13644/Holiday catchup

Holiday catchup
Date of Scene:	26 December 2022
Location:	Level 1 - Medbay - The Roost
Synopsis:	Gabby announces the new clothing line based on the local Gotham heroes. Phoebe finally gets merch. Phoebe reacts predictably by being sad about everything.
Cast of Characters:	Phoebe Beacon, Gabby Kinney

---

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Christmas Time comes everywhere, even to Gotham City, regardless of if one wants to celebrate it with all its complex relationships to the past year.

    Which is precisely why after Phoebe wrapped up her Bat-required patrol (which she volunteered for every year regardless).

    Right now she was abusing the computer system in the medical lab to run a diagnostic on her left arm, running it for temperature and composition changes, listings of heavy metals found in the flesh, different chemicals coming up. There's music playing, and she's nodding along to it, a bright orange gummy shark hanging from her mouth as she works. She's surrounded by a couple of sketchbooks with different circles drawn in, and ink composition notes.

    The song that's playing? A punk rock cover of "Hungry Like the Wolf'.

Gabby Kinney has posed:
While Phoebe is busy doing her thing and being distracted by punk rock music that was definitely not Christmas-y, Gabby had arrived. Though she wasn't attempting to sneak up on her friend she wasn't going out of her way to make a lot of noise, either. Part of that was due to chewing a mouthful of cookie at the same time so she couldn't outright say hello.

Instead she slides a plate laden with cookies on some available table/counter space nearby within Phoebe's vision.

Only then does she manage to gulp down her own little bite of the treat held in her other hand to offer, "Snickerdoodle? Scientist baked," she assures with a burgeoning grin. "Also I have THE BEST news to share but how are you doing?" The analysis is regarded skeptically. "Did you get hurt?"

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "'Did I get hurt'..." Phoebe counters, turning to look up at Gabby with a wry smile, the gummy shark sticking out of her mouth before she tilts back dramatically "Life is pain, princess, anyone who tells you different is trying to sell something... and *which* scientist? Important question. Gummy shark? Mass produced, got it from Whole Foods. I think this batch is Carrot-Mango-Orange." she offers.

    And she looks over to the monitors "Trying to determine the composition of the ink in my tattoo."

Gabby Kinney has posed:
Gabby Kinney leans her hip against the table while lifting an eyebrow at Phoebe. "Someone got all emo," she teases in amusement. "I dunno, can't feel pain, yadda. I should introduce you to Negasonic my old roommate. She's very into that mindset too."

"Henry McCoy aka 'The Beast'. In spite of the hair he doesn't shed, and he loves how 'baking is science' so..." Another bite of the cookie held in hand is taken pointedly indicating that she thought they were good and safe to eat. Of course that doesn't stop her from getting a gummy shark either. "Sounds interesting. So! *I* got the most awesome gift from one of my school alums this year. I think he was trying to apologize for referencing to me as a clone but I'll take it." The look she wears is one of mischeif as she fishes her phone out to begin thumbing over the screen and pull up some drawings. Concept images of clothing.

"I can't do anything with it just yet because of the holidays, BUT..." The phone is swiveled around to show Phoebe the image of a hoodie in a unique yet possibly familiar design.

"There's this small clothing manufacturer in Gotham that I was gifted controlling ownership of, and I was thinking, why not do some fun things like a 'Local Heroes' line of gear?"

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "It's literally a line from 'The Princess Bride'!" Phoeb protests, and she rolls her eyes "And I used to be cheery, you know, and then someone started leaving notes about how much I sucked when I blogged about my garden."

    Incidentally, it was indeed Negasonic Teenage Warhead that did this, True Believers.

    Phoebe pauses though, and she purses her lips a moment and leans over to take a look at the phone, before breaking a snickerdoodle in half and monching on it, her eyes narrowing a moment before she just... seems to bust into laughter.

    "Oh, oh no. Have you shown Tim? Oh man, I don't even have a Batmite toy yet but that hoodie is pretty awesome!" she grins, "Obviously I'm going to need like, three." she grins brightly.

Gabby Kinney has posed:
Gabby Kinney giggles with a mixture of amusement and excitement wnile her head shakes. "Nah, I haven't ran into Tim yet. I'm still working on ideas for things, but I figure if a percentage is given to local charities that will help with sales and tax write off tuff. After paying employees and stuff," she reasons with a little shrug as she flips through some other designs she'd been toying with.

