MASK OR MENACE IC CONTACT

[selfequipped]

"Hey, it's Kate. Leave a message."

Comments

1-17, earlier in the morning (like 3 a.m.)

[selfimage]

[ Kate you are actually getting a call from Loki. actual call. ]

[selfequipped]

[She was ... actually sleeping. Shockingly. But when she sees Loki's name, and looks at the time, she grabs it instead of letting it go to voicemail.

It almost goes to voicemail.]

This had better not be a butt dial.

[selfimage]

I thought of a dirty joke and just had to run it by you.

[ pause for dramatic effect. ]

Well, no, no, not really.

I have something of general and all around importance to share with you. First of all--the wards are working on your apartment?

[selfequipped]

Hypothetically. [This is before Billy's suggestion that they change them up, so let's say yes.]

I'm guessing this is far more serious than a dirty joke, then.

[selfimage]

And right into the territory of a valkyrie-versus-Loki verbal smackdown. It was very close to being in the middle of a local bar--I'm not sure if I should've been offended that I was that underestimated. Luckily, I managed not to make the teleportation too conspicuous. The cats out of the bag and the desperation is beginning to seep in desperately.

[selfequipped]

[She pauses, because she feels like she missed something. Kate rolls out of bed into a sitting up position, and she reaches for the lamp beside her bed to click the light on in her room.]

I feel like I missed something. [She pauses.] I was also actually sleeping.

[selfimage]

Ah—how about changing "Valkyrie" to "Kara." That might hit it on the nose.

[selfequipped]

No, I got that. I don't know why we're ... you. Why you're yelling at Kara?

[selfimage]

She sought out me. Apparently she thought I was the one who deliberately meant to point Skye in Jesse's direction—only more blamey. Most likely she meant to discourage me.

It was as good as an admission of guilt.

[selfequipped]

... What did Skye tell them? [she asks, mostly to herself.]

What else happened?

[selfimage]

It's not what Skye told them, it's what she did. Kara thinks I baited her into chasing around Jesse with a gun.

[selfequipped]

She did what?

[selfimage]

There's a page out of the book of recklessness for you.

[selfequipped]

We were supposed to handle that together! Subtly! [Her voice is raising at three AM.

Sorry, Billy.]

[selfimage]

I take this isn't the kind of subtle that you meant.

[selfequipped]

I do know how to be subtle.

[selfimage]

I meant Skye--nevermind, I'll dial back on the 3 a.m. post-haze sarcasm.

A little tidbit for you, Jesse seems to think that he's doing this at the benefit of the imPorts. A little nearsighted if you imagine him in chains and a striped shirt. Kara insists that she'll do anything as long as he doesn't go to jail--but I doubt she'll get that far in their drug pursuits.

I'm not sure who's better at convincing who. If it's Jesse convincing Kara, or Jesse convincing himself.

[ says the king of self-sabotage. ]

[selfequipped]

[She listens, and for a moment, she's silent—likely making Loki worry that the call is dropped.

But then she speaks:]

Unless Jesse's leveled up his manipulation, it's all Kara. I wonder if she calls him "kid" while being so blind to what he's doing and the problems it can cause. Does being old make you stupid? [Because that's all Kate can think of.]

That he thinks he's helping everyone sounds exactly like him. It's not too different from the kind of half-cocked thing you'd cook up, but you'd be smarter about it. [Doing bad to benefit is Loki's whole thing. Him throwing himself under the bus was a part of that, so it coming back to Loki isn't as surprising to Kate as it could be.]

Do we know how he's doing his charity work?

[selfimage]

[ he taps on the receiver. ]

I'm standing right here.

[ don't talk about him to him while he's on the phone that's rude. ]

No, she wouldn't divulge any other details that weren't intent. A pity, really. She really thought she had aces up her sleeve.

[selfequipped]

[Hey, she used "you."]

Then we find out his money laundering. We can see if anyone's made any big donations to the imPort fund. Mandrake will have paperwork on it.

[Oh, she sounds thrilled about that.]

[selfimage]

That's simple enough to do under his nose. Have Billy take him out, pick the lock. Viola.

[selfequipped]

Or we can be less underhanded and just have Billy ask.

[selfimage]

As long as you can withstand Mandrake's interrogation on the matter. He might not give them up easily, being a skeevy, paranoid politician.

[selfequipped]

And that's why we have Billy ask instead of them going ... out again.

[selfimage]

And what does Billy say when Mandrake asks? Because he will, inevitably. And Billy will ask too.