11495/Some wine and conversation

Some wine and conversation
Date of Scene:	07 June 2022
Location:	204 -
Synopsis:	Helena invites Dinah over to catch up. Also to talk about Aquaman in an apron.
Cast of Characters:	Helena Bertinelli, Dinah Lance

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Helena Bertinelli has posed:
Helena Bertinelli had finally finished with the school year and the last bits of paperwork and filing that was required before she could get a summer break for herself.

It was very much a Fred Flintstone Yabba Dabba Dooooo! moment as she clocked out for the final time of the school year. DONE. She was wearing a Rolling Stones tee shirt. Of course it was black and of course it was the lips logo. It was as good as virtually sending the school year out by giving it The Bird. But it was less likely to get her fired. She wore denim shorts with fraying cuffs and sneakers. Purse in hand, she dropped her sunglasses into place and pulled out her phone to call someone she hadn't been able to catch up with, work with, or see in months. Dinah Lance. They were team mates. It wasn't healthy for them to lose touch no matter how justified the gap in time might have been.

"Hey Dinah. Look. I'm done with school for the summer. I want to sit down and empty a bottle of my uncle's best reserve Merlot. That made me think of you. Have time to come over just to catch up?"

She pulled out in her car, windows down, and the radio playing Van Halen 'Best of both worlds'.

Dinah Lance has posed:
There was a sound of movement and then Dinah's voice came back on the line. She had moved it from one ear to the other as she continued to clean up the counter in front of her. "Sure, I'd love to. No plans for tonight and no watch duty so even better. Give me about an hour? Get the shop closed down and clean up before heading over?"

A lot of the debris she gathered was leaves and flower petals. She shifted her shoulder up a bit to hold the phone against her ear so she could use both her hands. One to pick up the trash can close to the edge of the counter, the other to sweep the debris into it.

"Should I bring anything? Or just casual sit around drinking and gossiping?"

Helena Bertinelli has posed:
Helena Bertinelli smiled at hearing Dinah agree. "Perfect. I just need a little time to get home and burn all my left over grading papers symbolically so an hour works fine" she jokes. She continues to drive along, thankful for hands free taking over the call for her. "Well if there's something you'd like to have with the wine? I've got some grapes and some cheese? If that's something else that sounds good, sure? Otherwise I'll feed you. I'm Italian." It was compulsory to feed guests. Even when it wasn't the point of a visit.

Dinah Lance has posed:
That got a laugh from Dinah as she put the trash can back where it belonged next to the work table. "Well, I do count on that fact too. But I could just grab a pizza so you don't have to cook. Have a full night of leisure to celebrate the end of school."

She grabbed the phone with her hand again, the sound changing slightly. Then she went to the front door of the shop and turned around the sign so Closed appeared to those outside. A quick flick of the lock into place.

Helena Bertinelli has posed:
Helena Bertinelli gasped in shock. "Dinah Laurel Lance. You are proposing to an -Italian- woman. A friend no less. That she let you -buy- Italian. To eat in her place? You've just commited enough sins to make the Mother Superior blush. We're going to have to eat some time. And pasta with a proper homemade bolognese sauce is not that difficult. I was making it when I was five years old with my Nona. So it's settled. We'll drink the bottle. And I'll make us dinner. Yes?"

Somehow this turned into a railroad job of Italian proportions. But! Pasta. Right?

Dinah Lance has posed:
And that had Dinah laughing even more. She held up her hand in surrender. Then laughed more when she realized it was kind of useless on a telephone call. Video sure but this was not video. So she just looked like a big dork. At least she was alone with no one to witness and pick on her about it later.

"A thousand apologies. If I was Catholic, I'd do some Hail Mary and Our Fathers or something for you. Alas, just the big 'sorry' is gonna have to do. I will never, ever suggest such a thing again."

She moved to put a few items back in the chillers then did a final walkthrough of the shop. Back to the register to pull it and put everything in the main safe. She'd worry about bookkeeping tomorrow.

