5658/So, All Those Things.

So, All Those Things.
Date of Scene:	27 October 2018
Location:	Unknown
Synopsis:	Raven is weird even for Raven, while somehow Stardust and Amarok manage to not stab each other in the face.
Cast of Characters:	Amarok, Stardust, Raven

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Amarok has posed:
The hour draws late, the moon hangs darkly high in the sky, the tower's main room is scarcely illuminated by the glow of the TV, the blinds drawn tight against the glass, and screams of terror and pain crack out into the darkness. Amarok sits in silence on the couch, head set forth at the aged cheesy slasher movie on the screen even as his hands work to sharpen one of his many many knives, adding subtly to the ambience of the film with the slow, rythmic, *SHINK....SHINK....SHINK* sound of the blade on the wetstone.

Stardust has posed:
"Sorry." The apology is just about audible over the slasher soundtrack. Saying sorry is apparently the one thing Stardust doesn't do loudly. "I shouldn't have threatened you." The apology is delivered from the doorway, but she follows it into the room and sits on the couch, a fair distance from Amarok.

    "I get it now," Stardust tells Amarok levelly. "You thought there was something that threatened the security of the Tower. You felt a need to investigate. Like checking the sightlines and doing a threat assessment in that desert village. So, thing is. Maybe I should do a training scenario for you. You walk into a deserted room. There's a young child, kneeling on the floor, crying. Threat assessment? Sightlines? That's not going to get you very far. Let's be honest, that's a training scenario you're going to fail hard. Because it's not Amarok stuff. And that's why we're a team. Because the way you pass that test is getting someone else to handle that bit. Here's a case where I'm telling you, this is not Amarok stuff. So when that team-mate tells you do not poke, it's best not to poke. Is that better?"

Raven has posed:
    Raven comes walking down the stairs.

    That is correct. It is not an optical illusion. Raven -walks- down the -stairs-. She has her phone in her hand- which is, well, another odd sight. Raven is normally the kind of person to avoid that kind of distraction. She doesn't typically go for a lot of electronics, and the fact that she -has- a cell phone is a little fitting, yet at the same time, odd- as she's never been shown to actually have one before.

    She doesn't say anything to either of the people present- but she does notice. She seems bothered by the fact that at this time, her bad luck, that other people would be present in the living room. She'd hoped for silence and solitude, but as soon as she gets far enough into the room to notice that she's not alone, she immediately turns, and moves to head right back up the stairs.

Amarok has posed:
Amarok keeps his attention focused on the TV as Colette gives her.....rather backhanded apology. A few seconds after she's done, he pipes in, his focus still on the ever rising body count of the movie on screen, ooh, head crushed against a tree with a belt, nice, "You speak of apologies, and then in the same breath you insult me. You condescend and assume, thinking me nothing more than a blunt instrument with only one solution to any given problem, not even worthy of explaination for my efforts are misdirected. If you have nothing else for me than belittlement, shut up, and either sit down and watch the movie, or leave me be." Gone is the normal restrained monotone Amarok usually displays. Instead, his tone is one of smoldering, barely restrained rage, bitterness, and from the sound of it, more than a few hurt feelings. As Raven turns to head back upstairs without a word to either of them, he speaks again, "If you want to make her feel comfortable around us, now is your chance to do it. /I'M/ not allowed to talk to her, remember...." Mmmmmm, nothing better than a full blown burst of bitterness, is there?

Stardust has posed:
Colette lets the Amarok backlash tumble out, without a flicker of emotion crossing her face. She stares frankly at him during the tirade, then gives him a small nod of her head. "Oh no, Moon Moon. You're full of surprises. I mean I don't think I've ever heard you make a speech even half as long as that before. But I'd trust you to know a lot more about desert warfare than me, and you should accept there are things I know more about than you. Robin would fail that test hard too. Which is why I..." her own tirade is interrupted by the appearance and retreat of Raven

    Amarok's suggestion garners a glare from Colette, and she half hops to her feet before settling back down into the couch and calling out after the departing goth. "Hey Rae, come keep us company. Neither of us are sensible enough not to stab each other, we need adult supervision. Please?"

Raven has posed:
    Raven pauses on the stairs. Her hands slip her phone protectively into her pocket, and she looks over her shoulder for a moment. "I..." There's a pause. "No. You'll be fine."

    Idly, then, she pulls her hood up around her head- inside the tower, an almost... Protective gesture. As if she needed its comfort right now. With that, despite the request, she is making her way further up the stairs- as she does, though she does not disappear -into- them, the shadows do seem to -deepen- around her, making the whole hallway darker with each step she takes.

Amarok has posed:
Amarok seems to totally ignore Colette's retort, simply continuing his sharpening and watching people get murdered by a psycho in a hockey mask, who must remain unidentified for copyright reasons. As Raven begins to retreat back up the stairs, he muses aloud, not really directed at her, but certainly loud enough for her to hear, "I dont know much, but of one thing I'm certain. No one should ever be made to feel a prisoner in their own home...." The rage is receded, the bitterness gone. This is more....wistful. Maybe even a little sad.

Stardust has posed:
Colette winces slightly at Amarok's comment, though it's anyone's guess what about the statement elicits that reaction. She bounces in the couch again, this time rising enough to half stand, half lean on the couch back as she calls after the ever-retreating Raven. "I kind of doubt it, but... uh Rae? There's something I wanted to ask you." She stops a beat. "What music do you like?"

