1246/Coffee Homeground

Coffee Homeground
Date of Scene:	19 April 2020
Location:	Cafe Lalo
Synopsis:	Two warrior princesses meet, and Terry learns that you should never try to tease an Amazonian.
Cast of Characters:	Terry O'Neil, Koriand'r, Donna Troy

---

Terry O'Neil has posed:
<<Hey! This is Terry. Are you free today? I owe you and apology, will you take coffee instead? Also Kori wants to say hi. I suggest a place that has a varied menu.>>

That was a few hours ago in the morning. Now, it is appropriate brunch time and Terry and Kori are en route. At first, Terri had thought about driving there, like a dork, but eventually common sense prevailed (along with the desire to save on gasoline) and so the distance between the tower and New York City is traversed in the blink of an eye, courtesy of the phenomenon Terry has started to call The Rabbit Hole.

Because being on-brand is important.

He doesn't stay in his feline form, though- he transforms back into his human form as he and Kori arrive at the alleyway right around the cafe, and then head over. "You have no idea how much I've saved in gas since I got the hang of this thing," the red-headed human says with a grin to Kori as they walk into the quaint cafe. They are not early, but exactly on time. As soon as they step through, he quickly looks for Donna but she's nowhere to be found. "I think we'll take that one over there, by the window." Terry likes windows, a lot. He's also found that his other self has a strange preference for wanting to sit on windowsills. It was a little disconcerting.

Koriand'r has posed:
Kori had been... busier than she would like. But not as busy as she would like. In short, she was busy with all of the wrong things, and very few of the right ones. And this knowledge burned in her heart like a little Glorpian Vrinxworm, wriggling about.

So when that text came through, Kori does look up towards her agent, who had just been scheduling her for another shoot.

"Something came up!" she says. Bringing up her hand, she undoes one earring, than the other, setting them on a small cushion. The earring ad would have to wait. "Tomorrow I can perform this... it is superhero work that I must do! Farewell!"

It was not superhero work. But sometimes little white lies can make things... well... better.

And once meeting with Terry, she was off in the rabbit hole to... "Oh, gasoline!" she says. "I bet you have. It is much better to do that then to walk," she says to the redhead, as she steps alongside the part-time feline.

"I do not think I have been to this cafe before," she says, offering a smile to the people behind the counter as she no doubt draws at least /some/ attention on entry. "Have you been here?" she says, taking a seat. "Do you like it?" she adds.

Donna Troy has posed:
    Donna is late, because Donna is always late. If Raven were here, she would be making snarky comments about it already, and Donna would be defending herself on the basis that ten minutes is a major improvement over two years, which is how late she had been returning to the tower.

    When Donna had left, three years ago, she had told everyone she would be back in a year. During that year, Doomsday had happened. By the time she'd even heard about it, and about what had happened to the team, they were already an ex-team. Most of the Titans who were there for Doomsday blamed themselves for the deaths of Don and Kole. Donna wasn't there, and blamed herself for that. It was easier to stay away.

    Her return has in fact been coming for some time - she had been making her way slowly towards America for several months before the prospect of the Titans getting back together hit the news and suddenly made things seem more urgent. So it had been almost three years to the day since she'd told the Titans she had to rush off back to Turkey to complete her training with the mystical Knights of Ilios that she returned to the tower.

    It had been an eventful return, to say the least. There was the whole thing with Raven, Donna's doubts she would even be welcome back, and then the whole thing about confessing she'd been lying to the team about who she even was the entire time. Donna had barely recovered.

    Then there was Kori. Kori hadn't been at the tower when Donna returned, so when Terry's text arrived, she could hardly refuse. He's a journalist, and journalists are sneaky. He may have intended it this way.

    When Donna finally makes it to the coffee shop, ten minutes late (which is slightly longer than it took her to walk there), she pushes the door open with a little trepidation. Of all the Titans she imagines Kori is the one least likely to hold any hard feelings about her absence during Doomsday, but you never know.

