it wasn't me!

          head  tilts  up  as  lips  twist  up  in  thought  for  a  moment  .  “  didn’t  realize  it  but  thanks  for  pointing  it  out  !  ”  the  redhead  chuckles  ,  shaking  her  head  .  “  okay  ,  whoa  .  i’m  gonna  stop  you  right  there  ,  ”  holds  out  a  hand  in  an  attempt  to  stop  her  roommate  from  continuing  .  “  i  literally  don't  know  what  that  means  ,  steph  but  i  am  SURE  i  am  not  in  my  ‘  lover  ’  era  .  ”  she  takes  the  bait  ,  ignoring  the  fact  that  the  blonde  had  returned  home  late  the  previous  night  .  mj  is  sure  it’ll  bug  at  her  later  but  that’ll  be  for  another  time  . 

"you're welcome. i'm quite honored to be your friendly neighborhood swiftie, truly. i feel like i have so much to teach you, oh young grasshopper." because this was easy. this she can talk about. feel normal about. doesn't have to think about being spoiler and robin and batgirl when she can just be a swiftie, right? "listen to i forgot that you existed first and then come back to me about that, 'kay?" and she could go into a schpeal about that as well.

"so you don't want to hear about our lord and savior jesus christ? i promise it's a riveting monologue." actually, stephanie doesn't give much of a shit. she just finds it fun messing with people that bruce would probably yell at her for (but she thinks cass would get a kick out of it, so). "that's probably because you're drinking coffee and not tea. it's a thing."

"i'm starting to have a feeling," he starts, head tilting in a rather curious manner, amusement lacing his tone as his eyes narrow ever so slightly at the other, "that the next thing you're gonna say is we should use the bat-computer to get taylor swift concert tickets." not that he would blame her, really. but that's not the point here, and the way the conversation is flowing already has his shoulders up and down a little, a visible attempt in trying not to laugh. "the 12 year old demi-god has taste then. and please stop the blue lemonade slander. it's fun, it's cool, and it's summer-y!"

"ohmygod." dark eyes blink at him, and stephanie wonders if dick grayson just out swiftied him. it's not a character development she's expecting, but she's not mad about it either. "for the record, you gave me this idea. i'm just following your brilliancy here." teasing, of course, but ... it's a plan that might actually work. and she's willing to do anything for era's tour tickets, so. "you know what's even more fun, cool, summer-y, and actual tasty? lavender lemonade."

“i’m sure you’re aware that what you just described is a very bad idea.” 

         “maybe so. but like, it doesn’t mean it won’t work!”

  “I promise you that I’m not going to bet against that because I love purple.” Kate said while thinking back to her gear. “However, I’m not sure I’m a big fan of thinking to eggplant. It has double meanings and it’s not that tasty. Definitely one of my least favorite vegetables. I’m more of a pizza gal anyways.” 

          "now why would you tell me, a lover of all purples - and the fruit of an eggplant itself - that!?" she's just joking, of course; though, push come to shove, stephanie brown can and will defend eggplant to the end of the time. not just because she can make a mean eggplant parm either. "sounds like your frontal lobe just hasn't fully developed yet," steph says with a shrug, blinking at the brunette innocently. "besides, i'm a sucker for a good pun."

“are we going for personal preferences for this conversation topic?” dick asks, an amused glint in his eyes, “because i’m betting that it’s going to be blue. you can’t have summer without blue. the sky, the sea, blue lemonade. you get the gist.” 

        "no. listen. i have a theory, okay?" and if she was the human version of a meme, it'd certainly be the man who looked like he got no sleep, with messy hair, in front of a red string murder board. except, this is about purple. "it all comes back to blondie." taylor swift. she's talking about taylor swift. again. "lavender haze. midnights. speak now! do i need to say more!?" yeah, yeah she really does. "and no one wants to drink blue lemonade. except, like, a 12 year old demi-god."

“ha! if i had two black eyes then i wouldn’t even need a domino mask anymore, right?” must be a trait that runs in the family to downplay injuries, but really, dick has suffered worse. “what does this even have to do with dinner?” the way stephanie’s mind works does astonish him from time to time, not that he’s not fond of it. “and no— i only have enough for a…” he starts to fish out a few dollar bills from his pocket, “for another bubble tea. the one i’m drinking now is pretty great.” its taste just perfect enough to temporarily forget about a black eye.  

        "considering how DULL some of the people in this city are?" and she doesn't mean to be mean, really. "it would be the bare minimum, but i doubt they'd be able to figure out it's you." she shrugs, and stephanie's joking - of course two black eyes wouldn't hide dick's identity. sure is fun to joke about, though. "it means, i'm here. you're here. i make barista money, shield pays me like nothing, and you have a big boy job and credit card, don't you?" make them cops pay, steph says! even if it's just her dinner. besides, steph has no big girl job and no credit. she's actually so very poor. "c'mon, dick. i'm gonna take away your older than me card if you don't pay."

          when  steph  said  she  was  working  with  shield  ,  cass  needed  to  see  it  with  her  own  two  eyes  to  believe  it  .  eyes  wander  around  the  training  facility  .  there’s  a  hint  of  a  nod  ,  almost  in  approval  at  the  facilities  .  of  course  ,  nothing  beats  the  batcave  .  but  this  comes  as  a  close  second  .  “  so  …  what  do  you  even  do  here  ?  ”

         "kick ass, take names, improve on my flirting abilities. is it working?" she'll lean forward, a quick wink aimed towards her closest of friends, easy grin prying on her lips. there's a hop in her step, she's thrilled that cass is here, actually. she's able to show her closest friend her new hang out spot, and maybe even convince cass to join? she'd love to work with her again, just saying. "you wanna see the weapons room or all the free food we can get first?"

The cutest girl in the world

          “  hmm  …  i  wouldn’t  put  my  eggs  all  in  one  basket  .  i  heard  shades  of  blue  ,  red  and  pink  are  also  in  the  running  for  color  of  the  summer  .  and  i’m  a  little  partial  to  red  .  ”

          "that's a taylor swift reference. are you aware you made one? because if not, i'm about to have a blast with this one." and of course, she barely takes a breath before her next line. "are you in your LOVER era? i did not see that one coming. who's the lucky pal, mj?" stephanie's simply teasing her roommate, of course, to distract them from asking why she came home so late last night  ----  again.

       "i can't believe you're still faster. aren't you supposed to be like, geriatric at this point?" donned in her batgirl costume, stephanie's teasing her old mentor, blonde hair gently bright against the dark fabric. "it's like, save some bad guys for the rest of us to beat up, y'know?"