2376/Stark and Rogers Family BBQ

Stark and Rogers Family BBQ
Date of Scene:	03 June 2015
Location:	New York-199999
Synopsis:	Two Starks and two Rogers get to enjoy some tasty bbq food, all while getting acquainted.
Cast of Characters:	20, Steve Rogers, 301, 796

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Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    Okay, TODAY she is home in time for dinner!

    After a successful rescue it is a rather tired, but happy earthbender that arrives home in Malibu. Even if she's partially smeared with grease, her casual clothes sweaty as she stomps in the front door. "I'm HOOOME!" she calls out, just in case her adoptive father did not hear Jarvis alerting him to her successful return. And hey, she's not even injured or coughing today! Which is always a plus, as she hates spending nights in medical.

    Even more when there are promises of delicious food!

    Without stopping by her room, Toph is just about to head out towards the patio, only to halt when Jarvis speaks up. "Miss Beifong, do make sure you are clean. Mister Stark asked me to make sure you helped contribute as he has both hands full manning the grill." In response the girl groans, then sighs. But after all this time she knows better than to argue. "Fiiiine." So she throws both hands up and heads off to her room to get cleaned up.

    Not too many minutes passes by as she walks out on the patio, carrying a large tray with plates, cutlery, glasses and some of the non-grilled food items, as well as several cans of beverages. "I wasn't /too/ late today!" Toph greets Tony where he is busy working his food magic on the main food items for tonight. And once she has set the tray down she works on setting the table. Her hair is still partially wet, but at least she doesn't smell anymore and she's wearing clean clothes.

Tony Stark (301) has posed:
Tony Stark is not a particularly happy person this evening, feeling torn between worry, annoyance, and no small amount of guilt that he wasn't there to help Toph out himself in what was evidently a very difficult and dangerous mission. Nevertheless, barbecue was promised, and so he stabs at the coals burning in the fire pit with a kind of focused ferocity, as if by abusing the fire he can dismiss his own frustrations. The platter of meat sits nearby, dripping with marinade and ready to be thrown on the grill, and even raw it already smells delicious. Which is why Buster is meowing pathetically from behind the closed patio door.

Until Toph comes out with her arms loaded with utensils and food, at which point the cat darts out around her ankles and makes a beeline for the platter of meat, pulling up just short of his prize to eyeball the jump warily, with a look toward his owner, trying to judge a pounce for when Stark isn't looking.

Tony sees him though. "Put Buster back inside," he requests simply, rather than greeting Toph or teasing her about her wet hair. He doesn't sound angry, just a little... distracted.

Sarah Rogers (796) has posed:
Due to the confusion over her mode of transportation, Sarah decides to make it crystal clear tonight. Jarvis May be issuing warnings about an unidentified inbound, as she didn't bother to file a flight plan again. Sarah just decided to keep low and out of the way until she's almost to Tony's place, where she flies up a couple hundred feet just to make her entrance more dramatic.

"What's cooking?" The Blond girl asks with a wide grin as she sets down gently on the Patio. Her gaze goes immediately to Toph, "You don't nearly as bad as I was imagining.." She breaths a sigh of relief. "I know we don't know each other very well yet, but I feel like I should hug you!"

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    It's kind of hard keeping Buster from going where he doesn't want to, really. He is a detemined cat! Though Toph blinks when she hears Tony speak. Not that he wants her to put Buster back inside, but more the way he says it. It's not often he sounds like that unless something is bothering him, and she thinks she can make an educated guess.

    First things first, though. She halts in setting the table, and she walks up behind Buster, crouching down to pick him up. "Come on, I'll feed you later," she promises the feline, and despite any vocal pleas he makes, no matter how much he tries to get to the meat, Toph drops him down inside and makes sure to close the patio door before he can slip back out.

    She turns back to Tony again. She did apologize for not giving him all the details, and she /knows/ that he wanted to help out. At first she isn't sure just what would be the right thing to say.

    But she doesn't get a chance to speak when she feels somebody touch down on the concrete not too far away, and she is about to move into a defensive stance when she recognizes the shape and also hears the voice. "Captain Princess!" As for her own state, Toph can't help but smirk. "Hey, I crunched some droids today, and we got out safely AND saved the lady who got captured yesterday!" she brags. Though the talk about hugs?

