I will wait through eternity

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      𝐌𝐄𝐑𝐀 𝐒𝐐𝐔𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐈𝐍𝐆 her gaze when Carter mentioned the name of her roommate. ❛ Yes… ❜ There is a hint of uncertainty in her tone, and frowned when he joked. One thing she was sure, he at the least liked Ada. Normally, she would decline his offer, however, she decided it would be best for her to make more acquainted. ❛ Sure, why not? ❜ On the bright side of it, she won’t get lost in her way ‘home’.

“Perfect.” Carter nodded as he stepped up from the table, holding out his arm to Mera to escort her. “I’m glad Ada found a roommate. I worry about her sometimes, staying alone. I know she can handle herself but I think she gets lonelier than she lets on.”

”Just… your courage.” Angel admitted, which was true. She didn’t think that she was all that brave, constantly hiding in a corner whenever someone wanted her to sing in front of a whole crowd of people. She just couldn’t do it and it annoyingly stood in the way of what she really wanted. “I love singing, it’s my true passion, what I want to do in life, but… I can’t get up on that stage and perform in front of people. I freeze and I get terrified. That’s why I envy you. Because you seem like the kind of guy who goes for what he wants without anything stopping him.”

“Everyone’s capable of courage. Perhaps you just need a little encouragement.” Carter suggested with a small smile. “Yeah, that sounds like me.” He admitted with a small laugh. “Not always in my best interests though. Having caution isn’t a bad thing. But if you feel like it’s holding you back from what you really want to do we should find a way to help you overcome it.” He suggested as he jumped down from his bar stool again, finishing off his beer with a swift swig before holding out his hand to the woman. “Fancy a duet?”

Questioning yourself constantly and wondering what you should be doing with your life hit close to home since that was exactly how Angel felt now that she’d started a new life. Her old one was gone and as much as she desired to go back to it, she knew that wasn’t an option anymore. But knowing that someone else felt the same ways that she did made the metahuman feel less alone, like maybe some people would actually understand and not think she was crazy. “And karaoke’s a part of everything you want to enjoy?” the blonde asked before taking a sip from her drink, eyes still trained on the man. “I envy that, you know.”

“One of the many things, yes.” Carter confirmed with a small smile at her question. “Finding joy in the little things makes it a lot easier to work towards the big things, I’ve found.” He shrugged, before cocking his head in curiosity at her. “What exactly about it do you envy?”

“My adopted family was very kind and patient with me. Even though I often did not deserve either from them. When we set chase to my birth father, I found my second peace in the least anticipated place. A world so dark that there was little joy. But my Birdie always could find the joy in a day, no matter the darkness.”

“The anti-life equation is a transcendental mathematical formula, we don’t know where it came from, but should one find it and control it they can enslave whole worlds. This is the goal of my father. Domain over ever world, in every dimension, through out the multiverse. Were he to gain it there would be little we could do to stop him. I’m unsure if there is a resolution to the equation,” Orion said solemly as he thinks of the dark possibilities. 

“So, needless to say, we can’t let anyone get a hold of it.” Carter muttered with a grave frown. He could understand why someone would create such a thing - men like Damien Darkh, Vandal Savage, they desired nothing more than bending the world to their will. But then it made him wonder who on earth had created in the first place - and if they had intended on creating it, what stopped them from using it? “I promise, whatever you need of me to ensure this doesn’t happen, I’ll help.”

Kara patted out the stiff pleats of her pants with an aggressive pass of her knuckles.  Nothing said Weenie Hut Jr. wanderer than a crispy pleat. Tonight, Kara wanted to tap into that sultriness that often eluded her. How could she not attempt to pull out all of the stops in the presence of a pretty god. Snickering at her own thought before turning to acknowledge him. “No, actually, I’m digging this whole I wear my sunglasses at night vibe.” She plucked her own sunglasses that had perched so nicely on her head. 

“I am ready!” The nervousness rattled through her solid frame and echoed in her proclamation. “..erm–I mean I guess.” Kara gingerly shook out her arms before allowing her hands to settle into small of her back. “Thanks for wanting to come out with me tonight. You swear Alex didn’t put you up to this right?” It wasn’t a secret that her person life had taken a serious back seat to the rising criminality of Central City. There just wasn’t enough time in the day to fight for hope and obtain justice while advancing her own desires. 

“You know what don’t tell me,” she shooed off the thoughts with a chortle. “We’re going to have some tasty drinks and dance. I can’t remember the last time I got to bust a move.” She shimmed playfully to the imagined beat playing in her mind. 

