14266/Spooky in the Hanging Tree

Spooky in the Hanging Tree
Date of Scene:	27 February 2023
Location:	The Hanging Tree - Park
Synopsis:	Phoebe's in the Hanging Tree, Talia plays the flute and Lydia gets to meet Phoebe's minder.
Cast of Characters:	Phoebe Beacon, Talia al Ghul, Lydia Dietrich

---

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    The Hanging Tree is not exactly a spooky place during the day. Resplendant with colorful hammocks, bandanas tied to wave in the breeze coming off the ocean, the tree stands as a sort of hopeful sign in the middle of the dark city.

    And sometimes, usuallky when the weather isn't 'Cold As Heck' sometimes people sleep in the tree.. among other activities.

    Tonight there was a light on, near the top of the tree, hood drawn up as she sits in her dark gray 'mage mode' gear, leather backpack occupying her lap as she's rocked to the sound of sirens and the wind coming off the sea.

    For those with a supernatural sense, the area was calmer than usual, and there ws the distinct smell of crushed roses and fresh cracked black pepper to the air around the tree, along with incense rising from a censor that rocks near Phoebe, along with an electric lantern.

Talia al Ghul has posed:
Talia al Ghul is one of thsoe that doesn't seemingly have much of a problem wiht the weather. She was the one that spent much of her time training in Tibet after all. So she's not effected by this particular sudden burst of wrmth. THe tree isn't necessarily somewhere she would ordinarily go but she has promised Bruce to try and be of whatever aid she could with Phoebe.

This means at least to some degree of being around the girl. She's over on the ground, having returned from her less than successful trip that had her running over into the speedster Cheetah. SHe's leaning over against the back of it, pulling out a small wooden flute that she's playing to herself.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
    The night doesn't seem to bother Lydia, neither does the cold. Still she dresses in warm winter clothes just to keep up appearances, but anybody who's paying attention to her will see that, when she remembers to breath, the little puff of air doesn't condense like it would with somebody who's actually alive.

    Still, the unusual calm surrounding the hanging tree is enough to get her attention. Usually she can feel the restless spirits of the dead surrounding the area, but tonight they seem to be at peace, so this is worth investigating. That and there's a flute.

    She recognizes Talia, though she never got the woman's name. Wandering under the tree she looks up to see the lantern and the young woman huddled there. Grinning in recognition she calls out to her. "Hey, Phoebe! Always good to see a familiar face in Gotham."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    It's Gotham City. Even the spirits of the Living are restless most of the time.

    Phoebe, with her work, works with both, and was drifting off a little bit before she hears the flute playing. That was curious; lately it's been calliope music and that always announces something Bad.

    But she pokes her face over the side of the Hammock, recognizing Lydia's voice -- and Talia's form.

    "Where else are you going to see my face, Lydia?" she questions brightly, and then calls down "Good to see you, Talia -- you both gonna hang out in the tree?"

Talia al Ghul has posed:
Talia al Ghul is not aware of any particular spirits - mostly as that she has no abilities beyond the norm to recognize them. There are no manifestations in the environment that might cue her off to something being amiss beyond those already within the tree and accountable for the company.
    She would glance over at Lydia, "Greetings." THen up to the tree, "Hello PHoebe. And I thought I might enjoy a night out of the city." Since her last trip involved being drugged and in the same general company as Sabretooth. "I hope that you're having yourself a contemplative evening." She would put her flute ot hte side.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
    Lydia grins up at Phoebe. "Sure! I haven't hung out in a tree in ages. Not too many worth climbing in Brooklyn." With unnatural grace, she hops up from branch to branch to settle in next to her friend.

    Talia gets a warm smile and a nod. "So you two know each other?"

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Through Batman." is how Phoebe answers how she knows Talia, giving the Assassin a quiet, contemplative look.

    "He's trying to impress upon me the value of not relying on magic so much in combat. Talia was asked to help." she explains, and then turning to Talia she motions to Lydia.

    "Lydia is one of my oldest and *most trusted* friends and family members." she states, and then she sits up a little bit, sitting cross-legged in the hammock as she sways slowly in the wind.

    "Have you two met?"

Talia al Ghul has posed:
Talia al Ghul would dip her head, "Very well." If PHoebe tells this to the other girl, then she has Talia's trust as well. She finds all these peculiarities on secret identities to be rather confusing with thier inconsistency, but very well!
    Phoebe definitely needs friends, so she can accept this.
    "We have a mutual friend that owns a bookstore that I happened to be in at the same time while there was some discussion going on about it. I admitted that I hadn't read it and committed a horrible social faux paus."

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
    "Ah," Lydia says, nodding in understanding. "She's one of //his//." She shifts in her perch and says, "It's generally a good idea to have a backup plan for when your powers don't work. I have a bit of training in hand to hand... nothing on the level of Batman and his associates, mind you, but enough to keep me alive." Well. Ambulatory, at least. "Raven insisted. I also have a concealed carry permit, though I don't own a gun."

    She nods in agreement with Talia. "Indeed. I never //did// get your name." She smiles brightly at the woman, "I'm Lydia. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phoebe gets a sort of pensive look at the idea of Talia being one of 'his'.

    "No... not like that." she finally decides is the correct answer, and she draws one knee up, which tilts her in the hammock a bit.

    "It's not a bad idea. And I'm picking up new skills in the process when I'm not galavanting around Gotham or hanging out with R-" she pauses "obin--" she finishes, though her ears color a bit.

    "and you know, lots of coursework. Who knew pre-med education would be so difficult?" she offers as a joke, and gives a small smile.

