10753/Becoming Official is Awkward

Becoming Official is Awkward
Date of Scene:	16 January 2020
Location:	Danger Room, Titans Tower
Synopsis:	Volt is suddenly inducted into the Titans as an official member! When Robin arrives, things become awkwardly intense as he appears to be more irritable than usual.
Cast of Characters:	Volt, Kian t'Kaeh, Stardust, Robin (Wayne)

---

Volt has posed:
The Danger Room, at present, is a dome. A pristine, white dome laced with black crevices to create an almost art-deco style. A technological egg, if viewed from the inside. And if the egg were enormous. The floor is a simple, flat, hard metallic surface with a very faint bubbling of grooves. On one end of the room, there stands a pedestal with a glowing red, fluctuating center - an energy pylon. Opposite to that, a robotic mannequin currently engaged in the Thriller dance.

In the center of the room stands Volt, wearing his new, clingy costume. Ideally, Kian will be in front of him. The idea? Get more acquainted with ionic transferrence, and figure out its limitations. They have the pylon to draw energy on the fly, granted it's some distance away. On the other side, they have a target to unleash upon. Or Volt does. Kian probably won't be zapping it.

"Alright, I zapped you earlier. It was a lil' stringy bit of nothing, though, so... you ready for more? See if you can actually just absorb it, or if you're all alien and earth lightning is different somehow, or whatever?"

Kian t'Kaeh has posed:
    Kían shakes his head.  "Electricity is electricity," he says.  "It's just the movement of charges, there's no Earth electricity or Akiár electricity, there's just electromagnetism."  He smiles a little.  "I got a /lot/ of education on forces of nature when my /rhy'thar/ developed.  When I wasn't being studied, I was being taught.  It's why I wasn't worried about you using your powers on me.  And the fact is," he adds, "I really don't know my limits.  I've avoided pushing them to keep from accidentally hurting anyone or breaking something."

Stardust has posed:
    The illumination in the dome starts to flicker. The thought might momentarily occur that the Tower is suffering from a power outage until you quickly realize that would cause the dome itself to flicker, not just the lighting. The pylon pulses with light, throbbing dangerously. A wailing, warbling siren starts blaring.

    Suddenly a holographic panel appears in the air above Kian and Drake, about ten feet across. It appears to be a system alert window thrown up by Danger Room systems. The top bar reads 'system alert' and filling one edge of it is a large red warning '!. A message starts filling the box, one character at a time.

YOU MUST CONSTRUCT ADDITIONAL PYLONS

    About five seconds after it appears, it all disappears again, the Danger Room scenario reverting to what it was supposed to be doing. About five seconds after that, the door to the room slides open and Colette steps in. She waves to the pair, says "Hi guys!" and nonchalantly walks over to the control console to take a seat. "Carry on there, don't mind me," she adds as she puts her boots up on the console and pops open a bag of potato chips.

Volt has posed:
Things start going goofy in the Danger Room just as Volt is about to do something. His gloved hands started to raise, there was a crackle of energy, and then fluctuations occurred. And then a dated reference that Volt unfortunately doesn't get! He tilts his head faintly to the side and glances at the pylon. They've not even used it much yet!

The door opens, and in strolles Colette. He shoots her a rueful smirk and turns back to Kian. Of course those shenanigans would be her doing. Casual trolling while they're here discussing srs bzns. "Right. Anyhoo!," he calls, refocuses on birdmen. "We'll do this, like, incrementally. Won't push too far too fast, just in case. I dunno if this is automatic for you, or if you have to be prepared for it, or what." His hands lift again, fingers splaying. Blue tendrils of electricity begin coiling around his digits, spiraling along his hands. His arms thrust forward, and a dense bolt of electricity surges from his palms towards Kian.

It is, however, a bolt. Not a sustained stream.

Kian t'Kaeh has posed:
    Kían looks a little startled as the lights flicker... but Colette's voice tells him what the real "problem" is.  He rolls his eyes, but he's got an amused smirk, and an equally amused tone when he says, "/Kié/, Colette.  I came in here willingly for once, you're not going to scare me back out again, are you?"
    And then... Volt "attacks".
    And Kían just stands there and lets him.  "Not bad, but you're holding back.  I said I go skydancing in thunderstorms.  The view is... nnh.  You'd have to see it to understand."
    He holds up his hand; sparks dance around his fingers.  "How resistant are you?  I don't want to hit you harder than you can take."

