17246/A Nightmare Begins

A Nightmare Begins
Date of Scene:	22 February 2024
Location:	Upstairs - Red Cave
Synopsis:	Phoebe is still processing her own death, elects to stay with Jason Todd (set Saturday after Back to the Earth).
Cast of Characters:	Phoebe Beacon, Jason Todd

---

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    GOtham always had the perfect weather to match a dark mood. Rain had been falling since Jason's return to Gotham City -- the status quo settling out as a February ice warning came through. No one in their right mind should be out tonight, but the alleyway leading to the garage doors echoed with the whine of a motorcycle, and someone's pink helmet was partially coated with ice. A jacket that wasn't meant for this weather, just a thin leather shell -- over a sweatshirt and jeans, and sneakers.

    The bike is parked, and the figure goes to the keypad. Numb fingers attempt to enter in a code -- it's wrong. Twice.

    Finally, she just his the keypad with her closed fist.

    "Jason?!" she calls out, "It's Me. I... can't sleep."

Jason Todd has posed:
Since Iceland, Jason has kept to himself. Sticking around the garage, he distracted himself with working on his Mustang. Given the tech squeazed into the chassis it should be little surprise that many hours of maintenance are needed to keep it running to his satisfaction. When he hasn't been wrenching on The Car, he's driven Church crazy by lazing around the loft at odd hours.

At this moment in time, lazing around the loft is right where Jason is when the building's security alerts of an incoming visit from family. But then the code is wrong. That's not usual. Nor is Phoebe calling out in frustration.

Sitting up quickly he bounds down the stairs as Church yowls protest at his noisy antics. A cat's got to rest peacefully. C'mon.

Opening the garage door from the inside he frowns, "I'm here Phoebe. Let me get the bike." Taking it by the handlebars he rolls it inside. "One. This isn't the sort of weather to be riding your bike in, you realize? And C. You're not dressed for riding in this sort of weather to begin with." It's quiet and almost gentle, not harsh or angry.

"How can I help?"

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "I know. I know. I couldn't take my car." Phoebe states. She's shivering, her arms are wrapped around her, and she steps into the garage, leaving damp footprints in her wake as she takes a deep breath. "I just..." she pauses, and then turns her head to sneeze into her elbow before she pulls her helmet off.

    Her hair has been carefully braided now. It was no longer its rosy pink color, but back to its natural black color. She's pulled out a pair of glasses, and shakily puts them on her face, and just looks momentarily lost.

    "I... I don't know. I just... I can't sleep. In the house. And I don't think I can be alone yet. Tim will flip out."

Jason Todd has posed:
Jason Todd nods in understanding about the car. He watches her carefully as he lowers the stand and lets the bike lean on it.

Walking over to her he takes the helmet and sets it on the bike seat. Letting her try to settle herself, but seeing the look in her eyes he nods. "I think I understand, a bit." He offers a smile, "C'mon up. There's a huge mug of cocoa with your name on it. And all the marshmallows and whipped cream you want."

Letting her go first, he locks up the garage again before following her up.

Upstairs, Church is no longer in catnap mode. He heard new friendly human voices. Hopping up, he meets Phoebe at the top of the stairs but the look of delight on his face, those perked ears and flagpole tail of ! excitement fade the moment he sees her. Stepping back once the tail drops low, and his ears perk as if sensing danger.

The look of confusion on his face is accompanied by a cautious, confused 'Mrow?' - he knows the face. He knows the human scent. But something isn't the same. Church quickly turns and disappears, heading for his safe hidey spaces while he tries to process the unexpected.

Jason catches up just in time to see the last of that interaction and he nods quietly. "It's a little known fact that Tim was a Russian Babushka in a former life. One that worried about everything and everyone even when she didn't need to." It's a joke. Probably.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "All right, cocoa sounds good. I forgot how much --" she whispers, and then shakes her head "Five days.... it was only five days."

    She sees the familiar tabby tail, and it registers. Her shoulders relax, and she reaches down a hand to Church to pay tribute... but... he moves on. She looks actually hurt, and then she breathes out and rubs the back of her neck a moment.

    "Yeah. That tracks. I think... it's partly because he wasn't there. I think everyone has a sense of that." she states quietly, and she lets out a breath.

