Scene #8302: Animal Style

Owner	Pose
Powerpuff Girls	Bubbles had developed a hunger that could only be solved one way: A swish of a golden arrow. Buttercup was always hungry, but didn't like eating alone with Bubbles, because the blonde would talk her ear off, and Buttercup had better things to do than eat annoyed: she'd rather eat alone. Still, Buttercup was hungry for burgers, too. On El Camino, the golden road, stucco buildings and short, warm one and two story commercial pop-outs line either side of the four lanes split down the middle with dividers. At a four way intersection, an absolute catastrophe of traffic danger converges around the drive-thru window outlet of In N Out Burger, a tan building with white and red interior, tile floor and white plastic counters and chairs with grey plastic chairs that have a vague impression, but not actual reality, of cushioning. Outside the metal framed glass doors with a broken push-bar locked 'in' are a trio of stone tables lightly sticky with years-old patina of oil and a months-old dribblings of sugar and fat. Bubbles, in a pale blue shoulderless top revealing black straps over her shoulder, a blue skirt, white mid-ankle socks, and blue sneakers, sits underneath one of the not-quite-helpful umbrellas. Besides her and standing over her phone, annoyedly typing, is Buttercup, in a dark green short-sleeved T-shirt that rides a bit high, and a pair of distressed black jeans that ride a bit low. She texts Petra: >Petra. >Do you wanna save me from my sister? >We're getting burgers, I'll send you the address. >You can tell us about your tank. >Anyway I'm paying. Sliding her phone into her back pocket reflexively, Buttercup looks at the smugly pleased blonde under the shade. "What's got you all smug?" Bubbles first leans an eye to the table to check for areas of Grode, and then carefully places her leaning elbow on a '''clean''' part. (None of them are clean, some of them cause damage to clothing.) "You're the one with the phone and the plus one." Bubbles returns, and to that Buttercup has no good answer.
Petra Soroka	Petra stares into the fridge at her cabin in the space station, barren besides a huge pot of chili, now 90% empty. She successfully cooked one (1) meal last week, purposefully overpreparing portions to delay the agony of repeating the ordeal as long as possible, but with Remee busy almost every day since, it had fallen to Petra to eat all the leftovers. Two meals a day, for the past six days. All chili. The pot stares back at her with what can only be interpreted as malevolence, daring her to be strong enough to continue. At that moment, her phone buzzes, and she breaks eye contact (?) to check the messages, becoming excited as she reads. She slams the fridge shut and texts back: >yeah!!!! >that sounds greta >great >u mean bubbles? >i'll fly over rn >its easiest and thn you can actually see it too if u want Even besides the prospect of burgers, Petra's thrilled to jump at the chance to meet the girls. These are superheroes! She knew about them as a kid! It's objectively cool to be invited to lunch by them. The Kana is, somehow, not the loudest or most unpleasant vehicle in the fast food parking lot when it arrives. A truck, modified to be hostile to every possible sense at once, idles in the drive-through, competing with the Kana's engines as it touches down. When Petra hops out of the mech, she first wrinkles her nose at the smell of exhaust, then quickly wipes the negative expression off her face to wave at the girls, starting to jog over before relaxing into a cool walk. Petra is wearing baggy, straight-leg jeans that cuff over her combat boots, along with a green t-shirt with a graphic of some painting--frame included--on it, over which is an open flannel top. She pulls the aviator goggles off of her forehead and shoves them into her pocket, running a hand through her hair to readjust it as she reaches the girls. "Hey, Buttercup, Bubbles! How are you guys, what's up? Did you order anything yet?" Petra hovers awkwardly at the table, not quite sitting down yet.
Powerpuff Girls	>greta >Yeah, Bubbles. >Oh do you fl >the tank flies doesn't it? Back at the Pasadena home of the POWERPUFF GIRLS. . . Blossom Utonium, in a white coat and goggles, carefully combines one beaker, which seems to only contain sparks, with a finger's worth of fine glitter-dust. The door to the dark lab opens, lit only by the glow of two beakers and the reflection of two goggles. A cheerful older man's voice calls into the darkness. "Blossom? Is that you?" Startled, Blossom's hands jitter. Across the VALLEY of SILICON: An 'earthquake' thumps through the area. Most people ignore it, not noticing the tectonic activity on one of the States' greatest faultlines. Buttercup, watching the Kana come in, winces at the 'earthquake' and looks away from the mecha's approach. Bubbles pulls her own phone out, and starts texting home, mildly concerned. Neither seems super jazzed up when Petra approaches, not quite noticing the combat booted blonde on her approach until she's quite close. Long enough to fix her hair and straighten her collar, switch to a cool walk, and put on her best possible hungry face. "Hey, Petra." Buttercup is the less bothered of the two, switching to an easy resting smirk when Petra makes her introduction. "Huh? No, I've not ordered yet. We were waiting for you." Bubbles puts down her phone with a frown, that turns halfway into a smile with a bit of context humor. "She hates waiting in the line multiple times. Hello, Petra, it's nice to meet you in person." Getting up, Bubbles takes a step towards the door and pushes it open with a lean. "Did you have an idea of what you wanted?" Buttercup looks down at her alerts on her phone, and then opens a broadcast while she heads inside. "Hey, Bubbles, isn't that-?" Bubbles also has it up - it's hitting everyone's phones in the area. An Announcement. "The CLOUT thief!!" Bubbles exclaims, voice rising in indignance. "What is she doing this time?"
