(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 takes a sip of his drink as he mentally assesses how genuine Jon seems to be. It figures that a Kryptonian would notice when someone's lying based on their physiological responses. Jason also makes a mental note that he needs to get better at masking his own body's reactions. This can't keep happening if he's going to keep talking to Jon and Kon. Plus, there's always the chance of other Supers showing up, including Clark]

You know, you're being pretty generous even by Big Blue standards. Sure you know enough about me to do that?

[It's stated in a matter-of-fact tone. Jason knows it's much better for everyone's sake to have a Superman who's kind than not. But he might always be surprised by how nice people can be to him despite knowing some of the things he's done]

[exponentially]

[ he gives him a pointed look. ] Yes. [ well. sort of. ] At least, I know that you don't kill good people. [ and if they ever have cause to work together, jon won't let jason kill on his watch. he will put him on a mountain to wait it out if he has to. but he also knows the world isn't black and white, and is big enough to contain many, many philosophies about crimefighting. ]

I also know you take care of kids that need someone safe, and it's pretty clear they trust you not to hurt or take advantage of them. [ he reaches out, fingers brushing jason's wrist briefly. ] You don't think that's enough reason for me to be a little generous?

[robintohood]

[Jon seems to understand the world doesn't run on black and white at least. It's something Jason can appreciate in him]

It's surprising. Back in my world, I'm still on the outs with everyone, family included. The last time I talked to Bruce there, it was a fight that ended with a building blown up.

[Again, it's stated in a matter-of-fact tone. He's trying to gauge and is unsure how to approach this]

[exponentially]

[ jon considers that for a few moments, eyes lifting to the ceiling in thought. ] .. Let's not blow up any buildings if we can avoid it, [ he decides, because that seems to be the main thing here.

he shifts, pushing a curl back from his brow, glance finding jason's again. ]

Look, I-- I'm not Bruce. I don't believe in killing, but I'm not going to turn my back on you and stop speaking to you for it.

[robintohood]

[Jason takes a moment to digest Jon's offer. It seems straightforward at least]

Because there's still good in me? The me from your world must be really making an effort then. Tim's mentioned before about me coming back to the family too.

[exponentially]

You're definitely friendlier with them than you used to be, I think. [ he hesitates, picking through his memories of times he's visited damian at home. ] When I was a kid, I remember seeing you around sometimes. And I'm pretty sure you guys have a family group chat or something.

[ he spreads his hands in a shrug. ] I don't know how it happened, though, or how long it took. And it doesn't have to be.. destiny or something, just because it happened to another Jason. You need to do what's right for you and your mental health.

[robintohood]

[Jon is persistent. Jason will give him that much. He can also see how Jon's trying to be careful and not push him too hard any particular direction]

Thanks. I'll think about it.

[Jason then looks back at Jon]

What about you? You ever had to any mental breaks?

[exponentially]

[ his eyes drop to his hands, and he goes quiet for a few moments as he picks at a loose thread on his jeans. ]

Sometimes, I guess. [ his lips twist up at the corner, self-conscious. ] I can't handle the smell of sulfur anymore. [ he breathes a laugh. ] I mean, who can? It's an awful smell. But I.. go away a little bit now, and it's just better if I get away from it altogether.

[robintohood]

[Jason huffs]

Yeah, sulfur's not a smell you want locked in your memory.

[He would know]

How long does it take for you to come back?

[exponentially]

Not long, [ he's quick to reassure. ] Long for a super, I guess, but I can usually-- I'm good at noticing it happening now. It doesn't interfere in a fight if I have to just deal with it.

[ he tugs at the string and it snaps, and he rolls it between his thumb and forefinger just to give himself something to do with his hands. ]

Sometimes things are just a lot.. generally. Thankfully, being able to fly means I can get away easier than most.

[robintohood]

[Jason's recognizes how Jon fidgets from how he would sometimes act when having to recall certain uncomfortable topics]

Yeah, it's the best you can do when you catch yourself about to go into a spiral. Then you just hope the episode doesn't last long this time around.