2756/Like a Thief in the Night... Wing

Like a Thief in the Night... Wing
Date of Scene:	08 October 2017
Location:	Unknown
Synopsis:	Summary needed
Cast of Characters:	Starfire, Nightwing, Robin (Wayne), Stardust

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Starfire has posed:
The vast lobby of the Titans tower kinda fit into the whole 'T' motif, with an opening sliding 'T' door leading into the tower proper. Past that was an elevator, and in the lobby - there were chairs and things for people to loaf around in, with pictures of the Titans and little statues and things safely behind glass.

And Starfire had dusting duty.

"One of the issues with such a large place..." she speaks happily to herself, her voice echoing in the room as she floats up near one of the nooks of the place, batting a poofy duster around. "Is that it collects dust most annoyingly."

Nightwing has posed:
    The sensors of the Titan's Tower most likely alerted the security system to the approach of the vigilante known as Nightwing. Various computer monitors flickered to life as the motorcycle was scanned, the identity ascertained, and then the Wayne Industries systems may well have already a preset to allow the crimefighter's approach, or perhaps one of the denizens of the tower knew of him.
    But then when he got off the motorcycle, a backpack slung over his shoulder almost casually, he strolls towards the entrance foyer area, his footsteps even and precise as he gives the place a once over, taking a few moments to look up... and up... at the large 'T'. A small hrm comes from him, but then with a shrug of acceptance he finishes the stroll up to the door and looks it over.
    Hm.
    Knocking probably won't really help, but then there's that comm device. Maybe that? He leans over and touches an armored gauntlet to the call button to signal his official arrival to whomever might be monitoring.
    After that, it's time to wait.

Starfire has posed:
    The vigilante known as Nightwing. Hmmn.

    That call button does make a ringing noise sound throughout the hallway, echoing and full. BEEP BEEP DEE DEEP! What made things more interesting was the idea that Starfire was floating up near the top of the hallway. Where the speakers were. With a yelp, Starfire brings up her hands to cover her ears, letting her eyes track down towards the video display that showed the out of doors.

He looked... familiar, somehow. Starfire pauses, pursing her lips.

With a little midair twist, she aims groundwards, and hits the open button on the door, the ponderous wall of metal cranking open bit by bit. "Hello, friend!" chirps Starfire as the sun outside hits her, seeming to make her perk up even further. "Welcome to the tower - whyever have you come here?" she asks, quirking her head to the side, her smile so wide her eyes were closed. And yes, she was clasping a duster in both hands in front of herself, elbows crooked and fist held in front of her chest as if she were praying.

Oh, and she was floating. That was a thing.

But the 'call button' that Nightwing hit had that signal go throughout the tower, and many Titans could see the person displayed on it. Whether or not they would want to come would be their own choosing, however.

Nightwing has posed:
    A glance was given to the Wingcycle still cooling down, its engine clicking faintly as it powers down fully, Nightwing then looks back as the door opens. Only to find himself looking up a bit further than he expected. First there's the smile, if it weren't for that domino mask it'd reach his eyes as he looks to the alien woman then he extends a hand towards her, "Koriand'r?" Of course he would check the files of Damian's teammates since well... someone's gotta look out for the lil psycho.
    If she accepts it he'll give a direct and firm shake, but then introduces himself as he does so. "I'm Nightwing. Robin's... sort of brother?" His voice lifts at the end there, as if not entirely sure how to introduce himself. But then he lifts his thumb under the strap of the backpack, causing whatever is inside to jostle faintly.
    "Hope it's okay, I was wanting to stop by and leave him a house-warming gift." He looks past Starfire for a moment, then back to her, the smile still easily offered. "If that's alright."

Starfire has posed:
    "Oh, yes! Your Tamaranean pronounciation was good!" Starfire chirps. It wasn't bad, actually. "My name is also Starfire, if that is easier for you." Landing on the ground with her boots flat, she beams a smile at Nightwing, reaching out her own hand to clasp his own. "Robin's sort of brother?" Oh dear. Starfire's eyes go a bit wide, and she tilts her head to one side, expression going blank.

    "So you are of Robin's family, but you are also not of his family. But... of course! Please come in! Gifts are most appreciated, as long as they are not supervillain gifts that explode or do other most unpleasant things," she says, turning to kinda start stepping towards the elevator. Soon enough, they would be in the Ops room in particular.

