2826/The Titans Take A Time Out

The Titans Take A Time Out
Date of Scene:	07 August 2020
Location:	Main Room - Titan's Tower
Synopsis:	America comes back to the tower. Nadia comes back to the tower, and brings Hank. Kyle visits the tower. Everyone's at the tower! Supergirl and Nightwing geek out at lego. Mary geeks out at RPGs. Donna makes kerbals explode. Caitlin bakes the world's best pie, and they all lived happily ever after.
Cast of Characters:	America Chavez, Caitlin Fairchild, Nadia Pym-van Dyne, Hank Pym, Dick Grayson, Mary Bromfield, Kara Danvers, Donna Troy, Kyle Rayner

---

America Chavez has posed:
    America Chavez had not been around too long, at least, not in this reality or this dimension. Still, she'd found something worthwhile here to stay for - perhaps it was all the trouble it drew, or perhaps it was the people she'd met. She'd even, with Diana Prince's reccomendation, met with and started a tentative team-up with the Titans.

She had met a few of them, and even fought a little alongside some of them recently, but now she'd figured it was time to meet others. So, she'd stuck a hand-drawn flyer where everyone in the Tower would see it (on the fridge of course), which said something along the lines of: Nothing is more America(n) than hot dogs, soda, and apple pie. So, if I have or haven't met you, let's hang out and chill. - America <Star Symbol>'

    And, true to her word, there were plenty of grilled hotdogs, condiments, several sodas of the glass-bottle-and-cane-sugar kind, and of course, apple pies.

Not that America was cooking them. No. Hell no. No, nobody would eat if she was cooking. They're all from local street vendors and pastry shops, but there's enough to go around.

    America had just finished setting up, and wasn't wasting any time getting herself her first hot dog, complete with all the fixin's.

Caitlin Fairchild has posed:
There are a few people who *can* cook in Titan's Tower, but on average, there's only one person who *does* cook. Mostly because Caitlin's very long and strict list of rules about using her-- er, the Titan's-- kitchen, is the sort of fascist guidance most people would expect of somewhere like Latveria.

On the flipside, it means that the 'Welcome to America' party has six apple pies that could take blue ribbon at any number of midwestern county fairs. And real brats, and sides of fresh coleslaw and potato salad, and enough food to feed even the prodigious appetite of the Titans for an afternoon.

Caitlin takes mealtime seriously. Dinner parties, doubly so. But she's at least not crazy enough to serve everyone herself and there's a queue line at the kitchen island so people can shuffle past the food buffet-style to dish up whatever they want. Or thirds and fourths helpings thereof.

"Let me know how you like those brats, I got them from this new Italian deli I found," Caitlin bids America. "I also have regular hot dogs for people who don't wanna ride the bus to Flavor Town."

Nadia Pym-van Dyne has posed:
Nadia hasn't been around the tower for what may feel like an eternity for those who had become accustomed to her over energetic presence buzzing about the place. In reality it has only been about a week, ever since things went sideways during the resizing of Bushwick.

But here she is back again! Perhaps it was the draw of delicious American foods she has yet to try, but the Waspette has returned. Not only has she returned, she has returned in style. Gone is the coppled together Wasp armor that she created from her father's spare parts. In its place is a new suit, a Van Dyne original. The sleek stylish black and red outfit is in many ways a homage to the original Ant-Man and Wasp designs while still managing to be its own thing.

"Come on, Dad!" Nadia steps out of the elevator, helmet tucked under one arm while the other arm is tugging a man of about forty out of the elevator. The individual is dressed in a red jumpsuit from his days in the West Coast Avengers and a black t-shirt. No alarms were triggered, she called first, he has a guest pass. "Hi everyone, I'm back! And I'd like you all to meet my father, Dr. Henry Pym!" She beams brighly, proud daughter, "Donna suggested I bring him around to meet everyone."

Hank Pym has posed:
Hank Pym exits the safety of the elevator a little reluctantly. He's obviously not a people person, but he smiles and waves to all. He exits the elevator with an 'oof' as he baby girl nearly yanks him off his feet. He has to find out how she does that.

Dr. Henry Pym recovers his aplomb and adds a few words to his greeting. It is. non-negotiable social protocol. "Hello, young people. It's a pleasure to meet you all. I wanted to thank you for being friends to my daughter. Dad is the best codename I ever had."

He leans to Nadia and buzzes in her ear, "Anybody mentions that goddam robot, I'm out. I got a lot of that this week." He smirks a little. Yes, Dr. Pym tried to make a funny.

Dick Grayson has posed:
Nightwing is here. There is food, and there is no doubt of its quality if Caitlin is making it. Also there is a wide variety of options. The elder Titan waves to everybody as he comes in, obviously still in costume, though he is surprised to see Hank here. "Dr. Pym!" with mild surprise, "I was not expecting to see you here, but welcome!" Dick notes the food and is sure to stand near it when he gives his greeting though.

