The Beginning of Something Really Excellent

[Audrey]

With a delicate touch like silk, Kara's rubber-polyester boots touched down onto Titan Island, right about in front where the front door would be on any normal building. Of course, this wasn't a normal building and in front of the Kryptonian was only a large glass panel that stood several times her height. How exactly does one apply to be a Titan? She figured there wasn't an application to fill out posted in say the local supermarket or the internet, but if the door was hidden what were you supposed to do? Just get lucky and run into a Titan? Sit here bored on the island until someone noticed you from inside and came out? Kara was perplexed. She kind of got lucky for her first hero gig to just happen to be from the same planet as the planet's most well-known hero.

She decided to at least make her presence known so SOMEONE could work out some assistance here. She flew up to the split in the T of the tower and tried to peer inside. She was met with her own reflection squinting into the glass. Tinted one-way mirrored windows. Titans could see out, but no one could see in. Maybe she should've called ahead or something. That was an issue too though. There wasn't like a phone number posted anywhere. How do you even do this? Batman should've been more helpful. So much for the World's Greatest Detective. Didn't even know how to get a job application. She pondered if Batman ever worked a job in his life with how much money the guy has to make all his inventions. In a matter of speaking, he was BORN Batman. Crazy to think about. She supposed Kal-El was also born Superman really.

She drifted back down to the island. There were two real choices here. Continue waiting hoping someone inside saw her peeping inside or go flying through the city in hopes of catching them on lunch... Or the unforeseen third option of creating a beacon so anyone could see her. She smiled looking towards the boulders on the edge of the water. She imagined herself picking a nice one up, tossing it into the air above the tower and just flying up and punching it, bursting it into a flare of sorts. The more she thought on it though, the more she realized the consequences of doing such. Debris in every direction and they may take the signal as an emergency, of which this definitely wasn't. She flopped down onto her bottom, cradling her head in a hand and sighing.

That was one thing Supergirl was glad she possessed: forethought. It kept her out of a lot of trouble and general earned her a reputation of being safe and reasonable unlike a lot of other gung-ho heroes like herself. It kind of killed the fun in a lot of things though. But that was responsibility for you. Never fun, just mildly gratifying. She turned to the panel on the ground once more and stood back up, brushing dirt off her skirt. She had one last idea and who knows? Maybe on some weird chance it would. She lifted up her fist and proceeded to simply just knock on the panel like a normal person. It was polite at least.

[Deleted]

Max was having an okay day of sorts. He had snuck out of the dorm room that the Titans had so generously provided to him (he didn't think he deserved a dorm room after all the trouble he caused) and was practicing some of his killer alien fighting moves solo in the training room. Luckily nobody else was up allowing him to get some practice done in peace. Physically though he was barely stronger than the average human teen, so like Robin he had those annoying ‘only human’ limitations to deal with.

After he had some fun with his punching bag; which he visualized as a Euremian soldier he headed for the kitchen to grab one of his energy drinks. He took a couple of long swigs when all of a sudden he heard the doorbell ring. Startled Max spat out much of his energy drink. It took him a couple of moments to get himself oriented enough to realize it was just the doorbell. Now Max has a bit of a trust issue, so he wasn't about to open the door for just anyone. Instead he cautiously crept to the door and called through it. “Who is this? Have you business with the Titans?” he asked in his interrogative tone. Currently he sported his exercise outfit complete with red sweatband, a matching red cape along with red fingered gloves.


ooc: Wasn't sure if the Tower had a peep hole or not, so in my post I just made it where there wasn't one. Just uh let me know if that's wrong.

[Audrey]

Kara was a little surprised to actually hear a voice in return. A little odd for the Teen Titans to have a doorman of some kind. Given the timidness of their voice, odds are they weren't usually answering the door. Heck, she was almost amazed she happened to knock right on the door. Delivering pizza here must be nightmare-ish. She took a look through the door with her Kryptonian vision and saw the person at the door was some sort of kid in exercise gear. She noticed some small little intricacies in his body structure and made the realization he wasn't from Earth. Kara had heard from Batman there was a Tamaranean on the Titans, but this obviously wasn't what he was talking about. She couldn't place the exact planet, but from the carbon life signs, he looked to be from somewhere in the Kartonic Chapter of the Melakore system. Warrior types. Kind of odd he'd be all timid though.

