July, 2002

 

66 Bell St.

Loft 308

Seattle, WA

 

"Who the hell are you?!" Wally Wood demanded loudly as he stood in the doorway of his daughter's Seattle loft.  Standing in the kitchen wearing nothing but a pair of boxers was a young man sporting a large illustrated samurai tattooed on his back.

Startled, the younger man dropped the saucepan he was washing into the basin and turned quickly...unfortunately knocking over the recently filled coffee mug on the counter...the hot contents of which splashed against his side... and his shorts.  Scalded and screaming, the younger man grabbed a towel and drenched it in cold water from the sink, quickly applying it to the burn.

"What's going on?"  Holly Wood shouted, running down the stairs.

"I'd like an answer to that question myself," a voice said from behind the elder Wood, still standing in the doorway.

"OWWWW!" was the reply of the wounded man in the kitchen.

Holly peered past her father, who turned to face the newcomer as well.  "Hi Sam," she said with bemused look. "Come on in."

Wally made room for Samantha Parker to pass and closed the door behind her.  "Um..." she said looking at the strange assembly: Holly wearing sweatpants and a t-shirt, some cute tattooed guy wearing boxers and a wet towel, and Holly's father wearing a look somewhere between confusion and anger. "I brought coffee," she said in her sprite-like smile.

A grunt through clenched teeth that sounded something like, "nuh gohvey" came from the half-naked man in the towel.

Holly turned her attention to the young man, "Oh my God, what happened, Ken?"

"He... made…me…spill," Ken uttered in a groan, pointing at Holly's father.

"Sorry if I startled you, son," Wally apologized.  "I just didn't expect anyone to be here."

"Neither did I," Samantha added with a smile, glancing over at Holly.

Dyna Girl glared back at her friend and spoke very deliberately to both Nightsable and her father, "Ken is a friend.  He was here feeding Frank when I got home last night.  He made dinner. It was raining, it was late, so he stayed the night.

"On the couch," Holly added, anticipating the next question from her friend and her father.

"Yeah...on the couch," Ken supported as he applied another cool rag to his side, "which is where my clothes are.  Which I should be putting on right now."

"Son, if that burn blisters up..." Electro Man said in his slow drawl, with obvious sympathy.

"Dad's right. You shouldn't put on jeans over that burn," Holly noted.

"I think you just like making me feel vulnerable," Ken said, smiling and wincing at the same time. "I think it turns chicks on."

"Chicks?" Samantha asked with disbelief.

"It's the pain, going to my head...I obviously don't know what I'm saying," Ken said, back-peddling.

"Obviously," Nightsable said with a slight smile.

"I'm going to go find some sweats for 'Ringo' here," Holly smiled.  "Dad, do you mind cleaning up this mess?"

"Sure honey, it's kinda my fault after all."

"Kinda?" Ken added with a slight smile of his own.

Samantha Parker followed her friend upstairs to the bedroom.  Once upstairs, she began to speak in a quiet voice, "You said he was here when you got home.  I 'ported you... Does that mean he...?"

"Yup.  He was here," Holly answered in an equally hushed tone. "He said he figured it out back at the Oscars coverage."

"What are you going to do?"

"Trust him.  What else can I do?  He's my friend, Sam.  He's been a very good friend for a while now."

"How good?" Samantha asked slyly.

"Not THAT good!   You and your gutter mind," Holly noted as she searched her dresser for a pair of sweatpants that would fit Ken.  "I think Jared brings it out in you... dirty old man."

"Well I think you're in denial.  Ken's cute, obnoxious, clumsy...just your type, Hol."

"You forgot hell of a cook," Dyna Girl added with a grin.  "Seriously Sam, he's a good friend.  He stayed with me all night, didn't ask me any questions, didn't feel the need to talk..."

"... And he slept on the couch. Got it," Sam finished in mock disbelief.

"YES," Holly emphasized, "he slept on the couch."  A pause.  "So did I..."

Samantha Parker brightened up, but still kept her voice hushed, "I KNEW it!"

"Nothing happened, Sam.  Nothing."

Sudden realization crossed Samantha Parker's face, "You had 'The Night,' Holly.  I can't believe it!"

"Would you stop?   It wasn't 'The Night.'  Trust me.  Besides, you can't have 'The Night' if you're rebounding."

"Yes you can."

"No you can't, Sam," Holly said, exasperated. "It doesn't matter anyway because it wasn't 'The Night,' okay?  Look, he's a friend and I care about him a lot.  I don't know if you know what I mean, but it's nice to have a friend that you can talk to that isn't on 'The Job.' You grew up with this whole hero thing.  I didn't, and sometimes it's nice to get away from it.  Right now, it's really nice to get away from it.  Spending time with Ken helps me get that kind of perspective back."

"Are you saying you're turning your back on it? Are you walking away from the power and the responsibility?"  Samantha looked Holly right in the eye and asked, "Are you giving up?"

"No...I don't know...for a while maybe.  I'm not sure."

"How about me, and your dad, and your friends at Armor?  The Forte gang?  We're part of that life.  Are you giving us up, too?"

"Don't be stupid, Sam.  Just because I don't wear the costume doesn't mean I don't belong, does it?"

"Of course not, Holly," Samantha replied, placing a hand on her friend's shoulder. "But think about this: What happens when we're all sitting around for the holidays and then some 'major crisis' comes up? Are you just going to sit there while everyone else rushes out the door to help?  Could you?  You had better think about that before you try and walk away.

"Everyone has a responsibility to help others in need, Holly," Samantha continued.  "You have a bigger responsibility because you can DO MORE. Think about it."

A voice from downstairs. "Hello??? Need pants here!"

"Be right down," Holly answered with a raised voice.

"And think about this," Sam added with a grin.  "YOU had 'The Night.'"

"Shaddup!" Holly answered, throwing the sweatpants at Samantha, who was retreating down the stairwell.

The two young women emerged in a run at the bottom of the stairs, laughing.  Wally was quick enough to move out of the way before being bowled over by Nightsable, who was carrying the sweatpants in an impromptu game of 'keep away.' Holly chased Sam into the living room.

"Excuse me!"   Ken said in a raised voice, still holding a towel to his side as the pair of laughing women continued their chase. "Why was I not informed that there was a girl-girl romp going on upstairs?  Dying man's last request here!"

Ken caught the disapproving glance of Holly's father.  "Um... can I just get those pants now?"

 

 

END.

 

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