2071/TITANS: Crouching Cheshire, Hidden Robin

TITANS: Crouching Cheshire, Hidden Robin
Date of Scene:	20 August 2017
Location:	Unknown
Synopsis:	As it turns out, Magpies aren't the only nosy birds.
Cast of Characters:	Robin (Wayne), 87, Wonder Girl, Aqualad

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Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     Damian had come to the tower without much fanfare. He snuck into Cyborg's room easily, searching around and looking for information. Nothing really damning, this was just how he would learn about the Titans more. Not that what he was doing was good. He had been sitting at the quite impressive computer terminal there. Though Cyborg's encryption had presented quite a challenge, he determined he would need to come back with an encryption breaker. The young hero attempted to leave the room without anyone seeing him, doing his best to cover his tracks, though everything wasn't perfect, he didn't have a photographic memory.

Vorpal (87) has posed:
Vorpal's room is a mess.

It isn't exactly that he is untidy, which he is sometimes, but it's the fact that it has boxes upon boxes that are still to be opened and properly unpacked. The only thing that has been put in its rightful place are collection of books, stacked neatly on shelves, his laptop and the bedsheets.

Oh, and at least eight uniforms, all exactly alike bearing his Cheshire grin insignia, hanging in the closet.

As for the Cheshire cat himself, he is coming back to the room after raiding the fridge for a late-night snack. Monitor Duty is just the thing you want to do before a good night's sleep, because you are so bored you will cry for the release of Morpheus' arms before too long.

"A Saturday without an emergency," the cat mutters to himself as he walks down the hallway. "The world must have gone mad."

Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     At the first sign of hearing someone coming down the hall, Robin darts towards a close by room, it just so happens to be...messy. Robin's eyes widen as he sees the extent of the boxes around the place. He quickly hides behind the door, lifting up his hood and making himself as dark as possible to blend in.

Wonder Girl has posed:
With nothing particular to keep her in the city today, no classes, hangouts with her normie friends from school, or spontaneous villainous attacks on the island of Manhattan, Cassie has been able to spend a good bit of the day hanging out at the tower. A lot of it was spent doing some weapons training with Starfire, who she's discovered to be every bit as ridiculously competent as her typical Amazon instructors. So basically she spends an few hours getting her ass kicked, before the girls spend some time afterward relaxing, maybe even cooling off with a swim! It's a real lazy day at the tower.

The evening does have some more 'work' scheduled, though, like team meetings and her own turn in the monitor room. After that, it's back to her room to catch a little Netflix. Ok maybe a LOT of it. There's some new show out and with no emergencies to call the team into action, Cassie is in full-on binge mode, and this sees her awake into the later hours with otherwise only the cat stuck on duty. But at *some* point, she does need to refill on snacks, which sees her popping out of her room into the hallway as well, heading the way her teamate is coming. She's of course dressed down, a tank top and gym shorts, looking every bit the normal teenager in the middle of a one-girl slumber party. "Hey furball," she greets him, the nickname more affectionate than teasing.

Vorpal (87) has posed:
Tommy can't wait to get to his room, turn on the lights and do some reading.

Or, turn on *the* light. He hasn't really finalized his setup, and he has avoided using the overhead lights. Something about them feels cold and unnatural- they are efficient, but it doesn't make the room feel cozy and homey. That's the reason why he brought the brass monstrosity that was his grandmother's standing lamp. The amber light it produces casta a nice, 'homey' feel to the room.

It would probably be better if it weren't full of boxes.

"Will definitely clean up tomorrow," he says to no-one in particular, repeating the same oath he has given every day since he moved in as he walks down the hall, idlydialing on his phone.

He listens once, twice... and it goes to voicemail. "Must be having dinner with his step-father or something..." Tommy doesn't really know how Gar's relationship with his step-father works, he hasn't felt like prying. After the voicemail *beep* goes off, he speaks:

"Hey, good-looking! It's me. Gimme a call when you're free, I miss y-Hey Cassie!"

*click*

"Up and about this late at night, too?" he says, grinning at her as he continues to walk. He tilts his head indicating the direction of his room in a tacit invitation to hang out there. "I found some manchego cheese and serrano ham in the fridge. Wanna share?" he gestures to the plate. Unless he is disguised via magical illusion, Tommy will never look like a normal teenager again. The plate that he is holding does have more than enough to share between two people.

Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     Damian adjusts his belt a bit, and finds an empty box close by. The teen has a moment of self doubt but quickly pulls the box over himself, keeping still under the cover of cardboard and tape. He automatically starts to fiddle with his wrist computer, he needs to create a diversion in order to get out of this.

