4162/Dinner Party

Dinner Party
Date of Scene:	18 November 2020
Location:	Dining Room: Themysciran Embassy
Synopsis:	Late night after an Embassy Gala, Diana and Cassie enjoy sweet treats and girl talk, and Wonder Girl hears melancholy story of her mentor's long lost loves.
Cast of Characters:	Cassie Sandsmark, Diana Prince

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Cassie Sandsmark has posed:
Its after midnight at the Themysciran Embassy, the tail end of a glittering gala (who can even remember what it was for- some cause, they support so many!) and by now even the the most stubborn of lingering guests have found their way to waiting limos, Ubers, and the occasional old fashioned yellow cab out front. The only people left are staff and a few people who work and live there, lingering in the aftermath.

And while junior Amazon Cassie Sandsmark technically doesn't live there full time, she does have a room, and by ancient concord between her mother and Diana, part of the deal of her getting to attend these more 'adult' functions is that she always stay over at the Embassy afterward rather than 'risk' making the way back to any of her other homes. What risk she thinks the superheroine would face? Who knows.

But as usual, there's some wisdom to the occasionally overprotective mom-logic. Helena's not an idiot, knows that her daughter likes being able to dress up like a red carpet celebrity even if that means pushing what her mom would consider age-appropriate, or that Cassie will always snag a champagne here or there. That she's stretching her wings. What safer environment to do it in, than under the roof of her good friend who just happens to be one of the greatest superheroes in the world?

So... its the end of the party, and just off the main dining hall (where the cleanup is just starting in earnest), Cassie is hanging out in the kitchen. She's slightly drunk, despite Diana's watchful efforts, looking slightly comical leaning on one of the island counters in her fancy gown. Ferdinand has just pushed her a small plate of sandwiches and a glass of fruit juice. "Diiiiiii~" she calls, trying to get her mentor's attention as she does her usual superhuman effort to do everyone else's work for them rather than relax.

Diana Prince has posed:
The Embassy is large and its been added on to over the years to make it even wrap around a central courtyard. But its original rooms are the smallest and offer a far more cozy atmosphere. This is where Cassie is now, in the original Kitchen of the home that once belonged to many former Mayors of New York City.

Of course the kitchen has been renovated and modernized to keep it in flow with the rest of the building's aesthetic, but it still has a nice calming atmosphere about it, and its just off of the dining room that Diana is in speaking to one of the service people who is helping to clean up after the party.

Diana is wearing a white dress that is low scooped in the front and even lower scooped in the back, with glittering silver accents to the material of the dress it sparkles in the dining room's chandelier light.

She was already on her way to the kitchen to check on Cassie when she hears the other's voice, it summons a big smile on her dark red painted lips. "Someone... looks happy." Diana says as her heeled shoes start to click softly on the polished stone tiled floor of the kitchen.

Cassie may be driving a crappy car from the 90s, but when it comes to the dresses and attire that she's able to wear for these parties, there's no shortage to what she's allowed to have. Of course, most of the clothing is donated by clothing designers just eager to have Diana, or Cassie, wear them at events like this. Diana's always willing to support young artisans, even in fashion and clothing.

Approaching the center counter, Diana reaches for a glass of champaign sitting in a group with others, and raises it up for a sip. She'd barely had any tonight, and really never got drunk anyway-- unless it was a drink from Themyscira, or maybe Asgard, which none of these are.

"Did you have a good night?" Diana asks her young friend after partaking in the sip, smiling to her again.

Cassie Sandsmark has posed:
"Have bite or two young miss, it will spare you some displeasure later," advises Ferdinand, wise in the way of all things food and drink. Of course, as Diana enters, he turns to her with a grin. "It certainly seems she enjoyed herself. Do you need anything? There's still quite a bit left. May as well have it before I see what can be packed up for the shelter." He too is prone to a bit of 'mothering'!

