I went out into the night

[controlledvariable]

Who: Stephanie Brown. Anyone who wants to meet Batgirl (Open).
What: Patrol.
Where: Starting in Mog Hill and heading towards the Spatters, passing through Bonetown and other neighborhoods.
When: Misdi/Coardi. Any time between sunset and sunrise.
Notes: Characters can run into her if they're on the rooftops as well, or if they're down on street level getting into, or up to, trouble. Rather than setting up a thread for each neighborhood, just LMK which area you're in.
Warnings: Violence/death/gore in the thread with Snape.

She had planned to wait longer until breaking out the Batgirl suit, not wanting it to be completely obvious that 'Batgirl' and 'Steph' were one and the same, but recent events have made her realize patrolling is more important than secret identities right now. And it's not like it matters if people know, they can't exactly go after her family or anything.

Even so, she was sticking to the rooftops, her aim for the night mainly reconnaissance. She's heading to the Spatters purely because the pamphlet warned against it, but she'll be making stops along the way to check things out. The city is big, and considering the distance she needs to travel, she expects to spend most of the night out. Having her grapple gun makes things easier; swinging across rooftops is quicker than running across them and she might get a lift from the El train by riding on top. She briefly wishes she had her car here, before reminding herself that she wouldn't get to see as much driving through streets as she does watching from above.

Comments

[controlledvariable]

"Modesty is overrated."

"Yeah, I have people from my world here too. It wasn't much of a secret when I started out, but it sort of ended up having to be, mostly to keep my mom safe." Stephanie Brown isn't anyone important, and Tim used to call her by name when they were in costume. She nods solemnly at Kate's comment, "It really does. I love the adrenalin rush, and I'm glad I can protect people, but it's not always easy."

[23rd]

"If you are still alive, then you are not idiots." Yes, thank you for that, Laura, so helpful and observant.

... because she knows a couple idiots and they're only alive due to luck, superhuman powers, or stubbornness. (She's thinking more Rockslide than Hellion, but...)

[studious_snake]

"When do you sleep?" If she was up like this at night, up at work during the day...any and all spare time almost had to be spent sleeping, and even then she likely never got to do anything that wasn't work of some kind or another.

[controlledvariable]

That makes Steph smile, a little wryly, "Well, it's been close once or twice, but we've managed to avoid any fatal injuries."

Except for Bruce. Sort of. She's not sure if getting sent back in time counts as dying.

[controlledvariable]

"Uh... I get a few hours here and there." Sometimes. When she doesn't end up fighting the Scarecrow until 7am and has to crawl into bed only to be woken up twenty minutes later. "I drink a lot of coffee."

[studious_snake]

"I can imagine. When I'm not at work I actually spend most of my time relaxing."

[controlledvariable]

"I do that sometimes!" Not as much as she'd like, but she'll get indignant about it anyway, "I give myself nights off from the whole Batgirl business."

[studious_snake]

"I have the feeling I do it more. I mean, I like to relax, digest my food, stuff like that, on pretty much a daily basis instead of a 'sometimes' basis."

[controlledvariable]

Steph's eyes narrow slightly, because most people don't ever say 'digest my food' and she did just see Jay turn into a snake, but she says calmly, "I forget what that's like."

[studious_snake]

Jay noticed the eyes narrowing, but had to think about it before he slowly figured out what he'd said. Being raised by other nagas made the concept of swallowing one's food whole then coiling up in a corner while you digested it seem like a normal thing, a casual activity that pretty much was self explanatory.

Of course, humans didn't coil, either.

"You should try it sometime. In fact, I think I'm going to head back to my apartment and do that now. Did I mention I got an apartment finally, by the way?"

[controlledvariable]

"Congratulations on getting an apartment. You can go home and practice how to lie." Surprisingly, it's not said with any meanness, more like gentle teasing. She doesn't actually begrudge Jay for keeping secrets. It wouldn't be fair, considering the secrets that she's keeping.

[studious_snake]

"What?" He suddenly stopped and turned to look at her.

It was a good thing her tone was just teasing or he'd have been more concerned, but he was still a bit surprised. He didn't think it was really that obvious that he was lying about being human, was it? Then again, in the past no one would have questioned it because most of the people who believed nagas were real were nagas themselves in his world, where here it was a possibility people considered. Back home, statements that were a little off were just classified as general weirdness.

