Saturday, December 7, 2013
Who: Reed and Kat What: picking up her drunk ass When: early Saturday morning, a little after 1am Where: starting at a bar Rating: A for Awkward! Status: closed/gdoc
Was it stupid? Probably. Was Reed going anyway? Definitely. For a proclaimed child genius, he sure had grown up to be an idiot. At least when it came to Kat. He did really dumb things around her, for her, and all so he could be with her. Idiot. He really couldn’t stress that enough. But so fucking what? She was off getting wasted in the city, and it worried Reed. What if her friends did a shit job of looking after her? It was worth getting in trouble to make sure she got home safely.
He just had to get there safely, which was no easy task when in a hurry on a motorcycle, but it was the fastest way to get into the city given the traffic. He could weave between cars and traffic jams, all while praying he didn’t encounter a drunk driver or dickish cabbie. When he arrived at the bar she’d mentioned, Reed texted Kat again, asking her to come outside. Dressed warmly and wearing a helmet with a face shield, no one would know who was actually on the bike if a friend/coworker of hers happened to come outside as well. No one had to know who was there to fetch Kat, and she could lie about it later when she was sober enough to do so convincingly.
---
Bar food was gross. Being drunk at this stage was gross. Kat had seen herself in the bathroom mirror. She thought she looked gross. Honestly, she wasn’t sure why people did this. Was drinking away your problems really a solution, or just a band-aid comprised of new ones? She’d been in the bathroom when Reed’s text came through, splashing water on her face, tying her hair up in the version closest to ‘neat’ she could manage, and wiping away any mascara that had run either from the water, or having laughed so hard she cried at least three times over the course of the night. Pulling her phone out to check her message, Kat teetered in her ankle boots and smoothed a hand down the front of her red dress to steady herself. Thankfully most of her had managed to remain beer-free.
For someone still very incapable of passing a breathalyzer test, Kat thought she did pretty well sneaking out of the Brewery unseen. The sneaking however, turned out to be the problem. Kat spotted Reed, had a quiet laugh on account of his clever mode of transportation and had made it halfway from the door when one of the Syndicate men popped his head out of the door. “Katherine! Where are you going?” Get back in here.”
Katherine. She twitched. That didn’t sit well with her. Kat turned and subtly, despite her intoxication, stepped into the line of sight between Reed and the door. “Hey. I’m tired. Headed home.” Her coworker wasn’t buying it, said something gruff about having another dance, and stepped out onto the sidewalk, headed for the bike.
“Hey, hey! Next weekend, ok? We’ll go back out, promise.” Kat moved to meet him, gave the nameless man a tight hug and redirected him back towards the door. “I promise,” she reiterated. Kat wasted no time climbing onto the back of Reed’s bike, her face stressed into a soundless ‘Hi - I’m sorry!’ Pressing her dress down comfortably was bit of a thankless task, but she did her best before pulling the passenger helmet over her head. Kat fastened her arms around Reed’s waist and dropped her chin on his shoulder. “Hey stranger. Where too?”
---
Reed was a second away from jumping off the bike to intervene, because it was all too clear that Kat didn’t want the dude who chased after her to, well, chase after her. But Kat smoothed things over and placated the man with some affection and a promise. Reed couldn’t help but feel a little twinge of jealousy, but he squashed it down. Stupid emotions.
“Next time, you should really wear more clothing,” he stressed while checking that her arms were secure around his torso. If she fell off, her head might be saved by the helmet, but the rest of her would be shredded. They couldn’t go far on his bike, it just wasn’t safe.
He took off without answering her question. There was a diner a few blocks away. Kat didn’t need to be riding around in the cold night air in this dress. It was a very nice dress though. He might have glanced down at a stoplight to check out her legs. But it was brief, and Reed turned his attention back to the road and all the traffic around them until they arrived at the diner. It was only then that he pulled off the helmet. “I think you could use some coffee. And my jacket,” he informed her while peeling it off and wrapping it around her shoulders. He was wearing a sweatshirt under it. A Purdue hoodie.
---
“If I know I’m being picked up Steve McQueen, next time I will.” McQueen was known for Indian Classics and Triumph TR6s, but whatever. Details. She hadn’t been on a bike in over a year and her mood couldn’t be squashed. Kat was wishing she’d brought a coat with her though because the short ride to the diner was, on a scale of 1 to Frostbite, just a notch or two short of unbearable.
“Coffee. Coffee’s good.” There had to be an Archer quote about coffee but for the life of her, she couldn’t think of it now. “Thank you,” she mumbled when he draped his jacket over her shoulders. Kat nestled into it. It smelled like Reed. She had only moments to take that in before she was bowled over by the scents of the diner; coffee, early morning sausages, waffles, the works. The amalgamation of smells was delicious, but made her head swim. She held onto the doorframe for a moment to steady herself. The server behind the counter directed them to a booth to the left of the door.
Kat slid along the punctured leather seats all the way to the window and pulled a menu from the basket. “So. Basic bartender wisdom says the best way to sober up and avoid a hangover is no caffeine, some fat, and protein.” Kat scrutinized the menu. “Breakfast sausage and coffee then. Half-measures.” She shrugged and put the menu down, then leveled a quiet, sappy drunk smile in his direction. “Hey. That was kind of stupid, but I’m really glad to see you.” …And his Purdue hoodie. Her smile faded significantly.
---
“It’s no Triumph,” he started with a grin, knowing Kat knew far more about the history of motorcycles than he did. Reed didn’t get caught up in brand names or other such bullshit (well, bullshit in his opinion). He just cared about engines and parts and how they all worked together and what he could do to make it better. His bike could easily be called Frankenstein given all the modifications he’d made to it. But he still preferred the jet.
Reed escorted her into the diner and to the booth they were offered. He sat beside her, rather than across from her, because she still looked cold. “You want the sweatshirt too?” he asked sincerely as he turned over their coffee mugs to indicate they both wanted something warm to drink.
“I’m really good at doing stupid things.” Apparently he’d done something else stupid, because she looked at his sweatshirt, and the smile faded. Reed looked down at it as well and frowned before picking up his menu. Best to not discuss the sweatshirt. Ever.
---
“So you’re not a traditionalist. That’s a good thing,” she commented, referencing his bike. He wasn’t riding around on an angry smoke-spewing hog, and that was all that mattered to her where his bike was concerned. Triumphs were her favorite though, she was a sucker for the single-head light and the exposed body hooligan bikes. Kat was glad when he chose to take the spot next to her rather than putting the table between them, both for warmth and … just because. She scooted a little closer, his leather jacket creaking as she pressed the side of her leg against his and propped herself gently against his arm and the back of the booth.
