3228/Between School and Superheroing

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Between School and Superheroing
Date of Scene: 03 September 2020
Location: 17A - Roy's Dorm Room
Synopsis: It's the start of classes, but there are also superhero things to discuss. Roy tells AJ about the murder in Starling City, and the criminal org setting up on the island. More training is in order.. and probably coffee.
Cast of Characters: Roy Harper, AJ Strong




Roy Harper has posed:
Settling in to a new school year means the usual -- classes, homework, schedules, and of course -- juggling the dual life of crime fighting and education. Roy went home last weekend to Starling City, and came back just in time to crash and attend class on Monday. With this being his last year, he's trying very hard to focus on getting through it and graduate. That doesn't mean, however, that he's willing to leave the other half of his life unattended.

He'd texted to let AJ know when he was done with class and back in his room in case he wanted to stop by and let him know he had some stuff to tell him as well about things back in Starling City.

AJ Strong has posed:
There's a quick text back of, 'Oh thank god, an excuse to put off this summer reading I didn't do months ago!' Followed a few minutes later with AJ knocking at Roy's dormroom door with a pair of sodas and a bag of chips in hand. Because AJ is nothing if not hungry. He doesn't really wait for an answer before letting himself in, provided the door isn't locked. Dressed in his usual dorm attire of tee-shirt and basketball shorts sans shoes, he definitely looks comfortable, at least. "Snacks!"

Roy Harper has posed:
The door's rarely locked. The only person who ever actually comes over and tries to open it is AJ and any other students either leave Roy alone or they knock. And anyone who might try to bust in would likely be surprised by the impressive array of weapons that come out of hidey holes all over the dorm room if necessary.

None of those things are, however, visible at the moment. Roy's just sprawled in his desk chair with a book open in front of him taking down a few notes in the pool of his desk lamp. He likes to actually write notes rather than typing them out. It helps him remember them better.

"Snacks!" He grins and swivels around. "Hey. Don't tell me /I/ read the summer reading and /you/ didn't."

AJ Strong has posed:
"Just the one book. I detest Hemingway. It's like trying to read a grocery list." AJ flops unceremoniously on the edge of Roy's bed and lofts the bag of chips, thankfully unopened, in his direction. Setting one soda aside for him and opening the other for himself. "I'm a fast reader though. I'll get through it, and we probably have a couple of days before it even comes up." He's listng the excuses more for his own benefit than Roy's.

"So, something interesting happen?" He takes a sip of soda and locks eyes with Roy, definitely eager for anything that keeps him away from All's Quiet on the Western Front.

Roy Harper has posed:
Roy smirks just a little bit as AJ is quick with all the necessary excuses. But he leans over and grabs the soda, cracking it open and taking a sip. He then makes grabby-hands for the chips which he promptly opens and grabs a couple before handing the bag back to AJ.

"Murder," he says around a chip. Then, after actually swallowing it he says, "So, you know those Henley Crowne video games I play a lot?" Lots of robots and shooting and various levels and things. "Turns out, somebody attacked him at his big old mansion in Starling City. So we went over to do some investigating and holy shit, that place is totally set up like one of the themes form his games. There were robots everywhere, and like... turrets for the security system, and you should have /seen/ the server room. So many cool toys in that place."

He rambles a bit and says, "All these folks from New York showed up to investigate, too. Apparently they think it's connected so some other crimes. One of them was blue, like a fuzzy blue elf that teleported around like *POP* *POP* *POP*" No, Roy, it's *BAMF*. "And Vanessa got hit by a turret but not bad.. she's going to be okay. I managed to overload the power and get them to stop shooting long enough for the blue elf guy to get her out."

AJ Strong has posed:
"A murder most foul?" AJ says as he takes the bag back, digging in for a handful of chips as he listens to the recounting of the tale. "Should I be jealous of you hanging around with another teleporter?" He tilts his head. "Blue and fuzzy? Well, I can't compete with that, but I can do hyperactive and spazzy?" Crunch goes a couple more chis before the bag is set within easy reach of them both.

"Well, good to know everyone got out mostly in tact. But damn, you have all the fun without me." He teases lightly with a smile.

