loose bolt.

𝐃𝐈𝐂𝐊 𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐘𝐒𝐎𝐍 ( dc )  — intro / threads / musings . 𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐂 𝐒𝐏𝐄𝐂𝐓𝐎𝐑 ( marvel )  — intro / threads / musings . 𝐖𝐄𝐃𝐍𝐄𝐒𝐃𝐀𝐘 𝐀𝐃𝐃𝐀𝐌𝐒 ( wednesday ) — intro / threads / musings .   

while it didn’t exactly reflect on her face, aside from a slight curl of her lips, wednesday was certainly glad that someone agreed with her. she was aware that having a job like this meant doing things you did not necessarily agree with. not just with job — any job, really. she couldn’t say she was too happy about it, but one had only limited choices here, it seemed, when she no longer had her parents around to back her up when necessary. “ people oftentimes like to read this, as you refer to it, shit, ” she said with a shrug of her shoulder, dramatically taping the enter key on the keyboard before leaning back on her chair. as convinced as she was at the beginning that there would be nobody she would be able to get along with, it turned out that someone in the office were actually, well, easy to talk to. “ trust me, i’ve tried to warn them, but i’ve been told my approach isn’t exactly customer friendly. i suppose you always end up having to bend the knee unless you’re your own boss. ”

this was her chance to abandon the conversation. and it was tempting, too; wednesday could easily turn around and walk away without having to further engage in this. perhaps it was the way the other seemed so genuinely concerned, when speaking about her brother. something wednesday could relate to, often finding herself thinking about her own brother, and the rest of her family, hopeful that they were all alright. “ i am sure your brother is well, ” wednesday spoke, a weak attempt at comfort that she did not really know how to deliver with the lack of emotion in the tone of her voice, but hey, it was the attempt that should count, right? “ maybe you will be able to be reunited with him soon. it appears that new people arrive here at all times. ”

one could never be sure what to expect from harley quinn. now that dick knew she was in town, a part of him naturally became slightly more wary. just in case, because, yes, she might not have been outright bad, certainly not as bad as the joker was ... at the same time, dick was well aware how unpredictable she could have been. and, so, for her sake, in order to maintain good relationships, dick dramatically brought one hand to his chest, eyes closed momentarily for a good effect. “ oh, yeah, you scared me, ” he said, just a hint of sarcasm in his tone. it wasn’t often that they’d met outside of costumes, but this whole town was sort of unusual in its own way, right? “ good to see you, harley. what’cha doing walking around scaring folks like that? ”

“ oh, well, if you’re planning to steal something or graffiti the walls of the palace ... then i just hope justice will find you. who knows, maybe one of those superheroes will step in and stop you from doing something like that? which, by the way, you might end up regretting later. spoke like a true former cop, but trust me. ” there was no real threat in dick’s voice, more of a hint of teasing, really. he doubted the other would be someone that’d willingly get in trouble just for the sake of getting into trouble. especially if he was talking about starting anew or something like that. “ so, you know. might wanna start easy. pick up a new hobby or something? a legal one. ”

nowadays, it seemed that people just preferred to be left alone, no matter where they were. which was understandable, of course, and steven had to learn to respect that. it wasn’t always easy, but hey, being told to shut up so many times would do that to a guy. so when he heard someone’s voice only a few feet away from him, supposedly willing to conversate, steven was immediately by other’s side, hands behind his back to take a better at what she had been looking at. “ right? trust me, there’s more where that came from. frankly, the way it had been obtained might not have been ideal, but, oh, well. it’s nice to look at least, right? ” he gestured to his right. “ i’d definitely recomment checking out the west wing, too, it holds some of my favorite stuff. ”

finally someone that did not seem to be all eager about being able to start new here, or happy to explore all the opportunities london had to offer. sure, marc had seen places that way were more shitty than this, but he was certain it was far less ideal than some might want to believe here. he looked up upon hearing the other’s voice, expression not really changing aside from a small furrow of his brows. people said all things they never should have been saying; some worse than other. “ honestly? yeah, ” he said, leaning back on his seat, turning to look at the other. “ people are the worst. you shouldn’t listen to them, they say all kinds of dumb shit. unless it’s someone you care about, i guess. ”

at this point, it really shouldn’t have been that much of a surprise how often weird stuff kept happening around here. so having someone that he didn’t exactly recognize coming up to him with such a vague request, marc didn’t react in the way most people probably would and panic. instead, he just looked at the other, eyebrows raised in both amusement and curiosity. “ sure thing, yeah, ” he said, one arm reaching to wrap around her shoulder to make the whole act more casual. he wasn’t going to turn around to look whether someone was observing them, but he assumed that was the whole point of it. “ you got someone looking for you here? want me to give you a kiss as well to make it look like we’re really in love? ”

generally, dick took notice of the people around the gym when they were someone that’d show up on regular basis, whether it was someone that worked there or a regular visitor. maybe it was partly due to him being overall paranoid, maybe it was curiosity. maybe it was both. so when he heard someone calling to him and he turned to see the person that was talking, he wasn’t met with a completely unfamiliar face. boxing wasn’t exactly dick’s go to activity, but he’d been trained in possibly every sort of self-defense and martial art ever back during his robin days, this particular one wasn’t something he enjoyed too much. though maybe it was something he could look into more, given how it provided an easy way to get out some of the unnecessary energy dick always felt around him. “ no, you’re fine, ” dick spoke with a small smile, but it was a friendly one. “ i know, i’ve seen you around, you look like you know what you’re doing. i’m dick. ” 