Wonder Girl has posed:
"Oh, just catching up on some shows. Came out to forage up snacks," Cassie explains with a little grin, one that (along with her eyes) may widen slightly when she spots the spread that the cat-man is already carrying. "Oh man that does look good," she announces with what might seem like a little too much enthusiasm, and then promptly gives a nod of agreement. "Sure." Obviously, her stuff's all on-demand, so it will keep, and hanging out with someone else makes her seem a little less like a loser with no friends!

Taking Vorpal's lead, she readily follows along, probably a little curious too. There's a certain sense of mystery to everyone's little personal fortresses of solitude, and maybe one that's been heightened by Raven's recent trouble. Not that it was a good thing, of course, but it does lead one to naturally wandering thoughts about what secrets this collection of humanoid oddities keep in their closets. She lets the feline lead, only able to peer in from the door at first. Mostly just boxes! Probably dissapointing, as strange secrets go! Was she expecting scratching posts?

Aqualad has posed:
"Tommy," comes a voice-- it's Kaldur, dressed in the informal clothign one of the Titans had been thoughtful enough to pick up for him once it became apparent he'd packed too light for his stay. The Atlantean Embassy was working on getting him a credit card and cash, but diplomatic issues had temporarily left the dark-skinned man a little short on funds and housing.

In dark blue board shorts and a sleeveless grey shirt, he waves as he intercepts Vorpal and Cassie near the door to the fellow's room. Cassie gets a brief but real smile of greeting.

"Good day to you both," he tells them, dipping his head slightly in a bow. "I hope it finds you well. You are up late, however, are you not?" he inquires, glancing at assortment of cheeses and snacks in Vorpal's hand curiously.

Vorpal (87) has posed:
"Impromptu room party," the Cheshire grins at Kaldur and nods towards the door, "You're invited too. C'min!"

The door slides to let him in and he flips the switch that activates Gramma's lamp. As expected, it leaves the room lit with a soft, warm light, but it also intensifies the shadows. He throws a careless 'zzap' in the direction of the television screen and switches it on, because Chaos magic is a good remote control, don't you know?

"Sorry, I still haven't had a chance to unpack. Sit on the bed. Sit on the floor. Sit on one of the boxes, they've got mostly clothing in them so they should be able to take the punishment," the cat says as he sits down on the bed, cross-legged and puts the plate before him so it is within easy reach of his team-mates.

"I think this is the first time we've had to do any after-hours stuff, the three of us. How's the moving in going for you, Kaldur?"

The cat frowns, and then slides off the bed. "One sec, I need to change." Because he's still wearing his suit. He always wore it when doing official duties, in case an emergency called the team to action.

Although, with the heat of the summer in full swing, he found the suit rather stifling due to the fact that he was already covered in fur. Once or twice he actually just went out in nothing but his underoos to fight crime after casting an illusion of himself wearing his uniform.

The arrangement seemed perfect to him, until that one day where he got knocked out briefly by a thrown rock... and there he was, in the middle of combat, in his underoos.

Condiment King was just as embarrassed as Vorpal was and they both decided to just rain check and not speak of it *ever again.* And that was the end of -that-, from that point on Vorpal always wore his suit, heat or no heat.

"Geez, this place is such a mess. Sorry guys." He opens one of the boxes and takes something out, then heads over to the bathroom, stepping over the box where Damian happens to be hiding. He ends up accidentally bumping it with his foot and falling over, but he recovers quickly. "Grrrr."

After a minute, he's back out of the bathroom (stepping over the box again) and heads back to the bed in shorts and tank-top. "Much better. I don't feel like I'm in a convection oven anymore."

Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     Robin keeps messing with the holographic computer, attempting to access the Tower's systems, or at least its alarm systems.

  WayneTech, of course it had WayneTech systems! Robin smiles with confidence...as soon as Vorp knocks into the box a bit. Luckily the master ninja had the good sense to keep quiet. Just a little more time, and he can get out of this situation.

Wonder Girl has posed:
"Hey Kal," greets Cassie in her usual, chipper fashion, turning when she hears his voice and pausing to kind of lean in the doorframe as he approaches, rather than heading right in. "Yeah, I guess?" she wonders of the time. "I dunno. Sometimes I stay up pretty late studying for tests and stuff," nevermind when schoolwork piles up at the same time as major heroic crises, "So I'm kind of used to it. I try and keep a better schedule, but I spent all afternoon training today so I figured I earned the right to binge some shows and stuff my face." Though, she thumbs over at Vorpal as he points out the change of plans, "then I got roped into this."

A bit more curious room-peering as she finally heads in, head turning as she walks to eye a box here or there. But really, with everything packed, there's little snoop-worthy to see! Crossing the room, she takes the invitation to hop up next to Vorpal, possibly because he has the food. Either way, she sits cross-legged on the bed and remains there as he scoots off again, claiming the plate in the meanwhile. More for her!

