14807/Spring Tune Ups

Spring Tune Ups
Date of Scene:	29 April 2023
Location:	Lake House - Wayne Estate
Synopsis:	Spring brings a need for some maintenance to the lake house's boats. Also some fishing, and Hazelduck gets to play.
Cast of Characters:	Stephanie Brown, Dick Grayson

---

Stephanie Brown has posed:
The ice has been gone from the lake on the Wayne Estate for a month now. The water is still cold, but then having access to wetsuits that are better than even the most expensive ones on the market definitely increases the accessibility to the water this time of year.

Stephanie has pulled on some warm sweats and a sweatshirt, and gone out onto the dock. The boats were stored out of the water, but now she activates the electric winch that lowers the small speedboat back into the water. The engine is specially made to be low impact on the aquatic life and vegetation, while still allowing some fun on the water.

Once it is all the way down, she climbs into the boat, going over to open the cover over the engine. After building her own Batcycle, working on the boat engine isn't all that difficult. She grabs a rag, wiping a little grime from it and then starting to go over it to see what all maintenance it needs.

Dick Grayson has posed:
    Dick is not currently in the boathouse, but Steph can hear some splashing and quacking from the dock. If she were to take a look that way, she would see him tossing Hazelduck through the air towards the lake, her flapping to a landing then swimming back over and hopping up on the dock so he can do it again.

    Nah, she's not spoiled or anything.

    After a couple more tosses, he pats her head when she comes back, then turns and starts heading over to the boathouse.

Stephanie Brown has posed:
Stephanie Brown straightens from where she's bent over looking at the engine, hearing the quacking and the splash. It's not that such a sound is unusual, it's the repeat nature of it that draws her attention.

The young blond woman breaks out in a big grin and just stops for a moment to watch. Her eyes follow Hazelduck as the aquatic fowl is tossed into the water, seemingly happily given how she keeps coming back to Dick. Though more her gaze falls on Dick. Just watching and admiring him. His form. His smile. So much about him that leave her heart feeling so warm. To say she's besotted with him still after over a year together is an understatement. She doesn't even chide him for not helping, just stops what she was doing to lean against a railing of the speedboat, and watch.

Dick Grayson has posed:
    Spotting Steph watching when he turns to head over to help, Dick grins and shrugs a little. "What can I say, she likes it." He stops in front of Steph and leans in for a quick kiss, then straightens up. "So boat maintenance. I suppose it's about that time, yeah." He reaches out to take her hand and heads into the boathouse.

    "Ok, I see you've started already. Do you need me to do anything on that one? If not I'll start checking the canoes, make sure they made it through the winter without damage."

    He looks around the boathouse, then smirks and says "Hey, I just realized what's wrong here! No Bat-canoe!

Stephanie Brown has posed:
Stephanie greets Dick Grayson with arms slipping about his shoulders during that soft kiss. She rubs her hands along the top of his brawny form, in a suggestive way, but letting him go less they not get through the necessary maintenance. "I was going through the manual, looks like I should be able to handle it," she says. "Though after the motor might pull it back out of the water and over the hull with some stuff Lucius Fox had that should make it more aero- er... water-dynamic and help protect it."

She grabs the toolbox she brought down, selecting the right tools to remove a few parts for cleaning. She lets out a soft chuckle. "Jet-propelled probably. With a... hrm. A net and anti-aircraft defenses?" she asks, flashing a blue-eyed wink at Dick Grayson.

Dick Grayson has posed:
    Dick nods, "You need the anti-aircraft defenses. I mean, in a small lake you're not going to see threats from the surface or underwater, so they'd have to attack from the air." He says seriously. "And if we conceal tasers in the paddles we can use them to repel boarders."

    He heads over and lifts the first canoe off the rack and places it one the floor, starting to run his hands over the hull while pressing lightly, checking for any weak spots that might indicate ruse or rot.

    "Yeah, we should probably coat all the boats with it. I have no problems with both protecting them and making them a little easier to propel."

    Finishing the manual check of the hull, he walks over to the shelves full of tools and devices, collecting what looks like a paint can and brush. Popping the lid on the can, he starts spreading the liquid inside evenly over the hull.

Stephanie Brown has posed:
Stephanie Brown has gotten part of the engine's housing off, carefully making sure not to lose any bolts. She pauses to look up at Dick as he goes over the tactical options. "We were from such different worlds," she tells Dick. "I mean you realize I was using a rope from Ace Hardware, and a grapple that I broke into the shop classroom at school to make? I had smokebombs from a fireworks stand. And you don't want to know how my Spoilerang throwing weapons turned out. Who'd have thought getting them balanced grinding on metal by hand would be so tough?" she says.

She sets back to work on the engine, only to be interrupted by a flapping of wings, and Hazelduck landing in the boat. "She's really flying around a lot more now. Think she's going to stick around? Or get swept off her feet by a mallard and fly off some day?"

Dick Grayson has posed:
    "Yeah, well, I blame Bruce. Before him I had never thought of bat-shaped throwing weapons. Much less different types that carry gas or sonics." He continues to coat the hull evenly as he talks. "As for Hazelduck, it's hard to say. She's pretty spoiled and I'm fairly sure she likes both of us, but I know I wouldn't stand in the way of her finding another duck. I just worry that she wouldn't do well on her own, she's never really had to find her own food or anything."