    Immediately Toph raises her hands in front of her, palms facing Sarah with a mock frown on her face. "Hey, you gotta work up to those!"

Tony Stark (301) has posed:
Tony was warned that the girl could fly, so he's not exactly taken aback by her entrance, but he does stare. He stares hard. Or maybe he's just wondering if that shield on her back is the real deal. Vibranium is pretty tough to fake.

But he shakes himself after a moment and manages a cordial, if not quite warm smile. "Nothing yet," he admits, "but I was just about to throw the meat on the fire. You've got good timing." To make his point he reaches over with the tongs and hefts one of the big slabs of pork rib, and drops it sizzling on the grill. Instantly the smell of the marinade is multiplied by the delicious smell of smoking meat. "Unlike your old man who isn't really your old man," he adds, noting Steve's tardiness.

Steve Rogers has posed:
Steve has also been helping bring stuff out for the barbecue, particularly including the potato salad which he was asked to provide (and he took that request seriously, too; it's HOMEMADE potato salad with REAL POTATOES, not that 'mayonnaise soup' mass-produced stuff that makes Army food look like gourmet cooking). He's on his way out with some more food, but he has an arm free at the right time to wave to Toph, "Welcome home!"

.... and then he recognizes the girl who seems to share his last name. And she had a shield of her own, although he no longer needs that to recognize her. "Hello again," he says with a nod to Sarah.

Followed by a very slight frown at Stark, because he wasn't THAT late.

Tony Stark (301) has posed:
Tony beams impishly at Cap. "Oh THERE you are. I thought you got lost in there. I wouldn't really hold it against you, no signposts pointing out the mess from the yard."

Sarah Rogers (796) has posed:
Sarah raises her own hands defensively towards Toph, "Okay okay no touching, I get it!" She's not sure what a droid is, but she's at least certain by now that the blind girl's a lot tougher than she looks.

She hesitates a moment seeing the man who's a dead ringer for her father, "Good Evening, ah, Mister Rogers?" She offers as she reaches a hand up to scratch behind her neck. Oh God that sounded awful didn't it?

She quickly used that same hand to pull her shield down from her back as if that's what she intended all along, and offers it to Tony, "I saw you looking at it. Here, go ahead and stare all you like."

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    And there Cap himself arrives, and Toph grins as she raises her arm to wave right back at him. "About time you got here!" she teases him, then points to the table. "Just set it down, and I'll continue setting the table. If you guys want something to drink, help yourselves." Heck, she even brought beer for the adults.

    Toph does sniff the air as the smell of ribs and marinade becomes even stronger, and she is really glad she isn't spending tonight in medical. She does reach out to grab a random can for Tony, bending it open as she walks over and hands it out to him. And punches his arm lightly without a word.

    Then she hurries back to the table and resumes setting it, working quickly despite her blindness. It's hardly the first time she's done this, it seems!

    When Sarah offers the shield for Tony to look at, Toph cants her head. "So you have a version of the shield too, huh? Or did you inherit it from your dad?" Toph asks.

Steve Rogers has posed:
The slight frown escalates to a withering look as Steve sets down his cargo of salad, dressing, corn on the cob, and whatever else hadn't already come out via either him or Toph. "You can call me Steve or Cap if you want, miss," he answers Sarah. "Being called 'Mister Rogers' from a girl your age feels just a bit out of kilter."

The shield prompts an interested look from Steve; he can't quite tell just from looking what differences there might be - he'd have to actually hold it for himself, maybe compare against his own.

Tony Stark (301) has posed:
Tony manages a faint smile at Toph, to show he's not upset with /her/. Not that she can see it. But maybe she can hear it a little bit in his murmured thanks for the beer. He tosses back a generous swig and eyeballs the shield, drink in one hand, tongs in the other. "No, that's okay. I was just wondering if it was the real thing. Although I admit I would like to get it into my workshop later for a proper analysis. See how -- if -- it's different from the one MY old man made in this universe," he gestures toward Cap with the beer can. "You know, before I figured out how to synthesize it, that was the only known source of vibranium in the world."

Sarah Rogers (796) has posed:
"I think I can deal with Cap" Sarah replies with a somewhat relaxed sigh, "Steve is a little weird just yet." She adds apologetically.

She glances at Toph, then at her Shield, then at the ground. "I borrowed it. For a mission to try and find a safe way home for our families." She explains. It doesn't quite ring true of course. "We ended up here instead, and getting home looks like it's going to be harder than we thought.

