MIDTOWN: Doug Ramsey & X-23 & Steve & Open
"Stop!" If there was one thing Doug hated, it was fighting. All the senseless violence. It was nauseating. Why couldn't they all just sit down and talk this out? And now the man had gotten hurt because he couldn't handle himself. Gah. It was all his fault...
His footfalls were heavy as he closed the last distance between them. The man was strong, the girl potentially stronger, and there wasn't a dang thing he could do to help in the physical aspect. Raising his voice wouldn't help either, but it was honestly difficult to maintain his composure in the chaos. Fear and confusion was doing a terrible number on all of them. Maybe when he had a moment, he would go stomp in a circle and scream his lungs out. That would make him feel better.
"Please... let's all calm down. I'm not here to hurt you." He shifted his gaze to the man, nodded appreciatively, and then back to the girl pinned to the ground. "He isn't either, and I'm definitely sure you aren't here to hurt us as well. We just got off on the wrong foot." Without hesitation, like the girl hadn't stabbed him not too long ago, he extended the unwound hand toward her, then shifted another glance to the man to signify that maybe it was okay to stop drilling his knee into the girl's back.
Trust. It was coming down to trust.
"Let's start over again. I'm Doug... It's nice to meet you."