She leaned up close to the wall and tried to put on the most comforting voice she could. "Uh, this is Supergirl. I'm from Metropolis. I work with Superman, you know, the Man of Steel? I'm here to meet with..." she began, about to use her point-of-contact's real name, only to realize she should probably start being a little more professional about it. "I'm here to meet with Robin. He was Batman's former protegé? I understand he runs the Titans. I'm trying to become a member!" she finished, hoping this strange warrior alien didn't want some kind of test of honor. Her pacifism made those a really touchy subject since they usually wanted some manner of proof of strength. Best Kara could do was smash a bunch of rocks. He didn't seem like other people from the Kartonics though. He was a lot more... scrawny she supposed? Most of the Kartonic races were built like beasts. She remembered fighting one back in Metropolis, whew.

[Deleted]

Max gasped at the young woman’s words. A Kryptonian here? He couldn’t believe it! He thought they were all dead save for Superman. Something about their whole planet blowing up. He didn't know of the details of the unfortunate incident other than the whole planet blew up. He didn't know how or why it happened only that it did and he imagined it was a touchy subject for the girl. “Super…supergirl? My god you’re alive?! When I heard the news Krypto blew up I thought…I thought only Superman got out alive! But this is great news you’re alive and you’re here! Oh happy day!” Max excitedly exclaimed through the door. The Kryptonians were one of the few alien races that Max actually liked due to the fact that most were honorable. He just prayed this wasn't some sort of cruel joke, but the young, cocky shapeshifter figured that even if it was he’d get the last laugh.

“Here give me a sec to open the door. Thing likes to jam sometimes,” he explained as he unlocked and opened the door revealing the young Kryptonian girl standing on the other side allowing Max to sigh in relief once he realized that this was no trick. “Oh it is you! Please come in and make yourself at home!” Smiling excitedly Max then grabbed her by the hand and practically pulled her in closing the door behind her. Along his arm sat a watch. This watch was no ordinary watch either for within it held his Euremian armor. Also annoyingly enough it was not something he could willingly take off either even if he wanted to as it was kind of attached to his arm. Only good thing about that he supposed was that it wasn't something that could be easily stolen. Really the only way a thief could have any hope of stealing his watch was if they took him along with it or…chop his arm off. Neither of which was very pleasant to think about. “Oh cousin of Superman I have so many questions for you!” he excitedly proclaimed feeling absolutely giddy despite feeling cold around her and his alien sense activating.

Then remembering what she said outside he cleared his throat as he led her to the couch. “As for Robin he is either still asleep or out, but not to worry for I am most certain he will return in due time. In the meantime could I interest you in a little snack?” Max was practically jumping up and down. With Supergirl there his okay day has just become so much better. Indeed, Max couldn't recall the last time he was this excited about something.

[Audrey]

Well that confirmed her thoughts on him being alien. Krypton's destruction was not exactly common knowledge on Earth. It was even a little surprising to hear from someone out in the Melakores. Did he say happy day? She thought that was just something Kal-El said. She thought it was just his poor grip on English there talking, but she supposed it was a common thing if another person was saying it too. "Y-Yes, I did survive the destruction as well. It was... not an easy thing to do, both ability-wise and mental-wise. Can we... not talk about it?" she frowned a bit. She tried not to think about escaping Krypton. Kal-El could at least live without those memories. The memories of all the fighting and the arguing over which member of the El house should survive, and how Jor-El had devastated them all by disobeying the plan. She herself went under a lot of duress for her being picked, even if it wasn't her decision.

She wasn't going to let that get her down though, that was two years ago now. Well, actually about 39 years ago, but she only remembered two of those years. She was starting new beginnings, not dwelling on endings. As the door slid open, she prepared to give a Krypton greeting, but was just stalwartly dragged in at a moment's notice. Man, this Melakorian was just raring to go wasn't he? She'd never seen anyone from the Kartonics to gungho to hear about things. They usually preferred the whole stabbing things motion. Maybe with a side of decapitation and maiming. "Wait, how did you even know I was Superman's cousin? Cousins are an entirely Earthfolk term and I only mentioned I worked with him. Are you familiar with the House of El, Kartonical?" she questioned, referring to the galactic chapter she presumed him to be in. Hopefully he could inform her of his exact planet so she wouldn't have to be broad about it. One thing you learned with those from the Kartonics, you don't guess their planet, cause if you get it wrong, they get mad.

