gotham_knocking | Housewarming

"Hey, kid. What kept you?" It's not so much that she's late as that Knox figured she'd be first, given that it's Gotham and all.

~~"Oh, my mun's a giant flake," Steph says, rolling her eyes.~~

Steph offers him the bottle, and looks a bit sheepish. "...had to work up the courage," she admits, screwing her face up expressively. "Don't tell anyone," she leans in to whisper, "but apparently coming to visit a different version of your home is kind of scary."

Well, it was mostly that she wasn't sure she'd still be corporeal, because it's so similar to her Gotham. It's an immense relief to find that sheis.

"Oh." He really didn't think that Steph would be scared of anything. He should have given it some more thought. "Well, it IS Gotham. And that's plenty scary as it is.

"Or it would be on the other side of the border. This here is Bristol, and word is, it's not scary." He smirks.

Steph grins at him. "Well, if anything does get scary, you totally have a bona-fide Bat-trainee. ... Okay, and Rachel and, like, a zillion others who'd kick more ass, but I totally claim first hit if there's anything creepy.

"This. Is. My. Town."

Her Batman impersonation would be dead on if her voice were a few octaves deeper.

Too bad Knox has never heard the Bat talk. "Oooh, that's creepy, too. That's what he sounds like?

"You get first dibs. Don't worry."

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."

"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?"

"Probably. But the city can bill me, I can always get new furniture, and worse comes to worst, I can sneak down to police headquarters and turn on the signal." He looks totally calm. Clearly, he's never actually had a teenaged daughter.

Steph giggles. "You're totally still letting Kita and I stay a night, right? Unless I start fading away, that'd kinda suck."

"You two are welcome anytime. As long as you let me know in advance so I can make sure Raps is here, too." It's mcuh better that the neighbors don't think he's some kind of perv. Which in the Gotham area is a fair assumption, sadly.

"Fade away?"

"I start going all ghost-y if I stay out of Milliways too long," Steph explains, and changes the subject quickly back to Rapunzel. "So is she gonna be here? Am I gonna get to meet her? Should I be on my best behaviour?"

"Yes, yes, and I don't think that will help one bit." He smirks at Steph. "Be yourself. Never mnd that she was once a princess. She's just people. And she was a teenager once, too. Just long before TV or proms." He bets that the teenaged Rapunzel would have loved to have had a few friends like Steph instead of a one room flat in a tower.

"So that means I can tell her all the embarrassing stories about you I can remember, right?" Steph teases.

"Yup. I bet she knows half of them already." Not like he embarrasses easily. "Just make sure you get the details rights. Embarrassing is one thing. Incorrect? That's omething else."

"Oh, c'mon, it's no fun if I don't get to make bits up to improve the story."

"No fun, but facts are facts. Besides, I am sure that the facts do the trick for a man like me."

Steph grins. "Sure, Al. Sure they will."

"Al? Do I look like an Al to you?" He seems genuinely offended.

Well, not so much offended as merely bemused and surprised.

Housewarming

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