I don't own these characters. I also don't own pop-tars, really I don't.

2: More work

Kim wandered around her loft apartment, not sure whether she should park herself at her computer or if she should park herself in front of a canvas. She probably should put in some work at her computer. She did owe her publishing company something, but she would like to do some artwork.

The redhead stared at her blank canvas. It had been so long since she did any painting. She had done some sketches a few days ago, but that was not really satisfying her muse. She itched to put some paint on the canvas, so it seemed that her pleasure was going to take place over her work for the moment.

Painting was a passion that she had stumbled into a couple of years ago and found that she had a talent for it, like her brothers had a talent for science. It worked its way into her blood after her first piece of work was done and she found it hard to stop for almost a year. She had actually forsaken college to paint. Her parents had been scandalized at first until they saw her work. They had to admit that she was brilliant with a paintbrush. They had conceded that she could always go to college later on in life.

She went to go take a shower and change her clothes before she would get to some painting. She was still in the clothing that she had worn to the party that she attended with Bonnie and Josh, which were also the clothes that she had gone on a mission in. It was well past midnight, but that did not matter to her. She had a weird sleeping schedule, one that did not really exist. She tended to just crash whenever and at the moment, she was still wide-awake for whatever reason.

She checked her pockets as usual before clothes went into the hamper and found that card that Bonnie gave her. She stared at it and told herself that she needed to just throw it out. Despite her thoughts of chucking it in the trash, she placed it down next to her paints and then went to get some clothes before hopping in the shower.

She showered, washing away the stress of the day, and then threw on some clothing that she would not mind getting some paint on. She went to her kitchen, hopping over a pile of dirty clothes along the way; sometimes, things made it close to the hamper rather than in it. She made herself a glass of chocolate milk and grabbed a pouch of chocolate pop-tarts. She then returned to her canvas and started to get to work.

As she worked on her picture, she glanced at the card that Bonnie had given her. She knew that her friend worried about her social life, but she could not believe that Bonnie thought that she was so desperate that she needed to hire a date. She did not have money to waste on that anyway. Why buy a date when I could go out and buy art supplies?

Kim did think about a question that Bonnie had asked her at the party, which was: when was the last time that she had a date? Hell, she could not even admit that she believed her last date was back in high school. She could not recall ever being on a date recently, namely in the past three years. She told herself that she did not care about dating anymore.

Dating was never really a big thing in her life. In high school, she had picked up a date here and there, but she was mostly into being in school clubs or activities and, of course, there was her world-saving gig. There was not much time for anything else and she did not mind anymore.

Of course in high school, dating had meant more to her than it did now. Girls were supposed to be landing guys in high school, after all, especially popular cheerleaders. She had always been a sucker for peer pressure and it did not help that Bonnie was her friend. Bonnie was always harping on her about dating, even though the aqua-eyed girl knew that she was a lesbian. It was not very easy for someone like her to land someone that she truly wanted to be with in high school and, obviously, she never did.

Bonnie had told her back then that she should just date guys to at least appear somewhat normal. Guys did not seem to like her too much, though. They had always looked at her as weird. Only two guys seemed to want to bother with her, but each of those guys had not stuck around too long. Josh was one of those guys, but she suspected that he only did it as a favor to Bonnie. And then there was Ron.

Ron had been her hangout partner for a long time. They had known each other since kindergarten. He used to be her best friend until they graduated high school. She bet that he would be surprised to find out that she spent so much time with Bonnie now; although back then, she had spent time with Bonnie, too, but usually not in public.

Ron had been her prom date and that had pretty much been the only date that they had ever gone on. They had no plans to do any real dating, mostly because she was a lesbian and Ron had his sights on another girl. They had gone to the prom together just because it was convenient.

Thinking of Ron, she wrote herself a note to remind herself to call him and see how he was doing. They did not speak much anymore. They led separate lives and got along rather well without each other, not that they would say that to each other. Ron lived halfway around the world now, studying to be a chef over in France of all places. She supposed that once he came back to the States, they would get back to their friendship, but until then, she was on her own with Bonnie and Josh trying to look out for her.

Kim then glanced down at the card again. Did I really need to buy a date? Is Bonnie right? She shook the thoughts away. If she wanted to, surely she could go out and pick up a girl on her own. She just did not want to. She did not need a girl in her life. She was getting along well without a girl.

Yeah, I'm just doing fine without a girl. But, when was the last time that I had a girl in her life? Her last date was in high school with Ron, but she had to have a girl somewhere in her life. She just could not recall when the last time that was.

