#everyone- family and coworkers- also made fun of me for insisting on wearing a mask but guess what bitches

[wuxian-vs-wangji]

Every time Prapai gives Sky medicine, he's narcoleptic inside 5 minutes.

[thelordofdarkreunion]

Family Buisness

So, I haven’t gotten a story out in a while.  Sorry about that.  Things have been rather busy.  However, I believe you will quite like this one.  Scoundrel shenanigans galore and we get to meet Vir and Shepard’s families.  If you have any ideas or want to see anything in this particular story line, I am open to requests and suggestions!  I think this is going to be quite fun.  As always, I own no one except Drake.  Enjoy the story!

“So, uh, let me get this straight.  There are nine of you, and only three have anything resembling a normal family.  Of the others, one was kidnapped to be a child super soldier, one watched his family get murdered by an intergalactic mega-corporation, one had a god for a father who murdered his mother, one was raised by asshole trillionaires and left at the first opportunity, and two never knew their parents.”

“Yes.”

“Great.  I’m sure all of you are completely stable.”

The massive, silent form of the Master Chief stood, perplexed, at the going-ons of his compatriots.  You could not tell the thoughts flitting behind his immovable golden mask, though; he stood, still as a statue, as cold and unreadable as always.  In front of him, the various members of the Magnificent Scoundrels smoothed their hair, tightened coats and collars, and made absolute certain their shoes were shined to perfection.  

They were aboard the Enterprise, the sterile grey of the walls echoing with the faintest rustling of cloth.  It had been decided that, while the entire fleet was present, the Scoundrels themselves were to transfer to the Enterprise to prepare, then teleport to the surface of the planet below.  The Chief still didn’t understand why, precisely, they were dressing up so much.  It was only a party.  He had graduated Spartan training in his Mjolnir armor, attended officer’s banquets in his Mjolnir armor, and received the UNSC Medal of Honor from Lord Hood in his Mjolnir armor.  It didn’t come off then, and he didn’t see why it should now.  Though, begrudgingly, he did admit to himself that he was not precisely familiar with social niceties and customs of regular humans. 

   The others had all dressed in the next to best; their exceptionally over-elaborate dress uniforms or suits had no place here.  Vir and Cooper straightened their ties, and brushed invisible dust off sport coat lapels.  Solo and Quill struggled in nicer versions of their usual vestments, tugging uncomfortably at too-tight collars and boots.  Shepard pulled on his galaxy’s version of a tuxedo, and adjusted the high collar and coat line.  Kirk was wearing some sleek diplomatic uniform, still quite similar to that of the Starfleet’s, but more elegant and suited to parties.  Cain had originally planned to wear his usual Commissar’s coat and cap, thinking it perfectly fine for this situation, but the other Scoundrels had insisted, then begged, that he wear his full dress uniform, complete with far too much gold lace, epaulets, and a medal rack.  He straightened an errant piece of lace and carefully brushed his hat.  Drake was in his usual black coat, gloves and boots, perfectly dressed for any situation.  That was, after all, the entire point of the outfit.  

They had all been invited by Shepard and Vir to a family party of sorts.  Those two were the only ones with any sort of close family of worth.  It had been decided by higher powers (both of their mothers) that the two families should meet, and their sons’ new coworkers had been invited.  A horrible idea, in Drake’s professional opinion.  He looked over to Solo and Quill still itching in their formal clothes, Cain in his Imperial Commissar’s uniform, and the blank stare of Master Chief.  Yeah, this was going to go great.  Not to mention, of course, the fact that so many exceptionally powerful and influential individuals along with their families meeting in one spot was a magnet for assassinations or terrorist attacks.  If he was contracted to kill them all, it’s what he would do.  Cain finished straightening one last errant piece of lace and grinned over at his fellows.

“Well then.  Are we ready to go?” he asked.  The party was to take place on the moon below, a halfway point between multiple different galaxies.  The SSV Orizaba, an utterly massive dreadnought and pride of the System’s Alliance Navy, was currently orbiting the planet near to the Scoundrels’ fleet.  Captained by Hannah Shepard, she had obviously pulled some strings to get it stationed in the far reaches of space, and to have shore leave on this planet, at this precise time.  A civilian starliner carrying the Virs had also shown up, and according to spies on the ground, it was the entirety of the esteemed Admiral Adam Vir’s close family.  Including multiple small children.  There was no way this could go poorly.

