Owner	Pose
Stephanie Brown	That signal went out across Gotham that is so well known in the city. No, not the Batsignal. The Dumpling signal. A texted picture of a sign that says "Hot Dumplings", taken on a previous visit and sent around from Stephanie. Along with the time to meet. Those not familiar with the place will have to do some detective work to find it, though there is plenty of time, and everyone on the distribution list should be more than capable of that kind of investigation! Stephanie arrives on time, pulling up on her motorcycle, weaving in and out of the throng of people that are turning this particular Chinatown street into one mostly for foot traffic. Pedestrians that only grudgingly make way. That's alright, Stephane enjoys weaving in and out of them, apparently more than they enjoy having that done. She parks and slips off the Yamaha and removes her helmet, giving her hair a finger brushing to help set it right before walking into the place, helmet under head.
Dick Grayson	It was getting close enough for dinner time that Dick was beginning to wonder what he was going to have when the Dumpling signal went out. "Well. That works," he says and makes his way towards the restaurant in his car, still in his suit and tie from his day job, having just gotten off his shift when he got it. He took the transit once he got home, but at least the stop was not horribly far from the shp. When Dick arrives at the shop, he is always taken a little aback by the chickens in the window, but he knows full well what is inside. He sees Stephanie and waves before saying, "Hey, got the message. Good idea." He then takes a few moments to wait and see who else shows up before grabbing a seat.
Bette Kane	Triangulation, image search, 3D maps of the city. All those skills that make a good detective. Bette considers using them - but then again she is doing a degree in psychology. She sends a message to Dick Grayson, "Where is this hot dumplings place?" Feeling satisfied with herself for a job well done she grabs her jacket, backpack and things, then departs the city library.There's a bus stop right outside, but like all the buses in Gotham its a dilapidated mess. The time table set behind plexiglass has faded with time and was probably wrong anyway. She brings up the app and while waiting for a reply, idly searches for the Hot Dumplings place anyway. Boredom can be cured by curiosity after all - bored people lack imagination after all. A few moments after that she's texting her dad, "I need a motorbike for my birthday or whenever." It had never worked yet, no reason it'd work now.
Stephanie Brown	Stephanie goes inside and claims the normal table. There aren't many to choose from after all, so thankfully there is one available. She gazes over at the game of mahjong going on in the back. One of the men wins to an eyeroll from his opponent. When the loser looks over, Stephanie gives him a friendly enough wave and smile. He smiles back, polite enough to wait for the girl to turn away to get a couple of menus for the group and take her seat before checking out her behind. A friendly wave is given towards the woman behind the counter. "Can I get a Coke?" Stephanie asks, as the door opens and Dick Grayson enters. The Chinese woman nods towards Stephanie and goes to get the beverage as the blond focuses on Dick. "Thanks. I'm starving. And a little glum so some friendly faces and hot dumplings sound about right."
Dick Grayson	Dick would have responded to Bette's text en route and joins the usual table. "Always a good answer, also the fact that dumplings are never the wrong choice," he nods and will say, "A Sprite, please," when his turn to order a drink is up. "How have things been? Figured school's out by this point and you get that weird awkward period between senior year and freshman year." He takes a few moments after this to ponder his order. When Bette arrives, she will get a wave.
Bette Kane	Bette gets the text from Dick and responds, "Never mind found it." A few minutes later she walks in to the restaurant and waves to Dick and Stephanie happy. "Hey guys!" She joins them at the table and puts her backpack under the table. Odds are there's a Flamebird suit in there given she pretty much only comes to Gotham for crime fighting fun. She waits until she catches the eye of the one taking orders, "Coke Zero thanks." Her hair is tied back in a pony tail and she's wearing tights and a shirt. It's easy to throw on her suit over this ensemble in a rush. She picks up the menu and flips it over to the English side and starts pondering. "So this is the infamous Dumpling Dompe. Things smell delicious."
