New York Harbor

        New York Harbor is bustling with activity. A major city, it has a lot of
sea-faring traffic coming in and out through the Harbor. The city tries to keep the
harbor clean, but often fails in the attempt. The warehouses can be seen lining the
piers in this portion of town, and it's obvious that this isn't the best area of town
to be around.

Late afternoon in New York City. It's been quite warm for a bit now, but the water's
still cold - it's usually cold even into summer. A young man - a tourist or a swinger
by the looks of him - paces the end of one of the lesser-used docks, occasionally
tapping out a pattern on the wood with his foot. Rather loudly. People've started to
stare.

Sandy's Desc:
        The tall, blue-eyed man before you stands carelessly, his mop of bright yellow
curls spilling over his brow and shading his eyes. The hair is cut very short in the
back, almost buzzed, but it fades up to longer locks on top. His face is clean-shaven
and angular, with a straight nose and a mouth that looks like it's quite used to
reacting in wry amusement. The man's skin is tanned, but not obscenely so: it looks
like he's just gotten a good lot of sun in his apparently short life. Yes, short - he
doesn't seem to be any more than twenty-four.
        From the bottom up, Sandy's wearing a pair of Birkenstocks - sure, toeless
leather sandals no matter what the temperature is outside; a pair of olive drab cargo
pants with just as many pockets and loops as the most 'with it' skateboarder or
irritated ex-Marine; a leather gunbelt with rather nonstandard weaponry residing in the
holsters; a white sleeveless undershirt made from thin, ribbed fabric, serving nicely
to outline his musculature; an unbuttoned, short-sleeved Hawaiian shirt. And oh, this
shirt is bright enough to drive any stealth-lover crazy: it's colored on a quite
touristy gradient, sunshine yellow at the bottom to citrus orange in the middle, ending
at blood red up at the shoulders and collar. A pattern of tropical fish and stylized
flowers covers it, leaving big gaps of color in between.

There are some names that do not change. That echo, carried through the harbour, and in
turn carried outward by obliging messengers. It has been longer than usual that the
young man waits. Finally, however, the white head breaks the surface, the full lips
part and inhale the air. Dol -- no, Aquagirl's expression is nothing if not hesitant,
but she snags the ladder of the pier with a gloved hand, and begins to climb, utterly
oblivious to whatever stares she may be receiving.

Dolphin's Desc:
        Light blue eyes catch your gaze first, eerily off-colour. It takes a moment to
realize what's odd about them - they pale to a gleaming white in the centre, alien and
unreadable. Her face is oval, an air of elegance given by arched white brows and full,
expressive lips. That same effect is marred slightly by an impishly snubbed nose. Her
expression is calm, her skin tone lightly tanned - odd, considering she doesn't often
see the sunlight. Her hair flows in a platinum wave to mid-thigh, swirling around her.
        She is wearing what looks to be some sort of uniform, skin-tight and
square-necked.  The torso is deep red, while green gloves bordered in black and white
stripes somehow cover her webbed hands. There is a simple metallic band around her left
wrist. A wide black belt is buckled with the golden letter "A", and below that her
outfit is green - at least before ending, swimsuit-style, to expose her bare, toned
legs. For the very observant, or the drooling male gaze, there appears to be some sort
of marking high on her inner thigh. It's purple, small, possibly dolphin-shaped. More
of a swirl than anything. Below her knees, black and white stripes band the tops of her
green boots, matching her gloves perfectly.
        She has an ethereal, almost unnatural slenderness that seems fragile until she
moves, and the play of streamlined muscles becomes evident. She moves with grace and
agility, but her usual quiet confidence is marred by an air of puzzled confusion.


And there's definitely one stare that the woman gets that she should, well, at least be
more used to than others. Maybe even find flattering, or welcome it, even. Wordlessly,
his eyes drinking Dolphin in like a man dying of thirst, he offers her a hand up and
out of the water. His only reaction, immediately, to her getup is a surprised blink.

