6526/Rooftop Cookout

Rooftop Cookout
Date of Scene:	11 June 2021
Location:	Roof - Titan's Tower
Synopsis:	A peaceful rooftop gathering for food and companionship. And the mention of a suspicious underground sale...
Cast of Characters:	Terry O'Neil, Bart Allen, Donna Troy, Nadia Pym-van Dyne

---

Terry O'Neil has posed:
Gatherings up on the roof are pretty common during the summer, for the titnas. As Summer approaches, the days grow hotter, but the nights still have a refreshing coolness to them. Some evenings, it's a group of Titans with pizza, and other nights it is one person coming up to stargaze.

Tonight? It's cookout night. The sky is cloudless and there is a nice moon, shining on the water surrounding the island.

"Hamburgers are ready!" Terry calls out from the grill. He's in his human guise, because sparks and fur just do not mix.... and he might have been The Cat for a little too long recently and my have gotten a little bit on the loopy side. "I've got one regular one, and two with mom's patented feta-and-peppers dressing... hot dogs are still a bit of a ways to go."

There's a large cooler with non-alcoholic drinks, of course.

Bart Allen has posed:
Bart Allen comes running up the side of the building. "I brought the chips." He calls out as he has 4 grocery bags of chips with him, not two of the the same type. "If I missed anyone's favorites let me know and I will go grab them." He offers. He is actually in baggy shorts, and a video game short sleeved tee. He eill set them on the table, and is over next to Terry. "Whats that?" He asks of the dressing "I want some on one of my burgers, but also want to know what it is."

Donna Troy has posed:
    There's a smaller cooler too, with alcoholic drinks. It is being fiercely guarded by Donna as she lounges on a lounger, sipping from a bottle of beer. She'll allow other people access to that cooler if they are old enough.

    Or if they are Cassie. For some reason Donna seems incapable of understanding that the same rules apply to Cassie too.

    "I have never understood this thing about "mom's patented'... you Americans all like saying. I bet your mom did not patent this dressing at all. The other one you do a lot is 'World Famous'. Like you go to some small town and there will be a restaurant with a sign saying 'Featuring Rib Shack's World Famous Ribs' and you know nobody outside that town has ever heard of them."

    Donna puts down the tablet she has been perusing, some vague effort at remotely doing monitor duty while waiting for the burgers, and gives Terry a grin. "I'll try the patented dressing, thanks Terry."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
Terry shoots Donna a glance, "Donna Troy, you can be such a killjoy at times. You know you can rag on things Americans say because you know very well I'll never get to Themyscira and pick up all of the idiomatic idiosyncracies you ladies say!" Having said that, he slides her a plate with the burger in question, and for Bart's edification, he clarifies:

"It's a creamy feta dressing combined with cucumber and red peppers. And, of course, there's the secret family ingredient that has been kept secret for at least four generations. Five if you don't count the unfortunate accident."

He walks over to the cooler to grab himself a sparkling water before moving back to the grill, "It is a delicacy. And, in some countries, a vaccine!"

He is totally joking. Totally.

"And 'll have you know I am only half American. Technically speaking I'm Wonderlandian-American."

Bart Allen has posed:
Bart Allen looks over and says "And technically, I'm part of the United Planets, or at least was born into it. My license says I am American though, so I am just me." He offers and smiles a bit more. "Sounds interesting Maybe I can figure it out." He hmms and says "I wonder if I put some in a bottle and spin, would it work like a centrifuge.. I have never tried that one, I may have to try it." He says waiting for a burger.

Donna Troy has posed:
    Donna grins at Terry, mouthing her thanks to him for the burger and sits up to take a bite. "Not bad," she declares after a few moments chewing. "My compliments to your mom. I suggest you give it a try, Bart."

    She looks down at the discarded tablet, and swipes at it vaguely with a finger. "Americans are crazy, Terry. I've been saying it for years. Your idioms are just random. And being only half American doesn't get you out of it when the other half is Wonderlandian, because everyone knows that Wonderlanders are crazy. It's your national sport."

    She takes another bite of burger and winks at Bart. When she's finished chewing, she says "So, how's life on two teams, Bart? It must be easier for you than it is for Cassie. She's always complaining about having to travel between headquarters. Things okay with the Outsiders?"

Terry O'Neil has posed:
Terry hands Bart a plate with three burgers- because he knows Bart. "My mother is a saint, I'll have you know, and a wonderful cook. She taught me everything I know and is the only reason Gar doesn't have us eating junk food every night. His power may burn calories like crazy but mine doesn't!" he pauses, and frowns. "You've met my mother, haven't you? Kian has. And she embarrassed me in front of Superboy when she mentioned the Pool Incident from my highschool days..."

