16956/Art School (and Assassins) of the Heart - Chapter 2

Art School (and Assassins) of the Heart - Chapter 2
Date of Scene:	18 January 2024
Location:	The Strand Bookstore
Synopsis:	Damian just wants a new chapter from a manga. Flatline wants a scene. Truck-Kun wants a new victim. And Stan? He's gross.
Cast of Characters:	Damian Wayne, Flatline

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Damian Wayne has posed:
Ever since the explosion of manga and anime going mainstream, Damian's found it harder and harder to get a hold of the niche manga that he enjoys so much - while most people are all about My Hero Acadamia, Bleach!, One Piece or whatever action-adventure is the latest craze, Damian enjoys a slice of life. It's about two art students, Ren and Hana, one that is naturally talented and one that has to work for the skills that he has and how their relationship has evolved. Chapter four brings them into their first great conflict - the regional art finals with a scholarship to a prestegious college on the line!

And having arrived early to pick up his copy, Damian is standing in line in a warm turtleneck with a heavy coat over it, blue jeans and a pair of high end hiking boots. But he's the only one in line for that paticular book. Everyone else is excited that a brand new Isekai is coming out today. 'Reincarnated as Truck-Kun!' is all about an office worker slave that is hit by Truck-Kun and is now a delivery truck himself and is responsible for isekaing people to the world he was assigned to. It's all about picking the proper people, hitting them and sending them on their way. Horror-Comedy Action-Adventure. It's probably great.

Flatline has posed:
    It is probably great. Flatline, however, isn't here for the manga (art school or Truck-kun) because Lord Death Man is weird about her getting manga or liking J Pop or... really anything else that's fun. IN spite of being called his 'Princess of Pain' (himei no kutso, also a badass manga title), the young lady wasn't really allowed to live that sort of life.

    She announces herself via the sound of of boba tea draining and rattling tropical flavored pearls. She was wearing a heavy, dark sweatshirt that was a few sizes too big for her, and a face mask with an opossum face on it to try and hide some of her pale features, ripped black jeans with leggings beneath, and a pair of combat boots. She had a Hot Topic bag hanging from her wrist, and her black backpack with probably a bunch of deadly things in it. Her white hair was hidden behind a beanie that -- predictably -- had a cartoony skull and crossbones.

Damian Wayne has posed:
Standing in line, Damian's listening to all the chatter, and when someone comes up to cut in front of him. "Watch out, kid." He's large, obnoxious, wearing a 'Truck-Kun is my Traffic Jam' shirt. "It's all good right?" he asks, looming over the smaller Damian.

Damian glances up at the guy, taking a moment to compose. You don't need to cause a scene. He can totally hear his father in his head. Bruce doesn't let him do anything fun either. At least not as Damian. "Oh, no, we're good." he offers, a little smile.

The kid was probably expecting a fight as he snorts. "Cool." And as he turns, there's a shift of Damian's foot. It's a minor, small thing. Something that only an expert brawler will notice as he turns his foot and uses the toe of his boot to tangle into the feet of the larger guy to send him tumbling towards the sidewalk.

Damian doesn't apologize.

Flatline has posed:
    Flatline had reached into the pocket of her hoodie, her eyes narrowing as she eyeballs the Truck-kun stan. She could just kidney punch him. That would take him outta line for a while as he recovered, and maybe he'd pee blood for a while as a lesson.

    But she recognizes the shift of the guy's foot. Her eyebrows go up, and she curls her fingers briefly as she gives a soft 'hm' sound.

    There's some titters of laughter and at least one 'serves him right' from behind Damian.

    "Have a nice trip?" Flatline cheerily chirps at Truck-kun-stan.

Damian Wayne has posed:
When the guy hits the ground, he grunts, pushing himself over and rolls over to glare at Damian - but then Flatline speaks up and his attention is on her. And the way that she looks. "What are you supposed to be cosplaying as?" he asks, which is what grabs Damian's attention.

There's a glance aside towards Flatline, and his eyes widen slightly. Recognition? Maybe surprise. He plays it off quickly.

But the guy? He's totally not playing it off as he gets to his feet. "I should... I should..." He growls. But he probably has noticed something about the girl that says don't mess with her.

"I'm so sorry." Damian offers, apology on his face. If it was just him, he'd not care. But well, someone else is involved now. "Look, just. Back in line. I can always come back later for what I'm here for." Avoid a scene, avoid a scene. From what he already knows about the pale girl his green eyes have locked on, she would totally love a scene.

