14506/Coffee and Conversation 250 Miles Above Sea Level

Coffee and Conversation 250 Miles Above Sea Level
Date of Scene:	10 August 2022
Location:	Monitor Room, Watchtower
Synopsis:	Dinah drops in on Diana as she handles JLA monitoring duty and the two have a casual conversation to catch up.
Cast of Characters:	Wonder Woman, Black Canary

---

Wonder Woman has posed:
Diana sits in the monitoring command center aboard the Watchtower. She patiently tabbed through the myriad of news tickers and reports looking ofr anything that would require League intervention. So far it had been an uneventful rotation for her and she was finding it to be both a blessing and a curse.

While it was good, and she was thankful, that there were no active events requiring League attention, it meant that the hours slowly crawled past. She wouldn't complain, of course, but it was a challenge even for the Champion of the Amazons to keep her focus fully on her duties. Even demi-goddesses have moments where their mind wanders.

With a sigh, she rubbed her face and stood up. Walking to the back of the room, she poured herself a cup of coffee and proceeded to add more cream and sweetener than would be needed for four cups of coffee.

Black Canary has posed:
"God is monitoring boring!" That's a familiar, if rarely-present these days, voice from the doorway. Of course the boots on the deck plates already announced the arrival, and the particular qualities of the gait narrowed the list of who it would be down to three people at most. "I don't know how you stand it, Diana. When I get saddled with it, I wind up practicing mudras until my hands hurt."

Dinah, standing in the doorway, arms crossed, has a smile of greeting on.

"It's also weird that we even need it given all these damned computers in the place."

Wonder Woman has posed:
Diana Prince sips at her heavily customized coffee, nodding in satisfaction. As she places the lid on the cup, she glances over with a smile. "Dinah. Hello." Her voice is friendly and hints at the delight of having someone else to talk to. It was no small bit of relief.
RWalking back to the console, she sat down again. "When it is, well, uneventful such as today I cannot lie and say that it is easy. It is anything but easy" she confesses. "I have no true secret to combating boredom I am afraid. I just remind myself that it is my responsibility to stay vigilant for the sake of everyone." She offers an apologetic smile. "It is sobering to shoulder the responsibility but it is part the duties expected. So I perform it as best I am able."

Lifting her cup for a drink, she asks first, "How have you been Dinah? It is good to see you. It has been some time since last we spoke."

Black Canary has posed:
"You know me, Diana," Dinah says, pulling up a nearby seat and putting her feet up on the console, crossing at the ankles.

She's very careful not to put her feet near buttons. She's not making that mistake again.

Leaning back in her chair, stretching, she winces a little at a sore muscle at her right side. "I'm a picture of propriety, decency, and nigh-bodhisatva levels of peace and harmonious thought." She chuckles at her own joke and shakes her head. "I've got a new student. Koriand'r of the Titans. Bats paired me with her to have us each mutually learn from each other's combat style, and for me specifically to teach her not to rely so much on flight."

She gestures to her side.

"She's strong and can throw me long distances. I'm still paying for that, though ... so is she. Double boots on the backside. She's not forgetting how that happened anytime soon."

She pauses a moment. "You know her at all? Nice kid."

Wonder Woman has posed:
Diana Prince glances over as Dinah takes a seat and gets comfortable. She had long since given up imploring the others in the League from treating the monitoring room as more of a living space. It seemed to her that however one manages to weather a rotation was enough. As long as wayward buttons are not pressed.

An amused smile crossed her features as Dinah claims her many merits. "Oh yes. The very vision of, Dinah. Agreed" she says seriously, even though she is lightly joking herself.

"I had heard that, yes. It is a wise plan. Koriand'r came to speak with me about a similiar idea to exchange martial arts and fighting styles." She sipped at her coffee. "We have only had the opportunity to spar once but I can see much merit in the Tamaranian styles for one who is able to fly. I anticipate learning methods that will benefit me as much as anything I might share will benefit her."

A nod, "She is a beautiful soul. There is an innocence and naivety about her. Yet there is a dangerous and effective warrior's spirit within her. It is a curious interplay."

Black Canary has posed:
"Ah, good, so you caught that too. It's not just me. Under that sweet child lurks a person capable of great feats of battle, I think."

Dinah seems to catch Diana's glance and immediately puts her feet down with a bit of a sheepish expression.

"Kinda why I want to talk to you, actually. That split of hers. I ... don't want to break that. I'll take tips on how to avoid breakage." Dinah makes a helpless face. "I've never really had the chance to be that innocent. I have to get across the idea that even though we're friends sparring, that what we're learning and teaching is brutal and lethal. That people will suffer and die if we use it. And sometimes it's not for proper reasons."

Dinah sighs and her eyes idly glance over the screens, like a long-embedded reflex slowly reawakening.

