#kats around fourteen here btw

[raphwshere]

i call them punkpunk duo and they are best friends :DD

[sweepseven]

Cirque du Soleil: Crystal review

This review has taken me a full month to write. Like literally I saw the show on June 16 and here we are on July 16. And coincidentally that is the tl;dr of this post: Crystal’s primary quality is how easy it is to forget. Sometimes for four weeks at a time. 

Looking back on my notes on the performance I’m kind of laughing because I was vicious! And now I’m laughing again because here I am saying “Crystal is forgettable” while looking at notes that say “Crystal is a story that literally never never needs to be told” and despite standing firmly by both these statements, I had a genuinely good time at the show! I think ultimately the insistence upon such a poor and pointless story was the show’s greatest weakness, but there were true moments of Cirque magic hidden in there that were worth the ticket price. And what really kept me engaged was the innovation - it was lovely to see some totally uncharted waters from CdS again. It felt like it’s been a long while. 

Verdict: see it if it’s within half an hour of you. And get the cheap seats. Bring like, a younger cousin or a niece, but probably don’t bring a friend. Definitely see it if you want to watch a swinging trapeze act performed by what is functionally a fourteen year old girl blare the lyrics “one two three, one two three drink, throw ‘em back til I lose count.” Overall I think you’ll have a good time.

Act by act takedown breakdown below!

So I had to dig into the press kit to get these act names, because often there aren’t acts so much as there are scenes and settings where acrobatic things happen. These scenes are often accompanied by a voiceover, melodramatic to the point of comedy, explaining Crystal’s emotions, her wants, her routines, and whatever else as though a decent show couldn’t communicate the same things wordlessly. It seems like the voiceover explains only the things the audience can already figure out on their own, then leaves us floundering when it comes to the truly confusing stuff (which, again, in a more effective show would not have been confusing at all). So if the act titles don’t make any sense here, don’t worry - it’s only because the show is telling the most pointless story on earth. 

The pre-show animation is very cute and instantly immersive - ice skaters get laced up and skate lazily around the rink, the band (phenomenal, btw) mills around the audience, and Cooper has little snowball fights with the kids in the audience. (Cooper, I should note, is an incredible skater and got some real laughs out of me throughout the show - I really really enjoyed him.) It was a lovely introduction and I was feeling very optimistic about the show.

We then transition to the actual show and projections introduce us to Crystal. Crystal is a daydreamer, her parents just don’t understand her, she has to do schoolwork, she just wants to be herself and create but the world won’t let her!!! She runs away because she doesn’t want to do homework or smth and falls through the ice at the skating pond. 

Yes. The story Cirque has chosen to tell is: young teen girl nearly drowns. Like it is that realistic and explicit - we see the ice crack, we see the air bubbles, we see her falling, and later we see her punching the ice apart to return to the surface. They could have so easily made the story “girl goes ice skating, falls, is taken to a strange world in which she can only stay a little while.” It could have even been “girl goes ice skating, fantasizes about her world and future.” No. Cirque has instead chosen “near death experience that forces the audience to wonder whether the remainder of the show is Crystal’s life flashing before her eyes.” The setting and character are made to be so of our own world that the story doesn’t immerse you in fantasy - instead it holds fantasy just out of reach with the knowledge that Crystal is actively drowning scratching at the back of your mind. 

“Kat, it’s not that deep, just let them tell the story.” Honestly, no. This was a poor choice and I’ve seen them tell similar stories a thousand times better. You can’t ground a setting so firmly in reality and then expect your audience to discard that reality the minute you want to show them some cool circus shit. And worse, 90% of the acts continually and explicitly refer to reality, so there’s no escaping it.

I will also pause here to say fuck off with the pen! omg. If writing is Crystal’s thing, just let her do that. Introduce it early and position her as a daydreamer. She doesn't have to be a social reject too. I could retool this entire plot in about a minute, I swear. Reflection as her self-insert OC come to life. Falls through the ice and sees her visions made real but needs to go back to the real world to share them with others through writing. Two immediately stronger options. Like come on.

Honestly I can’t say enough bad things about the story so I’m just gonna move on I’m sorry. 

Tempête is a group skating scene that takes place as Crystal is whisked beneath the ice. Everything about it makes for a fantastic opening act: the projections are sharp and impressive, the band goes hard beyond belief, and the quality of the skating was incredible. I don’t know much about figure skating beyond what I catch in the winter Olympics, so I’d never seen such a large group skating in such synchronicity before. There was some banquine in the mix too, but this was the first instance of what became a theme for the entire show: the ice is the star, and when they just put other acts on ice without involving the ice itself, the acts suffer. So the banquine elements were forgettable, but the skating more than made up for it and I was very excited to see more. 

Crystal herself is a beautiful skater, and I adored whom in my notes I called Dark Crystal but the press kit tells me is actually called Reflection. I like Dark Crystal better because that’s basically what she was - a bolder, mysterious version of the protagonist that presents a fantastic opportunity to push Crystal’s character development. This was also the first instance of some mirror imagery, which would become a motif for the rest of the show. I don’t think it was really necessary here - we’re already looking at an actual twin of Crystal. Why am I being told “the ice is a mirror that reflects my very soul” or whatever tf?? Just show us, Cirque, I'm begging you.

Juggling was next and comparatively unremarkable. It started weak and finished strong, but there’s really no need for this act except to remind us that this is a circus show. Amazing Klezmer-esque music.

A Day in the Life is next, which I guess is supposed to help illustrate how out of place is Crystal is in her real life. Unfortunately we were already explicitly told that in the introduction, so all this really accomplishes is making the audience wonder how old Crystal is supposed to be. My best guess is fourteen, but that feels much too old in some instances. There was a lot going on onstage during this act so it was engaging to watch, but pretty unnecessary. 

