Don't run away. 'cause that's the deal with it

[controlledvariable]

Characters: Stephanie Brown and you! Also Brandon I guess.
Location: Earth Sector, Metal Sector, everywhereelse Sector.
Situation: A day in the life! Feel free to pick from one of the many places mentioned in the log, if you want, you can put time/place in the header!
Warnings/Rating: Vague references to physical/sexual child abuse.


Life is weird.

Steph tries to keep that in mind as she deals with her new existence in Tu Vishan. She's met aliens, she's travelled to magical dimensions to punch witches, and she knows people who have travelled through time, but somehow none of that compares to the current situation. A city on the back of a giant turtle is just taking it one step too far, and when the hostility of the locals is added on top of that, Steph ends up spending her first night sleeping underneath her bed, with the blankets pulled down with her like a nest. It's a coping method she developed when she was eleven, and this is the first time she's had to do it since coming back from Africa. But she manages to sleep without dreaming, so it's worth it.

Upon waking the next day, she resolves not to let the fear and weirdness get to her. It's a hostile environment, but she spent most of her life living in a hostile environment, and at least now she has allies (friends might be pushing it) in the form of Bruce and Damian, and she's going to work on befriending the other superheroes that have been brought here. If the Kedan turn against them en masse, she'll be ready, but until then she's not going to let fear control her.

The first thing she decides to do is shopping. She's already bought one set of clothes, but she'll need at least one more, and probably a set of shoes that aren't her Batgirl boots. Being in the Earth sector makes that a easier, what with the fact it's a textiles based area and she spends a few hours in the morning walking through shops, finding the cheapest places to pick up what she needs, and then lingering at the more expensive places over nice fabric and sewing machines. Logically, she knows she can't afford to splurge on a machine before she gets a job, but that doesn't stop her wanting one; in the end she just buys needles and assorted thread, hand-sewing will take longer and won't look quite as nice, but she'll survive.

When she passes a little stationary shop, she goes in to buy a notebook and some pens. For all her training, Steph has little experience in maintained fake identities, and she doesn't want to risk getting caught out in a lie by anyone here. Her best bet is to keep everything written down, in code of course, so that she can keep track of the identity she's building for herself in the city.

Her next stop is a market in the Water Sector - after someone in one of the clothes shops recommended it to her, and after a rather considerable walk - to pick up some basic foodstuffs. It's not often she only buys groceries for a single person, and the thought hits her with a wave of homesickness. She treats herself to some chocolate in between buying serious items like bread and vegetables, and spends the rest of her time at the market popping pieces of the confectionary into her mouth and trying to decide if it tastes that different from chocolate back home. (The results are inconclusive; she'll have to buy more later to test again). When she's done, she runs the expense of hiring a small rickshaw so that she doesn't have to trek all the way back to her suite.

By the time night falls, she's ready to go out again, dressed in the black lycra underlayers of her Batgirl costume, and the hooded cloak she made herself during the day.

For the first time in a very long time, Steph goes dumpster diving. It's something she learnt a long time ago out of necessity, and with the city the way it is right now, after the attempted executions, she wants to get back into practice, and to search out the best spots in Keeliai. If push comes to shove, she wants to know where she can get food for free, and she wants to know before she gets desperate. It rankles a little that she has to, and she does her best to stick to the shadows and stay hidden, out of fear that another "foreigner" will spot her; she's seen how quickly people's opinions can change when they discover someone is willing to eat discarded food. (She has a lot of arguments about how it can be perfectly sanitary and actually nice if people know where to look, but she wishes it wasn't necessary).

She doesn't take anything, because it's going to be a long night, and she doesn't want to be carrying food around for it, but it settles her nerves to find a few good spots. Restaurants and grocers are always fairly reliable when it comes to throwing out edible food, as are bakeries, though often she's found those donate their leftovers to shelters, because while a self-respecting baker won't sell day old bread, there's actually nothing wrong with it. She could go around her neighbourhood in less than hour and come home with a few days worth of meals for herself and her mom, but it takes her longer in Keeliai, despite the fact she sticks only to the Earth sector for the first night.

