4552/Titans New Years Special

Titans New Years Special
Date of Scene:	31 December 2020
Location:	Main Room - Titan's Tower
Synopsis:	The Titans have their own New-Years party, with blackjack and plakous... and sbiten.
Cast of Characters:	Wally West, Bart Allen, Phoebe Beacon, Donna Troy, Ray Terrill, Nadia Pym-van Dyne, Terry O'Neil, Caitlin Fairchild

---

Wally West has posed:
Wally West It is Newyears Eve at Titans tower, and all the COOL people are here to ring in the new year. There is a steadily shrinking pile of pizza boxes, an enormous bowl of chips, a sink sized bowl of dip, and a couple comedically oversized bottles of soda. If you are cool enough there might be a couple of bottles of champagne too.

Wally has just finished an exhausting night of "courier deliveries" which is just UPS for the absurdly rich and impatient. He has taken the time to hit up the local pizza place for a capacity order. Alot of people are home, but given that Wally revealed his identity he feels like hanging around people who are probably ready for excitement is just easier.

"I got Pizza, Chips and soda. If you need anything else I can go get it... Unless you are bart in which case you can get your own stuff."

Bart Allen has posed:
Bart Allen has made a habit of bringing food when he goes to parties, specially ones where he does not have to hide his appetite. So this Evening Bart comes running up and to the building, but as he slows to a normal pace, you can see he has a rickshaw painted in the Impulse color scheme. Balm riding in stile inside it, and baskets on the back of it filled with Chinese take out containers from a dozen or more places from between Gotham and here. He will even bring the impulse shaw up via the elevator.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phoebe Beacon had never been to Delaware, certainly never been to Metropolis, and definitely had never been inside Titan Tower. The Outsiders' resident Healz was in attendance, carried in after an absolutely dizzying and terrifying ride on the Impulse-shaw. As a precaution, Balm was arriving in the latest and best of Gotham's Crime Fighting Fashioned -- re-enforced kevlar, hooded cloak, very much Red Robin's work, but she has a backpack with her with -- normal clothing. Just in case it wasn't a 'costume party'.

    She leans back a moment and looks at all the take-out. "Do you think we brought enough?" she asks, and then looks to the large tub of home-made cookies -- she just couldn't bring nothing. Not her own style.

Donna Troy has posed:
    This is not the highlight of the Titan's social calendar. That was a few days ago, with the big rooftop holiday party. Nevertheless the year is coming to and end and the Titans rarely miss an opportunity to celebrate. Though half the team seems to be off in Gotham attending the big Wayne Foundation event, on an evening like this, there's little question that those who for various reasons are at the Tower would be holding some kind of open social event. Casual invites have been sent out to the Titans and friends, welcoming them all to drop by the main room for a few drinks and the inevitable pizza, and even those not on the invite list but with an open invitation to visit the tower couldn't help but know there was something going on, as the Tower itself is illuminated with a display of lights reading 'Happy New Year' and counting down the seconds, while strobing lights visible in the vast windows of the main room that dominates the central section of the horizontal bar of the T at the top of the tower indicate some kind of party.

    Wally is apparently not the only one of the Titans to have been doing some kind of courier work today, as Donna has been off on some mysterious mission of her own in the T-Jet all day. The party had already just about got underway when the roaring of engines had marked the T-Jet's return to the rooftop hangar, and shortly afterwards Donna had made her appearance. The way she is dressed today might give some clue as to where she has been, because she's dressed rather dramatically in a /peplos/ and /himaton/ of purple and red fabric with leather sandals and has a silver tiara on her head. Either she's been to a toga party or Themyscira.

    "I have brought pizzas!" she announces - and indeed she is carrying a stack of something that smells rather pizza-like. "Or more accurately, /plakous/." She places the stack of pizza-like things on the large table in the middle of the room. Each is a flatbread two feet in diameter, topped with cheese, garlic, vegetables and herbs, the stack separated by large flat leaves. They smell rather delicious. "This is the Themysciran equivalent of a pizza, freshly baked today, and kept warm on the T-Jet's heat shunts. Everyone has to try a slice!"

Ray Terrill has posed:
        Having met Vorpal just recently, The Ray had a standing invite to visit Titan's Tower. Given the time of year, he really didn't have any plans, and it was a short (well, very short in his case normally, but he didn't want to set off any shockwaves, so kept it subsonic. Still, he was slow and cautious about flying up to the Tower, including keeping his corona of light visible so it was obvious he was coming. He is not in a hurry about zipping in, either, giving the Titans plenty of time to know he's coming, although he does appear to be aiming to land on the roof -- not too long after the T-Jet landed, but long enough for Donna to have gotten down to the main room.

        "Well, they definitely advertise they're here."

Nadia Pym-van Dyne has posed:
Nadia has been in and our of the tower throughout the holidays. Experiencing them for the first time in her life, she has been splitting time between celebrating with her father, celebrating with Janet, and celebrating with the Titans here at the tower.

It seems she is back again though and has even pried herself away from the lab to come to this party. Stepping out of the elevator, she smiles brightly and waves to everyone. There is a momentary pause at the sight of several new faces, but she smiles and waves to them too, ever the font of outgoing friendliness. "Hi, everyone!"

She stops again to peer at Donna for a moment, "Please tell me you didn't get melted cheese in the engines? Also I will definitely try some! Neat outfit!"

Terry O'Neil has posed:
It is New Year's Eve- and Terry O'Neil has to work.

