9254/Coat of Paint, Good as New

Coat of Paint, Good as New
Date of Scene:	19 September 2019
Location:	Vanessa's Apartment, New Lots, NYC
Synopsis:	April and Vanessa share pizza and beer, while seeing the new apartment paint job and Vanessa shares tales of a Lycan and Vampire
Cast of Characters:	Copycat, April O'Neil

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Copycat has posed:
Vanessa called, not having seen April in a little bit, and asked if she'd like to stop over to Vanessa's apartment. Maybe order some pizza, and she had two cold six-packs in the fridge.

Vanessa's apartment building is a run down place, one of those buildings that just gets worse over time. The elevator is requiring, one to use the stairs. Light bulbs are out in the stairwell, and there's a hiss coming from somewhere in there. More of the pipes variety than the serpentine sort.

Eventually though, one would make it to Vanessa's apartment. The door wouldn't open until a shadow suggests someone is looking through the peephole to confirm who is there. And then the sound of at least four different locks of various sorts being opened before finally the door swings open. All of that security doesn't change how friendly Vanessa's smile is though. "Hey there, come on in!" she says warmly.

April O'Neil has posed:
April was more than happy to go over and hangout with Vanessa, even if she lived in a fairly rundown area... thats what her tazer was for after all and she kept it close on her hip just beneath a yellow hoodie she wears zipped up to mid-chest level.

Her bike is ridden over to the apartment building and she brings it inside to chain it up behind the stairwell where she'd scouted a pretty good and secure place to tuck the yellow and black road bike with the little 'Bumblebee' sticker on its central body.

Up the stairs she went, not minding the exercise one bit and once at the door she makes sure Van knows its her with a soft call out too. When the door cracks and opens she smiles. "Hey." She says back and moves to head on inside. Her hair is loose over her shoulders, and she unzips her hoodie, showing off a Cheers teeshirt on beneath it, some blue jeans and black/yellow jogging shoes on her feet.

She glances around the interior of the apartment then and exhales softly. "Hows stuff?" She asks.

Copycat has posed:
Vanessa ushers April inside, glancing out in the hallway and then closing the door. She locks all of the locks, deadbolts and chains, before turning to April. "It's decent," she says. Vanessa motions to her apartment.

Something is different, that much is obvious. But sometimes even big changes take a moment to figure out. Vanessa goes over to one of her walls where a flag used to hang, trying to cover up a big hole in the drywall and sheet rock. Used to hang because it's now folded up on a chair nearby, the wall is completely fixed.

Not just that, the apartment is a different color now. Freshly painted. The furniture is still pretty basic and inexpensive, but the paint makes the whole place look better. "Can you believe it?" Vanessa says, motioning to the walls. "Remember that guy, Josh, the healer that works with the Avengers that said he'd let you interview him? He did it. I mean, he hired someone, a contractor. He fixed the plumbing, and then the hole, and then repainted the whole place!" Vanessa says, a hand going to her head, still amazed.

April O'Neil has posed:
It didn't take April long to realize it either, hell she could smell the paint still, it has a nice fresh scent to it. But as Vanessa explains it all, April starts to walk around and look things over. "Wow." She says then. "Dang..." She steps up to the wall and reaches out to touch it. "Its dry, whew." She grins and looks back to Vanessa then. "I called the number he gave me, that Josh guy, was gonna ask him if he wanted to schedule a time on my show, but... it was a dead number. Guess he got busy."

She goes to fold her arms together across her stomach then and walks over to the back of one of the chairs in Vanessa's living room. "It looks amazing, Van. Really. Thats a hell of a gift to give someone who deserves it."

She glances back to her friend and flashes a grin at her. "Were any of the painters hot?" She teases then, for the hell of it.

Copycat has posed:
Vanessa is still looking around at the place. Still amazed by it enough the door is closed a good minute or two before she goes back to it, unlocking and relocking each of the locks one by one.

Once that is done, she feels better and gives a laugh. "I promise I didn't even sleep with him. Josh I mean. And not really. Kind of like a taller Mario from the video game," she says of the contractor. "Hmm. Surprised his number didn't work. Maybe he's off doing... you know," she says, making a zooming motion with her hand. "Avenger things." She doesn't realize he's not actually an Avenger but just works there. Or maybe she did and forgot. Because even that much is enough to get carried away about.

