9274/Holly and Alley

Holly and Alley
Date of Scene:	25 December 2021
Location:	Cathedral Square - Founders Island
Synopsis:	Phoebe and Austin have a bit of a heart-to-heart on their way to a Bodega and discuss the super hero life -- which is interrupted by Batman fighting Tombstone. Batman gets wished a Merry Christmas by Balm and Reese.
Cast of Characters:	Phoebe Beacon, Austin Reese, Bruce Wayne

---

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    It is cold in Gotham City. The wind is whipping around the alleyways, stirring up the dusty, dry snow that's mixed with the dirt from the street and the ashes of discarded cigarettes.

    Phoebe Beacon was out for a walk. She'd finished through her entire backstock of energy drinks at Shadowcrest, and required additional caffination, so in lieu of her hood and domino, she's wearing a wool coat with a gray hood, her hair braided. She held a hot coffee to warm her fingers up, and had a bag tucked over her elbow, a cloth reusable bag with the phrase "CARING IS PUNK AF" on it, boots tapping lightly against the pavement.

Austin Reese has posed:
It's Gotham, it's Christmas Eve. Austin is surprised there hasn't been some sort of themed villain attack. But instead of hunkering down somewhere and waiting for the inevitable, he has opted to go hit up one of the bodegas he usually frequents. He likes the cat there. Plus he's still a bit hungry and knows this place will be open.

It's probably odd to see Phoebe somewhere other than a roof. But he wouldn't recognize her without the mask and hood most likely.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    It is odd that there hasn't been any attacks, yet. Phoebe was thinking that too. Her eyes are downcast a brief moment as she passes Austin, not placing him right away, and that's where the trouble begins.

    "Heeey pretty lady!" some creep shouts up, stubbing out a cigarette as he calls out to Phoebe across the street. "I ain't seein' no mistletoe but I got somethin' you can kiss right here!"

Austin Reese has posed:
Austin can hear the guy yelling out from across the street, as he turns his attention towards the guy yelling at the woman he just passed, "Hey buddy, where's your Christmas spirit!" He calls out to him, "Better be nice before Santa gives you coal!"

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "It's better to let it go." comes that slightly familiar voice. Phoebe turns, and gives a slight smile to Austin. "Thanks, though. Nice to see someone standing up on the streets..." she purses her lips. And she takes a breath. "Austin, right?"

Austin Reese has posed:
The familiar voice makes Austin blink for a second, turning back to look at Phoebe, and squinting a little bit. He holds up a hand to block the upper part of her face, "Oh hey..." He doesn't know if it's cool to mention superhero names on the street, so he opts not to for now, "Yeah, it's me Austin."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Phoebe." she introduces herself as herself, and her smile is warm as she regards the other rooftop-runner. "I also do research, so, you see me streetside sometimes." she explains. "On your way to the bodega?" she asks, "Or just out being the hero Gotham needs?"

Austin Reese has posed:
"Ah well, it's good to meet you Phoebe." Austin says, as he grins back at her, "Well again." He hmms at the question, "Well I haven't heard any maniacal laughter or explosions, so probably the bodega." He says, though he takes a look around, "What about you? Looks like you already got some coffee, so I'm guessing long night?"

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Yes." Phoebe gives a small smile. "I'm doing some research at a friend's place for a problem we're having in New York City." she explains, and she turns to walk back to the bodega, and she falls in step with Austin. "And I have a deal, if I start hearing Maniacal Laughter, it's defensive manuevers only." she jokes. "What about you? Going to work later, or going to knock heads overnight?"

Austin Reese has posed:
"I've been thinking about setting up something." Austin says, "You know those shot spotter things the cops use to be able to triangulate when gunfire is heard? I figured if I can rig up something to those towers, I could have it send the info to my phone." He says, "Just so I don't have to try to be in the right place at the right time."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "... piggybacking on their signal and sending direct, or having it send to you in addition?" she questions quietly. She knows a bit about computers and technology, but really her path's taken some weird turns.

    Phoebe turns and looks up to Austin with curiosity.

