9787/The Berating of Raven and Stardust: Part 2

The Berating of Raven and Stardust: Part 2
Date of Scene:	27 October 2019
Location:	Living Quarters, Titans Tower
Synopsis:	Colette berates Raven in a much less accusatory fashion than when it was the other way around, but the outcome can't be said to be any better.
Cast of Characters:	Stardust, Raven

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Stardust has posed:
    'Hi Rae. I'd like to clear the air with that whole business with the training with Amazons thing. Come by when you're free for a quick chat.' So went the message Colette sent. Perhaps she's going to apologize?

    Whatever the intent, Colette is waiting calmly for Raven to appear. For once she hasn't bothered trying to make coffee. That never seems to get her anyway. Instead the coffee machine is waiting, cleaned out and ready to use, while she sits on the sofa drinking a store-bought coffee from a cardboard cup, and using a tablet. She has one earbud in and judging by the rhythmic nodding of her head, she's listening to some music. As she listens, her lips move silently, mouthing the words. The other earbud dangles; she has obviously left one ear free to listen for Raven's arrival, but on the other hand she seems to be prepared to have a bit of a wait.

Raven has posed:
    Raven isn't the type to fall into these traps. Asking to speak with her is the sort of red flag that she does her best to avoid, like asking a cat not to push things off the table.

    Problem is, for her, that she doesn't really need to fall into it. Instead, Colette just needs to position herself near the coffee machine, and wait. The bird will need to feed eventually, and most Titans are relatively certain she subsides on caffeine alone.

    This is why some time after Colette starts her watch, Raven is in front of the coffee machine. For those observing, she does not react to Box-Coffee as Superman does to Kryptonite. Those in the pool that bet on the underdog just made a mint.

    It isn't Raven that makes the first legitimate noise. It's the machine.

Stardust has posed:
    Colette pulls out the earbud at the first bloop of filtering coffee, and switches off the tablet. She turns and looks at Raven by the coffee machine in silence. Her expression doesn't betray any obvious signs of repentance. The apology possibility isn't looking good.

    On the other hand, her expression doesn't betray anything much. Which is fairly normal for Colette when she's forewarned. She's a lot easier to read when you catch her by surprise, but like this it would take an active effort on Raven's part to read Colette.

    Or waiting for her to talk. That never takes long.

    "I want to clear the air, Rae. I'm sorry I upset you with that Amazon training thing." An apology? Can it be true? Well not exactly. "But you completely misunderstood the situation. There was no hidden message in me picking you out in particular with that training. Vorp and Robin do combat training all the time. You don't. That's all. Well, no not all. The truth is I /worry/ about you, Rae. I don't worry about those two, because I know they can handle themselves. But what happens if your power fails you? If you have to deal with things on a purely physical level? I want you to have every possible advantage you can if that happens. And that /is/ all."

    Colette shakes her head slightly. "You realize that this isn't actually like uh... a one-on-one thing? It's group training. So what you thought... well. I promise you, it didn't occur to me. And I'm pretty certain it won't have occured to Vorp or Robin either."

Raven has posed:
    For a moment, Raven condemns the coffee machine. Its inability to brew an instantaneous cup of coffee and teleport that cup to her room has betrayed her, for the last time. The glare it receives is one that others fear.

    She doesn't face Colette. In general, Raven does these things- holding a conversation without looking at someone. It's this sort of near-disregard for a person's presence that is the hallmark of speaking with her.

    "My powers can't fail me." she begins, "They are innate. They're not a gift from some interstellar police organization or a blessing from the gods or the result of really effortful training. If my powers fail, then I am probably -dead.-" There is a pause there, of course, as Raven's mannerisms allow her to get momentarily distracted by nothing so that Colette can absorb.

    "Some people excel by shoring up their weaknesses. I don't have a body that's suited for physical combat. I never will. At best, I'll be a little bit surprising before I am rendered unconscious. I have learned what I can. The combination of my father and mother's genetics did not design a martial artist. They designed something else, that my father is all too proud of. His Pride."

    Raven actually turns to face Colette, then. "Your concern is warranted, but in the end, it's better spent where it would be useful. As for Robin, and Vorpal, and what they'd infer- Robin doesn't have to infer anything. He knows. Vorpal could probably guess." Her hands return to her pockets.

