"You're not wearing that" Ghoul leaned against the doorframe and gave his new playmate a look. "Yes I am. Your school has no dress code, I can wear whatever I want to this" Terry raised an eyebrow and took in the ripped skinny jeans, combat boots, chains, tight light orange shirt (that seemed to be a little to small, or was Ghoul just more comfortable in belly shirts?) and a tattered suit-jacket. Terry shook his head. "No-one's going to want to get near you!" even the girls who were attracted to danger, because Ghoul was letting loose an aura of pure crazy today. It probably had something to do with the obvious lack of sleep (Terry had to ask if he'd put his infamous eye-make-up on. He hadn't) and sense of lack of well-being. Though, girls attracted to crazy might go for him. Ghoul snapped him out of his thoughts with a smirk and a sauntering past him. "That's the point, McGinnis. Now, let's go before I say 'to hell with this' and go back to bed. I've actually had some success sleeping as of…twenty-four hours ago" Terry followed Ghoul, glowering at his back. "You really need to talk to a doctor about your sleep issues" Ghoul held up a finger, not turning around. "One, I have. They say its genetics, depression and extreme paranoia. None of the medications offered has helped. Two, insomnia makes for a wonderful help when I'm in a time crunch on a deadline to anything, and have to forego sleep" He reached his front door a few feet ahead of Terry, shoving the butler out of the way so he could open the door himself. (he really had nothing against his butler, the man was more of a father than his actual father was, and had made sure Ghoul had some rules and regulations to live his life by. Hmm…he should give the man a thank-you card. The talks about drugs had helped when he was a runaway) "Besides, when your dreams are nothing but nightmares, sleep is highly overrated" He muttered. He wasn't sure if Terry had heard the last part, kind of hoped he hadn't.
Terry joined Ghoul on the steps and looked at the car, Dana in the driver's seat (it being her car) and Max in the back, wearing a Sheik shirt. "What? I told you Dana was driving, the old man wouldn't let me borrow his car this time, and I don't have a car of my own" Ghoul sighed. "Well, good thing I brought my phone. I'll probably need to write a will before this is all done" He waved at the unhappy looking Dana Tan and vaulted over the back door of her convertible, landing smoothly beside Max. he raised an eyebrow at her shirt, and smirked. "I like your viruses. Cheeky" She smirked back at him. "You're not too shabby yourself, LivingDeath" They shared a laugh as Terry came over and got in the front seat with Dana, who huffed and tossed her head, not looking at him. "Don't you dare smile at me, I'm still pissed at you" Terry looked at her. "Aw, come on Dana! He's…okay he's not different and-" "Haven't changed either, Terry. But that's okay, keep digging, this is kind of funny. By the way, Miss Tan, nice car. Most of the Jokerz wished they had something like this, smooth" Dana paused, palms on the wheel as her fingers twitched above it, debating whether or not to respond. In the end, the polite side won out and she turned and gave Ghoul a curt nod. "Thanks. But you're in the doghouse too so if you say one more thing on the ride there, I'm throwing you out of the car on a four-story highway. Don't hit anything on the way down" Ghoul's sheepish/frightened smile was enough indicator he got the innuendo and understood and respected the threat. Terry sunk lower in his seat as Dana directed her glare from Ghoul to him. Oh, yea, the threat was directed at him too. Both boys glared at Max, who was laughing her head off at the whole situation.
The car drive lasted an hour and in relative silence, Dana drumming her fingers on the wheel as she effectively ignored Terry and talked with Max, or sang along to whatever was on the radio. Terry looked anxiously at Dana and Ghoul stared noncommittally at the passing scenery, his hair flying around his head. Max smirked at the back of the blond's head. She'd already guessed her 'date' for today was her little friend from the internet. It was kind of obvious when he used monikers like 'DeAdSCaRedOFCrOWS' or 'LivingDeath' or 'ScareCrowIsDead' or her personal favorite 'IMTeAmZomBiE'. Though, she knew that Terry was still clueless as to who '0rAclE' was. Even if Ghoul had outright stated it a few minutes ago. She knew the old man had caught on early on into her usage of it, and had even given her a little background to the name. Barbara Gordon had chosen the name after she'd become paralyzed by Joker and had been forced to hang up her cape. Personally, it had been a giggle-moment from being hopped up on caffeine and a hell of a lot of jelly beans, as well as some old-school videogames on her computer. Though the mythology homework she'd had that night probably helped in the decision too.
