(no subject)

[everyone_takes]

The problem with Reggie having turned into a girl for a couple of days was that now Kate was super torn about what she was supposed to do. On one hand, he was back to being Reggie now and everything was supposedly normal, except that she still kind of had a thing for him and she hadn't said anything about it yet and she was sort of gearing herself up to do so. That was her plan and it was a way better plan than just waiting around and squashing things down, because she'd never been very good at that. Or, even worse, waiting for him to make the first move.

On the other hand, he'd been a girl. The chance to give him a hard time about it wouldn't be around forever and she didn't want to let it just pass her by.

So she was torn.

Classes had started and she was actually taking a few this term, so she was lounging in front of their hut, books and papers spread around her under the pretense that she was doing homework. Mostly she was working on her tan, in a bikini top and shorts, still trying to figure out what to do about Reggie.

Ask him on a date, or mock him mercilessly until the end of time.

Comments

[mantlethemagnificent]

Mostly, Reggie was just trying not to think about it. So he'd been a girl for a few days. Big deal! It was an island thing, it could have happened to anyone. That it hadn't struck him as strange at the time was a blessing, really. Besides, there were way worse things to be than a total babe. Take Kate, for example.

"Uh oh, looks like someone's getting all nerded up for the new semester," he teased as he came upon her with her spread of books. Not that she looked bad while doing it all, obviously, and sure, he'd signed up for a few classes himself, but that was hardly the point.

The point was that no fruit was too low-hanging in the aftermath of the... thing that he wasn't thinking about.

[everyone_takes]

At the sound of Reggie approaching, Kate looked up, lifting her sunglasses to better see him. She still hadn't decided what to do, though she was currently leaning toward asking him out first and mocking him after. Maybe once they'd actually gone out, just to have the position secured.

Or once he'd totally rejected her, in which case the mockery would be able to take on special meaning for her. Rejection was still a possibility, though she didn't like to focus on that.

"Hey," she said, giving him a grin. "I already have homework, can you believe that? Though I'm mostly just... y'know, lounging right now."

[mantlethemagnificent]

"Ah, yes, the national sport of Tabula Rasa," Reggie retorted, returning her grin. "Not the most competitive, granted, but it manages to have its charms, anyway. Need a partner for doubles?"

[everyone_takes]

There was about a dozen different responses Kate could give to that, most of them zeroing right in on the double entendre-ness of that question, but she bit down on her lip before any of them managed to get out. "You know you're totally always welcome," she said, gesturing to the spot next to her as she cleared away some of her books. "Lounging is way more fun with a partner."

[mantlethemagnificent]

"Yeah, I was really only asking as a formality," Reggie grinned, sprawling out next to her with a long sigh. "A partner or an audience," he added after a pause, since the one tended to be just as good as the other in his eyes.

[everyone_takes]

"I totally love a good audience," she answered, grinning, then immediately froze. That made it sound like she did this all the time, like she just grabbed any guy who was walking by and let him stare at her, and while she was totally fine with calling herself a slut when it came to Alice, she didn't want Reggie thinking that. And she sort of hated the word.

"I mean... it's just that you're a good audience," she said, inwardly cringing. That sounded just as stupid.

[mantlethemagnificent]

Reggie cast her a slightly confused look, but as it was still a compliment at the end of the day, he let the curiousness of the comment slide. "While I generally prefer to be the one people are looking at, it does pay to be a keen observer of the human condition, true," he barreled on, unperturbed.

[everyone_takes]

Kate laughed, then said, "Yeah, I bet lots of people look at you." Not that she wanted to think about a ton of other girls looking at him, but she was pretty sure it happened. He was totally adorable and maybe there was the whole ego thing, but she was sure that there were people other than her who liked it.

"Hey, do you want to go out?" she asked, turning to look at him. "With me? On like, a date?"

[mantlethemagnificent]

Now Reggie was no stranger to being asked out by total babes like Kate, but since getting stuck on Tabula Rasa, it had happened a lot less than he'd anticipated for a place where nobody really had anything better to do. As such, he perked up immediately, his ability to play it cool in such situations lying dormant with disuse.

"No kidding? Sure, I'd love to," he grinned, not entirely sure where this was coming from and not entirely caring, either. Although...

