14290/You Can't Be Too Sore to Drink

You Can't Be Too Sore to Drink
Date of Scene:	01 March 2023
Location:	Historic Clocktower - Recreation Center
Synopsis:	Kate calls in the Birds to keep her entertained so she doesn't try working out with her laundry list of recent injuries. Friendships are renewed, intel is shared. Kate enlists Helena to help train Bette. Dinah's going to have to teach Helena to care for her plants.
Cast of Characters:	Kate Kane, Dinah Lance, Bette Kane, Helena Bertinelli

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Kate Kane has posed:
    Tuesday night in Gotham. Or New York. Or wherever the recipients of Kate's text might be. The text is terse, not an emoji to be found. Not terribly uncommon for her. "Someone better drop by the Clocktower rec room or I'm going to pop my stitches trying to deadlift the Pac-Man cabinet. I'm telling you, I can do it."

    And with that done, Kate figures the trap is baited. She's not really going to try and lift the arcade cabinet. She's not even near them as she settles her phone onto the countertop and resumes careful assembly of a charcuterie board. It's joining a platter of typical crudites, carrot sticks, celery, cauliflower, snap peas. The snap peas she's eying now and then with a little baleful glare. They didn't require any knifework, and Kate's in a mood to stab someone. It's a specific someone, but vegetables, cured meat, and cheese are filling in.

    She's dressed down, tanktop and loose jogging pants, pale skin showing some reddened abrasions along the back of her shoulders, disappearing under her top, she's got a helluva black eye on her right, and a thin, fading line along her left cheek with a little butterfly bandage over it. It's probably overkill now, but she hasn't bothered to pluck it free.

    With the food ready, she settles it in the open, ensuring that any gathering around it won't get in the way of the fridge, which she immediately opens to grab herself a beer.

    After all, if she doesn't grab one now, there's a chance she'll miss out!

    She braces her hands on the counter and gives a little push to lift herself up and settle her backside down... and she only lets out a sharp hiss and presses her right elbow against her ribs for five seconds or so afterwards.

    Oh yeah, she figures. Another day of minimal activity and she'll be totally fine. Take that, Sabretooth. And that wall. And that chimney. And... no, that was it. He only smashed her through chimney and hit her with the wall. Totally nothing to worry about. Supergirl wouldn't complain about that kind of thing, so neither will she.

Dinah Lance has posed:
Dinah Lance is always willing to help out a friend, particular one that had a rough patch. The sound of a motorcycle pulling up and coming to a halt is heard before in steps Dinah Lance holding her helmet. She takes a second to look about before spotting Kate and then sitting her helmet down in a out of a way place and hailing her.

"What is this about you dead lifting the arcade machine?" It better not be the one she likes, she is rather fond of the teenage mutant ninja turtling fighting game on it and really hate to see it damage. Dianh is dressed in a blue jean jacket, a white tank top and a pair of black biker leathers as she marches over to check on her friend.

Bette Kane has posed:
Bette was lounging where Kate was not. Namely at the penthouse she has decided that she too now lives at. What, like Kate's going to evict her favorite cousin (and sidekick)? She peers at her phone and just sighs, levering herself up from the sofa and heading to put on actual leaving the house clothes as opposed to lounging around the house clothes.

A short while later, Bette exits the elevator, hilariously enough dressed much like Kate, except the track pants are a fairly bright red, and she's wearing a fairly tight yellow t-shirt instead of a tank top. As she bustles in, she smiles pleasantly at Dinah whom she hasn't seen in a while, but makes a bee line for Kate. Her hands are immediately on her hips as she surveys the injuries. "What, did you get hit by a runaway car? Again?"

Kate Kane has posed:
Kate's eyebrows perk as Dinah arrives first... oh, sure, she could have guessed that was her bike outside. But it could have been Helena, or Babs, or Steph, or Bette if she wasn't borrowing Kate's bike. There's something to consider there. The Birds seem to use a lot of bikes. But no Birdmobile. Hm. Lips quirk in a tired smile as Kate shakes her head, "No, I'm not actually going to try and lift much of anything. Just figured 'Hey, anyone want to hang out while I'm feeling incredibly angry and sore' would scare you all off. Except Babs. But then she'd be poking me with a stick to see what happened. This way, if she shows up to do that, I get to throw everyone else at her. Tactics."

Bette earns a more deadpan stare, Kate lifting the side of her tanktop to reveal what looks an awful lot like someone tried to do one of those 'swords through the cabinet' magic tricks gone wrong. "Something like that. Or..." She frowns slightly, "More like a tiger made of knives. Huh. Sabretooth. I just thought he had the name because he thought it sounded cool and he's an uncreative dickhead."