“Right? We look cool!” Carter smirked as Kara followed his lead. They might appear a little pretentious to some people, but that was a risk he was willing to take. His smirk softened into a smile at the nervous tremor in Kara’s tone. He understood she was in a position very few of the rest of them where. She had spent near enough her whole life having to keep herself contained, to hide part of herself for her safety. The rest of them had come into their powers later in life, not having to adopt a mask until they were adults.

“I swear.” He assured her with a small chuckle. “Just because your sister is my best friend doesn’t mean I can’t want to hang out with you too, you know?” He shrugged. And it was true - he wanted to know Kara better, beyond being an extension of her sister. “Oh, you got moves, huh?” He teased as he took up his jacket, holding the door open for Kara to exit the apartment first after shrugging his jacket on. “I’ll follow your lead on dancing then - I think my moves might be a little dated. Though I personally think the John Travolta should be timeless.”

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          𝐌𝐄𝐑𝐀 𝐃𝐑𝐀𝐍𝐊 more a bit of the fizzy drink, yet using her powers to drink it since her hands was oily from the sauce. She back to eat the pasta with her hand, spaghetti was really tough to eat with hands, silverware must be even harder. She swallowed before starting… ❛ I supposed, we could use a friend. I have a friend, it’s lady Ada Kish. She gave me a shelter at her place. She is nice. ❜ The princess ate all she shrimps, and after a moment or two finished eating spaghetti, using her oily hand she held the cup that was sliding on her hand to finish the cola. Her mouth and hands was so dirty. ❛ I need a restroom. ❜ She stood up, and asked the waiter that was horrified by her stated by her state and he pointed her the ladies’ room. After a moment or two, cleaning herself, she back at the table clean. ❛ I don’t remember if I shut the faucet. I’ll check it, in just a moment. ❜ The royal princess rushed back at the restroom, and checked if the faucet was really shut and head back again. ❛ I think, we’re good. ❜ Ada would always complaints when she forgets the faucet open.

Okay, this guy was obviously way too smart for his own good and Angel secretly hated all of the valid points that he was making. She despised how it made her feel, just someone she’d met five seconds ago viewing singing so differently than she did. She didn’t despise the man though, but he was so light about it and the blonde desperately craved to be that way herself. And yet, Angel was aware of the fact that it would most likely never happen since singing was her life, it was everything that she’d ever wanted and that was why it terrified her so much. To her, it was like there was so much on the line if she messed this up, if it went awry and not the way she’d envisioned. “Near death experience?” she questioned, her eyebrows moving upwards and her attention now completely peaked. Did they have more than just singing in common? Wow, the metahuman really hadn’t seen this one coming, but now she felt enticed to get to know him better. “That must’ve been hard. How did you manage to pick your life back up afterwards?”

Carter rose an eyebrow in amusement when she latched onto his words - it sounded like he had hit a nerve. “Yeah, it wasn’t easy to pick myself up after.” He muttered. In truth it was an actual death experience - multiple times over each more traumatic than the last. “I struggled for a long time, questioning myself constantly, wondering what I was supposed to be doing with my life. I was lucky I had people around me to help guide me on the right path.” He told her with a small smile. The Waverider crew, Alex, Ada, Tommy. They had all helped pick up and glue back together the fractured pieces of all the people Carter had been until it felt like he was whole again. “And when I finally felt safe again... I decided I wanted to do everything I could to enjoy however many years the Gods will I have left.”

⟡

Slim fingers, shaking with anger, wiped hastily at cheeks burning bright with emotional exertion. The accumulation of her anger sprouted, came to peak, and overflowed in a matter of seconds before she was able to differentiate the intrinsic difference between her emotions and Carter’s. But it was enough to drain her energy completely. The salty tears streaming from her lashes felt like a nuisance when all she endeavored to do was maintain her composure. She did not weep frequently, sometimes out of empathy for someone, but rarely for herself. That was not how she expressed her sorrow; it was as if there was a blockage. One that only worsened after her father’s death. Perhaps it was functional. She’d been through a lot and she acknowledged that crying was a ineffective reaction that would do her no good. 

