InsaneJournal

Kitty had been to other planets and stars, seen wonders the galaxy over, and on Earth too. And yet she’d never been to Hawaii. She had a big floppy hat and a cute little half-sarong around a blue swimsuit with oval cutouts as she leaned on the bar to order a drink. Kitty had chickened out on any large tattoo but had settled for a stylized X on her lower back.

She grinned when she saw Lucifer. “You know. I’ve been to the Savage Lands, but never Hawai’i. That’s like the exact opposite that anyone should ever do. They don’t have Dinosaurs in Hawai’i.”

“Dinosaurs,” Lucifer muttered. “Your world is really strange and that’s coming from the devil,” he informed her, although he was smiling. “And yes, this is pretty close to paradise except paradise is a lame, boring city and nothing like this. I’d much rather be here than there.”

He ordered the same drink as her, and then stared at it as both their drinks arrived. “What exactly did you get?” Cautiously taking a sip, he was almost overwhelmed by the sweetness. And there was one of those mini umbrellas in his drink. “It’s as sugary sweet as myself,” he told her with a grin.

"It's the land that time forgot, like in the original Lost World. We had adventures there sometimes." And it was really, really weird. Like the pterodactyl-man. "I sometimes forget how weird my life is."

She grinned at him. "Nothing fancy, just a blue Hawaii. Rum, pineapple, curacao and it's got a bit of sweet and sour going for it."

“I tend to avoid mixed drinks,” Lucifer informed her. “Because they look like this… And yes, your life is very weird and I don’t know how you’d forget that. Hopefully it’s been less strange since you found yourself on a spaceship and now back on earth?”

That was bizarre, to consider that less strange. But Kitty’s life was very weird.

“It’s Hawaii, I figured I’d go with something fun.” Scotch and beer could be fun, just a different kind of fun. She tilted her head and then nodded. “Actually, definitely in the middle of the strange things. But overall less stressful and more enjoyable.”

Kitty gestured around in a general ‘the world’ type of direction. “This Earth is definitely the closest kind of Earth to the dream of peaceful coexistence. Religious strife is virtually non-existent. If mutants existed here, I think they’d be accepted. That was generally all we really wanted.”

There would always be people who’d argue and complain, but society as a whole moved forward.

“Well I hope you’re planning on getting a few drinks, because I’m buying,” Lucifer replied. He’d said he would, after that brilliant reply of hers to that weird network post that Lucifer had only skimmed. The other man came across as pretentious and while other people had chosen to respond to him, Lucifer had kept mostly quiet, for once.

“So what all have you done on this better version of earth since we’ve been here?” he asked, taking a sip of his drink through the straw and deciding he didn’t care if it was pretty with an umbrella in it.

“What’s the worse that could happen” Kitty replied, settling into a seat and flashing him a cocky grin. They could get into some kind of trouble, which might be fun. Though technically she was going to be a Starfleet officer and one should act a certain way. But she’d met Jadzia and that certainly dispelled any illusions.

“Got permission for a few hours to see Chicago. All the important things are roughly the same. The skyline looks cooler and all futuristic. Spent a day in Vegas. Didn’t win much, but got a tattoo and had a girl’s day with Beckett and Marian. Very touristy. Vegas seemed almost too sanitary.”

Because calling another Katherine Kate was too weird, so last name it was.

“I didn’t much appreciate Los Angeles when I saw it’s futuristic version that I may have never existed in,” Lucifer admitted. “I’ve much preferred Mexico and now here. Pike’s ranch was nice too.”

He frowned slightly at the thought of all the people he’d known in Los Angeles who probably never lived in this world, but managed to clear that thought from his mind with another drink. “I don’t want to leave here, and I’m not sure why we can’t just stay.”

Kitty nodded. She'd never really liked L.A. to begin with. Sometimes she felt like it tried too hard to be something other than it was. "Just want to settle on Earth forever?"

She looked suddenly concerned. "Wait, why can't we stay if we wanted to?"

“Probably because they want to keep track of the people who can appear and disappear with no rhyme or reason,” Lucifer pointed out. “But I really don’t know, and I haven’t actually asked. But I could get used to this life… Maybe. It doesn’t take long before perfect gets boring.”

Glancing out at the water, he added, “Still better than the Silver City though.”

“And lets be real,” Kitty pointed out. “I could rob any place I wanted. Not that money is all that useful here. Maybe I could rob a museum.”

It might be fun, and it was a good thing she had a strong moral fiber. “People like me, and like you probably, we kind of attract trouble. Like magnets. Even if we stayed put it wouldn’t be long before something else happened.”

