I thankfully got back to my room, and slipped inside without anyone noticing. Ok, what to wear that isn't too dressy, but not too casual either. I would have worn what I usually wear to dinner, but, that would be too dressy, Helena and I liked to dress nicely for dinner, especially when there were friends over, but I was pretty certain they didn't do that here, so I just went with clothes I would wear if I was going out to hang with friends, or something along those lines. I dressed in light blue short shorts and a soft, grey long sleeve shirt that had a neck cut that went just under my collarbone, but went out to the sides, so the shirt was just covering the ends of my shoulders. I did my hair up in a bun, a few small strands sticking out in places. Ugh, I could never get all of them in right. I put on a little makeup, barely any, but because I wasn't showering it made me feel better to put a little on, so at least I was a little clean looking. I hate feeling dirty. When I was done, I put on my sunglasses, and I still had a half an hour left, so I went to see who was cooking, or preparing dinner in the kitchen, and to see if they wanted any help. I didn't feel like wearing one of my masks to dinner, so I just wore my big, aviator sunglasses, which were like those one way mirrors. They looked like regular sunglasses, but they were a little darker and had the mirror effect so I could see out clearly but no one would see my eyes at all. I remembered the way to the kitchen, and walked in slowly, to see only M'gann cooking, and different things flying out of the cupboards and towards her when she needed them, and she was looking a little tiny bit stressed. I probably caught her at a bad time so I stood there for a minute till everything mostly stopped moving around the room, because I didn't want to scare her, and have everything go falling to the ground. I'd met Martian Manhunter a few times, so I was familiar with telepathic abilities. I stepped forward trying to make myself noticeable and not scare her, and asked.
"Hey, do you need any help, I finished early and have nothing to do, I'm an ok-ish cook if you need any help." I asked her. She jumped a little. I guess even with all of my efforts she was too focused on her cooking to sense I was here. She looked over and smiled immediately. I wasn't one to talk though. When I wasn't on patrol, or really focusing, I was really ditsy, and unaware of what is going on around me.
"Oh, yeah sure! No one's really interested in the making of the food, just eating it. Boys will be boys! And Artemis just eats it too..." She drifted out of her statement. Then we giggled and laughed a little and she motioned me over.
"Ok, so we're making Italian tonight, angel hair pasta and meatballs, garlic bread, and cookies, and vanilla cupcakes for dessert." She said.
"That's a lot for one person, glad I came. Ok, so what do you want me to do?" I asked. Even though Clinton makes about this much on a daily basis, it was a lot of cooking for a teenager who looked like she wasn't completely used to cooking yet, and seemed very flustered. Again, I wasn't really one to talk, I'm like always flustered.
"Uh, whatever you want I guess." She said.
"Have you made the sauce yet?" I asked.
"I was just planning on using stuff out of the can..." She said looking at the can unopened on the counter warily, then smiling afterwards.
"Would you make sauce? It would make it taste much better than canned stuff if you wouldn't mind." She added
"Sure, I see your doing the meatballs, and pasta, and I think that's cookie dough over there, so I'll do the sauce, the garlic bread, and vanilla cupcakes." I said.
"Unless, you want to do everything but the sauce, that's totally cool too, whatever is most convenient." I added.
"Actually, splitting it in half would be really helpful, thanks." She said smiling.
"Thanks so much, I'm always the only one who cooks meals, unless someone offers, which is pretty rare since not many of us live here full time, and no one ever helps." She said again.
"Totally! I love cooking, it's so fun!" I replied as I put an apron on.
"Is that the cookie dough, over there, it is right? What kind of cookies are you making?" I asked.
"Chocolate chip, it's the most general, and the most people like it." She said.
"May I?" I asked picking up the mixing spoon, so I could try some. She nodded, and I plucked a blueberry sized chunk, and plopped it in my mouth, taste testing it.
It was a little flavorless, so I asked.
"Could I add some more into it to give it more flavor, not cool if I do? I know some people don't like people messing with their ingredients." I asked.
"Oh sure, I don't mind, I make cookies all the time. They never turn out quite right if you ask me. They're my favorite food to make though." She replied.
I looked around the kitchen, going in cupboards and getting ingredients, and bringing them back, I had made two piles in two minutes flat. I set out a pile by a big bowl for the pasta sauce I was making, and another smaller pile near the cookie dough. When I had gotten everything I needed I went over to the cookie dough, and looked at what I had gathered. I to,d M'gann what I was planning on putting in beforehand, in case she didn't want something in it or whatever.
