5618/The Cat That Dated the Canary

The Cat That Dated the Canary
Date of Scene:	17 March 2021
Location:	A moderately priced hotel room.
Synopsis:	Not the worst first date ever.
Cast of Characters:	Dinah Lance, Thomas Blake

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Dinah Lance has posed:
Warm. Warm and comfortable.

Dinah is resting her cheek on a warm, muscular, and hairy chest. Breathe in. Breathe out. He smells wonderful. They are covered by a thin sheet.

<Wait a second! Where the hell are we? And who the hell is this? Are we really naked in bed with this guy?>

Yeaaaaaah, she is. Annnd, quick check. Yep, he's naked, too. And buff. And he smells really good.

<Snap out of it, Dinah! Think!> She picks her head up a little and squints. Cheap hotel room. Nothing around. No clothes. Nothing. Wait, she's still wearing her mask. And so is he.

Catman...

Thomas Blake has posed:
Flowers.

Thomas likes the smell of flowers. There were few flowers on the veldt. He breathes in deeply and catches himself.

Not flowers... body wash or shampoo, worn by a woman. Women and men have subtle differences. As a side note, she demons smell like cinnamon. Thomas' smell usually wakes up first. Then he's aware of the cheek on his chest, his arm around muscular small shoulders. Ever so slowly his eyes will open a crack. He stares into beautiful blue eyes. His eyes open wide with an almost audible click. He takes in the information fast... realizing he still wears his mask. Well good he'd feel almost na... just a goddam minute.

Canary.

"If you let me tell Batman, I'll go straight for a year..." He attempts a smile.

Dinah Lance has posed:
<HOLYSHIT! I JUST SLEPT WITH CATMAN! Or did I? Something isn't right about this....>

Canary picks her head up, smiling lazily in return. She sniffs. He smells soooooo.... dammmmmmn.... goooooooood.

"Batman? Why's that? Batman's not my boyfriend or anything. And why do you smell so good?" She shifts to get a little more comfortable. At least for one of them.

<Think, Dinah. Think with your brain, not your libido. You met at the drop point, then went to dinner. What happened next?>

And why does he smell so good?

Thomas Blake has posed:
Thomas Blake wraps his arm around her neck pulling her in close for a kiss. He waits for her hair to fall over him, hiding his face.

"Something is going on here. Definitely. I wasn't drinking. I think you had a beer. We are being played and probably watched or bugged at least. Nah watched or they'd leave our clothes on... you smell fantastic by the way. Want to let me up so I can look around?" He gives her a gentle nudge. He also likes what she has on. All the villains hooked her up with Batman. Hunh.

Dinah Lance has posed:
A kiss? Oh HELL yeah! Dinah returns the kiss. With enthusiasm. Blonde hair spills forward, tickling him just a little as she enjoys herself.

<Whoaaaah there! Back off, cowboy!>

The kiss parts and she licks her lips, looking one part disappointed and one part hungry. She listens to what he's saying.

Blink.

They're being played? The fog begins to lift. Then he nudges her, and she obliges.

Canary rolls smoothly off of the bed to her feet, not bothering with the sheet or any semblance of modesty. Anyone who's going to see something has already seen it, after all. "Thanks. You smell great, yourself. I don't remember anything after dinner. For that matter, I don't even remember LEAVING dinner." Pause. "And we'll talk about THIS...." she points to the bed, then to him. "... later."

Thomas Blake has posed:
Thomas Blake gets up and throws a sheet to her. "Cameras?"

He thinks about it and takes a sheet himself as he looks around. There's a table with covered dishes on it, he lifts one to reveal bacon, eggs and toast. He gives it a cautious sniff. Then he heads into the bathroom and shuts the door. He looks around briefly. No medicine cabinet, a mirror bolted to the wall. Another floor to ceiling mirror and the shower is the sort you can have a small gathering in if you are so inclined. Glass doors. He exits and looks for the Canary.

Dinah Lance has posed:
Maybe he's right. Dinah catches the tossed sheet. Around, around, over the shoulder, tuck it in. Presto! Instant sarong. Snug it up a bit for freedom of movement, and all set to go.

When Catman returns from the bathroom, Canary is standing on the bed wearing her improvised sarong. "Everything is bolted down tight." she declares, peering closely along the wall and ceiling. "Walls are unusually solid for a cheap motel. Same with the ceiling. What do you think? Anything in the bathroom I could use to pick the lock?"

Thomas Blake has posed:
Thomas Blake shakes his head. "Nothing like that. Whole lotta bubble baths and such. So... pick a spot you want a door and give a yell. Get off there. I'm the one jumps on things..." He extends a hand to her. "Whoever this is write bad fanfic on the weekends. Don't worry nothing happened. If it did they'd have made their demands or got rid of us."

