Kid Flash is the name, but you can call me Wally- see? Already trust you with my secret I.D. B03, 16 and a need for speed. Protege to the Flash. Member of The Team.
Objective Questioning- Kid Flash and Robin (YJ)...
When Wally finally answered the question that worried him, he let a labored breath out and sat back in his chair. He raised his hands to his face and rubbed his eyes some, then ran his hands through his hair. The pressure was finally releasing, he'd simply needed to hear that he hadn't lost it.
Robin let out a hearty chuckle, picturing the exact same thing Wally was with the Green Lantern comment. He hadn't spent significant time around Hal, but Batman told him enough for him to picture it. But he acknowledged the seriousness of Wally's STAR labs commentary, automatically his mind went to other possibilities. Atlantean tech? Thanagarian?
Suddenly his friend grabbed him and shook him, and his mind zipped back to his meeting with Artemis. Dick smirked and nodded. He wasn't much of a chauvinist pig, but around Wally when it counted. He nodded arrogantly, and gave him a thumbs up. "Oh yeah." He nodded again, "Definitely the skirt, bro. If you see Bruce around high five him. You owe him one."
He stood up and stretched slightly, "You owe ME one too. I royally screwed that whole thing up with a secret identity personality." He smirked and shook his head, condemning himself again, "There's probably a reason I'm called Dick."
Wally’s mind was in a tail spin. The heat in his cheeks hadn’t lessened, not one bit, try as hard as he could to just make it go away. Dick was obviously trying to either make him embarrased (He was so not succeeding, not one bit), or simply latching onto anything that Wally was putting out to change the conversation topic. Wally wondered how badly this whole Teen Titan issue was plaguing him, how intensely this was affecting his focus.
Wally would allow for his ego to take a small beating if it meant he could get his best friend to have even just one moment of distraction.
Even if said distraction was in the form of a blonde archer who was literally at this point the biggest distraction to the speedster since he'd found out his Uncle was his idol.
"Dude. So not okay.' he whined, slumping slightly, and hanging his head. 'After everything I've done for you, this is how you repay me? I'm a hurt bro, in this one way bromance right now." He said, tease in his voice.
Thinking fast, he suddenly had an idea.
"Oh well though, guess I'll just have to deal with Zatanna's company in her school uniform when she's at the Cave. You know, since you're so busy at G. A. without other things." He said, smirking at the other boy.
If he was going to get a kick in the ego from his best friend about the hotness that was Artemis Crock in a skirt?
A laugh gathered from her lungs into the nocturne air as she watched Wally run for the water, unable to help the fact that she was visualizing him as Hasslehoff from that 90s show she so fondly dubbed the ginger from in their first meeting.
The look of pure shock across his features and the shudder of his breath from the cold surprise when he surfaced bolstered her laugh, but it also made Artemis viciously curious if she herself could ever elicit such a reaction from Wally. She bit her lip in efforts to quell these less-than-decent thoughts while he drew closer to her.
The moon seemed to spotlight itself on him and only him, coating its silver pool of light on his sheen, defined shoulders that bobbed as he neared. The chill and the buoyancy of her surroundings made her heart flutter and her breath tenuous; it was the water wasn’t it?
His fiery tuft for hair was doused and clung so charmingly against forehead and cheekbones, making him look impossibly more boyish. She just wanted to run her fingers through those saturated locks and—
“If I don’t die from hypothermia in here, you are so going to die.”
And there was that stupid smile again, toothy and wide, making his eyes squint into two more beaming precious stones.
God damn it.
The archer had to distract herself before being pulled into that abyss again.
“That’s too bad, Baywatch. I can’t,” She said before taking a breath and disappearing into the sterling deep, reemerging behind the ginger to squirt the salty water from her mouth to his peppered neck, “I’m here to stay and make your life miserable.”
She snickered and swam away fast enough to dodge the immediate retaliation from Kid Flash. He might have been the fastest boy alive, but being in water was something of a disadvantage to his trade. She almost giggled as he went for her. If there was one thing Artemis Crock didn’t do it was giggle. It came out like a squeak instead in her attempt to suppress it.
