[UNRECORDED]

[illdrinktothat]

Walter goes right back to drinking as soon as Caro leaves. Well, feeding his cat then drinking, so when he does inevitably pass out (finally, many hours into the night later) his fucking cat is less likely to wake him up.

She does anyway.

The first thing he sees is a small furry face and unnaturally big green eyes, approximately an inch from his nose. Which she'd been biting.

"Goddamnit, cat, no. Go the fuck away," He grumbles at her until he realizes that the daylight shining in through the cracks of the curtains looks a lot further along than morning - beyond late afternoon, even. Well, fuck. Bourbon gets gently shoved off her place on his chest so he can roll over and tryand cover his face with his arms because despite whatever the fucking sun says, it feels like too early and not enough liquor yet. His cat keeps pawing at him. His head's pounding. The cold wood floor isn't helping his head much, either, but he doesn't feel like moving yet. Two seconds later, the small cat latched to the back of it doesn't help, either. Those claws are fucking sharp.

He curses and yells and she scampers away, but he's up, finally. From there it's just... finding if he has any coffee left to make and maybe actually changing to a different set of clothes before Caro shows up. That might be a good idea.

He ends up sitting on the kitchen floor, drinking black coffee and feeding Bourbon sardines while he waits for the inevitable neighborly visit. She settles right into his lap, apparently having forgiven his earlier rudeness since he found more treats for her.

Comments

[caroflower]

Caro gets up early. That's not exactly surprising, but she has a reason for it today. She has some stuff to do before she heads over to Walter's. She lurks around outside the Hob in time to waylay the Hawthorne boy and see what he has today. Turns out to be rabbits. She also lets him know that it'll be worth his time in the future to come to her in the Victor's Village with whatever he's willing to sell her. Hopefully he will.

Back at home, the rabbits go into a stew. While that cooks, she chats with Data for a while. He's also a morning person. She doesn't mention anything about Walter, but she does mention hearing from both Murphy and Scotty. Data is awkward about it until she thanks him.

After lunch she sends Garak a quick message, just because she hasn't talked to him in about a week and a half. She considers sending something to Weyoun, but she's still not sure how much he'd really want to hear from her. Besides, she's done plenty of socializing today.

Then it's just a matter of reading and otherwise killing time for a bit before it's time to head over to bug Walter. Hopefully, he's actually awake. It's not that she thinks he'd blow this off, but well... There's no Weyoun shouting him out of bed or throwing water on him out here, so he may very well have overslept. Well, if he doesn't answer, she'll just make a nuisance of herself.

Caro is soon on his doorstep with a couple of large jars of stew and the last of the bread she bought in the Hob. She has to juggle the food a bit to knock.

[illdrinktothat]

As soon as Walter hears the knock, he sets the can of anchovies aside and Bourbon next to it. It keeps the little shitball busy while he goes to deal with letting Caro in with hopefully less awkwardly standing in the entryway this time. He still looks a little bit like he slept on the floor when he opens the door to greet her. But this is Walter Sullivan, so the better question is 'when doesn't he look like he slept on the floor'.

"Hey. Um." He has to pause and eye what it is she's carrying before realizing, wait, he should offer a thing. "Do you need me to help with all - that? Maybe."

She brought food. She actually brought food. Oh god, Bourbon's going to drive him insane.

[caroflower]

"Yeah, I didn't know how long this was gonna take, so I bought food." She holds out the jars for him to take. "Figured it might help offset the blood loss a little, too."

The part where it's also a nice thing to do and his kitchen didn't seem very well stocked when she was over yesterday remain unsaid. Because that would be awkward.

[illdrinktothat]

Walter will just take those off her hands and get the fuck out of the way so she can come in already. "Good idea."

He's keen to shut the door before he hears the inevitable tiny kitten footfalls in their direction, but that doesn't actually happen. So instead he'll just... take this stuff to the kitchen. And hopefully put it on the counter somewhere Bourbon won't destroy it.

Thankfully, she's still on the ground where he left her, preoccupied with inhaling the anchovies like it's her last meal.

He mutters something about being a spoiled pain in the ass in the cat's direction. Nevermind the fact that he's the one who feeds her this stuff.

