Express (Kit)

[Kitrana Moore]

"Who, Keri? Oh she was great! Me, her, and Tracy were just really good friends for forever. Both were super good cuddlers and they actually spoke enough English for me to talk to. Keri was German and I think Tracy was .. Maybe from the Netherlands? It's way different overseas where the countries are so much smaller. So much more culture mixing going on. Language is a bigger deal than nudity for the most part - or at least that's how it felt to me - and.. it's just different."

Kit finished putting the bleach in Jo's hair and took off her gloves, setting things aside on top of her tote, then setting a timer. "But anyway.. Yeah, Keri was brutally intelligent sometimes. It almost scared me how smart she was. And I could just lay on her lap for forever and listen to her explain things I didn't even know existed. And one night she was explaining something about how healthy sex is, and how wrong it was that so many people thought it was wrong to be open and promiscuous, how dumb it was that it made a difference to people what gender another person was. How love was love whether it was physical, romantic, friendship, or any other kind, and how physical love was just /good/ and shouldn't be restricted or pidgeonholed like it is..

"Well Tracy was there and just kinda petting my leg and I was sleepy and relaxed and I stretched a bit and I jokingly said that she should give me some, since Tracy always talked about how much love she had to give... and the next thing I knew Tracy was making out with me and Keri was... I don't even know what she was doing, but I have never felt anything quite the same since. I must have had dopamine oozing out of my pores by the time I came back to reality. --You can totally move now, by the way. Get comfy, just don't let your hair touch anything you don't want getting bleached." Kit had been dragging her fingertips back and forth across Jo's collarbone as she was reminiscing.. She wasn't sure when she'd started.

"Anyway.. Bit of a life-changing experience, ya know? And.. Even beforehand I'd never really looked at people as 'a girl' first and 'Tracy' after. Tracy was Tracy, and she happened to be a girl, right? Well Keri was Keri.. and Keri was a girl. But us I was laying there catching my breath I was laying across her lap and.. felt something pressing against my back. And it occurred to me that I wasn't surprised or offended or.. anything. Keri was just Keri. And it wasn't five minutes later that there was more blackout pleasure happening because I couldn't just.. NOT do something about how fucking wonderful I'd been made to feel. So Kerri was trans and I'll be damned if she wasn't all the better for being it, ya know?"

Kit fell back on the bed and stared at the ceiling. "I am not doing a good job of not coming across as a nympho, huh? Oh well. Sex is awesome. Let people call me a nympho. But I'm not interested in casual 'unh-unh-unh ahh' sex. Boring. Plain. I'm interested in real sex. Freely and gladly giving pleasure to another person. Keri was masterful at it. Lots of love to give. And.. how many people lost the chance to experience how awesome she was intellectually or physically just because she was trans? It's so dumb to hate somebody or dismiss somebody just because they aren't like you.. If you're gonna hate somebody, hate them for their repeated bad choices, not for their circumstance.. the stuff they have no control over. Keri was born a boy but she wasn't a boy. Keri was one of the most gloriously female beings I've ever met."

And Kit sat back up looking a little sad. "I honestly think I might have been in love with her.. But I knew my family was coming back here.. and I knew she had Tracy.. and Tracy was pretty awesome too. Shame. If it could have worked, it would have been wonderful." She glanced at the timer before she curled up and fell over on the bed again, stealing one of Jo's pillows to get comfy.

"How about you? Any boyfriends? Girlfriends? Friend-friends? More-than-friends? What's your type? Tell me more about your brother or.. I dunno. Tell me who you are. I don't have enough people to love. Everybody could use at least one close, no-judgement friend. Those people are hard to find. If you're not gonna let me show you how much fun girls can be, I can at least be that for you, yeah? Tell me a secret."

[Joelle McIntosh]

As Kit talked, Joelle settled her shoulders against the bed, content just to listen. Now she’d gotten over the initial shock of Kit witnessing something she’d never shared with anyone, the idea of this bright, bubbly, bold girl being her friend was making her happier and happier. She needed someone with Kit’s confidence to teach her how to be braver.

