capeandcowllogs | A constellation of tears on your lashes

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A constellation of tears on your lashes

WHO: Roy Harper & Laura Kinney
WHERE: Dallas BBQ Restaurant
WHEN: Friday night
WARNINGS: Discussion of non-con/abuse.
SUMMARY: Roy takes Laura on an ill-planned date and talking happens.
FORMAT: Tagger's choice.

Their brief encounter at the auction left Roy with more questions than answers about Laura, though one thing seemed certain: she didn't at all strike him as the roller rink type. It took a little thought, but he'd come up with the barbecue place as an alternative, figuring that there would be good food and tasty frozen drinks, and if they decided to go elsewhere after dinner, it would be a fine preamble.

He'd arranged to pick her up at 8pm and had arrived casually dressed in jeans and a plain red teeshirt. He seemed laid back, much like the establishment. It was busy, but not overwhelming, with the smokey scent of babyback ribs wafting through the air and the laughter of college kids tipsy off daiquiris filling the room. It was fun, and Roy sincerely hoped it would translate to his evening with Laura.

"You gotta try this one drink they've got," he said, pointing to the list of frozen options on the menu. "It's called Miami Vice. It tastes like how being on a vacation feels."

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This seemed to reassure him, or at the very least let him relax a bit more. This girl sure was difficult for him to read. He still wasn't even sure if she was having a good time or not.

"There's a club down the block. We can give it a try, and if that doesn't work, you can pick something else." Perhaps this would reassure them both, in case dancing didn't work out.

Laura wasn't sure if she was having a good time or not either. She just didn't do socializing, especially not a date, it had been forever since she had been on one. But it wasn't unenjoyable, at least.

"As you wish," she agreed with a faint nod of her head as she started down the street, her green eyes flicking out at the people and cars they passed, constantly checking for danger...some habits never went away.

"Something catch your eye?" Roy's own gaze seemed to follow hers, and he wondered if she'd seen something unfriendly to put her on alert. "'Cause you don't need to worry. You're safe with me."

He didn't mean that in some weird, demeaning way. She could handle herself, he got it. But part of him really just wanted Laura to relax. He wasn't going to hurt her, and neither was anyone else. Not on his watch.

"I am not worried," she answered, and his reassurance made her face twist up in consternation, as if she wasn't quite certain what she was supposed to say in response. "I am just...careful." She finally added as her expression faded back to normal.

"There is little that can go wrong on a simple date, anyway."

"Right. I mean, how much trouble can two people get into just from dancing."

He stuffed his hands into his pockets as they walked, keeping in step with her so that they didn't lose one another amongst the throngs of people pushing their way down Saint Marks Place. That part of town was always crowded, especially so on a weekend night, with all the nine-to-five stiffs ready to let loose and party the night away. Indeed, the other pedestrians were a little pushy, invading the personal space bubbles of everyone they encountered, Roy and Laura included. In response, Roy reached out for Laura, to offer her his arm so that they would not get separated.

Laura knew she was bad at this, she just didn't really know how to not be bad at it. If this had been a mission, with a goal, with a focus, she could've faked what was necessary. But it wasn't, it was her real life and when that came up she was just...stuck.

But she was trying, that had to count for something.

When his arm caught her she tensed up, but only for a second before she realized what he was doing, stepping closer at the motion to make certain they weren't knocked apart by random passersby, though her shoulders hunched slightly, unconsciously.

"How far away is this club?"

He guided her along as they weaved through the crowds, and he stayed close and didn't walk too fast. There was an art to navigating through pedestrians, and while Roy normally walked quickly and with a purpose, there was no need to shove and push to get where they were going. Besides, it wasn't very far.

"It's just around the corner," he said, glancing back at Laura. And sure enough, there was a small crowd of people gathered around the entrance to a nightclub, waiting for their chance to show their ID and pay the few bucks cover charge for the DJ. As they reached the line, he made to grab his wallet from his back pocket. The idea that Laura might not be able to get in hadn't yet occurred.

It wasn't something that had eluded Laura's mind, her green eyes narrowed as she considered the bouncing carefully, deciding on the best way to get inside the building.

"I did not bring a fake ID," she said, her voice quiet, studied whisper designed for just Roy to hear. "I will need to find another way into the building."

She said it not like 'oh man, what if I can't get in' but simply that she would go and find another way inside. She even started to remove herself from under his arm.

"Whoa, whoa, hold on," Roy whispered back, turning to keep her from darting off so soon. He liked breaking the rules as much as the next guy, but he wanted to know the plan before she implemented it. "Keep me in the loop here. Where are you going?"

She frowned, but stopped, turning her gaze towards the next building. "I will climb up the side of that building, there is always roof access in clubs like this, I will enter through there, or a window if necessary, and come down through the second floor or scaffolding."

Or just whatever was around for her to climb down, she could improvise.

"And you'll avoid paying the cover in the process." Which was, to Roy, an incentive to circumvent the line along with her. Why pay the charge when they could bend the rules a little and dance for free? "I'll go with you. Screw these schmucks and their fee."

"I can afford the cover," Laura didn't care about money, she had...a lot of it, from various drug dealers she had robbed.

She seemed about to refuse, to tell him to simply go inside and she would meet him there, but finally she nodded. "Fine," as she stepped out of line and started towards the alley she had indicated, managing to look for all the world like she was just supposed to be walking there. Sometimes being trained in infiltration was very useful.

And this way she'd be able to see what he can do.

Laura wasn't the only one trained at infiltration. He'd spent a significant stretch working as an undercover officer, so he knew what behaviors attracted attention and what would, to a bystander, appear to be perfectly normal.

