for: dr_oil, from: eka-kwentista [Part 2]
Author: eka_kwentista
For: dr_oil
Title: "A Sensible Chaos" [1/?]
Rating: eventually NC-17
Characters: Adrian, Laurie, Dan, Rorschach, Jon, OCs
Warnings: Absurdity and Crack
Notes: Thank you findmyantidrug for the beta. I did my best to fulfill every request indicated in the form. I hope this goes well. I have to divide this chapter because the post is too big, according to LJ so there's a second post where it continues. Sorry.
Summary: Adrian enjoys broken things
***
Dan settles with a cold plastic cup of beer and leftover broccoli for tonight’s dinner.
This is what dieting must be like. Like suicide.
“Appetite for finer food waning off, Daniel?” Rorschach enters the kitchen without so much as a happy greeting and then he rummages through his partner’s garbage can and asks, “What’s wrong with this pasta?”
“You gotta stop eating from there, Rorschach.”
“Better than vegetarian meal and alcohol excess.”
“Please. Just shut up. Just for tonight, man, can you do that?”
Rorschach hurms and mumbles other unpleasant things about Dan’s weight that the other man is too tired to process or even argue over. He stabs the last broccoli with his fork and then gulps down his beer without another word.
“You know, Rorschach, it’s been two months now. I told you I can’t afford a new bed. And the sofa isn’t exactly comfortable for you either. Besides, my bed is big enough for the both of us. It’s not unusual for two men to sleep on one bed, you know. British men do it all the time.”
“United States of America, Daniel.”
“You can’t handle sharing a bed with me? Even after all we’ve been through?” Dan stares down at his empty plate. “Man, you suck.”
“You sulk,” Rorschach wipes his mouth with the back of his hand and pulls down his mask. “Pasta is good though.”
“Gross, man.”
The loud tapping on the door cuts their conversation short. Neither bothers to answer it.
“OPEN THE FUCK UP, DANNY BOY! IT’S LAUREL JAAAAAANE-AH!”
“What the hell,” Dan drags himself out of the chair to open the door at last. As soon as he does, Laurie throws herself against him and kisses him, all tongue and hands. And then she pushes him away and goes to Rorschach, who immediately yanks her by the arm and slams her against the counter in case she does the same thing to him.
She pushes her feet against the cupboard underneath and lifts herself above him, breaking several plates as she does. As soon as she has the advantage, she attacks him by squeezing his crotch. Rorschach is blinded by fury, the inkblots on his face literally screaming death. He tries choking her as he bends her on the table and this is when Dan has to intervene. Through all the ruckus, they didn’t notice Adrian just standing there in the doorway.
“Whore!”
“She’s drunk, Rorschach. I don’t think she even knows where she is right now. And for god’s sake, Laurie, stop laughing!”
Adrian steps inside and wonders if interruption is even needed for this delightful threesome. He waits for a few more minutes.
Dan manages to get Rorschach off Laurie at last. He puts every ounce of his strength to drag Rorschach from across the room and calm him down. Laurie remains bent on the table, coughing and giggling. Adrian approaches her and lifts her up with one arm. He massages two fingers on her throat where the abrasions are starting to appear.
“At least the chiffon dress didn’t get torn,” he remarks.
“What on Earth are you guys doing here?” Dan pushes an agitated Rorschach against the wall. He struggles to keep the smaller man’s arms from hitting him. He presses himself against his partner a little more, shushing him.
“Honestly, Dan, that is not helping,” Adrian says.
“I know what I’m doing. This soothes him, okay?”
“Your bodies against each other soothe him? My, the revelation.”
“FAG!” Rorschach spits out.
“It certainly looks that way to me from where I’m standing,” Adrian almost sings out.
“STOP PROVOKING HIM!” Dan gently burrows his elbow under Rorschach’s chin. “And you didn’t answer the question. Why are you and Laurie here? And where’s Jon?”
Laurie has finally snapped out of her madness and answers, “We were in the neighborhood. We just finished beating the shit out of thugs and we decided to stop by to hang, you know.”
“Well, you could’ve just called ahead, you know!” Dan wraps his arms around Rorschach now. And Adrian needs to turn away, aware that his chuckling will only aggravate the smaller man.
“Sorry. I’m a fucking shithole of a mess, I know.”
