No Prompt: Team Gino continues to work on the problem.
All the good things belong to MonolithSoft.
Diego's comm device had buzzed repeatedly, but each time he just stared across at it on the coffee table. He and Gino were sprawled side-by-side on the sofa, exhausted and damp around the edges from trying to improve Gino's situation. The shower had been loud and useless. The ink hadn't faded, and the scratches were made clearer when the mimeosome fluid had been washed away. They weren't healing like they should. Mim technology, be it nanos or magic, erased smaller wounds within hours. The adhesive bandage industry was in shambles: no paper cuts for the human residents of New Los Angeles. But Gino wasn't healing. Maybe there were too many cuts. Maybe they were too deep. Maybe Cesar had rubbed something into them.
Gino was shaking slightly. He must be cold. They'd agreed to get him into gym shorts because neither wanted to go through another great reveal when the girls got back. The goosebumps on his legs didn't hide the broad lines that were wedged into Gino's skin. In the shower Diego had swabbed at Gino's ankle with shampoo and Gino had howled and thrashed. Diego was ready to give up right then, but Gino had grabbed the washcloth and attacked his legs. Diego ended up pulling the cloth out of his hands before Gino made himself pass out. That's when Diego had gotten soaked as well. The good news was that he hadn't felt as nauseous after getting sprayed in the face.
Now they were sharing the sofa, silent but vaguely angry at each other, a great way to avoid thinking about Cesar and Gino's legs and whatever was going on. The comm device buzzed again. Diego shook his head. "Leave a message," he grunted.
"Might be Josefina," wheezed Gino. The words bounced out of his mouth, matching his shivers.
Diego reached around for a throw blanket. "She'd just text, or not bother."
"They've been gone too long," Gino whined.
The comm device buzzed again. Diego tucked the blanket around Gino's shoulders before hitting accept.
"Lila Brown here. What you need?"
Diego gave Gino an "oh shit it's the boss" glance, then smiled into the comm device. "Hey. We got a little problem. Gino suggested I hit you up." Diego's right eye twitched, from a mix of dismay and recognition. This wasn't the first time he'd immediately flirted during a moment of disaster. He would never live down the time he'd called Elma "Reclaimer Mama".
The sour face in the comm device froze for just a moment, almost hidden by the low quality video. "What's up with Gino?" The gruffness was gone, replaced by careful attention.
The two of them poured out the story, Gino yelling his parts, Diego adding what he had seen. He'd offered to show her pictures but she declined. Josefina and Susu arrived and babbled their opinions as Susu unpacked a duffel bag of mystery bottles, some of which were most definitely not makeup remover.
Brown didn't interrupt until they'd started repeating each other. "Got it. Cesar, Jennifer. Pathfinder. I'll call back in 30 with what I know." Which left them with nothing to do but try all of Susu's strongest potions.
a/n: Whoops, totally forgot what the prompt was. Moving on.
Next up: Print.