2013.05.14 - The Legion Wants an Amazon!

"I don't know what version of Wonder Woman it sounds like /you/ were unlucky enough to meet, but she sounds like a total snore. THIS Diana has only been here for maybe a year?" Laurel walks with Rokk Krinn right into the embassy -- the security is familiar enough with her. Bright golden afternoon, the time of day all of the Monster Battles and Giant Robot Fights and Other Brightly Colored Costumed Crime has pretty much wound down and police reports have been filed. The time of day most heroes that don't wear pointy cowls tend to tentatively let their guard down and mill about their 'usual business' until more unusual business turns up.

"She's not a jokester or anything, she takes her mission very seriously - but Diana faces her challenges with an openness of heart and spirit that brings me back to when Imra, Lu, and Tinya came and surprised me at the Orphanage. She may be a Princess and an Ambassador and /Wonder Woman/ for crying out loud, but she's still a young woman who wants to know the rest of the world and..."

Laurel stops herself there for a moment turning to look at Rokk and sort of smile like 'Wow, this is weird', "I kind of love her a little bit like a sister all ready. Like... I wish all this Amazon Peace and Love stuff had made it into the future. I know, I know. I'm gushing." Finally, to whoever needs to be told such things, "Can you let Diana know I'm here please? And that I brought a guest?"

That would be the front desk. The Amazon behind the desk, named Philomela, does indeed recognize Laurel. She smiles brightly. "Welcome back to the Embassy," she offers first to Laurel. "Princess Diana will be down shortly. She said she would be in her office with the head of a local charity." Sure enough, Diana appears at the top of the stairs. She's chatting with a tall, dark-haired woman amicably and excitedly. They seem to have come to some agreement, with the Princess promising to attend whatever benefit it is that she was needed for. The woman soon departs, and a guard that overheard Laurel's request crosses the floor, murmuring something to the Princess before drawing her attention to the other visitors.

Diana's face breaks out into a wide smile. "Laurel, welcome back!" Yes, this Wonder Woman isn't older and muted. Being warm isn't something she's afraid of. She approaches the blonde quickly and hugs her tightly in greeting. None of that handshaking nonsense! "Is this one of Legion friends of yours you mentioned?"

"Well Jeka's a princess, too," Rokk points out, "and we're *all* ambassadors. Or were. Can't get diplomatic immunity if your planet hasn't been colonized yet. It's the whole /Wonder Woman/ thing. I don't care if she's only been here a year, she's *Wonder Woman*. The heroes of this era were what inspired Mr. Brande to call us into his office after we saved his life, Laurel. It's--" he waves his hands widely, vaguely. It looks like he's having his own hero worship issues. "We're the Legion. But that still doesn't mean much to this century, not when we've been here all of a..."

The Braalian man's about the same age as Laurel, with the build of a zero-gee athlete and, apparently, a taste for purple and black. Black jeans, purple t-shirt, black vest hanging loosely over it; bright gold 'L' ring on his finger, just like Laurel's. And he trails off when Diana comes down the stairs, taking a step back when there's sis-hugging (which is like bro-hugging but with more squishing and less clapping), and-- Amazons. Right. Like Ancient Greek Sklarians. He defers like all crazy get-out, posture straight and almost stiff, unsure of what to do with his hands. It's not like it's an emergency or anything. Emergencies are easy.

Laurel's nerding out over being pals with Wonder Woman was way more subtle in comparison, yes. She'll tease Rokk about it later. Diana's hug is returned - forget handshakes, handshakes are for people who haven't /spent the night in the place for a while./ "Always good to see you Diana, -- and yes!" One hand still on Diana's shoulder, Laurel reaches over and puts her other on Rokk's -- Cool Transference!

"This is actually one of the founding members of our team, in every future we've surveyed so far. Princess Diana, it's my pleasure to introduce you to Rokk Krin." Ffft, codenames. Whatever. "I've nattered on about you and the Amazons so often, I just *had* to bring him by. Especially since he's our resident history buff - it would have been criminal *not* to!"

