little fires burned away.

Men. 

Honestly. The Audacity. The Gall. Fernando’s effort to manhandle her into taking a smaller cut than agreed upon with the use of his physically imposing henchmen was disrespectful. If there was one thing Selina despised, one thing that might unexpectedly undermine the carefully cultivated self assuredness and nonchalant manner she harnessed as well as her leather whip, it was any implication that she was easily intimidated. That, despite her line of work, she did not deserve fair remuneration for her degree of expertise and her deft management of potentially dangerous circumstances. While she expected very little from seedy alliances with even seedier sub level criminals, she was anything but. 

The Cat was exceedingly prideful of the abilities she had worked so diligently to attain. Years of commitment were required to refine her unique set of capabilities. To master the artistry of stealth, to train herself in an style of combat uniquely her own, to perfect the finesse of penetrating even the most formidable semblances of defense and fleeing without a trace. She wasn’t some petty thief, she was renowned. A fierce adversary. A Napoleon of indiscretions. The feline fatale. Her hubris just might have been a worse vice than her sticky fingers; call it a character defect, but damned if her arrogance wasn’t deserved. She clawed her to the top of merciless crooked food chain in order to secure her acclaimed reputation, and she’d be damned if she allowed the likes of this man to have the upper hand.

Or some tiny Van Damme wannabe. 

It was the tone for her, the underlying adversity and undeserved notes of authority. Selina huffed out a hollow chuckle, languidly rising from the position she held pinning one of Fernando’s thugs to the concrete. Although they were around the same height, the feline approached the brunette with the cocksure swagger of someone double in stature. Hands plunging leisurely into the deep pockets of her jacket and her cheeks flushed with a provocative simper. Now that she was well within range, possibly uncomfortable close, she finally recognized the woman. Red’s pet nurse. Mingling with the likes of amped up brawlers in the seedier side of town. How scandalous. 

“Or what?” she challenged right back, inching her face closer until their breathes were practically mingling. “You going to make me?” her voice breathed out in a purr. “Mind your business” She wasn’t leaving here until she got her full payout, even if it meant Fernando would leave the altercation with a few broken bones. “I’d be careful Selina, bay-bee, this little firecracker has spark,” the man in question taunted with a bit more nonchalance than Selina cared for, appearing far too at ease concealing himself behind his hired goons and this unwelcome third party. “You’re double crossing the wrong cat, Nando,” she cautioned, without breaking eye contact with the woman. “But, if you’d rather go through the whole face stomping, bone crushing routine so be it,” Selina could see the meaty fist barrell towards her at Fernando’s command out of her peripherals, angling around the back of Rory’s head. 

She made a point of ramming her shoulder into the brunettes at the last possible moment, knocking her out of the line of the assault and then evading the strike with an easy backwards bend. The steel toe of her combat boots swung forward, delivering an effective kick to his crotch. She flashed an arrogant grin at how quickly he slumped in pain. “Your reflexes are a little slow there, Bubbles,” she drawled at the brunette, tone dripping in mockery. “You haven’t learned how to dodge a punch yet? Guess all those flimsy muscles are just for show huh?” deciding she was finished with the interaction, she shifted her concentration back to Fernando, only to find her way barred by yet another burly henchman. 

With a sigh, and her hands still comfortably tucked in her jacket pocket, she dodged a flurry of sloppy attacks. With each swing of his fists, she ducked or bent out of the way and inched a little closer to the fighting cages. So typical of the brainless lackey mentality, believing that strength alone was sufficient to win a confrontation. Selina was far from a frail creature, and what she lacked in assumed physical strength, she made up for with unparalleled agility, mobility, and the cat-like reflexes of which she derived her moniker. When her back came into contact with the metal bars, she withdrew her hands, elevating them to the bars above and effortlessly propelling herself into the air, kicking the brute within the cage using the momentum created by his own imbalanced weight.

