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I did ask, didn't I?

[Just saying. Though, really, that tells him all he needs to know.]

Or I could just stay like this for awhile.

[Yes, yes he could do that and Kate is a little unimpressed that there's light in the room because she can't exactly disguise the hint of pink in her cheeks.]

You could, do that too... [And she's tempted, God, how she is tempted when he looks like he does right now, but if anything? What would come next would probably be safer if he had more clothes on, not less.]

But if you ever want to leave this room you should... probably... put on clothes.

[His eyebrows lift because, despite having said that, she hasn't actually...moved.]

Are you gonna watch me?

Oh - [Right. Yes. That. She'll just um, pull away now and point towards what she supposed could be best described as their living room.]

I'll just be out... there.

I'll be out in a minute.

[He doesn't really wait for her to completely leave, instead leaning over to grab the shirt and start threading his arms through the sleeves.]

[Meanwhile Kate's just going to flop back down on the couch in the exact same spot she'd been in when he'd first come out.]

[He comes out a few minutes later, completely dressed, including shoes, with the jacket halfway zipped up.

For what it's worth, he doesn't look terribly uncomfortable or anything, though he does lift his eyes from himself to her eyes to catch her expression, his eyebrows climbing as he watches her expectantly.]

[He gets rewarded with a smile that lights up her whole face, something close to awe in her eyes, but there's warmth there too as Kate sits up, her gaze raking over him as if trying to commit every detail to memory.]

You look great. [And he did, though at least part of her awe is an excitement to both see him in anything that wasn't a suit, and because he looked like he could walk down the street of Bethel and be right at home there.]

But how much do you hate it? [And to be fair, she adds;] Really?

[Well that's...a look. Okay.

Going with it.]

I don't hate it. [He's quick to point that out, at least. He says it rather casually even, though he seems to debate something before he walks over and sits next to her, gesturing with his hands as he speaks.] In my line of work, I guess you could say, first impressions are really important. If you don't meet a certain standard, no one takes you seriously.

[He leans back against the couch.]

But you're right. We're not dealing with those kinds of people. We've been here long enough to know that. I'm just not used to it.

[There's a faint, almost amused smile on her lips as he speaks, the slightest raise of her eyebrows. She was very used to being the Preachers Daughter. Everyone in Bethel knew who she was but she hadn't been that girl for quite some time.

People didn't know who her Daddy had been and they still looked at her like she was some sweet, innocent little god-fearing girl who always minded her manners and would never do anything wrong.]

I might know a thing or two about not being taken seriously based on first impressions. [She understood what he was saying though and she even gets that for him, this was hard for so many reasons.]

If it helps? Think of it, kinda the same way? [Kate's body turning towards him as she shifts on the couch.] Except, instead of trying to get people to take you seriously, you're trying to make sure people don't take you too seriously.

[He looks at her for a moment, quiet understanding in his eyes. While Kate was seen as something she wasn't, he felt as if he was seen as not being good enough.

They were equally annoying for very different reasons, and it was true that she could sympathize with him.]

Change is hard. [Always. People were complicated and they didn't like to have to adjust sometimes. In some ways, he wasn't so different most of them.] But it's not like you're asking me to act like someone else, or trying to run this place or something.

Richie. [Her head cocking to the side, a soft smile playing across her lips as she gives a gentle shake of her head.] I don't want you to change. I just want you to be you.

[And she means that, completely, even if it turns out that Richie really is the guy who wears suits and all the rest of it, but deep down she believes there's more to him than that, just as she had learned there was more to Seth than that.]

The rest doesn't really matter, not here. If you'd feel more like you in a suit, then you should go change. [Your clothes - obviously... her smile, however, widens a little as she adds;] I just really wanted to see what you'd look like in jeans.

And I told you, it's fine. What I'm wearing doesn't change who I am, I know that.

[He says it matter-of-factly, like he hasn't thought otherwise.]

It's not bad. It's just different.

[Echoing words she's said before in a different context. It seems they bring all sorts of new things out of each other.]

They glasses stay, though. I'm not budging on that one.

