Los Angeles, Tuesday

[spin_kick_snap]

Banzai had patrolled for two days without seeing a single zombie. By day, she hung out on rooftops, peering down into dim alleys in the worst sections of town, looking for any of the signs that Stealth and Barry--Zzzap--had mentioned: pale skin, a lack of coordination and language skills, high resistance to damage, a degree of aggression, the scent

Comments

[tigerundercover]

"You missed turning into a boy," Raven said when she answered. What was she, a secretary? Just saying "hello" like this was a random call? Pffft. "Unless you turned into a boy there. I've heard Fandom can still get you in other places, sometimes."

[spin_kick_snap]

"...That would have done wonders for my cover," Kathy said, laughing. "I'm supposed to be a boy out here, remember? And maybe Max would be less of a creeper if he thought I was a boy, hmm."

[tigerundercover]

"You might just end up with a different creeper," Raven said. "So how's the second best city in America?"

[spin_kick_snap]

"How do I know what New York is like?" Kathy asked, sounding puzzled. "I'm in warm and sunny Los Angeles, eating the best burger of my life. I mean, sure, the forecast for the next week is 'Mid-70s with a chance of zombies', but I bet Venice Beach will have way way fewer tourists than usual!"

...Okay, not how she'd planned to tell Raven, but she was still a little on edge from the fight.

[tigerundercover]

"Okay, zombies definitely disqualify LA from being the best city."

[spin_kick_snap]

"...Dammit. I can't in good conscience argue with that," Kathy said, tucking her hair behind her ear. "So, Raven, I've got some good news and some bad news."

Maybe she could guess what they were?

[tigerundercover]

"The bad news is zombies," Raven said. "Is the good news that you're coming home instead of staying and risking getting zombified yourself?"

She didn't really think it was, having met Kathy and all, but she could hope.

[spin_kick_snap]

"Well, you're half-right," Kathy said, trying to laugh and make a joke out of it. "The actual good news is that I'm staying for a little while longer to make sure that as few people get zombified as possible."

Wasn't that a better good news?

"We've only got a little while to get ahead of this before it reaches a crisis point and turns into a Romero movie. It's important that I stay."

[tigerundercover]

"We're going to have to work on your definition of 'good news'," Raven said with a sigh. "You know you were supposed to be my roommate that didn't wander off on me."

[spin_kick_snap]

Aww, baby, don't be like that!

"I'm not wandering off!" Kathy protested. "You know exactly where I am. I'm even calling to check in, see? And I'll be back before prom. Or at least by prom. I have very specfic non-Banzai plans for prom and none of them involve zombies!"

[tigerundercover]

"I'm holding you to that," Raven said. "If you're not back by prom I'm going to come out there and drag you home, myself."

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy would discover that this was a common theme among conversations today.

"Pfft, Prom Queen is on the line," she reminded. "Like I'm going to miss out on that. I've got a date, I've got a dress, I even have a lamp to help me practice waltzing around the room--and a best friend and roommate to laugh at me while I do. Too much to come back home for."

[tigerundercover]

"Uh huh. And you're definitely not going to get caught up in playing hero and forget all about such petty high school concerns," Raven said. She'd met you, Kathy. "Are you staying with your parents?"

Honestly, Kathy's parents worried Raven more than zombies did.

[spin_kick_snap]

"Not yet," Kathy said, "but that's not a terrible idea. Two weeks in a hotel--even in as cheap a one as I'm in now--is still pretty expensive. I can say I'm on break and just crash with them. It'll help me keep an eye on Sarah, too."

Kathy...didn't sound thrilled at the prospect, no. But she couldn't deny it was a good idea.

[tigerundercover]

That wasn't what she meant, Kathy!

"As long as they're not going to drive you totally nuts," Raven said doubtfully. "You don't have any other superhero friends you can crash with?"

[spin_kick_snap]

"Well, there's Nick, but that might be weird. Also, his neighbors might side-eye him letting a barely-legal teen crash at his place. Genny's still grieving, and I don't know Dragon well enough to impose."

Max would probably volunteer, but--no.