9197/Dogs of Instagram

Dogs of Instagram
Date of Scene:	21 December 2021
Location:	Chelsea - Miagani Island
Synopsis:	Social media magician-slash-star Zachary Zatara and Insta-famous Yap the protest dog meet for the very first time. Tim and Lonnie are there too, I guess.
Cast of Characters:	Tim Drake, Lonnie Machin, Zachary Zatara

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Tim Drake has posed:
    It's so late that it's early. Or is it so early that it's late? Hard to tell. Either way, it's been a hell of a night, and sitting atop the Ultimate Slice with his legs dangling over the edge of the roof is Red Robin. There's a pizza box open next to him, still steaming in the cold night air, and he has a slice cradled in his hands as he chews.

    Artichoke hearts, onion, ham. That last topping is a sign that something is very wrong, because Tim usually sticks to a vegetarian diet. But that's his favorite flavor combination on a pizza, which he usually only eats on his birthday, and here he is eating it.

    Maybe it all has something to do with the blood that's dried around one nostril and the bruise that has already begun to darken around his eye socket, just around the edges of his domino mask.

Lonnie Machin has posed:
    Anarky is hardly glued to Red Robin's hip - far from it. In fact, if Red Robin was around for a bunch of the things Anarky usually does, he'd probably have to stop him. Tonight included dropping off supplies to a bunch of illegal collectives and leaving paint-bombs in some extremely unpleasant places and hacking into the internal security video feed of the offices of a dozen city politicians and business magnates.
    No, not Jim Gordon, Lonnie knows he's clean, even if he is a cop.
    All told, it's been a pretty good night for him, and he's currently racing down a Gotham City road on his motorcycle, headed toward his next destination.

Zachary Zatara has posed:
    It's been... a dreadfully boring day. He actually went to school and it is torture, teachers attempting to teach the young man things he already knows and understands. Zachary even resisted the urge to do spells and play tricks on others, all because his cousin makes claims she's keeping an eye on him. It's a lie! Probably... Maybe... He isn't taking that risk. Luckily, school is over and he lays in his bed sideways, dangling off the sides like a wet noodle. But he is still so bored!

    After a few moments, a light bulb seems to appear above his head and he is up in a flash. Zachary decides to test his new teleportation idea, which involves a summoning circle he may or may not have stolen from a popular... Supernatural show. He strikes a pose, with his eyes shut and yells, "Gnissarah Ydrib ew og!" (Harassing Birdy we go!).

    The magician feels the magic pool around him and pull him to--right next to the god damn edge of a building. "Jesus Christ," Zachary yelps, stumbling backwards and landing on his butt. With his eyes wide, he snaps his attention to Tim, "I could have DIED, that would have been hilarious!"

Tim Drake has posed:
    Tim's mid-chew when Zach pops out of literally nowhere, slightly to the left of him. Behind his mask, his eyes widen slightly, but otherwise he doesn't visibly react. Not until Zach's tipped backwards and managed to not fall over the edge of the building. "I would've been able to catch you," he says, then, as he leans over the edge to look down towards the pavement.

    "...Maybe."

    He sits back, and folds the rest of his pizza slice in half to maintain its structural integrity as he takes his next bite. Wordlessly (on account of him having a mouth full of food) he gestures to the pizza box.

Lonnie Machin has posed:
    Lonnie is continuing to drive - well, no - he stops, long enough to get out to throw paint all over the car of a local sports hero and let the air out of his tires. He even leaves a note. Being good at sports doesn't make someone a role-model for young people! He signs it with an anarchy symbol and a smiley-face.
    Then he takes off on his bike again. Muwahahaha.

Zachary Zatara has posed:
    A grin crosses Zachary's lips when he hears Tim would catch him, "Like how you caught my love?" He waggles his eyebrows before cackling like a gremlin. "Joking, joking, I swear." The magician moves himself back next to Tim, letting his legs hang over the edge.

