16953/Diana's Date Night: Hello New Friend!

Diana's Date Night: Hello New Friend!
Date of Scene:	18 January 2024
Location:	Mealtide
Synopsis:	Diana has a ice cream date with a young man, and his little sister makes an appearance.
Cast of Characters:	Samuel Clifton, Diana Prince

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Samuel Clifton has posed:
    Wonder Woman. How did he manage a date with Wonder Woman of all people! And in his civilian identity no less! "You're gonna be laaa~te," teases Shelly, smirking with a lilt in her voice and swinging around on the edge of the island while Sammy does prepwork. "It's gotta be perfect. The best--" Truffle, hazelnuts, a little toffee, heavy cream, buttermilk, brown sugar, cocoa, dark chcolate, duck eggs, goat butter... the fudge brownie base with chcolate chunk, the slight caramel drizzle on top of the death by chocolate, the mousse... it all has to go right. And then into two parts, insulated to keep the brownies steaing hot with a thermal pack and the ice cream frozen on dry ice. Sparkling blackberry to drink, maybe? Oh just take the usual duffel, something can come out of it. "You're going to be laaaaaa~aaate" giggles the girl more emphatically. Sammy grabs the last of the meal and rushes out the door, "Don't wait up." Shelly scoffs, "You really think you might-..." "Me? Not a chance, not at all! Ha!" He's laughing as he dashes for his car, not paying attention enough to see Shelly following him to hop into the backseat and lay down to avoid being spotted.
    He's not late, but just barely. A picnic. Could have come up with any activity in the world, but when faced with such stunning beauty that the mind short-circuits, all Sammy could think about was a picnic. And so here he is, in the part on a blanket, with an honest to gods wicker picnic basket, setting out sandiches and fruit and vegetables... and the centerpiece of the meal is death by chocolate brownie fudge ice cream sundae.

Diana Prince has posed:
The wheres and the hows, the whys and the with whom, they were irrelevent! Diana had agreed to the date with the young man, and had happily accepted the offer to come to the park that he'd requested. It only took a few minutes after he arrived, that he'd see someone separating herself from the walking paths toward the lawn where he'd said he'd setup. There she strides, Diana Prince, in black slacks, with a white peacoat on, her hair tied back in to a loose ponytail, and a smile showing in red lips as she sees her date for the evening. As she nears, she raises a hand up to wave toward him. When she gets close enough, she speaks out. "Hello!" She says, stepping up to where he'd setup the picnic. Her eyes roam over it, a smile on her red lips. "You have gone all out here, haven't you?" She asks in her smoky voice, laced with a unusual accent foreign to the United States norms.

"Samuel, right?" She asks him, as she pulls one of her hands from her white coat's pockets to offer it to him. "I hope you did not go to too much trouble for this..." She says, before her opposite hand motions beside him. "May I sit?" She inquires.

Samuel Clifton has posed:
    Samuel stares the entire time she's approaching, partly trying to call out to her, partly trying to make that first part shut up since what would come out would be unintelligible gibbering babble and just make him look stupid. Or so thoroughly befuddled that it might even make his homely mug look brighter. He swallows down his first few repsonses and merely waves back with the widest grin possible, trying to calm his nerves. "Lots of trouble, but not so much expense. I love cooking, so it's not an issue! And... and hard work is never something I'll shy away from if there's meaning to it." That smile at least is sincere and genuine. "Y-yes, sit! Please! And... my friends call me Sammy." Normally a meal would end with desert, but there's only a brief period of time where the fudge brownie will be steaming hot but the ice cream won't have gotten shiny. "Homemade, everything from scratch."

Diana Prince has posed:
The Princess of Themyscira steps over to the side of the young man, and lowers down to sit beside him. With a happy expression on her pretty facial features, she turns her gaze toward him, her sunglasses being tucked in to a inner pocket of her coat, with the sun on their backs. "Entirely home made? And you enjoy to cook? Wow, I think you will have a lot of success in life." She says in that friendly voice, sincere and kind. What he indicates, her eyes go to look upon, as she gets comfortable where she is now seated beside him. "My word... You really did run with that ice cream information I sent you, didn't you?" She asks with a little laugh that bubbles out of her.

