14391/Lighting the Phoebe Signal

Lighting the Phoebe Signal
Date of Scene:	12 March 2023
Location:	Gymnasium and Pool - Wayne Manor
Synopsis:	What starts as a sparring match with a prize of cookies turns into something much deeper when the elder Bat himself comes to talk to Phoebe and Talia.
Cast of Characters:	Talia al Ghul, Phoebe Beacon, Bruce Wayne

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Talia al Ghul has posed:
Talia al Ghul has gotten in touch with Phoebe, requesting her over for another spar sometime in the gymnasium. Talia has setup ana rea over for sparring, laying out pads, putting out a variety of training blades taken from the walls and to the side is moving a large covered ceramic bowl to set it on a small table. While she waits for Phoebe to arrive, she's otherwise doing some stretching.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phoebe had accepted the challenge, and it shall not go unanswered!

    She arrives with her hair in Dutch braids and pinned to her head, wearing happy yoga pants covered with rainbow colored goats, and a compression tank which shows the burn marks on her shoulder, the scarred-in array on her left arm, and the three nearly surgical scars on her throat.

    "Man are you tired of of beating me up yet? It's not like it sticks." she states to Talia, taking off the fabulously bright pink socks she's wearing and showing the spilled-milk pattern of paler skin on her feet.

Talia al Ghul has posed:
Talia al Ghul would smile over at Phoebe, "I wanted to give you some incentive. I thought that it might help you focus more." She goes to offer Phoebe a selection of blades. "Pick the ones that you prefer. Today, I'll be on the defensive. Feel free to as you see fit use your powers. I'm curious to see how creative you can be." She's gone to pick up just a simple wooden katana, twirling it about a few times to get a feel for it. "And also do remember to not limit yourself to the ground."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Bruce doesn't like it when I use magic in the manor." Phoebe replies to Talia, though she sniffs the air as she also picks up a bokken and gives it a few practice swings, drawing her eyes up to Talia. "It bounces off the wards weirdly sometimes." she explains, and she strides out onto the mats. She's gotten a little confidence after sparring with Damian.

    "You'd have to convince Bruce to change the rules on the mystical firewall. before I can go all-out."

Talia al Ghul has posed:
Talia al Ghul would nod, "Very well. So I'll have to try sometime then. We'll make a deal for it if I do." She goes to take out her weapon, goes to let Phoebe get ready.. Then holds her blade up in an en garde position, salutes.. And waits for Phoebe to go on the attack!

Bruce Wayne has posed:
"That's just because of the mystical firewall. It's difficult to have them turn it off and on multiple times for training purposes." Bruce's voice rises up as he enters wearing his own yoga pants. With corgis on them. Likely a joke gift from one of the kids. The t-shirt he wears at least is normal, blank, and not at all awkward. The yoga pants have corgi yoga poses going on. Most involve showing off corgi butts. It's worn with all the pride a father has of making sure to embarass the hell out of his kids.

"Don't mind me, I'm just here to watch," he assures with a lift of his hand to gesture at the pair that are already going at it. Satisfied with just that he leans his shoulders back against the wall to stay out of the way while focusing on their sparring session.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phoebe, on the other hand, bows rather than salutes, on account that she's a proper student of Japanese martial arts and the salute just *feels* weird.

    She breathes out, and then she goes in for the attack, testing Talia's defenses as she comes towards the middle, expecting the clack of the wooden swords.

    -- and about then is when she realized Bruce was there. Her attention's on Talia, but she gives a distracted "Hi Bruce" to him.

Talia al Ghul has posed:
And as Phoebe gives a comment at Bruce, Talia likewise acknowledges himw ith her eyes. She goes to backstep as Phoebe goes to advance on her. Her sword blocks the strike, and then she's falling back. She's rapidly giving ground as Phoebe pursues her. Far, far faster than she should be ordinarily. Attempting to disengage or force Phoebe into a pursuit where Talia might outmaneuver her. A very, very simple tactic and strategem.

Bruce Wayne has posed:
Bruce Wayne stands trying not to be a distraction during their match. Phoebe's greeting gets a nod from him in turn while he crosses his arms getting ready to simply stand and watch with keen eyes. Talia's own acknowledgement of his presence is met with a single dip of his head. He'd already spoken up. Doing more now would just throw a wrench in the works for their session. It was too early on to be doing that.