As she thought about it, she finally remembered when she had a girl. It was about two years ago and she knew why she did not recollect. She and that girl had never gone on a date. They met up a few times and they fooled around, but they never went out on dates. Ah well, she thought. Dates were not that all that important, she told herself.

Kim eventually crawled into bed later that morning, figuring that she should get a few hours of sleep in while she had the chance. She had gotten halfway through her painting, so she felt all right in getting into bed. Her bedroom was situated in the corner of her loft apartment and bordered off by some sheets that she had hung up.

The "bedroom" housed little more than a wooden futon and a wooden dresser that she kept her clothing in. She had some hooks on the wall for hanging up jackets or things that would not fit in a drawer. Other than that, the room was pretty bare. She collapsed onto soft futon and was out in a flash.

When she regained consciousness that afternoon, she just laid in the bed for a while. She felt around the area and wondered if it had ever held two people. She could not remember if there ever was a time that someone slept over her house. She had always slept alone.

"Stop thinking about it, Kim," the redhead ordered herself.

She crawled out of bed and went in search of something that could be consumed; anything would do. She grabbed a bag of cookies and returned to her painting to see what she had produced after having to spend yesterday saving people from a volcano, spending time at a party with Bonnie hounding her, and watching a soccer match at her favorite bar. She had come up with something that she would not even throw in the trash because it would pollute the garbage.

"I'm getting worse at this for some reason," Kim commented as she took the picture off of her desk and she glanced at that card again.

She sighed as she looked at the card. She rubbed her chin while eyeing that damning card. It would be nice to go out with someone … but, why should she pay for it? Surely she could go and find … no, she knew that she could not do that. She had no idea where to begin looking for a girl to go out with.

"What the hell kind of lazy lesbian am I?" Kim asked herself. How in the hell did I ever get a girl in the past?

The redhead decided that since she could do anything, she could go out and find a date that she would not have to pay to go out with. She took a shower, threw on her usual clothes, and went out into the street determined to find someone to spend sometime with that was not Bonnie or Josh. Surely, it could not be that hard.

Okay, maybe she could be wrong. She returned home that night all alone, like she did every night. She could not believe it; am I really so pathetic when it comes to finding a date? It was not so much that she was pathetic, but she honestly did not want to date someone that thought she was famous or that was a fan of hers. She just wanted someone normal that she could hang out with, like go to a bar and watch a soccer match or something like that. She guessed that she should have taken Bonnie up on all of those blind dates before it came to her being handed a card. She could not call Bonnie and request a hook up now that she had given her that card.

Well, maybe she should just use the card if she was really that lonely. But, am I really that lonely? No, I can get along great on my own, she mentally insisted. She had been getting along rather well on her own. She needed some alone time, anyway.

After all, her day was full of running around for other people, saving the world or things of that nature. When she did have a spare moment, she usually spent it working on a manuscript since her books were what paid the bills. The books meant going to book signings and such to prompt the books. Then, of course, there were the parties that she had to go to for whatever reasons. So, she needed to spend some time alone, preferably getting some painting done.

So, it was decided, she was not that lonely. Yet, she continued to look at that card and think on why Bonnie had given it to her. Before she knew it, she was holding the card and contemplating dialing the number. The only thing stopping her now was the fact that she had never done anything like what she was thinking. It was illegal, after all.

It would probably be awk-weird anyway. I mean seriously, how many escort services really catered to lesbians? They definitely stick to guys. Well, Bonnie said it was safe and although she could be a mega-super-bitch, she would not lie to Kim about such a thing. She's not that evil. Bonnie truly thought that Kim needed to get laid immediately if not sooner. She had actually once told Kim, she would fuck her herself and she never did clarify if she was joking or not. Kim took it as a joke because Bonnie said all kinds of crazy things if she had enough liquor in her.

Kim took a deep breath and decided to dial the number on the card. Her heart raced as soon as she pressed the final number. She was not sure what to say and she was tempted to hang up before someone picked up. She nearly did jump out of her skin when someone did answer and she did not get any better as the conversation began.

The redhead fumbled through everything. Her cheeks burned hot from embarrassment because of what she was doing, especially since she really did not know what she was doing. It did not seem like much to the person on the other line. It was just business as usual apparently. The discussion seemed to take a million years to Kim and she literally sweated through the whole thing. She was so happy to get off of the phone when it was over.