She clicks her tongue thoughtfully, lifting her beer and gesturing at the spread of food, "Please, eat some. Otherwise I'm going to eat it all and I can't do the... any exercise for it right now. I mean, I could, but then the doctor's get all 'Ms. Kane, this is a serious injury' and 'You're pushing yourself too hard' and 'Jesus Christ, look at this X-Ray, are you some kind of daredevil?"

She sighs loudly. Doctors.

Dinah Lance has posed:
Dinah Lance has to groan a little bit but she can understand the girls position, she hates hospital stays, laying in bed and doing nothing is just not her style but when your only power is to scream at people really loudly she has to have sympathy for the folks who have to get by with the strength of their bodies. She comes over and looks at the wound curiously and then frowns.

Getting ready to ask about who did this to her friend she then gets her answer, "Sabertooth you say. We are going to have to pay a visit to this person for picking on one of our own." She then looks over Kate and then frowns. "He really did a number on you too, you sure you should be up and about not lying in bed recovering.." She picks up a few piece of cheese and then takes a bite out of them before picking up one of the beers and cracing it with one swift motion of her calloused hand.

Bette Kane has posed:
Bette grimaces at the wounds, blue eyes flickering between them and Kate's eyes. Deadpan all she wants, family is family and she is absolutely going to worry about it. "The hell is a Sabretooth?" She tentatively reaches towards one of the stab wounds, but stops herself, standing back up straight.

She looks at Dinah and smirks. "We could pay this jerk a visit and make sure he doesn't mess with us again. That sounds like a good time." Until she's gutted and bleeding out on the ground, but, well. Omlette. Eggs. She shakes her head again and grabs her own beer, popping it open and taking a drink. "Those wounds look like whatever he stabbed you with went through your body armor like paper."

Kate Kane has posed:
Kate's beer is draining slowly. Which, more than the little discomforted expressions and ginger motions as she reaches for a cracker and some brie might be the _real_ tell that she's aching. Kate drinking slowly's a lot like your Check Engine light going on. You can try to ignore it, but it's a bad sign. She shakes her head at Dinah with a sigh, "I mean, it's kind of my fault. I mean, him getting the best of me. Went up to New York to... get away and unwind. Didn't think to go out to the bar in an outfit that could accommodate any weapons. Or the suit." She frowns, "I'm not even sure how he found me. We had a little tussle a month or so back when he was in Gotham, but he ran off after wrecking up a bar. And probably making some openings in the local hench economy. I figured it was... you know, done?"

Her gaze snaps to Bette and she rolls her eyes, "So not reading dossiers runs in the family. Big guy, like... size of a commercial fridge. Mutant. Healing powers. Claws. Doesn't actually have sabreteeth, so..." She shrugs helplessly and sighs out, "Oh, it didn't go through my armor. Went through that black leather jacket. The tight one. And that ruffled shirt. Good for the bar I went to, not great for fighting." She sighs and mutters, "Besides, he wouldn't have tagged me if he didn't swing me by the leg into a wall. Put me through a chimney too."

She pauses for a long moment. "It was an old chimney. Really weak mortar."

She snaps and points to Dinah with a crooked smile, "Well, if I see him again and you wanna... give him a shout? I'm not going to argue."

Dinah Lance has posed:
Black Canary just watches Kate, slight bit of concern in those blue eyes of her before she takes a drink from her own beer and then sits it down nearby so she can help herself to the finger food. "Sounds like a tough customer. The line between mutant and metahuman is starting to become thin, so much so that those people who have a hate on for mutants are coming after some of us.." She sighs at the thought as she picks the beer up and just kind of holds it, letting the sweating can cool her hand.

She kind of glances over at the old pin ball machine and wonders about trying her luck on it, but right now she wants to mingle, its been awhile since the bird and bat family got together to just hang out. "So how are the rest of the Birds doing? Haven't heard from Helena have you?

Helena Bertinelli has posed:
Showing up later than the others, Helena walks in and looks to the gathered group. She offers a smile and wave. "Ladies." Moving into the room she glances to each curiously, then the smile begins to fade on hearing Kate's description of her encounter. It turns into a frown by the end, her dark eyes looking to Kate's injuries before glancing to the other Birds.

If drinking slowly is a warning sign for Kate, Helena keeping her thoughts and concerns to herself would be one of her own.

