13443/Black Friday Isn't Bad If You Don't Go

Black Friday Isn't Bad If You Don't Go
Date of Scene:	26 November 2022
Location:	Lake House - Wayne Estate
Synopsis:	The Wayne wards gather at the lakehouse for a little non-turkey dinner on Black Friday.
Cast of Characters:	Stephanie Brown, Jason Todd, Dick Grayson, Tim Drake, Lonnie Machin, Phoebe Beacon, Damian Wayne, Cassandra Cain

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Stephanie Brown has posed:
Black Friday is either looked forward to, or dreaded, by many. And probably quite a few it's a bit of both. For those who struggle to put on a good Christmas for their family the deals can be a bit of a godsend, if what you have to go through with the live versions can be rough. And Tim and Stephanie both already had to break up one attack at a department store that started their sales early.

Thankfully, the benefits of the Wayne family fortune mean there isn't a need to go fight and claw their way into a store to save $20 on this or that. Stephanie had a few of those years, though not a lot of them given her family status usually involved one parent in Arkham and the other a stupor.

But this year is so much better. Stephanie and Dick invited the family over to the lake house for dinner. Something other than turkey, they'd promised. The house has floor to ceiling windows on all sides that provide a glorious view of the lake and the snow-covered shore and trees around it.

"I didn't think we'd catch enough fish we wouldn't even have to buy any to be safe," Stephanie says as she finishes battering the fish, so they can be dropped in the fryer when people arrive. "I'm not used to having fish from straight out of a lake like this," she calls over to Dick.

Jason Todd has posed:
Spending the day with personal space being violated by countless other shoppers all trying to score one thing or another for some special price they couldn't pass up is not Jason's idea of fun. Even if there are some great bargains to be found, he knows that many people packed around him as they wait for opening, fight for one MacGuffin or another, then wait for untold hours to get checked out will result in losting his patience. Probably his temper. And then the gossip rags and paparazzi would have a field day.

In a demonstration of foresight he may not regularly display, he has chosen to forgo such shopping bliss for the seemingly mundane family get together. Just a few minutes before the indicated time, his Mach 1 is rolling through the outer gates of the estate and unhurriedly making its way toward the lake house. As the car comes to a stop, he is precisely on time. For once.

He gets out and moves around to the passenger side to take out a pie in a carry container before heading to the door, letting himself in with a rap of knuckles to the door. "Knock knock." Glancing around he offers a bit of a smile. "Hey. Thanks for the invite. I brought something for dessert."

Dick Grayson has posed:
    Dick is padding around the house in sweatpants, a blue t-shirt with the GCPD logo and socks as he sets the table since Steph is doing the cooking. It's quite possible, even likely that he stole the china from the manor kitchens. After all, there's enough in there to provide for really large events, so this will hardly be missed. On a sideboard there are cups, glasses, an ice bucket and various alcoholic and non-alcoholic bottles to choose from.

    He raises his voice a bit to be heard in the kitchen, replying "Yeah, we did pretty well. Doesn't hurt that we can step outside and cast a line whenever we need to."

    With the lakehouse's walls currently set to transparent, he can see when his brother arrives, and just waves him in when he does. "Heya, head on into the big room, grab a drink if you like. Got lots of choices set up, knock yourself out."

Tim Drake has posed:
    After taking down Calendar Man at Gabel's Department Store, Tim is more than happy to not really concern himself with this holiday. In fact he sleeps through most of the day itself since he's scheduled to go out on patrol that night, and sure, maybe he has to break up some petty fights over Black Friday sales but none of those people want to bring down the tyrannical reign of Santa Claus so... you know, it's cool. Easier to talk regular folk down than the guy with the insane hyperfixation on holidays.

    All in all, a good night's work. Tim is looking forward to collapsing into bed when his smart watch beeps to remind him of an appointment later that day. He doesn't hear it, though, and only sees it when a much more urgent alarm notifies him that he needs to be out in Bristol in an hour.

    This is when things start to go sideways. "Maybe we should make a cake to bring," Tim says, frantically, even though they're heading out the door NOW and there is certainly no time to stop and pick up a cake, no less bake one themselves. "Or wine? Why am I asking you, you don't even drink, oh my god what are we going to do?"

    By the time Tim's car is pulling into the gates of stately Wayne Manor, his fingerprints are probably embedded forever in the leather of the wheel. But he's dressed, more-or-less composed (in the sense that he is nearing the top of the curve on the Tim-overthinking-things graph, but it's about making a good impression with family and not, like... solving some sort of crazy murder conspiracy or whatever) and carrying a very fancy bottle of wine.

    "Hi we're here and I have no idea if this wine is any good!" is how Tim announces himself. Well, technically himself AND his guest, though without the important bit of actually identifying Lonnie. They probably saw him walking up the drive with Tim, though, so there's that.