She shook her head; no, she didn’t want the sweatshirt. Any desire to explain was cut off by the server, who had swooped in to pour them both some inky black coffee. Kat thanked the server as asked for a minute so that Reed could peruse the menu. Cradling her mug in slightly unsteady hands, Kat took a sip and winced. The coffee was good, but Saturday was going to be horrible. She could tell already.
“Aren’t we both.” Good at doing stupid things, of course. Kat wanted to ask him what Theo had said that had prompted his line of questioning two nights prior. She wasn’t sure she was ready or capable of dealing with the answer in her current condition, however.
---
It was already Saturday, if you wanted to get technical about it (and Reed was a technical sort), so maybe that was why things were already started to head south with this meeting. He’d wanted to see her, and it felt good having her by his side. Actually, right against his side. He wrapped his arm around her and rubbed her arm on the opposite side of her body to get some warmth back in her. Yeah, this would likely end badly. Did everything end badly between them?
“I’m thinking...bacon. But I always feel bad, because pigs are so damn cool! Cool, but tasty. It’s a moral dilemma like no other.” Fuck it, he had enough moral dilemmas in his life right now. This one was easier to live with than the rest. So Reed summoned the waitress back to the table when he managed to make eye contact with her. “Two eggs over easy and a stack of bacon. Lots of bacon.” Looking to Kat, he gave her a little squeeze. “You think you can hold down food? Or would you rather stick with the coffee for now?”
---
For best friends, Kat and Reed were having a disturbingly difficult time being around one another these days. When politics weren’t a problem, tensions that had no easy resolution made things awkward. When there were no tensions, politics made it so that they couldn’t see one another. It was fucking miserable. For that reason, Kat was actually a bit grateful to be drunk right now. She didn’t have enough presence of mind to think about all of that. She only had room for coffee, the smell of sausage and the comfortable weight of Reed’s arm around her shoulders.
“Three little sausage links, please? Thank you,” she added after he’d finished placing his order. Kat nodded. “I think so. I haven’t had anything to drink in almost two hours.” She’d try. A little something in her stomach would help greatly. “Oh hey,” she stopped the waitress. “I’m sorry - can I have a water as well? Thanks.” Kat sighed and dropped her head back on the cushion, her fingers still curled in her coffee mug handle and her eyes half open, cast upwards to the ceiling. “So what’s the plan? Get some coffee, drop me a block from Seagram?” She was in no hurry to leave him, but wanted to know why he’d renigged on their decision to limit their contact to texts, and where the night was going.
---
Reed was experienced in caring for drunk women, Kat included. “I’d rather not hold your hair back tonight, but I’m prepared to do so if necessary,” he joked after she placed her order and the water. Reed leaned over and kissed the top of her head. “You’re gonna be hurting tomorrow no matter what you do. Just embrace it… and try not to pass out on my bed,” he added with a chuckle.
What was the plan? Reed had the key to Colin’s new place in the city, but there was no fucking furniture in it. “Do you want to go back to Seagram?” he asked, because that would help him figure things out. Honestly, he just wanted to make sure Kat was safe and spend a little time with her as well.
---
“What a prince,” Kat smiled running with the joke. He wasn’t telling her anything she didn’t already know. “Oh, I’m aware. It was fun for a few hours. Dancing, local stout, a few really horrible, borderline dangerous rounds of darts.” She did laugh then, but glossed over the details. Kat laced her fingers with his beneath the table and gave his hand a squeeze in response to the small show of affection. “I don’t think I’m sharp enough to get through the half dozen security measures I’d need too to pass out on your bed…”
“Not really. The night is young.” It wasn’t, and she was starting to get a little tired after six hours of mayhem but the thought of returning to her place didn’t sound appealing, at least not yet.
---
“Did you use your powers while playing darts?” he asked with a chuckle. Of course she did. Reed guessed everyone in range was lucky to still have two functioning eyeballs. “I remember you leaving holes in the walls of my dorm room. I still think you did it on purpose.”
The squeeze from her hand was matched, and he felt a little shiver run through his body. So Reed picked up his coffee with his free hand and took a few sips to avoid speaking. “Well, there are a few other options. One, a hotel. Two, my friend’s new apartment in the city. Less likely to be seen by anyone who knows either of us, but there’s no furniture.”
---
“How could I have made those holes?” Her powers really didn’t do that. “Unless I was throwing metal feathers…” She added, tilting her head in a kind of acquiescence. Ok. She could have made those holes on purpose. Kat grinned and took a long drag of her coffee as the waitress arrived with their sausage and bacon. “I didn’t try that tonight. Kind of an extreme party trick.”
Kat sat upright when Reed reached for his coffee. Alcohol had her mind going in directions it shouldn’t have, but she was determined to behave herself, for the sake of them both. She let go of his hand; she probably shouldn’t be touching him too much. Kat unwrapped her utensils and occupied herself with stabbing one of the sausages and tentatively nibbling at it.
She arched a brow. If anyone else had suggested taking her to a hotel that night, she’d have rolled her eyes and found some new company. Reed wasn’t like that, and she trusted him. “Well, the apartment’s free. Not even a mattress though?” Drunkenly passing out on the floor didn’t sound so great. ---
“You’re terrible at darts. You really need to stop trying. Powers or not, it’s kinda sad to watch.” He was teasing of course, because teasing Kat was fun. She was an easy target, and it was something they could do without addressing all the awkwardness between them. Any distraction from that was more than welcome.
“I haven’t been to the place yet, but I’m thinking it has zero furniture. We could always buy some sleeping bags, but a hotel might be a better option for comfort. I just got his key in case…” in case they were followed? He didn’t know. Reed wasn’t thinking all that clearly. Did he ever think clearly when he was with Kat?
He started crunching on a piece of bacon. So good. And then Reed dipped it into the gooey yolk of one of his eggs. “How’s the sausage?”
---
“Hey, I got skillz,” she emphasized the end of the word unnecessarily. “Don’t hate.” Kat put down her fork when a wave of discomfort gripped her stomach and returned to nursing her coffee. “Sleeping bags are expensive,” she countered, pursing her lips. And she would know, she’d spent weeks outside back at home, camping in treehouses with her brother before he’d left for college. “It’d be cheaper to get a hotel room, then.” Kat was all about cheap. The Syndicate provided for their agents well, but compensation beyond that wasn’t too lucrative.
“So. Hotel room?” Why does this feel so weird? She ignored it and took another sip of coffee. Kat felt like Dylan all of the sudden, waxing poetic and asking too many questions in her inner monologue. She felt like she needed a cigarette … Gross.
