"It's like a sheet, but designed for absorbency."
Jade leans back into her seat slightly.
"Why did I
ever want to date you?" Ah, OL, you and your 'dad joke'
attempts.
"Bleed fracture pulse communication has caller ID. She knew that you were calling."
"Almost certainly. Though she might have been expecting a call from someone else and not checked before answering."
...Possible, but hardly likely. I doubt she'd put a display like that on for her
superiors.
The space between Earth and the Thanagarian Empire is almost completely safe. The only dodgy part is the actual border zone, due to the Thanagarian habit of aggressive 'patrolling' and intrusive 'anti-piracy' actions. With a transponder that very clearly identifies us an a L.E.G.I.O.N. vessel with me on board, we don't have anything to worry about.
"Does she answer you wearing a towel often?"
Think carefully about how you answer, OL. I hear doghouses
aren't the most comfortable of bedrooms. Unless you're
Snoopy.
"Yes. Something like that. Sometimes it's a sweaty minimalistic exercise outfit. Sometimes she just covers herself in her wings, which steadily relax as the conversation carries on. Or one of her performance outfits. That was actually so relatively modest I'm wondering if she was really in the shower this time."
Jade regards me contemplatively.
Really? Showing up nude and dripping is
modest? Forget 'lost', OL's reaction to subtlety is more lost than
Ryoga Hibiki..
"I know Thanagarians are usually direct, but that would mean that she'd tell you that she wanted you."
"Quite."
So it's more of a fun teasing? I don't
think so.
"She knows enough about human culture to know what human men find appealing. Feigned modesty while keeping her appeal firmly in your mind."
"She actually has a fairly good education in xenosociology. Plus the information she's gained from me, and I suspect that the Thals' reports have been making their way to her."
Ah, yes. The High Command wants
leverage on you, it seems.
"How annoyed should I be that you haven't mentioned any of this?"
I shrug. "How annoyed should I be about the seven Themysciran women who hit on you last Christmas without you telling me?"
...
Well, now. I take it they were rebuffed politely.
"How annoyed would you be if they were Themysciran men?"
I smile.
He'd probably only be concerned if she was
actually interested in them. And he'd
see that quite easily. The joy of dating psychics.
"How annoyed should I be if they were Themysciran men?"
"Superboy's dating and Silver Scarab's married, so fairly annoyed."
Keep in mind, OL's old enough that he doesn't
have the chest-beating machismo reflex most young men do before they actually learn
maturity...
"Lucky day for Daniel." I shake my head. "But no. She's under… I don't know if it's 'orders' or just an informal request, from Thanagarian intelligence. They'd like it if she got into an actual relationship with me so that she could influence my decision making, but they'll settle for having a source who's friends with me."
"So she is trying to seduce you."
Thankfully, OL has a +50 resistance to seduction, unless the person trying fits his '
type'. In which case it becomes an equal
penalty.
"Not really. I'm not sure if she's trying to convince me that she's still trying so that I think of her as an unthreatening ditz, or if she's trying to convince her handlers that she's still trying so that they don't bother her about her xenophilic music."
Jade tilts her head back so that she's looking at the cockpit ceiling.
Ah, yes. Because Thanagarians are racially motivated
dicks.
"Speaking as an intelligence operative, it's generally not a good idea to make friends with enemy agents. Unless you're trying to turn them. And you're not trying to turn her."
"Yes, but I might want to do something with Thanagar at some point, and their whole internal political dynamic puts the old colonies at odds with the homeworld and newer colonies. Having a woman on the inside could be useful. And she's, you know, pretty good company."
So he's basically turned their attempt to gain leverage on him... Into leverage
against them. If he can handle things right.
"Does she understand enough about human culture to know that flashing someone else's boyfriend is inappropriate?"
"Yes. But in Thanagarians culture it's… Less..? It's not that they don't have a nudity taboo, but functional nudity doesn't have the same association. Their version of Men's Health is actually a health magazine."
For reference: '
Men's Health' magazine. Better known as being aimed at fitness freaks. Best known for having a
controversial view of the 'ideal man'.
"I should talk to her about it. I think her handlers would accept that."
"Or they might tell her to look at it as a challenge to a duel."
I repeat: Thanagarians.
Dicks.
She frowns, glancing my way for a moment. "That's something Thanagarians do?"
"If one party to the relationship is being indecisive and things need to be definitively settled. To be clear, I much prefer you-"
HEh. Love triangles on Thanagar must be
exciting things.
"I'm glad to hear it."
"-to her, so that tradition isn't strictly relevant-"
"And I'd win."
Who needs to fly when you're a
ninja?
"-and you'd win, I'm not convinced that her handlers have the same understanding of human culture and don't trust them not to do something stupid. The current situation works well enough for both of us."
"Do you like seeing her like that?"

Danger, OL, danger! Relationship trick question detected!
"Jade, we live in the era of the internet. And I have a power ring with a scanning capacity. And designs for gynoids. If I wanted to see naked women, I'm spoiled for choice. But that sort of thing… Doesn't interest me as much as it used to."
"That's what I get for dating a man in his thirties."
Hey, he's attentive, thoughtful and romantic. Beats teenage guys who think with the
lower heads.
"Seeing what people want. If they're displaying themselves, but they're actually thinking about their career or what they're having for lunch or the hundreds of times they've done the same thing… I see that."
"'Hundreds of times'?" She raises her eyebrows. "I thought she was a professional singer."
Hey, entertainment and sex have a
long association in human culture. I remember Emperor Justinian of Constantinople being blocked from marrying his actress girlfriend, Theodora, because of an old law based around '
actress' being a synonym for '
whore'... (Thank you, Extra Credits' History
series.)
"Not her. I mean in general. When I'm with you I see your beautiful whole, and how you feel about me and us. Bleez is perfectly pleasant, but knowing for certain that she's not that in to me is a turn off."
"It's not usually a sex thing. Most of the time, it's a power thing. A woman who's famous and attractive and compelled to do what they want would be a powerful draw."
Certainly, it might be on Earth. Different culture, though, different values.
I shake my head. "Not to an empath. Who.. wasn't a psychopath. We're exposed intimately to the personhood of other people."
"That hasn't stopped you killing people."
Because he can see how big of an asshole they are? Makes sense as to why he's so cavalier about lethal force.
"No. If I know they're that bad, why would it? But Bleez isn't a particularly bad person or genuinely interested in me."
Jade nods. "The Thanagarian slaves. Does she own any?"
Well, Thanagarians
themselves would likely never be
enslaved without good reason... But we get what you mean.
"Ah, her mother does, as family matriarch. Or… Serfs, technically. You read my report on the Thanagarian undercity?"
"Thanagarians practice Darwinism amongst themselves. At least they're even-handed."
Ah, so a Thanagarian
might be put into 'indentured servitude' they might never be able to pay off. Once again (say it with me!): Thanagarians. Are. Dicks.
"The old colonies aren't. It's a species-based stratified society, but exactly what that means varies from place to place."
"Is Bleez her mother's heir?"
So, if one region actually tries to care for their non-thanagarian serfs, they might be seen as
weirdos.

Gotcha.
"Yes. Until she made enough money in her music career that she could live disconnected from her mother's purse strings. Their relationship has been difficult ever since."
"This sounds like something I should know more about before we arrive. Tell me about Havania."
Yes, best not to go into a situation like this without a full briefing, OL. Amazed you forgot that.