(no subject)

[walking_napalm]

[OOC: Upstairs, things do not go exactly as planned. Thread contains adult content!]

One would be excused for not recognizing Liz Sherman in her seat at the bar tonight, given that she's draped in an enormous gray blanket and her elbow is on the bar, her hand over her face. It's a gesture of frustration as much as it is one of embarrassment; she's taking a momentary break from arguing with the bar. There are wet spots beginning to show through the blanket; her hair is dripping. Her bare toes are curled around a rung of the stool.

An unhappy Hellboy is standing beside her, too agitated to sit. His trench coat and pants are soaked and his bare chest shows through the open lapels. He lets Liz do the talking as he watches the crowd, hypersensitive at the moment to any staring or stray odd looks.

[tag: john myers]

[OOC: Relevant backroom post here!]

Comments

[ladyfirestarter]

The look from Charlie is not so much staring as --

-- okay, it's staring. But it's a concerned kind of staring, as she hurries over.

"Liz?"

[walking_napalm]

Liz has gotten pretty good at controlling the surge of fire that comes up when Charlie (more specifically, when Charlie's fire) is around.

Unfortunately, Liz is agitated, and there is hurrying.

On the bright side, the rush of flames (blue; low and mostly controlled) mostly dries her hair. The blanket is damp and apparently made of strong stuff; it doesn't ignite. The fire vanishes in an instant; Liz shuts her eyes and clenches a fist and it's gone, back into her skin as if it was never there.

"Charlie," she says, "hi." She opens her eyes, and she looks at Charlie with the eye that isn't obscured by the hand that's still hiding half her face.

"Hi."

[bprd_agent_red]

Red notices the staring and is about to say something, possibly rude, when the woman calls out Liz's name.

His head jerks to look at Liz when the flames ignite. His hand goes to her shoulder when they're out and his golden eyes look from her to Charlie.

[ladyfirestarter]

"Are you all right? What happened--?"

And looking up at Hellboy: "I'm sorry. You must be Red. I'm Charlie."

Worried, yes, but that's no call to be rude.

[walking_napalm]

No reaction when she makes a human torch of herself.

That's -- that's pretty nice; one of the nicer reactions that Liz has ever gotten, the first time she lit up in front of someone.

"--Yeah, Red, this is Charlie; Charlie, Red." She lowers her hand from her face long enough to gesture from one to the other.

Maybe if they focus on introductions, she can just ignore the questions. Yes? Yes.

[bprd_agent_red]

Red glances at Liz when Charlie asks then steps forward to offer the other woman his hand.

He knows it isn't something Liz wants to answer so he's going to try and make himself the center of attention. He's had lots of practice so hopefully he can manage.

"Yeah, that's me. I been hearin' lots about you. The lady teacher, right?"

[ladyfirestarter]

She's been spending too much time around people like Rachel Grey and Sera to be shocked by the lighting up.

"Something like that," she agrees, firmly shaking the hand Red offers her; it's not really, but this is not the time to explain that no, she isn't a teacher.

A little slower: "Are you all right? Both of you?"

[cutting_edgex23]

"You are wet," X says.

She didn't mean to approach silently, but she was moving too fast to pay attention.

"You are okay?"

(X is lucky all her in-bar equipment is packed in water-proof casings. Her room is probably a mess.)

[walking_napalm]

Red was watching the room; not Liz.

Liz's head comes up like a shot and -- it's Laura.

("You are okay?" Laura asks.)

"Yeah," says Liz, untensing (as far as she's going to); talking into her palm. "We're good.

"Hi Laura."

[bprd_agent_red]

She does have a pretty quiet approach and only movement out of the corner of his eye gets Red's attention before Laura speaks.

Swiping at his shoulder with his left hand to fleck off some water Red shrugs.

"We're good."

[cutting_edgex23]

X tilts her head, studying them carefully.

"Okay."

Beat.

Beat.

"You were having sex."

The wet still does not make sense. Not at all.

[walking_napalm]

Liz makes a little choking noise into her hand. It's hard to say whether it's a startled sound or one that means she's stifling a laugh.

[bprd_agent_red]

Red's brows raise and he gives Laura a Look. It's not quite clear what the look means because he isn't quite sure what to think or how to really react to her statement.

He'll just let Liz handle it, Laura is her friend afterall.