Petra Soroka	Petra, having missed the narrative cutaway, the earthquake, and the texts, and being an anxious wreck, fumbles her smile when the two girls seem less enthusiastic than her. Of course they wouldn't be excited! It's just a casual lunch to meet a new coworker, and talk about her tank. They're not friends. To socially adapt, Petra slips into an uneasy disaffected tone. "Oh, that makes sense. I'm actually, um, familiar with the chain, they were around where I used to live too." Petra runs through that sentence in her head as the group enters the building, wondering if it was oversharing. She could've just said yes, right? Or would that be too curt, and leave-- Simultaneously, everyone's phones buzz with an announcement, and Petra takes her phone out of her pocket with a frown. "Huh? An announcement from Dr. Eggman?" Petra squints at the phantom thieves, having never met them or checked out their podcast before. "Who are these guys? Isn't that inside the Egg Carrier?" Petra shrugs, slipping the phone away. That's a problem for later, maybe she'll ask Eggman about it. Or... he might be in a bad mood, which would make doing that dangerous, so she should probably just do what he wants first. Once the group reaches the counter, Petra puts in an order for the one thing the burger place does--modifying it with the titular secret menu option. She orders the modification with almost conspicuous casualness, speaking easier than she did with the rest of her order. She's probably still spinning that earlier anxiety in her mind. Petra desperately searches for a topic of conversation, and her brain grasps onto what may be the worst option. "Oh. Yeah, so that was Dr. Eggman's logo. Have you met him yet?"
Powerpuff Girls	Bubbles is a bit distracted to carry the conversation, fully invested in the moment and even leaning into the announcement, all about it. "Petra, Blossom had this transfer function and dragged us and the Rowdies over for elbow-rubbing and networking when the school function was a heisted by a phantom thief. She almost stole an old man, and she did steal a plaque - from all three of us." Buttercup is on-task, on mission, herding the Girls (Petra has already earned honorary third position in the formation - Buttercup is in position one with no red Puff to take the center) towards the counter and the attendant in a white paper hat, collared shirt, and apron. "Yeah, let's get two four by fours animal style with fresh onions, neopolitan shake, large drink, one well fried fries, one animal style fries." The attendant nods. "Okay, that'll-" Buttercup holds up her hand, looks to Petra next, and grins. "That's for me. Petra?" The easy grin returns. "She only spooked Blossom with spiders in the lights, and made Bubbles fear for her internet points." Bubbles stamps her feet and turns, huffing and air-sitting while her legs draw up under her while she hovers. The attendant, who is used to California being deeply weird, doesn't react. Buttercup hangs her head and shakes it, lightly forlorn. "She was fast and had gadgets!" Bubbles complains, withdrawing. Then, back turned: "I'll have a double with the lettuce wrap, extra everything, no sauce." Rolling her neck, Buttercup glances out of one emerald eye at Petra. "Hey, you ok?" Eggman? "Never heard of him. Does he do egg stuff?"
Petra Soroka	Petra, dazed, tries to catch up to Bubbles' rapid lore dump. "Wait, she? The girl in the announcement? Why did she--she tried to steal an old man, like, kidnapping?" Petra easily falls into position, being very used to thematic groups of three girls. As Buttercup talks more at her, her awkwardness fades away a little bit, and she leans against the counter while the others order. "Oh, shit, these are the podcast guys, right? I don't think you have anything to worry about, with them stealing any clout from you." She bites on her knuckle and looks off into space, fiddling with the hem of her flannel. "You definitely won't have to worry, since they're probably getting turned into robots right now. That's what he does, not... egg stuff. Eggman, I mean. He's got a robot army, and stuff like that. He was interested in the Kana, too, but I...." Rebuked him, for being a supervillain? There's no reason to lie more than she has to, except to Ishirou, so she just trails off. Petra lingers for a moment so that Buttercup can lead the group to a table. Yellows know that greens are in charge when red's gone.
