T'Shan had heard about the so-called 'ladies' night as it was called. Dinah, Ginnie, Aileen and Laruel, or some combination there. It gave T'Shan an idea. He needed a guy's night. So he decided to opt for a guy's night. He knew exactly who to invite. He only had a select few he trusted and they would do. He'd sent a text, or in Leif's case Skugga with a note, to James, possibly the closest he had to a best friend, JJ, a friend from when they were Titans, Rupert a close ally he'd like to learn more about and of course Leif, his favorite cousin. He contemplated also inviting Thomas but knew he was tricky to get a hold of. SO he asked JJ to pass it along and if THomas made it, he made it. He also sent one to the newly awakened Tony Rogers, a good friend from the Titans as well. He didn't know if Dean would accept or not but it was worth a shot. He'd considered inviting Olly as he knew he owed him, but also didn't know if he could trust himself if he spoke of S'Fada or trust James if he spoke of Ginnie.

He had a solid night prepared. Some a little normal for a guy's night and the other kind of things only an Asgardian Warrior would deem fun. His only instructions were to bring an ID, as he was becoming aware Midgardian places seemed to ask for proof of your identity, as well as comfortable clothes. Whether that was a dress shirt and pants or jeans and a T-shirt was up to them. His last instruction was primarily for James, Dean and Rupert, but no guns. He'd accept melee and bladed weapons however. After all his axes Ilska and Raseri would be with him. Skugga was unsure if he'd accompany them to be honest. He was looking for a quiet night in, maybe head over to Titan Tower and meet up with Swift. Or see if Aatsuk also wanted a night off, assuming Leif actually showed up. Either way they were all instructed to meet at Avengers mansion at 8, T'Shan had sweet talked Lilura to ensure Leif didn't get locked out, but also made it a one time thing.

T'Shan came down the stairs towards the main communal area at about 8. Honestly it may have been a little later, his clock had seen better days. He was playing around with what little lightning he had left and had messed up his clock. He hadn't gotten around to getting Ginnie to fix it, primarily since it wasn't an issue. T'Shan was wearing his usual boots and a simple pair of jeans and a T-shirt. He was looking to relax and didn't feel like dressing up. Of course he also didn't go Wakandan casual either. Skugga was currently perched on one axe handle that poked over his shoulder, the two crossed on his back.

'I think this is a terrible idea.'

"Most of my ideas are. But I need a night away with friends Skugga. Come, it will be fun."

'I most likely will pass.'

"You are no fun Skugga."

Tags: James Barnes Jr, TNG Staff, @lokijr, Rupert Rhodes || Optional: @dean, @thomas

James walked into the common area and sat down. He was a bit early, but that was because he'd been in the mansion for a few hours anyway. He'd caught some sleep and a shower around mid afternoon and promptly passed out after a shift of chasing down a terrorist ring over night and into the morning. He'd gotten the invitation from T'Shan and figured that the hatchet was decently buried between the two of them now. The instructions said not to bring any guns, James wondered partly if that was because the last time he had one, he'd shot T'Shan multiple times to prove a point. He didn't like not having one, but he could work without weapons.

He had a blue t-shirt, black jeans, sneakers and a leather jacket, topped off with his holo-shield watch. That left him with at least one weapon he could use. He wouldn't bring blades or anything else that could be confiscated. He opened his book and started reading again. There were probably other things that he should be doing, but Ginnie and Lydia occasionally reminded him that he needed to actually socialize like a human being once and awhile. The logic was hard to argue with. He did have a bad habit of withdrawing from people and getting too focused on his work.

A bit later, James heard T'Shan descending the stairs. The man was a bit denser than the others and had distinct footfall sound. He closed his book and looked up. "It's only a bad idea if something catches fire. Then, it's most likely Rupe's fault. Also, were you in there long enough? I feel like you might have been washing every single strand of hair individually. I mean I've been with women that didn't take that long to get ready. Hell, there have been military operations that took less time." He offered his Asgardian friend a smile and a wave of greeting. The night was going to be interesting if nothing else.

