(no subject)

[wilsooon]

Characters: Oliver Queen, Clark Kent, Bruce Wayne, Rikki Barnes, Zatanna Zatara, Steph Brown, OPEN TO OTHERS.
Date: Starting early April and serving as a catch-all log for general threads during the month.
Location: EVERYWHAR.
Situation: EVERYTHING...?
Warnings/Rating: None at the moment, will change as necessary.

Comments

WOOD SECTOR - RIKKI BARNES

[wilsooon]

[He is having, not a day off, but a day of helping in the Wood Sector as plain old Oliver Queen.

Plain old useless Oliver Queen, which means the kedan - after shuffling him from job to job in irritation - shoved him at babysitting and probably prayed to whoever they pray to that he wouldn't blow up one of the kids or something.

Which means Oliver is helplessly tangled in a pile of tiny shapeshifters, giving one of them a ride on his shoulders while the others try to trip him, literally, with their powers. They're also peppering him with questions about Foreigners and where they came from, which he's answering with... mostly truth. Mostly.

He might have told them that Batman is actually a bat who was cursed into human form by traveling wizards.]

[withoutaworld]

[ Though she's on her way to Bucky's place, she's in no real hurry, and Rikki has to pause to watch for a minute when she spots the group, smiling to herself. At least kids are kids in any part of the multiverse - it's kind of comforting, in a way.

She steps forward after a moment or two, smile brightening as she asks teasingly: ] You okay in there? 'Cause I can stage a rescue if necessary.

[wilsooon]

[He half-turns in surprise at the address, recognizing her voice - and trips sideways over an extra limb that one of the kids throws out, catching himself before he goes over completely.

The kedan, though, seeing opportunity, tackle him from two directions and driving him down into the dirt. He lays there with two of the kids sitting on top of him.] No, I'm good.

[One of the kedan whistles amusement.] Are you going to rescue him like the Bat-man?

[withoutaworld]

[ She breaks into a laugh as he falls, but it's friendly, not mocking, and she ambles a little closer, wandering into the pack of children. Dropping and roughening her voice as best she can: ] I am Batman.

[ That's all she gets out before she bursts out laughing again, this time at herself, and continues in her normal voice: ] I just didn't bring my mask and cape today.

BRUCE WAYNE - IDK SECTOR

[wilsooon]

[Oliver has come back to the warehouse where Bruce took him several times since their initial conversation there, mostly for target practice, but also to use the other equipment the Batman keeps in the otherwise sparse location.

This is the first time Bruce has actually been there himself when Oliver arrives. He stays to one side, out of the way, watching the man do routines on parallel bars. Bruce has his shirt off, displaying a grisly map of scars and fresh injuries that Oliver isn't sure he should ask about.

It's a bit like watching Slade drill, in that Oliver is struck again by how completely out of his league he's suddenly found himself.]

it's the hitherto unknown 'bat' sector

[cowled]

[He's off his game. His most recent injuries have built up to a crescendo that throws his movements off by a notable degree. His shoulder catches when he drops between the bars. And his lung isn't yet at full capacity, after its partial collapse.

He doesn't care. Instead, he throws himself into the motion and rhythm of the work. The job. His oath. His life. He will not fail due to some physical weakness.

Oliver is silent, on entry, but not silent enough. Bruce knows it's him without having to look. Certain people have more... presence than others. As if the space they fill in the air disagrees with the silence of their body.

But Oliver says nothing to draw his attention. He's watching. Assessing, probably. If this version of him is as much like Bruce as he thinks he is, he's probably trying to pinpoint any weaknesses to be exploited later if needs be.

Bruce has a file on Oliver to much the same tune.

Still, he's spent over a decade working with the Justice League. Alongside people who have the power of gods. He's gotten too well used to the idea of never showing weakness, so when he dismounts it's without the slightest variance in pose or posture, despite the fact that his shoulder is aching enough to make him set his teeth against the pain.

He grabs a waterbottle and a towel, the latter of which is slung over his shoulder as he finally turns to face Oliver with a slight nod of greeting. No words, not yet.]

[wilsooon]

[Oliver returns the nod, looking for something to say. He's decided not to mention the injuries, not after the network conversation where he dug himself half-way to Lian-Yu trying to be sympathetic over the loss of Favrielle and the others.]

I'll come back. [It's an offer to leave Bruce alone, if he wants.]

[cowled]

No need. [He takes a sip out of that water bottle.] You're here to train. Show me what you've got.

[Challenging him? Most definitely.]

CLARK KENT - METAL SECTOR

[wilsooon]

[It's evening and Oliver is hooded and ready to patrol when he spots this particular event.

Clark Kent, being harassed by a small pack of kedan. Pushed, snarled at, mocked.

Oliver puts an arrow on the string and sights on the biggest kedan's back, aiming for one of the gills there that pulses open and shut like a thirsty mouth. He doesn't loose, though - he waits, bow drawn full back, watching and keeping his target lined up.

There's a plan here. There has to be.]

[andaway]

[There was indeed a plan, but not the kind of plan Oliver was probably considering. He wasn't going to hurt the Kedan in any way, and not only because doing so would reveal himself to them.

These people were angry, and attacking them would only prove them right. So he simply kept on walking, trying to leave them behind. Which was hard when they were apparently set on following him...]

[wilsooon]

[The waiting is getting to him. He can't stand watching these thugs pushing Clark around.

But he's not going to target them fatally with Superman right there, either.

So he picks a different arrow, a different target, and looses. The shaft is cut to whistle as it flies, and the shriek that fills the air above the street is impressive. The arrow itself slams into the crack between two cobblestones just beside the lead kedan's feet.

Oliver pitches his voice to carry.]

Next one goes through your throat. Leave. Now.

