Princess Diana stepped out onto the secluded balcony of the Themysciran Embassy. Dressed casually in a baggy green sweatshirt and grey sweatpants, she looked impressively mundane. Well, as mundane as an Amazon could look, in New York.

Tea in hand, she gazed across the street to the quiet park. Sighing contentedly, she sipped her chamomile. The late night was crisp and refreshing, and the sounds of the city were muted by the trees in the park. The moment was perfect for reflection, until the sound of an unexpected presence behind her shattered her calm.

Whirling, Diana brought up her bracelets. Then relaxed, and laughed.

Raven hovered in a patch of shadow next to the balcony door. She held Diana's tea in a cloud of dark magic- caught just before it could smash on the stone.

Diana chuckled some more, and eased out of her fighting stance. "Well. Good evening Raven. You know, you nearly gave me a heart attack."

Raven parted fully from the shadows, and brought the tea up to where she could sniff it. Then she floated it back to Diana.

"What brings you all the way to New York?" Diana said, leaning back on the ledge. "Is everything fine with the Titans?"

"The Titans are fine," Raven said. "I'm... not really here about hero business."

Diana looked Raven over with curious, blue eyes. "Okay," Diana said. "Then what does bring you here at this time of the night?"

"Um," Raven said, glancing down slightly. "What do you know about girls?"

Diana furrowed her brow, lips pursing slightly. "I… know what I know. Can you be more specific?" she asked.

Raven frowned. "What you know about friendships? Intimate ones."

Diana blinked. "Intimate," she said.

Tilting her head, she squinted. "Raven, I don't mean to broach, but are you in a sexual rela-"

"No!" Raven said, her hands shooting up. "Sweet Azaroth no! It's-" Raven exhaled, briefly glancing away to organize her thoughts.

"Okay, it's like this- I was raised by my mother, and a bunch of monks, in a monastery. I understand family, I understand friendship- heck, I understand being friends with Beast Boy of all people, but… like, serious friendships? Where I'm sharing sleeping space and it feels… different?" Raven shrugged. "It didn't really come up, you know?"

"Oh," Diana said, with a nod and a smile. She sipped her tea. "And you thought to come to me?"

"You're from an island of warrior women," Raven said, flatly. "I've seen how close soldiers can get. And I figured Themyscira wasn'tmuch of a monastery."

Diana burst into a full-throated laugh. "No, it most certainly was not." She tapped her mug idly, thinking. "How about this- come inside, let me make you some tea, and you can tell me what brought you here, from the beginning?"

Raven hovered, considering. Then, she let her feet touch down. Pulling back her hood, she nodded and followed Diana into the Embassy.

After accepting the steaming mug with the Themysciran Embassy's seal on it, Raven looked around the pristinely clean kitchen. She wondered if the Titans could ever have something this nice.

"This must be really hard to clean," Raven commented, easing onto a nearby stool.

Diana nodded, joining her. "With as many guests as the Embassy has? I'd imagine. Fortunately, Ferdinand, our cook, takes great pride in his kitchen. He assures us the effort is worth it."

Raven nodded, sipping the tea. "Mm. Good."

"I try," Diana replied, with a grin. "So, you're here about friendships, intimate ones, but not that way…" Raven blushed at Diana's teasing tone. "Between women. Is that right?"

"Yes," Raven replied, nervously tucking a strand of hair behind her ear.

"Start from the beginning then," Diana offered.

Raven nodded, and took a calming breath to let her emotions settle out. "What do you know about my teammate, Starfire?" she asked.

Diana was thoughtful for a moment, then smiled. "Impressive warrior, loud laugh," she said. "Good girl. We talked after... The Annihilator?"

Raven nodded. "Yeah, that big thing. I thought I saw you two chatting after."

"We had some common ground," Diana said, with a little laugh. "She offered to spar with me."

"Sounds like Star," Raven said. "But, yeah. She and Robin were dating until a few months back and things changed from there..."

Diana listened as Raven laid out everything that had happened between her and Starfire. She talked about the shared bed, consulting with Robin, and finally- the kiss. Diana was a good listener: she didn't interrupt, gave Raven her full attention, and when Raven finished she felt a bit lighter for having gotten it all off her chest.

Diana sipped her tea. Then, she said, "Have you considered that Starfire is attracted to you?"

"What?" Raven spluttered, nearly dropping her mug. She set the cup down quickly, cheeks warm and stomach clenched. "Why- She, she's Star! She was with Robin for crying out loud!"

Diana cocked her head. "Raven, you do know that sexuality is not strictly predictive, correct?"

Raven nodded stiffly.

"Okay, good. Have you asked Starfire if she's bisexual? Possibly pan, or demisexual?"

"Noooooo!" Raven said, her cheeks feeling even hotter. "And I'm not going to. Starfire isn't… I'm the Apocalypse Girl!"

"Yes. And yet, she's still in your bed," Diana pointed out.

"Can we try a different approach?" Raven asked, rubbing a finger against her temple, her heart beating faster than she thought it should.

"Very well," Diana said. "Are you attracted to Starfire?"

Raven went bright red, and her face set in an impassive mask. "I have not thought about it," she said, mechanically.

Diana's lips quirked in a smile, and she placed her tea on the countertop. "Alright," she said, leaning against the counter. "How do you feel about her?"

