Mainland Side of the Causeway, Saturday Noon

[smilestopscars]

It was possible Ezra was still a little drunk from last night.

It was absolute fact, however, that he had somehow managed to lose his shirt over the course of the night, because he was currently traipsing towards the causeway with brief flashes of the still slightly tanned skin of his stomach showing from underneath his jacket. He had also gained a scarf from somewhere. It was silk and had bright flowers on it. It was definitely not one of his. Except now it was.

He stopped and gazed towards the island, swaying in place a little bit, squinting at the silhouette of the school through his sunglasses, which sat a little crookedly on his nose. He sighed. This was good.

Except for the stupid walk back to the island, of course.

[ooc: NFB due to technically being off the island, but open!]

Comments

[smilestopscars]

"I think your manners are fine." Of course he thought that. Anything that put attention on his body was a good thing in his opinion. "How've you been, Kathy?"

[spin_kick_snap]

"Not bad," she said, taking a moment to drink from her water bottle. "Skipped Mexico to go home to LA for the week. I hear that means I missed a hell of a lot of polyester and disco."

She was so not sorry for that.

"Now I'm trying to convince myself that exercise is important and that I'm not just procrastinating studying for my SATs." Internally, she facepalmed. Way to sell the whole cool kid image she'd been going for. "And you? Am I wrong? Did I miss the best spring break in history?"

[smilestopscars]

Ezra wasn't very interested in her cool kid image, anyway. He was easy like that. (If the narrative said that a lot, it was only because he was easy in so many ways.)

"Oh, it was fun, but it's nice to be back, too." He brushed a hand through his hair. "Ridiculing people for what they were wearing started getting old towards the end of the week."

[spin_kick_snap]

"I'm only good for about five minutes of it and then I feel bad," Kathy said, trying hard not to apologize again for casting aspersions on his scarf. Or to sneak another glance at his abs. "But that's pretty much all the squirrels talked about last week. Do you have plans for now that you're back?"

[smilestopscars]

"I've already been to Boston since then, and I didn't even really plan that."

Because he went where the Coterie told him to go, but that wasn't something he was going to be putting out in the open like that.

He scrunched up his nose and shrugged a shoulder before smiling brightly again. "So, no, not really."

[spin_kick_snap]

"Boston?" Kathy's eyes lit up. "I've never been! Or to New York, either. I should, at least while I'm on the same coast. What did you do?"

She wasn't gonna ask if he walked the Freedom Trail. Or took a duck tour. Or did any of the incredibly nerdy things she'd do if given the chance.

"Is that where you're from?"

[smilestopscars]

"From around there, anyway," Ezra replied, shrugging. He swayed a little, from side to side, but it looked more intentional this time. "I just met up with my friends."

And did the intimidation thing, but. Irrelevant.

"Nothing too interesting."

[spin_kick_snap]

Kathy raised an eyebrow at the swaying. "Just the kind of thing that has you coming home shirtless and still a little tipsy?" she asked with a knowing smirk.

[smilestopscars]

Ezra held a finger up, as the international sign of an incoming correction. "I was already back on the island after Boston. I was even in class." A great feat in itself! "The tipsiness is... unrelated, but pleasant."

Also not entirely unrelated, really. But you had to know him to know that.

[spin_kick_snap]

And since all Kathy really knew about Ezra was that he was great at kissing and having abs, she most certainly did not catch the relation!

"You know," she teased. "If this is a thing you do often in Baltimore, we might end up running into one another more."

She tended to keep an eye out on bars around closing time, to make sure people got into taxis and other conveyances safely.

[smilestopscars]

"Oh? Do you spend some wild nights in Baltimore as well?"

He was mostly teasing, because she wasn't really the wild night type. Even if his assessment was, admittedly, mostly based on how she hadn't come home with him that one time.

[spin_kick_snap]

Oh, that definitely required a smirk. And a hair toss.

"As a matter of fact," she told him. "I do."

Just...not in the way he did.

[smilestopscars]

"Do you?" he asked, and there came the answering smirk again. "Well, maybe our paths will cross. This was my first real, big night out, but the chance of running into you could motivate me to do it more."

[spin_kick_snap]

"You might wanna be careful if you do," Kathy said, pointing. "You might end up all tied up. It's been known to happen to guys who end up running in to me."

Okay, that was mostly a joke. She tied up criminals. Which meant that Ezra had nothing to worry about!

[smilestopscars]

Well, he had nothing to worry about here. Had they met where he was from, while he was on a job, it might have been a different story.

But neither of them knew that. "Tied up?" he asked, tilting his head. He let out an appreciative little whistle. "Color me intrigued."

Of course.

[spin_kick_snap]

"Sometimes a girl's gotta make a point." Like about not breaking the law, for example. "You'd be surprised how inclined guys are to listen when they're bound to a streetlamp first."

[smilestopscars]

Ezra looked contemplative. As much as you could tell with the sunglasses on, anyway. "Huh. I've been bound to several thing, but never a streetlamp. Seems a little too public for me."

[spin_kick_snap]

"I guess I could hoist you up to whatever roof I was on," Kathy mused. "But that seems like an awful lot of effort. And besides, how would anybody find you when I was done with you?"

[smilestopscars]

One of Ezra's eyebrows quirked above the top of his shades.

"Why are you on a roof in the first place?"

[spin_kick_snap]

"...I think I just surprised you," Kathy said, grinning delightedly. "I did! I'm pretty sure you're surprised!"

She'd answer his question momentarily, but some accomplishments needed to be celebrated.

[smilestopscars]

Oh, both eyebrows now. "Don't people usually get surprised or confused when you randomly spend time on rooftops?"

Really, now, Kathy.

[spin_kick_snap]

"Maybe so, but you don't strike me as the kind of guy who shows being surprised very easily," Kathy retorted.

Nope, she was keeping this. There was no logic that could make her give it up.

"And generally? I'm running across them." Her smile was both mischievous and unrepentant. "And sometimes leaping from them. It gets me around faster than sidewalks."

[smilestopscars]

She was kind of wrong, but he was going to let that slide this time, because he was curious.

"That seems pretty unusual," he noted. "Or is that just how people get around where you're from?"

[spin_kick_snap]

That's because Kathy kept making assumptions. Sigh, Kathy, sigh.

"Only some of us," Kathy said, giving him a cheerful wink. "In all seriousness? I, err, sorta spend most nights patrolling Baltimore."

In costume. As you did. But she had yet to find a way to say 'superhero' without sounding like she was bragging and 'costumed vigilante' was accurate, but sounded a little ridiculous.

"You know the deal. Randomly develop powers your sophomore year of high school, end up with a codename. That kinda thing." And, just like that, she was back to being hesitant and self-conscious.

[Sorry for vanishing! Got ambushed by cold meds!]

[smilestopscars]

Yeah, both eyebrows were staying up now. But it was less due to surprise, and more just... a general sort of 'huh'.

"The codename part is new."

And most people where he was from didn't really develop powers randomly, although there were always the few cases who thought they were ordinary for whatever reason until puberty hit.