3141/=They're my Consultants... Really!

=They're my Consultants... Really!
Date of Scene:	28 August 2020
Location:	Penthouse - Kord Co
Synopsis:	Wisdom is shared, and dumplings.
Cast of Characters:	Ted Kord, Koriand'r, Julie Yan

---

Ted Kord has posed:
Ted Kord yells, "Shaddup!" for the hundredth time. High pitched screams continuing, Ted sighs and stuff the plugs back into his ears. Mutter mumble grumble gripe. He grabs a phone and says, Carol!? Hello! Carol? Spe... Sorry." He removes a plug and listens to the phone properly, "Carol... stop screaming! There's no need to take that tone! Hey who's the b... hello, hello?" He walks to a small pet carrier and gives it a bit of a kick. "This is all your fault. Now Carol is pissed at me. I'd sooner have Batman mad at me. I've had Batman mad at me! He doesn't s crew with my appointments when he gets mad!" Absently he grabs a bottle of wine and pours himself a glass.

More screaming.

Koriand'r has posed:
    Starfire blinks at Ted. "This Carol is whom?" Then because poses only count if you meet a minimum she typed some more words that kind of ruin the comedic pacing but shit, rules are rules.

Julie Yan has posed:
    Following Starfire into the room, Julie's brought LUNCH. Well, it's a take-home bag of Chinese food. She sips from her soda and just kind of rests it on the table. "Uhhh, ooookay...So what is it you needed me for, Mr. Kord?" She asks.

Ted Kord has posed:
Ted Kord picks up the pet carrier to give Starfire and Julie a good look. Inside a diminutive homunculus made of Legos stomps around screaming. "This is Brickhead. he tried to mail himself to me ad a hundred plus pounds of bricks. I gave them to a friend. He assembled himself, nearly wrecked her house and almost hurt her. tried to make me crash the Bug-twice. I have no idea what the hell he is. So I'm thinking alien or magic. I only know Martians and Laws of Order and neither of them are available at the moment. So I called you ladies. Quiet!!!" The last is yelled more or less at Brickhead. "He's more dangerous than he looks. He can vampirize normal bricks and add them to his body and shape shift them around. He's like a cubist Clayface! Shaddap!"

Koriand'r has posed:
    Starfire's latex boots creak subtly as she drops slowly to a squat, at the same time lifting the pet carrier to eye level so she can regard its inhabitant through the door. It's unclear why she thinks she has to squat for this process. "Hello friend," she greets the prisoner. "I am named Starfire. It is my wish that we comprehend one another better. Is this amenable to you?"
    She's been in weirder situations.

Julie Yan has posed:
    JUlie peers inside, and just kind of makes a face, sipping her drink again. "Huh, angry little fellow." She muses. "Looks like magic to me."

Ted Kord has posed:
Ted Kord rolls his eyes and Brickhead begins cursing in a plethora of languages: Chinese, one Germanic or Scandinavian tongue and something Eastern European. He yells to look out as the little creature forms a pincher to snap at Starfire's nose before firing a few single bricks at her. "Sorry. It's like Minecraft meets the Exorcist! Anyway, anything you can tell me is appreciated." He yikes as a pincer comes out an airhole and grabs his thumb.

"Nyahahahahaha! I will have my revenge for these indignities! If you're going to get a Tamaranean to help you, get a scientist, not a go-go dancer! Or better yet, a Psion. Oops."

Koriand'r has posed:
    Starfire glances at Julie while holding the pet carrier steady. Alien muscles. "You think it is not an EM-based life form whose electrochemical life patterns may only be sustained while sheltered within the molecular matrix of plasticine bricks?" she asks dubiously. She jerks the carrier away from Ted (here's hoping his thumb survives that process) and shakes it once punitively. "Clearly it knows my people."

Julie Yan has posed:
    Julie whaps the side of the pet carrier. "HEY. Be nice!" She says sharply, whapping it again. "Dunno what to tell you, Ted, other than it's magical and pissed off. Who knows? Maybe it'll answer our questions for us."

Ted Kord has posed:
Ted Kord frowns and grabs the bricks that were spat at Starfire and seemed to be reforming to make a break for it. "Okay, that's one for aliens and one for magical. I think I'm just going to bring the little bastard to S.T.A.R. Labs and let them figure it out. I'm an engineer, not a biologist. The bricks sprout cilia and compound eyes to get around. It's a colony of creatures, with a hive mind. Besides that, I don't know. An EM grenade destroyed most of it so magic or alien it has a nervous system of some sort. Maybe I got cursed with it?"

