| I'm A Princess Too! | |||||
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| What: Molly visits the Embassy to seek guidance, | |||||
The sixteen year old is impressed when she finally arrives at the Embassy. Both Kara and Agent Coulson had told her about it, but seeing something first-hand is always much better then just being told about it. Molly is wearing a pair of short jean shorts, and a Captain America shirt that looks like it's been modified from an adult size with some quick, basic stitching. A hat shaped like a kitten face is resting atop her head, and a similar backpack hangs off one shoulder. Molly makes her way past the guards, admiring their armor before she steps up to the receptionist desk.
"Hi! I'm here to see Wonder Woman!" Yes, she says it just like that.
"I'm afraid the Princess is in a meeting, Miss...?" The voice belongs to the secretary - a blonde today, who smiles warmly. "But, if you want to sit down, you should be able to see her next. Her schedule's unusually free today."
Moments later, Diana appears at the top of the stairs with a taller, older gentleman who speaks with a Received Pronunciation English accent. "I'm honoured, Ambassador," Diana can be heard saying, as they make their way down the stairs. "Thank you, I'll be sure to attend. Tell you're wife I'm glad she's decided to keep coming to the classes." They shake hands feet away from Molly, and the man departs.
I don't see that here.
The slender teen turns as the man and woman descend the stairs nearby. Molly's eyes widen as she takes in the famous outfit, and she bites her lip nervously. She glances at the receptionist and grins. "Nevermind...found her!" Molly reaches up to adjust her hat and she takes a deep breath, as if building courage. She then crosses the room, approaching the woman intently. She watches as the man begins to leave, and the girl clears her throat in an attempt to catch Diana's attention.
"Um, 'scuse me? Wonder Woman?"
It's hard to really surprise the Amazon Princess, so she doesn't seem completely surprised when Molly approaches. She got a good look at who was in the reception area when she came down the stairs. She turns on her heels to face the teen and offers a warm smile. "The embassy seems to be becoming popular with teenage girls. I'm flattered," she says with a little laugh, and she offers Molly a hand. "So I've been called. I am she. How can I help you?"
She reaches up to shake the much taller woman's hand, smiling widely as she does so. "Oh! Really?" She glances about and shrugs, turning back. "To tell the truth I didn't even know about this place or Themy...Thems...the place it's for. Well, not until Kara told me." She reaches up to adjust her cap a bit and glances about nervously. "I'm Molly. Dunno if she told you about me, but she said that I should meet you. She bought me pancakes..."
Wonder Woman smiles widely. "Kara is a wonderful girl. I'm very flattered she accepted my offer to help train her." She gestures for Molly to follow her. "I can tell you about this place if you'd like, but I suspect you're not here for a cultural lesson. So how is it I can help you, Molly?"
Molly Hayes looks a bit surprised at that. Kara never mentioned anything about training, but it would explain a few things. The girl nods slowly and moves to follow Diana. She adjusts her backpack strap and chews her lip, considering how best to proceed. "Well, I told Kara a bit about me. About fighting bad guys, and super powers and stuff. We got into talking about how most...but not all...grown-ups who've shown interest in my abilities have tried to use me. I'm really powerful...so they wanna use me to take over the world or something." She shrugs. "But then I met Phil, and he's super cool...so I'm not sure anymore." SHe pauses then corrects herself. "Agent Coulson.."
"Agent Coulson?" The name - and title - mean nothing to her, aside from warning that he is a member of a government agency. "Molly, I can assure you that most adults would not use you for your powers." The walking takes Diana and Molly into the back of the embassy, which is separated into two areas: a very large garden and a training area. Given Molly's previous experience, she might suspect Diana would take her to the training area, but instead Diana veers to the garden. She also pointedly does not ask what Molly can do. "So Kara sent you here?"
Molly Hayes does glance at the training area, and then look a little surprised when she's veered towards the garden instead. "Mmhmm. He's a really nice guy. He works for S.H.I.E.L.D. He found me when I was stranded in the desert a few days ago...and drove me across the country to get me to your Embassy." She slips her hat off and sits down on a bench in the garden. She takes in the sight, a small smile on her face.