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"Oh yes, I've been here tons of times. It's my mom's favorite café..." he quickly turns to look around. "Nope. She's not here. Good," he chuckles, "She's more likely to be here during the weekdays, she makes this her breakfast stop on Monday when she goes out with her partners at the detective agency for their meetings. In reality they're just here to gorge." Which is very appropriate, considering Kori's appetite, "A movie was filmed here as one of the main locations, it's called "You've got Mail," I haven't watched it, though. I'm allergic to Meg Ryan."

Terry chuckles and looks at the menu, "I think you'd like the New York- it's salmon over whipped cream cheese and bagel, salad on the side and you get a choice of coffee or tea..."

The redhead looks up and notices Donna coming in, he raises his hand to hail her, "Donna's here!"

Koriand'r has posed:
As Terry speaks, Kori keeps a happy smile upon her face, the woman brushing a lock of her long hair over her shoulder as she folds one leg over the other. "Then I shall have the New York," says Kori as she looks to Terry.

Yes, Kori could eat mountains of food if left to her own devices, but she... generally tried to moderate herself. And be polite.

"I shall have ranch dressing upon the salad, as well, but I will..."

Kori turns in her seat, looking to Donna as she smiles ever brighter. If there were hard feelings, they were deeply, deeply buried. In fact, in nearly an instant, she was rising up, rising up to cross towards Donna Troy to wrap her within a hug, and squeeze her with the fury of a hundred dying stars.

There were few people Kori could /really/ hug, and so Donna got one of those special ones. "Oh, I have missed you! I have missed all of you!" she says.

Donna Troy has posed:
    Donna is hesistent at first, which is something Starfire might find a little odd. While there were those who found the Tamaranean's hugs a little too much at times, Donna was always a bit more open with her emotions than the other Titans, a bit more tactile... a bit less /American/. She would always return a Kori hug without reluctance, and generally with a musical laugh. Not this time.

    At first, Donna is being hugged, but not hugging back. Kori can feel her tense up a little. Then, slowly, Donna unbends. Maybe any resentment is just deeply buried, but the important thing is that Kori seems pleased to see her. And she's pleased to see Kori. Her arms come up and wrap around Starfire, returning the hug gently, then squeezing more and more tightly.

    These are two strong women, and it is indeed a special hug. If either of them were of standard human physique, at least one of them would probably be dead.

    Donna finally pulls away and looks Kori in the eyes. "Kori, I..." she shakes her head, then looks down. "I'm sorry I wasn't here. I'm... it's really good to see you again. I missed you all a lot too."

    Donna glances over towards Terry, and gives him a quick nod. "C'mon Kori, let's go take a seat and catch up, huh? I think we're attracting attention, we're definitely blocking the doorway, and I think Terry's going to get bored if we keep hugging forever."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
Terry smiles as the two women approach. "I suggest you try the Greek," he says to Donna, perhaps in foreshadowing of the revelation, since Kori was not there to hear it, and Terry hasn't spoiled it- because he may be a sneaky reporter, but he also knows how to friend.

"You can keep on hugging if you need to, I know there's a lot to catch up on." he glances at the menu for a second, before adding:

"I wanted to tell you... I was kind of an ass when we met. I need to explain myself..."

Koriand'r has posed:
Of /course/ Starfire could tell the reluctance in the hug. She had a very tactile form of communication, more or less, and was sensitive to these things. And although at first she was giving Donna every ounce of hug-power, that slowly dims as she senses that reluctance.

But she never quite lets go.

It was a mutual pulling away, and in Kori's eyes there was a total acceptance; of all the Titans, perhaps, the whole splintering seemed to affect her the least.

At least openly.

"I think we attract attention everywhere we go," she says. "But I am used to this," she says. "Most humans are not the same color as I am," she says, grinning ever wider.

