ic Seven is the Number [IC]

[Avenger Assembled]

Richard looked on approvingly at Erik's trick. "Hot stuff, buddy, hot stuff!" 

He reached out and put his hand on Erik's arm and then pointed at the grill, not quite touching the flames. "Now watch this-" 

For everyone outside the time bubble, it was as if Erik, Richard, Elis, and the flames had burst into hyperspeed - the three men chattering at each other like manic pixies, the flames dancing like a demon on meth, and the steaks and vegetables browning like something from a time-lapse video. 

For Richard, Erik, and Elis, it was if the world outside their little circle had gone on pause - not quite stopped, but vastly slowed down from the butterfly JJ was chasing to the look on Faretti's face as he turned to his wife. "So," Richard confessed cheerfully, "this is how I spent a lotta time over the years. Different when your kids have speed too, lemme tell you. At least I only have to worry about Holly keepin' up with her ma." He turned to Erik expectantly. "All right, stay in the little bubble here, and you don't suddenly press play into five minutes from now. Let's see what you've got!" 

- 

"It's fine," Jack reassured his wife, patting her hand. "I promised I'd be normal, and that means being normal." He smiled, hiding his teeth as he did so. "You can make it up to me later," he offered, leaning close so his breathless voice was in her ear, "by letting JJ visit Cousin Ammy for a bit and going on patrol back home." 

Edited October 20, 2015 by Avenger Assembled

[Gizmo]

"Man, this must make 'date night' without getting interrupted by the kids so much easier," Erik mused aloud, looking about their little bubble of sped up time and the slow motion activity outside of it. "That makes me feel a lot less bad about how I'm going to totally embarrass you with my vastly superior barbecue skills." Pulling a chicken breast from the cooler Stesha had provided he gave the other two men a cocky grin before tossing it into the air above the grill. Just as gravity began to reassert itself on the cut of meat his fiery swords exploded into motion, slicing with greater ease and precision than any metal blade could have managed. From Richard and Elis' perspective it was a blur of heated air extending from flashing limbs; from outside the bubble it was the entire space in front of Erik had burst into a single sheet of flame.

Diced chunks of chicken fell upon the grill and were soon joined by vegetables chopped with similar theatrical flair. Before the tomato or cucumber could start to darken too far he'd begun assembling everything into a sort of makeshift shawarma using the buns they had on hand. Thanks to the fanciful preparation each edge had been seared just so and Erik looked appropriately pleased with himself as he presented the first platter to Elis to be set aside. "Shawordma," he explained with a straight face.

[alderwitch]

Taylor watched the bubble of hyper-time with some bemusement. As the flames roared up and down, she took a judicious step backwards and put Jack between her and the chefs in question - and their literal playing with fire. It wasn't exactly common knowledge but fire was one of the few things that Taylor's mystical protections did nothing for. "The answer is all of them. If things catch fire, I am blaming all of them. Probably in equal measure."

As Jack bent down to murmur his suggestions, Taylor blushed before slanting him one of the smiles that dimpled both of her cheeks. With mock solemnity, Taylor agreed, "That seems an entirely fair proposal, yes," his wife said softly, "I'm sure that JJ would enjoy a chance to play with Ammy. He's missed her." She grinned at him then, "Though to be honest, I prefer our sort of normal than everyone else's."

[angrydurf]

Elis nodded agreement with the sentiment, "Beats moving relatives into the guest house for babysitting."  the doctor added with a smirk as he watched erik work between pulling what he'd need for his own entry from the baskets and cooler.  When the scintillating swordsman was finished he looked down at the dish and nodded approval, "Well that looks quite good actually."  he complimented as he turned to the grill, "Hopefully I don't embarrass myself."  he joked lightly, "I have been accused of not preparing peanut butter sandwiches correctly in recent memory."

Elis lacked the flare and showmanship Erik had put into his dish certainly instead focusing on precision and control.  After all they had plenty of time no reason to rush within the bubble.  Starting with his vegetables and herbs he pre chopped his ingredients to size and whipped together a quick marinade of garlic pepper and olive oil to apply to the portobellos, as those absorbed some flavor he prepared a garlicy honey mustard glaze with a hint of worcester as he let the grill come back up to heat after the chicken had cooked.  A quick coat of oil to preserve grill marks as he laid out the mushrooms and glazed them as they cooked before pulling them and adding just a dash more salt at the end.  "My mother always used to say if you want to impress a lady cook her dinner."  he joked lightly, "So I figured I'd work out one dish I could manage not to embarrass myself with and if I only had one it best be vegetarian yea?"   he shrugged as he set the grilled mushroom burger to the side and gestured for the speedy major domo of the little competition to take to the grill.