How did he do it? Making her feel so comfortable and so insecure at the same time? There was the incredible fear of how captivating he was in this moment, how exposed she felt: afraid and apprehensive of what this new yet strangely familiar sensation was. At the same time she had this incredible mania of certainty that they were alone in the world and she relished every single minute of it, convinced that her happiness—her sanity—was dependent on Wallace West. She couldn’t decide what emotion was more dominating and what she was really experiencing, frustrating her to no end.
So she just went on the safe side and adopted that same attitude she normally had around Wally, sarcastic and unfazed. Only this time it has become a façade and it was getting really difficult to keep up with because Artemis had this insurmountable and increasingly amplified urge to press herself on Wallace West and wipe that smile off his face with teeth and lips. She just wanted to experiment what she really wanted and felt.
She needed to get out of here. Away from the speedster. Escape the incredible pull of his existence.
But she couldn’t, she was a deer in headlights, frozen despite the visibly incoming danger in front of her face.
Artemis was thrown violently back to reality as she was being physically dragged into the deep by Wally, just barely holding an instinctive breath before being completely immersed. She must have slowed down with the flurry of thoughts because she found herself caught by the red-head pursuer. It stung, but she forced her eyes open and saw the water-filtered lunar glow reflect off the arms that wrapped around her torso and elbows, felt how perfectly they snaked around her. She didn’t even put up a fight, regardless of the increasing crushing of her lungs that cried for the surface with what little air they salvaged before being pulled under, forgetting the burning blurring of her vision that came with being underwater.
If she's here to make my life miserable, I never want to be happy again.
He used his arms to create a large wave directed towards her, hoping to catch her off guard, using the excuse of getting her back just to touch her- feel her beneath his finger tips. But she was a flash of lightning, faster than he in the water. How did she manage to be so quick and make him feel winded? His brain couldn't quite understand how someone, filled with such fire and such spite, such raw honesty and dark, fucking beautiful eyes, could make him, the fastest boy alive, feel like the absolute slowest?
How the fuck did she do it.
Was he just wasting his time, trying to pull her towards him? Trying to make her see that he had made so many mistakes in his stupid, teenage life, but god, he wanted to be dumb and foolish just one more time; just to grab her and be the selfish boy he was supposed to be and leave he world behind with just her.
Always just her.
And she was laughing, and smiling, and a stroke of the moon in the sea, and fuck, Wally West was NOT a sappy asshole, but she was making it so hard to think of any other word to describe her other than-
'Hurry up West!"
-Perfect. For Him, she was perfect.
He grinned, diving under while she seemed to be distracted by something. Opening his eyes to see her dark, smooth legs under the water he reached forward and yanked her down, hoping to bring her to his level, just for once , instead of her always just seeming so high and mighty, to bring her back down to earth to meet him.
Or maybe she was the one yanking him down, making him revolve around her gravity like the sun, instead of the moon like he always thought.
But she opened her eyes and thats all he saw- orbs of the moon staring back at him, and he couldn't help the bubble of air that escaped his lips as he just stared wide eyed into her face.
Seconds, moments passed by, and Suddenly, Wally knew she wasn't going to be the one to break the moment, so he held tighter onto her waist, and kicked up towards the surface. Breaking through, he took a large gulp of air, as she did the same.
Hard breathing was the only sound that greeted them. The pale light surrounded them, the scene absolute perfection, but the only thing that caught Wally's eye was the blonde infront of him.
Pros and cons, pros and cons, pros an-FUCK IT.
Wally put one tentative hand on her forehead, sweeping the blonde strands that stuck to her skin. His eyes never left hers, and he noticed the hitch in her breathing as the movement danced across her face.
She didn't back away though.
Gently cupping the back of her head with his hand, Wally did something that he really shouldn't have, but should've done again waaay too long ago.
And he gently pressed his lips to hers, like it was the most natural thing in the world.
It was a bit silly, but he knew that in this world Kid Flash and Robin were rather close friends. It no doubt helped strengthen them in ways that he didn’t understand. He knew Kid Flash in his Titan group but he wasn’t exactly a best friend. A friend, sure but…he wasn’t even sure if he had a true best friend. It was difficult to do something like that without seeming like he was playing favorites. Robin found several of his team to be skilled, they were good to train with and a very capable team…but being the leader almost threw you into a separate area where you couldn’t afford to have a best friend.
