2518/A Base We Can Believe In

A Base We Can Believe In
Date of Scene:	19 July 2020
Location:	The Robin's Roost - Chelsea
Synopsis:	Red Robin shows off the new place to Wonder Girl and Nightwing.
Cast of Characters:	Tim Drake, Dick Grayson, Cassie Sandsmark

---

Tim Drake has posed:
Conner, Bart, Rose... they had already been given the grand tour, and... hell, already moved in, even if for a couple of them it was not their sole residence. Which was fine by Red Robin, regardless. He had been texting Wonder Girl for a little bit, but timing had never quite worked out. The peril of heroing, and responsibilities.

In truth, he would have just had Cassie show up civilian except for as he was arranging to have her come so he could show off the place, his 'older brother' shot TIM a text... wanting to see 'all of the new place'.

Tim groans, looking at the text message. Well, agreed, but he does say 'come in a mask' because... well, while their little quartet all know each other behind the mask, they don't know Nightwing behind the mask.

He's pretty sure, at least. Who knows with the Titans.

Still, he shoots Wonder Girl some directions on entering from behind the theater, almost a block over, detailed instructions about a dumpster, a hidden touchpad, and a one-time use keycode.

Dick is given a similar set of instructions, though his entrance through a side door into the old theatre.

Dick Grayson has posed:
Dick groaned when he got the memo. He had to break out the backup suit for this one, the other one was being washed as he got the response. The only upside being that at least it was not a far drive.

As Nightwing, he followed the instructions to a t and walks in as expected through the side door. "Evenin', Red," he says with a grin. "Nice place you got going, doesn't surprise me, though. Seems you got that side of it locked up, especially on tech." Nightwing's tone is sincere, at least.

Cassie Sandsmark has posed:
To be fair, there's not a lot of difference between heroic and civillian Cassie other than, well, remembering which names to call people by. Because her idea of a costume is pretty hard to distinguish from her street clothes. Maybe she doesn't -always- wear Wonder Woman merch off duty, but she does often enough! The only real distinction is that sometimes the 'costume' outfits are a little more athletic: this time it's the black high-necked 'WW' tank top & red track pants. It's an outfit she can move in, but still, lacking in Bat paranoia accessories.

Anyway, its a hop and a flight to make it over to Gotham, to the point where it may take Cassie longer working through all Tim's crazy security measures than it actually takes her to get there. Beep boop. "Ugh who has a 12 digit door code..."

Eventually she makes it! "Is all of that -really- necessary? It took me forever to figure out how to get in here!" Yep, she arrives complaining. "So this is the place, huh? How far down are we, anyway? I kinda figured you Bat-types liked to be up high for all your, you know, perching and vigilant gazing." She stops short, though, when she sees Nightwing there with the more familiar of the ex-Robin pair. "Woah. So uh hey, you're Nightwing right?" He's presumably up in some of those team pictures of founding Titans at the tower. And suitably, she looks just a little awstruck!

Tim Drake has posed:
"Actually," Red Robin replies to Wonder Girl with a grin, "We're only one story down-- sort of. This is the garage." He gestures to the open concrete-floored area, where his car and motorcycle have taken up residence, but there is room for more. The 'out' for the vehicles is a bit complicated, but... it works. Trust me. The back half of the garage is full of tools and equipment to do repairs and upgrades, with several heavy-duty workbenches. "The place actually goes... up from here. Well, and down, one level... technically." he notes with a shrug. "But mostly up. This is sublevel 1. The first floor has the front half being my "house"... except the bedroom, that's up a level. Back half has the labs, the gym... uh, Ravager suggested an armory but I'm not really sure on that one yet." He shrugs. "And top floor is the rec area, kitchen, and I've got rooms set up. Ten. I mean, besides mine. Uh, Impulse and Ravager already made their claim. Superboy is still half crashing on the couch and trying to decide which one he wants."

Red Robin looks pleased behind his domino mask. "I mean... if we do... start a team. I figured we'd need a place like this." He makes a furtive look to Nightwing. He already suspects from the earlier text his ass is busted, at least on this. May as well own it.

