The things you can learn online.

[wildlittleminx]

"Holy...!"  Liz sat back, away from the library computer screen and glanced furtively to the left and right.  Good, no one seemed to hear or care about her verbal outburst.  With another look around the room and a swift look up at the clock, the teen pulled her chair closer to the computer screen to view the online photo and read the words beneath it.  <lj-cut>

Yes, that was him alright.  Warren Peace.  Son of Baron Battle himself, and hadn't Liz heard some of Tony's people mention that name once or twice a long time ago?  Baron Battle's son.  Well, when he said his father was in the slammer, he was right about that.  Three consecutive life sentences, damn. 

Son of a master villain and a "A super hero  Of course, this just keeps getting better and better."  Great, just great.  So, did he take after his father or his mother?  By the sound their conversations together, he might have taken after his mom more than his dad, but she couldn't be sure.  "So where does that put me?"  She continued to read, and then began doing research into Warren's fathers' history as well.

Shit.  Liz closed the window, and deleted the recent history, wiping the computer clean of any passwords, cookies and pages she'd opened in her search, then wiping the keyboard and screen clean of her fingerprints with a tissue.  Maybe she could tell him that she wasn't feeling well tonight, make an excuse for him not to come over.  He'd been doing that lately, coming in for early morning coffee or late night talk. 

'I can't tell him the truth' she thought to herself, gathering up her notebooks and making certain her area was clean before heading out the library door.  'What the hell do I say?  No Warren, it's not the fact that your dad's a villain and a murderer that has me scared.  It's the fact that your mom's a superhero.  Superheroes do superhero stuff like catching badguys.  Badguys like casino and museum thieves.  Like me.'

"But that isn't exactly fair to him."  Or her either for that matter.  He was someone she was actually growing to like.  A real man - boy - guy her own age who liked her just for who she was, or rather, who she tried to be.  And it was easier actually, having him around.  She didn't get the urge to go out and test herself against security systems , didn't get that itch for an illegal adrenaline rush by pitting herself against bank safeguards or PTZ infrared cameras, security guards.  She actually enjoyed simply being normal for a change.  Enjoyed being with him.  

'What the hell do I do?' she tried to come up with an answer as she strolled home in the early evening light.  Confessing was out of the question. 

Best bet?  Do nothing for now, except for watch and be aware.  Hero or villain, Warren just made her life a whole hell of a lot more complicated.  'I knew he was trouble when he was standing outside my door.  Knew he was trouble when he was standing in my living room in that tight leather jacket.  I knew it, and I knew it, and what the hell am I going to do now?

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[wildlittleminx.livejournal.com]

She didn't remember seeing the titles in the bookcase, and the books weren't anywhere in the rooms, either on a table or where the computer was, so they'd have to be in his bedroom. "Let the right one in, that was made into a movie, right?" She'd remembered seeing something about it. Something about a vampire who was a child?"

"Terry Pratchett? Excellent! Do you like Neil Gaiman too?" He had already done everything for her, and she tried to figure out something she could do or say to keep the conversation going. Fortunately, that was when the doorbell rang. Liz reached into her pocket, pulling out a crumpled twenty dollar bill. "Hope this is enough, I have more next door." At his unbroken stare she added "For my half of the bill. Just, just take it ok? I know how hard you work. You can buy me something later if you want with the money, but I really just" The doorbell rang again, keeping her from having to finish up an awkward conversation that she seemed to be having alone, as he was simply continuing to look at her with that intense and slightly annoyed stare. Turning her back on Warren, she was at the door and opening it, and taking a huge armful of paper bag, heavy with food. And still her back twitched, imagining his eyes on her back. It was not a pleasant feeling; he had the hard dark stare of a cop, or a criminal.

With a big smile she was backing away from the door so that he could come forward with the food and give the delivery girl her money.

[wartheflame.livejournal.com]

"That's the one." He remembered something that it was even made into two movies, but he wasn't sure. Either way, one or two, he hadn't seen any. But he did like the book. "And yeah, Gaiman's good. Though I'm mostly into his comics." There were a few titles in his bookcases, though. American Gods. Good Omens. Coraline. And, the charming little picture book Blueberry Girl. No, his collection of books didn't make much sense.

And then they came to the eternal question of who was going to pay for dinner. Why was it always like that? He'd taken the liberty of ordering, and ordering a ton. It seemed only logical to him that he'd pay for it all. Of course Liz had to have different ideas. Well, she wasn't going to take no for an answer, was she? That didn't stop him from a somewhat disproving stare, though. Mainly because he was so good at it, and it was fun to see that even this confident free-runner was affected by it.

It was true, Warren Peace did have a slight cruel streak to him. But only a small one.

Well, can't have the poor delivery girl be made to stand around when she had work to return to. She looked Chinese, maybe she was the daughter of the owner? Either way, he gave her a brief thanks for the service in Mandarin, and gave her a decent tip on top of the cost for the food.

Plates were probably going to be needed for this, he concluded. It really was a lot of food. "Grab the plates from the counter, will you?" Him, he went and finished making the tea. A whole pot, while he was at it. He was going to have a cup as well, beer or not.

"Hey, did I tell you?" He asked as he carried the pot, cups and his beer over to the table. "A friend of mine from back home showed up in town."

[wildlittleminx.livejournal.com]

"No you didn't tell me that a friend from home showed up." Almost without thinking, her eyes skittered around the room to see if someone were hiding in the shadows. Of course they weren't, it was just her initial reaction to the news. Liz lifted the plates, grabbing serving spoons while she was at it and brought them over to the table where the food had been placed. Man it all smelled so go.

"And you didn't tell me that you spoke Chinese either. Keeping secrets, huh?" She gave him a wink with her words, just teasing. "I see how you are." She had to smile then, cheerfully as she realized what a true hypocrite she was. Expecting him to tell her all when she kept herself so hidden away. Picking up one of the paper packages that contained chopsticks inside them she scrunched up her nose and put the package above her top lip - a makeshift mustache.

"Come now" She said, German accent loud and Hollywood-fake. Teeeelll me more, Warren. Ve have zees vays of making you talk!'

[wartheflame.livejournal.com]

"Layla. She used to date my best friend until recently. Now she's looking into a college here." He hoped that she would move to the city. He missed his friends, after all.

He had to laugh at her antics. "I speak Mandarin because I started working at a Chinese restaurant before I started high school, and had been running errands for them even before that, and the missus there didn't speak a lot of English. I guess I just picked it up over the years." He started going through all the packages, loading up his plate as he went. This was going to be good. "Here. Try the Char Siu," he said, pushing a box over.

"As for my other secrets... Try asking, I just might answer." Or he might not. There were so many things he shouldn't talk about, not only for himself but because there were always a risk he'd blow the covers for his friends and acquaintances. That was just how the Super-society worked, and there was a reason why most supes mostly connected to other supes. Not just because of the things they had in common, but also because it was simply easier to talk.

Still, they were within his own four walls now, and he was more comfortable and relaxed here. So when he saw a candle going out he had to stop himself from getting up and relighting it with a flame from his fingers.