Sing a Sad Song and Make It Better [open]

[Red X]

“And Tori, please see me after class.”

“’Kay.”

“Yeah, probably so she can-”

“Amber! That’s awful!”

“You totally were thinking it too, interrupting.”

Tori narrowed her eyes, hands balling into fists. Her fingers were wrapped in bandages, neat and clean, along with much of the rest of her body. She looked like a mummy, and felt like one too-dead, and like someone had pulled her organs out through her nose. Well, maybe not that exactly, but she sure as hell hurt. And she should, after that serious beating from Necros a few days ago. Or maybe it was a week. Either way, she had missed quite a bit of school, after being picked up by her dad in the prototype X-car. That still was in the works, but it was more than enough to come home in. Her dad nearly died of shock, and didn’t shorten the lecture once she was stable and she couldn’t say she was tired and fall asleep, only able to fake it. It seemed to be that if that guy (who she still didn’t know his name) didn’t kill her, her father would. Then figure out how to have that not happen again, which would just be fun for him, being the Brainiac that he was.

“Probably from her last night.”

“Dangerous job.”

“Her choice.”

Oh, how easy it would be to maim them. And how she was completely considering it, too. She tapped the pencil on her desk rapidly, staring as the pointed tip clicked against the wood. Who were they to talk about her? She tried to catch them from the corner of her eye, but it was impossible, since she was wearing an eye-patch to hide the nasty black eye and wound right under it from the world. Now she could say that was just from having something thrown at it, instead of shifty looks as to why there was a deep gash and having it swollen. The rest of her bandages were covered by a white shirt and a long, white and black peasant skirt, light, cool and summery, covering her and keeping her looking normal with the bright, sunny weather outside. She looked out the window, distracting herself, into the bluebell sky, cotton clouds halfway covering the sun, rays shining in between them. She wanted to be outside, out of the classroom (however nice it was), even if she had missed almost an entire week of school already.

Her phone rang, and she quickly pulled it out of her bag. It was a blank text messaged, timed to be sent from earlier in the day, since she had predicted she’d probably be in a mood. Not that she thought it would be this bad, making her even happier that she had done so. She slid the phone back into her backpack, raising her hand, her fingers bending and holding the end of her sleeve up, so it didn’t slid down and reveal the bruises and bandages on her arm. “Excuse me, sorry, but I really need to go now. My dad called, and I need to get some things checked out. At the hospital.”

“Of course, I hope everything is alright.”

“Me too.”

“Looks like she got another job.”

Tori’s eyes narrowed, knowing no one else could hear the whispering between the two girls, hearing them because of her enhanced ears. She was an expert at lying, and she only knew this was because this was high school. Girls were nasty and catty, especially towards other girls who they deemed a threat. And even bandaged, sore, limping, eye-patched, Tori was most definitely a threat. She stood up, throwing her bag over her shoulder and ignoring a wince as it hit her flesh. Her flats made no sound as she padded out the room, the gossiping pair’s eyes glued to her as she walked. She paused, making eye contact, glaring until her sharp eyes caught goose bumps darting up their arms and their hair raising on their necks, and they looked away. It wouldn’t have been possible without the eye patch and bandages, along with the nasty bruises, and it felt good.

She ditched the school, no one asking, trying to keep her limp to a minimal. She pulled out a violent red lollipop, sticking it in her mouth and feeling her eyes dilate. They were drugged with a compound stronger than morphine, her body breaking down that drug too quickly. This worked the same way, but she could feel the numbness, while being perfectly lucid. Her limp went away, her posture straightening, and she felt weightless. Before she had thought of taking a cab down to the beach, but now that seemed unnecessary. Oh, she was definitely going to the beach, it would be nearly empty this time of day and she was getting stares for different reasons than usual, and more of them. All she wanted was to be alone to think, and maybe get some homework out of the way. It was such a nice day out, and it would be even cooler by the water. She just wanted to lay out and roast, since clearly Red X would be out of commission for a bit.

