8152/Here For The Boos

Here For The Boos
Date of Scene:	07 October 2021
Location:	The Hanging Tree - Park
Synopsis:	A community volunteer group in Gotham raises money by hosting a bad-horror-film marathon at the park. At night. And nothing terrible happens... except to the poor folks on the silver screen.
Cast of Characters:	Tim Drake, Lonnie Machin, Mairin Moran, Bart Allen, Phoebe Beacon

---

Tim Drake has posed:
    The community that has formed around the so-called Hanging Tree is a strange one, which is putting it mildly. Somehow the "historic" tree has become a safe zone within the area, where college kids can come hang out and study and parents can bring their children to play without having to worry. In fact, a lot of those parents might otherwise be members of local gangs, but in the confines of this park, the no-violence policy is sacrosanct.

    Still, it's not technically a park. Not on the Gotham City books, at least, so upkeep is left to the locals to fund. Much of it is done through volunteer work, but funds do occasionally need to be raised for work beyond the scope of the community.

    Hence, tonight's movie marathon of so-bad-they're-good horror-themed films being projected onto a screen held up by the Hanging Tree's branches. The fee to join is pay-what-you-want (or don't, if you can't) but there are little tables selling freshly popped popcorn, drinks, candy, and a variety of other movie-appropriate goodies. If you haven't brought your own seating, they're even selling blankets featuring a local artist's rendition of the Hanging Tree for a reasonable price of $20. They're big enough to sit more than one person, too.

    At this point in the evening, the last strictly kids-friendly movie is coming to an end, credits rolling. The families with younger kids are packing up, leaving plenty of primo real estate in the grass available.

    There are a couple of people selling alcohol on the down-low, though it's nothing exciting. Beer, wine, ciders, that sort of thing. Nothing in glass bottles! Glass isn't allowed in the park. Also please pick up your pet's waste if you brought them with you. There's one of those poop-station stands nearby for just that purpose.

    Tim arrives, bundled up in a Gotham U hoodie against the chill of the night air. He has his own blanket (it's, uh, got dinosaurs on it) but after he drops a couple of folded-up bills into the cauldron they're using as the entrance fee collection plate, he buys one of the blankets too. Souvenir! Then he narrows his eyes at the spots coming up free.

    It's maybe a misuse of his Batman-honed skills to stealth his way through the departing crowd to plonk his blanket down with a really fantastic view of the screen, but whatever. What the Dark Knight doesn't know won't hurt him.

Lonnie Machin has posed:
    Eventually another man walks up - probably not the type you'd expect to see with Tim, considering the height, the long hair pulled back in a ponytail, the heavy leather jacket with the patches and rivets all over it - but he's walking a little terrier-mutt dog with one ear sticking up and the other flopped down, and carrying popcorn in the crook of his arm. "Remind me to have a word with the park organizers about the prices people are charging at concessions..." He says, before he passes Tim the popcorn.

Mairin Moran has posed:
    Mairin is already sitting near the front. She came early with her parents but they've long since left. They aren't really the horror movie types. But it was better then staying in the house and listening to them complain in creative ways about her career choices. And it really doesn't matter because she isn't really watching the movies anyway. She's just staring at the screen and occasionally throwing a popcorn kernal into her mouth.

Bart Allen has posed:
Bart Allen was one of the first to come here, with a backpack full of food, that he has refilled a few times already as the night has went by. But he had not taken one of the prime spots letting the families have it. Now he is moving closer. He has bought one of the blankets as well to help out as best he can, and now before the next movie starts he is looking for a good spot.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    And, on a *rare* night out, after popping into Gotham earlier in the day on an errand, comes Phoebe Beacon. She's wearing a black sweatshirt, her hair pulled back into a hair-wrap, wearing a green T-shirt with a crow perched on a skull skull and a pair of jeans and boots. She has a backpack with her, and she sort of... hovers, at the edge of everyone as she watches the families leave. Her lips are curled into a neutral smile, but it's not quite touching her eyes.

