alwaysroomforhope | (no subject)

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shatterverse

(no subject)

Steph's talk with Batman has cleared up precisely nothing. It's nearing daylight by the time the window slides up soundlessly again and she slips inside, cloak blending with the shadows, tired and only wanting to slide into bed with a snuggly, snoring boyfriend. Which she promptly does.

Somewhere that's way too early in the morning, the warm snuggling goes away. There might have been some talking, but Steph couldn't swear to it, because it's nearly evening by the time she actually wakes up, finding herself curled up in a tight ball alone in bed with exactly zero answers more than she started with.

She crawls out of bed, shaking her limbs out to clear the cramps from sleeping so huddled, and shaking her head to clear the bad dreams. (Running, always running, with her father behind her laughing and his friends, and Batman ahead - so far ahead she'll never catch up - and then a long line of people she's known, people who've died, people who she might have killed. Phil and his two stupid cannibal sons are there, staring at her. Babs is there, watching her run. Sokka isn't there, she can't find him anywhere, she can't find anyone who won't look at her like she's a failure -- and alwaays the running.)

Cleaning her teeth is the first thing she does; after sleeping all day it feels like her tongue is a dirty fuzzy old sock. Then she wanders out to the balcony to look down at the city spread out below the apartment. It's Metropolis - too clean, too shiny. It's not home, not the way that Gotham was or the farm is now. But maybe she can learn to live with that.

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There's the familiar roar of a growling car in front of the building they've been sleeping in, and then some shouting. Something that sounds a lot like "I HATE YOU" and a lot of laughter. Then the engine roars again, and the apartment door opens to reveal her boyfriend, smirking and shaking his head.

Only to stop (freeze?) and blink at Steph. "Oh. Hey. Um... you're up."

Angst, meet Sokka-time. THERE CAN BE ONLY ONE SURVIVOR.

Steph looks at the bed, at herself, and back at the bed. "Yup."

Eyebrow-raise!

"...hi!"

Boyfriend looks shifty. Nervous. Perhaps even guilty.

Also, a little red-faced.

A smirk is slowly creeping over Steph's face. "Hi."

Raaaaaised eyebrows.

Whatever it is, this is obviously going to result in amusement!

Is she suuuuuuure?

Reeeeeeally?

"Um... how was your day?"

Sokka is SO SMOOTH.

Sokka is SUCH A DORK and Steph loves him for it, kind of a lot.

"Better now you're back here." She's grinning. "You're looking very flushed, Socks, are you feeling okay?"

It'll be funny! Totally! At least for a few seconds more, anyway, until the nervous-shifty-guilty starts to actually worry her instead of just make her giggle at him.

"Um... well... I kinda found Dean."

Though that's a weird thing to be shifty about.

"Oh, I missed it! And I promised Mel, too." Steph frowns, disappointed in herself. "Damn. I meant to wake up! How was he?"

The weird is starting to bother her. Not so much smirking now, more a fairly worried sort of eyeballing.

"Um, fine. Good." For a minute, Sokka's grin is genuine, totally amused. "I scared the shit out of him pretending to be mad, but I couldn't keep it up. His face was totally priceless, though."

Steph laughs, relieved, and comes over finally to lean against him and wordlessly demand snuggling. "Why on earth would he be scared of you?"

Sokka blinks for the demand, but since it's wordless, he doesn't question it - yet. His arms go around her and pull her close, setting his chin on her hair. "I'm big and scary," he protests, pouting to tease her. "And a little bit taller, so I can loom. Plus, he's a big brother, too, so I think he thought I'd actually hurt him."

What, can't a girl demand snuggles without an ulterior motive? Steph is grinny for the snuggling, anyway. "... that's adorable," she points out, giggling into his neck. "...you smell like cigarettes and beer. Get too close to Dean, did you?"

"Um..."

Oh, there's that shiftiness again.

"Dean... kind of... took me on... a field trip?"

Steph twists her head so she can peer up at him without letting go or being let go of. "... a field trip?"

"Yeah. To, um... a place with... um..."

Sokka's face is red. It's very obvious when she's looking right at him and he refuses to look back at her.

"...strippers."

"...you went to see strippers?"

Oh. Hello, sudden blows of crippling insecurity. Steph leans back, trying to catch his eyes. He's all red and nervous and shy and - he went to see strippers?

"O-kaaaay..."

STEPH DOES NOT KNOW HOW TO REACT TO THIS, PLZ HELP.

"I didn't know what he meant!" Sokka explodes all at once, nervous and a little squeaky and worried about the look on her face, blue eyes dark and earnest. "He said he was taking me to a strip club and he didn't tell me what it was until we were in the car and then we went inside and he tossed me at this girl and handed her some money and I swear I didn't mean to look but what is wrong with your world that this stuff is normal and she was really nice but we totally didn't do anything, I wouldn't let her, we just talked the whole time until Dean'd let me leave, and I promised I'd bring her fruit 'cause they never go to the farm and you'll come back with me, right, because she wants to meet you because I talked about you a lot and please don't be mad, I didn't want to, I swear, please?"

Yeah.

...............giggles.

"I cannot possibly be mad at you when you're so perfect," Steph informs him, through said giggles. "Mad at Dean, totally, but not at you."

"I didn't mean to," Sokka repeats, but he sounds a little more hopeful to see her giggling. "I swear, I didn't, and there was just the one girl, and I totally tried not to look, I promise."

But there were BOOBS.

And TASSLES.

(Sokka quite likes breasts, too. It was hard not to look.)

"You totally looked. Oh, maaaaan. Am I allowed to beat this girl up?"

Insecure Steph is insecure!

"... was she pretty?"

Sokka has ENORMOUSLY WIDE EYES NOW. How do you answer that without getting murdered?

"Um... I don't know, I could only think about you?"

WILL THAT WORK?

NO. NO. Noooooooooo. Nooooooooooooooooo --

-- oh, fine, giggling again, softer this time. Steph pokes him in the chest. "You're a terrible liar."

Oh maaaaan, she was totally pretty. :(

"No, no, I'm not!" Sokka insists, and his hands tighten around her nervously. "I swear, I totally talked about you the whole time, I think it really annoyed her. And Dean paid for her to drag me to some back room but we just talked the whole time and I asked her to stay on the other side of the room and... okay, well, she's really nice and I promised to bring her stuff from the farm, but you'll come with me, right?"

WON'T YOU STEPH PLEEEEEASE?

Steph is okay with hands tightening. More than. She can't help half-grinning, half-worrying-frown-...-ing. "Sure, if you - if you want me to. But is it OK if I punch her just a little bit?"

Usually, Sokka would absolute forbid the punching of an innocent person, but his guilt doesn't allow him to forbid Steph anything at this point. "Um... I'd... rather you didn't?"

But it's not much of an order.

"Yes, I do. Please do?"