15873/Pizza, Beer, Beatdowns

Pizza, Beer, Beatdowns
Date of Scene:	17 September 2023
Location:	The Banks Apartment, Gotham City
Synopsis:	River invites Jason over for beer and pizza, and conversation that doesn't revolve around the interests of an eight year old boy. Instead she gets conversation about how cool Red Hood is and how Red Hood COULD beat up Jason Todd, and Batman, and probably Superman if he wanted to, and Jason gets an education in the production of a perfectly toasted marshmallow.
Cast of Characters:	River Banks, Jason Todd

---

River Banks has posed:
>Pizza, Beer, and conversation that does not revolve around Ninjawolf, Actionfigures, roblox or mid-century muscle cars?< comes a text from River's phone. Although it was a drizzly night -- which she hadn't counted on -- so the apartment was clean...ish. There was a laundry basket of things that would have to make a trip to the laundromat. There's even a couple of pictures on the wall. Not of the occupants, of course, but some drawings, a map, even a couple faded pieces from goodwill. The kind of stuff that makes a fifth-story walkup truly a home. A couple of bean bags have been added to the worn, third-hand couch, in blue and green camo, and a smaller flatscreen with a stand is set on an old media table.

    In the tiny galley kitchen, River pulls a no-longer-frozen pizza out of the oven, nodding along with a slightly tinny blue-tooth speaker that's softly playing country music, nodding her head with the beat.

Jason Todd has posed:
Sure, why not? Jason hasn't exactly got a long list of people lining up to be friends, or at least friendly, with him. The fact someone has invited him over for dinner and to hang out is not lost on him.

>Sounds like fun. Need me to bring anything?

Either way, Jason will show up at the door to River and Rio's apartment and knock. He's wearing casual clothes; a Black Sabbath tee shirt, jeans and work boots. A backpack is hanging off his right shoulder.

River Banks has posed:
    >Just your charming self. Technically you bought the beer.

    River's not got a lot of people that she invites. Definitely not at the risk of Rio -- but Jason's proven himself trustworthy.

    The Pepperoni pizza waits the pre-requisite three minutes, on its folded-down box in lieu of a cutting board. River's in sock-clad feet (with socks that don't match, but they're close), a pair of jeans with ripped out knees (that she ripped out, they're not a fashion statement), and a very worn T-shirt for a Miami highschool.

    To the door she undoes the three chains, the two deadbolts and the main door latch, and leans her head out a little bit before she gives Jason a smile. A real smile, with that scar on her chin pulling and her freckles showing.

    "Hey, thanks for comin' by." she gives a look to the backpack. "Work clothes?"

Jason Todd has posed:
Well doesn't he have them fooled. At least if someone asked him that's what he'd come back with.

Offering a bit of a smile, still not something he does a lot or easily, he nods. "Thanks for the invite. I'm a jerk not rude" he clarifies. Sparing a glance to the pack he shakes his head. "Not tonight." He wouldn't bring them inside anyway on account of Rio. The kid would find his mask or, worse his guns, and that would be the end of the fun times.

"Just some stuff I brought over" he notes vaguely.

"Pizza smells good. Has Rio devoured half of it already?"

River Banks has posed:
    "He's asleep. He's excited 'bout puttin' down roots, an' I told him if he keeps a schedule we'll talk about maybe... goin' to school. Like in person, going to school. Ain't got Gotham Academy money, but if he gets himself scholastic scholarship, it'll help set 'im up for college, you know?"

    Everything about River's stance when she says that screams that she's not comfortable with the idea, she's practically dancing sidewise, and she gives out a puff of breath, closing the door behind Jason and re-doing all the deadbolts and doorchains. Hashtag: Gotham City.

    "An' you ain't that bad, Jason. Little rough 'round the edges maybe." River gives a soft snort, and she digs out a pizza roller and some paper plates, and swings a stool to the end of the counter so Jason can sit down.

    "Rio wants to get an air fryer so's he can make himself lunch while I'm out lookin' for work or hawkin' repaired stuff."

