2013-01-28 Looking Over the Partition

There is something of a common room in the area of the embassy home to the Living Quarters. This big area extends out into a balcony that overlooks the gardens and training area in the rear. Diana is currently sitting across a couch - or something akin to one, anyhow, dressed in a chiton - something like the Roman stolla, but more Greek - and reading a book. There's another book sitting on a table in front of the couch.

As she expressed earlier, Power Girl has not quite gone in for Grecian chic. She wears a snug turtleneck sweater, as snow white as her costume typically is, and jeans which, while form-fitting, provide a hell of a lot more coverage than that costume. They're tucked into tall boots with just enough heel to stand out, but not so tall as to make walking a chore.

She's come and gone, the past few weeks -- attending classes, hanging out, meditating. But she always seems to end up getting restless and running back out into the world -- or flying, rather. Then she ends up back here. Right now, she's entering the common area, and seems mildly surprised to see only Diana there. Silently, she steps through, to the balcony, and leans against it (carefully) to look up at the stars.

Wonder Woman has said nothing of course. Karen was told she can come and go as she pleases. She turns a page in the book. "How's your day been?" she asks, polite enough without being too pushy. In the gardens below, a botany class is taking care of some plants. The glass roof over the gardens are useful: they keep everyone from getting cold, and allow a lovely view of the night sky.

"Huh?" Karen has super-hearing, so it's not like she didn't hear Diana -- she just wasn't paying attention. Off somewhere else, perhaps. "Oh. Fine. I guess." She shrugs, dismissively, as if the day wasn't worthy of a recap.

Karen turns more fully, leaning her rump against the balcony railing, and folding her arms. "Good book?" she asks, after just a moment's pause, shifting her weight and perhaps not the best at small talk.

Diana looks back, offering a smile. "I admit, I'm... fascinated by stories the authors in Patriarch's World have told." She lifts up the book, bearing the title: yes, Diana is reading Lord of the Rings. On the Fellowship. Two Towers lies on the table. "Those of my sisters... when they write, they can tell us stories of things that never happened but it's never so... it's never not about the world around us."

Power Girl nods slowly to Diana's words. When she glances at the books, her eyes hood slightly... Kryptonians don't have the power to read books just by staring at them... right?

"I don't read a lot these days, honestly. I probably should." Power Girl lets out a chuckle that's more of a snort. "I keep thinking all the stories that I know by heart are gonna turn out to have wildly different endings than the ones I remember. Like the web won't say 'FINE HOG' in Charlotte's Web, or something, you know?"

Wonder Woman smiles. "It does. I promise." Yes, Diana read that one too - mostly because she was a guest in a kids' classroom at one of the local schools. "But I understand what you mean, yes."

Poor Karen has just been set up for heartbreak. "Phew," she breathes, rolling her eyes. She seems aware of what a ridiculous topic it is, but if she's made one thing obvious over the past few weeks, it's that she is nothing but walls covering walls -- there's always some distance, through sarcasm, irony, or just refusing to take things seriously. "Nowadays the most I read is the Wall Street Journal, and even then, I skim -- and skip the editorials."

"I skip editorials myself," Diana admits. "They're... disheartening, sometimes." Part of what confuses her about Man's World is how nobody tries to bridge differences. Always 'my way or the highway'. Editorials just remind her of that. "How are you liking the embassy?"

"It's like the summer camp I never got to have a chance to attend," Power Girl says with a wry smile. She doesn't bother explaining that because she emerged from her crashed rocketship as a young adult, she really did miss out on the camp experience. "Although I still get mistaken for She-Hulk twice a week."

Wonder Woman laughs softly. "Well." She lifts a hand, gesturing. "You're built for it." Likely the people mistaking her are the regular, human residents of the embassy. Women who came looking for help, were homeless, and offered a place to stay. Diana's made a point of introducing her guests to all her sisters, so they should know who Karen is.

Karen flexes an arm idly, like an athlete after a strong throw. She does, in fact, have quite muscular arms. Good thing that tight turtleneck covers them -- otherwise Diana'd be front row at the gun show.

