United Heroes MUSH - User contributions [en]

10139/Standard Club Things

2020-01-27T07:33:53Z

Malky: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2019/11/21 |Location=Club Lux, Melville |Synopsis=Felicia introduces Bucky to Lucifer. |Cast of Characters=40,229,735 |pretty=yes }} {{Poses |Poses..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2019/11/21
|Location=Club Lux, Melville
|Synopsis=Felicia introduces Bucky to Lucifer.
|Cast of Characters=40,229,735
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:40|Black Cat (40)}} has posed:''' This evening, the Cat's out on the town, and she's not alone. There's an errand to run at Club Lux in Melville at least for Felicia. She's read through her primer books on summoning circles and it's time (in her opinion, at least) to schedule another monitored attempt at executing some of the mystical tricks she's mused over while scritching at lazy Shammy's half-sleeping form. Texts were sent off to a particularly quiet young man and the arrival time set. Tonight requires dark jeans that must have been painted out -- or she poured herself into, somehow. Black knee-high boots gleam in high-quality leather. Beneath her peacoat, her button-down shirt is a cheery fuscia-pink, sure to bring out the natural color in her cheeks and brighten her jade-green eyes flawlessly lined in kohl. Overtop this, a black satin racerback waistcoat vest that clings to her curves with a vengeance. "Bet they can make any drink you can name," she challenges the brunet beside her with a red-red smile. They arrive at the front door and frankly, the bouncer doesn't think twice about letting Felicia enter. Bucky is allowed access by proxy of her hand wrapped around his bicep. In they go and down the stairwell to the main floor. The club is hopping, though not necessarily packed to the gills. The dancers are dancing to the music thumping, the drinks are flowing, and in darker corners, certain substances are passed about. Felicia sighs. "There's never a dull moment around here..." she muses close to Bucky's ear given the volume of the speakers. Her eyes search for a particular man, after all: the club's owner. 

:'''{{#var:229|Winter Soldier (229)}} has posed:''' He doesn't have his tux on - he does have one now, though. But Buck's settled on a dark suit that very much suggests it. Perfectly tailored, and cut in such a way that it's much more in line with the styles of his youth, though not so meticulous as to fall under mere period costume. There's more than a little of that 30s gangster aesthetic in the dark striped jacket and pants, the burgundy vest over white shirt and dark tie, and a fedora cocked at the proper rakish angle when he enters....though immediately removed. Sergeant Barnes, in other words, has no truck at all with skinny pants or anything worn 'ironically', and he remembers the days when there was a distinct etiquette to hats and their wear. Visibly casing the place as he comes in. "I know a sucker's bet when I hear it," he retorts, not looking at her directly until he's satisfied he's gotten the lay of the land. 

:'''{{#var:735|Lucifer (735)}} has posed:''' "Well aren't you two lovely together?" Lucifer's voice floats over to Felicia and Bucky, as he moves smoothly down the staircase. He is leisurely at first, but then rapidly comes down the second half of the stairs with a rapid, almost acrobatic grace: like a panther sliding down out of his tree. "So very good to see you," Lucifer just about purrs to Felicia, striding over with an immediate attempt to guide her hand to his lips, though he doesn't actually render any kiss there. It was just a tease: and comes with a flippant little dark-eyed wink at Bucky. "Welcome welcome; what //have// you brought me?" Lucifer asks Felicia, though his dark eyes are steady and intense on Bucky, now. Lucifer's all smiles. The charisma from the devil just about pulses out in waves of comfortable ease. It's a drug, in a way: feeling so free of inhibition IS a style of drug. "Are you the supreme of something other than magic?" Lucifer coyly asks. It may be very hard to resist answering that honestly - and who really wants to resist, anyway? 

:'''{{#var:40|Black Cat (40)}} has posed:''' "Oh, come on now, you old fogey, humor a lady," the Cat chides Bucky with laughter clear as day in tone. Her smirk curls at him before she hears that familiar crisp voice drift down from on high. How it threads through the leading beat of the music keeping the dance floor packed is something truly supernatural. Turning in place on the toes of her boots, Felicia releases her gentle hold on the Soldier's arm in order to spread both hands out at her sides. "Lucifer, you charmer," she replies, fluttering her eyelashes at him across the heights of her knuckles not quite kissed. "I've brought a friend. I was telling him about the club and I thought I'd kill two birds with one stone -- I have a question for you anyways, after we all know each other." With that, she retrieves her hand in order to work at shrugging out of her peacoat. After all, it's warm in the place, though not uncomfortably so. Regardless, the button-down shirt is absolutely unbuttoned down at least two disks to expose the graceful lines of her collarbones...bare min. 

:'''{{#var:229|Winter Soldier (229)}} has posed:''' With his hat off - from the front, it looks like his hair's slicked back. A turn of his head, though, and it's clear that it's bound back into a neat, shining tail, held by a silvery ring. That knee-jerk wariness eases a fraction, as he meets Lucifer's gaze. Going wondering and curious, the easing of tension taking years off his face. Still solemn, but much less braced for fight or flight. With Felicia letting go her hold on his arm, he deftly shifts his hat to his metal hand - covered by a glove of soft black leather - and offers the human one to Lux's owner. That question bemuses him. Was it meant for him? And what did it mean, either way? "James Barnes," he says, simply. 

:'''{{#var:735|Lucifer (735)}} has posed:''' Lucifer doesn't pin Bucky with the question, at any rate. Perhaps it was for Felicia's benefit? Hard to know: Lucifer's got his full bore gaze on Bucky for the moment, studying him. "Lucifer Morningstar. Charmed," Lucifer says, cool and easy. His eyes widen a little more, giving Lucifer a manic, overly interested appearance for just a moment, before he's suddenly twisting to look upstairs, scanning. Any brief spell he'd cast isn't broken, but it does reduce. Lucifer's eyes are something strong. "Oh, did you want privacy for this question?" he asks, before looking back to Felicia, now. "Perhaps drinks to go with it?" A look cast to the bar rouses a waitress immediately to come right over to the club owner and the two in front of him. She hands Lucifer a glass of what is obviously whiskey, and looks at the other two questioningly. "Beautiful timing as always, Pamela," Lucifer says to her, and she casts him a demure smile with an edge of something far less demure. 

:'''{{#var:40|Black Cat (40)}} has posed:''' Felicia gives the brunet a passing glance almost...pleased. Ah-hah -- he can be social after all. It twinkles through her thoughts: she wins. Briefly, she quarter-turns to consider the dance floor with its collection of gyrating bodies in all sorts of appropriate club-wear and frets at the coner of her lip. The temptation, at least for the Cat, is clear as day momentarily. Lucifer pulls her out of her introspective argument against going and enjoying herself in the throng. Primly, with her jacket held over her arm, she lifts eyebrows before considering the bar. "Mmm...I don't think privacy is necessary," she decides just before Pamela arrives. "I'll take a Vodka Sunrise, please." Her attention returns to the club owner. "We can go upstairs though, I didn't get a chance to really appreciate those couches you have. They look very comfortable," the blonde notes with a smirk to Lucifer. "But I can't really say what James is the supreme of. Thoughts?" Her jade-green eyes twinkle towards the Soldier, wondering how on earth he might reply to the question. 

:'''{{#var:229|Winter Soldier (229)}} has posed:''' Winter Soldier lets his hand fall, without fanfare. Hey, maybe Lucifer not touching him keeps him from bursting into flames....or keeps his arm from shorting out. God only knows what kind of charge Lucifer carries. "Pleasure," he says, amiably enough. The question put to him.....he's either got a completely flawless deadpan (entirely possible, hey, thanks, Winter) or he's having a moment of social blindness. ....it's the latter, because the answer Blue Eyes comes up with, after some deliberation, is "American POWs". Hey, they lost him in '45 and he wasn't freed until eighty years later. No one else was gone that long. 

:'''{{#var:735|Lucifer (735)}} has posed:''' "Supreme of...." Lucifer says leadingly, his gaze anchoring onto James. Lucifer narrows his eyes just a little, as if reaching out with an invisible hand to guide some tidbit from James. "American POWs. Well. That could mean several things, couldn't it. Something I suspect you might not be so proud of?" Lucifer wonders, prompting. "No judgments here, though. We all have our claims to fame such as they are, don't we!" Without looking away from Bucky, he fans one hand towards Pamela, sending her off to fetch the orders. As Bucky withdraws the hand intended for handshake back, Lucifer takes in that he accidentally didn't notice it. He was focused too much on something else in Bucky's face. Lucifer got /curious/... "Forgive me, where are my manners," Lucifer says, shaking himself a little bit, and will handshake properly this time. Lucifer isn't warm, doesn't set anyone on fire, and isn't forceful in handshakes. "Let's show you that couch, then. Try not to wander off," Lucifer teases, perhaps aware of the temptation of the dance floor, and heads back up the stairs, leading them towards one of the private suites. 

:'''{{#var:40|Black Cat (40)}} has posed:''' A pursing of red lips is the Cat's silent reaction to the reply. Bucky isn't lying from what little she knows of his past...or at least, it's an easy extrapolation to follow. A flicker of empathy comes and goes through her darkly-lashed eyes, quick as sunlight flashing off a gemstone. Felicia then tilts her head promptingly in the Soldier's peripheral vision. She takes up the lead behind the club owner and sashays her way up the stairs, hips swinging comfortably as boots click their way in a measured time up and to the second floor. "I think I'll wander off later," she shares with a grin at the top of the steps. One last lingering halt allows her to look over her shoulder down at the dance floor and wistfulness fills her pose until she makes herself continue on towards the private suite. "I finished reading those books, by the way." The announcement to Lucifer in particular has her giving him a smile, as if she were testing his memory in regards to //which// books she's referencing. 

:'''{{#var:229|Winter Soldier (229)}} has posed:''' Back to that deadpan, polite and attentive and opaque a millimeter behind the eyes. His handshake's firm, but he's never inclined to make a pissing contest of it. Declining to explain further. Even the switch of Felicia's hips don't divert him. James has a faintly abstracted look, that stitch of concentration between his brows. As if someone were murmuring in his sleep, and he were trying to catch the words. Tread soft, despite the fact that he's wearing vastly inappropriate steel-toes, rather than proper dress shoes. The black leather they're made off is shined within an inch of its life, old Army style. 

:'''{{#var:735|Lucifer (735)}} has posed:''' "I do have leashes if you really can't be contained, but that's not really my /style/," Lucifer jokes with Felicia as she follows him upstairs. The quiet Bucky, bringing up the rear, is given a reprieve from the playful devil for a little while, before Lucifer presses the door open with one palm and gestures for the two to go ahead of him. The private rooms are luxurious, and speak of all kinds of private activities. It does seem very clean, though, there isn't speck or hair out of place in the room. Cleanliness is next to godliness. Pamela follows them, with Felicia's drink. Lucifer snares it off the tray and Pamela exits quickly, while Lucifer offers it instead to Felcia with trhee fingers balancing the drink easily. "Now, let's finish your business, and get to playtime," Lucifer chuckles, playfully. "While I'm glad to hear you finished your homework, it isn't actually part of your grade. Are you asking for more, then? Whetted your appetite?" 

:'''{{#var:40|Black Cat (40)}} has posed:''' Felicia rolls her eyes and wrinkles her nose against a laugh bubbling beneath her breastbone -- leashes, pfft, no one leashes her! With a comfortable lift to her chin, the thief walks into the room as if it were her own living space. Her coat is laid along the back of one of the couches before she turns in time to see her drink offered out to her on Lucifer's fingertips. "Oh why thank you," she simpers with overly-affected manners, grinning up a storm as she takes the glass into two hands. "Yes, I am asking for more. I think I remember enough from the books to try something a little bit more difficult." "I'm being taught magic," she asides to Bucky, bright excitement bringing an electric life to her entire body. Her drink is sipped and she then looks back to Lucifer. "James knows about magic, he's seen it before, so we don't have to be hush-hush about it." Another deeper sip of her drink is followed by a soft contented sound. "Ooh, this is //good.//" 

:'''{{#var:229|Winter Soldier (229)}} has posed:''' That....that breaks James out of his brown study. His drink of choice is ginger ale, of all things. But then, liquor in the average Earthly concentrations doesn't affect him, so why should he waste Lucifer's stock. A glance down at his side - his usual furry companion is shedding and snoozing on his bed in the Triskelion. "I've seen a little," he allows. Much less sanguine about what learning magic might mean. But then....who has he seen, other than Loki? 

:'''{{#var:735|Lucifer (735)}} has posed:''' Pamela accepts the order: she'll be back with that Ginger ale shortly. Lucifer doesn't seem to react or care about the drink choice. No pressure. "Ah yes, I know I am," Lucifer replies serenely to Felicia. "Oh, you meant your drink?" he questions, as if he honestly may have misheard her. It's hard to tell, he's still grinning like a cocky maniac, so that could be either way. "Seen magic, has he? 'A little?' I'll resist the urge to ask you to pick a card, then, James; such a thing would be a small pittance to those more versed with real magic," Lucifer jokes. He's a fun, amiable presence; no need to feel tense or tight-lipped with Lucifer. Everything is awesome. Even his magic sounds pleasant and enjoyable. "As I recall, your books touched on a number of areas. You'd use them to focus on an interest, such as hexes, or charms, or summoning, or necromancy, or exorcism, or teleportation, or any number of vast categories. Generally it's best to pick one at a time, much like you were having a decadent meal, and not a pig with everything in one bucket out of a blender." 

:'''{{#var:40|Black Cat (40)}} has posed:''' The manic grin is returned with a red-red smirk. Cheers, comes the silent lift of the drink. With a light grace, Felicia perches herself on the end of one of the couch's arms and crossed her legs daintily, back still straight and attention flickering between Lucifer and Bucky. She emerges from slowly sipping at her drink to reply to the club owner, "I liked the idea of charms. They aren't scary. Well, scary like, they don't require the crazy kind of stuff that things like necromancy requires. Ewugh." Her shudder isn't affected. "I don't think I want to combine something like exorcism and charms either. I want the little tricks that linger -- helpful stuff." Bucky gets another grin, cajoling. Oh dear, a cat-burglar with charms up her suit-sleeves. 

:'''{{#var:229|Winter Soldier (229)}} has posed:''' He's got that pokerface on, deliberate. Curious, it's clear, but....they're still talking business. James keeps glancing around, but for the most part, he's studying Lucifer himself. Not making any real secret of his scrutiny. Has he decided if he thinks the Morningstar is who he claims to be? Apparently it's still up in the air. He favors Lucifer with a little smile at the joke. "Yeah, gotta at least pull a rabbit outta a hat to impress me," he opines. 

:'''{{#var:735|Lucifer (735)}} has posed:''' "Well," the devilish, handsome man sighs, moving to seat himself on the couch opposite Felicia. He doesn't push into her personal space even one iota. He reclines where he is, passing a few fingers up his neck into his five o'clock shadow along his jawline and chin. Lucifer has an uncomfortably handsome look: one normally reserved for highly successful plastic surgery results. But still kind of 'unnatural'. "Unless you want to perform an exorcism on a demon tonight, I don't really have a lot of other magical capitol just hanging around here," Lucifer shrugs, drinking his whiskey. He treats it like it is delicious: he might be drinking it for the flavor, with that savoring behavior he's doing. "A rabbit, hm. We'll see if one can be dragged out of a hole before the end of the night, but I make no guarantees." A loft of brow and sly grin follow. "But to improve reading list on minor charms, I know of some books. Not really my favorite of those. They seem to end up in love potions, which is a peeve of mine." 

:'''{{#var:40|Black Cat (40)}} has posed:''' "I'd appreciate the reading list. I don't think I want to do any...love potions. I mean...that just sounds like trouble," Felicia opines with an idle kicking motion of her foot. She looks down into her drink for a second before shrugging animatedly. "But hey, knowledge is power and you get it from reading books, so...if knowledge is power, and power corrupts, I'm on my way to taking over the world. Beware, world." Felicia might already be entering the realm of buzzed, given she's drinking on an empty stomach. "Lucifer knows a lot about magic though, James, if you have any questions for him. I mean..." The pause is brief and she considers the Soldier with a squint. "It wasn't //little// magic that we saw." Uh oh, 'we'. 

:'''{{#var:229|Winter Soldier (229)}} has posed:''' Felicia knows that expression. More specifically, the particular gradation of *lack* of expression, the full-on I Don't Wanna Talk About It face. James shakes his head, mutely. Apparently he won't mention L #1 in the house of L #2. They probably know about each other - surely they must. But it's like he's afraid to even discuss it. Winter is still only sleeping....and maybe Lux's host could wake him. 

:'''{{#var:735|Lucifer (735)}} has posed:''' "Please tell me you don't want the reading list right now," Lucifer asks, wrinkling his nose. "I'll send it in text, all right? When I'm not enjoying my evening or would prefer to head downstairs to dance." A cheeky grin appears. "It isn't as if you'd go shopping right now regardless, is it?" Pamela knocks and enters, bestowing upon Bucky his ginger ale. Lucifer's dark eyes flow over it idly, then fix again on Bucky. "Not much for conversation, my new friend?" Lucifer asks. His tone is somewhat intrusive, but not actively pushy. Lucifer just likes to engage. "If you have something on your mind, please do lay it on us," he requests, once again coaxing. 

:'''{{#var:40|Black Cat (40)}} has posed:''' Felicia's fingernails make a muted tapping on the pocket of her jeans, where her phone is tucked away. How it got into that pocket is also a mystery with the clinging fit of the pants. "Shoot me the list whenever, we'll go get the books and then go do lunch or something," the socialite decides before finishing the rest of her drink. "I'd like another of this one, please?" she asks of Pamela quickly, rotating the empty glass back and forth, before diverting her attention to Lucifer and then Bucky. Poor Barnes: two sets of keen eyes upon him now. She pouts her crimson-painted lower lip faintly at his expression. "Well, I'm not afraid of him." What cheek. "The little bit of magic I'm talking about belonged to Loki. You know...that smarmy, tricksy, underhanded bastard. Thor's brother or //whatever//." Ugh -- cue buzzed eyeroll. 

:'''{{#var:229|Winter Soldier (229)}} has posed:''' Winter Soldier lifts his ungloved hand, palm out. "Oh, no," he says, mildly. "No, I dunno much about magic, so, y'know, I'm just listening and learning." Murmured thanks for his ginger ale, which he sips from. They don't make it like he remembers....but then, that's so very true of nearly everything. Especially Steves. He doesn't flinch at the mention of Loki....but nor does he speak up, even then. 

:'''{{#var:735|Lucifer (735)}} has posed:''' "Not from your..." Lucifer gestures with a few fingers towards the ring on Felicia's hand in the proper ring-finger position for engagement, "Supreme of Romance?" Lucifer queries. He noticed THAT detail, most definitely: when he had her hand earlier and decided not to kiss the back of it. Devil's in the details. "Loki, yes. I do know," Lucifer answers, as if the topic were amusing to him but not something to get worked up over. "Asgard 'godling' of petty entertainment," Lucifer describes. "What drives Asgardians to meddle here has never really made much sense to me, but they stay well out of my path, which suits me fine. Can't //imagine// why a boy so full of lies might hide from a burning ray of truth such as myself." There's a grin there, playful. 

:'''{{#var:40|Black Cat (40)}} has posed:''' Blinking, Felicia glances down at the hand in question. The ring, rose-gold with an aurora borealis stone inset that dances with a subtle celestial storm of color regardless of ambient light, has fit so perfectly on her hand that it's become a thing of second nature. "Oh." A pleased little blush touches her cheeks and she twiddles the fingers of her left hand, reminding herself of its weight. "Yeah, he's got books, but I don't know which ones to look for. You send me the list and we'll still go get whichever ones he doesn't have." There is, however, a devilish satisfaction in her eyes as she hears Lucifer's thoughts on the youngest Odison. "Yeah, well...I'd pay to see you talk to him. I bet he'd be babbling faster than a frat kid caught red-handed in a panty raid." 

:'''{{#var:735|Lucifer (735)}} has posed:''' Pamela knocks again, and looks extremely apologetic. She enters, and slips Lucifer a note. "Do excuse me, one moment," Lucifer says, grandly, to both Felicia and Bucky, looking over the piece of paper, and then giving a short, sharp exhale. "Well. It appears I have /duties/ that cannot, in fact, wait," Lucifer comments, though he doesn't seem upset in particular. He's making a choice, perhaps. "Do enjoy the private room, should the mood go that way.... and take care of them, on us, Pamela," he instructs her, as he stands and heads off, fingering the paper's edge as if it might, in fact, be quite interesting indeed. 
}}

Haunt

2019-11-19T09:00:14Z

Malky:

{{CharacterNew
|NameOnMUSH=Brad
|Color=#333
|TextColor=#c1c1c1
|Char_id=9175
|Img=https://vignette.wikia.nocookie.net/americanhorrorstory/images/6/6a/MurderHouse3.jpg/revision/latest?cb=20170918121337
|FullName=Bradley Sawyer
|Gender=Male
|Species=Mutant
|Theme=Original
|Chartype=OC
|Active=Approved
|Occupation=Student
|Citizenship=United States of America
|Residence=Mutant Town, NY
|Education=Homeschooled
|Groups=[[Xavier's School]]
|Quote=
|PAge=16
|AAge=16
|DOB=1 August 2011
|Height=173 cm (5'8")
|Weight=60 kg (132 lb)
|Hair=Invisible
|Eyes=Invisible
|Actor=Evan Peters
|Song="Moby Dick" by Led Zeppelin
|Profile=Brazen, loud and brave, Brad was once a sports star and rocked out with a band, but now? He's a literally invisible teenage boy with some bonus telekinesis. If he could shut the invisibility OFF or control the TK, then he'd really be in good shape. As it is, he's just trying to get by as a mutant, and figure out what exactly to do with himself.
===Current Player Approved: November 12, 2019===
|Description=
'''Description:'''
 
NOTE: This character is invisible, so there is no visual description generally. However, if he's examined by touch for example, he's an athletic and lean teenager, at an average height of 5'8". His hair length is medium, just a clump of soft wavy hair that brushes eyebrows. All of it is the same length, due to difficulties with cutting it. His features are relatively handsome if examined, and he doesn't have facial hair yet. He's fit and quick, with broad hands and good posture.
|History=
'''History:'''
 
Brad was born to Greg and Natalie in 2011. His father is a lawyer, his mother in business administration. The family was very wealthy, and had a comfortable existence in Vermont. His little sister Brie is much younger, she was born when he turned ten, but they've always had a great relationship despite the age gap. Brad's mutant powers were under the radar for a long while; the family seemed to have poltergeists, around the same time that baby Brie was born. During this time, Brad realized he was the cause, though, it wasn't Brie: he could move objects with his mind. Sometimes the objects would turn invisible, as well. Once that was realized, the 'poltergeists' calmed down for the most part, as he steadied the issue. Somewhat. He did use it to get attention, because sometimes babies are annoying with how much attention they get. It was relatively calm, that is, until he turned 14, and started to use his telekinesis on himself to try to fly. He suddenly turned invisible (not that he knew this), but also went blind while invisible! He came out of it quickly, but the fear was there. His attempt to fly meant he was blind? It made no sense. Gradually this happened more often, these times where he couldn't see anything. He confided in his mother, and learned that he was turning invisible. He was invisible when he couldn't see! Despite the strange abilities, Brad was a popular football and baseball star with lots of friends: a third baseman and a wide receiver. He was rather entitled, going places. He was a very talented musician even from a young age: he started with guitar, but rapidly gave it up for drums. Considering his love of banging on things with telekinesis, the drums dovetailed into his natural rhythm nicely. Within the next year, though, he couldn't shut any of the mutant powers off anymore: he was just invisible and blind all of the time. He was just 15. The objects flying everywhere became intense, as his stress also rose. His parents began to heavily argue, trying to decipher what to do. They home-schooled him, and things were at a breaking point for a few years. He began to learn how to recognize objects using his telekinetic ability, and the problems with blindness reduced. He wanted to go outside again. He could 'see' well enough with his telekinesis. Keeping an unhappy, invisible teenage boy in the house is not an easy task, but his parents argued constantly over if he'd be lost somewhere or hit by a car, or any number of things that could befall an invisible kid. Brad finally left home when he turned 16, and began bumming in Mutant Town in New York. Sometimes he retreats home again, but he keeps running away again, not wanting to saddle his family with his burdens.
|Personality=
'''Personality:'''
 
Brad is very frustrated and is dealing with his entitlement. He clings to the past: "I used to be a hot sports star." He has a lot of things that 'should' be, and can be highly rebellious when blocked. He has a lot to prove that his blindness isn't a problem, but also throws it in people's faces as a defense mechanism: if he makes fun of himself, other people can't. He's aware how weird it is that he's invisible all the time, and what that makes people think of him. This has created a distance with others, which he doesn't actually want. He really likes having friends, and can be friendly and personable if he's not feeling extremely defensive about his body and powers. He's capable of a lot of empathy, which means he can feel very very deeply, he just keeps others out, having many problems with his self-worth and what his future can still be. He's driven by fear: isolation, accidentally killing himself because a car hit him that he didn't dodge, and so on. He's very afraid of being forgotten, and being lonely, which stem from feeling as invisible as he is visually.
|Abilities=
'''Invisibility (Objects):'''
 
Brad can turn objects invisible if he can lift them telekinetically. He can only hold a few objects invisible at a time on purpose, and it needs high focus, if he's intentionally doing it. So he can't do it while doing another task that needs focus, like aiming a pistol. He can't telekinetically turn a gun invisible and hope to aim it at the same time, but he can snare a gun, turn it invisible, and then hide it under a couch. Or, he can invisibly get a gun, allow it to be visible, and then take aim. Throwing an invisible rock is pretty easy, though, and a favorite go-to. Sometimes things flicker in and out of invisibility when he's affecting them with his telekinesis, as well. It happens. Sometimes it's a hood he's wearing, and it's weird looking to appear headless. Brad isn't always aware if he's turned something invisible, because he can't see it. So these accidents can often go without his notice. Brad can turn another person invisible if he is actively using his telekinesis on them. This means they can't be moving around on their own. Any real struggle against Brad means they're visible again, because he can't fight someone with telekinesis while making something invisible. 
'''Invisibility (Personal):'''
 
Brad is invisible all the time; he does this by passing light through his body. This is also the cause of his blindness. Brad is not currently able to shut the invisibility off, but could learn to do so. Currently, it is because he is always self-aware of himself telekinetically, and it is causing the constant invisibility 'side effect'. He is not detectable by vision or tech that uses light. He can be seen in methods such as heat vision or sonic sonar. He is also visible to other telekinetics that use a similar sense like his or telepaths, or magic. He naturally turns anything inside his body invisible, and a thin layer outside of his body. This means he can hide objects in his mouth if he wanted, and is able to eat things without a floating stomach of food being visible. He does not show up if paint is flung on him since he turns the paint invisible, but does show in a rainstorm as a 'void' area if he doesn't telekinetically buffer by throwing rain around. He can wear spandex or snug clothes, they will turn invisible. Heavy things like overcoats don't, so he can do the 'invisible man bandage suit' situation to be seen. If it's freezing cold outside, though, he'll be cold if he tries to be invisible in just a regular spandex bodysuit. Illusions and inducers react weirdly: he will turn those items invisible if they are tight to his body as well, passing light through them. An image inducer that shows him as much bigger than his own body could work. He does not turn visible when unconscious, but will when dead or nullified. 
'''Telekinesis:'''
 
Brad is a telekinetic that is able to pick up and throw objects within about 30 yards away from his body, or cause impact to things. He must be able to sense the thing with his telekinetic senses power. He can handle about 300 pounds at one time, dispersed through however many objects. So thousands of grains of rice is an option to swirl around. He can shove people or lift them. He can stack chairs. He does not have the super fine motor control to manipulate inside an object, such as picking a tiny lock or telekinetic surgery, but has great control of being aware of things that move as a whole: so just bashing a lock is more his speed. Managing a car door handle is right on the edge of difficult, and needs high focus, but he can push a door lock down. He can throw or pull things, and can roughly tie some shoelaces with focus and some time. Hitting things with small repeated impacts is his most skilled area, since it's close to his telekinetic senses ability. Usually these fall into patterns or rhythms. An 'impact' is essentially not putting enough force to actually move the thing very far based on it's weight. So striking it, but not to where it goes flying: like hitting a drum with a hand to make a sound, not hitting it to throw it across the room. Crushing an object is possible, by putting impact onto opposite sides of an object at the same time, but requires more focus than just hitting something. Bending a spoon is in this category, as he's crushing it instead of throwing the whole thing somewhere. He is able to catch objects telekinetically in the air, even bullets, if he has some idea that someone has a gun and he's ready for it. If he's distracted or focused on something else, his reaction time won't be good enough. This is not shielding, it's actively grabbing things, up to his weight limit. If it's heavy, like a car, he can't stop it but he can slow it or try to push it sideways. He can telekinetically hover to fly, to about 50mph is comfortable; faster (to about 200mph) is dangerous but not impossible. He can just hang in the air as long as necessary, for the most part, with little effort. This is very, very common when he's in a busy place, so he doesn't get stampeded while invisible. He has great endurance with Telekinetics, and can do heavy or intense lifting for a few hours, or light lifting all day. A drum solo telekinetically counts as 'intense' but not heavy, due to speed. 
'''Telekinetic Senses:'''
 
This is Brad's primary power in terms of skill and usefulness. Since he is blind while invisible, this fills in for his vision loss very well. It's good enough to where he can usually pretend he can see. He can sense objects and shapes around him telekinetically, in a 30 yard radius, as if it were a type of sonar, with a focus on things in front. His mind finds things by brushing over them, testing them with tiny feelers of telekinetic force. This is always happening, always 'on'. It means he can 'see', better than others in some ways, and worse in other ways. The main 'pro' of this is that things can't hide from him: he perceives right through stealth, illusions, lighting conditions, smoke, etc, and can essentially x-ray through walls, but he can't get visual details that light would give him, such as reading anything or picking up facial expressions. He can telekinetically 'see' things that are hidden (he can tell that a person is inside a box if he focuses on the inside of said box), but he can't tell what color the person's hair is, or even which person it is if they don't have something obvious about them to give him a clue. He's very good at judging body shapes and mass, so he can make good guesses usually. People with traits like tails or horns are easy to identify, but recognition can be hard sometimes since people change clothing mass so much. Usually he doesn't look beyond walls or inside objects by default (it's easier to just go 'ok, that's a wall, don't walk into it'), but he can if he has reason. A drawer full of objects can often just be a jumble of unknown things that he sees as a clump, but focus can give more information. The more pressure he exerts telekinetically, the easier it is to tell what things are and get more information. So if he pushes around inside a junk drawer, things might be flying everywhere, but he'll find the keys! If he exerts more focus on a person, he can pick up some facial features: but they damn sure will feel it. Even without a lot of focus, sometimes Brad's telekinetic vision is felt by others in an ambient way: usually a strange breeze-sensation on the skin, and for some it can be creepy, like a ghostly touch. Brad's sometimes detectable, even if silent and invisible, just from that alone: someone that is used to what Brad's telekinesis feels like can more readily figure out if he's looking at them the next time. On the topic of people in Astral form or ghostly/phased forms, Brad generally can pick up on psychic presence since telekinesis is a mental power, but he can't always effect the person with his telekinesis: it's a case by case thing, usually depending on if the other side is weak to telekinesis or not.
|Skills=
'''Awareness:'''
 
This is a skill blind people often develop. They don't have better hearing or sense of smell or touch, but they pay more attention to such cues. He is more aware of audible clues and quiet sounds than he was before he lost his visual sight, for example. It takes practice to be able to use sound to sense where things are by tapping a cane for the sound cues. He is decent at this, specifically sound cues, but he doesn't quite have himself trained to use this skill alone to navigate. He does have practice identifying people by voices, and being aware of certain sounds and fluxes in voices, because he has to use those to follow social context. 
'''Braille:'''
 
Brad can read Braille if he puts his hands on it. He can't read it from afar with any power, but he can read it with his hands by touch. He can use computer screens and electronic supports that have refreshable braille displays. Similarly he can compose documents in Braille with fluency. This is a critical skill for figuring out which bathroom is the men's, or similar public situations where his blindess can cause significant trouble. 
'''Drums:'''
 
Brad is a very impressively talented and skilled drummer. He has always had a knack for pulses of impact and patterns, and his telekinetic awareness made it even better. He can remember extremely elaborate patterns, create fancy drum-solos off the top of his head, and replicate a sequence even after just hearing it once. He's truly got a future as a drummer. As a telekinetic with practice in this particular feat, he can do some fancy things like playing multiple sets of drums at the same time as the one he's playing manually, as his own small drum-line. He can also play without physically doing it, in a pure telekinetic manner. Banging on things is one of the easiest items for his telekinesis. 
'''Sports:'''
 
Brad has been into sports since he was tiny, and doesn't let his physical problems stop him if possible. He's a sporty type, physically very coordinated and can pick up just about any sport. With his powers he has an edge in anything with thrown objects, but is also strong with items like swimming or track. He could have possibly found a future in either football or baseball if he wasn't a mutant. As it is, his telekinetic powers lend to cheating in sports, or rejection since he is blind. With his powers, he can throw a very, /very/ mean fastball, and pick a ball out of the air anywhere in his 30 yard range. His sports training means if he chose a weapon to use, it would likely be a baseball bat, from familiarity. 
'''Thievery:'''
 
Being invisible does mean thievery has come up as a career path. He has some practice at trying to do it. He's not a great thief but is still extremely effective most of the time: being invisible and able to turn things invisible really does the heavy lifting here. It's easy when you can just turn the bread invisible and walk off with it. Same thing with an open cash register drawer. Still, there's practice and some skill with this, he's not new to stealing something to eat. He doesn't tend to steal money in general, since he can't tell the difference between the bills, so his skill is mostly in palming objects he can use immediately (like food). A favorite is stealing food off of people's plates in restaurants. 
'''Writer:'''
 
Although Brad can't write in a normal way anymore due to blindness, he has great skill with forming stories and songs. He just does it verbally, into spoken-to-text devices and similar things. He writes music as well as stories and articles, with good skill at grammar and forming thoughts sequentially.
|Resources=
'''Family:'''
 
Brad's parents love him, but have had a very hard time dealing with his weird mutant powers and problems. He can call on them for money and resources, or even could go stay with them if necessary: the only reason he's out on his own is because he chose to run off. This makes his family a good resource when he can lower his pride enough to let them take care of him. 
'''Holly:'''
 
Holly is a seeing-eye dog. Holly is a black lab, affectionate and smart. She is fully capable of taking care of her boy (Brad) in physical settings, when he lets her. Brad loves his dog, but doesn't always have her with him, out of a desire for self-reliance, and that she 'clashes' with when he wants (or needs) to be invisible. She also broadcasts that he's blind by just being there, which he is sensitive about. She's best used when he's heavily clothed in layers (visible to the public), which he doesn't always want to do. A lot of the time he leaves her with his parents, but she is a resource he can use.
|Weaknesses=
'''Blind:'''
 
Brad can't see with his eyes when he is invisible, because his power of invisibility makes it such that light does not enter his eyes, it passes through. Zero light, zero vision. This isn't /so/ bad because of his telekinetic senses, but still causes issues. There's a number of problems related to blindness. He can't read any signs, use maps, see color, people's expressions, use a computer with visual inputs, and so forth. He can't read labels on cans of food, certainly not expiration dates. General visuals are out: no movies, no tv, no standard books, no video games. He can use his power (telekinetic senses) to navigate and sense objects very well like good sonar, but he still can't tell details about them, like what color they are. 
'''Fears:'''
 
Brad tends to live in some level of fear. This doesn't mean he isn't brave: he is. It just takes a lot of bravery a lot of the time to do the things he dares to do. He's afraid of being alone and unnoticed, forgotten or overlooked. He's afraid of being hit by something he can't see, afraid of flying into a building and falling to his death. He's not quite ready to entirely trust his telekinetic senses, and often still feels like he's not capable of taking care of himself without vision. He's worried people that help him are secretly smirking at each other or making fun of him, and he can't see it. He's afraid of his future as both a mutant and a disabled person. All of it lives in a knot that can make him explosive and upset. Brad does try to allieviate his fears: he'll try to get others to go places with him so he isn't alone, though he usually doesn't admit that he's afraid. If he acts out, it is almost always because of feeling afraid (and humiliated by his fear). 
'''Invisibility:'''
 
There are obvious problems while being invisible, such as people walking into him, getting hit by things, cars not aware that he's there. If he's injured or collapsed, people may not even be aware of it. If there were a fire drill and he was sleeping, nobody would know he was in his bed to help him. It is a life of constantly getting stepped on and having to be vigilent. There's always some bicycle coming at him or something like that to need to be careful of. Additionally, everyone assumes he's a thief or sneaks into women's changing rooms and movies: which is kind of ridiculous, since he's blind while invisible. The stigma still exists against the invisibility power, that he's a creeper. 
'''Mutant:'''
 
Even if he's wearing heavy garb and bandages to look like a human, he's still a mutant, and registers on any mutant related scans. He has all of the difficulties that come with being a mutant in a society that does not like mutants, although it helps that he can be invisible if a mob came after him. 
'''Spying:'''
 
It's very easy to accidentally see things you don't mean to when people don't know you're there, or think they are alone. It creates a lot of awkward situations, to have to announce 'I am here' because people can't see you. Social stress can come out of announcing it too late, after the other person already started to pick their nose. There's a natural distrust of invisible people that is sometimes earned, sometimes unavoidable. Sometimes it's better to just end up spying, instead of making the person uncomfortable. And that comes with a whole other problem that leads to eavesdropping and what happens if he's caught. When people don't realize he's approaching, they don't censor private conversations. It becomes hard to cut in without making people jumpy, and make the stigma against invisibility even stronger. 
'''Uncontrolled Invis:'''
 
If he could shut his invisibility off, it wouldn't be as big of a deal, but with it stuck on, it's a huge flaw. Not being able to turn it off has a big group of health problems. Any doctor or dentist can't treat him easily, because they can't see what they're doing. If a doctor can set a broken leg by feel, then fine, but otherwise, he is in trouble. A nullification of some kind is required to do such things. His body doesn't soak up any sunlight, so he has vitamin deficiencies to worry about. Emotionally, being invisible all the time takes a major toll as well, as people can't see his expressions, which can make for social problems. 
'''Uncontrolled TK:'''
 
There are no ghosts haunting Brad, but his telekinesis can often go out of control and cause things that appear to be poltergeists. Stress, extreme fear, and similar pressures that make him unable to concentrate often cause telekinetic bursts. This can be as simple as all the kitchen cabinets flying open, or it can be enough to cause a living room full of furniture and objects to whirl about in a crazy manner. 
'''Weak Eyes:'''
 
From years of disuse, if Brad does get the ability to see for some reason (such as being nullified), his vision is highly sensitive and painful. He'd need dark glasses to not get powerful headaches. His brain and mutant power have adapted to using his telekinetic senses, and he would have to re-train his mind over time to cope with seeing with his eyes again.
}}
<gallery>
</gallery>
[[Category:Xavier's School]]

Ant-Man (Pym)

2019-06-16T07:32:00Z

Malky:

{{CharacterNew
|NameOnMUSH=Hank Pym
|Color=#333
|TextColor=#c1c1c1
|Char_id=1447
|Img=https://i.imgur.com/BT1srbV.jpg
|FullName=Henry 'Hank' Pym
|Gender=Male
|Species=Metahuman
|Theme=Marvel
|Chartype=FC
|Active=Approved
|Occupation=Super Scientist
|Citizenship=American
|Residence=New York City
|Education=Multiple Doctorate
|Groups=[[Avengers]], [[Defenders]]
|Quote=For me, it is far better to grasp the Universe as it really is than to persist in delusion, however satisfying and reassuring. - Carl Sagan
|PAge=34
|AAge=34
|DOB=20 March 1993
|Height=Variable
|Weight=Variable
|Hair=Blonde
|Eyes=Blue
|Actor=Simon Baker
|Song=
|Profile=A prolific superscientist with a mixed reputation, Henry Pym has worn a variety of guises in his life. Genius, hero, adventurer, scholar, Avenger, he's achieved his greatest fame as the miniscule superhero known as Ant-Man and, alternately, the mega-sized Giant-Man. While his identity is public knowledge, Pym himself is private and intense, better known among his fellow heroes than by the world at large.
===Current Player Approved: June 14, 2019===
|Description='''Description'''
 
Hank Pym doesn't strike one as super. He's an average looking man, with brown-blonde hair and keen blue eyes. His hair has a bit of curl to it and he sweeps it up off his forehead, keeps it short in the back and sides. He keeps himself clean shaven, meticulously groomed and precise in his appearance. He speaks with the accentless accent of the Midwest, clearly enunciated and authoritative. 
 
In his civilian garb, he tends toward the scholarly: tweeds and ties, patches at the elbows, comfortable but clean. He tends to roll up his sleeves, the better to keep them from getting sullied in his work. At more casual times, he sports a red hooded sweatshirt with an Avengers logo printed on the right breast. He's fit, standing about six feet tall in his normal self, although there are occasional variations. He doesn't wear much in the way of jewelry and prefers sneakers to loafers.
|Personality='''Personality'''
 
Hank Pym is a dedicated and focused man, obsessive and meticulous by nature. He's suffered for most of his adult life from a variety of mental illnesses, notably bipolar and obsessive-compulsive disorder, but he's worked hard to overcome these challenges, even if they've made his life as a hero occasionally complicated. A perfectionist by nature, he's constantly striving to improve himself and his discoveries. He bears no small amount of guilt for the sins of his past, but truly believes in the power of redemption. He isn't afraid to stand up for what he believes in and has a great deal of confidence in his abilities, in spite of his failings. He isn't always easy to get along with, but no one can question his heart or his guts.
|History='''History'''
 
Henry 'Hank' Pym grew up in Nebraska, a son of humble homesteaders, gifted with an intellect far beyond their expectations or imagination. He quickly advanced through school, showed remarkable inventions at science fairs and received a full scholarship to college and then graduate school in his early teens. He would ultimately study at MIT, Empire State University and Cal Tech at different times, receiving doctorates in Entomology, Particle Physics and Robotics, along with masters degrees in Biochemistry, Computer Engineering and Mathematics. All of this by the time he was in his mid-twenties. 
 
Shortly after entering the life of a professional researcher, Hank made his trademark discovery, the so-called 'Pym Particle'. These unusual particles, previously undetected, could substantially alter the size of things exposed to it - growth if it rotated one way, shrinking if it rotated the other. Hank designed devices to first shrink himself down to a small size, seeing it as a way to advance his entomological research, only to stumble upon a crime in the making and end up playing a part in taking down the perpetrators. Inspired, he designed a full costume, including technology to help him interact with and control the ants that so obsessed him, and so he became Ant-Man. 
 
As Ant-Man, he eventually gained a good name as a superhero and was inducted into an early incarnation of the team known as the Avengers. He married and, as the strain of shrinking became too great, shifted his focus to being Giant-Man, using his powers to become enormous. As time wore on, though, the strain of science, superheroing and just life wore him down, leading to a breakdown as a result of his long-hidden mental illness. OCD and bipolar disorder combined to lead to a variety of meltdowns. Worst of all, one of his greatest creations, a revolutionary computer intelligence, turned evil and nearly destroyed the world. Hank fell to the dark side for a time, driving away his friends, ashamed and miserable. He sold off his company, hit rock bottom and lived for a time in a state of misery. 
 
In the last couple of years, Hank has managed to get back on track. He's entered therapy and begun to be medicated for his mental illness. He's made amends to his friends and returned to his life as a costumed adventurer, still alternating between his identities as Ant-Man and Giant-Man. He isn't sure he can ever make up for all the damage he's done, but he's sure going to try.
|Abilities='''Giant-Size'''
 
Hank has the ability to increase his size exponentially, gaining strength and toughness as he does so. He tends to default to around sixty feet for his basic giant form, but can grow up to several hundred feet high, larger than even the tallest skyscrapers in New York. The larger he is, the less time he can spend in that form. At around sixty feet, he can remain in that form for an hour before being forced to recover, while hundreds of feet in height can usually only last for a few minutes before he becomes exhausted. At sixty feet, he has around 60 tons of super strength and an equivalent resistance to injury, at 100 feet he has around 100 tons of super strength and equivalent toughness and so on.
 
'''Intellect'''
 
Hank Pym is widely recognized as one of the world's most brilliant and advanced scientific minds. While he scoffs at general rankings or attempts to measure something as abstract as intelligence, most would place him in the top ten most intelligent humans in the world. He's capable of remarkable leaps of logic and discovery, can learn and understand new subjects or information with startling rapidity and has a fluid and esoteric thinking process which enables him to solve puzzles that would boggle the average human mind. His IQ is comfortably above 200 and generally cannot be measured by most tests.
 
'''Pym Particles'''
 
Hank's body has absorbed so many Pym particles over the years that he retains a constant field of them. The primary help of that is that he can shrink and grow inanimate objects that he touches. The most obvious use of this is to keep his clothes and costumes on as he sizeshifts. In addition, he often hides electronic devices, gadgets and doodads around his costume in shrunken form, enabling him to carry things like an entire chemistry lab or a high energy cannon in a pocket and retrieve it as he needs. Shrinking living things is dangerous to them and often unstable and he will not do it unless absolutely necessary.
 
'''Shrinking'''
 
Hank Pym has the ability to reduce his physical size by exponential degrees, almost instantaneously reducing from his normal form to a tiny form. His default reduction size is about two inches high, but he can reduce even beyond that to microscopic or subatomic degrees (he does this fairly rarely due to strain, practicality and the occasional difficulties of navigating the world beyond the normal atomic plane). Even when he is small, he retains his normal human strength, making his punch just as potent from an ant-sized fist as he would at full size. While long exposure to his Pym particles has made the ability inherent to Hank, he uses technological gear to help regulate and control his changes. Too much changing will begin to cause stress and damage to his body, requiring him to take periodic lapses from shrinking to preserve his physical integrity. He can maintain a reduced form for up to 12 hours at a time, as it's much less strain than his giant form.
|Skills='''Combat'''
 
While not a sophisticated martial artist, Hank is an experienced superhero who has received some hand-to-hand training from a few of the world's most formidable fighters. Against a true expert, he'd be no match, but he's far from an amateur, favoring a simple style of punches and kicks with a little bit of acrobatics (except in giant form. Never do acrobatics in giant form).
 
'''Computers'''
 
Hank is an elite level computer programmer, capable of designing AIs and sophisticated programs and applications. He runs his own personal OS on all of his systems and has the encryption and coding skills necessary to make him a world-class hacker.
 
'''Entomology'''
 
Hank Pym is a biochemist with a specialty in insect behavior and structures. He has a wide variety of knowledge of different insect types, but most especially with extremely organized creatures such as ants, bees or wasps. He has designed technology that enables limited communication with insects and allows him to direct their behavior.
 
'''Inventor'''
 
Hank is generally an astounding inventor with a mind for innovation and radical technological leaps. He can design and construct complicated devices manipulating energy, space and matter. He has designed complex transport vehicles and streamlined the designs of fellow designers for maximum efficiency. He designed all the weapons and gadgetry he has used in his superheroic career and is familiar enough with the work of his fellow heroes to often repair or duplicate their designs.
 
'''Medicine'''
 
While not formally licensed as a medical doctor, Hank's knowledge of biology, anatomy and pharmaceuticals is sufficient that he can easily perform sophisticated medical procedures. He can perform surgery, including cybernetic or prosthetic installations, help treat ailments such as radiation poisoning or work on immunological solutions to bio-weapons and viruses.
 
'''Physics'''
 
Hank is a highly qualified physicist with degrees in particle science and nuclear engineering. He's extremely familiar with research methods, cutting edge technologies and new discoveries in the field. He's focused largely on practical physics, but still has a fairly sophisticated understanding of astrophysics and quantum physics, including multi-world theory and dimensional theory.
 
'''Robotics'''
 
Hank Pym is one of the world's most accomplished roboticists and creators of artificial intelligence. He's a supreme computer programmer capable of programming and designing sophisticated AI. He can construct, design and implement robots ranging from the simple to the complex, even creating androids capable of passing for human. Of course, the more sophisticated the robot, the more likely it is for something to go wrong and, after a few bad incidents in this regard, he rarely goes to such a degree of comoplexity in his work anymore.
|Resources='''Ant-Man Suit'''
 
Hank's Ant-Man costume is an elaborate technological marvel, composed of advanced polymers designed specifically for size-shifting and enhanced with a variety of microcircuitry. His helmet gives a full range of electromagnetic and thermal imaging, has communication ranges in microwave and radio frequences and can perform both telescopic and microscopic functions. The helmet can also broadcast a specific wavelength signal that enables Hank to communicate and command ants, termites and other small, organized insects to his command, including getting them to perform complex tasks en masse. A rocket pack attached to the back enables him to make amazing leaps or even fly for short distances. He has a built in stinger weapon that unleashes a biolelectric 'bite' capable of stunning a normal human with a blast, resulting in temporary paralysis or unconsciousness, with the range of line of sight. The suit is fairly durable, bulletproof, insulated and fire-resistant.
 
'''Avenger'''
 
Hank has been a member of the Avengers in long-standing. While he has had his difficulties with the group at more unstable times in his past, he is currently in good stead, having access to their resources, facilities and membership in times of trouble. By the same token, he has a responsibility to his fellow Avengers and can be called upon to offer his abilities if they are in need.
 
'''Gadgetry'''
 
Hank has invented a wide variety of hypertech gadgetry. Flight technology, advanced vehicles, energy weapons, force fields and any number of weapons and gear that are usable by himself or other superheroes. He tends to keep a wide variety of such gadgets on his person, miniaturized for convenience and able to be drawn out at a moment's notice, including complex diagnostic gear, computing tech and a full laboratory that he can keep in a pouch on his belt.
 
'''Giant-Man Suit'''
 
Hank's Giant-Man costume is much simpler than his Ant-Man outfit. His helmet does still have antenna for broadcast enabling communications and enhanced lenses on the goggles. The costume's enhanced polymers enable it to function along with him in terms of size-shifting and make it difficult to tear or be damaged in tough circumstances. It is bulletproof, fire retardant and insulated against electricity.
 
'''Wealth'''
 
While he no longer maintains the baggage of a corporate shell, Hank nonetheless has significant personal wealth from inventions, patents and scientific work. He has a personal fortune of around ten million dollars, including investments and real estate.
|Weaknesses='''Hubris'''
 
Like any supergenius, Pym is capable of getting too big for his britches. As remarkable as he is, everyone has limits, failings, blind spots. He can overestimate his ability or try to do things beyond his means. He also has a bad habit of occasionally inventing things which turn evil and try to take over the world. Not on purpose, mind you, but still, it's a problem.
 
'''Mental Illness'''
 
Hank suffers from multiple mental illnesses, notably severe bipolar disorder and obsessive-compulsive disorder. He attends therapy and uses psychiatric medication to help alleviate his symptoms, but he'll never be entirely free and must always be aware of his moods and behavior. Off-meds or untreated, he is unstable and unreliable, capable of sudden shifts in mood, behavior and temperament.
 
'''Reputation'''
 
Hank has something of a mixed reputation. He's widely respected for his intellect, capabilities and heroic accomplishments. But he's also to blame for a number of terrible acts performed by either his creations or himself. He's gone to the dark side a time or two in his past and often has to live down some of his past misdeeds or bad behavior. He's trying to keep on a steady path now, but there's still distrust in the eyes of some of those he calls friends - and he can't blame them.
 
'''Size Matters'''
 
While there are advantages to all his different sizes, each has their downside as well. At giant-size, he can lack the fine physical dexterity or capability to operate in small spaces. He can accidentally cause collateral damage with ease and create destruction with simple gestures, requiring him to be constantly aware of his surroundings. At ant-size, he can have a hard time being seen or getting someone's attention. While he retains his human strength, he still lacks size, making it difficult to do things like block off escape routes.
 
'''Strain'''
 
Sizeshifting causes significant strain on even Hank's physiology, much as he's become accustomed. Too much sizeshifting (or too extreme sizeshifting, such as going from ant-size to giant-size all at once) can cause him physical pain, exhaustion or even do actual damage to his body as his tissues try to elasticize to compensate for the changes. If he size changes too frequently, he'll become overwhelmed and have to take some time as his normal size, usually requiring at least a full night's sleep to recover his faculties.
}}
<gallery>
</gallery>
[[Category:Avengers]] [[Category:Defenders]]

7254/Sentinels: Dominoes

2019-06-15T22:04:47Z

Malky:

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2019/04/16
|Location=Avengers Mansion, New York City
|Synopsis=Robot-Janet attacks Jessica Drew, revealing herself to be a vicious imposter....
|Cast of Characters=22,1028
|Tinyplot=Sentinels
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "Wait!" Spotting Jessica Drew headed into the elevator, a woman that looks exactly like Janet calls out. "Hold the elevator, please!" She speeds up, to make it in, with a flash of appreciative smile as she approaches. Her hands, though, shake, as she comes over, and she slips them away into her pockets. "I am still /blocked/ from access to the lower levels, it's obnoxious and silly; would you mind opening access to medical?" asks the petite woman, a wince in her features as she crosses the threshold from the main floor into the elevator. 

:'''{{#var:1028|Jessica Drew (1028)}} has posed:''' "I don't..." Jessica begins to respond to Janet, but frowns. "What's wrong? Your hands are shaking?" Jess declines to press a button on the elevator, and instead just stands there facing Janet. "You know that I told you I wasnt gonna help you get pills...I havent changed my mind on that." Jessica crosses her arms around the case she is carrying, containing the dickbush gun, for safe keeping. "I don't like this side of you, Janet." 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' There is a puzzled little look, and then the petite woman laughs softly, high and amused. "Oh /no/, it's not for that. I am not feeling well. It seems ridiculous to need an escort just to see one of the medical staff, but I'd appreciate if you'd be my plus-one. " sighs the woman, moving to stand next to Jessica, looking towards the elevator door in a bored way, expecting Jessica to push the buttons, clearly. But there's also no hurry in her tone. "While I have you here, though - about the landscaping phallic symbol," she asks, "I heard the robots went berserk?" Her gaze moves to the case Jessica's hugging, and a brow lifts questioningly. 

:'''{{#var:1028|Jessica Drew (1028)}} has posed:''' "Sure did. Buzzby McRobot went haywire. So did everything else around here with AI." Jess pauses here to look Janet over. "Oh...right, your...twin. So yeah, maybe it is a good idea to get you away from the others, hmm?" She pushes a button on the elevator and leans against Janet, maybe a little too firmly. Maybe trying to pin her against the wall. "How do I know you aren't the twin?" Jess asks as the doors close. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "Ugh, proving it AGAIN?" gripes the 'Janet', huffy about it. The elevator is moving, though. "Look, just so you feel better about all this, let's get the quizzing out of the way," she says, extending a hand to poke the 'stop' on the elevator. She drew her hands out of the pockets to do it, which have a rather horrible tremor to them. She pauses, stopping, and then brings her hands out to show Jessica. "I really am shaking, aren't I?" she says, worried, hands low, showing the other woman. As soon as that distraction is out, though, the attack comes: close range, and harsh: a heavy concussive eye blast aimed right at Jessica's chest. 

:'''{{#var:1028|Jessica Drew (1028)}} has posed:''' Call it spider sense, call it heightened awareness...Whatever it is, Jess knew something was coming by the expression on "Janet's" face. She slams a hand on the emergency alarm and thwips out two webs in the imposter's direction, keeping the case tucked securely beneath one arm. She didn't know what to expect, but it seemed like a good base plan. At the concussive blast, Jess flies backward, hitting the elevator wall, as she hits a button on her collar. Her comm is open, now. Even if she isn't quite talking yet. Instead, she jerks the two webs with as much strength as she has left, to pull the imposter to her and give her a fighting chance. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Alarms scream into action, and the elevator's lights change immediately into blazing red. The Avengers mansion is well prepared to respond to attack and problems. The attacking imposter, though, doesn't seem to be extremely concerned with it yet. She blasts one web away, but the other lands on her forearm, and she's hauled sideways towards Jessica as her forcefield comes online: Jessica may suddenly have a very hard forcefielded opponent crashing towards her, with a lot of unnatural strength. 

:'''{{#var:1028|Jessica Drew (1028)}} has posed:''' "You suck, AND you cheat!" Jess laments with a groan, as she thwips a few more lines, an attempt to cocoon her sucking, cheating foe, spider-style. What the hell do you want with me?" Then, she remembers the question that NotJanet asked right before the attack. She doesn't like the possible effects, but Jess opens the case, and takes out the gun. If she doesn't, she stands more chance of losing it. As she lifts the gun, she can feel and hear the crackle of broken ribs and sternum rubbing against one another. No...that's not good. She flips up the radar display, and does her best to level the gun. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' The reaction to the gun is a big one. The case opening caused a frenzy of sudden attention: the gun is either dangerous to the 'Janet', or she really, really wants it. Or both. The gun in Jess's hands, as she fumbles it out, glares with a clear reading, point blank, on the little radar: there's a foe RIGHT THERE in the elevator. And a lot of dots all around the elevator, as the droids rush to respond to the security problem. But yes, the gun has a target. In the form of the attacker now lunging with a superpowered series of punches to try to knock the gun loose, or break Jessica's arms - both are win, for the angry attacker. Her eyes glow with a charge-up of an energy attack, blistering yellow: preparing for a massive bolt. 

:'''{{#var:1028|Jessica Drew (1028)}} has posed:''' Jess doesn't have time to wait. No time to angst over the possibility that she might fry more drones. The gun has a target, and Jess pulls the trigger, holding it down like Wade showed her. "Eat Psssssshh, Bitch," Jess utters through gritted teeth, as she attempts to turn NotJanet into a dickbush. (Because logic went out the window when bones started breaking.) 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Not-Janet goes for the gun, grabbing onto the front of it, as the trigger is pulled. The energy fires and ricochets against and inside the hand and arm. Small explosions rip down across the forearm, ejected energy bursting from the veins down the limb as shrapnel and systems eject and haywire wildly. The attacker doesn't scream but she does hiss, disoriented, but brings in the other hand to rip the gun free of Jessica, even as her right arm entirely malfunctions. She fires her eye-lasers, half-power, and lunges straight up towards the roof. It almost works out: she bangs hard onto the ceiling, denting it, before crashing to one knee on the floor. The robots and drones coming in to help have gone a bit confused, and there's clanging and movement all around the elevator, as the elevator itself gets a mixed message, and begins to suddenly lift, the doors opening, showing the interior wall as the elevator travels upwards... 

:'''{{#var:1028|Jessica Drew (1028)}} has posed:''' What Jess lacks in orientation, she more than doubles in brute strength. She doesn't let go of the gun, exactly, but it gets ripped out of her hands nonetheless. When NotJanet falls to the floor, Jess moves to web up whatever parts of the imposter that she can, trying to wrestle the gum from her grasp, trying to push her toward the open door and against that moving elevator shaft , because it looks so cool when things get beheaded that way in movies. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' The whole of the malfunctioning arm is a great target for webbing, as is the leg on that same side, because both are stationary. The imposter is flung sideways towards the open door, back forced towards the wall. Sparks fly against the forcefield that flickers on and off against her back as she's rubbed forcefully against it! The elevator gets to the top, though, and the attacker realizes tehre's an open hall behind her suddenly. With force, she suddenly ejects the arm with force, sending it hurtling into Jessica's possession as she falls backwards onto the floor in the main floor hallway. She's entirely silent verbally: she's become a viciously efficient machine, her back torn open and lots of her hair missing, in addition to the arm. 

:'''{{#var:1028|Jessica Drew (1028)}} has posed:''' Jessica suddenly finds herself wrestling with a disembodied and webby arm, as it tries to strangle her. "Wait! You left...your arm...!!" Jess calls out in desperation as she has lost the gun. Lost the imposter. And is now certain she is bring strangled by just am arm. Little more than Jess had coffee to cope with for one day...The shock has worn off, and the pain of broken bones has begun to cloud her mind. Maybe...maybe it's time for a little nap. Just for a few minutes. She'll catch NotJanet when she wakes. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' The imposter fires the gun at the massive security drone that showed up in the hallway, and runs as quickly as she can through the front of the mansion. Her forcefield flicks and bursts with energy as the mansion responds, pelting her with suppressive fire as she attempts to make her escape.... 
}}

Sentinels

2019-02-21T19:19:58Z

Malky:

{{TPPage
|Summary=The Rise of the Sentinels
|Scale=Epic
|Runner=22, 7558
|Groups=X-Men, Avengers
|Audience=X-Men, Avengers
|Desc=In the political climate after the #BlackSleep, the world was worried about having protectors against the mutants .. and the Sentinels were ready.
|State=Current
}}

Sentinels

2019-02-21T19:17:58Z

Malky: Created page with "{{TPPage |Summary=The Rise of the Sentinels |Scale=Epic |Runner=Iron_Man, Master_Mold |Groups=X-Men, Avengers |Audience=X-Men, Avengers |Desc=In the political climate after th..."

{{TPPage
|Summary=The Rise of the Sentinels
|Scale=Epic
|Runner=Iron_Man, Master_Mold
|Groups=X-Men, Avengers
|Audience=X-Men, Avengers
|Desc=In the political climate after the #BlackSleep, the world was worried about having protectors against the mutants .. and the Sentinels were ready.
|State=Current
}}

Astral Flux

2019-02-21T19:15:17Z

Malky:

{{TPPage
|Summary=Something strange is happening on the Astral Plane, with effects leaking over to the real world.
|Scale=Epic
|Runner=1832
|Participants=93, 244, 1604, 71, 128, 14, 1857, 137, 204, 728, 338, 822, 22, 1439, Kitsune, 92, 347, 83, 47, 91, 18, 1191, 16, 70, 1832, 108, 1233, 1353, 1795, 1028, 107, 113, 202, 42
|Groups=[[SHIELD]], [[Avengers]], [[Mystic Arts]], [[X-Men]], [[Howling Commandos]]
|Audience=Any
|Genre=PG-13 to R, depending on the scene
|Desc=The Shadow King made a move to own both the Astral Plane ... and beyond!
|State=Finished
}}

6591/Sentinels: Rumors

2019-02-21T19:12:33Z

Malky: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2019/02/20 |Location=X-Men Security |Synopsis=Logan gives info about Sentinels to Forge and Storm. |Cast of Characters=816, 56, 202 |Tinyplot=Senti..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2019/02/20
|Location=X-Men Security
|Synopsis=Logan gives info about Sentinels to Forge and Storm.
|Cast of Characters=816, 56, 202
|Tinyplot=Sentinels
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:816|Forge (816)}} has posed:''' One of the big security stations is pulled wide open, and the legs of Forge are visible. He's laying on a peach colored towel relatively comfortably on the floor, his upper torso entirely out of sight due to being slid in underneath one of the big computer consoles. He's unaware of the world, focused; no music plays, just the quiet hum of the computers and systems in the room a mild music of fans and chirping computations. 

:'''{{#var:56|Storm (56)}} has posed:''' Ororo has become quite accustomed to this particular pair of legs and feet. As she slips into the area where Forge is working, she tries not to interrupt him too suddenly. She is keenly aware of how unaware he is that she's there. "Forge," she says quietly from across the room, setting down a bag of something that smells like food, and may, in fact, very well /be/ food. Forge loses track of his humanity when he's waist-deep in a computer. "Do you have a moment? I have one or two things that have been weighing on my mind, which I hope you will be able to assist me with." For once, she is casual. Or casual for Ororo. Black jeans and a flowy black drape, nearly see-through, over a gold sateen tank. Sensible black leather flats, with gold embellishments. And her silver hair is pulled up and clipped securely in a careless-looking updo. 

:'''{{#var:816|Forge (816)}} has posed:''' If Forge isn't buried in a console, he's under a vehicle, or halfway into something else. He's often somewhat out of sight. It is, in a way, similar to how often he is also out of mind: Forge and his introverted tendencies keep him off in his labs and out of direct view a lot of the time. "Of course, Ororo. Just a few more moments, please," Forge's voice is muffled from where he is. There's a few sounds of clicking and adjustments that follow, before he turns his head and looks, sliding out shortly after. He's in cargo pants, a gray tank top, his goggles on his forehead: nothing fancy at all. He draws his body out and sits up on the towel, stretching his shoulders and back from the weird position they'd been held in. "Personal, or related to the team?" Forge asks, giving her a calm smile. 

:'''{{#var:202|Logan (202)}} has posed:'''     There's a clang some distance away as a security door is shouldered open. Might be hard to tell who it is until the rumbling deep voice is heard in those clipped growly tones that herald the arrival of everyone's favorite Canadian. "'Roro."     A few more steps and he strides up to Forge and her, pausing a moment to quirk an eyebrow at the two of them, sniff the air, then he just launches into his own thing. "I ever tell you 'bout the time I came in here, thought it was him under the computers and it was just onea his spare legs."     His arms fold over his chest and he then confides, "Spent ten minutes talkin' to the thing." He stops there though, though of course he likely has some other reason to be there. 

:'''{{#var:56|Storm (56)}} has posed:''' Ororo pauses as the clang heralds an arrival. She turns to Logan as he launches full-bore into his story, lifting a hand to hide the quirk of her smile at the thought of him talking to a leg for ten minutes. "Well, depending upon how deeply he's concentrating, you may as well be talking to his leg sometimes." Ororo opens the bag she brought in, and pulls a few submarine sandwiches out, laying them on the table. "You boys eat up, if you're hungry. Who knows when was the last time you ate," she says, focusing an arched-brow gaze on Forge with that statement. "But I had a few concerns I wanted to discuss, regarding these rumours of these 'sentinels.' I haven't heard enough to know which way to turn, but I'm concerned that the school's AI may need to be updated or altered to keep up with any new threats." 

:'''{{#var:816|Forge (816)}} has posed:''' "Yes; I'm quite the practical joker," Forge deadpans, his smile relaxed. He leans behind him to pick up a few of the tools, setting them back into a tray he uses. One of the tools, though, causes him to tap on his thigh, opening a compartment there, and the item is slid away there, instead. A few things are always kept on him, his favorites of his tools. "Thank you for thinking of us," Forge says to Ororo, with honest appreciation, climbing to his feet to investigate the food. However, the topic slows him down, and he stops to sigh. "I'm working on that. I'd planned a mission to go see what information we can gather, but too many other events clashed with it. I'm unsure if I'll need to end up going alone to investigate a possible storage area for these robots in Mexico; I'd appreciate some backup if you have some time." 

:'''{{#var:202|Logan (202)}} has posed:'''     "Speakin' of the robotic devil," Logan says as he holds up a small black static-proof data storage device, he extends it towards Forge and says, "Ran an operation with Widow and Deadpool. Hit one of the facilities for the Sentinels. This is the data we were able to grab."     He looks towards Storm then back towards the inventor, "We also had our hands on some spare bits. A robot butt. Thing is..." The Wolverine's features twist a touch scowly a little sardonic. "I think Wade stole it. Or is runnin' around showin' it off. One or the other."     He snaps the fingers of the hand not holding the container, "Also Widow mentioned should prolly isolate the data before interfacin' it or somethin?" He crinkles his nose slightly, "I told 'er you prolly maybe might know what yer doin'." But he still told Forge, to be fair. 

:'''{{#var:56|Storm (56)}} has posed:''' "You got your hands on a robotic backside," Ororo replies slowly and methodically. It isn't a question. She's just turning over the information in her mind. "Oh...for the love of--" she begins, as if a horrific thought has just occurred to her. "Wade has a large robotic derriere. I'd prefer that you use more than Norton's to clean it, when he returns it. IF he returns it..." But Ororo's expression relays a modicum of relief. "How much information do you think is there? I'm glad to hear you were able to obtain /anything/, as at this point, every bit helps. Especially with someone like Forge to decipher it. No doubt he will be able to expand upon what is there, in ways that none of us can." 

:'''{{#var:816|Forge (816)}} has posed:''' Forge blinks once at Logan but doesn't take longer than that to adapt to the new information. He accepts the parcel, brows very high. "Of course; I'll take extreme precautions, and keep it off of the main systems until I've scrubbed it." Forge agrees, tone still surprised; he had not expected data to just fall into his hands so easily. He starts to lower his goggles, if then only to look at Logan over the top of them. "You let Deadpool walk off with important parts?" he asks, managing to not show too much of the dismay over losing tech to a merc psychopath. They may never see it again. "Well, if it turns up, even in pieces, I want to examine it; I should be able to build a blueprint very quickly, and learn a great deal about how these evolved into being what they are now. But I'll start with this, and see what we have. Mexico trip can be delayed, I hope." 

:'''{{#var:202|Logan (202)}} has posed:'''     "A good bit, Widow's good at her job." Logan rests his hands upon his hips as he addresses Storm, "Lots of drives, and a good chunk of correspondence. " He shifts his weight to the other foot and turns his attention back upon Forge. "One thing though..."     The Canadian mutant frowns and tilts his head to the side, looking past the others for a moment before he elaborates. "We got into a storage facility, saw some of where the robots charged up or got their windows updates or whatever." He uncurls a hand, "Thing is, there was a bay for a robot much bigger than the basic ones. Somethin' we haven't seen yet. So there's that. Grabbed all the paraphernalia from around there. But not sure if it'll give any insight."     At the request to corral Deadpool, Logan nods and turns to start walking away, "A'right. If I see him I'll try and get what we can from him." A few steps and he adds, "You kids play nice, m'gonna head inta town." 

:'''{{#var:56|Storm (56)}} has posed:''' "Seems luck is on your side, then," Ororo replies to Forge. "I would assume your cyber...intuitive? powers can do a great deal to fill gaps in the information, especially if there's enough there to build a decent scaffold in your head." Ororo blows a sigh slowly between her lips, and shakes her head. "If you'd like, Logan, I'll also see if I can get ahold of Deadpool, and try to talk him out of the robotic rump. We seem to have a rapport, of sorts. I'd like to think that I can talk some sense into him. That, or bribe him." 

:'''{{#var:816|Forge (816)}} has posed:''' Forge stares at Logan as he relates the specifics of the facility, and the dire warnings along with it of what could be coming. He nods once. "Understood," he says finally. "Both of you can look for the missing piece, then," Forge says, leaving the butt-jokes to the other two. "Tempt him with -- whatever he's tempted by," Forge comments distractedly. Forge doesn't know the mercenary, and is fine with that. He starts to move out of the room, forgetting the sandwiches due to the new distraction of what could be ahead with the data. Exciting, exciting data. 
}}

5963/Come hold my hair

2018-12-11T06:23:19Z

Malky: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2018/12/10 |Location=Triskelion, Athletic area |Synopsis=Deadpool tries SO HARD to make friends with Steve, but only gets one piggyback ride. |Cast..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2018/12/10
|Location=Triskelion, Athletic area
|Synopsis=Deadpool tries SO HARD to make friends with Steve, but only gets one piggyback ride.
|Cast of Characters=112, 106
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:112|Steve Rogers (112)}} has posed:''' A successful return from the chill of Norway and the heartening company of the Odinsons means that Steve is back into his normal routine. When there's quiet, the man is still busy, and this means staying fleet on his feet. Nothing like putting in his earbuds, turning on some music, and tuning out of the rest of the world around him for a little bit as he works to keep his heart rate up. In sweatpants and a fitted t-shirt, sneakers and the serenade of good old Frank Sinatra, the blond Captain is on lap number twenty-five around the Olympic-length track in the Athletics Area of the Triskelion. He keeps up a ground-eating pace and his eyes are a thousand miles away as he mulls over what he recently learned of the Infinity Stone now out of reach of the dangerous -- in theory. He's not so distracted as to avoid taking note of others meandering through the area, but an interruption will certainly jolt him out of his groove, as it were. 

:'''{{#var:106|Deadpool (106)}} has posed:'''     There was no bush to squat behind. There was a trash bin. The trash bin was not wide enough to hide a full Deadpool by the side of the track, though, so he had to acquire another one. It took time. But a trash bin is not going to defeat him and his plan. NOT TODAY, SIR. Your plan is garbage. Literally, it is made of trash.     "Nobody asked you," Wade says aloud, from behind his Most Excellent cover. He forgot to change his image inducer's image from earlier, which is that of the most ordinary and uninteresting cadet-looking guy he could think of. Average colored hair, with average colored eyes, wearing average sort of glasses, and the exact same gym gear as the first guy in athletic gear that he saw. The bright magenta sweatbands are real, though. But I digress.     When the great Captain comes towards along that way of jogging, Mr. Average comes darting out just a few yards after he's passed, and attempts to keep pace. Very casual like. It's very casual. No whistling, though, because there's actually some effort to get up to speed here without looking like he's sprinting. But that doesn't mean he can keep his mouth shut.     "And they'reeee off; Captain of America leads by a nose, but what ho, a contender peels out from the back, and might be making a go of it!" 

:'''{{#var:112|Steve Rogers (112)}} has posed:''' Steve keeps up that pace like it was second nature to him -- suck it, childhood asthma. His peripheral vision registers the arrival of the newcomer and he glances over at him. Oh, an ordinary cadet-looking guy, nothing to be concerned about. Maybe one of the other agents put him up to keeping pace with him on a bet -- it's not an impossibility. But wait, this guy is saying something. Removing the earbud nearest to Ordinary-Looking Cadet Guy grants everyone the brief sultry strains of Lil Jon scream-singing "TURN DOWN FOR WHAT" and Steve palms the wireless earbud as he slows down his stride out of courtesy. "Might be making a go of what?" he asks even as he reaches across his chest to pause the music on the smartphone clipped to his bicep. It's still a brisk jog for a standard human being at this point. 

:'''{{#var:106|Deadpool (106)}} has posed:'''     "They see you rollin, they hatin'," Deadpool shout/sings overly loud over the sultry strains, both hands pulled up to cup around his mouth and truly project at maximum volume. Since Steve actually slows to normal-person speed, he'll have the 'average' cadet pull ahead a little bit. Deadpool is very athletic and strong, which means an average speed can indeed be outstripped.     "Yay, I didn't have to hamstring you!" Deadpool says teasingly -- yeah, let's go with teasingly-- and flashes a thumbs up. He moved ahead, and sort of half-runs, half backwards-prances to sort of face Steve. It's weirdly acrobatic and doesn't match what the visual of the cadet should be capable of physically. "I had um, two things," the cadet begins, each hand now lifted to show one index finger on each hand. "Shit, I got ahead though. You're inspiring. Heroism and everything. -- that's not one of the two things, or both of the two things, though. They are separate. And this is really hard to maintain. If I vomit, it's only a testament to your athleticism." 

:'''{{#var:112|Steve Rogers (112)}} has posed:''' Steve leans away from the exuberant singing as he takes the wide corner of the track at his more decent pacing, his arms still swinging. He gives this Ordinary-Looking Cadet a look almost owlish, though the expression shifts quickly to something almost sly, as if he were repressing a smile at the antics on display. He patiently listens to the discombobulated explanation for the Cadet's actions, still churning along, and those brows flick high briefly at the last comment. "I'd hate to have to make the staff clean up vomit," he replies blithely. "You seem like you're doing just fine, however." The Captain increases the speed of his jog a noticeably amount and watches the Cadet expectantly. It's as if he suspects there's something more to the Ordinary-Looking Cadet than first appearances display. "And thanks for the compliment. I do my best." Now they're on the straight-away again. Steve's just beginning to sport sweat-spots at his arms at this point. Lap twenty-six, done. 

:'''{{#var:106|Deadpool (106)}} has posed:'''     The increase in speed means Deadpool can't continue that backwards-prance thing and he flips around with a gulp, falling behind due to having to switch pace style. "Sweet baby Jesus, why," he complains probably to himself, fixing it, and then pushing himself to catch back up. There's effort, it shows, though he could dash if he had to. Still, no stumble, at least. "It's okay, just time it for when we get back around to the trash bins. I'll do MY best," Deadpool assures gamely. "It would be a pity, SHIELD lunch is really not the worst at all. Even if they won't take my coupons anymore," says the overly chatty cadet. If there was a plan, it's probably changing on the fly.     "I said two things. Okay. One of them. Let me...." Deadpool pats down his front, and then fishes a cellphone out of the front of his belt... somehow. The image inducer doesn't know what to do with this, so it just materializes with a fuzzy tech look. "Oh shit, I have my thingy on," Deadpool says, realizing, and abruptly taps onto his left wrist. The image induced by the gizmo disappears, leaving the extremely obviously armed red and black mercenary in full view, holding his teal and gold phone with the sparkly Lisa-Frank stickers on it. The physical behavior now matches the visual with ease. He is really panting, though, just like average cadet was.     "Right, okay, so the first thing," Deadpool continues as if there were nothing different, unlocking his phone with a swipe. 

:'''{{#var:112|Steve Rogers (112)}} has posed:''' A few strides and there's his jogging buddy again! Steve reaches to the pocket on his t-shirt to slip the earbud into it, having realized that he's not ditching this Ordinary-Looking Cadet so easily and partially respecting the effort put forth. There's probably a drill sergeant somewhere who'll appreciate knowing the cadet at least had to work to continue conversation with him. Another mild glance over at the young man. "Never thought they'd deny coupons," he quips drily. Then comes the fiddling with the cell phone. That's enough to make the super-soldier pay more attention, his face now turned at an angle to indicate obvious interest. Down falls the induced Cadet guise and there's that immediately-recognizable suit, red and black and white where those blank eyes squint at the cell phone. "Wade," breathes Steve on an exhale and shakes his head even as he looks down the track, towards the approaching corner again. "Not patient enough to wait for next week's signing at the local comic store?" Even as he asks, he increases his speed -- and does it more -- and more -- and man, that's a very fast jog now, almost a sprint. 

:'''{{#var:106|Deadpool (106)}} has posed:'''     "You are doing this on purrrrpooooose," Wade says with a dismayed wail of frustration. "You're not carrying an armory," he pants, as if that might actually have made any difference. Steve could probably be carrying a copy of Wade and still be far ahead.     "Okay. Maximum effort. Fuck this leather though right now. It is not breathable," Wade huffs. It's become a sprint, and then some. "Oopsy. Language. Bad Wade, Bad. And I forgot my brand new and entirely inappropriate spanking paddle, too. We'll come up with something, though. Oh, no, my dear chimichangas, I get to see you again." There's the trash bins. Wade diverts across to them, leaving Steve for a moment, to bend over one, though he hasn't hurled quite yet. Which is good: his mask is still down. Ick. 

:'''{{#var:106|Deadpool (106)}} has posed:'''     And then, from the echo inside one of the trash bins:     "Come hold my hair?" 

:'''{{#var:112|Steve Rogers (112)}} has posed:''' Steve, probably in some form of Rogers-pique, executes that self-same graceful turn around to keep up a fairly similar brisk pace facing now towards Deadpool in his fantastic blood-hiding suit. "Yeah, forgot to strap on another hundred pounds," he calls back as he then grins quickly, the fillip of humor there and gone again. It's probably absurdly unfair for the Captain to maintain that speed and balance taking the curve around the far end of the track. The mention of the paddle's enough to make him purse his lips. Spanking...paddle. He comes to a slow halt at the sight of the merc now bent //into// one of the garbage cans and sighs. Having a conscience can be such a burden. Rubbing a forearm across his forehead and temple as he walks over, Steve shakes his head on approach. "You don't have hair long enough to hold, Wade. I've seen the pictures in your file. How did you even make it past security? They're supposed to recognize gadgets like yours." He's breathing at an appropriate level for having run twenty-seven laps and his folded arms rise and fall with the motion of his chest as he stands there, idly shifting weight back and forth to keep leg muscles warm. 

:'''{{#var:106|Deadpool (106)}} has posed:'''     "I," Wade begins, still bent into the trash can, but has not yet lifted his mask. His voice betrays that this is probably not a gag, though, he does sound close to throwing up. He lifts one hand in a 'just a second' motion, but then after a long pause, continues to talk. "/I/ have a mul-ti-pass," Wade explains. "That was a reference to a movie you probably have not seen, but is amazing. It's about a taxi driver that helps a legendary weapon, a girl, save the planet with the power of looooove," Wade says. Perhaps the distraction helps, because he hasn't thrown up yet, just panted and hugged the trash.     "If you're not going to /help,/ go around again. I'll be here," says the mercenary with a childlike waggle of fingers, hand now going to his mask. 

:'''{{#var:112|Steve Rogers (112)}} has posed:''' Some nearby cadets -- actual cadets -- walking past outside the track pause and give the Captain curious looks; one of them seems concerned. Steve notices them and simply shakes his head, gesturing for them to move on with a shooing gesture. "I'll add the movie to the list," he then replies, giving the bin-hugging merc a wry eyeing, " - and maybe get one of these Mul-ti-passes, considering how it gets me past some of the top security in the world." Of course he pronounces the name of the card just as Wade did, syllable by syllable. A sigh then. "Right. I'll check on you in one lap." Steve turns his back half on Deadpool as he reaches to pluck out the earbud again. The playlist is over and he takes the first loping step as he hits the replay button. On comes the leading guitar strums of 'Edge of Seventeen' by Stevie Nicks. 

:'''{{#var:106|Deadpool (106)}} has posed:'''     The instant Steve turns away, though, the unpredictable Deadpool moves. Sure, he does still feel like vomiting a little, but his healing factor did pick up the slack there, and he'll be fine. Maybe. Things are sort of unpredictable in Deadpool-world. But he moves fast and silent, and pounces. A running leaping tackle, intending to land and piggyback ride.     This will work, right? 

:'''{{#var:112|Steve Rogers (112)}} has posed:''' It's about step two of Steve's attempt to continue his workout when he feels the weight of the Merc with the Mouth hit his back full-force. A stumble forwards on his part and while he doesn't faceplant, he's definitely got a thunderous face on now. "Wade, what the hell?!" spits the Captain as he feels Deadpool wrap limbs around neck and torso for what appears to be a piggyback ride. "Soldier, desist, immediately!!!" He's digging fingers at those arms now, as if to pull Wade from his person like bubblegum from the bottom of a shoe on a hot L.A. day. Those cadets? The young man, glancing over his shoulder, immediately puts two and two together and assumes trouble. His dash back along the short wall separating the track from the athletics room floor is accompanied by his cohort, a shorter female cadet, and both are apparently intending to offer whatever they can. "Not the kind of weight I meant," Steve adds, his voice a little gurgled even as he works the first limb away from his neck. 

:'''{{#var:106|Deadpool (106)}} has posed:'''     "I am accurate weight though, of a poor downed soldier, complete with the mild scent of possible vomit and dried blood," Wade says seductively, overly close to Steve's ear. He of course brings his legs around and forwards, intending to lock at the heel, but does adjust his forearm when Steve beats at it, not intending to actually strangle Steve at all. He would have used a garrote for THAT!     Maybe the breathyness of Wade's tone is from the near-nausea experience. Or something else. He tries to pet Steve's hair a little with the arm he allowed to be loosened. And then seems to notice the cadets. "Hi!" Wade announces to them, waving that hand happily. "We're training!" he continues, voice bright. "Well, he is. It's perfect. You train, and I talk. It's what we both want. It's like we're really /communicating/." 

:'''{{#var:112|Steve Rogers (112)}} has posed:''' Steve's dealing with the koala-bear-hold of Wade right now and, as such, isn't able to do much more than fail to avoid the affectionate stroke of his sweated hair and try to disengage those booted heels crisscrossed before his stomach. He does have time for growling, however. "Last chance, Wade, before I pry you off like a limpet." The cadets stop short of the Captain and his surprise training-weight. The young man appears a bit boggled to hear such an explanation, but the young woman isn't as impressed. "What the hell kind of communicating is this?" She gets an imperative side-glance from her cohort and simply rolls her eyes. "He's heard worse," she replies, probably predicting the unspoken chiding about her language. 

:'''{{#var:106|Deadpool (106)}} has posed:'''     "What is a Limpet?" Deadpool asks, entirely derailed. "I can't reach my phone to google it. It's on the pouch on my right thigh there. Up further than that. UP I said. It's not in my boot," Deadpool directs, while Steve is trying to dislodge his heels, as if Steve was just misunderstanding Deadpool's direction about his phone. There's also a knife there on that leg, which may be necessary at some point for limpet-removing. Though reasoning with Wade (otherwise known as 'LOOK A SHINY THING') usually overall is the better approach than violence. Violence just encourages him.     "Are limpets sexy? I'm not really sexy. I'm more like the projectile that was about to be in that trash can; it's not good." A pause. "Seriously though you can jog; like, don't let me stop you." 

:'''{{#var:112|Steve Rogers (112)}} has posed:''' "A limpet's a marine molluck with a shallow round shell that sticks to rocks using its body. They're hard to get off." This from the young male cadet, who's still apparently not sure how he can assist in this scenario, quick as he was to make himself present. "Limpets are also not sexy," adds the young woman even as she looks over Deadpool's body to see if she can assist by maybe grabbing at a limb. Steve's now got Wade's wrist in one hand, held out and away from his chest and now one boot untucked from around his stomach, also held out captured in his other hand. It's some bizarre tableau on display with Deadpool's limbs extended at a diagonal and proof of the Captain's deep well of patience. "I don't want to hurt you, Wade, so what'll it take you to let go?" He takes a few steps away and adds, for the benefit of the cadets, "It's fine, agents, go on. We're just talking." No need to involve anyone else in this. 

:'''{{#var:106|Deadpool (106)}} has posed:'''     Deadpool looks at the cadets from his bizarre situation, and shows an 'a-ok' signal of finger to thumb. He's fine with what's going on. Except that he'd rather not be partially pulled in this uncomfortable manner. He consoles himself that a heel is still on Cap's belt, and the other hand is still hanging on, though he's probably twisted Steve's shirt around uncomfortably by now while trying to maintain a grip.     "You're super considerate. That's one of the things so admirable about you. Wolverine just goes to the hurting right away. But actually, that's one of the things I'm trying to talk about. I have, you know, like a wish list. What are they called?" Deadpool pauses. He's still being held strangely and just ... continues to chatter. "You know. A list of things to do before you die? They have a name, those lists. Augh. This is going to bother me." 

:'''{{#var:112|Steve Rogers (112)}} has posed:''' The cadets slowly back away after exchanging concerned glances again -- but...the Captain said so, and he's not known for lying, so he must be perfectly fine despite the spider-monkey attempt. Off they go, still giving both men their lingering attention even as they depart the immediate area. How Steve manages to somehow hook a finger into the hem of his rutched-up shirt and pull down on it to try and circumvent the revelation of those fairly-flawless cutlines is a thing of mystery, but there he is, with the rest of the digits still wrapped about the merc's boot. "It's called a 'bucket list', Wade," he grunts as he stumbles back a step and simply pauses, standing there and staring off into the middle distance with a quiet grit to his jaw as he breathes through his nose. "What about the bucket list?" Maybe if he holds still, he can suddenly fling Wade from his body. It might mean sacrificing the shirt, but oh well. 

:'''{{#var:106|Deadpool (106)}} has posed:'''     It's a brilliant idea, because Wade relaxes too, in sync with Steve's apparent shift of physical signals. Wade stops clinging as hard, though he does try to coax Steve to draw his arm back down and in, and stop trying to dislocate his leg at the hip joint.     "Privacy at last," Wade says softly, serene. Awkardly? Nah. Super familiar, really.     "Bucket list. FUCK. Yes. Exactly. My list of buckets," Wade says, diverted onto that new chain of thought. "It features getting to touch the /shield/. You know the one. I mean, I'd like to hold it, but I'll settle for getting bashed with it if you're sensitive." 

:'''{{#var:112|Steve Rogers (112)}} has posed:''' The Captain gives the merc a hard side-glance and leans his head away from the smooth murmur. Awkward. Wade can have his boot back, but apparently not his wrist. Steve yanks down hard on the shirt with his freed hand to correct its lay even as he replies, "First of all, language. Second of all, this is not how normal folks ask to see the paraphernalia. You're approaching it where you'd get the shield in the face rather than in your hands." Another grunt as he pulls at that captured wrist with enough strength to test Deadpool's shoulder socket and then a long-suffering sigh as he relents at the tugging. "Wade. It'd be a great favor to me if you'd let go of me now." 

:'''{{#var:106|Deadpool (106)}} has posed:'''     "Urgh, fifty pounds /and/ shades of grey on my arm there, tiger," Wade grunts as his arm is pulled in that manner. Wade is often good with pain, at least in situations he instigated.     "Paraphernalia. Wow. Language," Wade echoes, as if he were excited and affronted by the use of the word. Maybe it carries special modern meaning. Or something. Or just gave Wade IDEAS.     There's a chance that Wade could really swing either way with the request. The unpredictable quality is part of his 'charm'/'extreme-frustration-factor'.     Wade releases mostly, but slips forwards, to try to pat the palm that was on Steve's neck to his cheek once, gently, just /so/. "Daw, I can't say no to that voice," Wade says, charmed. And lets Steve go fully. 

:'''{{#var:112|Steve Rogers (112)}} has posed:''' Holding very still, lest he startle the detatching merc (or encourage further grappling and face-patting), Steve waits until he can no longer feel the piggyback in any manner. Then a quick step away and turn about to face Deadpool, fixing his shirt completely as he goes. No more randomly flashing those abs at anyone walking by. "Thank you," he's sure to say, though by his stern tone he's still fairly irritated with the overall interruption of his workout. Still, nobody was hurt and no milk was spilt -- or stomach contents, so nothing to linger on. "Now, look, about your bucket list." He rubs at his bicep briefly and shrugs. "I really don't take the shield out unless there's action or if I'm on active duty. If you were to catch me in the middle of dealing with some issue, hell -- I might even throw it at you and see if you can use it briefly." Might. 

:'''{{#var:106|Deadpool (106)}} has posed:'''     If Deadpool was winded or had problems from the whole running situation, he's forgotten, and has long since recovered. Healing factor on steroids of Deadpoolyness. He bounces to stand smartly as Steve addresses him and thanks him. And salutes in return to being thanked.     "/Use/-use it? Not just as like, a surface for it to bounce off of?" Deadpool asks, critically, as if he's making sure that he's not being teased. 

:'''{{#var:112|Steve Rogers (112)}} has posed:''' Steve smirks a little. "I think it'd do more denting of you than bouncing from you. No, not just that. To use it as a shield." He lifts a hand briefly before folding his arms again, his stance tall and stoic. "It's situational, so I can't promise you it'll ever happen, but I know you...or at least, I've read your file. You know your way around a fight. I'm not going to ignore the chance at beating an enemy if it means sharing the shield for a minute or two." After all, if Captain America's brought in to deal with an issue, it's likely an //issue//. A more senior SHIELD agent appears into view, like as not summoned by the two cadets reporting of the grappling on the running track, and pauses once she's certain she's in Steve's field of view. He shakes his head again and then tilts it in a little jerk of silent dismissal. Shoo, curious flies, shoo. 

:'''{{#var:106|Deadpool (106)}} has posed:'''     "Wait, you said you don't take it out. I do think you should take it out." Deadpool lets the innuendo sit there uncomfortably for a long moment, but relents since it's STEVE. It's like torturing a puppy! "I mean, how do you practice? Do you have a giant plastic Frisbee that's the same weight and shape? Because if you do, I really, really want to see that. Is it like, sort of transparent and yellow like a Nerf? I am monstrously good at Frisbee." Deadpool rocks on his heels.     "I mean, not as good as I am at shooting a ---a ---- a totally deserving and entirely evil person in complete self defense and not entirely for money or other profit." There's a grin in the mask so large it can be seen through it. Few can grin like the mouthy merc.     I'm /especially/ good with profit involved. Teehee.     Wait. "A /minute/? Hot shhhh--sh---fuck. Sorry. I almost said shit. Oh. I'm not good at censoring," Deadpool says. He tried! Lost cause. He looks over at the onlookers. And then pokes at his image inducer.     "I fixed it." A duplicate of Steve. That's fine. Not entirely worse than before. 

:'''{{#var:112|Steve Rogers (112)}} has posed:''' Patiently, Steve stands there and waits. He looks back at those surprisingly-versatile white eyesockets with a severely polite expression, as if he's got something to say back but simply won't stoop to do as such. However, the sudden shift into a near-perfect doppelganger of himself is enough to garner a response. Those wheat-gold brows nearly disappear into his hairline. Then, they stoop to gather. Now frowning up a storm, he quickly glances over...well, himself, and then asks, "You do know it's illegal to be impersonating me like that, right?" Meanwhile, in the back of his mind, something's tickling. Something's germinating. It's one of those instances where it will occur to him later and when it does, well...things'll get interesting. 

:'''{{#var:106|Deadpool (106)}} has posed:'''     "I did not know," Wade says, perky. The voice does not match at all, though there's also no effort put into it. If Wade is able to actually pretend to be Steve, he's not trying at all, obviously. "But if you don't want me to do something, you may want to rethink your strategy." And then there's a bit of effort, as Wade gives Steve a stern disapproving look in return. Such stern blue eyes!     "Sometimes it's more important to do what is RIGHT than what is absolutely legal," Steve-doppelganger says. 

:'''{{#var:112|Steve Rogers (112)}} has posed:''' There's a faint little flicker of amusement through the Captain's eyes, like lightning on the far horizon, but then he's back to his stern self once more. "Then I suppose you accept the consequences of your actions as well?" he asks, lifting a finger from where he rests his hands on one of his biceps. The angle of the point? Towards one of the myriad cameras fielding a live feed directly into SHIELD intel. "Because I dunno if they're going to appreciate it. I'd appreciate it if you don't do it." Hey, maybe the path of manners will work yet again. 

:'''{{#var:106|Deadpool (106)}} has posed:'''     "Now, hold up a second," Deadpool says, quickly, probably stalling. He pats down his leg to get the phone out again. "First things's first," Deadpool announces. And flips around to get a selfie of them. Including smile and peace sign.     Once that is done, he clarifies, "In no way am I pretending to be you. If anyone asks I will say exactly who I am. I did before, too. My multipass is for ME, not you. You have to get your OWN." There's a playful measure to it.     The people onlooking are probably MORE concerned now. "I was going for privacy. People respect one Steve, imagine two? But fineeee. Who would you prefer? Does Iron Man often visit here?" Wade asks brightly, entirely off into left field as always. But not resistant of changing his appearance. 

:'''{{#var:112|Steve Rogers (112)}} has posed:''' That'll be one hell of a selfie: which Steve is which? The one promoting the charming, public face of peace and goodwill or the one giving the other Steve a look of frozen disgruntled surprise? Conundrum for Snapchat and the rest of the online community. "If there's anyone I wouldn't recommend impersonating, it's Stark. Destroying your gadget will be the least of your worries if his robots get wind of it." The Captain shifts his weight again against muscles going cool after the jogging. "I'd rather you impersonated yourself, Wade, suit and all. We prefer transparency here," he adds with an especially ironic note to the statement. A beat. "If I ever change my mind, I'll be sure to pass on word." 

:'''{{#var:106|Deadpool (106)}} has posed:'''     "Yeah, well, I don't really /like/ myself," Deadpool says flippantly, but with a sudden gut-wrenching reality check of honesty. It's a joke but it really is not funny. He doesn't notice or even recognize it, yet, though. "What about dead people? Pretty sure they don't mind. I don't usually ask them first because they argue about not wanting to be dead if you do, but that seems like it'd be a great compromise."     A tap of the inducer goes back to Deadpool, and then changes to a rather handsome young Elvis. "Hey," Elvis says, as his crazy mind tracks to the next thing, "Where's the locker room? I'm sweat-tastic in this after that 'jog'." 

:'''{{#var:112|Steve Rogers (112)}} has posed:''' Steve's got his mouth open to reply to that next query in regards to those deceased -- there's got to be some legislature he remembers from //somewhere// about identify theft -- but then there's someone standing before him that he missed during his time in the ice. A hard blink and then a squint. "That's..." One can almost see the gears whirring behind those sharp blue eyes. "Elvis Presley? The singer?" The Captain then finally cracks his first true smile since this fiasco started, though it's small and somewhat crooked, almost hesitant. "That's not bad." The smile then melts into something more distantly polite again. "The showers are that way," and he thumbs towards them. The nearest set of doors to the track's entrance on this half of the area is the men's locker room. "Use 'em if you want to." He's not going to stop the man from consequences, after all. 

:'''{{#var:106|Deadpool (106)}} has posed:'''     "I can't do his voice though. My pitch isn't right for him," Wade laments, as if this truly were a tragedy. But at the very least, he is not directly copying another agent or making it unclear who he is. That isn't really the objective, in the end, with the use of the object. The use of it is aimed to blend in, or to play.     "Great! Lead on," Wade invites hopefully. And then pauses. Taps his inducer to 'off'. And then looks expectant. He did what Steve wanted. So now Steve reciprocates. 

:'''{{#var:112|Steve Rogers (112)}} has posed:''' "Ah...y'see," Steve mutters, unfolding his arms to scratch at drying sweat on the back of his neck. "I've got another few laps to go yet -- " The alarm on his phone goes off. He pauses to rotate it on the arm-band and then burr a sigh in the back of his throat in quiet frustration. Time's up for today's chance to exercise and he silences the alarm. Oh well. There's always late-night jogging around the neighborhood around the mansion. "Never mind. Right. Shower." As Steve makes to leave the jogging track, he snags a small white towel hung over the wall separating it from the walkway. He mops at his face and the back of his neck while he walks over to the men's locker room door. "Mind the step when you walk into the stalls. It's awkward when the cadets bloody their noses on the walls." 

:'''{{#var:106|Deadpool (106)}} has posed:'''     "It's almost like you're trying to get away from me," Wade says, stung. But not really. He's used to it. "I know I'm extremely exhausting. I mean that in ALL of the ways." Hands rest smartly at hip level, and he adds a sexual gesture for good measure. The gesture becomes a gun. Pew pew.     It may have sounded for a moment like Wade was going to actually leave. There was a chance of it. But he's unpredictable: and he decides to trot along with Steve, hands now clasped together behind him. "I won't hold your hand. Don't worry. Even if it would keep me safe from the step. I'll manage. ....Or bleed." Cheerfully, Deadpool moves ahead, to partially lead the way to the locker room. 

:'''{{#var:106|Deadpool (106)}} has posed:''' (( And for your theme-song pleasure, the following is suggested: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fegs-XVKgnM )) 
}}

5054/Astral Flux: South of the Rip

2018-10-19T07:19:23Z

Malky:

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2018/07/29
|Location=South of New York City
|Synopsis=South group fighting the mushrooms also finds a way to close the rip in the sky!
|Cast of Characters=22, 63, 56, 30, 15, 1028, 42, 181, 1429, 130
|Tinyplot=Germination
|Tinyplot2=Astral Flux
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' The sky has broken open. A rupture. It is south of New York City, and approximately a quarter mile high, and 100 yards wide. It blazes, pulsing a fluxing energy, a streamer that all can see for quite a distance. It seems to be churning, and where it leads is truly anyone's guess. But there are other problems, beyond the rip in the sky. Mushrooms are everywhere. They came out of the ground, having burrowed, dormant. The fungus seemed to have been so dormant and quiet, giving some illusion in the quiet that it was gone. And now they lunge upwards in the darkness of the evening, and start to move. They head towards the rip in the sky. All of them: they pulse along the ground on churning oozing piles of fungal spores, eating whatever is in the way, or burrowing under things they cannot easily pass. Many of the mushrooms are the size of people, a few much larger. Most of them are outside of the city, but still some come from inside it: the parks, the graveyards. They singlemindedly move towards the rupture, bringing with them herds of their squid-like guardians. 

:'''{{#var:63|Pamela Isley (63)}} has posed:''' Pamela Isley can sense it. The disturbance in the Gray. The Green is in an uproar over the impending invasion. Ivy has been quiet the last few weeks, synthesizing as much of the specialized fungicide as she can, as well as various means to deploy it. The Parliament of Trees touched her mind, and she leaves, having hired a cab. She has various chemical tanks, and a satchel full of various seeds, and other small bombs. Ivy is going to war. The cab driver is in thrall: Ivy can brook no interference. Against a foe like this, Ivy is on the same side as everything else. She moves on, readying herself for the fight to come. 

:'''{{#var:56|Storm (56)}} has posed:'''     Ororo could see them, as high in the sky as she is. She alternates her view from the rip in the sky to the traveling fungus, lowering her gaze even further to see those gathering to help fend of the fungal chaos. "There are so many," Ororo calls out through the communications unit in her ear. "And, this rip in space... Has anyone figured out what is causing this to happen?" 

:'''{{#var:30|Bjorn (30)}} has posed:''' With the tear in the sky - there was no time to lose. Crusader has been busy helping to deploy weaponary to various hero groups where he can to help combat the fungus, sticking mostly to the earth itself for quicker deployment.     And that deployment was needed now. Crusader ship, filled with canisters of toxin, as well as extra freeze guns and swords - speeds towards the event further from the city, getting a feel for what was going on below. He sends out a message broadcasting on all possible frequencies "Hello, this is Crusader of the JLA, hailing from the south ends of The Rip - One is comming in with gear, if you can fly or find or make a suitable spot for distrubtion it would be appreciated" hopefully there was or he will need to drop the things and hope people can scavenge fgor them 

:'''{{#var:15|Superman (15)}} has posed:''' Kal hears about the rip in the sky simultaneously from Crusader's communication on his JLA communicator and from the TV he and Lois were watching from the couch in their apartment. Kal squeezes Lois' hand, then he is up, changed and gone from the balcony in a flash. Moments later he is in New York and near Storm. "Crusader, keep an eye out when you're dropping supplies, don't get bogged down. And get word to the authorities to have everyone shelter in place, inside." "Storm, how accurate can you be over a large area? Can you create cold zones to funnel the ones coming into the city into fewer channels toward the rip? I'm going to see what we're dealing with here." With that he rockets off toward the rip to inspect it more closely. "Stark, are you on the air?" he tries over a joint JLA/Avengers channel. 

:'''{{#var:1028|Jessica Drew (1028)}} has posed:''' Jessica was perched high above the city, clinging to the side of a skyscraper. From there, she could see the threat in all its context. Pulling her hair up and donning her mask, she quickly begins her webslinging descent toward the fray. "Are you guys seeing this?" She asks into her comm. "I'm going in. Could use backup." Within minutes as the crow flies, or as the spider swings, she is in range to see the mess in more detail. "This is gonna take coordination," she mutters to herself, trying to get in as close as possible without touching the ground. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:'''     "Hi," comes Tony Stark's very recognizable, casual tone of voice onto the communications unit. It's a broad band: JLA, Avenger, and so forth. "Something below it is projecting this thing up into the air. It's all covered in fungus, so I can't really see what's doing it, but. It's a portal, that I can say. I'm going to send a drone in, and see if it's Narnia," Tony provides. "Otherwise, I can make a bunch of educated guesses, if you like."     The mushrooms aren't just moving. In the past, when one mushroom has grown so large as to encounter another, it absorbs the new one into itself.     And these are still doing that behavior. As small ones move into proximity with each other, they stop, and merge. One of the two stalks bubbles and collapses into the ooze of the other, and the larger one cannibalizes its 'friend', growing more powerful and larger. And resuming movement. It's happening in a scattered way, more heavily where the creatures are more concentrated, naturally, creating less concentrated areas: and bigger monsters. Some have clearly eaten enough to be horrifying building-tall stalks lurching their way down and through streets, though their mushroom-shaped tops aren't fully grown yet. It makes them very eerie, swaying tall forms. 