Dick Grayson has posed:
"Wonder Girl," Nighting says with a nod of approval as she arrives, "And yes, I am Nightwing. Caught wind of what's going on here, so I figured I'd pay a visit. Red Robin here has been nothing but a paragon of hospitality," again, his tone is nothing but sincere. He leans up against the wall for the moment, "If you were to have a team, this is actually a pretty solid setup. The garage is always the hardest part. Just trust me on that one." He hated having to make those adjustments in Bludhaven.

Dick grins over at his little brother. "Could be worse, could be worse by a mile."

Cassie Sandsmark has posed:
It looks like Cassie is doing a bit of mental gymnastics over the spatial arrangement as Tim lists everything out: up, and down, but mostly up. "Okaaaaay, got it. I think." Or at least, she'll figure it out, once she has a chance to wander around and check the place out. Right now, she's mostly just kind of looking around, suitably impressed, at the underground motor pool setup. "I'll never figure out how people ever manage to build any of this stuff, in secret no less," she adds, as much in echo of Nightwing's evaluation of the garages being the hard part as anything else. "But yeah, it's a pretty cool setup!"

Turning a bit again, she grins up at Nightwing. "So you two, you're like, former Robins #1 and #2, right? I have been trying to figure all of that out. Especially since we've got mini-Robin number whatever running around and terrorizing us at the tower. She glances at Tim, even takes a step nearer, and quietly but not really quietly enough wonders, "So, is he like your big brother, or what's the deal? Where does Batman find all these kids?!" The Robin name is famous! So she's curious.

"Oh, and I'm still staying at my place with mom, at least until I start school in the fall, but she lets me spend some nights at the Tower, if I call ahead about it, so I'm sure I could do the same deal here, sometimes." Yep. She's also got to deal with Wonder Overprotective Mom.

Tim Drake has posed:
Red Robin's face tightens a little. "I'm... three, actually. Two died." He got better. Kind of, if you consider Hood BETTER. But no one outside the family knows Hood was Robin and that's how it's being kept. "And it's not entirely that he finds us. I actually sought him out." Which is true! Actually. Tim shrugs. "But that's all... well. Should we head upstairs? I've got a freezer full of ice cream because of Impulse. It kind of showed up the other day and I asked what's up and he said he wanted ice cream." He grins. "Plus you can pick your room, if you're going to stay here sometimes. Claimed ones have names on the doors."

He gives Dick a grateful nod-- impressing Nightwing is hard sometimes!-- and shows them the stairs and the lifts. They'll take the lift to the top floor, where the rooms and kitchen is.

Dick Grayson has posed:
"Red here is right," Nightwing says regarding Hood, hiking a thumb over to Tim, "Long story, and one that cuts close." His tone isn't as jovial as it had been, that is a bit of a sore subject, all around, for Dick. He stretches his neck and then snorts, "Not a lot happens around here without us knowing about it, but Red here is right." Dick is here to help, even though the desire to tease or taunt Tim is there, Dick is here on business, and follows Tim into the lift for the rest of the tour.

Cassie Sandsmark has posed:
Woopsie, did not mean to hit on the deep dark secret history of the batclan, there. "Oh. I'm sorry." The young woman's expression immediately turns a little awkward, eyes downcast and paying more attention to one of her own shoes as she awkwardly scuffs at the floor. GOOD GOING CASSIE, you made the Robins sad!

She's silent a moment, not sure what to add, though Tim offers a convenient redirect in something as trivial and silly as Bart's ice cream addiction. "Hah. I don't know why he'd really even need to stock up when he can always make a run to grab some, but I guess that works out pretty good for the rest of us. Sure, let's go take a look around." And not think about any feet shoved in her mouth yes plz thank youverymuch!

Tim Drake has posed:
Red Robin leads the way into the rec room, and through-- uh, oof, a double-timed half step to subtly kick a tank top that is laying randomly on the floor under the couch! No one saw that!-- "Sooooo," his voice slightly cracks on that drawn out syllable, "this is the rec room. As you can see, two couches, recliners, some bean bags, three TVs... we get every channel and then some... the coffee tables do that thing where you can pull them up higher to make it easier to snack, uh, and there's some game systems behind the doors of that entertainment center... uh. Pool table in that corner, you see. And that space is empty because I'm trying to figure out what to do with it." There's a pile of beanbags just stacked in one of the corners, which is otherwise bare.

