5465/Master Says...

Master Says...
Date of Scene:	29 September 2018
Location:	Unknown
Synopsis:	Elektra and Damian have a chance encounter upon a roof. They swap assassin tales.. kind of. All ends well. Nobody is stabbed.
Cast of Characters:	Elektra, Robin (Wayne)

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Elektra has posed:
Slipping her tail wasn't precisely hard. She was better than anyone Gao put on her. Elektra suspected that was Gao's point: Escape if you must, little girl, but know I know what you're doing. It was a slap on the wrist that wasn't.

Eelktra also knew that any time she did slip her tail, that her time was limited. There was only so much dalliance that would be tolerated.

It was subtle dance she and the Hand played these days, and Elektra knew she had to tread lightly.

Still, there were moments like this. Moments she allowed herself to vent her frustrations. Of course, she wandered away from Clinton and where Matt might hear of the goings on. Tonight, for example, she'd chosen Queens, and found herself patrolling odd alleyways, looking for trouble.

so far all she'd found was a drunk, and two teens who'd run as soon as they realized the woman watching them not only wasn't afraid, but wasn't going to back down. They'd dropped a wallet on the ground that they'd already stripped of money and ID.

Elektra didn't care. That wasn't what this was about. But she still was frustrated.

How could the streets be so quiet?

Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     Time away from Gotham and away from the...cheerfulness of Titans Tower was more than a necessity for Robin.

  Queens was a stone's throw away from Nassau, home of the Titans. Less wholesome, but not close to the crime-ridden streets of Gotham. The perfect place to patrol and practice by himself.

  There were rumors of drug activity going on close to the Stark-Fujikawa plant.

  Robin had already stopped a drunk from getting into his car. A far cry from the political assassinations he would perform when he was ten. An attempted battery, a coward preying on those weaker than he. Nevertheless, the Boy Wonder has been doing his duty, now a moment of respite proved fruitful. His katana sliced through the air, miming the movements that were engrained in his muscle memory.

Elektra has posed:
Elektra slips through the alleyways, and then climbs the back wall of a podunk restaurant that smells of frying fish, to reach the roof. From there, she skirts across several roofs, each higher than the last, until she has a decent view of the surroundings.

She's had the training. She's a master assassin. She owns the night... so far.

Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     Robin ascended to the rooftops, quite the norm for the partner of Batman, much less his son.

  The clear view of the Queens sky is welcome, serene even in some weird way. Higher and higher still, no gadgets, just skill. He couldn't be sure, but he felt off, his instincts told him he wasn't the only one above it all.

  Nothing much for him to work off of, a shadow makes him the most suspicious behind an access room on the rooftop. With the grace of skill from the assassin, Robin approaches, silently from those who don't know what to listen for.

Elektra has posed:
Elektra.. well, to say her teachers would have beaten such a mistake out of her, is well aware she isn't alone on the rooftop anymore. It's a subtle thing, how she registers that awareness. An adjustment of stance. A readying of her body to react. Breathing slowing down until its cadence is a match for her equally slow heartbeat.

In short, she's prepared.

But something.. likely the same something that tells Damian he isn't alone, also tells her that this isn't an ordinary and happenstance visitor. Well, perhaps happenstance. One didn't plan a meeting. But not ordinary.

The sounds that are made are too structured in the way that one in her profession is taught. That is to say, unstructured. Careful variances. Sounds that are so random as to have a pattern, in the way that normal people don't worry about the fact that they walk with a rhythym. Or that they breathe in certain ways - their inhales and exhales surefire explosions of sound that give them away even in the darkest of alleys.

And in the same way she recognizes that, she also knows that this isn't the Hand, or Stick, or even Matthew who have joined her on the rooftop, but someone else. Someone perhaps equally as skilled as herself. But who?

Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     Damian stops his approach, only to call out to the person on the other side. "If you're here to try and take me back to the League, you're going to have to try harder than that." He speaks, his voice is still youthfully high, but extremely sure of itself. His cape is draped around his body, making his normally brightly colored uniform black, and appear somewhat larger than he truly was. It was a trick he learned from Batman himself, as the Caped Crusader uses the same method to ready equipment underneath the cover of his trademark cape.

Elektra has posed:
Ah, so that's how it is. An 'escapee'.

Well, in some ways, so is she. Though Elektra was never part of the League. She was always part of something deeper than that.

There's a sultry laugh that drifts Damian's way through the darkness, and the sound of footsteps that are allowed to create deliberate echoes of noise, indicating passage towards him.

There are silences, though, as well. Silences that allow the footsteps to change direction, and come at him from another angle.

And then they stop, just out of the distance where her body would be a silhoutte in the shadows. Just out of reach of that distance.

Now her voice comes soft and clear, edged with a faint accent, "Hardly. I wouldn't say that's my intention. And were it, I'd have tried much harder than that."

Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     Damian's voice is gruff, as much as his voice can sound gruff that is. "You aren't from the League then, but you move like an assassin." Quite true, but how? "Trained well, I suppose. So what are you here for?" He asks, perhaps trying to pry for the lie he assumes she would tell him. Assassins aren't the most reliable source of information, of course.

Elektra has posed:
Elektra remains hidden from what little light there is that might reveal her. There is still advantage and reason to stay a shadow.

"No. Not from the League. It's a credit to your training that you can distinguish that."

The lilt of her voice is amused.

"Would you believe star gazing?"

In many respects, that's nothing more than the truth, while also being an absolute lie.

Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     Damian looks a bit proud at the thought of his training being complimented. "If this was Gotham. Hell no." He comments but gives a brief sigh.

  "You haven't attempted to strike at me, so it could be anyone's guess."

Elektra has posed:
"Ah, Gotham." Elektra says the word quietly, breathing it out with some considered thought. "That does narrow things down, doesn't it?"

Now she steps into the light, moving from the shadows to reveal herself in her guise of anonymity, red scarf pulled up over cheeks, mouth, and nose, leaving only the blue of her eyes as a contrast against the scarlet she wears, and the black and greys of the night.

"But there is the crux, is it not? I haven't attempted to strike at you. Why, one might ask." Her shoulders rise and fall in a neglectful shrug, though she remains at the ready; it's clear in her stance. "It's a shame there aren't stars in Gotham. At least not unless you find yourself atop the highest buildings." And even then there are times it is doubtful, given all manner of light and other pollution. "It's mostly metaphorical. You weren't really expecting a fight, were you?"

Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     Damian is also at the ready, but he is definitely relaxed. "I'm always expecting a fight. It's what one learns when you've grown up being ambushed and surprise attacked. I didn't become the youngest master assassin in the League by being passive."

Elektra has posed:
More of that amused observance by the woman.

"Our upbringings were not so very different, then. Though I was not informed of whether I was the youngest or not. It was considered unseemly to ask such things. It was generally considered if you survived, it was a good thing. I prefer to count my ability in longevity."

There's a certain irony to that, given plans she's set in motion. Plans that even now hang heavily over her.

Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     "For me, it was expected to survive. If you didn't, you were no heir to the League." Robin lowers his hood, showing his almost military-like crew cut. "My successes were measured in confirmed kills and successful ops."

Elektra has posed:
"We had a simpler metric," Elektra says softly, "You lived, or you died. It was really quite simple."

She makes another of those negligent motions of shoulder, and moves some steps to the side, forcing him, again, to shift position, lest she have a tactical edge upon him.

"Some might think it a rather brutal training metric. There were some advantages to it. You only made a mistake once."

It's possible she's making light of the matter, or a joke. Or perhaps merely being utterly pragmatic about an upbringing that was literally that cruel. It's hard to tell given the lack of expression to her delivery.

Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     Damian gives a nod. "Succeed, or die. That is how it is for most in the ranks."

  The small hero moves without noticing, by reflex putting himself in a position to make a good attack. "It eventually had me looking to join my father. So I did. And I have never lost my edge."

Elektra has posed:
"Ah, so it's true then. I wondered. It didn't seem polite to ask bluntly."

Elektra makes a small inclination of head towards the younger man.

"Your father and I have an understanding. Something of a mutual destruction clause that we'd prefer not to engage. I can't say I agree with his ethics, but he's not the first to believe killing isn't the answer."

She seems to attract men in her life who draw the line there, though one might rightly argue that Batman isn't 'in' her life.

Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     "An understanding..." He places a hand to his chin. "So, you stay away from Gotham, he doesn't pursue your clan?"

  Robin holds up a hand to the ninja. "I can't say I agree either. But I swore to him not to kill again." And it's true, he has more than enough weaponry to slice up a person. it takes incredible skill to use them without killing.

Elektra has posed:
"MMmm, more like we've agreed not to divulge what we know about one another."

He can tell there's a smile beneath her covering scarf.

"I have a corner of Gotham to call my own, so to speak." There's a hint right there - where in Gotham might Batman have let someone ... take over? Or is it taking over? How else can one have a corner of the place?

Robin (Wayne) has posed:
     Damian gives a nod. Looking to Elektra, the sidekick regards her with little hesitance now. "I understand now. It isn't something I see him do often. But there's a reason to it." The fifteen year old will have to prod his father further.

Elektra has posed:
"There was a certain wisdom to the decision, I think. After all, we all have to live in the real world, do we not?" making reference not only to herself, and Batman, but to Damian as well, who may be an assassin, or have been, but has also chosen another, more mundane life.

"However, as delightful as this is, I really must be going. I do hope we meet again some day."

And without any further preamble, she slips into the shadows and disappears. It isn't long after this meeting when Damian will find himself receiving an invitation to a private island tournament of skill. However, time will tell if he connects the two events or not.