[andaway]

[The arrow and the warning catches the Kedan by surprise, and they are quick to run away without much complaining, most of them trying not to give their back towards the direction the arrow came from. It won't work a second time and Clark knows it, but he appreciates the surprise factor as much as anyone.

Once they are gone, Clark's eyes go straight to meet Ollie's. Even in the darkness he has no trouble seeing him, and maybe he wants to remind him of that. He knows he was probably just threatening them to scare them, but still.]

I had it under control, you now.

ZATANNA - EARTH SECTOR

[wilsooon]

[He leaps like a ghost from rooftop to rooftop in the Earth Sector, enjoying the soaring sensation every time he leaves the ground. It doesn't thrill him the way it used to, because he knows when and how he'll land - there's no visceral reaction to falling through open air. But still, there's that moment where he leaves weight behind before gravity catches up, and that brief freedom will never get old.]

[backwordscompatible]

[She was in a bad mood.]

[Granted, she had been in worse moods. But this one had been gradually building throughout the day. The kedan were starting to get vicious. One of her jobs had all but fired her due to 'cutbacks', despite deliberately hanging a help wanted sign in the window before she'd made it ten feet off the property. She'd been glared and shoved and judged since practically sunrise, and seriously needed to let out some steam.]

[In an ideal world, she would have been able to steal borrow another motorcycle, like she and Artemis had back home. But she lacked the funds to legally rent one, and she only took things from people she liked...so that option was out. Which left flying. All things considered, could be worse. It lacked the thrill of the wind rushing through her hair at 90 miles an hour, the sharp turns as she cut around each city street corner, but it helped. Enough that, by the time she parked herself on the rooftop of a random building in the Earth Sector, she was starting to feel better.]

[Then she caught a glimpse of who had apparently gotten a similar idea, and the better mood was gone.]

You.

[wilsooon]

[Oliver freezes, placing the voice and the face almost at once.

Crap.

This is one interaction he was hoping to avoid. Not forever, but a lot longer than this. He's not sure what he's nervous about, exactly. Just that he is.]

Hi. [It's a long syllable, almost a question.]

STEPH BROWN - FIRE SECTOR

[wilsooon]

[The gangs have been getting more rowdy, more angry, encouraged by the disquiet in the populace and the rationing. Of course, the fact that everyone else is suffering doesn't keep the gangs from turning on their own. Anyone perceived as being too friendly with Foreigners, anyone who hires them. The gangs have started demanding what amounts to protection money from those kedan in particular - and no one can afford it, right now.

Which is why Oliver crouches at the edge of one rooftop, waiting for the right moment to drop down on the heads of the gangsters below.]

[controlledvariable]

[He might have to wait a little longer, considering the fact a shadow just emerged from the alley into the middle of the kedan gang. If there's anything that gets under her skin, it's people demanding protection. It hits too close to home, reminds her of the gangs that used to lurk around her neighbourhood.

It's why she lets the fight draw out, rather than taking them down as quickly and efficiently as possible.

She might be enjoying it more than is strictly necessary.]

[wilsooon]

[Well. That's interesting. Oliver stays put instead of intervening, watching with interest as the woman thrashes the kedan below. He recognizes the uniform, for more than the bat insignia - he's seen her at a distance before, but never in action.

So until (if) it looks like she needs it, he's going to enjoy this particular show.]

OPEN - WOOD SECTOR

[wilsooon]

[Oliver actually does know a bit about trees and building things after the time he spent on the island.

It doesn't mean he isn't useless when it comes to anything but wielding a hammer, but he can hit joining pegs with the best of them, okay. Which is what he's doing now, doing his best to help repair buildings and tend the sickly trees, all over the sector.]

OPEN - METAL SECTOR

[wilsooon]

[He's being the terror that arrows in the night. Or that twists a thug's arm in an alley. Literally. He has a little blade pressed up against a spot he's discovered - from copying Steph and working at the clinics - is vital regardless of a kedan's shape, keeping him from shifting and getting away.

Oliver is there for information, and plans to get it the only way he knows how.]

[hackingyoursensors]

[Oh, Ollie, your fake Bat-growl needs work. It takes a lot of self-restraint for Dick not to laugh.

He may or may not be creeping, but he's a much friendlier creeper than Batman.]

I'd tell him what he wants to know. Getting stabbed hurts, trust me.

[wilsooon]

[Oliver glances Dick's way, scowling. At least the kid isn't interfering - though his nonchalance at seeing someone with a knife against another person's vitals gives Oliver the creeps.

The kedan spits out a location and a name, and Oliver releases him, stepping back enough to not get hit when the kedan shifts into something fast to bolt.

Ollie gives Dick a second, longer look.]

Who are you?

[imaginate]

[He's working extra hard on deliveries. It's good to, after feeling so useless sitting around and doing (to him) nothing. The ring is beginning warn him of his exhaustion and nutrient levels, but he's still good for now.

(The food is still going to Wally. And Tommy, when he can spare extras.)

He doesn't really pay attention to his surroundings. Which is why, when handing over supplies to the clerk at small clinic, he doesn't quite notice who he's walked into until it's too late.

They've seen each other at work and Kyle has kept his distance. He's still not sure if this... is something he wants to repair. Or if it's even worth it. They're both obstinate.

Yet, it's with considerably less barb that he speaks to Oliver.] Hey. How are you doing?

[wilsooon]

[He has a load of cloth - towels, bandages, bedclothes - to take to the wash, all bundled in his arms. It cushions their impact and gives him something to keep between the two of them.

He considers the question before he answers it.] Fine.

[That isn't an answer.] Better. I'm... better.

[imaginate]

Good. [He means it, and he's just glad there's... something making sure they're not completely in each other's personal space worse than currently.] You haven't been home.

[He may have come by to check.]