15254/Big Freaking Gargoyle Boy

Big Freaking Gargoyle Boy
Date of Scene:	28 June 2023
Location:	Belvedere Castle
Synopsis:	Hellboy is invited to join the JL Dark!
Cast of Characters:	Hellboy, Gabby Kinney

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Hellboy has posed:
Hellboy isn't supposed to be here.

No, not outside. He's allowed outside now, his long period of isolation from the outside world finally ended now that the world is...well, what it is. Messy and full of weird. He fits right in now. Sort of.

He's not supposed to be in this part of the castle. It's closed off to the public, who are supposed to stay in the designated tour and gift shop areas, all the better to part them from their money. But Hellboy was curious and 19 year old tour guide getting class credit from Empire State didn't feel like challenging Hellboy's right to peruse the unseen sights.

"Please don't kill me," he'd said.

Hellboy ahd merely patted him on the head gently with the Hand of Doom. But he definitely did NOT reassure him.

Fear was always useful, so long as it didn't get him in trouble..

So he's up on one of the parapets, looking like a gargoyle in a trenchcoat as he looks out over the park, the afternoon sun drifting towards sunet. Nice view. Just what he wanted. He lights a cigar and closes his eyes. Finally, a little peace.

rWhich he should know is always when he's bound to get bothered.

Gabby Kinney has posed:
Especially when there were people with cellphones, with cameras, who enjoyed posting things to social media. There were already pictures up of the tall red figure of Hellboy on the parapets that someone had posted and it was quickly going viral. Some claim a hoax, some claim to 'know that guy', and the usual variety of nonsense that tended to come with online stuff.

Which pinged Gabby's phone because she had it set to alert her to anything like 'ghost', 'demon', 'hauntings', 'cursed', 'cryptid' and other such potential keywords that may need investigating by either herself or other members of the JLD. Thankfully the photo was someone SHE knew. Even if it had been awhile.

Wearing casual attire meant to make her look somewhat presentable in the nicer neighborhoods, she stops below to peer up at the tower with a sigh and hands on her hips. Leggings, hightop sneakers, and one of those 'boyfriend shirt dresses' in white and blue stripes. Really it just looked like a huge oversized button up shirt with a belt around the waist but that was apparently the style. Go figure.

She COULD call out to him, but she wasn't in the mood for yelling.

Instead she just ends up clambering up the tower using fingertips and toes to free climb her way up from the outside because why bother taking the usual stairs? Too much hassle. He'll soon hear a little huff and scrape on the rock as she hooks her elbow over one of the sides to hoist herself mostly up. "HB. Gimme a hand up would you? I don't need someoone grabbing a picture of my butt and posting online," she gripes with a glance down at some people. "IF YOU TAKE A PHOTO I'M COMING BACK DOWN THERE AND YOU WON'T LIKE IT!"

Hellboy has posed:
Hellboy jerks as he startles, his cigar falling down and landing at his feet, bouncing around with a little spark.

"SHEEZUS WHEAT CHEX, you scared the shit out of me, kid," he groans, rubbing the top of his head. Soon, though, he's reaching over and grabbing her, not by the hand, but by tne nape of the neck, lifting her up and setting her down next to him atop the parapet.

"Almost lost my Cuban," he says, picking up the cigar and clenching it back between his teeth. He takes a long drag, the cherry flaring and reflecting in his inhuman eyes. He really is a spooky thing, he is.

"I remember you. That Wolveriney kid. I ran into your old man a few times over the years. He is your old man, right? I ain't talkin' outta school?" he says. Kind of an old fashioned impressing, but he IS kinda old by human standards.

Gabby Kinney has posed:
Scruffed. That was a first. At the very least it worked, it didn't hurt, and she was small enough that the weight of her body wasn't going to harm her when plucked up this way. She does roll her head side to side to crack her neck once she's placed down though to grin up at him with amusement. "Yes and no... It's a long story. I'm a clone of one of his clones." It was close enough, so she just shrugs it off while dusting her hands off over her thighs.

"I'm Gabby," she reminds with a chuckle. "Sorry to startle you, I just figured this would be easier than trying to bluff my way past the tourists." There's a pause as she adds, "Plus I was bored. Climbing stuff can be fun sometimes. No one expects that."