Stephanie Brown	Stephanie makes a so-so gesture at first about the question about how things are going, her expressive face showing a bit of that glum demeanor she'd mentioned. Though the mention of school causes her to sit up just a bit, and a smile starts to come over her face instead. Which is when Bette arrives, so the smile has a chance to grow even more. "Hey Bette, glad you could make it," Stephanie offers. The just-graduated blond smiles to the Chinese woman as she brings their beverages over. "Oh, which one is it I always get?" she asks her. "You now, the spicy one but not too spicy?" The woman just kind of looks at Stephanie like she doesn't understand her. "You know, the one that doesn't leave my lips flaming but gives a tiny scalp sweat?" she asks. Still a blank look. Stephanie grumbles. She looks at the English menu and points to one of them. The woman looks at her for a few seconds, then reaches down to point to a different entry. "Yes, that's it!" Stephanie declares with a grin. The woman hides her smile as she turns to get the other's order. Stephanie turns back to the conversation. "Actually, that's kind of a good thing. I mean... I just heard back last week. Got accepted to Gotham U. And... ah... even a scholarship," she says, the last in a softer tone.
Dick Grayson	"Bette!" Dick says and keeps going through the menu, knowing what he is probably going to eat, but always checking to see if something jumps out at him. "Yeah, this place is always the right choice if you don't know what you want to eat. Because there are no regrets to be had." Dick gives Stephanie a nod and a grin, "Congrats, you will enjoy it there! Never had any doubts." He then turns to the woman taking the order and orders in Mandarin, <<Give me the spicy one>> he points to a particular one on the menu. "The downside, though, is that I pretty much came straight from work, and so I have to be careful as I do not want to go to the dry cleaner after this."
Bette Kane	Bette gasps and smiles, "Congratulations! That's incredible news. Scholarship wow." She winks to Stephanie and is nodding encouragingly. The conversation leaves lingering questions in her own mind about what she intends to do with her life. Constantly pulled in different directions - sport, the military, vigilante crime fighter, and now psychologist. Chances are, this jungling life style could continue on for quite a while if she stays on to do a doctorate in Psychology. "laojia, ziao ji zhu rou xian," she says ordering some Chinese-style pork dumplings. She places the menu back down and chuckles, "The not too spicy one and the spicy one.. riiight. You two are real dumplin' geniuses." She pauses a moment and then in a hushed tone says conspiratorially, "I met The Green Arrow in Starling City the other day." Her eyebrow raises on high and then she says, "He seemed like a real chill guy."
Stephanie Brown	Stephanie leans back in her chair, and taking a sip of her Coke. "Thanks, I wasn't sure I was going to get in," she says. If there is any curiosity in the girl about the Agnes and Douglas Rothchild Memorial scholarship she received, Stephanie doesn't voice them, though someone as well-trained as Dick might catch micro-expressions. She motions with a hand as they both order in Chinese. "Maybe that's what I should study. Languages. So I can order the right thing," she says with a self-deprecating grin. Stephanie leans forward a bit, voice lowering at Bette's news. "Wow, what's he like? Really chill you say? So... wait, it's not a -requirement- to scowl?" she asks, the last bit a little lighthearted.
Dick Grayson	"Habit," Dick says and looks to Bette, and blinks, "That certainly was unexpected. Though good to hear he's chill. Be a real shame if he was an uptight jerk." He slumps in his seat to be comfortable and says towards Stephanie, "Nah, you were a guarantee, with grades like yours, you were going to be fine. And languages are fine, just make sure you pick a useful one, can't go wrong with German or Russian." He catches the expression from Stephanie and then turns again to Bette, though laughs at the scowl comment, "Though I will say, makes it a bit hard on us boys in blue if they are hard to work with."
Bette Kane	"Budum ching!," she says to Dick's comment about 'boys in blue'. She hmms, "Well he did frown a bit, not so much scowl though I bet he's done his fair share of scowling. He has a wicked voice disguising mod. I couldn't even begin to guess who he really is." She pauses, "..not that I would pry! you know." She frowns a touch - in denying, her curiosity has grown. "Annyway. Language. I just learn the basic phrases of hello, thank you, good bye,.. how to order food and drink. In as many languages as I can. Then suddenly people think, whoa, she speaks Chinese.. but nah, I couldn't hold a conversation if I had to. So what is the scholarship?"
