15411/The Little Details

The Little Details
Date of Scene:	18 July 2023
Location:	Fourth Floor: Lounge and Sitting Room
Synopsis:	Gabby enlists the help of Jon to perfect some Kryptonian inspired clothes for the eventual return trip to Kandor.
Cast of Characters:	Gabby Kinney, Jon Kent

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Gabby Kinney has posed:
A few days after the trip to the shrunken city of Kandor, Gabby had been hard at work. It really wasn't up to her to decide the fate of the city, or even plan the second trip back--It wasn't her op. The urge to help, to do SOMETHING, was still rather strong in her however. There were things she could do to help... Small as it may seem. The little details and drudge work that might help make the second trip to rescue the city marginally easier.

Using what she'd seen had sketched out some designs to work on with what the 'current' clothing in Kandor resembled.

A text had been shot off to Jon not long ago as she realized this was something she was going to need some help on, and that he might feel equally in need of something to do to feel useful.

TEXT: Hey Jon. Not an emergency but if you're free at all tonight I could use your help with a project. I'll be at the Booke. You can show up in civvies if you want, but I can't really promise any other JLD members won't show up so, whatever you're comfy with.

Jon Kent has posed:
A car pulls up to the curb outside of the Candle, Booke and Belle. It's an Uber. The back door opens and out comes Jon Kent. He's dressed remarkably respectably this evening: jeans that haven't been used for farm work, a Kansas State Wildcats T-shirt tucked into the jeans, and a moderately worn pair of white(-ish) Adidas runners. As he steps out of the car he pushes his glasses up his nose.

"Th-thanks for the ri..." But the car immediately pulls away from the curb at a pretty fair clip. "Oh." He turns back and misjudges the distance to the curb and trips, sprawling out on the sidewalk. "Oh, I'm so sorry," he says to nobody in particular. "Totally my fault." He starts getting up and a passerby who was trying to move around him, runs right into Jon and they both go down on the sidewalk. "Dude, watch it!" the man snarls. Jon quickly starts helping himself and the man up. "Sorry!" he blurts out, embarrassed. "It was my fault."

"Of course it was your fault, *idiot*!" the man growls as he storms away.

This is the essence of Superboy's secret identity. It is so much more than a pair of glasses. And so a teenager, who is probably numbered somewhere among the most powerful people on the planet, enters the building and anyone who was watching sees just a clumsy nerd who can't go from here to there without knocking over ten people and causing a power blackout or two.

"Gabby?" he calls out.

Gabby Kinney has posed:
Oh to have cameras outside the shop. That was On the List of things to put in eventually as Gabby didn't really want to rely just on magic, and a friendly face out front. Speaking of which... There wasn't anyone out front. Not currently at least, as the other person who works here had stepped aside breifly. For Gabby's part she calls out, "In the back! Hang on."

At least she has sense enough not to call his name just in case--Hard to tell which 'outfit' he was wearing for the moment.

It only takes a short wait for her to step out from behind the drawn curtain that leads further into the shop flashing a smile at her friend. She was just dressed casually herself in jeans and a t-shirt tied in a knot at the side to keep the excess material out of the way. It had the image of a giant kitten using laser-eyes to attack people on a beach, and was a bit faded from being a few years old. Her head tips back the direction she came, and the curtain is held open.

"Come on back. I'll show you what I'm working on."

Jon Kent has posed:
An honest, genuine smile fills Jon's face. "Hey, Gab-a-doodle-doo!" he says, moving in the direction of the curtain. He holds up one hand and there is a bandage on it! "Wanna see my cut?" he asks, wagging his eyebrows goofily. "I actually bled. Belinda patched it up for me after she poured some kind of evil battery acid on it." It was just antiseptic, but our Boy of Steel is not actually accustomed to pain. Or to getting cut.

But before Gabby can ask how a Kryptonian came to be cut, he vanishes into the other room. He calls out, "Do you guys have any Coke? I love that stuff!"