If Diana is especially observant she might note a few small things, such as the quality of her clothing, or a bit of dirt under her nails and similar things, denoting that the girl keeps herself clean...ut is almost certainly homeless. "She did. I only met her once, but she was super nice to me." She turns back towards Diana and shakes her head. "My parents wanted to use my powers...and my friends...to take over the world. There've been a dozen others in the last four years who've wanted to use me. I started doing this whole things...the fighting bad guys...,when I was just turning twelve."
Wonder Woman blinks in surprise. "And... let me guess. You have not been able to return home because of your parents," she murmurs softly. "Oh Molly, I am so sorry." She puts a hand on the girl's shoulder, a comforting gesture, but only keeps it there a moment so that she does not make the girl uncomfortable. "Would I be wrong in thinking you want a place to rest, knowing you would not be used?"
Molly Hayes doesn't flinch away at the hand. She shrugs and glances around the garden. "We...stopped my parents. Permenantly. They were working for these alien god things and trying to destroy the world." She chews her lip. "Everytime I put my trust in grown-ups they try and either use me to do something bad, or put me in the foster system. Well, I'm almost 17 now...I've been outside the system since I was 12. I'm good on that." She turns to peer up at Wonder Woman, as if considering. "A place'd be nice, I won't lie. I have a tent setup in Central Park. The park is big enough that people can't find it unless they're looking for it. But, like...a bed and regular food would be...I dunno...novel."
"If you would like, Molly, you can live here at the embassy. I know you don't know me very well, and only have Kara's word on it, but... we have given shelter to young women before. Four of them currently. They live here because they have nowhere to go." As they sit on the bench and chat, another Amazon comes in, followed by a group of women of various ages.
"Princess," she greets, bowing low to Diana, and then she leads the group to another part of the garden, where the entire group kneels as the Amazon passes out small bags of tools to each woman present.
The teenager listens quietly, adjusting her Captain America shirt as she listens. Molly is just about to repsond when the girls show up with the other Amazon, and she watches them curiously. She arches an eyebrow at the 'Princess' comment, and turns to regard Diana. "Are you, like...a for real Princess? Or is that just a thing? Like...respect?"
Her eyes are wide as she considers that, chewing on her lip. "Cause...my super name is 'Princess Powerful.' Also...what are they doing?" She gesturs over as the bags of tools are handed out.
Wonder Woman nods at the first question. "Yes, I am. I am the Princess of an island called Themyscira. My mother is the Queen," she explains. She smiles as Molly explains the super name. "Do your powers.. involve strength, then?" she wonders. And then she glances, following Molly's gesture. "Atalanta's gardening class," she says, gesturing to the Amazon that greeted her. "We offer classes her every day of the week. Multiple ones."
The girl's eyes widen considerably at that, and she nods as if in awe. "Wow! A real Princess! That is so insanely cool. And you're all humble about it, too...which is crazy, cause I'd be wearing a freakin' tiara and stuff." Molly turns to watch the gardening class commence and she nods a bit. "Mmhmm. I've lifted up to...like...almost 3,000 tons when I really, really push myself...but at normal crusing speed I'm more around 250. Also it'd probably take...like...a nuke to kill me when I'm all powered up."
Wonder Woman taps the tiara on her head with a small grin. "That's incredibly impressive," she murmurs. "I teach self-defense and pottery myself," she offers. "And I have three students whom I tutor in combat privately. You already know one of them - Kara. Kara actually has a room here too, for the times when she spends the night."
She blinks, kneading the hat in her lap as she glances down and then up at Wonder Woman again. "It's cause I'm a Mutant, not cause I'm a Princess or anything. I didn't have to do anything special to have powers." Molly sighs and fidgets in her seat. "Kara's a super hero too, then?" Molly brushes her fingers through her somewhat tangled hair, shifting her attention between the Princess and the various girls tending the garden.
"I can fight. I fought the God of Thunder the other week because he thought I was a bad guy. He hit me in the head with that stupid hammer...totally stung. I'd like to get better, though. I just use my strength to get me through a brawl, and I'd like to have...you know...more actual skill. And a room'd be cool....."
"Prince Thor? I know Prince Thor." Somehow fitting that a princess knows a god? "Well that Molly, if you'd like to learn I'm willing to teach. There's just one thing I have to make clear, since you fulfilled the other one by telling me what you can do - you tell me when you would like to train and how often." Simple enough, right? "As for rooms, we have several free, and I can show you what is available."
