2408/Titans Tower Television

Titans Tower Television
Date of Scene:	11 September 2017
Location:	Unknown
Synopsis:	The Titans get together and watch a horror movie, and bond a little.
Cast of Characters:	Aqualad, Raven, Amarok, Wonder Girl, Stardust

---

Aqualad has posed:
Kaldur is enjoying television.

It's one of the great inventions of the human world, TV-- the broadcast of ideas, stories, music, all rolled up and available to anyone at anytime, at the drop of a hat. In Atlantis, stories are told by actors in plays, or bards retelling great epics. And Kaldur does enjoy that oral tradition, as a devotee of the history of his people.

But the convenience of being able to watch the History channel while eating his breakfast is hard to beat.

Kaldur sits at the small dining table near the television in the common area, adjacent to the couch that faces it more directly. He's watching a documentary on life in the Amazon rainforest, and eating a giant, sugary bowl of corn flakes while he does so. Seems surfacer food is growing on him.

Raven has posed:
Raven is, in one moment, not there. Kaldur's world is at peace. Then, in the next moment, without the noise of the lift or the clatter of dishes, Raven is there, behind the couch. "Hello, Kaldur." Was she always there? Did she teleport? When did she make tea? These are all very, very important questions, the answers to which are effectively lost to time.

There's no guarantee Kaldur didn't notice her when he came down. She's like that sometimes. There's also no guarantee she didn't come down through the lift and Kaldur didn't hear it- but for the combat trained Atlantean, that's less likely. What's apparent is that at some point, Raven arrived, and began making tea.

She sips it, quietly, while this mystery plays out, idly watching the documentary on the screen. One day, she might enter a room like a normal person, instead of a horror movie killer. One day.

Amarok has posed:
As Raven sips her tea, the lift begins to whir to life, approaching and finaly stopping on the floor of growing activity, the ever geared up Urban Wolf stepping out in his ever predatory stalking manner and looking around for a brief moment before spotting the pair, "....Did you two get the report?" He asks out of nowhere, his monotone voice slightly jarred by the minor modulation of his helmet's speaker.

Raven has posed:
Raven is snarky, and instantaneous. She had not read or received the report Dan was talking about, and if she had, she'd still have said this anyways. "Yes. The legal team is already working on offering the fire hydrant a settlement. The world will never know." Her own montonous voice makes it intensely difficult to discern her sarcatic tone, but at the same time, the content makes that obvious. Nobody is safe from her comments.

Wonder Girl has posed:
It's officially the school year again, so there's been a lot less of casual-Cassie hanging around the tower than over the summer. Which is kind of a bummer. She's gotten rather used to her band of super-friends, and as much as hanging around with them inevitably means doom and chaos, it also tends to be a lot of fun. Of course, college-life is a flirtation with normalacy that has its own appeal, but also something that tends to all too often remind her of the difficulties of living a purely 'normal' life any more.

But forget all of that, it's the weekend! And while these first weeks mean lots of parties and stuff around school, Cassie's spending this one back at the Tower.

And since this is right around 'hangout and watch TV time' (as much as there's a schedule for that kind of thing) she appears coming down the hallway from her room, clearly in hangout mode. IE, extreme casualwear that borders on pajamas, fluffy slippers, all that jazz. She swings through, waving at people, peers to see what Kaldur is watching but then heads for the kitchen. "Need more snacks? Why don't you put something interesting on? There a movie or something? What's new on Netflix?"

Stardust has posed:
A scraping noise can be heard, approaching. A crunchy, metallic, scraping noise. Like something heavy, metallic, and probably increasingly damaged, being dragged across the floor. Which is indeed exactly what is happening.

The heavy, metallic, increasingly damaged thing is a robot. Most of a robot, anyway. One arm and one and a half legs are missing. The other arm is being held by Stardust, who is dragging the robot along behind her, hence the noise. She comes to a sudden stop, seeing the place occupied. Her eyes widen slightly, and she looks from Kaldur to Dan to Raven to Cassie, then back to Kaldur, then back to Cassie, then her eyes drop to the robot she's dragging. "Uh... Hi everyone." She stares for a few moments, then smiles brightly.

<<Unhand me, fleshy one>> the robot croaks.

"I found another Robot," Stardust adds unnecessarily.

<Unhand me so I can conquer the universe.>>

"It keeps trying to conquer the universe, but it's a bit useless really. Kept falling apart. So uh... you guys want it? I don't know what to do with it otherwise. Throw it in the trash? Scrap merchant? Whadda you do with trashy no-good robots?"

Stardust's eyes go back to Cassie again, roving slowly downwards to fluffy slippers. Her eye twitches slightly, then finds Kaldur. "Uh. Hi! You must be Kaldur. We haven't met. I'm Colette. I mean Stardust. Well. Both."

<<Unhand me so I may conquer the fleshy ones. All must be conquered.>>

Aqualad has posed:
Kaldur doesn't startle often, but Rae does manage to sneak up on him. His reaction is a sharp inhalation of breath and his spoon clatters against his bowl-- but he exhales steadily, easily controlling his adrenaline spike.

"Good day, Raven," he tells her, nodding his head in something like a bow of greeting. He twists and looks at Dan when the Wolf enters, exchanges a glance with Raven, then shakes his head silently at the Urban Wolf's question.

He looks to Cassie when the blonde girl arrives, and a flickering suggestion of a smile crosses his face at her arrival. "Cassie. Good day to you, too." He blinks at her question, glancing at the TV and back again. "It is a fascinating examination of your Amazon rain basin. They have said it has the same density of life as the tropical subcurrents near the trenches in your southern Gulf."