As Dinah speaks up, she smiles wryly. ".. il diavolo." Then a finger waggle toward the blonde. "I'm doing fine. Though the stack of term papers I spent most of the evening grading probably looks about like Kate.." another glance of concern toward the redhead.

Bette Kane has posed:
Bette perks up as she hears the elevator open, taking another long drink of beer as she looks over to see who's coming out of it. "It's been a while, Helena," she says brightly, before returning her attention to Kate.

And absentmindedly stuffing a carrot stick in her face.

"Who has time to read dossiers? There's bad guys to punch!" She pauses a second and sighs. "I know. Dossiers are just as much training as the punching is. I know, I know!"

Kate Kane has posed:
Kate actually lights up a little when Helena strides in, grinning crookedly, "Hey, don't go trying to convince me grading papers is on the same level as fighting some psychotic mutant terrorist. Have you seen kids are using those AIs to cheat nowadays? Fighting a walking blender of fur and claws is less stressful."

She sinks down a little with a soft sigh, "But I'll admit, not how I was planning for my weekend to go. It was probably a coincidence. I was in NYC under a cover ID, left Gotham using it even, took the _train_. So I don't think he was after me. Hunting me." She clicks her tongue and mumbles softly, "But he's on my hunting list now."

Kate's eyes glance between Helena and Bette, and for a moment there's a briiiight, wide smile before she can cover it. "Did you hear, Helena? Reading isn't _cool_ according to Bette." She levels her gaze at her cousin, "Everything. Is. Training." She looks back to Helena, "Do you do like... post-secondary detention? I will pay you to Teacher at my cousin."

She shrugs to Dinah's point about mutants and metahumans, "Honestly, I've never seen the difference myself. You get eye beams because you were born with them, you get electric powers because you fell in a vat of electric eels at the Science Factory, or you... picked up a magic rock and licked it? You're still a person. Gotta follow the same rules as the rest of us."

Dinah Lance has posed:
Dinah Lance glances over at Helena and raises the beer in a kind of salute before sitting it down. "Hey Helena, good to see you.." She picks up a carrot and dips it into some of the cheese and then bites into it. "Honestly I think Helena is doing great making sure the youth of gothem stay off the streets. Probably better than us who go off and just beat thugs and end up with broken ribs for our trouble."

As for the subject of powers she kind of nods. "I don't see how people can accept a man from krypton over a human with eye beams. People are funny that is for sure.." She takes a drink from the beer and then just leans back.

Helena Bertinelli has posed:
Helena Bertinelli turns to look at Bette amidst the comments and ribbing from Kate and Dinah. Want to make a teacher's brows raise? That slow rising Oh Really Now expression? Tell them that reading and education aren't valuable.

Bette gets The Look. "Sure Kate. Bette can stay after class and clean the erasers and chalk board for me" she says lightly.

Then she heads for a beer. Because this doesn't seem like a wine drinking situation. Twisting off the cap, she takes a slow drink.

"Oh now don't go talking me up like that Dinah. Most days I'm just trying not to kill the little shits." The smirk and sarcasm in her tone suggest she's mostly joking.

"How've you been Bette? Nice to see you again."

Finally to Kate, "You're okay?" It's as close to fussing over the situation as she seems inclined to get.

Bette Kane has posed:
When Kate turns Helena on her, Bette blushes and mutters. "Not what I meant, Kate." She goes even more under her breath. "Bitch."

She's all smiles a moment later, her mood shifting rapidly. The fact that she's already got one beer down and heading for another. "I've been alright. Tried to help some young woman in an alley the other day, but she ended up doing most of the heavy lifting. Real cute hat though. They're building them real strong these days. Otherwise I'm just doing my thing and drinking Kate's booze."

Kate Kane has posed:
Kate's head bobs as she smiles to Helena. It's a genuine, brief little flash of reassurance. "I'm okay. Missed any organs. I think the closes was the spleen by a couple inches. Which I've been told is miles in surgery terms so..." She sighs, "I'm just trying not to dwell on if it was luck that he didn't hit anything, or precision. But! I didn't call you all to be worried about me. I called you to be worried about me _and_ relax. Face it, we're all busy enough we need to do two things at once, and since I couldn't fit in 'Worry about me and spot me on the weight bench'..."

She flashes a grin to Dinah and shrugs, "Well, I'm trying to teach Bette here and Harper some things about our uhh... hobby? Night jobs?" She shrugs helplessly and then blinks innocently, "I mean, hey, Helena's a saint for managing to work in the school system. I didn't even graduate West Point before getting kicked out. I mean, I think that makes me a dropout by some measure."