"Terry will only get bored if we don't let him into the hug as well," she says. She was playful now, she had let go of the hug, although she lets her hand draw down to hold Donna's hand for the brief walk to the table.

A pause. Ass was one of those words that Kori had trouble with. It was one fraught with context. Was Terry being a bad ass? A dumb ass? A donkey? Rude? She had been so caught up with the hug the context had been lost, some.

And so, carefully. "In which way have you been an ass, Terry O'Neil?" she asks.

Donna Troy has posed:
    Donna doesn't seem to mind the hand-holding on the short journey to the table. While she was fairly confident that Kori of all the Titans wouldn't hold a grudge, the affirmation of that suspicion is quite a relief to her. When they reach the table, she gives Kori's hand an extra squeeze before letting go.

    "Try the Greek?" Donna says to Terry, puzzled. She blinks at him a couple of times. <<To hovercraft mou einai gemato chelia,>> she says with a cheeky grin. "Will that do?"

    She folds her coat and rests it over the back of a chair and then takes a seat, removing her sunglasses and putting them on the table. There's really not much point trying to go incognito when you're standing next to Starfire.

    "Terry O'Neil," Donna says with a smile, resting her elbows and folding her arms on the table. Are they both going to keep using his full name all the time? "There is no need to explain anything. Any minor assery that might have taken place is forgotten already. I just remember the brave guy leaping from demon to demon, claws whirring."

    Donna's eyes return to Starfire, and she takes a deep breath. "Okay. Kori. Confession time. Everything I told you before about who I was, was not true. It was a lie my mother insisted on. I'm from Themyscira. Like Wonder Woman. We weren't ready to tell the world of our existence when I was with the Titans, so that stuff about the Knights of Ilium? I made it up. And uh... well, Troia is my real name, not my code name. But it's fine to call me Donna still. I feel like I'm going to be explaining this for the rest of my life. I should get some cards printed up."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"That was My Hovercraft is full of eels, isn't it?" Terry says, chuckling, "That was brilliant. Also, don't confuse desperate for bravery. I was cornered and we either fought or died, so I fought. Call me brave when we're faced with danger and there /is/ the chance for escape and I don't take it." He winks.


"I do need to explain, Donna-- it wasn't that I was just protecting my scoop. At first I thought you were a paparazzi trying to publish dirt on the Titans. I'm... a little over-protective. The idea of the Titans is... kind of important to me. It was even before I started dating Gar."

he pauses, and suddenly he brings his hands up, "We're not dating. I mean, he's not calling it dating, and he's not calling me his boyfriend. I'm... it's confusing."

He offers an apologetic smile.

Koriand'r has posed:
    There was a long pause. Kori had squeezed back, of course, before parting, settling back in her seat and folding one leg over the other. But there was a pause as she blinks, processing what was said, and a certain level of disturbia settles on her features. "...why did you lie?" she says.

    "Did you not think that we would have kept your secret?" she asks, her tone rich with obvious confusion, shock, and hurt.

    She never was good at keeping her emotions under wraps.

"I..." she looks to Terry now.

A frown touches her features, a little more. "... is it love?" she asks of Terry, her voice quiet.

Donna Troy has posed:
    "Ah!" Donna says to Terry, raising a warning finger. "No. No apologies. I told already, everything is forgotten. Also, the way you are with Gar..." she breaks into a grin. "It's kind of cute. And yes, hovercraft, eels."

    Starfire's hurt expression requires a rather more serious expression, which Donna adopts as she turns to her old friend. "Of course I trust you Kori. It wasn't my choice. I /wanted/ to tell you, but I was under strict orders to tell no-one. It took several years before my mother was persuaded to let me even come to America. She has little trust of the world outside, of /kosmos ton patriarkioi/." Terry may have been guessing about the hovercraft and eels, but he has a linguist's ear and may catch something archaic in the formation - though probably not enough to speculate on a Luwian influence, let alone the ah-khi-ja dialect, lost to history in the tedium of Linear B administrative documents.

