1905/The Mysterious Bird

The Mysterious Bird
Date of Scene:	09 August 2017
Location:	Central Heights, Gotham City
Synopsis:	Catwoman encounters a stranger who proves reluctant to say much. (After "A Cat and a Plant Walk Into a Cafe")
Cast of Characters:	Catwoman, Raven

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Catwoman has posed:
Following a meeting with Poison Ivy that was quite interesting, it left Catwoman with a few things to mull over. Sometimes her best thinking came when she was just on a rooftop alone, whether looking down on the city below or casing a place for a potential heist another day. She never scouts and does a job in the same night. It invites carelessness, mistakes, and Batman.

With her motorcycle serving as a means of transport from point A to B, she's parked it somewhere out of sight before whipping her way up to a fire escape ladder, climbing the remaining distance to the top of a building that gives her a good view of City Hall and a few other prominent places. Below, the city is a blend of noise and motion, headlights passing by, motors running, people talking to the point nothing really stands out. She crouches by a corner of the building, a hand resting against a stone gargoyle as she looks down.

Raven has posed:
Rachel Roth is there. Not -right- there, but somewhere off on another roof. She'd arrived about thirteen minutes ago- because it would -have- to be exactly thirteen minutes, wouldn't it- in a much less cool way. Raven has the world as her oyster, more or less. She can go anywhere. Rarely, she does. The rest of the Titans don't know about these particular trips, not because they're clandestine in any way, but more because the rest of the Titans don't know a whole lot about her.

Quietly, Raven makes her way across the rooftops- it's not a stealth thing. In fact, it's quite the opposite. Raven's boots are heavy, and she's not trying to hide her presence... But every short while, she floats from rooftop to rooftop, literally lifting up off of the roof and then just casually making her way across the gap to the nearest building. She seems to be doing that, again and again, just... Snaking her way through this populated city.

Catwoman has posed:
Eventually it's Catwoman's rooftop Raven reaches. Depending on what the young woman is paying attention to, she may or may not see Catwoman first. However, the cat burglar does soon grow aware that she's not alone up here, even without her looking behind just yet.

"You can't be Batman," the woman in the catsuit begins with amusement touching her words. "Either he'd never let himself be heard so openly, or he'd just give himself away by saying something up front. So.." Here, she turns to glance over a shoulder, the material holding a shine to it. "..who are you, then?"

Raven has posed:
Rachel Roth is walking along the rooftop, as if there really isn't anyone else there. Even though, when Selina arrived, Raven felt another... Ping, in her mind. Another source of emotions that she was using to drown out her own. She of course has a form of... Radar, to it. She can tell people present, and the strength of the way she "feels" them tells her to some extent how far they are- and she had indeed noticed someone exceptionally close. Much closer than anyone else- but, that she paid no mind.

"Yes. You are correct." she responds, her monotone drawl making the air itself both creeped out and bored at the same time, "I am nobody important. That's all that needs to be said. You can go back to... Whatever it is you were doing."

Catwoman has posed:
Catwoman's emotional state is quite controlled, steady. Focused and a bit on the curious side, which probably fits her well now that she's had a look at the young woman encouraging her to forget about her. "Is that some kind of Jedi mind trick thing you're trying on me? Because if so, it's not working." Her lips twist into a brief grin as she rises from her crouch, hands at her hips where the bullwhip is coiled about.

"Are you one of Batman's new trainees? I've lost count of them by now. Or, are you just a tourist?" She mimes air quotes at the last part.

Raven has posed:
Rachel Roth had her hands in her pockets, and didn't move them. Had she been a woman on the street, she would have looked like any other person- but she stuck to the rooftops, unable or unwilling to actually take to the streets of Gotham at night. Not that anyone can criticize her for that. "No. If I were doing something like that, it would have worked." she says, though whether or not it's some form of sarcastic joke is completely inobvious. It almost sounds quite serious. Her eyes are locked on the other woman, and she remains polite- not dipping anywhere other than Selina's eyes any longer than for a half moment, as one frankly should.