Reaching the beach, she took off her flats, even her feet somewhat bandaged as she walked onto the sand. The water was beautiful as usual, bringing a smile on her bruised face, and she walked to the edge of the water, on the edge of the dry sand. She sat down, resting her chin on her knees, the wind blowing back her long hair. This sea-salted air felt wonderful on her face, stinging her uncovered wounds a bit, but clear and refreshing. She rested her bag beside her, wondering when what’s-his-face, who she was toying with calling Azazel mainly for the hell of it, would find her. Would he come for her when she was in costume? Would he come at all? She bit her lip, long having stopped looking over her shoulder for him, looking out to the glassy pale-blue sea. Besides, what would she say? She barely knew what the question was, let alone what else it implied, and she hadn’t told her dad about it, of course not.

She sighed and took the lollipop out of her mouth, twirling it between her fingers a couple times before putting it gently back into her mouth.

[Dawn]

The beach, full of sand, water and honestly not really much else, well besides the obvious of animals living in the sea, but there wasn’t really much about it, and there wasn’t anything to see, but it was quiet and that was what Dawn had been hoping for, quiet. She walked slowly along the edge of the beach, her bare feet moving through the waves as they lapped softly onto the shore. One thing she could say for the beach, it definitely had soothing sounds, the water washing over the pebbles was a glorious sound and for the first time in a while she was smiling, she had needed some silence for once, everything was just too hectic everywhere else, the mall was busy, school was busy, not that she had gone today, playing hooky was not something she normally did and honestly she had never done it before, but who would care really? No one noticed her when she was there anyway.

She sighed deeply, her chestnut hair moving about her face as the wind caught it sending it into an obscure dance, she didn’t mind really she was in a much better mood than the other night, she did go home eventually and oddly her parents had noted her disappearance she was surprised and quite frankly somewhat happy that they had even noticed, but her happiness was cut short when they mentioned her brother...yes that argument, the one that had caused her to run, there was no hiding it anymore was there, the fact that she was a freak abnormal...the only question she really had was why? Why was she the one with the powers she had no control over, she was sick of falling through her bed and dropping her food onto the floor because her hands had turned see through again, she hated it, and most of all she hated herself.

The young teen kicked at the sand in frustration before looking up, oh, it seemed she wasn’t alone after all, another girl seemed to want to get away from it all too, Dawn shivered as her nerves kicked in, she didn’t do well in social situations, maybe if she ignored the girl and just walked past and acted as though she hadn’t seen her? Yeah...that was good.

[Red X]

Tori had always liked being alone, mainly because it was so rare for her. Back home (Federal City would always be home for her) she had tons of friends, none of this beach-blonde bimbos that paraded around in the West Coast sun. Here, however, it was frightfully different, and she got so lonely. Sure, she had friends, but they weren’t…she didn’t…she couldn’t explain. She spent most of her free time in the suit, never feeling alone in it. It was as if it were another person, giving her direction and tips, strengthening her and egging her on. Encouraging, comforting, supportive. Now that she wasn’t wearing it, she felt so naked. Raw and open to the world, which wasn’t willing to have her at the moment.

She stiffened, hearing the other girl long before she saw her. Mainly because she was coming up on her covered eye, and it would big a large motion to see her, rather than a sleek corner-of-the-eye subtle move. She debated. The girl clearly was here to be alone as well, but that might not be her choice. She could be shy. Lonely. But what if she wasn’t? What if she just wanted to be left alone? Well, then she could say so and Tori would leave her alone. The thought of that blunt rejection though made her stomach flip, and she took the lollipop stick out of her mouth, candy dissolved to nothing. She put it back into her bag by feel, keeping her eyes on the sea.

Finally, she turned her head to look at the other girl, her thick hair gently cascading in the wind. She closed her good eye, the other one nearly closed anyway, even though the black eye-patch covered it either way. The sand blew in her general direction, and annoyance flickered across her face, but she assumed it wasn’t aimed for her. Maybe she was assuming too much of people. Maybe not. She made sure the sand was out of her face and away from her mouth before opening her eyes again, allowing a sweet smile to cross her face. She looked lovely and innocent, nothing like how Red X should look, which was the very point. “Hey, she said gently, raising a bandaged hand in a wave. “What’s up?”

[Dawn]

Dawn froze on the spot as Tori spoke to her, she wasn’t used to attention and quite frankly when she did get some it was always negative, so having someone greet her in a seemingly friendly manner…well it was certainly a new experience for her but whether it was going to be an enjoyable experience remained to be seen. A gloved hand moved through her chestnut tresses nervously, placing it behind her ears, she hated nervous habits, although as habits went having the urge to brush back your hair all the time wasn’t so bad, but when you were going to be doing it over and over again anyway because of the wind it was definitely an annoying habit.