Hearing about someone who had clearly made a success of their transition actually made her feel… calm. Maybe Europe was better about it than America. Lots of places were better with a lot of things than America. Still, she was liking the stories Kit had. Okay, so the more… explicit parts had her cheeks and ears burning, but the rest? The rest was honestly refreshing.

Sex wasn’t something Jo had really thought about a lot. Well, she had, but she had a tendency to think about how it could all go wrong. Any mention of it during her psychiatrist appointments tended to be something she preferred to avoid. It was something she knew she had to talk about eventually, but for now she preferred not to. It was a weird subject, so to hear Kit speak so candidly about it was… yeah. Weird.

Weird, but she almost wanted to ask her questions now. That urge she clamped down on, though. She did not want to discuss having sex with her roommate. Nope nope nope nope nope.

The more Kit talked, though, the more Joelle thought about coming out to her. Clearly she didn’t have any issue with people who were trans, and to be able to actually tell someone rather than hiding away… it was supposed to be healthy to talk about it, but at the same time, it still made her nervous. Coming out to her family had been hard enough, so with someone she didn’t know well? Scary too, but at the same time… maybe Kit was the perfect person to talk about it to. She knew she was going in circles mentally, but she couldn’t help it.

It seemed like as abruptly as the sex talk had started, Kit switched gears again. Honestly, she almost made Jo dizzy by how fast she talked and how easily she switched subjects. Blinking, Joelle got to her feet and took up residence in her desk chair, sitting backwards in it and laying her arms on the top of the backrest so she could actually see Kit. “No… I’ve never had a boyfriend. Or a girlfriend.” Shrugging, she looked up at the ceiling for a moment. “I haven’t made a lot of friends since I got here, but I haven’t been here real long either.” That, she didn’t feel bad for. “I did kind of make one, though.” Just the thought of Koty was enough to send color rushing to her cheeks. Her hand even felt warmer as she recalled the feeling of his hand on hers. “I met him the other weekend. He helped me pick a fish.” She left out that he’d also weaseled his way into paying for her tank upgrade for little Blip. “His name’s Koty.” Maybe Kit knew him? “He’s real nice.” And cute. And sweet. And warm. And a million other good things.

Hopefully, Kit wouldn’t notice her blushing.

Skimming her foot along the floor, Jo tilted her head slightly. A secret? After listening to everything Kit had had to say… she bit on her lower lip again and looked back up at the ceiling so she didn’t have to look at her roommate. “If you’re a close, non-judgemental friend…” Oh, God, was she really going to do this?

“I’m… I’m trans too. Like… like Keri.”

And now Kit knew.

[Kitrana Moore]

"Oh?" ... Huh. That was a surprise. As much as Keri was gloriously female, Kit couldn't picture Keri dancing anything like Jo just had. "I'm not even gonna guess at how far along you are or if you're doing a full or partial transition, but you pass as well as anyone I've ever met. Keep it up and.. Yeah, that invite to go shower remains open. --After your hair is gloriously blonde, that is."

And that was that. Jo might get the impression that perhaps Kit was just about the perfect person to come out to. Because she truly, honestly didn't care. Not in the negative 'keep it away from me' way, but in the 'it changes nothing about who you are' way. If she hadn't already known that, Keri had definitely taught her. "So this Koty guy.. Asian? Average-ish height, dark hair... Always looks all mysterious or like he's peering into your soul or something?" Presuming there was some sort of positive response, Kit would give a nod. "I don't really know him, but he seems pretty chill, even if he keeps mostly to himself."

She pondered on how many times she'd seen him and where.. "I end up running around the track with him once in a while in the mornings when I can't sleep.. He's like clockwork. Always stretches, always wearing the same outfit, always pretty easy on the eyes. He's like my polar opposite, kinda. Refreshing in a way, though. If some asian dude can manage to be that normal, pretty sure I can do it too if I ever need to."

