Logs:Life is the Flower For Which Love is the Honey

Life is the Flower For Which Love is the Honey
Dramatis Personae Kitty, Sarah
In Absentia	2020-09-23 "Everyone is bigger than me.”
Location <NYC> VL 203 {Bakehaus} - East Village
The soothing light gray walls and the light hardwood floors make the small, two bedroom apartment look bigger than it is. The front door opens to the kitchen and eating area, the most furnished area at the moment. A bright blue range stands out in the kitchen. A square wooden table, just big enough for four chairs and room to eat is squeezed into a corner. A sunflower cookie jar sits on the countertop, next to a metal canister full of various, colorful utensils. The cabinets are filled with a similar mish-mash of dishes, glasses, and cookware. Here and there, taped the walls, are collections of colorful drawings on sketchbook paper. Flowers, bees, and birds in this group, various people in another, sketches of buildings and landscapes in a third, and so on. At the back of the room, a hallway continues to the left. Two doors are on the left of the hallway, the first leading to a small but nice bathroom, tiled in white and black. The second door leads to the smaller of the two bedrooms, which belongs to Sarah. The door at the very end of the hall leads to Angie and Rayne's room. October is still a week away, but you would not know it sitting in Sarah’s kitchen. Cloth spiders hang from a lace spiderweb tablecloth draped over the table, while little wooden figurines of ghosts, witches, black cats, pumpkins, you name it are arranged along the counter tops. The apartment owner is dressed to match in lavender shortalls that have a pattern of black bats and stars, a black racerback tee with a spiderweb heart and black tights with rainbow skulls underneath. She’s currently barefoot, occupying a chair with her legs crossed in the seat, at a table that looks set for weekend brunch instead of a random Wednesday morning. A plate in the middle of the table is piled high with honey cake bites in the shapes of bees, flowers, honeycomb and hives. Next to it is a glass jar of reddish honey (or something close enough to it) with a wooden dipper, a sunshine yellow bowl of apple slices on the other side. Two large jars of iced Vietnamese coffee finish off the meal. “I know the honey is a bit of a funny color, but I promise it’s delicious,” she says, handing Kitty a plate. “And extremely local.” Kitty's plate is quickly filling up - a honeycomb cake, four apple slices, with a sizeable dollop of honey in the middle that is spreading slowly into the surrounding solids. "I think I would expect a funny color from urban honey," Kitty says with a laugh, dipping her little cake into the pool before popping it in her mouth. "Mm!" Her eyes go wide with delight. "You gotta introduce me to your honey guy before next Rosh Hashanah. That shit is amazing." “That’s a yearly thing? I probably can manage that before next September.” Sarah starts to fill her own plate with some relief. A tiny stack of flower-shaped cakes, a handful of apple slices, a drizzle of honey over it all. “I’m glad you like it. I know it isn’t the same as what-all you can get at Evolve or Montague’s, but I like to think I can pull off an at-home coffee shop.” "Yeah, just about. Not always in September, though." The cake is gone - Kitty reaches for a couple more, plops them down on her plate, takes a sip of coffee. "Are you kidding? This stuff is amazing." Kitty picks up an apple slice, hesitates. "Heard there was some shit going on in front of Evolve the other night. So maybe an at home solution is good, right now." “Oh, that was--” Sarah’s face starts to turn pink. She turns over the cake in her hand instead of eating it, not quite meeting Kitty’s eyes. “Just some assholes. There’s a lot of them being open about it lately.” The cake is shoved into her mouth with a thumb. By the time it’s gone, it’s easier to look at Kitty again. “There was a friend there to help me out, so. I got home okay.” "Wait-" A piece of apple falls from Kitty's lips back onto the plate. "Shit. You were there?" Her eyes are wide. "I didn't realize - I just heard there was a fight. Was that -you and your friend?" She blinks twice, waves her hands. "We absolutely do not have to