    Of course Starfire would take a complete stranger to the heart of the tower. "...and this is where we keep our sofas, and video games, and how we communicate with others!"

Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     Damian had been tinkering on his Redbird. Before the notification rang out. Once he replaces some of the pieces he was working on, Damian started to make his way over to the front. He was sans cape, but other than that, all in uniform. "Nightwing." He says, giving a nod, all serious as always.

  "Nightwing was the first of the Robins." Damian mentions, before reaching a hand to Grayson. He smiles lightly. "I would say brother."

Nightwing has posed:
    Now Damian, he gets a /hard/ handshake and an observer might well see the faint hint of a struggle between them as Nightwing's smile turns into a grin as he presses firm. "Robin, not a bad place. And they haven't thrown you out yet, nice work." But as he says this it's easy to tell the subtle thread there of warmth shared between the two. He grins back towards Starfire as if sharing a hint of a conspiracy before he unslings the backpack and tosses it across the way towards the other sidekick to the Bat.
    "Here, figure with you being off and away for a bit you might have a use for these down the line." That said he lets the other vigilante do the 'unwrapping' which is little more than just opening the backpack and pulling out the pair of gifts. It gives him a moment to look the place over and offer a few words to Starfire.
    "Your headquarters seems very nice. And hey, video games are a perfect team building exercise." His lip twists up slightly, as if he had maybe tried that argument with Batman in the past.

Stardust has posed:
There's a WHOMP of displaced air as a white-clad and generally superheroid figure appears somewhere near the ceiling, and falls to the floor with a yelp. She bounces to her feet, saying "I meant to do that!" before looking around. "Tower. Hi!" She blinks a few times in Nightwing's direction, then continues "Hi Starfire, Robin, and... and... is this the future?"

  Colette, for it is she, dusts herself off, straightens her outfit, and holds out her hand to Nightwing. "Hi, I'm Stardust. I used to be a member here back in 2025, before your time I guess. When did you join up? Wait, come to think of it, I'm probably still here. Robin's still shortstuff, it can't be far in the future. What year is this? '26? '27? Am I around? 'Cos I've never met me before. That would be cool. Or horrible." She frowns thoughtfully. "Or might cause a huge fracture ins space-time. Or is that just in movies?"

Colette deflates slightly. "Word of advice; random time hiccups? Avoid."

Starfire has posed:
Starfire grins over at Damian, floating her way towards the kitchen. "Oh, joyous of days! If a brother has come to visit, and he is not a wicked brother, then it is, perhaps..." Starfire pauses for effect, even if everyone /knew/ what she was going to say next. "Time for the pizza! I will order!" She says, enthusiastically.

    "We are most lucky to have been given a generous gift from a private citizens group. They want us to be here to do well for the Earth, and so this place is a... testament to that gift, and we are all most grateful for the place, and the opportunity." Starfire didn't have a cell phone. Still. She used the communicator, often, to make calls, which displayed on the big windows overlooking the city.

    Which could be disruptive as well. "You enjoy the video games as well? Perhaps you should visit more often, and we can have the most friendly of sparring on some of the sports games. There is the N-B-A game that is very good for building skill and teamwork."

    Her flight to the comm button was interrupted by. "If it is the future, would we know it?" she pauses, pursing her lips. "He is not a member! He is visiting family!" she informs Colette. A beat. "Whereever did you find a time hiccup?"

Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     Damian keeps up the handshake squeeze as long as Nightwing does. "Father thought it best I make 'friends'." He mentions, before removing the wrapping.

  The yellow cape billows out, flowing in the moving air. He knew what it was, it was his Robin cape. And another gift inside, looks like a batarang, a little beat up, and well used. "Your 'lucky' batarang?" He asks, remembering when he was shown it. "Why would you give me these?"

Nightwing has posed:
    At the abrupt shift of displaced air, Nightwing's instinct is to step forwards quickly, just a single step and a slight squaring of his shoulders as he leans forwards. Enough of a step to perhaps put him slightly ahead and to the side of Starfire perhaps protectively, with Robin instinctively at his side as if this was some kind of attack. But then it's a falling girl who... oh that had to hurt.
    The former Robin gets a faint if puzzled smile as he looks back between the other people and Colette, then he offers his hand to her as well. "Hello Stardust, are you alright?" His freehand will lightly touch her elbow as if to steady her should she need it, but assuredly she doesn't. "That was quite a fall." He takes a moment to look upwards, then back down to her. "My name's Nightwing, Robin and I are family." There, that sums it up decently.
    But then he steps back to address Starfire across the way, "Oh thanks, I wasn't meaning to impose. I was just going to drop off the contraband and then beat feet. My nights tend to be..." He lifts a hand and waves it to the side, "Kinda busy."
    Yet once Damian gets the two gifts free, Nightwing looks back at him with a smirk, "Figure you could use it. That 'rang never let me down. Never misses. But ya gotta save it for the right moment. Can't use it too often or the luck gets all drained out of it."