Satisfied that the hot dogs are done, he starts scooping them up into buns when Donna asks her question.

"oh yeah, do tell, how are things with the Outsiders? We really should do something together. Like, we could plan a beach outing together. Some inter-team trust-building fun stuff."

Bart Allen has posed:
Bart Allen says, "It is ok, we have had a few cases, but Rob has been busy with Gotham stuff, we can't help with as often, so it has been a little quiet. Your mom embarrassed you in front of Conner? Don't worry he won't give you to much grief about it, he has things he would prefer people forget too, so I think your good." He offers and eats his first burger at speed, but takes his time with the one with the dressing"

Donna Troy has posed:
    "A joint outing would be a good idea," Donna concedes. "Though maybe a joint mission would be even better. We haven't been good at doing that. I mean people in general, not just the Titans and Outsiders. League, Avengers, X-Men. We just kind of... well sometimes you're on hand and you help out, or something big happens and everyone who's available is on the scene. But... you know. Planning something together, then executing it. Rather than just we happen to all be doing our own things in the same place at the same time. That would be good."

    Donna glances up at Terry, with a thoughtful frown. "Maybe Doom Patrol too. Are they still a thing? You said something about being up to something with one of Gar's old team didn't you Vorp? Diana had one of them volunteering to help out at the Arts Center too. Gar would like that, getting his old team along. We should at least invite them to the next party."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"Oh no, not that Superboy. The other one. The one that's from the future. He's younger, and less scowly. And my mother just /had/ to mention the time I ... nevermind!"

He sits down and sets the plate of hot dogs on the table, and starts sipping his water.

"Yeah. I'm working with Amanda and a friend to sort of pull Robotman out of the Dream Realm. Don't... ask, it's as crazy as it sounds. Kate was there. You can ask her. Angry pianos were involved at one point."

He drums his fingers on the can, and hmms. "Getting a whole batch of us together at a big beach party would be fun! I can tal to thge X-Men to see if they'd like to come over. Bart, you can get the outsiders, and Donna can talk to the League and the Avengers 'cause she's th ebig shot. Right?" He grins and sticks his tongye out.

Bart Allen has posed:
Bart Allen nods, and says "I can put up a flyer or a dozen in the Roost, and let everyone know. I had a bit of a run in helping the X-men the other week, I let them handle most of it, and took a guy to the hospital, and then got a specialist to him." He winces at the thought of it "Seemed like ok people though."

Donna Troy has posed:
    "I'm not really the big shot Terry," Donna replies, swiping through her tablet again. "That would be Nightwing, or Cait, or Wally. The ones who stayed behind making contacts when the first Titans split up. I was hanging out on Themyscira being forgotten by all."

    She looks up from the tablet with a broad grin. "I mean remember when you first met me? You're supposed to have been this big Titans fan, and you didn't even recognize me. Kori did her modelling, Gar was in movies, they were all staying in the public eye. Apart from Rae, if you exclude the rumors that the tower was haunted. And Vic I guess, though I mean... he can't exactly go around incognito."

    Swipe, swipe, bite, chew.

    "Actually, you know who the big shots are? We are. Us. The Titans. I mean think about it. League and Avengers have one Amazon between them. We have three. League has two speedsters, we've got four if you include Irie. Our green guy can be stealthy as well as smashing things. We have half the world's Robins. A Kryptonian of our own who speaks better Kryptonian than Superman does, too. Our Hawkeye is definitely the pick of the archers, Vic's way cooler than Iron Man, and we even have a cat with Rabbit holes."

    She looks up with a smirk. "We also have the hottest magic user. Fight me."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
Terry smirks, "I didn't recognize you because you were wearing movie star sunglasses and had your hair 'did' as if you were in an Audrey Hepburn movie, girl. If it were /that/ easy to figure out secret identities based on that sort of stuff, I'd have figured out who Nightwing was months ago!"

He stops, and stares at Donna, scratching his chin. "... I don't know. I think Raven and Zatanna are evenly matched in that field. Then again, I am speaking purely from an academic viewpoint, since I am not attracted to women at all!"

He frowns, "Half of the world's Robins. That's right, there's Red Robin-" pause "Yuum! Sorry. He made me promise I wouldn't say it, but he's not here to know- and Bart you are /not/ going to tell him. I met him back in Gotham- he saved my life." A sip from his can "He's also pretty cute. Bart, you're not telling him that either."

He sets his can down and frowns at Bart. "Took a guy to the hospital? Youch... I hope they're ok... so, if I'm contacting them..." he pauses and glances at Donna, "Who do I contact to invite the X-Men? It occurs to me I don't know how to find them, exactly."

