We're not cuddling, we are attempting to reach thermal equilibrium.
Now that the PPC mission is done eating my brain, have some more Duplicity! Augh, it is hard to get back into writing other things. But here we go!
Contains mystery, angst, gardens, magical-scientific theory, and George hitting muggers with a bag of groceries. In that order.
07 - Constraint
This time, he goes out to the marina. He frowns down at the water, gently slapping the posts of the pier, like it’s hurt him.
When he finally takes a hand out of the pocket of his blue hoodie, there’s something in it. It’s a key, but not one that looks like it’d open anything. It’s silver, a stylized skeleton key, the bits just plain rectangles. He closes his fist around it again and holds it out over the water.
“You know it won’t work,” says the girl. She’s perched improbably on the railing, where she wasn’t a second ago. Her eyes are steely gray. “You should stop trying.”
He doesn’t look at her. “I never stop trying,” he says. “That’s the rule.”
The girl kicks her feet. She doesn’t look at him either. “I don’t get it. You never used to want to leave.”
His fist clenches, so hard the bits of the key dig marks into his palm. “Things changed,” he says.
He looks out at the bay, she looks back at the city. He closes his eyes- they’re too dry again- and opens his hand. The key falling barely makes a sound.
When he takes his hand out of his pocket, back at his little apartment, there’s something in it.
08 - Fertility
There’s a park in the middle of the city. Not that big- I guess I got used to Central Park- but there are tall trees, overgrown gardens with paths through them, cute little benches. There’s a little pond. Ducks and stuff. It’s kind of… neutral ground, I guess. Nobody goes there in costume. In the park, heroes and villains don’t exist.
I ran into Rockstar there, a couple days after my birthday, sitting on the grass by the pond reading a book. It’s weird to see him in civvies. Some people, you just never imagine in a T-shirt.
Rockstar says the park is left over from when whatshisname- Amphion’s old nemesis, I can’t remember what he was called- tried overgrowing the whole city with plants. When Amphion cleared up afterwards, he left a patch. He also says it taps the city’s ambient magical potential into an active accelerated-gestation field. Whatever that means.
But the grass is always tall, and anything you plant in the garden grows, and the city maintenance guys never bother mowing. So I guess he might be right.
09 - Defense
On his time off, George teaches a self-defense class at the community center. Attendance is mostly disappointing. There’s a hero in Cosmopolis, after all, people feel pretty safe.
In his memory, he’s just off the graveyard shift, stopping at a convenience store for a couple groceries. Milk, eggs, a little thing of instant coffee. Everywhere else is closed.
The muggers catch up with him just outside the lights of the parking lot. Maybe they’re too drunk to notice the uniform, maybe he arrested a buddy of theirs, maybe they just hate cops. It’s only two of them, but he isn’t expecting them. Two’s enough.
There’s a second of panic before his time perception kicks in. One of the muggers is going for his arms- he turns, swinging his plastic bag of groceries around in an arc. The bag collides with the guy’s head. The plastic tears, the eggs fall and scatter and break. The milk bottle bursts, a shower of white in slow-motion, and the guy falls.
The other one has a knife. He’s pretty fast with it, but George thinks faster than the knife moves. He grabs the mugger’s wrist, twists, the knife drops. The mugger stamps on his instep, scraping his foot down George’s shin on the way, and pulls free. He hauls his accomplice up and they run.
George takes stock, coming down into normal time. Shin and foot screaming, sleeve torn and arm bleeding slightly. The knife must have grazed him. Heart pounding. Hell of an adrenaline crash coming on. Groceries wrecked- well, the coffee might be salvageable, but he doesn’t feel like facing it. All things considered, not a good performance. Chief Hu would have him on desk work for a week. He limps home.
In the reports the next morning, he reads that Amphion spent all night fighting Undertow out at the marina, and realizes that he never once expected a hero to turn up.
