5446/The History of Owls

The History of Owls
Date of Scene:	05 March 2021
Location:	Strix's Safehouse
Synopsis:	Nightwing visits Strix and brings over art supplies, and asks about her past. Strix gets her Bob Ross on and gives him a slideshow.
Cast of Characters:	Dick Grayson, Strix

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Dick Grayson has posed:
Dick Grayson knocks on the door, raising his voice just slightly to call, "Hey Strix, it's Nightwing, you there?"

Strix has posed:
The door swings open, showing Strix in her civvies. She's wearing a pair of sweatpants and her favorite fuzzy pink unicorn sweater (which still has a few bullet holes in it, but that doesn't seem to matter much to her.) She takes a step back to let Nightwing in. She has a sword in hand, that she was hiding behind the door, just in case it was somebody else, and goes to sheathe nearby. She motions for Nightwing to come in, giving him a grin.

Dick Grayson has posed:
Dick Grayson comes in, burdened with several bags marked with the logo of a local art supply store. "Heya Strix, as promised, I come bearing diversion." He grins back and heads over to the nearest table, putting the bags down. "I figure you've got about everything you could need to try some different kinds of art. I got drawing pads, drawing pencils, charcoal and colored pencils. So you'll be able to try out a buncha things. Also have a couple dvd's to teach drawing techniques in case you wanted some instruction as opposed to just doing your own thing."

He gives an easy shrug, "I've been cooped up a few times, I know how much it sucks. Have you been staying in since I ran into you the other day? I know you don't want to, but until we clear up the Owl thing, it's really dangerous for you out there." Having relieved himself of his burdens, he turns to look at her, knowing any reply will come from her pad.

Strix has posed:
Strix wanders over to the dining room table and picks her pad up off it. She flips through the pages until she finds the right one and holds it up showing it to Nightwing.

THANK YOU

Shen the flips to a blank page and scribbles out

I'VE BEEN
GOOD

Once she's satisfied that Nightwing reads that, she wanders over to the bags of art supplies and starts taking each one out, her eyes lighting up in delight at the plentiful art bounty.

Dick Grayson has posed:
Dick Grayson nods and smiles, "Great." He grabs a chair and flips it around, straddling it and leaning his arms on the back. "Is there anything else you need?" He glances around the apartment, taking in what is visible in the room. Knowing Bruce, probably a large TV with Blu Ray and library of movies, a decently appointed kitchen and fairly comfortable furniture. "I know he can't have everything you might want in here, it's meant to be a kind of generic hideout. Maybe a punching bag or something, don't know how much you enjoy working out or not."

He watches the silent young woman go through the art supplies with a warm smile, enjoying the sight of one raised to such a role so happy with such non-lethal toys. "Well, looks like I did pretty well there. But seriously, if you can think of anything that would help you out here, let me know." He smirks, "Well, other than things like rocket launchers and machine guns, I think we'll just keep away from that sort of toy. But just about anything else, including if you have any favorite foods you'd like."

Strix has posed:
Strix starts arranging the art supplies in neat order. On one end is all the stuff one can draw with. On the other is all the stuff one can draw on. And somewhere in the middle is the DVDs. She looks up at Nightwing and gives him a thoughtful glance, trying to think up of things she might want. Eventually she comes up with:

POP
TARTS

Oh! And something else she just thought of. Flipping to a new page she writes,

TABLET

She's probably gone through several notepads by now.

Dick Grayson has posed:
Dick Grayson nods, "Pop tarts are good, and yeah, I should have thought of that, a tablet would be way easier than writing on paper all the time. I'll grab one and bring it by the next time I visit. Do you have any favorite flavors for the pop tarts? There's a ton out there these days."

He relaxes a little on the chair, laying his chin on his crossed arms, "So I know it'll be a little tough using the pad, but do you want to tell me a little about yourself? I mean, I get that you were raised by the court as an assassin and they didn't really let you be a person very much, but at the same time you seem to have an interest in drawing, is there anything else about yourself you'd like to share?" He's settled in, looking quite ready to wait for you to write as little or as much as you want.

Strix has posed:
Strix considers the first question and answers:

SMORES

The second however, she hesitates. Who she is has been so shaped by the Court, that she can barely remember who she /was/. She looks at the notepad thoughtfully, and, coming to a decision, sets it aside. She pulls one of the art pads closer to her and pulls out a large page. She gets out some colored pencils and gets to work drawing.

Working hastily, so as not to keep Nightwing waiting all that long, a scene begins to form. Green grass depicts a meadow of some sort. Then a brown tree with green leaves and something dangling from it. Maybe a kite? Then people start to form. Two adults it looks like, which she labels MOM and DAD, and two smaller figures. One with pigtails which she labels ME, and another that seems to be running to the kite, who she identifies as IRA.

She holds this drawing up, looking rather serious about it.

Dick Grayson has posed:
Dick Grayson nods, looking the picture over. "Ok, that's pretty clear. You started out with a regular family, including a sibling. But then obviously something happened for you to end up with the court. Unfortunately, I'm guessing it's not a good story."