“I think so,” replied Vir.

“Great.  Everyone ready?” asked Drake.  As he spoke, a lethally honed blade shot out of the space in his coat above his forearm.  He examined it with a critical eye before retracting it.  It fitted perfectly back in place, concealed from sight.  Shepard rolled his eyes.  

“Do you really need that?” he asked.

“Yes,” replied Drake matter-of-factly.

“There are going to be children present,” shot Vir, slightly annoyed.

“I know,” said Drake, utterly nonplussed.  “And there are going to be knives present as well.  I’d be more worried about the kids getting their hands on those instead of me having one hidden on my forearm.”  Vir and Shepard shared a look.  They had convinced Cain to leave his ceremonial weapons behind, but Master Chief still had his sidearm, and Vir was fairly certain Cooper had a pistol hidden somewhere on his person.  

“Fine,” replied Shepard.  “But remember, no jokes.”

“With you wearing that suit, I don’t need to tell jokes,” shot Cooper, walking over to the group.  

“I thought you said we weren’t supposed to kill anyone either,” replied Kirk with a laugh.

“Yeah, but, really,” said Vir, brushing it off.  “Captain Shepard is a Naval staff officer, and my family are all civilians, so they might be kinda off-put about you guys’ particular brand of humor.  No gay jokes, Pearl Harbor jokes, First Contact War jokes, first contact in general jokes, any political jokes, Vietnam War jokes, medical jokes, Drev War jokes, alien jokes, starship drive failure jokes, or any sort of horribly dark humor whatsoever.”

“Aww, there goes my entire repertoire,” fake-whined Drake, grinning.  Shepard muttered something to himself, then, noticing the entire party was ready, nodded at Kirk, who led them through the halls of the Enterprise to the transporters.  Several of the starship’s crew watched as they went, complimenting their dress, snickering, wishing them good luck, or making inappropriate comments.  They reached the transporter, large circular chamber covered with the smooth white and grey plastic-like material of the ship.  

“Say the words, please,” grinned Quill.

“Beam us up, Scotty!” fired back Kirk with enthusiasm.  They disappeared with a high pitched whine and a flash.  

On the Surface

Captain Hannah Shepard waited in the massive hotel ballroom her son and his strange colleagues had commissioned for this occasion.  Her crew had been delighted with the shore leave to a planet so far removed, yet still with cities and a fair sized population.  Earlier that evening, she had arrived by shuttle to the hotel.  The commander of marines from the Orizaba had wished her good luck, still nervous she had declined their protection.  She scoffed at that.  She was in a civilian hotel in the far reaches of space, with the dreadnought’s full contingent easily within radio range.  Besides, her son was going to be here, and he was an N7 graduate and a Spectre, no less.  From what she’d heard, his new colleagues weren’t slouches, either.  

She was quite annoyed at her son, though.  He had been a hero, saved the Citadel from the Reapers (the Council may have denied they existed, but she knew better), only for his ship to be destroyed.  They said he died.  She went to his funeral.  Saw the empty coffin next to his dress uniform.  She cried, for her only son was dead. 

Then, two years later, reports came that he was alive.  Whispers that the first human Spectre was alive reached her ears.  He was present on the Citadel for the first meeting between the new galaxies.  He hadn’t said anything, and only recently sent her a message.  She smiled grimly to herself.  A mother’s fury was not something to be taken lightly.  Commander John Shepard was in trouble.

But that would have to wait.  For right now, more than anything else, she just wanted to see him again.  

The reserved ballroom was massive, with long tables set in the middle for such a large party.  A huge window, with elegant cross pieces in black metal, stretched overlooking the interior garden area of the hotel.  Quite a nice view.  The Vir family was here as well, having arrived by civilian shuttle.  She found it bizarre that no one else had arrived; after all, from what she had heard, there were nine of these people, were there not?  That was after she received the most peculiar message.

Captain Hannah Shepard

In regards to your obvious questions about the families of your son’s other co-workers, most of them don’t have any.  It’s just best that way.

Regards,

Miranda Lawson, Executive Officer, Normandy

Indeed.  Ms. Lawson is quite correct.  It’s best you don’t ask, in fact.