    He can't help but raise an eyebrow at the pizza, "I thought you didn't eat pizza unless it was your birthday?" Zachary leans over and takes a slice, looking down at the city in front of them. Sometimes, this horrible city looks beautif-, "HAH that guy is vandalizing a car, that's hilarious." Zachary says with his mouthful of pizza, pointing as the guy takes off on his bike.

Tim Drake has posed:
    The slow turn that Tim favors Zach with is the kind seen in horror film reveals. His shoulders hunch up towards his ears and he's faintly grimacing, the corners of his mouth turning downwards, until Zach admits that it's a joke. Well, okay, Tim figures it out when Zach's screeching laughter begins.

    "Special occasion," he admits before taking another bite. And whatever said special occasion is remains a mystery, as Zachary points out a CRIME IN PROGRESS. Tim's nearly up onto his feet before he realizes who it is. Then he looks back down at his pizza.

    After a moment, Tim sits back down. "I think that's my boyfriend." He shoves the crust into his mouth then types out a text to Lonnie, via the touch screen in his left gauntlet:

"that paint job was terrible by your standards."

Lonnie Machin has posed:
    Lonnie is already going down the road, when Tim's text comes through on his visual display. He does talk-to-text as he drives.
    "What- how did you?" He furrows his brow. He's going to need to check if Tim's hidden a camera on him somewhere, he justknows it...

Zachary Zatara has posed:
    Zachary chokes on his pizza when Tim shoots up to his feet, coughing and pounding a fist to his chest to get the pizza bite fully down. Someone obviously forgot who exactly Tim is, even with his entire get up. Although Zachary is in shock when Tim just... sits back down.

    But it soon makes sense with the Birdy's next words, "Oh well... at least he paints nice I guess?" Zachary eats the rest of the pizza slice but doesn't go for another. He simply starts kicking his feet like a kid, "We could follow him if you wanna be a creeper!"

Tim Drake has posed:
    Before Tim answers Zach, he texts Lonnie back:

'and really, a smiley face? low effort. very unimpressive, mr. machin.'

    And if Zach isn't going to have another slice, well... more for Tim. He's still trying to clear the mound of doughy crust from his mouth as he picks up another slice. It takes him a moment of clearing his throat before he can actually talk again. "He does when he tries. That graffiti of Officer Bullock as a zombie chasing after donuts that went around social media awhile back, during October? That was his work."

    Slice in hand, Tim pauses, head tilted to the side. "You want to? My bike's around the corner."

Lonnie Machin has posed:
    I mean even the GCPD Twitter shared that one so the effect might've been somewhat lost.
    "I was in a HURRY." Lonnie says, as he continues to ride along. He grumbles, and says, "One day I'll figure out how you do that." Either way, he's continuing to roll along at a speed that's probably too fast.

Zachary Zatara has posed:
    Zachary gasps, "Oh my god, really? When I made a post on Instagram with it in the background, I got like over half a million likes! I would have tagged him if I knew, I wonder what his username is..." He scrunches his nose after a moment of thought, "Never mind, he probably doesn't have one but it would be really cool if he did."

    The magician clicks his tongue in thought, "What about your pizza?" he asks, snatching another slice while standing up and eating it, "And where is your bike, we can just jump down to it like faeries!" Ready to say the magic words, he always is.

Tim Drake has posed:
    What about the pizza? Well, they're bringing it with them, of course! Tim closes the box up as he stands, assessing the jump down towards the ground.

    At least, that's what he's doing until Zach grabs him, uses said magic words, and then they're floating down at a fast but not dangerous speed towards the sidewalk. "A little warning, next time?" he requests, but soon enough they're on the back of his bike, chasing after Lonnie across the city streets.

    Zach gets stuck holding the pizza while Tim steers, of course.

Lonnie Machin has posed:
    Lonnie takes all the trackers Tim sneaks onto his bike off every night - he's got an uncanny knack for finding them.
    But anyway, he also drives like a madman, through the Batburger drive through where his cash is folded in a pro-unionization flyer, and then he drives back home, to the hideout he's set up at Panessa Studios. He parks in the hidden garage, and walks inside. Yap gets a hamburger, no onions, and the rest of Lonnie's dinner gets tossed onto a table. He walks into another room while Yap eats his burger, numnumnumnum, numnumnum.

