3185/Bludhaven Rooftops

Bludhaven Rooftops
Date of Scene:	18 November 2017
Location:	Bludhaven
Synopsis:	Motorcycles and sweatpants with Nightwing's name on them. Oh my.
Cast of Characters:	Nightwing, Oracle

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Nightwing has posed:
This afternoon is like any other in Sunnydale, the sun is out, people are moving about the city streets to do what they need before sundown, and Dick is sitting up on a rooftop getting some work done. Oddly enough, he's not actually wearing his Nightwing suit, but dressed in a bit of torn up sweats as well as a ratty and oil stained t-shirt. There is a tarp spread out on the roof, a tool-box next to him, and on the tarp seems to be an assortment of engine parts.

Upon closer inspection, it looks like the engine parts are to a motorcycle, something fairly new, and likely a sport instead of a cruiser. Dick has oil all over his hands, a bit on his forearm, and a smudge on his nose (probably from scratching an itch when he was thinking too much). It looks like he has just finished cleaning, lubing, and replacing parts... as some of the pieces are definitely newer than others... now he begins the process of putting it all back together again.

Oracle has posed:
Daytime is not when the Bats fly. When she steps out on the rooftop in broad daylight, Barbara would have to admit she feels ... awkward! It's a strange sensation, to be more at home in a place when it's dark. "Hey," she greets as she steps out onto the flat area. "I brought that set of tools you asked for -- what are ... Are you working on the bike on the ROOF? Are we installing rockets on them now?" The skeptical tone would definitely convey that if the answer is yes, she might call the men in white coats on him.

As she approaches, she squats next to him and hands him the small canvas bag. "The last time you tore a bike apart to this degree, putting it back together took a week, as I recall," she teases with a smile. "How long have you been tinkering this time?"

Nightwing has posed:
"Babs!" Dick calls out as he hears her voice, a smile spread on his features, and waves her over to his 'workshop'. He looks... tired... which is not something that is normal. It's obvious he's been busy at night, but it seems as if he's also burning the candle at both ends.

"Come on over, and have a seat. I'm about to start putting..." and then she asks about rockets, he pauses giving the thought some serious consideration, "...well, that's a great idea." He smirks, adding, "But I doubt she'd appreciate it. Someone bashed it up, and I told her I'd help fix it." He tilts his head, "Have you met Rose? Rose /Wilson/..." Yes, he emphasizes the last name, as in that Wilson, "...been helping her train, and trying to keep her on the straight and narrow."

He snorts once about the last time he worked on a motorcycle, "Week... whatever..." then he casts her a sidelong glance, "3 days to take it a part, and clean it..." his brow furrows at what's laid out in front of him, "...gotta be quicker to put back together, right?"

Oracle has posed:
A single copper brow quirks upward at the information that he's training someone related to Slade Wilson. "That's... kinda awkward, isn't it?" she asks, moving to park herself on the other side of him where she can reach bits and pieces to help him reassemble them. She doesn't mind getting her hands dirty -- she's dressed in a pair of slightly ragged jeans and a faded sweatshirt anyway.

"It's faster with two sets of hands," she replies with a wink. "This is why Bruce always made you take it apart and rebuild it, you know -- so it *didn't* take that long." She studies his face while she absently checks a couple of pieces near her and works on putting them together. "You look rough. What's got you not catching some sleep?"

Nightwing has posed:
"Yeah..." Dick responds, nodding his head in agreement with her, "...he, uhm, he came to me. Asked me to watch out for her, and to make sure she doesn't become like him." Dick continues, his hands working while his mind is elsewhere, "Told me that he trusted me, and that he wanted her to turn out like me..." He let's out a long sigh, "...not like other people we know."

When she sits down, though, he comes back to the present, and smiles at her across the tarp, "No kidding... Sometimes he would have me take apart something that wasn't broken so he could tell me it wasn't broken." he grins, the years between him and Bruce long, but from Dick's side almost entirely remembered with fondness. "Speaking of Bruce, we talked a few nights ago...."

Her question brings him up short, though, she was always able to see through him, "Training. Bludhaven needs Nightwing, so work is still work, but I've got to work harder to be ready." He's obviously taking this duel more seriously recently, "I haven't talked to Richard Dragon yet, but I will. He's next on the list to give me an ass whooping" He continues putting together what he's got, but his eyes move to Babs', asking her "How are /you/ doing?" concern evident given the last conversation they had on the topic.

