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Good morning Keeliai, how are we all today?

[Steph is sitting at her console, leaning back in her chair with her legs propped up on the desk. She's smiling, and for those that know her, it's the sort of smile that should be extremely concerning. Those that don't know her may also be feeling like they're about to hear something they don't want to.

She is going to be a terrible person today.]

I'm going to preface this message by saying that anyone under the age of 16, or whatever the age of legality is where you're from, should tune out now, please and thank you. I'm not gonna be explicit or anything, but it's probably not going to be appropriate for kids. [she gives a pointed look, yes you, Damian, switch off the computer now.]

I was taking an anthropology class back home, and my professor happens to be here too. [she wrinkles her nose, like yes, I know that's super weird, how do you think I feel?] And he's been giving me assignments and stuff, because apparently being kidnapped by a giant turtle isn't a valid excuse not to keep up with coursework. The topic we'd been studying before I got brought here was human sexuality, and Professor Craig suggested I write a paper on kedan sexuality instead. [Hi Bruce.] Except, uh, after the last couple weeks, I'm not really keen on that idea.

But I have been thinking about all these people with superpowers running around, and like - we've got comics back home, right? But they tend to focus on the whole defeating supervillains and stopping alien invasions side of things, which is great, sure, I love a good action story, but there's something that just never really comes up.

[she looks directly at the camera, the very picture of scientific curiosity] Do they - or, do you, for the superpowered people in the audience - ever use their powers for sex? This isn't a rhetorical question, by the way, if you have used your powers in the bedroom, feel free to share with the class.

And in the interest of not excluding anyone from the conversation, anyone who's just a regular old human, or whathaveyou, you can discuss what sort of powers you'd like to have, and how you'd use them to impress the gender-of-your-preference.

Don't feel like you have to respond directly to me, you're more than welcome to talk amongst yourselves. I figured we could use a little lighthearted chat to take our minds off the situation. Don't you agree?

[She winks, clearly trying not to laugh, and sits back in her chair to wait for responses]

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[She doesn't actually shriek, it's more like a very loud "eep!"]

[He takes a while to answer to her, it's not until he's actually in front of the computer that he can talk to her.

At least this means he's had time to calm down and stop being flustered.]

Do I even want to know what brought this on?

Uh.

[Hi, Clark.

Oh god why is he like one of the few people who she gets embarrassed in front of this isn't fair. Just because she's idolized Superman since she was little.]

Probably not? There's a boy. [H E L P] It's - um. Now I know what Steve felt like, this is karma, isn't it? [head in hands]

Edited 2012-09-21 19:23 (UTC)

Ooh, of course there's a boy, there always is. And yes, Karma has a way of getting back to you.

[That gets a smile out of hin. He might fluster easily but he understands teenagers are teenagers and he had been one, once.]

And one with powers, I'm assuming. Do I know him?

You can't just ask this kind of things in the open either way, dear. You never know who's listening.

Not always. [she is just going to sulkily contradict him because her brain honestly short circuited a little at Clark "ooh"ing.

Oh god okay she's encrypting this conversation.] Striker. [Said with awareness of the fact that Brandon and Clark didn't exactly get off to a great start. She's gonna work on that.]

If you mean him, we've already had words. [Did he just call her "dear"?

This is legitimately the strangest conversation she's ever had]

[He automatically frowns at that name. It's not that he doesn't like the guy, he seems like a good boy and he obviously wants to help even though he might not go about it in the best way possible.]

It's not that I don't approve, but he has yet to believe a word I say. Apparently an old man like me being nice is simply impossible.

And honestly I'm not sure if he will approve either. Especially if the first thing you do is start talking about using powers during sex-

STEPHANIE BROWN WHAT DID YOU LET HIM DO?!

[She actually has a theory about the first point Clark brings up, based on the conversation she's had with Brandon, and she'd been debating exactly how to say that to Clark without feeling like it was a betrayal to Brandon.

But then she's getting yelled at all of a sudden and all it serves to do is raise her hackles. Nevermind that he's Superman, Steph just stares at him, utterly uncomprehending for a long moment before her expression turns to anger]

How is that any of your business?

[It's not the same as her bringing it up in the context of talking about superheroes. This is just some dude she barely knows acting like he has any right to question what she does in her private life.]

Why does it have to be that I let him do something? God forbid it was my idea, right? Because I'm just - what, some silly little girl that needs protecting?

I thought you'd be better than that. [Her tone is practically dripping disappointment, and there's something like hurt underneath it.

She should've known he couldn't be as good as she'd hoped.]

Edited 2012-09-23 17:14 (UTC)

[When someone yells at Clark he usually... yells back. He doesn't even mean to and most of the time he regrets it later, but he can't really help it.

This time though it isn't some villain or a teammate yelling at him. It isn't even Perry or someone at the planet. It's a relatively young girl that had been extremely nice to him until now at that kind of takes him by surprise and makes him pause. So when he talks, he's actually calm and looking apologetic.]

That's not what I meant, Steph, and I'm sorry I yelled. It's not- it's not about the sex or about you being a girl, like you said that isn't and will never be any of my business and I'd have yelled at him all the same.

But Striker's powers... they are dangerous if used badly, just like all powers. I have hurt enough people without meaning to to know that. And I simply assumed the worst. So you don't have to answer what I asked but just...

Be careful? Please?

[He doesn't even know if he's being condescending or if she'll also take it as him being worried about a little girl, but he just can't help worrying.]

[She's still bristling, but she'd been waiting for him to shout back and the fact that he doesn't makes her pause in her anger long enough to actually listen to what he has to say. That he looks apologetic goes a long way, too.

