(no subject)

[henry_fitzroy]

"Giant bloodsucking bugs in the subway."

"Yep."

Henry pauses. "You enjoy saying that far more than you have any right to."

"Yep."

Henry leans back in his chair, smiling at the amusement in Vicki's voice. "And are they still there?"

"No." She sounds as though butter wouldn't melt in her mouth. "A train crashed. Blew up. No one was injured. Except the giant bloodsucking bugs in the subway."

"I wonder how that happened."

"Gee, I wonder. Y'know, sometimes those trains just aren't safe."

"I suppose not."

He can hear the smile in her voice when she asks, "So how're you?"

"I'm doing well," he replies, with a brief thought of red hair and a squeaky voice. "Do you remember Peter Heerkens?"

"Yeah, what about him?"

"Oh, I saw him recently."

There's a long pause on the other end of the line. "You've been in London?"

He understands. London's a lot closer to Toronto than Vancouver. "No, I saw him elsewhere. He's not living on the farm anymore."

"Elsewhere?"

"A bar."

". . . You hate bars."

"This one's. . . out of the ordinary."

"Uh-huh." She sounds unconvinced.

Henry feels no need to convince her, though, and just smiles. "Tony says hello."

"Yeah? How's the kid doing? He still working for that TV show? Forever Night or whatever?"

"Darkest Night, yes."

"How can people watch shit like that?"

"You live shit like that, Vicki."

She snorts. "I do not have a young attractive assistant whose butt I have to save." Beat. "Mine's not young."

Henry can dimly hear Mike Celluci's protesting voice in the background, and Vicki as she turns away from the phone to say, "Hey, I never said you weren't attractive!" Pause. "I do have to save your butt!" Back in Henry's ear -- "Mike objects."

"I noticed."

The conversation fades.