Powerpuff Girls	"You should order." Buttercup suggests, and Petra gets in her request around Bubbles' sudden fixation. "She! And yes, kidnapping. She nearly heisted a legendary professor right from his own endowment building! I had to get very intense in my de-duck-tions!" Bubbles insists, 'standing' in her air hover before the counter emphatically with wide sapphire eyes. "But she had to post and that's her downfall!" She almost sounds a little maniac, giddy-giggly but all down-beat. Swooping over to Petra's side with a horizontal-slide translation through the air, Bubbles is there, at the counter, deeply invested and joining Petra in a foreknuckle chewing. "All I have to do is get on that podcast." "You are not a supervillain. Tell Brick to go on that podcast." Buttercup suggests with a snort, and holds her phone over the payment register to pay with her bank app. With their heinous order placed, Buttercup leads the squad to a four person table an inside-resturant double booth bench table with a side wall in red, and a tabletop in checkered white. Bubbles sidles into the table first, and then Buttercup sits in, aisle-side, after her, leaving Petra to sit across as seems to be her preference). "Turned into robots, huh?" Buttercup asks, unenthused. "They probably deserve it." Bubbles harrumphs. "Not sure anyone 'deserves' that, even if they're villains." Buttercup drops her voice. Bubbles falls quiet. Buttercup looks up at Petra, considering-leaning. "Thinking of joining up with a robot army? The one parked outside is pretty cool, I'm forced to admit. So, you're... popular?"
Petra Soroka	Petra nods sagely at Limelight's downfall being caused by Posting. It happens to the best of us. One day Petra will have her editing permissions returned on Lilian's wiki page. "If you really want to get on their podcast, you can probably just ask, right? They're, like, nobodies. They'd totally jump at having a famous guest, even if you're not a supervillain." Petra taps her finger on her lips, thinking. "I wonder if I could get on the podcast...." Her disdain for the media format is forgotten, in her quest for clout. Petra slides into the booth, taking off her flannel and folding it neatly to put on the seat beside her. "He... well, basically everyone he's done it to was a slaver? So, that's... at least a little deserving." Petra realizes she probably shouldn't be defending the supervillain, or bringing up such heavy topics at lunch. She puts an elbow onto the table, flinches and recoils backwards, then grabs a handful of napkins to wipe up the offending crumbs scattered across the surface. "J-joining?" Petra's first instinct is to be defensive, but her tone quickly becomes casual again. "Oh, no. It's not like my mech is a robot, though it does have a bit of an AI. It still needs me to pilot, so I'm not... really suited for that. He was just curious about it." Petra fiddles with her hair idly while looking around the restaurant, distractedly trying to think of an interesting thing to say about the Kana that makes her seem cool for piloting it. Stealing it is probably her coolest story, but it's a little risky to talk about that with superheroes? Petra blinks, looking back at Buttercup. "Wait. Popular? Why?"
Powerpuff Girls	Buttercup isn't engaged directly with the topic but she's interested in Petra, having invited her. She pays attention, leans in, and listens, even if it's mostly Bubbles talking. "She's right, you know, Bubbles. You could totally get on the podcast." Bubbles scoffs, pushing back from the table with her palms to get all the way to the back of the booth seat. "Not ever. It's a villain podcast! We're super-heroes, in case you forgot?" Bubbles shoots back, passionate. Dry witty, knowing she's not being listened to by the maniac blue, Buttercup shares a Look with Petra, and the light puff of a private joke. "How... could I forget, Bubbles?" Buttercup follows Petra's pop-back with her elbow, a primarily audio skr! highlighting the green swipe underneath Petra's arm. Toying with a napkin she didn't have before, Buttercup rolls the one-ply white napkin between her fingers, squinting at Petra. Bubbles is fuming at her phone and begins thumbtyping. "I'm going to get Boomie to blow her up on socials. Then she'll just die on the spot. Her clout will never recover." "Yeah?" On popular. "You've got a big robot and a dream, that's pretty cool."Buttercup isn't buying it, but isn't on the right reason. The mech, to her, is obviously cool, but, unbeknownst to Petra, one of Buttercup's closer friends is a local Silicon Valley legend in science and robotics - and a big stompy robot is right up his alley. The reception of the Kana parking in the parking lot being restrained expanded from that presence: People were really used to science and technology protecting them around these parts. The Girls, of course, were just another example. "Petra, if you've got an in with some... rougher types you want to hang out with, just make sure you're being safe, okay?" Buttercup shares, extending a hand - with folded napkin! - to place under Petra's arm. "I tried my share of junkyard dates, but try not to get tricked into giving anything up, okay?" Bubbles lights up as she tunes in to what's actually going on. "Are you talking about the Gangr-" Buttercup looks up. No numbers have been called. "Hey, I hear our food. Be right back." "No you don't-!" Bubbles complains, but Buttercup is already slid out of the booth and floating to the counter right as their ticket is called. Bubbles, grumping for a moment, sits down and then switches to smiling at Petra. "She recorded an album with the Gang a few years back when Ace got out of prison. It was nice, actually. But she won't tell you that. She'll stick to the junkyard stories."