She tilted her head at Rory through the gap created in the crowd and offered a sarcastic smile. “There, happy?”

rory eyes drifted from the cocksure saunter, taking her in at languid if only to emanate that she didn’t feel the level of threat the cat tried to convey. she finally dragged her eyes to meet her narrowed molten browns, lips twisted into a disapproving leer. she didn’t acknowledge fernando’s praise - she wasn’t sure if it was praise of a taunt to try and get selina to take a swing at her. rory wasn’t confident that the cat would give her so much the benefit for pamela’s sake, but she knew anything from the infamy that carried over all the way from gotham was that selina kyle was not easily taunted - far from an idiot. so the man’s words didn’t sway her in the lightest.

she thought for a moment her assessment of the situation had been miscalculated when selina’s posture shifted and she looked like she was charging at her, until she realized rory’s head had been perfect situated to catch the ricochet of the henchman’s punch that was intended for selina. she staggered to the side, her body already protesting - she’d been done with the fighting for the night but it seemed like the fighting was not done with her. she was still struck by how fast the situation unfolded that she didn’t catch much of selina’s taunt besides the juvenile nickname she attributed to her. sandpaper against the back of her throat,  that was how she could describe her mounting irritation at the situation she found herself in. this was her place, and selina was ruining it. 

rory’s lips fell slack when selina discarded her interest in rory’s presence and focused on fernando’s never ending tap of henchmen steadily trying to take down selina. she had to school her face against the clearly impressed glower at the maneuver selina implied to get into the cage, before she rolled her eyes at the saccharine smile shot her way. rory thought she’d disentangled herself from the situation -- or at least made it less problematic by steering the fight into the cage. none of her business, the situation screamed, but it grated her the wrong seeing the woman, no matter how proficient, trapped in a cage with a man twice her size. 

it seemed fernando must have noticed that rory wasn’t about to let it go either, and with a subtle jerk of his head, rory felt a meaty grip on the top of her arm as one of the henchmen marched her into the cage, nearly tossing her into the opposite end had she not braced herself against the bars and whipped around with a sneer hot on her lips, “are you shitting me?” she snipped - indignant at being lugged into the same faction as selina, somehow, but there was no time to dwell on their alignments as two more body guards marched into the cage. six people in close quarters. they didn’t realize it yet, but they were at a severe disadvantage. 

“okay,” she exhaled, stepping back to fall in line with selina as she wicked the sweat matted hairs out of her forehead, “let’s see if your bite’s just as infuriating as your hiss.” rory staved off any unsavory commentary; she was too spent to come up with witty comebacks, and she was not interested in revealing that she had powers at this particular moment. maybe she’d channel a little strength, a little, but that was it.  rory’s set gaze in a menace as she turned her head, intimidating pops from the base of her skull. filling the anticipated eyes of the storm, before she gestured for one the henchmen to charge at her with a presumptuous come hither motion, immediately ducking underneath his charge as her fingers grasped fabric of his shirt. it ripped, and rory was quick to twisted the sweaty fabric into a make-shift garrote, wrapped tightly around knuckles as she looped it over his neck and turned her entire body to pull her arms over her head, cut off his circulation until he no longer resisted against her pull, and she finally stepped aside to throw his limp body to the ground while unfurling the garrote from around his neck. 

“I will take you up on that.” Carter chuckled at her offer. He knew most people credited Jitters as the best place to go for a cup of joe, but he had avoided entering it most of the time, knowing Kendra worked there and that reuniting with her would draw Savage straight to them. The bastard had come for them anyway, and it had led to his ill-fated attempts at reigniting the spark between them. It would be nice to actually see the place now that he didn’t have those concerns weighing on him.

“That I have.” He confirmed solemnly, though it cracked with a laugh at her choice of phrase. “If only you knew how true that was.” He chuckled, shaking his head fondly. “Fellow birds it is then.”

her eyes narrowed curiously but she didn’t dwell on the comment - she’d take what she could get and it bode well for her that he found the euphemism amusing, and she found herself mirroring his smile. “okay, well i’ll leave you to -- being naked.” she indicated to the state she’d found him in when she’d gotten home, “tell tommy i said hi. and please make sure he eats actual food.” 

+

Kate’s suspect bolted from the small crowd of hooded reprobates he’d trekked half way through the Industrial District to meet the minute he saw the silhouette of the pointed cowl on the rooftop above. Into the black heavens, upon this clear night, came the grace of the white-gold moon. Illuminating her ominous physique before her crimson cape was flung into the night breeze. He had fled across the road before Kate could land on the sidewalk and pursue without regard for the traffic that screeched, swerved and honked around him. Kate figured he must have considered himself impossible to catch, but little did he know even if she hadn’t been able to effortlessly match his pace the tracking device pinned to his tattered jacket would have been easy to track. Kate felt just as comfortable maneuvering the concrete jungle of brick and glass as he, only faltering when he ducked around an abandoned warehouse and seemingly vanished as she turned the corner. 