Of course, Cassie hauls herself up from the cool marble of the tabletop to sit mostly upright. "Yeah!" she answers Diana, beaming brightly. Indeed, she'd looked to be having quite a lot of fun at the party earlier, definitely playing up the level of stardom it gives her, at least for those limited periods where the events put her into Diana's shared spotlight, rather than the somewhat more dilute one she enjoys working on her teams. But she'd been out 'mingling' with all manner of fancy folk that were there for the party, from New York society types and diplomats to actual celebrities. Diana no doubt caught her enjoying a rather long conversation with a certain Ambassador's son, who just happens to be near her age and back from a few years studying abroad...

Of course, she's still HERE, so she was 'behaved' about the whole thing. That may or not be a cause for frustration, or for future anticipation... or both!

"What about youuuuuuu?" she wonders, then, feet rocking back and forth as she balances on the little stool beside the counter. Well, 'balances.' Its probably good that she can fly because it looks like it might go at any moment. "I saw you talking to uh, oh whatshisname, YOU know the one... with the broad shoulders and the nice-"

Diana Prince has posed:
Diana is quick to afford Ferdinand a smile. "No no, I am absolutely, and entirely, content. But thank you." She tells their rather unusual on-site chef, that never fails to gather a crowd at these events. Unnerving some, and straight up enthralling others. Ferdinand never fails to widen eyes. "Please do make sure you get to bed at a reasonable hour." She tells him. "Let me know if I can help too."

She's always offering, or outright helping, the service staff of this place, not being the type to distance herself from such duties to keep operations here going. She doesn't ever want people to think she's 'above' them in any capacity, even if most probably do see her that way.

Her attention, in the moment however, is fully on her young protégé. She shows a grin at Cassie's demeanor. "I saw you mingling this evening, I am not sure I have seen a smile on your face quite that long before." It's possibly Diana specifically invited that Ambassador and his son, for such a very reason.

At her question of whom she'd been mingling with Diana just laughs short and sweetly as she glances away toward the dining room again. She takes another sip of her drink before she looks back to the young woman. "Marcus Corvay. I knew his grandfather ... a long time ago. His grandfather just recently passed away, and he found a picture of us together in some of his things. They were investors in the arts. Very good people. He came to show me the photo, and talk about ways he could help, similar to how his grandfather once did, to 'continue the legacy', as it were." There's a pause then. "A very nice man, from a very nice family."

Cassie Sandsmark has posed:
"Oh, I think I have the kitchen in hand," Ferdinand insists. There's a sort of game of humility chicken there, he and Diana trying to be MORE gracious and MORE understanding, more eager to shoulder the load and do the necessary work. But in the end, at least within his kitchen realm, the kithotaur's word is law and this is one rare battle that Diana cannot win! So she must content herself to deal with her slightly inebriated sidekick while the man goes about the tasks of wrangling the leftovers.

With his encouragement, Cassie is at least helping on that front, shoveling one of the neatly sliced little sandwich bites into her mouth.

"Whaaat?" Cassie wonders, trying to play off the observation Diana makes, like it's no big thing. "C'mon Di I always have a good time." And to an extent, its true. While the young man definitely had her in a good mood, she's very much a perpetual ray of sunshine through most of these things, a very peppy and positive young lady who, more than anything, just seems thrilled with the life she's getting to lead.

That she may have been EXTRA happy in a certain young man's presence is immaterial!

Because instead, Cassie is turning that spotlight back on her mentor, who seems equally cagey on the topic. She stops rocking, thankfully right before an actual fall, and leeeeaaans in closer. "Hmmm. So just kind of a family friend, then?" she wonders, but obviously makes it sound a little dubious. "Just a 'nice man'? Wait so you knew his granddad..." Now she's on the trail. "... did you have a thing with HIM, way back when? So like, it would be kind of weird and inappropriate and vaguely generationally incest-y to go out with his grandkid?"

She thinks she's solved the mystery! Obviously, she's a ways off.

Diana Prince has posed:
Diana's war of niceties in the kitchen with Chef Ferdinand will have future battles, to be sure but in the now she just shares smiles with the Kithotaur before placing her focus back on to Cassie.

Diana, does relax some though, in that she sits down on the edge of one of the stools at the counter, her posture remaining ever-perfect as her hands wrap around the base of her drink glass. She shows a sweet smile over to her young friend. "No no, nothing like that." She says of the questions. "His grandfather, Charles, was a dear sweet friend, but he was already married to his high school sweet heart by the time we met. Beyond that, well, no." Another sip of her drink is had.

