Jessica

Expectations Part Four

Tyrone was never one to use makeup. He didn't see anything wrong with it and he never judged others for using it but it simply never was his thing, after all he had no reason to use it.

Now he did though, not to look more handsome, just to look alive. His mutation, or whatever it could be called, made him look much older than he truly was. Intimidating bags appeared below his eyes, his cheeks were no longer as soft as they used to be and, somehow, his skin seemed to reflect less light than before, making him almost look like a walking corpse.

While he sat patiently, Tandy used what little experience she had to make the suspicious traits disappear and granted some colour and life back to his visage. Her hands could make him look younger but only her words could lift his spirits.

"Are you feeling alright, Ty?" she asked as she kept putting her fingers on his skin

"Considering where we are, I'm as good as I can possibly be."

"Yeah, I figured." she replied and, when she looked at the decrepit hole they called home, she understood why he sounded so tired. "Still, yesterday you sounded angry. More than usual."

"Hhrmp, my mum always said I had anger issues." That is, Tandy thought, with people that pushed the wrong buttons, he certainly never got mad at her like that.

"Look up." she told him as she passed her pencil below his eyes, "I know that this James guy can be a lot but it sounded like you took his words very... I don't know, personally."

"...maybe I did."

Tandy took her hands away from his face and, with an intimate voice, she asked him: "Could you tell me why? Please?"

"Alright... I once had a friend whose life was ruined by drugs."

Now Tandy understood the reason behind his violent reaction but it still took her some time to respond, "I'm sorry to hear that."

"His name was Billy. He was the only one that didn't make fun of me for how I spoke. We were just walking around town when we saw a drug deal in progress. Bullets started flying and Billy and I ran away because we feared that the cops would think..." and although Ty didn't finish his sentence, D understood what he wanted to say just by looking at him. "A cop found us and he took out his gun. I tried to tell him that Billy was innocent but..."

Silence ensued and Tandy held him tightly while he kept his eyes wide open. It wasn't that hard for him to hold back the tears, he had practiced for years.

"No matter who you are, even a boy that only means good, you will never escape the hate and the stereotypes. As long as the streets stay dirty..."

"What do you mean by that?" she asked, confused by the last sentence

"I mean, it's just my theory but hatred comes from fear. In a world without crime, without drugs, there wouldn't be anything to fear. No more pain."

"That's why we fight crime, Ty. We all care about this."

"Jimmy proved that they don't. If we want to deal with this, we must do it on our own. Just Cloak and Dagger." as he said that he squeezed her hand.

"Ty..." she said, caressing his face, "Maybe, in another world we are just Cloak and Dagger... but we can't be that here. We need help to change the world. That's why we're going out tonight, we need to bond with the others and work together."

So Tandy convinced him to get up and, although he still felt a little sour, they exited the church and headed over to the meeting place everyone had agreed upon. They never even thought about disappearing in the dark dimension, they just walked.