Priestly's apartment in New Gotham, Wednesday night

[lovemykilt]

"Okay," Mark said, sipping his beer. "But she's not your girlfriend?"

Priestly shook his head. "How is this so hard for people to understand?" he asked Tia. She shrugged, smirking.

"So she's available?" Mark asked.

"Don't rebound with a girl, Mark," Tia said. "You should date a guy, next."

Mark sighed and went back to sipping his beer.

[ooc: expecting one, but open to phone calls if anyone wants to.]

Comments

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

Boggling at that, Dinah took a sip from her drink. "Never had that guy, but all my lib arts credits were in drama, so, no surprise there. Yay nutrition! And we can always use more people who know social work around New Gotham." She gave Mark an approving nod at that, and said, "Have more curry. Tia, what kind of urban legends are you working on? Aside from Huntress's autograph."

[lovemykilt]

"She wants to write a tell-all book about New Gotham," Mark said. Tia rolled her eyes.

"Yes, my interest is mostly local," she said. "But come on, Dinah, you've lived here awhile, right? There is so much about this city that's crazy, and so much more that people say that's even crazier. I want to compare the sorts of stories you get in a city like New Gotham, full of freaks and weirdos -- and then there's the supervillains -- and a place like Star City, which is only just barely getting into the superhero business."

"She can be at this all night," Priestly said. "I mean that literally. I accidentally fell asleep during it my first night here and when I woke up two hours later, she was still going."

Tia scowled and crossed her arms, though she couldn't keep the angry facade up long. "You don't get a masters in something you're not passionate about."

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

The boggling was internal this time, but it was still there. Probably, hopefully only Priestly noticed by the widening of Dinah's eyes. "You're getting a master's in superheroes. In, no, wait, the weirdness... surrounding them?" She paused. "Wow, that's ... so much more seriously than most people take it. I mean, you know New Gotham-- wait, you don't, yet. Well, once you get used to it, people are just kind of like-- 'as long as I don't get hit by flying glass or knocked out by poisonous weeds, it's a good day.'" She pointed at Priestly. "Ask him about getting kidnapped by the Riddler."

Yup, throwing you under that train, Priestly!

[lovemykilt]

Tia raised an eyebrow. "I grew up here." Mark opened his mouth and she shoved a finger in his face. "Okay, technically I grew up in the 'burbs. But I'm not new to town. Growing up here is why I want to study it. Like, the whole Batman story. Not everyone sees their parents gunned down and grows up to be a creepy vigilante."

Priestly caught Dinah's eye and shrugged, giving her a I'll tell you later head tilt. Tia, he'd learned, was just a touch -- well -- touchy about Batman.

"Priestly got kidnapped by the Riddler?" Mark asked. "Dude, what haven't you done?"

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

Dinah's jaw had dropped a little at that comment-- how did Tia know that?! -- but at Priestly's shrug and head-tilt, she nodded, eyebrows going down, then smoothing out. "Not criticizing," she told Tia, sounding a little more contrite. "Just kinda-- stunned? I did Criminal Justice for my major. Between people who hated the guy and people who wanted to give him a medal, well. Not a lot who wanted to study him."

"I think he hasn't done..." Dinah paused. "Nope, he did that too... let's see...." She tapped her fingers on her lips, grinning.

[lovemykilt]

"I get around," Priestly said, nudging Dinah with his shoulder. "Getting kidnapped by the Riddler is apparently just what happens when your best friend invites you to the policeman's ball in New Gotham."

"You know I'm going to want to interview about that now, right?" Tia asked. "I mean, I knew you visited here before, but now I know you were in the middle of things."

"A middle. I was in a middle of one thing that one time." A beat. "And maybe a few other middles some other times."

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

"Mmmhmm." Dinah grinned. "Well, to be fair, the policeman's ball always is a target, and we always go because of Uncle Jim, so. Bound to happen sometime if you visited here over the holidays." She looked thoughtful, and threw out at random, "And we were kinda doing volunteer help during the Poison Ivy thing a couple months ago. Helping people get to ambulances and stuff. I only saw the big green guy from a distance, though." To Mark, she asked, "So where are you from?"

[lovemykilt]

"I made snacks," Priestly offered. "Gotta keep those first responders fed."