Sincerely, 

Captain Thomas Drake, Apocalypse

Drake, 

Stop intercepting our communications.

Lawson,

Why?  I know you’re doing the same thing with mine.

The Virs were quite nice, in fact.  At the moment, groups of Admiral Vir’s nieces and nephews were running about the room, absolutely delighted with the open spaces and elegant architecture.  She had spoken to the Admiral’s mother, and… well, they had much in common due to the nature of their son’s activities.  Speaking of which…

The wooden double doors of the ballroom’s main entrance swung open, to reveal one of the strangest groups of individuals she’d ever seen.  Vir’s brothers all turned and stared, some doing a better job at hiding it than others.  

Captain Shepard immediately recognized Vir, his face quite similar to that of his siblings.  An eyepatch covered one side of his head, something she hadn’t quite known about.  Of course, she recognized her son, who gave her a lopsided grin immediately upon sighting her.  The others, though… well.

There were four normal looking men, all dressed in suits or elegant combinations of coats and vests.  She did not know any of their names.  Two of them had the look of starship captains.  She’d recognize that anywhere.  One, a shorter black-haired man wore the look of a combat veteran.  Definitely some sort of marine.  Possibly special forces.  The last, a brown-haired man with heavy boots, wore a greatcoat, and took in everything with a slightly amazed look.  Don’t know what he is.  

The last three, though…  One, towering over most of his fellows, wore a massive black greatcoat and officer’s cap, extremely over-embroidered in gold lace.  Red gloves covered his hands, and a full chest of medals on his chest shone with carefully polished beauty.  She almost laughed at the epaulettes.  Almost.  It was then she noticed the symbol on his cap.  A double-headed golden eagle, wings outstretched.  Already, that symbol had become infamous throughout her galaxy.  The golden Aquilia of the Imperium of Man.  So this is an Imperial, and a high ranking one at that, it seems.  Interesting.  

The second was dressed in a knee length black coat, and wore elegant black boots and gloves.  Captain Shepard nevertheless noted that the boots were heavily armored and very possibly well-suited for combat.  This man looked at the room through clear blue eyes, calculating every individual within.  He tried to hide it, but she saw the subtle glint of something behind those icy blue orbs.  She’d been around long enough to know: this one is dangerous.  Maybe a merc of some sort.

The last put everyone else to shame in terms of sheer lethalness.  He was utterly massive, towering at least a full head over every other person in the room.  Apparently disdaining to wear anything formal for this occasion, he was dressed in a full suit of green combat armor.  A huge handgun rested at his side, and his head was covered by a helmet.  Captain Shepard felt eyes judging her from behind a visor of glinting gold.  He made no moves, simply standing, almost unmoving, at the back of the group, yet Captain Shepard somehow knew that he was by far the most lethal of them.  

“Hi, Mom,” said Commander Shepard, snapping her out of her thoughts.  He was everything she remembered.  Her son.  In the flesh.  With a swift motion, she stepped forward and enveloped him in a hug.  He returned it awkwardly at first, then hugged her back with fierce intensity.  IN the corner of her eye, Captain Shepard could see Vir’s parents doing the same.  Their colleagues looked on with amusement, or untraceable looks.  

“I’ll talk to you later,” she hissed in Commander Shepard’s ear.  The two mothers stepped forward as Vir’s siblings and their families watched.  The black coated man smiled softly.

“There’s no need to be ashamed,” he started without preamble.  “That’s how you know they love you,” he said to Admiral Vir and Commander Shepard.   He gave a low bow.  “I am Captain Thomas Drake, and I can say with absolute certainty we are all most pleased to meet all of you.”

And there we have it!  Like I said before, if you have any ideas or suggestions for this story line, I’d love to here them!  

[thelittleredheadedmusician]

Jives and Java

For the final day of Cassiestephkara Week the prompt was Favorite Troupe. Now I couldn’t think of a favorite troupe besides the high school au and I wanted to keep that as a verse for me to play around with more later. As such this is a mesh of a coffee shop au, a meet cute, and an identity reveal. Can also be found here on ao3. Rated G; 1,723 words Cassiestephkara

Steph knew she had to find a summer job but she was hoping to avoid working as a barista. As usual, her luck didn’t quite hold up so she found herself wearing a baseball cap and apron, working a cappuccino machine for the summer. Tim had offered to get her a paid internship at WE but she was still averse to him doing and buying things for her. Though he insisted on coming to her for his coffee and tipping extra, but it was a small, family owned shop with quality brew and pastries so Steph didn’t mind him doing that.

