Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend

[stars-bean]

High Society (1956) dir. Charles Walters

[diamondstuddedkitty]

toomanyarms‌:

        She was hungry; it was a dull ache against her ribs and burned in the pit of her stomach. She had never know hunger before now, where she had to find her own food, hunt for her own meat. It would be far too suspicious to pick away at the people living in the apartment complex. Risky, stupid. 

The last time she did that her brother had to buy out the property to hide the evidence.

The rich smell of buttered popcorn flooded her nose the moment she exited her room. Masked beneath it was the strong scent of anxiousness. Rounding the corner she saw the living room had been darkened, leaving the small figure in it shrouded in darkness. She was only lit by the light of her projector; revealing a fine mess of blond hair and red lips.

Ah, red was her favorite color.

“Are you busy?” Came Porcelain’s voice, a purr in the dark. She slinked from the shadows like a cat, adjusting her jewelry and finishing up the finishing touches on her jewelry, earrings last, and let her inky black hair fall over her back, “I didn’t realize you were home. We haven’t met yet, have we?”

She walked forward and extended one hand (the rest lay still, deep inside the the crevice of her spine, tickling and itching to be free!), smiling without showing her teeth. 

“My name is Porcelain and I’m sure we are going to be best friends.”

She was so busy setting up she didn’t hear her walk in. Kitty turned quickly and greeted her roommate with a dazzling smile. Things were going to go well this time. She walked over to her roommate and offered her hand languidly. 

“I’m not busy at all.” She looked over at the woman’s jewelry. The way the jewels twinkled elegantly against her skin. It was so pretty she could hardly pull her eyes away. Perhaps if they were friends she could allow her to borrow them sometimes. 

Kitty wouldn’t dream of stealing anything from her friends. Of course, she wouldn’t dream of stealing anyway. She merely liberated unloved jewels from their uncaring owners. She adjusted her necklace and cleared her throat. A dainty little clearing. One that was more practiced than out of need. 

“My name is Kitty. It’s very lovely to meet you Porcelain.” She offers her hand to shake, showing her own sparkly set of jewels along her wrist. She wanted to make quite the impression. “I’ve got a collection of movies I was hoping you might want to join me for a marathon.” 

The blonde woman gestured over her shoulder at the theater set up in the movie, “I’ve got Champaign and popcorn. And, well, I think we might have some ice cream in the fridge if that tickles your fancy.”  Perhaps she was just a smidgen nervous. And honestly she just wanted a friend at home.  

[diamondstuddedkitty]

A tale of two C(K)atherines

[diamondstuddedkitty]

spiderspines‌:

        Catherine was waiting for a client; a small girl who twitched when she spoke but had sweet brown eyes that were as shiny as melting ice. Sophie was sweet, but her parents had died under mysterious circumstances that she was held witness to. Understandable that she wouldn’t talk about it; Catherine had her own skeletons in her closet. Still, she got closer with every session they had.

Still, as Catherine waited for the HRL agent to approach with the girl in tow, she found herself being informed that they would be late, the ETA now bouncing from five minutes to nearly an hour. Traffic had been bad; worse now that a few streets had been taken out in some unsavory fights between gang activity and cultists.

There were a lot of cultists in this city.

Still, she walked undaunted to a small library across the street; one she had seen but never went into despite her love of books. Time had never favored Catherine Liu these days. Her heels clicked softly across the pavement, the only sound in what felt like the only part of Olive that didn’t roar with traffic. She considered moving here; bringing James and starting a family.

The door creaked open under the press of a gloved hand, the cool metal underneath mirroring the sound with a soft ‘clink’ of its own. Vintage was a word to describe the place; it was cute, timeless. She could kill time here, perhaps even get a book for Sophie to read when the words wouldn’t come. She paused, glancing over the shelves and finding no one-

Not until a voice with the inflection of a gal from one of ye olden talkies bubbled from the back of the store. Catherine glanced up, meeting the eye of the librarian who appeared suddenly (she walked from the back of the store, idiot) and was stunned- she was beautiful, stepping as if from an old detective film. Catherine blinked, crimson eyes fixed on the woman’s own.

“It’s a pleasure,” She began, although she was unable to hide the bemused expression that was quick to overtake her surprise, “Hello, Katherine. My name is also Catherine.”

She turned and took in the library once more, this time not quite as confident that she would be able to find anything on her own. After all, she was a Social Worker, not- well, a librarian. “I’m looking for the childrens’ literature section. Preferably I would like to find something gentle, maybe about birds.”

