Avoiding Past And Future

(101) Intermediate

fair warning that i am very european and had to consult multiple americans for this chapter. if i still messed up, tant pis bc i do not respect this holiday at all

November 27

Conner thought he knew what these holidays meant. He had spent some of it with M'gann, Zatanna and Artemis, while Wally stopped by for a second at first and Kal later on. M'gann had seen some videos about Friendsgiving and wanted to try it out a day before since most were celebrating the actual holiday with their families the day of.

Since Zatanna was spending the day with Artemis in Gotham, and M'gann was invited at J'onn's, he thought it meant he could just sleep in and do whatever. The thoughts about yesterday's little field trip and the box hidden in his nightstand swarming too much for him to even consider being lucid for the next 24 hours. Sleep and some mind numbing actives were all that was on his schedule.

The incessant knocking and ringing of his doorbell begged the differ.

With sleep still in his eyes, he carefully pulled himself out of bed, mindful of where Shminky had been napping next to him, and towards the door. Trying to not trip over Wolf, he really hoped he could just send away whoever wanted his attention and just go back to bed. Opening the door, his eyes were assaulted by the far too bright hallway lights and two blurry figures. "What the-"

"Oh, you're awake." Robin mused innocently as if he hadn't been trying to perform a drum solo on his poor door.

"Come on, you're late." Phantom grabbed him by the arm as Conner had no choice but to follow them as he was pushed and pulled along. Not even Wolf was spared as Cujo yipped at the hound until he, too, got up.

Groggily he trudged towards the kitchen, silently lamenting his lack of sleep and a morning shower before being forced into lucidity. He stifled a yawn as Wolf followed along with dragged feet, well, paws. For as strong as both enhanced beings were, sleep was evidently stronger. But atlas, any hope for a swift return to their warm comfort was thrown out the window when they walked into the kitchen to see an older man they didn't recognize.

With a kitchen towel draped over his shoulder, the masked man turned to them. "I see you did not give the young man any chance to get ready." Though the man's formal attire seemed to contrast the two Batling's casual hoodies, he clearly was still a part of their ensemble as the pair looked away from his gaze.

Robin shuffled his feet, kicking imaginary rocks as he mumbled, "you said bring him, you didn't say in what state."

"I asked to go wake him up, not abduct him from his room." The raised eyebrow was just as audible as when Batman was glaring at people. It didn't last too long, however, as he visibly softened as he approached Conner. "Do feel free to wash up and rejoin us. There is much more work to do and I have been told you wished to learn how to make chocolate oat cookies." The comforting aura around the man immediately dissipated any lingering distrust.

Clearly this man knew about their letters. If he'd have to wager a guess, he'd even be willing to bet this is where Phantom got his cookie supply from. With a nod, Conner turned back around to go get ready to face whatever he was dragged into. One quick shower and a change of clothes later, the ones Selina gifted felt like the right fit for the occasion, he found himself back in the kitchen questioning if he was really awake or just in a very realistic dream.

At least now he knew it wasn't just M'gann who managed to get him in some sort of mess when helping out with food prep. Phantom seemed just as bad, struggling with the glove tied to his hand with a hairband. His sleeves were pushed up enough his scarring was fully visible, but the boy didn't seem to mind. His main gripe being the oversized plastic glove that would just not stop moving around or get stuck on the dough. It was no surprise he needed extra assistance since Agent A did not believe in using electronical anything for his confectionary production.