Bummer, right? But that's what comes with working for The Planet. He's been appointed to help Kara Danvers cover the big Wayne charity event by providing 'visual record' - that is, the photographs.

He sighs, as he looks at himself in the mirror in Gar's room. The glitter is almost gone. Almost. He adjusts his tie and goes out to take the elevator down to the main room.

Erupting into the main room, the ginger waves at everybody, "Okay guys... how do I look?" step step, little twirl. It's, basically, the fancy suit he wore for the Embassy party... but he's po', so that's the fancy for the next six months that he can afford. "I'm going to have to head out an hour before midnight to cover the Wayne event... which is a bummer, I'd rather be here."

He pauses and looks at one of the screens alongside the wall that is flashing a quick perimeter alert, along with the verbal warning. Being the closest, he leans into it, tense (because of COURSE their New Years would get crashed by villains) and then...

"Oh! It's The Ray, cool!" he quickly deactivates the alert and calls out- "Gang, we've got a visitor on the roof. I'll go bring him over!"

And back to the elevator goes Terry, not stopping until he's all the way to the top. As the elevator opens onto the roof, the grinning face of Terry O'Neil appears and calls out to his guest.

"Twentieth floor. Gentlemen's apparel, Eldritch Statuettes of Uncertain Origin, and Baking Soda. Next stop- Party City." He steps out to greet Ray, "Glad you could make it. We're gathered down." He thumbs over the elevator and proceeds to take them down to the main room.

Ray Terrill has posed:
        Offering a pleasant smile to Terry, Ray says, "I get the sense I'm underdressed for this. I mean, I could fake it, if suits are needed. Might take me a minute though, and um...still would have the helmet." This last bit is said awkwardly as he lands, and moves to follow Terry to the elevators. "Figured I better be -really- obvious about getting here, just to be safe, y'know?" He's not nervous -- you're nervous! Okay, that's a lie. He's nervous. It's a lot different from spending the evening in his dorm room, after all.

Wally West has posed:
Wally welcomes everyone up to the main deck and nods approvingly at the Impulse-shaw. Today he is in his business suit. Its a red suit with gold trim and a flash insignia bolo tie (If you don't get to dress a /little/ country, what is even the point of commuting all the way from kansas?)

"Chinese food is a welcome innovation to the New-Years menu."

Wally turns to the rest. "I have been busy for a bit. What have all of you been up to the last few months? I don't have much to tell other than a bunch of deliveries and some things with people that I promised not to tell."

Bart Allen has posed:
Bart Allen smiles and nods. He will move to put the food he brought out on the table lots of finger food poopoo platters, eggrolls, dumplings stuff like that. He will then move to offers Balm a hand getting out of the Impulse Shaw "You know I am getting more and more glad, I made this." He pats the Impulse shaw, pondering a moment if he can make it an interdimensional vehicle, hey it worked for a treadmill. He looks over to Wally, and says "I figured it was another easy finger food." And to Balm he says "I can run back home and raid the stash you made for me if need be."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Plakous?" comes the voice from under the hood, and as Phoebe steps out from the rickshaw, gathering up the two gallon tub of Honey Lavender cookies, and she pauses as Terry makes his twirl -- and recoils, visibly, at the mention of the gala event in Gotham, and she looks down and oto the side as she pushes her hood all the way back and takes off her domino, tucking it away before she glances over to Impulse, her shoulders sagging down a bit.

    "Looks like this was a casual event. Now I feel overdressed!" she tries to sound chipper. She takes a breath, glancing around a moment as she uses a gloved hand to loosen the tie keeping her braids back, and looks around at the gathering. She rubs the back of her neck with the edge of the domino, and then meekly sets the worn tuppeware of cookies on a handy table.

    "Ah, no, I came prepared and brought a change of clothes." she smiles at Bart. "... I figured if... maybe I had to cover for someone it'd be handy to have the armor about. I... wasn't planning on a trip to the Tower." she replies quietly, shoulders drawing up as she glances around to all the Super Strangers.

Terry O'Neil has posed:
Terry looks mortified at both Ray and Balm's reaction. "No no, guys, There isn't a set dress code. I'm dressed up because I have to be at the Wayne event. If I weren't, I'd be in my regular uniform, you all look perfectly fine as you are! I mean, it's a miracle Gar hasn't showed up in his pajamas. Don't worry about it.""

He pats Ray's shoulder, "You're fine with the helmet, Ray. We have Titans who don't share their identity- like the Robins. Most of the bat people never take their masks off, we accept everybody as they're comfortable... guys, this is The Ray. He stopped a robbery at the Gotham third national bank earlier, it was awesome." He grins and turns to the Ray, "The redhead over there is Wally, Flash, also the man with the biggest appetite on Earth-- it's good to see you, Wallace! And the lady bearing the gift of greek food is Troia, of the Amazons..." he gestures "And that's Nadia, our resident mad scientist, and these two guys are friends and allies of ours, I'll let them introduce themselves," he grins and gestures to them, since he wouldn't presume to force their terms of introduction.

"I'll be right back, I've got some drink stuff I need to bring from the fridge. Refreshments and such."

He steps away to the kitchen area, towards the refrigerator.

Donna Troy has posed:
    Donna grins wide at Nadia and gives her a one-armed hug. "Don't you worry, there's no cheese in your new engines. Though honestly with Gar and Vic around, it might be a good idea of you cheese-proof these things in the future." She releases her favorite mini-scientist with little more than the briefest of hair-scruffings. "The work you did on those new engines is seriously impressive, Nadia. I hear your father helped, too. Perhaps you could bring him over to the Embassy some time soon? I think I owe you both a nice meal out, and there are things I'd like to discuss."

