8331/Who's Ever Heard of a Super Blind Date

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Who's Ever Heard of a Super Blind Date
Date of Scene: 20 October 2021
Location: New York City, Unnamed Skyscraper Roof Top.
Synopsis: Black Cat reaches out with a date for Power Girl. Ends up with a friend, maybe more.
Cast of Characters: Felicia Hardy, Karen Starr




Felicia Hardy has posed:
    The Black Cat had in fact gone online, created her own profile for meeting other people with powers and ... levels of costumed features. Yes she felt foolish setting up her own profile, and of course she checked to make sure she was under the 'bisexual' category. She wanted as many options as she could get.

    It was thrilling at first, but nerve wracking that she was going to be exploring something she thought was 'her own' but instead she found someone that seemed rather... perfect.

    A POWERFUL blonde woman who... seemed too good to be true. Never expecting to hear back from the woman, Black Cat reached out as exactly that, the Black Cat.

    Conversations were struck up, but as we all know, people on the other side of the screen could easily be fake.

    Felicia ever the curious cat, reached out with a date and a location with a picture of the view, and a time. If Power Girl shows up, Felicia will learn quickly how real she is, or if she doesn't, Felicia is going to have a bottle of wine to herself and a view of a lovely sunset from a skyscraper with a view to the west and the ocean at her back.

    Sitting on a picnic blanket with a basket on one corner, The Black Cat, with domino mask and zipper adjusted to where she feels most comfortable, confident and alluring, she waits in her black suit, hair catching in the breeze.

    Waiting nervously, but waiting.

Karen Starr has posed:
    Truth be told, the presence of Power Girl's dating profile on any site is going to be suspect. A profile popping up with the admission that she's neither straight nor even bisexual is... Even more suspect. All things considered, it'd be acceptable enough if this was just some effective cosplay model, someone who looks right enough in the costume to pretend and is doing so for fun... Except when contacted, she doesn't seem to respond very quickly at all.

    When she does, she's always a little obtuse, and short. Not necessarily impolite: But she doesn't linger long in any conversation, doesn't say much, and is prone to long bouts of silence. Odder still, whoever this person is, they seem adamant that they are, in fact, Power Girl. That definitely should be Too Good To Be True, frankly.

    Of course, the end of the conversation was an invitation: A time and place, and that's all that's really needed. This Power Girl, whoever she may be, hasn't responded. As time passes, there should be a point at which one of a few things happens. Either the person confesses they're not coming, or they call and ask for some help getting onto the roof because security won't let them... Or they just arrive. It isn't unreasonable to expect that the person on the other side should be doing one of the first two any moment now.

    Of course, the /unexpected/ result is that the person who posted the ad is the genuine article: The tall, blonde superheroine who calls herself Power Girl. She'd taken a moment to scope out the situation; To make sure that this isn't some sort of trap, and that she has a reasonable out if whoever it is yanks out a rock of Kryptonite. Once she's verified that it's just a woman on a roof, it's time to take the plunge.

    She descends slowly, no sound accompanying her arrival on the rooftop until her boots touch down just a few feet behind the woman who'd asked her out. "I have to admit, I didn't expect someone to suggest a /rooftop./" There she is, the real deal. Just over six feet tall. Built like- well, like she is. Her arms are folded- and it doesn't matter who you are, it's just not fair for her to do that. She has an imperious air about her- but she's here.

    "So, I guess we should get started?"

Felicia Hardy has posed:
    Black Cat, the burglar with retractable claws and a super suit that shows off how super she is, but also makes her that much more super. The woman who's luck doesn't affect her, but always is a downer on those around her, is seated on the rooftop, and with a hand in the picnic basket fishing around for the wine bottle as she is resigned to being alone and that the account was a fake when-

    "Whoa." Felicia says, turning towards Karen and rolling her leg up and over its sister so that she's rising up to stand fully before Power Girl. Not as tall as the Kryptonian, but no slouch in the height department, she's been used to towering over most women she's met and a portion of men, Felicia looking up can't help but get a crooked smile on those red painted lips.

    "You. Must be. Power. Girl." Felicia says, stepping off the blanket and closer towards the blonde, crossing her arms in a mirror fashion, and with as much 'confidence' as the super woman. "I hope the traffic wasn't bad." Felicia says, looking into Karen's eyes with her own baby blues.