She will muse a little on their socializing as the cat is off changing, while also nibbling on slices from the plate. "Yeah I haven't had much chance to hang out with some of you newer folk, though I've gotten to show Kal around some. But otherwise it's mostly me and Kori."

Aqualad has posed:
Kaldur looks around the room and manages to keep his disapproval at the anarchy off his features. Kaldur's room is impeccably neat. Granted, he owns exactly what could fit in one suitcase, but it's all organized by color /and/ alphabetical order in his closet-- and finding dust to be an affront to his sensibilities, his room is probably clean enough for surgical work.

"My thanks," he tells Vorpal and moves to a low, sturdy stack of two boxes. Testing them with a hand for rigidity, he seats himself near the bed and leans forward to pick up a cheese wedge. He sniffs the morsel, then tosses it in his mouth and chews.

"Mmph," he winces. "Food on the surface is so... flavorful," he says, eyes watering a bit. But he gets through it, swallowing, then reaches for another. "It is a bit overwhelming."

Vorpal (87) has posed:
"I never thought about what it must be like to eat under the sea..." Tommy comments, watching Kaldur's expression. "Of course it doesn't help I selected a strong cheese -and- strong meat. If I'd known, I would have gone for something softer. Like Brie." 'Softer' of course being in the palate of the be-taster, as they most certainly do not say.

He grabs a helping of serrano and leans back to munch on it, propping himself on an elbow. He looks at Cassie, "Yeah, it doesn't help Gar's doing something in California and he hasn't filled me in on all of the details about super-teaming. Like... what do we do when we hang out like this? Do we trade origin stories or... like, you go to school. I don't even know what you study. And Kaldur..." he looks at Kaldur. And goes blank.

"I literallly know next to nothing about where you come from. What made you come all the way up here to the surface to punch bad guys in the face? I mean, if you're open to telling. Of all of us you must be experiencing the most culture shock. I at least have my human side that is familiar with this 'non-fluid reality' thing. You must feel like a fish out of water."

He pauses, and then he widens his eyes. "Totally not what I meant, sorry!"

Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     Robin was into the emergency systems now, typing commands into the system, eventually a klaxon starts up, warning those inside to some kind of emergency. Now all the Boy Wonder has to do is play the waiting game, which he does very nicely. No one need know he ever was here. Although he did make a note to add food sensitivities to Kaldur's file.

Wonder Girl has posed:
Leaning forward Cassie holds out the tray so Kaldur can conveniently grab some stuff off it without having to twist or reach up much, though she can't help herself from a laugh at his reaction. "You know, surface-folk pay up big time for what must be, uh, pretty normal for you guys. Raw fish is this whole big THING." Maybe things are always more exotic coming from the 'other' world, and that goes both ways? She seems to happily nibble away at her own selection, not minding whatever flavorfulness.

"Mmm, it's not like there's really uh, a script to it," she offers thoughtfully as Vorpal muses on the proper manner of 'teaming.' "Well, plus this is my first official one too, so I don't know any better. The Amazons were kind of different, more just like a big family." She holds out her hands. "Figure its like going to a new school or whatever, you just, y'know, get to know each other however's comfortable. I don't mind sharing a bit. Open book!"

And since a few questions were included there, she starts to answer. "Well, I'm majoring in history, *mostly* because the only way I even graduated and got into college, after missing a couple years of high school I spent in Themyscira, was with my mom pulling strings to get some times I went on digs with her to count as independent study credits or whatever. So I didn't have much choice." She grabs another slice, lifting it toward her mouth. "As for origins, well..." And then the alarms go, causing a rather... well, exasperated reaction from the young lady: "Oh you have to be kidding me!"

Aqualad has posed:
"But I do feel like a fish out of water," Kaldur says, the reference clearly going over his head. "Food in Atlantis is very different," he explains. "Few human foods could last very long; the saltwater breaks down meats quickly and plankton do the rest. Food is almost always very fresh and served from planters or cages," he explains. "We do enjoy cooked food, of course; my favorite is flounder boiled in kelp oil," he says, a little fond twinkle in his eyes.

He opens his mouth to explain his own situation, but then the alarm klaxon goes off. "That does not sound good," he says, rising to his feet smoothly. He grasps the open air, realizing his water bearers are still in his room. "Is it an attack, or merely alarm?" he inquires of Vorpal-- the big Atlantan lad is remarkably composed even under the duress of the alarms whooping in the corridors.

Vorpal (87) has posed:
"No clue!" Tommy answers Kaldur with a sigh. "Of course, it JUST happens as I change into something comfortable."

Annoyance on his face, the cat makes an impatient gesture in mid-air and opens up a Rabbit Hole into the control room where the door should be, so that now his room exits into the control room. He leaps (after taking one last cheese wedge, for the road) and runs towards the computer to check. He leaves the Rabbit Hole open for his team-mates to come through, or to watch.