She gives Steve a more genuine smile and offers him the shield now, "Pretty sure it's the same one. The paint jobs are even the same!"

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    It's good to hear that Tony isn't upset with her, and Toph even smiles a little herself.

    "It feels like the real thing," Toph says as she pulls out a chair and sits down, reaching out her hand and gesturing for one of the soda cans. In response it flies through the air and into her waiting hand, and with a flick of her other hand it opens, and Toph takes a sip of the sweet drink inside. "And hey, she could call you worse things, Mister Rogers." Oh yes, she has to tease him.

Tony Stark (301) has posed:
Tony pokes and prods the meat around the grill, making sure the slab gets even exposure to the hottest of the coals. "A way home? Where were you? Lost? Banished? Cast across the universe by alien portals?" He glances over his shoulder at his young guest while grilling; the questions seem to be born of genuine interest, even -- is it possible? -- a small hint of compassion. He almost ended up on the other side of the galaxy because of one of those portals, after all.

Steve Rogers has posed:
Steve accepts his 'daughter's' shield for a moment, checking out the shape and the weight and the balance, even the placement of the straps that let it be worn or held. "Long as you didn't get frozen in the Arctic ice sheet for a few decades, you're probably ahead of the game," he comments mildly. "How good are you with the shield so far?" he then inquires politely, handing the shield back to Sarah.

Sarah Rogers (796) has posed:
"That last one is pretty close actually." Sarah confirms as she nods to Tony, "From my point of view it was a scary bedtime story for most of my life, But a bunch of Heroes and Villains were dragged across the Universe to fight a war on a planet created for just that purpose. Things didn't go quite as planned and they ended up stranded there. Eventually they stopped fighting and settled down, Had kids.. like me." She grins a bit. "That's the short, short version. Trying to get back or at least make contact is the main reason I've been trying to get in touch with you. You've had experience with big holes on the sky before. Also, The Hulk was a big part of making the trip possible the first time, and I was hoping you knew how to contact him, or Doctor Banner, or whatever he's going by now."

She smiles at Steve, "I'm not bad, but I doubt I'm as godo as you."

At this point the girl decides she's been talking way too much, goes to grab a drink and eye the meat on the grill.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    "We still need to spar sometime," Toph says in Sarah's direction, then lets out a burp. Oh yes, Stark's adopted daughter is the very image of refined manners. "The big guy? He's around somewhere," she shrugs. "So... you're not from your world's version of Earth then?" It's weird to think about. Tony seems like he finds the topic particularly interesting though.

Tony Stark (301) has posed:
"...Huh," Tony responds thoughtfully. "Like some galactic entity playing with action figures, weird. But you know what the weirdest part is?" He pauses briefly to flip over the meat, then turns back. "If they dragged all these great heros out there... why wasn't I there? /Rhodey/ was there, but I wasn't?"

Yes, the greatest question to come out of that explanation is the affront to his ego. You get used to it.

Almost as an aside, he waves the tongs around vaguely. "Banner's around. He mooches off my good will enough. He was at the party, actually. But I'll tell him you're looking for him."

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    Toph rolls her eyes slightly where she sits. "Not everything is about you, dad." Why, she's even trying to roll her eyes.

Sarah Rogers (796) has posed:
Sarah shrugs at Tony, "Different Worlds. Rhodes was Iron Man, and you were 'just'" She makes air quotes and smirks, "The Genius Billionaire Philanthropist who made his armor."

"They called it the Battleworld" She explains to Toph, "The so called galactic entity made it from a bunch of different planets for his action figures, We even had a bit of Denver Colorado, so I had an idea of what earth was like. One of his playthings happened to eat planets for a living and didn't like being used as an action figure, and they ended up killing each other."

Steve Rogers has posed:
"Maybe your armor was out of commission," Steve suggests to Tony, "or whoever did the picking just didn't finger you for a hero outside the suit." He shrugs faintly - although he's not as dismissive of the problem as the gesture might suggest. He picks out a beer for himself before taking a seat.

"So ... you know who was responsible for pulling all of those heroes and villains to the other side of the galaxy, or however far it was?" he asks Sarah. "Any risk of something like that happening to us on *this* Earth, or -" He has to grin wryly. "- does being in the Multiverse kind of counter that?"