"So, I'm planning on putting in a little vanilla extract, a little more sugar, and brown sugar." She nodded. I'm not parinoid, I just didn't want her to be mad at me if I put something in it she didn't like, and was extra cautious so that wouldn't happen. Ok, maybe I'm a little parinoid.
"It's ready to put chocolate chips now." I said.
"Ok." She said. Smiling, and then plopped a small piece in her mouth.
She looked at me with an expression like 'mm, pretty good' then turned around. I worked on making the sauce and garlic bread. Clinton taught me to cook. We had really fun times in the kitchen making various foods, and I loved cooking for Helena, even when I was way less experienced and my food tasted like dirt she'd tell me it was great. I'm not entirely sure that it still doesn't taste like dirt, but whatever. At least I can make dirt.
After I finished those two, which was fairly quick, I made the cupcakes, and while they were baking, I made the icing. When I was done I cleaned up a little bacause M'gann had gone to the supply room to get some more flour, and when she came back she looked at me.
"You didn't have to clean, or set the table, or anything, I have telepathy, I could have done all that at the same time." She said.
"Oh, I got bored and had extra time, no biggy." I said a little uneasy. She was a little overwhelming, but I liked her.
"I'm going to run to the bathroom, and make sure I don't have flour all over me." I told her.
"I'll be back in a few!" I told her as I left.
I heard an "Ok" from the other room as I walked. I went into the bathroom, and looked at myself in the mirror. I really looked exactly the same as I did before I came into the kitchen, the apron worked pretty well, I'm usually a messy cooker, but thanks to the apron, I got absolutely nothing on my clothes, anywhere. My face and hands however were a different story. My face just had flour on my nose, but there were fingerprint sized dots all over my forearms. I washed it off, and returned to the mirror. I was kind of self centered. Not like I didn't care, I knew what other people were doing and cared and was compassionate and empathetic, but I was always concerned with how I act and look. I was a little insecure too, but not very much. I hid it well though, most people would never guess it, but I was. I mean, I knew I was pretty, and have a friendly outgoing personality, and most people liked me, but I was always worrying.
I left the bathroom and went back into the kitchen to take my cupcakes out, and finish frosting them. It was 4:12 and people started coming into the dining room and talking and sitting down.
We all got our food and I sat down next to M'gann. On M'gann's other side was Artemis, and on my other side was Wally. It was an oval shaped table, so I could see everyone pretty well
"Yes! I'm so happy everyone liked it!" M'gann said to Artemis and I. We were talking in the kitchen, while Wally and Conner were washing the dishes.
"It was really good, I thought it was anyway" M'gann said. We giggled a little, this was all she had talked about for the last three minutes.
Kaldur came in the kitchen, so now all seven of us were in the same room
"Since most of us are not in clothes to wear during sporting activities, we should meet outside at
Around 4:50, since it is 4:40 now, so everyone can change and get everything we need for the sport." He finished and was about to walk away, but I needed to ask a question.
"Um, what sport will we be playing?" I asked.
"Just to be prepared." I added.
"We have not decided, but we have equipment for everything, so just dress in sportswear." Kaldur replied, and everyone dissipated, and went to their rooms.
I got dressed in sports clothes, and my workout mask that I had washed before dinner (thank god I had washed it) and headed out the door. Nightwing was a little ahead of me, so I walked up with him.
"So, what sport do you think we're playing?" I asked.
"I don't know, probably soccer, or football, or lacrosse or something on a field, since we're meeting outside, and not in one of the gyms." He said.
"Cool, I'll probably run into someone, or something, or start going the wrong way." I said laughing, and successfully lightening the mood. He looked a little unsettled when I'd first walked up to him, but all traces of that were gone.
"So how old are you?" He asked me.
"Can't say yet, I've got to talk to huntress about what is appropriate to disclose, and what isn't. How old are all of you?" I said, I made it more pleasant than saying no, I guess.
"Well, Kaldur recently turned 17, M'gann, and Conner are all physically around 16-17-ish, not really sure exactly, I'm 15, and Wally and Artemis are 16, Close-ish to 17." He said 'little one' with distaste, then continued. What is with all the ish's?
"So first, are you between the ages of 15 and 17?" He asked.
"Yes." I replied simply.
"Are you..." He started but I cut him off.
"No, that's it, no." I said laughing a little.
He laughed a little at me.