Koriand'r has posed:
    Starfire, whose skin is significantly more immune to pinching than Ted's (she's not yet sure about her relative epidermal durability to Julie's), hugs the pet carrier forbiddingly, blocking as many of its breathing holes as possible with her arms and chest. "That seems likely," she agrees with Ted, though her eyes stray to Julie.

Julie Yan has posed:
    "Probably. I dunno why you went to a rookie mage like me for this." Julie agrees. She tries to channel chi, and focuses on the lego blob for a moment, to study it.

Ted Kord has posed:
Ted Kord shrugs wagging his thumb a bit. "Doctor Strange was once Intern Strange too. Why not? Anyway, you responded. Thank you. that damned thing has driven me up the walls." The creature's screams are somewhat muffled by Starfire holding the chest against her... chest. Mad scrabbling continues from inside. Ted starts pouring out wine.

"@#*! #@!*!!! ****!"

"Hey uh Starfire, be careful the way you're holding that box... he's very rude. Tried ripping my friend's pant leg. It's not a gentleman I mean."

Julie Yan has posed:
    Julie shrugs a shoulder. "I guess." She keeps focusing, unsure if she's getting this reading right...but... "Okay," She stops. "I can't get anything out of this. Whatever it is the little bastard is, he's not magical in nature."

Koriand'r has posed:
    "I am accustomed to ungentlemanly behavior," Starfire says firmly. "Such as he are nothing to even the least of my people, to say nothing of a princess of the blood." And a princess who's been extensively genetically modified until her skin is a bulletproof vest, but let's not split hairs. "Then my theory is correct? How intriguing. We must explore why its neural matrix is capable of existence only within the confine of Danish imagination bricks." She beams, proud of herself for guessing it correctly. Obviously there are no other possibilities of what this creature could be.

Ted Kord has posed:
Ted Kord reaches for the carrier. "Thank you. I have a very talented neurology student who is going to look at it. I just want to secure it for the evening. I have a containment tube he's going in carrier and all. Come here you little... mutter." He grabs the carrier by the handle, avoiding the nippers and places it in a steel box, locking the cover. He turns on a ventilator and alarm system. Ah blessed silence. Ted indicates the wine. "Help yourselves ladies. I can order a pizza for us if you want to hang around, take a swim, all that. I appreciate you running... and flying over. Thank you."

Julie Yan has posed:
    JUlie chuckles, "You're lucky you're too sweet and cute for me to get mad at you." She teases Kori, making a little :I face. THen she nods to Ted. "Yeah, I mean at least you asked right? We have SOME answers, at the least."

    As for food, she glances at the takeout bag. "Well, we could just eat this. I was gonna grab it and head home when I saw Kori, if you guys don't mind sharing. I got a LOT of food, after all."

Koriand'r has posed:
    Starfire resists turning over the carrier at first, but the steel box convinces her, and she reluctantly lets go. She beams at Julie for the compliment and explains to Ted, "Julie and I have both consumed food taken out from a location which purports to sell food from China but is actually Americanized to the point of being unrecognizable to one who has experienced authentic cuisine."
    It's possible she heard about this from Julie.
    "But this should not prevent you from the procurement of pizza for personal consumption," she adds earnestly.

Ted Kord has posed:
Ted Kord blinks a moment. "I can get real Chinese food. I got a guy in Chinatown. BoBo!" A drone flies over to Ted, "Wo Fat's on Bleeker. Pick up the usual. I'll reorder it as soon as you leave. Go!" He walks over to his desk and pushes a couple of hot keys. "The guys and me used to get a huge order once a week... then Vic went off on his won business and Booster... I don't know what became of Booster. Don't get attached to time travelers. Anyway Bobo will be back here with the order in no time and it's all sorts of dumplings. When I would go there I'd be the only white guy so I knew it was authentic. At least I hope it is."

Julie Yan has posed:
    "I know plenty of-Okay." Julie rolls her eyes. "Stuff was Panda Express anyways. It's not that great." She sighs, flopping on a couch. "I DO like dumplings." She doesn't exactly sound like she's too attached to Booster anyway, that guy's a loudmouth.

Koriand'r has posed:
    "I am less than sanguine with the proliferation of quickened food in any event," Starfire agrees, sitting down next to Julie. "Your people seem to have such delicate gastronomical systems. It is seemingly unwise to test the limits."

Ted Kord has posed:
Ted Kord shrugs. "Yeeeeeah. Booster had-*has* that effect on people, but he was/*is* my best friend ever. He always laughed at my jokes and had my back. Anyway the food is good." He drains his glass. "This superhero gig seems silly without him."

Julie Yan has posed:
    Julie nods understandingly. "I guess I can't judge. Must be a dude thing." She says with a little smirk, sipping her soda before staring at Starfire with this tilt of her head and narrowing eyes. "Wait, is that a Chinese thing or a human thing?"