Karen Starr has posed:
    Power Girl. Kryptonian. No super suit that does anything but keep her... Moderately modest. She can lift buildings, fly faster than light, and anything short of armaments out of science fiction or graduated fantasy have no chance of even causing her to flinch. The most egregious and extreme example of the Most Common Superpower. There's... A lot to unpack with her being present.

    Standing where she landed- and definitely nowhere near the door- she waits for the other woman to stand- she's used to the height difference being a bit more intense, but she's not about to argue. She is still testing the waters here- she doesn't know who this person is, and therefore... She could be some person doing their best to pretend their way into the cape sphere, or she could be some kind of villain. Trying to get fame and fortune for taking out a Kryptonian isn't uncommon. It isn't /smart/ either.

    Her arms unfurl, and her gauntleted hands place themselves on her hips- highlighting that despite her musculature, she is inherently unfair. There are prices that one should be paying to have her biceps, and she's not paying them at all.

    Her expression is neutral- save for one impeccable brow curled upwards inquisitively. "And you must be... The Black Cat?" she asks, taking a moment to look around the roof, before locking her own deeply blue eyes on Felicia's. "The traffic was fine. I stay below the height of most planes when moving around in the city, so nobody has any issues." Not that she'd care if they did. "Hopefully it wasn't too difficult to get onto the roof. Probably trespassing. I wouldn't have minded a cafe."

Felicia Hardy has posed:
    "The one and only Black Cat." She says in response and shrugs her shoulders to the cafe comment and causing a bit of wobble, "I wouldn't have either, but I figure some time where the world isn't immediately demanding your attention non-stop might be nice." Felicia says, taking a single step back and spinning on a heel so that she's turned profile and motioning towards the set up picnic on the roof.

    "Come, relax, take a load off. Even if we don't hit it off, we can enjoy a bit of quiet now and again. Tell me I'm wrong." Black Cat dares, and steps away, allowing Karen to be her own woman and do as she wishes, "And a bit of trespassing for vigilantes is par for the course. I figure we're not damaging or harming anything, it shouldn't be a big deal, plus if someone really wants to come up here and shoo us away, we can go quite easily."

    Felicia bends her knees and curls one foot under herself and digs into the basket and pulls out a large green bottle with a label on it and pulls out two wine glasses in the other hand. "Would you care for some red? I'm afraid it's all I have, with the need to be conservative with space in the basket." Black Cat says, smiling like the cat who wants to eat the canary, but in a nice way.

Karen Starr has posed:
    Power Girl still isn't sure what that means. Who 'The Black Cat' is or, in perhaps a more poignant question, /isn't./ "You'd be surprised." she offers in return. "I can still /hear./" Sure enough, if the stories are true, those pesky Metropolis folk can hear the /city/ and what's worse, the stories are false only in that Karen can hear the /planet./ Natural disasters, cries for help- things that she has to occasionally tune out only because she /has/ to trust that the others will help. That she's not alone in trying to keep everyone safe.

    There's a sigh that accompanies Felicia's move back to the picnic blanket. Karen takes a couple of steps forward- and dear god, she's impressive to watch move regardless of whether she's coming or going- and acknowledges that the Cat is correct. "You're right. I should at least commit to the bit." She calmly floats- which, frankly, looks like something out of a dream of the not-so-worksafe variety- down onto the blanket, and takes a moment to look at the bottle. She isn't afraid of any poisons of the mortal variety, so there's no shame in having some wine.

    "Sure. Pour me a glass." Looking out over the view of the city from where Felicia had picked, Karen gets a little quiet and thoughtful for a time. Sure, there's the occasional thought that she's making a mistake: This person is at best playing at the caped lifestyle, or at worst is a criminal of some flavor. The thought that The Black Cat might be a vigilante of sorts doesn't necessarily enter her head: She feels like she'd have heard of her if that was the case.

    "So, I'm afraid you've got me at a bit of a disadvantage. You know me, I'm sure you've read the papers, but I don't know you. So, tell me- Who /is/ the Black Cat?"

