1069/Star and Gold

Star and Gold
Date of Scene:	20 June 2017
Location:	Unknown
Synopsis:	Summary needed
Cast of Characters:	Booster Gold, Star Sapphire

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Booster Gold has posed:
"Look, lady, for the fifth time-- I'm /not/ the Green Lantern!" Booster complains, pushing a hand under his visor to pinch his nose. "And even if I was, I'm not sure how I could help you!"

"Then what good ARE you?" the woman demands, crossly. It's shaping up to be a nice and ugly little confrontation in the middle of the Rutger's quad-- a small fraternity frisbee golf team had decided to take over the quad during the middle of a meeting by the local chapter of the Rutger's Feminist Club, and needless to say tensions were running high.

"Yeah man, what the hell?" one of the frisbee players says, crossly. "Aren't you heroic types supposed to be good at this sort of thing?"

<<Now, see here sir!>> Skeets says, the little golden drone zipping at the man. <<Mister Booster is one of the BEST diplomats currently serving as a superhero in the city!>>

"Thanks, Skeets!" Booster says, nodding at the drone. "Look guys, I'm sure we can work SOMETHING out here-- we just need to find a compromise---"

<<And even though he's not a licensed member of the League yet, I'm SURE he'll find a solution that works well for everyone here!>>

"Damnit Skeets!" The crowd presses at Booster, simmering ugly words.

Star Sapphire has posed:
    Star Sapphire has no particular business in Jersey. It's a fly-over state on her way back home. She'd have skipped the campus entirely if not for her ring murmuring at her that it detected a temporal anomaly; and that seems like the kind of thing someone with a power ring should investigate. Surrounded in an aura of violet light that shimmers playfully across her latex uniform, Star Sapphire lowers herself to the ground and makes the keen, nay, Holmesian deduction that the temporal anomaly may be related to the fellow in spandex with a hovering golden droid.
    Star grins to herself at her own silent joke and greets, "Hi. Is everything alright here? My ring is picking up on some unusual energies, and I just wanted to be sure everyone's well." Her voice is strangely modulated: her ring translates into each listener's native language and broadcasts that translation on a semi-psychic frequency, so there's a weird layering effect to her voice.

Booster Gold has posed:
Everyone looks up at the psychic chick in the go-go boots and the leotard with the plunging neckline and an improbable disregard for the physics of fashion. Jaws drop a little, including the rugged blonde fellow wearing gold and blue with his own disregard for chronology.

"Woah, who's the /babe/?" one of the frisbee-bros says, not quite quietly enough.

"Seriously," mutters one of the girls, a beat later-- then everyone looks at everyone and tempers start flaring again as they all remember they had a perfectly good fight brewing!

"Skeets, did I die and go to heaven?"

<<No sir, you're alive and well!>> the drone tells Booster Gold, with chipper enthusiasm.

"Even better. Woah, hey, hello there," Booster says, floating skywards under his own power to get on the same level as Star. A little higher. Because he's tall, you see, and he throws his chest out a little just for good measure. "I mean, uh, welcome, fellow... hero." <<Star Sapphire!>> Skeets hisses in his ear. "Fellow hero Star Sapphire, Star Sapphire the hero," he says, babbling through it. "These... fine college folks were having a little debate over fair use of the quad, and being the hep cat that I am, I thought I'd swing through and help settle things. I'm glad you came to join us!" he booms, in a 'heroic' voice that sounds like it was cribbed from a bad TV actor.

On closer inspection, Booster can't possibly be more than a year or two older than anyone on the ground, not even in his mid-twenties yet.

Star Sapphire has posed:
    Star Sapphire takes the introduction in stride, a little surprised anyone would know who she is, but gracious enough not to make a fuss over it. "Maybe that's what my ring was picking up," she lies diplomatically. "It is attuned to certain kinds of psychic energy." She raises her voice enough to be heard and asks the crowd, "Why don't you tell me what the problem is?"