“ yeah, i guess? i didn’t grow up there but it was a way for me to run away from home. sort of. i just had a falling out with my dad and decided it was time to pack my stuff and leave. i was a lot more angsty then, what can i say. ” the smile on dick’s face did not quite reach his eyes, but that was not a phase of his life that was pleasant to talk about. surely not to dump it all on hope, either, when she herself was not in an ideal situation right now. it made dick wonder just how long everyone will be recovering from the whole gala disaster. surely some longer than others. “ yeah, no worries. just enjoy the time with your mom and dad and whenever you feel like hanging out, i’m your guy. even if it doesn’t require patching up, i’ve heard i’m not too bad of a company. ”

wednesday watched him, hopeful that he would just shut up. clearly, that was not going to be the case, and it appeared that she would just have to suffer through this unless she would decide to leave. “ i can completely understand why your brother felt the need to stab you, or turn you into a snake, ” she said, eyes narrowing a bit. she had no clue what exactly went on between this man and his brother, but if he was being this insufferable and annoyingly chatty in every situation, then the actions were, in her opinion, completely justified. “ i used to put my brother into an electric chair when he would annoy me, but over time he just started to enjoy it so it no longer surved the purpose, ” wednesday added, automatically shifting backwards slightly when he would lean closer towards her, an attempt to put more distance between them. generally speaking, she could see he was an attractive man, but that did not mean she wanted him that close to her. “ cold. so i can throw it right into your face if you refer to me as little one again, big guy. ”

it was somewhat enjoyable that she was getting paid for poiting out other people’s mistakes. to a certain extent. at the same time, it also meant that said people would sometimes show up in person and wanted to discuss it. she wished she could avoid confrontation, but tessa made it clear that she needed to be at least a little bit social. which meant wednesday had to suffer through people showing up before her, sometimes looking more friendly than she would like to see. “ please do not touch me, ” she replied, unable to predict that the other was going to reach and touch her. who even did that any more? not even her own father, after he attempted that one and ended up with a mark of his daughter’s teeth on his forearm back when wednesday was a child. “ possibly. i do no remember the names. what is it about? ”

it wasn’t often that wednesday wasn’t attention to her surroundings. sometimes, though, even she ended up with her head in the clouds. she’d never admit it, not out loud. it was easier to shift the blame to whoever the other party was. she took a step back upon hearing someone’s voice, backtracking, only now noticing the setup that the other had there, supposedly to take pictures of ... whatever it was that seemed interesting enough to photograph. “ me? i don’t think so, ” wednesday said with just the tiniest of grimaces on her face. a pause, and then she spoke up again. “ what are you taking pictures of? ”

“ you know, i don’t think a bucket list sounds like a bad idea at all, ” dick mused, nodding along to his own words. if anything, it made sense, to someone like him as well — he’d been facing death since a very young age, and had people around him who died and then returned; only their issues usually ran way too deep to even consider doing a restart of some sorts. he thought he could perhaps have one, too, upon the arrival here, but it soon turned out that there was no way for him to ever give up the kind of life he’d been led to ever since he’d first crossed the treshold of batman’s home as a child. so, no, maybe it would not for dick, but he could at least encourage the other. “ not weird. i mean, even if someone might find it weird, why would it matter? if you wanna do things you’ve had no chance to do before, just have at it. i’m fully supporting you. ”

it was impossible to completely avoid human interaction while in the office but soon enough wednesday realized that some people she could tolerate a little more than others. that made the whole experience slightly more bearable, too, though her reactions were still a little belated when someone would just initiate a small talk with her during the day. even if it was work-related, she would still wonder how some people could actually enjoy it and engage in such activity willingly. dark hues rose from the computer screen before her, searching for the source of the rhetorical question, knowing the other might not even have been expecting an answer. when it came to complaining about others’ lack of talent, though, it was slightly easier to respond. “ yes, they definitely think they can write, ” wednesday said, fingers hovering above the keyboard as she paused. “ that is the worst part of it. the genuine belief that they are real writers while submitting this rubbish. ”

if there was something wednesday could not stand, it was when someone was being condescending. oftentimes it was intentional, directed at her because of her gender or age or appearance, although something told her that this guy simply had no idea how to act normal. like he just came from a different time period or something, and, well, given all the strange things that had been happening as of late, that might as well had been true. she thought she could perhaps tolerate his odd way of speaking and habits, but that decision was off the table the moment he mentioned a juice box. which, overall, certainly would have been a nicer offer than whatever alcoholic bewerages they were serving here, but she was aware it was an attempt to underline her position of a child in this encounter. only she did not want to cause a scene of any kind here at a public place, knowing certainly there had to be some security around that would eventually escort her outside. “ perhaps you should drink the warm milk yourself, you’re acting childishly when you are making assumptions based on the way i look,” wednesday said instead, only a slight frown passing her unamused expression. “ if you speak to your brother in the same manner, i completely understand why he would threaten you. ” she paused, eyes narrowing slightly. “ now please, i’d like my water. ”  

a good head on your shoulders. that claim nearly made him laugh, nearly, because obviously this stranger couldn’t really tell at first glance what sort of things had recently been going through said head. no, having dealt with a whole ass identity crisis probably wasn’t something one would just bring up in casual conversations. “ avoid trouble? right, if only. seems like trouble finds me more often than i’d like. ” and, alright, maybe that was not entirely true right now — things had been relatively calm, up until the point when that iron-suited guy nearly killed everyone at the gala. oh, and when his supposed wife showed up that he had no recollection of. “ yeah — you know, everyone’s gotta have a job. some are just more gross than others, but you gotta do what you gotta do, right? ” marc offered a shrug, not at all bothered by what she had so far mentioned about her job. it wasn’t like his own work history had been in any way ideal, and he tended to leave out the mercenary part out of the cv. “ uh, let’s just say it’s something similar to what i’ve been doing before. except then it was slightly less legal. ”