#[[Grumpy Pirate: Rose x Andi]

[symbioteburnout]

either 😚 for a kiss from my muse! or 😳 instead to give MY muse a kiss! Dealers choice. (for rosie)

-||[Send 😚 for a kiss from my muse!]||-

[[Send 😳 instead to give MY muse a kiss!]]

@fatummortem

A lot of unexpected things happened today, like Mitch going out of his way to cover up all mention of Valentine's day with the phrase 'Singles Awareness Day' (his partner must have dumped him), and then Rose came to snatch Andi up and take her on an impromptu lunchbreak.

It was the middle of the day, so clearly skinny dipping was out of the question, maybe they were hitting up a bar, did they even serve booze this early?

Leaving behind a very flustered and possibly jealous Mitch, Andi put her coat on and stepped outside with Rose, headed towards her bike. Just as she was about to pose the question of 'where are we headed?', she felt herself being swiftly pulled towards her companion and the warm touch of a woman's lips against her own.

Funny, they'd done crime fighting together, they'd broken rules, they'd seen each other naked, but they didn't kiss that often. Was it because it was valentine's day? Or was Rosie just in an affectionate mood. Either way, Andi soon found herself kissing her back, holding her tightly.

"Mmm." Andi soon broke the kiss, cheeks tinting a deep pink, looking into Rose's lone baby-blue. "You ask all the ladies out like this, or am I just special?"

[symbioteburnout]

Pirate​:

       Rose is definitely taken off guard by that phrasing, it made things weird. Why make it weird by just saying you’re all they needed without context? She doubts she’ll ever understand why some people say those types of things. Absently she pulls free a cigarette.

      “ Good for you…?” Yep definitely weird now. Taking a long drag from her cigarette, she eyes the other woman with her one baby blue eye. Rose pauses at the lack of context of Andi’s words once again while exhaling, having to push the rest of the smoke out after a few seconds. “Andi, you’ll have to be more specific. I can’t agree without details.”

Could she have phrased it better, definitely, it definitely took a lot more than that to get Rose flustered it seemed, maybe it was because the other girl had a knack for getting under Andi’s skin that Andi just wanted a way to take a shot back. Seemed she wasn’t fazed by a lot of things.

She pulled a package from behind the counter. “Got an emergency last-minute delivery to make. This was supposed to go to a customer’s house, but it was delivered to the shop by mistake, he’s expecting it in the next 30 minutes and I kinda can’t leave the store right now. Wouldn’t be fast enough on webs either. I’m guessing you’re not too concerned with traffic laws. Not expecting you to do this for free, I’d pay for the gas or if you wanna charge a courier’s fee? Or do you charge your own rate for odd jobs?”

[symbioteburnout]

@fatummortem​

“Not the first time I’ve come here late at night just to chill out. Not like Mitch ever knows, pretty sure none of the security cameras in this place actually work.” The alarms however, did, so Andi had quickly turned those off before she and Rose ventured into the small music store.

The shudders at the front of the store were still drawn, the ‘closed’ sign giving off a slight glow, besides, it was after midnight, not like anyone would actually try to get into the store now. “You got your pick of music, or if you want, you can give one of these bad boys a try.” She gestured to the guitars hanging on the walls. “Just gotta wipe ‘em down afterwards, Mitch hates seeing fingerprints on them.”

[symbioteburnout]

Pirate:

      Rose shrugs at the mention that it isn’t a dinner topic, her mind automatically going to it being something hard to talk about, normally hard to take or traumatic. Then again a lot of things could be considered all those things at once. Rose herself doesn’t normally have to go into her past, she doesn’t like it when it’s brought up. Normally with that judging tone people can have, even when they know all the facts about the serum. “ Right, don’t ask. ” Least that’s what she thinks that means, everyone is complicated in their own way. Too much for her to keep track of in her own opinion. It’s easier to just go with it instead of reading between the lines. The mention of Labs could be trouble in itself, least from what Rose has seen from that suit. “ I’m not the squeamish type. ” 

      “ From the different names it sounds like going from Scream to Silence was extreme. ” It’s not even a question, just a statement of observation put out there for Andi to take in whatever manner she wishes to.