You couldn’t afford that weakness, no matter how inviting. It was why he had never bothered to ask Starfire out— or to take Raven up on more than a couple meditative sessions. He couldn’t let an enemy think he had a weakness greater than that of his team. A best friend? Surely he would risk his life to save them over his team. Regardless, he gave his head a mild shake watching the Kid Flash of this world begin to lead the way. It was only natural of him to follow, curious. The guy wasn’t rude, he wasn’t trying to ask him fifty questions to see if he was real. He just…seemed to accept that he was who he was and they both shared an interest in training. That sort of blind acceptance was certainly a breath of fresh air.
The room he was led to was impressive. The general open plan to it caused the leader to look around for a few moments, visibly astonished. They really did have the best of the best here. The Justice League had spared no expense for when they had been here and now that the kids were given the base? It was…perfect. He might have even had a bit of jealousy considering how open the room was— providing a perfect opportunity to use any sort of arsenal that they chose. It was only when Kid Flash spoke up again that his attention was drawn back to the speedster, twisting the bo-staff in his grip while raising a brow at his explanation. “…It sounds like we share some of the same arsenal then, you might have a bit of an advantage.” He smirked, teasing still as he twisted that staff and adjusted his stance in the room, choosing to face the speedster. It was the center of the room, better than hiding against an edge at this point.
“You make the first move, if you think you can.” A dare, inviting, the look on his face clearly an invitation for the game to start. He was the guest here— and he would let the speedster make the first move before proceeding. It gave the other kid a chance to back down. After all this could have just been a foolish dare gone wrong.
Smirking at the other boy, Wally pulled on his goggles, and snapped them over his eyes. "Beauty before Age, right?" He said, and zipped around behind the Titan leader. "What a gentleman you are. But it's gonna cost ya,' he said, moving his feet quickly to barely skim by Robin. The speed of the wind created made his hair cover his eyes, and Wally leaned against the wall casually as he watched him move it back out again.
Deciding to show off a little, perhaps in response to the comment that the other Kid Flash was faster than him, Wally zipped diagonally, straight, circling, on the walls, anywhere, he could get his feet to embrace, he moved. And he laughed freely, loving the way the wind played with his skin and the knowledge that yes, he may not have been outside, but this was maybe just as good, and being here with this Robin, this person who seemed to be letting go just a bit, was making him laugh louder, more happily.
"Come on, big guy, show me what you've got!" he challenged, ducking between the other boy's legs.
Dick didn’t visibly flinch when he heard Wally come up behind him, but it did surprise him some. He reached up and took a scone, dipped it in his coffee and made a horrid face. “I don’t know why I just did that.” He’d seen Bruce do it, and he knew that the theory was that you were supposed to do that with scones. But Dick could not figure out why.
It was actually the first face he’d made in a few hours that wasn’t a furrowed brow and a deep pensive frown. He let out a heavy breath and looked up at Wally, “Tell me I’m not crazy. How could we not know about this? Wally, there are other versions of us. You and me. A Wally West and Dick Grayson that aren’t sitting in this cave trying to choke down these terrible, terrible scones.” Alfie worked hard, and Dick felt bad for saying such a thing, but wow.
He leaned over onto his right elbow, and put his hand to his chin another idea had come to his head since Wally was here he could just say it, “I wonder how hard it would be to get into the STAR labs database.”
He cleared his throat and leaned back once more, coming out of it. Now he was trying to avoid the lecture he was going to get for going all broody, and to get his mind off of the whole situation, “Did you know Artemis goes to my school? I officially met her today.”
Wally shrugged as he saw his best friend start to unravel his inner curiosity, perhaps even, the reasonings behind his lack of presence lately at the cave. Chewing thoughtfully through the very dry, very hard pastry, he relayed back through his quick mind just what it was exactly that Dick was trying to question.
"You're not crazy,' he started, swallowing the paste in his mouth. He leaned against the computer, and looked at his best friend, 'you're doing exactly what the rest of us aren't drilled into doing- questioning everything . It's the way you were trained. Honestly, if I wasn't so completely floored with the idea of inter-universe travel, I'd be just as skeptical as you."
