One-Shot: "Loosen Up"

|| This was an idea I got about a month ago while I was lying in bed trying to fall asleep. It was 2am, I was tired, but, I decided to bust the laptop out anyway and see what of it I could write before it vanished into thin air. I think I managed to write 3 pages of it that night. Anyway. I didn't really edit it or revise anything, so, smack dab it's pretty much still the rough draft. xD Hope you enjoy it anyway~ ||

Featured Characters
Speedy
Phantom (OC)

Loosen Up

The light emitting from the computer screen was near blinding in the unlit living room of Fourside. I could almost feel my eyes sizzling from it's rays. But the files had to be locked away and no one else was going to do it. The weighted silence of the room was only broken by the surprisingly loud clickity-clack-click-clack-clack of the keyboard as my fingers danced along it. Silly as it may sound, I sometimes pictured someone tap-dancing to it. Don't ask me why. I just did. One of those weird sound-to-imagery reflexes, I guess.

The rest of the Four had already packed it up to bed--as usual. Lune had always been one of those early to bed, early to rise folk (the lucky ones). Tiff, well, she was just as spontaneous with her sleeping schedule as she was with everything else; I never knew when she was asleep or when she was still awake and goofing off. Unless, of course, she made it obvious. Fina? Heaven knows what she's doing at this hour. And myself? Well, being in the Bat-family, I happen to be a late to bed, early to rise sort of person. Not the best habit to get into, but, I can still function and keep my head on straight. …Most of the time.

The day had been a long one. It was The Four's turn to host one of the bimonthly Titan-meetings. Cyborg was probably still roaming the building somewhere, tying some loose ends together about the new recruits and whatnot. I knew Bee was still here; she had just given me a few more applications to review…or something. Honestly, I really hadn't looked at it when she handed it to me. Aside from the three of us, I had no idea who was still here or who had left. Just that these needed to be scanned, filed, and saved into the main database so BumbleBee and Cyborg could access them from any location necessary. But my eyes were beginning to wear on me and I began to wonder why I allowed the lights to go off in the first place. My luck, I was going to end up with contacts. Joy of heavenly joys.

"Geeze, ya workaholic."

The voice caught me off guard and I jumped, swiveling my head around like an owl might have. Speedy straightened and took a sharp step back from his position across the room, holding his hands up.

"Agh! Phan, don't DO that! It's creepy and unnatural."

My shoulders slumped a bit and I turned the chair around so my head and body were in place again.

"It's reflex, Speedy, what do you expect?"

He smirked and lowered his hands, strolling towards me as I turned back around. I snorted softly under my breath as I replaced my fingers to the keyboard.

"What're you still doing here? It's gotta be late."

"Bee was my ride over. Actually, she was the team's ride over--we took the cruiser, y'know," he answered, slowing to a stop as he reached my right side. "Garth's asleep on one of the chairs in the lobby with Mas and Menos. Bee's still busy sorting out the next meeting time and place…heh. More like arguing over who's tower it's gonna be at."

"And you?"

"Got bored. Figured roaming might do me some good. ….what're you still doing up?"

I simpered a bit and gave my head a short shake. "You should know I'm a night owl."

"Tch! Shyeah, I figured the owl part out."

"Yeah, yeah, m'sorry."

He chuckled lowly and folded his arms, half-sitting on the side of the computer panel. We fell silent for a little while as I decided to wrap up filing for the night. With the last finishing touches to a newbie's file, I saved it all and closed it, grabbing for the papers and poking them into a slot on the side of the computer.

"So, what now?"

"I dunno, I'm not tired yet. And there's no point in me roaming this place since I helped design it and know every nook and cranny."

He snorted. "Well, fine…howsabout some TV, then? I think there's some sort of marathon on tonight. Can't remember what it was."

I grunted back a snippy remark about his memory and pushed out of my chair. It was an interesting fish about the couch to find that blasted remote--sometimes I swear Fina hides it purposely--but I found it nontheless and clicked the computer into television mode. Speedy tugged off his quiver and set it aside as the two of us flopped onto the couch and I began channel surfing. Things were quiet, with nothing but the soft volume of whatever show popped on in the background. Then, I must have been taking too long.

"…wait, go back." Speedy muttered. I huffed.

"Too late, already moved ahead seven--eight!--channels. Besides, Animal Planet's coming up."

"Oh, geeze--Animal Planet? Seriously?"

"Yeah, seriously."

"Uuuuh yeah-noooo. Give me the remote."

I snorted. "Nope. Not happen'n."

"…now."

"I beg your pardon?"

"Give me the remote."

"I'm using it!"

"Raven, give me the--"

"SHHH!" I whipped my head around, half glaring at him, half scanning the rest of the room. He straightened a bit and blinked, arching one of his mask--wait. Where was his mask? …He must have taken it off between the time we sat on the couch and now.

"…what?" He scoffed. I narrowed my eyes a little.