"Really Buck, crap on hair from a guy who looks like he owns stock in a hair gel company?"

Dean said walking through the front door. He was excited to get out and get away. Tessa wasn't a huge of Dean right now, rightfully so. His mom was right, he needed a night off, a night away from everyone. Just a night to spend with his friends to reconnect. He'd been working pretty hard lately with SHIELD to dismantle Lewis' entire operation. It was tricky but he'd managed to basically eliminate all traces of him. Not having his gun was concerning but he still had his cane.

He was wearing a simple pair of jeans and a dark blue polo. He hadn't spent that much time with his old friends, James especially. He had always been close to James and the entire family, for obvious reasons. Of course Dean assumed he would be one of the ones who refused to acknowledge him as Dean and keeping his name as Tony.

"Besides growing up with the Titans it was always him and everyone that kept taking all the hot water. It was weird and quite annoying. Luckily my family has a history of handling cold temperatures very well."

He said with a laugh, sitting down on the arm of a chair and looking at the two of them. This was about as awkward as he thought it'd be. Here were two old friends he hadn't spoken to in quite awhile. Of course he was in a coma for a year so that partially explained that. Then he had to deal with physical therapy, training and working on trying to find Tessa and stop Lewis.

"Speaking of which what's with your family and losing arms Buck?"

He said to James with a laugh. of course he couldn't actually say anything, he was missing a leg.

JJ had taken the portal from the Justice League base to the Avengers mansion. By now situations were better so he wasn't frozen by their security system. He had left Barby with Rayne, things were so much better for them now. They seemed to be getting along a lot better and they were serious. But now he was really looking forward to a simple guy's night with old friends. Ok really the only old friends coming were' T'Shan, Tony and perhaps THomas if he came. But he was on friendly terms with James so there was that. They didn't fight so that meant they were good.

JJ was wearing a simple pair of dress black pants, black dress shirt and dark blue vest. He wanted to go jeans a T'Shirt but knew that an actor meeting with known heroes would be hard to explain. So he would argue it away as Batman Inc work, of which he was a known employee. It wasn't the best idea, but it would work in the grand scheme. His long hair was tied back in a pony tail, keeping it off his face. He hadn't brought any weapons with, which was an odd aspect of the invitation. But then again JJ didn't really question it.

"Why are we all talking about hair?"

JJ asked rounding the corner. He was actually surprised he'd been invited. Primarily because he and T'Shan hadn't really hung out much since they went to separate teams. Of course after getting back from that whole bomb collar thing might've changed his views on things. But either way he was glad things were starting to get back to normal. Especially since they hadn't had a huge problem in one time. But that was fine, he wanted a chance to have some quiet time and focus on family and friends.

"So what's the plan T'shan? Drinking, general debauchery? Or is this gonna be like when we had to chase a dragon through San Francisco on your 16th birthday? Because I do not have the right shoes for that."

Leif was dressed fairly casually, certainly by his standards. He had a green shirt on and jeans. But he was prepared for T’Shan pulling something ridiculous out of the bag. He was surprised about the invite, and so had suspicions about what this was around. None the less, this would be his first meeting with his cousin in a while, going back before the bomb. It could be good for him to meet other people- lie detection did no favours for his social life.

Leif really had no idea the way through the building to wherever T’Shan and his friends were, but this strangely didn’t seem to be a problem. When Leif walked past the doors they just closed up. It certainly worked as a method of showing him where he wasn’t going to be welcome, which in these circumstances was appreciated. He didn’t really need to get in a fight with whatever Avenger just happened to be walking through at the time. Meanwhile, Aatsuk flew alongside and slightly in front. She seemed more fascinated by the building than Leif, really.

It was clear when he made a wrong turn, for instance, because the doors would just shut all down the corridor. It was really a very clever system. But then, it was almost certainly made by Ginnie Stark, so anything else would have been a disappointment.

Eventually Leif made it to the right room, and looked around at the people already there. Aatsuk halted in mid-air and did her best to hover in place before giving up and perching on Leif’s shoulder. He eyed each of them to get as much as he could for a scope for each while still trying to not look overly shifty- easier said than done, even for him.

