From the School to the Arms Hotel, Sunday Evening

[vanillajello]

One moment, Kate was standing in the school with a knife in her hand, practically wishing the last few Loyalists would come at her so she could hurt some more people, like that'd help her.

The next, the knife was gone and it was a very different Kate standing in that exact same spot.

And then she was off and running, scrambling her way out of the school and out the gates and making some kind of a personal record with the way she ran through town to the hotel. They'd had a hotel room, see, her and Bod, before this whole thing had started. And he had to be there. He had to be there.

She ended up repeatedly slamming her fist against the hotel room door once she got there. "Bod? Bod!"

[ooc: Just for the guy about to get cried on!]

Comments

[therewaslife]

Indeed, Bod was there and the slamming he was hearing on the door to the hotel had him frowning. He made his way over, tossing the book he'd been reading aside and opened the door.

"Kate, what's the matter?" he asked, frowning. "You've a key to the room."

[vanillajello]

Kate did not answer.

She just launched herself at him, her arms going around him and squeezing him tightly, clinging as she was wont to do. He was there. He was there. She wasn't alone in this universe, and her heart wasn't broken into itty bitty pieces that someone had run a particularly vicious lawnmover over for good measure, or anything.

Even if she said nothing, it was pretty damn obvious she was distraught.

[therewaslife]

Very, very obvious and Bod was confused. He did pull Kate into the room though, managing to get the door shut behind her without letting her go.

"Kate, what's the matter?" Bod murmured, trying to comfort her and figure out what was going on. "What's happened? Are you all right?"

[vanillajello]

Oh, where to even start?

"I, I, I was... And you --"

Clearly nowhere coherent.

"Oh God it was so fucking awful."

[therewaslife]

"Kate, you need to calm down or you're going to hyperventilate," Bod said softly, rubbing her back and shushing her quietly. "What happened? What did I miss?"

[vanillajello]

Kate did her best to breathe. It helped that he was there and every breath she inhaled smelled like him. He really was there. And the memories of missing him weren't hers but they were so ridiculously, soul-crushingly real in her head.

Tears were streaming down her face and getting his shirt wet. She hadn't even noticed, not this time.

"There was... There was another Fandom."

[therewaslife]

"...what?" Bod asked, sounding surprised. "Another..how did that even happen?"

How did he miss it?

"When did that happen?"

[vanillajello]

"For a whole week." Technically not the answer to his question (as that would have been 'just now') but still potentially illuminating. She pulled back just enough to see his face. "You don't know?"

Somehow, she thought she'd be glad to get a negative answer there.

"At all? Y-you don't know it happened?"

[therewaslife]

"I'm sorry," he breathed, shaking his head. "I don't know what you're talking about."

And he kind of hated that right now.

"I don't know."

[vanillajello]

"Don't be sorry," Kate said, shaking her head. "Don't. It was so fucking awful. Don't be sorry."

[therewaslife]

"Do you want to talk about it?" asked Bod, still frowning at how upset she was.

[vanillajello]

Kate chewed on her lip for a moment, uncertain what to say.

And then she blurted out, "You were dead."

She probably could have thought of better things to lead with than that, but oh well.

[therewaslife]

"Oh, Kate," he murmured, sighing and pulling her closer to him again. "Oh, Kate. I'm so sorry. I'm sorry that you had to experience that."

He hated that he didn't remember it.

"Is there anything I can do? I'm not dead. I'm here."

[vanillajello]

"I know," Kate sighed. "I know. You're here. And, I, uh. I think you were there too, I mean, I thought you were there but maybe I was just crazy. I could have been crazy."

She was pretty sure she'd literally been seeing red at one point.

"I felt a little crazy."

[therewaslife]

"Why do you think you were crazy?" Bod asked quietly. "Perhaps you were just under a lot of pressure and stress?"

[vanillajello]

Kate choked out a joyless laugh that kind of turned into a sob.

"I thought you were there," she murmured. "As a ghost."

[therewaslife]

"That's not crazy," Bod murmured, kissing her temple and pressing his cheek against hers. "That's not crazy, Kate. You're not crazy. You're not. I probably was there. If I could be near you in any form, I would be."

[vanillajello]

That did very little to her crying, you know. "It wasn't a really pretty sight."

[therewaslife]

"I can imagine," he said and squeezed her a little tighter. "But, you're back and I'm here. I'm here. I'm not dead. I'm here."

[vanillajello]

"I know." That was going to be her mantra for the night. "Oh God it was awful. The whole island was fucked up – like, more than usual."

[therewaslife]

"I can imagine," he said, letting her go and pushing her hair back so he could see her face. "Do you want to sit down? Lay down? Something else?"

[vanillajello]

"That's too hard a question for someone who got tased by Topher fucking Brink this week."

See, she could... kind of attempt a joke. Even through tears.

[therewaslife]

"I apologize," Bod said, wincing. "Would you like me to take you back to Kansas to give you something familiar to be around?"

[vanillajello]

Kate's eyes widened.

"Oh shit." She was always so eloquent. "Where's my phone?"

[therewaslife]

"I don't know," Bod said, looking around. "Perhaps in the bedroom? Did you want me to find it?"