[Open] To Find a Bat

[acro_bat_ic]

Who: Barbara, Batman, and whoever wants to meet her (Specify whether before or after she meets up with Bats, though0
Where: Everywhere (not off limits, anyway)
When: June 10th, through the day.
Summary: Exploring the town, and teaching Sissel how not to lick himself in public.
Warnings: Batglares.

It was another night in costume for Barbara, standing on a rooftop with her cape fluttering behind. It made little snapping noises as the wind pulled it taught. Both hands on her hips, creating an image for anyone who might look up. She'd usually use it to scare criminals. Right now she was using herself as a bat signal, though, her eyes looking not for criminals but for her favorite caped crusader.

She'd stay up there for maybe half an hour before getting bored, and taking to the streets - whether he showed up or not . Barbara knew he was around somewhere - in one identity of his or another. She just had to find him. 

Comments

let's go with before just for simplicity's sake

[ichoosefight]

Stephanie knew the chances that she would run into Barbara while on patrol. The city wasn't really that big to begin with, and it wasn't quite as crowded and pressed together as Gotham was. As much as she didn't want to, she figured she owed the girl an apology. And it might be worth it just to check in and make sure she was still alive. One could never be too careful.

That the redhead was practically displaying herself only made it that much easier for Steph to put off the confrontation. She snuck up behind her, less in an effort to startle her and more because she didn't really want to make a show of this. Honestly she just wanted to turn around and crawl in a hole somewhere.

She steeled herself.

"I take it you're not waiting on me."

Sounds good!

[acro_bat_ic]

Barbara froze when she heard Steph's voice, spinning quickly ad lowering her body into a stance that she could use to spring. If nothing else, the red headed girl seemed to have her set of skills. She also had a rather wary look as she studied Steph - not angry; just wary, like an animal that's been hurt and thinks it's about to be bit again.

Becoming Batgirl might have been an impulsive decision, but that didn't mean the costume meant any less to the vigilante now that she had it. She really saw it as hers - had seen becoming a super hero as finding herself, and her destiny... and being able to work as Batman was the validation of that. Steph was a challenge to that identity; and the woman's words had a habit of stinging more than Barbara would have thought possible, after two years. She was used to hearing jokes from villains, but… Maybe It was how well Steph pulled off that costume as she delivered lectures. Or how firmly she actually seemed to believe her words.

Barbara had known they couldn't go long without seeing each other, but she had been hoping to delay it a bit more than this. she'd also been trying to take her mind off the subject. She settled for keeping her voice light, instead.

"Batman. Actually."

[ichoosefight]

She held her hands up in a sign of surrender. No attacks here.

"He does like to keep his own schedule." He wasn't an easy person to find when he didn't want to be found. And waiting for him, well, that could go either way. She hooked her thumbs in her utility belt and took a couple steps closer, looking sheepish. Best to get this over with as quickly and painlessly as possible.

"Look, I wanted to apologize for the other night. I guess... I don't know, I felt threatened or something." She had only been in the costume for a few weeks, and most of that time it had been a hand-me-down. Being faced with someone else in the costume, someone claiming to be Babs and wearing a skirt, it pushed a dozen different buttons all at once. She had sort of panicked.

[acro_bat_ic]

"He's pretty specific about who he lets in the loop," she declared, trying to sound confident. It had taken her quite a while to get into that loop, honestly - and now she was worried she might get kicked right back out of it.

The continued movement of the blonde jut made Barbara more wary, and it took a little determination to stop herself from backing away. The sheepish looks helped, but there was no way she was trusting this other "Bat girl"

"You. Threatened?" she asked, not bothering to hide the disbelief in her eyes. She seemed plenty confident to Barbara. In her purple suit and lack of a skirt.

[ichoosefight]

She wasn't entirely sure how she was meant to take that, but she assumed it meant that she was the one being threatening. She rubbed her arm, feeling awkward. Would it really hurt anything to confide in the strange girl, just a little? Would it help anything? Only one way to find out.

"Yeah. I've kinda only been Batgirl for a few weeks. The one before me, she gave me her costume and left. It's been a struggle." Every other person she met seemed convinced that she was a fraud, Batman and Robin included.

"What about you? How'd you get the gig?"

[acro_bat_ic]

It was as much a deflection as a threat: trying to pump herself up by saying Batman trusted her. Trying to ignore the idea that maybe he preferred a Batgirl like this. Or might not even be from her world to know her.

The few weeks comment, though, changed things a little. It was hard to be childish when listening to someone making a confession like that.

"I made the costume and stalked him for a month," she admitted, before adding, "That was two years ago."

Before!

[hintcoinplz]

Being out late was probably not in Luke's best interests, but since he couldn't sleep, he'd spend his time exploring the city instead. He accidently got turned around at some point but instead of admitting that he's lost, he's surveying some of the closed shops and taking note of them for future reference.

"Okay, what street am I on now...?"

He continues wandering around with no real direction in mind while mumbling to himself, completely unaware that there's a Batgirl not too far away from him.

[acro_bat_ic]

The Batgirl definitely noticed him. Standing around, looking lost? She would have already dropped down if she wasn't busy waiting for Batman. So she just watched him for a while, half crouched.

Eventually, though, she couldn't resist dropping down into the shadows behind him. "Can I help you?"

[hintcoinplz]

Luke jumps a little, before quickly adjusting his hat and giving Batgirl a nervous look.

"I-I'm all right! I'm just a little turned around, that's all."

Before!

