4297/The Dating Game

The Dating Game
Date of Scene:	03 December 2020
Location:	Big Gay Ice Cream Shop
Synopsis:	Diana and Cassie meet in an ice cream shop to talk about their dates from the previous evenings.
Cast of Characters:	Diana Prince, Cassie Sandsmark

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Diana Prince has posed:
Diana and Cassie had agreed to go on a double-separate-date. If that makes any sense.

They'd agreed to both meet up with their prospective male suitors and enjoy a night out on the previous evening. The follow day, they'd texted one another to setup a date together, to talk about it.

At the Big Gay Ice Cream Shop in Greenwich Village, no less.

Diana had arrived about 5 minutes ago. It took about 30 seconds for her to be recognized too, even though she's in civilian clothes. A black leather jacket and a white sweater underneath it, black slacks and black shoes with small heels putting her up at around 6'1. She stands out, literally.

The next few minutes had mostly gone to speaking with the employees and customers, sharing a few laughs and some picture taking before she was handed a tray of different ice cream cups. A sampler! Lots of different flavors with two or three bites in each one.

Now, the Princess is stepping over to one of the tables to seat herself, leaving her jacket on as it is December, and this is an ice cream shop. Not that the chill bothers her, but she can feel it all the same.

Cassie Sandsmark has posed:
Cassie arrives looking rather student-ish, a very rare instance that she's not decked out in Wonder-garb, with an open hoodie jacket and her backpack slung over her shoulder. Since Diana is there first, she might spot Cassie outside through the window, where she apparently separates from a couple people she was walking with before coming inside.

She may have declined to tell them WHO exactly she was meeting, to spare Diana having to meet all of them... although as she comes inside, Cassie finds that her efforts may have been somewhat for nothing!

Hanging back as the crowds clear, she eventually slips past and comes over to Diana's table, unslinging her backpack and then plopping herself down across the table. "They never give you a break, huh?" she offers sympathetically, although as ever, there is just the slightest sense of her feeling a little envious of the whole thing! And first business, rather than boys (yes, ironic maybe) is ice cream: "You wanna maybe split a sundae or something? I always wanna get the super fancy ones but it seems like a lot by myself."

Whatever order details can be negotiated, but they're HARDLY the main attraction.

"Sooooooo...." Yes, how do they breach this topic exactly?

Diana Prince has posed:
Diana, of course, knew Cassie had arrived and greeted her plopping down with a big smile. She instantly gathered up one of the tiny cone samplers and handed it over the table to Cassie. "The Salty Pimp." The Princess says with a growing smile, it coming in the form of a vanilla ice cream cone injected with dulce de leche, lightly salted & dipped in chocolate shell, only tiny sample version!

She soon there-after nods her head and glances to her right toward the employees, many of whom are still glancing her and Cassie's way still. "A sundae would be delightful." Diana says, holding up a sampler of American Globs!. "Shortberry Strawcake is absolutely wonderful." She says after dabbing at her lips with a napkin.

Her eyes glance down for a moment though, as she knows of the subject matter they came here for. "Go, order what you want, then we will talk." She tells her young friend then first.

Cassie Sandsmark has posed:
Diana is enjoying this a little too much, perhaps!

Cassie's expression scrunches slightly and then breaks into a grin when she's given the sample to try. "You tetlling me something, Di?" But of course, the unusual and inventive combinations the place sells are all pretty good, and this one comes with a nice crunch to it with the chocolate exterior. "I'm always surprised by how good salt is on sweets, even if in my head I know that it works from prior experience! Like the salted caramels at Starbucks. So good." The sample disappears quickly. "I think I've had most of them, really it's all pretty good- hmm we can get different ones and share or something too, I don't really care!"

"Ok you get the Shortcake and I'll get, hmm, the Monday?" Details, details! Soon enough, she's gone up to get their goodies, and returns a shortly after to set them out between them.

"So...." Yes she said that already, but they're back to the same impasse. "Uh, who was it you went with again?" This is a trickyh way to make Diana go first, maybe!

Diana Prince has posed:
The sharing of sundaes is agreed upon, and when Cassie goes up to garner them, Diana tries a couple more of the samplers before she pushes the tray aside and then just takes a sip from the glass of water she'd gotten with it. When Cassie returns, the Princess smiles quickly at the other's words, but her eyes ultimately fall to the Shortberry Sundae, it's quite the delightful sight after all, especially for the Themysciran woman with a bit of a weakness for this type of sugary indulgence.

