| Cat and Bird |
| Summary: | Shayera decides to test out her new amulet in NYC. Gets caught by a suspicious kitty. |
| Date: | 2014-11-11 |
| Related: | None |
| NPCs: | None |
| Scene Runner: | N/A |
| Social/Plot: | Social |
| Players: |
 .. .. |
Nighttime in NYC. The tales are legendary. The nightclubs, the dancing, the music.. Shayera has yet to take part in those sorts of activities due to her wings. However, thanks to the mysterious benefactor of the Birds, She now wears a stylish amulet that can change all that. She casts a shadow over the City as she flies in from Gotham, her large wings easily carrying her. She finds a rooftop and lands. She looks around and, seeing no one around utters a magic word, and the wings disappear.
She's out of her typical uniform and has opted for more clubby clothes. A black leather halter with a matching skirt reaching quite a bit above her knees as she makes her way down the stairwell and out the front door, actually *walking* onto the street, looking for one of those famous clubs.
The rooftops in the area are not completely empty. As it happens, one of them, around a dozen or so stories above the streets below, accommodates a perching feline atop a water tower. It's the same place she'd perched atop the morning prior, and while the reasons for her being back there now aren't likely known, what matters is she is there, watching, observing.
As such, this is how Tigra first spots the wings of someone descending toward another building, a shorter one, and her eyes widen in the darkness. "Ooooh," she exhales, caught up on the sight of potentially large prey. Only, "Wait..that's not a big bird." She is, in fact, talking to herself, voice hushed and low, and her curiosity is immediately on high. There the winged woman goes, landing, momentarily out of sight as the striped woman moves to a new position, and the next thing she can see is someone with a similar look starting down the stairs. "Where'd wings go?" A sensible, pertinent question, and Tigra descends further while keeping a watchful eye on Shayera.
Shayera Hol debates whether to hail a cab or not, but decides to just walk, since walk for even a short distance for transportation is rather new to her. She walks down the sidewalk, her heels making a click-clack sound. She left her mace at home, seeing as how it would be a bit weighty when she's dancing, so she is without a weapon, but by no means defenseless. She checks alleys as she walks by, knowing all too well what typically lies in them at night. She sighs as she remembers that she's a few blocks off from her initial target, and decides to cut through one of those alleys. She continues to use her senses to ensure her safety.
First things first. Tigra quickly leaps and climbs her way down to where Shayera landed, a brief sniffing of the spot, along with tracing steps down the stairwell confirming the scent she's after. With that now known, it'll make Shayera much easier to track, even through crowds. She hasn't worked out just how to approach the woman yet, but that can come soon enough. Now down to street level, she closes the distance between them by keeping to the shadows and ducking past a few cars and trucks. It isn't the stealthiest approach ever, given the way a few pedestrians gawk and stare, but anything else and she might lose her target. Soon she reaches the alley Shayera took, and the scent leads her in to follow. Doing so almost silently thanks to being barefoot and sneaky, in she goes. "Closer, closer."
Shayera Hol notices a bummed huddled against a dumpster to sleep off the latest drunk and a couple making out in an alley adjacent. She stops… listening… Eh.. it sounds consensual. She continues down the alley, getting closer to the other side..
The others in the alley may as well not even exist. Tigra's focus is singular, on Shayera and nothing else. With the woman no more than about twenty feet from the end of the alley, the cat makes her move. A nearly silent run ahead might give an indication someone's behind, but by the time Shayera looks (if she does), Tigra's leaping up, above, and past to land facing her in a crouch, hands and feet flat to the ground. As her tail sways playfully behind her, the tip twitching, she grins up at Shayera. "Hi! Where'd your wings go? I really wanted to play with them!" The smile turns more toward something sad as she adds, "Why'd you make the wings go away?"
Shayera Hol does hear someone coming up and, turns.. to see nothing. She turns back quickly, taking on a defensive stance not seen from any of the styles on Earth. "What? Who?" She blinks.. "Do you mean to attack me? I dare say that if you do, you'll find that I'm not the typical prey.." When the being mentions wings, she blinks. "You… saw me?" She curses herself, needing to find a better spot the next time. "What do you intend, felinoid?"
Tigra really /does/ look disappointed that the wings are gone, but she's not giving off the impression she's here for a fight. "Calm down," she suggests, rising from her crouch to her full height of nearly six feet. "I saw you flying around, thought it'd be fun to play a little, but then you landed, I lost sight of you, and when I saw you again you didn't have them." Her frown is overexaggerated, but she's still very curious for different reasons. "So how'd you do it? Can you take them off? Hide them? Or, hmmm…" If the amulet is visible, she'll be staring at it right about now.
Shayera Hol grumbles, and doesn't like the idea of giving away her secrets, but she runs a finger along her collarbone, holding the amulet up. "It's enchanted. I can make my wings go away." She backs up into the darkness of the alley. She mutters the word again and they reappear. "She?" She says. "And.. Play? I don't even know you. I knew that things progressed fast in New York but not this fast."