Stephanie Brown	"Hah hah. Yeah. My grades," Stephanie says, giving a little pull at her the neck of her top in exaggerated fashion as if maybe they weren't really the best. Stephanie's gaze over to Bette. "Oh admit it, you totally want to pry," Stephanie says with a soft grin. Her voice still lowered, she adds, "Probably an unwritten rule about not looking into things like that. Unless you're... certain people," she finishes with a little roll of her eyes. Someone know who Spoiler was long before Spoiler knew who the Someone was. "I think studying languages sounds like a lot of fun. But then you picture yourself talking Italian to someone in a small mountain village looking out on the ocean, ordering the perfect cappuccino," she says. "I imagine reality is you sit in a little cubicle listening to tapes and typing them up in another language, or dictating," she say with a little wrinkle of her nose. "Is it wrong to want a job that includes punching people? Just ones who deserve it, I mean."
Dick Grayson	Dick laughs, "Maybe the mystery is what keeps the Green Arrow interesting, the unknown is always interesting." He notes and takes a drink, raising a brow at Bette's comment. "Yeah, got a decent background in languages growing up, but I don't get to use a few of them very often. "Eh, depends who you want to translate for, military uses them, police use them, pretty much everybody does. But if that's the path you want to go on, do it. The punching thing really limits it unless you want to go into MMA or something like that, but, hmm." He thinks, "Could teach combatives somewhere if you get certified."
Bette Kane	"I'd say come to West Point with me, but you're already set for Gotham U." Her eyes twinkle with delight though. She is never entirely sure where her life with take her next. "I think languages are just useful in general. May be minor in them and major in something you'd like to pursue in a career? Heck I didn't know what I was going to major in and them bamm, out of no where.. Psychology just tickled all the right nerve endings. It's never too late to change your mind later if you want to anyway. Do ALL the things," Bette says, as someone who keeps trying to do all the things.
Stephanie Brown	Stephanie seems to muse over the feedback, giving little nods of her head and looking thoughtful. "That's what I'm waiting for. To be tickled by something," Stephanie agrees. "Ah... a school subject I mean," she adds, just a faint bit of color coming to her cheeks. Whatever her thoughts were there, it also seems to bring back a little of the glum look. The food is delivered, the aroma wafting to them as the dishes are set on the table. The woman tells them in Chinese to enjoy, and garners a quick smile from Stephanie. Over at the mahjong game, the man she'd nodded to earlier looks over and calls to her with a point towards her dish, "You're supposed to share!" Stephanie laughs and tells him, "You never share your winnings with me though?" He points back to the table and says, "What winnings?" The man he's playing with grins at the truth of the statement as they go back to their game. Stephanie smiles a bit more, looking back. "So after West Point you'll be in the Army for what is it? Three years?" Stephanie asks. She glances over to Dick. "Still working on the learning the MMA stuff myself," she says. Stephanie was largely self taught apart from some training with Tim. Until recently at least. She's coming along under Barbara's mentorship.
Dick Grayson	"Not a bad school either," Dick says to Bette with a nod, "You'll do fine there, and yeah, languages work fine as a secondary focus if you want to add it to something." He starts working on his food, though one piece is a bit heavily spiced, he eats through, trying to avoid any reaction. "I mean, I don't use my language skills a lot in my job, but sometimes it comes up and it is invaluable." Which job? Both. The banter between tables gets Dick's attention and he does not add to it, but is amused and gives Stephanie a nod "Good, always helpful, and even if you never need it, you know it. He then looks to Bette, "I know you got a bit, but what do you want to do in the Army?"
Bette Kane	Bette rubs her hands together as the delicious offerings are brought over. She noms on her first pork dumpling as she listens to the banter and conversation. She has to chew a little faster and swallow so she can respond. "If they want me to yes, it's not a requirement at West Point but it is _strongly_ encouraged. I'd be a Second Lieutenant.. though I was thinking of continuing my education and doing a doctorate in Psychology. I don't know yet though. Ahh I'm always torn. I kind of want to go on tour again you know? or.. spend more time here in Gotham. Ahem. But also.. the army is pretty fun, I have to admit. And then there's the .. sheesh. I don't _know_ what I want to do with my life." She twists her lips and slumps her shoulders. "You keep up that MMA training and you're going to be kicking my butt in no time. They just don't do the same level of 'training' at West Point as.. some people are used to."