She shoots a big smile up at him, and then glances around the park. "I have not been here before, it is lovely. I assume this is close to your home?" She asks. "I wouldn't have wanted to make you travel out of your way..."

Samuel Clifton has posed:
    Sammy freezes as the glasses come off, looking into her eyes and getting lost for a moment. She's happy. She's happy at him! He pinches his wrist without looking, tugging the skin until it bruises a little, restraining his wince. And still not believing that he's awake. And having a picnic date with a literal princess. "Well, I don't think I can hope to compare to you," he smiles. "I always take people's food preferences seriously." She's laughing! He's made her laugh! That's like, fifty date points, right from the start, isn't it? Yep, the boy's smitten. "Oh sure, not too far. You can't see it from here, but if you go around the next left past the tracks, there's the tenements and the side lot where I keep my truck." He blushes and averts his gaze. "Sorry, I'm trying not to stare so much, but this just seems so surreal to me that I can't hardly..." He laughs and starts to relax. Even if this turns out a total bust, it'll be the best thing to ever happen to him. He gestures towards the ice cream, "Dig in! Before the heat melts it."

Diana Prince has posed:
when he refers to where his home is generally located, Diana looks in that direction, while a cool January wind rolls across where they are seated together. When she looks back to him, and his nervous demeanor becomes more clear, and he eludes to it as well, she just casts him a grin. Her right hand comes up to touch the back of his arm, reassuring in gesture and touch. "Do not fret on it. We are here to simply get to know one another, and enjoy some tasty treats." She states in a calm tone, ever laced with that charismatic expression of happiness that resonates from her like warmth from the sun itself.

At his prodding, Diana's eyes drop back down to what he'd brought, and she moves her hand down to gather some of it up. "You do not have to tell me twice..." She says, laser-focusing in on the chocolate dessert. She gathers up a portion of it for herself, before she reaches for a napkin to accompany her dish. "So you really made this yourself?" She asks, as she whips up a fork and digs in. "I am not allowed in the kitchen, or at least not allowed to prepare food in it. they say I am a ... less than stellar cook, but I say that they lack imagination and patience for perfection." She states, shooting him a playful sidelong glance before she delves in to the dessert. The fork raises up to her lips, passes through and she does indulge!

With her eyes closing to the taste sensation that she experiences, Diana slowly starts to nod her head, processing the flavors. "My word, indeed..." She quietly says in her naturally husky hued voice. "this is good." She states, dabbing at her lips with the napkin before she goes in for more. "Where did you learn to make this?" She inquires next.

Samuel Clifton has posed:
    Sammy goes absolutely still again when she touches his arm. The reassurance seems to evoke even greater skepticism and disbelief from him, even as his eyes light up. "Well, uh... I didn't milk the goat myself, or lay the eggs, or grow the grain, but I chose the ingredients and did all the mixing and the cooking, yes. Somewhere in the back of his head there's a hunchback singing a disney song about heaven's light, while garogyles tell that part to shut up before it says something stupid. Again, possibly. But it gets him to relax a little and stop being so shocked by her mere presence. Wait, what was it that he had just said? What did she just say? Play it back. "I have a hard time imagining anyone getting away with telling you what you're 'allowed' to do or not," he scoffs.
    And from behind a bush at the edge of the park near where Sammy left his car, a pair of binoculars peer through the foliage. "Nope. Caught in 4k and I still don't believe it," whispers the girl sheltering inside.
    "I've been practicing and studying for years," Sammy admits. "It's become a bit of an obsession, honestly. You want to balance the flaky crisp of the crust with the... with the chewy thickness... the contrast between hot cake and cold dairy, it's about texture and temperature as much a flavor, really. They all play into each other."

Diana Prince has posed:
While he responds to her, Diana simply looks down to the dessert, forking at it gently before raising another sampling bite up to her lips again. As he further elaborates, she gently nods her head, her long dark pony tail blowing gently around behind her shoulders in the January winds. Her eyes come up, and she glances away toward the general direction from which those binoculars are aimed from, but surely she doesn't know the peeper is watching, right? surely.

