batgirl_babs | Roomies [Open to mayday

Roomies [Open to mayday_parker]

Life moved fast, she reflected. A few weeks ago, there hadn't been a portal connecting one version of New York to another version of Gotham. And yet, there it was, quite literally joining bridges. Nobody was entirely sure yet who had caused it or perhaps what - and a weird sort of pride had sprung up around trying to claim a weird yet undeniable achievement as either part of New York or Gotham. But there were also practical considerations, and she honestly loved seeing that side of Gotham coming out.

The logic was simple: there was a vast city just sitting there, eager for novelty and a whole Gotham to provide it. It was an opportunity. And so the tourism had started flowing. Then a couple clever entrepreneurs had realized that Gotham's housing prices were slightly lower than New York's, and now people were moving in. It was the spirit of both cities at their best. Weird portal joining bridges from two different realities? Sure, yeah, but apartments were cheaper, so.

So it was full of strangeness and incongruities, but here she was getting a roommate out of it. One who knew who she actually was, which made it even stranger but...better. By far. May was a genuinely fun person to be around, she found, and it made such a change for her. She was, by far, the most light-hearted of the Gotham crime fighting set. And while she loved her surrogate family deeply, difference was nice.

When it had become apparent that May was struggling to afford a place on her own, an offer had made perfect sense. It was a two-bedroom, after all. It was impulsive, sure, but there was no way she could be worse than the last roommmate, and it meant helping her friend. Which is how she came to be carrying the last of May's boxes, plonking it down on the floor and brushing off her hands, a bit theatrically.

"Ta-da, all done."

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May wished she could say that a portal between two worlds showing up and connecting New York to some other place called Gotham was weird but... not in her life. It wasn't even weird that she'd made such a good friend. Maybe the weird part was that it ended up making her life a bit more normal?

She had a roommate now, one that she didn't have to hide her life from and got along so well with. It was just... nice. It was nice to have this normalcy that she hadn't had in a long time.

"We are officially roommates!" May said, thrusting her arms in the air in victory before flopping back onto the couch. It hadn't been physically difficult to move all of her stuff over but somehow she still felt exhausted. Apparently picking up your life and moving it somewhere else was tiring. Who knew?

She flopped down next to her with a sigh, crossing her legs and folding her arms behind her head. It was the way of things. Life changes, and all. She looked thoughtful for a moment.

"So, since we've got a whole box of your DVDs and stuff to unpack anyways, eats and a movie? There's a Thai place around the corner that's great. I mean, if you like Thai. There's a lot of choices!"

"Dinner and a movie, yes please," May said, flopping over until her head was in Babs' lap. Roommates could do that right, be pillows that helped pay the rent? May would totally be okay if Babs did that with her. She understood that she would need to actually get up for said dinner and movie but right now she was very comfy here.

"And Thai sounds amazing. I need so many carbs right now."

She patted her friend's head gently, understanding the tired. Plus her hair was short and it was just kinda funto pat at it a little.

"You got it. But I have some terrible news for you: you're going to have to sit up so I can get the menu."

Because she was the sort who still kept all the paper menus in a little basket over the fridge.

"And that's a question I never thought to ask - with all the super strength, do you just, y'know, eat more? Like, does it burn through quicker for you?"

May made a little happy sound when Babs patted her head. Head pats were Very Nice and she was grateful for it.

"That is some pretty awful news. And I would stay down here except I really am super hungry," she admitted. With an exaggerated groan she lifted herself up from her very comfortable position.

"And yeah, I have a faster metabolism than most people. A family pack of tacos is like... for a family of one for me. I promise to pull my weight in the food category though and won't snipe your leftovers or anything."

She crossed quickly to the fridge, returning with a menu and flopping down onto the couch again. She barely glanced at it before handing it over to May.

"Yeah, it's going to be the Peanut Sauce Chicken. I don't know why I bother to look. Some rice noodles as a side, maybe."

She was already getting out her phone, waiting for May to figure out her choices.

"Oh, no worries. I eat like a bird. Frankly, I'll invite the help sometimes. Today being an exception because every ounce of that peanutty chicken is mine and I will fight to the death over it."

"Oh, I want an order of the peanutty chicken too," May said, eyes wandering over the menu as she licked her lips. She could practically smell the food and it was making her more and more hungry. "And also some deep fried pork poppers and the coconut shrimp curry. Oh! Oh! And the beef stir fry."

May ducked her head a bit sheepishly at the sheer amount of food she was going to get. She probably wouldn't finish all of it right away but she was definitely feeling pretty hungry. "Sorry, worked up an appetite."

She laughed, waving that off.

"Hey, hey now, it's ok. You kinda moved into another dimension this morning. Sort of. It's a big change and your brain needs extra food to chew on."

She tapped away at her phone, placing the order online. "Ok, it saaaaays. Half an hour, roughly. So you won't have to suffer long, at least!

'Yes. Yes, because switching dimensions is very hungry work. I should know," May said with a nod. She liked that reasoning even if it suddenly made her feel that much more exhausted, which had her flopping back down on Babs.

"Do you have a movie you want to watch?"

She gently gave her friend's shoulder a pat, offering some sympathy.

"One of these days, you're going to have to tell me about that sort of thing - you've had a couple adventures that make mine look like choir practice. But as for a movie...hmm..."

"Something action-y. With cheesy, cheesy lines."

