Owner Pose
Stephanie Brown It's a fairly hot day. A few clouds float through the sky, though only rarely stopping the sun from beating down. And even then, only briefly. There's just enough breeze to not be windless, but not so much to take the edge off the heat.

Stephanie Brown is wearing a bikini, tanned skin coated with sunscreen as she drifts in a kayak on the lake. She barely is touching the paddles to the water now and then to direct the small boat, leaving a minimum of disturbance on the mostly flat water.

She'd sent out a text inviting anyone by who wished to come. Dick and Stephanie had moved into the lake house a week or two prior after Bruce made it a gift. A picture of the dock with the various kayaks and other small watercraft accompanied the text, the idyllic lake in the backdrop to try to encourage people to come.
Tim Drake     It's by pure coincidence that Tim happens to be at the manor when the text comes in. And that's probably the only reason he shows up. It's not that he's antisocial, it's just that he's... you know, busy.

    Also prone to going on obsessively niche research deep dives that he only surfaces from days later. But thankfully Stephanie's managed to catch him in-between.

    "Pretty sure Damian released a bunch of baby alligators into the lake last year!" Tim shouts from the dock. It's definitely not true but also... not exactly hard to believe, right? He's in running shorts and a t-shirt, and the heat's enough that he's pushed the sleeves up to his shoulders. Not exactly swimming gear, but he does at least ditch his shoes so he can put his feet in the water.

    Which definitely counts as participating in social activities! Right? Even if he's poking at his phone as he sits there.
Stephanie Brown Stephanie looks up, tilting up her sunglasses to her forehead to see Tim without them before letting them plop back down. "Tim! I didn't think I'd actually snare you with my text message. Not unless I told you I had a rare copy of Scientific American or something," she teases.

She dangles her fingers into the water. "No gators, but lots of fish," she says. "If he did have gators here they'd probably all be like Lake Placid, anyway. That boy and big animals," she says, shaking her head.

Stephanie uses her double-ended paddle to turn the kayak about and steer it slowly back towards the dock where Tim is sitting. "There's extra bathing suits inside. Alfred brought out an assortment for guests, made sure everyone had a pair that would fit, of course. Probably monogrammed," she says. "Want something to drink?" she asks as she draws nearer to the dock.
Tim Drake     "I never turn down an opportunity to party," Tim answers. Still yelling but also somehow as flatly deadpan as he ever is, because, seriously? Not that he's fooling anyone that could conceivably be on the Wayne manor property at the moment.

    He tucks one leg up against his chest, only to realize a second or two later that it's just too damn hot for any part of his body to be touching any other part of his body, so he slooooowly lowers it back over the edge of the dock again. Then he leans over the edge to look down into the water. "Wouldn't even be the weirdest animal he's brought home," Tim mutters to himself with a puzzled shake of his head. Is that from the Wayne side of Damian's heritage or the al Ghul?

    Oh let's be real, it's definitely from Bruce. Just a different form of orphan collecting.

    And now Tim has to sit here, that realization in his head. He looks up. "Iced coffee?" he asks, maybe too hopefully, and then because Steph is HERE and he refuses to be cursed by this knowledge alone, says, "Do you think Damian's animal hoarding is just a variant of whatever inherited behavior that prompts Bruce to adopt a bunch of lost kids?"
Stephanie Brown "I never thought about it like that," Stephanie says as she paddles just a bit more quickly than before, until she reaches a spot that is good for coasting into the dock. She pushes down on the kayak with her hands, popping up to her feet. The kayak shakes back and forth as she's standing upright on it, but it isn't enough to move her center of balance. A half year of training, first with Barbara, and then with the rest of the group, has definitely improved on the talents of the former high school gymnast.

Stephanie quickly steps up onto the dock, then leans down to snag the kayak before it can drift, and secures it on the dock. "And yes, iced coffee we can do. I'd claim that I'm so much better at making such things now," she starts to claim. Tim knows her cooking. It's good enough to make one really wish they had ordered takeout instead. "But the truth is, we've got one of those... you know, the German brand. That you just push the button and, perfection," she says.

She stows the paddle and then motions for Tim to join her. Stephanie heads down the smooth dock barefoot and up to one of the smoked glass walls. It retracts smoothly to make an entrance for them into the small, but beautiful lake house. "So what brings you by the estate?"
Tim Drake     Tim's still got his phone out, but he's not actually looking at it. Looking THROUGH it more like, as he struggles to incorporate this new nugget of wisdom into the psychological profiles in his head.

    He's up on his feet a moment later, clearing the space so that Stephanie can step up onto the dock unimpeded. "You and me both. I don't even make my own coffee any more," he says, hands tucking into his pockets. "I used to have a van der Westen but after having to buy a replacement for the third time I kind of gave up." His head droops a little bit, hair falling over his forehead. The very picture of grief. RIP multiple $20,000 coffee machines.

    As Stephanie walks, Tim follows behind, scoping out the lake house for any potential changes she or Dick might have made. He's a snooper, it's just his nature. "I just stopped by to look at a few samples in the vaults for a... uh, friend," he says. Vaguely uncertain about that last bit, by the sounds of it. "Figured I'd make a circuit around the estate for some cardio. Old time's sake, I guess. What've you been up to?"
Stephanie Brown The changes are there, though small. Pictures of the two of them. Of Stephanie's mother, and Dick and Bruce. A picture of all the boys from a previous Christmas together a year or two ago. Various belongings, though overall the place is pretty clean.