Of course, she hadn't missed Jo's blush at mentioning him, even if it was now covered by the deeper blush of what she was imagined was coming out to one of the first couple people at the school. "But yeah. I approve. If you're into guys, there are worse ones to go after. He smells like he has money.. but doesn't also smell like a pompous ass, ya know? Husband - or at least boyfriend - material, that. Course, he also smells like sushi every time I see him, and I really like sushi.. so I may be a touch biased. How'd you meet him?"

She glanced at the timer again, curling up more into a tiny ball on Jo's bed. There was still a while to go.

[Joelle McIntosh]

Jo wasn't sure what to expect once she'd actually brought herself to say the words. Maybe an 'okay' followed by questions, or Kit suddenly being weirded out. Her psychiatrist kept telling her to stop expecting the worst, but it was hard. Even with someone as experienced as Kit. The 'oh' had her worried for a moment, but as she continued Jo perked up a bit. Most people she knew knew she was trans simply because they'd known her as Joey before she went as Joelle. Someone she didn't know telling her she passed as a girl? Clearly she was doing nothing something right, with or without surgery or hormones. A wave of relief washed over her. Finally, someone to talk to that wasn't a doctor of some kind or her family! "Thank you!" Gone was the anxiety over being walked in on while she was dancing. This feeling far, far made up for it. "I'm still... Waiting to start hormones. I have to wait another year." Her expression quite clearly showed just how she felt about that. "I wanna transition fully. Eventually." Because maybe then she'd stop hating her ugly, stupid body.

No, no. That was bad. She wasn't supposed to think like that.

As happy as she was to have someone to talk about herself with without being overwhelmed by anxiety or fear, she was also happy about, well, gossiping. Like girls. .... And learning a little more about the pretty, quiet boy. Kit described him perfectly, and she nodded her confirmation.

So he liked running. Well, it wasn't her favorite, but maybe she could go running with him at some point. Jeff already seemed to like dragging her out on runs, and while being with her brother was nice.... so would running with Koty.

She was happily half-daydreaming about that when Kit brought her crashing back down to Earth. "H-husband?" Cue a rather deer-in-the-headlights look. She was almost sixteen! Waaaaay too young to think about that! Toying with her bracelet, Jo looked back at the floor. "Ooooor boyfriend. Maybe. I don't know. I've never even had a boyfriend!" She had no idea if Koty even liked her. Okay, he'd held her hand, but that was just to talk to Blip and Ash, right? Nothing else!

.... But he did have warm hands.

Get a grip, Jo!

Meeting.... meeting. "He went with me to the pet store to pick out fish. I was gonna take the bus but he gave me a ride instead." She couldn't quite wipe the dopey smile from her face over the memory of the wild drive. "It was really cool." Especially the hand holding...

Maybe she was hopeless.

[Kitrana Moore]

Kit blinked and grinned. "Oh, you mean the first time you met him you just hopped in the car with him to go get a new pet? Haha! You go girl. That's bold. That's approaching my level of boldness. I bet he was all super polite and apologetic about it, too. Probly because he emigrated from Japan. Did you know that about him? Super close to one of the trainers from what I gather. Looks up to dude like a father figure. Brings him lunch like once a week. Speaks fluent Japanese. Obviously it's hard to tell what they're saying cause.. I mean.. I don't. But they're neat to watch. Kitty is a bit of a voyeur.... as.. er.. you may have just found out. I can't help it. You know what they say about cats and curiosity."

