Aftermath

I walked Gwen, the Cappie, home after she found out Captain America was killed off, and then I didn't hear from her for two days. She didn't return any of the messages I'd left on her machine. I was worried.

I made a trip over there, just to try and cheer her up. I had a whole host of speeches in mind: everything from "he'll live on in your heart" to "they'll probably just bring him back to life when sales are low."

I hesitated when I got to the door. Was I ready for this? Dealing with sad people's not really my forte, you know?

When she answered the door, I could see in her apartment an open suitcase. Dear Lord, was she running away?

"Hey, I was just gonna go over and see you. What are you doing here?" She said.

"I... um... I was just in your area."

"Sorry I didn't return your calls, I was up in Durham, Maine, visiting my cousins, and I don't get service there."

She's not upset?

"You know, your messages were kind of weird," she said. "Things like 'How're you holding up' and 'call if you need to talk, I'm here for you'. Have you been hitting the coke again?"

"What? I thought you were upset because they killed off Captain America."

"Yeah, I was disappointed, but it's not the end of the world. He's a comic book character, they'll probably bring him back to life sometime soon; maybe when their sales are low. Why did you think that? Did I seem upset when we left the shop?"

"Well, not exactly, but I thought you were just trying to keep a stiff upper lip for me."

"You're a moron. Let's head over to Penang's and grab some food. I'm starving."