2013.10.20 - Pretty Shaken Up

Raven has had a rough few days. Aside from being assaulted in random cafes, she's also faced down a God. Or, well, a man claiming to be one. Black Adam's rampage had been truly terrifying, and the fact that she'd risked death so soon after arriving here has not done an awful lot to help her confidence. Her plan remains unchanged; find a team of these Super Heroes to join but... she's spent the past two days in deep meditation, calming herself and recovering. 
Which is where we find her now. Raven's room is fit for royalty... because it is, in fact, the room of Donna Troy, and not her own. She's scarcely touched a thing, though. Right now, her legs are folded up underneath her, and she hovers above her bed (the bedclothes meticulously made beneath her. The girl has mostly recovered from the shock... but she's still uncertain where to go or what to do next. 
Yet something tells her, if she stays like this long enough, the world will throw her a clue...
An important decision stopped Amy from pursuing the weird feeling that plagued her a few days ago. The girl had invited her to the Themysciran Embassy. That's Amazons. Actual Amazons. She's not surprised or really intimidated, but the question is still Amy Winston, or Princess Amethyst?
Both had their upsides. Amethyst has a tiara and people seem to have very entrenched attitudes about tiaras, usually ones that benefited her. However, prudence wins out. The girl's word would likely be the thing to get her inside the doors, and she'd be expecting a teen in a leather jacket and too much eyeliner.
A guard tailed her all the way to the girl's room. Well, the guard was showing her the way, which, in Amy's experience, is code for prepared to bust you up if you step out of line. At least the Amazon decided to stay at the end of the hall when they got there, to loom and glare from afar. Amy shoots her one last suffering glance before knocking on the door.
It is a very loud knock. No manners, really.
Raven hasn't exactly made the best impression on the Amazons, it must be said. She's creepy, private, and doesn't like to talk about herself or what her intentions are. Really, its the exact same reason that Amy had taken so badly to her. She did heal Donna, though, and that gets her a certain amount of trust, if not friendship. Word about what exactly happened with Black Adam has been spreading slowly, too. 
When the knock at the door comes, Raven's brow twitches. Fine then. Perhaps she is being thrown out of this place; it wouldn't surprise her. Amazonian social customs are all a lot more physical than the ones she's used to, too. She's frankly surprised there's still a door. 
When she opens it, the girl's expression is decidedly cool. Her eyes half-lidded, she looks Amy up and down slowly, and her lips press together before she says. 
"Oh. Its you." A pause. "I said they have a phone for a reason, you know." 
Standing right there in the doorway, not moving to let Amy in... and still wearing that hooded cloak of hers. Even here! Does she only have one outfit or something?!
Amy is a spear forged during cold mornings in the cafeteria, honed to thrust deep into the heart of the student body. She knows this game better than anything else. Her eyes stay locked on Raven's when she gives her the once over, head slightly tilted to the side.
"I forgot my phone in my other cape," Amy says. "Should I come back when you've composed yourself? You look pretty shaken up."
That deadpan expression of Raven's doesn't falter in the least at that, instead, she just says, dry as ever. "Ha, ha." 
The grey-skinned girl floats backwards, and settles on the edge of her bed at a lazy pace. At least the hood of her cape is down, which means she doesn't look quite so much like she's got something to hide ... or like an assassin waiting for the right moment to strike. 
"So." She says, "This is where I'm staying for the moment. Please don't break anything. None of it is mine."
Amy saunters into the room, nonchalantly looking left and right to survey her surroundings. Cautious comes before cool. "Really?" she grins, eyes wide, raising her hands and wiggling her fingers. "'cause I was just thinking, this place screams hotel party."
She stops in the middle of the room, giving Raven more than enough room for comfort. Something tells her the girl has a big personal space bubble. Her affected expression is quickly replaced with composed neutrality. Hands back in jacket pockets, because that's why you wear big jackets.
"I don't have all day, so I'm going to say a bunch of really weird stuff all at once, cool? You've got capital-C-chaos in you. You're magical, so I'm guessing you know what that means. This really bothers me. I don't know Amazons, but I'm guessing they'd have gone crazy on you if you were the second coming of that kid from The Omen or whatever."
