[for Kate]

[a_swan_diver]

Bella sat waiting at one of the little cafes the now Victorian island had given them to use. It was kind of nice, really, having this sort of place to hang out rather than the open, everyone watching kind of places that used to be on the island

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[girlsolo]

Somehow Girl Solo is suddenly Girl Power or Queen of the mini-Amazons with her own little blonde and occasionally brunette posse. She went from having no ties to a Sanctuary full of Abnormals to look after to having an island full of teenagers.

Eh, Abnormals are kind of like teenagers. Mostly like Nubbins with uncontrollable hormones. Or Bessa-whatevers that smear their food all over each other.

It's still weird to be getting notes from little chickadees who want her to meet them for girltalk or whatever, but it's kind of nice, too. Not that she's planning on admitting that to, oh, anyone. Ever.Kate finally finished sewing the lining (velvet) into a set of riding trousers, so she's wearing pants again, tall boots, a riding jacket, gloves and a way-too-long but totally kickass belted leather coat when she cruises into the cafe, orders coffee on her way by the counter, and pulls off her gloves. She sees Bella and directs the serverperson to the table and then heads over herself

[a_swan_diver]

Bella looked up from staring into the cup. "I'm about as far out of my element as it's possible to get, and I'm afraid if I stay this far out of it, I'm going to...to...fuck up something important."

It wasn't the first time she'd used the f-bomb, but she certainly didn't make a habit of it.

[girlsolo]

Kate frowns and smacks her gloves down on the table. Her coffee arrives on the table a few beats later, and she tilts her head to look at Bella. She doesn't look like she's worried about getting hurt at all.

"Out of your element and contacting me means weapons, crime, or sex." She smirks. "Since no one's bleeding, I'm guessing sex."

[a_swan_diver]

She wondered, not for the first time, if her body was just hardwired to go tomato at certain words. For right now, though, it hardly mattered.

"Yeah. I. Ah. I met someone..." Just like the blush, she couldn't stop the stupid smile she got whenever she thought about him. On the heels of that was her mortification. Her head dropped into her hands. "And I don't have the first clue what I'm doing."

[girlsolo]

"Met someone. Boy someone or girl someone?" Kate's teasing, mostly, since she's got Bella on the hook and she wants to let her twist just for a minute. "And just what've you been up to that you don't know about, hm?"

Kate sips her coffee and watches Bella turn redder and redder. She's not going to be cruel. Just playing a little.

[a_swan_diver]

"Boy someone," Bella answered from behind her hands, so it was muffled a little. Her cheeks were so warm now it was like she was still holding the mug of hot chocolate.

Stop being such a little girl, she berated herself, then forced her eyes up to meet Kate's. "We. I got caught under the mistletoe and he found me there. We kissed and then we kept talking, then went over to the Winchester for awhile. He's," she stopped herself because her mind was filled with a Thesaurus full of adjectives and she didn't think that was relevant. "Anyway, after that he talked me into letting him draw me, so I went over to the Compound to see him. We talked, and flirted, while he sketched. We played quesitions and kissed and...and one thing lead to another and I ended up in bed with him."

The fact she got through that without handwaving the whole meeting and making a break for it in sheer mortification amazed her.

[girlsolo]

"So, you classic tale of mistletoe matchmaking. Girl gets stuck, boy kisses girl, girl likes kissing boy and flirts with boy, boy flirts back, girl kisses boy, and sex happens." Kate cocks her head and studies Bella. "Unless you mean you ended up in bed and sex didn't happen. Either way, what's the problem? Happens all the time."

All the time.

[a_swan_diver]

"Not to me it doesn't. I've had one boyfriend in my life, and he could barely kiss me without wanting to kill me. Doesn't exactly pave the way for a wealth of experience where boys are concerned, you know?"

[girlsolo]

"It also doesn't answer the question. Sex or no sex?" She sips her coffee and wishes for mugs and refills. This isn't going to be a short conversation, even if it should be.

[a_swan_diver]

She was pretty sure her blush answered for her, setting off more red light than Rudolph's nose, but she voiced it anyway. If she never said it, how was she ever..

"No sex."

[girlsolo]

"It's cute that you can't even say it without blushing." Kate shakes her head. How the hell did she end up playing Den Mother for a bunch of girls who make her look like the Whore of Babylon?

"Okay." She pushes her hands out across the table, coffee cup between them, and leans on her forearms. "Sex didn't happen. You're blushing and you don't look upset, so I'm going with I don't have to find this guy and rip off balls for forcing you." Which she would do. Faster than breathing. "So is this you asking for the birds and the bees, Freelander style?"

[a_swan_diver]

Her head shook vehemently. "No, no ripping of...body parts off necessary. When I went chicken, he stopped." And he was so damned great about it when she got scared - but she didn't say that one out loud. She felt like idiot enough.

The way Kate phrased it eased some of the tension that had her shoulders in knots. "I think that's exactly what I'm looking for."

[girlsolo]

Kate breaks a piece off her pastry and starts in with, "Boys have penises, girls have vaginas," in the most smartass tone imaginable. Then she makes a face and says, "First lesson, never use those words."

[a_swan_diver]

It took everything she had to not choke on the chocolate she'd just sipped. "God, Kate," Bella sputtered, wiping at her chin. "I knew that part!"

[girlsolo]

"Hey. You're the one who said she needed birds and the bees." Kate pushes a napkin across the table at her, nicer than she needs to be. But mocking has rhythms and if she's relentless, Bella will give up before she gets another chance.

And before she actually helps. Not that she cares.

"Okay. Second lesson, never say yes to anything you're not sure about. He's not going to die from not getting off and there's always another way to do it than the one he's suggesting."

[a_swan_diver]

She wiped at her chin dutifully, wishing she'd thought to buy something with ice in it for her face. "I. Yeah. I mean, I knew it wasn't fatal and there, he wasn't pressuring me to do anything at all. He asked if he could touch me, and I froze. That's what...had me freezing up like. Well. Like the kind one of them probably did," she said with a handwave at the ghosts milling around.