Shadow of a Sinister Soul (Open)

"Nice to meet you Naomi. Since you've been so nice as to tell me your name, my real name's Mickey. And yes, I'm named after a cartoon mouse, get over it." he took off his coat and handed it to her."Here, put this on. It'll help hide your injuries until we get to my apartment. It's a bit of a walk, so try and bear with it, alright?" by the time they reached the apartment complex it was nearly nightfall, which wasn't a problem for them, as that meant there were fewer people to see them. As he led Naomi up the stairs to the second floor where his apartment was, he began to wonder what exactly was he doing taking in a young girl? Meh, he already invited her, so he may as well just go with it. He opened the door and turned on the lights, then headed toward the bathroom to get the med kit. "You can sit on the couch while I get the bandages. So kid, what's your story? I'm trying to destroy the world, crazy as that sounds. I blame it on my dad. Used to beat me up all the time, just cause I couldn't talk. Only reason I'm in Georgia is to escape the cops in L.A" he walked back into the room with the kit and opened it. "You want to do this yourself or do you want me to?"

This "Songbird" character responded well to Naomi's child-like politeness and informed her of his real name: Mickey. She could have giggled at his name's similarity with the famous Disney cartoon character, but her body was in too much pain to do so. Mickey then offers his coat to Naomi, telling her that it would hide her injuries. When she heard this, the Little Miss pauses, taking a look over herself, and quickly noticed a few open wounds. She could've sworn they weren't there before. Perhaps her injuries were more serious than she thought. With a nod, Naomi takes the man's coat and places it on her before he leads her away to an apartment complex. The walk there was unbearably agonizing, but Naomi showed very little signs of pain when walking there. It was good that it took so long to reach the complex because by the time they arrived, it was nightfall, and nightfall meant less people wandering about. Mickey led her up the stairs to his apartment and switched on the lights before heading to what Naomi presumed to be the bathroom because he told her that he would return with bandages. But he tells her more than just that--he tells her of his goal to destroy the world. That settled it. Mickey was definitely no hero. In fact, Naomi might have just met her second metahuman, and this metahuman was a fellow villain, just like her.

Mickey was curious of what exactly Naomi was doing here and who she was. After his question and his own explanation, he offers to help bandage Naomi's wounds, most of which were around her torso. Naomi shook her head and replies to him, "No thanks; I can do it." before taking the med kit and answering his question as she headed to the bathroom to get to work in bandaging herself. "Well, mister, I'm not exactly out to destroy the world like you are, though to be honest, I could care less what happens to it. I just like making people suffer. It's a lot of fun!"

While most people would be disturbed by Naomi's last sentence, Mickey strangely was not one of them. He waited on the couch while she was wrapping herself up. "Do you need a change of clothes? I think I have something small enough to fit you." he walked into the bathroom and began rummaging through his closet. After searching he managed to come across an old green t-shirt that was too small for him that he had been meaning to throw out. He took it back with him to the couch. "So how long do you think you'll need to stay here?" he didn't really mind the company, but he needed to know if she planned on leaving as soon as she was healed or if she wanted to stay here permanently. That was considering she wasn't going to kill him in his sleep.

Naomi removed her dress and set her knife on the bathroom counter in order to bandage the wounds on her torso. When she looked in the mirror for reference, she couldn't help but scowl at the damage that young hero had done to her. The bruises and gashes were like mocking laughters to her. It wasn't like she held much of a chance against him, but her hatred was still there. Her scowl, however, came to an end when Songbird asked from outside the door if she needed a change of clothing. Her original dress wasn't damaged much from the previous skirmish, but she could use something to sleep in. "Yes, please," she says in her most polite voice, opening the door slightly and reaching an arm out for whatever Mickey had to robe her with. When she received it, she quickly pulled her arm back and looked over the green t-shirt she had received. It seemed to small for him to have, but it was around the right size for her. Before she could think much else of it, however, Mickey asked one more question: he needed to know how long she had planned to stay. Naomi thought to herself for a moment. Until now, she hadn't had a real place to stay. When she needed a bed to sleep in, she'd simply find the nearest household at night and silently slaughter the residence. She would've preferred to stay until she was fully healed and moved on. But, a part of her was somewhat curious, and wanted to stay until she learned more about Songbird. After all, he was a fellow villain, and sticking with him may mean more people to kill for her. Giving the question no more thought, she replied to Mickey thusly. "I don't have a place to stay, so could I maybe stay here for a little while?"

