capeandcowllogs | new life: all-expenses paid, mandatory [OPEN]

Entry tags:

new life: all-expenses paid, mandatory [OPEN]

WHO: Rose, you
WHERE: From the MAC to places of retail
WHEN: 2/17
WARNINGS: Unpleasant girl
SUMMARY: Essentials
FORMAT: No

Well, alright then. Alternate dimension, bunch of people she knows from different times...bunch of people she doesn't know who think they know her. No Deathstroke. No real sign of the Teen Titans, either.

Also, nobody trying to blow her to smithereens while trying to get some shuteye.

I guess this is better whatever the hell was going on in Nowheresville, Canada, she thought. It still nagged on her, though. Too many suspicious things. That doctor, that guy...

Not much she could do about it anymore. Stuck, everyone said, more or less. Stuck, and nothing to do but suck it up and deal with it.

Okay, fine. She could handle it. It wasn't the first time she'd been uprooted to places unknown. Hell, that was practically yesterday. Biggest difference to her was the fact she had a good explanation for it. As good as "freaky machine zaps people to different dimensions" was going to get, anyway.

She needed to get clothes that weren't a couple sizes too large and smelled like cat, first of all.

Her fingers caught on another tangle as she stepped outside into the daylight. And a brush.

First, though, she had to see if that "free money" thing was the real deal. The tags jangled in one of the coat's pockets as she rifled around for the cigarettes the giant, talking cat had gotten for her.

I'm not even surprised I'm not surprised anymore.

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Apollo was leaving the MAC at about the same time. He stepped outside a few paces behind her and grinned up at the sun like it was an old friend. He was just about to launch his body into the sky and fly around for a bit when he spotted a new face just ahead of him.

"Nice weather we're having today." He grinned cheekily, fully knowing how cheesy that line was and just not caring.

Rose hesitated where she took, wondering if she should even bother turning around and looking. She probably wasn't who he was talking to any...way...

Her mouth puckered, then pursed into a frown, seeing a grand total of nobody as she started turning her head and glancing behind her. She stopped when she got a look at the lame icebreaker's culprit and couldn't even try keeping the dry expression off her face.

That whole white-hair-solidarity thing last night was a joke, she thought.

"Sure," she offered, not particularly jumping at the bit. That said, she turned and started walking down the steps to the sidewalk.

He took the time to study her while she glanced around. He was still pretty new to this place so he was always sizing up everyone he met, trying to determine whether they'd be an ally or an enemy. When you have an entire city full of meta humans, you can never be too careful.

Plus, Apollo just liked meeting new people. Which is probably a large reason why he decided to follow after her. Or...fly above her really.

"So, how long have you been in the City?"

Rose's lip curled out of sheer impulse. This is your business...why?

Since the second she turned on that phone, people left and right were nosing into her business or going so far as telling her what her business was or ought to be. Probably her own fault for even turning the damn thing on at all, but wow, it was annoying. It's not like she had any happy reunions to look forward to. Just really weird ones.

And speaking of weird. Casting a glance down, she could see the man's shadow out of the corner of her eye, clearly not on the ground. Well.

"Long enough to pick up a stalker or three," she replied flatly.

Subtly wasn't one of Apollo's strong suits. He much preferred to be straight forward and polite if he could. You catch more flies with honey after all. And he had a special radar for dealing with people with...negative dispositions. They were a point of interest for him.

He chuckled and drifted down so he was gliding next to her about shoulder height.

"I hope I'm not counted among them. I generally like to make formal introduction with the people I meet because they rush off though." He stuck a hand out towards her. "I'm Apollo."

Rose gave "Apollo" a dry, sideways glance twofold – first at his pleasant expression, then at the offered hand.

Her own hands went to the task of lifting a cigarette to her lips and went for the lighter.

"Kay," she said, muffled by the effort of keeping the stick in her mouth. She sucked in slow, pocketing the lighter, making a point of keeping the hand in said pocket for the length of time the handshake was offered.

"One of the goody-goody super-guys?" she asked, smoke leaving with her breath.