“Um…Hi” she managed to squeak out a response slapping a hand to her throat instantly, well that could have gone a little better, what the heck was that? Was a mouse talking for her? She shouted at herself mentally, she was just another girl watching the ocean, probably wanting to be alone like Dawn…in which case why was she talking to her? Well it was politeness really she thought, but there was no reason why she should not be just as polite. Dawn approached her slowly noting her bandages, what had happened to her? Had she got in a fight with someone? Suddenly Dawn felt a little pity for her, and rather than being nervous now, she found herself being unusually open.

“Ouch….get hurt in a fight? I mean if you don’t mind my asking” she said smiling sheepishly, she wasn’t normally one for asking questions but curiosity had gotten the better of her on this point. Taking closer inspection of Tori she could see a lot more damage had been done than just her hand, was it a really big fight? She coughed lightly sitting down on the sand near her, her eyes moving to the sea, it really was beautiful to watch, the sun glinting on the waves made it look as though it were made of glass, or crystal, she would liked to have think crystal mostly because crystal was more precious than glass, and the sea was definitely a precious thing.

[Red X]

“Um…Hi” Tori lowered her hand, her eyebrows raising as the girl gripped her own throat. She didn’t say anything, stretching her legs out, scooting back so none of the skin touched the water. She just didn’t like getting wet, or the bandages wet. Nor did she want to disturb the water, so pretty and clear. She closed her eyes, laying back in the sand, feeling toasty and warm in the sun. For once, not uncomfortably either, never liking heat so much. After that cold and rainy night, though, she couldn’t get enough of the sun and its warmth and light.

“Ouch….get hurt in a fight? I mean if you don’t mind my asking” Was that pity? Tori sat up slightly, resting herself back on her elbows, opening her eyes. Pity was…rare. She never got that, and she wasn’t quite sure if she disliked it. She felt guilty for that, since she honestly didn’t deserve pity in any way. She was at the top of the pyramid, in every way shape or form. She gave Dawn a rather guilty smile although looking at the sea, then shrugged, her arms really starting to hurt from all the weight on them and the wounds. She sat back up in a slight slouch, letting her legs stay out.

“It’s no problem.” Tori said, looking at Dawn for the first time. The girl was pretty, and clearly had something bothering her. She didn’t say anything about that, maybe she’d bring it up later, but she was more than willing to share. She loved talking. She thought back to the night, trying to wince as little as possible. That was the worst beating she had probably gotten, ever. Mainly because she tended to get herself out of the situations that would have hurt her badly, or just didn’t get them in the first place. “Yeah, with this guy. During that storm last week, in the rain, all dramatic and that, when the blackout was downtown. Perfect timing, right?” An image of the mystery man flashed through her head, gothic and gorgeous, even (perhaps especially) with the tears of blood. She smiled, satisfied how she got to him, and pushing back the memories how she thought she went crazy. Clearly, she wasn’t, or at least not at the current moment.

[Dawn]

Was that a smile she’d caught, wow, maybe her first impression wasn’t the right one, she’d assumed that Tori was the kind of girl who never smiled, after all she hadn’t seemed overly happy when she had first caught a glimpse of her, but now, now she was smiling and seemed happier, even if her smile had been a little weird, nervous perhaps? No...she didn’t seem like the kind of girl who got nervous, or had an evil older brother who should have been born a monkey or powers that just really.....ok she was thinking far too much now, and most of it was about her, how selfish could she get. “Gah...” she whispered quietly as she brought her hands up to her face for a moment, covering her eyes before releasing a deep sigh, she was such an idiot, t was funny, no one seemed to like her, and why would they? She knew all too well that you had to actually be sociable to have people talk to you.

“Um sorry....sand...um in my eyes” she said as she removed her hands placing them at her sides, drawing her fingers back and forth through the sand playfully, she really did like it here and found that she didn’t mind the company she had for a change. The storm....oh yeah she remembered that storm, she’d got locked out of the house that night, thanks to a certain brother, he really was a jerk, she would probably have been better off with a monkey brother, it would probably smell the same anyway. “A guy, ouch did he think he could hit on you or something, I mean I assume you kicked his butt, cos you seem like the capable sort which is always a good thing cos you never know what’s going to happen and....I’m just going to stop talking now” she said taking a deep breath as she cursed inwardly.

