Summary:The forming New Warriors meet up with Bluebird to test her meddle.. Log Info:Storyteller: None |
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"So alright, she's a little bit weird." Alexander says as he stands there in the dog park, hands deep in the pockets of his windbreaker. He turns his head to look at the others and offers a wan smile. "I mean, we barely knew each other, but just… it was one of those weird coincidence things." Like when they found that messenger of Hades.
It had been a few text messages, a phone call or two, when inspiration struck Alexander. He had sent those messages to the people who might eventually become called the Warriors, offering a possible idea for someone that could perhaps contribute to this effort that Dwayne was putting together. The meeting place? One of the few places that Harper and Alex had met before.
"So, she was doing a mask thing. I think. And her own thing. Got hurt, and I helped her as I could. She seemed kinda young, but had some good talent for… gadgets and things."
A small shrug is given as he looks up at the street lamp that offers that small halo of light around them, even as a young couple walk their dog down the sidewalk opposite them.
Dwayne Taylor is smartly dressed, with a red and black button down, slacks, Air Jordans. His eyes are hidden behind a sleek pair of aviator sunglasses, hair cut in a fade on the sides.
"Young's not a problem. Better that than some old dog who thinks they can run the place," he says. He has plenty of gadgets in his own right, although not of the same exact variety, most of them incorporated into his armor.
He's keeping his attention on the neighborhood, just in case anything out of line starts to happen. He's always on patrol, one way or another.
Rachel is listening with most of her ears, but really, she's so preoccupied by a puppy! It seems the owner is a dude who uses the adorable fluff to pick up chicks, and so doesn't mind when Rachel crouches down and begins playing with the pup. "Who's a good boy?" she gushes at the puppy, flippleflopping its long ears, giving it a vigorous rubpetting. This excites the puppy into gnawing on Rachel's fingers and making cute little growly yarling sounds. "Ooowooowoowoozhee," she murmurs to him, grinning and deftly moving her hands out of his nipping path before picking up his toy and tossing it. "Go get it, go get it~" she encourages him.
She dusts her hands off on her black jeans, adjusting her fashionable sleeveless blouse (also black) with its long line of buttons from her neck to the top of her thighs, and pushes her sunglasses back up the bridge of her nose, giving her head a slight toss to free her face of her hair, which is straight as a board and glossy black under the sun overhead. Her makeup is perfect, as per usual, and her lipstick is matte and a dark, complementary nude shade called Sinful Sinew. "I'm just happy for another girl, if I'm honest," she says dreamily, smiling too widely. "It'll be nice to get a bit more balance in the numbers."
When Alex looks up, perhaps then he'll see her. Not obscuring the light that's provided but rather atop of it. Crouched down, masked up because there was really no other way to meet, but the faint glow of her goggles aside from her silhouette would be the next thing that comes into view.
It would seem that Harper had scouted out the park before actually showing up to the meet-up spot; figuring may as well keep old practices when it comes to dealing with new people. Even if they did help out once upon a time. Her gloved hand catches the bar that she perches on, the other turning knuckle side down to rap upon the steel, giving them the direction that she was up there if they didn't notice already. "Young?" She finally says. "Really? I -actually- work a 9 to 5." She doesn't bother coming down from her crouch-perch, figuring the vantage up here was better, in case she needs to make some weird ass getaway that Batman had taught her.
"So what's up guys?"
The youthful Olympian takes a few steps to the side and sits down on the edge of one of the park benches, leaning forwards and resting his forearms on his knees, fingers interlacing. He looks over at Dwayne and nods, then smirks a little as Rachel plays with the pup. But every now and again he'll catch himself looking off in the distance, toward one end of the park or the other. And, curiously enough, sometimes looking upwards.
And that's when he sees her. The 'arrival' earns a half-smirk and then Alexander says, "Guys, this is Bluebird. Bluebird, these are the guys. Most of them. Me included."
Rolling to his feet with that easy gait of his, Alex motions towards Raven, "This is Rachel." And then he turns the other hand towards Thrasher, "This is Dwayne."
He shifts onto his heels a little, continuing the same gesture around towards Bluebird as he adds, "We uh, sorta met when there was some stuff. And were like, hey we're awesome. And it's fate and all." He paraphrases. A smidge.
