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

[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.

[titaness]

_{( donna steepled her fingers against her chin, nodding. )}

People...see things the way they're conditioned to. There's a very strict standard for what's normal, or beautiful. And it's not the same everywhere.

I can't imagine what it's like to not fit, in that way. But it's not something wrong with you; it's a flaw in the system itself.

[blue_and_proud]

I looked blue until I was...seven. That's when I figured out how to change it.

But it doesn't matter if it's their flaw or my flaw it's still something I have to deal with.

[titaness]

You're...amazingly strong. You know that, right?

[blue_and_proud]

[Raven actually looks a bit embarrassed and just shrugs.]

Not really. I hide now. It's...easy.

[titaness]

It's practical. Not quite hiding so much as...being cautious?

[blue_and_proud]

That's just a nice word for hiding.

[titaness]

Maybe, a bit. But I can't imagine I'd behave differently, in your situation.

[blue_and_proud]

[She smiles faintly.]

Thank you. Everyone keeps telling me I should just trust everyone and try to relax, and that everyone is so understanding now.

[titaness]

It's easier when you have people around you who are more accepting. I mean, that's pretty much how my friends and I saw it, for ages. We could totally be ourselves with each other, so it didn't matter if we had to hide things from the rest of the world.

[blue_and_proud]

Well...that's not how it was in the 1950s. I don't even think my brother particularly likes me blue.

[titaness]

Then he's being an ass and needs to learn some unconditional love.

[blue_and_proud]

'Love' is not Charles's problem. He's just an ass sometimes. [Raven shrugs.] It doesn't matter.

Anyway.

[titaness]

No, it does. Someone who's family, it's their job to make you feel good.

[blue_and_proud]

[Raven just shrugs again. She loved her brother, but their relationship was strained when it came to this sort of thing.]

Charles is worried about all of mutantkind. He tends to miss the little details.

[titaness]

It's still not right.

_{( a little sigh. )}

But you know, you haven't given me an answer yet.