:'''{{#var:63|Pamela Isley (63)}} has posed:''' Pamela Isley lowers the window of the cab. "Go faster!" she yells to the enthralled driver who puts petal to the metal. She has a dart gun in her possession - and is sniping smaller mushrooms with darts that look like tranq darts - but any small mushroom they strike disintegrates into dust after a pain sound - larger ones stumble. She finally stops as near the breach as she can get, and gets out. She stares at one of the colossal shrooms, gritting her teeth, finding a grassy hill to stand on. She throws a handful of seeds up into the air to scatter around her then concentrates. Over a dozen cacti erupt out of the ground all around her, growing more and more. Ivy uses the dartgun to snipe any shrooms that would attempt to interrupt the rapid growth as the cacti rapidly grow past head-high and show no signs of stopping. The strain of doing so much at once shows on Ivy's face as she's swaying, having to lower the gun, all her energy focused into the cacti as they grow more... and more... and more, Ivy sinking to her knees from the strain. 

:'''{{#var:30|Bjorn (30)}} has posed:''' Crusader grunts "Understood Superman." he says as he flies closer to the city. It is than he hears Spider-Woman comminicating over the comms - only recognizing the voice from various news outlets He speaks into the comms "Spider-Woman, we are indeed seeing this. One is bringing in supplies to help now" his ship already entering the edges of the city. "Head towards One destiniation - a large silver ship"     Crusader's ship touches down slowly to ensure not to crush anyone. The ship opens up and Crusader rolls out the freeze guns, swords as well as canisters of the toxin. Within moment he in the police comms "Officers - get everyone inside, and send who you can too" some address "Got some effective weapons you can use" 

:'''{{#var:56|Storm (56)}} has posed:'''     At the mention of supplies being brought in, Storm turns in the air to see if she can find the ship. Before she can think about moving, though, the Man of Steel is hovering next to her in the air. The shock of his speed subsides, and then she offers her thought process.     "I can be as accurate as we need to be," she replies, confidently. "But it will take a few minutes." While she instructs nature to do her bidding, the reactions don't form instantly. It is very much like cooking; Storm has to prepare her ingredients first before delivering a chilling cold to the area. Luckily, she is prepared to do some damage to the fungus today.     Hearing Tony's voice and instantly looking below, Storm sees a woman fighting the fungus below, deploying several growing cacti. When she sees Pamela fall to her knees, Storm darts in the woman's direction, flying with an agility that allows her to avoid contact with the moving army. Touching down, Storm helps Pamela stabilize her footing.     "Are you okay?" Storm asks, watching the cacti continue to grow. 

:'''{{#var:1028|Jessica Drew (1028)}} has posed:''' "Can someone give me a location on the equipment?" Spider-Woman calls out over her comm, as she suspects her answer lies on that ship. She has ceased trying to maneuver through the fray until she has more direction. Instead she is throwing out webbing to grab the smaller mushrooms that sprout and give a powerful jerk to rip them out of the ground. It's like putting bactine on a severed limb. 

:'''{{#var:15|Superman (15)}} has posed:''' Kal flies low over the center of the mess trying to get a look at what might be projecting the portal and just how much effort it would take to uncover it. He reports what he is seeing into the comms as he recons. He glances up and sees Stark's drone going into the portal. "We'll take your guesses, Stark. We need to know whether to help these thing through or go to war to stop them. And keep an eye on your radar. If the Pentagon goes hammer down on us, we'll need some warning to keep them from adding fuel to this fire." 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "Wow. My drone is taking a wild ride. I'll get back to you," Tony says, sounding relaxed about the situation, at least via the communication. "So far I'm on that end, keeping a lid on the panic, but it won't be forever. On the upside, I don't think the rift itself is dangerous." The mushrooms continue to pause and merge. There's a great deal of blasts and activity showing north of the rip, as if a battle were being waged. 

:'''{{#var:30|Bjorn (30)}} has posed:''' "Yea, head towards the Big Silver Ship" Crusader tells Spider-Woman again "On" street name. He was a bit busy handing out some swords and guns to police officers and even some citizens who apprach - each of them doing their own part to freeze or zap any mushrooms. Noticing Storm and Ivy, he waste no time in delivering to them some freeze guns and sword. He wasn't overly concerned about their health at the moment and instead slides three cannisters towards them "One is not sure if you ladies can use these" weather mixing the toxin into the plants or into the air "One hopes you can" Crusader than begins to fire upon some mushrooms of his own, mainly aimming to keep them away from fleeing citizens. he talks into the comm towards Superman and Tony sound annoyed "Is the Pentagon stupid enough to really send Firepower? Please tell One this is what is referred to as a wise crack" cause good lord, humans are going to make themselves go exstinct 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' A close recon to the rip in the sky shows a teeming mass of squidlings occupying the ground all around it. The ground itself seems ripped and torn open, like something (the rip?) exploded from below. It looks like it was some sort of underground parking complex, but with all the squidling masses there, hard to tell. What it appears to be is that the fungus mushrooms are walking to the rip, merging if there are several, and entering the rip itself, while their squid minions stay behind. 

:'''{{#var:56|Storm (56)}} has posed:'''     "It's on the South of the rift," Storm replies through the comm. unit.     She makes sure to check on Pamela, still looking around at the dozen cacti that are growing larger around them. Storm does not know if it is her claustrophobia or her desire to not be on the ground, but she makes a decision to take back to the air. "Take these," she says to Pamela, offering a freeze gun and sword. "I have Mother Nature on my side."     With a thought, Storm is aloft and flying higher into the sky. She concentrates and clouds begin to gather ahead. Arms extend to the heavens as she places all of her elemental ingredients into the sky. The temperature lowers significantly, getting colder by the second. The clouds threaten to release snow, but they need more time. 

:'''{{#var:63|Pamela Isley (63)}} has posed:''' Pamela Isley takes the freeze gun, hmmmmming softly. She smirks at Crusader. "I don't need your poison - I have my own. Take one. I formulated it specifically for our friends here..." She gestures to a few canisters at her feet. She nods as she is supported by Storm. "I'm fine... it's... tiring... to accelerate the growth of so many at once." The cacti are now TWENTY feet tall. And... the cacti are still growing, but slower. Ivy nods in satisfaction. "They are ready." She snaps her fingers. "You may control the skies... but I control the Green." The cacti shudder... then as the shroom-creatures start to approach the breach, the cacti unload, firing their needles at them. Any shroom creature that these needles strike shriek and wither and die. "I've worked on these for weeks..." she whispers softly. "Their needles are infused with that fungicide. They are basically an artillery platform." She grins widely. 

:'''{{#var:15|Superman (15)}} has posed:''' "Looks like some of the others have decided to go to war, Stark. If this portal is going to get rid of the shrooms we need to know, Stark, otherwise I need to get to work on these big ones." He blasts up above the city and scans for pockets of stranded civilians. He zips between them at blinding speed, delivering people to relative safety while he waits for a call from Stark on whether to facilitate or stop the shrooms making it to the portal. 

:'''{{#var:30|Bjorn (30)}} has posed:''' "Less boasting more working. One does not care who made what" Crusader says. Weather the toxin by batman or the poison by Ivy, he didn't care long as it got the job done. Crusader can be...curt to say the least. That being as a particular large group of fungus gets near. He takes one of the Toxin Canisters and one of the Ivy Canisters and tosses both of them at the large group, before a sword quickly follow peicing both canisters. The result was both of them attacking the fungus. Crusader rises into the air, freeze gun still in hand. With some folks are high altitude, and some on ground, he figures some Mid height may be useful. His bird eyes few allowing him to hit group of fungus - stopping or slowing them from reaching people Superman was rescueing. "Superman does have a point, would be useful to know weather to stop them or help them through that portal. Preferably before they overun the city" 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "My drone is in... Mexico. Is there something special for fungus in Mexico?" Tony reports, sounding baffled. There is a pause. "OK, them getting to the portal is BAD. I'm sending a few more drones, I'll get some more feed from them, because what I can saw so far before my drone was wrecked--- I'd prefer to think is a glitch. Remember the mold in /outer space/? Yeah, I'm reminded. It's huge, but not doing anything yet, probably sucking these all in first. So, I'm working on shutting off the portal. Just there's so much interference." "Whoever is making giant toxic cactus, that... yes. More of that," Tony comments with amusement into the comms. "If we can hold off the tide, we might get some of this area under the rip cleared off to get to the root of what's making the portal." 

:'''{{#var:1028|Jessica Drew (1028)}} has posed:''' Spider-Woman makes her way to the silver ship and lowers herself, touching down lightly next to it.She recognizes the canisters and odd swords from her meeting with Kal and Flash. She's no marksman, but she's a deadly shot with her web, right? Taking equipment, she arms herself, turning toward the seeming mass exodus of mushrooms. "Wherever these guys are going, I highly doubt it's safer for /us/ if they make it there. She fires a web and swings up, using the freezing quality of the sword to behead some of the mushrooms still small enough to do so with. The others take parting shots as she stabs as deploy as she can into them. It's then that she hears confirmation from Tony on the comm - "them getting to the portal is BAD." 

:'''{{#var:15|Superman (15)}} has posed:''' "Mexico?" Superman says as he finishes ferrying a small family out of harm's way. "Stark, there is some kind of massive fungus mind in Mexico. It peeked into the Astral plane a few days back and caused havoc. Are there any other portals open on the Mexico side feeding it?" Without waiting for an answer, Kal flies back to the rip as quickly as possible, windows shattering in his wake. He takes a deep breath and then lays down super cold air all around the portal and even under it. He picks a spot and smashes into the frozen mass,shattering it, to try and get a peek at whether anything underneath is maintaining the portal. 

:'''{{#var:56|Storm (56)}} has posed:'''     It isn't long until small pecks of ice can be seen falling from the sky. With a more concentrated thought, the clouds finally release a flurry of snow raining down at an abnormal rate, especially in the Summer.     "Mexico?" Storm repeats, hearing that the fungus getting to the portal is not a good idea. She acts quickly and flies closer to the portal, the snow building more fiercely behind her. Hovering over many of the fungus approaching the portal, Storm extends her hands and sends a large blast of artic winds into the fray. If she needs to, Storm will then push further in any effort to flash-freeze the army before her. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' A telepathic message is sent to nearly all of those fighting the mushrooms. The message is as follows: "They are moving for the portal. Stop their advance by any cost!" For those familiar with him, it is Doctor Doom. 

:'''{{#var:30|Bjorn (30)}} has posed:''' "Nual mention that an unsually large fungus was in Mexico. She also mentioned these things get smarter the larger they get" crusader says. Now knowing they needed to stop the fungu, Crusader breaks out the freeze sword He flies towards the 'roots' of the larget fungus and slices into them, freezing the legs and slowing them, but it wouldn't stop them. They needed to stop these things and fast. "Storm - Superman - One believes you two can combo off. Storm if you can give us some heavy and One means HEAVY - perhaps superman can flash freeze these guys possibly stopping them or at the very least slowing them down enough for more of Ivies poison to affect" He slams into a mushroom toppling them over. As he hears the telepathic option he broadcast over the comms "One thinks the flash freeze is likely best idea...unless we can make a wall to block the portal" 

:'''{{#var:63|Pamela Isley (63)}} has posed:''' Pamela Isley sighs. "Mexico?" she asks. "I thought we were dealing with a spatial breach, not... a portal to Tijuana." She frowns as she keeps her cacti reloading and firing more barbs at any shrooms approaching. She is also firing darts from a dart gun at the larger ones which is a more concentrated burst. She is near the breach, so that she can snipe on the shrooms wlaking toward it, without being directly in their path. Some of the cacti are being chilled by Storm's storm. "Hey - not the cacti!" she yells up to the weather goddess. 

:'''{{#var:1028|Jessica Drew (1028)}} has posed:''' "Mexico? That's bad news." Jessica replies but at Crusader's suggestion, the Spider-Woman suddenly brightens with new direction. She webslings at top speed toward the rift and gets as close as possible, pausing at any point around it to shoot several webs, anchored to trees, abandoned cars, anything they can grip onto, beginning to build a vast network of webbing, and working her way as quickly as possible, albeit too tediously slow for her tastes, around the rift to close in the gaps wherever possible. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' <Both scene orientation:>     It has started to snow at the site of the tear in the sky, and much if it is now coming into the weather in the northern area as well. Heroes all around the tear are acting to stop the advance, though little appears to be directly on top of the rip itself.     And then, the flash of Superman at the base of it shows, as he tears into the teeming swarms that are at the base of it, guarding whatever is below the rip itself. Similarly, other flashes of activity of other heroes show, from both north and south, as heavy efforts are made to stop the mushrooms' advances. It is effective, and those right on top of the rift have a short time to try to decide what can be done. In the north, several massive mushrooms have been attacked: a few of them simply keel over and die, others hit with considerable toxin and frozen might. Whole patches of ooze are being frozen solid, which causes difficulty, as others approach but cannot merge with it, and everything just stops, while they try to merge but cannot! Sonic blasts continue to cause disarray, and the fungus from the north is virtually entirely shut off, with the well-coordinated team.     In the south, Toxin is being spread heavily from some type of artillery, and the moving fungals are being stuck down with webbing, causing weird traffic jams of them while they stop to merge, and then get poisoned. The slowing snowfall has similarly slowed them, though there are now some truly massive mushrooms down that way, merging, as the huge ones have not been dealt with as heavily. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' A pack of the squid-like minions has formed off and is rushing directly for Ivy and her arsenal. They are thick, going as a large force, to attempt to overwhelm her and her cacti, to shut off the problem coming from there. They are in numbers great enough to surge through the spines even if they take losses: that is no doubt the point. She will probably need assistance to hold that front. "I think I'm calibrated to make this trip... yeah, no problem. I could use a vacation, honestly; I'll see if it closes on the other side. Might take out the big mushroom by myself: You're welcome." With a group of his drones, Iron Man blazes on into and through the portal, near the top of the rip, disappearing. At the base, Superman can use a combination of force and x-ray vision. There is a nest of the creatures tightly wound in a sphere around.. something. Someone. A person is there, underneath layers of creatures. He looks barely conscious, but the rift is clearly coming from him, surging up and out of the human male. 

:'''{{#var:56|Storm (56)}} has posed:'''     Storm does not hear Pamela's yell in her direction, her mind focusing on the hordes of fungus still managing to make a way to the portal.     Hail, the size of basketballs start to fall in concentrated areas inside the army's framework, with a group of five to six balls of hail following the direction of Storm's hand motions. The arctic winds propel the dangerous ice buildup as an offensive to protect the portal behind her.     "Tony, don't you even think about taking that on alone," Storm says through the comm. unit. Turning in the air, she watches as Iron Man disappears into portal where many of the fungi are trying to get to. Instead, they are finding themselves under the cold mercy of nature on Storm's watch. 

:'''{{#var:63|Pamela Isley (63)}} has posed:''' Pamela Isley just stares at the army. "Oh shit..." she whispers softly as she sees the stampede heading her way. She points as all dozen cacti start firing at the stampede, the roars of the hurt ones hopefully catching someone's attention for she doesn't seem to have a radio. She is firing the cold gun as well, but knows this isn't going to be pretty. "I'm sorry guys," she whispers to the cacti. She stands her ground - she won't abandon her plant warriors. 

:'''{{#var:1028|Jessica Drew (1028)}} has posed:''' With no idea whether it could possibly be effective, Spider-Woman begins to weave webs between the larger converging mushrooms, attempting to bind them. The effect is basically cargo netting between the mushrooms to keep them from merging. Whether it could possibly work is beyond her knowledge. In between binding those mushrooms, she begins a second round of webbing behind the next wave of mushrooms, to entangle and isolate them from those held back from the rift by her first wall. If there's anything better than a wall around the rift, it's two walls around the rift. 

:'''{{#var:30|Bjorn (30)}} has posed:''' And Ivy won't stand alone either. Crusader saw the horde of squids comming towards Ivy - seemed Jessica and the other had the rift covered, but it looked like ivy needed some two. Crusader makes a quick drive by his ship, picking up three addition freeze guns - and grows a second set of arms. Hovering just above - and connecting himself to the guns - he fires at four of them! He wasn't just fireing randomly though, as he freezes he slowly hover upwards trying to create a Wall of Ice and Squidlings. The cacti may need to volly their needles higher - but it was better than nothing. Crusader speaks into the comms "We got a good horde of the squids near One and ivy, use this to your advantage" he looks to ivy - "Ivy, can you make a few super doses? And by super One means" he gestures to the massive walking stalks "Enough tot ake that out" he keeps up the rate of fire at the squids, eating into his own energy to help power the guns beyound normal capacity. 

:'''{{#var:15|Superman (15)}} has posed:''' "I found the source of the portal, it's a person!" Kal calls into the communicator. Kal uses freezing breath and force to punch and force his way through to the person in the center of the squidling ball. He grabs the person to pull them free of the mass, using more cold and force to loosen the clingers on. Then he moves skyward, carrying the person, even if it means pulling along some squidlings, watching to see if the portal moves along with the person. "Can you hear me?" he calls repeatedly to the person as he lifts them clear of the mess. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' The squidlings assault heavily, and push hard on both Crusader and Ivy's barrages. A second group come around from a side, pressuring there, but suddenly a magic circle appears beneath a rather large number of the mushrooms. A magic circle?! Regardless... those knowledgeable will be able to tell dark magic is at play here. Circles appear all over the place, grabbing mushrooms out of nowhere. It looks relatively random, though it is certainly a help to Jessica's walls, catching some of the ones that were getting close to it. The heroes in the north are extending aid to the heavier problems still plaguing the south side of the rift. And then, a mushroom emerges from burrowing amoung the cacti. It abruptly starts to eat one of the cactus, in the pool of digestive ooze under it, having appeared just in their midst. However, it can't stay there: it has to head towards the portal, and begins to drift that way, as if called by it. A squid drops from the towering mushroom, and snares for Ivy, attempting to drag her by the arm into the digestive zone. It is a small one, but it will still give her arm a considerable wrench, or worse! When Superman touches the man, he starts to squirm and shudder. Ooze drips down through from above through the rift: a backwash of horrifying ooze, attempting to eat Superman who dares interfere. Metahumans aren't immune to the digestive acid. The man seems entirely out of it, staring up at the rift that is coming from him. The rift... it does move with him, though slowly, as if delayed. 

:'''{{#var:42|Diana Prince (42)}} has posed:''' From the north, from Manhattan more specifically, the screaming engines of the Invisible Jet slice through the sky on a course southward toward the disturbance. The alert had reached her and she'd been preoccupied with another similar event going on, but Wonder Woman was now arriving via the wings of her mysterious plane. "Superman." Diana's voice comes over the comms of the Justice League. "What is your status?" She asks of the blue and red caped hero. The jet, even though it cannot be seen, can be heard circling in the skies now, likely taking in the full scope of the fighting going on down in this ruined city. 

:'''{{#var:1028|Jessica Drew (1028)}} has posed:''' Jessica, her breath laboured and posture clearly fatigued, is horrified at the ooze coming down at Superman, and immediately thwips a web up toward the man he is carrying, just in case. It fires out, makes it halfway, then falls uselessly to the ground. "Oh my God, no," she says in disbelief. "This...never happens to me." She takes a deep breath and bolsters her resilience. "I'm running on empty here," she says into the comm. "Does anyone have a protein bar? Or, y'know....a cow?" 

:'''{{#var:15|Superman (15)}} has posed:''' Superman reacts without thinking, taking a deep breath and blowing frigid air at the sudden rush of ooze. Then he tries avoid it, pulling himself and the man he carries up and away from the portal quickly. He turns his back as he moves to shield the man from the ooze headed their way in case he is not able to avoid it all. Kal looks down at the man he is carrying and winces. "Sorry," he says, then smacks him in the back of the head hard enough to knock the man out, but hopefully not hard enough to do real damage. "Wonder Woman! I've got the source of the portal... Now we need to put down those giant mushrooms. Don't let any get through the portal to Mexico!" 

:'''{{#var:63|Pamela Isley (63)}} has posed:''' The fungus has outsmarted her, and one erupts right under her! She screams in outrage as one of the cacti is being consumed. And with the pain of the planet, nothing else mattered, including Crusader's question, as she tries to save it... and then... one of the squiddies jumps her drops her into the ooze and Ivy now starts to convulse, as she is trying to get out of the deadly corrosive, the cacti shaking in pain - without Ivy's control, they aren't firing anymore, and Ivy is in no state to attack. 

:'''{{#var:30|Bjorn (30)}} has posed:''' "Oh for the love of Juthuum" Crusader growls. He flies down and freezes the ooze around Ivy...before scooping her up with one hand, as well as one of her canisters. He speaks over the comms "Superman - again, combine your power with Storm. Soaking the big guys and than freeze them - even busting open fire hydrants should help." he says. But he had other worries. Crusader lands on a relatively empty spot...and procedes to pour Ivy own fungicide over her. Freezing her would be too dangerous, but he couldn't just let the fungus eat her either. He hopes this works. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' A slam of palm down on the man's head makes the portal source jerk and shudder, but doesn't knock him out. It is as if something is forcing him awake, well past when he should normally still be aware. He does, however, wake up. He screams in Superman's face, full-bore terror and haunted pain. His eyes are open, and beg for help, even if he can't say it or voice anything other than the long scream. 

:'''{{#var:56|Storm (56)}} has posed:'''     The exploding mushrooms catch Storm's attention first. Then, it is Superman's announcement that he has the source of the rift that catches her attention next. With her head turned slightly to see the Kryptonian flying through the sky and the portal slowly following behind him, Storm refocuses.     A chilling tornado swirls angrily from the clouds, aiming at the front of the army of fungus, and it slices through their ranks. Sending mushrooms flying away from the portal, Storm creates a focused beam of arctic winds towards those that remain. "Freeze!" Storm screams, ushering her command onto the mindless hordes surrounding them. 

:'''{{#var:1028|Jessica Drew (1028)}} has posed:''' Jessica rips off her mask, as her hair falls in sweat-soaked waves down over her shoulders. She begins checking abandoned cars until she finds one with a bag of now cold (and probably when they were served, cold) McDonald's cheeseburgers. She shamelessly tears the wrappers off and starts to Cookie Monster the cheeseburgers one after another until she can't hold another bite. She can only hope the speed of her metabolism hasn't suffered in the fray. Within minutes, the dark circles beneath her eyes have begun to fade, and she tucks her mask into her belt and tentatively reaches up to fire off a web in the direction of the large mushroom that tried to eat Ivy. "Yeah!! I'm back in business!" 

:'''{{#var:181|Green Arrow (181)}} has posed:''' Coming in from the northward side of the city is a Skybike with one Green Arrow sitting atop it, going at high speed. Specialized fungicide arrows are being fired with perfect accuracy into squidlings... or into ooze pits, before cloud gas arrows follow into those ooze pits to blanket whole areas. It's a by now well practiced routine as Green Arrow works overtime on protecting the civilians in harms way. "This is getting old." Green Arrow quips under his voice mask as he continues. "Can someone send a memo to the hive mind to go home?" Large clusters of squidlings also get mass cloud fungal payloads in perfect positioning to get the lot of them. Many fungal creatures die in the Green Arrows wake as he flies his way across Manhatten. 

:'''{{#var:1429|Caroline Ramsey (1429)}} has posed:'''     There is a streak of ice and a chill upon the spine approaching- all living beings have an innate fear of death- and though most of the people who are present have likely outright conquered it, Caroline's sudden presence is likely to rekindle it anew, adding a chill of the blood even before her presence is fully known.     The temperature drop in the area is sharp and immediate- terrifying and sudden. Leaping from the rooftops into the throng of beasts that had been dragging Ivy, the revenant arrives with all the prestige of, literally, Death itself. Adding to Ororo's manipulation of the wind, it seems to howl now that she has arrived.     She cannot currently do much to help Ivy directly- simply being -near- her would be enough to freeze flesh.     What she can do is make it easier, by leaping directly into the masses of monsters- to shatter and strike, tear and fling. 

:'''{{#var:42|Diana Prince (42)}} has posed:''' "I understand, Superman." Diana says from the cabin of the Invisible Jet where she stands between the two pilot chairs that are manned by her sisters. She was ready to disembark the jet and join the fight if need be, but in the current situation she feels she can do enough good here inside the plane still. "There." Diana says to her Amazon sisters, pointing forward. "Target those. It is time to test the new weapon." The Amazonian flying the ship reaches forward to glide her fingerips up a touch-screen on the dash and the controls change a huge from green to icey blue. Outside, the Invisible Jet screams overhead, and suddenly from no where a streaking bright blue freeze-beam shoots from the sky and starts painting the mushroom behemoths heading for the portal! The beam sweeps across them, while the Invisible Jet weaves out of the way of the tornado! 

:'''{{#var:63|Pamela Isley (63)}} has posed:''' Pamela Isley slowly opens her eyes, groaning softly in pain, as Crusader just doused her with the fungicide she created to fight these things. It stopped the digestive ooze from its work, but Ivy is severely burned, her left arm bare of her costume and badly burned, a small burn on her face. She slowly sits up. "It happened so fast..." she whispers softly to Crusader. "It erupted - ate one of my warriors... then slammed me down in the hole..." There are still eleven living huge cacti in a circle by the breach, but they are inert. And one mostly-dissolved one that's still sizzling. Dripping with fungal poisons that are not hurting her at all - she's _sooooo_ glad she designed it to not hurt plants - she stares at her cacti. "Can you take me back?" she asks softly, but looks in horror at all the frigid weaponry around. The cacti, close to the breach, are wilting from the onslaught. "I can't fight in these conditions... my friends won't do well..." She tries to control them from where she is, but it's too far away and they're too weak from cold and sudden growth to fire their needles. 

:'''{{#var:15|Superman (15)}} has posed:''' Kal's eyes go wide at the man's reaction, and he looks horrified, wincing at the scream. Kal turns the man around and holds him up with one arm while he slides the other around the man's neck. He squeezes carefully, compressing the arteries but avoiding the wind pipe. Barring a miracle, the lack of blood to the man's brain should finally knock him out. "I hear you, Crusader. I have my hands full shutting down the portal.". Kal drops out of the sky to the nearest ambulance he can find. He glances ar the nametag of the startled paramedic. "Steve," he addresses the paramedic. "This man needs help, but whatever you do, *keep him unconscious*." Kal makes sure Steve understands then rockets of to join the fight against the shrooms. 

:'''{{#var:130|Doctor Doom (130)}} has posed:'''      Arriving from the north along with Green Arrow and Caroline is Doctor Doom. Traveling by simply walking through a magic portal of his own creation, he looks up to the rip in the sky still, narrowing his eyes as he flies upwards towards it. He figures there's enough people here to handle what's left of the shrooms and Superman appears to have taken down the portal-maker. But that does't guarantee the shut down of the portal itself.      Thus does Doom perch himself on top of a nearby rooftop, watching to see what will happen. Though he does give a repulsor blast here and there to mushroom warriors who get too close. 

:'''{{#var:30|Bjorn (30)}} has posed:''' Crusader feels a shiver down his spine from Carolines' presence. He speaks into the comms "Very well. Good Luck" he tells him with sincerity. He had his own problem as he host Ivy back up "One suggest you tell your 'friends' to go to sleep for now....since Winter has come" he tells her, and with that rises into the air. Crusader drops Ivy off near her cacti, the ooze and mushrooms there having been previously frozen. He hands her a comm to connect with everyone else. "Try not to die and if you need help. Speak" he says curtly. And with that he is off again. Instead of the freeze rays, he taking up the swords now. The smaller guys were bound to be taken care of by the dozens of heros and their onsalught, leaving the biggest as the most obviouse threat. Crusader soars towards one and slams four swords into it as he quite litterly begins to carve into the Building-like mushroom - the scars spreading an icy layer to slow and weaken the beasts. But weather or not this will actually kill them he does not know. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "...So," Tony Stark's voice comes back to the comms of the JLA and Avengers. "Funny story," he begins, sounding very exhausted. "There's a creepy telepath over here in Mexico. And five more portals." And then, silence. The portal starts to collapse, as Superman finds another way to make the man unconscious. It doesn't immediately fall apart, but it does begin to reduce. A few squid that were next to it attempt to enter it, but cannot, they are thrown backwards from it. The connection to enter or use it looks to be severed. The energy pulses downwards, the rip now half as high and wide. 

:'''{{#var:1028|Jessica Drew (1028)}} has posed:''' Regaining strength, and protein for webbing, Jessica again sets about webbing up the shafts and caps of frozen mushrooms, then jerk hard on the web to snap them off. One by one, she works her way through the web-entangled masses, snapping off the massive stalks and moving on to the next. 

:'''{{#var:63|Pamela Isley (63)}} has posed:''' Pamela Isley nods slowly as she sits crosslegged in the middle of the circle of cacti. She is dazed and woozy, putting the comm around her right ear. "I can only take one of you..." she whispers softly. "Who is the strongest?" The one farthest away from the fight rustles. "Alright. It's time to take this to the next stage. The rest of you... sleep. I will return for you later." The trunk of the chosen cactus splits in half, as it stars to pull free of the ground. She reaches her arms up and the cactus pulls her up. She's perched on a 'shoulder' of a now 20-foot-tall walking cactus. She leans heavily against it - of course she wouldnt' get stabbed with the thorns. She then has it walk towards the tallest remaining mushroom creature - one that's away from the cold zone, and starts firing needles at it. With just one cactus, she can do this even in her weakened state. The other cacti go still, enduring the conditions, spikes growing longer and doing nothing more. 

:'''{{#var:42|Diana Prince (42)}} has posed:''' The cold beam being fired from the Invisible Jet's foreward hull continues its assault on the ground forces of the Mushroom Kingdom until the portal ceases to exist and collapses in on itself. "Well done, Superman." Diana's voice says over the comms. The Jet breaks off and flies higher into the clouds, on a return-wide-angle-course and when it emerges back from beneath a dark cloud it is slightly visible now as the translucent effect was lessoned so that the JL's allies could more easily see where the plane is in the sky. "Stark?" Diana says over the comms. "What is the status on these other portals?" She requests, wondering why his voice had cut off. 

:'''{{#var:130|Doctor Doom (130)}} has posed:'''      Once everything appears to be far underway, Doom moves back to ground level by levitating. and he focuses. The Portal was shutting down, sure...but there was a multitude of a telepathic web of many minds that was still coordinating a world effort. He focuses. Huh...many of thm. The first thing he attempts to do is simply mentally follow the trail, see where he can pin point at least a few of them.      This must be the end game, if portals arn't just opening up here. 

:'''{{#var:181|Green Arrow (181)}} has posed:''' "Since when did the Stark playboy get involved?" Green Arrow asks over the channel as Iron Man speaks on his ear mounted commlink. At this point, he's linked to the general city commnet that the rest of the responders are using, "The northern section of the city is secure. Why is it taking so long for the rest down here?" Green Arrow asks as he speeds along, working on crowd control. The combo of fungicide into ooze pits to lure them, then a gas cloud arrow follow up to kill the squidlings and stalks is remarkably effective... causing Green Arrow to destroy dozens upon dozens of the creatures at a time. Meanwhile, any huge behemoth stalks get concentrated doses of the fungicide payloads as Green Arrow flies around them on his Skybike. "Gotta hand it to Batman. This stuff is pretty effective." Green Arrow begrudgingly compliments The Bat. 

:'''{{#var:1429|Caroline Ramsey (1429)}} has posed:'''     A nightmare has arrived. Caroline has been making short work of the fungal monstrosities. Her proximity seems to be freezing them solid, and with snaps of her fingers, she is calling them to shatter into piles. Like a better metaphor than a hot knife through butter, Caroline is pushing through.     Her targets are the largest fungal monsters, yet something catches her eyes. Jessica's webs are funneling the creatures brilliantly, but they're not stopping them- they can't, and they're really not -trying- to. As such, Caroline sees a target-rich environment, and joins that particular fray.     Pulling herself over a building with what seems to be a sentient pair of chains, made of ice, Caroline leaps directly onto the top of the mushrooms, aiding in Jessica's efforts. Her touch? Anathema to their presence. All that is left in her wake will be snow, but she is one person- and they're likely to start fleeing her cold soon. 

:'''{{#var:1028|Jessica Drew (1028)}} has posed:''' "In Mexico?" Jessica asks Tony via her comm. Then, when there is still radio silence from Stark, she asks more persistently. "Tony? Mexico??" 

:'''{{#var:30|Bjorn (30)}} has posed:''' Crusader quips to Arrow "Mabey because all your guys came down here" it was slightly joking. He sounded serious, but the spirit was there. Any number of factors could have effected why things took so long But having heard the news he speaks into the comms "If there are five portals, all in Mexico...going directly to Mexico, to the source should allow us to combat this threat head on and finish it for good hopefully. One will gladly give any who need it a ride" he let them know, though heros had a way of traveling. His carving up of the mushroom stalk destroies it. And he fluidly and savgely works on the next one, carving and slice into it, trying to cut it down to size. Falling the stalks as quickly as he can alongside the others 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' From the shuddering portal, Iron Man comes blazing out. It's a little bit Indiana Jones, except he has no hat to grab. "Could've warned me, that was a little close," Tony complains into the comm, sounding more upbeat, as the portal finally heaves and closes. "Good thing I'm me." Tony's probably fine. Doom, however, had something else slice at him before it closed. A smugness, an awareness. An alien feeling to the mind, almost, yet something also tangible and dark. And the web of minds there. It was as if the creature on the other side looked back, and showed off the huge spiral of connected minds and slaves, and allowed the door to shut. It isn't over. Yet there was anger there, too. Hidden below. The loss of the portal, that stung. 

:'''{{#var:56|Storm (56)}} has posed:'''     "He disappeared in Mexico," Ororo responds via her comm. unit. "His communicator seems to be jammed." Whether that is because the portal rift shifted in power or not, Ororo is not to be sure. She continues her barrage of attacks against the fungus, her energy getting close to exhaustive levels.     While Storm has no qualms with passing through the portal, she is concerned about what is happening in Mexico, if they had a large enough squad to handle the situation, and why Tony went quiet. And in a blaze of glory, the man flies through at the last second.     "The portal is closed," Storm announces over the comm., her eyes instantly darting to the remaining fungus. "Shall we take out the trash?" 

:'''{{#var:181|Green Arrow (181)}} has posed:''' "Likely excuse. I saw just as many up there and down this way." Green Arrow replies as more arrows are fired into ooze pits under stalks. Then, Iron Man came out of the portal. "Stark, the next time they revise the dictionaries of the world, they're going to put a picture of you next to reckless, if they have any sense." Green Arrows jokes as he continues on his merry way, his hood and domino mask fluttering slightly in the winds at the high speeds he's continuing to fly at. Luckily, the power cell on his Skybike would last for another few hours. The combo fungicide and gas cloud gas arrow launches continue to claim dozens more. "Focus your efforts on removing the ooze the stalks are using to move. The minions try to defend it, so you can bait them into clustering." Green Arrow observes over the commnet. 

:'''{{#var:63|Pamela Isley (63)}} has posed:''' Pamela Isley ponders. Not a bad idea. Her own fungicide works against the ooze as Crusader demonstrated. So as her cactus giant keeps firing at the larger stalks, she is tossing small canisters of poison at the puddles of ooze. She is sitll a bit dizzy, but with just one plant monster in her thoughts, she can manage it. She'll need copious rest when this is done though. 

:'''{{#var:130|Doctor Doom (130)}} has posed:'''      Doom feels the last slice that those on the other side has given him and he growls. "How dare they strike at Doom." The good doctor then starts to walk in a direction, letting the heroes dispose of the Fungus by themselves. After all, he already did his heavy lifting. But what he wanted to know was what alien bastard had the foolish courage to try and feel his mind?! "Such a huge spiral of minds. If I can find the epicenter, I could end the entire thing."      Or so Doom tells himself. Regardless, a portal is opened back to beloved Latveria, and with a single glance over his shoulder at the heroes, the portal closes behind him. 

:'''{{#var:42|Diana Prince (42)}} has posed:''' The (not so) Invisible Jet streaks through the sky, cutting through the clouds and coming back down to perform another attack run on the Shrooms, that cold ray coming to life from the nose tip of the large knife-shaped jet! "Welcome back, Stark." Diana says over the comms. Inside the cabin of the Jet, the Amazon pilot flying it is keeping the jet safely out of the reach of any of the creatures down below, while the co-pilot is operating the freezing ray weapon... acting as the gunner, of sorts. "It is not every day that we get to do operations such as this." Diana quietly comments to her sisters, as a moment of taking in all of what was going on around them settled into the Princess' mind. "Then again, its starting to feel like every day..." She adds softly. 

:'''{{#var:30|Bjorn (30)}} has posed:''' "Doubtful" is all Crusader replies to Green. But none the less his focus is and has been on taking out the fungus...at least when not trying to save civilions or aid other. With the swords being much more natural in Crusader grip, he dicing through the larger building like Mushrooms. Stopping only momentarily to fire a blast from a freeze gun at a puddle of Ooze when he spots some. 

:'''{{#var:181|Green Arrow (181)}} has posed:''' "Ask city services if you don't believe me." Green Arrow quips as he continues flying southward. The rip in the sky might be closed, but the fungal threat continues to be an issue. He has enough arrows to continue bait and gassing for at least twenty minutes, before he needs to switch out to his last arrow canister... and Green Arrow is going to keep at it until the city is clear. 

:'''{{#var:56|Storm (56)}} has posed:'''     The wind lashes about as Storm makes quick work of ridding several mushrooms from the vicinity. She flash-freezes another group and lowers herself to the ground. A breather is very necessary right now after all the battle the ground has been though.     "I believe that is all of them?" Ororo wonders, looking around. 

:'''{{#var:1429|Caroline Ramsey (1429)}} has posed:'''     Caroline has neither a comms unit nor any gadgets. She is out there fighting the beasts with nought but the gifts granted to her by Death itself, and after not too long, everything in the direction she sent herself is either frozen, or dead, or both- with exception to the civilians, if there are any.     Eventually, with the portal's closure and the efforts of everyone involved, the threat is ended for the moment. Unless confronted, Caroline is likely to make her way on foot back to Gotham- the trail of impossible cold dying down to a wake of uncharacteristic chill. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "It might be seen as greedy to take both 'reckless' /and/ 'phenomenal'," Tony answers, a shrug in his voice even if not physically. "It was a good vacation, though I didn't get to work on my tan as much as you'd have thought. I'll get the videos from my trip up soon. I promise they're far more interesting than usual vacation slides. Unless your vacations usually have giant monsters. Then maybe." "After this .... drinks and food at the Avengers Mansion. See you guys there?" Tony suggests, to those still on the comm. Because after-party. 
}}

5054/Astral Flux: South of the Rip

2018-10-19T07:19:11Z

Malky:

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2018/07/29
|Location=South of New York City
|Synopsis=South group fighting the mushrooms also finds a way to close the rip in the sky!
|Cast of Characters=22, 63, 56, 30, 15, 1028, 42, 181, 1429, 130
|Tinyplot=Germination
|Tinyplot=Astral Flux
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' The sky has broken open. A rupture. It is south of New York City, and approximately a quarter mile high, and 100 yards wide. It blazes, pulsing a fluxing energy, a streamer that all can see for quite a distance. It seems to be churning, and where it leads is truly anyone's guess. But there are other problems, beyond the rip in the sky. Mushrooms are everywhere. They came out of the ground, having burrowed, dormant. The fungus seemed to have been so dormant and quiet, giving some illusion in the quiet that it was gone. And now they lunge upwards in the darkness of the evening, and start to move. They head towards the rip in the sky. All of them: they pulse along the ground on churning oozing piles of fungal spores, eating whatever is in the way, or burrowing under things they cannot easily pass. Many of the mushrooms are the size of people, a few much larger. Most of them are outside of the city, but still some come from inside it: the parks, the graveyards. They singlemindedly move towards the rupture, bringing with them herds of their squid-like guardians. 

:'''{{#var:63|Pamela Isley (63)}} has posed:''' Pamela Isley can sense it. The disturbance in the Gray. The Green is in an uproar over the impending invasion. Ivy has been quiet the last few weeks, synthesizing as much of the specialized fungicide as she can, as well as various means to deploy it. The Parliament of Trees touched her mind, and she leaves, having hired a cab. She has various chemical tanks, and a satchel full of various seeds, and other small bombs. Ivy is going to war. The cab driver is in thrall: Ivy can brook no interference. Against a foe like this, Ivy is on the same side as everything else. She moves on, readying herself for the fight to come. 

:'''{{#var:56|Storm (56)}} has posed:'''     Ororo could see them, as high in the sky as she is. She alternates her view from the rip in the sky to the traveling fungus, lowering her gaze even further to see those gathering to help fend of the fungal chaos. "There are so many," Ororo calls out through the communications unit in her ear. "And, this rip in space... Has anyone figured out what is causing this to happen?" 

:'''{{#var:30|Bjorn (30)}} has posed:''' With the tear in the sky - there was no time to lose. Crusader has been busy helping to deploy weaponary to various hero groups where he can to help combat the fungus, sticking mostly to the earth itself for quicker deployment.     And that deployment was needed now. Crusader ship, filled with canisters of toxin, as well as extra freeze guns and swords - speeds towards the event further from the city, getting a feel for what was going on below. He sends out a message broadcasting on all possible frequencies "Hello, this is Crusader of the JLA, hailing from the south ends of The Rip - One is comming in with gear, if you can fly or find or make a suitable spot for distrubtion it would be appreciated" hopefully there was or he will need to drop the things and hope people can scavenge fgor them 

:'''{{#var:15|Superman (15)}} has posed:''' Kal hears about the rip in the sky simultaneously from Crusader's communication on his JLA communicator and from the TV he and Lois were watching from the couch in their apartment. Kal squeezes Lois' hand, then he is up, changed and gone from the balcony in a flash. Moments later he is in New York and near Storm. "Crusader, keep an eye out when you're dropping supplies, don't get bogged down. And get word to the authorities to have everyone shelter in place, inside." "Storm, how accurate can you be over a large area? Can you create cold zones to funnel the ones coming into the city into fewer channels toward the rip? I'm going to see what we're dealing with here." With that he rockets off toward the rip to inspect it more closely. "Stark, are you on the air?" he tries over a joint JLA/Avengers channel. 

:'''{{#var:1028|Jessica Drew (1028)}} has posed:''' Jessica was perched high above the city, clinging to the side of a skyscraper. From there, she could see the threat in all its context. Pulling her hair up and donning her mask, she quickly begins her webslinging descent toward the fray. "Are you guys seeing this?" She asks into her comm. "I'm going in. Could use backup." Within minutes as the crow flies, or as the spider swings, she is in range to see the mess in more detail. "This is gonna take coordination," she mutters to herself, trying to get in as close as possible without touching the ground. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:'''     "Hi," comes Tony Stark's very recognizable, casual tone of voice onto the communications unit. It's a broad band: JLA, Avenger, and so forth. "Something below it is projecting this thing up into the air. It's all covered in fungus, so I can't really see what's doing it, but. It's a portal, that I can say. I'm going to send a drone in, and see if it's Narnia," Tony provides. "Otherwise, I can make a bunch of educated guesses, if you like."     The mushrooms aren't just moving. In the past, when one mushroom has grown so large as to encounter another, it absorbs the new one into itself.     And these are still doing that behavior. As small ones move into proximity with each other, they stop, and merge. One of the two stalks bubbles and collapses into the ooze of the other, and the larger one cannibalizes its 'friend', growing more powerful and larger. And resuming movement. It's happening in a scattered way, more heavily where the creatures are more concentrated, naturally, creating less concentrated areas: and bigger monsters. Some have clearly eaten enough to be horrifying building-tall stalks lurching their way down and through streets, though their mushroom-shaped tops aren't fully grown yet. It makes them very eerie, swaying tall forms. 

:'''{{#var:63|Pamela Isley (63)}} has posed:''' Pamela Isley lowers the window of the cab. "Go faster!" she yells to the enthralled driver who puts petal to the metal. She has a dart gun in her possession - and is sniping smaller mushrooms with darts that look like tranq darts - but any small mushroom they strike disintegrates into dust after a pain sound - larger ones stumble. She finally stops as near the breach as she can get, and gets out. She stares at one of the colossal shrooms, gritting her teeth, finding a grassy hill to stand on. She throws a handful of seeds up into the air to scatter around her then concentrates. Over a dozen cacti erupt out of the ground all around her, growing more and more. Ivy uses the dartgun to snipe any shrooms that would attempt to interrupt the rapid growth as the cacti rapidly grow past head-high and show no signs of stopping. The strain of doing so much at once shows on Ivy's face as she's swaying, having to lower the gun, all her energy focused into the cacti as they grow more... and more... and more, Ivy sinking to her knees from the strain. 

:'''{{#var:30|Bjorn (30)}} has posed:''' Crusader grunts "Understood Superman." he says as he flies closer to the city. It is than he hears Spider-Woman comminicating over the comms - only recognizing the voice from various news outlets He speaks into the comms "Spider-Woman, we are indeed seeing this. One is bringing in supplies to help now" his ship already entering the edges of the city. "Head towards One destiniation - a large silver ship"     Crusader's ship touches down slowly to ensure not to crush anyone. The ship opens up and Crusader rolls out the freeze guns, swords as well as canisters of the toxin. Within moment he in the police comms "Officers - get everyone inside, and send who you can too" some address "Got some effective weapons you can use" 

:'''{{#var:56|Storm (56)}} has posed:'''     At the mention of supplies being brought in, Storm turns in the air to see if she can find the ship. Before she can think about moving, though, the Man of Steel is hovering next to her in the air. The shock of his speed subsides, and then she offers her thought process.     "I can be as accurate as we need to be," she replies, confidently. "But it will take a few minutes." While she instructs nature to do her bidding, the reactions don't form instantly. It is very much like cooking; Storm has to prepare her ingredients first before delivering a chilling cold to the area. Luckily, she is prepared to do some damage to the fungus today.     Hearing Tony's voice and instantly looking below, Storm sees a woman fighting the fungus below, deploying several growing cacti. When she sees Pamela fall to her knees, Storm darts in the woman's direction, flying with an agility that allows her to avoid contact with the moving army. Touching down, Storm helps Pamela stabilize her footing.     "Are you okay?" Storm asks, watching the cacti continue to grow. 

:'''{{#var:1028|Jessica Drew (1028)}} has posed:''' "Can someone give me a location on the equipment?" Spider-Woman calls out over her comm, as she suspects her answer lies on that ship. She has ceased trying to maneuver through the fray until she has more direction. Instead she is throwing out webbing to grab the smaller mushrooms that sprout and give a powerful jerk to rip them out of the ground. It's like putting bactine on a severed limb. 

:'''{{#var:15|Superman (15)}} has posed:''' Kal flies low over the center of the mess trying to get a look at what might be projecting the portal and just how much effort it would take to uncover it. He reports what he is seeing into the comms as he recons. He glances up and sees Stark's drone going into the portal. "We'll take your guesses, Stark. We need to know whether to help these thing through or go to war to stop them. And keep an eye on your radar. If the Pentagon goes hammer down on us, we'll need some warning to keep them from adding fuel to this fire." 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "Wow. My drone is taking a wild ride. I'll get back to you," Tony says, sounding relaxed about the situation, at least via the communication. "So far I'm on that end, keeping a lid on the panic, but it won't be forever. On the upside, I don't think the rift itself is dangerous." The mushrooms continue to pause and merge. There's a great deal of blasts and activity showing north of the rip, as if a battle were being waged. 

:'''{{#var:30|Bjorn (30)}} has posed:''' "Yea, head towards the Big Silver Ship" Crusader tells Spider-Woman again "On" street name. He was a bit busy handing out some swords and guns to police officers and even some citizens who apprach - each of them doing their own part to freeze or zap any mushrooms. Noticing Storm and Ivy, he waste no time in delivering to them some freeze guns and sword. He wasn't overly concerned about their health at the moment and instead slides three cannisters towards them "One is not sure if you ladies can use these" weather mixing the toxin into the plants or into the air "One hopes you can" Crusader than begins to fire upon some mushrooms of his own, mainly aimming to keep them away from fleeing citizens. he talks into the comm towards Superman and Tony sound annoyed "Is the Pentagon stupid enough to really send Firepower? Please tell One this is what is referred to as a wise crack" cause good lord, humans are going to make themselves go exstinct 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' A close recon to the rip in the sky shows a teeming mass of squidlings occupying the ground all around it. The ground itself seems ripped and torn open, like something (the rip?) exploded from below. It looks like it was some sort of underground parking complex, but with all the squidling masses there, hard to tell. What it appears to be is that the fungus mushrooms are walking to the rip, merging if there are several, and entering the rip itself, while their squid minions stay behind. 

:'''{{#var:56|Storm (56)}} has posed:'''     "It's on the South of the rift," Storm replies through the comm. unit.     She makes sure to check on Pamela, still looking around at the dozen cacti that are growing larger around them. Storm does not know if it is her claustrophobia or her desire to not be on the ground, but she makes a decision to take back to the air. "Take these," she says to Pamela, offering a freeze gun and sword. "I have Mother Nature on my side."     With a thought, Storm is aloft and flying higher into the sky. She concentrates and clouds begin to gather ahead. Arms extend to the heavens as she places all of her elemental ingredients into the sky. The temperature lowers significantly, getting colder by the second. The clouds threaten to release snow, but they need more time. 

:'''{{#var:63|Pamela Isley (63)}} has posed:''' Pamela Isley takes the freeze gun, hmmmmming softly. She smirks at Crusader. "I don't need your poison - I have my own. Take one. I formulated it specifically for our friends here..." She gestures to a few canisters at her feet. She nods as she is supported by Storm. "I'm fine... it's... tiring... to accelerate the growth of so many at once." The cacti are now TWENTY feet tall. And... the cacti are still growing, but slower. Ivy nods in satisfaction. "They are ready." She snaps her fingers. "You may control the skies... but I control the Green." The cacti shudder... then as the shroom-creatures start to approach the breach, the cacti unload, firing their needles at them. Any shroom creature that these needles strike shriek and wither and die. "I've worked on these for weeks..." she whispers softly. "Their needles are infused with that fungicide. They are basically an artillery platform." She grins widely. 

:'''{{#var:15|Superman (15)}} has posed:''' "Looks like some of the others have decided to go to war, Stark. If this portal is going to get rid of the shrooms we need to know, Stark, otherwise I need to get to work on these big ones." He blasts up above the city and scans for pockets of stranded civilians. He zips between them at blinding speed, delivering people to relative safety while he waits for a call from Stark on whether to facilitate or stop the shrooms making it to the portal. 

:'''{{#var:30|Bjorn (30)}} has posed:''' "Less boasting more working. One does not care who made what" Crusader says. Weather the toxin by batman or the poison by Ivy, he didn't care long as it got the job done. Crusader can be...curt to say the least. That being as a particular large group of fungus gets near. He takes one of the Toxin Canisters and one of the Ivy Canisters and tosses both of them at the large group, before a sword quickly follow peicing both canisters. The result was both of them attacking the fungus. Crusader rises into the air, freeze gun still in hand. With some folks are high altitude, and some on ground, he figures some Mid height may be useful. His bird eyes few allowing him to hit group of fungus - stopping or slowing them from reaching people Superman was rescueing. "Superman does have a point, would be useful to know weather to stop them or help them through that portal. Preferably before they overun the city" 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "My drone is in... Mexico. Is there something special for fungus in Mexico?" Tony reports, sounding baffled. There is a pause. "OK, them getting to the portal is BAD. I'm sending a few more drones, I'll get some more feed from them, because what I can saw so far before my drone was wrecked--- I'd prefer to think is a glitch. Remember the mold in /outer space/? Yeah, I'm reminded. It's huge, but not doing anything yet, probably sucking these all in first. So, I'm working on shutting off the portal. Just there's so much interference." "Whoever is making giant toxic cactus, that... yes. More of that," Tony comments with amusement into the comms. "If we can hold off the tide, we might get some of this area under the rip cleared off to get to the root of what's making the portal." 

:'''{{#var:1028|Jessica Drew (1028)}} has posed:''' Spider-Woman makes her way to the silver ship and lowers herself, touching down lightly next to it.She recognizes the canisters and odd swords from her meeting with Kal and Flash. She's no marksman, but she's a deadly shot with her web, right? Taking equipment, she arms herself, turning toward the seeming mass exodus of mushrooms. "Wherever these guys are going, I highly doubt it's safer for /us/ if they make it there. She fires a web and swings up, using the freezing quality of the sword to behead some of the mushrooms still small enough to do so with. The others take parting shots as she stabs as deploy as she can into them. It's then that she hears confirmation from Tony on the comm - "them getting to the portal is BAD." 

:'''{{#var:15|Superman (15)}} has posed:''' "Mexico?" Superman says as he finishes ferrying a small family out of harm's way. "Stark, there is some kind of massive fungus mind in Mexico. It peeked into the Astral plane a few days back and caused havoc. Are there any other portals open on the Mexico side feeding it?" Without waiting for an answer, Kal flies back to the rip as quickly as possible, windows shattering in his wake. He takes a deep breath and then lays down super cold air all around the portal and even under it. He picks a spot and smashes into the frozen mass,shattering it, to try and get a peek at whether anything underneath is maintaining the portal. 

:'''{{#var:56|Storm (56)}} has posed:'''     It isn't long until small pecks of ice can be seen falling from the sky. With a more concentrated thought, the clouds finally release a flurry of snow raining down at an abnormal rate, especially in the Summer.     "Mexico?" Storm repeats, hearing that the fungus getting to the portal is not a good idea. She acts quickly and flies closer to the portal, the snow building more fiercely behind her. Hovering over many of the fungus approaching the portal, Storm extends her hands and sends a large blast of artic winds into the fray. If she needs to, Storm will then push further in any effort to flash-freeze the army before her. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' A telepathic message is sent to nearly all of those fighting the mushrooms. The message is as follows: "They are moving for the portal. Stop their advance by any cost!" For those familiar with him, it is Doctor Doom. 

:'''{{#var:30|Bjorn (30)}} has posed:''' "Nual mention that an unsually large fungus was in Mexico. She also mentioned these things get smarter the larger they get" crusader says. Now knowing they needed to stop the fungu, Crusader breaks out the freeze sword He flies towards the 'roots' of the larget fungus and slices into them, freezing the legs and slowing them, but it wouldn't stop them. They needed to stop these things and fast. "Storm - Superman - One believes you two can combo off. Storm if you can give us some heavy and One means HEAVY - perhaps superman can flash freeze these guys possibly stopping them or at the very least slowing them down enough for more of Ivies poison to affect" He slams into a mushroom toppling them over. As he hears the telepathic option he broadcast over the comms "One thinks the flash freeze is likely best idea...unless we can make a wall to block the portal" 

:'''{{#var:63|Pamela Isley (63)}} has posed:''' Pamela Isley sighs. "Mexico?" she asks. "I thought we were dealing with a spatial breach, not... a portal to Tijuana." She frowns as she keeps her cacti reloading and firing more barbs at any shrooms approaching. She is also firing darts from a dart gun at the larger ones which is a more concentrated burst. She is near the breach, so that she can snipe on the shrooms wlaking toward it, without being directly in their path. Some of the cacti are being chilled by Storm's storm. "Hey - not the cacti!" she yells up to the weather goddess. 

:'''{{#var:1028|Jessica Drew (1028)}} has posed:''' "Mexico? That's bad news." Jessica replies but at Crusader's suggestion, the Spider-Woman suddenly brightens with new direction. She webslings at top speed toward the rift and gets as close as possible, pausing at any point around it to shoot several webs, anchored to trees, abandoned cars, anything they can grip onto, beginning to build a vast network of webbing, and working her way as quickly as possible, albeit too tediously slow for her tastes, around the rift to close in the gaps wherever possible. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' <Both scene orientation:>     It has started to snow at the site of the tear in the sky, and much if it is now coming into the weather in the northern area as well. Heroes all around the tear are acting to stop the advance, though little appears to be directly on top of the rip itself.     And then, the flash of Superman at the base of it shows, as he tears into the teeming swarms that are at the base of it, guarding whatever is below the rip itself. Similarly, other flashes of activity of other heroes show, from both north and south, as heavy efforts are made to stop the mushrooms' advances. It is effective, and those right on top of the rift have a short time to try to decide what can be done. In the north, several massive mushrooms have been attacked: a few of them simply keel over and die, others hit with considerable toxin and frozen might. Whole patches of ooze are being frozen solid, which causes difficulty, as others approach but cannot merge with it, and everything just stops, while they try to merge but cannot! Sonic blasts continue to cause disarray, and the fungus from the north is virtually entirely shut off, with the well-coordinated team.     In the south, Toxin is being spread heavily from some type of artillery, and the moving fungals are being stuck down with webbing, causing weird traffic jams of them while they stop to merge, and then get poisoned. The slowing snowfall has similarly slowed them, though there are now some truly massive mushrooms down that way, merging, as the huge ones have not been dealt with as heavily. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' A pack of the squid-like minions has formed off and is rushing directly for Ivy and her arsenal. They are thick, going as a large force, to attempt to overwhelm her and her cacti, to shut off the problem coming from there. They are in numbers great enough to surge through the spines even if they take losses: that is no doubt the point. She will probably need assistance to hold that front. "I think I'm calibrated to make this trip... yeah, no problem. I could use a vacation, honestly; I'll see if it closes on the other side. Might take out the big mushroom by myself: You're welcome." With a group of his drones, Iron Man blazes on into and through the portal, near the top of the rip, disappearing. At the base, Superman can use a combination of force and x-ray vision. There is a nest of the creatures tightly wound in a sphere around.. something. Someone. A person is there, underneath layers of creatures. He looks barely conscious, but the rift is clearly coming from him, surging up and out of the human male. 

:'''{{#var:56|Storm (56)}} has posed:'''     Storm does not hear Pamela's yell in her direction, her mind focusing on the hordes of fungus still managing to make a way to the portal.     Hail, the size of basketballs start to fall in concentrated areas inside the army's framework, with a group of five to six balls of hail following the direction of Storm's hand motions. The arctic winds propel the dangerous ice buildup as an offensive to protect the portal behind her.     "Tony, don't you even think about taking that on alone," Storm says through the comm. unit. Turning in the air, she watches as Iron Man disappears into portal where many of the fungi are trying to get to. Instead, they are finding themselves under the cold mercy of nature on Storm's watch. 

:'''{{#var:63|Pamela Isley (63)}} has posed:''' Pamela Isley just stares at the army. "Oh shit..." she whispers softly as she sees the stampede heading her way. She points as all dozen cacti start firing at the stampede, the roars of the hurt ones hopefully catching someone's attention for she doesn't seem to have a radio. She is firing the cold gun as well, but knows this isn't going to be pretty. "I'm sorry guys," she whispers to the cacti. She stands her ground - she won't abandon her plant warriors. 

:'''{{#var:1028|Jessica Drew (1028)}} has posed:''' With no idea whether it could possibly be effective, Spider-Woman begins to weave webs between the larger converging mushrooms, attempting to bind them. The effect is basically cargo netting between the mushrooms to keep them from merging. Whether it could possibly work is beyond her knowledge. In between binding those mushrooms, she begins a second round of webbing behind the next wave of mushrooms, to entangle and isolate them from those held back from the rift by her first wall. If there's anything better than a wall around the rift, it's two walls around the rift. 

:'''{{#var:30|Bjorn (30)}} has posed:''' And Ivy won't stand alone either. Crusader saw the horde of squids comming towards Ivy - seemed Jessica and the other had the rift covered, but it looked like ivy needed some two. Crusader makes a quick drive by his ship, picking up three addition freeze guns - and grows a second set of arms. Hovering just above - and connecting himself to the guns - he fires at four of them! He wasn't just fireing randomly though, as he freezes he slowly hover upwards trying to create a Wall of Ice and Squidlings. The cacti may need to volly their needles higher - but it was better than nothing. Crusader speaks into the comms "We got a good horde of the squids near One and ivy, use this to your advantage" he looks to ivy - "Ivy, can you make a few super doses? And by super One means" he gestures to the massive walking stalks "Enough tot ake that out" he keeps up the rate of fire at the squids, eating into his own energy to help power the guns beyound normal capacity. 

:'''{{#var:15|Superman (15)}} has posed:''' "I found the source of the portal, it's a person!" Kal calls into the communicator. Kal uses freezing breath and force to punch and force his way through to the person in the center of the squidling ball. He grabs the person to pull them free of the mass, using more cold and force to loosen the clingers on. Then he moves skyward, carrying the person, even if it means pulling along some squidlings, watching to see if the portal moves along with the person. "Can you hear me?" he calls repeatedly to the person as he lifts them clear of the mess. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' The squidlings assault heavily, and push hard on both Crusader and Ivy's barrages. A second group come around from a side, pressuring there, but suddenly a magic circle appears beneath a rather large number of the mushrooms. A magic circle?! Regardless... those knowledgeable will be able to tell dark magic is at play here. Circles appear all over the place, grabbing mushrooms out of nowhere. It looks relatively random, though it is certainly a help to Jessica's walls, catching some of the ones that were getting close to it. The heroes in the north are extending aid to the heavier problems still plaguing the south side of the rift. And then, a mushroom emerges from burrowing amoung the cacti. It abruptly starts to eat one of the cactus, in the pool of digestive ooze under it, having appeared just in their midst. However, it can't stay there: it has to head towards the portal, and begins to drift that way, as if called by it. A squid drops from the towering mushroom, and snares for Ivy, attempting to drag her by the arm into the digestive zone. It is a small one, but it will still give her arm a considerable wrench, or worse! When Superman touches the man, he starts to squirm and shudder. Ooze drips down through from above through the rift: a backwash of horrifying ooze, attempting to eat Superman who dares interfere. Metahumans aren't immune to the digestive acid. The man seems entirely out of it, staring up at the rift that is coming from him. The rift... it does move with him, though slowly, as if delayed. 

:'''{{#var:42|Diana Prince (42)}} has posed:''' From the north, from Manhattan more specifically, the screaming engines of the Invisible Jet slice through the sky on a course southward toward the disturbance. The alert had reached her and she'd been preoccupied with another similar event going on, but Wonder Woman was now arriving via the wings of her mysterious plane. "Superman." Diana's voice comes over the comms of the Justice League. "What is your status?" She asks of the blue and red caped hero. The jet, even though it cannot be seen, can be heard circling in the skies now, likely taking in the full scope of the fighting going on down in this ruined city. 

:'''{{#var:1028|Jessica Drew (1028)}} has posed:''' Jessica, her breath laboured and posture clearly fatigued, is horrified at the ooze coming down at Superman, and immediately thwips a web up toward the man he is carrying, just in case. It fires out, makes it halfway, then falls uselessly to the ground. "Oh my God, no," she says in disbelief. "This...never happens to me." She takes a deep breath and bolsters her resilience. "I'm running on empty here," she says into the comm. "Does anyone have a protein bar? Or, y'know....a cow?" 

:'''{{#var:15|Superman (15)}} has posed:''' Superman reacts without thinking, taking a deep breath and blowing frigid air at the sudden rush of ooze. Then he tries avoid it, pulling himself and the man he carries up and away from the portal quickly. He turns his back as he moves to shield the man from the ooze headed their way in case he is not able to avoid it all. Kal looks down at the man he is carrying and winces. "Sorry," he says, then smacks him in the back of the head hard enough to knock the man out, but hopefully not hard enough to do real damage. "Wonder Woman! I've got the source of the portal... Now we need to put down those giant mushrooms. Don't let any get through the portal to Mexico!" 

:'''{{#var:63|Pamela Isley (63)}} has posed:''' The fungus has outsmarted her, and one erupts right under her! She screams in outrage as one of the cacti is being consumed. And with the pain of the planet, nothing else mattered, including Crusader's question, as she tries to save it... and then... one of the squiddies jumps her drops her into the ooze and Ivy now starts to convulse, as she is trying to get out of the deadly corrosive, the cacti shaking in pain - without Ivy's control, they aren't firing anymore, and Ivy is in no state to attack. 

:'''{{#var:30|Bjorn (30)}} has posed:''' "Oh for the love of Juthuum" Crusader growls. He flies down and freezes the ooze around Ivy...before scooping her up with one hand, as well as one of her canisters. He speaks over the comms "Superman - again, combine your power with Storm. Soaking the big guys and than freeze them - even busting open fire hydrants should help." he says. But he had other worries. Crusader lands on a relatively empty spot...and procedes to pour Ivy own fungicide over her. Freezing her would be too dangerous, but he couldn't just let the fungus eat her either. He hopes this works. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' A slam of palm down on the man's head makes the portal source jerk and shudder, but doesn't knock him out. It is as if something is forcing him awake, well past when he should normally still be aware. He does, however, wake up. He screams in Superman's face, full-bore terror and haunted pain. His eyes are open, and beg for help, even if he can't say it or voice anything other than the long scream. 

:'''{{#var:56|Storm (56)}} has posed:'''     The exploding mushrooms catch Storm's attention first. Then, it is Superman's announcement that he has the source of the rift that catches her attention next. With her head turned slightly to see the Kryptonian flying through the sky and the portal slowly following behind him, Storm refocuses.     A chilling tornado swirls angrily from the clouds, aiming at the front of the army of fungus, and it slices through their ranks. Sending mushrooms flying away from the portal, Storm creates a focused beam of arctic winds towards those that remain. "Freeze!" Storm screams, ushering her command onto the mindless hordes surrounding them. 

:'''{{#var:1028|Jessica Drew (1028)}} has posed:''' Jessica rips off her mask, as her hair falls in sweat-soaked waves down over her shoulders. She begins checking abandoned cars until she finds one with a bag of now cold (and probably when they were served, cold) McDonald's cheeseburgers. She shamelessly tears the wrappers off and starts to Cookie Monster the cheeseburgers one after another until she can't hold another bite. She can only hope the speed of her metabolism hasn't suffered in the fray. Within minutes, the dark circles beneath her eyes have begun to fade, and she tucks her mask into her belt and tentatively reaches up to fire off a web in the direction of the large mushroom that tried to eat Ivy. "Yeah!! I'm back in business!" 

:'''{{#var:181|Green Arrow (181)}} has posed:''' Coming in from the northward side of the city is a Skybike with one Green Arrow sitting atop it, going at high speed. Specialized fungicide arrows are being fired with perfect accuracy into squidlings... or into ooze pits, before cloud gas arrows follow into those ooze pits to blanket whole areas. It's a by now well practiced routine as Green Arrow works overtime on protecting the civilians in harms way. "This is getting old." Green Arrow quips under his voice mask as he continues. "Can someone send a memo to the hive mind to go home?" Large clusters of squidlings also get mass cloud fungal payloads in perfect positioning to get the lot of them. Many fungal creatures die in the Green Arrows wake as he flies his way across Manhatten. 

:'''{{#var:1429|Caroline Ramsey (1429)}} has posed:'''     There is a streak of ice and a chill upon the spine approaching- all living beings have an innate fear of death- and though most of the people who are present have likely outright conquered it, Caroline's sudden presence is likely to rekindle it anew, adding a chill of the blood even before her presence is fully known.     The temperature drop in the area is sharp and immediate- terrifying and sudden. Leaping from the rooftops into the throng of beasts that had been dragging Ivy, the revenant arrives with all the prestige of, literally, Death itself. Adding to Ororo's manipulation of the wind, it seems to howl now that she has arrived.     She cannot currently do much to help Ivy directly- simply being -near- her would be enough to freeze flesh.     What she can do is make it easier, by leaping directly into the masses of monsters- to shatter and strike, tear and fling. 

:'''{{#var:42|Diana Prince (42)}} has posed:''' "I understand, Superman." Diana says from the cabin of the Invisible Jet where she stands between the two pilot chairs that are manned by her sisters. She was ready to disembark the jet and join the fight if need be, but in the current situation she feels she can do enough good here inside the plane still. "There." Diana says to her Amazon sisters, pointing forward. "Target those. It is time to test the new weapon." The Amazonian flying the ship reaches forward to glide her fingerips up a touch-screen on the dash and the controls change a huge from green to icey blue. Outside, the Invisible Jet screams overhead, and suddenly from no where a streaking bright blue freeze-beam shoots from the sky and starts painting the mushroom behemoths heading for the portal! The beam sweeps across them, while the Invisible Jet weaves out of the way of the tornado! 

:'''{{#var:63|Pamela Isley (63)}} has posed:''' Pamela Isley slowly opens her eyes, groaning softly in pain, as Crusader just doused her with the fungicide she created to fight these things. It stopped the digestive ooze from its work, but Ivy is severely burned, her left arm bare of her costume and badly burned, a small burn on her face. She slowly sits up. "It happened so fast..." she whispers softly to Crusader. "It erupted - ate one of my warriors... then slammed me down in the hole..." There are still eleven living huge cacti in a circle by the breach, but they are inert. And one mostly-dissolved one that's still sizzling. Dripping with fungal poisons that are not hurting her at all - she's _sooooo_ glad she designed it to not hurt plants - she stares at her cacti. "Can you take me back?" she asks softly, but looks in horror at all the frigid weaponry around. The cacti, close to the breach, are wilting from the onslaught. "I can't fight in these conditions... my friends won't do well..." She tries to control them from where she is, but it's too far away and they're too weak from cold and sudden growth to fire their needles. 

:'''{{#var:15|Superman (15)}} has posed:''' Kal's eyes go wide at the man's reaction, and he looks horrified, wincing at the scream. Kal turns the man around and holds him up with one arm while he slides the other around the man's neck. He squeezes carefully, compressing the arteries but avoiding the wind pipe. Barring a miracle, the lack of blood to the man's brain should finally knock him out. "I hear you, Crusader. I have my hands full shutting down the portal.". Kal drops out of the sky to the nearest ambulance he can find. He glances ar the nametag of the startled paramedic. "Steve," he addresses the paramedic. "This man needs help, but whatever you do, *keep him unconscious*." Kal makes sure Steve understands then rockets of to join the fight against the shrooms. 

:'''{{#var:130|Doctor Doom (130)}} has posed:'''      Arriving from the north along with Green Arrow and Caroline is Doctor Doom. Traveling by simply walking through a magic portal of his own creation, he looks up to the rip in the sky still, narrowing his eyes as he flies upwards towards it. He figures there's enough people here to handle what's left of the shrooms and Superman appears to have taken down the portal-maker. But that does't guarantee the shut down of the portal itself.      Thus does Doom perch himself on top of a nearby rooftop, watching to see what will happen. Though he does give a repulsor blast here and there to mushroom warriors who get too close. 

:'''{{#var:30|Bjorn (30)}} has posed:''' Crusader feels a shiver down his spine from Carolines' presence. He speaks into the comms "Very well. Good Luck" he tells him with sincerity. He had his own problem as he host Ivy back up "One suggest you tell your 'friends' to go to sleep for now....since Winter has come" he tells her, and with that rises into the air. Crusader drops Ivy off near her cacti, the ooze and mushrooms there having been previously frozen. He hands her a comm to connect with everyone else. "Try not to die and if you need help. Speak" he says curtly. And with that he is off again. Instead of the freeze rays, he taking up the swords now. The smaller guys were bound to be taken care of by the dozens of heros and their onsalught, leaving the biggest as the most obviouse threat. Crusader soars towards one and slams four swords into it as he quite litterly begins to carve into the Building-like mushroom - the scars spreading an icy layer to slow and weaken the beasts. But weather or not this will actually kill them he does not know. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "...So," Tony Stark's voice comes back to the comms of the JLA and Avengers. "Funny story," he begins, sounding very exhausted. "There's a creepy telepath over here in Mexico. And five more portals." And then, silence. The portal starts to collapse, as Superman finds another way to make the man unconscious. It doesn't immediately fall apart, but it does begin to reduce. A few squid that were next to it attempt to enter it, but cannot, they are thrown backwards from it. The connection to enter or use it looks to be severed. The energy pulses downwards, the rip now half as high and wide. 

:'''{{#var:1028|Jessica Drew (1028)}} has posed:''' Regaining strength, and protein for webbing, Jessica again sets about webbing up the shafts and caps of frozen mushrooms, then jerk hard on the web to snap them off. One by one, she works her way through the web-entangled masses, snapping off the massive stalks and moving on to the next. 

:'''{{#var:63|Pamela Isley (63)}} has posed:''' Pamela Isley nods slowly as she sits crosslegged in the middle of the circle of cacti. She is dazed and woozy, putting the comm around her right ear. "I can only take one of you..." she whispers softly. "Who is the strongest?" The one farthest away from the fight rustles. "Alright. It's time to take this to the next stage. The rest of you... sleep. I will return for you later." The trunk of the chosen cactus splits in half, as it stars to pull free of the ground. She reaches her arms up and the cactus pulls her up. She's perched on a 'shoulder' of a now 20-foot-tall walking cactus. She leans heavily against it - of course she wouldnt' get stabbed with the thorns. She then has it walk towards the tallest remaining mushroom creature - one that's away from the cold zone, and starts firing needles at it. With just one cactus, she can do this even in her weakened state. The other cacti go still, enduring the conditions, spikes growing longer and doing nothing more. 

:'''{{#var:42|Diana Prince (42)}} has posed:''' The cold beam being fired from the Invisible Jet's foreward hull continues its assault on the ground forces of the Mushroom Kingdom until the portal ceases to exist and collapses in on itself. "Well done, Superman." Diana's voice says over the comms. The Jet breaks off and flies higher into the clouds, on a return-wide-angle-course and when it emerges back from beneath a dark cloud it is slightly visible now as the translucent effect was lessoned so that the JL's allies could more easily see where the plane is in the sky. "Stark?" Diana says over the comms. "What is the status on these other portals?" She requests, wondering why his voice had cut off. 

:'''{{#var:130|Doctor Doom (130)}} has posed:'''      Once everything appears to be far underway, Doom moves back to ground level by levitating. and he focuses. The Portal was shutting down, sure...but there was a multitude of a telepathic web of many minds that was still coordinating a world effort. He focuses. Huh...many of thm. The first thing he attempts to do is simply mentally follow the trail, see where he can pin point at least a few of them.      This must be the end game, if portals arn't just opening up here. 

:'''{{#var:181|Green Arrow (181)}} has posed:''' "Since when did the Stark playboy get involved?" Green Arrow asks over the channel as Iron Man speaks on his ear mounted commlink. At this point, he's linked to the general city commnet that the rest of the responders are using, "The northern section of the city is secure. Why is it taking so long for the rest down here?" Green Arrow asks as he speeds along, working on crowd control. The combo of fungicide into ooze pits to lure them, then a gas cloud arrow follow up to kill the squidlings and stalks is remarkably effective... causing Green Arrow to destroy dozens upon dozens of the creatures at a time. Meanwhile, any huge behemoth stalks get concentrated doses of the fungicide payloads as Green Arrow flies around them on his Skybike. "Gotta hand it to Batman. This stuff is pretty effective." Green Arrow begrudgingly compliments The Bat. 

:'''{{#var:1429|Caroline Ramsey (1429)}} has posed:'''     A nightmare has arrived. Caroline has been making short work of the fungal monstrosities. Her proximity seems to be freezing them solid, and with snaps of her fingers, she is calling them to shatter into piles. Like a better metaphor than a hot knife through butter, Caroline is pushing through.     Her targets are the largest fungal monsters, yet something catches her eyes. Jessica's webs are funneling the creatures brilliantly, but they're not stopping them- they can't, and they're really not -trying- to. As such, Caroline sees a target-rich environment, and joins that particular fray.     Pulling herself over a building with what seems to be a sentient pair of chains, made of ice, Caroline leaps directly onto the top of the mushrooms, aiding in Jessica's efforts. Her touch? Anathema to their presence. All that is left in her wake will be snow, but she is one person- and they're likely to start fleeing her cold soon. 

:'''{{#var:1028|Jessica Drew (1028)}} has posed:''' "In Mexico?" Jessica asks Tony via her comm. Then, when there is still radio silence from Stark, she asks more persistently. "Tony? Mexico??" 

:'''{{#var:30|Bjorn (30)}} has posed:''' Crusader quips to Arrow "Mabey because all your guys came down here" it was slightly joking. He sounded serious, but the spirit was there. Any number of factors could have effected why things took so long But having heard the news he speaks into the comms "If there are five portals, all in Mexico...going directly to Mexico, to the source should allow us to combat this threat head on and finish it for good hopefully. One will gladly give any who need it a ride" he let them know, though heros had a way of traveling. His carving up of the mushroom stalk destroies it. And he fluidly and savgely works on the next one, carving and slice into it, trying to cut it down to size. Falling the stalks as quickly as he can alongside the others 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' From the shuddering portal, Iron Man comes blazing out. It's a little bit Indiana Jones, except he has no hat to grab. "Could've warned me, that was a little close," Tony complains into the comm, sounding more upbeat, as the portal finally heaves and closes. "Good thing I'm me." Tony's probably fine. Doom, however, had something else slice at him before it closed. A smugness, an awareness. An alien feeling to the mind, almost, yet something also tangible and dark. And the web of minds there. It was as if the creature on the other side looked back, and showed off the huge spiral of connected minds and slaves, and allowed the door to shut. It isn't over. Yet there was anger there, too. Hidden below. The loss of the portal, that stung. 

:'''{{#var:56|Storm (56)}} has posed:'''     "He disappeared in Mexico," Ororo responds via her comm. unit. "His communicator seems to be jammed." Whether that is because the portal rift shifted in power or not, Ororo is not to be sure. She continues her barrage of attacks against the fungus, her energy getting close to exhaustive levels.     While Storm has no qualms with passing through the portal, she is concerned about what is happening in Mexico, if they had a large enough squad to handle the situation, and why Tony went quiet. And in a blaze of glory, the man flies through at the last second.     "The portal is closed," Storm announces over the comm., her eyes instantly darting to the remaining fungus. "Shall we take out the trash?" 

:'''{{#var:181|Green Arrow (181)}} has posed:''' "Likely excuse. I saw just as many up there and down this way." Green Arrow replies as more arrows are fired into ooze pits under stalks. Then, Iron Man came out of the portal. "Stark, the next time they revise the dictionaries of the world, they're going to put a picture of you next to reckless, if they have any sense." Green Arrows jokes as he continues on his merry way, his hood and domino mask fluttering slightly in the winds at the high speeds he's continuing to fly at. Luckily, the power cell on his Skybike would last for another few hours. The combo fungicide and gas cloud gas arrow launches continue to claim dozens more. "Focus your efforts on removing the ooze the stalks are using to move. The minions try to defend it, so you can bait them into clustering." Green Arrow observes over the commnet. 

:'''{{#var:63|Pamela Isley (63)}} has posed:''' Pamela Isley ponders. Not a bad idea. Her own fungicide works against the ooze as Crusader demonstrated. So as her cactus giant keeps firing at the larger stalks, she is tossing small canisters of poison at the puddles of ooze. She is sitll a bit dizzy, but with just one plant monster in her thoughts, she can manage it. She'll need copious rest when this is done though. 

:'''{{#var:130|Doctor Doom (130)}} has posed:'''      Doom feels the last slice that those on the other side has given him and he growls. "How dare they strike at Doom." The good doctor then starts to walk in a direction, letting the heroes dispose of the Fungus by themselves. After all, he already did his heavy lifting. But what he wanted to know was what alien bastard had the foolish courage to try and feel his mind?! "Such a huge spiral of minds. If I can find the epicenter, I could end the entire thing."      Or so Doom tells himself. Regardless, a portal is opened back to beloved Latveria, and with a single glance over his shoulder at the heroes, the portal closes behind him. 

:'''{{#var:42|Diana Prince (42)}} has posed:''' The (not so) Invisible Jet streaks through the sky, cutting through the clouds and coming back down to perform another attack run on the Shrooms, that cold ray coming to life from the nose tip of the large knife-shaped jet! "Welcome back, Stark." Diana says over the comms. Inside the cabin of the Jet, the Amazon pilot flying it is keeping the jet safely out of the reach of any of the creatures down below, while the co-pilot is operating the freezing ray weapon... acting as the gunner, of sorts. "It is not every day that we get to do operations such as this." Diana quietly comments to her sisters, as a moment of taking in all of what was going on around them settled into the Princess' mind. "Then again, its starting to feel like every day..." She adds softly. 

:'''{{#var:30|Bjorn (30)}} has posed:''' "Doubtful" is all Crusader replies to Green. But none the less his focus is and has been on taking out the fungus...at least when not trying to save civilions or aid other. With the swords being much more natural in Crusader grip, he dicing through the larger building like Mushrooms. Stopping only momentarily to fire a blast from a freeze gun at a puddle of Ooze when he spots some. 

:'''{{#var:181|Green Arrow (181)}} has posed:''' "Ask city services if you don't believe me." Green Arrow quips as he continues flying southward. The rip in the sky might be closed, but the fungal threat continues to be an issue. He has enough arrows to continue bait and gassing for at least twenty minutes, before he needs to switch out to his last arrow canister... and Green Arrow is going to keep at it until the city is clear. 

:'''{{#var:56|Storm (56)}} has posed:'''     The wind lashes about as Storm makes quick work of ridding several mushrooms from the vicinity. She flash-freezes another group and lowers herself to the ground. A breather is very necessary right now after all the battle the ground has been though.     "I believe that is all of them?" Ororo wonders, looking around. 

:'''{{#var:1429|Caroline Ramsey (1429)}} has posed:'''     Caroline has neither a comms unit nor any gadgets. She is out there fighting the beasts with nought but the gifts granted to her by Death itself, and after not too long, everything in the direction she sent herself is either frozen, or dead, or both- with exception to the civilians, if there are any.     Eventually, with the portal's closure and the efforts of everyone involved, the threat is ended for the moment. Unless confronted, Caroline is likely to make her way on foot back to Gotham- the trail of impossible cold dying down to a wake of uncharacteristic chill. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "It might be seen as greedy to take both 'reckless' /and/ 'phenomenal'," Tony answers, a shrug in his voice even if not physically. "It was a good vacation, though I didn't get to work on my tan as much as you'd have thought. I'll get the videos from my trip up soon. I promise they're far more interesting than usual vacation slides. Unless your vacations usually have giant monsters. Then maybe." "After this .... drinks and food at the Avengers Mansion. See you guys there?" Tony suggests, to those still on the comm. Because after-party. 
}}

5054/Astral Flux: South of the Rip

2018-10-19T07:18:42Z

Malky:

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2018/07/29
|Location=South of New York City
|Synopsis=South group fighting the mushrooms also finds a way to close the rip in the sky!
|Cast of Characters=22, 63, 56, 30, 15, 1028, 42, 181, 1429, 130
|Tinyplot=Germination Astral Flux
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' The sky has broken open. A rupture. It is south of New York City, and approximately a quarter mile high, and 100 yards wide. It blazes, pulsing a fluxing energy, a streamer that all can see for quite a distance. It seems to be churning, and where it leads is truly anyone's guess. But there are other problems, beyond the rip in the sky. Mushrooms are everywhere. They came out of the ground, having burrowed, dormant. The fungus seemed to have been so dormant and quiet, giving some illusion in the quiet that it was gone. And now they lunge upwards in the darkness of the evening, and start to move. They head towards the rip in the sky. All of them: they pulse along the ground on churning oozing piles of fungal spores, eating whatever is in the way, or burrowing under things they cannot easily pass. Many of the mushrooms are the size of people, a few much larger. Most of them are outside of the city, but still some come from inside it: the parks, the graveyards. They singlemindedly move towards the rupture, bringing with them herds of their squid-like guardians. 

:'''{{#var:63|Pamela Isley (63)}} has posed:''' Pamela Isley can sense it. The disturbance in the Gray. The Green is in an uproar over the impending invasion. Ivy has been quiet the last few weeks, synthesizing as much of the specialized fungicide as she can, as well as various means to deploy it. The Parliament of Trees touched her mind, and she leaves, having hired a cab. She has various chemical tanks, and a satchel full of various seeds, and other small bombs. Ivy is going to war. The cab driver is in thrall: Ivy can brook no interference. Against a foe like this, Ivy is on the same side as everything else. She moves on, readying herself for the fight to come. 

:'''{{#var:56|Storm (56)}} has posed:'''     Ororo could see them, as high in the sky as she is. She alternates her view from the rip in the sky to the traveling fungus, lowering her gaze even further to see those gathering to help fend of the fungal chaos. "There are so many," Ororo calls out through the communications unit in her ear. "And, this rip in space... Has anyone figured out what is causing this to happen?" 

:'''{{#var:30|Bjorn (30)}} has posed:''' With the tear in the sky - there was no time to lose. Crusader has been busy helping to deploy weaponary to various hero groups where he can to help combat the fungus, sticking mostly to the earth itself for quicker deployment.     And that deployment was needed now. Crusader ship, filled with canisters of toxin, as well as extra freeze guns and swords - speeds towards the event further from the city, getting a feel for what was going on below. He sends out a message broadcasting on all possible frequencies "Hello, this is Crusader of the JLA, hailing from the south ends of The Rip - One is comming in with gear, if you can fly or find or make a suitable spot for distrubtion it would be appreciated" hopefully there was or he will need to drop the things and hope people can scavenge fgor them 

:'''{{#var:15|Superman (15)}} has posed:''' Kal hears about the rip in the sky simultaneously from Crusader's communication on his JLA communicator and from the TV he and Lois were watching from the couch in their apartment. Kal squeezes Lois' hand, then he is up, changed and gone from the balcony in a flash. Moments later he is in New York and near Storm. "Crusader, keep an eye out when you're dropping supplies, don't get bogged down. And get word to the authorities to have everyone shelter in place, inside." "Storm, how accurate can you be over a large area? Can you create cold zones to funnel the ones coming into the city into fewer channels toward the rip? I'm going to see what we're dealing with here." With that he rockets off toward the rip to inspect it more closely. "Stark, are you on the air?" he tries over a joint JLA/Avengers channel. 

:'''{{#var:1028|Jessica Drew (1028)}} has posed:''' Jessica was perched high above the city, clinging to the side of a skyscraper. From there, she could see the threat in all its context. Pulling her hair up and donning her mask, she quickly begins her webslinging descent toward the fray. "Are you guys seeing this?" She asks into her comm. "I'm going in. Could use backup." Within minutes as the crow flies, or as the spider swings, she is in range to see the mess in more detail. "This is gonna take coordination," she mutters to herself, trying to get in as close as possible without touching the ground. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:'''     "Hi," comes Tony Stark's very recognizable, casual tone of voice onto the communications unit. It's a broad band: JLA, Avenger, and so forth. "Something below it is projecting this thing up into the air. It's all covered in fungus, so I can't really see what's doing it, but. It's a portal, that I can say. I'm going to send a drone in, and see if it's Narnia," Tony provides. "Otherwise, I can make a bunch of educated guesses, if you like."     The mushrooms aren't just moving. In the past, when one mushroom has grown so large as to encounter another, it absorbs the new one into itself.     And these are still doing that behavior. As small ones move into proximity with each other, they stop, and merge. One of the two stalks bubbles and collapses into the ooze of the other, and the larger one cannibalizes its 'friend', growing more powerful and larger. And resuming movement. It's happening in a scattered way, more heavily where the creatures are more concentrated, naturally, creating less concentrated areas: and bigger monsters. Some have clearly eaten enough to be horrifying building-tall stalks lurching their way down and through streets, though their mushroom-shaped tops aren't fully grown yet. It makes them very eerie, swaying tall forms. 

:'''{{#var:63|Pamela Isley (63)}} has posed:''' Pamela Isley lowers the window of the cab. "Go faster!" she yells to the enthralled driver who puts petal to the metal. She has a dart gun in her possession - and is sniping smaller mushrooms with darts that look like tranq darts - but any small mushroom they strike disintegrates into dust after a pain sound - larger ones stumble. She finally stops as near the breach as she can get, and gets out. She stares at one of the colossal shrooms, gritting her teeth, finding a grassy hill to stand on. She throws a handful of seeds up into the air to scatter around her then concentrates. Over a dozen cacti erupt out of the ground all around her, growing more and more. Ivy uses the dartgun to snipe any shrooms that would attempt to interrupt the rapid growth as the cacti rapidly grow past head-high and show no signs of stopping. The strain of doing so much at once shows on Ivy's face as she's swaying, having to lower the gun, all her energy focused into the cacti as they grow more... and more... and more, Ivy sinking to her knees from the strain. 

:'''{{#var:30|Bjorn (30)}} has posed:''' Crusader grunts "Understood Superman." he says as he flies closer to the city. It is than he hears Spider-Woman comminicating over the comms - only recognizing the voice from various news outlets He speaks into the comms "Spider-Woman, we are indeed seeing this. One is bringing in supplies to help now" his ship already entering the edges of the city. "Head towards One destiniation - a large silver ship"     Crusader's ship touches down slowly to ensure not to crush anyone. The ship opens up and Crusader rolls out the freeze guns, swords as well as canisters of the toxin. Within moment he in the police comms "Officers - get everyone inside, and send who you can too" some address "Got some effective weapons you can use" 

:'''{{#var:56|Storm (56)}} has posed:'''     At the mention of supplies being brought in, Storm turns in the air to see if she can find the ship. Before she can think about moving, though, the Man of Steel is hovering next to her in the air. The shock of his speed subsides, and then she offers her thought process.     "I can be as accurate as we need to be," she replies, confidently. "But it will take a few minutes." While she instructs nature to do her bidding, the reactions don't form instantly. It is very much like cooking; Storm has to prepare her ingredients first before delivering a chilling cold to the area. Luckily, she is prepared to do some damage to the fungus today.     Hearing Tony's voice and instantly looking below, Storm sees a woman fighting the fungus below, deploying several growing cacti. When she sees Pamela fall to her knees, Storm darts in the woman's direction, flying with an agility that allows her to avoid contact with the moving army. Touching down, Storm helps Pamela stabilize her footing.     "Are you okay?" Storm asks, watching the cacti continue to grow. 

:'''{{#var:1028|Jessica Drew (1028)}} has posed:''' "Can someone give me a location on the equipment?" Spider-Woman calls out over her comm, as she suspects her answer lies on that ship. She has ceased trying to maneuver through the fray until she has more direction. Instead she is throwing out webbing to grab the smaller mushrooms that sprout and give a powerful jerk to rip them out of the ground. It's like putting bactine on a severed limb. 

:'''{{#var:15|Superman (15)}} has posed:''' Kal flies low over the center of the mess trying to get a look at what might be projecting the portal and just how much effort it would take to uncover it. He reports what he is seeing into the comms as he recons. He glances up and sees Stark's drone going into the portal. "We'll take your guesses, Stark. We need to know whether to help these thing through or go to war to stop them. And keep an eye on your radar. If the Pentagon goes hammer down on us, we'll need some warning to keep them from adding fuel to this fire." 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "Wow. My drone is taking a wild ride. I'll get back to you," Tony says, sounding relaxed about the situation, at least via the communication. "So far I'm on that end, keeping a lid on the panic, but it won't be forever. On the upside, I don't think the rift itself is dangerous." The mushrooms continue to pause and merge. There's a great deal of blasts and activity showing north of the rip, as if a battle were being waged. 

:'''{{#var:30|Bjorn (30)}} has posed:''' "Yea, head towards the Big Silver Ship" Crusader tells Spider-Woman again "On" street name. He was a bit busy handing out some swords and guns to police officers and even some citizens who apprach - each of them doing their own part to freeze or zap any mushrooms. Noticing Storm and Ivy, he waste no time in delivering to them some freeze guns and sword. He wasn't overly concerned about their health at the moment and instead slides three cannisters towards them "One is not sure if you ladies can use these" weather mixing the toxin into the plants or into the air "One hopes you can" Crusader than begins to fire upon some mushrooms of his own, mainly aimming to keep them away from fleeing citizens. he talks into the comm towards Superman and Tony sound annoyed "Is the Pentagon stupid enough to really send Firepower? Please tell One this is what is referred to as a wise crack" cause good lord, humans are going to make themselves go exstinct 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' A close recon to the rip in the sky shows a teeming mass of squidlings occupying the ground all around it. The ground itself seems ripped and torn open, like something (the rip?) exploded from below. It looks like it was some sort of underground parking complex, but with all the squidling masses there, hard to tell. What it appears to be is that the fungus mushrooms are walking to the rip, merging if there are several, and entering the rip itself, while their squid minions stay behind. 

:'''{{#var:56|Storm (56)}} has posed:'''     "It's on the South of the rift," Storm replies through the comm. unit.     She makes sure to check on Pamela, still looking around at the dozen cacti that are growing larger around them. Storm does not know if it is her claustrophobia or her desire to not be on the ground, but she makes a decision to take back to the air. "Take these," she says to Pamela, offering a freeze gun and sword. "I have Mother Nature on my side."     With a thought, Storm is aloft and flying higher into the sky. She concentrates and clouds begin to gather ahead. Arms extend to the heavens as she places all of her elemental ingredients into the sky. The temperature lowers significantly, getting colder by the second. The clouds threaten to release snow, but they need more time. 

:'''{{#var:63|Pamela Isley (63)}} has posed:''' Pamela Isley takes the freeze gun, hmmmmming softly. She smirks at Crusader. "I don't need your poison - I have my own. Take one. I formulated it specifically for our friends here..." She gestures to a few canisters at her feet. She nods as she is supported by Storm. "I'm fine... it's... tiring... to accelerate the growth of so many at once." The cacti are now TWENTY feet tall. And... the cacti are still growing, but slower. Ivy nods in satisfaction. "They are ready." She snaps her fingers. "You may control the skies... but I control the Green." The cacti shudder... then as the shroom-creatures start to approach the breach, the cacti unload, firing their needles at them. Any shroom creature that these needles strike shriek and wither and die. "I've worked on these for weeks..." she whispers softly. "Their needles are infused with that fungicide. They are basically an artillery platform." She grins widely. 

:'''{{#var:15|Superman (15)}} has posed:''' "Looks like some of the others have decided to go to war, Stark. If this portal is going to get rid of the shrooms we need to know, Stark, otherwise I need to get to work on these big ones." He blasts up above the city and scans for pockets of stranded civilians. He zips between them at blinding speed, delivering people to relative safety while he waits for a call from Stark on whether to facilitate or stop the shrooms making it to the portal. 

:'''{{#var:30|Bjorn (30)}} has posed:''' "Less boasting more working. One does not care who made what" Crusader says. Weather the toxin by batman or the poison by Ivy, he didn't care long as it got the job done. Crusader can be...curt to say the least. That being as a particular large group of fungus gets near. He takes one of the Toxin Canisters and one of the Ivy Canisters and tosses both of them at the large group, before a sword quickly follow peicing both canisters. The result was both of them attacking the fungus. Crusader rises into the air, freeze gun still in hand. With some folks are high altitude, and some on ground, he figures some Mid height may be useful. His bird eyes few allowing him to hit group of fungus - stopping or slowing them from reaching people Superman was rescueing. "Superman does have a point, would be useful to know weather to stop them or help them through that portal. Preferably before they overun the city" 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "My drone is in... Mexico. Is there something special for fungus in Mexico?" Tony reports, sounding baffled. There is a pause. "OK, them getting to the portal is BAD. I'm sending a few more drones, I'll get some more feed from them, because what I can saw so far before my drone was wrecked--- I'd prefer to think is a glitch. Remember the mold in /outer space/? Yeah, I'm reminded. It's huge, but not doing anything yet, probably sucking these all in first. So, I'm working on shutting off the portal. Just there's so much interference." "Whoever is making giant toxic cactus, that... yes. More of that," Tony comments with amusement into the comms. "If we can hold off the tide, we might get some of this area under the rip cleared off to get to the root of what's making the portal." 

:'''{{#var:1028|Jessica Drew (1028)}} has posed:''' Spider-Woman makes her way to the silver ship and lowers herself, touching down lightly next to it.She recognizes the canisters and odd swords from her meeting with Kal and Flash. She's no marksman, but she's a deadly shot with her web, right? Taking equipment, she arms herself, turning toward the seeming mass exodus of mushrooms. "Wherever these guys are going, I highly doubt it's safer for /us/ if they make it there. She fires a web and swings up, using the freezing quality of the sword to behead some of the mushrooms still small enough to do so with. The others take parting shots as she stabs as deploy as she can into them. It's then that she hears confirmation from Tony on the comm - "them getting to the portal is BAD." 

:'''{{#var:15|Superman (15)}} has posed:''' "Mexico?" Superman says as he finishes ferrying a small family out of harm's way. "Stark, there is some kind of massive fungus mind in Mexico. It peeked into the Astral plane a few days back and caused havoc. Are there any other portals open on the Mexico side feeding it?" Without waiting for an answer, Kal flies back to the rip as quickly as possible, windows shattering in his wake. He takes a deep breath and then lays down super cold air all around the portal and even under it. He picks a spot and smashes into the frozen mass,shattering it, to try and get a peek at whether anything underneath is maintaining the portal. 

:'''{{#var:56|Storm (56)}} has posed:'''     It isn't long until small pecks of ice can be seen falling from the sky. With a more concentrated thought, the clouds finally release a flurry of snow raining down at an abnormal rate, especially in the Summer.     "Mexico?" Storm repeats, hearing that the fungus getting to the portal is not a good idea. She acts quickly and flies closer to the portal, the snow building more fiercely behind her. Hovering over many of the fungus approaching the portal, Storm extends her hands and sends a large blast of artic winds into the fray. If she needs to, Storm will then push further in any effort to flash-freeze the army before her. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' A telepathic message is sent to nearly all of those fighting the mushrooms. The message is as follows: "They are moving for the portal. Stop their advance by any cost!" For those familiar with him, it is Doctor Doom. 

:'''{{#var:30|Bjorn (30)}} has posed:''' "Nual mention that an unsually large fungus was in Mexico. She also mentioned these things get smarter the larger they get" crusader says. Now knowing they needed to stop the fungu, Crusader breaks out the freeze sword He flies towards the 'roots' of the larget fungus and slices into them, freezing the legs and slowing them, but it wouldn't stop them. They needed to stop these things and fast. "Storm - Superman - One believes you two can combo off. Storm if you can give us some heavy and One means HEAVY - perhaps superman can flash freeze these guys possibly stopping them or at the very least slowing them down enough for more of Ivies poison to affect" He slams into a mushroom toppling them over. As he hears the telepathic option he broadcast over the comms "One thinks the flash freeze is likely best idea...unless we can make a wall to block the portal" 

:'''{{#var:63|Pamela Isley (63)}} has posed:''' Pamela Isley sighs. "Mexico?" she asks. "I thought we were dealing with a spatial breach, not... a portal to Tijuana." She frowns as she keeps her cacti reloading and firing more barbs at any shrooms approaching. She is also firing darts from a dart gun at the larger ones which is a more concentrated burst. She is near the breach, so that she can snipe on the shrooms wlaking toward it, without being directly in their path. Some of the cacti are being chilled by Storm's storm. "Hey - not the cacti!" she yells up to the weather goddess. 

:'''{{#var:1028|Jessica Drew (1028)}} has posed:''' "Mexico? That's bad news." Jessica replies but at Crusader's suggestion, the Spider-Woman suddenly brightens with new direction. She webslings at top speed toward the rift and gets as close as possible, pausing at any point around it to shoot several webs, anchored to trees, abandoned cars, anything they can grip onto, beginning to build a vast network of webbing, and working her way as quickly as possible, albeit too tediously slow for her tastes, around the rift to close in the gaps wherever possible. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' <Both scene orientation:>     It has started to snow at the site of the tear in the sky, and much if it is now coming into the weather in the northern area as well. Heroes all around the tear are acting to stop the advance, though little appears to be directly on top of the rip itself.     And then, the flash of Superman at the base of it shows, as he tears into the teeming swarms that are at the base of it, guarding whatever is below the rip itself. Similarly, other flashes of activity of other heroes show, from both north and south, as heavy efforts are made to stop the mushrooms' advances. It is effective, and those right on top of the rift have a short time to try to decide what can be done. In the north, several massive mushrooms have been attacked: a few of them simply keel over and die, others hit with considerable toxin and frozen might. Whole patches of ooze are being frozen solid, which causes difficulty, as others approach but cannot merge with it, and everything just stops, while they try to merge but cannot! Sonic blasts continue to cause disarray, and the fungus from the north is virtually entirely shut off, with the well-coordinated team.     In the south, Toxin is being spread heavily from some type of artillery, and the moving fungals are being stuck down with webbing, causing weird traffic jams of them while they stop to merge, and then get poisoned. The slowing snowfall has similarly slowed them, though there are now some truly massive mushrooms down that way, merging, as the huge ones have not been dealt with as heavily. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' A pack of the squid-like minions has formed off and is rushing directly for Ivy and her arsenal. They are thick, going as a large force, to attempt to overwhelm her and her cacti, to shut off the problem coming from there. They are in numbers great enough to surge through the spines even if they take losses: that is no doubt the point. She will probably need assistance to hold that front. "I think I'm calibrated to make this trip... yeah, no problem. I could use a vacation, honestly; I'll see if it closes on the other side. Might take out the big mushroom by myself: You're welcome." With a group of his drones, Iron Man blazes on into and through the portal, near the top of the rip, disappearing. At the base, Superman can use a combination of force and x-ray vision. There is a nest of the creatures tightly wound in a sphere around.. something. Someone. A person is there, underneath layers of creatures. He looks barely conscious, but the rift is clearly coming from him, surging up and out of the human male. 

:'''{{#var:56|Storm (56)}} has posed:'''     Storm does not hear Pamela's yell in her direction, her mind focusing on the hordes of fungus still managing to make a way to the portal.     Hail, the size of basketballs start to fall in concentrated areas inside the army's framework, with a group of five to six balls of hail following the direction of Storm's hand motions. The arctic winds propel the dangerous ice buildup as an offensive to protect the portal behind her.     "Tony, don't you even think about taking that on alone," Storm says through the comm. unit. Turning in the air, she watches as Iron Man disappears into portal where many of the fungi are trying to get to. Instead, they are finding themselves under the cold mercy of nature on Storm's watch. 

:'''{{#var:63|Pamela Isley (63)}} has posed:''' Pamela Isley just stares at the army. "Oh shit..." she whispers softly as she sees the stampede heading her way. She points as all dozen cacti start firing at the stampede, the roars of the hurt ones hopefully catching someone's attention for she doesn't seem to have a radio. She is firing the cold gun as well, but knows this isn't going to be pretty. "I'm sorry guys," she whispers to the cacti. She stands her ground - she won't abandon her plant warriors. 