Talia al Ghul has posed:
Talia al Ghul would laugh softly, "Talia. A pleasure." She does not go beyond that. "I've had some.. Background in it that I've been assigned to help her with some. She's quite skilled, so I'm merely helping her refine some of it." She would glance over at Lydia.
    "And a gun is effective. If only as msot attackers will go for weaker prey so it's presence at least can help with some degree of avoidance." And she's well aware of who 'Raven' is, but doesn't mention it.
    There's no response over fro her face from the 'Boy Blunder' bit ass he would mm.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
    "And I thought getting my English degree was difficult," Lydia jokes, reaching out to give Phoebe a gentle nudge with a foot. "I bet it's keeping you busy. If you ever need help with any of those required English courses let me know. I'd be happy to help."

    She nods at Talia. "My mutation makes sure that people don't mess with me," she says, running her hand through the starfield that always surrounds her, making the little motes of light dance in its wake. "Back when I glowed green people just thought I was radioactive. Now..." she pauses, thinking. "I don't know what they think." She shrugs. "Don't really care, anyway. Never did."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phoebe definitely was not thinking of one of her brothers when she began that statement. A

    She is currently thinking warmly of enchiladas though. Mmm. Sweet potato and black bean enchiladas.

    Her stomach gives a slight grumble, and she huffs out a breath.

    "I'm pretty good for my English classes. Always liked English. Math on the other hand? I'm just fortunate I've got someone who really, really likes statistics to guide me through that mess. Bleeh." she states, and she tapes down her pockets -- cigarettes, lighter, ahah, junk food.

    She pulls up a flap on her vest and pulls out a packet of sour skittles, glancing between the two older women, and then she gives a waggle of the bright green package.

    "Anyone want some?" she offers.

    "Never liked guns. Learned how to shoot a rifle from my friend's grandpop once because he insisted we take it up in case of bears or poachers."

Talia al Ghul has posed:
Talia al Ghul would go to fold her hands together then and nod, "WEll, that's one way to ensure safety. In whatever form you need it. Best ot have a method in advance then. Better to be ready and never need it than need the ability and never have it." She would go to flick her fingers together then and shake her head. "No, thank you, I'm quite fine." She would bow her head over to Phoebe.
    "I do appreciate the offer, but I ate before I came. At least let me give you something to listen to." SHe goes to take out the wooden flute to her lips that she had been started with earlier, andg oes to play a refrain likely familiar to the two.
    Arabian Nights.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
    Lydia nods. "I didn't use to be any good at math, but when you pick up Kabbalism, especially the advanced numerology part of it, you kind of have to pick it up. Statistics I'm no good at, though."

    She holds up a hand and shakes her head at the offer of sour skittles. "No thank you. I just ate." Phoebe would know the implications of that. When Talia pulls out her flute, she settles in to listen.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phoebe leans back in the hammock and cracks open the sour skittles. "Y'all missing out." she gives a companionable complaint, and the wind rocks her in the hammock.

    "Oh I come from a land, from a far away place where the caravan camels roam. Where the sands are immense and the heat is intense -- it's barbaric but hey, it's home. But when the Wind's from the East and the Sun's in the West and the sand in the glass is /right/ -- come on down, stop on by, hop a carpet and fly to another Arabian Night--"

Talia al Ghul has posed:
And Talia goes to match the tune. She takes a few moments to adjust the pitch and rhythm to it to play along to best fit Phoebe's tone of voice. A few light tweaks to the pitch and she goes along with it. She gives a light gesture over at Lydia to see if the other girl can't at least be tricked into tapping her fingers and bobbling her head to it.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
    Lydia grins as Phoebe starts to sing. Even though she really doesn't do any headbobbing or toe tapping with this particular song, it's clear that she's enjoying it. "I always liked the Disney movies," she says. "The classic ones, at least. I think I can sing all of The Little Mermaid by memory. You have a good voice, Phoebe!"

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phoebe pauses with an awkward 'awrk!' sound, and then brings her hands up a moment.

    "I ah... I don't sing a lot. GUitar, that's more my thing. I play a little bit." she states quietly, and then she just leans back in the hammock.

    "... Disney's all well and good, but... I've got the tongues of my ancestors too, y'know? Like all this language bouncing around in my head. And sometimes I remember snippets of things that I'm not sure are mine, or they're someone else's." she gives a small smile. Then she turns, leaning back over and looking to Lydia she perks up:

    "I... do have some shop to talk with you, Lydia. I'm working on a project for someone. Something kinda like my containment circle tattoo." she states, and she lifts her left hand, showing the faintly glowing white-ink tattoo that had been inscribed on her skin.

Talia al Ghul has posed:
Talia al Ghul would just fold her hands back over, "Would you two prefer that I depart if this is something to be private in nature?" She was still building trust with Phoebe, and this was one of her closest friends. So appropriate to give her space with - or at least make the attempt at it.

Lydia Dietrich has posed:
    "I know a lot of Hebrew folk songs. Some Polish, too, passed down by my grandmother." Lydia shakes her head, "I don't play an instrument. It was the one thing that my mother didn't insist I try."

    At the mention of another tatto, her eyebrows raise in curiosity. "Oh? You'll have to give me a call and we'll talk about it. I still have the tattoo gun, though I'm out of orichalcum powder for ink."

    She shakes her head at Talia. "That won't be necessary. I have to be back home soon, and if I don't hurry I'll miss the hyperloop back into New York. It was good meeting you, though!" Phoebe gets a nod, "I'll see you later." With that she steps out of the bough of the tree, and before she hits the ground, golden wings unfurl from her back and lift her up into the sky.