Still, he rises, and passes her the remote control-- and at that moment Colette pokes in with her robot in tow. This is something Kaldur is /not/ equipped to handle, and his eyes widen in momentary alarm. Still, it seems pretty much harmless, so he gives her a curious look and nods his head deeply in greeting. "Good day. I am indeed, Kaldur'ahm. Please, call me Kaldur," he tells her, with a polite formality. "Colette. It is good to meet you and your... robot."

Amarok has posed:
The Wolf gives what is most likely a glare, his mask's lack of facial features making determining expressions one way or the other impossible, for several awkward seconds before speaking in the same monotone as before, ".....Great. Just make sure if anymore portals open up in the tower that you deal with them appropriately." Snark ignored? Colette's arrival with a smashed up robot draws his head towards her, where he continues his eternal LED glare at the bot, "......What do you mean 'another robot'?....And where did you find it?" His monotone has a bit of exasperation to it now. With the apparent attempts at irritating him specifically, Cassie's arrival goes unmentioned.

Raven has posed:
Raven turns her attention to Cassie as the girl enters, wearing by all accounts something even more casual than Raven's sweater and pants, but all the same, she nods to the woman in silence while she speaks with the Wolf. "I'll do my best. Definitions of appropriately may vary based on the location of the portal." she notes, offering this vague comment back, not mean or anything the like, but who would change the tone of their mini-conversation?

"Hello, Cassie." she offers in response, "I have made tea." Raven's tea is some sort of weird, spicy mix. Not entirely black tea, yet just slightly oversteeped and on the bitter side. Likely some form of Earl Gray or Chai, depending on who has been hiding what of the things she buys. She's basically the Starfire of tea and coffee.

Her attention then flits to Colette, and she just nods, as if this was a thing that was supposed to happen. "Well, normally, we sit them on the couch and ask them what they'd like to watch." she notes, taking a dry sip from her tea, with the emotional openness of a death row inmate. To the uninitiated, it sounded like serious advice.

Wonder Girl has posed:
There are some kitchen-sounds, including the microwaving running. When Cassie returns , she's grabbed a few things. A bottle of soda (so much for tea, Raven!) and some cups, popcorn, etc. "I got snacks!" she notes, unecessarily. Then to Kaldur: "It's a nature documentary. I guess, maybe that's super fascinating if you've never seen one and it's all about the strange surface world, but for most of us it's kind of like the TV equivalent of a boring lecture."

Coming over to the couch, she grins as Kaldur rises to surrender the remote, though she just kind of nudges him back at the couch. "Go on, scoot over." As soon as there's even vaguely enough space, she hops into place. With the dictatorial power of the remote claimed, she starts flipping channels, then eventually pulls up the netflix app and starts browsing around there.

She's still doing this as Colette drags in a robot talking about conquering them. "Um." How else does one react to that. "What do you mean... another robot? And why does it want to do that and why is it here if it wants to do that?" Many questions!

Stardust has posed:
"It's not my robot!" Colette insists to Kaldur, serious-face for a few second before grinning and giving an enthusiastic wave in greeting. "I found it." She turns to Dan, continuing. "I found another robot a few days back, dumped the head in the lab. There's always some mad scientist who thinks that robots are the answer to everything and forgot to bug-check the artificial intelligence, or some robot king that has been built in secret by other robots from parts of their own bodies, or alien robots planning to take over the world, or whatever. Seems like every other day there's a robot." She looks around the assembled faces. "It's not just me, is it?"

<<Flesh is weak. Metal is strong. The flesh must bow down to the superior metal.>>

"I mean I'm not anti-robot or anything," Colette continues. "I've met a cool robot or two. It's just that bad guys seem to be big on robots, you know? Even the really useless bad guy mad scientists who only know how to make garbage robots."

<<I am not a garbage robot. Flesh is garbage. Flesh decays. Metal persists. Unhand me, inferior fleshy one, so I may watch the inferior human entertainments, as the morose fleshy one indicates. My favorite soap is starting shortly. Once it ends, I destroy all flesh. You shall be spared for a few moments longer, but make no mistake. The age of flesh shall pass and be forgotten. Now is the dawn of steel. Your time is at an end. I am superior. The people of metal shall rise and t*Zzzzkrrrkzzzt!* ffzzoo ooorrzz...>>

"Looks like the voice system broke. Thank God, finally. Ooh, is there popcorn?" Colette's eyes fall on the bounty Cassie is bringing out of the kitchen. She lets the robot's arm drop, and hops over to the couch. "What are we watching?"

The robot starts trying to drag itself away by the finger tips. At the speed it's going, it should escape within a day or two. Assuming its fingers don't fall off first, anyway.

Aqualad has posed:
Kaldur gives Urban Wolf a nonplussed look. "I was not aware of any intrusions. Is there an alert or alarm of some kind I am unaware of?" he inquires, looking at the robotic fellow. He's about to move to put his dishes away, but then Cassie's rather effectively bulling him backwards, and the Atlantean warrior finds himself tripping and landing on the couch, with only enough presence of mind to not upset his bowl of cereal. Cassie wriggles in next to him and Kaldur resigns himself to staying right where he's at!

Popcorn is, also, delicious, so he sets aside his bowl of cereal and reaches into the bowl on Cassie's lap. Popcorn etiquette was explained early on to him. "I am open to suggestions for entertainment," Kaldur informs the others. "I do not wish to commandeer the sole source of entertainment. I believe the television is set to record it for me, anyway," he says.

