12781/The Hangout Nights

The Hangout Nights
Date of Scene:	03 March 2021
Location:	Orchestra, Monarch Theatre
Synopsis:	Barbara and Phoebe have a girl's night in
Cast of Characters:	Oracle, Sparrowhawk

---

Oracle has posed:
It had been a while since the last non-patrol hangout time and Barbara was trying to be more social with the Birds all busy with other projects and missions in the heroing community lately.

Stopping off to get the far and away favorite Chinese take out, Barbara made her way to Tim's place to meet up with Phoebe. On arrival, she calls out, "Knock knock..." as she enters, carrying the food to the kitchen. "Food has arrived. Don't forget to tip your server.."

Sparrowhawk has posed:
    Some nights you stay up cashing in your back luck -- some nights you call it a draw.

    Phoebe Beacon, in spite of armor and a healing factor, was feeling a bit sore after taking a metal bat to the arm early in the morning, and her left arm was just not feeling right -- so after fufilling her obligatory training regimin, including weights, gymnastics, and wrestling with her inner demons concerning eating an entire tub of mint ice cream.

    Instead, pre-patrol, she was lounging in a pair of yoga pants decorated with various colorful carnations and a black T-shirt stolen no doubt from Tim Drake himself, a bright orange game controller in her hand as she takes in the latest episode of some hopeful musical show about supernatural bands -- when she hears that voice call out. She hits the pause, and hops up.

    "Coming~. How should I tip the server? Thirty degrees or so? How's your balance?" she calls out, the shorter vigilante coming around the corner with a grin.

Oracle has posed:
Barbara Gordon sets the to-go bags down and grins, "Balance is pretty good. As long as I've not had anything to drink. Never could hold my liquor very well" she says with a carefree shrug. Taking out the cartons, she sets them out in perfect order. Without even looking, she recalls, "General Tso's Chicken. Sesame Ginger Chicken, Szechuan Beef and Broccoli and Sweet and Sour Pork. Mongolian Tofu and Veggie mix. White Rice. Fried Rice. And.... never ever leave without a half gallon of Egg Drop Soup."

Turning she gestures, "Take your pick and dig in!" pushing up her glasses, Barbara smiles. "It's nice to catch up with you again."

Sparrowhawk has posed:
    "Oooh, Mongolian Tofu and Veg, my favorite!" the darker lady gives a grin, grabbing out that box and a pair of chopsticks.

    "It is great to just sit and catch up. Without either... y'know." her lips purse a moment "... worrying about cracking skulls or if the armor can withstand another knife strike." she states with an almost casual shrug, and then leans over to the fridge.

    "What kinda soda do you want? Or water? I think Tim keeps the fancy mineral waters for show --"

Oracle has posed:
Barbara Gordon grins, "I did try to get something you'd enjoy. It'd be horrible of me to just get things I liked... even if it would still be delicious.." A wink is offered and she considers, "I'll take a Soder Cola." She begins to open the cartons and spoon out the selections she wanted.

"Agreed, Phoebe." She smiles, "But - one? It's never our skulls cracked. We're too good for that. And - two? The armor will always withstand another knife strike. Bullets? They're constantly developing new tech to improve effectiveness againt armor. It's a credit to the Family we've kept ahead of the curve so far."

Sparrowhawk has posed:
    "One Soder pop, one orange soda." Phoebe gives a grin, giving an easy lob of the bottle over to Barbara, to make sure it doesn't get too shaken up.

    "I will admit it, when Tim first broached the idea of me turning in my jacket for actual armor -- had my doubts. Now it's kinda just another skin. And yeah --" Phoebe sits back down again. "... Tim runs an awful lot of diagnostics for the biometic measurements on the armor, always improving and adding something." she gives a slight smile. "Cape still throws me off sometimes, though."

Oracle has posed:
Barbara Gordon catches the bottle easily and nods her thanks. "You're right. The weighting in the capes can take a while to adjust to. Each suit, each cape has its own personality and quirks. It's hard to eliminate all of the trade-offs. But Bruce has found a way to absolutely ignore the Laws of Physics and successfuly counter each of the trade-offs. It's maddening how he does it really" she admits as she pauses to take a drink. "How has your training been going?" she wonders.