Thinking back on Dick's words, he shook his head.
"I honestly think it's more surreal than anything to think that there are other versions of us. It's.. slightly terrifying actually." He said, his voice trailing off at the end. From his observations and the time he had hung out with the Titan Robin, it was easy to tell that both of Batman's sidekicks were incredibly different, yet eerily similar to one another. What would his counter part hold? Someone faster, or better? Someone who bore his name and insignia, but maybe not the same morals?
It sucked him into a spiral of doubt and wonder, and he needed to get out.
"Been there, done that." He said,riding his head for the moment of the problem plaguing him. "STAR labs is about as useless in this field as we can imagine. They're still hung up completely on inter-galactic travel, and roping in one of the Green Lanterns to be their play thing." He snorted, imagining Hal Jordan using the excuse to flirt with all the female scientists.
A man after his own heart.
Just as Wally was about to attempt at cheering up his brooding best friend, his original intention of even coming to Wayne Manor, Dick flipped the subject on him faster than he was expecting. Wally knew it was just to distract him, but he took to the topic at hand incredibly quickly.
"What?!' he screeched, jumping to Dick's chair and bracing both his hands on his shoulders, shaking him, 'but doesn't your school have a really high tuition thing? And uniforms? OhmygodyougettoseeArtemisinauniform," his words began to blur together, he was getting so excited. The archer had been on his mind so completely as of late, and any mention of her name almost sent him over the edge everytime.
Dick was a troll indeed.
Realizing this, he clered his throat and tried to play it cool.
"I mean,' he said chuckling nervously, 'not that I care or anything..."
Whistling a tune to try and clear his already reddening cheeks, he grabbed another scone and shoved it in his mouth.
((So I know it's supposed to me specifically killing you? But fuck that, I bend the rules.))
It was always going to be like this, wouldn't it? Like fate really existed, and theirs had been pre-determined, set in stone, no time outs allowed.
It was the end of the game, and no matter what the outcome was, they all had lost. Lost their integrity, lost their innocence, lost themselves, in something so much grander than they were, that it had sucked them into a hopeless mess that no one, nothing, could get them out.
Kid Flash nearly crumbled right there at the sudden realization that this was it.
The battlefield was littered with torn bodies and broken souls. Blood was in abundance, despair embracing them like it only wanted them to come home.
Only a few still stood, weary from the long fight, but going strong on the dependance that they must win.
Not a lot.
Just a very select few.
Breathing hard, one of his eyes was dangerously close to being completely swallowed by the liquid seeping from his numerous gashes along his pale skin, but he rose like a lonely child.
Wiping the blood before it seeped, his vision blurring in and out, he heard the grunt and the sound of something hitting solid. The clashing was dizzying, but as he turned to see his fearless leader, still clad in his strange skin that he had worn in disguise of an evil soul, fighting his own father, Wally knew he needed to help.
Just as he was about to move, run, fly, over a twisted ankle and still broken bones, he heard it.
The scream of his name.
"WALLY!"
His head whipped around, to see Bart, his leg blown clean off,laying helpless as one of the countless Shadows was prowling ever closer.
Changing his direction, about to run off once more, when he heard a grunt and a yell of absolute pain once more.
Kaldur was down, meeting dirt and mud in a hoof of dust. Black Manta, taking out his own sword, and pointing it at his son.
The look in his eyes, so opposite to his father's, were still their ever present calm, with waves of anger yet knowledge that he had lost , that he was another pawn down in this game that all of them had thought they were kings of bishops or rooks, when in reality, they were just fucking pawns.
Kaldur was their general. He was not Dick, or Batman, or even the Justice League. But Wally would follow him faster down to his end faster than the Flash himself.
He was submitting to his end, because they all knew that was the pre-determined fate set out for them.
They rally. They fight. They die.
He would not let that happen to Kaldur. He couldn't lose another person, he couldn't , Barry, Iris, Dick, Artemis ...
But there were two people so very fucking dear to him, both about to die.
Would it be Bart, his own family, or Kaldur, the brother he never had, be the one to join them?
Both on the line, and both dependant on Wally's need for speed.