"I don't really train with too many people, and Batman is not one of them. Tourist works, but isn't very accurate. If it makes you feel better, you can call me that."

Catwoman has posed:
"Or maybe not, since we aren't in a movie," Catwoman quips in return. It may be she has little to no experience with telepathy in general, too. However, she appears amused enough as she saunters her way forward slowly, studying with her eyes, partially obscured by the red-tinted lenses of the goggles she wears.

She picks up on something. "But you do train with people. Who? And you can call me Catwoman. That's what everyone else uses. I think I'd rather go with something other than Tourist." The avian-inspired getup is gestured toward. "Seems you like birds."

Raven has posed:
Rachel Roth does not frown, nor does she smile. Her expression remains neutral- impassive. Calmer than calm should really be. It's a little eerie, but would only really seem so to someone who didn't deal with a control-freak like Batman on the regular. "Because everything that happens makes perfect logical sense, in places like this." she offers in retort, calling attention to, well, SuperPeople.

There is a silence as she approached, mentally, the question presented. "Tourist is all that really matters, Catwoman." she knows the name. After all, she works with the Bat's current protege. "I do like one kind of bird. It's not important." Deflection after deflection. She's quite guarded, but unlike anyone who valued their safety, she didn't just leave after hearing who the woman was.

Catwoman has posed:
This one seems to be a tough nut to crack. Will Catwoman try to force the matter or let things be? It could go either way, really. "All right. I get it. You don't want to open up to strangers, and you're probably avoiding people by being up here. I guess I'd be doing the same thing in your position." A clawed finger is held up, as if to stop Rachel from saying something too quickly. "Not that it's that way with me. I like to come up here to think, to look at possibilities."

Raven has posed:
Rachel Roth still has her hands in her pockets, and as the woman moves, Raven merely watches where she goes, not entirely moving to do so, unless she particularly needs to. "I come up here to relax, and to avoid all the throngs of people on the street." she notes, the violet of her eyes narrowing. They flit for half of a moment towards another part of Selina's figure, but whether it's the dip of the zipper, or the woman's bull-whip, is somewhat unapparent. "Which means that unless you're thinking about anything that I would care about, we can easily ignore each other." she notes, "This is, after all, a rooftop in Gotham. The longer one lingers here, the higher the bat population."

Catwoman has posed:
That zipper is all the way up, for what it's worth. "Aloof. Distant. A part of me likes that. It'll keep you safer in the long run." It might not do much for small talk, but that's the way it goes sometimes. She's already taken note of all the details she can pick out in the dim conditions, the illumination irregular thanks to reflected light, a few dim bulbs around, and not much else but the moon, occasionally obscured by passing clouds. "I don't know the kinds of things you're interested in, but I don't plan on going anywhere for a while longer." Maybe she /is/ casing a place from up here. "So stick around if you like, or not. You can even ask me a question if there's something on your mind." Then, a thin smile. "Let Batman or one of his friends come by. There's no law against being on a rooftop."

Raven has posed:
Rachel Roth raises a brow at that whole series of statements and, admittedly, there is a short pause as part of her acknowledges that things she'd heard about Catwoman perhaps are untrue. Which, in all, is intriguing- but Raven is not the sort of person to pry into other people's lives like that. For now, she notes the other woman's interest, and offers some minor shrug in response. "I don't think Batman cares particularly whether a law has been broken before he interrogates. He is the Baker Act, weaponized." Was that a joke? Was that a real, honest, joke? No, it couldn't be. It was way too true to be a joke.

Catwoman has posed:
Catwoman is the sort of person to do whatever she feels will give her the upper hand in an encounter, when she needs it. Right now, it's just conversation, small talk. "It depends on what it is, but you seem to know more about him than a 'tourist' would. Which of his do you train with?" This is a show of curiosity coming out as she crosses her arms, casually leaning against a wall with a door leading down into the building.

