A New Home?

[Mana]

Characters: Mana,Open
Setting: In the park, late at night
Previous Threads: None
Plot Summary: Mana, after recently arriving in Jump city, has begun trying to find herself a place and support herself, more often than not by unknowingly committing minor theft crimes. She often finds herself drawn to the town's park, finding a comfort in the area it praticully becomes a second home to her.

[Mana]

Dabria sat at a park bench, layed before her the hot dog, fries, apple and candy she had retrieved for herself that day. She was happy to, as she hadn't had to hurt anyone. Though she understood it's need the girl didn't like having to engage in violence. Because of that she appreciated it when people didn't attack her for trying to support herself! More so if they didn't call the stupid police! When they did that she had to hide in the woods instead of staying in the park for a while, and that stunk! She tried not to hurt anyone whenever she could, but some people just couldn't let go! It was something silly to her. She just had to support herself, speciully out here and away from her family. It just seemed logical to her. She had to support herself now, that's all she was doing.

The girl sighed as the thoughts crossed her mind. It confused her sometimes why people got so mad, or confused. She could get why they got scared if she used her powers, but otherwise that didn't make sense to her ether. Still... Putting that aside she had managed to support herself so far. It was a bit lonely sure, but she still managed and, it was probably best for her to be alone anyway. Even if part of her wanted that interaction.... No she was better off without it.

The girl finished up her normal food and started picking between her sweets to snack on as a finish. She leaned back and mused to herself.

"Hmmm... But where to lay tonight? The bench is uncomfertable, maybe the tree again? The bottom of it of course, that could work well"

Everything else was important to her of course, but as she out away her remaining sweets she knew she also had to think of her rest later, but not so rested she wouldn't be able to wake if the cops did end up getting called. Silly as she thought it was... She did Understand the rest, and she preferred to be prepared.

[kaie]

It was one of those rare times Kaie had gotten night patrol. Her Ma was pretty insistent she didn't get night patrols on school nights, so it limited her quite a bit. Sometimes she felt more like a part-timer than a full Titan. That, and she had to patrol outside of residential areas at night, where her heavy footfalls wouldn't wake so many people. Tonight, that meant  this park was on her beat. The giantess tried to tread lightly, if that was possible for her, taking it slow and looking around. It was usually a quiet patrol, her outings were more deterrent than crime-finding.

Tonight there was something different. A girl on a bench, her age or a little younger. Kaie approached, trying to put on a friendly smile. She'd been with the Titans long enough now that word was starting to get around, but she knew how intimidating she could be. Being twelve feet tall could make the friendliest person seem imposing. "Hey there, ya all right?" It was pretty late out. Not a school night, but most people her age out this late would be out with friends. Alone in a park at night was kinda weird.

Kaie got down on one knee, offering a finger for a handshake. "My name's Kaie. Or Rumble, that one's me hero name. What's yers?" She was doing her best to be a good public face for the Titans, especially since she was the closest thing the team had to an actual literal titan.

[Mana]

Kaie surprised the young girl quite a bit in fact, it spooked her enough almost to emit her explosive energy... It good be in a brief, small spark of the flame in her hand. But the larger girls words quickly calmed her. She needed to be more calm... Dabria sighed to herself, that was reckless. Their was clearly no need to be. The giant wasn't out to hurt her, their would be no need to talk if her intents were ill. That being said she was still nervous, not too much because of Kai, she simply wasn't the overly social type, she wasn't to good at talking to others. Because of that she remained silent at first, rather noticbly really. But she couldn't just ignore the woman forever, on a litteral and social scale.

"I...I'm ok, yes, all healthy"

Not the best introduction there... She wasn't trying to be rude of course. She was simply no good at this kind of thing! Though it did feel nice for someone to speak to her. It was ironic, at least to her that the giant girl was the one making her feel more comfertable in this situation. It calmed her enough to speak more, though she was of course still worried about messing it up, which showed in her voice. Still she reached out her hand and shook Kaie's large finger, a small smile showing among her nevousness.

