fandomtownies | Ching Tai, Thursday evening

"Oooh, yes," Karla agreed, picking up where Dinah had paused for breath. "And some of those nummy strips of beef on a stick. And some spare ribs. Oh! And eggrolls, please!"

She listed off several other items from the menu and then turned shining eyes to 'Dite. "Anything you want? Oh, and a Thai Iced Tea, please."

"Oh. So, I'm paying, and you're being kind enough to ask what I want?" 'Dite had to laugh at the two of them. "What, have you two not eaten in the last three -- ooooh, they have Mongolian beef."

Excuse her while she drools.

Dinah snickered, and then grinned at the waiter. "Bring us all the appetizers, and some more tea, please? And Mongolian beef, and sesame shrimp, and..."

Yeah, that was a pretty long list.

When the list was done, she grinned at Karla. "Soooo. Things going well with your fluttery feathery friend?"

Thinking back to the indoor picnic from the other day, Karla flushed happily and nodded, glancing down at her empty plate. "Very well. We're studying together; we have two classes together and a third class he got in that I didn't have time for."

Yup. Just studying.

"Right. Studying." 'Dite might be buying dinner, but she wasn't buying 'studying'. Sorry, Karla.

"And just how many times have you 'studied' since the first time?" She didn't bother using finger quotes. 'Dite figured Dinah knew exactly what she meant.

Dinah did, in fact. At least judging by that giggling, and innocent look.

"Did you learn anything new?"

Blush blush bluuuuuuuuuuuuuuuush.

"A few things," Karla admitted, squirming a bit. "You know. This and that. Stuff. Things. Oh, water!"

Look at her drink that down!

'Dite grinned and leaned on the table, her chin on her fist. "Yeeees. Water." She tilted her head. "Dinah. What do you think Karla might have been doing that made her so . . . thirsty?"

She pushed her water glass closer to Karla. "Here. Have mine, too." And she winked at Dinah.

Dinah concealed a laugh in a cough, and nudged Karla, smiling. "Things that made her happy, as well as Warren? I think?" She grinned and filled their cups up with tea again, waited for the waiter to put down their appetizers, grabbing a spring roll. "At least, it certainly sounds like she doesn't have any complaints. And you definitely still have your appetite. Here. Build up your strength."

"Can I just say for a moment?" Karla said with a sly grin as she reached for the beef teryiaki. "Emotional echo-chambers are really nice during. And phantom hands make an excellent summons."

"Ooooooh." 'Dite shivered in delight. Her voice dropped in tone and volume, and she sounded much more like one might expect the goddess of love to sound.

"Mmm, Karla. Keep saying things like that and I might think I've corrupted you." She winked, then picked up a piece of Asian barbecue beef and licked carefully at the sauce before slowwwwly sucking it into her mouth.

Dinah was giggling, low but uncontrollable, at 'Dite's antics, and then grinning at Karla's description. She sighed in remembrance. "Echo-chamber, yeah. It's... I remember that." Vaguely. It'd been over a year since her time with Jak, and she'd had to use the shield-bracelet with Jaime.

Then she grinned. "Karla, did you use those invisible hands during a class? Hmmmmmm?"

"Not y--No!" Karla said, shaking her head. Then lowering her voice she admitted, "I think it would be hilarious if I did though." She grabbed another pot sticker and added, "Did you ever send Jak any thoughts or ideas like that while in class or out in public or anything? Sookie and I were talking about that, too."

Dinah snickered. Then turned pink. "Nooooo. Well. Not exactly. Remember, we weren't together that long, and I wasn't all that experienced at letting someone into my brain back then-- but there were a couple times at dances when we got drunker off each other, and ended up giggling and kissy-face before we slid down the walls."

They were both such light-weights back then.

"And there was a reason I needed that shield bracelet from you with Jaime, you know."

'Dite had been enjoying the back and forth between Karla and Dinah, and maybe grinning. Maybe.

Okay, yes, grinning. A lot.

But Dinah's last comment made an eyebrow go up. "Shield bracelet? Shield from what? Why? I would think you'd want to get closer to your partner, not farther."

Actually, she could think of several reasons not to get closer, but these two were too young to know them. At least 'Dite hoped they were.

"Because sometimes bleed through happens," Karla said quietly, looking Dinah's way. "Right, Dinah?"

