(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

[exponentially]

[ he wasn't planning to drink, but he figured, well, alcohol doesn't really do anything to his dad anyway, and a little eggnog never hurt anyone. now he realizes that as with most of his powers, he can't just assume it's going to work like his dad's.

in other words, he's a lightweight.

it's been pretty harmless so far, though. mostly it's made him sleepy and affectionate-- affection which is probably safest to give to kon instead of any of the more breakable humans at the party. his control is usually extremely precise, of course, but he's also never been this tipsy before. or tipsy at all, actually.

he blinks as tim approaches him, confusion crossing his expression briefly before smoothing into easy good humor again. ]

I didn't make you stuff so you felt like you had to give me something back, Tim. [ he absently pats the seat next to him, resisting the sudden and silly urge to hug the other teen. tim seems so stressed out sometimes-- even when jon had been a kid, the few times he'd seen tim around the other teen had seemed overworked and maybe a little bit underappreciated. ] I just want you to have a good Christmas. .. And stay warm. [ he blinks again, sleepily. ] Your uniform has short sleeves.. doesn't really seem practical sometimes..

[mostdangerousbird]

You made all that?

[ Tim had assumed about the pies, but the socks and mittens are a surprise. It’s a significant effort for his friend’s brother. Especially when said brother doesn’t like Tim. The well should be poisoned.

He drops down into seat leaning forward with one hand braced in his knee. The sudden motion set the corners of the room spinning. ]

Kevlar doesn’t breathe as much as the manu- maker claims, and I’ve got long gauntlets.

[exponentially]

You couldn't tell? I messed up so many times in the sock pattern. [ he'd made mistakes with all of the things he'd knitted, because sure he learns fast, and he can do things fast, but he's still not very experienced. ] I just didn't know what else to do.

[ you can't buy stuff for wealthy people. all the bats can afford whatever they want at home, and although they're not wealthy here, it still hadn't seemed like the right move. besides, he's still relying on alliance money, and it hadn't felt right to just buy things with money from an organization that none of them really agree with or believe in. at least he'd been able to transform the purchased yarn into something the alliance had no real hand in.

that feels like too complicated a thought to try to express right now, though, so instead he picks up a pillow to hug to his chest, placing each finger with exaggerated care so he doesn't tear it. ]

I pick things up pretty quick. It wasn't.. s'posed to be weird or anything.

[mostdangerousbird]

[ Tim shakes his head. He hadn't inspected them. There's the thing about not looking a gift horse in the mouth. ]

I don't go looking for problems. I know Damian and I don't get along, but if he's telling you I'm sort of perfectionist prick - I'm not.

[ He puts one foot up on the seat, leaning on his bent knee. ]

I think it was cool, that you made them. I've made people gifts before too.

[exponentially]

He didn't, [ he feels obliged to reassure tim, shaking his head and immediately regretting it as the room spins a little. he definitely shouldn't have had that eggnog. ] I mean, he's always pretty rude about you guys, but he's never said you're a jerk or anything.

[ it's just that tim is part of a wealthy family, and he'd come from money, too, and jon's aware that some people think handmade gifts are cheap or kind of hokey. he's glad tim isn't one of them. in fact, he thinks it's cool, apparently, which makes a pleased flush rise in jon's face, warming his cheekbones and ears. ]

Really? [ maybe he'd made the right call trying to keep tim warm, after all. ] .. What kind of gifts? Tech stuff?

[mostdangerousbird]

[ Tim’s family being rich has taught him a few things, like how, outside of being able to provide a healthy batarang budget or invest in public works, money doesn’t do shit. The things Tim wants, he can’t buy. ]

Yep. Tech stuff.

[ Hence the open invitation to work on something for Jon. It’s an offer he’d make anyway - although normally he’d charge for parts. Tim’s doing okay enough to get some presents, but it’s meant a couple extra shifts. The cheap apartment helps. ]

I’m pretty good at it, and I can’t knit.

[ Tim mimes knotting motions. Unfortunately, he still has the rum bottle in his hand and nearly spills it. ]

Shit!

[ He wipes off the drop running down the glass, takes a small sip and snuggles down into the cushions. ]

So, tech stuff. I made Bruce’s present last year. You can’t just buy Bruce Wayne a tie… Unless you want me to DM a Warlocks and Warriors one shot. I’m out of practice though.

[exponentially]

[ he laughs a little at the near-spill, charmed for some reason. he didn't really know tim could be like this. he seems so serious all the time, which he expects is probably reasonable considering his upbringing and responsibilities and family, and he probably doesn't know jon well enough to really relax around him under normal circumstances, but this is weirdly reassuring. he looks.. soft like this. ]

What did you get Bruce? [ in his family, his mom is usually the one to figure out bruce's christmas gift, mostly because his dad gets too sentimental about that sort of thing. and it's, you know, bruce. ] I don't really know what Warlocks and Warriors is. [ he'd been a video games and outdoors kid, and now he doesn't quite know what he likes doing in free time. ] Is it some kind of game..? [ from context clues, that's what it sounds like, anyway. ]

[mostdangerousbird]

[ He waves a hand in that boneless, tipsy way. ]

I made a him a machine that will help with stitching himself up if I'm not around.

[ Tim's still really proud about it. It was a clever bit of work. Sure, some people would see it as him enabling Bruce's bad choices, but they just don't understand. ]

Warlocks and Warriors is a TTRPG.

[ He naturally says this like it explains everything. ]