Kitty called Kess earlier in the morning and invited her by - she had,
apparently, news. Of course, the delivering of said news has been slightly
belayed by other important things. Like cookies, and drinks (coffee? hot
chocolate? mulled cider? Kess can have just about anything she likes, as
long as it's warm). Because, to put it bluntly, it's /horribly/ cold out.
Kitty fusses.

Kess arrives not too much after she was called - enough time to kiss and
cuddle Tulio goodbye and pull on warm clothes. Not that she's too bothered
by the cold, but Kitty isn't the only one that fusses. Arriving, she
requests hot chocolate - caffiene in the bird is a dangerous thing, and
alcohol and warmth may well put her to sleep. And she likes to pile sugar
in the chocolate for extra sweetness. She smiles, coat shed and wings
folded to her back, watching Kitty fuss with fond amusement. It's so nice
to be fussed over. "Everything all right with you?" she asks, in no hurry
to get to the news if Kitty isn't. The moments of calm easiness are
precious, these days.

Ah, avian metabolism. Sugar is indeed a splendid thing. "Just fine," Kitty
promises - her hair's gotten substantially longer fairly quickly, it might
be noted, curls spilling halfway down her back now, but she doesn't seem
to take any notice of it. It might indeed contribute to her general look
of vague contentment. "Except for Pete now complaining /twice/ as much,
because not only is it cold, he's having to deal with the prospect of tofu
for a day. I keep telling him that /one/ day without cholesterol won't
kill him. How're you and Tulio? How's he dealing with the weather?"

Kess tilts her head to the side, considering the difference in her friend.
"Your hair's different." A soft smile approves, mostly because Kitty looks
so happy right now. She giggles softly at Pete's complaints and offers a
cheery shrug to the questions, a gesture echoed by folded wings. "We're
good. You were right - he liked the armour." A flicker of a wider smile at
that and a touch of blush - oh, he *liked* it all right. "He complains a
bit about the snow, but he doesn't mind it too much." She relaxes into a
happy expression. "Might even have some news soon, too."

Kitty jokes, "I've been trying to grow it out for six months, and it
finally decided to cooperate. All at once." Hot chocolate - made the long
way, not instant - is delivered into Kess's hands; sugar is freely
available for stirring in to taste. "Bet he liked what was /under/ the
armor better," she adds, teasing, and gives a bright grin as she pours
herself a fresh cup of coffee. Caffeine may be bad for birdgirls, but it's
necessary for Kitties. "News? What kind of news?"

Kess flushes pink at the quip about what was under the armour - it's only
too obvious how true /that/ is. But she's grinning anyway, curling her
hands around the mug and spooning in plenty of sugar, stirring it in
thoroughly. It's something for her hands to fiddle with. "Tulio might be
buying a club uptown," she says with a hint of excitement, quietly kept
for now, confiding in her friend. "It's not settled yet, but... we should
know soon." Should she be telling people? Who knows. But she wants to
share. It's Christmas!

Kitty's eyes widen just a touch. "Seriously?" Her friends are taking over
Beacon Harbor's nightlife! Well - pieces of it, anyway. "Kess, that's so
cool! That's - just -" ... making Kitty sound like a hyperactive
bleached-blonde sixteen-year-old. "... wow." Okay, so she doesn't
necessarily mind sounding that way so much.

Kess' gaze ducks as she nods, teeth catching at her lower lip. "Yeah," she
agrees. Wow. "He wants me to help out, too. Though I know nothing about
clubs." She looks momentarily overwhelmed, almost lost, in a glazed, happy
way. She won't know where to start, but she'll be there, trying anyway.
She reaches over to give Kitty's hand or wrist a delighted squeeze.

Wrist is easier to catch; Kitty shifts to return the grip, fingers lying
for a moment along Kess's forearm. "I guess you get to learn by doing,
huh? That's not so bad." And at least she knows her boss can't fire her!

Kess giggles softly, shoulders shrugging dismissively, again echoed by her
wings. She's only too happy to surrender her forearm to be held. "Yeah. I
mean, I managed well enough at the college. This can't be much harder,
right?" Her head bobs to the side, birdlike, as she blows on her hot
chocolate. The future's looking hopeful for her - who ever knew she could
have these things, these chances? Not her. But that brings to mind other
futures, less hopeful ones, and her smile fades, gaze turning questioning.
But she can't bring herself to ask.

"Probably not even /as/ hard," Kitty says blithely. After all, it's only
people. Right? The more sober look settles Kitty as well, though. "So. I,
um." Had something to tell you about. "Do you want the good news or the
bad news first?"

People. Never underestimate people, or how they can affect Kess. But
she'll fall off that bridge when she gets there. Her lips give a twitch of
an encouraging smile; whatever it is, she can handle it. She's so sure
about that. "Might as well start with the bad." See? She's not afraid.