    And let's be real, they also probably recognize Lonnie from the Bat-computer's files. But that's an elephant in the room yet to be addressed. One thing at a time.

Lonnie Machin has posed:
    Lonnie is quiet, perhaps uncharacteristically so. He is, to put it bluntly, "not big on most holidays" and had spent all day working at a soup kitchen before coming back. "You're overthinking this." He says, after finishing scrubbing up and pulling on a fresh Black Flag t-shirt. "You're overthinking it." He says, "They'd be fine if you showed up strung out and with two black eyes. I'd be the one who'd catch the dirty looks."
    "I'm going to a dinner with some of the wealthiest, most socially-privileged citizens in Gotham City. I brought you a "turkey-style vegetarian roast" - which I'm not even sure is food. I'm making a lot of compromises here, and you're worth all of them." He runs his fingers through his red curls and then mutters, "We can stop at a liquor store and get a bottle of wine. And if we're going to bring something for thanksgiving dinner, could it be a rhubarb pie? My mother used to take me to dinner at a crappy all-night diner on Thanksgiving and that was what I usually got. Before I decided there wasn't anything in this country to be thankful for."
    Of course, when they actually show up to dinner, he merely holds his tongue, and gives the briefest wave of the bottle of wine in greeting. "Hello."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phoebe had gotten the memo. Lost the memo. Got distracted with something she'd found in her library and actually missed class over it, then slept through Thanksgiving morning, soup-kitchened in the afternoon, and had been on patrol in the night, in which she remembered and had to hide under one of the goregous art deco bridges in Gotham to breathe herself through a panic attack.

    Family holidays weren't her thing for a reason, but it was Steph who sent the invite, so she showed up wearing a black T-shirt showing a pie with a slice taken out of it, and showing also that it was a perfect pie chart of 'pie I have eaten' and 'pie I have not eaten', jeans and accompanied by a tote bag of still-warm sides, Idu the white-and-red sight hound who is wearing a "On the Nice List" bandana and wagging his tail, and an expression of panic as she looks at Tim.

    "--was I supposed to bring a wine?" she looks to Lonnie "What if I can't buy wine in this country? Was I supposed to go to Canada and buy it?"

Damian Wayne has posed:
     "You don't have a fake ID?" Damian asks, turning a corner. Of course he had one, he had to fulfill the family legacy of bad decisions and such.

  Two bottles of Belle Glos Pinot Noir are dropped off, and settling in. "I think we are decently covered for wine."

  The teenage young man had of course received the invite, and decided to show up.

Cassandra Cain has posed:
Really Cass is getting better about communication, but she still didn't respond to the invite. At all. she got it, the computer registered her listening to the voicemail that Steph left for her. That's why she's late. Or other reasons, she just isn't talking a whole lot.

She pulls up outside the lake house, putting her motorcycle's stand up, and looks in the windows to see those inside. She glances about, looking for ninjas in the shadows, and then decides to take a walk around the house.

Well, if there wasn't ninjas outside before, there's at least one now. She moves in the shadows outside the windows, assuming that the others will see her eventually. Or not, really it's on them at this point.

Stephanie Brown has posed:
Phoebe might notice a familiar heated duck house sitting out on the dock by the lake. There is also a ramp which looks newly added to help make it easier to get to and from the water to the duck house. No sign of the duck at the moment.

That's because he's inside. As people start to come in, the sound of duck feet flapping on the hardwood floors can be heard pattering as the duck runs over to see who is coming in.

"Hey guys!" Stephanie says warmly. She's wearing a charcoal fleece sweatshirt and jeans. Her feet are clad in socks. There's a fire going in the fireplace, and there's music playing at a good volume to be background music without making it tough to hold conversations.

Stephanie goes over to greet each arriving person with a smile and a quick hug of greeting. "Thanks for coming," she says, and starts collecting the things people have brought. "Oh, this looks delicious," she says of the pie. And, "oh I'm sure we can all polish this off," she says of the wine. "We've got fresh-caught fish to fry. And there's a dish of Cacio e Pepe for anyone who doesn't like fish," she says.

Dick Grayson has posed:
    Dick has things mostly laid out the way he wants, so he's moved to greeting the guests as they arrive. Each brother gets a quick hug, while the others are offered a handshake and a "Thanks for coming out tonight. There are drinks on the sidebar, help yourselves." Phoebe gets an added, "Don't worry about it, you're fine. There's more than enough stuff here already. Oh, and look who's coming to greet you." He gestures at the duck as it weaves though the guests. "She may be becoming a bit of a house pet, it seems."

    His eye lingers for a moment on Lonnie, trying to figure out why he seems familiar. Deciding not to worry about it as since he trusts Tim's judgement, he pokes his head into the kitchen with a grin. "I think everyone's here. I saw Cass' motorcycle pull in, but she appears to be checking around the house for alligators or something. I imagine she'll be in shortly."

