there's no 'we' in family

[bossymarmalade]

Ollie stomped into Mia’s room, since her door was open, waving his phone around as if she could read what was on it. “What the everlasting hell is going on?” he demanded. “Did Roy tell you that him and Mar’i aren’t getting—”

Fortunately at this point Ollie noticed Lian happily creating deformed Sims at the computer, so he moved closer to Mia and lowered his voice. “Roy’s pissed that Mar’i and me had a conversation about him flirting with Kyle and apparently they’re not getting married now? I have no idea what the fuck is happening. Did he talk to you about breaking up with her?”

Kiki ran anxiously in behind Ollie and stood just inside the doorway, making a little pained huff of confusion.

Mia looked at Ollie, then down to Kiki, “Hey it looks like Kiki needs to potty. How about you come and help me take her out, Ollie.” She said shooing him, and Kiki out of her room and grabbing Kiki’s leash.

"Are you serious?" She asked when they were out of ear shot of her room — even if Lian wasn’t paying attention she didn’t need to accidently over hear anything. "No, he didn’t say anything to me! He said he was helping her with all whatever the hell has been going on. I mean… he did text me the other day and seemed pretty upset that Mar’i didn’t tell him, or what him to know about whatever and all the news stuff," Mia said grimacing a little. "So, I mean… unless they totally cleared all that shit up with each other, whatever bullshit they’re fighting over might not be the whole reason they’re fighting in the first place… Not that it really matters I guess."

Ollie frowned, patting the side of Kiki’s haunch as the dog pushed between him and Mia, determined to help. “Roy’s doing what now?” he repeated, at a loss to untangle this. “What, was he mad that he found out about the magazine meta attack with Mar’i from the news and not from her mouth?”

( there is an i though )

kiss the sky

[bossymarmalade]

[TXT] kyle can you come get me
[TXT] please i
[TXT] roy and i aren't
[TXT] what am i supposed to do now
[TXT] he doesn't even want the ring back
[TXT] what i am going to do

Kyle has just gotten Ramsey and a particularly noisy Helen off to Tower School and he’s gotten his drawing table set up, with some old paints he’d found that Zee got him a long time ago, a cup of coffee and a beautiful, heavy, blank sheet of paper spread out enticingly before him.

When he picks up a pencil (2B; he’s got onion paper so his left hand doesn’t smudge), the texts from Mar’i bubble over his eyes, one after the other, rapid-fire. Kyle blinks and reads them in quick succession. He abandons the pencil without a second thought, and suits up, flying out of the side-window.

[Ring Txt] you’re in Metropolis?
[Ring Txt] I’m on my way, nena
[Ring Txt] I’ll see you in five

He regrets sending that last text - it’s like a repeat and reminder of Mar’i’s debauched night at that meta club, and he doesn’t want to bring up any more bad memories. He reads the texts over and over, trying to make sense of them, to understand the full scope of what Mar’i is saying. It’s too much to contemplate until he can actually be there, with her.

Mar’i doesn’t respond to Kyle’s replies, and once he reaches the shitty Metropolis hotel she’s staying at, it’s clear why.

The entire room is in shambles, and her phone lies in three pieces in the middle of the madness, while Mar’i lies slumped against the farthest corner. The black lace crop top and pleather shorts might look tough or at least stylish if Mar’i weren’t herself just as shattered as her phone.

( 'scuse me )

training day

[bossymarmalade]

KYLE: Okay c’mon. Let’s go try out some of that fighting training you were boasting about before. Just don’t make me call you sensei or anything like that.

JASON: It better not be, I didn’t even get a chance to steal Christmas yet. Just gonna blame it on the fact that I’ve got a weakness for pretty faces like yours.

Sensei? Do I look Japanese to you? *snorts* But alright, yeah. Guess we’re gonna hafta start off with the basics since you can’t even throw a punch right.