By the time he's finished, she's still not happy with him, but she's not outright angry at him either, and she really wants to believe what he says about it not being because she's a girl.]

I know you don't like him, but it's-- [he has a reason to be paranoid about that sort of thing, is what she thinks, but she really doesn't know how to say it, and she curls up in her chair a little, looking away from the screen.] It's nothing personal. [The way Brandon talks to Clark, his defensiveness.]

And for the record, it was my idea. [Just to try it, and it'd felt so nice to not be scared of electricity after some of what Black Mask had done. She looks back at the screen, defiant] He won't hurt me. [and it's clear how much she believes it.

The way he'd reacted after she told him - everything, had convinced her.]

Oh, don't misinterpret me. I do like him- I'm rather fond of him actually. He's smart and a quick thinker, and he seems to be able to control his powers at his early age- something I actually didn't, it took a lot of training to get the hang of them.

He has some kind of problem is with me, not the other way round.

[He wants to make that clear, but this isn't what this is about. He wants Step to understand that she could be dating the most educated men on Earth and he'd still worry about the powers.]

You know how much I love my wife. You know I wouldn't do anything to harm her. So how do you think I've felt when I've waken up to notice a bruise on her wrist I accidentally caused? Or the mark of my hand on her skin- or all the times I've had to warn her to move because I couldn't control my laser vision in the heath of the moment.

[Enjoy the imagery, Steph.]

How do you think Striker will feel if he causes permanent damage?

You're not listening. [It's a little strained, something like pleading in her voice. She can't just explain it to Clark, so she needs him to figure it out. She needs him to know to tread carefully so that he doesn't make Brandon uncomfortable. That "quite fond of him" sets her teeth on edge.

It's stressing her out enough that she doesn't even react to the overshare.

Especially when now she's just thinking about Brandon's face after she told him about what Sionis did, how he'd backed away from her. (How could you let me do that?)]

I know I have a bit of a reputation. [she means regarding not being careful about things, not about... anything else] But I'd really appreciate you not jumping to conclusions. I am being careful, so is Brandon, and just because I decided to have a bit of fun discussing the use of powers during sex doesn't mean I'm actually having someone use their powers on me during sex.

I haven't gotten laid in like four years. I'm gonna take things slow.

[She's so past caring that he's Superman]

Edited 2012-09-26 03:21 (UTC)

[Seeing her so desperate, so... strained, so on the verge of something even though he can't pinpoint what is what really gets his attention. His shoulders visibly relax when she says she's going to take things slow and that she hasn't used his powers in sex yet, but his attention has already moved somewhere else.

Call it a defense mechanism if you must, the fact that he was talking about sex with her is really going to hit him hard later.]

I am, listening I mean. But you're acting as if I had said something wrong?

[It will take more than that for Clark to put things together.]

[She just sighs for a moment, her elbows braced on the desk and her head in her hands, before she drags her fingers through her hair and looks back at the screen.

She can't do this. She really can't.]

You haven't. Not on purpose. [Brandon just seems to have decided Clark can't be trusted, for reasons that Steph isn't entirely sure of (she doesn't understand how someone could get the "keeping a secret" thing, since she already knows it) but she does know that it's a perfectly valid reason to be defensive.]

Can you just-- be careful. Please?

Steph...

[He isn't sure what to say now. He knows there's something more that he should get, that he should be asking- but Bruce has already contacted him (and he knows it's because he was pushing Steph far too much about her private life), he always has had trouble knowing when to stop asking. Call it an occupational hazard.]

I can stop talking to him if it will make both of you feel better. I'm not sure what I did to cause this, I'm just...

[He's used to people not liking Superman, used to people fearing him when they realize his powers. He's used to people like Lex who will always misunderstand the reason he's on Earth.

But Clark Kent is just a reporter that means no harm, he's only bothered a few big fishes when he exposed his lies. He's not used to a kid disliking him for apparently no reason.]

I'm sorry. I'm glad you found somebody. I will not... bring the subject up again.

[And now she feels bad for making Clark sound like that, because he hasn't really done anything wrong, she just doesn't know how to explain this without it feeling like a betrayal.]

It's not-- [she makes a wordless sound of frustration, clenches and unclenches her fists like she wants to hit something.]

I'm sorry, too. I wish I could make you understand. [It's not directed at him, for all her frustration, she just wishes there was a way she could just say it.]

You have nothing to be sorry for. It wasn't my business and I let my worries and fears take over when I should know by now you're more than able to handle yourself.

[He makes a face] And about Striker, I wouldn't make you tell me any more than what you're able to. We can just hope I will eventually understand.

[And hope it isn't too late.]

[She appreciates the further apology, even if it's a bit hard to really focus on right now, so she just shakes her head like it's not necessary for him to explain.

This is such a mood whiplash and it's making it hard for her to keep her thoughts in order. For all that she sometimes hates conversations with Bruce, sometimes it's easier to hint things to the World's Greatest Detective]

Just don't push him. [Unless Clark potentially wants a face full of lightning, which might not be the end of the world for Superman, but it'll make the secret identity a little tricky.] I'll try to sort out the rest.

[Maybe she can just convince Brandon that Clark is an alright guy.

That will go well.]

Clark.

[That single word is pure Batman, and it implies 'we should be talking about this in person'.]

Where and when?

[He knows that tone.]

Here. Now.

[Don't even front like you don't know where 'here' is, farm boy. If you can't pick his heartbeat out of a crowd by now...]

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