maskormenace | 001

[ She turns in the booth so she's facing him better, her eyes meeting with his.] I want you to meet them. [ She reaches for his hand, bringing the back of it to her lips, pressing a kiss there.] I want them to know you're real. [ Betty surrounds herself with broken boys (she's broken, herself), he doesn't have any more cracks than the rest of them.]

Would you rather meet them all at once? Like at a party or something?

Do they doubt that I'm real? [ He jokes, lopsided smirk and all. There's so much she doesn't know about him, things he hopes she'll never know but sooner or later it'll spill through those cracks.

He wrinkles his nose at the idea of a party - really not his scene. Doubly not his scene if he's in any way the focus point of it. ]

This is probably better. Keep it casual.

No, but I talk about you enough that they'd probably like to see the real you. [ Her heart flutters at the sight of that smile. It's one she's very attached to. And yes, she'd already knew what he'd answer when she asked the question, given how much of a disaster the last party she threw in his honor had gone.

She leans in to press a kiss to his jaw.]

Noah won't be there and I'm pretty sure that Adam will be at work. So chances are you might meet Gansey and Ronan, if we go into the main house. [ Gansey is probably the best person to meet first and Ronan... well, he's Ronan. He'd probably fit right into the Serpents if he wanted to, attitude wise.]

[ It feels surprisingly good to hear that she's been talking about him. Not that there should be any doubt, but... y'know. Insecurities. At least at home they're geographically connected. ]

I think I can handle that. [ He smiles at the kiss, leaning in to give her one in return on the lips. ] Ready when you are.

[ She returns that kiss happily, smiling towards the tail end of it. She nods when he says he's ready when she is, moving to turn and pull her shoes out of her bag, the one she'd dropped at her feet earlier, to put on.

Once she puts the skates into the bag, she moves to slide out of the booth, standing so he can join her, offering her hand.] Did you walk or ride here?

[ He slides out after her, happily latching on to her hand. ]

Walk. I'm trying to get to know the neighborhood better.

[ And he's kind of starting from scratch here, which is rough in completely new and sucky ways. He didn't have much in Riverdale but he had something. ]

[She grins at him, slinging her back over her shoulder and tilting her head towards the burger in the to-go bag to remind him not to forget it without actually saying anything.]

I drove today. [ Her lips quirk into a teasing smile.] Want to see my powers in action?

Edited 2018-02-07 21:07 (UTC)

[ Like he'd ever forget a free burger. He grabs it, intent on finishing it on the road, expression brightening by a lot at her offer. ]

Are you kidding? I want to see your powers more than anything, Betty. Up close, this time.

Okay, [ She looks happily smug as she pulls him outside of the diner and towards her car.]

This thing doesn't actually run. I found it in a junkyard, got it for dirt cheap and fixed it up. Now, I control it with my powers to drive it. [ She moves to unlock it, opening the trunk and throwing her bag in before unlocking the passenger side with her powers.]

Edited 2018-02-07 21:30 (UTC)

[ He raises a brow in approval at the car - it suits her so well, it's almost ridiculous - before sliding into the passenger seat. ]

Very resourceful, Cooper. I'm impressed. [ And since he's been thinking about this a lot... ] How, uhm. How are you doing here? With life, I mean. Every day stuff.

[ Without family and school and everything they had at their disposal in Riverdale. ]

[ She hops into the car and with a hand on the dash, the car comes to life. She looks pretty prideful up until he goes and asks about her day-to-day.

Her expression falters as she starts them down the street, her eyes focusing on the road.]

The Black Hood stuff... It's messed me up pretty badly, Jug. [ She doesn't look at him.] I was having nightmares for weeks after getting back here. [ And she'd missed him fiercely.] But I try to keep myself busy here. I have the diner job. I'm helping one of my roommates do research on an ancient king he's obsessed with. I read a lot, volunteer at places.

[ He wants to reach out and grab her hand, but that's probably the worst idea while she's driving. Doubly so if she's using her powers - in the short time he's had his, he's come to realise that concentration is key. ]

I wish I could tell you that it's over. The Black Hood stuff. I've been pretty busy with the Serpents but as far as I know, they're no closer to catching the guy.

[ Little does he know. ]

[ He won't be able to miss the look of surprise that plays out on her face at his words. He was so busy with the Serpents that he didn't know what was happening with the Black Hood? Maybe she'd kept it that way on purpose, to protect him. ]

I guess if we were broken up... we weren't speaking much.

We weren't. I'm at Southside High, we don't really see each other as much as we used to. It's - easy to avoid each other, I guess.

[ Which sucks so bad but it was for his good and her good and they'll always find some excuse to keep the other out of whatever trouble they're in, huh? ]

[ She stares straight ahead as she drives.] I bet I hated it. I just hate idea of it.

That makes two of us. [ He glances over at her, full of things he wants to say about how sorry he is and how something Archie said stuck with him and maybe there was some truth to it because wow he's been spiralling ever since she broke up with him and he's no longer sure if he can find the breaks, let alone have the power to hit them.

But she's driving, so he settles for something less extreme. ]

It was the hardest thing I've ever had to do. [ Which says a lot. ]

[ Her mouth twists and she looks at him.] I was a coward, sending Archie to do it. [ Her eyes go back to the road and she feels tears welling up in them.] But I couldn't... I was so tired and scared. And I didn't think I could convince you that I meant it, I didn't think I would be able to go through with it if I was there with you. Even with your life at stake. It was the worst thing I ever had to do.

Hey, Betty... it's okay. I get it. We can talk more about it later, when we're not on the road. Okay?

[ He does want to talk it through. Properly. They're in a vacuum here, if they aren't honest with each other now, then when can they be? ]

[ She glances at him, her smile a little tearful as she nods.] Afraid I might crash?

That, and I really want to hug you right about now and then we'll definitely crash. Totally selfish motivations.

[ He gets a laugh out of her, a genuine smile staying on her lips afterward.] Okay, that's fair. [ She looks his way.] You can turn on the radio or even use your power to make it play something you like. The drive isn't too long.

You sure we should mix powers like that?

[ But okay, he'll give it a shot. It's still new and some things are untested - like willing up a song on the radio. He closes his eyes, draws a deep breath and mumbles a title under his breath. Something he heard on the radio back home, moderately nostalgic, good driving music. ]

I believe in us. [ She means that more than she can say. And once the music is playing, she smiles softly, driving them towards the farm while listening to whatever music he decides to put on.

Once she gets them to the Meadows and starts them down the road, he can see the structures around the farm, the cows too.] This is my home here.

[ The closer they get to the farm, the more his eyes widen. It's not what he expected in the least - not that he's got extensive experience with farmland but RIverdale isn't exactly Manhattan. He knows what a farm looks like and this is... that but more than that.

He turns to look at her. ]

I think you undersold this place a bit, Cooper.

[ She can't help but glance at him every once in awhile as they make their way down the drive, laughing at what he says.]

I couldn't even begin to explain this place. [ He'll notice there's something surreal about it all, everything feels... different. The air smells different and magical. At least, that's how it makes her feel. And as she drives to the garage, she parks her car near it, not in it. The garage is meant for the Raven boys and her car is safe where she parks it anyways.

She moves to get out, getting her bag from the trunk and taking her time so he can look around more.]

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