"I learned y’know! From Batman even. But I just haven’t had to clobber anyone - personally - for a long time. Get a little rusty. Didn’t you have to train up once you resurrected?" Kyle hustled beside Jason, pausing only to assess him. "And that’s what I’m gonna say now. No more zombie!Todd. From now on, it’s resurrected!Todd."

Kyle was really only blathering on because he was trying not to get too smiley over Jason’s casual compliments. Flirting. Whatever it was. Kyle had to admit that, now that he was in a headspace to think about stuff like this on a personal level, it was rather intriguing how easy it came for Jason. Or maybe it was just the way Jason was normally? Kyle couldn’t help but ask.

"Is that just you? Like the way you are? You’re just that kinda dude who likes to compliment their friends? Like, it’s like, like…it’s like a casual flirting? The whole saying things like that?"

"From Batman, huh? That’s pretty impressive," he replied, a smile slipping onto his face. "I did yeah, but I’m pretty sure I’m not gonna hafta teach you that stuff." He tilted his head to one side, expression a little curious. "Why?"

( everyone in )

yes no maybe (check one)

[bossymarmalade]

Zee tries not to take a nap in the lounge but the space she watches outside the station is so calming it’s a little hard not to. So, in an effort to keep awake she texts Jason [Txt] Where are yooou?

Jason [text]: watchtower gym thing [text]: why?

Zee [Txt] Ooohh fun. [Txt] Just wanting to say hi. I’m in the Lounge now. Zee sighs, the gym would probably be a good place to go, start moving and wake up. But, she needed a bit more motivation than she had at the moment to actually work out. [Txt] You stay there. I’ll be down in a second. Watching someone else work out was healthy by proximity. Sure.

Jason [text]: okay ill see you in a bit [text]: actually wanted to talk to you about a thing [text]: actually its a couple things [text]: but theyre all kyle related things so theyre kinda connected sort of

Zee quickens her pace to the gym as Jason’s texts ping in on her phone. She tries to think what they could possibly need to talk about. Kyle killing Yellow Lanterns, Kyle and her arguing, Kyle and her taking some serious time apart…all of which were worrying topics for Zee to discuss outside of Kyle. Although, the voice in the back of head reminded her that she and Kyle were still together, still working on things. Still very committed despite recent bumps.

"So. What’s up?" Zee prompts Jason as she pokes her head in the gym. She tries not to sound out of breath from her jog down to the gym…ugh maybe she did need to work out a bit more.

( use a number 2 pencil )

in between tonight and my tomorrows

[bossymarmalade]

Rosario has made herself quite at home in Kate’s own place. Nothing drastic, she hasn’t added or rearranged or really done anything to how Kate has been living her life. Instead, there were small additions: another pair of slippers, a towel hung next to Kate’s, two mugs at coffee. So, when Kate brings her to the Gotham apartment she owns, Rosario begins her mental mapping of where her husband may have been, her life here. She looks around the highrise, the incredible view, and her eyebrows shift up.

Kate was initially worried, having Rosario in Gotham, but it’s turned out all right—in fact, Kate’s thinking Walter likely doesn’t know that Rosario’s alive, that it wouldn’t even cross his deranged mind. Besides, it’s a good place to venture her next thoughts, make them clear. Here in the heart of things. “Everything okay, Mama?”

Rosario nods. “Si, mi amor,” she responds, automatically, and though her body language reads as timid or shy, there is excitement shining in her eyes as she glances around the kitchen, the same coffee machine that was in her apartment, and looks at her daughter. “This is yours..?”

Kate blinks a little, because it’s been a long time since the 70s, for her, and a long road onwards. Privilege, what she has of it, has been a gradual step change. “Si, mine and Ollie’s,” she says, almost distractedly, as if it’s a given. “We got this one last year.” Last year when they were trailing Bruce…time passes.

( mother is the name of god )

the hunt is on

[bossymarmalade]

Rose shows up in the Watchtower and finds Steph, only to get into the blonde girl's face and loudly demand, "What the FUCK?!"