A grin spreads over her lips as she holds the plastic spoon that came with it. "Marcus Corvay." Diana says the name of the man she'd gone on a date with. She takes a bit of her ice cream and places it within her mouth before she just closes her eyes to let the flavor strike her fancy, oh how it does too!

When she opens her eyes again she puts them up and on to Cassie's own. "We had a great time." She tells her. "A carriage ride, a lovely dinner, ice skating and a walk back to the Embassy. He is a lovely man. He has two daughters from a previous marriage that were apparently 'busting at the seams' when they found out who their father was going on a date with." She flashes a playful grin for a moment and looks back down to her treat.

A quick shake of her head is given then. "It was a good idea, your idea, so thank you." And as nice as it is, Cassie-- being Cassie --probably senses a 'but' in there somewhere.

Cassie Sandsmark has posed:
Cassie can't help but watch Diana's deeply meaningful, one coould say soul-touching experience with the ice cream and grin. "Still your favorite of the many invovations of Man's World, huh?" It is pretty hard to argue with, as these things go. And Cassie, while not quite so deeply /moved/, does definitely dig in to her own with a certain obvious enjoyment!

"Hmm, yeah right. Guy from the party, friend of the... well, OK, more like, you're the friend of his family, right, something like that, all generational?" She is trying to recall the details, because that night did involve a fair bit of drinking and some of them are hazy at this point. "Seemed like a nice guy," she recalls, and then listens as Diana details out all the elements of their date. Very classy. Very predictable. Maybe a little boring?

"Carriage in the park, that's just so-" She isn't sure /which/ side of her reaction to emphasize. "Its very scenic. Classic New York." Though 'classic' could be her codeword for not calling it boring outright! "Oh he's got kids?" That oone has her thinking. Diana is aged and wise, but... "Guess I'm about the closest thing you've got, huh?"

It's meant as a joke, but there's some truth to it. And people keep asking if she's Diana Jr.

"I bet they'd be excited. For sure, for sure." Now she listens to Diana's subsequent evaluation, and smiles, although obviously Cassie has a sense of what's coming, maybe even before the obvious hesitation in her voice. "But what? Other than the inevitable 'he's not your first love,' which obviously allllll these dudes will fail on."

Diana Prince has posed:
"It is still at the top of the list, yes." Diana says of the ice cream, and ice cream in-general. She has a lot of enhanced senses, taste is likely included in that and ice cream may very well hit her in ways it doesn't hit the average person. Or, she's just a glutton for it. who's to say?!

"I know, it was not... dancing at a fancy club, or going to some popular singer's concert, or what have you, but Marcus is well aware of how long I have been around and he thought a classical date would be one I could more personally relate to. Which in a lot of ways, it probably is." She shows a soft smile over the table to Cassie. "It is a lot of pressure to prepare a date for someone who has been around this world for a century, you know?"

"And yes, I probably do consider you as close to a daughter as I have, though I would likely personally label it as more of a younger sister, but... With all of the ways your mother has instructed me on the right ways to look out for you, maybe I am leaning closer to Your Second Mother." There's a smirk shown after the Princess states that bit of logic.

Her eyes go back down to her ice cream, the Shortberry Strawcake sundae, she leans forward a little to take another bit of it into her mouth. Her head shakes side to side as she draws the spoon back out from between her red hued lips. "No real 'but' to this one." Seems untrue! "I will see him again. I invited him and his girls over to the Embassy in fact. I thought they may like to visit." Which by the sounds of it they really would.

Diana's eyes look upward then, over to the young college aged Cassie. "And what of your date?" She changes the subject away from her!

Cassie Sandsmark has posed:
Immediately, Cassie holds up her hands (in one of them, a plastic spoon for her ice cream), as if warding off the things she... just said a moment ago, or at least suggesting they not be taken TOO seriously. "Oh, I'm sure it was great, and it was thoughtful of him to set something up like that, I think. Like, you're pretty super famous, and most people probably think of you as totally beyond... I don't know, not just reach, but like, reality? So I'm sure he put a lot of thought into it, to treating you uh, up to the standard he figured you deserved?"

She struggles, as if unsure that fully makes sense.

The self-defense posture also reflects the whole 'mother-daughter' thing. "Oh I didn't really mean that- and don't let my mom hear it! -but like, yeah, I think of you more as a big sister too. I just meant that like, in comparison, it's probably the closest thing, just given my age and the time you spend with me, y'know?" She thinks of ways to shift the subject subtly, for instance: "How old are they? His daughters."