“That’s not an authentic excuse, Laurie.”
“Well, don’t start acting like my mother now.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it.” Dan lets Rorschach go. “Now apologize.”
“I said I’m sorry already!”
“Sorry for what exactly?”
“Why do you need fucking specifications anyway?”
“May I request we move this conversation along to more pleasant topics?” Adrian sits on one of the stools now, his legs elegantly crossed before him. Dan notices he’s wearing khaki pants with a pink collar shirt inside a navy blue sweater. It’s like he’s asking to be punched around. But since this is the former Ozymandias, the scenario is likely to be the other way around.
And Laurie in a purple dress and Hello Kitty slippers? Not like wearing anything flimsy is going to stop her from wreaking havoc. There’s nothing silky about this woman at all.
It strikes Dan what an unusual pair they are-and yet they fit somehow.
“Where’s Jon?” he asks again.
“No one gives a shit about that, Danny boy. Now do you have beer around here?”
“I just finished the last bottle before you came storming like the goddamn Comedian!”
Laurie’s voice goes dark and quiet. “You take that back.”
“Now, now, my sweetness.” Adrian rubs Laurie’s shoulders from behind. “Don’t forget your graces. We’re only guests and these are our kind patrons. Isn’t that right, Rorschach?”
“Will crush you like a peanut if you don’t hold your tongue, Veidt.”
“A peanut,” Adrian mutters, an eyebrow raised. “Really?”
Rorschach immediately springs to life and would’ve reached Adrian if only Dan didn’t hold him back again. “Okay, THAT’S IT! I’ve had enough! All of you take a corner and shut up!”
Silence hovers above them.
“A corner?” Laurie repeats. “You’re giving me a fucking time-out, shithead?”
Dan walked towards Laurie, showing how much he can tower above her. “You got a problem?”
“Oh, Daniel,” Adrian remarks. “I always knew that given the right lighting, you’re utterly dazzling. Isn’t he just, Laurie?”
“Yeah, it’s hot.” Laurie grins and takes a step back from Dan just so she can check him out some more.
The attention proves to be embarrassing enough for Dan that he cowers back from the two. He clears his throat and stutters, “Well, uh, just help me clean this mess. It’s a real trouble you guys brought here. So, uh, yeah. Please?”
***
“You’re so full of shit, Rorschach!” Laurie announces loud enough for the next street to hear. She points a Hello Kitty slippered-foot at him. “If you really don’t have any kind of sexual hang-up then why won’t you share a bed with your partner? Are you that insecure? Shit!”
Rorschach keeps his face down, perhaps because if he looks up he’ll see through her dress. “Don’t like your tone, Miss Jupiter.”
“Well, get used to it because unless you stop being so tightly-wound, I’m just gonna keep pestering. I mean, look at Dan!” She pats Dan’s head for effect. “Is he not the same guy whom you fight side by side with as you take down bad guys together? Doesn’t it break your heart to see him all alone in his big bed, with no company to lull him to sleep?” She makes other exaggerated gestures with her hands as she speaks.
“Yeah…okay. Next time we do this, I think we should agree to no drinking,” Dan comments.
“So there’s a next time then?” Laurie shoots back, rubbing a hand inside his thigh. Rorschach coughs violently.
Adrian is the only one sitting on the stool while the three of them are all on the floor. He asks, “May I offer my insight?”
“Warning you, Veidt.”
“Rorschach,” Adrian doesn’t hesitate to reach out a hand to touch the other man by the shoulder, but Rorschach squirms away immediately, muttering something indiscernible under his breath.
Adrian tries again, this time keeping his hands to himself. “I don’t believe you have a sexual hang-up of any sort at all,” Right. “But it seems to me that your refusal to sleep in the same bed as your partner would come off as direct rejection of his companionship. Daniel?”
Dan cleans his glasses for the seventeenth time and says nothing.
“See?” Adrian offers his hand to Rorschach. “You must know how this negatively affects your partnership. All you’re going to do is sleep on the same bed. That’s it.”
“Yeah. Just put some pillows between the two of you or something.”
“Is that what you do with Jon these days, my sweetness?” Adrian asks and Dan looks at Laurie intently like he’s) waiting for an answer too.
“Please.” Laurie dismisses the inquiry. “Jon doesn’t even sleep anymore.”
