Dottie Pendragon is smarter than you think. (falsereputation) wrote in musingslogs, @ 2011-01-14 20:01:00 |
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Entry tags: | howl, spoiler |
Who: Darwin and Dottie
What: Darwin to the rescue!
Where: Streets of Seattle
When: Let’s say, a week pre-reavers, in the dead of night.
Warnings: Bickering and stubbornness, cause that’s just how they roll!
Dottie did not make it a practice to walk home in the middle of the night, all alone. But she didn’t want to be stuck in a cab, all alone, at the moment either. Besides, the night air was helping to sober her up and it felt good on her skin. Dot had always preferred the winter to the summer, even if there hadn’t been any real snow yet, this year. Taking a wobbly turn onto a quieter street was probably not the smartest decision, but Dottie wasn’t exactly in a perfect state of mind. She had been at a friend’s birthday party earlier in the night, but she’d felt so distant from all the other drunken college kids that she kept drinking, waiting for the alcohol to help her feel something or at least make it easier to play pretend.
She took another turn, into a dark alley. It wasn’t the safest route, but it was faster and her nose was getting very cold. She’d barely taken four steps into the alley when she felt someone grab her. Her mouth opened to scream, but a gloved hand clapped over her mouth before she could make any real damage. Thinking quickly, she stomped down on a foot and the hands on her arms were taken back sharply. She tried to run, but the hand on her mouth moved to her neck and yanked back hard. She made a choked sound, but was too winded to start screaming again. There was more than one mugger. She had never even had to deal with one before; two, she presumed, was much much worse.
Cold my ass, the night was freezing and Darwin Amis soon realised that it was far too cold to be wearing a tee and a hoodie. There should've been a jacket on top. Nevertheless, it was too late to complain now and he would have to make the best of it; Quinn was, he noted, still awake, and sneaking in and out again while she was there would be tricky. Gwen knew what was going on. He'd accepted it and he would live with it, especially since having Oracle in the house sounded like a pretty useful person to have around.
He strolled through dark alleys, bandana pulled up over his nose and mouth. Every so often he would check around him for sounds of a commotion but today it was relatively quiet. The reasons for this he couldn't quite fathom, but he assumed that there was nothing to worry about and besides, he could take whoever it was. The cold kept him on his toes.
Then he heard the scream.
Sprinting towards the sound he tugged his hood further over his head, noticing three things as he turned down one alley: one, there was a girl. Two, it was a girl in distress. Three, the men holding onto her didn't seem friendly. Clenching his fists, he willed his ability to take action and looking down realized he wasn't visible anymore. Grinning, his fist met the jaw of one mugger, the one who wasn't holding her, before he grabbed his face and slammed his head back against the wall. The man crumpled, alive but out cold. A voice came from the scene.
"Now, put the lady down?"
Dot had not been prepared for the sudden crack of a fist meeting flesh, the sound startled her and her head snapped in the direction of the sound. As far as she could tell, nobody was there. But she barely had time to register exactly was going on before the man’s head collided into the wall with a satisfying smack. When she heard the voice, something clicked in her mind and suddenly it all became a little clearer. It must have been another creation. The mugger released her, probably frightened by what had happened to his partner and Dot backed away from the man quickly. She watched as he picked up the other man and started to walk away, there was no reason to pursue this farther, in her opinion.
Making a full 360 turn, Dot still couldn’t see anybody else on the scene. She felt silly speaking into the air, and there was no telling if the creation was still there, so she pressed her lips together and kept walking, hands shoved into her jacket pockets. Maybe she’d imagined it, the faster she got home, the faster she could hide under her comforters and pretend like it was all just a bad dream. Yeah, that sounded nice. Still, she couldn’t help but walk just a little bit slower, listening carefully for any sign of movement around her.
As the other mugger turned to run away, Darwin nearly followed. Something, however, had become too difficult to ignore. The girl was walking away in the opposite direction, which would've been fine, but she wasn't walking in such a straight line and he was, shocking as it was, concerned about what would happen to her if he wasn't there the next time. It wasn't something he really wanted to contemplate, saving a girl then having her get raped in the next alley while he chased some small-time mugger. He resolved to follow her because if the cold was making him feel uncomfortable, it certainly couldn't be doing her very much good. He turned on his heel and began to walk in the same direction as her, trying to keep as quiet as possible.
