Kate didn't quite avoid Afsana, but she didn't go out of her way to seek the woman out, either. Not that Afsana wasn't going out of her way to seek Kate out, and she was most definitely not avoiding Kate.

Kate was just afraid that if she spent too much time around Afsana, with the way that the butch woman was outright flirting with her, she would forget to be careful and just give in to Afsana's advances. And then where would she be?

And what if Afsana just wanted a quick fuck? Kate couldn't stomach sleeping with someone for just one night, especially if the other woman was going to have a coyote ugly moment the morning after, chewing her own arm off to get away without waking Kate up.

So Kate half-avoided Afsana Ramjit until the other woman showed up at her front door a month after she'd left a note on it, knocking until Kate couldn't stand Piggles' barking anymore.

She opened the door, already knowing who she would find on the other side.

Afsana stood steadily on the other side, looking up from Piggles, who Kate was holding back, to Kate herself. "Hi," she said.

"Hi yourself." Kate said. Holding Piggles back was starting to hurt her wrist, so she hauled the dog back and opened the door wider. "Come in?"

Afsana shut the door behind her and Kate let the schnauzer go gratefully. The Guyanese woman didn't move as Piggles tried to tackle her into the wall, and eventually the dog calmed down, especially after Kate offered him a cookie. He slunk to his bed sulkily but seemed content enough with his snack, leaving Kate and Afsana alone in the hall.

Despite that Kate was taller than Afsana by at least an inch, the other woman seemed very imposing suddenly.

"I was wondering where you'd gone," Afsana said genially.

"I've been around," Kate said casually.

"Mmm," Afsana said. "How are you doing?"

It was an innocent enough question, but Kate heard the message beneath that question: Are you over her yet?

She took a deep breath and forged ahead. "I think I c-c-could b-be persuaded to go out sssssometime," she said. "W-w-with you, I mean."

Afsana's green eyes lit up like there were LED Christmas tree lights behind them, and Kate couldn't help smiling.

And then she was suddenly aware that there was very little space between her face and Afsana's and that the other woman's hand was on the wall beside her head.

Afsana was leaning in slowly, intense green stare holding Kate in place like she was hypnotized.

But then Kate broke that magnetic gaze and ducked under Afsana's arm. "I don't kiss before the first date," she stuttered.

Afsana blinked and started chuckling. "Okay girl," she said.

Kate giggled a little too, but when the laughter died away there was a tension in the air that had nothing to do with the fact that Kate was extremely turned on by the woman in front of her and trying to pretend that there was absolutely nothing wrong.

"So," Afsana began, "where would you like to go?"

"I'm g-good for anywhere," Kate said quickly. "Y-you c-c-can pick, I don’t mind."

Afsana looked thoughtful for a moment, then said, "I have just the place."

"What place?"

Afsana just smiled. "It's a surprise. Now, when do you want to go?"

"I--um," Kate stuttered for a second, then surprised herself with the answer. "As soon as possible."

Afsana smiled wider, her white teeth breaking through the mocha of her face. "Tonight," she said.

Kate smiled back. "Tonight sounds great."

"I'll come back for you in an hour?"

"An hour…" Kate looked at the cat clock on her kitchen wall. It was five in the evening. "An hour is fine," she said.

The Guyanese woman bent over Kate's hand, pressing a chaste kiss to the back, and left.

#

Kate showered with different things than she normally would. She replaced her usual shampoo with a strawberry-extract infused shampoo-conditioner combination, and took extra care to not get any in her eye; while the stuff left a great smell in her hair, it burned her eyes like lemon juice, and she did not want her one eye to be red-rimmed and irritated when Afsana showed up.

And instead of the usual Dove soap that she normally used, she used a jasmine-scented body wash, making sure to leave the suds on for a while whilst she shaved her legs.

She blow-dried her hair instead of her usual drip-dry treatment. The face and naked body in the mirror got a few grimaces, especially when it really hit her that Afsana had working eyes and would be able to see the birthmarks that she normally kept out of sight with long sleeves and pants.

And then Kate had to fight from groaning with despair.

Oh god, what did she wear? Afsana was so clearly a butch woman, and most of the butch women that Kate had ever spoken to had always wanted a girl who cleaned up well, and some had even termed the girl of their dreams "a lady" or a "princess."

Kate might know how to work an eyeliner pen, but she was no princess. She wasn't even a lady. And she didn't want to lie and say she was, when she was just Kate.

After much rummaging through her seemingly meager closet and dresser, she settled on a pair of Levi 501s that she'd once worn wet so they'd molded to her legs, but they weren't too clingy. A skintight black t-shirt went over it, and she found a black leather jacket that she hadn't worn in months in the very back of the closet.

Her tattoos were completely covered, and when she looked down at her chest, she couldn't see any bumps indicating either of her nipple rings or her belly-button ring. The other piercings would most definitely not show through her pants, and anyway, Afsana wouldn't be seeing any piercings tonight.