Max was snapped out of her thoughts by pale fingers snapping in her face as Ghoul frowned at her. She raised an eyebrow at him and he pointed at the school coming up in the distance. Max smirked. "Dana, we're almost there, can you let the boys talk now?" A long and drawn out sigh before Dana nodded. She held up a warning finger behind her at Ghoul, though. "You don't talk to me. No talking, no touching and if I get even the tiniest inclination you're going to lick me, carry me, or whatever, I will tazer you" Ghoul nodded quickly as Max looked at him, smirking. "You licked her? Seriously?" Ghoul buried his face in his hands and had to be prodded into moving when they pulled up at the fair.
They had a loose group, Dana and Max in the front and Terry and Ghoul a few feet behind them. Ghoul had snagged some of the free cotton candy and was eating it as he looked around. A modest carnival for a modest school on a modest income. Translation? Carnival games, some cheap rides, and face painting. Oh, and snacks. He idly thought of his gang, Dee Dee would be fighting each other for the candy and the cute boys, Woof would be going nuts over that meat stand over there, Chucko would be doing a get-rich-quick scheme and going after the pretty girls (Ghoul still couldn't get over the fact the man was in his 30's. It was shudder worthy) and Bonk, when he was still alive, would be all over the games. Ghoul's throat contracted and he forced himself to think about other things.
"Oh…I am in so much trouble" muttered Terry and Ghoul double-checked at Terry, blinking at how dejected the normally cynical and upbeat teen was. "Why don't you play a game, win her something?" Terry looked at him. "Are you crazy? All the games are rigged. This is a fundraiser" Ghoul smirked. "You know two computer and math geniuses, and you're worried about losing a few carnival games?" Terry looked at him like he'd grown two heads. "Why are you being nice to me?" Ghoul shrugged. "I'm pretending this is a really lucid dream and I'm still with my friends. Maybe repressing things, but it works….okay, never mind. I reminded myself its reality" A heavy sigh and Terry rolled his eyes. He grabbed Ghoul's thin shoulder and pulled him to the booths, shouting at the girls to let them know the boys were no longer behind them. He glared at Ghoul with a look that rivaled his mentor's. "Okay, this had better work or you're going to wish you'd met with an 'unfortunate accident' while with the Jokerz, got it?" Ghoul gulped and nodded.
Dana smiled at Terry, feeling forgiving now that he'd actually won her a few different stuffed animals, one of which being a giant stuffed white unicorn with an electric blue mane and tail. She kissed him on the cheek as Ghoul rolled his eyes and turned away, to get some prizes for himself and his little tagalong Max, who seemed to be in on the babysitting act, lovely. He was enjoying the milk toss (knocking over milkcans with a ball. An oldies game they never changed, but still so enjoyable and gratifying) when he heard someone clearing their throat and turned around to see a group of boys in jerseys-jocks, yay. Just what he asked for. And a couple of cute girls, a blond and (he hoped for her sake that the white hair was dyed, because if it wasn't, she was looking at chronic baldness by 30) a white haired girl who both looked like they thought they were the hottest things since a supernova. He snorted and leaned against the booth, nudging the small pile of stuffed animals behind him as Max came to stand beside him. "Boys, girls, causing trouble or…?" The apparent ringleader of the group (though he was certain the white-haired chick had spurred it on, this guy looked like he couldn't tie his own shoes without help) grabbed Ghoul by his jacket lapels and held him close. "Listen, I don't know who you are, but this is a school thing, for students. and you aren't one, bub" Max stepped forward. "Nash, leave him alone. He's with me and Terry" Ghoul smirked and simply hung there in Nelson's hands. "Max, step back, this is between me and the blond gorilla here" Nelson gave what Ghoul assumed was a "what?!" only yelled and more guttural, and Ghoul gave a truly terrifying smile while kneeing Nelson Nash in the balls as hard as he could.
