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Post By Dancer via Hatman Wed Oct 12, 2005 at 10:02:13 pm EDT |
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Call Of The Wild: Chapter Two | |
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It was snowing in Vosna, capital city of the Glorious People’s Fraternal Republic of Candia. The bleak city was momentarily washed white by the cold blanket. The dull grey concrete buildings were lost, leaving the fantastic gothic spires of an earlier regime, a lost age. People hurried to get home from the late shift, their collars turned against the wind, their shoulders hunched. After a while the hunch was automatic. They hurried especially fast past the grim black silhouette of the Krumlin, home of the Party Elect, the heart of the regime. If they hadn’t, and if any of them had dared look up at the old stone building, up past the columns and the scrollwork masonry, up to the high sloped roofs, they might have seen a lone figure balancing on the apex, watching the city, watching the snow, watching the world. “So this is your idea of a good time, is it?” Party Animal demanded, poking her head through a skylight that should have been sealed shut. Rabid Wolf didn’t turn round. She’d heard her team-mate approaching. “This is better than the reception, yes.” “Oh, the Inner Circle can be a bit stuffy and boring, and Comrade Blisterkoff can be a bit grabby, but the vodka is good.” “I don’t like the taste of alcohol, Masha. It makes me feel sick.” Party Animal clambered onto the ledge, her thin silk dress hardly suited to the weather. “I thought you’d be in the mood to celebrate, Zdenka. After all, you are going to see the big wide world.” Zdenka Zarazoza shrugged. “So?” “So you have always wanted to see the big wide world. And you are going to Parodiopolis! They say there are buildings there over five stories tall.” “So I have heard.” “And you will be working with the Lair Legion as exchange person, while we are receiving propagandist superhero Librarian.” “I read the orders, Masha. I know what I must do.” Party Animal shivered some more. “Can we do this big talking you down off the roof scene inside? Not all of us are immune to the cold, Zvesti Zdrugo.” “Can we not do the scene at all?” “No. I think we’re going to do the scene. The only question is how badly are you going to treat your old friend while we have it.” Rabid Wolf sighed and slithered lithely down the roof. She slipped through the casement into the attic room. Party Animal followed her gratefully. “I was only admiring the city in the snow,” Zdenka said. “The city is always especially beautiful when the snow has just started to lay.” “Not the sort of laying that interests me,” Party Animal grinned. “But I don’t see why the news that you’re getting what you always wanted has upset you so much. You’ve dreamed of travelling abroad your whole life. Now the Party is rewarding you for your loyalty and courage in saving us all from nuclear holocaust when Stanlislaus went apocalyptic, giving you what you want. And as I understand it, the Hatman Jay Boaz will be there in Parodiopolis also.” Rabid Wolf shivered, though the cold didn’t affect her. “That’s the problem, Masha. Jay. Jay will be there.” “So? I thought you two hit it off from the start. I thought you really liked him.” Zdenka blushed. “Well that is the problem is it not, Masha Marikova? I do like him. I like him very much indeed.” Party Animal grinned. “Is this liking him vertically or horizontally?” “I’m serious, Masha. There’s something about Jay that… He is a real man, brave and honest, kind and noble. He has a shining soul.” “Is that what you kids are calling it these days?” Rabid Wolf snorted in frustration at her friend’s innuendos. “Nothing happened between Hatman of the Lair Legion and myself. Nothing much.” “Which is another way of saying something happened.” “Nothing wrong.” “Is that why you were so upset when you had to leave him? Because nothing happened?” “No. Nothing happened. Nothing can happen. Or have you forgotten Dmitri?” Party Animal made a sour face. “How could I forget Captain Mud? How many times have I had to wash him out of my hair after training? I know he’s our national symbol, but does he have to look and smell like a turnip? Or think like one?” “Dmitri is a good man,” Zdenka coloured. “I won’t hear my husband insulted like that.” “How would you like to hear him insulted, then? Come on, Zdenka, I know you have feelings for this Jay Boaz. You’ve been moody and withdrawn ever since you two parted. I mean more moody and withdrawn, over and above the Rabid Wolf baseline.” “I do have feelings for Jay, yes. Which is why I do not want to see him. There can be nothing between us. I wish to forget him.” “Really? Completely forget him? Honestly?” “No,” Zdenka confessed. “Not at all. I want to remember every moment we spent together. But it was stolen time, and there cannot be more. I am married to Dmitri.” “Pah! Dmitri makes love like a turnip too, I bet! Anyhow, you only married him because the Party wants to breed little superheroes. You were following orders.” “All the same, I did marry him, Masha.” “And you know that sometimes he creeps back to be with his old wife, the one he had to divorce to be with you, right?” “Dmitri loves her. He was heartbroken to be parted for her and their children.” “Right. So if Dmitri gets time off to be with them, isn’t it fair for you to sneak in a little Jay Boaz time while you’re in Parodiopolis?” Zvesti Zdrugo shook her head. “No. It is not fair. It is not right. And besides…” “Besides? There’s a besides now?” “Jay is a good man. He is honest. It would hurt him, hurt his spirit if he felt he had betrayed himself or done something wrong. It would wound him and it would stain our relationship. It is not possible.” “He’s a man, Zdenka. He’s going to take one look at that body of yours and everything else will go out of the window, including your underwear.” “It is not so. And I will not be the means of his wounding.” Party Animal looked worriedly at her friend. “Zdenka, you’re not in love with this Hatman, are you?” “That is not permitted.” “Well that’s the thing about love, you see. It doesn’t ask for permission. Certainly not from Comrade Borin.” Rabid Wolf bit her lower lip. “I cannot go to Parodiopolis.” “You have your orders, Zdenka. You can’t turn the Party down. You’ll have to come to terms with the Hatman one way or another. You want my advice?” “Does it involve marital aids or any kind of special equipment or costuming?” “Not at this point.” “Does it involve lengthy and graphic anecdotes from your sexual experiences?” “On this occasion, no.” “Then tell me.” “Write to Jay Boaz. Warn him you’re coming. Ask for him to be your guide while you’re there. That way you can sort everything out. It might be that you misread each other, in the heat of battle. It might be that he’s lost interest now he’s home. He might have a girlfriend already, or a dozen of them. It might be that the chemistry is gone in a different time and place.” “You think so?” “Or, it might be that you find yourselves tearing each other’s clothes off no matter what your good intentions or how much you ‘damage’ each other. Heck, you might be damaging each other all night long. But the point is, you have to face up to your feelings. Otherwise you can’t do the mission.” Zvesti Zdrugo considered this. “So you’re saying I need to face Jay as a professional issue?” “If that’s the only way you’ll accept it, then yes. Anything. Just write to the man, tell him you want to get together. Oh, and see if he can get any of that exotic Parodiopolis underwear for you, or, you know, any friends you might have who deserve some Secrets of Victoria’s.” “That might not be the best thing to include in my letter, Mashka.” Party Animal threw up her hands. “Whatever. Look, just write. Then go and see what happens. Go to Parodiopolis. Have the time of your life. Buy expensive gifts for your close female confidantes, maybe get them De Brown Streak’s phone number. Store up enough memories for a bleak lifetime back in this dull dreary place. But do something.” Rabid Wolf considered this. Party Animal slipped back to the soiree below, but Zdenka Zarazoza sat in the darkened attic and watched the snow gather on the windowsill and thought of a man who haunted her dreams and who might be her destruction. Finally she went over to the abandoned dusty writing bureau and found a piece of parchment and a fountain pen. Dear Jay… |
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