luke henry ; robin (notjustsidekick) wrote in musingslogs, @ 2011-01-30 02:42:00 |
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Entry tags: | batgirl, freddy krueger, robin |
Who: Luke and Quinn, with a bonus appearance by Charlie
What: A not-date.
Where: Movie theater, streets, then Bathos.
When: Backdated to last weekend (after the full moon and before all the National Guard/MK stuff).
Warnings: Awkward, cute, and ending with creepy.
The Saturday after the issue with the full moon came on too fast and Quinn hadn’t spoken with either Luke or Wren. She wasn’t even sure what she should have said if she did contact them. Try to explain why she didn’t trust them to not attack? She didn’t know even where to begin. Instead, she avoided it and waited until that Saturday to come around. She let Luke pick her up from the front of Bathos and she made an effort to look presentable, even if they were just doing things as friends. The echo that she might end up in the paper again cause she happened to exist in the same vicinity of Luke was enough for her to be tentative. She wore the charms that Luke had gave her for Christmas and the pins in her hair from Wren, which was enough to make her feel a little more brave as if they were a shield.
There was a hesitant sense of quiet settled between them, even if they talked a little on the way there. She let Luke choose the movie, even didn’t put up too much of a protest when he bought the popcorn. It was surprisingly...normal. She almost expected some crazed maniac to rush in and ruin it, since it was so damned normal. Halfway through the film, Quinn had pushed away every hesitance and reached out to put her hand on top of Luke’s on the arm rest.
After the film, as they left the theater and tossed away their empty popcorn bucket. Quinn turned to Luke, a hint of a shy smile on her face. “I liked the movie. Was good.”
Luke’s anger over the full moon incident had dulled to frustration the day after, and by the time Saturday came around he was still upset but in a quieter and almost disappointed sort of way. Once he picked her up for their... whatever it was and noticed that she was wearing the charms he’d gotten her for Christmas, however, all of that was tucked away in the back of his mind for the time being. There was no sense in ruining things right off the bat.
He tried his best to make small talk without coming off as too awkward, hesitantly chose an action flick while watching her expression the whole time, and even bought the popcorn without having to argue about it. As much as he told himself this wasn’t a date he couldn’t help thinking that it was nice to do something this normal, just him and Quinn, without having to worry about being killed. For a couple of hours they were just two teenagers watching a movie. She even put her hand on his halfway through, which was admittedly a surprise, but he felt a small spark of pleasure at the gesture all the same.
“Yeah?” Luke glanced at her with a hesitant smile, relieved that she hadn’t hated his choice. “I’m glad you liked it. I thought it was pretty good too.” He suddenly felt the overwhelming urge to take her hand, but tried his best to fight it off. “It was nice to... get out. Do you want to walk for a bit?” The last part was slightly rushed, but he didn’t feel like going back to Aubade just yet and they hadn’t had much of a chance to talk during the movie.
“Fight scenes, yeah? Really good,” she said with a nod, casting a smile in his direction again. She tucked her hands in to her jacket pockets, regarding him quietly for a moment. “Walking’s good,” she said quickly, trying not to look so shy about the thought of spending time alone with Luke. “I’d like that.”
As they exited the theater, Quinn and Luke had seemed to fall silent again. She still wasn’t sure how to bring up the topic of what happened. She didn’t even know if Luke would be angry at her and the last thing she ever wanted was that. “So,” she began, “you...been okay? At home?”
He didn’t mention that he’d specifically picked the movie not only because it was one he wanted to see but also because he figured she’d wanted to see it too. Quinn wasn’t the type for mushy romances or cheesy comedies. “Some action movies are kind of lame, but not this one.” Luke couldn’t help but smile in relief, as though he’d been momentarily worried that she would have asked to go home instead. He knew that things had always been awkward between them since she’d told him how she felt, but he hoped they might be able to get better now - if they could get past the whole wolf thing.
“Yeah. Everyone’s been busy lately, so we’re not usually there at the same time.” Things had gotten a little better since he and Thomas had talked, but nothing he said could change how much he had to deal with. “But it’s okay. How... have you been?”
Quinn usually liked action movies the most, because they were easy to follow without filtering in the language. You could easily spot the good guy from the bad guy then the plots seemed to run the same course. She was glad Luke seemed to like the same things she did. As they walked, she stayed close by Luke with just enough space between them. They fell in to pace with each other easily, enough that it almost made her smile.