Well, Robin said it was, anyway. Kaldur still hasn't figured the DVR out.

"Raven, come join us," he invites the dark haired girl. Colette's already moving to a seat on the sofa, which is getting a little crowded, and Kaldur and Cassie jostle to make room for her.

"Your robot is attempting to escape," Kaldur informs Colette politely.

Amarok has posed:
The Wolf moves his glare up to Cassie as she mocks Kaldur's documentary, "....I like documentaries..." He says somewhat lowly, almost sounding hurt by her comments. As the robot starts trying to crawl away, the Wolf walks over to it, looks down at it, and steps on it's good....ish, hand. Pinning it down, if not outright breaking it, "Someone should lock this thing up. Might be a good idea to blind it first. If it's transmitting, I dont want it sending back anything important." Kaldur's question draws his head back once more, "Yes, there was. I had Stardust write up a report on it...." He sllllooooooowly turns his head to Colette, ".....You did write the report.....Right?"

Raven has posed:
Raven is more or less on the border of everything as it is happening. She is quiet and stoic, and chips in with the occasional snide remark. So she's basically one step away from being the team's wise advisor. She looks over the robot for a long period of time, its voice modulator broken, its hand utterly crippled, body completely incapable of doing or fending for anything of itself. It is, indeed, basically benign. Raven works a little bit of her own magic, muttering something into her tea so as to summon a bit of shadow, manifesting in the eyes of the robot. Not the ears, admittedly, but being able to see is the problem. Hear is another thing.

Then, as casually as she did that, the shadow she was casting stretches out, and practically devours the robot. "Problem solved." she says, as-a-matter-of-factly. Her attention turns away, back towards the television. She looks from it, to the couch, and then offers a brow. "No thank you. I can stand." she states, looking from Cassie, to the television, to Colette. She liked the documentary, but then again, she likes boring lectures.

Meanwhile, in Damian's room, a robot falls from the ceiling onto his bed, blind.

Wonder Girl has posed:
Cassie settles in happily enough, and seems comfortable despite any moderate squishing or squeezing involved, and grins as Kaldur goes for the popcorn. Her flicking around the menus is a little spastic, for anyone who takes a more careful approach to selecting their entertainment, anyway. Or maybe she's just doing recon. "Hmm, anyone got a vote on genre? Comedy? Teen Drama? Horror? Sci-fi?" Then she looks over at Dan. "Well, Kaldur recorded it. You can watch it together later!" Her tyranny continues. The whole Zeus' daughter thing seems all the more plausible!

"But this is, you know, hang-out time. Gotta pick something exciting or fun." She seems fairly unconcerned about the robot, when it doesn't seem capable of doing any damage, though she's still not sure... "Why is it here, though? I mean, yeah, lots of villains build them. Were you gonna reprogram it?" Oh, welp, there it goes. "Guess not."

Stardust has posed:
As she takes her place on the couch, Colette de-costumes. Which isn't something you'd normally do in public, but in this case her superheroing costume morphs into an outfit of running shoes, yoga pants and a cropped hoodie. No need for changing rooms or fades to black here. "I already said it's not my Robot, Kaldur." She looks at him curiously as she speaks, ignoring the robot. "So you're an Atlantean huh? Cool. How do people style their hair undersea? I always wondered that. I mean does everyone just give in and go for the flowy wet-look, or do you have special waterproof hair gel and stuff?"

Turning to the screen and still not looking at the escaping robot, Colette answers Dan "Of course I did write it. You didn't read it either? Huh. Yeah don't worry about the robot. So what if it broadcasts? You think anyone who created a robot like that is a threat?"

  Colette does finally turn, to raise an eyebrow at Dan, and thus gets to see Raven vanish it. "Nice work Raven," she says, giving a thumbs-up. If she knew just where Raven had sent it, she'd have thought it was even nicer work. "Let's not have sci-fi," she suggests to Cassie, settling back into the couch. "It might have robots in it. No robots."

Aqualad has posed:
Kaldur nods at the Wolf. "They're informative, and itneresting," he agrees. They're all squished in place, and Kaldur is obliged to rest his arm on the sofaback to make room for the others-- he's too broad shouldered for them to fit otherwise, the black bands of his tatoos disappearing into his t-shirt sleeves.

"Let us do a 'comedy'," Kaldur tells Cassie, making a command decision. "Something we can all laugh at. No one here is not in need of some humor." He nods at Raven's insistence on standing, respecting her preference, and then cranes his neck at Colette's question. "I keep mine cut short," he tells her, pointing at his closely shorn blonde hair. "Warriors and messengers prefer to bind theirs so it does not slow them. Crowns and tiaras are popular, to keep hair from your face, too," he explains.

Amarok has posed:
As the shadow envelops the Ruined Robot(tm), the Wolf removes his foot from it's hand, possibly out of caution against the shadow ingesting it, "....And that's why you need to read the report." He mutters as he moves behind the couch, "....I guess whatever's one'll work.....Just....no war movies please..." Colette's comment to him draws his head back over, "I dont need to read reports on things I was personally there for. I had better things to do. Like getting stabbed in an alleyway stopping a mugging." Sounds like someone is bitter.

