[ δώδεκα]

[winewomenand]

[ video recording ]

[The tail of a cat waves in front of the camera for a bare second, followed by a playful, batting paw and the chainsaw noise of a purr. Robin Goodfellow stands in the kitchen of Niko Leandros' apartment, head bowed over slumped shoulders, muscles over his jaw taught above the wrinkled green silk robe over his shoulders. The

Comments

voice;

[captainshort]

Robin.

Breathe, for Frond's sake. What the hell is going on?

voice;

[winewomenand]

Niko. Gone.

Cats. Eat.

Me. Shower. ...Coffee.

voice; 1/2

[captainshort]

[.... radio silence, you has it.]

voice;

[captainshort]

He's-

Are you sure?

voice;

[winewomenand]

[ there's a long stretch of radio silence on his end as well, and a slapping noise-- he's scrubbing his forehead with his hands. ]

Yes. Gone. There was no glass in the sink this morning.

voice;

[captainshort]

[Suddenly irritated and the mic is buffeted by wind before Holly has the presence of mind to close her visor.]

That doesn't mean anything. I'm checking the Hall.

voice;

[winewomenand]

[ Robin's chair screeches along the floor as Salome croaks in the background, and a second later comes the sound of running water-- filling a coffee carafe. ]

Yes. Check! Good. Check and make it official. If I have to be in public right now, they will have to re-define the word spite to work me into the definition.

voice;

[captainshort]

[Holly has no idea wtf Robin is going on about. She decides not to really listen. Because... Niko. Gone. Gone home? Or in trouble? Damn the City.

Silence on her end as she flies straight through the Hall, searching for a familiar name and portrait, ignoring the caretaker's indignant waves. Then another silence, heavier, when she finds what she was looking for.

Damn the City.]

... Robin.

voice;

[winewomenand]

[ The coffee pot starts slowly burbling during the silence between Holly's answers, and when Robin speaks his voice is laced with a silver thread of irritation, bothered by the state that he's in. ]

I told you so. Should have taken his cats with him. And his jobs.

voice;

[captainshort]

[The hiss of a visor rising so Holly can rub at her eyes. Not a good day at all.]

I'll call in to work. I'm coming by.

voice;

[winewomenand]

You shouldn't. I don't want to hear people bitching at me for depriving your workplace of you for even a few hours. Because I know that I would be bitching if I was your boss.

voice;

[captainshort]

Well, you're not. To be honest, they'd probably bitch at you for suggesting they're incapable of handling things without me for a few hours.

voice;

[winewomenand]

I hate cats. Living ones. They always think everything should be done on their terms and never seem to realize you're bigger than them. If they weren't his, I'd leave their demanding asses to rot.

[ there is a tacit silence here which replaces a spoken 'thank you,' which he is not in the mood to give, everything given. ]

Did you just say 'bitch'?

voice;

[captainshort]

Yes, I did. Don't sound so surprised, Robin, I am eighty-four years old.

And for Frond's sake, I'll take the cats if they're being so troublesome. Can you survive for ten minutes or do you need to evacuate?

voice;

[winewomenand]

A babe in a cradle.

No. Yes. Please. Take them and don't think for a moment I'm going to object. I'm not screwing around.

[ squeaking noises of water turning on, and then the patter of a shower turned on to heat up. ]

I'm evacuating to the bathroom. Enter at your own risk. No, really, enter. We'll call it a stress-relieving exercise in getting to know one another better.

voice/action;

[captainshort]

To you.

[Is this Holly entering through a window? Why, yes it is. Classy, police elf. Classy. Yelling down the hall to Robin even as the cats swarm around her legs.]

Scrub your own back, Goodfellow, I'll handle things out here.