Austin Reese has posed:
"Send to me in addition." He replies, "Wouldn't want the cops to not be able to respond." He says, as he smiles, "Especially since I can't exactly be everywhere at once. I don't have a plane or teleportation like some of the heroes around here do."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "And hi-tensile lines only get you so far when you don't know the bus schedule." she follows up. "... but having a plane would be nice. If you weren't afraid of them." she looks down at her left hand, and ticks off a couple things in her brain.

    "Being in multiple locations at once is pretty daunting nonetheless. Divided attention and ability and --" she pauses, and then tilts her head back "Nevermind -- research brain." she explains.

    "But seriously. Learn the bus and metro schedule, first thing I did when I started out."

    'Started out' is relative. She looks barely out of highschool.

Austin Reese has posed:
"I've got a motorcycle." Austin replies, "Helps to get in and out of traffic in a hurry." He makes a motion with his hand about weaving through cars, "But knowing alternate ways might not be a bad idea.." He considers a question though, "So what do you do other than, you know, running around rooftops with a mask?" He asks, "I mean you probably have a real job right?"

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Oh! Yeah, I have a motorcycle. Not looking forward to having to ride in the ice and snow. Mine's pretty old though, might need to look into updating some of my parts if I want to keep the frame. The frame's solid, at least." she states, and then she purses her lips a moment, and then tilts her head back. "... ah... that might be a bit more complicated to explain than my 'part time night job'." Phoebe admits. "Remember how I pulled the card with my number from thin air?"

Austin Reese has posed:
"I get you..Mine's over a decade old now, used to belong to my dad." He says, as he frowns faintly after saying it, "So yeah I do my best to keep it up and running.." He nods a bit as she mentions the way she got the card, "What do you do kids birthday parties or something?"

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phoebe pauses, and she looks up at Austin with a look of Abject Horror.

    "Oh, oh no. That would... that would be an awful idea. No. Noooooo no no. No." she tilts her head back and just gives a look that is halfway between trying not to laugh and trying not to cry.

    "I do occult research and investigation."

Austin Reese has posed:
"Oh like magic and stuff?" He asks, as he considers the response, "I mean I know there's a lot of magical heroes around..But I guess I've always kinda just figured it was some weird esoteric thing." He hmms, "So do you use magic? Or just research it?"

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "... it's a long story." Phoebe gives a small, sad smile, and reaches up to touch at a silver locket at her neck, and she looks at Austin.

    "Both, really. My 'dayjob' is less research and more activity. When I'm not patrolling? I'm... typically acting as a bar back. Bar's closed at the moment, though. There's a big hole in the roof."

Austin Reese has posed:
"That's unfortunate." Austin replies, "I mostly volunteer around the neighborhood.." And he also has a ton of money he illicitly aquired from one of the biker gangs but he can keep that to himself, "Then you know, night time activities...Though sometimes I find myself roped into bigger stuff.."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Yeah... this life tends to do that to you. Holy crap does this life do that to everyone. One of the reasons why I warned you that this stuff's not easy, you know?" she replies to Austin, giving a smile as they walk. "And one day you wake up and realize that your 'normal' is so different, that you kinda forget what normal is."

Austin Reese has posed:
"In my defense...My normal hasn't really been normal since No Man's Land." He replies, "Lots of folks still haven't recovered from that. Still struggling to piece things back together even years later." He rubs his head a little bit, "Seems like every couple of years something hits. Aliens or natural disasters or natural disasters caused by aliens.."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Yeah... I barely remember No Man's Land." Phoebe admits quietly, and she pauses to look over the streets.

    "But it gets less normal. So much less normal." she frowns, and brings her hand to her chest, pressing against her sternum a moment.

    "We also passed by the bodega." she points out, with a little playful smile.

Austin Reese has posed:
Austin blinks as she mentions that they've walked past the bodega, "Oh. Huh." He does grin a little, "I suppose it's fine, we can go around the block and come back." He says, "I'm having fun chatting with you. You're the first person who's in this kinda life that's taken any time to talk to me."

Bruce Wayne has posed:
Christmas Eve is never truly peaceful and quiet in Gotham City. Someone is always planning something, and this year is no exception. A window two floors up explodes outward suddenly, a rain of glass showering down onto the pavement. A dark shape follows, plummeting through the air before hitting the sidewalk with enough force to crack the concrete beneath it. It's only when the sodium-yellow streetlamp illuminates the shape that it becomes clear what it is.