[walking_napalm]

"--No," says Liz, and she doesn't crumple the note, but it takes some effort; deadpan, "I'm actually not planning on lighting on fire again tonight."

She exhales sharply; rolls her eyes.

[bprd_agent_red]

Red listens to Liz's half of the exchange, guessing from her responses what the slips of paper that appear are saying.

He's trying very, very hard not to get into it. Fighting with Bar would probably be a bad thing, and Liz can handle it. Hopefully.

[walking_napalm]

"--Look, it was an accident, and I said I'm sorry," she says. "I'm not gonna go--" She sighs. "--maliciously lighting beds on fire, okay? Can we just get a room key already?"

(This is the thrilling conversation that has already been interrupted a couple of times.)

Liz presses her face into both hands. Muffled: "I'm arguing with wood, Red."

[bprd_agent_red]

"Want me to try?" He offers but really it's meant more as a threat to the counter.

[walking_napalm]

Not helping. Definitely not helping.

Though trying to help, and that's what earns him a hand squeezing his arm.

"Remind me why we can't just go back to the Bureau like this," she says. "Nobody would notice that we walked through the garage door normal and came out of it half-dressed and soaked a half a second later, right?"

Wry.

[bprd_agent_red]

"I could keep them from asking."

Red has a certain talent for stopping unwanted questioning from most people. Or, ignoring those questions when asked.

As long as it's not Manning, because Manning never seems to learn when Not to confront Red, which is almost always.

"C'mon, you can't tell us this hasn't happened before." He says to the counter, trying to be reasonable.

[hecomestolife.livejournal.com]

"... Liz," Myers says, standing awestruck in the doorway and staring, alternately, at the doorknob in his hand and at Liz in the blanket.

"... you're ... wet."

And potentially naked, his brain adds. Myers puts a hand to his face and grinds his palm into his eyes, blinking that horribly traitorous thought from his mind until he can open them again.

"Are you okay?"

Because of course that's the first question he asks. Trust Johnny Myers to barrel right on past all the relevant questions of what the fuck just happened and launch right into the least superficially relevant question around.

And belatedly: "... Hellboy too?" Hi, Red.

[walking_napalm]

Liz's head whips around. "--John?"

It's a stupid question, but it's the first thing that comes to mind.

She's caught between smiling (because how long has she been telling him stories and trying to get him in here, now?) and freezing where she sits (because this is the worst timing ever).

In the end (read: in two seconds), she reaches an instinctive sort of middle ground, and she turns around on the stool. This is when, for the record, it becomes clear that she's wearing pants and a shirt.

[bprd_agent_red]

"Myers." Hellboy mumbles in his direction.

Beat.

And cue double-take.

"MYERS?!"

This is Red's Not!happy face.

[hecomestolife.livejournal.com]

Myers' first coherent thought in response to all of this is, of course, Oh thank god she's wearing pants. His second response is to realize that both Liz and Hellboy are wet.

And angry.

... and totally staring at him staring at them. In their wet clothes.

This couldn't possibly be more awkward, could it? (Yes, it could, his brain starts to supply, you could have - Myers kicks his brain in the metaphorical squishy bits and pretends this line of thought never happened.)

"... hi, Hellboy, Liz," he says, waving one hand, weakly. "Everything all right?" Which is ... not the most stunning response to the situation imaginable, but he just opened his closet and found a bar inside it with two very wet, angry coworkers. Give him a bit.

"I think I found Milliways," he adds, unnecessarily.

[walking_napalm]

"-- Hi," Liz manages after a second, and maybe she is still aghast at the timing of it and instinctively clutching a little tighter at the blanket, but.

But, she has to smile -- even if it's small -- at I think I found Milliways.

"I think you did," she says.

Beat.

"Everything's fine. You can -- probably come out of the doorway. I'm pretty sure nothing's gonna eat you between here and there."

Besides maybe Red.

She has a hand on his arm, just to make sure.

[bprd_agent_red]

Hellboy is beside Liz shaking his head.

"You didn't find anything, Myers. Back up and out."

Liz's grip keeps him from taking a step forward but he does raise his other hand and points behind John, trying to chase him out.

This is his place. His place to get away from Manning and Myers and be with Liz out in public and talk to people and drink as much as he wants and... no, just no. No. NO.