I appear to be on quite a BB kick as of late- not that I'm complaining, because (as I know I've mentioned on several occasions) this is the fandom that first introduced me to the lovely and addicting world of ff, and thus will always have a special place in my heart. :)
But, yet again, this started as one of those 100-word drabbles that I do when I'm bored and in class, and I loved this idea so much that I had to expand on it, and then (about halfway through) decided I could squeeze this somehow into my next chapter for Prismacolor Shadows.
I really like this idea, and it's something that I haven't really touched upon before. Typically, stuff I write about in BB either follows the BB timeline or is somewhere far off, when they're adults. Seeing as how I'm getting older, I figured it was only fair to see how I handled them as fellow college students. ;)
Oh, and as a forewarning- there's minor Superman-bashing. Not a lot, but I just couldn't help myself. XD
$4$
Love's strange, so real in the dark
Think of the tender things that we were working on
Slow change may pull us apart
When the light gets into your heart, baby
- "Don't You Forget About Me," by Simple Minds
Indigo.
"I don't think you should live so far away. You should come back."
Max grinned at her laptop, watching as the clear live video of Terry looked miserable, even from all the way in Gotham on his laptop. "There is nothing you can say to make me leave MIT, McGinnis," she said.
"But you're so far away!" he whined, incorrigible as ever.
She laughed. "It's only a couple of hours away. Stop being such a damned baby!"
Max's roommate, Jackie, walked into their room then, bringing with her two of their guy friends, Tom and Greg.
"But I don't like taking classes without you being here to help me with my notes!"
Max quickly said hey to her friends, and then focused her gaze back on the screen, frowning. "I didn't help you with notes," she said. "You copied my notes!"
Terry threw up his hands in the air. "Exactly!"
Tom walked over to her bed, where she sat crossed-legged, laptop in front of her. His dark blue eyes were twinkling as he said, "Hey gorgeous. Who are you talking to? Your dad?" He peeked over to glance at the laptop's screen.
Unfortunately, Terry had heard him, and said, "Gorgeous? What dreg is over there calling you gorgeous?"
Max winced, glancing at Tom. Turning her laptop to face him, she said, "Tom, this is my best friend, Terry. Terry, this is my friend, Tom."
There was a beat of silence, and Max bit her lip, praying that Terry didn't say anything stupid.
"So what are your intentions towards Max?"
She whipped her head around, eyes widening dramatically as she shot Terry a death glare through the two laptops. "Terry-!"
"And in case you were wondering, your answer to my question had better be 'none,'" he continued shortly.
Max's mouth thinned to a firm line at the threat, a heavy blush staining her dark cheeks. "Terry," she said through gritted teeth, giving him her best I'm-going-to-hunt-you-down-and-gut-you stare.
"It's all right, Max," Tom said, putting his hand on her arm and grinning good-naturedly. "So what's it like to be living in Gotham? Is it as friggin' terrifying as it sounds?"
She froze, staring up at Tom, confused. Did he just completely ignore Terry? Oh, Jesus…
"Personally, I couldn't do it. I'd be just as afraid of that Batman guy as the rest of the city," Tom continued, still smiling and relaxed.
How was he doing that?
"Gotham is a good place," Terry said, his voice even harsher than before. "And Batman is and always will be a symbol of hope in our city."
Max turned back to the laptop, narrowing her eyes. Tom was not trying to be a jackass- however, Terry was more than making up for him.
Tom laughed, totally oblivious (or maybe perfectly aware). "He's certainly a badass symbol, I gotta admit," he said. "And I'd rather have him than old Superman and his supernerd kids."
Wait- was that a smirk? Max stared at the screen, studying Terry's slightly grainy expression.
"Superman's not tough enough to take care of Gotham," Terry said grudgingly, but almost all the hostility was gone from his voice.
"That's why he's perfect for Metropolis," Tom said, laughing again. "They're boring and do-gooder together."
Holy hell, Batman, Terry was smiling. Max opened her mouth- to say what, she wasn't sure- but Terry responded before she could.
"That's why I'll always love Gotham," he said with a wistful smile. "We've got someone to protect us without it having to define us."
Max felt a warm sensation slide through her veins like melted butter and she smiled when she realized it was pride. She was proud Terry was handling this, getting used to her no longer living 15 minutes away (more like 5 hours, now) and (more importantly) getting used to her having new friends.
New guy friends.
Tom wasn't anything like Terry, and vice versa, but at least they had found some middle ground.
And, really, that was all Max could ever ask for.
$4$
I guess how I incorporated Indigo isn't as obvious compared to other chapters, but I like this enough that I think it works nicely. Given my own experiences in this arena, I thought I managed to make it pretty realistic, even though I know (yet again) it's painfully short.
I apologize to those of you who really, really like Superman, by the way. I have nothing against him, of course… Batman's just waaay more awesome. ;)
Violet will be the last color to go, but I was thinking about it and depending on my muse I may add Black and White, but after Violet I'm going to mark this as complete, and just add chapters as I go.