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"Kate Bishop, please. You're just like my sister, such a poser! You're not even aiming at anything." Kate scoffed at Yelena's remark, slightly lowering her bow. They were on a rooftop in a mostly urban part of the city, surrounded by tall buildings in all directions. There was a lot of noise and traffic around, but the roof provided a unique perspective and view of the city. It was honestly quite pretty.
"I'm just getting ready in case something does happen! I gotta be ready to take the shot, you know?"
"Just look at you so focused and serious. You're gonna get wrinkles with your face all scrunched up like that. C'mon, it's a beautiful Friday night, can't we just go out, and get drinks maybe?"
"Well.... hold on, did you see that?"
Kate raised her bow again, and turned all her attention to an alley a couple buildings down. Yelena just rolled her eyes, and glanced the same direction.
"Ughh, whatever. Just try not to fall off the roof while I'm gone." She started to walk away, but Kate quickly put down her bow, and turned around.
"Wha- hey! Okay, okay, we can go do whatever you want. But I wanna check that out first really quick... pleaseeee"
Yelena just groaned, and buried her face in her hands. "You are so annoying, Katie.... Fine, we can go check out that boring alley, and waste both of our boring time.." Her shoulders slumped while Kate was ecstatic. They jumped from rooftop to rooftop until they were on top of a salon a street down, and peered into the dark, gloomy area between two other buildings.
"...What the? Is there some con we missed out on, or what?" Kate tilted her head as she saw a man dressed in all white murmuring about under them.
"Hm... have you even seen that movie Ghost Busters?" Yelena snickered as Kate gave her a disapproving stare.
"Hey, his costume looks epic!... But, what if he's like, some poor confused guy wandering the streets all lost?"
"He's not some homeless puppy, Katie. Look, he's even talking to himself." She pointed down at the man who was now talking to his reflection through a puddle. "Whatever he's on, I want it."
"Normally I would go on with my day, but something tells me this guy is important." She squinted as he started yelling at the reflection. "...Should we be doing this? Approaching him, I mean."
"Well you already made us scramble over here, so might as well." Yelena shrugged, and jumped down the building. Kate had to take a second to process her fall before running over the side of the building, just to see her parkouring down from balcony to balcony. Happily deciding she doesn't need a broken arm and twisted leg, Kate took the fire escape.
"...What's the big deal? You take these streets all the time! New Yorkers think alien invasions are just another average Tuesday, and you want me to travel here?!.... Don't give me that rubbish, Jake. Any other day you'd be fighting tooth and nail to drive around this city!"
As soon as Kate was down, she cleared her throat, and tapped his shoulder. "Heyyy... everything alright over here..?" He was clearly not expecting her, and yelped at her sudden appearance.
"Bollocks... yeah, I'm aces." He chuckled nervously with his hand now over his chest. Now that Kate and him are closer, she takes better look at his clothes and absolutely loses it.
"I uh... I like your outfit. I mean seriously, all the details on it are like, super cool. You know, I have a couple of friends who would absolutely die over this costume, I mean... you wouldn't happen to remember where you got the fabric from, right?"
The mystery man just blinks at her as soon as she finishes her rambling. "Oh. I, um... I don't think I do..." He stammered, shuffling in place.
"Katie, please stop harassing this man with your weird childish hobbies." Yelena called out from behind her. The two turned to face her as she landed beside them, and sighed.
"is.. everything alright? Am I bothering you, ladies?" The man asked, who now sounded a little worried.
Yelena replied "Actually, we are worried about you. We as in just her. Do you need help finding your home?" She earned a light shove from Kate which was only met with a shrug back.
He laughed nervously and waved his hand dismissively. "N-No, I know where I live. I just... I just like to think aloud sometimes, you know?"
Kate and Yelena shared a concerned look. "...Are you high?" Yelena threw out bluntly, very decidedly ignoring Kate's glare.
"Uh, what she meant to say is, well.. it's just something we don't see everything, and in this line of work you sorta just.. question everything..!" Kate quickly butted in while giving Yelena a look.
The man shuffled awkwardly and muttered, "Oh. I promise I'm fine, I'm just a little tired. No need to worry." He seemed a little embarrassed now which made Kate feel like soggy cereal.
Yelena only looked even more skeptical, but Kate spoke up before she could say anything else stark. "Can I ask you a question, Sir? If you don't mind of course..!"
He was hesitant for a moment, seemingly in thought before answering. "I uh... you know, I ought to be heading home right about now. Have to go feed my fish, you know?"
Kate took a deep breath, hoping she wasn't stretching her luck. "Could we walk you home? I mean, New York is a dangerous place. We wouldn't want you to get hurt on these streets or anything."
The man looked at Kate and Yelena, and then quickly shook his head. "Oh, that wouldn't.. be necessary. I'm alright, honest!". He waved his hand dismissively, and reached down to grab a discarded bag left near his foot. Yelena caught it first.
"Oh please, sir. We insist." She said rather roughly, her gaze boring straight through his mask, and right into his soul. His hand tightened around the bag's strap as he winced.
"I... don't want to have to do this.." He stammered as Kate stood between both of them.
"Uh, maybe we should all relax! Take a step back, you know..." Her hand squeezed Yelena's shoulder as she tried to nudge her away, but she stood her ground.
"No, no, let him try, Katie. I want to see this." She scoffed, clearly not expecting much. And in a heartbeat, He reached for his truncheons, which were kicked out of his hand by Yelena. She followed with a punch to the gut, making him stumble back. Kate watched in horror as he shoved Yelena into the wall and sprinted out of there.
Kate chased right after them, Yelena following right behind her before taking the lead. He ducked through small passageways, widening the gap between them. Yelena suddenly turned the corner right after him, only to be met with an empty street. It was like he just up and disappeared.
Kate bumped into her, cursing before realizing it was her. "Did you.. did you get him?" She panted, looking around with the man no where in sight.
"Shit, we lost him!" Yelena threw her hands up and groaned. Kate sighed and leaned on a nearby building. "Sorry, I guess. For standing there while you two were getting straight to business or something."
"You should be sorry. I was really getting into it." She sighed. Yelena sat down on the sidewalk before Kate joined her on the ground. "Yeah, yeah, whatever. We'll catch Casper another time. He can't hide from us, let alone those LARPers with that awesome bright outfit.."
Yelena hummed a response before the two sat in comfortable silence. Well, maybe for Yelena, but Kate was trying to catch her breath while trying not to sound like an asthmatic smoker.
"Still up for drinks..?"
"...Fine I guess. You're paying, Katie."
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"Hey, I had that handled!" Steven fumed to Jake, annoyed as he finally glided away from the two.
"Ahórrame las lágrimas, británico. I'm surprised you even got down the block with that ex-widow on your ass." He rolled his eyes as he landed onto the pavement, meeting Steven's disapproving face in a reflection. He hated having to be 'saved' by the two constantly, and was definitely going to bicker about it later.
"Don't worry, I won't tell Marc." Jake grinned as he let the suit ripple away into Steven's normal clothes. He adjusted the collar for a bit before taking the jacket off entirely.
"Why would I care about Marc knowing?"
"So he won't be on your ass as well."
"And you aren't?" Steven scoffed. "That jacket was expensive. Don't ruin it."
Jake waved his hand at him as he threw it over his shoulder. He walked away to find a taxi to take them back to their apartment. Maybe this time they'll get there to see an alive fish in the tank.