2008-01-25: Comedy and Tragedy

Starring:

KeLyssa_icon.gif Kory_icon.gif

Summary: The women of the Secret Lair catch up and contemplate the ups and downs in their lives.

Date It Happened: January 25, 2008.

Comedy and Tragedy


Location

Not much has changed since Kory has been gone. There have been, of course, questions by the regulars about Kory's whereabouts. Especially by that one gamer who has a huge crush on her…whatever his name is this week. KeLyssa and Tito have been giving assurances that she'll be back soon enough, however. KeLyssa is at the front counter at the moment, ringing through some purchases and chatting it up with the customers and overall being all friendly like.

That one gamer finally got bold enough, after the early part of the week, to offer to keep Kory company. Though after an altercation last night, he's decides he's probably persona non grata for the moment, and is not in the Lair as he tries to figure out the best way to rectify the error with her.

Kory herself returns, in low spirits, with a cup of tea in her hand. It's not the same tea she's been drinking as gifted by self-same geek of many names. "Hey, KeLyssa," she greets the other woman.

KeLyssa looks up from the till to give Kory a small smile and a wave. "Heya, Kory." She rings through this one last customer, for now, and heads out from behind the counter to walk alongside Kory. "How're ya?" She asks quietly, not really asking about anything in particular, just…asking.

Kory dredges up a smile for KeLyssa. "I'm hangin' in there," she tells the other woman. That's pretty much the truth. Her vacation has turned into a working vacation, because her grandmother wasn't really sick so much as worried about Kory and wanting to baby her and feed her and take her shopping. "Got back in time to DJ a little girl's birthday party. They're gonna send me a picture of me dressed up like a Disney Princess." She rolls her eyes, but some part of her is amused and her inner child is positively tickled at having had the chance to wear such an outfit.

KeLyssa nods a little. "You're grandmama doin' alright?" She asks. That had been, after all, why Kory had left. She giggles. "You? Dressed like a Disney Princess? I can't see it. Honestly…I can't see it. It's just….not your style." She says laughing again. "What else have ya gotten yourself up to since gettin' back?"
From afar, Benjamin (Benji) should probably update some other stats, like firearms, but I'd like to stockpile XP to get up to a Great in power.

"My grandmama was fine," Kory explains with a wry smile. "My brother came home, all ticked off because I was all ticked off that he punched Randall in the face." At which point the smile vanishes. "So she was worried about me, and faked being sick so I'd rush home and she could feed me beef patties and curry and bake me cakes and take me shopping." With which the smile returns. "Other than that, I've just been, y'know, keeping busy in between ducking being fed copious amounts of awesome Caribbean food."

KeLyssa chuckles. "Grandmamas can be funny like that, eh? Don't care how they get us to visit, just as long as they can feed as and let us know that we're cared for…even if they're throwin' criticisms and words of wisdom left, right an' centre both at the same time!" She smirks. "Well, ya brother just didn't understand none that punchin' a guy won't solve no problems. My brother is exactly the same way sometimes…though he's my age. He'd rather fight an' punch an' kick an' all that instead of use his words!"

"That's the thing of it," Kory laments, frustratedly. "They talked for like twenty minutes. And it was only when he got the caricature Randall drew of Anzeti and me from a picture that the initials made him realize who he was talking to. He gave Randall a chance to explain, and still punched him in the face. I swear, he's never going to grow up." She sighs. "What is it with me and men acting like freaking children? I mean, Leslie—" she uses his real name since he's not right here at the moment. "Started something with Randall too, last night. Do I have some kind of neon sign over my head that says 'Helpless Damsel Incapable Of Handling Her Own Stuff'?!"

KeLyssa tsks. "Shame. It ain't right. Ain't they never gunna learn? It's just the way men are, really. My grandmama says, 'If it ain't broken, men gotta break it to fix it.' And ain't that the truth? Seems they just can't do nothing without breakin' somethin'!" She shakes her head. "And no. You don't got no sign atop that pretty li'l head of yours. Nothin' that says you're a helpless damsel least-ways. To me, it says 'Strong, Independent Gal Comin' Through'."

Kory smiles wider, more genuinely, at KeLyssa's words. "Seems like your grandma's wisdom rubbed off on you, hon." She crosses to get behind the counter so she can hug her friend and employee. "Thanks." She shrugs. "It does seem that way. Just wish I could fix as much as I'm trying to. I've ended up with an unofficial fourth job." She raises her eyebrows meaningfully, and has a sip of her coffee. "Off the books, as it were." Another meaningful lift of the brows.

