[Kate noticed all right, but she's slightly hopped up on pain killers thanks to a broken arm that she's been in and out of a haze. Right now, she's a little less into her haze, so she's been trying to read all of the reports about the various Hornet things that went down.
When Billy joins her, she looks up from her communicator to study him. There are a lot of reasons why he could be boned.
[Just for dramatic effect, Kate drops her phone and raises her hand to her face. She knows exactly who he's referring to, and it's only out of "I love you unconditionally Billy Kaplan" that she doesn't say anything like "I told you so."
But it's there just the same.]
You haven't actually acted on these ... feelings, right?
You should probably take some time off from seeing Mandrake. [Her words are soft and understanding, but there's still something commanding about them.]
[Point number two on "Kate Bishop is right." She doesn't like that she's right about this particular note. Actually, she hates it, because what can she do? She's not able to become Teddy.
That's always been the problem.]
I know. [Kate lowers her head.] Every month that he turns up, I'm a little ... angry at Lachesis, you know? [Billy needs him. He needs him because now he's palling around with someone like Mandrake who can't even be truthful about his relationship with someone else, so how can he be trusted around her best friend? Mandrake is a threat to every aspect of Kate's protective instincts, and it's also bad for Billy to be latching on to Mandrake because he misses Teddy.
It's really bad.]
But since I can't beat her up, is there anything I ... can do?
You're here, you're listening to me, and you're not telling me I'm a horrible person for wanting to makeout with a guy with questionable moral character and terrible taste in clothes.
[He frowns a little. But it's not an angry frown. It's more of an unhappy one, so finally he moves to sit next to Kate.]
I just can't figure out why he's not here. I can't-
You're not a horrible person because you're lonely. [If he had acted on it, she'd have a few more choice words. But he hasn't. That's the important part.]
And he's not here the same reason why anyone isn't. Doctor Doom isn't here to tell us he really brought Cassie back. And that's if he'd even remember it. [She gives a frustrated shrug and ... winces a beat later. Okay, no more shrugging. Life sucks.]
Though with our luck, it really would be Doctor Doom who showed up instead of Teddy. [How frustrating.]
[It's hard, when he's been so used to having someone. He almost doesn't know what to do with himself without Teddy around. But Kate saying that helps; it makes him realize that he was right to tell Mandrake to go after Kitty, to not try and use logic like Teddy wouldn't want me to be lonely.
Not that Billy would.]
If that happened, I might turn into a supervillain.
[He wouldn't but it would be infuriating all the same.]
I'm glad that you get that this isn't because I don't love Teddy, because I do. Man.
[Kate doesn't think Billy would ever turn into a supervillain. But she might approve of him powerfully whacking Doctor Doom once or twice. Not whacking in the sense of killing him, but pounding him into the ground like a mole in that stupid game.
It'd be nice. Even if he brought back Cassie, it was only with certain considerations.]
I know you do. [She knows how much she misses Clint doesn't seem to match.]
And, um, sorry for how I kind of went about ... suggesting all that before. [Even if she was right.
No, but I wasn't really talking from a place of ... moral high ground or anything. My last boyfriend was the Dorian Gray. [And Billy's been personally attacked by Noh, so her running tally of "guys she chooses to date" isn't exactly giving her a leg up here. No, Billy has Teddy, and Teddy's great.
Teddy trumps like everyone.]
But I really shouldn't have made you feel like you needed to be stubborn. We're best friends.
Yeah, totally valid. [What would Kate Bishop be without a bow and a quiver full of arrows?
Well, she'd find another way to be a pest, but she'd be very grumpy about the whole ordeal.]
I almost broke my arm in LA, but it didn't take. I got lucky. I really was overdue. [LA with a broken arm would be way worse than here with a broken arm.]
[And then it's America who she calls, as she didn't want to worry anyone else. Kate felt like America was the one who would least respond with ... excessive worry over everything she got into.
Being leader means that I don't make you guys worry about me. [Okay, Kate knows this logic is stupid. She knows it, but she's saying it anyway so he knows where she came up with that idea in the first place.]