Hellboy has posed:
Hellboy shrugs, "I went through a climbin' phase, too. We were headquartered in the Alps, then, back in the fifties. I was probably twelve. My old man kept gettin' mad cause I'd sneak out and start trying to get to the top o' the mountains. Meltin' snow all around me, I ran hotter back then, making a visible mark in the snow that would've liked to give us away if I'd let it. But I kept doin' it. Cause I was tired o' bein' locked up. And now, finally, all these years later...I am. But I'm still climbin' high stuff. I just used the stairs instead," he says.

He leans forward against the railings, his broken horns jutting out and giving him a faintly Mickey Mouse element to his shadow. He puffs a few more times, letting the smoke roil in his mouth. Contrary to popular belief, many smokers enjoy the taste of their bad habit.

"Hellboy. You probably remember. People usually do. Nah, you ain't botherin' me none. Just give a whistle next time. What if I'd thought you were a goblin or a Nazi or somethin'? I'd end up knocking ya clean off. And yeah, yeah, I know it ain't gonna kill ya, but throwing girls off high places ain't good for the reputation of a guy like me, ya dig?"

Gabby Kinney has posed:
Gabby Kinney crinkles her nose at the cigar smoke. Just a bit. It wasn't as bad as some cigars or cigarettes she'd smelled by far but it was still something her sharper senses picked up easily. No doubt why others with similarily heightened senses would smoke too--to block out the rest of the world for a bit and focus on just one thing. It only takes a moment before her own senses seem to do the same around Hellboy and his cigar.

Stepping closer she leans her folded arms on the parapet edge herself while listening with a nod. "Guess I've still got that youthful energy to me. I mean I am still young," she admits with a quick laugh as if it were funny that she were. Maybe it was. "I'll keep that in mind though. Might not kill me but this is one of the few 'nice' shirts I have. Had to hit a bunch of estate sales and auctions earlier to check them for anything weird. And yes," she adds tilting her head to the side to regard him. "I remember you."

"Still in the biz, I take it? You know. Spooks, magic, demons less nice than you?"

Hellboy has posed:
Hellboy eventually figures out the deal with the stogie, putting it out casually with his thumb and tucking it back into his pocket. He might normally bitch at someone irritated by his habit, but he does intuit the senses thing, given the general powerset. Plus, she's just a kid - not in the literal sense, he knows that, he ain't blind, it's just that he's an old man. Old men think anyone under fifty is a kid. Hellboy is no exception.

"Been a little quiet for me lately. SHIELD's been distracted with all the alien shit lately, so ain't much time spent doin' occult research. SWORD gets all the fundin', WAND gets the shaft. Same as it ever was. I blame Star Trek. I get to ride along on regular old SHIELD crap every now and then. I think it's supposed to be top secret, but ain't much mystery somethin's afoot when I show up guns blazin'. But mostly i'm sittin' home binge-watchin' shit or listenin' to records. They say I'm supposed to train but I gotta tell ya, I ain't ever been rusty no matter how red I am. I don't need no stinkin' practice."

Gabby Kinney has posed:
Gabby Kinney glances to the side when the cigar is put out giving a small nod, and a quiet, "Thanks. Still getting used to the nose. I was a late bloomer in that department." There was a lot more to it than that, but there was no need to go into detail.

"Ah, yeah, sounds like government work from what I know. And I mostly only know it from people complaining about it." Gabby reaches up to sweep some hair behind her ear with a single deep breath drawn as she gathers her thoughts. Just a bit.

"Would you like the elevator pitch for the group I run, or should I just point out we have funding, tea, and cookies?" An amused grin creeps over her as she turns to look fully up at Hellboy. "Not everything is a big fight, but we *do* get out and do things a lot."

Hellboy has posed:
Hellboy turns and arches a very black eyebrow up into his hornspace. "It's not that I don't believe ya, kid. You say you're in charge o' somethin' like that, I ain't gonna be one to say no. I seen my share o' prodigies. Most of 'em are obnoxious. You ain't, though. That said, I do have to admit to bein' a mite bit skeptical. Intrigued, but skeptical."

A pigeon flies down and lands on one of his massive shoulders, flapping momentariliy before settling down. Hellboy gives a slight sigh and then clears his throat loudly. The bird, startled, bursts into flight and takes to the wind.

"Sorry. They got a habit o' leavin' deposits behind."