    "You didn't single either one of them out. Didn't tell Robin that it was a once in a lifetime opportunity to train in martial arts that- literally- man has forgotten. Vorpal relies on his teleportation to make use of his natural weaponry. You didn't include him in your 'What if your powers don't work this Tuesday' line of thinking. You only specified me. What was I supposed to think? That the homecoming queen wasn't doing what they do?"

Stardust has posed:
    "You could try judging me for who I actually am instead of just assuming I'm the cheerleader bitch queen from hell," Colette snaps back. She blinks a couple of times and looks away to gather herself before continuing a little more calmly.

    "Robin and Vorpal are both gnawing at the reigns to learn Amazonian techniques. They didn't /need/ encouraging. You did. And no I'm not expecting you to become a martial arts master. Just learn enough to earn yourself a few seconds to get away, or for someone to jump in and help. Because you cannot say for sure that there will never be a time when your powers don't work. Or someone's grabbed you and you need to act more quickly than you can cast a spell. Or whatever! We do dangerous things and this is a way for you to be more safe. Because I /don't want you to get hurt/!"

    Colette crosses her arms and looks out through the window. "Instead, you accused me of outing you. For a laugh. I would never do that, and you should know that. I've never revealed any of your secrets. Ever. When you ran away, I couldn't explain what was going on to anyone else, because it wasn't my secret to tell. I almost punched Moon Moon because he wouldn't leave it alone. Because I respect your privacy. And the..." she gives a short shake of of her head. "I was going to say the trust you put in me telling me those things, but apparently you don't trust me at all. Instead you come up with ridiculous accusations and embarrass me in front of the one sane person in this stupid business I can actually talk to when I need to get something off my chest."

    Colette pauses a moment. "Which is kind of ironic, because I'd sort of hoped that would be you."

Raven has posed:
    Things like this never stay in their lane. Ideally, this conversation between the two of them should remain relatively civil and never lead to any form of escalation. Thankfully, Raven isn't escalating, yet. The Tower probably wouldn't like it.

    "I -am- judging you for the person you are. For the amount of tact that you have." she decries, responding swiftly, and... With no small amount of venom, despite that she's not raising her voice.

    "Did you think I would not notice that the others did not seem surprised? That you had seen fit to speak to them individually about the training before springing it upon them at a meeting? They received the decency of being told that a group of people, of strangers, were going to be present in our living space before the deal was set. Yet all the notice I receive is a public call-out. You did not think to come and inform me. That I might have objections."

    Whether or not she is univerally correct doesn't necessarily matter to her. If one or both parties had not known, that Raven received different treatment just plays into her previously mentioned point.

    "What we do is dangerous. I am going to get hurt. I might die. So will you. So might you. So will and so might everyone else."

    Another pause, then. "I understand your concern. And I understand the misunderstanding. What you do not understand is the lack of discretion, and the lack of concern for the things that, to me, matter. That you did not think to address anything with me privately shows that despite the actions you've taken to protect the things I have told you, you do not care about the way I might feel."

Stardust has posed:
    Colette's immediate response is a shake of her head. There's a lot for her to unwrap an she takes her time unwrapping it before she replies. Her first words are considered, and spoken slowly. "No, you're wrong about that too. I hadn't spoken to them individually about it before. It was one of the reasons I organized that meeting, so I could tell the three of you about it. And no, I didn't consult anyone at all before arranging it. I didn't invite anyone into your room, Rae. To the training levels, not the living levels. And if the others were less surprised, that's probably because it seemed perfectly normal to them, because they weren't interpreting it as anything other than what it was."

    There's a soft sigh, and Colette leans back in the sofa. Her eyes fall on her cooling coffee, and she picks it up to take a sip before continuing. "It makes sense. If you'd been paying attention you'd have noticed that I am the only one of the senior Titans who has lifted a finger to try and integrate the newcomers. I've had to handle their training because nobody else is, and I'm barely any more experienced than them. I've only been doing this two years, Rae. I'm not good enough to do this on my own, but the rest of you have opted out. Can you think of anything I could have done that was better for them, better for the /team/ than arranging for some of the planet's most experienced fighters to come help? Because I couldn't."

    Finally, Colette turns to look over the back of the sofa towards Raven. Her mask has slipped a little - she looks rather sad. "And you're wrong that I don't care about how you feel, too. If that was true I wouldn't be here trying to make this right. Again."

