1099/A Mutual W.T.F

A Mutual W.T.F
Date of Scene:	11 April 2020
Location:	Staten Island
Synopsis:	Nightwing seeks out Colette to berate her, and Colette berates right back. Seeing eye to eye is apparently not on the agenda.
Cast of Characters:	Colette O'Connail, Dick Grayson

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Colette O'Connail has posed:
    Arden Heights is quite a nice neighborhood, though the apartment Colette is heading towards is distinctly on the small side. It's not where she regularly lives - she has an apartment in Metropolis - but it's a lot handier for Happy Harbor. A part time TA gig would far from justify renting even a small apartment here, but then the car Colette drives back from the school is hardly a typical TA's car. It wouldn't have been hard for Nightwing to figure out where the money is coming from though - Colette O'Connail's family owns O'Connail Construction, a major construction firm in the area. It's a long way from Wayne levels of wealth, but it's another world from most people.

    The smart black Audi hybrid pulls into the driveway of a small shared-occupancy house on a road full of pleasant if somewhat dull housing. It's still fairly early in the evening, but the majority of commuters are home already and the street is pretty quiet. Colette stops the car in front of one of a pair of garages that don't have the benefit of automatic doors, and gets out, standing by the door and shuffling through her purse to locate the key to the garage door.

Dick Grayson has posed:
Arden Heights is not the type of neighborhood that one would expect one of Gotham's heroes. Or vigiliantes, depending on who you ask. Having done the research and put in the work from the first moment it was mentioned to him. It didn't take much to bring up the information he needed. No more than he needed to jimmy the lock on the garage, and leave it unlocked for Colette to discover when she gets to it with her key.

But other than the already unlocked garage, nothing. No accosting, no jumpscare. Just the woman in the driveway, in front of her Audi and her plain housing.

Colette O'Connail has posed:
    Once she's located her key, it takes Colette only a second to notice the lock has been forced. She takes a half step backwards, and scans the street as she puts her key back in her purse. She looks over to the pair of front doors of the house, and glances at the windows too, checking for signs of forced entry anywhere else.

    With nothing else obvious, she returns to her car and puts her purse inside it before closing the door again, then walks over to the garage door again. She stairs at it for a few moments, then with a sudden yank, she pulls the garage door open.

Dick Grayson has posed:
No other signs of forced entry. Colette completes her checks, finding nothing else. And that leaves her the car and the door. After she finishes her preparations, and yanks the door open, it opens... to her garage. No gunmen, no ambush waiting to happen. It's quiet and calm -- maybe she just forgot to lock the door to the garage this morning?

Except for that figure that happens to be sitting on the workbench, peeling an apple taking a bite from it. "They say when your nose itches, it means that someone's been talking about you." the masked vigilante says, in the familiar black and blues of Nightwing.

"My nose has been itching a whole lot lately. I think I'm allergic to the amount of attention you've paid as of late."

Colette O'Connail has posed:
    Colette is silent for a few moments, staring at the intruder. "Nightwing," she says finally. "Apparently you have a sense of the dramatic. I suppose it didn't occur to you to just ring the bell?"

    She turns away, returns to her car and climbs in, drives it into the garage and gets out again. "Your nose is failing you apparently. I have been paying you very little attention. Though your little protege or whatever he is did bring your name up." She slams the door, a little loudly, letting it echo in the space of the garage.

    "Is there anything in particular I can help you with? And if the lock is damaged, where do I send the bill?"

Dick Grayson has posed:
"If the lock is damaged, then I'm slacking at my skills, Miss O'Connail." Nightwing responds casually as he peels off another slice of apple to take a bite from. "And no, pretty sure my nose is spot on. I'm just trying to figure out if you're a fangirl or working on a paper for your degree." he offers up, not moving from the bench.

"Nothing suggests that you have abilities, yet you're nosing around the Titans tower. No obvious past ties. Noone even knows who you are. It raises some flags."

Colette O'Connail has posed:
    Colette tilts her head to the side, giving Nightwing an amused look. "Nobody knows who I am? Yet you know my name and where I live. I hardly see how that counts as not knowing who I am. You, on the other hand, are a mysterious masked intruder who has broken into my property. I'd say you have this the wrong way around, if you think it's me who should be answering questions. Honestly you're lucky I'm such a level-headed person. Some people might have just shot the intruder and asked questions later."

    She leans her elbows on the roof of the car, staring across it at him. "As for 'nosing around Titans Tower', not really. I mean I've visited a couple of times. Gar's a friend. Now maybe you'd like to explain why you're nosing around my garage? Because I mean really if you just wanted to hear that I'm a friend of Gar's you could have sent me a text, or knocked on the front door."