After around two and a half hours, she brings out her grapple gun and moves on to more general reconnaissance. It's rare for her to work anywhere but Gotham, where she grew up, the streets that she knows like the back of her hand, so she knows that learning the lay of the land in Keeliai is important. As much as she hates to admit it, even to herself, she could be trapped for a long time, and it's going to be vital to be able to navigate through the city quickly and easily.

In moments of freefall, where the wind rushes past her before she catches herself with her line, Steph is confident she can survive this.

Comments

→ Brandon

[controlledvariable]

It takes her a couple of days to settle in, and by then she's found five different coffee shops in the city, because there's nothing Bats love more than caffeine. When she uses the console to text Brandon with a location and time, she picks the cafe in the Wood Sector for a number of reasons, but mostly because it's in a treehouse and Steph feels that she's allowed to take pleasure in the little things, considering the situation.

She knows that even for all her joking around, it isn't actually a date, but somehow that logic doesn't stop the nervousness she feels as she gets ready, dressing simply in slacks and a shirt, her hair up in a twisting, complicated braid that took almost half an hour, but the process of sitting still to do it had helped her relax. She decides to blame to nerves on the fact she's going to meet someone who can toss lightning around as if it's nothing, rather than admitting it has anything to do with her being concerned of how awkward she can be at talking to people. Sometimes she's not sure if she remembers how to talk to people who aren't vigilantes, and with the added complication of the fact she's going to have to lie, to be aware of everything she says to avoid a slip up, well --

It's easier to blame the lightning thing.

By the time she's walked to the place they're supposed to meet, she's significantly more composed and manages to act like a perfectly normal human being as she tries to decide whether to go straight up to find a table, or to wait at the bottom. Wait is the option she goes with, at which point she finds a nearby tree with low branches, something that even a regular person would be able to climb and she perches on a branch, legs swinging in the air as she watches for Brandon.

Re: → Brandon

[sharpes]

Okay, so the message actually sort of surprises him. He's not sure why, but it does. He isn't used to follow through.

... If he's being perfectly honest with himself, he doesn't even like follow through. It's dangerous, and it's-- it's just dangerous. Brandon doesn't really like dangerous. If it's for the cameras? Sure, fine, whatever, have at it. But the second the danger's real, the second his life could come crashing down around him... he bails.

He always has.

That's why Osborn had his number. Sure, he was a jerk. And if Brandon could meet him again he'd punch him right in the face, but he-- got him. In a way that Pym and Tigra and all the others don't.

Brandon knows he's a coward. Standing his ground... he's never had a reason to do it. He's never had anyone he cared enough about, never had any kind of cause that resonated with him. Starving orphans in Africa? Whatever, man. Not his problem. He'd rather run.

Unless he's in control. Like the night with Hood. The one that got him expelled from the Academy, and the reason he's not ever going back. It felt good. Doing that... hurting that guy...

Pym was right to worry. They all were. How many people are actually willing to come after you when you can do ten times worse than anything they can dream of? Not many people know what electricity actually does to the body. How it burns up from the inside. So maybe it's only a split-second, but in that split-second all your nerves are heated up to several thousand degrees. It's permanent, debilitating.

And the smell--

Well, there's a reason he doesn't like having things charbroiled.

He's thinking about it, hands stuffed in the pockets of his pants as he heads to meet Stephanie. What is he doing? He must be crazy. Then again, what about this place is normal?

She's not there when he arrives, so he just leans against a tree to wait, lost in his own thoughts.

[controlledvariable]

Steph can't help her faint amusement as Brandon barely even bothers to look for her before he leans against a tree barey ten feet from where she's perched. Now, she could just hop down and go walk over, but there's absolutely no fun in that, instead she climbs up a little higher, moves from tree to tree until she's above Brandon.

A few possible options run through her head, but she reminds herself it's probably not a great idea to startle him too much, considering she doesn't know how much control he has over his abilities. She doesn't want to get herself fried for the sake of a joke.

So, with her knees hooked over a branch, she lowers herself down beside Brandon, her hands shoved in her pockets and her expression casual, like she isn't hanging upside down in a tree.

"Sup."

This is why she's terrible at secret identities, she can't resist showing off.

[sharpes]

Okay, so he doesn't actually jump and shriek like a girl, but he does just about smack her in the face with lightning. It is in fact conjured and in his hand, a little crackling ball of white-blue energy, and he--

just.

Stares at her a moment.