Gabby Kinney has posed:
Gabby Kinney holds up her hands with a little laugh as she wards off such thoughts of 'being a prodigy' with amusement. It fades just a bit to a quizical look as she watches the pidgeon fly down, land, and then depart. Still bemused, still grinning, her hands drop down again to resume leaning against the tower edge. "Honestly surprised it landed to begin with. Not a lot of self-preservation instinct there." As if SHE was one to talk.

Her hand lifts again to retuck her strand of hair behind her ear because it had started to slide free not wanting to be restrained. She prefered to keep her line of vision open though, and her darn hairclip had broken so behind the ear it was.

"Not a prodigy by far. I was trained to fight from early, early on and I worked in a team with my sisters. Other clones. So I know how to work with a team. I don't use magic myself though I have *some* magical items." Just a moment her expression grows a little far off, eyes slipping out of focus as she recalls. Or maybe she was just looking way past the line of trees. "I have a half-sister that's older. Probably around seventy or eighty? Hard to tell with my family, sometimes. She's a mutant like me, but also her mom's side were witches. Or sorceresses. Whichever you want to call it."

Sheepishly she looks back with a faint grin as she explains. "I've always been really protective of what family I have. When she joined up with this magic group I did too. Figured, hey, I can fight at least. I can help a bit. She ended up becoming one of the three that ran the group not long after."

It's here that she hesitates, fidgeting a bit with nails tracing a groove in the stone repeatedly. It was just a little point to touch on. The smile is gone now though she isn't scowling or frowning. "... Some rather bad shit went down. One of the leaders decided to retire, and then the day before that was supposed to happen my sister ran off with the other leader to 'explore the connection they'd built together.'" Air quotes are made with her fingers. The point was probably there easily enough.

"I was the only one they told before they vanished, which was really shitty. We'd all just had our asses kicked by some nasty as fuck Old Ones trying to break into our dimension, and they just ... ditched. Since it was my sister that took out two of the leaders in a way, I dunno, I guess I felt responsible. Maybe I just needed something to do."

Here she shrugs again, glancing to the spot on the stone where she'd worried at enough that her fingernail had filed down to the nub. That's stopped in favor of clencing her hand to keep it from happening again.

"I know how to work with teams. That's what I bring to it. I recruited a couple of the old members that had left long before I was around to help fill the areas I'm not familiar with. Magic. Laws. Stuff like that. We've changed from what we were, but we're still a good group. We don't just try to react to fighting things anymore, but we seek out ways to help the world run smoothly, too. Helped a Bigfoot that was injured before it got discovered. Find cursed items before they fall into the wrong hands. And still fight when needed."

"We also don't require you only work with us and no one else, so you can still do what you need to do elsewhere. If you're interested."

Hellboy has posed:
Hellboy listens closely. He's good at listening, now. That was one of the things he'd gained with the years. Patience and listening. He liked to talk, no doubt about it. Some monsters were quiet guys, but Hellboy wasn't one of them. Hellboy liked to talk. He'd gone a long time being quiet, down in the dark alone. Some people talk to themselves. Hellboy wasn't one of them. Being lonely had always made him irritable. So it's unclear how being free to go about his business is going to affect his character.

Well, don't get your hopes up.

"Ya know what, kid? I believe ya. I may not always be able to tell when somebody lies. But I know how it looks when somebody's remembering. Especially when the memories got bruises all over 'em."

"Sure, I'll give it a shot. I ain't got nothin' better to do. Lemme know osmethin' else, SHIELD know about you? I won't rat you out, I just need to know if I should keep mum or somethin'."

Gabby Kinney has posed:
Gabby Kinney scrubs a hand quickly over her face to help chase off the last shadows of those memories. There were good times, and bad times in those memories. A lot of bad times. Especially when it came to what they'd all been through right before things had begun to crumble apart so that she had to pick up the pieces again. It's just a breif gesture and she allows herself a tired smile after.

"Welcome to the team, then. Justice League Dark," she supplies while fishing into a pocket to pull out a card for a shop. The Candle, Booke and Belle. "The storefront is tea and fake occulty stuff, the back is us. Our resident witch runs it. You're welcome to come check it out any time, just beware the crow. He's mouthy."

"As for SHIELD knowing about us? ... You know that's an excellent question." Gabby pauses with a small frown racking her mind on that one. "Our third leader is Sara Pezzini. I know she works with SHIELD but I'm not sure if they have a file on us or not. I should check with her on that."