Groundskeeping [IC]

[Electra]

It was odd to hear Avenger and Phantom's real names used in this context, but then, Stesha figured, she wasn't taking much care with her own identity, out here in sweatpants and with no mask. "Well, if you ever need a place, you should let us know. Dark Star's not using his old place very much anymore, if you need a place to crash for whatever reason." Without her gloves on, the light from the streetlamps picked up the ring on her finger, which she couldn't help but glance at in a very pleased way. "Did anything else get messed up in the fight?"

[Dr Archeville]

Dead Head let out a long, low whistle at the sight of the ring, "oh, that is nice! Did Dark Star make that for ya?" He leaped off the headstone he'd been sitting on and shambled closer, one hand outstretched. "Is he really as much a Boy Scout as everyone says? I ain't ever met tha guy, but I read tons'a stories in tha papers."

The zombie glanced around, nodded, and turned back to Stesha. "Nah, looks ya got it all. An' it looks tons better'n it did before! I'm sure the family'll be pleased... well, if'n they ever come out here."

[Electra]

After just an instant's hesitation, Stesha put her hand in the bony, half-fleshed one, letting him get a look at the ring. "He's wonderful," she told Dead Head with a smile that verged on dreamy. "I'm surprised you haven't run into him by now, he spends a lot of time looking after Freedom City. I'm sure you will soon. And he did make it for me," she confirmed, "it has a real seed in the middle of it. Isn't it perfect?" When Dead Head looked closely, it seemed like the ring glowed just a little itself, independent of the streetlights. Or maybe that was just Fleur herself.

[Dr Archeville]

Or maybe it was the light of the sickly green flames which wreathed Dead Head's eyes. Who could say? All Stesha knew for certain was that the zombie's hand was cool and kinda rubbery.

"That is right purty." The zombie's rictus grin widened a bit, "hope y'all's weddin' goes off without a hitch! I heard Jac & Taylor's had a mess'a problems...but you was there, weren'tcha? Helped get all them folks out, right?"

He released her hand and let his arms hang freely, "ain't surprised I never seen Dark Star; like I said, I don't see many heroin' folks, 'less they's investigatin' somethin' mystical or attendin' a funeral fer a friend. Guess there's some places even superheroes don't like goin'"

[Electra]

"Well, Jack and Taylor's wedding had the odds stacked against it from the start," Stesha told him with a laugh. "I think ours is going to be a lot quieter. We're not having it in Freedom City, for one. A superhero wedding here, I think that's just asking for trouble." She looked around once more. "I think that takes care of everything, then. You sure you're okay? Nobody's going to come back looking for you tonight or anything like that?"

[Dr Archeville]

Dead Head shrugged, "well, that Wander gal might, but she ain't the worst I've faced. Though I think she might be busy with Lady Winter tonight, gettin' her a place set up. Gal's got a good heart, jes'... lets an' lots an' lots'a rage."

"Whoa, back up -- not havin' it here? Why not?" The zombie seemed sincerely surprised, "Seriously, why not have it here? You an' Star got a ton'a friends 'mong the heroin' community, an' even if ya didn't, Star's so danged pow'rful no one'd dare interfere! An' like ya said, Jack an' Taylor had the deck stacked again' 'em -- who'd wanna mess with y'all? Unless..." His eyes narrowed, and the rictus grin contorted into an approximation of a smirk, "y'all gettin' married up in space? Some planet he saved gonna be host for tha thing?"

[Electra]

Stesha chortled. "Sorry, nothing so exotic as that. My huge, huge family all lives out around Chicago, and it's going to be a heck of a lot easier, both logistically and on our secret identities, to move our friends here out there and back then to try and get my whole family and all my friends out there to Freedom City for the occasion. Not being quite as much of a lightning rod for any supervillain who thinks he's being cute is just the icing on the tall white cake. I think you're probably right that no one would dare, but it's one less thing to have to worry about on the big day, you know?" She winked. "I think we may be having the honeymoon in space, though. He's being cagey about it."