Stardust has posed:
"It found me, Star. Apparently it's something to do with displacing... no dispersing energy through temporal compression in an omega field. I gave up trying to understand it after I tried punching a dinosaur and hit a viking by accident. The vikings were not happy. Luckily Thor taught me how to insult people in Norse. 'Mikill Votan! Gamla vis langaspjot viti!' It means...Hi!" She interrupts herself when Nightwing gives his name, and beams a smile at him. "Nightwing! Nice to meet you."

Kori and Damian are already used to this; Nightwing might wonder if she landed on her head.

"Shortstuff's brother, huh?" She says with a grin at Damian. "Cool." She steps back to give the two Robins space, but can't help peering into the bag as Damian gets his gifts. "So this is now then? I mean the present?" She wonders. "About ti... no, I'm not gonna say that. Something with pepperoni please, Star!"

Starfire has posed:
    A beat, and Starfire grins. She remembered Damian talking about his father, she thinks. Or at least, shouting at Urban Wolf about it before they bowed and did some strange ritual that was unfamiliar to her.

    But most things were unfamiliar to Starfire. Starfire did not need protection, but perhaps Nightwing was not certain about that - she starts floating up a bit regardless to peer over Nightwing's head before Stardust was recognized. "Oh, please, let us have this opportunity to have pizza," she says, looking towards Nightwing with something akin to begging.

    But Colette was paid attention to last. Her eyes widen a little bit. "It is the present for me, yes, but... if it were the present for me and the future for you, would that not be the same?" GASP. "What if this is actually the past, Stardust?!" she says.

    Turning on the comms button, the PA speakers in the area buzz with the familiar voice of the pizza guy. "Oh, yes, hello friend Stanley." A beat. "We are in the Titans Tower, and we would like to make an order to our account, please. We will have four pepporoni and mustard pizzas, ah... one chicken and um... pepperoni, and one um... pepperoni with pineapples and barbeque sauce, please. All extra large."

Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     "I'll remember that, Nightwing." Damian quips, placing the batarang into his belt. "She...really likes mustard." Is pretty much all he can comment on the pizza side.

  "You met a Norse god? Are you sure you didn't hit your head?" He offers, admiring the old cape he was gifted. "Thank you." He says, looking up at the eldest Robin.

Nightwing has posed:
    The elder Robin returns Stardust's smile even as he listens to her elaborate on her experiences. His smile takes on that subtle tilt to it that he usually reserves when he hears the wild escapades other superheroes get up to. So often they speak of wild elaborate adventures, and to be fair he's had some of his own, but they also tend to be a bit more... street-level.
    "Yah. I mean at first I think he wanted to stab me a lot, but he grew on me. Sorta like fungus." An old joke that Damian's probably heard a million times.
    Then as Starfire asks him in such a kind and imploring way, Dick finds himself... almost begrudgingly drawn towards accepting the invitation. "Well... alright, maybe just a slice. But I really should get back to Gotham soon. So. No dessert. Alright? Alright." He looks away back towards Damian, but glances back at Starfire while she's ordering and then quirks an eyebrow at the newest Robin. "Yeah, I was about to say. Mustard..."
    Then his tone shifts slightly as Robin says Thank You, and in return Nightwing speaks a little more somberly. "You're welcome, Robin." As if something formal had happened.

Stardust has posed:
Colette turns to Starfire finger raised, and launches into a long and technical explanation of temporal conservation and chrono-synclastic perturbations.

Wait.

  Colette turns to Starfire, finger raised, opens her mouth to speak and after a moment closes it again. There is a moment's thoughtful silence as she considers her own total lack of understanding of the principles of temporal conservation or the nature of chrono-synclastic peturbations. "Don't worry about it Star. Everything's cool. Now is now again, or soon will be. If I disappear some time in the next few minutes, then now may turn out to have been the past or future, but it'll still be now, now. Clear?"