"I don't want to break her, Diana. She's such a sweetheart. I'm ... not. Was I ever was that innocent? If I was, I don't know when. I don't remember it." Another deep breath. "But she's in a dangerous trade and I don't think she knows quite how bad it can get."

Wonder Woman has posed:
Diana Prince listens to Dinah's concerns, nodding at points made. As Dinah finishes, Diana takes a slow sip of her coffee before responding.

She offers an understanding smile, one that is also reflected within her gaze. "There was a time that a young heroine began her chosen profession. There was a vibrance and youthful exuberance. A desire to make a true difference and a belief that she could effect that difference where others had been less than successful before her." The smile turns more melancholy. "But reality began to set in. There were.. situations that she was forced to endure. Demons and darkness she was made to face. In others and, perhaps, within herself."

Diana continues quietly, "Now, these many years later? She is still out there. Making a difference in ways that only she can. Her talents are many and they are often singular and without equal. But I see that sometimes it is very difficult to regain that bright outlook and enthusiasm in the face of the darkness in the hearts of man. The evils that are regularly unleashed upon the world."

Diana's features soften, "It wears even on me, Dinah. There are times where I feel like dispairing. When I would much prefer to give up. Perhaps just retreat to Themyscira and hide away from the worst that humanity and the universe as a whole has sought to throw at all of us who care and seek to make that difference. It is the easy answer. To walk away." She sighs, shaking her head. "I do not. For the reasons you do not. If we walk away, for one, who will replace us? If we give up, what hope does humanity have left? We continue because without us? There is no one who can do what we do. That is why we seek to train younger heroes and heroines. So that the world, the universe may know that there will always be those willing and able to rise up and defend the defenseless. The helpless. That there is -hope- still."

Diana pauses, "I do not know all of Koriand'r's history, Dinah. But I can tell you that her life has not been happy nor easy. She was a prisoner by her own family's hand. Betrayed. She knows sorrow and pain. Suffering. But still she has an innocence. I do not believe that you nor I will take that from her through training her. I believe that we will simply prepare her to better protect those in need of it. And one day? Our efforts may help her rightfully reclaim her world and her role as its true leader." A pause. "Our influence? Might be the only thing that helps keep her grounded. That she remembers when that time comes and she finds herself tempted to wield her power with tyranny rather than benevolence."

Black Canary has posed:
"I have no idea who you're talking about, Diana," Dinah laughs. "Vibrance and youthful exuberance? Someone in the Titans?" She shakes her head and looks around. "Where's the damned bourbon when you need it?" she asks rhetorically.

Then her voice goes more serious. "Yes, I think that it's good for her to have role models who walk that tightrope every day but don't cross the line."

Beat.

"Often."

Memories of attacking military and a village cross her mind unbidden and get shoved firmly into the 'it didn't happen' pile.

"But it's good she's talking to you too. I can't think of a better role model for power and grace in the same person."

Wonder Woman has posed:
Diana shrugs, "I'm not sure. I think it must have been The Huntress. She has always been the very model of self control" she jokes.

The 'often comment is let go. Diana is aware of some of Dinah's actions. And that there are some in her past that even Diana does not know of.

She offers a smile at the comment about power and grace and lifts her cup for a drink. The lid pops off the cup just as she tips it. And now she is wearing sweatened coffee all over her cleavage given her iconic uniform. She stares down at herself for a long moment.

"Oh yes. Very graceful."

Black Canary has posed:
It is said you can learn much about a person's character by how they react to the misfortures of others.

Canary's reaction (and attendant character) is thus:

First, leap to her feet, reaching out to help someone with scalding liquid poured all over them.

Second, stop, remembering that the person who just got that is tough enough to withstand a whole lot more and isn't going to get any second or third degree scalds.

Third, stare a moment before a giggle escapes her mouth. Widen her eyes aghast ... but continue to giggle.

Fourth, in consternation rush over to the kitchen area to find towels or something else similar to help clean up. And to disguise the damnable giggles she's having troubles suppressing.

She returns promptly with a towel and a clenched jaw. With flared nostrils that occasionally let a very suspicious noise out...

Wonder Woman has posed:
Diana Prince stares down at her glistening chest. "That feels so unpleasant." The hot sticky liquid is now slowly making its way down the inside of her armor and across her belly.

She sighs, then looks up at Dinah. Her eyes show the minor embarrassment, but also mirth of the moment.

As Dinah gets towels, still trying hard not to laugh, Diana smiles, "Thank you, Dinah." And she promptly begins to laugh. A hearty, mirthful laugh. It makes trying to towel herself off something of a challenge, but she doesn't seem to care very much in the moment.

Black Canary has posed:
"Oh thank God, Di!" Canary exclaims before joining in the laughter. "I thought I'd be offending you." Her laughter subsides, finally. She takes a deep breath. "And that's the last thing I'd ever want to do."

