14834/Kane Family Dinner

Kane Family Dinner
Date of Scene:	03 May 2023
Location:	Penthouse
Synopsis:	The Kane cousins have a simple night in for pasta, it's touching and they barely even mention ninjas. Like two, three times tops.
Cast of Characters:	Kate Kane, Bette Kane

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Kate Kane has posed:
It's not too often that Kate Kane has any kind of set dinner plan. Certainly not of a plan beyond 'Get enough calories after patrol'. But she's trying to be better. Trying to be more human and less of a demanding, implacable hardass vigilante trainer.

Which is why her most recent texts to Bette were not critiquing her patrols, or even taunting her about whatever TV series she's been watching. It was a far more simple request for Bette to drop by for dinner at an entirely reasonable hour in the middle of the week. If anything Kate feels like she should probably have her security systems dialed to 11 for this more than for any other happenings at her penthouse. Because if the Birds found out she enjoys cooking, they'd either never let her live it down... or never have another team meeting without insisting it involve her providing food. This, of course, is an extreme exaggeration. Kate's no world class chef, but she can throw together some penne with vodka sauce.

Because of course she can.

She's not dressed up like this family dinner is a Big Event, just leggings and a worn t-shirt with a faded logo for Grant's Gym. She's whistling a soft little tune, juggling sauce and pasta cooking with something not quite approaching the focused intensity she'd give to a workout or patrol. This may, in fact, be Kate at her most relaxed.

Bette Kane has posed:
Usually when you go to college, you learn a few things. Skipping a couple classes a week is fine, Jungle Juice is best out of a rubbermaid tub, and free food is never not awesome.

You don't learn this at West Point.

Instead, Bette developed her affinity for food she doesn't have to cook (and that is actually good) after she graduated. No one can ever say the mess at the academy is gourmet, but it is free!

Being who she is, Bette doesn't even knock, she just opens the door and walks in. She looks like she just came from the tennis court. Because she did. Red polo, white tennis skirt and comfortable sneakers. "I made it! It smells fantastic in here," she says as she heads towards the kitchen, thunking a bottle of red down on the island (because all rich people have kitchen islands), and she leans on it. "Honestly, didn't expect that text, Kate. I expected 'You are being hunted by a ninja. Run.'"

Kate Kane has posed:
Of course Kate hears the door open, really, it's more than enough warning for her to be reaching into the fridge to grab herself a sparkling water, and Bette a beer. Which makes it far easier for her to lean around the fridge door dramatically to narrow her eyes. "It /always/ smells fantastic in here. Our air freshener selection is on point."

She eyes the bottle of wine, then the beer, lifting it in a questioning little gesture. She eyes that tennis outfit and snorts softly, "No no, no sign of the ninja I ran into. Or any other ninjas."

She pauses for a long moment and frowns. "Which, I guess, is kind of the point of a skilled ninja, isn't it?" She heaves out a sigh, stretching up to open a high cupboard and reach for two bowls for the pasta. "No, I figured maybe we could just have dinner, relax, not worry about ninjas or penguins or clowns or whatever."

Bette Kane has posed:
"I mean ... We're kind of like ninjas, right? Misdirection and stealth and all that," she says. She squints a little. "You ran into a ninja? League? The Hand? Real Ultimate Power dot Net?"

She notes the eyeballing of her wardrobe and rolls her eyes. "It's pretty nice out, figured I'd do my cardio on the court. I can't fleece people for money anymore, though. They've gotten wise to my ways." She grins, taking and popping the beer. She makes no comment on the sparkling water. Kate cutting back a little is a good thing.

"And dinner is good. Downtime from The Work is important, and I'm glad you're finally learning it." She pauses. "And I promise not to tell Babs that you can cook."

Kate Kane has posed:
Kate sighs as she begins to dish up the pasta and rolls her eyes, "I didn't get her business card. Might not have been an actual ninja, she was wearing one of those fancy tengu masks. Kind of... went on this rant about how we're not doing enough to stop crime in Gotham." She pauses again and sighs out, "Not like, /the two of us/, the whole... cape and cowl brigade? But I mean, she also had some rant about how if she murdered enough high ranking mafia guys, they'll work for her, but like... not for crime?"