It was about three steps in that he realised this was the creepiest thing he had ever done.
Silently cursing at himself, he sped up in order to move into pace with her, letting out a cough. He kept a slight distance away, worried about her reaction if she did realise an invisible boy was following her, but still feeling vaguely amused by the entire process. It was quite funny. Of all the people to be scared of, he wasn't one of them. Clearing his throat again, he grinned at her, although she couldn't see it. He was always amused when someone couldn’t see his expression, it added so much secrecy to everything. He spoke slowly, low and confident in tone. "Are you sure you're in a position to be walking home alone, babe?"
Dot could almost feel someone following her but she didn’t turn around, she figured that if they wanted to attack her, they would have already done so instead of creeping behind her as she tried to make her way home. And if it was the invisible figure from before, then she figured that they would still be invisible and there was no point turning around anyways. But if she had to be honest, she was too tipsy to care much, either way. Even drunk, Dot could find the effort to be bratty and arrogant without saying anything.
The cough caught her attention and she almost turned her head out of instinct, but stopped herself just in time. If they wanted to talk to her, they could, but she wasn’t going to speak first. Especially since she had a strange suspicion that whoever this was had been following her for the duration of time she’d been walking since the attack of the muggers. At the second cough, she slowed to a stop and turned around, removing her hands from her pockets so that she could cross her arms stubbornly. She raised an eyebrow at the emptiness in front of her, did he really just call her babe? So much for being a gentleman, though that ship may have sailed with the stalking. A smirk made her way onto Dot’s lips, suddenly talking into thin air didn’t seem so silly anymore, “I think I’m safer walking alone than with some invisible sleaze who’s been stalking me for the past minute or so, don’t you think?” She was stumbling over her words a little bit; enough for someone else to notice, but not enough for herself to notice in her current state of mind.
Her response did make him chuckle a little. She was feisty, even after that little incident. There were very few girls who could be like that just after getting mugged, and he didn't take it to be a bad thing. Not a good thing either, girls like that regularly got into trouble he then had to save them from, but he appreciated a spark instead of a wilting violet every so often. It made things more interesting.
"Oh, sorry," He grinned at the girl again, stepping right in front of her purely for the shock that was inevitably coming when he decided to make himself visible. "Did you forget that invisible sleaze just saved you back there?" He stepped back just a little, very conscious of the fact that appearing directly in front of her could cause swift pain for him if she had quicker reflexes than he thought. Then again, she seemed tipsy at least. Fast reaction times seemed less likely by the second. And with that, fists clenching a little, he felt his power switching off like a lightbulb.
He appeared, hands in pockets, and made a slight bowing motion in greeting. He could be a charmer as Spoiler, if he really wanted. He just preferred being an ass. "It's not safe for pretty girls like you to walk home at night." Through his bandana, he flashed a grin that was more visible through his eyes than anything else.
Dottie shrugged, smirk still on her face. “That was convenient,” She admitted, “But it wasn’t necessary.” That was a lie, but he didn’t have to know that. She was no damsel in distress. If she were thinking straighter, she would have realized that the figure was now directly in front of her, but as it were, she still had no idea where he was. She opened her mouth to speak again but immediately stopped when a purple hooded figure suddenly appeared before her.
The smirk was wiped clean off Dottie’s face for a full six seconds before she realized and replaced it. “I don’t like vehicles,” She explained simply. Cars had always proven to be dangerous around her, so she preferred to take her chances, walking alone at night. She could tell that he was grinning at her, from under that bandana he wore, and she resisted the urge to roll her eyes back at him. “You do this a lot?” She raised an eyebrow for effect, “Save girls from muggers and then stalk them and tell them they’re pretty?” She probably could have been more grateful to the vigilante, but that just wasn’t in her nature.
He couldn’t help but grin at the sudden change of her expression; it took guts not to be surprised when he appeared and this young girl, despite her outward appearance, had just been mugged. It was unlikely she could’ve kept a straight face for that. She had a lot to say for herself and it amused him, the girls who cried and sobbed thanks were usually hot but there was never anything else there. He did prefer a chat after an incident like this, even if they weren’t so grateful for his intervention. It kept things interesting.