"Wait, are you sure that wouldn't be weird?" He may have had extensive experience, but he'd obviously never gone out with someone he already lived with, and he wasn't quite sure what the etiquette there was.

[everyone_takes]

Kate grinned, unable to help herself, because while she'd almost never been rejected -- she wasn't sure Ben counted -- Reggie had been hard for her to figure out.

"No way," she said with a shrug, settling back into her chair. She felt more confident now and she tipped her head to look over at him. Dating someone you were living with would be kind of great she thought, sort of an easy access situation, but she knew better than to say that. "It'll be fine. Carla Jean is cool with it."

[mantlethemagnificent]

"Good enough for me," Reggie said with a shrug. Why anyone wouldn't be cool with it (aside from jealousy, naturally, and he didn't think he had to worry about that from Carla Jean), he wasn't entirely sure, but there were more important matters to dwell on at the moment.

"So hold up a minute," he went on, his smile turning sly. "Does that mean you two've been talking about me?"

[everyone_takes]

"Oh, maybe," Kate said, drawing the word out as she leaned back in her chair, one arm lifted above her head. "You know, just girl stuff."

It had actually felt a little more serious than that, almost like she'd needed reassurance that she wasn't a total jerk for wanting to go out with Reggie. Sometimes it seemed like Harry hadn't been gone all that long and sometimes it felt like forever.

[mantlethemagnificent]

"Oh ho ho, I see how it is," Reggie chuckled knowingly, even if he clearly didn't. What girls went on about with other girls was one of the great mysteries of the universe. "Would it kill you to put together written summaries, though? I like to keep tabs on what people are saying about me, particularly when it's obviously flattering."

[everyone_takes]

"Mostly?" Kate asked, because she figured honesty wasn't all bad most of the time and Reggie had already agreed to go out with her and she didn't think he was about to take it back. "I just told her that I like you and asked her if I thought it was... you know, like, too soon after Harry disappeared."

She said it like it was no big deal, even though it had been kind of a huge deal at the time. "So you totally have Carla Jean to thank for this," she added, her smile growing brighter.

[mantlethemagnificent]

"I'll be sure to say thanks to her later, then, although I don't see why you couldn't just come to me with it in the first place."

Of course, he also didn't think that before Harry disappeared was too soon after he disappeared, so what did he know?

[everyone_takes]

"What? No way, you have to get an outside opinion before you go for the inside opinion." She'd never really worried about what other people thought of her before and she wasn't thinking about that now, it was more of a way to feel out the situation. Being in an actual relationship for longer than a week -- again, Ben totally didn't count -- had sort of changed how she looked at some things.

"Besides, I came to you now," she said. "So Saturday? That's like, a date night. Although I guess it doesn't matter here, in the land of early retirement."

[mantlethemagnificent]

Inside, outside, what did it matter when the opinion was his? Well, at least it had all worked out in the end either way.

"Tabula Rasa, home of the week-long weekends. Works for me! Say, the Winchester at eight? I'll pick you up at your place and everything."

[everyone_takes]

"You mean you'll knock on my bedroom door?" she asked, laughing, although she thought this only proved her earlier idea. Living with someone and dating them would just make things way easier.

"You know, I have to say, I'm super glad you turned back," she continued, trying not to grin as she spoke. "I mean, don't get me wrong, you were super hot as a chick, but I don't think I could've gotten into a lesbian state of mind even for you."

[mantlethemagnificent]

"You and me both," Reggie said, trying not to pout in the wake of such a pleasant development. It wasn't easy, but it hadn't even seemed weird at the time, so why should it get him down now?

"I mean, about the being glad thing, not the lesbi- yeah. Whatever, I was a fox either way."

[everyone_takes]

"You totally were, although I look better in my clothes," she answered, grinning, pleased that Reggie didn't seem too bothered by what she was saying. "So now it kind of makes sense why I was telling you about the time I woke up as a dude, huh? Because at the time, I'm pretty sure you thought I was just rambling about nothing."

[mantlethemagnificent]

"Frankly, I still do," Reggie said with his own unique brand of denial. "I mean, I guess I can see the connection, but still, talk about your non sequiturs."

He wouldn't even touch the remark about her wearing her clothes better. Only trouble lay along that particular train of thought.