Mickey thought it over before answering. Should he let her stay here? It might strain his finances, but right now he had enough to support them both for a while. If things got worse he could always get a job under an alias, despite how much he disliked the idea. And it did get a bit lonely all by himself, now that he thought about it. He'd always considered himself a loner. Where had Naomi stayed before? It probably wasn't a good idea to ask her. Finally he decided it wouldn't be all that bad for her to stay with him.

"Why not. But first we have to lay down some ground rules. First, do you swear you won't kill me in my sleep? Second, you have to earn your stay. Meaning you have to do your fair share of chores, though I'll take care of money and the like. Third, I have no idea how to treat a teenage girl, but I'll try my best, so tell me if you don't like something I say or do. And last but not least, if you kill somebody, make sure they don't trace you back to here. Sound good?" who knows, this might be beneficial to him too. "I'll sleep on the couch so you can have the bed. I know it's not much, but it's home."

Following orders wasn't Naomi's favorite thing to do, but it was Mickey's apartment, so it couldn't be helped. Besides, the ground rules weren't unbearable; they seemed fair and simple to follow, though there were a couple things that amused her. Firstly, she couldn't quite swear not to kill Mickey in his sleep, granted she had no mind to do so at this time. If she ever needed to, however, she'd be anything but hesitant to do so, but Mickey probably felt the same way. It also amused her that Mickey saw her as a young teenager. It reminded her how good she was about fooling others with her child-like mannerisms. The only one who seemed to see through her was the hero she fought earlier today. The other two requirements were nothing Naomi had a problem with. Boredom was her number one worst enemy, and chores would give her something to do when murder was unnecessary or inconvenient. And when came to that time, all she needed to do now was keep anything she does outside from being traced back to Mickey's apartment. Easy. At least she figured it would be.

"No problem!" Naomi responded to Mickey about the requirements that needed to be followed as she slipped into the green t-shirt provided for her. With a giggle, she continued, "And don't worry, I don't plan to kill you... Just don't give me a reason to." Mickey then informed her that she could sleep in his bed tonight while he took the couch. She wasn't accustomed to receiving this much kindness, especially after growing up in a cruel environment, but getting used to that wouldn't be difficult. "Thank you!" she replied to him as she inspected herself in the mirror for any wounds she may have missed.

Mickey wasn't truly convinced by Naomi's childish behavior. She seemed to have no malicious intentions, but for now he'd just keep an eye on her to figure what kind of person she truly was. At least she didn't seem to have any problems with the rules he had set.

"Well, I'll go get things set up while you finish." he walked into the bedroom, grabbing a spare pillow and blankets, and he cast an eye around his messy bedroom. He'd let things go a bit since there was nobody to see his mess before, but with Naomi living with him it looked like he'd have to start being more organized. With a groan he set his things on the couch and set to picking up the floor, putting things where they belonged and dirty clothes in the hamper. He managed to come across some old stuff. He found a cracked snow-globe he put in the trash(when did he get that?), a gray shirt with a smiley face on it that was also too small for him(he'd give it to Naomi), and a framed picture of him in his college years. He stood there and looked at it for a few minutes, taking in his younger and slightly smiling self in the picture.

To his right with their arm around Mickey's neck was Ivan Holms. The blond-haired man had met him in his second year, when he had 'rescued' him from some idiots trying to intimidate him because of his muteness, even though Mickey had already punched one guy in the face and the other two had run away by the time Ivan had gotten there. Ever since then he had followed Mickey all the time, always inviting him to hangout and trying to get him to come out of his shell. Ivan had almost gotten him to come out several times, never seeming to give up. By their third year Mickey was even beginning to enjoy Ivan's company. He'd always had something to say, almost as if to compensate for the words he couldn't say. That all ended when Mickey turned 21. Ivan had to be the one to check on him when he hadn't shown up to class. He had to come before he could clean up. He hadn't been able to control his powers back then. Mickey had made the mistake of trying to explain when Ivan had seen the remains of the magic ritual. Yes, he had killed his one and only true friend. He had cried for hours over Ivan's dead body, apologizing over and over before forcing himself to get ready to leave. He had vowed to gain complete control of his powers so he would never kill another person unintentionally. And he had.

