Even Spidey is Gray

Log Archive » Logs for September 2008 » Even Spidey is Gray

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Scene Title	Even Spidey Is Gray
Synopsis	Incomplete information followed by discussion of goals and actions.
Date	September 10, 2008

Dorchester Towers: Cat's Apartment

The weather has been atrocious today, worse the the rest of the week. Since the early afternoon, thunderstorms had filled the skies, combined with torrential rain and hurricane-force winds. What was shaping up to be a doozy of a storm finally subsided sometime around nine in the evening, with the thunderstorms tapering off, leaving just the heavy rain. By two in the morning, the rain had subsided and the winds died down, leaving the night skies to clear up as it approached three am.

It is at this hour of night, like the evening before, when a knock comes to the apartment door. A series of three slow knocks, and then silence. A familiar beat for a familiar guest.

Confusion may occur, given the hours she seems to keep. Is she a Cat, or an Owl? Three in the morning again, and she's awake. The Cat/Owl is in the apartment's main room, briefly eying the artworked area, and contemplating how much it might cost to get fixed, as well as ways to do it without drawing too many questions. It's a minor dilemma.

When that ponderance ends, she turns her attention to the instrument in hand, her acoustic guitar. She begins to work the strings and frets quietly, until the knock comes. At this she walks over and opens the door. "Morning, Rock."

Dani stirs, as she hears the knocking. She -was- dozing, but lightly. She comes padding out of the bedroom, with a yawn. Hair is tousled, and she's in a cami and boyshorts. "What time is it?" she mumbles blearily.

Looking a little wind tossed but no worse for wear, Peter is leaning against the wall opposite of Cat's apartment when the door opens, "Please don't say morning," He requests with a smirk, seeming in a much lighter mood than yesterday, "It reminds me I haven't gotten much sleep." He walks in through the door, he hesitates by Cat, then leans in and slides an arm around her waist, trying to guide her from the door. "Hopefully you're not as tired as I am?" Peter grins, pushing the apartment door closed with one foot. "Because I've got…" His voice trails off as Dani comes walking out of the other bedroom, having forgotten that she was living here now. Peter's arm slinks away from Cat, and his hands find their way into his jacket pockets.

"It's late." Peter says apologetically, eyeing the short brunette sidelong, "Should I come back in the morning?" He squints one eye and shakes his head, "I mean, you know, when it's light out and people aren't trying to sleep?" Peter's weight shifts to one foot, the other tracing back across the floor, suggesting he's already prepared to make his way back for the door. "I just…" He searches for the right words, but appears to be censoring himself, "I just came to let you know I'm not government property yet."

The arm moves to encircle her waist, and she takes a step into the apartment's interior, just ahead of it settling on her frame. Dani's voice is registered, asking a question to which Cat replies "It's dark o' clock. This wee hours thing isn't hard on me, but I think it is for Dani. She's going to be working, needing to be all bright eyed and bushy tailed for the job, so we probably shouldn't have people popping up at dark o' clock." She turns her head toward Dani, flashing an apologetic expression, offering "Not that you need beauty sleep."

And the topic of his visit is addressed. "That's reassuring to hear. How did things go with Doctor Suresh?"

Dani smiles. "That's all right. Really. I can go without sleep. I run on coffee and sarcasm." She quips. She starts towards the kitchen. "And I'm going to get one now. You two want a cup?"

At the evasion, Peter tilts his head to the side and stands at the entrance where he had come in, "I'll pass," Peter says to the offered coffee, waving one hand dismissively, "Thanks though." Shifting his focus over to Cat, Peter takes in a deep breath and exhales a bit of a heavy sigh. "Well enough?" Is his non-comittal answer at first, followed by a something more worried tone of voice, "Actually, a lot of what he said… I'm not entirely sure the two of you need to be worrying about. I'm going to handle it, I think it's outside your areas of expertise." Peter's brows come together, he seems distracted, trying to puzzle some things out. "I'm gonna, ah," He slips one hand out o fhis pockets, motioning over his shoulder with his thumb towards the door, "Let myself out." He turns to look at where Danni disappeared to in the kitchen. "Sorry for waking you up…" Then he turns his focus back to Cat, "I'll… try to keep my visits to business hours." An attempt at a joking smile, he seems a bit put off and awkward. "Just wanted to make sure you didn't worry."