Now, Diana hadn't ever lain eyes on a man before she met Steve Trevor. And while she knows many more men know - most of them professionally, so very few would be real friends - all of them prefer handshakes. Except for Steve of course, but their relationship is... complicated, at best. So rather than scoop up Rokk in a huge like she did with Laurel, Diana offers a hand. "Welcome to the Themysciran Embassy, Rokk." Her handshake is firm as one might expect, and with her free hand she gestures around proudly. "Our home away from home, and home to our friends and any who might need it." Yes, Diana's not one to turn people away. The Embassy was specifically built with this in mind, so it houses several extra rooms. For when she runs into people like Laurel! "I imagine this trip to the past must be very exciting for you, then, if you enjoy history so much."

A handshake! A handshake is a good enough thing, combined with Cool Transference, to cover the awkwardness of a fanboy. Rokk's handshake is an enthusiastic one, and Diana's brightness of spirit and total lack of self-consciousness is more than enough to break him out of overcaution. Next time, given how tactile -he- is, it'll probably be a hug. Because: Laurel's entirely right about the Amazon. "Thank you," he says, a grin breaking out across -his- face, making it almost boyish. "And-- I've actually been here before, but it's different every single time. More than enough to keep a history buff busy correcting his files!"

Then he's laughing, his posture considerably more relaxed. It's entirely possible the Wonder Woman he met was a terrifying inhuman force of nature or something. "And the Embassy is beautiful! I know about your mission-- it's part of what inspired the Legion in the future I'm from. Uh-- and you can call me Cos. If you like. My friends do."

"Most of them, anyway," Laurel says with only a HINT of friendly eye-rolling. "The whole dovetailing missions thing is another reason I wanted to bring him by." Uh-oh - the merry twinkle in those blue-green eyes of hers can only mean trouble. "I KNOW you're on the Justice League and that you've got other commitments but--" Oh, sprock, /out with it, Gand!/ "We'd like to invite you to try out for the Legion of Super-Heroes."

Wonder Woman smiles at Rokk in understanding. "So I've been told; when I first met Laurel she was surprised that I'd only been in the world of men for about a year." Of course it was a bit of a shocker for Diana too, to learn she 'should have' been here for much longer than that. The offer makes her blink in surprise. "You've... decided to remain here in the past, then?" she asks first. And then: "There are enough of you here to reform the Legion?" But it's like Laurel said, right? Something between the Legionnaire tugs them together, makes it so they can reunite. Then she smiles again, and bows slightly. "I'd be honoured," she answers honestly, "and I'm flattered you think I'm worth it."

"Oh god, /are/ there," half-mutters Cos at the 'there are enough of you here'-- but there's still laughter in his voice, in his face. And then his eyes widen -- and click click, process. She really is that young; she really is that genuine; she's as much of a real person as he is. And now he understands, a little more, the somewhat intimidating hero worship he's gotten from some of the other Legionnaires. "Grife, no, you're more than worth it. And we're more or less stuck here, but even if we weren't, and didn't decide to stay-- when we're /capable/ of time travel on our own, it's never much of an issue. Historically we've had--" the man starts, then glances aside to Laurel and wrenches himself back on track from being Pedantic Explanation Lad. "Never mind that. I'm really glad you're game! You know the spaceship that crashed into the Highline last week? It belonged to one of our members, and it sort of-- rebuilt itself into a headquarters. So when you have time for a tryout, come on over; I'll rustle up the Membership Committee and we'll run through it."

Maybe it was the slight tightening of Laurel's grip on his shoulder that stopped Cos from going riiiiiight over the edge into Total Nerd Explanationville, or maybe it was his own self - the world may never know! "We'd love to have you on board. You'll probably have to get used to some fan-gushing, but God, Superman and Valor still get some of that and they've been either members or honorary members from near-on the get-go." Laurel is talking with all confidence like this try-out thing is totally a formality - heaven only knows how many times the things actually go wrong.