“Home Swing” comes afterwards, a LOVELY swinging trapeze act that belongs in basically any show but this one. Like I get what they're doing with Sia’s “Chandelier” but the cover makes the lyrics so obvious that it's borderline uncomfortable. Here's Crystal having a breakdown because she doesn't get to spend all her time writing fanfiction or whatever, and the lyrics are telling me “throw em back til I can't stop.” Like I get it, Crystal wants to swing from the chandelier. She wants to be free. I promise I get it. But the music thus far has been so strong that the sudden inclusion of a somewhat dated pop cover is not only jarring but wholly out of place.

I liked that there was a rigger controlling the artist's height and I wondered why we didn't see the same for straps later on. This act wasn’t performed on skates as it has been in the past, but I think they would have hindered the act and put it in “we didn’t need to involve the ice” territory. Instead we got a great quality act from a fantastic artist. 

Best Act Award goes to School Playground/Hockey. Holy fuck! The energy! This act was upbeat, fast, energetic, and unlike anything I've ever seen from Cirque before - even excluding the ice factor, I wouldn’t say even Volta’s BMX could compare. Like the group skating at the beginning, this is an act that really uses its medium to its advantage and it comes out stronger for it. Crystal was adorable with her little jersey and whistle (though I saw the show in New Jersey and she didn’t have a Devils jersey on for some reason, so her jersey just said “Jersey,” which was very funny to me). This group looked so cohesive and fun. I loved the little high fives they passed each other whenever they crossed. The staging was bright and immersive, more extremely effective projections, plus we got to see some good use of Crystal's pen for the first of very, very few times.

Intermission! I am baffled but having fun. 

Crystal comes back for a Big City scene, which is always kind of funny from Cirque. They really have it in their heads that city living is just dudes with briefcases walking very stiffly. The businessmen look intimidating but are actually super fun, and their teamwork, though inflexible at first glance, allows them to come together seamlessly for pendular poles. The staging for this scene and these characters felt at odds with their act.

Pendular poles itself was fine - I kind of expected more from an act I’ve never seen before. I think they held back a little because of the ice - maybe it would be better under a big top. There was more synchro skating in this scene too so I was back in, followed by a break for a little ice tap dance of one-upsmanship, which was cute and fun.

Somehow we are still in an office setting (at this point I think we’re here longer than we were in Crystal’s actual town and backyard) for handbalancing. Couldn't tell you a thing about this act because it was deeply unmemorable. I kept watching Crystal type away and wondering why she keeps moaning about wanting to be herself and create when she's clearly a-okay in an office setting. There were yet more briefcase sequences and at that point I was rolling my eyes. Someone tell Cirque this is not how people work anymore. I get that it's kind of a 60s era, but come on. They could have created a city with crosswalks, stoplights, color, and vibrancy, and all of that would have been a better match for the characters who lived there! Instead it's more gray on gray on gray. Blech.

But now it’s time for skating duets! MORE ice used to its greatest advantage!! Whenever there wasn't skating in the show I just wanted more skating anyway, and this delivered. They all had mirrors like it's supposed to mean something but of course there's no throughline, just more mirrors for mirror's sake. It’s like the creators awoke in a cold sweat and went, “holy FUCK, we can’t forget the mirror thing!!! Put it in wherever you can!!!” My dudes, you have to define it first.....

Straps is next and was fine. We were treated to another jarring cover, this time of Beyonce’s “Halo.” Like why. It's good but why. This was also another part that absolutely didn't need to be narrated. A girl is allowed to just pine! Or imagine someone for herself! I promise we will understand, Cirque, you don’t need to explain it to us. Yet again I wondered how old Crystal is supposed to be. So far I’ve seen her hang out at a playground, doodle in a notebook, participate in Take Your Daughter To Work Day, and attend an aerial ballroom dance. It’s not as egregious here since it’s clearly a fantasy (pretty much the only obvious and effective one in the show), but still kind of funny. 

But now Reflection is BACK and BADDER than ever, AND she brought FRIENDS. I loved this Return of the Reflection scene. The press kit tells me she's reminding Crystal that the real world is above and she has to go back, but I didn't get that from this moment. It seemed more to me more like Crystal was coming to terms with what she could be if she were more true to herself. But did she even really struggle with that? Because last I heard, she was getting eviscerated in the group chat for being a weirdo all the time. Regardless the four Reflections and Crystal do a mesmerizing job.

The last act is duo trapeze, and holy god. This was such a highlight and the perfect closing act to deliver us to the finale. The artist’s bare feet were such a visceral image, the lighting and music work to incredible effect, and this is probably the one and only act that successfully ties Crystal’s emotional journey to her experience of the show’s events. I wished all of the acts had the opportunity to shine similarly - there was just an overwhelming sense of care and intention in the choreography that was missing from so many other moments. The flyer’s lines were extraordinary, the duo’s control together was unmatched, and the drops were awe-inspiring. Maybe this was my favorite act of the night, actually. 

The finale is cool. I could have done with the endless, echoing repetitions of the "fight for air" mantra and I don’t think I’m exaggerating or being unfair when I say it was awkward as fuck. Just say you have to go back omg. And it’s yet another reminder that she’s been drowning this whole time! Nevertheless, the music and projections are amazing and the group skate at the end is wonderful. And despite all my eye rolling at Crystal being a writer, Reflection writing “The End” in the ice was probably my favorite moment of the entire show. Finally Crystal's writing has a point. It was a real twinge of emotion, and a hint at what this show could be if it reached its full potential.

It was bittersweet in a way - I did have fun, I left smiling, and wasn’t sorry I went. But the shows that disappoint me the most are the ones that show such obvious hints of promise that would have come to full light if Cirque cared just a little bit more. 