Stardust has posed:
    "Zapping each other?" Colette asks between loud, crunchy mouthfuls of potato chips. "Kinky. Or is this a training thing? If it's not, I won't tell. I'll go along with the training thing story if anyone asks, don't worry. Lips zipped." Crunch crunch.

    "But don't mind me, I'll let you guys get on with it." That would be a first.

    So is this just like resiliance testing, or do you two have an idea where you're going to go with this one? I mean it's hardly conventional but I have to admit that if I was a bad guy and you two turned up and just started zapping each other with lightning bolts, I'd probably agree to go quietly just to make it stop, you know?"

    Crunch crunch.

    "Oh, by the way Sparky, I just cancelled your T-com. Dump it in the lab some time when you have a moment please. Before you get all dubya-tee-eff, don't worry I brought you a new one."

Volt has posed:
"I'unno," says Volt honestly. "I've never been hit by electricity. But I have to imagine it doesn't do boo to me, since it doesn't hurt me." His arms stretch to either side, presenting himself as the broad side of a barn. As much as he can, anyway. "Of course I'm holding back. I can crank out the electricity pretty hard. Moreso, if I vampire a source while doing it."

And then Colette trolls summore. Volt drops his arms to his sides with a sigh. "It's a test-," he pauses. "And you're just messing with us, so I dunno why I needed to even say that." He moves a thumb and forefinger to the bridge of his nose. She took the fun all out of this! Made it weird!

But there is a dubbya-tee-eff moment! When she says she's cancelled his comm, his eyes widen with the mask and he whirls around to face her. Eyemasks don't do much to hide expression, and the look on his face is immediately perplexed, and maybe even a little hurt! But she quickly finishes, and he lets out a breath. "Why would'ja do that?," he calls over to her. "Was something the matter with it? I didn't screw with it!"

Kian t'Kaeh has posed:
    And KABLAM!  Okay, Kían held back some, it's not as intense as a full bolt of lightning, but it is enough to ionize the air and cause a clap of thunder.  Which is probably centered on Volt.  That might be a little loud.  It certainly is where Kían is standing, and much, *much* too late, he claps his hands over his ears.  "That might have been a bad idea."

Stardust has posed:
    "Matter with it is it's the wrong model, is all." Colette's grinning slightly. Drake may feel that she's taken all the fun out of this, but she thinks the exact opposite. This is what team mates are for! Troll 'em 'til they glow. Of course her delivery on that 'cancelled' comment probably was an extension of that trolling.

    "The T-Com you have doesn't have all the features. Kind of a cut-down model we give out to prospects. I decided to upgrade you. Didn't mention it to Robin yet, 'cos he's busy. I don't think he'll complain, but if he does send him to me. I was studying the recordings of that warehouse job and concluded you need a better T-Com, because .... .... ...... .... ...." Colette's explanation is drowned out by a combination of Kian's kablam and the pressure-cancelling circuitry of the Danger Room tripping in with some high-powered wave cancellation to ameliorate the effects of the thunder, and any other noise that happens to be taking place in the room at the same time. Eardrums are saved, if only just.

    "God dammit, Kian." Colette sticks her fingers in his ears, trying to pop them like a passenger on a rapidly climbing jet. "Please don't blow people up when I'm talking to them. Sparks, you okay? How many fingers am I holding up?" She's not sure he's going to be able to hear her over the ringing in his ears, so she doesn't bother actually holding up any fingers.

Volt has posed:
Volt is wholly focused on Colette and her explanation. His mind is already working, piecing it together. His has been upgraded? The upgrade is from the one that they give prospects? Does that mean-

Boom, thunderbolt!

Volt is wreathed in lightning, his hair lifts briefly before settling back down into place. He blinks at Colette, nonplussed, and then turns to Kian. "Huh?," he asks, voice raised. There's a ringing in his ears, for sure. He pats a palm against his left ear, then right. It's a muted 'whump, whump' that it makes, but it'll be sufficient for now! He's very aware of what just happened! "So I felt it? But I mean, obviously, like... nothin'!" He motions his gloved hands about his unharmed person. "So there's that!"

