"Come on out, Terra!"
"Nnnngh---I won't!"
"Do et! Do etttt!"
"Nuh uh! I-I feel silly!"
"Do it or I'm stuffing guacamole into your sock drawer from here to Ragnorak!"
"Grrrr—Oh, alright!" A shuffling, and the curtains to the elegant dressing room spread open. Terra sashays her graceful way forward, and the entire department of the store positively radiates in a golden glow. She's appareled in a modest, ankle-length gown with slightly ruffled spaghetti straps and the most glittering touch of platinum-yellow from top to bottom. There is a corsage adorned in the right temple of Terra's head, and the rest of her hair fountains in a half-braid beautifully towards the left in a gracefully following wave. A sparkly butterfly pendant dangles around her bare neck as she stands nervously in the clamshell crevice of numerous mirrors displaying her youthful glory from multiple angles. "So… …erm…." She blushes helplessly.
I smile. I give a thumb's up. I look towards my side.
"Heh heh.. ….absolutely angelic, little missy," Cyborg winks with his arms proudly folded. "I think we're breakin' the 'inconspicuous' part of your mission. But it doesn't hurt to show off a bit." The Android Titan glances aside. "Right, B.B.?"
"… … …"
"… .. …. …Beast Boy?"
Beast Boy teeters stiffly off the chair he's been squatting in. THUD!
I wince.
"Ack! Beast Boy!" Terra gasps, trying not to trip over her skirts.
"I'm fine! I'm okay!" Beast Boy coughs and hobbles up to his feet. He dusts himself off and smiles nervously. "I…erm…." His entire upper body becomes a conflict between pink and green. "…. ….Wow."
"Hehehe…is that all you've got to say?"
"… … .. … ..wow."
"Whatever, Beast Boy," Terra rolls her eyes and sweetly looks up to Cyborg. "I-I kinda wish that Starfire was here."
"Why? How's a feminine opinion better right now? You're drop dead gorgeous, rockgirl. I wouldn't be surprised if the sound of Mad Mod's ears whistling like a teakettle alert us to where he's sneaking around and brings this investigation to a close REAL quick!"
"Yikes. You think he's listening in on us right now?"
"Nah, that's not like the British Booger."
"Cuz that's really dangerous sounding. You sure my being in this Pageant is all that safe an idea?"
"Heck yeah, Terra! Besides, your being there will make EVERYONE all that more safe! If that redheaded creep so much as shows his moptop, you can—like—throw the pavement up into his face with a flick of your tiara!"
"Oh….heh….RIGHT!" Terra cackles with her slender arms folded. Glittering. "Like I'm REALLY fighting in this thing! Dresses are not made for combat, Beast Boy. But—heh—not like I'd expect YOU to know that."
"Or would she… …?" Cyborg wags a human eyebrow in Beast Boy's direction.
"Yeah, well I—HEY!"
"Hah hah hah!"
"Hee hee—Shhh! You're attracting attention from the other customers!"
"Let them look! You're a jaw-dropper."
"Awwww…B.B……"
I take a deep breath.
My black eyes are squinted.
For—in all honesty—it is very difficult to so much as gaze in her general direction.
The sparkling array of it all.
The beautiful blindingness.
Beautiful… …
Like a flower… ….
I sigh to myself, for a different thought completely has fluttered its happy way into my mind… .. …or much deeper.
And I realize that it is drawing towards evening time.
And I suddenly feel freer than ever before.
And I've felt this way before… ….on a daily basis.
I know what to do.
I gesture to Cyborg, hand-sign, and end in a salute and a wave.
Cyborg seems to know enough: "Uhhhh-Yeah, okay, Noir. Peace out."
"Bye, Noir."
"See ya, Noir!"
I casually wave at them one last time and trot off.
And it is more or less around the same time that Bard moseys on up and gazes at me making a soft exit.
"Hmmm.. …. it. It seems like everytime I enter a scene lately, he plum skedaddles on it."
"Yeah, for a crimefighting duo, you two sure don't stand shoulder to shoulder that often."
"What if you're both the same person?"
"Hardy har har," Bard chuckles, then gazes off where I've left with a subtle, knowing smile. "… ….this time of day.. …where else you'd be going, Noirry?" He winks to the air, then gazes back at the rest of the young Titans. "Anyways, I just got done propositioning a new contestant into the femme foray and—WHOAH! Hah! Now THERE'S a sunrise!"
-T-T-T-T-T-T-
"Heh heh heh.. …," the elderly gentleman with the sweatervest and beret takes my dollar bill and hands me a soft, succulently-bright carnation out from a bundle on his flower stand in a Downtown Intersection. "I dunno what use you make of all these carnations you're fetchin' from me on a weekly basis.. ….but all I can say is I wish I was your age again to find out.. …."
I smile at him.
I take the flower gently by the stem and slowly nod my head in a miniature bow.
"Say.. ….," he squints his graying eyes. "I think I've seen yer in some of them newspapers lately. You get around often, do you?"
I shrug.
"Don't speak much?"
I shrug again.
"… …have a girlfriend?"
I shr—I blush. Furiously.
"Eh he he he….. …Knew it! Gets 'em everytime," He gives me a shaky thumb's up and turns it into a veteran wave. "See ya later, sonny! Live your life long and warm! It's the only way ta do it!"
I smile nervously, wave back at him, and walk down the sidewalk full of street vendors. Evening traffic drifts by. The sounds of engines and sirens and whistles in the background.
I take a deep breath.
Beauty pageants are overrated.
I know a princess when I see one.
I take a deep breath, round a corner, and pick my pace up into a blindingly fast blur towards the Western District.
Even if I'm not worth being seen myself.
For I am blessed… … …
This Is Not My World.
