Open RP: A Good Old-Fashioned Kansas BBQ

[mutantwatch]

ooc: takes place Friday afternoon. Everyone is welcome!Washington DC doesn't see many perfect summer days. It's a city that lends itself more to a steely gray atmosphere, to faint, depressing drizzle that lasts for weeks, to granite monuments shrouded in fog. Today, however, the sun has won out against both politics and history, and has burst

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[doug_ramsey]

Doug has snagged himself a hotdog from the barbecue, and is currently wielding a ketchup bottle with deadly accuracy. He wanders over to the music center, feeling that the atmosphere really needs some Europop to make the occasion complete.

Currently, the speakers are blasting out Teenagers, and the boy manning the music is getting a few strange looks from the adults at the party.

"Hi!" Doug says. "You don't have any food."

The boy looks at him. "I already had some."

"Oh. You like My Chemical Romance?"

"Yeah. You want me to shut it off?"

Doug searches the garden for Kelly. "Nah. Baby isn't crying yet. You're probably safe." He stretches out a hand. "I'm Doug. One of my boyfriends used to work for Senator Kelly."

The boy looks like he's about to salute, but shakes Doug's hand instead. "John. Uh. One of my dads went to school with him."

"You have two dads?"

"You have two boyfriends?"

Doug shrugs. "Fair point."

[doug_ramsey]

"Hi JP," Doug says, beaming. "I was just talking to John, here..."

"Um, I'll fix it," John says very quickly, hopping off his amp and going to fiddle with the CD changer. "Sorry, sir."

That's military academy discipline for you. He probably thinks JP is about to make him run laps.

Doug holds up the remains of his hotdog. "Did you eat yet? These are pretty good."

[john_movinon]

"Hey, what's going on?" John (the one formally known as Pyro) asks, frowning as he walks up to his boyfriends and some kid that was playing music. "Why are you changing it. There was actually some good music being played. Got any Rise Against?"

John doesn't seem to think that emo music and/or politically-based metal seems to be a problem for a child's bbq.

[kon_man]

Kon touches down in the center of the garden, right into the middle of a group of kids who seem to have very, very wide eyes behind their superhero masks.

"So... what?" he asks. "Do you want autographs or something?"

The biggest of the kids pushes back his Iron Man mask. "You just... flew, man."

Spider-Man sighs. "This is Conner, Joel. He's Superboy." She jumps up to poke at the S-shield on Kon's chest. "See!"

Iron Man is unconvinced. "Really? I thought that whole Superman thing was a myth."

"I'm not a myth!" Kon says, rather indignantly.

"Well, prove it!"

Kon blinks. "Dude, I just flew into your garden, what more do you want?"

Spider-Man, despite the mask, looks hopeful. "Can we go flying?"

Suddenly, Kon has two small hands thrust into his. He groans. "Kelly's going to kill me."

[mutantwatch]

It doesn't take Robert - or, indeed, anyone - long to realize that a certain member of the Teen Titans is giving children flights around the garden. Although the kids seem perfectly happy, their parents (who have probably never seen a flying man before) are more than a little worried.

"Thanks, Conner," Robert says quickly when he next lands. "Why don't you get something to eat before you give the kids motion sickness?"

[rattle_thecages]

Rachel smiles sadly inside her office, which has been pandemonium since the death of another ADA. And, in her very efficient Rachel way, soon finds just the right thing for her to send to the Kellys. The blessed christening blanket has a prayer woven around all four satin edges:

Lord, surround this child with goodness,
lead him in Your light each day;
Let him walk the path You've chosen,
guide his steps along the way .
Teach him to trust your wisdom and Your loving plan;
Keep him from all harm,
and protect him as he grows to be a man

The card is simple, but honest:
Have a wonderful day, and congratulations.
~Rachel Dawes

[mutantwatch]

A return card comes back the very next day:

Dear Rachel,

We're sorry that we didn't get to meet you on this occasion. Your gift is beautiful and wonderfully thoughtful, and we deeply appreciate it.

Hoping to see you soon,

Bobby, Nic, Beth, and Dylan

[guardian2]

The Guardian suit doesn't allow Heather to fly as fast as some people - its top speed is Mach 1. She'd booked a hotel room in town and arrived there Friday morning, citing "creating political connections" as her excuse for taking the day off back at Department H.

Which she supposes isn't exactly untrue. Senator Kelly is an interesting figure, and she is pleased to get the chance to meet the man rather than the public persona.

Heather has dressed up - for her, anyway - in a simple sundress, and she hopes she doesn't seem TOO out of place aming family and friends. She finds herself a spot to sit and eat her hotdog, and watches.

[mutantwatch]

Robert doesn't often keep track of the people he meets online, but he knows who Heather is instantly - the cue of the red hair probably helps.

"Hi," he says, thrusting out a hand (the other is holding Dylan against his shoulder. "You must be Heather. I'm Bobby. And this is my son."

[guardian2]

Heather takes Robert's hand and shakes it, smiling wide. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Senator. I mean Bobby. Bobby's okay? And yes, I'm Heather Hudson, it's so nice to meet you! Uhm, I said that. And your son! Dylan, right? He's adorable!"

Heather hasn't been out socially in a while. It kinda shows. But she means well!

[mutantwatch]

Robert is grinning at her. "Bobby's fine. Pretty much anything is, in fact. And, yes, this is Dylan."

Dylan yawns.

"So you flew down from Canada?" He does his best not to look too bemused. "Do you have to file a flight plan first?"

[only_pepper]

It'd been years since she'd been to a barbeque, and as she tries to think back, she doesn't think she's ever been to a family one. Her mother would have a heart attack at the thought of cooking on a grill.

Looking around the backyard, she recognizes a few people but doesn't immediately go up to anyone. She likes to people watch, gage the situation before saying anything. Plus, she has no idea who will be her future co-workers and has no interest in saying the wrong thing this early.

Hiking her purse higher up on her shoulder, she strolls in and smiles at a few people, trying to find the man of the hour: Dylan Kelly.

[mutantwatch]

Aha, another redhead (or possibly blonde - it's hard to tell in this light). And at least Robert has actually met this one, even if he was a little wet and wearing borrowed clothes at the time.

"Pepper!" he says. "Hi. Great that you could make it."

[only_pepper]

Smiling widely as she turned to see Robert, she is glad to see he is wearing clothes that fit properly.

"Hello, Robert. Thank you for the invitation. And now that I've seen you, I'll be able to guess a size for the next set of clothes I set out."

She hates how she's feeling nervous. It's not even Robert that's setting her off, it's the family thing. She really has no idea what to do. Running her hands through her strawberry-blonde hair, she says, "Oh, and I took the liberty of donating to the charity you mentioned. I won't tell you how much, because that would be gauche of me, but I'm sure they're happy about it."

[mutantwatch]

"I'm sure they are," he says. "Thank you. Really. Dylan's going to owe you a thank-you note in about five years."

Dylan, resting against his dad's shoulder, doesn't seem to have an opinion on this.

"Did you get anything to eat yet?" Robert asks. He gets the impression that she feels a little out place. "Jamie's not a bad chef. Really."