"Let me get out of here and I'll see you in a bit."

Helena Bertinelli has posed:
Helena Bertinelli nods, incensed. "You're damn right you won't do it again, young lady!" She bursts into laughter as well. An unseen nod is offered, "That sounds good, Dinah. See you in a bit, lady."

She turns up the radio once off the phone just as the song changes to something fron the Scorpions.

--Some time later!--

Once at her apartment, Helena does just as she threatened. Papers. Burned. And without setting off the smoke alarms. Booyah! Then she's getting out some grapes and cheeses and slices of meat for a proper charcuterie board. Some fresh and crusty Italian bread is sliced to go with it. Then she gets the glasses and the bottle of wine ready!

Dinah Lance has posed:
Dinah is late. It took an hour and ten minutes. Because she took the time to get a shower and the drive over involved a crash blocking the road she she had to wait a bit for that to be cleared. But eventually she arrived at Helena's apartment. The roar of her bike might have been heard before she actually made it into the building.

She was dressed casually. Jeans, a t-shirt which advertised the Winchester Tavern London and was an inside joke since it was from a movie. No wig. Instead her short black hair was on display, fingerbrushed into place after helmet hair moments. She did have on her usual boots though since they were comfy.

She knocked lightly on the door to the tune of Shave and a Haircut. But left off the two bits portion.

Helena Bertinelli has posed:
Helena Bertinelli takes a moment to get the door but is there quickly. Pulling it open, she smiles out. "Dinah. Hi. C'mon in." She's barefoot now, just the tee and shorts. Closing the door afterward, she pads back in to the kitchen. "So there's the promised wine.." she holds the bottle up to show off. A prominent label from a yineyard in Sicily. "...and... full charcuterie. Because it's required." A nod to prove her point. "Want to sit here? Or get super comfy in the living room? If there, can you get the plates and board? I'll get the wine opened and bring the glasses?"

Dinah Lance has posed:
"Definitely living room. Comfy chairs or couch for the win." Dinah said as she quickly picked up the board, carefully making sure she had it balanced before removing a hand to grab the two plates. She headed for the living room, beelining for the couch. The plates were set down first then the board, again using two hands. If she dropped that thing or tilted it after all the work Helena did, she'd feel so guilty.

"I don't want to know how much that wine would cost normally," she said as she glanced to see if there was anything else she could help with before she sat down.

Helena Bertinelli has posed:
Helena Bertinelli pulls a fancy cork puller. It's supposd to be certain to not negatively impact the flavor of the wine, blah blah. All it really does is require a PhD to figure out how to use it. But she manages. With the wine cork ready to pull, she carries the bottle and glasses over and sets them down.

She takes a seat, tucking her right leg under herself. "Ahh.. there we go.. " She pulls the cork fully, pausing the smell it. A sigh of pleasure. "Nectar of the gods..." Then she pours a little to indeed check the bouquet before nodding. "It passes." And she pours two glasses, setting the bottle down, corked. Because she knows she could knock it over. She's seen it happen.

Helena Bertinelli has posed:
Helena Bertinelli looks over with a nod, "You're right. You don't. But my uncle loves me. You also don't want to think about the mafia money invested into the grapes this wine came from." She smiles wryly and sips..

Dinah Lance has posed:
"Do not make me cover my ears and say lalalala repeatedly until your lips stop moving," Dinah says in return with a grin as she accepts her glass of wine. A quick murmured "Thanks."

She took a brief sniff of the wine. Not because she was any expert but sometimes it gave a hint of what the flavor might be. She took a sip and her brows went up. "Okay, that's excellent. Tell your completely legitimate uncle and family great work."

Helena Bertinelli has posed:
Helena Bertinelli flashes a cheeky smile toward her teammate and friend. "Welcome!" She looks aghast. "My uncle -is- completely legitimate!" She takes a sip. "It's some of his businesses that are of less upstanding character" as if that made a difference really. Gallows humor.