As Diana tries to clean herself off, Canary takes a seat again, sitting on the edge, facing the Amazonian, but not-looking (and not-not-looking) at her to grant her some privacy in her embarrassment.

"I tried," she confesses quietly, "to model much of what I do on you, after all. It would be horrible to be someone who offended you."

Wonder Woman has posed:
Diana Prince laughs quietly. "Offend me? Because I made a mess all over myself? I assure you, Dinah, that I am not so self absorbed as to take offense at that. It is okay to laugh. If we cannot laugh at ourselves, then it would seem to me that we are taking things too serously."

She doesn't seem to be bothered that Dinah is - or is not - looking. Mostly Diana is trying to avoid the need to step away and properly clean up while she is supposed to be on monitoring duty.

She smiles over at Dinah, "I am honored, then, Dinah. If even some small thing that I have done has helped you, I am very happy. But I promise that you won't offend me." She shakes her head, "Even embarrassment is not bad. It is sometimes good to help us remember we are all only human."

Even for those who actually are not.

Black Canary has posed:
It looks like Canary is about to say something. She opens her mouth. She takes a breath. She ... shuts her mouth.

No, pedantry is exceeded only by pedarasty for being offensive.

She opens her mouth again. "So tell me, what's been up with the JLA since I made the shift to the Great White North?" she asks instead. "Settling in up there has kept me away from the Hall and the Watchtower for too long. I'm feeling like I abandoned you all."

Wonder Woman has posed:
Diana Prince doesn't seem to notice the struggle with inner voice for Dinah as she finally sets the towel aside.

Looking over as Dinah asks or an update, she smiles. "It is business as usual. Kal is largely keeping busy in Metropolis. Bruce is in Gotham. I.. am usually in New York. The rest are active in their cities and we rotate through Watchtower duties as we are needed or scheduled." She offers a warm smile, reaching over to touch Dinah's shoulder "You have done no such thing, Dinah. Your work with Alpha Flight is no less important in Star City. And we know how to reach you when a situation may arise that requires your skill set. There is little value to any of us just camping out and making busy work for ourselves up here when we can have lives and impact lives down on the Earth were we all belong."

Black Canary has posed:
Dinah sighs and shakes her head. "This is the grace I was referring to earlier," she says. "Not ..."

She mimes spilling coffee, grinning and winking.

"You're so even-tempered it astonishes me. Half the stuff you put up with would drive me to poking someone in the nose with my fist. I can only imagine what a terror I'd be if I had a tenth of your power."

Her gaze sweeps over the Watchtower, noting every little change since the last time she was here, eyes pausing, mind assessing.

There's not a lot of pauses.

"This place feels eternal, you know. Probably by design, right?" She looks at Diana again. "And you feel so much a part of it; just as eternal a symbol of justice. That's part of the grace, isn't it? Knowing that you can just outlive the Hell out of anybody who offends you?"

The voice is deadpan, but her eyes dance with mischief.

Wonder Woman has posed:
Diana smiles. "Grace happens in all things. If we care to look for it."

A wry smile is offered. "You have not seen me when I am angry. It is not a thing I care to devolve into, anger. There is little value. But there are times and occasions where I have. Sometimes even when it was appropriate. It is always possible to find a non-aggressive solution. It is not always possible that such a solution will succeed." There is a look of amusement, "The gods do not gift us with more than we are able to endure or handle." Meaning it is probably very good that Dinah does not have access to the sorts and levels of powers as Diana.

"I cannot say that I am privy to the reasons for the design. It is generally practical, however."

As she continues to monitor news feeds from Earth for signs of trouble, Dinah is given some serious side-eye.

A nod. "Yes. I suppose that is true. Most of the League members, even Kal, are barely like children compared to the blessing of my lifespan thus far." She pauses.

"Speaking of. Isn't it about time for your warm milk and bed time, little one?" It is equally innocent yet fill of mischief.

Black Canary has posed:
"Well if by milk you mean bourbon, and if the bed has a nice hot guy in it, well then sure," Dinah replies before sticking out her tongue and crossing her eyes. You know, to establish she's *not* a child. "Otherwise I'm going to have to give this a big pass. I got up less than two hours ago."

Dinah sighs and watches the monitors herself a while. "Does this thing get HBO or Cinemax?" she wonders aloud. "I miss not getting those. They're way too pricey in Canada."

Wonder Woman has posed:
Diana Prince smiles. "I am certain one of the Lanterns has a private reserve. Assuming yours is already depleted. It would also seem that we are short on supply of 'hot guys'. I am sorry to disappoint."

"I do not know. I would suspect that the answer is 'yes' given that Barry needs to have a hundred windows open at any time to keep himself amused and not bored" she notes with amusement.