    Donna spreads her hands on the table top, and bites her lip. "I'm sorry Kori, I really am. It's not what I wanted. I was told to keep Themyscira secret from everyone, as my sister had been when she visited the world beyond earlier. It is only since I returned home that we have admitted our island even exists to the rest of the world."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"I..." put on the spot by Kori's question, Terry mentally flails for a second, and then settles with "Well, /I/ love him. I'll let you know when he actually says it back!" He says with a grin, and then goes with the wu-wei of the conversation happily into Donna explaining. He takes the moment to admire the menu and settle on an order, trying to chew Donna's foreign words into meaning, but then he is distracted by an idea.

"I mean, Kori, she can make it up to you by having you meet her sister!" He beams brightly, and then it wilts a little as embarrassment takes over. "I... sort of... kind of... fainted when I did- say, have you looked at the /variety/ in this menu?"

Koriand'r has posed:
    There was a language that Kori did not know. And the woman's ears perk up in spite of it as she turns her head towards Donna.

    Now, a younger, newer Kori would have reached across the table and stolen a kiss at that, but she had... restraint, and so on, now. Mostly. Instead, that desire is expressed in a glance down at Donna's lips as they move with the language, before she looks up again.

    It wasn't the time, too. She did not feel great.

    "I understand," she says, her voice sobering just a bit. "You did this to protect your family," she adds. Her hand reaches across the table, to touch Donna's forearm, if allowed. "This is good and honorable," she says. "But you did not need to protect them from us," she says, straightening up again.

It was difficult to really respond to Terry's confession of love, but she brightens a note or two regardless, still caught - as if history would show, for at least another few minutes - in thoughtful melancholy.

"I would like to meet her sister. I have heard much about Wonder Woman..." Koriand'r muses. "...but I wish to know," she says. "... do you still consider me your friend, Donna Troy?" she asks, looking back to her.

Donna Troy has posed:
    Donna looks positively stricken by Starfire's question, and it takes her a moment to compose herself. Her hand moves to meet the one touching her forearm.

    "Kori, I... of course I do. All of you. More than just a friend Kori. Family. I just didn't know if you'd feel the same." Donna looks down at the table, unable to meet Kori's eyes. "It was never about protecting them from you, Kori. It was never my choice, and it hurt me to lie to you all. But what my mother says goes. She's the queen, Kori. I couldn't go against her wishes if she wished Themyscira to remain a secret. I would have told you in a heartbeat but I..."

    Donna stops herself with a deep sigh. "I left earlier than I was supposed to. I needed to get away... no, I wanted to get away because I didn't want to face up to things in America. I convinced myself I needed a break. So when I told you all that I had been called back early, that was not true. And that was my lie. My choice. Because I made that choice, you faced Doomsday without me. I should be asking you that question Kori, not the other way around. You have every right to hate me."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"Alternatively," Terry says, trying to be the voice of reason, and that is a very bad sign, "You could have been here for Doomsday, and you might have died too. As a very wise woman once said to me, you can only do what you can with the information you have, at the time that you had it. If you had known about Doomsday beforehand and fled, then yeah... you could blame yourself all you wanted. But last time I checked, none of your powers include prophecy." He then looks at Kori, "And Kori, being a princess, knows exactly how unbreakable the orders from a queen can be. I don't see any reason for either you to stop being friends."

A server comes in and he decides to give the women a chance to say more to each other by starting his order first. It's a little complicated. It involves flambé.

Koriand'r has posed:
And a small squeeze was given to Donna's forearm at the touch on the back of her hand, Starfire drawing in a deep breath, those luminscent green eyes fixated upon Donna's own face. At least, for as long as she could. "I understand that you have to do things when the queen commands it," she says. "And I am sorry to be hurt by it," she says.