His mind was racing a mile a minute, conflicted and in anguish at the choice he was about to make.
"WALLY!"
He ran. And the disgusting mixture of blood and tears were already whipping behind him because he was so determined to do both, because I am the fastest boy alive right now. I am that man.
But as he scooped up Bart form the ground, out of harm's way, he heard the distinct slice, and intake of breath, as he fell.
Skidding to a halt with an anguished Bart craddled in his arms, Wally stared wide eyed, as Black Manta re plunged and struck his only son, as if his skin was made of the silk water of which he came. So simple, so vengeful , so absolutely soaked with a dark, deep red, that it made Wally's eyes wide and crazed, and he took off once more, because Kaldur no, Kaldur no..
And as he gained momentum and pain was shooting through him in detest, his energy and adrenaline was pumping him faster.
Slamming into Black Manta, making sure he was down, and would stay down, Wally rushed over to Kaldur's side, picking up the heavy load of his head.
He didn't want Kaldur to dream anymore, he didn't want to see those eyes so dead and still so warm.
He wouldn’t do it. He refused to even imagine what it would be like to try; to fall to his knees, to let all momentum finally catch up with him and ensnare him in its hold, to outrun him in the race and never relinquish first place.
Because he had chosen, and how was it even remotely fair that someone with such hardships as the Atlantean, that his life had been held in Wally's fucking fumbling fingers, and he had dropped it like some sort of glass fucking animal.
Kaldur never deserved all of life's hardships that he had been given, Wally knew that, Wally knew. That.
Yet here lay his leader. Colder than anything before. Never having heard Wally's words of I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, I'm sorry.
He was alone. Just as the day he'd been born, Kaldur was alone.
Because no one had been as brave as soldier as he had.
Artemis was biting the inside of her cheek and watching him take his place beside her through the corner of her vision, hugging her knees while she felt the chill of the approaching evening breeze. He was starting to make her a little nervous. Just a little.
“You wouldn’t know what to do with yourself if I wasn’t around, Archer.”
Artemis wanted to yell at the seagulls that chirruped to shut the fuck up for just a minute so she could treat herself to the allure of Wally’s gentle words potently mixed with that low, charmed laugh. It was so low and whispy that it almost drowned by the cacophony of the stupid birds.
He was half right. Truth be told, Artemis was guilty in that she would sometimes—often—go out of her way to find the speedster and start their usual quipping just because Wally had that effect on her. Somewhere in the back crevices of her mind she could admit that she indulged in his company, his witty banters, his smirks, his smiles.
Her attention wandered and lingered onto his freckled arm that lay tantalizingly bare for her to rest her head on. Artemis found herself internalizing whether or not she should. She became so engrossed in this conflict she almost missed his teasing remark, which was complemented by that same wicked smile.
The same smile that seemed so inviting and made her succumb to that childish wish.
“You couldn’t hurt me.” Something between an impish grin and a genuine almost sheepish smile graced her features as she watched the rich warm orange-red hues set into the horizon and succumb into the night, afraid of what her features might betray again if she looked at the boy so wonderfully close beside her. Inwardly she was saying this in hope. Hope that if Wally continued to pick the leaves of her usual, impenetrable guard down to her bare vulnerability, he couldn’t.
Or even better: he could but he wouldn’t.
She shifted and appreciated the way his smooth skin brushed her neck, closing her eyes and finding that reprise as she drifted in and out of a nap. The idea of college seemed like a world away now… Was there another institution she could sign up for just to bask like this in Kid Flash’s company? The idea sounded like a mental asylum because it was crazy and was also another world away…
The blonde blinked in the darkness and realized how quiet she’s been with the exception of that last remark. She must have looked ridiculous.
Well. Might as well make the most of it.
His eyes were like murky pieces of jade in the moonlight when she stole a glance. Wally, being the stubborn rationalist he was, didn’t believe in magic, Artemis knew that. But if he only knew how bewitching those watchful gems were, he might have been a believer then, because it was a feat to tear away from them as she stood up.
“Not to say I’m criticizing your efforts…because I am,” Artemis allowed her playful, biting tone return and smiled expectantly at his responsive sneer, “But you know what would make this a little more fun…?”