Jason Todd has posed:
Jason Todd smirks. "You clearly haven't seen all my edges then."

Stepping inside and away from the door so she can lock up again, he seems surprised. "He's already asleep?" He has no idea what a proper sleep routine for a kid is. His childhood was whatever he chose to make it, usually that meant being up most if not all night.

"That sounds good, River. Giving him something stable is something every kid should have." Not that he ever did, exactly. Even after he met Bruce, his life was pretty chaotic.

Setting his pack on the counter long enough to pull out a grocery bag, he holds it up. "I figured he'd still be up so I brought the makings for s'mores. We can save him some... one" he amends with a smirk.

Leaving the bag on the counter he moves his backpack to the floor near the couch.

"Air fryers are nice once you figure out how they cook. People I know that have them say they burn or scorch a lot of things at first because they cook faster than a regular oven."

River Banks has posed:
    "Well yeah, they're mini convection ovens. Superheat the air around the object, keep the air in movement an' it cooks faster, sealin' in the moisture so that you get the crispy outside without dryin' out the inside." River replies thoughtfully. "Lotta stuff is givin' you the instructions with it now, and a lot of it's like -- ten minutes at four hundred, flip, five minutes at four hundred, let stand for two minutes. Don't burn your mouth on th' pizza rolls."

    Jason finds himself with a plate, a paper towel and a bottle of Michelob. At least she's not spending a lot of his money on alcohol.

    And she gives a slight smile to Jason.

    "T' be honest? Ah am terrified. What if they make fun of him 'cause his accent? Or 'cause his social skills ain't the best? An' that's all my fault. Been tryin' to do good by him. Ain't easy."

    "... and man I am *not* missing S'mores. Who the Hell are you?" comes Rio's voice -- from a cabinet under the counter.

    River sets her face in a :| expression. The cabinet door opens up onto Jason's side, and Rio's face peers up.

    "I'm warning you. My sister's in good with the Bats. If you hurt her, you'll be sorry!"

Jason Todd has posed:
Jason Todd nods. "Yeah. They're handy for sure. Even better for burning your mouth I bet."

Taking the plate, paper towel and the bottle of beeer. "Thanks." It's not something he says often so it almost comes out as a question.

"I understand. I think you've done a good job for him so far. But he does need to get a proper education so he can live his best life." He sounds thoughtful about that when the S'mores Ninja appears inside the cupboard.

"And speak of the devil." A bit of a grin is aimed at Rio.

"Hey kid. Don't worry. I'm Gotham born and raised. The Bats are are all scary as hell and would kick my ass. I'll be good." Then he gives a peace offering, "If your sister's okay with it, have some pizza and we'll figure out how we're going to make the s'mores after."

River Banks has posed:
    "Psh, well yeah, they can probably even take on Superman." Rio states.

    "Rio, this is Jason. Jason's a good friend. Jason, my little brother Rio."

    "For serious I will break your kneecaps."

    "/Rio/."

    Rio gives a dramatic sigh. "Fine. I won't break you kneecaps, but I can lift like a hundred pounds."

    He looks like he's seventy pounds soaking wet.

    "Can I hang out, River?"

    River mouths to Jason -he does not talk about the bats with anyone else- quickly before Rio looks up to her, and she appears to weigh the subject.

    "Fine, squirt, but after this, brush your teeth an' bed. You wanna go to a physical school you gotta show me, okay?"

    "All right." Rio states, and he helps himself to a slice of pizza as he hops up on the other stool.

    River pours him a cup of milk.

    "... if you have a concrete basin you can use 90-percent rubbin' alcohol to make a fire that'll be hot enough to roast 'em. I know we have rubbin' alcohol that strong."

    "Also got a gas stove, we kin roast 'em on that." River suggests, and gives a shrug.

    Rio looks up at Jason "Soooooooooo... how'd you meet River? Bet you she saved your butt, and you're sooooo en-armored with her."

Jason Todd has posed:
Jason Todd doesn't seem too worried about Rio talking about any of the Bats but he nods with a smile to River. It's cool. He's a kid. And really.. knowing what Jason knows, even with his strained relationship with the rest of the Bat family, it really is pretty damned cool.