Gabby Kinney has posed:
Gabby Kinney raises an eyebrow at the issue of a cut--But then hearing that Belinda was involved seems to have her consider that a moment before nodding to herself as if it all made sense. Maybe she had an inkling of an idea of how it occured. Maybe.

"Sure if it's healing okay. No sense in opening it up if it isn't," Gabby points out while letting the curtain fall shut behind her to follow after Jon. As soon as it is shut she informs him, "Silencing spell back here so that people up front can't hear us. It's kind of handy. And of *course* I have Coke, it's one of my favs too." There's a long drawn out pause. "Also rootbeer. Don't laugh, I like how many different varations in flavor there can be for rootbeer when it's essentially the same drink. Plus have you ever had rootbeer on tap? It's pretty great."

As she prattles on about sodas she leads the way up a set of stairs to the fourth floor. The loungey room was comfortable enough, and she'd even set up a small work table where there were some boxes currently set as well as a sewing machine.

"How'd you get cut, anyway?" Pausing at a minifridge against the wall she stoops to pull out the familiar red can to toss in his direction.

Jon Kent has posed:
Away from public scrutiny and protected by the silence spell, Jon has an...unburdening of some of his secret identity. No longer is a nerdy kid standing here, but some of his natural vibe and energy returns. There is no visual change, but it's like someone turned on some sort of light. The difference is palpable in the air.

He snatches the Coke out of the air and grins at Gabby. "Thanks, Gab!"

He pops open the soda and takes a long drink. "So this little terd..." *THAT* is the closest that Jon ever comes to swearing. "...Mister Mxyzptlk has been messing with Batwing and me. So Nettie was doing that thing she does to get information. And while she was doing that, a teacup popped in my hand and actually cut me. This creature has immense power, Gabby. Shazam was there last night and he said that Mister Mxyzptlk once completely stripped him of his powers for a time."

Gabby Kinney has posed:
Gabby Kinney glances over at the mention of that name. Not because she recognized it, but because it was such a very, very weird name. Once you heard it you would certainly recognize it in the future. Her hand lingers momentarily over another Coke before she opts for one of the cans of rootbeer instead. She'd already admitted she liked it and that meant more Cokes available for Jon later if he wanted.

"I've only met Shaz a few times. He's a pretty heavy hitter like you guys, so if that can remove his powers... That's impressive. Also not so great for you," she has to admit.

The soda is cracked open to take a sip, and she turns away toward the table and boxes there. Reaching inside she pulls out a garment to offer it toward Jon.

"Here. I had my guys at the shop in Gotham sew these up. Try it on for me. They should be way more like what the citizens of Kandor were wearing. Just a *lot* newer."

Jon Kent has posed:
Taking the garment that was handed to him, Jon holds it up in front of him. "Golly, Gab!" he says. Jon's language is spicy tonight! "You had these made?" He looks at his friend. "This is *amazing*," he blurts out. "You made something that is part of my grandfather's culture. And it's going to help us save the Kandorians. I'm gonna hug you now," he announces. He approaches and gives Gabby a warm, genuine hug. "Thank you."

Once the mushy stuff is dispensed with, the young half-Kryptonian slips the tunic on. He smiles, looking down at himself. "How do I look?" he asks. "I can't believe this is what they wear in there." He slowly rubs his hands over the fabric on his chest. "This is a piece of history you made." Jon is transfixed by this garment.

Gabby Kinney has posed:
Gabby Kinney gives a quick laugh at the reaction to the work. The offer of a hug though, that has her set the rootbeer down to open her arms wide for it. "Never have to ask me twice," she assures while giving a firm squeeze back. It was one thing she enjoyed, hugs. Most of her family was stand-offish. She had determined long ago not to be unless she had to.

Stepping back again to regard Jon trying it on, head tilted to the side, she continues to grin over it all. "Best as I could at least. I had to draw it from memory, and I made a mock up pattern. Making clothes has always been a hobby of mine. Used to want to get into fashion when I was younger," she explains. "Potato did the rest. They're great at putting things together in a pinch, and they really enjoyed the change of pace from making t-shirts and hoodies."