  Colette finishes finishes her explanation by leaning in on one foot and giving Starfire a shoulder-hug. "Good to see you. Did I get to tell you yet that I kicked Dorkside in the..." she stops and side-eyes Dick and Damian. "I'll tell you another time," she stage-whispers to Starfire. "It'll make the boys wince."

"And his brother," Colette confirms to Damian. "Ask Cass if you don't believe me. He invited us back to his longship, and she played with his hammer." Colette is utterly straight-faced when she says that.

Colette moves over to Damian and Dick, stalking lightly on the balls of her feet, to examine Dick's gifts. "A cape," she says, head canted over slightly. "Hmmm. Yeah, Star loves mustard on her pizza, but we came to an understanding. Half without. Actually it's not so bad. Give it a try. "Uh. So... why do I get the impression this is..." she stops, head turning between Robin and Nightwing. "None of my business. Mhmm." She takes a couple of steps back.

Starfire has posed:
"Oh, Stanley, wait! Can you put the hersheys chocolate on the chicken and pepperoni pizza please? I feel it will be most bland without that smooth underflavor."

With her good deed for the day done, Starfire floats back over to the group, catching in midway with the Colette expression. "Oh." A beat. Starfire follows along with the temporal science, and adds another little point, stating that it was 'theoretical if the slipstream affected the chronotron displacement, Tamaranean scientists were a little behind in temporal theory'.

GASP. "There will be no dessert, unless you wish to partake of the root beer. We have many cans left over from the last trip. It is most sweet, and fizzes, but can be pleasant if you eat something harsh and spicy afterwards."

"You kicked Darkside in the..." Starfire pauses, and nods her head. "They are all warriors, except perhaps Nightwing. But this can be a secret, as well." A beat.

Starfire floats forward, eyes flickering between Nightwing and Damian. "What is not our business?" she asks. "Is it because of the hammer?"

Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     Damian simply holds the cape, looking deadpan into Grayson's eyes. "Oh, I still want to stab you. I'm just not attempting it anymore, you think." A slight eye roll at the joke. "Yes, a fungus, now I am going to eat your desiccated flesh." He chides, seems a bit more rubbed off on Damian over time.

  "That this is what?" A sharp head turn to Colette before he places the cape on his shoulder. "You kicked him in the balls?!" A light pout of his lips before his canters his head. "I can respect that. Fight to win, not to be fair."

  "I'm not sure, what do you think is going on?"

Nightwing has posed:
    A smirk, "Yeah yeah, dream on sprogling." About the stabbing, then Nightwing says at the last to his counterpart even as he turns back around to face the others in the rec room, "Just don't go getting all soft here with all the pizza and root beer." Apparently he missed a good part of the discussion covering Darkseid and his various poor life choices and results thereof. But he rest a hand on Damian's shoulder and gives a nod, then shifts his attention to the others.
    "They probably think it's some sort of Bat Rite of Passage or something," He looks back and forth between the two of the gals, then tilts his head. "So while we wait for the pizza, time for you guys to spill it." He asks of each Colette and Starfire, "How did you guys end up doing the spandex thing?" He starts to step further into the rec room area, perhaps getting more at ease, albeit just a little.

Stardust has posed:
Colette's eyes widen and she's visibly flustered at being asked to explain herself. "You know. Older brother. Younger brother. Passing on the cape. Seemed kind of... symbolic is all. I didn't mean..." she jazz-hands wildly, backing off, but Nightwing gives her an out and with an obvious expression of relief she shoots a finger at him and declares "That! Bat-passage."

"Yep, right in the balls," Colette confirms to Damian, obviously deciding this is the safer topic. "Right in the family jewels. Boot to the nutsack. Kick in the d... anyway, it was kind of funny hearing him threaten me in such a high-pitched voice."

"Root beer will be good," Colette confirms to Starfire, hoping to avoid any culinary experimentation that might be considered as an alternative. Such experimentation has caused genuine damage to the tower in the past.

"Voice in my head, Nightwing," Colette responds. "Voices in my head told me to go and fight crime." She grins a little. "Actually for real, I kind of got possessed by the ghost of a superhero. I'm not supposed to say it that way, it annoys him. It's some kind of technology thing really. How about you? Oh wait. Robin's brother. So you inherited. Family business I guess."