"Oh my God why would you do that? I could have killed you!"

Water Sector

[littlecousin]

When she's in this sector, Nita uses the canals to get around, but not by boat. Far too slow. She puts the aquatic half of her heritage to good use, zipping along under the surface at speeds that really shouldn't be possible, but a lot of what people from her universe can do is impossible.

At her destination, she rockets out of the canal a good ten feet into the air, trailing a spray of water behind her, and hangs there for a second, dripping, before coming to a gentle landing on the street. It being the Water Sector, the surrounding kedan merely look mildly interested until she touches down, and then return to their business.

"Hi!" Nita waves cheerfully to Steph. You have pink skin, so you must want to be friends, right?

[controlledvariable]

Seeing people burst out of the water and hover in mid air isn't exactly a normal day for Steph, even in the business she's in, so her stare lingers a little longer than the Kedans' do.

Which leaves her feeling a little embarrassed for having been caught, when Nita waves, but since the other woman doesn't seem to mind, Steph just smiles, "Hi. That's a neat trick."

Well, it is.

[littlecousin]

"I like it." Nita's used to being stared at. Back home she ended up in the tabloids a lot. She extends a dripping hand, because clearly no one minds shaking and coming away all wet. "Nita Prentiss."

Earth Sector/Daytime

[b_ad_a_ttitude]

Initially, B.A. wants to wait a while to see if anyone is going to respond to his shout-out over the console. He explored his new suite; more space than he's used to, but there's really not much to see. After 15 minutes, there's no response and nothing else to do in the suite, so an impatient B.A. heads out for a while.

The clothing shops nearby remind him that he doesn't have anything to change into, so they seem like a good start. He'd grown up in a rougher part of Chicago, so he keeps his money right where he can feel it, just in case. It doesn't take long to figure out that there's not really anything in a style he'd usually wear, but anything clean would be a step up from his current outfit. The ocean hadn't quite washed out the smell of sweat and gunpowder. He takes his time to browse around, and any over insistent salespeople get a glare and perhaps a snarled "Back off, punk".

If Steph doesn't see and/or approach him first, B.A. will take note of the other non-Kedan. The Kedan had said he wasn't the only one, but it looks like there aren't many of them at all. He watches her for a few minutes, as discretely as he can for being the only human in the street.

[controlledvariable]

It's hard not to notice other humans; there are so few of them, and with Steph's wariness ramped up to eleven by the situation, she's even more watchful of her surroundings.

So, other human, and the other human here watching her, which could mean any variety of things. The most likely reason is the same one she notices him, so it doesn't raise her hackles like it normally would, and instead of walking away, she walks over. There's a bag in her hand, folded fabric inside it, suggesting she's been out for at least a little while.

"How long?" She saw him glare at one of the salespeople, sees how he's dressed and how he holds himself, and figures that B.A isn't going to be one for small talk. So she cuts straight to the point; how long has he been on Tu Vishan?

The fact he smells like gunpowder doesn't escape her notice.

[b_ad_a_ttitude]

He turns to face her when it becomes obvious that she's heading his way. Though he keeps up the level stare, he stays relaxed. She doesn't look like trouble, and when she speaks-

Well. Not what B.A. was expecting, but he can appreciate the bluntness. "Less than a day. You?"

Nighttime

[withoutaworld]

It's the movement she notices first, that particular arc of motion that comes from leaping into thin air, falling before the line catches and swinging back up... It's so familiar, something she's been missing at her side since she got here, and Rikki pivots on one foot as she touches down on one rooftop, turning to follow before she actually makes a conscious decision to do so.

It can't be Anya. Anya's not here and she doesn't really want her to be. She knows that, God, she knows, but what if...

It's not Anya. The flutter of blonde hair, as soon as Rikki gets close enough to see more than a flicker of movement and a silhouette against the backdrop of the city's lights, is confirmation enough, and she'd expected that - but Rikki's heart still drops a little.

She tries to ignore it, changing her course again to head for a higher rooftop where she can watch from a safer distance rather than pursuing directly. She's not Anya, but she's also not one of the rooftop gang Rikki's become familiar with, and seriously, how many costumed types are they going to drag in here? It's starting to get a little alarming.