His hand dropped when he realized she wasn't a hand shake kind of person. But that didn't deter him at all. He just glided along next to her, looking like he didn't have a care in the world.

If her question caught him off guard, he didn't let it show. But something in his expression changed subtly. He'd heard a bit about the way superheroes worked in some of the other universes. Apparently most of them handled their villains with kiddie gloves. Apollo would never categorize himself among them.

"Not exactly. I'm more of a get the job done right the first time type of super-guy."

"Ha." The last of the smoke left in a puff. "Rare. Okay, you're less annoying now if that's true."

But still annoying, the dry note in her tone implied.

It's not much of a compliment, but he'll take it. "It's not as rare where I come from. But every universe has it's style. And a lot of them tend to include bleeding heart superheroes."

He glanced over at her. "What about you?"

A derisive noise escaped her before she took another drag on her cigarette, evading the crosswalk by turning the corner. It was kind of entertaining, in a way, to see the way people were double-taking at this floating guy following her around. The attention was more on him than her, which suited her fine for the time being.

Entertained or not, though, she wasn't liking the conversation bent her way.

"Took a couple shots at it," she said, dismissive and short. "Not a good fit."

His amusement was more directed towards the fact that a guy flying around is still a marvel to see in this city. You would think in a city where people are brought in from other worlds and the threat of alien invasions looms over them, a flying guy would be the least of their problems.

He considered her response for a moment. "You're not much of a sharing person are you?"

"Figured that one out all by yourself?" she remarked, a weak and blatantly fake tone of surprise note in her voice. "And so fast, too. You're one of the sharper ones."

"And so original too." He quirked an eyebrow out her, all too prepared to engage in a sarcastic battle of wits if he had to.

"You still haven't given me a name yet. Is it some kind of secret?"

"The opposite, from what I've been hearing." Her tone grew dismissive, scanning buildings on the street opposite as she walked, getting a sense of what she had to work with.

"Figured you were here to babysit or something."

"Maybe I haven't been running in the right circles to catch it, then." He flipped over on his back, getting comfortable, while still hovering along beside her.

"What makes you say that?"

"Because you've got to have something better to do than this," she replied, head tilting his way with a dubious look. "Seriously."

He shrugged and crossed his arms behind his head. "Not really. I came out here to catch some sun, which I'm doing. The additional company is just a bonus."

"Wrong time of year to catch sun in this place," Rose pointed out, bringing the cigarette back to her mouth for another drag.

"True, I can't get as much sun down here with the clouds blocking it most of the time, but trust me, it's there." He would know, since he lives off the energy from the sun.

Duh, it's there, Rose thought, and her mouth stretched into a flattened smirk to match.

"So, what," She glanced out of the corner of her eye again. "Solar-powered or something?"

His grin widens as he gives her a pleased look.

"Got it in one. What gave it away?"

"I'm psychic," she replied, not missing a beat.

"Really," he responds, not only a little amused.

"What am I thinking right now?"

"Thinking I'm probably going to say something like I haven't heard that one before or something," she tried with little enthusiasm or interest, stopping at the corner and glancing about. She let out a breath in a huff, flicking ash off the tip of her cigarette.

"God. I'm gonna need a frickin' map..."

"Not even close. Don't ever try to be a fortune-teller for a living okay? You'd suck." He straightens himself up in the air and-oh look-actually touches ground and starts walking next to her.

"Or you could tell me where you want to go. I know the City pretty well by now."

"You that low on crap to do?" she remarked, quirking her eyebrow at him and biting down on her cigarette again.

He shrugs. "There's not much going on right now and nothing good is on TV. So...yeah."

Laura hadn't stayed at the MAC for more than twenty-four hours after she had arrived, but she walked by it at least once a week, part of a routine she had developed. She didn't really know why she did it, she came up with various reasons...checking for danger, seeing the new imports, just seeing if anything had changed.

She didn't really know why, honestly. She didn't dwell on it much.

Today wasn't any different, just walking past the MAC on her winding way towards the institute. She paused when she saw the girl coming out of the building though, and her green eyes narrowed as she considered her. Even in normal clothing and frumpy hair, Laura recognized another perhaps who tended to know more than necessary about fighting.