Yet the possibility of Carter being genuinely angry with her truly upsetted her in a way she was unprepared for. She knew she cared for her friend dearly, even if she was inept at expressing it, but she naively never expected them to ever engage in a confrontation such as this. Though to be fair, Ada had never been as impetuous as she had been since she decided to investigate her father’s death. There is nothing that could be done about the outburst now; only to simply maintain her composure. “I apologize as well,“ she immediately responded, desperate to convey her contrition. Her eyes rose to his hesitantly, hearing the tremor in his voice. She didn’t need her affinity to fathom his pain this time; she’d already felt that cavern of grief over the years in moments of vulnerability he couldn’t control. And now she understood the base for his anger. 

"I know,” she muttered softly. “You are right, it was reckless of me to go alone but I…” she struggled to find the right words to describe her perspective. “…I worry that I am a burden and I did not want to inconvenience you. It is unfair for you to constantly feel responsible for my well-being” her tenor seemed to have settled now, the heat drained from her voice, even as her heart beat continued to patter steadily. Now that she’d absorbed things she could respond better instead of reacting, dampen the situation rather than add to the flame. “Will you forgive me?” 

Carter’s gaze darted up to meet hers at her own apology, his brow furrowing in confusion for a moment before she continued on. His heart sank at her words - he had never considered Ada a burden. Her friendship had been a great boon to him, to not have to toe the careful line of when to tell someone all that he had experienced, to judge if it was safe to reveal who he was. From the moment they had met everything had been out in the open and Ada had been nothing but supportive through it all. He had tried to be the same in return, shouldering Ada’s burdens as she shouldered his. It never occurred to him how much she might be trying to hold back.

alex could always count on carter to not mince his words - up was up and down was down with him. it was the kind of dynamic that made click and whir like a well-oiled machine, and they didn’t even have to forge it in battle. not that alex would ever admit it, but there had to be some truth to that soulmate stuff, right? the non magical curse induced kind anyways. alex finally heaved a sign, pushing off the boulder both physically and metaphorically as she clapped a hand over carter’s shoulder, “come on, let’s go, you look like you’re about to collapse.” 

“So considerate.” Carter chuckled, though he was glad for the reprieve. He might be made of sterner stuff than the average human, but his reserves only went so far. And apparently they were no match for Alex Danvers when she had her mind set on something. “Next time you have a crisis, I’m taking you for a flight instead. That’ll clear your head without nearly causing my ancient heart to give in.” He teased.

Allowing himself to chuckle a bit at the shared joke, Mick eyed the boxes of pizza again. “All good then?” His stomach rumbled, and let’s be honest… it would have taken a lot more to make him turn away from the pizza regardless of what state it was in now. “Cold’s not so bad either. Cold pizza, cold beer.”

“There might be a little cardboard stuck in the cheese. But I’ve survived eating worse.” Carter shrugged. “Good point.” He noted with a small chuckle at Mick’s statement - the beer that Gideon could brew wasn’t half bad, he might indulge tonight. “I miss anything while I was off the ship? How are you and Amaya doing?”

+

Anger was such a distressing emotion. 

Absorbing any modicum of passionate sensation was upsetting to her instinctively analytical mind, but anger was least preferred. It twisted her stomach like some inky black slime oozing from a hostile orifice. The saliva congealing between her gums turning to bile. Her muscles aching from the pressure, like a strangulation of phantom limbs. She wondered if one allowed it to boil over, how would it be cooled? If it exploded, who would bear the burn? Wrath, anguish, and sadness - so intertwined that perhaps their names ought to be tweaked to reflect the true origins. Ada didn’t believe she’d ever experienced the feeling herself, at least not organically. She knew what it felt like to be annoyed or frustrated, but anger didn’t appear to be worth the empathic mental power to placate. Though as of late, she became to learn her self control was a finite resource – especially when it came to a certain someone. 

Carter was the last person she expected to aim such a vile sentiment at her.  She jerked back, not in fear. Never in fear. Even in his current state Ada could never be able to believe him to be capable of frightening her. He was far too gentle and patient to ever arouse such alarming sentiments. Usually at least. His initial claim perplexed her greatly, as she made no mention of being harmed in her message. “I’m fine?” she muttered, uncertain whether this was the reaction he desired. She didn’t care for his raised tone. He’d never spoken to her like that before, and it made her heart skip a beat. “I dropped my phone and the screen shattered, I was unable to contact you after,” Ada tried to explain, her voice trembling as she struggled to hold her head up. 

