This is it. No turning back now. It wasn't one of his brightest ideas, but what was he meant to do? He couldn't just turn them away could he? Well in all honesty he could have, but it really had seemed like an alright idea at the time. It's surely not too late to rescind his over-eager invitation, is it? He could just turn around and tell the 4 of them 'Nope, not happening' and send them all on their merry way, but what kind of man would he be if he did that?
If he were to be honest, he could have already told them it was off a handful of times today. He could have done it during the obscenely long car ride over here, he could have done it while they all stood in silence in the damn lobby waiting for the elevator, and shit, he even could have done it during the seemingly never-ending elevator ride up to the very top floor of the apartment complex, but standing here now facing the pale blue door before him with a stoic expression on his face but a feeling of sheer dread hanging heavy in his stomach, Cold exhaled silently and realized that it was indeed far too late to turn back now.
Reaching into the left-hand pocket of his parka Jacket and withdrawing a small silver key, Cold continued to mentally berate himself as he forced his hand forward towards the lock, quickly pushing the key into the slot and unlocking the door. As the door clinked, Cold took in one sharp inhale through the nose and quickly exhaled with a defeated sounding puff, pushing the door open and turning to look at his companions with a not so well hidden look of anxiety visible on his features. Well Leonard, you've made your bed and now you've gotta lie in it.
"Alright everyone, c'mon in and make yourselves at home." Cold said as he stepped into his apartment, carefully slipping out of his puffy blue jacket and hanging it delicately on the hooks just to the right of the still open door.
"Shoes go on the rack, jackets on the hooks and all weapons are left in the cabinet or else they'll be confiscated. Understood?" he said as he slipped his black boots off and lay them on the rack, immediately turning his attention towards the door and the hulking figure lumbering through it.
Mick stepped into the apartment and grumbled aloud as he kicked his boots off in Cold's general direction,one boot landing just before Cold and the other smacking into the bottom of his's leg. Cold winced and threw Mick the dirtiest look he could muster.
"Mick, don't start..." he said plainly, although the venomous look on his face betrayed his usually unreadable demeanor. Mick barked out a laugh and flipped him off as he walked straight into the living room area of the open plan apartment and threw himself onto the couch with a heavy thud. It's official, Cold was already beginning to really really regret this.
Almost as if she could sense the already brewing tension, Lisa slunk into the apartment with her sleek black heels already in hand and a wiry smirk on her face.
"Ahh c'mon Lenny, chill out..." she cooed as she placed her shoes delicately on the rack and shrugged out of her black leather coat, placing it on the hook directly next to Cold's infamous parka. She flashed her brother a reassuring smile as she continued on into the apartment and right up to Mick, who without a moments hesitation sat up in his seat and cleared it for her. Lisa nodded in Mick's general direction as she sat herself down and made herself comfortable on the couch. She paused briefly and began looking around the apartment without saying a word, nodding to herself as she began to reacquaint herself with the place. It'd been years since she'd last set foot in Lenny's place, but it all looked the same, like nothing had changed. Letting out a content sounding sigh, Lisa sunk into the deep comfortable couch and turned her attention towards the door, she chuckled aloud as she waved her hand towards herself, seemingly trying to beckon the other two into the apartment.
"Mark, Axel! C'mon in. Lenny won't bite, wish i could say the same for Mick though...". Behind her, Mick choked out a laugh and bared his teeth like an rabid dog as he turned and faced towards the two men standing in the doorway. Mick cursed aloud as Lisa jammed her elbow into his sides with fervor.
Before he could correct her for continuing to call him 'Lenny' in front of the gang, Cold's attention snapped towards the door as Mark hesitantly began to tread into the apartment, his jacket already off and hanging over his arm and his boots in hand. There was a nervous air that seemed to hang around Mark that betrayed the stony look that seemed to be a constant addition to his sharp features, but it was to be expected. As the newest member of their ever-growing 'Rogues' gallery Cold mused that for Mark this must have been like being the new kid on their first day of school, if your class mates were all convicted felons, weirdo's and psychopaths... a bad example, he'd admit. Without a word, Mark stooped down and dropped his shoes onto the rack and hung his jacket haphazardly on one of the hooks. He paused for a moment and locked eyes with Cold as if to say something before rolling his shoulder's and walking off towards the other two who seem to have already made themselves quite at home. Looking towards Mick and Lisa with a nervous smile, Mark carefully sat himself down in the armchair to the left of the main couch, his back rigid and his hands placed firmly on his knees. Lisa looked over towards Mark and smiled at him, leaning forward and saying something to the tall male that Cold never quite picked up on. Mark let out a almost inaudible chuckle and said something back as he visibly begin to unwind in his seat. Lisa reached forward and patted his hand with her own before leaning back into the couch once more.
"Well at least they're not killing each other..." Cold muttered aloud as he began to straighten Marks jacket up on the hook, although he may have spoken too soon. Springing into the apartment with what Cold was sure the young male thought was contagious enthusiasm, Axel shed his jacket and shoe's as he sauntered towards the living area with a shit-eating grin plastered across his face and his trademark swagger in full swing, despite the fact his right arm was wrapped tightly in a fresh white cast. Axel began giggling wildly as he threw himself into the space between Lisa and Mick on the now busy looking couch, immediately beginning to start chatting away with anyone who would bother to pay him the attention he was clearly looking for. Mark, looking unsure what to make of the eccentric male, smiled awkwardly at the kid and began drumming his fingers against his knees. Lisa - unfazed as ever - began chatting back to Axel with a somewhat amused grin on her face. Mick simply turned away, having none of it apparently.