The Princess then lowers the glass once more to place it upon the small coaster it was sitting upon on the granite counter top. "You are fishing for relationship gossip." She tells Cassie, grinning playfully toward the other. "You can ask that young man out on a date, you know?" She then tries to change the subject again! "It is 2020, and you are more than able to be the pursuer of additional smiles through spending time with a good person, of which he is. I have talked extensively to his mother, after all. A very sweet young man..."

Cassie Sandsmark has posed:
"Oh. Well, then his great grandkid or whatever it was is totally fair game, right?" Cassie grins, and looks very encouraged by this prospect. "I'm pretty sure he likes you." How much was she spying on Diana versus paying attention to her own dood?!

But when Diana turns it around, Cassie just sort of brushes the whole thing off. "Well, duh, I know that," she answers. Often enough, she's trying to bring her modern brand of hashtag activism into the Amazon sphere and her sisters on the island, so the idea that she'd be terribly old fashioned in her mindset is a little far fetched. Of course, that really only leaves one explanation: that for all her bravado and bluster, she's kinda chicken about that kind of stuff! "Maybe I will. I mean, if we'd met somewhere else and it wasn't this whole big THING," and she gestures wide with her arms, perhaps to indicate the physical embassy building, the event, or some combination. "Then like, yeah, maybe I'd have been like, 'hey wanna come back to my dorm room and listen to music?' Which, like, is totally code for doing things other than listening to music. But its not like I could run out on the party... I'll call him maybe."

All of that is smoke and mirrors, of course. She can describe the process, but anyone who knows her would have trouble coming up with a time when she actually did such a thing.

"And I'm not looking for gossip, Di. I just, you know, kinda wonder. You're basically like, the #1 woman in the world, and you're single, and like yeah that means a lot of attention from doofuses but you also have your real pick of quality dudes," she points out. "I always wonder why you're single. Is it some divine oath? Artemis make you do it?" The infamous eternal virgin.

Diana Prince has posed:
The initial words from Cassie get that classical grin on Diana's lips due to their playful nature toward insinuating a similar dating potential with she and the man at the party that she talked to most of the evening, to that of her counterpart's own night with the young man.

"Possibly." Diana says to it, though Cassie probably suspects better.

More drinking is enjoyed, just casual sips while Cassie speaks further, more amused expressions adorn the Princess' sculpted features as she listens too. Things have certainly changed in the way young people 'hook up' in this world, but some part of her is relieved to hear Cassie not talking about using some social media platform to contact the young man.

Is that a good thing? Whose to say!

At the last bit that the youngest Amazon brings up, Diana's eyes look away and down to the counter between and beside them. It takes her a moment to formulate her thoughts before she looks back up to the other, offering her a warm-- albeit soft --smile. "I have had ... tumultuous luck with my love interests up to this point. My first? Well... she passed away long ago, an accident. But one directly related to my actions. The second?" Diana inhales deeply and looks to her drink again to comfort her, even if the alcohol can't really get her inebriated. She sips it again anyway, before shaking her head. "Not quite as long ago, at least in my world. You might argue otherwise." She states then with a little grin for the blond before her.

"I will date again, someday." She quietly resolves.

Cassie Sandsmark has posed:
Now Cassie is on to something!

There's definitely a lot of history here, and Cassie always finds it a little bizarre dealing with the scale of it, contending with decades, centuries lived and experienced and brought with her into the present. Things Cassie knows from history tests or wikipedia articles. Sometimes, it produces some weird disonances or surprising results: like Diana's bizarre yet hilarious fascination with 80s music. Revelations like that, well, they only serve to add a little color and dimension to how she thinks of her mentor. But... this is sort of different.

She probably knows a little better of the existence of Diana's Amazon love than her subsequent foray into Man's World, because Themyscira is what it is. Being the immortal sisterhood that they are, it's impossible for them to ever truly forget someone, anyone. In that case, there are memories outside Diana's own, rumors and remembrances. No doubt she has a memorial on the island, alongside every sister they've ever lost. It wasn't something Cassie ever looked into much, but at least the idea isn't too much of a surprise to her.

