[Nathan Havelock]

Lace, Bows and Super Heroes

Slipping briefly into an enamoured paparazzi impression, Nate set his imaginary camera down on the table and laughed happily at the umbrella perched in Paladin’s hair.

“You look so on-trend. Ravishing!”

He looked a little embarrassed for a moment, worried he’d been a little too enthusiastic with his showbiz drawl, but bounced back to an energetic smile once more. She didn’t seem to be judging him – maybe even enjoying his company.

“Hey, quit distracting me with cocktail umbrellas – you never said how old you are! It’s pretty hard to guess with you hiding behind that mask,” he added with a frown. “Umbrella considered, however, I’m gonna guess less than thirty for sure.”

Nate looked amused with himself. He liked teasing people at the best of times, but it particularly came to the fore when the conversation had a rather more flirtatious undercurrent.

It was interesting to hear that she was here for a friend, rather than as an exclusive guest hired for publicity purposes. Certainly, from what she was saying, Paladin wasn’t here in New York because of her burning desire to seek the next season’s trends. The friend must have been a particularly good one to get her through the doors of this party.

“A lot of the costumed hero stuff is pretty cool,” Nate countered. “Some of it isn’t exactly functional but… I don’t expect that from fashion week. The frills I can definitely go without.” He nodded with emphatic agreement. “The people too, mostly. One of the models can change the colour of his skin – that was pretty neat? Oh,” he looked up impishly. “And that Paladin chick seems cool.”

He joined her in the brief pause to attend to their drinks, noting that she wasn’t rushing this one down. Then she spoke, and he quirked his eyebrow in gentle offence.

“I didn’t bust my ass at medical school to be called Mr Havelock,” he objected. “That’s my father.”

Nate offered her a reassuring smile. It was actually no biggie, of course. There were many in his profession who did seem to take genuine offence at such an easy mistake to make, but he was absolutely not one of them. In a way, it was nice not to be a doctor for the moment – just an ordinary guy at an ordinary party with an ordinary girl… only super, as she'd put it.

Alice Morrow

395 words

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[Alice Morrow]

Paladin Am I more than you bargained for yet? + Nathan Havelock + wearing

She posed dramatically and fluttered her eyelashes for his imaginary photograph. "I'll have you know that I am a close personal friend of one of the designers. I am the trend." She felt terribly pretentious, but loved it just the same. It seemed the right sort of thing to do here, to take the same attitude that everyone else appeared to exude and then put just enough sarcastic spin on it that Nathan would pick up on it. She wondered if anyone else here would have picked up on that, or if they would have just smiled and nodded at it, taken in by her celebrity. "Ok fine," she finally caved to his questioning of her age. "You probably shouldn't tell anyone cause you might get in trouble for buying me alcohol. But I'm nineteen." She hoped that wasn't too much of a problem for him. He was quite a bit older than her, although really twenty-six wasn't that old. She liked him, he seemed fun, and he was definitely good looking. She didn't want him to suddenly leave because he was uncomfortable with her age. Not only would it leave her alone at the party again, but she'd have missed out on a chance to get to know him better. And she felt like she really wanted to get to know him better right now. "Yeah I was never a big frills person, I prefer stuff that just works. Makes life much simpler." She reached out and slapped his hand on the table. "I'm very cool thank you. Can anyone else here stop bullets? I don't think so." She flushed at her mistake. She'd known that hadn't she? Of course she had, she'd been lamenting about being cornered by his mother and lectured at length about his successes in the field. It was all she could do not to slap her palm against her forehead, that probably wouldn't help with the age thing anyway. "Sorry Doctor. I'll try and remember." She looked around suddenly, as though worried she'd been spotted. Then she leaned forwards to whisper. "He's not here is he?"

© seadra of gs

[Nathan Havelock]

Lace, Bows and Super Heroes

Nate snorted with laughter and then leaned back in his chair, undeniably impressed. “I see! Look at you with friends in high places, it’s a miracle you managed to escape my mom at all.”

At first, Paladin seemed so reserved and reluctant to tell him her age that he was starting to get concerned that she was actually some 12-year-old kid hiding from her chaperone. Once she finally admitted it, Nate was so relieved that she was actually a legal adult that he didn’t even register the age gap.