Turning again, Volt's attention is placed on Colette. "What were you sayin'!?"

Kian t'Kaeh has posed:
    Kían has the infernal gall to look innocent -- even worse, successfully.  "SORRY," he says louder than is necessary since he can't hear himself talking either, "I FORGOT ABOUT NOT DOING THAT INDOORS."  He tries squeegeeing out his ears one at a time with fingers... with limited success.

Stardust has posed:
    Despite the studied nonchalance, there is just a hint of shoulders relaxing visible in Colette's stance when Volt replies to her, obviously unhurt. Apparently she does care for her team mates' safety after all. "No problem, birdy buddy. He's okay, and that was well within the Danger Room's specs. Remember when it comes to using powers here though, the thing is to start way low and build up gradually. Doubly so when you're targeting team mates rather than a holo-dummy or a construct. I mean usually if someone can channel electricity it's a fair bet that they're not gonna get fried by it or, you know, they'd fry themselves. But let's be... scientific about it. And ideally less noisy." She glances quickly towards the door. "Rae's going to blame me for that. She'll have been meditating, and she'll blame me. When it comes to loud noises, she always blames me. One time I was half way across the galaxy and when I got back she complained to me about the noise I'd been making while I was gone."

    Random asides out of the way, Colette addresses Drake's question. "Yeah. The mission. The warehouse. I've been reviewing the vids from all the drones and the bodycams. You did good. What was missing was the fluidity that you only get by working side by side with someone for a good while. And... a little bit of the confidence in your team mates that comes from feeling like part of the team. So I figured you needed a gesture from us. This is it. You okay with that?"

Volt has posed:
Volt, meanwhile, has been patting his ears again with his palms. Work, damn you, work! This feels important! And thankfully, the fishbowl effect is wearing off fairly quickly. And what she's saying, now that he can mroe clearly understand her, is pretty accurate. It's hard to really feel synergetic with folks you feel look at you like an outsider or interloper. It's difficult to have confidence in the abilities of others when you haven't worked with them much. And by 'work with them', it would need to be more than this 'zapping each other' like a superpowered version of Beavis and Butthead. It means fieldwork.

But.

Volt glances back at Kian over his shoulder, looking /entirely/ too innocent, then ahead at Colette again. He takes a couple steps forward. "With.. having a better T-comm?," he asks cautiously. He's trying not to assume.

Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     The PA system of the Danger Room kicks on, the voice behind it is loud, because it's on loudspeakers. "With being a full team member." The voice sounded grumpy, but the anger was not focused on Drake, just general Robin-ness.

  But where was Robin?

Kian t'Kaeh has posed:
    The little birdman looks apologetic.  "Yeah, I didn't mean the collateral ear damage there, I'm sorry," Kían says.  "I'll tell her that was my fault, Colette.  I thought this room could handle the power level, but I forgot that, uh, physics is physics."

Stardust has posed:
    "Better... you know..." Colette can't help smirking slightly. "Like the rest of us have?" When Robin's grumpy voice elucidates over the PA, the smirk gives way to a laugh. "You obviously have what it takes to be a Titan. I don't see any advantage to having your doubts about our doubts get in the way of that, if you see what I mean. So there. A gesture. I believe in you. And I guess since he's just being broody over the PA rather than pinging MY T-Com with angry complaints, Robin doesn't disagree."

    Colette's head turns momentarily to glance up at the security camera by the door, meeting it's 'eye'. It's probably the one Robin is using to oversee, because it's the one with the best overall view. It's the one she was using earlier when she set up that little prank. "There's one or two limits still, Sparks. The secure evidence locker won't open for you and a couple of the vehicles will remain locked to you. That's kind of out of our hands. Something Nightwing implemented back in the day as a security measure, or probably something the insurance people insist on, I dunno. Until you've been an active member for a year."

    Colette nods her head to Kian. "I'll appreciate that, birdy buddy. Can I have it in writing please? Just a letter saying 'I accept full responsibility for anything you think Colette may have done', signed and in triplicate, please."