Which becomes more important when it turns out things went well! No but?!

"That's great!" Cassie looks genuinely excited. "I can help show them around too, if they're gonna visit. Even though they're probably way bigger fans of yours."

But all of this leaves the topic with HER. Which is, uh, definitely harder than interrogating Diana or teasing her on her old fashioned tastes. Asked, Cassie looks down, digging her plastic spoon in the ice cream. "Fine, I guess? I don't think I'll see him again, though."

Diana Prince has posed:
"I would not dream of it." Diana says softly about not telling Helena, saying it with a bit of a smile. She folds a napkin up in to a little paper roll then lifts it to dab at her lips again after enjoying more of the sundae, then having a sip of her cup of ice water as well.

"His daughters are twelve and fourteen." She answers that question next. "He was in the military, and his ex-wife took care of the children up until he left the service. The separated a handful of years ago, however. He's thirty eight now. Which, yes, it is young for me, admittedly. That is probably the largest issue that I could point out. When I left Themyscira, it was easier for me to fall for a man of similar age, because I was so new to this world then, it made me feel younger than I really was at the time. But that... ship has sailed, now, so to speak."

She casts another softer smile to Cassie.

At Cassie's brief summation of her own date, Diana sets her pink plastic spoon down on the edge of her sundae's plastic cup and she sits straight up in her chair, and folds her hands upon the edge of the table in front of her.

"Details, Wonder Girl." Diana says politely, but crisply. "That is the mandate we made for this." Ooooo, firing the rule book at you now, Cassie!

Cassie Sandsmark has posed:
"They say age is just a number!" Cassie declares, although it's clearly more like she's just parroting the saying than really expressing any deeply-held knowledge to back it up.

"And the way I figure, even if you've been around here a while, you've... well, you've lived a different kind of life. Crazier in some ways, but quieter in others, you know? Most peple, like, that relationship stuff fills up a whole chunk of their lives. But you've focused on other things, bigger things!" Here the young woman grins broadly. "But at the same time, that means you don't have a lot of experience with that otehr stuff. His 38 is still years of marriage, a decade plus of raising his daughters. You've, well..."

Had a brief fling with a soldier, who then promptly died! But Cassie doesn't say it that way. It would be too harsh even for Cassandra 'Sassmark'!

"So its more like he'd have some things to teach you, and you'd have some things to teach him, right? That seems fair. Even. A good basis for a relationship!" She's pushing it!

When pressed on her own date, though, she's a bit less animated. Not evasive, just... well, there's more ice cream poking, stirring, and her body language is sort of ambiguous. "Mmm, well, he took me out to some club, I guess some place where he and a lot of his friends go. Kinda fancy." This was some diplomat's kid. Money and position. Perhaps even the kind of 'fast life' social media makes her generation look up to. "So you know, it was OK. I dunno. I had fun, but like... I guess we didn't have a lot in common. Before all this-" a vague gesture between them "-well, I never had those kinds of friends. And don't get me wrong, they all treated me great, like I was the big star hanging out with them."

Which has occasionally been something it's seemed like she's wanted!

Diana Prince has posed:
Diana affords a soft smile/smirk expression at the continued effort to dissuade Diana's apparent disinterest in her male suitor simply due to their age difference. "Wise words." She tells the younger one. "And you are quite right, which is why I am not pushing away from it, and have instead invited he and his to the Embassy. Being that his children are still young, I thought the holiday decorations we have up would alone be a nice treat for them to see." Let alone everything else there-in, herself included.

"I will admit, I was surprised when I found out that he served in the military, what with the money that his family has. The willingness to serve his country, does offer an additional appealing measure for him." She likes army men!

When Cassie does break in to the description of her own date, the rundown really isn't all that surprising to her. "It sounds as though I imagined it likely would. People at your age, and his age as well, generally are not ... mmm ... looking for something calm and serene. It is more about separating from one's parents, and doing wild and fun things. Or what they perceive to be fun, which sometimes stray far too closely to reckless." She shows the hint of a grin.

"I am glad you fit in well with the group you were with though. You /are/ a famous super hero after all. I listened to your podcast. It was quite ... fantastic." Diana shows a larger grin to Cassie. "Surely that has gotten you a bit more public attention too. Wonder Girl, needs to step out of the shadow of Wonder Woman. You are your own person, your own heroic presence. You deserve more attention, for all the great you do in this world."

