A/N
Moooooorning. This little author's feeling a bit sleepy, so I'll make this note short and sweet. First off, I'm finally home! After over 18 hours of travel and a wonderful vacation. Second off, I recently realized that I am waaaaaay over my head. I'm currently signed up for a bunch of classes that are guaranteed to make me break down at least 7 times this semester (huh. Would you look at that. I'm on chapter 7… Coincidence? I THINK NOT!). A bunch of extra-curricular so are about to start up, too, and I've got a bunch of tests to take is year that may possibly determine the rest of my life, along with the fact that I'm gonna have to do a heck a lot a stuff AND GOOD LORD THE BREAKDOWNS ALREADY BEGUN!
...short note, she says.
But anyways. What I was meaning to say was that my updates will be like bleh. Very rarely coming out and always at the most random of times. I also recently started Beta-I got for a story, so that'll probably mess with my schedule as well (although I'm very excited to be Beta-I got for this particular story and author :)
So! If y'all feel like I've suddenly disappeared off the face of the planet, that would be why. If my time range of invisibility is a little too long, feel free to shoot me a review or a PM-sometimes I fail to realize how much time has passed (WHYYYYYYY LIFE?! IM TOO YOUNG FOR THIS!)
Anywho, on with the story! Enjoy :}
And on a more serious note, please pray for all affected by the recent shootings in Europe.
Disclaimer: If I did own it, I'd be making money off this and updating on the hour.
Chapter 7
Dream Come True Part Two
The second the group was out of range, Wally took an angry bite out of a cookie (where it had come from, nobody knew). After some angry munching and crunching, he spun on Dick, his hands thrown up in exasperation. "What the heck, Rob?"-crunch-"I thought we agreed that we would"-crunch-"tell each other important details like this. And I did not agree to be a-a"-crunch-"model. None of us agreed to that!"
"Actually, Wally, we did," Megan said quietly, fiddling with a piece of hair nervously. The rest of the Team nodded in agreement.
Wally leveled them all with a blank stare. "What."
"We did talk about it on the way here," Kaldur added, folding his hands comfortably in front of him. "Dick made sure to get consent from each of us-you even agreed to it yourself."
"What!" Wally spluttered indignantly, waving another cookie around to accentuate his point. "I did no such thing! And we never talked about it,"-crunch-"we were all sleeping!"
"Wally, I slept like the dead and I still heard that conversation," Artemis taunted light-heartedly, punching the redhead on the shoulder.
The speedster yelped, shuffling away from the blonde and protectively holding his cookie close to his chest; the Gotham-vampire-thing was still kinda freaking him out. "But I didn't agree to it!"
Dick snickered, drawing the groups attention to himself. "Actually, Walls, you kinda did."
Wally blinked a few times, clearly giving off a 'what-the-Batman-are-you-talking-about' vibe.
"It was in the contract," Conner added helpfully, his hands stuffed in his jeans pockets.
"Dude! You know I didn't read that," Wally groaned, turning to Kaldur with a pout. "Kaaaaaaal, how could you let him do this"-crunch-"to me? I thought you were the good one!"
Kaldur shrugged, unabashed. "I was busy cleaning the coffee stains out of the sofa that you spilled last week."
"You were watching wrestling."
"I was watching wrestling."
"Don't blame him, Wally!" Megan intervened, pleading with the speedster desperately. "He was trying to share the joys of wrestling with me-the fists, the punching, the screaming loudly, and the KOs!-if anyone, it's my fault."
Wally paused, melting under Megan's puppy dog eyes. "You know I couldn't be mad at you, sweet cheeks." The hairs on the back of his neck shot up, and Wally hesitantly glanced over his shoulder, wincing as his eyes made contact with Conner. The Kryptonian was smoldering in rage, his eyes taking on a faint red hue. Naturally, Wally did what any sane person would do; he apologized a lot and hid behind his best friend as a human shield.
"And I meant that in a totally platonic, brother-loving way and I think I'm just going to stay right here," the redhead whimpered, clutching the back of Dick's jacket in fear.
"Idiot," Artemis rolled her eyes, reaching over to smack Wally upside the head. Ignoring his insulted spluttering, she made her way over to Kaldur, leaning against the wall next to him. "But he did bring up a good point. Even if we agreed to be the models, Hip and Co still has to approve of us. I mean, none of us-save Wonderboy over there-really have any experience, at all."
"They already did," Conner said, frowning at a floor-to-ceiling poster of Francis Holland shaking hands with a 'fashionable' Superman.
"They did?" Megan asked curiously. Artemis tilted her head in question.
Dick smirked, spreading his hands, "We're just that good."
"But how do they"-crunch-"know that we're"-crunch-"any good?" Wally persisted, poking Dick over and over when the ebony just cackled.