Koriand'r has posed:
    "A human thing," Starfire explains plainly, seemingly missing the threatening import of Julie's expression. "Nearly every other species on your planet has much hardier digestive constitutions. The human need to cook most foods to within limited tolerances seems a limit to be respected rather than flaunted."

Ted Kord has posed:
Ted Kord nods. "Yeah humans are the worst. We are disasters from an engineering viewpoint. We are breakable, flammable, and consumable. What are you going to do? The galaxy is stuck with us."

Koriand'r has posed:
    "Humanity is not so bad," Starfire rushes to reassure Ted guiltily. "I enjoy your company very much."

Julie Yan has posed:
    Julie snorts. "I'm not quite as flammable, or breakable. But yeah." She says, and she walks over to give Starfire a hug. "Well, you're nice enough." She says warmly.

Ted Kord has posed:
Ted Kord gets up and opens the patio door for the drone returning with food. "I'll let you in on a secret. I mostly wanted some company today. I'm probably going to end up shipping that little so and so to S.T.A.R. Labs anyway. Who heard of vampire Legos anyway. Foods here." He begins setting containers out on his coffee table. "I... listen if you are going to stay in this game, you have to remember not to take anything people say about you personally, good or bad. People are very fickle. Especially supers. And there is a definite hierarchy. If you don't place highly in it, you don't get noticed. I went to the Watchtower opening and... people walked right past me, except Arrow. He's a nice guy."

Koriand'r has posed:
    Starfire returns Julie's hug and nods equably at Ted. "This is a true statement," she agrees with no rancor. "I am disliked by many of our peers. I would that it was different, but there is no help for it."

Julie Yan has posed:
    JUlie raises an eyebrow, "Why would anybody dislike you?" She wonders, and grabs a container on the couch. "I'm pretty used to it. Sometimes I've got people throwing themselves at my feet for helping them, other times I've been chased off for even _deigning_ to try and approach somebody. It's weird."

Ted Kord has posed:
Ted Kord sits on the couch next to Starfire and put s his arm around her shoulders to give a hug. "I like you. I like you too, Julie. You're both smart, fun and badasses when it's called for. This one suplexed a helicopter. If you need to crash or anything the door's open. Uhm yeah don't try landing unannounced... I strengthened the defenses... a lot. In fact the cops would probably not like all of the stuff I put on line. Anyway you come by anytime. It's mostly just me these days. We could form our own team."

Julie Yan has posed:
    Julie snorts. "Sure, I'll try not to break anything if I'm here. Unless there's bad guys or supervillains, otherwise I can't promise anything." she winks, and digs in hungrily.

    "Anyway, I've learned to toughen up. It's not healthy, but screw it. Honestly I could care less about the hierarchy bullshit, because I'm not in Secondary School anymore. Fuck that noise. I'm used to being told off just for existing, or not fitting into a little box that the Man wants everyone to be organized into. I don't dance to anybody's tune but mine, in a lot of ways."

    She gives a significant glance toward Starfire, "I've basically become a political exile, Kori knows what I mean. Kind of."

Koriand'r has posed:
    "I have not asked them to justify it," Starfire replies oddly (if belatedly) to Julie's question, head cocked curiously, brow furrowed in confusion.

Ted Kord has posed:
Ted Kord picks at a dumpling before digging in. "I was just surprised. I thought we were above that. We're just people. I know better now. I figured I'd warn you guys since you're a little newer to this. Why do they dislike her? She's a threat to them. She's smart, competent, and lovely. More to the point she has a basically sweet disposition and won't beat the shit out of colleagues who treat her badly. You wouldn't get people treating the Wasp that way or Diana. Here, try the noodles... I forget what they call them." He indicates a dish to Starfire.

Koriand'r has posed:
    Starfire accepts the noodles unquestioningly and grips the chopsticks wrong, basically using them as long, inflexible fingers to pinch the noodles with.

Julie Yan has posed:
    Julie shrugs. "I think it's mostly 'cause I told the Chinese government to go fuck themselves. Also, 'cause I'm gay." She says, digging into her noodles. "They really don't like that lifestyle, big surprise." She grabs some noodles herself, and takes a mouthful before shooting Ted a look. "I know you're thinking of saying you're sorry, or you had no idea. Don't bother. I don't want your pity just for being me. I get it, but I don't want that."

Ted Kord has posed:
Ted Kord looks at Starfire's struggle and grabs another set of chopsticks. He goes to his desk and produces several rubber bands and an eraser. With a couple of twists and pulls he turns the chopsticks into a pair of tongs, closed by the user's pressure on the sticks and presents them to Starfire without a word. He says the Julie, "Your sex life is nobody else's business." He watches Starfire's efforts curiously.

