006 | action

[solar-absorber.livejournal.com]

[For those who happen to wander into the lobby this afternoon, you'll see an unusual sight. The couch and chairs are all pushed up against the far wall and in the middle of the floor you'll find Apollo stretched out and...painting. A stack of large blank canvases are laying next to him. On his other side he has tubes of paint in all sorts of colors.

For anyone who steps closer, you will see that he's painting a bunch of flowers. Every few moments he'll switch colors and use his fingers to mix the paint on the canvas. You might even notice that he himself is covered in paint, with random spots of color decorating his arms and face. He might even have a spot of green in his hair. Yikes.]


[ooc: SO open to anyone!]

Comments

[hellshaped.livejournal.com]

[That is probably an accurate assessment ...

Hellboy scoops up some white paint and slaps it down on the canvas. You know, for clouds.]

I think you're right. I do need more practice.

[solar-absorber.livejournal.com]

[He nods and throws a dash of red on his own painting. It could use some roses.]

Everything improves with some practice. When I started the only recognizable thing I could paint was the sun. But that doesn't take much effort.

[hellshaped.livejournal.com]

[......... oh shit, the sun!! That's right. Hellboy selects some yellow and draws a circle.]

I think I managed to screw that up somehow.

[solar-absorber.livejournal.com]

[He glances over for a look.]

Uh, no...I think you got it. It's hard to make a perfect circle without something to trace but the yellow makes it obvious.

[hellshaped.livejournal.com]

[Hellboy studies his painting for another moment.]

Maybe I'll stick to punching things.

[solar-absorber.livejournal.com]

[Apollo snorts in amusement and sighs.]

You sound just like my husband. Maybe I should introduce you two.

[hellshaped.livejournal.com]

[HUSBAND, EH ... that's surprising, but it's easy to belie your reactions when you don't wear your expressions very clearly anyway.]

Sure. It's always nice to meet another punching enthusiast.

[solar-absorber.livejournal.com]

[He's gotten all kinds of reactions over the years, nothing would surprise him. That doesn't make the side glances and raised eyebrows any less annoying.]

I'm sure he'd be thrilled. He's been looking for a way to let off some steam. If you're up for it, that is.

[hellshaped.livejournal.com]

[Hellboy pauses for a bit before responding to this, looking over his massive brick fist, which also happens to be slathered in finger paint at the moment.]

If you think he's up for it.

[solar-absorber.livejournal.com]

[His grin widens and he nods.]

Most definitely. I doubt there's ever a time where he isn't up for it.

[hellshaped.livejournal.com]

Sounds like we'll get along just fine.

[solar-absorber.livejournal.com]

I hope so. He's not one to make friends easily. Got to ease him into it.

[hellshaped.livejournal.com]

[A nod] Well, I might be able to make up for that. I'm sort of a social butterfly, you see.

[solar-absorber.livejournal.com]

[That earns him a chuckle.] And you have a sense of humor. Both are pluses in my book.

[hellshaped.livejournal.com]

A winning combination, sure.

[Oh, he was painting, wasn't he? Hellboy eyes his painting for a moment, then ... casually decides he's giving up on it, sob. Not his thing!!]

What's his name? Your husband.

[solar-absorber.livejournal.com]

People like that keep things interesting.

[He's putting the finishing touches on his own painting before leaving it to dry.]

Midnighter.

[hellshaped.livejournal.com]

Midnighter. Another code name?

[solar-absorber.livejournal.com]

Well, yes and no. It's his only name. Like Apollo is my only name.

[He grins suddenly.] We sort of misplaced our old names.

[hellshaped.livejournal.com]

[Hellboy's grin is slow coming, but it gets there eventually.] Sounds like a long story.

[solar-absorber.livejournal.com]

It's actually a pretty short story. We signed up to be a part of a program that turned normal people into post-humans, people with powers, and the man in charge turned out to be a psychopath who tried to kill his subjects. And he succeeded, with the exception of Midnighter and I.

The only catch was that in exchange for giving us these powers, he erased our memories, leaving us only the code names he gave us. [He shrugs, seemingly unaffected by the resurrection of old memories.]

[hellshaped.livejournal.com]

[.......................... oh wow HERE'S A BIT OF A PAUSE AS THAT SINKS IN, jeez]

Well, you seem like you're handling it okay. [What else can he even say to that jeeeeeeeeeeez]

[solar-absorber.livejournal.com]

[He laughs but it's a bit strained.] Yeah, I guess all those years of therapy really paid off. [It's a joke, but a lame one. His definition of handling it is to push it back into the dark corners of his mind and ignore it.]

So, what about you? I'm sure you have an interesting story to tell.

[hellshaped.livejournal.com]

[It's alright. Hellboy knows all about forcing jokes when you're on a strained subject.

He nods slowly in response, because yep, he sure does. He will give him the abridged version, the one that doesn't involve him probably being the Beast of the Apocalypse, destined to wear the Crown of Hell.

Because that sort of thing tends to either freak people out or, you know, make them want to kill him.]

I appeared in a fireball in the courtyard of a dilapidated English church in 1944. The man who raised me was a member of the British Paranormal Society, and later founded the BPRD. I guess I was lucky he didn't dissect me.

He raised me on an Air Force base in New Mexico, after all. [Another slightly awkward joke for your troubles.]

[solar-absorber.livejournal.com]

[He was actually impressed. That is definitely way more melodramatic then his own story.]

A fireball? Really? You must really like making an entrance.

[hellshaped.livejournal.com]

[Well, when you've got red skin, horns, and a tail, melodrama in your backstory kind of comes with the territory.]

I was a kid. A baby, really. I like to think I'm more subtle now.