Sibling Rivalries: Chili Edition

[brave_heart_verity]

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.))

Comments

[fightlikehell]

The smell of that many meats together alone has his nose in a tizzy now combined with a sensation that is burning slightly in his sinus. Matt is up to the task to try both to be a good sport.

"I'm going to just have a fraction of a portion." And yes, Matt's sporting the glasses, the cane, the whole she-bang. At least he's looking relaxed while out and about.

[juststeverogers]

"Don't be modest, Matt." Comes a familiar voice of the tiniest Steve Rogers. It really is a shame Matt can't see, because Steve's collection of Avengers teeshirts is only getting bigger. "If I can manage a bowl apiece I know you can. You eat like a horse."

Correction. Matt eats like a vigilante crime fighter. Something Clint is sure to know, even if Steve is completely unaware.

"Oh! Matt, do you know Clint Barton? He's a friend of mine. Sort of. Well--not sort of. We are friends but he's also mostly friends with the other guy." The other Steve, he means. Alternate universes are confusing sometimes.

[fightlikehell]

The best tinist Steve Rogers gets a smile. Someday he'll get the joke. Until then it's a behind the scenes humor that only becomes funnier with it's delayed knowledge. "I want to be sure there's some for everyone else."

Matt's crime fighting, horse grade stomach could take on Clint's batch. He's not sure that his other body parts could. "I think we had met in passing.... The uh other guy?"

[juststeverogers]

"The other Steve." He quips, voice taking on a strained friendly tone of a guy that doesn't want to be reminded that he's not the other guy in front of Clint. It's subtle, but Matt's all about those subtleties.

"I told you about him before." He adds. "Anyway, the cili's really good, but I wouldn't take it spicier than it comes already. I'm going to try Verity's next. I'll wait up and we can go together?"

[fightlikehell]

"Oh," it's a light, simple and accepted truth. He can hear that strain. That will be a line of questioning for some time in the future in private company.

Clint is also an important person to Verity. That's not something to escape Matt's own attention. "Well, I'm not about to pass it up. I'll have some. I want room for everyone's." And say, that's his portion now. Bubbling and stewing like some sort of acid.

"Oh yes." Verity was pouring over recipes and ingredients last he knew.

[aw_hawkguy]

His name is Matt, he's blind, and he's friends with Steve and seems to know who Verity is--even in the Nexus, odds are slim that there are two blind Matts with a Verity in common. "Matt Murdock, right? Great to meet you, Verity's told me the best. So's Steve, but you were here for that. As for chili, don't worry, I've got plenty--how do you like it? Good an' spicy, or hot enough to make the devil sweat?"

You didn't honestly think he could resist, did you?

[juststeverogers]

"Hey, now!" Oh, so Steve knows. "Isn't it cheating if he burns all his taste buds off before he tries Verity's?"

No. No he doesn't. Not even a little bit. Even if Steve's short that joke shouldn't have gone that far over.

"Oh! That reminds me." Steve tugs gently at Matt's sleeve to let him know he's addressing the lawyer now. "Clint wants to come to the pool bar night too! It'll be a Brooklyn boys' night out. Fun right?"

[fightlikehell]

Clint Barton, friend of Steve and family to Verity. Matt smiles and puts out a hand to shake because they're going to do this right. Even if Clint is very, very familiar with who he is. There aren't so many Matt Murdocks in Nexus with Verity in common, no. "I've only heard the best about you too."

"That's--" close to what he had in mind so hell, he's going to run with it. "That's exactly what I was thinking. I mean, the smell alone. How are you not going through your pans and cook wear?" His portion is at hand and now Matt's having second thoughts.

The spoon is poised at his mouth and he stops at the tugging. "Oh yeah? Is this place ready to handle it?"

http://i.imgur.com/oG0XjQ3.gif?noredirect

[aw_hawkguy]

"Y'know, Matt, I'd be mad about a burn like that if you weren't about to eat my chili. You'll be eating those words, next, so save room." Fightin' words, but Clint says them with a grin. "And my cookware's just fine, thanks. Ancient carny magic, right up there with the clown carpool."

That last question gets a chuckle. "Tell you what, if it's not, it'll be a hell of a way to go."

[juststeverogers]

"You'll be fine! I handled it no problem." Says the guy that's kind of looking around for a beer now that he's done with his bowl.

Steve believes in you Matt!

"Clint can teach us how to not suck at pool, and then regret teaching us how not to suck at pool." Not anytime soon, but hey, Steve can dream can't he?

[fightlikehell]

Beer to wash it down, right?

"I'm not in charge of burns today. That's all you." Enough with the stalling. Now he's got to go and take his bite. Matt scoops it in and... there is a wide spread sensation of his taste buds reacting to the spice. He makes a snort noise in his throat as a reaction but has to chew through the meat. All the meats.

"Mmmnnngh." He can't comment on pool. Or anything. Get through the carny magical, tragical....chili concoction.

[aw_hawkguy]

"Well, that's... high praise," Clint quips dryly. "Okay, enough, have your beer. I can't stand to see a good man suffer."

[juststeverogers]

"Snrk." Steve covers his mouth with a hand and bites down to stop himself from laughing out loud. His shoulders are trembling with the effort.

"Oh...oh noooo."

He takes a bottle of beer for himself and one for Matt, as the other doesn't seem to be able to do much more than sweat at the moment.

"Are you gonna be okay?" Steve asks Matt, bottle for each of them in hand. "Sorry Clint." Steve calls over his shoulder, shrugging. he did not think it would be this bad.

[fightlikehell]

Matt makes another tight noise in his throat. This one is like someone got him in the gut. Get through it, Murdock. He's feeling the sprinkle of sweat at his temples. The burning sensation has gone to the back of his throat and now up his sinus aaand right in the nose. The spoon is in a death grip.

If anyone is still counting he's still chewing, fighting to swallow it. Which means that this whole array of stimulation is going to have to get down to his stomach. To his credit at least he's not making much noise, no running around or crying. At least that anyone can tell with the shades. So they miiight be watering.

Swallowing is a fast, rushed task and it really sears all the way down. Matt has it in him to give a thumbs up.

[aw_hawkguy]

Clint grins. "You're a hell of a good sport, Matt. Thanks."