Dwayne Taylor has no interest in the dog, really, giving it a polite nod the way you would so someone else's acquaintance being briefly introduced. He's not hostile in any way, he just doesn't really have much access to that softer side of himself. Cute didn't really do much for him.
"What he means to say is that we've already seen the capabilities of what we can do together. But we recognize that the more resources we have at hand, the better. Alexander thinks you have something to offer us. And we're here to see if he's right," he says with a thin smile. "He says you're good with…gadgets?"
Rachel shades her eyes with a hand (decorated with pen inked temporary tattoos she drew herself) even though she's wearing sunglasses, as she looks up toward where Harper is creepily bat-crouching. "Yo," she says by way of greeting. "And, y'know, even sixteen-year-olds can work 9 to 5s, these days," she points out with a crooked grin. She waves, though, as Alex introduces her. "Nice to meet you, Bluebird. I like your hair," she offers, then she's drawn back to the puppy, who's brought his toy back to her! She crouches down and plays with him for a little while. She can be heard cooing to the little pup in that strange voice of hers, dreamlike and detached, which isn't all that strange when cooing to a puppy.
Alright, color Harper impressed. Not only was Alex's introduction short, sweet and to the point, so was Dwayne's. Rachel's quip about teenagers working 9 to 5's gets a nod. Hell, in New York, it was practically the damn truth. "Good point." She states. There was a shift in her movement, one that causes one leg to pop out and then the other, now effectively lounging up top as she watches Rachel with the dog. If Harper were a villain, she'd totally steal it! Hell, even petting it would make her want to surprise her brother.
So she stays away for now, her feet swinging lazily, her back straight and stiff to keep balance. "Yeah…" She says idly towards Dwayne now, her wrist lifting as she quickly taps something upon the gauntlet-like bracelet that she wears. The flash of light from the mechanism colors her face red and green, and off into the distance, the sound of a motorcycle could be heard.
This causes Harper to scoff a little; the exhaust was damaged. She was saving up money to get it fixed. "That's my ride. Didn't bother giving it a name just yet." Why for?! Either way, it cranks it's way slowly up the path, stopping right in front of the base of the lightpole. A few more touches of her bracelet causes the bike to dull to a low hum right before it shuts off. "Clearly I need upgrades, but what's that saying? 'We ain't exactly the March of Dimes?'"
"So you have a… uh… remote starter?" Alex's voice is filled with a lil bit of incredulity. He takes his time looking up towards Harper, then looks over at Dwayne and sort of slowly just flares his hands as if to apologize, that he might have misjudged things. But then he recalls something about their encounter.
"Hey, show them the other stuff that you used to take down those guys." A glimmer of hope. "You know," He starts to step to the side to place the others in his line of sight as well as Harper, the three of them facing her somewhat.
Dwayne Taylor draws off his sunglasses, watching as Harper's bike makes its way in, kneeling for a moment to take a look at it. "Budget isn't a problem you'll have to worry about if you work with us. All expenses paid," he says.
He looks back over his shoulder at Alex's prompting, "Good point. All well and good to be good at tech. Knowing how to apply it in the field is essential," he says. He tilts his head as Raven is toying with the dog again, "Rachel? Are we keeping you from your pet browsing duties?" he says, a mixture of genuine nudging and a bit of humor.
Rachel tosses the puppy's toy, again, toward his owner this time, using a bit of TK to ensure it goes the distance and in the right direction. She'll get too attached if she plays with it much longer. Maybe she should get a pet. A great big great dane or something. She could lift it with her tk, if she ever needed to. Or, one of those tiny little pets that she could train to ride on her shoulder, instead of riding in a purse or something like that. Hmm, things to think about. "In my experience, giving something a name makes you more attached to it. You start talking to it, giving it a personality. It's a fun time," she nods sagely, straightening, again.
She turns and looks at Dwayne with a placid smile, "Oh, no, not at all. I'm having a good time, thanks, Dwayne. Go ahead and do what you need to do." She waves her hand dismissively, looking more closely at the bike as it nears. "Dwayne, do you think I should get a big, big dog, or a little tiny shoulder pet? I feel like I'm gonna do one or the other," she leans in closer, as though this topic is equally important as inspecting the bike, which she pretends to do, too, even though she knows nothing about mechanical things.