Her eyes snap back to Bette, narrowing slightly, "Wait, like... _stupid_ cute hat? Like so cute you can't resist smiling at it?"

Dinah Lance has posed:
Dinah gives Helena a good natured smile, "Honestly these days those little shits can be rather dangerous with the amount of school shootings. I know the news like to talk up the super heroes who go out in costumes and beat up thug but there are so many common heroes, teachers, cops, ambulance workers and fire fighters who end up cleaning up after our messes.." She takes a drink from that beer and then covers her mouth to stifle a burp.

She glances over at Bette Kane and asks, "She end up being a cape?" Once more falling back on that street slang for hero. "Haven't really had a chance to do much heroing myself, stuff at the florist has been pretty busy however. I think the mob is planning something however cause one of their people came in and ordered like a bunch of flowers."

Helena Bertinelli has posed:
Helena Bertinelli glances back to Bette at the comments about fighting in an alley. As Kate asks for more details, she listens curiously and moves over to grab a few of the fingery-foody-snacks. Leaning against the foosball table casually, she looks to Dinah, "Yeah, it's always on my mind." But odds are if some foolish person of whatever age would choose to try and attack _her_ school? They would be utterly fu... can teachers say those words? Either way, it's the truth. There wouldn't be enough left for the PD to book.

As Dinah talks about the mob, she perks up. It's kind of her balliwick. "Do you happen to recall the name, Dinah?" Yeah.. Mob Princess, ex or not, wants to know who's planning to whack whom.

Bette Kane has posed:
Bette takes another long drink of beer. Fast drinking must be a Kane trait. "You know, I've still not met Harper. I'd say is she even real, but I'm pretty sure she is." As for Kate's question, she squints at her cousin in a knowing way. "Yep. Disgustingly cute hat. Absurdly strong. Said she met you. Showed me the selfies."

She recognizes that garage floor, Kate. SHE KNOWS.

"Not sure she was a full on cape, sure as hell had powers, though," she replies to Dinah.

Kate Kane has posed:
There's a soft noise from Kate, "I feel like Gotham's schools are safer than the national average just because like... the kids all have, you know, the trauma of living in Gotham to bind them together. Probably hard to really bully someone to the breaking point when you all get taken hostage by guys in clown makeup or luchador masks every semester."

She nods to Dinah, "I don't know if she's really... active in crime fighting. Said she wanted to be but her girlfriends keep telling her it doesn't pay, and to keep a low profile. She's bullet proof, I know that much. And... some kind of enhanced strength." She snorts at the mention of the mob, "Buying for funerals ahead of time? Or is someone hoping no one notices twenty guys in pinstripes and fedoras with boxes of roses?"

Kate's eyes narrow at Bette, "Harper is not make believe. And hey, the kid got her jacket ruined by a shotgun blast. I couldn't just leave her to try and catch the bus back to NYC."

She rolls her eyes and sighs out, "Make one kid's day and your cousin gets all _snarky_ about it when she happens to meet her. When you're hurt. But that's life." But she flicks back to Dinah, lips in a thin line. See? Intel about the mob. Kate's totally good at bringing the Birds together to share info. All part of the plan.

Dinah Lance has posed:
Canary takes a moment to think back on the ticket. "Man paid in cash. I believe it was Caleb. I normally don't like having mobster goon frequent my shops." She glances over at Bette who is on her what, second better now. "Think you might want to slow down there Bette.." She says.

She has been nursing the same beer for sometime and it is about half empty by now. Reaches for another one of the cheese sticks and then takes a bite out of it as she talks.

Helena Bertinelli has posed:
Helena Bertinelli listens to the details on this girl. "What's her name?" Seems like the team should be aware of such a person playing hero around Gotham.

Looking to Dinah, she nods. "Caleb. Hm. Not a name I've heard but that doesn't mean anything. I'll have to look into him further." Anything the mob is doing on Gotham is of interest to her after all.

Then a nod toward Bette in agreement with Dinah. "It isn't like we're going to take it from you. Slow down and enjoy it.."

Bette Kane has posed:
"Jesus, you let her get hit with a shotgun? I wish I knew that before I took a baseball bat to the ribs. Oh well. It turned out fine, she hit some dudes with a dumpster. It was pretty fun, and I walked her to the Tube back to New York."

Bette blushes as everyone but Kate is telling her to slow down. It's just beer. "Sorry. old Cadet reflexes. Always had to have the stashed beers gone fast before they got found in inspection." She seems to slow it up a bit, breaking her drinking up with a couple hunks of sausage with a piece of cheese between them.