"Still I think it'll be a bunch of fun as well as just... You know. A good investment." A deep breath is drawn and exhaled slowly as she tucks the phone away. "I feel like I've been overworking myself. Might take a vacation soon. Or a really long nap."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Well I mean, you're practically Tim's bestie now, you manage a bunch of magical assholes and have to contend with their egos, you hang out with that Deadpool guy and that's probably stressful -- ever consider just taking a vacation to a deserted island surrounded by shark-infested waters, setting up a hammock and a cooler and just... sunbathing?" Phoebe asks, turning her gaze back over to Gabby before she pops the other half of her snickerdoodle in her mouth, and then stretches her arms up over her head.

    "And it's /Christmas/. That's freakin' stressful enough."

Gabby Kinney has posed:
Gabby Kinney makes a noise at being called Tim's bestie. She had been working on training to be a team lead, too, which had been put on the wayside during the whole JLD issue. It was on the queue to be picked back up now though. "I kind of tried the vacation thing by going back to the old school for the holidays but..." She pauses, nibbling at the tail of the gummy shark. "That was a whole new level of stress in itself."

"I think I'm just going to get my GED. They've been doing a great job trying to help me out with learning what I need to graduate but they're not really set up for online learning. It's just another thing to split my attention these days. So, uh. Might need to cram for that."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "That's what I did while I was shut-in in New York. Didn't get the graduation party, but the Good Enough Degree worked for getting into Gotham U. Pretty sure the fact that the address was Bristol now didn't hurt." Phoebe gives a small smile.

    "I've got my books up in my room here if you want all the study guides, but you're pretty smart. All you gotta do is pass, it's not like there's 'grades' for the GED." Phoebe replies, and she looks back up to the chemical composition analysis, watching the progress bar.

Gabby Kinney has posed:
Gabby Kinney considers that with a slow nod. "Yeah, but never hurts to prepare. ... I sound like Tim now," she mutters with a little laugh, and shake of her head at the degree to which she was picking up his habits. She'd always had her own similarities but usually not in the arena of studying. A sidelong shrug is given over the entire situation. "Yeah. I put it off long enough as it is. I need to cut where my attention is going to focus on the more important things."

"And, you know, maybe have time to actually date more than once in a blue moon." Here she pauses again with eyebrows lifting a little. "Speaking of... Uh... You and Jason?" Her cookie is raised to her mouth only for her face to scrunch up with momentary confusion. Normally she'd sip a drink after such a probing question. Instead she gets mouthful of cookie because she forgot to grab a drink.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "I think that's half the reason why Batman pulled me from activity in the League... that and if I had continued there, it probably would have killed Tim. Relying too much on Sandalphon's gift of 'not processing strong emotions'." she states, and she makes some adjustments on the computers. This was admittedly more of a techie thing, and she would ordinarily call up Tim for help on this one.

    She pauses a moment, and her eyes narrow as she looks at the computer screen.

    "What *about* Jason and me?" she questions, cutting her attention from the screen to Gabby.

Gabby Kinney has posed:
Gabby Kinney holds her hands up in a warding gesture. "I don't konw what's why I'm asking?" She hazards uncertainly. "I kind of saw how you reacted last time and not sure if there IS anything going on or not or...? Anyway nothing going on with me and him so. Just. Trying to communicate very badly I guess," she reasons toward the end of that rambling statement with her hands dropping again. "I'm really trying not to end up in a similar situation as with Rien and Robbie and I."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "... Jason's technically my brother by law." Phoebe replies quietly, moving some screens around as she sits down in the chair. "He's been... he's been helping me out with some mental stuff. He's surprisingly good at calling out some of the stuff. The whole blind loyalty thing, calling me out on some of the awful things I said about myself. And I temporarily commandeered his cat. He showed up to bail me out of a bad date with a guy named Hudson, pretty sure Hud crapped his pants when I said Jason was my bodyguard." she jokes, trying to add levity to the situation, and she rubs the back of her neck at the mention of Robbie Reyes, her ears getting a little dark at the name.

    "Poor Robbie." she murmurs quietly.

Gabby Kinney has posed:
Gabby Kinney goes quiet while listening to the explanation of how thing were with Jason. A little nod is given in understanding, a sympathetic grin. "Yeah that would make things awkward. I'm glad he's helping though. Not really been sure how to help myself," she admits with a small shrug. "Sorry. I feel like I've not really stepped up as a friend lately."