Petra Soroka	Petra has a moment during the conversation, where she notices Buttercup's posture and attention, and hesitates briefly with a worried look on her face. Her eyes connect with Buttercup's with a hint of trepidation, like she's expecting her to jump in with some judgement, or worse: stay quiet with one. The moment passes though, and Petra smoothly continues talking with the pair. She meets Buttercup's look with one of her own, locking on to that silent connection with a sense of relief. "It's probably mostly listened to by villains too, right? So maybe you could spook them a bit, by showing up on it." "A dream. Well, that's part of the thing, the popular people actually do have one." Petra freezes, the honest thoughts slipping out without thinking. She rubs her mouth with the back of her hand, the topic feeling too loaded for the cheery retro restaurant. But, Buttercup continues the thread, and Petra shifts in her seat uncomfortably. "Giving things up is, sort of, something I've been wondering about. I... don't really think I'm much of a hero, so I don't have much to give up. We talked about this a bit, in the radio, and I've been thinking about it since. The way that you get it, it doesn't really come naturally to me. The line for what "being safe" means to me." Petra cuts off and leans back against the thinly cushioned booth when Buttercup abruptly gets up. Petra watches her exit with a thoughtful pout, then notices Bubbles trying to get her attention back. "Mmm. Is she ashamed of it? Of hanging out with them, in a way that isn't... like a junkyard?"
Powerpuff Girls	Buttercup has long, long since gotten used to people seeking-and-searching about what she says. Trending towards the rougher end, the looming threat of her power - of her Doing things - hung over the heads of everyone around her. The worrying, the hesitation is all within the usual, animal reactions to her. So the green Puff does her best 'normal', which among the trio, is the most convincing. When she walks, she drops her weight into the steps and moves confidently. She doesn't pivot or snake around people automatically - she anticipates and moves around them, and only corrects when she has to. Petra had seen Bubbles, for comparison, and even in the booth the blue had a weightlessness to her sitting, her walking - a floaty kind of bobbing skip that never actually requires the ground to cooperate for her to move through it. Bubbles floats, but Buttercup walks. And so she walks to get the order, while Bubbles fills in some of the details: "I don't think Buttercup is ashamed of it?" The blonde begins, sapphire eyes tracking up and off thoughtfully. "What Buttercup is ashamed about..." Bubbles laughs. "Wouldn't be something like where she is, or who she's with. It might be what she's doing, or what she did. We've just had experiences." Bubbles's eyes snap back to Petra, her thinking briefly paused. Then, her eyes close, and she smiles broadly. "If you're not much of a hero right now, then you have a lot to give up, don't you? All the things you could do, be, help people with." Walking back with two heaped red plastic trays with a heart attack and a half of burgers, sauce, fries, and drinks delivered before Petra and Buttercup's spot, the green-and-black Puff grins down at the two seated girls. "Hungry? I've been burgin' all day." "But burgers was myyyy idea!" Bubbles complains. "Shhhhhh-sh-sh-sh." Buttercup looks up to shush her sister, smug behind her softness. "Burger time." Rolling into her booth seat on her palms and scooping up a fry as Bubbles pulls one of the two trays closer so she can get at her double lettuce wrap, Buttercup gunbarrels Petra with a fry in her mouth and both gazing emeralds on 'target'. "So, dreamless girl. What're you gonna get from Eggman if you take Lamelight alive?"