Or killing, as the case may.

When Rose turned out onto the street, Laura realized she was staring, but she didn't avert her eyes. After a moment she drew her hand out of the pocket of her leather jacket, and held it up in what she hoped was a fairly non-threatening greeting.

"Hi."

Stares weren't new. She had an eyepatch – that was a talking piece in of itself, forgetting the whole white hair under the age of 60 thing. Not new, and it sure wasn't charming, either.

Whoever it was didn't happen to ring any bells right away, but that apparently wasn't a problem; people she'd never even heard of were ready and willing to butt their noses in. Only difference between the network and the street? Rose wasn't asking for it.

She only made a faint grunt, evading eye contact outside of that initial appraisal, walking past without a second thought. Whatever.

Laura wasn't known for butting her nose into things, but when something or someone caught her attention, she rarely just let it drop. She turned as the girl moved past her, making no real attempt to hide her considering gaze, though 'staring' was probably a bit harsh.

After a few seconds, her hand slipped back into her jacket. A few seconds after that, she was absently trailing after the other teen.

Just considering her. Quietly.

Possibly following her. If you wanted to be 'technical' about it...

Rose let it go for a few blocks. Rather, she decided not to stew about it right away; if she needed to make a point, she had her sharp-pointy underneath the jacket to help her, along with all the armor beneath the saggy clothes. And actually, the more she tried to not mull over being tailed, the more eager she was to turn around, lash out, and see blood.

Wilson family therapy methods, she thought dryly, bitterly.

But it was undeniable, she knew. She was always feeling her best in a fight, the most alive and natural.

Her skin was prickling a little by the time she reached the ATM, plucking away at numbers with one hand, reading off the dog tags in the other. All the while she thought, Go on. Try something.

It'd be the most normal the whole alternate dimension situation could be for her.

Rose folded the crisp bills into her pocket, dropping the tags in after them. As she turned away from the machine, she shot a sharp glare toward the girl who had been following. Yeah, I know you're there.

It was brief. She went on her way, crossing the street.

If Laura had been following Rose for a different reason...as a target of assassination or the objective of a mission, she would have made attempts to not be seen. She was very good at it, really, though it was hard to judge how decent someone else was at spotting tails until you tried to avoid being seen. But since she was simply observing the girl to sate her own curiosity, she didn't make much attempt at all. She just...trailed along.

She could smell the reaction it was having on the blonde, though, mixed with the tint of metal and leather that meant armor or a weapon. Or both. More endorphins, aggression, frustration. It was understandable, Laura would have felt the same way if their situations were reversed...though she was impressed at Rose's restraint, since she wasn't certain she have had it in her place.

She leaned her back against a street lamp pole when the newest target of her curiosity was using the import GIVE ME MONEY machine. Laura had stashed her tags within hours of arriving in the city, tucked away in a hidden spot in case she ever needed them and left their to avoid whatever side-effects possessing them had, so she'd never had much need to use the ATMs.

When Rose moved, she moved as well, meeting that accusatory gaze her own calm one. She knew Rose knew she was there, she was making no attempt to hide, and that knowledge obviously wasn't stopping her.

So the following resumed.

By the third block after the ATM, Rose was getting annoyed. Annoyed, but not irrational. She still kept her eye open and took in the sights, noting a few more stores which would have what she wanted. Street names? Not so much off-the-bat, but if what the rest of the network had been harping about was true, she'd have plenty of time to get acquainted with them.

Or not. Pluck-and-luck. Such is life.

Without so much as a passing glance over her shoulder, she picked a store – clothes, nothing fancy or upscale – and went in. That was the whole point of going out in the first place, after all. To get clothes that didn't smell like cat.

Laura paused outside the store the white haired girl had ducked into and crossed her arms, peering inside. She wasn't certain why she was following the girl, really. It certainly wasn't the first time she had done something like that, she'd followed people around back home to get a feel for them, to learn something about them, whenever they caught her interest.

Or just to figure out why she was following them. She never claimed to always make sense, after all.