    "... Ace and Titus are taking time to warm up to me too. Same with Dorito -- that's... ah... Austin's cat."

Jason Todd has posed:
Jason Todd nods and stops behind her, watching. He sighs softly. "Give it time." The voice of experience.

"C'mon. Go raid my dresser. Get yourself into whatever you like to feel warm. Take a shower to warm up if you want. I'll have cocoa ready for you when you're finished."

With a nod of reassurance he heads for the kitchen. He comments over his shoulder. "There were a lot of regrets. A lot of things to unpack. And a lot that hasn't even been touched yet." Because the Wayne clan just *loves* exploring emotions willingly. Right?

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "There is... there is a lot." Phoebe states, and she takes a deep breath, and looks over to Jason and gives an upnod. "You sure I can wear anything in your dresser? 'Cause I've gained a couple sweatshirts in the last six months that definitely didn't go into my laundry bin because /I/ owned them." she jokes, but there's not much energy behind it.

    But she ducks into his room. There's a little bit of noise as she opens drawers and quickly assembles dry clothes.

    "And you're right. I think of all of us I'm the only one who willingly discusses feelings and tries to unpack. At length. And look where that got me. Adopted by a demon, adopted dad a door in Heaven, trying to summon demon-dad in /Pittsburgh/..." she calls back, pulling on a pair of sweatpants and wearing a T-shirt that is far, far too large for her, she's tying the shirt off to the side to make it fit a little better to her form.

    "... how long did it take to..." she trails off a moment, and then shakes her head "Different circumstances. It's not gonna be the same. NEvermind."

Jason Todd has posed:
Jason Todd sets the water to boil and then gets busy mixing up cocoa - it's the cheap stuff that every kid loved growing up. Setting out marshmallows and a can of real whipped cream, he pauses a moment and drops down near Church's food dish. He sprays in a healthy amount of whipped cream.

Even before Jason has stood up again, Church has emerged from his sequester, ears perked. Kitty radar knows when treats are to be had and Jason knows which lures work best to get Church out to visit with company.

"Oh no. Please. Don't steal my clothes. I will I ever afford to replace them?" Jason snarks back at her lightly.

"Emotions are weakness" he states automatically. He didn't even think about it. There was only one source of that 'lesson' and it is exactly the obvious choice.

"Hmm?" He looks over his shoulder. He thinks on the direction of that question as he turns to carry over two mugs of cocoa with marshmallows and whipped cream. Each has a spoon. Because how else can the whipped cream be devoured easily?

"How long did it take to return to normal?" he asks as he offers over a mug to Phoebe.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Knock over a couple of drug dealers and mug them for spare change?" she calls back with a suggestion for affording to replace clothing. She purposefully chooses stuff that looks lived in, though. Comfortable. Her wet clothes are tossed into the dryer.

    "Yeah, what's what I was going to ask but... we had very different circumstances," Phoebe replies, and she reaches out to accept the mug of cocoa.

    " And I didn't need to pry." she adds quietly as she accepts the mug, feeling it warm her hands. She closes her eyes.

    "Yeah, I've heard the variation. Uncontrolled emotions are a weakness."

Jason Todd has posed:
Jason Todd hands off the mug as she talks about robbing drug dealers. "Damn. You've found me out" he admits without apology. Moving to sit down with his mug he listens to her.

"Death is death, Pheeb." He pauses to lick a bit of whipped cream before looking over at her, "Yes, I was dead for months. But dead is dead. The only difference is how much the body has to heal to become whole again." He closes his eyes and leans his head back.

Quietly he ads, "It's the mind that takes the most time to recover." Rolling his head to the side, he opens his eyes to look at her, "Any emotions are weakness in the school of The Bat. Behind the mask they'll kill you. Outside of it? Pff. They're still to be viewed with suspicion."

Having finished his treat, Church turns to regard Phoebe again as he licks his nose one last time. The visiting human still has whipped cream on her mug. Golden-green eyes stare at the temptation.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Well, you arguably know Bruce better than I. He's pretty much left me and Austin to Tim." she gives a wan smile, "... half the time it feels just like he didn't know what to do with me. I strongly suspect that I'm not going to be able to go on... on duty. Anymore." she sniffles, and drags her index finger through the whipped cream, and offers it with a wiggle down to Church. "We gonna be buddies, big guy?" she questions gently.

