Risky Business (Bow)

(Reference: Click)

February 14th. A day for Romance, a day that no-one should spend alone. Unfortunately for Manic, he would be alone this Valentine ’s Day, and instead would be spending the evening back at the Tower where he would be the one responsible for dealing with any distress calls. But fortunately for Manic, he had no problem being alone whilst his comrades were out enjoying the romantic holiday. In fact, he was going to enjoy it. He had the Tower to himself, he could do anything… ANYTHING.

Enter the common room of the Titan Tower. On the dining surfaces were pizza boxes, mostly empty, but not all; with several bottles of Kola scattered between them. On the couch were a few comics, open to a random page. On the television screen was the pause menu for a video game entitled 'Mario the Hedgehog', with several games scattered along the floor with the controller balancing on the couch, holding on for dear life. That's when the stereo would turn on; and the first few notes were heard of ‘Old Time Rock and Roll’ by Bob Seger. The next thing you knew, Manic would appear; sliding across the floor into the room, back to the television and looking down to the floor. His attire was different, sporting white socks, underpants and a half buttoned shirt. In hand, he held a hair brush (Probably 'borrowed' from one of the girls). The next few notes played, and Manic spun around, coming to life. He started to mime the lyrics of the song as he danced his way about the room; casually pretending to play the guitar at certain points. He was even leaping onto the table as he sung, and at one point slid on his knees to perform the Guitar solo. Gee whizz! It was such a relief to know that no-one would possibly interrupt, witness or speak of this event.

There was another on the opposite side of town, deep in the forests surrounding Jump City, that was also alone for this Holiday. Though she was never just by herself. She spent most of the morning baking at the orphanage and giving goodies to each little boy and girl. Then she made her way to the homeless shelter for the afternoon and cooked a scrumptious meal for everyone. Finally, she baked a batch of cookies and brownies and cupcakes and set off for her last home.

When she made her way to the door, she paused, wondering if they had taken her out of the system yet. She slowly put her hand to the scanner and sighed in relief when it didn't try and blow her up. The door opened to reveal her worst nightmare. They still needed her. It was a pig sty in here! She rolled her eyes and took a few steps in before hearing the music and tilting her head. Then came the main attraction. The boy came skidding in, barely clothed which made Bow go wide eyed in and of itself. But what came next... He was dancing around to a wonderfully old song and air guitaring. She put her hand on her mouth to conceal herself from making noise, but when he went to his knees, she couldn't contain it anymore.

Loud laughter would fill the room as Bow finally burst. All of the lights in the entire would flicker on for a moment before going out again and it would take a minute for her to finally calm down, though she was still giggling. "S-sorry for interrupting... Umm... I'm Rain Bow, a former Titan... Would you like a cookie??" She smiled brightly at him, still trying to completely stop her laughter as she held out the tray of goodies.

Everything was going so pleasant, the evening was progressing just as nicely as Manic had hoped. Complete isolation, a calm and peaceful atmosphere where by he could do whatever he wanted without fear of what society may think. It was a pure innocent, private moment. But when Manic heard the laughter of someone else, it spooked him. The Speedster was startled, falling over from where he was sat on his knees to hit the floor with his back. Then, he raised his head slightly to see Bow, a former Titan. Uh oh. "Ummm...".

Caught off guard, that was the only response which Manic could conjure up. In a blur, the Speedster would be gone from sight as he retreated to his room with haste. But he was back momentarily, remembering the offer of a cookie. "Thanks!".  Manic said, saluting Bow before taking a cookie and then disappearing in a flash once more, heading to his room in order to change into his usual attire. He returned at only a few seconds later, stood near the television monitor, near to the video game console. Now to play it cool. "Heyyyy... Bow... Yang's friend right? She's... ...not around, at the moment...". Manic would say before taking a bite out of the cookie. Twas mighty good.

As the boy fell on his butt, the girl laughed again and bent over a little. Then he was gone in the blink of an eye and she looked confused. Before she was even able to say anything, he was back to grab a cookie. And again, before she could even open her mouth, he was gone. A speedster, huh? He was back and leaning against the TV within the moment, trying to seem aloof. Like he wasn't just in his boxers and skidding around like an absolute goofball. Bow smiled and then pouted when he said that Yang wasn't there. But, that meant... "Are you here all by yourself?... On Valentine's Day!?" That was no good. No one should be alone on such a happy holiday! She walked over to him and held out her hand, smiling sweetly as she made a decision without even pausing to ask him. "What's your name, Mister Speed? And why did you stop your wonderful performance??" She giggled again and couldn't help but start to clean up a little as she set the cookies down on the table.

"Just... call me Manic, I guess". Though honestly, Manic didn't mind what others called him - so long as they were of the female kind. Perhaps he should've stayed quiet, questioned her to see how she got into the Tower, but... it was sort of an accomplishment. He had been led to believe the place was a fortress, a high tech super battle station. Raising his right arm, Manic scratched the back of his head as he spoke, a smile present across his face. "All the Titans are out... not sure where, on a few dates, perhaps? Buuut... someone's got to stay behind, be on standby if anything goes wrong...".

A slight grumble, Manic mumbled to himself. "I pulled the short straw". He was the unlucky one. Of course, Manic didn't have a date, but he would never admit it. He always acted so confident, so smooth around the female titans. Not having a date would be embarrassing. "Anyway, I'm used to having girls giggle away at me but... yeah, that... that wasn't one of my proudest moments...".

"Nice to meet you, Manic!" She couldn't stop herself as she walked around, picking up trash and straightening everything up. This place was a mess and it made her question one of the reasons she left. Did they still need her around here for this. She sighed before being pulled back into reality by Manic's voice. Turning to him, she couldn't help but giggle softly when he said he pulled the short straw.

Then she thought about it. No one should be alone on Valentine's Day. Sure, she was going to be if she hadn't met him but, that was different, somehow... The brilliant idea came to her and she grinned at her plan. "I'll stay with you then! And we can have a fun Valentine's Day together! It'll be awesome!" She then thought about it, completely ignoring/not hearing his comment about his proudest moment or something, and smiled again, tilting her head in curiosity. "What do you like to do for fun, Manic?? Besides dancing around in your boxers while singing awesome songs..." *giggle*

"Do you have a preferred song you would like to sing along to? I'm sure Hotwire or Kale have some spare boxers around he-". Nope. That was perhaps the worst suggestion possible. As if a girl would even go along with that idea, who knows where those spare boxers have been anyway?! "I don't know, honestly. I'm... usually out, running around. This is a rare occasion where I am actually here". Going out provided many more possibilities. Manic could do whatever he wants, go wherever he wants. Spend a day on the sunny beaches of Spain, or enjoy the cuisine of Italy. The possibilities were endless. "What do you wanna do? ...I've got an express ticket to almost anywhere in the world". His feet. The ticket is his feet.

Bow giggled at the idea and then pictured herself wearing boxers and singing along side of Manic, which caused her to blush a bit before having to shake away thoughts that came after. She then looked back at him and nodded as he explained that he wasn't usually here, which made since considering he was a speedster. He could probably go anywhere in the world and still be back before dinner. Now that was a power she wished she had.

Then he gave her the opportunity to go anywhere in the world with him and she went wide eyed, thinking of all the possibilities and all the fun they could have. But, then responsibility struck her and she sighed, shaking her head and looking up at him regretfully. "If you're supposed to guard the Tower then you need to stay here and do that... How about we just rent a movie or something?? Maybe we can do some karaoke with our pants on... *giggle* She smiled happily and nodded at her own idea.