metalogs | [OPEN Mingle] Happy Anniversary and Happy Holidays!

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[OPEN Mingle] Happy Anniversary and Happy Holidays!

Who: Mingle post! Jason Todd

robintohood is also available in a separate top-level comment
What: Festivities at the Descendant Karaoke Bar and Lounge
When: Week of November 27th and throughout December
Where: Central City
Content Warnings: N/A for now. Will edit if needed.

[By god, the weird (and only sometimes shady) New Jerseyian karaoke bar in the middle of Michigan has made it. The Descendant Karaoke Bar and Lounge has hit its first anniversary. To celebrate, there are special discount rates for customers and even deeper ones for the repeated loyal clients.

Because Descendant’s birthday is also at the very beginning of the winter holiday season, the whole place has been decorated to reflect the occasions. There’s the usual colorful tinsel, wreathes, Santa hats, and fake holly plants but there are also special additions the Descendant’s staff did. There are hidden Santa Gritty figures and decorations throughout the building. More blatant are the Christmas trees throughout the building adorned with Gritty baubles. Instead of an elf on a shelf, behind the bar on the top shelf is a Gritty figure next to the maneki-neko figure Mayuko gifted Jason last year during Descendant’s grand opening. Both figures are there all year round but for this time of the year, they’re rocking Santa hats too.

As for the Descendant’s owner, his presence is oddly sparse despite his business hitting a milestone. Jason’s still monitoring daily operations and is still making sure tasks are being properly delegated but during these last weeks of the year, he’s not at Descendant as often as he usually is. He can still be contacted though, namely if there’s an emergency.

Meanwhile, if one were to carefully eavesdrop on some of the Descendant’s more shady customers, one might hear that the Backbreakers gang and their leader, the Red Hood, might be having… problems holding their remaining territory. The rumors have been going since mid-November after the mysterious bombings to several of the Backbreakers’ safehouses.

So come in from the cold and celebrate, be it Descendant’s birthday or a winter holiday. Have a holiday drink like a spiked eggnog, a gingerbread martini, or a wassail. The karaoke machines are full of holiday songs to sing to as well.]

((OOC: Mingle post! Go have fun, folks. Jason’s own top-level is right here. My contact information is on this journal's profile and I'm in the game's Discord server. Feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns as well. I also have a feedback post.))

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[For this time of the year, there are a few spots at the Descendant that Jason’s likely to be found at:

There’s the reading room, which isn’t really a surprise as Jason’s always been an unabashed bookworm. For this time of the year, he’s reading books like Waiting for Godot, Hamlet, and Emily Dickinson’s poetry.

He’s still paying close attention to certain customers as they’re always a fountain of money and interesting intel to overhear. So you might catch him coming out of one of the VIP rooms after serving customers.

He might be coming from or going to his office, which is happening more often than usual.

In any case, he definitely hasn’t been to the Descendant as often as he usually does and when he is around, he might be a little moody. Also, if you’re especially observant, you might notice his hands being more calloused and his knuckles still healing from some recent cuts and bruises. Good luck]

A. Closed to Leo and Donnie

[Karaoke isn't Accelerator's idea of a fun time, but it's infinitely better than going to a party or somewhere that requires him socializing with other people, so he grudgingly agrees to hang out with the turtles for the afternoon. It's honestly not too bad -- he gets to sit and drink some coffee and watch the two of them make total fools of themselves.

In Jason's bar, no less. The guy is certainly busy.

The problem begins in the washrooms. Some words are exchanged, followed by a bang and a crash, and some other patron of the bar slams through the door, landing hard on the ground. Accelerator follows him out, looking infuriated, one hand on his choker. The light on it is red, rather than its usual green.

But then - as soon as he steps out of the washroom he's noticing something else. He stops, his brow furrowing in confusion, and the customer takes the chance to scurry on out of the bar.]

... The hell?

[What's with all these strange vectors bouncing around? He's silent for several moments, and that silence persists as he makes his way back to the table, sitting down with Leo and Donnie.

Then he reaches over into a light sconce, pulling something out of it, and dropping it on the table. After he's done that he switches his choker back to normal mode.]

This place is bugged.

B. Open

[Later on, Accelerator goes for a small wander and finds the reading room. Having had no idea the room existed to loiters around for a bit, reading the book titles off their spines.

He has all of two hobbies. One, technically, because most people wouldn't count sleeping as a hobby. That leaves reading, and while he doesn't usually read the classics outside of school both of the Jasons apparently have an interest in the genre, so he's poking around.

In fact, he's eventually pulling out a copy of Pride and Prejudice to look over. Those two had both like Emma, so....]

Sophie is going out tonight and mostly trying to be herself.

She's trying to do better at that, given that all of her paperwork thus far is made of aliases. It's not that she doesn't see the imperative of being Victoria Ellington on official documents instead of Sophie Devereaux, should Victoria need to disappear for any reason, but after doing all the work on herself in order to find who she is as Sophie Devereaux, being Victoria so much of the time is exhausting.

And the Descendant? It is very much Sophie's vibe. The speakeasy setup, the cozy almost-intimacy and the implications of shady things happening all around her? It reminds her of MacRory's, in a way, and it feels a little bit like home.

She orders herself a Manhattan from the bar and lets her eyes roam the room. She's also hoping to gain a sense of the criminal underground, if she can. See if her, Parker and Hardison can carve out a space for themselves without making too many waves. Thieves are going to thief, after all, and their targets aren't usually the same as most. But as she wanders the room with her drink, her eyes fall on Santa Gritty and she can't help but make a face as she holds up her finger to point.

"That ... that seems cursed."

She continues to not understand the eccentricities of Americans. But she might warm up to the mascot if given enough time and evidence.

[For the second year in a row, a box has been delivered to the Descendant alongside its usual batch of deliveries for the week. There's no sign of postage this year, just a label listing J. Todaro as the recipient. How did it arrive? A mystery for the ages.

Inside the box are tins of homemade cookies and fudge, and pairs of gloves with a secret pocket/slot for handwarmer packs. More than enough to go around for the hardworking owner and staff. There are a few extra cookie tins for Jason to give out, per his discretion.

In addition, there is a special gift. Another maneki-neko to join the golden buff boy already on the shelves. This one is black, with the other paw raised. Its face and body is styled after Sleeper, red eyes and yellow stripes. No tendrils, sadly, but the craftsperson did manage to alter the head for four eyes!

There is one oddity. Whereas with the turtles' meddling, there were interruptions in the bar's surveillance, it seems there is now overlapping activity in spots. Like there are more devices around than there were previously. HOW MYSTERIOUS. It hasn't been the best season for Descendant's spies, has it?]

[It's sometime in the midweek lull between Christmas and the New Year that Mayuko ducks into the Descendant again. She's been cleaning out her big old house for a few days, and she could use a drink.

Besides, there are a few people in Central that she's hoping to catch before the year changes. Mark to deliver... something he might like to have. Sleeper to answer for their fashion crimes. She's happy to converse with anyone.

Maybe some others have the same idea, coming in from the cold, settling matters from the old year and looking forward to the new.]

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Jason Todd (DCAU) | OTA