Bart Allen has posed:
Bart Allen says, "I don't know he was in really bad shape." He does not go into detail on the guy. At Terry mentioning Rob is cute, he makes a face too, not because it is guy on guy, but it is like telling him his brother is cute." He finishes his burger and starts on some of the chips. "And wait tilll..." He stops and says "Gotta remember not to tell you who joins in the next few years." He smiles a bit and says "So are you glad your back in the regular world?" He asks Donna."

Donna Troy has posed:
    "Spoilers, Bart!" Donna says with a grin at the young speedster. "Actually nothing would surprise me. I mean you must have all noticed how fast the membership has been growing, right? We're like three times as big as we used to be or so. It's all part of my cunning plan. Over time, we're going to recruit everyone. By 2030 I expect we'll have forty percent of the planet's population on our books. By 2050 there will be no villains to fight because everyone will be a Titan, and then we can all retire."

    Donna gives Bart a sidelong look. "This isn't the regular world, Bart. This is the crazy world. Ask Kian, he'll back me up on this. Home is far saner and more sensible. For example, we never claim things are patented when they are not. In fact we don't believe in patents at all. Think about it, a society without intellectual property lawyers. That's why we call it Paradise Island."

    Her serious face cannot stay serious for long, and she breaks into a wide grin. "Yeah, I'm happy to be here again. I kind of love all the crazy, and there are a lot of people here I missed. Funny thing is... I keep going back. I'm not sure why I didn't... I mean when I came here the first time, it was in 2011. I returned home in 2017. Nearly six years away, and I went home to visit once in that time. Kind of hard to sneak away back then, you know? Since I came back to America a year ago, I've been home... huh, five times. It's nice."

    Donna picks up her burger again, and continues swiping at her tablet. "We've got contact info on the system, Terry. Marvel Girl and Illyana. And you're wrong. Zatanna just shows it off more."

    She stares down at the tablet for a few moments in deep thought, chewing the last mouthful of her burger. "Huh," she says to herself. "That's interesting. " She looks up again. "How are the hot dogs coming, Terry?"

Terry O'Neil has posed:
At the mention of hot dogs, Terry slides the plate over. "Ready to be sacrificed and appeace Limos. And here's some Chimichurri." A little pot slides right next to the plate, "Because relish is okay, but this is even better.

The redhead crosses his arms and smirks, "Kian was up here with Kaida last night, you know. There is nothing you can tell us that will surprise us, considering the fact that the Titan membership now basically has Snagglepuss," he points to himself, "Woody Woodpecker and Miss Brisby."

He begins to nibble on a hot dog, when he notices Donna's expression.

"What's interesting?"

Bart Allen has posed:
Bart Allen will get him some food, and says "Well honestly I don't think we are on the same time line I came from, I mean some of the stuff is the same and some happens, but not all of it. " He hmms and says "Sometimes, I wish I had a bit more clue on my own future, but nope, not part of the play book I got." He sighs abit, and looks to the two listening.

Nadia Pym-van Dyne has posed:
The thing about Summer barbeques is they attract bugs, particularly the order hymenoptera. And so it is tonight that a particularly large (honorary) member of said order, the Waspette, comes in for a landing on the tower roof. Perhaps she was drawn by the scent of the food, perhaps she just didn't feel like walking, either way she alights from above not far from the others, her wings folding into the back of her stylish Van Dyne Waspette armor.

"Hi guys, what's cooking? Oooh is this a Summer Barbeque?" She says it like it's something she read about in an academic treatise and now suddenly gets to study up close in person.

Donna Troy has posed:
    "Sylvester, Tweetie and Speedy Gonzales," Donna counters. "Or maybe Daffy Duck with Itchy and Scratchy." So sayeth the Amazon.

    "I don't think it makes sense that timelines could work that way to be honest, Bart. The past is implicit in the future, the future cannot be implicit in the past unless there is no free will. At the moment you arrived in the past, you arrived at a point in your own past. But the next moment, you were no longer in your own past because your arrival had changed the course of history. For you to remain in your own time-stream would mean that it would have to be impossible for people to act in a different manner in your then relative future than they had already acted in your past. You have an insight into the way things might turn out, but there's no obligation on reality to unfold in that manner. Things could turn out radically different, but that's a positive thing. It means you can influence your own future rather than being imprisoned by it. You get to write your own play book, and that's a good thing."