    Terry is there and gone before Donna can give her comments on how he looks, but when he returns, she looks him over critically and shakes her head. "No... not quite right," she says. "I think you need to accessorize." She slips the Tiara off her head and offers it to him. "It's not as cool as my sister's, but I know you have a thing for them." She gives him a wink before turning to smile at Ray. "Welcome to Titan's Tower, Ray. Vorpal mentioned you might be coming. You're fine, it's not a formal thing. Come in and join the party!"

    She snags a couple of the giant /plakous/ pizzas from the top of the pile and brings them over to the two Speedsters. "Wally! And Impulse. Two speedsters for price of one. Here, try these. Very filling! You'll probably only be able to manage for or five. Phoebe! Good to see you here at last. How's Outsidering? Yep, /plakous/. Help yourself to some before these two reprobates eat it all. Don't worry about being overdressed! I mean look at Vorpal over there in his tux. Or me, for that matter. "

Nadia Pym-van Dyne has posed:
Nadia is dressed completely casually for a change, fully out of her Waspette armor, in a black turtleneck and a black and red plaid skirt. She wanders over to look at all of the food and the Plakous, just when she thinks she has pizza figured out there always seems to be a new delicious configuration of toppings or in this case an entirely variant design. She returns Donna's hug with enthusiasm, "Welcome back."

Nadia then snags a piece of plakous and turns her attention to the rickshaw, which is also impressive, "Oooh, can I ride in that? How do you overcome friction in the design when you go super fast?" Fun experiments and SCIENCE! springing to mind simultaneous. Before suddenly she is gesturing at Terry with a half-eaten slice of plakous, "I am not Mad! I am a Happy Scientist!" A pause, "Oh hi Ray. Nice to meet you!"

Ray Terrill has posed:
        Ray offers a pleasant smile to Donna as he's introduced, "It's nice to meet you, Donna. Yeah, Terry and I met earlier in Gotham. I'm just glad that I ran into him and not, y'know, the Bat." He shrugs his shoulders, and has damped his glow down to minimal, meaning that he looks like he has LED strips on his outfit. He's not glowing, but he doesn't exactly blend.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "N-no, I meant --" Balm states, and she motions to her armor, and then Terry is gone. She sheepishly rubs the back of her neck again, and then looks to Donna with a wan smile, then back to Bart.

    "Ah... locker room? Just so I can switch out into something less 'turn knives and small caliber' and more 'going to sit and eat eggrolls?" she gives a wry little smile.

Wally West has posed:
Wally West has never thought of chinese as finger food before, but if you think about it if you move your fingers fast enough everything is finger food (including soup). That said Wally mostly gets stir fry when he gets chinese food.

Wally turns to Phoebe. "Nice to meet you. I am Wally, and anyone who brings cookies is a friend of mine." He offers her a hug. "No need to worry about dress. I have shown up to my share of high-society functions in full work costume. I totally understand. Besides your costume looks excellent"

He turns to The Ray "Hello Mr. The Ray. Nice to meetcha. It is always nice to meet up and coming talent!" *shakes hand* Dig in. Make yourself at home!"

He turns to Terry. "Please, call me Wally. Wallace makes me feel like an old man whose muttonchops have mutton chops." *Handshake* How was the Wayne thing? I didn't get to it. Anybody do anything super embarassing? Anybody try to rob the place?"

"Nice to see you Donna." *hugs* "Lovely as always. Only four or five? Is that a promise?"

Terry O'Neil has posed:
Terry comes back, wheeling a little cart with about twelve glasses of a dark purple drink. "So... this is my first Holiday with y'all, so I wanted to do a traditional Wonderland drink. And then I realized that it would probably kill most ordinary humans, or turn you into... things. So instead I decided to celebrate Nadia's first holiday with us!"

He gestures to the drink, "Go ahead and have some, it's Sbiten... it's made with honey, water, spices and jam, and it's very sweet... I realize you might never have had it," he says to Nadia, "So I figured... if you haven't before, tadaa!"

"Alright- Wally it is!" he grabs a cup and rejoins the group, "Nobody's tried to rob it yet. Kara Danvers of the Planet is there ahead of me, so if something happens I'm sure I'll hear of it before I head over there. Aah, I see the mighty Shaw. I rode in that yesterday!" he says, pointing to Impulse's method of food conveyance. "Awesome ride. Forgot to close my mouth. Ate so many bugs."

Sip.

Bart Allen has posed:
Bart Allen looks over and starts to introduce everyone to Balm, but Donna sorta covers it with the intros for Ray. He takes one of the plakous, and to most it is there one moment, and gone the next, but Bart does chew with his mouth shut and even gets a napkin to wipe his mouth. He then moves over to Nadia and the shaw. "I built it, and pretty much as long as we" He motions to Wally and himself "Are holding something when we run it does not really have to worry about friction or that type of thing, and if you want a ride sure, I can give rides around the lake for anyone who wants to, but if you get motion sick please bring your own bag." He looks over to Donna, and says "Those are good, I wonder if they would deliver them if I met them some where in the middle of the ocean. I could probably put pontoons on the shaw so I could wait if I needed to."

Donna Troy has posed:
    Donna points Phoebe towards the western spiral staircase and gives her a smile. "Head up there, pick a room without a name on it and press the panel in the wall. Spare dorm room is nearer than the locker rooms."