Felicia Hardy has posed:
    Seated on the blanket with one leg under her shapely bottom and the other bent at the knee and held out before her to support her seated position, Felicia pops the cork out of the wine bottle with relative ease. Belying a hint that she has some strength to herself that isn't natural.

    One glass is slowly and carefully poured out, and with enough space for the grapes to breath in the reduced atmosphere this high up, Black Cat could be guessed to be affluent or a sommelier of some practice.

    The woman's blue eyes look away at the question and busies her hands with the glasses and passes one over towards Power Girl. "I feel with my secrets and your powers you still have the advantage on me, so I'll be utterly honest with you. In some regards. I don't want to know your secret identity or anything like that." Cat says finally daring to look up, her shoulders rolling back and her lungs filling with a deep breath as she finds the courage to speak the words.

    "I'm a professional thief. I don't know another way through life..." She looks away from Power Girl. "If your personal rules say you have to turn me in, I understand, but I was hoping you could-" Felicia looks up, but stops herself, afraid to meet Power Girl's eyes. "It's stupid and unbelievable. This was dumb." Black Cat looks away and moves as if she's about to get back up and run away.

Karen Starr has posed:
    Karen can notice the signs well enough- Frankly, she's not quite like her cousin, this universe or otherwise. There's a bit of detective there, an acknowledgment of small signs and body language that tells her some about Felicia. Obviously, to pretend to be a cape with this level of detail, one would have to be wealthy. Affluent. So far, the signs are there that the Black Cat is just trying to be part of something that she isn't, inherently.

    However, despite this, some things do tell her otherwise. Popping a cork isn't hard, but the way that Felicia does so without seeming to take any effort in it tells Karen that the other woman has some level of strength- maybe not more than human, but more than perhaps she /ought/ to. The Cat isn't exactly musclebound. This is a tell that maybe things aren't as they seem.

    "Sure, I follow the logic." she says, able to fire lasers from space with pinpoint accuracy, unwilling to lampshade just how much in her favor most encounters are. "Typically the whole secret identity thing ends up taking a while, if it ever gets brought up at all, but I'm not really looking to find out what your name is, I'm interested in who you are."

    It's... Difficult, really, to lie to Power Girl. She can hear your heartbeat, she can see every physical tell, and she's trained enough to recognize them. Professional liars, people who know how to suppress themselves or lie so naturally it doesn't affect them... They're able to pass the test- but anyone who is just trying to hide the truth who isn't better than they should be, well... She can suss it out more often than not. Which, she does here. That the Cat is a thief tells her that her other suspicion was the right of it. Pretender or Criminal- she feels vindicated that she'd have heard of the woman if the Cat were a vigilante. There are a couple of nods, and a moment of silence as she considers.

    It helps Felicia that Karen's best friend's mother was a thief in the same vein. Things can change. Theft isn't exactly a victimless crime, but there's a fine line between jewel thief and murderer. "My personal rules..." She sighs- something that, really, you want to /watch/ happen, because the intake of breath can cause a heart attack- "Dictate that I stop you from doing what you do. In some cases, for some people, that means turning you in. In this case, maybe it doesn't mean that. Sit back down. Let's talk about it."

    She's handled worse people- helped with cases for some who have even been murderers in the past. It's all that Kansas upbringing. She's not here to save the world if she can't help people who've lost their way. "And tell me what you were hoping."

    It's all about hope in the end. She might not wear the symbol, but she still believes in it.

Felicia Hardy has posed:
    Felicia pauses, looking over her shoulder, and as she was walking away, it's not like Karen wouldn't have enjoyed her leaving, but the thief could use a positive influence in her life.

    "I ..." Felicia closes her mouth and turns back to face Power Girl, her eyes not roaming, or exploring the sights, but looking to Karen's blues. "I want to be better, be ... a good person, but I literally have no talents other than taking and manipulating." Cat says, her flat shoes, designed to be functional with her outfit and enhance the purpose of the outfit. Shoes designed to run in.

    She's not running, she's actively taking a seat, the zipper on the front of her costume suddenly feeling a touch lower than she might like.

    "I figure that puts the kibosh on any, sort of romantic possibilities for you, but." Felicia pauses to lick her lips, feeling dry and chapped. Felicia doesn't finish the thought, and simply sits to listen to what Power Girl has to say.