Raven blinked a few times, breathing in and out, piecing her thoughts together. "She's Starfire," she replied. "She's my friend. She's the only other girl Titan. Well, the only main girl Titan. She's Tamarae-"

Diana held up a hand.

"Those are facts about her," Diana said. "How do you, Raven, feel about Starfire?"

Raven blew out a breath.

"I... don't know," Raven said. "I haven't really felt anything for a long time. I don't- There's no basis for how she makes me feel."

"Then, let's start simple: do you enjoy her company?"

Raven nodded.

"Do you seek her out?"

"Not really. She mostly comes to my place."

Diana raised an eyebrow at Raven. "Her coming to you- is this a problem?"

Raven paused. Her hand raised to her chin as she thought it over. "It... should be."

"'Should be?'" Diana said, eyebrow raised.

"I've been alone most of my life," Raven replied, firmly.

Diana tilted her head at that.

"Not literally. Here." Raven tapped the spot on her chest where her heart was. "My emotions had to be kept under tight control, or things would get really bad. So, I could only let my friends get so close. Being alone was kind of my baseline. I didn't hate it, I didn't love it, it was just who I was."

She shrugged, sighing. "Now? I don't have that problem. I don't have my emotions so tightly controlled anymore, which is kind of new. But, having people this close to me is entirely new."

"That must be very upsetting," Diana said. "New feelings, new emotions you can't explain."

Raven nodded, looking into her tea and watching her reflection waver.

"It is. I'm- I don't interact with people the same. I feel things in my gut more. And Starfire makes my gut... flutter? Sometimes. I don't know what it means."

Raven shook her head.

"Sorry, I didn't really organize my thoughts on this."

"No, it's fine," Diana said, with a smile. "Let's see…"

Diana's gaze drifted up in thought and she tapped her foot idly. The image she presented made Raven smile slightly.

Even though Diana didn't really have a secret identity, Raven remembered how in a fight, Wonder Woman seemed… regal, fierce, and untouchable. But here, in the kitchen? She was just Diana, a tall woman in a green shirt and gray pants. Normal.

Raven knew she herself could be fierce and untouchable when dealing with supervillains, but she never got to Diana's level of normal in her downtime. She was always… Apocalypse Girl, or the Unemotional One, or the Creepy Chick. Maybe that's why this was all so confusing: she didn't have enough normal in her. If she was more normal, would what Starfire's doing make any more sense?

"I still think," Diana started, breaking into Raven's thoughts. "That you should talk with Starfire. There may be some cultural confusion going on. I know when I first came here, I confused a few of my female friends."

She looked down, a blush, and a touch of honest shame on her face. "One of the first women I met here mistook my affection for romantic advances, and I nearly lost her over the misunderstanding. So. If nothing else, talk with Starfire about how she acts with other women back home. Otherwise..."

Diana shrugged her powerful shoulders in resignation.

"She has, essentially, just ended an important relationship in her life. She may need you as a close friend, and things have just become strange due to culture clash. Or," Diana locked eyes with Raven. "She may be looking for more from you than friendship."

Raven blushed, breaking the gaze. "Yeah. Okay," she said, noncommittally.

"Does she make you uncomfortable?" Diana asked.

"Not really," Raven said. "Just confused."

"I urge you to clear that confusion soon, Raven. Talk to her. She is your friend, right?"

"She's- they're all more than that. They're my family."

Diana smiled. "Then give your family that consideration at least. Clear your confusion with her. You may even clear confusion she has about you."

Raven cocked her head, squinting at Diana. "I don't think Starfire is all that confused."

"You'd be surprised," Diana smirked, sipping at her tea.

A shuffling noise and a snort caught Raven's attention and in came-

"Whoa," she said, looking up.

Looming in the doorway was a for-reals Minotaur. Granted, he was a Minotaur unexpectedly wearing a baggy, wide-neck t-shirt, pj pants, and glasses on the end of his nose, but he was a real Minotaur.

He regarded Raven a moment, then turned to Diana.

"Diana," he said, his voice bass-deep and rumbling. "Why didn't you tell me we had visitors?"

"Everyone was sleeping, Ferdinand," Diana replied, teasing. "I'm more than capable of making tea on my own."

Ferdinand snorted. "That may be, but can you offer my ginger snaps? I don't think so." He trundled into the kitchen, opened a pantry, and started digging into its depths.

"You don't have to-" Raven started.

"Nonsense. You're visiting. I will feed you."

"You'd impugn his honor if you didn't," Diana said, smirking.

"Uh…" Raven said.

"Ah, here they are." He set down a small jar full of caramel brown cookies.

"You know, I could offer those, myself, if you didn't hide them," Diana teased, again.

"If I didn't hide them, they wouldn't be around to offer," Ferdinand replied, getting out a tupperware container of what Raven thought might be sugar chunks.

He set the ginger snaps on a pan and evenly sprinkled them with the sugar.

"What brings you to our humble dwellings, young hero?" he asked as he set the cookies to warm in the oven.

"Just… um. Looking for advice," Raven said.

Ferdinand nodded. "You must be pretty smart. Diana is very good for advice," he said.

Raven glanced at Diana, whose eyes were locked on the sugar melting over the surface of the cookies.

She smiled slightly. "Yeah. Yeah, she is."