Dick Grayson has posed:
"See, I could have already checked the premises for weapons. And I'm guessing, correctly, by the way. That there are none." Nightwing responds. "Sure, Gar's your friend. I'm sure you have his well-being in mind. And since we're both being rather level-headed here." Another piece of apple to his mouth, he chews and considers.

"I don't think shooting would have been a good way to start this, do you? Especially when there's no guns in the house or on your person." he considers again between bits of apple. "So, let's try this again. Why the Titans?"

Colette O'Connail has posed:
    "I don't think breaking and entering was a terribly good - or smart - way to start this either," Colette snaps back. She tilts her head slightly. "Luckily for you I'm a tolerant person." She seems remarkably unintimidated by Nightwing's reputation. "As for why the Titans, well that would be because Gar. Honestly apart from the fact that I always thought the Tower looked pretty cool, I hadn't given them much thought until a mutual friend of ours introduced us."

    Colette smiles. It's not the friendliest of smiles, but nor is it particularly unfriendly. It's the kind of smile that acts more as a placeholder than anything else. She drums her fingers on the roof of the car, nails clacking against the metalwork. "My turn. Gar tells me he reached out to all of you about getting the team back together, and you didn't respond. Instead, I learn that you have been telling your little protege that the Titans belongs to him now. Did it not occur to you that Gar and the others might have a say in that matter?"

Dick Grayson has posed:
"Then you heard wrong." Nightwing's response is flat. "You should have asked Gar who was with him when he first returned to the tower. Because it wasn't you." he says simply, not even bothered by Colette's tone or dead-eyed smile. He carves another piece of apple to eat and considers her. "Oh, I can feel the tolerant. So tolerant." comes the dry response.

"So, as you're neither a member of the Titans. Or a member of... anything, really, I can say this with utmost sincerity."

"It's not any of you're damn business."

Colette O'Connail has posed:
    Colette's smile grows wider, but it's no longer a nice smile. It looks almost predatory. "Maybe you should ask Gar who was with him when he returned to the Tower to face Raven, because it wasn't you. Oh yes, I've seen that particular walking trauma. Gar faced that shadow down. She shrouded him in darkness and threated make him face her demons as well as his own. Gar didn't back down, Gar didn't give up on her. /THAT/ is why the Tower has lights in it today. Because Gar faced that darkness. Wasn't a /coward/."

    That final word is said with a distinct sneer, but Colette's expression softens almost immediately. She straightens, and rolls her neck. "Your protege thinks that the world owes him the Titans, and that he has nothing to prove to them. He seems to be judging them based only on how valuable he thinks their skills in combat are. You /were/ a member of the Titans, and you lead them. By all accounts, you lead them really well. You must know how wrong-headed that is. If you think he can be a good leader to them, you should try taking some real responsibility and prepare him better. "

    "And you should go and /talk/ to Gar rather than leaving everything to him, because right now he's being ten times the Titan you are." Colette gives an exasperated sigh. "I don't know what's happened to you Nightwing, though I do know you've suffered. I'm not judging you, I'm just telling you this. I'm not a Titan, but right now, you are being less of a Titan than I am and you need to get your fucking head out of your ass and fix that."

Dick Grayson has posed:
"You have no clue what you're talking about. You're standing on the outside, looking in. So of course, you get the twenty-twenty hindsight and you can tell me how horrible and terrible I am." Nightwing responds. Finishing off the last of his apple, he pockets the core as he pushes himself to his feet. "I have confidence in Gar. If anyone could have gotten Raven out of her rut, it was him. And if he did, good on him."

"Leading the Titans was something I did when I was younger. And thought we needed to prove something to the adult heroes out there. That we could do it. Be just as good as them. You want me to talk to someone, Colette? How about I talk to Don. Or Kole." He heads towards the exit of the garage, "You want to berate people and tell them how much they suck? Congratulations, you got it out of your system. Hope you feel better for it." With that, he's stepping out to get out his grapple gun.

Colette O'Connail has posed:
    Colette's response is weary. "You came to me, not the other way around, and you started berating me, not the other way around. Try looking in a mirror some time, Nightwing. You have no idea who I am."

    She bleeps the lock on her car, and follows Nightwing out of the garage, pulling the door down and locking that too. The look he gives him as he gets his grapple gun is hard to read, but it does seem like there's no hostility left. "Nightwing? I /do/ know what it's like to lose people. I'm trying not to judge you, because of that. But for God's sake, speak to the /living/, not the dead. Don't you see that it's time? Gar does."

Dick Grayson has posed:
There's no response, just the hiss of a line, and like that, he's gone. Something he picked up from the Bat, clearly.

Just like this whole conversation, most likely.