An amulet? There's a cat's head amulet centered on the top Tigra wears, too. "Innnnnteresting," she says, truly dragging that first syllable out. When the wings come back into view, her eyes widen. Must. Resist. The. Urge. To. Pounce. Ahem. "I see," she all but whispers, then she laughs. "Not that kind of playing. But you're the one with the wings. I was up there looking out for things to catch my eye, and you flew along." She fluctuates between focused and distracted, serious and playful, before adding, "I've got an amulet thingy too. Lets me look normal if I need to, but..this is me now." She gestures with her arms out to either side.
Shayera Hol she nods, smiling. "Do get this the wrong way but you are beautiful." She says. "So… you wanted to chase me? And… do what if you caught me?" Shayera is legitimately curious, and not using that as a come-on. She'd seen Earth cats and their odd behavior before, but never wondered what a human-feline hybrid would do.
Note Tigra does /not/ demonstrate the use of her amulet, which may give Shayera a reason or two to think about. Is she reluctant to, or does her answer cover the reasoning well enough? Her face, except for the changed features, is almost entirely human and so is the rest of her if one can picture the fur, stripes, claws, and tail just not there. Arms lower back down to her sides and she moves to lean against one of the alley's walls, providing Shayera an easy way ahead once she wants it, and she beams at the compliment. "Thanks! And..I hadn't worked it out that far yet. I just saw the wings, and.." Shoulders rise and fall in a shrug, as if to say 'You know how it is.' "I'm part-cat. It's one of those things."
Shayera Hol chuckles. "Well… I'd indulge you if you promised not to maul me." She smiles. "Do you know New York well? Would you like to come with me to one of these clubs?" She shrugs. "Just asking. I'm Shayera, by the way." She offers her hand in the Earth custom she'd seen before. She's learned that Dinah's hugs are for people you know well, and not to greet strangers. Especially in New York City.
Tigra's head tilts at the offer, a very enticing one to be sure if the twitch of her tail is a sign. "I think I can not do that, the mauling thing." She has the patience to actually wait, though. "First time here, for the last day or so. I'm from Chicago, so I know big cities but this is /really/ big." A couple seconds later, the hand is accepted with a firm grip. "Tigra, and I'm down with clubs. I like the ones that don't mind cats more."
Shayera Hol scratches her head and shakes the hand. "Is… there one of those around here?" She shrugs. "You could use the…?" She points to Tigra's chest,,, but she means the amulet. "Unless it makes you uncomfortable, then we can just… 'hang out'?" She thinks. "You're new? Do you have a place?"
Shayera Hol also hears something whistling in the air… she looks up and jumps, knocking Tigra out of the way in a tumble as a frozen turkey falls from the sky!
"Beats me," Tigra shrugs. "Haven't checked Yelp yet, but I don't think that will help a whole lot. And I could use this, but if someone can't accept me for what I really am, I don't need to know them." She sounds set on that attitude, gesturing to the amulet as she speaks. "I'm staying somewhere, but I'm thinking of relocating. Was going to check out Metropolis and Gotham City next, but I—" About that time, she's also alerted to the fall of one of those turkeys, which smashes down safely enough now that both of them are out of its path. "Oooh, dinner." She's already reaching for a small piece to chew on. "I don't know what this is all about, but that's the closest one's come to me yet."
Shayera Hol stands up after tumbling with Tigra, brushing herself off. She blinks and looks up. "It's.. not raining.. and there are no meteors. This isn't Ming's standard procedure." She shrugs, shaking her head. "This City is so odd." She says and shakes her head, muttering the secret word into the amulet and making the wings disappear. "Well, we can see if we can find a Meta club. They should accept you for who you are, and you can meet other people like yourself?" She shrugs. and grimaces at the cat eating raw, frozen turkey.. "After you eat, of course."
Tigra ended up in a convenient crouch, so she stays that way as she snacks. "Ming?" is asked amid a mouthful of frozen turkey, so it comes out more like 'Mnng?' which is close enough. "Lots of stuff is odd. You have wings. I'm a cat person, and I met someone else who looks like a demon elf and smells like rotten eggs when he teleports." /Had/ wings, for they're gone again - though she reaches out to see if they're truly gone or just invisible. "If you were here to go have a quiet night at a club, you go ahead and do that. I might be looking to hook up with a group sometime, but I'm not going to force anything. I'm used to going solo but it's not always the best way. We can always talk again, too." She brushes off another piece of turkey before chewing again.
Shayera Hol nods and smiles, reaching into her clutch purse. "Here. If you need any help, call me. I know a good group of girls. We're.. close.. and we look out for each other." She smiles, as the wings are actually gone. She can't even fly in this condition. "I'll find you again, Tigra. Enjoy your meal from the sky." She says before walking off, avoiding the temptation to pat the woman on the head.