“Aw man, guess that’s me buying all night then,” he teased. He doubted people were going to pull up a famous super hero for not having her ID. “Or we can play it safe and just raid our hotel minibars. You’ve got people paying your expenses, right?”

Nate normally avoided his hotel minibar like the plague unless there was something particularly exciting in it, but he could make an exception. Plus, hiding away in a hotel room was the ultimate foolproof plan for getting away from this party for good. No way could they be tracked down behind a locked door. As a downside, his mother would probably be delighted to find him sneaking out with Paladin – and that just wouldn’t do.

“Hey! C’mon, that is an unfair criteria for coolness – how are we mere mortals ever supposed to rule the school now?”

He laughed at the idea of ‘ruling the school’, as though it had ever been a priority of his. While he had been extremely well-liked throughout his schooling, Nate had always seen himself as more of the approachable class clown than somebody with particularly high level of coolness. Of course, that was precisely what Nate secretly thought made him genuinely cool… not that he’d admit to it.

“Don’t apologise!” he said quickly, grabbing the hand that she’d reached out with. “Please, just call me Nate. Or some other, bullet-stoppingly cool nickname – Dr Havelock is so stuffy.” He rolled his eyes childishly.

His eyes widened briefly with alarm as Paladin searched for his father, irrationally concerned for a second that he may have decided to leave his smoke-filled office and make an appearance at a fashion week party – of all places.

“Noooo, no. Oh my God, this is definitely not his kind of scene.” Nate laughed just picturing it. “My mom gave up trying to bring him to these things long ago, if she ever tried at all. That’s why she drags me along instead.”

Alice Morrow

416 words

ψ

[Alice Morrow]

Paladin Am I more than you bargained for yet? + Nathan Havelock + wearing

She glanced around, "Well this is a party in Manhattan, and every building in Manhattan is huuuuuge, so that should help. It would take her ages to search all of them for me." She shrugged awkwardly, "Guess so, you do seem to know more about alcohol than I do anyway. Might be safer that way." She nodded in response to his question. She'd been invited here as a publicity stunt. It looked good for the Program, but it looked better for Fashion Week, especially considering how big Hero-Chic, as it had been coined, was. Since the opening of the Hero program, and with a new Hero appearing every other week fashion was responding to the colourful costumes they were wearing. Society had spun on a dime and fashion had followed it. "Yeah, someone responsible for PR here is paying my expenses. Even the Program isn't having to foot the bill. Apparently they really wanted me here. Something to do with the colours I think." There had been a suspiciously large amount of blue, purple and silver, most of them relatively close to the colours that made up her own costume and hair. It had been something of a shock when she'd first made the connection, but apparently she was popular on the East coast as well as the West. Dominic had promised, back before the Event, that they would be big, but she'd never thought anything would be this big. "Well I was a nerd in High School, so I'm taking my chance to rule the school while I can." She was amused at his reaction, he looked almost as worried that his father might have showed up as he had been when he thought his mother might spot him. She wondered if he was just as bad as Carol, although she supposed he would at least be different. Surely there couldn't be more than one person like Carol. "Oh well that's OK then, I'm not sure how good an impression I made on your mom." Shrugging, she finished off her drink and giggled a little, "We could go somewhere your mom isn't?"

© seadra of gs

[Nathan Havelock]

Lace, Bows and Super Heroes

“That’s awesome! Didn’t even need your designer connections – seems like you’re not just popular among the action figure crowd.” He grinned. “Those toys must have the broadest appeal across both action and fashion – I bet there’s a tiny plastic Paladin in every family household across the country.”

Nate wouldn’t be surprised if that were mostly true. Heroes had taken the world by storm and Paladin had been a prominent early leader of the charge into fame. It was her image and her name that had first become a major brand – clearly now branching so far that it was a huge of part of popular culture across multiple industries. Just thinking about it made him stare a little more wide-eyed at Paladin, though he quickly composed himself.

