Vancouver, Canada - Saturday

[wantstodirect]

Tony had only been living in his studio apartment for two weeks, but he'd already acquired piles of laundry (he didn't have a laundry basket yet) and, well, the place had an authentic lived-in look, okay?

He had cleared out the pizza and take-out boxes, though, and he had a nice (if not huge) hi-def television that had been a house-warming gift from Lee.

He set the phone down on the crate next to the couch. "Pizza and soda'll be here in about half an hour. You're the guest, so you're picking the DVDs. What are we watching?"

[for blondecanary]

Comments

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

"Hmmmm, a comedy? Like Hint? Or meta for Noises Off?" Dinah suggested, bouncing on the couch, then carefully straightening a pile of laundry that threatened to topple on her. "Or a Shakespeare comedy. Since we haven't done that since last Spring."

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Tony pulled a copy of Midnight Summer's Fantasy from the bottom of a stack of DVDs, holding the top of the stack in place while he did so. "This work?" he asked, holding it up.

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

Dinah grinned. "Perfect! You definitely have the TV for a Greek forest. Does this thing come with its own Stonehenge speakers, so you can raise the dead?"

[wantstodirect]

Tony snorted. "Don't even joke about that stuff. I don't want the dead rising around here." He put the DVD into the player and started it up. "I do need a good stereo system, though. The built-in speakers kinda suck on this TV. I'll probably pick up something next month."

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

"And maybe you could get, you know, a laundry... basin? Crib? While you're at it." Dinah gave him an innocent look. "Except I know that good sound comes first." She poked at the pile again, caught it with TK, and straightened it. "You haven't had any demony or magic types show up since you got here, have you?"

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"Sound is totally a priority," Tony said. "Does Brianna count? CB's daughter? We found out during the haunted house stuff that she's got some magic sensitivity. Now I've got to teach her."

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

Dinah stopped playing Tip-the-Laundry to pay attention to this, eyebrows going up. "Oooo. Totally counts. Wait, isn't this the bratty little one? What is she, nine? And what are you going to teach her first?"

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"Nine, yeah, and spoiled as hell. I have zero control over her. Nobody has control over her," Tony said. "Giving her power is the craziest idea ever, even if I knew how to teach magic."

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

"This doesn't sound like a good plan," Dinah said plaintively. "This sounds like a recipe for Space battles: The Evil Apprentice Strikes back. Why are you doing this, again?"

[wantstodirect]

"CB told me I had to," Tony said. "He's letting me work for him part-time while I go to film school. Do you know how hard it is to find a deal like that in this business?"

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

"I guess it's better than letting the little terror figure out how to traumatize people with her powers on her own," Dinah said, sounding dubious. "Maybe you could bribe her a lot. That worked on the kids I babysat."

[wantstodirect]

"Maybe," Tony said. "I don't have anything she wants except magic knowledge, though, and she knows her dad said I have to teach her."

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

"What you teach her, though, that's up to you," Dinah pointed out. "No fun sparkles or fires, until she learns... I dunno, whatever she needs to learn first?" She slouched down into the couch, and tilted her head at him. "How's your own magic going?" She gestured at the big-screen. "Any storms like the Queen of Faerie's there? Contagion and wind and lightning?"

[wantstodirect]

"No, and I'm holding off on the weather-working for a bit," Tony said. "That can only lead to disaster. How's your superhero stuff going?"

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

"The Canary Cry got a workout a couple times this summer, so I'm a lot more comfortable with it now," Dinah offered. "Plus I've been practicing it more. Plus, I spent a lot more Thursday nights in Baltimore fighting crime with Blossom and, uh." She grinned. "Versions of two superheroes from New Gotham. So weird."

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"No kidding. People you know back home?" Tony asked.

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

"People I've heard of back home, but haven't met yet. They're due back before the holidays, though, at the latest." Dinah shook her head, eyes wide. "They're older in New Gotham, too. So now I've met their teenage selves, and it's just... so strange. I know who they are, but one of them doesn't know who I am, and have I mentioned that I'm glad to be away from all the super-secret-identities in Fandom that make my head hurt?"

[wantstodirect]

Tony laughed. "Well, I'm glad to see you. I miss having you around all the time."

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

Dinah slung an arm around his shoulders for a hug, knocking over socks. "Ooooops. Heh. Yeah, I miss having you around too, darnit." She squeezed him and sighed. "You have to come visit me in New Gotham for Thanksgiving, yes? Right?"

[wantstodirect]

"My Thanksgiving or yours?" Tony asked.

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

"Hmmm, both? Unless you want me to come here for your Thanksgiving?" Dinah poked at another pile of laundry. "Maybe this will have evolved into its own life-form by then."

Ding-dong!

"Ooo, pizzzzzza!"

[wantstodirect]

"Stop taunting my laundry," Tony said. He got up to answer the door. "I've been working on a spell for it, but it leaves a static residue that's nearly as strong as a stun gun." He paid for the pizza and soda and brought it back to the couch, setting it down on the crates he was using as a coffee table. "I think I have some cups," he said, going to the kitchen corner and checking the cabinet.

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

"We should go shopping tomorrow, before I go home." Dinah flipped open the top of the box and took a deep sniff. "For oh, the little things. Like silverware. And maybe a bathmat. Or hey! A table!"

[wantstodirect]

"Don't get all fancy on me," Tony grinned. He pulled out a slice of pizza and bit into the tip.

[blondecanary.livejournal.com]

Dinah snorted, and zipped on to herself. "I'm confident that nothing can change who you essentially are, Tony. A guy with a big-screen TV and no laundry basket in his soul."

[gothamlights.livejournal.com]

Tony would get a message with photos from Helena:

Look (http://pics.livejournal.com/blondecanary/pic/0001qx9f) at (http://pics.livejournal.com/blondecanary/pic/00022bh8) Dinah's (http://pics.livejournal.com/blondecanary/pic/0001xe1y) photo shoot! (http://pics.livejournal.com/blondecanary/pic/00021bde) That's my baby sister!