Oracle has posed:
She chuckles at him, looking both surprised and amused at the situation with Rose Wilson. "I see." Well... at least it's a compliment of some sort... right?

Barbara glances at him while he's talking about Bruce and grins to see the look on his face. FINALLY things are starting to be right in the world again. "I'm glad," she tells him softly. "He needs you. The others are good... but you're the one he *chose*. You balance him."

She looks down to the parts in her hands, reaching for another that connects to what she's working on. "It's not me we have to worry about. Dragon's been in contact?" She slants him a glance from the corner of her eye. "Shiva said she'd locate him." She didn't tell him about that part.

Nightwing has posed:
"I think he knows there's something not quite right about himself," Dick begins to explain as he nods his agreement with her, "and I think he's not comfortable with Bruce. I guess he sees me as somewhere in the middle." A thoughtful look as he pauses what he's doing, before he adds "Yeah, in his own way, it's the best compliment he could give."

There is that wry grin again, Dick adds "Well, I'm sure Damian would have a word with you on that one..." the little psycho he loves like a brother, "...but it was a good talk. Bruce told me some things I didn't know. Angles I hadn't thought about. Makes this fight even more important than I realized before." He puts down the pieces in his hands, looking to Babs, "This isn't about me. It's about what Bruce would be forced to do, what it would mean to the Family..." a longer pause "...what it would mean to you. I've got to be ready to win, and do whatever it takes."

He shakes his head about Dragon, "No, Bruce mentioned it, and said I'd need to talk to him not just about training but learning about Shiva. Knowing your enemy..." He tilts his head at the Shiva comment, "...Bruce told me that even Shiva would train me if I asked. I'm not surprised to hear she tracked Dragon down for me."

Oracle has posed:
Barbara's eyes shift back to his face while he talks, and she is quiet for a long time after. Perhaps digesting all that he's said. When she finally does speak, it's with a serious tone. "I'm glad that he's finally getting through to you. I know you didn't really have time to think it through, but... Bruce commented to me that it didn't HAVE to have been a death duel. I think that's the part that bothers me most -- that what's going to happen doesn't have to." Sighing, she sets her hands in her lap, seeking a lighter tone. He doesn't need her worries on top of his own.

"I think you're just dueling Shiva so you can get out of that date you asked me on," she tells him in a deliberately provoking tease. "That way you don't have to backpedal on it and look like a douche. You can in all honesty say 'oh, c'mon, Babs, you know that I only have ten months left to get ready so that maybe I won't die!'"

Nightwing has posed:
"I know..." His voice soft, almost hard to hear up on the roof, but the winds do snatch his words from Babs' ears, "...I was too confident. I didn't think about what I'd said, how I'd said it, and what it would mean to her." He shakes his head, obviously disappointed in his lack of foresight, "But it is what it is, now. So, got to get ready, and make sure that I stick around..." He offers his own lighter tone, "...You guys would be lost without me."

At her comment, he raises his hands with palms towards her, "Whoah there! I never back out on a promise, or a date." His voice serious, but a twinkle in his eye that shows the humor, "Rumors there may be about Barbara Gordon, and how she sends dates home crying..." He smirks again, "...but that doesn't strike fear into the likes of Dick Grayson. So, question is, what do you like to do when you go out?"

Oracle has posed:
There's a faint smile when he comments about how they'd be lost without him. "I don't think you know how true that really is," she murmurs. But moving on! "I do send dates home crying to their mommies," she agrees, pursing her lips thoughtfully. "Usually it's because they mansplain to me about computers. Clearly I attract the wrong kind of guy." The glance she shoots from beneath her lashes is coy. "Of course... the *right* guy might know that pizza and a movie would be very satisfying." As in, a night IN?? Because Bat-folks don't exactly take them!

Nightwing has posed:
Dick starts to say something... stops... opens his mouth again... decides to just shakes his head, "I've got nothin' for telling /you/ about computers. So, like my Mentor told me, don't engage unless you're sure you can win." He quickly goes back to assembling the pieces nearest him, and slowly starts to work his way towards where Babs is sitting. "Well, just so happens there's a great pizza place not too far from here. They don't deliver, but it's an easy walk for pick up." His eyebrows raise as he continues quickly putting the parts together, perhaps he has learned something, "As far as movies... If only I knew someone that could get us access to any of the movies that are out right now for a screening..." he pauses placing an oiled hand on his forehead, leaving another streak across his head, "Wait! I bet Bruce Wayne can get /any/ screening he wants! Good thing I have Alfred's number..."