Tim Drake has posed:
    The souvenir blanket is the one Tim lays down on the ground. The dinosaur blanket, Tim wraps himself up in. This is the way.

    He looks up when he hears Lonnie's voice, and he really has to look up, because the brim of his hat blocks his view. It's not exactly a disguise so much as it is... uh... look, Tim is just trying to avoid people recognizing him. Which technically makes it a disguise, yes, based on the dictionary definition.

    "It's for a good cause," he points out as he reaches up to take the popcorn and hold it while Lonnie settles. "Wait, do you mean they're not charging enough?" Also maybe he's holding the popcorn so he can get at the best part, which is the top with all the freshly poured butter.

    Tim's crunching his way through a mouthful as he does his usual situational awareness scan of the area. Nearby, someone catches his eye, and for several seconds Tim looks at Mairin, trying to remember where he's seen her face before. It'll come to him eventually! Crunch crunch monch. Oh, and then there's Bart.

    After a couple of seconds, Tim lifts his hand to wave at Bart, and then gesture towards a nearby available space in the grass. As of yet he hasn't noticed Phoebe over by the edge, if only because he's not wearing his domino mask and he, alas, has regular human nightvision. Which is to say, not all that much.

    Up near the screen, someone calls out a "Five minutes until we start the next show! Make sure to get your food and bev now and go to the bathroom if you gotta!"

Lonnie Machin has posed:
    "They're charging too much, the profit margin on popcorn is already ridiculous." Lonnie says, before he raises an eyebrow. "Good thing I had them put in two layers of butter." He says, before he grabs a piece of popcorn and tosses it to Yap, who does a dog somersault in order to grab it." Then Lonnie looks around, and leans in briefly, face shrouded by the brim of Tim's cap.

Mairin Moran has posed:
    Maybe it's Tim's eyes on her, or maybe just her general nerves about being in Gotham, but Mairin turns to look around shortly after Tim's eyes leave her. She doesn't know him from Adam, and so doesn't even really notice him, but she does take note of Lonnie with a slight frown, but it's Bart that actually catches her attention. It takes a second, but then she remembers... The Gotham Zoo...

    She gives the young man a wave that he may or may not see, but doesn't make any move to do anything more social. After all... she has no idea what people even do at something like this besides what they came here to do. Namely watch a movie.

    Which is ironic considering she's not actually watching the movie.

Bart Allen has posed:
Bart Allen will see one wave and then the other, little goes past Bart's notice unless he has found something to take his attention wholly. He will put his blanket down between Tim and Mairin's and spread it out. "Hey did you ever find the professor you were looking for, and while Tim and Lonnie talk, Bart will reach over to let Yap smell his hand "Hey boy." He says to the dog.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Doesn't help that Phoebe is a black girl, wearing a black sweatshirt, in the dark, in Gotham. Might as well be a walking pair of blue jeans. She does, however, move smoothly through the crowd, and with an exhausted "HUFF" of air and the jingle of metal tags coming from somewhere on her, she sits behind Tim and Lonnie, and looks to the two of them.

    "... am I interrupting?" she asks with a smile.

    Mairin may recall the Laughing Magician's barback, who had questioned if magic was real.

Tim Drake has posed:
    "It's for a good cause," Tim repeats, and you don't even have to be looking at him to see him roll his eyes because it's entirely audible in his voice. "I heard a couple of the organizers talking about putting in a playground structure if they raise enough." Someone's nosy. Fully dropping some eaves out here right now.

    After Lonnie and Tim pull away from each other, Tim does another one of those surveys of the area and the people within. It probably reads as anxious to anyone who doesn't know him. He leans in against Lonnie's side, the popcorn safely settled between them, and narrows his eyes at the woman now two blankets over, with Bart's addition.

    She's... who is she. So familiar. It's right there, on the tip of Tim's tongue--"Pheebs?" Tim twists to look over--well, Lonnie's shoulder--and he smiles up at her. "Hey! No, of course not. Come meet Yap too." Maybe Yap is busy making friends with Bart, but he's an insta-famous dog. He has fans. He's probably used to it, Tim supposes.