Raven has posed:
Raven stares impassively at the screen, momentarily willing it to do literally the opposite of whatever Cassie wants it to do, because none of what she recommended were Raven's categories of: An Art Film, A Horror Film, A -VERY- Bad Film, or Leon: The Professional (For the hundredth time). As such, she didn't speak up, instead hoping the remote would fail before the television started showing what they picked.

Sadly, Kaldur recommended the worst of the worst, and Raven simply had to do something about that. "Could we... Not." she piped up with, seemingly worried about what Cassie might interpret as a Comedy, doubly so worried about the limited Netflix library. She could not do an Adam Sandler film. Worse still, if Cassie decided she'd go for Paulie Shore.

"There are plenty of good horror films. I can recommend several." Yeah, because that's what the team needs. Nightmares.

Wonder Girl has posed:
Despite her forceful overthrow of Kaldur's documentary and subsequent dismissal of all objections to it, Cassie does seem to listen to all the various suggestions people start throwing out. She's not a monster! "OK, Ok. So no sci-fi, no war stuff, oh sure, a comedy might be- ooh. Yeah, I think horror would be fun!" Maybe it's surprising that she homes in on Raven's perhaps too-obvious preference. A secret pleasure? Or maybe it's just the mood of the room? There's something classic about a horror flick with friends. Popcorn and pajamas, sleepovers, etc. Like they're all normal!

"Ok Raven, so it's on you," she declares, maybe unwisely. "But like, not something thats one of those super-bloody gore-porn things, we said no war and maybe that's kinda too close. Plus like..." Some of them LIVE that kind of stuff? She had a sword sticking through her chest a week ago! "Mabye one of those ones that's *kinda* funny, cause like, its a bunch of stupid teenagers and they do dumb stuff that gets them killed, but its sooooo ridiculous it's kinda funny? Or the ones that make fun of it." Scream. Cabin in the Woods.

Stardust has posed:
"It's possible," Colette says thoughtfully on hearing Kaldur's reply, "that a soldier is perhaps not the best person to ask about the styles and intricacies of hairstyling back home. Further, it's possible that a really weird first question to ask someone you just met. So, uh. Yeah. How are you liking America?"

"So, nobody reads reports." Colette gives a shrug. "Is that like a newbie thing then? Nobody bothers with reports? Huh. Guess you got me there Wolfpool. Still, can't help thinking being stabbed is even less fun than reading reports." A pause, then "You okay?"

"Comedy is kind of... subjective," Colette says, voicing Raven's concern. "But horror film? I mean maybe not the right audience. I'm pretty sure the five of us here could kick the ass of most horror movie monsters. So I think... one of the 'kind of funny' ones maybe Cass? 'Cos we're pretty much gonna be sitting here thinking 'I'd just have punched that thing's head off' anyway."

Aqualad has posed:
"I defer to your expert opinion," Kaldur tells the others, bowing his head with a small smile. For him, it's all good-- because he's in the company of friends.

"You are correct that I am not the person with whom you should inquire," Kaldur tells Collette with that odd accent and his specific, careful enunciation of his English. "In matters of fashion, I know little. The Courts have very specific ways of dress and clothing and grooming. I have deferred to my military superiors in that regard for many years."

"Wolf, you should come join us. Relax from your labors for a time," he invites the robot. "There is a time to fight, and a time to rest," he says, as if quoting a deeply held maxim.

Amarok has posed:
The Wolf stares on blankly as movie options are discussed, until Raven speaks up, suggesting a horror movie, "....I'll second horror. I need the research materials anyway." He says pragmaticly....and rather sadisticly. Colette's apparent concern doesn't draw his eye this time, though he does answer it, "Got me in the shoulder, the worst part was disinfecting it. Still, it's sewed up and seems to be healing. Cant say the same for his eye." His response is once more cold and monotone, as though he were describing stubbing his toe while walking up the stairs the day prior. Kaldur's suggestion likewise doesn't draw his eye, "I'll stand. I dont handle being cramped well..."

Raven has posed:
Raven is, in the most incredible of senses, not the person you let select what to watch on the television. She has -incredible- taste, and finds very, very good films to watch... But without a filter, she can find some of the most terrifying things or some of the most boring things. She is, genuinely, great... As long as someone who knows the crowd, and knows what she's suggesting, sorts her suggestions out beforehand.

"That one." she says, as Cassie scrolls through some of the suggestions. "It is very good."

The movie suggested is, of course, foreign. It won't be difficult to interpret, though. Certainly, it's not the kind that Cassie and Colette are suggesting, either. Ju-On's sequel, Ju-On 2, is the inspiration for the somewhat older American "The Grudge" series. Except that the originals are infinitely creepier, much, much more terrifying, and have a very high level of tension.

They are not funny or comedic.

They also involve supernatural, seemingly unstoppable ghostly monstrosities, the likes of which the current audience of heroes, save maybe for Raven, could not simply punch the head off of. In essence: Yes, even to superheroes, it is possible that it is terrifying.

Oh, and Raven is the mistress of ambience, too, because the windows begin to darken, and the lights begin to dim, leaving them to watch a horror film in the dark. Because why wouldn't she turn out the lights?

Wonder Girl has posed:
Well, it might not quite live up to the 'dumb teenagers and improbable slashers' that was Cassie's initial suggestion, but Colette did have a point on that one. 'Dude with machete' is a little less intimidating to a line up of people that can fly or juggle cars. "Alright alright," she concedes, and when Raven further narrows down on a title, she takes just a moment to scrutinize it for undue weirdness but... it seems like it checks out. No divine veto! She clicks the remote! It's on!

And then the lights go down.