"Oh. He is occupied? That's unfortunate, but yes, I could use a snack. You wouldn't happen to have steak or a broast pot would you? I've had hunger panes since I got here in Jump and those half a thousand clams just weren't enough to satiate it," she groaned a bit, remembering her little stop before the tower at the Marina. The man there had actually had a cousin she helped in Metropolis and offered her a free meal as thanks... He didn't exactly expect her to eat the whole stock for the day. She made sure to compensate him though by whisking a bunch more clams from the bay ready to boil.

[Deleted]

At Supergirl's request not to discuss her home planet Max nodded. He completely understood where she was coming from, so he didn't press her. There was much in his life he did not wish to discuss with anyone. "I am...sorry. That was perhaps insensitive of me, but when I saw you I just got carried away ya know. I didn't think I'd ever meet a Kryptonian. It is indeed an honor meeting you," he apologized holding out his hand for the female Kryptonian to shake.

Her question surprised him, however since he considered himself one hundred percent human even though he really wasn't. His pure white, pupiless eyes blinked. He narrowed his eyes at her. "Yes," he replied slowly, "I am fully aware that the term, 'cousin' is of Earth and I comprehend its meaning. I am after all human." Her next question was understandable for he could understand her confusion on the matter. Sighing he shook his head. "Not much to tell the truth. I only know what I have been told by...by my...um..." Mimic paused for a few while he tried to come up with a good way of saying it, "former mentor. He informed me that Superman was your father's brother's kid and I knew that meant you two were cousins. My mentor did not know of the Earth term, that much is true, but I learned it later..." He explained trying to be as sensitive about it as possible. Hell, he even left out Krypto's destruction this time. But Max was speaking the truth. None of his mentors and trainers went into too much detail about Krypto. Max doubted they even knew how it blew up otherwise they likely would have told him since there was hardly any harm in it.

As soon as she agreed to a snack Max made his way to the kitchen to make her something. At her request he nodded. "Yea i think we got some steak in here among other things. But in the meantime you must simply try some of my cookies. I just baked them this morning. They got it all: grasshoppers, ladybugs, crickets, flies, junebugs..." Leaning casually against the counter Max spoke of his cookies' contents as though insect cookies was a normal treat on Earth.

Suddenly annoying buzzing of tiny wings flapping about could be heard. Spotting the tiny fly Max's long tongue flew out and snatched the insect right up quick enabling Max to swallow it whole much like a human frog. Again Max acted as though this was a total human thing to do. "Sorry, I guess I'm a little hungry myself. Haven't exactly eaten all day. So yeah like I was saying you can totally have some of my cookies while you wait for me to heat up the steak," Max again offered.

[Aly]

Barbara typed away on the computer in her room, rewriting some of the Titans' files. She hadn't even been there two days before she had hacked into their system, but now at least Robin and Cyborg knew she was adding to their security and whatnot. Now, even Batman would have a hard time hacking it. Okay, maybe not exactly that hard of a time, but it would take him a few hours, which was accomplishment enough for Batgirl.

She was just switching over to the bios of every new member to add in updates on their training when she saw a flash of blue and red out of the corner of her eye. Confused as to what it could be, Batgirl looked up to see a familiar (yet with a funny, squinty-eyed expression) face looking back at her. Or through her, rather. A thrill of excitement ran up Barbara's spine as she jumped up and switched off her computer. Kara! Supergirl! Why on earth was her friend here? She hadn't seen her in forever, much less knew she was coming to Jump. Quickly, she dashed out of the room and into the elevator, smashing the button for the common room's floor.

The door to the common room finally wooshed open, letting a purple-clad Bat-person through, running at full speed. "KAR-BEAR!" Batgirl squealed in a most un-Batgirl-like way as she launched herself at Supergirl.

[Audrey]

Kara shrugged off the mentioning of Krypton fairly lightly as she shook the alien-in-denial's hand. She was perplexed by his belief in his own humanity, something easily belied by his appearance. She understood though that some people really took to Earth as their homeland, going as far as to forsake their original roots. Kara could see why, Earth was a very welcoming community with diversity all across it's globe and despite the wars every so often, was a relatively kind and accepting place. Kara of course would always see Krypton as her home, but she was willing to accept Earth as a satisfying home away from home. She'd entertain his desires though. "Oh, I apologize, you just have some features that remind me of people from the Kartonic System. Is your mentor from there? They're strong people for sure," she responded, smiling at the notion of it.