    "No promise Wally," Donna replies with a smirk. "I've seen the damage you can do to food. Just an estimate." Her smirks softens into a smile. "Good to see you too. It's good to be back with everyone. Being stuck in another universe for months on end sucks, I don't recommend it."

    She accepts one of the drinks that Vorpal has brought, and sniffs at it, smirking at Bart's suggestion of some mid-Atlantic trading post. "If you bribe Caitlin, she knows how to make Themysciran-style plakous. The ingredients are all available here. That might be a little easier."

    She sips the Sbitten, and makes a face. "Yeah," she says. "I'm not going to risk another taste of that. You know what they say, once sbitten, twice shy. Sorry, Terry."

    She takes another sip. "Actually it's not bad. Kind of like warm mead, but without the bite." She gives Terry a wink and turns her attention back to Ray. "So, you glow and foil bank robberies, right? Sounds good. Don't worry about The Bat. He's fine when you get to know him. Actually I'm lying, I've known him for years and I could probably throw him from one end of Gotham to the other, but honestly he terrifies me and I don't really know why. I'm just glad he's one of the good guys, but yeah. Stay out of his way."

Ray Terrill has posed:
        Ray makes a bit of a face at 'Mr. The Ray' and says, "Please....just Ray. Unless you want me to call you Mister The Flash, Esquire?" He shakes the older hero's hand and looks over at the food. He blinks as Terry brings in the drinks and listens, then relaxes a bit as he doesn't hear 'alcohol' mentioned. It's safe, then!

        He does end up heading over towards where one of the plakous -- they're not something he can get every day, after all! He pauses to respond to Donna, "Well, a bit more than glowing, but ..." He shrugs, "Party time, y'know?" Meaning he's holding his cards close to the vest for the moment. Granted, Terry already knows a fair amount and probably could have clued others in.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    PHoebe declines the hug, her shoulders drawing up as she regards Wally with a surprised look and introducers herself as "Fee -- Bacon -- Bal--" and then she ducks under an arm mumbling something about needing to change from her work clothes, and disappears towards the spiral staircase with her backpack -- presumably to not be dressed in Gotham's Finest armors.

    ONce up there, she can breathe a little easier -- after all, nothing says 'I'm going to be standoffish' like dressing like a Bat. The armor is quickly stowed, and a little later she's peering around the corner again, her braids tied back neatly minus a few framing her face. She's wearing a cream-colored sweater and a pair of jeans -- much more casual and comfortable for eating *all the food ever* rather than standing stoic.

Nadia Pym-van Dyne has posed:
"But a Wonderland drink sounds like an adventure Terry! I could use a drink after yesterday." Nadia really doesn't look old enough to drink. "Oooh wait you made Sbiten?!" She beams at Terry, "I've heard of it, but we weren't really allowed to have sweet things in the ...where I grew up." In a flash Nadia is over and pouring herself a glass of the dark purple drink Terry brought.

She grins at Bart, "That sounds like it would be super fun." She seems fascinated when he describes how the friction is suspended, the gears clearly turning as she ponders the alternate laws of physics which enable this. "I don't really get motion sick, it's part of the chemical augmentation that was done to me when I was a child." She adds casually as if this is a completely normal thing.

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"Caitlin is the goddess of food, and it would be a good thing to be on her good graces so that she can teach you the recipe, Impulse," Terry grins. When Phoebe reappears, he gives her a friendly point, "Oh I like your sweater. Good choice!" Those who may not have seen his feline shape wouldn't know it, but his fur is of a similar cream color in his Cheshire form.

He glances at Ray and gives him a smile. "He does a lot of cool things, Deedee, maybe someday he'll show us. I mean, I could convince him, but /someone/ keeps throwing tiaras at me..." he sticks his tongue out at his friend, and sips his drink. "You will appreciate his judgement, in that he has already slammed me against the wall and therefore he's practically Raven now." he winks, clearly joking good-naturedly. He explains to Ray "Raven is our sorceress. She's super, super friendly and loves parties. I don't know why she isn't here!"

"I don't know if you want Wonderland drinks, Nadia dear. They have a tendency to make you grow tall or shor-" he pauses. Then he looks at Donna and Wally, and then back to Nadia. "Nevermind. You should be fine."

Caitlin Fairchild has posed:
The elevator *dings* to announce someone coming up from the main lobby. When the doors hiss open Caitlin sticks her head into the room and smiles approvingly at the sight of many friends and familiar faces. "Oh hey, I'm glad I didn't miss the party," she remarks. She's dressed in relatively neutral clothing suitable for an office; a grey calf-length pencil skirt and matching jacket, with a white dress shirt. A little 'Stark Industries' nametag is still clipped forgetfully to her shirtfront. She sets her purse aside and shrugs out of her suit jacket to hang it up near the door. "Did I miss anything eventful?"

Donna Troy has posed:
    "I wouldn't imagine the glowing on its own would be sufficient to foil bank robberies unless the robbers were very photosensitive,," Donna replies to Ray with a broad smile. "But that's all I know. I'm afraid you'll have to blame Vorpal's rather sloppy attitude to report writing. I'd say it would get him in trouble one of these days, but I think he's determined to get himself in trouble anyway."

    She raises an eyebrow at Vorpal. "Subtle and quick to anger, Terry. Don't forget it. And I don't know what you're talking about tiaras for. Nobody's thrown then /at/ you, though that can be arranged."

