Blackbird Singing in the Dead of Night [ OPEN ]

[just_daine]

WHO: just_daine and Costumed Folks
WHERE: All over!
WHEN: All day and night
WARNINGS: Possible violence?
SUMMARY: DAINE STALKS SUPERHEROES IN BIRD FORM
FORMAT: Starting as prose, but switching to action is acceptable

Comments

late night...around midnight?

[xuffasch]

Damian was, if nothing else, a creature of habit. He liked routine, so even after arriving in a new city a few months ago he had been quick to establish a pattern. And so, on nights when he patrolled on his own, he often found himself on a low-roofed building overlooking the city’s largest museum. That was where he was tonight, crouched over the edge, eyes trained on the main alleyways and entrances around it. It was pretty stupid, he surmised, for criminals to keep targeting a location that was constantly protected. But it mattered little to him; it gave him more of an opportunity for human punching-bags.

[just_daine]

The barn owl simply watched, perched as she was on the roof of a nearby building. The boy was just sitting there, but he was wearing a mask and even a cloak, as though he were going to some strange party. And since when did humans wander around on rooftops anyway? It was hard to resist getting closer, but her owl instincts warned her away from the potential threat to her food source.

[xuffasch]

Damian doesn't tend to notice wildlife unless it's doing something out of the ordinary, so he continues his stakeout without much deviation. It's only when he notices a scuffle occurring on the street below that he makes a move. His jaw clenches, and he's on his feet and shooting out a jump line within a matter of moments, swooping down in between a ring of muggers and their intended victims.

[just_daine]

She nearly jumped out of her skin when he leapt off the roof like that, and quickly darted after him. He was fast for a creature that wasn't made to fly through the air. And what was he doing jumping into the middle of a fight like that? Wasn't that what the Provost's Guard - or rather, the police, she corrected herself - were for?

She found a new perch on a nearby lamp post, but if he was planning on jumping around all night perhaps she would have been better off as a nighthawk.

[xuffasch]

The fight doesn't last long. Even three against one, the level of a common crook is nothing for a Robin. Damian ends up behind one, twists his arm behind his back, and then uses him as a bulldozer on the other. Within a few minutes, the three are tied up and sitting back-to-back in the alleyway, while Damian looks coldly at the people he's rescued.

"You were supposed to have run about three minutes ago." This sends them scurrying away, while Damian rolls his eyes in a manner so exaggerated its visible even beneath the mask.

[just_daine]

Daine was in awe. Clearly this must be what they meant when they said the city called for heroes. She couldn't help herself, she wanted a closer look.

Gliding into an alley to change once more, inspiration hit Daine. He may have been jumping around on rooftops, but he was only human. That meant he was confined by gravity. Maybe she would be less conspicuous if she followed him around as a cat.

Not long later a young black cat slinked out of the alley, sniffing the air to catch the boy's scent through a different nose.

[xuffasch]

Damian was brushing off his hands, not even pausing for breath before pulling out a small device and examining it carefully. The screen told him there were at least four other crimes occurring in his near vicinity; the quickest was a robbery two streets away. He was just preparing to head that way when he caught the cat's motion out of the corner of his eye.

He looked down at it, and his lips twitched upwards in a smile for the briefest second. Then he was off, running out onto the main street and towards the robbery.

[just_daine]

She was about to mewl at him in the hopes that he might pause and give her a chance to take a closer look at his clothes, but then he was off again. She gave chase, ignoring all of the interesting smells her sharp nose alerted her to. There were interesting sounds as well, despite the late hour. It seemed to Daine's keen ears that they were getting closer to the sounds. She wondered if this what was heroes normally did: look for fights in the middle of the night while everyone else was sleeping.

[xuffasch]

It takes about seven minutes to get to the next location, by which time the robbers, who had tripped the alarm ten minutes earlier, were leaving, arms laden with stolen goods. Damian had to pause and mutter to himself for a moment about the presence of "walking cliches" in the city, but after that it was to work again, diving into one of the robber's ankles and forcing him to fall backwards against his companions. It's another quick job, hardly anything of a challenge, but between taking them out and shoving the stolen appliances back into the shop, Damian's breath is quickening by the time he's through.

When he is, he stands back on the curbside for a moment to catch his breath--not having noticed that the cat had given chase.

[just_daine]

When the cat reached the scene he was half-way done with the fight. It was lucky for her that cats have such good stamina, but she was hardly a normal cat and she was short of breath herself.

When he sat down on the curb Daine approached from behind, stalking him like prey to try to get a look at his cloak. When she's close enough, she can't resist the urge to bat at it like a toy. It's an odd material, but... surprisingly fun to play with.

[xuffasch]

He notices the tug, but restrains himself from jumping up at the motion like he might've otherwise. Instead, Damian carefully turns his head to look, and sees the cat pulling at his cape. His first inclination is to be annoyed, but after a moment he looks back at the cat and lets out a huffy sigh.

"It's not a toy." He tells her solemnly.

[just_daine]

She pulls her paw back and quickly sits down, feeling scolded. Her feline instinct had gotten away from her and if she could, she would be blushing.

Instead she gets back to her feet and approaches him properly, sniffing at the odd material of the rest of the costume and meowing questioningly.

[xuffasch]

He looks down at her quizzically. Not unused to cats, he still isn't sure how to respond to them. But after a moment he shrugs noncommittally and extends one gloved hand towards her.

[just_daine]

She sniffs the glove in question and gives it a lick. It smells a bit like leather, but there's something different about it.

Numair wanted her to experiment, so experiment she would. She gets up on her hind legs to place both paws on the gloved hand and carefully extends her claws, testing to see if this is a special sort of glove that offers extra protection in a fight.

[xuffasch]

She'll find that the glove's material is malleable, but hard to puncture. Damian continues to just stare at her; the kitten he adopted a month or so ago isn't nearly this intelligent, as she tends to spend most of her time sleeping. Since the street has quieted down, now, there's not much disturbing them beyond the regular bustle of a city at this hour, so he's content to pause here for the moment.

[just_daine]

She tries a little longer before giving up. It certainly wasn't made of leather, then. She couldn't quite place the smell of the stuff, but it seemed to serve its purpose.

From this new angle, though, the utility belt caught her attention. That was certainly worth poking around. She sniffed hesitantly at one of the pockets before sticking her nose into the binding to see if she could find out what was inside. She couldn't imagine what someone would need so many pockets for.