"Something any good detective has," the ebony finally said, slapping Wally's hands away and discretely swiping the cookie clutched in the red head's fist. "Hard evidence. Kal, if you would do the honors."
Nodding, the Atlantean pulled out a file from his suit coat, pulling out a bundle of photos. Curiously, the rest of the Team gathered around, sending the giggling Boy Wonder cautious looks.
The first one pictured was M'gann, sitting innocently on one of the kitchen bars stools and clutching her first perfect cake (Agent A's cookbook was magical!), her ankles crossed neatly. She was laughing at something off screen, head tilted, her lips parted slightly and her eyes glowing (not literally) with happiness. Her outfit consisted of a simple, sleeveless yellow sundress, floppy hat, and white flats. That had been the day they'd decided to have a picnic, and Megan's little 'dress-up' was too perfect an opportunity to miss.
On the next, Wally was doing a full split in the air, his eyes closed and a large grin on his face. His elbows were bent at his sides, and his fists were clenched in mini fist pumps. He was wearing a yellow Flash tank top, red sweat pants, a sweat band nestled in his hair, and black tennis shoes. In short, he looked like a model from a Nike magazine. This was one of Dick's favorite, as Wally had been attempting to imitate the cheerleaders at his school (with surprisingly good results).
A moody Conner stared off into the distance in the next photo, his arms crossed over his muscled chest as he leaned against his motorcycle. His head was tilted, as if he was listening for something, and his blue eyes intensely traced something off the edge of the picture. The teen's usual pair of jeans and well-worn boots covered the bottom half of him, while a plain blue tee shirt peeked out from beneath a black leather jacket. The motorcycle was not his usual cycle, but one Dick had photoshopped in-quite well, he might add-to keep their identities under wraps.
The next photo was of Artemis, her body the picture of feminine strength as she lifted weights in a lunge. Her long blonde hair was tied back in a rare braid tossed carelessly over one shoulder. A dark green headband held back a few stray strands of her golden locks, and her eyes were narrowed in concentration. A pair of black shorts, neon green tennis shoes, and black Gotham Knights hoodie completed the ensemble. If anyone ever lacked motivation to exercise, they'd probably gain it 10 times over just from seeing the archer's sheer determination.
Looking rather calm and peaceful, Kaldur's tanned body dominated the next picture. He was propped up on his side on the beach with his toes dipped in the water, and a book held in one hand below eye level. As such, the viewer could see his dark eyes serenely scanned the page. A pair of dark blue swim trunks adorned his lower half, while a white tee shirt hung snugly around his muscled chest. The drink, towel, and umbrella added to the beach-like appeal from what had been the Team's hang out on their day off.
Finally, their eyes landed on the last photo, and a smiling Dick Grayson stared back up at them in a friendly challenge from his precarious handstand on a high bar. His ebony hair was flopping down into his sparkling blue eyes, and his bare feet were pointed straight up. Thin black tights stretched all the way over his ankles, and a slightly large blue tee shirt had begun to fall down, revealing a strongly toned stomach. The clothes looked to be tugged slightly to the side by some unseen momentum; the actual picture had been taken while the Dark Squire was doing a simple warm up. It was a common start-of-the-day for the Boy Wonder, but to non-Leaguers, and even some non-Bats, the regime he was performing seemed near impossible.
"So am I good, or am I good?" Dick asked smugly in the shocked silence, "Cause, honestly, I think I'm pretty whelming."
"Where did you get those?" Conner asked curiously, his eyes lingering on the photo of everyone's favorite Martian.
"Candid photos-figured it'd be the only way Wally would pose," Dick shrugged, dodging a half-hearted swipe from the mentioned speedster.
Artemis nodded grudgingly, "Not bad, Boy Wonder."
In the corner, M'gann fainted and Conner shot over to catch her dramatically. Dick started humming the Cinderella theme song while Wally snickered and wolf whistled. Artemis used this prime opportunity to steal Wally's stash of cookies.
"So, then are we all in agreement?" Kaldur asked, authority slipping into his voice and commanding everyone's attention.
"No duh."
"I can't wait!"
"Yep."
"I guess-Dick, give that back!"
"If you're feeling the aster, you know I am."
The Atlantean proudly surveyed his Team, noting how each was standing a little taller than they had been just weeks previous. "Then let us go-we don't have anything to worry about."
When the six super teams dramatically re-entered the conference room, they were rather disappointed by the lack of reaction or attention they received. Most of the employees had taken out their phones, one was furiously typing away at a top-of-the-line laptop, and several had even fallen asleep on the table. Only Francis Holland had remained where he was, curiously flipping through one of the files Kaldur had left on the table.