”Oh please don’t let there be dragons. Or any oversized reptiles, for that matter.” Norse mythology was rather limited for dragons and his familial concerns stretched just far enough for his siblings for him to not want T’Shan testing his strength against Jormungandr. Besides that, dragons tended to have an awful habit of being able to breath fire, which was maybe not a great situation for him to be facing.

He shot T’Shan a look trying to ask as best as he could through expressions whether him being introduced as Lokison was a bad idea. It almost certainly was.

Rupert had been pretty surprised to get the message from T'Shan about a guy's night. For a start, it was a work phone T'Shan had texted him on, but he wasn't going to bring that up. He knew the other Avengers weren't as big sticklers for rules as he was, not even Ginnie, so he'd long given up trying to convince them to follow procedure. They seemed to muddle through just fine by themselves. And what's more, he just wasn't used to nights out with colleagues. Sure, he went out with friends, and him and Olly had gone to bars before, but it wasn't something he was altogether used to. Still, he liked T'Shan, and he was sure other people like James would be there. Sometimes it was good to just get out.

He'd decided that 'comfortable clothes' meant 'no tie', and had dressed accordingly, wearing an open-necked dress shirt with grey pants and a grey suit jacket, unbuttoned. It was a night out, he might as well look presentable. He hadn't quite opted for dress shoes, instead just going for comfortable, if smart black shoes. It completed the look well enough. T'Shan hadn't provided transportation, as far as he was aware, so a few minutes passed and Rupert flagged down a taxi.

The other Avengers all had rooms at the tower they often used, he knew, but while there was a room that was nominally his, he'd never slept there. He was a SHIELD agent first and foremost and, while he was perfectly happy being an Avenger, he just didn't feel that integrated yet. So presumably while T'Shan and James had to walk downstairs to arrive on time for the night out, the same luxury wasn't quite available for Rupert.

So it was slightly later than eight PM by the time he arrived, and he was on the tail-end of the hair argument.
"I think we can all agree I'm the only one here who can talk about hair," He said as an entering comment, smiling. It had been hell dealing with hair in the suit, so he'd eventually shaved it even shorter than military regs one day, and never gone back. Still, now that he'd thrown in his two cents to the debate, he walked up to T'Shan, his hand out. "Glad to see you've recovered, T'Shan."

A quick look around confirmed that he was definitely overdressed compared to everyone else. Maybe he should ditch the jacket? Well, he'd make that decision later. He looked around and did a quick headcount. T'Shan and James, of course he knew, and he was colleagues with Dean. He'd met JJ, but they'd never really spent time. It was the pale, dark-haired man he'd never met before. "Hi," He said by way of greeting. "Rupert Rhodes. And you are...?"

He laughed a bit as he heard James' comment about his hair. It was true he did take his appearance serious. Of course he did keep winning polls for best looking hero and other shallow awards in magazines. He acted like they were beneath him as a warrior but secretly he loved it. He would do his best to ensure he kept the titles, one of which was best hair. Of course that was likely because so many wore helmets or full masks.

"Some of us prefer to bathe more than once a month friend James. Remember I have Asgardian senses and am near your room."

He said with a laugh. It was just friendly banter now that the two of them were on far better terms. For starters James hadn't shot him in days. Of course knowing it won't hurt him and if he wasn't paying attention a simple .45 to the shoulder was enough to get his attention. Of course it usually followed a vase or potted plant hurling at James, but still.

"Besides, if something is not a flame by the end of the night I shall consider this night a bust."

'You are insane T'Shan'

"You keep saying that like it is a bad thing."

Just then everyone seem to be showing up. He was happy to see everyone and kept greeting them. He was extra happy that Leif and Tony made it. When everyone seemed settled he figured he do a quick round of introductions just in case not everyone was familiar with everyone. Leif was right, perhaps the 'Lokison' would wait till they were all a little drunker.

"Alright, quick introductions, I will refrain from using codenames. We have James, Tony..."

'He prefers Dean now.'