Mary Bromfield has posed:
Thunderbolt glides down from the side of the girl's dormitories, having just arrived with some drinks. Non-alcoholic ones, naturally, sodas and juices with a variety of bottles in an iced cooler that she holds effortlessly over her shoulder. "Hey, hope I'm not too late, I managed to bring... hey!" She smiles over at America, then at Nadia, "I didn't know you two were with the Titans."

She walks over towards the kitchen counter, setting down the cooler gingerly, "How are you doing... Nadia, right? I'm Thunderbolt... can't remember if you got my name from before, it was a bit chaotic then." Her lips curve in a warm smile as she glances around, before reaching into the cooler and taking a Cherry Coke Zero for herself.

Kara Danvers has posed:
The first puzzle is how to open the box. Kara wanders in holding the new 'Lego Big Lift Moon Mission' set. It features a lego mini-figure of Supergirl, Superman, and Wonder Woman. It has an invisible jet and a whole bunch of parts to make a hanger on the moon. But, she's never opened a lego box, nor even done lego before. Her attention is on studying the outside of the box.

Hearing all the commotion she looks up and peers at Hank, "Hi Henry," she says having never met him before. Then she peers at America and smiles to hi, ...and then Kyle, "You know, the Titans Tower just keeps getting more awesome every week." She lifts the box to her ear and gives it a shake, hearing all the pieces rattle about inside.

Donna Troy has posed:
    It's a strange and wonderful world. In other places and times the sight of an Amazon in full steel armor looking like something out of a movie about Alexander the Great, with a sword in one hand and a tablet in the other, would be considered remarkable and anachronistic. These days it would barely raise an eyebrow, and in the Nexus of Strange that is Titans Tower, it's pretty much an everyday occurrance.

    Donna wanders out of the empty lift shaft, brows drawn as she stares intently at the tablet screen, occasionally flicking her thumb across it to scroll down. She weaves her way through the assembling crowd with her eyes locked on the display and greets the room with a vague, distracted "Hi everyone. Nightwing, I have a training report for you." Oh dear. It's been a few years since she did one of those. They always made for... /interesting/ reading. "Hey America, back with us a while this time? Thunderbolt! Good to see you. SG, back from the moon already? Cait, what's cooking? Hey Waspette, welcome back. Brought any of those cookies? Hello Doct... oh."

    She finally looks up from the tablet to Nadia, then to Hank, blinking. "Hello Doctor Pym, welcome to Titans tower," she says with a smile. Suddenly realising she's still holding her sword, she sheathes it and then tucks her tablet under her arm before offering Hank a handshake. On the one hand it may be somewhat reassuring to see in Donna, Dick and Caitlin that the young people here do have some kind of adult supervision; on the other hand it appears to be adult supervision that wanders around with swords.

    "Please do make yourself at home and meet the team. Your daughter has been an enormous help over the last few weeks. You must be very proud of her. I'm glad you could make the time to come and take a look at what we do here."

America Chavez has posed:
America gives a 'Hey' or a 'Hola!' greeting as more people arrive, seeming pleased. And, some faces she certainly recognizes while others - like Caitlin, Nadia and Dr. Hank Pym, she does not. After swallowing a bite of hot dog and a 'thumbs up' to Caitlin and a 's'good' through a mostly closed chewing mouth she looks over to Nadia and Hank.

She extends her hand to Nadia and Hank. "Hey, I'm America." The name might, to some, be a little on-the-nose due to the fact she is dressed, predominantly not only in red-white-and blue between her jacket, shorts, and t-shirt, but the star emblem and stripes on the jacket as well. "I punch reality. It's fun." She seems completely serious. "Thanks for coming. I'm kind of a 'hey, we still need to see if you fit in' phase of Titans, but, you know, when you haven't lived in this dimension long, it's understandable," she says agreeably.

She beams at Donna, when so greeted. "Yeah. Sorry about that. Didn't have time to leave a note. I had to travel, another dimension over that way," she points in said direction, "Needed some help, really badly. Took longer than I thought. But I'm back for awhile now. I like it here."

She grins at Mary, "Good to see you again, chica. Just don't go crunching anything, ya? Help yourself." She gestures to the food, and takes another bite of her hotdog, eyeing Kara curiously as she does so, before forgetting she'd been talking to Hank and Nadia, and looking back to them.

"So, yeah, pleased to meet you both. Hopefully we'll be able to punch some stuff together soon."

Kyle Rayner has posed:
Kyle, the fresh faced hero that he is, makes his way to Titans Tower finally to meet up with others like Nightwing and Cyborg told him he could do. He's wearing a t-shirt filled with anime characters along with a pair of black jeans and some worn-looking sneakers, he also has a satchel at his side. Coming out of the lift, he raises a nervous hand and gives a small wave. "Um, hello. I was told I could, uh, come and introduce myself to everyone." He gives another wave.

"I'm Kyle, and yeah, it's like, really cool to even step foot into a room with so many awesome people." He runs a hand through his black hair and takes a few steps forward, unsure as to what he should be doing in this exact situation.