-8-8-8-8-

Betty hung up the phone and looked down at all of the information that she had just received. She was wary of new clients, but she could tell from the call that there was nothing to worry about. She had never heard a person sound so nervous before. She picked up the phone again and hit the speed dial.

"Yo."

"I have a new one for you," Betty informed her employee.

"Not tonight, I hope. I'm all in after this."

"No, I set it for next week. I'll tell you about it later, but it's a girl."

There was a snort. "If it's a girl with money, I'm in."

"I figured you'd say that. Just make it memorable. We could always use new blood in here," the one-eyed woman commented.

"I agree, but then again, I'm just fucking greedy. Oh, I got get going. This fucker is coming back."

"You are rude as hell. I don't see why they put up with you."

"Because they're dumb fuckers and they like it when I tell them that."

Betty laughed a bit and she hung up the phone again. She was not too sure if she could trust that one with the shy girl that had just called. She might be too tough on the girl, but then again, she was the only one willing to go with just about anybody willing to pay her price. She also trusted her with any new clients; she broke people in rather well.

-*-(New day)-*-

Shego checked her makeup once again, even though she knew that it was perfect. She had a bad habit of checking herself over several times before a date. She wondered about the person that she was meeting. A girl she had been told that was so nervous over the phone that it was surprise that she did not just hang up in the middle of it all.

She did not think too much of it, but they got to where she was meeting the girl, she started thinking a bit more. They pulled up to the Triple S bar. She looked around and then turned her attention to her driver.

"Will, are you sure this is the place?" Shego inquired.

"This is the address she gave me," Will answered while looking down at his notepad. He always wrote things down to make sure that he got everything right. It never occurred to him that it might not be the brightest thing to do, recording everything, when he did something that was not legal. But, Shego figured that was Betty's problem and not hers, so she did not anything about it.

Shego shrugged and she got out of the car. She looked around and spotted someone. She made a face of disbelief as the person turned to her.

"You?" Shego asked the familiar redhead that had been so rude to her that night at the Triple S.

"You?" Kim could not believe it. She was beyond embarrassed now. She was turning a whole new shade of red because she was so mortified. Obviously, she had offended the gods of irony at some point in time.

"This is shocking, Princess," Shego remarked with a taunting smirk as she walked over to Kim. The slender hero began to feel worse as she noticed the expression.

"Look … I think … This is a mistake," Kim muttered, shaking her head and backing up some, possibly to make a run for it.

"Don't worry, Princess. I'll be real gentle with you," the pale woman seemed to taunt Kim. She even reached out and caressed Kim's cheek.

"No, never mind," Kim said and she backed away even more.

Shego chuckled a bit; the redhead was totally adorable. She was pretty sure that she was going to like the date and she was going to make sure that Kim did too. She grabbed for Kim's hand to stop her flight. Kim looked down out at the ground since she now could not get away. She doubted that she would ever feel so bad again in all of her life.

"Don't worry, Princess. It's not a mistake. I'm yours for the night and I'll behave," Shego promised, purring slightly.

"Actually, I think we should just forget about it. I don't even know what to do," Kim informed the pale woman.

"We do whatever you want to do," Shego replied.

"Right," Kim muttered, scratching the top of her head. She did not know what she wanted to do. She was not sure why she had decided to go through with such a thing. I should have never made that stupid phone call.

"We could go to your place," Shego suggested.

Kim laughed a bit; yeah, right. She was not about to have someone over at her place, especially a stranger. It was not that it was messed up, aside from some clothes on the floor. It was just that her home was bare. There was nothing at her place to entertain more than herself.

"All right, well, then where do you want to go?" Shego inquired, sounding more normal than sensual as she figured that oozing sexuality might send Kim running for the hills.

Kim shrugged. "I never really thought about it. Do you want to just walk around?" she asked.

"Hey, it's up to you," the emerald-eyed woman replied with a casual shrug.

"Well, you're here, too," the redhead pointed out.

Shego smiled a bit; yes, this kid is too cute. She stepped back over to the car that she came in and informed Will that she would be walking around for a while, so he could go on his way. He tried to protest, but she reminded him that she could take care of herself. He knew that to be a fact, so he let her go. It was wise to let her go.

So, Shego walked off with Kim. They were quiet for a while and stood as far apart as possible without one of them walking in the street. Shego was having a good time taking in the sight of the coy, little redhead. She was a bit surprised that the girl was her date for the night, but she was far from apprehensive about it.

"So … sorry about the other night," Kim apologized with a sheepish smile.