When she looks back, she casts her gaze back over to him, and laughs softly again. another fifty points!

"Yes, well... When you have two sisters, and a world class Chef on hand at the Themysciran embassy, you have a lot of opinions flying around with regard to your ability with a spoon and mixing bowl." She replies, showing off another playful grin to him, before her eyes go back down to her dish, and she snags another swiped load with her fork. "Is this your hopeful career path then?" She asks him. "You're quite young, still, are you not? Entering college, or already in it?" She further asks as she slips another bite of chocolatey delight in to her mouth.

Samuel Clifton has posed:
    "Aheh... auhm..." He scratches the back of his head, nails combing through clean but unruly hair and digging against his scalp, "I'm feeling stretched too thin to go to college. I run a vending machine business, and I'm looking after my little sister. She can be quite a handful sometimes, so I need a job that lets me keep an eye on her. If I did go to college..." He looks up and away wistfully, tilting his head. "Probably pharmacology? It's not exactly food, but it's still something you make and give people to make them feel better and keep them alive. Yeah, if I had... another sixteen hours in a day. Or didn't need to sleep... or..." he sighs and slumps a bit, before starting to eat his own ice cream. Which... he hadn't actually tried yet since making. "Oh WOW, this DID come out nice," talking more to himself than to her, "Gonna have to write down that recipe if I remember it when I get back." He pauses and mutters, "Eh, Shelly will remember it. She always does." He shakes his head to focus his attention back. "I didn't know you had family."

Diana Prince has posed:
The Princess quietly listens to him as he explains a bit about himself. she glances at him when he mentions the vending machine business, with a small smirk showing up briefly upon her visage. Her eyes look back down to the ice craeam dish though, and she scoops out another bite. After drawing the fork from her lips then, she dabs at them again with the napkin. A smile shows upon her red lips then before she gently nods her head two small times. "My mother is the Queen of Themyscira." She explains. "She is the closest of my family, that I had growing up at least... Though you could say everyone upon the island is some measure of family. It is different on Themyscira, than it is here. Families on Themyscira are decided by the groups who left the Well of Souls together, where as I was created in other means... I was an 'only child', you could say. Up until just a handful of years back, when Donna and Cassie came in to my life. Now I have two sisters, much the same as your Shelly." She states all of this calmly, in a matter of fact kind of way, and of course smiles warmly toward him again.

"It is complicated, to say the least." She adds, letting another little grin grace her expressive features. "So, vending machines? Like candy bars? Or bags of chips?" She asks. "How on earth did you get in to that line of work?"

Samuel Clifton has posed:
    "Sure, I'll just pretend I understand what a Well of Souls is." He smirks, nodding along to the story, interested when she mentions sisters and mother. "Yeah, chips, subs, drinks, pastries, cookies, candy, apples, jerky, stuff that will keep fairly well. There's all kinds of machines, some keep things hot, others cold. I've got a supplier who can get me things to stock them with real cheap, or I wouldn't be able to make it work, the interest rates and accounting would kill me." Sammy takes another big scoop of his ice cream, cutting down through to the brownie at the bottom, and holds it in his mouth until the ice cream mlts and soaks through the fudge, then chews and swallows. All to buy time to calm himself a bit for what comes next. "I had more family, a few years ago. We liked to go camping in the mountains, exploring caves. There was an accident. Something shifted and a whole section just... dropped on us. I fell and slid for a long time. I was in there, trapped, for... well, they say it's a miracle I didn't starve or bleed out or suffocate before they dug me out. My parents and big bro weren't so lucky. All I got's Shelly now. And we didn't have any money coming in. So, I... well, I worked harder. I stayed up every night studying until I could get my G.E.D. and stop going to school. Needed the time to work. I did farm and construction work to make ends meet. We had to move to Bludhaven, low property values means low rent. Worked that until I could buy my first few vending machines. Took some jobs as a ficer. After that it grew pretty quick and now we're... well, it's not a luxurious life, but we're stable, and things get better the more machines I can run. I'd like to get out of Bludhaven and move somewhere nicer." He chuckles disparagingly. "Pretty sad when you're looking at Gotham of all places as a step up. But who knows. Maybe in another few years, we'll make it from Gotham back to Princeton. Then maybe New York."

