(closed) you better watch out. you better watch out

[eggplanting]

Who: Steph Brown eggplanting, Bart Allen, Cass Cain, Tim Drake, Jason Todd, Kon-El, Jon Kent
What: Slumber party with the DC vigilante/hero kids
When: Mid-December
Where: Bart's farm in Little Love
Content Warnings: hopefully none!
Notes: Threadjacking is encouraged, as is vaguely waving our hands at the concept of linear time so that we don't have to think too hard about logistics



'Twas the night week before Christmas, when all through the house...

Pretty much everyone was stirring, because there's a party to enjoy.

Calling it a party may be a slight stretch, when there's really only a handful of them and they're not going to get up to anything more intense than playing Mario Kart and watching movies from the 90s, but Steph thought that labeling it a sleepover might sound a little immature. The idea had percolated over the last few weeks; there's a good handful of them now, from roughly the same universe, but not all of them know each other well, and while Steph might not be as tactically minded as someone like Tim, it had seemed sensible that they do a little team building.

Also, it should be fun. That's very important.

With Bart being the only one living in a space that could actually be considered a house, she'd reached out to ask if he'd be cool with hosting, and had sent out texts to the rest of their friends once she had his approval. Not being a jerk, she'd also promised to swing by early to help set up, for all the set up that needs to be done when a handful of people in their twenties hang out. Mostly it involved grabbing a few extra bean bags, setting up the TV and game consoles, and adding a few seasonally appropriate holiday decorations.

The invitation texts served the secondary purpose of assigning everyone some kind of snack or beverage to bring, most of it falling into typical junk food fare. Chips and dip, soda, pizza rolls, pretzels (the soft variety, of course), mozzarella sticks, popcorn. People are welcome to get fancier, but she'd mostly suggested things they could eat as is, or food that's easy to pop in the oven. This isn't a gala thrown by Bruce, after all. And with none of them being particularly big drinkers, she'd just told everyone it was BYOB if they want to get alcohol involved in their evening.

It's unlikely any of them would want to get wasted. While they're all strictly off duty for the evening, 'drunken misadventures' isn't really the vibe Steph is going for with this whole thing; it's meant to be a relaxing, fun evening, where they can eat, watch movies, and get into unnecessarily heated arguments about video games before crashing wherever they can find a soft surface at the end of the night. As if they're normal young adults and not a gaggle of traumatized vigilantes and lab experiments.

Later in the evening, after they've all poured outside to make s'mores around an improvised firepit, she'll probably break out some silly party games, like Never Have I Ever, or worse, card games like Uno. Because nothing says fun like arguing over whether it's morally right to use two skips in a row.

Some people just want to watch the world burn.

Comments

[robintohood]

Jason found it bizarre that he would be invited to a sleepover. To call the other vigilantes his friends isn't accurate given his history and his violent methods as the Red Hood. And with his upcoming death anniversary, he felt even less inclined to be social.

But he got dragged here anyway and with the very snowy weather outside, he might as well make the most of it. He's made himself comfortable on a bean bag and has positioned himself more towards the edge of the group.

If they're watching a movie, he'll sometimes do snarky commentary. He's also not above playing party games. In between all these social activities that he's not used to though, he sometimes steps away to take a quiet moment to himself. It's also so he can offer Kat-El company. He hopes the little furball isn't overwhelmed by all the extra humans tonight.

[kid_flash_found]

It really didn't take long for the fuzzball to find Jason. The party isn't overwhelming, exactly, because Bart often takes the cat out where he can be around a lot of people like at children's hospitals for publicity. There's something special about knowing you have to earn the right to have contact with an animal that seems to help the more troubled kids come out of their shells. But that doesn't mean the little beast isn't going to claim his share of Jason's bean-bag chair nest.

Bart, on the other hand, knows Jason isn't much of a talker, and gives him a little bit of space at first. But eventually he stops by. "I hope you're not pulling away because you have better things to do than join the round-robin games of Mario Kart."

A beat. "Uh, that wasn't meant to be a codename joke, we just don't have enough slots on the system for everyone to play at once."

[robintohood]

Jason lightly snorts at Bart's added-on disclaimer as he gently scritches Kat-El behind the ears and near his collar. It's a soothing gesture for him and he's assuming the feeling's mutual for the cat.

"Yeah, I figured. Thanks for hosting the whole flock of us tonight," Jason says. "I'm just taking a break."

[kid_flash_found]

"Well, there's only so many places the group of us can all be and actually relax. I might not even have to lock Tim off the wifi if we're lucky," Bart says, grinning.

"Not many neighbors to complain if something happens, either. Steph thought not being in Central part would be a definite plus for actually getting people to not be glued to the police scanners."

[robintohood]

Jason's lips quirk into a small smirk.

"Honestly, yeah. It's a good call to make," he says. "Especially when the first thing Tim did when we got here was set up his computer."