Dinah Lance has posed:
Dinah Lance smirks at the bubble bath, shaking her head. Yeah, her brain is beginning to clear rapidly now. Taking his offered hand, her thumb rolls lightly over the back as she steps down. Nostrils flare, and there's a brief flashback into happy-land before she shakes it off.

"Going old-school on the locks, yeah." she replies, padding over. For such a cheap-looking hotel room, the lock is surprisingly sturdy. And modern. "I'll try to keep it focused, but you'll wanna cover your ears..."

The blonde crouches down, getting close to the lock. "skrrreEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!"

Thomas Blake has posed:
Thomas Blake winces and covers his ears, doubling over. The door lock and the heavy wooden door shatter, falling outward. Six men wait beyond brandishing dart guns or tasers. Catman leapfrogs over the blonde and runs up the wall. He isn't the Flash or Spider-Man. He manages the wall run for maybe six feet, landing in the middle of the guards. He hooks his arm around a guard in the first row throwing him backward into his teammate. Then he's lashing out in the confusion, completely feral.

"Look out he's gaaak!" "Get hi- urrk!" "Aggggh outta my way!" Darts and tasers strike him with little effect. In fact he's a strong argument against using tasers or darts as he throws men around.

Dinah Lance has posed:
Dinah Lance rises from her crouch as the door shatters, blue eyes taking in the situation for a split second before Catman just charges right in. She sprints in closer on bare feet while he has them distracted. Mostly distracted, anyway. Pivoting to dodge a couple of darts, she catches a wrist and slams her heel into an instep, aiming the next shot right at one of the other guards. Pivot again, and the taser aimed at her takes the shooter right in the kidney.

She drops his still-twitching body, wading into the fray with short, efficient, knife-hand nerve strikes. Twisting and dodging, nothing touches her and it's all over very quickly.

One moment there are flailing guards. Now there are nothing but unconscious bodies.

Thomas Blake has posed:
Thomas Blake huffs, looking down at her, then pulls a dart from his chest, and another. He huffs again.

"We should leave before the adrenaline wears off." He looks around and takes another look to make sure the woman is all right.

Dinah Lance has posed:
Dinah Lance is jusssst fine. Looking around the hallway, she bends down, then picks up a tonfa riot stick from one of the guards. Tucking it casually into a ready-position, Canary adds. "You can leave if you want, but I have a lot of questions and our audience seems to have lost interest. This obviously isn't a cheap hotel, which means that we were targeted. I want to know why, and by whom."

Her breathing is slowing a bit, and she looks him over. "Are you okay? Just to be clear, we won't be killing anyone. But right now it would be real easy to convince me to hurt them very badly."

Thomas Blake has posed:
Thomas Blake nods as he pulls a uniform off a guard. He pauses to say, "Maybe cool it with the high kicks in that outfit or grab a uniform." He for his part lets the sheet fall where it may as he dresses. For good measure he takes a club. Then he stoops and comes up with a key card on a lanyard. He peers at a logo. "This place is called... Masques? I don't think I want to know. There's an important looking door right here marked security. Want to try our new card?" He gets a rakish grin. "I'm getting to like you, Tiny."

Dinah Lance has posed:
Dinah Lance smirks and turns towards him when he starts retrieving a uniform. "Listen, I don't -need- to use high kicks with these bo-..." Then the sheet falls and she finds a sudden interest in another guard's uniform. She steals the shirt, which is long enough to be a tunic on her, and puts it on over the sheet. A tug on the sheet, and it falls to the floor as well. The blonde snags a key card for herself as well. "Masques... doesn't ring a bell. And you let me know if any of those darts you took start to make you woozy. There's no way I'm dragging your unconscious butt outta here without help."

Thomas Blake has posed:
Thomas Blake wobbles a little and then steadies himself. He goes to the 'Security' door and tries the card. It opens. "No thumb print or retina scanner. Middling security. Whooooah." Before Catman is a bank of monitors showing the various components of a bacchanalia. Even Catman is stunned for a moment.

"These people are all wearing super costumes and masks... oh I get it now... hey that fat bastard has my gear on. I'll murder him... all right, he'll live but he gets marked. Room four. Oh... I think that's your stuff... on that guy." He starts making a strangled sound and turns away from her.

Dinah Lance has posed:
Dinah Lance shoots Catman a concerned look when he wobbles, relaxing as he rights himself again. She steps up to the bank of monitors and just gapes for a moment. "Oh. My.... seriously? I'm gonna get my costume back, so that I can burn it properly." Room four. Right. Then Thomas turns away for a moment.