    Donna gives Bart an encouraging smile before investigating the hot dog. "Smells good, Terry. We shall make you cook more often. Caitlin could do with a rest from time to time. Just something that came up on the channels. A bit of chatter about some underworld dealings. It's nonsense though. There's no way that someone is /really/ auctioning off Pandora's Box."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"Be careful, Bart, you've gotten her in a philosophical mood. Soon enough you might get her talking about phenomenology!" Terry teases, taking another sip from his drink before pointing out a hard truth:

"I can't cook more often, Cait would never let me near her cookware again, after what happened with Cassie's zombies. She might insist in supervising me..."

He trails off and finishes his can of sparklin water before he says something.


"Let's be realistic, this being /us/ here, and this being our lives as they are. What are the odds that it /isn't/ Pandora's box?"

The redhead grins as the Waspette makes her entrance, and he waves. "Nadia, come on over and grab some food. We've got some burgers and some hot dogs, and Donna is trying to conscript me into food service for the tower!"

Bart Allen has posed:
Bart Allen looks over and says "Why would anyone want it? I mean aint everything all ready been let out of it? What use is an empty box?" He asks a bit confused. He looks over and waves to Nadia "Hey." He says in greeting.

Donna Troy has posed:
    "Hey Nadia!" Donna calls out with a wave. She gestures at the smollest scientist with her hot dog. "Come participate in this ancient American tradition of grilling low quality meats in a way that somehow makes them taste delicious beyond any rights such low quality meats have any business tasting. There are hot dogs which are not dogs, and hamburgers which do not come from Hamburg. This is all part of the great American tradition of using words entirely incorrectly. The burger dressing is patented, despite no patents having been applied for, and the hot dogs are world famous, but only within the extent of this rooftop."

    "You are thinking of the evils of the world as being a limited resource Bart," Donna says."If only that were true. Things are more metaphorical than that. Opening Pandora's jar may have released some great evils into the world, but that doesn't preclude them still being in there. Think of them as being the inspiration for evils rather than the actual evils themselves."

    "And that answers your question too, Terry. The odds are very high that it isn't actually Pandora's Box, because there's no such thing. Some foolish Latin speaker a few hundred years ago couldn't tell the difference between /pithos/ and /pyxis/. It's a jar, not a box."

Nadia Pym-van Dyne has posed:
Nadia makes her way over to where the food is with the light quick steps of a trained ballerina. "Hey Bart! Hey Terry! Donna!" She beams a bright smile at each of them before turning to regard the forementioned barbequed hamburgers and hotdogs before securing a plate with one of each to try.

"Wait Pandora has a box? Is is like a music player?" Nadia asks, clearly confusing Pandora with the music app.

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"It's also probably a marketing thing, Donna. PANDORA'S BOX sounds ominous. Pandora's Jar sounds like someone is starting an organic preserves business."

He gets some delight from Nadia's confusion and digs up his phone. "It's a Greek myth. Now, considering everything- and I do mean everything, Yours Truly included- that we have lived through, I don't think it's too far-fetched to consider a slight possibility of existence here."

He slides the phone over to Nadia, and gestures to it for Bart.

"Supposedly, all of the ills of the world were released when Pandora opened her box. OR JAR. Because she was curious, I guess... but the most rational explanation is that she ran out of room and she was trying to see if she could move things around a little to increase storage efficiency. I mean, who /hasn't/ released a global calamity while tidying up? That's, like, every time I try to do Gar's laundry."

Bart Allen has posed:
Bart Allen looks down as his phone beeps, and ohhhs "Um sorry, I gotta go the cheetah is going to have kittens, and they said I could help deliver them." He does not think about in this grouping he maybe should have explained he meant a zoo animal. "If we get done any time soon, I will come back with pictures." He says and is off, stopping by the base to change into his zoo uniform, and then to the zoo, stopping just before getting there to run oh so slowly as normal speed to the exhibit.

Nadia Pym-van Dyne has posed:
Nadia seems to be pondering the tale of Pandora's BoxJar while also pondering Donna's tale of how American English idioms make zero sense and winds up just sort of nodding slowing in response to both as she stuffs a hotdog into her face, "This is really good! Wait, so if it's not a form of dog, what is it made of?" Because apparently she still would have tried it even if it was made of dogs. "Science is the only Truth." She finally adds after the explanation of the lies of American English has finished.

Nadia then peers at Terry, "Why did they give a BoxJar containing all the ills of the world to a single young person, instead of like you know burying it in a deep cave and stationing an army to guard it?" She asks doing her best skeptic impression, but there is probably little doubt in the minds of anyone here: if in the same position as Pandora, Nadia would probably have opened the box FOR SCIENCE!