    Returning to the guests, he announces "Anyone who brought food, if it doesn't need heating it can go on the sidebar, is it does let me take it into the kitchen."

Jason Todd has posed:
Jason Todd nods to Dick, "Well, if any family should have a wealth of booze and every kid with a drinking problem, it's this one" he says with a smirk.

He sets the pie carrier down near the rest of the food. He takes out the pie from inside, setting it where it seems desserts are supposed to go. It appears to be a pecan pie, and not a store-bought one at that.

He's wearing a black Joe Walsh tee with a World War One biplane on it and the caption "The smoker you drink, the player you get." Black jeans and boots round out his attire. No red today. He shrugs off his jacket and finds some place to hang it as the others all begin to show up.

"Hey Tim. Lonnie. Good to see you again" he offers to the later with a nod. He reaches out to ruffle Damian's hair then pauses. His hand is now around shoulder height. "Someone's been eating their Wheaties. Wow." It's largely a compliment as much as any brotherly teasing is complmentary. Still Jason appears surprised at how much Damian seems to have grown since the last time he paid attention. Which is probably more a reflection on Jason than anything else. Then he offers a smile to Phoebe, "Pheeb. Plus one." He drops down to scritch at Idu's ears and chin.

Tim Drake has posed:
    Turns out the whole "You're overthinking it" line(s) from Lonnie may have been true. Tim, overthinking things? Say it isn't so. It's not like there haven't been entire story arcs centering on this exact thing!

    But let's not hang a lampshade on it, here. Tim deposits the wine where the other alcoholic offerings are being relocated and then backs all the way out the way, because the kitchen is not his purview. "Wouldn't be the first time there were gators in Gotham," he says as he searches out for glimpses of Cass moving past the windows. Which are, yes, floor-to-ceiling, but that still doesn't mean it'll be easy to spot her.

    "We should have brought Yap," he laments as he drops down into a crouch to give Idu some rump-rubs, since Jason's already petting the front half of the dog. "When did I end up the short one?" he asks, under his breath, to Jason while they're both over by the dog. Then he adds a belated, "Hey Pheebs," because, you know, kind of rude to only acknowledge the pup!

Cassandra Cain has posed:
Cass steps to the dock. It's quite visible from inside, the huge windows hiding nothing. She's dressed in black, with a nice soft jacket open over a shirt, and yoga pants. And she looks in through the windows and waves.

She doesn't seem to be coming in though. She looks around, admiring the night and the beauty. And then she lifts her arms, smiles, and begins to dance.

She places a foot to the side, then spins. It's a soft, slow spin, arms pulling in around her body. Then she lifts her leg, touching it behind her head. And pauses there, enjoying the music in the night.

She'll be in soon. Cass gotta be Cass, first.

Lonnie Machin has posed:
    "He's tired from spending the day at the homeless shelter." Lonnie says, before he looks around, and being a man who believes in economy of action, he takes both this vegetarian turkey-adjacent roast and the pie they picked up into the kitchen. "Hello Phoebe," He says, before he walks by. "Are you doing this serving-line style or will the food be passed around at the table?"
    He looks up at the girl dancing outside in the moonlight, and then he ties his hair up and goes looking for a carving knife and a serving dish. "I'm surprised the dinner isn't being catered," He mumbles, to himself.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    The duck house makes Phoebe smile, and she rubs the back of her neck as she gives a smile to Dick. "Yeah, when the subject was broached, Steph just really wanted to take the duck and -- Helllooooooo Hazelduck! Who's my good duck?" Phoebe sweetly greets the rushing duck as flat-foot flappity-feet flappily flappity around the house. "Just be careful 'cause she did get into my medical bag once and stole the gauze." she replies to the 'eldest brother', giving a grin to Stephanie as well.

    Idu recoils from the duck and hides behind Phoebe's legs a moment, giving a whine as his ears pin back. He looks up to Tim and Damian in askance, as if inquiring for aid against the duck, but ends up head-butting Jason's hand with his tail whippy-whapping the back of Phoebe's calves.

    Phoebe gives a grin, and shoulder-bumps Jason.

    "Well, yeah. Someone's gotta support Steph with all the testosterone build up in this house. Also:"

    She brings up a bright green box.

    "Cards Against the Justice League, because I think Monopoly or Risk would probably come to actual blows." she grins, and as Tim rump-rubs Idu (who certainly is appreciating the attention) he gets a shoulder-bump too.

    "Hey Lonnie, thanks for bringing a Bird Alternate! Otherwise I would probably murder all of the pasta and my greenbeans." she gives a grin, talking as she turns to face the same direction he looks up.R
    "I hope it's all right that I brought Idu." she smiles out, and then spots Cassandra dancing.