Nadia Pym-van Dyne has posed:
"Nobody is going to mention the U-word Dad, right?" Nadia replies to her father before giving a meaningful look around the room like she just sort of expects them to know she means Ultron. Granted anyone who might bring it up probably would know.

"Oh Thunderbolt! I didn't know you're a Titan, too! I'm kind of new. Things just sort of happened when Brainiac invaded." Nadia grins at her, "I'm glad we could help that Star Girl, Singularity was it?"

But then America is talking about punching holes in reality and the easily distractable girl's attention is easily stolen, "You can do WHAT? Wow! That's so cool! Can I study how it works? My dad made a portal to a Parallel Earth." she beams, completely leaving out the part of needing to rescue him from said Parallel Earth. "I'm Nadia, or Waspette." she says to both Mary and America gesturing to her new suit. "Nice to meet you America! Nice to meet you again Thunderbolt!"

"Oh, hi Donna! Dad, Donna, Donna, Dad. Sorry, no cookies today. I figured Caitlin would have that covered, she gets really nervous when I go near her kitchen anyway and the kitchen at home is still kind of a warzone." she gives Hank a rueful smile about that.

Mary Bromfield has posed:
Thunderbolt waves over towards Kyle, "Hey, good to see you again Kyle. Make yourself at home." She gives the young man a warm smile, which she seems to have for everyone really, as she looks over towards Nadia, "Yeah, those Dire Wraith things were horrible, I'm glad we were able to put a stop to what they were doing. You were absolutely brilliant there."

She then nods over towards Donna at the greeting, then glances back at America, "Me, crunch stuff? I don't know what you're talking about." She smiles a bit, looking all pure and innocent. Really. Honest. Then she glances over at Nadia's father, "It's nice to meet you, Doctor Pym, I'm Thunderbolt."

Hank Pym has posed:
Hank Pym returns Thunderbolt's greeting with a smile. He says with a chuckle, "America, I spent most of my career in the' we still need to see if you fit in' phase. You'll be fine, I'm sure. Punching reality... we have to talk sometime. Hmmm brats..." He says to Nadia, "Where's the plasma tap or the heated industrial press? How do they make panini? All this done with off the shelf equipment. Amazing."

He walks over to Caitlin and says, "This is a wonderful spread Dr. Fairchild. I have been working on the culinary arts myself, moreso since Nadia came into my life. I'm afraid most of my efforts are sandwich related. Nadia seems to enjoy them though... Iron Man certainly has." A bit of a staged frown there, like some prank is remembered.

Kara Danvers has posed:
Kara makes her way to the kitchen area and picks up a hot dog. She takes a bite and then peers at it more closely, "What is this?" With a shrug she makes her way to a chair and then places the box of lego down on the table top. Having decided there's no logic to the design, she rips open a corner and pours the contents out on the table. "Question, has any one ever done a /lay-go/ before? There is a miniature me in here somewhere."

A few more bites and that hot dog is gone. "I am happy for people to help with the assemblage. She glances over to Nadia and asks, "The U-word? Undulate? Underseas? Upupandaway?" Aha! Instructions. She unfolds the booklet and looks at the well crafted instructions. She might sound Swedish to human ears but not knowing lego is a dead give away she is an alien to Earth.

Caitlin Fairchild has posed:
Whoops, there's someone looking uncertain about what to do. Caitlin hastily plates up some food and brings it over to Kyle before he gains any inertia in his current location. "C'mon over here," she tells him with an earnest and friendly smile. "I'm Caitlin. Get some food, mingle, say hello to everyone. Introduce yourself!" she suggests. "Everyone's super friendly. Well, everyone /here/ is super friendly," she amends, with a deepset sense of honesty.

Raven's probably up in her quarters contemplating the Infinite, after all, so it's a technically correct statement.

The name 'Dr. Pym' perks Caitlin's awareness and she blanches at the sight of one of the world's greatest brains casually mingling with the crowd. And then-- oh shnikes, he's coming right AT her, and for a moment she looks for escape points. Hair up in a messy bun, flour on her apron and hands, and in yoga pants with a comfy and much-loved Columbia hoodie in pink-- she clearly forgot to get *herself* ready for the party.

She's considering diving out a window when Hank addresses her, and she pastes a nervous smile on her face. "Oh, t-thanks Dr. Pym," she stammers. "It's, um, it's kind of my hobby, I guess. Cooking. Baking, too. Baking, which is a subset of cooking. I like to cook. Nadia's been swell, she's really fitting in here. She likes to eat. So it works out, with the cooking stuff, and the... um." She clears her throat. "Um. Eating stuff."

America Chavez has posed:
America looks pleased that Nadia is interested in her capabilities for dimension travel, and reality punching. "What's there to study? I just hit reality really hard, and boom! Star portal. Wherever I want to go. Whether it's to Italy, or ... well, anywhere out there. It's something my moms gave to me, and I use it to now protect any dimensions in danger. Just so happens that this one sets off my alarms off a lot. And, it's fun," she admits, with a rueful grin. A scientific mind America does not have. But, it's clear she'll be fun to be around - in battle, or hanging out with a party.