:'''{{#var:1028|Jessica Drew (1028)}} has posed:''' With no idea whether it could possibly be effective, Spider-Woman begins to weave webs between the larger converging mushrooms, attempting to bind them. The effect is basically cargo netting between the mushrooms to keep them from merging. Whether it could possibly work is beyond her knowledge. In between binding those mushrooms, she begins a second round of webbing behind the next wave of mushrooms, to entangle and isolate them from those held back from the rift by her first wall. If there's anything better than a wall around the rift, it's two walls around the rift. 

:'''{{#var:30|Bjorn (30)}} has posed:''' And Ivy won't stand alone either. Crusader saw the horde of squids comming towards Ivy - seemed Jessica and the other had the rift covered, but it looked like ivy needed some two. Crusader makes a quick drive by his ship, picking up three addition freeze guns - and grows a second set of arms. Hovering just above - and connecting himself to the guns - he fires at four of them! He wasn't just fireing randomly though, as he freezes he slowly hover upwards trying to create a Wall of Ice and Squidlings. The cacti may need to volly their needles higher - but it was better than nothing. Crusader speaks into the comms "We got a good horde of the squids near One and ivy, use this to your advantage" he looks to ivy - "Ivy, can you make a few super doses? And by super One means" he gestures to the massive walking stalks "Enough tot ake that out" he keeps up the rate of fire at the squids, eating into his own energy to help power the guns beyound normal capacity. 

:'''{{#var:15|Superman (15)}} has posed:''' "I found the source of the portal, it's a person!" Kal calls into the communicator. Kal uses freezing breath and force to punch and force his way through to the person in the center of the squidling ball. He grabs the person to pull them free of the mass, using more cold and force to loosen the clingers on. Then he moves skyward, carrying the person, even if it means pulling along some squidlings, watching to see if the portal moves along with the person. "Can you hear me?" he calls repeatedly to the person as he lifts them clear of the mess. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' The squidlings assault heavily, and push hard on both Crusader and Ivy's barrages. A second group come around from a side, pressuring there, but suddenly a magic circle appears beneath a rather large number of the mushrooms. A magic circle?! Regardless... those knowledgeable will be able to tell dark magic is at play here. Circles appear all over the place, grabbing mushrooms out of nowhere. It looks relatively random, though it is certainly a help to Jessica's walls, catching some of the ones that were getting close to it. The heroes in the north are extending aid to the heavier problems still plaguing the south side of the rift. And then, a mushroom emerges from burrowing amoung the cacti. It abruptly starts to eat one of the cactus, in the pool of digestive ooze under it, having appeared just in their midst. However, it can't stay there: it has to head towards the portal, and begins to drift that way, as if called by it. A squid drops from the towering mushroom, and snares for Ivy, attempting to drag her by the arm into the digestive zone. It is a small one, but it will still give her arm a considerable wrench, or worse! When Superman touches the man, he starts to squirm and shudder. Ooze drips down through from above through the rift: a backwash of horrifying ooze, attempting to eat Superman who dares interfere. Metahumans aren't immune to the digestive acid. The man seems entirely out of it, staring up at the rift that is coming from him. The rift... it does move with him, though slowly, as if delayed. 

:'''{{#var:42|Diana Prince (42)}} has posed:''' From the north, from Manhattan more specifically, the screaming engines of the Invisible Jet slice through the sky on a course southward toward the disturbance. The alert had reached her and she'd been preoccupied with another similar event going on, but Wonder Woman was now arriving via the wings of her mysterious plane. "Superman." Diana's voice comes over the comms of the Justice League. "What is your status?" She asks of the blue and red caped hero. The jet, even though it cannot be seen, can be heard circling in the skies now, likely taking in the full scope of the fighting going on down in this ruined city. 

:'''{{#var:1028|Jessica Drew (1028)}} has posed:''' Jessica, her breath laboured and posture clearly fatigued, is horrified at the ooze coming down at Superman, and immediately thwips a web up toward the man he is carrying, just in case. It fires out, makes it halfway, then falls uselessly to the ground. "Oh my God, no," she says in disbelief. "This...never happens to me." She takes a deep breath and bolsters her resilience. "I'm running on empty here," she says into the comm. "Does anyone have a protein bar? Or, y'know....a cow?" 

:'''{{#var:15|Superman (15)}} has posed:''' Superman reacts without thinking, taking a deep breath and blowing frigid air at the sudden rush of ooze. Then he tries avoid it, pulling himself and the man he carries up and away from the portal quickly. He turns his back as he moves to shield the man from the ooze headed their way in case he is not able to avoid it all. Kal looks down at the man he is carrying and winces. "Sorry," he says, then smacks him in the back of the head hard enough to knock the man out, but hopefully not hard enough to do real damage. "Wonder Woman! I've got the source of the portal... Now we need to put down those giant mushrooms. Don't let any get through the portal to Mexico!" 

:'''{{#var:63|Pamela Isley (63)}} has posed:''' The fungus has outsmarted her, and one erupts right under her! She screams in outrage as one of the cacti is being consumed. And with the pain of the planet, nothing else mattered, including Crusader's question, as she tries to save it... and then... one of the squiddies jumps her drops her into the ooze and Ivy now starts to convulse, as she is trying to get out of the deadly corrosive, the cacti shaking in pain - without Ivy's control, they aren't firing anymore, and Ivy is in no state to attack. 

:'''{{#var:30|Bjorn (30)}} has posed:''' "Oh for the love of Juthuum" Crusader growls. He flies down and freezes the ooze around Ivy...before scooping her up with one hand, as well as one of her canisters. He speaks over the comms "Superman - again, combine your power with Storm. Soaking the big guys and than freeze them - even busting open fire hydrants should help." he says. But he had other worries. Crusader lands on a relatively empty spot...and procedes to pour Ivy own fungicide over her. Freezing her would be too dangerous, but he couldn't just let the fungus eat her either. He hopes this works. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' A slam of palm down on the man's head makes the portal source jerk and shudder, but doesn't knock him out. It is as if something is forcing him awake, well past when he should normally still be aware. He does, however, wake up. He screams in Superman's face, full-bore terror and haunted pain. His eyes are open, and beg for help, even if he can't say it or voice anything other than the long scream. 

:'''{{#var:56|Storm (56)}} has posed:'''     The exploding mushrooms catch Storm's attention first. Then, it is Superman's announcement that he has the source of the rift that catches her attention next. With her head turned slightly to see the Kryptonian flying through the sky and the portal slowly following behind him, Storm refocuses.     A chilling tornado swirls angrily from the clouds, aiming at the front of the army of fungus, and it slices through their ranks. Sending mushrooms flying away from the portal, Storm creates a focused beam of arctic winds towards those that remain. "Freeze!" Storm screams, ushering her command onto the mindless hordes surrounding them. 

:'''{{#var:1028|Jessica Drew (1028)}} has posed:''' Jessica rips off her mask, as her hair falls in sweat-soaked waves down over her shoulders. She begins checking abandoned cars until she finds one with a bag of now cold (and probably when they were served, cold) McDonald's cheeseburgers. She shamelessly tears the wrappers off and starts to Cookie Monster the cheeseburgers one after another until she can't hold another bite. She can only hope the speed of her metabolism hasn't suffered in the fray. Within minutes, the dark circles beneath her eyes have begun to fade, and she tucks her mask into her belt and tentatively reaches up to fire off a web in the direction of the large mushroom that tried to eat Ivy. "Yeah!! I'm back in business!" 

:'''{{#var:181|Green Arrow (181)}} has posed:''' Coming in from the northward side of the city is a Skybike with one Green Arrow sitting atop it, going at high speed. Specialized fungicide arrows are being fired with perfect accuracy into squidlings... or into ooze pits, before cloud gas arrows follow into those ooze pits to blanket whole areas. It's a by now well practiced routine as Green Arrow works overtime on protecting the civilians in harms way. "This is getting old." Green Arrow quips under his voice mask as he continues. "Can someone send a memo to the hive mind to go home?" Large clusters of squidlings also get mass cloud fungal payloads in perfect positioning to get the lot of them. Many fungal creatures die in the Green Arrows wake as he flies his way across Manhatten. 

:'''{{#var:1429|Caroline Ramsey (1429)}} has posed:'''     There is a streak of ice and a chill upon the spine approaching- all living beings have an innate fear of death- and though most of the people who are present have likely outright conquered it, Caroline's sudden presence is likely to rekindle it anew, adding a chill of the blood even before her presence is fully known.     The temperature drop in the area is sharp and immediate- terrifying and sudden. Leaping from the rooftops into the throng of beasts that had been dragging Ivy, the revenant arrives with all the prestige of, literally, Death itself. Adding to Ororo's manipulation of the wind, it seems to howl now that she has arrived.     She cannot currently do much to help Ivy directly- simply being -near- her would be enough to freeze flesh.     What she can do is make it easier, by leaping directly into the masses of monsters- to shatter and strike, tear and fling. 

:'''{{#var:42|Diana Prince (42)}} has posed:''' "I understand, Superman." Diana says from the cabin of the Invisible Jet where she stands between the two pilot chairs that are manned by her sisters. She was ready to disembark the jet and join the fight if need be, but in the current situation she feels she can do enough good here inside the plane still. "There." Diana says to her Amazon sisters, pointing forward. "Target those. It is time to test the new weapon." The Amazonian flying the ship reaches forward to glide her fingerips up a touch-screen on the dash and the controls change a huge from green to icey blue. Outside, the Invisible Jet screams overhead, and suddenly from no where a streaking bright blue freeze-beam shoots from the sky and starts painting the mushroom behemoths heading for the portal! The beam sweeps across them, while the Invisible Jet weaves out of the way of the tornado! 

:'''{{#var:63|Pamela Isley (63)}} has posed:''' Pamela Isley slowly opens her eyes, groaning softly in pain, as Crusader just doused her with the fungicide she created to fight these things. It stopped the digestive ooze from its work, but Ivy is severely burned, her left arm bare of her costume and badly burned, a small burn on her face. She slowly sits up. "It happened so fast..." she whispers softly to Crusader. "It erupted - ate one of my warriors... then slammed me down in the hole..." There are still eleven living huge cacti in a circle by the breach, but they are inert. And one mostly-dissolved one that's still sizzling. Dripping with fungal poisons that are not hurting her at all - she's _sooooo_ glad she designed it to not hurt plants - she stares at her cacti. "Can you take me back?" she asks softly, but looks in horror at all the frigid weaponry around. The cacti, close to the breach, are wilting from the onslaught. "I can't fight in these conditions... my friends won't do well..." She tries to control them from where she is, but it's too far away and they're too weak from cold and sudden growth to fire their needles. 

:'''{{#var:15|Superman (15)}} has posed:''' Kal's eyes go wide at the man's reaction, and he looks horrified, wincing at the scream. Kal turns the man around and holds him up with one arm while he slides the other around the man's neck. He squeezes carefully, compressing the arteries but avoiding the wind pipe. Barring a miracle, the lack of blood to the man's brain should finally knock him out. "I hear you, Crusader. I have my hands full shutting down the portal.". Kal drops out of the sky to the nearest ambulance he can find. He glances ar the nametag of the startled paramedic. "Steve," he addresses the paramedic. "This man needs help, but whatever you do, *keep him unconscious*." Kal makes sure Steve understands then rockets of to join the fight against the shrooms. 

:'''{{#var:130|Doctor Doom (130)}} has posed:'''      Arriving from the north along with Green Arrow and Caroline is Doctor Doom. Traveling by simply walking through a magic portal of his own creation, he looks up to the rip in the sky still, narrowing his eyes as he flies upwards towards it. He figures there's enough people here to handle what's left of the shrooms and Superman appears to have taken down the portal-maker. But that does't guarantee the shut down of the portal itself.      Thus does Doom perch himself on top of a nearby rooftop, watching to see what will happen. Though he does give a repulsor blast here and there to mushroom warriors who get too close. 

:'''{{#var:30|Bjorn (30)}} has posed:''' Crusader feels a shiver down his spine from Carolines' presence. He speaks into the comms "Very well. Good Luck" he tells him with sincerity. He had his own problem as he host Ivy back up "One suggest you tell your 'friends' to go to sleep for now....since Winter has come" he tells her, and with that rises into the air. Crusader drops Ivy off near her cacti, the ooze and mushrooms there having been previously frozen. He hands her a comm to connect with everyone else. "Try not to die and if you need help. Speak" he says curtly. And with that he is off again. Instead of the freeze rays, he taking up the swords now. The smaller guys were bound to be taken care of by the dozens of heros and their onsalught, leaving the biggest as the most obviouse threat. Crusader soars towards one and slams four swords into it as he quite litterly begins to carve into the Building-like mushroom - the scars spreading an icy layer to slow and weaken the beasts. But weather or not this will actually kill them he does not know. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "...So," Tony Stark's voice comes back to the comms of the JLA and Avengers. "Funny story," he begins, sounding very exhausted. "There's a creepy telepath over here in Mexico. And five more portals." And then, silence. The portal starts to collapse, as Superman finds another way to make the man unconscious. It doesn't immediately fall apart, but it does begin to reduce. A few squid that were next to it attempt to enter it, but cannot, they are thrown backwards from it. The connection to enter or use it looks to be severed. The energy pulses downwards, the rip now half as high and wide. 

:'''{{#var:1028|Jessica Drew (1028)}} has posed:''' Regaining strength, and protein for webbing, Jessica again sets about webbing up the shafts and caps of frozen mushrooms, then jerk hard on the web to snap them off. One by one, she works her way through the web-entangled masses, snapping off the massive stalks and moving on to the next. 

:'''{{#var:63|Pamela Isley (63)}} has posed:''' Pamela Isley nods slowly as she sits crosslegged in the middle of the circle of cacti. She is dazed and woozy, putting the comm around her right ear. "I can only take one of you..." she whispers softly. "Who is the strongest?" The one farthest away from the fight rustles. "Alright. It's time to take this to the next stage. The rest of you... sleep. I will return for you later." The trunk of the chosen cactus splits in half, as it stars to pull free of the ground. She reaches her arms up and the cactus pulls her up. She's perched on a 'shoulder' of a now 20-foot-tall walking cactus. She leans heavily against it - of course she wouldnt' get stabbed with the thorns. She then has it walk towards the tallest remaining mushroom creature - one that's away from the cold zone, and starts firing needles at it. With just one cactus, she can do this even in her weakened state. The other cacti go still, enduring the conditions, spikes growing longer and doing nothing more. 

:'''{{#var:42|Diana Prince (42)}} has posed:''' The cold beam being fired from the Invisible Jet's foreward hull continues its assault on the ground forces of the Mushroom Kingdom until the portal ceases to exist and collapses in on itself. "Well done, Superman." Diana's voice says over the comms. The Jet breaks off and flies higher into the clouds, on a return-wide-angle-course and when it emerges back from beneath a dark cloud it is slightly visible now as the translucent effect was lessoned so that the JL's allies could more easily see where the plane is in the sky. "Stark?" Diana says over the comms. "What is the status on these other portals?" She requests, wondering why his voice had cut off. 

:'''{{#var:130|Doctor Doom (130)}} has posed:'''      Once everything appears to be far underway, Doom moves back to ground level by levitating. and he focuses. The Portal was shutting down, sure...but there was a multitude of a telepathic web of many minds that was still coordinating a world effort. He focuses. Huh...many of thm. The first thing he attempts to do is simply mentally follow the trail, see where he can pin point at least a few of them.      This must be the end game, if portals arn't just opening up here. 

:'''{{#var:181|Green Arrow (181)}} has posed:''' "Since when did the Stark playboy get involved?" Green Arrow asks over the channel as Iron Man speaks on his ear mounted commlink. At this point, he's linked to the general city commnet that the rest of the responders are using, "The northern section of the city is secure. Why is it taking so long for the rest down here?" Green Arrow asks as he speeds along, working on crowd control. The combo of fungicide into ooze pits to lure them, then a gas cloud arrow follow up to kill the squidlings and stalks is remarkably effective... causing Green Arrow to destroy dozens upon dozens of the creatures at a time. Meanwhile, any huge behemoth stalks get concentrated doses of the fungicide payloads as Green Arrow flies around them on his Skybike. "Gotta hand it to Batman. This stuff is pretty effective." Green Arrow begrudgingly compliments The Bat. 

:'''{{#var:1429|Caroline Ramsey (1429)}} has posed:'''     A nightmare has arrived. Caroline has been making short work of the fungal monstrosities. Her proximity seems to be freezing them solid, and with snaps of her fingers, she is calling them to shatter into piles. Like a better metaphor than a hot knife through butter, Caroline is pushing through.     Her targets are the largest fungal monsters, yet something catches her eyes. Jessica's webs are funneling the creatures brilliantly, but they're not stopping them- they can't, and they're really not -trying- to. As such, Caroline sees a target-rich environment, and joins that particular fray.     Pulling herself over a building with what seems to be a sentient pair of chains, made of ice, Caroline leaps directly onto the top of the mushrooms, aiding in Jessica's efforts. Her touch? Anathema to their presence. All that is left in her wake will be snow, but she is one person- and they're likely to start fleeing her cold soon. 

:'''{{#var:1028|Jessica Drew (1028)}} has posed:''' "In Mexico?" Jessica asks Tony via her comm. Then, when there is still radio silence from Stark, she asks more persistently. "Tony? Mexico??" 

:'''{{#var:30|Bjorn (30)}} has posed:''' Crusader quips to Arrow "Mabey because all your guys came down here" it was slightly joking. He sounded serious, but the spirit was there. Any number of factors could have effected why things took so long But having heard the news he speaks into the comms "If there are five portals, all in Mexico...going directly to Mexico, to the source should allow us to combat this threat head on and finish it for good hopefully. One will gladly give any who need it a ride" he let them know, though heros had a way of traveling. His carving up of the mushroom stalk destroies it. And he fluidly and savgely works on the next one, carving and slice into it, trying to cut it down to size. Falling the stalks as quickly as he can alongside the others 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' From the shuddering portal, Iron Man comes blazing out. It's a little bit Indiana Jones, except he has no hat to grab. "Could've warned me, that was a little close," Tony complains into the comm, sounding more upbeat, as the portal finally heaves and closes. "Good thing I'm me." Tony's probably fine. Doom, however, had something else slice at him before it closed. A smugness, an awareness. An alien feeling to the mind, almost, yet something also tangible and dark. And the web of minds there. It was as if the creature on the other side looked back, and showed off the huge spiral of connected minds and slaves, and allowed the door to shut. It isn't over. Yet there was anger there, too. Hidden below. The loss of the portal, that stung. 

:'''{{#var:56|Storm (56)}} has posed:'''     "He disappeared in Mexico," Ororo responds via her comm. unit. "His communicator seems to be jammed." Whether that is because the portal rift shifted in power or not, Ororo is not to be sure. She continues her barrage of attacks against the fungus, her energy getting close to exhaustive levels.     While Storm has no qualms with passing through the portal, she is concerned about what is happening in Mexico, if they had a large enough squad to handle the situation, and why Tony went quiet. And in a blaze of glory, the man flies through at the last second.     "The portal is closed," Storm announces over the comm., her eyes instantly darting to the remaining fungus. "Shall we take out the trash?" 

:'''{{#var:181|Green Arrow (181)}} has posed:''' "Likely excuse. I saw just as many up there and down this way." Green Arrow replies as more arrows are fired into ooze pits under stalks. Then, Iron Man came out of the portal. "Stark, the next time they revise the dictionaries of the world, they're going to put a picture of you next to reckless, if they have any sense." Green Arrows jokes as he continues on his merry way, his hood and domino mask fluttering slightly in the winds at the high speeds he's continuing to fly at. Luckily, the power cell on his Skybike would last for another few hours. The combo fungicide and gas cloud gas arrow launches continue to claim dozens more. "Focus your efforts on removing the ooze the stalks are using to move. The minions try to defend it, so you can bait them into clustering." Green Arrow observes over the commnet. 

:'''{{#var:63|Pamela Isley (63)}} has posed:''' Pamela Isley ponders. Not a bad idea. Her own fungicide works against the ooze as Crusader demonstrated. So as her cactus giant keeps firing at the larger stalks, she is tossing small canisters of poison at the puddles of ooze. She is sitll a bit dizzy, but with just one plant monster in her thoughts, she can manage it. She'll need copious rest when this is done though. 

:'''{{#var:130|Doctor Doom (130)}} has posed:'''      Doom feels the last slice that those on the other side has given him and he growls. "How dare they strike at Doom." The good doctor then starts to walk in a direction, letting the heroes dispose of the Fungus by themselves. After all, he already did his heavy lifting. But what he wanted to know was what alien bastard had the foolish courage to try and feel his mind?! "Such a huge spiral of minds. If I can find the epicenter, I could end the entire thing."      Or so Doom tells himself. Regardless, a portal is opened back to beloved Latveria, and with a single glance over his shoulder at the heroes, the portal closes behind him. 

:'''{{#var:42|Diana Prince (42)}} has posed:''' The (not so) Invisible Jet streaks through the sky, cutting through the clouds and coming back down to perform another attack run on the Shrooms, that cold ray coming to life from the nose tip of the large knife-shaped jet! "Welcome back, Stark." Diana says over the comms. Inside the cabin of the Jet, the Amazon pilot flying it is keeping the jet safely out of the reach of any of the creatures down below, while the co-pilot is operating the freezing ray weapon... acting as the gunner, of sorts. "It is not every day that we get to do operations such as this." Diana quietly comments to her sisters, as a moment of taking in all of what was going on around them settled into the Princess' mind. "Then again, its starting to feel like every day..." She adds softly. 

:'''{{#var:30|Bjorn (30)}} has posed:''' "Doubtful" is all Crusader replies to Green. But none the less his focus is and has been on taking out the fungus...at least when not trying to save civilions or aid other. With the swords being much more natural in Crusader grip, he dicing through the larger building like Mushrooms. Stopping only momentarily to fire a blast from a freeze gun at a puddle of Ooze when he spots some. 

:'''{{#var:181|Green Arrow (181)}} has posed:''' "Ask city services if you don't believe me." Green Arrow quips as he continues flying southward. The rip in the sky might be closed, but the fungal threat continues to be an issue. He has enough arrows to continue bait and gassing for at least twenty minutes, before he needs to switch out to his last arrow canister... and Green Arrow is going to keep at it until the city is clear. 

:'''{{#var:56|Storm (56)}} has posed:'''     The wind lashes about as Storm makes quick work of ridding several mushrooms from the vicinity. She flash-freezes another group and lowers herself to the ground. A breather is very necessary right now after all the battle the ground has been though.     "I believe that is all of them?" Ororo wonders, looking around. 

:'''{{#var:1429|Caroline Ramsey (1429)}} has posed:'''     Caroline has neither a comms unit nor any gadgets. She is out there fighting the beasts with nought but the gifts granted to her by Death itself, and after not too long, everything in the direction she sent herself is either frozen, or dead, or both- with exception to the civilians, if there are any.     Eventually, with the portal's closure and the efforts of everyone involved, the threat is ended for the moment. Unless confronted, Caroline is likely to make her way on foot back to Gotham- the trail of impossible cold dying down to a wake of uncharacteristic chill. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "It might be seen as greedy to take both 'reckless' /and/ 'phenomenal'," Tony answers, a shrug in his voice even if not physically. "It was a good vacation, though I didn't get to work on my tan as much as you'd have thought. I'll get the videos from my trip up soon. I promise they're far more interesting than usual vacation slides. Unless your vacations usually have giant monsters. Then maybe." "After this .... drinks and food at the Avengers Mansion. See you guys there?" Tony suggests, to those still on the comm. Because after-party. 
}}

5054/Astral Flux: South of the Rip

2018-10-19T07:16:41Z

Malky: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2018/07/29 |Location=South of New York City |Synopsis=South group fighting the mushrooms also finds a way to close the rip in the sky! |Cast of Cha..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2018/07/29
|Location=South of New York City
|Synopsis=South group fighting the mushrooms also finds a way to close the rip in the sky!
|Cast of Characters=22, 63, 56, 30, 15, 1028, 42, 181, 1429, 130
|Tinyplot=Germination
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' The sky has broken open. A rupture. It is south of New York City, and approximately a quarter mile high, and 100 yards wide. It blazes, pulsing a fluxing energy, a streamer that all can see for quite a distance. It seems to be churning, and where it leads is truly anyone's guess. But there are other problems, beyond the rip in the sky. Mushrooms are everywhere. They came out of the ground, having burrowed, dormant. The fungus seemed to have been so dormant and quiet, giving some illusion in the quiet that it was gone. And now they lunge upwards in the darkness of the evening, and start to move. They head towards the rip in the sky. All of them: they pulse along the ground on churning oozing piles of fungal spores, eating whatever is in the way, or burrowing under things they cannot easily pass. Many of the mushrooms are the size of people, a few much larger. Most of them are outside of the city, but still some come from inside it: the parks, the graveyards. They singlemindedly move towards the rupture, bringing with them herds of their squid-like guardians. 

:'''{{#var:63|Pamela Isley (63)}} has posed:''' Pamela Isley can sense it. The disturbance in the Gray. The Green is in an uproar over the impending invasion. Ivy has been quiet the last few weeks, synthesizing as much of the specialized fungicide as she can, as well as various means to deploy it. The Parliament of Trees touched her mind, and she leaves, having hired a cab. She has various chemical tanks, and a satchel full of various seeds, and other small bombs. Ivy is going to war. The cab driver is in thrall: Ivy can brook no interference. Against a foe like this, Ivy is on the same side as everything else. She moves on, readying herself for the fight to come. 

:'''{{#var:56|Storm (56)}} has posed:'''     Ororo could see them, as high in the sky as she is. She alternates her view from the rip in the sky to the traveling fungus, lowering her gaze even further to see those gathering to help fend of the fungal chaos. "There are so many," Ororo calls out through the communications unit in her ear. "And, this rip in space... Has anyone figured out what is causing this to happen?" 

:'''{{#var:30|Bjorn (30)}} has posed:''' With the tear in the sky - there was no time to lose. Crusader has been busy helping to deploy weaponary to various hero groups where he can to help combat the fungus, sticking mostly to the earth itself for quicker deployment.     And that deployment was needed now. Crusader ship, filled with canisters of toxin, as well as extra freeze guns and swords - speeds towards the event further from the city, getting a feel for what was going on below. He sends out a message broadcasting on all possible frequencies "Hello, this is Crusader of the JLA, hailing from the south ends of The Rip - One is comming in with gear, if you can fly or find or make a suitable spot for distrubtion it would be appreciated" hopefully there was or he will need to drop the things and hope people can scavenge fgor them 

:'''{{#var:15|Superman (15)}} has posed:''' Kal hears about the rip in the sky simultaneously from Crusader's communication on his JLA communicator and from the TV he and Lois were watching from the couch in their apartment. Kal squeezes Lois' hand, then he is up, changed and gone from the balcony in a flash. Moments later he is in New York and near Storm. "Crusader, keep an eye out when you're dropping supplies, don't get bogged down. And get word to the authorities to have everyone shelter in place, inside." "Storm, how accurate can you be over a large area? Can you create cold zones to funnel the ones coming into the city into fewer channels toward the rip? I'm going to see what we're dealing with here." With that he rockets off toward the rip to inspect it more closely. "Stark, are you on the air?" he tries over a joint JLA/Avengers channel. 

:'''{{#var:1028|Jessica Drew (1028)}} has posed:''' Jessica was perched high above the city, clinging to the side of a skyscraper. From there, she could see the threat in all its context. Pulling her hair up and donning her mask, she quickly begins her webslinging descent toward the fray. "Are you guys seeing this?" She asks into her comm. "I'm going in. Could use backup." Within minutes as the crow flies, or as the spider swings, she is in range to see the mess in more detail. "This is gonna take coordination," she mutters to herself, trying to get in as close as possible without touching the ground. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:'''     "Hi," comes Tony Stark's very recognizable, casual tone of voice onto the communications unit. It's a broad band: JLA, Avenger, and so forth. "Something below it is projecting this thing up into the air. It's all covered in fungus, so I can't really see what's doing it, but. It's a portal, that I can say. I'm going to send a drone in, and see if it's Narnia," Tony provides. "Otherwise, I can make a bunch of educated guesses, if you like."     The mushrooms aren't just moving. In the past, when one mushroom has grown so large as to encounter another, it absorbs the new one into itself.     And these are still doing that behavior. As small ones move into proximity with each other, they stop, and merge. One of the two stalks bubbles and collapses into the ooze of the other, and the larger one cannibalizes its 'friend', growing more powerful and larger. And resuming movement. It's happening in a scattered way, more heavily where the creatures are more concentrated, naturally, creating less concentrated areas: and bigger monsters. Some have clearly eaten enough to be horrifying building-tall stalks lurching their way down and through streets, though their mushroom-shaped tops aren't fully grown yet. It makes them very eerie, swaying tall forms. 

:'''{{#var:63|Pamela Isley (63)}} has posed:''' Pamela Isley lowers the window of the cab. "Go faster!" she yells to the enthralled driver who puts petal to the metal. She has a dart gun in her possession - and is sniping smaller mushrooms with darts that look like tranq darts - but any small mushroom they strike disintegrates into dust after a pain sound - larger ones stumble. She finally stops as near the breach as she can get, and gets out. She stares at one of the colossal shrooms, gritting her teeth, finding a grassy hill to stand on. She throws a handful of seeds up into the air to scatter around her then concentrates. Over a dozen cacti erupt out of the ground all around her, growing more and more. Ivy uses the dartgun to snipe any shrooms that would attempt to interrupt the rapid growth as the cacti rapidly grow past head-high and show no signs of stopping. The strain of doing so much at once shows on Ivy's face as she's swaying, having to lower the gun, all her energy focused into the cacti as they grow more... and more... and more, Ivy sinking to her knees from the strain. 

:'''{{#var:30|Bjorn (30)}} has posed:''' Crusader grunts "Understood Superman." he says as he flies closer to the city. It is than he hears Spider-Woman comminicating over the comms - only recognizing the voice from various news outlets He speaks into the comms "Spider-Woman, we are indeed seeing this. One is bringing in supplies to help now" his ship already entering the edges of the city. "Head towards One destiniation - a large silver ship"     Crusader's ship touches down slowly to ensure not to crush anyone. The ship opens up and Crusader rolls out the freeze guns, swords as well as canisters of the toxin. Within moment he in the police comms "Officers - get everyone inside, and send who you can too" some address "Got some effective weapons you can use" 

:'''{{#var:56|Storm (56)}} has posed:'''     At the mention of supplies being brought in, Storm turns in the air to see if she can find the ship. Before she can think about moving, though, the Man of Steel is hovering next to her in the air. The shock of his speed subsides, and then she offers her thought process.     "I can be as accurate as we need to be," she replies, confidently. "But it will take a few minutes." While she instructs nature to do her bidding, the reactions don't form instantly. It is very much like cooking; Storm has to prepare her ingredients first before delivering a chilling cold to the area. Luckily, she is prepared to do some damage to the fungus today.     Hearing Tony's voice and instantly looking below, Storm sees a woman fighting the fungus below, deploying several growing cacti. When she sees Pamela fall to her knees, Storm darts in the woman's direction, flying with an agility that allows her to avoid contact with the moving army. Touching down, Storm helps Pamela stabilize her footing.     "Are you okay?" Storm asks, watching the cacti continue to grow. 

:'''{{#var:1028|Jessica Drew (1028)}} has posed:''' "Can someone give me a location on the equipment?" Spider-Woman calls out over her comm, as she suspects her answer lies on that ship. She has ceased trying to maneuver through the fray until she has more direction. Instead she is throwing out webbing to grab the smaller mushrooms that sprout and give a powerful jerk to rip them out of the ground. It's like putting bactine on a severed limb. 

:'''{{#var:15|Superman (15)}} has posed:''' Kal flies low over the center of the mess trying to get a look at what might be projecting the portal and just how much effort it would take to uncover it. He reports what he is seeing into the comms as he recons. He glances up and sees Stark's drone going into the portal. "We'll take your guesses, Stark. We need to know whether to help these thing through or go to war to stop them. And keep an eye on your radar. If the Pentagon goes hammer down on us, we'll need some warning to keep them from adding fuel to this fire." 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "Wow. My drone is taking a wild ride. I'll get back to you," Tony says, sounding relaxed about the situation, at least via the communication. "So far I'm on that end, keeping a lid on the panic, but it won't be forever. On the upside, I don't think the rift itself is dangerous." The mushrooms continue to pause and merge. There's a great deal of blasts and activity showing north of the rip, as if a battle were being waged. 

:'''{{#var:30|Bjorn (30)}} has posed:''' "Yea, head towards the Big Silver Ship" Crusader tells Spider-Woman again "On" street name. He was a bit busy handing out some swords and guns to police officers and even some citizens who apprach - each of them doing their own part to freeze or zap any mushrooms. Noticing Storm and Ivy, he waste no time in delivering to them some freeze guns and sword. He wasn't overly concerned about their health at the moment and instead slides three cannisters towards them "One is not sure if you ladies can use these" weather mixing the toxin into the plants or into the air "One hopes you can" Crusader than begins to fire upon some mushrooms of his own, mainly aimming to keep them away from fleeing citizens. he talks into the comm towards Superman and Tony sound annoyed "Is the Pentagon stupid enough to really send Firepower? Please tell One this is what is referred to as a wise crack" cause good lord, humans are going to make themselves go exstinct 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' A close recon to the rip in the sky shows a teeming mass of squidlings occupying the ground all around it. The ground itself seems ripped and torn open, like something (the rip?) exploded from below. It looks like it was some sort of underground parking complex, but with all the squidling masses there, hard to tell. What it appears to be is that the fungus mushrooms are walking to the rip, merging if there are several, and entering the rip itself, while their squid minions stay behind. 

:'''{{#var:56|Storm (56)}} has posed:'''     "It's on the South of the rift," Storm replies through the comm. unit.     She makes sure to check on Pamela, still looking around at the dozen cacti that are growing larger around them. Storm does not know if it is her claustrophobia or her desire to not be on the ground, but she makes a decision to take back to the air. "Take these," she says to Pamela, offering a freeze gun and sword. "I have Mother Nature on my side."     With a thought, Storm is aloft and flying higher into the sky. She concentrates and clouds begin to gather ahead. Arms extend to the heavens as she places all of her elemental ingredients into the sky. The temperature lowers significantly, getting colder by the second. The clouds threaten to release snow, but they need more time. 

:'''{{#var:63|Pamela Isley (63)}} has posed:''' Pamela Isley takes the freeze gun, hmmmmming softly. She smirks at Crusader. "I don't need your poison - I have my own. Take one. I formulated it specifically for our friends here..." She gestures to a few canisters at her feet. She nods as she is supported by Storm. "I'm fine... it's... tiring... to accelerate the growth of so many at once." The cacti are now TWENTY feet tall. And... the cacti are still growing, but slower. Ivy nods in satisfaction. "They are ready." She snaps her fingers. "You may control the skies... but I control the Green." The cacti shudder... then as the shroom-creatures start to approach the breach, the cacti unload, firing their needles at them. Any shroom creature that these needles strike shriek and wither and die. "I've worked on these for weeks..." she whispers softly. "Their needles are infused with that fungicide. They are basically an artillery platform." She grins widely. 

:'''{{#var:15|Superman (15)}} has posed:''' "Looks like some of the others have decided to go to war, Stark. If this portal is going to get rid of the shrooms we need to know, Stark, otherwise I need to get to work on these big ones." He blasts up above the city and scans for pockets of stranded civilians. He zips between them at blinding speed, delivering people to relative safety while he waits for a call from Stark on whether to facilitate or stop the shrooms making it to the portal. 

:'''{{#var:30|Bjorn (30)}} has posed:''' "Less boasting more working. One does not care who made what" Crusader says. Weather the toxin by batman or the poison by Ivy, he didn't care long as it got the job done. Crusader can be...curt to say the least. That being as a particular large group of fungus gets near. He takes one of the Toxin Canisters and one of the Ivy Canisters and tosses both of them at the large group, before a sword quickly follow peicing both canisters. The result was both of them attacking the fungus. Crusader rises into the air, freeze gun still in hand. With some folks are high altitude, and some on ground, he figures some Mid height may be useful. His bird eyes few allowing him to hit group of fungus - stopping or slowing them from reaching people Superman was rescueing. "Superman does have a point, would be useful to know weather to stop them or help them through that portal. Preferably before they overun the city" 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "My drone is in... Mexico. Is there something special for fungus in Mexico?" Tony reports, sounding baffled. There is a pause. "OK, them getting to the portal is BAD. I'm sending a few more drones, I'll get some more feed from them, because what I can saw so far before my drone was wrecked--- I'd prefer to think is a glitch. Remember the mold in /outer space/? Yeah, I'm reminded. It's huge, but not doing anything yet, probably sucking these all in first. So, I'm working on shutting off the portal. Just there's so much interference." "Whoever is making giant toxic cactus, that... yes. More of that," Tony comments with amusement into the comms. "If we can hold off the tide, we might get some of this area under the rip cleared off to get to the root of what's making the portal." 

:'''{{#var:1028|Jessica Drew (1028)}} has posed:''' Spider-Woman makes her way to the silver ship and lowers herself, touching down lightly next to it.She recognizes the canisters and odd swords from her meeting with Kal and Flash. She's no marksman, but she's a deadly shot with her web, right? Taking equipment, she arms herself, turning toward the seeming mass exodus of mushrooms. "Wherever these guys are going, I highly doubt it's safer for /us/ if they make it there. She fires a web and swings up, using the freezing quality of the sword to behead some of the mushrooms still small enough to do so with. The others take parting shots as she stabs as deploy as she can into them. It's then that she hears confirmation from Tony on the comm - "them getting to the portal is BAD." 

:'''{{#var:15|Superman (15)}} has posed:''' "Mexico?" Superman says as he finishes ferrying a small family out of harm's way. "Stark, there is some kind of massive fungus mind in Mexico. It peeked into the Astral plane a few days back and caused havoc. Are there any other portals open on the Mexico side feeding it?" Without waiting for an answer, Kal flies back to the rip as quickly as possible, windows shattering in his wake. He takes a deep breath and then lays down super cold air all around the portal and even under it. He picks a spot and smashes into the frozen mass,shattering it, to try and get a peek at whether anything underneath is maintaining the portal. 

:'''{{#var:56|Storm (56)}} has posed:'''     It isn't long until small pecks of ice can be seen falling from the sky. With a more concentrated thought, the clouds finally release a flurry of snow raining down at an abnormal rate, especially in the Summer.     "Mexico?" Storm repeats, hearing that the fungus getting to the portal is not a good idea. She acts quickly and flies closer to the portal, the snow building more fiercely behind her. Hovering over many of the fungus approaching the portal, Storm extends her hands and sends a large blast of artic winds into the fray. If she needs to, Storm will then push further in any effort to flash-freeze the army before her. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' A telepathic message is sent to nearly all of those fighting the mushrooms. The message is as follows: "They are moving for the portal. Stop their advance by any cost!" For those familiar with him, it is Doctor Doom. 

:'''{{#var:30|Bjorn (30)}} has posed:''' "Nual mention that an unsually large fungus was in Mexico. She also mentioned these things get smarter the larger they get" crusader says. Now knowing they needed to stop the fungu, Crusader breaks out the freeze sword He flies towards the 'roots' of the larget fungus and slices into them, freezing the legs and slowing them, but it wouldn't stop them. They needed to stop these things and fast. "Storm - Superman - One believes you two can combo off. Storm if you can give us some heavy and One means HEAVY - perhaps superman can flash freeze these guys possibly stopping them or at the very least slowing them down enough for more of Ivies poison to affect" He slams into a mushroom toppling them over. As he hears the telepathic option he broadcast over the comms "One thinks the flash freeze is likely best idea...unless we can make a wall to block the portal" 

:'''{{#var:63|Pamela Isley (63)}} has posed:''' Pamela Isley sighs. "Mexico?" she asks. "I thought we were dealing with a spatial breach, not... a portal to Tijuana." She frowns as she keeps her cacti reloading and firing more barbs at any shrooms approaching. She is also firing darts from a dart gun at the larger ones which is a more concentrated burst. She is near the breach, so that she can snipe on the shrooms wlaking toward it, without being directly in their path. Some of the cacti are being chilled by Storm's storm. "Hey - not the cacti!" she yells up to the weather goddess. 

:'''{{#var:1028|Jessica Drew (1028)}} has posed:''' "Mexico? That's bad news." Jessica replies but at Crusader's suggestion, the Spider-Woman suddenly brightens with new direction. She webslings at top speed toward the rift and gets as close as possible, pausing at any point around it to shoot several webs, anchored to trees, abandoned cars, anything they can grip onto, beginning to build a vast network of webbing, and working her way as quickly as possible, albeit too tediously slow for her tastes, around the rift to close in the gaps wherever possible. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' <Both scene orientation:>     It has started to snow at the site of the tear in the sky, and much if it is now coming into the weather in the northern area as well. Heroes all around the tear are acting to stop the advance, though little appears to be directly on top of the rip itself.     And then, the flash of Superman at the base of it shows, as he tears into the teeming swarms that are at the base of it, guarding whatever is below the rip itself. Similarly, other flashes of activity of other heroes show, from both north and south, as heavy efforts are made to stop the mushrooms' advances. It is effective, and those right on top of the rift have a short time to try to decide what can be done. In the north, several massive mushrooms have been attacked: a few of them simply keel over and die, others hit with considerable toxin and frozen might. Whole patches of ooze are being frozen solid, which causes difficulty, as others approach but cannot merge with it, and everything just stops, while they try to merge but cannot! Sonic blasts continue to cause disarray, and the fungus from the north is virtually entirely shut off, with the well-coordinated team.     In the south, Toxin is being spread heavily from some type of artillery, and the moving fungals are being stuck down with webbing, causing weird traffic jams of them while they stop to merge, and then get poisoned. The slowing snowfall has similarly slowed them, though there are now some truly massive mushrooms down that way, merging, as the huge ones have not been dealt with as heavily. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' A pack of the squid-like minions has formed off and is rushing directly for Ivy and her arsenal. They are thick, going as a large force, to attempt to overwhelm her and her cacti, to shut off the problem coming from there. They are in numbers great enough to surge through the spines even if they take losses: that is no doubt the point. She will probably need assistance to hold that front. "I think I'm calibrated to make this trip... yeah, no problem. I could use a vacation, honestly; I'll see if it closes on the other side. Might take out the big mushroom by myself: You're welcome." With a group of his drones, Iron Man blazes on into and through the portal, near the top of the rip, disappearing. At the base, Superman can use a combination of force and x-ray vision. There is a nest of the creatures tightly wound in a sphere around.. something. Someone. A person is there, underneath layers of creatures. He looks barely conscious, but the rift is clearly coming from him, surging up and out of the human male. 

:'''{{#var:56|Storm (56)}} has posed:'''     Storm does not hear Pamela's yell in her direction, her mind focusing on the hordes of fungus still managing to make a way to the portal.     Hail, the size of basketballs start to fall in concentrated areas inside the army's framework, with a group of five to six balls of hail following the direction of Storm's hand motions. The arctic winds propel the dangerous ice buildup as an offensive to protect the portal behind her.     "Tony, don't you even think about taking that on alone," Storm says through the comm. unit. Turning in the air, she watches as Iron Man disappears into portal where many of the fungi are trying to get to. Instead, they are finding themselves under the cold mercy of nature on Storm's watch. 

:'''{{#var:63|Pamela Isley (63)}} has posed:''' Pamela Isley just stares at the army. "Oh shit..." she whispers softly as she sees the stampede heading her way. She points as all dozen cacti start firing at the stampede, the roars of the hurt ones hopefully catching someone's attention for she doesn't seem to have a radio. She is firing the cold gun as well, but knows this isn't going to be pretty. "I'm sorry guys," she whispers to the cacti. She stands her ground - she won't abandon her plant warriors. 

:'''{{#var:1028|Jessica Drew (1028)}} has posed:''' With no idea whether it could possibly be effective, Spider-Woman begins to weave webs between the larger converging mushrooms, attempting to bind them. The effect is basically cargo netting between the mushrooms to keep them from merging. Whether it could possibly work is beyond her knowledge. In between binding those mushrooms, she begins a second round of webbing behind the next wave of mushrooms, to entangle and isolate them from those held back from the rift by her first wall. If there's anything better than a wall around the rift, it's two walls around the rift. 

:'''{{#var:30|Bjorn (30)}} has posed:''' And Ivy won't stand alone either. Crusader saw the horde of squids comming towards Ivy - seemed Jessica and the other had the rift covered, but it looked like ivy needed some two. Crusader makes a quick drive by his ship, picking up three addition freeze guns - and grows a second set of arms. Hovering just above - and connecting himself to the guns - he fires at four of them! He wasn't just fireing randomly though, as he freezes he slowly hover upwards trying to create a Wall of Ice and Squidlings. The cacti may need to volly their needles higher - but it was better than nothing. Crusader speaks into the comms "We got a good horde of the squids near One and ivy, use this to your advantage" he looks to ivy - "Ivy, can you make a few super doses? And by super One means" he gestures to the massive walking stalks "Enough tot ake that out" he keeps up the rate of fire at the squids, eating into his own energy to help power the guns beyound normal capacity. 

:'''{{#var:15|Superman (15)}} has posed:''' "I found the source of the portal, it's a person!" Kal calls into the communicator. Kal uses freezing breath and force to punch and force his way through to the person in the center of the squidling ball. He grabs the person to pull them free of the mass, using more cold and force to loosen the clingers on. Then he moves skyward, carrying the person, even if it means pulling along some squidlings, watching to see if the portal moves along with the person. "Can you hear me?" he calls repeatedly to the person as he lifts them clear of the mess. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' The squidlings assault heavily, and push hard on both Crusader and Ivy's barrages. A second group come around from a side, pressuring there, but suddenly a magic circle appears beneath a rather large number of the mushrooms. A magic circle?! Regardless... those knowledgeable will be able to tell dark magic is at play here. Circles appear all over the place, grabbing mushrooms out of nowhere. It looks relatively random, though it is certainly a help to Jessica's walls, catching some of the ones that were getting close to it. The heroes in the north are extending aid to the heavier problems still plaguing the south side of the rift. And then, a mushroom emerges from burrowing amoung the cacti. It abruptly starts to eat one of the cactus, in the pool of digestive ooze under it, having appeared just in their midst. However, it can't stay there: it has to head towards the portal, and begins to drift that way, as if called by it. A squid drops from the towering mushroom, and snares for Ivy, attempting to drag her by the arm into the digestive zone. It is a small one, but it will still give her arm a considerable wrench, or worse! When Superman touches the man, he starts to squirm and shudder. Ooze drips down through from above through the rift: a backwash of horrifying ooze, attempting to eat Superman who dares interfere. Metahumans aren't immune to the digestive acid. The man seems entirely out of it, staring up at the rift that is coming from him. The rift... it does move with him, though slowly, as if delayed. 

:'''{{#var:42|Diana Prince (42)}} has posed:''' From the north, from Manhattan more specifically, the screaming engines of the Invisible Jet slice through the sky on a course southward toward the disturbance. The alert had reached her and she'd been preoccupied with another similar event going on, but Wonder Woman was now arriving via the wings of her mysterious plane. "Superman." Diana's voice comes over the comms of the Justice League. "What is your status?" She asks of the blue and red caped hero. The jet, even though it cannot be seen, can be heard circling in the skies now, likely taking in the full scope of the fighting going on down in this ruined city. 

:'''{{#var:1028|Jessica Drew (1028)}} has posed:''' Jessica, her breath laboured and posture clearly fatigued, is horrified at the ooze coming down at Superman, and immediately thwips a web up toward the man he is carrying, just in case. It fires out, makes it halfway, then falls uselessly to the ground. "Oh my God, no," she says in disbelief. "This...never happens to me." She takes a deep breath and bolsters her resilience. "I'm running on empty here," she says into the comm. "Does anyone have a protein bar? Or, y'know....a cow?" 

:'''{{#var:15|Superman (15)}} has posed:''' Superman reacts without thinking, taking a deep breath and blowing frigid air at the sudden rush of ooze. Then he tries avoid it, pulling himself and the man he carries up and away from the portal quickly. He turns his back as he moves to shield the man from the ooze headed their way in case he is not able to avoid it all. Kal looks down at the man he is carrying and winces. "Sorry," he says, then smacks him in the back of the head hard enough to knock the man out, but hopefully not hard enough to do real damage. "Wonder Woman! I've got the source of the portal... Now we need to put down those giant mushrooms. Don't let any get through the portal to Mexico!" 

:'''{{#var:63|Pamela Isley (63)}} has posed:''' The fungus has outsmarted her, and one erupts right under her! She screams in outrage as one of the cacti is being consumed. And with the pain of the planet, nothing else mattered, including Crusader's question, as she tries to save it... and then... one of the squiddies jumps her drops her into the ooze and Ivy now starts to convulse, as she is trying to get out of the deadly corrosive, the cacti shaking in pain - without Ivy's control, they aren't firing anymore, and Ivy is in no state to attack. 

:'''{{#var:30|Bjorn (30)}} has posed:''' "Oh for the love of Juthuum" Crusader growls. He flies down and freezes the ooze around Ivy...before scooping her up with one hand, as well as one of her canisters. He speaks over the comms "Superman - again, combine your power with Storm. Soaking the big guys and than freeze them - even busting open fire hydrants should help." he says. But he had other worries. Crusader lands on a relatively empty spot...and procedes to pour Ivy own fungicide over her. Freezing her would be too dangerous, but he couldn't just let the fungus eat her either. He hopes this works. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' A slam of palm down on the man's head makes the portal source jerk and shudder, but doesn't knock him out. It is as if something is forcing him awake, well past when he should normally still be aware. He does, however, wake up. He screams in Superman's face, full-bore terror and haunted pain. His eyes are open, and beg for help, even if he can't say it or voice anything other than the long scream. 

:'''{{#var:56|Storm (56)}} has posed:'''     The exploding mushrooms catch Storm's attention first. Then, it is Superman's announcement that he has the source of the rift that catches her attention next. With her head turned slightly to see the Kryptonian flying through the sky and the portal slowly following behind him, Storm refocuses.     A chilling tornado swirls angrily from the clouds, aiming at the front of the army of fungus, and it slices through their ranks. Sending mushrooms flying away from the portal, Storm creates a focused beam of arctic winds towards those that remain. "Freeze!" Storm screams, ushering her command onto the mindless hordes surrounding them. 

:'''{{#var:1028|Jessica Drew (1028)}} has posed:''' Jessica rips off her mask, as her hair falls in sweat-soaked waves down over her shoulders. She begins checking abandoned cars until she finds one with a bag of now cold (and probably when they were served, cold) McDonald's cheeseburgers. She shamelessly tears the wrappers off and starts to Cookie Monster the cheeseburgers one after another until she can't hold another bite. She can only hope the speed of her metabolism hasn't suffered in the fray. Within minutes, the dark circles beneath her eyes have begun to fade, and she tucks her mask into her belt and tentatively reaches up to fire off a web in the direction of the large mushroom that tried to eat Ivy. "Yeah!! I'm back in business!" 

:'''{{#var:181|Green Arrow (181)}} has posed:''' Coming in from the northward side of the city is a Skybike with one Green Arrow sitting atop it, going at high speed. Specialized fungicide arrows are being fired with perfect accuracy into squidlings... or into ooze pits, before cloud gas arrows follow into those ooze pits to blanket whole areas. It's a by now well practiced routine as Green Arrow works overtime on protecting the civilians in harms way. "This is getting old." Green Arrow quips under his voice mask as he continues. "Can someone send a memo to the hive mind to go home?" Large clusters of squidlings also get mass cloud fungal payloads in perfect positioning to get the lot of them. Many fungal creatures die in the Green Arrows wake as he flies his way across Manhatten. 

:'''{{#var:1429|Caroline Ramsey (1429)}} has posed:'''     There is a streak of ice and a chill upon the spine approaching- all living beings have an innate fear of death- and though most of the people who are present have likely outright conquered it, Caroline's sudden presence is likely to rekindle it anew, adding a chill of the blood even before her presence is fully known.     The temperature drop in the area is sharp and immediate- terrifying and sudden. Leaping from the rooftops into the throng of beasts that had been dragging Ivy, the revenant arrives with all the prestige of, literally, Death itself. Adding to Ororo's manipulation of the wind, it seems to howl now that she has arrived.     She cannot currently do much to help Ivy directly- simply being -near- her would be enough to freeze flesh.     What she can do is make it easier, by leaping directly into the masses of monsters- to shatter and strike, tear and fling. 

:'''{{#var:42|Diana Prince (42)}} has posed:''' "I understand, Superman." Diana says from the cabin of the Invisible Jet where she stands between the two pilot chairs that are manned by her sisters. She was ready to disembark the jet and join the fight if need be, but in the current situation she feels she can do enough good here inside the plane still. "There." Diana says to her Amazon sisters, pointing forward. "Target those. It is time to test the new weapon." The Amazonian flying the ship reaches forward to glide her fingerips up a touch-screen on the dash and the controls change a huge from green to icey blue. Outside, the Invisible Jet screams overhead, and suddenly from no where a streaking bright blue freeze-beam shoots from the sky and starts painting the mushroom behemoths heading for the portal! The beam sweeps across them, while the Invisible Jet weaves out of the way of the tornado! 

:'''{{#var:63|Pamela Isley (63)}} has posed:''' Pamela Isley slowly opens her eyes, groaning softly in pain, as Crusader just doused her with the fungicide she created to fight these things. It stopped the digestive ooze from its work, but Ivy is severely burned, her left arm bare of her costume and badly burned, a small burn on her face. She slowly sits up. "It happened so fast..." she whispers softly to Crusader. "It erupted - ate one of my warriors... then slammed me down in the hole..." There are still eleven living huge cacti in a circle by the breach, but they are inert. And one mostly-dissolved one that's still sizzling. Dripping with fungal poisons that are not hurting her at all - she's _sooooo_ glad she designed it to not hurt plants - she stares at her cacti. "Can you take me back?" she asks softly, but looks in horror at all the frigid weaponry around. The cacti, close to the breach, are wilting from the onslaught. "I can't fight in these conditions... my friends won't do well..." She tries to control them from where she is, but it's too far away and they're too weak from cold and sudden growth to fire their needles. 

:'''{{#var:15|Superman (15)}} has posed:''' Kal's eyes go wide at the man's reaction, and he looks horrified, wincing at the scream. Kal turns the man around and holds him up with one arm while he slides the other around the man's neck. He squeezes carefully, compressing the arteries but avoiding the wind pipe. Barring a miracle, the lack of blood to the man's brain should finally knock him out. "I hear you, Crusader. I have my hands full shutting down the portal.". Kal drops out of the sky to the nearest ambulance he can find. He glances ar the nametag of the startled paramedic. "Steve," he addresses the paramedic. "This man needs help, but whatever you do, *keep him unconscious*." Kal makes sure Steve understands then rockets of to join the fight against the shrooms. 

:'''{{#var:130|Doctor Doom (130)}} has posed:'''      Arriving from the north along with Green Arrow and Caroline is Doctor Doom. Traveling by simply walking through a magic portal of his own creation, he looks up to the rip in the sky still, narrowing his eyes as he flies upwards towards it. He figures there's enough people here to handle what's left of the shrooms and Superman appears to have taken down the portal-maker. But that does't guarantee the shut down of the portal itself.      Thus does Doom perch himself on top of a nearby rooftop, watching to see what will happen. Though he does give a repulsor blast here and there to mushroom warriors who get too close. 

:'''{{#var:30|Bjorn (30)}} has posed:''' Crusader feels a shiver down his spine from Carolines' presence. He speaks into the comms "Very well. Good Luck" he tells him with sincerity. He had his own problem as he host Ivy back up "One suggest you tell your 'friends' to go to sleep for now....since Winter has come" he tells her, and with that rises into the air. Crusader drops Ivy off near her cacti, the ooze and mushrooms there having been previously frozen. He hands her a comm to connect with everyone else. "Try not to die and if you need help. Speak" he says curtly. And with that he is off again. Instead of the freeze rays, he taking up the swords now. The smaller guys were bound to be taken care of by the dozens of heros and their onsalught, leaving the biggest as the most obviouse threat. Crusader soars towards one and slams four swords into it as he quite litterly begins to carve into the Building-like mushroom - the scars spreading an icy layer to slow and weaken the beasts. But weather or not this will actually kill them he does not know. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "...So," Tony Stark's voice comes back to the comms of the JLA and Avengers. "Funny story," he begins, sounding very exhausted. "There's a creepy telepath over here in Mexico. And five more portals." And then, silence. The portal starts to collapse, as Superman finds another way to make the man unconscious. It doesn't immediately fall apart, but it does begin to reduce. A few squid that were next to it attempt to enter it, but cannot, they are thrown backwards from it. The connection to enter or use it looks to be severed. The energy pulses downwards, the rip now half as high and wide. 

:'''{{#var:1028|Jessica Drew (1028)}} has posed:''' Regaining strength, and protein for webbing, Jessica again sets about webbing up the shafts and caps of frozen mushrooms, then jerk hard on the web to snap them off. One by one, she works her way through the web-entangled masses, snapping off the massive stalks and moving on to the next. 

:'''{{#var:63|Pamela Isley (63)}} has posed:''' Pamela Isley nods slowly as she sits crosslegged in the middle of the circle of cacti. She is dazed and woozy, putting the comm around her right ear. "I can only take one of you..." she whispers softly. "Who is the strongest?" The one farthest away from the fight rustles. "Alright. It's time to take this to the next stage. The rest of you... sleep. I will return for you later." The trunk of the chosen cactus splits in half, as it stars to pull free of the ground. She reaches her arms up and the cactus pulls her up. She's perched on a 'shoulder' of a now 20-foot-tall walking cactus. She leans heavily against it - of course she wouldnt' get stabbed with the thorns. She then has it walk towards the tallest remaining mushroom creature - one that's away from the cold zone, and starts firing needles at it. With just one cactus, she can do this even in her weakened state. The other cacti go still, enduring the conditions, spikes growing longer and doing nothing more. 

:'''{{#var:42|Diana Prince (42)}} has posed:''' The cold beam being fired from the Invisible Jet's foreward hull continues its assault on the ground forces of the Mushroom Kingdom until the portal ceases to exist and collapses in on itself. "Well done, Superman." Diana's voice says over the comms. The Jet breaks off and flies higher into the clouds, on a return-wide-angle-course and when it emerges back from beneath a dark cloud it is slightly visible now as the translucent effect was lessoned so that the JL's allies could more easily see where the plane is in the sky. "Stark?" Diana says over the comms. "What is the status on these other portals?" She requests, wondering why his voice had cut off. 

:'''{{#var:130|Doctor Doom (130)}} has posed:'''      Once everything appears to be far underway, Doom moves back to ground level by levitating. and he focuses. The Portal was shutting down, sure...but there was a multitude of a telepathic web of many minds that was still coordinating a world effort. He focuses. Huh...many of thm. The first thing he attempts to do is simply mentally follow the trail, see where he can pin point at least a few of them.      This must be the end game, if portals arn't just opening up here. 

:'''{{#var:181|Green Arrow (181)}} has posed:''' "Since when did the Stark playboy get involved?" Green Arrow asks over the channel as Iron Man speaks on his ear mounted commlink. At this point, he's linked to the general city commnet that the rest of the responders are using, "The northern section of the city is secure. Why is it taking so long for the rest down here?" Green Arrow asks as he speeds along, working on crowd control. The combo of fungicide into ooze pits to lure them, then a gas cloud arrow follow up to kill the squidlings and stalks is remarkably effective... causing Green Arrow to destroy dozens upon dozens of the creatures at a time. Meanwhile, any huge behemoth stalks get concentrated doses of the fungicide payloads as Green Arrow flies around them on his Skybike. "Gotta hand it to Batman. This stuff is pretty effective." Green Arrow begrudgingly compliments The Bat. 

:'''{{#var:1429|Caroline Ramsey (1429)}} has posed:'''     A nightmare has arrived. Caroline has been making short work of the fungal monstrosities. Her proximity seems to be freezing them solid, and with snaps of her fingers, she is calling them to shatter into piles. Like a better metaphor than a hot knife through butter, Caroline is pushing through.     Her targets are the largest fungal monsters, yet something catches her eyes. Jessica's webs are funneling the creatures brilliantly, but they're not stopping them- they can't, and they're really not -trying- to. As such, Caroline sees a target-rich environment, and joins that particular fray.     Pulling herself over a building with what seems to be a sentient pair of chains, made of ice, Caroline leaps directly onto the top of the mushrooms, aiding in Jessica's efforts. Her touch? Anathema to their presence. All that is left in her wake will be snow, but she is one person- and they're likely to start fleeing her cold soon. 

:'''{{#var:1028|Jessica Drew (1028)}} has posed:''' "In Mexico?" Jessica asks Tony via her comm. Then, when there is still radio silence from Stark, she asks more persistently. "Tony? Mexico??" 

:'''{{#var:30|Bjorn (30)}} has posed:''' Crusader quips to Arrow "Mabey because all your guys came down here" it was slightly joking. He sounded serious, but the spirit was there. Any number of factors could have effected why things took so long But having heard the news he speaks into the comms "If there are five portals, all in Mexico...going directly to Mexico, to the source should allow us to combat this threat head on and finish it for good hopefully. One will gladly give any who need it a ride" he let them know, though heros had a way of traveling. His carving up of the mushroom stalk destroies it. And he fluidly and savgely works on the next one, carving and slice into it, trying to cut it down to size. Falling the stalks as quickly as he can alongside the others 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' From the shuddering portal, Iron Man comes blazing out. It's a little bit Indiana Jones, except he has no hat to grab. "Could've warned me, that was a little close," Tony complains into the comm, sounding more upbeat, as the portal finally heaves and closes. "Good thing I'm me." Tony's probably fine. Doom, however, had something else slice at him before it closed. A smugness, an awareness. An alien feeling to the mind, almost, yet something also tangible and dark. And the web of minds there. It was as if the creature on the other side looked back, and showed off the huge spiral of connected minds and slaves, and allowed the door to shut. It isn't over. Yet there was anger there, too. Hidden below. The loss of the portal, that stung. 

:'''{{#var:56|Storm (56)}} has posed:'''     "He disappeared in Mexico," Ororo responds via her comm. unit. "His communicator seems to be jammed." Whether that is because the portal rift shifted in power or not, Ororo is not to be sure. She continues her barrage of attacks against the fungus, her energy getting close to exhaustive levels.     While Storm has no qualms with passing through the portal, she is concerned about what is happening in Mexico, if they had a large enough squad to handle the situation, and why Tony went quiet. And in a blaze of glory, the man flies through at the last second.     "The portal is closed," Storm announces over the comm., her eyes instantly darting to the remaining fungus. "Shall we take out the trash?" 

:'''{{#var:181|Green Arrow (181)}} has posed:''' "Likely excuse. I saw just as many up there and down this way." Green Arrow replies as more arrows are fired into ooze pits under stalks. Then, Iron Man came out of the portal. "Stark, the next time they revise the dictionaries of the world, they're going to put a picture of you next to reckless, if they have any sense." Green Arrows jokes as he continues on his merry way, his hood and domino mask fluttering slightly in the winds at the high speeds he's continuing to fly at. Luckily, the power cell on his Skybike would last for another few hours. The combo fungicide and gas cloud gas arrow launches continue to claim dozens more. "Focus your efforts on removing the ooze the stalks are using to move. The minions try to defend it, so you can bait them into clustering." Green Arrow observes over the commnet. 

:'''{{#var:63|Pamela Isley (63)}} has posed:''' Pamela Isley ponders. Not a bad idea. Her own fungicide works against the ooze as Crusader demonstrated. So as her cactus giant keeps firing at the larger stalks, she is tossing small canisters of poison at the puddles of ooze. She is sitll a bit dizzy, but with just one plant monster in her thoughts, she can manage it. She'll need copious rest when this is done though. 

:'''{{#var:130|Doctor Doom (130)}} has posed:'''      Doom feels the last slice that those on the other side has given him and he growls. "How dare they strike at Doom." The good doctor then starts to walk in a direction, letting the heroes dispose of the Fungus by themselves. After all, he already did his heavy lifting. But what he wanted to know was what alien bastard had the foolish courage to try and feel his mind?! "Such a huge spiral of minds. If I can find the epicenter, I could end the entire thing."      Or so Doom tells himself. Regardless, a portal is opened back to beloved Latveria, and with a single glance over his shoulder at the heroes, the portal closes behind him. 

:'''{{#var:42|Diana Prince (42)}} has posed:''' The (not so) Invisible Jet streaks through the sky, cutting through the clouds and coming back down to perform another attack run on the Shrooms, that cold ray coming to life from the nose tip of the large knife-shaped jet! "Welcome back, Stark." Diana says over the comms. Inside the cabin of the Jet, the Amazon pilot flying it is keeping the jet safely out of the reach of any of the creatures down below, while the co-pilot is operating the freezing ray weapon... acting as the gunner, of sorts. "It is not every day that we get to do operations such as this." Diana quietly comments to her sisters, as a moment of taking in all of what was going on around them settled into the Princess' mind. "Then again, its starting to feel like every day..." She adds softly. 

:'''{{#var:30|Bjorn (30)}} has posed:''' "Doubtful" is all Crusader replies to Green. But none the less his focus is and has been on taking out the fungus...at least when not trying to save civilions or aid other. With the swords being much more natural in Crusader grip, he dicing through the larger building like Mushrooms. Stopping only momentarily to fire a blast from a freeze gun at a puddle of Ooze when he spots some. 

:'''{{#var:181|Green Arrow (181)}} has posed:''' "Ask city services if you don't believe me." Green Arrow quips as he continues flying southward. The rip in the sky might be closed, but the fungal threat continues to be an issue. He has enough arrows to continue bait and gassing for at least twenty minutes, before he needs to switch out to his last arrow canister... and Green Arrow is going to keep at it until the city is clear. 

:'''{{#var:56|Storm (56)}} has posed:'''     The wind lashes about as Storm makes quick work of ridding several mushrooms from the vicinity. She flash-freezes another group and lowers herself to the ground. A breather is very necessary right now after all the battle the ground has been though.     "I believe that is all of them?" Ororo wonders, looking around. 

:'''{{#var:1429|Caroline Ramsey (1429)}} has posed:'''     Caroline has neither a comms unit nor any gadgets. She is out there fighting the beasts with nought but the gifts granted to her by Death itself, and after not too long, everything in the direction she sent herself is either frozen, or dead, or both- with exception to the civilians, if there are any.     Eventually, with the portal's closure and the efforts of everyone involved, the threat is ended for the moment. Unless confronted, Caroline is likely to make her way on foot back to Gotham- the trail of impossible cold dying down to a wake of uncharacteristic chill. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "It might be seen as greedy to take both 'reckless' /and/ 'phenomenal'," Tony answers, a shrug in his voice even if not physically. "It was a good vacation, though I didn't get to work on my tan as much as you'd have thought. I'll get the videos from my trip up soon. I promise they're far more interesting than usual vacation slides. Unless your vacations usually have giant monsters. Then maybe." "After this .... drinks and food at the Avengers Mansion. See you guys there?" Tony suggests, to those still on the comm. Because after-party. 
}}

4160/Fear or Anger

2018-03-30T03:06:36Z

Malky: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2018/03/28 |Location=Avengers Mansion |Synopsis=Steve and Tony bond. Yuck. |Cast of Characters=112, 22 |pretty=yes }} {{Poses |Poses=:'''{{#var:112..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2018/03/28
|Location=Avengers Mansion
|Synopsis=Steve and Tony bond. Yuck.
|Cast of Characters=112, 22
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:112|Captain America (112)}} has posed:'''     When the wind shifts in the back yard of Avengers mansion, the fountain seems to fill the sky with droplets. At night, when the static spotlights that illuminate the statues and the works of art hit that cascade of water it causes a hint of a rainbow to shine in the air just enough to make one wonder if the artist might well have made that effect intentionally. It was a thing that was ephemeral, lost depending on the time of year and the shine of the moon in the sky. But it was just such a thing that Steve Rogers intended to capture.     The fountain had been off for the Winter. Only the last few days of warm weather had brought it to life again, now that most of the snow had melted. There were still hints of it, little masses of white and grey piled up where the groundskeepers had shoveled. But now, even at this time late at night there were just small hints of green to offer the hint that Spring was on its way. This too, Steve Rogers was intent on capturing.     It was from a place on the terrace that he was set. A box of colored pencils partially open with a few having rolled free of their prison upon the small glass and steel table, just there right next to a few crumpled up wads of paper. He was eased back in the seat of the chair, one leg crossed over his knee with a sketchpad in his lap. This current attempt had a few marks of color and some attempt at the light and shadow so prominent below. But for the moment his pencil is held in check, silent as he thoughtfully chews on the end with a quirked eyebrow given as he eyes his own work with something akin to incredulity. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' There's a crack of light and sound, and then something breaking. Glass. It's harsh compared to the spray from the fountain, this sudden shock of glass, blown outwards from the upper floor of the mansion. The glass picks up lighting in a sort of neon light splatter of color before it lands and shatters into smaller pieces on the cement and brick patio, sharp crackles invading the peaceful outdoors. "Heads up. -- That's my fault!" Calls Tony's voice from the upper floor (not window, as there is a distinct lack of window now), with zero actual apology in the voice. More of a cocky brazen quality, if anything. A little drone immediately buzzes out, veering around the bushes, with a too-small dust-pan. It chitters and grinds a little bit, stooping, to attempt to slowly ease some of the shards into the dust-pan. It then observes Steve there, and trundles over. And attempts to scooch-scooch some of the colored pencils into its dustpan. 

:'''{{#var:112|Captain America (112)}} has posed:'''     Steve had reacted fairly quickly, looking up and then to the side, his grip on his pencil shifting to holding it in his grip fully even as he hunkers a little bit as if taking cover. But the quirk to his eyebrow might signal the wariness there as he catches sight of the falling glass that spatters on the patio. He sort of leans back slooowly into his chair, as if expecting something giant and scaly and monstrous to emerge from that window shortly after... but as nothing menaces him further he seems to slowly relax.     "Hey Tony," Cap's voice lifts, offering a greeting at the least even as the drone floats downwards. He eyes the thing and gets a slight smile, but then as it starts to take his pencils he'll lean forwards and liberate them from its dust-pan.     "Hey, hey. I'm still using those." He says, but then he'll put the crushed paper into its pan and says, "You can take these." But then he'll turn his head and lift his voice again. "Your robot toy thing is bugging me, Tony." 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "Hey Rogers," Tony calls back, casually as ever. Surely if there was something wrong, he'd not sound so easygoing. ...Except that it's Tony, so there really could be a rampaging Hulk-clone up there and everything would still sound perfectly fine. "Just tell it not to," Tony calls back down from the window above. There's some mechanical clank noises or maybe the sound of a desk being moved away from the window. Or both. The robot observes the pencils being removed from the dust pan. And seems to process that. And begins to dump the glass out onto Steve's colored pencil area. All the things go there, right? 

:'''{{#var:112|Captain America (112)}} has posed:'''     "No, that's..." Steve leans forwards and starts to perhaps admonish the poor drone, but he shakes his head and says, "Actually it's alright, just leave it." He does, however, give the thing a once-over fairly quickly, perhaps checking for an off switch.     But then he lifts his head and calls out again, "Everything alright up there?" He starts to tuck the pencils into their case and once they're settled in place nicely he'll slip the pack into the chest pocket of his brown leather bomber jacket. He flips the sketchbook closed and slips it under his arm.     "Didn't we agree at the last house meeting no fiddling with matters beyond the ken of gods and men?" His lip twitches, since well no there wasn't any such agreement. Perhaps some strong implying though. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' The little drone pauses when Steve speaks, as if waiting to hear the rest of the order, but when no clear instruction follows, the drone moves back to where the glass fell, and continues to brush at it. And brings it over. And delivers the glass into the pile that clearly was notated as the dump spot. "Always!" Tony calls to the question about things being all right. "This was more of a /ricochet/ of a matter beyond the ken. Hardly the same." Tony reappears at the window. He has an Iron Man gaunlet on his left hand. And also a mixed drink in that same hand. Which probably makes the entire situation make a lot of sense. That combination always creates a mess. 

:'''{{#var:112|Captain America (112)}} has posed:'''     With an exasperated sigh that sounds like it might be something to come from the most put upon man in the world, Steve looks up just moments before Tony reappears. But he shakes his head in any case despite the answer, instead tucking in his sketchpad a little tighter and then looking upwards...     He takes a quick short leap, snaring the window sill just below Tony's, then using it to swing his legs up onto the sconce that gives one of those spotlights a place to shine down upon the fountain. But it's enough of a foothold that he's able to launch himself up the last distance to Tony's window and then he pulls himself up with one foot on the lower window sill and his hand on the top of it. Sure it's a little more strenuous than taking the stairs, but at least now... he can see what Tony might or might not have been working on.     "Do I want to know?" He asks the billionaire as if hoping that really it's not that big of a deal, though in that tone there might be just a /smidge/ of admonishment about Tony's... proclivities. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' When Steve decides to come so directly, Tony doesn't actually back away, he just sidesteps once, turning some. But not actually retreating. "Sure, just come on in," Tony welcomes him as he arrives, dryly. Pauses. And offers the drink he had in his hand. "You earned it. Nice jump." Somehow it's not entirely a compliment. "I'll just make a replacement," he says, waggling the drink somewhat unsteadily. The room is a big, airy open-floor room, that's not currently in use for any of the Avenger purposes. It looks like it may have been a music room of some type: there is still a covered piano to one side. The legs of the thing suggest it is a beautiful, older one. There's art on the walls in here, and some mild dust. There is also what is clearly one of the mini-bars wheeled in from elsewhere in the mansion, a table littered with a dismantled robot, and some scorch marks along a bookcase and the wall near the window. No detective is really needed here. "Depends. What is it that is confusing?" 

:'''{{#var:112|Captain America (112)}} has posed:'''     "Why is your room bigger than mine?" The blonde man smile asks as he looks sidelong towards the man.     Stark can likely imagine the chain of thoughts that drift through Steve's mind as he gives the place the once over. He hops on into the eclectic work area, letting the sketchbook fall back into his hand as he looks the place over. He turns his head to the side, steps forwards a bit, then looks back to Tony. "Just tell me if you need a hand you'll ask." He says sidelong.     But that triggers likely another train of thought as he turns back to face the Steel Sentinel and shifts topics slightly if perhaps not entirely subtly. "How are you feeling?" He extends a hand to Tony's shoulder, "Holding up alright?" 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "If I need some legs, are you still up for it?" Tony asks without even a pause, and angles his head to follow the sketch pad, curious. And flicks his eyes up to Steve's face from his still angled head. Brow quirk. He gestures at the sketch pad with the gauntleted hand: which still has the drink in it, by the way. "Bring me somethin'?" Tony wonders of the pad. But agh, then Steve doubles back on him with those /nice/ questions. He straightens up. Clears his throat. Has some of the rejected drink. Side-eyes Steve. "Right as rain. Until now. I feel like I've escaped the medical bay when you ask me like that." 

:'''{{#var:112|Captain America (112)}} has posed:'''     "I don't know, I'm kind of using mine?" Steve answers back as he's still looking at the man, but he does (at the mention of it) perhaps tuck his sketchpad back under his arm a little tighter, though he doesn't answer as to it being a present or not.     "I figured I'd ask you first," Cap says as he watches Tony's reaction and can't help but smile a little. "Give you the chance before I ask Pepper." He steps away and starts to move around the room, pausing near the piano to lightly tap a key and cause the note to trill to life in the room. "I figure I'll wait til you're busy somewhere else and then she and I will talk about you at length." He looks up a bit from the piano, across the way at Tony with head still tilted down, still smiling. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:'''     "I got a clean bill of health from my doctor and everything: he was even disappointed," Tony says. "I think he wanted to be right about that I'd go downhill if I didn't sleep more," Tony adds, offhandedly, and downs the rest of the drink with ease, setting the glass back down onto the top of the mini-bar with a clack of sound. "He forgot the golden 'Tony is right' rule." Hard to know how it was forgotten, what with Tony so good at reminding. "Going behind a man's back to his girlfriend? Dirty. But smart." Tony did just say that.     Tony's well oiled with the drinks, and more open, obviously, he just moves on. "THIS ... is my thinking -- well, ONE of my many thinking spaces," Tony announces. "It's going to aid in an ephiphany about what to do about Rhodey demanding some //really// big guns from me." Tony drops his palm flat onto the mini-bar. "I mean. In addition to saying 'no.'" 

:'''{{#var:112|Captain America (112)}} has posed:'''     Steve sits down on the bench of that piano and then in turn puts his sketchpad down behind him. He affixes Stark with that sincere gaze and gives a nod as he murmurs, "I'm glad to hear that Tony." The corner of his mouth curls up slightly and he adds a nod, "I know we don't always see eye to eye, but for a time I was worried there." He offers that to the man, perhaps a small reach across the distance.     But then he gestures to the side, "And hey, sometimes even Captain America has to make the tough call and bring in the big guns like Pepper." He again lightly plinks another key, this one a little higher on the scale, then looks back to Tony with one eyebrow quirked curiously.     "Usually when a man asks for a bigger gun they're usually very afraid. Or very angry." Another key, then he turns around and folds his arms over his chest to look directly at Tony. "Sometimes both." 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:'''     "I knew you loved me. And hey. Works better if you take the dust cover off, I've heard," Tony says, approaching the piano and using gauntleted hand to snare the cover and dramatically sweep it aside into a heap. He coughs heavily into the awakened dust, though, waving his hand some at it and stepping back quickly. Yuck. The curls of dust warp in tendrils near the floor at the baseboards, showing the small movements of air from the central heating of the mansion as it travels.     "Scared, Angry. Or both. Did I tell you, I'm working on an unpgrade on a suit modification if Hulk tantrums in public again. And I will openly admit that is on the 'very afraid' end of things, not so much angry." Tony does tend to ramble. And come back around to the real point.     "Rhodey's both. And I can't say I'd be better in his place. Probably the same. Worse. Just with more easily accessible weapons." Tony glances at his gauntlet... and taps the side and down the edge and retracts it, moving to toss it loosely onto the table of robot parts. 

:'''{{#var:112|Captain America (112)}} has posed:'''     Cap lifts up a hand as that dust cover is swept off with such flourish, and then he brings thumb and forefinger just a /smidge/ apart as he peeks through that tiny tiny gap between his fingers and he says the words in answer, "Just a bit."     But then he rounds back towards the piano itself, yet in a way that he can still look towards the man of Iron askance. A few keys are played, not really a first hint of a song, but just a small quick melodic thing. He shakes his head and then lifts up to touch fingertips to the lid above the keyboard and gently lowers it back down into place causing a faint but final thrum of sound from the piano.     Resting his forearms on the lid he asks, "Do you want me to talk to James?" Rhodey, of course. "He and I have gotten along decently well, but I wouldn't want to step on any toes." 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:'''     "Heartwarming, really," Tony smirks to the tiny admission of loving him, with a laugh. Tony returns to the mini-bar, to loosen up even further, evidently. However, he did remove the gauntlet. It is an instant to put it back on, but there's less immediate danger of another window lost. The little cleaner drone has since returned, and is removing glass from the zone just below the window. Tony entirely ignores it. It's just a normal thing to him.     Tony watches the piano's keys be covered with an odd expression. An expression of some other time or place. A place inhabited by dead ghosts. Steve may recognize the feeling very well. The piano has a life -- or death -- in that palace of memory.     A quick glance back up returns Tony to the present. "You're not stepping on mine. I'm a bad guy right now. I got to tell him all of the best of the news. His sister's dead. His neice is fathered by a lunatic. No, he can't go kill people in some of my armor."     Tony taps a few fingers on the bottle he's using to fill his glass. "My bigger concern is him going around me. And getting himself killed on his own-- and I'm not there." 

:'''{{#var:112|Captain America (112)}} has posed:'''     Rising back to his feet, Steve looks across the distance towards Tony, and perhaps in another way that might seem to summon some hint of a glimmer from the past... he lets a small look of concern touch his features as he looks on the brilliance of the man even as he refills that glass. But now is perhaps not the day to broach any further words of that ilk, instead he looks away and it's clear his thoughts have drifted after the Colonel that's dealing with his own darkness.     "Sometimes, Tony, you can't save a man from himself." His voice carries that timbre to it when he speaks of the past, but he gives a nod towards the billionaire. "I'll see what I can do." A glance back from the door towards Stark again, "Can't make any promises."     He starts to move towards the door, remembering to scoop up that sketchbook off the piano seat, then turns around to walk backwards the last few steps before opening the door. "Chances are he'll tell me to get lost, but I'll let you know how things go." 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:'''     "No, they need to not want to drown, on their own," Tony says, finishing making the drink, and drinking it. He's too drunk to listen to himself. Or maybe he isn't.     Tony lifts his glass as Steve retreats through the door. An expression of farewell. "No promises required. Not today, anyway. I'll come for those later. And the legs. I might need them." Tony points a little bit at Cap, before the smile fades and Tony looks over at the robot.     "Why are you making a pile of glass on the carpet?" 
}}

4165/Conflict at the Plaza

2018-03-30T02:47:16Z

Malky: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2018/03/29 |Location=Metropolis Plaza |Synopsis=The Metropolis Plaza (not to be confused with Metropolis Sqare (@tel #22, ala SHMUX) was attacked b..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2018/03/29
|Location=Metropolis Plaza
|Synopsis=The Metropolis Plaza (not to be confused with Metropolis Sqare (@tel #22, ala SHMUX) was attacked by Chemo and Equinox. Heroes helped stop the threat. But many were radiated and injured by the collateral damage. Damage was done to the environment, but Damage Control fixed it.
|Cast of Characters=1328, 1353, 32, 22
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:1328|Blackout (1328)}} has posed:''' It's a plaza. That means lots of bystanders and people walking about doing their daily business. That and it's also noon. So many more people (in the hundreds) are littering the walkways and plaza benches having their lunch. There are a few food trucks on the street and serving the various business persons coming from Frost International 7 floor building. The sun is shining, birds singing, and it's a normal day in the great city of Metropolis.     The point of interest is an armored car that pulls up to the curb, a good 40 yards from the building with the plaza between the two points. The fountain divides the distance. The armored vehicle comes to a stop and the passenger gets out. He moves around to the back of the vehicle and opens the door. Within the door are three people. A man wearing a business suit, briefcase handcuffed to his left wrist. A man wearing camo fatigues carrying a small semi auto close range rifle. And another wearing all black, seamless and clearly a metahuman of some sort as the material over his body covers him completely, even his eyes and mouth in a semi solid plate. The man in all black takes the rear right flank, the armed man walks ahead, and the business man in the middle. They look both ways before entering the boundaries of the plaza and begin walking toward the 7 floor building entrance. 

:'''{{#var:1353|Drake (1353)}} has posed:''' Having decided to head into Metropolis on vacation to see the sights while on vacation from the Overwatch League, Drake is currently heading down the sidewalk with a pair of black and gold headphones over his ears. He is wearing his varsity Overwatch jacket and a pair of destroyed denim jeans. Snowball flies behind him, scanning his body at times and sending data back to Mister Stark. The little robot makes cute little animated noises, bumping his shoulder at times to get his attention which causes him to grin. On her face plate is her eyes in a n.n expression of robotic glee. As they look to cross the street, he catches sight of the men with the weapon heading for the building. He pulls the headphones down to his neck, squinting as he continues closer in a casual gait. 

:'''{{#var:1328|Blackout (1328)}} has posed:''' A rumbling of the ground signals danger. Almost like an earthquake of 4.1 on the rhictor scale. It startles the people in and around the plaza. Shakes them to the very core. The water of the fountain demonstrates odd ripples and the spraying of water zig zags all around. The 7 floor building is jostled, but it needs to be much higher to do significant damage. The concrete cracks. Ripples, and then rises 20 feet in an instant. Chunks of concrete are cast into the air. Many other chunks hit bystanders, pinning them to the ground, breaking legs, wrists, arms, shoulders, giving concussions, bumps, bruises, etc.     Emerging from the rising mountain of concrete, dirt, and metal is a vile looking creature. Standing about 25 feet tall, the monstrosity roars and looks around for targets to attack. http://tinyurl.com/ycf4texd     From the north side of the plaza, another assailant flies in. Arms and legs are a-flame, while his torso is solid ice. The man calls to his companion, "Destroy them all!". But it's clear he has a target, the man with the brief case. Which he is flying directly toward. When he is within 75 yards, he blasts flame down both arms toward the man with the brief case. http://tinyurl.com/yafrmkoy     The man in black steps forward, putting himself 10 feet in front of the man with the brief case. A black wall is suddenly erected in front of him, blocking the attack from the flaming guy.. It deflects the flame.     The man with the machine gun opens fire on the very tall monstrosity, which is around 20 yards to his west. (7 story building to the west beyond the monster, street and armored car is to the east about 15 yards away. more plaza to the south). 

:'''{{#var:1353|Drake (1353)}} has posed:''' When the rumble hits, Drake jostles about on his feet as he reaches out to snag a street sign to steady himself. Snowball makes a number of concerned whirls and noises as she starts to spin about in a 360 degree circle, filming and systemically cataloging what is going on. "Holy shit, what is that thing?" He calls over to his robot companion, wondering if she has some type of super bad guy wikipedia programmed into her, or at least, hopefully Tony is eavesdropping. He takes a half second to assess, then blinks out of sight as he pushes off one foot. The world moves in slow motion around him as he charges through his speed powers, yanking bystanders to the side and away from falling debris and ushering them to safety. Each time he blinks, his watch on his wrist chimes loudly in warning in a bright blue light. "Snowball! Execute manuever Echo Delta Sixty-Two!" The young vigilante calls out to the small robot as he jerks his way to the side to avoid some concrete while snagging a child and spinning her around and out of the way. The robot whirls to life, her eyes turning from a light blue n.n to red X.X's on it's faceplate as she jolts upwards with a DOO-DA-DOO! chime. As it rushes the large monstrosity that rises from the ground, a small device pops out from beneath her and begins to spray the creature down with a thick film of liquid ice that will quickly harden into a cocoon like state if allowed in an attempt to slow it down. This will hopefully allow the unknown gunmen and the superhero with the dark powers to take advantage of the situation. 

:'''{{#var:32|Power Girl (32)}} has posed:'''     Admittedly, they brought something like the right kind of firepower to attempt a robbery like this in Metropolis. Chemo is a monstrosity more than anything, but the moment the sound of his approach reaches her ears, a pinkish-red blur begins streaking across the sky.     She zones in on the only major threat she can see- though she is aware of Equinox down on the street, he seems to be meeting something approaching his match in whoever happens to be projecting that black wall.     At the same time, Drake seems to have engaged Chemo- and as the small robot goes to freeze what it can on the monstrosity, Power Girl hooks around, delaying her approach for only a few moments... Before surging forward. She has less restraint in situations like this than Superman- and it's hard not to figure out what Chemo is from looking at him- so when she hits him, it's not at full strength.     It is, however, at Mach II.     What follows is a series of blows that she intends to keep the creature off balance- leveraging her maneuverability and speed in order to stay out of its grasp, and make sure that it understands to fight her, and nobody else. 

:'''{{#var:1328|Blackout (1328)}} has posed:''' Pulling up, the flame-ice guy (Equinox) remains in the sky but will continue flying forward and be directly over the man with the brief case (30 feet up). He fires again (hahaha, I said 'fires') with another flame blast that goes directly downward toward the briefcase holding man.     Meanwhile, 20 or so yards away, the 25 ft tall monstrosity raises both hands above his head. The ice will have little to no effect. The creature is far too strong for coccoons of spray-on ice. The ice will surely stick in certain areas. But not binding. The creature grips his fists together, and then slams down into the ground. Causing a significant amount of noise, damage, and a shockwave (ground and air based) that shatters much glass in the 7 floor building and topples all the bystanders to the ground. Including the man in black (Blackout), the briefcase guy, and the camo wearing man. It also causes the armored vehicle to be knocked back and onto its side and other traffic also suffers the same fate, or worse if they are lighter in weight. Obviously the bullets didn't harm the 25 ft monster. However......     When Power Girl strikes the creature at Mach II there will be an additional shockwave of sound and force emitting to the sides of the creature. A double sonic boom of boomness. The creature was doubled over when she struck, and it has the advangage of size and mass, however, she will present with greater strength. She knocks it back and it will fall backwards toward many more bystanders who are prone from the earthquake, shockwave, and debris.     There are at least 100 bystanders in and around the plaza. Hundreds more in the nearby 7 floor building. 

:'''{{#var:1353|Drake (1353)}} has posed:''' Even though Snowball is more of an icy distraction, she continues to try and pour on the Blizzard as she tries to at least wear it down by the legs and lock him into place for Power Girl to use him for a punching bag. The entire time, she bobs about, recording everything into her database to transmit back to Stark Tower on the fly. Drake finds himself toppling to the ground as he comes out of SlipStream, ramming into a wall and bouncing off it before he blinks out again as he catches sight of the flame rushing towards the man with the suitcase. He appears next to him, arms looping around him and then throws himself backwards as his powers ripple once more, causing him to jerk off to the side in a fling as the pair goes tumbling down and hopefully away from the blast. "You gotta get to cover, dude. They're after you for some reason." He says rapidly as he feels the surge of adrenaline pour through him. His device on his left wrist is wailing away into code yellow as his nose breaks out into a bloody stream as he feels his body rebel against the use of his powers. He wobbles for a moment, then blinks out again as he forces himself through the pain so that he can help the bystanders on the ground as best as he can. 

:'''{{#var:32|Power Girl (32)}} has posed:'''     The repeated slams of her fist into the distracted Chemo do exactly what Power Girl wants them to do. As soon as she can feel one land with enough force to send him toppling, she makes her move to, she hopes, remove the threat. All the while, she calls out to Drake.     "Help the guy in black! Deal with Equinox!"     Drake is, admittedly, one step ahead of her (as appropriate for a speedster) and is already on his way when Chemo falls. Power Girl's gambit here is simple- she can't let him fall on any bystanders, but she can't have him on his feet, either. She swoops in at a blinding speed, moving under him faster than he's falling. Her hands point towards his back- the kind of maneuver only someone with super-speed can accomplish, as she aims to catch Chemo as he falls from her own strikes.     As soon as she does so- assuming she does- she'll start forcing herself upwards. Gritting with effort, she fully intends to take this 25-foot monster right out of the atmosphere. 

:'''{{#var:1328|Blackout (1328)}} has posed:''' Catching Chemo, Power Girl saves bystanders from getting squished. They start crawling away, some scampering to their feet. But they are still slower than the metahuman/alien/powered/hero/villain/etc. So it takes them a bit longer to get to safety. Clearing the entire plaza will take approximately 15 rounds and only 2.5 have passed.     Chemo writhes, breaking the ice sprayed upon its feet and will turn to the side planting a hand down and turning onto its side. Then suddenly, the creature releases a large toxic radioactive flash that will emit outward in all directions, spreading about as fast as the bystanders can move. But, will immediately cover Power Girl with the toxic radiation (surely won't do any harm to her, just stinky, lung filling, costume ruining, icky, radiation.     Blackout gets to his feet and will blast at Equinox.     Equinox turns in mid flight, remaining 30 feet off the ground, he surveys the area and is suddenly nailed by a darkforce blast which entangles him for a brief second. Only long enough for his flame to burn off the extradimensional substance.     The camo wearing guy gets to his feet and starts running toward the businessman. He calls out, "Phil! Get to the truck! Move!"     The businessman is still disoriented from the teleport, nearly pukes. He looks around, confused.     Other bystanders get to their feet, start trying to get away. 

:'''{{#var:1353|Drake (1353)}} has posed:''' "Snowball! Wall it off!" Drake yells over to the robot as he looks to hike the businessman up to his feet roughly, giving him a push forward. "Go, man, go!" He calls over as he rubs a hand under his bleeding nose, smearing the red across his cheek. Pushing off his foot again, he blurs out of sight, appearing next to another injured man on the ground as he blinks him to safety, followed by another, and another, and another. Each time, his wrist band screams in a loud alert, going from yellow to orange. One look at him see that he is in pain, but he pushes himself through it as he escorts the injured away, moving back and forth through the crowd. Snowball shoots upwards into the air as she executes her ultimate, firing out a large, thick wall of ice as it hits the ground and rises striaght upwards in a curve to try and catch the radioactive material and to block it from spreading out into the street. The little robot is chugging away with all her internal power supplies squeezing out every bit of juice to apply it to her ice cannon, making a loud whirling noise as her eyes go from X.X to --.-- As the ice wall surges upwards, it will look to curve over the top of the material to try and absorb it. 

:'''{{#var:32|Power Girl (32)}} has posed:'''     Power Girl is working to wrangle the writhing monstrosity on top of her. She has the advantage in strength, of course, especially over the stone and mortar that Chemo is trying to anchor himself in. She lets out this loud and angry growl of effort, trying to find that perfect area of strength expression that allows her to take off with Chemo... While also not risking a breach of his shell.     She's putting her strength to something of the test- not necessarily in raw strength, but as she begins lifting off of the ground, in pure control. She accelerates as soon as she feels Chemo start to pulse, shoving roughly upwards into the air.     An ice dome forms, and Power Girl shouts a word that several attending civilians, and perhaps even Drake, will be loathe to repeat- but who can blame her? The dome forms directly above her, adding more weight for her to carry skyward. The drag, the sheer mass of Chemo, and more, just add more difficulty in getting this load out of the realm of danger.     As well, because -of course- it does, the pulse of harmful toxins and radiation harms her outfit. It's grotesque, and Power Girl feels a little sick to her stomach- but otherwise, she's likely unharmed by something so basic.     She can't take him at anything above the speed of sound, but she is accelerating, propeling herself, Chemo, and Drake's ice-dome upwards into the sky. 

:'''{{#var:1328|Blackout (1328)}} has posed:''' Chemo writhes, wriggles, struggles to escape the grasp of the upwards lifting Power Girl and the downward pressure of the ice dome. Radiation increases, irridating and melting the ice above the monstrosity. Arms flail around, chunks of ice fall from great heights as the dome breaks into bits. Those radioactive chunks fall downward toward the bystanders within the plaza.     The camera turns back to Equinox who is very irritated at this point. He yells at the interlopers, "You cannot stop the Thermodynamic Man!" and then realizes he recently changed his name to Equinox and irrationally blasts toward innocent civilians with one arm (arcing fire in a great streaming cone) and with the other arm blasts Blackout backwards to knock him sliding into his own erected darkforce wall from the earlier round. Blackout will be slightly dazed, but otherwise unharmed from the flame blast.     The Camo guy rushes up and grabs the businessman, practically dragging him eastward toward the armored truck. Though the truck is on its side, it will provide some cover, and way better than being out in the open of the plaza. They will not reach the truck for another two rounds.     The radioactive/toxic cloud that was originally released around Chemo is waffed outward by the sudden rise of the dome. Puffing outward and striking various civilians as they try to escape. 

:'''{{#var:1353|Drake (1353)}} has posed:''' It just seems that nothing is going to plan, and nothing is working. Drake is coughing loudly as he speeds through blink by blink, tugging bystandards away from falling concrete and ice as best he can. His lungs are burning. His stomach is flip-flopping. His ears are ringing. He feels like every part of him is tearing itself apart. Faster! Must be faster! He commands himself as he zips through pockets of speed, snagging children as he goes, an elder woman, a girl trapped beneath a block. Tears streak down his face in bloody rivets as he lets out a primal scream as he blinks right behind Equinox, slamming his fists together. "OH LET'S BREAK IT DOWN!" He shouts out Lucio's tag line as he looks to use his super charged up speed to slam it into the back of the man at full force with the speed of sound. There is a pocket boom from him that ripples as he hopes to crush the man under the weight of sonic impact. He cries out as his power releases, and will hit the ground in a crippled heap upon follow through. The bracelet on his arm glows a dark red, the alarms sounding wildly as Snowball comes blurring down towards him, chirping in panic. 

:'''{{#var:32|Power Girl (32)}} has posed:'''     Power Girl has one option. In the face of combat, Chemo would have continued to release ever more virulent toxins and increased radiation, a threat to everyone in the city. She hates that there are bystanders at risk of disease and sickness, but it's so much better than instant death or vaporization.     Her composure is shot to some degree- she's calm enough to make the decisions she needs to, but at the same time, she's also the most blunt of her race. The words she's using are unable to be mentioned, though every few seconds she says the word "dome" followed by an expletive or three.     She's picking up speed and hitting the point where exit from the atmosphere is going to occur- and that's the point at which she pushes forward, flipping to press her back into Chemo and carry him that way. Her vision zooms in on chunks of ice, and bolts of red light burst from her eyes, striking out at each of them in succession. The heat and power of each bolt of heat-vision should be enough to vaporize the blocks of ice, and allow their harmful components to disperse in the air harmlessly- she hopes Drake can take care of any that she can't.     Technically pulling double or triple duty- or more- Power Girl is at least making everyone aware of why people -normally- don't try these sorts of shenanigans in Metropolis. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "These were not really the stress tests I had in mind, kid," Tony Stark's deep sigh can be heard in a voice coming to Drake from, well, Snowball. The Avenger picked up on the insane activity that the little Snowball drone is being asked to perform. Iron Man has arrived, with two additional 'Iron Man' armors in tow. Which may distract some of the bystanders and make them slower, actually, because that's something to point at and cheer about when they REALLY should be running. The armors peel off and land near the crowds of people, and begin to broadcast their fairly familiar, 'Please relocate to safety beyond this point,' metallic-voiced messages. Tony himself hovers overhead over the mess of action, quickly scanning, and starting to construct a forcefield shell between his two armored suits on the ground, to protect the citizens. It is a paneled, glittering golden construct as it starts to build. The suits are anchors, and don't move much, though they will repeat their instructions. And, almost idly, Iron Man begins to start shooting here and there to take out raining debris and ice. Which does make Tony a big interesting target, with the flashing repulsor beams going off in the air. That's fairly intentional. And then Iron Man flips over to the Justice League communication channel: "Hi there, any of you here? Seeing some lasers, guessing yes. This your party?" 

:'''{{#var:1328|Blackout (1328)}} has posed:''' Countless bystanders are burned by the gulf of flame that Equinox lambasted across the plaza.     Blackout is annoyed, but his face isn't seen, so there's really no way to discern such an event. He pushes himself off the darkforce wall and off his back. He looks to his client - the businessman with the handcuffed suitcase, and the assistant wearing camo as they both rush toward the armored truck for cover. The truck, being on its side will easily provide good cover from the flying Equinox villain. He then targets Equinox again with his darkforce attack. . The attack strikes Equinox in his icy chest, cracking the ice. But Equinox isn't totally phased. He has a target. R     Chunks of radioactive ice fall to the ground from high above. Shattering, casting debris all around. The radioactive cloud in the middle of the plaza expands outward, overtaking bystanders who are trying to flee the scene. Many are massively exposed as they inhale the cloud of radioactive and toxic stuff.     Chemo and Power Girl are able to reach the edge of the atmosphere. However, in route, Chemo left a trail of serious radiation and toxic stuff in their wake.     Upon Iron Man's arrival (with suits in tow), he is able to help deflect much of the other debris and then prevent the cloud of radioactive/toxic gas from expanding any farther. Those already exposed will be safer, even though they have fallen to the ground coughing and feeling immediately sick.     The assistance from Drake is also quite successful in preventing death from falling radioactive ice. As well as from higher altitudes, Power Girl lasers help too. It was a large dome, and lots of potential early on. Now the ice is just an annoyance (albeit a radioactive one where the water that comes from it is also going to effect the concrete of the plaza if something isn't done quickly. 

:'''{{#var:1328|Blackout (1328)}} has posed:''' In the same moment that Blackout strikes Equinox from the front, so does Drake from the rear. The double attack does indeed crack Equinox's ice torso. He'll get over it pretty quickly since he controls all levels of ice and fire. This will only slow him down for a brief moment. 

:'''{{#var:1353|Drake (1353)}} has posed:''' Skidding along the ground after he releases his build up, Drake lets out a sputtering couch as his entire body twitches in painful spasms. The red light on his bracelet flashes dangerously as Snowball floats around him, continuing to scan and monitor his vitals. There is a painful grunt as he hears Tony's voice, cracking his eyes open to see the trio of Iron Men descending upon the wreckage. He lets out another bloody cough as he curls himself up a bit, trying to focus past the pain of his powers ripping him apart and trying to destabalize by the technology of his bracelet. 

:'''{{#var:32|Power Girl (32)}} has posed:'''     Reaching the edge of the atmosphere, Power Girl is holding onto Chemo for the last few seconds, until... The exact moment she can feel two things. First, that she is no longer subject to atmospheric friction, and that she is no longer subject to gravity. Though it can't be heard in space, her grin accompanies a couple of words, one of which is definitely "finally", and the other of which also begins with F.     In that spare instant, she accelerates, breaching the speed of light as she travels towards the moon. She decelerates in an instant, still clinging to Chemo, but the moment she arrives, she will start slamming her fists into him. Her intent? To break apart the shell and expose the goop, so that he is no longer a threat- either left to freeze on the moon, or left to remain sludge incapable of incorporating itself without the shell. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Iron Man has a short little private chat with his AI about the various dangers and injuries the population is sustaining, potential strategies for containing it, and requests a variety of medical support from his contacts, directing to where it should be staged. They'll need the hospitals to be prepared. Radiation treatments. All those things non-veteran heroes don't think about. Tony's got a program for that. Otherwise, Iron Man focuses on aerial support at first, launching bolts as needed to support those already here on the scene (pew pew, debris explosions!), as he's not entirely up to speed on what's going on yet. "If you make me come down there and scrape you up, I won't be happy," Tony admonishes Drake through Snowball's speaker. "I still haven't upgraded a super-spatula into these suits. With how often it comes up, you really think I would add it. But no, always optimistic---" Yeah, Iron Man's on his way on down; he'll hover roughly near Drake and take in the readings on the villain and whoever Blackout is. While he was talking and shooting here and there, of course. If Blackout clearly needs assistance, those shots will be aimed that way. Priorities. 

:'''{{#var:1328|Blackout (1328)}} has posed:'''     Blackout seems to talk over a radio within his mask and he starts running toward the armored vehicle. He will arrive at the same time as the camo guy and the business man carrying the briefcase. They all take shelter behind the armored truck.     Equinox tracks Blackout's movements, but also spots the arrival and looming threat of Iron Man. He decides it's best to depart. He says nothing as he turns his entire body into flame and flies northward at super-star sonic speeds.     Meanwhile, on the moon. After the speed-of-light movement, there is nothing left of Chemo as he was completely disintegrated by the E=MC2 moment. And Power Girl has nothing to pummel.     Iron Man will discern that Blackout is covered by Darkforce armor. An interdimensional substance that protects him from harm. He seems to be trying to protect the businessman with the briefcase.     Police/Fire/Rescue/Paramedics/HAZMAT/Damage Control/etc are en route. Police/Fire are closest and will be first responders within a few rounds. Bystanders are still fleeing the scene. Trying to clear the outdoor plaza. 