"Those things with the black wings?" Kitty says, taking her, apparently,
at her word. "They're here. They've shown up at least twice since the
solstice. They move in groups and they're not shy of being nasty. You'll
know them if you see them. Believe me on that one."

Kess sits up straighter at that, eyes brightening, but not in a happy way.
"They're /here/?" The warning is well-timed; the birdgirl makes a mental
note to wear the armour whenever she goes out flying. Because if she'll
see them anywhere, it'll be in the air. "I'll keep an eye out for them."
Which means patrolling and trying to track them. "Do we know if they're
really angels, or if they're just... winged?" Can I kill them, and how
hard will I have to do it?

"I don't know the theology of it," Kitty answers, "but they're /bad/,
Kess. And in that sentence, 'bad' is a noun, not an adjective." She takes
a swallow of coffee, staring down at the cup for a moment. "They're not
invulnerable - a guy with a gun took down two of them. But they're not
anything short of dangerous, either. They have... weapons. Swords, at
least, and they're not made out of metal; I don't know /what/ they do.
They're sneaky, they're mean, they like to surround their opponents before
moving in, and they /don't/ hesitate to go after noncombatants." And with
her eyes still down on the cup, it's a little easier to hide the cold
fury. "And the 'they're not invulnerable' was, in case you were wondering,
half of the good news. The other half is, they haven't found what they're
looking for yet."

Kess nods slowly, expression thoughful. She doesn't look perturbed by the
description of how dangerous these things are; in the air, she has never
been caught, and has great faith in her ability to handle herself there.
She nods slowly. "I'm gonna have to pick up something to use on them,
then." She's thinking weapons, and sighs as she wishes she had more time
for archery practice. She's really not good enough to risk encumbering
herself with that thing yet. Her lips press together, and she looks
relieved at the last half of the news. "Do we have confirmation on if the
heart-thing is what they're looking for?" Because in that case, she knows
where to keep them away from. Guard-birdie?

Kitty bites at her own lower lip. "We know they're looking for /a/
heart-thing. I'm not sure - if it's the one we thought it was. They've
already been to St. Asta's." She hesitates, glancing up and over, looking
at Kess steadily. "Kess - I think we know what they're looking for, and
where it is. But I'm not sure if it's safe for me to tell you. I'm not
worried about you telling them if they threaten you. I /know/ you can
handle yourself. I'm worried about what happens if they start doing things
to Tulio."

Kess goes cold inside at that, brown eyes widening, and her knuckles
whiten around the mug. "Tulio? Why would they-- how would they know to do
that?" Her gaze darts away, and she has to put her mug down. She'll spill
it in her distraction, and it gives her time to think. She just became a
danger to Tulio? Definitely needing the weapons and the KILLING of those
things. "If it's not the one in the statue at St Asta's, then...." Her jaw
tightens as she frowns at the floor. She wants to know. "If they already
think I know, then what difference would it make if I actually do or not?
I wouldn't tell them." Her frown deepens. "How do they know I know?"

Kitty lets out a quiet breath. "I'll take your word for it. Kess, I'm not
sure it's /in/ the statue at St. Asta's anymore. Something - very strange
happened a couple of days ago." She rakes a hand through her hair. "You
can get around town a whole lot easier than I can - if you could maybe
stop in at St. Asta's and take a look for me, see if anything's happened
to any of the statues, I'd appreciate it. A lot." More coffee is drunk,
except that it's not strong enough. "Oh, hell, they probably know what
happened already. I don't - Kess -" Kitty's stammering. The caffeine is
definitely not strong enough. "I don't know what they know. I don't know
if they know about Tulio. Heck, I don't know if they know about /phone
books/. I know they've already killed one person, tortured one, and
attacked two more. When they went to St. Asta's -" Stammering /and/
disjointed. Wonderful. "An angel came out to meet them. Not their kind.
More - much more like Liam. She ... put something in me. Here." Her free
hand lifts and is set over her heart. "If the one in the statue is missing
- then they're probably looking for me now."

And Kess thought she had the bad news already. She looks at Kitty's hand,
and lifts one of her own to cover it. Killing, torture, attacks... god,
it's almost like home. "I'll check the statues," she promises shortly.
It's in Kitty? Maybe? She'd better get a move on making that armour for
her friend, then. "They're not gonna find what they're looking for." It's
almost unlike her, the firmness and confidence in that, borne by all her
determination. Her gaze is almost distant as her mind runs over what she
has to do now. Warn Tulio, find a way to keep him safe. Try to find the
heart. Hope, hope so much that it's not inside her friend. It's a moment
before she lifts her eyes to meet Kitty's, their dark depths troubled but
steady. She can do this.

