So after much internal debate, agonizing, discussion with friends (in RL, on here, and on Twitter), I have decided that the show must go on. Besides, after dropping cash on the following artwork, how could I not?
Therefore, ladies and gentlemen, not only do I give you the next chapter of TCOSR II, but I also give you (courtesy of
*****
THE COURSE OF SUPERHERO ROMANCE II: COURTSHIP AND CRIME FIGHTING
Chapter Six - What Part of 'Day Off' Do They Not Get?
Scowling in irritation at having yet another evening ruined, Raymond shot a quick glance over at Steve, who was quietly talking to Marisa Valentino off to one side, then looked over at Sorina, discussing the evening's gang attack with her fellow Star Patrol members.
God damn it all, just once I'd like to have a quiet evening without hell breaking loose on my doorstep. He knew that wasn't strictly true, as there had actually been several times that he and Sorina had been out on dates in Paragon City or spending evenings at home together and not had things go wrong, but he felt like grousing to himself.
In the meantime, Sorina came wandering back over, running her fingers through her dark hair and heaving a sigh. "Well, it looks like the Patrol has things well in hand, but dinner here is obviously out. Do we have alternate plans yet?"
"How does grabbing Chinese from somewhere else and going back to your place sound?"
"Wonderful," she murmured, resting her head on his shoulder. "And the others?"
He turned to Shalice and Justin. "How'd the two of you get here?"
"Limo. Why?"
"Well, Steve might yet be able to salvage tonight with Marisa if we leave them alone - he's got his Mustang, anyway. But damn it all..." He sighed and rubbed his eyes. "I was really hoping to talk to the two of you and Sorina over a quiet dinner. Any chance we can catch a ride with you, grab food somewhere, and maybe take it back to her place?"
Shalice looked over at her husband, and Raymond had the distinct impression they were having a quick telepathic discussion over the suggestion.
"Yeah, we can do that," Manticore replied. "You live in Founders, right, Dr. Tavarisch?" At her nod, he tilted his head toward Steve. "Just fill him in and we'll bail."
"Thanks, man." Raymond cautiously picked his way through the restaurant, trying to avoid the medics who were helping patrons and the staff who were cleaning up the trashed furniture. Coming up beside his roommate, he nodded briefly to Marisa, then drew Steve aside.
"Listen... me, Sorina, Psyche and Manticore are gonna head over to Sorina's place. We need to talk to the two of them anyway."
"Fine by me, I won't wait up. I'm sure Ms. Valentino and I can entertain ourselves."
"I don't doubt it, but also, I'm gonna call Statesman and tell him I want tomorrow off."
"Like 'off' off?" Steve arched his eyebrows in surprise. "With all that crap from this morning going on?"
"'Off' off. Steve, I am so burned out right now, I don't give a damn about
anything, and I'm no use to the Phalanx in this kind of mood. I've got a life now, I'd like to try and enjoy it."
"Hey, no arguments from me, Einstein, I'm on your side. Enjoy your day off." His roommate slapped him on the shoulder, and Raymond slowly smiled. As he turned away, however, Steve suddenly remarked, "Crap, I almost forgot. Next Wednesday - poker night for the first time in hell knows how long. We're hosting. You gonna be there?" At Raymond's hesitation and glance toward Sorina, he shrugged. "Bring her - she's not psychic, so it's cool. Though having two math geeks capable of card counting-"
"I do NOT count cards!" Raymond said in frustration, glaring at Steve. "It's just a matter of a good memory and mathematical probability that-"
Steve held up his hands in a mock placating gesture. "All right, all right, I'm sorry I said anything. Just lemme know if you two plan to show so we can plan. Deal?"
"Haha, stealth pun. Deal. Catch you tomorrow night." Waving goodbye to Marisa, who nodded back, Raymond headed back over to Sorina and the others.
"All right, let's get the hell out of here."
On the way back to Sorina's, the foursome decided it would be easier to order in, rather than stopping off someplace, so upon arrival at her apartment, she called a local Chinese delivery place and arranged for dinner to be sent over. Then she kicked off her shoes and sprawled in one of the available armchairs while Raymond took the other, and Shalice and Justin shared the couch. "They said approximately an hour," she said apologetically.
"Fine by me, as long as no one mugs the delivery guy on the way here," Raymond commented, stretching his legs out. "Crap, that reminds me... phone call of my own. Scuse me just a second."