Her name? That was a hard one... Well, not techicully. She knew her name of course. She simply didn't know whether she should say it or not she guessed? This was a new place... Their was always the POSSIBILITY mom and dad didn't send anyone after her... It was unlikely, but possible she supposed. Kaie clearly wasn't here to get her. Their was no need to approach it this way if they did. Furthermore as cool as she thought it was, it would be ineffective to send someone of Kaie's size to grab her. She would have been able to see her coming and have a higher chance of escaping before retrievied. Because of that she decided to just do it. If nothing else she would learn for later.

"My name is Dabria, Dabria Vyers I.... Don't have a hero name unfournatly"

[kaie]

Kaie gasped, eyes widening when she saw the sparks. So this was a fellow super! No wonder she was out alone, someone with some kind of fiery or explodey powers could be pretty confident wherever they went. Did seem a bit jumpy, though. That was understandable, especially with someone new in town. She seemed a bit awkward, but friendly enough from the finger shake. That greeting always put a smile on Kaie's face. Then again, so did lots of other things.

"Thinkin of gettin into the hero business? This is a good city for it, I can pass word along to the main Titans if ya want." The giant was beaming. Meeting new supers was always fun, but maybe Dabria was a new teammate! That would be pretty rad. She wondered if there was any cred in it for her if she recruited a new hero? Kaie knew she wasn't supposed to be thinking like that, she was supposed to be a selfless hero type, but still she wanted some credit. There was a good part of her that wanted the fame and glory of heroics as much as the heroic acts themselves. 

The Titan sat cross-legged, trying to let herself down as lightly as possible on the grass. "Jus' come ta town?" She seemed a bit like a fish out of water still. "I'm a bit of a newcomer myself, ya can probably tell by the accent." Kaie still had a pretty strong Irish brogue. "Didja come to Jump for the heroics?" That was what Kaie always associated the city with. It was a real draw for young supers, even the villains. Most of the teen villains probably saw it as a place to cut their teeth, get some experience without getting completely schooled by a Leaguer like Batman or Wonder Woman. It wasn't a bad idea, and it worked out pretty well for the Titans too. She didn't really fancy facing off against someone like Solomon Grundy, not this early in her career.

[Mana]

"Hero? I...I'm not sure"

Could she even be a hero? She wasn't sure. She didn't feel very heroic... No hero name. She didn't exactly go around saving people ether. It was all she could do just to support herself after she ran away from home. Was she even capable of being a hero, of helping others like in the books? She... She wasn't sure.

"I...I don't know if I can be a hero... T..the Titans....? I..I'm really not sure I'd fit in with so many real heroes..."

She didn't know everything about the Titans of course, really just enough to know they were young heroes to be exact. Still the fsct that they were heroes, real heroes is what made her nervous-and it showed. She didn't believe she could fit in with people like that. People who spent their lives protecting and helping others stay safe from the evils of the world... She just didn't think she deserved an honor like that, never mind she wasn't hero material to begin with, at least not in her eyes. She didn't want to be rude ether of course so she tried to keep steady eye contact with Kaie the entire time.

"I'm just... Not very hero-ish am I? I'd just drag you guys down"

She thought so at least. After all what use would someone like her be to an entire team-praticully an organization of heroes? Thankfully the next question wasn't as hard to answer for her, nor was she so specific Dabria had to spill all her personal secrets, or rather feel like she should.

"Yes, just a couple days ago actually, pretty brand new to town"

She'd give a light smile, she appriciated the larger girls kindness, despite her nervousness. Kaie was new to? Well sure the accent... But she seemed so confident, at least to her. For someone new she sure held herself well!

Heroics? She.... No she wasn't a hero. All those people were far better than her for this kind of thing! She just... She ran away. Away from her family. Jump just happened to be the place she wandered to after doing so.

"No I... Just wandered here from home"

The way she acted made it pretty obvious their was more, but it was also clear how uncomfetable she was digging into it by her expressions.

[kaie]

She seemed a bit nervous about the prospect of joining the Titans. Kaie couldn't really blame her for that, she'd been a bit starstruck too when she'd joined. Here she was becoming a member of the team she'd been fangirling over for the last couple years, it was a lot of pressure being the rookie in that crowd. "Ye'll do fine, I'm sure of it. You got what, some sorta fiery sparky power?" She was always down to see some new superpowers, or at least hear the details. With fire powers, it often wasn't a good idea to show them off too much.