Kit then made a show of counting out of her fingers up to seven.. "I figure I have two lives left at this point." She chuckled, then pushed up off the bed and fell over onto her other side, stretching and getting comfortable. And from the distance they were apart, it might be pretty obvious to Joelle just how small Kit was. Seriously, four foot two was tiny. "Anyway.. if you've never had a boyfriend, no doubt he would make a good first one. Bet you anything he's the last person on campus to mistreat you or hold it against you if things to south. Or.. ya know.. maybe we're talking about love and junk and I'd just really like you to experience some of it, especially what with you being trans and still new at it. Since you won't let me give you any, you aught to get it somewhere. You could definitely do worse for a first try. Got his number? Text him. Ask him. Doooooiiiiittt..."

[Joelle McIntosh]

Okay, this kind of wasn't the first time that particular move had been commented on. Going with a stranger wasn't always the best of ideas, but Koty had been nothing other than sweet. Still, to learn more about him was an unexpected bonus. She sat up a bit more as she listened, trying not to grin too much. "He was really nice about it!" Okay, and a bit apologetic but that was okay. She purposely left out the part about Koty upgrading her tank for Blip. That part... still weirded her out. A little. But at least Blip was happy. "I didn't know he lived in Japan. He speaks English perfectly." And sweetly.

"Seven lives?" That threw her into a fit of giggles. "I do and I don't wanna know!" Kit certainly was interesting. And bold. But friendly, and thus perfectly acceptable as friend material. Jo had had friends back home of course, but no real close girlfriends. Perhaps Kit could be that for her.

... And apparently girlfriends talked about boys. Well, of course they did. She'd seen it enough in the halls, and had done it a little back home. But that had been harder. Hammel was her new leaf, and she was determined to keep things that way. "What?!" Was Kit really suggesting what she thought she was? Good boyfriend material or not, a guy like Koty probably had a line outside his door. He was tall and handsome and sweet and well spoken and... mature. No way he'd want to go out like on a date with her! "I've got his number..." she admitted, not meeting Kit's eyes. "But I can't ask him out! I bet he has a girlfriend." And that was only her first reason as to why this was not a good idea.

[Kitrana Moore]

"We'll be here a while. I'll regale you with my tales of badassery later. After we text Koty." Progress. Number? Check. Adorably awkward and bashful and self-demeaning to avoid texting? Check. Fortunately, Kit was neither bashful, nor Jo-demeaning. "Okay. I'm sorry to do this.. But we aren't washing the bleach out of your hair till you text him. I know, I know.. extortion.. but it'll be good for you regardless of his answer. And I'm pretty sure I'd have seen him with somebody.. I see all kinds of stuff and I've never seen him with any girls. Or boys, for that matter. Not regularly."

Kit stretched some more and then rose to rest on her elbow and stare. "If you won't send the text, I will.. But one of us probably should.. cause you only have like fifteen minutes left for that bleach, and it's higher volume than usual because your hair is dark and thick. Half an hour from now and things will start going south...."

She paused for a long moment, staring intensely. "And you aren't gonna do it.. So gimme your phone. I got this. Promise. Will be super professional about it. Imitate you, even. Opposite of the way I talk." And she pivoted on her hip, hopped off the bed, and stood there with one hand out and the other on her hip. "Besides, you know it's gonna eat away at you if you don't at least find out."

[Joelle McIntosh]

"After?" Wait. This was so not how this was supposed to be going! Texting Koty for anything other than fish advice seemed like an abuse of the number. Weren't guys supposed to be the ones doing the kind of texting Kit was talking about anyway? If that was true and he hadn't done it... wasn't that good enough? "Mm... Maaaaybe he just doesn't date? My brother doesn't." It was possible. Jeff didn't date. The day she saw her brother with a girl or boy in a romantic manner was probably the same day Hell froze over.

"Kiiiiit. You wouldn't do that!" Or maybe she would. The threat was there. Jo squirmed in her chair, already tripping over her words in her head without even having the phone in her hands. "I don't even know what to say!" Crushes were one thing, but the possible boyfriend thing was a whole other game she wasn't sure she knew how to play. Besides, what if he wasn't as accepting as Kit? She'd said he was, but... it was scary. This was scary.