Donna Troy has posed:
    "It doesn't..." Donna's brows draw together and after a moments reflection she conclused the statement with "...matter," having concluded that attempting to correct Terry's history and Nadia's lack of history would be unnecessary and confusing. Besides she's always lecturing people on the /real/ history of the world that only Superior Themysciran History records proprely, and she feels she should probably get out of that habit.

    "The point is that someone has a /pyxis/ that they claim is Pandora's Box, while if they actually had Pandora's box they would be trying to sell a /pithos/. So whatever it is that they are trying to sell to the highest bidder is in fact definitely not the item they claim, and perhaps even believe it to be. Which is a very good thing, because if a mortal got their hands on Pandora's Jar the world might be in a very great deal of trouble."

    "Science is merely one way of observing the truth Nadia," Donna says, apparently having decided the topic of Pandora's box is now entirely settled. "But there are truths that are beyond measurement, and if something cannot be measured then it cannot be the subject of scientific inquiry."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
"Why would they give such a thing to her? Well, there are a few schools of thought on the subject."

Terry starts counting them off with his fingers.

"One: The gods have all of the common sense of ferrets on cocaine. There are several religious texts that back this up- such as creating a Big Tree With The Fruit Of All Evil in the middle of an earthly paradise and telling Human Man, whom they endowed with intelligence, 'psssst, don't eat THAT fruit'. Two: The gods are sadists and they enjoy exploiting the human foibles they themselves invented for the sake of some narrative amusement, such as the case of Pandora's box. And three: the gods usually have had nothing to do with the subject and it's just man's attempt to make sense of things by telling stories."

He leans back on his chair and thinks for a moment.

"Okay, let's say it isn't Pandora's Mason Jar. Any chances that it is magical/divine/dangerous? And that we ight want to... you know. Look in?"

Nadia Pym-van Dyne has posed:
"But what if the jar is in a box? Like a box/jar matryoshka doll?" Nadia wonders aloud, perhaps not quite satisfied that the box/jar debate has been settled, or possibly just making a joke.

"Yet." She appends to Donna's declaration that their are things Science can't measure. "Prehistoric people couldn't measure radiation or quantities of sub-atomic particles. And there are still things we can't measure today, but there's also a lot of things we couldn't measure in the past that we can now. That is the quest for Truth, to understand everything." There is a deep conviction in her that this is indeed possible.

Nadia makes a face at the possibilities outlined for how Pandora might have come into possession of the jar. "No, wonder we always need to save the world if that's how the gods are, maybe they just watch us like divine TV. Like 'I'm bored quick release a giant monster for the Titans to fight, I love that show!'" She does turn her attention back to Donna though when Terry asks his question.

Before that is, something on her wrist begins beeping. She doesn't seem to hear it at first but that angry pulsing red light is hard to ignore, "Oh no! I need to feed them! I hope nobody has been stung! I'll be back in a few minutes!" She declares ominously before zipping off.

Donna Troy has posed:
    Donna studiously avoids the discussion of the ways of the Gods. Let the others believe that they are as flies to wanton boys to the Gods, Donna knows better than Gloucester.

    Or thinks she does, anyway.

    For now.

    "Nadia, you're thinking of things that we are unable to measure, I am talking about things that are unmeasurable. You cannot measure beauty, or goodness, or love, but these are some of the most important truths."

    Fortunately for Donna and probably everyone else, Nadia remembers that she has some experiment that needs feeding, thus forestalling what could otherwise have turned into a fulsome, bizarre and frankly quite tedious clash of ideas.

    Donna shrugs her shoulders and takes another bite of the dog, leaning back in her lounger. "It's possible," she says to Terry after a little bit of thought. "I mean there's a black market in magical artefacts. That's what this seller is targeting. A big claim like this is going to attract some attention, and it would be very quickly spotted if it wasn't magical at all. The most likely thing is that it's something someone purchased from an antique dealer and enchanted with some cleverly disguised magic. Probably a spell of sealing or similar if I was to make a guess. So chances of being magical? High. Chances of being dangerous? Low. On the other hand if there's an underground auction of magical items happening we should probably bust it anyway. Who knows what else is there that would be dangerous. Or stolen. "

    Donna stares back in the direction Nadia had left, and then stares in the direction Bart had left. "You don't think," she wonders, "That they're colluding, do you? Nadia and Bart. They could be breeding cheetah cubs with stings. Some kind of wasp/cheetah hybrid. I really wouldn't put it past Nadia to talk Bart into that. I hope they can't fly."

Terry O'Neil has posed:
Terry considers the horror of this for a few seconds, and then he says very slowly:

"Maybe... we should have a talk with them. Just in case."

And then, as if to banish the image of hyperactive, flying cheetah stinger cubs, he leans forward and says, "So, about busting this auction... maybe we should work on a plan..."