6583/A Powerfully Unexpected Brunch

A Powerfully Unexpected Brunch
Date of Scene:	16 June 2021
Location:	Clark Kent's Apartment, Metropolis
Synopsis:	Kara drops in to visit Kal, only to find a very sleepy Lois Lane and a very awkward situation.
Cast of Characters:	Lois Lane, Karen Starr

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Lois Lane has posed:
A time to sleep in was fairly rare for Kal-El, someone was calling for Superman all the time. That means, he left the bed about an hour ago and Lois, after stealing a brief kiss, went back to sleep. She didn't think they'd be getting any guests and she certainly wasn't going to lose beauty sleep because he had work to do. That means, at the wholesome hour of nearly 1 pm, she's still sprawled in bed. Mostly unclothed, idly enjoying the air conditioning and the pillow she's stolen from his side of the sheets.

Karen Starr has posed:
    It's rare that Power Girl visits Kal, as the two sort of share the duty of directly keeping Metropolis safe. Karen does her own thing with the League and the Avengers- but her home will always be here, and there is a question that she curiously has no answer to at the moment. Of course, this happens often: Two more than moderate disasters sprining up at the same time, but while Power Girl responded to one in Metropolis (hitting a mech-suited thug with a car, no less) Kal seems to have heard something happen elsewhere.

    She doesn't know this, of course, having been busy in Metropolis at the time that alarm went off. Confused that he didn't arrive at the robbery she foiled, Power Girl stops by the Kent apartment, taking a moment to rather loudly knock at the glass door on the patio, something that generally doesn't happen, considering the floor they're on.

    Some short few moments later- she's the more patient of the two Karas, but still not the most patient Kryptonian in the universe- she pulls the door open quietly, and steps in. The first real noise that can be heard is Power Girl calling out for her cousin.

    "Kal? Are you here? Did I miss something? There wasn't an entry on the League PTO calendar."

    Not the rudest of awakenings, depending on how one feels about blondes- and, similarly, the jury's out on whether the League really does have a PTO calendar.

Lois Lane has posed:
Lois definitely slept through that knocking -- they live in a city. Birds fly into the windows. The wind picks up. A car back fires. A hundred reasons why she's not going to rouse at that sound. But the moment there is a voice she doesn't know in the apartment, something wakes up in the back of her paranoid brain. That wasn't right.

Blue eyes flicker open, heart kicking into double time as she's trying to figure out if this is someone dangerous or not and remembering just where she hid the gun in the bedside table. That's when her mind actually processes what's being said and the vaguely familiar voice the words come from. "Oh shit..." She mutters beneath her breath. Of course, Power Girl can probably hear that. Then she realizes she definitely doesn't have a shirt on.

"Ahh! Kal is... he had to fly off, just, just one minute! Good morning, sorry, one minute!" Lois calls in a far too cheery sort of tone as she clutches the blankets to her and frantically looks around for where ever one of their shirts got to last night.

Karen Starr has posed:
    From outside Lois' room, a barely audible "Oh shit..." of her own is muttered under Power Girl's breath. She tries not to listen to peoples' heartbeats, or identify when people are where- it's a thing the (somehow even more) restrained Kal-L of her universe taught her when she was young. An 'invasion of privacy' he called it.

    There's an incredible amount of getting used to in regards to the youth of her two practically-adoptive parents. Back in her home universe, she landed when Lois and Clark were in their seventies- both of them taking the essential roles of Ma and Pa Kent. Here, she'd figured they weren't so close yet, that it was still almost akin to a fling that /could/ mean something more.

    Clearing her throat, Power Girl responds as soon as she can manage one. "No- Uh- That's all I needed, I'm good, no need to get up, or anything, I'll just be- uh- Going-" she calls back, idly backing cautiously towards the door onto the patio.

    She just isn't sure if she's ready for this, but she's not bolting quite yet.

Lois Lane has posed:
Someday in the future, Lois might be a noble, proper sort of woman who grows into her elegance and wisdom with age. Now? She's a barely put together hot mess who gets away with a lot because she's brilliant behind a keyboard. "Nono! I was just getting up, I'll make break-..." Her eyes catch sight of the clock and she mentally curses again, "BRUNCH! I'll make brunch!"

She does finally spy one of Clark's flannels on his side of the bed and she scrambles over the sheets a little too energetically, which means she's stumbling off onto the floor and then dragging that oversized shirt on over her head before she figures out if anything is bruised. It's big enough on her that it definitely looks like a night dress, so while she's shoving one arm through an inside out sleeve, she's finally scampering to the front room with a smile that doesn't match her mussed hair.

Karen Starr has posed:
    "You don't have to!" Karen tries to deflect, managing to reach the door onto the patio before she's forced into a situation that she's not ready for the prim-and-proper version of, let alone, well, /this./ "Shit shit shit," she states, looking longingly at the glass door onto the patio before Lois practically-stumbles out of the bedroom and locks her into this social situation.