She puts a hot dog into Nadia's hand, "We'll definitely get to know each other better, Nadia. Love the costume," she says, with an approving nod.

She tells Kara, "Hot dog. Super awesomely good. Have three." She finishes hers, and nods to Kyle, "Pretty cool finding a group of friends you can count on, who you can also fight with, yeah? That's why I want to join. Couldn't ask for more fun, or a better purpose."

Kyle Rayner has posed:
"Oh hello!" Kyle greets Thunderbolt as she offers a greeting, then his attention is on Caitlin as she introduces herself. "Nice to meet you, I'm Kyle." He takes the plate of food and nods, "Awesome, I appreciate the welcome and the food! School food is pretty boring after all." He flashes a quick grin, then watches as Caitlin takes in Pym's approach. "Dr. Pym? Oh, I think I remember having to learn something in a science class. Almost failed that class, science is hard." He nods and then puts some of the food into his mouth while walking off, letting Caitlin and Pym speak.

He nods to America then and smiles (after swallowing his food of course). "Oh yeah, you were the one that could really knock some sense into people. I've been thinking a lot about it since we met and Nightwing and Vic talked to me, and I really do want to learn how to be a hero since I'm likely to get myself into a lot of trouble if I tried to do anything on my own."

Dick Grayson has posed:
As Dr. Pym speaks with the others, Dick takes this chance to fill his plate, though Kyle gets a wave as he arrives, "Come on in, meet the gang," he then notices the Lego set and blinks before walking over, "Didn't know you were a lego fan!" to Supergirl, with Nadia and America each getting a nod, "Hey, hope things have been going all right for you two?" Kyle also gets one, "To be fair, you'll get in trouble with them here, you will just be in good company!" Dick chuckles, "But in all honesty, we're here to help."

Kara Danvers has posed:
Kara tilts her head thoughtfully to America and then chuckles, "I do it to make the world a better place. The friendships are a bonus and the fighting is a necessity." Such a Supes answer. But right now, right now the puzzle of the lego has her attention. She begins to put pieces to pieces. "This is ingenious. Abstract representation of real world concepts. How couldn't I be a fan Nightwing?"

She smiles up at him and says. "Earth art is incredible. So variable and diverse and raw. Kryptonian art was about the subtle nuance of a concept. Some in the artists guild spend decades learning to appreciate a single set of pixels and write whole thesis on it. And then, Earth, little plastic people and plastic blocks."

Her foot pushes out a chair opposite her for Dick, hoping he'll help out with the blocks puzzle. She's begun assembling The Invisible Jet which in this lego set is mostly white like it was for the mission to the moon. "Also, what is a Kerbal Space Program?"

Nadia Pym-van Dyne has posed:
"All cooking goes through Caitlin, you'll have to ask her." Nadia says as she gestures towards the amazonian redhead in the kitchen. Her smile brightens even more when her father goes over to talk to Dr. Fairchild, voluntarily socializing.

She returns Thunderbolt's warm smile, card carrying member of the smile for everyone club, "They were the worst, I'm glad that's over and we can team up here, too!"

She takes a step over close to Kara and leans in to quietly tell her, "My father created a robot named Ultron and some bad things happened. It's a bit of a sensitive topic."

She then spins, yes spins, over towards the food. So many new things to try she hardly knows where to begin. "I really am interested in hearing more about reality punching America." she says excitedly as she picks up a hotdog.

Biting in her first hotdog, one of Caitlin's Brats no less, Nadia's face takes on an expression pure nigh teary joy, "This is SO delicious!"

Donna Troy has posed:
    "It's probably magic," Donna says of America's punching holes in reality. "We have a couple of others on the team who can make portals too, but both of them are more overtly magical. One of them even asks if you want to walk through the portal rather than just dropping the portal on your head, which is nice." The other one takes a definite pleasure in teleporting people around when they're not expecting it, but that remains implied rather than spoken, if only out of loyalty.

    "No worry America," She says in quiet aside to the star-portalling, reality-punching nomad. "You mentioned you might occasionally be taking a jaunt between dimensions, so when your T-Com ceased to exist we guessed it was probably something like that."

    "Kerbal Space Program is a conspiracy," Donna tells Kara as she fetches herself a hotdog. "Dressed up as a computer game. Our more scientifically-minded members generally seem to like it and claim it really is a computer game that lets you design space ships and launch them into space, but when I tried it, it just seemed to be an explosion simulator."

Dick Grayson has posed:
DIck will accept the offered seat and begins helping sort pieces. He may not have had a conventional childhood, but what kid does not like legos? "Makes sense, just did not think it through on my end. Though they certainly never get old. Sometimes they get frustrating, especially if that /one piece/ happens to fall onto the floor and you made the mistake of building over carpet. Never. Again." He laughs as he continues sorting, at least his gloves are not too bulky to make it terribly obnoxious.

Kyle Rayner has posed:
Kyle gives one look at Dick, nods and is about to say something. Then Kara says 'Earth art is incredible' and his his eyes light up like a child's who just woke up on Christmas morning and wants to run downstairs to see what Santa brought them.