talk about this. Oh my god, I'm sorry for bringing it up." “Oh, I thought you—No, it’s okay. Really. I’m okay.” While she sounds it, Sarah again doesn’t quite meet Kitty’s eyes. Focuses on swirling an apple slice in a bit of honey on her plate. “I thought you were bringing it up because you knew. I guess I’m still a bit used to small towns and news traveling fast. I... I was lucky he was there to walk me home. I’m pretty useless in a fight.” Kitty frowns, taking a slow sip of coffee while Sarah looks away. "I guess some news does? But I'm like, on the edges of things these days. I miss details." The jar is set down with maybe a bit much force. "I'm glad you're okay." Then - "You can call me next time if someone isn't around, you know? I've been doing martial arts and self defense classes since I was like, 11." “I don’t know how many details there were in the first place. It all happened really fast.” Sarah looks up when Kitty sets down her jar, eyes widening after. “Oh,” she answers softly. “Okay. Thank you.” Looking back down to her plate, she finally eats her honey covered apple slice. “I hope this doesn’t come across the wrong way but how... what do you do?” The flush in her cheeks, nearly faded, starts to return. With her clean hand, she motions to herself. “I’ve been tiny as long as I can remember, like I actually had a growth spurt at one point and this was what I stopped at. Anytime someone bigger than me gets mad, I just kinda blank out, and everyone is bigger than me.” Kitty doesn't get it at first, her eyes narrowing as she tries to follow Sarah's logic. Then - "Oh." Kitty grabs the end of a lock of hair, pulls at it as she thinks. "Height... really has less to do with it than you would think. Or size, generally." She bites her lip. "It's like, it's physics, it's just really fast physics. Using points of weakness and centers of gravity." She frowns. "I don't know if that makes sense. I've just - I haven't necessarily always needed to defend myself, but something happened to me when I was a kid, so I've just.. always been keeping myself ready. Just in case." Kitty takes another sip of coffee, her expression anxious. "Sorry. That was a lot." It’s Sarah turn to try and follow Kitty. “You probably are making sense. I believe you, I just can’t picture it.” She takes a drink of her coffee, ice clinking against the glass. Reaches for another cake on the serving tray even though there are some left on her plate. “It’s okay. I get how things from childhood just kind of stick sometimes. Like cheap adhesive on your heart.” A weak giggle escapes her. “It sucks.” A large bite of apple is an excuse to sit in silence for a moment. Kitty covers her mouth while she chews, like she’s going to say something, but it’s not until after she swallows that she says “I am not totally sure if you are being literal or figurative here, do you have a heart condition?” There is a crease between her eyes now, of worry. Sarah laughs, eyebrows raising in surprise. Possibly at the question, possibly at her own reaction. “Sorry, I’m not laughing at you. That just took me off guard.” The sudden cheer at least seems to be sticking around. She seems lighter as she answers, “I’m pretty sure I don’t. Just… some things leave marks you don’t see, you know?” Kitty laughs too, the sound tinged with relief. Another sip of coffee after the last giggles. “Yeah. That makes lot of sense.” Kitty hesitates, putting on elbow on the table and resting her head on her hand. “You know, if you wanted. I could teach you some stuff. I’m not the best, but they charge an arm and a leg for Krav Maga these days.” Wide green eyes find Kitty’s. “Really?” The question is muffled around a recent bite of honey cake. Blushing, Sarah raises a hand to cover her mouth until she finishes chewing. “That would be amazing, thank you,” she says when she’s able. “I don’t know about an arm and a leg, but I can pay you in, like. Baked goods?” Kitty nods once. “Seriously.” She pauses, thinking- “not sure when or where, yet but I... I should be able to find some time.” Her gaze lifts up to a point just about Sarah’s head, squinting at an invisible calendar. “Yeah. Somewhere.” Her eyes light up- “Oh, that is a deal. These-“ she pops another cake in her mouth, “are absolutely worth it.”