Summary:Touching base with an unknown agent. Log Info:Storyteller: None |
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It's been a week and some since Alexander had returned. A week and several days since he had arrived back upon the storied island with its great city. A week and several days since he had picked up the threads of his life and began to weave them together into something resembling the thread of his fate.
Classes were easy to pick back up, considering the blond youth rarely signed up for anything challenging. His friends were pleased to see him so that was kind. But other aspects he had not moved toward. Even though by all rights, right now, tonight, he should.
He was crouched upon the edge of a building in his black armored suit with the bandit mask covering part of his features, near NYU and its brightly lit buildings though this time of night there were no students walking its grounds. It was here that he had reengaged his comms and the OracleApp that fed his intel back to Batgirl, to let the others know he was available as an asset. But… there was no return ping.
Now and again he would look over his shoulder, as if expecting to see someone, or for someone to be creeping up behind on that rooftop.
Nothing.
After an hour. Two. He had pulled down the small mask and frowned for a time, looking at the faint dusting of snow on the lip of the building, watching the flakes catch flight and slip back into the air with the brush of the wind. Then he murmured to himself lightly, "What… am I doing with my life?"
"Can't answer that, I'm afraid." Just when you stop looking, that's when the bats appear. It's like a superpower, except mostly just creepy.
Coming up behind Alex is a form shrouded in dark body armor, a hood and a cape hiding even the details of that. A pair of bright golden eyes glow out from behind the cape, but a mask covers the lower part of her face. Her voice carries a slight rasping purr, a hint of something altered.
"But right now it looks like you're standing watch. Looking for anything particular?" she asks, coming closer to peek over the edge of the building herself.
There's a jolt of tension in the way he perches there. Just a tightening of shoulders and a slight turn, shifting of weight to one foot. His manner is different than she saw before, when he was out and about at the bar chatting away amiably. Perhaps it's the uniform or the setting. Perhaps a difference in mood or focus. But whatever it is, he is not so easy-going as she saw the other day.
Gaining his feet he looks across the way at her. No modulation to his voice, and with the mask down she can see it's him assuredly. He at the least has the decency to draw it back up into place as he answers, "Not." A beat, a deception? "Not exactly." Another pause then, "Not really."
Then he shifts topics and tries to go on the offensive as his blue eyes narrow. "Who're you?" His stance shifts slightly, turning his hips just so. Not taking stance, more just changing to a more open way of standing. With more options should she shift toward the violent.
"Doing an excellent job of being nobody, apparently," Helena replies ruefully, crouching at the edge of the roof. She doesn't look like she's going to start a fight. But then again, the bats are pretty sneaky.
"Blackbird," she answers then, offering out one gauntleted hand. "I'm a friend of Batgirl's. Teammate, I guess you could say?"
"Yeah?" Alexander says as he accepts her hand and gives it a small shake before he'll edge over a little to give her room, then settles into a crouch back where he was. No reason for his looking out over this particular view. It's just a cross line over the campus that covers some of the facilities and the nearby apartment buildings. No hint of crime nor kerfluffle. The traffic is pretty quiet as well.
"Did she send you here or just a sort of ping thing?" He asks, resting his forearms on his knees and looking out. A glance at his gear and she'll likely see he has some equipment. Bat issue, probably from Babs. The uniform is similar to theirs but not one of their design. Nor is the mask. But there is a small emblem of a pink kitty face on his right shoulder, which might explain the codename for him on the app.
"No, I was mostly curious," Blackbird shrugs. "I usually end up being the welcoming committee, so when I saw a name I wasn't familiar with…" She trais off, looking over to catch sight of that emblem on his shoulder and arching a brow in amusement. "Gotta say, not quite what I was expecting."
"I'm guessing you don't actually go by 'Kitty'?" she asks, settling in comfortably and keeping an eye on the streets below.
There's a small exhalation that almost might be a laugh if he had given it a little more life. But he half-smiles and looks away to the side, then back toward her. "Ehn it's a long…" She can tell he's about to dismiss it, to not give the story. But then it's not like something else is demanding attention. His brow knits and she can almost observe down to the fraction of a second when he just decides to tell.
"Well," He starts, then continues as he smirks as he looks away. "When I first met Orphan I was wearing a Hello Kitty t-shirt thing. So that was sorta what she started 'calling' me. Kinda."
He uncurls a hand toward his chest. "Didn't think it'd become, like, a thing."
"This is definitely a factor in why having a name is important," Blackbird chuckles, the mask across her features rising at her cheeks in a hint of the grin beneath them.
"Well, I didn't just come to hang out," she admits. "There've been things going on on the island. I wanted to give you a heads up, give you a chance to avoid it if you wanted to."
"Yeaaah." Alexander says as he pushes himself to his feet and looks in the general direction of Staten Island. He's ridden on the train across town and across the bridge to get there many times. "I've been feeling a little guilty about not doing my thing out there but…" He lifts a hand to the back of his neck and looks thoughtful.