Sparrowhawk has posed:
    Phoebe pauses a moment, as if her brain just ticked something, and she straightens up.

    "Perfectionists going to perfection..ate?" she offers as an explaination, and then gives a grin.

    "Been going well. I think it helps that I'm used to training against bigger, older people, so adapting what I learn with Tim into fighting isn't so bad. My dismounts on the high-tension are better." she straightens up a moment, leaning her head back a bit.

    "I still get pretty awful hood-hair. I joked about putting a satin liner in, but I think that Tim bust a capillary laughing."

Oracle has posed:
Barbara Gordon nods, gesturing with her bottle. "Yes. That. Exactly that." She then takes a bite of her food, chewing while she listens to Phoebe. "Ouch. Bigger, older people?" She pauses to glance at herself then nodding, "I'll send you the botanicals I use. No extra perfumes or florals that would give you away. And it helps a lot with hood or cowl hair" she jokes.

"I wish I'd seen that. I'm sure he's scrubbed the camera logs by now."

Sparrowhawk has posed:
    "Well, to be honest, Babs -- your hair's different than mine." Phoebe gives a sidelong grin. "I've got that classy Type C4 hair that kinks just so, makes the best cottony afros and the most surprising straightening lengths. That's why I've always got it braided. OR occasionally between braids, in puffs or bantu." Phoebe gives a grin. "Satin makes it so it doesn't tangle up the same, tht's all. I got a night cap too."

    She purses her lips a moment. "He mighta scrubbed the logs, but I'm pretty sure I still have footage of me flipping him into a puddle on our first date."

Oracle has posed:
Barbara Gordon laughs lightly, "Can't argue those points. Got me there." She then snickers, "A puddle, eh? That's priceless." Shaking her head she munches another bite. "That I think I really do want to see. Tim, being caught off guard like that? That's.... hmmm. so much ammunition to rib him with."

Sparrowhawk has posed:
    "Yeah, I don't think he was expecting to be shoulder-thrown when he was trying to stop my tripping. But... y'know. Growing up in Gotham, girl has to take care of herself." Phoebe gives a grin to Barbara.

    "Which includes, sometimes, keepin' the boy outta trouble sometimes. Does... eeeveryone on the team forget to eat sometimes, or is that a Tim thing?"

Oracle has posed:
Barbara Gordon nods, "Amen to that" learning how to defend oneself in Gotham.

"Yes."

"To both."
R"It does help keep us thin and fitting in our armor, on one hand?" she offers with a shrug, "But, yeah. Hyper focus comes at the cost of lower priority needs. Like eating. Which makes no sense as much as we all love to eat, you know?"

Another bite is chomped down.

Sparrowhawk has posed:
    "Look, we gotta replace the protien from ligature tears somehow. Even my magic doesn't do it without being powered." Phoebe gives a grin, then looks down "... does mean I get out of having the scars, though." she takes a breath, and then looks to Barbara.

    "Can I ask a question, as you are pretty much the smartest person I know?"

Oracle has posed:
Barbara Gordon laughs quietly, and listens with a nod. Then she gets serious, "Of course you can ask, Phoebe. I can't always promise you'll like my answers but I'll always give you the best answer I can. What's up?"

Sparrowhawk has posed:
    "I will always appreciate a true answer to the nice answer." Phoebe gives a smile, and she leans forward.

    "When you first decided to fight crime, to follow in Batman's shadow... how bad were your nightmares? Or did you even have nightmares? Are they normal when you do this?"

Oracle has posed:
Barbara Gordon listens and smiles sadly. "It happens. It can be hard to come to terms with. We see and encounter a lot of things it is difficult to accept that one human being can do to another. Strange dreams and nightmares? They're our minds trying to sort what we've experienced out. Trying to make sense of what makes no sense." She sets her bottle down, "I wish I could say it gets easier. But to remain human. Humane. To remain who -we- are when we aren't underneath a hood. A mask. A cowl. we have to live with the bad dreams. If we find a way to suppress them? I don't think we're human anymore. We'll become worse than what we fight against." She offers a weak shrug.