Volt has posed:
Volt almost startles when the PA kicks on. His posture ducks, head tilted to peer about at the upper dome of their 'egg' chamber. But the revelation earns a bright, radiant smile. Well, that makes his evening. But wait. Smiling that big isn't cool. He tilts his head downwards, clears his throat, and puts on a straight face.

"Hey, um, sounds good." That's the more chill response. Much less spazzy. "Thanks. It'll be nice to," belong? Feel legitimate? "..work with everyone on equal footing."

Colette's restrictions come back to mind.

"More or less." A year's a year, and really, what does he need into the evidence locker for? And he can stand to keep his paws off certain vehicles. No big!

"Do you have the com on you? Or..?"

Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     The camera turns, looking at Colette and of course, her T-Com starts pinging like no other. Has Robin developed a sense of humor? Maybe. Probably not.

  The doors to the control room open, and in walks in Robin, sans uniform, but armed with his ancestral sword. The white and black unitard was the signature of the League of Assassins. The small teen walked in with a gentle pace, his footfalls were near silent, like he had been trained to from toddlerhood.

  The face of Damian Wayne was not hidden by any mask, and he looked nearly like he did when he first got to Gotham. "Stardust." He comments, no more PA, just the two of them.

Kian t'Kaeh has posed:
    "That's... not quite what I said I would do," Kían replies.  "And I couldn't write it out with confidence anyway.  Your written language is still... an ongoing project."
    He stiffens a little at Robin's entrance, and keeps half an eye on him, but otherwise does not engage.  He's got nothing to say to him; instead, Kían re-focuses on what he and Drake had been working on.  "How much of that did you feel, Volt?"

Stardust has posed:
    Colette flashes Kian a grin. Eventually he will learn not to take Colette at her word, alien as the concept may seem to him today. She gets up, leaving her chips on the console, and walks out into the middle of the room, unclipping a pair of t-coms from her belt. The first, pinging noisily, she switches to mission stealth mode without answer. The second she holds out to Drake. "Of course I have it on me," she tells Drake with a grin. "It would be anti-climactic if I'd left it in the lab. Welcome to the team. Save the world, and stuff."

    When Robin turns up in person, Colette give him a nod of the head. "Robin," she replies. There's a moment of silence as she studies his get-up. "You're looking rather... retro... today. Feeling nostalgic, Ibn al Xu'ffasch?" There's something a little pointed in her precise pronunciation of the Arabic name. It's something she's confident will mean nothing to Kian and Drake, but she appears to have squirreled it away after a revealing trip to Istanbul a couple of years back.

Volt has posed:
"M'gonna," replies Volt as pragmatically as possible as he takes the actual bonafide T-com. It's slotted away in one of the compartments of his shiny belt. Internally: 'Eeee~, it feels so official!' Externally: Cool as ice.

She's absolutely correct in her suspicion that her non-Western words means absolutely nothing to Volt. And he's content to let her and Robin deal with their personal whatevers without his interference. After all, Robin didn't address him. They likely have bidness to get to.

Speaking of, Volt turns to Kian. "So, in light of this, I'm gonna take a bit to check out the full range of options. Table the exercise for now?," he offers.

Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     Robin keeps focused on Colette, though Drake's lack of response to his true face speaks volumes about what he knows.

  "Nostalgic for xenocide, perhaps." He comments, giving side-eye to Kian from the control room. "Your pronunciation is spot-on." He adds, at least he is capable of complimenting someone.

Kian t'Kaeh has posed:
    Kían nods to Volt.  "Yes, of course."  He flicks another glance at Robin -- this might be the first time the bird has seen him without his mask.  "Maybe we should work outside anyway.  The acoustics will be less challenging.  I do apologize for that."

Stardust has posed:
    "I'd have thought you of all people would feel there are better ways for people to learn than that, be it xeno- or geno-" Colette replies to Robin. Her face reveals little beyond a questioning, arched eyebrow. "I mean..." her words come more slowly now, carefully considered. "When someone is very new to something, or very young, it's inevitable they will make mistakes. There are those who believe in punishing them for those mistakes, but those people tend to have a very strange and... inhuman... concept of the greater good."