Steph isn’t surprised that Rose is angry about her report, but damn, she’d been hoping otherwise. “Look, I know you’re mad,” she says evenly, not flinching back where she stood from the furious girl in front of her. “But I couldn’t lie, okay? And I did say I had no hard proof.”

"I’M NOT MAD AT YOU, DUMBASS," Rose screams in Steph’s face. To Steph’s credit, she doesn’t budge an inch, so Rose turns and stalks up and down in the hallway. "Fucking son of a shitpile. I can’t believe I didn’t realize. I can’t believe I was so STUPID…"

Steph gapes silently as Rose fumes, not knowing what to do when the anger she’d been preparing to face doesn’t appear. She settles for a muttered “I’m not dumb” under her breath and furrows her brow petulantly. However, it occurs to her that calming Rose down is the priority here, and in truth she feels bad for the other girl. Not in a pitying way, more in a my-dad-is-a-big-bag-of-tiny-dicks-too-and-I-get-where-you’re-coming-from way. Steph jogs to catch up with Rose in her pacing, matching her strides. “You going to be okay, or should I let you hit me? Hitting helps,” she offers half-jokingly.

"I’d rather hit him," Rose snarls, but she lashes out and snaps her hand against Steph’s arm anyway. "He promised me, Blondie. The last time I saw him, he was actually…" The last time she’d seen him, Joey was there, and then he was gone. Fucking Lanterns and their stupid shit, fucking up her family even more.

She screams and turns around, kicking a halpess chair onto its side. ”I’m gonna murder him this time, I swear to god.” She wheels on Steph, pointing a finger. ”And you’re SURE, right? You’re sure it was him?”

( through the byways )

those distant bells

[bossymarmalade]

[text]: ollie what the fuck is going on? why was the joker tweeting at you? are you okay?

TXT: I got no idea. Don’t worry yourself about it, Quickdraw, he’s just entertaining himself.

After he sends this text, Ollie contemplates for a while, walking around the conference room as employees chat and filter out, the morning meeting over. By the time there’s only two of them left, Ollie’s come to a decision and sends another couple of texts to Jason. No point letting the kid stay by himself fretting.

TXT: Wanna come down to the office? Some Swiss water reps came in and brought a ton of watches and water bottles and backpacks and shit to give us.
TXT: Seriously they brought WATCHES and chocolate, they might as well have brought cheese and Nazi gold to complete the stereotype

[text]: dont worry? you do know my history with the guy right?

It’s kind of physically impossible for him not to worry. Jason’s been pacing the penthouse all morning, stomach tied in knots, checking his phone every five seconds to see if Ollie responded.

[text]: sure i guess
[text]: if theres any security guards who ask who i am what should i tell them? cause i dont think theyll find it as entertaining as the paparazzi do when i say im your pool boy

TXT: You’ve been saying WHAT???!?!?
TXT: No wonder Lex Luthor sent me those swimming trunks and a bottle of Hawaiian Tropic and that weird note

Ollie waves away an employee who gives him an interested look as he’s snickering at Jason’s text and replies:

TXT: They’ll let you in. They know that any mopey boy teenagers who show up here belong to me.

( some slowly fading song )

this brain is on fire

[bossymarmalade]

Kate reads the reports, says to herself, “…the FUCK?” and heads up to the Tower medbay.

Kyle comes awake again but his eyesight is still blurry, his head still pounding. No panic, that wouldn’t help anything or anyone. Instead he lays on his bed in the Medbay and makes his breath come long and slow. Long in through the nose and out again. No mouth-breathing. He closes his eyes again and groans, loudly.

Kate looks through the Medbay—it’s pretty damn full—and wanders in vague confusion until she sees Kyle. Who wrote the report that doesn’t tell her a whole lot, though, to be fair, he looks like crap. “Ese?”

Kyle frowns, wondering if he’s imagining things, but his ring confirms the presence of Kate Spencer. “Kate?” Kyle says, cracking open one eye to squint where he thinks he can hear her voice. He is looking for vermilion. “Ramsey’s with Helen and Madame Minxx, in her dimension. Why…what’re you doing here?”