"I am grateful that we are still friends, Donna," she says, the smile on her face earnest, even if it wasn't the glowing superwatt smile she typically wore. "I do not hate you," she says.

"Doomsday was..." Koriand'r straightens up in her chair. "It was my failure as well," she adds. "Of being a friend, as much as being a team member," she says.

Straightening up a bit more, she looks to Terry, and sighs - just a little quietly. "I am sorry. I meant for this to be happy. But there is much emotion beneath the surface," she says to Terry.

Donna Troy has posed:
    Donna lets out a long breath and looks up to Kori with a smile. She mouths the word 'thanks', and settles herself back in her chair. "Just a coffee for me," is her simple order.

    When the orders are taken and the server gone, Donna continues in a hushed voice. "Queen Hippolyta said something similar to me, Terry. Several times." Finally, she's dropped his last name. "Maybe I'm not strong enough to have turned the tide of battle, but maybe enough to have saved Don and Kole. Then the Titans would not have split up. So even if I didn't intend things to work out that way, it is my fault."

    She gives a little shake of her head, and stares at posters on the wall. "Then my sister would not have been here, probably. Hippolyta doesn't like us both being away at the same time. And she /did/ help turn the tide of battle. But this is all ifs and maybes. It doesn't change the fact that when the Titans... when my /family/ needed me most, I was not there for them. "

    Donna turns back to smile at Kori. "You were. You shouldn't take any blame. I know you Kori, you would have done everything in your power, but even your smiles and friendship were never enough to sway Hank when he was upset. Only Don could ever do that."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"Aww, Kori..." Terry says, passing his server down to Donna for ordering, "You don't need to apologize for emotions here. If crying is in the menu, we can all rent sad movies and watch them at the Tower and then eat a tub of ice cream." He reaches out and pats Kori's hand, and then reaches for his ice water.

"Queen Hippolyta. Your mom. I honestly can't tell how you trippy it is to form that sentence, you know. I grew up reading about your mom in classic mythology books, you know. Never would I have ever thought..." he shakes his head. Then he looks to Kori. "Then again, I am technically sharing breakfast with two warrior princesses. How crazy is that?"

Koriand'r has posed:

The mention of the two dead causes Kori's face to fall again. There might lay the secret of why she had stayed away. Their deaths still had obvious aftershocks in the princesses' psyche. That shadow lingers on her features a few steps longer.

"You could not have stopped the splitting up even if you wished to. I..." A pause. "They are all friends, but there was a knife that had begun even before Doomsday twisted it," she says. "Which we all have blame for. Secrets. Hurt hearts. And instead of helping to heal us, I... ran," she says.

Terry's hand to touch hers causes her to pause.

And she smiles to the Cheshire Cat. "Well. We do not have to speak on these things again. Come! We are friends again, so let us drink expensive drinks and eat food and the pizza," she says. A glance to Donna.

"I know so little about the Amazons. I would like to learn about them," she says. "If you are royalty as well, perhaps we princesses should stick together, hmm?" she says.

Donna Troy has posed:
    "Please no Xena jokes, Terry." Donna rolls her eyes, but with a smile. She's obviously trying to lighten the mood.

    "Kori, maybe we can just agree that mistakes were made and we will do better in future. We should have been there for each other then when we weren't - but we can be now, yes?" It's hard to credit that Donna's really throwing a one-eighty, but maybe what this conversation needs is a bit more hope.

    "What Gar has started to do here, bringing us back and finding new friends like Terry, it's... magnificent. A chance to do over, better than before. Knowing the mistakes we made, this time we can do it right." She smiles brightly at Kori, then turns the smile on Terry too. "All of us."

    "I have to admit I'm not /exactly/ a princess. Or /exactly/ Diana's sister." Donna gives a little shrug. "I was adopted as a baby. There was a shipwreck, and only I surived. They have never treated me any the less for it. I have been adopted into the Amazons as well as the family, and the gods have chosen to bless me with their favors as they do my adopted sisters. But I don't really feel... you know. Princessy."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"Oh, I know a ton about the Amazons of myth, Kori... I just don't know how much of it really applies to the reality. I'm going to have to ask a lot of questions... especially since I'll never be able to visit the real thing, if it's true what I hear about men not being allowed?"