    "Caitlin!" Donna calls out when the late-arriving Titan shows up. "You made it. Nothing too eventful - yet. I brought plakous from Themyscira. Impulse would like to know if you could bake him five hundred or so. You know speedsters."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Technological, genetic, or magical in origin?" Phoebe inquires, coming up behind where Ray was talking to Donna. She's popping open the tuppeware of cookies, and a sweet, floral scent fills the air.

    "Light can be pretty useful when you're stopping bank robbers -- or need to blind someone to make a quick get-away." she replies, and she takes a deep breath, turns, and offers the tuppeware to Ray and Donna first.

    "Cookie? Last I've made with my home-made lavender extract."

Ray Terrill has posed:
        "Well, I did use a pulse of light to disorient the robbers, but no, there's more." He pauses to take a drink of Terry's sweet concoction, and mmphs, saying towards Phoebe after swallowing, "Genetic. Didn't even know for a long time. Found out last year." He does, however take a cookie with a nod of thanks before taking a bite out of it.

        "I'd settle for getting lost less often. I may have an in on that, though. Just have to talk to a guy about a thing."

Wally West has posed:
Wally drinks sips on the drink Terry offers. "Hmm. Is this the stuff rum is made from by any chance? It is extremely sweet." He continues to sip his way through it. He probably meant to just have a little of it, but the speedforce changes your tastes drastically. Sugar water really hits the spot right now.

He looks back to Donna "Yeah getting stranded in alternate universes is pretty close to the worst. Was it the one were everyone is small fluffy animals and the joker is a vole? I hated that one. The acorn soup was great though. Haven't had anything like it since." He then cringes at the pun. "Boooo"

Duely chastened-"Ray it is." He says with an awkward finality. "Well, What have you been up to lately? Foiled any good bank roberies?"

"Free Bacon. Got it. That is a name I can get behind. How is the old bat treating you these days? Are you allowed to tell jokes yet?"

"Nadia, Don't corrupt the children. It is just reduced air resistance." He says. "No motion sickness is a hell of a thing. Any side effects? Because if not, There is certainly a market for it."

"That bit with you and Raven sounds like a story and a half terry, and I haven't heard it yet. You have to tell me all about it."

"No, Caitlin. We are just getting started. It looks like you were just finishing something. Was it interesting?"

"Cookies? don't mind if I do!" He munches away on one at a practically human pace.

Bart Allen has posed:
Bart Allen looks over and says "You can also use light and a batman action figure to really freak out criminals in Gotham." He offers with a smile. He does get some food gathering a decent amount on a plate, letting others have cookies, he gets them more often than most at the Outsider's place. He does get some of Terry's drink and looks over to Caitlin, no need for that many a dozen or two a week would be great I will admit." He offers with a smile.then blinks sets his food on a table, and is gone in a well flash. Moments later he is back with a wrapped present and offers it to Wally. "I forgot to drop this off for you, it is from Jay and Joan."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"I mean, I'd tell you the full story, but I might not live long after that, Wally." Terry grins. As Phoebe and Ray talk, he hmms. "So if I ended up a magical creature and inherited it from my dad... does that make it magical, or genetic?"

You could swear his ears perk up at the mention of the cookies... and he's not even in cat form. "Oh boy, lavender cookies? My favorite. Impulse brings food and you bring sweets... can you be my new best friends?"

When Cait arrives, he propels himself over towards her and gives her a hug. "Cait! Come meet our guest! Ray, this is Doctor Caitlin Fairchild, and she's awesome. She also does things in the kitchen that would make anyone scream and thank god that they were born!"

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "I... actually haven't interact with him much." Phoebe admits to Wally. "I was sort of permitted to help somewhat in Gotham, and then Red Robin -- did you just call me Free Bacon?" she blinks a moment, and then she turns back and forth with the conversation pingpong between the two speedsters, and she just looks down.

    "... oh, well, yeah, lavender honey cookies are kinda my speciality -- as for genetics versus magic, I think it might be how some people can get the X-gene or something and carry it. Maybe magic works similar in some cases -- I wouldn't know."

    She gives a wan smile. "I'm not really... it's a long story." she states, and she breathes out and sets the cookies on the table. "And yeah, you should get some before Bart returns for thirds."

Nadia Pym-van Dyne has posed:
Nadia just starts laughing when Terry describes the potential side effects of Wonderland drinks, "Yes, that would be terrible Terry. Whatever would I do?" She sticks her tongue out at him in a fit of teenaged impishness.

"Cait!" Nadia seems quite happy that Caitlin has arrived, or maybe it is the potential arrival of Caitlin's baked goods, one of those things, but she jogs over to wrap Cait in a big hug all the time. There is still a three month backlog of missed hugs to get through after all. "You didn't miss anything except maybe the rickshaw full of Chinese food that can defy conventional physics at super speed!" More things to be excited about. "It's pretty cool."

"Oooh cookies! I love cookies!" Speaking of delicious baked goods that can easily draw her attention, Nadia finds herself wandering over towards the lavender cookies to try one.

That is when Wally's comment causes her to blink a few times. "Corrupt the children? I don't think I am corrupting anyone.. sometimes people talk about corrupting me..." She muses looking a bit confused, perhaps because she is one of the youngest members of the Titans roster. "The motion sickness though, you'd have to fight some really Russian spies if you want that." She adds without explanation.