Lonnie Machin has posed:
    Lonnie's dog is more famous than he is, which... well, the dog's adorable. And friendly. He sniff's Bart's hand and barks, happily, since he's picked up pretty quickly that Bart is a dog person and he has no problem being petted, his tail whipping happily. "He's a good judge of character." Lonnie says. "And it's all right to pet him, he doesn't bite." Or rather, he only bites cops.

Mairin Moran has posed:
    Mairin gives Bart a smile, and is about to answer when she sees Phoebe sit down and her mind has to go track down where it is she remembers her from. But then it comes to her and she gives a rather sheepish wave to the girl. Of course. The Laughing Magician. Where it all really started. She's about to turn back to the screen, but at the last second remembers she still owes Bart a resopnse.
    "Yes, I did. Thank you. He was a great help too." Awkward pause... Should she ask him something back? He's playing with the dog... so he probably doesn't want her to... She shrugs to herself and looks looks back at the screen.

    Picks up a book at her feet. Puts it down. ANd then looks back toward everyone else.

Bart Allen has posed:
Bart Allen will pet the dog and give him scritches Bart is an animal person in general, dogs, cats, giraffes what have you. He looks over and says to Mairin "Thats cool glad he was able to help you with your research, and as Phoebe speaks he looks back "Hey there, you can come sit up here if ya want plenty of room. He looks around but to many people looking for him to zoom off and grab something right now.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "Tim. Loooonnie." Phoebe stretches out the syllable of Lonnie's name, and she sits a good bit closer to the group, taking off her hood. She's wearing a Bright Pink hairwrap. NOW she's easy to see. "Hey Bart! How goes it?" she greets the speedster, and then she smiles, and takes a couple little pieces of dogtreat out and offers to tempt Instagram Famous Yap to her Lap.

    "Chas gave me the night off. It's been A Week. Figured I would show up here and see if there was anyone I knew haunting the tree -- didn't know you were from Gotham! C'mon over here. Nicer to watch movies with people you know!" the teenager gives a grin to Mairin.

Tim Drake has posed:
    Research. So she's in aca--ah! There it is. Now Tim remembers. "Ms. Moran," he calls out, and follows up Phoebe's invitation to move closer to the group with a wave. Joinnnn usssss. Well, less creepy than that, even with the movie starting to kick on. And the conversations around them quiet some but not significantly; with the switch from family-friendly to, well, slightly less family-friendly, there's also a shift to a sort of MST3K mindset.

    Because these movies are terrible. We're talking Manos: The Hands of Fate levels of just awful.

    (Manos means hands in Spanish so it's literally Hands: The Hands of Fate. So dumb.)

    "I recognize you from one of the Wayne Foundation scholarship conferences, I think," he says, to Mairin. Tim shifts to tuck his legs underneath him and it means briefly he's putting his weight a little bit more heavily against Lonnie, which he does with a quiet "Sorry."

    Then he smiles. "Glad you're getting some time off to relax," he says to Phoebe.

Lonnie Machin has posed:
    "Why would you be sorry?" Lonnie asks, an eyebrow going up, before he turns to watch the movie. "Oh, oh my god. It's Jaws 3D. And we don't even have 3D glasses." He nudges Tim. "Watch, watch watch watch. This is the scene where the shark attacks the underwater research station. It's so terrible it's *liberating*. They're all going to start throwing popcorn, watch." Yap proceeds to gobble down those treats and then do a trick, which is to stand up on his hind legs and put his front paws together, in a doggo version of the 'point of order' hand signal.

Mairin Moran has posed:
    She looks back over at Phoebe's invitation, and then really *looks* after Tim's. Was he also going in for a scholarship? Surely not the same year she did. She's confused. Which ordinarily would also mean she was curious. But curiosity is exactly what she's worried about right now. And besides...