Black Canary has posed:
"Well, I'm sure with all this spy equipment I can find a cutie and just teleport him up here," Dinah says, not dignifying the 'private reserve' comment with a response. Of course she has hers up and stocked! She reaches toward the controls as if about to do exactly that, but stops shy of actually touching the console.

It's not her shift.

"So, seriously, keep me in mind, though, for missions. I'm swamped with Alpha, but JLA was my first and still in some way my truest calling. Alpha will understand if I take a hiatus to work with the League." While she talks a blues riff starts playing from ... an indeterminate location in the room; seemingly a bit of background music from a Fender run through a Pignose.

And there's more mischief in Dinah's eyes.

Wonder Woman has posed:
Diana Prince arches a brow. "You will give Bruce a migraine if you violate Tower Policies by bringing someone up who hasn't the proper clearances.." Which is, of course, a measure of fun itself after all. Even if Diana would never do that, herself.

"Of course, Dinah. You are still on the roster as an active member." Then there is music filling the room and Diana's brow arches again. She is hardly upset or annoyed, just curious.

"Planning on giving a private concert?" she asks with a smile.

Black Canary has posed:
"Ah, I just figured it would go a bit faster, time, I mean, if there was some music. And since you're in charge of the channels, I figured I'd supply the music."

Dinah taps her throat.

"It's also good practice, doing that while I'm talking. Harder than it looks, trust me." She makes a wry face. "I'm always practicing. When I'm not working out I'm practicing forms. When I'm not practicing forms I practice Cry control. When I'm not practicing Cry, I practice drinking and being raucous."

Wonder Woman has posed:
Diana Prince smiles and nods. "I don't mind. Generally I enjoy most music. If it is something for you to do that is also a benefit then I have even fewer reasons to mind it, Dinah." She looks back, tabbing through the alerts. She pauses long enough to study an alert for a seismic tremor long the California coast.

She begins to tap out a message to Barry, routing him to the Bay area to assess any damage or further risks. Once th emessage is sent off, she returns to scanning the various news sources.

"Have you been touring lately? Working on new music or anything?" she asks curiously.

Black Canary has posed:
"Now you're sounding like my manager," Dinah pouts. "Got an album for me yet? New songs in the works? Coming up with something new? I'm running out of your money!" She snorts and grins. "And yeah, I'm working on some stuff. We should have an album soon. I ... found some incredible Nepalese sounds that I wanted to incorporate and that required some rewrites. But Paloma's down with it because it mangles her fingers trying to recreate it and she loves it."

Dinah shrugs. "What can I say? I'm sonically focused. Weird, huh?"

She laughs then, interrupting the music before getting that back on focus.

"Shoulda brought my guitar," she says.

And it's back to staring at the screens, a pair of small brass rods coming out of her jacket pocket and twirling between her fingers in a dexterity drill.

Wonder Woman has posed:
Diana Prince smiles apologetically. "I do not mean to. It has been some time since we have simply been able to talk. I do not know much of what is happening with you - other than that you are busy with Alpha Flight and with your music career."

"Or using the Watchtower teleporter to get home from late nights at bars..." she murmurs with amusement.

Black Canary has posed:
Dinah eyes her counterpart a moment, considering if it's worth denying anything. Then sighs and shakes her head.

"Yeah, I try not to make a habit of it, but ... extenuating circumstances."

Beat.

"It was a day ending in Y."

She shoots Diana a broad grin.

"The bar I was at then is just barely above a dive, but ... the owner is ... interesting. Meta. Keeps his neighbourhood clean. Doesn't water the booze. And is attached to one of the best soul food restaurants I've ever seen in NYC."

Wonder Woman has posed:
Diana Prince doesn't judge. "It was a better choice than driving, in that case. I am pleased that you considered it. We like to trust ourselves regardless of the situation. Sometimes that trust is in knowing when we cannot safely continue." Discretion. Valor.

"It was in Harlem, was it not? I have heard that the neighborhood has had vested interests in keeeping things safe for the residents. It is an admirable thing, whereever it is that those living there step up to take n active role."

Black Canary has posed:
"Harlem, yes," Dinah agrees. "I was too drunk to spin the dials on the teleporter so I guess it left the coordinates."

Still not quite grokking how computers work, right?

"And ... I thought it best that I not drive, and Uber doesn't like driving into Harlem at night so ... short of finding a hotel in Harlem, it seemed the best option. Glad you approved."

Then Dinah goes silent a while, pensive. "The active role is admirable and all too rare, isn't it? There'd be less need for people like us if more people would take an interest in their environment instead of their network tribes. Something that needs to be thought about, now that you mention it. How do we help with that?"

And thus begins the long period of silence as Canary ponders yet another project to add to her overloaded life...

Well, silence except for the blues guitar soundtrack.