    And she pauses, leaning back on a heel as she gives Cass a smile, and lets her dance uninterrupted.

Dick Grayson has posed:
    Dick makes sure everyone has a drink of whichever type they want and/or are legally allowed to have. He wanders into the kitchen and fills a plastic bowl with water and puts it on the floor on one end of the sidebar so Idu has something to drink as well. Following that comes the petting of the dog to greet the four legged guest as well. After all, it would be impolite to ignore him when greeting everyone else.

    That about covers the arrival part of the evening, so he pokes into the kitchen again and asks, "Need any help in here? I think things are about set, Cass will be in when she wants to be, but everyone else is set. Phoebe even brought a game along, so we'll have something to do after eating."

Stephanie Brown has posed:
Stephanie Brown introduces herself to Lonnie as the only person she doesn't know. Or, know personally. From files, yes. Though she hasn't been involved in anything with him. Though between Harley Quinn, and Poison Ivy, this is not the first time she's been at a social function where someone very unexpected showed up. Just being social.

"Hi, Stephanie Brown," she says, offering Lonnie her hand. "Glad you two could make it," she says, glancing over to Tim and smiling to him.

Phoebe gets a fist dap for the sisterhood thing. "I think we'll probably all just make plates and perch wherever," she says of the food service. It is kind of a minimalist furniture set up, though there are enough chairs for people, and the rug before the fireplace is soft and comfortable if one doesn't mind shooing the dog away from their food.

Idu gets a greeting from Stephanie, and a little double ear scritch if he lets her. "Let me see if I can get Cass in," she says, moving over to slip on some slippers and then step outside. She calls over. "Hey there Tiny Dancer. Want some food? We have two different vegetarian dishes!"

Cassandra Cain has posed:
Cass dips, eyes closed, and comes up looking right into Steph's eyes. It's almost precognitive how she does that, often without looking, but she's smiling. Then she turns, waving her arm at the lovely sky. The gorgeous evening, and loses none of her smile.

She lifts up onto her toes one time, just for fun, and then links arms with Steph. She puts her head on Steph's shoulder for a moment, then heads in the way the blonde had come out. Where she gives a beautiful, soft and warm smile to each and every loved one today.

And people say that she doesn't express herself.

Tim Drake has posed:
    "I don't think Steph would let us go hungry, but we have to try this vegetarian turkey loaf... for science." Tim gives one last pat-pat to Idu before standing, and inches his way back towards the kitchen only to observe the cutting of said non-meat product. You know. For science.

    And there he stands, well out of knife-range but still staring down Lonnie and the knife. But actually, just the loaf. "It's mostly just me and Bruce that are hopeless about cooking. Read into that what you will, the obvious hypothesis is pretty sound."

    And then Tim returns to the main living area to report, "Actually it looks pretty edible!" He smiles back at Cass and claims a chair for himself. "So did the Justice League actually license their name out to CAH," (yes he does of course say the letters aloud), "Or is this a weird knockoff like Avengers Codenames?" he asks.

Jason Todd has posed:
Jason Todd returns the shoulder bump to Phoebe and looks out to see Cass dancing. He won't pretend that it is an expected thing to see, but even he can admire the ability and skill she possesses. "Guess it's also dance like nobody's watching day." A nod of approval.

He takes the glass from Dick, "Thank you."

He glances to the food, then toward Lonnie at the catered comment, he shrugs "We're all capable of cooking. We just don't always choose to."

Case in point the fact Jason baked a pie that is edible and not just a plate full of charcoal.

He glances to Phoebe as she discusses her card game of choice and he smirks, "Well get a few drinks in all of us an this is going to get interesting." He then moves around to get into line to grab a plate and then some food.

Lonnie Machin has posed:
    "You need to think of it like this -" Lonnie says, "Cooking is chemistry, and everything can affect the final outcome of the dish. The amount of salt you add, the temperature you cook it at, the composition of the pan, even the level of humidity in the room." He cuts a few slices of the vegetarian turkey loaf, and then says "Well, it doesn't smell terrible."
    "For me, it was mostly because when mom was at her worst, nobody else was going to feed me. So I could make boxed macaroni and cheese by the time I was five." He pauses, and then sets the dish down, and says, "...Just a minute Tim. I'll just be outside. I need some air." He pats Tim on the shoulder, and walks by him.

Stephanie Brown has posed:
Stephanie Brown slips an arm around Cassandra as they come inside. "And Phoebe brought her dog," she's just saying with a motion towards Idu. "So adorable. Glad he's not eating the duck," she says. Though the dog probably met the duck long before Stephanie did.

"Phoebe, did you know that Dick made a ramp up to the bathtub so he can swim in warmer water when it's cold out?" she asks. From her grin though, Stephanie probably approved of that home upgrade.