"Okay, it looks like.... fire alarm. Coming from the garage, of all places. How on earth?" the Cheshire cat stares and frowns.

Wonder Girl has posed:
After her rather annoyed declaration, Cassie nonetheless hops up to her feet. She's in a slacker mood, sure, but not to such an extent that she'll actually ignore a potential threat! "Dunno," she starts answering Kaldur, and looks well ready to zip off to check when Vorpal decides on a different method of speeding the whole process along. With the cat rushing ahead, she follows as far as the portal, whether leery of it or just waiting on his reply from the other side, since he remains within sight.

"A fire alarm? You sure this isn't like, somebody's idea of a prank? When I stay at the dorms, people do that kind of thing allllll the time, pulling the alarm so everyone has to run out and stand in the street in their pajamas." This is a well-attested plight of college dormitories! Annoyed, she stands there with her hands on her hips. "We've got, uh, suppression systems right? Can you see anything on the cameras or is it just the alarm going?" Because she is going to avoid rushing anywhere in her sleepwear for once, if she can avoid it!

Aqualad has posed:
Kaldur blinks at the surprise portal, but he's not unfamiliar with Vorpal's tricks; with only the least amount of hesitation he walks through the portal too, moving with alacrity (and clearly missing his weapons).

Still, Kaldur is a warrior, and the real weapon is the will to fight; not his mystic water bearers. He stands with his hands near his stomach, palm down and elbows slightly turned out. It's an odd posture for anyone who doesn't realize it's a swimmer's ready stance, holding his balance if he had something to swim in.

"I do not see activity in the garage," Kaldur says, looking at the monitors. "If you will open another portal, I will inspect it myself," he tells Vorpal-- no dobut his voice carries easily to the other room.

Vorpal (87) has posed:
Being only able to open one hole at a time, the portal in Vorpal's room closes, "Sure thing, Kal, one second..." And then, there is one leading off to the garage. Unbeknownst to all, Damian's ruse had worked. "I don't smell any smoke," the cat frowns, "But it could be detecting the beginning of an electrical malfunction. We should still check. Just in case."

He will come with Kaldur, in case he needs to open another portal and access equipment. He figures their Amazon-trained friend will either follow them or monitor the situation from the monitor room.

He sighs softly. The dish full of cheese and meat was on his bed. "... I was looking forward to a few more bites," he mutters.

Wonder Girl has posed:
Continuing to mill around at the portal edge, Cassie seems uncertain - she's never really dealt with the cat's magic in quite that direct a fashion, minus a time with a missing arm that was maybe not the best introduction! Still, Kaldur's courage (or simple lack of concern) in passing through seems to seal her own. And she's *just* about to go through when Vorpal opens another, and in a blink of the eye, the strange door-to-another-room in front of her resumes being a normal door to a hallway. She had no clue there was a limit on the number of things!

This leaves the young woman stranded and a little perplexed, giving a quiet "Hey!" as the passage closes and she's left there all by her lonesome. At least as far as she knows. She grumbles a bit and looks around, turning to walk back over the bed and grab the plate. "If you jerks are gonna leave me behind I'm taking this," she mutters, and procedes to stomp along back out into the hallway, giving one box an annoyed kick on the way.

She IS a good teamate, of course, so she does plod down the hall toward the monitoring room the olf fashion way, standing there barefoot in her lounging clothes with a plate of ham and cheese. It's a little weird.

Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     After hearing Cassie leave the room, the teen lifts the box over his head, dropping it behind him. Robin looks at his box's cardboard brother, now ruined by a foot crashing into it. He slips through the door and into the common corridor. Robin heads out to the roof access, only to take off in the night, in the distance a winged creature can be seen headed towards Damian, and flying back off with the teen on his shoulders.

Aqualad has posed:
"Fear not, friend Vorpal," Kaldur tells the green-skinned fellow. He clasps his shoulder with a strong hand. "A little paranoia can be very beneficial. But laxity may prove fatal," he says.

"Vorpal and I will go to the garage. If you will watch over us on the monitors, it would help me go easy," he tells Cassie, courteously. He picks up two pieces of cheese from the board. Then a third. Then two steps backwards before they leave, and a fourth.

"My thanks, friend Cassie," he tells the blonde girl, flashing her a subtle but real smile. "'twas thoughtful of you to bring the food with you while I was over hasteful." He follows Vorpal's lead as they move on.

Vorpal (87) has posed:
"Laxatives can prove fatal, indeed," the Cheshire says with a smirk, finding a moment of levity even in a potential emergency. As he steps with Kaldur towards the garage, he says- "Speaking of which, let me give you the first pointer for survival: NEVER let Gar cook..."