"As far as the 'being in the past' thing goes..." Laurel can't resist the tease here. "I mean, you were there when I got *spat out* by the other universe. If it weren't for Damage Control, I think my face-print would still be in the middle of Times Square!"

"I'm glad I was there," Diana admits, "Otherwise you may have hit that poor man in frustration," she says with a quick wink. She's referring to the man with the cellphone, who snapped a picture of Laurel (and then Diana) during their conversation. Because heroines in tight costumes! ...or something. "I remember the crash," she says to Rokk with a nod. "Ah.. that's what it was? I'd be very interested in seeing it... you'll forgive me if I stare a lot, though? Technology and I are... still learning to tolerate each other." A quick scan of the Embassy would have revealed nothing here, save for perhaps the electricity, is modern. There's even only one phone, and that's at the main desk. "I can make time," she promises. "And if you or your friends need a place to stay, the Embassy is always open."

"You're so /nice/!" blurts Rokk, then blushes and steadfastedly ignores he's doing so. "I mean-- thank you so much! And sure, I mean, it'll be your headquarters too, or one of them, anyway. And any one of us would be more than willing to help you with the technology, but honestly, the tech's pretty keen on being helpful, itself." He /does/ glance at Laurel again over the business with the 'poor man'; questions later. Oh the questions. But then his attention's right back on Diana, and he hesitates again. "Can I give you a hug? Or is that against the rules?"

"Oh, /he's/ the one who should be happy you were there," Laurel laughs a little bit, sharing the look with Cos for a minute there -- she actually DOES explain, a little, "I only didn't hit him *because* Diana was there. And it definitely wouldn't have been out of frustration!" But then -Cos asks if he can hug her- and Laurel is laughing again, though she's trying to keep from being too raucous about it. Or smug. Because there's totally some smugness going on there.

Wonder Woman laughs as well. It's a warm, bright laugh. "Certainly not against /my/ rules," she informs Rokk. And without anything more she does wrap the Braalian up in a tight hug. No rib-crushing, though! In the enthusiasm behind the hug, she may even lift Rokk off his feet briefly! But not too high, and she puts him back down after a moment. "May I ask how many of you there are?" she asks. "Between you two and that one friend of yours when we first met, Laurel... I know of three."

There is only not an actual squee because Cos maintains, even now, at least a tenuous grip on his personal dignity. He hugs back, tight, grinning like a total dork, and only makes a half-laughed hfff! sound when he's briefly off his feet. He's basically visibly about ten times more relaxed than he was when he came in, and the earnestness that time and tragedy never managed to file off of him is there in full force. Like, bouncing-on-his-heels full force. "Something like twenty of us?" he answers, then squints ceilingward and does a quick count. "Seventeen arrivals, nineteen active or reserve members. A lot of Legionnaires are still finding their feet, or acclimating, so despite the giant L in midtown, we're not awfully high on the visibility scale yet. Which-- honestly-- isn't a bad thing; last time a group of us were stuck here, we were *all* teenagers, and visibility meant super-powered shouting matches in midair over Gotham, and Batman was /so mad/..."

"When *isn't* Batman angry? I don't think I've EVER seen him smiling. Like, ever. I'd almost put down good creds on the fact that his face would crack if he *did* smile," Laurel says with a bit of a dismissive wave. Pffftt, Batman. Laurel totally goes in to give Diana another hug, but this time it's for a 'goodbye,' "I hate to rush off so soon this time, but we've got a few more things on our slate before the night is through, and I'm sure you do too. Thanks so much for your time, Diana - I can't wait to watch you try out!"

Wonder Woman laughs. "Once, Superman and I prevented a bridge collapse... and I suppose it was in Batman's territory. He just... watched us, glowering. I think we upset him a little." She then hugs Laurel back, and gives another to Rokk so he's not left out. "I'm looking forward to it!" She smiles. "And next time, come by when you have time as well. I'd like to show Rokk around the Embassy." Because all of her friends get a tour! "I'll see you both soon, I promise."

END!