And if she was honest, she’d get restless. She always got restless. A good fight or danger was like a drug for her. That hit of adrenaline an aphrodisiac. Kitty put on a teasing little smile, “Besides. The other travellers are pretty nice, aren’t they?”

Lucifer laughed, because he knew she was right. She could rob any place she wanted, and they did attract trouble. “You attract trouble or you’re a troublemaker?” he asked teasingly. “Because from what you’ve already told me, you’ve had enough trouble for your lifetime, three times over.”

That hardly meant that it was over though, and he doubted it would be. They were magnets, like she said. He finished his first drink and then asked Kitty, “Are you getting the same thing again or something different?”

“A little in column A, and a little in column B,” Kitty replied, lifting one hand for each column as she spoke. “I fully cop to starting trouble on occasion.”

Setting her glass down, she cocked her fingers at Lucifer. “Surprise me. Though at this rate I can’t be responsible if I start asking if that Devil Went Down to Georgia song is accurate or not.”

“Of course you have,” Lucifer replied with a smirk. “Keeps life interesting.”

He ordered them each a tequila sunrise, figuring that drink had to have stuck around for centuries. And he was right. That song was not, however. “It’s not, in the slightest. As if I’d ever want to steal a soul.”

Sliding the second drink over to her, he asked, “Had you been drinking before? I would have figured your tolerance would be pretty high by now.”

“Got a catchy beat. Used to have a jukebox at the school with all kinds of old hits. I managed to sneak in a few favorites of my own.” Kitty had a special love of the Ramones, among other more modern tastes. “Okay. Picture a man who puts beer in his cereal, who hid whiskey in the grandfather clock and who could take sake shots like water.”

She held out her hands in front of her like a frame. “That man was my mentor. He taught me his code of honor and how to fight and how to treat people right. But he drank like a fish and though he didn’t want me to pick up that particular habit…”

Grabbing her glass, she added, “He couldn’t actually get all that drunk. Healing factor mutation made him immune to poisons and he could regrow lost limbs and organs. I actually blame living in the UK during my late teens. What’s funny.” And Kitty pointed a finger at him, “Ask any of the people I grew up with and they’d be shocked and mortified. To some of them I never grew out of that kitten state in their eyes.”

When she’d reconnected with Logan before his final for-real death, he’d finally looked at her as an adult and an equal. And that had meant the world to her.

Lucifer was able to half-follow Kitty’s story, but he knew from their previous conversation that she could find a topic and run with it even if he didn’t know the people or situations involved. What he did realize was that the alcohol was indeed working. “Well, your mentor and I had that in common, then. An inability to become inebriated. For the most part,” he added, knowing he’d be boarding the Enterprise again with a better selection of drinks for himself.

“I can’t imagine how anyone could expect you to go through everything you’ve been through without the assistance of alcohol, really.”

“It’s a pretty common coping mechanism. Some of us were better at moderation than others.” Kitty liked to talk, and unfortunately there were a lot of things she had reference for that not everyone did. She probably needed to work on that, but it was a hard habit to break. “You’re a lot prettier?”

It was a truth, and one her lips were loose enough to state. Then again, most of the ship was filled with attractive people, much to her distress. It seemed like she couldn’t escape being surrounded by hot people. “I probably sound a bit like a lunatic sometimes.”

“Not to me,” Lucifer replied. “I may not follow everything you say but that may get easier over time.” Especially if he learned enough to follow her trains of thought.

There was a smirk playing on his lips as he added, “Of course I'm a lot prettier. If I wasn't attractive no one would pay me any mind.” And that would have made life on earth rather boring. He finished his drink off quickly but was content waiting on her to catch up.

While she could hold her drink better than she looked, she still had a much lower tolerance than someone like Lucifer. So Kitty was still halfway through the tequila. Besides, it was tequila. That kind of liquor was why she and a certain redhead from her future never talked about a thing that had happened once.

“I dunno. It takes all types. Logan was … Logan, but he still got more tail than a prize stallion.” Or maybe some people just liked the gruff and loner type.

Lucifer grinned. “Good on him.” He was a fan of promiscuity after all, or at least, had been. Maybe he still was, but for the moment he seemed to be behaving himself. He just wasn’t sure how long that was going to last.

And that thought made him go straight for the scotch, bypassing more pretty drinks in favor of his preferred poison. Even if it wouldn’t affect him, really. He ordered the glass and then looked at her. “I really don’t want to get back on that ship,” he mentioned.

This extended trip on earth made the ship seem claustrophobic.