Dan pushes his glasses back to his face and clears his throat. “Well, this has been enlightening. I must say, we don’t get a lot of visitors here. Thanks for coming by, guys.”
“Rotten company,” Rorschach remarks.
“Now don’t be rude,” Dan scolds him.
“Miss Jupiter is a drunk, danger to herself and others. Veidt is unwelcome.”
“Your sentiments are noted, my friend.”
“Not your friend. Never.”
“I see,” Adrian smiles and the room’s temperature gets a little chilly. “Be that as it may, I would like for you to stop disrespecting the young lady. It’s unbecoming.”
“Making observations, is all.”
“With an alarming kind of vehemence at that, Rorschach.” Adrian adds.
“Nice of you to defend lady’s honor. Very gentlemanly.”
“Why, of course.” Adrian leans down and puts his arm around Laurie’s shoulder and she snuggles closer without hesitation anymore. “I’m her gay friend after all.”
“Uh…” Dan trails off.
“Hurm. Acknowledgment of homosexuality is noted, Veidt.”
“Screw this,” Laurie sits up straight and brushes down her chiffon dress. “Let’s play a game.”
“Oh?” Adrian watches her curiously as she pulls him down the floor with them.
“I Dare You Bitch.” Laurie reveals.
“Um, isn’t that supposed to be Truth or Dare?”
“Awful, disgusting game.”
“Give it a rest already, Rorschach. If you don’t want to play then don’t be a spoiled baby!” Laurie is taking control now. The way she brims with confidence excites both Adrian and Dan.
Laurie grabs the paper cup from the corner and orders them to form a circle around it. She seems like an expert with this sort of game while Dan is too embarrassed to admit he participated in a couple of these when he was younger. Adrian never really played well with others. And Rorschach is just out of the question.
“Spin, spin, spin!” Laurie sings as the paper cup barely even moves “Dammit.” She puts one of her slippers inside it and gives it a spin again. It moves now and stops at Rorschach.
“Not playing game.”
Laurie snorts. “Fine. Let’s try again.” Instead of spinning the paper-cup-slipper, she just turns it around and around by hand until it (she) points at Rorschach again. “The universe has spoken, shithead!”
“Hurm. Amusing but no.”
Dan puts a hand on Rorschach’s shoulder. “Nothing too explicit, okay. The dare will be okay. Right, Laurie?” he starts blinking at Laurie like it’s a Morse code for ‘Please Be Gentle’.
“Fine.” Laurie pulls up the chiffon dress by the straps when she realizes her cleavage is showing a little. “Okay, uh, let’s see…I dare Rorschach…to take off his coat and do The Hustle!”
“Oh my,” Adrian covers his mouth with his hand, faking modesty for the sake of appearance.
“Not. Dancing.”
“Come on, man, it’s pretty tame for a dare.”
“Not dancing for filthy live entertainment of perverted woman.”
“I warned you very politely about the way you speak to the young lady.”
“Dan, would you demonstrate it?” Laurie bats her eyelashes at him.
Dan swallows something spiky in his throat. He loosens his tie. “I don’t know, Laurie…”
“Adrian?” Laurie looks at her gay friend.
“Well, a little demonstration doesn’t hurt.” Adrian stands up, stretching a little before he begins. “I do need music to start, of course.”
“Rest of New York is infested with swine and now vigilantes are dancing like hippies. Ridiculous.” They ignore Rorschach anyway and pretty soon all three of them are doing The Hustle. They couldn’t remember themselves being happy and stupid like this for the longest time. Laurie begins to spin the paper-cup-slipper again.
“Can’t believe you, Dan. Miss Jupiter I understand. Veidt-homosexual impulses are starting to take over.” Rorschach stands up now, preparing to leave through the window if he has to.
“Man, it’s just a game, okay! You’re overreacting!” Dan grabs Rorschach by the wrist and pulls him back to the floor but Rorschach puts up another fight.
“Dan, it’s you!” Laurie calls for his attention. “I dare you to wrestle Rorschach and own him!”
“Daniel, DON’T YOU DARE-!”
***
“D-Did you see h-his f-f-face!!!?” Laurie chokes back the laughter. “I mean, of course not because of that creepy mask. But still!” She elbows him. “Bet they’re sharing the bed by now.”