But "not too long ago" (at least by Diana standards)-dude is a bit more of a mystery. Not that she'd have such a dood- but that she only had that one.

And now, "someday" she'll date again? Wait.

Waitwaitwait.

"Hold on so... you're saying that you've only ever had one relationship since you came here from the island? In like, what, a hundred years?" Her eyes kind of boggle wide. "-Someday-? I think a century counts!"

Diana Prince has posed:
Diana's expectations for Cassie's reaction to what she'd said are pretty much on-point. She did wonder if Cassie had had enough alcohol tonight (on Themysciran land mind you, rules are different!) that she might breeze right past the 'someday' part. But she doesn't, which is great credit to her young friend's mental resolve and depth of thought.

A larger grin graces Diana's smoky-red hued lips as she looks away again, sitting up straighter in her chair and reaching for something on the counter. A napkin from a stack that she slides over to touch the edge of her glass with where a droplet of her drink had dripped downward toward the stem.

"I have gone on casual outings with others. One on one affairs. I do not like to outright dash the hopes of good people that ... are offering such indulgences with me. I do enjoy them as well. But on those outings, I often explain some element of myself and why I am not looking for more. I..." She doesn't usually break this barrier. Donna probably hasn't even heard these things from her. Hippolyta hasn't even heard her speak like this.

"I still see their faces. I can still picture their smiles. Hear their laughter. Feel their touch." Diana's eyes flicker back over toward Cassie, she summons a smile again but this one is much more noticeably softer. "I still love them, and feel them as if we only just parted ways moments ago." Diana leans over now to rest herself on her left elbow so that her left hand can go tot he side of her face and she can speak on all of this more relaxed to Cassie.

"My love is strong, Cassie." Her voice is as soft as her expression is now. Sullen, almost. "When I let someone in, I do not ever let them out again. Thalia... and Steve. They are with me, still to this day. I am not sure when I will feel for someone else, what I felt for them." Cassie's probably heard Thalia's name spoken, but not Steve's.

Cassie Sandsmark has posed:
While Cassie doesn't realize how rare it is for Diana to open up, that doesn't change the meaning of what she's doing. This is an important part of any friendship! Listening, commiserating, even gossiping or venting. Just being the ear or the shoulder or whatever else they happen to need. And it's not even really so much of a conscious thing, so much as just a mode of communication that naturally exists. Normally, it's pretty much a both-ways thing. But it doesn't totally escape Cassie that Diana rarely unloads and of that on her. The other way, sure! If she wanted to cry about Conner, or about a girlfriend at school who was mean to her, or about any other stupid thing, there's no doubt that Diana would hear every word and have something wise and reassuring to say.

Being on the other end is gratifying in a way, although it also means that Cassie has all that to live up to. How could she hope to be the same sort friend, give the same kind of wise counsel in return? It's somewhat vexing.

And the solution proves, at first, to be that she should just LISTEN, given that her mentor is rarely so unguarded.

"You mean that... literally, don't you?" she wonders, at last, as her friend speaks of the 'proximity' of her lost loves. "Like, that's the kind of shit you hear in songs or read in poetry or hear people deliver lines about in sappy movies. And it always seems, y'know, a little much. But..." No, she knows Diana doesn't do 'overly dramatic,' that everything comes from her like from the tap of pure honesty. And for a moment, she doesn't really know how to even remotely address such a concept.

Well, she gets a reprieve, from having to tackle the depth of that emotion and sadness and everything, to focus on the unfamiliar name. "Steve?" It's pretty shockingly plain, is probably her FIRST instinctive reaction. For a Princess from a fantasy Greek Island! Thalia sure, but Steve? But she makes a guess, based on the vague time hints given and the one clue she's ever seen. "Is he one of those dudes from the picture? From the war I mean." A pause, and she urges, "Tell me about him?"

Diana Prince has posed:
Diana's always generally of the mind that the younger ones, Cassie, Donna, Caitlin, have no mind for listening to her prattle on about these elements of her persona. Does she think they'd listen? Of course, but they live their own lives, and are immersed in their own issues and experiences that are shaping them, as Diana's did... even if some of those experiences came many years in to her existence, namely everything after leaving Themyscira's waters.