[Dr Archeville]

Dead Head chuckled again, "if he's bein' cagey 'bout it, then he must still be thinkin' like a man, not some Space-God like tha editorials say!"

"Always wanted ta go to Chicago some day. Lot'a horror movies set up in Illinois, an' they got some real nice cemeteries. There's even a website on 'em, I saw it back in..."

He was about to say "back when I was alive," but quickly changed gears.

"So do yer folks know about yer superheroin' activities? Any other supers in tha family?"

[Electra]

"I told my parents about all of it recently, but it's not a genetic thing, more a weird magical accident," Stesha told him. "I didn't want them to worry about me, but at the same time, if anything bad ever did happen to me, I don't want that to be how they found out either, you know? They can keep a secret, and it makes it much easier to deal with them, now that I don't feel like a big liar all the time." She grinned. "If you really do want to get out to Chicago sometime, I can give you a ride. It's no more than a couple seconds' travel if you do it right."

[Dr Archeville]

Dead Head nodded. "I knew yer powers was magical," he tapped his right temple, "but I weren't sure if anyone else in yer family shared it. Magic passes on just as easily as mutant powers, I hear."

He paused again, thinking of his own family, and how they all believed he was dead. He'd never thought to go back and tell them, and now, he had no idea how he could.

"An', if it's any consolation," he finally said, "if'n anythin' did happen to ya, and no one else was able, I'd pass on word for ya."

"Yer talkin' 'bout teleportin', right? You can do that, through plants, right? I can do that, too..." he said as he walked behind a small tree, and then appeared on the other side, barely breaking his stride, "but only sometimes. An' only through shadows, or from one graveyard to another. Guess it's somethin' I need ta practice on. I find walkin' usually good enough -- meet more folks that way."

[Electra]

"You do," Stesha agreed, "but teleporting around from place to place is much faster. And I can go anywhere in the world, which is a good way to help me keep up with my boyfriend, or go home and grab my... costume." She looked down at her pink sweatsuit, grinning ruefully. "I swear, I'd have gotten dressed up, but I was a little nervous when the screaming started. I'm glad you're all right." She hesitated for a moment, then decided one personal question deserved another. "Do you have any family?"

[Dr Archeville]

Dead Head's rictus grin widened, "thanks fer comin' out so quick, Fleur. An' fer showin' some concern. No one's shown me that in... in quite a while. You, an' the other Midnighters, are the only ones who've treated me as anythin' close ta human. Well, Jack'a All Blades does, too, but I almost never see 'im, an' I know his name ain't exactly liked 'mong Jack an' Taylor's house."

He paused again when she asked about family, and it was only by the continued flicker og the emerald flames in his eyes that she knew he had not 'shut down'. When the silence started becoming uncomfortable, he spoke, "Yes an' no. I have a mother an' father, an' a younger brother an' sister, an' some grandparents an' aunts an' uncles an' cousins. An' as far as they all know, I died -- dead-died -- about ten years ago. I never approached 'em after... well, after."

[Electra]

Stesha almost asked "why not," but the seemingly obvious answer would've made the question cruel. She tried to envision how she would react to seeing one of her siblings changed into an undead being with eyes of flame and pieces of skin falling off. She liked to think that eventually she'd have been able to get used to it, but then, she'd seen a lot in her brief times as a superhero, things most normal people didn't see. It was easy to imagine why Dead Head might feel it was a bad idea to try and get in touch with the family who thought him dead. "Have you ever thought about trying to contact them?" she asked instead.

[Dr Archeville]

"Don't really see a way I can; do you? I mean, if I'd contacted 'em shortly after, then maybe, but..." The zombie got a far-off look in its eyes for a moment, then snapped back, "I was a very different person when I first resurrected. Well, technically, the second time I resurrected; after the first time I was pretty much like ya see me now. But, fer a long time, I was... not someone they'd want ta meet."