"Yeah, I guess I am," Karen says, without much mirth. "I dunno. I like it here, but I still feel like... the person who all of the civilians mistake for She-Hulk."

Diana nods. She shifts, offering room to the blonde on the couch should she wish to sit. "Is there something you'd rather feel like, then?"

It's perhaps a bit obvious that no one's ever challenged Power Girl to actually answer that question aloud before. She doesn't come over from the balcony just yet. It takes her a long moment -- one of looking at Diana, but not answering, visibly working though the question in her mind. She walks over slowly, and sits, leaning forward and wiping her hair out of her face. "Good question," she finally says, anti-climactically.

"I've been known to ask one or two of those before," Diana says with a smile. She places the book in her hands on the table, memorizing the page number she was on. "Is it one you've thought on much?"

There's a huge story Karen could tell. About another Earth, and it seemingly ending, and how she had a life there, and a family, and status, and fame, and happiness, and now she's here. Instead, she just says: "Yeah."

"What do you do, Diana?" Karen glances over. "I mean, you must have a whole... life on your island. And you give it up and come here. How do you get over that homesickness?"

"Little of my life has truly changed," she murmurs softly. "I am still Princess of the Amazons. My hobbies, my alone time... I do as I always have. Here... I have more responsibilities. I am an Ambassador. I teach. I protect those to whom I have given shelter. I try to protect the city I've made my new home." She smiles gently. "I miss my home, yes. My mother. The warm sun. The beach on our eastern shore where I swam every morning. I go back when I come. But after seeing all this... I don't think I could go back for good."

Something about what Diana says makes Karen look very tired, as if the energy was being sapped out of her by a siphon. She lets out a breath, and chuckles, when Diana finishes speaking. Her hand goes to her hair, and then rubs the back of her neck. She stays hunched forward, and her elbows come to rest on her knees. "Y'know," she says, turning her head to look over, "sometimes it's like you and I come from two entirely different planets." Then Power Girl gives her own joke a sad little laugh.

Wonder Woman smiles faintly. "That boring, am I?" she asks. She senses the tone in that laugh but says nothing.

"I don't think anyone who wears that indoors for fun counts as boring," Power Girl says, once more reverting to jokes to keep any real discussion of her issues at bay.

Wonder Woman bows her head slightly. "I'll take that as a compliment." She stands and walks to the end of the balcony. That chiton really is flattering on her. She watches the class below.

Power Girl lets Diana watch for a moment, but her blue eyes don't leave her fellow heroine. She finally gets up and walks up behind her. "Hey," she says, softly. Still guarded, but less so. One hand rests atop Diana's on the balcony railing. "Thanks. Seriously."

Wonder Woman looks at the hand, then up to the blonde, and smiles, nodding. "You're welcome," she replies. "It's nice to see you back with us. I know, you said you only come when you need to relax, but... Part of me enjoys knowing I can help someone. Even if it's just for a day at a time."

The hand lingers for a moment, and then that moment passes. "It's not to relax," Power Girl says, leaning forward to look down at the class. "I really just don't have anywhere else to go."

"You're welcome to stay more permanently if you'd like," she offers. "I won't chase you away. I rather enjoy our little talks. Unless of course I chase you away by being boring." She winks.

"If you keep insisting on it, eventually someone's gonna believe you," Power Girl replies with a wry look. "Pretty soon they're even gonna think you have underwear on under that thing, and then where'll you be?" She looks back down at the class. "But no, I need my own... space, too. I appreciate the offer, but... I appreciate the offer. Maybe some other time."

Wonder Woman puts a hand on Karen's shoulder, laughing. "If you ever need me. You know where to find me." Her gaze shifts again, as she watches the class. "And what I wear underneath is not anyone's concern," she mock-scolds.

Power Girl laughs and taps the corner of her own eye. "Invest in lead lining, then, because I'm not the only one with eyes like these."

Wonder Woman smirks, then tsks. "Looking, were you? Does that say more about me or you?" She's teasing, obviously, and gives Karen's back a light swat. "I'll look into it."

"I wasn't, actually, but it looks like you just confirmed my guess," Power Girl says with another laugh.