A little nod is showing at the 'literally' question, followed with a larger quick smile. She doesn't vocalize on that though specifically. Her smile does shift momentarily in to that of a grin. "I am as sappy as I am wishing to help others. I try to hide the sappy part though, as much as I am able. I do not wish to embarrass you after all." She holds a faint grin again then as she was just being playful there, silly even.

Her eyes drop back down to her glass for another moment of staring while listening to the other. When she brings up the picture, Diana looks back up at her, her arching eyebrows raising up above her eyes. She hadn't known Cassie had ever really stared at that picture, though it was heavily circulated in the media when 'Wonder Woman' became a media-title for Diana, thusly effecting all of them

"It took a century for me to frame it and put it on display. Which-- I will grant you, sounds absurd when I say it out loud. Progress though?" She has another small grin come and go quickly then. "But... yes, Steve is in that photo. He is the man beside me to my right. The others were his friends that he organized to help us in our journey. They were all good men-- though some arguably better than others."

Diana looks away again to Ferdinand as he passes by while putting things away and continuing to organize the clean up process. "Steve... came to Themyscira. He is the reason I left it, in part at least. He told us of the world wide war, spoke of its atrocities. I knew I had to leave, as did he. He had to get back, I had to help end it. Our journey was..." She shakes her head side to side. "Perilous. But insightful. It set me on my path to where I am today. It showed me so much about the world beyond Themyscira's borders. A life outside of paradise, a world that seemed to have no concept of what paradise was truly like. I had to adapt to it because of that, and he... helped me. I do not know what I would have done without him. I would have been, directionless, consumed by the ugliness that was all around me. He prevented that from happening, kept my head above the water so to speak... Up to the very end."

It's probably pretty obvious for Cassie that Steve didn't survive the war, but it might be fuzzy on just how short their time together really was.

Cassie Sandsmark has posed:
As Diana gets more into story-time mode, Cassie somewhat mirrors her earlier posture, leaning with her face propped in a hand so that she can not only listen but watch the storytelling with rapt interest, as engrossed by the woman delivering the tale as the story itself. Diana sort of has that effect!

"He must have been a really great guy. I mean, just to survive the island and meeting everyone, haha..." Although she wasn't there for it, and has not heard that separate part of the tale in much detail beyond the obvious legend, that a man stepped foot upon their secret island and ushered in this new period of change... even without personal knowledge, Cassie can -imagine- the sort of reaction the Amazons would have had. That many would have wanted his blood for reasons of legal principle or pure vengeance. It makes the Amazons sound a little scary, but then again, they kind of are sometimes!

Of course, that's only the smallest part of her praise for Steve, and all the rest is more important, the idea that he helped create the person Cassie knows now. She looks a little awestruck. She sits like that a moment...

...and then there's one of those classic WOOSH, ZOOM moments as she apparently decides to run over to Diana's office and back. It mostly goes fine, although there's the sound of at least one of the staff still up working giving a bit of a yelp as Cassie presumably buzzes the poor fellow as she zips back and forth.

"Sorry, I just wanted to go take another look, have the picture fresh in mind." She's grinning a little at first, probably thinking about how good looking he is on top of all of that, and wanting to say something to that effect, before realizing it's sort of inappropriate to the moment.

"He must have been amazing," she finally offers, the only thing she feels like she can say that encapsulates it well enough. "And it's wonderful you honor him the way you do. Most people, they might take a couple years, maybe, to grow and move on, but..." Which now leaves her wondering. "Is it just that you haven't met anyone that could live up to that? I mean, I can understand that. But it seems awful to imagine you -might- meet someone just as good but not really give it a chance."

Diana Prince has posed:
Diana sits up when Cassie runs off to view the photo. She half expected to see her return with it, but she just smiles at her when she does return at all, and seeming unscathed from her run through the Embassy. Diana is setting her glass down again as Ferdinand had picked up the other drinks and taken them to put them away (having left another Diana just in case.)