It does take some strength of will not to call out suggestions to Phoebe. This time he wasn't the teacher.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    No, at this moment Talia was the teacher, and Phoebe is well aware the assassin can out-manuver her in swordplay. The strikes of wood on wood fill the gym, and Phoebe is hesitant to be kited along like an unwary MOB, so she switches up tactics.

    Phoebe feints a blow, and instead comes in low, bringing her leg around and trying to sweep Talia's feet with a back-leg, and bring her boken around in the follow-through to stop a blow from above. She's patient, she tries not to telegraph her moves, following muscle memory from her own martial arts trainings. After all, Talia's not the first assassin she's sparred with.

Talia al Ghul has posed:
And Talia watches her. Good. As she sees Phoebe being more confident in herself, Talia goes to change it up. As Phoebe goes to strike over at her and swings her blade to limit Talia's movement and then pin her.. Talia goes to leap with intent to sommersault over her head, and hopefully to land cleanly over behind Phoebe. Of course, she would have to do a full pirouette upon landinga nd getting up to her feet, so there would be that small window of vulnerability..
    But, if it worked then she would be out of immediate range without Phoebe charging fully forwards and let Talia control the pacing.

Bruce Wayne has posed:
Bruce Wayne nods in approval as things begin to shift around. The fact that Talia could match many styles made her an excellent teacher as much as she was an impressive foe. It felt rather unusual to have her as not only an ally but as some one that could also see to the training of the younger generation. It was rather like watching Damian fight, as well.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phoebe's martial background was different, she had some Kendo, expert level in Aikido, and of course, lots and lots of oversight and sparring with Tim. Her follow-through brings her back up to her feet, the bokken in a ready position as she regards Talia, her eyes narrowing. She strides forward, and does press the attack, bring the sword up, looking to feint to the middle, and change her grip so that the sword comes up from below in a quick spin, similar to how she would use a staff to try and deflect an attack. Not a move she used last time.

    She's trying to keep Talia on the defensive, poke at the defenses and find where Talia's blindspots are!

Talia al Ghul has posed:
And Talia gives Phoebe a smile. Good. The girl is on her before she can fully recover and be in a positionw here she could have hit Phoebe in the back. The girl is switching things up. There's approval in Talia's eyes. Talia goes to bring up her own blade with intent to deflect the blade - her strike is over and trying to hit along the hook of the hilt. Making sure to miss Phoebe's wrist if she was too close. Her move rapid, attempting to use as little motion as possible in her attempt at a counter.
    If her timing was off, then Phoebe would get in her first cookie of the night!

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    The teenager pressed the attack, block, block, and then a quick move to push Talia's bokken to the side, a turn, and the wooden blade just so lightly touches against Talia's upper, inner thigh. It could have been a debilitating attack.

    "... femoral vein. Bleed out unless immediate pressure's applied and medical attention gotten." Phoebe announces, and she gives a small smile, sly almost as she regards Talia.

Talia al Ghul has posed:
Talia al Ghul would grin over at Phoebe, "Well done." THen she gestures over at the ceramic pot filled with steaming hot cookies right from the oven. "You've earned that. And effective disabling blow. Well done." Phoebe's earned her cookies. And her praise.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Talia praise felt different. And Phoebe stands up, giving a slight smile, dropping her bokken's tip down as she takes a deep breath.

    "You let me hit you. I'm telling Bruce." she jokes, looking over to the yoga-pantsed Bruce, and then she motions to Talia "You saw it. She let me hit her. Still grabbing a cookie though." she calls out.

Bruce Wayne has posed:
Bruce Wayne pushes away from the wall so he can uncross his arms to give a few resounding claps. It wasn't often a gesture he did outside of functions. This was praise worthy though. "You're continuing to improve a great deal, Phoebe. Although that is a bit more lethal that I like. In the heat of a fight it can become diffcult." Plus she was of the age she could make her own decisions on how lethal she wanted to be. A worrisome thought for him.