One afternoon as she was wiping down tables the bell over the door jangled causing her to glance up. Tim waved at her as he walked in, trailed behind by two boys and a pair of blondes. Steph’s coworker motioned that she was to come take Tim and company’s order. She grabbed her towel and weaved her way between the tables to behind the counter.

“Hey there Timbo,” she said with a grin. “What can I do ya for?”

Tim smiled and searched his pockets for his wallet. “When do you go on break?”

“Whenever I want. Why?”

“I want you to meet my friends, you know, outside of uniform,” Tim gave her a conspiring wink. Flipping out one of his credit cards he just asked for his usual and whatever the others wanted. She tapped his extra-large black coffee and chocolate croissant into the system and wrote Timmy-boy onto a cup with a little bat, because she thought she was clever. He went off to find a table and the tall dark-haired boy came up to the counter.

“Welcome to Jives and Java! How can I help you? And don’t bother paying, Tim’s already got it covered,” Steph gave her most charming grin as he studied the menu.

“Hi, yeah, uh… I have no idea what I want,” he admitted with a slight grimace.

“Well, do you like sweet or bitter?” Steph asked brightly.

“I’ve got it Kon,” the blonde with curly hair laughed. “Whatever Tim got, give him the exact opposite.” The others all laughed and Steph smirked.

“Well, I normally do that too so I’d go with the cotton candy frappe,” Steph suggested.

The boy wrinkled his nose but the other girl smiled. “I’ll take one of those!”

Steph tapped in the order. “Can I have a name for the cup?”

“Kara, K-A-R-A,” The girl spelled as Steph scribbled it down. On a whim, she drew a heart after the girl’s name.

“Can I have a decaf macchiato with whole milk?” the other boy asked and Steph bobbed her head. “A medium?” Steph grabbed the proper cup and uncapped her sharpie once again, patiently waiting with the tip just above the paper. “Bart. As in Bartholomew. But just the first four letters,” he told her, rapid fire. She wrote it down and added a squiggly lightning bolt on the end. Placing the cup in line on top of the machine she turned back to the last boy, who was actually the first.

“Can I have a cinnamon apple tea? That’s for Conner with an E-R at the end. I know, lame,” he chuckled.

Steph wrinkled her nose and shook her head. “Nah, your order is actually the easiest and so my favorite,” she shot the group a smile. She hadn’t realized that Tim was going to introduce her to his Titan friends, well introduce Steph seeing as how Batgirl already knew them all. Since taking their orders she knew exactly who they were, three of them didn’t wear a mask anyway.

The final girl had finished studying the menu and came closer to the counter. “Can I get a large caramel mocha and a strawberry crepe? For Cassie,” she smiled warmly and Steph returned it. Scribbling the name down she added a star over the I and at the end. She finished ringing everything up and swiped Tim’s card, passing it to Cassie.

Her coworker had already started on the drinks so Steph plated the pastries and grabbed her own cotton candy frappe. “I’m going to go on break then.” Her coworker just shrugged as Steph grabbed the tray and walked to the back corner where the teen heroes had commandeered a table.

She handed out the drinks before flopping into the booth next to Tim, slurping her pink and frothy drink up her straw. Tim practically inhaled the first third of his coffee before realizing that everyone was waiting on him to make introductions. Steph knew she could just introduce herself but she liked forcing the boy blunder to be social. When he realized that he was who they were waiting on he settled the paper cup on the table and self-consciously ran his finger over the black ink of his name. His eye caught on the bat and he shared a self-deprecating grin with her.

“So, this is my friend Steph. Steph these are my, uh, camp friends. Kon, Kara, Cassie, and Bart,” he pointed to each in turn.

“Camp?” Steph asked with a raised brow. “Tim. Really? Camp.” His cheeks colored and the others squirmed uncomfortably. Steph waved her hand at them. “Relax. I know. My only question is, where’s Tam?”

Tim swallowed his coffee quickly before answering. “She’s on vacation with her family. I thought you knew?”