Standing against the counter, he takes a bite of his pizza and listens to the siblings interacting. They've had a rough life so far, no doubt, but it's clear they care about each other which is the most important thing.

At mention of needing a concrete basin, Jason sighs, "I left mine at home." Then he nods, "I saw. Figure if you've got a wire coat hanger to spare, we can cook the marshmallows on the burner yeah."

He pauses, just about to take a sip from his beer. "Actually we were both coming out of that little grocer a block or so over as a gang showed up to rob it. One of those Bat.. guys.. showed up to stop them. What'd he say his name was?" he asks River. "Crimson Mask or something? Red Bat? Something like that" he says with a dismissive geasure. "I just fix cars so I don't really pay a lot of attention to those mask types. Long as they keep crime down, that's good enough for me."

A glance toward River suggests he's hopeful this is a believable story.

River Banks has posed:
    "THE RED HOOD." Rio announces, excitedly. "He's the best of them all Like the actual toughest one and he's my favorite. I've gotten like THREE of him from the Batmite meals and I'm designing a 3D printed action figure on my tablet that the lady at the library might help me print out the parts to and then I just have to paint it and Riv said she's gonna get me the right paints to paint it and she'll send pictures to hiiiiieeer friends all of her friends because she's got a LOT of friends."

    Rio attempts to cover himself. And then as he picks up another piece of pizza.

    "It's gonna be a *bobblehead* actionfigure. I figured out how to make the spring work."

    "Do you have a speicial-eye-zation in the types of cars you fix? Like, domestics, imports, sports cars, old cars? River's pretty good at fixing cars. She got a 1987 Monte Carlo to start once using bubblegum and a nail file. Didn't have the key or nothin' and we had to jump it."

    The story was bought, hook line and sinker, because Rio's adoration for The Red Hood is transcended only by his affection for his sister. And River relaxes once she realizes Rio bought the story -- somewhat because she liked the security of Jason stopping by.

    "I made sure he was okay. Kinda gave him a fright." River replies,

Jason Todd has posed:
Jason Todd blinks, "Oh. Right. Red Riding Hood" he says incorrectly on purpose. "He's got like the bow and arrow or whatever, right?" The impish look aimed at River says it all. He's just teasing Rio.

He listens to the excitement, "That sounds really cool, Rio. I'm sure you'll do great with it. Let me know how it goes?"

Then the talk moves to cars. "I do a bit of repair, mostly older domestic. I've done a couple restorations. Takes a lot longer just by myself but I do okay. I like the work."

"An '87 Monte Carlo hmm? Those were nice cars. The Aerocoupes with the sloped rear windows are worth a lot if you can find one that didn't have bad seals and leak. That frameless window wasn't the greatest idea really."

River Banks has posed:
    Rio sort of just... stares at Jason.

    "I'm pretty sure the arrow one is outta Starlin' City... but he's *completely* lame when compared to The Red Hood, who's the badest motherfu--"

    "RIO."

    "...mo. Mother fear of missing out." FORCED SEGUE. "Yeah. It leaked pretty badly, so I slept in the front seat. Nice thing about cars so old is that you need to inspect them." Rio takes another bite of pizza.

    River hangs her head a moment, her eyes closed, and her eyebrows raised up. "Kids say the /darndest/ things." she mutters to Jason, and then looks to Rio.

    "... oh. Right. Uh... forget I said that." Rio looks embarrassed. "But I will absolutely show you how cool the bobblehead is, I've already got paint colors picked up. We just gotta go to the model store to get 'em." he states, recovering quick, and then he looks around.

    "I guess I'll have a s'more an' then go to bed." he states, and looks around.

    ". . . you're okay, Jason." Rio decides. "You don't seem so tough."

    River almost snorts beer out her nose.

    "All right mister, set yourself up with weenie rod an' a marshmallow. *One* S'more before bed, an' you're brushin' your teeth"

    

Jason Todd has posed:
Jason Todd doesn't seem to realize what line he crossed by mixing up his vigilantes. He even mixes his metaphors too. The horror.