Roy followed her, looking just as casual, and without so much as a secondary glance, he easily started scaling the building from a particularly shadowy part of the alley. It was clear that he knew what he was doing, climbing up to rooftops was perhaps more than second nature to him. He had been doing this sort of thing since he was barely out of middle school, after all.

Laura was a bit impressed by that, at least. She didn't follow him up the wall immediately, watching him before she jumped up to a windowsill, then swung over to grab a pipe and scale the rest of the way up, flipping up over the edge of the roof in a single long arc and landing with barely a thump on the roof, crouching to absorb her speed and then standing up slowly as she turned to look over at the club and the space between them.

"I assume you can make that jump?"

"Of course I can," Roy nodded, flashing a slightly smug grin. "Can you?"

He knew full well that she could, after having seen that graceful show on her way up to the roof, but that didn't mean he was finished watching her. She hadn't been kidding about the knowing how to dance part. The way she moved sort of reminded him of a dancer.

"I can jump three times further than that," she said, completely without any tone of bragging. Mostly. Maybe a tiny bit, anyway. "I could also jump from the roof to the ground, if necessary." Okay, that might be a little bit of bragging.

She took two steps back then, and easily cleared the space between the buildings, landing and turning to wait for him in one smooth motion, her arms crossed. Her hair and jacket were both caught by the wind at that moment, so she probably looked rather impressive, framed by the city lights.

She was impressive, Roy could certainly admit that. And with the lights hitting her and the breeze blowing through her hair, he thought she was especially pretty, the kind of pretty that had absolutely no idea just how pretty she was. He had to laugh, shaking his head as he looped back across the roof to give himself a running start. He was only human, she couldn't fault him for that.

The leap was made easily, and he stood up beside her, dusting some kicked up dirt and pebbles from his jeans and hands. A jump like that was no sweat, but next to Little Miss "I Can Jump Three Times Further Than You Can", he must've seemed like some chump kid. Oh well.

Well she knew he was only human, so she didn't hold it against him. Much. "Not bad," was all she said before she turned and headed over to the roof access door that stuck up out of the club. It was locked, of course, but one of her claws popped out all the way with an audible 'snikt', blood gleaming off the blade before she stabbed it through the lock and twisted.

The door popped open silently, and she stepped back, waiting for him to pass inside, perhaps. So much for a chance to be a gentleman.

That business with the claws had to hurt, and Roy made a mental note to ask her more about them sometime when he wasn't trying to coax her out of her shell and onto a dance floor. As it was now, he was busy self-deprecatingly muttering "Ladies first," under his breath as Laura opened the door for him. Though, to be fair, he did, lean back to make sure it didn't suddenly lurch forward and close on her, nor did he go ahead of her into the building. They were in this together now.

It was a relative sort of pain, nothing compared to other things she had felt, and the claw slipped back beneath her skin with another soft sound and not a single indicator it hurt. She flicked her hand at the roof to shake the blood off, and then nodding in thanks to help when he tried to hold the door, stepping past him and into the...stairwell.

Well it was better than a bunch of girders at least.

With a glance back to make certain he was following, she slipped her hands into the pockets of her jacket and headed downstairs.

He nodded in return, keeping close behind her as they began their descent. Dance music reverberated from below them, echoing up the stairwell. The metal handrail was vibrating along to the bass line, and with each step they took, everything got just a little bit louder.

"Loud enough for you?" He asked, jokingly. Just ahead was another metal door.

She didn't seem particularly thrilled by the loud noise, but after a moment she drew in a breath and her discomfort seemed to fade. She couldn't turn her enhanced senses off, but she could...not focus on them.

"Imagine how loud it would be if you had exceptional hearing," was her answer, half-shouted as they paused before the door. She seemed to be waiting to see how he would open it.

She had a point, but at least she was being a good sport about it. Realizing that she was waiting for him to open the door, Roy considered his options. He could easily kick the door in, but that would surely tip off anyone who happened to be on the other side. Taking a second to think it through, he instead dug into his pocket and pulled out a small file (amongst other random items, like a paper clip, chewing gum, and about eighty-eight cents worth of coins.) The file certainly wasn't as flashy as her spectacular metal claws, but he knew how to use it to get the job done, and a moment later, he'd popped the lock and was holding the door open for Laura.

"After you, milady."

She just watched silently as he unlocked the door, almost as if she were grading him for his progress, but said nothing when he finished, just nodding in appreciation at the open door.

The music really was shockingly loud, and she stopped just inside the room itself, waiting for him to enter and close the door before she made a move towards the crowd.

She turned as if she were going to ask him something, but could he even hear her? So instead she just motioned towards the dance floor to see if that was what he wished to do.

The music was loud and it had a nice beat to it, and all Roy wanted to do now was dance. He once again offered his hand to Laura and led her through the crush of bodies to a spot on the dance floor. He wasn't a bad dancer by any means, and he wasn't afraid to show off a bit, mostly in hopes of getting Laura to relax and maybe eventually crack a smile for him.

All the while, he was not so secretly admiring Laura as they danced, appreciating the way she moved to the music and how every now and then the neon lights would hit her just so that her eyes seemed to glow.

And despite trying to keep to themselves, they seemed to be attracting a bit of attention. More than once, other women tried to cut in and steal Roy away. He wasn't exactly sure why, he wasn't that good of a dancer. But nonetheless, they kept trying to force their way in and cast Laura aside. It was starting to seem like every time he and Laura would step apart for a second or two, another person would try to replace her, and quite frankly, Roy was having none of it.

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