KeLyssa grins and chuckles lightly. "Well, it was my grandmama who I went to the most whenever I had boy problems. I couldn't go to my brother none, he'd go to fight 'em. Couldn't go to my dad. He didn't know what a girl went through when dealin' with boys. My momma…I sometimes felt awkward goin' to. So that left my grandmama. A bit of what she said was bound to rub off on me." She says with a light shrug.

She returns Kory's hug. "Here's my advice, Kory. Don't try to fix nothin'. That could come to nothin'. Just try an' put pieces together with tape. If they are meant to be fixed, then they'll fix themselves over time…okay, that's just another adaptation of what my grandmama said, but it's an important lesson anyway." She chuckles lightly. "I should listen to my grandmama's advice more." She tilts her head and raises an eyebrow at Kory with curiosity. "Oh? What's this 'off the books' job of yours?"

Kory glances around the store, and lowers her voice. "Uses that rare talent of mine."

KeLyssa blinks and looks at Kory confused for a few moments before recognition finally crosses her face. A small "Oh…" escapes her lips. "You've found a way…to get paid to use it?"

"More like …" Kory pauses to consider how to phrase it. "Community service work at a very small level." She leans in, to whisper conspiratorily to KeLyssa. "I found Micah's mother. She has amnesia. But I tried to help her get her memories back. And I've been talking to Peter about stuff that way, since nobody can eavesdrop us." She giggles afterward, though, so it will seem like she and KeLyssa are just discussing girl stuff.

KeLyssa listens intently to Kory's words. "Ya found her?! But…huh? Amnesia? No clue what caused it? I mean…I guess it would be hard to know. But…yeah." She sighs. "So…you can communicate with people through their dreams? Do they remember the conversations when they wake up?" She really is curious.

"Sometimes they remember well, sometimes they don't," Kory admits, still keeping her voice low. "I have to work on that. But I can put the dream away in a little cupboard in their mind and give them a key to open it later if someone says the word I linked to as the key. That's what I did for her. It's just …it doesn't seem like enough."

KeLyssa smiles at Kory, nodding along. "Sounds like a good way of doin' things it does." She says quietly. "Really, I think ya got a better ability than me. So far all it's proven good for in the scheme of things is coolin' down my brother…"

"I wouldn't say that, KeLyssa," as the other woman makes a comparison. "We'll find a way sooner or later that it's useful. Actually, medically it'd probably be great. You could help with organ transport is my first thought. Though that might be a bit gross." She grins, and shrugs. "I read a lot."

KeLyssa grins a little. "Organ transplant? I read a lot too an' I wouldn't even of thought of that one. Though it is kind….gross. Yeah. Not exactly my ideal job, goin' 'round an' freezin' organ transplant containers." She chuckles. "Great for putting out fires though. Like with my brother. He can…create fire. and manipulate it."

"Well, if that's too gross, you could probably do all right in food delivery. You know, like those ones where they freeze the expensive steaks, and deliver them cross country?" Kory shrugs. "I'd have to look into what other sorts of work involves freezing things." She smiles faintly. "I'm not really all that much help, though. I mean, Micah still doesn't have his mom back. She wasn't really wanting her memories back, even." She shakes her head, sadly.

KeLyssa shakes her head. "Don'tcha go worryin' 'bout that none, Kory. You just go 'bout worryin' about that lady friend o' yours." She furrows her brow. "Why'd she not want her memories back?"

"I don't know. I couldn't get her to say," Kory admits. "But when I showed her the two little boys who love and miss her, she kinda broke down. So maybe she's starting to change. I told Peter where she is, though. If anybody can help her get outta there, he can. In the daylight, I'm pretty useless." She shrugs.

KeLyssa sighs and nods a little. "If ya need me to help…let me know. I mean, I know I'm pretty useless and…I um…well, I've got a phobia towards pain. But…yeah." She laughs a little nervously.

"Hon, I think a phobia against pain is a pretty sensible phobia, and they say phobias are only unreasonable fears." Kory grins, and clasps KeLyssa's shoulder. "That's okay. Doesn't the saying go 'they also serve who only sit and wait'? You got ahold of Hiro for me. So you're not useless." She shrugs. "So … how are things with you and Dani?" she asks, sensing a change of subject might be better for their moods and for the curiosity of the clientele.

