The Island to Various Rifts, Friday Through Sunday

[spin_kick_snap]

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

[rebelseekspizza]

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

[spin_kick_snap]

"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."

[rebelseekspizza]

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

[spin_kick_snap]

"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.

[rebelseekspizza]

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

[spin_kick_snap]

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."

[rebelseekspizza]

"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."

[spin_kick_snap]

"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."

[rebelseekspizza]

"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..."

[spin_kick_snap]

"So you went out tagging?"

[rebelseekspizza]

"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.

[spin_kick_snap]

"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.

[rebelseekspizza]

Dante laughed softly. "No more Limbo, remember?"

[spin_kick_snap]

"Oh right," Kathy said. "It's all in the city now." She frowned down at her burger. "Hexed 'em a little, maybe?"

[rebelseekspizza]

"Sadly, also no," Dante said, grinning. "You hoping to start something, Kat?"

[spin_kick_snap]

"Just always hopeful," Kathy said. "I still haven't forgiven the LCPD is all."

Yeah, the ones they'd tangled with might have been heavily influenced by demons, but that didn't mean she liked the rest.

"...Even if that's what finally got you and me to hook up."

[rebelseekspizza]

"Hey, best thing any law enforcement ever did for me," Dante said lightly.

[spin_kick_snap]

"You remember that night?" Kathy said with a soft sigh, propping her chin in her hand. "After so much flirting and fighting and trauma..."

[rebelseekspizza]

"I remember us fucking and you coming like seven times," Dante said, smiling. "The cops, I'm happy to forget."

[spin_kick_snap]

"Oh, I had definitely moved on to us fucking," Kathy assured him. "On a spare bed in a room I'd picked a lock to get into, remember? And brought all my bedding along because fucking on a bare mattress seemed so seedy and that wasn't how I wanted to think of our first time, even if I doubted that you cared at all."

[rebelseekspizza]

"And think of all the places we had sex after that," Dante said, looking terribly fond and also lost in his memories.

[spin_kick_snap]

"Any specific ones jumping out at you?" Kathy asked, distracted enough by the conversation to try a small bite of her burger.

Please keep it going, Dante. Especially while it's in her mouth.

[rebelseekspizza]

"Oh, that's how we're going now, huh?" he said. "Hm... first time in the bed we had made for you. Fuckin' magical."

[spin_kick_snap]

"With the fairy lights on and just us in a silent cocoon," Kathy said, eyes shining. "That was so good. And...if was the first time since you brought me home that you didn't pause to check on me."

That had made things feel normal again.

[rebelseekspizza]

"Felt like the first day of our lives," Dante said fondly. "... Okay, so it wasn't as fuckin' dirty as the time we did it on the bathroom sink or anything, but. I dunno."

He shrugged. "It had magic."