capeandcowl | voice

[Whoa, she gives up on pestering Terry for once and gets an apology? Any other day there'd be some internal gloating.]

S'fine. I can't -- do anything, so.

[ CLEARLY this is a week for strange happenings. He exhales. Then his voice comes muffled, like he's covering his face in exasperation or contemplating suicide by suffocation: ]

...You could come and hang out. Because no offense to the dead, but this is really freaky, even for me.

Edited 2011-01-15 17:51 (UTC)

[she can only hope he doesn't notice quite how fast her answer comes]

I can be there in five.

[ If he notices, he doesn't say so. He might just be more grateful he knows somebody who isn't afraid of him or dead people from his past. ]

Alright. Hope you don't mind ghosts.

[[A CHOICE did subject character limits shrink?? how rude.]]

[Sure enough! In five minutes almost exactly there's a tapping at the window, because doors are for squares.]

[ It's a second or two, but he comes around to let her in, sliding the window open and stepping back to make room. He looks tired.

And lingering a few feet away, a shadow of a handsome, tall boy (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Van_Patrick). Terry exhales and says with humorless dryness: ]

Carrie, meet MVP.

[Carrie -- and it's definitely Carrie today, not Robin -- hops in and immediately eyes the ghost with some curiosity. Not much else. The City is a pretty weird place, after all.]

Hi. [A second or two more of doubtful staring.] That's a little billy.

[ On the surface, Terry is more or less himself. Vaguely annoyed with the circumstances, a little stand-offish. But at second glance, he seems subtly uncomfortable, almost unhappy. ]

Yeah, a little. Terror was barking at him so much, I had to lock him in my room. [ An breath of frustration. ] I think Abby might come and see him later. The ghost, I mean.

Edited 2011-01-15 19:18 (UTC)

[she spends a couple seconds more studying the ghost before glancing back again at Terry. He's the more interesting of the two, really.]

He ever talk, or what?

He hasn't said anything. Just keeps following me around.

[ Terry, on the other hand, is watching the ghost with that heavy, serious stare of his. Like maybe he can will it to go away, if he tries hard enough. ]

For a guy I only knew one day, he changed my life a lot. [ With a tinge of bitterness: ] I guess I changed his, too.

[there's a little twinge of memory -- something they'd talked about in their first conversation, she's almost sure this guy was mentioned. She watches Terry closely, curiosity (and some concern) pretty neatly cleaning away her own self-pitying mood.]

So... what's the story?

[ Terry exhales, slumps down onto his couch and scrubs his hands over his eyes. He doesn't really like this story. It makes him feel guilty. Between him, Armory, and Abby, he honestly isn't sure who should be blamed the most. ]

We were training in a simulator at camp with robots. My powers don't work on robots, so our squad leader told this girl Armory to get in with me, so I'd have someone's fear to use. They called her "Armory" because she'd bonded with a shapeshifting alien weapon.

[ He pauses. This is where the story gets bad. ]

I transformed. She panicked. Fired at random like crazy. Abby froze up. It looked like she might die, but MVP just threw himself in there and saved her.

Then his brains got blown out, and he died with Abby still in his arms.

Oh. [There's... not much else she can say, really. But she does glance over at the ghost again with a little new found respect.]

Far as ways to check out go, figure that one's pretty good. Out like a hero.

[There's just a second more, then she sighs and steals the cushion next to Terry, to lean against his arm.]

Balls nasty week, looks like.

[ Surprisingly, he doesn't seem to mind the contact. Maybe he's distracted, or maybe it's just that it's Carrie, and she seems to be the exception to most of his rules, like the massive personal bubble and Not Telling People Stuff. ]

Yeah. It blows. [ So poetic, always. Then with habitual dryness, his attention still on the ghost lingering near them. ] How come you don't have ghosts following you? And your dog hasn't grown any weird parts? It's like fate has it out for me.

[Her head tilts against his shoulder, eyes on the ghost for lack of anything better to watch.]

Probably. Or maybe I'm slacking on the traumatic accidents, and my dog used to be a table. Guess that makes us immune.

[ The ghost seems content to just watch back. There's something amiable about him. Like he's the sort that smiles a lot, easy to like. All-American type. ]

Well, good. 'Cause I sort of blow at being comforting and sensitive when people are distressed.

Gee, you? Wouldn't've guessed it, spud.

[and, while she's thinking of comfort and being distressed...] You figure I should go when Abby shows, or... [or can she stay. because she'd really like to not go.]

No, stay.

[ That comes out more hastily than he means it to, so he adds, awkwardly: ]

I won't know what to do if she -- I don't know, cries or something.

[That gets a relieved little smile, but it's gone again at the mention of crying. GIRLS CRYING? HOW DO YOU HANDLE THAT D:]

What, and you figure I will?

Well, yeah. You're -- a girl. [ AND HE'S A MINDREADER BUT WHATEVER. ]

[...oh. right, she is. STILL LOOKING A LITTLE DISCONCERTED, THOUGH.]

But she's -- I mean, I'm not exactly -- [huff.] Better hope she doesn't, or I figure we're both dusted.

[ WELL TOO BAD IF YOU FOLKS DON'T GOT IT FIGURED OUT, 'CAUSE SOMEONE IS KNOCKING ANXIOUSLY AT THE WINDOW. ]

Dusted. Is that supposed to mean --

[ Terry stops. Both him and MVP turn their heads towards the girl in the window. MVP mouths her name. Abby. Terry says it outloud. ]

Abby. [ He hesitates. Then, with some reluctance, gets up (careful not to jostle Carrie too much) to let her in. ]

[...And it's right about then Carrie remembers that she's currently Carrie and not Robin and she only knows Abby as Robin and --

It's just under a run that takes her out of the room with a muttered frag (Batman-Terry to thank for that addition to her vocabulary). Why didn't she think of this earlier? Some great planner she is.]

[ If Abby notices that Carrie was there at all, she doesn't show it. Her attention is completely focused on that ghost as she enters the room. Her face has the strangest heartbroken expression on it.

Very quietly: ]

It really is him.

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i was going to ask if you wanted to quicklog this, but then i was like ACTUALLY SHE JUST DOESN'T GET

ACTION FOREVER THEN because i would've said yes anyway.

/YEAH/ YOU WOULD HAVE. B)

/spams your inbox with edits

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