“It’s ok. My stomach’s being finicky. Yours? Looks good.” Way too rich, but good. Kat pushed her little plate of sausage away for the moment. “Who’s the friend with the apartment?”
---
“Are they?” he asked, not having a clue how much they cost. Reed, while enjoying nature, wasn’t really the camping sort. He had spent a brief amount of time in the Boy Scouts but didn’t much care for it. His mother thought it would be a good way for him to make friends, but he found sports did a better job. So he’d never learned to appreciate the great outdoors in a rustic sort of way that would have required a sleeping bag. “Well, I’ve got enough cash on me to pay for a decent hotel room.” Nothing fancy, but it would have the basics like a bed and bathroom, maybe HBO. Why did all hotels have HBO?
“Yeah, it’s good.” He munched on his bacon and eggs some more but paused when Kat gave up on her sausage and asked about his friend. “Colin. He just bought the place this week, so that’s why it’s still empty.” Kat knew Colin, and she knew that he and Reed had been friends for ages. He hoped she wouldn’t ask why Colin bought a place in the city.
---
“Yup. At least $90 for one that doesn’t have a Power Rangers graphic printed on the whole thing. Most of them are more.” Kat put down her mug and waved the waitress over for more coffee. It was staying down, so at least she had that going for her. “I’ve got about $60 in cash.” It would help, but she rarely carried more cash on her than was needed for a long cab ride in an emergency.
Kat was surprised to hear that the apartment they might have holed up in for the night was Colin’s. She remembered that Reed had told Colin and Brian that he’d invited Kat home for Thanksgiving and that they’d advised against it. She had to assume that Colin didn’t know Reed had intended to invite Kat into his new place when he borrowed the spare. Why Colin even had the apartment, she didn’t ask. It wasn’t her business. The waitress came and went with the coffee refill.
“We’d better get going then. If I fall asleep here I’m done for.”
---
“We should be good to get a clean room with all the essentials. Don’t worry about it.” He had his credit card on him as well, but electronic transactions when he was with Kat were a very bad idea. It could be traced. He didn’t want his bosses or hers finding out about them spending the night together. Except, not like that.
Reed plopped cash down on the table to pay for their meals when she said she wanted to get going. The last thing he needed was to have to get a cab and leave his bike here because she couldn’t ride. “You better stay awake long enough to get to the hotel.” He climbed out of the booth and offered his hand to Kat, leading her out of the diner and back to the motorcycle. Now that Kat had his jacket, she was in slightly better condition to ride. Once their helmets were on and she was wrapped around him again, Reed set off to find a hotel. He knew of a few that were not scary in the area, and with Kat’s sixty bucks in addition to what was in his wallet, they’d be fine. Except not.
First hotel, no vacancy. Second hotel, no vacancy. Apparently, reasonably priced hotel rooms were hard to come by in the middle of the night in the city on a weekend. Leaving the second lobby, Reed looked to Kat. “Alright, it’s either Seagram or Colin’s Love Shack. Take your pick. We’re not going to find a hotel, and you need to lie down before your fall down.”
--- Things were starting to blur a little, more from the combination of caffeine and the need for sleep than from the alcohol, which was finally starting to filter out of her system. She’d been sitting on the bike while Reed ran in and out of lobbies - it was easier than locking up the bike and carrying their helmets around.
“Colin’s … love shack? Do I even want to ask?” Slowly, a grin spread across Kat’s face until she laughed raucously, head back towards the night sky. “Love shack, baby, love shack.” She sang a bar, slapping her bare leg, then immediately regretting having done so. Her skin was red from the cold. “Ow.” Kat scrunched her face, weighing the options. She could smell the bourbon coming off of her skin. She really wanted a shower and a soft place to pass out. Colin’s love shack floor, however entertaining, just didn’t pass the bill.
“Well crap. Maybe you’d better drop me off by the tower then,” she huffed, her shoulders slumping in involuntary resignation. The feeling that she was giving up something was slowly creeping up on her.
---
Reed couldn’t help but laugh at her mocking of his term. But that was exactly what the apartment was! Colin bought the damn thing so he could shack up with his lady love. Not that Emma was much of a lady… “Alright, alright, hopefully that little song woke you up, because I can’t have you falling off the back of the bike.”
When she said the tower, Reed looked around, chewing the inside of his cheek as he considered. “The apartment’s closer. Look, it’s free, and I can buy some fucking bedding. I want to spend more time with you.” Because he’d barely had any time with her so far tonight. And if all he was able to have was time that involved her being passed out, then so fucking be it.
Reed got on the bike and put his helmet in place once more. He’d made up his mind on this matter. So they headed off for the apartment. It only took a few minutes, which was a good thing, because it was way too cold for Kat with that flimsy dress of hers, and because he was still worried about her passing out. She looked exhausted when they arrived. “Come on,” he said softly, wrapping his arm around her. “I’ll get you inside, and you can warm up a bit while I run down the street to find something to sleep on.” Maybe.
---
Kat wasn’t entirely sure why he’d asked her what she wanted to do if he’d made up his mind on the issue without her, but she wasn’t going to argue. She’d take what she could get where time with Reed was concerned. Kat waited for Reed to climb back on and turn the engine over, then dutifully slid her arms back around his waist and did not, under any circumstances, allow her eyes closed for more than a blink for the entirety of the mercifully short ride to Colin’s apartment.
She was a little unsteady on her feet getting off of the bike and wasn’t too pleased by that, so she was glad for Reed’s help getting inside. Buzzed in by the doorman (what apartment building in a city didn’t have one these days?), Kat was impressed by the space once reached. It was small, but had potential. And was entirely lacking in furniture, as expected. Letting go of Reed, she explored for a moment, her eyes a bit glazed from the alcohol but still curious. “Do you think … “ She pinched her lower lip between her teeth. That was probably a conversation for later. Or something to ask Colin in person, she felt like she was taking advantage already just by being here. “Hmmm. Nevermind.” Kat shed Reed’s jacket and hung it carefully on a doorknob, peering into the bathroom. No soap or towels, either.
“Ok so … keeping it cheap. Some sort of comforter” to double as some padding on the hard floor “and I really need a towel and some soap. I smell like, well, a brewery.” She lifted her hands and let them fall at her sides, stepping out of her shoes as she did.
---
Reed was glad the utilities had been turned on at least, because the lights, heat, and water all worked. He cranked the heat for the time being, because Kat was still quite cold. He’d felt her shivering on the ride over.