        A frown flickers over her lips before she pulls herself away from the instruments, moving over to lean against whatever surface was closest to the other, lightly nudging her. The whole bringing up targets on backs answered in it’s own way. “ Do they die? ” Not really the best way to ask, but everyone dies. She doesn’t really focus too much on the death part, because a lot of them also come back. Sometimes it’s never the ones you actually want to. “ The way you said that makes me think of one of those really bad horror movies with a serial killer. Y’know the one where they have that trope hysterical woman, tripping over herself while she just looses articles of clothing. Guess it’s nicer to see than some dude pissing himself. ” Which is actually more accurate but she doesn’t point that out.

       Rose doesn’t take the phone far, actually she slings an arm absently over Andi’s shoulder, pressing into the other’s back as she looks at the app, her chin gently resting on the girls shoulder. Shifting slightly if Andi still tries to get to her back or shift around when Rose randomly & casually goes into her space. Letting out a light whistle when she notices what Andi’s ordering. “ Have a harsh metabolism? ” 

      Girl could just want to eat, but it reminds her of a few Speedsters. Normally when she sees Andi eat it’s small things or she rushes it, so she hasn’t actually noticed how much she could eat when she wants to. 

      Rose flips through the app, occasionally glancing back over to the instruments as she figures out what she wants to eat. She doesn’t order as much as Andi does, but it’s close. She tilts the phone for the other woman to see. “ I can grab some cash from my bike. ”

      “ Mmm? ” Rose pulls her eye away from the instruments to peek her one baby blue eye at Andi, tilting her head slightly just to look at her. “ My brothers. Not too sure if Grant has a passion for the piano but he plays. Joey loves the guitars, when he can pull himself away from his paints. ”

Was it to spare Rose the gory details of what happened in that Alchemax cell? Or because Andi didn’t want to talk about the experience. It honestly could’ve been a bit of both. Additionally, the goth wasn’t sure if Rose was the type who didn’t like to talk about work when they were ‘off the clock’. “It... it’s not like that it’s just. I mean, I wouldn’t wanna kill your appetite.” She said she wasn’t squeamish, but really, there was no other way to phrase what happened other than ‘big monster breaks into my jail cell and gores me through the gut with a giant spike’.

She was surprised when Rose slung an arm around her and pulled her in close, Andi expected herself to instinctively stiffen up, but instead found herself strangely relaxed, like Rose breaking her personal bubble had cast aside most of if not all her inhibitions. Rose just had this way of knocking down the barriers she put up, be it getting her to talk, or go skinny dipping. Andi was more or less putting herself on display for her companion. “It... it was an ordeal, yeah... Scream was dead, and I was dying. Then my dead Coach comes back from the dead, combined Screams remains with part of the Anti-Venom symbiote and used it to save my life. Silence was the one to pick their new name, to be honest, it sounds better than ‘Anti-Scream’.”

Her next question, in response to Andi’s ‘condition’ of if Rose really wanted to stick around with her, this ‘curse’ that seemed to follow Andi everywhere, the curse of Carnage, with the exception of a few cases, the monster had taken everything she’d ever cared about. “Yeah... Dad died the night I became Mania... then Mania was taken from me... then my Aunt...Coach too, he’s just one of those lucky ones who ‘got better’.”

She couldn’t help but lean more into Rose as if seeking some kind of support. They’d done a few things that constituted ‘dating’, but Andi still wasn’t sure if she and Rose were girlfriends yet, or simply close friends. Close friends who’ve shared some pretty intimate secrets, occasionally kissed, and seen each other naked. It seemed the Ravager had decided to inject some much needed levity when noticing how Andi wanted her burger stacked, the frown and dour expression turning into a wry smirk and a wink. “Oh yeah, I’m eating for two, remember?” She playfully rubbed her own belly. “Just so we’re clear, not pregnant, the symbiote’s just super ravenous sometimes.”

