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

[cazamitad]

"Two months of your life wasted, clearly," she agrees with a laugh. He looks so sad - maybe she should offer to go find some lighter fluid...

"I'm Araña. The Hunter, we talked on the Watch when you posted about this."

She glances around, spotting a couple other grilling groups nearby. "You want me to see if anybody else in the park has starter fluid? I see a couple of families just from here..."

[thelittlemerman]

Finnick doesn't blink, but he does tilt his head a little as he looks at Teddy, trying to evaluate his intentions. He's developed an ability to tell when people want to be around him and to what degree, but there's a significant difference between the way Capitol people express themselves and the way everyone else does, so he's not totally sure.

After a moment and a thoughtful smile, he says, "Sure. I need to acclimatize myself. That is, if you don't mind."

[hugling]

Teddy's own observational skills are pretty awesome and there are only like 6 Alternians in LA, so it's not that hard to recognize the Alternian from the park from a couple months ago. Also, domino masks are kind of shitty. Teddy has an inner moment of panic - he can't remember if he told the guy his name or not - not, he decides as he turns around to face him.

"Hey, you're the Alternian guy."

Shit. He really shouldn't have slipped up with his secret identity like that. What a rookie mistake, Flying Mammal Man would sooner let the Humorist kidnap Bluetit and burn down Punkham than step in it so badly.

"It's uh, my name is Hulkling. Not 'the Skrull guy.'"

[hugling]

He perks right up at her introduction, even cracking a smile. "Right! It's nice to meet you in real life, Araña. We talked about old Latina neighbor ladies too, I think, like ages ago. That was you, right?"

Teddy glances over at the nearest grilling family, who have been eyeing the crowd of superheroes nervously. "Yeah, maybe. They'd probably be less scared of you than of me."

[hugling]

Shit. Teddy grins, ever polite. "Yeah, totally. I work a lot of afternoons and evenings so my patrol schedule is kind of irregular, but I can drop you a message on the watch or something next time I head out."

As a Kree/Skrull hybrid, Teddy probably could swallow his own foot if he tried hard enough. What he really wants now though is for the ground to swallow him up, or maybe for a giant bird to swoop down and carry him off. Why does his mouth have to say stupid things?

[liberaition]

Kit tucks her hair behind her ear, smiling to herself at the girl giving her the once over. She knows she's not supposed to, but Kit likes the stares. Her enhancements make her physically better than the average organic human, there's nothing wrong with showing that off.

"It sounds like you have this very well thought out, then. You say publish-- are you a blogger? A photojournalist?"

Barely even thinking about it, Kit reaches out to Miko's phone with her mind. Unless it's encrypted, it'll only take a few seconds for her to download copies of all the photos she has.

[cazamitad]

"Dios, you're right, that was you!" She laughs, her nose wrinkling. "I had almost forgotten, probably 'cause you went off to space or classified reasons and weren't around to chat with."

She stands and stretches, waving with a grin at the uncertain soccer mom watching them. With her non-cyborg hand. "I can give it a shot. If they're too nervous, I could always send mija over. A wide-eyed six-year-old can put any soccer mom at ease."

[pullingamiko]

"Second one; I mean it's not all photos, but that's mostly what I do. Anyway, yeah, I work for the Times!"

There's pretty much no sort of security on the phone. Miko has taken pictures of just about everybody there, and a few shots of groups, mostly from a distance and occasionally motion-blurred or obstructed, though she's already cut out most of the really bad ones. There aren't any pictures from the previous day or earlier - those have already been moved to her laptop.

[thelittlemerman]

Finnick's not entirely sure how he wants this to go. He should have some allies, but he doesn't have to go about it like this. He's not even totally sure that Hulkling is attracted to him, though he'll figure it out soon enough, and at that point he'll be up front. For now, he needs friends. He needs people who don't hate to be around him. So this is going to happen.

"Yeah, alright," he says, nodding and giving Teddy a grin. "But it'll have to be soon, or I'll die of boredom."

[thelittlemerman]

Finnick takes a steadying breath and looks around. "Just... leave me alone, alright?"

[alienheroes]

Ben almost takes offense at that for a moment, and opens his mouth to say so, a look of frustration visibly crossing his face, but... it hadn't occurred to him that Finnick may just want him to go away. He can't imagine why he would want that, of course, because Ben considers himself to be incredibly enjoyable company to anyone who's not a total loser.

