Just a little interlude bit before the big 'Calling all Titians' and 'Titans Together' chapters. Teeny-tiny warning for a bit of… (Searches for right word) 'Suggestiveness' near the start… >:)
He smiled quietly to himself, blushing slightly as her image appeared in his mind's eye again.
Wykkyd silently chuckled at his situation, leaning against the railings of his balcony, looking out at the night sky.
A brain.
In a jar.
At any other time, Kyd Wykkyd would've thought someone was a little loopy if they'd suggested that he'd be working for a pile of mush in a letterbox.
But here he was, in Paris, taking orders from The Brain.
They were clear. Too clear. The Brain had planned where and when the Titans would be at any specific time, calculated who should go after them, and when they should set off to confront them.
Why…?
Why Raven?
He'd been doing so well making friends with her, and now…
His thoughts were interrupted when an upside down grinning cat appeared in front of him.
He jumped back, slipping on his cloak and falling on his behind in surprise. It wasn't a cat, it was a cat mask. It was attached to the hanging form of Cheshire, the assassin, her feet hooked round the overhead piping, her long, pony tailed hair dangling to the floor.
She twitched her head up and down, bringing a sleeve covered hand to her mask mouth in silent chucklings. Wykkyd frowned up at her, pulling himself to his feet and straightening his cloak. She might have been as silent as a cobra and twice as deadly, but she had an annoying sense of humour, always sneaking up and surprising people with that creepy mask of hers, which she never took off. There was no need to; it was as flexible as a human face when she wanted it to be.
She placed her hands on the balcony railing, unhooked her feet and flipped over, landing gracefully in front of him. She folded her arms and tilted her head, silently asking 'What's up?
He rolled his eyes, copying her folded arms and glancing away, jerking his head into the room behind him, meaning 'Oy. Have a look.' She leant past him and looked in to see two people asleep in the three-bedded room.
Punk Rocket was leant against the wall next to his bed, his guitar lightly held in his arms, head bowed and quietly snoring. Kitten, behind a quickly erected curtain, had an eye-mask over her eyes as she sleep-talked to herself, muttering such things as "Ooh… Robin..." with a contented smile on her face. (Wykkyd could have sworn he heard faint moaning before she nodded off…)
Obviously, The Brain was not a good personality matcher, as Kitten and Punk Rocket had argued non-stop over who needed the space more: Kitten for her suitcases or Rocket for his practicing area. Wykkyd had spent the time sitting on his bed, trying to make a pillow fort, but found the mattresses were too soft.
Cheshire leant back out to face Wykkyd, then swept her arm in front of her face. Quicker than the eye could follow, she had switched her grinning mask with one of sarcastic non-plus-ness; eyes lidded, mouth a single line and a raised painted eyebrow. (That why her face seemed so lifelike.) You godda be kidding me?
Wykkyd spread his hands out in front of him, shrugging his shoulders. He jerked a thumb into the room, and then clamped a hand on top of his head. Not my idea! Blame the Brain!
Cheshire nodded, looking to the rooms above the balcony. She motioned to herself, then lifted her elbows up and lowered her head, her mask now displaying crossed eyes and a stuck-out tongue. She swiped over her face again, her mask wincing as she shuddered. Tell me about it. I'm with Plasmus. Eww!
Wykkyd winced sympathetically, then leant against the railings. He pointed to her, then swept his hand at the view. Whom're you going after?
Her mask displaying the usual grin she mimed unquivering an arrow, pulling it back and firing it. She nodded at him. Speedy. You?
He hesitated, then, with an unnoticeable unhappy look in his eye, grabbed the edges of his cloak and pulled them up as high as he could, giving a fake frown. He dropped the edges, tapped his chest with a fingertip, and then put both his hands on his head, wriggling his fingers up and down. Raven. Me and Psimon.
Raised eyebrows, mouth curved slightly down; Impressed mask, nodding her head. She put one hand on her hip, tilted her head up proudly, and then pointed to herself, switching to a mask with an unusually wide grin. Just me. Wykkyd raised an eyebrow, puzzled at her reaction. With a shifty mask on her face, she rubbed her sleeved hands together, hunching her shoulders. Heh. Heh. Heh…
She glanced up to see Wykkyd backing away slightly with eyebrows raised high. She straightened up, hand on hip, motioning for him to come back towards her, her mask showing one raised eyebrow, mouth tilted down slightly at one side: Annoyance.