"Thanks for coming, Rock," Cat replies. Her eyes rest on the man for a moment. A twinge of regret shows in them. "I'm glad you're safe. But you look like whatever was discussed wasn't good at all." She isn't addressing his intent to leave, but also isn't asking him to stay, perhaps hoping to draw him into sharing more details without the appearance of pressure. Dani's offer of coffee brings out a smile. "Coffee is divine. Thanks."

Dani looks back at Peter, her eyes moving from sleepy to peeved a moment. "Tell me you -didn't- just try and play the big overprotective "you girls can't handle this" line. Lack of external plumbing doesn't make us incompetent." She pours two mugs of coffee.

Peter stares at the floor for a time, then looks up, "Yeah." An awkward smile crosses his lips, it isn't quite certain what he's replying to, his response being so delayed from what it is Cat says. He glances towards the kitchen, then focuses his eyes on the floor, "It's not that, it's — " He looks over his shoulder at the door, then just follows thorugh with that motion, turning and heading back the way he came in. Opening the apartment door, Peter looks back in at the engraving on the glass, then Cat, "'Night." He says quietly, raising one hand in a silent wave, before stepping out into the hall and closing the door. Just a moment later, there is the soft rush of air, as the shadows of his feet vanish from the space under the door.

When the door closes, with him on the other side of it, Cat closes her eyes and rests her head against the wall. A muted sound follows, perhaps that of her forehead being drawn back and returning to that surface gently. "Damn," she murmurs. "That didn't go well. Now I'm concerned about what happened with Doctor Suresh." That muted sound repeats, then she's headed into the kitchen and hooking a chair out with one foot so she can drop into it.

Dani looks back to Cat, and says "Yeah, well, you need to nail his damn feet to the floor. First he pops in and wakes us up at dark o'clock, and then he just pops out with zero info content." Peter is not helping her already-low opinion of guys.

"I think it was about me, and him," Cat replies quietly. "He tried to put an arm around me, and I moved. He'd already put up walls, and now he senses the same from me. I'm not flirting anymore, and he can tell." Her eyes shift toward the coffeemaker, and the topic is also shifted. "When's your first day working, and what're the basic hours?"

Dani breathes out an exasperated sigh. "Yeaaaah. That's probably going to go over interestingly. I called it right though, before you told me. Too emo for words. Do I need to worry about emo-boy etching me when he finds out, or is he just gonna brood somewhere artistically? And this upcoming Monday. This week was relocation. I wasn't sure I was gonna find a place so fast. Be working mostly bankers' hours, but it's kind of flexible. Perk of reporterness."

"It is what it is," Cat states somberly. "I just have to hope the first priority takes hold again. He has goals he can't reach alone, and the ideas I bring, what we bring, are valuable there. So I think he'll adjust." Silence is returned to, she calling out the remembrance of things between them and how they felt. But the man made his choice, and life progresses. It never stands still. Her eyes are a bit distant for that time, focused on a wall. Dani's question is answered when she snaps out of it. "You don't need to be worried. He won't etch you."

Dani looks back to Cat. "And you're still sure this is a good plan? I mean, don't get me wrong, I'll be the first one there cheering you on for marching in the genetic rights parade, but terrorism is a completely other thing."

"He and I weren't talking about terrorism. We were talking about shifting their direction toward freeing people locked up for no reason and away from actions against people who aren't directly involved in any of this. And of addressing other areas. Propaganda. Legal actions. Management of public perception. Terrorism solves nothing, they have to come to understand that. It's…" Cat's voice sharpens to speak the next word. "Lunacy. New York became Nuked York, the Linderman Act exists because people were already terrified."