[saoirsetm]

hey y’all ! i’m kat and we’re FINALLY opening ?!? i’m so hyped, you don’t even know. i’m a double leo Trying to survive video lectures in a noisy house who loves dark chocolate and 80% of the kpop releases so far this year ( stream feel good by fromis_9, it’s such a cute bop ! ) i’m also a cat mom to my almost fourteen year old babies who are still like energetic kittens, so ask for pics and you shall receive DSLKGJ but without further ado, here’s my girl who’s gonna prove that hindsight is INDEED 20/20, so this is gonna be fun:

✧ ˖ * ° ><> ╱  abigail cowen,  cis female,  she/her  —  look  who’s  fresh  from  the  ferry,  aren’t  you  SAOIRSE LEARY  ?  your  eroda  brochure  says  you’re  TWENTY-THREE  and  that  you’re  currently  residing  in  MARMOTON  .  your  favourite  tourist  attraction  to  hang  around  is  ERODIAN BEACH  ,  and  the  locals  around  these  ports  would  describe  you  as  INQUISITIVE  &  INTREPID,  STUBBORN  &  IMPULSIVE  .  your  resting  fish  face  really  gives  off  LONG HAIR BLOWN BACK BY THE OCEAN BREEZE, LATE NIGHTS SPENT PLOTTING THE NEXT GREAT VOYAGE, RED LIPSTICK IMPRINTED ON A MUG OF TEA  ,  and  i’m  a  big  fan  of  the  VINTAGE CELTIC KNOT NECKLACE  you  seem  to  always  be  attached  to.  well,  if  you  see  the  minister  this  morning;  make  sure  you  head  on  home  as  quick  as  possible,  you  never  know  what  bad  luck  he  could  bring.  ╱  ooc;  kat,  23,  she/her,  ast.

tw: needles ( tattoo mention ), cancer mention, death mention

miss saoirse...... oof

GDFLSJL where do i begin with her honestly ??

full name is saoirse eve leary, affectionately called cece by her family since she was young and runs with it as her nickname !

born and raised in cork, ireland with two siblings, a working class father and Slightly upper middle class mother

her childhood wasn’t like, Majorly eventful; she was considered a bit of a tomboy which isn’t a surprise bc she’s always been a bit of a spirited, adventurous girl, has the odd nomadic moment strike her and loves to travel

had a SUPER close relationship with her maternal grandmother before she passed a few years back, still has a close one with her grandfather and paternal grandmother as they’re still living

is a big family girl overall, so much so that she’s eagerly awaiting the day she gets to be the cool aunt

had a decent cluster of pals over the years that’s likely dwindled due to everyone going their separate ways after high school

saoirse Did go to uni between her travels — and graduated — and has aspirations of becoming an anthropologist to explore other cultures and meet new people/understand them

which.. obviously ain’t happening now LFSGJGF rip

came to eroda partially bc it seems like such a pretty and quaint place, partially to explore its “ myth ” that you can never leave; her naturally curious ass questions the whole thing, at least in the sense that there’s no way to challenge your supposed fate on the island and won’t deny entertaining some conspiracy theories around the mystery

she still doesn’t understand that.. yeah, she Literally is stuck here for the rest of her life now, probably because she hasn’t made a Real attempt to put that to the test, but we’ll cross that bridge when we get to it FDSLKJDS

anyways she came here solo ( more than likely ) and has enjoyed her time getting to know the locals and other visitors, taking in the scenery, etc

probably took up a part-time job at sally’s tavern to cover her expenses since she lives in marmoton and it ought to be close enough for her to get to gfjlsdg

personality and everything else

a sociable, ( relatively ) fearless ginger with an eclectic taste in music and a profound appreciation for pastries.. 

despite being all about cleaner eating habits and lowering her sugar intake, she takes a cheat day or week wherever she can LSDGFJK

parties, game nights, etc, you name it ?? she’s there !

kinda competitive while we’re bringing up games and such, but she’s not about the whole sore winner/loser thing — rather she’ll groan and sulk a little before moving on

like i said before, loves to travel, loves pretty places in general so prepare yourself for an abundance of pictures on her insta feed of where she’s been or where she wants to go

loyal as hell, but she has her limit if you misuse the trust that comes with it

she’s just v wholesome and has a mix of small town city/endlessly curious energy with a sprinkle of being the life of the party……. kinda

however, she’s the most ?? hard to place person all the same

that feeling of freedom that comes with her exploring and all makes her a little hard to tie down; she doesn’t plan on staying in eroda ( which is unfortunate for her considering.... fglsdk ) as she has more to accomplish and see

very much does her own thing and doesn’t wanna hear any criticism for it

as if she’s that out of line DLJGDSLK but still

always wants to try new things, no matter how dumb they might be; except for anything that’s a Legitimate death sentence or is.. a GENUINELY dumb idea, she has enough common sense to know what Not to do KSGFDJDS

has little tattoos on her wrist and behind her left ear for her Favourite trips/symbols/whatever and her family, will let y’all know what they’d be whenever i figure them out since i’m so damn picky with these things

a Big supporter for buying/investing locally, has little trinkets and such to prove it

in fact, she has a collection of thrifted or vintage clothes from her travels and back home, and a chest full of cute jewelry she switches between daily

one piece she wears all the time — only parts with it when she sleeps — is the celtic knot pendant mentioned in her app that’s become something of an heirloom on her mom’s side of the family !

she has the cutest irish lilt in my mind, kinda the same as miss ronan’s and aisling bea’s

really loves her freckles, partially bc i love her freckles and my own :(

tea > coffee, but she loves coffee-flavoured things; bring her a peppermint or camomile tea as her shift winds down or.. idk, just because, and she’ll be forever indebted to you fldjgs

loves to hang out by the water in her free time — she loves the scent and sounds that comes with it, it’s one of the few places where she can put her mind to rest for a bit

the sound of rain hitting a rooftop is her perfect sleep soundtrack

kinda wants to adopt a pet, but doesn’t wanna leave them if she goes on an excursion where they can’t come with her :(

baths with epsom salts, candles that smell like lavender or something just as pleasant and calming, etc during a night in soothes the hell out of her soul

top three products she has in her bag at all times, besides personal info and her phone ? lip balm, a powder spf and mints FGLGKSD

btw.. miss ginger hair and freckles will probably gasp at anyone going out with no spf on them and scold tf out of them bc ‘ hello, melanoma ?? sunburn ?!? ’

wanted connections

childhood pal(s) she’s bumped into: reunited by chance, cece’s glad she has a couple of people she knows to keep her grounded when her mind runs wild at what Might happen when she decides to try her hand at leaving

cousin(s), other relatives: idk, figured it’d be fun for her to have a family member or two running around and not realizing the other relative is the Only one they’ll see in person from here on out

best pal(s) in eroda: someone she’s taken to since arriving, likely spending their free-time eating pastries on the beach, talking shit over tea, little market dates, going to the rainzone half-drunk and trying to rope each other into new things

opposites attract.. of sorts sfdlgkj: basically just a traveler meeting a local who’s never been off eroda, telling all about their ( quite limited ) excursions and bonding in other areas over time !