"It's cool. You were trying to watch your match and everything," Shego replied.

"Still, I shouldn't have bitten your head off about it. You were just being nice."

"It's all right. So, what do you with yourself?" the pale woman inquired.

"Depends on what hour it is," Kim answered with a bit of a laugh.

Shego smiled because of the answer; she liked the kid so far. They continued on and she continued to prod for information, trying to make Kim more comfortable and succeeding. It took a few minutes, but eventually, Kim was all right with at least being around Shego. They were walking a bit closer than when they started out.

They learned some things about each other that helped ease Kim's nerves. Shego asked some questions about soccer to keep things going. She did not really care for the sport, but she knew that Kim did. Shego did explain that she did not much love for any mainstream sports.

"What do you like?" Kim asked.

"Sports?" Shego inquired.

"Yeah, what kinda sports?" the redhead inquired.

"Well, the popular sports I like doing are extreme sports, but I don't really watch sports. Sometimes, I watch boxing if I'm in the mood or karate if it comes on," the raven-haired woman answered.

"I like extreme sports, too. I like 'blading mostly, but I'll snowboard if I'm in the mountains and I'm always skydiving," Kim said with a smile.

"You are an interesting little thing, Princess," Shego commented with a genuine smile. She would not mind getting to know such a fascinating kid. "I don't think I've ever met a girl like you. What else do you like getting mixed up in?"

Kim shrugged and talked about her martial arts. Shego hopped right into that conversation since she, too, was a martial artist. They seemed to enjoy that, talking about the styles that they used and their favorite moves. They compared their forms and even went so far as to show each other their stances. The talk dominated their time together until it started getting a bit chilling out. Shego did not really notice, but she did see Kim rubbing her arms with the hope of keeping warm.

"Maybe we should go to your place now," Shego suggested.

"Um … that's okay," Kim said. A blush stained her cheeks and her eyes strayed to the ground.

"What do you mean that's okay?" the pale woman inquired with an arched eyebrow. She would have thought that she had been brought in for a night fun and not a night of wandering the city.

"I had fun. We could end it here," the girl said.

"Or we could go back to your place," Shego replied. There was no way she was going to let the redhead without putting it on the kid. It would at least guarantee some business thrown her way.

"You know, it's all right. I mean, I was just a little lonely and now I'm not anymore, so it's cool," Kim objected.

"No, it's not. So, where do you live?" Shego inquired.

"No—" Kim tried object.

"Princess, tell me where you live or I'll just pick your pocket," Shego informed the girl, folding her arms across her chest.

"You'll what?" the redhead asked in disbelief.

Shego reached for Kim's pocket, but the slim hero dodged. The pale woman could not help laughing as she went after Kim again. Apparently, the kid was not all talk. They danced for a while and Shego noted that the kid was quite flexible. She was actually happy that she not only met Kim, but also she would get to play with her.

"You are good, kid," Shego noted. "But, I think I might be better," she remarked as she waved Kim's wallet in her face.

"What the hell?" Kim patted down her pockets. She could not believe it.

"So, I guess we're going to your place now," Shego laughed.

Kim sighed in defeat; it would seem that they were going to her apartment now. She led the way while Shego held her wallet hostage. She warned that her apartment was not really "user friendly," but Shego was not hearing it.

They stepped in and Shego began looking around. Oh, so the kid's the artsy, bohemian type. That's cool. She saw a desk and paints under a row of lights. She went to inspect that while Kim wondered what the hell she was supposed to do.

"You paint?" Shego asked.

"Sometimes," Kim answered.

"What kind of work do you do?" the pale woman inquired.

"At the moment, nothing." The apartment owner shrugged.

Shego nodded and then she turned her attention to Kim. She stalked over to the redhead like a charging lioness. She grabbed Kim by the back of the head and forcefully kissed the smaller female. She knew that she had to take charge or Kim would have just stood there looking lost all night. She made sure to draw the kiss out and she did not stop until Kim was kissing her back.

"So, where's your bed?" Shego inquired.

"We don't need to do this," Kim replied, panting and flushed.

Shego only laughed; this girl is just too adorable. She lifted Kim into her arms and walked toward the sheets hanging from the ceiling. She guessed that was where the bed was because it was the only area that was closed off. She started a new kiss on the way there and discovered that she had guessed right. She put Kim down on the bed and it was time to give the kid a bang for her buck.

-8-8-8-8-

Next time: Kim and Shego meet again, but not how Shego expects.