❝ Do you ever feel like your life and everything in it...❞

[unpreach]

Who: Kate Fuller & You (Yeah and maybe Richie Gecko okay. This could happen)
Where: Various Locations in Wonderland
When: Early to Mid January.
Rating: PG+ to NSFW.
Summary: Kate settles into Wonderland
The Story: ❝...is just slowly turning upside down, like a ship flipping over in the ocean?❞

ɴ.ʙ I welcome threadjacking from anyone (tagging into ongoing threads to have more than 2 characters in it). That said, if you'd prefer the thread to only be with Kate, just put [closed] in the subject line! Prose or Action is good with me, I'll match whatever I get.

[ Despite her appearance with Richie at the New Years Eve Ball, Kate's presence in the Mansion is not easily noticed as January rolls around. She keeps to her room on the tenth floor, getting out only when the walls feel like their closing in on her. If encountered during the day, you can be fairly certain that Kate will be alone but as the sun goes down, there's every chance you'll find any conversation you might have with her, interrupted by a tall man with glasses who if you think is sizing you up, undoubtedly is. ]

ᴛʜᴇ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴇʟ

[ The house of God had once been a place where Kate felt welcomed with open arms, a sanctuary that wrapped her in peace and warmth in a way that even her home could not. It was one of the few places where she had the certainty of belonging that so few ever found in life and she'd thought it would always be that for her, no matter where her life took her. Now? She wasn't so sure.

It had been many months since Kate had stepped foot in a Chapel and though Richie had shown her the one here in Wonderland as a way of putting her at ease, she already wondered if it existed to torment her more than comfort her. Kate had never wavered in her beliefs, despite all she'd seen and experienced this last year. She'd held firm to the knowledge that God loved her because as far as she was concerned, God was love but having time to stop and think about every choice she'd made, Kate could feel the weight of every one of those decisions whenever she stepped foot inside the chapel.

While she doesn't spend hours on end here, Kate can still be found in the Chapel at various times throughout the day, usually when there doesn't appear to be anyone else around. Always tucked into one of the pews at the back, as if she weren't sure she should really be here at all. ]

ᴛʜᴇ ᴋɪᴛᴄʜᴇɴ

[ While some people took to the magic of Wonderland; the ease and comfort it afforded those who lived here, Kate found it difficult to trust anything that could be achieved without effort. She'd tried eating in the dining room where most people took their meals but these attempts usually ended with her being more hungry than satisfied and she always ended up retreating to the kitchen where she could fix her own meal.

She was hardly what you'd call a gourmet cook, but Kate had always helped her mother in the kitchen and she'd in many ways taken on the role of caretaker in the time since her mother's death. It wasn't like her father had been in a state to do so and Scott? It was a miracle if Kate could get him to set the table.

Used to cooking for two or more, Kate will be prone to making too much and never one to see food go to waste, anyone who happens into the kitchen while she's here will be offered some of whatever she's making. Those who happen to frequent the kitchen might even realize that she's the one responsible for the plates of food that have handwritten notes beneath them, inviting anyone to take it for themselves. ]

ᴏᴜᴛsɪᴅᴇ ɪɴ ᴛʜᴇ sɴᴏᴡ

[ When you spend your whole life in the small town of Bethel, Texas, a place that despite the bitter cold that came during Winter, had never seen an inch of snow in the time Kate had lived there, the Winter Wonderland that existed beyond the Mansion walls had its own kind of appeal.

Some days, Kate would be content to sit by a window, a cup of hot chocolate warming her hands as she watched the flurries of snow, dance through the air. On days when the weather was mild enough to dare venture out, however, Kate would don multiple layers of clothing and would brave the biting cold just to experience what for her, was more magical than anything she'd seen inside the mansion.]

ᴘʟᴀʏᴇʀs ᴄʜᴏɪᴄᴇ

[ Set something up yourself! Kate will explore the various parts of the Mansion so it won't be inconceivable that you'd come across her almost anywhere. She will also be curious about the mirror side of Wonderland so Mirrors! are more than welcome to tag her as well. Alternatively, if you want to hash an idea out with me, you're welcome to PM her journal or hit me up on plurk: brooklyn2181]

Comments

[seeingthings]

[He exhales contentedly as she leans back and relaxes into the crook of his arms, and this might be the most at ease Kate has ever seen him.

He glides his fingers tips up and down over her shoulder as he starts up the movie, at least partially distracted himself.

But that was the point, really. If they don't super pay attention to the movie at certain points, they can just watch it again another time. :)]

[unpreach]

[Probably because this was intimacy the way Kate had imagined it, all from the mind of a young woman who was still very much a teenage girl. She might have imagined she'd wait for sex, but she wasn't completely frigid; She still thought about what it would be like to do other things.