Stephanie Brown	Stephanie digs into her dumplings, opening one up to let it cool before getting a piece into her mouth and savoring the spicy flavor. She nods slowly about the usefulness of knowing the languages. "Sort of thing it would be so helpful to have learned growing up," she says, giving a slight sigh. That ship has sailed of course. "Speaking of, how is the job going, Dick? Are you still considering maybe making a change?" Stephanie likely doesn't know Bette the best. After she had strongly suggested she should hang up her extra curricular activities, it cut into how much she was able to be around the others, limited strictly to social activities away from Wayne Manor. "Go on tour?" Stephanie asks. "What kind of... are you a musician or singer?" she asks, her knowledge of the other young woman having fallen short there.
Dick Grayson	"PsyOps would probably use you," Dick notes and nods, "But more academia wouldn't be bad." He also nods, "The not knowing what to do, I do get. Kind of had career whiplash partway through, but I think I am doing fine." He nods to Stephanie, "Yes on both counts. Worst case scenario, I stay on at Bludhaven." He resumes eating dumplings for the moment and then notes, "Just remember the first rule of fighting, don't get hit. Second rule is to hit your enemy."
Bette Kane	Bette chuckles and sighs, "I like that I serve this country in a way that really matters. And may be with psychology I can help people too. But then I have an itch to go base jumping off of a cliff. I don't know how to balance my life." She breaths in and then nods to Stephanie. "I've been playing tennis since I was, hm? 11? 12? I have played in the US Open twice and I'm feeling the need to do it again. It was so much fun. All the training, the media, the parties, the rush when you win and that crushing feeling when you lose." She sighs but this time from memories. "But I can't exactly just.. leave school and go play tennis. Apparently part of being an adult is responsibility. ...So they tell me." Catching on to Dick being a mentor, she grins at him with admiration. "Also wax on, wax off. Paint the fence. Karate not here," she touches her forehead, "Karate here," she says touching her chest where her heart is.
Stephanie Brown	Stephanie Brown continues to work through her dumplings. The usual lady is at the counter, and the trio are seated together, while the mahjong game continues. Does it ever really stop? Even if it did and they aren't there to witness that it stops, would it be like the tree falling in the forest? Or, not falling? Stephanie grins over to Dick. "See, that's what I'm doing wrong. I went with rule one is hit your enemy. Rule two is hit them again so they don't forget rule one," she teases the older man. Steph takes another bite of her dumpling as she listens to Bette explain about her tennis career. "Oh. Oh wow I had no idea. Never really followed the sport closely, except for waking up early and sometimes the French Open or Wimbledon would be going while I lay there bleary eyed eating cereal," Stephanie says. "That's amazing. I wish my gymnastics were good enough to like... make the Olympics. But, I'll settle for the whole high school thing I guess," she says with a faint grin and shrug.
Dick Grayson	"Jumping out of perfectly good planes?" Dick jokes and gives a nod to the tennis reference. "Yeah, adulthood really derails fun like that," though the Karate Kid reference gets a laugh. He grins and snorts at the revision to the rules proposed by Stephanie, "So a good offense is the best defense, then. That could work." Then the topic shifts to gymnastics and he handwobbles, "Eh, I think you did all right. I remember growing up and having to do training for similar activities and, yeah, it probably would have taken a toll on me." Not that getting fighting supervillains is better, but let's not have facts get in the way of a point. "But we also don't control our fate, you're going to kick ass at whatever you decide to do, mark my words."
Damian Wayne	From out of the back walked a short man, taller than the Damian they all knew, but smaller than most. His face looked weathered and old, much like the lady in front. He moves slowly but carrying a tray for the table.   "Cha Xiu pork, fresh bao?" He asks, chipper sounding.   He looks like he is off the boat from at least thirty years ago, but still, happy to serve people.
