Antigua, Saturday Night

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy's kotatsu had died an undignified death and the repair (something about proper voltage) was complicated enough to require several days of work. Faced with a girlfriend sad about the cold and, more importantly, faced with a girlfriend's frigid feet, Dante had made the executive decision that they needed a tropical vacation. Immediately. So last week, he'd basically shoved the entire household through a portal that opened to a small island in the Caribbean, complete with blue ocean, white sand, and an all-inclusive menu that contained more fruity booze cocktails than actual food items.

The week had been fun, in a lazy, let's-not-do-anything way, which had also had the side benefit of short-circuiting Kathy's "Christmas Crazy." She'd sprawled in the sun and read trashy novels and swam in the ocean and practiced her Spanish without a care. In fact, she'd lost track of the date until they were talking about returning home tomorrow and she realized that, oh shit, today was her birthday. (And also Dante's, but they didn't talk about that.)

A quick conversation with the resort, some handwavy phone calls to invite guests, and more fairy lights than a grown woman should really need and their little villa was turned into a tropical wonderland birthday party.

[Open! If you think you'd get a phone call (for either Kathy or Dante), you did! Dante modded with permission. No OCD]

Comments

[rebelseekspizza]

"I missed you too," Dante said, grinning fiercely. "You gotta visit more often, 'Luka."

[that_oldsaying]

"I'll try, I'll try," she said, "but I can't miss too much training or else Ringo will be way, way, way better than me!"

[rebelseekspizza]

Dante rolled his eyes. "It's Ringo," he informed her. "You can kick her ass any day."

[that_oldsaying]

Alluka looked a bit dubious about that.

"I'm, I'm not as strong as you," she pointed out.

[rebelseekspizza]

"Nah, but I've met Ringo," Dante said, grinning. He let her go, if slowly. "And I know how stubborn you can be."

[that_oldsaying]

It was okay, she'd stick close, giggling up at him.

"I'm not stubborn!" Alluka protested.

She was, about a handful of things.

[rebelseekspizza]

"Pffffft," Dante said. "I bet you can out-stubborn fuckin' Ringo if you try."

[that_oldsaying]

"...Maybe," Alluka allowed, "but, but I'd have to want to."

[rebelseekspizza]

"You don't wanna beat Ringo?" Dante said, raising his eyebrows. "She's Ringo."

[that_oldsaying]

"But I love Ringo," she said, "so beating her seems a bit silly."

[rebelseekspizza]

"Except beating someone you love is totally the most fun thing in the world if you both enjoy it," Dante retorted. "People who love each other like to see each other strong."

[that_oldsaying]

"I know," she admitted, "but, but I don't like to hurt the people I love, even if it's to make them stronger."

It made her sad.

[rebelseekspizza]

"Kinda getting in the wrong business then, 'Luka," Dante said gently.

[that_oldsaying]

"There's all sorts of Hunters," Alluka said. "What, what we do with our strength depends on us."

[rebelseekspizza]

Dante tilted his head. "So what kinda Hunter do you wanna be?"

[that_oldsaying]

"I don't know yet," Alluka admitted, with a little shrug as she rocked on her heels. "Like, like I know I don't want to be a Gourmet Hunter--they're all about finding new foods and pushing culinary arts past the limits--or a Black List Hunter--they're usually assassins for hire--but there's so many options..."

[rebelseekspizza]

"You got no specific ones you're thinking about?" Dante prodded.

[that_oldsaying]

"Lost Civilization Hunters are pretty amazing," she said thoughtfully. "And they do a lot of work with the Restoration Hunters. It's a lot of fun, I think, finding forgotten places and then bringing them back to life. Or, or there's Fashion Hunters too."

And she always had liked fashion.

"It's not just making clothes," she said, "it's about being able to find the materials you need to make them and a lot of times that's knowing how to get those materials straight from nature."

[rebelseekspizza]

"Huh. There's special hunters for that?" Dante said, looking thoughtful. "Hey, you could make me a really badass new coat."

Not that his current one wasn't badass! It was red!

[that_oldsaying]

"There's Hunters for everything--and if they don't already exist, then anyone who wants to be a certain kind of Hunter can become that sort of Hunter," she explained. "Hunters do what they want to do, they're meant to explore and push boundaries of any kind."

She giggled.

"But, but yes. Eventually I could make you a new coat."

[rebelseekspizza]

"I'm just sayin', I get a lot of bullet holes in it and shit," Dante said, grinning.

[that_oldsaying]

Alluka laughed.

"Maybe by next Christmas," she teased. "I don't think you'd want a jacket I made now!"

He'd be better off with the ones with bullet holes in them!

[rebelseekspizza]

Dante sighed loudly. "Fiiiine," he said. "If I gotta wait, I'll wait."

[that_oldsaying]

"You'd be wearing worse than rags right now," she told him, giggling. "You wouldn't want that!"

[rebelseekspizza]

"Aw, you can't be that bad," Dante said, laughing.