KeLyssa takes a deep breath. "When…when I think I'm going to be hurt physically…I start to freeze up, quite literally!" She sighs deeply, trying to smile. "I did get ahold of Hiro…he's quite the sweet guy, that one. Cute in his own li'l way." She giggles. "Dani? Actually…I ain't seen him for a li'l while. Tried callin' him once, left a message. Ain't heard back though…"

"Oh. I see. Y'know, I know somebody else with that exact same problem. I think it's a natural response, given your ability," she suggests. "And yeah, he is. A complete darling." She sighs, wistful. Sure, she falls for a dreamer who doesn't turn out as sweet as hoped. Of course talk of Hiro makes her wistful. "What?" She gasps, as Dani's silence comes up. "Oh, good googly moogly," she sighs. "Hopefully he is just bogged down with work." Is the tattoo business really busy in January?

KeLyssa nods. Whispering, she says, "Do ya mean…li'l Cam?" She asks cautiously. "He told me 'bout himself. Well…I told 'im 'bout me too, to be honest. I promised I'd help him out a li'l bit with gettin' more control, like I've learned. I never had no one to teach me, so I'd like to be able to impart what I've learned." She shakes her head. "I don't know 'bout that Dani. I…I hope it's just that he's been busy an' all. I hope…"

Kory nods, smiling. "I'm so glad to hear you two found each other. I didn't want to give away his secret." She seems relieved. "And Cam will be glad of the teacher, too, I betcha." She shakes her head. "If he has gone and flaked out on you, I will give him nightmares for a month, KeLyssa. I mean it! Zombie nuns and flesh-eating kittens every Tuesday!" There's a certain fierceness to Kory's threat. She doesn't like the idea of somebody else singing the 'My Man Is An Idiot' blues.

KeLyssa grins widely. "I can understand why ya'd not wanna give away his secret none. He's a sweet kid, though. He's still got some to learn, but don't we all?" She grins a little. She frowns, then, however. "Don'tcha worry 'bout me just yet, boss lady. I am the Ice Queen, after all. Let's cool things down just a li'l and find out what the reasons are. Could all be justified."

"You're being reasonable," Kory agrees, somewhat reluctantly. "But if he hasn't got a good justification — nightmares about his apartment flooded with rancid tapioca." Hopefully she's getting all these ideas from past dreams and doesn't sit around coming up with horrific things to inject into people's minds. "There's only so reasonable I'm willing to be. We shouldn't both have to be miserable."

KeLyssa giggles. "That's my job. One of us has gotta be reasonable, don't we? We wouldn't be friends that way." She shrugs. "I might try callin' him again…but part of me does feel it might be futile. This has happened before. Not exactly to me. But I've heard of it happenin'."

Kory sets her coffee cup down before she crushes it. "I guess. It's just he seemed such a good match for you, especially given you each have kind of a talent. I was hoping one of us would luck out." She shrugs. "C'est la vie, I guess. Guess if it doesn't work out, then we've just kissed the wrong frog."

KeLyssa nods, smiling a little. "Well, we can't always get what we want, eh? But, as I said, maybe there's a logical, non-stupid answer for it." She says shrugging. "We'll see soon enough. I plan on confrontin' him with it an' all." She says with a small smile.

Kory laughs. "Good for you, hon. I couldn't even manage that with Randall. I should've just told him. Gotten it out of the way. I don't know why I agreed to pretend he'll be back in a month." Even though he said himself the night before that he'd see her in a couple of weeks, so that's something. "I should follow your example. I don't exactly have a lot of experience in the whole romance department." A wry, sarcastic smile flits across her face. "Does it show?"

KeLyssa smiles at Kory. "Don't go congratulatin' me just yet. I ain't talked to him yet. I'm just plannin' on doin' it." She smiles softly. "And ya think I do got alotta experience in the romance department. Nah. I'm on the same level as you. It's just my grandmama's sayin's keep poppin' into my head. If they did in yours too, I'm sure ya'd feel like ya had no choice but to just go talk to 'im!"

Kory chuckles. "You're still being a lot calmer and saner about it than I am. If it wasn't for good friends like you and —" Kory reflexively checks for his presence before using his real name, "Leslie, I would have fallen to pieces two and a half weeks ago, I'm sure."

KeLyssa smiles a little. "Well, my grandmama did used to say, 'If ya got a problem with a boy, don't go 'bout poutin' an' whinin' like a horse with a broken ankle. He don't deserve no piece of yer heart, he deserves a piece of yer mind. Nothin' more an' nothin' less.'" She sighs softly. "It's kinda…stuck with me."

"Your grandma still with us?" Kory asks gently. "I think I'd like to take her for a cup of tea. And maybe to meet mine. I've the feeling they'd get along."