Diana Prince has posed:
Diana has already made it down to the brownie under the ice cream as well, maybe not scarfing the homemade dessert down like some kind of hungry army soldier in the mess hall, but she's certainly well paced in her enjoyment of his treat for this afternoon. She smiles lightly at his bit about the Well of Souls, as that alone is a lot to explain to someone...

She stays quiet though, listening to the rest of what he says. When he eludes to the death of his parents, then confirms it, she shows him an expression of great sorrow for the loss. She lets her stare linger like that for a few moments, before she softly shakes her head side to side. "You are a very good brother..." She tells him with a true honesty to her tone, warm and compassionate for his situation. "I wish I could have helped with that. What we do, at the Justice League, spans the world, and we are rarely on down times like this picnic treat today... We are always trying to help those in need, and yet it feels like we still are barely able to ever scratch the surface." She admits to the young man beside her.

After another little bite of the brownie, she nods her head to his summation of his living plans. "If you are willing and looking to take on more vending machine locations, I can likely make arrangements. But I do not know how much you can take on without overburdening you. All the same, though, should you look to expand, you need but ask. Happy to help you get yourself, and Shelly, to where you want to be." She states, showing a reassuring smile to him before she continues. "You and she should come by the Themysciran Arts Center, whenever you make it to Manhattan again. I would imagine you'd both enjoy the Kanga rides, or watching some of my sisters train in our combat arts within our arena there."

Samuel Clifton has posed:
    "Thanks, I... I really do try." He shakes his head and fights back tears for a sec, determined not to cry in front of her. And partly successful. Sammy consults his ice cream again, "So the way I see it... Justice Leage is... well, you guys do a lot of good, but you're also under a lot of stress. The literal weight of the world is on your shoulders, and the big blue guy at least can actually shove that weight around. But you gotta like... decompress and relax sometime or you'll burn out. Nobody can go forever without a break. So if I'm helping at all by providing you with a good meal and someone to listen... well, if that gets you back in your happy place faster and ready to save lives again, then I've done something." He uses the last of the brownie in his bowl to mop up the last drippings of partly melted ice cream. "Expansion isn't a problem. If I've got so many machines I can't handle them all, by that time it'll be more than enough money to hire someone else to handle them. Or if you know a speedy guy who loves to eat, send him my way. I'll let him restock the machines and help himself to what he wants."

Diana Prince has posed:
Diana is right there with him, finishing up the dessert treat a bite behind his own. His words of wisdom with regard to the Justice League, and her role within it, she smiles again before once more touching the folded napkin to the corners of her mouth. Her eyes glance up toward a man, and his dog, playing frisbee fetch across the green lawn of the park. "That is a true summation of it, yes." She quietly says back to him, as she sets the dish back where she'd pulled it from, showing him a grin there-after. "I know many speedy types, which I am sure is no surprise at all." She says with a little laugh. "I will make note to let them all know of the job opportunity. I can think of one in particular, who might actually be up for that deal too." She notes before her left hand goes up to stroke a small loose hair from across her forehead.

"And Shelly?" She inquires of his sister. "She is in school, I assume? Has she been a lot for you to handle on your own?"

Samuel Clifton has posed:
    Sammy groans, "Well, they tell me she's been skipping now and then, and been disrespectful. It's hard to..." He leans back a little, staring up into the sky. "We're both still hurting. I'm not Dad. I can't really punish her or tell her what to do. She's turning out to be a real troublemaker. But she's also been pretty supportive. I'd homeschool her if I had the time, but... well, she's smarter than me, I think, just lazier." He chuckles and smiles, opening a bottle of blackberry water and taking a sip to wash the chocolate away. "When I took the G.E.D, she was all 'You mean if I pass this test I don't have to go to school anymore?" and for a while she was really going for it, but then she got bored of it and stopped, I think. But it probably won't be long before she can do it even without studying. I bet she skips all of high school." He huffs and rubs his hand on his forehead, "And then I'll have to take her with me everywhere, since I can't leave her at school all day, or unsupervised."