Oddly enough, Kara was just onboard with bugs as Max. "Lovely! Bugs are incredible sources of protein, you should see the ones on Sarkas 5, they're the size of a pick-up truck! My uncle would wrangle them and then slow-cook them over a fire. Makes them get incredibly juicy actually. A well-cooked Jax Beetle Steak can keep you going for a whole week," she responded, not even batting an eye as Max snatched a bug out with his tongue. She was well-aware he wasn't human. She just wasn't going to acknowledge it for his own sake.

Then. Something amazing happened. Something that Kara had truly never expected coming here. She watched the door to the next room open and out at an amazing speed came this purple, black, and yellow blur right at her. Just before it got to her, she processed what it was and her mouth widened into a giant grin. "OH MY ZOD, BARBIIIIIIIE!" Kars squealed as she hugged the older teenager from Gotham in return and began flying around the room in ecstasy with her in her grip.

Kara had met Batgirl pretty soon after arriving on Earth. With Metropolis and Gotham only being about 30 miles apart, the two were bound to meet as it was, and that's not even considering that both their mentors had coffee together every Sunday while they talked about the new superheroes in the world and other pop culture shenanigans. When you stuck the Batman with his arguably best friend Supes, he lost a whole lot of that brooding factor. Really though, Babs and Kara weren't exactly much different as evidenced by the redhead's use of the pet name 'Kar-Bear. It was a magical thing the relationship between the Super family and the Bat family. The only way it could get more perfect was if Robin managed to befriend Superboy. As far as Kara knew though, the two hadn't even met. Robin hadn't met any of the Supers come to think of it. Weird.

Kara and Babs hit it off immediately though unlike Superman and Batman who were ridiculous enough to fight for awhile until they realized they were on the same side. Men. Seriously. The two could sometimes be a bit antagonistic to each other, what with Supergirl constantly storming on all broodiness any Bat had, and making most of their gadgets look like tinker toys, but that's why they say opposite's attract.

Finally calming down, Kara put Barbara back on the ground and separated from her. "Barbie! What are you doing here? Are you a Titan or are you just visiting? Do you know where Robin is? Ooh! Did you get a new costume? It's so purple! Your hair is still so red! I kind of wanted to try dying mine red, see what happens. Oh man, I could totally make a costume like yours, and then we'd be twinsies! We should go bag a villain together for good times! Oh, I have so much to tell you!" she spoke on and on, about a million miles per hour, just with one thought after another. Kara couldn't believe how excited she was to see her best friend forever.

[Aly]

Batgirl just hoped that Max wouldn't pick up on the nickname, but she guessed that was probably fair turnaround, as she had just belted out one of the most non-Batfamily-approved names, referencing a kids character. She wasn't going to dwell on that, as she had something else to occupy her mind. Kara was back! Superman had taken his cousin back to Metropolis for more training since they had seen each other last. It seemed like forever, but was probably only maybe a year or so.

Kara picked Babs up easily, and Batgirl struggled to breath as she was crushed and paraded around the room. "Can't--breathe" she gasped, until she was put down and able to fill her lungs again. "Woah, woah, woah. Slow down. I'm not Kid Flash, I can't keep up with your speed." Batgirl laughed, also very uncharacteristic of her. Or at least, what the Titans had seen of her so far. She was supposed to be one of the big team leaders, not a gossiping teenager. Of course, with a T-tower full of teenagers, you were bound to get a few hundred gossipers.

"Yes, I am a Titan, but that's probably half due to the fact that Robin hands out communicators like candy. No, I have no idea where he is, but he's probably in his room brooding. I did get a new costume, isn't it great?" She laughed, taking a breath before diving again. "If you dye your hair, I will personally find Batman's Kryptonite and use color stripper to get that beautiful blonde back, but that's even if your hair takes the dye, which I doubt. It would probably just wash out." Batgirl had to take another deep breath when she was finished. Wow, it was so good to see Kara.