Karen Starr has posed:
    Admittedly, Karen /wouldn't/ have enjoyed Felicia leaving. She's not the kind of person to watch, and she'd have felt like she missed out on some opportunity to effect a meaningful change. It's all about the ripples in the pond- Sure, she can save people all day. She usually does. But, if she manages to save someone from themself, and turn that person into a force for good, then... More ripples. More people saved.

    "It's not about being a good person." she states, taking a moment to actively consider her wording. "Being a good person isn't so easy, it's not something you're born into, or something that you can never be despite the things you've done. Sometimes it requires a sacrifice greater than anything you can give, because sometimes what you've done is just /that/ much negative... But more often than not, it's more... Using what you have, the things you can do, whether they're mundane or not, to make the world a better place."

    She doesn't stand- but there's always that idea that one couldn't really get away from her if she wanted to stop them- and instead she just regards the glass of wine. A finger taps the side of it, sending small waves through the liquid within, as she holds the glass perfectly still.

    "You have talents. That's all it takes. It's /easy,/ so easy, to think of these talents as just a means to take what you want, or to twist others into giving it to you. Trust me. That's going to be the hard part: Because there are other ways. Other things you can do /with/ the talents you have that don't harm anyone, that make things better for other people. That don't involve theft or violence."

    The zipper's placement is long forgotten. Karen's eyes haven't left the other woman's. It's as if all that exists is Felicia's face. "Maybe it does, maybe it doesn't. What's important to me is that you get the help you need, that someone is here for you. I'm willing to be that someone."

Felicia Hardy has posed:
    Felicia takes in a deep breath, her own costume pushed to the limits of modesty at the expansion of Felicia's lungs and then she allows the air out of her mouth, her lips slapping in a raspberry sort of manner. "I certainly need help, and having someone near by to help, and maybe live life with... That could be, yeah. That could be helpful." Felicia says, her hand picking her wine glass back up and with a flick of her wrist she sends the wine spinning, circling around the inside of the glass.

    Watching the wine, and then back up to Karen's eyes. "Do you think you could handle dating someone and helping them learn a better way to do life?" Cat asks, lifting the drink up to her lips and taking a miniscule sip, focused entirely on the alien before her, wanting and hoping this person might actually be a friend. Like, a good friend. Felicia then interrupts. "Even if I'll be a bitch sometimes and make mistakes along the way?"

Karen Starr has posed:
    Admittedly, there's a good reason Karen's costume doesn't include a zipper. At no point could one handle her trying to move much, at all. She doesn't take even a peek at anything below the neck on Felicia- now just isn't the time. Instead, she takes a good drink of her wine- having started to roll it around in the glass so that it can pick up the air. She doesn't need to do so, really- another way that Kryptonians aren't fair, she could have tasted every last chemical interaction in the wine without effort... It's just what you do with wine. In her case, it's more fidgeting than anything else.

    "I think I can handle it." she states, setting the glass down after a moment, "If nothing else, I know that I want to help. Maybe I'm not good enough at that, but I'm willing to try." She pauses when the Cat interrupts her, listening intently and letting Felicia finish. "Well, nobody's at their best one hundred percent of the time. Nobody's perfect. Everybody makes mistakes. I can deal with that. I've made my fair share."

Felicia Hardy has posed:
    Felicia's eyes are genuinely hopeful for the first time that Karen's seen. Or what could be called hopeful if the two really knew each other. The woman in the mask and the nearly skintight black outfit lets out a breath she didn't know she was holding in. "At least you don't have to worry about me begging you to let me be your side kick, or you being mine." Felicia says, lifting her wrist up, and with the fur down the side of her lower arm, she dabs at the tears welling up in her eyes. "I'd ask for a hug, but I don't want to be presumptuous."

Karen Starr has posed:
    Regardless of anything else, Karen is happy. Whether this turns into something more isn't necessarily something that matters to her. She's always had this... In-built need, this want to inspire hope. She used to, back home. To some degree, on this Earth, it's been Kal's thing. In reality, it's a thing for their entire family- it's just easiest for Kal. When Felicia's finished, Power Girl is smiling- a smile worth a billion dollars, or more. She, admittedly, looks great when she's angry, but she looks best when she smiles.

    "I think a hug would be fine. Plus, we've got wine and lunch to get through."