Vanessa goes over to grab her phone. "What are we doing? Meat lovers? Double pepperoni? Something something pineapple?" she asks as she scrolls through for the pizza place's number. "It's really been a nice surprise. And I kind of need it. We're getting hit with a fine because we fixed the hole in the stairs that an elderly lady fell through. She's the one Josh healed in the first place. Because we 'changed the building' without permission. LIke we're supposed to leave the hole there to hurt someone else?" she says, fuming a bit by the end.

April O'Neil has posed:
April goes to take her hoodie off, its still summer after all and without the wind of the bike riding its getting steamy inside of it again. She sets it over the back of the chair and then steps around it to sit down on the arm of that same chair. She grins at Vanessa's lock and relocking then just shakes her head. "You know me, Pineapple and veggies is my thing for the pizzas. I get sick of the smell of the meat ones, carrying them down to the guys in their home."

She sits up straighter and places her hands ontop of her thighs to stroke them down softly toward her knees, then just leans there like that on her forearms. "Mario the Painter huh?" She asks idly but exhales then. "I mean, I still want ya outta this building if I'm being entirely honest with ya, Van, but... I get why you're not going. I do. I just, ya know, want ya to be in a neighborhood that doesn't make you feel like you have to do that -that- anymore." And then April sits up again and motions to the lock tree on the door.

Copycat has posed:
Vanessa glances over to the locks that she's rechecked. "I think I'd do that if I was staying in the Waldorf-Astoria," Vanessa admits with a blush. She dials the phone and puts in the pizza order. She hangs up and shakes her head. "They barely like delivering out here," she says. She's actually not very far from April at all, both in New Lots. But a few blocks can make a difference.

She sets down the phone, the brunette moving over to slump into one of the chairs. "I feel kind of guilty about the fines. Not just me, but the guys who I asked to cover it. They can't afford it either. I'm doing a couple of extra shifts at the club and... well, I'll help them out of it somehow," she says with a sigh.

She remembers the beers, getting up and going to get two from the fridge, returning to pass one over to April. "So speaking of the guys how are they doing?" Vanessa asks of Aprils non-human friends.

April O'Neil has posed:
April stands up and walks around a bit while Vanessa places the pizza order and then she smiles when she's finished and moves to get the beers. When she comes back with them, April accepts it and uses the front of her shirt to open it up with a little snapping hiss. Its tough for her, she's almost the opposite of Vanessa's situation, having only a growing amount of money in her bank account that she doesn't even know what to spend it all on... her success with the internet work and still getting paid from Channel Six is leaving her with more money than she knows what to do with, but... Vanessa is prideful and doesn't like donations.

"I'm happy to help out." She tells her friend then as she moves to sit down on the corner of the coffee table, so she can face Vanessa more easily while holding the beer between her knees. "You know I am. Ya just gotta say with what." She glances to her left to the front door. "Whether its patchin' up floors or whatever, I'm here to help ya get these damn burdens off your shoulders a little bit. Even if I can't get ya to stop doing the lock thing." She smirks at Van then takes her first swig from the bottle.

After tasing it, she glances down to look at the label to see what it even is. After a second of reading it though she looks back up to her. "Oh, uh, they're fine. I think. I haven't been down there in a few weeks. I need to... they just have a lot of... friends now? I don't know. Its not like it used to be when it was just the six of us. They used to rely on me a lot more, but now they've gotten bolder and braver, so they don't 'need' to rely on me. I don't know..."

Copycat has posed:
Vanessa opens up her own bottle, just using her hand and setting the cap aside before taking the kind of long draw you'd expect from someone looking to get drunk. "Just having you here helping me keep my sanity is plenty of help, April," Vanessa says in a heartfelt tone.

"Are you missing it a little bit, when they did have to rely on you?" Vanessa asks. "It would be kind of natural, I figure. I'd probably feel that way. I'm sure they still love ya the same though," she comments.

Vanessa takes another long draw from the beer. It's just Budweiser, she doesn't really have the means to worry about it being something other than 'beer'. And you don't get much more 'beer' than Budweiser.