    He moves along the length of the canoe to coat the next section. "So I'm not entirely sure how to deal with it. We might want to considering clipping her wings. Doesn't hurt her because it's just a few of the flight feathers and they can grow back, but it keeps her from flying off and getting attacked by something or just flat out starving."

Stephanie Brown has posed:
Stephanie Brown removes one of the brushes from the electric motor that is more environmentally friendly than a gas engine would be. She inspects it and cleans a little bit of corrosion from it. "Hmm. I mean, we could teach her how to find food and all. You could wet suit up. Swim with her. Duck your head and catch water bugs in your mouth. I'm sure she'd follow your example," Stephanie says, her blue eyes twinkling brilliantly over at Dick.

She reaches over to brush her fingers down Hazelduck's neck and over her back. "That's right, you'd just do what he does, wouldn't you?" she says. Hazel gives Stephanie's hand a tiny peck. It doesn't hurt really, the duck being gentle with them for the most part, moreso after she's gotten older. "I don't know. We could clip her wings. I just... you know, it's something part of me feels loathe to do. But it might be best. Who do we know who is a duck expert?"

Dick Grayson has posed:
    Dick hmms as he paints the canoe with the protective coating. After a moment, he pauses and looks at her, a bit confused looking. "You know, I don't think I actually know any duck experts. This may be the first time our extensive list of specialists falls down on the job. I mean, if we needed a penguin specialist I can think of three, but no duck specialists specifically. Strange, I'm not used to coming up empty on a specialist."

    He shrugs, "I suppose we'll have to start calling vets and seeing if any of them know how to handle waterfowl. I'm sure we can find one if we look."

Stephanie Brown has posed:
"How is it," Stephanie asks Dick as she leans back over the engine to replace the brush and get another component to check on the wear and tear of, "That we don't have a duck-themed villain either? I mean we've got a moth. We've got Ketchup and Mustard Man," she says, using her own nickname for Condiment King. "We've got someone themed on -quilts- for Pete's sake."

She reaches over to give the duck another little ruffle of fingers over feathers. "I guess you're just too good for them. Aren't you? Yes you are," she says, turning to that pet-talk tone that people get at the end.

She returns her attention to the motor. "Was thinking if we have time maybe we could fish for dinner tonight," she says, glancing over at the water.

Dick Grayson has posed:
    "I certainly don't have any problems with fresh fish. It's even warm enough to break out the barbeque if we want to go with a grilled option." He's gone back to painting the hull of the canoe, not willing to abandon the job halfway through. "That sound good to you? We've got some sides in the fridge that could go with fish, so that we can make a meal of it."

    He keeps painting as he talks, reaching the nose of the canoe and takes a moment to coat it evenly. "There. Now it just has to dry." He puts the cover back on the can, then heads over to rinse the paintbrush out before heading to the section of shelving where fishing poles and tackle boxes are stored.

    Heading for the dock, he says "Feel free to join me when you finish with that" and steps out of the boathouse.

Stephanie Brown has posed:
Stephanie Brown finishes going over the engine. "Didn't really need too much work," she says, not sounding surprised that the WayneTech prototype has held up well. She replaces the engine's cover and then looks about the rest of the boat, making sure it doesn't need anything else. She wipes her hands clean on a rag, leaning down to wet them in the cool lake and dry them.

Hazel is scooped up and Stephanie climbs back over onto the dock. The pair walks over, Stephanie setting the duck down on the dock as she moves over behind Dick Grayson. Stephanie hugs him from behind, pressing her body in against his wonderfully muscular back. "Oh, yes, I missed this," she murmurs as she rests her head on his shoulder from behind.

Dick Grayson has posed:
    Taking one hand off the fishing rod, he covers one of her hands with his own. Looking out over the lake as evening begins to darken the scene he nods. "We really do have very little to complain about, beautiful place to live and both of us nuts about the other. Too many people never find someone the way we have, it's a pity. There would probably be a lot less anger in the world if everybody could find that someone who's right for them."

    The tip of the pole is suddenly pulled down towards the water, so Dick lets go of Steph's hand and starts to reel in the line a bit, along with pulling back on the rod, playing the fish so it doesn't spit out the hook or break the line. "Feels like a decent size, we might have dinner here if I can land it."

Stephanie Brown has posed:
Stephanie Brown leans forward to brush a little kiss to Dick's cheek. "I'll get the net," she says, moving over to the fishing supplies to retrieve a net on a pole. She brings it over and sits down on the edge of the dock, waiting with it while Dick takes his time. Working the fish gradually towards the dock. Letting it swim to tire itself, then reeling it back when its strength flags.

Before long she can extend the pole out and gets the net beneath the fish. She lifts it out, rising from her sitting position and pulling it back in over the dock. "Nice, looks like you got a really big blue gill," she tells him, reaching in to grasp the fish and remove the hook. There's a little cage hanging off the dock into the water there, which she drops the fish into to keep it alive until it's time to take it inside.

Dick Grayson has posed:
    "Well, that was easier than it's supposed to be, guess we've finally got the lake so stocked dinner is almost jumping onto our plates." He hooks the lure to one of the rings on the pole and pulls the line taut so it won't release and start swinging around. Leaning it against the railing, he turns around and slips his arms around Steph, holding her close for a quick kiss.

    "Now if only the crooks would lay off, we could make a nice life here without dressing up and leaping from roof to roof. Not sure what we actually would do with ourselves, but I'm sure we could manage." He kisses her lightly again, then asks, "Do you want the side dishes or the fish? I'm good with either."