Roy Harper has posed:
Roy laughs and says, "You're the only teleporter for me. Besides, he didn't teleport me. He teleported Vanessa." He pops another chip in his mouth. "You were back here or I woulda dragged you with us," he points out. "Plus, we need to meet up with Vanessa and Ollie and go over all the stuff that we found. Oh, I got to meet Pepper Potts, the one that works with Tony Stark? That was pretty cool. She helped me use some Stark gadget to get through the security system on the servers."

Then he says, "But.. there's more fun coming up, and I want you to go with us. It's probably going to be pretty dangerous, but we're probably going to want the whole team for it."

AJ Strong has posed:
"Well, as long as I don't have to worry." But AJ is grinning and shaking his head, obviously not bothered by the whole thing, though he nods appreciatively at the name drop. "Good, I'd like to be in on something more than crawling around in a sewer, I'm in. Wait.. is it crawling around in a sewer? Okay, I know it wasn't a sewer, but underground tunnels are all sewers in some way."

Roy Harper has posed:
"No, this time it's an island called Lian Yu," Roy says as he closes his book on the desk and puts his feet up on the edge of the bed next to AJ. "Ollie found out that there appears to be some kind of a criminal group that's set up operations there. Lots of tech. Maybe some powered folks. He's still going through the surveillance stuff but, we need to go over all that's been gathered and figure out what we're going to do about them."

AJ Strong has posed:
AJ tilts his head to the side "Lian Yu? That's either.... Silver fish.. carp.. or purgatory depending on how you stress the sounds.." He blinks a few times then focuses on Roy. "Wait? Is that in Asia? I've never been to Asia." He rubs his chin, thinking it over for only a few seconds. "Sure! Sounds like fun. And I'm totally going with the silver carp translation because that's a lot less, um, ominous? Yeah, ominous." He reaches out to grab a few more chips and pop them in his mouth.

Roy Harper has posed:
Roy gives a shrug of his shoulders, "I think it's a starfish shaped island." He hasn't actually been there before, himself. "Purgatory sounds about right, though. Ollie spent some time there a while back." Then he nods and says, "Yeah. It is. And neither have I. So.. firsts all around!" He takes another swig of his soda and says, "Apparently there's a bunch of people with some kind of octopus logo on their uniforms swarming all over it, but I haven't seen the footage yet. I'd already gotten back here by the time Ollie put out the message. But.. you should come back with me, so we can work on it when I go back."

AJ Strong has posed:
"Octopus logo?" AJ snorts. "Well, I guess some people have weird tastes. But, yeah, definitely. Just let me know when and I'll be right there." No hesitation whatsoever. He sips at his soda and stretches his legs out in front of him. "It'll be good to actually put some of this training I've been getting to use, and will liven up the school year a bit I think. I'm already getting pestered about college applications."

Roy Harper has posed:
"Yeah, I don't know who the octopus folks are but I guess that's a little cooler than the Hand. I mean. I'd rather wear an octopus than just a hand. What's that about?" Roy says. Not that he knows much about the Hand either, but has only vaguely heard of them. "So yeah. It'll be good to get out there and do some field work as a team."

AJ Strong has posed:
"Did they just wear a hand, or was it like the Hand of Saruman and they put a big old white handprint on their face. Because that's some nerd cred right there." AJ smirks slightly, blissfully unaware that most of those hand fellas could probably kill him. "I'll need to work in some more staff fighting practive between my classes then."

Roy Harper has posed:
Roy pauses and then blinks and says, "You know.. I .. have no idea." But now he's idly curious. Maybe he'll look into that later. Roy's familiar with a lot of the criminals around Starling City, and even around Gotham to some extent, but The Hand is only something he's heard of vaguely distantly referenced since being in New York. So he's about as clueless as AJ is on that topic. "We can do some practice in the mornings if we want to trade off a running day or two a week for it," Roy suggests.

AJ Strong has posed:
AJ waggles his brows, now that he's put the idea in Roy's head. "See, a handprint isn't so stupid now is it. If you went around with an octopus on your face though, well, that's just silly." He nods, passing his wisdom on in such ways. "I guess that will work, it's still a good workout every morning."

