The streets of Fandom [Saturday evening]

[weldedtomyspine]

Dinner had been nice. It occurred to Jaime as he and Momoko walked along the street that they didn't go out nearly often enough. It was just so much easier to stay in and watch DVDs and eat junk food. They'd sort of fallen into a routine. And... while that was fun, he didn't want to... just do that.

So they'd had a real date. And he'd even let himself get talked into taking Momoko shopping for a 'real' cowboy hat. And then boots. And a belt.

The kind that didn't make her look like a tourist.

"See?" he explained, arm linked through hers. "Much better than that tourist-y thing you got in El Paso."

Comments

[heromaniac]

Momoko squeezed his arm at the reminder of her blunder, then tug him close enough that her new hat went askew. She was still beaming, happy inside and out, both because of the date and the new additions to her wardrobe.

"Really?!" Yay! "Thank you again, Jaime! They're totally awesome! I mean, the hat is heavier, and not pink? But totally I love it. And that was a fun place! Is that really what America used to be like?"

[weldedtomyspine]

Jaime laughed. "Real cowboy hats aren't pink!"

"And... I'm pretty sure that's not what America was like at all... Except maybe in, like, terrible movies or something."

[heromaniac]

"Why not? Pink is a totally awesome colour for a hat! What did cowgirls wear? Yellow?" She reached up to fix her hat. "What about it was different? There were horses and cowboys, it was dusty, and we passed a saloon and a stagecoach!"

A steam-powered stagecoach, mind you.

[weldedtomyspine]

"A steam-powered stagecoach," Jaime pointed out.

[heromaniac]

"Well, maybe they just haven't invented gasoline, yet?" She offered, chuckling.

[weldedtomyspine]

"They definitely haven't."

[heromaniac]

"Or maybe they decided that using natural power was totally better?" Momoko had to laugh at his emphasis. "It was weird being surrounded by all that ticking and fizzing and whirring all the time."

[weldedtomyspine]

"How is steam power any more natural than gas?" Jaime asked with a smirk as he bumped her shoulder, tilting her hat just a bit more.

[heromaniac]

"Hey!" She pouted and let go of his arm, handing him the bag with her regular shoes in it so she could fiddle with the hat properly. "Well, it doesn't ruin the environment as much?" Momoko suggested.

"There!" Hat was on properly! "Well, except for that annoying noise everything makes. I can totally still hear it! Like it's right beside me."

And suddenly her hat was tumbling over her head. "Hey?" She looked up and saw a strange metal... thing about the size of a cat, hanging near her head, some sort of leg pulling away from from where her hat had been sitting. She squinted a moment, then screamed when she recognized it.

Totally heroically, of course.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! BUG!"

[weldedtomyspine]

Jaime spun in place, looking behind them.

"What? Where?"

He didn't see anything!

[heromaniac]

Would it help if she grabbed him and shoved him in front of her, face to face with the HUGE spider made of shiney bits that had TOUCHED HER HAT?

Caused she was trying to do that right now.

[weldedtomyspine]

That would help. At least with the finding the spider thing.

"AH!" Jaime exclaimed, jumping back pretty much on top of Momoko.

[heromaniac]

"SEE?! BUG! BUG BUG BUG! EW EW EW EW EW!" she didn't like bugs, if he remembered. "AND IT TOUCHED MY HAT!"

Which translated very obviously to 'kill it kill it kill it kill it'.

At least in her mind.

[weldedtomyspine]

Now that he'd jumped back, Jaime had a better view. And now that he'd calmed down a bit, he could actually listen to the Scarab's analysis.

"It's not a bug," he frowned. "It's just like... a robot. Sort of."

[heromaniac]

Momoko frowned, leaning up on tiptoes to peer over his shoulder. "A robot?" Okay, so now she was slightly interested. "Who would make a robot in the shape of a disgusting bug?"

Oh.

"Sorry, Scarab"

[weldedtomyspine]

Jaime snorted. "He's not offended."

Pause.

"And he says there's more than one..." Jaime started looking around.

[heromaniac]

"More than one?!" Momoko reached down to pick up her hat, but as she reached for it, it skittered a few inches away. She blinked and went after it, a smaller spider skittered out from underneath it. "EH?!"

As she picked up the hat, the small spider turned and stabbed her with a leg.

"OW! IT BIT ME!?!"

[weldedtomyspine]

"I don't think they bite," Jaime said, just as the one hanging above them dropped onto his back and started stabbing him, too.

[heromaniac]

"Of course they d..." She turned and saw the one on his back and growled. "Hey! Mine!" She tried to punch the spider, but only ended up with a sore hand. "OW! Okay, now I hate stupid bugs even more!" She grabbed hold of the bigger spider and tried to pull it off him.

[weldedtomyspine]

"AH!" Jaime yelled as the metal dug into his skin. "It's stabbing me!"

[heromaniac]

She could kind of see that, yes. "Stupid.... bug.... Let.... go!"

The little spider then chose that moment to skittle over and start climbing up her leg, which she only noticed once it got past her boot and started stabbing her to keep purchase. "OW?!" She kept tugging on the larger spider as she hopped on one leg and tried to shake the smaller spider off.

Perfect time, don't you think, for more to start shooting as they began emerging from behind... oh, everywhere.

[weldedtomyspine]

"That does it," Jaime snapped, armoring up. "Try stabbing through that!"

[heromaniac]

Momoko, unfortunately, was still tugging when he armored up, which meant she went flying backwards as the spider came away, a bullet bouncing off its shiny metal as she tossed it away. "A little warning would totally be awesome?" she sighed.

Her sigh, though, was totally for show, since she was more excited than upset. She reached for the spider on her leg and pulled it off, then grabbed for the power compact in the holster on her thigh and quickly transformed, herself.

[weldedtomyspine]

"Sorry!" Blue Beetle said a bit sheepishly.

"Still not used to armoring up with other people around."

[heromaniac]

Blossom chuckled, floating over and kissing his cheek - "I totally get it, remember?" before grabbing hold of his arm in an attempt to pull them both behind a building and away from the spiders that were actually shooting at them. "It took me over a year before I let anyone here see."

... had she ever told him that?