"You're damn right it's incredible!" He says, all hints of nervousness are gone. He puts his plate of food down and slides the satchel off his shoulder and pulls out a collection of art books, manga, western comics among other things.

"If you think Legos are cool, and they are, the architecture and Ideas sets in particular are works of art, but they also have another line where you can make art in and of itself. There's one with Sith and another with the Beatles that I've been wanting to buy, but money tends to be an issue." Though it doesn't seem to be an issue that bothers him because he just rolls right along. "Look at some of these art books if you have an interest in art. This one is from a video game." He holds out an artbook from Horizon Zero Dawn. "This one is a collection from various anime films all coming from Studio Ghibli who are some of the greatest animators of all time. Far superior to Disney." He nods as if he's some sort of expert on the subject.

"Then we have manga. Have you ever read manga? It tells stories through art, very cool stuff. I can introduce you to some of the ones I find more enjoyable, if you'd like. There's also anime based off the manga, sometimes those works are faithful, sometimes not, but the art design on them is all top-notch stuff, I really love it."

He then pulls out a sketch pad and shows some sketches. "See, I've been working on some of my own, I, uh, well I'm embarrassed to say it but I love superheroes and have wanted to make a graphic novel some day, but look at this chibi Superman I drew." He flips to a page and holds it up. There's various forms of chibi Superman, chibi Batman and even a chibi set of the Fantastic Four. "Chibi art is so adorable, I love it. Though my graphic novel is going to be more realisitic in nature."

Hank Pym has posed:
Hank Pym walks around the kitchen island, grabs an apron and puts it on. "I'm usually the one who's made uncomfortable, Dr. Fairchild. Here let me help you out. Take a break. At least you don't have to worry about ants crashing your party. You did a wonderful job. You should come see my la... kitchen. Oh Nadia... come here, a burger with mustard /and/ ketchup. Try it... here, give one to 'Lego Lass' over there." He hopes every can tell he's joking.

He's run a number of experiments simultaneously, manning a grill should be doable. Keeping one eye on the grill he starts whipping hot sauce and mayo in a small bowl.

Mary Bromfield has posed:
Thunderbolt peeks over at Kyle's art, and smiles, "Wow, that's really good Kyle. And I'm not much of an artist, but I do actually a fair amount of roleplaying and such in my spare time. Which, well, isn't that much lately." She sits down near the Lego Convention of 2020, offering a bit of assistance where she can, giving Kara a smile, "My little brothers, well, two of them, love Legos. I would help them build qutie a bit, including this one of Darth Vader's tower on Mustafar that is totally /wicked/." She grins over at Kyle, giving him a nod as he apparently meets with her approval with that topic.

America Chavez has posed:
It probably is magic, or some variant thereof. "Maybe next time I'll drag some of you with me. Make the trip quicker, and you could meet some of my other friends on the other side." She smiles at this thought. "And, could be magic. Or, it could be that I'm just -that- good," she says, clearly in good spirits as she pops the top on a grape soda, passing it over to Mary. Another one is cracked open, and handed to Nadia.

"If you thought the brat was good, try this," she tells Nadia, with a hint of mischief in her tone, eyes, and smile.

Then America is leaning back, casually, against the wall watching the comaradarie as she looks back to Donna. "Sounds like you got a lot of us, then. Sure you still need me?" Curious, and in no less of good spirits.

Then ... Kyle is nerding out. America just watches. Stares, and ends up laughing at him a little under her breath, "You sure one of those locos didn't hit you too hard in the head?" She asks of him, winking.

She looks at Mary, then. "Tarot couldn't come? Was hoping you'd bring her. Still haven't met her, yet."

Donna Troy has posed:
    Donna goes to greet the new guy, because new guy. "You must be..." she starts, but then the floodgates open. The artgeeking, the legodaedely, the mangapocalypse. Donna stands there open-mouthed and blinking for a few seconds before she shuts her mouth with a faint snap.

    When the flood-tide finally ebbs, she offers a simple "I take photographs. Got an exhibition opening in a couple of days if anyone wants to visit." Then she retreats to the security of America's query. Easier to handle.

    Donna pats America on the arm and gives her a smile. "As you can see, it's quite a crowd here. We seem to be an ever-growing horde. I don't think we can have too many though, to be honest. Just means we can have more than one patrol out at a time," she says, winking. "Besides, this business is a lot more fun when you do it with friends."

Nadia Pym-van Dyne has posed:
Nadia accepts the grape soda from America and cracking it open, her expression is one of utter delight, like someone who has eaten tasteless Russian gulag gruel for sixteen years suddenly exposed to /flavors/. "This is sooo good, not really grape but grape-ish? I like it!"

She waves to Nightwing as she weaves through all of the people present, definitely back to her usual energetic self. "Hi Kyle!" she greets him, too. "I'm Nadia or Waspette if we're using codenames. Mine isn't really a secret, I barely exist legally anyway." Whatever that means, but she smiles brightly at him as she takes a bite of hotdog. "What's a lego, and a Ghibli, and a Manga?" her expression shows absolutely no recognition of these terms.

