InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Why am I always Lois Lane?"

r. lupin (tufty) wrote in silverage,
@ 2011-07-13 12:41:00

Entry tags:

!log, remus lupin, selina kyle

i don't know where to go
Who: Remus Lupin + Selina Kyle
When: Late evening
Where: Around the city, maybe close to a major road.
What: Trouble, trouble, trouble~
Rating/status: ~PG-13 for blood/finished.

Remus hated the Knight Bus.

It was a crazy, bewitched, triple-decker with a goal in life to beat the speed of light but he wasn't going to be choosy, especially not now that he was a little down in his luck. Boarding the vehicle, he noted that there was only one witch with him, someone gaining on age and they smile and greet each other a good evening. Choosing a space for himself that was a bed away from her (the Knight Bus at least had beds at night...), they began to chat, a small, quiet one as Remus made his corner comfortable for him.

"So where are you headed?"

"East Sussex to visit my grandson."

"Really?" Remus smiled. "I'm headed that way, as well." He at least had a destination now.

Bang! went the Knight Bus.

She showed him pictures of her grandson, her daughter and her son-in-law and Remus obliged her in her stories. He had brought little entertainment for himself, after all. Not very long after, the Bus would threaten to toss them all out the window when it halted quite effectively for another lost wizard in the form of a young man in dark robes.

He didn't take it off when he stepped inside the bus and sat down on the closest bed, and Remus frowned. A long, black robe, now wouldn't that make you feel stuffy to keep it on?

They greeted each other with a stare.

"Now he--"

"Get down!" Remus didn't know what came first, his pushing the grandmother down or his yelp but the beam of green had just struck past his shoulder by the time he flattened the witch and got a hold of his wand to fling a spell at the dark wizard. "Petrificus Totalus!"

The conductor behind the dark wizard fell over as though a dead body.

But the quick war had been enough to disrupt the Bus' journey and everything toppled over with a jolt, dark wizard inclusive. Remus had grabbed his suitcase and the old witch's hand, meaning to rush out of the triple-decker while the enemy was still down but something unpredicted had happened. With a crack! the entire Bus had been torn away from sight with his breath but before he could realize that he had Disapparated with the witch, someone was already strangling him by the collar of his top.

The brick wall exploded on Remus' left cheek with a crack! and a cry from him and he fell to the pavement in a heap. The night was brighter and warmer, he could feel his cheek inflating itself and ahead of him was the witch with her wand out and the dark wizard hopping and roaring on the road.

"Exp--" Expelliarmus or Expulso, Remus didn't catch the witch's spell, not when a flash of green gripped her in a fatal claw and she dropped to the concrete without a fight; she had been in-between him and the killer.

Remus scraped his wand from the ground and aimed it at the hopping, pale murderer.

"Ava--"

"Stupefy!"

His heart must have exploded with relief when his wand's red light struck the attacker straight in his chest and pushed him helplessly down the asphalt. Remus wished there was something he could do for the witch who lost her life for his but that was out of the question if he wanted to do justice to her sacrifice. Grabbing his battered suitcase, he spun and made a run for it. Behind him, there were shrieks and a cry of alarm -- and then the sound of tires and something tumbling, then a woman's screech.

Remus turned round his heels again and saw it with a gasp. Where there was once a Death Eater, there was now a small bus over the body, the lifeless hand peeking out of the vehicle's shadow evidence of a lost fight. He caught his breath, his color must have faded from his lips when he realized what had happened but as the crowd began to surround the bus and its corpse, the wizard knew this was no time to be dumb.

So he turned again and ran away.

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thatdarncat
2011-07-20 05:11 am UTC (link)

Unconsciously, she moved backwards to match the boy's movement. She glanced at him up and down, unsure of what he was trying to do. She wasn't used to people reaching out to help her - usually if someone was approaching her, it was to either throw a punch or pinch her rear, neither of which she appreciated.

"I'm fine," she replied stiffly, tying the whip in a knot. She finally glanced back down at the flashlight...thing. She stared at it for a few moments, trying to figure out exactly what it was. It seemed like it was the same thing that was shooting fireworks.

"So what is it that you...what is that thing, anyhow?" she finally asked.

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tufty
2011-07-20 05:28 am UTC (link)

Remus stilled himself although he kept his hand out. If she wanted to be left alone, he had no right to pursue her.

"This thing...?" He didn't quite know what she was asking there, though. He moved his wand a little by his trigger finger so that the light rose and fell an inch. "It's lumos," he said hopefully helpfully. "Lumos sets your wand alight..." That was common knowledge.

But that was the thing, it was common knowledge. She should know it at her age unless she was a squib but for all their lack of magical powers, squibs still understood how wands work.

And then it dawned to him. Holding his breath (and he must have lost some color there), he realized that she was a muggle. All along, he'd thought she was a witch because he'd thought she was a Death Eater but her whip wasn't a wand turned to a whip, it was a whip in all essence of the word and object a whip!

"Oh God," he hissed to himself as the light shook a little in his grip. You're a muggle, he almost added but he was smart enough to keep it to himself this time. If Remus could hit himself right now, he would have done it, though. "It umm..." he dampened his lips as he thought of an excuse, "...is a toy. This thing, it...a light flasher. It's a light flasher." Muggles have that, don't they?

"We must get you to a clinic," he offered hastily after, glancing over his shoulder as he stepped closer to his suitcase. Get her to the clinic, wipe her memories of him, then beat it. He was grateful for her help but the fact remained that she was a muggle.