Molly Hayes rises to her feet and securely tugs her cap back on. "Awesome! And yeah, he's an alright guy. After I passed out he watched over me...y'know, making sure I was fine." She turns to watch the other girls again before she turns back. "One other thing, Princess. After I use my powers for awhile I get...uh...sleepy. Like, I get groggy then pass the heck out. Nearly impossible to wake up for hours." She sighs and shakes her head. "It sucks.."
Wonder Woman laughs softly. "That's... almost cute," she says. "It makes sense, after a fashion. Using that much energy tires you out." She leads Molly back out to the reception room and then up the stairs. "At any rate, training does not rely on powers unless you have something unusual. Like flying. If you could fly, I would focus training around that, because such maneuverability should be taken advantage of," she explains. "In your case, self-defense techniques and combat techniques in hand to hand would work best."
Molly Hayes sticks her tongue out at Wonder Woman's back as her napping is referred to as cute, but then she grins and picks up the pace so she can walk beside the much taller female. "Oh, well that makes sense. Yeah, I wanna learn super awesome karate...or...like...the vulcan neck pinch or something. I wanna learn a good fighting style that'll compliment my strength, you know?" She follows along diligently, a large smile on her face. A new chapter in her life seems to be beginning, and she can't believe it.
"I promise you Molly, it will compliment your strength." The 'vulcan neck pinch' flies right over her head, though she understands karate well enough. "I'm afraid we don't have karate on Themyscira, though we do have something which was based on Pankration." Up the stairs, a left turn, and down the hall. Two Amazon guards greet Diana and Molly. Here, Diana opens a door and gestures for Molly to step inside.
The room is a bit spartan, but then, nobody's living here. There are three chairs, a desk, and a few paintings on the walls - mostly of plants, or animals like gryphons or the like. Around one corner and to the left is the washroom (so the embassy does have modern plumbing!) and the other corner hides the sleeping area.
"Well...Pan...carrot...sounds cool too!" Molly follows along, stuffing her hands into the pockets of her shorts. She glances around, taking everything in. "It'll be cool to be around more people. When I was a kid I had a team, the Runaways. Haven't seen most of them in years. Ran into Karolina the other day, though. I think she's on the Titans now. She offered me a spot." The girl shrugs. "But I think I'll feel everything out first." She looks around the room and smiles brightly. "Rad! This is so much better then a tent!"
"Karolina? Karolina Dean?" Diana laughs softly. "I just met her the other day. She asked if I would be willing to train her." Hence the comment earlier about the embassy being popular with teenagers. "The fourth student I have is also a friend of hers. She uses the name Wonder Girl." Also Diana's apprentice.
Molly Hayes blinks and then nods quickly. "Yes! Karolina! We called her Lucy In The Sky!" Her jaw drops and she does a little twirl of excitement. "Yay! I'll get to hang with her anyways! Life is good! YAY!" The girls excitement is almost contagious. "This is so awesome!" She pauses as she hears the latter part and snaps her fingers. "Aww! Dang! I totally wanted to use that name!"
"See? That settles it. If you and Karolina are friends, then it is important I be your instructor. That way, you can see one another again." Combat training might be important considering the way things go in the world, but friends are more important. Diana firmly believes this. "I told Karolina she is welcome to visit whenever she likes."
Molly Hayes is in a very good mood now. She was very nervous when she arrived, but everything seems to be working out. She slips her backpack off and drops it on the bedk, turning around to face Diana again. "Awesome. So awesome. I totally want to train with her...though our powers are super different, her being an alien and me being a Mutant and everything." She reaches up to adjust her hat and grins lopsidedly. "And I'm ready to start training whenever. The sooner I get better, the sooner I can kick some more supervillain butt!"
Wonder Woman nods. "She gave me a little display of which she is capable of. It'll be interesting, but I'm confident we can figure out something." Molly's eagerness is certainly to smile at, which she does. "No time to settle, hm? Eager to get going?" She gestures for Molly to go ahead. "I tell you what. I'm rather hungry, and I'd like to discuss things a little more. How about we get ourselves something to eat from the kitchen to give us time to talk and determine what we need to concentrate on for you?"
The girl reaches down and places a hand on her stomach, a faint growling audible at the mention of food. "Yeah, I wouldn't mind eating. Food is good, and I have a crazy strong metabolism." Molly steps away from the bed and moves to follow Diana again, watching the way the older woman moves, obviously impressed by pretty much everything that makes her her. "Sounds good!"