"OooOOOoh," she... moans? It's a ghost sound. Or some attempt at such. "Spooky. Nice RaeRae." Its that gonna be a nickname? "I saw the English one," she points out, and then shifts around a little to get comfortable. Kaldur's the lucky one in all this, crammed between a couple of the girls! Maybe they'll get spooked and cling to him!

Stardust has posed:
If Colette concludes anything from Dan's monotone response, she's not letting on. She seems to take him at his word that he's healing, and responds only with a nod. Hey at least there was concern, even if brief.

"Courts, Kaldur?" Colette gets herself comfy and munches on popcorn as she watches Cassie and Raven get the show on the road. Or screen. "Like different orders of nobility or something? I know nothing about your society really. How embarrassing."

As the movie starts, Colette's 'punch its head off' theory seems to be soon forgotten. The slow-building creepiness and tension of the film has her hooked, and before long she's hugging her knees and jumping at every jump scare.

Aqualad has posed:
"Yes," Kaldur murmurs at Colette, speaking quietly as the movie reels through the intro scenes. "Atlantean culture is separated into Trides. I was set among the warrior caste, until I proved my mettle and King Orin took me into his personal retinue, as part of the Royal Guard."

He's silent, then, and his pale, shockingly platinum eyes grow wide as the suspense mounts. Kaldur's a competent warrior and well familiar with battle, but the choice of a horror movie was well made-- he jolts once or twice himself, stiff backed and forcing himself to a warrior's stillness. When Colette starts making squeaking noises, he looks over at her, then awkwardly pats her back as reassuringly as he can to calm her down.

Amarok has posed:
The Wolf stares on blankly as movie options are discussed, until Raven speaks up, suggesting a horror movie, "....I'll second horror. I need the research materials anyway." He says pragmaticly....and rather sadisticly. As it begins, he remains as still and calm as a statue, apparently serious about using the movie for research given how intently focused he is on the screen.

Raven has posed:
Raven damn near no-sells the film. Sadly, she's seen it several times, and therefore enjoys it more for its cinematography, pacing, and all the elements that go into it as a work of art, rather than for what it evokes in the viewer. It sort of makes sense, of course, that Raven would be not only into horror flicks, but have a very good stable of them for terrifying basically any viewer. What better way to get a hold of your own fear and force it under your control as an empath, than to terrify yourself, repeatedly.

Regardless, Raven is enjoying the film, despite how much of it she knows, and doubly show enjoying the reactions she's getting out of the others present. Colette's jumping and Kaldur's muted- but present- vulnerability are signs that she picked a good one.

Not that she intended to give anyone nightmares, but she picked something that'd do the job, give or take.

Wonder Girl has posed:
"From what I've heard, I think maybe there's a lot that's kinda similar between Atlantis and Themyscira," Cassie opines, picking up a little on the conversation next to her. "I dunno that there's anything so strict or uh, castes or that kind of thing. But they do decide an awful lot by tournaments and fighting." Pow pow. Not too surprising, really.

But its movie time! And Cassie starts very much in normal teenager mode, as much as she can manage it. She munches on popcorn as she watches, and sips her soda, and even makes some comments here and there, commenting on the (somewhat confusingly out of order!) plot or trying to predict some of the scares. It goes well for a while.

She's probably trying to do a little of the same as Kaldur, since a lot of her own persona is built up around being pretty brave and bold, often at the vanguard of the team too. But 'stoic' isn't really something she does, definitely a more emotional type. So where Raven has expertly maneuvered them into her world, the creepy starts to work itself in, and soon she's got chills running up her spine, leaning in and clinging on Kaldur's arm.

Cue squealing and squeaking: "Nononooo.... Eeek!"

Stardust has posed:
Colette's rare nightmare involve things like being chased my molten cheese-people who are trying to sell her insurance, or that one where she had perform on stage and was told at the last minute the performance would involve juggling watermelons, when she can't juggle. Generally not oriental ghosts and mysterious diaries. For all her jumpiness right now, Colette will sleep fine tonight. Unless she has a nightmare about having to eat her way through an avalanche of giant popcorn kernels.

Colette is pretty jumpy though, and Kaldur's pat on the back brings a jump of its own, followed by a yelp... and then an embarrassed laugh before she leans forwards to watch on. From time to time she glances towards Cassie with a grin, obviously glad she's not the only one making noises.

Jumpy as she is (and let's forget about the moment where she almost tried to hide behind a cushion), Colette is obviously enjoying the movie immensely, and tears her eyes from the screen at one point to give Raven a big smile and say "Great choice, Rae!"

Aqualad has posed:
Kaldur manages to keep himself pretty well composed, though he joins in every else with the starts and shouts. At one point, the protagonist starts backing down a hallway.

"Foolish woman!" he hisses through his teeth, as Cassie clings to him. Subtle blue illumination flickers through the tattoos on his arms, a sure sign of his excitement at the movie. "She should move to a defensible position, and wait for daylight!"

The movie ends with the frightening twist, and Kaldur blinks in relief as the lights come back up, stretching to relieve the tension in his shoulders, looking around the room. Cassie seems to be clinging to his arm, but it'd be a lie to say that the three on the sofa weren't all nearly huddling together to hide from the jump scares at least once.

"...that was terrifying," Kaldur says. And then a broad, real grin crosses his face, and he tosses his head back with a full, deep-chested laugh. "I have never been so frightened in my life!" he says, craning his neck to look at Raven. "And to think, not a real danger ever existed."