"Are you 12 and not telling us?" He asked sarcastically.
"Your the youngest." I replied sarcastically, even though I was his age. I'd thought they were all my age 15, 16 tops, but they were a little older than I expected
We laughed a little, and were still a little ways from the doors that went outside, so I decided to ask him something I had been wondering about.
"So what happened, when you changed, what happened with everyone, especially batman?" I asked him. I didn't want to go right out and say why aren't you Robin anymore, could have been taken rudely and thankfully he got where I was going and hed replied.
"I got tired of everyone thinking of me as that little kid. I was more experienced than most of the team, and most of them treated me like I was a seven year old who needed to be protected more than anyone else, I mean I was only two years younger than the oldest members of the team. I was however a lot smaller than I am now, I had a huge growth spurt recently. At first I left, after batman fought with me and wanted too take me off the team, we had had a really close call, and he was treating me like I couldn't take care of myself. That was the last straw for me, so I left, and made a new hero for myself, in Blüdhaven, because there was no official superhero in that city. I mean, you and huntress came in sometimes, but not as often as what was needed, that place really needed a hero. Once I found out from a... source how worried batman was, he thought I was dead, and so did the rest of the league, I came back and told him I was ok, and I wanted to try working on my own a for a little while, because I was frustrated. He eventually agreed and came to his senses, and approved of it, and I told him I'd be back in a month or two and we could be back to mostly normal, except, you know not treating me like I was a seven year old, and me being Nightwing, instead of Robin. So I went back to Blüdhaven assuming batman would tell all of the other heroes of the Justice League, and the team that I wasn't dead. When I heard he didn't, and had said I died, I guess he thought that's what I wanted him to do, I immediately came back, and told everyone I didn't die. They all thought I had been dead for like a month and a half, and I felt really bad. They were a lot more upset than I thought they would be, the only reason I found out they thought I was dead, was because it was on the news how hard they were taking it. They started being less successful in stopping organized crime, and failing Justice league missions. I do everything I did before with batman, we are still the dynamic duo, and I'm not mad at him anymore. Almost everything is the same, except most of the team and the league got the message and treat me less like a child and more like the rest of the team, and my superhero identity is different. And still No one has figured out my secret identity." He said the last part a little smugly.
He had this down pretty well, I guess he had to explain it a lot. I nodded and said.
"Yeah Huntress was really happy when you told everyone you weren't dead. Like really really happy. And she's almost never happy when she's huntress." I said humorously.
"She now tells me on a daily basis that if I ever do anything like that, she'd probably quit superhero-ing and rethink her life choices." I said this humorously as well, successfully lightening the mood, and making the conversation more lighthearted. I didn't want it to get awkward, that wasn't exactly the topic to talk about. By now, we had just gone through the doors that led outside, and were almost to where a few of the team was. Artemis, and Conner were there, and I thought I just saw Wally run out from behind us, and meet the other two a little ways in front of us. When we got closer, I went and stood next to Artemis and Nightwing stood closer to Conner and Wally.
"Hey, how's it going?" I asked.
"Good, you?" She replied.
"Yeah, kind of exighted." I said.
"Are you athletic?" She asked bluntly.
"Yeah, I guess. Depends on what you consider athletic." I replied a little hesitant.
"Are you athletic?" I asked
"Yeah" she replied.
"What sport do you think we'll do?" I asked Her.
"I don't know, we'll probably play something like soccer, or football tonight, and then something indoor tomorrow, like basketball or volleyball, then later in the week, sports that require more equipment and skill, like lacrosse, field hockey, or something like that. We do stuff like this sometimes, and that's usually the pattern." She said. We talked with the others a little before Kaldur and M'gann got to us, and I managed to somehow get superboy to laugh when the rest of us were laughing at a comment I made. It was kind of strange, it was so happy and lighthearted, the sound didn't really go with his persona. He looked like he didn't laugh often, and it made me happy I could, even his smile looked like he didn't do it often. Once M'gann and Kaldur were close, we
It was 4:51 and Kaldur asked.
"Wait, what happened?" He asked looking at everyone's faces, and I looked around too. I hadn't really noticed but a few of them were looking at me surprised. I guess superboy didn't laugh often. Everyone including me laughed a little at Kaldur's expression and question.
"So what sport are we doing?" Wally asked.
It was 4:51 and Kaldur asked.
"Wait, what happened?" He asked, and everyone laughed a little.
"So what sport are we doing?" Wally asked.