“You? A nerd?” He tilted his head, trying to imagine what she looked like as an ordinary human being. It was hard to get much of a sense of nerd when she was all dressed up as a superhero – it was all rather intrinsically nerdy, even if it was the new ‘cool’.

He watched as she finished off her drink, a little surprised that she’d gone through it so quickly. Nate made a conscious effort to drink his own a little faster to catch up.

“Man, who knows, I can grill her tomorrow if you like and tell you. She’ll probably only have good things to say about you seeing as you are the celebrity of the hour. It’s hard to make a bad impression on someone so shallow.”

He took another sip of his drink. Nearly caught up.

“ Let’s head back to whoever’s hotel is nearest. Or whoever has the nicest minibar. Mine looked solidly okay but I bet the PR people have put you up somewhere nice, which is always a good sign for impromptu hotel room parties. Unless you’d rather stay out in the city, of course.”

Another sip. His lips tingled a little now – the effects of his drinking earlier in the night finally beginning to come to the surface. He grinned cheerfully at the observation before finishing off his drink in one final gulp.

“Where to? Taxi?”

Alice Morrow

359 words

ψ

[Alice Morrow]

Paladin Am I more than you bargained for yet? + Nathan Havelock + wearing

"Pfffft, I wish." Paladin carefully didn't mention that one of those households was her own. It wasn't ego, there was just something so cool about having an action figure of herself. She'd never thought she would amount to much, hadn't even believed she would achieve her dream of being a chef. Now she was not only successful, but a household name. Everyone in the country knew her name, and the sponsorships just kept pouring in. Dominic seemed to filter them, picking out the ones he felt were worth it, and making sure that her image was maintained. She didn't understand half of what he told her, but she understood that he was just as interested as she was in making sure she didn't sell out. Apparently it had made for some interesting negotiations. His apparent confusion made her smile. "Hey, I got into the Hero game before it was cool. If that doesn't scream nerd I don't know what does. Who else gets physics breaking powers and immediately dresses in a colourful costume?" She waved a hand almost desperately, "Please no, I couldn't do that to you, it's bad enough hearing about myself on the news, I don't want to know everyone's opinions. As long as everybody loves me." She winked, smiling. She was also blushing a little, and was grateful of the mask concealing most of her face, and the dim light for concealing the rest. She'd basically just asked this guy to her hotel room. She couldn't believe it, normally she was never this confident with guys, certainly not ones that were older and this good looking. Maybe it was her new found status as a Hero, maybe it was the alcohol. Whatever it was, she was certainly relieved when he took her up on her suggestion. Nodding, she put down the glass, "Well they've put me up in the Carlyle, which is like, amazing. It's actually nicer than where I live. A taxi sounds good."

© seadra of gs

[Nathan Havelock]

Lace, Bows and Super Heroes

Nate leaned in. “If I buy one, can you sign it for me? I promise I’ll put tiny Paladin on display for all my guests to admire.”

He could imagine his mother discreetly ‘tidying’ it away on a surprise visit. She may appreciate Paladin as an opportunity for fame and social climbing, but she would be severely offended by Nate starting a toy collection. Especially in his front room. That just wouldn’t set the right tone for visitors, now, would it Nathan?

As it was, Nate’s apartment wasn’t exactly to her tastes anyway. It was cluttered with things he liked and the décor didn’t change each season in accordance with the latest advice in Carol’s favourite magazines. He had a few plants that he struggled to keep alive and a seemingly growing number of discarded cosy blankets that disguised the true value of his lounge suite. His mother always made a point of folding them neatly in a pile. There was usually a full glass of water left on the side too, conveniently in the vicinity of his rather sad-looking – but still clinging to life! – fern.

“Before it was cool, huh? Surely that makes you a hipster, then,” he said with a chuckle. “And c’mon, I know that’s where my mind would have gone. I could’ve been an awesome Hero.” His tone was a little woeful – even as somebody who had a great deal of experience when it came to the negative side of developing powers. Part of him had once secretly hoped he might wake up one morning hovering five feet in the air, or something.

Nate snickered at the wink, returning it with his own exaggerated imitation. “For sure, baby, the crowd loves you.”