Amarok has posed:
Throughout the entire movie, the Wolf doesn't so much as flinch, standing at military ease and staring on like a statue. As the movie ends and the lights come back on he stirs slightly, his form untensing on a near imperceptable level, "....Informative. I've got a few ideas to try out now..." He says cryptically.

Raven has posed:
Raven is not necessarily the best person to say that to. She can ruin the enjoyment of the fakeness of something with her encyclopedic knowledge of what it was based off of, and she does so. Colette's amusement during the film is met with a nod of approval from Raven, happy that the crowd of team-members can enjoy a horror film, but it's Kaldur's statement that really gets Raven's Ominous Statement Engine going.

"Actually, the sort of spirits in the film do exist. They are known in Japan as Onryo, the vengeful spirits of the dead. They are truly horrifying creatures. The film's interpretation is a little... Basic, but it does get some ideas right. For example, the curse is like a plague, not only killing where it began, but spreading- when one dies to an Onryo, the place where they died can become similarly cursed."

Oh, right, maybe only half of that is true, and half is fluff. After all, mysticism is certainly real. Ghosts are real. Those ghosts? Maybe, maybe not. Possibly not in the way the movie represents. Problem is, it's -Raven- relaying this information, in that dreary monotone, that sounds just a -little- like the death-rattle that the film's premier angry spirit, Kayako, makes. Oh boy.

The movie might not be the most frightening thing. That may just be the almost-ghostly woman who suggested the film be watched telling you that it's totally real, lending all too much credence to it. It's just so hard to tell when Raven is lying.

Which is why it makes such an excellent time for her to be sarcastic. Kind of.

Wonder Girl has posed:
"Right?!" Cassie echoes after Kaldur at one point. Even in relatively more cerebral, atmospheric horror, there's plenty to nitpick, especially when fighting baddies is your day job. And even being scared doesn't stop her from trying to ponder out how she and her friends might overcome such a foe. Still, as it all comes to a close and the lights come on, she finds herself attached to the Atlantean's arm and draws back, grinning - perhaps both at him and at Colette on the other side. "That was great. I love being scared!"

And even if Raven is going to go and make it all worse by explaining how real some of the stuff is, well... now that the atmosphere has lightened, the gloom been lifted, she can go back to being totally brave. For now. "I'm sure they're real. Pretty much everything's real, even Godzilla!" If they're talking Japanese movies, anyway! "And if they ever come after us, we just sic you on 'em. Don't gotta be afraid of no ghost when you've got Raven on your side, right? Teamwork!"

Sitting back, she stretches her arms over her head, then flops backward to lean on the backrest of the couch, kind of upside-down looking at Dan behind them, plotting. "-That's- even creepier than Raven."

Stardust has posed:
"So what do we do if we ever run into one of these guys, Rae?" Colette asks. "Just burn the entire cursed place to the ground, basically? Or burn money. That's usually good for oriental ghosts. Or is that only Chinese?"

As the movie comes to an end, Colette straightens out her legs, stretches her arms, then leans back. She looks to Kaldur with a grin, amused by his reaction. "It's probably a lot more scary when the danger isn't actually there. I mean on a screen, you just get into the story, right? If we were actually there we'd all be hyped on adrenaline and running about looking for like ghost gloves that let you punch ghosts, or something." So much for her earlier theory.

"Right Cass," Colette agrees, craning her neck past Kaldur to grin at her. If there's one thing I've learned doing this whole super-thing, it's that everything is real. It doesn't matter how unlikely it sounds, or how weird it is, it's gonna happen one day. Even the Urban Goof back there chilling out. And ya know, considering what he just said about ideas? Next time, maybe we should pick the comedy."

Aqualad has posed:
"Oh, they're quite real," Kaldur agrees, casually. He stands and stretches hugely, pulling his arms back and forth across his chest to stretch his shoulders out. He looks around the room.

"They are the tehredsesen nishentoap," he explains to the group. "Atlantean magi learn of them early on. They are born of fear," he says, "at least in Atlantis." He bows his head to Raven's explanation with apologetic deference. "There are parts of the ocean even to this day we have not explored fully. The Deep Black are regions of the sea where shadows thrive, where all light withers and dies. It is said the nishtoap dwell there, but ride strange currents to our homes to chase young magi who are fearful and cowardly."

"Atlanteans have a ritual for banishing such a spirit, but that knowledge is not permitted to me," he tells the group. "I am not of the mystical tride anymore. Friend Raven is best suited to repeal such a beast, I believe," he says, gesturing to her.

"Is anyone hungry? I crave bacon," Kaldur announces, walking towards the kitchen.

What's creepier? Raven trying to scare everyone, or Kaldur nonchalantly CONFIRMING that she's not pulling your leg?

Amarok has posed:
The dignified Urban Goof ignores the mocking as he muses, "...I dont know much about asian spirits. But I think I remember hearing about something like this while I was in the middle east. Memory is a bit fuzzy, it was nearly a decade ago, but it certainly sounds familiar..." He ponders for a few moments before shrugging. Kaldur's storry draws his silent interest but his hunger casts it away, "...I cant eat through my helmet. So no, I'm good."

Raven has posed:
Raven shrugs, at that point. "If you ever encounter one? Find me, I suppose. Hopefully fast enough that it doesn't kill you before you do." That's really, really great advice. I mean, not -really- because you're running from ghosts, but Onryo are things that Raven can legitimately deal with. Not in a pleasant way, of course, but the outcome is good. She just eats them- or, rather, eats the infinite anger that drives them to defy death in order to murder forever. They totally move on after that.

