8906/A Starry Favor

A Starry Favor
Date of Scene:	02 December 2021
Location:	Monitor Room
Synopsis:	Diana finds Arthur in the monitor room, READING a BOOK. She confronts him about her plans for a future project, and he comes up with a clever plan!
Cast of Characters:	Arthur Curry, Diana Prince

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Arthur Curry has posed:
    That old burger slinger had a way with words.
    The other night Arthur returned in a mood of some reflection, thoughts cast to the past and the formative years of what created a hero and some others. Perhaps even a league of such beings. He had met a man he had known only as Gil, but they had a fine conversation. Which, otherwise, had it not happened he likely would not be here...
    Tonight, in the control room, Arthur Curry had his feet up on the console, brown work boots looking like they could use a good cleaning. Those jeans he wears still tattered and natty, and his grey hoodie wrapped around his chest but leaving the arms free. At the least, however, he had his hair pulled back with a scrunchy. But what might be of note... is simply his presence here tonight. On a shift that was not his own. Tending to the 'trouble alert'.
    Another step further into bizarreness? Is that in his hands he is reading the user manual for the Justice League's system terminal, his expression a focused intent look. Which also had him frowning now and then as he re-read a passage over again when he didn't understand.
    A curious sight indeed.

Diana Prince has posed:
The Hall of Justice ground floor is a public space, a place for citizens to come and enjoy the mystique of the super hero world. Diana often liked to make her way through it too, make an appearance or two to spend time with people, especially the happy children. AS such, she's arriving here now in her armor, though its covered over by a beautiful dark blue cloak that gently sways around her as she walks in through the open doors.

She passes by the meeting table and stands at the top of the small wide staircase that leads down to the monitoring stations. She smiles at the sight of him. "Arthur." Diana says softly as she starts to walk down the steps, with her robe gently touching the stairs as she goes.

"I am glad to find you here. I have had something I have needed to talk to you about." She says in her calm voice, accented in that unique Themysciran flavor. "If you are not... busy. Of course." She states then with a light smile.

Arthur Curry has posed:
    At the sound of her voice, or perhaps the shift in air pressure one feels when another is near, Arthur sits up slightly... albeit sharply. Then tosses the book away and onto another console some distance to the side. Not quick enough for her to not notice that he had been reading it, but perhaps quick enough to lend some credibility that he hadn't /really/ been reading it.
    "What? Hm." The first few words rushed, but then he eases into that calm coolness. "Oh, hey Diana." He turns, boots thumping to the floor as he straightens up rounding in that chair.
    "Busy? Nah. Was thinking of leaving." He gestures to the side slightly. Of course that's the moment he espies her as she makes her way down, something a hint glamorous in the way the light limns her silhouette behind her and catches that armor.
    A pause, his eyebrow quirks, then he nods. "I'm all ears," About what she wants to talk about.

Diana Prince has posed:
Diana notes the actions with the book, and though she doesn't speak on it, she does hold her soft smile a little longer before he rises and responds. She moves quietly upon her wedge-heeled boots toward one of the other chairs in front of the many fancy display screens and control boards. "It is a fairly simple topic... if you consider inter-stellar space travel to be simple in nature." She says quietly before lowering down on to the edge of the chair and sitting with her back straigt, the dark blue robe adjusting around her form as she perches like this, with her hands atop her knees now, the armor of her boots going up just past them, scuffed and aged like the rest of her formal fighting attire.

"I have started to put together the initial stages of a project..." She starts then, her eyes glancing to the screens as they illuminate her olive skin briefly before she looks back to him. "I believe Earth needs a port of harbor for incoming, and outgoing space travel. It seems to be an ever growing occurance where we find out we have visitors from another world. My thoughts are... we should have a place to welcome them, and... we should make it a place for all of us to gather as well. By which, I mean, teams such as the Avengers, the Justice League, and many others..."

But how does Arthur play in to this?!