"I will," she said with a nod, giving a bit of a shiver at some of the memories. A lot of it was exciting but some of it was just... it had been violent for a lot of it and so many people had died. Now was not the time for those kinds of stories.

"Hmmmm, Die Hard? Even if it's not Christmas we can watch a Christmas movie, right?" she asked. Also this was a good way to find out where Babs stood on the whole "Die Hard is a Christmas Movie" deal.

That earned her a gentle squeeze. She understood. There'd been things she'd walked out of that at the time had chilled her to the bone. She knew May'd seen some things. And she'd be there to listen, when the time came.

"Ah, the spork of Christmas movies," she replied, with a grin. "I'm up for that. I mean, I'm going to do my best Gruber voice the whole time."

Gosh it was so nice to talk with someone who Got It. Or in this instance to not talk about it. Sometime it would probably be good to talk to Babs about some of the stuff she didn't really talk about as a sort of catharsis but not right now. But just knowing that option was there? It was amazing.

"I'm going to count to three..." she said, doing her best Hans Gruber impression. Which, to be honest, was really awful and she wouldn't blame Babs if she laughed at it. "Actually I'm just going to get up and get the movie."

Reluctantly (why did her friend have to be so comfortable to lay on?) she sat up and went over to her box of movies and bent over to rummage through them until she came up with Die Hard.

"Success!" she said, holding it up in triumph before putting it in the player and settling back down on the couch.

Oh, she did, snickering in a way that was not at all ladylike.

"That was just...oh gosh. Bur hurray for victory," she replied, punctuating the last by swirling her finger in the air.

Then she leaned over, adjusting to be cross-legged.

"So what truly embarrassing ones have you got? What secret, sappy romantic comedies or cheesy dinosaur movies are hiding at the bottom, I wonder?"

May didn't mind the snicker. It really had been an awful impression and she would have laughed if anyone else had made it.

"Definitely Where The Heart Is," she admitted, running her hands over her face. She didn't have many pleasures she felt guilty about but that was one of them. "It's just... it's bad. It's so bad in so many ways."

"It's so bad," she agreed, "but the cast in it is so perfect."

Her way of admitting that she'd watched it to, more than once.

"Yeah, so much secret cheesy. Since you're being so open, I'll admit that copies of Princess Diaries and Dirty Dancing are hiding out somewhere in my collection."

"Uhhhh, those are awesome though," May protested. Sure they were kind of old films in her world but her mom had made May watch them and while they were a little cheesy they were delightful in their own way. "There's nothing embarrassing at liking love stories or sweet romances."

"This? Right here? Is why you're moved in," she replied, with a nod, settling in for the movie to start.

"Sweet and cheesy is the best," she added, being the sort of person who didn't get to see it much in her usual day-to-day.

She was quiet for a moment. "I mean that, by the way. It's not just that you're not likely to leave a glass of soda in a dresser drawer over the summer. True story of roommate past."

"This is totally why," May agreed, leaning up against Babs. The other girl was nice and comfy and she was just feeling... relaxed. And normal. And she never got to feel either of those things, at least not for long. But Babs did a great job of making her feel that way. They would never be "normal" like most people but May felt like when they were together it felt normal to be a crime fighter.

"And I feel like your roommate expectations are set pretty low and I will try not to take advantage of that."

She put her arm around May and gave her a quick sort of combination of squeeze and a hug. Because that was the unspoken truth, wasn't it? A step outside their daily world. Which was full of danger, depravity, and villains who people did not understand found creative evils that no demon had ever thought up. They could talk about that.

But better yet? They didn't have to. They could just not think about it, not care about secret identity rules, or being caught wearing half their costume while brushing their teeth because they were dog-tired and had only been bothered to slide half-way out. Little things that meant everything.

"You're going to be fine. And I meant that, too. Glass of cola. Left in a dresser drawer for two months. It practically formed into a rock."

Oh that hug was so very nice. May could get used to this sort of thing. She wasn't so touched starved though that she thought it was just any touch. Babs just gave super good hugs. This was maybe the second best decision she'd ever made, right after the decision to become Spider-Girl. Speaking of good decisions, May shifted and snuggled back down so that her head was in Babs' lap again.

"The only rocks I will have in my dresser would be actual rocks, promise. Not that I have rocks in my dresser. Just normal dresser things in my dresser. Mostly."

She chuckled a little at that, resting her hand on May's shoulder as she settled in, letting the DVD load.

"I'm not going too object to any rocks, but that's a question: are you like me? Is there a dedicated superheroing drawer? I got this really neat old desk with a hidden drawer and I put everything in that."

May took Babs' hand and moved it from her shoulder to her head. Sorry Babs but you played yourself after the headpats earlier she is not going back to just shoulder touches right now.

"Uh. Not really? I have one uniform and two web shooters that I take with me just about everywhere. That's the entirety of my superhero stuff."

She was a little bit surprised by that. She'd thought there'd be backup costumes, at least. Ooof, superhero privilege - life is a lot easier when you're backed by billions, even when you low-tech it as much as she does.

Her hand stayed where it was put, however.

"Well now I know what you're getting for your birthday," she replied. "Backup suits. And whatever else I can surprise you with. But definitely backup suits."

"Back up suits would be amazing," May admitted. she could probably get one if she had to but she wasn't completely sure how. Was there a superhero tailor somewhere? She really needed to get on that sort of thing.

"Just so long as you don't try to add a cape. No capes."

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Aside: the coke glass in a drawer is a true roommate story a friend of mine had to deal with.

So gross

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