This was the kind of fantasy that she might construct, being with a boy, watching a movie, touching and kissing and maybe a little more. Everything else they'd been doing, while great in so many ways, was very much out of her comfort zone.

She even releases the comforter, no longer trying to ensure that she's completely covered at all times, Kate's hand shifting beneath the covers to rest upon his leg, a shiver winding down her spine as his fingers brush against her bare shoulder.]

[seeingthings]

[And because he's Richie Gecko and he's super into this shit, he proceeds to get super into watching the movie. He quotes particularly important lines as they occur, looking to her to see her reaction as things happen, especially the big twist at the end.

That doesn't mean he stops paying attention to her since that would be almost impossible considering how she's curled up next to him, and his hand drifts over her shoulder and her arms, sometimes playing idly with her hair, the curve of her ear, or the corner of her jaw.]

[unpreach]

[And believe it or not, Kate actually gets completely sucked in herself, particularly because she very quickly realizes that the two main characters, are basically Richie and Seth.

She does shift a little throughout the movie, however, turning into him as it goes, her head resting against his shoulder, an arm slung across his body, hand on his stomach.

As the credits roll, she stretches out beside him, turning a little more so she can crane her neck to look at him and all those nerves that had been fluttering about and making her feel like she might even be sick, were nowhere to be seen now.

With a secretive smile dancing on her lips;] I can see why you like it.

[seeingthings]

[It's a good movie, okay? He'd be a little disappointed if she didn't enjoy it.]

Well, it won seven Academy Awards.

[By this point it's probably somewhere between 10 and 11 pm and they've literally been in this bed like three hours. Regardless, Richie is in no hurry to get up and moving, instead turning toward her and laying a hand on her waist.]

[unpreach]

[That is, so not even why she thought he liked it but she'll just nod her understanding and not push the fact that he was Paul Newman to Seth's Robert Redford: Something Seth would likely hate for a thousand reasons but Richie she suspected might dig.

If they weren't in bed together and only partially clothed anyway.

Rather than be put off by his closeness, Kate actually wriggles her way up the bed so she can be more on his level, her hand sliding up his bare chest, fingers trailing whispery patterns across his skin.]

It was a very good movie. [And she really had enjoyed the movie itself, not just because it reminded her of the brothers.]

But this might be my favorite part. [Being here with him, that sense of safety and warmth she had all but forgotten.]

[seeingthings]

I'm glad you liked it.

[Santanico hadn't been as fond of the movies he'd 'made' her watch, a fact that relieves him more than he'd care to admit.]

We can do this whenever you want. [As he's essentially said several times now, but it bears repeating. His eyes are locked with her, suddenly speaking as if he might not get it out if he delays any longer.] Do you...want to stay?

[The night. He means the night.]

[unpreach]

[And before she hadn't been entirely receptive to the idea, but it wasn't because she didn't want to. There were a thousand different reasons, all that seemed really important at the time but looking at him right now? She couldn't think of a single one.

Kate's lips part and she's about to say as much but he says something more and she cuts the words off before they can spill over. She holds her breath, running those five words on repeat in her head to be sure she's understanding them correctly.]

You mean... in here, like... the night. [Cautious for reasons that have little to do with a desire to do so or not.

She's about to stumble her way through making sure it wouldn't be uncomfortable for him but stops herself, silently chastising herself for not taking him at face value. If he wasn't comfortable, he wouldn't have asked.]

I mean... yeah. [Nodding slightly.] Yeah, I do.

[seeingthings]

[There's a gentle tilt of his head to indicate that yes, that's what he's asking. She looks like she's about to say something, but whatever it was seems to pass by quickly, and then she's nodding at him and agreeing. Not just agreeing, but telling him she wants to, of her own volition.

His mind is racing with a million thoughts unspoken, and yet none of it seems particularly complicated, just his mind running amok the way it tends to sometimes when he's not quite sure how to deal with a situation.

So far his instincts haven't led him too far astray, and he trusts them the way he usually does and acts upon them.

She's already face to face with him, not too close but not even remotely far away, so it's a very simple thing for him to reach with his other hand for the other side of her waist, gripping her firmly and tugging him to her. But for as intense as that motion might be, when he leans in to kiss her mouth, it's slow and gentle, a living and breathing contradiction, the way he always seems to be.]