All the same, he backs off, slouching a bit and dangling his arms awkwardly in the absence of pockets to shove them into. "Right... sure. Sorry, man." He turns to go pester someone else who may be more conducive to it.

[10thingsihateaboutme]

Karkat considers him for a moment, and then shrugs, and says, "Yeah, okay. I'm Reaphook. You know, with the Trailblazers." There is every chance this guy does not know, of course, and Karkat is well aware – although being conspicuously Alternian makes him one of the more recognisable trainees, the most notable and newsworthy thing he's actually done lately is get briefly kidnapped by TRIDENT...

[hellacold]

Jon does not trust this barbecue idea at all; even if it is legit and not a trap it is still a huge target for any enterprising supervillains. Also, it is difficult to eat with a bandanna over your mouth. He lurks around the edge of the party area, eying the festivities suspiciously.

[scribes]

That might explain why Vanessa wanted to form her own little group of heroes. If what Teddy said was true then certain criminals could slip under the radar of others. CONDOR and the Trailblazers couldn't do everything.

"Not a problem, I'm glad to help." It'd be shame to go to a gathering with food only to have there be...no food.

"There anything else I can do?"

[thelittlemerman]

Finnick looks quite happy to be here as he strolls up to stand beside Jon, and it's only mostly an act. Learning about superheroes has been an interesting experience, but right now he's amused that Jon looks just as sour as he always does.

"You look like you're enjoying yourself."

[hellacold]

Jon just turns to him and raises his eyebrows, not saying anything.

[thelittlemerman]

Finnick smirks. "What, am I annoying you already?"

[superball]

Eusine's -sorry, the Mysticalman's - contribution to this giant barbecue party is bread. Loads and loads of bread. Real bread he'd say, if anyone asked him, because he'll happily indulge the hon hon hon baguette eiffel tower stereotype if it means his sausages don't end up in one of those disgustingly sweet rolls.

Of course, it might be more convincing if his bread loaves weren't weirdly lumpy and slightly burnt on top. They kind of look like they were made by someone absolutely inept at cooking but who tried really hard, which is - surprise! - exactly what happened. They don't taste bad, at least, which is a pleasant surprise.

He's not just here for food though. He can be found pretty much all over the place, strutting around as if he were a human-shaped peacock. Someone starts a group activity? Yeah! Team sports? Yeah!! Imposing himself on people who obviously don't feel like being approached? YEAH!!!

[bombsheltered]

Milly's there in her full Starbreaker costume, all up in that superhero socialization. Thrilled to have Hulkling back on the planet again, she's bubbly and energetic, flitting all over the place to help with the cooking, chatting up any familiar faces, and making sure the balloons don't come undone and fly off. It's been a weird couple of weeks, honestly, so she's happy for the chance to decompress and rub elbows with some superhero types without anyone's lives on the line. She can be found starting up a game of frisbee too, although anyone without the power of flight might be at a disadvantage.

[bombsheltered]

"Hulkling!" Milly breaks away from a conversation with another hero to bound over to Teddy, grinning as she slings an arm around his shoulders. She's no good for helping with the fire, but honestly, who cares? She just wants to hang out with one of her best friends, especially after he'd been gone for so long. Sure, they'd spent some time catching up while she helped him get things ready, but that's not nearly enough. "Have I mentioned how happy I am to see you around here again? Seriously, no checking out like that again for a while, okay? I missed you!"

[hellacold]

Jon shakes his head and rolls his eyes, but he appreciates the attention.

"Is that why you're here?"

[squanderlust]

Meanwhile Severa just thinks the whole thing is dumb. She's been skulking around too, mostly keeping to herself and, at one point, spitefully eating a hot dog. Fancy meeting Longclaw here. She nods at him and slows to a stop. Maybe she'll hang out with him or something.

[hellacold]

He catches her eye and nods.

"Hey."

[squanderlust]

"Hey."

That's right, the peak of conversation going on here. She sidles a little closer to him, trying not to raise her voice too much.

"No weapons? I thought this was supposed to be fun."

[hellacold]

He ducks his head and laughs a little.

"The burgers are all right."

Good job Jon.