“Thing’ve been okay,” she told Luke, giving him a little shrug. “Took long time to fix apartment. But it’s been... good.”
Luke didn’t even realize that Quinn had fallen into step behind him until he turned his head, and he had to fight the urge to smile. Wren had told him to spend time with her to see how he felt, which was what he was doing, but he figured that wanting to hold her hand was a pretty good indication of how he felt. He was still hesitant just in case she’d moved on or just wasn’t interested in him as anything more than a friend anymore. It would be his own fault, though, since he’d been so slow on the uptake.
“I heard there was a lot of damage,” he said with a nod. “I’m glad it’s... good now, though.” Maybe he should just ask about what had happened with the wolf after he and Wren had left. “What about... other things?” He gave her a sidelong look and tried to hide his apprehension.
“Oracle’s mostly mad about computer things broken,” Quinn chuckled a little at that. The windows being broken weren’t the terrible part, the fact they ransacked the house was. Quinn fell silent for a moment, shrugging her shoulders a tiny bit. It was an awkward silence that settled until Quinn spoke, “Sorry. About wolf.”
He pulled a sympathetic face and nodded. “They got at her stuff, huh? At least it’s replaceable, though.” It wasn’t something he liked thinking about, but if they’d stayed in Bathos he wasn’t sure what would have happened. The mention of the wolf prevented him from saying anything about that, though. Luke let out a sigh and shook his head. “It’s okay. I should apologize too.” He paused. “But we weren’t going to hurt him, Quinn. I know it might have seemed like we were but... we wouldn’t have done that.” There was a brief moment of hesitation. “Do you... know him, the wolf?”
Quinn shrugged a little, “Know that. But...” She frowned a little as she tried to think of the way to explain it. “Like, cornering an animal. Going to lash out if scared. You’re...very scary.” With a sigh, Quinn leaned a little in to Luke’s side as they continued to walk. “No? Maybe? He seemed...familiar. He knew me though. By how smelled.”
Luke couldn’t help but feel a little defensive, since a wolf was a wolf no matter how anyone tried to put it, but she did have a point. Wren and her whip were probably seen as a threat and his staff wasn’t much better. Still, he was surprised to think that an animal that big would find him scary. The Bat, sure - but him? No way. “I don’t know why a wolf that big would find me scary. Besides, we didn’t corner him... he had a way out. But the weapons were a bad idea.” He frowned. “The wolf seemed more concerned with protecting you. Like we were going to hurt you too.” That was the part he hadn’t liked so much.
“So he probably is a person, the rest of the time.” That complicated matters, but maybe Quinn could find him and make sure he kept himself inside the next time a transformation happened. Big wolves couldn’t go unnoticed in a city forever. “You think he knows you, then?” He didn’t realize she’d shifted closer until his arm brushed hers, but he didn’t move away and told himself it was just an accident instead.
Quinn didn’t hide her dislike for the way Luke sounded talking about the wolf. She wasn’t trying to be so defensive of him, but she wasn’t sure if Luke really understood how animals thought. Like, hadn’t he ever watched all those nature programs? She wondered if he really cared to figure out how the wolf would react when he approached him. “Still think like animal. Human with weapon? Not good sign. Still animal. Human with weapon kill animal,” it was a simple explanation, but she thought it was effective.
She didn’t bother to attempt to explain why the wolf wanted to protect her. Apparently, he smelled something he liked in her. Quinn doubted Luke would take that as an explanation for anything. “Maybe,” she said with a shrug, “Could see he did, but.” She frowned as she tried to gather her words. “Two minds? Seem very human one time. Turn around, very animal.”
“Animals kill people too,” he said without thinking. Luke couldn’t help feeling like Quinn was defending the wolf too much, not to mention the fact that she didn’t seem to understand that it wasn’t as easy for them to trust a giant wolf as it apparently was for her. The last thing he wanted to do, though, was start arguing over a wolf and end the day in bitterness. “Sorry,” he said after a moment’s pause. “I get what you’re saying, Quinn. I do. To the wolf we probably looked like a threat, and it would have been better to keep the weapons hidden.” He was determined to at least attempt to be reasonable. “But from our side, we had to be careful. We couldn’t just... trust that this huge wolf was really harmless.”