Nodding in agreement over how to cover the cost of the meal, Andi’s attention was soon brought to the one baby blue and the girl talking about her brothers. Andi was an only child, she often wondered what it was like to have siblings. “Bring them around some time, I’d be happy to set ‘em up.”

[symbioteburnout]

Pirate:

Rose sticks her tongue out right back, with an almost bashful expression that soon turns playfully bratty.

She knew Rose was hiding a bratty side, it was cute seeing her act out this way, also nice to see there was at least something that seemingly embarrassed her. “You’re cute, ya know that?” Andi continued to tease, not knowing her own pale cheeks turning a shade of pink.

[symbioteburnout]

Pirate​:

         “ There are choices but have you ever defaced a superhero headquarters before? ”

“I’ve tagged some mob boss’ house, but other than that, no.”

[symbioteburnout]

Pirate​:

      When Andi doesn’t respond to Rose’s comments about hell binding contracts, she lets it go. It’s not really something she knew all that much about. Her only dealings with a demon was used as a battery source to bring one back to life & those that involved an old teammate Raven. Neither insistence did she actually bargain with any of them. Fight & try to kill, most definitely.

      Rose blinks at the other woman when she talks again, her face turning blank in the process. Wait, she’s serious? She’d just given a bullshit response to that question, her jokes normally insight annoyance in people so it takes her a few seconds. Silently trying to figure a way out of it that didn’t involve her pissing someone off. Which is still on the table, who knows with her, but when she opens her mouth to spew some random assed comment Andi’s going on. Using logic while she does so. 

      It causes Rose to pause, her hand raising to lightly scratch just above her scared eyebrow. Is this how it is when people hang out with Rose? Weird.

      The moment of Andi’s big reveal Rose starts silently laughing, it may even make her face a little odd with that scar going through her empty eye-socket. The laughter actually began to make noise by the time the words were out of Andi’s mouth. “ You’re so lucky it’s your birthday.” Her voice is thick with laughter. “ I demand time at the junkyard for this.” The laughter finally drifts off as she smirks, her one baby blue eye glinting with amusement. “ A few hours with random acts of violence will do me some good.”

      Pushing herself off the side of the pool, Rose splashes at Andi once more as she moves closer with a quick ease. “Thelma & Louise. & if you breathe a word of this to anyone I hope you learn how to hide the bodies.”

She did laugh when Rose seemingly went along with their little game of naming their breasts, a laugh that was soon followed with a shriek as once again, the merc splashed her. God damn, she was never prepared for that. Silence had wanted to step in and get a few shots in at Rose but... Andi didn’t want any accidents. Last thing she wanted was for her symbiote to go too far and ruin the evening by almost drowning the merc.

Well, she knew by this point that overthinking things wouldn’t get Rose hit by any splashes, so best to just splash about and hope she gets at least one good shot in before the to called it quits and went to the junkyard. Skinny dipping and random acts of violence? This was shaping up to be the best birthday ever it seemed.

“Don’t worry!” She finally manages to splash her, at least she hoped she did. “You secret is safe with us and the girls.” There’s a shit eating grin on the goth’s face, it had been far too long since she’d made one of those.

She felt Silence prodding at the back of her mind, questioning why she and Rose would spend so much time getting wet, only to go somewhere where the pair may wind up filthy. Seems as though unlike Scream, Andi was going to have to educate Silence on the concept of ‘fun’. Her purple hair matted, her body drenched, she moved to try and swim alongside Rose, figure out the girl’s next move. Would the swim continue, or were the two bound for the dump? Would there at least be time for a shower in between, had to wash the chlorine out...

“But seriously, thanks for this.”