Getting up again and stepping into the hallway for a bit of privacy, he used his phone to patch in to Statesman's communicator.
"
Statesman here."
"It's Positron. Listen, I'm sorry for the short notice, but I'm taking tomorrow off."
At the long pause on the other end of the line, Raymond could almost imagine the surprise on Statesman's face, then he heard Statesman sigh.
"
Well... I'm sorry, Positron, but with the bomb threat this morning-"
"I can give all the specs to Citadel - he can handle things if they come up, now that I've gotten some prelim research done."
"
We really do need-"
"SIR."
THAT got Statesman's attention, since they both knew full well Statesman hated being called that.
"No calls. No pages. And trust me, after years in that armor, I know JUST how much vacation time I have accrued that I haven't even begun to take. Tomorrow. Day. Off."
There was another pause, longer this time, and Raymond gritted his teeth in frustration.
No, I am not letting myself get guilted into work, damn it. They OWE me...
"
Make sure you get the specs to Citadel tonight, then." Then came a quiet chuckle. "
And don't call me 'sir' again."
"Right." As he was about to hang up, however, he heard Statesman say, "
Oh, by the way..."
"Hmm?"
"
Give my regards to Dr. Tavarisch, since I presume you're spending the day with her."
"That's the plan. And will do." Hanging up, he grinned and wandered back into the living room to rejoin the others.
"So you were asking earlier about the relationship versus duty thing?" Shalice said with raised eyebrows as he slouched down in his chair again. Or as I believe you put it, "Being a couple and still going out and slugging on the bad guys?"
Turning slightly red, Raymond looked down at the floor. "Yeah, you could say that."
"Mind if I ask why?"
He looked over at Sorina, who nodded slightly, and together they began explaining the problem they had encountered in the Rikti War Zone, where their concerns for one another occasionally overrode their actions regarding the mission. Listening to her describing it, Raymond remembered the sick helplessness he'd felt in the pit of his stomach when Sorina had nearly been sliced in half by a Rikti soldier when her powers had failed her because of the Rikti's dampening fields.
Once they finished, Manticore frowned and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "But it's not been a problem for you two in the past. You've occasionally worked together out in the field before... so what's changed?"
As Raymond and Sorina both turned slightly red as they looked at one another, Shalice covered her face with one hand and groaned. "Justin, I can't
believe you couldn't figure that one out on your own."
Justin then went red in the face as well as the pieces fell together. "Oh. Um, right. Well..."
For several moments, there was an uncomfortable silence, and Raymond was just starting to regret even asking the question when Shalice finally spoke.
"Actually... what it really comes down to is trust," she said softly.
"But we
do trust each other," Sorina began, but Shalice went on.
"Not like that. Well... not exactly like that. I mean, neither of you is new at the whole hero thing. You both know the risks involved on a day-to-day basis. You've both been doing this for years. I mean, sure, you want each other to be all right and be safe, but 'safe' isn't really an option for the lifestyle we've all chosen to lead."
Manticore looked over at his wife, then shrugged. "And besides, it's not always life-or-death stuff when you're out and about... why not baby-step it for a bit? Work together on the low-key stuff - stomping Trolls, fighting Tsoo, saving the newbie heroes... that sort of thing. It doesn't mean you have to go charging in together to wipe out a Council secret base or anything."
Sorina's eyes went from Manticore and Psyche to Raymond, then back again. "But what about the 'life-or-death stuff', as you put it?"
Justin sighed, "Well, there... you'll just have to agree that one of you goes, and one of you stays. At least until you've grown enough of an emotional callous to set the relationship aside til the job's done. That's not me knocking on you two, either... a lot of folks can't handle that." He shrugged again, then his eyes met Raymond's directly. "But you'll either learn to deal with it... or you won't."
*****
Much later that night, lying beside Sorina in the darkness of her bedroom, Raymond stared up at the ceiling, thinking about what Manticore and Sister Psyche had said. It was true that Sorina's scientific knowhow was of great help on missions... and she was certainly a capable hero in her own right.
And yet...
He looked down at the woman sleeping in his arms, remembering the look of absolute terror on her face when he'd nearly been killed by a Rikti Chief Soldier in the tunnels beneath the War Zone... and then seeing that terror replaced by blind fury just before she'd crushed the Rikti to death in a gravity field.