[controlledvariable]

At least Steph technically isn't in a costume, though she took a cue from Bruce and made a simple domino to accompany the hood and cape. She misses her Spoiler costume, the full face covering would be a relief right now in such a strange place, and she wonders if she should cut her hair again, to make it easier to hide.

She also probably shouldn't have shown her face all over the network, but it's too late to take it back.

It's clear that Steph hasn't noticed anyone watching her, and it's also clear that her movements are purposeful, that they're following a pattern. She'd started at the edge of the sector, and has been making her way in a spiral, gradually circling inwards, though occasionally she stops on a rooftop, taking a break and a chance to look around and get her bearings.

[withoutaworld]

Rikki keeps an eye on her for a while, crouched at the edge of her high perch where she can mostly keep the girl in her line of sight no matter where she goes. Occasionally she loses track of her behind other buildings, or in the rare patches of shadow, but silhouetted against the glow of the turtle's shell, it rarely takes long to pick her out again.

This looks more like reconnaissance than a regular patrol; probably one of the new arrivals, then. Whoever she is, she's obviously practiced at this method of getting around - and while not all the possible reasons for that are necessarily good, as long as she's stuck here, she's theoretically an ally. Might as well go say hi, now that she can do it without sulking over the fact that she's not Anya.

Rikki waits until the girl's settled down in one place and marks that position in her head before she pushes off her rooftop and takes off running, barely touching down in one place before she's springing into the air again. When she gets within a few blocks of the last place she saw her, she starts slowing down, bleeding momentum in flips and rolls until she can come to a stop across the street from the other girl's rooftop, close enough to be noticed without accidentally scaring the crap out of her.

She catches herself at the very edge of the roof, just short of hurtling into the street, and laughs a little breathlessly, giddy with the momentary rush of adrenaline. Still grinning, Rikki waves a hand at the girl across the street. "Hey."

Just a friendly rooftop buddy, nothing to be alarmed about here...

Night | Metal

[storm_warning]

Nightfall and the hours that follow it are excellent times to be out and about, because that's the time that she can hide the best. It's when the sky is darkest and the brightest light comes from the eerily glowing turtle shell roads that crisscross the city. Sure, it sounds ridiculous that she can hide when the ground lights up, but most people stick close to it.

Meaning that anyone that can put distance between themselves and the ground is in prime camouflage territory.

Ororo takes advantage of it every couple nights, sneaking into an alleyway and riding the air currents up to the rooftops when she wants to head out for a late night snack or get some air. And with the scattering of unrest in and about Keeliai, well... Okay. She sometimes (like now) does it while wearing her X-Men uniform, just in case someone needs help and she doesn't want to be immediately noticed for who she is.

Except it's been pretty quiet, so she's used a few brisk winds to clear the dirt off one corner of a roof in Metal so that she can lie down on it and watch the street corner below.

[controlledvariable]

Steph knows immediately that it's a bad idea; she openly showed her face on the network not long ago, and her disguise definitely isn't perfect - a domino mask only goes so far, after all - but, well, she's never been good at listening to the logic. What she knows is that there's someone else on a rooftop she can see in the distance, and that means either another vigilante (she doesn't think of herself as a superhero, that's for people with powers) or a criminal of some kind, since those are really the only types of people who make use of rooftops.

Which means that if it's someone unfriendly, Steph should go over and make sure they're not planning any trouble. If it's someone friendly, it could risk exposiing her identity, but it could also make her an ally, and those are always vital in hostile situations. That's how she tries to justify her decision, anyway, mostly she just has a hard time resisting her sense of curiosity.

Before doing anything, she takes a moment to ensure her hair is completely hidden under the hood of her cloak/cape/thing, and that her domino mask is on straight, and then she leaps off the edge. It doesn't take her too long to make her way across the few rooftops that had been seperating her and Storm, approaching from the front so as not to surprise her, and Steph lands with ease on the edge of the roof about ten feet from where Storm is lying.

"Hi."

[storm_warning]

Her vigil looks like it's about to be crashed and she's not sure what exactly to think about it. When the hairs on the back of her neck rise up, Ororo has to will herself a few degrees back from paranoid that this'll turn south and that subdues some of the (literal) electricity in the air.