With Cassie back, and a new bevy of questions. "I..." Diana takes her mostly finished glass and sets it aside, then turns back at Cassie and now just leans over on the edge of the counter holding her left wrist with her right hand. "I have met many great people since Steve. But... for whatever reason, when I lay my head down at night, it is his face I see when I close my eyes. It is his presence behind me in the bed that I feel, warm and strong. I cannot explain the heart, and what it desires. Who can?" She shows another quick smile.

"Not long after the war did end, I received a request from one of the members on our team to come to the United States. It was my first visit to the States in fact. I met with him, the man that was on my right in that photo, 'Chief' as he was... lovingly referred to. He wanted to introduce me to someone--" Diana gets a 'look' for a second for Cassie, showing her a grin. "Not like that. The man he introduced me to was elderly, still 'there' mentally, but getting on to his final years. It was Steve's father, I could see it in his face, in his eyes. I enjoyed a few hours of conversation with him, and walked away with a little more insight in to the man I had only known for a handful of days, but yet mourn the loss of today."

A quick look is given around the room they share. "And thusly I... fell in love with this country, and now here we are. Steve can be blamed for that too." She states, showing a bigger grin again.

Cassie Sandsmark has posed:
"I mean, I can understand that, I guess," Cassie says, although her tone is a little unconvinced. And, perhaps, unconvincing, because in all truth, she has practically no real experience to draw on here. A crush, when she was even younger and stupider than now, which is saying a lot. All variety of curiousities and attractions. But relationships?

What she understands, then, is more the romantic imagery that it conjures, although that is convincing. Seeing his face, feeling his presence, day in, day out? That's a pretty amazing love! Again, the girl looks somewhat in awe of it all. "Like if that's really what you feel, all the time, I guess it would be hard to accept anything else. But..."

But it's fundamentally unsatisfying, because it's quite a melancholy thought.

That's now what she says, though. "What if it's just because, hmm, you don't really give anyone the chance? Like, even with this Steve guy, were you -that- in love when he showed up on the island in the first place, at first sight? Or was it because of the rest, when you really saw what he was?" She no doubt imagines the latter, as it would be hard to view Wonder Woman, of all people, as so shallow and flighty. She then takes this logic to its conclusion: "So maybe you never quite get to see that, because you don't give them the chance?"

Cassie looks hopeful that she's hit on something here, although she can't help but fall back on the rest with a grin. "Either way, guess it's lucky for us you got a hunky American, huh? Like, what if he'd been Canadian or French or something?" She scrunches her nose.

Diana Prince has posed:
Diana is listening, as ever, with an intent to hear everything Cassie says. Her expression is more warm at this point, as they've gotten past the awkward parts of having to dredge this stuff up and have now settled in to just talking about it. The last part that Cassie says makes Diana openly laugh too, her face lighting up to show a much happier place for a moment.

"I know a lot of French Canadians who would be very offended by that, Cassandra." Diana replies to her with a lingering grin.

A moment later and the Kithotaur appears on the other side of the island counter. He has two small plates of chocolate cake with a very fancy sugary icing layering it over, and flecks of chocolate sprinkled on top. "I forgot to put these out tonight." He says to them both. "I'd hate for them to go entirely without enjoyment here tonight." And without their acceptance, he sets two small forks down for them and starts to leave again.

Diana thanks him as he leaves, and examines the tastefully sized pieces of cake presented to both of them.

"You could be right." The Princess says. "Perhaps all I need to do is let someone in, and it will... help. Do not think I have not considered that before, because I certainly have. I have met so many remarkable people in my life, irregardless of gender or anything so frivolous as that." She has a piece of cake on the dainty silver fork and places it between her lips where she slide the fork back out and enjoys a moment of chocolate bliss.

When that moment passes, she refocuses her gaze on Cassie and once mores smiles to her. "I was ... enamored ... with Steve at first sight. Not in love. It took several 'days' for me to realize it was love. So please, afford me /some/ credit." She says with a big grin. Her eyes glance back down to the devilish treat and she shakes her head ever so slightly again.

"I remember the moment I fell for him though." She speaks again. "It was after our first conflict in the war, on the front lines. There was a celebration afterward. He and I danced together. It was the first time I had witnessed a snowfall."