"I don't really know a damn thing about the mob in Gotham, but if you need an extra set of eyes, I'll help out, Helena. I need the practice since somebody keeps going out and getting her butt kicked on her own."

Kate Kane has posed:
Kate groans out, "I didn't _let_ her get hit by a shotgun! The guy who grabbed her as a human shield went all twitchy on the trigger out of nervousness while I was taking out his buddies!"

She huffs and rolls her eyes, "Molly. She lives in NYC, so I doubt she's going to be back in town, but if you see a five foot tall teenager wearing some type of ridiculous hat and acting like she just ate the contents of a candy store..." She shurgs helplessly.

She frowns thoughtfully and murmurs out, "we've got a Caleb at Kane Capital, but he's some... accounting dweeb. No mob ties."

Kate's still sipping her beer, down about three quarters. But Kate's behaving. Which, if anything, proves how concerned her recent brush with death was. Wait, brush with death? No no no. Totally normal random ambush in New York. Like she said, it's fine.

"Soooo... anyone... uhh... watch TV lately?" She shrugs her shoulders lightly. It's all she's got! She hasn't met any mobsters lately or anything.

Dinah Lance has posed:
Ah yes the television. "I've kind of stopped watching television. Nothing really interesting on it and all the news is like a freak show." She does kind of glance at the bird and then looks down at the beer. "So anyone been keeping a ear to the ground? I've heard someone is going to make a hit on Arkham..

Helena Bertinelli has posed:
Helena Bertinelli looks to Bette, "You'll need to start brushing up then. Just going after the mob isn't smart, Bette. It's not like patrolling and stopping to take on a gang out stealing purses.." she offers more gently. "But we'll make sure you get some experience in. Cross training is important."

She looks to Kate oddly. TV? Really?

Then she offers, "There's this semi-reality series I find entertaining. They'be been digging on this island for treasure for.. maybe ten seasons now? They claim it could have anything from the original copies of Shakespere's plays to the Ark of the Covenant. Which is absurd. Everyone knows Indiana Jones found that and it's in a government warehouse."

Bette Kane has posed:
Bette sighs at Helena. She knows she's right, but it doesn't make it any more palatable. "Right, right. Just tell me when and we can hang out and stuff, Hel," she says taking another sip of beer.

"I did hear rumblings about Arkham. I'm ready for it if it happehns."

She's going to get her ass kicked.

Kate Kane has posed:
Kate eyes Helena with a helpless little 'What? Am I going to ask about dating?' shrug. Her lips pressing into a thin, thoughtful line as Helena offers her show up. Kate's eyes widen, face struck with the thought of what wonderful treasure could be buried. Until she pauses... snorts... "Probably just another spare Batcave. Big guy disguised it as being super old to throw off suspicion and now some TV crews are going to dig into it." She shrugs lightly, "That's probably true. I mean, the moon Nazis didn't have it."

_That_ she says dead seriously.

She rolls her eyes at Bette and sighs out, "You should take her out to stakeout a warehouse, Helena. No drones or Babs's big blimp if it's ready. Rooftop, rain, thermos of terrible coffee. Never know when someone's going to set off an EMP and we'll need to go back to the basics."

Dinah earns a low groan, "Of course. Arkham. The real fun is always why someone's messing with it. Breaking out their boss? Using it as a distraction for something else? One of these times it's going to be angry family members of victims trying to kill someone in there."

She eyes her beer and tips it back to drain it. One! One beer. Kate's so good.

"Well, enough distracting me from my bruised ego. And cracked ribs. I'm going to go lay down."

She points a finger at Bette, "If you use the last of the milk, buy more. I'm not eating dry cheerios again."

She eases herself off the counter she's been sitting on and groans... less from her injuries and more from the sudden rush of blood to legs that have been immobile on a hard surface for a good while. "We should do this again. It's nice catching up when we're not trying to talk between gunshots and the like."

Dinah Lance has posed:
Yeah Dinah has to get back to the florist herself, she takes the last of her beer and knocks it back before sitting the empty bottle in the trash before she stands up and nods her head. "Well it was good to see you girls again. And we should do this again..

Helena Bertinelli has posed:
Helena Bertinelli nods to Kate, "We'll go out. The basics are what all of our other methods are built on." So there will be that to look forward to. A cold wet nighttime stakeout.

Frowning, she looks to Kate and Dinah, then Bette, "If you need back up for Arkham, let me know."

"It was good to catch up" she agrees with Dinah. Offering a smile toward her, "I'll try to stop in. I need to get a new plant anyway. My last one died." She pauses. "Again."