The mention of Robbie though earns another little blink, and sheepish grin. "Yeah. I had a crush on him bad after he helped me with some zombies. Rien encouraged me with it. We'd go annoy him at work, I'd bring him snacks, try to get him out of his shell some." Here she pauses with a little hiss of breath between her teeth.

"Then they hooked up--I mean. Got together and dated awhile. Had a falling out, and Rien ends up running off with--" With Chas, who was another not-good-name to mention. "--Her next love interest." With that she just nods. "He's been through the wringer."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "You've been busy." Phoebe states quietly, "I'm not anyone's number one concern so long as I can normally process emotions and the abject horror of some of my ideas." Phoebe replies, a little frost in her voice. She pauses a moment, and she looks down, and then off to the side.

    "Yeah. Robbie and I had a long discussion about being screw-ups to the point of various levels of relationships falling apart and how much we suck as human beings. Real bonding experience." Phoeb comments quietly.

    "And you can say Chas's name, Gabby. He's not Beetlejuice."

Gabby Kinney has posed:
"Are you sure? I mean he is an angel now or something, it might work similar," Gabby tries to joke in return only for her smile to slip a bit as well. Reaching out she gives Phoebe's shoulder a slight squeeze if allowed. "I won't say you didn't screw up... But it's not like you're beyond redemption either, Phoebe. We all do stupid shit when we're caught up in our emotions. Even me."

A long pause before she adds, "How many times have you known me to stick my foot in my mouth?"

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Six in the last five minutes." Phoebe replies wryly, and she breathes out.

    "Look, Gabby --" Phoebe stands up a moment, and she rubs the back of her neck. "I screwed up to the point where Chas told me he would kill me if I got anywhere near Geraldine. He told me I was worthless, that my magic and learning, everything I'd accomplished was demonic piecemeal. And he's right. If he hadn't sent Sandalphon to me, who perfected the effect of my Jar of Hearts spell, I wouldn't have been able to pull off the exploding circles on the streetside, or drop the roof of the music hall. I wouldn't have been able to transfer the Archive to Tim, so that Jon's kid wouldn't inherit it. My part in their play was to be a monster. And I played it to the T." Phoebe looks at Gabby.

    "I'm beginning to think Batman didn't ask me to step back for my mental health, not entirely..." she sits back down.

    "I'm pretty sure I'm beyond any sort of redemption."

Gabby Kinney has posed:
Gabby Kinney tilts her head to the side as she listens. The more she hears of Chas, the more she frowns though over the whole situation. "You know, all that's telling me is that angels are assholes who can only get things done if they use people as their pawns to play the roles they feel are 'below them' to do themselves. As for redemption... It depends who you're asking for redemption from."

"I wouldn't seek it from those jerkwads."

"Besides, anyone else could tell a story like that and be all 'so I decided screw it and became a villain'... but here you are."

Reaching out again she lightly thwacks the side of Phoebe's head. It's not meant to hurt at all. "Now stop being mean to my friend or you'll get hot chocolate and blanket burritoed."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phoebe pulls her head away, and makes a *face* with a soft 'nng' sound, and she holds up a hand to stop Gabby's hand from following.

    "No, I know there's enough people who'd just kill me flat out. After all, I would end up being the exact thing the Justice League Dark was formed to, y'know... fight and kill." Phoebe gives a hard swallow, but she doesn't look like she's going to cry. She's stating just facts, like the sky being blue, Tim being addicted to coffee, Superman wears red.

    So she draws her leg up and sits her chin on it. "There's nothing more in this conversation that I think would be worthwhile, Gabby. It is what it is. And I accepted it."

Gabby Kinney has posed:
Gabby Kinney withdraws when the gesture is made. She wasn't going to push affection on someone that didn't want it, even if she did feel like she was being silly and needed a good thwap to the head. Instead she lets out a sigh softly.

"I hope some time you can see yourself in a better light again, Phoebe."

A little stretch comes from her as she sighs. "Okay. We'll *I'm* going to go grab some hot drinks, a bunch of blankets, and set up some movies to watch. If you feel like joining..." The offer is made with a faint smile.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "THanks, but I'm good up on it. I've got a patrol and then I'm heading back to the Curio with the chemical analysis on my wrist tattoo to see if I can recreate the ink The Other One used for the binding on my wrist." Phoebe replies, and she rubs a hand over her stubby braids.

    "... and I have a gift to drop off. I mean, I have lots of gifts to drop off. I forgot yours at the Curio. 'Cause I'm such an awful person." she states, but this has no venom, and in fact had a bit of humor interjected. "Regular dumpsterfire occupied by demonic opossums."