[controlledvariable]

"Just be careful." It's something between advice and a warning. Steph might not be at the same level of detective skills as, say, Batman, but things were starting to add up and she definitely had suspicions that Jay was lying when he said he'd never turned into a snake before. And while she isn't going to jump straight to the conclusion that it makes him evil, she will keep an eye on him to make sure he isn't planning to hurt anyone.

[studious_snake]

"Right. Well I'll just go back to my apartment. Bye."

And with that, he turned and hurried off. He'd be taking a train back to Flyside, where his new apartment was, and once he got there, he'd probably get something to eat and take a nap, try to calm down after this unsettling encounter. On the bright side, if she wasn't directly accusing him of being a snake or a naga, and if she was telling him to be careful, it didn't seem likely that she was planning on telling anyone about this. Still, he'd planned to keep this secret.

[controlledvariable]

Steph sighs, still amused, and climbs back up to the rooftops. She still has a lot of the night left and plans to fill it with patrolling. She could follow Jay, to check out where he lives and make sure he's not getting up to any trouble, but she doesn't see the point in it. He seems harmless enough, so she's happy to let him go.

[joiedeviolet]

"Which is why I don't bother with it." The boys call Kate by name while in costume sometimes, but the benefit of her first name being so common is that she can be any of the millions of Kates in New York.

Before answering to Steph's statement, Kate goes quiet for a long while, reminiscing about the moment she decided to take up the bow and arrow and this non-monetary paying job. "Somebody has to help those who can't help themselves. Why not us?" She used to be one of them; not anymore. She swore to herself to never be that scared and helpless again.

[controlledvariable]

Steph waits for Kate to speak, letting her think over whatever she needs to. She smiles faintly at the reply and nods, "That's pretty much how I feel about it. I'm not like a lot of the other vigilantes in my world, I only handle the little stuff, but I think there are people that need to do that."

Although she has actually been handling more big stuff lately, but none of the saving-the-world business that Tim, Bruce, etc get up to.

[goodsoldier]

Bonetown is Jason's sometimes haunt; he lives there but tries not to do much in the area, because he knows that he'll clash with the local criminal element. Normally, that's not a concern. A bonus, really. But the Broad Arrow is extensively integrated with many levels of Baedal society. It's objective fact that he can't take them on — not now, probably not ever, not in the way he would like. He needs to be much more established himself, and that's what he's working on right now, as difficult as it is.

Helena is based in Bonetown too, and though it's the purple he sees just for a second in the slightly less dark portion of a rooftop, he already knows it can't be her. He waits a beat and a half before moving to follow, keeping back out of wary instinct that runs marrow deep.

[23rd]

"That is common." The coming close thing, she means. God only knows how many times her team's been on the brink of death. (How many times she's actually died, speaking of what counts -- Belasco is kind of an asshole, news at 11.)

[controlledvariable]

"Yeah, it's amazing how that happens when you frequently throw yourself at people who are twice as skilled and like three times bigger than you are." Steph's smile is wry, her tone a little self-deprecating. Maybe one day she'll learn to only pick battles she can win, but that's unlikely.

[joiedeviolet]

"We started with the little stuff too. Muggers, purse snatchers, bank robbers. Then we got sucked into the bigger things." Civil Wars, alien invasions, and the list goes on and on.

Kate crumples the now empty wrapper in her hand and sticks it into her pants pocket, making a mental note to find a trashcan later. "Why'd you start?"

[controlledvariable]

"I think that tends to happen when you join a team," the Teen Titans always have to deal with a lot bigger things that Steph is used to. It's part of why she hasn't tried to join one.

"My dad was a supervillain," It's a simple explanation, and she figures Kate will be able to guess the rest, "What about you?"

[joiedeviolet]

Kate smirks and looks down at her hands before looking back at Steph. "Remember when I mentioned that story about my sister's wedding? Then."

After that night, the rest is downhill history.

[controlledvariable]

"That's some story," Steph is both amused and impressed, "But you knew how to fight before that."

It's not really a question; most people can't just pick up a throwing star and use it effectively unless they've had some sort of training.

[joiedeviolet]

"I did." She isn't about to tell Steph about that day in the park. Nobody here knows about it. Kate had told Billy about it long ago in that other place, but here, she's sure he either forgot or just doesn't know. It'll stay that way for a while longer, until she is good and ready to bring it up.

Kate falls quiet again, fiddling with the wrapper in her pocket so it's the only noise piercing the now quiet night. "We should get going." If they're going to patrol together.