Kara Danvers has posed:
Kara nods at the explanation that Nadia gives and says, "Right. I understand. I don't know what that is, but I understand." She smiles and then is utterly bombarded with a plethora of new concepts. There is far too much Earth culture to consume. To Kyle she smiles and says, "I don't understand almost everything you just said but this looks incredible." She starts with his chibi picture of her Superman and laughs. "Oh my goodness. That's adorable. I need to send that to my cousin. Can I please send this to my cousin? Or at the very least, I really want to have it on my phone, because it's the best thing ever."

As she carefully leafs through the comics she looks with wonder at the robo-animals and the Studio Ghibli spirits and landscapes. "I've never read manga," she says with wide eyes of wonder at this yet another new form of Earth art. "Can I borrow all of it?," she asks Kyle. For the moment, drawn away from the Lego set, but she'll be back to it.

Caitlin Fairchild has posed:
"Ah, uh... um..." Caitlin starts backing out of the kitchen with a conflicted expression. On the one hand, Hank's a family guest of Nadia's, a well-known superhero, and one of the world's foremost scientists. On the other hand... Caitlin's a little uncertain about leaving her kitchen in someone else's hands. "S-sure, that sounds great."

Pym's already mid-experiment, cococting fry sauce in a bowl, so Caitlin edges a few steps out of the work area. Hands drum on her thighs and she absently wipes them over her apron, then looks down at the garment and tugs at it fitfully. Well, maybe she'll be needed to rush back and bake something in an emergency; with that in mind she leaves it on and drifts towards the little Lego project.

"Kerbal is way overrated," Caitlin agrees with Donna. "They don't even account for radiative thrust or interstellar microdust impacts arresting forward momentum. The realism's really lacking. I say, go play Warcraft if you're gonna live in a fantasy world anyway."

Kyle Rayner has posed:
And now Thunderbolt is one of Kyle's most favorite people ever. "No way! I own every version of the D&D Monster Manual. I LOVE the art in those books. I would totally be down to doing a campaign with you sometime though. As for the Mustafar set, I've seen it and it -is- cool, but that $700 Millenium Falcon set is the real prize. Ugh, I need to win the lottery or something, I swear." He flashes her a grin and then is looking towards Nadia, eyes wide.

"What's a Ghibli? Have you never seen Howl's Moving Castle or Princess Mononoke? This will have to be remedied in the near future. I'm definitely going to have to host a movie night here some day soon, just to get some of the classics shown to everyone. As for Manga, well, those are books with intricately drawn art inside them that tell a story." He nods, and then notices Donna. Offering her a wide smile and a nod, "Hello! I'm Kyle. You said you're a photographer? That's awesome. Photography is a wonderful form of art and I'd love to see your pictures some time!"

Now full of life and energy because of NERDING, he looks back to Kara and grins. "Go ahead and take pictures with your phone, I don't mind. I hope your cousin likes it!" Totally unaware of what he's saying or giving permission to. "And yes! Borrow what you like, I probably have almost a thousand different things back in my dorm room. My roomie gets annoyed with me, but eh, he can deal."

Kara Danvers has posed:
Kara grins and takes a picture of Chibi Superman. She then hmms thoughtfully as she resumes placing blocks together and says to Troia, "I'm not sure I want my likeness in a conspiracy theory," about Kerbal Space Program and the new 'Big Lift' mission extension featuring Superman, Supergirl and Wonder Woman versions of Kerbals. She furrows her eyebrows trying to find a piece, then finds it and clicks it in to position.

"This is kind of fun, in a turn your brain of sort of way," she says as she clicks more pieces together. Then she carefully puts the stickers on the lego figures, "Oh hey! It's me and my cousin. I get it now. That's very clever."

Hank Pym has posed:
Hank Pym grabs a soda and says, "Kerbal also has a sad lack of heat radiators for the fission and fusion engines and in general. But I saw an Orion Engine that was interesting... I don't play but I watch those Scott Manley videos. He's fun." He flips a burger and barely catches it on the spatula. He frowns and appraises the spatula. Makes the spatula a little bigger. Continues flipping.

Dick Grayson has posed:
"Hey, Nadia!" Dick says, taking a break from sorting, progress has been made, but his food will get cold if he does not take a chance to eat it! "Glad to meet you, Nadia. I'm Nightwing," he wipes his hand on a napkin and extends it, "Legos are plastic bricks you can stack together to make things," he lifts a few pieces, and then points to the invisible jet being made, "Like so!" He nods to Kyle, "See, told you that you'd be fine here." Setting down his food, the older Titan takes a drink.

Mary Bromfield has posed:
Thunderbolt grins cheerfully at Kyle, "Yeah, I still have my first edition Deities and Demigods. With Cthulhu and Elric." She says that, totally establishing her geek cred as she chuckles, "I shanghai my brothers into being my victims sometimes when I DM, but I'd love to see about getting a supers game going. I think there's be a big draw for that, especially if we were having donations available on stream."

