We saw you headin' back with a shovel, Miss Katherine

If you're lookin' to converse with the player of this here cowgirl, give your note to the fastest Pony Express agent you can find, an' we'll see to it you get a quick an' polite response.

(Leave a comment, or drop an e-mail to ikissdhimbck [at] gmail [dot] com!)

Her floor is a battleground of hastily discarded clothes.

She's come to love the steady comfort of having him in her bed night after night, but she'll never tire of the way he pulls at her when they've been separated for a long stretch, eager to get her alone, to have her all to himself. The nearly frantic, desperate love-making punctuated by clumsy hands and a mad rush to find a flat surface; the way they pause only long enough to regather their steam, and then start all over again.

During one of these pauses, he hovers over her, dropping kisses up and down her neck, and she traces the lines around his eyes with her thumb, giggling. He grumbles at her, which only makes her laugh more. At least I'll always know when you're foolin' around, she says, because you'll stop pinnin' me down when you've gone too long without.


Hey! A month is a really long time!


The night passes slowly, bleeding into morning. Work hangs over them both. Kate wants to check on the stock, and Tommy's always ready to get back to the firehouse. It'll be a long day on little sleep, with nothing but a hot shower to bolster them. Well. A hot shower and what goes on while they're taking it.

Howdy, ladies and gents!

Here's the nitty-gritty: as of this thread here, Kate's gotten it into her head that there's some shady business going on in this here saloon only the foremost expert on Jesse James can set to rights. With Natasha, her new partner, extolling the virtues of the communist party, they've decided all the sweets should be liberated for the benefit of every child in the bar to have and share fairly.

What this means IC: Katherine and Natasha are looking to round up a gang of girls their age to pull a heist, their main quarry being ice cream and sarsaparilla. Think of it not as a Boston Tea Party so much as an End of the Universe Root Beer Float Party. They'll need lookouts, girls who can provide distraction and cover, and the type of lion-hearted young women who can make off with all the sweets they can carry. The gang will escape with their bounty, heading for the tree fort outside (which will be their hideout).

Midway through the heist, a snooping boy is going to come round threatening to tattle on them — who else would it be but Tommy Gavin? He's going to be taken captive.

What this means OOC: I'd like to set the heist itself up in an OOM (which I have drafted here), with their escape to the tree fort set up as a party post in the bar. I'm keeping this very relaxed, freeform, and open. As of Kate's EP from yesterday, if your character hasn't come around to meet her it can be handwaved that they were conscripted by Katherine or Natasha at some point during their plotting; this way we can leap straight into the fun. There won't be any tagging order; it will be first come, first served, and follow the IC outline highlighted above. That way, everyone who would like to participate can do so at their leisure as their schedule permits, and play to the strengths of their pups. Would your pup be in the thick of it, stuffing cookies into a sack? Or perhaps shouting strategy from the sidelines? As long as it doesn't violate basic player courtesy (no godmodding, keep to the bar rules, etc), you can run with your ideas. I'd love to make this the silliest most inclusive heist possible, giving everyone a chance to jump in.

While the OOM itself has to follow a closed arc—from Katherine and Natasha rallying the troops, to raiding the kitchens and Bar, to making their escape—the party post will take place after the heist is complete and be open to absolutely anyone, boy, girl, adult or child. It'll work like your standard lake party, where you can tag around where you like (the victorious posse will be enjoying the fruits of their labor and no doubt taunting their captive). If you're having trouble thinking of where your character can fit in, that might be a good place to send them. I'll keep the OOM open to as many people as would like to participate, as long as I know there's interest, even if you can only spare one tag to establish your character as being there. When players have to hit the hay or step away from the computer, action will continue and come back to that character if and when the player returns. Here's an example of how I see things going:

[Kate tags:] Kate dons a parka and goes to the back of the ice box, grabbing cartons of ice cream and handing them to Natasha. "Golly, do you think we can sneak all this out, without gettin' caught?"
[Natasha tags:] She piles the cartons into a basket. "Maybe not all, but most. We have good numbers."
[Noriko tags:] Meanwhile, Nori is behind the Bar, gathering bottles of root beer and cola, while keeping an eye out for snooping adults.

If we piece the OOM together in this fashion, characters can jump in for a tag or two, and jump out again. If two characters are specifically interacting, I just ask that you keep conversation light and brief. This is a heist! They've got to get in and get out quick! Deeper conversation can happen in the party post, after the job is done.

Comment here and let's discuss. Your mighty bosses are Katherine and Natasha, and the posse as it stands from the backroom post will include Noriko Ashida, Valentine Wiggin, Vanellope von Schweetz, Jessica Drew, Maid Marian, Thirteen, and Dixie Cousins, with appearances by Tommy Gavin and possibly Steve McGarrett. This is by no means a closed plot — if you, reading along, want to toss someone else in, absolutely do so. This is the place to ask questions, offer ideas, or plot — as well as keep track of who's jumping in and tagging. Although, I might suggest tracking the OOM, too.