Wren probably would have explained it better, but she wasn’t there and it was just the two of them. Hopefully he wasn’t messing it up too badly. “So maybe it’s the human part that knows you, and that affects how the animal part reacts.” He sighed. The situation was complicated at best but he knew he couldn’t just ignore it. Sooner or later the wolf was going to draw the wrong kind of attention to himself.
“Know that, but. Not like they can help it. It’s nature,” she defended back with a little frown. Faulting a hunter for hunting didn’t make sense. Animals couldn’t think like people do. They knew better, but animals didn’t. She shrugged her shoulders a little again, drooping a little in an awkward motion. She didn’t really want to fight about it, nor did she want to explain herself. “Don’t know who wolf is. But he knows me now. Met time before in mask, but knew again. Possible scent.”
Luke fought back a frown and shrugged. It would have been different if this was a normal wolf, but it wasn’t. “Yeah, I know. But... innocent people shouldn’t have to suffer because of ‘nature’. Whether the person in there knows they become a wolf or not, precautions need to be taken. Not just for other people’s safety, but for whoever the wolf is too.” He paused. “Assuming they’re not a wolf all the time.”
He shrugged again and nodded. “Yeah, maybe.” It was clear they didn’t agree on the topic, which made him think they should just change it since obviously it wasn’t going anywhere. “Anyway. It’s... over and done with now.” For now, more like it, but he didn’t really feel like going over and over it anymore.
“Maybe they didn’t know. Didn’t know what could do after portal,” she said thoughtfully, tilting her head to the side as she looked at Luke. “Probably scared. Scary ability,” she was mostly talking the last part almost to herself. She wanted to help this person as much as she could, but it was difficult to track if they couldn’t ever find them beyond them being a wolf.
“But won’t know. Unless see wolf again,” she said with a tiny shrug. It’s all she could really do was to wait to see if the wolf ever showed up again. For a moment, her hand knocked against Luke’s as they walked and there was a brief pause in Quinn’s steps. She seemed to recover quickly before she hesitantly reached out to entwine their fingers, not looking over at Luke as she did.
Luke was admittedly relieved that the subject seemed to have been closed for now, at least until they found out more about the wolf beyond the fact that he was likely a Creation with an ability. Maybe they could even come to some sort of agreement about helping him when the time came. He couldn’t figure out if the silence that followed was awkward or comfortable, but nonetheless he tried to think of something else they could talk about. They’d covered the movie, gotten over the awkwardness of the wolf, so what was left?
The feel of her hand knocking against his was distracting, but it was nothing compared to the surprise he felt when Quinn actually entwined her fingers in his. He glanced at her sideways, but she remained facing forward and he couldn’t read her expression. When she didn’t pull away he felt a smile tug on his lips and forgot that this wasn’t supposed to be a date. “We should do this again,” he said impulsively. “It’s nice to... get away from everything for a while. Just be kind of normal for a bit.”
Quinn finally pulled up enough nerve to look at Luke, almost unconsciously smiling back when she saw his smile. There was still some hesitance, but she was growing more comfortable with holding Luke’s hand. For the moment, she forgot they were supposed to be just friends and wondered if this was what it was like to actually go on a date with someone. Luke’s statement had caught her off guard for a moment and it showed in her face. Luke actually wanted to spend time with her like this again? “Okay,” she said almost too quickly, trying to ignore the fact she felt her face heat up slightly in embarrassment.
With a certain boldness, Quinn gave his hand a little squeeze as she told him, “I would like that.” She wrinkled her nose at him as she attempted to joke, “Not used to normal. Trying to practice. Do good?”
They were walking down the street holding hands, and Luke had no idea what it was supposed to mean. It probably would have been a lot easier to figure out if he’d just asked Quinn how she felt about him, but there was no chance whatsoever that he would actually do that. He was slightly puzzled by the look of surprise on her face, but her agreement was good enough for him. It meant that she wanted to spend time with him again, or else she would have said no... at least, he thought she would have.
He tried to keep himself from looking too relieved and nodded. “Okay. Good.” Luke paused, trying to figure out if she was joking or not. “Yeah, you did great,” he said with a small laugh, before his expression became slightly more serious. “You don’t need to practice, though. You’re fine just the way you are.”