Kaie wasn't really sure how to handle this sort of self-deprecation. She felt like the normal thing to do would be to put a hand on the girl's shoulder, but with her hands being bigger than Dabria's head, that might be more threatening than comforting. "Don' think like that. I'd never heroed before I came to Jump, and now they got me doing patrols." She gave the girl a smile, trying to reassure her.

The giantess didn't really pick up on her dodging the question of why she was there. Kaie was a very straightforward person, she wasn't always great at picking up when someone was avoiding something. "Well, is not a bad town to wander through. I mean we get supervillains sometimes, sure, but no the really destructive ones. Is not like Gotham or Metropolis, they get the heavy hitters." Kaie glanced around. She was probably supposed to still be walking around, but she figured she could take a break for a minute at least.

[Mana]

Kaie's words helped her to relax a little, though she was still quite nervous she felt she could 'breathe' so to speak. This helped her steady herself and talk easier to the giant girl. Kaie wasn't far off with her guess, the energy she made did look pretty fiery before it was shot. Still it worked differently. Kaie was nice enough... It couldn't hurt to explain in more detail.

"Well it's more like... Explosions. I make the spheres of 'fire' in my hands and then when they hit stuff... Varying levels of boom!"

She'd spread out her hands for emphasis as she described her power.

"I guess you could say it's like explosion magic? That's how my parents described it, I just make big booms"

She then spread out her hands and formed the spheres of flame in her hand, before dispursing them a moment later.

"I'd give an example but it's... Pretty destructive"

She'd give a nervous chuckle , Kaie's action didn't make her nervous, surprisingly enough it helped to calm her more, along with her words. Mana gave a breathe to relax herself.

"A..ah.. I.. I bet you good at it"

A light smile accompanied her compliment, though she meant it in a techical way, she tried to simply say it kindly. Something else she wasn't so sure she was good at, she hadn't talked to many people outside her family so... She wasn't sure how refined her social skills actually were. Kaie's next words however would make the snow haired girl look up in surprise.

"So it's... Safer here then? Well safer than those places at least. I did study them a bit.... Lots of stuff happens in those spots. Hmmm.. this was probably a good choice then. The Titans.... You think they'd like me?"

She didn't want attention. In truth the girl simply lacked confidence, though that was probably obvious by this point!

[kaie]

Kaie's eyes widened as her new friend explained her powers. That certainly explained why she was hesitant to show them off. Something like that could be risky to use as a hero, dangerous to bystanders and with a big risk of causing too much damage to even the villains. Depending on how big the explosions were, she might get a nickname like Collateral Damage Girl. "That's pretty cool!" All risks aside, it was a super rad power. Even more rad, once she heard that it was magic. "Like, ya can naturally do magic?" Kaie always had an appreciation for the magical heroes, there was just something cool about being able to toss all the sciencey stuff out the window.

"Yeah, examples might be bad. Especially at this time o' night, people kinda freak when a boom wakes em up." Kaie smiled, glad that Dabria seemed pretty relaxed with her. Sometimes, oftentimes, she wished she had a power like that, one that she could just choose not to use and blend in with the crowd. Unlike some of the other mega-sized supers, she was permanently stuck at that size.

All things considered, this meeting was going well. Dabria seemed to even be showing some interest in the Titans! "Yeah, is pretty safe, from what I seen. And I'm sure they'd like ya, we got all kinds o' powers. They even get ya kitted out with a suit!" Kaie gestured proudly to her orange getup. "Custom an' everythin. Like, mine's set up to stretch with my strength, and take the kinds o' hits I can. Cyborg even made a T-Comm in my size!" She wasn't going to pass up the chance to geek out about her favorite supergroup.

[Mana]

"I...it's cool? Well I suppose...."



Dabria blushed a bit in embersment. Her power hadn't been called 'cool' before. It was a tool sure, something to use for father and what he wanted... But never cool. To be honest it wasn't a comment she was used to receiving in the slightest. Dabria would scratch the back of her head nervously.

"Well to be honest... I've never been certain, my parents call it magic, so I suppose... But if it is all I can do is the explosive kind to my knowledge, making things blow up. No idea if I can do anything else. I can shoot it, throw it at people... Change its size.... All kinds of stuff"

She would nod at the bigger girls next statement. She was right. All it would do is attract attention. That's the last thing she wanted right now. She didn't want to bring a crowd here, or start chaos in the city.