So he throws himself into training anyone who does show up at the community center. Them, and himself. Their hero’s fast, but he can’t be everywhere.
Contains mystery, angst, gardens, magical-scientific theory, and George hitting muggers with a bag of groceries. In that order.
07 - Constraint
This time, he goes out to the marina. He frowns down at the water, gently slapping the posts of the pier, like it’s hurt him.
When he finally takes a hand out of the pocket of his blue hoodie, there’s something in it. It’s a key, but not one that looks like it’d open anything. It’s silver, a stylized skeleton key, the bits just plain rectangles. He closes his fist around it again and holds it out over the water.
“You know it won’t work,” says the girl. She’s perched improbably on the railing, where she wasn’t a second ago. Her eyes are steely gray. “You should stop trying.”
He doesn’t look at her. “I never stop trying,” he says. “That’s the rule.”
The girl kicks her feet. She doesn’t look at him either. “I don’t get it. You never used to want to leave.”
His fist clenches, so hard the bits of the key dig marks into his palm. “Things changed,” he says.
He looks out at the bay, she looks back at the city. He closes his eyes- they’re too dry again- and opens his hand. The key falling barely makes a sound.
When he takes his hand out of his pocket, back at his little apartment, there’s something in it.
08 - Fertility
There’s a park in the middle of the city. Not that big- I guess I got used to Central Park- but there are tall trees, overgrown gardens with paths through them, cute little benches. There’s a little pond. Ducks and stuff. It’s kind of… neutral ground, I guess. Nobody goes there in costume. In the park, heroes and villains don’t exist.
I ran into Rockstar there, a couple days after my birthday, sitting on the grass by the pond reading a book. It’s weird to see him in civvies. Some people, you just never imagine in a T-shirt.
Rockstar says the park is left over from when whatshisname- Amphion’s old nemesis, I can’t remember what he was called- tried overgrowing the whole city with plants. When Amphion cleared up afterwards, he left a patch. He also says it taps the city’s ambient magical potential into an active accelerated-gestation field. Whatever that means.
But the grass is always tall, and anything you plant in the garden grows, and the city maintenance guys never bother mowing. So I guess he might be right.
09 - Defense
On his time off, George teaches a self-defense class at the community center. Attendance is mostly disappointing. There’s a hero in Cosmopolis, after all, people feel pretty safe.
In his memory, he’s just off the graveyard shift, stopping at a convenience store for a couple groceries. Milk, eggs, a little thing of instant coffee. Everywhere else is closed.
The muggers catch up with him just outside the lights of the parking lot. Maybe they’re too drunk to notice the uniform, maybe he arrested a buddy of theirs, maybe they just hate cops. It’s only two of them, but he isn’t expecting them. Two’s enough.
There’s a second of panic before his time perception kicks in. One of the muggers is going for his arms- he turns, swinging his plastic bag of groceries around in an arc. The bag collides with the guy’s head. The plastic tears, the eggs fall and scatter and break. The milk bottle bursts, a shower of white in slow-motion, and the guy falls.
The other one has a knife. He’s pretty fast with it, but George thinks faster than the knife moves. He grabs the mugger’s wrist, twists, the knife drops. The mugger stamps on his instep, scraping his foot down George’s shin on the way, and pulls free. He hauls his accomplice up and they run.
George takes stock, coming down into normal time. Shin and foot screaming, sleeve torn and arm bleeding slightly. The knife must have grazed him. Heart pounding. Hell of an adrenaline crash coming on. Groceries wrecked- well, the coffee might be salvageable, but he doesn’t feel like facing it. All things considered, not a good performance. Chief Hu would have him on desk work for a week. He limps home.
In the reports the next morning, he reads that Amphion spent all night fighting Undertow out at the marina, and realizes that he never once expected a hero to turn up.
So he throws himself into training anyone who does show up at the community center. Them, and himself. Their hero’s fast, but he can’t be everywhere.