SUPER BARBECUE SUPER BARBECUE SUPER BARBECUE [open as heck]

[hugling]

Who: SUPER HEROES!!!!!
Where: Ernest E. Debs Regional Park!
When: Sunday!
What: SUPER BARBECUE
Warnings: Superheroes...



It's a pleasant evening at Ernest E. Debs Regional Park, just a couple miles from downtown LA, which can be seen through the haze. Late March means spring is just arriving in LA and the trees are just starting to bud. Unfortunately, the grass is still kind of dead and dry.

The barbecue and picnic area isn't too busy, though the park does have the usual assortment of joggers, dog walkers, and cyclists. There are some balloons tied to picnic tables, and strung between two trees is a very homemade "SUPER BBQ" banner, courtesy of Hulkling and Starbreaker. There's still glitter glue on Milly's apartment floor. There's another posterboard with the rules written on it in big bold sharpie letters nearby, just in case anyone forgets:

• Don't be a jerk!!!
• Keep your weapons holstered please.
• Do not trash the park!
• ABSOLUTELY NO FIGHTING
• Anyone caught fighting will be asked to leave!
• Really don't be a jerk!

[OKAY GUYS!!! mingle! have fun! maybe some THINGS WILL HAPPEN, whoooo knows!]

Comments

[10thingsihateaboutme]

"Huh," says Karkat. "So they're not, like, invading or whatever? Basically every time some alien guys show up on this planet it's to invade it." But he doesn't sound doubtful, about that; he's willing to take Sollux at his word. He looks a little relieved, if anything; Sollux is probably getting along better with big space robots who treat him like an adult than he was at the Trailblazers', and even if that does make Karkat feel kind of weird and sad, it's good to think he's doing okay, and have a better idea of what he's doing. Helping out other aliens seems like a good start.

"... How many of them are there, though?"

[nitrodamus]

"Like five," Sollux says, after a moment. He's already said this much, and he doesn't actually want to hide it from Karkat. It's nice having someone to talk to stuff about with. "But don't spread it around, okay. They don't want any more shit from humans after what happened to BD."

[10thingsihateaboutme]

Oh, okay then. Five definitely doesn't sound like an invasion force; definitely nothing worth worrying about, even if he was inclined to report anything to the authorities. "No shit," he says. "I'm not telling them where you are, I won't tell them where these guys are." He pauses. "BD? Is that the one who escaped from TRIDENT-?"

[nitrodamus]

"Yeah," he says. "His name is Breakdown. He's pretty cool. That Earth puppy that's been running around is his. His robot matesprit bought it for him for some reason."

[10thingsihateaboutme]

He looks sort of surprised. "Robot matesprit? Do robots do quadrants?"

[nitrodamus]

"Not really, but I asked him if him and Knock Out were dating and he said they weren't, but like, in a way that I think basically meant they were unspokenly pale. But then they started fucking in the med bay every night so what the hell do you know, right."

[10thingsihateaboutme]

"... Huh," says Karkat thoughtfully. "So, like, a flip, or –?" He frowns. "What kind of cultural context do they even have for that sort of shit?" His eyes are behind a mask, but he is nonetheless getting that Look where if he had a notepad or something, he would be reaching for it. A brief pause. "Do robots seriously actually fuck?"

[nitrodamus]

"Yeah, I basically saw them do it. They just don't fucking spray genetic fluid everywhere afterwards since they aren't even fertile. It is the loudest fucking horseshit I have ever heard though."

[starscheme]

"...suck ups," Starscream mutters between slowly decreasing fits of laughter.

[10thingsihateaboutme]

Karkat wrinkles his nose a little, but he looks fascinated. "Are you shitting me," he says, but he seems less interested in the actual mechanics of the thing than... well. "So what, like, that's a new thing? Or he just said it wasn't anything when they were robot bulgetangling this entire time?"

[nitrodamus]

"No. I guess I just asked him, he told me no, and then immediately changed his fucking mind about it and banged the shit out of that sports car. I can't claim to fully understand the ways of their people but from my understanding, that was a fine piece of painfully rigid robot ass."

[10thingsihateaboutme]

Karkat gives a thoughtful, buzzing hum. "Maybe he just hadn't thought about it until you said something," he suggests, clearly more interested than is really warranted. "Do you know why they even do it? Like, if you said they aren't fertile..."

[nitrodamus]

"Yeah I dunno maybe he just realized what an amazing idea it was after he failed to consider it for like a thousand consecutive sweeps. I am the exact kind of kraft fresh perspective these robots need."

And he raises an eyebrow.

"And I don't fucking know man I even asked one of them how they make grubs and it was some bullshit about puddles of robot magic on their homeworld that they just spring out of fully formed."