"Of course Mrs Kaie. That doesn't help anyone really, just makes a lot of noise"

The Titans seemed pretty nice from what Kaie was saying... Part of Dabria was starting to want to meet them, if they'd allow it. Still she was nervous about being part of a public group like that, nervous it'd get her parents attention. But... She also didn't want to keep being alone like this. She didn't like being social to much, or interacting with others all the time. But the way she was having to do now was to much even for her! Besides if the rest of the Titans were like Kaie.... She was sure she'd like their company. She'd smile as she replied.

"Ah Kaie... They sound really nice! Even clothes? Ah that's very kind..."

She'd then give an 'oooh' of interest at the design of Kaie's clothing, she even got a communicator in her size? That's what Dabria assumed it was anyway, it was in the name. Well... Maybe it'd be ok. Kaie did say they'd like her... The worst she could face was rejection right?

"Well... Ok, Miss Kaie if you think so... I'd be willing to try, you seem nice enough, so I don't think they'd be bad or anything"

She knew it was a risk but... She couldn't just keep staying in this park forever could she?

[kaie]

The girl didn't seem too used to praise. Kaie supposed that growing up in a family where everyone had the same powers, you'd kind of get used to them just being a regular thing. She had the opposite problem, as the only powered kid in her whole extended family she kind of stuck out. It was a little odd that she didn't seem to know where her powers came from, but again, maybe it was just a taking them for granted thing. "That does sound pretty cool. It's not sciencey or nothin, is it?" It could be hard to tell science-based powers apart from magic ones, if the science was mad enough.

Kaie couldn't help laughing a bit at how formal Dabria was being. "No need for missus, I ain't married. Pretty sure I'm about your age anyway. I'm still a Teen Titan, I'm just a tall teen." A split second later a thought occurred to her. "Titanic teen! I shoulda said titanic teen." She was internally kicking herself over that one.

It was easier to talk about Titan stuff, she'd always been the biggest fangirl. "Well, uniform at least. They did help hook me up with folks to do custom clothes though, they know people with wings and stuff so makin something big like I wear ain't too much harder. Just gotta use tougher materials and scale it up." The Titan's face lit up when Dabria said she might join. "Great! I'll let em know you might say hi. We ain't hard to find, got the big tower and there's usually some o' us patrollin around the city."

[Mana]

"Well... I suppose it's a little of both? Dad created me to have this power, through his experiments. But it... Doesn't feel like normal science ether. It's hard to place ya know?"

Dabria would explain, Kaie was a kind person. This was the first time, other than alone time in the park she had been able to feel comfertable. Though she would become a bit flustered when she asked her not to call her misses. She hadn't said it rudely of course, Dabria simply didn't want to ruin the conversation when it was going so well! Ok she just had to breathe, yes just breathe and relax.

"Ah apologies Kaie! Yes very big and giant and... Wait ah I didn't mean that badly!"

Ok, terrible job of cooling down, she really needed to just slow down and get herself together. Kaie wasn't going to hate her over a simple slip like that, the large girl was a lot kinder than that. Just breathe and listen, yeah ok she could do this! The explanation regarding the uniforms was just what she needed however as it got her more technical oriented mind something to focus on past her embersment.

"It sounds like their good at adapting uniforms to different bodies and powers! That's quite kind of them, as well as a pretty useful skill to have. So it fits perfect? That's amazing. It must take quite the collection of materials to our it off though..."

The explosive girl was clealry more comfertable like this, more confident talking of subjects involving the more descriptive subjects, like the one they talked about in that moment. The girl was had more fun using her mind.and speaking of things she knew, and it showed. This allowed her to bounce back and gave a more confident nod when Kaie expressed her own happiness.

"Ok that sounds great! So I just go to the tower right? Knock on the door maybe, or just find one of y'all nearby?"

[kaie]

Kaie was getting a bit uncomfortable hearing about that. Magitek science stuff sounded cool and all, but this sounded a lot like a parent experimenting on his kids, which was less cool. She supposed that was similar to Cyborg in some ways, but his dad had cyborged him up to save his life, not specifically to give him superpowers. Still, she couldn't hold that against Dabria, there were probably a few Titans with questionable origins who were still darn good heroes. The giantess just listened, nodding along for that bit.