Silently groaning in frustration, he rested his face against her hair, and in her sleep, she curled up closer to him.
Life was a lot less complicated before I met you.
*****
A low but insistent beeping woke them both the following morning.
"
Bohze moi, I know I turned off my alarm," she groaned, staring bleary-eyed at the clock that read 7:15 a.m.
"It's not the alarm," Raymond sighed, recognizing the sound. Reaching over the side of the bed for his pants and pulling his phone out of his pocket, he answered it with a curse. "What?"
"
My apologies, Positron," came Citadel's modulated voice. "
Statesman mentioned you were unavailable today, but the schematics were never sent over..."
Oh, damn it, I knew I forgot something... Raymond covered his face with one hand, while Sorina pulled a pillow over her head. "Sorry, Citadel... give me a minute and I'll have them downloaded to you."
"
Thank you. Citadel out."
Disconnecting the call, Raymond quickly punched in a series of keystrokes, sending remote commands to his armor's systems. In a flash, the armor's databases were synched with the ones in the Phalanx headquarters, which Citadel could access. Quickly notating the relevant information for the big android to work with, he signed off and then tossed his phone back onto his clothes.
"What was that about?" came her muffled voice.
"I forgot to send Citadel the bomb data from yesterday," he said ruefully. "Hopefully that should keep them occupied for a while."
"Good." She rolled over so she lay in his arms again. "Can we go back to sleep now?"
"Sounds good to me."
*****
An hour later...
"Okay, I know that's not my phone," Raymond grumbled, but Sorina was already reaching for her own phone.
"
Da?
Zat'knis, I thought I'd already told you I wasn't coming in today...
Nyet... Already filed...
da, tell Helena.
Spasibo." Hanging up the phone, she hid her face in her pillow before letting out a loud frustrated sigh, then she began pounding the mattress with her fist.
At the look of irritation on her face, Raymond had to try not to laugh. "Come on, Sorina, it's not that bad."
She flopped facedown into her pillow again. "But now I'm awake..."
"Good," he said in satisfaction.
Sorina turned her head slightly, so that she was peering up at him through the veil of her dark hair. "How is that good?"
He reached for her, and she slowly smiled.
"Ah."
*****
An hour and a half later...
"Oh, for the love of..." Trying to shake off the sense of lethargic bliss, he fumbled for his phone once again, peering at the display, then he cursed. "Damn it to hell, Justin, I *TOLD* Statesman-"
"
Hey, don't chew me out, I'm just the messenger this time. We just got a call from Gaussian."
"Gaussian? What for?" At the mention of the name, Sorina's head emerged from under the covers, where she'd taken refuge when the phone had rung again.
"
Yeah... he wanted to know if you'd had any insight into the data that had been sent over to us."
"What- oh..." With all that had been going on since Sunday afternoon, he had completely forgotten that the data he and Sorina had obtained during their War Zone excursion had been sent on to his computers at FP Headquarters... plus whatever biodata they'd gotten from the second group of Rikti they'd encountered just before their escape. Sorina had given the scientists instructions that he was to get their results as well. "Um, no. Tell him I haven't. I'll make a point of it first thing tomorrow morning, along with Sorina."
"
I'll tell him. Sorry to interrupt your morning." Manticore hung up, and Raymond deliberately turned off his phone before dropping it on the nightstand near his head as Sorina once again pulled the blankets over her head.
"Perhaps we should start getting up," he heard her say reluctantly from beneath the covers.
"I guess so," he sighed. "Besides, I don't know about you, but I'm getting hungry. Tell you what - you shower first, I want to get in a bit of a workout first." A faint laugh came from beneath the covers, and he went slightly red as he reached over, picked up a pillow and thumped it against the bump that he guessed was her head. "Not
that kind. Although maybe later..."
Re-emerging from the blankets, she gave him a smile and then a soft kiss against his lips. "All right. Don't take too long, though."
On the other hand... It was damned tempting to stay in bed, and Raymond would swear that Sorina was reading her mind as she lay beside him, one hand propping up her head as she looked over at him.
Oh, what the hell... He reached over, pulled her close, and kissed her hard for several long moments.
"You are one hell of a woman, Sorina Tavarisch," he murmured against her lips.