Adrian smiles quietly to himself as he walks Laurie back to the government facility. He keeps his hands behind his back as Laurie walks ahead. She is still high in spirits even though it’s almost three in the morning. She’s dragging her Hello Kitty slippers on the concrete, as if she is trying to erase the sawdust from the sidewalk. For a swine-infested city, New York is certainly peaceful and deserted. It doesn’t feel right.
“I’m not sure what Jon will say to all that happened today.”
“Screw Jon,” Laurie announces, but he can tell she doesn’t really mean it.
She turns around and grins at him. For a moment she looks younger. “Thanks for everything. You’re the best!”
“Enough with this cliché, Laurie.” Adrian takes her by the arm gently. They walk in silence for a few minutes.
Laurie speaks up again. “Dan was right. It’s not I Dare You Bitch, it’s Truth or Dare.”
Adrian looks at her when he hears something change in her tone. He isn’t sure he likes it. This is always a possible danger when he shares an opium session with a woman he unsuccessfully raped, became her gay friend and then had sex with her: he has to make sense of her feelings now. As unrefined she may be, she always seems to find a way to relate to anyone without that much difficulty-including him. She’s spontaneous and genuine and quite a strong one even in her brokenness. He’s starting to resent that.
“I’ve been thinking about what you said. The whole parallel universe shit.” She waits for him to acknowledge her statement. When he doesn’t, she goes on. “I think it’s pretty cool. I would love to know what other Laurie could be doing right now, if she even owned this sexy purple dress I’m wearing-”
“Or the dreadfully childish Hello Kitty slippers?” Adrian looks at the liquor store to his left and hopes that a robbery will happen, just to take his mind off things.
Laurie laughs “Yeah. I mean, what if, right? What if that was a better world than this one?”
Adrian glances at her and then looks straight ahead again.
“What if in that world Jon never became what he is. Would he have been a vigilante like us? Were there vigilantes there? Did I become a veterinarian instead or what?”
“You like animals?” Adrian asks, not really caring.
“I think so.” Laurie shivers The cold night is getting to her. Adrian has no choice but to pull her close to him as they walk His hand rubs her arm, knowing that it will comfort her, but he resents the fact that he actually thought of that.
“What else do you think that parallel world would be like, Laurie?” He hears himself saying although he barely realizes it. “Tell me.”
Laurie removes his hand from her arm so she can hold it. “Maybe Rorschach is not an asshole. That’d be nice. To meet a different Rorschach who doesn’t wear a mask and actually has a human face for once. And Dan! Oh, Dan could’ve been a scientist and he could’ve met Jon there. I could’ve met them during some sort of Medical Science convention and shit.”
“Who would you have fallen in love with?” Adrian asks because there’s nothing else to say.
“Oh don’t even go there!” She laughs although he could tell she’s considering it. “And you! Oh you could be poor. Or fat. Or anyone who isn’t perfect and successful for a change.”
“Maybe. I could have been a woman.”
“Hey! What are you insinuating?”
Adrian stops walking. He faces Laurie now, his hands on her elbows. Not long ago he tried to take advantage of her and now they’re not strangers to each other anymore, all in just the speed of one night. Time is so mysterious. He can’t blame Jon for escaping everything through that keen awareness of time. He envies it, in fact.
They’re near an alleyway now. He wonders if anyone is about to get mugged there. It wouldn’t matter. Rorschach is probably around right now.
“I want to show you something very important to me,” Adrian begins, maintaining the eye contact. “I expect that you guard this with your life, Laurel Jane.”
Laurie just studies his face for a while as if she’s trying to read his thoughts or perhaps get a brief glimpse of his soul. It makes him uneasy, but he waits for an answer.
“Okay,” she replies. “What is it?”
Adrian starts pulling something from his pocket. Laurie waits with the anticipation caught in her throat. He lifts up a photograph and hands it to her.
She fixes her gaze on the image. It is of a young woman with curly blonde hair. She is terribly beautiful. The shot looks like a hasty one where she just turned around like someone called her name. She stares far away, searching for something. A familiarity settles instantly on Laurie although she can’t understand why until Adrian begins to speak again.
“Her name is Adriana Mason. And as difficult as it is for you to believe this right now, please know that I’m not lying when I say that she’s me. Adriana Mason is me from another world.”