[kid_flash_found]

"He also knows that I know how to set up a password that will take him longer to break than the party will last, so he's actually behaving himself. You get used to him being a pain to unplug."

[robintohood]

"Smart move. It's better to beat him at Mario Kart when he's not too distracted," Jason chuckles. "It's a better earned victory."

[kid_flash_found]

"Well, I do have a specially programmed controller for each system that ignores some inputs and randomly adds others for a handicap if people really complain about my skills," he half-jokes. "I get tired of being accused of cheating sometimes. It's nearly impossible to speed and hold a conversation at normal speed, anyway."

[robintohood]

"Can you blame them? You can go faster than we can see you move," Jason says before helping himself to more chips. "Game nights always like this for you guys? Tim seems to expect something to happen."

[kid_flash_found]

"Well, it's hard not to get interrupted if you're where things happen. Although I remember one time that was Wonder Girl's and Arrowette's moms getting into a catfight that Nightwing and the others weren't willing to break up. They were arguing over who was a more supportive mom because Red Tornado had this brilliant idea to do a parent/mentor night for Young Justice. Dick was there because of course Batman skipped out."

[robintohood]

Jason snorts and rolls his eyes.

"Of course," he says, unsurprised that it was Dick who picked up the slack for Bruce. "Sounds like it was a good night then. Nothing like a little healthy competition."

[kid_flash_found]

"We played Truth or Dare. Robin actually took off his mask."

[robintohood]

Jason pauses to digest that information.

"But...?" He then says, sensing that it sounds too easy.

[eggplanting]

Is Steph aware that it's close to the day Jason died? Maybe, maybe not. Either way, she isn't going to comment on, knowing him well enough to assume that it isn't going to be something he wants to chat about.

But she does flop down on the beanbag right beside him, making herself fit with the determination of someone who made their own vigilante costume at fifteen to kick their dad's ass.

"Backstreet Boys or *NSYNC? You have three seconds to answer." She's probably in the middle of an argument with someone and needs back up. Or she just needs to know the answer to this very important question.

[robintohood]

Jason's caught off guard by her question when she flops next to him.

"For what? We hear plenty of both back at the bar," he asks.

He needs context and this question feels like a trap into something ridiculous.

[eggplanting]

"For what band name I'm gonna get tattooed on my ass, obviously." The sarcastic answer is delivered with a nudge into Jason's ribs with her elbow, which she's going to pretend was an accident as she gets comfortable.

Sometimes dealing with a criminal and murdered involves just inserting herself into their personal space and treating them like she'd treat anyone else.

[robintohood]

"Hey!"

Moments like these are good reminders for Jason that he's closer to the others' ages than Dick's age.

"And fine. Backstreet Boys."

[eggplanting]

"Bzzt. Wrong." Don't ask how she manages to make a buzzer sound so easily, it's a secret talent. "The correct answer is the Spice Girls."

It was a trap all along. For no other reason than Steph enjoys messing with Jason a little bit every now and then. It's good for him. Keeps him humble.

And reminds him that he's a real boy, like the rest of them.

[robintohood]

And just like that, Jason instinctively taps into the "just-barely-an-adult" part of him.

"That wasn't one of the choices! That's not fair!" he protests. "You didn't even give me the full context!"

[eggplanting]

Steph cackles, absolutely delighted by this turn of events, because what's better than riling someone up? Especially when that someone is Jason.

"The Spice Girls are always an option, it's not my fault you forgot." This is victim blaming, she's victim blaming him for not realizing that he could choose a third option when she only presented two options.

[robintohood]

"Oh come on. I've looked at the bar's stats for most requested songs. They're not at the top," Jason says, rolling his eyes. "Those two boy bands are."

The more casual and much less grumpy side of him is a rarity for anyone to see.

[eggplanting]

There's an over-dramatic gasp from Steph, as if learning this information is the most horrible thing that has ever happened to her. It might be.

"We've got to start making a note of who all these idiots are so we can ban them for life." Clearly this is something worth caring about, and she's also clearly allowed to make decisions about the clientele in the bar, like she isn't just a waitress.

[robintohood]

Jason snorts in amusement and doesn't hesitate with keeping up with the banter.

"Take that up with management. Oh wait," he jokes. "Besides, for this month, Mariah Carey is queen."

[eggplanting]

"Don't make me start a union, Jason. I'll do it." This is the worst threat she can think of, even though Jason is a good boss and they're all friends and considering all the illegal activity going on, a union wouldn't do much god. It's still the scariest thing to say to a business owner.

"But I'll give you Mariah Carey. It's the best part of December." And November, these days, as the war on Christmas continues to gain territory.

[robintohood]

"A union wouldn't work with our setup," Jason smirks, knowing full well Steph is joking. "Come January, the stats are gonna be more boy bands than girl ones."