He listened carefully as she spoke, nodding at her reasoning, before responding to the question she had asked him. “I always thought it seemed more polite than yelling at them for wandering around alone?” He shrugged, looking to the sky for a moment. It seemed reasonable to him, at least, the older vigilantes apparently either saved and ran or scolded. He didn’t come into contact that much with them, so he wouldn’t know, but he still found it interesting how the different vigilantes worked. He shook away his thoughts, then stepped backwards a little. “At least let me walk you home. I wouldn’t want that to happen to you again, it undoes all my hard work.” Another practically visible grin through his bandana followed. In all honesty, he was concerned for her health.
“I thought that being a mask meant being all dark and mysterious?” It was more of a statement than a question. This was her first run in with one, but from what she’d heard about them, they generally did their rescuing and then ran off into the night without another word. She couldn’t imagine Batman stopping to chat up every single person he rescued, actually she couldn’t really imagine Batman stopping to chat up anyone at all. But this boy looked young, maybe he hadn’t gotten the hero handbook yet or something. The thoughts in her head were getting jumbled and Dottie shook her head lightly to clear them.
Dot shrugged noncommittally at the next words that came from the boy. She didn’t need a babysitter, she wasn’t a baby. But if she was being honest, she didn’t mind the company after being nearly throttled to death. Turning around a little too quickly, Dottie wobbled a bit before catching herself and regaining her balance. She took a few more steps before turning her head and smirking at her rescuer, “Are you coming, Mr. Heroic?”
Her next comments provoked another grin, and he rolled his eyes. “People get those ideas from comic books, news reports, and run ins with the Bat himself. Trust me, I am in the happy minority.” There was a distinct hint of mockery in his voice; he had been listening in on the comms and the seriousness of it all was beginning to get old, especially with the infuriating issue when he was sure he knew who someone was by their voice but couldn’t quite place it. He had just been steering clear of the things; if Gwen wanted to know what he was doing, he was in the next room. As these thoughts spun round in his brain, he heard the next words, grinned, and fell lightly into step with his companion.
“Certainly.” The charm was back in Darwin’s voice, but the alertness was back in his sight. This was even more dangerous than sneaking around, now he was practically in broad daylight. He was pretty sure that vigilantes weren’t meant to do this. Still, he hadn’t been around long so he could always put it down to inexperience and, of course, being a sucker for a pretty face. He quickly scanned the alleyway before speaking again. “I hope you don’t go wandering down alleyways like this all that often.” He smiled wryly.
“I guess it’s just one of those things you have to experience first hand, huh?” It was easy to assume that all the masks were serious, mysterious, lesson-teaching types, especially with how the media had been portraying them. But if she was being honest, she preferred this particular boy’s brand of heroics.
Dot smiled as the boy fell into step beside her, not an honest-to-God happy smile, but still a smile none-the-less. “Only when I want to get home faster,” She sounded nonchalant, like it was the most common thing in the world for an eighteen year old girl to be walking home in the middle of the night without at least someone to keep her company, “Do you spend a lot of nights chaperoning late night pedestrians?” For a few more paces, she looked at the ground, watching as her shoe met the pavement with every step she took. Then looking up at the boy in the purple hoodie, she realized she didn’t know how to address him, “Is there something I should call you? Or is Mr. Heroic good for you?” There was a teasing smile on her lips, but superhero names were not really known for their sensibility.
“People call me Spoiler.” Darwin shrugged, keeping a lighthearted tone to his voice. “I’m good at that. Spoiling stuff.” He tipped his head in a greeting to her. Knowing her name would be more difficult for him. He was sure he wasn’t meant to know people’s names, he never did in Musings. When he did this stuff there, people knew him and never bothered to ask his name however, just laughed because of his dad’s... activities. “I think it’s... catchy.” Eyes cast skyward, it was one of the best names he’d come up with in less than ten seconds. When he was giving a fake name to the police, it had always been Dave. Why Dave? God only knew, he decided not to look into how his brain worked when put under pressure. Whatever happened, it obviously worked because he still didn’t have a criminal record.
He always kept a step behind her, just to watch their backs. As well as that, he still didn’t know where she lived. Still, her earlier comment played on his mind. He saw too many girls getting hurt this way, and this one... well, she seemed more clever than that. “And you never thought, once, that you were going to get hurt down an alleyway? I’ve gotta say, you didn’t look dumb but that...” He pulled a face, arms folded. “That wasn’t great. Because then you get boys like me following you through alleyways at night.”
