‘Cause a Halloween party’s a rad excuse To put your body through mad abuse | OPEN

[heatmetal]

Who: The Stranger Things cast
What: A Housewarming Party hosted by the gang & Settling in to their new haunted home
When: Late October - Early November
Where: Private Housing, Sunset Falls
Content Warnings: probably drugs, drinking

Moving In.

[ It's not quite the joyous occasion they were hoping it would be. The disappearance of one of their own has left a heavy air over the group, but they're determined to try to make something of the situation. And so they proceed with the move, their belongings loaded up in the back of a teleporting truck.

Neighbors are welcome to spy the new arrivals. A perfect collection of unlikely friends that look like they belong in a horror movie cast. You'll get a drink for your trouble - or something a little less legal (or more legal, if you aren't) if you offer to lend a hand. Evidentially, some among their number are not terribly well equipped to do heavy lifting. Damn sticky nerd arms. ]

HOUSEWARMING PARTY is written in slanted block print on a piece of cardboard, staked just outside the newly purchased manor seated near the edge of town. It is a utterly ridiculous piece of architecture, and the gathered teens have more space than they know what to do with.

So how better than to fill it with a house party?
There's a stunning indoor pool just begging to be cannonballed into. A classy lounge for enjoying a little existential angst and ennui. There’s enough guest bedrooms for anyone who wants to crash, though be warned: few are furnished. Some rooms are off limits, for your own sanity rather than theirs.

The music pumping through the place alternates between 80s metal and pop, with some newer tunes sprinkled in there for flavor.

There’s food, a legion of kegs and, well, that less than legal stuff is making the rounds too. ]

Comments

[mostdangerousbird]

Woah, let’s not get too crazy before the party starts.

[ With a grin, Tim crosses the room to join her in the kitchen, snagging a dry dish towel to help. ]

Aside from the… invite, hoe have you been?

[ He’s trying to not upset her by bringing up the departed housemate. ]

[doctopoda]

i. moving in

[Otto shows up not long after Robin's call for help goes out. It's one of the main benefits of being an Alliance member, for him - ready teleporter access.

While he knows that he freaked Robin out a little when she first arrived, he never really made the connection that there was specific tentacled-guy-trauma involved. She'd just been dropped into a robot apocalypse in an unfamiliar dimension, and a big guy with robot arms showed up - that's alarming on very many normal levels! So he's not being especially cautious as he walks up to the house, actuators swaying behind him and peering around curiously at their new surroundings.]

Okay, where do you want me to put everything?

ii. housewarming

[He hadn't entirely meant to stick around for the housewarming party of a bunch of teenagers he mostly doesn't know! But the kids insisted that he stay at least a little while, after all the help he provided in the move itself, and...well, you know, fair enough.

He's standing in the creepy lounge, sipping a cheap beer and looking around at everything. God, this is a lot. Reminds him of college, except more haunted.]

It's a very interesting house...

[He's just casually ignoring all the illegal activities going on. What does he care, honestly.]

[mostdangerousbird]

Hey!

[ The flick smarts, but it’s more the principle of it. ]

Yes, okay? I like it when he flirts with me, I like it when he turns up out of nowhere and upends my plans, and I liked it when I wasn’t supposed to, because I didn’t decide I was single yet.

[ Every time he hung out with him, Tim turned into a baby gay crisis afterwards. ]

[louder_than_words]

[Cass doesn't know what "I didn't decide I was single" means. It doesn't matter.]

He's nice. [And cares about Tim. Which is... important. Very important.]

Stop trying to make excuses. You like him. You're allowed to like him. [Tim Drake is allowed to have nice things. Cass will fight anyone who says different. Including Tim Drake.]

[eggplanting]

Oh, yeah, it was a whole thing at my college last year.

[And then she beat the shit out of Scarecrow to get him to stop making the horrible stuff, she just doesn't need to get into that.]

Is the fruit a necessary part of the soda, or are you just having fun?

[She's curious about how his magic works.]

[accretions]

Yeah. That happens a lot when superheroes get involved. I've been on at least two different dates that ended in a supervillain attack.

[Which, to be fair, absolutely because she was dating an Avenger. The average civilian probably didn't get as wrapped up in superhero stuff as she did.]

[louder_than_words]

Do superheroes... usually get involved?

[The woman is clearly muscled. Some of it is functioning-- functional. But she's not trained. Too unsure of herself. Of her body. As if it's... not-familiar. New.]

[robintohood]

[After seeing seeing Robin's post and Steph and Tim commenting it, Jason decided to hitch a ride with a teenager from Central City to get to Sunset. He could use a break from all the work he's been doing lately anyway.

He arrives at the house dressed in jeans, a green t-shirt and in a black leather jacket]

Hey, you guys still need some help with moving? I saw the post from earlier.

[robintohood]

[Don't mind Jason as he casually flops onto the sofa with a slice of pizza]

So, who'd you bring along?