[everyone_takes]

"Oh, come on," Kate said, reaching over to swat at him. "I was totally just trying to relate. It's a thing people do and it makes sense. I'm normally a girl, but I was a dude for a few days. You're normally a dude, but you were a girl for a few days. It's just like, a conversation piece."

[mantlethemagnificent]

"Oh, well, when you put it that way, it makes perfect sense," Reggie said with a brief chortle, swatting her right back. "Man, what is this place doing to us that stuff that should be totally reasonable?"

[everyone_takes]

"I know, right?" Kate asked, stretching in her seat before she settled back again. "I mean, I'd seen some pretty weird shit before I came here, but not even my mom turned into a dude and beating up my boyfriend can top suddenly having a dick one day. And I totally took it in stride."

[mantlethemagnificent]

"You mean your mom turning into a dude purely in the non-physical, crazy-person way, right?" Reggie asked after his initial double take had subsided. People came from worlds easily as weird as the island, true, but he was pretty sure Kate wasn't one of them. "Because I can see how that would rate either way, really."

Yeesh, he'd never had to deal with threats of bodily harm from a date's mother before. Hopefully it would never be an issue for him.

[everyone_takes]

"Yeah, she didn't actually turned into a dude, she just... sort of turned into a dude," Kate said, as if that made it make more sense somehow. As if DID and Alice and Buck and T were normal compared to everything that happened here. "Like, one of the people in her head. Man, I really miss her sometimes, but other times I'm really glad she's not around."

[mantlethemagnificent]

"Pretty sure that's how all family works, crazy or not," Reggie pointed out with a nod of understanding. "You can totally miss someone and know that you'd want them gone again inside of five minutes if they ever did actually turn up."

[everyone_takes]

"Yeah, exactly," she said. "Plus, whenever I went on dates, my mom always freaked out and did something weird. And if she turned into T... god help us, she'd be so into you."

T would totally dig Reggie. T would probably have tried to sleep with Reggie if she was here, just to piss Kate off.

[mantlethemagnificent]

Also definitely something that he didn't have to worry about from other girls' moms, that.

"T, huh? Well, at least you can't fault her for her taste."

[everyone_takes]

Kate gave a snort of laughter, rolling her eyes a little before she looked over at Reggie for a long moment. She was probably supposed to wait for the date for something like this, but she'd never been much of one for convention and thinking about having something taken away from her always made her want it more.

Leaning over on one hand, Kate hooked two fingers in the collar of Reggie's shirt and pulled him toward her, pressing her mouth to his.

[mantlethemagnificent]

Back home, it would have been entirely possible that Kate had just bought herself a one-way ticket to going Dutch on Saturday, since while he never went into dates expecting a goodnight kiss, the odds for one did tend to go up the more money he threw at a girl. It was just the way of the world.

As none of that really mattered on the island, however, Reggie just embraced the spontaneity of the moment, closing his eyes after getting over his surprise and kissing her, his hand slipping around the slim wrist at his collar.

"Well, good afternoon to you, too," he said, drawing back after a second or two, still a little dazed. Just how oblivious had he been, lately?

[everyone_takes]

At least she hadn't completely lost her appeal while dating Harry, she thought, grinning a little at Reggie's expression. It had felt really nice, too, something she'd wanted to do for ages and now she found herself wishing she hadn't waited this long to do it.

"Okay, so that was nice," she said. "I could do that again."

[mantlethemagnificent]

"I don't know, now you've got me all paranoid about your folks showing up," Reggie teased, even as he shifted to sit a little closer and slip an arm around her shoulder.

[everyone_takes]

"Hey, even if they were to show up, they'd probably like you," Kate answered. "At least some of the time anyway." They'd never met Harry, so compared to the guys they knew about back home, Reggie was practically perfect.

"Besides," she said, tipping her head back to look at him. "They're not here."

[mantlethemagnificent]

"In my experience, situations like this one don't usually fall into 'most of the time,' even when you're as lovable as I am," Reggie pointed out before ducking his head to kiss her of his own initiative this time. "Still, I guess I can take your work on it."

[everyone_takes]

"Yeah, because I'm right about almost everything," she answered with a grin, pressing into the kiss, figuring she could probably sit here all day and just make out with him. She still wanted to go on the date, but this kind of made all that easier, it gave her a lot less to worry about, anyway.