Who: Audrey and Rome What: Rome gets in some trouble and meets a cute girl. Where: The Mask support march When: Way backdated Warnings: Some swearing and violence, nothing too bad.
Audrey wasn’t really sure what she was doing at the protest, but she knew that she couldn’t just stay at home. She’d gone down to the support march as soon she she got off work, compelled to see exactly what the face of mask support looked like.
There were people dressed like the Bat, like the people on the comms, and she felt strangely disconnected from it all. These were people she knew that they were masquerading as, some only tangentially and some quite well, and as a scantily clad female Robin wandered by, she wondered just how many people were out here because they supported the masks, and how many had just wanted to be a hero for a day. Still, it was like an island of positive energy in a sea of negativity, and she had to appreciate it for that.
Then, lo and behold, she spotted someone dressed as Firefly, and her trepidation disappeared. Alright, she’d hit the big time - someone had gone to the effort of making her costume idea a reality. She peered around people, trying to get a good look at how they had constructed the costume, so much so that she lost track entirely of what was going on around her.
Rome was currently working on a fund for a mattress, moving up in the world, as it were. The march, like any other loud, large, directionless party, was a good place for him to be. The racket and distracted minds tended to hide a lot of his Noise, and he was able to move through crowds quickly. This crowd was even better because it was masked, and with his jacket collar zipped high over his nose, he went with the push and shove, exploring open backpack pockets.
A wallet hanging out of a badly constructed costume was his recent find, and he crouched just out of the main current of masked protesters, extracting one or two bills onto a torn jean knee. Man, nobody carries cash anymore, this sucks, not even a twenty, going to starve at this rate, oh well, lot of other suckers in this crowd. He dropped the wallet and the remaining contents, including several credit cards, into the gutter. Going to rest for a second. Another half-mile of people here, I can rest for a second. Decision made, Rome dropped down onto the curb and stretched two mismatched tennis shoes out in front of him, not paying any attention to who might be trying to walk past.
Audrey wasn’t watching where she was going, and so she very nearly tripped over the legs stretched out behind her. She stumbled, caught herself, and turned to see a boy sitting on the curb. “You’re a fire hazard,” she said, half-apologetic, giving him a quick once over. He wasn’t in costume, nor did he look interested in participating in the march. “Just spectating?”
Rome shifted guiltily onto one hip and stuffed the bills into his jacket pocket, glancing up. Public street, his thoughts said, spilling out resentful and relatively clear so close, even in the crowd. You should watch where you’re step--whoa, you’re fine. Seriously, fine. Is that a wig? Can’t be, she colored it that color, that is awesome. Rome seized up a little as he realized what he was thinking was as clear as it always was, and he hastily scrambled upright. Fucking Noise.
Alright. That was weird. Audrey watched Rome scramble to his feet, an incredulous little smile spreading across her face. Her hair was fire engine red this week, and while she was used to people taking notice, she wasn't used to that doing it quite so...bluntly. He sounded like he was just thinking out loud, free as a bird. "So I'm allowed to trip on you, being 'fine'?" she asked. He looked ragged on second glance, and she wondered if maybe there was something wrong with him. "I'll forgive you your cattiness because you called my hair awesome."
Oh, there was plenty wrong with Rome, but nothing you could see. His hair was dirty and tangled, but thanks to the running water in Hamartia, he didn’t smell bad. The eyes over the turned up collar that hid his mouth were sharp and intelligent, and they flicked over her body fast and appreciative even as he backed away, stepping on the wallet in the gutter. Is awesome, or just the color, though the cut is kind of funny, I like girls with long hair, I wonder if she dyes all of it? His eyes dropped again illustratively, curious.
Audrey actually laughed out loud. “Wow, man, that mouth get you a lot of dates? No, I don’t. It’s a lot of upkeep I don’t care about and it stings, no matter what other girls tell you.” It was a little like watching a car wreck - if his reaction to her hair had been so blunt, she couldn’t help but wonder what his reaction to that would be like. “So you’re just here for cute girls dressed like vigilantes, I’m guessing.”