Starfire has posed:
    Starfire points to her own nose. "How did I start wearing spandex?" A beat, she purses her lips, glancing between Damian, and Colette, and then back to Nightwing with big, soulful eyes. Someone probably clues her in on what that context was, or she manages to put two and two together to make. GASP! "You mean superheroing!" A beat. "When I landed on this planet, I was most lost. But I was contacted by some of the people in this tower, and asked to join, which seemed nice." A beat. "They just let us do good, and stop bad - and they give us /unlimited/ pizza," another beat.

"And other types of food, anything that you could wish, really."

Narrowing her eyes, she looks between the others then, her eyes staying on Colette. Experimentation would be easier if a) the humans would say what they would actually like, and b) human foods and drinks didn't all seem the same! Many dishes had some form of yeast and flour backing, after all. And the normal human flavors and textures were... bland and strange.

But Starfire was a good alien, so she will keep trying. A beaming smile to Colette, and her eyes return to Damian. "You are family, but... you wish violence on each other. Which is a bit sad, but that is like my family as well. So who am I to blame, yes?"

Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     Another eyeroll. "You're just the opposite of Batman. He once asked me if I wanted to be short for the rest of my life." Damian says squeezing his fist a bit. "I maintain my nutrition at optimum levels for growth."

  "A rite of passage...oh." The only other one he had been through was the Year of Blood. That wasn't a good thing.

  Another moment before he responds to Starfire. "I always say what I would like." Yeah, if anything, Damian was brutally honest. "I...used to. Everyone, Red Robin, Nightwing, Batman. It's how I was raised for two things and two things only." Murder and leadership.

Nightwing has posed:
    "I'm sure a lot of folks do this because of the voices in their heads." Dick offers with a smile even as he looks between the two of them. A nod and a grin is given to Colette, but it's towards the alien that he shifts his attention to after she speaks of that last. A moment is given to Damian, just a glance as if seeing if he has anything to say about it, but then he adds his own bit, "Koriand'r, we are brothers of a sort." Nightwing smiles as he looks back towards her, "And human siblings of the male persuasion are often rough and pseudo violent with each other, when it's meant more good-naturedly. I mean sure when we first met we went a few rounds, but afterwards we're good."
    That having been said he steps across the way towards the window that looks out across the way from that T-building and he blinks a bit, "Wow, you have a nice view here." Turning back towards them, "You all are very lucky.
    A moment as he considers the horizon again, then back at Damian, "There's more than doom and gloom to you, Robin. Don't sell your... don't be harsh on yourself."

Stardust has posed:
"He doesn't actually want to stab him," Colette tells Kori. "I mean everyone wants to kill their family members even if they don't want to see them hurt, you know? Not actually wanting to kill them. Just. Well. Emotions are stronger when it's your family right? So 'you annoy me' becomes 'I wanna stab you'. But without the actual stabbing. Except if there is, which is pretty dysfunctional but it..." she fades out, staring at the bat-folk.

  Colette takes a deep breath, and tries again. "He /probably/ doesn't actually want to stab him," she tells Kor. "It's a metaphor. Even if he does want to stab him. Where are those pizzas anyway?"

Colette nods in agreement with Nightwing, stepping over to look at the view too. "The view is best at night," she adds, relieved at the excuse to not be trying to explain human behavior to Starfire.

Starfire has posed:
Starfire purses her lips, bringing up a hand up to kinda tap on her lips. "Sometimes, my sister and I would wrestle when we had a fight, but... that changed when things became strange. Perhaps it is something like that?" she says, canting her head to one side. Where were those pizzas? Remember the buzzing that got all of the Titans here in the first place? Now it was going again, with the vid screens in the area showing a gangly teen kinda looking up at awe at the tower itself, balancing pizzas in his hand.

"OH!" says Starfire, and she starts literally rocketing towards the elevator, in full flight and everything. But she pauses. "It is a most excellent view! Um..." Damian. She looks to Damian. She seemed anxious, nearly vibrating with anticipation of the feast beneath.

"I will bring the pizzas up soon! Please enjoy them!" And Starfire would make good on her word, returning minutes later - and parking herself in the corner and consuming some of those mustard and pepperoni pizzas with a manner too gruesome to describe in words.

But oh, the rest of the flavors would be available. One mustard and pepperoni - one chocolate, chicken, and pepperoni, and one pepperoni with pineapple and barbeque sauce. Dig in!