Covent Garden Flowers, Wednesday, 2/3

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

The notes were a regular thing now, and Dinah had to agree about the teddy-bears-hugging-the-vases. They were adorable and cute. And they were probably up to something.

11 days 'til Doomsday! Alien flowers, rose weapons, teddy bears waiting for their chances. We could appease them with an offering, maybe? Lots of nice extra mulch? Chocolate? Maybe a sonnet?

... hunh. She wouldn't mind getting a sonnet. Dinah ended up trying to write one after she got the flowers watered and checked out, just to see if she could, but it made no sense, and the meter was all over the place. Timing. She sucked at that.

Covent Garden Flowers

Vida Boheme, prop.
Fresh flowers from nosegays to bouquets!
Delivery available upon request.

Covent Garden Flowers is open.

[and ocd-free. Back at7pmEST]

Comments

[glacial_queen]

Karla hadn't really seen Dinah since Friday and she'd been far too distracted by things yesterday for rehearsal to count. So she decided to traipse over to the flowershop with takeout (funny how quickly she'd mastered that part of modern day living) and treat Dinah to lunch.

Of course, she noticed the new decor right off. "Looks very...festive in here," she said, looking around. "What's with the teddy bear hugging things?"

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

"Hey, Karla." Dinah rearranged a couple, and said, "They're for Valentine's Day in a week or so. They're supposed to be so adorable that if you give them as a gift with flowers, everyone goes 'awwwwww'. No matter what kind of flowers you bought. At least, this is my theory."

[glacial_queen]

"Valentine's Day?" Karla asked. "What's that? And why would it matter what kind of flowers were bought?"

Earth customs: so strange.

"They are cute," she admitted, almost grudgingly. "Are you sure their not the harbingers of another invasion?"

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

"No," Dinah said, cheerfully. "But I figure the flowers have them outnumbered, and I can always trap them in the freezer." She snipped a few dead leaves off the carnations, and said, "Valentine's Day is to celebrate love. Mostly romantic. It's supposed to be a day for couples and sweethearts, although you can just tell anyone that you love them too."

[glacial_queen]

"'Dite must love this day," Karla said with a brief smile. "I bet she's--oh Hell's fire."

She kept--not forgetting, exactly. There was just a very deep divide between the Max that 'Dite was in love with and the Max accused of hurting Raven. And sometimes reconciling those two was difficult.

She gave Dinah a sidelong glance. There was nothing in her demeanor that suggested she'd heard yet. Which meant that it was up to Karla to break the news. "Dinah? Have you been listening to the radio at all?"

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

"Noooo..." Dinah gave her a wary look. "I crashed out after rock climbing and really tough work out days, the last few nights. Why? What'd I miss?"

[glacial_queen]

"Raven was attacked Monday night. By a vampire, probably. Brought to the clinic bleeding from two wounds in her neck."

Funny how that was the easy part to say.

"She says it was Professor Max; that he's a vampire and that he attacked her."

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

"Holy crap. And what?" Dinah said, torn between shock and worry for Raven and disbelief. "No way. He helped us get you out of your own head. And he's all into 'Dite. I don't believe it."

[glacial_queen]

"Raven is telling the complete truth," Karla said immediately. Though honesty compelled her to add, "At least, she is that she truly believes what she's saying."

She sighed, tucking her hair behind her ears. "Raven is certain he attacked her. 'Dite's just as certain that he did not--though he hasn't an alibi. An--Professor Skywalker believed it enough to go confront Professor Max in his classroom, but didn't haul him off in chains to Principal Winchester or the Mayor. And I--" Karla gave Dinah an uncertain shrug.

"I'm not sure what I believe."

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

Dinah frowned, then said, "This is why telepathic testimony would never be allowed in Gotham. Too subjective." She sighed. "Look. Facts. Sticking to facts... Raven was attacked. Fact. By a vampire. Fact, from what you're saying. She says it was Max. I'm guessing he says it wasn't. Either he's a vampire, and he's been lying to everyone--" Not a fun thought. "And he might be guilty... or he's not a vampire, and Raven's confused. And if that's true, then maybe whoever attacked her messed with her head. Right?"

See, laid out like that, Dinah was not in as much danger of getting deeply, deeply upset about this. Because seriously, one of her friends was attacked by a vampire? The epitome of Not Cool.

[glacial_queen]

"I promised 'Dite I'd check Raven's memories for tampering," Karla said. "I'll probably ask Professor Skywalker to assist me."

She leaned against the counter, looking troubled. "I don't want to admit this to anyone else, but I want him there to double check me, if that makes any sense at all. I'm all twisted up about this. I'd hand it off to a senior Black Widow if there were any on the island. I'm just--biased. Both ways, biased."

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

"You want Raven to be right... and you want Max to be okay." Dinah bit her lip. "Yeah, that is pretty deeply involved. Having Professor Skywalker there to check your work is probably the smartest thing you can do." She gave Karla a sympathetic look. "You're doing the right thing, going through with it. Just... look at what's there. And what's not. Not what it feels like I guess."

[glacial_queen]

Karla nodded, a little miserable. Even if it hadn't been Raven who was specifically targeted, this whole scenario hit a bit too close to home for her. "That's the plan, anyway. Raven says she knew it was him because it felt like him and if there's anyone who would know someone by their emotions, it's her. On the same token, her emotions are so conflicted about him...Gah! Can I take a minute and be horrible and wish that if this had to happen, that it had happened to almost any two other people on the island?"

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

"Yes," Dinah said frankly. "I know the history. It's muddy. And knowing by emotions isn't proof." She shook her head. "It could've been someone very, very similar to what happened in that other Fandom, you know. How many evil emotion-manipulative guys do you think Raven's had contact with?"

[glacial_queen]

"I know, I know," Karla groaned, burying her face in her arms. "Any major similar trauma like that is going to resonate with her. Especially if it's trauma she hasn't been able to face and process yet. Mother Night, I don't know what'll be worse for her--me telling her she's right or me telling her she's wrong."

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

"They'll both suck. Argh. Ignore that choice of words," Dinah said, wincing. "You can't approach it like that. You know that. Find the truth, then help Raven." She shook her head. "How are you going to deal with this?" Her voice softened. "There's resonance there too, y'know?"

[glacial_queen]

"No there isn't?" Karla tried, voice still muffled by her arms.

Which was an utter lie. Whether Dinah was referring to her being stalked by vampires, being stalked by vampire!Max specifically, or just the general idea of being betrayed and assaulted by an adult male she trusted, Karla was there. Resonating.

It was like the trifecta of suck. Again, poor choice of words.

Finally, she pulled her head up and looked at Dinah. "I really do hope Raven is wrong, even if that does mean there's an unknown vampire stalking Fandom and regardless of how it will hurt her. But...having Max be evil..." she shook her head. "It would be too much."

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

Dinah reached out to push a strand of hair behind Karla's ear, and sent, For what it's worth, I get that. And it's okay for you to be scared of that too. Just hang onto Professor Skywalker, and let him handle it if it's true, okay? Aloud, she said, "And come find me for wine and chocolates afterward. You're gonna need them."

[glacial_queen]

*I will,* Karla agreed fervently. *I'm glad you get this. All of it. In all its messy glory.*

"Wine and chocolates sound really good," Karla said, nodding. "Maybe a spa day, too."

She could skip the primping, but the massages were nice.

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

"Definitely." Dinah handed her a small white rosebud. "Just hang onto that image, the messier it gets."

[glacial_queen]

"I will," she promised, bringing the rosebud up to her face. "I've always liked white roses," she said absently. "Not as much as irises, but better than most others. Thank you, Dinah."