To be continued
For: dr_oil
Title: "A Sensible Chaos" [1/?]
Rating: eventually NC-17
Characters: Adrian, Laurie, Dan, Rorschach, Jon, OCs
Warnings: Absurdity and Crack
Notes: Thank you findmyantidrug for the beta. I did my best to fulfill every request indicated in the form. I hope this goes well. I have to divide this chapter because the post is too big, according to LJ so there's a second post where it continues. Sorry.
Summary: Adrian enjoys broken things
***
Dan settles with a cold plastic cup of beer and leftover broccoli for tonight’s dinner.
This is what dieting must be like. Like suicide.
“Appetite for finer food waning off, Daniel?” Rorschach enters the kitchen without so much as a happy greeting and then he rummages through his partner’s garbage can and asks, “What’s wrong with this pasta?”
“You gotta stop eating from there, Rorschach.”
“Better than vegetarian meal and alcohol excess.”
“Please. Just shut up. Just for tonight, man, can you do that?”
Rorschach hurms and mumbles other unpleasant things about Dan’s weight that the other man is too tired to process or even argue over. He stabs the last broccoli with his fork and then gulps down his beer without another word.
“You know, Rorschach, it’s been two months now. I told you I can’t afford a new bed. And the sofa isn’t exactly comfortable for you either. Besides, my bed is big enough for the both of us. It’s not unusual for two men to sleep on one bed, you know. British men do it all the time.”
“United States of America, Daniel.”
“You can’t handle sharing a bed with me? Even after all we’ve been through?” Dan stares down at his empty plate. “Man, you suck.”
“You sulk,” Rorschach wipes his mouth with the back of his hand and pulls down his mask. “Pasta is good though.”
“Gross, man.”
The loud tapping on the door cuts their conversation short. Neither bothers to answer it.
“OPEN THE FUCK UP, DANNY BOY! IT’S LAUREL JAAAAAANE-AH!”
“What the hell,” Dan drags himself out of the chair to open the door at last. As soon as he does, Laurie throws herself against him and kisses him, all tongue and hands. And then she pushes him away and goes to Rorschach, who immediately yanks her by the arm and slams her against the counter in case she does the same thing to him.
She pushes her feet against the cupboard underneath and lifts herself above him, breaking several plates as she does. As soon as she has the advantage, she attacks him by squeezing his crotch. Rorschach is blinded by fury, the inkblots on his face literally screaming death. He tries choking her as he bends her on the table and this is when Dan has to intervene. Through all the ruckus, they didn’t notice Adrian just standing there in the doorway.
“Whore!”
“She’s drunk, Rorschach. I don’t think she even knows where she is right now. And for god’s sake, Laurie, stop laughing!”
Adrian steps inside and wonders if interruption is even needed for this delightful threesome. He waits for a few more minutes.
Dan manages to get Rorschach off Laurie at last. He puts every ounce of his strength to drag Rorschach from across the room and calm him down. Laurie remains bent on the table, coughing and giggling. Adrian approaches her and lifts her up with one arm. He massages two fingers on her throat where the abrasions are starting to appear.
“At least the chiffon dress didn’t get torn,” he remarks.
“What on Earth are you guys doing here?” Dan pushes an agitated Rorschach against the wall. He struggles to keep the smaller man’s arms from hitting him. He presses himself against his partner a little more, shushing him.
“Honestly, Dan, that is not helping,” Adrian says.
“I know what I’m doing. This soothes him, okay?”
“Your bodies against each other soothe him? My, the revelation.”
“FAG!” Rorschach spits out.
“It certainly looks that way to me from where I’m standing,” Adrian almost sings out.
“STOP PROVOKING HIM!” Dan gently burrows his elbow under Rorschach’s chin. “And you didn’t answer the question. Why are you and Laurie here? And where’s Jon?”
Laurie has finally snapped out of her madness and answers, “We were in the neighborhood. We just finished beating the shit out of thugs and we decided to stop by to hang, you know.”
“Well, you could’ve just called ahead, you know!” Dan wraps his arms around Rorschach now. And Adrian needs to turn away, aware that his chuckling will only aggravate the smaller man.
“Sorry. I’m a fucking shithole of a mess, I know.”
“That’s not an authentic excuse, Laurie.”