Rome was mortified, naturally. He ducked his chin close to his collarbone so she couldn’t see his mouth and his hair effectively hid a blush. That didn’t stop him from thinking, however. Nothing really would while he was conscious. No, not a lot of dates, kind of the opposite, they always get real mad and hit me and then leave. Some of them kind of like it though, you can tell, wonder if she’s one of those? This was so bad. Rome took another step back, but he couldn’t quite flee just yet. The hot girl was talking to him. No, spandex that doesn’t fit isn’t my thing, sometimes more is less, I’m very imaginative.
Even with his collar pulled up, Audrey could tell that Rome was showing embarrassment at last. “I figured that part out on my own,” she said, in reference to him being imaginative. “So if you’re not here for the girls, why are you here? I’m going to trust you to give me an honest answer, you seem like you’re pretty good at that.”
I can lie, Rome insisted, but a second later, you just find out right after I say it, got free. He made a frustrated little huff of sound. So you know when I say you’re hot I mean it. The collar moved as a spontaneous grin creased his eyes under the shadow of his hair.
She smiled back at him. "What, are you trying to tell me that you have to tell the truth?" Something about his smile behind the collar gave her pause, however - was his mouth even moving? She hadn't noticed until then, but she could see him smile behind it - so why hadn't she seen it move at all otherwise? She decided to watch, the next time he spoke. "That's always good to hear, that somebody compelled to be honest thinks I'm cute."
Dunno if ‘compelled’ is the right word, Rome thought, moving out of the way as the crowd pushed past, but not in retreat this time. I didn’t say ‘cute’ either, but yeah, you’re cute. His eyes came back to hers to look closely in his blatant, unmistakable squint. He leaned forward to do it, all thin length and earnest inspection. You got nice colored eyes, or maybe her hair makes them that way, don’t know... Just then, there was a shout out in the crowd; somebody’s wallet was gone. Oh shit.
Audrey looked behind her, following the line of Rome's gaze. She hadn't noticed the wallet in the gutter under his feet, but suddenly this had gone from entertaining to not so much. The 'oh shit' in the face of a missing wallet was telling. "You didn't steal someone's wallet," she said, as a statement, sure she'd get an honest answer one way or another.
No, Rome thought, rather desperately, and then immediately after, as he turned and tried to find a line of escape, Not really, he had it hanging out there from his bag, just asking for it, cheap bastard doesn’t carry any cash anyway... He cast a wide-eyed look back at Audrey, since he could hear himself just as well as anyone else, and he pushed someone aside to make a run for it.
Shit. Audrey jumped between the opening of the alley and Rome, so that when a man came barreling in her direction she could misdirect. "Hey!" she shouted, reaching out to grab his sleeve before he could give chase. "Sir, I found your wallet." She pointed to the wallet in the gutter, which she'd spotted just as Rome was making a break for it. The man reached for the wallet. "See?" Audrey said. "No hard feelings, right? You got it back. It's fine." She tried to block the alley with her body as much as possible, hoping the cute kid had made a break for it.
Rome glanced around just as the man (dressed as a very large Bat that resembled a black labrador in practice) swiped up his wallet and looked inside it. Rome had left everything but the measly amount of cash, and it looked like the guy was in the mood to make an exception. “You took all the cash out of it!” he bellowed, going for her arm to give her an angry shake. A few yards away, Rome’s jangling alarm of what, oh no was fading into something surprised and grateful.
Audrey stepped back, pulling her arm out of his reach and straightening. "I did no such thing," she said, brows knitting down. "That wallet's been lying in the gutter since I got here, and I was nice enough to point it out for you. So I highly recommend you be grateful that all your other shit is still in there and go back to trying to convince girls you really are the Bat."
She turned on heel and walked away from him, in Rome's general direction, but without looking directly at him. Hopefully that would be signal enough to get away from the guy without sticking too close to her.
It didn’t quite work, which was obvious as Rome’s Noise got louder as his eyes lit up with alarm and then anger as he watched the man lunge for her again over her shoulder. He yanked his shoulder around and sprinted back, thinking obscenities with such resentful anger that as he blew past it was like listening to a train. Rome leapt on the guy with a wild punch and a shout that wasn’t in the mind at all, but hoarse and loud and brutally sound. The two of them rolled around in the gutter as the wallet went flying and the crowd pushed back in panic and curiosity.