[nailsandglass]

And Matilda does just that, happily hanging off his arm and swinging her little legs.

"I like Speed. It's simple and fitting!" Cause boy was he ever that. Living with Tommy had given her much more opportunity to see him at work and it was impossible to keep up with him most of the times.

Matilda couldn't really think of anything that was simple and fit her abilities but it'd come to her eventually.

"Do you know any of the heroes here?"

[crotcharrow]

He swings her a few times, laughing, before he puts her back down carefully. He's glad she's seemed to settle in nicely with their little family. God knows what would have happened to her if he'd left her on the streets, plus, having her around was awesome. He'd deny it if anyone asked, but feeling like a big brother was kind of cool.

"What about Mystic M?" he offers, grinning at her before looking out over the heroes that were gathered, shoving his hands into his pockets.

"Not really. I kinda stay away from heroes. They don't really like vigilantes who aren't signed up to their stupid roster. I only came because there was free food promised."

[crotcharrow]

Yeah, way to go Chris. Try not to stare at the guy stealing all the food as fast as he can.

Tommy gives a rough shrug, looking back over some of the empty containers he'd consumed the contents of.

"Uhh, the burgers are good?" he seems like he's not entirely sure.

[nailsandglass]

Matilda finds her balance easily once set down, and at the suggestion her eyes go wide with delight. "Oh! That's perfect!" So mysterious! She wondered if an alias would help her much at this point in her life. People would still question why someone of her age was doing vigilante work regardless of how professional she seemed and if she tried to keep up a secret identity.

Still, it was nice to have one, even if it would only really work later in life.

Matilda considered the other super heroes. She had thought that they all got along well, considering they had the same wish to protect innocents but it seemed like it was more complicated than that.

"Why don't they like us? We're just doing the same thing."

[10thingsihateaboutme]

"What the hell," Karkat says, staring at him. "Well fuck, no wonder this guy is complete shitwipe garbage at romance, if they don't even need to do it – I mean, the alternative is he's just been sitting on this shit for a thousand consecutive sweeps and he only decided to bother doing anything about it because you brought it up like it was actually feasible." He grimaces. "Do the rest of them blow at it this bad?"

[bombsheltered]

"Ooh, a new guy, huh?" Milly laughs, flying lazy figure eights in the air as they toss the frisbee back and forth. "Yeah, L.A.'s pretty ripe for the cape circuit. So just how new are you, exactly?"

After all, the guy doesn't exactly look human. That could mean a lot of things, but hey, there are plenty of space aliens around here.

[bombsheltered]

"Black, white, whatever," Milly snaps, rolling her eyes right back at him. "I'm pretty sure most people would agree you're evil, but everyone here would agree you're a creep. What I want to know is why you're here. I mean, it's not like you'd have any friends here, so..."

[alienheroes]

"Been around a couple weeks; kinda hard to adjust to a new ci- system. New solar system, I mean." Flawless save. The best strategy is to always emphasize how he's totally an alien.

"So what about you? Sounds like you've lived here a while - the city I mean, but probably Earth too. Got any advice for a 'new guy'?"

[bombsheltered]

Milly's eyes light up behind her domino mask, a little in self-satisfaction, because she totally nailed it. This guy is definitely an alien!! There is no way that she could possibly be wrong about that, nope.

"Yeah, I grew up here. My only advice? Make sure you get In-N-Out. You know, if you can eat Earth food." Milly looks at him thoughtfully as she twirls the frisbee in her hand before tossing it back to him. "Are you with CONDOR?"

[alienheroes]

Oh, he can definitely eat Earth food. Or he's assuming he can anyway, as she would have found if she had caught him a few minutes prior.

"Nah, I mainly work solo," he says quickly. Ben's made a point of not getting in contact with CONDOR; he has no idea how they would react to the watch, and he doesn't really care to find out anyway.

He hesitates, realizing that his answer didn't come out quite right. "Well, not solo solo, I'm definitely up for team-ups and stuff, just- not with CONDOR."

He sort of feels like this might be going downhill. Just a little. Crap.

[crotcharrow]

"You know why it's perfect? 'Cause it's my idea," he says, smirking at her. As she continues he gives a short sigh and looks over to the other mingling heroes.

"This kinda stuff has rules. And they don't like it when people don't sign up to be part of their gang to follow them."

[superball]

"I see!" It pleases Eusine's ego to know that he totally hit the nail right on the head when he guessed that person was an alien. Not that pleasing his ego is hard, of course. "What is it like? Is your fauna and flora anything like ours?"

He has so many questions. Tell him everything, alien friend.