Sarah Rogers (796) has posed:
Sarah looks to Steve and continues her explanation, "The being responsible called himself The Beyonder, and the Planet Eater that turned out to be his Equal was Galactus. I have a theory about him and the nature of the Multiverse, but it's kind of disturbing. The Battleworld itself had no stars, so, I'm guessing it;s a couple billion lightyears away from anything else." She sighs.

Tony Stark (301) has posed:
A world where he isn't Iron Man. How /awful/. Tony shivers briefly at the thought. "I think if anyone tried to abduct us /now/," he muses with a smirk, "The Union would be all over them like green on the Other Guy." Hey, look at how hard they banded together to bring him back from the dead, after all!

He checks the meat again, judges it done, and starts transferring the racks to serving platters. "Soup's on!" he announces in singsong.

But he just can't let that other thing drop. "In THIS world, Rhodey's War Machine. Which is still awesome, because I built it for him. But." His cheek twitches in one of those nervous little tics he gets when he just can't sort something out. "What did he TELL you about me that made you expect... whatever?"

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    Pardon Toph for snickering at that explanation. A world where Tony /isn't/ Iron Man? Man! As for kidnapping? "Eh, I'd like to see them try."

    Battleworld. Talk about being descriptive. It's really weird to hear about, but Toph listens as best as she can, though of course her attention goes elsewhere when the meat is being served. "Sweeet!" She isn't slow to begin grabbing some food for herself, putting things on her plate, and while she does grab a little bit of everything, what she mostly gets is meat. A growing girl needs her meat.

    She does look curious as Tony's questions, because yeah... it did seem like Sarah didn't think too much of Tony when she first unified and joined them.

Steve Rogers has posed:
Judging by the look on Steve's face, he considers the risk of being subjected to a similar Battleworld 'somewhat unlikely' ... but he hasn't completely ruled it out, either, if you know what to look for.

He's a bit curious as to what Sarah was told to expect about Tony, too, but he stays quiet while serving up a plate for himself - a well-balanced meal in his case, including some of the potato salad he provided. Never bring anything to a party that you aren't willing to eat yourself, after all.

Sarah Rogers (796) has posed:
Sarah chews on her lip for a moment, trying to figure out the most diplomatic was to explain things to Tony. "It had been almost a decade since they'd seen anyone from home, I think Rhodey was just.. you know, Focusing on the good parts?" She declines to go into anymore depth and steps in quickly behind Toph to get some food. She's got a mouth full of potato salad before Tony can say anything else, but manages to mumble something positive sounding about sparring to the Earthbender.

Tony Stark (301) has posed:
Tony huffs, as he piles up his own plate with meat and Steve's salad. See, he's not so snooty he won't eat food of the common man. "I AM all good parts," he protests petulantly. "I'm a genius, philanthropist, self-sacrificing -- Steve, tell her, I'm a hero!" He glugs down the last of the can of beer and grimaces at the aftertaste, reaching for a bottle of iced tea to chase it. "AND I'm good-looking and can throw a hell of a party." He only forgot modest.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    Toph perks up as she hears Sarah talk abot sparring, and she grins. "Yeah! We can do it here tomorrow maybe? After I finish up my lessons! We totally need to get you up to speed so we can fight together out in the field! Cap and I have worked on some shield and earthbending combos, I could teach you some of them!" Toph looks rather enthusiastic about this, beaming where she leans forward in her seat.

    Great, now Tony has begun his usual track, huh? "You're still an inconsiderate asshole though," Toph points out, clearly teasing him. "Dunno about how good-looking you are, either. But I guess you make pretty decent ribs." She takes a bite of one, savoring the taste and looking rather content. "Goldie might brag a lot, have no modesty whatsoever and have a too big ego for his huge head... but he's got the heart in the right place. Even though it's kinda patched up," Toph adds in, then reaches out and punches Tony in the arm again.

Tony Stark (301) has posed:
Tony shrugs. "No one's perfect," he admits, giving the hard cover of the arc reactor casing under his shirt a tap. Yes, that's the only thing he's counting as a drawback to the wonderfulness that is him. "Of course even this thing serves its purpose. Look, I'll fully admit I haven't exactly been a saint my whole life. But I think I've been doing things for the right reasons more often than not for the last several years. I'm still an asshole, but I'm a /loveable/ asshole," he smiles brightly.

