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Closed Starter for @ivorystark​

“You wouldn’t know of a place to eat around here that serves real food would you?” Few people ever expected it of him, but Mitchell could actually be quite the snob when it came to food. That, plus the way that hotdogs tended to make his stomach turn these days, meant that he was uninterested in the countless food carts that lined the streets. He wanted something so fancy that he didn’t know how to pronounce it properly - especially after the food at Arkham. “Sorry to bother you…you just looked local”

“Actually I do,” Morgan had made herself familiar with the best places to eat in her time spent here back in the past, she didn’t much give herself time to actually go about cooking something so take out had turned into her best friend. And on the days when take out was too much fast food, she had tracked and narrowed down the very best places that serve food that feels like actual food. “No I am local, it’s okay!” She was local now. Saying so felt kind of nice too. “You in the mood for fancy fancy or just regular kind of good?” 

Closed Starter for @ivorystark​

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     Atticus rose a brow as he spotted movement out of the corner of his eye, drawing his attention away from his book. “See, I get why I’m over here in the corner pretending that I don’t exist and waiting for this to be over - but why are you?” he asked, looking up at the stranger that was now beside him. Atticus probably should have grown used to big events such as this one given how often he had been Steph’s date to any of the social functions that she didn’t want to attend either, but all he’d actually done was perfect how to cope through them without draining too much of his energy. 

Squeezing herself into a corner, not wearing any bright clothes, keeping her head down, Morgan knew the drill. She practically wrote the drill. It was what she would do whenever she was stuck in a situation or place she didn’t want to be in. Do her best not to be seen and hope to god it was enough to fly under the radar. “I could say the same thing to you,” She was in this corner because coming here had been an accident, and now there was so much security sneaking out wasn’t a fathomable dream. “You do these things often then?” If he was used to it enough to know when it might be over maybe he could help her out. 

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Lian wasn’t big on interacting with people outside the safety circle of friends she held for herself, she’d known of Morgan after all Mar’i was rather friendly to anyone and everyone so it was really inevitable that she’d run into her once again. Of course, she hadn’t pictured it would be something along the lines of a rescue but she handled it just the same. “That? It took a couple of years of practice to get down, though I’d think you should learn something along the lines of defense as that guy had you quickly pinned.” She mused looking at the other for a moment “It’s the best system as Mar’i would say but I’m not usually huge on hanger oners so where were you headed?”

Lian was a pretty big badass, from all Morgan had heard and the glimpses she had seen. She had been taught by her Aunt Natasha some self defense as a kid, but she wasn’t too great at putting it into use. She thought too much, didn’t move fast enough to actually fight. And her instincts? They sucked. By the time Morgan knew what was going on, or thought of how to counter, it was far too late for anything to actually be done. “I know some basics,” She said. “I just have to actually put them into action instead of freezing up.” A grimace followed, how could she not grimace? Being so useless in a fight and always needing rescuing. She kinda hated it. “Pizza.” Morgan answered. “I was in the mood for a slice so I was gonna walk there.” But now that felt like a regrettable idea. 

Gwen holds onto the top of the seat in front of her to give herself a sense of stability. Nodding to the other when she confirmed they were still in New York City. It was hearing the word Queens that slowly made her smile gratefully. “I - I must have been on my way to Peter’s. It must have just been a … very bad dream.” She looks up to the other woman again, looking apologetic. “I am so sorry, if that startled you. I startled myself as well.”

The woman appeared shaken. It was impossible not to notice. At least she was smiling now, and didn’t continue being shaken to her core. Maybe it was just a bad dream that had spooked her? Or could it have been something more? “Peter’s, is that your boyfriend? Brother?” Felt more like a boyfriend, by the way she said it. Not everyone had brother’s named Peter like Morgan did. “Don’t worry about it,” She assured her. “Would you want me to walk you there? When we get to the stop I mean, New York streets are pretty dangerous.”

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Jerome thought about this for a second, tapping his temple with a finger as if trying to jostle an idea or two loose. “Mmm, arson is a real fun one,” he said, grinning broadly at the young woman in front of him. “Although, ya know, I’ve always thought it was seasonal. It’s starting to get too muggy out to really enjoy a good burning building. Maybe a bank robbery, that’s a gas. And banks…” He tapped his temple again, grinning at her once more. “They got air conditioning.”

There was something off about the guy. Maybe a screw loose or two. But Morgan didn’t feel like she was in any danger (at least, not at the current moment). “Yeah, the fire is sure pretty right?” She joked. Though, she did always enjoy a good fire and seeing the flames all bright and pretty. A chuckle left her lips. “New York really is the prime time destination of all crime.” To see all this stuff on a daily basis, it was kinda crazy. But she’d seen it herself from day to day. It was a city of heroes after all, and a city of villains. “Air conditioning, oh how I love thee.” Such a difference between AC and fans, Morgan understood the appeal. “And pools, when the heat is blasting pools are kinda the best.” 

