Silence // Danger Days (Book 1)

12.

As Storm looked at himself when everything was done, he realized how much he didn't look like the person he used to be. Come on, his hair was blue! He saw that there was a pack of hair elastics in the medicine cabinet above the sink, and he gladly took one. He messed with his hair for a bit, trying to figure out what to do with it.

There was a knock on the door. "You done yet, Stormy?" Alien's voice said.

"Yeah," he yelled back to her.

She obliged, opening the door. When she saw him, a grin broke out on her face. "That looks so shiny, man!"

"Thanks Alien," he smiled back.

"Call me Al." The statement almost sounded like a demand, but Storm figured she meant well.

"So can you help me?" he asked her. "I can't figure out what to do with my hair."

"You should probably just leave it where it is. It looks pretty badass."

"Okay," he said. He knew he'd never be recognized for who he was now. He didn't even recognize himself.

"So now we just need to get you a ray gun," Alien told him.

"I already have one," he informed her, taking the weapon out of his pocket.

"Really? Can I see it?" She took the gun from him and looked it over. "Oh man... is this the newest model?"

"Yeah," he said quietly.

"That is so cool! The design is so much better!"

"My dad always gets—got," he amended, his voice cracking, "the new ones."

"I should have known," she commented, still focused on the gun. "He did invent them."

Storm figured it was best not to mention that his father hadn't actually invented Analog weapons. It was a woman, but he couldn't remember her name. But as the head of the company, Edward had taken the credit.

The general and the recruit stopped to get a holster for the weapon, then headed back towards the front of the building where they met up with Vendetta and...

...is that Sunset?

Her hair had been cut to her shoulders, and the ends were the same color as Poison's—no Lucas, don't think about him, he scolded himself.

"Wow," was all he could manage to say.

"Kid, you look so cool!" Alien remarked, reviving a grin from Sunset in reply.

Vendetta strode to his girlfriend and weaved their fingers together. "It was all her," he told Alien. "She just kinda did her own thing. You know I'm shit at that kind of thing. Anyways, let's head out." They walked out of the building, moving as one.

Storm looked to his sister, searching her face for signs of upset, but found nothing.

"Storm," his sister said when they were alone, testing the alias again. "You look badass!"

"Not as badass as you," he complimented.

"So, you know how Killjoys are in gangs, in a way, sometimes?" she asked her brother, who nodded. "Well, Al and Ven aren't in one... do you think we could make one with them?"

All he heard was that she called them Al and Ven.

He mentally kicked himself for thinking that. "Uh, well, I don't see why not," he said when he processed what his sister had said. "We'd have to ask them though." He really didn't have much faith in this idea; the two Killjoys were so close and so strong on their own. When they ran into Dracs earlier, it was as if the siblings weren't even there. Well, until Storm did his thing. He was still proud of himself.

They jogged to catch up with the couple and hopped into the van.

🌩

The eight Killjoys were scattered around the diner doing various things.

Kobra was outside practicing kung fu, while Vendetta was cleaning his gun. Alien sat in a booth, listening to music and reading. Ghoul was at a table, tinkering with a pile of wires and scraps of metal, probably attempting to make a grenade or something, while talking with Jet and Sunset.

Storm vaguely heard their small talk, because he was watching Poison. The redhead was focused intently on his sketchbook, where he was drawing something. His eyes occasionally flicked up to look at something, then went back to drawing.

Storm was coming to terms with the constant ache in his chest that came with having the Killjoy in his thoughts. He had never had a crush before, so it was hard to get used to, but he couldn't help it. He felt like a teenage girl (no offense to Sunset and Alien) obsessing over a boy.

Poison looked up at Storm and noticed his longing glance. He smiled at the other boy, and gave him a flirtatious wink. Storm blushed, and Poison felt warmth spread through his chest. He knew he was falling for the new Killjoy, which he knew he shouldn't let himself do, but it just felt... right. He'd been known to mess with people's emotions like a complete asshole when he was younger, but after he got married, he couldn't bear to do that to anyone. After Lindsey, he had no idea how he could still love, but here he was, falling for this shy boy who was trying to find himself.

Poison gestured for Storm to come and sit next to him. Storm couldn't help but look around, then point to himself, mouthing who, me? Poison laughed and nodded a yes, you. Storm bashfully got up and moved to the seat next to Poison.

"You look lonely," the redhead told him casually.

"Well, I-I mean, I wasn't," he stuttered. He hated his brain for not working properly when he was in Poison's presence.

"Well, you're here now, so even if you weren't, you still have to talk to me." Poison grinned.

Storm hesitated, then looked to Poison's sketchbook and asked, "What are you drawing?"

Poison passed the pad of paper to Storm. "I like to draw my friends a lot," he told him, who was in awe at the cartoonish version of Alien on the paper. "Alien's usually a challenge 'cause she's always moving, so I took this opportunity."

"Wow," was all the blue-haired boy could manage to say. Poison could sing, fight, and draw, as well as being really attractive. How could this happen to him?

"Do you have any hobbies?" Poison asked, to make conversation.

"Well, I haven't for a while, but I started learning the drums before we came to the city."

"Oh yeah, I forgot you were in Bat City! Drums are pretty cool," Poison remarked. "We could never keep a drummer back in the day, so now we just get Dr. Benzedrine to play with us. Hey, maybe he could continue your training!"

"Wait," Storm queried. "He's in the Suitehearts, right? Isn't he the singer?"

"Yeah, but he's pretty good on the drums too." Poison chuckled. "It's kinda a funny story. When they first started, Benz was the drummer, but the rest of them heard him singing and told him he had to be at the front. A couple of years later, Killer King got really drunk and retold the whole story like this: 'he was like 'I've got a soul voice,' and they were like, 'how do you have a soul voice?' and he was like, 'yo, watch this" and then he sang really weirdly, it was hilarious!" Poison laughed at the memory.

Storm chuckled. He's so cute!

The two continued to tell stories and talk about themselves, all the while falling even further for each other.