nexus_sages | Sibling Rivalries: Chili Edition

Flyers have been going up around the Forum and Commercial District for the last week or so. This morning,the lights in the VSW Meadhall came on. By noon, anyone getting close enough to an open door would know: chili's on!

Inside, everything's set up and waiting for the hungry and the curious: Clint's cooking in one corner, and Verity's in the other. Between them, tables are laid out with the necessities: bowls, plates, spoons, and plenty of napkins. There's beer and iced tea, some lovely tres leches cakes provided by the Nexus' favorite Japanese detective, and various toppings for the chili: bottles of sriracha and sweet Thai chili sauce, red pepper flakes, green onions and red, lime wedges, diced bell peppers and jalapeños, crumbled bacon, shredded cheddar cheese and sour cream. Cornbread and tortilla chips round things out.

Long tables with a mix of benches and chairs fill the hall on either side of the fire pits. One has board and card games stacked neatly at one end (they were neat when they were put out, at least). Another has two boxes, one wrapped in purple paper and one in pink, for depositing voting slips.

Poll #17301 1st Annual Chili Cook-Off

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 7

View Respondents

Who gets your vote?

View Answers

Clint--Avengers Assemble!
3 (42.9%)

Truthfully? Verity.
4 (57.1%)

The fire pits are lit, the food is waiting, and there are games in want of players. What are you waiting for?
((There will doubtless be further Cupid-based shenanigans, but this weekend, it's all about the platonic relationships. Bromances, BFFs, and family ties rule the day! Let's celebrate! Threadhopping, tangents, games, and mischief are all encouraged. Just don't start a food fight or Verity will have to yell.))

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"I would really hope not. Although, a hanging chad arrow would probably confuse the henchmen while you go after the boss..."

Oh, how times have changed. She's giving him ideas for the trick arrows. What has her life become?

"Hey, now that's an idea. It'd be perfect to use against the villain who runs his criminal empire as a representative republic." Teaming with Captain America is sort of a full-time civics class.

"Yes. Because that's definitely the problem with the criminal empires in Manhattan. Bureaucracy." Her eyes roll, but her lips smile. It's a dumb joke but she loves him anyway. (Possibly more because of it, but she's not admitting that, either.)

"Hey, some'a those branches of AIM are pretty bureaucratic," he points out, grinning at her smile. Ah, he got you, Verity. The Avenging Archer never misses his mark!

Yes, yes, she adores her brothers, even if they're goofs and occasionally quite stupid. It's not exactly a secret.

But she's still going to try and distract him from that subject. "Are they? I thought they were trying to co-op the Occupy movement."

"Aw, that made the news?" he groans, chuckling. "I'm pretty sure that's AIM-as-usual. Big claims, not much to back it up." When he's not in the middle of a brawl or a running firefight, Clint is surprisingly easy to distract.

"Of course it did. You think Jameson would let something like that just lie around when he could be on the front page with Spider-Man?" Nobody can be 'on' all the time. He'd have burnt out if he tried. And, like he said, this is supposed to be fun.

"Didn't they grow a MODOK one time or something?"

"Isn't he the mayor, now? What's he doing still running the paper?" Clint sighs and shakes his head.

"Yeah, AIM built the first MODOK, and most'a the ones that came after. Not really a success story--he was supposed to be MODOC, Designed Only for Computing, but I guess they cribbed the wrong notes, 'cause he decided he was Designed Only for Killing, and took over." He sighs. "Hell of a thing to put on a resume, though: 'I built my boss and then he conquered me.'"

She gives a little shrug. "It's a cozy arrangement for a politician."

She snerks at the bit about the resume. "On the one hand, it shows commitment to a cause and a willingness to accept shakeups in the hierarchy. On the other hand, I wouldn't leave them unsupervised."

"Explains a lot," he admits.

"It doesn't sound like they would leave themselves unsupervised, either."

"Which is probably for the best. Or the worst, depending how they try and solve that problem."

A beat. "Given who we're talking about..."

"Yeah, maybe we don't want them solving that problem for themselves. Again."

"Maybe letting them join the Occupy movement wouldn't be so bad, in that case. How much trouble can they really get into in a tent city?"

"They're mechanics and engineers," Clint points out. "The second they realized they didn't have running water or air conditioning, they'd start building a better tent city that has those things, and also impregnable walls and automated laser-turrets."

She has to really think about that. On the one hand, AIM. On the other, socio-economic movement she supports.

"That's a tough call."

"...yeah. But once the AIM guys were in charge, they'd forget what Occupy was about and just build more death rays."

"...right."

Awkward subject change powers, activate!

"So when I win, will you make me circus waffles as my prize?"

"If you win," Clint insists firmly, but with a grin, "I will totally make you circus waffles. What do I get if I win?"

"Right." She is #sorrynotsorry. "Hmm. What would you like?"

"Hmmmmm... cake?" He's so helpful.

Soooo fucking helpful.

"Any special kind of cake?"

"I know it's the middle of winter, but I've got a crazy craving for angel food cake and fresh strawberries that're sliced up and all juicy."

"Oh, strawberries are always in season somewhere around here," she points out. "That won't be a problem at all. You want some whipped cream to go with that?"

"Verity, do I seem like a guy who ever says 'no' to whipped cream?"

"No, but it's polite to ask," she reminds him in an imperious tone. Which is ruined by the way she pokes her tongue out at him right after.

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aw_hawkguy - 2016-02-07 06:20 (UTC) - Expand

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