He didn’t know what it was like to have an agent, but he imagined that it was little something like that. Somebody who would say anything to fuel a superhero-sized ego and keep them coming back to risk their lives for justice, fame and fortune.

Not that Paladin seemed to possess a superhero-sized ego. That was yet to be established, however. Nate knew plenty of people who were pretty good at hiding such things on first impressions.

He raised an eyebrow at her mention of the Carlyle. “Ooh, fancy. You wanna even try to sneak out, or should we just drive them crazy and leave arm-in-arm?”

Alice Morrow

392 words

ψ

[Alice Morrow]

Paladin Am I more than you bargained for yet? + Nathan Havelock + wearing

At the action figure comment Paladin shot daggers at Nathan. He was making fun of her, she was sure. Although she was also sure it was only in good fun. "I'll do you one better, I'll get you two, then you can have one mint in box signed by me, and one to play with." Somehow the thought of the doctor playing with a tiny action figure made her laugh, although perhaps it wasn't so hard to imagine why that would have made her laugh. Her action figure was currently hidden in the bottom of her underwear draw. She just knew that Ashley would demand it be put on display. She regretted buying it a little bit, she'd just been so excited when she saw it in store for the first time. "Hey I am totally…" Her sigh was one of resignation, "Yeah I'm pretty hipster, there is just no escaping it." She caught his slightly lower tone, but didn't really know what to say. She knew better than most that being a Hero wasn't as simple as saving lives. Sometimes there were lives you just couldn't save, who you were too slow to save. You had to find your own way of dealing with that. She reached out to punch him in the shoulder across the table, displaying remarkable strength for someone her size, although of course for all he knew she was holding back. The public knew she could more than take a punch, but the actual mechanics of her power, like those of most Heroes, were a closely guarded secret. It didn't seem sensible to hand out your kryptonite to anyone that seemed vaguely interested. "My agent doesn't do anything like that. I got really lucky when I met him." She bit her lip in indecision at the suggestion. Sneaking out would mean they had more of a chance of staying of the front page. On the other hand, if they got caught doing so things might be even worse. On the other hand, she did have a costume designer for a best friend, who happened to be in the building. "OK, I've got a plan." A brief text message later and they were set, Stephen would be up with some cast offs from his show, a full head mask and robe getup for her, and even a mask and jacket for Nate, though he'd expressed curiousity about the guy she needed a costume for. "Now we just need to get out of this room without being ambushed by people wanting to talk to us…"

© seadra of gs

[Nathan Havelock]

Lace, Bows and Super Heroes

Nate’s eyes lit up.

“That’s perfect! What’s the point in having an action figure you can’t play with, huh?” He looked pleased with himself, enjoying the way the conversation was rolling towards ridiculousness. It suited him. “You can bring them to my birthday party – all the guests will be so jealous.”

He did well to suppress an instinctive flinch as Paladin’s famously powerful punch headed straight for his shoulder. Nate needn’t have worried – she clearly wasn’t out to damage him. It was nothing more than a playful nudge, if with slightly more kick than one would expect from such a nudge. That wasn’t important – what mattered was that all of the bones in Nate’s body were still intact.

“Man, I would fire my agent if they weren’t ridiculously fabulous,” Nate said with a grin. “I think it would be great to have someone showering me with motivation and compliments all day in a sassy tone. No?” He met her eyes, his own crinkled with mischievous delight.

It was quite exciting to hear Paladin say she had a plan. For a moment, Nate pretended he was in some superhero movie and they were just about to embark on an adventure to save the world. He conveniently ignored the truth of the matter; that they were about to sneak out of a party to avoid the eyes of the paparazzi and, most importantly, Mrs Carol Havelock.

Nate thought for a moment, trying to think of how to get out of the room covertly in order to meet up with Paladin’s designer friend and receive their disguises.

“Wait here, I’m just going to make a request…”

The DJ was set up in a corner which backed onto the VIP section, along with some other tech dudes. Nate presumed – correctly – that somebody at this setup was in charge of the lights.