Vanessa leans her head back against the back of the chair. "So, that crazy thing in the subway that one time. Did anything ever come of that? I mean, did you ever talk to that guy again, or find out anything more about what was going on?" Vanessa asks. "I saw something here one night that was sort of like it. Maybe. I still don't know what to make of it really," she says, frowning a bit.

April O'Neil has posed:
April shows a quick smile to the part of being a helpful presence just by being here. She pretty much expected that answer too, so just takes another swig of her beer and then stands up and moves to sit down at the sofa. She glances around at the refurbished apartment and does smile a bit more happily then before her eyes dart back to Van and look at her when she asks of the relationship with her and the turtles. It just makes her smile softly and look down at her lap.

"Maybe." She says then. "Its tough, I guess, being that my family is so broken. Dead parents, sister living in California. Extended family in Boston that I don't see that often. I got a cousin who's in the Titans, but he's pretty busy and I don't like to bother him too much." She draws in a breath then and takes a moment to look up and shake her head.

"Having the turtles around just helped me feel more like I was apart of something. I know I can just go down there and see them, of course, take them food and such. But yeah. It can't last forever, right? Nothing does, after all..."

"And the only thing I found out about that guy in the subway incident was that he gave us an alias. So he was probably... CIA or something." Another light shake of her head then another sip of the beer. "What'd you see recently?" She asks then.

Copycat has posed:
Vanessa smiles at the mention of the relative in the Titans, that not being something she'd heard before. She doesn't ask more though, as the mention of what she saw causes the woman to grip the neck of her beer a little more tightly.

"There was this guy. I was working, and I could tell he was coming over to me, right? And he just gets yanked into this alley before he makes it," Vanessa says.

She pauses, taking a long pull on her beer. She stares ahead for a moment before shaking her head and going on. "And so I go over to look and... there's this woman. Has him pinned to the ground and a gun on him. And he's a big guy, but... well, she threatens him. About... someone else she's trying to find. And she ends breaking his collar bone and then just, throwing him. Like she's really strong. And so I ran away. Get around the block and the moment I slow down, she's just there in front of me. Like she came from out of nowhere," Vanessa says.

She draws more strength from her beer, only to find it is gone. She gets up, getting two more from the fridge and returning. "And she tells me how he was bad news and my life depended on staying away from him, and his associates. Gave me a number to call if I saw him again, or a black man named Clayton, or an Asian man named Wutan," she says.

April O'Neil has posed:
April hasn't even gotten half her beer consumed yet when Vanessa gets up to go get more. She just listens closely to the store and narrows her blue eyes here and there while taking a sip or three from the bottle.

"I guess I see why you're locking your doors more now." She quietly quips there-after, her humor always there to some degree. "Thats really messed up." She says then before she glances around. "Give me her number. I'll call her and ask her a few questions." She now shows a grin to Vanessa across from her.

"I mean, if you like, I can ask around about Clayton and Wutan. Wutan probably would get some hits, its pretty unique for a name as far as I know. Clayton maybe too... I've never met any Clayton's around here." Slowly though, April shakes her head side to side. "We fought Vampires, Vanessa... and we walked away with our lives. I think there's more weird shit going on beneath our feet, or our noses, than we might even realize. Feels like its getting weirder every day, in fact."

Copycat has posed:
Vanessa sits quietly, and brings her beer to her forehead to rest the cold glass against it while she listens to April. "Vampires," she says, shaking her head. "That's just... some messed up shit, April. I mean, we're not the police or... or the Avengers or Fantastic Four. We should stay out of this I think," Vanessa says quietly.

She drinks from her beer again, looking to April. "I know you got the reporter bug in you but... I mean it's just not safe!" Vanessa says. "We could have died, probably would have, but for the cute guy with the shotgun. I don't even know how you fight something like that," Vanessa says. "Ok, I mean, yes with a shotgun. Maybe I should get-"

The knock at the door makes Vanessa literally jump out of her seat. "Pizza!" a voice calls through the door. Vanessa swears softly. "Someone let him in the security door? Why even have the thing," she says, stalking over to check through the peep hole before finally unlocking the door and getting the pizza and paying for it.

