2014.01.18 - New Approaches

The path that the Red Hood had set up was promising to be tricky. Whether or not the ends justified the means, Arsenal was quickly finding it to be much easier than he'd expected to fall into doing right the harder way. 
Still, sometimes, it was easier to remember to say hello to the better things in life. 
Case in point, Koriand'r. 
What had been occasional visits was getting to be a more regular meeting of just meeting up at a coffee shop -somewhere- in the city, usually a different location every time to get a sampling of different brews and approaches. 
This time, it seemed, Koriand'r had picked a relatively nice upscale part of Gotham, a bright side to the normally seedier reputation of the city. 
"Hullo, beautiful," Roy greets, as he slides into the seat across the booth, blowing his hands and rubbing them after removing his gloves and scarfs. "Miss me?" 
 
More often then not, Kori acts as if she has an eversion to clothing, or anything overly claustrophobic to her general appeal. Considering the placement it was decided best (not by herself mind you) to wear something... 
 
A purple dress hangs loosely from her shoulders, a chain of silver and red hanging looped from the low collar to lace around her neck and keep the fabric aloft. Though that only seems to be for the dipping wrinkle of fabric at the torso, from the waist down it clings to her, held in place by silver lacing that is untied and left to keep glimpses of dusky skin beneath the x's and o's of unraveling - the hem of the skirt portion falling to mid thigh. 
 
No other show of layers for her despite the cold, pupilless green gaze watching as Roy begins to remove his layers, a cup of steaming mocha-flan Frappuccino in front of her, held in the coil of fingers, her reaction to his greeting an up tilt of her lips. "In one piece still. Always good to see."
"Let me tell you," comes a voice from behind them as a black-haired young man joins them at the booth. He smiles easily, and presumes to slide into the booth next to Roy. He doesn't seem to be much for layers either, but he does, at least, wear a heavy leather jacket, zipped up nearly to his throat and a pair of heavy boots that bear traces of mud and snow. "It's pretty damn hard keeping his head attached to his neck. I have no idea how he's managed to survive so long," he finishes, his smile and gaze kept up for Koriand'r before he turns them to Roy and they turn more mischievous. "Isn't that right, Roy?"
He stops and glances around for a moment, clearly looking for the waitress. "Don't mind me. Exchange your pleasantries... How's the coffee, here?" He doesn't wait for an answer as the subject of his search finally catches his eye and approaches. "A cup of coffee, if you wouldn't mind. Black." He looks to Roy, noticing Kori's cup already, "You want anything? I'm buying."
Letting his eyes roam down the dress appreciatively, Roy returns the gaze back to Kori's pupiless eyes, a wide grin crossing his face. "The dress looks -great- on you," he begins, before his attention shifts towards the black-haired man who'd just presumed to join -them-. 
At first, Roy looks at Kori, wondering if she'd known this man, but it didn't seem so, judging by the way the leather-clad man was talking. "Uh, do I know you?" he begins, missing on the chance to order a cup of coffee. 
Tilting his head, Roy eyes the jacket, and then the boots, as he tries and place just where he might have met the man before. 
 
The additional voice has Kori stiffening, only for a moment as the interjection, as well as addition, is unexpected. Turning her head only slightly to watch as the dark haired man eases into the present company and takes his seat by Roy, hooking her finger into the mugs handle and sliding it aside - clearing a path... 
 
Leaning forward she now settles those eyes between the two, the reflection returned to them showing as much but indiscernible as to who her focus remains on. The smile that has grown to Roy's compliment is slowly withering with his reaction to their new company, her head slowly shaking while elbows reach the tabletop and hands entwine fingers, making a perch for her chin. 
 
