bend against his skin.

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"Oh my god," Dante said, blinking. "The fuck that even mean?"

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"Cause I'm Asian," Kathy explained, figuring he could put together the rest.

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"Oh, oof," Dante said, wincing. "That's just-- damn."

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"It was so bad when I got home, I looked it up to make sure it was real."

Spoiler alert, it was.

"Which, if I ever decide to look up something like that to find out if it's real, it's your job to stop me, got it?" Kathy asked, looking up at him with a small smile.

It had been years ago, so the sting had soothed, leaving only amusement at the ridiculousness of it all behind.

"You woulda been proud of me if you'd heard me, though. I was a menace."

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"Oh, I'll stop you. No one needs to deal with that shit," Dante said, face still set to 'wince'. "Kinda would be fun and terrifying to see cursing Kathy, though."

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"I'm pretty sure that one of the first things I said there was something like, 'I'll stab the first cocksucker who lays a hand on me so fast his grandma's gonna fucking need stitches,'" Kathy said, laughing. "It was really funny when the sim got to me as I was freaking out about all the cursing. I'm trying to apologize to Eliot for something I'd said and what came out was 'my mouth is fucking filthier than a whore's bottom sheet!'"

AND THIS WAS WHY SHE HAD GOTTEN HORRIFICALLY DRUNK, SEE?

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Dante... burst out laughing.

He had to. That was amazing.

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"I swear to god, fighting naked was almost worth the price of getting out of that sim," Kathy said, shaking her head. "Almost."

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"I am," Dante said solemnly, "So sad I missed this."

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"I'll have to see if Eliot remembers some of the shit I said better than I do," Kathy said. "It gets hazy after I started drinking the moonshine."

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"I'll pay him good money if he has video," Dante said brightly.

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"No such luck, it was all in our heads," Kathy said as the waiter brought over their meals.

Kathy turned a little pale, looking at the size of her burger, but her expression remained resolute.

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"You can kick some to me any time," Dante promised her, reaching for her hand under the table.

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Kathy nodded, not exactly desperately... but not not desperately, either.

"It's your turn to talk," she informed him. "Because there are lots of things that I don't want to be thinking about right now and have you ever tried not thinking about something? It's really, really hard."

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"That's usually when I either get drunk or get laid," Dante said sagely. "Not sure I got any big stories for you like, right here and now, though."

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"Well, this place doesn't have a liquor license and I'm pretty sure if we try the other one, we'll get kicked out of the restaurant." She grabbed a fry, dipped it in ketchup. "C'mon, Dante, anything."

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"That's gonna-- uhhh," Dante said, rubbing the back of his neck. "So I spent some time hanging out with Kat the other day? She hasn't done the graffiti thing in ages, so..."

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"So you went out tagging?"

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"I mean, she asked, and it seemed to make her unwind," Dante said, grinning. "Besides, I wasn't gonna stop her from drawing rude things on police stations."

Though Kat's work was a little more artsy than that.

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"Did she turn a police station into a gate to Limbo?" Kathy asked. "Because I could be okay with that."

Look, you could be a vigilante and still believe that, institutionally, all cops were bastards.