Her cheeks reddened somewhat as she looked back to the sea, she rambled a lot when she was nervous which she considered to be a bad thing, but she hoped that Tori wouldn’t mind too much, but she would probably just think she was crazy or something, yep that was her, crazy old Dawn. “I’m sorry....I ramble when I’m nervous” she whispered smiling sheepishly as she coughed, running a hand through her hair, making a slight sound of disgust as she realised she had just put sand in it, she should have wiped her hand first.

[Red X]

“Um sorry....sand...um in my eyes” Tori shrugged at the feeble excuse, looking out to the sea. Her eyes darted to the motion out of the size out of her eye, Dawn’s finger in the sand, then to the girl. She was being rude, Tori realized-Tori, not the other girl. She was ignoring her and staring out to sea, well, not ignoring her, but not giving eye contact or any of those signs that tell other people you actually care about what they’re saying. She turned to face the girl, gingerly laying her legs on top of each other under her, spreading out the skirt and throwing her shoe out in a random direction, although away from the water. She adjusted the sleeves, flexing her fingers and pulling at the bandages.

“A guy, ouch did he think he could hit on you or something, I mean I assume you kicked his butt, cos you seem like the capable sort which is always a good thing cos you never know what’s going to happen and....I’m just going to stop talking now” Tori’s eyebrows rose, listening to the girl ramble. The first initial statement made her grin, at it stayed on her face, even as she shook her head. She couldn’t help but giggle, until it turned into a laugh. It was directly at Dawn, a Mean Girl-Queen Bee sort of laugh, only matching with her bandages. Clearly, she had more reasons than she thought why other people didn’t like her.

“I’m sorry....I ramble when I’m nervous” Tori’s laughter stop, and she looked away. That didn’t help at all, and probably made it worse. Tori hated getting laughed at, and instantly felt guilty. She didn’t say anything else, feeling guilty, not wanting to bring it back up at all, even to apologize. She had no problems dismissing her own behavior, she shrugged off Dawn’s apology as well, looking back at the girl, an apologetic smile on her own face.

“I wish, but it was really my fault for starting it. But I did piss him off.” Her smile fell, remembering the first part of that evening, and hoping the girl wouldn’t ask about how. That hadn’t been so smart, clearly. The second part brightening her up, remembering the guy angry. Even he said he was, what was the phrase, ‘not easily aggravated’. The smile stayed on her face, too comfortably, and she realized that, but it didn’t make it slide off at all. She sighed, crossing her legs, exposing a few more bruises on her legs. “I still wanna see him, though. That’s bad, isn’t it?”

[Dawn]

Dawn cringed as she laughed feeling heat burn her body as the red tint on her face spread to her arms, ok she really was a complete dork, now this girl was laughing at her, still it could have been worse, she could have thought she was crazy beyond all belief and run away screaming, truthfully that wasn’t the kind of impression she wanted to make. Dawn had never really wanted to make an impression on anyone before, she rarely spoke and most of the time kept herself to herself, this was perhaps the first time she had engaged in conversation with another girl close to her age in a long time, she rarely spoke to the one friend she had so, Tori was pretty lucky, though probably not so lucky.

The young teen looked to her as she stopped laughing, reading her smile, noting the apology in it, well she figured she was just being polite, it was sort of funny when she rambled, especially when she ran out of breath and had to take a deep one really quickly, that usually ended in her getting the hiccups but thankfully that didn’t happen this time. She brushed her hands through her hair again, shaking out the few grains of sand she had managed to lodge in it, well at least it wasn’t wet sand, that was harder to get off, it had the consistency of mud when it was wet making people look like they’d risen from the murky depths to exact vengeance on the world....but that was just her over active imagination breaking through.

She was quiet for a moment mulling over Tori’s question, was it bad? She didn’t really know herself, she supposed that it could be a thrill to fight, if you enjoyed that sort of thing, and maybe that was why she wanted to see him? To relieve the moment again. “It’s....it’s not bad” she said pulling her legs into her chest before wrapping her arms about them, resting her chin upon her knees as she stared back at the sea. “I read somewhere....that women who get beat up by their boyfriends...still want to go back to them....I mean, I guess he wasn’t your boyfriend, but maybe it’s the same thing in a way?”. Dawn sighed lightly, more comfortable than she had been a few moments ago. “I...I’m Dawn by the way” she said shyly.