:'''{{#var:32|Power Girl (32)}} has posed:'''     Power Girl doesn't stop to take a breath, with Chemo dispersed. Instead, she spins in the air, and begins booking it back to Earth. It'll take her mere seconds, but she's not going directly back to the combat- instead, she stops off at the office, delaying her arrival by another few spare moments, unwilling to handle civilians while garbed in a set of clothes that are, well, genuinely harmful. Her body disperses the radiation fine- and her skin won't be harmful by the time she gets there. The suit, though, has become a hazard.     The benefit of being impossibly fast is that she returns in less than a minute- likely even less than half of a minute, though she can't breach the light-barrier in atmosphere or risk... Basically everything.     When she returns, she finally speaks over the JL communications to Iron Man, in the meantime moving to get any and all civilians out of harm's way.     "It wasn't a party, and if it was, it was definitely not one of mine." 

:'''{{#var:1353|Drake (1353)}} has posed:''' There is a pained whimper from Drake, "Yes sir." He gets out as he slowly pushes himself up to his feet as he clutches his stomach with a loud cough of blood. "I'm fine, sir." He looks fine. You can tell by the way he barely holds himself up and how he is shaking like a leaf in a tornado. Snowball tucks herself under his arm to straighten him up as he blinks through glazed eyes at the chaos. He coughs again, feeling the sting and burn of toxins in the air, then gives the front of his shirt a tug upwards to cover his mouth. "Where do you need me at, sir?" 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "A medical bed in the Avenger's mansion. I even have your ride," Tony answers Drake. "You're all done." Firm. The Avenger leader's word is law. Tony recalls the two other robotic suits; one of them appears to be going to babysit Drake rather obviously, standing over him. Probably the 'ride' mentioned. "Man, alright, I hate arriving just in time to watch people clean up. A bit too far on 'fashionably late'," Tony sighs at Power Girl, and then heads right on over to the armored truck, and the group there. "Hi," Iron Man projects casually. "Still have all your parts?" And certainly scanning to see what this whole thing is about. If they're transporting something dangerous, he's certainly curious to know about it. 

:'''{{#var:1328|Blackout (1328)}} has posed:'''     <dropping out of combat phases>      Blackout notes the arrival of Iron Man and states to the Camo guy, "Reggie, Handle him.". Blackout then notes as he starts walking the businessman away, "Iron Man, we'll talk later. This is time sensitive." Blackout then escorts the Businessman with the briefcase skirting around the combat area to the 7 floor building where they will be greeted by security and escorted deeper into the building.     The Camo guy says, "Iron Man, I'm Reginald Ipsum Locum. You should know the following. Mr Matterson is carrying technical information to Frost International and it is quite time sensitive. Non dangerous. Safety of the world and all that. Or something important. I'm just a hired guard. So, it's best to just let them handle their tech info stuff. Thanks."     Police/Fire/Paramedics/HAZMAT arrive and begin the decontamination of the area and help with civilian injuries/contamination. Damage Control representative Robin Chapel arrives on the scene and will begin working with departments to organize a good cleanup and proper repair of the Plaza. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' “Yay, I get to be handled,” Tony quietly remarks to ‘himself’ dryly. JARVIS answers inside the suit mildly, “Does that ever work, sir?” ”Aren’t you supposed to be on my side?” While in full scan mode, yes, Tony heard he was to be handled. However, he’s personable, and lands smoothly to be talked at. “Sure thing. I have about eight meetings I’m supposed to be attending. Let’s go for Monday. Unless it’s truly safety of the world, then I can squeeze in my debrief maybe tomorrow after two.” And yes, he’ll scrape up Drake. Who is about to have a great time in Avengers’ medical. 
}}

3934/Get some REST.

2018-02-22T05:54:24Z

Malky:

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2018/02/05
|Location=Avengers Medical Lab.
|Synopsis=Pepper and Tony speak after Tony's surgery.
|Cast of Characters=22, 83
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' The bundle of news for Pepper is bizarre. In the afternoon today, of February 5th, a medical emergency occurred in the Avengers Mansion: Tony collapsed, while in the presence of Bruce Wayne. Supposedly, Tony had been in the Iron Man armor for a few hours previous, using it in some manner to stay stable, but when he removed the armor, he fell unconscious and vital signs crashed. Wayne assisted briefly to help as much as he could to get Tony on medical support, then left once Tony was moved: he was taken to the medical bay, and Dr. McCoy arrived rapidly to do an emergency procedure, with several assistants via remote. The procedure took hours. And the danger was very, very real. There were some complications. There were blood clots that had been causing additional problems in Tony's upper chest and lungs, and the dangerous procedure took a very long time dealing with those in addition to all of the other difficulties. That Tony had avoided treatment for so long was clearly evident in the variety of bonus troubleshooting that had to be done. It included a full replacement of his poisoned blood, among other things, but the casing of the Arc node reactor was replaced entirely with the new one. The reactor itself is still the old model, as the new one is locked away in Stark Tower. Tony hasn't been awake yet. It's been about 9 hours. He has a myriad of cables and tubes all over his upper torso: leads into and around the reactor and the heavily discolored skin and flesh there, some IVs into right arm, and the various functions of the high tech 'bed' itself, which already looks like something of an iron lung. Tony has been a rough shade of gray. He's off of the assisted breathing, at least, but hasn't yet proven he's capable of being awake. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' On the outside, Pepper has been nothing but a dream during it all. Coordinating anything needed from the tower, carefully controlling any rumors that might be getting out to the press, delaying any meetings he might have foolishly wanted to have by several weeks, putting things off of her own calendar, ensuring that the business is ready to run itself for several days (or longer) if needed, and answering what questions a few of the Avengers might have with obtuse but honest information. She has been a dream of efficiency, as ever, to the outside world. Interally, she hasn't stopped screaming since he collapsed. She spent as much time out side of the operating theater as possible, between coordinating the business, but she always came back to waiting. When they let her into the room with him? She hasn't moved since. The first several hours were spent directing traffic and business remotely, but eventually even she ran out of work to do. Then she read to him. A chapter of her favourite book. A chapter of what she thought might be his. The article about him from People magazine last year. Anything she could find. She begged and prayed to some god she didn't even know she believed in. She cried. But she waited. And, about twenty minutes ago, her body finally gave up. Even the seemingly super human Pepper can only go so long. So, she's sunk down at his side. Her arm stretched out beside his, her hand cupped over his cool palm, her cheek resting on the mattress beside his shoulder. She's dead asleep, holding loosely onto him and waiting. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Even when barely conscious, Tony is disruptive. His little beeping machines change their tune as his heart rate and breathing changes. Still with eyes closed, he wrinkles his nose and tosses one hand sideways, shoving one of the monitors that was over his chest and head FLYING. He's suddenly sitting up, against part of the restraint, the gray turned to absolute white pallor as he reacts in extreme disorientation. Tony is back in that cave, and the raw smell of medicine and metal shrieks in his nose and mind. His hands jerk inwards towards his chest, expecting the huge battery nearby and the cold leads slithering out along his ribcage. Terror bucks and he's unable to breathe, trying to deal with the drugged haze of panic. Sensation rushes out of his hands and legs: he couldn't stand if he wanted to, but that doesn't mean he won't fight and try, gagging, and coughing up from the injured stress through throat and lungs from the ordeal of the surgery. He's too weak to do more than that, which makes the panic mount: he's in that cave and going to die. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' So much for sleep. It wasn't restful anyway. The moment Tony starts moving and fighting, Pepper jerks herself awake with a sharp breath inwards. "Tony!" She half yelps, her worried voice cutting across the sound of crying monitors. She reaches her fingertips up, trying to reach for his struggling hands. One she catches, the other she reaches her fingertips to his cheek instead, trying to soothe and wake him at the same moment. "Tony! You're safe! Tony, it's me...It's Pepper. You're safe, please, breathe... breathe with me. Please." 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' He smells like sweat and fear, blood and disinfectants. His fingers are particularly icy as she grips them, sensation gone from them as his reaction truly revved up. He can't really even fumble to pull at the leads due to the stress reaction his body is going through. However, Pepper's fingers on his face and cheek bring greater success. His eyes are then open, although similarly alarmed and not at all present in the room with her at first. But then she registers, and his dark eyes focus, wet from a mix of the panic and sweat. But he registers on her and gags out a breath, and then does make a real effort to breathe with her, letting his head rock backwards, throat exposed. A deep breath. And then, voice very deep and ragged: "I..." a pause. "Told you I'd be fine," Tony says. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' While she'd like to give a smart remark in tone, she's too busy actually just trying to coach him to breathe. Another deep breath in, slower this time, and then out again. He doesn't even get one of her signature smirks with that comment, but her fingertips carefully trace over the cold sweat of his cheek, her the pad of her thumb across the edge of his jaw, "Hey...yes, well... Take another breath and maybe I'll start believing it." She mutters quietly, before running him through another slow inhale and exhale. Her green eyes glimmer with tears that she hasn't quite spent, not daring to let them across her lashes, but she's on the edge of crying never the less. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "And you're crying with dismay that you aren't rid of me? That's what I wake up to?" Tony admonishes her, but there's no real weight at all to it, just a sort of flat little /attempt/ to try to be himself. There's a gentle undertone in it that is an aftermath of the panic. A panic he's now doing his best to push away and close back down inside himself. He manages to drag his right hand, IV and all, kind of up to her, with absolutely zero finesse, and attempts to sort of draw her head in towards him. "C'mere, I'm not made of glass," Tony says, voice stronger now as he gets his bearings. It isn't for a kiss, but it has an intimate intensity of pulling her close, maybe towards his neck and shoulder. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' A breathy, faint laugh escapes her lips which is as edged with tears as her eyes are. But she it's a laugh, at least. "I'm...not crying. It'd mess up my eyeliner." She teases back with a glimmer of her normal self coming through also. But then his hand is coming up, trying to pull her in towards him, and she comes immediately. She doesn't want him to shift any more than he has to. Fortunately slim, and the bed is generous for a hospital bed, she slips up onto the edge of that bed to almost sit next to him, but she's slipping into his grasp as well. It's not a kiss. This is so much more than a kiss, and was so much more needed. She half buries herself into his throat and shoulder, wrapping her now free hand across his stomach and over his ribs. It's almost a hug, but more intimate and a touch more desperate. "...glass would be easier to fix than you are." She whispers against his neck. ANd a touch of that dampness which she insists hasn't been cried, well, it follows. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "If 'easy' is a priority for you, /man/ are you in the wrong bed," Tony replies with a small laugh that degrades into an actually really painful series of coughs. But he settles. "Don't be funny, it hurts." A pause. "I'm talking to myself. You're fine." Tony is a little bit high, and it is showing on the edges. But that means he is in less pain, and it's making him as chatty as he actually is. He does decide to reduce his moving, though, carefully adjusting his shoulderblades in the bed and just letting his muscles go lax. His arm with the IV adjusts from her head to hook the fingers on her raised shoulder, though. He turns his head to set his chin against her forehead. It says a lot more than whatever nonsense is coming out of him verbally next, no doubt. "You're fine as-is." ....or perhaps not nonsense. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' Part of Pepper is certain a nurse is going to be charging through that door any moment, pulling her away from him to check vitals and probably help with that cough, but she doesn't get up yet. She's going to take every last moment wrapped up against him as possible. She turns her head up, just enough to kiss against the stubble of his cheek, on that edge of his goatee. She takes a deep breath of his sweat and stale, disinfectant scent. She doesn't care -- it's him. "I'm fine and you are high as a kite but... you... You will be fine. They... got all the worst of it out. They couldn't replace the reactor because, dammit, you weren't near home and it wasn't anywhere close in time... but they got all the... toxic stuff out of you now. You're fine..." For now. She didn't have the heart to add that, even if it hung in the air. Her arm tightened against his ribs just a big more, a firm, tender squeeze as she tucks her nose into his neck. "...I love you. God, you scared me." The words just come spilling out before she can stop them. Maybe he doesn't hear. Maybe her whisper was too buried in his neck. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "I--," Tony informs her, lifting the hand that's resting on her shoulder, "--Can change out the /reactor/ like, like that," Finger snap against her upper arm from those fingers. Barely. It's a sad snap, but he just had major surgery. "It was the casing-- that makes it feel like the Hulk is sitting on my chest again." Again. He doesn't know about the complications, obviously, so he's saying what he does know. When she turns her head to kiss his unshaven upper cheek, he has his eyes closed, saving all the energy he can, since she wasn't looking at his face, far as he could tell. But he heard her last comments. Or did he? He's not sure how high he actually is. "Evvvverybody loves me, yep," Tony hears himself say, "--but you can call me 'Tony', not 'God,'" Tony says. He heard. He just can't seem to be a functional person about it. The feels - he can't manage them, and in rolls the humor, defensively. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' Well, at least she didn't make it more awkward. Pepper's breath stops for just a few moments, on the edge of his skin and more words she wants to say, but a faint, aching laugh just escapes her lips against his chin. "...I know. Well... you still need to rest up so you can go back to being God... or Tony, or whatever you want to be called. Go back to sleep. Heal up. I...I'm here. I'm not going anywhere." She promises softly against his jaw, not daring to pick her head up again so he can't see the array of emotions on her face. The biggest is relief, in truth... but there are so many others. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "Naaaah, I don't need to sleep," Tony says, in his usual manner. If nothing else he's done or said really screams of Tony and their little negotiations, this one does. Particularly with the drug in his system making him extra amiable yet somehow impossibly harder to convince to do anything. "/You're/ going to worry I'm dead again," Tony reminds her. "You know, I think if I did die, I'd really miss you," Tony adds, similarly quietly to her own soft promise of tone, moving just a bit to settle his cheek on her head, his breathing even. Funny little truths of his own squished amid jokes and sarcasm? Yes, absolutely. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' "...then I guess you simply can't die, and we won't have to worry about it." Pepper rasps out gently against his neck, tucking her head a bit closer, her soft hair brushing up against his cheek as he rests himself there. He can, if he's able to feel much of anything, sense a few inches of tension relax out of her shoulders and body. She exhales slowly and just relaxes into him. Somehow, she's gotten a touch more up on the bed. SHe's no longer just leaning, but completely stretched out at his side, her legs pressed against the outside of his thigh, her small body totally tucked into the crook of his neck. "...but sleep you could do. I promise not to worry... Too much. We both need the sleep." 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "Definitely not, unless you scheduled death on my agenda and didn't tell me," Tony answers with better cheer, that causes the little laugh again that hurts, and he coughs into it, a bit better this time. He can feel her against him, can sense a good deal from it, despite his pain, because even if he's just a carnival of verbal bullshit, he is leaning on her emotionally. Not that he'd realize it or even tell her if he did realize it. "Do you feel like we have ... an expiration date with this?" Tony asks, uncomfortably, in the same voice he's asked her if things were too weird. Shadow of the blue dress. "Instead of ... a real date." Something Clint said lingered with him. Is she afraid that he will turn away once he's healthy again? And... WILL he? 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' "...If you promise me you're not dying... We sure as hell have no expiration date, Tony. Because...that's the only way this ends. I'm here otherwise. I'm not going anywhere. I've been here for the worst...I sure as hell hope, some day, we get some of the best too. I'll be waiting until then... helping you along the way. Then... then we finally get that date. And a lot more, I hope." She's the one who just rambled out her feelings in a spill of words he maybe... MAYBE won't even remember in the morning. She might as well be honest about the rest of it. She turns her head up just enough to press a soft kiss against the edge of his mouth. "But... getting to that better means rest. Trusting in Dr. McCoy... taking it easy. So, do that for me, will you?" 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Tony is listening to her. Sort of. He's having a rainbow time in the drugs, which beep a little, feeding more in. But he's coherent: at least for a few more moments, to listen. Major surgery, it turns out, is somewhat effective at making Tony less chatty. Not quiet, /less/. Tony angles his hand off her shoulder and seeks out under her cheek, to kiss her mouth. It's exhausted, but he really /wanted/ to, so he put the energy into it. His head drops back just afterward, and he swallows. "I can survive anything, Pep," Tony says with confidence. "/You/... are the one-- to actually --sleep," he says, smiling a little. "Here's fine. I'll make sure ...YOU sleep," Tony murmers. And the drugs and exhaustion takes him, into his own rest, his head and arm across her relaxed as he finally does rest. 
}}

3872/Rising Tide: Skye ... and stuff

2018-02-22T05:51:31Z

Malky: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2018/02/14 |Location=Avengers Medical Lab |Synopsis=Clint visits Tony in medical. They have an interesting friendship built on sarcasm. |Cast of Ch..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2018/02/14
|Location=Avengers Medical Lab
|Synopsis=Clint visits Tony in medical. They have an interesting friendship built on sarcasm.
|Cast of Characters=22, 137
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' One of the little drones that Tony has been sending around to do his beck and call (which usually ends up fetching things, getting information, or sending messages), lurks on into the room that Clint is in. In a creepy way: it slides in sideways, the rounded screen on the front of it seeming to just... quietly spy. It's particularly creepy in restrooms when it does this. The droid waits until it is noticed, little flight-servos rotating gently to keep it aimed the correct direction. Then it makes a sound like a car being located in a parking lot, chirping loudly. "Come visit meeeeee," Tony's voice requires, in a long-suffering, bored tone. 

:'''{{#var:137|Clint Barton (137)}} has posed:''' Clint was taking a nap in the game room when the drone came up to him. He rubs the sleep out of his eyes and smiles at the message. "Yeah, I'm coming," he says and then follows the little drone to Tony's sick room. Once he's there, he says, "So, Nat's thing wore off huh?" he asks. "Must have gone easy on you." 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "Not really," Tony admits, groggy, as Clint comes in and asks him questions. On the upside, despite the grogginess, Tony does look less gray. Actually getting the rest, instead of staying up yet another night, is extremely useful to somebody recovering from physical trauma. "I don't think I'll be going for a jog anytime soon," Tony laments. "Not even in a suit." He's not really even sitting up, just laying back like the limp pile the Avengers left him in. He does have a drink nearby: somebody took pity on him. "What's the update? I'm on the edge of my ...bed." 

:'''{{#var:137|Clint Barton (137)}} has posed:''' Tony was looking a bit better which was good and it had been Clint who dropped off the drink, just water, while Tony had still been passed out. What are friends for, right? He heads over to the bed, "Need a hand sitting up, T?" he asks before launching into the update. "We've got comms with each other right now and some sort of net will be up world-wide in a couple of hours. Though, it'll be crappy 1990's net, but better than nothing. Priority for all comms though are going to ATC and emergency services." 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "Why, do I look like I'm unable to move?" Tony questions, and then grumbles. "I'm saving my energy to be a sparkling conversationalist," Tony clarifies, lifting one hand to point at Clint a little bit, wink, and click his tongue once. Tony does move a little. It ends up being something of a relaxed recline, as if this were all intentional. Tony's good at acting intentional. "Okay. I'll see if I can pitch in, in a couple hours. Although I don't mind not reliving the 90s." 

:'''{{#var:137|Clint Barton (137)}} has posed:''' "Honest answer, yeah, Tony you don't," Clint with a concerned look on his face. "But plus side, you do look better than yesterday." When Tony seems able to move on his own Clint backs off, grabs a chair, drags it over and sits beside the bed. "Do what you can, I mean fate of the world and all that but don't push yourself, otherwise Nat will be by for another visit." Not that Clint would rat him out but more that he suspected Nat would be keeping a closer eye on the billionaire now. He snorts about the 90's bit. "What not wanting to download porn a line of pixels at a time?" he asks. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "I had a slightly better connection than that, I don't really do 'waiting'," Tony winks. After all. Stark. He had better computing power than nearly anyone, even at that age. He promptly starts to push himself, just as Clint suggests he NOT do that, sitting up a hair more, and grabbing the drink. He has some. And makes a face. Ugh. WATER. "So. Without the audience or recordings going," Tony says, gesturing to his REALLY BORING medical room. "...Daisy." He drops the name, in the form of a question. Info wanted. And proves he /does/ very well know she's not named 'Mugwort' or any other various plant name. 

:'''{{#var:137|Clint Barton (137)}} has posed:''' "Oh right," Clint says cluing into what Tony's childhood must have been like. Likely worlds different growing up in Waverly, Iowa and trying to look up dirty pictures with his older brother at the computer in the town library. "You were probably half-way into one of your degrees by that point." When Skye is brought up, Clint shifts the chair a bit closer to the bed. "She's still in with them," he says with a bit of a sigh. "And Trying to work a way to take them down from the inside." he explains. "What's up? Curious or...?" he asks. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "Yep, and ...building Dummy," Tony agrees offhandedly with a brief smile for that past, drinking the water again... and reacting the same way. Agh. It's STILL water. What is this torture. He puts it aside with a reproachful look at it, but doesn't add a comment: since he doesn't know it was Clint's gift. No fun to jab if the giftor isn't present. "You say that like I don't /care/," Tony says in mock injury. "Any clue when her sentence ends?" 

:'''{{#var:137|Clint Barton (137)}} has posed:''' Clint laughs and shakes his head. "God, you built your robot helpers in the 90's," he says with a shake of his head. Tony really was good, so much so it was annoying sometimes. The reaction to the water is met with a smirk from Clint, "They were all out of vodka," he lies. Realizing that Tony was just being a friend with the question, Clint settles back and says, "Sorry, just used to talking business with everyone since this began, but I am hoping it's done soon, I mean this is her first mission like this and she's been under for over a month," the worry shows through on Clint's face. It's not the frenzied panic of that first night drinking at May's but the slow burning worry, that eats at you bit by bit. He scrubs a hand through his hair. "It's getting dicey, that hack they tried on you, I guess she did well in all of that, because it put her on the map with the Rising Tide again, and their patron, this Karl guy, he's sizing her up to be the next leader of the group. Except, this guy's all sorts of scary, money, mercs and we still have no idea who he is," he sits back in his chair. "Good news is there's a game plan to end this and we've got her some security, but yeah, I'll be happy when this is done though." 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "I /am/ really good, yes, but you can call me 'Tony', not 'God'," Tony says in his cheerful little way. And then takes in the betrayal that Clint brought him water, and just shakes his head some in deep injury. "I am never out of vodka," Tony replies. "I can understand it, I'm always all business," Tony snorts. But takes in all of the descriptions, since he asked for them. "/Some/ security? You don't sound all that thrilled." A pause. "Sounds challenging." Meaning, Tony's interested. "Once we're done kicking their ass at satellite whack-a-mole, I'll see what I can pitch in. Unless, once /again/, I'm going to be watching the messes unfold to keep her cover." 

:'''{{#var:137|Clint Barton (137)}} has posed:''' Clint laughs and truth be told, he needed to. "Guess I should take down my altar to you then, huh?" he says, with a laugh. "Huh. Must not have looked hard enough," Clint says about the vodka. "Anyhow, it's good to drink something other than booze sometimes. I know, I know, yes, it's really me saying that." Clint snorts right along with Tony but doesn't make further comment there. "The security isn't me, so definitely not thrilled, but with my face on posters and lunch boxes, I am out of the running there," he says. "So I've got to sit on my ass and wait for the call that the end game is going down." Though when it comes to Tony pitching in, he says, "Fuck no. Kick their asses. What they're doing, it needs to stop and besides, if I understand the plan right, the more hits they take easier it will be to drive them together and take them down." 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "I did not need to know about your creepy worship of me, Barton," Tony answers. "I also don't want to know what else you did other than bring me that glass of water," Tony says, in mock horror. "....Ever." Tony narrows his eyes, but the smile leaks through. He's pleased to not be alone in the medical lab. Helps to have a friend to play with. Less crawling the walls! "Great. I have /so/ many things I'd like to do in return for their attempt on the tower. I have an AI that isn't done trying to eat code that I'd love to unleash somewhere other than internally." 

:'''{{#var:137|Clint Barton (137)}} has posed:''' Clint smiles, all teasing aside as much as it's good for Tony to have company it's good for Clint to have someone to talk to about Skye. He felt like he'd been carrying it on his own for so long. "Probably best we keep it that way," Clint says about what else he might have done. Which was nothing, of course, but the joke had to go on. "Now that could be fun," he says about the AI. "Let me get in touch with Skye, I am sure she can give us some Rising Tide systems we can unleash that thing on." 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Whether Tony is intentionally helping Clint air about Skye is ... unlikely. The man is not exactly captain feelings. But good accidents can still happen. "Yeah. Destroy the survelliance. Yep." Which he probably does have. "Yeah, I like it. Gift basket of burning shit for their doorstep. An old classic; even better via homicidally destructive AI that I definitely can control." 

:'''{{#var:137|Clint Barton (137)}} has posed:''' Clint chuckles, "Definitely for the best," he says about the video. And hey, if the unburdening about Skye was an accident, it was a happy one. "Heh. You do a lot of that? Leaving shit on people's doorsteps?" Clint had delinquent he'd been. He checks his watch, one of those heart rate tracking ones. "It'll be a few hours before I can reach out to Skye again, but I'll see if she can give us a few doorsteps we can leave a burning bag or two on." 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "Literally bags? ... no," Tony says, with a similar nostalgic smile that he had related to Dummy. "Worse," Tony amends. And watches the watch checking. He doesn't seem annoyed by it. He's still pretty sedated, and sleepy. If Clint wanders off, Tony probably will only put up the obligatory comment about it! "Okay. You can count on me ... to create a lot of shit." 

:'''{{#var:137|Clint Barton (137)}} has posed:''' Clint nods, "I believe it," he says about Tony getting up to a higher level of childhood fuckery. The watch check though? More to see when his next comms window with Skye is than a looking for an excuse to bail. "Well, we always count on you for that Tony," he jokes before he says. "So got a few hours before I can reach out to Skye, so, should I leave you to some 'rest'" by which he means work. "Or should we see if Simon left a bunch of his old movies around or something?" 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "Vision gave me 'Sex in the City'," Tony says, with a rebellious tone. "I don't want to think about what he wants me to take from that -- ....So absolutely, yes, Simon's movies," Tony agrees with an urgency. Even if he'll probably end up passing out during one, he'll get in a good chain of MST3K commentary to at least enjoy the start of one! 
}}

3828/Rising Tide: Hatching a Satellite-shaped Plan

2018-02-22T05:49:47Z

Malky: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2018/02/08 |Location=Avengers Medical Lab |Synopsis=Avengers Assemble to discuss getting the internet back. In Tony's hospital room. |Cast of Chara..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2018/02/08
|Location=Avengers Medical Lab
|Synopsis=Avengers Assemble to discuss getting the internet back. In Tony's hospital room.
|Cast of Characters=22, 137, 70, 1195, 198
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' The lack of internet is a big problem. After all, 'Rogue' needs to be able to watch her you-tube cats, doesn't she? And Tony had some other things he was doing, that need not be mentioned at all. His cocktail of medication has made his browsing and communication out of the medical bay somewhat multi-faceted. Even so, he has no issue rallying the internally connected robot drones, and sends them out all over the place to examine all the wiring and determine the causes of what is blocking his streaming videos. He needs to see what happens on the next episode he's entirely not binge-watching through a haze of 'healing'. But it has also, indeed, caused a meeting to suddnely manifest on top of him, as he's an obvious one to drag into the current apparent problem. He already has converted the side of the medical bed he's on to be his personal high tech interface, linked through into a cheerful droid hovering near his large quantity of wires and leads that flow in (and out...) of his chest into the monitoring consoles. "I hope you guys bring your own chairs -- better yet, don't, I need the space to build some things," Tony comments over the internal comms. 

:'''{{#var:137|Clint Barton (137)}} has posed:''' Clint had been playing fireman with SHIELD for most of the day, not in the literal sense, but trying to keep the world from spinning out of control while brighter minds than his own tried to fix the internet. Which is why he's at the Mansion now, to see one of the brightest minds he knows, Tony. He'd been out circulation for the last while when it came to the Avengers so finding Tony in the sick room comes as a bit of a shock. "Hey T," Clint says stepping into the room. "Guessing things took a turn for the worst huh?" he asks, a little ashamed that he hadn't been paying attention. 

:'''{{#var:70|Scarlet Witch (70)}} has posed:''' Wanda was at the mansion when it all went to hell by virtue of the fact of being on monitor duty that evening. She was secretly bemused by the fact of being tapped for that duty, even as she'd protested that she was hardly rightly back. Of course it was all a matter of protesting for the sake of protesting, and once she'd gotten over the initial shock of being put on the roster, she'd been pleased. It spoke of being one of the group. Belonging. It felt good. However, it hadn't felt so good when that rogue message had taken over the screens, and then everything had gone dead. Tech wasn't her bit thing, so she'd left it alone, afraid of tampering, and gone looking for help instead. Which was how she ended up joining the group at Tony's bedside. 

:'''{{#var:1195|Dane Whitman (1195)}} has posed:'''     Take the helm, he said. No icebergs, he said. This is an iceberg. This is a British cruise ship sinking sized iceberg. Look, there is an old lady. She's going to doing something stupid with a priceless necklace, her doofus boyfriend is going to die, and the ship is going to go way, way down. It's a bad iceberg.     Dane is wearing a 'Hyrule Fencing Club' t-shirt and a pair of khakis. He looks scruffy-faced, and animated. "I cannot verify it, but there is this little paranoid voice in my head saying this is not just a New York issue. intermittent cellular access at best. No Internet of value. Telegraphy is unfortunately hard to handle most days. I blame young people." He deadpans. His mouth twists into a thin, hard line as he stalks towards Tony. "By the veil, Stark. You should be in blissful sleep, drooling into your immaculate, smug goatee." It's deadpan, but its affectionate. Barton gets more of a smile as Dane walks in. "Clint." His tone is warmer. He has a napkin in one hand. "I need to borrow Tony's brain for a moment. I have a work around. Maybe, but... yeah, I cannot handle some of the code." Ah, the curse of just being just a 'regular genius', rather than a super-genius? A napkin, like a barbarian. He has sketches and equations on a napkin. He must think he is Feinman or something!     "Could you get a micro satelite into orbit?" he asks. "Like, could I piggy back it up in a Quin--." He stares at Wanda for a moment, as if surprised to see her. "--Quinjet?" back to business, rubbing at his forehead with the napkin, smearing a little ink from it onto his forehead. "Or do I have to ride a horse into orbit?"     Again, he pauses, as if considering the absurdity of what he said and the even great absurdity that it could work, if it were small enough. he holds out the napkin towards Tony, because who wouldn't want to see it? 

:'''{{#var:198|Vision (198)}} has posed:''' Vision rises from the floor like a wraith... a wraith wearing a festive sweater. It is amazing how many different sweaters the synthazoid owns. So far no one has seen him wear the same sweater twice. There is probably a betting pool on it somewhere. Anyways, the synthetic cyberbentic organism looks.. unhappy. There is a grumpy expression on his face. "Anthony Stark!" he intones, ignoring everyone else for a second. "While I understand you are bored, and while I know you felt slighted when I halted your attempt to search through my browser history for your sickbed entertainment last night, I am experiencing agitation at your antics. What have /you/ done to the internet access from the Mansion. I was offline for 12 hours for my monthly deep defragmentation cycle and could not relink when woke up." So aparently Vision thinks this is some of Tony's tomfoolery and doesn't know quite what is really happening at the moment. He then notes that there are others in the room. "My apologies.." 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "They didn't fill you in, Barton? Must not have wanted to distract you. I know how deeply you care for my welfare, and it would have made you unable to function, to know I was on death's doorstep. I can tell by all the balloons and flowers you didn't send," Tony teases. The room has a few weird objects in it, but certainly no balloons or flowers as described. "Not even a Daisy," Tony snorts at Clint, and collapses into heavy coughing and rattling that makes one of the machines have a flashing fit across it. Tony does something on the console and the flashing stops. Because it makes sense to just shut off the alarm instead of fixing what the alarm was warning about. Really. "Absolutely can get something into orbit. Sure. I have about eight ways to do that, even without internet," Tony says. "Although half of them require me at least connecting to the Tower," Stark admits, and seems to ... start to work on probably just that. "MK, drop your pants again, girl," Tony asks of the droid, and the droid helpfully drops a mass of cords and wires, which Tony twists ... uncomfortably--- to reach out and dig around in with his right hand, making a face and turning somewhat pale. "Vision, yes, absolutely, I did this while unconscious. I'm pretty magical. See, I don't think you WANT to connect to the mess right now." And then... the travesty. The napkin. Tony pauses, accepts the napkin. Turns it right side up. "Is this an intentional line or did you use it to wipe up a spill?" Tony asks Dane, indicating a part on the left of the diagram. 

:'''{{#var:137|Clint Barton (137)}} has posed:''' Clint might have been offended, being all down about missing the news about Tony's condition and then having it thrown in his face all jokingly like that, fortunately he speaks Tony and just smiles. "Hey, I thought all my free relationship advice had me covered for all of that stuff," Clint jokes before flinching at the Daisy thing. "Low blow Tony," he warns quietly. He still has to keep up the act here. When the others arrive they're greeted in turn, "Wanda, Dane, Viz," he says one after the other before adding a sotto voice "Alllllviiinn," mostly to himself. His attention focuses on Vision after that, different sweater today, his bet in the pool is still safe, but beyond all that, "Wasn't Tony's fault this time, the net's down world wide, courtesy of the Rising Tide." Oh and his girlfriend, who also shot him, but he leaves that part out. 

:'''{{#var:70|Scarlet Witch (70)}} has posed:''' Wanda finds a perch in the room, quiet until she's greeted, which earns Clint a smile from the woman. And then a sympathetic look, "You should not be so sad, no? We will take you out and make you forget the girl who broke your heart." She tsks at Tony. "I do not think even being ill forgives you that." Wanda looks thoughtful at the remainder of Clint's words, looking to the others in turn. "This is why the monitors went down, yes? They did not sound an alarm. Only this.." She makes a small gesture with a hand. "It was annoying. And then there was nothing." Annoying in the way her father's speeches are annoying. Which is to say much of it she tuned out in favour of sparing herself the need for a reply. 

:'''{{#var:1195|Dane Whitman (1195)}} has posed:'''     "Look. Valinor might have grabbed at the napkin. Mistakes were made." Dane gets a little defensive. Horse spit. That is horse spit. "But the equations work. I can keep it under 200 kilos, if we use mylar antennae. 250, if you want to be a little more robust." That is a lot of weight. "I know. It's heavy as hell, but you have to shield it, and since it's not like I have a spare telecommunications tapping spy apparatus laying around, i have to kit bash it a little. You want it done tomorrow, or you want it pretty?" he pauses. "That?" He indicates another stain. "That's a bit of apple I used to bribe the horse so he would give me the napkin back." Dane clears his throat. "He, uhm, gets cranky when he cannot watch Mister Ed." The delivery is so straight and uninflected it is difficult for folks who do not know him to tell if it was a joke. It wasn't.     Dane pushes a hand through his hair. it's a sure sign he's a little nervous. In a fight, he's confident as hell. Heck, around almost any other scientists in the world, he's confident; he invented real lightsabers and genetically engineered flying horses for goodness sakes! Around the real elite brains though, he gets this ever-so-slight complex. His back is a little more ramrod straight. His body language is more agitated; it's hard to go from being the smartest person in a room to being somewhere in the middle.     "Vision? you want to look at this? Your expertise with miniaturizing my work, which I tend to over-engineer was invaluable during the cybernetic limbs we made. Please?" That was more sincere.     He tries not to look at Wanda. "Nice to have you back." He looks over at his friend Vision, and reaches a hand over to gently grasp a sweater-clad Elbow as Dane steps back to let the other brains look at his work.     This is oddly barebones. Dane tends to build for durability. He obviously learned something from Vision on their earlier work, but the Android can find places to shed excess. He looks at Clint, and indicates the equipment Tony shut the alarm off on, as if asking the other man to see what it was.     This entire time, his cheeks have been reddening ever-so-slowly. 

:'''{{#var:198|Vision (198)}} has posed:''' Vision frowns, looking SOMEWHAT mollified but still confused. He crosses his arms over his chest, floating a foot above the ground as he listens to Tony, and Clint, and Dane, and even Wanda. It takes him milliseconds to parse all the different conversation strings. The Rising Tide. You mean the organisation of hacktivists, The Rising Tide." he states neutrally to both Tony and Clint, then cants his head. "Considering I have been 'off the grid' on a consulting matter in space until yesterday morning, I must profess I have not synced with the mansion's logs to get an update on their status. I was waiting until after my defragmentation cycle." he explains. "But I fail to see what orbital access has to do with alleviating this problem....." He is led by Dane to the apparatus, still frowning. "What is it you are wishing me to miniaturize. Why is no one attempting to reformat and retake control of the Internet Exchange Points? Maybe I should try hooking up to this new network and see what I can surmise..." he trails off a moment and looks to Wanda. "Is Clint Barton having romantic troubles?" he asks. He looks VERY confused right now. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Oh, right. There's things to keep track of and not leak. Tony actually looks baffled about being called out for the Daisy thing. Oh, well, he'll just look bad, that's fine. Better than the alternative his misake could have caused. "I," Tony 'warns' Clint in return, "Am on some wonderful pain management. Don't confuse the patient who had major surgery; ---let me get you a drink," Tony answers, which is as much of an apology about the Daisy situation as Tony will spare for now. "Also, I /did/ talk to Pepper," Tony adds to Clint in a mysterious way. And keys on his console. Dane may have the best guess as to what THAT is about: more drink orders. "What do you want? Shaken is best, this droid mostly spills," Tony asks. "Ok, good start. It can be heavy: we can hurl an elephant up there. So, pull this entire side off-- it can be oriented this way. Replace this array," Tony says, pulling a pen out of the droid and starting to note on the napkin. He gets a 'wtf am I doing' expression, and uses the damn console, putting up a rework on the medical monitor where his stats were previously. Don't need /those/. "I think we should do BOTH things, Vision. Let's both go in the front door, but also around the back." There's another pause. At Wanda. "....Wait. Don't you ...heal?" Tony asks. 

:'''{{#var:137|Clint Barton (137)}} has posed:''' Wanda's smile is returned by Clint and he gives her a nod. "Sounds good," he says of a night out to forget some heartache, even the fake sort. "Welcome back by the way," he says though her monitor comment earns a slight addition. "All the way back if you're on monitor duty. And yeah, that would do it, the equipment should be working but there's nothing coming to them." Clint tries not to look so confused through what Dane says and most of what Vision says until he gets to the end. "And yeah, Skye shot me Viz, it was fun times. She's off with these Rising Tide people," he says before he looks to the brains about Vision's idea. "So, is that going to work? I can get SHIELD to help if we need bodies for that." Tony's reply is met with a nod, "Sure, when you're not on those wonderful pain meds, also, good news about that talk," he offers Tony a fistbump. 

:'''{{#var:70|Scarlet Witch (70)}} has posed:''' Wanda ducks her head with a sudden shyness at Clint's welcoming her back. "It is good to be back with friends," she murmurs. Her lips twitching with a sudden smile as she nods. "I did not think I would be asked so soon. I should have run faster, no? Then I would be home in my own warm bed instead of here trying to understand what the rest of you are talking about." Especially Dane and Vision. Though she doesn't miss Dane's slightly abashed look her way, and even more sudden looking away. "Oh?" Tony's comment might not have been for her, but she perks up anyway. "You talked to a girl. About liking her, no? See, yes. But you are making no sense. This would all be easier if your mind were not all the fog of medicine." Again, she tsks at Tony, looking thoughtful, before heading over to his bed. "We will make this better." And without a by your leave, or a hello sailor, she puts her hands on Tony and does what Wanda does best - makes things happen the way she wants them to be. Cue, one much less injured Tony, without any remnant of drug addling. 

:'''{{#var:1195|Dane Whitman (1195)}} has posed:'''     "Who in here isn't having romantic trouble?" Dane actually snaps irrately. He immediately apologizes. "Uh, I'm sorry, Vision." He considers his words for a moment. "Ana left." he sounds a little numb over it. "She went back to Canada. I was too much the scientist, and not enough the sorcerer for her." Danee clears his throat, he must have something in it, because he so rarely shows an emotion that is not vaguely pugnacious. "But, that doesn't excuse me snapping at you. I'm sorry." Actual apologies from Dane Whitman; someone might want to note the date and time in the log. Though, it is unlikely too many will miss his half-demon girlfriend from Canada. He flicks his gaze to Clint, the only person he feels will catch the joke. "Now I am a nerd with an Ex-Girlfriend in Canada." Deadpan. His tone is more sincere. "I'm sorry Clint. She always seemed remarkably good." He gives Clint a look, then pivots his gaze back Tony.     He tilts a brow. "Vision and I have got this. You are triggering medical alarms. So, either get into the bed, or I stab you with my lightsaber. It will probably be set to stun. Probably. Let the brilliant android and the engineer handle the rest of it. I know, the lack of harlot red paint and gold-plating will upset your sensibilities, but we're on the clock here." He adds, "The sooner we get this satelite up, the sooner I can use photonic nerve manipulation to help you with your pain management so you can avoid that pesky opiate buzz." His body language continues to show his ill-ease as his arms slowly cross over his belly. Trying to be decent to people and not just being a defiant, headstrong malcontent is obviously making him uncomfortable.     "If we could get hold of Alpha Flight, or the Justice League, they are already in orbit. I don't trust either of them, though, to share our interests." Dane Whitman is really trying this 'be nice' thing, but apparently he still comes with trust issues fully installed. "If someone more trusting wants to get in touch with them, that might not be a bad idea." He tilts his head towards Wanda. "Everyone is in love with Wanda." He does watch her heal Tony, and he seems to wince a little from it, as if he can see the magic she's using. "Is it always so intense?" He asks softly. So, the scientist can see magic? 

:'''{{#var:198|Vision (198)}} has posed:''' Vision looks over his shoulder at Clinton for a moment, a bare brow raised. "Clint Barton. It would have to be something far worse that being shot by your paramour for your relationship to be suffering. If I am correct, she is nowhere near the first love interest of yours to try and harm you grievously with a firearm. As for being off with the rising tide... You are sure she is not undercover instigating a double cross. I mean, she /is/ a SHIELD agent, after all." he reminds him. He looks to Dane next and frowns. "/I/ am not having romantic trouble." he states matter of factly, "You have nothing to apologize for, though. I understand that the termination of a relationship can cause humans, especially human males, to become... I believe the word is testy? Though I wonder if the entomology of that word comes from Testes, as some sort of joke..." he wonders, then shakes his head. He looks to Tony and nods in agreement with Dane. "The Black Knight is correct. You need to rest. While your internet connection is indeed down, all the telemetry from your support machinery /is/ being recorded by my near field tempest sensors.. Which I will endevour to foreward to your doctor the moment we are able. if it will help you relax and alleviate your boredom I will give you access to all the seasons of Sex in the City which I have on my private internal storage server. 

:'''{{#var:198|Vision (198)}} has posed:''' Vision finally looks to Wanda and raises a brow. "Why would you think we would not ask you back, or as quickly as you were? You are an important member of this team. Far more important than /I/ am.: he says sincerely. "They called /me/ back, ergo, they would doubly call /you/ back." 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Tony is cured! He reacts as if he is, at any rate. "Let's do this. I have something perfect at the tower--" He grins at Wanda and immediately starts to unclip the bundles of wires off of his reactor, sitting up, and shoving the console aside with forearm. He's just in his comfortable pants, socks, little else-- And gets to his feet ----ANNNNNND down he goes with a crunch of metal on metal as the reactor slams into the side of the bed's railing as he spins in a lurch, partially catching himself on the console side as his legs do not have /any/ of what he's decided to try to do right now. So 'not dying' is also a lot different than 'ready to go for a jog'. "Oh hey, so, maybe I'll sit a little longer, and do the software part, instead," Tony says, in a voice that suggests he might vomit on the floor, clinging uncerimoniously to the edge of the bed, knuckles whitened. 

:'''{{#var:137|Clint Barton (137)}} has posed:''' Clint shoots Wanda a smile, "Might have been a smart idea," he says of running faster and avoiding monitor duty. "Did I leave my Sudoku book up there? If so have at," he says joking. Monitor duty was boring not much one could do about that. Dane gets a smile at the joke and a nod of thanks at the condolences. "Sorry to hear about, Ana too man. And yeah, relationship woes are sort the team hobby isn't it?" Then Vision's comments leave Clint blinking. "Hey that's not-" he begins to say. "No, okay, you're right, I've been shot by exes, before, but on principle, hey!" he says before crossing his arms over his chest. "She would have told me Vision, and she wouldn't have shot me," his eyes flick down and he scratches behind his ear. "She's definitely gone." He's almost glad when Tony tumbles he's glad of the distraction and he reaches out to grab Tony and keep him from falling out of bed entirely. "Whoa, easy there," he says before nodding when Tony says it might be a good idea to say put. "I've had the mystic healing thing done before, it throws you for a loop, trust me on that." A nod though is given to Wanda. "Good work," he says. 

:'''{{#var:70|Scarlet Witch (70)}} has posed:''' There are all sorts of things Wanda might have said to Clint. Perhaps even to Dane. or Vision. However, there is the small matter of one Tony Stark, bearer of more ego than ten men combined and not even close to the sense of one of them. "If you make me have to do that again," she tells him calmly as he sits back down after his aborted attempt to make like nothing is still wrong with him, "I will make it so that you can't move until you are all better. Perhaps not even that mouth of yours, hrm?" The way she says it is so deadpan and matter of fact, that one might believe she's serious. Quite so. For his troubles, she lets Tony wallow in his own nausea, hoping to impart upon him to take it easy. "I came back because of my father," she murmurs without meeting any glances, busying herself with smoothing down the top coverlet on Tony's bed, even though it's a pointless gesture, what with him still sitting on the bed, and not likely to be leaving it quite yet. "I read what he had done. Someone needed to stop him." And break him out of SHIELD. She didn't mention that part, even though the guilt of it still weighs heavily upon her. That, and the fact that he still bore all his powers. She hadn't stopped him at all. 

:'''{{#var:1195|Dane Whitman (1195)}} has posed:'''     As Dane starts to open his mouth to patiently (probably not) explain where 'testy' came from, Tony buckles. The archer gets a little help from the swordsman. He is gentle with Stark. "Come on, Tony." He reaches out for the napkin, and quietly says, "I'll be in the workshop. Could someone please send down some coffee for me?" He looks about the teammates for a moment. He looks down, then back up. "It's good to see you all again." He admits as he starts for the door. "I don't care why you came back, Wanda. It just isn't the same without you. Welcome back." His steps are brisk and his back is rigid.     His hand caresses his forehead. "And a burger?" he adds in a hurry. 

:'''{{#var:198|Vision (198)}} has posed:''' Vision stops and looks at Wanda a moment, regarding her thoughtfully. "That you returned to face your father is commendable, Wanda Maximoff. Believe you, me, when I say I understand how difficult that can be." he says with an actual real hint of sympathy. Which is probably not surprising considering that of all the people in this room, her father is the only one who is as infamous (if not more so) than his own. "It speaks of your strength of will and your sense of duty and honor." He looks to Clint, next, and shrugs. "Agent Skye is, or was, or is pretending not to be but still is a SHIELD Agent. So are, or were, you. You understand the need for compartmentalization and operations security. What you think may be the truth could be something else entirely.. And it is not like you have /not/ withheld information yourself, or led others to believe one thing when another was the truth, either." he points out. To Tony... well.. he can only sigh and shake his head. "You doctor will not be pleased, regardless of the mystically accelerated healing, if you continue to bash yourself like that." Finally, he looks to Dane as he walks to his workshop. "I will join you momentarily, Dane Whitman. I need to go by my oen laboratory first to get some tools and supplies..." he says and then wit a nod to everyone else he sinks back down through the floor. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "As the most... senior ranking Avenger here... enough talking. Particularly about me bashing anything; I'm fine. So. Assembly... assembled. You kids go storm the castles -- make the things happen," Tony directs vaguely, but then decouples the assembly from the side of the bed and hands it towards Dane -- or Vision, since Vision says he is going to follow him. A clear 'here, go make it'. "Don't use the damn napkin; here." Until Vision is fading down through the floor. And the design is not taken from him. Sigh. Tony attempts to get the tablet of plans handed off onto whoever will take them. "Get that napkin-travesty away from him," Tony asks in dismay of the remaining agents. Yes, they need to go, though. ...Because obviously Tony might be sick, probably has to check his health readouts for realsies, and he'd rather everybody not be staring at him for it. Because he's invincible. Although a little healing to ego is needed, admittedly. 
}}

3819/Icebergs

2018-02-22T05:49:09Z

Malky: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2018/02/06 |Location=Avengers Medical Lab |Synopsis=Dane visits Tony in the medical lab; they discuss things mostly related to Tony actually gettin..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2018/02/06
|Location=Avengers Medical Lab
|Synopsis=Dane visits Tony in the medical lab; they discuss things mostly related to Tony actually getting some rest.
|Cast of Characters=22, 1195
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' It has been a very long day for a very bored, very drugged, and very ill, Tony Stark. He's one of the worst sorts of patients, as he tends to do whatever he wants, whenever he is awake enough to do it. Such as the earlier plot of sending the various robots out to bring him things, only to get stuck when some clever person decided to change the door locks to not admit the robots anymore. After getting around that problem, he has since started to fiddle with 'upgrading security' around the mansion, which, considering how loud the alarms are, is not the most fun for anyone ELSE. A sedation later, he's awake again, and without something constructive to do, is planning his next entertainment. Which, well, may involve trying to get up. Currently he is deciding which of the leads and tubes attached to him is ACTUALLY necessary. Tony is physically on an extremely high-tech medical bed that his X-Man doctor outfitted, and Tony 'adjusted' with his own improvements. He is covered in monitoring equipment and is hooked up to a plethora of things scrubbing poisoned blood, fighting an infection, and keeping him breathing regularly. The arc reactor in his chest has it's own set of leads, like techno spiderwebs to the side panel of the machine. It's an epic maze of 'weakness' Tony doesn't like being stuck in, although he's still too heavily sedated to actually do much .... yet. 

:'''{{#var:1195|Dane Whitman (1195)}} has posed:'''     "Well, is it the armour making you sick?" It's a warm baritone voice. Not melodic, but measured, certain, and easy. The figure that walks in would be a really great looking guy if he would shave. One can light a match on Dane Whitman's stubble. He seems really good at growing it, to the point where it seems like he has just given up shaving, and just trims it to this length or something. Perpetual five o'clock shadow. It's like something out of Miami Vice.     His large hand rubs at that stubble as Dane enters. "I mean, and this is an Engineer saying it, but harlot red and gold would make anyone sick after awhile." Is it gallows humor, or just his usual deadpan? It might be hard to tell. He has a bag with him, and is wearing a face mask. As he enters, he commandeers a chair, places the bag there, and grunts. He reaches for the leads, carefully, and traces the leads from the reactor back to the its plug in, where he starts to read its data. "Never bothered making one of these for myself. Seemed too cliché to manufacture something you made.I'd just blow out my castle's electrical panel anyways." He helps himself to the data, but he is not writing it down. He's checking the engineering side of things. "So. I've been working on pain-numbing technology based on my neural blade. You interested?" He looks over at the man and drops the act for a moment.     Dane tells the urge in the back of his head to use that 'magic sword' of his to 'screw off' a few dozen times a day. He's physically and mentally tough, an emotional cripple, sure, but a tough one. "What can I do to put your mind at ease so you can recover? I'm not Banner, and I'm not you, but in a world without you and Reed, I'm a pretty hot shit scientist. You can trust me to handle things until you are better." 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Tony himself needs to shave to keep his pristine goatee in better order. He looks more like a train hit him, though, so he has a pretty decent excuse. He takes in Dane's arrival with a sort of disoriented interest, like one would react to a magical dinosaur wandering into the room to offer candy. Because, well, Tony IS pretty high. "You are truly not what I expected in my deliverer from pain," Tony comments, squinting. "Although I did imagine blonde," he adds, with a huff that is echoed by the medical equipment. And promptly attempts to sort of sit up. He obviously goes absolutely nowhere, though. "I'm nearly recovered. I scheduled in a whole /day/ and everything into my calendar, nothing's going to blow up. Besides, I usually cause that." Tony assures Dane, eyes closing for a somewhat too-long moment before he opens them with a blink of reddened lids. "Oh....! You're actually /here./ Huh, how about that," Tony says, in a thoughtful surprise. "Have I already said something sarcastic and witty? Help a guy out, the four of you." Tony grins a little bit, but winks. He's not /actually/ seeing four Danes. Probably fewer. "I have some leads on some meta attacks -- on humans. And some SHIELD /really/ far up my ass. ...Interested?" Tony chuckles. 

:'''{{#var:1195|Dane Whitman (1195)}} has posed:'''     "I'll do what it takes for you to stay down." Dane counters in his calm tone. "Try something out. Delegating. I know someone else invented it, but it works." Dane continues the quiet snark. He moves over to the chair, and he grabs his bag. "I'll look up whatever you want me to. For now though, pencil in a couple more days of laying flat on your back and recovering. If this was about minds, Tony, I would totally say you could bounce back in a day. Unless you are transcending the body, though, well... you good, Mr. Stark, are well and truly boned for the next week." He regards Tony. "Now. When you are better, I will show you my little toy to make people feel no pain without the opiods and all that other crap. If you don't want it, well Sue Richards did. Until then..." He reaches into the bag, and pulls out a bottle of water. "I guess I will just keep you company." He leans back a little. He regards the other man and just softly smiles. "You are not allowed to die, Stark. If I was the smartest person walking into a room, we'd be in trouble. Well, more trouble." 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "Dying isn't on my calendar, not even in pencil. Pepper won't allow it," Tony answers smoothly, with a sort of oddly reflective little smile that he's no doubt unaware that he just let slip. "I'm still far more useful working from here than I am observing this glorious ceiling," Tony assures Dane, looking upwards with clear rebellion, but, well, fairly tired, so it doesn't have any fire to it. "If everyone didn't keep taking my entertainment away," he sighs, long-suffering. Yes, because security drills were something they'd let him keep fiddling with. Right on time, one of the robot drones glides in, through the door that Rogue forced open at Tony's behest with a marble statue. It glides over to Tony's left hand, and promptly ejects some sort of mixed alcoholic drink right there on the edge of the bed. And then shudders and drops out a little pink spotted umbrella into it. Looks like a pina colada, probably; the land of drugged rainbows must have thought that was a good idea. And, obviously, something he shouldn't have. Tony hasn't seen it yet. "What we /need/ ... is to work together better. Everybody here's running in a different direction." Tony's reasonably lucid for that statement. "Some of us into the architecture," he admits. He did sort of take out that statue in the yard by accident. 

:'''{{#var:1195|Dane Whitman (1195)}} has posed:'''     "Well." Dane is quiet. "Steve is being Steve. I've been handling Avalon business. Lady in the Lake, MI 6, all that. Very hush hush." He rolls his eyes. Dane leans forward and too-casually scoops up the drink. He gives a long sigh. "Thor is about my best friend, but he's currently sans hammer. I read Rogue's file. She's more walking wounded than I am, Tony." His frown almost carves a chasm in his face it is so deep.     "You need to get better. Then we re-organize. Honestly? We need someone full time coordinating and handling the Avengers as an organization. Then we need someone working on us as a team. We also need to get SHIELD out of our asses. Natasha and Clint are the only SHIELD connections we ever need. Honestly? We need a pro-active purpose. We need a mission, a group goal." He moves the drink off the side. That would help us immensely. Maybe we need to find Thor's damn hammer, so our vice chair being is at full strength." 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Tony spots the drink. "And you didn't bring one for the rest of the class?" Tony says in dismay, at the cruelty of drinking in front of him. The robot looks at Dane (well, turns his way) and chirps, as if saying it did a good job, and zooms off. Yes, Tony was being snarky. But Tony is listening. Probably agreeing with a great deal of it, though prying that out of him might require multiple drinks in addition to the land he's already floating through. Still, he's brilliant, and even at floating level he can take in the situation laid out by Dane. "I heard Thor was back. I'm glad that's true, hammer or no," Tony observes. "I pulled in Simon to work with Rogue. I think he's in the wind again, though." Frustration. "Like I said, was researching a mission. Bit busy right now with my ceiling." 

:'''{{#var:1195|Dane Whitman (1195)}} has posed:'''     "For now just recover." Dane says. "Thor is perfectly capable of leadership. Should he fail, I am capable at least until your health is sorted. I'll pick up some slack." he pushes a hand through his hair. He starts to stand. "Get some sleep. This is well in hand. I promise." He sounds certain and confident. He pulls in a breath. "We got this, Tony. I will handle the science, and if I cannot, I will grab you and put you on it." He tilts a single brow. "Okay? You can trust me, Tony. I'll tell you if we are messed up." He straightens his shirt, his hands certain and smooth. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "Keep me in the loop, I can do more than sleep. Nice of you to steer while there's no icebergs, but yeah... ... I know; you do have it, I can take the next watch," Tony admits, and appears to be starting to drift. One of the machines shows why: it has a schedule of medication it's on, and Tony is going to have a mighty fine nap. 

:'''{{#var:1195|Dane Whitman (1195)}} has posed:'''     "I can handle no icebergs. If I see them, though, I'll get you. Goodnight, Stark. We got this. I will brief you daily." He picks up his bag. "Don't doubt it." He gives a sigh at that, and starts towards the door. He's not particularly affectionate. This is about as chummy as he gets. He pauses in the doorway to dim the lights. "Daily." He promises, again. 
}}

3789/We don't need that statue

2018-02-22T05:47:43Z

Malky: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2018/02/01 |Location=Avengers Mansion exterior |Synopsis=Iron Man crashes and is JUST FINE, despite the girls trying to get him to strip. |Cast of..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2018/02/01
|Location=Avengers Mansion exterior
|Synopsis=Iron Man crashes and is JUST FINE, despite the girls trying to get him to strip.
|Cast of Characters=22, 274, 16
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' As every real Avenger knows (or even those that have explored), the Avengers mansion has a wonderful statue outside in the garden on the fountain. There are heroic statues posing there: Captain America and Iron Man. Okay, there WERE. As of one minute ago, the poor Captain America statue isn't looking so great: The left upper torso been hurled with an enormous crash into the side of the first floor, Cap's fist pointing heroically into the indoor zone a few inches, almost having destroyed a poor tv. If only he had a remote in his hand, it would be comical. As it is, there's a mess of smoke outside and all kinds of alarms. But the messages also say Iron Man is in the immediate area, so no doubt the thing is being handled. 

:'''{{#var:274|Tigra (274)}} has posed:''' Tigra is inside the Mansion, basking in the warmth of a sunbeam in her favorite corner of her favorite lounge. That is, until she hears the crash outside. With a flip and a twist, she goes from being on her back to on her feet. Alert. Ready. Alarms. But of course, Iron Man is in the area, right? Tigra also remembers that Iron Man is off the combat roster. Stepping over to the window, she opens it wide to see what's going on out in the garden. 

:'''{{#var:16|Rogue (16)}} has posed:''' Rogue is already outside the mansion, she was on the back patio and was seated at one of the tables near a lot of plants and flowers and such... they were kept nice even in this tiem of year? Thats crazy! Wearing a heavy black wool coat, her head covered in a wool knit cap and her gloves on she was typing on her phone when SHE heard the crash and turned her head back to look what had just happened. Rogue went to stand up then when Tigra came out, she looked over at her and then back over toward the statues that were just totally messed up. "Wow." Rogue softly said. "What the hell?" 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Yep, Iron Man is present. And certainly not on combat roster, no. Then again, he doesn't appear to actually be in combat with anything other than maybe gravity. He is currently in the fountain, amid a bunch of smoke from the toppled fountains. A guess would suggest Mark 4 armor, if anyone cares. Creative landing, maybe. Surely that's fine. He doesn't exactly move, though. 

:'''{{#var:274|Tigra (274)}} has posed:''' Tigra pauses at the open window, then casually springs down from the second floor to the garden. Knees flex deeply as she lands, rolling forward gracefully to absorb the shock of the fall. Her tail swishes behind as she strides up, head tilted a bit to the left. Her claws extend, as if that would make much difference even to the Mark 4 armor. "Why are you destroying the garden?" she asks, simply. 

:'''{{#var:16|Rogue (16)}} has posed:''' Rogue remains on the patio up until Tigra leapt down out of the second floor window and came down to investigate as well. "I think he had a heart attack or something..." She mutters. "Mister Stark?" She shouts at the suit in the water and then starts to jog over toward it. "Mister Stark, you in there?" Rogue would try to roll him over onto his back, or get him situated in such a position so that his helmeted head was aimed skyward while the rest of him was still suberged in the icey water... and since she can lift almost a hundred tons, it probably wouldn't be TOO hard for her to do. Rogue's gloved left hand knocked on Stark's mask like his faceplate was a closed doorway. "Helloooooo?" 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Once rolled, there's some response. "So on some reflection and careful analysis of the feng shui, this yard is really missing an important element: I'm thinking, a pool," Tony says in a disoriented fashion. The most immediate assumption, particularly through the iron man helmet, would be that he's drunk. Normally, yeah, logical. He often is. He grunts and lets himself lean back amid the rush of broken fountain pipes some from where Rogue set him, but then retracts the helmet and orients a little bit more. He starts to get up but then seems to decide better of it, and just chills in the fountain, as if that were fine. He looks very much like hell: he's cutting a weird combination of being extremely pale yet flushed up from the neck area: patchy and ill, spidering webs of angry weird dark veins. Not being on combat roster seems to actually have meant 'on extreme sick leave'. "Think Cap will notice the change in his statue?" Tony asks Rogue. 

:'''{{#var:274|Tigra (274)}} has posed:''' Tigra moves to help, even though Rogue could -juggle- a few of Tony's Iron Man suits. "No heart attack." the feline declares. Easing closer to the armor, she sniffs a few times when he retracts the helmet. "But you are not well." Tigra eases back a touch to take a broader look at him, especially the discoloration. And she ignores the questions about the statue. "You have something on your face that shouldn't be there. Have you been sleeping with any alien girls?" 

:'''{{#var:16|Rogue (16)}} has posed:''' Rogue watched Tony sit up in the water and the mask come off, she grinned at it cause... hey, that tech is cool... how do you not grin at it? When he mentioned the part about a swimming pool, the teenager opened her lips like she was gawking. "We're gettin' a pool?! Awww, thanks Dad! This is gonna be the best summe'ah eve'ah!" She exclaims, sarcastically, in that thick southern tone of hers. When Tigra mentions the alien girls part though, Rogue studies Tony's face a bit more closely. "You're... hammered." She tells him. "I've seen that face a million times... You're totally shockered." She was only 19, so HOW she knew that face so well, was anyone's guess. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "I assure you, there was no 'sleeping' if so," Tony answers Tigra unhelpfully, though his tone suggests no actual answer either way about it. Rogue gets two thumbs up about the pool sarcasm. "I'm not /contagious/." A pause. "If somebody ends up needing to give me mouth to mouth - know that I want it to be you," Tony says disconnectedly to Tigra with a point her way and a heavy wink, before his head kind of lolls, though the armor partially catches him from actually toppling anywhere. He doesn't smell like booze. 

:'''{{#var:274|Tigra (274)}} has posed:''' Tigra takes a wider stance, planting her feet and folding arms over her chest. The long tail swishes behind her almost expectantly, as if daring Tony to disagree with them. "Well of -course- you did not sleep." she retorts, not quite snuffling at the reply. She looks over at Rogue, then nods in agreement. "He's hammered. Except he doesn't -smell- like alcohol." She leans in close again to take another couple of sniffs. "He doesn't smell like he has been with a woman, either." Okay, so speaking of too-much-knowledge... "We need to get him out of the armor." Tigra declares. Before he can cause anymore damage, of course. 

:'''{{#var:16|Rogue (16)}} has posed:''' Rogue sighed wistfully when Tony said, of the two of them, he wanted to have her do the mouth-to-mouth. "Story'a my life... All the billionaires, goin' after all the women who won't suck their soul from their bodies." She softly shook her head, just being a goof and entirely sarcastic of course! She put her green eyes over onto Tigra and showed her a half-grin. "So he's made himself some kinda high tech booze that doesn't make your breath trigger off any cop breath tests? Damnit, Mister Stark! You're too smart for your own darn good." Rogue would stand up then and she'd put a gloved hand under his left armored arm-pit. "Doesn't this suit like... fly right off if you say a command t'it? I seen it do it in a youtube video once." 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "I wasn't done rearranging the statues into questionable poses," Tony says as Rogue lifts him. He's easy for her to move, and he isn't fighting even a little bit. To Tigra's enhanced senses and some analysis once the strong smells of the impact and fountain chlorine are less of an issue, she may be able to determine he has weird scent to his sweat, has a lot of cloying metal smell on him, some type of medication mixed in with it that also has a funky orange-candy smell related to it, and lastly, he's having some trouble breathing, though he's faking it well. He probably should be resting. But, well, Tony. "But far be it from me to deny two women a request for me to strip," Tony adds, and, on cue, the armor abruptly begins to start to separate off of him. The mansion releases a bunch of little drones, which fly out happily to assist. Of course. Because, well. Avengers Mansion. Tony Stark. He's dressed casually under it, the arc reactor glowing brightly through the t-shirt. He has the vein problem and flared, angry irritation all over his neck and upper chest, at least where visible. Explanation is lacking, though, since Tony seems to mostly pass out. 

:'''{{#var:274|Tigra (274)}} has posed:''' Tigra wrinkles her nose and snuffles curiously while Tony is extracted from his armor. Once he's out and partially standing, she makes a face and rears back. "You smell funny." the feline declares. "And I don't mean that in a good way. You smell like things I've never smelled before." Arms fold over her chest and she gives him an accusing look again. "You are -sure- you've not slept with any aliens? Once who smell like orange candy?" Then the armor is off and more of the veins are exposed. "We should remove his shirt as well." she offers to Rogue. And yet Tigra doesn't look to be in a hurry to do it herself. 

:'''{{#var:16|Rogue (16)}} has posed:''' Rogue yelped in fright when the drones shot over and the armor plates started to get pulled away, she even jumped back! Which is... odd for a girl who's nearly invulnerable, but hey, she's still 'human' ... sort of. "Yep. There it goes. Thats great. I need that for my bedroom when I'm gettin' read, all like Cinderella'n'shit." She idly comments before looking over to Tigra. "Take his shirt off?" Rogue questioned the feline-female. "You sure you don't just got the hots for this guy, Tigger?" She asked, grinning at the Avenger she didn't know very well. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "Doctor McCoy gave me /orange/ flavor. It's terrible, like licking orange soda out of a movie theater carpet," Tony comes back in to announce to Tigra when he's questioned on his candy. "As if I can't take pills like an adult," Tony scoffs. He finds his footing, disoriented but starting to get his bearings. He missed the part, clearly, about why his shirt was coming off, and ends up looking from Rogue to Tigra with brows raising. "It's fine, you'll fall too eventually," Tony assures Rogue smoothly. He straightens up and wipes his hands on his pants. "All good here. Thanks for the... bachelorette party welcome." He picks at his shirt a little, glancing down over the mess of red inflamed crap down the front, and then starts to head inside, announcing to the robots: "Skip the diagnostics on 4, I want it up and ready to rock in thirty minutes." He isn't anywhere near fine, but is doing a reasonable impression of himself. 

:'''{{#var:274|Tigra (274)}} has posed:''' Tigra nose-twitches at Rogue, and her expression says it all. "Not when he's like -this-, anyway." she replies almost sternly. "If anything, he needs to be sedated. Or knocked out..." Tigra gives the last one strong consideration, while sizing up Tony as he attempts to stand. "Hank McCoy is treating you? That's good, at least." Tigra gives Rogue an almost-helpless look, then. Like she doesn't know what to do or where to take Tony. 

:'''{{#var:16|Rogue (16)}} has posed:''' Rogue stands out of the way of Tony as he moves and steps out of the pool. "Wait, Doctor McCoy? H-hank?" She asks. She hadn't seen Hank since the night of her ill-fated wedding, she missed him. Rogue looked over to Tigra and grinned at her. "Ah... I like it here. This place is just as weird as I am." And with that said, the southern gal walked toward the felled statue of Captain America and picked it up like it were made out of styrofoam. "Come on buddy, there's still some fight left in ya." She picked him up and stood him up. "Hmm, you're muscley. Maybe I'll take ya with me." Rogue laughed softly and then groaned. "I need a boyfriend." She muttered that last part while carrying the statue back toward the fountain where she tried to stand him back up... but he just fell back into the water with a *SPLASH*. Rogue, hovering over the water, reached for her pockets and pulls out cigarettes and a lighter. "F-eck it." She says, after placing a cig between her lips. 
}}

3780/A visit from Snowball

2018-02-22T05:46:15Z

Malky: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2018/01/31 |Location=Drake's home |Synopsis=A robot messenger seeks out Drake to "chat" |Cast of Characters=22, 1353, 971 |pretty=yes }} {{Poses |P..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2018/01/31
|Location=Drake's home
|Synopsis=A robot messenger seeks out Drake to "chat"
|Cast of Characters=22, 1353, 971
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Outside of the window comes a tapping sound. Tappity tap. TAP. Then with more annoyance, TAP TAP TAP TAP TAP. There is a floating robot about the size of a volleyball just outside the apartment's main living room window, when then curtain or shade gets drawn aside. It looks very, very similar to Mei's robot, Snowball, except that it is gold, not blue and white. It has two blinking eyes on the front screen, though, and whirring components keeping it aloft at the underside and back head areas. It's simply THERE, with no explanation apparent. 

:'''{{#var:1353|Drake (1353)}} has posed:''' With his large headphones on his head, Drake is currently hunched over his computer which has a trio of high end displays above a large glowing green computer. He is currently in the middle of a game as he calls out comms through the large microphone that is mounted on his desk. As the words VICTORY comes across the screen, he gives a glance over to his chat, then squints his eyes as they seem to be trying to call out his attention to something over his shoulder. "What?" He asks as he leans forward, then looks over towards the window. He blinks his eyes for a moment, then panics as he pushes back his chair and yanking his headphones off. "Holy crap. Um..." He pauses, pushing himself up to his feet. "Is that... Snowball?" 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' 'Snowball' spins in a little circle. Maybe it's a special new skin for Snowball, to be bright gold? Incidentally, it does seem pleased that it was noticed outside the window. It blinks a few times expectantly. No doubt if this is streaming, this is certainly some special stuff going on right here for those viewers! 

:'''{{#var:1353|Drake (1353)}} has posed:''' The chat has become furious now as they spam random emotes and other phrases of shock and awe. Drake inches towards the window for a moment, then says, "Hi. Um... are you able to talk? Is this a Blizzard promotion or something that I missed the memo on?" He glances down at his phone, scrolling through some of the notifications. On his left wrist is a large glowing bracelet that pulses with some type of chronol energy. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' 'Snowball' spins in a circle: vertically, so as if it were on an invisible ferris wheel, upside down, and around again. And then indicates that it wants to come in by bonking its body against the glass, veering back, and then starting to analyze and look around for an alternate path. The eyes disappear during this scanning procedure. 

:'''{{#var:1353|Drake (1353)}} has posed:''' Stepping back, Drake reaches out to open the window, now that it's been replaced since Mon-El shattered it last night. He steps back to let the flying robot inside, taking in a deep breath. "Hi. I'm Drake .. but if you're a Blizzard promo you already know that. Chat, this is .. golden snowball?" He motions with his hand towards the camera set up in front of the computers. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' The 'Snowball' moves towards the computer and scans it, as if to check his story about the camera. When it does so, though, the branding on the butt of the thing becomes extremely apparent: STARK tech. Which doesn't specifically mean a lot, since STARK tech is extremely widely distributed and used, but in the form of a very expensive looking flying robot drone? Less so, really, which may make it suddenly far more interesting as super-spy related or even Avengers. The robot then backs up a little and does a little dance for the camera, waggling both flight propellers at its head, which makes it drop in the air some before recovering. It then pivots to orient on Drake, and attempts to scan him as if to figure out if he is the right person. 

:'''{{#var:1353|Drake (1353)}} has posed:''' Chuckling at the robot's antics, Drake watches him interact with the camera and his chat as everyone begins to spam snowball emotes from the Overwatch league official emote channel. "Stark tech?" He asks curiously as he leans over to spy the branding on the back of it. "Like Tony Stark?" As the device faces him and begins to scan him, he is indeed, Drake Winters. "Uh ..." 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Stark tech, like Tony Stark? The little robot actually adjusts itself to NOD at him. Yes, it is Stark tech. The screen where the eyes were fills with golden confetti, as if Drake won a prize. It then turns to the camera, and turns to Drake, as if expecting him to do something. Perhaps it wants privacy, or at the very least, is giving him the chance to decide if he wants this public or not. 

:'''{{#var:1353|Drake (1353)}} has posed:''' It takes a bit for Drake to get it, the he lets out a soft 'oh' as he heads over to the computer to shut his stream off. "I'll be right back guys. Gotta do something for a second. Hit the follow and the sub button if you like the game play or the random robots showing up at my robot." Once the screen goes black, he looks back to the robot expectantly. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' It will feel a lot like something out of Star Wars as the droid turns and plays a mid-air holographic little movie. It doesn't play it in full view of the camera, but sort of up above the scope of the camera, even though it isn't on. "Hi there, Mr. Winters," comes a very iconic voice. Tony Stark is all over the place in news and media, and has a pretty particular way of talking. Relaxed, confident, and always that edge of arrogance that sometimes is more prominent than other times. It is, indeed, a great image of holographic Tony Stark, in business casual, from about chest level and up. "I'm glad you let my drone inside to chat. Well, I say /chat,/ but, well: this is just a recording," Tony continues idly. "I thought I'd check in with you, and let you know that many of us would prefer you not implode, twist into unrecognizable paste, or..." he pauses, gesturing a bit vaguely, relaxed. "Whatever you want to call it. Should you feel like you want an upgrade on your lifeline there, we can talk, see what we can do. Let me know." With a sleek smile from the Tony-hologram, the high tech message is gone, and the little robot hovers there, expectant, as if thinking it will get a great review for its stellar performance. 

:'''{{#var:1353|Drake (1353)}} has posed:''' "Woah." Drake says as he listens to the recording of Tony Stark, feeling his eyes nearly but out of his skull. "Huh." He waves his hand in front of the holograph, then smirks as he realizes the conversation is just one way. "So... how do I get ahold of Mister Stark if I'm ready to go in and talk to him? I mean ... I got nothing else to do this afternoon." He glances down at the bracelet on his wrist. A combination of Star Lab tech and the Legion of Superheroes. "Is this an open invite at any point to just drop by and say Hi? Do I make an appointment?" 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' The robot cheerfully zips in closer and focuses on him like a eerie floating camera. The robot clearly understood his question, as the eye screen changes to: 'Appointment!' in bright gold text promptingly. Then the screen changes to what is very clearly a few options for a time and day. There are some options on the touch screen, but nothing is immediately for that day. Evidently Tony's schedule has only a very few openings, but they do exist. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Additionally, a location is shown. It is not Stark Tower, but the Avengers mansion, that is listed as the meeting place. 

:'''{{#var:1353|Drake (1353)}} has posed:''' As he looks at the calendar, Drake reaches out and taps the screen a few times to select the date and time. He gives a bright smile as he notices the location. "Wow. This is so freaking cool. I'm a huge fan of Tony Stark." He says as he rocks on his feet a bit with excitement tucked into his chest. He continues to look at the floating Snowball robot in front of him as he stands in the middle of his computer room. His stream is turned off at the moment. ".. can I keep you?" 

:'''{{#var:971|Jessica Cruz (971)}} has posed:''' Jessica Cruz knocks on Drake's door. She decided to be out of uniform, just wearing a gray sweater and a gray skirt (two different shades of gray), with her hair in a loose ponytail. When called, she lets herself in, eyebrow raised as she sees the small robot. "Hello Drake - I see you have a little friend there." 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' The robot's eyes on the screen return, and change to 'n' shapes, in a manner of "n_n" on the screen. It waggles it's flight struts on both sides in a sort of uncertain manner, a type of 'maybe'. But then Jessica arrives, and the robot orients towards her, the screen in front flashing a little bit, and it seems to take her in, or perhaps scan over her, but it isn't invasive particularly. 

:'''{{#var:1353|Drake (1353)}} has posed:''' "This is Snowball. From Overwatch. Tony Stark built him to come visit me because he heard about my powers and wants me to train with the Avengers." Drake says with a grin. "Snowball, this is Jessica Cruz. She is a Green Lantern. Another super hero." He reaches out to give a nudge to the woman's shoulder. "Snowball is Mei's companion in the video game. He's super cute." 

:'''{{#var:971|Jessica Cruz (971)}} has posed:''' Jessica Cruz raises an eyebrow. "Tony Stark, huh?" she asks softly. "Always wanted to meet him." She raises an eyebrow. "Drake - perhaps don't blab that out all over the place, hmmmmm?" She ponders. "Well, he is a cute little robot." She ponder. "So, you're being invited to join the Avengers? Perhaps I could come along?" she asks. "The famous Iron Man? Yes please. If you like, I could have us there in no time." She focuses as her Green Lantern uniform flares into existece over her noraml outfit, all green, white, and black, with a Lantern logo over her right eye, and a few Lantern logos flashing into air around her and then fading in a silent fanfare. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' 'Snowball' sort of turns a little at Drake's explanation of what he thinks happened here. Join the Avengers? WELL. It seems to consider, floating slowly. Not it's problem! The robot waggles a bobbing motion towards Jessica, clearly aware enough to react appropriately to what is said in front of it. And does indeed seem to think that it is super cute, spinning around like a top once. On the robot's back side, there is a big 'STARK' brand on it in the metal. So at the very least, it is a STARK robot; that much is apparent. It is interested in the Lantern uniform appearing, and scans away cheerfully in a curious manner, as if the one assignment it had to do included delivery of the message earlier and taking good and dilligent scans. 

:'''{{#var:1353|Drake (1353)}} has posed:''' "He's Tony Stark, I'm sure he knows who you are because he sorta controls /everything/ in the world. Cameras, satellites, Avenger stuff. Tony is like the smartest guy in the world." Drake says with a bob of his head. "I have an appointment that I picked on Tony's calendar to meet him. He wants to take a look at my bracelet and go from there, maybe see about seeing about fixing my body so I don't fall apart so quickly when I use my powers. I think it'd help to learn from the pros. I don't think I'm going to join them. Not unless they have like a academic program or something." 

:'''{{#var:971|Jessica Cruz (971)}} has posed:''' Jessica Cruz nods. "Well. Anyone who can help you either learn not to tear yourself apart is good. Hmmmmmm." She smiles. "The question is - do you want to learn how to use your powers, or just hope the disruptions go away? Being a superhero in real life is a very demanding thing." 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' The robot seems to encourage everything that Drake says, it waggles flight stabilizer fins at his talking. Clearly the robot is an enormous fan of Tony Stark as well, based on the animated way it agrees on all counts. It then glides in a little closer to nudge Drake's shoulder. And then zips to the window it had come in through. Taps at it once. And then pivots, politely waiting to be put outside. 

:'''{{#var:1353|Drake (1353)}} has posed:''' "I don't know. I don't see myself putting on spandex or a cape and I think being blurry fast at times like a stone skipping along the pond isn't super helpful. I guess I can be annoying and distracting." Drake walks to the window and looks sadly at the golden Snowball. "So, I guess this means I can't keep you?" He says as he opens the window up. "I would be like the coolest guy on stream if I had my own personal Snowball to hang out with." 

:'''{{#var:971|Jessica Cruz (971)}} has posed:''' Jessica Cruz nods slowly. "Well, it was nice to meet you, Snowball," she states, reaching over to gently pet the robot like she would a kitten as she waits for the robot to leave. "So... nice of Mr. Stark to offer help." 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' The eyes disappear from the screen as the robot prints there, "MAYBE. ASK TONY". The robot's screen then returns to the rounded eyes, and he wiggles once in pleasure at Jessica's petting. It then stares at them just a bit longer, before zipping out silently out into the sky. It hangs a sharp left and then soars down low out over the buildings. 
}}

3931/Plans and Autographs

2018-02-22T05:42:54Z

Malky: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2018/02/21 |Location=Avengers Mansion |Synopsis=Drake's problem is looked into, and he might fanboy a little. |Cast of Characters=22, 1353 |pretty=..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2018/02/21
|Location=Avengers Mansion
|Synopsis=Drake's problem is looked into, and he might fanboy a little.
|Cast of Characters=22, 1353
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' The meeting has been rescheduled a few times. And if anyone is paying attention to the whole internet-is-down and so forth, in addition to news reports on the Rising Tide, it can't be that big of a shock that Stark doesn't have a whole lot of spare time to lend. However, as the internet comes up, the meeting actually seems to STICK, with Drake! He only gets a half hour, but that's still a feat, at this point, undeniably. Arriving at the Avengers Mansion is a fun time of security and so forth, but with his credentials Drake will find himself brought into the front foyer by an assistant to Stark, Mr. Larkin. They don't need to wait long; Tony Stark himself comes striding out from a stairwell, a few assistants in his wake, as well as one little robot. It isn't golden Snowball; this one doesn't look like something from Overwatch, though it would have fit right in with the cast, considering. Tony is being talked to urgently by the assistants, while he is ... eating what is obviously a sandwich. He spots Drake, and indicates for the assistants to leave. They do. "Mr.... Winters, isn't it?" Tony asks Drake cheerfully, closing rapidly and offering a smooth handshake with non-sandwich hand. Stark is a bit of a force of nature in person: larger than life, charismatic, but extremely relaxed and personable. "Too much going on. You're my lunch break," Tony sighs with a teasing chuckle. 

:'''{{#var:1353|Drake (1353)}} has posed:''' The experience has made Drake wide-eyed in amdiration at how freaking cool the Avengers' mansion is as he goes through security, now with a shiny badge tagged on to his shirt. Today he's wearing a black Overwatch hoodie with the emblem in gold on the back, and the slogan: 'Heroes Never Die' on the top left of his chest in silver cursive. By all intents and purposes, he looks like a normal young man, with the exception of the large bracelet strapped to his wrist with a bright blue glowing light that pulses with a few digital readouts. He reaches out with his left hand for a shake, giving him a firm grip in return. "Wow. This place is so cool." He breathes out with a smile. "It's an honor to meet you Mister Stark. I'm such a huge fan of yours. I did a research paper on you in high school once and crushed it. Went for like forty pages when my teacher asked for five. My entire Overwatch team idolizes you." He stops as he realizes he is babbling, clearing his throat. "Sorry, I just spent the afternoon fighting ninjas and one of them kicked me in the balls. They still hurt. Hey, I know this is like a business question but I got a picture of their uniform and I don't know who they belong to, but it's a symbol of a foot on their gray ..um... sweat shirts.. or whatever it is they wear. They broke into Star Labs and stole some tech. No clue what it is..." He is babbling again. ".... I'm talking to Iron Man.. oh my god.." 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Tony really takes it all in stride. It's not his first time with this reception, naturally, and he's nice about it. He smiles into the ramble, though he does continue to eat his sandwich. But there is very little that will actually stop Tony from eating. He'll eat through an official press conference if he's hungry enough. "First-- we can hold autographs to the end. Just remind me," Tony teases him briefly but kindly, and waggles a hand in a casual motion for him to follow him as he moves away towards a hallway, attempting to ease Drake out of hero-worship mode. Well, not fully out: Tony enjoys this type of thing. "Foot hoodies? Sounds familiar. I'll take what you have, sure. Do you need... Ice... for your 'situation'?" Tony asks, eyes glancing down to the reference to being kicked. Surely this is how Drake imagined meeting Iron Man: to discuss his sore balls. 

:'''{{#var:1353|Drake (1353)}} has posed:''' "No, no.. I'm fine. I'm not being a bitch about it. I'm sure I'll get kicked in the balls plenty more times if these things happen often. I was in Mutant Town the other night when shit went crazy down there and people started attacking families and trying to round 'em up in UHauls. I mixed it up with a few of those whack jobs also. I only got punched in the face though, not the balls. But, my powers kinda help me heal faster, at least surface wounds. I just try not to exert myself too much or else my powers will kill me. Um.. they sorta... you see, I was stuck between realities of time and when the Legion got me out, it broke something, so now my body tries to tear itself apart on a molecular level and it /really/ hurts, especially if I use my powers too much, so this thingy here that Star Labs and the Legion of Superheroes put together for me kinda keeps me in /our/ timeline and my body in one piece. I sorta speed boost now, kinda like a blink. Point A to point B with only a thought, but if I use it too much, I overload the bracelet and my body starts to shut down and I end up having some bad reactions to it." Drake says as he follows after him quickly to keep up his pace. "So, I'm sorta fast like The Flash, but I don't move like him... I don't actually run.. I just... leap... I dunno... it's hard to explain unless I show you. Also found out if I use my powers while I'm hitting something, I can really fuck it.. er... I can really mess it up big time. It's like being hit by a semi." 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' That is a LOT of information. Certainly an overload on it. Well, for somebody that isn't Tony Stark, anyway. He appears to be listening, though a possibly disconcerting amount is on his sandwich. But he is paying attention, and doesn't interrupt Drake's explanation. He does lead him roughly to the Gym, though, which is more like a space station flight test facility, with all the insane equipment. "Full permission to say 'fuck' around me, kid," Tony says first, and finishes up the sandwich, which frees his hands up. Except for a wrapper, which he just rolls up and hangs onto against the palm of left hand. "First. Let's see this 'thingy' up close, then," Tony says, referring to Drake's object from Star Labs. "Also... I know you remember this girl." Tony flips something that's similar to a phone but definitely isn't, out of a coat jacket pocket and skims a few fingers over it, then flips through the holograms it projects a few inches upwards. The 'girl' in question, golden snowball, comes whirring in from upstairs with a chime of sound as she arrives to their left. She immediately changes into a scanning mode, emitting a soft golden cone shaped field out of her head, and inches towards Drake. 

:'''{{#var:1353|Drake (1353)}} has posed:''' "It's Snowball!" Drake squeaks out with glee. "Oh my god, that is so cool that you built her. I think it's a her. Mei never really said so but I don't think we're allowed to assume a robot's gender. Especially an Omnics." He is such a fucking nerd. He holds out his wrist for the robot to scan the device. "So, from what I've been able to gather, I can do about ten to fifteen jumps with my powers in a day before I go to code orange. It changes colors based upon how my body is holding up. Blue, yellow, orange and red. Red I'm assuming I'm not sticking around much longer after it hits that. But, everyone seems to think the more I practice, the more jumps I'll be able to get out of it." He looks about the gym with wide eyes. "Wow. Is this where The Hulk works out? And Thor? Man..." He sighs out loudly. ".. It's like I'm in Overwatch Headquarters at Watchpoint Gibraltar hanging out with real superheroes. Or at least you. You're sorta like Torbjorn. Except better looking and taller and richer. Torb is... you know, the dwarf but he's a builder. He builds /everything/. He's super smart. But I don't think he can reach the steering wheel of your Jag." 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "I'm pretty sure neither of them has to work out; terribly unfair," Tony observes with a shake of his head. "I /know/ Hulk doesn't," he adds, conspiratorially, while he fiddles with his tech device and 'snowball' does her thing, circling. "Mostly you'd find, say, Captain America doing that... Ah, okay. You might enjoy this tidbit: the tech is related to some of what we used to get the temporary communications and internet up and running, over the past two weeks," Tony shares, with a half-smile. "Which, bonus, means I know what I'm looking at." Tony flips the device shut, coughs a little. The cough is not social, he has a brief lapse, maybe a flu thing. A reminder, just for an instant, that Tony is human. "So, I see two good options here. First, take her with you, and do some outdoor stress tests, beating up foot-pajama ninjas, or whatever. Second, come by later this week and use the gym for it, can get some great readings here. If you rather get connected to somebody that specializes in reality warp, can do that, but rather get a bit more first. So, pick your poison." Tony flips the 'phone' in his hand once, and tilts his head, easy smile. 

:'''{{#var:1353|Drake (1353)}} has posed:''' "...Can I do both? Because my friends would lose their damn minds if I brought Snowball home, and I'm sure our social media would blow up with pictures of them with her. You have /no/ clue how much of a fan favorite Snowball is amongst us Watchers. I'm trying not to turn into a total fan boy right here." He's failing, terribly. He is fanboying. "I don't really get a chance to fight ninajs in pajamas. I think that may be a one time thingy. I don't even /know/ if I wanna be a superhero. I just watched three people get murdered in front of me in cold blood by someone pretending to be the Punisher the other day in Mutant Town and I'm still trying to act like I'm cool about it, but I spent all night sobbing because I know they were bad guys but no one should be shot from behind like that." He rubs the top of his shoulder with his hand. "But I can at least do a buncha jumps at the football field, then come back here and do deeper stress tests?" 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Tony doesn't stay in flippant mode when Drake starts to describe the real trials of being a hero, his expression turns more serious. But a little awkward, too. Tony doesn't like doing 'feels'. On the upside, Snowball, it seems, was programmed to. She chirrrrs at him and moves in to bump his shoulder with her head. Bonk bonk. Tony skirts the issue, focuses on moving on. "Yeah, sold. You can have her, for..." again, his device. "Four days, let's say, to do your other tests, then come back by here Monday," Tony decides. "Try not to drag her into too many fights, but if they show up on your doorstep, well. She'll defend herself, but she's not a fighting drone," Tony clarifies. Meaning, Snowball probably will do just fine, so long as she's not fighting the Hulk. "But if it's between her and you, stand behind her," Tony finishes. He's not a completely heartless asshole, obviously. "Well, sounds like you have the gist of superhero, more than that other guy. No, people don't deserve to get shot in the back. Particularly under the influence of - whatever that was, that I haven't had time to look into, yet. I mean, I'm awesome, but the worldwide internet is already a lot to solve." Tony doesn't push either way on being a superhero. Tony then checks the time. "Speaking of, I think I should finish fixing that. People have cat videos to watch." 

:'''{{#var:1353|Drake (1353)}} has posed:''' "Oh. Thank you /so/ much for fixing the Internet. I was going through withdrawls. I really was lost without the Internet. My entire life is built around it. Not just with Overwatch but my streams and my online classes at the JC and .. um.. you know.. just everything.. I don't really do good with outside in the sunlight situations. Though I'm sorta dating a Green Lantern now and she wants me to work out and get more real life in my life and I'm trying to be open to the idea but real life sucks ..." Drake trails off for a moment with a clear of his throat as he gives a smile to shoulder bumping Snowball. "And I'm sure we won't be shot at. I'll just stick to football fields and roof jumping for now. I'll take good care of her." He pauses, then says, ".. Can I get your autograph and a selfie, please? Before you save the world again." He slips his hand into his hoodie to take out a small book made of leather and blank pages. He opens it up to one page that he has wrote: World Changers, at the top. He has an autograph of Reed Richards at the top in silver marker. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Oh, god. Being handed things. Tony finesses it to avoid actually hitting his pet peeve. "Yeah," Tony says, managing not to flinch, and goes for a different interior suit pocket, pulling his pen. He'll gesture for Drake to just hold the book for him, as opposed to actually taking it from him, though he does steady it with his other hand: the one still holding the sandwich wrapper. 'Don't implode before Monday!' Tony writes in surprisingly legible handwriting, and then the flashy angular signature of TONY STARK. He winks once and clicks the pen, putting it away. "Too late, though," Tony adds. "Already saved the world a bit yesterday; I'm polishing the rest today," Tony says, and then awaits the selfie, wherein he will dominate most of the frame, of course, with his usual confident-sorta-arrogant smile. 

:'''{{#var:1353|Drake (1353)}} has posed:''' Glancing down at the writing, Drake grins wryly. "I hope I don't implode. I was told it'd be really messy and that I'd leave quite a stain." Drake slips his expensive looking top of the line whatever i-Device is out and unlocks it. He holds it up for the selfie, turning it portrait mode, then snaps a shot of them. He himself is wearing a cheesy grin on his face. He's so excited. "Thank you Mister Stark, so much for meeting me for your lunch break and for loaning me Snowball. I'll be back on Monday." He says as he starts off with a wave, practically bouncing on his feet. His phone immediately goes off in his hand as he glances down at it, then answers. An excited voice of a latino accent can be heard coming through the speaker. "DUDE YOU ARE HANGING OUT WITH TONY STARK! I JUST SAW YOUR POST. OH MY GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD YOU GOT A SNOWBALL! DUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUDE CAN IT DO THE BLIZZARD ULTIMATE?" He winces, holding the phone away from his ear. ".. No, but I think she shoots lasers." "SHE CAN'T SHOOT LASERS DUDE! IT'S NOT CANON!" ".. Yah, but I don't think Mister Stark cares about that. She's here to examine me." "BUT IT'S NOT CANON! VALK! TELL HIM IT'S NOT CANON!" "... It's not Canon." Comes a female voice through the speaker with a loud sigh, like she doesn't care." "Guys, it's not a big deal, she's really cool." He tries again. A new voice comes through the speaker now. "Dude, it's Try Hard. It's not canon. You tell Tony it's not canon." "Holy shit guys, I'm not telling Iron Man of all people how the fuck Overwatch works. He's doing me a huge favor. I gotta go." "IT'S NOT FUCKING CAN---." Click. Sigh. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "So," Tony begins, after listening to that entire tirade of commentary from Drake's fans, "There's something important you should know about me, that you don't seem to be aware of," Tony says, in a way that's possibly a little eerie. He clicks his tongue a few times thoughtfully, fiddles with his palm device again. Two more little robots come in out of nowhere, and Tony taps one on the head. "Sorry bud, need your kilt," he says to one of them, taking off the lower array after flipping open the bottom chambers. With a few adjustments he pulls the ring out of him, and then approaches Snowball. "Avert your eyes," he teases Drake, because Snowball is about to come apart briefly. He'll swap the lower array out with the one he stole out of the other robot. Installs it. Snowball now has a black band around her lower body, when Stark seals her back up, but otherwise is the same. "As I was saying. That _important thing_ is: that *I* ...can do anything," Stark states. "If you get lit on fire, let's say, she'll more than deal with it. Which I consider a good 'ultimate'." Stark smirks and waves them out. 

:'''{{#var:1353|Drake (1353)}} has posed:''' Looking embarrassed as Tony calls back to him, Drake's cheeks are flushed. ".. I'm sorry. My team is like ... super dumb sometimes. They're like /really/ into the game. I don't care if she can't do a blizzard ultimate. I think she's awesome." Even if she's the wrong color, but he's not going to mention that. Gold edition Snowball is a special edition Snowball. When Tony summons the robots, he averts his eyes when instructed so not to see his new robo-companion naked and being rebuilt. ".. You gave her a blizzard ultimate? Oh, wow.. that is really awesome." He says with a laugh. "Hopefully I won't get set on fire. I'd hate to panic and cry in front of your robot that is scanning me at the time. Would be really awkward on video. I've been told I'm an ugly crier. Especially when the freaking Koreans beat us two years ago. It was a close game. Came down to overtime.." He pauses. " .. but .. who cares about that. Thank you. Have a great day!" He says as he hurries out, giving Snowball a quick hug along the way. Eee. 
}}

3934/Get some REST.