Cold rolled his eyes as he scooped up Axel's belongings and placed them neatly in their spots while muttering away angrily to himself. It hadn't been 5 minutes and already he was gearing himself up for wringing Axel's neck, who the hell invited him into their little gang anyway? Cold guessed that he had kind of earned his keep after what happened with Grodd a few days ago - the cast on the young males right arm was testament to that - but c'mon now, even he had his limits and Axel was proving to be one of them.
Sucking in a sharp breath, Cold shook his head and prepared for the inevitable as he began towards the living area.
"Alright Ladies and Gentlemen here's the deal. This is my hide-out and my rules, anyone has any complains or suggestion's then you know where the door is. We clear?" The room seems to erupt with a series of non-committal grunts and mumbling, the best he could hope for given the circumstances.
"Besides that the rest is simple. There are 2 free rooms down the stairs and one up the stairs. You can decided among yourselves what room you're taking but i trust you'll all try and be adults about it, right Mick?" Cold said as he turned towards the burly figure with a deadpan look. Mick turned his head over his shoulder and rolled his eyes at Cold, but nodded in response. A small smirk cracked on Cold's face.
"Excellent. Glad we're all agreed. There's two Bathrooms, one is the last door on the right down the corridor and the other is the first door at the top of the landing up the stairs. My room is directly next to the bathroom upstairs and the other free room is the one directly next to my room, or third door down the landing to be precise. The Kitchen is directly behind me and i think that's about it. Any questions?" Cold said as he looked at the small crowd before him, all of whom simply shrugged or nodded in response.
"Good, now go get settled then, since it seems you're going to be intruding on my private life for the foreseeable future." and with that the three men all got up from their seats and set off into the apartment to make themselves at home. Mark took the last room on the left downstairs and Axel the first right next to the bathroom. Mick took it upon himself to take the free room up the stairs next to Cold's, a move Cold was sure both he and Mick were going to regret.
As the rumbling stopped when everyone seemed to be beginning to settle in to what was now THEIR apartment, Cold shuffled around the couch and threw himself down onto it, his butt slowly beginning to slide of the edge of the seat as he completely melted into the couches shape and began to finally unwind. Next to him, his sister looked over at him with a concerned look on her face, she reached forward and placed her hand on his shoulder.
"Y'know, you didn't need to take them all in Lenny" she started "What happened with Grodd wasn't your fault. The fact we even made it out of that in one piece was a miracle, god knows what happened to The Flash..."
"I didn't have to take you in either remember, but here we are." he said with a smirk as he turned to look at his sister.
"Oh you did. Blood's thicker than water 'n all that fuzzy wuzzy B-S. But seriously though, you can act Frosty and disagreeable as long as you care to 'Elsa'..." she laughed and nudged his side with her foot, successfully managing to elicit a laugh from her brother. "But you actually did a good thing today. Must feel odd right?"
"Y'know it does actually." Cold replied "Ever since i decided to take you lot in i've been taken over by an uncontrollable urge to adopt strays and donate all my time to a damn soup kitchen."
"Don't be a dick Lenny! You know what i mean" Lisa said with a laugh as she rose to her feet and began heading straight towards the corridor that lead to their rooms. "On that note, i'm gonna head and see if my room is still in one piece. Y'never moved anything around or that, did you?" She said as she leaned against the wooden frame of the door, her eyes locked with her brother's.
"Now why would i do that? Everything in there is 'Pretty and Toxic', like you remember?" he raised his pitch and slurred his words at the end of his sentence. Lisa feigned a shocked face and shook her head as she walked into her room, closing the door behind her.
The watch on his wrist read 23:04 and it was safe to say that Cold had never been so happy in his life to see the end of a day. Stepping into his bedroom and locking the door behind him, Cold leaned against the harsh wooden surface and exhaled deeply, feeling like he was mere seconds away from collapsing from exhaustion. It truly had been one of those days and he feared that tomorrow wouldn't be any easier knowing he was stuck with those four. Kicking off his trousers, socks and peeling off his shirt as he trudged closer and closer to his bed, the male let out a deep and content sigh as he finally collapsed onto his soft mattress, his head hitting the pillow with a muffled thud as his eyes slowly beginning to slip shut.
Maybe this new arrangement wouldn't be so bad? I mean, the rest of the night had been okay. They'd successfully managed to order a some pizza without killing each other (although when Axel refused to stop shouting Ham and Pineapple at him as he phoned the order he'll admit he came close to it) and he hated to admit that the TV session following dinner had actually been kind of enjoyable, even more so when Mark had finally began to come out of his shell, Axel had settled down and dropped the whole 'Trickster' nonsense and Mick had stopped demanding that they watch some movie called 'Backdraft', which Cold had made a mental note of to google later on to see what it was actually about. Overall a not bad night Cold thought to himself. Not so bad at all...
And that was when it happened. With a series of cracks and fizzles the sprinkler system to the apartment turned on and began filling the Penthouse suite with it's awful blaring siren and dousing the place with ice cold water. Jolting up like a bat out of hell Cold sprinted towards the door, unlocked it and threw himself out into the Hallway, seemingly forgetting that he was dressed in nothing but a pair of jet black boxer shorts. As he lurched into the hall, Cold looked down over the landing and into the kitchen and saw none other than Mick sitting at the table seemingly just having finished using his infamous Heat-Gun on it's lowest setting to make Toast. Mick look up to the landing and made a faux-shocked face, dropping his gun onto the counter with a splash and shrugging dismissively as he bit into the piece of jet black, smoking bread without a seconds hesitation. Below him, Cold could hear three other hurried sets of feet splashing along the water soaked laminate flooring of the corridor and towards the kitchen.
"What?" Mick said, spitting black crumbs all over the soaked counter top and looking to Cold, then towards the 3 standing at the bottom of the stairs with a look of sheer indifference visible in his beady eyes. "Ain't my fault this shit-hole apartment doesn't have a fuckin' toaster..."