He gestures at you to continue, "Ok, go ahead with the next part, let's see what happened next. And also, if you're not comfortable showing me, you don't _have_ to tell me about it, just if you want to."

Strix has posed:
Strix doesn't seem all that bothered by sharing her experience. The next step is to pull out some charcoal, and she just scribbles all over the page she just drew, the lines radiating out with the kite looking thing the epicenter of it all. She leaves a little space to write a single word, and holds it up for Nightwing to see.

BOMB

Dick Grayson has posed:
Dick Grayson winces, "I'm sorry. I know what it's like to lose your family, I did too. It's why Batman took me in and trained me. It's really hard to deal with, and I at least had someone who cared, in his way. That impresses me about you already. You went though it, then ended up being made into an assassin, and still you've found the strength inside you to make your own choice."

He nods, "Ok, keep going then, what happened next?"

Strix has posed:
Strix nods, and sets the paper with the drawing aside, and pulls out another. This time she takes out a red pencil and a yellow one along with the black and gets to work. Soon another scene comes together. It's something that Nightwing will know very well. A circus tent. Inside the tent there's a trapeze and a figure swinging from it. Again with the pigtails and the label: ME. She holds this up for Nightwing to see.

Dick Grayson has posed:
Dick Grayson hmms, "Interesting. Not sure how we got from the bomb to you on a trapeze, but ok. So you ended up performing in a circus. I'm guessing you were good at it. Maybe that attracted the court to you. But I suppose I'm better off letting you tell the story than trying to guess ahead." He smiles gently and nods, "Ok, what have we got next?"

Strix has posed:
At the question, Strix frowns, and pulls over the notepad that she uses for words. On it she writes a simple

$

She was literally sold to the circus.

Dick Grayson has posed:
Dick Grayson says, "Oh that.. that sucks. Who did that to you? I'd like to have a long talk with them about right and wrong." He shakes his head, "Ok, go on.""

Strix has posed:
Strix just shrugs at the mention of whoever did it. It really isn't important and besides, they're long dead by now. In the circus tent she left an opening to where she could draw another figure. This time, instead of hastily scribbling out something, she very carefully draws in a face. No. A mask. One that's recognizable as the blank features of the Court of Owls. He's holding out a hand, putting another little dollar sign in it. She was sold, again, to the Court. Presumably for a much more substantial sum than from when she was bought. She holds up the picture to show Nightwing again.

Dick Grayson has posed:
Dick Grayson nods, "Ok, now that doesn't really surprise me. Anyone who would buy a child would have no problem selling them for a profit." He shakes his head, "It's amazing how corrupt some people are." He gestures at you, "So the court bought you, probably because you were a skilled acrobat, and no doubt your training started then and there. Ok, what have we got next?"

Strix has posed:
Strix just shrugs, as if to say not much after that. To illustrate her point she goes to the closet and brings out her hood, which she puts on, and sits down across from Nightwing.

Dick Grayson has posed:
Dick Grayson nods "Ok, so they got, you, trained you and made you a weapon." He gestures to the mask she currently has on. "So what happened to make you break away from them? I mean, I understand that you want to be a person, but was there something specific that made you suddenly realize it?"

Strix has posed:
Strix, still in the hood, stares at the various art supplies for a moment, before grabbing another sheet of art paper, and some red and black pencils. Again she takes her time with this one, making sure to get enough details so that who it is may be a bit more obvious. Deadpool. Underneath it she labels it WADE

Dick Grayson has posed:
Dick Grayson laughs warmly, "I don't know him personally, but I've heard of him. So you either ran into or were ordered to kill Deadpool, and I'm guessing he decided to talk to you? Remind me to send him a thank you card." He grins, "Ok, so tell me a little about your encounter with Wade."

Strix has posed:
Strix thinks about this one for a moment, setting aside the colored pencils. For this, she brings out the notepad and scribbles down,

WE ATE
ICE CREAM

for Nightwing. She shrugs, turns to another page and adds,

HE WAS
FUNY

It's a good thing that she has her hood on, otherwise Nightwing would be able to see her blush a bit as she thought about her time with Deadpool.

Dick Grayson has posed:
Dick Grayson grins, shaking his head, "Somehow from what I've heard, I can sort of believe he would be able to talk you out of being used by someone. Well, whatever he did or said, I'm glad he was able to help you realize you could be more than a tool. And I'm also glad that we're here to help you break away from the court. Nobody deserves to be used like that, and I'll do whatever I can to make sure you stay free of them."

Strix has posed:
Strix nods solemnly, taking off her hood. She flips through the notebook until she finds the right page.

THANK YOU

Dick Grayson has posed:
Dick Grayson smiles, "You're very welcome. We'll talk more soon, but for now I have some things to do. I'll be back soon with your pop tarts and a tablet for you. Enjoy the art stuff, hopefully it'll keep you occupied for a while. If for some reason I can't make it back tomorrow, I'll ask one of the others to stop in and keep you company, ok?" He gets up and heads over towards the door. "Have a good night Strix, I'll see you soon."