『 capeandcowl • contact 』

[invoking]

❝ At the tone, please record your message. ❞
[ beep! ]
【 call • text • voice mail 】

Comments

[retropolis]

It's all right, most of them are swimming. Or fishing... I don't know. I've got some time.

[ He's speaking kind of lowly anyway, just in case someone comes by or someone else wants to use the phone, but at the moment there's no competition. ]

Please don't apologize, Gilbert. It's not your fault.

[invoking]

[ There's a shift in Gil's tone then. He speaks in a hushed voice, but serious enough to hopefully warrant Nelson's attention. ]

I would still like to have a word with you when you're available.

[retropolis]

About... [ He just wants to be clear. ] ... what?

1/2

[invoking]

[

Really, though. ]

[invoking]

About that... that night!

[retropolis]

R-- right. Of course.

[ Nelson exhales, his voice going quieter just out of habit. He clears his throat. ]

I'm just not sure where to start.

[invoking]

[ On second thought, does Gil really want to know why Nelson was tied half-naked to a bed being beaten by a shirtless Hooded Justice? ]

Well, that's... the b-beginning? No, that's not right... Did he -- What were you two, ah...

[retropolis]

We... we... [ He makes a sort of pained hrmmmm sound. ] Well, it's like I said, he wasn't doing anything that I really minded. Sometimes when two people enjoy each other's company, they...

... Er.

Do you understand?

[invoking]

H-How could you even--?! You were in pain! I... I heard it! What sort of person does that to someone he calls an ally and friend?!

[retropolis]

He wasn't going to hurt me seriously. W-we've done it before, there's a whole routine to it.

[invoking]

You've -- before?! But... I don't understand at all!

[retropolis]

Well-- I--

[ Nelson hesitates, unsure of how best to go about this. Finally he says, very quietly: ]

I love him.

1/it is a mystery

[invoking]

[ ... Ah. ]

[invoking]

[ Love.

An emotion that usually describes how people feel about each other.

Or at least how one person strongly feels about another and Nelson's dropped that word in the conversation. ]

[invoking]

[ Nelson just said he loved him. Hooded Justice. ]

[invoking]

[ ... Nelson's a --

He chokes on his end, nearly dropping his phone.

Suddenly it all comes back to him, hitting him like a sack of bricks. Unmarried but past the age, the Deputy Mayor's comments back during the auction, setting him up with Nelson... ]

You're...

okay done to spare you i'm sorry

[invoking]

[ He holds his breath, making strange noises.

Hooded Justice. Of all. People. ]

... Ahhh ...

[retropolis]

[ Nelson's quiet on his end, growing increasingly anxious through Gil's silence. ]

... Are you still there?

[invoking]

Hu -- oh. Yes! I'm here. [ He's speechless. What can he say to that? ]







Him?

[retropolis]

Uh... y-yes. I understand it must be shocking to hear.

[invoking]

You... both of you? Are you l-lovers?

[retropolis]

N-- [ It's automatic; he has to stop himself. He sounds crestfallen. ] Yes.

[invoking]

[ Gil's shocked. There's no other words for it. Nelson, whom he had looked up to and even trusted enough to hopefully not get himself into trouble of any sort of hurt, was allowing a man he loved to hurt him.

It's strange to know he's in love with another man. He's surprisingly not repulsed by the fact, merely curious and amazed anyone could love that burly, rude, and mysterious man.

And that he could even love in return.

People didn't hurt each other -- not lovers, he thinks. ]

But...

He... did that to you. [ He doesn't understand. ] I-I'm not...

[retropolis]

[ Nelson's relieved that Gil is at least not taking the news as badly as he'd originally feared. Not that it makes this whole conversation easier, but it's a comfort that it could still be going worse.

Still -- the worst is yet to come. ]

We were getting intimate. Wh-when you walked in.

1/2

[invoking]

[ He tries to say something, but his tongue flops uselessly and he mouths off gibberish instead. ]