"He has plenty to stay alive for, and that head looks perfect in place, anywhere else and it just might be sad.."
"No," Jason replies to Roy, leaning comfortably back into his booth, "Not exactly. You know one of my faces." His arm is lazily propped up on the back of his booth and his right ankle rests on his left thigh while his palm is flat on the table when he looks to Kori, still smiling easily enough despite her own withering. "I know you though," he says to Roy, "I was a little surprised when I found out you were with Green Arrow for while, but it does make sense." Before either could react with anger or surprise -- as he's sure at least one is about to -- he continues on, "Don't worry, though. Your secret's safe with me, and to prove it, I'll tell you a secret of my own."
"My name, since I know you're interested, is Jason Todd. I knew where you were because this is my city. You may be saying to yourself, 'it's not your city, it's the Bat's,' and to that I say, congratulations -- you're at least moderately aware of your surroundings." He pauses for a moment, almost as if he might be about to second guess his next reveal, but afterwards, he presses onwards anyway. "However, this is my city because I used to be known as Robin -- the second, to be precise -- and now I'm known more fondly as the Red Hood." Again, he pauses, his voice lowered, "The only reason I tell you this, is because despite my training, experience, common sense, and survival instinct, I've come to the conclusion that you and I work together better as a team. The second reason, of course, is because I've been watching you blunder around for hours until you finally crashed your way through those doors, sat at this booth, and ensured I could speak to you without anyone else overhearing."
He then looks to Kori and offers pleasantly, "Except for you of course, but I'm not overly worried. You're obviously not a civilian."
"Oh definitely. Though I'm glad you -like- my head where it is, Kori..." Roy chimes in, placing his hands on his neck as he watches Jason. 
At first, there's blankness in his face, before a virtual 'Ah-HA!' expression crosses his face, and points. "LED-Head!" 
Tilting his head, Roy coughs. "Uh... this is Koriand'r, and damn right she's not a civvie. She's got... oh, you can handle this, Kori." Otherwise Roy could just brag on the woman, but the alien captain could well take care of herself. "This, well... we've been working together lately." The look on Roy's face might tell Kori something about -how- that work went. Harsher, but still a line Roy was comfortable with. 
"I said /might/ be sad.." Let's not let the compliments swell Roy's head too far. Kori casts him a sidelong glance, those glass-like eyes of emerald flickering for a moment in a show of their wandering before they settled back between the two, calming in only the sign of a finger hooking around the handle of her mug and dragging it back in front of her for a sip. 
 
"No, not even close. I don't even like the clothing." A look of distaste crosses her face, warping into a perked brow of curiosity at Roy's statement. "What kind of work?"
"You're going to have to choose between LED-Head and your trachea, Roy," Jason says perfectly calmly, as he watches the waitress approach with his cup of coffee, "Because you can't have both." He gives her a smile, before it fades away and he tips the cup to his lips, "Yes. The clothing's /my/ least favorite part, too." There's no hint of sarcasm in Jason's tone, but he's also not usually that easy to read. Still, he does seem interested in what exactly Koriand'r is or does. "You'd be the only one if you were. Honestly, I just don't care to find someone else who can barely hit the broad side of a barn with antique weaponry, otherwise I'd let him watch his own back."
Taking advantage of Jason's generosity long enough to tell the waitress that was delivering coffee his order of a grande latter of the best coffee they had, Roy slowly tilts his eyes downwards at -his- clothes, before raising an eyebrow at Koriand'r. 
Although Mia had once come up with a theory that Roy had the hat mainly to drive the women in his life crazy, Roy had to disagree. "C'mon. Chicks dig the hat." 
Grimacing, Roy looks back towards Jason. "Eh, you got Scarlet. She's got the weapons, you got the brains, I got the aim..." 
Motioning towards Jason, Roy comments, "He's been trying a different approach to cleaning up the town. It's... got possibilities." 
Kori's look wanes from curiosity to amused as the two banter and jab back and forth, like the typical standard show when two men greet each other. She did not have to get it, and quickly stopped even trying. 
 
"The hat obscures your vision... And your eyes." If there is more then one way to get it off his head... 
 