Arthur Curry has posed:
    Rounding to face her, Arthur folds his arms over his broad chest and meets her gaze with his pale blue eyes. Nodding as he listens when she gets to the subject of the matter... space travel? Well then his eyebrows climb a little. The chair creaks against his weight as he lens back. Their body language a curious mesh with her the offerer of a tale and his receiving it depicted in so many classical works of art. At a glance it would almost seem an ideal depiction.
    She speaks further and his gaze remains steady, eyes narrowing slightly at the idea of a port. She offers her view as to the why and his nod grows a touch more emphatic as he sees her point.
    "I could see that being a positive." He finally murmurs when she lets her own words trail off. Lifting his chin he says, "It would be quite an undertaking. It would mean ceding of rights for some nations on the planet. Acceptance. Would need backing and prominent people extending of themselves."
    The Atlantean prince offers no sign of condemnation nor support in his words nor tone. Though it is curious to hear Arthur speaking to... anything with some measure of seriousness. And without a touch of temper.

Diana Prince has posed:
The Themysciran Princess listens with her full attention upon him as he responds. She lowers her pointed chin just a little after hearing what he says. "Very much indeed." She quietly says right back. "Along those lines... I wish to see this facility built out over the Atlantic ocean." She adds, helping to tie it all together as to why she'd sought him out for this cause.

"I wish to seek the aid of your people to build the infrastructure. While I wish to volunteer Themysciran architects to build the facility upon it. Then... I desire to garner the help of the Wakandans to provide the technology that will make the final steps for forge the idea in to fruition. Constructing this on neutral waters, helps to provide a sense of this place being for Earth, and not for any singular governmental body."

Her eyes now glance toward the holographic display of the Earth hovering over the center of the computer consoles, before she looks back toward him.

"I want to further unite the Earth's guardians too, and I feel this is a prime way to do that. I also hope to see the starport become a true launching pad toward exploring, and colonizing more of the Sol system itself. Humanity needs to push outward toward the stars."

Arthur Curry has posed:
    That clarifies matters as she mentions the ocean and his lips part slightly, understanding marked by that subtle intake of breath. His eyes lower for a moment as he considers and though he says nothing at first... she can see the storm cloud settle over his features. Ire evident, displeasure, though likely not aimed at her. More perhaps to what he realizes might be entailed to see such a thing reach completion. It darkens his brow but he looks back up, pale eyes holding hers.
    At first he seems about to speak. Then instead he closes his mouth, Adam's apple working briefly, then he lifts his chin.
    "You don't do things in half-measures, Diana." A small smile though she can see in his eyes that same cloud, whatever inner monologue is running through his thoughts it distracts him a touch, and he voices none of it.
    Until.
    Like the Arthur she knows, he faces it head on and crashes right through. "Namor won't do it." He holds up a hand as if to halt an objection, though Diana has never interrupted him before. "At first. He will hem, and haw. He will fight. He will want concessions. Gains. Some of them purely to stroke his ego. He'll want..." Shaking his head Arthur looks to the side.
    "He'll want an inordinate amount of wealth and a tremendous voice on matters from the bottom up. This could be..."
    He lets that word trail off and just ends with a small shake of his head.

Diana Prince has posed:
Diana does indeed simply stare at him as he offers his responsive insight in to what she might have to expect with regard to Namor, and the facility at the sea...

She waits for him to fully finish before she simply speaks again without moving a muscle otherwise.

"Would it be possible to gain an audience with him myself?" She asks. "Perhaps I could broker a deal that would be... less audacious than what you are describing." She pauses for just a beat before picking up again though.

"Perhaps, if we urge him to see how this would be providing some additional protection for the sea, by having so many of us more frequently being there, watching from above?"

Arthur Curry has posed:
    Arthur slouches a little in his chair, one hand lifting to rub at his eyebrow as he looks somewhere past Diana. He works at his lower lip as whatever gears are in his head churn, then he tilts his head sidelong at her. "How many people know about this? Or how prominent is this initiative right now?"

Diana Prince has posed:
Diana just gently shakes her head from side to side. "I have mentioned it to T'Challa, and to my sister Donna." She replies. "Beyond that, I've only had some preliminary designs worked up based on AI models from within my Jet's AI systems. So... not many. I was going to ramp up the amount of people involved the further I got along with the project. A stairway, and I'm yet at the first few steps."

