Winds of an Empire pt. 6: Ghost Love Score
Argent and Windshear quickly made their way back to the main hall. When they got there, pandemonium had taken toll, and apparently it centered on Speedy and Aqualad. Half of the guys were yelling at them while the other half held them back, and the girls were yelling at the guys yelling at Speedy and Aqualad.
"Could you hold on to this for a second?" Windshear asked Argent, handing her his cigarette.
"Yeah, sure." She answered, taking the cigarette before Windshear turned into a gust of wind.
Windshear reappeared on the stage next to the podium and took the microphone off of its stand. "Whoa, whoa, whoa... What the fuck is goin' on?"
"They gay!" said a voice from the crowd. Speedy and Aqualad looked at the ground.
"What?" Windshear said a bit flabbergasted.
"Well," Robin began to explain, "I said 'any announcements?' and they stood up and announced that they were together, and then all Hell broke use."
Windshear just looked at the guys who were being held back and said with repulsion, "Of all the people to hate people because they're different then you." He then dropped the microphone and flipped off the group with both hands.
After a long silence, Robin picked up the microphone. "Look, I got us all an Olive Garden for the night. So if anyone is still up for it, the limos are going to be here any minute."
"Sweet, free food." Windshear said jumping off the stage and walking over to Argent. "Good God, that was weird." He said when he reached her.
"Here, you need this!" She said handing him back his cigarette.
Windshear and Argent got into the same limo as Jinx and Kid Flash. They were about to take off until jinx saw something out of the window. It was Speedy and Aqualad looking a disheartened.
"Isn't that sad?" She said. "They didn't deserve that."
Windshear thought a moment, and then said, "Hey driver, we have room for two more?"
There were long tables where most of the Titans sat at, but there were also couples tables nearby. From left to right at those tables were: Argent and Windshear, Beast Boy and Raven, Jinx and Kid Flash, and Speedy and Aqualad.
"That was a very nice thing you did, standing up for those two and offering them a ride here." Argent said.
Windshear blushed. "Well, I couldn't just let them take crap like that. Especially with a bunch of cant being spewed from the idiot hall."
She laughed and took a bite of her appetizer salad. The food was brought by the rabble rousers from the convention center. "I'm still having a hard time grasping the fact that you're an emperor."
"Well, I'm floored you come from New Zealand. Lucky woman! I always wanted to visit there." Windshear said.
"It gets boring after a while." Argent said, putting her fork in the empty salad bowl. "After you've been over every square inch of it, you crave something new. What I really want to do is see the stars."
After Windshear laughed nervously and blushed again, his pizza came which was slathered in cheese. "Oh, thank you Jesus!"
Argent smirked. "Smoke in the lungs and cholesterol in the arteries. You're gonna die when your 50, Windshear."
"If I'm lucky!" He joked. "So, what music are you into?"
"Oh, just Death Rock, old school goth, some synth-y stuff, and maybe some darker Metal." She replied as her chicken parmigiana was placed in front of her.
"Like Dark Metal?" Windshear asked.
"There's a Dark Metal?" Argent asked laughingly.
"There's a Viking Metal!" He replied causing them both to laugh.
After laughing, Argent said, "Well, I kinda like Cradle of Filth and Emperor. Kind of."
"They fit under symphonic Black Metal, but close." Windshear informed. "Dark Metal is from bands like Bethlehem, Rotting Christ, and Samael. The music can only be described as, and I quote, 'If the state of death was captured on audio'."
"Well, I'm not one of those despair-filled, obsessed with death, walking goth stereotypes." She said. "What's life if you don't live it?"
"Ain't that the truth?" Windshear commented, smiling. "So do you play an instrument?"
"Before I got my powers, I played bass in my school's jazz band." Argent answered. "I still pick it up occasionally."
"What are your powers anyway?" Windshear asked.
Argent put down her fork. "Well, I can fly, for one thing. And I can use energy to form objects in my mind."
"I get the flying, but not the other thing." Windshear said.
"It's hard to put in words, so I guess I'll have to show you." Argent then shot an energy beam from her hand that formed a fork that stabbed Windshear's pizza. She then formed a knife out of another beam from her other hand. The knife cut out a small portion of the pizza. The fork then flicked it and it landed in the middle of the main table.
"Who threw that?" Robin yelled. Windshear and Argent looked at each other and tried to keep their laughs silent.
It took a couple of minutes for dinner to finish up and everyone to get back to the convention center. Most of the guys were at a table near the punch bowl. Industrial dance music was playing.
"Yeah, I saw you with Argent over at the restaurant." Cyborg said. "Tryin' to get somthin', huh?
"Man, more than that." Windshear said seriously. "You don't know how mind-numbingly boring and lonely it is just sitting on your ass presiding over an empire and shit like that for more than twelve hours a day! To be honest with y'all, I can't take another six months of this shit."
"You think you're ready for a serious relationship?" Kid Flash asked.
"Only if she is. And I heard that girls aren't willing to go that far so early."
"Don't wait too long. I almost did with Starfire." Robin said.
"Yeah, and it almost cost me 50 big ones!" Beast Boy said laughing.
"Right now," Windshear began, "I just hope she feels something good towards me."
"Okay! For an alien, he is kinda... hot." Argent admitted, while blushing furiously. The table of girls erupted in giggles, except Raven but that goes without saying.
"Girl, you got it bad!" Bumble Bee said laughing.
"What? I just said he was hot!" Argent retorted, getting a bit defensive.
"You feel that way about any other guys?" Jinx asked.
Argent got a bit nervous. "Uhh... Hot Spot?"
"Funny." Raven said sarcastically. "Look, I can tell if people are lying."
"Oh, that's right. You're psychic." Argent said.
"No, I'm dating Beast Boy."
"Ha! But, what if... you know... he's a psychopath?" Argent asked.
"All guys are!" Pantha said, laughing.
"Friend Windshear is completely sane." Starfire said seriously. "He may be a bit hyper when you give him sugar or talk about Heavy Metal music, but because of this I have discovered the amazing DragonForce and HammerFall!"
"What if I find out he's rude or mean?" Argent asked.
"I doubt it." Raven said. "Windshear's a nice guy, just a bit wired. He and Beast Boy can just spew dumb jokes for about three hours, but he's seldom disrespectful."
"Huh..." Argent said quietly.
"Just take a chance!" Bumble Bee advised. "What's the worst that could happen?"
"Well, should I ask her out tomorrow?" Windshear considered. "I've never done this before."
"What? You never asked a girl out?" Kid Flash asked.
Windshear stared, befuddled and a tad pissed off. "Dude... emperor... space... first twelve years of my life in a lab... I oughta fuckin' smack you for that."
"Hey, I forgot!"
"God, for the fastest boy alive you sure are slow!" Beast Boy joked. "I gotta idea: serenade her."
"What, get up there, sing to her, and look like a dick?"
"Dude, you know some good songs. I gotta thing that you plug into a music player and the sound controls for this entire place. The song'll come on through the audio speakers, and then we can all go up so you don't look retarded." Beast Boy offered.
"Sounds like a plan." Windshear said, getting out his iPod and shuffling through his massive song library. "Just get me a shot of Jager."