Talia al Ghul has posed:
Talia al Ghul would grin, "Oh, it was a well hit blow. I was too tight in my counter. I didn't give myself enough room to maneuver. I went for too direct a strike on a small target and overextended. You took advnatage of my mistake. Even the most skilled of combatants can be outmaneuvered quite readily. But yes, you have earned it." The cookie. The talk from Bruce.. Talia ruminates.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phoebe pauses, turning to face Bruce as he applauds, and then she feels conflicted. She rubs her left arm, over the array that had been burned into her skin, and then rendered inert.

    She's always been lethal. Just a question of to whom.

    "Sometimes it might come to them or me." she states, and her left hand raises up to the three scars at her throat where her larynx had been removed when she'd been brought back to Gotham by a seething Tim Drake, her cheeks darkening and er ears turning a shade or two, but she buries the dark feeling she had beneath cinnamon cookie goodness as she helps herself to a snickerdoodle.

Talia al Ghul has posed:
Talia al Ghul would fold her hand back and then glance over at Bruce for a moment. Musing on alternative tactics to suggest but then deciding now is not the time. She looks over at Bruce gently for a moment. Let the girl have her victory for just a few moments. And no..
    Talia was not letting her hit.

Bruce Wayne has posed:
Bruce Wayne takes a rather deep breath at that. "Ah. I see I'm once again practicing the subtle art of foot-in-mouth." A glance is cast toward Talia with a little smile cast her way in silent thanks for helping out. Then he steps forward to reach for Phoebe intent on placing a hand on her shoulder.

If she lets him. The gesture is done slowly so she can avoid or even just shake her head should she not want it. "I know. Much as I want things to never have to go that far, I can't deny in our line of work they some times do. I would prefer it never happen. If you try every thing else. If that's the only option."

The words hang in his throat a long moment. He half expects Jason to leap out of the shadows yelling at him for being a hypocrite.

"I don't want to lose any more of you. Jason was a difficult enough loss for me. Stay alive. The rest we can work on after."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phoebe rubs the back of her head in embarrassment. Unfortunately it's with the same hand that's holding the bokken, so she hits herself in the back of her head with a *Face* and a wrinkling of her nose, because her other hand was holding the cookie and she's not about to risk that getting munched into her scalp.

    She does permit the hand on her shoulder though. She stiffens, because touch was still dicy, but at least he set his hand on her right shoulder. She halts her breath a moment, and she breathes out in an unsteady breath.

    "I'd prefer it never happened either. But it did. And it will again, I'm sure." she takes a deep breath, and then closes her eyes a moment with that admission.

    "But... sometimes we have to make the decision, and live with the consequences, and disappointment." she states, and she looks up to Bruce.

    "You won't lose me, Bruce. I promised Tim."

Talia al Ghul has posed:
And that's something for the two of them. Talia gives a slow, slow look of acknowledgement of each of them. Understanding. And she's moving soundlessly away from the duo. Not sneaking away.. But making sure to not interrupt their shared moment of comfort. And so she's going silently to the mats, gently moving to pick things up that had been left out to do something polite an dproductive. And out of the corner of one's eye if they looked at it..
    There's a look of pride given over to Phoebe. And..
    A bigger one that's given to Bruce, that hovers there for a moment on her face.

Bruce Wayne has posed:
"I will always expect the best of you Phoebe. I'm not going to chase you away if some thing happens, though." That was HIS promise to this girl that had been tossed around by so many. He feels the need to lighten it a bit after such a statement, no matter how heart felt it may be, so he adds: "Tim would never let me hear the end of it." He grins toward her hopeful she gets the joke there.

Then he withdraws his hand to turn away. "I should get ready for tonight. Have a good evening Phoebe." Then he nods again toward the other, "Talia."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "No, no I don't think either of us would hear the end of it from Tim." Phoebe agrees, and she breathes out, and checks her wrist.

    "It is about 'Bat-time' isn't it? Be safe out there, Bruce." she states, and then looks to Talia, raising her eyebrows.

    "One more bout before I go on patrol?" she asks with a slight grin.

Talia al Ghul has posed:
Talia al Ghul would smile over at Phoebe, "Very well." Giving a low bow over to Bruce.. Then adding the lid back to the ceramic pot to keep the cookies hot if there was another hit made so they would be fresh. Talia would pick upher own blade and go to a defensive stance.
    "... Again."