"Yeah? Well.. if you're going to buy a car it's always good to get it inspected first. Or before restoring it. Lot of resto jobs get done the cheapest and easiest way. Which means corners are cut. And that results in a lot of extra work. Buyer beware they say."

He smiles. "I can't wait to see your work Rio" he assures. "I think it -is- s'mores time. Got the hangar?" he asks Rio. Man to man. Because fire? Fire is a -manly- thing. Like grilling out.

Moving to get out the box of graham crackers, stack of chocolate bars and bag of big fluffy marshmallows. Tearing open the bag he waits for the hanger to arrive. "Ever done this before in the house? We're going to need to be extra careful. Fire's not a thing to play around with."

River Banks has posed:
    "We got weenie rods." Rio answers, reaching into a thin little closet and pulling out a couple of three-foot long metal rods with cracked wooden ends. They have seen a lot of use. Years on the road.

    "River says now that we're living in Gotham we might not need another car. That car got picked up by someone else when we were in Indiana before we came up to New York. Have you ever used a weenie rod before Mr. Jason? See you gotta be careful of the tongue at the top 'cause it's *sharp*. An' ordinarily you'd slide the weenie right on through so that it don't break in half, but marshmallows you don't gotta be as exact." he states, taking the weenie rod and loading it with three marshmallows.

    "Ah know River's gonna want two marshmallows 'cause she likes s'mores, but *she* puts peanutbutter cups or sometimes fancy cookie thingies Pizza-zelles." Rio conspires with Jason.

    River is supervising as Rio explains to The Red Hood how to roast a marshmallow.

    "Ah should get a picture a' this."

Jason Todd has posed:
Jason Todd ah's at the revelation of weenie rods and nods. "Even better. Twisting a coat hanger around can be painful sometimes." The wrapped wire is hard to unwind bare handedly.

Listening to the saga about the car he nods. "Well as long as everywhere you need to go is within walking distance or near a bus stop cars are just another hassle, it's true."

He accepts the caution and instruction from Rio The Pro. A side glance toward River is followed with disbelief. "Peanut butter cups? That's, I'm pretty sure, a crime against S'mores. So wrong."

Another glance is aimed her way. This time for the threat of pictures; "Just remember. Payback is a bitch."

Pausing he looks at Rio. "You don't get to say that. You're too young."

River Banks has posed:
    "Don't knock it until you try it, Jason." River smiles, and she holds up her phone, "An' it's never leavin' my phone. Just such a cute moment." she clicks a silent picture of Rio looking up, absorbed in Jason Todd's instruction for him to not swear.

    "Oh I'm not alowed ta cuss. Last time I dropped an F-bomb River had me hold a bar 'a soap 'tween my teeth for ten seconds. She gets *cross* when I cuss."

    And the stove burner is carefully turned on.

    "Now you gotta turn your rod 'round so that it cooks evenly, kinda like a rotisserie. An' you don't want it too close or it'll catch on fire, and it'll be all gross and burnt. I heard on TV this is carl-mel-ization." he instructs.

Jason Todd has posed:
Jason Todd looks disbelievingly at River. "Mmm." He is unconvinced but doesn't protest.

Turning back to the toasting of marshmallows, "It's not good to swear. But then again they say that people who swear are actually more intelligent. It's science or something."

"You've got this down, Rio. Maybe I'll have you toast mine for me too.. I'm not sure I'll do half as good as you are."

River Banks has posed:
    "Buck up Jason, you're an *auto mechanic*, I believe in you." Rio reaches out and pats Jason on the shoulder. "You just gotta keep it in the sweet spot."

    River is trying her hardest not to laugh at poor Jason, covering up her snickers with another swallow of beer.

    "Like I said, Rio's real good at S'mores. We did a lotta campin' over the summers."

    "Well, I did thread up three on this rod, so if you want one of these, that's okay."

Jason Todd has posed:
Jason Todd looks at Rio as he turns all smartassed. "Hey. I'm the guest. I'm just letting you show off your skills." He shakes his head while looking toward River, "Is he always this way?" he asks in wonder.

