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Chapter 3- Snake Eyes
I blinked, frustrated, "Why is this taking so long?" I wailed, clawing at my sunglasses and blinking as I continued to attempt to look around. My sunglasses fell to the floor. I let loose another frustrated growl as I could still only see faint silhouettes. I heard a startled gasp.
"Um… Red X? Are you… all right? I didn't freeze you, did I?"
"No…" he murmured. I could feel him come closer through the vibrations in the ground,
"X?" I asked uncertainly as I was backed up against the wall, with nowhere else to run to.
"…Your eyes" he whispered, his ungloved hand reaching out to stroke the area just under my eye. I flinched, straining away from his touch. He carefully put a finger under my chin, tilting my face up to get a better look at my eyes.
"You can't freeze me if you can't see, can you?" he asked, his breath caressing my cheek. I shook my head mutely. "Can you still use your powers?" Pale green scales lifted out of my skin around my eyes, the colors soon solidifying and some turning gold to testify to my unspoken words before I allowed them to sink back under my skin.
"Wow…" he said, his voice soft. My vision began to return, corners becoming sharper.
"X, my vision is-" I stopped as he continuing staring at me, "Where's your mask?" I manage to gasp before my vision returned fully and X turned to stone with his finger still under my cheek. My eyes glowed as a thin, green thread swam out of his slightly opened mouth and into mine. I shuddered and quickly stood on my tiptoes and breathed the mist back into him. He slowly became human again. When the change was done, I was already across the room, summoning my sunglasses and watching idly as my crests (an ouroboros and an auryn, the family crests) on the sides glowed and the skittered across the floor and up to my waiting hand. I slid them back on, mentally sighing at the extra layer of protection it gave me from the rest of the world. I kept my back turned to him.
"Sorry. I… your eyes were so…" he trailed off, scratching the back of his uncovered neck.
"Weird?" I finished. "Yeah, I'd guessed."
"Guessed?" he saw my little slip-up.
I replied flippantly, "Haven't you ever read the myth about Medusa? When she looks in the mirror, the same thing that happened to everyone else happens to her- she turns to stone. I've never seen my own eyes."
"Never?"
"Never." I confirmed, still not facing him as I looked for his mask. I finally found it, along with his gloves and boots. I picked it up and handed it to him, "You might want to wear these. Just in case." I didn't look him in the eyes, still, and suddenly found myself in the same position I'd been in just minutes before- his finger under my chin, tilting my gaze up so my strange eyes could meet his emerald green ones, despite the fact that they didn't really meet.
I couldn't help but take in the tanned skin, even with all that time behind the mask it was still tan somehow, tousled black hair, the sprinkling of freckles across his cheeks and nose, and those endless green eyes with flecks of hazel in them. I took in a shuddering breath when his hand rubbed up and down my arm comfortingly,
"Your eyes are green." He told me simply. He paused, "Hey, what if, next time you come in here and your eye-powers are shut off, what if I took a picture of your eyes? I'll look at it first, of course, to make sure it won't freeze you or anything, then if it doesn't freeze me you can get a look at yourself!" he grinned, his white teeth glinting- holy hell, I thought that only happened in those crappy toothpaste commercials!
"Hm, how about… no."
"C'mon, what could go wrong?"
"Lot's of things. You could trick me and not check and I could get frozen." I said simply, glad that my sunglasses hid my true emotions that only my eyes portrayed- longing. But I didn't know this guy, and don't be tricked into thinking I trust him- I don't.
Yes, you do.
I don't! Honest!
Liar.
Man, I'm screwed; even my THOUGHTS are calling me out! Is this my conscience, or just some suppressed part of me?
I was ripped out of my thoughts by Red X grabbing my and tossing me over his shoulder.
"Hey! What gives?" I yelped, pounding my fists against his back uselessly. He didn't respond and I was stuck letting him carry me through his very large underground lair.
This is frustrating.
And boring. We've been walking- well; he's been walking- for like, 10 minutes! Couldn't he have given me my music- wait, he never took that! I shoved my hand in my right pocket, the one I always kept my iTouch. I frowned when my hand came up empty.
"I took your iTouch from you and shut it off. Didn't want it to give off a traceable signal so the Titans could track me."
"Oh look, he speaks." I drawled sarcastically. Much to my surprise (and horror- lots of horror) he responded by biting my leg.
I responded my smacking the back off his head. He chuckled and adjusted his grip in one quick, fluid motion so one second I was staring at the receding door to what I assumed was the living room, and the next he was carrying me bridal style with my ear next to his heart.
"Where are we going?"
"To a room."