Diana Prince has posed:
At his action, Diana also reaches for one of the bottles of that blackberry water. She uncaps it, and takes a sampling sip from it, as her eyes travel around the park once more. When he shares further, she looks back to him, and gently nods her head in two small times, understanding what he is dealing with. She dips her right hand in to her coat pocket, and pulls out a small metal bracelet. It is ornate, silver and gold. She turns it over a few times in her black leather gloved hand, before she offers it to him. "Give this to her, from me." She tells him. "It is the bracelet of a champion. I was going to donate it to a museum on my way home this evening, but I think I'd rather her have it. They are issued to warriors on my island, who pass specific trials of strength, will, and courage. Tell her, that she has passed one such trial already, but should she pass the trial of education, then she can come and see me then, and I will see to it she has honorary membership in the Amazons of Manhattan." She states, with a small smile. "Maybe it will mean little to her, or maybe it will help relieve some of your worries for her well being. Anything that can inspire, is something worth chasing after." She shows another soft grin before she takes another sip of the water.

Her eyes glance down to its label, reading it briefly. "This is good too..." She tells him. "I shall have to pick some of this up." She grins over at him once more. "And what of you? Do you find the time to relax and unwind? Video games, and internet, I assume?" She asks in a playful way.

Samuel Clifton has posed:
    Sammy takes the bracelet and turns it over slowly. "Does it make her super strong, or let her fly, or consign her soul to Elysium or Hades or... am I even getting that right? It's Elysium, right? Or Hades if she's not so good?" A slight chuckle then. "It looks like it's real silver and gold. If it wasn't a gift, my first impulse would be to sell it and use the money to help care for her better." He sighs, "I'm still thinking the old way. We're not so hard up as that anymore. Sorry. I'll make sure she gets it and tell her." He pauses a bit, "Oh! I have more of that, hold on." He reaches into his duffle and pulls out a smaller grocery bag with a bottle in it, and then another bottle, and then another, pulling them from out of sight inside his duffelbag, which he keeps carefully wrapped around his hand to conceal where he's getting them from. "Yeah, computer stuff sometimes, entertaining, and most of all free. But... I really do love to cook. Coming up with a new dish to share with people is how I relax." He slaps his gut a bit. "Maybe done a bit too much relaxing, huh?" he smirks. "I should call Shelly and let her know you got her something." He pulls out his phone and... the homescreen has a map on it, with a dot closer than it should be. So when he calls his sister it's not by the phone, but with a giant booming "HEY SHELLY!" as he turns his gaze to stare at the bush. "GET OVER HERE!"
    "Busssss-ted," she giggles, putting on an aire of fake shame hiding smugness as she slinks over.

Diana Prince has posed:
The pulling of more of the drink bottles out of the bag has Diana letting out another small laugh. "Ah, you came fully stocked. Just like one of your machines." She jokes back at him before taking another sip of her drink. At the talk of the adornment, she grins widely before gently shaking her head. "No super powers. But it is exceptionally strong. It is exceptionally rare too, so if you do attempt to sell it, make sure you get more than you would for normal gold or silver. themysciran ores are far superior to what you'll find in the rest of the mortal world..."

She draws in a light breath, her hand stroke over her forehead once more before she hears his call, and sees the results. This garners another light laugh from her, seeing the sister emerge after being busted spying on her brother's ice cream date with Wonder Woman.

As the young one approaches, Diana raises her left hand up in a wave. When Shelly gets close, she lifts up one of the bottles of blackberry water for her. "Here, hydrate, and join us. Your brother has been telling me a lot about you both. I am honored to get to meet you, you are both very strong..." She states, sharing a glance from Shelly to Sammy, smiling warmly to them both. She offers her right hand to Shelly then. "Diana, Prince. In case you wondered..." She tells the other, another playful expression touching her features.