    She glances at Lonnie again and her face takes on that look of obvious disaproval that... Well... that her parents give her every time she comes home. But this is different. But...

    With a sigh, she stands and just pulls her blanket (a large Harry Potter affair) closer, but just close enough to not have to talk too loudly for conversation. Then she sits and arranges everything around her just so before answering.

    "I am," she answers Phoebe. "Though I don't get back here often." Then to Tim, "Were you there for a scholarship as well?"

Bart Allen has posed:
Bart Allen smiles, and says "I think they have some 3D glasses over at one of the stands, I will be right back," And he will walk over towards the tree and behind it out of other's sight before off he goes and to get some things. He will tap his food at a few stores he stops at waiting for it to be enough time to come back.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    "At some point we gotta talk without everyone around -- but puppy! Who's such a good pup... ohmigosh you are such a good pup." Phoebe whispers, and she scritches at the good boy's ears, and gives a little sniffle. The gang would be able to see she's got a wrapped, weathered, leather strap around her wrist covering the white tattoo.

    "I wish my dads would let me keep a dog now, but we're just so busy between everything -- like watching sharks explode!"

Tim Drake has posed:
    A huge wave of laughter works its way through the crowd at the 'glass shattering' 3D effect. And people do indeed throw popcorn. Someone yells out "Oh darn I'm stuck," in a goofy voice when the shark on the screen tries to wiggle through the window.

    Which was obviously plenty big when it was first shown but now the shark is basically an overweight cat trying to squeeze through one of those little door flaps.

    The ominous orchestral music (which doesn't feel very ominous in truth) goes on in the background as Tim looks over at Mairin. Who... doesn't recognize him. He notices the way she looks at Lonnie, though, so he takes Lonnie's hand in his own and squeezes it, lightly. It's maybe not exactly subtle. "No, I just do some work with the Wayne Foundation, that's all," he says.

    When Bart announces his brb, Tim looks over at Phoebe and makes some kind of face, half-amused and half-conspiratorial. "Yeah," he agrees with her. "And we need to hit up Onion Maiden again."

    And then a shark explodes into hilariously badly rendered chunks. Tim stares at the screen, wheezing out a few seconds worth of incredulous laughter before he asks, "What? What was that? I don't--what?"

Lonnie Machin has posed:
    Despite the autumn cool, Lonnie sheds the jacket, leaving him in just his Antifa t-shirt and jeans. He squeezes Tim's hand, and rests his chin on the heir to the most fabulous fortune in Gotham's shoulder, and he raises his eyebrows. "They're spoiling you, Yap." Lonnie says, to the dog, who proceeds to high-step to his owner and fawn over him as Lonnie pets him. "Yeeeees, they're spoiling you, aren't they? Yes they are. You should redistribute those pets to where they're needed most, yes you should."

Mairin Moran has posed:
    Mairin watches Bart leave then is about to answer Phoebe before she turns back to the dog. So she just stares at the screen and fingers the book beside her as her mind works itself in circles. The whole point of coming out here was to clear her mind. To get some distance and some perspective. But all it's done is made her more uncertain.

    She nods at Tim's words, then turns back to him as the numbers set it. "You were doing work for the Wayne Foundation in High School?" It's not an accusation. If anything she sounds impressed.

Bart Allen has posed:
Bart Allen comes back with 3d glasses for everyone and some more snacks. He even has some veggies with dip, where did he gets these. He hands out the glasses, and offers "See something ya like grab it." and he hands Phoebe a strawberry soda. before getting his seat and opens some powdered donuts from his bag to munch.

Phoebe Beacon has posed:
    Phoebe seems suddenly very sad that there's no longer a dog to pet. She even wilts a little, her bottom lip sticking out before she goes to scratch at her left wrist, and instead just hits against the leather with the jangling tags. She breathes out a moment, and then quietly, draws her legs up, pulls her hood up over her hair to conserve heat, and watches a very silly shark movie, slipping on the three-dee glasses with a slight smile, and accepting the strawberry soda.

