Overland Park, KS, A Morning in May [Wednesday Fandom Time]

[vanillajello]

The stupid thing about going to Kansas was that time was much slower. Kate was painfully aware that while she'd already been gone from Fandom over two days, it had barely been 18 hours for her. Still, after a night at home, she was just about starting to feel a little less raw. The general nausea had abated, at least, as had the panic.

The guilt, however irrational she knew it to be, would probably stay for a while.

Stretching out on her bed, Kate reached to get her phone from the nightstand, then turned it on. For a moment, she thought about making a call – to Bod, to Jack, to Mitchell, to Hannibal, to anyone – but she decided against it, unable to really decide what it was she wanted to say to any one of them. (Except maybe Hannibal. There was a certain amount of I get it now present.) She put the phone down on the bed next to her.

She'd be available now; that'd have to be enough.

[ooc: NFB, but open for phone calls and texts! Whoo, taking advantage of my 1,5 days at home.]

Comments

[therewaslife]

"You did spend a long time fighting it," Bod agreed because he remembered how it was in the beginning of everything. "I'm still glad I didn't kiss you at your kissing booth."

[vanillajello]

Kate chuckled a little. "God, you made that whole thing so weird. And so fucking complicated."

[therewaslife]

"Well, I am weird and it did turn out to be complicated," Bod pointed out, shrugging and smiling. "I did want to kiss you, of course. I wanted to but I wanted it to be mutual and not because I paid. I thought it'd mean more."

[vanillajello]

"I know, you told me," Kate replied, fondly. "You were doing the kissing booth thing all wrong. It's supposed to be meaningless, and I was trying to fix my messed up self by making out with people, and then you had to come along and make me want something more meaningful in the middle of that."

[therewaslife]

"Yes, but look what you received from that?" Bod said, smiling at her. "You wanted something more meaningful and you got something more meaningful. And really, are you surprised I did the kissing booth wrong? It was the firs time I'd encountered one, after all."

[vanillajello]

"Well, seeing as when we first met, you could barely order anything at the Perk, so I guess not," Kate teased. "And you totally forced meaningful on me with your weird pale graveyard boy ways. I'm a very shallow person!"

She was not, really.

[therewaslife]

"You could have easily resisted my weird pale graveyard boy ways," Bod protested with a laugh. "You know you could have. The truth is, you didn't want to resist and that's why we eventually ended up together."

[vanillajello]

"And in the longest relationship I've ever had," Kate remarked. "Even excluding the bit where... it wasn't. It's kind of crazy to think about."

[therewaslife]

"That was just a bump in the road," Bod decided, nodding. They'd both gotten hurt and they'd both been stubborn and they'd worked it out. "And while I may not be your first relationship, I think being your longest relationship means I get to claim a first too. That's one of my few for you!"

[vanillajello]

"I don't know if that's really a first," Kate mused, because it was light arguing and she wanted things like that right now. "I mean, 'first long relationship'? It's all so relative."

[therewaslife]

"You can't even let me have one first for you?" Bod asked, amused. "I have so few! I can't even name another one besides being your longest relationship. Possibly the first...graveyard boy?"

Well, he hoped, at least.

[vanillajello]

"There are more than that." See, she could be agreeable too. "First guy to ever travel through dimensions just to come be with me."

[therewaslife]

"Well, you're worth it and I thought you'd need me as much as I needed you," Bod replied, smiling.

[vanillajello]

"Did you need me?" she asked, though it was light. "Or were you just bummed no one was around to kiss you and dance with you?"

[therewaslife]

"Actually, I had this rather bad itch that I couldn't reach between my shoulder blades and I came all this way so you could scratch it for me," he said, not even bothering to seem serious about it. "I hoped you could help with that and I came all this way just to request you scratch my back."

[vanillajello]

"Weirdo," Kate snorted. "You could've at least lied and told me you were missing me so much it was affecting your aility to sleep. See if I scratch your back now."

[therewaslife]

"I was missing you, I was worried about you, I felt lonely without you, I wanted to tell you I loved you so you knew because I thought it might help while you were dealing with this, and my back isn't that itchy," Bod assured her, smiling.

[vanillajello]

"Thank you," Kate replied, leaning in to lightly kiss his lips. "And thanks for the... texts, too. They made me cry like a moron but thank you."

[therewaslife]

"I didn't mean to make you cry," Bod said apologetically. "I just thought seeing me would do more to make you believe my words than just getting it in a text message."

[vanillajello]

"They were good tears, Bod, or at least better than what I've generally been crying lately," Kate replied wryly. "Though I approve of everything that gets you to come here like that."

[therewaslife]

Bod smiled and leaned forward to steal a kiss of his own. "I would have come sooner but I wanted you to have time to yourself to decompress for a bit. I know being alone with your thoughts is difficult but it was probably needed, at least at first."

[vanillajello]

"Yeah, that might have kinda been the point in running away." Or, it had totally been the point. "Of course, I didn't account for the fact that everything moves slower here."

[therewaslife]

"You still needed the time even if it's been comparatively less time here than it is on the island," he said, starting a slow, smooth stroking up and down her back with his fingers.

[vanillajello]

"Yeah." Kate sighed, leaning into the touch a bit more. "It'd be totally cowardly to just stay here in never go back, right?"

She wasn't entirely serious.

[therewaslife]

"Your parents might wonder why I'm suddenly living here," he joked, smiling briefly. Yes, he was including himself in the whole 'never leaving again' fantasy she was having. "And I think your friends on the island might miss you or at least regret not being able to say goodbye to you."