Harper gives Alex a brief unseen look, then shakes her head. "It's not just a remote starter. How many bikes do you know are GPS compatable up to about fifty miles, -nearly- self containable and just about combat ready?" Combat ready as in, as soon as she gets more money, she can get the parts. The bike itself will function like a transformer and be fluid around tight corners. Not to mention, complete with instinctual technology. When she moves, it moves. If she goes low, it'll go low and compact itself around tight spots. But she doesn't tell them that.
"The tech I do have I can apply in the field. But I wasn't sure that I'd be here to do a brief demonstration.." She looks at the three of them, then grins. She's probably about to get her ass whipped.
"So, Dwayne's the dominant one, right?" And then her knuckles crack.
"Ohhh, well ok then that's not so bad." The smile on Alexander's face is a warm thing, amusement clear as he steps back to the side towards the seat he had before. Just a few steps and then he drops into the seat on the bench and sprawls a bit, settling in. His pale blue eyes shift towards Rachel and Dwayne, eyebrows lifting as if now presenting her in a marginally better light.
He turns back towards Harper and says, "This is Dwayne's endeavour. He seems to be the one of us with the strongest conviction to make what difference there is to be made." A curious observation and curious way to hear it voiced in such a manner.
Then, as if to offer fair warning to the blue-haired young woman he adds, "He is very good, so I would suggest you focus." And with that, Alex crosses his arms over his chest, and observes.
Dwayne Taylor looks levelly at Harper, "More than you'd think," he says in response to her question. "That said, this is remarkable work, especially without the materials at hand. I'm impressed," he says.
Rachel's teasing gets a bemused raise of the eyebrow, "Oh, I think you're definitely better suited to a big dog. Every princess of hell needs a hellhound, doesn't she?" he says.
"And yeah, I've had the idea to put together a team for a while. Just needed to find the right pieces. And then they kind of…fell into my lap. Planning's all well and good but sometimes you have to improvise," he says.
Rachel's expression doesn't change, but there is a moment where her stomach plummets when Dwayne calls her a 'princess of hell.' Her brain works overtime in that split second it takes for her to find a way to laugh it off. "Ahhhh, because I'm so satanic, with my upside down pentagrams, and Baphomet insignias?" she smiles thinly, her voice sounding just the teensiest bit edgier than usual. "Yes, you're right. It /would/ complete the look, wouldn't it?" she concludes, straightening and backing up to sit on the bench near Alex. She crosses her legs and wraps her arms around her knee as she prepares to watch what happens, next. Inwardly, she gulps and tries not to look suspicious. Breathe. Breathe.
"Well what do you mean focus? I'm always focused!" IT was almost like saying that the Hulk was always mad. Though, footage seems to agree..
Though she does crack a laugh at Raven and Dwayne's banter, she lifts her wrist and speaks loudly, at least to give a forewarning. "GIDDY UP!"
The motorcycle immediately roars to life in all of it's loud glory, spitting out smoke, the brakes causing the wheels to burn against the ground as it turns rapidly. The back end of the bike begins to swivel; the front tire cranking hard to the left as it whips around with speed, intending to knock Dwayne off of the ground!
All the while, her hands smack against the bar she sits upon, her body lurching backwards to create a swing, her fingers loosening and releasing their grips so that she could backflip her way to the ground. She lands hard with a crouch, her hand touching the ground to boost herself upright towards a walk. No sense in running towards Dwayne, this was just a demonstration and not a fight to the death.
There's a subtle widening of his eyes as Alexander lets himself lean forwards, gaze drifting back and forth between Dwayne and Bluebird. It's an interesting situation to observe, to gauge the tension in the two, the shift of movement, small tension in various muscles.
A smile is offered in greeting to Rachel as she makes her way over to his bench, a hand lifting to brush off the seat next to him before he turns back to pay full attention to the other two. Then there's the abrupt and sudden burst of movement and speed that comes not only from Harper but from her vehicle as well. He bites his lower lip then says sidelong towards Raven, "Robbie is going to regret he didn't get to see this."
Dwayne Taylor reacts almost instantly, pushing forward and gripping at the handlebars of the bike as it lurches at him, lifting himself up with gymnastic skill and vaulting himself up and over to land on his feet. As he does, he presses a button and his hands are suddenly covered in gauntlets, a partial deployment of his armor as he puts himself into a martial stance and faces off with Harper.