Another few seconds are taken to enjoy another small bite of cake before the Princess clears her palette with another sip of sweet champaign. She re-centers her gaze upon Cassie and continues. "I asked him about life after wars. What it was like. What people did in times of peace. He had all the answers up to that point, he knew what to do, and what to tell me about this strange, dangerous, horrible world... in order for me to decide what was best to do."

She looks down again and forks at the crumbs of the cake on the plate. "But that question. It befuddled him. We were the same then. Both at a point in our lives where we..."

Diana looks back up yet again, and yet again grins to Cassie. "Could embark on that path of discovery ourselves, together." She lets that sink in accompanied with a smile before she leans forward and whispers loudly. "How is that for sappy for you?"

Cassie Sandsmark has posed:
This is why, everything ELSE aside EVERYONE loves Ferdinand!

"Ohmygoddesses these look amaaazing," she declares, bubbling with a fresh new round of excited energy at the very sight of the simultaneously delicate and yet sinful looking chocolate desserts. She takes a first experimental bite, and then looks like she's about to pass out from pleasure, kicking her feet beneath the stool and holding her hands up. "Mmmmmm! You're -literally- the best," she tells the towering chef, with clearly no concern over putting Diana in 2nd place!

The incident also leads to a curious dovetailing of thoughts. Because as Diana goes on about the wonderful people and the meaningless differences between them, she gives it only long enough for a certain person to finish making his way out before she wonders. "Like what about him?" It might be a little surprising to hear, but apparently either Cassie's 2020 openmindness means that tauric origin is no big deal, or she's fully bought into the mythological side of her family heritage and lifestyle to the degree where this doesn't seem strange. Or, you know, maybe she's just a little drunk still! The suggestion does come with some suggestively waggling eyebrows.

And that line of thinking only continues as Diana talks about her first meeting. "Right, duh, you thought he was hot," she translates 'enamored at first sight.' "Like I thought Conner was hot." Obviously, those two first sights led to very different outcomes, but that seems to be the point she's making.

Now, Cassie could very easily get swept up in the next round of utterly tear-jerkingly perfect romantic imagery that Diana is conjuring, of first dances and first snows. Of pondering their entire lives going forward, every discovery they could yet make together.

"Ugggggh, it sounds like a fairytale," she answers, although her groan is more out of jealousy and rage at the inherent lack of justice in the world. Diana is the best of everything. Including sappy romance! "Absolutely perfect." She makes a face, and then makes herself feel better with a forkful of chocolate heaven. "But I still say, that doesn't mean you won't find that moment again. You might not have another first snow, but everything a couple does, well, that's new for them to do it with another person, right?"

Diana Prince has posed:
Diana's eyes raise up from the plate filled with amusement at Cassie insinuating a 'thing' between she and the Kithotaur Chef who'd just treated them both to cake before lumbering out of the kitchen again. She looks after him, then back over to Cassie before her. "Mmm." Diana's head shakes and she looks down to her half-of-delicious-cake before back up to Cassie, her fork filled up again with chocolate divinity.

"He and I's relationship is purely physical." Diana says before taking that next forkful in between her lips. It takes her a second before she /smiles big/ around the fork toward the young woman. When she pulls the fork out between her lips her eyes go down yet again.

It takes her a handful of seconds before she speaks again. "Even if Steve had not passed in the war. He would be gone by now. Where I would be, as I am. Obviously that would have been a more ideal scenario, but the end result would be..." She raises her eyes again and looks toward the far side of the room whilst lost in though. "Perhaps even harder?"

She lowers her gaze back to Cassie once more. "It is hard to say how that would have felt. But... that is another reason I am reluctant to ... let another 'in', so to speak. So many friends that I have made since leaving Themysciran--" She pictures their faces, from Sameer to Charlie, Chief to Etta, and beyond those years to everyone else she's known over the decades up to now. "--I have watched them age, and been with many of them as they passed on. That alone, is a humbling thing to behold, and makes devotion to someone, just that much more challenging of a prospect."