April O'Neil has posed:
"Tell me about it." April mutters at the messed up shit part that Vanessa replies with. She takes another sip of her own drink and leans back in the sofa to cross her legs at the knee before her arm with the beer rests on the arm of the sofa and then the other drapes across the top of her thigh. "I wouldn't wanna get 'involved' per-se, more-so than just maybe track these guys down, tell the person you met where to find them and then see what happens. From a distance." April says with a sly grin.

"You definitely do -not- need a shotgu--" April cuts herself off as the door is knocked on suddenly and it makes her jump in sudden fright too. "God. Damnit." April's free hand goes to rest against her chest and then she moves to stand up, to walk to her hoodie. "Lemme help ya with the cost and a tip." She says, digging around in the hoodie for her wallet.

She pulls it out and flips it open. "Maybe someone was coming in or going out, so they just let him slip in? Thats normal right?" She asks, having never lived in a building with a security door before.

Copycat has posed:
Vanessa reluctantly lets April help with the pizza and tip, which probably says something about her financial situation at the moment. "Thanks," she tells April in a heartfelt tone before paying the pizza boy. He's a teenager that looks like someone glued glasses and wirey hair to a popsicle stick with arms. Not the most intimidating person to have at the door, thankfully.

She gets the pizza and closes the door then. "They aren't supposed to let anyone in. Supposed to have them buzz up to the person they are seeing," Vanessa says. She locks the door and takes the pizza over to the table, and gets out plates for it.

Vanessa moves over to April, and if allowed, slips her arms about the other woman for a moment to hug her. "Thank you," she says quietly, and kisses the woman's temple before letting her go. Back to the door. Unlocking and locking all the locks again, blushing as she does.

Thus is Vanessa's life.

April O'Neil has posed:
April just grins at the pizza kid, the ones that age usually get really red in the face when they see her and start to stammer a lot, its always amusing to her. "Thanks, Ernie." She tells him, apparently she KNOWS him! But then, she orders a lot of pizza...

Once the door is shut and they're back alone together, April just gives Vanessa's shoulder a caring squeeze. "We'll get you an electrified floor mat to put outside your door and a little remote that can activate it that you keep here beside your door. So you can really shock the shit out of anyone outside who dares comin' at your place you don't want here."

Its there-after that Van embraces her and kisses the side of her temple which April just leans into and grins all bashfully at the kind gesture. Afterward she quickly adds. "Thsoe are real, ya know?" She states while settling in to eat some food with her bestest Vampire killing friend. "I had a guest on my show who designed them. Said it was for living in a world with a heightened fear of all the super powered types roaming around. People are crazy... but, I kinda want one too."

Copycat has posed:
"Get out!" Vanessa says at the news about the floor mat. "Seriously, and they aren't going to get you thrown in jail if you use it on someone trying to break in? Or maybe just an asshole landlord?" she says with a somewhat feral smile.

Vanessa gets herself some pizza, and a third beer for good measure, and heads over to take a seat again. "I would love one of those. Though around here, someone would steal it and probably electrocute themselves and... yeah, I'd end up in jail or something," she says with a sigh.

Vanessa takes a bite of the pizza. "Seriously though, I should get a shotgun. I mean not for carrying around. But what if... those... things had shown at up at my door? The pistol did about nothing to them," she says, shuddering at the memory.

April O'Neil has posed:
April huffs out an exhale and shakes her head. "Not if you're defending yourself, the mat wouldn't be any different from a bat. I mean, if the person ya shocked turned out to really be someone who was like armed and here t'mess with you." She's got some pizza in hand and is nibbling on it now as well. Her shoes are kicked off a moment later and her legs are brought up onto the sofa to curl back beneath her, getting comfortable. "I don't know if your landlord falls inta that category, but maybe." A grin is flashed then and there toward her.

She takes another bite of the pizza and then sets it down and swigs the beer bottle again, then shakes her head. "I can't get behind a shotgun though. I'm too afraid that... you'd like, blow me away if I showed up here in a hurry or somethin' like that. Like if I need to get in here in a rush some night, I forget ya have it and I just pound on the door too hard... then BLAMMO. Shotgun blast to my photogenic face..."

She looks up and over at Van, then shows her sweet smile. "Ya got kind shakey nerves, ya know, right? Even more than I do, I think, which is a feat!"