I'm nearly human look at me

[unobtainableredemption]

Characters: Kaine and OPEN
Date: Sometime after the bottle event
Location: Various
Situation: Various
Warnings/Rating: PG-13 to be safe (for Kaine's mouth)


Option 1 - Fire Sector
[Kaine’s standing in front of a storefront, looking through the window at the mantle displayed on the other side and debating whether or not he wants to buy one. Not for the fashion, mind you, but for something he could temporarily wear to cover his face and conceal the giant shiner surrounding his left eye. It’s a cliché, but you should really see the other guy.]


Option 2 - Water Sector
[He had intended to go right home, but now that his face was concealed by the hood of his newly bought mantle, Kaine finds himself walking right past the door to his suite, eventually winding up in a park in the water sector. It's clear by the path of destruction as he enters that one of the baby turtles had been through recently--the rubble had not yet been pushed to the side. He found himself smiling despite himself. When were they going to learn that they couldn't destroy everything?

Kaine sits on one of the benches and pulls the hood low as to cover his black eye, and just stares out at the mess. He could head home some other time.]


Option 3 - Metal Sector (Wearing this costume, though he still has short hair)
[He had forgotten how heavy the outfit was. It was the complete opposite of his Scarlet Spider costume—bulky with ridges and angles that have angles. Then there was the cape. What was he thinking when he added a cape to this thing? There was no reason for it whatsoever. Not like the raised “veins” of the costume, which had once pressed upon the scars of his degeneration to slow its progress, but now just serve to remind him of where the scars used to be. It was perfect.

He couldn't be the Scarlet Spider anymore. Not after what had happened in the bottle. It only served to remind him just how different he was from the others, and just how far he had fallen from what he could have been. And then he found this, his old outfit that once kept him alive, the outfit he wore during the year he spent terrorizing both Reilly and Parker, as well as anyone they might have cared about… and if that wasn't divine intervention, he didn't know what was.

Kaine leaps to the next building, never losing a stride in his step. He’s trying to get used to the suit’s bulk by doing something he’d done hundreds of times in it before... but if he bothered to stop and think about it, he’d realize just how suspicious he looks dressed like that leaping across rooftops at a sprint.]

OOC: If you want to roll with something other than those, feel free to either PM me, reach out to me at redconfession, or just start a thread, your choice.

Comments

[unobtainableredemption]

What, are you the fashion police now?

Just because we had one... whatever the hell it's called doesn't make us buddies and doesn't make you an expert in my life!

[modernized]

I may not be the fashion police, but you're a true victim buddy. [He snerks.] So what are you gonna start calling yourself, huh? "Pink Bath Rug Man"? I bet that'll get popular real fast. Maybe you can help chain stores sell products!

[unobtainableredemption]

[Shut up, Terry. Stupid pink cape.]

I never saw a need for stupid "codenames" before. I simply went by my real name. [Mainly because it wasn't a costume then.]

Or did you miss the part where I said it kept me alive?

[modernized]

If it kept you alive, why'd you leave it behind in the first place? Sounds to me like you had a change of heart.

[unobtainableredemption]

You're right. I did have a change of heart. [He'll let you figure out what that means.]

[modernized]

Right.

[A pause, as the imaginary tumbleweeds roll in.]

...This is the part where you have that same change of heart again. 'Cause you can't seriously go around giving people concussions wearing that.

[This is why no one leaves emotional speeches up to him.]

[unobtainableredemption]

I can't say I'm feeling particularly suicidal right now.

[Because that is literally the only reason he took it off the last time. He wanted to die.]

Look, the costume before? It meant something. I... I shouldn't have had it in the first place.

[modernized]

If it meant something, then you shouldn't just toss it away. And don't go saying the whole "this is who I really am" stuff - costumes don't make the person wearing them. You're going to be the same person whether you're wearing this or that.

[unobtainableredemption]

It's because it means something that I gave it back. It was never mine to begin with.

[modernized]

So? Just 'cause it wasn't yours doesn't mean you can't own it.

[...]

Wait, that came out wrong.

Let me try again: just because it wasn't yours to begin with, doesn't mean it can't be yours now. I mean, sometimes that means more than something meant for you.

[Coming from the guy who got his suit by stealing it...]

[unobtainableredemption]

[Well someone's a little klepto.]

Why are you so invested in what I do with my life? [That was intended to come out as an insult... but just sort of winds up being an actual, genuine question.]

[modernized]

Why are you so invested in your costume choice? [He shrugs. But okay Kaine has a point.] I just think you're not as bad of a guy as you're trying to make yourself out to be. It sounds like...like you're trying to convince yourself as much as you're trying to convince me.

[That last line spoken like he's figured out a hard puzzle and feels incredibly clever for it.]

[unobtainableredemption]

[He misses the time when he could just look at someone and they ran away screaming. Those were the good old days... when his nerve endings were on fire and his face was so scarred he could only make out what it should have looked like because of Reilly and Parker.

...Yup, good times.]

I may not be a super villain, but that doesn't make me a good guy, either. If I remember correctly, someone had to keep reminding me to play nice the last time we met.

[modernized]

And if I remember correctly, someone did play nice when they could have just not listened at all.

Look, dude, whoever you even are, I don't care if you're good or bad. ...Well, okay, I care if you're bad because it's my job to care about that - my point is you seem really messed up right now. I'm guessing it isn't just a costume change, but it's your beef. Just keep in mind that running around acting like you're somehow different because you're wearing a bath rug now doesn't sound convincing.

[unobtainableredemption]

Look, you seem like a nice kid, but you don't have a clue what you're talking about. The costume you saw me was not mine. I borrowed it and since then I realized what a mistake it was to take it in the first place. Frankly, I'd prefer not to wear a costume at all, but... let's just say I have my reasons for wanting to keep wearing a mask. [Mainly ones named "Peter," "May," and by association "Miles." It would be just too obvious if people started noticing Kaine running around, exhibiting similar powers to the other spiders on the turtle, then turning around and hanging out with three kids matching the body types of the aforementioned spiders.]

[modernized]

...Well I'm not gonna judge you for keeping a mask if that's what you think - I mean, I'm not exactly saying what my name is all around the place.

[He turns away and goes for the edge of the roof, though he turns his head back toward Kaine when he gets there.]

Whatever's causing this change in you...I don't know what it is, but I guess you're right to say it isn't my business. I just don't know how much I believe it. ...Anyways, I hope you get back in the spider soon. That costume really looks bad on you and not just in terms of fashion sense.

[unobtainableredemption]

I don't even know your [Waves his hand in a circular motion, vaguely gesturing to the bat symbol.] this name. But I can wager a guess. [Because holy crap are super heroes unoriginal. It's saying something when Scarlet Spider is one of the more inspired names.]

There are others who look much better in that costume than me. [And he feels like he's giving away too much by acknowledging that. He's actually hoping Terry might figure out it was a legacy thing... or at the very least that he's connected to the other spiders on the turtle, at least. There's no harm in him knowing that much.] ...So you keep saying.