Brown eyes meet Kess's, and of all things, Kitty smiles. "I don't care so
much if they /find/ it. They're not gonna /get/ it." Funny how their
expressions match. Confidence, determination, concentration. "I mean. Come
on. You don't think we're gonna let a little thing like this screw up a
/wedding/, do you? We'll handle it. All of us." Her hand turns under
Kess's, the better to squeeze fingers lightly.

Kess returns the finger-squeeze and the smile, though hers is touched with
grimness. "Yeah, we will." The grimness fades, relaxes back to something
softer. She is /not/ going to let this get her down - now, maybe, she has
something she can do, some way she can be of actual help. "We'll beat
this. I'll see what I can do about those winged... things." Whatever they
are. With any luck, she'll be able to steal one of their swords. Swords
are great. Until then, a baseball bat will have to do.

Baseball bats are also great. Knives might be better, but Kitty doesn't
have any good ones on hand to offer. Just adrenaline and defiance, really.
And Pete's gun, but so far as she knows, Kess isn't much with the aiming
(and the laws of action and reaction might be a snag, too). "Just be
careful, okay?" Kitty says lightly. "I mean, we've only got one Kess
around."

Kess has very strong feelings against guns, so it's probably a good thing
the offer isn't made. Though if things get much worse, she might even be
tempted to accept such an idea. She gives Kitty a lopsided smile, and
leans over to kiss her friend on the cheek reassuringly. Right here, see?
"I'm not going anywhere. And I'm always careful." If somewhat kamikaze.
"Don't worry about me, okay?" She'll be fine. She's always fine. See how
neat and scarless her skin is? It never leaves marks on her for long.

Not to mention that it would be horribly wrong to separate Pete from the
gun in question, but ... actually, Kitty's been wishing she had one
herself. Kitty grins under the kiss, and leans to return one to Kess's
cheek in exchange. "That makes two of us, then. And we're both darned hard
to corner anyway. Right?" Brown eyes sparkle. "We'll be fine."

Kess' smile relaxes, deepens, as she sits back, and she reclaims her cup
to sip at the now-warm chocolate. "Yeah, exactly." So very sure about
that. And hard to corner? Oh, she's gotten very good at being /that/. "So,
everything set for the wedding, then? The dress is ready, whenever you
wanna come try it on." Their future fineness settled, she moves quickly
onto happier topics.

"Everything except the people part," Kitty admits amusedly. "We're still
trying to juggle that. A lot. Some of the guests kind of despise each
other, so we're trying to figure out ways to keep everyone behaving." That
last sentence is almost laughing. "Plus we're not actually sure if
everyone we'd like to be there is /able/ to be around religion. This city
makes /everything/ so weird."

Kess blinks, then grins and shakes her head. "I'd help, but... I wouldn't
have a clue where to start." Both hands curl around the mug, as she sips
at the contents steadily. "This place does have a habit of making things
complicated." She blinks, gaze going distant as she thinks about that for
a moment, but she shakes those things away. Really too much to dwell on
right now. "Clothes, I can help with. The rest? Just tell me what you
need." Totally needing guidance there. She's really not even considering
these kinds of things for her own wedding yet.

Kitty says cheerfully, "Sanity, organization, and about two more years to
figure things out. But I'll happily settle for the dress. See, /we/ don't
have any idea where to start, either. We'll probably wind up just
wandering in and hoping. I mean, it's not like either of us has the
faintest clue what we're doing. Actually, you should probably watch,
laugh, and take notes to save yourself some of the horrors."

Kess giggles softly, gaze settled comfortably on her friend. "I'm sure
you'll do just fine. You just have to be there and enjoy yourself. The
rest'll sort itself out. And if not, I'll bang heads till it does." Even
if those heads belong to some of the guests. Nothing is going to spoil
this for Kitty and Pete. Nothing.

Kitty teases, "I've never heard of a wedding with a bailiff before."

Kess grins and blushes at that. "Well, I'll try and be good. I promise."
Bailiff? She can't just be protector-of-the-peace birdie?

Kitty rolls her eyes. "You'd be the only one there trying," she assures.
"I /know/ Pete's already set up one practical joke. Men!" Bird-of-peace
rather than bird-of-prey? Hm.

They could, possibly, turn out to be the same thing, if Kess has her way.
She laughs at Kitty's words. "Practical jokes?" At a wedding? Oh, this is
going to be an experience and a half. She grins, delighted. "Well, I'll
/try/," she repeats, brown eyes shining.

Wait till they see which among the invited guests show up. If a particular
one or two do, there may be no help for any of it. "Thanks," Kitty says
more seriously - but not by much. "If all else fails, I'll flee to you to
help keep me from beating the groom's head in at the last minute. Right?"

Kess grins and giggles softly, nodding. "Sure. I'll be the wedding
couple's protection, from each other if need be. But only until you're
married." No protecting after that! Especially not in any private place.
Ahem. Then they're on their own.

"Suddenly," Kitty declares, "I feel much safer. Can't imagine why."