Which meant that yes, Kit was right. Left to her own devices, Jo would probably stare at her phone until her hair fell out from the bleach solution. After a moment of intense internal debate she got up from her desk chair and crossed to her dresser, where her phone sat. Unlocking it, she scrolled down to Koty's contact, which was currently marked with a picture of Ash. Looking at it a moment longer, she gingerly offered it to Kit. "Okaaaay. But I get to see it before it gets sent!"

[Kitrana Moore]

"Oh no you don't."

And Kit dove under Joelle's bed. Where Joelle couldn't follow without getting bleach all over not only the carpet but also her bedspread... Furious texting followed... and Jo's text tone a moment later.. followed by more texting.. and then her text tone again.. More texting.. another reply. A shorter text.. another reply.

Kit emerged from under the bed a little dusty but immediately raised both arms in victory. "SUCCESS!" She then giggled and tossed Jo's phone lightly to her. "Told you.. professional and cute."

When Jo looked, she would find the conversation:

Jo: If I wanted to ask you something maybe awkward, should I be silly about it or blunt?

Koty: You are welcome to be as direct or indirect as you feel necessary..

Jo: ....How would you respond if I said I wanted to.. maybe pursue a more-than-friends relationship with you?

Koty: I would likely say that I would be open to such a possibility, though you are welcome to consult both Blip and Ash on the matter if you are unsure.

Jo: I would like to pursue a more-than-friends relationship with you.

Koty: I am quite open to that as a possibility, though you may want to confirm it with Blip and Ash first.

Jo: I'm sure they won't have a problem with it.

Koty: Then my followup query would be what day you were available for a first date, and what sort of food you might like to have.

"Go ahead. Tell me I'm not your best friggin friend right now." Kit did a little dance, then glanced at the timer on the bed.. Still five minutes left.

[Joelle McIntosh]

Joelle couldn't quite believe what was happening right now. As Kit dove under the bed she yelped and dropped to her knees. "KIT! GET BACK HERE!" She tried swiping her arm under, but with Kit being so small and Jo unwilling to wreck her sheets or the carpet, she resorted to an exasperated noise to voice her opinion on the matter. In the back of her mind she could feel Blip fretting, but she simply sent soothing thoughts to him. At least one of them could be calm.

The increasing frequency in her text tones was making her worry. "Kit what's happening? What are you doing? ... What did he say?"

And just like that Kit reappeared, clearly please with herself. Heart fluttering in a mix of anxiety and excitement, she turned the device and read the exchange.

... And reread. And read again. An excited squeak left her throat as she looked back and grinned. "Oh my god Kit! You're the BEST BEST FRIEND EVER! I'd totally hug you right now buuuut the bleach. So hugs after!" Because holy crap she had a DATE!

[Kitrana Moore]

Well.. she didn't have one yet. Joelle might want to actually respond with a day and a type of food! In the meantime, though, Kit was looking a bit full of herself and smiling huge. Kit the matchmaker.

"Alright.. so you've got five minutes left on that bleach and FINE I will give up (for now) on getting you in the shower, but we're gonna need to head to the showers anyway to get this all rinsed soon enough so let's head that way while you tell me what you're gonna wear and how hardcore you are gonna rock your epic purple hair and what you're gonna say you want to eat. He's got money and like.. Surely he's gonna not mind spending it. You should totally suggest some place nice. Let him pamper you a little, ya know? Unless you just really don't wanna be seen in a super nice place with some dude straight out of an anime who is out of the league of everyone else in the place but is totally sitting across the table from you.. all candlelight and soft classical music in the background and red velvety tablecloths and five little courses that are all just orgasmicly good and then the freakin dessert that's so rich and amazing you literally gain weight looking at it but you can SO afford to eat it because you're freakin hot and in great shape..." Kit blinked.. glancing back at the time again.