Petra Soroka	"Is there much of a difference? Between who you're with, and what you're doing." Petra slouches on the bench, looking a bit above Bubbles' head in thought. Liza and Eggman are the two faces that pop into her mind first. Liza decapitating a guard with an offhand swipe. Eggman at the helm of a soul-carving machine while Lilian screams at him. "They say things about each other, don't they. Good or bad." Petra shakes her head, tapping her fingers on the side of the table while she tries to formulate her words. "I don't... really think of things like that. I don't think the "possibility" is worth everything it could be, just what it would be. And I'm..." Petra's eyes slide away from Bubbles', fixing on the napkin dispenser while she awkwardly fiddles with it. "Trying to make it so that there's lots of ways for me to help people. But, I'm just not sure. I'm trying, though." Burger time. Petra pulls the tray with her meal on it closer, then starts munching on a fry. "I don't know, Bubbles, Buttercup's the one that invited me. I think it was her idea." Eating a heavily salted and sauced fry after chili-week feels like finding an oasis in a desert. Petra closes her eyes and sighs, unwrapping the burger. "God, I'm so hungry. I've been trying to cook more, since Remee--have you met Remee? I forget--can't cook to save her life. But it's so tiring." She takes a big bite, and then immediately after it enters her mouth, Buttercup asks her question. Petra uncomfortably tries to chew quickly, directing her eyes anywhere but at Buttercup, then swallows and coughs. "I mean... I didn't really mention that I was going to try to do that, did I?" Petra takes a sip of her soda, trying to keep her expression neutral. "He's kind of a big deal, though, so a favor from him would be worth a lot. I guess... well, it's hard to think of something he could give me that'd help me, you know, do more. Other than power, but that's a boring answer. Were you thinking about it too?"
Powerpuff Girls	Bubbles Utonium, who was born together and hadn't been truly far away and seperate since, nods her head slowly while her eyes stay on Petra. Her pigtails bounce and sway besides her ears. "You could get burgers with anyone, but you're getting them with us." She begins to answer, fair hand opening to her right side. "Since it's us, we could be doing anything - but we decided to get a burger with a new friend." She finishes, second hand completing the scales-shrug of open-held palms. "They're different thoughts entirely. Who you're with, and what you're doing. Sometimes things are just said, and it's on people to figure them out. Sometimes..." Bubbles leans in, grinning ear to ear and looking up, framed by her lifted shrug. "Girls just want a burger." Buttercup's arrival and the beginning of burging doesn't deter Bubbles from her thought, though Buttercup's shoulder gets in the way of her motion, so she closes her hands and gets to eating her lettuce wrap instead. Between bites, she listens while Buttercup... Constructs. "I can't believe I have to do this every time. I have literally deflected meteors for this location and they won't put the fries in my four by fours!" She grumbles, Bubbles nodding along sadly and close-eyed in enjoyment of her own bunless wonderburg. Buttercup begins feeding well-fried fries one at a time carefully into the stratum of cheese. "What'd I miss?" "I told her all your secrets." "And she's still at the table!" Buttercup snorts, not even looking up. "We're talking about helping people." "Ah, the only topic." Buttercup deadpans and moves up a row with a fan of fries at the ready to attain burger perfection. Bubbles is already half-done with her One Burger, having started with two bites and worked through a third before having to shift her grip on the lettuce - always tricky, but the blonde had a system. "I haven't met Remee, but she sounds nice for an obligate carnivore." Bubbles adds. "What's that got to do with anything?" Buttercup asks, almost finished with one entire burger's creation while everyone else is pushing through their meals in the prime time of just-served heat. "It means she's probably not seasoning properly." Bubbles answers around a cheekfull. "It's a thing!" Buttercup has to sit with that. "Well, cooking for two sucks. It's a lot easier if you've got a bigger group." Buttercup admits, after a moment waiting for Petra to stop dying around her food. She's patient - she has a tactile project. "Talking about helping people at lunch is pretty boring, though. That announcement just got me thinking what I'd want." A shrug follows from the emerald-eyed girl as she looks up from her burgers and smirks. "Hard to want a beach when one's a zap away, even if the beach is great." "Why not ask him to make you something?" Bubbles asks. "Villains don't like owing people favors forever, so something nice and tangible can be the perfect trade." "Sounds like trading lives for a new RV, Bubs." "So think bigger than an RV." Both girls look to Petra, expectant. Well, Bubbles does. Buttercup splits her attention between Petra and 4x4 #2's Gorilla Styling.