"
Spasibo. Any reason for that declaration?"
"Scientific assertion of a known fact. So remove your tempting self so I can get my workout done, then I'll buy you breakfast. Or lunch. Whatever the hell time it is."
"About ten in the morning." She climbed out of bed and headed into her bathroom, while he padded into her living room. Stretching out on her floor, he began a series of pushups, situps, and crunches; even though he tried to maintain a reasonably healthy diet, there was certainly no room in his armor for him putting on weight, so he worked out at least four days a week. The exercise felt good, especially after the stress of the last couple of days.
Twenty minutes later, though, just as Sorina was coming out of the shower, the phone rang once again.
"
Prokljat’e!" she swore, as she nearly slipped and fell while reaching for the phone. "Hello?"
From where he was doing military pushups in the living room, Raymond couldn't hear who was on the other end of the line, but there was no missing Sorina's response as she shouted, "
TY SVOLOCH'!" and then slammed the phone down.
"Sorina, are you all right?!" He leapt to his feet and dashed into the bedroom to find her wrapped in a towel, dripping wet, and looking like she was ready to start kicking something. "What's wrong? Who called? Is everything okay?"
Drawing a deep breath in an attempt to calm herself, she pulled the towel more tightly around herself and levelled a look at Raymond that made him take an instinctive step backward.
"
That," she said acidly, her accent more pronounced as she bit off each word, "was Sharpe. No greeting or anything. Just-" and here she began imitating the other hero's voice- "
'Why is someone as smart as you so stupid as to answer the phone on your day off?' Then he hung up."
She looked so disgruntled that he wanted to laugh, but considering he also had been answering his phone since seven in the morning, he knew he wasn't in any position to do so. Instead, he walked over and hugged her.
"Don't let him get to you. Come on, dry off and get dressed while I shower and then we'll grab food."
*****
As he showered, Raymond realized he was half-expecting one of their phones to ring again, but thankfully they remained silent. Twenty minutes later, they were dressed and out the door. Fortunately for them, it was a beautiful day, and after wandering through the harbour atmosphere of Founders Falls, during which they debated going for breakfast or lunch, they finally arrived at a small riverside cafe.
"What else would you like to do today?" he asked as they waited for their meals to arrive. "Catch a movie? Wander around the stores?"
Sorina looked thoughtful, tilting her head back to feel the sunshine on her face. "You know, I have no idea. You surprised me with your suggestion of taking today off. But I just want to relax and spend it with you."
"Does that rule out shop talk?"
"In general, no." She turned to briefly thank their server as their food was set before them, then took a sip of her coffee. "But not 'business' if we can help it. Today is too lovely to ruin."
Raymond turned his head as the sound of tolling bells drifted toward the cafe, and he realized they were actually fairly close to the university. "That reminds me... when's your next round of classes?"
"Next week - I'm doing a seminar on Brownian motion for the advanced computer programming and AI classes."
"That's a different one for you," he began, but then a faint buzzing sound derailed his train of thought. "Oh, for the love of-" Reaching into his pocket, he glared at his phone display, then with a heavy sigh, answered, "What now, Steve?"
"
Dude, you're not gonna believe this. I mean, Castle was bad enough, but FORESHADOW?!"
"Whoa, whoa, wait, what are you talking about?"
"
I called Andrea today to see if she wanted to have dinner, and she's going out Friday night with Foreshadow! What the hell is up with THIS?!"
"I'll talk to you later, Steve."
"
Of all people-" Raymond hung up on his roommate in mid-sentence.
"Do I even want to know?" Sorina asked at the look of irritation on Raymond's face, but before he could answer, her own phone rang.
"If it's Steve, hang up on him," Raymond said sourly, going back to his food.
"I'm probably going to regret this... it's Andrea." Sorina lifted her eyes to the heavens as though asking for divine assistance, then answered, "What a coincidence, we were just talking about you. Mm-hmm. No, I don't want to know. Yes, we heard. No, I don't know what Steve's problem is, and I'm not giving the phone to Raymond for you to ask him, either. Day off, Andrea. We can talk tomorrow...
da. Goodbye." She hung up and tossed her phone back into her bag.
Then Raymond's eyes lit up. "I just had an idea. I suggest we go for a sail and a hike."