She pushes herself up from the roof, pulling her knees under her and then resting her hands lightly on the surface of the roof. Erk. Her fingers brush metal and she's reminded of the Sector -- good call on not zapping and asking questions later, because the roof's surface'd just feed it back to her and she's not quite as lightningproof as Brandon -- almost, but not one-hundred-percent yet.

'Nice night' dances on the edge of her tongue and she considers a laidback tone, but all that'd do is test the water and she's not sure how good that'd be right now. So, instead, she sighs and looks straight at Stephanie. "Look, I'm not here for trouble. If that's what you're here for, then let's get this over with."

nighttime/fire

[cowled]

[Bruce watches her, still and silent as any shadow, from the head of a gargoyle as she leaps into free fall. He's not tailing her specifically, though he's been keeping an eye on her progress throughout the city. It's only natural.

Now, though, when she lands, he steps out of the shadows and stands behind her, arms folded, waiting for her to notice him.]

[controlledvariable]

You know, that stopped being funny after about the fifth time you did it.

[So, it doesn't take her too long to realize that he's there. She doesn't even turn around, just keeps her eyes on the city in front of her, still mentally trying to map it out.

Although it is possible that sometimes, patrolling Gotham, she just randomly says things like that in case he happens to be around, but Bruce doesn't need to know.]

[cowled]

[Good. Quicker than the last time he tried it on her.

He steps up beside her to surveil the city.]

Find anything?

[earth sector || midday?]

[stickshift]

[Funny story. Asami can take engines apart and put them back together like nobody's business, but when it comes to things like sewing? She's always been a little lost. It was just... never a skill that she had to cultivate. Her family had always been rich enough that she could buy whatever she wanted, and 'repairing' ripped or torn clothes never really entered the equation. They had servants for that sort of thing.

But she's determined to learn. So she steps out of the store, several bolts of fabric over one shoulder, and a sewing machine in her arms, and she manages to accidentally step right into Stephanie.]

[controlledvariable]

[This is what she gets for being distracted by fabric as she walks. Steph feels someone getting into her personal space just before she turns her head to see Asami, and there's not quite enough time to avoid her]

Aw, crap. [But Steph recovers quickly, managing to mostly step to the side and therefore only gets clipped by the machine. She brings one hand up to support the machine in Asami's arms and the other going to her shoulder, trying to make sure no one or nothing goes tumbling to the floor.]

[stickshift]

Oh my gosh, I am so sorry. Are you all right?

[Asami shifts the machine to one hip so she can reach for Steph's shoulder. BECAUSE WORRIED?]

stephs apartment - late afternoon

[crotcharrow]

It's been a few days since Tommy spoke to Steph over the network, and after doing a little exploring himself--coming to the conclusion that this turtle was way too big to really make sense of and if he thought about it too hard it made his brain hurt--he'd actually managed to find Steph what she'd been after. Well, sort of. It wasn't exactly chocolate, but it wasn't bad either, and Tommy had swiped two bars from the small stall offering it. One to make sure it actually tasted okay, and one for Steph herself. He makes a mental note to where the stall is, and then heads on over to her place, using the address he'd haphazardly written down on his palm.

He shows up in full supergear because Billy and Teddy had freaked over the idea of him using his powers without it--really it's not like anyone would see him--and pushed his goggles up onto his forehead before knocking on her apartment, stepping back a little to double check that it's the right one.

[controlledvariable]

Despite remembering that she gave Tommy her address, Steph is still surprised to hear a knock on her door. It can't be Bruce or Damian, since they wouldn't bother, and though she's dressed in civvies, she quickly grabs her bo staff from where it's hidden in her closet with the rest of her suit and slips it into her boot.

When she opens the door and sees Tommy, she can't help smiling, "Took you long enough."

The supergear makes her a little nervous, but she fights down the urge to drag him inside so no one can see him by reminding herself that it's different here, and it won't be such a huge issue if she associates with superheroes. So she just steps back to let him in, without being too worried about anyone seeing.

[crotcharrow]

The moment he hears the door open he lifts his head, smiling, and holds up a bar of the odd looking stuff, putting it in her hand before he blurred out of view and was in her apartment before she'd feel the wind from his movement hit her face. He takes a quick look around and turns to watch her shut the door.

"Dude, you're lucky I got that. The people I asked never even heard of chocolate," he shrugged, running a hand through his hair to try and make it a bit more presentable.