"Ok, let me get the fish in and we'll be ready," she says, hurrying back to the kitchen and getting the fish into the fryer. She goes to get a drink for herself, and tops off anyone whose drink needs it as well. Then back to the kitchen, moving the fish to a plate and bringing it over to join the rest of the food. "Jason, that pie looks good," she tells him.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Idu permits the double ear-scritch, and adds Stephanie to his list of favorite people. Dick is added to his list of favorite people. Really his list is pretty long, and mostly associated with people giving him attention and hot shooting the people who are on his list of favorite people. His tail wags, and the red-and-white hound that looks like an overgrown Jack Russel skin on a Pharoah Hound frame bounds across the floor accompanying Stephanie to the window, so he can greet one of his other favorite people (the one who knows the best places to scratch), and obediently falls into step escorting the two women in.

    Phoeb brings out a serving tongs (clicking it twice) for her greenbeans, fistdapping Steph in the process and gives a shoulder-bump in greeting to Cass, before she plunks down for a spot near Tim.

    "Hazelduck gets to swim in the tub inside? Well. I knew you were a good guy when I met you," she offers to Dick with a grin.

    "I can cook. I made the pumpkin roll. A lot of the time my m- Caroline would be working later or coaching girl's softball or Chuck would be on call, so I cooked for myself a lot after I turned ten. I discovered I loved baking. Tim's reeped some of the rewards there." she grins, and looks over to Tim.

    "It is absolutely horrible and probably will disappear offline within two weeks. JayJay and I were talking about it the other night while I was out on patrol. It's absolutely not liscenced." she gives a grin. "But one of the cards is 'Eating Batman's Shorts', and I kinda lost it over Eighth street." she explains, looking to Lonnie as he passes by.

    She looks to Tim, one eyebrow rising up as she purses a lip to him, giving a subtle tilt of her head after Lonnie, with a little questioning look.

    And she gives a sheepish smile to Jason.

    "I'll have to sit apart while you all get your buzz on. I am definitely a buzz kill." she states, holding up her left hand with its white-ink knotwork tattoo.

Damian Wayne has posed:
     Damian glances to Jason as his hair is toussled. Luckily there hasn't been an injury due to hair toussling in three years. "Yes, I grew. Given how tall Father and Grandfather are, odds were I would have been close to that height. But the old R..."A pause while he shrugs. "My old suits needed replaced."

  Damian does squat down to look at the duck though, pausing while looking over to Jason. "JayJay?" Really?

Cassandra Cain has posed:
Taking a few steps in, Cass bumps hips with Steph the wanders the house a bit. She pauses, giving Jason a hug (a real hug!) then pauses to rub Idu's flanks for a moment. She doesn't seem to know how to handle the duck, so she cautiously steps over the little one, then slips up beside Phoebe.

Which is when she slips up next to Damian and whispers something into his ear. She just does not like making noise! Not even in front of the ones she most loves

But she upnods toward Phoebe, apparently agreeing with her sentiment. Though she does lean over and sniff at the food folks have brought. Apparently appreciatively.

Dick Grayson has posed:
    Outside is a deck area with a small table with umbrella and a couple chairs and loungers. The pier sticks out a bit into the lake. There's a small power boat plugged into a heavy duty outlet and a large box, about 6feet long by 3 deep, which will, if poked into, reveal several fishing poles and a tackle box.

    With all the guests greeted, and given that they're mostly family, Dick grabs a bottle of Mandarin Orange water and sits down in one of the less comfortable folding chairs, leaving the better ones for their guests.

    He calls into the kitchen, "Let me know when I need to bring food out." Host duties done for the moment, he relaxes and takes a drink of his water, then looks around with a smile. "Glad you could all even think about more food after yesterday. That's why the fish is on the menu, something a bit lighter than all the turkey and stuffing."

    Glancing over at Damian he adds to the commentary, "Yeah, I'm seriously not used to him being taller than I am. Maybe now some of those boring socialites will chase after him once in a while and give me a break."

Stephanie Brown has posed:
"They better -all- give you a break," Stephanie says to Dick of the socialites, grinning to him as she carries the platter of fish over to the table. "Ok, think that's it," she says. "We're really glad you could all make it. Just so nice having a family that comes together like this," she says, slipping her arm around Dick's waist.

"And I'm the worst at those card games, so put me on the team with whoever is best to balance them out," she says. Stephanie gets a glass and pours herself some of the wine that was brought. She's not driving anywhere tonight, so why not.

"Yes Phoebe, I would have never really thought of getting a duck. But I have to say he's kind of sweet. He follows us around the house all the time, likes to be where we are. He does enjoy the lake I think. And he'll tap on the window when he wants in, though he uses the duck house a lot too."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "JayJay is one of my friends from my life before I met Tim, Dams. Not Jason, whom I'm sure wouldn't object to nicknames. Just to be clear, though." Phoebe interrupts, "He... doesn't have much of a place to go for the holidays, so he stayed up in Boston working through the break." she explains quietly, "He got lonely. And since we both were kind of out of sorts after last year, we texted through my running around last night." she explains.