"I'm the wrong person to try and catch off guard," he says simply, the attack enough of a distraction that he might not notice the effect he had on Raven's mood. But maybe he does. He's good at noticing things. "But it was a nice try."
Rachel offers Alex a little ghostly smile — nothing out of the ordinary, considering her usual awkwardness — as he brushes the seat off for her, before she sits down. "Thanks," she breathes, sounding distracted as she watches things begin to happen. The shifts in mood creating a different blend for her to experience and consider as she watches Harper and Dwayne prepare to square up. She glances to Alex as he murmurs the comment about Robbie to her, nodding. "I'm sure he will regret it. Maybe I should record it, for posterity," she says, bringing her camera out of her messenger bag, setting it up to record from the top of her crossed leg's thigh. Much less chance of wobbly camera work that way. Her hair cascades forward to hide her face as she looks down at the viewscreen on her camera, which she angles up toward her eyes, so she can be sure to capture the action, no matter where they move.
Damn. He moves like someone she knows.
It wasn't a calm walk she does to Dwayne, it was tense. Alex said to focus, and she does. Save for when the mechanisms appear upon his hands. "Damn, not bad." She commends, her hands soon curling into fists and smacking together, the bracelet-like gauntlet forming on one hand as she did not think to bring another. But that was alright, improvise! Soon she lurches, attempting to pile on a flying round-house kick towards Dwayne's chest. Harper being tiny (jerk), she has to get a bit of momentum before she does. But it was clear that the bike was going to be apart of this play, still humming loudly and left in idle.
"Back!" She calls out, the bike lurching in reverse, attempting to slam back into the path where she expects Dwayne to be. "Giddy up!" Yes, it was annoying, like she said it was a work in progress. The bike swings, adding another attack to the mix. Eventually, they'll be like cats in a cloud smoke with rolling hay..
For his part, Alexander Aaron sits and watches, observes. His gaze distances, as if not looking at any particular portion of their conflict, but instead observing the entirety as a whole. Each movement becomes a brush-stroke, each shift of stance an alteration of shadow. The two of them underneath that halo of lamplight look terribly surreal, and the roar of the motorcycle lends a weight to the chaos of the moment.
At one point, as Harper is making that twisting leap, Alex's lips part and a short intake of breath is taken. Then he shoots a glance at Rachel to see if she follows the conflict as well. And only then catches the phone that she's set up.
"Not sure if that's cool," He points, but doesn't exactly press the issue. Not yet at least.
Dwayne Taylor doesn't so much dodge Harper's kick as use it to his own advantage, shifting his body weight so he can leverage her frame. He grasps her at the ankle and thigh, swinging her downwards until she almost impacts against her own bike, her face dangling closet o the spinning wheel before he lets her roll through.
The bike still swings into his path though and he leaps up, balancing atop it as he lets the rest of his armor activate, coating him head to toe, his visor sliding into place over his face as he starts to analyze tactical data on her.
"Keep that video in-house,' he says to Raven with a cocked head before he backflips off the bike and lands on his…skateboard?
Rachel's got an eye for photography. It's part of the reason she's working on a photo-series to get into the art program at ESU. But, it's really helpful, in this moment, because she's making sure to capture everything, moving the camera smoothly, almost as a director would do. She doesn't look up from her viewscreen as Alex notes his worry to her, "No, it's okay. I'm doing this for the Warriors' only. It's not going anywhere else." Then, Dwayne's saying something similar. She waves a dismissive hand off camera, silently agreeing to what he says, trying to avoid moving enough to jostle the camera. This is impressive footage!
While Harper would add running commentary to Alex and Rachel, she doesn't. She was supposed to focus, even moreso now that she's dealing with someone who was exactly like the Big B. For fucking fucks sake. Once he captures her ankle and swings her, her arms shoot up to cover her face. That little fraction of space causes the skin of her arms to nearly peel from the closeness, until she was let go with a roll to a stand and stagger. She wasn't done just yet, for mid-stagger she whips around with two flat discs; hoping to land them right upon the armor that he immediately suits up with, but not detonating them just yet.
And then out comes the skateboard. Man.. even Harper thought this was awesome.. it takes her half a moment to react, in which she lifts her bracelet which drives the bike towards her. It skids to a sideways stop which allows her to hop upon it, this time revving it up in preparation to see just exactly what that skateboard does.