Caitlin Fairchild has posed:
"Ooh, Plakous," Caitlin murmurs with excitement, and pivots towards the food. But-- intercepted! Caitlin laughs and hugs Terry and Nadia both as they step up to give her an embrace, returning the affection in kind and murmuring 'Happy New Year' to them both.

"Hang on, guys, I have /got/ to eat something," she begs. Caitlin steps a little quickly to the kitchen and flips open a box. Several slices are stacked on a plate and she tucks a napkin between her fingers for easy access while digging in.

Once she's got food in hand Caitlin returns to the swirling conversation. "I can probably make these," she tells Donna in passing, "but there's a certain kind of honey that you can only get on the Island, that's the secret ingredient."

Caitlin takes a few hasty bites and wipes her fingers carefully on the napkin before offering Ray a handshake. "Sorry. Starving, I haven't eaten in hours. Please, it's just 'Caitlin' in the Tower. We're all friends here," she says, and smiles warmly. "Welcome aboard. Did Terry rope you into this?"

Donna Troy has posed:
    Donna flashes a dazzling smile at Phoebe when she's offered cookies. She takes one, cracks it in half and smells it with an expression of bliss. "Mmm, /nardus/. Lavender. People do not bake with it enough in Man's World. I thoroughly approve." She proves her approval by quickly demolishing the cookie.

    "That sounds like a more fun universe than the one we were stuck in, Wally. A Joker Vole would have been easier to deal with than the lunatics we had to deal with. The entire universe consisted of just seven planets, and the inhabitants of each were less sane than the last. I am glad to be out of it."

    "You made a pretty decent plakous back on Themyscira, Cait," Donna says with a smile as she makes her way over to the Caitlin hug party. "I'm sure we can find a honey that will do here, but... well. No reason why we can't bring a jar or two back with us when we go. Mom said yes. Next week some time?" She gives Caitlin the hugest grin before turning to cut herself a generous slice of plakous.

Ray Terrill has posed:
        Ray nods towards Wally and says, "That's what ended me up here, actually. Was having lunch in Gotham -- bank across the street was being hit. I was trying to figure out how to get in when I saw Terry, and like he said, I thought he was one of them and slammed him ag ainst the wall." He still sounds embarassed about that, admittedly. He then nods towards Caitlin in greeting, shaking her hand, "All right, nice to meet you, Caitlin. Im Ray. And yeah, he gave me an invite, and I figured, might as well fly by. It's a short trip if I don't overshoot it."

Wally West has posed:
"The old flashlight and action-figure trick. Gotten me out of more jams than I care to admit." He opens the package. "I don't normally like socks, but I can make an exception for these." He says as he pulls out some socks in flash colors.

"Well I wouldn't want you to die." he says to terry. After a bit more. "It sounds like they already are." beat "That sounds like it was meant to be personal."

"Free bacon is amazing. Who wouldn't want to be free bacon?" He is genuinely confused as to why she wouldn't want to be called that.

He finishes his cookie and offers Caitlin a hug.

"How many Russian spies are we talking? If it is only the bootleg coldwar surplus kind, you may have a business." He replies to nadia.

Wally starts in on half a plakous.

"One benefit of having a large destinctive tower like we do is the easy navigation from the air. It is one of the more important benefits with our group." He says to Ray.

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"Don't sweat it, Ray! You're not the first one to slam me against the wall. Last week, Donna did it while we were training." Pause. "Amazons can be so sneaky..." he chuckles. And then his eyes go wide. "Wow... imagine being able to go to Themyscira just like that. I'd /kill/ to see Themyscira."

"... a bug. Okay, greatly inconvenience a bug. The point is that I would love to go...."

He looks pensive for a second, and then takes out a little card from his suit pocket and begins writing on it... before suddenly, something catches his attention.

"Wait. Your mother said /what?/"

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phoebe breathes out a moment, and rubs the back of her neck a moment as she purses her lips. Her dark eyes search about the room a moment as she breathes out, and says without certainty: "... a vegetarian?"

    And she gives a smalls mile over to Donna and Caitlin.

    "... once things settle down, eventually I'll take Diana up on her offer of a trip to Themyscira. I would imagine your lavender extract's better than what I would have made with my garden." she gives a bright smile. "And the bees that work with it probably make better honey -- I used orange blossom honey in this round. I think BUckwheat makes the taste a little rougher -- Lavender's tricky. sometimes."

Nadia Pym-van Dyne has posed:
"Terry, I don't think boys are allowed on the awesome Amazon island of awesomeness." Nadia points out 'helpfully' "Though I'd love to see it, too! I'm trying to build a new model of physics that supports the existence of all the things that /clearly exist/. "Also it seems like a good place to duck away from Russian spies."

She looks over at Wally's question, making a bit of a face, her exuberent mood shifting a bit "The kind behind the Black Widow Ops Program, trust me you don't want any part of them."

Caitlin Fairchild has posed:
"We always like making new friends, Ray," Caitlin tells the fellow. "And if Terry vouches for you, you're more than welcome here. You should come by for Sunday dinner one of these weekends," she suggests. "We're not all always here, but anyone who can make it usually shows up for at least one hot meal. Or three or four, in some cases."

That last is for Wally, along with a grin, and she excuses herself from Terry and Ray to return hugs from him and from Donna. She wiggles her fingers in greeting to Phoebe when she spots the girl smiling over. "Phoebe, you should definitely do it," she advises. "The food alone's worth the trip."