A subtle conversation and a quiet exchange of bills later, and Nate was back at the booth. “Okay, at the next drop in the music they’re going to completely kill the lights for about ten seconds before strobes kick in. We should be able to reach the door in that time – we don’t even have to pass through that many people – but we gotta be real sure of our route. You ready?”

Alice Morrow

379 words

ψ

[Alice Morrow]

Paladin Am I more than you bargained for yet? + Nathan Havelock + wearing

"Oh trust me, he doesn't need to be fabulous." His secretary had that aspect completely locked down. Though she was now more or less sure that Gregory was not romantically interested in his charismatic boss, she couldn't see him taking too kindly to there being anyone else fabulous in that relationship. He seemed the territorial kind. "His secretary goes for the fabulous stuff, I swear that guy wants his own version of my suit. Although thinking about it, he'd probably look pretty good." It was exciting to be involved in this city, almost like the very beginning, when it had been her and the other survivors trying to track down the strange being that had saved their lives and granted them godlike powers. She sat, still concealed in the booth as he made his way over to the DJ section, wondering what his plan was and hoping that no one spotted her in the shadows. Fortunately the luck that had kept them isolated so far seemed to hold, and after hearing his plan, she could only hope that it would hold for a little longer. She sat up, sliding out to the edge of the booth and perilously close to discovery. If the lights were going to go out for only ten seconds they'd have to move quickly. She peered out, trying to plot a course from here to the nearest door. As Nate had said there weren't even that many people, and she felt more confident in their hastily constructed escape route. She put on an elongated hardass drawl, "I was born ready." She reached out to grab his hand just in time for the music to drop and the lights to drop with it. She stood rapidly, pulling him after her as she wove through confused people, pushing the door open nearly silently and pulling him after her. They were silhouetted by the lights in the hallway for a moment before they closed it after them. She put her back to it, laughing in delight as she did so. "Wow, I feel like such a rebel now." It turned out that Stephen had already arrived, carrying two plastic bags and a curious look on his face. That expression darkened a little when he saw Nate, but Paladin didn't notice, bounding forward to slam into him with a hug hard enough to knock the breath from him. "Oh my god Stephen you're a lifesaver. You totally don't owe me one now for leaving me with all of those people." She dived into the bag, leaving the confused Stephen to greet Nathan warily. "Hey, I'm Stephen, me and Paladin go way back." A moment later said famous super hero resurfaced clad in what appeared to be some kind of robe and a full face mask that made her look a little like Doctor Doom. "Is this for like… wannabe villains or what? I'm sure I've seen a bad guy in this getup before."

© seadra of gs

[Nathan Havelock]

Lace, Bows and Super Heroes

Nate did his best to construct a mental picture of this fabulous secretary.

“You looking for a sidekick? Maybe for aesthetics only, but I bet that would make him happy.”

That was an aspect of the world’s current Hero situation that seemed to be missing. There weren’t really any teams yet that Nate knew of, nor any Hero/sidekick combinations. He supposed that being a Hero was so rare that there weren’t too many around to group up. Either that, or they were all fighting to establish themselves in the public eye and nobody was content just yet to take the supporting role. It would come in time, he thought. The concept of Heroism as a career was still very much in its infancy.

Thankfully, Paladin seemed onboard with Nate’s improvised plan of escape. When the music dropped and the lights cut out, there were a few excitable screams from the party-goers. Nate jumped to his feet and followed after Paladin, who’d grabbed his hand and asserted herself, unquestionably, as the leader of their charge. They passed through people almost effortlessly, brushing against the odd person but fortunately avoiding any collisions.

Bursting out into the hallway was temporarily disorientating. It wasn’t exactly bright, but it was certainly a step up from the pitch black of the party. Through the gap in the door, Nate spotted the strobe lights starting up to further shrieks and whoops of excitement.

“I can’t believe we pulled it off!” he exclaimed, both hands raised for a rather enthusiastic high-ten.

He turned to see Paladin’s designer friend – recognising him vaguely. Nate hadn’t really paid much attention to the ins and outs of the show, but he was certain that the face was at least a little familiar. His mother would probably know.

After Paladin gleefully greeted him with a hug, Stephen introduced himself – a rather hostile look in his eyes. There was something territorial in the way he casually dropped the long history he had with Paladin.

