gotham_knocking | Housewarming

Housewarming

The new apartment awaits its guests. Brand new folding chairs line the walls of the dining room, and the living room is as clean as possible.

Almost everything is ready. Let the housewarming begin!

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Steph giggles. "Well, sort of," she confesses, giving honesty its due. "I mean, he's, like, about ten feet taller than me and twice as wide as that across the shoulders, so our voices are kinda different."

"Ten feet? More like six. But definitely bigger.

"But he's not on the guest list, so you're the hero in charge today." He studies the wine bottle. "I think this is good stuff you got."

Steph giggles. "I don't think he waits for guest lists," she confides, and then grins when he compliments her choice. "Bar's pick. She seemed to think it'd suit you."

"Well, between you and me, beer suits me better. But Raps has been trying to expand my pallet just a bit. I even know how to use a corkscrew." He smirks, trying to show that he's really not quite that hopeless.

"Well, you're one up on me," Steph confesses, grinning. "I shoulda got you an instruction booklet instead, huh?"

"Maybe. Or we can just let Raps teach me." He looks around the place. "Gotta say, having a woman's touch isn't such a bad tihng in my life."

Steph grins. "Yeah? What was it like before?"

"My old place was a mess. Ask Kita. She helped me clean for the move, and earned every penny. It was...standard American bachelor headquarters. It's a wonder Raps never said a thing, but I think she sometimes indulges me.

"Now...well, with any luck we'll keep it form getting the way it was. And we even have a guest room, for anyone from the Bar who needs a night away."

"What about people?" Because hitting people with large sticks is really more Makita's game.

Makita still starts and is already beginning to reach for a pistol (which she's not carrying) before Steph's voice registers. She stands silently for a moment, thinking. "A dead girl who almost died again?" she teases.

Shufti looks up and smiles. She doesn't mind being addressed by either name.

"Hello, and yes. Are you Rapunzel?"

"I am, too! I don't expect to be very good at it, but I bet it'll be fun!"

She grins at Alex, imagining him riding herd over a bunch of kids with baseball bats.

"I am! I was actually at your wedding, but I think you were a bit preoccupied at the time."

She smiles at them both and waves hello to Jack.

"How is married life treating you?"

"It's isn't encouraged, though if no one sees you, I don't suppose it counts."

She doesn't believe for a second that Makita would hit anyone from the bar with a baseball bat on purpose...unless they really deserved it.

"You're gonna try, too?" Alex smiles at Raps, a fleeting vision of her in a well-tailor Mets shirt and shorts rushing through his mind. Before he recalls that Allie can read such things, and he'd rather not share that with her. "So it will be you and me and the kids versus the adults, or do you think we just keep it to the kids to start?"

The grin is returned with a laugh.

"I am going to take a while guess, and say that you must be Steph. I've heard a bit about you, and have been meaning to meet you."

"I'll have to be sneaky about it then."

Makita would only smack someone with a baseball bat if it were life and death. Or really important. Or someone would get hurt if she didn't. Or if they threatened her.

Or if it would be funny.

She smiles conspiratorially at the girl, giving her a proud nod.

"Fantastic! We need to get more players, too, so if you know any of the other younger people in the bar, see if you can interest them in learning a new game. We can all learn together."

She's a little vague on all of the rules, herself.

"Then, once the team gets good enough, we'll challenge that adults at Milliways to a 'friendly' game, and beat them mercilessly at it. We can use it as a fund raiser for the kids in the bar who don't have a way to pay their tabs."

"Hey," Makita raises an eyebrow, "How come you get to be on the winning team?"

"Because I'm a kid at heart?"

She probably should have anticipated that question.

"Maybe I can find someone to turn me into a kid for a day, when we play, to make it fair."

That would take shedding A LOT of years, even if she doesn't look that old.

"Well, I know you want to be on the team that wins," and Makita doesn't doubt that that'll be her team, "But changing your age almost seems to be cheating..."

"Says the girl who wants to hit people with a big stick?"

She raises her eyebrow with a smile.

"We might need to adjust the rules a little. Of course, if there are enough kids to play, I can just stand on the sidelines and cheer and be a coach, or something."

"I need to put the signs up when I come back, so I can find out if all the kids want to come play," she said it thoughtfully, and then looked up. "Unless one of you wants to put them up before I return."

"Hey, that doesn't exactly narrow the possibilities that much," Steph says, although she doesn't want to be reminded of being dead tonight -- not in Gotham, even if it's not home-Gotham -- so there's a bit of a flinch before she speaks. Hidden well, though.

"C'mon, you have to pick better than that."

"Really," Steph says, with a devious sort of expression. "Reeeeeally. You know that's just letting yourself in for a whole world of disaster, right?"

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Housewarming

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