    "... my magic's gone. And we all know I'm not like you guys."

Jason Todd has posed:
Jason Todd frowns as she talks. He listens but the frown grows with every statement. For once he doesn't cut her off or snap out of frustration.

Forcing himself to take a sip from his mug first, he sets the mug on the side table and turns to look at her. "Phoebe. First of all. You're -alive-. You have a Family. That loves you. Bruce is... " he snorts, ".. is Bruce. You wouldn't be part of the family if he didn't trust you and if he didn't think you could handle The Life and not get killed. He doesn't like magic. As you know. But face it, he doesn't trust superpowers either. Anything that is more than simple physical prowess he has always viewed with suspicion."

He looks at her intently. "That's only as true as you want it to be and you know it." Not going on patrols anymore. "Your magic may be gone. It may come back with time. I can't answer that. The Pit affects everyone differently. It improved my overall health. Let's me keep my youthful complexion" he quips.

"Give yourself some time. You'll come to realize what has changed for you. And - even if nothing changes. You still know how to fight. You can still train. You have the mindset. But you have to want to do it. If you don't feel the drive and conviction, you know as well as I do, that doing this will make you a liability. To yourself or others. You're going to have to come to a decision. But you don't have to make that choice now, today. Give yourself time. You have to find equilibrium."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phoebe gives a small smile, and she sips at her cocoa. The marshmallow and whipped cream clings to her lip a moment, giving her a stringy white mustache.

    "I'm alive." she whispers, as if she needed the reminder, and she bows her head down. "Everyone banded together for it. My family. And there's people who are welcoming me back. I just... I'm having a hard time with..." she trembles. "I can't sleep."

Jason Todd has posed:
Dubiously, Church watches unblinking as the finger teases another yummy whipped cream treat. The strange yet familiar human who comes to his house and eats his food and even sleeps on his couch is sitting with his human servant. They're not fighting. Maybe it's okay. A step. Then another. Pausing to sniff the air, Church slinks over not so stealthily to sniff and bump the finger before his rough tongue begins to rasp away the whipped cream.

Friends again. Probably.

THen he bumps her shin and rubs his head on her leg. Okay. Friends. Definitely. But on moody cat terms.

Jason nods. "You are. There's no sense in trying to find logic in it. This? This was all emotion. We defied Nature's Law. We defied Bruce's rules. We did what was Right."

He listens. "Nightmares can be bad." He knows about those. "If you had them before, the pit makes them worse. Brings its own." He reaches out his hand then pauses. Then he just drops the hand. "The process of coming back is terrible. No one can understand if they haven't gone through it." He stares off at some unseen place. "Can't imagine how Ra's is still even slightly sane after how many times he's had to have used the pits..." he almost whispers absently.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phoebe gives a smile, and absently brushes her fingers over Church's head. There, yes, friends. Good human, and Phoebe straightens up, licking her lip, and she raises her dark eyes to Jason... and she watches his hand reach out, and then drop.

    So she takes a deep breath, and she reaches out her hand, ovvering it to him.
    "Yeah. I haven't been able to sleep beecause of them. I think maybe just a change of location, but between the medical bed in the Cave and Potato..." she pauses... "Potato hasn't... he's having trouble. Damian's the only one he'll tolerate right now." she smiles sadly. "But I haven't been able to sleep in my room at the manor. And I don't think I can face the Outsiders or... or anyone else, just yet."

    "Do you think I could borrow your couch? For tonight, anyway? Or I mean... this morning."

Jason Todd has posed:
Jason Todd squeezes her hand gently then relaxes his grasp so she can pull away when she wishes.

With a smirk and nod he comments, "No one can sleep in the medical beds in the cave. Except maybe Bruce or Cass." It's a joke.

"Potato will come around. Church did and Potato's only half as smart." More teasing. "Yes of course you can stay here. As long as you need. And you don't have to face anyone until your ready. If that's tomorrow or two weeks from now. If needed I'll run interference for you." He smiles and squeezes her hand again gently before getting up.

"I'll get the blankets and some pillows."