Bette Kane	Bette nods in affirmation, "You're going to be amazing. That's for sure." Solidarity, these crime fighters are here.. doing the thing. They are special just for putting themselves in the firing line against criminals, especially in a place like Gotham. "So let's see. Don't get hit. Hit first. Hit again. This is not going to win any literary awards or deep philosophical wisdoms. I say - cheat, always cheat. Never fight a fair fight. They come with fists, go for the knees. They come with a knife, pull out the stun stick. They come with guns, surprise them from the shadows. You know, standard.. uh.. hollywood stuff."
Stephanie Brown	Stephanie glances up as the man comes out and over to the table. "Thank you," she tells him with a quick smile, sliding a plate over to make room for it. She looks back to Dick and gives him double pointy fingers. "Exactly. No offense. I mean, wait. Lots of offense. Just no offense between," she says, turning one of the pointy fingers into a motion back and forth between the two of them. Stephanie's phone rings and she checks it. "It's Mom. Probably something to do with the graduation party," she says of the upcoming event. She gets up and moves over out of the way to not bother them with the conversation.
Dick Grayson	Dick nods, "There's a reason I didn't major in philosophy. But yes, your goal is always to walk away from it as unhurt as possible." He keeps eating and nods to Stephanie with a laugh, "It's all good. I knew what you meant. But yeah, take that call, we'll be fine." The arrival of the new guest gets a smile, and a nod, Dick curious as to what is exactly is going on.
Damian Wayne	Mr. Hsu slides the Cha Xiu on the table, glistening slices of barbecue pork in a sweet sauce. Along with two steamer baskets of bao, steamed buns to be filled with whatever the diner chooses.   Along with the slight shaking of his hands, he reaches down, next to Dick. He says in hushed tones, in his normal Damian voice. "Try the duck next time. Best I have had."   As he finishes placing the food on the table, the tray is brought in front of himself, giving a bow. "Please enjoy." In the old man's voice before moving back to the kitchen, maintaining his slow, but able gait.
Bette Kane	Bette doesn't mind staring rudely. She's done it most of her life. When you have a pretty face apparently to some people its considered flirting. But there's just something not quite right about that old man. But she's comforted by the fact that Dick hasn't yet freaked out, though one foot loops about the arm of her back pack and her eyes are taking in the room like they should have been the whole time. That group of people playing mahjong, the sounds of people in the kitchen, the person packing their car outside, the person across the street two stories up hanging out their window smoking. Too many details to take in - and she was having such a pleasant time with friends. Her lips have thinned, her body not so much tense as it is ready. Then again.. may be it's just some old man and she's letting her nerves get the betfer of her.
Dick Grayson	"It's in the rotation, though there are no bad choices. The disguise is getting pretty good," Dick remarks back in hushed tones with a quiet laugh which he follows up with a sip of his Sprite, then returns to his normal volume. "There is never a normal visit here," Dick says to Bette, "Besides the good food. It is one of the constants you can rely on." He gestures to his empty plate as his phone goes off, "Crap," the eldest Batling remarks, "Guess I need to go grab the next transit back home. So much for my shift being over." He is visibly irritated by this and rises, laying enough money on the table to cover everything, "My treat, you guys have a good one." Dick then grumbles and makes his way to the exit.
Damian Wayne	The short man comes back, a pot of fresh tea on the tray, and he approaches the table. Where small cups had stood on the tray. "Royal Oolong, from Anxi province. Very good for health and digestion." The cups are passed out, one by one getting filled. When he approaches Bette, he says, in Damian's voice. "The family that runs it works hard and make great food. Generous gratuity is appropriate."   Mr. Hsu bows before making his way back to the kitchen, to drop off the tray and make his egress out of the back, tonight's recon having been done now.
Bette Kane	The look of surprise on her face is possibly more than enough of a reward. Her eyes wide and her mouth opened partly. She then grins and dips in to her purse too. It's not like she's burning the candle on both ends, but she appreciates a good meal and the food here is pretty delicious. She finishes her dumpling as Dick has to rush off, as Stephanie has to take the call. "Hm. Well. It was nice while it lasted." She has a bit of tea, grabs her back pack and heads on out to face the world again.