Petra Soroka	Petra seems unconvinced by Bubbles' explanation, and plunging into a flash of involuntary introspection at why is practically reflexive. Unpleasant feelings stir, and she immediately prods at them to make them worse, a positive feedback loop. Have I ever done anything that wasn't decided by another person? Maybe that's why I don't feel like there's a difference. Petra disperses the thought by shaking her head like a dog. It's just lunch, with new friends. Petra smiles at Bubbles, eyes lightly shut with comfortable smugness. "Girls just want a burger." Petra murmurs in sympathy to Buttercup's plight, around her feast of fries. "Isn't that messed up? They could at least thank you that much. Honestly, or you'll start hesitating next time." The tone of her voice indicates that this is probably a joke, but it's delivered casually enough to be worrying. With the first edge of her hunger sated, Petra pulls back the speed with which she devours her burger, trying not to make a mess of it. She leans into the table, almost physically trying to get more involved in the banter, and interjects, "No, no, Remee's just nice, without the qualifiers, though, the seasoning problem is..." Petra makes a face, "Untenable. She's a good friend, she's, loyal." Is it rude to say that about a werewolf? Is it one of those bad good stereotypes, like Asians being good at math? It's probably fine. "I'll get better at cooking slowly. There's a lot of good cooks around who've offered me advice." Petra gnaws on her burger in contemplation, pausing every couple bites to wipe her fingers and mouth with a growing pile of napkins. "Miku, Rita, Ishirou. There's a lot of good people around. It's still easier to come out for a burger sometimes, though." Petra hums with thought as the conversation moves back to the more interesting topic. "Hmmm. I mean, he does a lot of villainous stuff, so a favor is worth a lot. The most objectively good thing to do would probably be asking him to do something heroic, since one thing from him is worth more than anything I could do. But, putting that aside...." Petra bites her lower lip, thinking seriously, either because she's very invested in the hypothetical, or because she's planning on actually doing it. "He doesn't kill people, so that's out. The space station I'm staying on already sort of has a beach. I wouldn't--I don't want anything for my mech. It's fine as is. So all that's left is me, right? I wonder if he could make me a unique gun, like Lilian's. Her new gun is so cool...." Her eyes unfocus a bit, vacantly dreaming about something. Heterosexually. She effortfully pulls herself back into the restaurant, and realizes that she's been talking about herself this whole time. "Oh! But what would you want? An RV seems too small, yeah, and living in your car isn't as cool as it seems!" Petra forces a light laugh, so it doesn't come across as fishing for pity.
Powerpuff Girls	Bubbles sits back and settles, carefully nibbling around lettuce and watching. Blinking slowly, she has the intense focus of someone cataloguing and categorizing, the downturn becoming a canine-like shake delighting Bubbles to more effusive laughter. "I think I can see why you and Remee get along." Bubbles beams out, and works on quartering her lettuce wrap. Buttercup finally gets to eating her first burger, compressing down her potato-gorged grip of overflowing and uncontaining bun, and take large bites of what frontally presents itself - fry, burger, bun, cheese, vegetal fill. Eventually it will be small enough for the olive-skinned Puff to treat like a real burger! Eventually. Until then she endures, and speaks between wiping off with more napkins. Between Petra and Buttercup, the dispenser is hit quite hard. "It is still easier to eat out sometime. Plus, they're a lot better at making burgers here to put fries in." Wiping down her fingers, Buttercup grabs a handful of fries, with a cooling crust of oranged cheese and pungent onions. "I'm not gonna hesitate because In N Out won't bend the rules for me. If a meteor is falling, I'm gonna punch it. Places around here get rebuilt all the time because a fight gets interesting, I don't think it needs to be any harder for In N Out in specific." Buttercup, a little incredulous, gestures with a cheese-blobbed fry before munching. "It's not about getting treated different at burger places." Bubbles nods along. "Even if we get great attention other places, it's better not to expect it." Buttercup nods firmly. "You get it or you don't. It depends on the person. We get it pretty good -- and sometimes, it's harder to struggle." Bubbles makes a sad sigh, at that. "Blossom struggles too, you know." Buttercup scoffs and goes back to her burger quest. Neither puff has anything incisive to say about loyal friends - it's a high praise to both girls, without any negativity. "The best thing to ask for isn't always the right thing to ask for. You could ask the villain to be less evil, and maybe they would, maybe they wouldn't. In these cases, always try to ask people things that they're willing and able to do. That'll give you the best results." A held-wink lifts over Buttercup's beefy burger as she finishes the thought. "A gun sounds good. If you ask him to make you something custom, I'm sure he'd at least be passionate about creating it if you beat Limelight first."
Petra Soroka	Petra waves her hands defensively. "I didn't, like, actually mean that you should let In N Out be obliterated because they messed up your burger a little. It's just, like, interesting to me. The way that normal people view Elites. Even before getting into this whole thing," Petra gestures vaguely around the restaurant, but probably means the profession more generally, "I was always really invested in it. It's surprising that most people, aren't. It's like separate worlds." Petra takes a quiet sip of her soda and a demure bite of burger; that comment about Remee got to her. "You guys have merchandizing and everything too, so that's a whole other layer." Petra's face twists into a dubious pout. "I meant, something like asking him to do something specific and good. "Save this world". "Kill this monster". Not just a vague suggestion of goodness, it's a favor, not some sort of binding ritual." After completing the necessary defense of her intelligence, Petra takes the continued questioning as permission to ramble, becoming more animated. "But, either way, I was just thinking a couple days ago how it's weird that I don't have a named gun, like, that's specific to me. Lilian's is named Winter Crow, and it doesn't just shoot things, it uses these clips of base metals and transmutes them to release energy as magic circles. I've seen it in action once, and it's amazing. I don't really have any abilities that would let me do something that cool, though. But I can probably think of something, with the Doctor's help."