A large man in a tailored suit, his features stony grey with a close-cut crop of white hair lies groaning on the ground. Perched on his chest, a big man himself but seeming positively diminutive by comparison, is the caped silhouette of Batman. He raises a fist, driving it across the prone figure's face with a heavy crack-thud.

"Stay down, Lincoln," Batman growls through his teeth.

"That ... tickled."

The large man clutches Batman by his shoulders, heaving him away and into the door of a parked car that buckles under the impact.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "I wish I had someone who did when I started out." Phoebe admits. "I almost wish I had someone who tried to talk me out of it harder than Red Rob--"

    The hair on the back of her neck rose up, and she calls out:
    "Stay close!"

    She raises her hands. On the back of them spin to life her magical circles, paired squares forming an octogram surrounded by Hiertic script, and then a glowing shield forms above Phoebe and Austin, her dark eyes going wide at the glass that falls on them.

    Welp. She did say her day job was more to the 'active' side of magic, didn't she?

Austin Reese has posed:
Austin's reaction time is not as good as Balm's, but he does react when she calls out to stay close. He ducks down, looking up to see the shield form and the glass rain down around them. His eyes trace the two figures down into the sidewalk nearby, and he blinks in surprise. Batman, and...He doesn't recognize the guy that he's brawling with, but the guy seems to have just shrugged off that punch without a second thought.

"Ah shit. At least there's no maniacle laughter to go with it." He says to Balm, though that may change.

Bruce Wayne has posed:
The man with the deathly pallor rises up to his feet, twisting his head to one side and making an audible 'crack' like the sound of dry wood being twisted apart. Batman remains on the ground for a moment, breathing deeply and glaring at the man through the glowing white eyelets of his cowl.

"Y'know, never thought I'd be the one to deal with you, but I gotta say the bragging rights are going to be delicious."

As the man talks, Batman glances in the direction of Austin and Phoebe. There's a barely imperceptible quirk of his head, before he returns his focus to the man called Lincoln.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phoebe gives a slight grin. "No, no maniacal laughter out of that one." she states, and she reaches into her bag, and then she brings her right hand over her left wrist. Remaining goft from a former mentor. She pulls the hood of her jacket over her head, "Exolvo mi, da mihi lumen!"

    And a glowing circle around her appears briefly as her aura charges, her eyes glowing dimly in the shadows of her hood.

Austin Reese has posed:
Well Austin doesn't have any fancy magic or disguises, so he'll have to do this the old fashioned way. He does pull his own hood up however, to help hide his face in shadow from the big scary looking pale guy.

He's trying to think how best to approach this. This guy is obviously focused on Batman so Austin is able to move freely for the moment, but he doesn't have any weapons on him. Though that gives him an idea. It's a city, there's stuff everywhere that can be used as a weapon.

He takes a knee and scoops up some of that snow, packing it tightly into a ball, and then using his best pitcher's stance, throws it towards the side of Tombstone's head.

He's just hoping the guy will be distracted by the snowball and let Batman hit him.

Bruce Wayne has posed:
Tombstone pauses as the snowball strikes the back of his head, his menacing lurch towards the Caped Crusader immediately halted. Slowly, viciously he turns to level his gaze at Austin. His massive hands form into fists, knuckles popping loudly as he does. He winces at the sudden burst of light from Phoebe, turning fully to face the pair.

"Couple of freak kids, huh? Why don't you run along home now and - GAH!"

It's at that moment that the Batman is suddenly on his feet, clinging to Tombstone's back with one forearm wrapped around his throat. The large man bucks and throws, trying to shake him off but to no avail. His teeth bared, he opens his mouth to speak only for Batman to cram something sticky and clay-like into it. Tombstone's eyes widen for a second, a puff of acrid smoke fills the air, and then he collapses to the ground with a reverberating and noisy snore.

The darkling figure of Batman rises before them, wrapped in shadow.

"Ms. Beacon. Mr. Reese."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phoebe's arms were crossed, about to cast an additional shielding spell, but the burst of light and Austin's snowball was enough to give The Batman an opening.

    She drops her hands, and returns what was in her left hand to her bag -- Batman would probably recognize an extending staff -- and she breathes out: ""Qui lucem quaerunt in tenebris manent."