"I'm in a better place now, but, well, how would I go about it? After ten years'a thinking their first-born son, their big brother, has been dead an' gone fer so long? Ain't exactly the kind'a thinkg ya can sugar-coat. Nah, it's.. it's fer tha best they continue thinkin' I'm gone."

[Electra]

"That's a big decision to make on their behalf, isn't it?" Stesha asked gently. "It's admirable to not want to hurt them, but maybe after all this time, it's the right time to get back in touch. Maybe it'll be easier for them to understand that your life is very different now, now that their expectations for what you might have been have had time to fade. And what if they have regrets that you could ease? What if there are things they always wanted to say, and never got the chance to? It doesn't matter what you look like, you're still their child, their brother. You could be depriving all of you of a whole lot of good, because you're afraid of the pain."

She sat down on the edge of a wrought iron bench, watching him. "You could have an intermediary, if you think it would be too hard to jump in feet-first. Ask someone to get in touch with them and tell them their son might still... survive." She wasn't entirely sure Dead Head was alive, but couldn't quite think of a delicate way to put that. "Sort of ease them into the idea."

[Dr Archeville]

Dead Head began to chuckle, then the chuckle became a knee-slapping belly laugh. And then, to Stesha's discomfort (but not so much her surprise), he actually fell to pieces from laughing so hard.

[bg=#000000]"Hoooo, girl!"[/bg] was the first coherent thing she could make out. Oddly, when he was in pieces like this, his voice had an eerie hollow reverb effect. He slowly began to pull himself together (both literally and figuratively), [bg=#000000]"I'm laughin' s-so ha-hard because I'm usually tha one actin' as tha intermediary fer others! An', really, who would? Only one I can think of who might is Taylor, but she's got her hands more'n full with all tha stuff in her life."[/bg]

His body was mostly back together now, only his head remained separate, and that he held slowly lifted up and put back on. [bg=#000000]"Not sure I'd really want her doin' it, any[/bg]way, on account'a who -- what -- her husband is. I... understand his condition, but that don't mean I condone it, or want him anywhere near my kin."

[Electra]

"I totally understand that," Stesha said feelingly. She looked markedly relieved as Dead Head finished his spasm and put himself back together. "I love Taylor, and that's the only reason I would ever willingly get within a hundred feet of Jack. I wouldn't want him anywhere near my family either. But besides that, I'm sure that anyone you ask to help you reunite your family would be willing to do it. I mean, I would help if you asked, and we barely know each other! It's about family, and love, and that's something we all work for as heroes, right?"

[Dr Archeville]

"Ya.. ya would?" The zombie seemed genuinely surprised at that. "Dang, Stesha, you are a nice one! I may jes' take you up on that offer... but, uh, not right now. Gimme some time ta think it over, 'kay?"

Do I really want to? She does have a point, it ain't really entirely my decision, an' they certainly deserve some true closure.

Dead Head looked over the family plot once more, and nodded. He turned back to Fleur, "well, looks like yer all done here, an' I'm guessin' ya got some hot plans with yer tall, dark an' star-y fella. So... guess I'll see ya 'round?"

[Electra]

"Sounds good," Stesha told him, walking over to a tree that was looking much healthier than it had half an hour ago. "You've got my phone number if you decide, or if you need any help with any more plant related things. I can always drop by and patch up a cemetery that needs it, or whatever. You take care of yourself, okay?" With a smile and a quick wave, she was gone, disappearing into the plant without so much as a noise or a breeze.

[Dr Archeville]

Dead Head waved goodbye to Fleur.

"Yeah, guess it was too much ta hope she might wanna hang out with me, even fer a bit," he muttered as he tunred towards the west. "Couldn't wait ta get away from tha Dead. But, 'least she offered ta help; that's a durned sight better'n most."

He walked on, towards another graveyard.

[groove]21724670[/groove]

~fin~