5595/Oh Yeah It Was A Real Blast

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Oh Yeah It Was A Real Blast
Date of Scene: 15 March 2021
Location: Study - Wayne Manor
Synopsis: Steph falls asleep awkwardly in the study after KGBeast's attack. Dick comes back and saves her a sore back and neck. Have fire, will make s'mores.
Cast of Characters: Stephanie Brown, Dick Grayson




Stephanie Brown has posed:
Stephanie and Cassandra were literally caught in an explosion, after Orphan took a rifle butt to the face. Charlie was hit directly by an explosive shell that even if it didn't harm her current demonic body, it was still a concern to the rest of the team to confirm that. Plus the normal possible bruises for the others who fought.

Without doubt, the medical bay at the Batcave saw some use after KGBeast and his men tried to attack a gathering of Gotham's not finest.

Though peppered with glass and wood and other debris in the explosion, only tiny amounts had made it through Batgirl's body armor. Leaving Stephanie with mostly the impact of the blast itself, and her rough landing bouncing off first a desk and then the floor after a fall of a dozen feet. Bruises received ointment, bandages went on the scratches. Her hearing was already starting to return by the time they made the Batcave.

By the time she was done, and Stephanie felt confident Cassandra was not seriously hurt, it was very late. Stephanie headed up the elevator to the mansion, planning to hit the kitchen before walking out to The Compact and driving back to her apartment.

The empty study was nice and warm, with a fire that Alfred had made in case the team retired here to decompress after the mission. Stephanie had slumped onto a divan, planning to just sit for a few moments and look at the fire. Within minutes she'd fallen asleep, body draped over the partial back of the divan in a way not exactly the most conducive for restful sleep. But not enough to stop her from dozing off fully.

Dick Grayson has posed:
A discreet word whispered in his ear by Alfred has brought Dick to the study. Pausing in the doorway, he smiles a little and shakes his head when he sees the position Steph is managing to sleep in. He's been there, many times, too tired to care that you're in a position your body is going to punish you for when you finally wake up.

Quietly stepping into the room, he moves over to the divan and bends down, trying to slip his hands under her without waking her so he can shift the young woman to a more comfortable position.

Stephanie Brown has posed:
Stephanie Brown is wearing a pair of shorts and a sweatshirt. There's a pair of sweatpants on the floor as if they were set on the divan and got knocked off when she fell asleep. The fire is still crackling with warmth, no doubt adding more wood would be one way that Alfred knew she was there. Though the long-time butler seems to know where everyone is almost like he were one with the house.

As her body is shifted away from the cushioned backrest and over to where she can lay fully, Stephanie's hand moves, resting low on Dick's shoulder. Her eyelids flutter and then slowly open. Her tiredness shows in how long it takes Stephanie's eyes to show awareness instead of just looking ahead tiredly.

"Dick?" she murmurs. Her hand leaves his chest to rub at her face. "Sorry, did I... is Cass ok?" she asks quietly, apparently forgetting she'd already confirmed that the Asian girl would be alright.

Dick Grayson has posed:
He nods as he settles her more comfortably on the divan, then takes a seat down by her feet. A quiet chuckle at her sleepy confusion, then he nods, "She's fine Steph. We already checked everyone, remember? Made it through another exciting day without major casualties, though you and Cass will have a hell of a bruise collection for a while."

He pulls a throw off a nearby chair and settles it over her. Meeting her eyes, he simply says, "You know, if you're tired, there's about a dozen unused bedrooms that are likely more comfortable than this is. You're welcome to crash in one."

Stephanie Brown has posed:
The words do help jog her memory. "Right, Doc... came and was looking at her," Stephanie remembers after the verbal nudge. As she sees Dick getting the blanket, she slides her shoes off just using her feet, letting them fall the short distance to the large rug beneath that protects the hardwood floor from the furniture legs.

"Mmm. Isn't that always the case. I am going to need to find a strapping guy with an attitude and a wife beater so people have something else to blame all the bruises on," she says sleepily. After a moment she adds, "Ok, oof. That was a bad one even for me. I blame it on being tired."

Dick spreads the throw blanket over her and she gives him a soft smile. "I was going to drive home. Don't really recall sitting down here, actually," she says. She nudges the side of his leg with a foot. "How did you fare? I didn't see what happened to you after the stairwell."