Kate lifts an eyebrow in confusion. “Trying to figure out what’s going on,” she says. “I’m glad Ram’s okay. But clearly you’re not?” And apparently he can’t really see, which is confusing.

Kyle shifts, sitting up in the bed and turning in the direction of Kate’s voice. “I’m okay. There was another attack on a city in the Caribbean.” Kyle pauses, a memory of something Mar’i mentioned finally surfacing to his consciousness. He adds on, “Like in Kasnia. We went to investigate and help and there were three men - three meta, I think - who were causing all the chaos. Blind, deaf and mute. You know like —” Kyle does the impression of the monkeys - see no evil, speak no evil, hear no evil. “Mar’i and me fought a couple of the three badguys, she lost her hearing. Is she okay? Can you see her?”

( visit beautiful Solinique )

the fall

[bossymarmalade]

Bruce isn’t expecting to see Oliver out of costume in Gotham—it was strange enough to know he was patrolling at night—so when he spots the other man, flocked by reporters and without a secure transport, there is almost literally nothing else he can do besides have his driver—not Alfred, not even David—pull over. The tint is black enough that, try as they might, the reporters get no where attempting to ascertain who is inside.

It was stupid, really, for Ollie to assume at this point that even his standard nondescript look that’s always worked for him would work in any of the big cities. Especially Bruce’s. The reporters here are a different breed, hard-nosed and relentless, and by the time the big black car pulls up next to Ollie at the curb he’s ready to jump in no matter who it is.

But when he tumbles in sideways and the rush of the crowd accidentally slams the door shut, Ollie kicks it once with the sole of his shoes, gasping, “Drive, dammit!!” before he even tips his head back, hair brushing the seat, to see who’s offered him succor. “Oh,” he gasps quietly. “Bruce.”

Oh, it hurts him, the sight of those towed locks sticking up straight against the black leather and Bruce draws his teeth against the tip of his so fast and so hard, his taste buds split and blood fills his mouth. It seeps into the crevices and slits of his mouth, between his teeth, while all the while, his expression remains untouched. He speaks to the driver—African American, ex military—who begins the lazy merge back into traffic.

"Alright?" He asks, quietly, breath stained, copper penny bright and raw, and watches the way the other man arranges himself.

( it's a long way down )

sharks and cheetos

[bossymarmalade]

KARA: [text]: Ok! I’ll be right there, just finishing up patrol in Metropolis
[text]: Oh wait, should I get snacks?

ROSE: [TXT] get me the biggest bag of cheetos mix ups xtra cheesy you can find
[TXT] I found a tv channel that’s 100% sharks
[TXT] I think Gar programmed this tv

[text]: Can do!
[text]: lol sounds neat! Wonder if there’s a kitten channel…

[TXT] if Gar programmed this thing then PROBABLY
[TXT] u r such a loser, omfg. kitten channel
[TXT]…sounds sexy tho >.)

[text]: aw c’mon it’d be cute!
[text]: Bet there’s probably that kind of a kitten channel too
[text]: I’d definitely watch sexy kitten channel~

Rose blinks at the text, then furiously types back. No way is Kara-the-perfecty-perfect-Supergirl gonna one-up Rose Wilson on the sexy innuendo.

[TXT] if Gar programmed the stations then there’s prob at sexy kitten channel too
[TXT] when you get here I’ll be watching softcore about an all-girl college.
[TXT] u ready 4 that, Superstuff? >.P

So it’s not so much ‘innuendo’ as it is boldfacedness. Close enough.

( business as usual )

inquiry

[bossymarmalade]

Surface-people. They are everywhere and there is not one intelligent or brave enough to provide an answer to her question. After roaming the streets for roughly fifteen minutes, Mera is starting to lose her patience. Arthur didn’t mention she first has to fulfill a travelling quest before gaining information. Add that to the fact that her bare feet feel dirty by the garbage of the land-dwellers and the Queen of Atlantis is anything but pleased. She turns her fierce gaze to the closest human in order to shorten her stay on these dry lands.