[symbioteburnout]

Pirate​:

    “ No need to get kinky & bring tentacles into this.” She deadpans, digging for out a cigarette as she watches the civvie standing there in shock. Rose looks to Andi thoughtfully. “ Can you catch a car with it?” She’s curious, she’s never met someone with a hairdo that’s more useful than a pocket knife.

    “ It…she? …Silence doesn’t reform with your thoughts?”

“Never really thought of it that way, guess Scream had more of a personality than Mania, and by extension there’s still a little Scream left in Silence.” She thought it over, it was strange that, despite Silence being a whole new Symbiote, albeit born through the fusion of Scream’s remains.

“I could web up cars and slow them down, not sure if I could actually lift one up though, Silence makes me strong, just not HULK strong.” And now there were paramedics examining the pulpy remains of the purse snatcher. “Um... maybe we should take this conversation someone else? Want me to give you a ride?”

[symbioteburnout]

Pirate:

     Gives the grumpy one a look, there’s amusement in that one baby blue eye really there is. Andi just has to look for it & Rose crinkles her nose at her.

She caught it, if only for a moment, she playfully winks at her and also sticks her tongue out.

[symbioteburnout]

fatummortem​:

Gives the cute goth a raspberry on the cheek instead.

Lets out a surprised yelp but then gets the pirate back with another raspberry to the cheek!

[symbioteburnout]

Pirate​:

     Rose considers those words, it was easy enough to see where Andy is coming from. Kind of. It had been drilled into the ex-assassin, at least to respect the identities of the heroes she knew, it almost came second nature to her. Holding the names in even around people she trusts. Just for the fact that hero may not trust them. Then again, the people who held their identities the tightest to their chests were normally those within the Bat family. For them at times it seems like it’s a religion, or at least that’s how Rose saw, their desperation to hold onto their personal lives & keep them separate, as. 

    Rose shrugs at the mention of being in a government database, she’s been in it since before she even wore a suit. Before she even had a codename. She doesn’t really see that as something to factor in. Though the government wasn’t as annoying as idiot assassins. She doesn’t think Andi has to worry about those, at least they better stay out of her personal business or she’d have to start killing them slower.

    “ I don’t have one, but I know those who do. It could be handy, if you end up getting something to lose?” Well she has a codename, not that it wasn’t linked to her name or anything. 

        “ Alchemax thing? Should I ask? ”

    “ Is this a bad time to mention my family? Mainly the fact it’s connected to Deathstroke? Insane assassin, pisses off everyone. Contracts & canon fodder galore? Or should we ignore that neon sign that may come about further down the line? ” Honestly she’s happy to ignore that red flag, if it wasn’t such a constant thorn in her side. She trusts her brothers & not mom, no reason to warn Andi about them, but Slade? Definitely. “ What’s that? Scare Mitch into doing his job? ” It may be hard to see the fact Rose is teasing, about Mitch at least.

    Rose quietly moves towards the instruments on display, nothing she’s into playing as she mentioned before. But her brother Joey might find himself loving one of them. Rose wouldn’t be surprised if he already knew how to play them. He was the more artistic one in the family. 

    Rose blinks her one baby blue eye & looks over to Andi, a curious look filling her eye as she thinks about it & shrugs a few seconds later. “ For me? Anything. If you want to drink a burger might be safer. Well, if you get it loaded, the alcohol won’t hit you as hard.”

To talk about the ‘Alchemax thing’ or not? Really, they were having such a pleasant chat, Andi didn’t want to bring up the story of how she got hauled off by the Guardsmen, stuffed in a quarantine chamber like she was carrying the plague, had her cell broken into by a Carnage possessed Phage, and then gored on a massive spike. True, it was that incident that led her to becoming Silence but... eh, for now, spare Rose the gory details, maybe after a few shots of Jack had loosened her lips.

“It’s... basically how I went from Scream to Silence. There was this whole thing at one of their labs in New York. Not exactly a dinner table topic.”

