The Parking Lot, Wednesday Afternoon

[rebelseekspizza]

Roadtrip time next week. It was an exciting prospect, but it did mean one thing: Dante leaving his bike behind on Fandom for a while, so they could rent a car that would (hopefully) not inspire Anders to vomit

Comments

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy hadn't meant to intrude on Dante's bike time, she really hadn't. But the island had started feeling confining again, so she'd headed over to Baltimore to for the morning.

She'd crossed the Causeway singing some forgettable pop song someone had used as a ringtone, not noticing Dante until she was practically on top of him. "Oh shit! Dante!" A+ friendly greeting there, Kathy. "I mean, hi. Sorry, you kind of startled me."

But she hadn't immediately clacked her teeth at him, so...progress?

[rebelseekspizza]

"By standing still?" Dante asked.

Though he'd shifted out of the way just so when she'd come near, so it wasn't like she'd done any harm.

[spin_kick_snap]

"I didn't realize anyone was out here," she admitted. "And I was kind of off in my own thoughts."

Trying to remember all the words to a song that had come out just before she'd died. It was weird how certain things stayed with you, like the memory of Nick's last assignment with the agency before he'd quit to take on zombies full-time. It had been soothing the ego of a young popstar who was upset her interview had gotten canceled to promote her new single. The single had been released about three days before the popstar had gotten bit by a fan and here Kathy was singing it, knowing she'd released two others over the year.

Nothing earth-shattering about her thoughts, but still weird.

"Wasn't paying attention. Sorry."

[rebelseekspizza]

Dante shook his head, let out a snort, and poked her gently in the forehead. "So now what's going on in there?"

[spin_kick_snap]

"Lots of stuff," she said with a shrug, because why should today be any different. "The weekend, the kids, all that stuff. Tonight's 'meet the family' with Eliot and I'm worried about that. The way life goes on in one place when it doesn't in others. Typical stuff, you know?"

She gave him a wry grin at that. She knew what was going on in her head was hardly typical.

[rebelseekspizza]

"I dunno," Dante said, tilting his head. "Not really the kind of shit I worry about."

But then he didn't worry all that much.

[spin_kick_snap]

"What do you worry about?" she teased. "Beyond whether or not it's possible to eat all the world's supply of strawberries in one sitting?"

Honestly, she could name five things that Dante worried about with ease but it was a gorgeous day and Dante was working on his bike. Why infect him with her brooding melancholy?

[rebelseekspizza]

"Sometimes I worry about how much booze I can drink before I fall over," Dante said easily, watching her. "Weekend throw you for a loop?"

[spin_kick_snap]

"Couple times over," Kathy admitted. "In several different ways."

So between that and tonight and her talk with Ringo yesterday, Kathy was a little emotionally wiped.

"You're good though, right?"

[rebelseekspizza]

"I'm fine," Dante agreed. "Just getting things ready before the trip."

He patted the bike. "Wanna go for a ride?"

That might get her head out of the clouds.

[spin_kick_snap]

"I--really?"

She needed to stop doing that, stop checking to make sure Dante really meant it when he did something or offered something. But since she was never a hundred percent sure where she stood with him, it was habit.

"I mean, yeah. Sure, okay."

[rebelseekspizza]

"Yeah, really," Dante said, rolling his eyes. "You used to calm your brain when you got moving. I figure that hasn't changed, right?"

[spin_kick_snap]

"Not really," she agreed. "Not that I've gone much faster than, well, me I guess. But yeah."

Something. Whatever. She was very eloquent right now.

[rebelseekspizza]

Dante made an amused noise and snagged the bike by the handlebars. "C'mon. You can finally prove you're cooler than Anders by not puking on the bike."

[spin_kick_snap]

That earned him a quick 'bitch please' eyebrow. "I've already done that," Kathy reminded him. "I've been on this bike multiple times without puking. We outran cops and all I did was tell you to go faster."

[rebelseekspizza]

"Prove it again," Dante amended. "It's been like a year. You gotta renew your cool-license."