“Well, don’t start acting like my mother now.”
“Wouldn’t dream of it.” Dan lets Rorschach go. “Now apologize.”
“I said I’m sorry already!”
“Sorry for what exactly?”
“Why do you need fucking specifications anyway?”
“May I request we move this conversation along to more pleasant topics?” Adrian sits on one of the stools now, his legs elegantly crossed before him. Dan notices he’s wearing khaki pants with a pink collar shirt inside a navy blue sweater. It’s like he’s asking to be punched around. But since this is the former Ozymandias, the scenario is likely to be the other way around.
And Laurie in a purple dress and Hello Kitty slippers? Not like wearing anything flimsy is going to stop her from wreaking havoc. There’s nothing silky about this woman at all.
It strikes Dan what an unusual pair they are-and yet they fit somehow.
“Where’s Jon?” he asks again.
“No one gives a shit about that, Danny boy. Now do you have beer around here?”
“I just finished the last bottle before you came storming like the goddamn Comedian!”
Laurie’s voice goes dark and quiet. “You take that back.”
“Now, now, my sweetness.” Adrian rubs Laurie’s shoulders from behind. “Don’t forget your graces. We’re only guests and these are our kind patrons. Isn’t that right, Rorschach?”
“Will crush you like a peanut if you don’t hold your tongue, Veidt.”
“A peanut,” Adrian mutters, an eyebrow raised. “Really?”
Rorschach immediately springs to life and would’ve reached Adrian if only Dan didn’t hold him back again. “Okay, THAT’S IT! I’ve had enough! All of you take a corner and shut up!”
Silence hovers above them.
“A corner?” Laurie repeats. “You’re giving me a fucking time-out, shithead?”
Dan walked towards Laurie, showing how much he can tower above her. “You got a problem?”
“Oh, Daniel,” Adrian remarks. “I always knew that given the right lighting, you’re utterly dazzling. Isn’t he just, Laurie?”
“Yeah, it’s hot.” Laurie grins and takes a step back from Dan just so she can check him out some more.
The attention proves to be embarrassing enough for Dan that he cowers back from the two. He clears his throat and stutters, “Well, uh, just help me clean this mess. It’s a real trouble you guys brought here. So, uh, yeah. Please?”
***
“You’re so full of shit, Rorschach!” Laurie announces loud enough for the next street to hear. She points a Hello Kitty slippered-foot at him. “If you really don’t have any kind of sexual hang-up then why won’t you share a bed with your partner? Are you that insecure? Shit!”
Rorschach keeps his face down, perhaps because if he looks up he’ll see through her dress. “Don’t like your tone, Miss Jupiter.”
“Well, get used to it because unless you stop being so tightly-wound, I’m just gonna keep pestering. I mean, look at Dan!” She pats Dan’s head for effect. “Is he not the same guy whom you fight side by side with as you take down bad guys together? Doesn’t it break your heart to see him all alone in his big bed, with no company to lull him to sleep?” She makes other exaggerated gestures with her hands as she speaks.
“Yeah…okay. Next time we do this, I think we should agree to no drinking,” Dan comments.
“So there’s a next time then?” Laurie shoots back, rubbing a hand inside his thigh. Rorschach coughs violently.
Adrian is the only one sitting on the stool while the three of them are all on the floor. He asks, “May I offer my insight?”
“Warning you, Veidt.”
“Rorschach,” Adrian doesn’t hesitate to reach out a hand to touch the other man by the shoulder, but Rorschach squirms away immediately, muttering something indiscernible under his breath.
Adrian tries again, this time keeping his hands to himself. “I don’t believe you have a sexual hang-up of any sort at all,” Right. “But it seems to me that your refusal to sleep in the same bed as your partner would come off as direct rejection of his companionship. Daniel?”
Dan cleans his glasses for the seventeenth time and says nothing.
“See?” Adrian offers his hand to Rorschach. “You must know how this negatively affects your partnership. All you’re going to do is sleep on the same bed. That’s it.”
“Yeah. Just put some pillows between the two of you or something.”
“Is that what you do with Jon these days, my sweetness?” Adrian asks and Dan looks at Laurie intently like he’s) waiting for an answer too.
“Please.” Laurie dismisses the inquiry. “Jon doesn’t even sleep anymore.”