    HEr aura fades, and she looks to the circle on her left wrist again before she gives a nod to Batman.

    "Batman... sir. Merry Christmas."

Austin Reese has posed:
Wow. One distraction was all it took for Batman to take that guy down. Losing focus for even a second against Batman and it's lights out. Austin had heard the stories, seen video footage, but seeing it first hand up close like this, it was something else.

Then of course Batman addresses him by name. He does his best not to fanboy, but at the same time is absolutely shocked, "Ah, wow. Good evening, sir." When Phoebe says Merry Christmas, he doesn't know what else to say, so he repeats it, "Merry Christmas."

Bruce Wayne has posed:
There's a pause, and a faint flicker of recognition across the Batman's face that disappears as quickly as it came.

"It is."

He'd, quite honestly, forgot. There's a point to fill the manor with Christmas cheer, but on Gotham's rooftops it's easy to forget the significance of the day if not the time itself.

"Merry Christmas to the both of you," he nods his head, drawing his cape about himself, looking to Austin, "I remember you from the stadium. That was good work. Unnecessarily dangerous, but good."

He stands there for a moment, looking up towards the moon and the heavy clouds that perpetually loom above the city.

"You should get home. This isn't safe."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    With her aura sealed back in, Phoebe looks up at Batman, and she gives a nod, drawing her hood back down as she looks to her discarded coffee (;_;) and her bag of energy drinks still on her arm. She'd rather forgotten as well. harder when you don't have family to celebrate with.

    She brushes a few shards of glass off her jacket as she gives an agreeable nod to The Batman.

    She does give a look to Austin, and it's a look that says 'ooooh' with a measure of impressed on her gaze, and she breathes out, puff of air hanging in the streets.

    "I'll be heading back home." she states. To the Robin's Roost.

Austin Reese has posed:
"Hey unnecessarily dangerous is the name of the game, right? But thank you. I mean it." Austin says, though he looks over to Phoebe, "Guess we'll have to hit that bodega up another time, huh?" He then looks back to Batman for a second.

"I'll head back home home too though." He is satisfied, however, that not only does Batman remember him but he also thinks he did a good job. Maybe his decision to do this kinda thing isn't a bad one after all.

Bruce Wayne has posed:
"No," Batman says flatly, "The name of the game is mitigating the danger. Unnecessary danger is unnecessary risk. That's a lesson you should learn sooner rather than later."

There's another long pause from the Dark Knight, permeated with a gruff and standoffish demeanour. Finally, however, he looks them both and speaks.

"There's a Christmas dinner that the Martha Wayne Foundation puts on tonight. If you're looking for food that isn't energy drinks and coffee, I'd suggest going there."

A gloved hand is extend towards Phoebe, holding a business card with the address for the Martha Wayne Foundation building.

"The both of you."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "I'm... I'm not--" Phoebe starts off with a stammer, and she gives a slight tap of her foot. "I'm there tomorrow volunteering with some friends." she admits, but she accepts the card, unwilling to tip more of what she's doing with those energy drinks and research to Austin yet. She reaches up and pushes against her sternum slightly, and she gives a breath out, feeling like it wasn't precisely a suggestion.

    The Roost has food, we promise, Tim pays for the groceries!

Austin Reese has posed:
"I think I know where that is." Austin replies. He doesn't need the card, "Christmas dinner does sound pretty good." THough when Phoebe makes it clear she's not gonna be coming but will be there on Christmas day, he hmms faintly, "Shame. Even if you gotta be up all night, real food can help. At least better than a bodega burrito." Either way he's definitely going, because that sounds too good to pass up.

Bruce Wayne has posed:
The flutter of conversation between the two young people is all the opening Batman needs. A glance away, a blink of the eye, and he's gone. The space he occupied empty as though he were never there, and only a faint breeze suggesting his passage into the evening.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "I can't eat the bodega burrito, they're all beef or pork and I'm vegetarian!" Phoebe cracks a very slight smile -- and she knew that the Bat was gone.

    She takes a breath, and she motions her head. "C'mon, we can stop at the bodega and then I'll walk you to the Foundation building. Least I can do."

    And then a soft "I can't beleive you hit him with a snowball. That was *great* timing."