Owner	Pose
Rachel Roth	The tower has been an odd place, lately. Terry and several of the others have been jettisoned into space, going on their own adventure almost certainly with Space Oddity on loop in the background. There was a war recently, that many of the Titans just participated in, as if that was just a thing you did. Then, in one of the rarest things in the history of the world, Themyscira allowed Men to walk their shores.     While odd is normal for the Titans, the past few weeks have been, perhaps, a little more odd than odd. Raven has been visible, and hasn't spent most of her time actively shunning the rest of the tower. She's still nocturnal, of course, but there have been times she's been seen /during the day./     Maybe there was merit in the trio leaving the planet for a while. Might... Be safest.     Regardless, nobody's sent this message of caution to Kate: which means that this late night, she's liable to walk in on Raven in a state unseen to her before, despite that they've met multiple times: Raven, it seems, is happy.     Quietly humming to herself, she has busied herself putting together a tea ball for herself as she heats water on the stove, casually and calmly preparing tea at... Well, the ungodliness of the hour is pretty normal.
Kate Bishop	Honestly Kate has mostly been trying to just fight crime and pass calc class. She is one hundred percent still a high school student crime fighter and has a very low bar when it comes to having a good week these days. Fending off Terry's betrayel and then a visit from Harley has probably been enough drama for the poor teen this month.     She genuinely was not expecting to emerge from her room trying to understand derivatives and find herself face to face with Raven in the kitchen humming happily. It is .... a little odd. Still soldiering on Kate heads into the kitchen herself to get in line to use the special japanese water boiler to make herself Tea. "Hey Rae." she greets amiably.
Rachel Roth	Raven pauses in her prep for a moment, twisting slightly. Perhaps the most jarring may be her appearance, at the moment. Gone is the loose-fitting sweater that hides her figure effectively, with its thickness. In its place is a shirt that isn't necessarily too /big/ for her necessarily- it's certainly a bit tight in the chest- but seemingly made for a person taller than she is. Kate, as she's been around the tower a while, may recognize this as a shirt that Raven doesn't own.     Similarly, that Raven smiles somewhat when she sees Kate is also probably more than a little... Disturbing. It's not a /creepy/ smile, per se, but it is the first smile that Kate's seen on Raven that wasn't belonging to emoticlone. Depending on one's will, that could haunt the dreams, just a bit. You'd probably have to be afraid of Raven to begin with, in a genuine sense.     "Hey Kate," she begins, hooking a thumb over her shoulder. "Want some tea? Coffee? Boiling water in a cup?"
Kate Bishop	Honestly the most immediately jarring part of the whole affair isn't the loss of disguising clothing but rather the fact that Raven is quite honestly .. well uh curves. Kate's eyes widen a tiny bit taking Raven in, in that shirt, flicking down at her chest then terribly swiftly up to eye contact.     404 Error.     "Uhm.... Tea please." is all she manages to verbalize as she thinks about what to do about this whole damn situation. What the bloody hell is going on. Also very cute Raven. So many layered issues here for her to process and deal with.     "Whatever you're making sounds great Rae." she manages.
Rachel Roth	Raven waits a moment, one brow raised, as Kate bluescreens. She's patient like that, tapping the ball of one bare foot upon the floor a couple of times, but eventually offering the other woman a couple of nods.     "Got a specific kind that you like? I was going to make some black tea, but that's because I got the same brand that they have on this little chinese place I like."     Noting this, she does prepare one of the little mesh tea infusers with the scrapped tea leaves that she plans to use on her own. While Kate makes her decision, she moves over to the pot, plucking it up and pouring herself and Kate both full cups for their near-immediate use.
Kate Bishop	Oh christ Raven is staring at her now.... Wait. She actually knows this answer to this question right. There is a slow blink though. "What chinese place?" she asks with genuine curiousity.     "As for me... I hid some loose leaf back behind Gar's fruit loops up there... Golden Buddha" which is legit handmade black tea from Fujian which produces an aroma that is sweet and rich. The cup is very complex, yet very balanced: smooth, strong, sweet, and fragrant with a pronounced and lingering black licorice/spicy note. Made by Mr. & Mrs. Tang of Xiamen, Fujian, who are both graduates of Fu?an Tea School. The school is affiliated with the Fujian Tea Research Institute. This tea is grown at about 2400' elevation and is produced in Anxi County.     Not that Kate explains that at all, she is still grappling with the ... new... Raven in the kitchen. She blinks very slowly. "You're welcome to raid.. um my stash if you want." she notes and goes to make up a tea ball infuser of her own now from said stash.     Everything about this feels odd.
Rachel Roth	"China Star. One of those hole in the wall places with a faded menu where you just order whatever you get at every other chinese takeout and they have it." she chuckles a little to herself- Christ, Raven just /chuckled/ and it seemed like a perfectly normal thing she'd do- and pops open the cabinet, removing Gar's cereal and pulling out the package of Golden Buddha.     "I've had better tea, I've had teat that was more complex, deeper flavors- really fond of White Tip Earl Grey- but despite that this is really, really basic... I have never had a tea that I liked more. Probably just being sentimental."     Regardless, she portions out a few grams of the Golden Buddha, and hands the ball and the cup over to Kate. "I do recommend China Star, though. Best dumplings in Metropolis."