Dani nods. "Just that the people he was talking about and all that…" she sighs. "You realize I'm kicking myself in the ass for promising not to put this in the paper, right?"

"I know, Dani. I can't ever thank you enough. But you will get professional mileage out of this, somehow. It'll sound cliche and maybe lame, but it'll be a bit like Spiderman taking photos of himself in action and selling them to Jameson to make a living." Cat laughs. "So much is made about action being his reward, but, well, he was getting paid just the same. Even Spidey is gray."

Dani laughs. "Yeah, well. Last I looked, I don't shoot webs or stick to walls. You're the one with the cool X-Men powers, Cat." She takes another long sip out of her mug. "Was a little surprised when I woke up and you weren't there."

"I'm a bit more of a nocturnal Cat these days than I was. Started getting used to being up at odd hours, with playing at the Surly. I won't mess up your sleep." One hand reaches out to snag coffee and draw it in, then she thinks of something. To her feet she rises, a few strides later she's got cream and sugar.

Dani nods. "So…it sounds like Captain Emo is planning on blocking you out of this stuff. That whole "This is too dangerous for you" crap. You planning on just letting that roll over you, or you gonna kick the drum?"

There's a spoon and stirring of coffee to mix in what she added. "No," Cat answers. "But I'm also not going to push him. He'll work with me, or he won't. It's sounding like he'll need to do his own thing without Pariah, they didn't seem ready to listen to reason from what he told us. If I approach this in my own way without him, that's how it goes. Musicians have a long history of activism."

Dani nods. "I'll help out where I can. Paper's got to approve what I put in it, but if nothing else, I get all the news feeds, and press can go places most people can't." A yawn escapes her lips. "Ugh. Is there ibuprofen? Headache."

"Politically, this is just the latest chapter of the constant struggle to make those lofty words about being created equal and endowed with inalienable rights apply to all citizens. One minority achieves a measure of success and works to advance it, while the greater focus moves on to another group. The story is largely the same, through all of it. Overcome fear. Appeal to conscience. Linderman sounds German enough. There should be images of him in Nazi uniform tied to this." One hand gestures toward a cabinet. "Up there. Advil, aspirin too."

Dani looks back at Cat dubiously. "3 AM is too early for political reform." she says, blearily. She stumbles towards the cabinet, opens it…mutters once. "We need a step stool around here." Cause Cat is taller and so things go higher on her shelves.

"Got one," she replies. Her hand gestures to one of the below counter cabinets. "There's a grabby tool in there too." Cat lifts the mug, delights in the scent of it for a moment, then proceeds to drink. Her eyes close. Ambrosia, this.

The shorter brunette takes out the stepstool, then uses it to get out the ibuprofin. She takes some, swallowing with a little coffee. "Okay. That can kick in any time now. So…what're you working on?"

"I'm working on this cup of coffee," she replies with a chuckle.

Dani looks amused. "I more meant; what dragged you out of bed? I'm pretty sure I don't snore."

"Just what I said earlier. I've gotten used to being up later than I had been." Cat takes in more of her coffee, eyes closing again with enjoyment of it. "You don't snore, by the way."

Dani puts her empty cup on the counter, and walks over to Cat. "Well, you could always come back with me…" she suggests with a smile.

Her thoughts on the world and people in it are set aside as she quietly finishes the contents of her cup, and she stands. Cat starts moving down the hall toward bed, her arms stretching out languidly on the way. "I could do that," she agrees. And that she does.

Dani smiles. She seems interested enough at least at moving things to the next step with Cat. She steps into the bedroom with her, and says "Soooo, do we move from "same bed" to "cuddled up"?" That same smartass grin.

"Maybe," the taller one replies with a bit of purr to her voice. Cat closes the door, and the answer becomes known behind it.