Peeling off his sweatshirt, and turning it inside out in the process, he handed it over to her. “You can put up with it for a little while.. at least until the heat soaks in. I’ll run down the street and see what I can find.” Stores in the city were so weird. They sold all sorts of odds and ends that you wouldn’t expect, but that was because mega stores like Walmart just didn’t exist in the city. People had to get basics from the mom and pop type shops. “I’ll be right back. Use the sweatshirt as a pillow if you need to and rest for a few minutes.”
He looked her over for a second and then ran off to find what she asked for. The best Reed could manage at this hour with his limited options was a big I<3NY blanket and matching long shirts for sleeping, as well as a towel and soap. He also got some toilet paper, two toothbrush and toothpaste kits, bottled water, and some aspirin. It would be enough for the night. First thing tomorrow though, Reed was forcing Colin to buy some damn furniture and supplies. He’d chip in to help, because it was a good location, and maybe Reed and Kat could meet up there from time to time.
When Reed got back to the apartment, he probably looked weird carrying so much stuff, but the doorman probably saw all kinds of shit and didn’t even bat an eye. Reed hustled upstairs and unlocked the door once more. He expected to find Kat passed out, and thought that was the case when he saw her eyes closed with her all curled up in a corner, but upon saying her name, he noticed signs of life. “Alright, so, tourist blanket and pajamas. And some bathroom supplies. I am going to kick Colin’s ass later for not having this place stocked yet.”
---
After a second’s hesitation, Kat took the sweatshirt on offer. Purdue was not the enemy, she’d just felt a little awkward about the subject since he’d brought it up a few nights prior. “Thank you,” she said in earnest, pulling it on over her head. She could just as easily prop herself against a wall if she needed to close her eyes until he got back. There were probably a half a dozen things that would have been nice to have for the night, like pillows, but Reed was being extremely kind and she wasn’t about to take advantage of that. She was the one who’d originally said she didn’t want to go back to Seagram tonight, after all.
She caught him looking her over once, probably to figure out what size sweatshirt she wore or something equally as innocent, but she did a little curtsey anyway because she was still a little tipsy. And that was the only excuse she needed. As soon as the door closed behind him she curled up in a corner. The dead-sleep of the recently drunk overtook her in seconds.
Kat didn’t know how long he’d been gone when she heard the lock turn a second time, but she didn’t open her eyes until she heard her name. She stirred, grumbling. Kat unfolded herself and stood, taking some of the sleepover stock that weighed him down. “So we heart NYC? Nice.” Before she took the towel and soap off of the bathroom, she helped unpack, de-tag and unfold the supplies. “You done good, sir.” She smiled, collecting the towel, soap and sleepshirt in her arms. “I’ll be back in five.” Pressing a quick kiss on his jaw in thanks, she slipped past and closed the bathroom door behind her.
A few minutes later she came back out into what she assumed was meant to be a living/entertainment room to find Reed constructing a little nest o’ tourist blanket in the far corner by the heating unit. Kat crossed, barefoot, rubbing the towel through her hair and pulling at her I <3 NY sleepshirt. It was probably the same length as her dress, which wasn’t terrifically conservative. Oh well. “Thank you, I feel so much better.” Still tipsy. Still ridiculous, but better. Kat held out the towel, which was damp but still useable. “Do you want a go, or are you good? I promise I won’t fall asleep again.”
---
Reed chuckled at her encouragement. “It was the best I could do at this hour and while in a hurry.” The kiss was nice. Very nice. He felt a little jumble of nerves bounce around in his gut as she left his side to get cleaned up.
Reed used the time she was gone to settle his emotions but to also spread out the huge and fluffy blanket on the floor near a heating vent. Not a bad blanket considering the short notice. He’d also taken his sweatshirt and jacket and folded them neatly to create pillows. It wasn’t a bad bed, but they would both be sore in the morning more than likely.
When she emerged, Reed thought she looked absolutely adorable. No makeup. No fancy clothes. And she was wearing that ridiculous shirt. He couldn’t help smiling at her. Reed had discarded his jeans to sleep in his boxers and t-shirt. “I’m good. I wasn’t out drinking tonight, remember?”
Grabbing the bottled water and aspirin, he handed both to Kat. “Take ‘em. You’ll feel slightly less shitty in the morning. Drink all of the water.” Reed plopped down on the makeshift bed and fluffed the jacket up a bit to give his head and neck more support before lying down on his back.
---
Kat smiled back. She was headed for a serious hangover and about to sleep on the floor, but she was happy. “I do remember that, actually.” Because if he had been, she wouldn’t have been inspired to drink nearly as much as she had. Kat knew that, but had been trying to avoid admitting it to herself. It settled over her like a grumpy cartoon thunderstorm. “Well, they say inebriation causes your IQ to drop something like 20-30 points for the duration, so I’m allowed some nonsense.”
Two aspirin tossed back, she unscrewed the bottled water cap and drank half of it, stopping to breathe. Kat coughed into her forearm and felt the force of it vibrate through her skull like she’d been hit with something. She groaned and dropped to the floor next to Reed, folding her legs beneath her. She studied his face for a moment, quiet. Kat finished her water and set the bottle aside.
“I don’t want to … whatever. Argue or something. But did Theo say something to you? About me?” She furrowed her brow, finally letting the concern that had gripped her days before have it’s due. “When you asked me about Purdue.”
---
“Must be why I’m so smart. Only been drunk once in my entire life, and that was just the other night.” After returning from his trip home to Indiana with Kat. Reed needed alcohol, and he needed it to actually work on him for once. Colin had been a good friend to suppress Reed’s ability and allow the guy to get wasted for once. Sadly, it didn’t help him forget his troubles as he’d been led to believe. Alcohol was filled with lies.
“You don’t want to talk about that right now, do you?” Because nothing good would come from such a conversation. Reed pulled her to him, wrapping his arms around her. “You need some sleep. We can talk about it in the morning if you still want to when you wake up.” Hopefully, she would be too hungover to want to deal with a conversation sure to make her head hurt even worse. He helped her adjust the sweatshirt pillow and let her use him as a pillow as well all while wrapping the blanket up around them.
---
“I’m not sure how Hemingway did it. He was drunk all the time … and Neitszche. You must just be special.” Alcohol was filled with lies. Maybe that was why it worked so well for high-functioning fiction writers.
