Him and him

Chapter 4

Talon's PoV.

"Talon, the show is starting!" I heard my uncle yell. "What show starts at two before ten?" I muttered to myself, but exited my room regardless. I wondered what would he go on about now. To be honest, he should be surprised I'm already awake and dressed.

I went into his evil mastermind planning room, where all his monitors were set up. "You called?" I asked just after the doors slid open. "Yes, Talon, what took you so long?" He said grabbing a handful of popcorn and presumably eating it. His back faced me, so I could only presume.

"The dates start today, and because I only managed to get you one the day after tomorrow, that means you'll watch these with me." He commanded. "Ooohh, this is like watching The Bachelor over again." He enthused. "You mean, The Bachelorette?" I asked leaning against his desk.

"Whatever, just sit back and watch." He instructed and I refrained from asking any more questions. It was weird how this time he didn't want me to sabotage any of the dates or  watch them from 'afar'. I saw a person on the screen.

"Wait, is that William?" I questioned, looking between him and the monitor. "Yes, that's you cousin. Now shush, no talking during the movie." He silenced me. I can't believe he sent that stuck up prick on the field before me. And that guy thinks he's smart, he only has one PhD, I have two. Haha, suck on that, Billy.

I kept watching the screen silently, just as Uncle C wanted. He was standing in front of a café that I think I've seen somewhere in the city before. Okay, who's the unlucky girl?

I saw the one person I would never expect on the screen. "Penny?" I asked, not controlling myself to keep quiet. "Talon! What did I tell you-Wait, you know her?" He calmed down a bit after his realization.

"Yeah, Gadget is her uncle!" I nodded frustrated. What is she doing there? "Gadget has a niece?! I never knew, why didn't you tell me sooner?!" He took out his emotions on me. I wanted to facepalm my hand right through my forehead, but I stuck to just covering my eyes with my hand and nodding with disappointment.

He will never get it through his head, will he? I've already told him about her over a hundred times now. I tried explaining to him that she was the reason his already stupid enough plans didn't work. I could pull every single one of them off, if it weren't for her. I'm glad it worked that way, because some of them were really ridiculous and I could get behind them. Like the 'eradicate all plants on planet Earth just so MADcat won't get high on catnip again'. Yeah, that was a stupid plan.

I looked at them shake hands. I heard him introduce himself as Billy and she told him her name was Penny. I couldn't comprehend why she would agree to this sort of thing, for as long as I've known her, she hasn't dated anybody, nor had any interest in doing so.

They sat down at one of the tables. Well at least now I know why Uncle C didn't need me there, if one of his relatives was already there. It honestly pained me to watch Penny get pained by my cousin, I felt like it would hurt no matter who was on the other side, but the fact that he had to be the one there made it even worse.

I watched them order food and drinks. I noted that he ordered a black coffee and she ordered a cappuccino. He did nothing with it and drank it plain, where as she added at least two packets of brown sugar. I smiled at the sight. Can't stand bitter things, can you Penny?

I watched them talk, which was the hardest part. It didn't last long though, as Penny asked him a question. And then the monologue started. There he goes again. I couldn't believe he didn't change a single bit since the last time we met. Still the same stuck-up kid, who thinks he's smarter than everyone else. Well joke's on you, because Penny is the smartest girl I've ever met and she surely won't appreciate you assuming that she doesn't know a thing about what you're talking about.

I saw their whole meeting. To be honest, I enjoyed watching Penny getting annoyed with William's constant monologue. She just kept biting on her food, and try to look the least bored she could be. It really looked more like an interview, but at some point the interviewer wasn't even needed.

I could tell she cut the date short, as they parted soon after she stopped eating. I watched her meet up with Kayla, her best friend she mentioned a few times on our missions. For example one year ago, when my uncle made the whole drill ordeal to get rid of traffic.

I couldn't tell what they were talking about, but her friend dragged her to another location and our camera followed them. They ended up in a park and I saw another guy our age standing there. Wait, she was going on another date? I mean damn, that's a lot to take, I would never torture anyone with anything after hearing one of William's infamous monologues.

The guy looked, how should I put it...emo. Pale skin, black hair with a fringe, wearing all black. Black eyeliner, snake bites. I would like to use other adjective aside from black, but aside from his nearly white skin, everything was that dark colour. I shouldn't worry about him. I turned away from the screen and headed back into the hallway. Uncle C didn't even notice me leaving, and I was grateful for that.

I took the corridors back to my room. That previous outfit, a bad idea, I would look too much like William. I don't want to remind her of him. I put the previous top back where it belonged, into the disguise closet. I took out a navy long-sleeved shirt instead. I maybe should take something to put on top of that. I rummaged through the closet and fished out a tawny brown jacket made out of waxed canvas. Uncle C never liked leather, the closest he could do was eco-leather, for a supervillain, he sometimes surprised me how considerate some of his actions seemed, conscious or not.

The outfit seemed okay. More in my comfort zone to be sure. Most of the outfit was dark, only the jacket was a lighter colour. I definitely liked it better than the white shirt and vest. I felt myself shudder just at the thought of me having to wear that for a couple of hours and try to be confident, and flirty with Penny. Now that I think about, it would both feel weird, and would have less of an effect on her.

I returned to my Uncle's room just in time to see Penny return to Kayla with a grim expression. He didn't notice me walking in just the same as when he hadn't seen me leave. It was like I had never left. I intended to leave it that way.

"I still can't believe Billy didn't get the job done." My uncle sighed disappointedly. "I can." I chimed in without giving it a second thought. "What do you mean by that, Talon?" My uncle got irritated, but I knew exactly what I meant.

"The thing is, Uncle C, for someone to like William, they have to be a masochist and have bad taste at the same time. And those two things don't happen that often, and definitely do not match Penny." I explained, crossing my arms over my chest defensively. "If I didn't known better, I would have thought you actually cared about this girl." After that he turned back to his monitors. "Yeah, right, that's impossible." I said quietly, but made sure it was loud enough for him to hear.

"Well, I'll be leaving for my room then." I announced and made my way out without any disturbances. Looks like my uncle doesn't know me well enough to get that I actually care about Penny, more than I care about him sometimes. Who am I kidding? I think about her way more than I do of Uncle C.

I shook the thought away before entering my room. Tomorrow is another date after all. Another day of watching Pretty Penny going on dates with guys that aren't me. Just great.