Booster Gold has posed:
Booster winces and starts to hold a hand up, but he's drowned out by a cavalcade of noise from below. The women's club starts screaming about how they had the quad reserved; the frisbee boys start bellicosely reminding the world that the Quad is a free to use area and no one has 'dibs' on it. Their shouted complaints turn to protest, then to outright arguments and battle lines square up once again.

"Hey! Hey!" Booster shouts, trying to calm them down, but they're all riled up and spoiling for a hot disagreement. He turns back to Star and shrugs at her helplessly. "Cheeze-ow, I don't know why they're all so grouchy," he admits. "You got any ideas here? I really don't wanna start knocking them down or anything."

Star Sapphire has posed:
    Star Sapphire listens to the yelling patiently for a few moments, nodding, letting people get it out of their systems, before taking action. She raises her right hand in the air, and it flashes purple: then, every student on the quad finds themselves holding an energy construct in the shape of a bouquet of thornless roses.
    It's random, but it's weird enough to shut everyone up for a second, and the silence gives Star Sapphire a chance to soothe, "Thank you for explaining the problem, everyone. I'm not going to force anyone to do anything here. That isn't what I do. But I am going to ask you all to look at the people on the other side of the aisle and all the phones that are out, ready to film what happens next. How many of you want to be famous on YouTube and Facebook tomorrow with someone's blood on your knuckles? Let's maybe de-escalate this before it gets worse, okay?"
    Star gives her best smile, violet lips parting over brilliant teeth, and she lets the roses fade out of existence. She won't force anyone to do anything, no, but she's already imagining the cages she'll conjure to stop a brawl.

Booster Gold has posed:
The students look around, stunned at the 'gift' that appears in their curled fingers, and then sheepish at the cameras and videos recording their screams and bellicose encounter. It's clear no one wants to be the new face of the five o'clock news, and they start rethinking the snapping pre-violence simmering near the surface.

"Look, guys," Booster says into the quiet, descending until he lands on the ground. "I get it. I know how it feels when you need an area, and there's no room to flex your wings. You guys are lucky you /have/ a Quad. Who knows what the University will look like in a few decades? Someday there will be students who can't even play outside," he says, his tone earnest and sincere instead of boisterously enthusiastic, piggybacking on Star Sapphire's moderate tones.

"How about a compromise," he suggests. "Guys, give the gals a break and help them out. They're just trying to spread a message. And ladies, maybe cut your meeting a little short, and then play some frisbee with the fellahs?" he suggests. "It's always better to talk things out than shout them out, and nothing says college fun like some intramural sports! Right?" he says, cheerily.

There's a general consensus of nods and murmurs, sheepish smiles, and the little assembly starts to break up. A few of them walk towards Star Sapphire to ask for an autograph (at least two asking for her phone number, too), and even Booster gets a few folks shaking his hand and thanking him. He tries to act modest, but the effusive praise goes to his head pretty obviously.

Once the students disperse, he saunters over to Star Sapphire, a lopsided grin on his features. "Well, you showed up just in the nick of time, Star Sapphire," he tells the leggy brunette. "Nice to meet you-- guess we should make it formal. I'm Booster Gold," he says, offering her a gold-gloved handshake.

Star Sapphire has posed:
    Star Sapphire plays her role graciously, signing autographs and posing for selfies but stopping politely at the phone number, instead suggesting people to contact her through the Daily Planet. She's particularly interested in the women, and promises to listen with a lot of attention to their presentation, a promise she doesn't feel is really broken by meeting and greeting Booster. "Thanks, and thank you for doing your best. I didn't wake up today expecting to channel Bugs Bunny defeating Elmer Fudd, but that's the life we live, huh?" she laughs. Her hand pretty much vanishes in his, but she does have the chance to flip his over during the hand shake and examine his knuckles. "This ring of yours is interesting," she explains. "I take it it's not a fashion choice?"

