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]

"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?"

[vanillajello]

"Um, yeah. If you could." She nodded, pulling back. "I need to call Moosh, oh my god, he's gotta be freaking out."

[therewaslife]

"I'll find it, I'll find it," Bod said, rubbing her shoulders before he disappeared into the bedroom. Her phone was on the nightstand and he came back with it in his hand. "Here."

[vanillajello]

Kate was pretty much already reaching for it when he came back into the room. "Thanks." She was kind of frantic in her efforts to call her brother, so it took longer than usual before she managed to raise the phone to her ear.

And when she did, she also reached out to take his hand because she needed to.

[therewaslife]

Bod laced his fingers with hers and squeezed her hand. He was quiet but he was there, waiting to see what happened with the telephone call.

[vanillajello]

Thankfully, nothing too dramatic. Marshall picked up soon enough, and while it sounded a bit like he was a little concerned about Kate sounding as teary as she did, things were fine.

"Yeah, we'll be back, like... Tomorrow. Okay. Yeah. Love yooou, bye." She hung up before he could be more weirded out at her. "Oh thank Christ, he just thought it was some random Fandom thing."

[therewaslife]

Bod reached over to take the phone from her and tossed it onto the couch that was nearby. He tried a very, very soft smile at her.

"Good," he said, nodding. "Did you want to eat anything? Would you like to sit down with me?"

[vanillajello]

"I could eat?" Kate hazarded. Keeping kind of a firm hold on his hand, like he might disappear. "Food situation in evil Fandom was... not great."

And there was that bit where she'd spent the last two days holding down the fort at the school, barely eating or sleeping.

[therewaslife]

"I'll order room service for us," Bod said, keeping a hold of her hand while he walked over to the phone. "Anything you have a particular taste for?"

[vanillajello]

"Not really," she said, then reconsidered. "Well. Pudding, if they have any."

Even if saying that came with a sideorder of chewing on her lip again as memories came back sharper.

[therewaslife]

"I'll get you pudding," he said, pulling her closer to him and sliding his arm around her waist. "I'll get you all the pudding you want, Kate. It's all right. It's all right."

[vanillajello]

"Luke got me pudding," Kate murmured, leaning into him. "We didn't even have, like, a permanent place to stay and we were just scavenging, but he still got me fucking pudding." She breathed in, a little unsteady. It was so easy to get overwhelmed. "And then... He got killed."

[therewaslife]

"I'm sorry," Bod murmured, pressing his lips against her forehead. "Breathe, Kate. Breathe. Luke's alive and I'm alive and you're all right. Breathe."

[vanillajello]

She was trying her best to do just that. "I was so -- I don't think I've ever been that, like, that sad and furious. Ever."

She hoped she never would be, either.

[therewaslife]

"It was an awful thing to experience," Bod said quietly, nodding and holding her close to him. "Awful. But, it's gone now. It's gone and I'm not going anywhere."

[vanillajello]

Kate sighed and nuzzled his shoulder a little.

"Good," she murmured. "You're not allowed to leave me anymore."

[therewaslife]

"I'm not leaving you," Bod told her firmly. "I'm not. You've got my ring on your finger and you've got my heart. I'm not going anywhere."