“Always struck me as someone looking for something permanent,” Kitty mused. “Probably hard when you could live for centuries.” She could have been talking about Logan. Or maybe she was talking about Lucifer.

“So what, are you going to try to disappear? Because it’s a lot harder to fake an ID here than where either of us are from. Maybe if this was the frontier…”

“Nah, I’m pretty sure they’d track me down, then the ship really would become a prison,” Lucifer replied. “But permanent is difficult when everyone you’re ever going to know is going to die and you’ll just keep going, becoming more and more bitter or worn out or tired of it all until you slowly go completely mental.”

The future didn’t seem bright to him at all, and no one aboard the Enterprise had any real solution.

It was depressing. Not just being stuck on a ship (which she could totally understand from his perspective, even if she herself was excited). But if he really was immortal, what did that mean for friends and lovers? Kitty’s love life was one disaster after another so she couldn’t relate, but watching her friends age without her would be… hard.

Kitty frowned, then knocked back the rest of her drink and signaled the bartender. “What he has, no ice.”

“Wow, I brought this conversation down,” Lucifer mentioned. “Sorry about that.” He was sincere with that apology as well. “It’s not as bad as it could be. I mean, I occasionally get to serve as a cosmic punching bag of sorts.” He grinned, remembering their first meeting. “And it beats never knowing anyone at all,” he added. Something he was truly starting to believe.

“Yeah, that’s pretty handy.” Grinning, Kitty lifted her glass. She’d enjoyed hitting him. She enjoyed hitting people in general but mostly they deserved it. Lucifer didn’t, but he hadn’t actually felt it which was both kind of liberating and kind of worrisome but she didn’t plan to think about it very much.

“I believe that too. People might hurt, that’s the same even for us mortals, but it’s better to know them than not.”

“Right. Otherwise neither of us would be here right now and that would be terrible,” Lucifer mentioned. He raised his glass along with her, nodded, and then took a drink. She probably knew that truth better than most people her age so Lucifer figured it was good she wasn’t off by herself somewhere.

He finished his drink and debated ordering another, but first he looked at Kitty. “How are you doing over there? Please don’t try and keep up.”

Looking down at her glass, Kitty shrugged. “I shouldn’t do much more. Maybe a shot or another glass. I’m going to be wobbling as it is.”

It was a pleasant sort of buzz, and Kitty figured she was probably functionally drunk right now.

Lucifer nodded. “Alright then,” he said cheerfully, ordering another. “I’ll make sure I don’t leave you passed out somewhere,” he promised her. “Just in case it comes to that.”

“So what’s been your favorite part of this particular venture through space so far?” he asked. “Besides meeting me, of course.”

"It's not usually advised for a young woman to rely on a near stranger." She slurred her words deliberately, then finished her scotch. She decided not to ask for another, spinning around on the stool once. "The ship. Definitely the ship. The technology is amazing. Some of it is lightyears ahead, other parts of it about equal to some of the alien tech I've messed with. She has beautiful ample nacelles."

Lucifer laughed, and said, “Right. That’s good advice. Always follow it.”

Glancing at her as she talked about the ship he said, “Well, you’ve made it sound even more dirty than that one girl talking about the engines purring. So good job, there.”

“I try.” Kitty had a cheeky little grin, her eyes gleaming with mischief. “I’ve been told that a ship can be a sexy lady in her own right. Then again, I’ve had to listen to Scotty talk about the Enterprise, so that’s obviously where I picked it up.”

Obviously.

“Yes, I prefer my women to be actual women,” Lucifer said. “To each his own there, if he keeps the ship going.”

He took a long drink from his glass, and then another, quickly finishing it off. “Are you done?” he asked. “Don’t want to get something to eat to go along with all that alcohol consumed? Or are you ready to move on to the next bar along the beach?”

“Me too,” Kitty agreed. What was she agreeing with? She wasn’t sure but it was probably important. She looked at her empty glass and took a breath. “Maybe some food at the next bar to go with the drink, if I want to actually be able to walk back to the hotel.”

Lucifer paid for their drinks and then slid out of his chair, making sure to help Kitty to her feet. And then he kept his arm around her, as nothing more than a precaution to someone who already declared they’d be wobbling.

“We’ll definitely get food at the next bar,” he mentioned. “And maybe a few less drinks. Maybe...”

It was a good precaution and she really appreciated it. Kitty held up a finger. “One drink. Just the one. And chicken fingers. Can’t do this without chicken fingers. It’s the law.”

“I’ve been known to break a law or two before, but I suppose I can follow this one. For your sake,” Lucifer teased.

And well, that sounded really good.