2018-02-22T05:33:47Z

Malky: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2018/02/06 |Location=Avengers Medical Lab. |Synopsis=Pepper and Tony speak after Tony's surgery. |Cast of Characters=22, 83 |pretty=yes }} {{Poses..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2018/02/06
|Location=Avengers Medical Lab.
|Synopsis=Pepper and Tony speak after Tony's surgery.
|Cast of Characters=22, 83
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' The bundle of news for Pepper is bizarre. In the afternoon today, of February 5th, a medical emergency occurred in the Avengers Mansion: Tony collapsed, while in the presence of Bruce Wayne. Supposedly, Tony had been in the Iron Man armor for a few hours previous, using it in some manner to stay stable, but when he removed the armor, he fell unconscious and vital signs crashed. Wayne assisted briefly to help as much as he could to get Tony on medical support, then left once Tony was moved: he was taken to the medical bay, and Dr. McCoy arrived rapidly to do an emergency procedure, with several assistants via remote. The procedure took hours. And the danger was very, very real. There were some complications. There were blood clots that had been causing additional problems in Tony's upper chest and lungs, and the dangerous procedure took a very long time dealing with those in addition to all of the other difficulties. That Tony had avoided treatment for so long was clearly evident in the variety of bonus troubleshooting that had to be done. It included a full replacement of his poisoned blood, among other things, but the casing of the Arc node reactor was replaced entirely with the new one. The reactor itself is still the old model, as the new one is locked away in Stark Tower. Tony hasn't been awake yet. It's been about 9 hours. He has a myriad of cables and tubes all over his upper torso: leads into and around the reactor and the heavily discolored skin and flesh there, some IVs into right arm, and the various functions of the high tech 'bed' itself, which already looks like something of an iron lung. Tony has been a rough shade of gray. He's off of the assisted breathing, at least, but hasn't yet proven he's capable of being awake. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' On the outside, Pepper has been nothing but a dream during it all. Coordinating anything needed from the tower, carefully controlling any rumors that might be getting out to the press, delaying any meetings he might have foolishly wanted to have by several weeks, putting things off of her own calendar, ensuring that the business is ready to run itself for several days (or longer) if needed, and answering what questions a few of the Avengers might have with obtuse but honest information. She has been a dream of efficiency, as ever, to the outside world. Interally, she hasn't stopped screaming since he collapsed. She spent as much time out side of the operating theater as possible, between coordinating the business, but she always came back to waiting. When they let her into the room with him? She hasn't moved since. The first several hours were spent directing traffic and business remotely, but eventually even she ran out of work to do. Then she read to him. A chapter of her favourite book. A chapter of what she thought might be his. The article about him from People magazine last year. Anything she could find. She begged and prayed to some god she didn't even know she believed in. She cried. But she waited. And, about twenty minutes ago, her body finally gave up. Even the seemingly super human Pepper can only go so long. So, she's sunk down at his side. Her arm stretched out beside his, her hand cupped over his cool palm, her cheek resting on the mattress beside his shoulder. She's dead asleep, holding loosely onto him and waiting. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Even when barely conscious, Tony is disruptive. His little beeping machines change their tune as his heart rate and breathing changes. Still with eyes closed, he wrinkles his nose and tosses one hand sideways, shoving one of the monitors that was over his chest and head FLYING. He's suddenly sitting up, against part of the restraint, the gray turned to absolute white pallor as he reacts in extreme disorientation. Tony is back in that cave, and the raw smell of medicine and metal shrieks in his nose and mind. His hands jerk inwards towards his chest, expecting the huge battery nearby and the cold leads slithering out along his ribcage. Terror bucks and he's unable to breathe, trying to deal with the drugged haze of panic. Sensation rushes out of his hands and legs: he couldn't stand if he wanted to, but that doesn't mean he won't fight and try, gagging, and coughing up from the injured stress through throat and lungs from the ordeal of the surgery. He's too weak to do more than that, which makes the panic mount: he's in that cave and going to die. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' So much for sleep. It wasn't restful anyway. The moment Tony starts moving and fighting, Pepper jerks herself awake with a sharp breath inwards. "Tony!" She half yelps, her worried voice cutting across the sound of crying monitors. She reaches her fingertips up, trying to reach for his struggling hands. One she catches, the other she reaches her fingertips to his cheek instead, trying to soothe and wake him at the same moment. "Tony! You're safe! Tony, it's me...It's Pepper. You're safe, please, breathe... breathe with me. Please." 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' He smells like sweat and fear, blood and disinfectants. His fingers are particularly icy as she grips them, sensation gone from them as his reaction truly revved up. He can't really even fumble to pull at the leads due to the stress reaction his body is going through. However, Pepper's fingers on his face and cheek bring greater success. His eyes are then open, although similarly alarmed and not at all present in the room with her at first. But then she registers, and his dark eyes focus, wet from a mix of the panic and sweat. But he registers on her and gags out a breath, and then does make a real effort to breathe with her, letting his head rock backwards, throat exposed. A deep breath. And then, voice very deep and ragged: "I..." a pause. "Told you I'd be fine," Tony says. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' While she'd like to give a smart remark in tone, she's too busy actually just trying to coach him to breathe. Another deep breath in, slower this time, and then out again. He doesn't even get one of her signature smirks with that comment, but her fingertips carefully trace over the cold sweat of his cheek, her the pad of her thumb across the edge of his jaw, "Hey...yes, well... Take another breath and maybe I'll start believing it." She mutters quietly, before running him through another slow inhale and exhale. Her green eyes glimmer with tears that she hasn't quite spent, not daring to let them across her lashes, but she's on the edge of crying never the less. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "And you're crying with dismay that you aren't rid of me? That's what I wake up to?" Tony admonishes her, but there's no real weight at all to it, just a sort of flat little /attempt/ to try to be himself. There's a gentle undertone in it that is an aftermath of the panic. A panic he's now doing his best to push away and close back down inside himself. He manages to drag his right hand, IV and all, kind of up to her, with absolutely zero finesse, and attempts to sort of draw her head in towards him. "C'mere, I'm not made of glass," Tony says, voice stronger now as he gets his bearings. It isn't for a kiss, but it has an intimate intensity of pulling her close, maybe towards his neck and shoulder. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' A breathy, faint laugh escapes her lips which is as edged with tears as her eyes are. But she it's a laugh, at least. "I'm...not crying. It'd mess up my eyeliner." She teases back with a glimmer of her normal self coming through also. But then his hand is coming up, trying to pull her in towards him, and she comes immediately. She doesn't want him to shift any more than he has to. Fortunately slim, and the bed is generous for a hospital bed, she slips up onto the edge of that bed to almost sit next to him, but she's slipping into his grasp as well. It's not a kiss. This is so much more than a kiss, and was so much more needed. She half buries herself into his throat and shoulder, wrapping her now free hand across his stomach and over his ribs. It's almost a hug, but more intimate and a touch more desperate. "...glass would be easier to fix than you are." She whispers against his neck. ANd a touch of that dampness which she insists hasn't been cried, well, it follows. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "If 'easy' is a priority for you, /man/ are you in the wrong bed," Tony replies with a small laugh that degrades into an actually really painful series of coughs. But he settles. "Don't be funny, it hurts." A pause. "I'm talking to myself. You're fine." Tony is a little bit high, and it is showing on the edges. But that means he is in less pain, and it's making him as chatty as he actually is. He does decide to reduce his moving, though, carefully adjusting his shoulderblades in the bed and just letting his muscles go lax. His arm with the IV adjusts from her head to hook the fingers on her raised shoulder, though. He turns his head to set his chin against her forehead. It says a lot more than whatever nonsense is coming out of him verbally next, no doubt. "You're fine as-is." ....or perhaps not nonsense. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' Part of Pepper is certain a nurse is going to be charging through that door any moment, pulling her away from him to check vitals and probably help with that cough, but she doesn't get up yet. She's going to take every last moment wrapped up against him as possible. She turns her head up, just enough to kiss against the stubble of his cheek, on that edge of his goatee. She takes a deep breath of his sweat and stale, disinfectant scent. She doesn't care -- it's him. "I'm fine and you are high as a kite but... you... You will be fine. They... got all the worst of it out. They couldn't replace the reactor because, dammit, you weren't near home and it wasn't anywhere close in time... but they got all the... toxic stuff out of you now. You're fine..." For now. She didn't have the heart to add that, even if it hung in the air. Her arm tightened against his ribs just a big more, a firm, tender squeeze as she tucks her nose into his neck. "...I love you. God, you scared me." The words just come spilling out before she can stop them. Maybe he doesn't hear. Maybe her whisper was too buried in his neck. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "I--," Tony informs her, lifting the hand that's resting on her shoulder, "--Can change out the /reactor/ like, like that," Finger snap against her upper arm from those fingers. Barely. It's a sad snap, but he just had major surgery. "It was the casing-- that makes it feel like the Hulk is sitting on my chest again." Again. He doesn't know about the complications, obviously, so he's saying what he does know. When she turns her head to kiss his unshaven upper cheek, he has his eyes closed, saving all the energy he can, since she wasn't looking at his face, far as he could tell. But he heard her last comments. Or did he? He's not sure how high he actually is. "Evvvverybody loves me, yep," Tony hears himself say, "--but you can call me 'Tony', not 'God,'" Tony says. He heard. He just can't seem to be a functional person about it. The feels - he can't manage them, and in rolls the humor, defensively. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' Well, at least she didn't make it more awkward. Pepper's breath stops for just a few moments, on the edge of his skin and more words she wants to say, but a faint, aching laugh just escapes her lips against his chin. "...I know. Well... you still need to rest up so you can go back to being God... or Tony, or whatever you want to be called. Go back to sleep. Heal up. I...I'm here. I'm not going anywhere." She promises softly against his jaw, not daring to pick her head up again so he can't see the array of emotions on her face. The biggest is relief, in truth... but there are so many others. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "Naaaah, I don't need to sleep," Tony says, in his usual manner. If nothing else he's done or said really screams of Tony and their little negotiations, this one does. Particularly with the drug in his system making him extra amiable yet somehow impossibly harder to convince to do anything. "/You're/ going to worry I'm dead again," Tony reminds her. "You know, I think if I did die, I'd really miss you," Tony adds, similarly quietly to her own soft promise of tone, moving just a bit to settle his cheek on her head, his breathing even. Funny little truths of his own squished amid jokes and sarcasm? Yes, absolutely. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' "...then I guess you simply can't die, and we won't have to worry about it." Pepper rasps out gently against his neck, tucking her head a bit closer, her soft hair brushing up against his cheek as he rests himself there. He can, if he's able to feel much of anything, sense a few inches of tension relax out of her shoulders and body. She exhales slowly and just relaxes into him. Somehow, she's gotten a touch more up on the bed. SHe's no longer just leaning, but completely stretched out at his side, her legs pressed against the outside of his thigh, her small body totally tucked into the crook of his neck. "...but sleep you could do. I promise not to worry... Too much. We both need the sleep." 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "Definitely not, unless you scheduled death on my agenda and didn't tell me," Tony answers with better cheer, that causes the little laugh again that hurts, and he coughs into it, a bit better this time. He can feel her against him, can sense a good deal from it, despite his pain, because even if he's just a carnival of verbal bullshit, he is leaning on her emotionally. Not that he'd realize it or even tell her if he did realize it. "Do you feel like we have ... an expiration date with this?" Tony asks, uncomfortably, in the same voice he's asked her if things were too weird. Shadow of the blue dress. "Instead of ... a real date." Something Clint said lingered with him. Is she afraid that he will turn away once he's healthy again? And... WILL he? 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' "...If you promise me you're not dying... We sure as hell have no expiration date, Tony. Because...that's the only way this ends. I'm here otherwise. I'm not going anywhere. I've been here for the worst...I sure as hell hope, some day, we get some of the best too. I'll be waiting until then... helping you along the way. Then... then we finally get that date. And a lot more, I hope." She's the one who just rambled out her feelings in a spill of words he maybe... MAYBE won't even remember in the morning. She might as well be honest about the rest of it. She turns her head up just enough to press a soft kiss against the edge of his mouth. "But... getting to that better means rest. Trusting in Dr. McCoy... taking it easy. So, do that for me, will you?" 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Tony is listening to her. Sort of. He's having a rainbow time in the drugs, which beep a little, feeding more in. But he's coherent: at least for a few more moments, to listen. Major surgery, it turns out, is somewhat effective at making Tony less chatty. Not quiet, /less/. Tony angles his hand off her shoulder and seeks out under her cheek, to kiss her mouth. It's exhausted, but he really /wanted/ to, so he put the energy into it. His head drops back just afterward, and he swallows. "I can survive anything, Pep," Tony says with confidence. "/You/... are the one-- to actually --sleep," he says, smiling a little. "Here's fine. I'll make sure ...YOU sleep," Tony murmers. And the drugs and exhaustion takes him, into his own rest, his head and arm across her relaxed as he finally does rest. 
}}

3772/I'm not dead yet

2018-01-31T05:21:45Z

Malky:

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2018/01/31
|Location=Stark Tower Penthouse
|Synopsis=Pepper tries to get the ill Tony to get some sleep, but meets resistance.
|Cast of Characters=22, 83
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Tony mostly lets the illness show when he's not in public. So, in the car, though most of the entourage also needs to not be there, or he's still running on fumes of trying to impress them. This time though, since Pepper is wise enough to have him just with her in the back of one of the cars, he actually ends up sleeping for much of the ride, though it takes some coaxing just to get him to shut up long enough to rest. When they arrive he's actually confused and surprised that he did sleep. It was an accident.     Tony revs up enough to get inside and manage people some - which makes him hard to drag away immediately, but when Pepper FINALLY gets him away from others and up to the Penthouse, he starts to ease down out of the adrenaline and look as fried as he really is. He works his suit coat off with effort and works on the tie, tired and pale, but keeping the ship sailing. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' In the car, Pepper knew exactly what to do. Very quiet words, not much talking, her shoulder an easy place to rest. Eventually, her arm coming around him, wrapping him up in her warmth and familiar scent. She didn't know if she felt like home to him as much as he did to her, but even if she did a little bit, it was enough. He slept, and that helped. She was ever so gentle in coaxing him out of the car, past people, upstairs... Once there, she's barely leaving his side. She steps out of her high heels and peels out of her jacket -- a move to make him feel less defensive about getting undressed and more at ease in their positions of power. Then she's coming up to him and reaching for his tie herself. "...Let me. Just... relax. Please?" She asks so gently, as her fingertips work at the tie, then the buttons of his shirt. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Tony almost doesn't have it in him to make a comment about this. Almost. "This isn't usually something that precedes me relaxing," Tony flirts. It's almost halfhearted, because he's fried. But he's strong, and part of that strength is being resilient even when he's in really bad shape. He drops his hands from the tie, though, and watches her do it, a little bit unresponsive. That's scarier, perhaps: he's just not interacting with a sharpness or clarity. He lifts one hand and rubs the finger and thumb firmly into his eye sockets, and coughs twice. He's had a shortness of breath issue, which was one of the major reasons he has to rest, and this parading out into the charity event, in some attempt to not show weakness, may end up being what destroys him. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' "Hush. I promise, when you are back on your feet, we can absolutely do things which are... not relaxing. I promise. But tonight is relaxing." There. Pepper's said it. Given him the best motivation she can find to survive through the treatment and surgery. Even though she's basically just promised to seduce him, her smile is still soft and a little worried as she unlaces the tie from his neck and tosses it aside on the desk before coming back to finish with his shirt. That is gently guided down off of his arms. Next is the pants. That's a bit awkward, but she does it all with clinical, gentle hands. This is almost just business. Almost. "...You want the flannel pajamas I got you finally? They are warm AND comfortable. I promise. I know it's not an ACDC teeshirt or... commando, but it'll be warmer for you..." The cough gets a worried look, but there is nothing she can do save what she is doing -- take care of him and get him to rest. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "Hey, hey, I feel like I'm being undressed for my funeral. I'm not that bad yet," Tony says, kicking in sometime around when she gets most of the shirt off, to do much of this himself. His independence is strong and he may have faded out for a little bit there, he's back now again. It's irregular: he'll fade then come back in with a passion. "Maybe just the pants from 'em," Tony bargains, about the flannel. He throws the suit pants over out of the way, with no shame about stripping in particular. Of course not: Tony Stark, after all. "JARVIS, download all of those readings off of MK-12 before I forget, and run those batch analysis protocols I wanted," Tony commands, remembering. "Yes sir," JARVIS agrees. Tony wanders into the bathroom to tiredly do general bedtime hygiene, while she's going after the flannel, just wandering in his boxers. Really only going through the motions, though. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' "The pants, then." Pepper looks a touch pleased about that, at least. The fact he's letting her take care of him even a bit, it does help. She takes just a moment to steal a look over him -- partially enjoying the chance to see him mostly undressed, and partially to look at just how sickly he might actually be. She's too worried to be considering anything other than sleep, but she still enjoys looking. WHile he's in the bathroom, she does set out those fuzzy, warm flannel pants that she got for him from the top end camping line. It's the sort of flannel you want to roll up in and just purr. Then she goes over to the single, little drawer she's started keeping here since he's gotten sick. She hasn't gone home to her own condo in weeks, but sometimes stays in the guest bedroom. Sometimes not. She pulls out her own sleep shorts and camisole, making quick work of her pants and bra so she's in far more comfortable things when he's out of the bathroom. "Pants are on the bed for you." 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Tony is too out of it to know he's being looked at, so he doesn't do any flexing or roostering. He's just barely doing the whole walking thing now, held together with willpower style tape. He cleans up: his face, teeth and so on, and comes back out. The lighting is better from the bathroom, so when he turns to come out she'll see something bad: there's discoloration around the arc reactor, the skin is angry. Some red tendrils of showing veins and irritation come out from it. This began a few days prior, and while it isn't hugely worse, things aren't great either. The light from the reactor itself makes it less apparent, except under the good lighting from his epic bathroom. "I remember these," Tony says. He totally doesn't remember but he's being nice. He pulls the offered pants on, and tiredly considers her. His dark eyes are ill, but fighting. He's still present, at least for now. "Why do you always look so good when I'm about to pass out?" Tony queries. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' "Because I always look good, and you're like a kid who never wants to go to bed on time, looking for any excuse to stay awake." Pepper states with a deeper smirk, though her voice is all fond as she says it. She steps over to him with the pants, putting them directly in his hands just in case he thinks he's going to crawl into bed without them. "Put them on. It'll fell better. I promise." She then leans up and kisses his cheek, trying to soften some of her over protectiveness with the affection. "I'm... going to stick around tonight. Early morning meeting. You rather I take the guest bed or... ?" A quiet offer hangs in the air. She will stay in here with him. From the indication of her voice, she'd RATHER stay in here, actually. Especially as her eyes catch sight of that discoloration, the quiet knowledge he's getting worse. SHe doesn't want to leave him alone. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "My excuses are far surprior to a kid's excuses," Tony assures her evenly as she puts the pants into his hands in that manner. He gets them on. "I'm telling you, I'm fine. JARVIS, do a scan and pull up my current status," Tony instructs, indicating one of the large television sets. JARVIS does as bidden, and it appears. However, there are several things that are flashing red and angry on it. "Well, that could look better," Tony says after a pause. "Yeah, shut that off, JARVIS. I could... use a drink," he observes, not yet quite giving an answer about if she's supposed to stay in the room with him, or not. He's doing a little bit of selective hearing, though some of it is the exhaustion level. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' "Tony. The LAST thing you need is booze. If you want water, or some herbal tea or something, I'll get that. But no booze." Pepper states firmly, especially after looking over that scan, her heart in her throat in a way it wasn't five minutes ago. She's trying to hold it together, to appear calm and collected, but her worry is ramping up by the second. She stares at him quietly, her expression full of concern and heartache. "Let's...let's just go to bed." 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "I know. Hank gave me medicine I can't take with it. At least let me pine after it, and the loss of getting to swing from the chandelier tonight," Tony laments. He can't look directly into her worry and walks past her to the side of his bed. He will, at least, take the medicine. Kind of a lot of them, it appears. Hank gave him these weird gummy-things, like you'd give a child. Of course. Tony did not miss the clear message there. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' Apparently, she's just not giving him a choice. Pepper follows him to the bed, giving a half smile as she sees him going for the meds. "Take the meds. I'll be back in a minute." And she reaches up to fondly muss at his hair, part of her just looking for excuses to touch him, before she turns away to disappear to the bathroom herself. SHe's absolutely staying here the night. How could she sleep rooms away, always worrying if he's still breathing? The sound of water can be heard running and it's barely a few minutes before she's back out of the bathroom, face slightly damp from being washed, all her make up off, hair down. It's the most raw and honest anyone ever sees Pepper Potts and he's the only person in the world who gets to see it. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' When she comes back, Tony is ... poking at one of his holographically projected screens. He is looking into the medication. Because what if it doesn't ACTUALLY interact badly with alcohol? That's really worth checking on. Definitely worth it. He lacks enough mental bandwidth to react to her return -- well, at first. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' "...Tony. Sleep. Come on. Please?" Pepper asks, the last part a bit softer, a bit more heartbroken as she slightly clues into what he's doing. Now she has no doubt in her mind that she's staying. She pads barefoot up to 'her' side of the bed, the one that she's just habitually begun to take the nights she ends up spending here. Nothing ever done but idle cuddling, keeping the bed warm, but it's been nice those few times. She sinks down into the bed, pulling up mostly bare legs to slip under the sheets. She's all bare, soft limbs and loose strawberry hair right now. It makes her look a decade younger. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Sadly, Hank isn't a lying liarpants, and it can't be taken with alcohol. Well, not without side effects. Tony looks at them. Yeah, NOPE. He shuts off the bright screen and turns around to look at the bed, tracking over to where she is. Truth - there have been many ladies in that bed. But certainly not in this manner. This honest directness is a removed bandage, a quick tear somewhere. It hurt, somehow. Tony looks at her, dark eyes tired but full of her. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' Pepper remains sitting up for the moment, looking like, for all of the world, she belonged there. Like a wife would going to bed with him -- no make up on, no fancy night gown or lingere. Just cotton short-shorts and a loose cotton camisole. No bra. Bare skin, bare arms, soft collarbones. It's so achingly normal, like she's always belonged, and yet she is still an intruder on this world. She reaches one hand up to gentle brush fingertips down his arm, almost trying to coax him into laying down. "You...need anything else? Water, or anything? I'll get it. YOu just... lay down. Sleep. Actually... Sleep. For me?" 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Tony Stark tries to sort out how he feels about any of this. There's a clash of rebellion that he can't define. Like he's /supposed/ to fight. But there's too many good things about it. There's a relaxation into it that's tempting in a far different way from usual 'temptations'. He's really split, and it's a confusing sensation. When torn, Tony generally just makes a choice and runs with the risk. But there's something /important/ about this choice. Tony watches her touch his arm, his jaw flexes some. And up comes the first thing off the back of the truck that is Tony's verbal retorts: "Seems like such a waste to spend time staring at the back of eyelids, when I can look at you." 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' "Well, you get through this mess and play your cards right, you can spent several more years looking at me. But... first, getting through this mess. That's the only thing I ask. You want this again? More? We... we actually want *this*? You have to survive, Tony. And that means actually taking care of yourself. Sleeping. Listening to Hank. Letting this happen. Please, that's... the one thing I'm asking. Please do that." Pepper murmurs softly, trying not to put too much desperation behind her words, not wanting to drive him away in fear, but she meant every last breath of them. She then leans over and presses a little kiss to his temple, letting her nose linger against his hair for just a heartbeat or two. "Come on. Even I'm tired. Sleep. I'll be here in the morning." She whispers into his hair, before moving to pull away so she can settle into the sheets herself. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Tony scoffs a little, with a sudden arrogance. "I'm not going to /die/," Tony says, with such self assurance that it may be actually pretty easy to just believe him. He doesn't bother to go all the way around the bed, he just pushes his way in on the side he's on (next to her), moving an arm to scoop her legs and pull them aside to make more space for him to sit there, intruding on her space. Of course he is. "You keep saying things that /will/ be, but.... we're already here, Pepper," Tony points out. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' The blonde blinks a bit as she's scooped up from her place, not squirming away from him, she just happily makes room for him. She doesn't pull out of his arms, or away at all. Pepper just leans there, considering his face as he says that. "I... I suppose we are." She breathes out quietly, no apology or fear in her tone. "I.... just want to *stay* here, and as much as you say you're not going to die, I watched you arrange everything for the company. I've seen the way you are acting. I KNOW you... and I know you're scared. And I am too." She admits softly. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Tony adjusts, slipping into the bed on 'her side' with her in a tangle, arm around her somewhat loosely. He can't maintain acting 'normal' for very long, and he starts to peter out in energy after that move, reclining back with several difficult and shallow breaths. "I just really don't like having to make contingency plans for failing. Let's just stay successful, please," Tony suggests, playful, but... yeah. Death is a scary thing. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' "Then... sleep. Let's sleep. That's a step in the right direction, Tony. I promise." Pepper almost begs. Almost. She does not extricate herself from his arms but, insteadn, guides both of them to gently laying back. One arm stretches down, tugging at the sheet and blanket to pull them overtop of both of them. THat's what matters, keeping them warm, keeping him close. There is no pulling away tonight and pretending to sleep on the opposite side of the bed. She tucks in against his shoulder instead. "I'm here. I'm not going anywhere. I promise." That's probably about more than just sleeping tonight. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Tony draws her hand in towards his bare chest, near but not touching the inflamed skin near the reactor. There's some pain there and he doesn't need her to see him flinch. He tires to maintain focus and so on, but he's really in bad shape, so despite his wishes to be stronger, he ends up sort of just... melted, leaning his head forwards towards her and letting his eyes shut. There's considerable trust, really. To give in, finally, after a long war of the day -- or week. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' It's enough. Pepper tucks down with him, curled in close on the bed, not budging from his arms. SHe doesn't quite sleep yet, but listens to his breath, ensuring that he drops off to sleep before she dares even think about it herself. But, good to her promise, she doesn't move 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Tony doesn't quite fall asleep yet. "If you want, though, I'm not TOO dead yet-- we can make out," Tony mumbles at her sleepily. Tony Stark might just survive after all. 
}}

3772/I'm not dead yet

2018-01-31T05:21:10Z

Malky: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2018/01/30 |Location=Stark Tower Penthouse |Synopsis=Pepper tries to get the ill Tony to get some sleep, but meets resistance. |Cast of Characters=..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2018/01/30
|Location=Stark Tower Penthouse
|Synopsis=Pepper tries to get the ill Tony to get some sleep, but meets resistance.
|Cast of Characters=22, 83
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Tony mostly lets the illness show when he's not in public. So, in the car, though most of the entourage also needs to not be there, or he's still running on fumes of trying to impress them. This time though, since Pepper is wise enough to have him just with her in the back of one of the cars, he actually ends up sleeping for much of the ride, though it takes some coaxing just to get him to shut up long enough to rest. When they arrive he's actually confused and surprised that he did sleep. It was an accident.     Tony revs up enough to get inside and manage people some - which makes him hard to drag away immediately, but when Pepper FINALLY gets him away from others and up to the Penthouse, he starts to ease down out of the adrenaline and look as fried as he really is. He works his suit coat off with effort and works on the tie, tired and pale, but keeping the ship sailing. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' In the car, Pepper knew exactly what to do. Very quiet words, not much talking, her shoulder an easy place to rest. Eventually, her arm coming around him, wrapping him up in her warmth and familiar scent. She didn't know if she felt like home to him as much as he did to her, but even if she did a little bit, it was enough. He slept, and that helped. She was ever so gentle in coaxing him out of the car, past people, upstairs... Once there, she's barely leaving his side. She steps out of her high heels and peels out of her jacket -- a move to make him feel less defensive about getting undressed and more at ease in their positions of power. Then she's coming up to him and reaching for his tie herself. "...Let me. Just... relax. Please?" She asks so gently, as her fingertips work at the tie, then the buttons of his shirt. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Tony almost doesn't have it in him to make a comment about this. Almost. "This isn't usually something that precedes me relaxing," Tony flirts. It's almost halfhearted, because he's fried. But he's strong, and part of that strength is being resilient even when he's in really bad shape. He drops his hands from the tie, though, and watches her do it, a little bit unresponsive. That's scarier, perhaps: he's just not interacting with a sharpness or clarity. He lifts one hand and rubs the finger and thumb firmly into his eye sockets, and coughs twice. He's had a shortness of breath issue, which was one of the major reasons he has to rest, and this parading out into the charity event, in some attempt to not show weakness, may end up being what destroys him. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' "Hush. I promise, when you are back on your feet, we can absolutely do things which are... not relaxing. I promise. But tonight is relaxing." There. Pepper's said it. Given him the best motivation she can find to survive through the treatment and surgery. Even though she's basically just promised to seduce him, her smile is still soft and a little worried as she unlaces the tie from his neck and tosses it aside on the desk before coming back to finish with his shirt. That is gently guided down off of his arms. Next is the pants. That's a bit awkward, but she does it all with clinical, gentle hands. This is almost just business. Almost. "...You want the flannel pajamas I got you finally? They are warm AND comfortable. I promise. I know it's not an ACDC teeshirt or... commando, but it'll be warmer for you..." The cough gets a worried look, but there is nothing she can do save what she is doing -- take care of him and get him to rest. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "Hey, hey, I feel like I'm being undressed for my funeral. I'm not that bad yet," Tony says, kicking in sometime around when she gets most of the shirt off, to do much of this himself. His independence is strong and he may have faded out for a little bit there, he's back now again. It's irregular: he'll fade then come back in with a passion. "Maybe just the pants from 'em," Tony bargains, about the flannel. He throws the suit pants over out of the way, with no shame about stripping in particular. Of course not: Tony Stark, after all. "JARVIS, download all of those readings off of MK-12 before I forget, and run those batch analysis protocols I wanted," Tony commands, remembering. "Yes sir," JARVIS agrees. Tony wanders into the bathroom to tiredly do general bedtime hygiene, while she's going after the flannel, just wandering in his boxers. Really only going through the motions, though. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' "The pants, then." Pepper looks a touch pleased about that, at least. The fact he's letting her take care of him even a bit, it does help. She takes just a moment to steal a look over him -- partially enjoying the chance to see him mostly undressed, and partially to look at just how sickly he might actually be. She's too worried to be considering anything other than sleep, but she still enjoys looking. WHile he's in the bathroom, she does set out those fuzzy, warm flannel pants that she got for him from the top end camping line. It's the sort of flannel you want to roll up in and just purr. Then she goes over to the single, little drawer she's started keeping here since he's gotten sick. She hasn't gone home to her own condo in weeks, but sometimes stays in the guest bedroom. Sometimes not. She pulls out her own sleep shorts and camisole, making quick work of her pants and bra so she's in far more comfortable things when he's out of the bathroom. "Pants are on the bed for you." 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Tony is too out of it to know he's being looked at, so he doesn't do any flexing or roostering. He's just barely doing the whole walking thing now, held together with willpower style tape. He cleans up: his face, teeth and so on, and comes back out. The lighting is better from the bathroom, so when he turns to come out she'll see something bad: there's discoloration around the arc reactor, the skin is angry. Some red tendrils of showing veins and irritation come out from it. This began a few days prior, and while it isn't hugely worse, things aren't great either. The light from the reactor itself makes it less apparent, except under the good lighting from his epic bathroom. "I remember these," Tony says. He totally doesn't remember but he's being nice. He pulls the offered pants on, and tiredly considers her. His dark eyes are ill, but fighting. He's still present, at least for now. "Why do you always look so good when I'm about to pass out?" Tony queries. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' "Because I always look good, and you're like a kid who never wants to go to bed on time, looking for any excuse to stay awake." Pepper states with a deeper smirk, though her voice is all fond as she says it. She steps over to him with the pants, putting them directly in his hands just in case he thinks he's going to crawl into bed without them. "Put them on. It'll fell better. I promise." She then leans up and kisses his cheek, trying to soften some of her over protectiveness with the affection. "I'm... going to stick around tonight. Early morning meeting. You rather I take the guest bed or... ?" A quiet offer hangs in the air. She will stay in here with him. From the indication of her voice, she'd RATHER stay in here, actually. Especially as her eyes catch sight of that discoloration, the quiet knowledge he's getting worse. SHe doesn't want to leave him alone. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "My excuses are far surprior to a kid's excuses," Tony assures her evenly as she puts the pants into his hands in that manner. He gets them on. "I'm telling you, I'm fine. JARVIS, do a scan and pull up my current status," Tony instructs, indicating one of the large television sets. JARVIS does as bidden, and it appears. However, there are several things that are flashing red and angry on it. "Well, that could look better," Tony says after a pause. "Yeah, shut that off, JARVIS. I could... use a drink," he observes, not yet quite giving an answer about if she's supposed to stay in the room with him, or not. He's doing a little bit of selective hearing, though some of it is the exhaustion level. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' "Tony. The LAST thing you need is booze. If you want water, or some herbal tea or something, I'll get that. But no booze." Pepper states firmly, especially after looking over that scan, her heart in her throat in a way it wasn't five minutes ago. She's trying to hold it together, to appear calm and collected, but her worry is ramping up by the second. She stares at him quietly, her expression full of concern and heartache. "Let's...let's just go to bed." 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "I know. Hank gave me medicine I can't take with it. At least let me pine after it, and the loss of getting to swing from the chandelier tonight," Tony laments. He can't look directly into her worry and walks past her to the side of his bed. He will, at least, take the medicine. Kind of a lot of them, it appears. Hank gave him these weird gummy-things, like you'd give a child. Of course. Tony did not miss the clear message there. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' Apparently, she's just not giving him a choice. Pepper follows him to the bed, giving a half smile as she sees him going for the meds. "Take the meds. I'll be back in a minute." And she reaches up to fondly muss at his hair, part of her just looking for excuses to touch him, before she turns away to disappear to the bathroom herself. SHe's absolutely staying here the night. How could she sleep rooms away, always worrying if he's still breathing? The sound of water can be heard running and it's barely a few minutes before she's back out of the bathroom, face slightly damp from being washed, all her make up off, hair down. It's the most raw and honest anyone ever sees Pepper Potts and he's the only person in the world who gets to see it. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' When she comes back, Tony is ... poking at one of his holographically projected screens. He is looking into the medication. Because what if it doesn't ACTUALLY interact badly with alcohol? That's really worth checking on. Definitely worth it. He lacks enough mental bandwidth to react to her return -- well, at first. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' "...Tony. Sleep. Come on. Please?" Pepper asks, the last part a bit softer, a bit more heartbroken as she slightly clues into what he's doing. Now she has no doubt in her mind that she's staying. She pads barefoot up to 'her' side of the bed, the one that she's just habitually begun to take the nights she ends up spending here. Nothing ever done but idle cuddling, keeping the bed warm, but it's been nice those few times. She sinks down into the bed, pulling up mostly bare legs to slip under the sheets. She's all bare, soft limbs and loose strawberry hair right now. It makes her look a decade younger. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Sadly, Hank isn't a lying liarpants, and it can't be taken with alcohol. Well, not without side effects. Tony looks at them. Yeah, NOPE. He shuts off the bright screen and turns around to look at the bed, tracking over to where she is. Truth - there have been many ladies in that bed. But certainly not in this manner. This honest directness is a removed bandage, a quick tear somewhere. It hurt, somehow. Tony looks at her, dark eyes tired but full of her. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' Pepper remains sitting up for the moment, looking like, for all of the world, she belonged there. Like a wife would going to bed with him -- no make up on, no fancy night gown or lingere. Just cotton short-shorts and a loose cotton camisole. No bra. Bare skin, bare arms, soft collarbones. It's so achingly normal, like she's always belonged, and yet she is still an intruder on this world. She reaches one hand up to gentle brush fingertips down his arm, almost trying to coax him into laying down. "You...need anything else? Water, or anything? I'll get it. YOu just... lay down. Sleep. Actually... Sleep. For me?" 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Tony Stark tries to sort out how he feels about any of this. There's a clash of rebellion that he can't define. Like he's /supposed/ to fight. But there's too many good things about it. There's a relaxation into it that's tempting in a far different way from usual 'temptations'. He's really split, and it's a confusing sensation. When torn, Tony generally just makes a choice and runs with the risk. But there's something /important/ about this choice. Tony watches her touch his arm, his jaw flexes some. And up comes the first thing off the back of the truck that is Tony's verbal retorts: "Seems like such a waste to spend time staring at the back of eyelids, when I can look at you." 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' "Well, you get through this mess and play your cards right, you can spent several more years looking at me. But... first, getting through this mess. That's the only thing I ask. You want this again? More? We... we actually want *this*? You have to survive, Tony. And that means actually taking care of yourself. Sleeping. Listening to Hank. Letting this happen. Please, that's... the one thing I'm asking. Please do that." Pepper murmurs softly, trying not to put too much desperation behind her words, not wanting to drive him away in fear, but she meant every last breath of them. She then leans over and presses a little kiss to his temple, letting her nose linger against his hair for just a heartbeat or two. "Come on. Even I'm tired. Sleep. I'll be here in the morning." She whispers into his hair, before moving to pull away so she can settle into the sheets herself. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Tony scoffs a little, with a sudden arrogance. "I'm not going to /die/," Tony says, with such self assurance that it may be actually pretty easy to just believe him. He doesn't bother to go all the way around the bed, he just pushes his way in on the side he's on (next to her), moving an arm to scoop her legs and pull them aside to make more space for him to sit there, intruding on her space. Of course he is. "You keep saying things that /will/ be, but.... we're already here, Pepper," Tony points out. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' The blonde blinks a bit as she's scooped up from her place, not squirming away from him, she just happily makes room for him. She doesn't pull out of his arms, or away at all. Pepper just leans there, considering his face as he says that. "I... I suppose we are." She breathes out quietly, no apology or fear in her tone. "I.... just want to *stay* here, and as much as you say you're not going to die, I watched you arrange everything for the company. I've seen the way you are acting. I KNOW you... and I know you're scared. And I am too." She admits softly. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Tony adjusts, slipping into the bed on 'her side' with her in a tangle, arm around her somewhat loosely. He can't maintain acting 'normal' for very long, and he starts to peter out in energy after that move, reclining back with several difficult and shallow breaths. "I just really don't like having to make contingency plans for failing. Let's just stay successful, please," Tony suggests, playful, but... yeah. Death is a scary thing. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' "Then... sleep. Let's sleep. That's a step in the right direction, Tony. I promise." Pepper almost begs. Almost. She does not extricate herself from his arms but, insteadn, guides both of them to gently laying back. One arm stretches down, tugging at the sheet and blanket to pull them overtop of both of them. THat's what matters, keeping them warm, keeping him close. There is no pulling away tonight and pretending to sleep on the opposite side of the bed. She tucks in against his shoulder instead. "I'm here. I'm not going anywhere. I promise." That's probably about more than just sleeping tonight. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Tony draws her hand in towards his bare chest, near but not touching the inflamed skin near the reactor. There's some pain there and he doesn't need her to see him flinch. He tires to maintain focus and so on, but he's really in bad shape, so despite his wishes to be stronger, he ends up sort of just... melted, leaning his head forwards towards her and letting his eyes shut. There's considerable trust, really. To give in, finally, after a long war of the day -- or week. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' It's enough. Pepper tucks down with him, curled in close on the bed, not budging from his arms. SHe doesn't quite sleep yet, but listens to his breath, ensuring that he drops off to sleep before she dares even think about it herself. But, good to her promise, she doesn't move 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Tony doesn't quite fall asleep yet. "If you want, though, I'm not TOO dead yet-- we can make out," Tony mumbles at her sleepily. Tony Stark might just survive after all. 
}}

3771/Brotherly 'Love'

2018-01-31T05:20:21Z

Malky: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2018/01/30 |Location=Triskelion Cafeteria |Synopsis=Tony talks at Gregory Stark in the SHIELD cafeteria, and gets repremanded by a very persuasive..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2018/01/30
|Location=Triskelion Cafeteria
|Synopsis=Tony talks at Gregory Stark in the SHIELD cafeteria, and gets repremanded by a very persuasive Pepper.
|Cast of Characters=23, 22, 83
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:23|Gregory Stark (23)}} has posed:''' It's early evening at the triskelion. The occasional friendly face passes through on their way about their day, but for the most part it's a relatively quiet place. Staff mill about prepping the buffet tables switching out in preparation for the dinner rush. The atmosphere is a very welcoming one.      Setting at a small table to the back of the large room under the shadow of a looming pillar is Gregory Stark. As usual he's dressed in his all white suit with matching trench-coat and mirrored shades. His hands are held out in front of himself motioning in the air to control the heads up display provided on the inside of his glasses, a tray filled with food stuck off to one side out of the way.      Setting beside him is a woman who can only be described as Generic. Her features are all very forgettable, as if picked from a catalogue rather then something they were naturally born with. Other then his all white uniform he barely even registers to the mind simply blending in as anyone else. Her expression is completely deadpan as she watches Gregory work, hands folded onto her lap. She's almost... too generic. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' The entourage of Tony Stark is large today. There's two tech people, four aides of various sorts (two of them lovely women; one is experienced, the other her apprentice), at least one lawyer (hard to tell, she could also just be PR or something else), as well as the add-on SHIELD agent that Tony always gets to kind of keep an eye on him. And he does deserve the babysitting. All of those people, though, are just towards the front of the cafeteria, having arrived and clogged up some of the doors, and are discussing the private dinner situation that their group is going to have shortly. The Cafeteria will, of course, need to deliver to them. Tony himself has actually slipped the group, letting them debate over the situation, fully able to refill his cup all on his own at the fountain area. He's in a comfortable, expensive suit, and has a small little drone with him: it's about the size of a volleyball, floating near his left shoulder, and has a few little hover-cables dangling. Lots of people stare at it, but Tony doesn't much react. He flashes a quick grin at the agent at the drink fountain as he waits for her to finish at the station, and the trainee gives him a deer-in-headlights look when she turns and finds herself suddenly that close to Tony Stark. "Whoops, careful there; nearly got wet, and I haven't even done anything," Tony says playfully, helping her to not slosh coffee on herself by helping to steady her tray, and moves around her with a follow up smile. He fills his cup, and ... notices Gregory. There is a very clear body language change that Gregory will see loud and clear: Tony is definitely going to come on over. 

:'''{{#var:23|Gregory Stark (23)}} has posed:''' Gregory's hands dance and flutter about with grace and speed as he types away on an invisible keyboard, occasionally flipping around an image only he can see as he works on his newest designs. He's fully engrossed in his project right up to the moment the entourage arrives.      There's a pause in his movements, a slight freeze as he sees that familiar face peaking out of the rather large crowd. Eyes follow the figure from behind mirrored lenses for some time. The work can wait, for the moment there is a bigger situation.      Gregory's white gloved hands go back down to the table. His fingers star rapping on the shined surface one after another as thoughts fly rapidly through his mind. Then the two lock eyes for just a moment. It's clear there's going to be an interaction, that much may well be unavoidable.      His posture adjusts causing him to set upright. He looks away from his twin for a moment trying to pass it off as if he'd merely not noticed him. There was little chance it would work. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' It wouldn't make a difference if Gregory even didn't see him; it isn't like Tony wouldn't go over even without a meeting of the gaze. He would anyway. And so it is that Tony fills his cup and heads over with his usual charismatic smile and relaxed manner: so entirely opposite from the tightened posture his brother adopts. The little droid bobs along in his wake, peering over his shoulder in a curious manner at the very forgettable woman: her opposite as well, really, in memorability. Tony invites himself right up to the table, though he doesn't sit down: there isn't a free chair anyway. "I gotta ask. Actually working, or practicing your jazz hands? I really hope you've picked up a fun hobby or two, Greggo, let some of that tension out," Tony says, playful, not particularly combative, with the mild tease. 

:'''{{#var:23|Gregory Stark (23)}} has posed:''' "You caught me." Gregory comments reaching up to pull the mirrored shades from his face. "Here I thought I had everyone fooled." As he folds the glasses up tucking them away into the pocket of his shirt, two baby blue eyes now visibly locked onto Tony. "Figured if I did enough of them people would leave me alone."      He makes a light motion with his hand, and his assistant comes to a smooth stand, moving the chair around the table in case Tony wants to have a seat. She looks human even down to the smallest details, but there's still something glassy to those eyes, like there's nothing behind them. It's barely noticeable, but it is there.' 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "Maybe it's the angle; move the wrist more like... say..." Tony considers. And snaps his fingers, pointing to Gregory, "Like you're waving goodbye to morality," Tony suggests, finding an example appropriate to Gregory's experience, of course. He winks some, hardly lingering on his joke, and then orients on the robotic woman and the chair, brows lifting. His own robot chitters at her like a slightly demented R2-D2. "Let her be," Tony admonishes his little bot, which rebelliously emits a whirring noise but obeys. "No need: I'm fine; I'd overstay my welcome with a chair," Tony says thoughtfully to the chair, but smiles at her anyway, as if expecting a smile back from her. "I know I run that risk even standing," Tony adds. There's something off with Tony. Yes, there's years (decades?) of separation between these brothers, but there's certain things that linger. He has some kind of health issue, possibly some kind of extreme exhaustion, but he's pale and there's a sort of manic energy under the surface. He's sick enough with something that it's showing, which means it probably is pretty severe. 

:'''{{#var:23|Gregory Stark (23)}} has posed:''' "I was about to say." Gregory adds at Tony's comment, relaxing somewhat in his chair. "Overstaying your welcome is one of your more honed talents." Offered as a compliment as he looks towards Tony for a long moment. There may have been a long separation between them but it didn't change the fact they were brothers.      Gregory is able to pick up on the changes, and it causes him to pause for a long moment. "How long you been sick?" Asked out of the blue as he leans down onto his hand supported by the table.      The mechanical woman closes her eyes offering a warm smile. Her head tilts slightly to the side with the motion, before she offers a low bow. If it weren't for the little tells she could pass for human. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Tony doesn't like being asked that, which causes a similar reaction to any one of his other peeves (like being handed things, for example), and since it's Gregory he doesn't particularly bother to hide the fact that it does. He does brush it off, though, "Sick at heart from the lack of birthday cards from my favorite brother? Years," Tony rattles off, in his usual manner of filling the air with words. But he does come around to an answer just after the dodge, possibly aware he should probably convey the real answer. "Since my kidnapping 'vacation'. Worse lately. Some surgery coming up." A pause. "Say, if I need a heart transplant, I can count on you, right? Since you're not using yours?" Tony asks 'hopefully.' He also starts to move in and look at what Gregory has on his tray, a familiar move with Tony, he often sort of helps himself to such things. Whether it's deliberate to annoy Gregory or not, well, that may be up in the air. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' Half glaring her way through things, half well known enough that she gets a pass, Pepper Potts is on a MISSION. Even in the fairly busy food court, the snapping click of her high heels can be picked out of a crowd. She's walking double time on those spiked Prada pumps and her pale green eyes are stalking across the room like a homing beacon. She's looking for the one and only Tony Stark and, finally, she finds him. Heels re-direct, jaw set in a tight line, and it's a matter of a minute before she's coming right up to him and his sitting brother, her eyes bright with a mix of pure anger and heart sick worry. "Anthony Stark, you are coming home RIGHT this moment. I..." She clears her throat a heartbeat, giving Gregory a half smile, "I'm sorry, Mr. Stark, but... Mr. Stark really has a very... Important Meeting... at the tower, right this minute. In fact, he's quite LATE." Pepper is trying not to expose his soft underbelly right now, but she has a tone of voice that is NOT meant to be argued with at the moment. 

:'''{{#var:23|Gregory Stark (23)}} has posed:''' Everything on Gregory's tray is segregated to its own little section, perfectly portioned and hand cleaned. He's got some peas, macaroni and cheese, basic food all around. He's even got one of those fancy Jello pudding cups flavored like red velvet cake.      Gregory starts to speak. "You should know me better th-" Only to be cut off by the rapidly approaching Pepper. He's silent for a moment before a smile crosses his face. A beat passes and he's come to a stand himself, trenchcoat billowing slightly from the motion.      "Ms.Potts, a pleasure." He offers, with a slight bow. "I'm sorry to keep my brother from his meeting, we were just catching up on the good old days," He takes a look towards Tony. "And lost track of time"      His robotic assistant lowers her hand from the concealed weapon built into her leg as it becomes clear Pepper isn't some form of assassin sent after Gregory. Her body language having shifted almost instantly into a combat stance now sliding back into a more relaxed positioning. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Oh look, he's caught. Tony is innocent, obviously. Look at this innocent face. "Best days. Hey, pudding," Tony says, snaring it off Gregory's tray, as Pepper suddenly is right upon him with the insistence about meetings. One of Tony's little round flying drones is also present, and it peeps at Pepper in welcome. Tony is a bit lower in wattage but gathers himself to put forward a good front despite the exhaustion. His candle has no wax left, he's really scraping from the burning on both ends. "Hey now, that, ahhh, I thought I rescheduled it for a more convenient day," Tony defends, but there isn't a lot of strength in it. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' A tight smile is given in Gregory's direction and the slightest inclination of her head, "It's alright, Mr. Stark. I am more than certain it wasn't YOU who was keeping your brother from his meeting. Tony tends to be stubborn in his own right. Good to see you also." She chimes in, trying to sound polite and respectful about it, but it's clear that her worry is for where Tony is at this moment. So, after those kind words with a taupe-toned lipped smile, she looks back to Tony. "No, it was not moved, and I need you back at the tower now. You can either stand up, take my arm, and we can get out of here, or I can get Happy to come up from the car and assist me in TAKING you out of here. THat is your choice. Take it or leave it." Pepper has gotten more bossy in her old age and long time working at Stark Industries! Or, perhaps, she just finds her true fire when she's this deeply worried about Tony. 

:'''{{#var:23|Gregory Stark (23)}} has posed:''' "Of course, help yourself Tony." Comes the dry comment from Gregory as his exquisite Jello cup is pilfered carelessly. "I'm on a diet anyway. Gotta watch my figure." He shoves his hands down into the pockets of his jacket, before looking to his brother once more. "And Tony" He pauses. "You might be a little shit, but you're still my brother." His eyes narrowing somewhat. "and I'm not about to let you die on me" Coming a bit out of nowhere as he flicks open a small panel on the back of his assistants neck. There's some adjustments that need to be made. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "Well, you WOULD know my schedule better than I would, since I have more of just... broad strokes on the whole of it," Tony does admit. If the little drone could facepalm, it probably would be doing so, but it mostly just chitters ineffectively at Tony, who ignores it. "No need to bring out the big guns and threaten with Happy," Tony sighs deeply. "You know, that really is quite an unfortunate last name. We need a nickname that's equally inaccurate. Like 'Tiny' or 'Obedient to Tony'," Tony says, eating the stolen pudding without paying it much attention, but steps away from the table. There is a slight trip there, because his motor skills actually are pretty shot, but he recovers admirably. That he's this functional with how bad he is? Testament to the willpower of the man, really. Tony Stark fancies himself unkillable and tireless. Hopefully he's right about the first, since the second seems to be bending the truth. The weird family comments from Gregory make Tony blink at him once. A long blink. "That's fine, you can be the big shit," Tony answers generously, cheery. "I'm glad we can agree that me dying is something we won't allow. ...Good talks, Greggo," Tony says with a salute of pudding spoon. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' The moment that Tony trips, Pepper slips her arm through his and actually does her best to steady him. She might be smaller than he is, but she's fierce, determined, and powered by the adrenaline of protection right now. So, she does her best to hold him up and actually claim him in a way that she might convince him out of the place. "Yes, well... time to go now. Gregory, we won't let anything like dying happen to him, but I really do need to get him back to the tower. Come now, Tony. Now." Pepper really isn't dropping it and, as gently as possible, she tries to guide him to turn and walk for the door. She's not going to make him run, she'll let him lean against her, take it as easy as possible, but she's also not letting him stay a minute longer. 
}}

3714/Tidepool: The Stark Hack

2018-01-24T04:17:48Z

Malky:

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2018/01/22
|Location=Stark Tower, various places around the world
|Synopsis=Rising Tide tries to hack Stark-Fujisawa with the help of Skye. It turns into a very bad day.
|Cast of Characters=137, 22, 1191
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:137|Clint Barton (137)}} has posed:''' Today was the day RT stepped up its game yet again. The New Years Eve attack had brought the inner circle together for an op. Today saw twelve hackers from around the world working on the same op. Their target: Stark-Fujisawa. Miles had planned things out carefully. There would be three teams. The first team would be the rookies, the code kiddies, who's job it was to hit some of the peripheral Stark systems with query after query from thousands of infected machines. Easily thwarted, but their job wasn't to set a fire that was hard to put out but set a thousand easy fires, that would take time to track down and put down one by one. At least that was the theory. The second team would be made up of a better class of hacker. Ones expected to do more than just cause chaos. They'd be lead by Saffron and would be tasked with finding the data on the groups Tony had tracked. Then cause as much damage as they could on the way out of the system. The first two attacks would provide cover for the third. That one would sneak in without any flare or noise then nab the data on how Tony had tracked down those groups in the first place. That group was made up of the best, Hound, Momento and DarkSky. Those three unlike the rest were together in a covert little data centre in Madripoor, set up with their own gear and able to coordinate by speaking rather than wasting time typing messages while they were in the thick of things. Things were about ready to kick off. Of course none of the Rising Tide, besides Skye knew the truth. Stark knew they were coming. Tipped off by SHIELD before the attack. Maria Hill had been the one to deliver the news, and to let Stark know that while they had an asset in on the hack (Stark would know she meant Skye) he was under no obligation to let the hack succeed. Indeed, Hill had concluded her tip off with a smirk as she told Tony to: "Just be you." 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Tony adores hosting parties. But he prefers them in person, where he can do a big spectacle. This is another party to him. True, it's an attack as well, which makes it personal. He hates thieves, big time. Brings up memories of weapons stolen from him. So, well, absolutely not cool. Still, a party. It means he's hosting a party against his will for nasty party crashers that keep trying to go into back rooms. But that doesn't mean it isn't going to be the biggest and baddest party of raining bullshit from the virtual sky that these people have ever seen. His back rooms are filled with chainsaws and shark tanks today, as if he were a true sci-fi episode where to get to the back you have to dodge random flamethrowers for no reason. And boy, is he ready. Tony isn't the most amazing hacker himself, which has never been his claim to fame. It's his inventions and his resources. So, creating the AI to do it for him, with his virtual backlog of various iterations that can be pulled online for this? It will be a screaming pile of erratic entertainment. Sensitive systems are not even active. Tony himself is relaxed in his bunker, listening to his music, with JARVIS set up to network between the other AI exclusively, and to channel all queries into the personal little death-boxes with the other systems that he's set up. And the four teams of his own hired hacker teams to go after these arrivals. Tony has resources beyond what most dream of. Labyrinth of nonsense set up? Something like that. The internal clocks are set for 13 hours, and Tony will play Goblin King, changing the rules of his realm as he goes. All queries are usually met with 204 pages of lawyer warnings. That's always the case, though; that's not unusual. Still. Playing the game, if they lose, will bring on the massive law machine to go after all parties that get countered. Stark is going to make some money. Party on. 

:'''{{#var:1191|Skye Johnson (1191)}} has posed:''' After her meeting and talk with Clint and May, Skye had rejigged her outlook on this mission. And set up some programs with the help of Oracle. Passive track and trace code that would collect data and send it off as a piggyback on all trapped systems regular outgoings. With Oracle's help, nobody should ever be the wiser. That Oracle got access to this information seemed a fair tradeoff to Skye. That in place, she was looking forward to this latest job with much more enthusiasm. They'd be hacking Stark; she'd be infiltrating them. It was the perfect marriage. That and Stark knew that there were coming. Party on, indeed. 

:'''{{#var:137|Clint Barton (137)}} has posed:''' So far so good. The hack was just about ready to kick off and so far none of the trap and trace set up had been noted. They were all fixated on the job at hand, it was a big one. As the seconds ticked down Miles paced the small room of their data center checking this thing and that over Skye and Momento's shoulders until, Momento looked up, tucking a bit of pink frizzy hair under her black knit cap and telling him to sit the fuck down. Miles gave her a look, but retreated to his chair. The time ran down and he jumped onto the chat they'd set up for the hack to talk to the other teams. Hound >> Check in. ZeroPain >> Team One ready. Saffron >> Red Five, standing by. ZeroPain >> lol Hound >> :) Later with the jokes, Saf. Saffron >> Ready. Hound >> Okay. Stay chill on this one and remember what you're there to do. He waits a moment, taking a breath then types in: Hound >> Go Computers across the world begin to spring to life as queries are sent flying at the Stark systems like so many arrows as Team One gets to work on their distraction. At the same time Team Two, begins their own hack, the coming at several doors at once, trying to use the noise from Team One's attack as a cover, so what they're doing gets lost in the spam. Miles looks at the two ladies in the room with him. "It's starting, so like we discussed, we're going to need to crack that password and get in quick, we've only got a couple of tries, so make it count. Skye, you're on point with that." 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Protections light up without Tony having to do anything. "Our guests are here," JARVIS says serenely. "No doubt they came hungry, but appetizers can wait. Standard denials. Follow plan for now, pretend we don't care they're knocking yet," Stark instructs, yawning, spinning in his chair a little and leaning over to see how much of his pizza is left. A good amount. He wanders from his desk to get a beverage to go with that, taking his time to mix it. The systems in place to deny spamming attacks of this sort light up evenly and without panic, clamping down on the unusual traffic, and denying the unusual activity. The filters efficiently sort using their highly sophisticated traffic scrubbers. The first of the teams hired by Stark throwing money around are mostly on this now: the more of these intruding people they trace and corner, the more their bonuses will be! They are highly motivated. 

:'''{{#var:1191|Skye Johnson (1191)}} has posed:''' It didn't take Skye long to realize what she was looking at: a duplicate of her own action against Hydra.. with some very nice tweaks behind it. Skye had to hand it to Lotus and her backer(s), and they clearly didn't mind throwing all of Rising Tide behind their actions. If anything, it only solidified Skye's thoughtss that this was bigger than STark, and that Miles and RT were being used. What worried her is that nobody else seemed to notice. DarkSky >> Ready. And watch it. He's tricky. And unethical. It was a bit nerve-wracking until the hard Go. But after that, it was all work and no play. She'd do her best, because anything less would stick out. That, and Skye knew Tony'd had a heads up on this one. He'd be ready. And the longer she could keep the group at him, the more useful information SHIELD (and Oracle, and Stark) would get. She was hacking for all of them today. "Enh, it's likely his dick length," she mutters, smirking to herself. Knowing it wouldn't be that, even as she could sooooo picture Tony considering it. If only because he was that sort of jackass at times. It went without saying that she liked him. 

:'''{{#var:137|Clint Barton (137)}} has posed:''' The plan was indeed a modified version of the Hammerfall attack with more bells and whistles and one major difference, there was no sleeper program buried in Tony's system. At least, none Skye was aware of. So it meant they were counting on her to get them in. Momento looks up and snorts at Skye's comment. "Not secure enough, even if you type it out two inches, is only nine characters," she snarks before looking over at Skye. "You sure you've got this?" Getting them in had been Momento's job before Skye joined up. She'd given up the spot, given Skye's knowledge of Stark and his code, but she'd done so grudgingly. Miles for his part was focused on the work of the other two teams. When Stark's anti-spamming defenses kicked in, Miles typed: Hound >> Zero. Use the counters I gave you. ZeroPain >> Got it. The counter Miles had cooked up masked the attack as legitimate queries and the little fires they'd hoped to cause here and there begin to burn. Team Two for their part had managed to make it into the lower levels of the system and had begun to poke around for their route to the data. Unaware of the traps lurking behind the doors along their way. As Tony's hired guns circled around to tag them as they beat a retreat. Miles looks up from his overview of the other teams and nods to Skye. "Do it." Their part had begun. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Unethical? Maybe. The lawyer shit that roars into the front of the fan they're hacking into makes it damn clear that 'ethics' are different from 'law'. The legalese that spawns and hammers the intruders with screen upon screen and festers is truly terrifying! Small print, doubletalk, repetitive items, it's pretty awful. The essence of it really is 'oh hi, visiting piece of shit, would you prefer jail or enormous fees? Maybe both? We will make that happen for you, unless you are lost, and even then you may get hit with some problems, and our lawyer team will enjoy prolonging your suffering while we extract all your assets that you have or will ever have'. After wading through that wave - which will take considerable expertise actually, to not just be caught in the net of endless disclosure horror, which will happily infect, even changing system backgrounds into massive warnings, the password is eerily easy to get through. It's '12345'. Really. Stark is definitely playing with them, it's a direct mock. But, well, the kid gloves come off at that point. "Okay, they saw our 'beware of dogs', send the chompers." They've hacked their way into his maze, rang the doorbell, and now? He's going to lead them around in circles on the lawn. Hopefully with much screaming. It will appear that "the AI" has now gotten involved. The fact that it's about eight of them all working disjointedly will be hidden. Quite a few of them aren't particularly 'sane', there's some crazy Skynet in these various rejected programs. At least one will try to hack backwards very aggressively. One really just wants to play Sudoku. In various languages. For now, Tony's just overseeing it all, eating his pizza, and delegating. And enjoying himself. 

:'''{{#var:1191|Skye Johnson (1191)}} has posed:''' Skye isn't bothered by Tony's code walls. To begin with, that's not her job or her problem. Though she is amused by it all. And how easily distracted they are. It's a bigger picture that they just aren't seeing. Mind you, but bulk of those dealing with his mess are fourth and fifth rate hackers who are pretty much the bodily manifestations of his junk code, only working for Rising Tide. Looked at that way, it's even more amusing, even as it strikes her how sad it all is. Not that she has a lot of time to spend dwelling on that. She'd got a password to begin to hack. And given the very few choices she's likely to get, her algorithyms and such need to be in place before they hit that wall. 

:'''{{#var:137|Clint Barton (137)}} has posed:''' The legal threats and infected systems with mile high warnings across the screen did its work and much of team one, the small timers, peeled off to protect their limited assets. Some of the hired guns move to chase them, hungry for that bonus and small fry or big names a cheque was a cheque. Miles cursed, "Losing Team One." A few stayed and fought it out but they were overmatched and flagged, adding to the hired gun's bonuses. Team Two though was dealing with the AI's who turned their world upside down and came at them from every direction. At the same time the remaining hired guns closed in, trying to force them through trapped doors where tagging them would be that much easier. Two of them though seem to vanish. A flag being sent up to Tony from the AI that the two were connected but currently unfindable. Miles, bit his lip. "Skye, get me that password!" he shouts as he let's his lip go. "I am going to have to try and help with these damn AI. Momento, cover her back." Miles really gets to work then, letting lose with attacks to turn the AI's twisting of the system back on themselves, hoping their limited brains wouldn't be able to parse what was what giving his second team a chance to keep going. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' The reward for discovering the password is musical, as suddenly she has it! ... Tony couldn't resist, not after the last little hacking game where he threw in some music. And he's bizarrely good at forcing audio into things that should be immune to such hack. A weird talent, but he makes the most of it. Constantly. "RELAX, DON'T DO IT, WHEN YOU WANT TO GO TO IT" "RELAX, DON'T DO IT, WHEN YOU WANT TO COMEEEEE" Which, of course, is packed with lovely innuendo over the penetration of the defenses occurring right now, and prolonging it. Prime mockery from Tony. 

:'''{{#var:1191|Skye Johnson (1191)}} has posed:''' It was a bit of a surprise when the password fell into place, Skye pausing for a moment in the half second before the audio kicked in, the sound pouring out over her end of the hack. She laughs outright. "Oh, you bastard." It was clever on several levels, and she had to admit the beauty of it. Even she hadn't thought to disable audio on her rig. In some situations, that sudden burst of sound wouldn't only be a startle to the unexpecting hacker, but an alert to anyone nearby in situations where you might not exactly want someone to hear you. Of course there was the unnendo, too. The mocking of what they were doing. So meta, Tony. So. Meta. She'd not had a chance to go head to head with him before. She was soooo going to enjoy this. Everyone else might think she was merely pleased about getting in, but the truth was, she and Tony were about to have a fun afternoon. DarkSky >> In. Watch your backs. 

:'''{{#var:137|Clint Barton (137)}} has posed:''' Miles and Momento's heads snap around when music starts playing from Skye's rig. "What's happening?" Miles demands. Music? That couldn't be a good sign. For the rest who can only see the chat, a chorus of good lucks and so forth come back to Skye. Well, from those not currently engaged with the AIs or the hired guns. No words of support from Saffron or Genus either though and nobody had any idea of what those two were doing in the system right now. Only that they were connected and somewhere in the lower levels trying to dig up access to more loftier levels of access. Miles for his part, is keeping the AIs busy, leaving them all but spinning in place, his fingers a blur on the keyboard as he tries to keep on top of things and give team two some time to get their job done. When Skye gets in Momento follows, snorting when she sees the password. "Seriously?" she asks. Then when she's in, she unleashes a few of her own toys, placing code like mines in the inner workings of the Stark system to cover their retreat. While setting loose programs that start sifting files for the data they're looking for. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "Hold onto your butts," Tony says aloud, amused, keying in a few sets of triggers, skimming his hologram screens, watching his little playgrounds being entered. How long will he occupy them? But part of this is to determine the style of each entrant, sort them, and apply appropriate counters. Will one of them be Skye? He'll watch for markers from her, he has algorithms set up to expect certain behaviors. While he hadn't paid all THAT much attention to her style, he did have old encounters logged, so the resources were there to form up something decent. "Sir?" JARVIS asks, questioning. "Let AUDREY loose. Good test for her anyway," Tony instructs JARVIS. His method of 'head to head' involves throwing his tech in large doses. "But keep an eye on her, JARVIS." The AI 'AUDREY' was built to battle hacking attempts in his suits in battle situations, not this, so she's going to be unpredictable for all, though Tony has confidence, seeing as he wrote her. She starts to walk into those code-mines, which causes problems for everyone, including him. "Well, okay," Tony says, bemused. "That's one way to clear a minefield, I guess." 

:'''{{#var:1191|Skye Johnson (1191)}} has posed:''' Skye chuckles at Momento's disbelief. "Seriously. And sooo Tony." She's off and running, then. There's a list of things they're looking for. She's got specific targets, and while Skye doesn't expect that she's going to get them, she's going to try. Or at least make Tony work for his bumping her out of his system. He was looking for her? She was looking to learn from him. That, too, set her apart from the others in Rising Tide. Most of them weren't savvy enough to be looking at this as a learning opporutnity. Momento would. Skye knew that much already. Miles.. She wasn't sure about him. He was too ego driven to be looking at this job as anything but a testament to his manhood. He was a smart coder, and wonderfully brilliant in many ways, but it was a shortcoming in his makeup. Prone to the temper tantrum first and the 'how can I use this for myself' last. While Miles' fingers were a blur, hers were a steady stream of movement over the keyboard, eyes a constant motion between windows, watching code bits fly by and reacting to those that needed her attention, slowly winnowing down the windows to the ones she expected were going to be where he came at her. 

:'''{{#var:137|Clint Barton (137)}} has posed:''' "Jesus," Momento breathes as AUDREY wades through her code bombs ripping the code apart as it tries to execute. Some of it gets through off, one of Tony's holo screens blanks out, accounting is going to be treated to the 1990's dancing baby gif when they come into work tomorrow, and sprinklers start going off on levels, three, six and ten. "That's so freaking cool," Momento says as her screen shows her just what AUDREY is doing to her code. Yep. Skye was right about Momento. Definitely a learning experience for her. "DS, circle back and give me a hand with this thing." On Tony's remaining screens data was flooding in about the remaining attackers as the algorithm did its work. First off, it told Tony what Skye might have been able to about Miles the one who was wrecking shop on the lesser AIs. Definitely ego driven. If he sees an opening, he's going to go for it. The rest that they can detect run the gamut but for the most part, they're just extra zeroes on the hired gun's bonuses. Easily delegated. Two other pings are of note however, one indicating one of the intruders in the higher level systems showed 82% likelihood of being Skye and that the missing two intruders were digging around in the code that controlled the building audio systems. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "Changing my mix? Nope," Tony signals JARVIS with annoyance, but his tone is amused. "Finish those two out," Tony instructs, finally allowing JARVIS, the most sophisticated of his AI, to throw some hard weight in against those that DARE go after his audio, while he moves to drop a challenge in front of Miles, to coax him off-track: a snippet of something that might be a new weapons system, the GL-44 Missile Bay for tactical vehicles, as a temptation. It isn't, of course, as good as it looks: it's a very elaborate failure of ideas about a weapon system that actually self destructed in a horrible bomb. The results of that test aren't in the files, though. Hopefully Miles will enjoy selling THAT expensive disaster, if he does manage to hack in and get any pieces of it. Looks juicy, and that's what matters. And then there's what is probably Skye. Tony starts to come after her, locking off pieces along the way. He knows his own systems: home advantage, even if he's not a miracle hacker, and does know which ones are inactive, and which are deliberately replaced with entirely scrambled data. He'll appear to heavily block those as if reactionary, which, of course, will draw interest there. 

:'''{{#var:1191|Skye Johnson (1191)}} has posed:''' *pfffft* This isn't Skye's first trip to that rodeo. She's done this a lot more than Tony has. He may have home system adavantage, but she knows her job. At least enough not to be drawn in by the sudden blocks. He forgets, too, who'd helped clean and restructure SHIELD's systems. Sure, they weren't JARVIS or AUDREY, but she was more than passingly familiar with sleights of code hand and meaningless code chatter. Nope. She was going for what she'd have done, or some varient: Just your everyday, seemingly innocent and innocuous flags along the way. She might make missteps, but even those she'd add to her program to glean the likelihood of success with the remainder. That was the thing about this. The system would be static and ultimately predictable. It was the man behind it who was dynamic. All she had to do was watch for Tony. 

:'''{{#var:137|Clint Barton (137)}} has posed:''' Miles takes the bait, the GL-44 wasn't on the shoppling list, but data is data he moves to grab it before the AI's close in and trap him, in a twisting maze of shifting names and ports. "Shit!" he curses hammering at his table with a fist before typing furiously. "I'm getting burned guys." Momento too is having troubles. AUDREY's after her and while she's throwing up blocks and is delves deep into her stash of code but none of it puts much of a dent in the AI built to defend Tony's armour from Ultron level hacking. "Crap, crap, crap," she says. "DS, time to go!". She sacrifices her searching programs before the AI's wrath to buy her time to escape untraced. When she's disconnected, she sits back, breathing heavy. "Sorry, guys," she says to Miles and Skye, though it's doubtful either are listening. JARVIS has no problem ousting the hackers from the audio system, he does report back on their locations, one in Vietnam and the other right here in NYC. With Miles still fighting a holding action with the minor AIs. Skye is pretty much on her own. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "JARVIS, end game," Tony requests, finally, stretching his neck and finally putting his attention where it really belongs. To... sending a message to Clint. "Got a message for Skye?" Tony asks Clint. Flanked by two high potency AI, Tony will then divert to Skye's actions, helping to corral the wayward hacker. JARVIS is nice enough when he shows himself to Skye; easily the first to act. JARVIS is /fast/. AUDREY is on the way as well, dragging a minefield of crap with her she's going to vomit all over the intruder. Less nice, when she does finish what she was doing. She's quick, and on the hunt. She's created to hunt. "If you do not desist, measures will be taken," Is the nice message from JARVIS, as AUDREY roars in. 

:'''{{#var:1191|Skye Johnson (1191)}} has posed:''' "You say that like I don't already know," Skye murmurs, frowning when Momento calls it and starts backing out, telling Skye to turn tail and run as well. "However, before I go..." Really, it was all gravy now. She didn't have to do much more of anything now that the others had called it quits. But every keystroke from this moment on bought her points with whoever it was behind recruiting Miles. And those were the people who's time and attention Skye wanted. <<Tell Tony Buttercup sends her love>> Smirking as she types that one out and sends it along the datastream Tony's way. She chose a data direction and followed it, hoping for a door to open. Any door. At this point she wasn't getting what RT wanted. 

:'''{{#var:137|Clint Barton (137)}} has posed:''' Clint was bored, maybe a little buzzed, and poking at Avengers fan sites when Tony's message came through. He'd been looped in about Skye and he knew she'd be coming for Tony with the rest of the RT but he didn't know when. It seemed like the answer was now. Despite having seen her a few days ago, there was so much he wanted to say, but so little of it was stuff he was going to say through Tony. But he did find a message and fires it back quickly adding a picture. ~Tell her Merida says hi~ And the picture: https://imgur.com/a/6JFmf The group shot made it less of a give away in case any of Skye's hacker buddies saw it. He fires off the message then he sits back and waits. Miles battle goes how one might expect. Though he's savvy enough he slips through the AIs and the hired guns before they can trace him. But he's still surly when he disconnects slamming both fists down hard on his desk. Momento though gets up to hover over Skye's shoulder watching the action. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Tony catches that nonsense from Clint, rolls his eyes, and snorts. ...And places it in a file marked with interesting characters, mildly encoded, about special Avenger data. It is a bunch of awful fanart, in addition to the piece Clint just provided. << Merida says hi. Tell your friends to kiss my shiny metal ass >> Tony sends along to Skye before drawing in the AI. AUDREY is the first on mark, and between them, they abruptly are tossing her out on the digital curb, in a final fanfare of 'COOOOOOOOOOOOOME' from 'Relax'. 

:'''{{#var:1191|Skye Johnson (1191)}} has posed:''' The data package is caught. Skye's no doubt it's going to be some form of Tony snark - she's met the man, after all. He's the one sent her for pizza, with his 50 bucks, before he'd talk to her. Which reminded her... <<Haha. But I'll pass the message along. Oh, guess what? Keeping the money you gave me. Tell Reggie it's on.>> She wasn't sure if Tony would follow that part of that message was for Clint. Or if Clint would understand the coded message in her retort. But she knew Tony would remember the grand he'd given her to buy lunch with the next time they had a chat. She was pretty sure this didn't count, though. Kinda hard to enjoy a Chablis over the net. She didn't even try to do anything else. It was a hardline pull from the system, a pull that was helped by the twin powers of JARVIS and AUDREY who showed her the curb. Leaving Skye laughing in her seat, shaking her head. 

:'''{{#var:137|Clint Barton (137)}} has posed:''' Mles didn't have time to get out of his seat before Skye was out of the system. To say he wasn't please by the Rising Tide's performance tonight was an understatement and for all his rage there was an undertone of worry too. Momento for her part, merely shrugged, "Dry run for the real deal anyhow, right? And they don't have monster AIs. We got this H." Skye is given a nod of respect. "You do good stuff, DS. And you got to tell me how you owe Stark money,"" she says before they have to collect their gear and bounce. They weren't traced but it was always safe to assume you were. The rest of the crew wasn't so lucky. When all is said and done, Stark's hired hackers had traced six of the hacks and JARVIS had done two more. In all it was a heck of a party. 
}}

3720/Welcome Back, Simon

2018-01-24T04:12:01Z

Malky: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2018/01/23 |Location=Avengers Mansion |Synopsis=Simon returns to the Avengers, welcomed by Tony. |Cast of Characters=22, 1567 |pretty=yes }} {{Pose..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2018/01/23
|Location=Avengers Mansion
|Synopsis=Simon returns to the Avengers, welcomed by Tony.
|Cast of Characters=22, 1567
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' It is midday, close to 3pm: which means it is also close to the time Tony requested Simon to meet with him at the Avengers mansion. Why? Just to 'check in about things', was the vague message relayed by the assistant that made the call. If asked, the assistant could only say that Mr. Stark was extremely busy with business items. But, it is now 3pm, and Tony has made his arrival. He is dressed in his usual immaculate way, like he walked out of a high powered meeting, sharply attired, though if he had a tie, he's stripped it off on the way into the building. He's talking to somebody, clearly on the phone, as he strides in through the doors and pulls off his sunglasses, slipping them neatly into a pocket on the inside of his sleek navy blue suit jacket. "Nah; we'll go along with it; dodge them a bit then agree," Tony instructs as he enters. 

:'''{{#var:1567|Simon Williams (1567)}} has posed:'''     There is a noise outside, like a heavy, full sound as a weight settles down outside. Tony breezed in on the phone, the doors burst open just a few seconds after Tony walked in. He stalks in like he owns the place, with poise and confidence. The bulky fellow carries an impossible energy and a palpable vitality to him. His smile appears on his face as Simon pulls off his glasses. His bags are full. He's tall. He's wearing sunglasses. It's dark. Two big duffels are thrown over his left shoulder, bulging with clothing and toiletry items. A large garment bag is over the other shoulder. A messenger bag is slung over his left shoulder, the strap straining across his heavy torso. The bag Â bulges with several items, clearly a laptop, a tablet, and all the little things. He doesn't com in like a wrecking ball, like the song, but he doesn't breeze in either.Â As he folds his glasses and hangs them on his collar, his solid red eyes blaze once with light. "As I live and breath, Tony Stark." The tone is amiable, direct, and tinged with both camaraderie and respect. His handshake is firm, but the strength restrained there is like a thrum.Â He might physically no longer be human, or even an animal per se, but Simon certainly acts human. His smile is brilliant white, it all but glints in the light, but as faux as that might appear on other men, in Simon's case it is utterly genuine. He is truly happy to be here. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Tony is an entirely different style of showy than the large inhuman Simon; he makes up for much of it in personality and flair. Something, though, drags with Tony, and someone like Simon that hasn't seen the subtle change every day may notice it more than others. Tony doesn't seem as healthy as last time. Sure, he's cloaking, but it'll show just at the edges. It's not age, it's something else. "All day, every day," Tony agrees with a sleek grin, accepting the handshake and adding a companionable sideways slap to arm, other hand gesturing to come inside. He's relaxed, though Tony's true moods are usually fuzzy, since they are often covered in playful bullshit. "You don't need a tour, right? Hasn't been /that/ long. I mean, I'd understand if you still wanted one, but my tours are no Jungle Cruise," Tony says, checking a noise his phone-like tech device makes but slipping it away immediately, full attention back on Simon. 

:'''{{#var:1567|Simon Williams (1567)}} has posed:'''     The playful smack might as well been hitting steel. There isn't a lot of give to SImon Williams. One of the rare beings who can actually take what he can dish out, he's just about indestructible. It's like swatting s flexed body builder, and he is not flexed. It's just on the human side of the uncanny valley still, but not entirely human. In addition to the grip, there are no pupils to his eyes. It limits his ability to emote a little, and has cost him acting jobs. The rest of his face though, it shows immediate concern as the little things catch up. Maybe a little more gray? Maybe a little slower? The shoulders a little less square? Simon is smart, but no detective, he cannot put a finger on it, but something nags at him, and it shows.     "How about a cup of coffee instead, and a chance to talk? I mean, no Banner, not Whitman? You must need someone who can follow a little of your science around, huh? If I wasn't working the TV gig too, well, I'd be taking a class or something."     He still carries his baggage, and leans in closer to ask the hard questions. Â "What is going on around here. No Hulk. N THor. You'reâ¦ not you." He doesn't let Tony dodge that. "Red eyes don't lie." He says it warmly, but there is an intensity there. "Maybe I can help out?"     The big man will let Tony steer, but concern is there. KNowing you are almost impossible to kill, and then knowing you might have to face forever makes one very aware of the fate of friends. "Or I can just keep a secret, and be a good friend, Tony. Whatever you need." 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "...Happy that you're wasting no time to get caught up, less happy it's aimed at me, though - but I'm glad you see why I'm rebuilding the ranks," Tony teases. "One stop tour to kitchen and coffee, it is," Tony decides, with some apparent dismay from being worried about that doesn't quite stay out of the laugh. Tony dodges, of course: he talks. Tony fills the air with words, as usual. So at least that's still certainly the same. "I have no idea what room you had, but four's open, I think, if you want to make camp. I'll be in the kitchen. Some late lunch is in order." 

:'''{{#var:1567|Simon Williams (1567)}} has posed:'''     "I'll just let the stuff about you go. You're not going to say, and I am not your mother." Simon announces. He follows after Stark, not deviating. "Let's just get the coffee. I'll let it go. If it gets bad though, you just promise to talk to me, okay?" He gives Stark a pointed look. "And keep said promise, okay? Your business is your business."     He's not going to pull teeth. That being said, he does go straight to the kitchen, shedding his luggage outside the door in a pile, only pausing to place the garment bag on top a little more carefully; do not want to wrinkle the suits.     "Now. Is Vision here? How about Wanda?" As ever a little too careful when he says that name. There is a reason that the Android based on Wanda adores her. Not that Simon would ever admit it. "Or Janet? You already said Steve is about." He admits, his deep voice almost boyish in inflection. "Kind of like coming back to school, and seeing which of our friends came back after break." Free of luggage, he stuffs his hands in his pockets. Tony can feel those red eyes lingering on him. "Barton?" 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "Barton and Natasha are about, but they've been buried in the avalanche that is SHIELD. Even I've been dragged in, which should tell you a bit about that drama. But a few good business deals are coming through on their Helicarriers and security systems, so don't take this as me complaining," Tony points out, brushing fingers over the pad of the high-tech coffee maker he had installed, that definitely has way too much power to just be doing coffee, but hey, it was a fun build. "I'm herding cats lately around here. I did SEE Thor last month, he's fine, but not available to us for now. Wanda is back, yep: in that she's off in Genosha dealing with daddy issues. Vision is around fairly often. Steve has been quiet, which means he has some issue up his ass, I'd expect. Hasn't shared with me, at any rate. That's normal, he's probably fine." Tony grins but continues. "Carol's here. Tigra and Logan seem to be more the 'on call' list. Who else... ah. We have a new recruit Barton found, too, goes by 'Rogue'. Mutant. Nice kid. She badly needs a mentor, and while I'm a great influence, if you're up for guiding her to be more of a front line for us, that'd be better balance overall, since she has potential to be a great heavyweight." Tony pulls mugs out, leans back on the edge of the counter, hands relaxed on either side of it at hip level. Serious face from Tony for a moment, suddenly. Which means he is still smiling, but the sarcastic edge tones back. "I'm not in the combat roster right now, until I deal with a minor chest surgery. Just for now." Tony shrugs some, brushing it off as no big deal: which is probably a method for him to cope with it. Because chest surgery is definitely not minor. 

:'''{{#var:1567|Simon Williams (1567)}} has posed:'''     The bigger man's attention is divided. He is mostly paying attention to Tony, but also looking at the coffee maker as Tony uses it. The snark is deadpan, and purely in reaction to the revelation Tony is going in for what Simon assumes is heart surgery. "Compensating?" His eyes and brows indicate the coffee maker. It is his way of trying to be reassuring.      "Well. Shit." Simon eloquently puts it. His frown shows. "That is a little thin on the heavy hitters. I mean, basically Vision and a part time Wanda." Simon doesn't reach for the coffee pot for a cup, but leans next to it. "So, basically? Duck mode? Look cool, calm, and collected above the water, but underneath, legs need to be working over time?" His head bob is slow and confident. "I'll teach her to take a hit. I'll also take some of the heat off of folks on monitor duty on the overnights. Filming is getting slow, as we are almost done on the season, unless the network options another 11 episodes. If soâ¦ expect to have me calling you in for kid-friendly experiments."     He simply pushes off from the cabinet. "We got this." He tells the other man quietly. "Been in worse spots." 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "Compensate? Never. It's symbolic," Tony answers cleanly, patting the coffeemaker and shrugging a little. "Well, our duck has been okay just floating. The world hasn't been imploding with alien death rays. But I don't want to be caught unprepared either." He'll handle the coffee, pouring it out into both of the cups, relaxed. Tony doesn't sweat the small stuff. "Besides, you missed me, I can tell," Tony says, cheeky. 

:'''{{#var:1567|Simon Williams (1567)}} has posed:'''     "Just a dead president, a possible mutant issue, and lord alone knows what Alpha Flight and the Justice League are doing in space." His left brow tilts upwards. "In other words, situation normal." The deadpan is real. He accepts the coffee. He doesn't blow on it but takes a long, appreciative swallow. "You do make good coffee, Stark." He allows. "Even if the machine looks like a part of a Formula One engine."     After another, smaller swallow. "I did miss you. Just a little. Not too much, but a little. It's â¦ nice not to the smartest person in the room when you walk into it, even though everyone looks at you and sees just a lunkhead failed actor." He lifts his mug in a little toast to his host. "Not that you would know about that at all." He allows. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "Well, we can definitely use you here, and the only wrong assumptions I make about you are only in good fun, I assure you," Tony says, with a lift of coffee and smile. "I'll leave inspirational speeches to Steve when he realizes you're already here," Tony adds, amused, drinking his coffee which makes him quiet for a long moment. He coughs and lets go of the counter. "Yes, same shit as usual: some hackers attempted -and failed- to rip open the tower's defenses last night, so I have shit to clean up. But if you need anything else, let me know," Tony reminds. 

:'''{{#var:1567|Simon Williams (1567)}} has posed:'''     His red eyes show some concern. "If you die, I am totally stealing your girl. You better save her from a fate worse than death." Again with the deadpan. He leans against the counter. He makes a face about the hackers. "One would think that they would know better by now. But yes. I'll squat here. Steve will handle stuff, but I'm reliable help. I'll behave, and I will teach, and I'll thm whatever needs thumped. Aggressively." Simon asserts it quietly and confidently.     "I would like to stay on, even if Thor and Â Banner come back. At least for a couple of years. Iâ¦ frankly? I need to keep socking money away." Forever is a very, very long time. "So. Thanks, Tony. I appreciate it. I'll not let you down." He offers the billionaire his hand for a hearty shake. "You can count on me." 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "If I die, yeah, somebody better steal her," Tony concurs, though there's some guilt or dismay in it. Tony actually cares, it appears. It wears well on him, really: that brief reality under the shower of sarcastic bullshit! "Well, first thing's first, getting Rogue back here. You should have all the information we know on that one," Tony says, as if that were totally a normal thing to say. "Great. Consider yourself counted," Tony says, with a wave, as he is called away. 
}}

3714/Tidepool: The Stark Hack

2018-01-24T04:10:39Z

Malky: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2018/01/22 |Location=Stark Tower, various places around the world |Synopsis=Rising Tide tries to hack Stark-Fujisawa with the help of Skye. It turn..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2018/01/22
|Location=Stark Tower, various places around the world
|Synopsis=Rising Tide tries to hack Stark-Fujisawa with the help of Skye. It turns into a very bad day.
|Cast of Characters=137, 22, 1191
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:137|Clint Barton (137)}} has posed:''' Today was the day RT stepped up its game yet again. The New Years Eve attack had brought the inner circle together for an op. Today saw twelve hackers from around the world working on the same op. Their target: Stark-Fujisawa. Miles had planned things out carefully. There would be three teams. The first team would be the rookies, the code kiddies, who's job it was to hit some of the peripheral Stark systems with query after query from thousands of infected machines. Easily thwarted, but their job wasn't to set a fire that was hard to put out but set a thousand easy fires, that would take time to track down and put down one by one. At least that was the theory. The second team would be made up of a better class of hacker. Ones expected to do more than just cause chaos. They'd be lead by Saffron and would be tasked with finding the data on the groups Tony had tracked. Then cause as much damage as they could on the way out of the system. The first two attacks would provide cover for the third. That one would sneak in without any flare or noise then nab the data on how Tony had tracked down those groups in the first place. That group was made up of the best, Hound, Momento and DarkSky. Those three unlike the rest were together in a covert little data centre in Madripoor, set up with their own gear and able to coordinate by speaking rather than wasting time typing messages while they were in the thick of things. Things were about ready to kick off. Of course none of the Rising Tide, besides Skye knew the truth. Stark knew they were coming. Tipped off by SHIELD before the attack. Maria Hill had been the one to deliver the news, and to let Stark know that while they had an asset in on the hack (Stark would know she meant Skye) he was under no obligation to let the hack succeed. Indeed, Hill had concluded her tip off with a smirk as she told Tony to: "Just be you." 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Tony adores hosting parties. But he prefers them in person, where he can do a big spectacle. This is another party to him. True, it's an attack as well, which makes it personal. He hates thieves, big time. Brings up memories of weapons stolen from him. So, well, absolutely not cool. Still, a party. It means he's hosting a party against his will for nasty party crashers that keep trying to go into back rooms. But that doesn't mean it isn't going to be the biggest and baddest party of raining bullshit from the virtual sky that these people have ever seen. His back rooms are filled with chainsaws and shark tanks today, as if he were a true sci-fi episode where to get to the back you have to dodge random flamethrowers for no reason. And boy, is he ready. Tony isn't the most amazing hacker himself, which has never been his claim to fame. It's his inventions and his resources. So, creating the AI to do it for him, with his virtual backlog of various iterations that can be pulled online for this? It will be a screaming pile of erratic entertainment. Sensitive systems are not even active. Tony himself is relaxed in his bunker, listening to his music, with JARVIS set up to network between the other AI exclusively, and to channel all queries into the personal little death-boxes with the other systems that he's set up. And the four teams of his own hired hacker teams to go after these arrivals. Tony has resources beyond what most dream of. Labyrinth of nonsense set up? Something like that. The internal clocks are set for 13 hours, and Tony will play Goblin King, changing the rules of his realm as he goes. All queries are usually met with 204 pages of lawyer warnings. That's always the case, though; that's not unusual. Still. Playing the game, if they lose, will bring on the massive law machine to go after all parties that get countered. Stark is going to make some money. Party on. 

:'''{{#var:1191|Skye Johnson (1191)}} has posed:''' After her meeting and talk with Clint and May, Skye had rejigged her outlook on this mission. And set up some programs with the help of Oracle. Passive track and trace code that would collect data and send it off as a piggyback on all trapped systems regular outgoings. With Oracle's help, nobody should ever be the wiser. That Oracle got access to this information seemed a fair tradeoff to Skye. That in place, she was looking forward to this latest job with much more enthusiasm. They'd be hacking Stark; she'd be infiltrating them. It was the perfect marriage. That and Stark knew that there were coming. Party on, indeed. 

:'''{{#var:137|Clint Barton (137)}} has posed:''' So far so good. The hack was just about ready to kick off and so far none of the trap and trace set up had been noted. They were all fixated on the job at hand, it was a big one. As the seconds ticked down Miles paced the small room of their data center checking this thing and that over Skye and Momento's shoulders until, Momento looked up, tucking a bit of pink frizzy hair under her black knit cap and telling him to sit the fuck down. Miles gave her a look, but retreated to his chair. The time ran down and he jumped onto the chat they'd set up for the hack to talk to the other teams. Hound >> Check in. ZeroPain >> Team One ready. Saffron >> Red Five, standing by. ZeroPain >> lol Hound >> :) Later with the jokes, Saf. Saffron >> Ready. Hound >> Okay. Stay chill on this one and remember what you're there to do. He waits a moment, taking a breath then types in: Hound >> Go Computers across the world begin to spring to life as queries are sent flying at the Stark systems like so many arrows as Team One gets to work on their distraction. At the same time Team Two, begins their own hack, the coming at several doors at once, trying to use the noise from Team One's attack as a cover, so what they're doing gets lost in the spam. Miles looks at the two ladies in the room with him. "It's starting, so like we discussed, we're going to need to crack that password and get in quick, we've only got a couple of tries, so make it count. Skye, you're on point with that." 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Protections light up without Tony having to do anything. "Our guests are here," JARVIS says serenely. "No doubt they came hungry, but appetizers can wait. Standard denials. Follow plan for now, pretend we don't care they're knocking yet," Stark instructs, yawning, spinning in his chair a little and leaning over to see how much of his pizza is left. A good amount. He wanders from his desk to get a beverage to go with that, taking his time to mix it. The systems in place to deny spamming attacks of this sort light up evenly and without panic, clamping down on the unusual traffic, and denying the unusual activity. The filters efficiently sort using their highly sophisticated traffic scrubbers. The first of the teams hired by Stark throwing money around are mostly on this now: the more of these intruding people they trace and corner, the more their bonuses will be! They are highly motivated. 

:'''{{#var:1191|Skye Johnson (1191)}} has posed:''' It didn't take Skye long to realize what she was looking at: a duplicate of her own action against Hydra.. with some very nice tweaks behind it. Skye had to hand it to Lotus and her backer(s), and they clearly didn't mind throwing all of Rising Tide behind their actions. If anything, it only solidified Skye's thoughtss that this was bigger than STark, and that Miles and RT were being used. What worried her is that nobody else seemed to notice. DarkSky >> Ready. And watch it. He's tricky. And unethical. It was a bit nerve-wracking until the hard Go. But after that, it was all work and no play. She'd do her best, because anything less would stick out. That, and Skye knew Tony'd had a heads up on this one. He'd be ready. And the longer she could keep the group at him, the more useful information SHIELD (and Oracle, and Stark) would get. She was hacking for all of them today. "Enh, it's likely his dick length," she mutters, smirking to herself. Knowing it wouldn't be that, even as she could sooooo picture Tony considering it. If only because he was that sort of jackass at times. It went without saying that she liked him. 

:'''{{#var:137|Clint Barton (137)}} has posed:''' The plan was indeed a modified version of the Hammerfall attack with more bells and whistles and one major difference, there was no sleeper program buried in Tony's system. At least, none Skye was aware of. So it meant they were counting on her to get them in. Momento looks up and snorts at Skye's comment. "Not secure enough, even if you type it out two inches, is only nine characters," she snarks before looking over at Skye. "You sure you've got this?" Getting them in had been Momento's job before Skye joined up. She'd given up the spot, given Skye's knowledge of Stark and his code, but she'd done so grudgingly. Miles for his part was focused on the work of the other two teams. When Stark's anti-spamming defenses kicked in, Miles typed: Hound >> Zero. Use the counters I gave you. ZeroPain >> Got it. The counter Miles had cooked up masked the attack as legitimate queries and the little fires they'd hoped to cause here and there begin to burn. Team Two for their part had managed to make it into the lower levels of the system and had begun to poke around for their route to the data. Unaware of the traps lurking behind the doors along their way. As Tony's hired guns circled around to tag them as they beat a retreat. Miles looks up from his overview of the other teams and nods to Skye. "Do it." Their part had begun. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Unethical? Maybe. The lawyer shit that roars into the front of the fan they're hacking into makes it damn clear that 'ethics' are different from 'law'. The legalese that spawns and hammers the intruders with screen upon screen and festers is truly terrifying! Small print, doubletalk, repetitive items, it's pretty awful. The essence of it really is 'oh hi, visiting piece of shit, would you prefer jail or enormous fees? Maybe both? We will make that happen for you, unless you are lost, and even then you may get hit with some problems, and our lawyer team will enjoy prolonging your suffering while we extract all your assets that you have or will ever have'. After wading through that wave - which will take considerable expertise actually, to not just be caught in the net of endless disclosure horror, which will happily infect, even changing system backgrounds into massive warnings, the password is eerily easy to get through. It's '12345'. Really. Stark is definitely playing with them, it's a direct mock. But, well, the kid gloves come off at that point. "Okay, they saw our 'beware of dogs', send the chompers." They've hacked their way into his maze, rang the doorbell, and now? He's going to lead them around in circles on the lawn. Hopefully with much screaming. It will appear that "the AI" has now gotten involved. The fact that it's about eight of them all working disjointedly will be hidden. Quite a few of them aren't particularly 'sane', there's some crazy Skynet in these various rejected programs. At least one will try to hack backwards very aggressively. One really just wants to play Sudoku. In various languages. For now, Tony's just overseeing it all, eating his pizza, and delegating. And enjoying himself. 

:'''{{#var:1191|Skye Johnson (1191)}} has posed:''' Skye isn't bothered by Tony's code walls. To begin with, that's not her job or her problem. Though she is amused by it all. And how easily distracted they are. It's a bigger picture that they just aren't seeing. Mind you, but bulk of those dealing with his mess are fourth and fifth rate hackers who are pretty much the bodily manifestations of his junk code, only working for Rising Tide. Looked at that way, it's even more amusing, even as it strikes her how sad it all is. Not that she has a lot of time to spend dwelling on that. She'd got a password to begin to hack. And given the very few choices she's likely to get, her algorithyms and such need to be in place before they hit that wall. 

:'''{{#var:137|Clint Barton (137)}} has posed:''' The legal threats and infected systems with mile high warnings across the screen did its work and much of team one, the small timers, peeled off to protect their limited assets. Some of the hired guns move to chase them, hungry for that bonus and small fry or big names a cheque was a cheque. Miles cursed, "Losing Team One." A few stayed and fought it out but they were overmatched and flagged, adding to the hired gun's bonuses. Team Two though was dealing with the AI's who turned their world upside down and came at them from every direction. At the same time the remaining hired guns closed in, trying to force them through trapped doors where tagging them would be that much easier. Two of them though seem to vanish. A flag being sent up to Tony from the AI that the two were connected but currently unfindable. Miles, bit his lip. "Skye, get me that password!" he shouts as he let's his lip go. "I am going to have to try and help with these damn AI. Momento, cover her back." Miles really gets to work then, letting lose with attacks to turn the AI's twisting of the system back on themselves, hoping their limited brains wouldn't be able to parse what was what giving his second team a chance to keep going. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' The reward for discovering the password is musical, as suddenly she has it! ... Tony couldn't resist, not after the last little hacking game where he threw in some music. And he's bizarrely good at forcing audio into things that should be immune to such hack. A weird talent, but he makes the most of it. Constantly. "RELAX, DON'T DO IT, WHEN YOU WANT TO GO TO IT" "RELAX, DON'T DO IT, WHEN YOU WANT TO COMEEEEE" Which, of course, is packed with lovely innuendo over the penetration of the defenses occurring right now, and prolonging it. Prime mockery from Tony. 

:'''{{#var:1191|Skye Johnson (1191)}} has posed:''' It was a bit of a surprise when the password fell into place, Skye pausing for a moment in the half second before the audio kicked in, the sound pouring out over her end of the hack. She laughs outright. "Oh, you bastard." It was clever on several levels, and she had to admit the beauty of it. Even she hadn't thought to disable audio on her rig. In some situations, that sudden burst of sound wouldn't only be a startle to the unexpecting hacker, but an alert to anyone nearby in situations where you might not exactly want someone to hear you. Of course there was the unnendo, too. The mocking of what they were doing. So meta, Tony. So. Meta. She'd not had a chance to go head to head with him before. She was soooo going to enjoy this. Everyone else might think she was merely pleased about getting in, but the truth was, she and Tony were about to have a fun afternoon. DarkSky >> In. Watch your backs. 

:'''{{#var:137|Clint Barton (137)}} has posed:''' Miles and Momento's heads snap around when music starts playing from Skye's rig. "What's happening?" Miles demands. Music? That couldn't be a good sign. For the rest who can only see the chat, a chorus of good lucks and so forth come back to Skye. Well, from those not currently engaged with the AIs or the hired guns. No words of support from Saffron or Genus either though and nobody had any idea of what those two were doing in the system right now. Only that they were connected and somewhere in the lower levels trying to dig up access to more loftier levels of access. Miles for his part, is keeping the AIs busy, leaving them all but spinning in place, his fingers a blur on the keyboard as he tries to keep on top of things and give team two some time to get their job done. When Skye gets in Momento follows, snorting when she sees the password. "Seriously?" she asks. Then when she's in, she unleashes a few of her own toys, placing code like mines in the inner workings of the Stark system to cover their retreat. While setting loose programs that start sifting files for the data they're looking for. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "Hold onto your butts," Tony says aloud, amused, keying in a few sets of triggers, skimming his hologram screens, watching his little playgrounds being entered. How long will he occupy them? But part of this is to determine the style of each entrant, sort them, and apply appropriate counters. Will one of them be Skye? He'll watch for markers from her, he has algorithms set up to expect certain behaviors. While he hadn't paid all THAT much attention to her style, he did have old encounters logged, so the resources were there to form up something decent. "Sir?" JARVIS asks, questioning. "Let AUDREY loose. Good test for her anyway," Tony instructs JARVIS. His method of 'head to head' involves throwing his tech in large doses. "But keep an eye on her, JARVIS." The AI 'AUDREY' was built to battle hacking attempts in his suits in battle situations, not this, so she's going to be unpredictable for all, though Tony has confidence, seeing as he wrote her. She starts to walk into those code-mines, which causes problems for everyone, including him. "Well, okay," Tony says, bemused. "That's one way to clear a minefield, I guess." 

:'''{{#var:1191|Skye Johnson (1191)}} has posed:''' Skye chuckles at Momento's disbelief. "Seriously. And sooo Tony." She's off and running, then. There's a list of things they're looking for. She's got specific targets, and while Skye doesn't expect that she's going to get them, she's going to try. Or at least make Tony work for his bumping her out of his system. He was looking for her? She was looking to learn from him. That, too, set her apart from the others in Rising Tide. Most of them weren't savvy enough to be looking at this as a learning opporutnity. Momento would. Skye knew that much already. Miles.. She wasn't sure about him. He was too ego driven to be looking at this job as anything but a testament to his manhood. He was a smart coder, and wonderfully brilliant in many ways, but it was a shortcoming in his makeup. Prone to the temper tantrum first and the 'how can I use this for myself' last. While Miles' fingers were a blur, hers were a steady stream of movement over the keyboard, eyes a constant motion between windows, watching code bits fly by and reacting to those that needed her attention, slowly winnowing down the windows to the ones she expected were going to be where he came at her. 

:'''{{#var:137|Clint Barton (137)}} has posed:''' "Jesus," Momento breathes as AUDREY wades through her code bombs ripping the code apart as it tries to execute. Some of it gets through off, one of Tony's holo screens blanks out, accounting is going to be treated to the 1990's dancing baby gif when they come into work tomorrow, and sprinklers start going off on levels, three, six and ten. "That's so freaking cool," Momento says as her screen shows her just what AUDREY is doing to her code. Yep. Skye was right about Momento. Definitely a learning experience for her. "DS, circle back and give me a hand with this thing." On Tony's remaining screens data was flooding in about the remaining attackers as the algorithm did its work. First off, it told Tony what Skye might have been able to about Miles the one who was wrecking shop on the lesser AIs. Definitely ego driven. If he sees an opening, he's going to go for it. The rest that they can detect run the gamut but for the most part, they're just extra zeroes on the hired gun's bonuses. Easily delegated. Two other pings are of note however, one indicating one of the intruders in the higher level systems showed 82% likelihood of being Skye and that the missing two intruders were digging around in the code that controlled the building audio systems. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "Changing my mix? Nope," Tony signals JARVIS with annoyance, but his tone is amused. "Finish those two out," Tony instructs, finally allowing JARVIS, the most sophisticated of his AI, to throw some hard weight in against those that DARE go after his audio, while he moves to drop a challenge in front of Miles, to coax him off-track: a snippet of something that might be a new weapons system, the GL-44 Missile Bay for tactical vehicles, as a temptation. It isn't, of course, as good as it looks: it's a very elaborate failure of ideas about a weapon system that actually self destructed in a horrible bomb. The results of that test aren't in the files, though. Hopefully Miles will enjoy selling THAT expensive disaster, if he does manage to hack in and get any pieces of it. Looks juicy, and that's what matters. And then there's what is probably Skye. Tony starts to come after her, locking off pieces along the way. He knows his own systems: home advantage, even if he's not a miracle hacker, and does know which ones are inactive, and which are deliberately replaced with entirely scrambled data. He'll appear to heavily block those as if reactionary, which, of course, will draw interest there. 

:'''{{#var:1191|Skye Johnson (1191)}} has posed:''' *pfffft* This isn't Skye's first trip to that rodeo. She's done this a lot more than Tony has. He may have home system adavantage, but she knows her job. At least enough not to be drawn in by the sudden blocks. He forgets, too, who'd helped clean and restructure SHIELD's systems. Sure, they weren't JARVIS or AUDREY, but she was more than passingly familiar with sleights of code hand and meaningless code chatter. Nope. She was going for what she'd have done, or some varient: Just your everyday, seemingly innocent and innocuous flags along the way. She might make missteps, but even those she'd add to her program to glean the likelihood of success with the remainder. That was the thing about this. The system would be static and ultimately predictable. It was the man behind it who was dynamic. All she had to do was watch for Tony. 

:'''{{#var:137|Clint Barton (137)}} has posed:''' Miles takes the bait, the GL-44 wasn't on the shoppling list, but data is data he moves to grab it before the AI's close in and trap him, in a twisting maze of shifting names and ports. "Shit!" he curses hammering at his table with a fist before typing furiously. "I'm getting burned guys." Momento too is having troubles. AUDREY's after her and while she's throwing up blocks and is delves deep into her stash of code but none of it puts much of a dent in the AI built to defend Tony's armour from Ultron level hacking. "Crap, crap, crap," she says. "DS, time to go!". She sacrifices her searching programs before the AI's wrath to buy her time to escape untraced. When she's disconnected, she sits back, breathing heavy. "Sorry, guys," she says to Miles and Skye, though it's doubtful either are listening. JARVIS has no problem ousting the hackers from the audio system, he does report back on their locations, one in Vietnam and the other right here in NYC. With Miles still fighting a holding action with the minor AIs. Skye is pretty much on her own. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "JARVIS, end game," Tony requests, finally, stretching his neck and finally putting his attention where it really belongs. To... sending a message to Clint. "Got a message for Skye?" Tony asks Clint. Flanked by two high potency AI, Tony will then divert to Skye's actions, helping to corral the wayward hacker. JARVIS is nice enough when he shows himself to Skye; easily the first to act. JARVIS is /fast/. AUDREY is on the way as well, dragging a minefield of crap with her she's going to vomit all over the intruder. Less nice, when she does finish what she was doing. She's quick, and on the hunt. She's created to hunt. "If you do not desist, measures will be taken," Is the nice message from JARVIS, as AUDREY roars in. 

:'''{{#var:1191|Skye Johnson (1191)}} has posed:''' "You say that like I don't already know," Skye murmurs, frowning when Momento calls it and starts backing out, telling Skye to turn tail and run as well. "However, before I go..." Really, it was all gravy now. She didn't have to do much more of anything now that the others had called it quits. But every keystroke from this moment on bought her points with whoever it was behind recruiting Miles. And those were the people who's time and attention Skye wanted. <<Tell Tony Buttercup sends her love>> Smirking as she types that one out and sends it along the datastream Tony's way. She chose a data direction and followed it, hoping for a door to open. Any door. At this point she wasn't getting what RT wanted. 

:'''{{#var:137|Clint Barton (137)}} has posed:''' Clint was bored, maybe a little buzzed, and poking at Avengers fan sites when Tony's message came through. He'd been looped in about Skye and he knew she'd be coming for Tony with the rest of the RT but he didn't know when. It seemed like the answer was now. Despite having seen her a few days ago, there was so much he wanted to say, but so little of it was stuff he was going to say through Tony. But he did find a message and fires it back quickly adding a picture. ~Tell her Merida says hi~ And the picture: https://imgur.com/a/6JFmf The group shot made it less of a give away in case any of Skye's hacker buddies saw it. He fires off the message then he sits back and waits. Miles battle goes how one might expect. Though he's savvy enough he slips through the AIs and the hired guns before they can trace him. But he's still surly when he disconnects slamming both fists down hard on his desk. Momento though gets up to hover over Skye's shoulder watching the action. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Tony catches that nonsense from Clint, rolls his eyes, and snorts. ...And places it in a file marked with interesting characters, mildly encoded, about special Avenger data. It is a bunch of awful fanart, in addition to the piece Clint just provided. << Merida says hi. Tell your friends to kiss my shiny metal ass >> Tony sends along to Skye before drawing in the AI. AUDREY is the first on mark, and between them, they abruptly are tossing her out on the digital curb, in a final fanfare of 'COOOOOOOOOOOOOME[[User:Malky|Malky]] ([[User talk:Malky|talk]])' from 'Relax'. 

:'''{{#var:1191|Skye Johnson (1191)}} has posed:''' The data package is caught. Skye's no doubt it's going to be some form of Tony snark - she's met the man, after all. He's the one sent her for pizza, with his 50 bucks, before he'd talk to her. Which reminded her... <<Haha. But I'll pass the message along. Oh, guess what? Keeping the money you gave me. Tell Reggie it's on.>> She wasn't sure if Tony would follow that part of that message was for Clint. Or if Clint would understand the coded message in her retort. But she knew Tony would remember the grand he'd given her to buy lunch with the next time they had a chat. She was pretty sure this didn't count, though. Kinda hard to enjoy a Chablis over the net. She didn't even try to do anything else. It was a hardline pull from the system, a pull that was helped by the twin powers of JARVIS and AUDREY who showed her the curb. Leaving Skye laughing in her seat, shaking her head. 

:'''{{#var:137|Clint Barton (137)}} has posed:''' Mles didn't have time to get out of his seat before Skye was out of the system. To say he wasn't please by the Rising Tide's performance tonight was an understatement and for all his rage there was an undertone of worry too. Momento for her part, merely shrugged, "Dry run for the real deal anyhow, right? And they don't have monster AIs. We got this H." Skye is given a nod of respect. "You do good stuff, DS. And you got to tell me how you owe Stark money,"" she says before they have to collect their gear and bounce. They weren't traced but it was always safe to assume you were. The rest of the crew wasn't so lucky. When all is said and done, Stark's hired hackers had traced six of the hacks and JARVIS had done two more. In all it was a heck of a party. 
}}

3643/She Got Me Sitting at a Bar...

2018-01-24T04:07:58Z

Malky: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2018/01/13 |Location=A safehouse in NYC |Synopsis=Clint get's drunk after Skye's defection. Tony joins him, May supervises. |Cast of Characters=137..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2018/01/13
|Location=A safehouse in NYC
|Synopsis=Clint get's drunk after Skye's defection. Tony joins him, May supervises.
|Cast of Characters=137, 5, 22
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:137|Clint Barton (137)}} has posed:''' Skye was gone and she'd shot Barton on the way out. It was just an ICER round but still. Cold. Then of course Barton vanished and Fitz and Simmons who'd been looking after him called May. The rest came down to finding which bar, Barton had chosen to drown his sorrows in. For a spy, he was pretty predictable that way. In this case, it was Luke's and Clint could be found sitting at the bar, tumbler in hand and half a bottle of cheap whiskey on the bar beside him. It was easy to guess where the other half went. 