Flatline has posed:
    Damian is 100 percent right. Flatline would love a scene.

    Flatline's pinkish-purplish eyes set on the Stan, and she keeps her hands in her pockets.

    "Cosplay?" she questions, and she tilts her head slightly "Is that some kind of... like, beta-male thing?" she questions outloud, keeping her stance open and loose. She's shifting her weight subtly from side to side, anticipating the guy taking a swing at her, her eyebrows still drawn up before she lifts her mask and sips her boba tea. Mmm. Boba.

Damian Wayne has posed:
Ren: I don't get it. I always need to know exactly what I'm drawing. From one step to the next. But you...
Hana: I draw from the heart, Ren. I know you're passionate. So am I. We can have different ways for the same passion.

That's on display here, because Damian just wants to get his book and go home to enjoy it. Instead... "BETA-MALE?" roars the guy. "What, because you're here with your cucked boyfriend?" he asks, jerking a thumb at Damian, "I'm an alpha!"

And to prove that, he's totally engaging. There's no thrown punch, instead he's just trying to shove the girl, because that's what worked in high school. Shove someone against a locker, prove yourself the badass.

And Damian? Damian is realizing that Truck-Kun-Stan is about to be involved in a head on collision of the worst variety.

Flatline has posed:
    He can try to shove her.

    Try being the operative word there.

    Flatline shifts her weight to the left, ducking below Stan's arm, her eyes following his movements, boba straw still in her mouth before she simply pops up to the side of him, watching to see if he's gonna crash into a book cart or catch himself. She's got a mischievous look in her eyes as she regards Traffic Jam, though it's clear she's smiling beneath her opossum mouth face mask.

    "Wow. That was... something?" she questions. She's making sure people are giving the two a wide berth, especially as the sound of 'fight fight fight fight!' comes up, because people are people, and the people demand a spectacle.

    "Does that work where you go to middle school, big guy?"

Damian Wayne has posed:
There's a whiff and a miss. Flatline is cutting to the left, and Stan (because that's totally his name now) is going to the right. He's used to being the biggest, baddest bully on the block. And not getting one-uped by a little girl with a possum face.

So, his whole way to make up for the fact that he can't hit the girl?

He turns to swing on Damian, instead.

Awww, crap. Damian's left with a choice. He can tank the punch and just... let Flatline do her thing, or... as the fist comes flying in at him, Damian's right hand comes up fluidly. It's the most basic of akido moves, the arm block, but the way it happens seems too smooth, too practiced. "You need to concentrate on one. You don't want multiple problems." But there's that step. Supposedly to clear room in case Stan wants to press. But really? He's fightblocking Flatline.

Flatline has posed:
    Flatline had taken a step towards grabbing the back of Stan's shirt (and MAN was it an ugly shirt), but she spots Damian's arm coming up, and she releases, and lets Damian pull the arm block, nice and smooth.

    Stan, on the other hand, apparently wants problems more than he wants issues (of manga). He gives a grunt, and tries to throw a haymaker at Damian, going wild slightly, and aiming for Damian's face.

    "YOU LITTLE ASSHOLE!" he snarls, putting all his weight behind the blow and going off-balance.

Damian Wayne has posed:
It's reflexive. It's all reflexive. And really, Damian should have let Flatline school the guy, just so he could watch. But that would have probably involved blood. And now, here we are. A haymaker aimed at his face. Down he goes, a duck to the left, inside Stan's center of mass. He twists.

The weight of the swing carries Stan forward, as he goes over Damian's shoulder and Damian's opposing hand turns, grabbing the wrist and pulls, forcing Stan forward more.

He continues the turn, his feet sliding partially apart, planting, solidly set.

And up and over Stan goes, if he enjoyed that last trip, just wait until next fall. Off his feet Stan goes as he passes over Damian's body and Flatline may want to move. Because an upside down, tits over teakettle Stan is inbound, about to land on the ground flat on his back in a lump.

Flatline has posed:
    Muscle memory is a hell of a thing. Stan's life has been uplifted, turned around, upside-down, going up and over Damian as he heads towards Flatline.

    Who just steps out of the way, turning and watching as Stan hits the ground. His shirt? Ripped. His chest? Has a freaking ahego tattoo. Gross.

    Flatline's patience?

    She stalks over to him, her eyes narrowing. She looms, and for a split second, Damian may think she's going in for the killing blow--!!

Damian Wayne has posed:
Damian's own patience?