Boy, was she glad she decided to wear black nylon underwear today. It wasn’t swimsuit wear, but it certainly did its job better than cotton, and must have made a better sight for Kid Flash. She kicked off her shorts into the cooled sand and waded into the brisk evening waters, almost regretting it as it sent a sharp shiver up her spine. The hem of her increasingly soaked shirt with every wave clung onto skin and goosebumps.
Before diving into the black and silver ocean she looked back and smirked while calling out: “A swim!”
Wally was nothing if not a very curious creature. He loved to figure out complex chemical formulas and the properties that they exhibited. He found it exciting when he was able to understand intertwining theories that combined both complete understanding and a bit of creativity and imagination.
But he had grown incredibly inquisitive how someone, a human no less, could be more incredible than the moon itself.
Had hadn't expected her to do it, in fact he had downright refused to believe there was a possibility, but she seemed to always do the opposite of what he planned out for her. As he was getting more comfortable with not only his form, but his view of a certain backside of a blonde beside him, she relaxed herself, and laid down on his outstretched arm.
And as she settled, and his shock wore away, his fingers danced lightly along her skin, holding her a bit closer and he thought , wow, she fits perfectly right there.
His amazement at this new discovery was slightly terrifying.
It he was subconsciously going looking for answers, and ways on how to keep her there.
He didn't let it show, because fuck, the way she brushed over him, the feel of her skin, and the tickle of her hair, combined with the backdrop of the ocean, stars, and seriouslyshouldbeimportantmoonbutnotasmuch moon, made him calm.
Which almost sent him into an even bigger frenzy because Kid Flash and calm? Didn't happen.
A few times their eyes met and Wally couldn't help but feel like he was being sucked into something bigger than himself. Something that would lead him to forfeiting his selfishness because, hey, she's right there man, go get her, kept playing like a drum in his head. Even when he tried his hardest, demanding his body to take atleast 70 0000 meters away from this girl who was making his heart beat a little faster, blush a little more, and go crazy on what ifs? He wouldn't trade it for the world.
He heard her slight tease, and turned once more towards her, and as she stood, cold creeped in like the plague. He shivered slightly, watched as she stood, and just as he was about to tease and say, Oh good my arm was getting tired, fatty, she started to strip.
Her backside? Totally went from a 8.9, from her jeans and uniform? to a 9.5. in her incredibly form fitting underwear . Only thing that would made it better is if she was completely na-
Woah Wallman, and this is where we get off.
She waded into the calm water, as if she was the same person as Kaldur, like it was her home. She dived into it, came up and her hair pooled out like some type of firework in the water.
Not to be outdone, he quickly stood up, striped down to his boxers, and ran into the water, kicking up sand as he went. Thinking the water was going to be warmer, considering the long day it had been in the sun, and Artemis' ease of an entrance, he dove straight in without thinking.
Well that was a bad choice.
He came up breathless, the ice cold water causing his lungs to shiver and cry out at him in anger. He heard her laughing from where she tred, and shaking his head to get his hair out of his face, he swam over.
"If I don't die from hypothermia in here, you are so going to die." He said, grinning.
Artemis Crock could make an extensive laundry list of what she hated about Wally West.
Like how his hands cupped her entire shoulders like she was just merely a sparrow he could hold.
That the touch made her flinch. Then relax. Then hope that he would keep them there.
That he could sweep her off her feet so easily, with no time to catch her already breathless breath. That her heart skipped and stopped as he ran at his sound-barrier-breaking speed in his sneakers, hating how she couldn’t appreciate being held between his lithe bodyframe and strong arms long enough. She wanted to tell him to listen to her previous order to run to New Mexico so she could savor the security of his hold like she did in Biyala, like she did on New Year’s.
She hated how the recollection of New Year’s made her flushed. She wanted to taste those lips again. Did that kiss even count? It was obligatory for the occasion, wasn’t it? It made Artemis want their first real kiss. Everything went back to normal after that night and she hated that too. Add that to the list. It made herself angry that this little fact bothered her. Add that against West too.
Artemis Crock hated how she suddenly found herself on the sands of the beach, the kneading of Wally’s lean fingers against her shoulders made her so relaxed, so relieved, so weak.
