Re: B&B: Cat & Jack
He wasn't wrong about the people who appreciated money most. It was easy to think that poor people always thought money would buy happiness, but Cat knew it could never do that. What it could buy? Was a full stomach, security, and power. And when you grew up with nothing, those things were happiness. Until you had them, at least, and you learned that basic human needs didn't actually equate contentment.
He offered secrets over chance, and she chuckled. "I own a multi-million dollar gaming hall. Do you really want to play a game of chance with me?" And, perhaps, unthinkingly, it was a show of trust, handing that bit of information to a journalist. Her reputation in Repose wasn't precisely founded on her wealth outside the city. She lived in a tiny house behind a bar, after all. And as for showing her hand? Helena would manage it every time. Cat had been just a teenager when the kitten was born unexpectedly, but she did love her daughter. She loved Helena in a way that expected nothing in return, despite her generally acrimonious relationship with the girl.
As for things lasting without looking beneath the skin? That made her chuckle from her place at the door. "Oh, Jack, nothing is real if you don't see what's underneath it. It's just the glitter and show. I thought you, of all people, would understand that."
His comment about beds, getting into them, not getting into them, his comment about Sasha, she left them both where they were, in the middle of the room that reminded her much too much of bitter winters and metal experimentation tables. She almost told him not to discount Sasha until he met her, but she wasn't feeling very positive about her sister at the moment, and the comment would taste sour, so she held her tongue. He kissed her cheek, and she couldn't remember the last time someone had done that. Ever? Never? She wasn't sure. She just shook her head slightly, and her smile was a quirk of entertainment. He'd surprised her, and that didn't happen often. And she didn't feel an overwhelming urge to claw him for the impertinence, which surprised her too.