"Care to elaborate?" I asked sarcastically, crossing my arms across my chest. He choose to focus on the task at hand, calling the elevator, then responded,
"We're going down."
"You've got an elevator?! How many floors have you got?" I cried.
He smirked down at me, his dark hair flopping into his mesmerizing bright green eyes. "A little less than Titan's Tower."
"Overkill, man… I'm sorry, but I gotta ask- do you have a swimming pool?" I joked, poking him in the chest.
"Yes, actually."
"…Oh."
Red X smiled and stepped into the elevator. I stared at him intently, words perching on the tip of my tongue, ready to take flight. He didn't even look at me,
"Spit it out, then."
"You look kinda… familiar. I don't usually forget things like this, but… were you ever, by chance, in Gotham?"
My muscles stiffened at her question. Should I tell her?
"Animals can tell when people are lying. I've found that snakes are especially good with this. That, or I was born with an already adept bullshit detector." She said casually, though a caught the slightest hint of anger in her tone. She didn't like being lied to, obviously. I wouldn't either if I could call people out on their lies so easily as she says she can.
"Yes." I expected her to prod me for more details until she annoyed it out of me, but she didn't. She only nodded and accepted my admittedly evasive answer.
"Thought so…" she murmured through a yawn, starting to nod off. She snapped herself awake, explaining, "Haven't slept in a few days, no biggie." I stared at her as the elevator doors slid open.
"In that case…" I jabbed another button, the second to last floor, and we went down another twelve floors.
"That," she said, pointing to the buttons, "is an unnecessary amount of buttons. And an unnecessary amount of floors." She stifled another yawn.
I shrugged, "You can sleep in my room. You obviously need it. How much sleep did you get last time you slept anyways?"
She squinted, "Um, I think I'm running on about 2 hours from a week or so ago… I lost count at the last time when I ate, which would be…" she paused, "Yeah, I probably haven't slept properly in about a month." I glared at the ceiling and said slowly,
"You haven't eaten a full meal or slept properly… in a month."
She gave me a funny look, "Well, yeah, that's pretty good for me. Don't most people do the same?"
I turned my head to look at her so fast that my neck snapped a little and she winced, "No that's not normal! You're supposed to get eight hours of sleep a day, not eight minutes, and three meals a day! No wonder you weigh so little!"
She huffed, "Whatever. It doesn't matter, anyways. I've been doing this for years; I trained myself to do it so when I got into a rough spot I would still be able to fight if need be. Though there isn't usually a need for that…"
I walked briskly down the hall to my room and opened the door. I dropped her onto my bed, amused at her reaction to the silken sheets. It was like she'd never seen something like it before- though she probably hasn't. Funny how someone who is so intelligent and smart knows so little of the luxuries of the world… I grabbed one of my old pairs of silken pajamas, suddenly glad that I kept them, and handed them to her.
"Change into these. I'll come back in a few minutes with some food and water." Before she could reply, I turned and left the room, closing the door firmly behind me.
I examined the thing he had given me. What are these? I thought back to a book I had read once that described something like these, so they were probably…
"Pajamas…" I tried the word out, frowning as it fumbled of my tongue. We called them sleeping clothes were I came from, but whatever. I shrugged off my jacket, letting it pool on the large bed I was sitting on. I left my black tank top on and pulled on the soft button up shirt. It was a little, well a LOT, big on me. I left the buttons undone while I untied the laces of my combat boots and pulled them off. I unbuttoned my jeans, which were genuinely ripped on the knees and lower legs. I pulled on the comfortable silk pajama pants. I peeled off the ankle socks, wrinkling from the smell. I really needed to wash my clothes.
The door opened and X came in just as I pulled my hair out of its braid, letting the soft, curly waves tumble over my shoulder. He stopped, looking stunned for a minute before he walked in and set the warm food on the bedside table next to me. He took a steaming mug off the silver tray and offered it to me. I frowned and stirred the contents with my finger.
"What is it?"
"Which part, the white stuff or the drink?"
"All of it." I sniffed it. "It smells delicious!" I nearly moaned. He laughed and sat on the bed next to me.
"You've never had hot chocolate before?" I shook my head no.
"I've never seen it." I paused.
He laughed a little louder this time, "Yeah, they're pajamas. These white things," he pinched one of the white things between his thumb and forefinger, "are called marshmallows." He popped it into my mouth and, out of surprise, I chewed it and swallowed it, my eyes widening as I ate it. I giggled a little.
"It's chewy!"
I smiled at her childlike delight in the hot chocolate. She eagerly took a sip, and then let out a small shout as the hot liquid burnt her tongue. She gasped a little as she fanned her mouth, trying to ease the bothersome pain.