I'll also be on AIM: ikissdhimbck

Tagging can begin immediately. Natasha has already gotten things started. Check in when you're able; like Kate says, a posse means nobody gets left behind. ^__^

ETA 10/17: It looks like we're pretty close to wrapping up the heist part of the plot, with prisoner well in hand. So everybody who hasn't gotten a tag in yet, or has something else they'd like to do before they flee to the tree fort, now is your chance. Go ahead and tag in anywhere that feels right. Soon, Kate will give the call to flee for their hideout, and the action will move to the party post. Would it be best for everyone if the party post went up tonight, or tomorrow morning or afternoon? If there are no strong opinions, I'll probably leave the end of the night for wrapping up the OOM and then put the party post up tomorrow early in the day.

[following this:]


The Tremont Opera House* may in fact be the most notable playhouse ever built in Texas. Standing on the corner of Tremont and Market Streets, the Tremont Theatre replicates the famous Booth Theatre in Manhattan (whose owner, Edwin Booth, comes to perform often). Its Italianate details, Corinthian columns, and beaux-art cast iron facades on the north and west sides of the building, set the opera house apart from the other theaters peppered across Galveston.

Designed by architect T.H. Adams and built by Galveston News editor and senior proprietor Willard Richardson, the Tremont — originally known simply as The Galveston Opera House — helped triple the population of Galveston. Richardson fulfilled his passion for theater by building the Tremont on the site of his newspaper offices, which the Galveston fire of 1869 destroyed along with more than one hundred other downtown buildings. It lifted the cultural life of the city during the boom after the Civil War, and has become a cultural mecca in the Southwest, drawing international stars of stage and opera.


Kate's door leads out of the hotel she's currently staying in, three blocks from the theater. However, it's a nice night for a respectable pair to take a stroll, and there's no more respectable a pair than Kate and Jim in their current attire, respectively. They link arms, and make their way to the grand Market Street entrance.

Jim, knowing his history as he does, may be aware that Victorian burlesque and vaudevillian comedies are the vogue at the moment; however, with such a distinguished orchestra and players, not to mention Kate's repeated insistence he'll love what she has in store for him, who knows what he might see tonight?


*Links to a .pdf, THE TREMONT OPERA HOUSE OF GALVESTON: THE FIRST YEARS, for additional history and information on the building, the players, and city.

Tonight isn't any different than most other nights. Tommy stops in late, long after Kate returns from her nightly chores, washes up, and changes into something clean and comfortable. He brings along dinner, and the two sup together in comfortable silence.

It's been a tiring period for them both. Sometimes a quiet dinner is just what they need.


They're only just finishing up. Soon, she'll tenderly peel him out of his clothes and put him to bed with her, watching over him until he's relaxed enough to fall asleep.

It's late afternoon on a Saturday, and all of Kate's chores have been squared away. Most of the hands are here in the mornings, leaving the afternoons a little less busy, and the evenings even more so. Kate knows today is the day Dr. Lecter will be coming by, and so she's seen to it they'll have a modicum of privacy.

She's left the desk clean and organized, and taken the chair out to the back paddocks. The ones in the far back are being used right now, so she sets the chair near the railing edging the forest near the stables' back exit. The horses not in their stalls are all out front, leaving things pretty empty out here.

Once that's settled, she waits by the side entrance for the good doctor.

[following this:]


Kate makes her way up the stairs slowly, turning the corner to her room without the slightest hullabaloo. Once she's slipped inside and locked the door behind her, she starts peeling out of her clothes.

Linen blouse is folded neatly over her desk chair.

Gun belt is spread on the chest at the foot of her bed.

Boots are lined up at the door, prim as you please.


By the time she hears the lock rattling behind her, she's in nothing but her camisole and her knickers, and when it swings open, followed by the sound of Tommy's voice, the former has been tugged over her head. She glances over her shoulder.

[Sometime after this:]


Kate isn't sure she trusts the cavalier attitude toward illness in Milliways. Sure, they've made some remarkable leaps in medicine throughout the universe, but remarks like 'it's just the flu' and 'common cold' still make her gawp. This doesn't feel like just anything, and she's seen folk die from less.

She takes her medicine like a good patient, and agrees to bed rest to avoid staying in the infirmary. She mostly stays in bed — when nobody else is watching, even. However, that's to do mainly with how awful she's feeling, rather than any sudden change in disposition.

She's bored.

She's dying.

Doesn't anybody care?


She sets aside the last of the six books she borrowed from the library to keep herself occupied, and sighs. It quickly turns into a coughing jag. What's she going to do now?





--kismetBehest has logged on--

[following this:]


It's a familiar sight.

Kate unlocks the door, and tugs Tommy inside. She hasn't let go of him the whole way upstairs, as if some part of her were afraid if she did he'd turn around and walk away. He's scaring her. Something awful has happened, and she doesn't know what it is, and she doesn't want him to be alone.

"Go take a seat at the table."

Her voice is gentle, pitched sweet enough to soothe a scared child. She's not looking for argument, however. Her eyes, clear and sharp, stay focused on his.

Please.