The size-related awkwardness was more familiar territory. Kaie just laughed, waving it off. "Is fine. I'm like twelve foot tall and still growin, I ain't really shy bout bein big." She just shrugged. "I don't mind. Do think sometimes though, if I get too big 'fore school's done, will I still fit through the doors? I gotta kinda crawl nowadays." Even in hallways, she had to stoop a bit. Most schools didn't have 12+ foot ceilings in most spaces, and Kingston High was no exception.

"Uniform's good too. Ain't had to get it replaced yet, but is probably a matter of time. Doctors say I probably got at least another meter ta grow." Her uniform did have some stretch to it, but she was pretty sure it couldn't stretch enough to accommodate her getting another 25% bigger. Not comfortably, at least. "Not sure what they make it out of, Cy has all kinds o' tech stuff down there, and Robin can probably get stuff from wherever they make Batman's tech. Kinda secretive about it though. But I'm sure they could make somethin' ta keep ya safe from explosions. Unless yer immune?" You could never be sure about those things, a lot of elemental supers had immunities to their own elements, and explosions were like two steps away from being a classical element. "Talkin' to one of us on patrol would probs be easiest, the Tower can be hard to get to. Or if you got a place you wanna meet, I can ask one o' the main five to swing by, see about gettin you on the team."

[Mana]

Dabria gave a sigh of relief. She was happy she hadn't offended Kaie with what she said. She knew the bigger Titan wouldnt get mad but... She didn't mess up what seemed to her like a budding friendship, well she hoped it was, it would be nice. She'd give a deep breathe and re focus herself as they continued their talk, though nervous she was liking talking to Kaie more and more, and was getting more comfortable doing so. Though she had a point to. If she kept growing it would become harder to fit in buildings... It made Dabria a but sad really. She couldn't reverse it or turn it off? That had to make some things more difficult for her.

"So you'll never stop growing? Theirs not... A growth limit or anything? I... That must get hard at times"

Dabeia gave a nod as Kaie explained further on the uniform. Ah so she wasn't an expert on it. Still she and explained enough that she got the gist of what she meant. Maybe she should ask the other Titans if she got the chance. Well if they were as welcoming as Kaie that was. She supposed she was still nervous about that, she just didn't know how things would go. Kaie was nice enough but.... Maybe she should just ask to go with her when she went. Though her comment did make her smile and giggle just a little.

"Nah, I'm not immune Kaie, just got the explosions, not the durability to resist them myself! So... That would defently be useful if they could do that"

As for the meeting, really ether option worked well, she'd have to prepare herself ether way and make sure she stayed calm for it.

"Well honestly ether way is good for me Kaie, I just.... Hope I don't mess up ya know? I'd hate to ruin the chance your giving me here... It's nice if ya"

She didn't wanna dispoint her, she was one of the few that had bothered to talk to her since she got here, she was nervous yeah but... She had to try. Kaie was giving her a big chance here!

[kaie]

Kaie had to laugh a bit at that. "Nah, I'll stop eventually. Doctors say I should stop when I'm twenty or so, I'll probably be like 16 feet tall then." That was something she'd worried about a few times. Her own little mutation seemed to be a bit more grounded than some, but it was already playing pretty fast and loose with science. Sooner or later it would be tough to be in most buildings, unless she got some sort of shrink belt she could use. She'd have to ask Cy about that later, he knew the tech stuff. Or a magic hero, maybe there was a magic shrink thing.

It took a second to get her train of thought back on track. It was a bit of a bummer that Dabria had to worry about her own powers like that. Kaie had some issues with breaking things around her, but she never had to worry about hurting herself with her own strength. "Maybe some sorta shock absorbing getup, like techy armor?" It seemed like a reasonable idea, and they knew plenty of gadgety heroes. It seemed to be a no-brainer, if you were vulnerable to your own abilities, your suit should try to compensate for it. "I could talk to Cy about it."

"Don' worry about it, you'll do fine." Kaie smiled, giving her a thumbs up. "Settin up a meetin's probably better, give you some time to get ready and whatnot. I'll put in a good word for ya at the tower." Kaie was excited. She'd never recruited anyone before, this was a big first for her. It felt like she had really graduated to a new level of Titan, able to tell folks about the team, and invite them on board. She was finally the hero she'd wanted to be!