She wanted to fire back with a tease about getting something or someone to lose. It was no secret that Rose had begun to grow on her. Did Rose feel the same? Hard to tell, she was a difficult person to read some times. Probably wouldn’t appreciate Andi digging into her business. But if Andi was looking to seriously pursue anything with Rose beyond the odd Skinny Dip date, it was clear she would need to know what she was getting into. “I mean... if I were looking for anything to lose... they’d have to be someone who could handle the fact I nearly get mulched by Carnage at least once a year, and also be used to having a target on their back just for knowing me. People who get to close to me... they don’t last long.”

At the mention of burgers, Andi had a place in mind, a local shop that was open late, a place she much preferred to any of the fast food or major restaurant chains. A place you could definitely load your burger up however you preferred it. Loading the order page, she and listening to Silence on just what to get (she was eating for two), she held her phone out to Rose so she could place her own order. “Pick your poison.”

Once her phone was handed off to her companion, Andi slid one hand into her pocket while the other held the shopping bag with the music in it. She’d seen Rose looking at the instruments on display. Mitch had some guitars out of the floor, his collectible (aka the more expensive ones) hung on a rack behind the counter. Additionally there were some electronic keyboards, and a drum set.

“Know someone who’s looking for a ‘new toy’?” She asked, she recalled Rose saying she wasn’t really into playing, although she could be looking to start too.

[symbioteburnout]

Pirate:

      “ Hold on.” Rose gives Andi a confused grin as her one baby blue eye looks over to her searching. “ You both don’t & do care about your secret identity?” That was.. gutsy. At least how Rose saw it. A lot of heroes didn’t want to give that part up. At least the thieves might not know the difference, but they’d know someone in a suit beat them up & during trail her turning them in would be noticed. She never really had a choice in the matter, bushlegers knew who she was. With or without the mask. So did the heroes. Hell even the government knew who she was. Some of them were aware just how many weapons she carries because they’ve seen her disarm.

      A light amused snort slips out at that, her only baby blue eye brightening with amusement for a few seconds. “ Do you enjoy playing dirty?” She’s not judging, if anything she loves that angle.

      Rose lifts a hand, using a finger to indicate the cameras she spotted, her nose crinkling as she speaks as if she’s about to give an important secret. “ Should I not mention I could fix it?”

      “ Betting on your luck holding out? ” Was Andi’s coach as quick on the uptake as some of the batfamily? Or even some of the Teen Titans? Some of them could sniff out a crime with ease if you weren’t careful enough. They’d just know what she’d been up to if she wasn’t careful. If they didn’t pick up on it one of her family would. Her brothers. Searchers.

      “ It is, my family comes with the ever present tails.” Some more annoying than others. Searcher Rose didn’t mind, it was easy enough to figure them out, they always kept their distance. Hopefully her not mom had warned them not to intervien when it came to assassin. She might mistake them for one of them. “ Why don’t you pick the tunes before we head out? ” The point was to learn what music Andi enjoyed, wasn’t it? Might as well have her pick. WIth a silent chuckle Rose shakes her head. “ I have Jack in my bike, I can just grab it when we get to your place.” That might have been too much of a hint about Rose’s regular alcohol activities, but it’s not like she tries that hard to hide it. Rose lets out a light whistle. Brave man. “ I can take the bottle with me when I leave.”

Part of her did and didn’t care about keeping her identity a secret, just as Rose pointed out. Maybe at the start she did care about keeping the secret, but the years, the losses, she began to stop caring. One of the biggest reasons for a secret identity was to protect those closest to you. If a super-villain knew the girl at the record store was the superhero disrupting their operations, they could track down friends, family, take hostages, blackmail, she’d heard all the lectures, seen what had happened to Flash because people knew he was Venom.

She had been one of the victims of people knowing that secret.