For a moment as the fight shifts, Alexander's attention is drawn away. He gets a crooked half-smile as Dwayne calls over, and then when Rachel responds he starts to shift his gaze from just looking at the fight, but to seeing how it looks through the 'lens' of Rachel's efforts to film it.
"Hnh," He says succinctly, leaning to the side and closer as he holds up a hand over the phone to shield its screen from the glare of the light above. Then he looks at Harper and Dwayne, "Maybe this should be a thing, Dwayne." His voice lifts to make sure those words are heard above the roar of the motorcycle and the scrape of the skateboard's wheels.
He looks back down at the telephone and the image, lip twisting up further. "How we haze the new kids." Harper's the first, lucky her.
Dwayne Taylor uses the plates on his forearms to help deflect the incoming discs, sending them ricocheting around, although they might still detonate in the ground next to him if she times it right. He shows off a little bit as he leaps forward onto his hand, backflipping towards her while keeping the skateboard dancing in the air until he comes down and it's clear he's using the board itself as a weapon, spinning it around his ankles and feet as a whirling dervish, forcing her to defend herself and trying to back her up against the wall.
"Good response, you're keeping up. Aim's a little off, might try striking at different levels to make them harder to block," he says. Yes, he's coaching her up even as he tries to swat her down.
He doesn't respond to Alexander. Harper may not be trained up to his level, but she's good enough to get his attention. Which might not actually be great for her.
Even in the milder warmth of the evening, leaning near enough to Rachel to see what her viewscreen is showing, Alex can probably smell the cinnamon and lime on her, a mingling of different scents probably from perfume and haircare products. But she leans back just a smidge so he can see more clearly what she's seeing from the camera on her lap. The action is perfectly framed, and she's having no trouble following the movements, even zooming in for dramatic effect at times, to catch detailed expressions from the two sparring. "I think it's a good idea," she agrees, as Alex mentions it to Dwayne. "It'd be good to be able to look back on these moments and find room for improvement, so we work more fluidly together, as well as against others," she says, her voice faltering at the end as she realizes how close Alex is. She returns her attention to the digital camera's viewscreen and tucks some hair behind her ear as she recommits to the task.
Right timing? Not needed. The discs were made to stick on impact, and if they had nothing to stick to, they'd detonate as soon as it touches and leaves the surface. They weren't explosions, just tiny little pops that would emit gas, one that fills the surrounding area as a distraction to give her enough time to do what she needed to do. But this was a sparring match that could go on and on, someone had to at least draw the line somewh—
"WOAH!.." The backflip towards her had her going in reverse, a hitch kicking up in the wheel as she pulls back upon the handles to send the wheel upright. It was like a backwards wheeling upon the bike, it drawing back a few paces before she slides down off of the seat, her feet planted firmly on the ground as she uses every ounce of strength to whip the bike around and upright.
"I give!"
Which, good thiing too. Harper didn't bring all of her equipment! Plus, her forearms are skinned and bleeding. Not too bad but.. hey. It was enough.
Alex's gaze distances for a moment as his thoughts drift, turning to this shared endeavour. On some level he still hadn't really mentally committed to the idea. On some level he still had held himself in reserve, feeling like it was best to perhaps help as he could… and just keep some measure of distance. But then he looks over at Dwayne for a time, watching as he simultaneously helps Harper while he's probably pushing her to excel in those very same moments.
There's such determination in the man, and Harper… she always had this desire to do more. Always aiming, reaching even as she is now. And Rachel who seems like she could use this as something to gather to herself, to hold onto. Something that might be stability?
It wouldn't be fair to them if he put only half-effort into this. So he straightens up in his seat and frowns to himself. Most around wouldn't notice the slight shift in his manner. But Raven could likely tell. Even though he grants voice to none of it.
Then again. His dad might not like it. Like really not like it. So a veritable storm-cloud hangs over the youth briefly as he turns his focus back upon the conflict. At least the decision is made. He stands up as Harper yields and he looks between the two of them.
"Yeah, we should probably record our training sessions when we have them. And we'll need a facility." The first time he's spoken with some measure of surety.
Dwayne Taylor turns it off almost immediately, backflipping firmly back onto his feet and snatching the board out of the air, putting it into the locked magnetic grip in the back of his armor. His helmet would shield him from any effects of the gas, but he leaves it on for the moment, the slightly hollow quality it gives his voice a little intimidating.
