fandomtownies | Outside Wonka's, Friday Afternoon

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Outside Wonka's, Friday Afternoon

As usual, Ezra was unaware of anything odd going on on the island. In his view, it was best to assume something or other would be weird whenever he got here, and just go from there. 'Weird' was relative when you were a werefox, anyway.

He was here on a whim.

And he was contemplating another one, right this moment, standing outside his former place of employment: whether to go in for some candy, or not. Yes, he lived a life full of very difficult and grave decisions. Obviously.

[ooc: Open!]

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Kathy was wandering through the town, exploring. There wasn't a school-sponsored activity today, but she was determined to keep busy. Maybe they were being graded on responsibility?

And maybe, just maybe, she was singing snatches of songs from the radio. Katy Perry's new song California Gurls had just come out and, shockingly, thirteen years old LA native Kathy was a huge fan.

"California girls...we're unforgettable! Daisy dukes and bikinis on top... something something...melt your popsicle!"

Would her song-related embarrassment in front of Ezra ever stop?

Probably not, to be honest.

Because of course that caught his interest, and made him turn to see who it was.

And then his head tilted quizzically.

Kathy turned bright red in a welter of personal humiliation. Not only had she been caught singing by somebody else, that somebody else had to be a boy! A cute boy!

There was no god.

She squeaked something that was likely meant to be a greeting. Or an apology. Or both.

There was a brief flicker of an amused smirk, before it turned into something warmer. A smile.

"Hello, little hotteok."

He'd had a lot of practice not making his endearments sound like come-ons, lately. So, treating her age-appropriately wasn't an issue.

Kathy squeaked again, blushing harder. It wasn't a come-on but it was still attention. "Umm, hello?" she said, offering a small wave. "You know Korean?"

She was adorable.

As was often the case with a lot of things about her lately, it was breaking Ezra's heart, just a little bit.

"Just a word, here and there," he said. "Mostly the ones you can't use in polite company, unfortunately."

"Oh," Kathy said. Her blush remained, but a hint of her dimples appeared. "Umm, I know those ones, too."

She took a deep breath and screwed up her courage. "I'm Kathy," she said, very daring.

It seemed like an 'I know' would be unnecessarily confusing, here. So Ezra didn't go for that. "Hello, Kathy," he said instead, his tone just a shadd softer than it should've been, just for a second.

Then he bowed, with a theatrical flourish. "Ezra Sagishi, at your service."

Kathy ducked her head, fighting back a smile. "The pleasure is mine," she said, since he was being all courtly. The boys on this island were all so pretty and so nice! LA was terrible in comparison.

Okay, that was the kind of opening that even now, Ezra had to sort of bite the inside of his lip not to go with the answer that would've been most natural to him in a lot of circumstances.

He straightened up again. "And what brings you to this part of town today, Miss Kathy?"

Even tiny, Kathy remained a menace. Sorry, Ez. "I'm here as part of an enrichment program," she explained with an enthusiasm she couldn't quite dampen. "Or, umm, exploring," she amended. "Depending on how specific you're being. The program doesn't have a scheduled activity today, so I decided to look around the town today."

"And are you finding Fandom to be enriching?"

He nodded towards the store.

"They have candy here, at least."

"It's so different from home!" Kathy exclaimed. "Everyone here is so nice. They talk to me!" She sounded almost surprised by that.

Ezra couldn't help his eyebrow quirking a little. "They don't talk to you at home?"

"Oh, I mean my family does," Kathy hastened to reassure him. "And my coach. And most of my teachers?"

Just,you know. Not peers.

Yeah.

Yeah, Ezra was noticing.

"And what about the other students?" he asked, although he made sure to stay casual with his tone. Light, easy.

"Oh, umm..." Kathy blushed and looked down at her feet. "Uhh, not really? I'm, umm, kinda quiet and shy? So I don't make it easy."

"They should talk to you anyway, darling," Ezra told her, keeping that easy lightness in his tone, but he still sounded sincere, too. He tilted his head to the side. And smiled at her, even if she wasn't looking. "They're missing out."

Kathy peeked up at him and reflexively smiled back. She couldn't not return his smile. "Oh, that's very kind," she said, blushing again. "But no, I'm not--I'm just--I'm nobody special, not really."

Ezra's smile got just a touch wider. It didn't show a single trace of the vague ache he felt inside his chest at hearing her be like this.

"Now that's just patently untrue, Kathy."

"This is what I mean," Kathy said. "About people being really nice. I mean, you just met me but you're already trying to make me feel better."

She didn't think it was true--and, either way, how would he know-- but it was nice of him to try.

"That's not what I'm trying to do." Okay, that was a part of it. Of course it was. Just wasn't what he considered to be the most crucial aspect!

He reached for one of her hands with both of his - a bold move, but he did it slowly, and more like an offer or a request. Something she didn't need to go for if it wasn't comfortable.

"You're special, dumpling. It'll take you a couple of years to grow into it, sure, but you are. You're wonderfully kind and good-hearted, and people are going to adore you for it."

There was no force on this planet that would keep Kathy from taking Ezra's hands if he offered them. Hesitantly, yes, and with cheeks that felt on fire, but she slipped her small hand into his, practically holding her breath to keep the moment going.

"But, umm. You don't know me," she pointed out softly, eyes wide. "So how could you know that about me?"

Maybe this whole enrichment program was an excuse for devastatingly handsome boys to tell her nice things about herself. In which case, she was signing up every year.

Ezra gave her hand a reassuring squeeze. And held on.

His smirk was mischievous.

"Let's just say I have very good intuition when it comes to people."

He was still holding her hand. He was still holding her hand. He was still holding her hand. Kathy was pretty much willing to let the whole argument go in favor of this insane twist of reality.

"Y--you do?" she asked, probably sounding stupid but she was in something of a daze. "H-How?"

(He was still holding her hand.)

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