“Hey dude, I’m Nate. Me and Paladin go back a whole… what, hour?” He grinned at Paladin before turning back to Stephen and offering a friendly handshake. Stephen obviously had some problem with his presence, but Nate wasn’t going to concern himself too much about it. They still had an escape plan to pull off.

He accepted the mask and jacket gratefully – feeling every inch the imposter in the vibrant, superhero get-up. It would probably do the trick in keeping his identity hidden, however, so that was all that mattered.

“I think the Hero look suits you better,” he said, amused, “But this robe thing is kinda cool. Very dramatic.” He struck a pose, staring gallantly down the corridor. “What do you guys think – do I pull it off?”

Alice Morrow

459 words

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[Alice Morrow]

Paladin Am I more than you bargained for yet? + Nathan Havelock + wearing

The light in the hallway had been a dramatic change from the darkness in the bar, a darkness that had enabled her escape, for which she was very thankful. She returned his high-ten enthusiastically, laughing as she did so. Her new costume made her feel very much like a villain, and she was admiring herself in the hallway mirror in it, striking what she thought seemed suitably dastardly poses. Shrugging, she turned back to the two men, "I think you're right, it's still cool to look dark and brooding though. How come you never used this one in show?" This was to Stephen, who waved a hand and said something about it not being a completed concept, and the need to keep the Hero image positive right now. It was the same kind of thing that Dominic talked about, worrying about the image metahumans had. Paladin knew that it was especially important in New York after the Grand Central attacks. There were even a few villains appearing in costume now, tapping into the cultural movement that Heroes were spearheading. She turned to give Nathan an obviously admiring look up and down, even with her face completely covered. It had been harder to see in the shadows of the club, but he definitely looked good, and the costume actually helped that look. Behind her back, Stephen scowled. She put on a mock-thoughtful tone, and rubbed her covered chin. "Hmmmm, are you sure you haven't considered the Hero career before. You just have the perfect stance for the cameras." The last part was said with her hands out, framing him between her pictures. "Yep! Just perfect. Come on, lets get a cab!" She paused to hug Stephen again, "Oh my god Stephen thank you so much! I don't know what I'd do without you!"

© seadra of gs

[Nathan Havelock]

Lace, Bows and Super Heroes

It was hard to suppress an eye roll at Paladin’s desire to look “dark and brooding”, no matter how much she may or may not have been joking. Nate bit his tongue – deciding against branding her as some Edward Cullen wannabe. Besides, this Stephen guy definitely had a problem with him and, while Nate wasn’t concerning himself too much about it, it seemed wise to let him talk about his more villainous designs without fear of a teasing, Twilight-themed interruption.

Paladin was apparently completely not on-board with keeping Stephen’s issues with Nate developing further. He couldn’t help but smirk a little as she cast her gaze very openly up and down him. It was a good thing her face was concealed or it may have just been too much for the guy – who was very obviously scowling now. It had become quite apparent just what his problem was with Nate. Nate was going to have to double-check that his jealousy wasn’t stemming from legitimate boyfriend status.

It seemed unlikely, but he’d still have to stealthily uncover the information just to make sure.

Then she even went and complimented him! Oh boy, there went any chance of Nate genially rubbing shoulders with a young and upcoming fashion designer.

“Heh,” he chuckled bashfully, waving his hand dismissively. “You know me, I prefer to conduct my heroic acts behind the scenes.” Which was a little true – his work was definitely important, if not heroic. There was just the small matter of Nate not actually having the tools for emerging from the backstage. Even his trust fund wasn’t exactly on Bruce Wayne’s level.

With one last hug for Paladin, and one last if-looks-could-kill glare for Nate, they made their way out of the building and into the street. There were dozens of cabs lined up and hoping to attend to the celebrity guests still inside. Well, they could have the pleasure of unknowingly escorting Paladin.

He opened the door for Paladin, slightly giddy with how successful their escape had been.

“The Carlyle, please.”

