4809/All Quiet on the Titans Front

All Quiet on the Titans Front
Date of Scene:	04 July 2018
Location:	Unknown
Synopsis:	Some things are scarier than Bandersnatches.
Cast of Characters:	Stardust, Raijin

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Stardust has posed:
The Plan, a long time hatching, worked flawlessly and Red X was unmasked. For once a plan had survived contact with the enemy.

Contact with an otherworldy monster, sorcerously entrapped at the location selected for battle, unknown to anyone, is another matter. Defeating it and sending it back to the dimension from whence it came had been draining.

There had been promises of shouting, but that has yet to come. Instead, a silence has fallen over the tower as the Titans reflect, rest, and recuperate.

The door to Colette's room cracks open, and after a few moments she steps out into the quiet hallway. She's avoiding people, it seems. Although she's as always dressed in her Starfire costume, her appearance is not usual. She's wearing a lot more makeup than she normally does, and she's going to need to buy some more concealer. It's a fairly artful job that mostly hides the large purple bruise blooming over one side of her mouth, but makeup can't completely hide the swelling of her bottom lip. The ponytails or braids she normally opts for when in Superhero mode are taking a break, her hair worn long - and brushed down over one side of her face, concealing one eye and helping to hide the swollen lip.

Colette looks both ways before hefting her backpack over one shoulder, and pacing quietly down the hallway. She stops by the entrance to the large common room, and peeks inside. It's empty. She pauses a moment or two before stepping in and walking up to the great picture window. She sighs softly, leaning against the glass, and stares out over the bay.

Raijin has posed:
Rayner has been looking for Colette for quite some time now. though it was a subtle thing, knowing full well that she wanted to likely be alone. with that in mind, he figures the best place to find her is the common room.

Rayner was dressed casually, wearing a simple jacket with blue jeans. no attempts to hide that he was in a scrap. claw marks from the Bandersnatch lined his cheek just a little bit while he had a bruise on his forehead.

he sees Colette looking off into the distance and he speaks. "You look beautiful." he smiles warmly in compliment as he approaches her. "so....what a day, huh?" he says, because he feels like 'I told you so' is pretty bad taste at the moment.

"Want to talk about it?"

Stardust has posed:
Colette turns quickly as she hears Rayner entering, but turns back to the window when she sees who it is. "Heya Rainman." She falls silent a while, her attention focused on the view. "Not really," she finally adds.

She lets the silence fill the room again, then asks "I mean, what is there to talk about? Honestly, you and Brick are the only two Titans I don't have much to say about all this to. You did your bit. You cracked codes and you fought well."

Colette drums her fingers against the glass. "The rest, not so much. Oh, the team came through in the end, but not without a lot of dragging. So here we are. Damain's shown himself to be a seriously flawed leader, and also shown himself to be the only leader we have."

"What a mess."

Raijin has posed:
Rayner just shuts up and //listens//. he doesn't interrupt nor does he try to interject anywhere. She was right. he did his part for the team, brick did too. but alas...he waits for her to finish before he speaks.

"I think I understand why he did it...but I do not approve. it's betrayal. but...even if it was good-natured, we are not where we were. not even a little."

He sighs though. "But the fight against the Bandersnatch brought us together again. maybe that's our saving grace?" he looks at Colette, reaching for her hand. "But...that was scary. we both took good hits so...there's something I want to tell you." he looks her in the eyes. what does he have to say?

More importantly, what will he do?

Stardust has posed:
Colette moves her hand away at the last moment - though with a wave of annoyance rather than an attempt to avoid. "No, it wasn't a betrayal, it was a mistake. Think about it Rainy. What he's gone through, what his life has been. The kind of training he's had. In his head, this was the softly-softly approach. The way he was trained... well, there probably wouldn't be a second chance to fail a test like this. You know... he attempted to apologize to Vorpal in the hospital. I noticed it at the time but didn't see it for what it was."

She turns away from him again, resting her forehead on the glass and talking to the window. "If you want to accuse someone of betraying the team, talk to Moon Moon. Or Raven. They held things back from us. Or... or me. I mean I held things back too."

Colette pauses a while, and takes a deep breath before continuing. "I didn't buy the EMP story, you know. Didn't ring true. If I'd had the courage of my convictions, I wouldn't have let you go alone. I told myself it was too risky to take the chance until there was more information. If I was wrong, it would cost a lot of lives. But here's the thing. I told myself you'd be okay because I was sure he wouldn't injure anyone too badly. For the same reasons I didn't buy the EMP story. So I shouldn't have let you go alone. Maybe... maybe I justified it to myself that way because I thought it was a price worth paying to learn what we needed to catch him. Which would be a real crappy way to treat a team mate and a friend. I honestly don't know. "

Raijin has posed:
Rayner just listens once again. he doesn't speak, doesn't move away. instead he walks up to her when she presses her head to the window. "...sorry. betrayal was the wrong word. I just...don't like secrets between the team. even if it was just one big training session."