Kate put on her good black sneakers and only a thick silver chain and matching bracelet for jewelry. They would distract from the birthmarks that edged above the collar of her shirt, and they also matched the rows of silver earrings that went up the edges of her ears.

She sprayed her bangs over her non-eye, applied a little eyeliner, and said "Voila!"

She was done.

And it was only a quarter to six.

Piggles shuffled up to where Kate sat nervously on the couch, and he whined to be petted. She obliged him, digging in behind his ears with her nails the way he liked it.

He groaned happily.

Afsana knocked on the door, and Kate shot up, spilling Piggles onto the floor where he landed with a whuff.

When she opened the door, she was pleased to see that she hadn't overdressed. Afsana was wearing a green button-down shirt that made her eyes glow, and a pair of ironed jeans.

"Bravo," Afsana said, looking Kate up and down. "Bravo."

A tension that Kate hadn't even known she was carrying fell away. "You don't look so bad yourself," she flirted.

"Mmm I'm sure I don’t."

Kate stepped into the hall, into the brighter light, and Afsana's eyes turned very dark. "Let's go," she said. "I made reservations for seven."

"Where?"

"If I told you then it wouldn't be a surprise, now would it?" Afsana teased again.

Kate sighed, but her trepidation lifted when Afsana took her hand in a casual way.

"I think your hazel eyes are beautiful," Afsana ventured as they left the building and Afsana led them to a huge pickup truck with a rather large suspension. "I--I only have the one," Kate said. Damn my mouth, she though. Never draw attention to that.

"I think the other one is there somewhere," Afsana said. "I might not be able to see it, but it's beautiful, too."

Kate couldn't think of anything to say to that, and was a little relieved--nervous--when it became clear that that Afsana had obviously taken the muffler off.

The pickup truck was loud and black, and quite a few feet off the ground. Afsana had to help her up into the cab, and then they were off. The trip took about forty minutes.

Afsana and her truck took Kate to an upscale area of the city. It had a lot of shops that Kate wasn't quite familiar with, but she wanted to be.

"Here," Afsana announced, pulling into a parallel parking space in front of a building with blacked-out windows.

Noir, the blacklight sign over the doors said.

"Noir?" Kate asked. Black? She thought, confused.

"It's a restaurant," Afsana confirmed.

Kate nodded and climbed down out of the truck.

A clean-shaven man met them at the door. "Welcome to Noir," he said. "Have you had any experience with blind dining before?"

Kate shook her head, and to her relief, Afsana did, too.

"Blind dining is a premiere experience where your every move, every taste is made in the dark, and when you blind dine, you throw away all of your expectations for food and just enjoy," the man purred. "You may look at the menu here, and place your order now, and then your server will escort you to your table."

"How do you cut your food?" Afsana asked.

"Most of our patrons choose to eat with their fingers," their unnamed host said. "They find it much easier."

Afsana shrugged. "Okay."

They chose their entrees and wine from a well-stocked menu, put their coats, cell phones, and "anything that could possibly emit any form of light" into a locker, and received a few last minute tips from the host.

He led them into a long hall with dozens of doors marked with Braille on the walls and left them with only a few, curious parting words: "At Noir, you must pay close attention to your server, and follow all the instructions she gives you to keep from bumping into anything."

"How does she see?" Kate asked.

He smiled. "Here, you have the blind leading the blind," he said.

Kate stared after him. She only started when Afsana took her hand gently, and then the lights went out.

There was the noise of a door opening, and a familiar voice came. "I will be taking your hand now."

Afsana twitched a little, and then she started walking and Kate had no choice but to follow her or be left alone in the dark.

Kate desperately tried to place the voice, tried to remember who the voice belonged to, but she had no full memory of it.

The blind server led them through the darkness, through what Kate was sure what was a doorway, into an absolutely silent room except for the dull hum of a distant air conditioner.

They stopped suddenly, and Afsana's hand left hers.

"Your chair is here," that hauntingly familiar voice said.

"Thank you," Kate said. She frantically groped in the darkness for her chair, found the hard wooden back of one, and pulled herself around the chair--which seemed to be rather attached to the floor--and sat.

A grunt sounded from the other side of what was obviously a table, and Afsana sounded annoyed. "Why won't the chair move?" she asked.

"So I won't trip over chairs that have been left pulled out from the table," their server said.

"Oh."

Their server continued: "Your water is in a square carafe in the middle of the table, and your wine is in the round one." She took Kate's hand and showed her, in the dark, how to pour the wine by feeling inside the glass while she poured to make sure she didn't overfill the glass. Afsana received the same instructions, and then their server left the room.

Kate struggled to see in the dark, feeling entirely too helpless for her own comfort, but no matter how she strained her eyes, there was absolutely nothing. No light whatsoever. Even waving her own hand in front of her face helped Kate do nothing but feel a light breeze on her nose.

She gave up with her eyes and closed them, realizing that if she wasn't trying so hard to see, she felt marginally better about not being able to see, like it was her choice to not see.

A light song played by a string quartet began playing, and Kate's hands started feeling their way around the table. The two carafes of ice water and wine sat squarely in the middle of the table, and there was a small plate of uncut bread. Kate's fingers found a dish of soft butter.