"I always record all my sparring sessions," he says. "Only way to eliminate mistakes is to catch them. And sometimes they're not immediately evident. Combat happens fast, split seconds. Error is inevitable. The only way to eliminate them is to make sure you do it without thinking. Rote, muscle memory. Instinct. You're a good fighter, I can already tell. Not good enough. Yet."
He offers his hand, "But I can change that."
Naturally, Rachel can sense all of the emotional shiftings of everyone near her. The determination and interest that Dwayne gives off. The curiosity and myriad of other things Harper's going through, that pain she's feeling in the burn on her forearms. And, the slightly grim contemplation that Alex now settles into. She's not sure what the details are, but it's heavy thinking. She leaves him to it, focusing on the recording as things wind up. She waits to see how Dwayne's curt manner will affect Harper emotionally. Like…it's not mean, but it's not very warm or welcoming, either. Harper's worked with Batman who is, well, much like that, but Rachel doesn't know that, yet. Still, she's curious to see how this plays out. She keeps recording, for now.
The roar of the motorcycle dies down as she flips the switch, Harper releasing the handles with a shake of her hand, wrenching her fingers together and releasing them as more knuckles crack and pop. She shakes her head, letting out a huff, finally stepping away from the bike to approach Dwayne, hearing his voice through the smoke draws her nerves afire with instant NOPE.
PTSD. It's real with Harper, and something she's always kept to herself; she won't sleep tonight. She'll see things out the corner of her eye. She'll stop at the store for a case of beer and obsessively work in her shop.
But listening to his speech immediately draws her out of it; out of the wanting to do more, reminding her of why she quit in the first place. Fear. Infinite fear. If it weren't for drugs on the street or ninjas to probably fight, she'd probably..
"Nah."
She does take his hand though, shaking it.
"I'm not in it for training. I want to build. That's the extent of my help. I got a kid to look after, I can't keep doing this." Maybe they could hear the fear and reluctance, but she lets go of his hand. She almost wants to peel her mask off, but she thinks better of it for now. "Take it or leave it. That's all I want. To create."
Stepping forwards just a few paces, Alexander stops to give them the space needed as he looks between Harper and Dwayne. For a moment he ponders the bit of dirt on the end of his sneaker then he looks up towards Dwayne. If there's anything to be conferred silently, it's difficult to read as the godling just sort of shrugs bonelessly then turns his attention back onto Harper.
"You turn this down and I'll totally key your bike." There, that should help.
Dwayne Taylor nods, "Contribute what you can. Don't turn down a chance to learn. Even if you don't want to go out and do this anymore. Never hurts to get better. At anything. Especially if you have someone worth keeping safe," he says.
He withdraws his armor, leaving him Dwayne Taylor once more. Her being stubborn doesn't bother him. He's stubborn, after all. He'd prefer pigheaded to someone who just rushes in without thought. And her creative abilities -would- be useful.
"I'll get a work area prepared for you, once I have our headquarters set up."
Rachel turns off the camera and passes it absent-mindedly to Alex as she stands up. She walks over to Harper, not quickly…but with purpose. She flips her sunglasses up on top of her head and holds her hands out, stopping outside the line of Harper's territorial bubble. "I want to help you, if you'll allow me, Bluebird," she says, not knowing Harper's actual name. "It won't hurt a bit, and you'll feel much better, if you'd like to let me try," she says, her voice soft and lilting. Her lavender eyes are vibrant in the dog park's night lighting, and she's staring Harper down, ignoring everything everyone else has said. It's like…she's picked up the scent of something and can't acknowledge anything else as she follows it. "Would you?" she asks, not making any motions to get closer until she's given permission.
Harper turns towards Alex, taking a step back as she peels away her mask. It was carefully folded and placed into her vest pocket, her fingers now wiggling to withdraw the glove that coated her hand. "You key my bike, I broke your leg." Could she? Probably! Would she? Nah!
Even though her tone was in shaky jest, she lets out a breath of air, then nods towards Dwayne without saying a word. Fair enough, she thought, now, looking around and not knowing what to do with herself. But she knew she had to get away asap.
As Rachel approaches though, she didn't narrow her eyes. The slow walk that she gave, her suggestive words gave her pause. Did she know that Harper suffered? How could she tell? There was a level of suspicion and curiousity, and slowly.. Harper nods. Hesitant, she lifts her hand, closing in that gap to place it within hers, then grasps tightly.