Dan pushes his glasses back to his face and clears his throat. “Well, this has been enlightening. I must say, we don’t get a lot of visitors here. Thanks for coming by, guys.”
“Rotten company,” Rorschach remarks.
“Now don’t be rude,” Dan scolds him.
“Miss Jupiter is a drunk, danger to herself and others. Veidt is unwelcome.”
“Your sentiments are noted, my friend.”
“Not your friend. Never.”
“I see,” Adrian smiles and the room’s temperature gets a little chilly. “Be that as it may, I would like for you to stop disrespecting the young lady. It’s unbecoming.”
“Making observations, is all.”
“With an alarming kind of vehemence at that, Rorschach.” Adrian adds.
“Nice of you to defend lady’s honor. Very gentlemanly.”
“Why, of course.” Adrian leans down and puts his arm around Laurie’s shoulder and she snuggles closer without hesitation anymore. “I’m her gay friend after all.”
“Uh…” Dan trails off.
“Hurm. Acknowledgment of homosexuality is noted, Veidt.”
“Screw this,” Laurie sits up straight and brushes down her chiffon dress. “Let’s play a game.”
“Oh?” Adrian watches her curiously as she pulls him down the floor with them.
“I Dare You Bitch.” Laurie reveals.
“Um, isn’t that supposed to be Truth or Dare?”
“Awful, disgusting game.”
“Give it a rest already, Rorschach. If you don’t want to play then don’t be a spoiled baby!” Laurie is taking control now. The way she brims with confidence excites both Adrian and Dan.
Laurie grabs the paper cup from the corner and orders them to form a circle around it. She seems like an expert with this sort of game while Dan is too embarrassed to admit he participated in a couple of these when he was younger. Adrian never really played well with others. And Rorschach is just out of the question.
“Spin, spin, spin!” Laurie sings as the paper cup barely even moves “Dammit.” She puts one of her slippers inside it and gives it a spin again. It moves now and stops at Rorschach.
“Not playing game.”
Laurie snorts. “Fine. Let’s try again.” Instead of spinning the paper-cup-slipper, she just turns it around and around by hand until it (she) points at Rorschach again. “The universe has spoken, shithead!”
“Hurm. Amusing but no.”
Dan puts a hand on Rorschach’s shoulder. “Nothing too explicit, okay. The dare will be okay. Right, Laurie?” he starts blinking at Laurie like it’s a Morse code for ‘Please Be Gentle’.
“Fine.” Laurie pulls up the chiffon dress by the straps when she realizes her cleavage is showing a little. “Okay, uh, let’s see…I dare Rorschach…to take off his coat and do The Hustle!”
“Oh my,” Adrian covers his mouth with his hand, faking modesty for the sake of appearance.
“Not. Dancing.”
“Come on, man, it’s pretty tame for a dare.”
“Not dancing for filthy live entertainment of perverted woman.”
“I warned you very politely about the way you speak to the young lady.”
“Dan, would you demonstrate it?” Laurie bats her eyelashes at him.
Dan swallows something spiky in his throat. He loosens his tie. “I don’t know, Laurie…”
“Adrian?” Laurie looks at her gay friend.
“Well, a little demonstration doesn’t hurt.” Adrian stands up, stretching a little before he begins. “I do need music to start, of course.”
“Rest of New York is infested with swine and now vigilantes are dancing like hippies. Ridiculous.” They ignore Rorschach anyway and pretty soon all three of them are doing The Hustle. They couldn’t remember themselves being happy and stupid like this for the longest time. Laurie begins to spin the paper-cup-slipper again.
“Can’t believe you, Dan. Miss Jupiter I understand. Veidt-homosexual impulses are starting to take over.” Rorschach stands up now, preparing to leave through the window if he has to.
“Man, it’s just a game, okay! You’re overreacting!” Dan grabs Rorschach by the wrist and pulls him back to the floor but Rorschach puts up another fight.
“Dan, it’s you!” Laurie calls for his attention. “I dare you to wrestle Rorschach and own him!”
“Daniel, DON’T YOU DARE-!”
***
“D-Did you see h-his f-f-face!!!?” Laurie chokes back the laughter. “I mean, of course not because of that creepy mask. But still!” She elbows him. “Bet they’re sharing the bed by now.”