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selfequipped) wrote2014-02-10 02:43 pm
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When Billy joins her, she looks up from her communicator to study him. There are a lot of reasons why he could be boned.
None of them are good.]
Go on.
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[He stops. This is hard, because it's -
Because it's not fair. To anyone involved.]
I may have developed feelings. Of the makeout variety.
[For John Mandrake.
Oddly, this feels harder than telling Kate I commissioned Tony Stark to build me a personal power suppressor.]
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But it's there just the same.]
You haven't actually acted on these ... feelings, right?
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No. I told him-
[He takes a breath.]
I told him he should tell Kitty how he feels about her.
[This is Billy, trying, trying really hard to do the right thing.]
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That's good advice. [It's also advice that keeps Billy from cheating on his boyfriend/fiancé.]
You should probably take some time off from seeing Mandrake. [Her words are soft and understanding, but there's still something commanding about them.]
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I needed to be honest about it with someone. And-
[He sighs]
It's not fair. To anyone. It's not-
I wish Teddy were here so badly.
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That's always been the problem.]
I know. [Kate lowers her head.] Every month that he turns up, I'm a little ... angry at Lachesis, you know? [Billy needs him. He needs him because now he's palling around with someone like Mandrake who can't even be truthful about his relationship with someone else, so how can he be trusted around her best friend? Mandrake is a threat to every aspect of Kate's protective instincts, and it's also bad for Billy to be latching on to Mandrake because he misses Teddy.
It's really bad.]
But since I can't beat her up, is there anything I ... can do?
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[He frowns a little. But it's not an angry frown. It's more of an unhappy one, so finally he moves to sit next to Kate.]
I just can't figure out why he's not here. I can't-
I'm glad you're here, though.
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And he's not here the same reason why anyone isn't. Doctor Doom isn't here to tell us he really brought Cassie back. And that's if he'd even remember it. [She gives a frustrated shrug and ... winces a beat later. Okay, no more shrugging. Life sucks.]
Though with our luck, it really would be Doctor Doom who showed up instead of Teddy. [How frustrating.]
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Not that Billy would.]
If that happened, I might turn into a supervillain.
[He wouldn't but it would be infuriating all the same.]
I'm glad that you get that this isn't because I don't love Teddy, because I do. Man.
I really really do.
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It'd be nice. Even if he brought back Cassie, it was only with certain considerations.]
I know you do. [She knows how much she misses Clint doesn't seem to match.]
And, um, sorry for how I kind of went about ... suggesting all that before. [Even if she was right.
It probably would have prevented this.]
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You saw it before I did. Me being stubborn about it wasn't really helping the situation any.
[She was worried, and she was being protective, and Billy can understand those feelings.]
At least I figured it out before it turned really weird.
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Teddy trumps like everyone.]
But I really shouldn't have made you feel like you needed to be stubborn. We're best friends.
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Yeah. We are.
Urgh, do you want to go to New York? We should go to New York. You and me. Maybe Loki. And America. To a diner or something.
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Maybe we should do a big New York thing once I'm better.
[Since, while she's mostly got a broken arm, she can't even drink.
She is a Sad Kate Bishop.]
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[It's just a suggestion, very neutral.]
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[That would probably destroy ... her life.]
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No, that's valid.
[He knows he's not going to offer to heal it. He's terrible at that sort of thing.]
I bet Clint breaks a bone once a week, so this is probably overdue.
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Well, she'd find another way to be a pest, but she'd be very grumpy about the whole ordeal.]
I almost broke my arm in LA, but it didn't take. I got lucky. I really was overdue. [LA with a broken arm would be way worse than here with a broken arm.]
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[He frowns a bit.]
You don't call me, to help, when you go to Los Angeles, do you?
[Maybe this is something unfair to ask. It's not that Billy is upset. But...he worries.]
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[And then it's America who she calls, as she didn't want to worry anyone else. Kate felt like America was the one who would least respond with ... excessive worry over everything she got into.
She'd been right.]
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I'm not the only one who can be stubborn.
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[He gives her an eyebrow.]
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[Besides, look what happened when Eli crumbled under the pressure.]