Cassie Sandsmark has posed:
Cassie -definitely- spends a few moments pondering the exact translation of all that very meaningful, deliberate cake eating Diana is doing. Staring even, watching the woman suggestively eat. "I am like ninety percent sure you are just making a big joke there, you know, with all the suggestive wordplay, making fun of me here..." she decides, speaking slow and evenly with a suspicious narrowing of her eyes. Ninety percent. Would she rather she be right, or is she pondering on that other ten?! "But seriously. He's tall, strong yet a total sensitive softie, and he COOKS. Like, you describe that to most women, that's eleven out of ten a keeper." Of course if you told them he was a mythical man-beast it might skew things!

Also does it mean anything that Cassie has apparently given this so much thought herself?!

This lightheartedness gives way to something more serious, though, and clearly it's not something that Cassie had quite considered. "Oh, huh. I guess that's true." Her expression definitely darkens some, particularly as Diana expands the list of people, describing the many she's had to watch slip past. Compared to her lack of romantic knowledge, this is an even more challenging prospect for her to grapple with. " was talking to someone about that stuff the other day, saying how... well, I wasn't sure what to think about what my own life might be like, now. Its weird to think about."

Yet she does seem to think about it a moment, and posits, "Hardly seems like the chance of losing someone eventually is a reason not to have them while you can, though. Like, that's not any different even for people who aren't immortal. One will always outlast the other, and you never really know how long you've got together."

Diana Prince has posed:
Diana's eyes are on the plate that she'd set down on the counter, but her head is shaking at the first bit of Cassie's response. "I would never make fun of you." She says in good spirits, but in a completely honest sort of way too. She does finish off the cake with one last bite as her eyes go up in the direction that Ferdinand is in the other room helping the other service staff yet still on-site. She smiles at him when he waves in to the kitchen at the two of them.

"I think he has a prolonged lifespan too, so perhaps you are on to something, Cassie." She says as she now looks back over to the blond seated on her right. Diana pushes the cake plate forward and sets the fork upon it.

"Your wisdom is beyond your years, as well." Di says then, gathering up the second glass of champaign (which is actually her third as she nursed the first one throughout the entirety of the party tonight.)

"If I find someone, who I do believe to be a potentially impactful connection within me, I will remember this and I will think harder on ... opening myself up to the possibility. But, you need to do the same. You are young yet still, and must maintain this wisdom so that the decisions you make are sound and good. But you also need to take risks, so that your life is filled with memories that you can happily hold on to. Sappy ones most of all." She grins once more, sipping her drink and setting down on the counter.

Diana moves to stand up then and she raises her right hand up to put it on the side of Cass' face, she cups the other's cheek and smiles at her with a great amount of care. "I am glad you were here tonight. You livened the party up, and you have given me a lot to think about."

Cassie Sandsmark has posed:
"Right?!" Cassie thinks she's on to something too. Whether it's remotely realistic (or what thoughts the kithotaur in question might have in the matter), she does not know. But if this is to be her mission, clearly the first, easiest step, is pointing out the things Diana has standing right in front of her.

Spending the next few moments finishing up the rest of her own cake portion, Cassie is at least fortunately not adding any more drinks to her evening's record beyond the fruit that the same much-discussed resident hunk chef provided her. And by now, she's feeling the lingering effects of what she had earlier far less. She is predictably swift and eager to seize upon Diana's apparent concession, even if it is toward only the vaguest course of action, although the fact she finds herself targeted in it seems to catch her a little more off guard.

"Hey, I'm plenty open to stuff. It's not like I'm-" She cuts herself short there without finishing the thought, deciding for whatever reason against sharing it. "I like fun. And I take plenty of risks!" When it comes to charging alien space ships, anyway. "Its just that most dudes my age are lame." A peremnial complaint, unfortunately. "And I'm not always surrounded by admirers the way you are!"

While there's a hint of conflict in this final declaration, it vanishes with her mentor's touch, and she melts back into a happy smile. "You look out for what's good for me all the time. Its the least I can do to try a little of the same, right?" She hops down as well, wobbles just the tinniest bit, and then grins. "I'mma go up to my room, maybe watch some youtube before I pass out! Night!" And just like that she's off.