"You know 'what', Speedy," I muttered lowly. "I'm in uniform right now…you can't just--y'know--go around calling me…that."

He stared at me for a moment. Then, a crooked smirk etched its way up his lips and he folded his arms, letting out a short laugh. For a moment I was a bit too stunned to do much else than blink. When my senses came back to me, I straightened back up and scowled.

"What? What's so funny?"

"Geeze, Rae, who do you think is listening in, huh? It's just us."

I hissed softly and swatted him on the arm, but, this only seemed to amuse him more.

"Seriously, knock it off! …And put your mask back on!"

"Oh, for the love of--"

"Speedy. Put your mask back on."

He simpered and only sat back more into the couch.

"Man, you're so uptight sometimes, Wayne." His crooked grin only spread out more as my eyes narrowed a bit. "Because, like. Oh my God. Mumbo is totally hiding right outside that window.--DON'T LOOK! He'll turn you into a rabbit!"

"…shut up."

He snickered. I grunted and sat back, folding my own gloved arms and staring up into the TV. There was another moment or two of silence as I went on clicking through the channels. I shot a curious glance in his direction. Big mistake; he caught it.

"Seriously, Rae, ease up a bit."

I turned my head back to him, lowering the remote as I allowed the exasperated expression to fill my face.

"Well, Speedy--"

"Roy."

"--shut up, I'm talking." I narrowed my eyes as he bit his lip to hold back a snicker. "Look, Batman's rule was--is--that we're not supposed to make any identity references while in uniform, okay?"

"Heh, 'uniform'. Cripes, you make it sound like the army."

I stared at him a moment longer before letting out a long sigh and letting my body flop back against the couch.

"You're a real annoying little bugger, y'know that, Speedy--"

"Harper."

"Aaaaaagh!" I let out a short laugh and this time knocked him in the shin with the tip of my boot. He grunted sharply and straightened up, shoving me in the shoulder.

"Watch it, Wayne."

I shoved him back as I pushed upright. "You wat--HEY!!"

In one swift movement, he had reached across me and snatched the remote right out of my hand. The red head fell back into the couch and grinned, giving the remote a few mocking shakes before twisting it in his fingers and beginning to click through the channels. I stared at him for a moment before huffing and folding my arms again, glancing back towards the screen. The screen clicked on for a few more seconds.

"Soooo, Gar's never called you 'Raven' while you're in the uniform?" The archer asked. I turned my head towards him.

"Gar's never called me anything except 'Casper'," I answered in a 'you should know this' sort of tone. He simpered, eyes still locked on the screen.

"Aaaand, you've never waltzed around in uniform without your mask on?"

"No, of course not."

He slowly tilted his head towards me, one brow lifting and arching a few centimeters up. I gazed back at him a moment, suddenly feeling that tiny inch smaller. And I didn't like it.

"…what's that look for?" I muttered, shoving the defensive tone from my voice. His mouth twitched.

"Nuthin. Just…don't think you're telling me the full truth here, Wayne."

….

I rolled my eyes and glanced off. "Okay, once when I was eight."

"That doesn't count!"

The smirk-grin was vibrant on his face when I whipped my head back to him. "Yeah it does!"

"NO, it doesn't!" He laughed, shaking his head and tilting it back. "And lemmie guess, you were in the Batcave or something?"

"Well, y--stop that!" I smacked him in the arm. The edges of my own mouth were beginning to twitch now…dang laughter was always contagious. "I respect the way you and Arrow do stuff, Harper, so you re--"

I realized my slip too late.

"Ah-HA!!!" He cried, grinning widely as he pointed a finger in my face. I swatted it away.

"Shut up!!"

"You called me Harper! HA!"

"You're REAL annoying sometimes, y'know that?"

"Your face is annoying."

"YOUR face is--"

"Gorgeous?"

"Oh-HOmyGod," the laugh burst from my mouth before I could stop it and I fell back against the couch, shaking my head. He grinned and also leaned back, letting out a bark of a laugh as he gave the remote a light toss to his other side. I briefly covered my face with my hand and let my palm drop, uttering a short 'good lord' under my breath. There was another few seconds of silence--save for a chuckle here or there from each of us--before he rolled his shoulders and turned his head to me.

"See? Nuthin' happened. …Unless you're suddenly craving carrots," he pointed out matter-of-factly. I sat there, studying the slightly mischievous smirk on his face before lightly smacking his arm and looking back to the TV. He chuckled again. "…really, though. D'be nice if you'd loosen up once and a while."

"You do realize that if I did, Fina would be all over the place and--"

"No, no, I'm talk'n 'bout the entire uniform and name crap. Garth and I call each other by our names all the t--"

"Garth doesn't have much of a secret identity, Speedy, he's got black eyes and refuses to wear contacts."

"…okay, bad example. And stop calling me that, y'already slipped. Point is: we all get along just fine s'long as we only do it in tower areas. I mean, really, Fourside is on an island. An island. I think you guys would be alright. …n'it'd be nice to actually get to see your face once and a while."