"But." Diana inhales and leans forward then, her forearms crossing over one another on the edge of the table as she lets her shoulders rise up a little inside her white sweater and black leather jacket. "I am sorry your date was not a connection of something deeper." She says these words in a quiet and calm tone, accompanying them with just a soft smile for Cassie. "Such a connection will happen, usually when you least expect it. So they say."

Cassie Sandsmark has posed:
"Oh you heard it?" Cassie wonders with some surprise. It really shouldn't be, but still. "That April O'Neil is something, huh? I didn't go on just to promote myself, though, but wanted to help the whole Amazon brand. Did you catch the bit about people coming to visit? I think that's something we have to start thinking about."

But talking shop about the island is another 'off topic' item.

Ultimately, she brushes off the bit about the date again. "Eh, it's no big deal. You don't have any reason to worry about me and that stuff," she insists although it still seems like more of an effort to push the subject away from herself than really being 'nothing.' "No one expects anything deep at my age, or if they're looking for it, it's cuz they've watched too many romantic comedies." Such powerful cyncism! Also a mark of her youth.

"I'm way more worried about you, because you've been dealing with this for a long time." Here, she pauses to shovel large spoonful of her ice cream into her mouth, savoring it with an over-exaggerated 'mmm!' She may not be quite so utterly enraptured by this 'foreign' invention as the Princess, but still. Who doesn't like ice cream? "So I'm glad this is going well for you. He sounds like a great dude. Like you kind of know he's not some flake or anything, tho I kinda wanna know the story behind the breakup..."

Maybe just because she's nosey. But then again, it's one of those very revealing details as dating goes!

"Lemme know when his daughters are visiting, and I'll make sure I swing by. That way you've got a chaperone so you two don't have to spend the whole time with the kids." Very thoughtful! Or at least, very matchmaker-y.

Diana Prince has posed:
"You know I am not the one who has to be convinced for those things to happen." Diana says of having more people visit Themyscira. "I would fill the Jet with visitors and bring them in for as long as they wished to stay, were it solely my decision." She's the 'progressive' Amazon after all, the one who's pushed the hardest for such alterations to their people's rules... though it's becoming more and more desired by others now too.

Hippolyta, however, hasn't seemed to reach that place yet.

"Mmm... for me, I would just like to see you have someone close by to confide in and share times with, unrelated to school or your persona as a heroic figure." Diana replies about the dating game for Cassie. "I certainly would raise an eyebrow if you were wearing a ring, or running around like a reckless foolish child, but... I know neither of those things are how you would approach even a serious relationship. You are level headed, which is partly why I was eager to welcome you to help me with the dangerous things that we do. I trust your judgement on many things."

The last two bits make Diana show a faint smile. "I would be happy to have you there, we hope to do it before Christmas, maybe around the 15th or there-about. I will certainly let you know." There's a pause then before she gives what info she has on Marcus' past relationship. "What he told me abou this ex wife was that she felt she'd been robbed of her youth, by staying home with the children while he was in the service. He said she wanted to go out and... you know, drink with friends, party the night away, so on and so forth. Where he wanted to stay at home and spend time with the girls. So they grew apart, as it seems. Of course, there are two sides to every story, so I would not imagine she could not elaborate deeper on her own side of things too."

Cassie Sandsmark has posed:
"I know, I know." The 'Hippolya decides' is a familiar obstacle and a familiar part of this discussion, which has come up more han a handful of times. "I'm just thinking aobut how we might be able to present it so that it's palatable. Not random tourists coming to gawk at her island and ruin their perfect isolation, but you know, dignitaries, the best that the rest of the world has to offer, people that we can turn into an argument for further engagement. 'Look, these people are from the horrible world outside, and they're fine'. That kind of thing."

Soon, she's sitting back, sucking a little excess of the dessert off the little plastic spoon, as if she can't quite commit to deciding on another bite of it, even though there's plenty left. Which, indeed, seems to fully sidetrack her mid thought: "You wanna try mine?" Back on subject, missy!

"Nah, I'm not gonna get into anything like that," she reassures Diana. "I just don't know. Even the whole, hmm, 'confiding' part is hard. You know, explaining the kind of stuff I deal with, to someone who has no real idea. I dunno why you're so enamored with the idea of a 'normal' guy but for me, I don't know, I wonder if any of them can really work. And meanwhile, the Superhero pool is really pretty shallow..."