As Stan is on the ground showing everyone his preferences, Damian had considered the issue settled. Stan was down. He could get his book, and Flatline could go back to sucking on her boba. Which, boba is a damn good idea right now.

Instead, Flatline is stalking in and drawing back to go for what he assumed was a kill shot. He steps up, instead, and his hand reaches for her shoulder. "He's had enough." he starts to say, knowing that he has just got into her personal space.

Flatline has posed:
    Flatline takes another step, extending her hand with a single finger and was leaning over ever... so... slowly -- and then Damian puts a hand on her shoulder.

    She pauses and looks over her shoulder at Damian, her eyes narrowing, before her shoulders go slack, and she instead just boops Stan's nose.

    "Lucky you." she states to the largely not-with-it stan, and then looks to Damian.

    "Sssssoooooooo..." she trails off, looking back at Damian as she eyeballs him.

    "You *do* have such pretty eyes up close!"

Damian Wayne has posed:
Green eyes meet purple eyes. The pair stand there for a moment, before Damian realizes. Oh right, let go of her shoulder. And then she comes at him with something harder than any punch. A flirt.

Confusion sparks on Damian's face for a moment, heat touching his cheeks in a light blush, green eyes utterly confused. "I. Uh. Thanks?" Such commitment there to a compliment.

"I think he'll be going to the back of the line. So... ah..." A rub at the back of his head. "Thanks for the assist. It was totally my own mess, though."

What do you say to the girl who tried to kill you when she's flirting? "I'm Damian."

Flatline has posed:
    Flatline tilts her head a moment, her eyes narrowing as Damian speaks, seeing his blush, and she gives a slight grin.

    "Nice to meet you, Damian, and yeah, hopefully he's learned his lesson about cutting lines and making assumptions." she states, sucking the last of the boba pearls and turning to discard the plastic container in a trash can like a good citizen!

    And when Dams introduces himself, she gives a small smile beneath her mask.

    "Nika." she states back to him.

    "Soooooo what's this line *for* anyway?"

Damian Wayne has posed:
"Well, most of these people are here for 'Reincarnated as Truck-Kun'. Apparently, some office wage worker gets hit by a truck and learns that all those trucks that isekai people into different worlds? They are all reincarnations themselves. I'm here for..." Damian reaches into his bag and pulls out his copy of 'Art School of the Heart'. "The second chapter of this is coming out today. I wanted it in the original kanji so I special ordered it."

She probably doesn't want to know more than that, so he's kind of keeping it as simple as he can. "But since I have it on hold, I may come back later, I did not mean to cause a scene, at all."

Flatline has posed:
    "Psh. You didn't cause a scene. If that guy had gone to the back of the line, ugly stupid tattoo and all, there wouldn't have been anything to do an' I would have gotten my order of --" she trails off a moment, and doesn't appear to want to share what she was getting. Her eyes sweep over the crowd, and she gives a shrug. "Well, oughta move myself. Ugh, don't want to attract one of them again... so see you later I guess, pretty-eyes." she winks. "You can pretend to be /my/ boyfriend any time."

Damian Wayne has posed:
"I'm sure at least one of them is now assuming you are their waifu." Damian responds dryly, before he smirks slightly, amusement tugging on the corners of his mouth. But getting out of the line seems to be a good idea, but he'll wait for Nika to meld back into the crowd.

But before she goes, he asks. "Want to trade numbers?" he asks. "If you ever need a pretend boyfriend?" A smirk.

Flatline has posed:
    "I waifu for no idiot." Flatline replies, and she leans in "Besides. None of them even know my name. And now I know yours." she gives a bright grin, and her eyes narrow as he asks for her number.

    She reaches into her pocket. She reaches deep -- and pulls out something she clicks. A felt-tip marker!

    She reaches for Damian's hand, and if he lets her she writes on the back of it:

    @DeathByPinkEye

    And a number. Coincidentally to a burner phone provided by Rose Wilson.

Damian Wayne has posed:
Taking out his phone, Damian takes a picture of his hand, and watches her for a moment. And he's pondering what the next step is as he considers using his other Twitter account. No need her to know what Damian he is.

More information gathered. More information needed. And he needs a plan to figure out how to do that.

Flatline has posed:
    When Damian had taken out his phone, Nika had disappeared into the crowd, walking away and ducking behind cars and vans on her way to catch a bus back to New York City. She did that suddenly disappearing thing, to a Bat. There is an irony there.