Zachary Zatara has posed:
    The magic words of course being, "Dna I'm eerf! Gnillafeerf!" because nothing else is better than freefalling. "Warnings don't keep you on your toes, birdy, you don't wanna become the prey do ya?" Zachary laughs as the pizza is handed off to him and he clutches it for dear life. Ain't no way he's losing this pizza, he can feel Tim threatening thoughts if he does.

    "How do you even know where to go?" the magician can't help but ask/yell as they speed through Gotham.

Tim Drake has posed:
    There aren't any trackers on Lonnie's bike, no. How does Tim know? Hard to say. But it's at Batburger where they catch sight of their quarry once more, and soon enough Tim and Zach pull up to Lonnie's super secret hideout. "We're all creatures of habit," is the vague explanation Tim gives to Zach about how he managed to find the trail.

    In truth, he's been hacked into the Batburger security system for months now, ever since the first time he and Lonnie went there together.

    It's not long before the pizza box joins the Batburger bag on Lonnie's table, and Tim is on his knees, cleaning Yap's face post-hamburger as he introduces the mutt to Zach. "It's good that you two are meeting. You're both Insta-famous."

    Yes, he means the dog. The dog is famous on the internet. Though, why wouldn't he be? Yap is adorable.

Lonnie Machin has posed:
    The dog, a terrier mix with one ear up and one ear down, barks at Zach but greets Tim happily enough, thus is Lonnie's first line of defense bypassed, because however well-trained he might be, Yap is just a dog, whose whippy little tail is wagging back and forth happily as Tim fusses over him. He even has a little tag with an Anarchy symbol that just says 'No Dogs No Masters' on the other side of it.
    He probably doesn't know what that means.

Zachary Zatara has posed:
    Zachary decides it would be best not to question Tim because, well, he doesn't feel like having a conversation with a grade S stalker.

    When they're walking into the hideout, the magician definitely expected to find a much bigger dog guarding the place. What he gets instead is "The cutest baby in the WORLD!" Zachary gets on his knees to scratch Yap behind the ears, which quickly turns into belly rubs. "You are just the absolute most precious thing in the world" he fanboys over Yap, both boys having the best time of their life.

Tim Drake has posed:
    Once Yap's little yapping face is all clean, Tim lets Zach monopolize the dog's attention with all the pettings. Instead, Tim rises to his feet, leaving the two as he goes off in search of Yap's owner.

    "Knock knock," he calls out. Not that he knocked at any point during the whole breaking in process.

Lonnie Machin has posed:
    The dog is indeed the bestest boy, with his leg shaking as Zach rubs his belly. Yes, he is such a good dog! He even pees on policemen on command.
    Meanwhile, Lonnie is still off in another room, somewhere. You'd think his security system would have tipped him off about intruders right now, but maybe Tim's bypassed it or is allowed past it or something. Who knows?
    Right now Yap is licking Zach all over his face, lick lick lick lick.

Tim Drake has posed:
    Leaving Zach and Yap to become best buddies seems like a great idea to Tim. Definitely safe, yes. Neither of them are known for causing trouble, no, not at all.

    In the meanwhile, Tim peels off his domino mask and rubs at the bridge of his nose. Yep, definitely got a good shiner going on there. Somehow the lens on his mask didn't break, though. "I brought pizza."

    Where *is* Lonnie, though?

Lonnie Machin has posed:
    The answer, is when Lonnie comes back out - he'd apparently been getting ready to take a shower, because he's in just his briefs - and then he sees that oh look, TIM brought a GUEST and so Tim's boyfriend, all 6'2" of him, is promptly trying to hide the lower half of himself behind a chair.
    "Hell-TIM!"

Tim Drake has posed:
    And this is how Tim gets a second black eye, because he tackles Lonnie right back out of the room and in his panic manages to slam his face into the corner of a piece of furniture. It is extremely embarrassing.

    The pizza's still good, though. And Tim gets to steal some of Lonnie's fries with extra Jokerized seasoning on them. Silver linings.