Tim Drake has posed:
    Since Yap has come back over to Lonnie, that means he's well-within Tim's area of influence. So he pulls out his phone and barely has to hold out a piece of popcorn before the terrier poses for a photo. "Good boy," Tim preens, and he gets in on the Yap-petting action. "Uh-huh, yes, you are."

    There is probably some more redistribution of the popcorn to where it's needed most, AKA in Yap's stomach. But not too much, and Tim is careful to only pick out the least-buttery pieces.

    "Uh, yeah. I was neighbors with Bruce Wayne for a while, when I was younger." Which is all technically the truth! "And--oh, thanks."

    Bart's timing is impeccable. The arrival of the 3D glasses is a perfect excuse for Tim to drop that line of conversation with Mairin, so he pops them on and frowns up at the screen. Then he unwinds his blanket from around his shoulders so that he can unfold it and give one half of it to Phoebe to share, before he settles back against Lonnie's side. "This is awful," he says, and he's definitely grinning.

Lonnie Machin has posed:
    Lonnie settles back against Tim, to watch - he waves off the 3D glasses and says, "It's even worse without them," As he crosses his feet at the ankles and watches the movie. Occasionally he tosses a piece of popcorn to Yap, who jumps and snatches it out of the air. This is his exercise tonight it seems.

Mairin Moran has posed:
    Though Mairin takes a pair of glasses, she doesn't put them on. Which doesn't really matter since she isn't watching the movie mutch anyway. Maybe if it was something sci-fi she would be more interested. But as it is, there's just not much there for her.

    She accepts Tim's explaination with a measure of uncertainty. But then, she knows next to nothing about the Waynes other than they gave her money to get her degree. But logically, her grades were high enough that someone else would have if they hadn't. It isn't like she watches the news and follows what rich people are up to. As far as she's concerend they should be up to way more than they are.

    As everyone settles in, she finally just gets too fidgety, and starts packing up her things.

Bart Allen has posed:
Bart Allen looks over putting his 3d glasses on and maybe watching the rest of them with them on too, Bart is a bit weird that way. He looks over to Mairin, and says "It was good running into you again, maybe we will run into one another at the college again.

Tim Drake has posed:
    When Mairin starts getting up to leave, Tim offers her a polite, "Have a good evening, Ms. Moran," and then he shifts, stretching his legs out as an excuse to turn slightly away. The look he shoots Lonnie is relieved--mostly at avoiding the awkwardness of having to explain who he is.

    There's really no way to do that without sounding like an obnoxiously wealthy jerk, in Tim's opinion.

    The next movie opens on a bad version of the Princess Bride's narrative framing device, which leads into a group of terribly costumed trolls sedately half-jogging through a forest after what legitimately looks like a pilgrim. People in the audience are fairly split down the middle in terms of who's cheering him on to keep running and who's yelling at the monsters to eat him. Someone absolutely shouts "Run, Forrest, run!"

    It's awful.

    Tim eventually ends up with Yap inside his hoodie with him, curled up together for warmth, jaw open as he gapes at the screen. He's enthralled. So much so that he's accidentally taking a page out of Bart's book by keeping his 3D glasses on. Though it kind of enhances the experience, to be honest.

Mairin Moran has posed:
    "Hmm? Oh. Yes. Feel free to look me up." Which feels like a weird thing to say after she's said it, but now it's said so...

    She folds up her blanket precisely, places it and her book, a large tome on Quantum Field Theory, in her bag, and slings that over her shoulder. "Thank you," she tells Tim and nods to both him and Bart, though Bart may or may not even see it. "Enjoy the movie..." The last is said a little lamely, as no one is even looking at her anymore, and she stands there awkwardly for a few seconds before turning to walk away, the entire experiance already fading to the background to be filed under 'Useless Ways to Get Your Mind Off Your Problems', to be replaced by route determinations to get her back to her appartment as quickly as possible.