Techie or not, people bothering to teach him how to fight or not (nobody had, but the rudimentary gymnastics the Dee Dees had taught him helped, but he was a Joker, had worked under Joker. He knew how to fight dirty. And, the fact that nobody here was Batman helped. He had downed two and was holding off three when Terry and Dana came into the fray as peacekeepers. "What's going on?!" It was directed at Ghoul. Wonderful. Why was he getting blamed? He straightened his jacket and smoothed his hair out of his face before deigning to respond. "The blond gorilla and his lackeys decided they were going to push me around. So I pushed back" Terry looked at the pale Nelson and raised an eyebrow. Nelson shrugged. "What?! He's not supposed to be here!" Terry crossed his arms. "I brought him here. It was a double date, me and Dana and Max and Ghoul here" Ghoul and Max looked at each other. News to them it was a double-date.
The white haired girl blinked and stepped forward. "Wait, Ghoul, like, the lost heir kid who was on T.V.? The rich boy?" She smirked and both she and the blond came up to Ghoul. "Hi, I'm Blade. Sorry about my friend there" The blond girl pushed 'Blade' away and smiled sickeningly sweet at Ghoul, who had a mix of surprise and disgust on his face at the both of them. "Hi, I'm Chelsea. You look…awesome" Ghoul actually had to push them off of him as their boyfriends reacted. "Yea…sorry, I'm not looking for a girlfriend at this moment" Chelsea leaned against him with a wide smile. "When you are, here's my number" She tucked a piece of paper into Ghoul's lapel pocket and he stepped back, causing her to stumble, only for Blade to latch onto him. "You can do way better than Maxine-sorry sweetie" She smiled at the obviously offended Max and smirked over at the gawking boys. Ghoul rubbed his forehead and gritted his teeth. This, this was exactly why he so hated having people know he was rich. It was desperate girls and angry boys and people trying to take advantage of his money, his connections, everything. "You, no offence, are a step down from Max. At least talking to her is stimulating!" He finally shouted at the two girls and pushed them away. "You two keep talking and I actively feel my brain dying. I'd almost rather date one of your jockey lackeys than either of you, stupid plastic money and fame obsessed trophy girlfriends!" He turned from shocked faces and grabbed the pile of prizes, thrusting two at Max. He couldn't bring himself to actually kiss her, though he came close. It was just to piss off the two twips who kept coming onto him though and he couldn't do that to someone. Maybe it was his parent's way, but he'd never bow to something like that. Huh, a criminal with values. Who knew? He walked away from everyone, boiling with anger and frustration and wanting to be alone. He had to commend Terry for not sending anyone after him.
A few hours later, Terry was surprised to see Ghoul waiting in the car for them. The blond had his head cushioned his arms, resting on the top of the door of the convertible and appeared to be asleep. However, he opened his eyes when Terry stood over him and looked up at the teen, squinting as the sun was behind Terry's head. "…I don't know this side of town all that well. I had nowhere to go" Terry nodded, not buying it, but since no other explanation would be offered, he took it. "Dana's changed her opinion about you" Ghoul raised his eyebrows. "Huh. All it took was snapping and ranting at two gold-diggers? We should have gone to a club first, gotten that over with" Terry smiled slightly. "She's still convinced you've got the hots for her, and will not forget you pushed her off a balcony, and as such does not trust or really like you, but you've got her respect" Ghoul nodded. "Well, best I can hope for" He nodded at the girls as they came up and averted his eyes at the sympathetic look Max gave him.
"Hey, you okay?" He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye and shrugged. "I don't want to talk about it" He smiled a little as she held his gifts in her lap. "Hey. Chess tonight? Or higher stakes contest?" Max laughed. "Oh, Casanova. Nah, I've got babysitting duty for Max's brother tonight. Maybe tomorrow?" Ghoul nodded. "I've got some new little tricks" Max smirked. "Looking forward to it, dude" Dana and Terry smiled a bit at the exchange in the backseats. If not a romance, then at least a good friendship.