“Practically and actually a Wayne are two very different things,” Steph responded dryly.

Kara’s eyes widened. “No way,” she whispered.

Steph laughed and nodded. “So, what’re you lot doing in Gotham? You know we have strict rules around here.”

“We know he’s off world right now,” Cassie smirked. “Tim said we had to check out the best coffee shop in Gotham, while we could.”

“He also said that it had the best look barista in all of Gotham too,” Kon said with a wink. Steph nearly whacked the back of her head on the booth she laughed so hard. Tim’s eyes narrowed to half Batglare™ level at his best friend. Kon was able to shrug it off but suddenly doubled over with an “Oof!” From Bart’s laughter and the girls’ grins they had apparently elbowed him in the stomach simultaneously.

“I like you friends,” she stage whispered to Tim.

“We like you too! I mean I do, uh like you that is,” Kara stopped as her face reddened.

Bart smiled at her before turning back to address Steph. “You ever in Cali let us know!”

“Trust me, I will. No way I can afford a hotel out there on these tips,” Steph laughed.

“You’re more than welcome to crash in my room,” Cassie said with an easy smile.

“Thanks! I’ve got to head back,” Steph said. She finished her frothy pink drink and slid out of the booth. “I get off at three if you guys are still in town and wanna hang?”

“We were going to head back to the manor and play video games,” Tim said as he looked at the table for their responses.

“Why don’t you guys game and Kara and I can meet Steph and hit the shops?” Cassie suggested.

Everyone nodded and Steph grinned. “Ok! I’ll meet you here at three then,” she said before walking back to the counter.

***

Steph stuffed her apron and hat into her messenger bag as she waved to her coworkers. Cassie and Kara were waiting patiently outside the shop. Kara with her sundress and Cassie with her jean short overalls and crop top, they looked like any two teenagers hanging out on a warm summer afternoon. Not a single Gothamite passing by would have guessed two of the most powerful people in the world were right there playing Pokemon Go. Then again, they didn’t realize the true night life of their first family either.

“Hey guys!” Steph called as she walked towards them.

They both raised their heads from their phones and smiled at her. Kara waved it toward her excitedly. “Look! I caught an Eevee! I know they’re not much of anything but I think they’re adorable. I have about 10 and every evolution,” Kara trailed off as her cheeks started to turn pink.

“Kara, I’m not the type to judge one on their favorite pokemon. Now what team you’re on is another story entirely,” Steph raised her eyebrows imploringly.

Cassie burst out laughing. “Valor all the way!” Steph gave her a victorious high five as Kara’s cheeks turned a deep red. “She’s on Instinct,” Cassie said.

“Aw. That’s actually really cute. Don’t tell anyone I told you this, cause he’d totally kill me, but so is Dami.” Steph clapped Kara on the shoulder. The other girl just looked at her incredulously. “On my own grave I swear it!”

Cassie winced at that. “I don’t mean to be rude but uh, are the death jokes necessary?”

“As Jason says, ‘They’re a coping mechanism’,” Steph shrugged.

Kara exchanged a concerned look with Cassie. Steph noticed Cassie pursing her lips back at Kara. If she knew Cassie better than Steph would have been able to see the concern in her expression too.

“Why don’t we go hit the shopping district? Tim left me his card so we can have some fun,” Steph said, trying to dispel the slight chill that had fallen over the three girls.

“Ok,” Kara said with a bright smile.

“I’m always down to spend Wayne family money,” Cassie smirked.

The three girls left the front of the coffee shop and headed downtown, their blonde hair fluttering in the wind. The rest of the afternoon was a whirlwind of fun. Cassie told them all about her mom’s latest exhibition in Peru and how she had been helping in her free time. Kara talked about moving to the Kent farm and helping with the chores. Feeding the newborn calves was her favorite. Steph entertained them with tales from the coffee shop. Regaling crazy costumers, crazy orders, and just plan odd encounters.

By the end of the day the three had made plans to meet again, this time to go Pokemon hunting in San Francisco. Steph had been so glad that Tim had introduced her, Stephanie Brown that is, to Cassie Sandsmark and Kara Danvers. Hanging out as Batgirl, Supergirl, and Wonder Girl was certainly fun, but as three average girls was ten times better.