Powerpuff Girls	"The way other people view elites, huh?" Buttercup asks, considering-rough. "People have loved us for a while, but we've had some pre-tty intense happenings happen to us!" "Bubbles, we have laser vision and can generate natural disasters. They love us because we take out the trash for them." The exchange occurs, and Bubbles steals some of Buttercup's napkins to wipe off her own fingers, burger complete and tone firm as she cuts in. "They love us because we've done the right thing since kindergarten, and it's been obvious. And that's why, what's important, is consistency. Waking up and deciding to have that sugar and spice in you." Buttercup sits with that, munching on a fry. Bubbles addresses Petra, leaning forward on the booth table. "We know. The ice cream bars aren't that good." On merchandising and being different. "But I've been able to tell people were different for a long time. Different from us, and different from each other. And I think the most enduring thing is that if you give people consistent reasons to interact with you, they will. It's easy for us to say that it's fine to be different: nice things happened to us, we were born nice. So people want to!" A laugh follows, bright and trailing. Petra wanted to, the Watch wanted to. "But the Rowdies weren't. They were born out of..." "Gross boy stuff." Buttercup grunts around her second Gorilla Quad, undeterred by a quantity this low. Only the dregs of cold cheesy fries remain otherwise. "Armpit trimmings and dog bits." Bubbles nods sadly. "Terribly de-" A grin, as the sound morphs in her mouth, the word becoming far less negative. "-ffernent, but also, consistently themselves. And... I like Boomer! Brick's fine, and Butch is-" Buttercup cuts in. "Butch." Bubbles, relieved of having to explain, nods sadly. "They weren't made out of great parts, and couldn't be more different, but they're still wonderful. It's not more meaningful, or less meaningful, but they do help people. Mostly! And they're consistently themselves, and that's more important. You know what you'll get, when Brick helps you." Buttercup finally gets in on this thought, having formulated her own thoughts listening to Bubbles. She wraps up her papers, piling up napkins as she anticipates being done, and picks out a chunk of beef that had become wedged in the wrapper. "If you want to stop Limelight to win a favor, if you're doing it yourself, if you're fighting, you should fight for yourself. It's not about him being a villain, you're doing something, to get something. The greatest good isn't on the table, a favor is. Are you doing this to make Eggman do a nice thing? You already said you want something. You should get something." Buttercup speaks through her thoughts, sitting back and up, legs crossing beneath her chair, arms crossing at her chest, eyes closing. This much thinking requires concentration, focus, clearheadedness from the green Puff. Bubbles makes an 'ohh' face while she gasps. "So you're saying you think the gun idea is cool?" Buttercup cracks an eye towards Bubbles. "Let me get to it, come on-n-n." Buttercup's focus breaks, and she exhales nasally long. "You're right, it's not some binding ritual. So just forget all the moral stuff and get a cool weapon. Like your radio rival. The greatest good is making you capable of doing the consistent good, yourself."
Petra Soroka	Petra half-nods her head in agreement with Buttercup, then leans back in her seat and closes her mouth when Bubbles interjects. Food forgotten for the moment, she chews on the inside of her lip instead, turning over the idea in her head. "Consistency is an... interesting way to think about it. Maybe it's right. But isn't that worse? Um..." Petra props her foot up on the bench so she can lean her arm on her knee, the rudeness of her posture going over her head. "Yeah. Phrasing it as consistency has some problems, I think. Being good all the time is, really hard. The idea that, occasionally failing to do good, devalues the good you do manage to do, by making it less reliable. That sort of doesn't sit right with me. And I think, it's okay to try out different ways sometimes, be inconsistent so you can find what's right." Petra looks back over to the burger counter, and the cashiers milling around behind it. "And. Also, for regular people specifically. Doesn't being too consistent make us come across as less, human? Widening the gap between the worlds? People might be happy to interact with you, but they'll do it as if you're a tool, or a button that can be pressed to save them. I don't know, I kind of want to be seen as a person." "Sorry. That might've been a bit too abstract." Petra returns her attention to Bubbles, and frowns. "Boys always need to fight against their nature to be decent. I'm glad these ones are though, I haven't really gotten a chance to talk to them much yet. "She's not my radio rival!" The way Petra emphasizes each word in that sentence, it's impossible to tell which interpretation she actually takes issue with. The only thing not called into question is "She". "She's.... Well. Anyways. Her gun is cool, and yeah, it made me think about wanting a personalized weapon myself. It'd make fighting feel more..." Petra struggles for a few seconds, coming up with words and then discarding them until one feels right, "impactful." "But you didn't say what you would want! Do you have something in mind?"