[littlewhitelies]

"Hey, it's you again! Hi!" Comes a voice from somewhere off to her left, and a few feet above her. M'gann ripples out of the camouflage mode that cloaks her, shifting back into solid non-see through colors as she gives a friendly wave…Though she pauses once that's done and she's landed nearby. She can't be sure with that mask in place, and she's not about to start reading any minds either, so M'gann finds herself voicing her thoughts.

"Hey, are you doing okay? I wasn't sure with how things went, before." Then, remembering how the other Bat-people she knows tend to be about feeling, she adds on "Um…It is okay for me to ask that, right?"

Re: Before!

[acro_bat_ic]

"Peachy," she promises, a bit more shortly than intended. It's sort of a sore subject, is all. Plus, she's totally hoping M'gann didn't notice how much she jumped at the martian's sudden appearance.

"How many powers do you have, anyway?" she asks, flipping through her knowledge of last night. Flying, floating other people... she's going to assume telepathy is in there too somewhere.

[littlewhitelies]

"You want to know about me-?" Pardon that bewildered blinking; it's still not something she's entirely used to, and being asked to talk about herself is still unexpected. Especially when it's someone other than her teammates doing the asking. But after a moment of surprise, M'gann clears her head enough to answer.

"I-I mean sure, if you'd like to know! Since you're one of Batman's apprentices." And now that she's warming to the conversation, it is kind of nice to be proud of what she can do. "It's almost all mental. Well...Psychic I guess is the right word?" She taps her head as she speaks, to further indicate what she's talking about.

[acro_bat_ic]

It was a normal question, to Barbara. See super. Ask super. Have super panic...? That was leaving the script enough to make Barbara worry. The apprentice comment threw her off track, though.

"Partner," she corrected. "I'm his partner." And his sidekick. Being an apprentice would require he spend a lot more time talking, though. She wanted that clarified before this went any further.

That, and...

"What about shape shifting?"

[littlewhitelies]

The 'partner' comment leaves M'gann blinking as well. Plus, 'sidekick' is always a touchy term with some of her friends. All the same she gives a quiet apology before focusing on the next.

"Yeah, that too; no density shifting, since that's a really advanced technique. But I can manage some shapeshifting...And even camouflage too! Look!" It's probably showing off a little (or a lot) but M'gann can't resist the opportunity. She gives a little twirl, arms outstretched, and lets that almost-transperancy creep back up them until it covers all of her, just leaving a faint and almost shimmering outline of M'gann against the night sky.

[acro_bat_ic]

"So that's how you do the random appearances," she whispered, mentally marking it off. That was one mystery solved, at least. She was glad to have her curiosity sated.


"So how long have you been super-heroing?"

Go with after, just to be different

[thefuzzyguy]

Kurt's not on patrol--casual vigilantism isn't really part of the routine for X-men most times--just wandering on rooftops because it's fun and he can. His image inducer reduces his night vision a little bit, but in a city there's more than enough ambient light to make up for it, and it is kind of nice not having to worry about it.

He definitely wasn't expecting to run into anyone, but after the initial surprise, he hardly minds. He's had more than enough alone time here. "Um, hi?" How does one break the ice as the two crazy people climbing the architecture?

Re: Go with after, just to be different

[acro_bat_ic]

Barbara could't imagine not doing patrols, anymore - though some nights she wishes she could. Nights when Batman had her out on rooftops, staring out into the dark, cold, and frequently wet nights. ...Not that she couldn't go home. But Bruce wouldn't. Which meant Barbara? Didn't.

As for this world, she's sort of getting used to people running into her up on the rooftops. She hardly even acts surprised.

"...You come here often?"

[thefuzzyguy]

"Ja." If she was going to be casual, he could do that. "View is better." He summoned up a smile, which wasn't too difficult. He wasn't pleased to be in creepy-hug city, but he got to climb on buildings, and that improved his mood a lot. Despite the curving slope of the roof, he stood without any trouble, hands behind his back and looking as comfortable as most teenagers would on the sidewalk stories below.

[acro_bat_ic]

Barbara feels quite comfortable in her own perch - rocking back and forth slightly on the roof.

"You one of the citizens?" she asked, tone light. Totally not going to bug out based on your answer. Nope. Not her.

[thefuzzyguy]

"Nein, one of the kidnapped," he says, immediately a bit surly. It's not her fault--she obviously wouldn't phrase it as one of the citizens if she lived here--but it's a little hard to be properly polite with that hanging over him.

before

[sleepingstar]

[Bai is already on the roof. She's been exploring the City at night, trying to find the best spot the look at the stars. The moment she heard Barbara coming up, she made sure to move out of sight. Assess the danger before interacting with anyone.

What a strange costume.]

Re: before

[acro_bat_ic]

[What? No Perfectly normal, not dangerous at all... bat costume. She's glancing around, as if she knows someone else is there... call it instinct. Her eyes don't lock on Bai.]

[sleepingstar]

[Bai shifts position and moves out of the shadows, looking perfectly innocent. A little confused, maybe concerned.]

Hello?

[acro_bat_ic]

...Hi? [What's the girl doing on the rooftop? It's the sort of question that stands out for a super hero when another person is standing on their rooftop.]

[sleepingstar]

[A normal person would probably be a little weirded out by some random stranger in a weird outfit like that. But Bai's life has been so far from normal, she doesn't even know what normal looks like. She's only been given the barest minimum training to fake it.

So instead of asking perfectly reasonable, sensible questions -- Who are you? What are you doing up here? Why are you wearing a costume like that? -- she smiles timidly.]

Are you looking at the stars too?