“I do, actually. Would you be comfortable not knowing what people close to you have been discussing about you?” Kat allowed herself to be moved around along with her sweatshirt pillow, and she settled down by his side somewhat reluctantly. Her head on the sweatshirt half-way supported by his shoulder, Kat waited for an answer and couldn’t help but roll her eyes when she got it. “Point - team avoidance.” Fine, if he was going to be like that. She wasn’t pleased, but could find other things to occupy her until she drifted off to sleep if need be. Kat traced a fingertip along the barely visible outline of his ‘Bardsley’ tattoo beneath the thin white cotton of his matching NY shirt. “Tell me about this?”
She shifted when he pulled the blanket around them. Her hand relaxed, flattening against his side as she grew still and let out a long, even breath. Regardless of topic, she just wanted him to talk to her for a little while longer. She didn’t bother to analyze why.
---
Reed was briefly satisfied that he’d won, but victory in battle did not mean the war was over. Kat found new ways to make him uncomfortable. He didn’t want to talk about the tattoo. It would just lead to an extremely upsetting conversation that they didn’t need to have. Kat wouldn’t want to hear it, and Reed didn’t want to tell it. “That is definitely not something we’re going to talk about tonight. Sorry.”
Surprisingly, talking about what her sister had said made for an easier chat than the story behind his tattoo. He took hold of her hand and pulled it up to hold against his chest, mostly to keep it from roaming. Kat was drunk. He wouldn’t let her do anything she’d regret as a result of her slightly less functional brain. “Theo talked a bit about your parents...and,” he sighed and squeezed her hand, “How you run away when you feel like you’re not wanted. I guess,” he shrugged, “I feel like it’s my fault you joined the Syndicate. That you felt like I abandoned you. But I was always planning to come back, and I did.” His voice was softer then, “I just came back too late.”
---
They’d known each other for twelve or thirteen years. Kat had lost count. And yet sometimes, in moments like this, she felt like she hardly knew Reed at all. Like she was the HMS Titanic about to hit an iceberg - tons and tons of dangerous ground she didn’t know existed. An exaggeration, perhaps, but his reaction to her hand at his ribs and her question took her aback.
It had been almost three hours now since her last drink. She wasn’t wasted, just coming down from the high of the night and was horribly groggy as a result. Kat had no interest in untoward behavior, particularly not with someone she respected and had loved, as a friend, for well over a decade. Her inebriated brain ran through all of this, but all she could muster was a flat “Alright.”
“Fun conversation.” Kat’s breathing had grown shallow; uncomfortable. She felt like screaming at Theo, which was not at all normal behavior for Kat. She’d had no right to share those things. Reed’s phrasing made it sound like he felt he’d come home too late to prevent her from becoming a serial killer or a whale poacher. “Everyone says things they don’t mean, Reed,” she finally replied. Her voice was empty, untouched by the anger she felt. But they didn’t follow through. “It wasn’t your fault. At all.” Kat didn’t pull away from him. Her hand slipped out from beneath his, her thumb stroked across the top of his hand a few times before coming to rest; a small reassurance that she meant what she said. Maybe he had come back too late, but he was here. She hadn’t even expected that much.
---
Reed hadn’t meant to pass judgment with his tone. Far from it. Not once had he thought less of Kat for joining the Syndicate. If she felt like that was were she belonged, then he supported her. But Theo had made him wonder if maybe she only joined in order to feel like she belonged. Not because she believed in their mission, but because she felt like there was no reason to stay at Willowbrook. It was something that had never occurred to him in the past. He’d always just assumed she wanted to leave, and that was that. Maybe there was more to it.
“It hurt when you left,” he admitted. “But I guess, I don’t know, I suppose I never thought much about how it may have hurt you when I left.” Maybe because he’d known all along it was temporary. He knew he wanted to return to join the Centurions after he finished with a traditional education. Reed thought he had made that clear to Kat, but maybe not.
---
Most of Kat’s graduating class had left Willowbrook, preferring to live normal lives. A handful had stayed. Even more of them had gone over to Syndicate. Her best friend in Seagram, Simon Anderson, was from her graduating class. She had gone where she had a place, with the people she trusted, and where she felt she could make a difference for herself and her younger sisters. And Reed - Reed wanted to be an astronaut. That meant not coming back to Willowbrook.
“Well, it did.” Kat rolled onto her stomach and propped herself up on her elbows so that she could see his face in the dim apartment. “I wanted you to be happy. Purdue made you happy, ok? I’m thrilled that you went, please don’t think I wasn’t. I just … I really didn’t think you’d come back. Ever.” She dropped her head to rub at her temples. Her head was starting to hurt. “I’m sorry about all this. I’ve made such a mess. I didn’t mean to hurt you.” Kat couldn’t even have a damned drink without causing some mini-drama, it seemed. “And I should have told you I’d left Willowbrook before you came back.” He had surprised her, to her credit, but that hadn’t made the whole situation any better or made her feel any less guilty about it.
Kat shifted again, putting a few extra inches between them. “I wouldn’t hurt you.” She spoke the hushed words for her own benefit as much as she did for him. That was what she had been trying to do, cutting off contact, after all.
---
Sure, there had been a time when Reed wanted to be an astronaut, and he still thought it would be awesome, but the shuttle program had fucking fallen apart, and he had a great job now. He liked flying the jet, and he liked living at Willowbrook, and, until recently, he’d liked his monthly visits with Kat. But their holiday in the Hoosier state had made things awkward again. And much in the way Kat put some space between them now, there was space between them emotionally. They were both trying so very hard to hold back. But Reed knew all about the powers of attraction, what with his ability to manipulate gravitational fields. Some forces were simply too strong. He and Kat kept being pulled together.
“I know you’d never hurt me.” He’d told Colin and Brian as much. Colin was more understanding than Brian, who couldn’t seem to get it through his head that Kat could be trusted. She would never betray Reed. Not for anything. And he would protect her in the same way.
Reed wiggled around until he could flip onto his stomach and reach above their heads to where he had folded up his jeans. He rummaged around in one of the pockets until he found some electrical wires. Reed was always carrying crap like that around in his pockets. He scooted back down under the blanket with Kat and grabbed her hand. “I told you. I won’t leave you again. I swear.” He used his teeth to strip away some of the plastic coating at each end of the wire, then twisted those ends together to form a loop. Reed slipped the makeshift ring onto her finger. “Just in case you ever forget.”
---
In the gloom, Kat couldn’t make out what it was Reed was doing, but there was an awful lot of wiggling involved. To help with his search, she held out her hand and lit her fingers from within. The number of times she’d been cracked on with E.T. references numbered in the hundreds by now, but it was a handy trick. She watched him carefully, her expression blank, while he pulled off the plastic wire coating with his teeth and fastened together a rudimentary ring.
