"Good morning. I see you know who I am."
"Yeah. I ain't never going to forget that whole cake thing, man. Ah, or-" He raises his hands defensively. "-when you fought the Sheeda. I get you ain't just the cake man."
Wow, someone who
doesn't assume he's a one-note Lantern. Still led with the cake thing, though.
"I appreciate that. This is Mister Kent of the Metropolis Daily Planet."
"Oh yeah, Superman's favourite paper, right?"
...Something like that, I suppose.
Kal-El shifts awkwardly, his posture slovenly and uncertain.
"Ah. I guess. He's got good taste."
And here we see 'Clark Kenting' in action.
He flashes a smile for a moment, then makes a show of giving up on it when Mr. Rodriguez doesn't reciprocate immediately.
"Right. So, I guess this is about Medina."
Yeah, that's a safe bet, amigo.
"Indeed it is. I'm sure that your lawyer as explained the difficulties in engaging with anyone on Themyscira legally, particularly when Medina doesn't want to engage with the process at all. I hadn't originally intended to get involved, but… I think I might be able to help things along a little in an informal manner."
A slightly guarded look appears on his face.
After all, being one of the more prestigious parties on the island gives him a certain pull amongst the people.
"Do I need my lawyer for this?"
"'Need'? No. I don't have any formal legal authority. However, a lot of Themysciran law works on the basis of who is the most persuasive in the forum and I've got an advantageous reputation. I'll quite understand if you want to call your lawyer and set up a group meeting, but that sort of things doesn't play well to the Amazon crowd."
I suspect a personal appearance by the jilted father might also help... But I'm sure he'll think of that.
He looks me in the eyes for a few moments and then shrugs. "What's your stake in this, anyway?"
"I want Themyscira to have more contact with the rest of the world. I rather assumed that they would be more interested in American women than men, but I should probably have seen something like this happening."
It's an old tradition, after all. At least she let him live, unlike
some variations.
"Medina didn't see too gay to me."
"She's not American." He looks blank. "Different societies conceptualise behaviours differently. In Ancient Themyscira, it was quite normal for women who prefer women to have sex with men when they wanted to get pregnant, because.. they.. didn't have IVF. If they didn't have sex with a man, then they wouldn't have children. Medina's current all-female marriage group has been together for over two thousand years."
'Group'? Polyromantic as well? How progressive.
"Then what's she doing sleeping around!?"
"Finding someone to sire a child. Three thousand years ago one of her wives would have picked someone, usually an immediate relative, but they don't know any men who are still alive."
That would be a
little awkward, yes.
"So she can sleep with men, and the other women are fine with it?"
"She can have sex with men while she's trying to get pregnant. If she was doing it recreationally, that might be a problem."
Especially if she's keeping the gent to herself when her partners might want to join in.
"So if she enjoys-?"
"No. She can enjoy it incidentally, though… Ah… Unless you have a metahuman empathic ability you haven't told anyone about, I wouldn't assume-."
...I mean, after a dry spell of three thousand years, she might well have had a hair trigger.
"Oh, no man, she wasn't faking."
My right hand finds its way to my forehead.
Yeah,
Casanova, this guy is
probably not.
"And I'm happy to take your word for that. But that doesn't have much social significance on Themyscira."
"Ah, shit." He looks away, releasing some of the tension he just built up. "Ah, yeah, ah… You wanna come in?"
...They had that whole discussion at the
door? Well, I expect his neighbours enjoyed the show.
"Thank you."
He steps back from the door, and I lead the way in. Pretty tidy for a bachelor apartment. Smells… Yes, something was painted recently. The colours are light pastels and I notice that there's a slightly out of place crucifix attached to one wall.
Guessing he intended to move in with her. Or rather, her with him...
Mr. Rodriguez notices me looking at it.
"My momma gave me that as a housewarming present. She-. She really ain't happy about this whole thing."
...Awkward. Only thing more guilt-heavy than a devoutly Hispanic mom is a Jewish one. Edit:
That didn't come out to well, did it. Suffice to say, I meant
Catholic guilt-tripping, especially compared to a Jewish momma... Religious icons of choice aside..
"I admit, I'd rather been assuming that she just went to a club and picked someone up."
"Nah, that's…" He points to a couple of chairs next to the dining table. "Ah, take a seat. You want coffee?"
Probably would have been
easier. Amazed that hasn't happened more yet. Maybe the ladies don't realise that's an
option.
"Not for me, thank you."
"Yes please. Ah, black. If you've… Got it."
Feeling a bit bitter after your little road-trip, huh?
Laying it on a little thick there, Kal-El.
"Ah… Yeah. Sure, man."
Well, he does like to play the role to the hilt...
Mr. Rodriguez walks into his kitchenette and… Puts a capsule in a coffee machine before taking a couple of mugs out of a wall-mounted cupboard.
"So how did you and Medina meet, anyway?"
Yes, that would be an
interesting tale.
"At the coffee shop where I work. She came in during the graveyard shift and… We got talking. She sure didn't mention being married at any point."
"You… You were dating?"
Wonder if she came in in traditional dress or modern? The former might well have made her seem like a Wonder Woman fangirl or something.
He presses the button to generate a mug of coffee, then puts in a new capsule.
"I thought we were." He shakes his head. "Next time, I'm waiting 'til we're married."
A sensible option. If you had
this time, none of you would be
in this situation...
"That's probably for the best. Were you.. planning on having a child-."
"No, I just… I figured she was on the pill when she said it was 'okay'. I mean, I thought we-. I really liked her, y'know? I wouldn't a'minded having a kid with her. And then… A few weeks later and she's out the door and that's when I find out where she's from."
...Goodness, he's serious about it. Guess she made an impression on him.
He sighs as he presses the button for another coffee.
"I didn't even-. I just wanted to know where she ran off to, y'know? And… Why. And you're telling me that the whole thing was so she could get pregnant?"
Bit of a role reversal, really. Less
respectable men might have been fine with 'done and run'.
"I take it that she never discussed it in those terms."
He picks up the mugs and walks over to use at the table, putting one mug down in front of Kal-El on a coaster before sitting down opposite us and taking a sip.
Why spoil the swindle? Wonder if she really
did just ditch him or if there were some deeper feeling she might have been afraid to allow out? She has several partners back home. I doubt she wanted to ditch them for a single man and leave hurt feelings behind...
"No, she didn't discuss it in those terms. I mean I'm-. I'm going back over every conversation we had in my head and wondering if I heard one thing and she meant something completely different. I dunno. I just thought we had a good thing going on."
"Do you have a good relationship with your own father?"
"My dad? Yeah, sure. Him and Mom have been together for thirty years. I'm the youngest of three." He shakes his head. "Dad and Mom are not happy with me right now. Christmas is gunna be real awkward."
"Would you be prepared to talk about your relationship in front of a group of strangers?"
Ah, planning to have him tell his side to the Forum?
"Ah. I don't… Why?"
"Because while I could do it, I suspect that you telling the forum how you feel would be a good deal more effective."
If it sounds scary, just think of it as meeting her family.
...No, wait, that probably makes it
worse.
