4040/She just dropped in

She just dropped in
Date of Scene:	05 November 2020
Location:	Historic Clocktower - Training Facility
Synopsis:	Karen stops by to check on Barbara. There is pizza tribute.
Cast of Characters:	Barbara Gordon, Karen Starr

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Barbara Gordon has posed:
>>Oracle's log, Gotham Date eleven five twenty twenty point three.<<

Barbara is sitting at the massive bank of computer monitors on the high rise above the kitchen area monitoring traffic through Gotham City on this auspicious late evening in the heart of a growing Gotham winter. She's dressed down into PJ bottoms and a long sleeve shirt, red hair all pulled up in a topknot ponytail, with her bunny slipper covered feet propped on the desk beside a cold cup of coffee long left forgotten from earlier in the evening.

"Seems a little quiet out here tonight, Gothamites..." Murmured to herself as she flips between CCTV live feeds of hot spot trouble areas in all of the boroughs, a humdrum of sadness settling in upon slumping shoulders. "Is it time to catch up on the Mandalorian? I think it is....... I think it is."

Karen Starr has posed:
    Quiet is good. It means that things otherwise considered mildly taboo are on the table. This is why Power Girl has made her way over from her usual haunts of New York and Metropolis, flying off in the direction of the clocktower and finding herself on top of it after a moment. Of course, the usual Gothamites can detect her incoming, if only because she's not traveling at a speed bordering on the impossible. By the time she's at her destination, she's likely tripped a sensor or three.

    Despite this, there's a quiet knock on the metallic plate-door covering the chute down into the clocktower proper. Knocking might not be the right word, but the truth is that she's just tapping a single finger on the door to alert the occupant that she's, well, present. Her other hand is hoisted up, a thickly padded bag containing a clear pair of pizzas that come directly from New York.

Barbara Gordon has posed:
Sensors are tripped and Babs glances up at the proximity alarms blaring in her ear with a little quirk of her lips. It might yet still be a blur of motion, but it's telling enough of the visitor that that quirk becomes a subtle grin a half second before there's a tapping on the plate covering the entrance down into her home. A few key strokes later, the chute slides open and Karen is granted access into the lair of the least bat of the Bats.

She is the most dramatic, though.

Turning slowly in her chair, gently moving her hand in a petting motion of a cat what is not actually in her lap, "I've been expecting you, Ms. Girl." She hadn't, of course, but she does have a British accent. So she's either very convincing or a Star Wars villain.

"It's good to see you." That part is true.

Karen Starr has posed:
    Power Girl floats down from the chute, one arm at her side, the other raised and carrying the aforementioned pizzas in her palm. Her boots touch down quietly on the floor, and the other woman's antics result in a calm, and amused, roll of her eyes. "Ms. Girl, huh. Okay, that's kind of a new one. I can forgive an imaginary cat."

    Stepping over to the table closest to Barbara, she sets down the bag and unsheathes the pair of pies. With them down on the table, she nods a couple of times. "Yeah, I kind of figured, you know- things are calm in Gotham tonight... Which means that you might be bored over here. Good to see that I'm a little right."

Barbara Gordon has posed:
Babs pops up from her chair and fast walks down the steps leading into the living area where Karen has deposit her food offering. The redhead is already peeking in at them, just to confirm whether Power Girl (and therefore all Kryptonians) are telepathic as she had once suggested... if for no other reason that Peej knows her desired toppings!

We'll forgive that there's a dozen or so ways Barbara could acquire that information that doesn't involve telepathy.

"mmm..." Pulling out a slice of ooey gooey cheesey pizza, her head cants to the side to catch it on her extended tongue and usher it down into her mouth for a bite. "I was just about to start watching the Mandalorian.. Which isn't indicative of how bored I am, since that show is hot, but clarification that Gotham itself is quiet enough that I /can/ start watching the mandalorian." Grinning.

And motioning to the couch. "How are you? Aside from blessing me with pizza sacrifice to sate my unending desire for carbs?"

Karen Starr has posed:
    Although Karen considers the speed and aggression with which Babs comes at the Pizzas entirely unconscionable, she isn't about to top them. Sadly, however, she's not psychic, so unless Barbara's favorite topping happens to be the archetypical Pepperoni and sausage- each on their own pizza.

    Idly, Karen places her hands on her hips, raising a brow and looking momentarily bothered. "I didn't even say I was sharing but sure, help yourself!" she jests, blurring for a moment towards Barbara's kitchen to fetch a pair of plates. She may be infinitely capable of eating junk food, but she's not going to make a mess.

    After handing Babs a plate, Power Girl plucks up... Several slices of her own and sets herself down on the couch. The pizza apparently won't last long, but slowing her chowing down with questions is easy enough. "I've been doing great. Had to punch that uh... Juggernaut guy almost into orbit a little while back. Caught a couple bruises from it, but otherwise things have been quiet. No world ending crises. For now."

Barbara Gordon has posed:
"House rules." Babs starts, wiping at her mouth with a bit of cheese drools down the corner of her mouth and must be wiped away with the tip of her finger, "House rules.. if you bring pizza to the Clocktower, part of that pizza is tribute." Cheesy fingers held up in Mocking Bird fashion, then sucked clean of sauce and cheese.

"Whoa... someone gave you a bruise?" That's... news. Blinking a few times while staring at the until recently, impervious Power Girl. "Well that must have been a hell of a fight.. Shame I missed it. Sounds like you need a professional cheerleader or something."