"So..." How does one even go about going hey ready to have me slice open your face? He's prepared for the actual act, at least. Sharp enough knife, sterilized, something to clean the area, something to slow the bleeding, that sort of thing. Having a Victor's budget made that easier - he didn't have those sorts of luxuries when he got his scars from the Order. It was luck that he didn't end up with some kind of infection, and he'd rather not take that risk here if at all possible.

[caroflower]

Caro follows Walter into the kitchen and sets the bread down by the stew. Bourbon's inhaling... something or other, she notes with amusement.

"Is in here okay, or did you have somewhere else in mind?" She looks around, a little awkwardly. The kitchen seems the obvious place to her, but who knows.

[illdrinktothat]

"Here works as good as anywhere." Well, he's actually got all the stuff in the kitchen anyway so why carry somewhere else. He has to give her another quick look-over and hopes she isn't terribly fond of that shirt, because this is likely to ruin it completely. "Have a seat."

It's going to take a moment for him to grab the stuff - a littl roll of supplies, knife included. There's a few clean towels on the table already and it's a small miracle Bourbon hasn't nested in them already but that was mostly what the fish was for. She'll probably end up getting bribed with some of the stew too, at some point.

[caroflower]

Caro slides into a chair. She watches Sullivan puttering around grabbing supplies, and then she leans to the side a little to watch the cat. She has a sudden moment of not knowing what to do with her hands, so she folds them in her lap.

Apparently eye contact is enough to lure the cat over. Caro reaches down and tentatively picks it up and sets it in her lap. "You know, I don't think I ever asked the cat's name. How rude of me." The last is directed down at the kitten, who seems pleased with the change of venue. Well, and the petting.

[illdrinktothat]

"Her name's Bourbon." Walter answers over his shoulder, likely to no surprise at all. He'd say he's terrible at naming things but he's never actually had anything to name before. It's at least better than Sawdust or Cabbages, he thinks.

The assorted supplies get laid out on the table next to her. He pulls up a chair to sit basically in front of her for the moment, at least until he starts the actual cutting. "Cat's gonna have to go." He nods at the small purring fluff ball on her lap before tossing a towel damp with something antiseptic-smelling towards her. "Wipe your face then hands down with that."

Bourbon will just have to deal with not helping and/or getting covered in blood here.

[caroflower]

Oh of course he named the cat after booze. Caro just shakes her head. She gives Bourbon one last scritch before setting her back on the floor, much to Bourbon's dismay. "Sorry Bourbon," Caro tells the kitten in her best talking to cats voice, which she picked up at some point from Data.

Caro removes her glasses, folds them, and sets them down across the table from all the supplies. Hopefully that's far enough away. Then she washes her face and hands as instructed with the towel. Then she has an awkward moment where she's not sure what to do with the towel now. So she just holds onto it and folds it for the moment.

[illdrinktothat]

Walter edges forward in his chair once the cat's back on the floor. She'll probably sit down there and look neglected and petulant for a while yet. And for a while, it's likely going to be the whole time unless something happens to catch her attention.

Walter leans in, taking her chin in his left hand so he can get a good look at where her scars would have been. Capitol did a good job healing her up, so there's no real indication to speak of. He's only really got the memory of seeing them during the Games - and that, for good or ill, probably won't be going away anytime soon. He draws a thumb over the path they'll go over: forehead, cheek, he's fairly precise in where the cut will start and stop. He can't replicate them exactly given the difference in methods and circumstances, but... It'll be close enough, at least.

After a couple moments he stands and grabs the knife from his miscellaneous supplies. He'd replaced his own scars with whatever he could get; for her, though, he actually got a knife sharp and small enough to make quicker work.

He tilts her head back and for a moment is aware of how he has to kind of lean over her to make this work, and immediately banishes any of those goddamn thoughts. All he needs to think about is not cutting to deep and keeping her head tilted to stop blood from getting in her eyes.

"You're going to want to exhale right about... now." The first cut is quick, the outermost one above her eyebrow. Not quite deep enough yet but he does want to see how well she deals with this. Still time to change her mind, and all.