"Yeeeah," Dinsh said on a sigh, turning slightly red with embarrassment, and looking down at her plate. "And if one of you isn't ready to have sex yet, that can get... more than a little bit awkward."

"Okay." 'Dite nodded, chewing thoughtfully on another appetizer. "But once you've both said yes, and you're having sex -- does the bracelet come off?" 'Dite was looking at this not only as a gossip session, but a way to learn more about the powers of her two young friends.

"What about you, Karla? Shield or no shield? You had Raven in your mind, so I'm guessing no? And how did that work, anyway?" She put up a hand. "The mental part, I mean, not the, you know, physical." She'd done the physical.

Heck, she'd probably invented the physical.

"It's kind of hard to say--at least not how it works," Karla said, brow furrowing. "Raven and I are usually pretty connected anyway. But we didn't have a shield that not, even the inner barriers I usually keep up. By the end, there was nothing that I felt that she didn't."

The reverse wasn't true, of course. Raven had taken the pain and sealed it away.

"We created an emotional feedback loop. Desire, physical sensations...everything was shared. It was..." Karla smiled again. "Nice."

For Dinah this wasn't-- quite so easy to talk about, in some ways. "With Jak, it was all okay. I mean, way better than okay. Like it was with you and Raven," Dinah said slowly. "Of course, that was over as soon as he came back... anyway. Um. I don't know." She sighed. "Kyle and I aren't quite at that point where I can give you an answer. I just told him about the powers, and he's not totally comfortable with them yet." She looked wistful. "I'd like to not have to use the bracelet, or my own shielding, but-- maybe that's selfish."

'Dite was quiet for a moment. She looked first at Karla. "So, you have two shields, right? The inner barriers you just spoke of, and then your usual shields?" Her head tilted as she considered. "I -- hm." And the thought stopped there.

With Dinah she first patted her hand, knowing the sexual part of the conversation would make Dinah self conscious. "I totally get why you don't want to have to use the bracelet. Why do you think that's selfish?"

"Layers and layers of shields," Karla said with a nod. "My innermost barriers protect my Self from everyone else. It's like...a house, I guess. There's a high fence, but that's usually open since it only gets closed when I'm under attack. Then a thick door which stands maybe half-open? So I can communicate with people without them having to knock. But then, the door to my private chambers are always locked, because there are certain things that no one needs to see without permission."

"Hunh." Interesting. Dinah cocked her head, distracted from the more embarrassing aspects of the conversation for a moment, and tried to imagine that. "My idea of mine is a maze. Hedges and trees and little streams and some park benches. So people can get lost in there." She grinned mischievously. "Some of the lanes don't go anywhere. And I cheat and just go under and over the hedges to get to my private stuff. Anyway..."

She looked back at Aphrodite, and said slowly, "I got used to -- a lot of sharing, intimacy, with Jak. I liked it a lot. Craved it, a little." She looked sheepish, and shrugged one shoulder. "Same with Jaime, before we pulled back. Emotionally really close. But... I'm the first weird thing Kyle's ever met. Dealt with. And maybe he'll never want to be that close, you know?"

These were things that 'Dite had never considered. The only shield she had needed was against physical attacks, and even then, they couldn't really hurt her anyway. It wasn't until her trip to Kaeleer that she'd begun to understand the very idea of shields.

Hearing Karla and Dinah describe how theirs worked gave her something to build on. Later.

To Karla she nodded. "I'm going to have to get Morton to give me another lesson, with this in mind. Or even you, if you have time at some point." Her face was very serious as she turned to Dinah. "I don't know if he will or not. But I can tell you this. When you fall in love with someone, you want to be as close to them as possible. It's not a decision -- when the love is real, then the want becomes need, really. So, right now? He may not want to be that close. But if it's real, Sweet Pea, he will." She smiled softly and winked. "He will."

Karla eyed Dinah a little dubiously. "I don't know--errr." Belatedly, she realized that maybe Dinah hadn't realized that Kyle was The One yet--or was ignoring it.

"Kyle seemed very sweet?" she tried instead.

"He is." Dinah looked... worried. She grimaced. "I like him a lot. I do. But..." She frowned. "This whole telepathy thing was a shock to him. Biiiig shock. And then everything else. And I just..."

Maybe the answer was found in eating another cheese won ton?

Maybe the questions were? Because she wasn't sure what those were yet. "He likes me? Lots?"