[He seems completely unsurprised to see Tim]

[mostdangerousbird]

[ What the ever-loving Jiminy Christmas, he wanted to support a new acquaintance - a new normal acquaintance, who could just be someone he knew as Tim. Wouldn't that have been nice?

Instead, more than half the people he knows well in this world are here, and he suddenly has to keep them apart. At a party that's going on across a giant manse and its grounds. ]

Cass. Who brought Steph.

[ No point in hiding it to Jason. He probably already scoped them out - no way is Jason sitting down with food without checking out the people at the party. ]

But why are you here?

[robintohood]

[Jason's fairly sure Tim's lying but won't call it out for now]

Needed a break from work and that post was an open invitation for here.

[Takes a bite out of his pizza]

[mostdangerousbird]

They’re reasons, not excuses. Nothing needs to be excused.

[ Not by Cass, anyway. If Bernard arrives in a Confluence, Tim will have explaining to do. The decision to declare himself single and free to like someone else came after an internal debate between logic, morality, and libido. Morality lost, and Tim felt like a heel until he rationalized it away with Bernard’s absence from this universe. ]

He knows, by the way.

[ Tim gives her a slightly longer than normal break between sentences to try to underline he knows. ]

That Jason is my brother and Bruce is our dad. He overheard them talking about it.

[ Tim, Jason, and Bruce’s IDs are compromised if Loki doesn’t keep quiet. ]

[accretions]

Yeah, my ex's brother brought aliens to Earth like a decade ago and uh. The world hasn't really been the same since. It's like that attack gave every person who'd ever remotely had a supervillain thought permission to act on them and we've been dealing with the aftershocks ever since.

[Oh, weird. Normally when she says "we" in statements like that, she means her and the other civilians. Now, she guesses... it's her and the other superheroes. She's like a Junior Avenger or something now.]

[louder_than_words]

I know. You should tell him to... be more careful. About how he talks. [The way brought it up to Cass-- he may not get why their identities are secrets.]

He brought it up. At a party. In public. [It's easy to see how... not-impressed Cass is about that.] No one was listening. I checked. But it was a risk.

[mostdangerousbird]

[ It's not a lie. It's perhaps not the truth, but Cass and Steph are who arrived with Tim. Loki is perhaps here along with Tim now that he is here, but he didn't bring him. ]

Sometimes, I remember you're closer to my age than Dick's, and it's almost a surprise.

[ Jason acts grizzled - is grizzled, in a lot of ways, but he's still only a few years older than Tim. If he wants to unwind at a party, he should. Be normal for a night, kid. ]

How's the pizza?

[robintohood]

Not bad and all those renovations and moving stuff worked up an appetite.

[He takes another bite]

You're saying I act older than what I actually am?

moving in

[eggplanting]

[That is.... a man with a lot of robotic arms approaching the house as Steph jogs down the steps. It gives her a half-second of pause, a brief assessment made of the situation in a way that's ingrained by this point, before she finishes the trip down.]

Oh, I don't live here, but we're working on a couple of the guest rooms at the moment. I can probably show you what goes where?

[mostdangerousbird]

[ Tim makes a face that might as well be under a mask. Yeah. Loki's getting another talk - he has to take this more seriously. He saw what happened to Tim in the summer; the danger should be apparent. ]

I will, but don't blame me for him knowing in the first place.

[mostdangerousbird]

Hey, at least you're cross-training.

[ No mercy for you, Jason. It's not like they're not used to a ridiculous amount of physical activity. ]

And yeah, that's exactly what I'm saying. When's the last time you did anything fun?

[louder_than_words]

I know you wouldn't. [If Tim could get away with the rest of the Bats not knowing his identity, he would try. Not because he doesn't care. Because he cares.

It doesn't do any good to talk about it more here. She moves on. Takes another sip and hands him back the cup.]

I did threaten to kick his ass. [She's his big sister. It's her job. She's watched enough TV and movies to know that.]

[robintohood]

I try to have at least have some time curling up with a book. Or is that too nerdy?

[ikols]

Darling, you'll never know everything.

[ His arm comes around Tim's shoulders, steering him away from the party to a quieter corner if Tim will come along. ]

It's a nice surprise, meeting you here. [ Green eyes stay steady, a smile curling Loki's lips for emphasis despite his soft voice. ] Please stop your worrying.

[ikols]

Can't I have fun?

[ikols]

[ Uh. ]

You're a good friend to him, stay like that. Those are rare.

[ No comment on his own goals or endgames, offering a cheerful, supportive smile before he slips out of the corner she's hiding in, returning to the party. ]

[mostdangerousbird]

That doesn’t mean I have to stop trying to know everything.

[ Loki can lead him wherever he wants, as far as Tim’s concerned.

Tim does a final check towards Billy. ]

It’s strategically ensuring that your friends like me and wishing my snoopy friends didn’t know yet, because I … kinda like being a nice surprise.

[ His arm slides around Loki’s waist with a focused casualness that is not as subtle as Tim intends. ]

You’re a better one, though. I don’t think you’d ever be boring enough to just be nice.