my friends they all agree, give into our defeat;

[titaness]

WHO: kathreptis & blue_and_proud
WHERE: a nice cafe in the city.
WHEN: an afternoon a few weeks ago.
WARNINGS: n/a.
SUMMARY: donna and raven meet for lunch. one thing leads to another and raven gains a new career?
FORMAT: quick to start.

_{( donna stood outside their local haunt, dressed for the day and looking forward to seeing raven again. she found the other woman's presence relaxing, and also fun. there were a couple things she had in mind to ask her, but for the moment she surveyed the street, waiting for her to arrive. )}

Comments

[blue_and_proud]

I don't really like jeans. They're too...restricting. [She shrugged as she sat down, setting her bag on the floor by her foot.]

Although you look great, of course.

[titaness]

_{( she just chuckles in response, flipping open a menu. )} Thanks, you're sweet.

So the job's going okay? Kids not giving you a hard time?

[blue_and_proud]

No I'm not. You're pretty much always gorgeous, I bet everyone is jealous.

It doesn't start till next week. [Raven shrugged.] I'm...a little nervous, I guess. It's all so strange. I never imagined myself teaching, but...

I'm kind of looking forward to it.

[titaness]

_{( donna blushes a bit, the laughs a little. )} Gods, I hope not. That'd be a bit too much bad karma for me.

I'm sure you'll do great, though. I mean, I can't even say how great it is that they have a school run by imPorts. I'm sure the students appreciate it more than they say.

[blue_and_proud]

Hopefully. It would've been nice to go to a school where people didn't care, really, growing up.

[Raven hadn't gone to school at all till she was eight, and then she was blonde-her.]

Anyway, I'm not worrying about that today, today is for relaxing.

[titaness]

I think I went the other way. I was obvious about it, and then the celebrity thing sort of caught on...

_{( donna laughs at that, then nods emphatically. )}

I head that. I want to sleep for a month.

[blue_and_proud]

[Raven just shook her head.] That wouldn't have happened for me, I'm sure of that.

[A shrug and a teasing little grin.]

So what's going on? Not that I mind having lunch, of course, but you sounded...suspicious...on the phone?

[titaness]

Oh! Well... I had a photoshoot planned for early tomorrow, and one of my models dropped out at the last minute. I'd love you forever if you thought you might want to fill in?

[blue_and_proud]

[Raven just sort of blinks at her.]

...You want me to what?

[titaness]

Model! For my magazine.

[blue_and_proud]

I...

[Raven was immediately torn. On the one hand, it sounded like fun. On the other...this wasn't really her. What Donna wanted her to look like was just the mask she wore all the time, probably.]

...I don't know.

[titaness]

Can I ask why?

[blue_and_proud]

[Raven frowned at her, just for a moment, her eyes a bit distant, and then she sighed.]

It's just...this isn't...I mean, it would be me, it would just be-

[And then she was saved by the waitress! And she ordered a salad. Yum.]

[titaness]

_{( donna gets iced tea, and some light sandwich or other. )}

It's alright if you don't want to talk about it. I mean, I know it's not the most comforting job in the world.

[blue_and_proud]

It's not that. It actually sounds like fun.

[She absently toys with her fork as she speaks. She likes Donna, and there's no reason not to tell her. Right? She was obviously not going to hold it against her. But Raven was just so...paranoid. Still. She drew in a breath and took a drink of water and then set it down to kill time.]

This...okay, so, you know how everyone here has a power?

[titaness]

I'm aware, yes. _{( sort of leaning in now. this sounds like a secret. )}

[blue_and_proud]

[Another little pause, and Raven drums her fingers on the table.]

I'm a shapeshifter. I just look like this because I want to.

[titaness]

Really? You can take different human forms? That's amazing.

[blue_and_proud]

[Raven smiled faintly.]

Yeah, I guess it is. I mean...I love my power. And I could look like whatever you wanted me to. For a model, I mean.

[She shrugs.]

But it's never really me.

[titaness]

You don't have a default? Or a true form?

[blue_and_proud]

No, I do.

But nobody's going to want it in your magazine.

[titaness]

_{( donna pauses for a moment, thoughtful. )}

You sound like my friend Gar. He can shape-shift, too--only animals, though--but most of the time he's, well, green. Hard for him to be confident, but somehow he still managed.

[blue_and_proud]

[Raven smiled faintly. She was just sort of staring at Donna, considering what her options were, and then she rested her hand on the table. With a swirling motion, her skin seemed to ripple back, going from the soft, pale skin of her disguise to the blue, scaly, rough skin she 'really' had.]

That's what I look like. Everywhere.

[She let it ripple up to her elbow, and then it rippled back to her pale, normal disguise.]

[titaness]

_{( donna watches this proceeding very earnestly, waiting until raven was finished before speaking. )}

...and you think that's a bad thing?

[blue_and_proud]

[Raven hadn't expected a bad reaction from Donna, really. Donna knew green people, she was a hero. But...]

Everyone keeps claiming it isn't. That everyone...is understanding here. But if I transformed, right now, what do you think the people in this restaurant would do?

Or if I had walked in here blue.