She leand over and grabbed a bit of the bread to munch. "So. It's been.. god. Christmas? I know it couldn't have been more recent than January the last time we weren't so busy we couldn't see straight." She smiled over, "How're you doing? How's the shop?"

Dinah Lance has posed:
"Doing well. I'm doing well. Things are going good at the shop." Dinah leans over to grab a grape from the board and pops it in her mouth. A quick chew and swallow before she continues. "Admittedly, I've gotten a bit of uptick in foot traffic of late. Might be because Aquaman has been helpng me. He looks very cute in a green apron."

Her eyes are sparkling with amusement. Remembering how more and more people were just 'dropping in' to buy flowers instead of the elaborate orders. The orders were her big money and had been most of her work with few people just randomly wandering in so it was a nice uptick on her bottom line.

"How have you been though? Obviously school being out is the greatest but hopefully the rest of the year went well? And life outside work?"

Helena Bertinelli has posed:
Helena Bertinelli arches a brow. "You... have Aquaman - Justice League Aquaman. Working for you in your shop?" She can't tell if this is on the level or one of Dinah's jokes. "That's.. different? But I'm glad it's working?" She laughed.

"Oh the year was.. average. Tenth Grade English class and none of the kid can write a sentence that doesn't include shortened text-speak. Half of them can't conjugate a verb. It's.. painful."

After a sip of wine she shrugs. "But by the end of the year they WILL now what they are expected and required by state law or they'll die trying. No dropouts or failures in my classes" she declares proudly. But mostly joking.

Dinah Lance has posed:
"Mmm-hmm." Dinah is even more amused by Helena's reaction to it. "We've been seeing each other and he volunteered one day. I think as a joke. And next thing I know, I had more people coming in the front door. And they all seemed very happy to be talking to my volunteer. So. Yes. I used him. He found it funny too. But he helps out sometimes when he can. Not a lot because his life is crazy busy too."

As Helena explained the pains of being a teacher, all Dinah could do was give a sympathetic look and shake her head in disbelief. She sipped her wine during then grinned at the declaration. "Not trying to be rude to other teachers, but if it's that bad for you when they reach tenth, it sounds like someone before that should've caught the issue with writing properly? Or am I over simplyfing that since I have no idea how it all works?" She didn't want to offend, it was just her trying to understand.

Helena Bertinelli has posed:
Helena Bertinelli blinks. "Whoa.. and now it's that you're -dating- Aquaman?" She shakes her head. "Local girl's done good, hasn't she?" she teases. "That's great Dinah. I'm happy for you!"

She sips at her wine. "Oh no. No. You're not being rude and you aren't wrong. I just give a damn. But there are some really bad districts. And some bad schools in those districts. It kinda adds up over time, yeah.." She just shrugged. "We try to help everyone we can in our own way, right? As Birds or ourselves." She knocks back the last of her wine.

"Refill!" she calls out and proceeds to refill Dinah's glass ready or not, then her own. "Now -that- is better."

Dinah Lance has posed:
"Well he is pretty," Dinah said in her own defense, a little wicked in her smile. Then she just moved past that quickly and focused on more important things.

"While the kids might find it tough, I also have no doubt they adore you as a teacher. You've always had a good approach. And if they don't see it now, they will when they get into college thanks to your pushing. Tough love and all that."

She had only emptied about half of what was originally in her glass when Helena was filling it again. To an ever higher level. Typically, Dinah took her time with wine. Enjoying the flavor. While beer? It wasn't treated quite so respectfully. She had to laugh as she looked at the liquid then her friend. Then she lifted the glass. "To helping."

Helena Bertinelli has posed:
Helena Bertinelli smiles. "They better appreciate me. Ungrateful little shit" she mutters then grins and laughs. "I love them. And I do try to help each one or work to get them the help they need. That's my favorite part of the job."

She lifts her glass with a nod, "Amen. To helping!"