:'''{{#var:5|Melinda May (5)}} has posed:''' Yes, Barton IS predictable that way, even if finding which bar took May a bit more time. She's not as up on the bar scene as she used to be. But finally, on her sixth stop, she finds the archer. And she can already tell she's likely going to have to pour him into his bed... though maybe it would be better to not take him back to the house he's been sharing with Skye. Annoying, but she'll deal with it. Stepping over to the bar, she picks a seat a couple down from Barton and asks for bourbon. Because while she'll knock a few back in solidarity, there is no way in hell she's touching the nasty rotgut Clint's got next to him. 

:'''{{#var:137|Clint Barton (137)}} has posed:''' Given his level of inebriation it's impressive Clint notices May before she sits down. Though he does, catching her reflection in his currently empty glass. "Wondered who'd track me down. So, is this a social visit or are you dragging me back to the office?" he asks her before he wrinkles his nose at her choice of drink. "Snob," he says, with drunk good humour. 

:'''{{#var:5|Melinda May (5)}} has posed:''' May takes a small sip of her bourbon, because she does have to drive later. She doesn't seem at all bothered by the snob comment, but then she almost never less anything visibly bother her. "I'm off duty," is her reply to his question about social visit or otherwise. "Fitzsimmons told me, but I'm sure I didn't get the whole story." Because Fitzsimmons. "I'm mostly here to be sure that I'm justified in hunting Skye down and making her pay." 

:'''{{#var:137|Clint Barton (137)}} has posed:''' Some guardedness leaves Clint when May tells him she's off duty. "Good. I am not sure I want to go back right now." He reaches over to his bottle of rot gut and pours some into his glass. "She shot me, you know that?" he says looking over at her. "I was trying to talk to her, and she shot me." He takes a drink to help wash those words from his mouth. "Everyone knows that by now, I bet. Hey, look at Barton, dumb idiot, got duped by a girl and shot," he says before snorting a bitter laugh. "The worst part is, I can't even hate her. I /really/ want to, but I can't. How fucked up is that? I mean, I am still hoping this is all some big mistake. She shot me and stole from work but I still want to believe she's innocent." He looks over at May, "Pretty stupid, right?" 

:'''{{#var:5|Melinda May (5)}} has posed:''' "Not really. She had a lot of people in SHIELD fooled, all the way up to and including Director Fury." As well as May herself. There WILL be a reckonint if she has anything to say about it. And she'd better. She takes another tiny sip of the bourbon and eyes that whiskey bottle, doing a bit of quick mental calculating. 

:'''{{#var:137|Clint Barton (137)}} has posed:''' Clint looks over at May. Even drunk he knows better than to try and read her expression, but he still looks at her when he asks, "So, you believe it then? She could do this?" he asks. Beside himself, May had spent the most time with Skye at SHIELD, trained her to be the agent she was. He trusted her judgement at this point more than he trusted his own. "So?" he prods. Clearly he's not going to let this one lie. 

:'''{{#var:5|Melinda May (5)}} has posed:''' :sets the nearly untouched bourbon aside and stands. "I'll believe it when she looks me square in the eyes and tells me to my face. And means it." And she can pretty well guess that whatever the hell is going on in Skye's head, she will likely want ANYTHING but to have to tell May to her face that she'd been playing them all the whole time. Even if it does turn out to be true. She's going to withhold judgement on that for the moment. But only for the moment. "Come on, Barton. Let's get out of here." 

:'''{{#var:137|Clint Barton (137)}} has posed:''' Clint snorts when May lays out the conditions of her believing Skye. "Tried that," he says. "Make sure she doesn't have a gun." He rubs the place bruised place on his chest where the round hit. He downs the rest of his glass when May says they're going. He almost quips, 'hey, I'm spoken for' but stops short when he realized he wasn't. He just says, "Sure," in it's place, and drops some money on the bar for the both of them. "Where are we going?" 

:'''{{#var:5|Melinda May (5)}} has posed:''' "Somewhere else." May doesn't elaborate, because either PickledBartonBrain will misconstrue it, or anyone else possibly overhearing will. Hell, they're likely misinterpreting the hell out of this already. But she's not about to reinforce the misunderstandings of a handful of mysogynist jerks if she can avoid it. Outside, May leads Clint to an extremely mundane looking little Honda that he might have seen around the motorpool on occasion. "Get in." Thankfully, her planned destination is close by. Maybe they'll make it there without him needing to throw up. 

:'''{{#var:137|Clint Barton (137)}} has posed:''' Clint is pretty agreeable when he's drunk and locked up inside his head. "Sure thing," he says at the weak explanation of where they were going. Really, he didn't care as long as when his buzz died off there'd be more booze to drown out all this damn thinking. He pours himself into the Honda's passenger seat and so far doesn't seem like he needs to put his head between his knees and paint the floormats the colour of cheap booze puke. He fumbles the seatbelt on, "So, really, where are we going?" he asks. 

:'''{{#var:5|Melinda May (5)}} has posed:''' "A safehouse nearby." May waits for the click of Barton's seatbelt and then they're off. Sure enough, barely ten minutes later they're pulling into the cramped driveway of a small house in the middle of one of those few remaining areas that have actual gaps between the single-family dwellings. Not exactly SHIELD's usual MO for safehouses, but it seems quiet and sedate enough. May leads him through to a door in the postage stamp back yard and then inside. The house itself, while tiny, has the not-really-lived-in feel that most safehouses usually have. And yet it's meticulously clean and has the occasional personal-seeming item that safehouses almost never have, like a potted ficus tree that is mere inches from brushing the ceiling. 

:'''{{#var:137|Clint Barton (137)}} has posed:''' "Ah," Clint says before he rides along quetly, watching the world go by And totally not looking for Skye. Nope. When they reach the house, Clint follows May inside the safehouse. It didn't look like a safehouse, except for the clean and unused thing, the house was wrong and there were plants and stuff. "Sure this one being used by someone?" he asks nodding at the plant. "I was looking at plants online today, you got water them to keep them going." Which was hard to do at a barely used safehouse. "Don't ask why I was looking," he says. It had been for the place he'd shared with Skye. 

:'''{{#var:5|Melinda May (5)}} has posed:''' "I pay the housekeeping staff a bit extra to keep the plants watered." She steps through to the tiny but well-planned kitchen then comes back with two glasses and an already opened bottle of Johnny Walker. Not top shelf, but better than the swill back at Luke's. "You feel like telling me what prompted Skye to use you for target practice?" 

:'''{{#var:137|Clint Barton (137)}} has posed:''' Clint nods and sinks down on the couch when May returns like an angel of mercy with more booze. "Huh, nice plant though," he says of the ficus. Though when she asks her question Clint blinks as the moment plays out in his head again. "Basically, I cornered her with Coulson and there was a team from Strike rolling in, I tried to get her to stop, to talk to me, and then blam. She shot me and bolted." 

:'''{{#var:5|Melinda May (5)}} has posed:''' May leaves the bottle and glasses with Clint and steps out of his direct line of sight to send a quick text to Stark: 'We need to talk ASAP.' along with the address of the house they're in. She might end up having to 'burn' the place later, and she'll really regret that, but needs must. "Why was there a Strike team rolling in? And what were you and Coulson doing cornering her in the first place? I could have told you that wouldn't end well." 

:'''{{#var:137|Clint Barton (137)}} has posed:''' "I was fuzzy on the details, but apparently they thought Skye had disguised herself as Coulson," Clint says about the Strike team. "She hacked the comms or something, Fitz was very impressed. And Fury sent us after her, I would probably have gone anyway, but, figured better that we give her a chance than let some Strike yahoo take her down." He looks to the scotch offering to pour for the both of them. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Tony got a message, from Agent May. She's in 'luck': he isn't buried in something else. Not only that, but was actually paying attention. So, the odds were in her favor. If that's indeed what attracting Tony ends up being, anyway. He eyes the message, and the address on it, to come out to meet. And diverts course. And so, May gets a response a reasonable few handfuls of minutes later from when she sent it. "Bet I know why. OMW." Tony isn't /magical/ to appear immediately, but he wasn't too far away. Parking at this hour is a bear, though, no spots. But someone else who was parking accepts a bribe to continue to search while Tony takes their spot with his insane sportscar. It isn't directly outside. That's subtle, right? Tony has to walk a block at least, bringing along his takeout box. 

:'''{{#var:5|Melinda May (5)}} has posed:''' May leaves the scotch with Clint for the moment, setting the phone on the table and disappearing down the hall that presumably leads to the bath and bedrooms. She's back almost as quickly as she left, setting a bottle of aspirin on the coffee table by the phone. "She could have impersonated anyone. That she chose Coulson means she wanted this to be noticed immediately." And for once, May isn't sure twhat that means. Btt she sully intends to findout. When her phone lights up with a received text, she glances down at the screen but doesn't pick it up to send a reply back. Instead she paces toward the front door and unlocks it before returning yet again and perching on the arm of the sofa. 

:'''{{#var:137|Clint Barton (137)}} has posed:''' Clint helps himself to the scotch when May leaves to go get the asprin. "Good plan," he says before he downs what he'd poured into the glass. "Wow. Hm. Way better than the stuff I was drinking," he usually went better than what he had at Luke's but he'd left his wallet at the Trisk and only bought what he did after hustling a couple patrons at darts. "Maybe?" he say of Skye wanting them to know she was leaving. "Or maybe she thought he was the bigger threat. I dunno. That's the problem, May, there's too much stuff we don't know." He picks up the scotch and gives it a look. "Maybe the answers are at the bottom," he remarks. "Either way, think I am going to find out." He pours himself another glass. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' There's a knock. In a particular rhythm -- a 'shave and a haircut' knock, and then Tony lets himself in, looking around the safehouse with a sort of casual curiosity. He closes the door neatly behind him. There's a flash of automatic smile at first as if Tony were going to say something terrible and snide. May is closest, but he can see past her to Clint, as well. He adapts what he was going to say, and says to May: "Reporting for duty. I assume it involves drinking." 

:'''{{#var:5|Melinda May (5)}} has posed:''' "I can guarantee you the answers aren't. But go ahead and try." May won't let Clint poison himself. Too much. Then Tony lets himself in and by the way she doesn't immediately jump to defend the safehouse it's clear she was expecting him. "Partly. It also involves Skye." Who is conspicuously absent. She stands again and goes to lock the door behind Tony, and even does a passable job of pickpocketing him and getting his keys away as she goes. 

:'''{{#var:137|Clint Barton (137)}} has posed:''' Clint recognizes that voice. "Stark?" he asks leaning across the coffee table to peer down the hallway. Yep, it's Tony. "What the heck are you doing here?" he asks. Though, yeah, if May's not kicking his ass, he was invited. As to the question about drinking? Clint answers, "Damn right It does!" he sinks back onto the couch his cup in his hand. "Both of you sit your asses down and join me. Otherwise people might think I've got a problem." The bottle of scotch is barely touched by the flush in Clint's cheeks and the reek of cheap booze on him, this is not his first bottle. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Tony has a lot of weird shit in his various pockets today, for pickpocketers to find. She'll get keys, yes: but there's several different other tech objects of similar to handheld size, a receipt, a yellow stress squish ball, some loose cash and change, a package of some type of snack food (probably freeze dried fruit?), some severed connectors from cords... so she's fortunate she actually found keys. Then again, they were on top. Tony doesn't pick up on the pickpocketing, but he did sense her getting close. "Hey there," Tony says automatically, a bit of flirt autopilot when she brushes against him: surprised, actually. He was pretty sure May was a robot. His eyes follow her as she goes to the door but he returns to the Clint mission, heading over to claim a spot next to Clint. "Yeah, I was there," Tony supplies about Skye offhandedly. He was, apparently, at the Triskelion: but he's been there over the past handful of days with Fury working on something. Tony has now headed down the hallway to view Clint's damage level in 'dismay.' "'Heck', Barton? We're adults here, go for the gold," Tony suggests. As for sitting down? Tony picks up an empty glass and shakes it at Barton. "As if I'd just watch you drink," Tony admonishes. He pulls off his suit coat and tosses it aside, then puts down his takeout box on the table next to them, flipping it open. An army of foil-wrapped various chicken wings is in it. 

:'''{{#var:5|Melinda May (5)}} has posed:''' And the role of responsible adult in tonight's play will be played by May. SHe hangs Tony's pilfered keys on a hook by the back door that she and Clint arrived through, makes a detour through the kitchen, then returns with plates and napkins. You know, in case Tony opts to share, though she's not planning on partaking. She's not really in a mindset conducive to food. "Stark, what are the chances of you being able to track down Skye's current whereabouts the next time she hacks into something?" She is one step shy of Luddite when it comes to actual hacking, and is thus willing to defer to someone who is clearly more knowledgeable. 

:'''{{#var:137|Clint Barton (137)}} has posed:''' Clint looks up from where he sits on the couch and frowns, "Go for the gold? If you think I am going to start bawling in front of the both of you, you've got the wrong guy," he says with a shake of his head. "Besides, like I was telling May, too confused to know what the hell to feel anyhow." Though when Tony sits down to join him in drinking, all the acrimonious thoughts vanish and he says, "Good man," to Tony then fills his glass while Tony brings out the chicken. "May?" he asks wiggling the bottle at her. That question about tracking Skye gets a look thrown between the two of them. "Is that even possible?" he asks as he reaches for one of the chicken wings. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Tony accepts his newly filled glass without pause, downing most of it, clearly intending to catch up. Drunk Clint will be fun to poke. Tony glances over at May when she asks about tracking Skye. "Piss-poor unless I know where she'd be hacking," Tony answers evenly. "I mean, can find Waldo in the crowd, but... sort of need to know which crowd. Besides, no way was that her alone." Tony looks at the plates May brings them as if amused. MORE amused by the napkins. But openly shares, he'll unroll the foil out without any semblance of being selfish about it. And start to eat, obviously hungry. "I'm consulting on the breach in SHIELD's systems. We'll see what I pick up -- that may help narrow where to look. MK was hooked in for the whole event and somebody tried to hack her, running a detailed analysis on her data. Could be something there." 

:'''{{#var:5|Melinda May (5)}} has posed:''' At Tony's explanation of why tracking Skye might be difficult including the observation that she must have had help, May can only nod. She finally claims one of the side chairs, taking a moment to set her jacket aside and shed her boots before curling up in it and pulling the blanket draped over one arm to cover her lap. It's almost like she's done that before. "Wait. Who is MK?" That's not a name May knows, and it makes her immediately suspicious. 

:'''{{#var:137|Clint Barton (137)}} has posed:''' "Help?" Clint asks around a mouthful of chicken wing. "Like there was someone else in SHIELD's systems?" he asks Tony with a furrowed brow. "Was there anything to tell you who? Skye mentioned there was another hacker, IcedLotus, almost as good as Skye but working or Hydra, maybe she made her do it, you know blackmail or something?" he says latching onto the idea like a drowning man might cling to some floating wreckage. "That makes sense right?" There's a nod, "And yeah, who's MK?" 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "Definitely somebody else. Actively meddling." Tony is distracted by the MK questions. "MK is a processing drone. Mark twelve... I think. She might be an eleven," Tony squints a little bit, and fishes out a thing that looks similar to a phone but probably isn't, looking at it and tapping through a few screens, quick swipes, one-handed. The other is busy with chicken. "Yep. Twelve." As if it's important. Tony takes a bit of a note from May's comfort level, wiping the sauce on his left hand off on the provided napkin-- and unbuttons the top few buttons on his collared shirt, and rolls up the sleeves neatly to mid-forearm, relaxing. Most notably, this does make some of the light that the arc reactor in his chest show a little bit, through undershirt. Clint's aware of it no doubt, but May, no. "If it's blackmail, what leverage?" Tony questions Clint. 

:'''{{#var:5|Melinda May (5)}} has posed:''' "A processing drone." In May's mind, a drone is one of those miniature flight-capable sensor arrays. So now she's trying to picture one of those things buzzing around the Triskelion with its own security badge. It's ... a distracting mental image. "Why did you have a processing drone with you in the Triskelion?" Maybe there are more important questions, but that's the one that sticks for the moment. That, and her eyes have caught the hint of light coming OUT from under Tony's shirt. Stark should take it as a compliment that she only stares and doesn't visibly reach for a weapon. 

:'''{{#var:137|Clint Barton (137)}} has posed:''' Clint snots, "What's Tony not brought to the office lately?" Clint asks May when she brings up the drone. "He's been around so much I think Pepper's banned him from the office." Tony's reactor, yeah, Clint's seen it, and he blows past May's reaction when Tony's question about the leverage gets his gears turning. "What leverage?" Clint asks, the question gives his drunk brain pause. "She did a lot of shady shit when she was working with the Rising Tide, maybe she went too far one time and Lotus knows about it. Or, it could be a threat, like maybe Lotus has put a virus in medical or air traffic systems and is going to press the go button if Skye doesn't help her? C'mon I may be pulling this stuff out of my ass, but we've seen weirder shit, right?" he looks between the two for confirmation. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "I feel like I'm in interrogation. I thought I was here to drink with my buddy here. Because ... Well. I guess I'm fine with it, since there ARE drinks, but," Tony admits, refilling his own glass and Clint's as well, helpfully, continuing to eat the wings and do what he can to at least keep up with Clint's current consumption rate. "I had two with me. I brought them to run analysis for updates to the ODYSSEY and the other helicarriers," Tony supplies; Tony likes to talk. "Hey-- Pepper and I are on /great/ terms right now, I'm in the opposite of trouble," Tony says, which might actually suggest a bit of 'something' there. He waggles a bit of a bone from a wing at May, "Unsure you should be asking me all this, instead of your Director, though?" Tony teases. "My badge has operations access and everything." Well, sort of. He was rather babysat! "Think she'd act if YOU were threatened?" Tony asks Clint in thoughtful interest, but doesn't appear to be judging (yet). 

:'''{{#var:5|Melinda May (5)}} has posed:''' Well, okay. Stark has a point there. And May DOES fully intend to corner Fury and talk to him about this whole mess. But for now, there's chaperoning to be done. And she's still wondering about that light. But, she'll let it slide for the moment, as Clint seems completely unperturbed. "Fine. I'll talk to Fury." As if that settles the matter for her for the time being, she doesn't seem to have any other questions at the moment, settling into her chosen chair just that tiny amount more. 

:'''{{#var:137|Clint Barton (137)}} has posed:''' Clint grunts thanks when his glass is filled and he reaches for a chicken wing. "You and Pepper are good, huh? How good?" he asks catching that hint of implication in Tony's words as he settles back in his spot on the couch. "And May, just ask him about the chest thing already," Clint adds to the other agent before digging into his wing. He's barely swallowed that bite before he answers. "Hm, good catch, because hell yeah she would do that if she thought I was in danger. Or at least I want to think so. It makes sense right?" 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "She cooked," Tony says simply, as if that were a big thing, with a raise of both eyebrows at Clint, and taking a big bite of chicken. They've got a little pile of bones going now. "That one was mostly sauce," Tony says in dismay. He's had some drinks now, which amplifies his already awesome personality. "So, how much danger ARE you in?" Tony asks Clint, eying him critically. The 'chest thing' gets a bit of bemused smirk; he doesn't volunteer anything. 

:'''{{#var:5|Melinda May (5)}} has posed:''' If the three of them, May is proabaly in the best position to understand the implications of 'she cooked'. Because for career women, taking the time out to do something unaccustomed, it truly has //implications//. But, she leaves it for the men to try and figure out. She doubts they'll manage it. And then, yes, she'll ask about the chest thing. "Stark, you hiding a tablet in your shirt, or are you just happy to see us?" 

:'''{{#var:137|Clint Barton (137)}} has posed:''' "Cooked? No shit?" Clint says with a smile for Tony, he raises a fist for the other Avenger to bump. The booze may have amplified Clint's personality too, poor May. Besides, Clint was glad of the distraction of thinking of someone else's relationship for a change. Though the question about danger brings him right back to his own predicament. "I mean Lotus worked for Hydra, so I guess that depends on how badly they want to hurt me or need Skye," Clint says before his back stiffens and he pales. "They'd need her for more than getting the data right?" he asks. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Tony Stark grins and accepts the fist-bump. "I would not shit you about food. Burgers, even," Tony says, with a tone of honest disbelief and pleasure. Oh, the chest thing. "What, did I flash you? Didn't mean to," Tony jokes. "I'm a special model of shitty Cyborg," Tony supplies with a laugh, drawing one hand to tap on the surface of the reactor through his shirt. It makes a few little hollow sounds when he does that, although if it's imbedded in him or just worn under his shirt, hard to tell, what with so much of what Tony says being bullshit. "If the power goes out, we can still charge our phones," Tony comments. And then, "Also, I like being alive. Suits me." There's the truth, possibly only due to the drinks. There's a weird undertone to it, an odd loss. And his current glass is downed in one go, Tony sets about refills. 

:'''{{#var:5|Melinda May (5)}} has posed:''' May hms faintly. She's still learning how to read past Tony's flash and pizzazz public persona, but she can guess that there's more to the story there than she's likely to get, even with the world's oldest truth serum already in place. As Clint meanders through the potential logic of his being the reason that Skye defected, she can only watch. She doesn't care for speculation but she won't shut anyone else down for doing so off the books, as it were. And really, it's already been considered. That's why she tracked him to Luke's and dragged him away from there to pickle himself here. 

:'''{{#var:137|Clint Barton (137)}} has posed:''' Clint even blows up the fist when Tony accepts the bump. Yep, looks like he and Tony are buzzed and know what a big deal Pepper cooking is. "Burgers huh?" he says with a smile. "Good stuff, hold onto her man. Seriously. Don't be you and fuck it up." Speaking of fucked up, Clint takes remembers his glass and takes a big gulp of the scotch before he says, "Yeah, that thing, it keeps him alive. And makes Tony useful on road trips," he says building on the phone charging joke Tony had already made on the way back to what was really on his mind. "But seriously, guys, am I crazy here? If it's Hydra blackmailing Skye and she's given them what they want, she could be dead right now. Or soon, we need to go find her." He tries to pick himself up off the couch but only gets half way before his legs go wobbly and he spills himself and the scotch in his hand on the couch, thankfully, not the part Tony was on. Unperturbed, Clint tries to get to his feet again. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "Useful in addition to my ability to form the best soundtracks for the trip," Tony reminds Clint. Definitely don't forget the music. Tony moves to help Clint --- well, no, to try to save the liquor in his glass. So Tony got a bit splashed on the wrist and forearm by it. Tony has, apparently, pretty damn good reflexes despite being buzzed. "Not sure she's walking the street just outside. Pretty sure that's about as far as we'd get right now. And you are not going to vomit in my car," Tony adds, sinking back into the couch. He slides a brief little look across to May. Tony isn't necessarily directly hindering, but he's aware of the purpose of the evening. They're keeping Clint here. 

:'''{{#var:5|Melinda May (5)}} has posed:''' The moment Clint tries to get to his feet and wobbles, May is standing. She plucks the glass out of his hand and lets Tony claim it before reaching to help him try to stand again, and makes a mental note to leave an extra tip to the housekeeping services when they end up having to clean the stain from that spill later. "Where are you headed, Clint?" she asks perhaps a bit more gently that either man would have expected. And yes, her plan was to keep the archer here until he'd slept off this bender to her satisfaction. Not his. Hers. 

:'''{{#var:137|Clint Barton (137)}} has posed:''' Clint manages to get all the way to his feet this time before he stands there teetering like a tree about to fall. "Out there," he says waving in the direction of the door. "Got to find her," he says and then he turns, wobbling as he does, "And why aren't you guys worried?!" he snaps. "Didn't you hear what I said? She could be dead right now." Grim and unlikely as his scenario was, it was the only one he could conjure that didn't make Skye the villain. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Tony ... bar-tends. More liquor in the glasses. Sadness over the lessening pile of wings. He's frowning at nothing in particular, or something in his own head, maybe. "We should find out what's what," Tony votes. "Somebody /knows/," Tony adds, with his own drinking-logic, and a grin that is a little dark. 

:'''{{#var:5|Melinda May (5)}} has posed:''' "No, Clint, you don't. I can promise you she's perfectly fine right now. The amount of intel she has on SHIELD makes her way too valuable to just toss aside like a used paper plate. And if they are using you against her as leverage to keep her working for them, then wandering out there right now only puts her at //more// risk." At this point she tries to gently steer and push Barton into sitting back down on the sofa. "So the best thing you can do right now is sit here, help Tony finish those wings, and not jump to conclusions. Got it?" 

:'''{{#var:137|Clint Barton (137)}} has posed:''' Clint nods to Tony. "Yeah, we do," he agrees. "We need to talk to Fury." Though the idea of the two of them, drunk, going to talk to the Director is likely not going to be too productive. May's words seem to get through. "Right. If I go out, they can get me." He frowns, glancing towards the backdoor for a long moment, before he turns away. "And Fury, he'll have teams out looking right?" He seems to come to his own conclusions about it and sinks back down to the couch, unaware or uncaring he's sitting in a puddle of spilled scotch. "Should probably eat something, soak up the booze," he says reaching for the chicken. "Can help if I'm sober." Though by the look of him, he'll be passed out before him 'helping' becomes an issue. "So she made you burgers, huh?" Clint asks Tony. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Tony pushes Clint's drink back over at him. Not with any particular intention, other than that it's Clint's. Tony's not terribly aware right now anymore. May has her work cut out for her if Tony starts getting 'ideas' like Clint. For now he's been pretty easygoing though. "Yep. She wants a date after the surgery." So much is wonky with that sentence, but Tony's not paying much attention. He suddenly gets up, and looks around slowly as if hunting something... ah, there. He wanders to the bathroom without saying anything about it. 

:'''{{#var:5|Melinda May (5)}} has posed:''' May lets Tony wander off to the bathroom, mentally noting that his motor coordination is far less affected than Clint's. And speaking of, it's likely time for all of them to get some sleep. To that end, she snags the now much closer to empty bottle of scotch and takes it back to its hiding place in the kitchen and moves to get glasses of water for the men. She's giving Clint a chance to get some more food into him before shuffling him off to sleep. She knows he's going to feel this tomorrow, and nothing will be visibly better. But, it's called a coping mechanism for a reason. 
}}

3619/Stark and Fury Discuss

2018-01-24T04:05:38Z

Malky: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2018/01/10 |Location=Triskelion - Fury's office |Synopsis=A meeting about the Helicarriers and Stark helping SHIELD out with new tech. |Cast of Cha..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2018/01/10
|Location=Triskelion - Fury's office
|Synopsis=A meeting about the Helicarriers and Stark helping SHIELD out with new tech.
|Cast of Characters=347, 22
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:347|Nick Fury (347)}} has posed:'''     It was another day at the Triskelion. There were several situations happening throughout the world that were causes a lot of headaches for SHIELD. There were few things that were not known by this organization. The thing holding everything together? Nick Fury.     In his office right now, Fury was going through the latest report on Magneto, Alpha Flights inaugural send off, Crimson Tide, and Hydra, to name just a few things on his plate. It was going to be one of those decades..." 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' While actually coming to the Triskelion itself is not that outlandishly bizarre for Tony (although it's up there), the general other information and intel about Tony Stark is more concerning. That he's given some 'gifts' recently to their medical team was strange to begin with. Tony is quite possibly a pod person. Or, maybe he has been replaced by a shapeshifter, or has some injury that's influencing the behavior. The last is actually the closest to the truth: smart intel gathering will provide that Pepper has been doing some heavy scouting on a number of high caliber heart surgeons. And Tony's behavior meshes really well with that Tony is no doubt the person that research is for. This meeting is supposedly unrelated: mostly about upgrading safety technology on the helicarriers that Stark-Fujikawa originally built with some new repulsors. Because crashes are bad. The STARK branded helicopter lands about ten minutes after it was expected. Tony and his entourage make a minimal scene, considering, before Tony finally is led to the director's office, shooing his various people away to go have something to eat in the visitor cafeteria. He is still in a debate with the last of his aides as he's brought into the office door: "Yes, I'll remember you, you won't be left behind," Tony assures the poor assistant, as if it may have happened last time. Perhaps. 

:'''{{#var:347|Nick Fury (347)}} has posed:'''     "Come in." Fury says through the door, as the voice recognition software opens the door. That way, Fury could stay seated, and the doors would open. Easy. His eyes are on the latest report from Agents Barton and Johnson, and his frown was deeper than normal. One more thing to worry about.     As Tony STark enters the room, Fury looks up, and takes in the man before him. Standing respectfully, Fury offers his right hand to shake, and says, "Mr. Stark. Welcome to the Triskelion. We have a lot to talk about." Fury waves the level 3 Agent away, letting her know that it is okay to leave this man with the Director. She nods, and exits. The door closes behind her.     "Have a seat please, Mr. Stark..." Fury says after the pleasantries are over. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "Director Fury. -- It's 'Tony' though, please," Tony says with a flash of one of the charismatic, sleek smiles he's well known for, approaching and accepting the handshake with a cool, relaxed manner. He's dressed immaculately today, and looks the part appropriate to his reputation. Well, the non Iron Man part, that is. He plucks his sunglasses off and slips them inside a pocket inside his suit jacket, heading to a visitor chair once the greeting is completed, crossing one leg over a knee, reclining back in it. "A lot? Well, at least one or two things, unless you have more to spring on me," Tony smiles. "Did my gift find its way to you, or did our good Agent Barton 'forget' it?" Tony questions. 

:'''{{#var:347|Nick Fury (347)}} has posed:'''     "Let's skip to the important details, Mr. Stark. Tony." Fury makes the adjustment easily. "Gift...I think it may have gotten lost in transit. I'll have to bring that up with Agent Barton...I assume they were of the highest quality?" Fury allows himself a brief smile.     Then, his frown returns, and he gets down to business. "Why we're here...one or two things indeed. SHIELD needs you to update our current technology, especially the tech on our Helicarriers. Our new flagship, the ODYSSEY is having...issues. If you would be so kind, would you make the arrangements to update our systems? As soon as possible of course. No need to gouge us with your prices for a service call."     Fury regards the man with an appraising air, taking in everything about him. This was Fury at his most diplomatic, trying not to let sarcasm or criticism slip into his voice.      

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Tony's being ... Tony. Which means that it might be hard to judge exact level of seriousness here. "Just as well I brought a replacement. We'll bring those in before I go," Tony says, of the cigar gift. "Absolutely. Wow, good to feel needed, huh?" Tony grins but then adjusts, business hat on. "Well, I've prepped full spec that includes what can be added. Certainly can outfit them with the latest, across the board, or you can pick. Most of the upgrades are heavy software, for the primary systems, but the repulsors, for improved mobility - that's nearly exclusively hardware." Tony's chatty. He pauses. "If you have something specific you're going for too, do let me know. I can, of course, do anything," Tony half-kids with a wink, and open spread of both hands. He fishes out a weird little blue object out of his pocket while he talks, as if probably just wanting something to fiddle with. One might at first think it could be related to the discussion, or some tech, but it's not. It's just a little squeezy plastic thing. "ODYSSEY's misbehaving, or just old?" 

:'''{{#var:347|Nick Fury (347)}} has posed:'''     "Hmmm..." Fury nods, and takes a moment to think about all of the additions that Stark mentions. "Anything huh? I imagine so." Fury pauses. "Misbehaving. Not old. She's the newest and greatest. Just some growing pangs I think. Agent Hill was most...vocal in her assessment of the...engineering involved to screw it up...and I use G Rated words here, so I am misquoting."     Fury shakes his head, and adds, "I am sure we can get this done as soon as possible. I can also appreciate your other...responsibilities. We're willing to expand or ETA a bit so you can continue your "extra-curricular" activities. And I don't mean of the feminine kind."     Fury tosses the man a data pad with a list of requirements, requests, and an encrypted folder containing an update to any files that were previously shared amongst Stark, the Avengers, and SHIELD. "Oh, and try not to charm any of my Agents on your way out Stark...Tony. They tend to come back slightly damaged." Fury crosses his arms across his chest.     With that, both men get down to work going over the needs of SHIELD, and what Stark could provide. After all, it wasn't every day Fury had Stark this close, and his undivided attention. 
}}

3676/Behind the SHIELD...

2018-01-24T04:01:49Z

Malky: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2018/01/17 |Location=Stark Tower - Garage |Synopsis=Pepper finds Tony in the garage, and wants explanations for various things. |Cast of Characters..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2018/01/17
|Location=Stark Tower - Garage
|Synopsis=Pepper finds Tony in the garage, and wants explanations for various things.
|Cast of Characters=22, 83
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Queries as to where Tony is with JARVIS get the reply that Tony is "out." A minor inquiry on details reveals that he took one of his insane cars somewhere. That can mean a variety of things, but actively hunting him generally doesn't gain results: best to just wait for him to show up. And so it is the evening on Wednesday when JARVIS lets her know, per request for the update, that Tony has come back to the office and is parking in the garage. Would she like him to contact Tony about anything in particular? "I do not see any items on his schedule this evening, but he may have plans I am not aware of," JARVIS supplies in his helpful tone. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' "No, no... Just let him know I'm in his office waiting. And worried. No. Wait. Just... tell him the first part. Leave out the worried." Pepper explains softly, scooping up the last few things from her desk and standing smoothly. She double checks her computer display and swipes one hand over it to close the thing down, saving what little bit she was working on earlier. Meeting Tony and figuring out just where the HELL he went was more important than finishing this mid month report. So, when Tony comes up to his office, he will find Pepper there waiting. She's in one of her bespoke suits today, as usual, this one just a few ivory shades lighter than white and hugging her body like a second skin. She's got an emerald silk camisole beneath for just a pop of color which matches her eyes. Her hair is tied loosely at the back of her neck, a few errant strands having fallen free over the day. She has a cup of coffee in her hand and some decaf tea waiting on his desk for him. A man with a heart condition shouldn't have caffeine this time of night. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "Of course," JARVIS says. And then, Pepper has time to wait in the office. ...AND continue to wait. No Tony. Perhaps something has happened. Finally though, JARVIS gets back to her on his own. The coffee is getting cold. "Ms. Potts, I have conveyed your request, but he did not respond," JARVIS supplies to Pepper. He doesn't have a 'worried' mode, this is just factual. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' A deeper sigh escapes her lips and she downs the rest of her coffee, "... Where IS he now, JARVIS? Just tell him I'm on my way. And tell me where he is." Pepper starts walking out of his office already because she knows he's not there and JARVIS can keep talking to her through all the various floors and corridors. So her sleek high heels carry her down the hallway, towards the elevator, determination in her almost stalking step. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "He has not moved. The garage, third section. I believe he is failing to answer because the volume of music is quite high," JARVIS supplies to Pepper, happy to assist as he can, as usual, so long as it isn't directly violating something Tony has required of the AI. Such as requiring the music to be turned way up. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' "...Not...*moved*? JARVIS, get me there NOW!" Pepper half yelps, now sprinting down the hallway as fast as her shoes will take her. She stumbles into the lift, half breathless, and glares at the wall because waiting is too long. The moment the doors open again, she's running down the next hall towards the garage, down the stairs, and into the garage where half of her expects to see him passed out in the car. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' In the private end of the garage, there's a funny little show going on. Rock music is turned up blisteringly high, and the hood of one of the cars is up. Tony's bent way over into it, so mostly what is visible is ass, in black jeans. There is a small robot near his left thigh on the floor, with a tray of tools like a tiny concerned helper. The robot notices her and pivots around. Tony adjusts out of the car and spins towards one of the benches, unaware of her entirely, and half-dances over to it. It's a manner of somebody enjoying themselves and assuming he is alone. His forearms are dirty now, and he plucks some glasses off the workbench to shove on up the bridge of his nose with one finger, turning back to the car. His coat is flung over the door of the car, window rolled down, she he's just in a comfortable 'black sabbath' tee, jeans, black boots. He says something to the little robot, which is drowned by the music from afar, bending back over the car's engine. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' The moment Pepper sees him bent over like that, she releases a breath of pure relief and stops for a rushed heartbeat or two on the edge of his garage. She doesn't need him seeing her quite so flustered as she's feeling this moment. So, she pauses on the edge of the room, taking the time to look over his form and maybe (quietly) enjoy that curve of his behind. Once she's finally more calm, she moves towards him, smiling. "...You were out a long while. Care to... tell me where you were off to? I was getting worried." She admits quietly, trying to sound apologetic, not too controlling, but also earnestly concerned for him. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Well, Tony notices her belatedly when she has closed a good part of the distance. He doesn't startle, but he clearly wasn't aware of her before then. "What?" Tony asks loudly, and.... shamelessly half-dances on over to her, expression upbeat. Tony attempts to snare her hand to spin her over, playful, with no care about her expensive outfit. And making no effort to drop the music volume, obnoxiously, perhaps. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' A little, warm laugh escapes her lips as he grabs her for a spin. She follows him into that spin, though then her mind catches up with the fact that he might be covered in grease and she's wearing ivory, "Tony, the suit!" She yelps -- she'll never be able to get grease out of this suit. Still, she's laughing and happy, her green eyes glimmering as she leans into his arm, half giving up the protest. "You're in a good mood.. I was... just worried..." 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Tony ignores her protest but also doesn't get much on her other than her hand really, he keeps his other off out of the way, somewhat aware of her issue. And tugs out a pocketed device, cutting the music volume down to roughly half of where it was, so he doesn't need to shout. But the dancing stops too. He snares a rag from the robot helper and wipes his hands on it. "Worried? Why? I'm not going to spontaneously combust," Tony assures her. "--Well, certainly not in a car engine," he amends. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' And he even respected her suit? Pepper looks at him for a moment like he might have grown a second head. She gives his hand a warm, thankful squeeze and then legs it go so he can actually wipe the grease off. "I know you're not going to combust. You were just out a long while and JARVIS was quite... dodgy about exactly where you'd gone. Then, when he said you came home, you didn't move from the garage for a while and I was waiting in your office and... you... well..." Pepper huffs out quietly, giving a little shake to her head. "Never mind. I was simply over worried. It happens. I'm glad to see you in such a good mood. What IS the mood about?" 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Tony listens to her, wiping his hands, and then moving forward and wiping off her hand on the rag too in a sort of overdone manner, with a sort of amused half-listening expression. Like he overdoes it, partially mocking how dirty he thinks she may believe she is. "Yep, had adventures," Tony says without explaining himself. Hopefully she's not really going to pin him down over it. "Feeling good today. No um," Tony decides how to describe it, fluttering a hand near his chest. "...not hungover," Tony ends up with, with a kind of dismayed pause. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' The amusement on her features deepens as he takes her hand and equally wipes it off almost over dramatically. She just smirks, watching him with a lofted brow. Just when he's finished and about to turn away, she murmurs. "Missed a spot. Ring finger, at the knuckle." Whether he did or not, Pepper is enjoying teasing him about it just as much as he teased her. Then her smile turns a bit more curious, head tilting, making a few of those red locks fall across her cheek. "And are you going to tell me just what those adventure were? While I was stuck in the office, slaving away over keeping your business in line..." More worry flickers through her eyes at his chest comment, but she doesn't push that. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Tony looks back to her hand, grabbing it and makes a nausal sound as if he were going to spit polish her hand, but doesn't actually, just grins and hangs onto her. But does suddenly go for her face with the cloth of other hand, deliberately putting a smear on her if he can catch her with it. "Ouch, guilt trip, apparently, is where I am now," Tony teases back. "I worked this morning. Then drove. Had some great Italian," he says, in a manner that suggests he doesn't think his day was that interesting. "What else... ah. Got a new fan. Maybe six. Funny little kid. Forget his name." Tony shrugs. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' The smudge at her cheek gets a FULL yelp from Pepper and a slight swat of her hand, which only serves to get her hand even more messy. Pepper laughs through the annoyed glare that she's giving him, "You are in such trouble, Tony Stark." She grumbles in that tone of voice that says he really is not, but she had to say SOMETHING. She gives a little huff then, reaching over for a clean drop cloth, not the one in his hand, so she can actually attempt to clean herself off before she marks her suit. "And just where did you make these six fans? HOW did you make them? Come on, Tony. I know you are hiding something. Spill." 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "No, the one fan was six years old. ...Pretty sure it was just the one kid," Tony laughs. "I didn't have the suit on. I'm always impressed when a kid knows more than just the suit." Oh, there's the ego, and the great mood source. Tony and his fame and attention got a big stroke, apparently. "I /might/ have been generous. A little. But it was an accident. Won't happen again," Tony evades, and topic changes away from some philanthropy it sounds like he did. No doubt some idea came into his head about a good deed and he went and enjoyed it. "Speaking of generous. I probably need to make sure Clint isn't dying, again. I didn't tell you about that, did I?" Tony says, mood slowly turning more serious, and he looks at the car engine, as if wanting something to frown at. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' Hands now clean, Pepper folds her arms across her chest, standing stark still, shoulders back, her pose that no-nonsense gaze she so often gives him. "Tony Stark. Just what do you mean generous? Did you give a kid a car? Did you? He's Six! What did you do, Tony...?" She doesn't exactly sound like she's lecturing, but she certainly wants to know and he won't get away with dodging the subject. Then the next bit comes up and Pepper blinks, her head tilting again. "...why is... Clint maybe dying...Again? What is going on? Tell me about generosity and then tell me about Clint." 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "I wouldn't give a child a car," Tony says, surprised, perhaps, by her misjudge of his character. Hurt. SO HURT. ...Not really. "Well, he'd have to do a lot more than just recognize me," Tony adds, turning in to pivot and sitting partially against the front of the open car. "I got contacted by some Make-a-Wish people. It's really not a big deal, Pep," Tony says distactedly. "As for Clint... he got his heart broken into lots of tiny pieces. We have, so far, failed to find the cure at the bottom of bottles of scotch." 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' As he comments about Make-a-Wish, Pepper's eyes soften just a bit more. She walks closer to him, daring to reach out and touch the small of his back, "I'm not going to lecture you... Just tell me what you did and how I can help? If we want to help a few Make-a-Wish kids? I've got your back on this, Tony. Really..." Pepper states, far softer than before, reassuring him gently. Then he does answer about Clint and Pepper's brows furrow a bit more, "Ahh... he's a nice man, too. Is there anyone else, maybe, he has his eye on? We could all go out together..." Pepper has that considering, matchmaking look in her eyes already. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "I just did it on --Paul. That was the kid's name. Paul." Tony really did forget what it was, and grabs it out of his memory with a snap of fingers, derailing himself. He maintains the bluster, doesn't soften despite her reassurance or touch. "I didn't ask. Seeing as he was devastated, that would have been a little awful, even for me, to suggest right off the bat. Also, she apparently defected out of SHIELD and I /think/ she shot him." Tony continues to explain, as of course he can't just leave it at that: Skye's gone rogue, it seems, though with secret agents, it's hard to ever really know what they're up to. 
}}

3617/From the Bunker

2018-01-12T05:41:12Z

Malky: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2018/01/09 |Location=Stark Tower Bunker and Penthouse |Synopsis=Pepper drags Tony out of his lab to eat and get some sleep. |Cast of Characters=22,..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2018/01/09
|Location=Stark Tower Bunker and Penthouse
|Synopsis=Pepper drags Tony out of his lab to eat and get some sleep.
|Cast of Characters=22, 83
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "Ms. Potts," JARVIS politely contacts her. He pauses, and then continues, "While it is time for dinner, but I must inform you that Mr. Stark has been asleep for approximately an hour, after having stayed up all night working. He may be unavailable to eat," the AI explains to her. Tony HAD... hours ago... mentioned how great cheeseburgers would be, through the communication system, when prodded about maybe taking, say, a food break. But then he got involved in his project again. So this is certainly the natural evolution of that: Not sleeping and not eating. "However, I am overriding the security on the Bunker to allow you entry, because he may be in physical distress; he removed himself from my monitoring." JARVIS probably questioned him. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' When Tony gets on a binge like this, Pepper is normally not QUITE so overworried. She's seen these working binges before. But now she knows there is something wrong with his reactor, that he might be sick, and it's been hard not to be worried. Not to mention they had a date, supposedly, and had been a bit closer than previous times. It's a big mix for her having planned on a huge cheeseburger dinner which she now forgets upstairs, because she's moving in a half panicked speed down to the bunker. "Thank you, JARVIS. I'm heading that way now. Keep the stove on warm with the burgers... Shit... Just... I'm almost there." Food can wait. Pepper's running down into the bunker as fast as her sky-high Prada heels will allow her. She doesn't look near so ragged around the edges as Tony probably does, but she's also not quite her perky, perfect stuff. She's been losing sleep, between running the company and worrying relentlessly over Tony. She doesn't even bother fixing her hair as she dashes over in his direction, fingertips reaching for neck and other hand for his shoulders, "Tony?...Tony! I swear...if you had a heart attack on me..." 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' On the upside, Tony is not, say, collapsed over a project like he just passed out. Tony did have the sense to move himself over to one of the 'thinking' couches, to do this there. He's laying back, clearly asleep (or unconscious) when she comes tearing in. He's dressed in a way that suggests he was welding: he reeks of melted metal, as does the bunker, and burned fuel. And sweat, and some grime on his bared arms, exposed due to being in just a t-shirt. His gloves are thrown to the side though, and he doesn't have other welding gear on except for semi-ajar red protective glasses. The scariest of the items is there are a few leads that are running up under his shirt, clipped onto the arc reactor, that run out onto the floor and... to nothing, they aren't clipped onto anything else. Tony responds, but with some lag, squinting at her. "Stop; I'm not on fire. ....Am I?" Tony asks, confused and out of it. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' Much like the mistaken issue that night of the party, but the other way around, it's now Pepper's turn to be leaning frantically over his sleeping body, half sick with worry, almost in his lap on the couch, her hand still on his neck to be certain his pulse isn't just there, but is hopefully even and strong enough. Especially as she sees those cables coming out of his chest. Just because he's moving doesn't mean he's well. She stares down at him, not able to cut the heart-sick concern from her green gaze. "Tony... JARVIS said you took yourself off monitoring. You didn't sleep the whole NIGHT last night... it... It's dinner time. And no. You're not on fire. You're just passed out in the middle of your work space, missing dinner, covered in soot, have god knows how many wires hooked up to your chest, NOT on your monitoring and... giving me indigestion!" She half rambles half huffs. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Tony orients on her now though, sleep leaving his gaze, and pulls off the glasses, letting them loosely drop to the side of the chair, overwhlemed a little by her explosion. "I ate. I had some snacks. Chocolate Raisins," Tony says, pausing, and pulls a little bag out from under his left thigh to offer her some. "JARVIS was distracting me. It's fine. I'm doing great," Tony assures her with his usual easygoing bravado, sitting up and yawning. He fishes under his shirt, pulling it up to expose abdomen with his other hand, and unclips the leads as if they were no big deal, barely paying attention to them. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' "...you're unclipping eletric leads from your CHEST, Tony. You were doing experiments on your own CHEST and you took the monitoring off. Why was JARVIS distracting you? Was he warning you that perhaps you shouldn't be doing that?" Pepper breathes out, finally gently drawing her hand back from his neck, trying not to hover too close but she does look in a state. The fact that she's been sleeping at the office -- just in case he needs her -- and hasn't really stopped worrying since he told her? It's starting to take it's wear on her. Even a few locks of strawberry blonde hair have fallen out of place around her cheek. "And...that's not dinner, Tony. That's barely food. I did make you cheeseburgers. The kobe beef you like... extra sharp cheddar... Everything's ready upstairs. YOu just actually have to come upstairs and *eat them.*" Pepper insists softly, but it might be a bit surprising that she made them. She didn't order in. She cooked dinner for him. Thoughtfully, exactly what he wanted... Pepper Potts cooked. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "I wasn't experimenting on my chest... I was just using it as a power source for... barely an hour," Tony says. As if that were not infinitely worse at this point. He withdraws the snack when she doesn't want any, and has a few himself while listening to her. "Upstairs? With cheddar? Lead on," Tony says quickly, trying to reorient her scared train back onto that. And away from the new guilt coming in: he didn't know she was cooking it. He has a feeling JARVIS told him, though, but he had to finish up what he was doing first. He coughs and gives Pepper a charismatic smile, as if to prove he's fine. He's tired as hell but the smile is ... very convincing, actually. If a shade too close to the smile he gave her when he came back from being a captive. He puts the raisins aside and everything, and sort of... looks at her... close proximity to him. Normally he wouldn't really notice it, but there's a different tone to such things, after their last 'Meeting'. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' Indeed, after their last 'meeting', well, she's cooked burgers instead of ordering in from whatever joint sounds good tonight. She actually made them dinner and while that might not be a date, it's certainly not a business meeting. Pepper's eyes go wide as saucers as he comments on using his reactor as a power source, though, "That's no better, that's probably WORSE! Isn't that... not working... perfectly?! Tony!" She begins, but he does manage to derail her a few heartbeats later. Perhaps it's that smile, perhaps it's his agreement to come upstairs. More likely, it's a mix of both, but she gets off of her worried rant a moment alter and gives a small, brief nod, "Well..good. Yes. Come up and eat. Then sleep. I... I can't give you orders, but... you need both." Her fingertips which had been on his neck now come up, just a moment, tucking some of that careless hair behind his ear. It's a tender touch, a worried one but also slightly protective. But it shouldn't last. And with that, she turns on her foot, leading the way upstairs before she lingers so close a little too long and is tempted by other things. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "You could power your hairdryer off my reactor for the rest of your life and it wouldn't make me any worse," Tony assures her, helpfully, hands moving to her shoulders for just a brief squeeze. He doesn't SOUND like he's omitting something. Oh, here it its: "It's already bad." Yeah. He gets up out of the chair, which sends his hair right back out from behind his ear where she tucked it, yawning very broadly. He's not entirely awake, he's just a good faker. As she turns away he stretches and rotates his shoulders, scratching his stomach a little bit before pulling the shirt back down and, apparently game to leave the bunker in her wake, does indeed follow her. "JARVIS, shut down those two coolant tanks I had up, but roll the third overnight, log everything," Tony addresses the AI. "I'm probably busy tonight," he adds. JARVIS answers: "Very good, sir." 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' It already being bad stops Pepper in her tracks. She almost trips over her own feet, for just a moment, but forces herself to stop and take a deeper breath. "...Then, if it's already bad, you are sleeping tonight. I don't care if I have to climb in that bed with you, you are sleeping." It could sound flirtatious, but it doesn't. Pepper is dead serious about her threat and, potentially, pinning him down if she has to. Instead, she just keeps leading the way up towards the kitchen where the heavenly scent of well cooked kobe beef, spices, good cheddar and fresh vegetables hovers in the air. It's not as strong as it was the moment she finished cooking, but she did get him shortly after, so things aren't yet cold. The burgers are large, probably too large for her to finish one herself, and it looks like she got buns from Degennaro's down the street, so fresh and fluffy with the proper Italian cut to them. "...Dinner is ready. Hopefully it's... still warm." 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "You believe that if you're in a bed with me, that I would be sleeping?" Tony asks behind her. She'll HEAR how high his eyebrows are lifted in his tone, alone, with that comment. And she probably will not have to guess that he's looking at her back and... lower, as she leads. It's not any secret that Tony often watches women leave the room, sort of a favorite hobby. Yes, she leads to the food, but unless she entirely ignores him when they arrive, she'll easily catch him still looking at her, despite that he's tired. Then again, the man probably would be on his deathbed and still be up to go out with a bang. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' Today, Pepper is in a custom tailored, dark charcoal gray suit with thin pin stripes. It's pants, so her legs aren't exactly on display, but they certainly cup her buttocks like they were made to fit like a glove, so he might be getting a pretty decent view either way. She's about to turn around and ask him what he wants to drink when she notices he's staring and just stops in her tracks. That makes her stammer a moment or two, a hint of blush raising up her cheeks as she clears her throat. "...would you like water or something else to drink... And we BOTH need sleep. I promise you, tonight? All we'd be doing is sleeping. But... dinner first. Now. What are you drinking?" Pepper is doing her damnedest to act like he's not flirting, trying to keep to the business of dinner even if she did dare cook the entire thing for him and has offered to share a bed with him. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "You did all this, the /very/ least I can do is bartend for an instant," Tony says. "Truly the very least, there's a lot of other things I also could be doing," Tony admits, which is... wrought with possible innuendo. Or maybe just in reference to cooking. But since it's Tony, the first thing is the safer bet. "I have the wine from that celebratory toast we forgot to do after the Cyrosync deal Monday," Tony considers aloud as if half to himself, passing around her to hunt for where he put it. He's tired, obviously, so isn't firing on full cylinders. "Also, you shouldn't make promises that I don't intend you to keep," Tony's voice says from the cabinet. The man has an unlimited supply of playful flirtations when that floodgate is allowed to open. He isn't drunk, though-- so he's not saying them by accident. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' A deeper smirk dances across Pepper's lips as she watches him dig for the wine. A single glass of wine she won't stop, and it even might compliment Kobe beef. "Get the red that you had, not the white, with this..." Pepper comments from the kitchen, the closest thing she's going to give to a blessing for drinking with this meal. She's then carrying out those heavy, still warm burgers on a tray, heading towards the table in the dining area so they might actually eat at an upright table like proper people for once. She did everything short of putting out romantic candles, really. "And you might not intend it, but I do. One of us has to have some sort of control, and that is not your...forte, my dear Tony." She teases him lightly, though she doesn't sound overly worried about his flirtations. There is a part of Pepper fairly convinced he's going to fall dead asleep the moment he hits his pillow, especially if he has a glass of wine. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' That's likely. Tony himself though is full of a different opinion. "I have exactly as much control as I want to have," Tony says, with a victorious raise of the red wine that he found. He likely would have had it anyway even if she had made a face at him, but with a blessing, that will make this much less awkward or uncomfortable. He sets it down but then gets a good look at hismelf. "Be right back." He disappears to the bathroom sink to wash his hands and forearms, in addition to quickly washing his face and neck, so he doesn't smell and look quite as much like something exploded in his face. He changes his shirt quickly, just into a comfortable graphic design tee, bright red, and comes back out. No shoes. It's then that he'll uncork the wine and hook two glasses between fingers of his other hand to bring over, letting the wine breathe first, but putting it all down. He takes in the little setup, and seems to kind of chew on what he wants to say, instead of just the first thing off his mind. "You really do take good care of me," Tony says, simply, observational. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' "Tony, you should..." Pepper starts as she sets the tray down, but then she's looking up and watching him already going into the bathroom. She didn't even have to ask him. A small smile blooms across her lips, watching that closed door and listening to the water running for just a few moments. It was painfully domestic, but it felt right, and she didn't have to ENTIRELY take care of him. That was nice too. When he comes back out, he might realize she's just been standing there, staring. Maybe she's simply that tired herself or, more likely, her mind is caught off in a few day dreams elsewhere. Pleasant ones, from the smile on her face. As she realizes she was staring, she looks abruptly down and takes off her own jacket, getting a bit more comfortable in just her slacks and the silk chemise she's wearing under that jacket. Her slender, elegant arms are now bare as are her delicate collarbones and throat. She steps over to her chair, letting him set down the wine. Her head tilts as she sees him hovering on the edge of words. What comes out was not what she expected. Her smile warms just a bit more, "...I... try. I wouldn't know what else to do with my life anyway. And you're worth taking care of... even when you forget it." 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "Well, don't sound /too/ grudging about it," Tony teases in mock injury. "If you're not here because you WANT to be, then there's a big elephant in the room that needs to be dragged out," Tony says, sitting down in one of the chairs and scooting in. He is fully capable of having an entirely proper meal: it's actually more automatic, since she set the tone for it, even if he's slightly underdressed for something fancy, the behavior is there: napkin to lap, good posture, and waiting for her. He has her to look at, besides, as she removes her jacket, but doesn't stare much. Somebody must have flipped the 'good behavior' toggle. Or it's slightly awkward, because it's one thing to say date, and another to be at this table in a sort-of date with Pepper. Because the ease and comfort level that it went to: he sensed it too... and that was a bit alarming. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' But it wasn't a date, right? Just a practical cooking of dinner when he was working long hours and this was easier than going out. Even if Pepper has ten million better things to do in her day than cook, and she decided to cook for him. Surely that meant nothing -- surely? She settles down into the chair catty-corner to him, not across, and grabs her own glass of wine to pour out the breathing bouquet. A little huff of frustration and amusement comes in reaction to his words, and a small shake of her head. "You KNOW I did not mean it that way, Tony. I do want to be here. I... I've had other offers, you know, and I've not blinked at them. This is my life. You..." She looks up to him, just realizing what she's about to say before quickly blinking away, "Stark Industries is my life." 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Tony considers that, watching her, eyes dark, emotions sort of held in check behind it. "Well. To getting what we want, then?" Tony suggests after procuring his own glass, one eyebrow tipping up, extending the glass across to coax her to join him in that toast. And winking at her, which no doubt rapidly diffuses him prodding her before with words. He caught her meaning then, and he catches in in her verbal stumble, too. "Which might be delicious burgers, right now. No pressure," Tony says, softening it, the smile moving from sly to a more gentle one. One of those looks that isn't coated in a heavy layer of bullshit, but instead, sharing a moment with her. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' The toast gets a slight arch of her brow, but Pepper raises her glass and clinks it lightly against his. "To... getting what we wish." She softens his statement just a bit more, but then, that's Pepper. She puts the soft edges to Tony's wild, bombastic style. She then smiles across her glass and takes a deep sip to back up the toast. A little laugh follows about the burgers, "I hope so, the beef was expensive enough. These cows better buy me dinner next time." She teases lightly, equally trying to diffuse the situation. But then she realizes the tone of his statement. No pressure. That warmth. It reminds her of other times -- a dance in a blue dress -- some more gentle moments he's had. A warmth comes to her cheeks that probably isn't yet wine and her smile softens. "I...do hope you like them. I'm not much of a cook. I watched some videos." 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' That moment passes like the briefest of little clouds, because she gave him something to chatter about: "That.... sounds like a scary disclaimer. Own it, Pep," Tony encourages, his attention dropped to the burger he now has placed in front of him. He adds his condiments, though, and digs in. He doesn't wolf it, though he does relax a little bit out of the edge of awkward, to eat and enjoy the burger. Because food. And Tony is a great fan of food. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' Dinner is shared in quiet contentment. While Pepper had thought only one glass of wine, it was a shame to leave the bottle half drank, so they both had another and finished up the burgers happily. Small chatter, a few notes about the contracts they are wrapping up, it was mostly business but with hints of familiarity. And the burgers WERE good, Pepper following that cooking video to a T. Picture perfect, as almost everything she does. When they are done, she stands, drowsily scooping up plates. "Alright. Bed. Now. I'm serious, I'll be right behind you... But you need to sleep in a bed for at least 8 hours and if I have to guard you to make sure you do that, I will." She sets the plates down in the sink and immediately starts walking to his bedroom. She is not joking. She has also not put her jacket back on. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "Leave that stuff, it can wait," Tony says, not letting her go into gathering the dishes or tidying up when she starts to scoop plates and things up. Except that he does it from sitting at the table, anyway, just leaning forward to put a hand on her forearm. When she gets up and actually heads to the bedroom he looks after her a long moment, and then stands to follow. The food added another layer of heavy exhaustion. "I'll be ...well, okay, guarding the inside of my eyelids," Tony admits, rubbing his face with a hand and a soft laugh. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' The expedience with which she prepares the bed might be nerves, or eagerness to get him in bed, or just Pepper trying to do everything as business like as possible. Clearly, this is business. Except she's now stepping out of her Prada heels and, while she hesitates a moment, she then looks over to his closet. "I...uh... am going to steal a teeshirt. I forgot to really pack anything..." She admits, "I'll be back in a minute. Just... get comfortable." Pepper coaches gently, motioning him to his own bed in some hovering, awkward touch. With that, she takes the first shirt she can find and ducks into the bathroom to finish her own nightly routine. She'll be fast, but it gives him (and her) a few minutes to compose. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Tony was half asleep. There was a business-as-usual tone to it before, and she's sent him to bed from various drunk locations so many times inthe past. But this is different: Now he is AWAKE. Why? Because she just informed him she's going to wear one of his shirts and will be back in a minute. After she vanishes, he looks down at her heels near the foot of his bed, and then across at the mirror over the way, looking at himself in it. Yeah, not looking his best: he's in lab-disaster mode and exhausted as he feels. Still awesome. He looks at the door she disappeared into, and moves to lay back on the bed, reclining into pillows, intending to wait. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' It's not too long. Guest tooth brush, face washing, the like. But within a few minutes, Pepper is stepping back out of his bathroom. Her strawberry hair is down around slightly freckled cheeks, and she's in a shirt that is clearly oversized on her, hanging to about her mid thigh. She tosses her slacks and stocking socks on the same pile as her chemise and bra, on a chair off to the side. Now she gives him a bit of a smile, looking over that nearly asleep frame. Something tells her she probably wouldn't even need to stay but she said she would. So, Pepper steps over to the bed, slipping into the slightly less empty side, even if Tony is used to sprawling. She doesn't take up a lot of space. "...Good night, Tony." She whispers, ever so softly, not wanting to rouse him too much. She leans over to press the lightest of kisses to his temple before she tucks down onto the pillow, curled away from him in some foolish attempt at 'privacy', but still she is here to stay. She'll drop off listening to his breath. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Despite his best effort to be as awesome as he surely IS, he's on several glasses of wine, no sleep, well fed, and with a... medical problem he is loathe to think is a factor, but it is. "Hmmm," Tony answers when she touches his forehead, moving one forearm up and across at her. The fingers extend to brush her side just under the arm adjacent to her bust, just a sort of disconnected reach. The fingers stretch out to touch, but then relax into a natural curl. That's it, all that actually happens, before Tony is falling off into sleep, as his breathing deepens naturally. 
}}

3556/A cat, a mutant, and an avenger walk into a bar.

2018-01-09T09:25:15Z

Malky:

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2018/01/04
|Location=Museum in Gotham
|Synopsis=Catwoman attempts to rob a museum, and meets Tony Stark and Rogue.
|Cast of Characters=10, 16, 22
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:10|Selina Kyle (10)}} has posed:'''     The museum is packed, that is, it's packed for a museum that isn't having a gala or some kind of charity event. No, not this night. This night the normals have been allowed back into the museum of Gotham and so, returning to the scene in order to complete the heist she has been planing for months!     Since hearing the Kolkata Cat has been given the rare chance to leave India, the cat burgalar can barely contain herself. This is one of those rare must haves that the woman entered the business for.     Selina Kyle, Not Catwoman, is in the musuem and is walking through the clean halls towards her target deep within the labyrinthine corridors of the building. She wears a calm black dress that hugs her curves but drapes off her hips smoothly with synthetic fur at her chest and back with a scarf around her neck and a small petticoat, staying warm and beautiful through the harsh Gotham winters. 

:'''{{#var:16|Rogue (16)}} has posed:''' Rogue had visited several other museums around Manhattan and otherwise, but this was the only one she'd gotten a definitive answer on in regards to them taking the item off of her hands. Rogue had been given a magic bracelet from a sorcerer supreme and since the two of them had had a falling out, she was trying to offload it. She had money, she didn't want to get paid, she just wanted it to go somewhere that would take care of it and not abuse it or lose it... so the first thing the southern teenager thought of, was museums. Rogue is walking through the expansive complex herself. She has her black wool coat on and a black wool knit hat, her brown and white hair is flowing gently about her face as she strides about, dark grey slacks on her legs and black leather boots... skateboard hanging against her hip. Rogue was looking around for the offices where she'd called ahead to meet with the museum officials, she had the necklace in her pocket and was fondling it with a gloved hand while striding about. Rogue accidently bumps right into Selina, while she was busy looking around. "Shit. I'm sorry." She reached her gloved hands out to try to help stablize the other woman to keep her from falling hopefully! 

:'''{{#var:10|Selina Kyle (10)}} has posed:'''     Selina's body lowers herself reflexively after being knocked off balance by the rock of a woman. She grabs with her own gloved hands onto Rogue's shoulder and biceps.     "Whoa." Selina yelps slightly before using and being helped by Rogue back onto her feet and once stable she pulls her hand back after a quick squeeze of the mutant's arm. "I should watch out for you, like a rock under there." The green eyed woman says with a smirk before brushing her blonde hair behind her ear and then continuing her walk deeper into the museum, Though she did catch some words about a new museum piece. Might be worth looking into.     Selina motions for Anna-Marie to walk with her. "You don't seem like the type to pawn items off on musuems. What's the story?" Then in a deep whisper. "Did he break your heart?" 

:'''{{#var:16|Rogue (16)}} has posed:''' The southern belle made sure to balance out Selina before she let her go again, then she raised her green gloved left hand up to adjust the woolen hat ontop of her head, she flashed a grin at the blonde and softly shook her head side to side. "I'm here t'pawn stuff off on the museum. They said they'd pay me, but I told them I didn't need it." Her shoulders shrugged inside of her coat. "Whateve'ah though, we'll see what happens." And a heavy sigh, cause awkward social interactions were awkward. Her own set of green eyes shot here to there, then back to the woman she'd collided with. "But yeah, I work out... so I'm kind've of a rock solid type." A lopsided grin was shown then. "Didn't mean t'hit ya though, hope you're not one'a those suein' types. Cause I ain't got any money!" A grin was shown again and Rogue would walk with her. "Hey, do you know where the offices are around here? This place is like, a maze or some such." 

:'''{{#var:10|Selina Kyle (10)}} has posed:'''     "I know this place like the back of my hand." Selina says quite honestly and with a smile. "I could stop you by the offices, but first you have to tell me your secret." The burglar says with a face, hinting that she knows something about the skunk haired woman already.     Her heels claping softly on the tile as she walks with Rogue at her side, Selina squits softly and leans closer to Rogue and lifts a hand to block her words from eavesdroppers. "How do you not have any money and yet are willing to /give/ a museum something you own?" The thief asks as they approach closer and closer towards her own goal. The Cat statue. 

:'''{{#var:16|Rogue (16)}} has posed:''' Rogue quietly laughed at the woman that was at least 5 or so years older than her. "Nah. I mean... I got money... Just not enough for someone t'bother suein' me for, ya know? Like enough to eat for a week, then I gotta start lookin' for more." She showed a little grin then and there. "Got no other secrets than that. I've got a new job on the horizon... but I'm not even sure if its a payin' gig. Information is kinda hard t'come by yet, but lets keep our fingers crossed, right?" She smiled faintly while they walked. "Do you work here?" She'd ask Selina next. "Ya got that... Museum air about ya.... Not that you look like an old relic or anything. Far from it! You're smokin' hot. But ya know, the professionalism and classiness thing ya got goin' on. Neve'ah been my forte... that stuff." Rogue showed another soft smile and let her eyes do some more wandering around the pretty building and its fancy contents. 

:'''{{#var:10|Selina Kyle (10)}} has posed:'''     With a firm jaw, Selina looks back to Rogue, and her hand goes up to twist at the diamond stud in her ear lobe idly with a smile growing on her lips as she walks and comes up to the pièce de résistance. Selina's eyes widen as she lowers her eyes upon the Kolkata statue once more.     "Sorry sweetie, but I'm going to stay and admire the piece for a while. The offices are over to the left, and then a right. It'll be in the dark hallways. I'll catch up if you get lost. I've been looking forward to this exhibit for years!" She says, almost sounding giddy over the sight. 

:'''{{#var:16|Rogue (16)}} has posed:''' Rogue looked at the exhibit in-question and then back to the woman who'd gotten rather mesmerized at it to the point she'd missed her questions and seemingly everything she'd said to her. A little grin showed and a slight nod of her head. So she's a crazy person? For art or... whatever that thing was. "Hey, no problem." Rogue told her, starting to walk in the indicated direction slowly. "Dark hallways, my hot southern body... I'm sure that'll go over splendidly." She was just joking around though, she wasn't afraid of any dark hallways. Her throat was cleared, she gave another look to the Cat Statue exhibit and then started to turn around to go do her business with the museum staff. "Have fun!" Rogue told the woman, putting her hands back into her pockets and stepping around some other museum-goers who were walking past her. "Scuse me." Rogue muttered at them on her way to turn over the magic fire bracelet. 

:'''{{#var:10|Selina Kyle (10)}} has posed:'''     Selina watches Rogue leave the exhibit's room with those sly practiced eyes of hers. Making sure to turn her head back when the girl looks back at her. The blonde reaches underneath her petticoat and palms one of the devices for tonight. With a quick press of her thumb, the lights in the room flicker on and off rapidly, almost like a strobe light before they all pop and go out for good.     One of the other patrons in the museum room screams, thankfully, Selina thinks to herself as she uses the claws hidden within her gloves and carves herself a hole into the glass and with a second device she places it under the statue before picking it up and instantly a plastic copy mold grows out of the disk she placed down. Selina watches at the decoy takes the place of the original and the original finds a home under the woman's petticoat.     Nothing like a robbery in her civilian clothes to boost someone's confidence. 

:'''{{#var:16|Rogue (16)}} has posed:''' One thing about lights going off in public places is that it always seems to make people immediately panic, even make some people scream in fright. Whether or not anything else was even going on, someone(s) always screamed. So Rogue was out of that area of the museum but the lights went from ambient dim to suddenly off and it made the southern girl just stop dead in her booted tracks, her eyes go left to right, right to left and then she stepped out of the hallway's center and put her back up against the wall... just in case, take a low-profile position and watch what was going on around her as best she could. Rogue always had a flashlight on her though, she had lots of stuff in the pockets of her pea-coat styled jacket, but the mini LED flashlight was one of her favorites. She pulled it out of the pocket, but refrained from flipping it on yet... "Fan... tastic." Rogue muttered, her pink lips brushing against one another. "Welcome t'Gotham..." 

:'''{{#var:10|Selina Kyle (10)}} has posed:'''     Selina stands up, and tugs at the lapells of her petticoat, making sure it's snug around her shoulders, knowing full well that the statue is between her blades and is secure as well as not even showing a lump in her jacket. Custom stitching and pockets. The disk of glass is rolled beneath the exhibit, so it might take some time before anyone even notices the hole in the glass.     Selina stands back up on her heels and starts to walk down the hall in the direction she sent Rogue when people have been gun to gather themselves and phones are pulled from pockets to use as flashlights, and Selina does the same.     Coming upon Rogue with the flashlight on her own phone aimed at Rogue, Selina's face is a well practiced concerned and worried look. "You okay?" Asks the crook. 

:'''{{#var:16|Rogue (16)}} has posed:''' There were some emergency lights in the hallway's ceiling along the trim that were also glowing a dim yellow which provided a haze of light to the area, but when Selina showed up with her phone, Rogue just eyed the blonde woman (whom she hadn't gotten a name for as of yet). Rogue walked over to fall in-line with the blonde's walking stride. "What the hell is goin' on?" Rogue asked, sounding just as confused as all the other people that were in the building. There were security measures falling into place as well. Rogue's LED flashlight came on and it was x10 brighter than any phone lights. The beam from it was shined onto the floor and it bounced off the gleaming polished marble to bounce off the walls and any glass around them. "Did the power go out t'the whole building?" Rogue asked, assuming Selina had any answers! Hey, she's just a teenager, about to turn just 19 in a few weeks! 

:'''{{#var:10|Selina Kyle (10)}} has posed:'''     "I'm not sure, but it looks like it." The woman says softly in reply to Rogue's question, moving slowly towards the woman, and wrapping both of her gloved hands aroung Rogue's arm and staying close to the infinitely strongger woman. "I know the way out, but something doesn't smell right." The socialite says with that practiced worried tone in her voice. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "I absolutely did /not/ shut the power off to prove my point," Tony Stark announces, as if amused by the very idea. "That does sound like me though," he admits. He has quite a distinctive and projecting voice, and it carries pretty well down hallways. There's some softer discussion (no doubt from someone that isn't Tony). He's in one of the offices, and comes out, with ... a parade of people, all of them with lights. Four are part of Tony's entourage, the others museum officials, including a chief of security type that bustles out, red-faced with embarrassment. It would be terrible for a security problem to occur, let alone while they have Stark on top of them discussing tech security upgrades. 

:'''{{#var:16|Rogue (16)}} has posed:''' Rogue was strong and just about anyone with normal human strength who interacted with her could feel. She could tear a person apart with her bare hands, if she so wanted to... So when grabbed onto, she'd feel like grabbing onto a truck for balance and safety. A faint sile shwoed on her lips as people rushed past them. "I just wanted t'get this damn braclet outta my possession before I end up usin' it and causin' some kind of city wide blcok fire." That would be a weird statement for anyone to hear! What kind of bracelet was she even talking about!? "Holy shit." Rogue suddenly stopped dead in her tracks and her light went over to Tony Stark and his entourage. "Thats what his face!" Rogue said to Selina in a loud whisper. "Elon Musk!" She added in a louder whisper! Yeah... Rogue was in pre-Avenger training status, its true, but she'd never met Tony and she'd never really paid a lot of attention to the news about super heroes or what they were doing, it wasn't her kind of entertainment. 

:'''{{#var:10|Selina Kyle (10)}} has posed:'''     Selina Kyle, socialite, thief extraordinaire, and occasional hero herself, clings to Rogue's arm for safety as she met the girl earlier in the night and is now using her as covoer to escape from the crime scene as though she were a damsel in distress.     She gasps at the sight of Tony Stark's entourage and the man himself. Quickly she covers Rogue's mistake and whispers close to the woman's ear. "That's Tony Stark." But the girl's mention of the bracelet and fires does cause Selina's eyebrow to lift up on her smooth forehead.     "You can cause fires with your bracelet? Are you one of those tech-heroines too, cause that's pretty cool." Then she adds, "I'll be happy to take the bracelet off your hands, and I'll even pay you a few months food for it." Selina winks her green eye before they approach Tony and she holds her tongue for now, not sure how to address Tony Stark while she's robbing the museum. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "Tell you what, borrow the scanners at the entrance today, try them out, they should flag anything that was earlier in inventory here... et cetera," Tony says, generously, to the museum executive to his left, a dismayed looking older woman in a brown pantsuit. She looks like most people do after dealing with Tony for over an hour: a confused exhaustion. Tony's distracted, fiddling with a mobile device in his hand, not paying attention to the museum people in particular. He does take in the women though, and gives Selina Kyle a once-over and charismatic smile. Rogue gets a slightly more puzzled glance from the billionaire. "You're too kind," the woman decides stiffly, although it's hard to tell if Tony even hears her: but she's hardly going to buck against one of their major philanthropist funding sources. "Get those to the security front to check people, and for chriss'sake, get on the PA with a message of calm, I don't need this," she tells her security chief, who snares a shiny black case from one of Tony's entourage members and hurries off down the hallway. "We've got time before the Westmoore meeting. I'm thinking ...Thai," Tony informs the assistant on his right. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' (The puzzled look is actually probably just Rogue shining her super-bright light in Tony's eyes, really...) 

:'''{{#var:16|Rogue (16)}} has posed:''' Rogue shot a glance over at Selina when the offer of money was made for the bracelet, and the revelation that this was Tony Stark. "Whats the difference?" She asked, in regards to him being Elon or Tony. "Oh, wait, shit. The Iron Man one, right?" Rogue shook her head slightly then. "Oh, and uh... yeah, the bracelet has some magic in it. Not tech. Its... its dangerous. Not sure I should sell it t'anyone I don't know won't take care of it." Strange would be PISSED at her for that, she knew it. Even if they were already not speaking. When Tony got near to them, Rogue just stood all confident and took it all in stride. "Hey." She said at him when a chance appeared. "I'm... supposed t'be enterin the Avengers trainin' program. I've met with Clint Barton?" She extended her right gloved hand at Tony. "Name's Rogue?" She said it like a question, wondering if the man had even heard of her being close to the Avengers entry process. Probably not. Rogue did glance back over at Selina, though. "I don't know who this is, she's nice enough though." She said with a sly grin. So much for a proper introduction! 

:'''{{#var:10|Selina Kyle (10)}} has posed:'''     "I'm Selina. Selina Kyle." The green eyed woman says with a smile to Tony and then to Rogue before she has her phone start buzzing in her hand. "Oh, dear." The woman says with a frown as she steps away from Rogue's arm and covers the mouth piece. "I'll be outside in a minute, this is incredibly important." The thief whispers and slips off towards the nearest bathroom.     Thank goodness someone called, she needed a way to get away from the two hero types in a pinch before the security guards catch her with the piece and her life as Selina Kyle goes down the toilet. No, the thief will be switching into her costume in the bathroom and stuffing her civilian clothes into the top of a light fixture. She'll be able to get to them later. That wont be a problem.     With her costume on tight and zipped up all the way, the thief finds her way into the ventilation shaft and crawls her way up onto the roof. Sorry Rogue and Tony, Selina is going to come up with an excuse to tell the two later on, right now, Catwoman is focused on getting the statue back home. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "Call me Tony; 'Hey' is my father," Tony greets Rogue, nonchalant. "Barton's recruit, sure," Tony says, amiable, to Rogue as she introduces herself, though it is probably hard to decipher if he knows or knew who on earth she actually is. Two of the men at his back get close and front, clearly bodyguards, by their scowls. "Rogue? Hopefully you're not asking me, names aren't my strong suit," Tony automatically teases as Rogue asks him the question about her own name. Selina gets the smile directed to her also, although she's leaving it seems, "And disappearing mystery blonde in black." He's got it, sure. He did watch Selina leave before reverting attention fully onto Rogue. "You... Punch. Or fly. Or both?" Tony guesses, interested, and gesturing idly for her to come along with his posse as he heads out of the building. He doesn't take the front entrance, he's using a different access, but one of the assistants clearly knows the way, bustling forward to open doors. 

:'''{{#var:16|Rogue (16)}} has posed:''' Rogue did a double-take on Selina bailing on her and the famous guy... that was odd. Something was off about the blonde and it was tickling the back of Rogue's mind, but stared at for a second longer before she put her own green eyes back onto Tony and gave him a big winning smile. "Why, Miste'ah Stark. Punchin' and Flyin' is only the very tip'a what I bring t'the party." She said in a southern dipped voice that was filled with flirtatious trouble from the teenager. "Carol Danvers is on the team too, right? She'n I go way back... Ironed out all the problems though, so don't fret on the ominous undertones'a that." Another grin was lingered on for a moment. The museum was still in dark-mode, but Rogue would walk with him and his posse. "I could get used t'havin' a buncha folks followin' me around listenin' t'everything I say like this." She'd comment, glancing back over at the entourage before looking back at Tony and then toward where they were headed. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "Full suite of power and trouble? I consider myself warned," Tony laughs as Rogue describes herself. "Normally I'd love a demo, but /I/.... am starving to death," Tony despairs, as they head outside, gesturing up and around at the open night sky. It's better lit outside in the loading area than it is inside, at this point. There's an expensive car there, that one of the bodyguards heads over to, while Tony chats with Rogue. He pauses, having gestured up at the roof, but ends up looking at his raised watch and the glowing time on it, not the small movement on the roof, for the moment. 

:'''{{#var:16|Rogue (16)}} has posed:''' Rogue walked with him at his side, feeling odd to be with the celebrity that she called the wrong name only moments ago. "Wish I could recommend some good places, but this is Gotham... I'm pretty sure they're all shitty." Rogue said with another littler grin toward the man. "The italian food is probably okay, but ya might get shaken down by the mob." Some more good natured Gotham teasing is given then. The young teen's eyes went to the car and she whistled with an impressed little sound. "Nice. But then again, I didn't peg ya for the Dodge Stratus type." Rogue nodded and pointed down the street to where her car was parked at a meter. It was a shockingly expensive looking dark green Bentley. "Thats mine." She said all proud of herself, even though it was a gift from a 'friend' who she didn't talk to anymore... she left that part out though. 

:'''{{#var:10|Selina Kyle (10)}} has posed:'''     From several stories up the almost inaudible sound of a crack can be heard, and then from on top of the musuem a single black shadow swings out and across the gap of the alley. Followed by the more muffled sound of gravel being shifted and moved under Catwomans tumble to ease her landing onto the lower roof. She looks over the side down out of curiosity and then a smile and a blown kiss down to the musuem, but unknowingly down towards Stark and Rogue.     The alarms start to sound and whirr silently at first but then the whole system flairs, warning the public to the theft of a piece, and that sound, indicates to Selina that she needs to get on the way out of the area. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "Undercover," Tony smirks, with an angle of hand across his eyes as if shielding from news reporters. It's ... ridiculous, of course, since with the entourage? Pretty apparent exactly who he is. Then again, when inside the car, probably works well enough to not attract unwanted attention during travel in Gotham. "Sir, let's get you in the car," the security man #2 says abruptly, after gazing around. Tony hires professionals, of course, and it seems like one felt or saw something amiss, and tips Tony off to looking at the roof. Annnnd then there's the alarm. "You did say 'fly', right?" Tony asks Rogue, deadpan. And nods up at the roof the shadow slid to. "Super vision and speed too?" he asks. His assistants quickly start to get into the car, the other bodyguard gets really nervous, and moves somewhat in front of Tony as if expecting a sniper. 

:'''{{#var:16|Rogue (16)}} has posed:''' Rogue had no idea Selina was up on the roof, how could she? She looked back when the alarms went off though and saw security coming out to try to get people who'd just left... cause who knows who'd be walking out with stolen items, they were waving people back in to be checked. The southern teen's eyes went back to Tony. "Some speed, not like... ya know... those people who disappear cause they're damn fast. No enhanced vision though, sadly... Strength, flight, almost invulnerable and..." Rogue cleared her throat, watching Tony get put into his car by his security people. She glanced at said people, then back down at Tony. "I suck people's soul's outta their bodies, just by touchin' them with even a slive'ah of my skin on theirs." She said this power with a lot less enthusiasm and a lot more embarrassment, it wasn't one she was proud of, afteral. "I'm a mutant." She told him then, like it was something to be afraid of sharing. Rogue glanced back again, she figured security wasn't going to search Tony, but they were probably going to come for her soon. 

:'''{{#var:10|Selina Kyle (10)}} has posed:'''     The security guards step up towards Rogue and Tony and his group, with the alarms still sounding their annoying shriek. Over the radios on the men's hips, the dispatch within the museum call over the radio. "The roof and vent system check points were triggered. It's the Catwoman! She's getting away." On top of the roof across the alley, a certain black clad woman is hot footing it across the gravel topped roof, but quickly she jumps mid stride up to the lip of the building to reduce the number of clues she's leaving behind. She already made one mistake and set off an alarm. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' ".....Weeeeell, I judge less on whether or not somebody is a /mutant,/ and more on if, say, they want to chase after a possible thief that just jumped over onto that roof-- or if they want to stay and chat with some ---albeit very awesome--- rich guy they just met," Tony says. Those people that say Tony can be kind of obnoxious? Seems like they might be right. Then again, this is clearly Mr. Musk, so Musk can get the bad reputation here. "That's why the question about flying," Tony adds. "...Also I'm nosy." A shrug. And then to the guards: "You have a woman named 'Catwoman' as a criminal? There are so many things I could say about that right now." 

:'''{{#var:16|Rogue (16)}} has posed:''' Rogue looked around at the security threat alert and a reveal of a thief. She then regarded Tony's dry wit and it made her smirk a bit before she looked skyward. "Well... shit. I hate flyin' in the winter." She muttered before reaching up to pull her wool hat off the top of her head. A second later and everyone around Tony's car where he and Rogue had been chatting where suddenly washed over by a wave of air spreading outward in Rogue's wake. The mutant girl shot into the sky like a bullet out of a gun, arched high in the air and then came to a sliding halt! Rogue's green eyes started to scan around with this high-up bird's eye view... her hair flowing around her head and arms... When her eyes fell upon the fleeing Catwoman, a slow headshake was given. "Gotta give ya credit, slim." She muttered under her breath. "Not sure I could run in shoes like that..." Rogue shot forward again and would come to land right down and in front of where Catwoman was fleeing to. "Hi." The southern belle simplistic said to her. "Where ya goin', sugahbuns?" 

:'''{{#var:10|Selina Kyle (10)}} has posed:'''     Selina skitters to a halt at the floating woman before her. OH SHIT. The burglar's mouth drops in surprise as she looks at the girl she was clinging to earlier for safety now floats in the air before her... or stands ominously before the crook.     "You can fly, why would you ever run?" Selina says coyly before standing up straight and walking closer towards Rogue, her heels not as stable as her normal shoes, but stable enough a platform for her to walk and flee in.     "Sugahbuns..." Catwoman repeats and then brushes her hand agaisnt her hip hugging costume. "I appreciate the compliment, but this cat really must be getting back to her home." Selina remarks, waiting to hear Rogue's response, but diving off the side of the building before the southerner can respond. Hoping to make a quick get away. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "....SIR?" one of Tony's aides asks, alarmed, about the sudden flight and blast of air. Soul-sucking mutants and stuff. The other aide looks bored: she's met Thor, this is nothing. Tony looks up and squints, brushing some snow off his suit briefly. "Yeah, I'm sure that's fine," Tony observes idly of the whole situation. He observes a bit longer, and then points at the aide near him. "Thai," Tony reminds them all. He can follow up on the Rogue thing later and get the play-by-play then. 

:'''{{#var:16|Rogue (16)}} has posed:''' "Cause its cold outside, yo." Rogue replied to the Catwoman and then reached her green gloved hands up to tug her black wool peacoat closed over her torso more. "Don't want mah nips showin', ya know? Kinda like how you've got pretty much everythin' on display in that getup." And the mutant girl's eyes went up and down Selina's form pretty quickly then shot back to her compartively equally green pupils. "I don't care if ya go home. I just need ya t'hand me whatever it is that ya pinched from the museum. See, my new boss is down there and he's gonna be super impressed if I return the stolen... whatever." Which wasn't true, Tony probably wouldn't care either way! When Selina took off, Rogue just rolled her eyes in frustration and sighed heavily. "God." AND OFF AGAIN! The southern belle flew over the edge and down toward where Selina was, this time though... she moved to grab the cat by her waist and take hold of her, hoping to catch her and keep her locked-in-place by her nearly unbreakable grasp! 

:'''{{#var:10|Selina Kyle (10)}} has posed:'''     Selina was pulling out her whip when the girl is suddenly snatched out of the air and she gasps and even yelps as her suit stretches even tighter, pulling at her ribs and waist with a grunt and a gasp of air. "What tha..." She says with a frown before struggling under Rogue's hand to look up at the woman and suddenly realizes she's way out classed. At least in this moment.     "Here! Take it! Just let me go!" The thief requests as she reaches into her backpack to grab a second disk from her bag and with her hand still obscured she activates it, making yet another decoy of the statue. "Let me go ... Avenger..." 

:'''{{#var:16|Rogue (16)}} has posed:''' When the statue was handed over is when Rogue let the woman go finally. "Relax, lady." Rogue said at her. "I don't wanna grab any more than I gotta t'get this back." She'd take the statue and hold onto it, look down at it between her hands and then exhale heavily. Rogue's eyes lifted back up and she tipped her chin at the woman. "Give me the whole damn bag. I don' tknow what all ya took... And I'm not that stupid. I lived on the streets, I know how this shit goes." Rogue gently tossed the statue up and down in the air, catching it in the palm of her left gloved hand. She observed Catwoman's outfit a little closer. "Nice cat ears though. I bet that makes the guys go crazy over ya when they catch ya like this?" Rogue gave a little grin and a light shake of her head. "What'd ya steal this shit for anyway?" 

:'''{{#var:10|Selina Kyle (10)}} has posed:'''     "I steal because of the thrill." Catwoman responds, her eyes squinting harshly at the rather ... charged way Rogue has been looking at her and her suit, and the comments, but decides against saying something she might regret. The girl has her by the scruff of the neck. Pretty much.     "Fine. Take the whole bag." Selina says, shrugging it off carefully in order to give it up to Rogue. "There. Everything I took. Now please put me back on the roof?" 

:'''{{#var:16|Rogue (16)}} has posed:''' Rogue would take the bag, she'd look inside it and see a copy of the same statue, but she just figured there were two of them. "Alright." She put the other one into said bag and then shook her head at the older woman. "Why not just go sky divin' if all you're after ia thrill?" She asked, then motioned Catwoman over to her with a wiggle of her gloved fingers. "All board, Flight Rogue One is about to take off." When Catwoman returned to her, she'd wrap her free arm around the woman's waist and then take to the skies again. "Just don't brush your skin against mine. I'm a mutant, and my mutation is killin' people instantly when they do that." Might be an overstatement a bit, but it usually scared people enough to make them listen to her. Once back up on the roof, she'd set her down carefully. "Alright... I bette'ah get this shit back to the Museum... Hopefully they don't try'n arrest my ass for it." She muttered that last part. 

:'''{{#var:10|Selina Kyle (10)}} has posed:'''     "You're a strange hero..." Selina responds to Rogue with a hidden eyebrow raised beneath her mask towards Rogue then a lift of her hand in an extremely half hearted salute, Catwoman departs and starts to run away from the museum again, down one expensive backpack and yet up with one near priceless statue hidden somewhere no one will find it between now and when she can come and retrieve it later. 

:'''{{#var:16|Rogue (16)}} has posed:''' Rogue shook her head back at the woman after she said that and she started to walk past her on the roof back toward the edge that faced the museum. "I'm not a hero. Not yet anyway." She muttered. Rogue had done thieving too, and this woman hadn't hurt anyone, she'd just pilfered a set of statues, so who really cared if she was sent to jail just to cost tax payers money. "Stay sexy, Catlady." Rogue told her when she heard the other start to dash off. And a moment later, Rogue's leather booted foot touched down onto the edge of the roof, followed by the other... and then she free-fell down to the street again before curving her way forward and coming to a landing near to where all the ruckuss was down on ground-level. She walked to the nearest officer on-duty and shoved the bag at him. 
}}

3459/After Midnight...

2018-01-09T09:23:47Z

Malky: Edited out some ooc lines

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2017/12/23
|Location=Stark Tower, New York City
|Synopsis=Summary needed
|Cast of Characters=83, 22
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' It's around midnight. Pepper did her very, very best to push through the party late last night, get up for work in the morning, do enough through the day to maintain, and then come back to partying again. But tonight she's feeling her age and exhaustion. She can only run on 4 hours sleep so long. So, she gave her apologies and had full plans on going up to bed in the guest room. She made it to the couch, and that's it. Pepper is now dead sleep, awkwardly slumped back on his couch in the living room. Tonight, she's in champange gold dress which is a recreation of the famous Dior 'Junon' dress, shimmering with bits of diamond and other beads on the edge of each elegant sweep of fabric. It makes her waist look quite tiny in the flowing, layered fabric and her shoulders are completely bare. Which means she's slightly shivering on the couch, but too asleep to wake up. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Tony has no idea she's there. Because he didn't ask or think about it. He's had some drinks, of course. He maintained the party somehow, but now, he's stripping off his tuxedo coat as he arrives in the room, flipping the lights on, and....is berating JARVIS loudly. "IN JEANS," Tony finishes in annoyance, lifting his hands to pull at his tie with an exhausted grump and laugh. He's in a dark blue suit this night, with ivory shirt, tie. He gets through some of the shiny ivory necktie before ... becoming aware of Pepper. And pauses where he is, watching her. Did he wake her? Is she actually sprawled on the couch? Tony rushes over suddenly, and checks her to be sure she's not, well, dead, alarm and worry coming in first before anything else. "Pep? Pepper?" 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' Certainly not dead, simply exhausted. He didn't wake her initially, the week and the holiday season simply having gotten the best of her along with one too many glasses of champagne. But as he kneels closer and checks her over, that's enough to make her stir, mascara'ed eyelashes fluttering back open as she stirs to the side, giving the small moan that is either a headache or exhaustion -- probably both, "Huh? Oh...I...I'm here...I'm sorry...I'm fine... I'm here... is there an emergency?" Immediately, her mind is jumping to putting out fires. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Tony has a hand on her neck for her pulse (it's logical, and he's drunk). "False alarm. You're alive. Good going," Tony approves of her. He's bent over her, pretty close. And the drinking is blatantly obvious, but he's not falling-over drunk, either. "If you're going to vomit, I'll get Dum-E to bring a bucket," Tony points out, and looks around. Oh. Wrong room. Hmmmm. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' She certainly has a pulse. And a very lovely neck, to be fair. All bare, sweeping into decollatage, her skin achingly soft in a way that is almost not fair this cold time of the year. Pepper blinks in a touch of confusion as she realizes what he is doing, but then she's just drowsy enough to be sort of touched by it, not weirded out. Her hand comes up to wrap over his one moment. "...I'm fine. Just... fine. And I'm not going to vomit. Just... tired. Meant to make it to the guest bed. I...guess I didn't quite get there." 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "I... am /also/. ... not going to vomit," Tony says, dangerously leaning over her. He looks down into her cleavage, though his expression may be mixed between the options that he might be looking THROUGH her into the place where no vomiting is, or looking down her dress. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' "...I...know that look. That's the you're not going to vomit but you might vomit look. Dammit, Tony..." Virginia sighs, quickly shifting away from him and, if his hands let her escape, off the couch to dash for the trash pale beneath the wet bar. That should be big enough, just in case. She's still moving drowsily and stiff, she's sore from two days of hostessing and working, but somehow that dress makes it look like she's half flutter floating. Still elegant, even this exhausted. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "Nope, this is the saving-you-from-dead look," Tony replies, with a finger pointing directly to his own face, as if it needed emphasis. He rolls to one side and sits on the couch. Technically, he sits kind of on her leg and some of the dress. "How do you move in this?" Tony asks, trying to manage the huge fluff of white massive fabric, which will probably end up with some awkward movement of it up around her waist as he sees if he can unearth her in it. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' Well, she's trapped now. She should be annoyed. She's not. Pepper gives a little laugh as she TRIES to get up and realizes that he's half pinned her leg and dress. She just looks back to him with a tired little smirk, half drowning in the fluttery puffs of her designer gown. "You just...move. It's not so hard. One foot in front of another. And be careful what you're looking for down there -- I'm not wearing THAT many layers." If he's lucky, he might actually find a touch of silk stockinged thigh. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Tony Stark is many things. Incidentally, lucky IS one of them. He finds the thigh, and autopilot comes in. Meaning, he rolls his wrist and plays his fingers over the silk stocking fabric in a slow little swirl. But that's all, because, well. Talking, and Tony is happy to talk right now, in this semi-drunk manner: "What, should I expect pantaloons, granny panties?" Tony asks, happy to play along... in his way. "Hey, it IS my couch; you put your bloomers here, not me---" 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' "Tony." Oh no, that's the he's-in-trouble voice. Pepper's palm, full WELL aware of where his dress is drowning in that fabric, finds his wrist and firmly clamps down, stopping him from exploring any further. She stares at him hard for a few heartbeats, a smirk pulling at her lips. "...It is your couch, and I was hoping I might be able to use the guest room, but considering we are NOT dating... you don't get to find out any more of what is beneath there. Understood?" ANd yet, she's still not removed her hand either, to tug his hand away. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Oops, the in-trouble voice. He looks up without raising his head, to look at her face. And good-boys it: he draws his hand back. "It was just a question. Hypothetical. Entirely." He coughs, lips pursed just a bit as if managing to suck on more words instead of saying them, and then scratches his cheek and neck, over the 5'oclock shadow that's built up during the long party. "Are they plaid?" 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' The strawberry blonde rolls her eyes and huffs for just a moment, as he dares continue to push his luck. Then she pushes herself up to her feet, half dumping him back onto the couch since he had been half sitting on her. Still, when Pepper Potts is determined to get something, she gets it. And right now she was determined to stand up. "Tony Stark, you are drunk. And, unlike you, I have to show up to work in the morning, so I am going to sleep. Maybe, if you really wanted the answers to that, you would ask me out on a date some time. But since you haven't, I'm going to bed." And those words just spilled out, evidence that she's probably more tipsy than she'd care to admit. But it's done now, and then she's abruptly turning on the ball of her foot and stalking off to the guest bedroom in a wave of white fabric and champange jewels. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "Yeah. Plaid," Tony Stark decides after she leaves, and sprawls out comfortably on the couch, eyes closing, spent. 
}}

3599/Mouse in the House

2018-01-09T09:22:37Z

Malky: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2018/01/08 |Location=Avengers Mansion Game room |Synopsis=Tony welcomes Rogue to the Avengers Mansion. Sort of. |Cast of Characters=16, 22 |pretty=..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2018/01/08
|Location=Avengers Mansion Game room
|Synopsis=Tony welcomes Rogue to the Avengers Mansion. Sort of.
|Cast of Characters=16, 22
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:16|Rogue (16)}} has posed:''' Rogue had come to enjoy this room in the house most, it felt like it matched her age demographic and as though people would be less surprised by her being here than anywhere else. Though she had wandered every part of the masnion that she was allowed to the first day she'd been here (yesterday). As of right now, Rogue's black wool coat was laying over one of the pool tables and her phone / glass of orange juice were sitting next to it on the green felt top... She, however, wasn't anywhere to be visually seen... but there were indications of something odd going on. In the form of all the arcade machines being pushed away from the walls and moved in a strange haphazard pattern around on the floor. There were rustling noises behind them, as if someone was behind them moving around too. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Tony Stark strolls into the game room, taking in the changes with a curious sweep of eyes. But, since the path to the wet bar is not modified or blocked, he has no objection, really. There is a floating little mechanical drone with him, zipping through the air at about shoulder height. It's the size of approximately a soccer ball, with four little propelling paddles and a squashed 'face' like a pug, holograms emitting from the face, which currently show some very boring scheduling of blocks of times of meetings. Tony approaches the wet bar, with one raised eyebrow towards the odd sounds from the machines, but will take his time mixing a drink for himself. The Avenger is dressed very simply today, dressed way down from what most people would be used to, as he's in one of his 'build' sets of attire: simple jeans, boots, long sleeve t-shirt under a faded red tee. Most notably, the arc reactor shines through, which isn't something he does in any public setting without armor. "Is this about erasing Clint's high scores? If so, I'm all for it. If it's a Feng shui, I have some questions on your definition of symmetry," Tony's amused voice lofts over to whoever is behind the machines. 

:'''{{#var:16|Rogue (16)}} has posed:''' When Tony's voice spoke out, the rustling behind the misplaced machines stopped and then there was a second of silence before a female's voice spoke up. "Huh?" She said. "Oh, no no. Hah. Thats funny." She idly said, sounding mildly distracted and no small amount of muffled from being behind the gaming cabinets. "Nah, nah.... Ah ha!" A second later and there'd be more rustling and then up from behind the Miss Pac-Man machine, the southern belle would appear. She jumped to her feet and came out from around the edge of the machine, lifting her gloved hands (they're cupped together). On her head she wears a black wool hat her white and brown hair is pulled down around her youthful face and she has dark eyeliner around her pale green eyes and light pink glossy lipstick on. A green tanktop and a sheer black longsleeve baggy shirt overtop of that to keep her skin from being dangerously exposed. Rogue holds her gloved hands out toward him, her expression is one of pure elated excitement. "Check it." She says to the bilionaire playboy philanthropist... Rogue's gloves part and she's holding a little black and white mouse. "I'm gonna call him Mini-Thor." She says then. The tiny mouse peers out from between the gloves, nose bouning around as it sniffs at the air. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "New codename aquired, 'Mousetrap.' Well done," Tony says, with a raise of glass towards her in 'praise', amused and possibly really serious. He doesn't mind at all, really, and there's zero annoyance... but he also doesn't have much interest in the mouse specifically, either. He's not as excited as she. "Mini-Thor, though?" he asks with a sigh, stretching his back a little and leaning against the wetbar, casual. "He'll either be honored, or demand what he has to do with an 'insignificant mouse.' I'd have a compliment at the ready," Tony suggests. The robot drone near him pivots some, as if concerned about being totally ignored. The robot's bound to have had a series of bad days, if it needs that. 

:'''{{#var:16|Rogue (16)}} has posed:''' Rogue stepped around the arcade machine and walked back toward the kitchen where she picked up a box that had a bunch of chocolates in it from the holidays. She dumped them onto the counter and just listened to Tony while grinning and preparing the box for her new mouse friend. "There are worse codenames out there." She quietly commented, holding the mouse in her left hand gently while she laid down some napkins in the box and then put a few pretzels in it before she put the mouse himself into the thing. "And don't you worry about Thor." She glanced over at Tony. "I met his brother this past summe'ah and I had no issues putting the charm on him. I've come t'realize that Asgardians and me see eye't'eye on a lotta inter-personal communication methods." She flashed a grin at the older man and glanced at the glowing light on his chest. She didn't know a lot about Tony, or Iron Man, as super-hero stuff wasn't really her 'thing'. She didn't want to comment on it though, cause she thought it'd be rude. Rogue's eyes go back to her new little mouse house. "Mousegardian is gonna need t'find a nice new home. Oh, and I threw a buncha pieces'a cheese down on the floor. Don't worry. I'll sweep'em up." 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "You're the new Asgardian handler? Welcome. Honestly," Tony says, with a grand, but perhaps only slightly overblown, relief. Though it is probably no shock that Tony's dry, sharp humor may not always go over well with everybody. "Sweep? Yeah, fine. You're talking to one of the last people that's going to call you on making messes," Tony says with a wink, walking over to look at the poor chocolates dumped on the counter, but does indeed appear to be purusing for snacks, now that he's seen some. The man appreciates a good nibble. "Met many of us yet?" Tony asks, gesturing around. "Everybody seems to be out still, from the holidays." 

:'''{{#var:16|Rogue (16)}} has posed:''' Rogue watched Mini-Thor nibble on the pretzels before she looked up at Tony with a grin at his spoken words about handling Asgardians and cleaning. "Noted." She quietly replied to him before she turned and walked over to the pool table to get her orange juice. She picked the glass up and walked back toward where Tony was while he spoke of the others. After a sip of orange juice (and definitely not anything else she found in the cabinets, she's only nearly-19! Right!?). "Glad those things are over. They're a hassle'n a'half." She commented. Rogue's eyes went to his fancy drone assistant bot. "Is that thing really neacessary?" She asked him then. "I mean, it almost looks like something assigned t'ya t'make sure you're following your daily chores. You're not that... like, that forgetful are ya?" She asked the super famous man she never really expected to be sharing quiet time with. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "I think she's asking if you're a glorified appointment book, E-12," Tony addresses the robot in mock despair. The robot, E-12, reacts, waggling its flight wings on the bottom in 'rage'. It mostly just is cute, in the same way a hissing kitten is. "He's also a beacon for various other drones, and a security robot within the mansion here." Tony gestures, and E-12 adjusts hologram to show a lovely 3d visual of the mansion interior layout, and then flips to exterior. "My assistant might say he's most useful to spy on /me/, I'd expect, but I might deserve that. Sometimes." The obvious suggestion and the arrogance in the tone suggests it's on purpose. A pause, as he weighs saying something else, and decides to give a brief response, "And to monitor for-- some other updates." He gestures a bit with a free hand, as if fanning that insignificant (clearly significant) item aside. He distractedly then drums a few fingertips on the plastic cover of the arc reactor, which makes something of a hollow sound. Whether the thing is worn or actually imbedded in him is visually unclear, but the sound is somewhat odd. "Also I 'forget' meetings." A smirk. 