“I believe you,” she insisted before he slipped the keepsake onto her finger. Kat couldn’t help her smile. The more she fought it, the worse it got until she was forced to drop her face into the sweatshirt out of embarrassment. Maybe it was silly, but Kat’s brain was still under the giggly spell of bourbon and people just didn’t do things like that for her. It meant a great deal to her. After a few seconds she lifted herself back up and cleared her throat, trying to gather up the shreds of her dignity. Fuck alcohol. Seriously. “I won’t run off to another warring faction again either.” Not that there was one. It was a self-deprecating, somewhat defensive joke. She’d never been comfortable accepting acts of kindness, she was only good at giving them.
What she did next was questionable at best, but Kat didn’t stop to think before she acted. Having put out the light from her hands, she leaned forward on her elbows and brushed his lips with a soft, unhesitant kiss, though it barely masked a much deeper ache. The brief touch of his mouth sent every nerve in her body abuzz. It took her almost two full seconds to truly realize what she’d done. Kat recoiled covered her mouth and nose with an open hand.
There were so many things wrong with that. They were adults toying with something very dangerous and she’d let her murky mental state crash through her reason and good sense like a wrecking ball. “I’m so sorry,” Kat managed, barely above a whisper. She meant it. “That was …” Heartless? Cruel? Selfish? Irresponsible? “I’m sorry, forgive me,” she repeated, shaking her head and sitting up abruptly to feel around in the darkness for another bottle of water. Kat felt like she'd broken a universal law; don't kiss friends - definitely don't kiss friends when you're not sober if you mean it. Reed didn’t deserve such thoughtlessness from her.
***Because somehow it’s 1:45 in the morning and I’m a horrible DRAMA glutton. IDEK XD ---
((MAJOR DRAMA!!!))
Reed managed a light chuckle at her joke. "Are their other factions?" He asked in amusement. "If so, maybe we should both join. Might find some common ground." Because he was tired of such black and white viewpoints. Where was that middle, grey colored area? He felt he belonged there if anywhere. He definitely didn't see the Syndicate as his enemy. How could he when Kat was part of it? He cared far too much.
It was a good thing he did, since it kept him from acting on impulse when she kissed him. Reed could have sworn his heart stopped beating in those few seconds. Her lips pressed to his for the first time. Despite being friends for so many years, it had never happened before. That news would probably surprise most people. How could a man and woman be so close for so long and never cross that line?
But it was nearly painful. Reed took a deep breath when she pulled back and immediately apologized. But for what? Why was she sorry? Reed didn't know why she'd kissed him in the first place. He still couldn't quite read her feelings. He'd come just shy of confessing his when they were at the zoo. He'd said that he came back to Willowbrook when he did with the intention of asking her out. Finally. And Reed had never said that his feelings faded since then. It sorta went without saying.
Regardless, Kat felt bad now. He couldn't keep her on the hook like that. Instead, he took her hand and held it to his chest again. "It's fine." It wasn't, and he was a terrible liar, but maybe she was too drunk and it was too dark for her to notice. Maybe they could both get aways with blaming it on the alcohol. Maybe the alcohol really was to blame. At least on her end. What could he blame? He'd kissed her back, however briefly, but definitely with feeling.
---
((ALL THE DRAMAS!))
To say that she was ‘sorry’ was such a poor generalization of what Kat actually felt. In vino veritas; alcohol didn’t make a person do things they didn’t already want to, it simply removed the barriers of ‘can’t,’ ‘shouldn’t’ and ‘won’t.’ Kat had wanted to do that for years, ever since he’d dated what’s-her-name in her second year.
She appreciated the absolution he tried to offer her, but Kat would have none of it. In the darkness, she could hear that he didn’t think it was fine at all but couldn’t see his face well enough to gauge what that meant. “No, it’s not.” The situation was starting to strike her as darkly funny, like a bad comedie noire. She made a noise somewhere between a laugh and a sniffle when he took her hand and held it to his chest again. “I didn’t want that to happen … like that. I was wasted a few hours ago. I tried to cut off contact earlier this week. I made your mom cry. Your people hate my people, and vice versa. And there’s no toothpaste here. My teeth taste like bourbon and really strong coffee and half a sausage link,” she did laugh then, throwing her free hand up in exasperation in the gloom. It was a genuine sound, if somewhat colored with regret. She missed being able to have a good time with her best friend - no awkward tension, no politics or complications, no Breakfast Club level angst. It was tiring.
“I didn’t tell you where I was for some …” She didn’t even want to say ‘meaningless drunken hookup.’ Kat sighed. Her pickled brain couldn’t manage to summon the right way to say this, but without all the drinking she probably wouldn’t have been saying any of it anyway. “I missed you. After less than a week. How silly is that.” It wasn’t a question.
“It felt wrong. There was a hole. There.” She pressed her hand harder against the middle of his chest for a moment, above the slow heartbeat she could feel through her fingertips. Kat hoped he understood. She didn’t have enough clarity of her own right now to be more direct about it. With her luck, she’d just confused the hell out of him. She felt like a lead weight had dropped into her stomach. “So I am sorry. Things are complicated enough already.”
---
"Alright, first, a quick correction... There IS toothpaste. I bought some. And toothbrushes too. One for each of us." Because he wasn't anticipating any form of saliva swapping.
Reed had to attempt to make light of this moment. It was all so overwhelming. Comic relief was sorely needed. "Also, you didn't make my mom cry, I did. And my friends don't hate you. Colin doesn't. He doesn't hate your people either. But that's something that stays between you and me." Kat could be trusted with such information. "He's sorta...dating one of your coworkers. He bought this place so they could have privacy away from all the bullshit politics." And now Reed and Kat were using it.
"I missed you too. And your sister is probably right, it's selfish of me to want this time with you." He was putting her in danger, far more danger than she created for him. Reed wouldn't be killed for associating with her. He probably wouldn't even be fired. He might get a stern lecture or something similar.
He sighed, feeling like he was rambling off all sorts of random words and thoughts in an effort to avoid talking about the elephant in the room. "I care about you, maybe more than I should." That didn't sound right. It wasn't fair that they weren't allowed to have more. "I never want to lose this. What we have." Even if it meant never having MORE than what they had. He placed her hand to his rib cage where that tattoo was. "A good friend of mine, Kevin Bardsley. He was killed by the Syndicate. I never want to have to tattoo your name on me. I don't want some ink to be all I have left of you."
---
Well, he’d certainly paid her back for her response to his confession at the zoo the week prior. She got a series of corrections, a bit of information about Colin that she hadn’t expected but would, of course, never repeat, and a confirmation that Reed ‘cared about her. Maybe more than he should.’ It felt more like a punch to the gut than anything else. It said nothing; meant nothing. Just talking to one another fell under the category of ‘more than they should.’