hook-ups, fwbs.... ENEMIES with benefits?? idk, point is the girl’s probably gotten laid since arriving, it’s all a matter of the situation that fits your muse(s) best FHGSDKJ

roommate: she lives in marmoton, likely in a rental of sorts, and i can’t see her living alone given the situation on the island ( though i’ve viewed her as the type to live alone in a space for one and a half people any other time tbh ). so she has just One and they make the arrangement work ! depending on their personalities and such, we’ll figure out how well they get along Exactly, if at all

ex ??: the girl’s bi so y’all can toss anyone at her for this one as well ! question marks bc i was thinking it’d be an on-and-off thing but maybe not come the time i post this intro LSGKD. basically they were seeing each other for a few months, she fell hard Quick/they moved kinda fast bc they were vibing and they would distance themselves upon realizing this — though i see cece giving them distance bc she knows they need it rather than needing it herself. if it IS on-and-off, they’re definitely off rn and treading lightly ( though she finds it hard to stray and hates things not being fully resolved no matter what happens ?? ), so all it’s a bit angsty regardless of how it goes dfgkljsdg

fellow mystery fiend: someone please fuel her curiosity to the max and try to crack the impossible case of eroda’s captive capabilities with her.. and proceed to watch true crime shows with her when that clearly goes to shit SDFKLJ

older sibling or mentor dynamic: someone to look out for her/teach her some things to help fully support herself/give her advice when she probably needs it most.. idk, i just like the idea of someone becoming a stand-in relative type of friend to her 

just give her someone to confide in, to swim at night with, stargaze and all that cute shit, be it platonically or otherwise !

she’s not gonna click with everyone and that’s fine, BUT maybe they run in the same social circles and cece thinks they seem nice enough, but they never really talk amongst themselves ?? just a case of awkwardly starting from scratch and seeing where it takes us !

[golbrocklovely]

only the lonely survive // colby brock - chapter fourteen: hopeless, head over heels in the moment

A/N: i just wanted to say thank you guys so much for all the feedback i’ve been getting. it is so awesome to see all the love this story, and my other one ‘twisted’, is getting. thank you for it btw! lmk what you think of this chapter. i’ll be updating this story again in a week (but i have bunch of request that i’m writing out rn so i’ll be posting some of them throughout the week). see you guys later :)

description of the story

taglist:  @ajosieface , @localsleeper , @julyrubyrose , @far-to-many-bands

trigger warning: cursing, mention of sex

word count: 1446

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My eyes popped open. I sat up quickly, confused as to where I was. Immediately my head pounded to the beat of last night.

Jesus Christ ow.

I squinted my eyes around the room I was in. Post-it notes all over the walls… a grey couch with my clothes on it… light peaking through the blinds above me.

I was in Colby’s room. In his shirt. Sleeping next to him.

Holy shit, last night was real.

I touched my own lips softly, glancing down at Colby’s sleeping figure. His blanket was wrapped around his legs and his face was buried into his pillow. His nose twitched lightly as I looked at his face.

Damn. How the fuck does he still look hot while asleep?

My mind moved from him to the pounding in my head. I slid my legs out of bed and walked to his bathroom. I checked for any form of medicine to take for this hangover I felt. Nothing was there.

I sighed and left the bathroom, heading downstairs to see what I could find. As I approached the kitchen, my feet stuck to the hardwood floors, sticky from the alcohol last night.

No one was around as I stepped into the kitchen and grabbed a solo cup. Walking over to the fridge, I pulled out a jug of water and poured it into the cup. I gulped the water down quickly.

“Do you need these?” A voice asked, breaking the silence.

I jumped back, almost spitting out my water. I turned to see Kat, still in her outfit from last night, hair slightly disheveled, holding out a bottle of Excedrin.

“Uh… yeah. Thanks.” I took the pill bottle from her hand and shook two out, taking them with the water.

“Is that… Colby’s shirt?” She questioned, squinting at me.

“Yes.” I deadpanned.

She smirked slyly. “Did you guys…?”

I swatted my hand at her.  “Oh no. I just accidentally slept over. Colby gave me this shirt last night, so I wouldn’t have to sleep in my dress.”

“Okay.”

“Where did you sleep?”

“Me and Sam kinda passed out on the couch last night after the party. He’s still in there.” She pointed to the room next to us.

I nodded my head. “Oh…”

Our silence grew, and I could vaguely hear Sam’s snores from the other room.

“I’m gonna go upstairs.” I stated, looking down at the floor.

“See you later.” She smiled teasingly.

I awkwardly waved at her and went up quickly. I stepped into Colby’s room, walking over to his bed and laying back down on it. I cuddled myself back into his chest. He stirred in his sleep, wrapping his arms around me.

“Where did you go?” He mumbled.

“Down stairs. I need to some medicine for my hangover.” I replied, looking up at him.

He nodded his head. He glanced down at me, a soft smile came to his face. “You look beautiful.”

I snorted and rubbed my head against his chest. “Shut up. No, I don’t.”

“I disagree.”

“Well, you’re wrong.”

“No, I’m not.”

“Yes, you ar-”

His lips cut me off, pressing into mine gently. A light noise left my mouth as he tightened his hold on me.

Pulling away from his lips, I whispered “So last night was real…”

He sighed happily. “Yeah it was.”

I pecked his lips again, letting my head rest back on him. “What time is it?”