    Idu happily accepts affections from yet another one of his favorite people, tippy-tapping and avoiding the flappity-footed quack monster.

    Phoeeb just gives a small grin. "I'm glad for it. You know, Lonnie's ther eason why Hazelduck has graced our lives. He handed me the winning rubber ducky. I won a duck. It was a pretty nutty experience." she states, helping herself to green beans, not-turkey, and poking a little at the mac. She doesn't partake in the fish.

Jason Todd has posed:
Jason Todd looks at Damian. "I think there was a rule you've broken within the brotherhood. You're not allowed to make Tim the Short One without a formal request submission. I'm going to have to call foul on this sudden growth. You need to return to your former, Keebler, self again." He almost says with a straight face. "Looking good though."

He looks to Phoebe then back to Damian, "Wasn't me. I accept Jay. Not JayJay." And Phoebe explains it all beter than he could.

He looks to HazelDuck curiously. Then to Dick. "This is Dick's Duck?" wow.

He looks back to Phoebe, "You don't have to avoid me or anything. It's not like I'm here to get buzzed." Wait, does that mean he's here to spend time with family? Good luck getting him to actually say it. The momentary glower says it all though. He's absolutely here to hang with family. He just doesn't want it to be obvious that's why he's here.

Then the food is out and he gets a bit of everything. Even the veggie turkey. Though it gets a suspicious sniff first.

Cassandra Cain has posed:
Cass does partake in fish, but not just yet. She listens to what's going on, slipping up next to Phoebe for a moment. She looks at the girl, blushing just a little, and without warning leans in and kisses.

Phoebe. On the lips.

Then she leans back again, standing with a little bit of embarrasment in the way she's standing. But she would do it again.

THEN she leans in and steals some fish, and a few peas. Because peas are like, amazing.

Tim Drake has posed:
    Tim flashes a quick smile and nod up at Lonnie as he passes by, chin cupped in the palm of his hand as he makes himself comfortable. "Between you and Lonnie and Megan, I'm pretty set for food most of the time," he agrees with Phoebe. "But I still can't cook, so I'l preemptively call dibs on doing the dishes as payment for the food." That's called out to Steph and anyone else around in the kitchen, doing the hard work to get food ready.

    And then, it's ready! "I will take one alcohol please," he adds in, since there's alcohol talk and he has a plus-one that can take care of driving duties on the way back home. You know, if Tim doesn't crash in his bedroom back at the Manor. Or on the floor right here in the lake house because he's a total lightweight.

    Like Jason, Tim gets a bit of everything, though for the fried fish he only takes a tiny sampling that is mostly the fried crispy bits. Which doesn't count! He bumps his shoulder against Phoebe's companionably though as they both take the largest sample of the tofurkey loaf.

    It's a good thing he hasn't taken a bite yet, though, because Tim whistles as Cass and Phoebe smooch. "One less eligible bachelor-slash-bachelorette left among us in the Wayne family adoption agency." To add onto the obnoxious older brother bit, he waggles his eyebrows at Cass teasingly.

Lonnie Machin has posed:
    "I apologize." Lonnie murmurs to Stephanie. "My name is Lonnie. I'm - out of my depth, here. So I'm going to go take a walk for a bit, I'll join all of you for dinner in a little while." He decamps from the deck, clattering down the steps to go take a walk for a little while. "Thank you for the hospitality."

Damian Wayne has posed:
     "Sorry middle brother, I don't think the powers that be would let me return my height. I lost the receipt." A wink before a slight smile. "But thank you all the same."

  Though the kiss does get Damian's attention. "So she stabs me, but...okay." He just continues to grab a plate of food. Fish, sides, a small bit of turkeyesque vegetarian loaf.

Stephanie Brown has posed:
Stephanie Brown has to finish a bite of the veggie turkey loaf before she can respond to Damian, "What else is there to say? Cass is a great judge of character." Her blue eyes twinkle as she grins over at Damian, and then goes in for another bite of her food.

She lets out a soft, happy sigh, and leans gently against Dick's shoulder. He probably knows what her thoughts are. She doesn't say it to the others a lot. But for the girl who grew up with little family, including absentee parents (at best), seeing the Wayne family together like this, and even more, being part of it, is quite heartwarming for Stephanie Brown.

Dick Grayson has posed:
    "Well, I guess it's more Dick and Stephanie's duck. However, I'll give you one guess who it was that worried a heated duck house wouldn't be good enough." He pauses a moment, then adds, "She was probably right though, there's a reason they go south in the winter." He gives Steph a kiss on the cheek, then stands back up and goes to the kitchen to carry out the platter of not-turkey and anything else that was still in there.