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thatdarncat
2011-07-20 05:40 am UTC (link)

Wand? That's what she heard, and she couldn't deny that that was exactly what it looked like. And suddenly the boy seemed extremely agitated, losing what little color his cheeks had. She took another few steps back, bringing her guard back up as quickly as it had gone down. Things were getting weirder and weirder.

"I'm fine, kid. I don't need a clinic," she quickly replied, hand now sidling back to her whip.

"Really I should cut the boy a break. He's one of those transplants, thousands of miles away from home - I guess I'd be a little skittish, too," she thought to herself, and sighed heavily.

"I don't need a clinic," she repeated, "And I think you need to calm down a little. That wand or whatever isn't as surprising as it really ought to be," she mumbled, thinking back to her encounter with an honest-to-goodness angel from just a few short weeks ago. "So just...let's start over. I'm Selina,"

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tufty
2011-07-20 05:51 am UTC (link)

What? She'd seen a wand before?

She was a muggle who'd seen a wand before. Fine, not very surprising on that end, Remus himself was the product of such possibility. But advise as she might, Remus still kept his nerves in a tight grip. He was in a strange land, someone had just tried to kill him, a woman had just died for him, this woman was hurt, she really should go and get herself checked and so should he and he just didn't feel right about about calming down even just a little.

So that was how he decided to lie, again, and no apologies to the man who owned the name, too. "My name is Severus," he said, almost whispered, before he cleared his throat and said more clearly, "Severus Snape." The rift between the two of them is common knowledge, anyhow.

"Should we really be talking out here? In the middle of nowhere?"

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thatdarncat
2011-07-20 06:08 am UTC (link)

Severus. Jeez, he must be from the 1600's or something. What on earth kind of name...?

"Fair enough," she replied. It was a good point. She didn't usually hang out so close to her targets after a theft, especially not in her costume. It was amazing that someone hadn't already passed them, and her costume was a little bit on the attention getting side. But why did he have to worry? Why in the hell was this kid so agitated?

"Uh, do you have some place you wanna go? There's a place for...uh, people who're kind of out of place. New arrivals," she asked uncertainly, taking a few steps northward, wanting to at least get off of this block, "Or...I dunno, are you hungry or something?"

What did magical English kids from the 17th century like to do? This was way over her head.

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tufty
2011-07-20 06:17 am UTC (link)

Oh good they were moving!

"No, I'm not hungry," Remus replied almost kindly to her and he did permit himself a small smile. "But thank you for asking." Then he took up his suitcase and whispered to his wand, "Nox." And so it was that light disappeared. If they were moving, it was best to do it without attracting attention, he thought.

He caught up with Selina quickly enough, keeping a comfortable half-arm's distance between them and his wand out although pointed down. A part of him wished he hadn't killed the light just yet because now his eyes had to get used to the dark -- and what if some creep popped out of nowhere and attacked? "I am afraid I had never been here in my entire life, though, so I don't know where to go." He arched his brows at her. "Would that be the reason I am out of place?"

She wasn't lying when she said she'd been to his trouble before. This Selina was starting to be a heaven-sent.

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thatdarncat
2011-07-20 10:28 pm UTC (link)

Selina smirked, "Yeah, I'd say that's reason enough you're out of place,"

She kept a brisk pace, though she limped a small amount and breathed heavily. They were headed towards the...what was it called, the welcome center? Though that was, admittedly, thirty-some odd blocks away. Hmm, maybe she should just spot him some cab fare and call it a night.

This thought occurred to her just as they passed a clothing store. Mannequins in the window were dressed to the nines, in furs and Hermès scarves and - wow, the nicest blouse she had seen in a long while.

She stopped, chewing on her lip. Hell, why not? It wasn't like this kid knew who owned the place or anything.

"If you'll just excuse me for a second," she murmured, glancing upward at a grate that led to the air shaft. "I'd like to make a quick change of clothes,"

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tufty
2011-07-20 11:30 pm UTC (link)

"Oh, of course," Remus said as he stepped back to give her space...although he didn't really know which way she was going to go, she was just looking up and he realized he didn't mind not knowing either. The moment she disappears, he is going to crack his suitcase open and look for that Essence of Dittany he'd packed along. Lord knows how much he had been itching to find it since having arrived to fancy New York City.

"I'll stay here," he added needlessly. Just in case. Not that she needed him, he needed her. On top of that, he had questions to ask her still. Such as...if he was out of place and she had been so used to his trouble...did that mean that he wasn't the first one to...try it out? Had something similar happened in the past?

He'll have to wait until she'd changed to a different costume. But more than the question, the more pressing need (and desire) in his mind right now...was for an Essence of Dittany.

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thatdarncat
2011-07-21 12:52 am UTC (link)

It happened in a matter of minutes.

She scaled the wall, removed the grate, and slipped inside the store with such ease that it looked like she had done it a thousand times (which she had, if not at this store). The boy would have to wait only for a few moments before she re-emerged from the grate, now dressed in a purple blouse, black slacks, a large shoulder bag, and a scarf tied neatly around her neck. She smiled innocently at him, "Okay, thanks."

She adjusted her shoulder bag and, with a brief grimace, began to continue on their way as if nothing ever happened.

"The newcomer's center is a ways away," she chirped, "Maybe we should get you a cab."

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	tufty 2011-07-21 12:45 pm UTC (link)
	OOC: continued here! (Reply to this) (Parent)

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