He reached for his phone, grabbing it off the nightstand. “It’s… 12:45.”

“Shit. I gotta get home.” I stated, sitting up.

As I went to stand, Colby grabbed my wrist lightly. “No. Stay here. Cuddle with me.”

He pouted out his bottom lip, looking up at me. I shook my head. “I gotta get home and shower, Colby.”

“Shower here… with me.” He smirked.

I mockingly laughed. “You really do think I’m that easy, huh.”

He grumbled, rolling over and laying his face into his pillow. I chuckled and grabbed my clothes. I took Colby’s shirt off, turning my back to him.

“Damn…” Colby whispered.

I glanced over at him. He stared at me biting his lip. I rolled my eyes and threw his shirt at him, hitting him in the face. I grabbed my dress and slid it on my body. I took my phone from the night stand and sat down on his bed.

As Colby sat up, he pecked my cheek sweetly and he left to go to the bathroom. After a minute of scrolling through my phone, he came back. He quietly sat back down.

“Do you want me to drive you home?”

“If you want to…”

He nodded his head, walking over to his shoes and slipping them on. I grabbed the rest of my stuff as he walked to his door, his keys in hand.

/  /  /  /

Colby slowly pulled into the driveway of mine and Casey’s house. He turned his head to me as he slid it in park, giving me a light smile.

I unbuckled my seat belt and looked over at him. Seeing his smile, I returned it.

“I’ll see you later.” I said softly.

He nodded his head. “Let me know if you wanna hang out later.”

“Okay.” I muttered.

I glanced at him one more time, my nerves suddenly kicking in.

Fuck it.

I leaned over and lightly kissed him. He smiled against our kiss. I pulled back, sighing sweetly. “Bye Colby.”

“Bye Skye.” He replied.

I opened the car door with my stuff in hand and walked to my front door, unlocking it and stepping inside. I waved at him from the door, shutting it as he pulled out the driveway.

I leaned my back against the door, sighing happily.

“Skye, is that you?” Casey called from the kitchen.

I nodded my head, walking towards her voice. “Yeah it’s me.”

“I was wondering when you were gonna get home.” Casey joked, her back to me.

“What time did you get home?” I asked.

“…An hour ago.” She shrugged.

I smirked. “So… did you and Brennen have fun?”

She sighed, turning to me. “I told him not to tell you. Fucking asshol-”

I cut her off, giggling. “He didn’t say anything to me. I saw you two leave together last night.”

“Oh…” She pursed her lips.

“Plus, why do you think he and I danced with each other?” I remarked, raising an eyebrow.

“Was it to make me jealous?” She scoffed.

I rolled my eyes. “Duh.”

“I fucking knew it. I was literally planning on fighting you if you two had kissed.” She pointed out.

I gasped. “What?!”

“It would be like me and Colby kissing in front of you. You wouldn’t like it!” She raised her arms, exclaiming.

I grabbed her hands, holding them in my own. “You know I would never hook up with a guy you like.”

Casey nodded her head. “Sober me knows that, drunk me is a different story.”

I slowly let go of her hands. “So… did you two…?”

A soft smile appeared on her lips. “Uh… yeah.”

“Oh my God really?! How was it? Tell me everything.” I beamed, sitting down on the counter.

“Everything?��� She laughed.

“Well like, close to everything.” I wiggled my eyebrows.

“Well, we got an uber, went back to his place and then had drunk sex. I don’t really know what else to tell you.” She uttered, leaning back against the counter across from me.

“Was it good?” I whispered.

“Let’s just say, I’ll have to hold myself back next time I see him.” She smirked and continued. “But what about you and Colby? Did anything happen last night? I saw you two dancing and it looked real hot and sexy.”

I groaned. “Stop it! I highly doubt me dancing is sexy.”

“Shut up! Just tell me if you guys hooked up!” She swatted at me.

“We didn’t hook up... But we did kiss!” I sang.

She jumped up and let out a scream. “Fuck yes! Both of us got it on last night. Hell yeah!”

“Alright, enough girl power.” I teased, smiling.

“Did you guys just kiss or did anything else happen?” She questioned, stepping closer to me.

“I mean, we almost had sex... but he stopped before it went too far.” I mumbled.

“What why?” Casey cocked her head to the side.

“He said he didn’t want us to just be a one-night stand. He wanted more than that for us.” I stated.

Her lips twitched into another smile. “That is literally the cutest fucking thing I’ve ever heard.”

I giggled. “I know, right?”

He’s got me wrapped around his finger and he doesn’t even know it…

<< CHAPTER 13 || CHAPTER 15 >>

[inexchangeforyoursoul]

Say, if they are also called Spanish chestnuts, but there's no Spain... would they be called Dressrosa chestnuts? … would make sense, right? (btw if it wasn’t obvious by now, this is framed as an actualy story arc)

16. Definitely not a date ( ffn ao3 )

Getting tea is another small adventure for Kat, though, as two especially chatty girls try to get into a conversation with her. Which in itself isn't a problem, trying to get 'him' join a dance party in the evening on the other hand.... was not something she would ever agree to. Not right now, nor at any other time, and especially not with people who wanted to get in her pants. The other problem she soon faced in this pickle was that Usopp ran after Luffy who was getting way too much into the 'visit everything you can' spirit and disappeared somewhere down the line.

The sweet release came in the person of three other familiar faces, two of which were beyond amused, and one that bore a mixed expression of incredulousness, desperation, anger and disappointment.

“What--- what did you...?!” is all that Law can manage after a minute of gawking at her. She could swear to see a tear in the corner of his eye. He's also dressed... tastefully, more than either of them are usually. Definitely not his style, either. One of the girls had a hand in that; apparently they've returned to the ship already. All in all, Law's pretty; some guy, probably not the first to do so, has seemingly also taken notice of that and is eyeing him until Kat catches the man red-handed... or eyed, and quickly moves along.

