Kate Gregson (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
vanillajello) wrote2011-01-13 11:39 pm
vanillajello) wrote2011-01-13 11:39 pm
Kansas City, MO, Thursday Afternoon
Kate hadn't been this happy to be in Kansas City for a long while. She hadn't even realized how much the whole of Fandom felt like it was caving in on her before she wasn't there anymore. Not that it was a going to be a long absence: she was just here for lunch, pretty much, and would be back in Fandom by the evening, largely because she didn't feel like going home either.
Zach had met up with her outside the Azure Café. In his neat suit, he looked even better in real life, and with a nice smile he'd told her she did too, and with a laugh she'd pointed out this was the first he'd seen of her as herself, to which he'd smiled again and said "Exactly". And so this whole thing felt more and more like a date with every passing moment.
They'd been seated just long enough to have made their orders – coffee for him, chocolate cake for her, because apparently they both failed at lunch – and were really just getting into the swing of things, having gotten past the awkward stage of sorting out the practicalities. She gave him a tiny smirk over the table, reaching for her glass of water. "So, is this where you meet all your online hookups for lunch?"
"I've never done this before," Zach claimed. He seemed sincere in his reply, but Kate gave him a look of pure yeah right, and it made him chuckle quietly. "I haven't!" he insisted, smiling. "It's just close to my office. We can go someplace else, if you want. There's a Barnabeez down the street --"
Was that a cold shiver down Kate's spine at the mere mention of the seafood restaurant? Yes, it kind of was. "No, I'm cool," she replied quickly. "Just getting acclimated." She looked around, then realized there was at least one pretty major thing she didn't know, so she tilted her head at him. "What do you do?"
He spread his napkin in his lap, then looked up at her again. "Um, does the word Yogohut mean anything to you?"
Uhh. Kate knew the word, she just didn't know what it had to do with anything. "The frozen yogurt places?" she asked. He nodded; she was unimpressed. "You work at one?"
She wasn't expecting answer she got.
"I own the chain."
Yeah, she probably looked a little like that piece of information didn't immediately even compute, since he chuckled softly again and glanced down. "I serve up the best frozen yogurt in the whole Kansas City metro area," he said, although neither his tone nor his smile were as smug as she may have expected. And he was really cute, and that may have contributed to her own little smile right about now. "Between trawling the web for mythical vixens with horns," she replied, wryly amused.
His smile dimmed some, though not all the way, and for a moment he held her gaze steadily. It was a little intense. "In between trying to stay interested in being alive," he said, and she was a little startled by it, and how it struck some chord in her, and how she had just yesterday had someone tell her not to randomly say heavy things like that. (See, Nathan? She wasn't the only one who did that.) And she had no idea how to react, so she was glad their waiter came by just then, drawing Zach's attention.
"Thank you," he said, then pointed at his newly acquired coffee cup on the table. "If I could get a little angostura bitters for my coffee, that'd be great, thanks."
Kate didn't know why, but she couldn't help smiling down at her piece of cake just then. She was still doing it when Zach asking her something made her look up. "What do you do?" The question made her smile turn more wry again. "Besides the Hawkwind porn-lite shuffle online and studying?" And dealing with Fandom, and vampires, and ex-boyfriends, and fighting lessons. "I don't know. Stew?"
They both laughed a little and she looked down again, hiding a smile. It felt like a long time since she'd done that last.
-----
A pleasant hour or two later, he was dropping her off at Kansas City International Airport. She'd claimed to be flying back to the east coast, of course, but right now portals were way cheaper. Not to mention way more convenient, even if using one meant she couldn't have him walk her into the terminal, because explaining Portalocity so wasn't on the agenda for today. So, they were parting ways in his car just outside the airport. "Thanks for the ride," she said, once he'd pulled over and she was undoing her seatbelt. He nodded. So polite. "Of course."
Kate, showing she wasn't entirely oblivious to the dangers doing this kind of meet-up could entail, added, "Thanks for not taking me to a quarry and dismembering me." It made them both laugh. "Anytime," he promised, then paused for a breath before continuing. It looked like there was something on his mind. "Look, I know I don't know you that well," he started, "and... I know that we met under kind of... odd circumstances, but... You seem really smart. Which, to me, is a priority. And you're... really amazingly beautiful." He sounded so sincere and so sweet, and despite the unfortunate connotations those two qualities brought to her mind, this was where Kate had look down again, almost shyly, suppressing a vaguely embarrassed laugh. He didn't mind, he just continued on. "So if you ever get tired of pretending to be a princess online, and you wanna be treated like one for real, I'd love to be the guy to do it. That's all."
Kate could only smile and act a little flustered, and nod. "I will definitely take that into consideration." Zach's smile widened. "Perfect," he said, reaching into his pocket, producing a business card which he gave to her. "Here is my card." She took it, glancing over at him before reading the name of his company out loud, just barely resisting a little chuckle. "Yogohut."
"Yogohut," he agreed.
"Wonderful, she said with another smile. "Thank you. Bye."