Gloved fingers curled into a fist, Kate scanned for movement. Between the structures the wind had died down, litter and debris ceasing to rustle, even the rumble of traffic was absent. All she had to do was listen. In those frozen seconds Kate detected the crunch of glass under boot, just enough to give her the location of her quarry. “Gotcha,” she confidently called out, startling him out of his makeshift hiding place and sending him sprinting off once again. “I can do this all night!” Kate was hot on his heels, letting out a caustic chortle when he abruptly parkoured himself up a dilapidated fire escape. Perhaps hoping changing altitude would shake her. Without breaking a sweat, she yanked her grapple gun loose and fired it into the air. The wire thrusting her towards the building ledge. Her suspect could only curse as she rose to her feet and rushed onward. Two pairs of footfalls raced along the concrete, one ahead of the other by a few meters and the other catching up at an increasingly brisk rate. While the red boots advanced ahead, their firm soles deftly striking the pavement, the Scarlet Knight made no noise save for the tiny spurts of air escaping her lungs. On the other hand, her adversary was unable to quell the echo of their own footsteps rebounding from the abandoned rooftops. Announcing their pursuit to anybody within a few hundred metre radius. Each step brought a sharp octave closer to Kate’s ears, sounding very raucous, like the booming heartbeat of a condemned prisoner. The gap in his rapid stride, visible in their irregular motions, alerted her they were losing stamina. In contrast to the caped crusader, who was seizing the opportunity and rapidly reducing the gap between them.

Finally fate tipped the balance in Batwoman’s favor, her mark coming to a screeching halt when he discovered there were no more buildings to volley across save for a glass-roofed warehouse erected at an unequal distance below. “Huh,” Kate’s voice came in mock curiosity, her arms folded over her front and her lips curved in triumph. He turned to face her with a gulp and a quiver. “It looks like you’re at the end of the line. Unless you think you can survive that jump” He cast a backward glance behind him, as if pondering it, and mentally assessed the chance he would land without lasting injury. “Please, be my guest” Release a string of curses he held his hands up in surrender. “Look man, I didn’t do anything,” was his feeble defense. “I just took the money and followed instructions, that’s it. I had no idea what they had planned” The Bat allowed him to stammer out his position while she straightened her slim figure, feigning slight exacerbation. “I’m not a man,” she answered in a monotonous tone. Recognizing his efforts were useless, he swiftly changed tactics. 

“Fuck you, I’m not afraid of you okay” a smirk was Kate’s only response. “The people I work for are a lot more powerful than you, lady. With more resources than you can even imagine, your just a fucking ant beneath their boot” An expression of utter boredom on her face, Kate raised her grappling gun, finger hovering over the trigger. “Feel better now that you got that off your chest?” she was met with silence which suited her just fine, it was time to get the pleasantries out of the way. “You get one, and I mean one, chance to tell me the identities of these ‘big and powerful’ schmucks you work for or you’re taking a dive” another beat of silence as he debated weather the force of this present threat outweigh the consequences he was sure to face if he revealed anything. ”Suck my dick, bitch,“ he should have known. He really should have known that the moment those words left his mouth his fate was sealed. 

Kate paused for a fraction of a second, staring right into his beady eyes before snapping her head forward and ramming her forehead into the bridge of his nose. On contact, there was a distinct crunching sound followed by a torrent of blood spurting from his nostrils. His shout of surprise soon turned into a gurgle as he cupped both hands over his face and stumbled backwards….right over the building ledge. Just before his body disappeared over the edge, she fired her grappling gun at his ankle. The wire wrapping securely around the appendage to ensure while he certainly was going to take a painful plunge through the glass roof below he would stop short of the fatal impact of the warehouse floor. She listened to his frightened shouts for a moment longer before stepping off the ledge herself, letting her cape flow out and lessen the speed of her fall. She landed with a flourish, temporarily oblivious of the warehouse’s other inhabitants. WIth a grin, she looked up at her dangling suspect who had evidently passed out from fear.