“Sssh,” she soothes him, squishing the cheeks of the man paralyzed by the sight of his defaced appearance.  “It's washable, the beard will grow back, and your earrings are on the wardrobe... Cute headband, by the way. Nami's, right?” she adds, looking at the golden-brownish striped accessory. Kinda odd to see him outside without any of his stuff; also, she should get a similar headband. It suits her.

“It is,” interrupts Penguin the scene which both him and Shachi, who is playing sword-bearer with Law's oversized piece strapped on his back somehow, find quite amusing by the looks of it. “The captain wouldn't stay put once he found out that you were out... Usopp told us you should be here.”

“Usopp?” she perks up, looking at them with Law's frozen face still between her hands. “Did he manage to find Luffy?”

“Yeah, the dude found the fair games and had a whole barrel full of apples and water in his mouth when we left,” laughs Shachi. “We should totally revisit that place later,” he turns to Penguin, who gives a decisive nod as an answer.

“Actually,” latter continues with just a wee bit too much artificial mulling as she releases Law from her grip, “since you've already been found, we aren't necessary here. You two can take care of yourselves,” he states, nodding towards Shachi.

“I agree,” his friend says, cracking a big smile and already stepping backwards. “Let's see what Straw Hat and Noseman are up to~”

By the time the sentence 'where the hell are you two going?!' gets formulated in Law's head as he's getting over the shock, the crowd has already swallowed them.

To Kat, this feels suspiciously like her Sunday afternoon adventure, except less bothersome or embarrassing, because her partner is just as unwilling as she is. Turning to Law, she sighs. “... do they do this to you often?” Or generally? Because she sees a trend here...

“Do wha--” the last bit gets lost as he sees her blinking at him with a face of fatigue and lament. She turns to the left, to the right, looking around with somewhat spread arms, then points them towards him. Then her. They are alone. That's what she's talking about... It's his turn to sigh. Painfully. “Oh, for fuck's sake.” They had to go and set up a 'date,' didn't they. This day is getting better by the minute.

“Took you long enough,” Kat notes, then takes a careful sip of the cup of freshly prepared green tea that just got handed to her.

“In my defense, it's been... years since they last pulled a stunt like this.” At least five, if not more.

“To be fair, though?” she turns back to him, stepping direction chestnut stand, “As long as I hang with you instead of the guys, I'm less likely to be flirted with, so... might as well play-pretend for the time being.” It's gotten annoying, so as far as she's concerned, fake date: start.

“You what?” He squeaks in her voice, deciding to follow her for the time being. He's left with little breakfast and is tempted to get something right here after running around, and those two dumbasses will be fine, too. Although... Shachi had everything on him, including the money. Fuck.

“I'm sayin' you're popular, Law.” After that, she frowns at the distance. “Some granny also slapped my butt,” she recalls the old woman from about fifteen minutes ago, shivering. It's just as bad as random old men doing the same. What was she even, back then? Fourteen? People are so gross. At least that woman's not targeting children.

“Good lord...” Law is just as mortified by the thought as she is, if not more. Shaking the image off and peeking up at her, he continues; “... I know you are not lying because you would have cracked by now, but I still have a hard time believing you. It's... quite rare for anyone to just walk up to me.”

“I'm telling you, there's been three plus-minus one women either staring or hitting me up. I guess... I make you look more attractive? Than you actually are?” she says, lifting a brow. That... just might be it. A handsome guy who's reserved, polite and just... legitimately nice? She'd be lowkey smitten as well. They stop at the end of the queue. “It also kinda applies to you and not-me,” she ponders. With that, she takes another sip of the hot drink.

“I'm... not exactly following,” Law admits after some delay. Especially the last part.

Let's try and put this into words for him... “Well... you can be quite a prick, you see- no offense. The very same quality also makes for a cute shrew, though; which you are, at the moment. That's all there is to it.”

“Um...” He can't make head or tail of what she's trying to convey, so he's just going to ignore being called a... shrew. “Am well aware of the first point. Seen enough women who don't give a damn, though.”

“Can't and won't argue with that, but it's not what I'm saying.” Seeing there are still three people before them, she turns back to drop an unadulterated truth bomb on this poor, socially inept man who's somehow worse at this than her. Preferably in a low enough voice as to not scar anyone else listening for a lifetime. They've already heard more than enough. “The thing is the following, Law: while both of us have decent looks, I'm not peppy or feminine enough to be attractive to the average man, and you are too much of a deep-frozen salt crab to be perceived as a viable partner. This much you can follow with ease, right?”

He nods, although he would argue about being that bitter. And quite frankly, she can be damn peppy when up to it.

“Okay, the catch is the following: we exchanged wrapping, and,” here she naps her fingers, “all of a sudden, I'm 'hot' and you're 'cute' to people despite everything else being the same,” she says, adding air quotation marks with her free hand. “I turned from puny buttercup into a bright sunflower while you blossomed into some brazen goth rose instead of the stinky corpse flower you like pretending to be. All because I'm a decent person with a hot male body, and you look like an underweight girl with an attitude that comes off like a crumbly butter cookie wanting to look tough. It's... some eldritch amalgamation of nonequivalent exchange... that makes us fit into an ideal for the other gender. And as such, people fucking love it.” Having finished that, she flips the sunglasses back on; it's their turn and she asks for one medium bag of chestnuts.

Law scowls at the young, but dull vendor while thinking about what Kat said just as the other looks in his direction while shoving the goods into a paper bag, and is greeted with a sudden smile. And a wink. Glaring another way, he eventually settles on two young women who giggle and whisper to each other while looking into a direction that's very suspiciously where Kat is standing. Kat, who's smiling politely while paying, and who may or may not have called him her 'worse half' just now while talking to the guy whose question he's missed.

This is quickly getting worse than being stuck in a skirt.

“You alright?” she asks a few minutes later after leaving the stove behind. “Like, I understand if you need a minute to get over the way that dude looked at you...” And talked about him as if he wasn't right next to her... so double fuck that guy, she ain't noone's 'cutie,' even if it's only her body we're talking about.