Powerpuff Girls	Bubbles, who had been floating the whole time, has nothing to say about Petra's propped up foot. Buttercup, crosslegged in her spot, barely observes the leaned arm on the knee. Petra making herself comfortable bothers neither Puff: Both girls have already made themselves comfortable. Neither has a comment about how Petra comports herself. Instead, both have comments; Bubbles speaks first while Buttercup picks cheese off her wrappers and paper fry baskets. "As opposed to?" Buttercup wonders, not quite able to make the same jumps Soroka makes. "Do you think it's better that every situation is taken entirely on its own? I don't... think you do, Petra." Buttercup peels a cooled orange bit of fat off the paper, a single onion having been partially submerged and thus a target for specific enjoyment. Buttercup gets into her cheese papers, while Bubbles is content to interact with the intangibility of people instead of the tangibility of cold cheese. She got a lettuce wrap anyway. "It's not a streak you're breaking? And it's not being a robot, either. It's a lot more like brushing your teeth." Bubbles beams her perfect pearly whites at Petra, proud of her dental care in the way of someone who made a point to not miss a night. "Consistency is a lot more important than doing it perfectly. And you're not going to ruin yourself forever doing it quickly or skipping some, but it's important to keep it up, over weeks, over years. People who brush their teeth with consistency are human. People who consistently forget are human too, but between the two, if you had to choose, as a human:" "Would you rather be someone who tried to brush their teeth and did their best, or just gave it all up and accepted rotting teeth because that's just the way things are?" Buttercup doesn't have a witty thing to say, bent down over her tray with her mouth on a bit of sauced paper as she scrapes a defiant bit of cheese off with her teeth. She is very relaxed during burger time. There's nothing wrong! Not a single thing she can tell. Not even with 'not' 'radio' 'rival' emphasized strongly over the cocked leg and leaned arm. "People are made up of all sorts of things. Even the gross boy stuff isn't evil, or wrong. It's just boy stuff. It's what you do with it, consistently, often, that makes a super-someone into a super-hero or super-villain." Buttercup puts her papers down, satisfied with her words. Bubbles adds: "Or the media!" Buttercup hangs her head with a sigh. "Mostly the media actually." So, speaking of the media, Buttercup has an answer for Petra on what the green Puff would want: "Oh, if I brought in that thief? I think that world has magic rings - I think they'd make good earrings or bracelets."
Petra Soroka	Petra gestures emphatically with a fry in her hand, then squeaks when it breaks in half, trying to catch it and failing. Her spirit seems unbroken, munching on the surviving half while talking. "No, no, it's different than that. Brushing your teeth is like, something you do solely for yourself, so you're the only one holding yourself accountable. When other people are involved, being too consistent sets their expectations for you. It puts you in a rut, and you can get stuck doing something or acting in some way that isn't quite right, just because it's what other people expect to see from you." Petra finishes up with the last scraps of her food and wipes her mouth and fingers thoroughly with a napkin, contemplating. "Anyways. Brushing your teeth is like a streak. If you break it you feel bad for a few days while you build it back up, so it's motivation to keep doing it. But that's different, since it's just yourself." Evidentally uninterested in finishing her soda now that her meal is done, Petra withdraws a stainless steel water bottle from the pocket of her jacket. She drums her fingernails against it, rhythmically clinking while she thinks. "I guess the reason why I feel a bit strongly about this is, choosing to be 'consistently myself' is like, locking me into a certain kind of presentation. Before I'm really sure of what I'd want to be seen as, as an Elite." The mention of the media evokes much more enthusiasm from Petra than it does from the puffs, and she nods, tilting her head to the side casually. "Yeah, the internet and the news basically decide all of that. So you need to be careful about what you give them. Get into two visible fights vs big monsters, and someone writes that you're known for fighting monsters in the first paragraph of your wiki page. Then suddenly, whenever you're doing anything else, people are like, "why aren't you out fighting monsters?" That's the kind of thing I mean." "I wonder if the rings would make the jewelry magic? That sounds like it'd be really fun, having magical accessories." The idea actually appeals a lot to Petra. She has the fashion taste of an RPG character whose every article of clothing is eventually replaced with some mythical artifact.