    For a moment, Karen looks like a deer in headlights for a number of reasons ranging from the fact that her adoptive mother was never quite /attractive/ in her seventies to the fact that said woman also used to wear, you know, clothes /plural./

    "Uh, hey, listen," Karen begins, "You really don't have to do this, but if you're going to, you may want to uh, y'know," she's not really able to finish the thought, of course, as she means to ask Lois to wear something other than /just/ a shirt. Part of her, having met this universe's Lois, wonders if this is some level of power play in trying to show up a competitor, which just adds yet another layer to Karen's issues, and helps stop her from forming complete sentences.

Lois Lane has posed:
Technically, Lois has clothes on. There's almost certainly undies beneath that oversized flannel shirt she now has entirely buttoned AND is wearing both sleeves! Success. Lois then reaches one hand up to try and comb her fingers back through her hair to calm some of the parts that are sticking up and the morning frizz. She definitely has the drowsy blink to her blue eyes and smells like someone fresh out of a warm bed, but she's awake and smiling now.

"Kara! Ah, I mean...Oh. I swear, there's underwear here. Booty shorts, actually. Practically pants. Better than the beach. Anyway, yes, yes, it's good to see you. Please, sit. I need coffee, do you need coffee? Coffee, and then eggs, you...Eat eggs for breakfast, right? Kal does, but I mean, he's been here forever, it seems... I can make eggs. Eggs will be good. Coffee first." Then she's bustling into the kitchen, determined to be a good hostess.

Karen Starr has posed:
    Oh, /right/ in the feels. Here Karen is decidedly trying to distance herself from the other woman, to escape and flee from this situation, and she hit her with the K word. It's very, very difficult for Power Girl to even acknowledge that name as hers anymore, and to have the other woman say it in a voice that's just oh so /close/ to one that is so near to her almost helps disarm the situation.

    Then, she's talking about shorts and using the word booty from the forbidden lexicon and Power Girl is right back into firmly awkward territory. "Really, pants would be better, I think-" she almost squeaks, as Lois starts getting ready to prepare some form of food. Can this Lois cook? Does it even matter, really? Kryptonians are garbage cans at best.

    "Eggs are... Fine. I- I could take some coffee, but don't worry about it if it's going to be too much of a hassle, really, I didn't stop by for anything specific, just wanted to see where Kal was this morning, and I don't have to stay, I can go-"

Lois Lane has posed:
The moment Lois has some fresh coffee grounds into the coffee maker and is pushing the go button (It's one of the automatically fed water ones so she doesn't even have to fill it up), she turns back around to the woman. The most pressing part of brunch is now on the go so she can focus a bit more on those unfamiliar features. There's definitely more of the other Lois in her face after this moment, a deep care behind her eyes and that studying gaze that is searching for what really is wrong. Not because she needs a story, but because she cares.

"Kara, I'm sorry. No, please... Stay. I know Kal would want you to stay and I feel like after that wild, strange... Strange trip, we never even got time to know each other. You're his family. Means you might be mine some day. Probably. So, sit, have coffee, I'll scramble some eggs, and we'll see if he gets back or not. If not... We can talk. Right?"

Karen Starr has posed:
    Karen drifts forward quietly and takes a seat at the table, thoroughly harmed in a fundamental way by the look she's given. It's not that it was intended to hurt- or do anything except care, really- it just reminds her in that moment of someone that is lost. It's all in the eyes, really- crows' feet or not, the eyes are the same, and when you can inspect every molecule, effortlessly see every detail, there's only so much Karen could do to deny just how exactly similar they really are.

    "Yeah, some day." she notes, unsure of how much she can say. How much /should/ she say? Surely, she can just spill everything, but would that hurt this budding... Thing that was so precious back home? Sure, it's not a one-to-one translation. Some details are different, some things are /almost/ the same. Clearing her throat and doing her best to look dignified in a costume that has a hole in it that the other Lois would have /killed/ her for wearing, Power Girl nods a time or two.

    "Yeah, we can talk."

Lois Lane has posed:
While it's not her Lois, the woman is incredibly perceptive. The very subtle, but very present mix of a thousand emotions that flutter across Kara's features isn't lost on her. The worried, fluttering words that Lois was lost in trying to make up for the shocked wake up are suddenly gone. She has someone to focus on, and that's the young woman across from her. "Hey. Yeah...Let's... talk. Coffee will be done in a minute. I'm going to put on some actual pants and we'll... Talk. Okay? Get comfortable."

She has no clue what is bothering the woman, but something is. She disappears quickly back into the bedroom, taking a few full minutes to slip out of these clothes and into a pair of her own jeans and a more comfortable black tank top. She even pushes a brush through her hair and comes out looking far more put together. When it matters, Lois Lane can get herself in order. "So. Food? Then you tell me what's on your mind?"