As America mentions Tarot, Thunderbolt grins, "Ah, well, I would've brought her, but she's not technically a Titan so I didn't know if that'd be alright and all. I mean, she's my girlfriend, but I wouldn't want to presume that it was okay to bring her /here/." She coughs, "I'll probably see her after this, though, so I'll make sure to tell her hi." Then she blushes, just a little bit.

America Chavez has posed:
"Well, guess I'll stay then," America replies cheerfully to Donna. She looks towards Kyle and his nerding out, amused more than anything else, and chuckles a bit more when Mary gets pulled into it to. She shakes her head, rolls her eyes in a play-exasperated manner before remarking, mostly to herself, "Well, it's not boring, that's for sure." She seems pleased enough with it.

She nods at Mary, "Cool," she says, "Well, tell her I can't wait to meet her. If she's anything like you, we'll get along really well." She lifts her own soda bottle up in a 'toast' to Mary before shifting her attention towards Dick, Kara, and Nadia.

"Don't worry. I don't know what Legos are either. We didn't have them in Utopia." Yes. She did say that. America grew up in a land called 'Utopia'. "First I've heard of them, but I could see how they could be fun."

Nadia Pym-van Dyne has posed:
Kyle gets a blank look when he starts naming off Ghibli films to Nadia, "I don't know what many of that is. But these art story books sound fun!"

Once Nadia's hotdog has been consumed she gravitates over towards the kitchen for the promised burger, "Oh wow, a real American hamburger?" She speaks of it like a lost treasure shrouded in legends. She bites into it with gusto once again making that face she makes when trying amazing new foods and wondering how the Red Room could be so cruel to deny her such things all these years.

Still munching on her burger she wanders over to Caitlin and leans on her a bit, perhaps trying to dispel some of the nervousness. "Is Warcraft like an International Conflict Simulator? Finding the best ways to take over other countries? We had a game like that growing up..."

Kyle Rayner has posed:
Kyle gives a nod to Thunderbolt, "Well I'm totally down to game with others and I can even draw everone's characters for them too, will help with the roleplaying I think." He nods once more. "Man, this place is awesome. I've not seen anyone at school just stand and put together legos like this." He glances at Kara and the legos a moment before turning towards Nadia. "Warcraft is a huge video game where you go online and pick from one of like, uh, 30 races now. You can be an orc or an elf. You can use magic or various weapons to level up and defeat boss monsters for loot. You can also collect a crapton of mounts if you like collecting things."

Caitlin Fairchild has posed:
Caitlin provides a solidly reassuring presence for Nadia, and gives the Waspette a hug around the shoulders. Hank's comment about thermal emissions in Kerbal earns the scientist a nod of solidarity; it's just so far from realistic!

"I've been playing Warcraft for like, ever," she says, and nods along with Kyle's assessment of the game. "We used to all play on the same server, but it's kind of hard to get everyone to do a raid when a fifth of the guild has to dip out because of some kaiju storming up the beaches in Jersey," Caitlin says wryly. "I've still got my account though and I do some pickup play now and then. If anyone wants to get in on some raid action, we can totally get a Titan's guild together," she offers.

Hank Pym has posed:
Hank Pym makes himself a plate and takes a minute to make up a plate, once he has a new round of sliders, dogs and brats put on. He watches the interaction and smiles, not knowing what half of it is about. He was only vaguely aware KSP wasn't a personal project of Mr. Manley. He looks over at the tall redheaded woman and frowns. "Dr. Fairchild... ?" He walks out from the kitchen and steps closer. "I'm sorry... I completely pushed you out of /your/ spot, trying to do a good deed. Also I find I interact better with people socially if I'm just Hank, or now Nadia's dad." He hands Caitlin a plate tentatively. Looking over at Nadia he hears her mom's voice, "People have the feelings Henry, do not forget that," in an exasperated tone.

Nadia Pym-van Dyne has posed:
Nadia looks up at Caitlin and with a completely serious straight face asks, "What's an Orc and an Elf?" Huge video game at least she understands, "Magic and weapons sound fun! There's just so much to learn, I never made it to the Infiltration course where they teach you about all of this stuff. It's one of the last things you learn, probably because they don't want us seeing how cool and fun the outside world can be so we don't escape, guess that didn't really work out for them."

"So how do I try this Warcrafting World?" she asks looking in Kyle's direction again.

Donna Troy has posed:
    Donna grins broadly at America. "Glad to hear it. It's a friendly crowd, we have great training facilities, the food is good, and you're unlikely to get bored. And hey, if it ever gets too noisy, your room at the Embassy is still available. I have to admit there are times when I flee there myself."

    Donna wanders in the direction of the dorm stairs, and climbs up, hurling a comment in Mary's direction as she goes. "Wait, you're wanting to get together a bunch of supers to do a role-playing game about supers and live streaming it? Too meta! The universe will collapse in on itself. Too meta!"