It takes her a moment to explain further, "Potato works at the Gotham clothing manufacturer shop that I ... kind of own slash run. I mostly let them do their own thing with designs since I can't be around a lot."

Her gaze sweeps over Jon a time or two judging how it fits, and looks, before she cracks a grin again. "Looks great on you. Glad I got the sizing right. Now..." A small sigh comes. "We need to do the hard part of making it 'authentic'. That's what I need your help with." A hand waves gesturing at the garment Jon wears pointedly. "THAT is brand new. What they had there is worn and faded and sewn to fix damages. That's something we can *kind* of fake, but it takes time."

Jon Kent has posed:
"You own your own company?" Jon asks incredulously, peering at Gabby with an impressed expression. "Gosh, that is amazing, Gabs. My biggest accomplishment is finishing my first year at Met U without failing any classes." Also, saving the world and stuff, but who's keeping score.

As Gabby explains what she needs with the tunic, Jon bites his lower lip and thinks for a few moments. "So...like...you want it to be distressed?" He takes the tunic off and very quickly bundles it up in his powerful hands, squeezing fast and hard, which causes the material to rapidly heat up. Smoke even starts coming off of it! Still harder he squeezes. Then, just when one might be tempted to think it's going to catch on fire, Jon stops and blows a little bit of cold breath on it. Then he holds the tunic up in the air for Gabby to see. "What d'ya think?"

Gabby Kinney has posed:
Gabby Kinney holds up a hand to wave off the amazement with a quick laugh. "I *do* but only because it was a Christmas gift from a very rich friend. I'd mentioned to him I wanted to start investing for my future since I'm likely to live for a long time, and this is what the result was. Which is why I mostly let them run it as they were doing. I pitch ideas sometimes, and help to try and promote the products by getting autographs from some Avengers or the like. I just make sure they get paid, the benefits are good, and no one hassles them." She really did try to be a good boss.

When he realizes what she means, she nods rapidly. "Exactly. I can ask Tommy to run around in a few for awhile so it gets wind damage and stuff, but even that would take awhile. I thought maybe--" It doesn't matter what she thinks though. He'd already bunched it up and started what he could earning a grin. "You read my mind!"

When it's unfolded she steps forward grasping each side of it. It's run through her fingers thoughtfully with a stern frown. "I think that should do it. Maybe run it through the wash a single time and see if that helps. That's already a big improvement though! And if any of it tears I can hand sew it, since I doubt they have sewing machines anymore. Looked like they didn't have much in the way of electricity."

Jon Kent has posed:
A sly half-grin forms on Jon's face. It's an expression that lends him confidence and assuredness -- it's an expression he could never wear out in public for fear of calling doubt on his carefully crafted secret identity. "So I guess I can't wear Laker's shorts and a Kobe Bryant jersey, huh?" He says playfully, giving Gabby a wink.

Working quickly, he starts grabbing the tunics one at a time and distressing them in a similar manner to the first. He tries different patterns so they don't have that assembly line look to them.

When he finishes, he claps his hands together, then slams back the rest of his Coke. "We make a good team, Kinney."

Gabby Kinney has posed:
Gabby Kinney steps back to allow him to do his fancy work on the clothes. Once he finishes with one she shakes it out to look it over before setting it aside until there's a neat little pile of them all ontop of each other. All ready for her to do the last little wash and re-dusting for later.

"If you ever wore that get up it would look really weird regardless. Not that you couldn't pull it off," she adds quickly before she might accidentally insult him. "It just doesn't seem to be your style." A long pause comes, considering. "Do you even really have a style? I mean... farm clothes and the super suit. What do you wear at college?"

It's all casual chatter while the work is done, and when it is done she looks over everything with a nod of approval. A light, playful punch is given to his arm. Not that a hard punch would matter to either of them. "Of course we do! We're awesome!"