Audrey heard Rome getting closer, and she turned too late to stop the collision between them as Rome, shouting a blue streak, jumped on the guy in the ghetto batsuit. Right. Why couldn't this have been simple?
She was all to aware of the fact that as soon as someone recognized her this was going to end up in the gossip pages. She ducked into the alley, away from the curious onlookers, and opened her bag, reaching her arm most of the way into it and feeling around. Her hand caught on the smooth handle of her bat, and she pulled it out, zipping her purse closed and stalking up to the fight. "HEY!" she shouted, which didn't do much to distract them. She shoved the bat between them to get their attention. "You, in the fucking bat outfit. You get off him, or I will make you prove to me whether you've got the Bat's skill for dodging a weapon."
Considering the guy had about fifty pounds on Rome, the younger boy was doing rather well, since the chaos of his thoughts (take that, bastard) were almost entirely overwhelmed by the encouragement of the crowd and the flow of the parade as it passed. He’d been trying to break the bigger man’s grip on his neck to prevent him from bashing his head into the pavement before he got punched, when a wooden bat got in the way and Rome froze with a confused what?.
The big man pulled his punch just in time and scowled up at Audrey. He called her a bitch as he got clumsily to his feet, hoisting his backpack back in place, and Rome scrambled to his feet, eyes wild and mouth bloody. She’s not a bitch, you are! he shouted without sound into the guy’s face, shaking his fist and pressing his lips together in healthy, vibrating anger. The guy shoved him away and headed off into the crowd.
Audrey grabbed Rome by the arm when the bigger guy shoved him off, the bat hanging loosely in her other hand. “Thanks for sticking up for me,” she said. “But we better get out of here.” All she could think about were the people in the crowd around them, one or two of whom were squinting at her like she looked familiar. She began backing down the alley. “Come on,” she said, tugging him along, looking over his bloodied face. She wondered if she could afford to take him back to Bathos. “How bad is it?”
The crowd was all staring at him, and Rome’s thoughts flickered with hesitation. Yeah, better split before they really start noticing... He went along with Audrey, unresisting, as they turned into an alley. Think this is a dead end, he thought, glancing over his shoulder. No one was in pursuit yet. Feels like my face is kinda swelling, does it look bad, I can’t tell. He reached up his free hand and gingerly pushed his fingertips into his cheek. He was fine.
"It doesn't look bad," Audrey said, shouldering the bat in case anybody got any ideas to follow them. "It's not a dead end," Audrey said, decisively. They rounded the corner and then - there was a door. A white one, of course, with a silver star set into the wood. It was in the middle of an otherwise unbroken brick wall, and it looked odd there, out of place. "So I noticed you don't really move your mouth when you talk," she said, casually as she could. "Creation?"
Where’d she get the bat? Back here? Is there a dumpster? There wasn’t. He followed along with her and stared at the door with some surprise. Looks weird all white like that. Just asking to get tagged. He shrugged. Door’s a door. It locked? He reached out to turn the knob, but stopped when she asked her last question. The muddy blue eyes were startled. You noticed? She doesn’t seem upset.
“I got it out of my bag,” she said, patting it where it hung at her side. She smiled. “Nope, not locked. Not for me, anyway. And I’m not upset.” She opened the door. There was only blackness beyond, stretching as far as the eye could see. “Want to take a shortcut with me? I can get you across town in fifteen minutes or less, pretty much guaranteed.” She knew there was an even chance he might go sprinting away at the sight of that, but offering to beat a guy up with a baseball bat and distracting him from finding Rome had to count for something. If he didn’t want to come with her, it was his own loss - and potential capture.
It didn’t take Rome long to figure that out. He hesitated, thoughts clear as he waffled, but finally he looked at her and figured, yeah, okay. They went through, and afterward Rome would have strange dreams of falling through nothing from a weird rainbow kind of road, but when he ended up on the Bathos side of town, he looked back, and she was gone.