He set the picture on his dresser and turned it towards the wall. Ivan was the only person he regretted killing, but the past was the past and there was no way to change it. He had to focus on his goal, otherwise Ivan's death would have been for nothing. After finishing up his business he changed into his pajamas and retired for the night. he would take a shower and everything else in the morning. "Night, Naomi. I'm going to go sleep now, and it'd probably be good if you got some rest too. Wake me up if you need anything." he pulled the covers up and yawned. "And one last thing. You aren't fooling me, so don't think you are."

Naomi was fairly disappointed upon hearing this. Mickey was yet another person she could not fool by feigning the child-like innocence she had adopted. With a mildly irritated sigh, she spoke in a tone of voice rarely heard around others; a much more mature sound replaced the little girl Naomi's voice emulated so well. Her expression changed and she appeared more emotionless and stoic. "Crap. Well, I tried." she had spoke coolly as she stepped out of the bathroom walking towards the bed that Mickey had readied for her, "I'm so used to tricking people with that persona. Guess your just one of the smart ones."

It felt, to Naomi, so strange and out of character to ditch her pseudo personality around someone. She was so used to adopting a mask of jolliness and cheer at the first sign of another person. Mickey was the first she ever shown, though briefly, her true personality. She did not give this too much thought, however. In fact, it was almost relieving to wind down and drop her act after a long day of displaying it while keeping hidden the build up of anger and aggression. A yawn escaped the Little Miss as she covered herself between bed sheets and a mattress. "Night." she tells him, closing her eyes to aquire the rest she desperately needed.

After rolling around for a few hours, Mickey found himself unable to sleep, which was unusual for him. Treading lightly so as to not wake up Naomi, he walked over to the fridge and took out a beer. He had just recently started drinking, though only a can here and there, and the taste was still a bit strange to him. After opening it and taking a sip, he sat back down on the red couch and started thinking about how life with Naomi would turn out. She seemed nice enough, at least for a psychotic child killer, but her sudden personality change brought up the question of how she was the way she was. Would she keep up the childish front tomorrow? All he could do was wait and see. Maybe her stay with him might change her for the better. He finished off the can and after throwing it away and and washing out his mouth, went back to bed, and this time, sleep came.

The next morning, he had gotten up before Naomi, and decided to be nice and make a hot breakfast. Growing up, he often had to cook for himself, so he was unexpectedly good at cooking. And that was why he was currently wearing a bright red apron over his pajamas making omelettes in the small kitchen, as he couldn't change until Naomi woke up. He had added whatever he had found in his fridge, which was peppers, onions, mushrooms, and a bunch of other stuff he didn't bother to remember Hopefully it wouldn't taste too bad. As he was moving it to a plate, he accidentally touched the hot pan, and reacted the way most people did.

"SHIT!" he yelled loudly, and whipped his head around to check if he had woken up Naomi while he sucked on his finger.

Though seeming to be sound asleep that night, Naomi was haunted by a troublesome nightmare of her encounter with the heroic metahuman. The battle replayed in her head over and over, each frame more infuriating than the last. It frustrated her that she hadn't even learn this man's name. Who was he anyway? The thought of this hero being shrouded in mystery drove her mad, beyond and form of madness she had ever displayed. Her bandaged wounds throbbed in agony each time she was struck in this subconscious re-run, putting her in absolute discomfort for what felt like an eternity. The pain reminded her of the constant beating she was subjected to back when she was an orphan, and she felt just as hopeless then as she did at that battle. Her visions reddened, and the young hero appeared more daunting as the dream went on. Just when the unrelenting pain and the overflowing rage began to become too much, a familiar voice suddenly swore loudly, ending the dream in a swift flash of reality.

Naomi's eyes snapped open upon hearing Mickey's cry. Her eyes tiredly wanders around the room as she slowly sits her body up, wincing slightly. Suddenly, something invaded her sense of smell, the aroma of a freshly cooked breakfast in the works. She was not used to such a smell, not even as an orphan. She'd always had to fight for a meal, and even up till now, the sustenance she obtain through more barbaric means were subpar at best. Turning her head to the intoxicating odor, Naomi was greeted by Mickey's pained face, sucking on a finger. "Nice wake-up call," she greeted coolly with an amused smile.