To say she was drawn to the other woman was an understatement. Besides the red hair she was just incredibly pretty. And Kitty was drawn to incredibly pretty things. Like diamonds, pearls, and vintage wines in crystal wine glasses. 

Kitty drew a finger to her neck twisting the pearls that hung delicately at her throat. Drawing attention to her fitted knit sweater. A nice black that slimmed her frame. Sure she was a little bit of a flirt, but who could blame her? Honestly. Of course, she was also a lady and would only make a real move if the flirting was returned. 

“Please call me Kitty, we’re friends now.” She winks gently. An almost dreamy look took over her face as she admired Catherine. Then she shook herself out of it. That wasn’t professional at all. She put on her best business face which was almost slightly pouty. 

“Children’s literature. Right this way doll.” She turns on her heel and leads her way through the hodge podged shelves of the library. The books forming little towers on some of them. The library didn’t exactly have enough shelves for all the books they housed but they made due. And it made for a cute and cozy kind of atmosphere.

She tossed a look over her shoulder her blonde girl barely skirting across her shoulder as she did so. At the moment her movie had been put in the back of her mind. Which in itself was a feat. One that very few people managed. That many more wished they could manage. 

“We boast a lovely collection of vintage children’s books, such as The Bee Who Would Not Work, and Five Children and It. But if you’re looking for something specifically about birds. We actually have a copy of A Child’s Book of Birds by Luis M. Henderson. If that sounds agreeable. Of course those are just the ones off the top of my head. Are you just looking for some light reading or is there a specific child in mind for the book” 

She pulled to a stop in what would be the more colorful side room of the building. What Kitty could see was quite a few splashes of red around the room moreso than the rest of the rooms.She turned back on her heal and gestured wide with her arms, “Feel free to look around. And I’ll be of assistance if I can” 

[connerys]

Born to Be Bad (1934) dir. Lowell Sherman

[stars-bean]

Gilda (1946) dir. Charles Vidor

[stars-bean]

Ladies of the Chorus (1949) dir. Phil Karlson

[stars-bean]

The Lady from Shanghai (1947) dir. Orson Welles

[diamondstuddedkitty]

@toomanyarms

Kitty was actually a little excited for a roommate. And when she heard she would have two, well she was doubly excited. 

And then she met one of them. A kind of mean woman who she’s pretty sure tried to poison her after she tried so nicely to show her some films to educate her on the superior form of entertainment. She also threatened to burn her film, well, it was a thinly veiled threat she was pretty sure. 

Kitty vowed to steer clear of her. No fun sleepovers for her then. 

Her other roommate however, she hadn’t met. And she was quite excited for it. This time would go better, she would wear her clothes that said she was a quirky cool best friend. One of her sweaters and capris and of course her pearls. She did her hair very nicely and made suree her fingerwaves were properly set. 

She would look good, goddammit. 

She popped popcorn and got a bottle of Champaign. This was going to be fun, she was going to like these movies. She pulled out her little projector and transformed the living room into almost a mini theater. She was ready. It was going to be good. 

[blackdelia]

[diamondstuddedkitty]

A tale of two C(K)atherines

@spiderspines

Kitty was in the business of maintaining the library to the best of her capabilities. Of course, it wasn’t the biggest library in the city, so it rarely saw any traffic. Which left her plenty of time to run old films on the projector in the side room. Just as she liked it. Honestly, if no one came in from day to day she would be perfectly content. It wasn’t like she needed this job to pay the bills or anything like that. Oh no she had other methods of doing so. 

Still she found herself wandering the aisles and reshelving the books that needed reshelving. Her fingertips tracing each grey spine of each grey book. Occasionally there would be a red one, which always caught her eye. But she wasn’t necessarily here for the old books. 

Kitty adjusts the pearls on her neck, making sure the clasp was perfectly in the back.

She went back into the side room and began to load another film onto the reel, Gentlemen Prefer Blondes, a favorite of hers. But before she could even make it past the first number she found herself interrupted by the bell at the front door. 

Letting out a disappointed sigh, she deftly stopped the reel and stood back up. Making her way back to the front of the store. She looked at the woman who walked in.

It was the hair that drew her attention most. 

 Red, crimson even, the color of her favorite lipstick, the color of blood, the color of fate. Kitty’s favorite color. And the rest of her wasn’t bad to look at either. Perhaps this guest might not be a total waste of time. Kitty plasters a smile across her lips.

“Welcome my dear, if there’s anything I can assist you with don’t be afraid to ask.” Her words floated out musically, with the tone of someone who had definitely studied Marilyn Monroe’s inflection. “I’d be happy to help you. My name is Katherine, but Kitty to my friends.”