Slight confusion crossed his face as he looked at her. He slowly pointed at her, and then mimicked her arrow unslinging mime from earlier. He then, almost hesitantly, held his hand up, palm to her, crossing his fingers. So… You and Speedy are… together?
She froze.
She slowly brought her free hand up to her face.
She slowly wiped it past her mask.
Her annoyance replaced by…
Complete confusion and (ever so slight) revulsion! She shook her head violently, raising her arm and shaking her hand free of her sleeve, revealing crossed fingers. She paused a second, confusion replaced by contemplation, clicking her fingers slightly, followed by a swift swipe over her face, showing lidded eyes, a raised eyebrow and a very, very wide grin. What? No way! I'm not a commitment gal; I'm more of a… A flirter…She waved her hand back and forth over her face, the eyebrows raising and lowering suggestively.
She froze again, quickly swiping her arm across her face, her eyebrows raised in a suspicious look. She slowly pointed at him, then put her arms up, mimicking his pose from before, but he knew what she was talking about before she'd finished; Wait… Are you and Raven…?
He honestly shook his head, a small smile on his face. Cheshire's mask frowned, putting an uncovered finger to her 'lips', thinking. She pointed at him, then motioned towards the building. You and… one of them? He shook his head, chuckling silently to himself. She fell 'silent'.
She gently brought a hand up, moving it across her face in such a way that it seemed to drag that evil grin of hers across it, eyes narrowed. She pointed at him, then brushed her hand towards the city, turning her head to smirk at him. You and… One of the good guys…?
His small smile instantly flickered to a small line, stare turned towards the shared room to avoid her gaze, his pale cheeks starting to turn a shade of pink. Cheshire's grin seemed to widen.
She pointed up at the clear night sky. Star? He shook his head, looking fixedly at Kitten's curtain's supports.
She put her hands behind her upper back and flicked them up and down. Bumblebee? He shook his head, his gaze moving to his crumpled pillow fort.
She put her arms out by either side of her, then bent them at the elbows, bunching her fists. Panthra? He shook his head, noticing how interesting Punk Rocket's untied shoelaces were.
She bent down and picked up a small stone, wiggling her fingers above it, suggesting fire. Kole?
Hesitation.
'Silence'.
His eyes flickered to her mask, then back to the door handle, his cheeks turning slightly rosier. Her grin widened, repeating the action. Kole…? He bit his lip, screwing his eyes up and hunching his shoulders as his face betrayed the thought.
She bobbed her head forward once, dropping the stone and pointing at him, an air of triumph about her. Aha! I knew it!
They heard an angry growl from behind Kitten's curtain as the stone clattered to the ground. They froze, looking in, waiting.
After a few moments, they heard a shuffling of bedclothes, then silence.
Cheshire raised her arm above her head, shaking her wrist to let her sleeve slide down her arm, revealing a watch. She glanced at it, then back at Wykkyd, tilting her head to the side.
Sorry, godda go. She put two fingers by the side of her head and mock saluted to him. After a beat, she motioned him to come towards her with the same two fingers, then, turning her head slightly, tapped her mask's cheek.
Wykkyd stood back, eyebrow raised. She turned to look at him and shrugged, folding her arms. She turned and tapped her cheek again, putting her free hand on her chin and waited expectantly.
Wykkyd waited a second to check her seriousness, then sighed, rolling his eyes and shaking his slightly turned head, not believing he was going to do this. He stepped towards her, leant forward, and leant in to kiss her lightly on the mask's cheek.
However.
Just as he came close enough, Cheshire quickly turned her head, lifting her mask up slightly and pecked him on the lips. As Wykkyd leant back, flabbergasted, she slipped her mask back down, giggled audibly, tapped him on the nose,and then back flipped off the balcony, disappearing over the edge.
She was right… He thought, blushing deeply as he gently touched his lips. She is a flirter…