I sat up a little and blinked, turning my head a bit more in his direction.

"…huh?"

I thought I saw his shoulders stiffen, but he ended up shifting his arms up and behind his head, crossing his legs across the coffee table. He shrugged, glancing towards the window.

"I dunno, uh…s'just…we've all been so busy lately with stuff--me with Lian and…I dunno what you guys've been up to, but, you always seem busy with something. The only time anyone really gets to see anyone anymore is at these damn team meetings or if we happen to somehow cross paths on patrol. …I dunno, it'd just be nice to actually get to see faces instead of…masks and crap all the time."

There was silence for another few seconds as I studied his face…or what I could see of it. He had a bit of a point, I found myself admitting. Things had been a bit chaotic lately; everyone seemed to be in twenty different directions at once and the only people I had seen in the past few weeks had been my own mix and match family and the Four. Not that I minded it, but, I slowly realized how much I did miss seeing my other friends…off the job. Out from under the pressure. The weight of the world. Just the times when we'd go and do something entirely senseless and goofy. The times without the 'masks and crap'.

I stared at him for a moment longer before letting out an inward sigh and closing my eyes. After a moment's hesitation, I reached up and slipped my fingers under the sides of my cowl, pushing it up and over my head as I ducked down a little. The air felt a cold against my face and I huffed, shaking my head a little and attempting to decompress my hair from my scalp with my fingers. I gave my head a final flick to shake some strays out of my face before looking back to him, fighting the smirk down from the edges of my mouth.

"…there. Happy?"

He twisted his head back around, eyebrows arching some in surprise. A smile slowly crept onto his face.

"…yeah, actually…and look at that. You're still a human."

I smirked as his smile grew to a grin. "Shyeah, well, that's 'cause I haven't looked at the window just ye--"

"Yo, Speedy!"

The two of us jumped sharply and I reflexively reached back to pull my cowl back over the upper half of my face. The nose piece just about ripped my eye out on its way down and I hissed under my breath. Bee flew out of the hall and landed promptly at the doorway, her hands propping on her hips as they seemed to do by nature.

"We're ready to roll out. Y'com'n?" She asked, smirking a bit as she thumbed behind her. Roy let out a short huff as he shoved off the couch.

"Yeah, yeah, m'coming. …Took ya long enough."

"Uh huh."

The archer opened his mouth and raised a finger, but she had already disappeared back down the hall. He remained in that position for a moment before letting his hands flop back to his sides and turning around.

"Well. Guess m'head'n off," he muttered. I smirked weakly, thankful for the cowl back in its place as my face was suddenly heating up. The quick move of tearing it back on, however, had left some of my hair roped around my neck…and it was beginning to itch. I stepped around him towards the hall as he plucked his mask off the couch and began to stick it back into place.

"Right. Get some rest, Speedy."

My smirk widened a bit as he let out a low laugh and I pressed the door's button, casting a glance back over my shoulder. He shrugged his quiver into place and stretched, strolling towards the hallway Bee had disappeared down.

"Good luck with the team and stuff. Catch ya later, Twig."

I snorted. "Bye, Carrot-head."

He shot me a smirk over his shoulder as he disappeared down the hall, leaving me at the door. It wasn't for a few more seconds that I realized I was still looking after him. I grunted to myself and reached up, tugging my cowl off enough to adjust the hair onto the back of my neck before settling it back into place. I cast a look over my shoulder towards the windows as I started through the doorway, frowning a little to myself before pulling my gaze back ahead of me. Part of my stomach twisted a little and I let out a sigh. I was getting the bad feeling that Mumbo had managed to cast his spell after all…and worse yet…that I liked it.

Short, sweet, maybe a little dialog heavy. Over all not the worst piece of fan fiction I've ever seen. I do like the name of the OC, but maybe a little unoriginal, DC already has a Phantom, and his name is!...

TheDeceiverGod wrote:Short, sweet, maybe a little dialog heavy. Over all not the worst piece of fan fiction I've ever seen. I do like the name of the OC, but maybe a little unoriginal, DC already has a Phantom, and his name is!...

...um, thank you? x3
And yes, I knew about the Phantom Stranger, but...he's the Phantom Stranger, so >3> Phantom just stuck with her back in early planning, so...it stayed.

Raevien wrote:

TheDeceiverGod wrote:Short, sweet, maybe a little dialog heavy. Over all not the worst piece of fan fiction I've ever seen. I do like the name of the OC, but maybe a little unoriginal, DC already has a Phantom, and his name is!...

...um, thank you? x3
And yes, I knew about the Phantom Stranger, but...he's the Phantom Stranger, so >3> Phantom just stuck with her back in early planning, so...it stayed.

Well there's also Phantom Girl and Phantom Lady although they may be the same person, it's a popular name.

TheDeceiverGod wrote:

Well there's also Phantom Girl and Phantom Lady although they may be the same person, it's a popular name.

xP Yes, I'm also aware of the practically naked dorkwad.