[Red X]

“It’s....it’s not bad. I read somewhere....that women who get beat up by their boyfriends...still want to go back to them....I mean, I guess he wasn’t your boyfriend, but maybe it’s the same thing in a way?” Tori blinked. What’s-his-face as her boyfriend? It was almost laughable. Actually, it was so laughable a wide grin formed on her face, and she had to bite her lower lip to keep from laughing out loud. The dark, demon of the night, wicked powerful and emotionless, dating little miss innocent honor student? Silly. Silly silly silly-of course, when that girl turned out to be the thief Red X, well, it seemed as if anything could happen. Why not? And that, she knew, as a little flutter of attraction-not twisted, although it probably should have been-went through her, was not a place to go.

“I don’t think it’s that,” Tori mused, a smile still on her face even though it shouldn’t have been. They were talking about girls getting beaten by their boyfriends, and looking at Dawn’s serious expression was the only thing that made her smile soften. She looked down from the sea, back to the bandages on her arms and legs. If anyone normal had gone through that…it wouldn’t have ended well. Actually, it would have just ended permanently. She poked a bruise on her foot, wincing as a dulled pain went through her. Right. Her lollipop. She looked down to her hand, finding it dangerously close to the sand, sticking it back into her mouth and letting the numbness wash over her. “But thanks. Guess I’ll just listen to common sense or something.” Good luck with that for any teenager, let alone for her.

“I...I’m Dawn by the way” Pretty name for a pretty girl. A somewhat unusual name, but Tori had only heard it a couple of times from shows and things, never actually meeting a person with the name before.

“I’m Victoria, call me Tori.” She reached over and gave the girl a tight hug-a habit from home, more of a southern town. Of course, that all depended on who you asked-Federal City? More north than Gotham. Suburbs? Depends. Tori always considered herself north, but probably hugged and smiled too much. Or so she was told. Either way, the hug was probably more than the girl was expecting, and Tori worried that the girl would be a bit frightened, since she seemed so…fragile. Almost insubstantial, or at least that was the word that came to mind. .

[Dawn]

(Sorry it's taken me a couple of days, I ran out of muse too quickly)

Ok she realised that maybe what she had said was wrong for this situation, she sort of got the impression that this guy wasn’t a boyfriend or anything mostly from Tori’s expression as she mentioned it, yeah it was dumb, why would she let herself in for a relationship with someone like that anyway? She seemed really capable and everything, so she could probably have kicked any guys butt…though it seemed in this case the guy had done a lot of butt kicking back. “You’re welcome, e…even if it was kinda a dumb answer, I should think about things more before I speak” she said with a light laugh, well sometimes you had to laugh at your own mistake, it didn’t always bode well to sit there dwelling on them, that way led to much confusion, and Dawn had way to much to deal with right now to worry about mistakes.

Dawn frowned as she watched Tori stare at the sea then at her bandages, it seemed she was thinking about what had happened, if a guy had attacked Dawn, well she knew she wouldn’t really be able to fight, but maybe she wouldn’t have to? Well if her powers kicked in of their own accord maybe she could merely phase through him…but then what if they didn’t? That thought made her stare into space for a moment as she sighed deeply; she really was a weakling wasn’t she? Her thoughts turned to Tori again as she heard her speak introducing herself as Dawn had…Tori…it was a nice nickname, most people she knew of with the name Victoria would get called Vicki, but it seemed that Tori wasn’t like most girls and that was probably a good thing.

As Tori hugged her Dawn went rigid her eyes wide, um…why was she hugging her exactly? She was confused more than ever now, she wasn’t used to attention let alone a friendly hug and it had unnerved her somewhat but she tried not to show it, after all she was just trying to be nice, in her own way. “T-Tori is a …n-nice name” she said stammering a little closing her eyes tightly as she cursed inwardly, if stammering didn’t make it sound like she was uncomfortable nothing did. She swallowed quickly trying to think of something else to say but nothing came to mind, she reached into her trouser pocket and retrieved a packet of mentos peeling back the wrapper a little. “Um…want one?” she asked smiling unsurely before the packet fell through her hand, she jumped as she saw her hand turn see-through and she pulled it back behind her smiling nervously, hoping that Tori would merely think she had dropped them. “Oops uh…clumsy me”.