Tia eyed them both suspiciously.

"Smallville," Mark said. "AKA the most boring place on Earth."

Meteors aside, anyway.

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

"... I knew a guy from there. Clark?" Dinah squinted, then nudged Priestly. "What was that Clark guy's name, from high school? Really tall? He was Tony's roommate for a while?... Tia, why are you giving me that look?"

Heh. Best defense was...?

[lovemykilt]

"Right," Priestly said. "Clark. I never really knew him."

He was so helpful.

"If he was from Smallville," Mark said, "he was boring." He looked over at Tia. "Don't mind her, she's convinced everyone has a secret identity."

"Not everyone," Tia said. "Just, you know . . . the interesting people."

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

"I'm interesting!" Dinah exulted, and pointed at Mark. "He's interesting. Have you caught him in night-vision goggles yet? Or a cape? Priestly, I want a cape."

[lovemykilt]

"No capes," Priestly said. "You spend too much time jumping off of things. What if it got caught on the way down?"

This was why he was her Sous. He thought of all the sensible things.

"She already knows my secret identity," Mark said. Priestly frowned at him. "I'm not telling you. It's secret." Priestly looked over at Tia.

"It's secret," she confirmed. "I'm not going to tell just anyone about Sentience, either. I'm very good at keeping secret identities safe."

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

"You'd never let me have any fun." Dinah sighed sadly. "...does this mean I can have night goggles?"

Well, she already did. But still.

"I like you," Dinah told Tia, grinning. "But if you find out Priestly's other secret identity, I gotta warn you that I have to threaten you. A lot."

[lovemykilt]

"So," Tia said, eyebrows raised. "You have a secret identity other than Sentience?"

Priestly coughed. "Nope. Absolutely not."

"You're a terrible liar," said Mark.

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

Dinah snickered and curled up next to Priestly, happily eating her curry.

"Next time I come over, I'm bringing Gabby. My roommate. She'll like you guys."

[lovemykilt]

"Oh goody," Mark said, his voice saharan. "More new friends."

"He's not nearly as anti-social as he pretends to be," Priestly said. ". . . I think."

He'd only known the guy for so long, after all.

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

"Hey, we are new friends that come with food. And possibly the world's best cookies," Dinah said, faking injury. "If you don't want cookies..."

[lovemykilt]

"I'm diabetic," Mark said.

"No he's not," said Tia.

"And on that note," said Priestly. "You guys mind if Dinah and I hang out solo for awhile?"

"Why would we mind that?" Mark asked.

Tia grabbed him by the back of the collar and dragged him towards the bedrooms. "Come on, Mark, it's time for your regular 'how not to be an asshole' lesson. Have fun, guys!"

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

Dinah was laughing helplessly around her food, waving bye to them, and finally swallowed enough to say, "In some small, subtle ways, he reminds me of you. Only so much younger than you are now."

[lovemykilt]

"I grew out of my aggressively smart ass phase," Priestly said. "You know, mostly."

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

"Mostly." Dinah bumped his shoulder companionably, grinning large. "But not totally. And a good thing, too... man, it's good to be back. Even if it means jobhunting again. What's your class schedule like? And did you get a job yet?"

[lovemykilt]

"Working the breakfast shift at a diner not too far from campus," Priestly said. "They offered a night shift, too, but I figured why tempt fate?"

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

"Yeah, at least your first semester. If you don't need the money yet." She pointed a fork at him. "And remember, if money gets tight, Alfred will make sure you won't starve... oh! Momoko's got a new address, I have to pass it along to you."

[lovemykilt]

"Yes you do," Priestly said. "I need to be able to run away to El Paso if things get to hairy around here."

He was joking. If things got to hairy, he'd be somewhere on the sidelines making food for the people dealing it it.

"And I know. But I don't think I'll need it. I've gotten pretty good at living by the seat of my pants, you know."

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

Dinah gave him a playful eyebrow-wiggle for that, and nodded, then swallowed. "We managed to catch the bad guy in El Paso, but we couldn't get the money back. But Momoko needed a new place, and Mrs. Wilson needed a boarder, so. You'd be running away to Momoko's new place at Mrs. Wilson's, and she is no one to mess with. Be sure to take food with you so she'll let you see Momo."