:'''{{#var:16|Rogue (16)}} has posed:''' Rogue had seen things like it in her time in the X-Men's danger room, a practice room fueled by alien technology... Thats all Scott had ever really told her about that place, and its all she ever really wanted to know too. Generally whenever Rogue heard about space aliens, she rolled her eyes and zoned out. But the robots in that room? They were always programmed to fight her, and she always punched holes in them. "Pretty cool, I guess." She says back, to well, both of them. "Gettin' all Star Warsy up in here, Miste'ah Stark." She said at him with a sly grin. "Do I get t'have one too? I can have it remind me when I'm supposed t'be places... Like, uh..." Rogue cleared her throat and shook her head. "I don't really have anywhere t'go. The teenager looked back down at her mouse in his new house. "Not even sure if I'm going back to college now, since it was all paid for by Doctor Strange... 'nd he and I aren't talkin' anymore. I strongly doubt he'd just pay for my college if we're not all BFFs anymore." She cleared her throat softly and gave a little headshake. "Whatever though. Gives me time t'work on my banjo skills." 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "It's 'Tony,'" Tony insists comfortably at 'Miste'ah Stark', easygoing about the whole thing. Probably not what anyone expects from a billionaire. But that's where the 'playboy' item comes in. Although he hasn't really flirted with her. "Star Wars-- you should come by the tower sometime. Star Trek doors and talking computers," Tony says, offhand. He isn't exactly bragging, more being descriptive. "If you need something like that we can look at it," Tony adds, openly. "I do some costume upgrading also. If you're nice to me." Mild flirt, but just in passing, no heavy meaning on it. "What happened with you and the Man of Strangeness?" Tony questions, curious. And having finally found some snacks that suited him, looks like chocolate raisins. His drink is empty but he just puts it in the sink. 

:'''{{#var:16|Rogue (16)}} has posed:''' Rogue's head would nod gently a singular time at the insistance of refering to him by his first name, which wasn't too surprising... she'd found that most people prefered that... usually only the ones that wore really fancy clothing all the time, even in social and casual scenarios generally didn't correct her on that kind of proper title useage. "Sounds like a neat place. I've seen it, in passin' but never gone near it." She'd said about Stark Tower. She'd directed Baldur Odinson toward it, when she'd ran into him this past summer... because pretty much everyone knew where it was who was at all familar with the New York skyline. At his bit about costumes she just smiled. She'd had some bodysuits with the X-Men, but only ever their standard issue team stuff. "Its probably a good idea for me t'have something to wear for the hero stuff, if ya'll find a use for me in it all. Especially if ya need me t'use my mutation ever, and not just my strength. I don't like usin' the mutation, mind you, cause absorbin' people's creepy memories is kinda shitty sometimes... but I'll do it if its important, ya know?" At the mention of Strange she just shook her head. "He wanted me t'focus on my magic studies with him more. But I wasn't any good at it. So I told him I wasn't gonna do it anymore, and he seemed... I don't know, hurt. I guess." "He's way smarter than me... I can't remember all that shit like he can." 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "If you hadn't seen Stark Tower I'd be kind of concerned," Stark grins. Zero shame, just owning the thing. After all, there is an enormous tower in the middle of the city with his name on it in HUGE letters. Takes a certain type of person to do that. The exact kind in front of her. "I'll need to know a bit more about what your soul-lunching ability does and how it works, and also your strength levels, to get an idea of what's needed for you. Use some of the strength benchmarkers in the gym, if you get time, I can pull stats off of those. So, if you're interested in armor, particularly if you need it to come on and off rapidly, obviously you've come to the right place," Tony chuckles, flippantly gesturing at himself. The robot seems to agree with that statement like a little robotic yes-man, bobbing, as if it cared about armor more than anything else so far mentioned. Even the scheduling! "Well, magic people think magic's the best way to solve everything. You ask a surgeon their opinion, usually going to be surgery. We all do our thing. Doesn't have to be yours. I'll never be offended if you don't like tech." A glance from Tony at the floating robot. "You'll just hurt /his/ feelings." E-12 waggles a fin at Rogue as if unsure. 

:'''{{#var:16|Rogue (16)}} has posed:''' A grin was flashed at the bit about the tower. "Can't miss it..." She quietly replied to that before glancing out of the game room's entrance and thinking about the gym. She'd wandered through it a bit yesterday, but didn't want to mess around with things and break anything, since she breaks stuff quite easily. "Seventy five tons is my average. But I can push it up t'one hundred if I'm deperate enough. Or angry enough, ya know?" She smirked lightly. "I'll toy around with your stuff though, see what it tells me." She'd found out her limits from the X-Men again, Hank had given her a lot of information when she'd first arrived at Westchester about 11 months ago. "I don't know if I need armor so much as mobility. Since I'm a flyer, who is seeminly invulnerable... My body is my armor." She grinned a little at him. Rogue looked to the robot when it waggled at her like that and she grinned at it. "Technology certainly has its place. Sometimes its good t'just disconnect from it though... and just lay down out in the sun in a grassy field on a nice warm summe'ah day. Free from it all.. eyes up on the clouds." Rogue's natural parents had been hippies, they'd passed on stuff like that to their little girl. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "Nature doesn't have nearly enough room service," Tony says, obviously joking, his expression clarifies it. Or he serious? Probably doesn't matter. It's just Tony being Tony. "Hey, if you already have your benchmarks, that's a start. I won't remember them, so the machines help there too. But. Sounds like you don't need much, and that's great. Because I'm also fine with being lazy," Tony answers cleanly. E-12 starts to flash the hologram schedule at Tony, one particular entry red and angry in coloring. "WELL. Looks like I've got to talk to some German government officials again. Deal nearly sealed, on the upside. Enjoy the mansion, huh?" Tony pours some of the chocolate covered raisins into a paper coffee cup, and smiles to her. 

:'''{{#var:16|Rogue (16)}} has posed:''' Rogue grinned at just about everything the older man said to her and she nodded her head while planting her left gloved hand down on the edge of the counter and letting her shoulder rise up against the side of her face. She just shook her head at his antics. He was a wealthy guy alright, never knew what it was like to be without any money... she'd spent two years living on the streets, dealing with Carol Danver's powers and memories, not having any idea what any of it meant. She wondered what his 'ghosts' were, since everybody had them. "Enjoying every minute of it, Tony." Rogue said back to him in her sultry and smokey voice. See... She flirted, no ifs and or buts about it, she flirted openly and without any shred of bashfulness. "I'll get all the numbe'ahs for ya. Enjoy your meetins." She'd say before moving to pull off her gloves and take her new Mousegardian friend to find a better home for him. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "Every minute-- Well, at least the ones that I've been here, I vouch for those," Tony comments with a shrug and wink. "Hmmmm. Maybe not /every/ measurement, some mystery is nice -- although I'm a pretty good guesser," Tony automatically flirts back, immediately responsive to even the most subtle flirts aimed at him. Annnnnd now she's seen the Wealthy AND Playboy. Maybe the Philanthropist is next? But not today. Tony's just flashing a grin and heading off with his cup of snacks, the robot bouncing along in his wake. 
}}

3315/When the Professor Finds Bamfs

2018-01-03T06:49:39Z

Malky: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2017/12/05 |Location=Cerebro Chamber, X-Men base |Synopsis=Well, bamfs have to take second place to someone in the mansion who might be dying of hi..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2017/12/05
|Location=Cerebro Chamber, X-Men base
|Synopsis=Well, bamfs have to take second place to someone in the mansion who might be dying of his powers
|Cast of Characters=91, 296
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:91|Charles Xavier (91)}} has posed:'''     Cerebro has been dormant and locked for months. Not that anyone had any reason to enter it. One has to wonder how much dust has been accrued in it, with the disuse! Yet this evening, it has returned to life, the dome in full activation with its creator at the helm, Charles Xavier. He is, however, finishing the use there. And the call to meet to Kitty Pryde was subtle and non disruptive: when she had a chance, to please come down for a brief talk between other tasks he is working on. And a preference to please use to door from the elevator, as opposed to any disruption of what may be going on with Cerebro.     And so it is that the helmet of Cerebro is being gently replaced, and the professor turns his head to look thoughtfully to the door, anticipating the arrival of Kitty with a relaxed, mild smile. 

:'''{{#var:296|Kitty Pryde (296)}} has posed:''' The light telepathic touch was welcomed warmly. And Kitty finished up what she was working on, saved her data, and made her way down into the bowels of the mansion. She actually hasn't been back down here since she returned from university. As she enters the main doors, she looks around briefly -- nothing's changed. Except perhaps her. Her smile is genuine and she greets the Professor by leaning down to kiss his cheek. "It's about time you got home," she observes lightly. "Don't you know how much trouble we get into without you?" 

:'''{{#var:91|Charles Xavier (91)}} has posed:'''     "I do. I've been seeing some of it exploring the mansion and creating odd bits of trouble," Charles says to her with a sort of playful lift of his brows. Which, of course, makes it clear he is not ACTUALLY upset about that. But, well, the dad voice comes in as he clears his throat. "I would like to hear more about the plans for those... But first... tell me, how you have been?" the professor inquires, with a quiet warm concern, watching her expressions. 

:'''{{#var:296|Kitty Pryde (296)}} has posed:''' Yeeeaaaaaaahhhhhhhh. The faint blush that climbs her cheeks is definitely one of embarassment. Kitty rolls her dark eyes and then grins slightly. "I've been doing really well, Professor. Being back is a little... awkward at times," she admits. "I didn't really realize how different it would be to come back here as an adult, I guess?" She shrugs slightly. "But all in all, I think I'm settling in all right. Being able to telecommute to work rocks, and it gives me time to help out the students." There's a flicker of genuine concern there, which she doesn't attempt to hide but nor does she speak of it right now. "I do apologize for the girl bamfs. Now that they know how to get here, I'm not entirely sure how to get any of them to go home again." 

:'''{{#var:91|Charles Xavier (91)}} has posed:'''     "Well... you can perhaps understand my concerns with their disruptive quality. And some security concerns, as the safety of students is... Of utmost importance," Charles says, with a sort of tone that suggests he doesn't particularly like this conversation, but it needs to happen. "There has been some lax policy in a few areas with the school aspect here, and I'd like help from all of you to return to our core of learning: the disruptions need to be reduced, and the students cutting class... well. I hope we can convey to those students what harm they are doing to themselves and their futures," the professor continues. "I'm looking to you, and the other "adults," to help with this good example," he says warmly to her, extending a hand with a smile to touch her forearm, "A downside of adulting, I apologize," he teases. 

:'''{{#var:296|Kitty Pryde (296)}} has posed:''' "Well, Professor -- the five boys have been here for a rather long time, so I'm doubting there's much I can do about that. But.... Kurt and I've figured out, we *think* where they came from. Just... getting back there is somewhat complicated. Using both of our powers at once is the only way that we know to get there, and we *just* figured that out." Kitty sighs and leans her hips back against one of the consoles. "What I'm really hoping is that when things settle just a bit, Kurt will be willing to go back there again. But the girl bamfs don't really want to talk to either one of us as yet." 

:'''{{#var:91|Charles Xavier (91)}} has posed:''' "I'm not rushing you on this. They aren't a big issue," the Professor soothes her briefly. "And I can step in with them as needed. If you need a little time, take it," he adds. "That said, I do feel they do come under the umbrella of things the two of you have some responsibility for. I do hope you will learn from them, and more of what brought them here. ...And I'm interested in what you find out." 

:'''{{#var:296|Kitty Pryde (296)}} has posed:''' Kitty laughs softly. "Yes, I'm definitely taking responsibility for it. But the little buggers teleport... so catching them and getting them to cooperate has been challenging. But I promise that we're working on it... in among seeking out Mystique." She sighs heavily. "Not to change the subject on you... but I'd like to mention something that could be important. Nate Grey. I'm... quite worried about him." Worried enough that her research at work is right now focused on finding him a way to shunt power so he doesn't die. 

:'''{{#var:91|Charles Xavier (91)}} has posed:''' "Yes. Priorities. I understand that well," the professor says, with a brief look to the main Cerebro console, and a mild shadow passes through his expression, but it doesn't linger, he puts forward a better smile for Kitty. He doesn't read her mind or anything at all, he opens both hands in a sort of 'talk to me' motion. "Please fill me in." If he knows more about it, he's letting her say what's on her mind. 

:'''{{#var:296|Kitty Pryde (296)}} has posed:''' "Well.... I'm sure Hank's filled you in on the medical aspects. But basically.... he's a funnel for the Phoenix Force, Professor. And his body can't handle the amount of power that it accesses." Kitty grimaces. "I'm hoping to use some of the research that Hank has done to help Rogue negate hers to help Nate, too... with the help of STAR Labs. But... maybe you can do something else to help him." 

:'''{{#var:91|Charles Xavier (91)}} has posed:'''     The Professor steeples his hands slowly, eyes down for the moment, soaking in what she's saying, and asking for. "There is a very high level of danger here if that energy is not handled or shunted correctly," Xavier begins, in a careful way. "I would need to go there physically, and we can see what the state of his mental capacity for this is... if it has already overloaded him to an extent, well... some repairs can be made, to give you more time, at the very least. I can look. And that's not something I would want to do at a distance." He pauses but nods to her, "I am willing, of course, to advise on what I see. Set up a time for all those working on it to be present, and I will do what I can." 

:'''{{#var:296|Kitty Pryde (296)}} has posed:''' Kitty looks relieved. "There is," she agrees softly. "Sometimes he looks like he's doing okay, but you can definitely tell he's overloaded. Sometimes when he uses his power, he's getting nosebleeds and headaches." Which perhaps gives him an idea of how bad it must be. "The alternate reality Sinister engineered him ... to NOT be able to contain it." There is rage in her over that, but she says, "Even if we can slow down his progression, that would be a help. Hank's got a start, and the Martian Manhunter is making sure that nothing I work on at STAR will be abused by people who might want mutant negating tech. I'm not entirely sure I'll be able to figure it out, but ... we have plenty of contacts with sciencey backgrounds. There's got to be SOME way to help him." 

:'''{{#var:91|Charles Xavier (91)}} has posed:'''     "To an extent my instinct is to bring him to our facility, which I have more confidence related to security," Xavier admits, "But if you are getting good use from the resources of those labs, and are making progress, I do not want to uproot something that is working. However, should resources here be of use, or additional ones, let me know, please. I'm glad to hear you're keeping a wary eye on potential weapons against Mutants," the professor adds a little bit dryly, but back to serious tone. "There isn't often a simple mental fix: let alone with something like this. But if I can give clues at the very least, I will do that. Do you think there may be some clues to this within his memory from witnessing the engineering that he may still retain, as well?" the Professor asks, thoughtful. "Memories can give a lot of clues, I have found, in the past." 

:'''{{#var:296|Kitty Pryde (296)}} has posed:''' "He's back and forth up here regularly, Professor," Kitty tells him. "I don't know what's in his memories....except torture." Her face pales just a little -- apparently she caught something from him that makes her look vaguely ill. "This is your specialty, sir.... not mine." She smiles. "Thank you, though. Because... it's *really* nice to have you home to talk to." 

:'''{{#var:91|Charles Xavier (91)}} has posed:''' "Of course. If he consents to my help, I'm ready to," Professor Xavier says gently. Forcing help down somebody's throat (or mind?) isn't something he's looking to do right now. Or perhaps ever again? "His health, both mental and physically, is most important. It does sound like we'll need to start acting a bit more quickly, if the situation is getting far out of hand, though." He nods once, and then smiles warmly at her thanks. "Being here to talk to-- It is--sadly?-- the least I can do. I will do more," he says quietly, seriously. 

:'''{{#var:296|Kitty Pryde (296)}} has posed:''' Kitty pushes off the bank of monitors, and she kisses his cheek. "It's good to have you home, Professor." She smiles slightly. "We can manage without you.... but we're better with you. Don't strain your brain down here," she admonishes lightly. 

:'''{{#var:91|Charles Xavier (91)}} has posed:'''     The Professor presses her hand warmly in answer, with a gentle but... reserved smile. "Only as much pressing as is absolutely necessary," he agrees in a non-answer. He will watch her go, with his thoughtful, quiet way, with a brief nod, before turning back to his task ahead. 
}}

3439/The Wrong Pocket Picked

2018-01-03T06:44:24Z

Malky: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2017/12/19 |Location=Central Park |Synopsis=Rikki is recruited by Jean and Professor X. |Cast of Characters=1613, 47, 91 |pretty=yes }} {{Poses |Po..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2017/12/19
|Location=Central Park
|Synopsis=Rikki is recruited by Jean and Professor X.
|Cast of Characters=1613, 47, 91
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:1613|Rikki (1613)}} has posed:''' The Afternoon sun shines through the abandoned apartment window, stirring the singlular inhabitant from her slumber. She is not awake more then a minute before her stomach begins growling wildly. "Oh come on. I just woke up. I ate a whole pizza last night! I shouldn't be hungry!!!" She frowns as her stomach continues to sing the song of its people. She sighs and gets dressed. She has a little money but, She is trying to save it in case anyone tries to kick her out of the Apartment. Quietly she moves her way to Central park. Everything feels funny as usual to her. The world just seems to move slowly for her and its still unsettling. She is being careful not to move too fast. The last thing she wants it to attract the weird lightning again. 

:'''{{#var:47|Jean Grey (47)}} has posed:''' Jean was out shopping for Christmas gifts for students who were stuck at the school over the holiday, some just had no where else to be while others just couldn't make it home this year. So she was adament about providing these students with all the gifts they'd written down on their wishlists... One of the gifts was a very specific type of hat that the 12 year old kid had seen in Central Park at a small shop there-in-- "It was a hat with King Kong on one side of the Empire State Building with The Hulk on the other side of it and they were about to punch each other.." Jean said to the overweight man behind the counter who stared at the redhead with a disinterested tiredness to his overall demeanor. He--out of no where--produced the very same hat up from behind his counter. "Ya mean this one, lady?" He said to her in a thick New York accent. Jean's green eyes lit up and a smile shot across her red lips. "Yes!" She said, reaching out for the hat. "Oh my god, you're a life saver!" "Yeah, tell my wife that." He said in a disgrunted fashion. "Twelve fifty for the hat." Jean went then, to dig around inside of her black leather purse that was more like a small backpack, it was hanging from her left shoulder. She produced the three Five Dollar Bills and handed them over to him. 

:'''{{#var:1613|Rikki (1613)}} has posed:''' Rikki looks around the park. "Okay here we go. Step one. Find a mark. Step two, hide." She states to herself. She hatses having to do this. But who is going to hire her? She's under age and may as well be considered a freak. How she wished her parents were here. Her eyes move around the park, searching for someone who might not be paying attention. Thats when her eyes fall on the Redhead woman. Quietly she starts moving. She isn't running. She's just walking, Trying her best to not move too quick. This is for 2 reasons. The first, so she doesn't draw more attention to herself. The Second, Because she's already nervous enough without any flashy responses to her speed. Quietly she gets close and then... *BUMP!* "OH gosh I'm so sorry. Didn't see you there.* She starts moving away... She snagged something. Don't know what yet though. 

:'''{{#var:47|Jean Grey (47)}} has posed:''' Jean was in the process of accepting her change back from the Vendor and getting the Hat wrapped up in a bag that would conceal it nicely... that when the *bump* came to her she didn't seem to really think about it much at first, she looked over at the young girl and offered the teen a slight smile and a nod. "Its alright, busy day." Jean said on a simple surface level response... See Jean had trained herself to stop reading surface level thoguhts off of people. One, because people often thought about very undesirable things on the surface level of their thoughts and two... because it was invasivce and morally wrong of her to do it without cause or reason. So when Jean started to turn around and put the change back into that little black leather backpack on her hip she was kind of lost in her own world until it occured to her that something felt 'off' about that 'bump' she'd just experienced. The redhead turns in the direction that Rikki had moved and she started to follow behind her... while reaching out with her mind to just briefly try to look inside the girl's thoughts... Just to check real quick. 

:'''{{#var:1613|Rikki (1613)}} has posed:''' Rikki moves towards a few bushes to hide. She's trying to go as fast as she can without setting off her powers. When Jean actually starts following her and actually scans the girls mind a little. There are 3 things she'd notice. The first is a boat load of hunger. The second is how anxious she is. Third is fear and boy is there plenty of that to go around. The real oddity about it is just how fast those thoughts are moving. It would be very difficult to really stick to one specific thought. As she moves, the girl glances back and notices she's being followed. She accelerates a little. Instantly lightning crackles off her. She sees it and lets out a little scream as in less then a second she is out of sight, hidden in the bushes. Her mind, however could still be read clearly and she is terrified. 

:'''{{#var:47|Jean Grey (47)}} has posed:''' Jean hadn't at all hidden that she was following the girl because she knew if she was spotted by her it might make the Surface Thoughts on Rikki's mind give a little more information that may yield interesting results... But it turns out the interesting results more-so came in the physical reaction that Rikki had to seeing Jean walking about twenty feet behind her. The crackling lightning is visibly witnessed, the strange speed that the girl's mind moves in, let alone the way she vanished into the flora.. Jean stopped walking and she stood there to the side of the concreate pathway next to the grassy yard and stared where she'd last seen Rikki. <<I'm not here to frighten you.>> Jean placed these words into Rikki's mind, her voice was calming and soothing to most minds. <> The imagery of who 'me' in this scenario was was clearly placed inside Rikki's mind as well, the redhead she'd had on her tail. 

:'''{{#var:1613|Rikki (1613)}} has posed:''' Rikki is freaking out. The lightning scared the crap out of her again. She doesn't hear the person following her anymore. Did she get away? That answer is quickly given to her. As the voice begins to echo in her mind she winces. "WAAAAA! What is happening to me!" The idea that she's hearing a voice in her head that isn't her own is really freaky. Then there is the image of the mark! What is she supposed to do? Stay hidden? No. She's been hiding away for a long time. She needs to do something. Quietly she stands, stepping out of the bush and returning the purse to Jean. 

:'''{{#var:47|Jean Grey (47)}} has posed:''' Jean had lost her entire bag to that skillful little sneak thief, so one part of her was rather impressed by that talent, but... another part was eager to get her bag back of course! Jean smiled softly though when the girl stepped back out of the bushes in the park and she raised her right hand up to gently wave it in Rikki's direction. When she'd draw close enough, that same hand would extend outward toward the teenage girl. "Hello." Jean would say then. "I'm Jean Grey. I work at a school not far from here... are you... hungry? I can buy you something to eat." 

:'''{{#var:1613|Rikki (1613)}} has posed:''' Rikki blinks a few times. "A school? You're a Teacher? And you can get into my mind?!" She shutters. "I guess the dog eating the homework isn't going to fly..." She comments quietly. "I am really hungry." She's nervous... scared is definitely the key word. "I eat a lot but It never seems like enough." She comments before she looks down at the ground. "I'm sorry I took your purse. I just needed to get money together to go get something to eat." Its clear she's not eating enough. Physically she looks almost Anorexic. 

:'''{{#var:91|Charles Xavier (91)}} has posed:''' If there is another telepath nearby, the telepathy breed is far too subtle to be noticed, for now. But the activity from Jean draws that second telepath's interest more keenly, and in a soft mental touch to Jean, he lets her know that he is coming over from the other side of the vendors where he had been doing his own bits of shopping. In addition, he sends that Jean has his support of the direction that she's headed with the teen. Indeed, after a time, the wheelchair bound Charles Xavier comes around from the side, a coffee in hand as well as a small recent purchase in his lap, neatly packaged, relaxed: an image of calm. Others in the park, had they been looking over at all to a girl ducking out of bushes, will move on with their lives. Charles Xavier is pretty distinct in appearance, and reputation, to those that pay attention to such things. 

:'''{{#var:47|Jean Grey (47)}} has posed:''' Jean was aware of Charles coming closer and she glanced over at him as he drew nearer, the afternoon sunlight was bright and it was offering some warmth in the otherwise cool air of the December day. When Rikki approached and offered her bag back she accepted it and showed a faint smile and verbalized a quiet. "Thank you." To her. "There's plenty of food vendors around here... I'll buy you anything you want." She'd say to Rikki before grinning softly at the girl. "And yes, I'm never to happy when I hear false excuses for incomplete homework." At Charles' arrival though, Jean would motion to him with her hand. "This is Professor Charles Xavier, he's the founder and headmaster at the school." 

:'''{{#var:1613|Rikki (1613)}} has posed:''' Rikki looks at Jean and then she looks over at the guy in the wheel chair. "Ummm hi." She seems really nervous. "Sorry I got so scared. Lightning freaks me out." She frowns over that. "Could I get a bunch of cheese burgers? Like 10 of them at least? And fries and lots of tea. Tea is so yummy!" She blushes. "Sorry. When everything happened I just got really hungry." 

:'''{{#var:91|Charles Xavier (91)}} has posed:''' "I'm rather fond of a particularly creative excuse, really," Professor Xavier admits as an 'aside' to Jean with an amused light to his eyes, before smiling to Rikki. He isn't here to gang up on her: and two adults can cause something like that, he's well aware. So he is subdued, friendly. "Ten's a tall order. I think I can only manage one burger today - I'll donate my four others to the cause," Charles offers. "Will you tell us more about what happened, when you got so hungry originally?" he asks, conversational, in interest. If he could pick it from her mind, he doesn't appear to: he asks. 

:'''{{#var:47|Jean Grey (47)}} has posed:''' Jean showed a small smile to Charles' comment on creative excuses but her eyes were drawn back to Rikki when the young teenager spoke of her rather exceptional hunger. "My.. I'd say that qualifies as very hungry." She'd say then to the girl, giving Charles an aside glance. <<Reminds me of Kaydin. I believe she's tapping into the same kind of speed power that he uses.>> She'd telepath only to Charles. Jean would look back to Rikki then and motion her to follow. "Come along then, I'll buy you as much as you need to fill you up." She'd offer with a soft smile." 

:'''{{#var:1613|Rikki (1613)}} has posed:''' Rikki looks at Charles, "To be fair, I ate a whole pizza last night and I'm still hungry." She frowns and takes a deep breath. "I can tell about it. Its a really bad memory. I wish I could forget. She looks at Jean and nods, "Thank you Miss. You're very kind." She winces a little." She looks around. "I don't really know whats good though. I only arrived here a few weeks ago." 

:'''{{#var:91|Charles Xavier (91)}} has posed:''' <<Meeting such a peer could assist her confidence a great deal, I'd suspect,>> Xavier answers mentally to Jean only, with a sense of agreement. He looks at Rikki a long moment, and passes along gentle dismay to Jean, as well as a bit more: <<She is alone, her family is gone. Her safety concerns me.>> "You don't need to talk about it if you don't want to, but I'd like to hear, if you can manage," Xavier adjusts, gently, as Rikki explains it is painful. "But, most importantly, I must first ask ...What do you like on your burgers?" he questions instead. 

:'''{{#var:47|Jean Grey (47)}} has posed:''' Jean would lead the trio of them to the closest 'Shake Shack' that sold all manner of burgers and a wide variety of milkshakes too. She'd take her place in line with them and then sort through her money to get it all ready for paying. <> She'd return to Charles. At Rikki, Jean would smile warmly and when their time in line came she'd motion to the Vendor behind the counter waiting for the order. "Whatever you want, just let him know." She'd say then to Rikki. 

:'''{{#var:1613|Rikki (1613)}} has posed:''' Rikki takes a deep breath. "It was my 16th Birthday. My mom and dad took me out to dinner. A storm kicked up. A really bad on. It knocked a powerline down. It landed on the suv. My mom and dad got out safely and I followed. Once we were all out, We hugged. As we were hugging, A bolt of lightning hit behind us and sent us all into the suv. I woke up a few days later to find out mom and dad were gone. I survived. The doctors said I healed way faster then they expected. I apparently had third degree burns and I don't even have a scar." She follows along toward the Snack Shack. "Oh umm. Lettuce, Tomato, Onion, Pickles, Mayo." 

:'''{{#var:91|Charles Xavier (91)}} has posed:''' "That is a painful birthday to carry with you," Charles says, thoughtful and empathetic. "or to attempt to leave behind," he says, a bit more perceptively. Mentally, he answers Jean: <> "Just ten, or can you manage more? Order what you'd like," Charles encourages Rikki as well, when the vendor waits for the order. 

:'''{{#var:47|Jean Grey (47)}} has posed:''' Jean would order fifteen in totality and she'd get a tea for each of them, large for Rikki as she assumed that her thirst was as strong as her hunger. She'd then turn to the others and motion them to one of the tables on the outdoor eating area here in the park... it was at least a nice enough day for eating outside to still be a thing. "They'll be done shortly." She'd say to Rikki with a small smile. "So you're... living on your own now?" She'd ask the teenager then as they'd move to have a seat. 

:'''{{#var:1613|Rikki (1613)}} has posed:''' Rikki nods slowly to Jean, "I just went out for a run and... I seen all this lightning and when I stopped running I was here. I've been trying to get by. I've burned through most of my parents insurance money. Whatever happened to me caused me to need to eat a lot." She sighs and rubs the back of her head while waiting. "I Hate that my parents are gone. All I want is to be with my parents again. I know that isn't possible. 

:'''{{#var:91|Charles Xavier (91)}} has posed:''' Charles heads out to the outdoor table, moving a chair out of the way just a little so that his own can occupy the end of the table more easily. He moves the parcel from earlier out of his lap to a corner of the table, and focuses on Rikki, listening to her explanations. "Well, I'm glad that your path led you to us, Rikki," Charles offers gently, even though she didn't exactly introduce herself to him. "If you do want our help." 

:'''{{#var:47|Jean Grey (47)}} has posed:''' Short after the trio sat themselves a server would come with the first set of five burgers and brought a large bowl of french fires as well. Jean thanked the server and she looked from Charles to Rikki. "Your parents are with you in everything you do. They raised you and have instilled their values and personalities into you as a result. I know that is a far cry from a true comfort of having them physically here... But... I believe its possible that we ran into each other for a reason here today." A moment later and Jean would pull a small leather book from her jacket and she'd flip it open then remove a blue card with gold lettering on it and the X logo of the school. She'd offer it then to Rikki. "I want you to consider coming to join us at our campus. You'll find that we have a whole host of students who are enduring the same hardships as you... You can find comfort in their support." Jean showed a smile to Charles then. "And we can try hard to keep up with this ravenous apetite of yours as well." Jean looked back to Rikki then. "It won't cost you a dime either... which I know, sounds a bit overwhelming nad too good to be true, but just having you have a place to find -yourself- at is all we really need as payment." 

:'''{{#var:1613|Rikki (1613)}} has posed:''' Rikki looks at the card curiously. Already she's devouring the first burger like she's not eaten in months. "Ummmm Okay? I guess that would be good. I mean its better then being alone and stuff. Plus I don't like stealing. I just did it to eat you know?" % She finishes the first burger and begins eatiing the second one. "mmmmmm Yum" She looks betwen the professor and Jean, "What types of things can I study there?" 

:'''{{#var:47|Jean Grey (47)}} has posed:''' Jean sipped at her clear plastic cup of tea through the small red straw that she'd placed into and she leaned back in the metal chair around the outdoor table. She glanced between the Professor and Rikki and she smiled. "All the basics you'd find in any highschool level classes and we're now opening up higher, collegiate, courses as well. So if you like it with us, you're capable of hanging out with us for a long time." She flashed a soft smile. Jean leaned forward and picked up a couple of french fries between her thumb and forefinger and took a bite off of their tips. She, on contrast, was a very light eater. "We have others at our school who, I believe, are experience the same kind of enhanced speed that you're living with now. They can help you find out the intricacies of it, learn to utilize it and grow comfortable with it. They'll be eager to help do just that, I'm sure of it, since they came to our school for the same kind of assistance." 

:'''{{#var:1613|Rikki (1613)}} has posed:''' Rikki frowns, "That is cool I guess. I just don't know much about it. Its really weird and then there is the lightning. Its really scarry when I am just trying t run. It doesn't hurt I don't think. Not me anyway. She finishes off the first burger and moves onto another one. "So umm.. I guess this woill be interesting. I dunno how I'm going to pay for it but Ut would be worth it I think. 

:'''{{#var:91|Charles Xavier (91)}} has posed:''' "We have some scholarships available: That said, we will need your maximum effort with classes, attendance and growth with your mind -- as well as working with your new abilities and needs, in a safer environment than out here," Charles clarifies. "Do you think you can do that?" he asks, with a smile. 

:'''{{#var:47|Jean Grey (47)}} has posed:''' Jean would smile softly and nod her head gently once. "Our school is specifically geared at young people who are all experiencing similar onsets of power that they can't quite explain or fully understand on their own. Myself included, and the Professor." She looked to Charles. "Have all dealt with this our entire lives." Jean was quite young looking, somewhere in her mid twenties most likely. At what Charles said she'd nod her head softly and look back to the young Rikki. "We ultimately just want you to be setup to have an exceptional life, and be sturdy and stable enough to pass on what you've learned to others who are in the same position that you are in now. To create a chain of helping hands, bringing people out of the stages of fear and misunderstanding." 

:'''{{#var:1613|Rikki (1613)}} has posed:''' Rikki nods slowly, "I can do that. I mean. I wasn't a terrible student at my old school. My grades weren't great. I mean... Its not because I was lazy. I just got bored with all that stuff. I would like something like that." She hmms softly. "Its just kinda hard. I mean, I left everything behind and now I'm trying to rebuild." Two burgers are down without even the slightest sign of stopping. Crazy high Metabolisms at their finest. 

:'''{{#var:91|Charles Xavier (91)}} has posed:''' "Well, you'll be able to form new friendships with other students like yourself at the school, when you're ready," Charles Xavier clarifies. "And if you're bored with classes... do definitely mention it," he chuckles softly. "Our objective is to challenge you, and broaden what you know." Charles sort of started on his burger, pacing himself, maybe. 

:'''{{#var:47|Jean Grey (47)}} has posed:''' Jean was about to speak again when the server approached with another plate, commenting on the fact that three people now had been delivered 2/3rd's of their order. When they went back for the rest, Jean smiled between Charles and Rikki but settled her green eyes again on Rikki. "And should you just feel that this all sounds a little too... 'creepy culty' and don't want to participate, that is... obviously your choice. But please, let us set you up with people here in the city who can help care for you and give you a safe place to rest your head at night. If nothing else, we can help you that much as well." It is quite true that Charles and Jean had contacts here in the city that were 'Gifted Youngsters' supporters also, those that couldn't make thier way to the School for one reason or another. 

:'''{{#var:1613|Rikki (1613)}} has posed:''' Rikki takes a deep breath as she thinks of what to say. Then with a smile, "I think I want to go back to school. It doesn't matter what I do, I need to graduate and stuff right? Who knows, maybe this... whatever it is can be used to help others. I mean... Its technically already helped me. I should be dead. But I'm not." She shrugs. Grabbing her third burger she starts in on it and just enjoys it. "This place has really good burgers." 

:'''{{#var:91|Charles Xavier (91)}} has posed:''' "You can give us a try, at the very least," Charles offers, with a spread of his hands, and a nod. "There's no signing your soul over," he teases lightly. And agrees with the burger assessment -- he's mostly now done with his, in his somewhat refined, slower way of eating, to cause little mess. 

:'''{{#var:47|Jean Grey (47)}} has posed:''' Jean would smile then at the young one's decision and she'd look to the Professor for a moment as well, inner pride in knowing that she was sure this would turn into another positive addition to the campus. "We can pay for you to have an Uber to the school and let you look around, meet with other emmbers of the student body and the faculty. If you decide its not for you then we'll do the same to make sure you can get back to where you want to go." Jean didn't offer to drive her to the school themselves, becasue that would seem overly creepy to pick a teenage girl up in the park and offer her a ride to some place she wasn't familar with. 

:'''{{#var:1613|Rikki (1613)}} has posed:''' Rikki frowns, "If I do this I'm all in. I don't have anything to come back to. Its just me." She shrugs and looks at the rest of her burgers. Nope. Not stopping or getting overwhelmed. She takes down number 4 without a second thought. "Thank you for this chance." She states and smiles. 
}}

3394/Office Visit

2018-01-03T06:42:39Z

Malky:

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2017/12/15
|Location=Xavier's School, Westchester County, New York
|Synopsis=Professor X calls Rogue in to discuss a security problem.
|Cast of Characters=91, 16
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:91|Charles Xavier (91)}} has posed:''' It is a clear, crisp Autumn day, the broad windows from Xavier's office illuminate the room without even needing additional lights, but several antique lamps near the front add a low golden ambiance to the visitor seating. The Professor is seated, of course-seated comfortably at one of the windows, relaxed, looking outside at groups of students milling about. He doesn't turn at first, simply is quiet, in thought: or perhaps his mind is elsewhere, branched into so many other minds or areas? It is incorrect to assume him distracted or not present, though, he turns a warm smile to the door, expecting the new arrival, of course. 

:'''{{#var:16|Rogue (16)}} has posed:''' Rogue had slipped the two-way mirror in her room in Manhattan and right into the room she'd been assigned last winter here in the School... she'd come back to get some things out of her closet here, some boots she'd left tucked away in the back of said closet, but just about the very moment she got here she got that 'sensation' of being called downstairs. "Oooo, boy." She muttered. It didn't take but a few minutes of passing through the hallways and waving to a few students to reach the Professor's office off of the main foyer and when she did, she opened the door a crack and then knocked on the door with a gloved hand... She entered upon seeing him in the window-provided-light and she walked into the center of his classroom / office. "Heya." She said across the remaining distance to him, smiling softly. "Hows things?" 

:'''{{#var:91|Charles Xavier (91)}} has posed:''' "Things... ah, well. I have been quite busy, as you can imagine, I'm sure. We all are, these days." A slight, saddened amusement flows into his eyes, but it's tame. "It's good to see you," Charles says gently, and gestures a welcome inside, and towards the chairs, should she like to use one. "Please," he suggests, if she wishes to be comfortable, but there's no requirement in it. If she'd like to stand, also fine. "Thank you for coming by so soon. I was not sure when I would have a good opportunity to catch your attention here, I hope you'll forgive my abruptness today." 

:'''{{#var:16|Rogue (16)}} has posed:''' Rogue walked over to the backs of one of the chairs in front of his desk and she set her fancy boots up on to the back of it while she listened to him speak. She showed him a smile and then nodded softly once. "I'm kinda all ove'ah the place, so I know its hard t'get ahold'a me sometimes." With that little bit said she swept around the chair and then lowered down into it. Rogue was wearing a dark blue Xavier's School hoodie that was half-zipped and some blue jeans and tennis shoes. She laid the boots down in her lap now and looked over the desk at him. "Always glad t'get a chance t'chat with ya though." She'd say in a friendly manner, it was clear to him she was in a good mood, but he'd likely also know that she was nervous about being called into his office so suddenly. 

:'''{{#var:91|Charles Xavier (91)}} has posed:''' "I have been away for too long, and have not given the school proper guidance. That, of course, is on my shoulders to fix. I need help, though, from the staff and other adults here, to help realign the vision of the school back into place. Safety, and a focus on the education of the students, in particular, need... Attention." Xavier moves aside from the window, back to the desk properly, resting his hands forward on it, fingers woven together. There is probably a sense of being called into the principal's office here, big time: but whether it is intentional? Hard to tell, maybe. "The children here, and their futures, are something I take extremely seriously. Similarly, I want the best for your future path, wherever that is, should you ever wish for support." 

:'''{{#var:16|Rogue (16)}} has posed:''' These words received a genuine smile from the southern belle and she just let it linger for a few seconds before nodding her head across the distance to him. "I know, its why... I mean I owe my sanity 'nd my life t'this place. You specifically, Professah." She said to him reply. "If ya hadn't let me join up here... I probably--well, I mean, I'm not sure where I woulda ended up, but it probably woulda been pretty bad." When Rogue had come here a few days after her 18th birthday this year, she was a mess. She'd been living on the streets for 2 years, ever since the day she'd absorbed Carol Danvers permanently in San Francisco. The two years on the street had left her a shamble of her original self, absorbed minds clashing together inside of her head and a gross misunderstanding of how to use / control Carol's powers. Rogue's smile faded though. "Ya'll need my room back for othe'ah students, don't ya? I'm being voted off the island..." She frowned then. 

:'''{{#var:91|Charles Xavier (91)}} has posed:''' "I want you to feel welcome here to continue using the mansion as a home, as long as you do need it. But the safety of others here requires me to ask that you remove the mystical link to the housing areas, and assist in keeping students within the rules here. Items such as the curfew have reason to exist." He doesn't belabor the point, but does make it. Charles looks down at his hands for a moment, then back to her. He isn't upset. Maybe disappointed in the judgement call she'd made. Which, for some, is quite a bit worse. "I want students to graduate from here, as you have, and develop control of their abilities. And if it is their path, even to stay, and help others grow as they did. I hope for teachers from among those that graduate, should they want to contribute in that way. I understand you yourself may still be learning?" he asks, in interest. 

:'''{{#var:16|Rogue (16)}} has posed:''' When he said what he said she realized what this was about and it made her pink painted lips press together and then a heavy exhale shoot out between them. "Negasonic." She said then, realizing she'd been busted. Her head slowly shook side to side. "I'm sorry, Professah." She told him. "I bumped inta Ellie in Manhattan... oh god, back around Halloween I think? She was in an alleyway and it was like... god, probably one in the mornin?" Rogue left out the part where Ellie was spray painting male genitalia onto one of Wilson Fisk's office buildings, but Charles could probably gleam that out of her mind right now if he wanted. "I didn't want'er to have t'walk home all that way. She wouldn't get home until like 4am. And ya know public transportation ain't great either... I thought it would help out." Rogue frowned again. "I'm sorry." 

:'''{{#var:91|Charles Xavier (91)}} has posed:''' "I am not saying that helping Miss Phimister was a bad choice, please don't mistake my intent here." The professor smiles at her. "I am proud that you have helped another, particularly when it is late, and you have opportunity to do so. However, going forward, the behavior that led to being out at that hour is becoming a pattern, as is skipping classes. I want to help correct the issue, and remind that her actions have consequences. We teach more than just math and science and even power use here," Xavier says with a brief knowing wink. "And I cannot be everywhere, as terrifying as that thought may be. Perhaps Miss Phimister will respond to you well, if you are able to guide her to the value of graduating." He smiles briefly. "That is really all I ask: I hope you do stay, and help others when you can. Only be mindful of the rules: or, if you disagree, question me on them, by all means." 

:'''{{#var:16|Rogue (16)}} has posed:''' Rogue slow nod her head to his words and she knew he was 'right' on the grand scheme of things... but at her age, she was often more worried about pleasing and impressing friends more than doing what was ultimately the best for everyone. "She's gonna be pissed at me when ya talk to her, unless, ya already have." Rogue re-centered her gaze onto Charles and then frowend. "Sorry about my language." She added softly then. With a nod of her head, Rogue relented though. "Once I step back through it t'Manhattan, I can shut it off. Doctor Strange showed me how to do it. He only set it up so that I could have an easy way t'get back here t'see ya'll, cause he knows this place makes me happier." Another light nod then and she put her hands onto the boots on her lap. "But yeah, I understand. It goes against the rules t'have somethin' like that in your school." 

:'''{{#var:91|Charles Xavier (91)}} has posed:''' "While I appreciate you being here and want you to visit more often, the safety issue causes me to need to ask," Charles says, dismayed as well, but sticking by that request to close it. "Thank you. If you wish to open it to another area more locally, we can look into that, but the heart of the sleeping area is not preferable." "I haven't talked to her yet, no. I have not yet decided if a more subtle approach or a direct one is best. I would prefer subtle first, if she can be guided without a challenge to her pride." 

:'''{{#var:16|Rogue (16)}} has posed:''' Rogue would nod her head softly to Charles' first words there. "I got some friends in Salem Cente'ah, the Music shop there... Maybe they'd let me hook the portal up to their apartments above the store. Thats probably much less of a risk... Though Strange doesn't really want random folks walkin' through his house either." Rogue just grinned and shook her head. "Maybe'll just scrap the whole thing entirely, guess its more complicated than it sounded when I got it setup originally." Rogue would then shake her head at the subject of Ellie. "That girl is a literal bomb just waitin' t'go off. I mean, I love her attitude, but she still scares the heck outta me. She's got some serious anger issues, Professah. But, I mean, ya don't need me t'tell ya that..." 

:'''{{#var:91|Charles Xavier (91)}} has posed:''' Xavier simply nods and listens to her thinking through other options for her portal, without judgement, but doesn't particularly offer other solutions for where the portal end should be. "A great deal of students come with certain problems or needs. I am hopeful that all of them can be reached. We shall try," he says, firmly, a sort of vow of his own, to do well to reach the angry teen. 

:'''{{#var:16|Rogue (16)}} has posed:''' Rogue would nod her head softly once to that and she'd give the Professor a big smile before she'd move to stand up then, letting her boots fall to her side, held within the grasp of her left gloved hand now. "I got a car now, so I can at least drive here if needs be, so I'm not -that- far away if ya'll need a girl who can punch through a brick wall." She grinned a bit at him. "I'm always waitin' for calls from ya'll t'go and help do things, ya know... Fix all the stupid problems goin' around... and so forth." Rogue would move to step back around the chair. "Just hollar at me if ya need stuff, Professah. I'm obviously in your debt, ya know?" 

:'''{{#var:91|Charles Xavier (91)}} has posed:''' "I definitely will remember you when I see brick walls," Xavier teases back with a glimmer to his eyes. "Thank you for coming to see me. Please do come as you like, no need to wait for invitation," he reminds her, with a nod. He won't keep her, if she needs to go. 
}}

3516/An Extra Meeting

2018-01-03T06:41:35Z

Malky: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2017/12/29 |Location=Southside (Suicide Slum), New Troy |Synopsis=Professor X runs into Glacier, and does some mild recruiting. |Cast of Characters..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2017/12/29
|Location=Southside (Suicide Slum), New Troy
|Synopsis=Professor X runs into Glacier, and does some mild recruiting.
|Cast of Characters=91, 195
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:91|Charles Xavier (91)}} has posed:'''     There is a strange... 'sensation' at the street level this evening, down by a row of very low income housing, much of it in bad repair. It is perhaps 11pm, the night is cold. And the passerby seem to mostly have their heads in their own business as usual: or maybe even moreso than usual. And that is the sensation: that nobody is 'looking' at anything tonight. There is a small child, bundled in green fleece over-large coat, seated on some cement steps by a building. She is speaking very quietly to a somewhat out-of-place looking gentleman in a sleek modern wheelchair. He is similarly bundled up, as the night is quite cold. The child laughs suddenly and spins away from him off onto the sidewalk, and starts to gather up slow in her mismatched mittens. There's a soft glow of little lights around her, as if magical glowbugs were attracted to her laughter, and causing the warm show to flare and reflect off of snow and the slick, wet surfaces of the street. A few people walking by entirely ignore -- or don't even see it. The man in the wheelchair does, though, and encourages her to continue. 

:'''{{#var:195|Maya Caldwell (195)}} has posed:''' Maya Caldwell slowly shuffles along the sidewalk, huddled up in a pair of thick blankets. Her eyes and nose are exposed through a small gap at her face, but it's impossible to pick out details in the low evening light. She slows to a stop as she spots the girl a few dozen feet away, dancing and playing in the snow for the old man in the wheelchair. The woman stays silent for the moment, and just watches the strange light overtaking the girl. 

:'''{{#var:91|Charles Xavier (91)}} has posed:''' The girl spins again and laughs loudly, throwing her gloved hands up and a little shower of twinkles bursts from her head and neck, to lightly flutter upwards and then wink out in a spiral. The man claps his hands for her quietly, eyes moving past her to the huddled Maya. His expression is mild, thoughtful: or perhaps curious, taking her in, before the girl calls to Charles, to get his attention back fully on her: "Wait!" eagerly-- and then squats, slowly trying to scoop snow in her hands. The Professor nods to the girl, and waits, as she grunts and works to gather the snow up. 

:'''{{#var:195|Maya Caldwell (195)}} has posed:''' Maya Caldwell chews on her lower lip nervously beneath her blankets, then slowly turns around to look past the nearby apartments, before looking over to the man in the wheelchair. Finally, she decides to move around the girl, and approaches the man in the wheelchair, though still keeps a respectable distance. "I-Isn't that...dangerous?" she hisses out quietly, voice already naturally wispy and weak. "This isn't e-exactly...a nice part o-of Metropolis..." 

:'''{{#var:91|Charles Xavier (91)}} has posed:''' "It usually is, yes," Charles says, gently, with a saddened look to Maya. The little girl pauses in gathering her snow, but Charles indicates for her to go ahead with a smile and gesture of hand. She peers at Maya but continues with her snow. "I've asked Felicia to show me, though... and I'll protect her for now," he says, simply. He's unassuming, but has a reserved confidence. A few people walk by, talking about their holiday plans, entirely ignoring all three of them. Charles gives Maya a thoughtful softened smile. Felicia calls, "ALMOST..." still making her snowball. 

:'''{{#var:195|Maya Caldwell (195)}} has posed:''' Maya Caldwell chews on her lower lip for another few seconds and goes back to eyeing the girl cautiously. "Wouldn't it...still be a-a good idea to...do this somewhere else...?" She clears her throat, then, "A week ago, there was...uh, something going on at the apartments here. Big, um..." The blankets shuffle a bit, as if the woman wants to gesticulate, but, of course, can't, as bundled up as she is. "Big...uh, dark bubble o-of...of some kind. I don't know. But, ah...I mean, there's...people that...hurt...um, th-those kinds of people. Especially here." 

:'''{{#var:91|Charles Xavier (91)}} has posed:''' Charles puts his full attention on Maya, and nods slowly. He seems to .. think about it, in a very focused way. Charles considers, and smiles once more, perhaps adjusting for Maya's comfort. "Tonight is safe. But, you are right. It is... rather cold. So, somewhere warmer as well, yes: soon. But Felicia needs to stay here with her family.... but I did mention sandwiches." "YES YOU DID," agrees the girl, who returns with her snowball. "I like pizza more, but. Jerry said it was fine." It's covered in her little fluttering lights, like a strange ornament. "Jerry did, indeed. Share with your brother, all right?" Charles reminds her, starting to move his chair towards the sidewalk. There's a car parked there, too nice to not be his. "Yeeees sir," Felicia says in dismay. Her lights get brighter, though. 

:'''{{#var:195|Maya Caldwell (195)}} has posed:''' Maya Caldwell stiffens up slightly at the mention of food, but says nothing. Her attention turns toward the bespeckled snowball, and she smiles beneath her blankets. "Th-That's very pretty," she says aloud to the young girl. "You know, you, ah...y-you have a real gift. Be proud of it, okay?" She stares down at the young girl and nods firmly. 

:'''{{#var:91|Charles Xavier (91)}} has posed:''' "I'm happy to share, if you'd like something to eat, as well," Charles offers to Maya, as if it just occurred to him. He gives her a warm smile. "Would you mind helping me to unload them, though?" he asks Maya regretfully, gesturing to the car door. If she does choose to help, there is a box there, and about six wrapped sandwiches, and some other things: bottled apple juice, and so on. Clearly brought for a small family. "It is my sparkle," Felicia chimes at Maya, cheeks turning bright red from the compliment. "Thank you," she says, in an afterthought, perhaps remembering to be polite. 

:'''{{#var:195|Maya Caldwell (195)}} has posed:''' Maya Caldwell lifts her head and turns to Xavier at the offer. "Wh-...No, no, I...I couldn't, uh...I mean, I can help unload them, sure, but, ah..." She gulps, then opts to leave the sentence hanging. After shuffling her blankets around for a moment, a thin, pale hand pokes out and opens the car door. Her other hand pokes out, and then she just sighs and decides to drop the blankets entirely off on the sidewalk to more easily carry the box. "Don't even know why I bother with those, it's winter," she mumbles to herself. Beneath the blankets, the woman's wearing a pair of faded jeans and a loose tank top, nothing more, not even shoes. She should be freezing--and she looks the part, but she's not even shivering. 

:'''{{#var:91|Charles Xavier (91)}} has posed:''' Charles watches Maya thoughtfully but without judgement. He doesn't push her, but gestures that he can accept the box into his lap once she's lifted it free. It doesn't weigh much anyway. "What do you think, Felicia?" Charles asks the child instead. "Yes, eat with me," the girl shines at Maya, as she reaches into the box to pull a sandwich out and rips at the plastic some with her teeth, slightly feral. Charles is mostly attending to Maya now, observing her movement, and there's a gentle, brief telepathic brush... extremely subtle... just to check on her wellbeing, and if she is hungry or cold. "I'm Charles Xavier," Charles introduces himself quietly to her. "I run a school for gifted children and young adults. I help where I can... if help is wanted," he provides. His name is relatively well known: mutant politics. 

:'''{{#var:195|Maya Caldwell (195)}} has posed:''' Maya Caldwell doesn't seem to notice the psychic invasion of privacy. She's not starving, but could still certainly use a bite to eat. And she -is- cold, with her body itself well below freezing, yet she seems completely comfortable, despite it. Maya sets the box gently in Xavier's lap, then turns to Felicia. "I, ah...Well, if you're sure..." She turns back to Xavier as he mentions himself. She blinks. "Oh! Ah, s-sorry! I, uh, I've heard of you before, I just didn't...put two and two together. Um...S-Sorry, I'm...uh, Sarah." Maya bows her head, suddenly a lot more respectful. 

:'''{{#var:91|Charles Xavier (91)}} has posed:''' "Hi Sarah," Charles says, relaxed, and not asking for any more than she's willing to give. "No need to apologize, please." A pause, looking at Felicia. "I think she's sure," Charles says in amusement, while Felicia looks up, blinks, shrugs, and eats her tuna-fish, after grabbing a second one. "I think we mostly have turkey left," Charles observes of the box. 

:'''{{#var:195|Maya Caldwell (195)}} has posed:''' Maya Caldwell nods her head and hesitantly grabs for a sandwich. She unwraps it from the foil and hesitantly takes a bite, before wincing. A few seconds later, she gulps it down and culs it in her hands to cool it off. "Sorry. Er, m-most of what I eat is...frozen." 

:'''{{#var:91|Charles Xavier (91)}} has posed:''' "It needs to be frozen?" Charles asks, thoughtful, interested in the odd apology. He gestures a little bit with a hand near the box, as if to fan away apologies she keeps offering, not minding. "Please, do what is best for you," he suggests. Felicia asks from a mouthful of food, squinting at Maya, "So you eat like-- snow cones and cold Hot Pockets?" 

:'''{{#var:195|Maya Caldwell (195)}} has posed:''' Maya Caldwell looks down to Felicia and awkwardly nods. "I-I guess? Frozen burritos, uh, H-Hot Pockets, yeah. Or I just...f-freeze it myself." She lifts her head and glances around briefly, before taking another bite of the sandwich. She gulps, then, "It's been a long time since I-I could eat them hot..." She sighs. "Kinda...wish I could try it just once, t-...to, uh, try it again. Even if it'd burn." 

:'''{{#var:91|Charles Xavier (91)}} has posed:''' "Hmmmm. Curious. Perhaps if we meet again, I may be able to help you with it," Xavier considers, with a quiet regret, as if dismayed he may be unable to help her at the moment. "I do know... at least one other gifted individual with cold related abilities... should you wish for a contact to discuss how he handles that, though," Charles Xavier offers, clearly hopeful to be able to help her network. "I don't like my tongue burned!" Felicia says to Maya, shaking her head and chewing more. 

:'''{{#var:195|Maya Caldwell (195)}} has posed:''' Maya Caldwell seems to hesitate...before slowly nodding, her long, black hair bouncing and swaying with the movements. "Yeah, I'd...I-I'd like that." She looks down to her cold sandwich, then speaks up again. "You, uh...That...school y-you said you ran. By, um, 'gifted', you...m-mean, people...like us, right?" Her tone is fragile, as if she's choosing her words very carefully. 

:'''{{#var:91|Charles Xavier (91)}} has posed:''' Mentally, he gently sends a telepathic thought. There is clear intent to clarify that it is him doing it: <<That is what I mean, yes.>> It comes with a relaxed emotion, that there is nothing to fear here. Friendliness. "We teach those that need help understanding their gifts and growing as people. Yes." Xavier fishes in the interior of his coat and comes up with a small card. A mansion extension information contact. 

:'''{{#var:195|Maya Caldwell (195)}} has posed:''' Maya Caldwell jitters at the sudden telepathic thought and looks down to Xavier. She looks down at the card as he pulls it out and slowly takes it. Just being near her as she grabs for it is enough to chill his hand. "Uh...r-right. I mean, I'm not sure I c-could...afford tuition, but...um, thanks, I'll...I'll consider it." She holds the card close to her chest and nods. 

:'''{{#var:91|Charles Xavier (91)}} has posed:''' Charles doesn't react to the cold much, though he does note it. He doesn't draw attention to it though -- it's fine. "That's what scholarships are for. And we do have some... adult college aged students as well," he says, gentle. "But... it is also a lifeline. Should you need it, or someone to talk to." He hands out several more things from the box to Felicia. "Get those to your brother, now," he reminds her, and she nods, hugging them into her jacket. "Bye," Felicia says to Maya brightly. 

:'''{{#var:195|Maya Caldwell (195)}} has posed:''' Maya Caldwell briefly looks over to Xavier, before lowering her head sheepishly. She jods at his words...then suddenly lifts her head up and glances between Felicia and Xavier at their broef converstion. "Wait, sh-...I-I thought she was yours? Ah, w-would you...mind if I at least...er, made sure she got home safe?" 

:'''{{#var:91|Charles Xavier (91)}} has posed:''' "No, she and her brother live here with their uncle," Charles supplies, sighing. "For now. They have invitation, but they have some more thinking to do about what is best for them," he says, turning his head. "You are welcome to, yes, though it is just across there," Charles says, nodding his head down towards the end of the block. "Carry apple juice for me?" Felicia begs Maya. 

:'''{{#var:195|Maya Caldwell (195)}} has posed:''' Maya Caldwell stutters out a wispy, but firm, "I-I'd like to." Her attention snaps down to Felicia, and she smiles a bit. "Ah, s-sure. It'll be nice and cold, too." She takes the apple juice and follows Felicia back home, only pulling her eyes away from their surroundings long enough to glance back at Xavier over her shoulder. 
}}

3293/Home from the Hospital

2018-01-03T06:39:50Z

Malky: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2017/12/02 |Location=Bellevue Hospital, and car |Synopsis=Professor X brings a student back home to the mansion. |Cast of Characters=898, 1439, 91..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2017/12/02
|Location=Bellevue Hospital, and car
|Synopsis=Professor X brings a student back home to the mansion.
|Cast of Characters=898, 1439, 91
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:898|Kitora Alua (898)}} has posed:''' Kitora Alua was antsy to get home. She did her best not to use her mutant powers while hospital-bound - she had a full cast on her arm which was broken by gunshot - but the bone's healing well and her arm is in a light cast now - it'll be there for a week. Worried about what happened after getting hurt - with her powers becoming unreliable, she called the school and requested a pickup. So she is waiting, sitting impatiently on the hospital bed, tapping on her phone with her hand. Good thing it was her off-hand that was hurt. She waits in the lobby, the release paperwork all signed (provisionally - she's a ward of the school). 

:'''{{#var:1439|Kaydin (1439)}} has posed:'''     Kaydin had heard one of the students was in the hospital so he came to see, bringing a get well balloon from the supermarket. He slows down enough to be seen as he approaches the woman. "You okay?" He asks as he moves to hand her the balloon. He then looks around. "So expecting someone to pick you up?" He asks curiously. 

:'''{{#var:91|Charles Xavier (91)}} has posed:'''     "Miss Alua," comes the warm, calm voice of what can only be Professor Xavier. She called for a pick up, perhaps expecting a car from one of the other members of staff to jump into, but she's pulled a probably rather surprising draw instead. "I'm very glad to see you are on the mend," Xavier continues, entering the waiting room more fully with a dodge of several chairs: relative grace, considering the spacial requirements of his own chair.     "I hope you don't mind my coming to see you myself," the older man says, with a slight amused touch into his eyes. He has a simply wrapped parcel in his lap, neatly tucked inside some clear cellophane, hands folded near it. "Hello, Mr. LeGraize," he says smoothly to Kaydin. 

:'''{{#var:898|Kitora Alua (898)}} has posed:''' Kitora Alua squeaks as she rises to her feet, bowing. "Professor Xavier," she murmurs, awed by what happened. "I wasn't expecting a hero's welcome..." She glances at Kaydin. "Hey Kaydin, thanks for coming to visit me. I'm fine - just... my arm hurts some. I should have the cast off in a week. And I don't mind at all, Professor." She ponders. "I didn't want to risk my usual travel methods." She smiles to the doctors as she prepares to head out. 

:'''{{#var:1439|Kaydin (1439)}} has posed:'''     "Professor." Kaydin says as he stands up a little straighter. He then looks to Kitora and goes to try and help her and the professor out the door. "There was another riot in mutant town. I had to help break it up." He says as he watches the woman. He then turns to the professor. "Is there anything else you need in the city, Professor Xavier?" He asks curiously. 

:'''{{#var:91|Charles Xavier (91)}} has posed:'''     "It isn't a balloon, but I've brought you a bit of something as well," Professor Xavier says, with a mild edge of apology, since, of course, it wasn't a balloon. The non-balloon cellophane wrapped item is offered, should she like to investigate it. The contents? Several submarine sandwiches. "I hope you'll forgive me already having had mine," he adds, with and edge of amusement, freeing her to eat whatever she wishes of it. "And perhaps not being here enough, when these things do happen to students." A slight crease of dismay clouds his face. But it passes.     He turns his head to Kaydin's question. "I hope that I am done in the city for now, but as soon as I leave, no doubt we'll remember something," he chuckles. "There's space if you would like to ride with us," he offers to Kaydin as well, leaving it open, perhaps aware the Speedster may prefer his own methods. He is very clearly listening to the comments about the riots, but doesn't bring up questions on it in the hospital lobby. "Thank you very much," he says as Kaydin helps with the door. 

:'''{{#var:898|Kitora Alua (898)}} has posed:''' Kitora Alua glances at Kaydin, slumping. "Wow. That's..." She sighs softly. "The whole thing in DC has made things worse, hasn't it?" she muses softly as she glances at the package. "Wow, after four days of hospital food, I was about ready to go cannibal." She smiles at Kaydin, tucking the string of the balloon into her belt and awkwardly trying to open a sandwich and starts to chow down. "Thanks, Kaydin," she mumbles, mouth full, as she took out one sandwich before they even got to the vehicle. "Professor... my abilities went... erratic... after the injury. I... I was scared to try my usual chain-portals home... or to fly. I... was it fear... or pain...?" She shivers as she climbs into the vehicle. 

:'''{{#var:1439|Kaydin (1439)}} has posed:'''     "You would think saving lives would include decent food." Kaydin says with a smile to the woman and nods. "Something magical was making the people riot. Atleast thats what I was told when help showed up." He says as he nods. He then looks to the professor. "I wouldnt mind a ride. Saves my shoes." He says as he grins at the man and he looks to Kitora. "You will get your abilities back with time." He says to the woman. 

:'''{{#var:91|Charles Xavier (91)}} has posed:'''     The Professor takes longer to enter the vehicle, being that he has to deal with the chair's integration into it. He doesn't have a driver, so there's a technological solution that's no doubt a little interesting to watch. Passer-by don't seem to mind at all, though, or even pay any notice to any of them. It's useful to have the Xavier buffer, when it's better for things to just go smoothly.     "All of those things can effect concentration and confidence, even those with a great deal of training," Charles gently answers. "It takes time to develop different answers to stress or injury. But always remember there is more than /just/ relying on your abilities. You have friends, resources. There's no need to be so hard on yourself and what you can or can't do in the moment," he continues. "And I'm happy to be the one to bring you home," Xavier says, turning his head some in the front seat to incline it to her, needing her to see his calm expression. She's not a problem or a bother. And he sends a similar smile to Kaydin, approving of his support to Kitora, before turning more of his attention to the journey back. 

:'''{{#var:898|Kitora Alua (898)}} has posed:''' Kitora Alua nods. "It's the first time I was seriously injured..." she muses softly as she takes the front seat. She starts to eat a second sandwich. "This puts things in a new perspective. I wanted to join the X-Men to make a difference. I didn't really think about what'd happen if I lost. I didn't even see it coming. Cyberdragon and I dealt with the first wave... I can easily snag a molotov cocktail and fire it back. I thought I heard something and flew up - and then before I knew it, I heard a bang. I tried to use a gravity field to deflect the bullet.... I think I did deflect it from my torso... if I didn't..." She trails off. "I... might not be having this conversation..." She goes quiet. "Thank you, Professor. Your leadership has made all the difference in my life." 

:'''{{#var:1439|Kaydin (1439)}} has posed:'''     "You will get better. With practice you will be able to help those out with your abilities." Kaydin says as he climbs into the backseat. He then looks to the professor as he gets into the car, and then looks back to Kitora. "If you need help, just give the word. Lately I been busy with my art projects." 

:'''{{#var:91|Charles Xavier (91)}} has posed:'''     Sometimes the best thing to do is just to listen. And Professor Xavier does that now while driving, he listens to her talk in his sympathetic way. "There are ways to practice dealing with projectiles like that, indeed. Should you want that, we can work on it. But there will always be something that can get through... and working through that truth, and the reality after, can be much harder than deflecting bullets," Xavier says as she goes quiet. He's clearly open to talking more -- though he doesn't push even a little bit. It's on her terms. To the back seat, the professor addresses: "Anything new that's ready to show me?" in interest. 

:'''{{#var:898|Kitora Alua (898)}} has posed:''' Kitora Alua nods. "I need to learn how to defend myself. Maybe... learning how to project my abilities at a longer range..." She sighs softly. "Maybe I'll focus on cooking for a bit longer." She glances over at the Professor, back to Kaydin, going quiet as she eats a third sandwich. "Did I do the right thing? Defending Mutant Town when the situation arose?" she asks. "I feel it was right - I just need to learn how to handle crisis situations... and how to continue to fight while injured..." She sighs softly. "I suppose what I need to do now is see if I can start calling my powers now... well... maybe not while the car is on the road..." She goes quiet again - most of that was quiet - as if she was talking to herself. "Think things will get worse with the... presidental assassination, Professor?" 

:'''{{#var:1439|Kaydin (1439)}} has posed:'''     "Defending anyone who needs it is always the right thing to do." Kaydin says as he watches the woman and looks out the window. He then gets his phone out and shows a picture of the X-men defending against sentinels on a building wall. "Just completed this one the other day." He says as he goes to show the picture to Kitora. He then looks to Xavier. 

:'''{{#var:91|Charles Xavier (91)}} has posed:'''     "In my experience... usually things have a way of getting much worse before they get better, and planning for the difficulty ahead is our best response," The professor says in a way that suggests he's very strongly withholding back more about that particular topic at this moment. The strain isn't evident, but that he'd rather speak of her powers for now, that's pretty clear: "There is a time and place, and the middle of traffic is not the best; at least let the sandwiches digest a little -- just like before you'd go swimming," Professor Xavier teases her a little bit in agreement. "Well. What do you think you'd be feeling how, had you turned away from Mutant Town?" Professor Xavier asks her instead.     The picture showing gets a brief motion of hand in a 'one moment' gesture, as he's driving, but will look at a stoplight. "All sprayed, or brushwork as well?" 

:'''{{#var:898|Kitora Alua (898)}} has posed:''' Kitora Alua just blinks, as she considers, tugging on her hair as she finishes the fifth sandwich, saving the last one for later. "I..." She trails off. "I would be ashamed of myself if I was there and did nothing," she states, turning to gaze at the picture. "Wow - that's awesome," she coooos as she gets her own phone out and shows a picture of her own - a gorgeous souffle. "Making a souffle is very tricky - but this is my best effort to date." She smiles softly as she ponders. "My main error in that fight - was flying up to look. I am hardly subtle when I power on - I glow. And my head and heart glow brighter. I made myself a beacon flare." She ponders. "I have to think about how better to do this." 

:'''{{#var:1439|Kaydin (1439)}} has posed:'''     "That looks gorgeous and delicious." Kaydin says as he looks to her picture and looks to Xavier as he drives. "Thats just spray. Stencils and stuff." He says as he adjusts his pack. He then looks to Kitora and nods. "Well next time you need help, just send word. I can get to the city in a heartbeat." He says with a nod. 

:'''{{#var:91|Charles Xavier (91)}} has posed:'''     "Then I think, if you would have been ashamed... you know the answer, and should be proud of it; I am." A pause. "Sometimes having an 'obvious' target can help your teammates when they need it, but it does have some downsides to personal stealth," Xavier smiles at her a little bit. "But sometimes side-effects to powers, such as excessive light emission, is something you can reduce." He glances into the rearview mirror once to smile at Kaydin's offer of help. No need to encourage these to work together, it seems!     "As for that souffle, if it tasted half as well as it appears, I've definitely missed out," Xavier says sadly, but his general attitude has turned more... vibrant, really, in the company of the eager, creative teens. 

:'''{{#var:898|Kitora Alua (898)}} has posed:''' Kitora Alua smiles. "Then - soon as I get this cast off - you'll find out for yourselves. As my knights in shining armor, rescuing me from the realm of food sadness - I'll make each of you a souffle. Single-serving each..." She trails off. "A single serving for a normal person that is." She ponders. "I don't know the last time I actually went the full distance between the city and Xavier's by car..." She smiles faintly as she realizes they're almost there - she can see the top of the mansion as they are approaching. 

:'''{{#var:1439|Kaydin (1439)}} has posed:'''     Kaydin smiles. "sounds like a plan to me." He says as he sees the mansion. He then looks to the various people and nods. He leans back in his seat and waits for them to pull up to the mansion. "Can I borrow your notes on Mr. Summers class, physics isnt my strongsuit." He asks kitora. 

:'''{{#var:91|Charles Xavier (91)}} has posed:'''     The mansion is ahead, and there's zero security measures needed for this particular car - they just cruise on in without any stopping at all. And the parking? Well. That's quite close to the main set of buildings, naturally. "I look forward to that, but no hurry. I'll be around for it, /when/ your arm is healed," Xavier reminds in dad-voice. "Until then, one-armed jello will have to suffice," he concludes in a deadpan, long-suffering tone. And waves them inside.     Xavier smiles briefly as the note-sharing is mentioned by Kaydin. "Don't let me keep you; enjoy your Saturday," he bids them, with good cheer. And, though it is apparent he has something else that needs his attention, he is making sure they're good to go. And with that, he'll glide off into the main hall, headed for the elevator, greeting students as they pass. 

:'''{{#var:898|Kitora Alua (898)}} has posed:''' Kitora Alua just stands there and watches Xavier leave. "One-armed jello...?" she mumbles, shocked. "Wow. I... I'd never..." She glances at Kaydin. "Sure - I'll send them over. I'm just trying to build up my courage to see if I can power up... I'm a bit scared of what'd happen." She starts heading towards her room. 

:'''{{#var:1439|Kaydin (1439)}} has posed:'''     "If you want to power up you can. I can react quick enough to catch you should you need it." Kaydin says as he tries to help her to the best of his ability. He then looks to the woman. "So you going to become a fancy chef someday?" He asks curiously. 

:'''{{#var:898|Kitora Alua (898)}} has posed:''' Kitora Alua nods slowly as she takes a deep breath, wincing as she tries to stretch her arms. She starts to glow - or tries to. The glow is flickering as she blinks rapidly between her normal appearance and the powered form that so many have seen her in. "It's... hard to hold it..." she whines. 

:'''{{#var:1439|Kaydin (1439)}} has posed:'''     "Dont need to force it. Last thing you need to do is force it and makes it hurt." He says as he watches the woman and he waits. He looks to his phone's time and then puts it back into his pocket as his attention is on the girl. 

:'''{{#var:898|Kitora Alua (898)}} has posed:''' Kitora Alua nods slowly as she manages to stay glowing this time. "You're right... I don't want to try to gravity-shift if I could fall... and I'm not reallysure what an unstable portal would do..." She slumps. "This is going to suck. I..." She trails off. "No. This is good for me. I've gotten too reliant on using my powers whenever I wanted." 

:'''{{#var:1439|Kaydin (1439)}} has posed:'''     "Atleast you can turn your powers off. For me, everything is hella slow all the time. I can probably juggle chainsaws and not get hurt." He says with a smile as he watches her. 

:'''{{#var:898|Kitora Alua (898)}} has posed:''' Kitora Alua smiles. "So can I," she muses softly. "Let's try something easy," she muses as she walks along - as a few loose stones get caught up in her gravitational field and start to orbit her. "Hmmmm," she muses. "But if I try to use my abilities - I look like this. It's nightmarish to some." Her body glows dully, and somewhat translucently, with bright liens of red light visible inside her arms, legs, chest, and head. She takes a step, bumps against something, gasping in shock as her glow suddenly winks out with a clatter of stones. "Ow." 

:'''{{#var:1439|Kaydin (1439)}} has posed:'''     Kaydin watches her and looks to the rock. When she glows he remains nearby. When she says ow and the glow winks out he nods. "Guess you are going to take it easy. I can run errands for you." He says as he claps his hand. "Anything you need at the moment?" He asks curiously. 

:'''{{#var:898|Kitora Alua (898)}} has posed:''' Kitora Alua slumps. "Yeah... just a week..." She ponders. "Do you know a healer?" she asks softly. "I thought I heard that someone around here can heal stuff..." She ponders. "Well... I need company. This is kinda depressing." She smiles faintly. "One-armed jello, huh? I guess I could manage that." She starts heading towards the cafeteria. "Oh right, I need this week's lectures from Mr. Summers- I missed a few days of classes." 

:'''{{#var:1439|Kaydin (1439)}} has posed:'''     "I can bring you what I got. I just dont got what his recent class was." Kaydin says as he zooms off and comes back with books and notebooks and offers them to her. "This is what I got." He says as he watches her. 

:'''{{#var:898|Kitora Alua (898)}} has posed:''' Kitora Alua nods. "That'd be helpful." She clicks her tongue as she studies the paperwork, nodding. "So - what shall we do now?" she asks. "Is it fun, running so fast?" she asks. "I can fly at 500 MPH while shifting... more or less." 

:'''{{#var:1439|Kaydin (1439)}} has posed:'''     "It is addictive. I have hard times believing how slow I was. Everything happens at a snail's pace and thus easy to decide. Can even catch bullets." He says as he smirks as he reaches into a pocket and pulls out a perfect nine mil bullet. "First bullet I ever caught." He says as he offers it to her. 

:'''{{#var:898|Kitora Alua (898)}} has posed:''' Kitora Alua looks at the bullet, sighing softly. "I was not so lucky," she mutters softly. "I think he was aiming for my heart - which was oh-so-conveniently highlighted. I'm lucky I was able to deflect it to just my arm." She gazes at it, then hands it back. 

:'''{{#var:1439|Kaydin (1439)}} has posed:'''     "Just means you need armor in those vital spots." Kaydin says with a smile as he watches her. "So you seriously going to join the X-men? I heard about them, and I am not sure I match the requirements. I am not a mutant, just a kid who got struck by lightning." He says as he watches her. 

:'''{{#var:898|Kitora Alua (898)}} has posed:''' Kitora Alua shrugs. "I don't see that it matters - you might as well be a mutant." She sighs softly. "Think of it this way. Normal humans won't fear you because of a genetic marker. They'll fear you because of your abilities. It is the goal of the X-Men to achieve... harmony. Sadly, that is not easy. Especially with terrorists like Magneto. Pity - I actually ran into him two weeks ago before... DC... and he seemes like such a nice man." 

:'''{{#var:1439|Kaydin (1439)}} has posed:'''     Kaydin nods as he listens to the woman. "He is charismatic. That is sometimes enough to get people rallied to your cause. People dont respond well to change. My tribe originally owned the land around seattle and we were cheated out of it." Kaydin says as he shakes his head. 

:'''{{#var:898|Kitora Alua (898)}} has posed:''' Kitora Alua shrugs. "Yeah. So was Hitler. Look what that led us. IF this keeps up, poeple will utter the two names in the same breath." She sighs softly. "Oh - you're Native American? I din't really pay much attention to race these days - especially here where people look all different. I mean, an Asian girl with flaming red hair is weird on its own right." 

:'''{{#var:1439|Kaydin (1439)}} has posed:'''     "Mother was a native american, father was a white biker." Kaydin says as he watches her and nods. He zooms off and comes back with a bottle of soda, mountain dew, and offers it to the woman. "Do you need anything to eat or drink?" He asks curiously. 

:'''{{#var:898|Kitora Alua (898)}} has posed:''' Kitora Alua shrugs. "Nah - even for me, six subs is filling." She smiles softly. "What's your favorite school subject?" she asks. "And do you know anything about the X-Men?" she asks. "I think I'm a fan of Nightcrawler." 

:'''{{#var:1439|Kaydin (1439)}} has posed:'''     "Art. Lets me draw for fun." He says as he watches the girl and chuckles. "Mr Wagner is cool, dont get me wrong, but I think Logan is badass. Man has a metal skeleton and claws, and can heal from anything. I whine like a little girl when I stub my toe." He says as he sighs from it. 

:'''{{#var:898|Kitora Alua (898)}} has posed:''' Kitora Alua smiles. "You have your art - I have my food. But I can't cook really for a week or so." She nods slowly. "Yes - one would think that having that much metal would wiegh one down..." 

:'''{{#var:1439|Kaydin (1439)}} has posed:'''     "Then you have no choice but to eat what is in the cafeteria. Heaven forbid." He says as he watches her. "Wouldnt mind trying to eat your cooking. I eat alot like you." He says as he sips his soda and his phone chirps. He pulls it out and checks it. "Hey I need to go. You good here??" He asks watching her. 

:'''{{#var:898|Kitora Alua (898)}} has posed:''' Kitora Alua nods. "I bet - ever get kicked out of an all-you-can-eat buffet? I have." She nods slowly. "Alright. I'll be around. Keep in touch." She smiles as she starts walking towards her room, wishing she could just portal in like she normally does. She hopes she doesn't get lost in the corridors. 
}}

3541/New Year, New Start

2018-01-03T06:35:04Z

Malky:

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2018/01/01
|Location=Tony Stark's Office
|Synopsis=Tony and Pepper discuss... dating. It is horribly awkward.
|Cast of Characters=22, 83
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' To say there has been a lot of activity is a massive understatement. The parties went on (and on) for four days. Each party had a slightly different demonstration of the new safety repulsor technology. And then, abruptly, that was IT for the parties, and intense negotiations began related to the technology unveiled there: meetings galore. Tony has been both a hindrance and a dream related to the meetings.     A hindrance, because he keeps scheduling and moving them around fit to make any assistant want to strangle him. Most of them are being moved UP and some appear to overlap!     A dream, because he's ...actually SCHEDULING them and GOING to them with confusingly good efficiency. In the meetings (at least the ones witnessed), Tony is using his extreme charisma and clout to pretty much just shotgun others into going along with his deals. Both sides are happy about the results, generally: it isn't negative, just aggressive. The style has been to get into a meeting, skip pleasantries, and make agreements fast: and then move on to the next one: hence the weird scheudle overlaps. Which means, in essence, Tony is /doing his job/ as a CEO for once, and has shown he can be a powerhouse (...which is good and bad, because it means he's been performing well under his potential there before, for ages). If only he focused his full energy on it like this all the time: it might be like working for a more traditionally functional boss. And so, despite the meeting tilt-o-whirl directly after the party spree, it has been, no doubt, a positive week. ...Maybe. There's all kinds of red flags in it: something is up, and probably very wrong, with Tony. Behavior of this type (being a type that is out of character) has indicated incoming meltdowns before. It started with the SHIELD niceties, the fewer women brought home, and has gotten more obvious now with business stuff. But it's not BAD behavior. Just... different. But problematic, since it suggests he's been replaced by a pod person, or that his train is going off the rails. Due to the New Year, most employees have the day off, those that want it. But, well, not so much Ms. Potts: there's a bunch of things to handle! Ringing in the New Year for Tony was not at one of his own parties: he went elsewhere (Vegas apparently), and tumbled back in to the tower obnoxiously late after having slept on the flight. And so it is more like around 1pm that JARVIS alerts Ms. Potts that she has a meeting with Tony in his office in 20 minutes. He must have just scheduled it - or moved it up, after noticing she was in for work. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' Pepper, of course, worked like a horse through the holidays. Cleaning up after the parties, then running around to all the meetings. Actually securing the contracts that Tony negotiates and ensuring everything is signed before people back out of them. A dozen other small things that happen behind the scenes with every deal and she ENSURES they are done, but it's a lot of work. And rare that the work comes this quickly in a row. So, she's in on New Years day, catching up on a bit of back log of old business that got neglected while she was handling new contracts, when that meeting pops up. She blinksi n a touch of confusion, echoing to the computer: "Thank you, JARVIS." She doesn't even bother asking when Tony put the meeting on her schedule. She wanted to talk with him anyway. So, twenty minutes later, she's shown up outside of his office. She has two coffees in hand, his just the way he likes it and from the special roasters. SHe never forgets these things, even overwhelmed with other work. A touch of exhaustion is showing around the edges, but she carries on. "Tony?" SHe asks, as she ducks her head inside his office, "You... put an appointment on my schedule?" 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "Yep, come on down; you're the next contestant to get to sit on 'uncomfortable visitor chair'," Tony agrees from across the office as she arrives. He's seated in his chair at his desk, partially spun around such that he was looking out the window, but rotates as she comes in, and scoots in to rest an arm on the desk, reclined halfway. He looks hungover but is handling it to some extent, although many of the windows are drawn with shades. He's dressed in suit jacket and pants, but has a graphical tee under it, one of the old STARK emblems. "I've got two things to go over. ...And don't get tense on me right away. Both of them are entirely 'me' things," Tony clarifies, patting his palms down once or twice on the surface of his desk, as if the whole desk were partially in the way, but he couldn't quite put his fingers on why. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' Silence lingers for a few moments as Pepper looks over his face, trying to see just how bad the hang over is and how crazy he's driving himself. She steps the last few feet across the room and settles into the uncomfortable visitor's chair as offered, though not until after sliding his coffee across the desk to him. "Got your favourite. Just like you like it..." She offers with a half smile, though she doesn't entirely hide the worry. Then she's settling back down in the chair, nursing her own coffee between her fingertips. "Alright, I'm listening... but then I have one thing for you. But you first. What are your two things?" Pepper asks, her voice all professional business. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' The whole situation is very boss-assistant heavy, with that desk, the office, visitor chair, the whole thing. The office is designed to put visitors in their place, of course, to some extent. And Tony doesn't like it. "This thing is like a barracade," Tony observes of the desk itself, and gets up come come around it, sitting on the corner, in a far more relaxed manner, without the gulf of desk between them. Far better - to him, anyway. Or he's stalling. A mix, likely. "There we go." He picks up the coffee brought from the desk with a brief flash of appreciation, warms his other hand against it. "The first thing is about, ah, the second night of the party, when Thor and I did some 'light' drinking," Tony identifies. Of course he would place it in his memory that way. He looks up from the coffee to check for reaction. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' "...Tony, you could barely walk. There was no light drinking about it." Pepper states flatly, but she is sitting just a bit straighter up in her chair now, shoulders square and jaw a touch set. She doesn't move away as he comes around the desk, but she also doesn't move closer. "...Should I get my tablet out and take notes, or is this a... personal discussion, Tony?" He might be trying to make this more person to person instead of boss and assistant, but she's in the middle of her hours and firmly in the head space of his employee. So, that's how she responds. She doesn't yet, however, actually get that tablet out. She remains with her delicate hands around her coffee cup and pale eyes leveled up at his handsome face. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Tony sort of brushes her question aside with a hand, as if fanning it away as unnecessary. His tone and body language suggest he's doing a person-to-person session, though. "Light for /Thor/," Tony admits. "Anyhow, I couldn't remember what we talked about other than that you said something that I was supposed to remember later," Tony says, starting to lean into his way of ...talking rapidly to sort of fill the air with words: "Since that was important to remember." Only a brief pause. "But when I checked on it with JARVIS, there was a problem there, too -- being the part where I over, ah--" hmm. "I, you know." The struggle is real. "I seemed to have put you in a category of flirting," Tony manages to get through it. "And that's not..." Tony seems to work through how to best get his point through. "It's not a position that's fair." Another pause, but the train just keeps going: "You're one of the best things to happen to me --this company," Tony slips and adjusts, looking away. "Top three, at the least," he adjusts again. "So I wanted to say I'm aware I was an asshole to tease you, or treat you that way. You're not Rebeca or Traci or whoever." She's important, /better/. His expression is dismayed, tired, but gaze moves back to her finally, with a genuine quality, but uncomfortable. He has a hard time with fixing his social misteps. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' While Pepper wasn't exactly mad, she has been more distant over these days. That last thing she said had been enough -- she a touch tipsy and beyond exhausted when she dared to say it -- and nothing had come of it. So, Pepper threw herself head over heels into business, drowning in it, working herself to the breaking point. After all, it was most comfortable for her that way. Now, however, the hesitance in his voice, his dancing around those words, it's all enough to gain a slightly longer look from her. She does not yet speak, simply listens, the line of her lips softening just a bit more. Hovering on the edge of uncertainty as her green eyes study his handsome gaze. "Tony..." She finally begins, breathing out slowly, tasting his name without having real words to follow it for a few heartbeats. "I... appreciate your words. And you are correct. It wasn't fair. And I set you to rights that night, and you didn't... Really... push, so that is that. It's behind us. Forget it happened." She states flatly, half closing off her heart, shutting down just a bit more. Clearly, he doesn't remember the other part. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' The emotional gulf rips open between them, as Tony evidently fails to respond or 'fix' things in the way she needs, as his understanding remains skewed. He sets his coffee aside behind him on the desk, adjusting his position in leaning to drop one hand to either side of him on the desk. He doesn't LIKE lingering in this uncomfortable, awkward place: it's awful. "So there was more, but you want to forget it happened, sure. Then you'd said something you regretted, too? It happens. I mean, other than thanking me for saving you. I still get credit for making sure you were alive, when you were passed-out drunk." That other part: he's taking it that she didn't mean to suggest a date, now, and, by the sound of it, is letting her out of it instead of teasing her on it. "I hope I'm not a boss that always is told what he wants to hear," Tony laughs. ...which turns all of that inside out, suggesting she said something he wanted to hear. "Anyway, second thing..." Tony says, trying to pivot, tone forced upbeat. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' "...And JARVIS helped you remember.. what initially happened... and not the end of it? Or is it better to just ignore it?" Pepper finally asks, almost out of no where, not entirely able to conceal the hurt from her voice even as she's desperately trying to keep this professional. After a night like that, purely professional is a little beyond possible. So, she dares ask that, not quite able to keep his eyes as she does so, heart half in her throat. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' That attempt to escape awkward land was started... and thwarted, as Pepper hangs onto the previous topic. His forced upbeat attempt to move on away from the discomfort fails, and he coughs against his hand. He watches her look at him, and clearly seems to try to figure out how to respond to her. The pause as he calculates reveals, at the least, that he isn't /confused/. "I have a full transcript, which we can put behind us, like you asked?" Tony ends up with, gesturing some to her as if trying to give her more say here. His dark eyes soften in dismay as he sees the edges of her hurt. Oh geez. And he reacts to it. "Shit, Pep. I didn't mean to wound you that night. I don't know why I crossed a line." He doesn't suggest it's the drink, or her dress, or anything: he takes the blame personally. And a sort of haunted strength of force comes into his gaze, a set to jaw. The streak in Tony that is Iron Man. "I don't want to lose you." 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' Green eyes stare hard up at him as he comments about having a full transcript. So he did know. Pepper's expression cannot hide the hurt, not in the least now, and some strange mix of hope around her heart which beats bird-like in her throat. She tries not to speak for a few moments, forcing her voice back in her throat, swallowing the words she knows could ruin both of them. But she can't find others. So she just watches him, heart in her mouth, the glassiness of her eyes probably not entirely exhaustion. "...But you don't want to date me either." It just spills out the moment she does part her lips. "No...I'm not Rebecca, or Traci, or one of your... flings. And you shouldn't have flirted like that. No... not unless you meant it. Not unless there was going to be something..." And finally, her good sense catches up with her brain and she shakes her head quietly, forcing her eyes away and back down. "...Sorry. I... I shouldn't have... Sorry, Mr. Stark..." She's trying to pull herself back into being entirely proper and professional again. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Tony's brows launch very high as he takes in her own spilling of words. Normally that's him, rambling. "Hey, uh, ahhh," Tony fumbles, letting go of the desk, taking one step towards her to close the distance, one hand lifting towards her head but then he can't quite figure out what to do once he's there, and fidgets the fingers a little bit, drops the hand. "It, I uh." Tony clicks his tongue against his teeth a few times, breathing through his nose. "I'm sort of un-datable," Tony reminds her. "A path into a dark and tangled forest of doom, really, at best." 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' Undateable. Pepper is silent for several heartbeats, glassy eyes turning back up to him, coffee forgotten. Hopes forgotten. She just watches him for too long, uncertain what to say, hope quickly leaving her. Finally, she just nods. He's seen that look before, the careful shutting down. Closing off. Turning utterly nothing but professional but painfully loyal. No matter how much it hurt, she'd be loyal. "...Of course. Mr. Stark. If... if you really think. I was... foolish to... I mean, I shouldn't have... " She exhales a brief puff of air, trembling just a moment then pulling it all together. "You had something else to say. Sorry I interrupted." She does not meet his eyes now. She does, hwoever, put down her coffee and pull her small phone tablet out of her back pocket. Note taking time. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Ack. "Well, no, that's a 'me' thing, not so much a you thing. I'm sure with a whole dating thing, that you're.... well --some things I probably can't actually say without sounding like I'm flirting, so I'll stop where I'm ahead," Tony says, looking down at their feet, and folding his arms in front of him, before unfolding one to scratch a little bit at one of his temples, and squint at her. "Please stop with the Mr. Stark thing," Tony suddenly says quietly to her, his voice naked and exposed, and aware. He attempts to reach out and put a palm on her device, pushing it down some, to get her to look at him again. "And besides, it wouldn't shock me if you had a machete in there that was good at hacking apart jungles." He cracked open the door, carefully. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' As his hand goes onto her tablet, that pauses her ability to take all notes. Pepper can do nothing but look up at him. For a moment, he might realize why she was hiding her eyes. They are definitely glassy, unspent tears hovering just behind her gaze. It hurt, to realize that he might not ever want to date her. THat there is no chance, which is what her mind heard. But now he's looking back at her, reaching out to touch her, and giving her just enough words to give some hope. She swallows her heart back down her throat. "...I... am generally prepared for such things, yes. And... consider the challenge to be worth while, but... that would involve you actually wanting to step up to such a challenge also. And maybe I was a fool to think that. You...flirted. You were drunk. You did to me what you have done with dozens of other women before. I... I shouldn't have read anything into it. Maybe. Even if I did..." She confesses softly, some scratchiness behind her throat. "Maybe...I thought I... was different. Maybe I was wrong..." 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Tony doesn't like standing over her anymore, and drops to squat in front of her chair instead, and gently draws the phone out of her hands to set it aside on the chair arm next to her. And for a little while, as she talks, he's just... there, looking at her, and as she makes her last confession, snares both of her slim, petite hands under his against her knee. He's just looking at her, attention entirely on her: his eyes move over her face, to her hair, mouth, eyes. "I think you're the best of us, there. And I'm still pretty sure I'm the asshole. You deserve the best, really." 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' Pepper doesn't fight the removal of her phone at all, nor the touch of his hand. She just watches him as he kneels in front of her, some odd glimmer of hope rising up in her hurt eyes. Her fingertips are trembling, ever so finely, beneath his fingertips. She is actually scared -- Pepper Potts, who is never intimidated by anything -- is scared. She draws in a deeper breath against her frantic heartbeat, trying to calm and steady herself even as she doesn't dare look away from his handsome features. "You...can be an asshole. But... sometimes... you're the best man in the world, as well. A lot of times. You don't see it... not often. But I do. Why else do you think I've been here almost ten years, Tony? You're so much better than you ever realize..." She whispers, and she dares to slip one of her hands free so it can come up and trace over his cheek, her thumb against the edge of his goatee. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Tony gets somewhat embarrassed and also arrogant with her compliments: his usual combination: which starts with a sort of sly laugh and smile, and evolves into the more cocky shrug about that yes, he can be awesome. He adjusts his weight on his leg, shifting weight due to the strain of the squat position, and sort of takes stock of how... awkward this is. And feels a massive pressure to ...stall, or get a moment. And also to stop squatting. "Hey, um, let's go to the couch. I feel like I'm proposing on one knee here," Tony says, without censor. "C'mon, c'mon," he coaxes in his 'playfully persuasive Tony' way, no saying no allowed, trying to draw her along by the hand to the other side of the office by the televisions, briefly tapping a few buttons on the control on the side of the couch, and all the televisions (with the various news, sports, etc) dim out. It isn't dark in particular. "Sorry. Where were you? Oh. Compliments." He smiles at her, though, and squeezes her hand. His tone is more playful but body language is... kind. Receptive. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' The comment about the proposal makes Pepper blink and actually laugh a bit awkwardly -- straight up nervously, "Yes! Oh...god. Yes. I can't unsee it now. Let's move. Yes." She almost sounds relieved for the excuse to break out of the too-serious conversation she had been having. But he's still touching her, keeping her hands, and that's a touch that is a bit more than being boss and assistant. It's one she's hesitant to draw back from but doesn't entirely know how to handle. So, she allows herself to be led to the couch, the room growing a bit more dim and intimate. "So. Couch. And... I... am... I'm just being honest. I think you are better man than you know. But...if... If you think you're not. Or if you don't want to be, then forget I said anything. We'll go back to work, we'll forget it happened. When you get bored in a week, I'll call Traci for you again. It's... fine. I know how this works." And then he's lost her eyes again, Pepper talking herself quickly out of the courage she did have. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Okay, the couch is already better. Tony relaxes back some, quickly moving to adjust his coat, then pivots to face her, which draws one of his knees up onto the couch more between them, other arm to the back of the couch. He pulls her hand forward to rest against the raised knee. Tony looks down at her hands and checks her face quickly for a cue on if she wants to pull away or if she's fine. "I wasn't intending to say I had no good traits, I'm not that humble," Tony supplies. "But I wouldn't bet on me being the best at being /right/ all the time. Your track record is pretty spotless. So I mean. If you .... really have an idea... I may be willing to get on board, provide funding." He releases her hands by opening his, but it isn't a withdrawal. More that he doesn't want to push. "...Unless it's weird. Might be weird," Tony squints a little at her. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' That deepens her smirk, eyes levelling at him, "Are we talking about a date or a business proposal, Tony? Because if this is business and funding, we're going back to your desk. If this is a date? The out with it... just come out with it. I...I don't want to dance around this. Pretend we're not discussing what we're discussing. Yes, it's terrifying. Yes...it... It could be weird. You're my boss and we probably shouldn't and this is the worst idea I've had in a while but I just felt like I should be honest and dammit, Tony, it's been ten years and I'm not going anywhere so I just... came out with it." Pepper gets riled up and rambling not to often, but when she does, she just goes. So it all comes spilling out again, hand slightly shaking under his, courage, determination and terror all locked in her green eyes. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Tony is pleased to get her to fire back at him: it shows. His smile deepens and arrives in his eyes as well. He's proud of her fire. Besides, it's so much better than the nervous worry. "Whatever it is should be fun. If it's not fun, just serious and weird, that's not going to fly." "Fine. Have it your way." Tony says, with a deep, overly dramatic breath. And looks at her sternly -- except that there's a flex in his jaw and a slight pass of amusement through his eyes as he keeps it 'stern'. It ends up reading overly charming. And then a long pause. "So. Am I supposed to pass you a note before gym class about going to prom, or?" Tony questions in deadpan, purely intending to make her frustrated. Because it's only under that veil of explosive frustration and misdirection that he'll pull his hand up and in towards her neck and ear, a caress to her cheek and into the front side of her hair. His gaze holds an intensity, currently on her cheekbone and ear, accompanied with him sliding expertly into her personal space, closer... but with some caution: there's some tension here, because this ...does matter. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' That pleased look in his eyes is actually enough to make her relax just a little bit more. A half smile escapes Pepper's lips and her breath comes just a little easier as something in her realizes that she's pleased him. Even now, she thrives on that smile of his. On them working together as a strange team. But then he's asking about notes before gym class and Pepper cannot help but slightly roll her eyes. "Tony..you've asked hundreds of women on dates before. It's not that hard." She whispers gently. But then he's touching her. Hand to her ear, her neck, the caress over her cheek, and that sends her completely speechless. A little breathless too. She sinks a bit closer into the touch, her head tilting to the side, seeking out more of his warm fingertips and palm. That touch, so surprisingly gentle, was more than she'd ever even imagined. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' There's a trap here, and he's aware: yes, he's good at this, and yes, hundreds of women. But she knows that as well, and if he comes off as 'just the same as usual business' he's in trouble. So the general plays won't be available. Also, it's /Pepper/. There's a weirdness to it all, in a fashion. To aim this at Pepper, to actually allow that interest to come forward into something physical. It's exciting and eerie. And good. "Yeah, well. You're not them," Tony says, very simply, with a bit of a breathless discomfort, that reveals that he's not just messing with her head. Tony slips in closer to her, curling the arm from the back of the couch around her more. "Hi," he says, quietly, close now, looking at her face, eyes. No smile, but instead, the earnest bambi look: wearing his emotion without bullshit. That he's interested, but a little alarmed. His thumb at her cheekbone sweeps down to follow the curve of her jaw and chin. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' While Pepper hadn't knowingly set that as a trap, he did find the right answer after all. Something tightly tugs at her heart as she hears that statement, her chest oddly heavy and expression hopeful. Her eyes flutter shut for a heartbeat or two, just savoring the touch of his fingertips and the scent of his cologne. She breathes out quietly against his wrist, nose almost just brushing the base of his palm. "...You... right. I'm not them. And... if... if we do this, you will have to work for it. We have to work to get it right. It'll be... hard. Sometimes. But... worth it. I think. I hope. Do you think you're up for that work? We... we can forget this ever happened." Pepper is probably lying to both of them in saying that, but she has to try. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "You're ... already my best person. ...Well. My only person; I don't exactly have anyone else. So that's not really different," Tony says, as if thinking through it at exactly that moment, and just saying things as they come to the surface to be said. Probably would be better to filter, but he's distracted. By her. And now she's backpedaling. And he's getting confused. Is he pressing her? He sits back a few inches, trying to sort through it. "Am I doing the same ... bad flirting I did that night?" Tony asks, with a crushing dismay that starts to shift into frustration. But only defensively: because he as actually trying. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' Then he is backpeddling because she did, and it's all just such a careful tower of cards that could fall at any point in time. Pepper's eyes go wide, staring at him hard again as she shakes her head, "No! No...you... you're doing... Great. This... it feels great, Tony. Hell, I've dreamed of this and it didn't feel that good and I don't want to stop but I'm scared too so... shit. I... I can run this entire company, Tony, but I don't know how to do this." She admits softly, one of her hands coming up to gently cup over his against her cheek. She doesn't want him to pull away, that much is clear. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "I'd be shocked if you didn't see me in your dreams. I mean, you see me all the time, every day. You're in mine. I think in the last one you had REALLY wanted to go to Tahiti to do yoga, and you had a pet squid named Clarence." Tony pauses, and clears his throat. Yeah, sometimes the rambling gets in the way. Unfortunately the 'run the entire company' is a land mine she didn't know she stepped in until she did: "I'm running it today. Meetings and all." A pause. "...because a little break is happening. I'd... rather leave things in good shape." 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' A small laugh escapes her lips at the Tahiti comment, a half innocent smile dancing across her lips, "I have heart Tahiti is lovely, and I wouldn't *mind* a vacation out of this cold..." Pepper teases back lightly, falling into the relaxation trap because, a moment later, this discussion isn't relaxing at all. Pepper blinks, sitting up just a bit straighter as she listens to his words but also the meanings under his words. No argument from her, or even disregard. If nothing, there is a brush of worry through her green eyes. "Yes, you've been...running everything, the last few days. It's been remarkable, really. I... just don't want you to burn out. And what do you mean a little break? Just... tell me what's going on. I can handle it, Tony. You take the time you need, but... what's going on?" 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "And I did good: new deals are solid, on the product branch. Positive stuff. It'll be fine, though, you'll barely miss me. I can't say you won't notice I'm even gone, because, well." He gets a bit more fierce with the last statement despite the soft laugh that comes with a gesture to himself, aware he's a lot to deal with, and leans in, enough to almost bonk his forehead to hers in an affectionate move: but doesn't QUITE get there, he aborts. But does leave his fingers gently on her face. But the second topic is now front and center, so he's on it: "Yeah, this is that.. other... thing." Vague. "It's a medical thing I've been delaying. Should be fine though. I'm confident." A flash of easygoing confident smile. "Got in some legendary parties just in case," he winks. Priorities. All of the insanity with the parties may suddenly click into place. And playing nice with SHIELD. And fewer women around, despite said parties. And setting up the company with a large new income source, doing a good impression of his father. And being undatable. The list goes on. All of it. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' Somehow, she knew. Her first instinct had been that maybe he was going to rehab, but that didn't seem exactly right. And now he's dancing around something about a medical thing and Pepper's eyes just widen more, her heart climbing into her throat again for dramatically different reasons. She sits up straighter on the couch, turning her body to entirely face him, shoulders squared off, green eyes half panicked and all worried. She had just let herself open a her heart an inch and now it's tearing apart a mile. "Tony. What. Is. Going. On. Tell me, please. Trust me. You trust me, right? I'm going to sit here worried sick this whole damn time and have to keep things together while you're away and not certain... just... Just tell me what's wrong. Please? How can I help? I... please, Tony..." She's a bit too worried to even ramble. Now her hand comes up to his face again, tracing down his cheek like she might break him to touch him too hard. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "Whoa, whoa. Okay. Breathing," Tony suggests quickly, firmly, dropping hand from her face to instead bring both hands up to both of her upper arms, giving her a gentle squeeze there, and look at her directly, straight on. He's calm: a bit overwhelmed by the strength of her reaction. "Well, sure: basically, the gist of the problem is that I need to replace the arc reactor. And, while I have a good upgrade, it's going to cause atrophy with the current casing: so I need to replace the current casing first. That's mostly just risky since I'll probably be unconscious and my heart /might/ stop, and, well, it's hard to do things while unconscious, even for me. It's quite not like it's a meeting I can phone in. But I've got a feeler out to Dr. Richards, shouldn't be any big deal." He's cool and smooth about it, but she'll see he's well aware it could kill him, too. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' "I... I want to be there, Tony. If Dr. Richards is doing it, great, if someone else... Well, I'll research it. I'll find you the best doctor in the world. This will be fine. We... we can make sure this is fine. But god! Why didn't you tell me?!" Pepper then swats at his shoulder gently, swinging from abject worry to a touch of anger that he's just spring it up like that. It all comes from the same place of deep, too deep to really admit, care, but it's certainly an emotional swing. "It will be fine, yes... I'm sure. But, we can make some contigencies. What about a back up reactor, just in case? And there should be a second surgeon on call for the whole operation..." Pepper's business mind is now kicking in, a defense against the too deep well of emotions she's trying not to feel. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "Hey... hey, I'm telling you. On the schedule and everything," Tony defends, with a soft laugh as she swats him, fine with her rebuttal, clearly. "No real reason to worry you or anybody until I found a solution, right? And it's best to get the casing changed out, the current one already has the issue, it's just not as pronounced," Tony says, drawing one hand off her to tap with a few fingers through his shirt on the cover to the reactor. It isn't glowing through his current layered shirts, but his tapping makes a hollow sound. "I don't want to get a huge team involved, already unhappy with one guy digging around in my chest." 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' "Tony, they have two surgeons for routine gall bladder surgery. This is heart surgery. At... at least have one back up. It doesn't have to be a whole theater, but, please... For *my* sake. I'm going to be sitting there, trying not to have my own heart attack the entire time. So... Please?" Pepper asks, giving him the biggest, most innocent doe eyes she can manage. She's gotten good at those eyes after all these years, when it really matters at least. So, she pulls out every bit of ammo she can to convince him of that. Her hand still hasn't left his cheek either, though. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' As if Tony could do much against her doe eyes in this situation? Maybe if he was distracted or unaware, but staring right into them at close proximity? Tony moves to try to reduce her pain. "Yeah, I mean, more than just one guy. But I'll be there too, for pretty much all of it." Because that's a great idea, having the patient help. Yet so very very Tony. "Also, you don't get to have a heart attack," Tony reminds her, deadpan, "Although I do consider it high flattery you want to follow in my footsteps." 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' Following those doe-eyes comes that familiar, stubborn set of her jaw. "Then you get another DOCTOR there, and NOT you. Someone who isn't a patient on the table. You agree to that, and I'll agree to not have a heart attack. Otherwise, no deal." Pepper's fingertips slip back, resting around the back of his neck instead of on his cheek, which actually draws her slightly closer. But she's not letting go, not now, even if it means her leg is drawn up on the couch, the outside of her calf running along his knees, touching him in several points -- none of which are appropriate for boss and assistant. Her skirt's also ridden up quite a bit, basically sitting at the top of her thighs and exposing the leggings she has on beneath. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "Does it have to be a doctor? I mean, I wouldn't discount some highly skilled nursing staff, some of them are phenomenally experienced," Tony answers, automatically having to counter her deal and bargain, of course. "And possibly more attractive. Only the very best get near my heart, you know," Tony continues more quietly, and draws in close to her, his dark eyes full of her as he ends up just inches from her face, nose nearly touching hers. There's a sort of hesitant question there that hangs between them, the same tension from the night in the blue dress, but the spark is a bit different this time. Because it's not a surprise. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' Not a surprise, and not something Pepper wants to resist. She hovers there, just on the edge of his lips, sharing breath for a heartbeat or two as her pale eyes search his darker gaze, looking for any hesitance or doubt. But all she sees is that question and, a moment later, she answers it. No words, just her lips on his in a kiss that isn't full of lust and hunger, but something more gentle than that. Passion, yes. Love? Probably. Loyalty. Trust. Affection. A thousand things she never let herself say but has felt for too many years. She kisses him long enough it should steal both their breaths. And then, just as she's pulling away, she finally whispers. "Another surgeon. No arguments." Her lips curl up into a smile as she whispers that against his mouth. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "What was that? I wasn't listening," Tony asks with a very brief shake of head, immediately following that with a second approach to kiss her back, more strongly. There isn't a hesitancy there, just a real response and warmth, hands leaving her upper arms to come in gently on both sides of her face, framing her cheeks in palms, though there's no force to it if she did pull away. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' Pepper's mouth opens to respond but, well, there are better things to do than speak right now. So, she leans up into his lips, this kiss somehow deeper, more insistent. She rather liked it, in truth. Her second arm comes up, wrapping around his back and pulling their bodies closer on the couch. She sinks easily into him, fitting ever so neatly against his body, like she was meant to be there, somehow. Or perhaps she just knows the cut of his frame after all these years. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Tony gathers her in and adjusts cleanly as she draws him close, running one hand down from her cheek over shoulder around behind her lower waist, supporting the draw of her hip to him. The kiss is broken by him this time, because he has to try to ruin good things with talking. But.... this is important, too. To not just steamroll over her. Even if it's amazing and he's... feeling something very very pleasant in the soar in his chest of ...hope. And so he draws his head back some: "Not ... too strange, right?" 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' Half in his lap now, and Pepper couldn't be happier about it. She settles there, as the slightly draw away to catch breath. Her lips draw back but she doesn't pull her body free. If anything, she just lets her hand from his neck drop to gently trace across his chest, where his heart and that reactor lay. It's a worried touch, but a caring one too. Her eyes are almost shy now, even as she sits in his lap. "...No, not... too strange at all. It actually felt quite... nice. Right... for once." She admits softly, studying her hand across his chest. "...but I'm not forgetting about the other surgeon." 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "You pose a really persuasive argument about it, I'm starting to see it your way, I could be convinced," Tony answers. "...And I'm thinking maybe strange, but good, too," he adds, more thoughtfully, and with some minor heat in the 'good' word's emphasis. He's mostly just looking up at her now: there's some playful tone here, and she'll feel there's tension through his torso that his verbal chattiness doesn't quite mask. Tony's hand slides from her lower back to the side of thigh, but only to hold her there more securely. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' This time, Pepper settles in a bit closer to his hand, not shying away from that touch on her thigh. She lets her own hand stretch out, fingertips splaying across that worn our arc reactor with a heaviness that isn't just about seduction. Green eyes flicker from his chest up to his eyes, "Yes... strange, but good. And... I want that date. I do. I'll even ask you. But that requires you survive this whole mess and having someone else on hand... Just in case, will make it far more likely. Promise me you'll get a back up, or let me find one? Please?" Even this close, this intimate, she's insisting on taking care of him. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Tony doesn't do anything aggressive with the hand, he doesn't put moves on her. He looks down at her hand on the surface of the reactor. He clearly ... prefers to dodge the topic, it shows in his mild flippant sort of response, but he doesn't fully dodge her this time. "Yeah, figure it's better to be sure there's something LEFT to go on a date," he jokes, but the weight of it is still there. It's not really funny. "If you want to research more and find more options, I'll look at them," Tony gives. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' Holding her this close, Tony can feel the inches of tension leak out of her as he says that he'll let her research more. She lets go of a breath she didn't even realize she was holding. She nods almost immediately, "By the end of the day I'll have three options to back up Dr. Richards. You pick which one. Just... have one of them there too. That's all I ask." She leans up again, then, kissing him, but this time it's the most gentle kisses meant just for the side of his mouth. Something achingly tender and honest about it. "Then you'll rest up, be back on your feet soon, and we'll go on that date." She whispers against the edge of his lips. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Tony clears his throat really thickly and looks sideways /away/ from her, a clear message of him reining in some emotions here. And some movement of dark masculine lashed eyes to keep any emotional display more in check. He isn't truly okay with looking at his own mortality and the weight of what could come. Which is why he has turned into a pod person version of himself for a few weeks: dealing with that weight alone. "Well, you are the professional at taking really good care of me. I'd better let you do it for once, huh." 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' As she watches him turn away, practically feels him curling in on himself, Pepper can't hardly take it any more. She wraps her arms tightly around him, tugging his body closer and wrapping him up against her as tight as she practically can. She tucks her chin across his hair, letting him curl up into her chest, if he'll permit her holding on like that. She just holds him and breathes for a few moments, her fingertips tracing over his back. "...It'll be alright, Tony. You're going to get through this. I'll be right outside the door... and you'll have experts. You'll be fine." She whispers into his mop of slightly unruly, dark hair. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' There's resistance. Because this enveloping comfort is weird to him. He doesn't, ever, have someone do the action that Pepper is currently doing: not even as a child, really. So he doesn't have a page in his handbook to cover an appropriate response. And he also isn't willing (or able?) to expose quite that much underbelly. So he adapts what she attempted to do: he won't put his head to her chest, no, but he will come in and rest his chin on her shoulder, because a close embrace, chest to chest?: he'll accept that. He does turn his head a little bit into her neck: she'll feel his facial hair there, his shirt collar close to her own nose. "I've every intention of being just fine. Better, even. Faster, stronger. Bigger flashlight if it gets dark." 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' She'll take his head on her shoulder, it's close enough. Pepper's cheek turns so it rests against his temple, instead of the top of his head. She keeps him enveloped in her arms and just holds on for dear life for these few moments he'll allow. A faint smile crosses her lips. "I know. And I can't wait to see it. But, meanwhile, I'm here. We'll do the research, get this all set up, and I'll take care of the company while you recover. We make a good team, just like... we always have. I'm not letting you go anywhere now." She whispers against his temple, arms tightening for a heartbeat or two. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "I'm sure my plan for zero days of recovery is entirely realistic," Tony says in a muffled voice against her neck. She'll feel, more than see, the smile that hooks one side of his mouth as his short beard moves on her skin. The smile she's used to seeing, not necessarily feeling in such proximity. But he starts to ease out of the whip-cord tension he'd been in, slowly starting to accept her offer of physical support. "I didn't want you to deal with this. Worrying about something is like... suffering twice." 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' The smile lets her relax a little bit more as well, but she's not quite letting him go yet. She lets him ease into her, breathe through that tension, accept the fact that she might actually, deeply care for him. This close, she smells like the fresh, clean soap she uses, a faint trace of vanilla and roses. Some sort of oil in her hair, maybe? It's so delicate and feminine but utterly Pepper. She turns her head enough she can bury her nose against his cheek, breathing in deep of his own scent, something familiar and oddly relaxing about it. "I know you didn't. But I care about you... I... if something happened and I didn't know? It'd destroy me, Tony. When... this all first happened, when you were missing for months... I was half dead inside. I walked around. I kept things going here. I... kept waiting. But it was like I couldn't breathe. I was just going through the motions because I didn't know what else to *do* without you..." 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "How long've you been holding onto all of this? No wonder you're tense," Tony asks her, moving his head now to turn it and look sideways more at her face, seeking to catch some expression instead of just going off of her bleeding tone. "But... no, I don't believe you'd be destroyed. You're tougher than that. We both are. I'm a tough stain you can't just bleach out," Tony assures her roguishly. Getting him to stay serious is a feat in and of itself, but then some comes in on its own: "I wasn't going to let them win then, and certainly not now." 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' She does let them part enough that he can meet her eyes. Pepper's are slightly glassy, but no actual tears have come from this conversation. Pepper leans up one moment to kiss his forehead and then settles back, smile earnest. Slightly blushing, even, probably left over from the kisses. "I know you're not. Which is why I'm not worried. I just like to be... Prepared. So let me do that research, we'll set it all up... and then this will all be past us soon. Alright?" 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "Yeah. Planning. Putting it on the schedule," Tony says, in mock businesslike tone, with a 'stern' little nod, amused. "That was for your benefit, you know. I know you like to know what's coming. But that's not really the way I drive," Tony warns her. He looks at her lips again, full strong awareness in the gaze of that they were, indeed, kissing before. His dark eyes dart to hers, feeling that memory with her, no doubt, with the flush to her cheeks. "Sometimes, gotta look at the way you assumed would never play out." A pause. Tony seems to kind of think over something, and glances down and aside. It's a look she'll know well. His brain just fired up on some direction or idea. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' Pepper was just about to lean in for one more kiss when she sees that look in his eyes. She blinks, a single brow arching. So, instead of the kiss, she leans back and looks him over with a bit of a smirk, "...Alright, what's in that head of yours now? I was just about to kiss you then get back to work, but you are clearly onto something. Spill it, Tony. Before I DO get called away to a meeting and we get nothing else done here." Yes, his brilliant mind just kiss-blocked him. But she was thinking about it. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Tony flips his attention back to her with a start. He didn't intentionally drift. It just happens with his mind. He isn't aware he lost the kiss, though. "JARVIS, what meetings does Ms. Potts have coming up?" Tony inquires, with an expression of tease. JARVIS starts to list them. "That all sounds cancelable," Tony informs her with a shrug and one of his more obnoxious little smiles. But it lacks much wattage: he's pushing at her buttons of course. Since she called him on his drift? Maybe. "...I had a thought about some of the rejected materials from the containment of the first reactor. I think one of those might be a good alloy," Tony says, obviously unable to resist his brain-path. "JARVIS, pull up full schematics in the bunker on the A2 to C5 concepts. --Maybe A1, too." 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' A little huff of a sigh comes and Pepper leans up, kissing him on the forehead instead, before she begins to extract herself from his arms. "If you are going to go plot and plan in your lab, then you are NOT cancelling my meetings. I'll go back to work. You'll work on this brilliant solution. Everything will be fine in the morning and back to normal by next week, alright?" She doesn't quite leave his side yet, though, even if his mind is off on a tangent again and she's lost his focus. It would always be that way, that was the Tony she knew and loved. Instead, her hand comes up to comb through his hair just a moment, "I'll have three surgeon's names on your desk by the end of the day. Pick one. They'll be there for the... Meeting. It'll be done and fine soon. Now... go get to work." 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Yeah, she lost the full focus. But she did HAVE it... for quite a while, really. He doesn't fight her extraction, because he's starting to pull apart the labyrinth of ideas suddenly going nuts in his creative mind. However, he doesn't just stand up and leave the room like he's done to, say, Traci. Yes, not full focus, but he's still present. He looks at her as she combs through his hair, seeming to come back for the moment. "Hey." He catches her hand as it comes down from his hair. And looks at her, a long pause. "Bug me with dinner tonight, okay?" he suggests. "Maybe Chinese." 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' As he catches her hand, her smile just blooms. It's a smile almost no one ever gets from her -- no one but him. It lights up all the way to her eyes. "I can do that. Chinese. Lyn's, from up town. It's your favourite. Pain to get but... worth it. Go work. You have until 7 when I will barge in your lab with Chinese whether you like it or not." Pepper grins a bit more, squeezing his hand which holds her small palm. And then, with that squeeze, she's letting go. She understands when his mind gets into that focus. She won't hold him back. But she spends the rest of the day smiling and thinking of chinese. She will be good to her word that night and even gets his favourite order. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "Done," Tony agrees in the same way he seals deals in meetings. Same tone, really. He stands up as she does, taking in that beautiful smile, and... answering it... before moving to the job at hand, and starting to announce additional orders and chatter at JARVIS, heading off to his workspace. No doubt she'll have to pry him away from his work later ("It can't possibly be 7..."), but that's normal. Back towards normal, except for a little bit of.... comfortable fire in the tension between them, instead of the uncertain cliff. Strange, but... pretty good. 
}}

3443/Before the Party...