Bart Allen has posed:
Bart Allen looks over to the others having put a bit of a hurting on the food but slowing down on it a bit now. "I got a knit hat." He tells Wally, and moves tot he Impulse Shaw pulling it from a pouch on the side and puts it on to show it off. It even has the classic wings. He will look over and says "Long as ya bring her back, and you have to explain to Murder Mittens why he has to wait till she is back for his cat nip treats."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"Murder Mittens is a worthy name for a cat. We are all warriors," Terry quips, and finishes his drink, setting the cup down. And he sighs. "I know, Nadia. Boys aren't allowed. It's the one kink in my plan to become the next Wonder Boy. So I've decided that instead I will become an itinerant monk, doing odd jobs and bringing swift justice to those in need, accepting no thanks and moving on to the next town..."

He finishes writing on the card, which has his name, email and phone number, and palms it. Then, a little later, he walks over to Phoebe, "I'd like to try those cookies!" he deftly reaches for a cookie, and leaves his card inside the tupperware. Something is written on it, if Phoebe were to look.

Donna Troy has posed:
    "I'm working on it," Donna says, nodding her head to Nadia "But no boys allowed right now. Sorry Terry. Maybe next time. Phoebe, Nadia... if you two would like to visit, I will be arranging a trip in the next week or so. I'm sure Caitlin could use the moral support, and there will definitely be quite the feast." She gives a broad grin to Phoebe. "Maybe we'll have to bring back honey in bulk. Yes, we make some good honey. It's a major part of our diet. You won't find a lot of high fructose corn starch in Themysciran cuisine."

    Poor Terry gets no answer to his question. Well, this isn't entirely true. "She said yes, Terry," Donna says with a faint smirk. This is technically an answer, just a not very useful one - only Caitlin knows what she's referring to.

Wally West has posed:
"It sounds like Bart's Themysciran Trade Company might be getting off the ground after all."

"I suppose perhaps a vegitatian. Are you a vegitatian? If you are looking for some good places, Gar can direct you to some."

"If /I/ don't want any part of them then this plan has hit a snag." He has finished off his palakous and starts in on a plate of Chinese food. "This expanded physiscs model seems daunting. I don't entirely understand the speedforce and I use it. Imagine all the other things we know about."

"Caitlin, you have to try some of the Chinese food. I had never really tried it as part of a New Years spread and apparently I have been missing out."

Wally looks at the knit flash hat enviously. His socks dont seem as impressive now.

"You know the son of an island of all men has very different implications." He pauses. "I am not sure what they are just yet, but they exist."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Oh -- well --" Phoebe blinks, and her cheeks darken a moment as she breathes out awkwardly. "I have... there's things I have to take care of. Gotham's a pretty busy place, even if solo patrol isn't in my near future." she gives a slight smile, and then she sees the gard Terry's left.

    She draws it up carefully, looks it over, and purses her lips a moment before she looks over to Terry, and pockets the card.

    "You mean like Andros? Man Island?" she inquires, her eyebrows rising up. Because of course, being a lit geek *and* a friend of the Amazons...

    And when Wally talks about using things that they don't understand, she gives a nod, and she brings up her hands.

    Untamped, everyone who could sense magic would know the feeling. Everyone in a ten foot radius of her begins to just feel Better, and she forms a ball of brilliant white light, very small, like a pinpoint of a sun.

    "Sometimes we just have to take it at face value until we know what it is."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"Yeah. Gar isn't a vegetarian, but he /will/ eat just about anything, so he knows just about every restaurant from here to the West coast. If you want a place to eat, Garfield Logan is your guide."

Terry looks at Donna, and raises an eyebrow with a smirk. "Fiiiine Miss Boys Not Allowed Cryptic Donna. Maybe I'll go find that island of men Wally mentioned... you know, there is such a thing as The Isle of Man, right? Right? They say Mannan Mac Lir was called 'The Three Legged Man'." Pointed look, "Maybe I'll just go find it and disappear for a few years, miss sassypants."

It's all in good fun, and when Phoebe creates light, he goes "oooh..." and the sense of well-being is very, very welcome. "Oh, that feels... very nice and cozy."

And then he blinks a couple of times, and suddenly giggles, all of a sudden looking very merry and unusually bright. "Hah... you just... brighten up the place." He starts cackling, and suddenly needs to find a seat, "The room's swayin' a bit. We gettin' an erfhkake. Erftsnake... quake..." he sits down and dissolves into quiet laughter.

Nadia Pym-van Dyne has posed:
"But don't you want to understand?" Nadia asks Wally excitedly, glad to shift topics, "I want to understand, I mean that's what physics is observing and documenting phenomena of how the world words in order to understand it. Our current models are a good start and Quantum physics can explain a lot, but save for a select few scientists like Dr. Von Doom things like magic and ...Speed Force..." she says it like it is a new term that she will definitely be looking deeper into, "There is a potential model for how it all works, we just need to observe in the right ways and figure it out and accept the existence of things, because wow so many things apparently exist. I have met so many sorcerers and aliens and magic people and things since escaping the bunker where I was raised that I don't even know where to start."

Her expression brightens further when Donna basically says she can visit Themyscira like /next week/ "Wow, really? That's great, I'd love to."

Bart Allen has posed:
Bart Allen looks over to Nadia, and says "You want to talk the science of Speed, you need to find Max Mercury. He or the other other Flash would be your best bet. I mean I have lived with it my whole life it is just natural for me, but some of the others have tried to understand it more, and it does not seem to have really strict rules on how it works honestly.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Well... part of the reason I was allowed to operate --" not invited to operate, allowed "-- in Gotham, was because mostly what I did was hit up homeless camps to ah... stop toothaches and sores. LIttle stuff and --" she looks to Terry. She blinks a moment, and she opens her mouth, and then closes it, watching the photographer's odd behavior, and then allows the light to fade, and she takes a deep breath, trying to suddenly cut off all the good vibes and healing powers.