“Please, don't remind me,” he moans. They entered a less crowded section of the fair, and he still felt more people gawking at him than what's realistic.

“Chestnuts?” she asks, tilting the bag towards him. Maybe she should just... punch people who look at Law funnily. Sound plan.... except she has no memories of ever punching anyone, so maybe not. It would be weird.

He sighs, remembering that he's gotten hungry, then gives the paper bag a suspicious look. His stomach growls, too- hopefully she didn't catch that. “... never had any, to be honest. Are they any good?”

“May not be down your alley, but can't know until you give it a try,” she says, drinking some more  tea. “Careful, though, I just picked one that was still hot.”

While he's fiddling with the piece he fished out, she stops at another shop.

“... do you prefer cottage cheese and raisins, apple and raisins with cinnamon, pumpkin and poppy, or sour cherries and cinnamon?” she asks, pointing at the selection. He peeks up. Can't really tell what the food is in the first place apart from likely being something sweet. The sign says 'strudel'.

“Um...”

“You can just say no if you're not feeling adventurous,” she says, nibbling on a chestnut after securing the bag with her arm. “There's also a kind of ribbon-like cake down the road with sugary coatings, if that sounds any better. We also could go looking for actual food like meat, but there's only overpriced delicacies out here and I'm not that loaded.”

He is not feeling adventurous, that's true; does feel embarrassment upon being found out, though. But... he's hungry, goddammit, and the stuff smells damn nice. Closing his eyes, he groans. “By rule of elimination... pumpkin and poppies.” Latter is something he's also never had before. There is always hope that he won't hate it, though. Then again... explicitly sugary pumpkin? Maybe he should reconsider...

A small smile appears on her face again. “Also not a fan of raisins, huh?”

“... yeah.” He also has trouble imagining what apparently sweet cottage cheese could taste like.

Regardless, he's surprised to see her buy that kind for herself a minute later.

“Why'd you even get that?” he asks as Kat flicks one very obvious piece of raisin from the chunk of whatever she just bought.

“Because... it's my favorite, and fair food spares out the more expensive stuff from sweets, such as, guess what? Raisins~” With that, she takes a careful bite, checking for any additional suspicious brown dots before actually chewing.

He takes a tentative bit out of his piece. Not bad, though the texture is... something else. She pokes him in the shoulder to motion towards a bench. The surface is covered in dew, however.

Kat just lowers herself a bit and slides a leg across. Stuff is cold, but watcha gonna do.

“Hey, easy with my jeans!” he complains, also finally getting the chestnut piece open from one side.

“Washing machines still exist, princess.” With that, she's already settled down, putting the lukewarm bag of chestnuts in her lap and the tea cup aside as she makes a real effort at eating her piece of sugary cottage cheese. “Sit down so its noble sacrifice won't go to waste.”

He complies after short consideration. “... still rude.”

“You admitted being rude a few minutes ago, too, so fine with me,” she notes, already having devoured half of the thingamajig. She flicks it another few times to get rid of two more raisins.

Law meanwhile tries to ignore that the bench is rather cold... and that the current pad is about as wet as his pants would have been if Kat did not swipe off the water. He shivers.

“You cold?” she asks with a mouthful.

“Not really, but... I should have gone for something warmer regardless.” And ignore Nami's meddling. He has no idea what her problem with his getup was. So what if the straw hat and hoodie clashed? And he can wear anything that tells people to fuck off in a roundabout way, thank you very much. Jesus.

“Oh, hey, that guy...!” Kat perks up as one of the bushoo turns up around the corner. This one has cerulean blue mask and horns, making it stand out from the other reddish and brown ones.

“What about him?” Law asks, chewing on this weird pastry that he cannot really decide to love or hate at this point. Which is weird, because usually he can immediately tell whether he loves or hates food. Also, what even are those costumes?

“Nothing much, a nice old man who lives above the grocery shop opposite of us. He's always out on the festival around these parts, from start to finish. I hear he's had this self-made costume for decades... anyway, just say hi if he comes over, would you?” The man goes another direction, however, and is quickly distracted by a mother and her roughly 10-year-old son, both of whom Kat also knows. The lady is some kind of secretary and visits the cafe a lot with her kid, sometimes even husband. The cafe, which, well...

Kat turns around.

“What is it?” With that, Law crumples up the paper of the finished-up strudel.

“... checking how the renovation is doing,” she says, surveying the grounds. Law also takes a peek over his left shoulder.

There are two more shops closed near to the obvious target of attention down the road; one of them is nearly past saving. He didn't notice it thus far, but they've come around to the spot where that odd situation started a week back by now. The Cafe called Kukari, which he hasn't even seen until now, is near untouched by comparison. Yes, some windows and a pillar have apparently been crushed, but latter is close to being done and the glass should not be much trouble afterwards. Well, there could be more work behind the paper covers, too. What does he know.

“Yep. If the place was still in one piece... I'd be working right now. In your body. Or you in mine, but let's be honest.” She seems amused enough at the thought. Monday will be hell if she's still stuck in this body, though.... explaining this situation... how? Kat sighs. “I wonder if Adam's in there... he basically lives in the damn place.”

“Adam?” he slurs through the shell of the single chestnut he's been fiddling with, turning back around towards her.

“My boss,” she mumbles. Suddenly she has her doubts about sitting here, especially with Law around. That could go all kinds of wrong. Adam, please be at home, or at least don't notice a thing. Thanks.

With that, she also faces forward and grabs the lukewarm cup of tea. Looking back at Law, she cocks her head. “You still not done with that?”

“You bought the sweets right as I was figuring it out, okay?” Honestly, he's annoyed with this. Especially because he apparently likes chestnuts and getting the thing out is a nightmare. As is getting rid of the bitter, hairy middle layer that he hates with comparable passion.

She cracks a smile upon seeing his efforts. “Honestly, some of them are just really stubborn, it's best to have a knife around for this,” Kat muses, picking a few specific pieces from the bag. “Here, these should be easy enough.”

With that, Law gets a hand full of chestnuts that are just about popping out of their hard little prisons. “Thanks.”