As she was climbing out of the car and then watching him drive off, all she could really do was wonder at how she was feeling something approaching happiness, for the first time in about a month. It felt like an alien emotion, but she was embracing it.
There was hope for her yet.
[ooc: NFB, NFI, OOC-okay! Taken with tweakage from USoT S02E09.]
Zach had met up with her outside the Azure Café. In his neat suit, he looked even better in real life, and with a nice smile he'd told her she did too, and with a laugh she'd pointed out this was the first he'd seen of her as herself, to which he'd smiled again and said "Exactly". And so this whole thing felt more and more like a date with every passing moment.
They'd been seated just long enough to have made their orders – coffee for him, chocolate cake for her, because apparently they both failed at lunch – and were really just getting into the swing of things, having gotten past the awkward stage of sorting out the practicalities. She gave him a tiny smirk over the table, reaching for her glass of water. "So, is this where you meet all your online hookups for lunch?"
"I've never done this before," Zach claimed. He seemed sincere in his reply, but Kate gave him a look of pure yeah right, and it made him chuckle quietly. "I haven't!" he insisted, smiling. "It's just close to my office. We can go someplace else, if you want. There's a Barnabeez down the street --"
Was that a cold shiver down Kate's spine at the mere mention of the seafood restaurant? Yes, it kind of was. "No, I'm cool," she replied quickly. "Just getting acclimated." She looked around, then realized there was at least one pretty major thing she didn't know, so she tilted her head at him. "What do you do?"
He spread his napkin in his lap, then looked up at her again. "Um, does the word Yogohut mean anything to you?"
Uhh. Kate knew the word, she just didn't know what it had to do with anything. "The frozen yogurt places?" she asked. He nodded; she was unimpressed. "You work at one?"
She wasn't expecting answer she got.
"I own the chain."
Yeah, she probably looked a little like that piece of information didn't immediately even compute, since he chuckled softly again and glanced down. "I serve up the best frozen yogurt in the whole Kansas City metro area," he said, although neither his tone nor his smile were as smug as she may have expected. And he was really cute, and that may have contributed to her own little smile right about now. "Between trawling the web for mythical vixens with horns," she replied, wryly amused.
His smile dimmed some, though not all the way, and for a moment he held her gaze steadily. It was a little intense. "In between trying to stay interested in being alive," he said, and she was a little startled by it, and how it struck some chord in her, and how she had just yesterday had someone tell her not to randomly say heavy things like that. (See, Nathan? She wasn't the only one who did that.) And she had no idea how to react, so she was glad their waiter came by just then, drawing Zach's attention.
"Thank you," he said, then pointed at his newly acquired coffee cup on the table. "If I could get a little angostura bitters for my coffee, that'd be great, thanks."
Kate didn't know why, but she couldn't help smiling down at her piece of cake just then. She was still doing it when Zach asking her something made her look up. "What do you do?" The question made her smile turn more wry again. "Besides the Hawkwind porn-lite shuffle online and studying?" And dealing with Fandom, and vampires, and ex-boyfriends, and fighting lessons. "I don't know. Stew?"
They both laughed a little and she looked down again, hiding a smile. It felt like a long time since she'd done that last.
A pleasant hour or two later, he was dropping her off at Kansas City International Airport. She'd claimed to be flying back to the east coast, of course, but right now portals were way cheaper. Not to mention way more convenient, even if using one meant she couldn't have him walk her into the terminal, because explaining Portalocity so wasn't on the agenda for today. So, they were parting ways in his car just outside the airport. "Thanks for the ride," she said, once he'd pulled over and she was undoing her seatbelt. He nodded. So polite. "Of course."
Kate, showing she wasn't entirely oblivious to the dangers doing this kind of meet-up could entail, added, "Thanks for not taking me to a quarry and dismembering me." It made them both laugh. "Anytime," he promised, then paused for a breath before continuing. It looked like there was something on his mind. "Look, I know I don't know you that well," he started, "and... I know that we met under kind of... odd circumstances, but... You seem really smart. Which, to me, is a priority. And you're... really amazingly beautiful." He sounded so sincere and so sweet, and despite the unfortunate connotations those two qualities brought to her mind, this was where Kate had look down again, almost shyly, suppressing a vaguely embarrassed laugh. He didn't mind, he just continued on. "So if you ever get tired of pretending to be a princess online, and you wanna be treated like one for real, I'd love to be the guy to do it. That's all."
Kate could only smile and act a little flustered, and nod. "I will definitely take that into consideration." Zach's smile widened. "Perfect," he said, reaching into his pocket, producing a business card which he gave to her. "Here is my card." She took it, glancing over at him before reading the name of his company out loud, just barely resisting a little chuckle. "Yogohut."
"Yogohut," he agreed.
"Wonderful, she said with another smile. "Thank you. Bye."
As she was climbing out of the car and then watching him drive off, all she could really do was wonder at how she was feeling something approaching happiness, for the first time in about a month. It felt like an alien emotion, but she was embracing it.
There was hope for her yet.
[ooc: NFB, NFI, OOC-okay! Taken with tweakage from USoT S02E09.]