[Deleted]

Max sighed. He understood Supergirl's confusion and felt tempted to explain, but was unsure if this was an appropriate time or not. He nodded when she mentioned the Kartonic System. "Euremia is there, yes. My...mentor is...Euremian and as you undoubtedly know they are a very violent and hostile, war loving race. Still, even after all he's done, after all they've done I don't hate the guy, but I do have mixed feelings about him. The Captain of the lot is the one who earned my ire! Oh how I hate him! He has got to be one of the biggest klorbags of the Kartonic System!" revealed the young shifter before realizing he probably said too much. Max did not want her asking too many questions, so he pretty much referred to Zion as his mentor rather than captor who admittedly did teach and train him. It was true though. He did have mixed feelings about the guy. However, he did out right hate all the other Euremians especially their leader, Salem. The guy literally only got to become leader because he was the tallest. Giving a little cough Max quickly straightened himself up. "Sorry, but it is a very long and complicated story. Perhaps I will explain it to you later, but for now let us simply enjoy one another's company," he suggested hoping to change the subject.

Thankfully the subject was changed when Supergirl accepted his bug infested cookies. His pure white eyes lit up in delight and a smile crossed his face. At her mentioning of there being actual bugs the size of a pickup truck Max's stomach growled and he began to drool. "Oh wow those sound delicious! I'd very much like to have one sometime," he said barely able to contain himself. Then glancing back at his tray of homemade cookies a sigh escaped him. "I suppose my cookies will pale in comparison to those far larger bugs you've encountered," he said wondering if he should even bother now after Supergirl spoke of those fabulous, delicious sounding giant bugs. But then again the female Kryptonian did say she was hungry and there were no large bugs around, so hoping she'll sill enjoy his cookies he picked up the tray and offered her some. "Enjoy! Take as many as you want and tell me what you think. For some strange reason very few people will even try them once I reveal they have bugs though I do not know why. Starfire I believe likes them," he said rubbing on his chin deep in thought.

The two were then interrupted by a most excited Batgirl who upon seeing Supergirl ran right up to her greeting her with a big hug calling her Kar-Bear. Max snickered. "So your real name is Kar-Bear?" he curiously questioned obviously taking the cute nickname too literally.

He then heard Supergirl refer to Batgirl in turn as Barbie. Confused he raised a brow. "Barbie?" he questioned the two. Looking at Batgirl he smirked. "Your name is Barbie?! Ha, that's hilarious! Oh man I am going to get a lot of mileage out of that one!" he declared clearly amused. Thankfully Max did not suspect a thing and just assumed Barbie was Batgirl's real name.

So after that rather...interesting bit of information Max finally calmed down. "So you two are like best friends I take it?" he asked looking between them. His mind raced with questions. "So like how did you two meet? Besides beating up baddies what do you guys do together for fun? And what's it like working together as a team?" Max longed for a partner and hoped to get one someday. It seemed fun having a bestie, just someone to hang out with and do things.

Max couldn't help giggling at all of Supergirl's inquires towards Batgirl. He then watched in amusement as Batgirl struggled to breathe against an overly affectionate Supergirl. Then clearing his throat he spoke. "Yes, I tried to explain to her that Robin was probably lurking in his room," he pointed out.

[Silv]

“I'm 'lurking' right here.” Robin said from behind Mimic.

Alright, so maybe his tendency to pop out of nowhere all I am the night could be a little on the weird side. It wasn't like he'd tried to be sneaky. It was actually pretty difficult to sneak when you were dressed like a traffic light. Though, at this moment, Beast Boy could have probably run past in his elephant form and the two giggling reunited SBFFs~ wouldn't have even noticed.

His masked gaze flicked over to Batgirl and Supergirl, before glancing back at Mimic. He hadn't caught much of the commotion while he'd been in the hallway, but he was easily able to figure out that they probably needed him...for something. He hoped it wasn't for idle gossip, and costume comparison. There were criminals to find after all. Besides, he didn't like having to explain for the millionth time that his original uniform had been a leotard and not green hot pants.

Right. Back to the elephant...I mean alien in the room. “Supergirl, hey,” he greeted the blond. “Did you need something?” If the League had sent her he was fairly certain Batman might have at least given him a heads up. So that meant it probably wasn't anything serious. Unless, of course, Bruce was busy brooding and being a nightmare of a jerk.

