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

[nitrodamus]

Sollux just grins.

Then he winks at Breakdown.

[buffedthat]

Well, there's a dumb challenge. Breakdown doesn't even have to look over, just keeps his attempt at not smirking contained to Sollux's general direction.

"Easy. He's got darker skin than yours does. Dark eyes, real short hair, nose is a little wider at the bottom. And he's dressed pretty nice."

[buffthis]

Clearly mollified, Knock Out gives Starscream an unbearably smug look, patting Breakdown on the arm. "See?" he says to Starscream, sneering. "It's not that hard. You just have to use your senses."

[thanksoptimus]

Orion catches it, albeit sort of awkwardly, by sandwiching it between his palms instead of anything more graceful. He tosses it back to her, and manages to get the spin going properly this time. They volley it back and forth a few times, until - at some point - the sight of a burly man wearing spikey armour catches Orion's eye from across the field.

The frisbee hits Orion square in the forehead and bounces off and into the grass. The impressive thing is that Orion is completely non-responsive to it and just keeps staring.

[liberaition]

Kit is hanging out at one of the less crowded picnic tables, sipping a hard lemonade and resting her leg. It's definitely bothering her, and after this she has to make it all the way home. Still, taking painkillers could affect her reaction times, which is not ideal. The boozy lemonade helps though, and for now she's content to sit and observe the barbecue, occasionally recording interesting eavesdropping tidbits on a tiny camera embedded in her hand.

[hugling]

Teddy is about to say something about this being really cheap meat and probably full of bacteria, but he figures Reaphook probably knows what he's doing, and just hands over a half-raw meat disc.

"I mean, hopefully they're not dumb enough to show up with like half of LA's superheroes all in one place. I'm pretty sure we could take them all in like ten minutes and get back in time for some cake. Team Magma are pretty bad at actually fighting."

It's true, they are.

[starscheme]

If looks could kill, Knock Out would be on his way to the well-of-all-sparks right about now.

"I-- well he had more time to think about it, plus a point of reference to compare to!" He pauses a beat. "And I still fail to see how this is a necessary skill to have anyway!"

[nitrodamus]

A WIZARD comes up behind her, and gets onto the spot on the seat next to her. This is probably very confusing for a moment, until it starts speaking in Sollux's very notable, heavily accented English.

"Hey, what you doing?"

[nitrodamus]

"Dude, you're on a planet covered in humans," he says. Now he's just kind of incredulous. "Look, here's a pro tip: when a human asks you about another humans, don't insert things like 'human hair' or like...'human skin' when describing them. I know it's super tempting but people might just start thinking you're an alien."

[liberaition]

Kit is indeed confused by the Wizard and starts to lean away, but then it's Sollux, so it's fine.

"Checking Twitter. What are you doing? Why are you dressed like a weird monk?"

[hugling]

It's probably something to do with the muscles and the debonair attitude.

"I was kind of off-world, actually. Alien stuff." Okay, so maybe Teddy can't resist bragging just a tiny bit about going to space, but he was basically raised on Star Trek. How could he not?

[nitrodamus]

"Because I'm go to jail otherwise," he says. "But not as a wizard. Wizard don't go to jail." He tips his wizard hat a little in way of explanation.

[starscheme]

Starscream's lip curls. "What I mean is that I do not see myself ever being in a situation where a matter of life or death hinges on me being able to describe the appearance of some random human being to another person. I can still tell them apart just fine--" suddenly he realizes how ridiculous this entire fucking conversation is and just lets out an exasperated growl and palms a hand to his forehead.

[liberaition]

What.

"Please explain. Why do people want to put you in jail?"

Nobody is allowed to put Sollux in jail. Shouldn't CONDOR already have dealt with this, anyway?

[nitrodamus]

"Okay, well," Sollux says, after a moment. "You should probably stop making faces like that, though. No actual human face does that."

[nitrodamus]

"Oh," he says after a moment, realizing he's left pertinent details out.

"I wrecked the collar, and flew away. CONDOR doesn't know where I am. Probably mad."

[liberaition]

Honestly, Sollux and Newt both. Boys always leave out all the important information. Kit rolls her eyes.

"I see. I can help you hide from CONDOR, you know. I have connections, you should have told me. Our emails are secure."

[thanksoptimus]

Orion has broken away for the moment, trying to get a closer look at the gang of hoodlums surrounding the large man in the spiky cape. He's not sure if he's just more invested in his perceived observation than he should be, or even if he's hoping that's who he thinks it is. There's no reason to want him there, even if it was reasonable. That is foolish nonsense. Stupid.

From the outside he just appears to be a jadeblooded troll woman stalking some human guys, looking kind of awkward and embarassed.

[bigfuckinggun]

Megatron arrives.

From what information he has gleaned about this gathering, it should not be tremendously out of place for an attendee to simply materialise there, so why beat around the bush? One second there is nobody there, and then quite suddenly there is a huge dude with a floor length purple cape hanging off his massive shoulders. Where everybody else decided to set their avatars to 'dressed like normal people', Megatron has gone the whole hog in his effort to 'blend in'. There is spandex. There is a mask/helmet combo. There's a lot of purple. The spikes on his shoulders are, true to form, taller than his head. He looks more like a really intense supervillain than anything else, but this is a nuance he has apparently failed to pick up on.

He surveys his assembled warriors with a look of great distaste. He cannot believe you people.

[starscheme]

Megatron's sudden appearance is startling, to say the least, and it takes Starscream a moment to recognize who he is.

Once he does though, the burst of laughter he lets out is loud, obnoxious, and uncharacteristically non-menacing.

[nitrodamus]

"I dunno what you're laughing about dude," Sollux says, after taking a moment to adjust. "I'm pretty sure he just won. Everybody else fails."

[nitrodamus]

"Yeah, I get this," Sollux says with a sigh. "But I didn't want to talk about it so much. I'm okay, but I like that you are normal for me, kind of."

[hellacold]

Jon has pretty much exhausted the things he has to say to Finnick, so he sort of half shrugs, half nods.

"I'm glad to hear you're settling in," he says. Is that even what Finnick is saying? Whatever.

[thelittlemerman]

Finnick raises his eyebrows, successfully pulling of a thoughtful nod when in his head he's having a minor crisis about the amount of knowledge he should have about aliens. Clearly 'alien stuff' is supposed to be relatively impressive but not altogether shocking.

"So what does that entail? It's all boring diplomacy, I imagine," he says with a wry smile. It's supposed to sort of be a joke, but with a bit of sympathy in case it really is boring diplomacy and not the exciting space adventures he's picturing.

[starscheme]

Starscream does not have any response to that, he is far too busy trying to keep his laughter under control, dulling it down to a rude snickering.