“Clever,” Dottie smirked, a distinct tone of sarcasm in her voice, “People call me Lucky, cause I am.” She had to admit that Spoiler was a pretty catchy name, though it was still rather obvious when explained. Maybe he shouldn’t be explaining it so much. But then again, if he wasn’t concerned with the whole mysterious bit, it wasn’t an issue either way. Still it was only fair for her to operate under an alias if her night time hero was going to operate under an alias as well.
“Like I said, I’ve always been lucky,” She smiled, it was true. She’d been in two major car crashes in her life and survived both with nothing more than a few bumps and bruises. Dottie let out a small laugh, “If you’re trying to prove that you’re not a stalker, maybe you shouldn’t be using yourself as an example for one.” Throwing a backwards glance at him, she shook her head slightly. Dot was a smart girl, but she didn’t feel the need to prove it to everyone she met. In fact, she tried to prove it to as little people as she could, that way she had an excuse for when bad things happened. She just didn’t know any better, or she had no idea it was coming! She kept these thoughts in her mind as she lead the way to The Bathos. They were only a few minutes away now and she wasn’t sure how far Spoiler was going to follow her, to make sure that she was okay.
The name she gave was so obviously fake that Darwin couldn’t help but grin widely. This had been an interesting night, that was certain. There was almost nothing relevant in terms of information that had been given out and he wasn’t about to give out his real name so in this case, it probably didn’t matter: at the very least, it had been entertaining. As she spoke he listened, keeping one step behind as always while she spoke. It was only as she spoke about stalkers again that he decided to answer this ‘Lucky’.
Darwin shrugged, grinning at the idea she proposed. “I’ll try to remember that.” It probably wasn’t a great idea to use himself as an example but it was the first one that had popped into his head. He adjusted his bandana again, suddenly very conscious of how much of his face was hidden. Sometimes, he probably didn’t look much better than a criminal. He really needed to remember that. It was at that point that he realised they were actually heading to The Bathos building, and he relaxed. He knew the area well. It actually made him feel better to know the girl was a Creation. “You live in The Bathos?”
The boy sounded surprised and Dottie couldn’t help but smirk a little bit. “Yup,” She was a creation, just like him, “Do the other people you reveal yourself to usually deal well with the invisibility thing?” She only asked because she would have guessed that despite being initially shocked, she still would have dealt much better than someone who just didn’t understand the thing about Creations and abilities.
Suddenly, she wondered if he sounded surprised because he lived in The Bathos as well? There were all kinds of Creations with odd powers roaming around the streets of Seattle at night; they had to stay somewhere during the day, right? She wouldn’t ask what was on her mind, but she was certainly going to be more alert when she passed by her neighbours from now on. She glanced backwards and tried to take a mental snapshot of what she could see of Spoiler. It didn’t occur to her that this entire train of thought might fade into the shadows of her subconscious, by the time she slept off the buzz from the party.
Darwin smirked. The answer to the question she asked was one that he could definitely answer, but he wasn’t quite sure what reaction it would provoke. No, people tended not to take his power well; it freaked people out, predominantly as a reason, and he couldn’t say he blamed them. There was a certain amount of trust you had to have with someone who was invisible and though he wouldn’t violate it unnecessarily, he didn’t exactly play the part of someone who would. There were certain social boundaries he kept crossed: for example, following girls to make sure no one hurt them. He made a non-committal gesture, stretching. “Depends on the person? Your reaction was one of the better ones.”
They neared the road across from The Bathos and Darwin stopped, hands suddenly in his pockets. “And I think it’s time I left you, babe. Wouldn’t want a strange masked guy to walk you right up to the doors.” The grin, still almost visible through that bandana, widened once more as he mock bowed before straightening, backing off. “Bye... Lucky.” The chuckle that followed echoed as he felt himself wink out like a candle.
He disappeared as quickly as he had appeared.
Dottie bit her tongue to stop from making some smart comment that would surely sound less smart when she said it out loud. Inside, she was rather proud of herself for having one of the better reactions. She pressed her lips together to stop from grinning too widely, but it was clear what she was trying to do.
“Mmmhmm,” Dot nodded with a smirk, “Wouldn’t want to compromise your secret identity either.” She watched Spoiler disappear into the darkness and couldn’t help but wonder if she’d run into him again.