As they are playing chipmunks (and making a mess of the spot as Law has no qualms about throwing the unnecessary bits onto the ground), they notice a light drizzle falling- a few seconds later, clouds dim out the already weak sunlight.

“Geez... haven't been able to keep up with the weather report,” Kat starts, glaring into the grey puffs; “I sure hope there's no actual rain involved. We could go into an actual shop... or pay another visit to my house, it's about as far from here as it's from the ships,” she muses while standing up at last and shoving the remainders of the still kind of warm chestnut bag into the hoodie's pocket.

“We're better off going straight back to the docks,” he replies to that, still seated. “You will have managed to skip another two hours, if not more, by the time we get back to business. I'd really appreciate if you stopped doing this.”

“Two hours ain't nothing,” she states, crumpling the shell-filled paper and napkins of both her and Law's strudels, then wannabe-telepaths the bundle to the dustbin when noone's looking; her aim sucks, after all. “Anyway, I need to return the cup first, so we'll take the long way around,” she says then, drinking the rest in big gulps, which she follows up with turning said object upside down. The murky leftover tea at the bottom lands with a negligible splash.

As Kat is waiting for him to pull himself together, she notices that the hair on his forearms sticks skyward. “... dooo you want your hoodie?” she asks, remembering the extra layer to spare.

Just as she utters that, he shivers. “Actually... I do. Yes,” he sighs reluctantly and visibly cold out here. Then, a second later, as she pulls it off...

“.... what the everloving fuck are you wearing?” he deadpans as the turtleneck appears.

“Bought it earlier today,” she beams. “For the record, you can't keep it.”

“Why would I?” Why would he? Good enough for a one time joke, but that's about it. Also, 'can't keep it?' That's such a Luffy thing to say.

“Because it's lame and nerdy doctor stuff?”

“Not part of my image, sorry.”

His image, he says. Kat tries her best to stifle her laughter and shoves the cartoon bear hoodie on his head. That's one image, alright. “Okay, whatever. Without the others this fair is pretty damn boring, no lie. Let's go already, if you want to that bad.”

“As eager as I am... I'm afraid of getting up,” Law confesses with a sigh as he's getting his hands into the sleeves. He just knows by now that sitting for a while will result in uncomfortable things direction pants afterwards. Sick and tired of it. Can't help it either, however, so he braces himself and gets on his feet. Can't ignore Kat's constant grin any longer, however.

“Wat's so funny?” he asks, hugging himself for warmth. This is a godsent right now- and the pocket housing the chestnuts gives a nice little extra, too.

“...you look adorable.” That big hoodie on her stick body is just... too cute. Looks as comfortable as it is, too. She could pinch his sullen, rosy cheeks.

“That would be you, not me,” he replies. Which is something he immediately regrets, placing a slightly sticky hand on his face.

She snorts. “Thanks.”

This otherwise totally forgettable line is on par on the embarrassment-meter with that last Saturday evening. Actually, scratch that. He's more embarrassed by this. And he feels he's blushing, too. Ugh...

As he's mulling over this, Kat sighs. “Don't worry, I know you didn't mean it like that.” It's always embarrassing when a comment burns you back... it just happens sometimes. Also dang, it is rather cold out here when there is no sun to shine. Just as she thinks about that, some rays break through the thinning cloud layer; not enough by far to get warm, though. “Now go, go, go, before I'm the one freezing my ass off,” she says, shoving the recovering Law a little to get started as she makes her way towards a long-ish stinky alley between restaurants to cut a few blocks of houses.

As they step inside, they fall silent. The cause of it is not just an awkward episode; as the buildings cover up the gentle warmth of the broken sun, an oppressive, cold silence sweeps through the alleyway. If the icy breeze had claws, that's what would have been tickling up their ankles and down their necks. They pass a broken cup that's just like the one in Kat's left hand.

There is a great temptation from her to take up the much faster everyday pace, and Law feels a pair of eyes on his back. Then it's two... three. If this is something bad, -and it does feel bad,- it's really bad; Kat has no experience and he has no real means to defend even himself in a brittle body like this.

Halfway through, she raises her head, and takes his hand; he feels it tremble a little as her fingers close on his. “We are running late, let's hurry.” Law follows the misplaced suggestion without protest. Hinting at being missed is good. Godspeed.

They can hear something clank behind a container as they exit back into the pallid light.

“I'm never going through there ever again,” Kat mumbles with a shiver as they mingle in the crowd while still firmly holding his hand. That was... really stressful. It was probably... some of the stray cats often in there, or a homeless person at worst, but that felt freaky as hell. And of course her lungs or something around those parts starts acting up after this. Just great.

“There was definitely someone in there,” says Law, blindly cutting through the masses by her side. May have been some thieves or other scum preying on fair-goers who took the route, but either way, no good news in there. They had luck.

By the time they are back to the booth offering tea, their speed is back to normal, but they are still kind of on edge. They take a half-hearted look at the games corner to check whether the boys are still out, which is to no avail, as expected. Walking back towards the shipyard at last and slowly getting over the experience, Kat speaks up:

“... by the way, do you want to switch hands or something? The other one should be an icicle by now.” She knows her own body well enough. When it's cold outside, her hands are just as chilly as the wind, even under some thick gloves. She hates it.

“... oh.” That is all Law can muster, realizing that he's still holding onto Kat. He kind of forgot about it, to be honest... partly because he's still hung up about the alley, and partly because, well... his body's hands are really nice to have around. Handy, one could say. … would be amused at that, wouldn't she. And Kat's also not wrong about the other hand hiding inside the paper bag with the maroni where it's decently lukewarm.

He releases her hand and puts his inside the pocket as well, looking up forward where the main mast of the Thousand Sunny is in sight. Write this up to the embarrassing shit he's done today, because boy, there was quite some of that.

As they get on deck, they are met with bright light again; the clouds decided it's time to let the sun shine just as it didn't matter anymore. They silently acknowledge that it's just one of those days when nothing goes quite as planned.