Ajay's Apartment, Gearing Up For The Hunt“Lava!” exclaimed Warm Sun River Sky, doing swirly hand gestures in front of Ajay's active blue goo lava lamp.
“Yep. Long live lava!” Nurse Jha was finally off work, having had to put in an extra hour at the end of his shift to pick up after others. Since he and Warm Sun River Sky had agreed to go after the bear that night, they had convened at his third-story home. “So, the plan.”
“Was there one?” The positive young woman asked innocently, her hands linked behind her. “We didn't really get to talk about this secret stuff once those other nurses joined us.”
“Yeah, my girls. They've really made me feel welcome ever since I started there.” Working as a nurse had definitely proven to be all it was cracked up to be, even if it was difficult, thankless work.
“Seemed like they like you, too.” The wispy gal asked, “Or at least think you're hella cute.”
Stripping off his subdued pink scrub top and flexing his not-huge but damn well cut arm, Ajay joked, “I am hella cute, aren't I?”
“Very!” Teasingly, Warm Sun River Sky asked, “Are we taking our clothes off now?”
“I am, you're not. See, I have this really great thing I've got cooked up, but I'm not about to wear scrubs under it. It's... Well, guess what it is!” He wanted to see if she was on the right track.
“Your costume?” She tilted her head a little, and her dreads moved with it.
“Yes! My supersuit! The one I wear to look cool and be a badass hero.”
“Not the one you wear to be a badass hero at work, though.”
“Nah. Scrubs wouldn't be appropriate for crime fighting. Do you read any comics, by the way?” He was going somewhere with that.
“I watch the movies sometimes! Is this suit like Iron Man's or like Groot's?” She seemed to have an interesting notion of what composed a supersuit.
“Uh, it's kind of like neither. I'm not a billionaire industrialist who can afford a mecha suit or a living tree.” He actually frowned. Maybe it wasn't as cool as he thought.
“Well, I
am Groot, and I say get those pants off and get that suit on!”
“Keep yours on, girl! Before I drop trou, I have to build it up, make it sound cool. The suit, not me. It's a pretty old-school style comic book costume, is why I asked.” Actually, he was a little nervous now that he was actually prompted to get down to his drawers. Even though obviously superheroes changed in front of their allies all the time. It was just a thing that was done, according to entertainment media.
“Tell me all about it,” said Warm Sun River Sky patiently.
“Well, it's colorful and extremely comfortable. But not in a 'sensible shoes' way, because it's also made of very durable material that isn't likely to give out on me! This is super high tech supersuit fabric – some of the best stuff known to humans!” At that point, he'd walked over to a closet and was ready for the reveal.
“Vibranium?” Warm Sun River Sky offered, trying to show off what knowledge she did have of (fictional) superheroes, since she wasn't sure if that was a real thing.
“Nope! Spandex!” In one swift movement, he pulled a form fitting bodysuit from the closet. Twas made out of blue material, with a pair of pink swirls that began on his legs and ran alongside one another up his pelvis and torso. Like he said, it was quite colorful, obviously not designed for stealth or protection but instead flexibility and style.
In response, Warm Sun River Sky clapped her hands together quite hard! “It's so pretty! Who made it?”
Holding it in the light to show off how clean and well-integrated the stripes were (it went all the way through the fabric instead of just being painted on or anything), he said, “I did! Used to be I was big on cosplay, going around to all the conventions.”
“Well, get it on! I want to see how it looks on you!” Ah, so eager. “Here, I'll get this started.” Reaching into her messenger bag, she extracted two things: a bundled stick of pale colored herb and a shallow dish. These prepared and set on Ajay's main table, she began to get to work.
While she was distracted, Ajay quickly slippped off his scrub pants, the sound of which made Warm Sun River Sky yell “Woo!” A blush came over his clean shaven brown face, even though he knew (and appreciated) that she didn't look away from what she was doing.
As he stepped into his jumpsuit, he explained more about how it would go down. “There is a plan. It's for me to head into the Zoo, which shouldn't be a problem so late at night. From there, I do the best detective work I can to track down the bear, and defeat him.”
