(Untitled)

[reactionary]

WHO: Rorschach (reactionary) + OPEN
WHERE: Around
WHEN: Tuesday night
WARNINGS: Probably not?
SUMMARY: LJ NOTIFS ARE SUCKING THE BIG ONE so instead of an entry, I'm doing... an open log... hi guys...
FORMAT: whatever

Comments

uhm. i'm sorry ...

[bet_on_bolton]

Troy finds it difficult to sleep some nights. In between his home sickness and his massive waves of emo over the lack of his girlfriend, the teen has found some evenings are just way better being spent running than being stuck inside staring at his ceiling while he waits for sleep to never show up. Makes sense then that tonight is one of those running nights.

The cold temperatures make no difference to him, not when he keeps up a brisk pace and makes sure he's got a warm hoody on to keep the wind off. His only problem is that he doesn't tend to pay attention to where he heads to. The runs he does can stretch on for miles, you see, so if he finds himself in a slightly rougher end of town, then eventually he'll just run straight back out of it.

Except this time he's jogging near one figure in the night that he can't ignore, and as freaky as an unknown guy in a mask and coat should be, Troy can't help but show mass amounts of naive curiosity as he draws to a stop right by Rorschach and jogs on the spot. "Dude, are you one of those masked avengers?"

AMAZING

[reactionary]

Rorschach turns sharply, almost surprised. Most people don't approach him. He's the one doing the approaching, and it's usually the start of "punishment" for whatever poor mugger he happens to stumble across in the dark.

But this is some child. To him, anyway, it's a child. He keeps walking, turning to stare at the kid, mask formations in slow and constant movement. An "avenger"? That's a title around here, a title for a team he isn't part of.

"... No."

<3!

[bet_on_bolton]

Oh, hey, Troy hasn't been punched, mugged or murdered yet. This must be a good sign. Clearly it means Rorschach will be fine if the kid slowly hits reverse and jogs backwards to stay in line with the masked dude, right?

"Oh, for real? You kinda look like one. Especially with the whole... wandering the streets at night thing." He's close to rambling. He's tired, cold, yet totally incapable of sleep. It's a bad mix.

[reactionary]

His gaze goes back to the sidewalk ahead briefly before he glances at the kid again. Sure, he's been hassled by teenagers before, back in his own New York. It's been awhile, and they usually get bored when he doesn't respond, but this one doesn't seem to be that type.

When he does reply, his breath comes out in a fog, surviving for only a short few seconds in the dead, freezing air. "Should get home. Late."

[bet_on_bolton]

Troy does get bored eventually, but only of the jogging backwards trick, instead switching to facing the way he should be going, shoving his hands in his pockets, and keep up step with Rorschach. In fact, the teens almost completely mirroring Ror's stance by the end of it all, because he can be a totally chill hero type too.

"Nah, man, I can't sleep. I gotta stay out way longer before I'm ready to collapse in bed." Without the aid of running though, the cold does start to get to him more than before, sending a shiver through his body that he tries to hold back on for fear of looking like a total wimp. As a distraction, he's going for offering a hand out to the other, "I'm Troy, by the way. Totally new to this weird hero/vigilante thing."

[reactionary]

The hand is simply stared at. When was the last time he shook someone's hand? Back on Dan's owlship, a... year ago. Had it been a year? Shorter, longer? In any case, rather than reach out and grab it, he makes a gruff noise of acknowledgment and keeps his hands in his pockets.

"Rorschach."

Not looking directly at Troy anymore, but noticing the cold taking effect.

"Need better coat."

[bet_on_bolton]

Well, he'll just... slip that hand of his back in his pocket then, after waiting expectantly for longer than was at all necessary for a handshake that never came.

"I so do. Maybe I should get one like yours. It's a cool look. Especially with the brown, 'cause y'know, black coats like that are way too goth these days. I mean all I can ever think about is lame vampires from like Underworld or something. And when I think of vampires, I think of sparkles. And awesome heroes shouldn't make people think of sparkles... unless sparkling was like, their super power, which is like a totally different thing all together. Which would actually be a weird power, cause how would that even work?" Dear God, make him stop. D:

[reactionary]

Rorschach was utterly silent throughout the little speech, only half-listening. To be honest, he was reminded of Mary - he briefly wondered what she'd been up to lately, before abruptly turning a corner and heading down a street that wasn't on the otherwise linear path they'd been walking.

[bet_on_bolton]

"I guess at least you'd have the element of surprise if you sparkled at someone but---" Okay so he wasn't expecting the sudden change in direction, and after a moment of mild confusion (it's easy to confuse this kid) he's jogging over to catch up with Rorschach once more.

"So uh, what are you even doing out here at this time of night?" He questions with far too much eagerness for this time of night, distracted with working on the zip of his jacket.

[reactionary]

"Patrol."

Rorschach was planning on keeping quiet after that, but, after sparing Troy another glance, he makes an addendum.

"Could ask same for you. Dangerous outside."

[bet_on_bolton]

"Oh, right, of course." Derp. He should have guessed someone as awesome looking as this guy would be patrolling the streets for baddies.

Troy can help with that, in fact! And after Rorschach's muttering the word 'dangerous', the teen's puffing out his chest, "No sweat, dude. I can handle myself. The question is; can you?"

[reactionary]

He would laugh if he had a sense of humor, really. Rorschach keeps silent after the remark, choosing not to go on about his almost-nightly-attempted-murder sprees, instead watching the sidewalk.

It's emptier over here, and more quiet.

"Need to be careful. Only a kid." He almost leaves that last part out, but he's said it anyway.

[bet_on_bolton]

Wow. Tough crowd. It's only slowly dawning on Troy that he's doing most of the talking here, and yet he can't really bring himself to care right now. He just wants company. Woe and emo.

"I'm eighteen, man. I'm more than just a kid."

A thankful silence falls over Troy's side after that, staring at his feet as he walks while he sulks lightly. There's not a day that goes by when he doesn't feel entirely incompetent in a place like this.

[reactionary]

Rorschach blinks at the indignant air that falls between them, and on some level he's able to relate. Being thought of as not good enough, not right for the job - but he remains quiet. He was never one to give out sagely advice.

There's a scuffling sound, loud and sudden, in one of the alleys they pass.

The vigilante freezes and backs up, peering down it.

[bet_on_bolton]

At his age, the teen is fairly experienced in the art of sulking for long periods of time, but this time he'll let Rorschach off the hook. People are mistaking Troy's age all the time, after all.

Troy's even about to point this out, but the second he opens his mouth, he's seeing the other react to something. Out of instinct alone, the kid stays quiet and caaaarefully retraces his steps to mirror Rorschach. "What?"

[reactionary]

He doesn't answer at first, instead just walking into the alley, removing his hands from his pockets.

"Something to handle," he says lowly, walking further into the dark passage. Lo and behold, a shady-looking figure is in the midst of trailing behind some unsuspecting woman, attempting to corner her against a wall.