Regardless of what Diana decides to do with the offering of Cassie's sundae, she lunges forward to grab a spoonful from the other one, which promptly vanishes into her mouth. "It'll be super pretty for the holidays, I'm sure they'll get a kick out of all that." She only shrugs to the actual reveal of the divorce details, because... well, they do sound pretty mundane. "As long as it wasn't like some huge, ugly thing, it's probably fine. Like they just didn't fit, or yeah, the timing of things was bad. And its not like you're in any danger of being left at home, the poor bored housewife while he's out saving the day."

Diana Prince has posed:
Diana makes the exchange of ice cream bowls, plucking her spoon up before it gets lost forever in the trade deal too! She twirls the spoon around in her right hand fingers then dips it into the Monday Sundea to try it out next. A quick smile is given before she enjoys the new mixture of delicious ingredients and ice cream wonders.

"You really are on the right path right now, in the long run too." Diana tells the other, taking a second to look up at her, before back down to the treat as she spoons another mouthful. Once her palette is cleared again she speaks up once more. "Focusing on college, your training... it will be the foundation that you build your future off of, and that is genuinely more important in the greater scheme of things. Even if it does leave a place in your heart feeling a little less satisfied. But, as I said, you never know what-- or who --might be around the next corner."

She flashes her cohert another smile before she looks down at the ice cream and shakes her head. "I am giving up super hero work, the Embassy work, and going to open my own ice cream chain. 'Diana's Delights' seems like a fitting name." She states, before grinning playfully over to Cassie.

"You can take on the 'mantle' of Wonder Woman, and all the glitz and glamour that follows with it." She points her spoon at the treat. "While I lovingly rip off this recipe for my new chain of business."

Cassie Sandsmark has posed:
"Yeah, I know." There's a certain note of glum acceptance to Cassie's tone, like she knows that Diana is right although isn't terribly thrilled to admit to it. Ah, the joys of maturity. "Silly to worry about that stuff when I'm out saving the world."

No, that's definitely half-assed, and her demeanor isn't quite as shiningly heroic as it sometimes is, but she smiles through whatever's bothering her and pushes the spoon into her newly acquired, traded-for sundae, eating a few bites now that she isn't forced to acquire them by stealth or sudden action. There's a cliche about ice cream being a favorite indulgence when you're feeling down, and whether it's -healthy- to 'eat your feelings' in the way it's often described, it sure does feel good!

Humor also helps, and Diana's joke lands big.

"Hah. I can totally see it," she agrees, treating the whole thing as if it were serious. "And that name would definitely bring 'em in. After all, I doubt there's anyone who isn't at least a little interested in your 'delights', hmm?" Innocent in discussion of ice cream, but a little more suggestive in the context of their prior discussion! "Ooh, and I'd get the promotion, too. Sounding better and better. Then I'd really have everyone's attention..."

Diana Prince has posed:
Diana just enjoys the ice cream in front of her for the time being, if it is eating her feelings, then her feelings are seemingly quite wondrous at the present moment. She doe slook up to show a smile back at the younger one's last words there, about her future endeavors as an ice cream store owner. Once she finishes off the last of the ice cream though she sets the spoon down and once more dabs at her lips with the napkin before placing it in to the bowl as well.

"Finish up." She tells her dining partner, before leanign forward. "I am going to walk you back to compus." She says like it's the best thing ever! "You are going back to class aren't you?" She then asks. "I feel like a walk, before the snow comes in and makes it less enjoyable out there."

Diana reaches for her water and stands up to take the emptied bowl and sampler plate to the waste bin, where she's promptly intercepted by people coming in who recognize her and want to interact with Wonder Woman. Of course, naturally, Diana is more than welcome to do just that, as Cassie is likely hearing now over her shoulder.

Cassie Sandsmark has posed:
"Yeah, got some late classes still," Cassie agrees, as she goes through the painstaking process of scraping up the very last of the remains of her sweet treat. But soon enough it's gone- so sad! -and she's hauling up as well to follow after Di. There is a bit of an eye roll, kept to herself mostly, as she's swamped again. There's probably some sort of amusing lesson there, in the fact that she both finds Diana's celebrity status so annoying in public, but admires it as well?

"C'mon folks, the Princess has places to be, people to save." Sometimes, she has to act like her agent or representative at these spontaneous gatherings.

Of course, Diana is sure to make sure everyone there comes away happy from the interaction, so it leaves Cassie by the door, tapping her foot, her backpack again slung off one shoulder. "We got a little time before class, so I can show you around campus some. I mean, not like, it's just the city obviously, but point out some of the buildings where my classes are, show you the student center, all that stuff. They'll get a kick out of it too, I'm sure."