Q&A

"I have a question for you," you say once the food has made a dent in your hunger. "No lasso, so you don't have to answer, but I hope you will.” Diana raises her eyebrows curiously and waits for you to continue. “The message we sent to Donna, saying you’d be out of contact for a while but everything’s fine. I get that you didn't want Little Sister to worry, and that's real thoughtful and all. But it seems like if she had gotten worried, she would've been the first person to come looking for you."

"Quite likely,” she acknowledges.

"So I'm trying to think of reasons you would want to stop her from coming after you, and I can only think of two possibilities." She takes a drink of the not-bad-for-the-price white wine you brought, and nods for you to go on. "One: you thought she would likely find us, but you were afraid I'd just capture her too."

"That's possible," Diana acknowledges thoughtfully. "Donna is more than capable but you have shown yourself to be a cunning adversary. If there's even a small chance of her falling into your clutches, I would endure years of torment to protect her from that fate. What's your second hypothesis?"

You stare at her closely. "That you thought she would likely find us and you didn't want that to happen. You didn’t want her to interrupt us."

Diana looks thoughtful as she finishes off her last bite of risotto. "I can tell you that did not play any conscious part in my decision making. But my subconscious? Well…there is rather a lot going on there at the moment."

"And the fact that by telling her nothing's wrong you also delayed anyone else from coming looking for you?"

Diana shrugs her bare shoulders. “We already concluded they wouldn't find me in time to make a difference.”

"I dunno. Kinda looks like someone doesn't want to be rescued."

"And I can see how you might reach that conclusion.” She shakes her head, her face still looking thoughtful. “I'm afraid I don't have a good answer for you, lasso or no." She takes another sip. “I do however have a question for you in return. I am obviously glad you gave me time for my leg to heal properly. And I can even see how you concluded it was in your best interest to do so."

"But?"

"But you have also left me alone and even treated me with relative courtesy for three days."

“I said I would leave you alone."

“Yes but you didn't have to include that in your offer. I would've had little choice but to agree either way. And you could've continued... indulging yourself during the day while letting me heal at night."

"I suppose."

"So I am, as you said, trying to think of reasons why you didn't."

You spread your hands out to your sides. “I can't just do something to be nice?"

"I believe all people are capable of goodness and kindness, whether they know it or not. But an objective observer might say that `being nice’ is not a thing that has defined our relationship to date."

"If you say so. Then perhaps I just don't want to do anything that might slow down your knee healing so I can get back to switching the dampeners back on. That, or I'm pretending to be nice in a futile hope you'll start to genuinely like me." Diana's face registers skeptical amusement at that notion. "Or maybe I'm giving you a break so when playtime resumes the contrast will be more pronounced." You pause for a moment to take a drink of wine. “Or hell, maybe I'm just going soft."

Wonder Woman snorts out a laugh. “That is the least-likely explanation yet."