Kate’s smile faded when she turned to find several pairs of eyes fixed on her in various stages of shock. She blinked back with just as much confusion, quickly taking in the scene before her. A few men slumped against the ground scattered through the warehouse but just as many advancing towards a smaller figure in leathers. Another vigilante. Vaguely familiar by the glow of her gaze and the batons she welded. “Conduit…right?” she addressed the vigilante, casually, as if there weren’t a room full of opponents in front of her. Regardless of her lack of knowledge of what was transpiring she recognized a fellow hero in need. “Am I interrupting something?” tilting her head, she lifted a finger to count the number of men between Conduit and herself. “Six against two” she confirmed, raising her hands to her face confidently. “I like those odds” her gaze locked with Conduits with a brief nod before she was charging forward. 

the sound of the glass shattering was sandpaper on the back of her neck, setting her senses aflame as the rush of adrenaline renewed her vigor. she watched a body bounce aimlessly, barely missing the floor as he swayed like a limp yoyo -- what the hell? the intruder had caught not just her attention, but the attention of her assailant as well. thought that wasn’t just it. it was the shadow tinged with crimson sweeping into the warehouse like a bird, or a bat. she recognized the form before even seeing the insigne across her chest. 

conduit reared against the building tension, the imminent fight building like a tsunami wave pulling back the shoreline. batwoman kept it light, shattering the trembling hesitance rory felt mount her chance meanwhile she saw it clamber up in the tremors and uneasy shuffle of their feet against the ground. still a little awestruck at the cinematic entrance, conduit finally shook it off when she exchanged knowing approval with the bat, and she brewed a hearty charge within her fingers to send the man at her far right sailing into the end of the warehouse.

with a tightened grip on her baton and only two of her own share left, rory weighed her option before decided she would take speed over safety, and just get it over with already. she could feel one of the men fast approaching behind her as she focused her barrage of hand-to-hand on the one in front of her. her knuckles and knees protested, the most blunt tools at her disposal. “stay down!” the frustrated yowl was quickly interrupted with a huff as she knocked the toe of her shoe into his temple, and almost winced at how painfully his brain must have rattled inside that skull of his. she hoped for a moment’s reprieve, but the yank on her hair shattered the swell of it as her body collided with ground. speed versus safety. always pick safety. 

she felt the steel-toe of his boot dig into her side as she clambered to her hands and knees, nearly knocking the air and the patience out of her. to hell with holding back, she whipped her head up with a flurry of energy radiating off her like solar flares, thrusting a more-than-average charge his way, and watched the energy singe his clothes and possibly leave some burns on his chest as he flew across the warehouse, finally subdued. “and that’s three...” conduit breathed out as she plopped onto her butt, a small groan escaping her lips as she resisted the urge to lay back down. she cradled her aching side as she felt the warmth dribble over her top lip -- nosebleed, great. she knew what that meant. that chances of her passing out any second now were too high for her liking. her eyes closed as she slowed down her breathing, only brought back to alertness when she remembered. she wasn’t alone in the warehouse. 

conduit’s eyes didn’t focus as fast as she wanted them as she searched for her fellow hero and her self-assigned bad guys for the night. 

“Like I wasn’t myself,” he didn’t have them most part of his life, back in Daxam, he wasn’t under the yellow sun, so he was ordinary, as much as a prince could be, that is. Before going to earth, he didn’t how it was like having them, but after he got it, he couldn’t imagine his life without being able to do everything he could do, “Really? I thought you were one of us already, because you were at STAR labs, what’s stopping you from being one?” he didn’t start right away either, he had to work hard to be what he was, it wasn’t easy. People thought anyone could just be one, but it wasn’t that easy, “I think Alex won’t mind if we use one of DEO rooms, so we could go there. If team flash trusts you, you’re good.”

“yeah...” that was what she was afraid of - she wasn’t afraid of the powers being so part of he she was, she was afraid of what would happen if she ever lost them. she smiled sweetly at mon el, there was a certain naivite in his tone that rory was absolute in no rush to shatter, “let’s just say we don’t see eye to eye on...procedural tactics.” she explained with a huff and shrug. it was a point of contention not just between her and team flash, but even between her and her brother. “are you sure? i don’t want to piss off alex danvers.” 

It brought a quick grin to Mick’s face, the thought of him trying to go bungee jumping. “Sure, guess I could do that. If I’m gonna jump from a high place though, I better have a good reason to do it. Like avoiding the cops.” At least she took what he said at face value that he’d changed, but Rory remained hard to read as he offered his two cents about her own situation. Deciding to just let it go and not pry further, “Well, as you probably already know, I’m the last guy to say no to drinks. And after enough of them, well… karaoke’s not out of the question either.”