"That's how you know you're a real princess. Real princesses don't need to lord it over people." A little bit of what the Cheshire cat thinks about how royalty should act, perhaps. Understandable, considering the background. "No Xena jokes? Aw, Xena was awesome! I grew up watching that! Don't tell me you don't know how to do that thing with your tongue..." he means, of course, the Xena battlecry... but suddenly the mischief of the Cheshire cat peeks through the human redhead's eyes, and he suddenly finds himself saying, "Maybe I should ask Raven that question, actually."

This is how he dies. But no regrets.

Koriand'r has posed:
    A folding of her brows into each other. "No men are allowed?" she says, looking between Terry and Donna in earnest, as Donna likewise one-eighties thing away. "I can agree with this," She says. More active than just casting these things away.

    "Titans, together?" she asks, a wryness coming to her lips then.

    She did enjoy those words. "You are family of them still," she says. "By choice instead of by blood. This is even better," she says. A beat. "Did you have the royal tutors? Mine were most aggravating, telling me to stop with the goofing when they were trying to teach me diplomacy or history."

Donna Troy has posed:
    "There have been a few rare male visitors to the island, Terry O'Neil." Uh-oh, she's back to using his full name, this can't be a good sign. "But those are very rare circumstances. Perhaps with a sharp enough knife and a certain... sacrifice... you might be considered acceptable." Donna gives him a wink.

    "Though there is an easier option," Donna says, stretching. "The embassy. Diana suggested I extend an invitation to you," she adds with a hint of a mischeivous smirk. "I'm worried whether your heart would take the strain though."

    Smirk grows into grin, and Donna turns to Starfire. "Diana gave him her cloak when she came to check on me at the tower," she says. "He fainted! I think my sister made quite an impact. "

    "Yes, so many instructors," Donna acknowledges. "Though mainly combat instructors. There was a bit of diplomacy and ritual, but mostly fighting. My sisters generally have a few thousand years of experience on me, I had a lot of catching up to do. From the age of six, arriving in America a decade later was the first time in my life I was not covered in bruises. And I don't bruise easily."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"... I'm pretty sure that was heatstroke," Terry says in his defense, while his cheeks grow as red as his hair. "She totally did not invite me to the Embassy, you're yanking my tail!"

Oh look, bread arrives. He busies himself by grabbing a bun and spreading butter across it. Trust an Amazon to know how to one-eighty a tease. It must be all that warrior training.

Koriand'r has posed:
"Heatstroke is dangerous," says Koriand'r. "I have heard Terry gets it often," she says, in good natured fun, looking towards him as he flushes like that. "Look! For he is turning red!," she says. Suddenly, her voice turns serious. "Is this more heatstroke, Terry? Will you faint again?" she asks.

There was a worried glance to Donna at that.

"But you will not be sacrificing Terry, he is our friend," she says.

Donna Troy has posed:
    "Not /all/ of him Kori," Donna says with a pleasant smile. "And not me. I certainly would be doing the sacrifice, it's something he would have to do himself. But it would only be a small sacrifice really."

    She tilts her head. "Well, I guess we'd have to ask Gar to confirm that."

    Revenge is sweet, and Kori gets a very obvious wink.

    "I'm not yanking your tail, Terry. You do not currently have one. Nor am I joking. Diana did ask me if I thought you'd like to visit. If you ask nicely, she will let you see her eagle armor. You too, Kori. I would be happy to bring anyone who asks to the embassy."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"If Gar decides we're not suited for each other and I am looking to be inducted into the priesthood of Cybele, maybe I'll take you up on that," Terry says, buttering that bread. What? Every surface must be covered for a properly buttered bread.