That time she knew she was blushing and had no way of hiding it. She couldn’t hide the silly smile that crossed her face either. “Well...I try anyway,” she managed, attempting with great difficulty to not be completely awkward. It was only then that she looked forward and realized he had walked her all the way back to Bathos, with the building come in to view. She was disappointed that the night was almost over. “Oh. Almost home...”
It was a random, completely unexpected thought, but Luke found himself thinking that she should smile more often. Not that she never did, but it was nice to see her smile and even nicer to be the cause of it. He opened his mouth to say something else before realizing what Quinn was looking at, and he was both surprised and disappointed that they’d reached Bathos so quickly. “Oh. I guess we should have walked slower,” he said without thinking, and looked awkward immediately afterward. “Uh... I had a good time, though.”
Quinn laughed a little at Luke, looking at him with fondness shining in her eyes. “Next time, we’ll take long way back,” she said with mirth still in her voice. They started slowing to a stop in front of Bathos and Quinn couldn’t help but feel a stab of disappointment that their night would be ending. She turned to look at Luke when they slowed to a stop, not letting go of his hand yet. “I,” she started, before she looked down shyly. “I had fun, Luke. This was...very nice.”
Luke hadn’t been paying much attention to where they were going until it was too late, but he reminded himself to map out a route beforehand next time so the same thing didn’t happen. “You did?” He turned to face her once they came to a stop, unable to keep the surprise out of his tone. “I mean... good. I’m glad.” There was an awkward pause in which he felt like he should do something, but this wasn’t a date. He honestly did intend on turning away and leaving, but he didn’t. It was like something else took over for that brief instant when he leaned forward and pressed his lips against hers, and when he pulled back Luke was at a complete loss of what to say. What the hell was wrong with him? Now he’d just gone and made things worse.
“I... I’ll talk to you later. Uh. Soon.” He turned quickly before he could ramble any further and strode down the sidewalk, resisting the urge to look back. He really was pathetic.
Quinn’s cheeks were pink and she was smiling when he looked at her. She just was able to nod in response and before they could part, Luke had leaned in. The kiss was brief, barely even a peck. She didn’t know what to say either, just staring with wide eyes at Luke’s flustered state and how he disappeared quickly. Quinn gently touched her lips with her fingertips and couldn’t help the giddy little feeling flutter in her stomach.
He kissed her.
She wasn’t even paying attention when she turned to enter the building, bumping directly in to a solid chest of a man. “Oh!” was an exclamation of surprise and she looked up, “Uh. Sorry?”
Saturdays were usually boring for Charlie, and he usually spent them catching up on his sleep for two reasons: he worked all week, and a lot of younger children tended to take naps during the day. On this particular afternoon , however, he was headed out for the oh-so-exciting task of grocery shopping. At first he was only mildly annoyed when he pulled open the front doors and collided with a young dark-haired girl, but that changed once he glanced down and got a good look at her face.
It was her. That bitch who’d taunted him, the one who wanted so badly to draw him out in the real world and face him there. Here. A thousand thoughts ran through his head as he looked down at her, expression never revealing any of them, and the urge to just strangle her here and now was very strong. Charlie was stronger than that, though, and he realized this was a rare opportunity. He recognized her... but she didn’t recognize him. She must have lived in the building. This was perfect.. “It’s fine,” he said politely, waving it off as insignificant. “I should have been watching where I was going.” He stepped aside and held the door open for her, the picture of courtesy, but he was really waiting to see if she entered. Plans were already taking shape in his mind in light of this new and unexpected revelation.
Quinn didn’t even think twice about the man in front of her. She apologized, he accepted and she would be on her way. A hesitant, awkward smile graced her face when he held open the door for her. “Thanks,” she told him as she passed her way in to the lobby of Bathos. She went through her routine, caught up in thinking about Luke and what the kiss could have meant. She opened the mailbox emblazoned with 105 on the front and didn’t look back at the man she had bumped in to. Quinn turned and headed towards her apartment, lost in her own thoughts.
Charlie simply smiled and let the door close behind her. He waited a couple of seconds before nudging the door open and, once he caught a glimpse of her disappearing up the stairs, followed. He kept himself hidden around the corner once she reached the first floor and watched as she entered the door marked 105.
He left the building in a much better mood than before, chuckling to himself as he walked.