“or like trying to purge needing to avoid cops to jump from a high place. don’t tell me you’re scared.” rory teased, before her expression turned brighter when he seemed open to the idea, “so how drunk do you need to get before we can duet some lame ballad together?”

Roy put down his bottle on the nightstand and took a few bites of cheese as he waited for her response, stuffing them into his mouth all at once - in the privacy of the room he didn’t care for politeness, his cheeks bulging chipmunk-like as he chewed thoughtfully. “I only survived because they wanted me to.” He noted grimly. And it haunted him. He didn’t know why they kept him alive - as back up, in case they wanted to make more of whatever bastardisation of him they had created? Leverage if they were found out? Or something worse?

He did manage a smile at her assurance though, jostling his shoulder lightly against Rory’s own as they sat next to each other. “Right back at’cha.” He muttered. “Thank you, for being so… patient with me. Helping with the twins.” He muttered. He had wanted so badly to settle easily back into fatherhood, hoping that his children would provide the spark he needed to be okay again. That caring for them would take precedence over everything else in his head so he didn’t have to dwell on it. But things were never that easy, and his children, so full of love as they were, were discerning beyond their years. He could tell they knew something had changed within him, more than just the loss of his arm.

rory knew what he said was true - that he’d only survived because they made sure he did. the knowledge was an uncomfortable stone in her gut, and she had no words of comfort to offer, “they pumped you so full of drugs you shouldn’t have woken up, roy.” rory indicated with a gravely tone, the light-heartedness of her impromptu meal gone as she peered up at him, “the fact that you’re just up and awake, and talking to me, right now? that’s...that’s all you, it’s not them. they may have kept you alive, but you’re the one who survived.” she rearranged the emphasis on her earlier words so it made more sense, and felt a little better as she tried to leverage some confidence out of him. 

rory swayed a little exaggeratedly as he knocked against her shoulder, the corner of her mouth turning up in a weak smile  the smile dissipated at his gratitude, misplaced was what she thought of it as the set of her lips turned grim and it was her turn to avert her gaze. “please, don’t thank me. it’s the least i could do, roy. i’m your sister. it’s my job.” her voice was heavy with emotion she tried to stave off so he wouldn’t jump to comfort her - god, that would gut her. she should be the one comforting him, helping him, making up for how badly she fucked up. she cleared her throat, grappling for the segue desperately, “i looked at a couple of pre-schools for the twins. all of them are within your district, and they have buses too so you don’t have to worry about pick up. and don’t get me wrong, but i had the twins for a while and they nearly took me out. you need a nanny.” she added with a shudder as if recalling some harrowing experience with her niece and nephew. it was the best way she could think to bring up that roy would actually need help with the twins when she wasn’t around without pouring salt into a barely scabbing wound.

And there it was, the challenge she had been waiting for. She didn’t care about Rory’s boyfriend, her partner was her problem, not Amelia’s. But she had to make sure it was what the other woman wanted - that she was seeking the same thing Amelia was ready to give. Besides, it was always much more fun to coax someone’s desires out of someone, make them admit to them, than engage in a simple chase.

“I see.” She muttered, swirling the dregs of her drink around in her glass for a moment before knocking it back in one. “I can mix a better cocktail than this myself.” She sighed, placing the glass back down with a sigh. “Pity, but you did treat me to it. How about we get out of here and the next one’s on me?”

the sickening cloy of the lie was beginning to engulf rory’s resolve - not that she was tricking amelia, she was so sure the woman was involved in something shady that she didn’t think much of  lying to her - if anything she was willing to take someone who she knew was in a relationship home. that was more than enough a defining characteristic to rory.  it was as if for a moment she could envision a world where she and jason had given up and it struck her, how much of a nauseating parody of her current life it was. still, she kept up pretense, smiling through the deceit as she she pushed her perfectly untouched drink away.

“it better be worth it.” rory finally murmured as she slid off the barstool -- though she didn’t elaborate as to what exactly she meant by that. she picked up her purse, rifling through it briefly for the coat check card, knowing that this was a point of no return. she had the cautious, stick to the wall option of texting someone where she was, but then what? it could possibly derail her plan. nyssa was out of commission, doing her own snooping. rory had to brace against the cold feet and snap the clutch shut as she swapped the card for her leather jacket, “lead the way.”