    Catching the kiss as he comes out of the kitchen, he raises an eyebrow and looks to Steph questioningly, but since Tim has already jumped into the big brother teasing, he just adds the dishes he's carrying to the table, then collects some fish and actual veggies before offering Tim a bottle of a local IPA and sitting back down in time for Steph to lean against him.

    "Nice to see so many of you could make it, we don't get the family together all that often."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phoebe gives a grin, and brightly states: "I happen to have experie--" she states, raising a fork with a greenbean on it when Cass leans in to kiss her.

    And Phoebe BSOD's. She just freezes up, her eyes going wide, her cheeks and ears turning darker, and she works her jaw a moment in embarrassment, on one side good because it's a distraction from Lonnie's exit.

    On the other hand Tim may get murdered tonight for his 'older brother' duties.

    Phoebe sheepishly feels her shoulders shrug up a little as she shrinks down in her seat and accidentally chokes on a greenbean at Tim's statement.

    "Well. I mean. IT's been quiet for a while, and we've been... y'know. Just. yeah." Phoeb quietly states, poking at her greenbeans rather awkwardly.

    "Tim doesn't like beers. Cider would be better."

Cassandra Cain has posed:
Still calm, Cass is apparently not adding to Phoebe's embarrassment. She gives the girl some space, but does raise her eyebrow as Damian makes his comment. She politely ignores Tim's (or doesn't totally understand it) and instead pulls a knife out of her shirt, waggling it in Damian's direction. Not threateningly, but with love.

Cass is nice like that. She's totally willing to skewer someone tonight, or use the knife to eat fish. Either/or is fine.
But no alcohol. That stuff is gross.

Tim Drake has posed:
    "I requested one alcohol and this is one alcohol," Tim corrects, just before taking a swig. And then for at least a solid ten seconds he does a really good job at pretending he liked it.

    The way he sets the bottle back down on the table carefully is telling, though. Same as the big bite of fake turkey loaf he immediately chows down on. "It's fine!"

    But you're not really fine and you just can't get into it because they would never understand. Or, you know, make fun of you for it. Same diff.

Jason Todd has posed:
Jason Todd smirks at Dick, "We both know it was you that worried about the duck getting cold you big softie."

He had something more to say but then The Thing happens and he pauses. "Everyone wants to skewer you, Damian. It's just one of your many charms. And shut up Tim." It's almost joking.

He turns and walks to the liquor cabinet and rifles through it, coming out with the rum which is soon to be mixed with some Coke (of the beverage sort of course), and he goes to find a place to sit and eat. He seems to be rather hungry as focused on eating as he has become.

Dick Grayson has posed:
    Rolling his eyes as Tim tries to fake enjoying the beer, Dick gets up and heads for the fridge in the kitchen, returning with a bottle of hard cider from an orchard upstate. "Try this instead, no need to drink something you don't like." He collects the ale he had given Tim and returns to his chair, taking a sip from the bottle.

    Eww, Tim cooties.

    "Nah, inside duck was all Steph's idea. I did come up with the bathtub ramp though. Didn't seem right not giving her somewhere to swim."

Stephanie Brown has posed:
"Both of us worried," Stephanie tells Jason about the duck and the cold. "Other than when he runs around at 3am - seriously whoever thought a duck would be so loud!? - he's really quite nice. Do have to clean up after him. I don't know that Operation Housebreak Hazelduck is every going to succeed," she says with a quiet chuckle.

Stephanie takes another sip of the wine. "This is delicious, will have to get the name of it," she says. "Also that turkey loaf isn't bad at all." Especially with a little gravy on it.

Taking a baby carrot in hand, Stephanie gives it an underhanded toss over towards Cassandra. It'll either hit her in the head, or she could catch it in her mouth. Or hand. That's always an option too.

"I can't say I appreciated winter as much living inside of Bristol itself. But out here, it really makes the woods quite lovely," she says, looking out the windows at the surrounding land of the Wayne Estate.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "I didn't spend six months of my life learning magic in a bar for you to contradict me when it is perfectly acceptable to have a preferred alcoholic drink." Phoebe counters. "IPA's are really hoppy and a lot of people don't like them for it. I mighta recommended like, a grapefuit IPA where the citrus can cut some of the hops, or a berry heiffwiezen but no, now you're gonna sit there and be sad with your overly hoppy alcoholic drink made to survive the trip from the British Isles to *freaking India* over sea instead of having something fruity and sweet like maybe a pear cider, or an Orange Belgian but no." Phoebe gives an embellished-for-comical-effect grump over at Tim.

    And then Dick fixes the problem.

    "We had a pool for her in Tim's basement," The Roost, "but weirdly we all have a lot of pets in that building. And sometimes a tiger. So not the best place for a duck. I'm sure the duck appreciates all the effort you've put into changing around your lives for her sake."