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     “A list that I shall carry to my grave” he couldn’t help but chuckle at her excitement. “No, they’re less fun that way” he teased, smirking widely. He didn’t really have that many, but they were all great in his opinion. “…True” he nodded. Nobody got hurt that way. “You should probably talk to my Uncle Damian…he has this sleep meditation thing that he does” Granted, he had never known Damian to sleep for very long either, but from what he could tell the sleep that he got was good. “I’m not sure I’d want to enter, honestly…that’s-” he shook his head. “That’s too much attention for me”

“Oh suddenly you’re the expert on fun?” She prodded him with a grin gleaming clear on her cheeks. Poking fun was fun, and it wasn’t something Morgan often let herself indulge it. Usually she was too busy focusing on her project or the whole time travel thing. “I’m going to need a picture and a directory, you have so many Uncles Jake.” She joked with a small giggle following. “Sleep medication sounds like it might interfere with my daily coffee dose.” This time she couldn’t help but laugh and it felt nice. Her smile only hesitated when Jake showed his own hesitation. “Whats wrong with that?” She challenged. “You know, everyone deserves to be doted on once in a while.”

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     As somebody that had deliberately let himself fall into the background of every room that he entered for years, it had never made sense to Jake that Morgan had always seen him, even the parts of himself that he liked the least, it appeared. He hadn’t always been this way, but after losing his mother everything that he had felt consumed and overwhelmed him. He hadn’t known how to process them at the time and he barely did now. Jacob Grayson once resembled his older sister, Mar’i, whom he had always idolised, so closely that strangers would mistake them for twins. The Jake that sat beside her today was a result of trying to protect that child. He’d meant to keep him safe but he had lost him somewhere along the way and while Jake did what he could to cover it up with sarcasm, he was a lost cause. 

“I know, but I wish that it would” he sighed. “I know” he said again, nodding slowly. He’d always held a certain softness for Morgan that he couldn’t explain. She wasn’t immune to his usual pessimism, but it was diluted to say the least. “Hey” he frowned, turning to reach for her hand, willing her to look at him. “I’m not going to collapse, okay? I’m not going anywhere” he promised, his stare intense. “I’m not going anywhere”

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Everyone had mementos to remind them of their past, of the lives they lived, the places they’d been and the memories they had made. Morgan’s problem was that mementos were the only part of the equation she’d had, without the memories or emotions to go with them. Mementos of her father and the amazing man he had been from the man heroes who’d become her aunts and uncles. Mementos of her mother, and all the amazing things Morgan was far too young to understand and even now struggled to remember. Mementos, of the girl who had been alone until suddenly she wasn’t. Until her only friend wasn’t her older brother anymore, but more. Mar’i and Jake were the first among many to become friends, they opened the door to a world beyond the boundaries Morgan had grown comfortable confined in. Mar’i was a shining light, a brightness to guide her way. Jake had been something else. His hand had been a comfort, and his light may have been dimmed but it always kept Morgan aware of where she stood. She never felt lost beside him. Not then, and not now. 

Don’t wish it, do it. It’d be easy for that stupid saying to drop from her lips but Morgan in all good conscious couldn’t bring herself to say it. It was too diluted, too untrue. There were things none of them could do, no matter how hard they tried or even wished. She would never put that strain on Jake, even if her heart wanted to hand him something to hand onto. Her eyes fell to her shoes, wondering if she’d been too brash in confronting him. Perhaps telling Mar’i would have been better, but-- his hand was on hers, and soon Morgan’s eyes met his as well. “You know...” Her tone was quiet. “Collapsing isn’t a choice. The definition is to fall down suddenly because of pressure or having no strength or support.” The words felt out of her mouth in a ramble, her nerves striking at her. “There’s so much pressure Jake. On all of us. And you have so much strength but support?” He was stubborn. Preferred slinking in the back, not being seen or the center of attention. Morgan understood the impulse but she refused to, let him hide away, to let him fade. “Let me be your support, Jake.” She pleaded. 

Mar’i really wished she was the kind of person who could just say no and mean it. Especially when her friends wanted something, and she was so tired. But she was Richard Grayson’s daughter through and through. That meant putting others before herself. “It’s okay. I can nap after. It’s too early to nap right now anyway.” she said shaking her head free of the drowses. “Jake is busy and it’s safer for me to test it with you than Peter.” she answered.

Morgan paused in hesitation, she didn’t want Mar’i to do something if she was too tired. She was just like Jake, always putting everyone else ahead of their own selves. It was heroic if not matyric of a trait. “Why don’t we have some lunch first or something?” She knew Mar’i wouldn’t be able to get talked out of it, but at the very least Morgan was determined for her to be well fed and rested before anything drastic were to occur in an invention test.