Samuel Clifton has posed:
    "Yah-huh! I know who you are! You're like, THE princess! Nobody wants to be Belle or Elsa anymore, though... I gotta ask what's up with your last name? Is your daddy King Prince? Because that would be silly and--" She takes the bottle and huffs trying to undo the cap.
    "SHELLY. You're being rude."
    She pops the cap off and lets it fly away into the grass.
    "Litterbug. Go pick that up. Daddy raised you better than to throw your trash everywhere. I won't take you with me to do special stuff if you cause trouble."
    "Yes MOM," she stomps over to where the cap flew, not really upset but just causing trouble for the sake of it with an exaggerated put-upon look.
    "This is her being good," Sammy admits with a roll of his eyes, looking back to Wonder Woman.
    "So are you gonna kiss her?" "Probably not!" "Are you gonna take her back to your--" "NO." "--and make--" "Shelly!" "Look, how many sisters can say they ruined their big bro's date with WONDER WOMAN?" Sammy looks to Diana, "Hey, this is probably a great time for you to tell her about what the bracelet you got FOR HER is supposed to mean."
    Aha, THAT got Shelly to shut up and sit politely at attention. And grab a sandwich to munch on.

Diana Prince has posed:
The question about her name gets a smile, the rest gets a few little laughs from Diana. She can see the spitfire nature of Shelly, shining through much like many others she's known with similar fiery personalities. "I had no last name, when I came to the shore's of Man's world." She begins to explain. "I adopted Prince as a last name, via the ... suggestion, of a friend. It helped me fit in, in a world I did not fully understand at the time." She further explains, before she watches Shelly stomp off to get the bottle cap. She partakes in another sip of the bottle herself, before she lightly places the cap back upon it.

When Shelly returns, and the rest of the back and forth between brother and sister takes place, Diana smiles warmly again. She picks up the bracelet, and pulls the small box from her pocket that it came from. She offers them both to Shelly. "This is a champion bracelet. Crafted from Themysciran gold and silver, it signifies a warrior surpassing a particularly challenging trial. Usually this involves feats of courage, strength, and capability through hard work, training and discipline. I asked your brother to give it to you, for the hardships you've been overcoming, and I told him that if you can pass the trials of education, and graduate... that I would offer you a place as a honorary Amazon of Themyscira, which would there-in give you a home away from home with my people. If that would at all interest you, of course." She tells the young woman, before showing another smile toward Sammy to her right.

Samuel Clifton has posed:
    "Oh sweet, royal bling!" She giggles and pushes the bracelet on. "A challenging trial, huh. So he told you the cave story. How many honorary Amazons of Themyscira are there, anyways? Are you just handing these out like popcorn every time someone's family bites it? Is that what counts as a trial?"
    "Shelly!" Sammy stares aghast at her. "That's... I'm sorry, Diana, I don't even...."
    "Because I'm no warrior, I'm not strong, I'm not brave, and I'm not... /surpassing/ anything." Wait, is she ANGRY about this? "I'm alive because I was too scared to go down the chute." Her accusing finger swings to Sammy, "HE want down the hole, and HE got superrr--" She does stop herself from saying powers, as Sammy's eyes widen and his face pales. "--lucky to make it back out. Maybe if I'd been there, instead of up top, it wouldn't have fallen."
    Sammy move fast, grabbing Shelly's wrist and yanking her in close against him. "Hey. Hey stop that, okay? It's not like that. And it's not fair to take it out on her."
    Shelly screams muffled into Sammy's coat.
    "I... I'm sorry, can you give us a minute? I wasn't expecting this."

Diana Prince has posed:
The reaction that Diana gets is less than stellar, but sometimes gestures with good intentions don't land with the best results. She is about to begin to explain, and offer help, but she sees the two come together, and the request for a moment is asked for. Diana affords Sam a little nod, before she reaches a hand out to gently touch the back of Shelly's shoulder. Options run through her mind about what she could say, but in the end, she simply shows Sammy a sympathetic expression before she stands up.

"I'll be just over here." She says, before walking off at a casual pace. The frisbee lands near her feet, causing Diana to lean over to pick it up. She tosses it toward the man, his dog bounding after it with a happy hop to his rapid footfalls!