But now, most everyone Andi knew was dead, her circle of friends were small, and those who remained, like Rose, were more than capable of defending themselves. “Keeping a secret identity becomes kinda pointless when you really don’t have much to lose, plus I’m pretty sure I’m in a government database after the whole Alchemax thing.”

“I mean, at this point I fly under a bunch of supervillain radars, so as long as I stick small time punks, pretty sure no one’s gonna know it’s me unless they’re a SHIELD spy or a Bat.” Her reckless behavior has come back to bite her before, but it hasn’t stopped her from continuing. “As for the security cameras, nah, you don’t gotta do that--gotta get Mitch to do his job as a manager besides hide in his office.”

Andi went and looked through some CDs, ones she kept behind the counter for her own use and some that were due to go out on the racks the following day. It was an odd mix, power metal, classic rock, rock opera, hip-hop. One look inside Andi’s bedroom to see the clashing posters of MCR and The Who could tell Rose that Andi’s interests varied. She set some cases on the counter before grabbing a plastic bag. Tonight’s entertainment would be provided by The Who, Nightwish, Disturbed, and MCR. Putting the CDs into the bag, she took out her phone to open up a delivery app, changing locations to her apartment rather than the store. “What goes good with Jack? Pizza, wings, or burgers?”

[symbioteburnout]

Pirate:

    “ Want to get into some trouble? ”

“Sounds good to me, what’re we doing?”

[symbioteburnout]

fatummortem​:

*sighs*

*Goths.*

“You rang?”

[symbioteburnout]

Pirate​:

      Rose doesn’t mind Andi flirting in the least, she was flirting back in her own way. Not that many people could tell, the fact the other blushed at her mischief only seems to brighten that glint in her one baby blue eye. She just doesn’t react to nudity as most do. “ Why not? Men name their balls & dick all the time.” She has absolutely no idea if people named their breasts, she’d probably spend far too much time laughing at it for her to actually pay attention to why they did it.

     The ex-assassin treads backwards to lean back against the wall, one of her hands moving to grip the edge of the pool as she listens, her feet moving through the water.

      Rose lifts a shoulder in an aimless shrug when Andi finishes, her head tipping back against the edge to look upwards. Not even sure if the other woman could hear her. “ Wasn’t talking about the mark. Had a friend once, he looked like a demon. Red skin, horns & tail. He had his own dealings. I even wondered if the contract nulled when he lost his powers.”

      She has no idea if the information about who rules hell would ever come in handy, who knew maybe it would.

      “Anyway…” She straightens within the water to aim a splash at Andi, more to make a point or make her listen than for fun. “ I was referring to the fact it’s not your deal, but yeah sure lawyer’s from hell sounds believe. Just as believable as the stock markets breeding greed.”

      Amusement ignites in her one baby blue eye at the other’s question, a laugh slips out & she makes a noise that’s a light pffting & that very same laughter at her. “ Do ya want me to pick some random bullshit?”

Whether all lawyers really did go to Hell was a debate for another time, besides, if one were to ask She-Hulk or Daredevil, you’d probably get very different answers. Just based on what Andi knew about deals with demons, there was always fine-print, loopholes, and just about a myriad of different ways the demon could twist to contract to find ways it stayed in their favor. After all, as Andi stated, this deal was one that had originally been made between Venom and Mephisto, before either of them had known about Andrea’s existence. You would think that alone would make what happened to her null and void, but clearly the deal and the Hellmark were still in play.

Veering away from the talk about deals and devils and demons, and back to something silly and nonsensical like the names one gave their own anatomy. Well, Andi wasn’t sure if people really did name their own breasts or dicks, sounded like locker room chatter to be honest, but this was silly, she and Rose were having fun. Where would the harm be?

