Room 508, Sunday Afternoon

[spin_kick_snap]

Coming back from Cyseal, the last thing Kathy expected was to get ready to turn around and go again. But she was sorting her laundry to run a load or two when her phone rang again. That wasn't entirely unexpected, but the name that showed up on her caller ID certainly was.

Gorgon.

She'd barely talked to Nikolai since he'd moved back to LA, though they occasionally bumped into one another in LA when she patrolled. Certainly not enough for him to call her on a random Sunday evening.

"Hello?" she asked, putting her phone up to her ear. "Gorgon? Is everything okay?"

Gorgon	"Hey, baby." The endearment was automatic, Gorgon sounded more subdued than Kathy had likely ever heard. "You got a minute?"
Kathy	Yeah, that didn't sound like he was gearing up to give her good news. "I've got plenty of time," she assured him, sitting down on the edge of her bed. "Not doing anything but laundry. What's up. You on patrol?" Was it the Seventeens? Koreatown? Something about her sister? No, no, don't think that way, Kathy. If something had happened to Sarah, her parents would have called. No reason to panic, Kathy. Keep your head.
Gorgon	"About to head out," he said. "Pulling my duster on now, actually. But I got some news to pass along. You heard from Regenerator lately?" He'd heard that Banzai and Regenerator had buddied up after the the whole bullet wound fiasco of a year or two ago. He didn't think they were close enough that Regenerator would have called, but maybe...? Look, he didn't do all that great with emotional things. And this was the kind of phone call no one wanted to make.
Kathy	"Not since the beginning of the month," Kathy said, shaking her head even though Gorgon wouldn't be able to see it. "He was looking for some information about the Seventeens and he hadn't been able to find you. Why? When was the last time you heard from him?" It didn't even occur to Kathy to be worried about him. He'd been The Immortal before he'd realized his powers could heal other people as well as himself. He'd shrugged off bullets, stab wounds, fire, falling--he'd even mentioned something about acid once. "He's not in trouble is he? Did the Sevens take him or something--?" Each scenario she could come up with sounded more implausible than the last, but what could have happened to Regenerator?
Gorgon	"Not the way you're thinking," Gorgon said quietly. "It's not Regenerator. It's his wife. She--there was an accident. We don't have a lot of details--if the Mighty Dragon hadn't been there when Regenerator got the call from the hospital we wouldn't even know that anything had happened at all. But she didn't make it. I guess that by the time he got there, she was already gone."
Kathy	"Oh, shit," Kathy breathed, bringing her hands up to her mouth. "And there was nothing he could do, then? Just...show up and find out he was too late?" That was the limit of Regenerator's powers, though. He could heal anyone and anything so long as there was life. But if there wasn't life, he was just as helpless as anyone else. "She's really gone, then?"
Gorgon	"Fraid so, baby." There was a long inhale, Gorgon had lit up a cigarette. He needed a smoke to deal with this. "That's why I'm calling. I know you've got classes and whatnot, but we were wondering if there was any way you could come out for a day or so? Pick up his patrol? We want to give him a few days to mourn and you know the beat." He sighed and scrubbed a hand through his hair. "The Mighty Dragon would have called you personally--" Hey, look, name-dropping was literally a way of life for him. "--But he didn't have your number and I didn't think you wanted me to just hand it out."
Kathy	Save me the spiel, Gorgon," Kathy said, sounding wry. "I'm already going to say yes. You don't have to bait me with the Mighty Dragon. Anything I can do to help Regenerator...You don't even have to ask. I'm there."
Gorgon	"Thanks, baby," Gorgon said with a relieved sigh. He wasn't even going to apologize for trying to spin it. It was what he did. "You know when you can get out here?"
Kathy	Kathy was already pulling up Portalocity's site on her laptop. "With the three hour difference between Baltimore and LA, I can make it out there for patrol tonight. I don't think I can stay long--might have to come back during the day for class--"
Gorgon	"Whatever you need," Gorgon said, exhaling a lungful of smoke and pitching his cigarette over the edge of his balcony. "We'll see if we can't maybe fund some of that back and forth as well. Whatever. I'll see what I can do. Just--thanks for coming out here, for picking up the slack."
Gorgon	"Whatever Regenerator needs," Kathy said firmly. "I'm not going to turn down some extra cash or whatever, but right now, whatever I can do to make things easier for him." Her voice wavered. "I can't believe he lost his wife." It was a dark irony for a man who who could heal any wound no matter how grievous, had lost his wife while he was out on patrol keeping the city safe. "See you later, Gorgon," she said, clicking the button to buy her portal tickets. "I'll be there with rainbows on."

[Many thanks to furnaceface for letting me borrow NPC!Gorgon. Open for visitors before she leaves. Link to Anders'.]

Comments

[rebelseekspizza]

"It's my one real superpower," Dante said, grinning. "I'm just glad it's appreciated. It works for me."

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"So, not the super-strength, the endurance, the healing, the ability to summon a sword, or your magic guns with magic bullets," Kathy checked. "It's the pretty?"

[rebelseekspizza]

"It's the pretty," Dante agreed. He poked her gently in the forehead. "I mean, it works on you."

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"Then I'm glad I'm around to keep you on the side of the angels," Kathy said, nodding solemnly. "I don't know what I'd do if you ever went, like, Dark!Dante and I had to go up against all that pretty on a supervillain. I'm not sure I'd win."