“What you need is a break, Miss Thing.”
“Yeah, a break from you, Kid.” She said with no conviction, melting under his gentle touch.
Damn it, she needed to get back into that cave and finish that stupid application but she couldn’t find the energy in her to do so. She hated how easily Wallace could distract her. How easily he made her want to stay with him and forget about all the cares in the world. That he cared enough about her to spend the time massaging her on the beach.
One minute he was the nuisance of the universe, the next he was her saving angel.
She hated how he always managed to evoke conflicted emotions from her.
“Thanks…jerk.” She said with a ghosted smile. She looked up and immediately regretted it, meeting her stony hues with the meadow again. Artemis tucked her hair behind her ear and cleared her throat, forcing herself to look away and watch the frothing waves.
This attention she was receiving was alien to her. She didn’t like it. Well, she loved it, but she hated it, like she had to return the favor or something.
She patted on the blanket that Kid had kindly laid out for her.
“Sit with me. I won’t bite. This time.”
Artemis could boil all her grievances of the fire-haired boy into one complaint:
She hated that she couldn’t hate him at all. Dumb, dorky, infuriating, stupid, sweet, wonderful Wallace West.
He knew he was having the effect he wanted when she began to relax under his hands, moulding herself and slowly curling herself more into his body. He continued his ministrations on her back, her hair slowly lapping around his body from the wind.
Breathing in deeply, the smell of sea salt wasn't what hit his nose first, like he originally believed. What he inhaled was a mixture of lavender and.. something much more subtle, but still present. He breathed in deeper, getting slightly lost in the flower scent, and the scenery in front of him. Using one of his hands to trail down her spine, he chuckled lightly.
"You wouldn't know what to do with yourself if I wasn't around, Archer." He said softly, a laughing tone still making its way through his voice.
So what if she truly wanted him out of her life? He wasn't going anywhere at this point. She had sucked him down too far into her perfectly chaotic being, too tangled in her harsh words and mysterious eyes, to even think of leaving. He couldn't find the surface and even begin to think of where to go- it felt too much like a belonging here, beside her on the sand, to even think of walking in the opposite direction.
It wasn't even an option at this point. Subconsciously, he couldn't help but search for her in a crowd, angle his body towards hers, touch her at any opportunity he could. She was an exotic experiment he would never understand, and for once?
He didn't need an answer.
She was his answer.
She thanked him, whether it was sincere or teasing, and he was about to respond when she turned her face towards his and met his stare with clear certainty.
Certainty that this was different than everything, this was something she was scared of, something new, something old. And her eyes were like an open book that he'd never read, so fucking beautiful that he couldn't even remember what his name was.
He moved to sit next to her on the blanket, still a bit shaken by the moment that had just passed between them.
"I'm glad you realize that you're an abusive person, Arty,' he said, laying back to stare at the darkening sky. "Seriously, you're the only person I know who's bite is probably as bad as their bark. Good thing you don't like cats." He said laughing, remembering a vivid memory of magic and sacrifice.
Stretching slightly, he laid his arm out behind her, to let it lay there on the blanket instead of cramped behind his head.
"So?" He asked, waggling his eyebrows at her, 'you can't deny this hasn't been better than doing your work in the Cave for hours. And if you do? I'm going to have to hurt you." He teased.
Almost as bad she was hurting him with that freaking beautiful smile of hers, or the way she stared at him and made his heart just kind of stop.
Beast Boy was relieved when he was told that it was fine that he used the nickname and he couldn’t help but laugh in response to the nickname rebuttle, “I’m toootally okay with bein called BB.” As a race was brought up he just seemed to grin all the more, “Heck yea we should race some time!” Completely forgetting in those few moments along side his need to please and make nice with the other team members that he couldn’t even beat the other K.F. let alone Mas and Menos in a race to save his life back home.
Oh well. The damage was done and he would most likely end up having to deal with horrible defeat at a later time. Sure he could transform into some fast as hell animals, but they weren’t as fast as any of the flash family, especially not for prolonged periods of time.