[caroflower]

Caro very carefully keeps her breathing even and deep. This is not the time to be thinking about Walter leaning over her and touching her face. A lot. When he gets up for the knife, she exhales a little too loudly. Come on, Lichfield, knock it off.

And then he's tilting her head back and that's even worse. Come on now, face slicing is not titillating.

...It better not be, anyway. Caro's weird enough as it is. She doesn't need to find out she's into freaky shit too.

She exhales when Walter tells her to. It hurts, of course, but she expected that. She blinks in an almost flinchy sort of way, but otherwise doesn't move.

[illdrinktothat]

Walter's grateful she doesn't flinch away. He keeps her head steady with a firm hand under her chin anyway, just in case. This sort of thing takes a deft hand regardless of location... but this is her face. He'd rather not her, say, lose an eye or something.

"Close your eyes," Is the last instruction he gives before he goes to work.

It's precise work but not terribly time-consuming. The first cut above her eyebrow gets deepened through the skin (but not into the muscle) and he carefully extends it over her cheek and down. That part takes a bit more care, however. It has to be deep enough to scar significantly but not so much that it'll really interfere with her... well, doing everyday things like eating and whatnot. And he does have to pause a couple times to gingerly wipe away blood with the rag.

And then, of course, he has to repeat the process over a second time. He takes... slight liberties. They're a lot more even and symmetrical than the original wounds had been, and they follow the lines of her face a tad bit more. But they still look like battle scars, so they'll still serve their purpose well.

Walter cleans all the blood off for the last time before pressing a bandage soaked in something vaguely medicinal scented against the wounds. It'll sting, he's sure, but it'll also stave off the bleeding and any possible infection. They did just do this in a kitchen, for fuck's sake.

"Hold this," And then he takes his hand off her chin to reach down for one of her hands so he can just put it on the bandage. This, of course, has the added side effect of him having to be kind of uncomfortably close, and of course that's when he talks again. "You alright, sweetheart?"

[caroflower]

Caro closes her eyes as instructed. And ohhhh, this hurts a lot. But Caro's used to pain, even if not usually quite this sort. She stays still and keeps breathing deeply and evenly. Focusing on the breathing helps, actually.

Fortunately for her, Walter's quick about it. And sure enough, the bandage stings like hell. Caro hisses a little bit at that. And then she has to very firmly remind herself to focus on her breathing and nothing else when he grabs her hand to move it up over the bandage. Good lord, Sullivan.

She opens the one eye not covered by bandage when he asks how she is, and oh dear he's still very, very close. "Fine," she says. "That was fast."

[illdrinktothat]

"That's gonna," Walter lets go of her and steps back, gesturing vaguely. "Sting for a little while, then you won't feel it quite as much."

She'll still feel it but that goes without saying. It might be a Walter thing that he's generally not fond of the magic numbing shit the Capitol makes. It's good when you need it, but he's of the opinion pain's probably going to keep you from making the injury worse. It reminds you it's there.

"It'll take a bit to heal." He steps away to wash the knife and then his hands. Bourbon follows behind for a moment but gives up when it's obvious treats are not imminent; instead she crawls into a nearby cupboard.

Walter's just gonna look at the pinkish water and the blood going down the drain and not Caro, at least not for a moment or two. "It should be by the time your Victory Tour kicks off, though."

[caroflower]

"I figured." Both to the stinging and the taking a while.

"Hopefully Weyoun won't actually have a heart attack when he sees." She smiles, but that pulls at the incisions oops. So she smiles kind of lopsidedly. Oh well.

She readjusts her hand over the bandage. "How soon do you think I can eat? I'm hungry." Let's not ponder that carving up her face made her want stew.

[illdrinktothat]

Walter does away with most of the supplies, save the salve he managed to procure. It won't work as great as the shit Luigi got for her but it'll do in a pinch, and he doubts she'll mind it all that much.

"Lemme take a look." And with that he wanders back over. He has to lift up the edge of the bandage and, well, lean in especially close to eyeball the state of the wound. It looks fairly raw yet, which is really not unexpected, but the bleeding's slowed down considerably. It won't be but a moment before it's not even a trickle. "About as much time as it takes me to find a bowl and silverware, probably."