Oracle has posed:
Chuckling at him, Barbara adds another piece to the lump in her hand and then holds the assembly out to him. "Here. This part's done. And wow.... who would have thought you'd be able to figure out exactly what would appeal to me the most? You're such a smart guy, Grayson!" Tongue firmly lodged in her cheek! Snark! "But you better not order little fishies on that pizza. Or it's all over but the crying."

Nightwing has posed:
Dick reaches over to take the assembly, placing it next to what he's already put together, "I've been told that not only am I good listener, but I tend to show common sense from time to time." He sits down next to her, and begins fitting the pieces together, "Ok, no kitty food. I'm thinking Hawaiian and a Pepperroni with Mushroom and Tomato Slices. They've got some great cheesy bread too. So, as far as movies, any preferences? I'm thinking either an Eastern Martial Arts flick, or Sci-Fi Thriller of some sort..." He glances over to Babs, barely concealing the smile, "...we could get one of the new Supers movie, but I think we see enough of those in real life, hey?"

He stops with the small talk for a moment, and gives her a genuine smile, "Thanks Babs, for being here, and pretty much every time I've needed it." A bit of the tension leaves his shoulders, like a weight has been lifted, "Just... wanted to tell you thanks, and it means alot."

Oracle has posed:
How many times have they sat like this, doing one thing or another, dismantling something? When he ran off, it was like part of her was missing -- he always had her back, always challenged her when she thought she couldn't do more, always offered laughter and teasing so that the job never got her so far down that either of them turned into Bruce. It was a strange feeling, to have her best friend back and at the same time feel rather like she didn't know him.

Nudging him with her shoulder, Barbara grins back. "I think we see a ton of unbelievable things all the time lately. Including sci-fi thrillers," she retorts in a derisive snort. "Pepperoni, mushroom and tomato sounds great. And you only get me to stay if you put in Die Hard. Cuz Bruce Willis is a badass." She laughs. "Or something."

Nightwing has posed:
As usual, Dick turns to humor when he realizes he is being too serious, "Die Hard?!" He grunts once, shaking his head, "If we're going to do a Willis movie why not Pulp Fiction!" In a horrible Samual L Jackson Impression he says "That's a damn tasty burger!"

He starts gathering up the tools and the tarp, "I'll have to finish this up later. Might rain here tonight..." Once it is all collected up, he gets his phone, and checks "Looks busy tonight. We'll need to order about an hour out from when we want to eat..." She can tell he is thinking about a night not as Nightwing, and it is a struggle for him. He gives her a wink, though, masking the need to stand on the rooftops at night, "So, figure I'll take a quick shower, order it up, and we can thumb wrestle over Die Hard it Pulp Fiction?" Then, he pulls out of a bag near the toolbox a pair of her sweats, slightly modified, with a 'Nightwing Rocks' logo stitched in the backside "aaaannndd. Loser wears these!!!"

Oracle has posed:
"Because Pulp Fiction annoys me," Barbara retorts. She watches him thinking about losing the time on the rooftops and offers mildly, "I did bring my gear, you know." Because hey... she DOES know her guys. When he pulls out the sweats, though, she laughs. And she laughs hard. "I can't wear those! You put your name on the butt!" Although... she supposes that it's better than "juicy" or some of those other pants-logos.

Moving to help him get the tools and the bits and parts all gathered up, the redhead just shakes her head. "You are such a brat." There's a wealth of amusement in her tone. "I've missed you."

Nightwing has posed:
Placing his hand of his heart, Dick feigns a heart attack, "By the gods... one of the greatest films ever made..." a few unsteady steps, and he seems to right himself. He takes a few steadying breaths, "Well, I guess I can concede to Die Hard..." he waves the sweats, holding them up, "...but that doesn't mean I give up on these!"

Taking a look at the butt, he seems genuinely shocked (thank you Bruce and Alfred for acting class), "Why, look at that... It DOES have Nightwing's name. Well, must mean you're a fan, because these /are/ your sweats." Once all the pieces are gathered, he walks over to her, and is about to hug her when he seems how dirty he is.. "Hmm, well that won't work.." instead he gives her a kiss on the cheek, and when he steps back he sees a small smudge left behind, "Oops. Didn't know I had it on my face too." A small smile this time, meant for her, "I am..." to the brat comment, "..and I've missed you too, Babs." He nods for her to follow him in.