Kat was quiet. She nodded once or twice, but was too lost in all of this to speak. It was indeed overwhelming. She wasn’t sure what she had reason to expect, to want, and what was best. None of that much mattered when he spoke about his tattoo. Any levity caused by his joking was gone. Kat snapped her hand back like something had burnt her, aghast. “They - we killed your friend? When? Why didn’t I know thi - you didn’t tell me!?” Her voice shook, blasted by anger and hurt and a sharp guilt that cut her to the bone. Syndicate. Her people. “I’m …” If she said sorry one more time, something in Kat was going to break like an old vinyl record.
“What did he do? No, I mean - why? What happened?” Kat didn’t want to know, but she needed too. Her instinct was to wonder what Kevin Bardsley had done to provoke her organization, not that she and her ilk could have been responsible for the murder of someone undeserving. Even that felt wrong; she knew what went on, but never before had it hit anywhere close to home. Kat busied herself with twisting the electrical wire ring around her finger with her thumb and index. It helped her keep her mind off of the leaping discomfort in her gut. This was not going well. Not at all.
---
Dammit. He was fucking this up. Badly. Which was why he didn't want to talk about Kevin, or his feelings, or anything of substance. "Kat," he said with authority, attempting to calm her. "I didn't tell you, because I knew it would upset you. Just like I knew it would upset you to hear about why I came back to Willowbrook when I did." Was he doing her a disservice by keeping such things hidden? Reed was a terrible liar, but he excelled at omission.
"The details aren't important," he didn't know all of them anyway. It was classified. "I'm just saying that I don't want to lose you too. Losing you would..." It would break him. Reed didn't think he could go on without her. Yes, she was at Seagram, but she was safe and happy, and they talked frequently until this recent speed bump with her sister. He could get by. But to truly lose her? No. "This is where you'd be," he said softly, putting her hand directly over his heart. "And that's why this is all so dangerous." Because getting involved with her, beyond their current entanglement, could result in her becoming a memorial tattoo on his chest.
---
---
“Reed,” she returned, her tone equally as stern. “You can’t keep things like that from me because you think they’ll upset me. Yes, they’ll upset me. It’s upsetting. And I needed to know that. If we’re not honest with each other, you can’t protect me and I can’t protect you. It’s that simple.” She understood that that was his intention, but she wouldn’t tolerate being treated like a flighty child, even drunk. The death of one of his good friends, at the hands of her organization, was a big deal. She wasn’t overreacting. “The details were important.” She’d hoped there’d be some sense in them. But when he didn’t seem to have them to share, Kat frowned and let it go.
“I heard you,” she said, softening. Losing what they had was not something she wanted to consider either. But it was also hurting them and all they seemed to take from it were conversations like these. And semi-scary mothers making wedding arrangements. He moved her hand again. The sentiment was kind, but slowly, a grin started to spread across her face. “Are you going to stop groping yourself with my hand anytime soon?” She laughed aloud, then shook her head, “I’m sorry, I’m sorry. Inappropriate in context.” There. Levity.
---
"I don't know all the details," he admitted, hoping that would placate her on the subject for the time being. He also hoped she would understand the secretive nature of that information. She couldn't go snooping around at the Syndicate for the details she wanted. That kind of behavior could lead to very bad things.
Finally, a joke. He laughed too and clutched her hand tighter. "Are you complaining about my man boobs?" He asked in a teasing tone. Pecks. Whatever. Man boobs sounded so much more hilarious. He flexed them just to be silly.
"Look, I know things are awkward. And it seems like we both keep doing and saying the wrong things. But we fix it, don't we?" They always managed to make it work. Nothing had broken them apart, and that had to count for something. It was significant that they could weather all these storms and remain strong in their friendship. "You mean more to me than almost anyone." More than Colin and Brian. Sometimes even more than his parents and brother. Kat was his constant.
---
Letting it go of the issue didn’t please her, but she did. There was a rare moment of laughter to be had and she’d never waste one of those. “You can’t have man boobs unless you look like Bob from Fight Club. He set the bar, man.” Her tone, while barely holding back laughter, suggested that she took this subject very seriously. Kat tested his goods when he flexed, pressing and measuring with her fingertips in a most scientific manner. She ran her free hand over her breasts for comparison, groped through the cotton of her sleepshirt while chewing the inside of her cheek in mock concentration, then shook her head. “Nope, doesn’t feel the same. Bob had better bitch tits. You’re good.”
She dropped both her hands to the floor, then shifted herself back around to lie down, dropping her head onto the sweatshirt pillow. “We’re say-the-wrong-thing champions, it’s actually kind of impressive. We have, maybe, a 95% success rate right now I’d wager.” It did mean quite a bit that they were willing to put up with as much as they had to remain friends, but that wasn’t always a comfort. “You’re right, I know.” Kat found his arm in the black and pulled herself up flush against his side, pushing the hoodie into a suitable bundle by his shoulder. “That’s sweet. I just barely tolerate you though…” Clearly sarcastic, she smiled and gave his shoulder a quick peck before settling into stillness. Nothing was further from the truth.
---
They’d been bathed in darkness for some time now, so he could see fairly well, and it was clear that she was giving her own tits a good feel. “It’s hardly fair of you to do that.” Was he not allowed to inspect for the purpose of comparing? “I think I should be allowed to feel up you and Bob both. You know, just to be certain.” But he wouldn’t make such a move. Not now.
“Barely tolerate?!” he complained, jokingly of course. “Ouch. That hurts, Kitten. Cuts real deep. I’m wounded. Not sure I’ll ever recover from that one.” He made a little sniffling sound and pretended to wipe at his eyes with his free hand, since she had transformed his one arm into her own personal property. Just like his sweatshirt.
He was quiet for a few seconds, deep in thought. “Kat?” he said softly, looking at her, or the shadows that were created by all the angles of her body. “If I’d come back sooner...would you,” he hesitated, “Would you have given me a chance?”
---
His insistence that she was being unfair had her laughing so hard she shook, albeit silently. It was hard to breathe for a moment. “No, no that’s not how it works. But if you hunt down Meatloaf for a comparison, I’d do it.” That’d be hilarious, how could she not?
“Oh hush, you know that’s not true,” she countered when he faked a complaint. Kat smiled into his shoulder, but didn’t respond to his ‘wounding.’ Her mind had drifted in the few moments of silence before he spoke again; remembering some of their wilder antics back in school, a few of their long conversations about what they wanted to do when they ‘grew up’ in the hangar when he’d been tinkering around with the jet that was not yet ‘his,’ to the long-distance phone calls after he’d left for Purdue.