[unpreach]

[ The sudden tug of her body makes her heart skip a beat, the sensation of skin against skin as he draws her flush to him, barely registering before his mouth is on hers. A giddy wave starts at her chest and goes all the way to the pit of her stomach, the gentle brush of his lips drawing her in and washing away the flicker of panic that rose up when his fingers pressed into her flesh. Hard and soft all at once, demanding and yielding. Things that weren't supposed to go together but somehow did.

Her hand against his chest, slowly trails a path up his body, tracing the muscular planes as it moves over his shoulder to lay claim to the nape of his neck and her heart begins to beat faster, the desire once again stirring now that the innocent brushes throughout the movie have become something more.

Her thumb stretches out, slides across his jaw, Kate's mouth meeting his with soft, almost tentative brushes and her tongue flickers out, lightly trailing across his lower lip as her hand moves up to push through the length of his hair. ]

[seeingthings]

[The kiss remains soft, and if she's expecting things to ramp up again, she's going to be sadly disappointed, because that's not entirely what he's going for here.

His lips move in slow, gentle presses as he breathes in deeply through his nose, the heat of her skin against his almost having a strange, calming effect. His arms wrap around her completely, and then he kisses her tenderly one more time before pulling back and shifting slightly downward so that he can lean his ear against her chest, listen to hear heart beating rapidly behind her sternum.

His eyes close and he just settles in to rest there for as long as she'll let him.]

[unpreach]

[ This whole night, she's been looking to Richie to have all the answers, to take charge and be the voice of experience in all of this. She kept looking for him to be the one to have his shit together, because she felt like she in no way did. But then he'd say or do something to remind her, that he was just as lost as she was. Perhaps even more.

He would both hear and feel the strained stutter and skip of her heart as he presses his cheek to her body, light stubble scratching against her soft skin and for a moment, Kate is at a loss as to what he's doing, arm hovering as she waits for him to keep moving.

An image, of a much younger version of herself, flashes before her eyes. Laying on the swing on the porch of her family home in Bethel, her head in her mother's lap as she stroked her hair. Kate's pulse begins to slow, her head tilting down and the hand that was hovering with uncertainty, moves to the back of his head, Kate lightly running her fingers through his hair, just the way her mother had when she was a child.]

[seeingthings]

[Richie barely remembers his mother, and what memories he does have are fragmented and his own brain has filled in the blanks. It's hard to know what tiny pieces are real or fake, but in the end, it doesn't matter. She never came back, and Richie has essentially be missing a giant chunk of a normal upbringing. Parents. Plural. His mom was completely absent and his father was an abusive shit who called him a bad seed.

He's been starved for affection for a very, very, very long time.

Richie exhales a long breath, his cheek faintly nuzzling into her skin as her fingers slide through his hair. There's nothing inherently sexual about it at this point, other than the fact that they're both half naked. He's just a guy wanting something he's never really had and hanging onto it for as long as he's allowed with someone he actually trusts.

Those are few and far between too.]

[unpreach]

[She stays with him like that, stroking his hair, her fingers dancing across his scalp for longer than she can count, an ache forming in Kate's chest from the needy, desperate way that he clings to her.

She'd thought that Richie was okay now, that he'd found his strength and had mended himself in the time between the temple and now, but she realized that he was no different than Seth. He was broken, in ways she couldn't begin to comprehend. He might know nothing about having to kill a father that you truly loved, but she in kind knew nothing about having a father that never had any love for you at all.

The ache intensifies and Kate bows her head, pressing her lips against his crown, warm air, rifling through the strands of his hair as she exhales against his scalp. She stays like that, for another few minutes then finally starts to shift, her hand still on him as if trying to reassure him that she wasn't going anywhere.]

Here... [One word, but it's gentle, Kate encouraging him to ease his hold on her so that she can roll onto her back and allow them both to get comfortable, as she settles in for this for the next long while.]

[seeingthings]

[His head lifts every so slightly, flicking his eyes up to her face at that single word before he reluctantly loosens his hold, shifting with her on the bed beneath the heavy covers.

Richie curls up beside her, his tall form almost comically bigger than hers where they lay. His arm drapes over her stomach, hand curling around her with his hand supporting her lower back. The other rests around her shoulders, practically cradling her in his arms.

Yet he's the one actually being cradled by all of this as his head resettles against her, his eyes staring straight ahead as he just...exists in her bubble.

To him, this is peace, however brief.]

[unpreach]

[But it won't be brief, at least not for tonight because she will stay like this with him for as long as he wants, Kate's fingers trailing back through his hair, her other hand coming to rest on top of his, trapping it against her stomach.

She'll stay like this until he moves, or until she falls asleep, but she won't be at all surprised if in the morning, he hasn't moved an inch.]