"Er.. I'm sorry, I may have gotten a bit lost there... C'mon." And she would grab Jo's hand and haul her off to the showers.. where, unless Jo brought it up, she would stay true to her word and NOT pester her about taking a shower together.. instead actually being super big-sisterly (lol at Kit being 'big' anything) and maternal and being super careful to make sure every bit of bleach was rinsed out and checking constantly over the state of Joelle's hair...

"Damn girl. Your hair is amazing. Like.. usually the first few bleaches I see split ends and hair that's fried but yours is just thick and luscious and amazing. It's gonna color up beautifully..." And when the rinsing was complete, Joelle could look in the mirror and see herself as a platinum blonde. Because Kit knew her shit. She'd bleached and dyed more hair than most stylists and Joelle was getting the full benefit of her experience. After all, what was a bestie for? "But seriously, what are you gonna wear? Where you gonna go to eat? We can totally go shopping if you want something nice. I'll get hold of my dad's amex card and we will make you so stunning that Koty nuts in his p-- I mean, that he can't take his eyes off of you."

[Joelle McIntosh]

The problem with replying was that it required more thought than Jo could pull off at this point in time. She was over the moon excited, with a pinch of nerves mixed in to make things interesting. Butterflies were dancing up a storm in her stomach, but she didn’t care.

Those butterflies just kicked up a bigger storm when Kit started the questions. She didn’t even know that many places in Pilot Ridge yet! Maybe she’d need more help than she realized. “I don’t know what to wear… or even a good place to go!” If she wasn’t worried about getting bleach on her hands, they would have been up in her hair, twisting the strands around nervously. Worried brown eyes looked down at Kit. “Where’s nice? What are you supposed to wear on a date? … What do you even do on a date?” Excitement was giving way slightly to panic, because seriously, how? Surely Kit knew how dates worked. She had to have gone on lots, as pretty and nice as she was. She certainly knew a lot about… other things. “I mean, I wanna go somewhere he’ll like too…” It was no good if only one of them liked it.

But enough questions, because she was up and going behind Kit. Trotting to keep up with her, she endured the seemingly endless rinsing that came with the bleaching solution. When it was finally over, she stared in wonder at her newly blonde hair.

Wow.

And now they were back to twenty questions. “I don’t know where to eat or what to wear. …. Will you help me? You can raid my closet.” She had a few nice things, mostly because she had a penchant for skirts, but was anything she owned really date-worthy? “You can’t spend your dad’s money on me!” That was… somehow worse than Koty spending his money on Blip’s palace.

Of course, the other part made her cheeks flush red. She liked the idea of him not being able to take his eyes off of her. But the part about his pants? Not so much.

[Kitrana Moore]

Instead of answering any of Joelle's questions, though, Kit was busy staring at her in the mirror... "Hot damn you a sexy blonde, girl... Gonna be more risque and mysterious and dark with purple, though... Oh yeah. I done good. Shit, if this turns out as good as I think I might have to try out the purple again. Haven't gone dark in a while. --Oh, and it's gonna look so good when it starts to fade! We'll just retouch the couple inches from the scalp when the roots start showing, then retouch again and you'll end up in a month with your natural color fading into the dark purple fading into pastel and almost white... Ugh it's gonna be so pretty...."

Er.. wait.. speaking of pretty.. "Wait, did you tell me I couldn't spend my dad's money on you?" she struck a bit of a pose and got a mischievous grin. "I know your size by looking. You can come with me and we get you a handful of outfits, or you can refuse and I'll come back with a new closet. --Anyway.." Because really... Jo was a bit of a pushover.. She was gonna go. "Let's see... I'm seeing.. a little stripey in the legs.. a little shiny around the shoulders.. maybe some lace... --But that's more of a party thing.. Hmmm.... --We'll just see what they have! As for the place to get food.. there are a ridiculous number of nice places around here for how small the town is. I don't know how they all stay open but I'm not complaining. I'm gonna say you probably want to go with something italian.. Little romantic, lots of good choices. Pastas. Comfort foods. Savory and tangy. Who doesn't like a good bolognaise or a creamy alfredo? Let's see.. Middle of the road, probably. Not the craziest expensive.. Borgioli's. That's where you should go. Around 30 a meal.. Nice but not ridiculous. And you get plenty of food for what you pay. You'll be bringing home a kitty bag for me, I promise." Because a 'doggy bag' would just be silly...