Adrian smiles quietly to himself as he walks Laurie back to the government facility. He keeps his hands behind his back as Laurie walks ahead. She is still high in spirits even though it’s almost three in the morning. She’s dragging her Hello Kitty slippers on the concrete, as if she is trying to erase the sawdust from the sidewalk. For a swine-infested city, New York is certainly peaceful and deserted. It doesn’t feel right.
“I’m not sure what Jon will say to all that happened today.”
“Screw Jon,” Laurie announces, but he can tell she doesn’t really mean it.
She turns around and grins at him. For a moment she looks younger. “Thanks for everything. You’re the best!”
“Enough with this cliché, Laurie.” Adrian takes her by the arm gently. They walk in silence for a few minutes.
Laurie speaks up again. “Dan was right. It’s not I Dare You Bitch, it’s Truth or Dare.”
Adrian looks at her when he hears something change in her tone. He isn’t sure he likes it. This is always a possible danger when he shares an opium session with a woman he unsuccessfully raped, became her gay friend and then had sex with her: he has to make sense of her feelings now. As unrefined she may be, she always seems to find a way to relate to anyone without that much difficulty-including him. She’s spontaneous and genuine and quite a strong one even in her brokenness. He’s starting to resent that.
“I’ve been thinking about what you said. The whole parallel universe shit.” She waits for him to acknowledge her statement. When he doesn’t, she goes on. “I think it’s pretty cool. I would love to know what other Laurie could be doing right now, if she even owned this sexy purple dress I’m wearing-”
“Or the dreadfully childish Hello Kitty slippers?” Adrian looks at the liquor store to his left and hopes that a robbery will happen, just to take his mind off things.
Laurie laughs “Yeah. I mean, what if, right? What if that was a better world than this one?”
Adrian glances at her and then looks straight ahead again.
“What if in that world Jon never became what he is. Would he have been a vigilante like us? Were there vigilantes there? Did I become a veterinarian instead or what?”
“You like animals?” Adrian asks, not really caring.
“I think so.” Laurie shivers The cold night is getting to her. Adrian has no choice but to pull her close to him as they walk His hand rubs her arm, knowing that it will comfort her, but he resents the fact that he actually thought of that.
“What else do you think that parallel world would be like, Laurie?” He hears himself saying although he barely realizes it. “Tell me.”
Laurie removes his hand from her arm so she can hold it. “Maybe Rorschach is not an asshole. That’d be nice. To meet a different Rorschach who doesn’t wear a mask and actually has a human face for once. And Dan! Oh, Dan could’ve been a scientist and he could’ve met Jon there. I could’ve met them during some sort of Medical Science convention and shit.”
“Who would you have fallen in love with?” Adrian asks because there’s nothing else to say.
“Oh don’t even go there!” She laughs although he could tell she’s considering it. “And you! Oh you could be poor. Or fat. Or anyone who isn’t perfect and successful for a change.”
“Maybe. I could have been a woman.”
“Hey! What are you insinuating?”
Adrian stops walking. He faces Laurie now, his hands on her elbows. Not long ago he tried to take advantage of her and now they’re not strangers to each other anymore, all in just the speed of one night. Time is so mysterious. He can’t blame Jon for escaping everything through that keen awareness of time. He envies it, in fact.
They’re near an alleyway now. He wonders if anyone is about to get mugged there. It wouldn’t matter. Rorschach is probably around right now.
“I want to show you something very important to me,” Adrian begins, maintaining the eye contact. “I expect that you guard this with your life, Laurel Jane.”
Laurie just studies his face for a while as if she’s trying to read his thoughts or perhaps get a brief glimpse of his soul. It makes him uneasy, but he waits for an answer.
“Okay,” she replies. “What is it?”
Adrian starts pulling something from his pocket. Laurie waits with the anticipation caught in her throat. He lifts up a photograph and hands it to her.
She fixes her gaze on the image. It is of a young woman with curly blonde hair. She is terribly beautiful. The shot looks like a hasty one where she just turned around like someone called her name. She stares far away, searching for something. A familiarity settles instantly on Laurie although she can’t understand why until Adrian begins to speak again.
“Her name is Adriana Mason. And as difficult as it is for you to believe this right now, please know that I’m not lying when I say that she’s me. Adriana Mason is me from another world.”
To be continued