Okay. [Content to leave it at that, Kate feeling a little more secure in the knowledge that he didn't actually think she was trying to change him]

Oh, the glasses definitely stay. [Nodding enthusiastically. He just wouldn't be Richie without them.] Except during movies.

[Which is when most people would actually need glasses but she has her priorities and she's learned that glasses and kissing don't really go together well.]

Except during movies.

[Or anything else in bed. He knows better than that. That said-]

I can see 20/20 without them, anyway.

[But, as she's thinking too, he's not himself without them.]

[Confusion twists her features, Kate's head cocking to one side.]

Then wh - [But she doesn't finish that. He used to need the glasses, but then he became a Culebra. Now it was just, what she'd said.]

And the suits can't go completely. You do look pretty great in them. [I mean, understatement. It was a scientific fact that all men looked incredible in suits.] But at least now I won't be so underdressed around you all the time.

[He thought he might have to clarify, but she seems to understand quickly enough, so that he doesn't have to.]

So you wanted me to match you, too?

[She gapes a moment, trying to summon up some kind of reply that wouldn't sound lame until finally she just sort of...

Gives up.]

Well, I - yeah? [In Kate's mind? At best she probably looks like his dowdy little sidekick.] I mean I know I could dress up but - [All but snorting.] Me?

[Shaking her head. People would accept him in jeans and a t-shirt but she didn't think she could pull off a dress and heels the way say.

Santanico could.]

You what?

[He follows, but he doesn't agree. Not even remotely.]

You've already done it. And well, I might add. I was there, remember?

[And now she does snort, a gentle roll of her eyes to accompany the shake of her head.]

That's different. That's like, putting on a dress for Prom or something.

[It was much like what she was saying before, how she knew a thing or two about people not taking you seriously because of how you look.

The difference being - in Kate's mind - that if she were to dress up on a daily basis, she'd just look like a little girl who was trying to appear older.]

That most definitely wasn't prom.

[He might be slightly looking at her like she's crazy, like where did she even get that idea.]

You're not some kid, Kate. And even then, I'm not talking about some glitzy ballgown. Ever try a basic cocktail dress?

Edited 2017-01-28 18:37 (UTC)

Yeah, well. I'm not Santanico, either. [Those words coming out before she can stop them.

The stupid thing? She's actually okay with not being like Santanico. They're just, two very different women and while it's in many ways, intimidating given Richie's former relationship with her, Kate isn't actually trying to measure up - at least, not on a conscious level.

A soft sigh escapes, Kate realizing exactly how that had to have sounded.

Voice softening;]

I don't want to look like some little girl who's been playing dress ups in her older cousin's closet.

[His expression falters, his lips pressing together and his eyebrows furrowing. He doesn't look pained, exactly, but it was a blow all the same.]

No. [The word comes out firmly.] You're not.

[He doesn't want her to be Santanico. Not by a long shot. And he's not talking about her wearing the kind of stuff Santanico would wear.]

You're not a little girl, Kate. You're someone who dealt with a lot of shit really fast and you handled it a hell of a lot better than most.

[She can feel the change in the air, knows she's the reason for the shift in atmosphere and while she's frustrated at herself, she's almost as frustrated at Richie for not getting it. She expects him to just understand what she's saying but she doesn't realize he can't. He doesn't see her the way she sees herself.

Talk of the past sees an invisible wall go up between them, Kate always cautious when it came to anything like this. She dealt with her pain by focusing on everyone else around her, by shoving everything into a box for her to look through later and then never going back to it.

This line of conversation, she wasn't expecting and she's only too quick to edge it away.]

That - [Shaking her head.] Doesn't have anything to do with the way I look.

Yes, it does.

[He starts to gesture with his hands vaguely, the way he does when he's trying to explain something.]

It's about a whole package. People believe what they believe based on what they see and what they feel. If you dress like and adult and act like an adult, you'll be seen as one. If you dress like an adult but act like a child, that's when people start to question what they see. If you own it, people trust it.

[Why do you think he wears suits, Kate. If he dresses like he has his shit together and acts like he has his shit together, everyone thinks he does.]

You project your own persona of what you want others to see you as, not the other way around.

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