    Idu puts his head on Jason's lap. Jason has meat. Phoebe doesn't.

    "... oh no, ducks can't be housebroken. Birds don't have that kinda musculature."

Cassandra Cain has posed:
Cass catches the carrot on her knife. She's housebroken darnit! She just chooses to nibble on stuff at her own pace, while showing off. It's just how she is.

Then she looks down. No, down further than that. And she pauses, looking at what's by her feet.

"Steph?" she asks, finally joining the conversation.

"Why is there duck?"

WTF how behind IS she???

Tim Drake has posed:
    In the span of Phoebe's expansive alcohol lecture, Tim's drink has been swapped out. He looks at her over said beverage, nodding with all the seriousness he can muster, and then says, "I used to make my own green smoothies. There is no alcohol in the world that is worse than that." His nose wrinkles for added effect, and then he lifts his bottle in a quick salute over to Dick for his problem solving.

    Then he mimes zipping his lips at Jason, but of course immediately after that he pipes up with, "Glad that the duck's found somewhere he can settle. Pretty sure the tiger isn't going to be coming back, though. If only to preserve what little sanity I have left." And to that, Tim points at Jason with his own quick, "Shut up." But other than that he does mind his Ps and Qs.

    You know, his peas and his quacks.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "I have had your green smoothies, that is a ninety-nine percent true statement because Malort exists." Phoebe quips.

Jason Todd has posed:
Jason Todd looks up at Tim, mouth full of fried fish. So he does what any brother would do. He says nothing and just keeps chewing politely. He's got enough manners and consideration to not make a 'brotherly thing' blow up in Steph's living room. Dick would get over it, he's sure. But it doesn't happen. So this is good. Growth. Or maybe he's just hungry.

Idu gets a head scritch and then Jason looks to Phoebe, "Can Idu have fish?" Fried at that. The last thing he wants to do is make a sick dog for someone he actually likes.

Damian Wayne has posed:
     There is a moment before Damian grabs the pinot and a glass, pouring a drink. "There we go."

  He came back to see the knife in Cass' posession, and he took a step out, triggering the mechanism in his shoe, out pops a stiletto, and it retracts after a couple seconds before he continues to sit back down. "Tiger. A TIGER...fuck that's not fair." Is all he can say before he downs most of the glass.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "It wasn't our Tiger. A friend was watching it." Phoebe states to Damian, "I'm pretty sure we have a no-apex-predator rule, minus the sharks currently."

    Phoebe looks up to Cass, and just gives a small smile, and rubs the back of her neck before she looks over to Jason.

    "Idu can have a little of the fried fish as long as it's OK with the hosts; otherwise I do have food for him from the Dr. Impulse line of super-pet friendly individualized meals." she gives a wry grin.

    "And Language, Dams."

Dick Grayson has posed:
    "No Damian, you can't have a tiger. It would probably try and eat you at some point and we just don't need that kind of thing. You know I hate visiting hospitals." Important rule for the evening set, he continues to eat, slipping Idu a small piece of fish when nobody is watching.

    Nah, he doesn't have a soft spot for animals or anything.

Cassandra Cain has posed:
If a tiger tried to eat Damian, she knows what kind of skin would be on the floor in the morning. She simply listens, still a bit uncertain about the duck. She didn't quite get it when Steph told her to 'get down tonight' but this isn't what it was supposed to mean.

Still, she looks over at each person as they talk, still relying heavily on how they move to translate their speech. She's not quite there yet.

Damian Wayne has posed:
     Damian's head rears after hearing someone say language. "Hello. Damian Wayne, pleasure to meet you."

  "I took care of those lions just fine when the zoo had to be evacuated. Animals are easy. Humans are difficult and barely worth the effort."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Idu cycles between Dick and Jason for pieces of fish, tail wagging as he goes back and forth. He also pauses at Cass and Tim, because they are on the Favorite Person list, and consoles Damian for the lack of tigers in his life.

    Phoebe looks over to Damian, and gives a sidelong smile to him.

    "Yeah, there is definitely a hierarchy of things I get along with. Animals are up at the top. There's this little sliver that is family and friends. Then most other people. Then demons, and at the bottom, Fae, and thenr ight under the Fae are Gotham Socialites who make fun of Alfred." Phoebe gives a grin.

Damian Wayne has posed:
     "Make...fun of Alfred?" Damian asks, putting fist to table momentarily. "I want names."

Dick Grayson has posed:
    As the night gets deeper, card games may be played, desserts are had, and the guests are offered the fold-out bed in the sofa if they don't want to drive. Of course, most of the guests are family, which means they have their own rooms in the mansion if they feel like taking the short trip over.

    The party over, Dick slips an arm around Steph and gives her a hug, "I think that went very well." He taps a switch on the wall and the glass walls go opaque.