If polite appeals don't stop Raven's retreat, maybe non-sequiturs will? Perhaps that's even Colette's intention. More likely it's just the random bouncing of a butterfly mind. "I mean, the whole 'anything but Rae's goth music' is kind of a running joke. But I don't actually know... I mean like what's actually on your playlist? I'm really... it's been bugging me that I don't know."

Raven has posed:
    Raven again pauses, at the top of the stairs. If anyone is specifically moving to watch her go, they do get to see her linger for that moment or two... But otherwise, her attention shifts from the foot of the stairs and the people in the room. She looks at the stairway up, and moves to keep walking. This time, she doesn't speak- nonsequitur or not, Raven didn't respond to something that halfway insults her. There was no snark, no parting bite, just... Nothing. Is nothing better? Is it worse? Depends on Colette and Amarok.

Amarok has posed:
Amarok simply sits there, blankly staring into the screen. When Raven pauses, so does his knife sharpening, but beyond that, he makes no move to stop her, and once she resumes, so too does he. After a few seconds, he finaly turns his head, blank mask fixing on Colette for just long enough to lightly shake his head, before turning back once more.

Stardust has posed:
    It's definitely worse, at least in the view of someone who saw Raven's reaction to the rooftop visitation. This isn't normal. It's not even normal for Raven. As Vorpal had mused, anything bad enough to spook Raven is clearly high on the Run Away scale, and Raven's spookage doesn't seem to have faded any.

    Colette stays half-posed on the couch, watching Raven's departure but still not giving chase. She returns Amarok's shake of the head with a raised eyebrow and a tilt of the head. "Rae?" One more try, apparently, her voice raising to match the increased distance. "Vorp can't Rabbit Hole. We think it's a trauma thing. Like he had a rabbit hole intercepted and was dragged someplace he didn't mean to go. What do you know about fae? How serious a threat is this anyway?"

Raven has posed:
    Raven is just about within earshot. To be fair, while she isn't being overly dramatic, it is a tower and the staircases are relatively long- and Raven isn't running up them like a scorned teenager.

    "He'll be fine. Just stay away from whatever it is. It's not that big a threat. It's already handled. I know what to do."

    Sure, that's not ominous.

Amarok has posed:
Amarok leans over, propping his elbow on the arm rest of the couch, the rythmic *SHINK....SHINK....SHINK* sounds continuing unabated, "You're not going to get to her by dancing around the issue, and ignoring it will just make it worse in the long run." He says sidelong to Colette as he raises the knife up, the glare of the TV glinting off it and casting light haphazardly into the darkness of the room.

Stardust has posed:
     "Pretty sure it's not already handled. Mister Voice certainly didn't seem to think so, and nor does Vorp. And keep away from whatever? C'mon Rae, is that really me?" It's actually kind of impressive the way Colette can keep raising her voice to be clearly heard up the stairs without shouting. She has very good projection. "But I mean, if you /want/ to avoid every other topic of conversation than the one Moon Moon thinks we should be discussing, that's fine. I just wanted to give you some breathing room while you decided what you wanted to tell us."

    Finally Colette gives up on her half-stand and drops back down into the couch. She replies to Amarok silently, with a single-shoulder shrug.

Raven has posed:
    Raven, frankly, really is a little impressed. Colette's Nagging Potential is more or less off the charts- but she's again not being dramatic. Raven considers this the best for everyone she cares for. They don't need to know- because knowing just puts them in more danger. She's -seen- that.

    As well, Raven has... Glimpsed, if nothing else, a future in which she remains with the Titans, one in which Trigon is unleashed.

    She can't let that happen- so she continues walking, up the stairs. Solitude is all that is a comfort, and she's intending to make it her policy. She can't endanger them anymore.

    She's not even sure she should have come to the Titans in the first place.

Stardust has posed:
Amarok doesn't seem to have anything more to say to Colette, but apparently the reverse is true. "See Moon Moon, I'm not dancing around the issue. I'm avoiding it. That's different. Because I know it wouldn't work. Not me." Funny thing, even though she's talking to Amarok now, she doesn't appear to be toning down her projection any. If anything, her voice is carrying further. "Maybe Damian, or Vorp. You and me though? We're the dumb ones. I mean I don't even recognize a compartmentalized soul-projection when I see one. Why'd she tell us anything when she can discuss matters with herself? She's way smarter. And also that lets her go on failing to notice how much she mistakes guilt for sacrifice. "

    Finally Colette drops the projecting and lets her voice return to normal. This time it is for Amarok's benefit. "Besides, I think she kind of hates me."

Amarok has posed:
Amarok tilts his head slightly towards Colette, "....Know thyself, and know thy enemy, find naught to fear in a hundred battles. Know thyself, but know not thy enemy, find victory and defeat in equal measure. Know thy enemy, but know not thyself, find defeat in every battle." He says in clear quotation, "Knowing one's self is good. But when you confer only with yourself, you become an echo chamber. You ingraine your failings and overlook your triumphs because you dont have the necessary outside perspective. It's a bottomless pit of self defeat....." His tone implies he isn't the first one to give this speech. He then looks back to the TV as the twist ending comes about, ".....And dont worry....You get used to being despised...." He tucks the knife back in it's sheath and pockets the wetstone with a flick of his wrist.

Stardust has posed:
Colette listens to Amarok's quotation, eyebrow starting quirked, and raising further and further up her head until it looks like they're trying to escape. When he's finished, she sits back comfortably, sinking into the couch and turning to watch the end of the slasher flic. She points a finger lazily in Amarok's direction. "That."