Booster Gold has posed:
Booster blinks in surprise when Star twigs to his Fight Ring, shifting his fingers uncomfortably but not withdrawing from her grasp. "Er... no," he says. "It's a flight ring. Little gift from a friend back home," he says, lying easily. "When I started talking about coming to the 21st century, y'know, I don't have a driver's license or anything like that-- and there aren't commercial hovercars yet-- so y'know... it's a handy way to get around," he says, summoning that easy grin again.

"So like, what about you? That ring of yours, that's a Purple Lantern ring, right?" he inquires, working overtime to try and look only at Star's ring or her mask, or Something Interesting nearby. Her outfit seems to be making it difficult for him to find anywhere 'safe' to direct his gaze.

Star Sapphire has posed:
    Star Sapphire smiles a secret smile, suppressing her amusement, and obliges Booster Gold by extricating her hand from his grasp so she can lift it up higher for him to examine. "We call ourselves Star Sapphires, though I guess that's going to change in the future," she explains. She accepts without question that her fellow hero is from the future: after all, her ring warned her. "But don't tell me! I don't want to create a time paradox where Biff Tannen is mayor, or whatever!"

Booster Gold has posed:
"'Star Sapphires', eh?" Booster says, hiking one brow. "Huh. Cool name," he tells her. "Maybe I'll set up a franchise someday! 'Booster Boys'," he says, panning a hand across the sky. "Whole legions of the blue and gold, protecting freedom and peace!"

He blanks at her reference, though. "I... yeah, I mean, time paradoxes, those are bad," he agrees, giving Skeets a nervous glance-- and the drone, somehow, looks back at Booster nervously too.

"I don't know who Biff Tannen is, but he sounds like one bad hombre," Booster declares, finding his resonant 'hero voice' again. "And let me assure you, Miss Sapphire, I'll do anything I can to keep villains from taking over the timeline!"

<<Huzzah!>> Skeets adds, zipping in a little circle.

Star Sapphire has posed:
    Star Sapphire retracts her hand from Booster's face. No more hiding his gaze behind her ring now! She's still smiling pleasantly as she asks, "I promised the ladies I'd listen to their presentation, but I'm enjoying this conversation so far. What are you doing in half an hour?"

Booster Gold has posed:
"Uhhhhhhhhhhh................."

Booster's jaw goes a little slack as Star Sapphire's confident, casual question completely knocks his equilibrium out from under him.

Skeets looks from Star, to Booster, to Star again, then there's a flicker of light as he *zots* Booster in the ear.

"OW!" Booster yelps. Skeets zips into Star's field of view, lights around his 'eye' flickering happily. <<He's not doing anything at all, Miss Sapphire!>> Skeets remarks in a bubbly, effusive tone. <<His calendar is clear for the next twelve hours-- I'll pencil you in for 30 minutes from now.>>

"Er... right! Thanks, Skeets."

<<And if this evening proves to be troublesome, I can pencil you in for anytime in the next week! Mister Booster has no social engagements and has 'struck out' twice romantically in the last few weeks, so I don't anticipate he'll have any plans anytime soon!>>

Booster slaps his forehead and hides his face in his palm.

Star Sapphire has posed:
    Star laughs. She thinks of trying to turn it into a cough, but that would seem disrespectful, so she just stifles it and smiles up (waaaaay up) at Booster to take the sting out of it. She pats him on the upper arm as she explains, looking at him rather than the droid, "Don't get the wrong idea, Skeets, I'm seeing someone. But that's no reason not to spend time with a nice man who was looking to help people today, and talk as colleagues about what we do, is it?" Her smile deepens and the bridge of her nose crinkles, and her hand leaves Booster's arm. "Okay, I'm going to go keep my promise now. I hope to see you when the rally is done, Booster Gold!" With that, she lifts slightly into the air (she'd walk, but high-heeled boots on soft campus ground make it more trouble than it's worth) and floats over to listen to the feminist lecture very closely.