Roy Harper has posed:
"Wouldn't hurt for me to practice a bit more stick work, too," Roy says. He tends to swap up what weapon he's training with every so often to keep all of them in practice, though his bow always takes center stage and is the one that he practices the most. He takes another sip from his drink and says, "Alright. We'll do that then. And I'll let Ollie know that we're down for meeting up to talk more about the stuff that's going on and whatever our next steps are."

AJ Strong has posed:
"I need more parkour practice, too." AJ purses his lips slightly. "I'm going to keep you busy." Followed by a short laugh. "Oh well, I guess you don't mind or you would have kicked me out of here by now." He grins over the rim of his soda can as he takes another sip. "This is.. okay not fun, but exciting. Doing some real work for once."

Roy Harper has posed:
Roy laughs a little bit and says, "You say it like it's a bad thing." Then his smile fades a little and more seriously he says, "I /like/ it. Ollie's.." He considers for a moment how to say it, "He's almost like a father figure, right? He took me in. He trains me. But .. he's not someone my own age. Someone I can feel like is a challenge but we're also really on a level at the same time. And you needing practice keeps me practicing, too. Not that I wouldn't anyway. But it's nice not being alone." He then grins and says, "It's a little fun."

AJ Strong has posed:
"I know what you mean. It was so long that I didn't really have anyone my own age to be around. I mean, dad, tutors, nurses.. I felt more coddled than anything else." He shakes his head. "Part of me wonders if that's why I'm doing this, because I want to prove I don't need to be kept safe." He rubs one arm with his free hand, shaking his head. "It's a little fun." He agrees with a smile.

Roy Harper has posed:
Roy nods and says, "Exactly. And you don't need to be kept safe. I mean, yeah, we all need to have one another's backs, protect each other, but like, not because you can't stand on your own -- just because that's what a team does." He grins. "Even if it means running around in sewer tunnels every once in a while." They weren't sewer tunnels, but it certainly sounds more onorus when one put it that way.

AJ Strong has posed:
"Hey, we were almostcooked pancaked. Well, not really. I don't think those guys were really fighters despite the powers." AJ tilts his head to the side as he thinks. "Still got the adrenaline going. But this.. armed thugs taking over an island. This feels like it's not going to be the childsplay that was. But... I'm glad Ollie trusts me enough to bring me in on this."

Roy Harper has posed:
"You gotta train with live rounds sometime," Roy says with a bit of a grin. "No time like the present. I mean, I'm not sure exactly what we'll be doing, but you're never going to learn if you don't get out there and do it." He lets his shoulders rise and fall. "We've got each other's backs. But yeah, it'll probably be dangerous and we'll have to play it smart. We'll have to meet up with everybody and find out more intel on the whole group -- whether they're just a bunch of crazy squidthugs or if they're something more serious."

AJ Strong has posed:
"Did you just offer to shoot at me? I think that's the sweetest thing you've ever said." Okay, the sarcasm drips a little but AJ is clearly smiling and finds the whole thing amusing. "Well, on that note, I better go get that reading out of the way so I can be up bright and early for training. The book is so boring I'll probably be asleep in a few minutes anyway."

Roy Harper has posed:
"Technically I offered to drag you into a live fire situation and put you at risk of grievous bodily injury," Roy says. Okay, maybe having him actually stay in school is both expanding his vocabulary a little too much, and making him a bit smug. Because he looks smug. Then he breaks into a grin. But then he nods a bit and groans, looking over at the book on his desk. "I guess I need to finish this reading, too." He looks back at AJ then and says, "Meet you out front in the morning?"

AJ Strong has posed:
AJ tosses his soda can in the trash as he hops to his feet. "Yeah, bright and early. I think I need to develop a coffee habit." He puts a hand on Roy's shoulder, giving it a light squeeze before heading to the door.

Roy Harper has posed:
Roy Harper covers AJ's hand with his own and gives it a squeeze in return before releasing it. "Bring me one too," he grins a little bit, on the topic of coffee, and then he slumps back in his chair, staring at his nemesis -- American History.