"Fine. You called me out, kid. I'll toast my own, thank you very much." He takes one of the other roasting rods and sticks a couple marshmallows on the prongs before carefully holding them over the open flame. "Some people's children, I swear." Every damn day.

River Banks has posed:
    "Well how was I supposed to know auto mechanics and grocery shopping with my sister translated into marshmallow toasting skills?" Rio asks, incredulous for a single-didgit kid and as he whips his weenie rod up, one of the marshmallows flips off his rod and sticks to the ceiling. He looks at the ceiling in a panic, and then back to River.

    "Ah got it, Rio, go make yourself an' me a s'more while I clean that up." River states, grabbing one of the stools and dragging it over so she can try and dislodge the marshmallow.

    "... I'm surprised he's being so talkative, actually. Usually men showing up at our door doesn't mean anything good. He must be pretty confident in Red Hood's ability to protect me from you." she murmurs in amusement.

Jason Todd has posed:
Jason Todd smirks. "Marshmallow toasting skills are important. You'll use them the rest of your life." Just probably not for anything useful.

As the marshmallow sticks to the ceiling, Jason eyes Rio. "I'm not sure that's how this is supposed to work, right?" A wink is aimed his way.

As the clean up begins and River comments to him about Rio being comfortable, Jason considers. "I'll take it as a compliment. No denying, that guy would put the hurt on me." Playing along. "I'm not really a bad guy anyway." Most of the time.

River Banks has posed:
    "No you're not." River confirms, climbing the stool to take down the marshmallow from the ceiling, and she just pops it in her mouth. Mmm. Gooey.

    "Yeah. Unless you're like, secretly an evil automechanic. Turbo Thrust. Latest bad guy to face --" and Rio raises one of his Red Hood action figures "THE RED HOOD!"

    River looks down,a nd she looks at Jason, and she rubs the back of her neck with her not-sticky hand.

    "Y'know, I feel like now I owe you an actual grown-up hangout instead of bein' interrupted by The Goob from Beneath the Stairs!"

    "River, that's my villain origin story. And I've outgrown that nickname. I've gotta workshop a new nickname which is why I gotta go to school."

    "And learning, of course. You are gonna be the first Banks to actually go ta college, that's the rule."

    "But I wanna fight criiiiiiiiime."

    "So go to college, be a lawyer, an' fight corruption from the inside. They'll never expect it. You defend innocent people in th' courtroom an' make money to support your poor older sister in her advanced age." River cracks a joke.

Jason Todd has posed:
Jason Todd looks to Rio and begins to laugh. "Yeah. No. I'm not an evil auto mechanic. I promise that."

He finishes making his toasted 'mallow and sandwiches it between crackers and chocolate.

"Your sister is wise. Listen to her. No one can defeat a good lawyer. They've got the power of using the law against anyone who tries to break it. It's good for innocent people, our nation, and it's a well paying career. But. Money isn't the only part that matters. You have to be happy too. You'll find the right thing for you, of that I'm sure."

River Banks has posed:
    "Yeah. Tell River that. /I'm/ not allowed to be a sidekick, but *she* started taking martial arts classes and -HRMRBBFMFMMM--"

    "Rio. Remember when we had the conversation 'bout sometimes 'less info is more'?" River asks, and she's clearly embarrassed. She puts both her hands on Rio's shoulders and comes down to his level.

    "It is my job to protect you. Ah have powers. Ah'm the older siblin'. It's your job to make the world a better place. That's what your dad told me." she gives him a little shake, and then gives a sofft snort. "You are both of those s'mores didn't you."

    "Uh-huh."

    "All right then. Git your teeth brushed an' then get ta bed. Squish."

    "Squish." Rio replies, and waves a chocolate-and-marshmallow-covered hand at Jason. "Nice meeting you. But remember --" he points to his own eyes, and then points to Jason.

    And then disappears to go brush his teeth.

    ". . . holy cats." River whispers, and then leans her head forward,