He stops talking to let her speak. "Letty.." and he reaches once more for her hand, mich faster though as if to help make his point. "Not your fault. I knew the risks, i knew what could happen. that's on me, okay? don't apologize for that. you did what you thought was right."

"But..." he tries to turn Colette so that she's looking at him. "After all this..I -need- to tell you, even if it just creates a bigger mess."

Anticipation builds...

Stardust has posed:
Colette lets herself be turned and looks into Rayner's face, her eyes going wide.

"Are you... are you kidding me? Did you not hear what I just said? I didn't do what I thought was right, I did what I thought was... convenient. I set you up! I..." she shakes her head. "I think."

She looks down again, eyes firmly fixed on the floor. "So yes, I am going to apologize. I'm sorry. Even if I wasn't just making excuses to myself, I messed up." She draws in a deep breath, then exhales and turns her head to the side. And then quickly to the other side. It seems she's a bit sensitive about showing that bruise.

"Can't you just be mad at me, Rainy?" she asks. "I didn't... I'm not very good at all this. I mean none of us are. But some of us could have stopped this before you got hurt, and didn't, and that includes me. You /ought/ to be mad at me."

Raijin has posed:
Rayner looks Colette in the eyes even as she looks flabbergasted that he would even just 'no sweat' the entire thing. he smiles to her as she tries to avoid showing her bruise, already knowing she had taken a hit or two, but even as she practically tells him to be mad at her, he makes possibly the biggest decision of his life so far.

"Letty, how could I ever be angry with you?" and suddenly, he'll use his super speed to help give him the surprise(!) factor as he tries to kiss her!

Oooohhhh so that's what he had in mind!

if the kiss connects, it's slow and gentle, not demanding or intruding, but soft and sweet.

Stardust has posed:
Colette's initial reaction to the kiss is to freeze. While not a positive sign, anything that doesn't involve punches to the face or knees to places even more sensitive has to be a plus.

Colette's second reaction is to lean into it, her lips softening in response to the kiss. That seems like a much more positive reaction.

Colette's third reaction to the kiss is to wince and pull her head back sharply as she regrets the second reaction given the extensive bruising. She puts her hand to her lip, dabbing at it with her knuckles and checking the hand for signs the bleeding had started again. It hasn't.

Colette's fourth reaction is to step back and look away, saying "Damn it, Rainy. That's not... that's not how to be mad at someone. You're supposed to be being mad at me." It's spoken at a whisper. There's no real admonishment in it. "I mean jeez. We're lucky that Bandersnatch didn't get you with it's thaumatoxin stuff. Can you imagine? With teeth like that, you really wouldn't want to try kissing it." Ah, the japes and banter. Classic Colette displacement activity.

Colette backs away a little further, looking puzzled, and shakes her head. "Not... this isn't the time, Rainy. Okay? Things are just... confused. " She raises one hand, palm out, waved vaguely at him in a kind of surprised 'hold on a minute' gesture, and takes a couple more steps back. "We should... I've got things to do. Okay?" Swinging her backpack over her shoulder, she turns and makes for the exit. "Later. Um... see you later, okay?"

And Rayner's going to.... live.

Raijin has posed:
Rayner mms against the kiss through every stage! He keeps his attention with his lips on hers even when she absolutely froze and this was the part that was terrifying. Though he is certainly happy that she hasn't tried to knee him in a sensitive area or otherwise push him away and try to knock him out. All good signs!! With that said...the second reaction has him quite happy as his arms wrap around her waist briefly to enjoy that soft kiss with her.

Though he seems to pull away as well when he hears and feels her wince in reaction to the kiss because of the bruise on her lip. "I didn't mean to hurt you...I'm sorry." But then she starts stepping away from him, hand to lips as she -hardly- admonishes him for his actions.

"Yeah...well, you know...I'm not mad...but I'm really lucky that I didn't get caught with that Thaumatoxin."

Then he looks her in the eyes as she backs away, giving her a little wave as she says now isn't the time. Yet seems to suggest that it might still happen. "Y-yeah, I'll uh, see you around, yeah? Definitely, definitely." He looks her in the eyes the whole time.

and yay! he lives! But things might be awkward between them. Maybe.

Or maybe not.

Who knows!