Having ignited the bundle and begun to smudge the smoke around, Warm Sun River Sky looked into Ajay's eyes and asked him a key question. “Do you plan to kill Bearman?”
“Is that what we're calling him?” Ajay didn't love the sound of 'Phenomenon Defeats Bearman!' very much at all.
“Do you?” She didn't stop staring.
“Excuse me,” Ajay said, answering his phone despite the smoothness and listenability of his ringtone. “Hi dad,” he answered, not very psyched to hear from him.
“Hello son. Did I call at a good time?” the accented speech that came through the phone was familiar, and at least he didn't seem upset at anything.
“Not really, but I can talk. How are you and mom? Still renovating?” He knew they were always making additions and improvements to their homes, making this as safe a question as there was.
“New tile for our guest bathroom. Your mother, she likes it.”
“Do you like it?”
“I don't like it. It looks like a diner. If she wanted a diner, she should have put it in the kitchen. I have no say.” Sounded like a real problem.
“That sounds like a real problem.” No shit.
“It is.” Ajay's father waited a beat before out of the blue asking, “So, are you going to school this semester?”
The would-be superhero smacked his forehead, answering, “No, dad. I don't go to university right now. At the moment, I'm very satisfied with my job, but if anything I might go after further nursing education.”
“Don't you want to be a doctor? They make more money~” The older man took on a singsong quality to his voice for the second sentence, and it cheesed the guy in spandex off quite a bit.
“Really? I had no clue, dad. I'll go ahead and-” With a mighty
KOFFF, Ajay got cut off. It wasn't that sage is that intense, but the smudging process had reached him in full force, and he accidentally directly inhaled a big old lungful of the smoky, but fragrant stuff.
“You're not supposed to do that,” he heard Warm Sun River Sky whisper.
“What's going on? Are you smoking weed?” Mr. Jha asked, with an accusatory tone in his voice.
“No, dad. I got a chip caught in my throat.” Ajay had recovered fast, since sage was not harsh even if one inhaled too much too directly, and his powers had pushed any remnants out of his lungs quickly.
“Oh, I hate it when that happens. Well, if you have any weed, share some with me! And don't tell your mother I said that!” Daddy-o had a mischievous sound to him for a change!
Ajay smiled at both the words and the previous topic having been averted. It seemed to him that the sage had already yielded benefits! “Dad, I'll call you soon. I'm just leaving.”
“Don't party too hard! I love you!”
“Love you too, dad!” After this sincere proclamation, he clicked off his phone, which was thankfully still plugged in and full of juice. “Okay, where were we?” He'd pulled on his costume successfully, and in his opinion the form-fitting but stretchy suit was quite cool. Of course, his face was still uncovered.
“Do you plan to kill Bearman?” asked Warm Sun River Sky, who had not stopped staring straight into his eyes even as she'd been moving around him with the sage, which she'd now put out since the scent and substance of it was now in the air around them.
The Story Branches...
>”Absolutely not.” No matter what happened that night, Ajay was intent on not killing Bearman, and committed to bringing him in alive. It was his way.
>”He won't live to see the morning.” Ajay had seen the effects of the brutality of this supposed bear person, and was intent on removing him from the world.
>”I don't know.” This wasn't a lie, as he genuinely hadn't made that decision yet. He would need to experience Bearman firsthand, and see how the encounter went. He could not commit yet.
>"Hey, that stuff smells really good actually." Changing the subject, then!
The Story Branches in less meaningful ways sometimes...
>To complete the look, Ajay wore a black domino mask.
>To complete the look, Ajay wore a purple domino mask.
>To complete the look, Ajay wore a blue domino mask.
>To complete the look, Ajay wore a pastel green domino mask.
>To complete the look, Ajay wore a red domino mask.
>To complete the look, Ajay wore a yellow domino mask.
>To complete the look, Ajay wore a grey domino mask.
>To complete the look, Ajay wore whatever color of domino mask you want (specify)