"However, if /Kori/ wants to visit the embassy, I wouldn't mind accompanying her! No heatstroke, I'm getting properly hydrated."

He drinks a glass of water. See?

Koriand'r has posed:
    The tension that was building up in Kori's shoulders is relaxed when Donna sends her that wink, that tension leaving her with a sighing laugh. "I am always happy to meet new people," she says to Donna.

    "And if the Amazons are an important part of you, I would be honored to learn about them, if only to learn more about my friend," she says.

    At what Terry says, she brings up her hand to pick up some bread, avoiding the butter as she swallows the piece of bread pretty much whole. "Then perhaps I should visit," she says. "As a heatstroke watcher, as well," she says.

    "But if Gar decides he does not like you, there will be others. You are most cute, and pleasant to be around, Terry," she says. "It will not be a problem!"

Donna Troy has posed:
    "Since when has Gar ever not liked someone, Kori?" Donna shakes her head, laughing. "I don't think there's much danger of that. But I think Terry was joking. Though you know Gar, he always tries to hide his true feelings behind a joke and a smile. They probably never talked about how they feel about each other. Boys!"

    Donna is totally talking about Terry as if he wasn't there, purely to embarrass him. Amazons are relentless, and he started it after all.

    No, Donna is not truly relentless. She relents with a smile. "It's okay Terry, you don't have to pretend you'd only want to go to accompany Kori. We have an embassy now because we /want/ people to take an interest. Your interest and respect for Themyscira is something I should never tease you about, and for that I apologise. Our mission is to teach the world of our ways and wisdom. I am most pleased that we have such supporters as yourself."

    Donna isn't eating, but the coffee is good. She takes an appreciative sip. "They are very important to me, Kori. They are my world. You are already a small part of it, because for those years we practised together and taught each other our fighting skills, I was passing on the Amazonian arts of war to you. I would love to share more with you. Perhaps one day I can take you to visit my home."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"I've told Gar how I feel about him!" Terry says with a chuckle, "I told him I loved him, and all he asked was what was I going to do about it. He's infuriating." He sips his drink, "And adorable. Which is the only reason I don't smother him with a pillow when he says that," he jokes. His bagel arrives, with the side salad, and he starts to dig in now that he is no longer emitting Gah-ma Rays* at an alarming rate.

"I am super interested in visiting the Embassy. I'm just afraid of making a dork out of myself again. Do you know how much I had to prepare myself to interview Power Girl? Then your sister shows up unnanounced and I -" Bread bite.

"You know how embarrassing it is for a reporter to faint like that? I've not even told miss Lane about it because she'd never let me hear the end of it."

Koriand'r has posed:
    "And while you were teaching me those arts of war, I was hoping to teach you some of the Tamaranean ways," she says. But Kori does smile a little bit at that. "Gar is just very shy," she says. "That Terry was able to get through that is... very special," she says to Donna, bringing up her hand to press upon Terry's shoulder and squeeze, lightly.

    Kori was eating. But she was doing it as a part of just moving. Her right hand was squeezing shoulders, her left hand was scooping up parts of her meal, to shovel into her mouth and take bites while listening.

    "I can help you prepare, if it would help," she says. "I can teach you posture, so you will never be the dork again," she says.

Nonetheless, mirth seemed to be working back into her features, her hand coming up to her lips to try to hide that smile. "He is most adorable," she agrees.

Donna Troy has posed:
    "See Kori? See? This is the respect I get." Donna jerks a thumb towards Terry. "Five years I was in the public eye as a Titan. When I first returned I met him, and he thought I was some cheap paparazza here to take photos of you sunbathing. I doubt many people even remember me. My sister has been in the public eye for half as long and she makes boys faint just by smiling at them."

    It must be something, living under a shadow as long as Diana's. There is a degree of exaggeration too, because Donna certainly had made headlines as Troia of the Titans. Is there also an element of sororal jealousy there? If so it's well hidden by a huge smile and eyes gleaming with humor.