"Anything with portobello there is amazing, or look into the seafood alfredo stuff or maaaybe the lasagna. Can't really go wrong. But if you're going to an italian place we're going to need you in some reds and blacks.. The decore there is all woody and red. You want a little blend and a little pop. I'm thinking... vest. Maybe. Have to see how it fits your figure but I could see dark leather boots, black hose, red skirt.. Or maybe black skirt, red vest? Auburn.. auburn.. orange? Auburn. Red.. dark.. Or we could stick with less poppy colors and let all the red be on your lips. Oh. Oh, I like that. Wanna show your figure just a bit but stay classy, yeah...."

Kit had been circling and leaning and peering, hand on her chin in thought... and suddenly stopped and smacked herself on the forehead. "Duh. We need to see the hair first." She rolled her eyes at herself and took Jo's hand, casually dragging her back to her dorm. "Oh, it's gonna make your lipstick freakin POP... Super bright red.. satin, not glossy... tiniest bit of glitter in the eye shadow... something maybe with a bit of blue.. leave your cheeks natural.. You're adorable when you blush, we don't wanna cover that up.."

And four minutes later Jo's hair would be full of wonderfully cool and conditioning dark purple goop, Kit casually running her fingers and a comb through Jo's hair, making absolutely sure everything was coated evenly and perfectly and apparently hardly even aware she was doing it. "So seriously though.. You gotta have some opinions on all this talking I've been doing. Spill. And be honest. Besties gotta be honest. --Oh, and you should text him that Thursday would be the best time for a date. Because Thursday is the best time for a date. Small crowd at the restaurants, Wait staff are gearing up for the weekend rush, but they aren't rushed so you get great service, and you get that crucial day apart afterwards because of school.. so all you can think about is him and him you. Makes date two even more magical."

Not that Kit had been on many dates... but she did know a thing or two about them. She'd hooked up a lot of friends over the years.

[Joelle McIntosh]

Ohh of course Kit was going to go right for the compliments instead of answering important questions. Looking at her own reflection… well, Kit wasn’t wrong. It was weird, though. She’d never been blonde before. Heck, everyone in her family was solidly brunette. As Kit babbled on about technicalities with her hair, she just reached up to touch the wet strands, smiling as she did so. “Thank you for doing this, Kit. I really do appreciate it. I’ve never dyed my hair before, so this is really, really cool.”

Hopefully her mom would think so too. Or at the very least not kill her from a hundred miles away.

Watching Kit work, she’d almost blanked out, but when Kit fought back on her protest, she bit her lip and nodded. Of course she couldn’t spend her dad’s money on her! “Wait, Kit…” Aaaand nope, she was off again. She had no idea what kind of money Kit had access to, but it seemed like a lot if she could pull stuff like this. After a moment of listening, she made a face at her. “Don’t you dare go out and bring back a whole closet! I’ll go, I’ll go!” Maybe then she could do some damage control. Or at least limit whatever she was going to do.

Sometimes Kit talked so much and so fast it was hard to follow. Especially when she switched from clothes to food at a dizzying pace. Blinking, she tried to keep up, though she did have to smile over the kitty bag comment. “Of course I’ll bring you something.” She could try to keep that in mind, anyway. Maybe bring her some chicken or something.

She should have been taking notes, but she hadn’t thought to bring a notebook to the showers. Nor had she thought that Kit would have so many ideas. She’d potentially need to get her to repeat herself once they were back in the room and she had her phone again to answer Koty. … Which sent butterflies kicking up in her stomach.