    "I... I didn't -- are you all right?! I didn't mean to--" she begins, stammering a moment and looking rather embarrassed by the hole thing. She looks over to Bart, the other Outsider, helplessly.

Donna Troy has posed:
    "Physics... science... covers the laws of how the universe operates when magic is not involved," Donna says. "I suspect that it will never be possible to determine some set of laws of physics that encompass magic, because it's something outside the normal universe, a power that alters the normal functioning of energy and matter. There are those Powers who's will is greater than the firmness of reality, and they do not bend to laws of physics any more than they chose to." So says the child of an island founded by gods. "I would not be surprised if the Speed Force is something similar to those Powers. "

    Donna stares at Terry for a while, then shakes her head. "That's MANN, Terry. Women are allowed. It's not hard to find, you can locate it on Google maps. You could probably rabbit hole yourself there, but I mean... if you really /want/ to be a Manx cat, that can be arranged quite easily. I'll just go get my sword."

    Donna stares at Terry a little longer. "Okay. Apparently he can't hold his sbitten." She gives a shake of her head and turns away. This seems like typical Terry to her. She rests a hand on Phoebe's arm and gives her a gentle, reassuring squeeze. "It's okay Phoebe, nothing to worry about. This falls under the category of Normal For Vorpal."

Nadia Pym-van Dyne has posed:
Nadia is just nodding to Bart still intrigued by the Science conversation, when her attention is drawn to what Phoebe is doing and what happens next with Terry. "Oooh that is a really cool ability, so pretty too." Blink, headtilt, "Ummm I think you broke Terry? Or maybe someone dosed his drink with catnip? Does that work on him?" She doesn't seem terribly concerned, she's seen her step-mother tripping on plenty of different substances. It's probably fine.

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"You kiddin'? I feel GREAT!" Terry says emphatically, leaning across the back of the couch. "I feel like I just spent a weekend in Mallorca." Beat. "And I've never been to Mallorca..." he chuckles and closes his eyes. "Mmmaybe I should take nap, I'm feeling woozy... hehe..."

He blinks, "The sbittn' didn't have alcohol in it... but I feel... drunk." He blinks a couple of times and frowns. "But good. But dru... okay... 'm just gonna nap a bit... Donut. Donna... can ya wake me up, like, an hour an' a haff before midnight? So I can make the Wayne party? That'ssagirl..."

He falls on his side, and in a few seconds he is snoring on the couch.

Wally West has posed:
"I am not sure that I want to go with you. Mrs Bacon said that she knew about it. Is it any good?" He then realizes how silly it is to ask an a woman what the island that doesn't allow women on it is like.

"Well I would like to understand," He replies to nadia with a bit of a tired tone-- indicating the amount of energyu that he has spent fruitlessly on the topic "Somethings are just more worth the effort than other things. I guess I just think that we should investigate things that will yield results first before journeying down a rabbithole with no hope of an otherside. For all you know it might have opinions on being understood."

"I hope that isn't the sbiten." He says as he looks at the empty glass and the glass that he is halfway through. " I might be in trouble if it is." He looks back at his drink and puts it down.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    ...

    "It.. it was really a joke about how a Greek Poet noted her boyfriend was Man Man from Man Island." she states.

    The actual joke is a bit dirtier.

    ".. she quietly pokes at Vorpal with her foot. "... I hope I don't get him in trouble." she murmurs, and then rubs the back of her neck.

    "I *should* be getting back to Gotham myself sometime soon... they don't exactly take a night off." she states, breathing out a moment and just... gives a bit of a shrug.

Bart Allen has posed:
Bart Allen looks over and says "Well when you want to head back, I can take us, if your ok being dropped off just in the city Nadia can ride with you if your ok with it, if not I can come back to give her the ride I promised."

Wally West has posed:
"Don't worry about Vorpal. We will take care of him. Although I should probably lay down before I end up like him." He begins to clean up. "Take care of each other. We can meet in the morning if you want to . Otherwise you better get going, and if you can't we can probably find you a couch to crash on."

Donna Troy has posed:
    "Or Vorpal can get you there - he's meant to go to Gotham anyway, and he can teleport people." She glances to where the Cat sleeps off the magical high on the couch. "On the other hand in his current state, who knows where his rabbit hole would lead. Perhaps it's best if you take the Impulse express. I probably better brew him some really strong coffee while I try to resist the temptation to draw a mustache on his face. He deserves it."

    She turns back to Phoebe and Bart with a smile. "It was great having you two here," she says. "We really should work on closer ties between the Outsiders and the Titans. I'll give Cassie a pair of guest passes for you two so you can come by whenever you feel like it. You Outsiders are always welcome at the Tower.

    She turns back to Vorpal, still considering revenge. "Maybe I should just drain the batteries on his camera...."

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phoebe gives a smile. "I'll just... catch a train home, Bart. I'll be fine. Not the first time I've lugged my gear from one place to the other. What's the worse that could happen?" she replies. "I'll see you once I wrap up my patrol, unless you're staying out late. In which case -- have a good night." she states to the other outsider with a small smile, and goes to retrieve her gear from the borrowed locker and head out.