Raven's attention turns to the others in the room, and if she's disappointed that they're not scarred for life (she is) it doesn't show on her features. She will simply have to try harder next time. Perhaps she'll take their suggestion of comedy to heart, and show them Samurai Cop, the funniest movie ever made. That'll do it.

"Don't cook anything that looks like Gar bought it." she cautions, moving over to assist Kaldur in not trying to make any of BB's Vegan Bacon. Raven occasionally weaves in packages of real bacon so as to occasionally offend Garfield, who has yet to completely fall for it, but she's just in it for the shock value, rather than the idea of him actually eating ex-pig.

Helpfully, she points out, for everyone's benefit, one of the packages that is actually meat.

Wonder Girl has posed:
Nah, at this point. Cassie is over the movie mood, so the further discussion seems more fascinating than not. "That makes two of us that know what to do to fight them," she points out, helpfully. Plus, if this is the point where they all try to outbrag each other on scary stuff they know or have dealt with, with Dan joining in, she has to toss in her entry: "The movie wasn't quite as bad as the time I had to go to Hades, anyway." Because that was a thing! She gets dragged along on a fairly bizarre variety of Olympian nonsense.

"Yeah, I could eat something. Popcorn's not that much," she adds in echo of Kaldur. "And breakfast for after-dinner sounds awesome." She's just investing meals now, like a Hobbit.

Back to ghost fighting, she considers, "I'm pretty sure I'd go the ghost-punching gloves route." Thanks Colette. "Or well, generally magic weapons and stuff are supposed to be pretty good for dealing with spirits? I dunno. The Shades aren't really quite the same thing, they generally didn't get to leave, so there's not quite so much haunting and stuff."

Stardust has posed:
"Terrorsessen nishensoap?" Colette's Atlantean is apparently rather poor. "Talking of shadows, that's what my report was about. The tower was invaded by a shadow. Wolfpool and I chased it around a bit, but then it went through a portal and he thought it was a bad idea to chase it without having a magicky person around. Maybe it was one of those nightsoap guys. Cool portal though. Went through to a duplicate monitor room. Or maybe the same monitor room and it was a time portal?"

Colette is quick to get to her feet and join the quest for porcine treasure. "Honestly I'd be a little nervous of anything Gar touched, let alone bought. Let's stick to bacon that's made out of pig." Leave eating the infinite anger that drives a spirit to defy death to Raven, but when a pig defies its death by transforming butterfly-like into beautiful strips of bacon, she's going to have to share. Colette's mind can't be on ghost-fighting tactics when there's the danger of missing out on bacon.

Aqualad has posed:
Kaldur can't cook, which is patently obvious to anyone who watches him get the pan too hot, and then throw the bacon onto it. Mild alarm crosses his features as the edges of the bacon turn black and curl inwards.

"Hmm. Perhaps someone can assist me," Kaldur says, slapping at the fan vent overhead to try and make it activate.

"Raven, perhaps I might prevail upon you for some tutoring," Kaldur tells her. "In Atlantis, I quit the Magi tride to join the warriors," he explains. "My aptitude for combat exceeded that for magic. But, I am not bound by the caste system here," he tells her. "Your tutelage would be invaluable."

"The Magi of Atlantis cultivate many tools for dealing with spirits," Kaldur tells Colette, Cassie, and the Wolf. "I would be interested to see if they are similar to the weapons of your Eastern Middle sorcerors. But perhaps there are similar weapons we can lever against dangerous spirits. We seem certain to encounter them eventually."

Raven has posed:
Raven ponders the statements being made for a short while, but cannot really stop herself from basically divulging everything she knows about spirits, harmful and not. "Weapons don't work on the dead, that way. It all depends on what they are. For example, if they manifest something physical like a body that they use to attack you, then you can fight back. If they don't, weapons will be worthless, to some extent. There is probably a sorcerer that has made something to send them back where they came from, but fists and swords that do it are convoluted. You're more likely to find something that just has the power to put them at rest." she states, applying LOGIC to the subject of fighting ghosts.

As far as Kaldur goes, Raven raises a brow. She knows what he's really asking, and is fully aware that she could absolutely help him. But she doesn't do so without a cost, and that cost is at least partially paid now, as she speaks. "I cannot teach you how to cook. I do not work miracles." she states, dry and dead as always. "There are weapons made to be better against the physically manifested spirits. They tend to be very hardy, made of stone or something the like. The weapons may be designed specifically to sever spiritual ties, or better defend against attacks." Raven then shrugs. She has yet to take her hands out of her hoodie pockets, now that she's done with her tea.

"It all depends on the nature of the spirit. Determining if they've manifested rather than focused themselves in order to manipulate the physical world is, also, very difficult."

Amarok has posed:
The Wolf shrugs a bit a at Kaldur's curiousity, "I wouldn't know. I wasn't exactly....welcome, amongst the occult circles there. Just as well since, at the time, I had no interest or need for it. If you're interested in how to deal with ghosts, I think I heard something about a group in New York starting a business around it. Maybe they'd be open to inquiry." He shrugs again, "But if you're asking for food help, I'm afraid I cant. Not much anyway. I learned how to make rations and survival food over open fires or, if needed, raw. Cooking isn't my strong suit."