Ooc:
Sorry, I kept forgetting about this tag. xD Next time throw the tag in the bottom of the post~
TAG: Audrey

[Audrey]

"Oh. Sorry Barbie..." Kara politely apologized quietly as she put her best friend down. When you had superstrength, knowing your own strength can be kind of difficult at times. She remained jittery and jumpy as one by one, Batgirl covered each of her inquiries. She had completely forgotten about Robin at this point and was entirely okay with just chatting up Barbara for awhile. "Wow! That's good, I'm actually here to become a Titan myself. Clark mentioned the Teen Titans to me while he was talking with Broody Butt and I just had to jump on it. Things have been slow in Metropolis and I've never had a team, so I thought it was a perfect setup!" Supergirl explained, dropping both Superman's human name and her personal name for Batman like no one's business. She wasn't quite as good at the whole secret identity thing what with her own name getting tossed around like a schoolyard football. With everyone relation to her destroyed on Krypton save for Superman who was already a hero, blackmailing her was rather difficult. Sometimes, having your entire family dead had it's advantages. Very very rarely though.

"You know? I've never tried dying my hair. It does make you wonder whether human hair products work on Kryptonians. I know our bone structures are different, but are our hair structures different? I think that calls for an experiment, I'll be right back!" Kara declared, about to speed off and test yet another of her crazy ponderances, but she was brought back from a sudden inquiry from her new friend Max. "Oh, nah. Batgirl just calls me that. It's Kara actually! Kara, Daughter of Zor-El. Bear's don't actually exist on Krypton, so Kar-Bear would be a really weird name. We do however have Jorkels which are like a bear. Except they have stripes, giant snapping metal jaws, thirty-two eyes, and four tails... Actually, they really aren't like bears at all... I don't know why I thought that..." she mused, talking straight through Max's inquiry about Kara's nickname for Batgirl. She was brought out of her thoughts by Max's question about her and Barbara's friendship.

"Best friends? I think Zak-Kors is a much closer description. A Zak-Kor is kind of like a best friend, except you really can only have one. If you keep two or more and someone finds out, you could get exiled to Circa 9, so it's really serious. But a Zak-Kor is basically like your bestest best friend forever, and Barbie is most definitely my Zak-Kor. We've been through Scarecrows, and Zods, and Killer Crocs, and just about everything together... Batman is actually Superman's Zak-Kor too! Although Broody Butt doesn't really like people knowing that. It harshes his whole broodiness. That's why he's forever called Broody Butt," Kara smiled, remembering the Dark Knight. If Clark was her pseudo-brother, Bruce was essentially her pseudo bizarre uncle that showed up once a month or so.

And then suddenly there was a Robin! Kara hadn't actually seen the kid in years. He kind of left Broody Butt in a huff when he made the Teen Titans. She always really wondered why he was so bright compared to Bruce. He was so much older now. She was a little afraid to admit it, but he was almost kind of attractive now. Her memory of him was always of that cheesy little kid making puns and harshing Bruce's entire dark mood. It was hilarious in a sense, but he was such an adult now and by the sounds of it, he picked up Bruce's attitude... Though, thankfully he kept the Robin identity. She half expected him to go off and make some equally dark outfit with like, some slightly brighter highlights or something, with a name even edgier than Batman. Like... Nighthawk or something. Admittedly, she was young then too. His memories of her probably consisted of all her horrible misinterpretations of Earth culture and her hostility towards Earth folk. She supposed everyone had periods in their lives they regretted.

"Hi Robin!" she cheered, nearly about to go in for a hug like she gave Barbara, but decided to be a little more professional and altered her motion into a handshake instead. "Holy puberty Robin, you got big since I last saw you!" she commented, stealing his old catchphrase in teasing. "It's amazing that you've come into your own as a leader. That takes some real skill. This whole operation is impressive and it looks like the Titans really respect you... mostly," she said with genuine awe, ending with a wink and glance at Batgirl on the mostly part. "I've actually come hoping to build off my training with Kal-El. Me and him have worked really well together, but I've never worked on a genuine team before. Me and Kal agreed the Teen Titans would be a great option for that since having me run with the Justice League would probably not go too well," she explained, avoiding using Clark to refer to her cousin. If Robin was anything like Broody Butt, he was a stickler for using citizen names in public areas, so she was gonna play it safe and use her cousin's Krypton name. She hated calling him Superman. "Plus he thought I should really make friends my age," she muttered as an afterthought, unwlling to see that notion as any sort of truth.