Dick Grayson has posed:
He shrugs once he finishes adjusting the blanket, "No wounds, other than to pride. I had like zero effect on that big guy, he just brushed us off. Bruce and I both got trackers onto his helicopter, for whatever good it does. I'm honestly not even sure why he bothered bring mercs in when he already had the bombs in place. Maybe to do cleanup of survivors if we hadn't been there or something."

He pats her leg through the blanket, "You and Cass took way bigger hits than about anyone else, I think. So if you two are in one piece, we're pretty good." He shakes his head, "You apparently have not learned that counters are not good landing zones."

Stephanie Brown has posed:
The younger blond girl draws a sigh. "Yeah, he shrugged off the electric batarangs too. I was just reaching for a tracker to try to put it on his body there in the stairwell, when I heard Cass saying bombs." Another exhalation happens. "Glad we made it to the B's and I passed up 'bassinet' and 'bloodhound' to pick some words that might be more crucial for her to learn," Stephanie says. Not that they are going strictly alphabetical of course. But there is some measure of it.

A quiet chuckle is given. "But it looked so comfy," she says. "No honestly I don't remember anything once the explosion hit. Not until I opened my eyes and I was on the floor. Knocked out my short term memory completely. So I hit the counter? I'm guessing on my back given how it feels, and I woke up on my stomach."

Dick Grayson has posed:
Dick nods at her, "From what Gordon said, yeah, you kind of bounced off the front counter and ended up on the floor in front of him. Cass, on the other hand, scored all kinds of style points for a superhero three point landing on top of a bad guy. I don't know that even I could have pulled quite that impressive an entrance off."

His hand still rests on her lower leg on top of the blanket he's covered her with. Apparently it's just a comfortable place to have it resting at the moment. After a pause, he adds, "We're going to need to come up with some new ideas. That's the second bad guy this week who just shrugged off anything I could do to them, and I'm not Jason to start whipping guns out to deal with things."

Stephanie Brown has posed:
Stephanie Brown is plenty relaxed, the divan's leather is soft and well cushioned as well. The fireplace adds such delightful warmth, with the blanket helping as well. Nor does having someone there to talk to seem to hurt, for that matter.

She lets out a soft grumble. "Yes, I was trying to work out something that might be effective on him," she says quietly. "I was planning to hook him and winch him in hard, run him into the railing on the stairs and try to give you a clean shot before he freed himself. But then he had that blade out and cutting your line before I could shoot my grapple. And realized that was going to be futile at least right then."

The blond girl's eyes drift off across the room. "I was wondering why they keep going after the other gangs. We haven't seen them actually trying to take any territory or move in. It's just, assaulting the others. Which is making me think maybe someone else here is behind it. Maybe we need to start asking who is benefiting from these attacks, even if it isn't as immediately obvious?"

Dick Grayson has posed:
Dick considers that for a minute, "Yeah, don't think the line thing would have slowed him down much, to be honest. We have got to come up with some new tactics." He chuckles, "Maybe elephant tranqulizers or something might come in handy."

He stops for a moment to think about what she said, "Yeah, there must be a reason for it, and that's what we need to figure out, you're right. First thing to check is the obvious, have any of the opgs been left out of the attacks, and of not, maybe what businesses benefit from the criminals being gone?"

Stephanie Brown has posed:
"They had the feel of mercenaries, not gangs or organized crime," Stephanie says, drawing an arm under her head like a substitute pillow, but blue eyes focused down on Dick where he sits on the divan. "So yes, more likely someone brought them in to help their own cause, rather than a new gang showing up."

She lets out a sigh and then reaches up with both hands to rub at her eyes and then face. Weary minds, not the best for examining the machinations of Gotham's underworld. Her eyes go over to the fireplace where the flames crackle merrily, keeping back the cool New Jersey day outside. "You know..." she says very slowly as if her mind is at work. Putting together facts. Connecting dots. Scheming schemes that had never been schemed before.

Stephanie looks back to Dick slowly. "I'm pretty sure I once heard that s'mores are an important part of treating explosion victims."