[Avenger Assembled]

Man, you have no idea! thought Richard. I'm lucky I don't have like six kids. What he said out loud was "Heh-heh, well, a gentleman never tells. Let's just say life's a lot easier since Junior left for college." He'd been about to say something about how being together thirty years meant you had to get creative, but that seemed rude in the presence of the recent widower Ellis. "Sit back, boys, watch a master at work." 

Richard turned out to favor classics in his grilling; picking the choicest, thinnest cuts of steak and cutting them thin at super-speed so he could spread them out on the grill and cook them up as steakburgers, smoothly layering an assortment of cheese, sauces, and other spices on the meat as it came off the grill. "Gonna toast your buns!" he declared to Erik with a wink, having figuring out that the other man preferred his style of humor as he swiftly spread out buns on the top rack of the grill to toast them up nicely. "You boys like brats? Sure, everybody likes brats," he added cheerfully, spreading those out on the grill too with a pleasant sizzle. He was in no hurry to finish cooking - but at the same time didn't want to be the one who came in last! 

He wound up filling two plates with cooked steakburgers and brats, half with cheese and half without, some of the remainder with what he promised was his 'special hot sauce' from a home-labeled bottle he'd brought along for just this occasion, and when he was satisfied with his meaty preparation he nodded and snapped his fingers - and the fathers were suddenly out of their time bubble. 

[Gizmo]

"Oh yeah, 'special' sauce, no way that could go wrong," Erik was laughing as they slowed back down to on-par with the rest of the world. Scooping up his own plates he carried them toward the picnic tables, not coincidentally passing close by Jack and Taylor along the way. "You, uh, sure this is going to be a good idea with your whole... thing?" he asked the vampire under his breath, raising an eyebrow to give a significant look that almost certainly wasn't necessary. The swordsman legitimately had no idea whether or not Jack could digest food outside of his 'liquid diet' or what other dietary issues went along with vampirism but it seemed like there had to be some complications. "I mean, you'd be missing out but we can figure out an excuse or whatever, nobody here's going to be weird about it."

[angrydurf]

"Well someone came prepared."  Ellis remarked as the speedster produced his custom sauce to add to the mix, "This a usual event at these things?"  he asked as an aside to Erik with a friendly smile.  As the bubble popped around them and they rejoined the time stream of the rest of the guests he blinked a few times to re-accustom himself to the others not being like unto statues.  "Well it seems food is ready."  he announced with a small laugh as he gathered his entry and carried it to the table to join the others.  Setting his entry down he flashed an easy smile ot Jack, "Enjoy but I must say they all look pretty tasty.  No one making your job easy today."  he offered with a nod as he hustled off to corral his children toward the waiting meal.

[Avenger Assembled]

Jack Faretti diplomatically let Ellie and the other volunteer taste-testers sample that Ellis guy's absolutely repulsive-smelling garlic steak, a name that sounded like a bad joke and probably tasted like one too. "Just a few bites of each," he joked lightly from behind his sunglasses, "like we're wine tasting." Instead, he concentrated first on Richard Cline's steakburgers, which he made a game show of chewing up and swallowing, and even washing down with a little beer. Erik Espadas' shwarma came next, and he once again took a few careful bites that he finished off with some beer. 

 

"Well," he said, turning to his fellow judges and staying carefully neutral on what he'd just eaten, "what do you think?" 

[alderwitch]

Taylor gave a little shake of her head to Erik.  She'd never mastered a proper poker face; Taylor relied on the mask and hood far more than many to remain enigmatic and clearly had grave reservations about this particular course of action. She was also well aware that Jack would be unlikely to back down in front of this particular group. Too much like showing weakness. "They do all look very tasty," Taylor agreed as Elis hustled past, reclaiming her beer from Jack when he'd finished sampling the food, "Personally, I think I'm going to have some of the shwarma but I imagine that JJ will be most interested in Richard's. Speaking of that, I should go try and get him to eat. He's got that look in his eyes," Taylor added the last to her spouse in an undertone. Hungry half-vampires were generally bad news. Pressing a quick kiss to Jack's cheek, Taylor turned to follow Ellis in wrangling her own offspring.