Sorina looked down at her clothes - jeans, t-shirt, and sneakers. Raymond was dressed pretty much the same way. "I could enjoy that. Any particular reason for the inspiration?"
"Yeah... lousy phone reception."
*****
After their meal, the two caught the tram to Talos Island. Heading down to the piers where boats were available for the day, they rented a small sailboat, purchased a small cooler of food and drinks, and were soon heading across the waters of Paragon Bay.
"I didn't know you knew how to sail," Sorina remarked as she leaned against the rail.
"Learned while I was at Stanford - friends and I used to sail around San Francisco bay all the time. It's been a while, but it's kinda like riding a bicycle - you never forget, really."
The faint sea spray felt wonderful against his face, and for once the bay was fairly smooth. Following the charts he'd been given, he steered them toward one of the larger islands, carefully skirting around the shoals and bringing them close enough to land.
For the next couple of hours, they hiked around the small island, where to their surprise, they discovered a small cave with a natural staircase rock formation winding its sharp and twisted way to the top of the island. As they reached the top, they were rewarded with a vista of the entire bay, with the skyscrapers of Talos Island in the distance.
"Makes you wish we didn't have to go back, doesn't it," he said with a sigh, slipping one arm around her waist.
"Mmm. Unfortunately, duty always calls. Next time we should put in for a weekend or even a week."
"I doubt they'd last without us for that long," Raymond grumbled. "It's a nice thought, though."
After enjoying a leisurely picnic lunch, along with a light doze in the sunshine, he reluctantly looked at his watch. "I guess we should be getting back. But we will definitely have to do this again. Or even try this as a camping trip."
"Sounds fantastic." She accepted his hand and he pulled her to her feet. "In the meantime, let's focus on today. Any ideas?"
"Not yet, but we'll see what we can come up with when we get back."
*****
As they were walking up the pier, however, Raymond's phone started buzzing. "Damn it, I thought I'd turned it off-" Then he stopped, looking at the display.
Sorina had kept walking, but noticing that he'd stopped, she paused and turned around. "Raymond? Is something wrong?"
Busy scrolling through his list of missed calls, he didn't answer her right away. For some reason or another, it looked like
every single member of the Phalanx had tried to call him over the last couple of hours, along with at least two dozen numbers he didn't recognize. "What the
hell...?" he murmured in confusion. "Sorina, check your phone - do you have any missed calls?"
She dug her phone out of her bag and looked. "Actually... yes. About... a dozen, in fact. Bowman... Collins... Andrea... and several numbers that are unfamiliar to me." She frowned in confusion. "What on earth is going on?"
Just then, Raymond's phone rang, and seeing that it was Statesman, he answered. "States? What-?"
"
Where the hell have you been?" The other hero sounded like he was ready to blow a gasket, and Raymond was so surprised that he almost dropped the phone.
"Day off, remember? You authorized it yourself last night! And what the hell is up with everyone trying to call me?"
"
Have you seen the afternoon editions of the papers?"
Wha-?
"Uh, no... Sorina and I have been sailing around Paragon Bay since about eleven this morning. What's going on?" He looked at Sorina in bewilderment and mouthed,
The afternoon papers? She looked just as mystified as he did, but she turned toward the row of shops that lined the pier and began striding toward them, Raymond following more slowly.
He heard Statesman draw in a deep breath in an attempt to calm himself, but he still sounded like he was ready to punch a rather large hole in the nearest flat surface.
"
I gather everyone else has been trying to reach you to warn you... and probably Dr. Tavarisch by extension, since this peripherally involves her. The media is going to be all over you as soon as they find out where you are."
Ahead of him, he saw Sorina find a newspaper stand, insert some change, and hastily pull out a paper. Then her mouth fell open and she went completely still for a moment before coming sprinting back down the pier, swearing in fast-flowing Russian.
"But why-"
Then his own mouth fell open and his voice ground to a halt when he got a good look at what Sorina was waving around.
A copy of the
Paragon Caper, the largest tabloid in the city... with a full color front-page picture of Statesman and a familiar-looking tall redhaired woman, both in civilian clothes and in what could only be described as an intense clinch.
For several seconds, all he could do was stare, then he was finally able to get words out.
"Oh, SHI-"
To be continued...
We'll see everyone tonight for the Live Stream! I fully expect Tunnel Rat to arm wrestle Second Measure.