Nate turned to Paladin, talking at excited speed as he gushed over their incredible display of stealth, paying particular attention to Paladin’s skilful navigation through a pitch-black room. He stopped mid-sentence, spotting a potential hidden gem coming up on the right. “Wait, stop the cab!”

The taxi drew up perfectly beside the bar, allowing Nate to peer through the door. He turned to look at Paladin, a questioning eyebrow raised as he gestured wordlessly towards it for her appraisal. They were only around the corner from her hotel now, so making a quick stop en route wouldn’t be out of the question. Some of the patrons looked super young, so that clearly wasn’t going to be an issue. Besides, the place looked chill – full of people who definitely didn’t care about Fashion Week and definitely did care about drinking. It seemed just the rebellious spot for two people who had just snuck their way out of an A-list party.

Alice Morrow

498 words

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[Alice Morrow]

Paladin Am I more than you bargained for yet? + Nathan Havelock + wearing

The paparazzi took their photos, but unlike when she had entered the building, they seemed disinterested. Most of them only took a few snaps before craning their necks back towards the doors, hoping for a glimpse of Paladin, little knowing she had just walked out past them. She stifled a giggle at the thought, climbing through the door that Nate gallantly held open for her. They were in the cab for what felt like ages, and Paladin was a little surprised that Nate chose not to make a move until she remembered that she was wearing a full face mask. Hopefully she'd be able to take it off soon. It seemed that such an opportunity was forthcoming as Nate called the cab to a stop. She followed his gesture to see a bar that was definitely a lot lower class than the one they had left, and as he had no doubt already noted, was already serving a young looking clientele. Hopefully no one would try to ID her. If she flashed the badge that confirmed her identity as a licensed Hero she doubted that they would be without the paparazzi much longer. They climbed out of the taxi and she pulled off the metallic looking mask, tucking it away into one of the voluminous sleeves of the robe. Stephen hadn't been so thoughtful as to design it with pockets, but it was one of his prototype outfits, and she didn't want to lose any of it, even if it was only a part of it. She followed him into the bar, looking around to see a number of girls who looked at least her own age if not younger. A few people glanced over as they entered, their outfits were somewhat unusual after all, but even so they barely seemed to merit more than a cursory examination, with some eyes lingering a little longer on them both. This place looked like they didn't have much to do with the slightly higher class cocktails that had been available at the last place, but if you liked something with lots of sugar and alcohol then they had you covered. She turned back to Nate, raising her voice a little to be heard above the din. "Whatcha want?"

© seadra of gs

[Nathan Havelock]

Lace, Bows and Super Heroes

Nate followed Paladin’s lead in removing the mask, taking the opportunity to view her face fully for the first time that evening. It was definitely a cute face – her bright blue eyes much more apparent in the glow of a streetlight without a mask to distract him. Her nose was small, sweet, with a broad smile on her full lips. Nate felt suddenly shy, but overcame that without so much as a second thought once they headed into the bar.

Surveying the bar stock was difficult through the modest crowd of people but Nate wasn’t really too worried about finding something nice in a place like this. He was going to stick with whisky for now – whatever the bartender could suggest, Nate wasn’t feeling picky.

He was amused by Paladin’s question. The way she phrased it seemed to heavily imply that she was going to be the one doing the ordering. Well, hey, it wasn’t like she was going to get asked for ID in here. It was surprising that such a central location in New York was able to be so lax – but maybe all the hype of Fashion Week had temporarily drawn eyes away from such activities.

“I’ll have a whisky – whatever they recommend,” he added. Then he grinned playfully. “What, is this your round?”

He wasn’t trying to get her to buy the round – far from it. He was genuinely surprised at the phrasing of her question, and genuinely amused if she really did intend to go up and order.

“You should order something insane,” Nate said, gesturing towards a couple of the huge, cheap-and-cheerful cocktails that were being clinked together by two excitable middle-aged women. “Now that’s a party.”

As they moved closer to the bar, Nate suddenly bent down to Paladin’s level, a serious look on his face. He spoke in a hushed tone – just loud enough to make himself heard in her ear without allowing any eavesdroppers to listen in. “Wait, what do I call you now? Seeing as you’re… y’know… incognito.”

Alice Morrow

338 words

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