    There's little chance that Drake - or even Kian, despite his lesser familiarity with the language - would be unaware there are private things being carefully referred to, something coded in the conversation, but Colette's keeping it very abstract. "Personally," she continues in her deliberate fashion, "I think there's a lot to be said for giving people a second chance. I believe that there are those who's past actions Batman has been willing to look past, who have proven themselves worthy of that second chance. But you'd know more about that than me."

Volt has posed:
Volt doesn't know boo about this situation, but Robin entered (presumably, anyway!), maskless, and bee-lined for Colette. It couldn't be any clearer a sign if he'd been waving a neon "NUNYA DAMN BUSINESS" on approach. So Volt is doing just that; giving space. Seems the appropriate move. He can try to lighten the air when he has some clue, or isn't /brand/ new to the kind-of-inner-circle.

Towards Kian, he nods. "Sure, that'll be subtle," he muses. "For now, uh, let's go be scarce." He starts for the exit, pausing at the doorway to call, "You guys good? Need me for anything? Nah, you're good."

And unless stopped, out he slips! They get their privacy, at least from Volt!

Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     Memories of his own training came to mind, it was what Colette had wanted him to do. Though, the outcome may not be what she wanted. "And there are times where those mistakes have dire conseque-" He had talked over her until she mentioned Batman and his own experience. "My point stands."

  Damian had a flash of violence in his eyes. "Bringing up my own upbringing is a low blow, madame." He comments in hushed tones.

Kian t'Kaeh has posed:
    Coded or not, the conversation between Colette and Damian eludes Kían entirely for the very good reason that he's watching the sword, and for any unexpected move on Damian's part.  "Yes, I think that would be a good idea, Drake.  I could do with a flight anyway."  His path to the door involves as much space and as many obstacles -- Colette and Drake included -- between himself and Damian at all times.
    Trust level: zero, plus or minus more zero.

Stardust has posed:
    "Yeah it was, wasn't it?" Colette concedes to Damian agreeably, her eyes fixed on him but her body language entirely relaxed. "Outdoors is a good plan if you two are going to zap things," she says to the others without moving her gaze. "How about the roof? Plenty of space, and the building has lightning conductors. That should be useful, no? Also Raven won't send you to an unnamable hell dimension for making too much noise when you're up there. Unless she's meditating on the roof, which she does sometimes. Then you're doomed."

    "Part of the reason a team exists is to spare individuals the consequences of their mistakes," she continues to Damian without skipping a beat. "It's a learning process. We all have things to learn. Like I'm sure you remember the first time you went into combat without having properly sharpened your sword first. Probably beat yourself up over it." She gives a shrug of her shoulders. "Better than beating the sword up over it though I guess."

Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     Damian's face grows less expressive. When the two had been left alone, the pretense of code was immediately dropped too. "Spare consequences?! He is not a child. He is an alien, from some zealous FTL planet that still believes in some idiotic beliefs. You know who else came from such a planet? Superman, and if he went off the res, so can the bird." He was purely defensive at this point, and despite his...anger, there was a point in there. "I do not trust him with my life, and I will not endanger the others because of his goddamn persistence on inaction."

Stardust has posed:
    "His fault was uncertainty. He needed confirmation when he should have just acted. If you don't trust his instincts, maybe you shouldn't complain too much that he asked for advice though." Colette grins slightly. "Maybe you missed it in all the confusion, but actually he did act. That knock-off Iron Man guy we took out? Don't forget that the useless pacifist bird took out another one of them all on his own. Yes, if he was more experienced, he could have stopped both of them before they got geared up. So the question is... do you drive him away before he gets that experience, or do you give him a chance to learn so he can take out two of them instead of just one for us?"

    With the other two gone, Colette visibly relaxes. She lets the locked gaze drop, stretches her shoulders and heads back over to the console for her chips. "So this is a Superman thing, huh? Can't bring yourself to trust The Alien when Supes has gone off the rails and shown you what dealing with non-humans is like. Damian, you know how many non-humans I have to deal with every single damn day? Take it from me, they're just like humans. Just as self-centered, random and annoying. " She recovers her chips, shoves the remains of the packet into her backpack, slings it over her shoulder and returns to Damian, resting a hand lightly on his shoulder for just a moment, if he doesn't shy away from it. "Besides. Looks like Superman didn't go off the rails after all. Way I hear it, he was being controlled by Darkseid's dad. Seems like /everyone/ has been being played."

Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     "You keep treating him like he is a goddamn child, Colette. Drake is...I think he is younger than him. And does better than him."

  Damian had followed her to the console. "I don't trust him because at every step, he either does not act, or contradicts me, or worst, shows the newest of us that it is acceptable to snap at the team leader while in a fight. He undermines my authority at nearly every single fucking step. He doesn't want to be here, it's obvious."

  Damian's look at the hand on his shoulder is one of light contempt. "My father was killed by Superman. I had to keep his heart beating, because it couldn't beat on it's own. It was by medical science and luck that we were able to revive him. I don't care if Lex Luthor was controlling him by shoving his arm up Superman's ass, Superman was the gun that went off. No one person or thing should be that powerful."

Stardust has posed:
    "No, I treat him like he's in a totally alien environment. Age has nothing to do with it, or you'd be the most junior person on the team, instead of the leader. He snapped at you because he's not used to being in high stress situations." Colette arches her eyebrow at Damian. "So what's your excuse for snapping at him instead of giving him a clear instruction when he asked questions instead of acting? High stress situations are normal for you. So you ought to be asking yourself what the real source of your stress is."

    Colette unzips her backpack and fishes around for a bottle of water. She pulls it out and offers it to Damian. "Except I think we just got the answer to that one. Almost losing your father is tough, and honestly Damain? You're not exactly the type many people are going to feel safe offering hugs and sympathy to. But that was not Kian's fault. And he's not gonna get any of us killed because we won't put him in a position where he might, until he's good enough not to. So redirect your anger to the /real/ source. And I don't mean Lex Luthor's gun, that's dumb. Even if you believe in disarmament, the fault lies in the person who pulls the trigger."

    Colette looks away a moment, then back at Damian. "As for no one person or thing being that powerful, in case you forgot, Batman defeated Superman. Think about that. You going to break up Wayne Industries when it's yours?"

Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     Damian's vivid green eyes look at the bottle of water offered, taking it in hand. "Exactly one person did." He comments, cracking open the bottle and drinking. "And that was Kestrel. She was trying to hold me back from destroying the cave, while we all watched on the feeds, watching as my father's best friend broke him. Father was dead, he was revived. There was no almost losing him. For eight minutes, he was for all intents and purposes dead. Autonomic functions ceased, but we refused to let that be the end of the Batman. Somehow, he pulled through. And through means you don't want to know, he regained his strength."

  She knew how smart he was, she knew how fast he could process information. "In those eight minutes, while I pushed his heart to keep blood moving through his body, I grieved." He wasn't having it, Superman was the easiest scapegoat, and that would tarnish any sort of relationship Damian would have with Superman, even if subconsciously.

Stardust has posed:
    Colette nods her head slowly as Damian pours his heart out. "I kinda figured smashing up a bar and swigging hooch stolen from the scum of Gotham was the kind of hug you needed." She flashes him a momentary grin. "We probably shouldn't mention that one to the other Titans. But... I'm glad Kestrel gave you the other kind. I like her. A lot."

    There's a moments thoughtful silence from Colette as she fishes out a second bottle of water for herself, unscrews the cap and takes a long swing. "Eight minutes. No. You haven't stopped grieving, Damian. Even now when you have him back, you're still grieving. It's hit you harder than you want to admit. That's okay. There are some people who think you're barely human. They'd be surprised. But they're wrong, and I'm not surprised. Grieving is normal, but you're trying to find ways to... undo what happened, and that's not going to work. Taking the head of the statue, too. Symbols. Statues and alien birds. You're looking for symbols to stab, because you can stab the actual guilty party. Who's name is Yuga Khan, by the way. Just so you know who you should actually be stabbing. Sounds kinda Mongolian or something, doesn't it?"

    Colette screws the top back on her bottle and puts it down. She nods her head towards Damian's sword. "Since you have that out... been a while since we sparred, and there aren't many people you can safely practise on with that. Wanna?" She grins slightly and winks at him. "I promise not to break it."