"I can't believe you've never once had hot cocoa."
She looked at me in confusion, her aching tongue forgotten, "Hot cocoa?"
I chuckled, "Sorry, I forgot you weren't familiar with that. Hot cocoa and hot chocolate are the same thing."
"Oh." Was her genius reply as she looked at the hot cocoa again, her head slightly tilted to the side. She looked at me again.
"Can I try something?" she asked hesitantly, setting her mug aside and drawing her knees up to her chest and resting her chin on them.
"Sure, I'm game."
She carefully pulled off her sunglasses. She stared me straight in the eyes and waited for me to turn to stone…
And I didn't. She smiled, obviously pleased.
"You had a theory about something?" I questioned as she put her sunglasses on the table and taking her mug in her hands again. She hummed in ascent as she cautiously sipped her cocoa. I waited for her to elaborate.
"I've unfrozen someone before, actual, I've done it a lot, and for one of them my sunglasses were off. She didn't turn into stone- until I got irritated and I wished she would be a statue again. She became stone instantly. I wanted to see if it was because she was alien, or because I could control what happened the second time I looked into the same person's eyes. I'm glad it did. Now I don't have to sleep with my sunglasses on."
I raised my eyebrows; "You seriously would've slept with them on?" she nodded, sipping her cocoa. I smiled and took the mug from her. I blew on it to cool it a little before taking a sip.
"Hey! That's mine!" she reached over to grab it and I leaned back, still drinking her cocoa. Then, I turned it upside down and only a small drop dripped out- I'd chugged it all. She looked skywards and raised her arms above her head and wailed, "Nooooooo!"
I laughed and put the mug on the table before handing her a plate of homemade mac & cheese (7 types of cheese and 3 types of bread sprinkled on top as breadcrumbs. Delicious!), "Eat before it gets cold."
She looked at me, her hypnotizing eyes conveying her confusion better than her stoic facial expressions, "But I'm already full from the hot chocolate." She objected, handing me the plate. I leaned closer to her, letting our noses brush and whispered,
"Eat the food. Now. You're waaaaaay past Robin thin, and that's saying something. And it's not saying anything good, Princess." She snorted but still took the food, eating a few bites before pushing it away, clutching her stomach.
"Tooooo fuuuulllllll…." She moaned, burying her face in the pillow. I chuckled deeply and went to change.
"Look at your own risk." I warned with a smirk. I don't know her that well, but I can already tell a few things about her- she's not used to kindness and she can't even recognize it for what it is, she's generally suspicious until she's sure you aren't a threat, she doesn't know many of the luxuries of life, she's not good at taking orders, and most importantly- she'd never turn down a dare.
So that's how I knew she'd turn and look anyways with those glimmering green eyes of her's a see me half-naked. Or maybe completely naked, if I can get out of this bodysuit fast enough.
I already had the bodysuit and my boxers off when I heard her shift on the bed and gasp. She shrieked a little and I heard a muffled 'thud' as she fell onto the carpeted floor. I walked over to her and crouched next to her, purposely invading her space. I looked her in the eyes, faking innocence as I pulled her closer than she needed to be to me and helped her to her feet. Her face was practically on fire as I leaned close and asked, "What? I'm not bothering you, am I?"
Her eyes glared angrily at me, somehow still keeping the spellbinding allure even through the irritation. "Are you trying to seduce me?" she accused, sounding incredulous.
I lowered my face even closer to her's and breathed in her ear, "Who, me? Of course not. That would be… ungentlemanly."
"Last I checked, you were on your own side. Being polite isn't the first thing to occur to someone who is out for himself, is it?" she shot back. I grinned.
"Smart girl." I spun her like you always see the guy do in the movie- the dip move? Whatever. I'm using it. "Are you always this smart in everything? Other than luxuries in life, of course."
She smiled dazzlingly, "I don't pretend to be." Then she gracefully slipped out of my arms, doing some crazy acrobatics thing. I'm pretty sure human bones should NOT be able to do that, but… there she was, twisting and winding herself around my arm the over my shoulder like a snake-
Oh yeah. Snakes… Medusa… right.
She hopped on the bed, eying me though very careful not to let her eyes stray from my face, "You don't sleep in the nude, do you?"
I grinned a said, "I do now!"
I got a pillow to the face.
It was worth a shot.
Medusa does have weaknesses, before I get called out on her blatant Mary Sue-ness. She can't stand to be touched (she was abused as a child), she's extremely paranoid, and she's very violent.
Very violent.
And tends to kill a ton of people and not feel bad. Keep this in mind.
She acts trusting because she has a crush on X. Other people she doesn't trust as much.
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~Songbook12