His mask furrows a little as she can likely see the hints of him chewing on the inside of his cheek thoughtfully. "If you need help. I can help." The blond youth pushes a gauntlet through his hair and then adds, "I'm just trying to figure out a bunch of things and I'm not like you guys." The Bats.
"I don't feel that… you know, need. That urgency. I was helping before for sorta sefish reasons I think."
"Before what?" Blackbird asks, quirking a brow curiously. It sounds like there might be more questions too, but that's the one she decided to go with. First, at least. Leaving information on the table isn't really the way the bats roll either.
She seems comfortabe there, talking as if they've known each other for some time.
"Ah man," Alexander looks over at her as he tilts his head to the side, "If I'm talking to you, am I talking to the other Bat people too? I know there's all sorts of tech cross checks, monitoring, support stuff. Like I should be having this talk with Batgirl." And to be fair, he should.
That said, however, he drops back down onto the edge of the rooftop, though now his legs are dangling over the edge and he's leaning to the side, almost nonchalant in his manner. Yet there's tension in him, the shoulders, the arms, the way his eyes narrow and crinkle in the corners now and again.
"I still need to help with the fae, since I have been asked to aid you by Fenris and my father and he are on good terms." He takes a breath, "But the… general crime-fighting." He looks away, one eye scrunching up, then he looks back. "I sort of was doing it to try and help Orphan. Make sure she didn't get hurt." And spend time with her. Though he does not mention that.
"I mean, you can be?" Blackbird shrugs, not pressing the issue. "They're not actively listening in, if that's what you mean. But I can pass things along if you need too."
She tilts her head slightly, listening to the words that are said along with the ones that aren't. "I don't think making sure someone doesn't get hurt is selfish really," she points out after. "Also, wow. Of all the people who don't need saved from getting hurt, I'm pretty sure she's at the top of the list."
"Ehn," Updating facebook status: "It's complicated." But he shakes his head and waves off the offer of passing along a message. "But nah, I'll talk to Batgirl some point soon. Though actually…"
He stops while rubbing the back of his neck thoughtfully, turning his blue eyes back to her. "You can tell her that I'm available to help against the Fae situation, and the Gorgon." A pause then he adds, "But that's it I figure."
That said he draws one leg up against his chest and looks thoughtful for a time, content to be quiet for a bit. Until finally adding, "But you're right, not exactly like I'm needed in that capacity." His lip twitches a little.
Blackbird slides a sidelong glance in his direction at the last. "It's not the only capacity that matters, you know," she points out a little more gently. "I mean, especially for her. She's had a lot of people showing her how to hurt in her life. Seems like someone who's not as focused on that could be a…nice thing. Little tricky to nagivate though, all things considered."
She lets the rest sink in for a moment, then looks back. "Hey, anything you know about the fae would be useful," she adds. "They're…definitely a complicated issue."
When Blackbird tells him, advises him about Cassandra he looks at her and she can almost see him working his way through various trains of thought. No pokerface his, as his eyebrows lift a bit at points and some inner monologue clearly is being considered. Though it's not like he's ignoring her as he answers, again, with… "It's complicated."
"But." He holds up a fingertip, "I think we had fun." So there's that.
Then it's back to the fae and he nods in agreement, "I'm fairly knowledgeable about some of their factions as my family has had connections with them. But I think my presence might be in some ways a hindrance or a danger as they keep trying to put their efforts into swaying me to their points of view. I mean, doubt I'd come around to their desire to, you know, blow up the world. Since that's where I keep all my stuff."
That last amuses him a little as he looks away, then back. "But my presence might complicate things. Though I do plan to pursue a few leads on my own."
"Hey, if everyone involved is having a good time, it's none of my business," Blackbird shakes her head, raising her hands to forestall any further details. She's more than willing to move on to talking about the fae. "Any information would be helpful," she nods. "Thing is, once you start getting into the magic stuff…"
She trails off, shaking her head. "It's definitely not our strong point. We get into fights with these things and we hardly even know what can put a dent in them."
"I don't mean like /that/." Alexander replies quickly to her, even his features coloring a bit with that tinge of embarrassment. He takes a deep breatha and grumbles, but then when she brings up the fae he nods to focus on them.
"Yeah, it helps to have a magical can opener to deal with them." Like an artifact that one can summon to hand. Though he doesn't give a magical demonstration. "So if you guys need a hand in that regard then I can be around."
He rests his forearms on his knee and looks across the way thoughtfully, gaze distancing before he tilts his head back toward her. "Just I do feel a bit out of place since you all have strong reasons to be doing all of this. And I sorta…don't?"
"Strong reasons," Blackbird laughs, shaking her head. "Some of us, maybe. Others…" She trails off, then straightens up to stand. "Whatever reason you have to do the right thing, as long as you're doing it, is what matters. You don't have to have some deep-seated trauma to be good at this. Promise."
Stepping back from the edge, she starts back in the direction she came. "We'll be in touch on the faeries front," she calls over, before she disappears into the night.