we never go out of style

         The name means nothing to him, at this point even if she had said it the first time they’d met, he wouldn’t have any recollection of it now. “ Shit. ” He looked away, hands on his hips. He should have looked a little harder before deciding that would be funny. Not that it isn’t any more, but now he has to be worried. He doesn’t know if she’s the kind of person who liked to shout wolf or not, and if she was, he better work on an apology speech or a damn good blackmail. “ Yes. ” He doesn’t remember if he had told her his name, so he has to wonder if she had asked someone else———which ranges from neighbors to the police in his mind, which only makes him more nervous. “ I didn’t uh, see you. ” He avoids meeting her eye but makes no move to avoid talking. She looks like she’s fifteen, for Christ’s sake.

She tried to keep her head up and stay strong, although she was terrified. “Were you trying to put me in the hospital again? Because believe me. Hospital bills aren’t cheap, and I’d really like to not pay for them again.” She had admitted to herself that he would probably never like her, after their first encounter, but she’d like to be civil with the Irishman. Apparently, he was her neighbor, after all.

                           At first he doesn’t recognize her, and he’s about to say something—confused by her reaction—-when he finally realizes he’s seen her before. He straightens and takes a step to the side, a frown developing fast. “ Are you–? ” He doesn’t finish the question, instead allowing it to fall flat as he recalls the appearance of the girl he had yelled at in the gym a few weeks back. She’s small and blonde and though that normally wouldn’t be recognizable qualities, she wears it distinctly.

“Am I...?” She took a deep breath. The ground was cold, and she was really very scared. “I’m Darcy Mae Richards. And you’re Bane, yes?” Her voice was soft and quiet, and terrified. She brought her legs closer to her, wrapping her arms around them, as she cowered beneath him.

Darcy was so close to the apartment, and just wanted to curl in a blanket, put on some music and cry. She had a horrible day in class, and at the cafe, and she was really looking forward to some peace and quiet. And before she knew it, she was on the ground. Looking up, she saw the very man she had avoided the past few weeks. “Oh dear”.

“I like you as well, Miss Darcy.”

“You’re a peach. Is everything good?”

With a tone that could’ve easily been mistaken for a member of security’s, Joshua felt the weight on his shoulders lift away and he sighed out, hoping to make a quick escape so he didn’t get questioned, or even worse, jumped on again - those guys needed a lettuce diet for a few days if they were gonna continue to do that. Damn. He fruitlessly brushed himself off, standing up and glancing quickly at the fellow blonde, eyes dragging from her feet upwards to her face. ‘‘Who are you? You’re not security.’‘ He asked with a mumbling tone, but shrugging as she initiated the question. ‘‘M’always alright, they were just fuckin’ heavy.’‘ Scoffing, he made a mental note to kick either one of them in the shins if he saw them again, ‘‘Some people really are desperate for a shag these days, they’ll even do it in a lobby.’‘ He concluded, though that probably was not what had happened, making himself the object and victim in it all was the easiest way to talk about it. 

Her voice quickly returned to the normal high-pitched quality, and she blushed. While he was standing, he was a lot taller than she was, and she suddenly felt very small. She took a small step back, cheeks bright red, and gave him a sheepish smile. “I’m Darcy Mae.” He was pale and blonde, and really very pretty, but there was something dead in his eyes. Darcy couldn’t place it. That made it all the more interesting. “Who are you?” Her voice was soft, but inviting. A bit breathy, hesitant, and curious, all in one.

It was pretty simple, really, one minute he was standing in the lobby blankly staring at a dog outside the window minding his business, like you do, the next, he was on the floor surrounded by two heavy pounded men, on top of him, to be precise, whether they’d collided into one another accidentally and knocked him down, whether they’d seen him or just didn’t like him, he really didn’t know, but he fought of the touch on his skin, gasping a bit, ‘’What the mucky fuck – Help?! Anyone want to get these tossers off me?!’’ He shouted helplessly, looking more like the lunatic himself than the victim.

Darcy walked into the lobby with a few rolls of her fabric in her hands, mind in the clouds. All of a sudden, her mind was brought into focus, when she saw a boy shouting from the floor. The rolls of fabric fell out of her hands, and she jumped up, alert. “Get your hands off of him!” she shouted, with authority she didn’t even know she possessed. She ran to his side. “Are you alright?”

     “WAIT, Bane put you there?” There’s the possibility that they know different people named Bane, but also his name’s Bane. He’s never seen anyone named that outside of Batman. “Distraction’s a bit more clever than brawn, I suppose. I’d love to meet him as long as he isn’t gonna haunt my dreams or anything.”

“Yeah! He threw a water cooler at my head. I fainted, and the rest is history! But I’m all okay now, which is good.” She grinned, nodding. “Oh, he’s fabulous. Very chic, but smart as a whip. Funny, too. Good guy, all around.”

“Congratulations, that is an accomplishment in itself.” Being a college drop out he couldn’t help but admire others who stuck with the programs. “Is it a family business sort of thing?”

“Thank you!” She grinned, and almost laughed at the next question. “Oh, dear me. No. My parents actually cut me off because I pursued what I did. Fashion was never in the plans for them, and since I wanted it, they stopped funding me.”