[ for kate : winter plot ]

[notgoingtorun]

The decadence of a free New York is overwhelming to Neal, impossible for him to ignore. In record speed, he's decorated his new home in style, a characteristic mixture of vintage fashions and modern flair. Everything has been legally acquired -- as legally as one can in a version of New York which refuses to allow you to pay for anything -- despite his pathological need to test out the security at the Guggenheim, at MoMa, the Whitney. His closet is full of vintage suits and modern, bespoke ones. He has a wine rack and a bed that is practically impossible to get out of, and every book imaginable at his fingertips.

He also has a whole city to show to a beautiful woman. Neal lives and breathes New York, and while Kate might be a Second City girl at heart, he still wants to show her his world, the New York that he loved so much that he would have done anything to stay.

Neal shows up at Kate's door in a suit -- black with faint pinstripes, tailored to perfection -- and flowers. Flowers aren't her, he knows -- she puts up walls, she doesn't want to be wooed, and they both want to pretend that what they're both doing is just fun rather than meaningful -- but beautiful women are Neal's kryptonite, so to speak, and he just can't help himself.

Flowers clutched in one hand at his chest, he raises the other to knock on her door. He is going to take her out for a night on the town, with dinner and dancing and walks through the park, whether she likes it or not.

Comments

[girlsolo]

Kate doesn't hate New York, especially because Lilo's having fun with it. They've been record-shopping, getting her classic vinyls and a turntable for her own room in a nice but not too nice place, with colored walls. The murals disappeared and that was kind of a drama, but Kate promised they'd be back, so it's all right.

They've got Rockettes and musicals and museums and every kind of entertainment a kid could want on the menu, including Coney Island. Which, is all great, and if this is being a mom, Kate doesn't hate it, either. It might be nice, though, she thinks, to do some not-recommended-for-children exploration of the Big Apple, but there hasn't been time yet.

Not that she's planning on admitting it anytime soon (ever), but if she's going to see New York, she kinda wants to do it with Neal. So instead of going out on her first Lilo's-with-ohana day since the island changed, Kate's staying in. Frozen pizza, popcorn, movies she hasn't seen a dozen times.

She just got out of a long bath and yesterday she got a great haircut (nothing fancy, but it was long and it's always nice to have the conditioning) and took Lilo for mani-pedis. So she's got slick as hell silver nails with silver, teal and eggplant glitter on them (Lilo has bright orange on her nails and bright yellow on her toes), Samsara perfume (that she didn't have to pay for) and... a lumberjack plaid flannel and black leggings on when there's a knock at the door.

Okay. So her heart skips a quick beat, but she's just startled. Which is why she slides her Sig in the back of her leggings, before she answers the door.

...okay so that skip has nothing to do with being startled. "Um. Hi." God, he looks...incredible. Even with the flowers. That should probably remind her of Declan, but it's all Neal. "Sure you have the right place?"