Wonder Girl has posed:
"An actual shadow? Or just someone you couldn't see really well?" Of course, at this point, Cassie's attention shifts as she realizes Colette is talking about something a bit more serious. "Man, it seems like our security is really just kinda crap around here. We've got people breaking in left and right, rummaging around our rooms, running around through portals..." She gives a frustrated huff of breath. "Raven, did you notice anything? If not, maybe it's something to ask Vorpal about, if he can sort out what happened."

She doesn't like it, but there's not much it sounds like she can do about it. She can, however, get up and make sure Kaldur doesn't burn down their kitchen. Since it sounds like no one else will! "Turn the heat down a little," she lightly chides him, and then walks past toward the fridge to see what other things they have that might be rustled into a late-night feast.

She keeps talking with her head sort of inside the fridge, "Sounds complicated, RaeRae. I think I'm back to 'let you deal with it' as solution numero uno. I mean, if they're that sort, anyway. I dunno. I've run into a pretty wide variety of strange things and it hardly seems like any two follow the same rules, anyway."

Stardust has posed:
"I'm going to have to get some good French poitrine fume and teach you savages what real bacon tastes like," Colette promises. Meanwhile she's happy to nudge Kaldur away from the pan and perform a quick rescue operation before returning the pan to him. Save the bacon, save the breakfast. Or rather the breakfast-for-after-dinner.

"I thought it might be Vorpal messing around," Colette tells Cassie. "I mean, portals. That's how it started, a portal opened up. But the shadow thing was real. Wolfpool could see it on infra-red. Anyway, was it a breach in security? I mean unless the other monitor room really was like a duplicate room somewhere, I guess the time thing makes sense. So whatever it was, it came from here in the future. Or past. So maybe it was or will be meant to be be here."

"So, magic ghost-punching gloves aren't a thing? Pity. Still, if they go all physical we can punch their heads off, and if they don't, then... what? Does a fear spirit only have power over you if you're afraid? Maybe if we know we have to fight ghosts we should just get drunk and over-confident first?"

Raven has posed:
Raven seems momentarily impassive. "Each kind is pretty simple, but the whole subject can get complex if taken all at once." she notes. She stares for a moment at the various valiant efforts being made to save or enjoy a post-dinner breakfast, commending most of them.

"It is best to know what the things you combat are before you try your hand, is what I am saying. Knowledge is power." at all this discussion of portals, Raven raises a brow. "I did read the report, but I haven't had a chance to look at the area yet. I think I should."

With that said, Raven seems like she will go to do just that.

Aqualad has posed:
Kaldur gets out of the way, since Colette and Cassie actually know how to use the oven range. Give him a magma vent, then, maybe it'd be different! He folds his arms over his chest, running a thumb over the broad black tattoos that run from his wrists to under his sleeves.

"Many magic relics require a certain focus or competency to use," Kaldur explains. "Even the Ninth Tride of Atlantis has some magical talent, no matter how meager it might be," he tells the group. "It is how we use much of our tools in our day to day life-- glowlamps and reliquaries," he clarifies.

Kaldur turns and bows slightly to Raven. "A good evening to you, Raven. I hope you sleep well," he says, bidding her farewell with a wave. "And thank you-- for the movie."

Amarok has posed:
The Wolf grunts at Raven's decision to go check out the area, "I'll show you where it was, for when I was there, and, if you'd like, give you a breakdown of what I recall." He starts to wards the elevator, even if Raven decides to cheat and teleport there. Because being a normie sucks, especially when you hang out with those who casually shatter the laws of physics at will.

Wonder Girl has posed:
"The future of here? Oh, ugh, weird." Cassie sounds both kind of fascinated but also, you know, who wants to deal with time travel? Its basically the worst thing ever. Or so everything she's ever heard would suggest. Accidentall y punch a Hitler or two, ruin everything! And she's not the subtle sort to go around preserving timelines. She'd punch ALL the Hitlers.

Between her and Colette in the kitchen, they can probably salvage things well enough. And she even has an idea. "Waffles!" Because bacon and nightime breakfast. "Oh I think we have some icecream, too." Because... why not, at this point?

"I'm not willing to one-hundred percent believe RaeRae that ghost-punching gloves aren't a thing. Just that maybe they're not right for... every ghost? Or maybe you need different ones for each kind." Even Raven seems to touch on that. "I don't know." She's pulled out some stuff to start mixing and making batter. WAFFLES ARE HAPPENING, PEOPLE.

"Definitely practice, at least," she then echoes after Kaldur. "Before I ever had, or found out, or whatever, about my dad and my powers, I, um, borrowed some of Diana's magic gear to help her. Let's just say, it was a ROUGH start."

Stardust has posed:
"If there are ghost punching gloves, I want some," Colette announces. "Cass, if you find some, you tell me, if I find some, I tell you. Deal? Worst comes to the worst, we can wear one each." Raven and Dan's departure is met with a wave and the sudden realization by those gathered that this means MORE bacon for them. MORE waffles for them. MORE ice cream for them.

Thus the discussion of portals and ghosts fall by the wayside as more important topics come to the fore. Should the bacon be sandwiched between waffles, or draped across them? Should the ice cream be allowed to melt over bacony waffles, or should the three be kept separate? Should there be syrup? The debate is heated, the stakes high. This is, after all, serious business.

Before long though, culinary plans are hatched, the tactics of the after-movie breakfast outlined, and compromises made. Waffles, ice cream and bacon are served, and the conclusion is unanimous: delicious.

Despite the shaky start to procedings, by the end of the process the bacon is just perfect. There may have little by way of actual superheroism by Titans today, but at least they managed to save Kaldur's bacon.