"Well, there's your starting point, then." 'Dite smiled, gently. "Look, you may be the first 'weird' thing he's had to deal with, but -- how many things did you have to deal with at Fandom? How about other people, those who don't have powers? It's the same principle. You deal with it because you have to. Or you leave." She shrugged. "If he leaves, then you'll move on. If he stays -- well, eventually you'll take off the bracelet." 'Dite lifted a hand to snag one of the wontons from Dinah. "And yeah, Sweet Pea, I really think it's just that simple."

Huh. Actually, that reminded Karla of a question she'd been meaning to ask 'Dite for awhile now. "'Dite, who's Bliss's grandfather?" she asked. "He has one, right? You didn't just..."

Hello vague gesture that might mean 'create a child out of nothing' or 'please pass the wontons' or maybe even 'Timmy fell down the well!'

Time, that was the big factor. And Dinah hated waiting. But. Kyle wasn't going anywhere, and it wasn't like she didn't have school and crimefighting eating up her time too.

She found herself kind of interested in Karla's question herself, actually. Since numerous myths were... well, myths.

"And do you have any other kids?"

For anyone else, the answer to those questions might be simple. For 'Dite ~~and the mun~~ they were anything but.

She rolled her eyes at Karla, then said, "No, I didn't just --" and she imitated the vague motion as best she could. Then she frowned. "His grandfather is, *ahem*, Ares."

Glancing at Dinah, she turned pensive, and very quiet. Her voice dropped in tone. "I had other children. Five others." She listed them quietly on her fingers. "Hermaphroditos -- it was a stupid name, but Hermes insisted. Priapos, son of Dionysus. Beroe, my daughter, who grew up with her mortal father, Adonis. And the twins, Aeneas and Lyros. Their father was a mortal man, in Anatolia."

'Dite turned her gaze back to Karla. "They lived in Troy, and were there during the war. Lyros fell, though Aeneas lived." A tiny smile crossed her face, though it was very sad. "After the war, he created a sanctuary, dedicated to me." The smile fled. "They're all gone now. Have been for a very long time."

She raised her glass in a silent toast and drained it.

Karla reached out to take 'Dite's hand. "I'm sorry," she said quietly. She hadn't meant to stir up old memories. Not like that, anyway.

She recognized the look in 'Dite's eyes, though. Saetan had it sometimes, and so did Andulvar and Mephis. The recognition that everyone and everything they had known were dust on the wind.

There was nothing else to say, so she too raised her glass in a silent toast.

With Bliss and Cupid as examples, Dinah had assumed all of 'Dite's kids would be still around, but of course, if they had been, she would have mentioned them before, wouldn't she? Gah. But it sounds like some of them were really happy with her, while they were around.

She kept the wince internal, and raised her glass too, with Karla, and said softly, "They're reading the Aneied in one of my other classes at college. He's remembered."

'Dite hadn't yet looked up from her empty glass, but she smiled at Dinah's statement and squeezed Karla's hand.

"Well, that's the important thing, isn't it? True mortality isn't living forever, it's being remembered after you're gone."

There was a hollow sound to her voice, but after a moment she shook her head, and when she next spoke, she sounded much more like the Aphrodite they'd come to know.

"Bah. This is morbid, talking about dead people. What else is going on with you two? Karla, tell me more about Warren, and about how Saetan took the news." She gave a half gleeful smile. "I'll bet he clenched his jaw so hard he could have chewed diamonds."

There was still a shadow around her eyes, but her smile was as bright as always.

Edited 2011-01-16 01:18 (UTC)

"Uncle Saetan was perfectly reasonable about the whole thing," Karla said primly, taking a big bite of her eggroll.

"...After we nearly tore each other's throats out and I destroyed most of his study," she added after she swallowed. "Jaenelle had to come in an referee for a bit."

She couldn't bite back a sly smile when she added, "You should have seen his expression when I told him Raven was involved."

Dinah snickered madly. "Can I just say how much I love that you and Jaenelle give her uncle such a bad time? He's a badass, but he needs to lighten up." She grinned wickedly. "You mentioned that once, how, um. Threesomes are really not all that common in Kaeleer. Since it's all so separated and boy-girl and la la la." She grinned, then faked sniffling. "My little sister is growing up! Awwww."

Ching Tai, Thursday evening

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