She let Kit drag her back to their room, trotting to keep up, and she assumed the position back on the floor, letting Kit work her magic with the crazy purple goo. “You’re really good at that. … The planning stuff.” She had so many good ideas that, while dizzying, were really helping. At least she had some direction now.

Right. Opinions. “Well… I think you’re right about the Italian stuff.” Granted, it was bringing up happy images of Lady and the Tramp. How much more romantic could you get? “And we can go shopping. I’ll go with you, and you can play dress up however you want. I’ll take any help I can get.”

Gingerly, she picked up her phone from the floor and swiped across to unlock it. After a few moments of just staring at the screen, she began to slowly type as Kit talked.

Jo: Would Thursday be okay? And… what do you think about Italian food?

Instantly she locked it again and put it on the floor beside her, not daring to watch it as they waited for a reply. “There. I texted him.”

Tilting her head back so that she could look at Kit, she smiled at her. “Thank you. You’re really good at this. Like… all of it. The talking to boys and planning and fashion…” She smiled and reached up one hand in the hopes of catching one of Kit’s. “You really are my best friend.”

[Kitrana Moore]

Kit had honestly lost herself a bit in the preening of still-dying hair and hadn't even seen nor heard about the text message.. She was thinking.. somewhat deeper thoughts. Thoughts that she was a little afraid of because they were a rather big deal.. A big deal that might cause difficulties with Koty.. Or one that she could be refused outright about.. A big deal that she didn't want to put on Jo's shoulders despite how strong and sudden an urge said deal was...

And she was brought out of her introspection by Jo's hand taking hers. Fortunately, it was the un-gloved clean one that had been holding the comb. Kit glanced down, a look of vulnerability not even covered by her surprise. She wasn't used to having someone around for nearly this long and so tended to get lost in her thoughts. And that 'big deal' ceased to be a possibility and instead locked itself in place as a necessity. Something she would one day have to try for. There was no better person on earth to try for.. no other person that would fit quite the same.. no other way to find the perfect dynamic..

And so Kit stared for several long seconds before her eyes glistened a bit before she looked away and cleared her throat, her normal jovial and outgoing personality shining through again. "Of course I am, love. Nothing I'm better at. Save for possibly.. well.. y'know.. but I already admitted defeat on that front. I think we're probably done for a while, though... Here starts the actual waiting game." She set the comb down on top of the tote and grabbed a shower cap, softly stretching it around Jo's head and making sure all of her hair was captured in it before letting it go. She then peeled off the glove she was wearing and plonked it down inside-out on the tote as well, shoving the gloopy comb inside it.

"Now we're gonna let that stew for .. um.. until you take a shower. You can't leave it in too long. If we were doing an all-in-one color we couldn't do that but since we bleached and then colored, the color is actually like hella good for your hair and leaving it in is gonna make things even more wonderful. And your hair is crazy receptive to bleach and color as it is. I'm almost sorry I don't get to run my hands through it some more.." Er.. down, girl. "But yeah, you can even leave that in overnight and sleep with it as long as you're confident you won't pull off the shower cap in your sleep. That would result in... your hair matching your pillowcases and blankets. Not particularly desirable. If you wanna dye your clothes I have different stuff for that. Way cheaper and does a better job."

But as Jo presumably got to her feet to stretch her legs after having been sitting for a while, Kit swallowed hard. How was she gonna bring up what she wanted? And when? Surely today would be.. too soon. Way too soon. And she wouldn't want to color Jo's date or give her anything extra to worry about. As long as she could keep Jo from noticing the horribly longing, mesmerized, desperate look... that she was giving right now... that Jo was staring at... shit.

Saved by the buzzer, though(maybe)! Jo's phone buzzed on the floor with a new text message. It was, of course, Koty. Thursday would be perfect and I believe your choice in restaurants is wonderful as well. Can I pick you up around 6:30? Perhaps the same place we first met?