Karen Starr has posed:
    As soon as Lois leaves, there's a short moment where the blonde at the table comes as close to a breakdown as she physically can. There's no crying- she's too old, and has lived through too much to truly shatter at anything. The last time it happened were the words "We'll always be with you." It's still a moment, where the most powerful woman on Earth is reduced to a fragile little girl in the face of everything she's ever lost. It's gone by the time Lois returns, as if Karen takes a moment to experience emotions at super-speed.

    Her arms are folded on the table, and she's leaning over in an unfair way, but there's nothing to it other than just the want to get comfortable. "Food. And... I don't even know where to begin. Honestly, it's probably not even worth mentioning. I just probably ought to thank you. For brunch, for being there. Not everyone would take a trip out into the universe at large to maybe-die with a bunch of superpowered mourners."

Lois Lane has posed:
The suspicion that Lois has about this being more than a simple, friendly call? It only deepns when Kara tries to dismiss it as not worth mentioning. "You wouldn't be here and you wouldn't look like *that* if it wasn't worth mentioning. Look, I know I'm not *him*. I'm not blood family. But I love him in ways I didn't think possible and you ARE his family. So I love you. Family. That means even if you're worried about a scary movie you saw last night or some asshole at a bar, tell me about it, and I'm listening. It matters." Even behind all the mess, the drugs, wildness of youth, there is such a core of Lois here. She just needed to wake up a bit for it to come through.

She then turns to grab two mugs, pouring out coffee for them both. She dumps a boat load of sugar into her's before bringing Kara's mug over and sliding across the sugar bowl. "I...think the milk is spoiled. Sorry. Neither Kal nor I are exactly good house keeps."

Karen Starr has posed:
    Truth be told, it was never meant to be anything other than just a question of where Kal was. Karen had no idea that Lois would be there, and there's only so much awkward one person can be. There's kind of a deep breath, there, as the former Kara Zor-L tries to ready her thoughts. "I really did just come here to see where Kal was this morning. We try to take turns-" she begins, before leaning back in her chair. "Blood family doesn't... It doesn't matter to us. Not in the way that a lot of people see it, at least. After Krypton, we all just... Made family here." There's kind of a snort, there, "I don't really worry about assholes in bars, for a couple of reasons."

    Karen picks up the mug, and like most Kryptonians, she just pours a slightly frightening amount of sugar into it. When you can taste the sugar and the coffee underneath, and don't have to worry about any of the negatives, you just embrace being entirely unfair.

    "That's uh- That's fine. You guys'll figure it out, I'm sure." Noting that, Power Girl contemplates her coffee for a bit, and offers this small shrug. "There isn't really- anything specific on my mind. I still want to talk, but I'm afraid I'm bulletproof and can lift a building, so there aren't a whole lot of things that really /concern/ me, you know?" It's a bit of a dodge, but someone knowing the full story could hardly blame her.

Lois Lane has posed:
A slight tilt comes to Lois' head, blue eyes narrow thoughtfully as she studies Kara's face. "No, I don't suppose there are. But then you look like you had something on your mind. Maybe I'm reading too much into it, still waking up, but... I'm pretty good at reading people. Even Kryptonians." She slides a spoon across for the coffee after having stirred her's, tired but honest smile settling into her unmade up features.

"Kal hopefully will be back this afternoon. Something in Beijing. He got a call and you had just left on something else. I, god, I should have paid more attention but I was mostly asleep and he promised he wouldn't be all day." Though now she's looking worried. Maybe she shouldn't take his safety for granted.

Karen Starr has posed:
    Karen offers a sigh, and reaches up to rub at the back of her neck. Without commenting on Lois' ability to read people, she offers a shrug. "It's... Incredibly complicated, and probably more than a little dangerous to talk about. In the end, it's definitely not worth discussing and in the end, it's probably just... Better off coming from someone like Kal. Or... Clark, really."

    Nodding along and stirring the coffee for a moment or two to let the sugar dissolve, Karen takes a long drink of it in contemplation before continuing. "It's okay. I can hear it. It's the usual." she notes, letting that sit a moment before figuring she needs to explain. "There's just always something else when we show up. He'll probably be back before /too/ long."

    Probably.

Lois Lane has posed:
A slight tilt of her head comes, as Kara corrects who this should come from. She narrows her eyes at the woman, "I... know this is Clark's apartment, you know? I... I know. But fine. I'll ask him about it. Still, the offer of an ear or a shoulde is there. Hell, I'd offer you whiskey but I don't think that shit works on you all." Lois admits with a smirk.

She's then standing up, coffee in hand, to step back to the stove. It's quick work, but she gets some toast in the toaster and then a few eggs into a small pan. Lois isn't a great cook by far, but she can do those small basics, "Let me get some food in you before you go, at least. It'll remind me to eat breakfast too. And if Kal isn't back by then, I won't talk your ear off."