Plopping down onto the couch herself, feet pulled up beneath her with another slice already in grip. "So what's that set the doomsday clock to anyways? Like four? Are we at a four yet?"

Karen Starr has posed:
    Karen raises an inquisitive brow at the other woman, giving this mildly sarcastic look Babs' way. "I don't think you're using the word Tribute right." she says to the person whose native language is English, and who probably knew exactly what she was saying when she said it.

    "And I don't think that was a rule until I brought pizza." This argument is valid, but wouldn't hold up in court, because the court is Babs.

    Offering a small shrug, "Well, I mean, I got knocked through a building vertically, but it wasn't- it didn't leave a -mark-." Admitting this, of course, means that she wasn't really -bruised- as much, but that's only a maybe. It was, after all, the Juggernaut.

    "Didn't last all that long. Guy ran off and disappeared. We'll find him, though." A short pause. "Probably a four. Anyway, what about you?"

Barbara Gordon has posed:
"Ehhh..." Babs wibble-wobbles her hand side to side, "It was a rule. You can ask any of the Birds, if they bring takeaway, they are legal bound to share. Only a handful of people get up here, one of the major contributatory factors of such exclusivity, is bringing me food." That is probably not true.

It might be though!

"mm.. so what you're saying is, he caught you off guard, but fell short in the end?" Simplicity for simplicities sake. "Not a lot, in my case. I've actually been out of commission for a while trying to let my ribs heal where I got stabbed.. It's a bats inclination to push through such silly and trivial injuries as potential life threatening injuries, but wise minds prevails in this particular case."

Karen Starr has posed:
    True or not, Power Girl simply doesn't believe the other woman here. "That's not a house rule, that's just common courtesy." she counters. "I'm tempted to see if anyone would take me to court if I only brought one milkshake to Gotham. I dare someone to try." she notes, chomping healthily down onto a slice of pizza at about that moment.

    "I never said he caught me -off-guard-," Karen begins, seeming mildly defensive, which probably means she was caught off guard. "I just said I got knocked down a building." Offering this little sigh, she leans against the back of the couch, settling herself into the corner to face Barbara properly.

    "I don't think I've heard of a Bat taking time off, before. Even for a stab-wound. That's pretty commendable."

Barbara Gordon has posed:
"The difference between a house rule and common courtsey is mode of enforcement." Babs points out with a bare angle of crust and a grin.

Which remains after defensive responses are levelled upon her by the ernstwhile defensive Power Girl. "In your defense, when I get caught off guard, I nearly die... so.." Motioning with both hands after devouring that bit of dough in a few quick bites.

"That's because we would much rather try to keep from getting stabbed. In my case, I was preventing someone ELSE from getting stabbed, so I don't feel as embarrassed about it."

Karen Starr has posed:
    "Oh yeah?" she responds, taking a bite of pizza. "Let's see you enforce it one of these days." A playful challenge, sure, but still a challenge.

    Offering another shrug and trying to look as nonchalant as possible, the blonde's response is simple. "That's happened before, too. Just, uh, took a lot. More. Than this time." she offers, easily on her third slice, by this point. She is well practiced in the fold-and-consume methodology.

    "No reason to be embarrassed about occasionally suffering nightmarish injury. Doesn't matter who you are, it happens. It could always be worse- and the difference between worse and what you got is probably how good you were at the time."

Barbara Gordon has posed:
Babs pops a brow skyward at the playful, but still challenging, challenge.

A hint, just a ghost, of a grin playing on her lips.

"Accepted."

That is all.

Folding and consuming another slice in the same manner as the kryptonian, bobbing her head to both points made. "I suppose you've got a point there.. could have been a whole lot worse, in hindsight, but it still points out the obvious: This line of work is dangerous and stupid."

If it were only that obvious, right?

Three slices gone, Babs sucks sauce from her thumb and glances over. Squinting, if only thoughtfully, at the Kryptonian.

Karen Starr has posed:
    With a moderately serious expression, Power Girl watches Barbara accept the challenge, before writing it off. For now, at least. She'll find out later just how Barbara addresses it, but today! Today she brought plenty of pizza for the both of them.

    "Honestly, there should've been a waiver, or some sort of warning that this was all so dangerous. That would have kept us all out, for sure." she notes, solemnly and quietly nodding to herself, then. At the end of it, though, she notes Barbara's squinty-stare.

    "Everything alright?"

Barbara Gordon has posed:
"Nothing's wrong, no."

Babs shakes her head, loosening up her squinting with a grin. "Everything is fine, I think... how are you?" Sucking her thumb completely clean, her hands settle down in her lap. "Actually, I was curious about something, but I don't know how to even begin to address it, so I'll have a long think on it so I don't sound completely ridiculous when I finally do."

Karen Starr has posed:
    As stated before, Power Girl isn't psychic. She has a feeling that whatever it is that made Barbara pensive for that moment has somehting intrinsically to do with her- but she isn't about to stress out about it.

    Babs will talk to her, or she won't. Not a whole lot that can be done. "Well. Have another slice of pizza." she declares, nodding with a tip of her head to regard the food.

Barbara Gordon has posed:
"it isn't bad..." It's a point of clearing the air rather than noting any particular aversions on Power Girl, since she's looking down at her own lap, "Just a question that I don't know how to lead into without it being awkward." So she grabs pizza instead, leaning over to reach for a slice and craddle it between her thumb and fingers like a taco.

"What's your position on Star Wars?"