"Thanks, I've been practicing. I've been thinking about going into opera." Mickey replied sarcastically. Once the pain had dulled down he set the plate on the kitchen table along with a fork and glass of milk. "Sorry about waking you up. I thought I might as well try and make you feel more at home." he cracked open a few more eggs for himself and and they sizzled when they hit the pan. He started randomly throwing things in as he had done with the first one, and after a few minutes it was finished and he sat down at the table as well.

"I'm probably not going to do this often, so enjoy while you can. Do you have any plans? I have some things to take care of, so you can either stay here, go out and do whatever you plan on doing, or come with me, so I'm telling you ahead of time it'll be boring for you." he tried a bite of the omelette and found his cooking wasn't too bad. Though he definitely should lighten up on the onions. He noticed Naomi still seemed pretty sore from how she held herself. "Do your injuries still hurt? I'll get some painkillers while I'm out."

Sitting at the table, Naomi found herself quickly consuming the breakfast set before her. The mixed, spicy flavor of the random indgredients didn't seem to bother Naomi at all. Not that it was terrible or anything; in fact it was rather tasty. It wouldn't have mattered wheter it was appetizing or not anyhow. She was pratically starving and would have eaten anything at this point. Besides, getting food into her body was sure to help with her recovery. As she ate, Mickey asked her if she had any plans, informing her of the option of staying here, going off on her own, or going with him, though he warned that that option would be boring for her. Naomi hated boredom, so staying in the apartment was definately not in her agenda. She also didn't like the idea of taking the chance of going with Mickey if whatever he had to do surely was as dull as he made it sound. Of course, however, going off to weave her own mischief wasn't a very smart idea. She still needed to recover her injuries after all, and what if she ran into that hero again? Surviving another battle in this condition would be impossible, she thought. At that moment, she realized the chance she could possibly have to find out more about Mickey. It seemed that tagging along was the only feesible answer. Then another one of Mickey's questions came up; this time about her injuries. They were sore, indeed, but it was far from anything she was not used to. Besides, they felt far better than how they did previously.

"I'm fine, thanks." The Little Miss replies, denying Mickey's offer of painkillers with a simple slight shake of her head after swallowing the last bit of her breakfast. With her hunger satisfied at the moment, she responds to Mickey's previous question. "What do you have to do that's so dull and boring? I bet your just saying that." she says to him with a slight raise of an eyebrow as she reached for the glass of milk, taking a drink as she awaited an answer. Her interest of Songbird had been sparked and the burning desire to learn more about a fellow villain shone dimly.

Mickey raised his hands in surrender, as he wasn't being entirely truthful about his plans."Heh, you got me. Truth is I got an a request to guard some warehouse for the day while my employer does whatever crap he has to do inside. I just didn't want you to come since there's a possibility we could get attacked by some hero and with your injuries you might get hurt worse. And with my luck it's a high possibility." he explained to her as he picked up their dishes and deposited them in the sink. "Of course, unless you think you can still hold your own, you're welcome to come along."

He stretched for a moment before taking off his apron, and walked into the bathroom to get ready for the day. After brushing his teeth, shaving (he cursed loudly again when he nicked himself), and changing into his costume, he waited by the door for Naomi. "if you want to come with, than you better get ready."

Naomi smirks when Mickey explained himself. It seems that he had a mission assigned to him involving the protection of a warehouse and the employer in it. However, Mickey warned her about the dangers of tagging along, especially with her injuries. To Naomi, it sounded quite exciting and was infinitely better than her other options. She knew enduring another battle now would be detrimental to her health, but, honestly, she didn't care very much at this point. Between boredom and agony, as strange as it was, she much preferred agony. After he had gone to the bathroom to prepare for the day (Naomi laughed when he swore again, but quickly stifled her amusement when he exited in costume), Naomi entered the bathroom herself to do the same.

After taking care of personal hygiene, Little Miss Malice dressed herself in her black dress and bow, pocketed her knife after washing it clean under the faucet water, tightened the white gloves over her hands, and stepped out of the bathroom with the blissful expression she bore when she first met Songbird. She wanders over to his side, ready to travel wherever with him. "Well? Let's get going, mister!" she says happily.