She clicks her tongue and sighs, "Bette, you do remember we're like... obscenely, ludicrously rich right? What could you possibly want to buy that you could fleece people to afford at tennis?"

She snickers and rolls her eyes, "I don't think Babs is the one I'm worrying about. I mean, I'm assuming she has like, a network of her own drones that can pick up her uber eats orders in a couple seconds."

Her eyebrows perk and she grins, "So, aside from like... whatever the tennis term for poolsharking is, how have you been? You know, outside the costumed adventuring."

Bette Kane has posed:
"The fleecing isn't about the money. it's about wounding Tennis Jock Bros' pride by being better at it than them," she answers with a grin, sipping the beer. "You know, play the ditzy blonde who is passable, but not 'Country Club Good' at tennis. Make the wager and then obliterate them."

This is why she's a good vigilante. Calculated risks and always giving everything she has.

"I mean, sure. delivery is a thing, but, come on, who doesn't want a home cooked meal over takeout? Not that I mind takeout, I just have to cardio more the next day."

Then the actual important stuff. She shrugs. "I'm alright enough. Took the bike out to the cliffs and hung out with Harper. Borrowed a bottle. We drank too much and had to camp out. Other than that, not a whole lot."

Kate Kane has posed:
Kate snorts out and shakes her head, carrying two dishes of pasta over to the island, only to reach across after settling them down to ruffle Bette's hair. "Of course it is. That's my Bette. Okay, next time you run a streak on a bunch of douchey bros, pizza's on you."

Kate's head tilts and she frowns thoughtfully, "Your logic is impeccable but like... I've never seen Babs eating anything but cereal at her computer."

Her eyebrows perk and she murmurs dryly, "Wait, /the/ bike? My bike?"

She doesn't sound upset about it, more curious. Mainly because... well, her bike has an exceptionally advanced self-driving system that /doesn't/ see the children of Gotham as bonus points in an arcade game. But... maybe she didn't tell Bette about that.

Despite having stumbled into mentoring Harper /and/ Bette, Kate's definitely flying by the seat of her pants when it comes to mentoring. She should probably quiz Bruce sometime, even if she doesn't like his answers she can use them as what /not/ to do.

She grins impishly and perks her eyebrows, "Did Harper talk about her little dinosaur auction adventure? She did good. I haven't had a chance to tell her, so hopefully she's not freaking out about it."

Bette Kane has posed:
The blonde makes a face at her hair being ruffled, but she puts up with it good naturedly. "You got it. I love taking money from stupid rich guys," she says, not even bothering to reach up and fix her hair. "And no, not your bike. -my- bike. 'Cause I bought one. Nothing fancy, just a cruiser with some storage. Nice to tool around the country with, way less useful here in the city."

She pauses and shakes her head. "She didn't tell me about that, but she didn't seem to be freaking out. We were just talking about, well, the Job and stuff." Bette's cheeks turn a little pink, but she camouflages it by digging into the bowl of CARBS. What else did they talk about?

Kate Kane has posed:
Kate keeps that eyebrow arched silently as she definitely does not ask about how talking about The Job would cause those cheeks to pinken. Clearly, that was the stuff. And stuff is sacred.

Lips quirk in a crooked grin and Kate bobs her head, "Well, if you ever want to do some work on it, the Clocktower garage is second to none. Probably because like... we've got enough bike-riding badass bitches to form a motorcycle gang at this point. We should do up a patch or something." That grin shifts to a warmer, more genuine smile as she takes bites of delicious, glorious carbs. "But... thanks for this. Keeping me centered. You're the best, cousin."

Bette Kane has posed:
It's probably good that Kate doesn't pry, Bette would flush as red as her suit if she did. For a trained soldier turned vigilante and former world class tennis player, she sure can be bashful.

The pink fades as she swallows, a sly smile crossing her face. "I may have bought a turbo kit for it already. It hasn't shipped yet. I'll definitely use the garage at the Clocktower. I'm not paying someone to do something I can do with a little help from my friends."

Then there's a touch of seriousness. The cheeky edge falls off her smile. "Hey...You're not only my cousin, Kate. You're my mentor, my teacher and my friend. Sometimes I think that if I weren't around, you'd fall off the deep end. So you're stuck with me until you fire me, which still won't get rid of me, or, you know, something bad happens. Which it won't, because you're a good teacher and I've learned a lot."