Expecting a warm welcome would have been stupid and Thea hadn’t anticipated one. She’d gone over here not really assuming anything good to come out of this encounter, but she hadn’t come to see Rory to fight. Maybe the other woman thought that to be the case, though the reason behind Thea’s visit was the polar opposite. Once the front door opened, Speedy braced herself for the encounter that was about to happen and moved towards the kitchen when prompted. Rory had coffee brewing? Well, that was a positive sign at least. If she truly hated Thea, she probably wouldn’t even have gone through the trouble of giving her anything at all. Or maybe she was just wishful thinking here. Whatever the case may be, Thea came to a halt at the kitchen counter and turned back towards Rory. “I didn’t come here to fight, in case you were thinking that.” she decided to kick off with those words, just to let the other brunette know that she had no ill intentions here. “It’s actually the opposite. I came here to apologize. I’ve been the worst version of myself these past few months and I pushed away the one person that’s had my back ever since my return. I just wanted a father so bad that I basically disregarded everything else, which wasn’t fair to you and everyone else I care about.” Thea admitted quietly, her expression and voice both sincere as she blew out a small breath a moment later. “I’m sorry for everything. I understand if you don’t want to see me again, but I needed to come here and tell you all of this.” 

it seemed that rory wasn’t the only one with the anxiety of the rendezvous keeping her back ramrod straight. rory didn’t think she was wrong to have stormed off, especially after thea had essentially kicked her out of the club, but she still felt defensive. she watched the coffee begin to drip generously into the pot, the calm washing over hear as the smell of coffee permeated the air. she glanced at thea again, misaligning her teeth as she jutted her chin forwards, a silent go ahead for thea to speak her mind. the uncomfortable set of her jaw relaxed at thea’s apology and rory felt the tension in her shoulders dissolves as she bumped her hip into the counter before fully leaning against it. “apology accepted.” rory finally signed as she let her arms drop to her side, her expression softening. 

“welcome to the daddy issues club. i’ll send you the membership package.” rory finally huffed as she began pouring the coffee for both of them, “i...can’t pretend i understand why you did what you did. if i ever saw my father now i’d deck him. and he didn’t commit genocide.” rory murmured, though there was no admonishment in her tone, “but i’m glad you came here. i still have your back, i never stopped. i was just going to really make you work for it. then you had to go and be the bigger person and apologize.” rory said that last word with a wick of playful disgust in her tone, “you suck, queen.” 

Her gift was a big hit - which she’d never doubted, to be perfectly honest. It was fun to watch the realization of what Rory had been given hit the other woman, it only prompted Grace’s smirk to grow. “Oh, I know you do. I’m sure Jaybird’s gonna love it too. I mean, it’s more for him than it is for you, no? And you better put that sponge and soap to good use. Pictures or it didn’t happen.” she remarked, playful expression still very much present on her face, even when Rory pulled her in for a hug to thank her. She didn’t need to be told twice to get a drink, it was something that Grace had been looking forward to all day already. “You haven’t seen me be the worst. But after a couple of drinks, you sure as hell will.”

rory bowed her head - she wasn’t a prude and yet she felt her face warm furiously at grace’s cavalier regard to the gift and the intention behind it. “oh you wish, wouldn’t you?” rory playfully stuck her tongue out at grace as she stashed the soap and sponge back into the bag then linked her arm to grace’s - the gift wasn’t to sit next to more innocent collection, she’d have to hide it in the bedroom. but for now, drinks first. “well the place is new so maybe try to break just one thing?” rory teased, digging her elbow into grace’s side before she separated from her to dip behind the bar, “beer?”

“Well, now you’re just flattering me.” Jason huffed at her words, though he couldn’t help but smile at her reassurance. “Of course there are. Who doesn’t like Star Wars.” He muttered under his breath before stifling a laugh at her incentive. “Easy tiger, at least wait until the guests have left.” He chuckled, though he did chance a glance towards the bathroom as he said it. “Thank you.” He muttered, pressing a kiss to her forehead, his anxiety calmed a little for now.

“now is when you say everyone will love me too.” rory shoved against his ribs playfully to shake off his nerves, rolling her eyes at his reiteration towards the prowess of star wars. rory smiled as she felt his lips press into her forehead, her own arms squeezing his torso a little to assure him -- i’ve got you. rory peeked over her shoulder at the gaggle of guests before let out a small whine, head falling back a little as she pouted visibly, “do you think they’ll notice if we sneak away. fire escape’s right there, and alfie can sub in for us.”