He goes to do just that and he knows immediately that he lied. It's going to take him longer to locate anything in this goddamn kitchen.

[caroflower]

Just when she thought she was safe, here's Walter looming up to take a look at her face again. She should have known. She goes very still as he does so.

She watches with amusement as Sullivan starts poking around the kitchen. "Wouldn't be the first time I drank soup straight out of a container," she says after a moment. "Well, stew in this case."

[illdrinktothat]

Walter's really trying to not notice how she reacts to him getting that close. He was her mentor during the Hunger Games and he is... him. He can't really remember a point in his life where he didn't make people uncomfortable on some level.

After a minute he gives up on the goddamn bowls, but he does find spoons and that's... good enough. He drops on the table them by Caro, and moves the bread and the stew there, too.

"Yeah, well, least this time you don't have to worry about getting knifed at any moment." He laughs a little at his own dumbass joke and gets himself some coffee before settling at a seat across from her.

[caroflower]

Caro accepts a spoon and pulls one of the jars towards her. She opens the jar and lets it sit a moment. She's cautious about getting too hot stew close to the open wounds on her face.

She snorts. "Yeah, we already did that part." Caro, that's not funny.

After a moment she takes a tentative bite of stew. "Oh good, it turned out okay." Eating's not even too difficult.

[illdrinktothat]

"Sweetheart, that ain't much of a knifing." Walter laughs and tries not to be awkward about the food. He mostly succeeds.

"Can't be any worse than leech water." He's going to regret saying that because she'll probably ask about it. For now, he's just going to grab a jar and eat. Because he might... not really have eaten much in the past few days, aside from nibbling a little when he feeds Bourbon sometimes. He doesn't much ever think about it really.

[caroflower]

Caro laughs at that. "I promise not to tell anyone you knifed me inadequately," she says before she can stop herself. Then she makes a face like she can't believe she just said that. Which she can't. She laughs helplessly a little.

But then... "Leech water?" She's frowning like Weyoun does, where you can practically hear the frown. "I don't wanna know, do I?" She tears off a piece of bread with a little more force than necessary.

[illdrinktothat]

Walter has to just... set the spoon down and look blankly at her for a moment, trying really hard to keep his shit together. It mostly just translates to his shoulders shaking a little from the laughter he's not letting happen. "Thanks. I did just go to all that trouble to fix my reputation and all."

And then she asks and he regrets. The frown is enough that he quickly shifts his gaze away. My, look at this stew. He'll just get to eating that now. "You don't."

[caroflower]

She sort of toasts him with the jar of stew. "If anyone asks, it's the best knifing I've ever gotten." Caro, you need to stop. But she makes an over the top flirty face at him anyway. If she were sitting next to him instead of across from, she'd probably elbow him in the side obnoxiously. It's probably a good thing she can't.

She gives him a long look. "Yeah okay. I won't ask then. Doesn't sound like it'd be good dinner conversation anyway." She dunks the bread in the stew and eats it carefully. Turns out the jaw injury was the main problem before, not the laceration. She'd figured, but she couldn't be sure.

[illdrinktothat]

"How considerate." Walter coughs and suppresses more laughter. What the hell did he start here? "It's been a while since I've knifed anyone, after all."

He doesn't even know why he's saying this. God help him.

He can almost feel that Look. He tries to ignore it best as he can. "Best not to." Then it hits him that it actually is dinner, isn't it? He never much pays attention when he's not dealing with the schedule of the Games. He eats when he eats and that's usually an 'if he eats.' But Caro brought dinner tonight, so he supposes he should thank her for that at some point.

[caroflower]

Caro has to smother her giggling long enough to say "Really? I wouldn't have known. You didn't seem out of practice at all to me." She blinks just a little too slowly for it to really be batting her eyelashes at him.

Caro considers the topic closed, at least for now. No point in ruining a perfectly good dinner. Well, at least not any more than they already are with really ridiculous innuendo.

[illdrinktothat]

"It's not something you really forget how to do." Walter laughs, eyebrows raised at Caro - and then suddenly bolts back in his chair a bit. "Ow. Goddamit, Bourbon."