"And I would prefer to be greeted with 'Your Majesty'. Some things will not happen. Anyways, there is James, Tony, JJ, Rupert and my cousin Leif. Now as for the plan, it is quite simple. Drinking, followed by dinner, followed by more drinking, a few strip clubs, with more drinking and then....a brief trip to Asgard before we go on a quest. The creature is...similar to the hydra. The reason I said no guns is because gun powder and electronics simply do not work in that realm. Now the limo is here and do not worry cousin I brought in barrels of Asgardian Ale for us. And friend Rupert, if you do not drink, James will vandalize your suit and tell friend Ginnie you did it. Now come, the party is on!"

He said with a smile before heading towards the door.

'So Aatsuk, want to go mess with stoners in Central Park? Maybe party with some wolves? I feel this would be...beneath us.'

"Just remember Tony, it's my stock in hair gel companies that keep his royal pain in my highness, in hair product."

James gave a shrug to Blue Bat. Tony had this inane knack of calling him Bucky or some variation and he was never really fond of the name. Bucky was his dad. He was just James. Or Jimmy, but that was only to Ginnie. "We try to stick with shallow talk. Big words confuse T'Shan and Tony, so we stick with topics they can understand. T'Shan's Asgardian senses make up for it, but he still has trouble detecting the girl he should tell his feelings to. It's a weird group."

As Rupert and Leif walked in James scoped them out. Rupe was dressed better than the rest of them, he was making James feel rather underdressed in his t-shirt and jeans. Leif was T'Shan's cousin. James recognized him from the file he kept on Asgardians on Earth. Normally, James would be worried about a threat, but if he was here it was at The Scion's invite. He'd still be sure to keep an eye on him though. James looked up at the comment about his family and losing hands. "Hey, I just lost a hand, frosty. Ginnie built me this nice replacement. It works fine. See?" James gave Dean a one fingered salute as he stood up and walked over to Rupert.

"Why is it that no matter what you're wearing, I feel like I'm underdressed? Maybe I'll give your hair style a try." He smiled at Rupe as he listened to T'Shan make introductions and explain how the night was going to go down. When he mentioned that James would be vandalizing the War Machine suit, James held his hands up. "I will do no such thing. You can only be 'accidently' hit with repulsor blasts, so many times before it starts to look deliberate. Between War Machine and the Maiden, I can tell you they know exactly how many times they can get away with it." He rolled his eyes and shrugged, following along.

"I'll mess up the War Machine armor, well, after I get done playing around in it. Always wanted to fly through a drive through..."

He said trailing off and laughing. SO far he was already having fun. It was like old times, just hanging out with his friends. Of course the promise of booze and naked women was always enough to interest him. He didn't know Rupert too well, despite having worked with him a few times. Of course that was on a professional level, this was a personal setting. He knew it could prove risky having a co-worker see him in a potentially drunken state, but he didn't care.

"Hey Buck, lay off T'Shan. Human emotions confuse him. That and I was late to the SHIELD pool so I've got like three months from now for them to get together. But I did go for the extra bet that it'd be once, he'd knock her up the first time and they'd be stuck in an awkward relationship. Like JJ here. Did you ever find your baby's mama?"

It suddenly became aware how much he missed being away and in a coma for so long. He was trying to get back in and get together with everyone again. It wasn't easy, but he was getting there. TOnight was as much for him as it apparently was for T'Shan.

"How come only the bird here respects my wishes? I'd rather go by Dean Carter. Is it so wrong to want to make my own way?"

He said before T'Shan mentioned fighting a Hydra like creature, with no guns. Sure Dean was just as skilled as most of them but he preferred guns, plus he only had one leg. He'd never use that as an excuse but it couldn't be ignored. As T'Shan ran off to the limo he looked to the others.

"So are we gonna hope we get him drunk enough that he forgets and instead makes funny calls to AIleen?"