She considered his question for a moment. “If I’d thought you were really coming back…” She’d have stayed at Willowbrook? She’d have waited? Calling back the awkwardness they’d only just managed to beat away seemed unwise, so she said none of those things. “Yes. If you’d gotten back before I left - yes.” For the span of several seconds, she too was quiet. “I’m sorry I was so cold about it back in Indy. At the zoo.” The air felt heavy in her lungs. “You just caught me off guard.”
---
“Meatloaf is my new mission in life,” he said in a profound tone. Getting to cop a feel was very important. Seriously.
Reed held his breath, waiting while she debated the question he’d presented. Kat didn’t seem so sure. Her hesitation caused the doubt he’d already felt to grow inside of him. Reed was just about to tell her ‘nevermind’ to avoid a response he didn’t want to hear when Kat said she would have. Then she went on to apologize for her earlier comments. Never had he so badly wanted a fucking time machine! If he could just go back and make sure he returned home a few weeks earlier. “I feel like Marty...wanting to leave a note in Doc’s pocket. You’re better looking than Doc,” he added with a smile, giving her a squeeze.
---
“That sounds … really weird.” She guessed she could count on one hand the number of times anyone, anywhere, had said that - either about the dinner dish, or the man.
Kat chuckled. “If you figure out time travel, please don’t tell me the story of how all of this happened when we’re old, curmudgeonly and yelling at the neighborhood whipper-snappers who dare step on our lawn. Once was enough,” she requested, amused by the mental image. “What did you tell Olivia, exactly? ’Sorry babe, I gotta go see about a girl’?” Good Will Hunting. Robin Williams never got old in that role. “She looked like she wanted to stab me with something.” The comment was only half in jest. Olivia had not liked Kat being there, but she’d never looked even remotely homicidal.
She yawned after the squeeze, like it had forced it out of her. “And you’re much more dashing than Marty.” No one was getting shot by Georgians or Ukrainians either, which was always a good thing.
---
Reed couldn’t help but laugh at her Good Will Hunting joke. “Something like that,” he chuckled out with a nod. “I told her…” he sighed, because this was really hard. He couldn’t tell Kat exactly what he told Olivia. Not only had it been a long time ago, so the specifics were fuzzy in his head (it had been a shitty conversation at the time, one that ended with her crying a lot), but there were things he’d told Olivia that he really didn’t want to repeat right now. “Does it really matter what I told her? The results don’t change.”
Her yawn made him soften again. “You really should get some sleep. Not that I don’t want to talk to you, because I do, all the time...but tomorrow is going to be rough enough as it is.” Reed made sure the blanket was nice and secure over her.
---
He started to answer her question, then stopped. Kat groaned. When he did this she felt like a meerkat trying to push a rhinoceros. Pointless. “Fine, fine. Sure.” Maybe it didn’t, but she’d been curious and was just trying to prolong the little time she had with him.
Kat nodded. He was right. In another moment of brilliance Kat had drunk texted Melody Carter earlier in the evening, requesting they meet in the afternoon for trigger training and sparring, as well. Her Saturday was not looking promising. The lack of curtains on the windows in the apartment also meant it wasn’t likely she’d get too much sleep past sunrise. Kat snuggled deep into the blanket and shut her eyes. She’d be lost to the world in a matter of minutes. “Goodnight Reed. Sweet dreams.”
---
Honestly, he wasn’t trying to be difficult, it just felt like beating a dead horse. They knew it couldn’t work, so why keep talking about it? It was like continuing to spend all your money on the lottery, dreaming about how you might spend your winnings, but knowing you’re really just going broke over something that will never come to be. Reed wondered if his feelings would ever fade away, or if he’d be stuck like this forever. Maybe he needed to go on some dates.
“Good night,” he whispered back, and kissed her hair, letting himself linger there for a moment. Nope, he wouldn’t be going on any dates. Just with his hand. That was it. It sucked so damn bad, but Reed didn’t have any other choice.
It took some time to fall asleep, because Reed contented himself with holding her and listening to her breathing change as she drifted off. Sleeping felt like a waste of his time, valuable time that could be spent with Kat. But eventually, fatigue caught up with him, and he passed out as well.
---
Sleep had brought her very little rest and rejuvenation. Kat hadn’t checked her phone before nodding off, so she had no bearing on how long she’d been asleep before she was awakened by the horrible nauseousness that gripped her stomach like a vice. As gently as she could, she’d extricated herself from Reed’s side and thankfully did not seem to have woken him in the process. The rest of the early morning she’d spent in the bathroom.
Alcohol was poison. In the first stages of her hangover, she was reminded why it was such a bad idea to consume so much of it. She was neat about the whole thing, but what little sausage and coffee she’d managed to get down two hours prior didn’t stand a chance. Opting not to go back out into the living room both for fear of having another gastric episode and her unwillingness to wake Reed, Kat had fallen asleep in the bathtub. This presented yet another problem; she had no blanket. Leaving her sleepshirt on the bathroom counter so that she wouldn’t have to tear it, Kat had suffered through the painful process of growing out her massive wings. In a bathtub overflowing with dark gray and white feathers, she slept entirely cocooned to keep warm. Machiavelli had never painted a drunk-ass cherub in friday night lingerie, she guessed. Originality points for Kat.
The benefit of this little nightmare? There was an exhaust fan in the bathroom she left on to take care of any sick smell, and a door to block out all the light she’d been worried about waking them so early. After about an hour’s worth of a post-party nightmare come to life, Kat had passed out and slept like the dead.
---
Reed must have been exhausted, because normally he would have woken up when a gorgeous woman tried to sneak out of bed. Not that it happened a lot. Reed supposed he could have been a ladies man if he tried, but he was too damn busy, and there was the whole issue of being smitten with Kitten.
When he did finally wake, because the sun just became too much to bear even with his eyes closed, Reed looked about for his best friend. Her shoes and dress were still in the same spot, so she must have been in the bathroom. No hearing any running water or other sounds, aside from the exhaust fan, Reed peeked inside cautiously. He hoped he wasn’t interrupting anything. It would be fucking awkward as hell to find her on the toilet. Instead, he found her in an enormous pile of feathers in the bathtub. Passed out. Looking like a completely adorable mess. He smiled and walked over to kneel down beside her. “Kat?” he whispered, letting the tips of his fingers gently stroke the banded primary feathers that were closest to him. They were spectacularly gorgeous, but Reed knew it pained Kat to grow them.