"What are you going to do?"
The blond youth steps to the side, looking sidelong to Raven and frowns briefly. A glance is shot across the way toward Dwayne as if he might have some insight into this but they both met her at roughly the same time. He looks at the way Raven steps forward, and that faintly melodic tone of voice when he says, "Something strange, most likely."
Then he turns back to Harper and says, "I… sort of trust her." As if that might help her with the recommendation. But he doesn't leap to interfere at the least, so on some level he must trust her.
Dwayne Taylor raises an eyebrow, "Somestimes sort of is the best you can do," he says. He reache sinto his pocket and draws out a slender Smartphone, passing it over to Harper, "I'll contact you through this with further details when arrangements are being made. I understand you might not always be available, but try to at least respond promptly?" he says.
He watches Rachel and Harper with a curious eye. Of all those assembled, it's Raven he has the least read on, not fully grasping her capabilities. He suspects even she might not fully understand them.
If Rachel is surprised by the sudden grasping of her hands that Harper does, her outward body language doesn't show it. She just smiles that crooked smile, and returns the grip, though not as firmly as the other young woman. "Don't worry. I'm just going to make you feel better," she reassures her, even as Alex calls out his somewhat reassuring vote of semi-approval. "Just close your eyes and breathe," she says lightly as she closes her eyes. The reason she asks Harper to close her eyes is more because Rachel's soul chakra gem is going to reveal itself at the top of her forehead as she accesses the psychic healing side of her powers. That can freak people out, sometimes. But, it's no big deal if Harper chooses not to close her eyes.
However, Rachel inhales slowly and evenly as she uses her abilities to draw all of Harpers psychic and physical pain into her body…and send it back out, coursing through Harper's body as healing energy. As a result, any cuts, scrapes, bruises, aches, pains… Anything like that that Harper is suffering from… dissipates until it's completely gone. Her PTSD pain, the psychic pain it causes, will ease rapidly, too, as Rachel draws it out and converts it into healing. The PTSD will still be there, but the sleepless night Harper was going to have to endure…not a problem, anymore. She should feel quite well and good, once Rachel releases her hands. "There we go," she says in a soothing manner and opens her eyes, her chakra gem fading from sight.
There was a moment where Harper would have pulled her hand away from Rachel, their reassuring words did not help at all. The smartphone that was given to her was pocketed, not questioning, just remaining quiet and offering a nod in agreement. Hell, it was quite a sweet deal that she had gotten herself into, may as well keep in touch. And jailbreak the phone later.
But to Rachel, once she was instructed to close her eyes, she does so. Squeezing them shut tight, then opening them again, turning her head to the side to settle to stare at Dwayne's shoes with a slight glare. It's not that she wasn't receptive, it was just that if she weren't actively looking, her thoughts would wander and race.
But then she feels it. That first tingle in her hand, which soon radiates to her skinned arms. Could she feel herself healing? She couldn't tell. All she felt was warmth and the good kind of heebie jeebies.
That's what Harper would call it, the good heebie jeebies, that feeling you get when you hear a sound that speaks to your soul, or a song that you've first heard that gives you goosebumps. It was then that she closes her eyes, for it radiates to her brain, and the feeling of tiny little fingers massage her scalp. "Oh.." She manages to murmur once it was all done, opening her eyes and looking towards Raven with a smile.
"Okay. I see you."
Which, was the highest compliment Harper could give in a moment like this.
Dwayne Taylor watches but doesn't comment. Whatever happened between the two women was between them. If it helped bring Bluebird further into the fold, all the better.
"Oh, we're working with the concept name of New Warriors. Hope that works for you. We'll be in touch."
Rachel smiles pretty genuinely at Harper when she utters that little 'oh,' the sound of defenses being dropped, realization blossoming, of relief taking hold where pain once was. This is something Rachel loves to do: make people feel better. She gives a nod of thanks when Harper gives her the seal of approval and turns to head back to the bench, where she'd left Alex with her camera. She takes the digital camera back, puts it in her messenger bag, and pulls the strap over her head. "It was really nice to meet you, Bluebird. Hope we can hang out sometime," she says with a little wave. "G'night, Dwayne, Alex," she says and rises into the air on her own power. She flies into the night, toward the East Village.