Not just clean by Stephanie standards, but clean by everyone's standards. The young woman glances around the place. "I know you can probably hardly believe I live her," she says with a laugh. "I'm trying to not be so... cluttered. Dick's good about it but I can tell he likes things a little more cleanly than my college apartment was. Or my room at mom's."

She goes into the kitchen, which is along one wall with a nice view out that building-length set of windows. They are smoked at the moment so people can't see in. "Finished up with school for the semester. One more year to go. Who'd have thought I'd make it, right?" she asks with a grin. "I still don't know who got me, or the scholarships. I suspect Barbara of the former. Could have been her or Bruce, the latter," she says.

Tim's iced coffee is made first, Stephanie bringing it over to him before making one for herself. "It's so nice and peaceful out here. I've never lived out of a city area before. The quiet? I could get used to it. What about you? And how many of those coffee machines did Cass account for?"
Tim Drake     Even if Tim didn't frequent the lake house beforehand, he has the familiarity with its current occupants -- Dick and Steph both -- to spot the differences. He does the stereotypical picture-snooping, but that's it. For now. If he wants to know more he has subtler methods.

    And it's Tim, so chances are he wants to know more. He can't help it.

    "It's funny, I feel like my apartment's the complete opposite now. I spent a lot of time when I first moved out trying to keep it spotless, but turns out I just made it look like a hotel room." Once in the kitchen, he finds an appropriate counter to lean against, out of the way but still well within coffee range. "Now my crap's everywhere," he adds, nose wrinkling. Judging by the squint to his eyes, he's trying not to laugh.

    Possibly because his "crap" in this instance is a bunch of collectible figures and nerd stuff. Band posters. He's fully regressed to teenagedom, which feels kind of ironic.

    "Please. You think anyone who isn't smart could keep up with this group? You're a lot more clever than you give yourself credit for, and you're also twice as stubborn as any one of us. I knew you could do it."

    He looks at the smoked glass wall with the sort of faraway expression that suggests Tim's picturing the view beyond it in his mind's eye. "Dunno. Maybe I'll get tired of living in the city eventually, but... I don't know if I could do this. Not just being out of the city limits, but, uh... you know. Domesticity." Tim shrugs one shoulder. "Seems like you and Dick are settling into it pretty well, though."
Stephanie Brown Stephanie breaks out in some soft laughter. She moves over to a counter and hops up on it, drawing a foot up but crossing it over the other knee as she takes a sip of the iced coffee. Extra sugar and milk in hers. "We are," she says with a private, very happy smile. "Kind of funny how things end up," she says to the young man who served as her Lamaze coach all those years ago.

"Didn't quite expect this. But it's good. Really good. I'm happy like I don't think I expected. And I'm really like my choice of major. Not just because it'll help out with our extra-curricular activities. And because I can use those to help the GCPD put bad guys away once I'm fully a CSI," she says. "Just have to make it through another year. I've got this," she says with a grin.

"Thanks for the support, Tim. And I mean all of it. Not just the kind words now. But having my back, when we were younger. And even after Bruce tried to make me hang up my cape. The occasional batarang or other gear that went missing for me. Saved my ass on a few occasions."
Tim Drake     Tim makes with the grabby hands as an iced coffee comes his way. And then for a moment or two he can see, hear, really perceive nothing but blessed caffeine. After his first sip, though, Tim's back and paying attention to Steph once again.

    "This is great, thanks," he says first, and then he nods. "Yeah. So much has changed. I mean, when we were still teenagers I didn't exactly have a whole lot of expectations about where my life would lead, but uh..." His weight shifts from one foot to the other and for a moment his expression is shrouded, uncomfortable and hesitant, gaze drifting away. But Tim clears his throat and takes another drink of iced coffee, face placid afterward. "Here we are. It's wild."

    He manages to crack a grin. "Who knows. Maybe with you working with Gordon in the GCPD is exactly the power-house partnership we need. Finally route out the corruption." Very possible a pipe dream, but of all the fantasies Tim could have it's a tame one. And already he can see the basis of a strategy forming as he contemplates that, the influence Steph could assert from her position in the labs...

    Ahem. Plotting can be done another time. "He tried to get me to do the same thing when I first started, you know. Even if he gave up trying to stop me sooner than he did with you. You had just as much, honestly maybe more, right to be out there as I did."
Stephanie Brown Stephanie looks down at her coffee. "I don't know, I'm still not sure what his motivation was. Didn't think I had what it took. Maybe he thought it would somehow push me. Maybe he thought it would push Barbara into stepping forward, as she did with me."

She sits like that for a few seconds, then finally looks back up, and gives Tim a soft smile. "But thanks. Well, here now, however we got here," she says, hopping down from the counter she's turned into a seat. "I'm going to order pizza. Dick should be home from work soon. Why don't you stick around until then and eat with us, sure he'll be happy to see you. Family means a lot to him," she says with a smile.