"What's the approach, we'll see if what I have even can hold a candle.." There's no defining tone to her voice, but that small smile does not fade.
Jason sips his coffee again and sets it down, turning an eye on Roy, "Fine. You're at least passably decent at shooting." As the conversation begins moving towards their latest night time activities, Jason's easy going personality slowly slides away and his face falls into such an oppressive frown it's very hard to imagine he'd ever smiled at all. One lesson he learned well from Bruce, at least. "We pass out candy," he replies stoically while leaning forward a bit at the table. "I told you who I was because you could do literally nothing with the information. I am not, however, fool enough to trust you with /this/ information." He then turns to Roy, "You're lucky enough I didn't toss you off the roof when you showed up with the Archer-ette. What makes you think I'm interested in bringing everyone and their sister in on this?"
"Oh, so you -do- like my eyes," Roy replies, flashing a wide grin at Koriand'r. Lips curl into a fond crooked half-grin as he winks at the Tamranean, before looking back towards Jason. 
At first, Roy looks annoyed. "Hey your timing -sucked-, calling right when Arrowette wanted to work on her arrows." 
Leaning back, Roy glances at Koriand'r, canting his head, before he looks towards Jason. "And I don't know about you, but I'm guessing you're interested in -some- people. Otherwise you wouldn't show up at -all-, right now, right here. Either you're here for some cockblocking, or you're here to speak to her. I'm guessing you're not -that- much of a bastard for the first, so..." He motions towards Koriand'r. "Go on." 
"I'm sure you do. If you work for those Santa's though I am sorry about your losses." Alright, so Jason gave a little, so could Kori. It is not like she always walked around 'shrouded' in that attire. This is actually a first Roy has even seen. 
 
The spoon resting on a napkin is now the focus of her attention, at least that of her index finger as she slides it across the tables surface and spins it so the cusped part is aiming between Roy and Jason. "You're the fool if you think I ever took you for one, Jason Todd - Red Hood, whatever you want to be. I never underestimate anyone, you can't if you want to live in the "Bat's City" or any planet for that matter." 
 
Almost a seemingly bored motion of rubbing her index finger against her middle before it barely touches that spoon, just enough to angle it and that fuscia spark of energy curves to shoot a small hole in the booths vinyl between their shoulders; the plastic melting around it slightly. 
 
Blinking she looks at Roy, almost an abashed look on her face at his statement before she settles into a smirk. "Better then the hat." 
 
Back to Jason. "I don't care if you know who I am. Koriand'r - Starfire. Princess of former Tamaran, captain of HMSS Starfire. yes I names it after myself, I'm /that/ pompous."
For a moment, Jason's stern gaze holds, locked on Roy as if he was working out the slowest and most painful way to kill him with a teaspoon. Then, all at once, he cracks a very small smirk. "See? You've got some brains, too," he then looks to Kori and explains, "In fact, we all have a little bit of everything, though we do certainly have our areas of expertise. The one thing we /don't/ have, however..." He trails off as she burns a hole in the vinyl, and yet, he seems completely unsurprised, and in fact, a little smug, "Is some muscle." He inclines his head to Kori with that, "That's where you'd come in."
"Several months ago I returned to Gotham with a very different idea of how to fix it than I did when I left. In fact, it's very simple, completely unoriginal, yet very obviously the most effective way to go about it. Instead of shipping the trash to prison, we just... get rid of it." He hooks a thumb towards Roy, his smirk returning, "As the genius over here said, I wouldn't have sat down here if I didn't have some idea of what you could do. You leave quite a trail. Simple for someone like me to follow, really. Or rather, simple for someone like me to connect the dots once I got a look at you."
The expensive grande coffee arrives. Picking it up, Roy blows on top of it just enough to let it cool before taking a swig, letting the rich flavor of roasted java caress his tongue as he glances towards Koriand'r. Almost, his lips curls up in an involuntary half-smirk as Jason comments on connecting the dots. "Yes, yes, it's not hard to match up someone who showed up on Earth, looking like that and then came back with a ship. Pal, -everyone- who get a look at her could probably connect the dots even without any numbers." 
As Jason comments on 'getting rid of the trash', Roy can't help but frown a bit. That part of things needed some working out, but... 
 