As they discussed what to do with Rupert JJ shook his head. He didn't know Rupert but knew of him. He was in the Bat-files as a SHIELD agent and AVenger. He seemed a nice enough guy, and if T'Shan and James trusted him he'd trust him. Of course JJ had to trust James, James knew his identity and about Barby. Sure JJ trusted James would never play those cards unless he had to, but still he was wary. He was looking for any semblance of equality so he could have an insurance policy. So far he had nothing, and it bothered him.

"Tony, there's no way you'd even fit in Rupert's suit. For starters he has a build that reads as more than heroine body builder. Besides Ginnie is as paranoid as my grandfather, she'd have so many fail safes in there you'd be lucky to make it anywhere. However I might be able to hotwire it and ride you like a pegasus. We'll call that Plan B."

He said with a laugh. He did like the idea of messing with stuff. Of course people of their intelligence and skill level being drunk and looking to cause mischief will be nothing but trouble. Of course JJ was actually looking forward to that.

"For your information Tony it turns out Rayne is the mother, in the future. It's a crazy story involving genetic tampering, Apocalypse and time travel. Either way, talk bad about her and I seduce Tessa in a three way and knock her up out of spite."

He said with a smirk. Sure he had once been known to sleep around, usually with starlets. But he was commited to Rayne, whether she was to him was another matter.

"That's right, don't threaten a detective of my level....Agent."

He said with a wink and a smirk. It was just a little quip. For starters if he had to do a three way it'd involve May or Ginnie. That and he would never mess with Tony like that, he wasn't that cruel. Well ok in his younger days he was, but that was another matter. As T'Shan did the introductions JJ took note. Leif, that was the son of Loki if he was correct, which judging by how some others reacted he was. But he was T'Shan's family and having a quasi-relative like Owen and Jason Todd, he got the whole concept of trying to give them another chance. He respected it.

"Tony, you wanting to go be Dean is like T'Shan wanting to go by Jerry, it's weird. But yeah, we're definitely gonna get him drunk and make sure he makes funny calls and texts. As for a hydra, I don't know it could be fun. Besides with this kind of team it won't stand a chance. C'mon guys I'm hungry."

He said following T'Shan to the limo.

"I just need to send a quick message to Ray, she has Barby. Might be gone longer...."

He mumbled as he quickly began to text.

”I’m Leif. The cousin with the brains.” Leif answered the short-haired man. Saying more than that to a sober –presumably- Avenger was not a good idea. Especially not if it was anything near the truth. ”And you?”

Leif gave T’Shan a slightly wary look at the idea of everything being aflame.

Leif raised an eyebrow at T’Shan’s choice of transport. He was sure that between them none of them would need a limo. There were enough references to flying armour following suit around the room that anyone could be sure it was serious. Between that- (those?)- and his magic, Leif was entirely sure no typical Midgardian transport was needed here. That said, Leif had a feeling Miss Stark had probably got some measures to counteract his magic on the premises.

”Loathe as I am to say it, I actually agree. Of course I would.” Aatsuk launched off of Leif’s shoulder, deliberately batting him over the head with her wing as she went. Leif gave her a swift glare as she headed off. She landed on a window ledge on the opposite side of the room, intending to wait for Skugga for their overall more mature plans.

Just watching the others and listening to what they were talking about was actually entertaining in its own right. Who knew they were seemingly so hapless?

Leif snorted in amusement at the common idea that the others had that they’d get T’Shan drunk. Unless someone had been secretly importing Asgardian ale, Leif doubted they’d even seen anything of drunk T’Shan. ”You can try getting him drunk enough. I’ll bet you $100 that no Midgardian drink can get that to happen.” Leif had seen T’Shan drunk before, but he knew enough to know that no Asgardian should be able to get drunk on what they had on Midgard.

”You know, I don’t normally comment on other people’s sex lives but if yours involves Apocalypse I suggest you get your eyes tested at the very least.” Leif hid his curiosity about JJ’s claim to be a detective. Wasn’t he some minor actor?

”Oh, I don’t see any issue with that. If you want to shed certain associations with yourself, shedding your name is a logical option. Deed polls are legal.” Not that using one was Leif’s forte. Or, for that matter, any legal documents. Why bother when you could cast illusions?

Leif filed out of the room with the others to the limo.