Somewhat deflated, they filed into the room and took their seats. Only Dick seemed unaffected as he cheerily bounced his way to the front of the room. With an innocent smile, he slammed his hands down on the table, making all the employees jump and effectively calling all attention to himself. 'Plan B dramatics-success', he mentally cheered in his mind, the slight twitch in his smile the only indicator of his slightly vindictive pleasure.
"Velcome back, Misour Grayson," Holland said, inclining his head to the young business man and setting the file down carefully.
Dick grinned, taking the nod as permission to continue. "Thank you, Mr. Holland. I hope you all had a good break. Now, let's get jump back in where we left off and wrap this up. As Mr. Hyde was saying, all the cloths are designed and hand sewn by all of us. After the interview, you can all come up to view the rest of our designs up close-but let's continue. As we all have varying styles, we cover a rather large area of expertise, and not just in clothing design. We've all had a broad overview of every aspect, and through that specialized in a subject each. We did give a brief introduction at the beginning of this interview, but I'll elaborate just a bit.
As this company was founded on the intent of creating new and interesting fashion, among other things, all six of us could be considered the primary designers. However, as Mr. Kent and Mr. Hyde both have other duties that they primarily attend to, you could say that Miss Morse, Miss Crock, Mr. West, and myself are the heads of design and production. Mr. Kent and I are the primary heads of the business end, and, to an extent, so is Mr. Hyde, although he tends to lean more towards negotiations, deals, and facilitating our work as the manager, which, I can assure you, is a very difficult job.
This company will be almost completely self sufficient, and Mr. Kent and Mr. Hyde have already managed to snag a deal with several backers. The only aspect remaining that we have not covered is the advertisement and production-this is where Hip and Co comes in. As most of you know, I've had plenty of experience with the press, so that in itself shouldn't be an issue. What we really need is billboards, ads, and a fashion magazine.
As many of you recently agreed, the six of us will also be the models in our new fashion magazine. As you saw in the sample photos, each of us is physically fit and turn out quite well on camera, if I do say so myself.
Mr. West and I have already drafted several designs and formulated some ideas we'd love to go over with your advertising sector, and your advice would be very beneficial.
We are very excited to have the opportunity to work with Hip and Co, and hope to continue creating a brand that will benefit both of our companies."
The table erupted into a round of applause as Dick bowed slightly, grinning at the smiling board members.
"Zis all zoundz very agreeable, Misour Grayson. After zis, my businez men will write up a contract for your group." The Team let out a collective cheer, each hugging one another in happiness. The Cave was saved! Both Dick and Holland got up, a firm handshake sealing the deal.
Finally, the pandemonium died down and Holland had a sudden thought. "You seem to haf skipped over the most important detail of all, Misour Grayson. Vat vill be ze new name of your company?"
"So I have," Dick smiled mysteriously, exchanging looks with the rest of the crew. "Artemis, if you would do the honors."
The archer sighed, rolling at Dick's chants of 'I win!' over the mind link. Standing up, Artemis sauntered to the head of the table, exchanging an almost unnoticeable high five with Dick. "First off, I'll have you all know that I fought long and hard to get a different name for us. But, really, the first name kinda stuck. So, it's with pleasure that I announce the official brand name of our company-Teen Trouble."
With a content sigh, Wally collapsed on his couch, grinning as he finally relaxed. As fun as that had been, he needed some relative peace and normalcy in his life, and his house was the perfect place to find it. His dad was off at work, and his mom was humming happily as she cleaned the house; for some reason, she enjoyed the action.
Blissfully, the redhead closed his eyes, slowly falling into the lull of sleep. The sudden halt in his mother's humming made him squint an eye open suspiciously.
"Um, honey..."
"Ya mom?"
"...Why is there a dress in your closet?"
A/N
Lol! Ha, poor Wally-he didn't think I was going to make this easy on him, did he?
Ahem, anyways, first off! Thank you sososososo much to everyone who contributed a name to the poll for the fashion magazine name, and to everyone that voted! I was surprised as all of you that Teen Trouble ended up being the most popular name-though I suppose that since it was Dick that came up with it, it made us ladies a little more inclined to agree with it ;)
Also, did anybody get that reference to chapter 1, with Wally and the cookies? It was actually completely unintentional.
So yes, this story is finally moving! I pretty much wrote this whole thing up in my four hour car drive in Germany. Speaking of which, jet lag! Gotta love it…
Anywho, what I said above applies till, like, December-ish. Updates will be at odd hours at random intervals. My life is about to get infinitely more hectic, and grades aren't even the worst of it.
NOTE! I just put a new poll up on my profile page-VOTE TODAY because I literally have a few hours of free time in which I hope to write something. I'll have several different generas and ideas I've accumulated over the years, so I'm asking you guys to help me decide what to write next :}
Till the next update my dears.
Kisses!
Alyss
Ps. Shout out to everybody who guesses what the heck I was referencing in the 'Moooooooorning'.
