The Streets of Baltimore, Monday Night

[gunslingerpose]

Against his better judgment (and when was anything Nikolai ever did really in line with his better judgment anyway?), Gorgon was back on patrol in the streets of Baltimore tonight. Granted, Monday nights weren't exactly the busiest nights for crime, so, as far as Nick was concerned, he was easing himself back into the swing of it.

And, hell, after flashing his goggles at a couple of muggers and leaving them zip-tied to a lamppost with a lit road flare marking where they were for any cops to find, he was even feeling pretty damn okay. A little stiffness in his shoulder, a bit of soreness, but a few more hits and even that would be gone until he dropped right back out of the power high again. For the time being he was back on his bike, making that slow, deliberate patrol around one of the neighborhoods he tended to frequent, making certain that any would-be criminals were well aware that he was back on the job.

Ah, the crime-fighting life. It was good to be back.

[OOC: Open to anyone who might happen to be in Baltimore tonight! Because... costumed heroing is something I keep meaning to post this guy doing more of.]

Comments

[notaweenie.livejournal.com]

Barry sighed. "She is a really good person," he admitted. "Enough to make me hire her as part of my corporation so I don't fuck up ethically. However I worry about her enthusiasm overriding her sense of safety. She seems like the type of person who will risk herself needlessly for a kitten in trouble and get shot for it."

[spin_kick_snap]

"See?" Kathy said to Nick. "I told you I was--HEY!"

[gunslingerpose]

Nick wasn't going to make the obligatory, 'And a bit slow,' comment. You're welcome, Banzai.

"Well, that makes me feel better about any fears I might have had involving being jumped by murderous bitches in the dark," he offered, smirking. "I wasn't actually all that worried, Banzai. I can handle myself just fine."

Better than he could that weekend, at least.

[spin_kick_snap]

And Kathy wasn't going to point out that the last time he found girls in the alley, he'd been left blinded and would have been dead if one of said girls hadn't princess-carried him to safety.

"You seemed unwilling to take me at my word earlier," she said primly. "I was making sure a credible source assured you it was true."

This was the one and only time that she'd ever refer to you as a credible source, Barry. Savor it.

[notaweenie.livejournal.com]

"He just met me," Barry pointed out. "For all he knows I'm a fucking lunatic."

[gunslingerpose]

"He was just standing around disguised as a young Ricky Schroeder, following you all over Baltimore with a GPS," Nikolai agreed. "You could both be fucking insane serial killers, here."

Now he was just enjoying this.

[spin_kick_snap]

"A young who?" Because that was absolutely the important part of this conversation, yes. "And Barry isn't crazy. A jerk with extreme boundary issues and the occasional failure to understand things like common decency, but he's not a lunatic."

She knew he was touchy about that, so, even while wanting to wring Barry's stupid neck, she was going to stick up for him.

Jerk. The pair of them.

[notaweenie.livejournal.com]

"Well that pretty much hits the mark," Barry admitted. "But I mean well. Most of the time. Well better than I used to. Really I'm a jerk but I'm trying, you know?"

...

"Wait, how did this get back to me? I'm not the one risking my life on a nightly basis in costume."

[gunslingerpose]

"I'm kind of surprised," Nick mused, "that a girl wearing that many rainbows keeps turning the topic of conversation away from herself."

What did that say, anyway?

"But seriously. Head armor. You'll thank us."

[notaweenie.livejournal.com]

"Is it me or do you start hearing the 'Rainbow Connection' whenever you see her outfit too?" Barry asked. "I'm not sure if the rainbow motif will work cowl wise."

[gunslingerpose]

"Reading Rainbow, here," Nick replied, shrugging his shoulders. "You could decorate her cowl with butterflies or something."

It would be so Kathy.

[notaweenie.livejournal.com]

"Then she'd have to change her name from Banzai to Social Justice Butterfly warrior," Barry said shaking her heads. "Hey. Can I ask you a question? How do you feel about pockets?"

[gunslingerpose]

"Pockets?" Well, there was an odd question. Nick squinted at Barry, not that it could be seen from behind the mirrored lenses of his goggles. "I make sure they're deep enough in my duster for me to carry around at least the bare essentials for surviving out here, but aside from that I'm not, you know, fucking passionate about them or anything."

...

"Why? What the hell kind of question is that even supposed to be?"

[spin_kick_snap]

"Shut up, Barry!" Kathy shrilled. "You just shut up right now!"

[notaweenie.livejournal.com]

"Some people are very passionate about them," Barry explained... and really didn't need to explain further after Kathy's reaction.

[spin_kick_snap]

"Maybe if either of you had to deal with women's clothing on a regular basis, you'd understand!" Kathy grouched.

And in an undertone that Nick totally wasn't supposed to hear, she hissed, "No making me look bad in front of other heroes! Especially the one I seduced so I could try to murder him later!"

[gunslingerpose]

Did Gorgon do a shitty job of hiding the fact that he overheard the basic gist of that? Well, yes. But really, how was he not supposed to make a snorting sound, here?

"Trust me, Banzai, I've listened to every possible complaint there is about female clothing. Pockets being the least of which."

The joys of representing divas in Hollywood. You got to be the sounding board for so many things.

So. Many. Things.

[notaweenie.livejournal.com]

"I hear ya," Barry said shaking his head. "I mean a make her a fucking bulletproof outfit and she goes nuts for the pockets. What's a higher priority here... protection or a place to put your spare change?"

[spin_kick_snap]

"Do you two want to be alone?" Kathy asked. "Because I can just go and leave the two of you to swap stories and braid one another's hair and stuff all night?"

[gunslingerpose]

"Not much hair to braid," Nick pointed out, clearly amused. "But I can tell stories until the sun comes up. You sure you don't want to stick around, Banzai? I can tell the one about the time I had to personally deal with someone's catsuit malfunction."

He wasn't going to drop names, because if he did, that would suggest something a little more 'Hollywood' than 'Superhero,' but it was tempting.

[spin_kick_snap]

"And I'd surely hate to miss that," Kathy said dryly.

[notaweenie.livejournal.com]

"I'm game to hear about the catsuit," Barry asked. "I'm assuming no pockets."

[gunslingerpose]

"Where would you put pockets in a catsuit?"

Did that answer that? At all? Even a little?

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy flung up her hands in exasperation. "Really? Is this really how we're going to spend the rest of the evening? Talking about catsuits?"

[notaweenie.livejournal.com]

"I don't know, I'm just trying to find new fucking ways to make you flail," Barry admitted. "So far I've been right on fucking target."