Koriand'r has posed:
"I mean like..." Kori laughs at Terry's joke. "Composure, yes? This is the word?" she says. "Where you look death in the eye, and never blink?" she asks, tilting her head to one side.

"And this treatment is most shameful," she says. A pause, and she says, "Yes, I have seen those sunbathing photos, but this is why I do it at the top of the tower, now," she says with a wryness.

"And you make the boys faint by smiling at them, I know it!" she says. "You were Troia! You have fans, just as much as anyone else," she says, clued in on the humor by Donna's expressions.

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"Ah Ah Ah Ah!" Terry raises a finger in protest, "That's not true, I didn't recognize you because you had those fancy mosquito sunglasses that took up half your face and your hair is different! I started recognizing you when you took them off, you know. "And besides, you were wearing your hair differently. Do you know, April's told me about some research where minor alterations to your face makes it hard for people to recognize you, because our brain recognition software is garbage," he points to his head. "So... I have reasons that are backed up by science!" He pauses.

"And no fair on the fainting... you know, you're much closer to my age, so it's more like you're kind of in my generation.... she's, like, hundreds of years old. I mean, when she was a child you had Avicenna still writing works that would change the world. I'm a history geek, Donna, and she's the closest I've been to a breathing, living person from Post-Classical History!" He pauses... and then looks at Donna out of the corner of his eye. "Are you /really/ twentyt-five? Just asking for... you know..."


He looks at Kori, "Posture will help me undorkify? Okay, let's do it. I am taking fighting classes with Harley Quinn, so I'll pencil you in for posture lessons. Will I need to balance books on my head and eggs with spoons in my mouth? 'Cause I've got those."

Donna Troy has posed:
    Donna stares at Terry for a few moments with those huge brown eyes, then bursts out laughing, loud enough to attract a few stares. "Sorry! But you're so /serious/ Terry. I'm just teasing you, it's fine!"

    "And yes Terry, I really am. " She gives a nod and another smile. "My sister is a lot older than me, and she is young compared to most on the island. I had a very strange childhood. I say had... but to be honest I am sure that most of my sisters will not remember that I am an adult now for another century or so. That's what Diana says it was like for her and I don't /think/ she's just saying it to tease me. So no, I am afraid I never met Avicenna." There's a sudden return of the mischievous glint. "But yes, it's all very... historical," she says with a dismissive wave. "All those dusty manuscripts by Plato and Aristotle and all those guys in the palace scriptorium. Nobody really bothers reading them these days though."

    Before the history geek can have a chance to faint again, die of a heart attack, or simply spontaneously combust, Donna changes the subject radically. "You've mentioned that name before. Harlequin." Harley Quinn's notoriety happened after Donna had left. "Some villain who has turned good you said, yes? And now she is a friend of yours?" Donna leans forwards, elbows on the table and coffee momentarily forgotten.

    "And she's going to train you to fight. You must tell us both /all/ about her!"

Terry O'Neil has posed:
Terry's eyes grow as wide as could be as Donna speaks. His mind is suddenly filled of scenes from that Carl Sagan episode about the Library of Alexandria. Rows after rows of scrolls tucked away, with Sagan opening them and saying 'Hyparkos. Hypatia of Alexandria. The full works of Aristotle. Works lost to posterity...'

He takes a big gulp of water, and when he says with a very, very thin thread of voice, "... really? All those things, huh? I... wanna see that someday." Even if he can't read ancient greek, just being in the presence of that... yeah. That's faint worthy.

And then the conversation turns to Harley, and he uses that as an anchor. "Oh... right. Harl... see." He leans forward and says, "It all started when I went to visit my cousin's apartment..." and he is off in tellin gthe story of how Harley entered into his life.

He'll probably not mention the diamond-encrusted banana hammock, though. Probably.