6048/Supreme, You Say

Supreme, You Say
Date of Scene:	24 December 2018
Location:	Titans Tower
Synopsis:	Colette checks on Raven and the Titans learn that their resident sorceress has taken on a part-time job. The uniform is quite something.
Cast of Characters:	Stardust, Raven

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Stardust has posed:
    Colette hadn't been around the tower much for a while, but lately she seems to have been there a lot. This probably has something to do with there being three new potentials to break in, while the Glorious Anointed Leader has been entirely AWOL.

    These two factors are not unconnected. Damian does not make friends easily. It's also pretty inconvenient, because despite Colette having railroaded a vote to make Vorpal the Titan's #2 through, the chaos cat has been somewhat indisposed of late, and has not even been fully informed of the decision. By seniority the Titans might expect Raven or Amarok to step up in Robin's absence, but Amarok is Amarok and Raven has been... curiously absent. For no reason she can fathom, Colette has been doing her best to fill in and provide some kind of de facto leadership.

    Or at least answer the phones.

    In amongst all that, she set herself two tasks. First, finding out what the hell Damian was up to and getting him to come out of his funk and get back to leading the Titans. Second, find out what's been keeping Raven so quiet. Not that Raven isn't often quiet, but she's usually quiet in the background somewhere. Given recent events, a lack of Raven in the background is a matter of concern to Colette.

    So she comes knocking. "Rae? You in?" She keeps her knocking, and her voice, reasonably quiet. She has, finally, learned that Raven is often meditating and gets upset if you knock too loudly, or bellow in the corridor, or blow things up too close by.

Raven has posed:
    Those last lessons were not difficult to learn for literally anyone that is not Colette. The knocking, however, is heard by Raven all the way over in Greenwich Village. She cannot respond verbally- it's merely an enchantment on the door- but she does recognize that appearing is rather urgent, so she foregoes a detail that may be somewhat surprising.

    The door slides open after an -extended- silence that almost seems as if Raven may not even -be- there... And yet, it does open. Beyond her is her room, naturally- and there are only two details that elude to the fact that she has not been here in some time. Of course the room is immaculately kept and is as jet-black inside as normal, illuminated only by the moonlight...

    But then there's the cape floating behind Raven by a few feet. Crimson in color, and flying of its own accord, drifting to one side and then the other. There's also the fact that she is not wearing her sweater.

    "What do you need?"

Stardust has posed:
    Colette opens her mouth to speak, then closes it again. Then opens it again, then closes it again, and points a finger at the cloak. Third time's the charm as she finally finds some words to actually say. "Raven. Don't look now, but you're being followed by an invisible man. What I can't figure out is if his powers extend to his clothes and he just forgot he's wearing a cape, or if they don't extend to his clothes and he's only wearing a cape. Which means he's either a flasher or an idiot."

    Colette pauses, blinking, and decides to dismiss the floating cloak from her thoughts. "Actually I don't need anything. I just wanted to check everything was okay with you. You seem to have been... well, not here. Normally you're here. Last time you weren't here, there was a whole thing. So I thought I should check everything's okay. Ask if there's anything that /you/ need."

    Just when it seems she's finished, Colette speaks up again. "Also, you have an upper body. I have to admit, I had occasionally wondered about that. I'd speculated that if you ever took your sweater off, there would just be a gap between your waist and your neck. I'm glad to see you have an upper body, that's quite reassuring. On the other hand, it does increase my feeling that something has... changed? Happened?"

Raven has posed:
    There is a frown on Raven's features that is all the more aggressive and noteworthy as her face is no longer hidden by a hood. She doesn't, apparently, appreciate the nature of Colette's comments, and is seemingly quite bothered by it... Moreso than usual. "Colette." she begins, "You haven't said a single thing that does anything other than waste my time."

    Raven turns, and addresses the floating cape. "Return to the Sanctum, I'll be back shortly." It's easy enough to give it mental commands now that she's its owner, but that doesn't -tell- other people that she's telling it to go away. It flies off, leaving through a small portion of opened shutter outside of her balcony window. "Thank you for making me even more self-conscious of my torso. As for where I have been... Doctor Strange has gone missing. We're pretty sure he's dead." We? Who's we? "In his place, I have been selected as Sorcerer Supreme. It has been keeping me busy." She is using words Colette doesn't understand, isn't wearing a sweater, is more irritable than usual, and clearly doesn't intend for Colette to 'get' anything other than that she's been busy.

    So at least she doesn't have any hopes higher than Colette's capability.

Stardust has posed:
Colette blinks a few times, clearly not finding any of the information Raven's providing to be anything she was expected. "Uh. Okay. So... actually... your torso is fine." That may not be the least awkward place to start, but at least it's the part she doesn't have to go mentally screaming to the voices in her head for a translation to deal with, so it comes first. "I'm sorry, I... I didn't know you were... I didn't mean to upset you. I was surprised, you don't normally dress like that. You're normally more..." the word 'defensive' dies on her lips. "Covered up. If that's... I mean... you don't have anything to be self conscious about, Rae. Honestly."

    It may not exactly be what Raven needed to hear, but to be fair Colette probably doesn't have the greatest personal experience of self-consciousness, and she's probably paying more attention to the internal conversation than the words coming out of her mouth.

    Some might add that's not unusual, and they wouldn't be entirely unfair.