"I wish to speak with the leader of the Justice League," she tells a man whose eyes linger on her figure rather than her eyes. "Do you not know how to speak? English is your native tongue, is it not?" She inquires with a narrowed gaze that startles the man and causes him to flee. A small crowd has gathered around her, people whispering and shuffling their feet. Mera’s ears hear the name they gave her when first surfacing and she turns to those who dare utter it. "I am Mera, Queen of Atlantis. You shall address me as such or not address me at all,” she demands and the whispers of Aquawoman die instantly. Satisfied for the moment, the woman presses her hands to her hips, waiting expectantly for one of them to step forward.

Kyle is, quite literally, doing nothing. He floats out in space, a few hundred yards away from the Watchtower, when he gets a comms message from J’onn.

"Green Lantern, we need your assistance in Metropolis," the Martian calmly states. Because J’onn knows full-well that Kyle’s doing absolutely nothing at the moment. "It looks like we have a visitor from the seas."

( of a royal disposition )

30 days

[bossymarmalade]

- takes place before the fall

BRUCE: You want to see me.

BRUCE: -says this, haltingly, as if asking a question, despite how flat it emerges-

KATE: *looks up, lifting brows in question, as if it should be obvious* Yes.

BRUCE: I’ve been trying to give you your space. -he doesn’t say it accusingly, but as if to excuse his silence-

BRUCE: -adds, and now, the near nervousness is almost palpable:- ..when the three of us spoke, it seemed like it was what you were asking us to do.

KATE: I know. And I’m wondering if it was the right thing after all.

KATE: I’ve missed you both so much.

BRUCE: -moves over to her, without a single pause, and hauls her up out of her seat by her arms. His fingers press in hard enough to leave bruises, and he lifts her into his arms be able to kiss her, hard and deep-

KATE: *has just enough time to take a breath before he has her, and when she exhales against his lips, it’s ragged and relieved*

BRUCE: -pulls back, but just barely, his nose wedged against hers as he looks at her from behind barely parted lashes. He is breathing heavily, chapped lips parted, already swelling with the force of his kiss- ..sweet girl.

KATE: *smiles a little, softly, tentative, catching her breath, heart pounding, and leans in to rest her forehead against his* Corazon. I love you.

BRUCE: I know. -he drags his nose against hers, kissing her mouth again- I know. -he repeats and then exhales, his arms tightening around her- I love you, too.

( have everyone think i'm on the mend )

your boots can leave a mess

[bossymarmalade]

Bruce enters the cafeteria through the exit doors, moving towards the coffee maker. There is no one else in the large room, so the magician is easy to spot, but Bruce doesn’t automatically move over her way. Instead, he watches her from a distance, from his peripheral vision, as he inserts a pod into the coffee maker.

Zee gnaws on the end of her pen. She bounces back and forth between writing a list of ideas for possible lessons to teach, and a crossword puzzle at the back of one of her D-list celebrity magazines. So far she has written Brad Pitt as an answer three times, despite knowing it was not correct with the odd satisfaction that it fits perfectly each time. Zee looks up when Bruce comes in, but doesn’t bother with trying to get his attention with a hello. She assumes he’s already watching her back.

Bruce looks over at her, as the coffee pours, and mulls over what he could say—possibly say—to the woman, to bridge the divide between them. Physical and.. not. He turns back to the coffee, watching as it percolates.

Zee purses her lips, her attention on lesson plans and crosswords diminishing as Bruce waits on his coffee directly in her line of sight. “So. How’s Gotham?” she asks him, immediately returning her attention to her crossword so as to not look interested.

Bruce clears his throat but doesn’t answer automatically. Instead, he pulls his mug and readies another pod, countering her question with: “Do you want?”

( sometimes i breathe you in )