[rebelseekspizza]

"I'd probably have to get a leather jacket if I did that," Dante mused, flopping over back onto her bed. "Y'know. A bad guy jacket. Pants, too."

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"Ooooh," Kathy said. "Dammit, I might have to rethink my stance on Dark!Dante if leather pants are on the line. Would you wear makeup, too? Maybe get a few more tattoos?"

Cause, like, she could work with this.

[rebelseekspizza]

Dante laughed. "Yeah, I could get a whole sleeve," he mused. "Eyeliner? Do bad guys do eyeliner?"

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"Yeah they do!" Kathy said brightly. "They go with the whole smokey-eye look, I think. Something to make you look dangerous and smoldering. And kinda vulnerable--let you give off the 'only you can redeem me' vibe that then backfires tragically."

[rebelseekspizza]

"You watch too much TV," Dante decided, lazily. "But sure. Tats and eyeliner and leather pants. Watch out, planet, I'm gonna conquer you."

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"...I don't suppose you'd let me experiment, would you?" Kathy wheedled. "I've got my makeup and you are so very pretty."

Pause.

"There're drinks in it for you."

[rebelseekspizza]

Dante squinted up at her.

She'd been pretty down just now.

"Sure," he said, "Just don't draw any dicks on my face."

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"If I didn't draw dicks on your face when I left you passed out on the docks, I'm not going to do that now," Kathy said, going to her fridge first and grabbing the bottle of rum that was wedged in the door. It had maybe a third left, which she figured was more than enough to pay for a few rounds of makeup experimentation. "Besides, I'm a feminist. I'd draw vaginas."

Handing the bottle over, she then crossed to her dresser to start grabbing her makeup. Honestly, this was good. This was light and silly and kept her from brooding over Regenerator's wife. "Hey. I'm really glad you stopped by."

[rebelseekspizza]

"Aw, you just wanted to get your artsy fartsy on," Dante said easily. "I'm just an easy canvas. I see how it is."

[spin_kick_snap]

"That's not true," Kathy protested. "I wanted to see hot guys in makeup and you're faster than finding gifs. Totally different."

Hands full of brushes and powders and glosses of various colors, Kathy made her way back to her bed and went to sit in his lap. Best vantage after all.

"Okay, so what would I be like as a supervillain, you think?"

[rebelseekspizza]

Dante's eyes were still on her, full of amusement, and he didn't move. "You'd probably wear a tight suit and cackle a lot," he said. "Try to sell the dark girl angle and wind up at like, 'evilly upbeat'."

He threw her a sarcastic V-sign and an exaggerated frown.

[spin_kick_snap]

"Just for that, it's going to be dicks all the way down," she threatened, tilting his face up so she could work. "I'd be an awesome supervillain. I'd be...uhh..."

Yeah, she was drawing a blank. Dammit, Dante.

"I wouldn't be evilly upbeat!"

Suuuure.

[rebelseekspizza]

"Smile from one end of your face to the other one while you lowered the heroes into the flaming lava pit full of sharks," Dante sighed. "You'd probably still put rainbows on the leather outfit, too."

[spin_kick_snap]

"There'd be a lot more skin showing, though," Kathy decided, going with Dante's description because, honestly, she didn't have a decent argument why he'd be wrong. "Leather bustier, miniskirt, long jacket, spiky boots. So, you know, that, mixed with the rainbows, would give me a nice, classy appeal."

"Close your eyes," she added, picking up her eyeliner.

[rebelseekspizza]

Dante closed his eyes obligingly, though he did sigh a little. "Rainbow trim on the miniskirt," he mused.

[spin_kick_snap]

"Look, not everything can be doom and gloom all the time, even when you're evil," Kathy said, the brush a gentle kiss across his eyelids. "And maybe it confuses my enemies. Nobody sporting rainbows can be all bad, can they?"

[rebelseekspizza]

"So you'd be playing them on the 'I CAN BE REFORMED' front," Dante mused. "Maybe you should slap some Hello Kitty on there, too..."

His toes wiggled in his boots. He wasn't always the best at sitting still.

[spin_kick_snap]

"Good in inherently hopeful," Kathy said, ignoring Dante's twitching as best she could. "You have to be, to believe that people can do better if given the chance. Hell yeah, I'll exploit that if I have to. Good or evil, I'd play to win."

There, the liner on one eye done. She leaned back a moment to give him some space. "All right, shift around, get a drink," she told him. "Move a bit so you don't explode before I can work on your other eye. Unless you want to rock the asymmetric, Steampunk Apple vibe."

[rebelseekspizza]

"I'm not that bad," Dante protested. While stretching. Legs, as well as arms. "What's Steampunk Apple?"

Because he could rock any vibe, Kathy.

[spin_kick_snap]

Yeah, that's what she'd thought.

"Old movie based on an older book," Kathy explained. "Criminal kid who lives for ultraviolence ends up undergoing this insane treatment that makes him nauseous whenever he thinks about sex or hurting people. It drives him to attempt suicide." She pulled up the iconic image of the main character and showed it to Dante. "See? A couple of false lashes and a terrible hat and that could be you, too."

[rebelseekspizza]

"Eh," Dante said, tilting his head as he looked at it. "He looks like a demented potato."