Kate Bishop	This is absolutely ... surreal.     "China star. I'll have to go by sometime and check it out. To be honest I am more use to the places in Manhattan... I highly recommend Sun's Organic Garden at Mott and Bayard..." what the hell is going on right now. "I do like a really good white tip earl grey." she admits.     She accepts the tea ball from Raven and dunks it into the hot water, absent mindedly turning her wrist and setting her watch to vibrate at the precisely right tea steep time for it. "Maybe I could show you sometime...?"     What. The. Hell. Is. Going. On.
Rachel Roth	Raven is not really the type- or at least, /has/ not really been the type, for idle chatter. Most of the time she is quiet, quick, and succinct. It isn't that she won't have these conversations, or some facsimile of them, but rather that when she does 'chat', she does so with the intent to close the conversation before it gets to this... Friendly, comfortable zone, where there isn't exactly a /point/ to it. They are not sharing rhetoric. They're... Just talking. Almost about nothing, really.     Raven nods quietly, and sets her tea to steeping at the same time as the other woman, though she doesn't have a watch by which to go. It's a learned thing- and honestly, one of the freedoms of tea that isn't so expensive or delicate that oversteeping it a touch is a terrible idea- but she mostly goes by the color, and the aroma. No need to set a timer.     "I don't get out to Manhattan really often, but if you say the place is good... That might be a great place to take Troia, might even take a few other Titans out with us to just... Have an afternoon. Go to New York. Look around. Spend some time not hitting people, as long as it's quiet."
Kate Bishop	Deep. Abiding. Note. Ask Troia what is going on.     Kate genuinely likes Raven. She is solid. She is Raven. She respects the clear boundaries that have been set over many months. This. This is really wild.     "I'm happy to take you and Troia or some of the others to my favorite tea spot in Manhattan... and I appreciate the recommendation for Metroplis Rae." she ... genuinely does too. When it comes right down to it, Kate outside the Titans is genuinely quite isolated and alone. Her family is.... not warm. Her friends are.... mostly trying to use her for leverage in New York. .. .. The Team well is full of people like Terry.     This is.... nice? What the hell...     Is it alternative reality stuff again...     "I'd like... more team time without yelling or saving the world to be honest..." the young woman admits.
Rachel Roth	Asking Troia what's happening is usually a good idea at any point in time when the option is available. She normally has a sense of any situation, and probably can explain it in ways that make sense to anyone listening.     Plus, there are so many other Titans that are liable to not answer or answer cryptically that Troia being one of the few that will just mercifully say 'I don't know' is also major.     "We should probably put some planning to it. It's hard to think of places like that as... In range, for us. We always think locally when we've got a jet, people that fly, and people that teleport. I wonder how many Titans have seen Times Square?" That's it, that's probably the scary part. Raven wanting to go to a place with people that is always loud and bright.     "You're right. We really need to all take some time. Just go somewhere. Be /us/ without having to deal with the violence and pressure."
Kate Bishop	Yup. Need to talk to Troia very soon.     "I'd like that." the thing is. She genuinely would like that. This place and the people in it are more of a family than she has ever had. Even Terry.     Her watch vibrates and she turns to fish the tea infuser out, squeeze it, then set it in tea caddy. "Most of the team has a lot of tunnel vision. The mission. The City. The cause...." she hesitates. "It is why the pizza nights and other stuff is important... but also getting them out of their comfort zone an going places would be good. Themyscira was good."
Rachel Roth	Raven pulls the ball from her tea at around the same time, when the liquid is a dark enough brown-gold that she feels it's ready. She sets the mesh, with the leaves still in it, in the sink for a later rinsing and cleaning.     "I think I'm going to get the ball rolling on that. I'm not exactly sure we need time off, as much as we just need to take a day or two. The same kind of need as a three-day weekend." Having noted that, she nods along with Kate. "Yeah... Yeah Themyscira /was/ great." Partially reminiscing, she seems all dreamy for a moment.     "Oh, speaking of that, I need to get back upstairs, to tell Troia I didn't make her any and see how that goes." She doesn't exactly bound off or anything, but she does start making her way to the stairs. This would normally be where Raven disappears without it being clear when or how she left, and certainly without a farewell, but this time... Well, she's going up the stairs. Like a normal person.     "It was great talking, Kate. I'll make sure we all get some time, and some tea."     Yeah everything is /fine./
Kate Bishop	Okay a chuckle actually slips out at the whole teasing Troia about not making her tea. Then she blinks. What. The. Hell.     "Okay. Sounds good to me Rae." and .. again she actually means it. All of this sounds very good. It would be good for the team. Good for Kate. Good for Rae and Troia.     Still. She looks after Raven as she leaves with her tea like a completely normal /fine/ person and just blinks once she is gone.     "What... the hell...." and sips her tea.