Dick Grayson has posed:
An eyebrow raises, "Really? I had not heard that one before. I mean, I suppose I can sort of see it, I mean you've got your carbs, sugar, chocolate for endorphins, it could work. At least for the mental trauma, anyway." He smiles, because let's face it, who doesn't like s'mores, and he seldom has the excuse to make them in the study.

"Wait here, I'll be back." is all he says before hopping up and heading out the door.

About ten minutes later he comes back in with a tray, upon which are all the fixings for s'mores. "Ok, let's see what we can do here, should be able to get these going in no time."

Stephanie Brown has posed:
When Dick returns, the young woman is over at the fireplace. She's spread the throw blanket out for extra cushioning, and has the hanging wire screen pulled back from in front of the flames.

Stephanie turns to look over at him, flashing Dick a smile. "See, embracing these new medical breakthroughs is something that the older generation just doesn't get," she tells him. "I'd be willing to bet my mother, a nurse trained by the old medical establishment, would reject this treatment."

She scoots over just a bit more so Dick has equal room in front of the fire. "When's the last time you did this?" she asks.

Dick Grayson has posed:
Dick sits down beside her on the blanket after putting the tray down. "Yeah, well, you never know if these things will work until you try them, right? All things considered, we hardly stick to the conventional around here, so why not try things?"

He stops to think for a minute, "You know, I'm not entirely sure. I was too busy being Robin to go to summer camp and crap, so I didn't get to do it then, but I'm certain I've made them at some point." He's brought a couple skewers from the kitchen that he sticks marshmallows on the end of.

Stephanie Brown has posed:
Stephanie takes one of the skewers. "That's too bad. Sort of. Well I suppose maybe camp would have been different for you than for us city kids. It was both a joy to get to go somewhere out rural, and also a bit of a torture. Equal parts of each maybe," she says with a small smile.

"I only got to go one year. It was probably because-" she starts to say but then cuts that thought off and doesn't seem to want to finish it. "Well it was this camp out on a lake. And the weather was nice, but the lake had snapping turtles in it. Not enough to actually be likely to get you, but the older kids who had been there told everyone stories until you were afraid to get into the water," she says with a little chuckle as she starts to warm the marshmallow near the flames.

Stephanie glances over at Dick for a moment. "I just realized if this was a clinical trial though, one of us would get the s'more and the other would get a placebo."

Dick Grayson has posed:
He holds his marshmallow in the fire as well, replying "Yeah, would be quite a difference, I suppose, as opposed to building all around you constantly. Really, that's why they do summer camps, I think." He gets his marshmallow golden brown and applies it to chocolate and graham cracker.

"Nah, we'd need Cass for the placebo group, I wasn't in the explosion so it doesn't really work either way. I'm just enjoying a s'more."

Stephanie Brown has posed:
Stephanie turns the marshmallow over, obviously going for a light toasting of it as she's only letting it start to turn that golden brown before she's spinning it a quarter turn. The s'more making skills gained at Camp Can't-Remember-It obviously coming into use here.

"Hrm, you're right. That or I could toss a hand grenade at you or something," Stephanie says. "And Cass... oh damn. I don't even know if she knows what a s'more is. I'm going to have make them with her sometime," Stephanie says in a determined voice.

She turns the marshmallow again, two sides of it perfectly light golden brown. "I probably have done one of these over a fire since that camp. What was I like, 7 maybe? Mostly I just use the burner of my stove."

Dick Grayson has posed:
Dick finishes making his s'more with the second cracker, then nods, "Hey, burner works if that's what you've got available. I haven't made them in forever, so you're ahead of me there." He takes a bite with a smile, then adds, "Remind me to do this more often, that's good."

He sits back and looks over at her "All the fireplaces in here and I never thought of this - I have to remember that you have all the fun ideas around here. I try to be a little lighter than Bruce, but he's still instilled a great deal of 'adult' into me."

Stephanie Brown has posed:
Stephanie finishes cooking her marshmallow, sliding it off onto the chocolate so it can start melting, and then adding the top graham cracker. Smooshing it down just a bit but not too much.

The fire shines its warm light on them as Stephanie crosses her legs, one resting just barely against the outside of Dick's leg as she settles in to eat then beside him. "Mmm," she says after getting her first bite. Making it a small one so it doesn't end up smeared all over her face. Not yet anyway.