    She returns a short time later carrying a small stack of cards, and hands one to Kyle. The cards are invitations to a private view in a couple of days time at the Muircastle gallery, a small private gallery only about a mile from the tower. The image on the card is a stark, contrasty black and white photograph of children playing in the wreck of a burned-out tank, with the title 'Contrasts in Conflict: photographs from Syria by Donna Troy.'

    The rest of the stack of invites she places on the table in case anyone else wants to grab one, and as she passes she leans in to whisper conspiratorially to Caitlin, "Don't let him loose in there. You should have seen the state of his kitchen. War zone."

Kyle Rayner has posed:
Kyle gratefully accepts the card that Donna hands him and he looks over it. "Wow, that image really does speak for itself. Incredible work, I look forward to seeing the viewing, thank you." He nodes and slips it into his satchel to save it for later. Once that's done he looks to Nadia and smiles. "If you have the internet, just google 'World of Warcraft'. You'll be able to sign up for a Blizzard account and get started. Be warned though, it can be very addicting! When I was in high school, a friend of mine failed Chemistry because he was playing it so much."

Caitlin Fairchild has posed:
"O-oh, thanks Dr. Pym," Caitlin says. Good manners immeediately override what Hank had just told her about his preferred appellation. "It's nice to have someone helping in the kitchen, it really is everyone's, after all."

Donna alone might sense the UTTER LIE in Caitlin's voice.

But she *is* edging towards it and swaps places with Hank while he moves near his daughter, and there's a visible relief in her athletic shoulders once she's back in her her-- the kitchen.

Donna's muttered comment ears her a glare and a mouthed 'I was being polite!' that only people with super-hearing or lip-reading skills would pick up on.

"Anyone want some pie? It's cooled enouigh," Caitlin offers in a more normal tone, and starts cutting and dishing up the apple pie for everyone. WITH: homemade whipped cream, naturally.

America Chavez has posed:
America tells Caitlin, "Thank you for helping to set this up, you're amazing," as she grabs herself a brat this time. She beams at Caitlin, and then looks over as Donna brings back the invitations, squinting at them, and frowning in thought a bit. She ends up taking one, and sticking it into her jacket pocket, apparently interested or intrigued enough to take Donna up on the unspoken offer.

"Thanks," she says to Donna, nodding.

A pause, "A gaming night? Of hanging out, drinking, and goofing around? Count me in. Unless there are people, or monsters to punch. Because that's always more fun. Speaking of, feel free to call me in on anything you guys need. It's not like I have any other obligations." She seems pleased by this, "Other than just learning about Earth. Pretty crazy place."

Mary Bromfield has posed:
Thunderbolt smiles, "I would love to have some pie, Caitlin. And hey, if you want to join a guild, I got a pretty good one, we're fairly casual so no real raid pressure." She grins over at Nadia, "And let me know when you get an account, I'll get you set up with some good gear so you don't have to grind so hard, okay?" She chuckles a bit.

"And a gaming night sounds awesome. I have a lot of board games back home, plus the RPGs I've gathered up. It's a pretty extensive collection so far." She grins cheerfully at that, "I definitely would bring Tarot along for that."

Nadia Pym-van Dyne has posed:
Nadia watches Caitlin get whisked away by the exchange with her father simultaneously happy that Cait gets to be back in her kitchen comfort zone, but still wanting to know what Orcs and Elves are. She grins at Kyle though, "I don't think I have to worry about failing Chemistry, I don't really go to school anyway, though Janet says maybe I should for socialization and learning about America and things. But even if I did, Chemistry is pretty easy."

The prospect of pie does however perk her right up, "Oh! Me! I want to try some pie! If it's anything like cupcakes this is going to be /amazing/!"

Caitlin Fairchild has posed:
"Any excuse to cook," Caitlin tells America with a smile. "It was forward thinking of you to set up your own meet-and-greet. Good idea!" A slice of pie and some homemade ice cream is offered to America, then Mary in turn, then anyone else who sidles up looking for a tasty confection.

Territorial though she is, Caitlin *is* a pretty good baker-- and from the reaction she gets from the partygoers, genuinely pleased that people seem to be enjoying her work in that arena!

Donna Troy has posed:
"Gaming night unless monsters to punch?" Donna says with a broad grin. "America, you have just described the Titans to a T." Yeah, she went there. It was gratuitous, and probably shouldn't be allowed.

    "But don't forgetting the eating part. When you have a Caitlin on the team, you always eat well. She's a seriously good cook, and nobody here should miss out on some of that pie."

    Donna's certainly not going to, and she joins the line for pie, playfulling bumping Mary in the hustle for pie and ice cream.

    Nadia's right, it /is/ amazing pie.

Nadia Pym-van Dyne has posed:
Nadia makes a face of pure bliss as she leans against the kitchen counter, "Caitlin, this is amazing, I never knew Fruit could even /do/ this. Well I mean I kind of knew because of the inherent chemical reactions related to sucrose but not that it would be like... I don't even know how to describe what is going on inside of my mouth right now, but I like it! And then the icecream with it. Like I already knew icecream was amazing from that time on the boardwalk but with the pie it's like mixing matter and anti-matter into a cosmic explosion of yum!"