Raven has posed:
Rachel Roth narrows her eyes slightly. She's guarded, but not -that- guarded. Catwoman is one of Batman's rogues, but not one of his horribly monstrous villains. She's not Bane, she's not the Joker- and occasionally, she's even the Bat-family's ally, from what general Titan knowledge would tell her. Still a dangerous individual, but not... Well, nothing like any of the others, at least. "Robin. And Nightwing. I do not typically reside in Gotham."

Catwoman has posed:
"Oh, Robin. The one that's about this tall?" Catwoman holds out a hand, but she lowers it until it's around two feet above the rooftop they're standing on. Yes, the cat burglar has her bad side, but she's also probably one of the most 'good' villains Gotham has to offer. Maybe it's one way she's managed to avoid Arkham Asylum so far, how to keep her public identity separate from the one where she runs around dressed sort of like a cat. "Nightwing. Also a former Robin. I hear he has a nice ass. Would you know anything about that, Miss Tourist?" Now she's getting..playful with her questions.

Raven has posed:
Rachel Roth nods. "Yes. The one that is about that tall, give or take a few inches." Mean. "I wouldn't know anything about Nightwing's ass. I never look." she states, still not having taken her hands out of the pockets of her hoodie. "I keep things professional." she notes, not getting any more playful with her answers as the other woman becomes amused with her questions. Her brow remains raised, though, and if she had a problem with the other woman, she'd have left, which is an important note.

Catwoman has posed:
Catwoman openly laughs at the 'confirmation' of Robin's height, or lack of it. "See, you /can/ be funny," she seems to praise, only to stand back up to her usual height after the crouch, lifting a finger to point it Raven's way. "But you'll probably look next time, or when he isn't aware of it." Because she's planted the thought in there, of course. Then, she turns back toward the edge of the rooftop, taking her time at getting over there. "So, why /do/ you avoid people, normally?"

Raven has posed:
Rachel Roth is such a stick in the mud. "I won't." she offers, defiantly, because she needs to confirm that the other woman is totally incorrect about where she'll be staring. "As for why I avoid people, it's just better that way. Call it bad luck." she notes, seeming impassive- and not sounding sad or emotional, just... Earnest.

Catwoman has posed:
"I believe you." This is said to the claim that no staring will take place. She doesn't believe it. Catwoman glances over a shoulder again as she reaches down to grab a shoulder bag tucked into a small niche, shifting it into position as its strap is slung across her front and back, diagonally. "I wouldn't know about the whole bad luck thing, even if I've got a 'black cat' look going on, or whether it's really by choice or not, but if you ever find yourself needing to talk to someone, I hope you have people you can trust with it." Maybe the young woman's had a troubled past. A lot of people in Gotham could claim that.

Raven has posed:
Rachel Roth watches the woman prepared to leave, and as mostly a symbolic gesture, Raven steps to the side to allow her to walk by. "I'll think about it." is the most she offers, her monotone voice hiding the possible sarcasm and making it very difficult to figure out if she's actually considering it, or turning the other woman down. Only time will tell.

Catwoman has posed:
Catwoman is not headed for a stairwell, fire escape, door, or even a gap between buildings. No, she stands at the edge like someone debating whether or not to jump, only there's no hesitation or uncertainty in her body language. Raven is a mystery to her, an oddity, but not one she can spend too much time on tonight. She does have places to be, even if that means feeding a certain cat back home before he thinks she's trying to starve him (again). "Don't think too long. If you do, sometimes you might miss an opportunity. Maybe I'll see you around again and maybe I won't, but take care of yourself one way or another."

With that, she goes into a forward dive off the corner of the building, but already the whip is unfurled and in her right hand. An audible *CRACK* can be heard, if not seen if Raven moves in time, as she uses it to catch on to a street light's framework and swing herself down to street level. Somewhere, that motorcycle awaits.