Newbies. Gemini and Siamese knew how to be
Newbies, capital 'N' and everything. They were
Newbies at the foster shelter after their parents died 5 years ago; they were
Newbies at their first proper foster home; they were
Newbies at each of the three state-funded boarding schools they had been sent to; they were
Newbies to the unofficial gangs that the homeless and destitute had formed in order to seize a better chance at survival; and now, they were
Newbies to the most peculiar group of all, even including Hobo Joe and the Bolo Cholo's. Being a
Newbie was easy; you kept your head down, you agreed with the majority vote, you avoided rocking the boat, and you didn't take apart the laptop of the most popular girl in school to create a mini heating-laser ray so you could maintain coffee temperature during Gem's midnight episodes.
Man. The twins could
use a coffee. Their erstwhile guardians - Nightwing and Zatanna - were not big believers in the artificially-assisted wake-up. Shame, really - A few minutes with a coffee grinder and Sia could whip up a
mean cup of mud. The twins observed their company, an odd assortment of young adults from various creeds and backgrounds and demi-human races and
different planets, and did their best, as street-urchin metahumans with a long history of accidental bomb-making, to fit in. They did not do a particularly impressive job - but they did
enough as necessary to not stand up or be obnoxious.
Yet.They were bunking. The twins didn't mean to sound derogatory or to sandbag the idea; they were not huge fans of the educational system as it stood, having been put through the wringer already and preferring homeless living to the intolerant, oppressive and authoritarian rule of mistresses and professors. But the mall seemed so
trite and
cliche, to say nothing of the one who had spawned the idea - Karlie, social media personified, as if her power was mental interface with Instagram.
Still, the twins preferred freedom to schedule, and they had had plenty of schedule under the care of their mentors. Sia nudged Gem, who looked up from where she had been idly wrapping wire around her fingers, interlooping the copper before expertly unravelling and starting around the other hand.
"Mall?" Sia asked, and Gem raised a single eyebrow.
"Coffee." She answered, stating what was on both of the girls' mind.
"Sure, but, coffee at the mall. Else you and I are stuck in class all day by ourselves.""Oh, man, we were going to class? Shit, Sia, you gotta tell me these things before I commit."Sia's turn to raise an eyebrow.
"...sorry Gem. Guess it slipped my mind.""Get a hold on that, S. You gotta watch out for us." Gem pocketed the wire, but had somehow produced a small, charred fragment of metal that she now flipped over her knuckles.
"Let's hit the mall."Sia sighed, but smiled slightly as she did so. Somehow, after all this time, she still found Gem endearing.
"Yes. Lets."