How on earth did she get a glove to fit that snugly over webbed hands? Possibly it's
more of a mitten. Either way, it's green, and wet, and cold -- but she grasps Sandy's
hand, and allows him to pull her up. Her pale hair plasters itself down her back, and
she pushes some of it out of her eyes. She looks, if anything, a little abashed. Sandy
is kissed, nonetheless (yes, her lips are cold, too) before she steps back and smiles
uncertainly up at him.

Sandy's eyes are amused as he looks Dolphin over, and he hesitantly reaches out to
touch her - to gently finish brushing her hair from her face with his fingertips.
"Seems like you've gone completely superhero, huh?" he grins, finally. His hands rest
on her shoulders, then, and slide down her arms to take her hands in his. "Dol - you
look /fabulous/...as usual...but I'm curious as to what prompted it."

Aquagirl's hands squeeze Sandy's a little harder than they should. Her blue eyes are
bright and troubled and too wide, but her voice corrects quite glibly, "Aquagirl." Even
as she says it, she shakes her head slightly.

Brow furrowing slightly, Sandy does his best to read Dolphin's expression. "Aquagirl,
huh?" He notes the squeeze, and gets a little more worried. "You, ah...hey, I know how
much you didn't like being called that in the paper. Is Orin blackmailing you into
being his sidekick or something?" It sounds implausible and Sandy knows it, but he
honestly can't think of what could really be going on.

Aquagirl is definitely bothered by something. Some knowledge lurks behind her eyes,
along with a subtle anger that is not directed at you. She keeps hold of Sandy's hands,
and says, "No.. it's something with the Titan... the Titans... the.. " A sigh. She
tries again, and says quietly, "My name is Aquagirl. It has *always been* Aquagirl. I
am part of the Titans team. We think... " She slows down here, as if testing the words
before she says them. "Maybe.. something... is changing ... some.. people."

"Your name is /Dolphin/," says Sandy worriedly. He weighs the woman's tone, her
expression, her body language - all this against her words, and he decides that she's
not saying what she's trying to say. He hopes. He thinks. Okay, the guy's pretty darn
confused - but that seems to be happening a lot lately. "Something is changing...you?
Your team? Both?"

The hands squeeze again, hard, though Aquagirl replies benignly, "Of course not, Sandy.
We haven't changed. *None* of us." She is dripping water on the pier.

Aquagirl continues, again with that careful air, "Maybe it's possible, though... that
/some/ people.. have changed."

Biting his lip, Sandy thinks about this for a moment. "Some people who bear a striking
- even uncanny - resemblance to you, uh, Titans...? I gotcha." He pauses. "-If- such a
thing were to have happened...do you have any idea who would be capable of causing it?"
Another slightly longer pose. "And have you talked to the rest of the Titans about
this...thing that possibly happened to some other people, D- Aquagirl?"

Despite her obvious discomfiture, Aquagirl offers Sandy the trace of a wry smile. "If
such a thing were to happen.. no. I am on my way to the Titans' headquarters to answer
a call, but I heard your message so I stopped. Is everything alright?"

"I missed you," says the Golden Ager, obviously a little embarrassed. He swings her
hands lightly, then brings them up to his lips and kisses her gloves. Letting go, the
man smiles slightly and steps back. "So - no. Not on my end, anyways. Just being a
clingy bastard, I guess."

Why be embarrassed? The smile that Aquagirl offers the man is swift and brilliant,
despite her distractions. "I miss you too. I am sorry - I should come more. I will be
back after we deal with this, alright?"

Sandy Hawkins nods, offering a worried smile. "And if you...Titans...need a hand with
anything, please please tell me. And don't worry - I don't want to disrupt things that
need to be done. Come when you can...and hey, maybe sometime I'll learn to breathe
underwater, eh? Then I can visit /you/." Wistful. Only half-joking.

Aquagirl steps forward, closing the distance the blonde man created, and slides her
arms behind his shoulders, kissing him gently for a long moment. Then, stepping back,
she smiles again, and says, "If we need you, you will know. I will see you soon." A
graceful step, an arching leap -- and already she has vanished beneath the chill water.
Barely a splash to mark her passage.