She could see the other teen through the window, and her finger tapped against her arm as she tried to decide what to do. She could go in and talk to her. It wasn't her preferred method of gathering information...and her first attempt at a greeting had resulted in the girl ignoring her...but it was one. One she'd used more often here in the city, really. Having what amounted to a normal life had changed some of her methods. But the following thing certainly worked.

The fact that the other girl hadn't attempted to ditch her, not in any meaningful way, was interesting. The frustrating and irritation was obvious, it came off her in waves, and yet she held it off. Which either meant patience, or training, or both. And that just peeked Laura's curiosity even more. She was relatively sure the other had ducked into the store to ditch her, too.

Which might even work if the girl decided to slip out the back.

After a few moments considering it, Laura followed her into the store, waiting for a moment as the door closed behind her. It wasn't difficult to spot someone with hair like that, after all. Boots carried her through the store, pausing near Rose. Stalking had it's place, but...

"Most people don't attempt to conceal armor and a sword beneath their clothing in order to go shopping."

"Most people have better things to do than go around stalking other people," Rose shot back dryly, thumbing through a rack of shirts. She kept her attention on her task, not bothering to even look at the girl.

"If you're done showing off your elite following skills," said with a sneer, "leave me the hell alone and get a new hobby."

"If I were showing off, you wouldn't have known I was following you," if Laura was bragging by saying that, it didn't come off in her voice or demeanor. It was very matter-of-fact, actually. Just like most of what she said.

She was silent for a moment, still just...watching Rose. "You are a fighter."

Rose rolled her eye, giving a pair of hangars a more exaggerated shove to the side, tugging on the sleeve of something that was only half as nice as she thought it was going to be. Typical.

And maybe it wasn't a huge stretch of imagination, given what she looked like, how she talked...but it wasn't exactly a staple of conversation, that observation. What is her deal?

"So?"

Damian makes a habit of roaming the streets in the daytime (it's a much better alternative to school, as one might guess), and people watching happens to be one of his favorite hobbies, just behind complex martial arts and building flying cars. And if he was watching out for one particular person, well, it certainly wasn't because she was someone he liked, and who had offended him by not remembering. Not at all.

But in any case he fell in-step with her as soon as he spotted her, not offering any type of greeting. Because that was clearly the way to go about this.

Rose didn't think much of it at first, given the congestion on the sidewalk at that particular block. She had her eye up, surveying the buildings on the other side for sight of something that'd get her what she wanted. Clothes. Food. Hairbrush.

It was at the stop where she realized she had herself a little walking companion. Her gaze dropped, eyebrow quirking at this kid at her side while she lifted the cigarette from her mouth and exhaled a slow stream of steam and smoke.

Gee. I'm popular.

"Should I tell you what that's doing to your lungs, or would you find that redundant?" Not that Damian really cared about smoking one way or the other (beyond a medicinal knowledge that mirrored his views on junk food).

Rose's lip curled, then smoothed out with a smirk. She'd have to be real stupid to fail to connect that voice and that tone with what she'd heard last night.

Ah. Mini-me Robin.

"Save it," she said. "I get tired of pretending to be surprised."

The light changed, and she started walking.

"I wouldn't think you'd bother with even that." And he's keeping pace beside her. He decides, idly, that if this doesn't go the way he wants it to, he can always just fight her. At least it would be something to do.

"Depends."

She turned at the crossing before quirking her eyebrow back down at him. "How much would it annoy you?"

"If that's what you want to do, it'll take more than that." Actually, it won't. Irritation is Damian's middle name.

"You mean I'll have to resort to jabs at your height or something?" Rose wasn't above it, especially when she was in one of her moods. Surely he knew that, if he knew her like he said he did. Ugh. Confusing.

"You could, but then I would just have to mention the patch. Rather tiresome, isn't it?"

"I guess that means you're just not as clever as I thought." Rose shrugged against a stranger bumping past her. "To what do I owe this buddy-buddy time to, anyway? Don't you have, like...school or something?" He was, what? Ten? Eleven?

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new life: all-expenses paid, mandatory [OPEN]

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Let me know if this isn't okay!

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Sorry this took so long. New job is killing me!

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Laura can be kind of a creeper. haha.

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