Room 508 to Baltimore, Friday Night

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy studied herself in the mirror, frowning slightly. She had done a lot of stuff as Banzai, but trying to infiltrate the mafia in disguise was a whole new level of scary. If she messed up, the Ukrainians would know a lot more about her than she really wanted them too--like what she looked like, as just one exciting example. But this was an

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[rebelseekspizza]

Somehow, Dante still hadn't managed to master the ability to sit still for more than half-hour increments at a time. And yesterday, wandering had led to an excellent afternoon with Alana, so hey, motivation, and shit.

Couple floors up, and he was near Kathy's. Might as well stick his head in and maybe follow up on--

"What the fuck?"

[rebelseekspizza]

Aw. Give it back. That was cute.

If Dante didn't manage to get it blown up to begin with.

"Then we have a plan," he said merrily. Entertainment for today: settled. "Let me go get my coat, I'll see you at the causeway."

He turned around without waiting for an answer.

[spin_kick_snap]

She wouldn't argue with him keeping a bike if they liberated it from the chop shop?

Kathy was tempted to toss a line from meta for-Clerks at Dante's retreating back, but refrained. He was helping her, after all. Instead she put the last finishing touches on her makeup, grabbed her bag, and headed for the causeway. She practiced her walk on the way there; she wouldn't be able to move at her usual brisk pace once they were at the party. She had to fit in, to seem like she was the kind of girl who'd attend that kind of party for fun. Less a stride and more a strut, really.

This was so much more complicated than just patrolling rooftops, damn.

[rebelseekspizza]

For shits and giggles, Dante snagged his black shirt with the holes in it and the black skinny jeans with possibly even more holes in them, as well as the coat. He arrived at the causeway a couple of minutes after her, and, well, even if he had had a reason to lose his natural swagger, he wouldn't have.

It was the principle of the thing.

"You gonna turn that frown upside down?"

[spin_kick_snap]

"This is really hard," Kathy said, still concentrating. "At least until we get to the party and I can disappear, I'm supposed to be mostly decorative. The kind of girl who hangs on your arm now to hang off your--" she faltered for a moment, then rallied. "--your dick later. It's a completely different kind of invisible and not one I'm used to."

[rebelseekspizza]

"Here's some advice," Dante said. He reached out and tried to tap her, gently, on the side of the head. "Stop thinkin' so hard."

[spin_kick_snap]

"I'm really bad at not thinking," Kathy admitted quietly, smiling a little at the tap. "I get caught up in my own head a lot. The only way to shut that off is if I can lose myself in what I'm doing. It's why I like being Banzai so much." With most other people, she wouldn't have added the next part, but this was Dante. She figured he'd understand. "And why I enjoy Ezra so much. He's good at shutting my brain off, so I can just...experience things without analyzing them."

[rebelseekspizza]

Dante shrugged. It was more of a 'yeah, I get that' kind of shrug than anything else. "Right. And here, you're pretending to be someone who's just in this to have fun," he said. "So that's all you should be doing - trying to have a good time."

He tilted his head at her speculatively, thinking about this.

[spin_kick_snap]

"Hanging out with people who would shoot me if they knew who I really was is not my idea of a good time," Kathy grumbled. Then, "Yeeees? You look like you're thinking of something."

Should she be nervous?

[rebelseekspizza]

This time, the shrug only involved one shoulder, meant something else entirely than the last time, and ended in Dante stepping forward and into her personal space. "Eh," he said, "I try not to think much."

And that was more or less the point where he went in for the kiss, at least if she let him.

[spin_kick_snap]

No, no, kissing was an excellent way to get her out of her own head. Especially if it was a good kiss--and, yeah, Dante knew how to kiss. She'd be making a mental note to mention that to Anders, if, you know, she'd been doing anything but focusing on the kiss.

Her hands found their way under Dante's coat, sliding into one of the many holes in his tee to rest on his chest, nails pricking ever-so-slightly into his skin.

[rebelseekspizza]

Dante was pretty predictable as soon as nails - or teeth - were in the picture. He made a pleased, encouraging noise and slid one of his hands into her hair, the other on her lower back, so he could pull her in closer.

He wasn't Ezra - he wasn't the subtle guy. But he had aggression on his side, and an utter willingness to apply teeth to her bottom lip, and that had to count for something.

[spin_kick_snap]

Ahaha, Dante probably couldn't even give directions to subtle. But that wasn't a bad thing--especially if it got a hand in her hair and teeth in her lip. She responded by wrapping her leg around his waist, tucking him in close. Depending on how long that kiss lasted, she might bring her other one up as well; it wasn't like she had to worry about whether he could hold her up.

She moaned in her throat when his teeth found her, nails getting sharper on his chest. Where they'd just been incidental to her clutching at him, now they were pressing in with intent, leaving red half-moons beneath.

[rebelseekspizza]

Dante muttered a muffled "Fuck," into her mouth at the pleasant scratch of good pain. He moved his hand down from her lower back to her ass, both in case she needed the support, and, well, it was a nice ass. It was there.

And it might help loosen her up a bit.

[spin_kick_snap]

Maybe later, was Kathy's immediate response to that, so it was probably for the best that she was more interested in kissing rather than speaking, her tongue aggressively sweeping into his mouth. One hand released its grip on his shirt, but only to slip beneath it, first tracing the arc of his hip with one finger and then sliding around to fasten onto his back, pressing her that much more tightly against him.

[rebelseekspizza]

Aggression was nice, and something Dante was easily able to meet, his fingers tangling more firmly in her hair. He sucked on her tongue; let his hand slip much lower, onto her leg.

He wasn't actually going to do much more with it, but it was a promise.