    Colette watches the cloak leave, using the pause to gather her thoughts. "Sanctum," she repeats, not having context to know what Raven is talking about, but adding it as a data point to her internal notebook. "Doctor Strange. Dead." She finally finds something to actually add to the conversation. "Member of the Avengers. Magic guy. Sorcerer Supreme is... some kind of position or responsibility in magical circles. Uh... congratulations? I mean, what is that, I assume more than being president of the Magic Circle. Responsibilities. First line of defense? Guardian of certain of Earth's magical secrets?"

    Colette finally checks herself and gives a quick shake of the head. "Okay. So, I admit I'm kinda hurt that asking if there's anything you need from me is a waste of time to you, but I also have to admit that in this case it's probably true. Still, spirit in which it was intended, and all that? I was trying to look out for you." She turns her head, looking down the corridor in the direction of the common room, and bited her lower lip thoughtfully. "If you're busy... I'll go."

Raven has posed:
    Raven is facing away at this point. "No, it's..." she pauses. "You're not the only person, but usually when people see me in the sweater, the reaction is a little... Different. I don't need what Kori gets." she notes. That's... Probably a little ruder than Raven's ever been, but she's nothing if not direct. As well, the tone isn't -mean-, it's just honest. It probably helps that Kori doesn't exactly mind the attention.

    From her open closet flies a belt of sorts, into a waiting hand. It seems to be a set of crimson half-spheres, inset into something akin to, if not certainly, gold. It may just be yellow metal, but it glitters similarly... Which, to be frank, is a lot of gold. She buckles it about her waist, though -how- she buckled it isn't necessarily readily apparent.

    "It means all of the above. Possibly more. For now, I am hesitant in telling the Avengers and the Justice League. I don't entirely know if being the Sorcerer Supreme means that I'm somehow... Grandfathered into that level of responsibility. What it does mean, though, is that there is a lot on my plate. I am always going to be here for the Titans, if you need me."

    There's a sigh, then. "You don't have to go. -I- might have to go, but you don't have to. Listen. Thank you for saying the things you've said. Thank you for coming here to ask if I need anything. Thank you for not going to the obvious places. With any luck, Doctor Strange is just meditating in Tibet and forgot to set an alarm, and everything will be back to normal soon."

    Raven sounds like she knows that, but even as she's speaking, Colette may have to pay sharp attention to what she's wearing, as it shifts somewhat radically. Instead of some modern bodysuit, when Raven turns back to face Colette, she is wearing... Something approaching a gown. The legs are gone, and the slitting of the dress on the sides is perhaps a little -too- high... And there's probably a conversation to be had about thigh-high boots, and another to be had about Raven in heels, but for some reason... This seems a little more 'traditional' somehow than what she'd been wearing before.

    A hooded cloak idly drifts from her closet, and makes its way to settle about her shoulders. "If there's nothing else, though. If you don't need anything right now, I need to go back to the Sanctum. If you do need something, just... Knock. I'll be here."

Stardust has posed:
    "Kori doesn't need what Kori gets either." The answer is a little too quick, and it doesn't take much of an empath to figure what's going on there. Colette's no prude, and while she's kind of fond of Kori, she doesn't necessarily think Kori's oozing class.

    It takes Colette a while to process all this. Not so much the radical change in outfits. It's certainly radical, and there's no question it raises a metaphorical eyebrow behind Colette's usual poker face, but that's not it. Nor is it the suddeness of the change - after all Colette does magical outfit changes herself, several times a day. It's the 'thank you's. She just wasn't expecting that, and she feels the ground shifting beneath her feet. "I know there's probably not a lot I can do, but if there is anything you need, well. Same. We're here for you, too. Okay? Maybe we can try tracking him down for you, see if we can find any trace of him. If it's a magical thing I'm sure you'll find him first, but if he is on some mountain top somewhere hiding, well. Maybe we can help.

    Colette can't help but feel /odd/ about all this. It's not a feeling she understands herself, but it could hardly be more obvious that this is Raven being a part of something other, something non-Titans. She can't quite put a finger on why that disturbs her.

    "You've got a com," she reminds Raven. "Just call, any time you... need anything. So long as you're okay, I don't really need anything else." She turns to leave, but stops herself mid turn.

    "Uh. There is one other thing. You're going to say no, but... I mean it's right to say. Look, I don't really get what's going on with your family. I mean the adoptive... What I'm trying to say is, it's almost Christmas. I don't know if you have plans. But. If you don't... if you wanted we could do something at the Tower. Or if everyone else has something, you're welcome to join me. Though you'd probably hate my family."

Raven has posed:
    Raven's response is swift, and boy does she ignore a lot. It's primarily because there's a lot to unpack, there, and she just doesn't have the time. Raven -desperately- wishes she were normal. Part of her, the cynical majority, is almost certain that the only reason she's Sorcerer Supreme is because the universe realized she was about to head into a major, happy holiday without a massive reason to stress out. She doesn't necessarily vocalize that, this time.

    "I won't get a chance to celebrate. I just inherited a house, a library, and a sentient flying popped collar. My hands are full." It's a little mournful, but it's also the only single -part- of that Raven addresses.

    And then... She's off. Into the darkness of a raven-shaped shadow in order to make her way back to the Sanctum, unless Colette stops her. Goodness knows, Raven is treading the line- on one hand, she's certain that Colette will spend Christmas with the family.

    On the other, she isn't entirely certain Colette won't try and bring a full-size evergreen conifer of some kind, pre-decorated, to the Sanctum that she badgered some poor wizard to get the location of for hours.