"So you need me to pick up the piles of scum and dump them in the nearest black hole?" Kori asks, almost looking offended, her nose wrinkling as she leans back, fingers sliding harshly through her hair to sweep the mass of red over one bare shoulder, speaking as if she was speaking to someone at their table. 
 
"You hear this K'ttn?" Staring with that mirror like gaze between Jason and Roy, any form of emotion lacking. "Yeah, I am not kidding, neither are they.." Pausing the placidity is broken by a smile. "I know right?!? Finalllyyy." Stopping Kori blinks and looks at Roy and Jason, picking her coffee back up and smiling over the rim. 
 
"Sounds good to me, as log as I do more then garbage duty." 
 
Roy, however is now subjected to her leaning over the table and she takes the hat off for him. "No one bumps him off a roof unless its me though.. We'll see about you, Red Hood." She says his name with emphasis, though all of them knew, trust came with trials.
"Unlike Roy," Jason says, sliding out of the booth without his coffee, "It takes more than a tumble off a roof to slow me down." He digs into an inner pocket and pulls out a wallet and, surprise surprise, a disposable cell. The cell goes to Kori while he pulls out a fifty and sets it on the table. Too much? Probably, but Jason's never been one too care overly much about money. Especially when he has so much of it. "Don't worry. I'm sure we'll find a better use for you than that. In fact, I already have one in mind. You'll need a dress though. A fancy one." He looks to Roy, pointing, "And you'll need a suit. An expensive one." He turns to leave, but stops, remembering, "I'll call you when I have everything set up. Hope you know how to gamble." With that, he wanders off, heading back out into the city.
"Yeah, it helps when you're wearing a big red rubber balloon," Roy grumbles at Jason. 
Falling silent as Jason turns away, Roy shifts his gaze towards Koriand'r, trying to get a read on what she was thinking about all this. That she seemed pleased... well, it was easy enough to decipher just what she thought of Jason's solutions. And Roy had to admit, there -were- some things that the law couldn't touch that might need this... solution. And Roy was always a little looser with details like that... a 
As Jason makes his exit, Roy blinks. "Gambling...?" 
This is followed by a grimace at Koriand'r as she plays with his hat. "Oh I get it, the 'nobody kills him but me' approach, Kori." 
Stretching, Roy considers. "And if you're going to keep taking clothes off me, at least buy me dinner first. Or a new tuxedo." 
Kori's gaze follows Jason, the obvious intrigue there, perhaps something more, but it is hard to tell as the mug of coffee is brought to her lips to be drained. The cell phone hits the table with a clatter and a scatter of utensils. She didn't catch it for a reason, her eyes fall on it for inspection before she touches it. "You better text me with places for dresses..." Kori was not kidding when she said she hated civvie clothes, she owns -none-. 
 
Cut off by Roy's statement her nose wrinkles as her eyes leave the trailing departure of Jason to return to him. "At this rate all I owe you is a fedora." 
 
Pausing Kori smirks, sliding from the booth - one armor booted foot after the other. "Is that /your/ version of gambling, Roy?" 
 
Brows furrow in thought as Jason disappears from sight, playful en masque, but it does not mean she is naïve..
"Only for women who can kill me without breathing hard," Roy returns, as he drinks his coffee. "Guess today's coffee date came with a proposal." There's a pause as he watches the door close behind Jason, and then Roy arches his eyebrows, lips curled up in that crooked half-grin again. "Tell you what... help me find a tuxedo, and I'll help you out of your dress... er, out with your dress." 
Category:Log