“How about this, 30 seconds for us to come up with a couple names? Deal?” Were she not trying to stay afloat in the pool, she’d have crossed her arms under her soon to be named anatomy. “I mean hey, part of the reason we’re doing this is to get me out of my shell and have fun, right? Not like I’m gonna let you have all the fun on your own~”

Something dumb, something cool, or something sexy? Come on, they were just boobs, not even ‘good’ boobs by today’s standards, well, maybe Andi should just put a bit of herself into them. She did like her music...

Her hands had been covering herself while she thought of some names, while she was mentally setting a timer for herself and Rose, there was that thing at the back of the pool that looked like a clock, though the hands moved too fast to be a clock. What even was that? A big stop watch? Anyway, once Andi was convinced 30 seconds had passed, she took her hands off her chest to ‘introduce’ them.

“Say hello to ‘Blitz’ and ‘Bop’.”

[symbioteburnout]

Pirate​:

    Rose doesn’t even seem to bat an eye as Andi pulls herself from the pool’s waters, looking at her as if she was wearing a swimsuit or some other outfit as she sits there. Not at all phased or seemingly affected by the nudity. 

     Treading back to the side of the pool, the ex-assassin dries her hands with the side of the towel she’d left on the poolside & pools her upper half out of the pool. Listening to every word as she reaches for her abandoned cigarettes & lighter. Quickly lighting up as she hooks her free arm against the edge of the pool, pressing her breasts into it partly as she turns towards the other women silently listening.

    One baby blue eye looks over as the other woman begins to draw something on her skin, her head tilting curiously at the gesture. 

    Rose ends up turning as she listens, holding herself partly out of the water so she can smoke, her body pressing into the side as her arms brace against the towel there. She brings her cigarette to her lips, taking long draws to let the smoke slowly drift out silently. The nail of her thumb casually flicking against the butt of the cigarette as she randomly ashes to the side of the towel. As Andi goes on, it just reminds Rose of her old friend Eddie, of course his own deal, if you could even call it that, was more of a willing gamble.

    “ Not going to wiggle your way out of that lame bargain? Ever tried to negate the deal for the lack of a demon horde?” Maybe it was her talks with Eddie where he was deathly afraid of loosing his soul & becoming changed to his own demonic lord. Or the fact that Raven always overplayed her own demonic father that has Rose looking at another side of it. 

    Taking one last drag she flicks her cigarette into the distance, dropping away from the edge with ease & shifting away from the edge as Andie nears with a curiously quirked white brow. “ Deals are simple if you look at the fine print sometimes.”

    A smirk curves over Rose’s lips, her eye sparking with something close to mischief. “ Your girls? Are ya the type to name them?”

The blush and embarrassment returned, Rose’s quip about Andi’s chest making the goth realized she had been uncharacteristically flirty. It did make her think back to when Scream used to point it out, back to Andi’s back-and-forth with Guinevere. She almost made a move to cover her pierced breasts but then realized the futility since, as she herself had stated just a few moments prior, Rose had gotten a nice look. “N-No... wait, do people actually name theirs?” This was sounding more like locker room talk, further compounding the embarrassment before Andi let out a breath and simply let herself float in the water.

Who knows, maybe she’d sink and die of embarrassment, certainly not the worst way to go out, she’d almost been eaten twice.

“Coach and I did try to find ways to get the mark removed but, well, things happened, lost my first symbiote, Coach died, Mephisto dropped off the map and Ghost Rider took over as King of Hell.” She gazed up at the sky, to what few stars could be seen with the light pollution anyway. “For what it’s worth, if it weren’t for this invisible brand on my chest, I probably wouldn’t be here, it’s how I survived getting jumped by Carnage, and getting a spike through my gut, so it’s not totally bad.”

“Not like I can just go to Ghost Rider and have him undo it though, the deal was originally between Coach and Mephisto, there’s ‘rules’ or something about this, lots of fine print, and I’m pretty sure the former King of Hell has no shortage of lawyers on speed dial.”

Andi does take a moment to go back to the joke about naming their chests though, almost stealing too much of a glance at Rose’s before looking back at the woman’s face. “Did you name yours?”