BB watched Raven move over to the panel as well as casting a glance back and forth between the quick kid and the empathy as something…changed about the air around them. Something odd and almost uncomfortable. Thankfully before BB had time to come up with some inappropriately timed lame ass joke he found himself listening to K.F.’s plan and he couldn’t help but laugh, “Dude, I’m totally game for /that/ plan. Lets Do this!”
He moved forward to follow the other two through the Zeta whenever they were ready.
The second they touched down in London she could feel the tremors. Whatever happened here was still happening, and they needed to act. Fast.
“What happened here…?” she asked to the air. It was rhetorical, but she knew her teammates would try to come up with some crafty answer or jump to conclusions.
Looking around, she attempted to recognize any pattern in the destruction. So far, it appeared to be random, but she needed more information. In Raven’s experience, there were few forces that could cause this much destruction, and she began to narrow down suspects. Still unsure, she took to the sky to get a better angle on things leaving her teammates to take in their surroundings on their own.
Pulling out her tracking device, she began to triangulate the position of the speculated source Green Lantern had attached a tracker to. The small green dot on the screen was sporadic in movement, shooting forward at high speeds and then stopping suddenly. Whatever or whoever it was, it was flying.
Descending to the ground to meet her teammates, she expressed her suspicions.
“We’re dealing with a person here, I think.” Glancing down at her tracking device, her eyes widened and she immediately went on the offensive.
“And whoever it is, they’re headed directly for us.”
Taking to the air once more, she prepared herself for whatever it was that was coming for them.
Her eyes and fists began to glow as she silently prayed that this trio would work well enough to take down the enemy in what she knew was going to be a tough fight.
London was a beautiful city, and if not for the impending danger of whatever it was that they were up against, Wally would have explored it thoroughly.
For the food.
And the babes.
At Raven's warning, Wally cleared his mind of new restaurants and girls in skimpy clothing and settled into his concentrated state. Opening his eyes wide, his mind was reeling at analyzing what his senses were telling him at a mile a minute. Pulling down his infra-red goggles, he searched for an incoming heat signal, anything to tell them what it was exactly that they were about to face. Wally had dealt with increasingly strange adversaries, but nothing had been this destructive, this quickly, in a city this large.
Sending 2 universe travelers and a kid who used his feet almost as fast as he ran his mouth? Good idea Bats.
His goggles suddenly were picking up a large heat source, coming from his North West. Turning towards it to get a better look, he went wide eyed as the heat was coming at a velocity much faster than he was expecting.
"INCOMING!" He yelled, plowing into Raven before it could hit her square on.
You had to have realized, darling, that in those days, seeing anything but a fierce smile filled with love and hope and determination would send me into a frenzy.
-Wally, stop being such a dork.
You should have realized then, love, that when your face was completely void of happiness or emotion, I would have done anything to make you smile again.
-Seriously Wallderp quit it.
Maybe it was the lack of your sweet voice, or the love and affection that I knew you deserved that drove me to do it. Maybe it was my destiny to be yours, and your fate to be mine, I wouldn't have known. But in those days, my darling, seeing anything but happiness and love on your beautiful face, would send me into a frenzy.
-Wally just go away, leave me alone. Stop annoying me.
But Darling, for you I would have gone to the end reaches of the Earth. And I did, time and time again, bringing you pearls, or diamonds, delicacies or treats, toys or treasures. I would do it all, exhaust my bones and bring you the world on a platter, if only to see you smile once more.
-I am not a spoiled brat. You think I'm a spoiled brat?
But you would decline each one, saying to me with a glooming brightness in your eye that you did not want pearls, or diamonds, delicacies or treats, toys or treasures. What you wanted was not for sale, and never bought. Never ready, yet never late.
-Is there a point to this?
And so my darling, my impatient, sweet love, I know what it is that brings the clouds to your face, and the rain to your eyes. I know what it is that makes your heart ache and anger lash out at me, but deep down I know you are quite the feisty feline, who simply craves one thing.
-Yeah? What's that. A punch to your face?
Happy Anniversary my darling. I didn't forget this year. Now dry your eyes and show me your smile, because for you I'd run ten thousand miles.
-.... Alright. Fine. You're a dork. And I love you.
theartofmadeline
annaxmalina
titsay
andulkaphoto
kianamaiart
izzy806
vaporwave