Arthur Curry has posed:
    "Alright," Arthur says as a few pieces start to click for him. He takes a deep breath. "Give me some time?" He straightens up in his chair and now he's leaning forward as he gestures. Then he sort of smiles, but it's that devillish wicked smile she's seen on his face in those moments when they're about to succeed in battle when failure seemed to threaten.
    "Give me a week. I'll go to Namor. Swagger in. Piss him off. Tell him I need a thousand workers. That I have a project I wish to work on in the North Atlantic. Invoke my rights to the use of our engineers and some of our craftsmen." Arthur lifts his chin, "It's legal, he can't rightly deny me unless..."
    A fingertip lifts.
    "An important matter of state would require their use elsewhere."
    He sits up and says, "You swoop in, beautiful, regal, gesturing grandly and gracefully. Ask of him for his aid in this matter for all the people of the Earth. How he really needs do little but provide some manpower, and peace... let him look the hero."
    A small smile settles at the corner of Arthur's mouth. "And in turn he makes me seem the selfish princeling. I'll throw a tantrum, he'll get to be smug. And he'll be happy to impress you."
    "How's that?"

Diana Prince has posed:
Diana knows Arthur's expressions very well, or so she believes. She can tell he has a plan before he even starts to lay it out, so she starts to smile softly the further along in to it he gets. By the end, she laughs softly, and nods her head just a faint pair of times. "This sounds doable. If you are truly okay with it?" She asks, her dark, elegantly curved, eyebrows raise up ever so slightly. "I do not wish to impose upon you... not a /lot/ any way." She gives him a warmer smile then.

"If this is something you are truly willing, and able to do, then I am anxiously awaiting your first steps. To be quite honest too... I am curious to speak to him about this, and to see him 'at work' so to speak. I met him once... almost a year ago now. A brief meeting at a ship in distress during a storm. He was... even more theatrical than Batman." She shows a hint of a grin then.

Arthur Curry has posed:
    "No yeah, this'll be fine." He answers Diana as she asks him of it. His manner is calm, amused, a little excited even as he holds up a hand to stave off that protest. "It's been a while since I tweaked his nose in court, I'm about due."
    That said he straightens up and chews on his lower lip, "I'll need to come up with something suitable as a project for myself, something selfish. Like a manor home or something."
    He looks back, "But yeah, I'll leave tonight. I'll show up in Atlantis, make some noise about why I'm there, go to the court the next day. He should be roiling for a few days after. But give him some time to calm down and to feel clever again. I'll move out with the workers, then like... two days later you show up."
    His hands lift, "Be sure to tell him you wished to see him again after your first meeting, and maybe... you asked for my help to arrange it. But I kept putting you off. He'll /love/ that."
    Then he nods slightly and sits up further, hands clapping on his knees, "So is this our plan? We good?"

Diana Prince has posed:
Another light little laugh escapes the Princess as she glances toward her left at the displays showing the various angles on Earth, any and all situations that they can monitor being monitored.

When she looks back at him she has a happy smile on her visage. "It is a bit... manipulative... but it is for a very essential cause, for the entire planet. So I am okay with it, yes. He will see the value in it over time too, I am sure of this as well. Besides.... we must explore all of our solar system going forward, and who better to get the first swim on the amazing ocean moon of Europa, than the King who brought to life Earth's first starport?" She asks with a tilt of her head and a playful expression going with it.

Arthur Curry has posed:
    /That/ causes Arthur's nose to crinkle as he imagines Namor swimming around on some other planet because of their efforts.
    "Bah," He says succinctly.
    But then he's rising to his feet, streeeetching his arms to the side and bending backwards until the curve of his spine crackles with faint pops. Then he looks to her and offers his hand to help her up out of habit rather than necessity. "I'll go pack a few things, get changed, then head on out. I'll contact you when I'm leaving Atlantis, two days after that then you make your move."
    A small laugh is given, "This'll be fun, but yeah he will totally never forgive us." If he finds out.

Diana Prince has posed:
Diana watches him rise up as she sees the offered hand and hears his declaration of Namor's reaction should he discover this devious plot.

His hand is taken and the Princess rises up off of the edge of the chair, her dark blue cloak falling around her form mostly again. "Oh... I don't know. I can be pretty persuasive in garnering forgiveness, if I am forced to." She says back to him with that continued playful look on her face. Back on her feet now, Diana nods once to him then.

"Thank you for your help with this, Arthur. I believe it will be a great stepping stone to a better future for all of Earth."

She looks to the monitors again then. "And a better look for those who come to our home from beyond..."