75 Godiva, Wednesday

[vdistinctive]

The house was gutted down to studs, many of which had been rearranged to make the new configuration of rooms the team had agreed on. Eliot was working on framing the new upper story now, which meant a hard hat, tool belt, gloves, the works.

Seriously, he had this whole men-at-work carpenter look down up here. He hoped his partners appreciated it. Lord knew he did on the few occasions Hardison got down and dirty with a maker get up. He wondered how much Hardison would fuss about the sawdust if they tried to fool around in (a carefully cleared area of) the construction site. . . .

Work was happening, if a little slow. Since the carpenter kept distracting himself with idle fantasies.

[yeah I dunno. Open! Eliot should be visible from the street while he works. . . .]

Comments

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy nodded. "Anders and I talked about it once, when he asked why I didn't come visit him at work. I mean, I don't think it'll be a problem? But I haven't lived with a pet enough to know for sure. And cats are better at startling people than dogs."

Quieter, for one.

[vdistinctive]

"You might wanna mention it specifically to 'em again, just in case," Eliot suggested. "Can't say I know much about livin' with cats, though."

Eliot was very much a dog person.

[spin_kick_snap]

Honestly? So was Kathy. Well, she assumed, she'd never had a pet to tell.

But she liked the image of her curled up on a large dog, reading in a beam of sunlight. Though a kitty curled up on her legs was a nice addition, too.

"I'll let him know," she promised. "I don't dare take this lightly."

[vdistinctive]

"I know you don't, darlin'," Eliot assured her. "But I'm pretty sure givin' advice you might already know's in my job description."

Right along with embarrassing her in front of her friends and telling really terrible jokes!

[spin_kick_snap]

"So when are you going to sit me down to have the sex talk?" Kathy asked with an arched eyebrow.

And then, realizing this was Eliot...

"Just kidding! Just kidding! I'm good!"

[vdistinctive]

"You run a sex shop, I sure as hell hope you are."

[spin_kick_snap]

"And Betsy DeVos runs the Education Department," Kathy muttered.

[vdistinctive]

"Yeah, but you're not an idiot."

[spin_kick_snap]

"That's my dad, always effusive with the compliments," Kathy said, unaware this was the first time she'd referred to him that way out loud.

[vdistinctive]

Eliot, on the other hand, was very aware of it, what with the warm flush that went through him when she said it. He tucked his hammer into his tool belt and reached over to tug her into a half-hug. "Just tellin' the truth, darlin'."

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy turned that hug into a real one, clinging tight. "I know," she said. "I can always count on you for that. And I love you for it."

[vdistinctive]

"Anytime, sweetheart," Eliot said, hugging her just as hard in return. "So what else is on that dad list? I could show you how to change a tire. . . ."

[spin_kick_snap]

"I learned how to do that in Driver's Ed," Kathy said with a smile. "That and change oil. But not spark plugs or breakpads or really anything about motorcycle maintenance."

And since she had one now...however legally or not it was obtained--she should learn how to take care of it properly.

[vdistinctive]

"Motorcycle maintenance, huh? Pretty sure I'm gonna need to dig up a lecture on safety gear to go along with that one. . . ."

[spin_kick_snap]

"I wear leather," Kathy offered. "And a helmet!"

[vdistinctive]

"Yeeeah, but you could be wearin' kevlar."

And don't get him started on what kind of helmet, how much the leather/kevlar covered, what sorts of boots she was wearing. . . .

[spin_kick_snap]

"But they don't make mini-skirts in kevlar!"

Kathy, stop trolling your father.

[vdistinctive]

"First of all, I guarantee you they do." Look, it was a kinky world out there, alright? They made metal bikinis, they absolutely made kevlar miniskirts. "Second: no."

[spin_kick_snap]

"No, I should go for booty-shorts instead?"

[vdistinctive]

"Do you enjoy having legs with skin on them?"