A second later, a familiar cat face is peering over the edge of the table from his lap. Stew. She mewls.

"No. No, fuck you, no. That's not your food and I'm not a tree." He just scowls down at the kitten, who just mews again even louder. "No. You can't get on the table, you little shit."

Then he realizes that he's arguing with a cat small enough to fit in the jars. And it had all been going so well.

[caroflower]

Caro opens her mouth to say who even knows what when Bourbon makes an appearance. She just laughs even harder instead.

"Sorry Bourbon, I didn't bring anything for you. Maybe next time." Is that presumptuous? If it is, Caro very decidedly does not give a fuck.

[illdrinktothat]

Bourbon doesn't even care, she's busy swatting at Walter's arms like she's going to just take the stew for herself. As far as she's concerned it's hers, anyway, and why can't she sit on the table like she normally does?

Walter sighs. "She doesn't need any more treats, she's a freeloader." He leans down to emphasize that last word at the cat like she gives a shit. She just keeps batting at his hand trying to get a spoon. After a moment of that he relents and sets a piece of meat on the table's edge for her. "You fuckin win."

She happily inhales it then meows again.

"You better watch it, furball. I'll still sell you to Sae." He lifts her up by her scruff, depositing her in the chair beside him before continuing on his meal. His meal, cat. Not yours.

[caroflower]

Caro tries not to giggle too obnoxiously at Walter and Bourbon's antics. And then she remembers a thing.

"Yeah, no awkward cat petting at the dinner table." She smiles innocently at Walter, eyes wide. You better remember that remark.

[illdrinktothat]

Walter snorts at that one. Well, he snorts mostly glaring at the cart still. "What would Weyoun say, huh?" He does peer over at Caro long enough to raise a brow thoughtfully and... "Guess now is a bad time to mention my disappointment that the assgrab maneuver never happened."

Walter, no.

[caroflower]

"I think he'd just yell manners if he didn't pass out from the shock. His delicate constitution and all." Caro, what?

She cocks an eyebrow at Walter and grins. "Well you know, the night is still young." Caro did you really just--? Yes. Yes you did.

[illdrinktothat]

"Couldn't he do both?" Walter's pretty sure the man can multitask. He's also sure he's not half as delicate as he pretends to be, but that's nothing worth mentioning.

The next bit that comes out of her mouth, did she actually - she did. Well. He slowly leans back and tilts his head, trying to look less amused than he actually is. "I suppose it is. You up for it so soon? I mean," He laughs. "After the knifing."

He's not even going to acknowledge that Bourbon is trying to stretch from her chair to his to get back onto his lap. He'll just... kick his legs up in that chair for other reasons, of course. The cat just happens to wander across them by coincidence.

[caroflower]

"Oh, don't worry," Caro says sweetly, "I have a lot of stamina."

She sees what Walter just did for the cat. Careful Sullivan, that's kind of adorable.

[illdrinktothat]

"You do, huh." Walter tries to sound skeptical but the amusement (and maybe a little bit of quiet bafflement) in his voice kind of kills that fairly dead. "I'd ask you to prove it but I'm afraid we might fuck up all my hard work."

He's got to grab Bourbon and plop her back in his lap because she's already halfway up on to the table as soon as he's not paying 100% attention to her.

[caroflower]

Caro considers that. "Oh, that's a good point. I guess I'll have to take a rain check." She twirls a stray lock of hair around her finger. She's been playing up the flirting to ridiculous levels, but at the same time...

[illdrinktothat]

"Alas, another day maybe." Walter's feigns a very 'oh how sad it is' voice, and yet. You know, he should maybe focus on eating now and not... the hair twirling. That seems like a pretty solid plan for the moment.

He can wonder what the fuck was even happening later. Much later. Much, much later, preferably when it's just him and his liquor. And... er, his cat.

[caroflower]

"I'll hold you to it," Caro says brightly. Caro. And then she decides maybe she'd better focus on her food. Because good grief.

She'll have a moment when she goes home where it actually sinks in what she's been saying. And what Walter's been saying right back. Right now she'll just eat this stew.