Amy crosses her arms, looking out the conveniently placed window on the other side of the room and not at Raven. "I was having a bad day and overreacted. I'm sorry. I'm kinda fumbling around with a lot of things and making a lot of mistakes lately." She looks sidelong at Raven, head still turned. "That's it. Want me to leave, or do you have something to say?"
Raven listens. Its one of her top skills, really. Now that they are alone, and she has nothing else to focus on, the fact that she's paying very close attention to everything Amy says, every movement she makes, probably becomes a lot more obvious. The only reaction she has at all is a mild, irritated sigh when Amy raises her hands and wiggles her fingers. She doesn't even look like she's going to say a word, right up until Amy straight up asks her if she'd like to say something. Then, she nods her head. 
"Honestly, I was surprised they trusted me so quickly." She says. "I wouldn't have. They're great warriors, but... kind of naive." There's a moments pause as she considers how to say what she's going to say next, and then she just plunges into it. 
"I don't blame you for how you reacted." She says, "Everyone makes mistakes. Nobody was hurt. Its fine." She nods at a chair, set up in front of a dresser which, surprise surprise, doesn't look like it has been touched in days. "If you want to talk, sit down. There's water in the drinks cabinet, too." If she goes to open it up, she'll probably find there's all sorts of things in the drinks cabinet - but water is the only thing in there Raven has bothered to confirm.
It's very easy to ignore attentive body language when you're manifesting the thickest social armor you can. Amy is still a perceptive girl despite her tactics; Raven gives her a decidedly interested impression. People who look at you like that are few and far between. Mephisto looked at her like that.
She smiles lopsidedly. "Amazons, naïve? Do they have that 'what are Earth customs, mortal' thing going?" The teen walks to the chair when bidden, tilting it and spinning on one leg to turn it around before sitting. "No water, I'm fine."
Amy leans forward, elbows on her knees. It's her turn to look deep into Raven's soul, minus the actual looking into her soul, as far as can be told. "So, do you want to tell me what your deal is, or should I win you over by telling you what my deal is?"
Raven actually allows herself a small smile at the joke about the Amazons, if only because... well, she's the one who doesn't know a heck of a lot about 'Earth Customs', and at least part of what she has picked up, she's picked up at mealtimes here in the embassy. She does seem to have a knack for it, though. She could probably already pass for 'normal enough teen' better than some of the Embassy staff. You know. Aside from being grey.
"You've already won me over." She says, "I'm ... a good judge of character. You're not a bad person. You're just, impulsive." There's a slight shrug of her shoulders. "There's worse things to be." 
And she looks Amy right in the eyes as she continues. "As for me, I don't have a deal. I've got powers. I want to use them to help people. That's it." Which is, of course, a flat-out lie, really. But maybe if she says it in that flat 'every word is an effort' voice, it'll sound convincing.
Amy purses her lips. Whatever vexes her apparently continues to do so, because she furthermore leans back in her chair and crosses her arms, brow knitted. The gothiest staring contest resumes and Amy is totally refreshed for round two.
"I don't know if I'm a good judge of character," she says, initially tentative but committing to the words as she continues, "but I'm pretty sure that's not 'it.' Whatever. I've got my share of dumb secrets, too."
The teen reaches into her jacket pockets, fumbles for a moment, then withdraws an irregularly shaped business card. "Look, I'm the apprentice of the Sorcerer Supreme. You said you weren't from around here, but that guy's pretty universal. If you want some magical help or you just don't know what to do, give us a call, alright?"
She rolls her eyes. "Or just show up. It'd be fair."
In the world of name-dropping, there's not many names that carry more weight than the Amazons... but the Sorcerer Supreme is one of them. In terms of provoking a reaction out of Raven, Amy has hit two fairly major ways since she's met the girl. The first, of course, was to touch her. 
And now Raven's eyebrow quirks upwards. She reaches out, and takes the card, looking down at it, and then back to Amy. "... Wait." 