And he gestures down the hallway leading from the rec room. "Uh, kitchen is on the right immediately, but down the hall further are the rooms. And. Stuff. Ice cream?"

Dick Grayson has posed:
Dick saw the kick, and surmised it was the typical emergency cleaning kick. He'd criticize but... he had a patent on that. Nightwing looks to Cassie and says, "No need to be sorry. You did nothing wrong." He gives a smile to reinforce this. He takes some time to soak in the room and looks to Cassie, "Having treats on hand is more efficient," and sometimes the store is just too darn far away.

"Could set up a pong table over there," Nightwing says about the open area, "Good hand-eye coordination practice, and great fun." What type of pong he does not state. "Ice cream also sounds good."

Cassie Sandsmark has posed:
"Efficient? Have you -met- Ba- er, Impulse?" On this one, Cassie is willing to doubt even the senior Titan's experience and knowledge, because she is well acquainted with the being of raw food destruction that is Bart Allen. "If I even mention that I've got a craving for something, he's likely to zip off to pick me up some take-out. Even if it's in another time zone. In fact, the last time we were hanging out, he did."

Still, Cassie can hardly argue about the benefits of there being ice cream there for THEM right now, since none of the current company seems likely to zip off for instantaneous pickups. "The place looks awesome," she tells Tim as she's crossing the space, looking around a bit even while making toward the kitchen and its promise of sweet treats. "Like, this this looks more like some rich kid's party mansion than a secret crime fighting base." Well, maybe she's not THAT far off with that observation. "Even the Tower is a little more, I don't know... subdued?" She laughs. "But whatever, I like it. Extra screens is a good idea, no more fighting over who gets to watch what."

Of course she's skipping ahead on the tour and already checking out the fridge.

Tim Drake has posed:
Is that a sigh of relief Red Robin breathes? Yes, yes it is. He follows Cassie into the kitchen, which is oversized, the back half a full restaurant or caterers kitchen: stove with a ton of eyes, a built in griddle, a walk in fridge and walk in freezer, tons of counter space, every pot, pan, and gadget one could need, a fully stocked walk in pantry, three sinks (one deep and meant for pots)... the front half of the "kitchens" is more of a large dining room, with three tables (two large and one smaller) surrounded by chairs.

"Uh, so, spoons are here, and I'll grab the ice cream--" which he disappears into the freezer to snag a trio of pints, which he drops on the smaller table along with spoons. "So. I mean, I'll show off the labs and stuff too in a bit."

Dick Grayson has posed:
"Duly noted," Nightwing nods to Cassie as she mentions the bottomless ice cream pit on legs. "Yeah, these are things we learned early on in the Titans. But make it your own, that is key. You'll be the ones spending time he..." Nightwing stops and checks his comms. Of course there had to be an issue, "Well, I'll have to take a rain check on the ice cream. Seems my dutie are required elsewhere. You two have fun, and I'll touch base later with you, Red." His tone is back to business and he says before departing, "Have a good one, you two. Place looks great!"

Cassie Sandsmark has posed:
"Labs? Yawn." Yeah, Cassie is many things, but tech whiz, gearhead, or mad scientist? She is none of these! And she looks almost physically drained at what must be the idea of Tim showing her around every gadget and gizmo. Nerd. She /does/ seem pretty impressed with the kitchen, although her wide-eyed evaluation begs one very important question that she ultimately decides to voice: "Uh, so do any of us, like, actually know how to cook?" Because she remembers a lot of pizza. "This is all super impressive but I can't even figure out what half of this is for." Details!

She soon follows around to the other side where the ice cream is dropped off and grabs her container, with no apparent guilt for the implied gluttony. Though she /does/ make a bit of a puppy-dog 'awwww' look as Dick receives a sudden Bat-call, or whatever it is. "Aw, well... Come by any time!" she offers, apparently already settled into the degree she feels comfortable extending the invitation.

Tim Drake has posed:
"See you, Nightwing," Red Robin gives his older brother a nod. "You know the way in, so feel free to swing by whenever," he echoes Cassie. After Dick heads out, Tim grabs his own pint and spoon, digging in. "We can skip the labs if you'd rather," the nerdBat comments. "But they are there for if we need it." Once Dick is well and truly out of the building, he pops his mask off and tosses it lightly on the table beside the ice cream.