Koriand'r has posed:
    The tongs work better; Starfire accepts them with a smile. "Respectfully, friend Ted, Julie has made it our business by telling us. It is not for us to insist that the conditions of her life are beneath discussion." She pauses, then admits, "Though your species's understanding of love causes me to be perplexed. I cannot fathom being attracted to a gender."

Julie Yan has posed:
    Julie shakes her head, "No, Ted's right. It's my business. I don't have to answer to anybody else for liking girls. Or at least I won't. Screw that." She says, looking on with amusement at Ted as he fixes Kori something for her chopsticks. "It's complicated, I guess I just don't really notice dudes the way I do a pretty girl. Especially one who's orange skinned and looks great in purple." She winks at Kori playfully.

Ted Kord has posed:
Ted Kord shrugs. "I meant business in the sense it is not for people to judge. I mean I am attracted to the female gender. But I know people have their own tastes and I'm not going to judge anyone. I know my friends Fire and Ice got a lot of people commenting on how close they were. Not that they were heroes, they were. Ice... Ice held off Doomsday by herself and was nearly killed. Same with Fire but people fixated on their orientation. Sucks. It's a thing with lady supers and vigilantes... Ice was good people."

Koriand'r has posed:
    Starfire glances from Julie to Ted, opens her mouth, closes it, and studiously goes back to her noodles.

Julie Yan has posed:
    Julie raises an eyebrow, and sighs. "Fucking tabloids." She shakes her head in frustration. "I swear, if I make the papers, don't ever let me know about it. I'll probably end up setting a media building on fire or something." She grumbles, and steals a dumpling to eat. "It's always us girls. Nobody will think twice about you and Boost. God forbid us girls have a close relationship."

Koriand'r has posed:
    "I will not inform you," Starfire promises Julie. Then because of pose limits purple monkey dishwasher.

Ted Kord has posed:
Ted Kord starts choking on a dumpling. "Never me and... bwahahahahaha! Girl... people always assumed that about me and Booster! Are you kidding? Well part of it was I can never get a date! People must have thought my trying badly to get a girlfriend was a clumsy ruse. It bothered me because it mae my odds even worse and let's be honest... I wasn't in Booster's league! C'mon!" He looks at Starfire and says, "Relax... she isn't going to torch a media office. As for Julie winking and all that, you're on your own. Sorry. You'll never catch me between two women."

Yeah, he said it. Dork.

Julie Yan has posed:
    Julie gives Starfire a peck on the cheek, gently patting her on the head. "Thanks, you're all soul." She says with a big grin, before going back to town on her food. "You guys are the bromantic pair, I have nothing to do with that." She says to Ted with a laugh.

Ted Kord has posed:
Ted Kord chokes a second time. "Oh, bromantic... I thought you said romantic for a second. I am president for life of the Friend Zone. Also that last dumpling is for Starfire. You ate the rest!" Ted grabs the dumpling in question and holds the container in front of Starfire. Julie must be one of those mages that burn huge calories casting spells as well as a driven athlete.

Koriand'r has posed:
    Starfire has never been patted on the head by a human before. She isn't sure what to makes of it but decides to accept it for now, with an option to update her response as new information becomes available to investigators.
    Starfire doesn't have investigators but look it's just a metaphor okay, don't think about it too hard.
    Starfire accepts the last dumpling and pops it into her mouth. As she chews, she thinks a bit, then swallows, then asks, "Does it trouble you, that others imagine your feelings toward Booster are romantic?"

Julie Yan has posed:
    It's prety obvious that yeah, Julie does burn calories. She snickers. "Dude, in my experience the Friendzone isn't so bad. Relationships are...they're a double-edged sword. I guess you gotta have tough skin to deal with drama." She shrugs a shoulder, slurping up some noodles.

Ted Kord has posed:
Ted Kord smirks a little at Starfire's expression. He asks, "What does it mean if a Tamaranean pats another on the head?" He's wearing his researcher hat now. So to speak. The actual hat is back in his bedroom. "I may want to pat you on the head myself and I lack Julie's style."

Koriand'r has posed:
    "It can mean many things, depending on the nature and style of the pat," Starfire answers both accurately and evasively.

Julie Yan has posed:
    Julie smirks. "Ever the scientist, Teddy." She says. "Well, thanks for the free food. Guess I'll see about hanging out here more often, if you're so insistent on friends." She smiles playfully, and wanders over to give Ted a hug. It's a genuine one. "THanks for being a pal, for real."
R