KeLyssa smiles widely and nods. "Yeah, she's still alive. Lives down in Denham Springs, Louisiana. She's actually real near my momma and daddy. No more'n a few blocks, to tell the truth.

Kory returns the smile. "Well, if she ever feels like visiting New York, I think she and my grandmothers need to meet. Of course, I'd fear for the tri-state area if they ever join forces on the regular…" But the mental image of the Mighty Grandmothers Powers Combining has cheered her again. She never stays down for very long when KeLyssa's around.

KeLyssa grins. "Ya'd only fear the tri-state area? Heck, I'd fear for the whole of the eastern coast!" She laughs. "I bet they'd have a rip-roarin' good time, they would!"

"Oh dear," Kory says, as KeLyssa clarifies the threat level of united grandmothers. "We all would. The president might have to take them on trips to straighten up foreign governments if that happens. And think of how much diplomacy would be successful over a great meal." She has to wipe her eyes after laughing at this mental image.

KeLyssa laughs…and laughs hard. She continues for a few minutes with out pause, no doubt getting a few strange looks from people around the store. "I could just see it now!" She says, when she gets enough pause from the laughing. "'Why ya'll fightin'? Lookie here, I brought ya some home made pies. I want ya'll to stop fighting right this instant and eat these pies. Boy, if ya don't eat my pie I'm gunna give ya a right good lesson ya ain't never gunna forget. No one ain't not gunna eat my pies and get away with it!'"

Kory supplies, copying her grandmother's Eartha Kitt voice and Caribbean accent. "Oh, no, chile." She even affects the pose, with a waggled finger at KeLyssa. "I don' t'ink so! You best sit you right down heah an' eat you the beans an' rice. Dey good for you! You need de energy to be fixin' dis heah country, an' you know it!" She can't keep it up long, though, and collapses into more laughter.

KeLyssa can't help but laugh some more. She gets to the point where it's hard to breath. She's laughing so much and so hard it's not even funny any more. She collapses herself on the floor, sitting down, not having the strength to actually stand any more. She wipes her eyes. "Whoo. I ain't laughed that hard since…mmm, I can't remember when!"

Kory is likewise gasping for air. "I have …I have to …agree," she pants. "Omigod, I think we both needed that!" She leans over the counter, pulling herself together. "That was fun." She wipes her eyes again.

KeLyssa after a few minutes of taking good, deep breaths, she pulls herself up, over the counter too. "We really did. Honestly and truly." She grins widely.

Kory grins sheepishly at the few customers. "Move along. Nothing to see here. Hysterics are done now, honest." She winks at KeLyssa. "Next show's at 10:50. Try the veal."

KeLyssa giggles. "Well, I guess it's back to work, eh?" She smirks. "Good times will always be around, though."

"I guess so," Kory grins wryly. "But at least we needed a stress breaker, I suppose."

KeLyssa giggles again and nods firmly. "Yeah…I suppose we did, didn't we?"

Kory clasps KeLyssa's shoulder. "We did. It's been a hectic few months, and I figure breaking the tension saves us from losing it. Particularly if things continue on as they have been." What with Micah's mother and all. "Poor Mrs. Petrelli. I should stop by and visit her again. Would you teach me the recipe to that awesome pie you brought me? When she gets that tube off her face, she deserves something really yummy."

KeLyssa blinks a little. "Mrs. Petrelli?" She's only met Peter once, over a month ago, and she didn't get his last name. Nor anything about him, really. "Yeah, sure. I could getcha that recipe. I'll bring it up to your apartment later."

"Peter's sister in law. She was in a car crash, poor thing. Some political enemy of her husband's wanted her out of the way." Kory shakes her head sadly, but meets KeLyssa's eyes with that same meaningful lift of the brows that indicates there's more to the story. "Last I saw her, she was in bad shape. Couldn't even talk."

KeLyssa shakes her head. "Ya mean that nice guy I met a while back? His sister-in-law? That's just horrible!" She smiles softly. "Of course I'll give ya the recipe. It's real useful in makin' people feel a li'l better." She sighs. "Well, gotta get back to work. Ya know how it can be." She giggles. "Can't spend too much time talkin' or else the whole store goes into disarray!"

Kory nods. "It made the paper when it happened," she sighs. "Well, yeah. Between you coming over to look in on me, and how good that pie was, I picked myself right up." She grins. "Yeah. Catch me up — do we need to order anything?" Dog food? Cat food? White boxes? So much stuff to do. "Did we get our DVD deliveries okay last week?" And back to work they go.

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