The further his anger penetrated her, the more her expression of uncertainty shifted, eyes furrowing fiercely. His own anger reflecting back at him. Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of her affinity, not being in control of how easily her own feelings could alter when influenced by others. “There is absolutely no reason for you to shout at me Carter Hall, ever” she bellowed back, lifting her chin in defiance. “And you’ve damaged my door!” the very instant she processed the sound of her voice, her breath hitched as tears welled in her eyes. “If you’re going to be unkind I don’t want to speak with you”

Carter knew, logically, that the excuse made sense - infernal smart phones, no one ever bothered to memorise a number anymore, they never thought what could happen if they lost access to the tiny little machine that held so much of their lives in it. But he still couldn’t get past the initial fear that had struck him - at the fact Ada hadn’t held back like she promised she would. She didn’t wait for him, she went alone, she risked herself without anyone to back her up. So many things could have gone wrong, and he could have lost her. “You should have waited for me.” He muttered, shaking his head. “What the hell were you thinking going alone?” He demanded, his own voice tremulous as he begged the answer of her.

He flinched at the unexpected shift in Ada’s tone. He couldn’t recall a moment when she had ever raised her voice with him - with anyone. He felt his temper waning in the wake of her own, slowly beginning to feel uncertain in his anger that had felt so righteous as he stormed over. Despite his towering height he felt small under the heat of Ada’s gaze, the sight of tears welling in her eyes. “Ada...” He choked out, ashamed, as he ducked his head. His gaze cast briefly, guiltily, to the dent left in her door, wincing as he ran his fingers self-consciously over the knuckles of his offending hand. “I’m sorry- I didn’t- I didn’t mean to be unkind.” He amended, taking in a deep breath to try and calm the racing of his heart, push down the urge he felt to rise to the anger with his own again. A part of him still felt justified, just a little selfishly, in his mood, but he knew meeting Ada’s upset with his own would only wound them both in the end. “I just- you know.” He insisted, eyes squeezing shut briefly. “You know what I’ve lost.” He stated. She was one of the few people who did - who knew all of what he had been through, and what it had made him. But even more than that, she was the only other person who had felt it - the pain that spanned centuries, so vast it felt unending. “And if I lose anyone else, If I lose you...”

She was one of the people in the crowd who cheered and applauded the man who had just finished his song. Sometimes, she was beyond envious of those who were brave enough to take the stage and sing, regardless of the outcome and the crowd’s reaction. She just couldn’t do it, that fear was still dominating her life and the metahuman wasn’t sure if that would ever pass. Angel’s heart began to frantically thump in her throat as that same man approached her and asked if she was going up on stage to sing. Whenever the attention was transposed to her doing the singing, she automatically froze and felt like melting right through the floor and become invisible. “No, I’m not– I mean, I just like to watch karaoke. I’m not much of a singer myself.” the blonde lied, making her best attempt to mask her anxiety by shifting the attention back to him. “You were great up there though. Do you come here a lot?” 

“Aw, come on now. I’m a firm believer anyone can sing. Or, at least anyone can do karaoke with the right mixture of confidence and liquid courage.” Carter amended with a small chuckle as he a took a sip of his beer. “Every now and then. I decided a while back to start doing things that scared me when the consequences aren’t that dire. After you stare down a near death experience or two, a beer-stained stage isn’t so daunting, you know?”

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𝐌𝐄𝐑𝐀 𝐇𝐀𝐃 no clue how to hold silverware properly, even watching Carter doing it, wasn’t easy for her to mimic him… She’d need to practice. Her hands was full of Pomodoro sauce and oily to hold anything. Her chin and  lips was dirty, if they were on the ocean, she wouldn’t get so dirty as she is on the land… ❛ Sure, it’ll be fun. ❜ She was up for eat in elsewhere another day. She hasn’t anything else to do, and spending time with Carter would be great to occupy her free times that is are lot. When the waiter came pulling the coke in front of them, the princess made a soft gesture with her index finger, making the water levitate from its can, as if it was inside of an invisible sippy, and she opens her mouth, making the liquid drop inside of her mouth, taking a small gulp on it, and controlling the liquid that stands in the air. The bubbles on her tongue, strong flavor… ❛ This taste… Whatever you people call. It feels like small bombs on my tongue… It’s not that bad. ❜ In fact, she liked it.

“Yeah it’s sometimes called ‘pop’ - I guess because of that feeling.” Carter chuckled at her observation, watching with a small smile as she seemed pleased with the result. “Well, I will happily help show you some more experiences on land, your majesty. I know what it’s like to be a bit of a fish out of water - and we could all use friends, right?”