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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"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."

"Hey, you're mostly preaching to the choir. That's why mine's third-length," she replied.

And the superhero tailor around Gotham was just 'Alfred.' Whom she had urges to introduce May to, for reasons she was beginning to figure out.

"Besides, a cape would hide all your wall-crawling awesomeness, and we can't have that."

"Yeah and it would make me way too easy to pull off of walls," May said. She still wasn't sure just how the Bats avoided being grabbed by their capes all the time but she supposed that was part of the training. Plus they were able to glide pretty far which was nice. Not as nice as web swinging through.

"Or at least hang onto as I crawled. I'm pretty tough to pull off of walls."

There were two primary factors involved in them being successful with them. The first was that trying to grab the capes brought people into punching and/or kicking range of some of the finest trained martial artists on Earth. Secondly? Hers snapped off.

"It's honestly so cool to watch," she admitted. Not least because of how easy she made it look. "You doing that, I mean."

It occurred to her, vaguely, that they weren't really bothering with the movie. That was fine.

May was having a way better time just talking to Babs than she would watching the movie. It felt good to just talk with someone like she hadn't been able to in a long time. She could really, really get used to this.

"Well just for you I will wall crawl all around the apartment since you like it so much," She said with a nod. It was the least she could do of course.

She giggled.

"Best thing. I get to say to my roommate, 'hey you! Get off the ceiling!' Plus we'll never have to worry about me needing to get a step ladder for anything."

The freedom was nice, as she leaned her head back, fingertips starting to unconsciously work through May's hair.

"Don't you just acrobatic your way up the wall or cupboard to get what you want all Jackie Chan stylllllllleeee," she said, voice trailing off just a bit as Babs started running her fingers through May's hair. That felt SO GOOD.

That was a fun reaction. And short hair, she was thinking, worked better on women. It was nicer, for a start. And fluffier.

"Nah, when I'm off hours, I'm off hours. Then again, I can't crawl on walls. But it's a legacy thing...you may not believe it, but I was a total klutz before I found gymnastics."

May let out a noise that was a little like a purr as Babs kept playing with her hair, shifting happily in her lap. This was the life. Why wasn't she born a cat?

"Really? You'd never guess it watching you now," May said. And she watched Babs move A LOT. She was all graceful and fluid.

"Practice makes perfect, I guess. But yeah, I always thought I was the dorkiest girl at St. Mary's Gotham High. Ponytail, glasses, freckles like you wouldn't believe."

She paused for a second.

"And no, you may not see pictures, I have buried the evidence like a LexCorp conspiracy."

"I would never ask to see them because then it would only be fair that you'd see mine and that is not happening," she said. Not that she was particularly embarrassed about them but who did look good in high school?

"Besides," she said primly. "Some people happen to like freckles."

More to the point, who liked how they looked years after the fact?

"Now that's some good diplomacy. And yeah, still have a few bunches, hidden away. Huh." She looked thoughtful for a moment. "Have it all stashed away, come to think of it. Hairbands from when I used to wear my hair up, glasses from before I went all contacts...even kept the uniform somewhere. Because I am a massive pack rat."

"Okay. We are going to have a retro night where we dress like our high school selves and watch movies we did then. And we are going to not care about how we look because we're with a friend who won't judge us and it will be fun and cathartic," she said with a small nod of her head. Also she'd get to see Babs in glasses and with her hair up and that would be super cute. "You can see me in my semi-grunge look."

She laughed, trying to picture it.

"Well, fine, you'll get me from my Catholic School days. We'll make a fun contrast."

She looked up at a knocking sound.

"Ah-ha, c'est le food."

"Oh I can picture it now," May said, wondering if Babs' outfit would be as cliche as pop culture made Catholic school girls seem.

At the knock on the door she groaned and pushed herself into a sitting position and then stood up. She wasn't happy about having to get out of her friend's lap but neither of them could get the food if she didn't move.

"Coming!" she called out to the door as she grabbed some cash and headed to the door. After paying for the food she set it down on the nearest counter. "Ready to dig in?"

She ran up behind her, peering over her shoulder.

"Heck yes I am," she said, actually rubbing her stomach. "I could eat at least half of a horse. You, I think, would easily eat the whole horse."

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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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