Your Focus Determines Your Reality

Ophelia obediently got up, using Kat to lean on.  It took some effort but she managed to get to her feet.  At first, her knees nearly bucked from underneath her, but having Kat as a support helped.  After a few seconds to adjust, Ophelia began to walk, following Kat.

It only took a few minutes to reach Kat’s flat, but even in just that time she was starting to struggle a bit. She really needed to do more weight exercises. But as soon as they made it inside, Kat guided Ophelia over to the table. “Sit. Relax. I’m going to make you some food.” 

“I sincerely doubt that is going to happen,” she answered. “I don’t exactly have a claim.”

“Doesn’t always take a claim to inspire jealousy. I’ve had doms start territory marking after they’ve had a drink and your ‘exactly’ doesn’t inspire confidence. Why don’t we cause some destruction, and you can decide where it goes from there?”

Three claims in the next month. We’re doomed, Drew thought to himself as he walked down the sidewalk. This entire town is doomed. He barely looked at all the passing faces, a knot growing in the pit of his stomach. He’d made a pledge to help each and every one of these people. If he were forced out of Verona, if the rest of the doctors and nurses had to leave… the rest of the townspeople would truly be the ones to suffer.

So lost in his thoughts, Drew didn’t notice the person he walked into until it was too late, their drink falling to the ground and spilling everywhere. “Fuck,” he muttered, stepping back to look at the other and see if their clothes had gotten hit by the spilled liquid. “I’m so sorry–wasn’t paying nearly enough attention to where I was going. Let me buy you another drink.”

“Yes, 2 pm on Saturday. Uh huh. Ok I’ll see you there.” Kat looked down to hang up from the call, already putting the appointment in her calendar when she was slammed into and her coffee went spilling all over the ground. “Shit!” She leapt backwards away from it, but she couldn’t entirely avoid the backsplash. “I think that makes two of us. Damn.”

“I’m so happy for you that you think you can be this loud in a public place, but no tea no shade, the pitch of your voice is making the milk in my latte actually curdle so if you could shut up, that would be just great.” Lucio gave the other a thumbs up.

Kat had been taking notes in her journal of everything that the woman across the cafe was saying - after all, anyone talking at that decibel was asking to be quoted in some future article. But at the grumpy comment from next to her, she found herself snorting in amusement. 

“We are not better than everyone in the city. But we are a family and I don’t think it’s right for you to basically be saying that Adrianna deserved to die because she was disliked. Capulet or no, that’s fairly sociopathic.” Was this woman real? He wasn’t particularly close to Kat, but he hadn’t expected that she would be so callous.

“I didn’t say she deserved to die. I said I didn’t respect her and that no one will miss her, both of which are completely true statements. And while we’re technically related, the connection was so distant as to be almost forgettable if we didn’t explicitly share a last night. That’s not really the kind of thing that engenders a lot of grief or sympathy.” Kat found herself getting defensive at the idea of being considered ‘sociopathic’, but she kept her tone the same mildly annoyed neutral she’d been using.

Terran smiled when she said she was fine. He nodded then and laughed a little bit. “Yeah I’m fine. Just kind of getting some air, I guess. I was at a club down the road and just didn’t want to be there anymore.”

“Does it really matter? I need you, I offered you gratification beyond possibly being attracted to me. I’m offering to pay you to use me just so I can use you a little bit too.”

Kat wasn’t entirely sure if this was a good idea, but she didn’t like to say no to a gorgeous willing woman either. "As long as no jealous doms are going to come after me crying for blood. I hate going into the holiday season with black eyes.”

“By virtue of being family, you should show some reverence. A Capulet is still a Capulet, and we’re a far sight better than the alternative. Also, my preference to keep things in the family is far less messy than waiting for the bureaucracy to handle it. Shorter wait, too.” 

"Right, I forgot who I was talking to. Capulets can do no wrong because we’re all inherently better than anyone else in the city. Never mind what we’re like as people.” Kat rolled her eyes, flipping her hair out of the way. She’d forgotten just how tiresome this particular relative was since she’d stopped pretending to agree to that point of view.

“Checkup went well! After a little over two weeks I finally only have to wear that dumb wrap at night for the next four weeks. “

“Also graduating from my liquid diet to soft foods, and can finally talk again and drink now that I’m off some of the prescription meds. Hallelujah!”

“Congratulations. Planning on any big celebrations to mark the occasion?”

“Yeah, you know me, regular middle school bully, insulting the girl of my affections just so she’ll look at me. Cut the bullshit, I’m not interested in you or your journalistic notes. Could give less than a fuck about it, if I’m to be frank. Just thought I ought to let you know what an ass you were making out of yourself – Fuck me for trying to be gracious, right?” 

Kat looked at him for a moment before shaking her head. “No, I don’t believe you. You might have it in you to be gracious, but I think you’d only even wave in the vicinity of that emotion for someone you actually liked. Me, you’re just trying to pick on. Why is the much more interesting question.”

“Hats and wigs are already on my list.” He said with a grin. “ Oh that sounds cool. “ He mumbled .  He took a sip of his coffee. “ I have no idea how Lady Bea does this.”