Steve Rogers has posed:
There still isn't a whole lot Steve can think of to say, so he just focuses on eating appreciatively. He and Tony may have their disagreements in some abundance, but Stark *is* a pretty good cook on the barbecue, among other hard-earned talents.

Sarah Rogers (796) has posed:
"Earthbending." Sarah muses, "So that's your thing. I have no idea what that is but I can't wait to find out!" She says as she looks at Toph with curiosity. She downs a hunk of meat and sends smug look Tony's way, "I think that about covers all the not so good parts." She snickers.

A Moment later she seems to become aware of the chasm of awkwardness between her and her alt-verse Father, and sends a hopeful smile his way in hopes of bridging it.

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    No, Tony isn't perfect. But he is right, he is damn lovable no matter whether he's an asshole or not. At least Cell was right about that during the party. It's probably better that she doesn't relay all the nice things Cell said about him. "He has been behaving ever since I first met him," Toph asides to Sarah.

    Then Sarah sort of inquires about earthbending. Toph grins slightly, then reaches out with her free hand that isn't holding food. With a gesture the patio floor seems to come to life, and a statue of a badgermole shoots up. "This," Toph says, "is earthbending."

Sarah Rogers (796) has posed:
Sarah has to stand up at the display, her eyes wide. She walks slowly around the newly formed statue and starts to clutch her shield protectively as the possibilities start to sink in. "This is just the tip of the iceberg too isn't it?" She says softly. "And.. Vibranium comes out of the earth.. so." She takes a breath and looks back at Toph, "You won't change it's shape will you? I kinda like it this way." She says nervously.

Steve Rogers has posed:
"We haven't really tried anything with my shield," Steve speaks up, "but vibranium seems to be too strong for Toph's bending to do much to my shield. So yours is probably fairly safe as well."

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    Toph remains seated and eating on her food, nodding at the question. "Some weeks ago I had to hold up a pyramid and keep it from collapsing. And yesterday I broke a spaceship along with a Force User," Toph brags. Though she can't help but chuckle when she realizes that Sarah is worried about her bending the shield. "Yeah, it's too pure for me to bend. I am an earthbender, and even I can't bend a metal that has no earth in it for me to sense," she explains. "Metal is just purified earth, and for millenia they said that it was impossible to bend it. Until I proved them wrong," she grins. Then jerks a thumb in Tony's direction. "He gave me the incentive though."

Tony Stark (301) has posed:
Tony gives an uneasy little smirk. "Yeah, I... well, Toph can tell the story. She saved my life, no question..." his expression pulls down into a faint frown and he touches a hand to his ear - the one with the codec implant in it. "--'scuse me, folks," he pushes away from the patio table and moves toward the house. "CEO business calls. Hopefully this won't take too long."

Sarah Rogers (796) has posed:
"That's good to know!" Sarah replies to Steve as she sets her Shield back into it's harness, "Still, that can work both ways, a lot of the advanced alloys people like Tony come up with probably have more impurities - more earth, than a normal metal would." She muses, then gives a nod and a smirk towards Tony as he steps away, "You have to go work, what a shame!" Finally she finishes her circuit of the statue, regards it for a moment, and reaches out with both hands to turn the whole thing 180 degrees before sitting back down next to Toph, "There, I think it flows better with the rest of the patio that way!"

Toph Beifong (20) has posed:
    "Thats 2-1 to me so far, dad," Toph grins widely where she sits. It's a good thing they can sort of joke about it now. "He's saved my life too, so it's okay. Not to mention I get to mooch off of him."

    When he seems to get a message on his radio though she blinks, then nods. "I'll entertain the guests." Hey, if Tony leaves excellent food like this, it must be important.

    Though she sighs as Jarvis speaks up. "While Miss Beifong's earthbending is impressive, it does break with the minimalistic style that Mister Stark and Miss Potts have respectively designed and decorated." Knowing fully well what that means, Toph sighs as she reaches out and bends the statue back into the patio floor. "Spoil sport," she mutters.

Sarah Rogers (796) has posed:
"Hrmph.. Well, we can find someplace else to redecorate tomorrow I suppose." Sarah says with a hint of disappointment, "I take it the disembodied English Butler's the house's computer.. and He's concerned about messing up the patio? Does he remind you to brush your teeth too?"