"I don't get it, though. Who's at the other end of the cameras? This is the security feed..." She looks at all the monitors, making note of the rooms that are 'in use'. "Let's clear out the building and haul these folks in for questioning. I wanna bring the whole place down, but that's definitely not an elegant solution."

Thomas Blake has posed:
Thomas Blake begins checking some lockers for weapons.

No, definitely not weapons.

He turns back to Black Canary and takes in the tunic. "Why didn't you grab some pants?" Not that he's complaining. He hefts the club and says, "Right, room four. Lead on. You're the brains."

Dinah Lance has posed:
"Because every one of those guys is a foot taller than I am. And I like walking without tripping." she quips back. Looking down the hall, she tucks her club into a ready position under her arm and starts towards room four at a light jog. No knocking. She keys the door with her stolen ID and opens it. Violently.

"Alright! Against the wall if you don't wanna get hurt!"

Thomas Blake has posed:
Thomas Blake slips the card through the slot and opens the door. He stops and gestures for her to go in. "I'll be right behind you as soon as I stop laughing." Hey maybe the darts are having an effect?

The couple in the room look up in shock then 'Catman' figures out the claws on his gloves and pops them. "Hey staff participation! Rrrr I'mma scratch! Rrrrr!"

"I. Don't. Sound. Like. THAT!"

Dinah Lance has posed:
Dinah Lance steps well into the room, rolling her eyes as the claws pop out of the gloves. "Seriously?" Then she glances back at the REAL Catman when he gruffly protests. Fake-portly Catman gets bolder, stepping up and trying to look menacing to the blonde who's not wearing pants.

Dinah swings the tonfa twice; the first taking him behind the knees and the second one neatly knocking him unconscious before his head hits the floor. "No you don't." she agrees.

Thomas Blake has posed:
When the blonde turns around Catman has the small boned man by the ear. "You were going to burn this outfit... you want him wearing it or not?" The man faints, slumping on Blake. "Oh for..." He shoves the man off him. Then he goes to work changing clothes. He keeps the claws popped and works at the uniform he was just wearing for a moment before holding up a pair of pants with the legs cut short for Canary. "You wear a size nuffin' am I right?"

Dinah Lance has posed:
Dinah Lance wrinkles her nose, glancing over as Catman works on the stolen uniform. Then she starts shucking her bodysuit off of the slender... guy. Ew. "I feel like I should be wearing gloves or a hazmat suit or something." she replies, trying not to look as she recovers her violated suit.

"These guys have no idea how much custom leather costs these days." she replies, holding up her bodysuit with a sad expression. Dinah leaves the fishnets, apparently having limits to her bravery. When Catman offers the shorts she chuckles. But she accepts them all the same. "A good belt is all that's needed..." She finds one, and becomes much more decent.

Thomas Blake has posed:
Thomas Blake looks through the phony Catman's pockets after finding his clothes. "Hey, score! A cel phone! And cash. I'm keeping this. He disrespected me! You trashed him before me. I'm keeping it and if you don't like it give me those shorts back." He slips his hands in the gloves and tests their workings. Pop Shick Pop Shick. He seems satisfied. Well he doesn't look like a ragamuffin. "You can call your JLA pals and I can leave. Here you go." He steps close to her.

"For what it's worth this evening wasn't all bad. Do I get a good night kiss?" He puts his hands on her shoulders.

Dinah Lance has posed:
Dinah Lance looks up into his eyes, the lack of boots emphasizing their height difference all the more. Eyelids grow heavy, her lips parting a little...

The the tip of the wooden club rests in the hollow of his throat and she smiles coyly. "Next time we get take-out." Canary quips back.

Which... isn't a 'no'.

She turns to do a little more searching, then, and finds her communicator. "I'll take it from here. And for what it's worth, I've had worse first dates."

Thomas Blake has posed:
Thomas Blake smirks at the club to his throat. He steps back from it and raises his hands. "Takeout... dinner or breakfast?" Big step back. "So League is coming... I'm am out of here. I'll be in touch. Somehow. I do want to know how you hide that communicator sometime." With that he's out of the room and opening doors, starting a general uproar and confusion for the League to find and deal with. He figures it will avoid embarrassing questions for her, what she's wearing and such and she was a good egg. He finds the exit and slips out.

Dinah Lance has posed:
Dinah Lance picks up the communicator and pushes her access code. Punching a couple more buttons, she calls the Watchtower. "J'onn? It's Canary. Listen, I've got a bit of a situation down here..."

At least Batman didn't pick up. The report on this one is going to be bad enough without the silent judgement of her personal life choices.