Dick earns himself a pleased smile from the younger girl. "Not all of them," she says in a lighthearted tone, "involve jumping or falling off of high places either." She takes another small bite, eyeing the grown Boy Wonder overtop the s'more. "I think you have a good heart," she tells him, looking down to the campfire food. "Balanced."

Dick Grayson has posed:
Dick continues to eat his s'more as well, perhaps not quite as carefully as she is. "I try. I think my time with the Titans helped me with keeping my inner kid around among all of Bruce's seriousness. Gar in particular is an eternal kid, and that helps a lot. If all you're ever around is dark and serious, that's how you turn out."

He nudges his leg against hers, "You somehow have stayed one of the most positive people I know besides Kori, and with her it's because she doesn't even comprehend half of the darkness she runs into. You, on the other hand do, and have still kept your spark. I'm not sure how you do it, but don't change that."

Stephanie Brown has posed:
Another small bite of the delicious treat is taken. The s'mores and the conversation and company combined seem enough to have pushed Stephanie's weariness aside for the moment. She takes another bite, some of the partially melted chocolate ending upon the corner of her mouth. The blue eyes peer down and to the side as if she could see her own face by doing so. Her tongue extends to try to gather in the chocolate, managing to clean the spot and eat the chocolate both after a few tries.

As Dick nudges Stephanie and makes his comment, the girl gets a slight grin at first. Though as she hears what all Dick has to say, Stephanie's eyes drop down to her lap. It's easy to see the words touched her. "That might be one of the nicest things anyone has ever said to me," she says, smiling without looking up. "I'm probably just too hard-headed to change," she jokes, finally looking up and over to Dick to grin about her comment. "Do you still do much with them? The Titans that is?" she asks.

Dick Grayson has posed:
He nods, "Actually, that's one of the reasons I came back to Gotham. Being in Bludhaven, here and trying to do stuff with them was just spreading me out too much. And I've been talking with them, it looks like I'll be taking back a leadership position. So yeah, going to be doing quite a bit with them. Plus there's Damian, getting him to work with them is a pretty full time job as it is. That's actually how the leadership thing happened, as a way to cut down some of the conflict he was having with them."

He stops to think for a minute, "Honestly, they've always been like family, we were all around the same age, living and fighting together. It forms bonds that don't easily break."

Stephanie Brown has posed:
The logs in the fireplace crackle as the flames uncover some little bit of moisture that suddenly breaks free, sending a little flurry of sparks up the chimney. Stephanie holds her s'more, not eating it as she listens. "Has to be tough for him, being around others after the way he was raised. Which I can only guess at. But from what I see from him, it's probably even more severe than I would have thought," Stephanie says slowly.

"Good of you to get involved for him," Stephanie tells Dick quietly. "Good, brotherly sort of thing, that. It's kind of inspiring. That you four are brothers despite coming together as a family under those unusual circumstances," she says.

Stephanie finally pays some attention to the s'more again. Taking another bite, leaving her with about one bite left. "I know what you mean. I mean, Cass, I feel that with. Tim, I did, and do, but I suppose it changed a little bit with how things went. Kind of natural I suppose. But still, yes I can relate to that kind of bond," she says, looking down and smiling softly. As if being made to think about those consciously was a good thing.

Dick Grayson has posed:
Dick finishes off his s'more, "Yeah, well, I think he needs a brother to help him out. People either treat him as an adult from the way he acts, or a kid from his size, but he really needs some special handling. As for the rest of us, I guess we kind of understand each other, similar backgrounds, after all. It's a little easier to relate to others taken in by the Batman to learn to fight crime than to fit in with a buncha football players or something."

Stephanie Brown has posed:
Stephanie takes her last bite and then dusts off her fingers over an empty spot of the tray rather than get any crumbs on Alfred's clean floor. Or at least the throw blanket they are sitting on. "You guys are definitely a good influence," she agrees. "Or, well. Jason is /probably/ a good influence," Stephanie says, her tone making it clear she's at least partially joking at Jason's expense even if he isn't there.

She glances towards the door to the study. "I should probably decide on either driving home now, or grabbing a room to stay the night in," she says.