Fingers met hers as they crept out of the butter dish, and Afsana's hand covered hers.

"Do you like this place?"

"It's interesting."

"Just interesting, Kate?" Afsana made the one syllable of Kate's name sound like a piece of caramel on her tongue. Sweet, and thick, and suckable.

Was it the dark, or was that actually Afsana's voice?

The fingers gripping her hand tightened, slipped a little in the butter, and then found better purchase on Kate's wrist.

"Would you like some bread?"

"Please?"

Afsana took her hand from Kate's and turned it over. The bread ripped, and Afsana pressed a piece of it into Kate's hand. "I guess you don't need any butter," she teased.

"Oh hush, you," Kate said.

They spent some time drinking down the fruity wine and easing the impact with bread, gradually becoming more comfortable with using their fingers in the dark.

The server eventually came back with their food, and Kate had very little luck figuring out what was what in her salad. The only thing she was able to figure out was the carrots--cucumbers had very little smell, she realized as she popped on into her mouth; as did tomatoes if they weren't cut.

Their main courses came, accompanied by more wine and some napkins. "You may want to use these to protect your clothes," their server cautioned.

"Thank you," Afsana said. "What is your name?"

"Samantha," their server said, confirming Kate's vague suspicions.

"Thank you, Samantha," Afsana said.

Kate stifled a groan, instead focusing on her food.

She tried to use smell to navigate around her plates at first. The salad had been an utter disaster, but perhaps with heat carrying the smells to her nose she would have better fare with her entrée.

The asparagus was easy to identify, the chicken easily so.

Kate tried the silverware for a few seconds and then labeled the task impossible. She found it a little easy to just pick up the chicken breast like a five year old and tear into it with her teeth. The asparagus was good--not spectacular, but good--and the chicken had been flavored with rosemary.

She managed to ignore the fact that Samantha was their server, right through the dessert, which was a chocolate cake.

"What's wrong?" Afsana asked while they were tasting the frosting.

"N-n-nothing," Kate said.

"Bullshit."

Kate sighed. "Our waitress…"

"Yeah?"

"I went out on a date once with our waitress," she confessed.

Afsana's voice was suddenly very, very neutral. "And?"

"And it didn't go so well."

"Why?" came that oh-so-neutral voice.

"She um, was the blind chick who couldn't deal with my face," Kate said quietly.

"Oh. Oh."

Kate waited, but not patiently for Afsana to get over her surprise. It didn't take long, though, for a gentle hand to find her own on the table and give it a tight squeeze. "It's okay," Afsana said. "She's a bitch."

"Afsana!" Kate said, shocked.

"No," Afsana said. "She's extremely stupid for not being able to realize that you're beautiful, scars, birthmarks, and missing eye or no."

"Please don't say anything," Kate pleaded.

"I won't."

But Afsana's voice was grim, reminding Kate that she wouldn't forget her past with this waitress.

They finished the cake, which now tasted much better, and eventually Afsana called out Samantha's name, and asked her to take them out.

Before doing so, Samantha handed both of them a few large wet wipes to clean their fingers and faces, and she reminded them to remove the napkins that had been serving as bibs.

Sam led them out of the room and left them in the dark, and Kate heard her walking down the hall. The hallway outside the room was still pitch black, and Kate gripped Afsana's hand until the lights began to slowly rise.

They stopped at a medium level, so the light wasn't quite blinding, but Kate was enormously glad to see the stained brown wood of the hallway floor again, and the pale brown-grey of the walls. Even better was the dark emerald of Afsana's eyes, and once again, Kate was lost in their color.

A door at the end of the hall closed, over it a sign that read: Bathroom, and Kate realized that that was where their server, once her date, had gone.

Despite the emotional trauma that Sam had unwittingly inflicted on her, Kate couldn't help but realize that while for her and Afsana, the world had come back to life, Sam remained in the dark.

Afsana paid for their meal out in the lobby, and they left, hand in hand.

The moonless night was clear with a thousand stars flung across the darkness like bits of glittering ice that could never have existed in Florida.

Instead of helping Kate into the cab of the truck, Afsana led them around to the bed, pulling down the tailgate and helping Kate up onto that. From there they sat in the truck for a minute, just getting used to being able to see again. Or at least that was what Kate was doing; Afsana was picking at a hangnail.

"I liked it," Kate said, a little desperate for conversation. "It was kind of fun."

Afsana looked up. "Yeah?"

"Yeah. It's not something I'd want to do every night, 'cause I'm not a huge fan of eating with my fingers unless it's chicken wings, but it was fun."

"Good." Afsana left off picking at her fingernail and shoved her hand in her pocket. Her butt slid over the plastic of the bed, and Kate realized that Afsana was slowly inching her way across the huge bed towards her.

She met her halfway.

It seemed like Afsana's hand naturally fit at the curve of Kate's waist, just like how Kate's hand seemed made for Afsana's shoulder.

Their lips fit together, too.

A/N: Enjoy Singles Awareness Day