She closes her eyes, and has to really work to find her center. Its, a lot more difficult to remain composed in this situation than she thought it would be, but it would be stupid to fail to take an opportunity like this, and if the Sorcerer Supreme has seen fit to trust this girl, then what right does Raven have to do anything else? 
"My problems are ... big. The real reason I'm here is to find people who can help me deal with them, if they turn up. I'm from Azarath. Its a dimension of wise pacifists. I decided, if trouble was going to follow me, I should be somewhere there are other people who can help me deal with it. Does that make more sense?"
Amy rises from her chair, crossing to the bed to offer Raven the card. After that, she begins walking toward the door.
The card has no name. It is printed with a stylized symbol, a circle and swooping lines. A symbol of the Vishanti.
At Raven's call, Amy stops and turns halfway back. She remains silent as the cloaked girl speaks, a jean and leather monument to misleading covers. Her response to the revelation of Azarath: same warm smile. "Yeah. A lot more."
She turns fully, moving closer to the bed but remaining on her feet. "When I first came back to Earth," she does not pause to explain herself, "I had to do the same thing. I found out a lot of people were in the same place as me, but they didn't know who to ask, or just couldn't do it."
Her expression softens. She briefly looks away, eyes unfocusing on some far-off thought, but that is just a moment. "I've got big problems, too. A lot of people do. If you want, I'll help you, and you can help me. All even. No charity. Just whatever help you need."
Amy looks away again, but this time it's in feigned annoyance. "Oh, yeah, also saving the world, protecting innocent people, learning that friendship is the real superpower, all that junk."
The card is secreted away some place about Raven's person. Who knows where she keeps things in that cloak of hers. Maybe it has pockets.
The mysteries of Raven's clothing aside, there's actually a smirk on the grey-skinned girl's lips at the little joke. Her eyes open again, and she stands so she can look Amy in the eye. 
"I don't have a card." She says, "But alright. If you need my help, I'll be there." And hey, wouldn't you know, now that she's opened up a bit, she doesn't sound so dreadfully *bored*. There's steel in her voice, if anything. Raven might exude uncomfortable waves of evil, but she takes her word very seriously indeed. She's got nothing else she can use to prove to people that the evil aura is something they should overlook!
Amy's smile turns slight and sly. "Oh, you kinda got a spunky side, don't you? That's good." She brushes her hair back over her jacket collar, then extends a hand to the other woman now that they're both standing.
"My name's Amy, by the way. Don't know if you caught it at the diner. I'm also called Princess Amethyst." She lowers her eyes, exhaling. "Yeah, yeah. All the purple makes sense now, I know."
The princess nods toward the door. "I would take you to see the doc--uh, I mean, the Sorcerer Supreme--but to be honest, we're going to be doing some seriously dangerous stuff tonight. I don't think it's fair to ask you to help with something that could get you killed before you even make sure we can help you with your problem."
"Raven." The half-demon reintroduces herself in turn, as she looks at that hand. She lets it linger just a little more than is comfortable before she swallows her pride, and takes the offered hand, redoubling her efforts *not* to invade Amy's emotional space as she does. The girl does not have a very strong handshake. "Just, Raven." And she is so quick to let that hand drop! 
"It looks good on you." She comments, before focusing on the more, well, serious issues at hand. Her expression becomes a lot more serious. Maybe even irritated, brow furrowing, jaw clenching. 
"If you think I can help, I'll come." She says, "My problem isn't immediate. Lets deal with the issues as they emerge, shall we?"
Amy doesn't mention handshake weirdness. She doesn't like shaking hands, either. In Gemworld, they clasp hands. A lot. Medieval style, maybe. It kind of stuck.
She frowns, looking the newly named Raven over with open skepticism. Finally, after puffing up her cheeks and letting it out with a thoughtful 'huhhh', the princess shrugs. "Yeah, alright, let's go."
At the door, Amy stops with her hand on the handle to glance over her shoulder. "Have you ever heard of this huge jerk named Eclipso? Well, basically..."
Category:Log