    There's another soft sigh and Colette shuffles her legs underneath herself on the sofa, half-turning so she can see Raven without craning her neck around, one arm rested on the back of the sofa holding her coffee. "Actually how you feel bothers me a lot. I mean look at this misunderstanding. I bring in warriors for training, and you misinterpret this as me bringing in women for you to get sweaty with. Come on Rae, it's pretty obvious the only reason your mind went there is because you're desperately /lonely/. That bothers me. Because you've made it clear to me you think you need to isolate yourself from others to stop... losing control. But if it makes you feel like this... it's not working, Rae. I've tried to be your friend. I've also tried to give you space. Neither seems to work."

Raven has posed:
    Raven bristles. Visibly. Her eyes narrow in an unfriendly way that Colette likely hasn't seen before. How -dare- the blonde accuse her of being lonely and/or desperate, as if the signs are obvious? Colette is supposed to be oblivious.

    "Don't talk as if you -know.- Don't approach this as if you have any idea what it's like. I do not do what I -think- I need to do. I do what I -have- to. When we talked, I thought you understood. I thought you -got- it. It doesn't matter how it makes me feel if it's -necessary.- Clearly, you have no idea what is even going on around you." Now, one hand has left the pocket of her sweater. She is pointing- aggressively, accusatorily.

    For once, though, she doesn't really have more to say. Because of that, she turns to leave. Physically.

Stardust has posed:
    "I've been there too!" The words are almost, but not quite, shouted. "I would say, 'do you know what it's like to be the stupid cheese-eating French girl that nobody likes,' except I think you kind of do. I know what it's like to be desperately lonely. And I know how to make an armor out of harsh words too."

    Colette sits back straight, turning her back on Raven again, but continues to speak as she leaves, much more quietly "And I /did/understand. That's why when you started to worry about how much you had revealed to me and you backed away behind your armor of harsh words, I went along with it. So I return your sarcasm and your distance because that's what you chose. And you're better at the witty sarcasm than me, but I'm better at getting under someone's skin than you. Because that was my armor. Being the mean girl was how I stopped feeling lonely. And it makes me feel like shit, not because of what you say but because of what I say. Because I hate that part of myself. And I hate being good at hurting you. So... so... so..."

    Colette shakes her head and slumps in her seat, defeated. "Whatever."

Raven has posed:
    Raven continues to leave. There is a little pause, at the stairway, as she listens to Colette's parting statement. "You are wrong. On every count. With everything you have said. It is impressive." Raven herself isn't on the verge of tears. When things like this happens, there is an outburst- slight as it may have been- before Raven forces herself to internalize heavily.

    Truth be told, though- Raven felt that Colette couldn't possibly know. It is one thing to be ostracized socially. It's another to ostracize -yourself-. It's one thing to have few friends, and even fewer more-than-friends. It's another to do that to -yourself- because you don't think it's safe for -them.- Raven is afraid to care, because she's afraid that if she does, it won't lead to a fight in the living room of the tower, or some text-message breakup. It'll lead to corpses and rivers of flame.

    None of this is anything Colette can know from what Raven's -said,- of course. She has to infer. Further, she also has to infer about the other things as well.

    There isn't- or at least there -shouldn't- be- anyone who is as good as Raven is at getting under other people's skin... Because that's where she -lives.- Every day, without fail, unable to pull herself entirely free of the quagmire that is other people's thoughts and emotions, their fears and what makes them tick... These things are, to Raven, like an audiobook that she can't turn off.

Stardust has posed:
    And yet... and yet... isn't it true that it's generally Raven, not Colette, who leaves these little tete-a-tetes upset and internalizing heavily? Maybe it's true that Raven is better at getting under people's skin in general, but maybe it's also true that Colette has a better grasp of Raven's levers than she has of Colette's. Or maybe Colette has thicker skin. It's hard to say.

    And yet... and yet... this time it does seem a little different. There's something new about Colette's mood. That defeated slump. That sense of emotional... emptiness. Indeed, the lack of response - for once, Colette does not reply to Raven's claim she's wrong. She just seems to let it wash over her. The audiobook of Colette is silent, though who knows what turning the volume up would reveal.

    And as for inferences? Raven has said enough. Perhaps if she thinks over the words exchanged she'll wonder just how much Colette did infer, considering the line about how much Raven had revealed to her. Or maybe she'll find it easier to ignore that. To go on assuming that Colette couldn't possibly know. She /is/ blonde, after all.

    But none of this is spoken. Colette remains quiet. There is no effort to stop Raven from leaving. It's not that she no longer wishes to get through to Raven, but at least for now, she can see no way to do so.