2018-01-03T06:29:50Z

Malky: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2017/12/20 |Location=Penthouse - Stark Tower |Synopsis=Tony gives Pepper a gift: a dress she didn't expect. |Cast of Characters=83, 22 |pretty=yes..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2017/12/20
|Location=Penthouse - Stark Tower
|Synopsis=Tony gives Pepper a gift: a dress she didn't expect.
|Cast of Characters=83, 22
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' Everything was a rush. This party had been, in her opinion, planned QUITE last minute. There were many exasperated sighs, little glares, and panicked phone calls while she ensured the musical acts he'd want there were actually present. So, it's not until 8 pm that she's even leaving the office. No time to go home, change and come back. He said it was fine. He said he ordered her a dress anyway. Slightly dreading what that dress might BE, she's got no choice but to go with it. So, once more, she's taking the lift up to the Penthouse, using her voice and thumb print recognition just to let herself in, and is a woman on a mission. "...Alright. Show me this dress. It better be decent, and I need to use your shower." She calls across the room, already moving a bit like a hurricane. She's a stressful tornado of a mess and feels like there is utterly not enough time. Tony knows this look in her. It's moving a thousand miles an hour, pulse a mile a minute, trying to get everything done. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' The penthouse is cleaned of all the issues from the night before last, and well lit. There does appear to be a long, metallic and shiny blue side-zip garment bag laying out on the back of the couch, though if it's for her, or him, hard to know just by glancing at it. It could very well just me his tuxedo, or it could be the item specifically for her. The door to the bedroom is barely ajar, and grants little clue as to where he is exactly. "Mr. Stark is still using it," JARVIS helpfully lets her know, around the time she comes blazing across the room, in response to the shower usage. "Would you like me to suggest he finish rapidly?" JARVIS queries of her, as if suspecting she might be fine to 'suggest' that on her own. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' "Oh, I think I can manage that. Thank you, JARVIS. And if this dress he's ordered for me covers less than half of my body, put in an emergency re-order on the red and black Prada Christmas release from the runway in London last week. Someone has got to have it in this city." With that command, Pepper kicks off her high heels at the edge of the foyer and stalks her way across the rest of the pent house, straight into Tony's bedroom, and past the bed. She's not messing around tonight. "Tony. You have two minutes to finish in the shower so I can get in there, and there BETTER be hot water left. You said I could get ready here and I JUST left the office and I feel like I'm running late already!" THe fact that she even doubts the hot water when they are in Stark Tower shows just how crazy her mind is running right now. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Wait. The water's off. It went off between the time just after JARVIS informed her that Tony was still in the shower, and the time it took the tirade to be given while she stalked around the penthouse. JARVIS was quiet, other than making agreeable notes such as "Of course," to her requirement about the re-order. And so, there's a long fifteen seconds or so of her getting to glare at the shower door, before it's suddenly open and Tony blinks at her, since she's RIGHT there. And with both brows raised due to her extreme warpath, steps aside with one arm extended in a clear 'go ahead' into the foggy, massive bathroom. Tony has neatly shaved any stubble, and though his hair is wet, clearly is preparing to be ready for his party quite soon. There's a cling of cologne to him, freshly applied, that will tumble over her. Also, he is just in a towel. So there's that. And zero shame about that, of course. "Pepper," Tony says, simply, excessively calmly, as if trying to not set off an explosion. "Please breathe." 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' No water? Pepper's brows furrow for a heartbeat or two, head tilting to the side, about to turn away because she knows she's treading dangerously close to seeing her boss naked. But then it's too late! The door is open with a breath of steam and cologne rolling out. Then Tony is just... There. Muscled, mostly naked other than that towel, still slightly damp and glistening. Pepper Potts pauses, all of her hundred miles and hour thought screeching to a hault as she blinks at him once. Twice. "...Boss." She finally stammers out, heart caught in her throat as she now forces her eyes down and away. She really shouldn't be staring and is trying to ignore the heat that firmly creeps up her cheeks now. "...Ah... yes. I'm breathing. It's fine. I just... I should shower. It's been a long day. I... I'll be out... In a few minutes..." She half stammers, her mind still having partially short circuited. She then pulls off her suit jacket and skirt, leaving her just in that silk slip she was wearing beneath. It still covers more than his towel. "...Just a few minutes..." And she dances around him to walk towards the shower. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Tony watches her, of course. Because he's entirely shameless about the whole thing. He turns some as she moves past him, to continue to face her. Because she's undressing right in front of him, and that isn't a show he's particularly inclined to turn away from. His eyes cruise over her legs. Besides, in all fairness, he's wearing far less, right? The most out-of-ordinary thing of his appearane is, naturally, the glowing arc reactor. If she can look at muscle and ignore that item for the medical device that it technically is, that is... interesting, really. "Breathe," Tony repeats again, with a sleek rogue's smile. He doesn't leave right away, he moves to the sink to rescue some rings he had taken off, putting them back on. But he can see her just fine in the mirror. He's being a bit obnoxious, and his smile reveals it's entirely on purpose. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' Of course, Pepper had assumed that he was actually going to vacate the massive master bathroom, so she could finish changing and actually get into the shower. Apparently, that is not the case. "I *am* breathing, Tony. Trust me, half this party wouldn't be organized if I wasn't. But it's a bit hard to shower when your boss is standing right there..." Pepper states in her normal dead pan, slightly sarcastic tone that she uses when she's trying to be all business but he's being incredibly frustrating. Then time wins out over modesty. The shower stall itself was still steamed up enough to hide most everything, so she steps into the shower stall and pulls it shut, peeling out of slip, stockings and her matching ivory lace bra and underwear. All those things are tossed over the shower door, leaving just the hint of her frame behind heavily fogged glass which, when she turns the water on a moment later, is just going to get foggier. But she is right there and quite naked, clearly. "We did get the Foo Fighters, by the way. I don't know if anyone knows who they are any more, but they were on Saturday Night Live this week." 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Tony doesn't push her, or overly spy on her, or anything of that nature, particularly when she reminds him about the 'boss' thing. He did look at the objects that were flung out, and... consider the shower door a little bit, from the sink area. "I know who they are, that's more what counts," Tony chuckles, indifferent: he can have whatever he wants at his own party, naturally. He sounds a bit distracted. Certainly not by the awareness of the nude woman in his shower. "Use my robe if you like when you're done, on the hook to your right," Tony calls to her over the shower noise. She'll sense the air move a bit and the light change a little as he lets himself out, shutting the door, giving her that privacy ... if rather belatedly. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' A small, actual breath is released as he offers use of his robe and then gives her some privacy. Well, that was a step in the right direction. Pepper is quite feminine, but not ridiculously so. She doesn't have time for a 45 minute shower and, well, it wasn't like she had a date to this party so why bother touching up shaving the legs? On second thought, who knew what that dress was like, so she borrows his razor because beggars cannot be choosers, which means she's not done for about 15 minutes, but eventually the sound of the water does die down. Out of the shower, she quickly wraps her hair up in a towel and grabs that robe against the shiver of the cooler air beyond. A brief pause to look in the mirror, then grabs her underthings before, and she's stepping out into his master bedroom, "...Alright. Show me this dress. Please tell me you got stockings to go with it and shoes?" She asks with a nervous sort of smile. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' With that amount of time Tony has made significant progress on his own attire. He's completely clothed, save for the tuxedo jacket itself. He is in crisp deep black tuxedo pants, perfectly fitted and slightly snug as is his preference, shoes impossibly shiny and sleek, black shirt, a deep violet and black vest that has a holiday vibe with a mild hint of a slight silvery accent through the fabric. The tie is the same violet sheen. He is adjusting his tie when she emerges. He is handsome in the dark tones, hair still somewhat needing a bit of attention, but the fluffed front to it is charmingly messy. "Of course," Tony answers, pausing, with a sort of scoff in his tone, as he tweaks the tie at his neck, head lifted due to the tie adjusting. "I wouldn't embarrass you." A pause. "Okay, I would," he admits. "But not /too/ badly. Wouldn't want anyone to think YOUR shit wasn't together, or the whole thing collapses." He gestures to the navy suit bag from the couch -- that was the one for her, clearly expecting her to snare it and retreat. He's acting indifferent about it, but he does slide a glance back to watch her over his shoulder. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' With some skeptical silence, Pepper picks her way across the room towards the navy garment back. Nothing is said. She simply leans over and unzips the thing slowly, careful not to snag any fabric. Her pale green eyes flicker between him and bag. This is the moment of truth. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' The first impression is a lovely frosted blue of the sheer fabric, a delicate feminine tone. It is more blue than gray, perhaps, but just enough gray to come out of blue. It is clearly very long, it will brush over the tops of her feet and against heels, with a billowy drape that flutters already even as it's pulled free. The front is cut in a low V over a less sheer fabric of frost silver-blue below it, two draped sections running from each shoulder to meet in the center; these feed into the long soft flow of the lower dress. But while it is low cut, there is a gentle lace there at bust, petals of an inspired snowflake, there as well as on the upper shoulders. These snowflakes of lace cover much of the back, down into the low waist. It reveals, yet the lace winks with snowflakes, some of them scattered with hints of very subtle sparkle. There are shoes as well, they don't match exactly, they are more of the silver tone, clearly intentionally bringing the lace's spark out. Tony watches her sideways with a smile, anticipating a positive reaction with calm confidence. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' Still just in his oversized robe, towel in her hair, Pepper gently draws out the diaphanous, pale blue and silver gown from the garment bag. She's speechless for just a few heartbeats, blinking in quiet shock as she looks across the beautiful, almost too-delicate material. No snarky comments, no rolling her eyes. In fact, though she'd blame it on the steam from the shower, her eyes look slightly glassy with unspent moisture. She's both shocked and touched. "...Tony... it..." Pepper breathes out, lips slightly hovering on the edge of words she cannot find. He's actually left her speechless. She reaches her other hand up to touch at the fabric, "...It's... beautiful. It's perfect. How... who... did you pick this out?" She blinks from the dress, back to his dashing frame, then to the dress again. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Tony clears his throat, about three or four times maybe, in his signal of his style of awkwardness. Since, well, she's his assistant. And while he expected (wanted?) a great reaction, he wasn't counting quite on his reaction to HER ... rather pure and genuine reaction. He masks some of it with turning away to get his tuxedo coat-- but then pauses at the mirror, setting it back down to attend to fixing his hair, picking up product from the side of the table to adjust into a slightly more deliberate style of rakish. "Your faith in me is unparalleled, as always," Tony kids her. Evidently he DID pick it. "I wouldn't wear the hair-towel with it, though," he advises. He has a weird urge to escape, that he can't quite define. Like getting out before something goes terribly wrong: leave on a high? He passes by her back to the bathroom to wash his hands, acting, of course, like the whole thing is no big deal. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' His brushing past her towards the bathroom is just enough to shake her out of the moment that she can start her body moving again. They were still short on time. But Pepper Potts was truly stunned into speechlessness and just stopping, breathing for a few moments. "I...I'm just going to...change in the guest room. I've got some... some extra make up in there. I'll remember to take off the towel, I promise." She turns to go, but then pauses, actually reaching out to grab his elbow for just a heartbeat. "You... did really well, Tony. It's the most beautiful dress I've seen in... ages. Thank you." She whispers, nothing but pure sentiment and odd heart ache in her voice. How could he be so good, sometimes? And so idiotic others? She gives his arm one last squeeze before turning to go and disappearing down the hall so she can actually change. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "It's just a dress," Tony says offhandedly, as if reading her mind that he needed to be an idiot, and downplay the importance of him doing something properly. "It's the woman in it that makes it," he finishes, snaring his coat with one of his bright public smiles. "I'm headed down, use either room all you like," he calls after her. He adjusts the coat, fixing the edges of his collar carefully. He preens a little in front of the mirror, a few smiles of different wattages as if deciding what face he'll wear downstairs, or perhaps reacting to his well-fitting tux, checking down the lines and fit of it in approval. And then will head down to host. 
}}

3457/Just a late drink

2018-01-03T06:28:05Z

Malky: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2017/12/22 |Location=Stark Tower |Synopsis=Thor and Scarlet witch make unusual showings at Tony's Party. |Cast of Characters=22, 107, 70 |pretty=ye..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2017/12/22
|Location=Stark Tower
|Synopsis=Thor and Scarlet witch make unusual showings at Tony's Party.
|Cast of Characters=22, 107, 70
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' The STARK holiday party re-launched the following evening, much to the dismay of some of the employees that were surprised by this move. Tony Stark, of course, can lend to the unpredictable. However, being certain that some of those he absolutely wanted to come DID make it is important. While some Avengers did come the first night, there are others with invitation to the second. It is now late, though, and many guests have retired for the evening. The music is currently calm from the band, a low key number that suggests dancing, and Tony, for the moment, is having a break, seated near the bar, fielding a variety of odd questions about his tech announcement from the previous night. And, of course, enjoying a drink, eyes passing over his domain of various guests enjoying themselves. 

:'''{{#var:107|Thor (107)}} has posed:'''     Having waited to be fashionably late, or because he simply forgot which building was Starks, Thor, the son of Odin has finally arrived at the party and good lord his attire, what was once covered in the best Asgardian armor, is now, well covered in some fairly casual clothes. Gone is the cape and special chain mail, in its place is a open front cashmere sweater with a black undershirt, and some jean he must have had painted on over a pair of yellow Timberlands he got somehow.     With his hands going up in the air, Thor bellows, "Hark, where is the man of the hour who hath promised me drinks enough to apease a ravenous boar!?" 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' The shout draws a lot of attention. As does the attire. There are some employees near Thor, in their stiff black tie dress, trying to decide if they actually SHOULD try to block him over the clothing problem, or what. Fortunately for them, Tony Stark does move to handle it, with a bemused smile, handing off his empty glass to the bartender, and strolling over to Thor. "Whoa there, cowboy," Tony says, taking in the clothes with mild dispair. "You certainly came prepared for a good time ... of SOME type, and that's a bonus," Tony says, approaching with a smile. The employees relax in relief. 

:'''{{#var:107|Thor (107)}} has posed:'''     "I am not a cowboy! If anything I am a bullman, Howardson!" Oh dear lord Captain Rogers must have told Thor about Tony's father.     The blond god steps in and extends his hand to catch Tony by the forarm in what could be described as the predecessor to the handshake. But manlier and much more vigorous. "I always come prepared for a good time, especially if there is to be a fight my awkwardly bearded friend." Thor remarks as he heads towards the scent of liquor. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "Yep, not arguing about the bull," Tony quips, mostly to himself, since Thor will probably just agree with it, lacking subtext. He huffs a grunt as he's suddenly pulled in with the manly handshake. "There's a bit of a whole... party theme thing goin' on here," Tony explains, with a gesture to another partygoer's long sequinned red dress. "I'm sure you appreciate that. ...I do." He pauses to appreciate her, perhaps a bit too long, and --oops, off Thor goes. "Whoa, whoa; makeover time, bring the thunder on over here," Tony says, moving to attempt to steer Thor, leading towards a subtle door on the left. 

:'''{{#var:107|Thor (107)}} has posed:'''     "Tony, you're midgardian breasts are too weak for me to enjoy. I do not want to pop another one." Thor says, not really catching Tony's drift and continues to move towards the bar after the handshake is given.     "Tony, my clothes are fine. The alcohol does not care what I am wearing. Nor does the women who keep trying to steal glances at the awesome power of Thor." The god just doesn't get it. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "As your host, I'm attempting to give you ... gifts of finery. Are you /refusing/ the gifts? Very sad day. /Very/ sad," Tony adapts, in dismay, 'saddened'. "I've a whole crew eager to help out." Tony finger snaps urgently at a patch of mixed security and assistants, who pick up on what's going on real fast and come over. Not that they look eager, they look mostly uncertain. "All hands on deck, set Thor up in a godly manner, to draw even more eyes. If he likes. But... If not... eh, not," Tony instructs them loudly, before lifting a hand indifferently, starting to turn away. 

:'''{{#var:107|Thor (107)}} has posed:'''     Thor is taken away by the men without too much argument, and with his blond head poking out above the swarm of Stark help, Thor looks over his shoulder at Tony. "I still want my alcohol Tony!"     Sequestered in the room, Thor is quickly given a 'godly' make over, or what Stark and his people would think godly means. What that is, I don't know, but we'll find out next pose, wont we? 

:'''{{#var:70|Scarlet Witch (70)}} has posed:''' Her plane had touched down in New York without fanfare or incident. Her single bag cleared by customs in a similiarly uneventful fashion. In fact, it all was rather uneventful. There was a cab waiting right outside the airport doors. The traffic was minimal on the way to the Avenger's mansion. It all was rather... Ordinary. Or would have been, had Wanda been able to find who she was looking for. Sadly, there was no Cap'n to speak of. Or anyone else that she cared to address herself to in the manner she needed. No worries. There were always ways and means. Had she known there was a party, Wanda might have chosen a different route. As it was, her arrival at Tony's soiree came long after the bulk of the crowd had found their ways home, or to after parties. Those who were left were engaged in quieter conversations. More intimate affairs than the usual rowdiness of such things. In short, things were winding down. Which was just as well, all things considered. It was clear that Wanda hadn't expected a party. Her clothing was elegant, but understated, and most definitely not qualifying as black tie. At least not in the strictest of senses. Even though she hadn't an official invitation, her position as an Avenger got her waved through the doors. And even if it hadn't, she'd have been waved through. Sometimes that's just how life worked around Wanda. And given her mood, and why she'd returned to New York, she wouldn't have felt guilty about that either. As it happens, there was no need. She was ushered in, if with a slight askance of gaze for her lack of black tie attire. It didn't take her long to spot Tony, the woman taking a purposeful stride across the room to reach him, stopping in front of him. Barely waiting for his acknowledgement of her, she greets him somewhat tersely, "Where is my father." 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Tony helps himself to alcohol after finally getting the blonde difficulty out of play for a few moments. He gives brief instructions to the waitress, and steps aside into that side door to quietly address JARVIS, making sure things are going fine. Indeed, they are, though what Thor's opinion on if the attire is godly may be another thing. However, Tony did pick up on Thor's tight pants preference, so that makes it's way into the loaner black tuxedo provided, as well as a rich gold vest, tie. Which will certainly pull plenty of eyes upon return. Tony looks immediately to Wanda when she approaches, brows lifting, but doesn't argue. "Under arrest, last I knew. Certainly not here," Tony supplies to Wanda. "Glad you got my invitation." It's not sarcastic, he probably thinks he sent her one. 

:'''{{#var:107|Thor (107)}} has posed:'''     Thor shows up moments later in a tuxedo that barely fits. It's the right length all around, but his shoulders are broad, and his chest is barelled. His thighs are thick, and calves muscular. The god is in a penguin suit with a nearly shimmering tie and vest and somehow a matching pocket square. The man steps out of the room and is tugging at his lapel and sleeve of his jacket. "I do not wish to wear these useless clothes Tony." Thor warns as he nears the bar and spots Wanda. One of the few women that could ever scare him and with that he gives her a kind bow, the tails of his coat hanging behind his knees. "Well met Erikdottir." 

:'''{{#var:70|Scarlet Witch (70)}} has posed:''' Wanda's anger isn't at Tony, and the woman does not lay the brunt of her frustrations at his feet. Instead, giving him a small inclination of head, and an apology. "Of course. You would not know. How foolish of me to think." Her words carry the memory of the accent of her childhood, colouring her tones into something nearly exotic. "I did not mean to interrupt your party. It was.. How do you say, thoughtless of me." She has the grace to look, if not abashed, at least uncomfortable with the fact that she is now at his home, while he is clearly entertaining, and she unprepared for such an event. Even if he seems to think he has invited her. Thor's arrival saves her from any further apology, the young woman unable to contain a ghost of a smile as she watches him in his discomfort. There is little that she can do about the attire requirements he's been so clearly forced to engage in, and knowing Thor, Wanda has no doubt they may have been necessary requirements, but the rest she can fix. For all their sakes. "Thor. It is too long I think. Please, let me." And without fanfare, she moves close enough to brush her hands along the tuxedo, smoothing the fabric as she does, each slight gesture causing the poor, strained thing to fit the godly body it has been placed upon with much greater ease. "Sometimes it is that these things only need you to relax. Roll the shoulders some and let it fit better. Yes? There. Now you must feel better." And, well he should, the ill-fitting tux looking like it had been made to order for the blonde haired god. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "You haven't, you've brought some much needed ...sparkle in," Tony says to Wanda, waving off the intrusion as no problem and looking at her attire. "Close enough." It's not jeans she's wearing, after all. And it's late. And he doesn't think he continues to care that much. But putting Thor in a tux? Funny, as it turns out. Tony coughs at Thor briefly. "A price of looking great, I know," Tony agrees offhandedly, and indicates sideways with his free hand that the bar needs to pay a lot of attention to Thor. They are more than ready to serve; Tony knows what to order from experience, and it's being set onto the bartop for Thor. "I knew we were missing out on having you," Tony says appreciatively to Wanda, as Wanda repairs the clothing issue for Thor. "After the party I can look into your questions, if you're sticking around?" 

:'''{{#var:107|Thor (107)}} has posed:'''     Thor rolls his shoulders back and somehow looks even bigger after Wanda's hands on his chest, the god on the other side of the tux shrugging slightly before he turns his gaze to Tony and then finally over to the bar, that gets a subtle sparkle in his eye.     He pats at Wanda's head as though she was a child, which to him they all were, but he smiles kindly before saying, "Thank you Erikdottir." Then the blonde god walks over to the bar and rolls his eyes at the lack of barstool, but then shrugs and leans against the counter with one elbow. "Give me the strongest drink you have barkeep!" 

:'''{{#var:70|Scarlet Witch (70)}} has posed:''' There's a flitting smile upon Wanda's lips as she finishes smoothing Thor's tux out. It's a little thing, but one she can do without much fanfare or disturbing of things. Not to mention, a happy Thor is a much more pleasant Thor. That, and she's a soft spot for the god at times. In a gesture both casual, and familiar, she leans and kisses his cheek briefly - barely touching Thor's cheek with her lips. "It was my pleasure All-Father. And there. You look fit for all the women who will be wishing you to say hello. No?" She nods at him as she steps away to allow him to do as he please. "Yes. I think so." Tony, however, she is much more serious with, if contemplative. "I had not known you were entertaining. I confess, I was upset and thinking only of myself." Indeed, she isn't wearing jeans. Her outfit for travel being nothing more than simple, tailored slacks in black with matching blazer, and an equally simple blouse in cream, its scoop necked collar embroided with threads almost a perfect match for the fabric itself, but that gleam and glimmer in the light as she moves. Something of a festive twinkle, if totally by chance. "It is okay if I stay?" Her words hesitant as the woman has not yet decided if she wishes to stay, but now that she is here, uncertain as to the rudeness of merely withdrawing, especially after her abrupt entry. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' The barkeep sends a questioning look at Tony, who subtly dips his head. The barkeep can give it a shot with appeasing Thor, Tony will go with it. Tony stretches and smiles some, before actually pausing to rub his eyes. The long pair of party nights... Tony is doing well at maintaining, but it's starting to show, around the edges. He's not twenty anymore. The barkeep mixes a White Lightning and puts it out for Thor. "However many he wants," Tony informs the bartender. The party is winding down even more now, but if Thor wants to drink until noon, that's fine with Stark. "You can. I've guest rooms with Avenger stars on the doors and everything," Tony assures Wanda. "There's also rooms at the Avenger Mansion if you like. I'll grant access back across to you." He manages to mask a yawn, pulling a device from his interior coat pocket that lights up with a little holographic display, and does exactly what he said he would. "Done." 

:'''{{#var:70|Scarlet Witch (70)}} has posed:''' Wanda gives Tony a faint smile. "I think I will retire for the evening, if you do not mind. I have things to think about, and my flight was long." It's a quiet offering of words from the woman, ending in a polite inclination of head. "But I do appreciate the offering of hospitality. Perhaps another time." And with that, she merely withdraws, availing herself of the car service employed for the evening, and taking herself back to her room at the Avenger mansion where she can think in peace and the relative comforts of a familiar home. Such as those things come to her. 
}}

3429/Long Nights, Longer Mornings

2018-01-03T06:26:43Z

Malky: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2017/12/18 |Location=Penthouse - Stark Tower |Synopsis=Pepper discovers a frustrated and hungover Tony, and attempts to sort out the issue. |Cast o..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2017/12/18
|Location=Penthouse - Stark Tower
|Synopsis=Pepper discovers a frustrated and hungover Tony, and attempts to sort out the issue.
|Cast of Characters=22, 83
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "Nope," comes a muffled voice from the other side of a long couch. "NOPE." It's specifically Tony's muffled voice, from the vicinity of the floor or maybe knee height, roughly. It's morning, for most people, bright and early, a crisp day: not that anyone would know it, from the blinds shut so severely that the room is a dark tomb. "Your meeting is in under an hour, sir," JARVIS continues where he left off. "Consider your snooze button pressed," is the answer from the floor, without much additional motion or response. There's a bit of a disaster in the room for those that may enter to rouse Stark for meetings, although it has been worse, easily. There's a long stripe of fire extinguisher foam running across the floor from near the entrance to the far window on the right, and some bursts on the wall. No signs of fire. Some of the furniture was rearranged in a loose confusion, which accounts for why Tony's spot on the floor is blocked from view. A suit jacket is thrown in the general direction of the coatrack. And, of course, signs of alcohol. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' There is an alarm Pepper Potts has set up with JARVIS which is, basically, if JARVIS cannot rouse Tony for a meeting and she has marked it as above a certain level of importance in the calendar, then SHE is notified and she comes up for the personal treatment. Of course, Pepper didn't really have the time this morning to be taking the whole way up to the penthouse when she was preparing for that meeting with their Belgian investors herself and had been up since six am, but this was important. So, barely holding back the pure annoyance from her features, Pepper's taken the lift up to the penthouse condo where Tony lives. She's got her own permissions on the lock, having spent many nights in the guest room, so she gives her thumb print to the lift and her code to JARVIS to take her straight there. Her high heels are perfect and pristine as they carry her across the initial marble foyer from the elevator. She blinks at the darkness of the room. "...JARVIS... turn the lights on? You said he wasn't in bed? Tony, where in hell ARE You?" She calls into the room, not bothering to moderate her voice even as she sees the alcohol strewn about. She picks her way neatly over the mess, Prada shoes not daring to touch anything wet. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' JARVIS does as requested. And light floods the room. "Deluminate," Tony grumbles from the floor in response. "Sir, I remind you, you changed your personal voice activation for the lighting early this morning-" "You know what I-- fine. What is it now?" JARVIS pauses and answers, "'It's too fucking bright'." Tony is silent for a few beats. "Let's revert that." JARVIS agrees, "Done." Tony is located on his stomach on the floor just past the couch; no shoes, but otherwise in his usual lab clothes: jeans, a t-shirt over a longsleeve shirt. He obviously slept where he is, and has one hand now pressed over his eyes, twisting his face towards the carpet, but he must have seen her under the couch: "Like the shoes." 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' The strawberry blonde continues to pick her way across the floor, a low sigh escaping her lips as she leans down to pick up a few of the bottles off the floor, a toppled lamp, and any of the easy mess she can pick up on her way over to him. She's not doing a full clean, just keeping her hands busy and trying not to be TOO frustrated by how much of a mess is around her. SHe finally makes it to the other side of the couch and looks down to him, hands on her hips, standing straight and strong in her light gray, custom tailored power suit with a skirt just a LITTLE too short to be perfectly professional. Or, maybe that's just how long her legs look in those heels from that angle. "Tony... you HAVE to be on the video conference with Belgium in an hour. We can't delay this again. You're a mess. Get up and get in the shower, I'll lay out clothes for you and see if I can buy us some time on the meeting." Her voice is all business at the moment -- completely exasperated business. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "I was EARLY for my meeting with SHIELD, I'll have you know," Tony responds, drawing his arms in under him to cup his cheeks with his hands, as if trying to press his awareness back inside his head from where it might be leaking out. "They were worried by it," Tony adds, in a sort of thoughtful way, deciding if he's amused by it, perhaps. He rolls over onto his back, the flare of light from his Arc Reactor actually making HIM flinch, as he squints up at her. He'd be more interested if his head weren't a jackhammer, but still manages to look slowly up from her shoes. But then he finally sits up, one elbow thrown onto the couch as he climbs to his feet, and inspects himself visually, looking for 'mess'. "Their cyber team is on the files I tossed their way, though," he adds: his mind clearly in two places at the moment in an awkward split. But, right. "Belgium. Sure." Sure he's paying attention. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' "...Belgium doesn't have a cypher team. SHIELD is handled, and that's good, but yes, we're on Belgium today. Or do you not want to work with their hall of sciences and have complete access to their research databases from all of their Nobel winners for the last twenty years? I thought you were excited about this project." Pepper sighs, crouching down neatly for a moment, so she's almost eye level with him. She crouches like a lady, knees tucked together and off to the side, somehow balancing prim and proper on the balls of her spike heels. "...What was the celebration this time? You're not dressed up, but you drank like a night on the town..." She looks from his flinching face to around the penthouse, then back to his face. SHe cannot entirely hide the disappointment from her green eyes as she studies the mess around. "Or is this all SHIELD victory dances?" 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "I'm thrilled about Belgium. Except for their time zone, right now." A pause. "An hour is plenty of time," Tony Stark assures her as she comes down to his level from his seated spot on the floor. "Forty-Five minutes," JARVIS helpfully clarifies, and is ignored by Tony entirely. "Victory lap? Those are no fun alone..." That isn't right: his expression doesn't agree with his tone, and he doesn't even bother to try to launch into some bullshit that it is a victory. Which should give her the full information that the drinking was not a positive response, but something didn't go well after all. He finally reaches his feet, and has stopped squinting as severely, possibly just for her benefit, which is all kinds of danger signals with him actually being elusive: in that he actually IS bothered. "Alright. Shower. But since it's a video conference, pants are optional." He's coherent enough to be funny, at least. And, well. See? So focused. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' The moment Pepper catches those signals, some of her lecturing and harshness cuts back immediately. Her expression softens as she pushes herself back up into standing next to him and reaches out for his shoulder. She doesn't let him turn away for the shower, yet, but allows her small hand to linger against the cloth of his shoulder, giving a small squeeze. "...Hey...JARVIS is right. 45 minutes. Talk to me..." Pepper coaches gently. All the lecturing of moments before is gone. If he permits, she gently leads him over to the couch, coaching him down into sitting before she turns towards the wet bar and grabs a bottle of the mineral water she always makes certain is kept there, exactly for these moments. She carries it over to him and offers the bottle after cracking the seal. "...Take a drink and talk to me. What happened." 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' The dodge is coming, and she'll probably see it, because he got really agreeable about the shower. "Hey, you know, it shouldn't have bothered me in the first place," Tony says, dismissive of whatever his problem was. But the man likes to talk, so, well, there isn't a huge amount of resistance to being asked to monologue. He takes the water and downs most of it with a painful grimace. Because it's just water. "I think ..." He considers the water in his hand, moving the glass to watch the surface tension of the water within it react. "We all have patterns. And when a pattern breaks, even for better, it's a lot more alarming than something staying the same." 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' "...Alright. I'm listening." Virginia Potts has learned to let him monologue over the years. Especially when something is weighing hard on him and he's trying to dodge -- it's better if she just echoes in a few quiet words of encouragement and then let silence go. He will want to fill that silence, it's an old trick she well knows. So, after that quiet prompting, she sinks down to sitting on the couch next to him. She angles her body and crosses her legs so she can face him almost entirely without drawing her legs up onto the couch. She'll be a lady about it, but she is trying to give him her full attention. Her expression? Genuinely worried. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' That silence needs to be filled. Often with something snarky. Or something else. If he senses the mild social manipulation, he doesn't fight it off. "And now you're worried too," Tony sighs at her with a sharp rueful laugh. His offhanded comment about SHIELD reacting oddly comes back around: those one-offs with the deeper meaning don't just disappear. Tony actually starts to pull in some emotional weight behind it, there's some defensive grumpiness surfacing, and the smile has reduced into a serious face. It draws a penetrating focus into his dark eyes and firmness to jaw. He drinks maybe half of the remaining water with a rough clearing of his throat. And finally looks at her more directly. Yes, there's an edge of that hangover, but it could have been much worse than it is: the sleeping on the floor may have been more laziness than actually passing out. "Just trying to be better, Pep. Doesn't always work," Tony says finally, tone with a softened intimacy to it, and starts to stand. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' Those green eyes watch him quietly, heavy with worry, but she doesn't push it either. She just gives him the space he needs, lets him drink the water and mull over her words, or lack of them. "Hey..." Pepper starts softly, as he moves to turn away and stand. Her hand comes out to try and gently catche his cheek, to turn his eyes back to her with the softest of touches which is something probably far beyond boss and assistant, but she'd never say it. She just wants to get his eyes again, especially with that softer tone. "...I know you're trying. And... I want to help. That's why I'm here. Talk to me. I'm listening. If need, I will put off Belgium. Something's on your mind... talk to me." She whispers gently, the pad of her thumb tracing down along the edge of his jaw. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Tony is caught, partially because he'd looked down at the water when he started to stand, since his standing skills are compromised and spilling it was likely. He looks back swiftly to her eyes. He does listen to her: she has absolutely his full attention for while she speaks. But. Tony is really good at ruining nice moments when he puts his mind to it. And there's a flicker of that: the weird little rebellion for no reason that shows in his darker eyes when she coaxes. But he doesn't go for the snark holster. "Belgium's important, like you said. This can wait," Tony assures her, and pulls up one of those brilliant smiles that he seems to find out of thin air even in terrible moments. It's like a special space-pocket of arrogant confidence. "Please set out something with green. Feelin' the inner rage monster today," Tony chuckles. Or he was inspired off her green eyes. Either way. Tony's body language is somewhat different, though, from his swing back into being more 'himself', he catches her hand at his cheek, and is gentle with her. He didn't push her away physically. He's just messy, like the room. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' Perhaps she'd have been able to pull away if he didn't catch her hand upon his cheek. If there wasn't that hint of intimacy there, something that isn't about Belgium at all, and if it didn't feel so damned nice. For a moment, Pepper Potts isn't quite certain how to breathe. Much like that night with the blue dress and a dozen other moments they've had like this over the years. Her thumb remains against his jaw, eyes lidding a bit more with concern. He tells her what clothing to set out and, for cone, she doesn't move. She's not following orders at this moment. "Belgium is important. You are more important. If you're going to talk to me... We'll move it. I can move it. This is important." Pepper insists gently, her hand pressing a bit more against his skin and her voice as gently compelling as that look in her eyes. "...Tony, something is off. You're right. Even I can see that. If you can't tell me, you won't be able to tell anyone. That's why I'm here. I help you. I fix things. Let me help you." 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "All of Belgium would probably care to differ with you about that point, but I'm going to have to agree about being most important," Tony kids automatically. He's entered into that mode, and it probably will be hard to pry him back into serious time again. Elusive, that special little moment can be. As elusive as a flash of blue dress. But it's definitely there, if the door didn't keep getting closed on it. Tony, for his part, seems like he distracted himself, and his tunnel vision has locked elsewhere. "Right now, fixing me requires me not smelling like a mini-bar," Tony says with a slight self-sniff that is hardly conducive to intimate thoughts. Except that it's very /genuine/ and shows his comfort with her. "You /are/ helping," Tony adds, in a way that reminds he's aware she didn't mean his personal hygiene with her statement. "Really, let's get Belgium out of the way. I'm not dumping any more meetings because I don't have shit together." That statement alone possibly gives her the exact information she was hunting: he's trying to get his shit together, and stumbled at it. "This shit... is together," he says, with a gesture to... all of himself. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' Silence lingers for several more heartbeats, but not because she's trying to get something more out of it. Her breath paused the moment he said he doesn't have his shit together -- that admission alone told her volumes. That was the good and bad side of having worked together for so long, she could read so much unsaid by him. Some days, she really didn't even have to talk to him. She just did it because she liked it. But she always knew what he needed before he said it. That was no different emotionally, sometimes. Just more complicated. "...Oh, Tony..." She finally breathes out quietly, her hand from his cheek coming up to comb fingertips back through his hair which, yes, could definitely use a wash. "...it's not together. That's why I'm here. If that shit was completely together, you wouldn't need me, then what would I do?" Pepper asks with a bittersweet smile, her hand still lingering at the top of his ear, not quite willing to pull away yet. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "I've seen /far/ worse foundations, really. You could build a tower on this shit, and it wouldn't fall over for ages," Tony says, in his 'fill the air with talking' way. But he doesn't maintain it, he faces her as she passes her hand up into his hair across his ear. There's a register there of her, and her proximity: no doubt she'll see that he actually did SEE her, just now. Maybe in a blue dress. He hears her question. And doesn't spin out some interesting bullshit about what she'd do. "What would you do?" Tony asks her, simply, with a directness that causes a slight move of muscle around his eyes and cheek. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' That was not the answer she expected. It was a terrifying answer to Pepper, in truth, and while he doesn't often catch her off guard, he has uncomfortably done so in this moment. Pepper blinks, her hand abruptly falling away from his hair and ear, entire body almost tensing up, tempted to curl in on itself. Unhealthy or not, the thought of not being needed here -- of not being the vital foundation of Stark Enterprises -- actually physically hurts a part of her. "...I... I don't know. Get an EA job...somewhere else, probably. Maybe try to get some chief financial position. I do more than an EA already. But... that's no matter. You need me here. I'm not going anywhere." She states firmly, looking him straight in the eyes, no doubt in her voice as she says that, along with a strong dash of too-fierce loyalty. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "I don't think you have to worry about job security. I mean, look around you," Tony reminds her, glancing at the strange trail of fire extinguisher foam with a look that suggests like he's as surprised to see it as anyone else might be. "This shit pile could catch fire any second," Tony says, in a gentler, lower tone. He does mean himself, of course. "And my aim with the extinguisher seems questionable." He's dismayed by her pulling away, there was a minor wounding when she did, but he doesn't seem able to reach out to her either in that moment. Maybe that response isn't the one HE expected either. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' While it's less than healthy, probably for both of them, there is just a touch of relief in her eyes as he says she doesn't have to worry about job security. Pepper looks around, taking in that horrible trail of chemical fluid from the extinguisher, the rest of the mess she didn't get to, and she just gives a little laugh along with a shake of her head. "I'd say...we have a few more years before you can consider my position redundant. But I'd still be sorry to go." She admits softly, the closest she'll come to admitting she plans to spend the rest of her life at his side, with this company. Even as Forbes says she should have moved on ages ago. Her hand reaches forward, somehow feeling that strange emptiness of space between them. She lets her fingertips rest heavily on his knee for a heartbeat or two, not going back to his face, but there is some contact there. "...But, if you're sure about Belgium, you... should shower. I'll get your green silk Thomas Whitling shirt. That'll do well." 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Tony follows her eyes to the trail of foam, but doesn't seem even mildly ashamed of it. There's an ownership of the shit-heap in a brief smile. "I'm sure," Tony says with a firmness. Even if it was entirely false about how he may or may not feel together at the moment, he is going to power through it regardless. A train without tracks maybe, but full steam ahead. His willpower alone would more than carry this. "Perfect," he says with a snap of fingers at her choice. "Hold them at bay if you can, I'll be ...efficient." He pats her hand once, and does stand this time, getting down to business. And totally tripping over his shoes. At least he found them. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' As he goes full steam ahead, she does as well. One last squeeze to his knee and Pepper Potts is standing up, stiff and straight, like they never had an intimate moment on the couch at all. This is all business, of course. Completely so. She listens to his commentary about being efficient and gives a little amused smirk, "I think I can vamp for ten minutes, but you've got TEN minutes beyond the start time. Nothing more." She then turns to move for his bedroom, knowing where it is all too well, since she'll need to be there to set out his clothes. She leads the way quickly down the hall, lost in business talk the whole time, "JARVIS, start the shower for Tony. 102 degrees, full steam and pressure. Set a count down for five minutes after the meeting start time, so he's got five minutes to get downstairs." And Pepper is drowning in his closet, now, looking for the perfect outfit. By the time he's out of the shower, his clothing will be laid out on the bed and she is no where in sight, back down to helping run his empire. 
}}

3449/STARK Holiday Bash, Part 1

2018-01-03T06:22:15Z

Malky: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2017/12/21 |Location=Stark Tower |Synopsis=Tony Stark launches a giant holiday party with some announcements, to a variety of (...mostly secret age..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2017/12/21
|Location=Stark Tower
|Synopsis=Tony Stark launches a giant holiday party with some announcements, to a variety of (...mostly secret agent) guests.
|Cast of Characters=22, 67, 163, 1191, 137, 83, 1516, 54, 5
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' The party has begun approximately half an hour prior, the bulk of the guests are now arriving, and the valet stations are scrambling to handle it all. Started indeed: but, it is not yet in full swing: the host, it seems, has not yet made an appearance. The band is well prepared to entertain, however, and there are guests everywhere, enjoying the music, ambiance, drinks, and decorations. Speaking of drinks, there are roving waiters all over the place, happy to bring requests out to the guests. Food, though, is in the back area, and already has attracted a good crowd to examine what rich offerings are available. The stage, though, begins to change slowly, as the lighting adjusts: it now has mild, foreshadowing mood lighting of gold and red inlaid over the silver of previously. 

:'''{{#var:67|Lara Croft (67)}} has posed:''' Lara Croft had planned to come here to change up her pace of the 'usual' ... generally she wasn't much of a socialite but she'd been trying hard to get out of her hermit bubble and be a more public figure and face. She was donating a lot of money to charities these days, so she wanted to be a bit more open and 'out there' for questions. So here she was, wearing a black dress that covered all but her arms and her back, a gold necklace was around her collarbone and her dark brown hair was tied up into a nice style. She was in the food area currently, accepting a glass of champaign and letting her eyes roam around the party. 

:'''{{#var:163|Cyberdragon (163)}} has posed:''' Being only 17, John Coltan wears the pin required as the rules of the party. In truth he's also one of the cooks here. With no real family himself now, he does what he can to keep himself busy, and distracted from lack of holiday company. So he is there helping to mainly cook the food, but also Serve it. All in the practice of eventually hoping to own his own resturaunt. Still in the nearby forest area his large dog is laying down in some of the faux snow apparely sleeping as the Tibetan MAstiff seems to be content to be ignored as he sleeps. John's stedfast companion infact watching everything carefully. 

:'''{{#var:1191|Skye Johnson (1191)}} has posed:''' Skye Johnson was /not/ a socialite. In fact she was surprised to receive her own, personalized inviation to Tony's party. Though, in retrospect, it was amusing, especially considering their relationship. However, she didn't do parties very well. Sure, she could get on with people. She just wasn't sure she liked people all that much. Still, here she was, on Clint's arm, wearing a little black dress that looked like she'd been poured into it, along with the requisite heels, and a shawl that kept threatening to fall from the perch it had taken over her shoulders. Likely by the end of the evening the poor thing will be left behind. Like Lara, she's helping herself to a drink and looking around from the sidelines. 

:'''{{#var:137|Clint Barton (137)}} has posed:''' As it turns out, Clint cleans up pretty nice. Tonight he's in a tux by Janet Van Dyne, and definitely rocking it. Oh, his hair is just slightly messy and he's got his usual stubble, but that fitted tux, makes it all look rakish rather than negligent. With Skye on his arm, he's by the food, having a cup of egg nog served to him, by the smell, it's heavily laden with rum. "Want one?" he asks Skye, before noting Lara and giving her a nod. "Hey Croft," It was a big party, things were off to a good start if he was running into people he knew already. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' While it would probably be fashionable to be more *late* to the party, Pepper is too worried about everyone else having a good time and everything being managed properly. So, she's at the very front foyer at the moment, far from the stage and the grand entrance that Tony will probably be making. She's doing her best to get people checked in, welcomed, shaking hands kissing babies, the like. A smile is given to Clint and Skye as she sees them on each other's arm, a little incline of her head echoing, but there wasn't quite time for conversation yet. Pepper, meanwhile, is *dressed* utterly gorgeously. Breath taking might be the proper word, or ethereal. She's in a pale blue gown that flows all the way to the floor, almost floating around her feet and mostly hiding her shoes. It's a delicate, feather light material with a shimmering of silver snow flakes that starts down the skirt and gathers closer at the waist. The empire waist is fitted neatly across her slim frame, giving her the appearance of some curve to her shape. Just above her breasts, the flowing material turns into blue lace across her decollatage and sweeping back over her shoulder blades. She looks like some sort of snow angel. Her hair is down in soft, strawberry waves across her half bare shoulders. Her smile, for the moment, is genuine and shining. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' The wait staff are attentive to Ms. Croft and Ms. Johnson, and politely offer that if they would like anything further, they needs to but ask for it. In particular, the waitress near Clint, when he suggests Skye also have one, smiles to Skye to see what her answer will be: quite happy to fetch another egg nog. The wait staff does react somewhat to the change in color of lights at the stage (it has deepened to gold), however, as if the employees were warned that something were going to happen with that cue, and start to clear out of the way gradually, retreating to the bar. Skye's waitress will wait for her answer first, though. John Coltan, as an employee that evening, will know that means Tony's arrival is quite soon, and the lighting change will make it harder to navigate with drinks for a short period. The staff near Pepper are giving her full support in greeting, answering questions, and directing guests towards the event space. 

:'''{{#var:1516|Caim (1516)}} has posed:'''     Caim entered the party, invitation in hand as he leaned on his cane. Normally He spent this time of year back home in greece but he decided to spend it here. He makes his way over to the food table and takes a glass of champagne, sipping it as he watches the various people. He makes his way over to Lara and smiles. "Miss Croft. A pleasure to meet you." He says as he looks around to the various people. Clint gets a curious look. 

:'''{{#var:67|Lara Croft (67)}} has posed:''' Lara lowered her champaign glass as Clint caught her attention with her name and she looked over to he and Skye, smiling brightly at them she waved her free hand a little. "Hey you two." She said to them. "Looking quite fetching, I see." She'd show them both a little grin. Her eyes would scan quickly over the rest of the party and she'd take note of Pepper, the woman behind the corporation... the foundation of Stark's empire! (:P) But it was Caim's appearance and speaking to her that pulled her attention to him now. "Oh... hello." She'd say, offering a hand to him. She clearly didn't know who he was, which is one of the reasons she was bad at this social thing. 

:'''{{#var:54|Tim Drake (54)}} has posed:'''     A clever hand adjusts his pin to be a bit more obvious. Tim Drake is not here to get kicked out. That would be an unforgivable social sin. His date, a leggy blonde with glasses adjusts her pin as well. She looks over at Tim and spares him the slightest of hopeful smiles. "Go." he says, in a ginger, playful tone as he lifts his index finger and smiles. "Go rub elbows with the employees, but show some restraint. Okay? I know you want the internship, but.."     She interrupts him, "Absolutely. I promise. I know you owe Mr. Wayne a lot, but Stark's renewables programs are just!" His smile is small. "Restraint." He says again, though not in a cruel tone. She leans over and smears her lipstick as she kisses him... on the cheek. It leaves a thick scarlet streak. "You're the best!" That is probably the last he'll see of her. "Call the number I gave you for a car..." Not that she cares. She's off to bend some poor engineer's ear.     Tim Drake reaches into his coat and plucks out a handkerchief to wipe her lipstick off his cheek with a heavy sigh. He watches his date go off to mingle and gives a little shake of his head. a nearby guest looks at him, and Tim shrugs. "Can't compete with a mechanical assistance." He quips as the man's date chokes ever-so-slightly on her champagne. Tim continues to dab the lipstick off his cheek with a little impish grin. He makes his way to the bar to lean there, and pointing at his little pin. "Your most elegant diet orange soda. On the rocks. Neither shaken nor stirred."     The bartender has no idea who this young man is and rolls his eyes and serves it up. "Many thanks." Tim pushes his left hand through his hair with a smaller sigh and leans against the bar for a moment to sweep his blue gaze over the room as he sips his drink. 

:'''{{#var:1191|Skye Johnson (1191)}} has posed:''' Skye smiles at the waitress, and grins at Clint. "Wine, if you have it? Red, please." She's pretty sure Tony doesn't have their frou-frou beer. Egg-nog might be more festive, but she's never gotten behind the whole dairy with booze thing. Now, coffee with booze is a solution she totally endorses, but egg-nog? Not so much. Lara is smirked at. And not only because the two have worn the stereotypical party attire. Though Skye's hair and makeup aren't as on point as most of the other guests. It's as though she only got half the memo about attending. Still, she looks pretty fine when you compare her to her usual every day clothing. Some might not even recognize her. 

:'''{{#var:163|Cyberdragon (163)}} has posed:''' While it might be hard for some to move around. John's learned a lot, including knowing his surroundings. As he is carrying a tray of Horderves and some drinks hoping to get the platter to where it is meant to go without spilling it. He's not entirely the most fluid waiter, but when he almost runs into someone instantly it is lifted high over his head and he turns and spins barely managiing to avoid a collision, as he profusly appologizes for the near mishap. 

:'''{{#var:137|Clint Barton (137)}} has posed:''' Clint smiles at Lara's greeting, "Thanks, you too, Croft," he says with a little salute from his egg nog cup. "Rolling solo?" he asks. "Wine," he smiles to Skye, then coughs suddenly, it sounds like *frou-frou* but surely that's a coincidence. Then Caim's there, all white hair and red eyes, giving Clint a look. Tony's security is pretty good, so he figures this guy's just weird, not a threat. "Hey, you a fan?" he asks, extending a hand to Caim. "Clint Barton, Hawkeye." 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' It's like Pepper has sharpened instincts -- she can feel eyes on her which are a bit heavier than your average party goer. Her brows furrow and she turns green eyes about, flickering straight in Lara's direction. A smile blooms across her face and she tilts her head towards the lady respectfully, trying to place if she should know her from somewhere. Meantime, she steals a glass of champagne off one of the staff's trays and drinks it a little too quickly. Pepper may be more nervous than she lets on. 

:'''{{#var:1516|Caim (1516)}} has posed:'''     Caim takes Lara's hand and kisses the knuckles softly, letting go of her hand shortly after that. "I have read about your adventures. I may have an adventure for you to go on, should you be interested. You do like to explore tombs and ancient places?" He says as he watches her. When Clint speaks he turns and regards the man with a slight smile. "I am a fan of your work as well, Mr. Barton. Your skills as an archer and avenger are impressive. To be honest I wouldnt mind seeing how I fare against a master archer like yourself. It has been a long time since I have used the bow." 

:'''{{#var:67|Lara Croft (67)}} has posed:''' Lara smiled at her friends, Clint and Skye. "Have you two thought any more about my offer?" She asked them before sipping her drink a little more, she didn't want to hound them but it'd been a week or so since she'd offer them her house for rent here in Manhattan. Lara had given Pepper a return smile too when they'd made eye contact, she figured it was highly unlikely that Pepper would know about her unless she remembered the news from a few years ago about everything that went down on that Japanese island and the death of a famous television star... but what are the odds of that! At Caim, Lara would show a soft smile and a light nod. "I'm an archaeologist by trade, so 'Yes' ... to a certain extent. I have to know what the job is though and spend a fair amount of time research the ins and outs before I agree to anything." 

:'''{{#var:5|Melinda May (5)}} has posed:''' Arriving a few minutes after Skye and Clint, May enters the venue quietly, bypassing Ms. Potts by having one of the other greeters direct her. It probably wasn't the nicest thing to do and she'll apologize later with an offering of Chinese tea, but she's not actually here to celebrate. She's on duty. Not that her attire would indicate it. In complete contrast to her usual, May is dressed entirely in red ( http://tinyurl.com/ybm7eo9g ), with her hair pulled up into a bun secured with a pair of sticks that have flattened spade-like finials on their ends and rings oddly placed at their centers ( http://tinyurl.com/yb42krx7 ). Stepping through to where the refreshments are being served, she ghosts through the electronic 'trees' as if scoping the place out. For ... something. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Skye's waitress dips a nod and trots off, her ponytail bouncing. She reaches out a hand to John as she passes him, with a murmer of 'careful' gently. She gathers a few more orders on the way back to the bar, and then lingers there. Because, the band finishes their current piece and moves to get a break, to applause from the dance floor, and the stage lights up like a gold firecracker, floor to ceiling. For those that have attended a STARK event in the past (...or been in his company for any real extent of time), they well know that the man makes an entrance. Tonight is certainly no different. Music explodes from the stage area: "Legend" by the Score. Tony comes from the far back under heavy tracking spotlights, and begins what can only be called a parade to the stage through the dancers in time to the heavy beat in the music, greeting guests as he goes: shaking hands, smiling, even doing a few dance steps with one or two of the women he passes along, to the music, headed for the stage. Tony owns the event, in more than one way. He's dressed in a sleek black-on-black tux, dark violet vest and tie, immaculate. Tons of phones come out, as people get pictures, prepared for some big spectacle: and of course, don't want to miss it... - for social media. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' There is something in the back of Pepper's head that niggles a reminder about Lara. Something she should remember, a news report or the like, but it's not coming to her now. So, she simply makes a mental note to speak with the woman and begins weaving her way deeper into the crowd when that music starts. She knows what is coming next, absolutely knows it. A deep sigh and a small smile and she does her best to get close enough to the stage that she can dash up if anything goes wrong, but she's not stealing the spotlight. So, there she stands, just on the edge of the stage and the crowd. Looking like a snow fairy in her too-elegant, ephemeral gown and silver shoes. The wave of the crowd is enough to almost drown her, but she takes a few steps forward, "Keep clear of the stage, please..." SHe commands a few more rowdy guests, taming them with her eyes alone. She could still command a room when needed. But then she turns back to face the stage, a genuine, almost proud smile crossing her mouth as she looks up to Tony and watches him completely in his element. Seeing him like this she cannot help but smile. 

:'''{{#var:54|Tim Drake (54)}} has posed:'''     At first, the young man attempts to remain quite happily situated near the bar. He steps away as he notices a few others coming over, undoing his jacket as he does so. His left hand hooks into his vest's empty pocket watch pocket, conveniently cut at a slight angle to allow the mannerism. When one's clothes are made for them, small things like that are easily accommodated. He lifts the fizzy orange diet soda to take another sip. He runs an absent finger over his cheek and sighs as he has to remove a little more of the smear from it with a slight scowl. He nearly steps into the path of a waiter, but then very smoothlyÂ steps out of the way with a sincere sounding, "Please forgive me?" The few steps to avoid an impact take him a bit further from the bar.     His grin quirks, ever-so-slightly lopsided as he sees his 'date', already having a discussion with an older gentleman who is actually listening to her. Good deed done, he scrubs a little harder at the last bit of lipstick. "Takes talent to smear it on me, but not on you. Well-played." He grouses to himself, then looks about the room, wistfully remembering when his mother would shield him from this. His smile turns a little bittersweet, but even that is fleeting. The woman in red draws his eye, but not because of her countenance, but because of her mannerism. His eyes watch Melinda May, then flick away before they linger too long. He should have expected more security, he silently berates himself, then casually looks about, marking agents and other security folks, muttering names as he notes captains of industry and government officials.     The sudden upswell of music and light draws his attention, and Tim Drake gives that lopsided grin again at Mr. Stark. He has to sidestep another waitress though, and ends up drifting a few more paces closer to the older group of party-goers. 

:'''{{#var:137|Clint Barton (137)}} has posed:''' Clint's expression is bemused when Caim talks about testing skills, "Huh, most fans just ask for a selfie, but, sure, give me your contact details, we can talk." Like Lara, he was going to do some research before agreeing to anything out of the blue. This gave him time for that. The sudden brightening of the stage lights gets him turning that way, and when the music kicks in, he smirks and shakes his head. He knew that tune, it was on his workout mix. "Legend, subtle Tony," he murmurs fondly and takes a sip of his egg nog. 

:'''{{#var:163|Cyberdragon (163)}} has posed:''' With things starting to really get Chaotic, combined with the the help he did with the cooking, and his inexperience, John is starting to struggle just a little. Thankfully one of the head waiters let's john know that he can take most of the night off. While his help and eagerness to learn is admired. It is a formal event and they don't need an amateur having an accident such as with the young Tim Drake. And with regret John is exactly that and he knows it allowing the much more experienced waiters and cooks take over. You never start at the top at events like this. Still the little experience he gained was important. Ceaser, John's dog is in the forest out of the way curled up apparently snoozing. Not very bothered by the noice or music. But for those who know what they are looking for will spot the canine well out of anyone's way. As John heads out of the party area to get on his own suit formally and come out making sure his pin is properly adjusted snagging an virgin eggnog he will start to drink it slowly moving around the area noticing Hawkeye, May whom he recalls from the park some time ago, the woman they called Croft and with a smile, he slowly starts to move through the crowd. Seeing Pepper he offers he a soft smile, and gives a Nod to Tony. Great event and he is glad Tony managed to arrange from him to help for as long as he did. 

:'''{{#var:1191|Skye Johnson (1191)}} has posed:''' Skye takes her wine when it arrives, and puts on her party face. Or, for Skye, a smile that isn't a wry twist of a smirk. No, really, people might not recognize her. Out and about, in a dress, not snarking? Who is this girl anyway? While Clint is recognized and fawned over, she merely watches quietly. Though she does take a moment to steal away to grab Lara's attention. "I was hoping I might see you. Not to bring business up, but Clint and I were wondering if we might meet with you? About the house offer?" Now that trademark twist of a grin comes into play. "We've made a decision." 

:'''{{#var:5|Melinda May (5)}} has posed:''' May winds up probably a few feet off to one side of where Pepper's standing. It's by no means the best place to stand to watch the stage, but she's not here to watch Stark's antics. He no doubt has more than enough security all over this place. Maybe even the trees themselves. It would be the sort of thing for Stark to do. May's eyes scan the crowd gathering in front of the stage, looking at Pepper as she admonishes them to settle a bit. She's standing seemingly idly, but she focuses briefly on anyone that ventures too close to the stage. Or maybe just this corner of the stage. 

:'''{{#var:67|Lara Croft (67)}} has posed:''' Lara would nod her head softly to what Skye had said and she'd show a grin to both Skye and Clint. "Stop by my office tomorrow." She'd tell them, sipping her drink again. "We don't have to talk shop here, here is for--" When the music started and Tony's presentation was clearly beginning, Lara'd motion to it. "For that, clearly." She'd say with a grin. Her eyes would take sight of the red dressed May and she'd offer her a friendly wave and smile over the distance between them also. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Anyone nodding to Tony right now is probably not getting through, he is running his show. Reaching the stage, Tony adjusts a small mic at the level of his cheekbone, and reaches a fist up to the lyric 'Won't stop til we're Legend!'. The music drops, to allow him to speak; he opens his fist to open palm and then drops his hand, grin broad. He enjoys these moments. A few cheers from overly guests to his left makes him pause and wink, savoring. "Welcome welcome, my friends, my associates ... and whoever you are, you more than deserve an invitation," Tony teases a clearly well-dressed young lady directly in front, and she turns bright red. Tony chuckles and continues to announce into the mic, his voice broadcast throughout the event space. He actually can't see much of anything with the level of spotlights in his face. "Welcome, to the first-- the /first/, of the parties for this holiday season," Tony declares, pausing again. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' *First* of the parties of the holiday season. Pepper's expression falls to the edge of getting a headache already, for just a moment, and she brushes one hand across her eyes before using those fingertips to smooth down her loose strawberry blonde waves and then she's beaming a smile at the room again. Her hands fall into the proper applause with everyone else, even if she can feel the exhaustion creeping up. Since Tony clearly either does not see her, or doesn't care that she's there, she gives a little sigh and takes a few steps closer to Melinda. She might not know the woman well, but she's a semi-familiar face, at least. "Good to see you. Don't suppose you'll be here to keep me sane through all the OTHER parties he's planning this year?" She deadpans quietly, letting Melinda study the crowd as Pepper keeps studying the stage. Making certain all the effects are going off, no one needs her behind the scenes, and that everything Tony wants is going smooth as possible. 

:'''{{#var:54|Tim Drake (54)}} has posed:'''     Observing quietly, Tim has a few taller people get up to block the view. His eyes narrow at one guy who smells like he's been hitting the free booze a little too much already, then recognizes him as a Yankees player, and his eyes narrow further. Running his tongue over his teeth out of annoyance, Tim sidesteps the obnoxious drunk man, and sips his drink. The player lets out a whoop at Stark, and throws an arm back, nearly knocking Tim's drink out of his hand.     Mindful that there are cameras everywhere, Tim just flinches without spilling, and moves a little further aside of the man.      His phone buzzes in his pocket, and the young man checks the person calling. He makes a slight face, and moves aside from the revels for a few minutes.     "Talk to me." He says into the phone in a low voice. "Let me get clear here for a few minutes. Yeah. I missed Bruce's party, and I need to make social appearances. Stark is a good guy, and he does good things, and has fun. Hang on, please, let me get over someplace where I can hear you better?"Â Â 

:'''{{#var:163|Cyberdragon (163)}} has posed:''' He had intended to appologize to the young man he almost spilled the drinks on, but seeing him on the phone he steps back and will catch him when he is free. Still he listens to Stark, moving around the area so he can listen to him which puts him close to Clint, Lara Croft, Caim, May, and Pepper. The First of many, and instantly his eyes role some what, already knowing that Pepper has a headache. Roling his eyes slightly he shakes his head. Right now he just smiles enjoying the party, and listens to Tony's speech. Making sure to use a napkin to wipe his mouth clean of any of the Eggnog he might have there after a small drink. He has to wonder what Tony has in mind. 

:'''{{#var:1516|Caim (1516)}} has posed:'''     Caim reaches into a pocket and pulls out a card with his phone number on it and address. He then moves to hand it to Clint and turns to regard the stage with a bit of a smirk. He then watches to see what the man will do. He then chuckles when he says it is the first of many parties and sips his drink. 

:'''{{#var:137|Clint Barton (137)}} has posed:''' Clint takes Caim's card with a nod, "Thanks," he says quietly before putting it inside his jacket. Then he waits with the rest of the crowd to see what Tony's got in store, slipping an arm around Skye's waist while he does. 

:'''{{#var:5|Melinda May (5)}} has posed:''' With a nod in response to Lara's wave hello, May looks across the crowd again before focusing on Pepper as she drifts closer. She is likewise not all that familiar with Ms. Potts, but she knows more than enough to not shift away again as she might if some random party-goer were to approach. "Good evening." She considers the question about being there to keep Pepper sane, and after a moment nods. "That could probably be arranged." And, there's probably more than enough precedent that if some papparazzi sort snaps a photo of May hanging around Stark's executive assistant, it'll simply be written off as the additional PA staffing that can happen at any given moment. "Should I bring my own tea?" 

:'''{{#var:67|Lara Croft (67)}} has posed:''' Lara finished her first glass of champaign and then flagged down a server with a slight raise of the empty. When they reached her she exchanged them for another... her ability to consume alcohol wasn't the most legendary, but she'd push it to its limits in the name of a nice evening out away from dusty books and ancient mysteries... at least for tonight, she owed her mind a different direction for one evening right? With a fresh glass, Croft looked back to the stage and smiled at Stark and his ability to play a crowd so effectively. He was a showman, for sure. 

:'''{{#var:1191|Skye Johnson (1191)}} has posed:''' Skye gives Clint a smile as he snugs that arm about her waist. Lara is nodded to. "Of course. Not here, or tonight. Just wanted to let you know. You know?" The young woman grins. Clint's fawning groupies are smirked at, she leaning in to whisper to him, "Can't take you anywhere, can I? Though I should go say hello to Tony at some point." Though at some point looks like it will have to be later in the evening. May gets a wide-eyed look of appreciation. Who knew May washed up like that? If it weren't for that aura of 'I could kill you with an unsharpened pencil' about the other woman, May would have oodles of men (and women!) fawning over her. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "I've a bit of something new tonight to reveal... so if you're on the edge of your seat over that, you'll have to dangle there a bit longer, but... let's just leap into the entertainment for now, shall we?" he says, tapping a few interactive finger-strokes on a slightly glowing object on his left wrist, and starts to walk off the stage stairs back down to the event floor. It's more a cocky saunter than a walk, really. The ceiling spirals in opening sections, and an array of acrobatic female dancers drop on golden ribbons, the 'Legend' music kicking back on again for their performance of aerial dance. They are dangerously high hanging off the rotating platforms. Tony wades down into the guests in front, greeting and smiling. And turns his head to spot May, and then his gaze lands on Pepper. He blinks a few times, still doing his handshake thing, but is staring at Pepper in her ethereal, snowy dress. He 'finishes' with the handshake and ditches the person he was 'talking' to, to approach Pepper directly in the sea of guests. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' A slightly wider smile to May, one of both relief and sardonic amusement, and Pepper states dead pan, "I'm certain we could order any special tea in you wanted, if it will tempt you back here to keep me sane through this all. Not necessarily worried about security. Just worried about falling asleep before midnight. I'm too old to party ten nights in a row... I don't know where he gets it." She mutters to Melinda, already sounding just a touch exhausted, but chances are Pepper was up at the crack of dawn doing everything she could to keep running and holding Tony's company together -- the way it always was. She missed what he was doing the last little bit, having kept her eyes on the woman beside her, so it's a bit of a surprise the moment she realizes Tony is coming at them. Then she sees his look. That look directly towards her, the blink, the staring... It's enough to make her blush, just a little. For a heartbeat, Pepper looks a decade younger and like there is no one in the world other than the man in front of her. She shifts forward, dress flowing like snow and air around her, standing just a bit more straightly elegant on her heels. "...Mr. Stark. I wondered if you'd ever come down from your throne..." She murmurs softly, gesturing to the entire stage. It really was his Kingdom. 

:'''{{#var:137|Clint Barton (137)}} has posed:''' When Skye speaks to Lara, Clint blinks, "Oh right, the house, yeah, we should definitely talk about that," he says to the ladies. Skye's remarks though get a smirk, "Price of fame," he says with that smug look on his face. Though in this case it's for effect. Seeing Tony wrap up his time on stage, he says, "Now's your chance," about speaking to Tony. As his eyes track Stark there, he catches sight of the figure in red by Pepper and gapes. "Holy shit, is that May?" 

:'''{{#var:5|Melinda May (5)}} has posed:''' "I'll show you a few things I've learned that might help you survive a little longer." May seems about to say more, but she stops when Tony approaches, and takes a small step back from Pepper. Even as she does so, though, her attention sharpens just that tiny bit more, minding their surroundings as Stark and Potts are distracted by staring at each other. If she's aware of Clint's reaction to her attire, she doesn't react. 

:'''{{#var:67|Lara Croft (67)}} has posed:''' Lara sipped from her second glass of champaign while she glanced over away from Tony's presentation toward her friends that she'd nod to and offer a smile, she was hoping they'd take the house... she was hoping to hear that they'd love living there too. At the show that took over the stage in Tony's wake though, Lara's eyes would watch and marvel at the skill and grace of the performers. After a moment though, Craft would separate herself from the onlookers and walk toward the line of food for guests, her eyes searching over it all. "I'm not even sure where to begin." She muttered, mostly to herself. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "Come down? I'm still on it," Tony assures Pepper automatically, and stares at her for a few additional awkward beats, clears his throat and casts a smile to others nearby, including Agent May. He may have done that, but it is a bit cursory -- all his attention is on Pepper at the moment, obviously, which could be both positive and negative. "You look worried. Relax, Pep. The show's going as planned. ... Drink?" Tony suggests to Pepper, abruptly. And flags a waiter immediately: super easy to do when half the waitstaff are looking at him in general. The performers take only the most brief of breaks, as the music changes to something that is a bit more in their wheelhouse perhaps, a more orchestral piece. Indeed, they improve, graceful acrobats holding the attention of many guests: it is indeed a great time to claim food or drink. 

:'''{{#var:163|Cyberdragon (163)}} has posed:''' WEll sadly with out a date here and more or less feeling out of place. John decides that it is time to head home and he will head over to the forest area to snap a leash on his dog and head off out of the area through a back door. making sure his exit is as un obtrusive as possible. 

:'''{{#var:54|Tim Drake (54)}} has posed:'''     Returning from the phone call, looking vaguely put upon as he pockets the expensive electronic device. Tim's thumb slides into the watch pocket on his vest and he watches the stage.     He is definitely the odd man out of the crowd he sort of emerges close too, what with them being a few years older at least. He sips a bit more from his drink before remarking. "He would have been a hell of a performer or producer. It isn't fair for one guy to be that brilliant and enjoy life and performances so much. Usually geniuses are tormented." Like an 18 year old kid knows anything about that? 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' "Well, yes, of course. It's your party. I suppose you'll be up there all night. Just... remember to enjoy yourself too. And don't drink too much, the season is young." Pepper states warmly, an earnest touch of worry in her voice. She then slips up to her toes so she can lean over and press the quickest of kisses to his cheek -- surely just a business formality of old friends, right? She must have hidden perfume away upstairs because, in that close moment, she leaves a wave of vanilla and sandalwood in her wake. Then she's settling back on her heels and moves a few steps away. "I should check on the next band and make certain things are going smoothly downstairs. Enjoy the party, Melinda. We'll speak longer, later on. Have JARVIS send for me if you need, Tony...I'm going to keep things running smooth so you can have fun yourself." As always. That's all Pepper ever did, really. And, with one last smile, she disappears in the crowd to keep arranging things. 

:'''{{#var:5|Melinda May (5)}} has posed:''' May watches Pepper take her leave to continue coordinating from the background before turning to look at Tony again. She doesn't say anything, though. She doesn't need to, most likely. After all, Stark may act like the world's dumbest genius, but he's not as completely socially obtuse as he likes people to think he is. "Are you planning to have an event every day, or do you intend to take a break in there somewhere?" She's mostly asking for Pepper's sake. Either way, she suspects Potts is going to be even busier than her usual. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Tony watches Pepper go with a distracted intensity, then suddenly is back to the party, and turns to the kingdom at hand with a warm large public-face smile. May's question makes him chuckle, "Every day? Hardly. I need time to enjoy being hungover." He checks in on the acrobats visually, as if looking for something, and then smiles to May and those near her: "Ah! Just about ready for the reveal. Excuse me," he says, without waiting for a reply, starting back to the stage stairs. 

:'''{{#var:67|Lara Croft (67)}} has posed:''' Lara had gotten herself a plate of fruits and vegetables and she'd moved to one of the stand-up tables that was present not too far away. She sat her glass and plate down and then used a little fork to poke at the food she'd gotten, she should've gotten something a bit more filling but she was more than a little self conscious at something like this! Another sip from her champaign was had and she looked up to see Mister Stark headed back toward the stage. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' The music reaches a crescendo, and the performers spin out wide, and there's an explosion from each of the circling ceiling panels of shimmering snowflakes, that burst out and start to shower towards all of the guests. But then something happens. The snowflakes catch in the air as if on an invisible ceiling, a patterned flow of the snowflakes seeming to hover overhead on that pane, which then slowly start to discend, like natural snowfall. "Presenting a new development in force shielding, capable of reducing speed without disrupting even a snowflake's shape, and, most importantly, keeps these performers perfectly safe," Tony says, with a gesture, smiling, to the applause at the rather beautiful snowy show. One of the performers lowers herself on a golden ribbon, and clearly has assistance from the tech to slow her ease to the stage. Tony catches her and applauds her. "Wonderful performance, well done, Flying Dragon Dancers," he says, as the dancers bow. The band starts back up in full blast for a section of open floor dancing as Tony comes off of the stage to finally mingle and order a drink. 

:'''{{#var:54|Tim Drake (54)}} has posed:'''     "Antigravity? Low speed repulsor? Inertial dampner?" Tim muses to himself and the people in his general vicinity. He pauses, then snorts to himself. "Air brakes. Bugs Bunny did it first, regardless. Cool technology."     His brain races at the idea of a harness to prevent falls.     "Effective bullet screen, maybe. Through one up in front of the president as a sort of nondescript Pope-mobile." he looks sips his drink. "Keep frisbees off the lawn too." He notes. His smile is crooked. "Alfred would like that." 

:'''{{#var:5|Melinda May (5)}} has posed:''' Stark's announcement and display of the force shielding actually elicits a reaction from May. She raises her eyebrows. Fury is most definitely going to want to know about that. And then as Tony steps off of the stage again, she moves to fall into step with him. "Ms. Potts asked if I would be sticking around to ... how did she put it? Help her stay sane." She tosses the man a glance. "Do you want me to do that? Because it can be arranged." 

:'''{{#var:1191|Skye Johnson (1191)}} has posed:''' For her part, Skye has been sipping her drink, trying to look like part of the scenery. Now that it seems the show is done, she gives Clint a kiss to the cheek. "I think I'll mingle a tiny bit. Say hello to Tony at least." And May. And perhaps a few other guests she doesn't know. Tim's comment about frisbees is caught in passing and smirked at. 

:'''{{#var:137|Clint Barton (137)}} has posed:''' Clint smiles to Skye, "Have fun," he says to her as she slips off to mingle. "I'll join you in a bit," he says spotting some of the Avengers and giving them a nod. He leans down to kiss her cheek in return before hitting up the serving staff for another egg nog before some light mingling. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Tony arches a brow sideways at May, and the large smile loses a few wattage as he takes in what she asked about. "If Pepper wants your help, you have my go ahead with it," Tony says to May smoothly, as if all of the show he just gave was less interesting than Pepper asking for a personal SHIELD agent to contain sanity. Maybe it is, since it's newer information to Tony. "Smashing dress, by the way," he adds to May offhandedly; he's not blind. Hardly. 

:'''{{#var:54|Tim Drake (54)}} has posed:'''     Skye gets a cheeky grin in return. "Need to have a wide market." he assures her. "The mean old man market is a chief demographic." Time Drake playfully notes. He sips his diet soda finally finishing it. He is obviously impressed with the technology, though the astute might note him checking the time on his wristwatch with a too-casual sort of look.     As a waiter moves past, Tim places the now empty glass on the tray. "Thank you." 

:'''{{#var:1191|Skye Johnson (1191)}} has posed:''' "Mean old man? As in hey you kids, get offa my lawn?" Skye pauses on her way to greet Tony to have a moment with Tim, noting the glance at his wristwatch. "Yeah. I'm feeling the same. Kinda like a weed in a flowerbed. Place looks great though. Skye by the way. Nice to meet you." She shifts her drink from one hand to the other, and extends her now free hand to Tim to offer a handshake. 

:'''{{#var:5|Melinda May (5)}} has posed:''' May nods to Tony. "I'll arrange it with SHIELD ops and be back here first thing tomorrow morning." Of course, she fully expects that Tony won't be awake and moving about until at least 1 or 2pm. But that means that she and Pepper can get some actual work done. She takes a quick mental inventory of what clothes she'll have to put up with for this particular mission, and she's already mentally grumbling. But, as usual, she doesn't let her thoughts show on her face. "Thank you," she replies when Tony comments on her outfit. And then she promptly deflects by looking toward where Skye is saying hello to a young man. "You know that kid over there?" It would make sense that he does, after all, this shindig is very strictly invite only. 

:'''{{#var:54|Tim Drake (54)}} has posed:'''     "As in the sort of guy tormenting the Scooby gang, yeah." Tim Drake agrees. He has a calloused, hard hand despite his, let's be honest, pretty boy exterior. "I'm Tim Drake. Jack Drake was my dad. Bruce Wayne adopted me. I'm the sacrificial goat for Tony's party." His tone matches his lop-sided little grin. It's warm, and obviously poking more fun at himself than at anyone else.     "It's really nice to meet you, Skye. You keep rare company, on the arm of an actual honest-to-goodness Avenger all night." He files away the face and name. "Tony was nice enough to attend Bruce's party a couple of weeks back. I was stuck handling school stuff. Couldn't attend Bruce's party, and Bruce won't have me being a homebody, so, umm, ta-da?" There is that little crooked grin again.     he was actually in sewage up to his waist chasing down some invasion weapons. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Tony isn't deflected at first, he's still looking at the 'dress'. Or whatever is in the same vicinity as the red dress. It's not like he hides it, either. But he does finally glance over, taking in Skye first, then the young Tim Drake. "Yes, sure. He is a Wayne," Tony answers without issue to May. "Nice kid." Which probably means 'smart kid', with the tone Tony uses. "Skye decided to accept the invitation, I see. I'll get through to her yet," Tony observes, pleased. "Big SHIELD turnout. Hope you're enjoying yourselves, and it isn't all business." 

:'''{{#var:1191|Skye Johnson (1191)}} has posed:''' There's a flash of grin for Tim, along with a shrug. "Clint? Yeah. He's my date." She says it all casual as though they're not dating or living together. Which is totally typical of the woman. "I'm not actually sure why I got invited. This really isn't my schtick." Her own shake is firm enough, but it doesn't have nearly the markings or callouses that Tim's does. Some few, but not enough to really inform as to her position in things. Nothing a person could point at and identify a weapon choice, or a profession. She's something of an anomally that way, it would seem. "Ah, yeah. The orphan gig. Tell me about it. Lucky you, though. On the adoption, I mean." She hadn't been so lucky, that very state prompting her running away and taking to the streets at a young age. All the while oblivious to Stark's attention on her and the young Tim. 

:'''{{#var:137|Clint Barton (137)}} has posed:''' Doing the rounds of his Avengers buddies, Clint makes his way over to Tony and May. "Who's the new girl, Tony?" Clint greets the pair, before putting on a surprised look, "May? Is that you?" he smirks. "Great disguise." 

:'''{{#var:54|Tim Drake (54)}} has posed:'''     The 'good kid' has a good handshake. "Bruce wanted to thank you for making his party and livening it up like you did. He also told me to try to get out of the house, stop being a homebody, and to 'lighten up, live a little'." Tim Drake's grin remains there. He pivots his blue gaze to Skye. "You're an agent." He tilts a brow. He looks back at Tony. "Is everyone here but me either your employee or a spy?" He pauses. "Or a local sports star?" He allows the last one, remembering the Yankee 'Star' who nearly spilt his drink.     "Avenger." Tim Drake has to be careful to not put the 'Robin' voice on as he offers Clint his hand. "Apparently Mr. Stark has invented a frisbee and arrow blocking shield. Does that mean you are hanging up your bow?"     He hastily adds, 'All kidding aside. Fascinating tech. Low grade repulsors, Boson, gravitons. Call it Air brakes. You'll make another fortune." His thumb slides out of his watch pocket as Tim Drake alters his body language so he is nothing more than just Wayne's smart kid. 

:'''{{#var:5|Melinda May (5)}} has posed:''' "I didn't think she'd refuse." Though May is honestly surprised that Lewis couldn't be here. Well, maybe that's why Stark has arranged for multiple events. "I think I'm the only one here actually on duty." Probably not, but any other on duty agents are likely being far more subtle about it, acting as waitstaff or similar. And then Clint saunters on over and tries THAT comment. May simply looks at him flatly with a slightly tilt to her head that is exatly enough to make the overhead lighting glint off of the metal 'sticks' in her hair. Anyone within a couple of yards from her and familiar enough with various martial arts styles might recognize that she's wearing actual weaponry as hair accessories. Probably because she couldn't exactly conceal her sidearm in her current outfit. Then, just as quickly as she silently stared Clint down she focuses on Tim and her seeming casual glance visually evaluates his potential threat level. And she sees when he shifts into 'harmless kid' mode, and doesn't believe it for a second. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' And here I was going with 'mid-air slow-downer,'" Tony says in dismayed deadpan, to Tim's commentary of what to call it. "The goal was a bit more broad than fortune. It was to make all of the uncomfortable agents glad they came and didn't 'waste' a night on having a good time against their will," Tony chuckles, diverting to Clint with an open handshake to greet him, and spots... his drink. "I'm behind," Tony states, urgently, and signals the waitress to bring his drink immediately, with a sharp look and snap of fingers at her. She rushes one over and Tony's downing it. Priorities. 

:'''{{#var:1191|Skye Johnson (1191)}} has posed:''' There's a singlular arch of brow from Skye. "I'm an agent, huh? What screams that about me." She's grinning though, turning to regard Tony herself, moving closwer that actual conversation might happen. Clint gets a whole grin of his own. "Fancy meeting you here, stranger." A nod for the others. "Stark. May." Her own glass nearly finished as Tony galls the waitress over, Skye finishes the dregs and gets herself a fresh glass while she's at it. 

:'''{{#var:137|Clint Barton (137)}} has posed:''' Clint smirks at that flat look. "Good to see you too. Nice pins," he says about the weapons in May's hair. Tony's hand is gripped, but then Stark is off for a drink and Clint lets go, "Good to see you too," he remarks taking a sip of his drink, when the 'good kid' calls him Avenger. "Avenger is my father, call me Clint," he jokes as he shakes Tim's hand. "And nah, there's always some crazy new tech thing out there and so far, I haven't found one to make me hang up the bow." A glance is given to Skye, "I don't usually do this with strangers," he jokes leaning down to kiss her cheek. "But I could swear we've met before." 

:'''{{#var:54|Tim Drake (54)}} has posed:'''     "Flying disc repeller." Tim says gravely at Tony, giving a little nod. "Regardless, you already know its a good idea. But I'll tell you it is anyways. The tech is awesome."     "You were surrounded by Agents, Miss Skye." Tim says quietly. "I'm the ward of a billionaire playboy. I know what security looks like. Barbara Gordon is a friend of mine, so I know a ton of police. So, I know they are all kinda clannish. You were one of them. I took a chance."     Tim grins at Clint. "I'm Tim. A real honor to meet you. It takes guts to shoot at aliens with a bow and arrow." There is no irony or cruelty to his tone, just honest approval and admiration. Melinda May? Tim looks at her. His cheeks go about 17 shades of red. If he has a weakness, it's girls who kick butt. To the young man's credit, his eyes never dip. Never. Dip. He maintains eye contact. "Hi. I'm Tim." His voice is a little strangled though, as if slightly embarrassed. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Tony gestures around to the little circle, addressing the waitress, "Refill everyone." Including him, he hands her back his empty glass. "There may or may not have been some artillery tests into the field last week that were, in fact, awesome," Tony remarks to the young man. And then comes an enormous smirk that surfaces upon seeing Tim react to May. Oh man. "Hmmmmmm. Excuse me, I'm in the splash zone," he says lightly, stepping aside a little away from what might occur between May and Tim, amused, to meet a few people that were so patiently waiting nearby to get his attention. 

:'''{{#var:5|Melinda May (5)}} has posed:''' May nods to Skye when she offers a greeting, though the way she watches Tony demand and promptly inhale a drink makes it clear she's already calculating how difficult Stark is going to be to deal with later. Sure, she could curtail his imbibing by tasing him and watching TV while he drools into a carpet, but that thought has never really sat well with her. He's got an electromagnetic medical device on his person according to SHIELD records, and that's not something to play with. Ever. So, she mentally prepares for having to be the man's designated driver. Figuratively. Tim's greeting to Clint and then reaction to her would be flattering and a bit amusing but, well, based on the pin on the kid's lapel, she's nearly old enough to be his grandmother. Just, no. "Tim." She offers him a handshake, noting that the kid manages to maintain eye contact even if he is redder than a prize-winning tomato. "Call me May." When Tony indicates for everyone to have refills, that's goign to be a challenge for May. She's not so much as requested a glass of water yet. 

:'''{{#var:1191|Skye Johnson (1191)}} has posed:''' Skye smirks at Tim. "Surrounded by doesn't mean I am one." Nope, she's totally not admitting that. And his little divulgences have a few wheels spinning in her head. It's probably a dead end of a lead, but one never knew. Clint's kiss to the cheek, gets a saucy little twist of lips thrown his way, as well as a hand gesture to her forehead that he's more than familiar with. ~Asshole~ She just shakes her head and takes her refill, noting to Tony. "I still owe you lunch, by the way. And the show was impressive." 

:'''{{#var:54|Tim Drake (54)}} has posed:'''     He's eighteen. But, yes, he is completely aware that he's blushing. 'Tim." he assures Melinda. "Just Tim." He shakes his head at the waiter. "I've made a big enough idiot of myself without asking for another diet orange, thanks though." The teen's lips quirk into the self-aware, crooked grin. His left hand waves the waiter off from him, making sure to show his pin. He has a heck of a grip from a rich kid though.     He is so glad he has someone to look at that is not the older woman. "I would have liked to have seen you slow artillery shells. Would have been cool. Who doesn't like explosions?" He lowers his hands, and while he is still blushing, he isn't looking at her anymore. Yup. Totally in control. He notes to himself to ask Tony later if she's got a daughter or something later. His left hand too casually pushes his hair from his face as he sets his jaw. 

:'''{{#var:137|Clint Barton (137)}} has posed:''' Clint grins broadly when Skye signs to him. He points with both index fingers and brings them together. ~Same to you~ He glances at Tim, parsing his words for scorn and finding none he gives him a nod "Thanks, good to meet you. Actually I don't think I caught your-" then he says it looking at May and turning beat red. Clint grins shooting a look to Skye. He smiles when May takes it well and Clint accepts his refill. "So, Tim, what do you do exactly?" he asks. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "It's hardly over. There's more performers," Tony tosses out to Skye as the other people withdraw. "And mmmhmmmm you do; say, dig through those toys yet, Oxeye? I'm waiting; there's more," Tony 'explains' elusively to Skye/Oxeye. The drinking is leading to his attention being drawn... all over the place, as if he felt he's missing his party to an extent. Or he's looking for somebody. Tony tips his glass to Tim in response about the explosions, though. 

:'''{{#var:5|Melinda May (5)}} has posed:''' May watches Tim for a second or two longer, then looks at Skye and Clint, and with the faintest shift of her Vulcanesque expression toward sternness, she makes a gesture at the pair of them, her right hand hitting the upturned palm of her left hand in a chopping motion. ~Stop.~ And then she's looking at Tony again. "I need to go check in so I can make sure my schedule is clear for the next several days." It's left unsaid but heavily implied: don't get into trouble while she's gone or there will be consequences. Her eyes land on Clint and Skye and Tim briefly as she moves past them and toward the exit, the nearly floor length gauzy fabric of her outfit billowing behind her a bit like Thor's cape is prone to. 

:'''{{#var:54|Tim Drake (54)}} has posed:'''     "Spend Bruce Wayne's money." Tim Drake admits. "He took me in after my parents..." The young man doesn't finish the sentence. He actually clears his throat. "Uh, My dad was Jack Drake. Drake Industries. Now I'm a Wayne. Sorta. I'm off to college now. Just knocking out the stuff that I wasn't allowed to test out of. Computer sciences, and likely another science course, I ... I am good with numbers." His left hand gestures as if to brush past that. "Business bores me. No offense. And people get weird around money and orphans. Numbers don't."His smile comes back, vaguely mocking. "Dad would say that business is numbers, but... that was his thing. I want to do my on. I like uh, well, we don't understand impact for example?" He sort of gestures at the stage where Stark's display was. "In court they talk about ballistics like we know everything. People have survived falls from thousands of feet with just broken legs, and other folks die from ten foot falls. The universe is like, weird, man. I like those numbers."     Maybe that explains the callouses, self-defense courses as the ward of a gajillionaire?     Oh Dear lord. She moves like a tigress. Tim sweats. Just a little. Why did he have to wear the three piece suit? Where can he find a girl like that? Do they come in his size? 

:'''{{#var:1191|Skye Johnson (1191)}} has posed:''' Skye's smirk for Clint's return to her slips away some as she watches Tony. Either the man is looking for something or someone, or he's had too many in rapid succession drinks. She suspects the later, or at least some combination of both. But short of bumping into him and spilling his drink, or reaching over and divesting him of his latest, she's in a slight bit of a bind there. "Uh, yeah. We need to sit and talk. Maybe not here or tonight, though?" So much for not being anyone, huh, Tim? Then again, she could just be the IT girl. Right? It's May, though that grabs Skye's attention with a full out startle of a blink, then a chuckle. "Well played." 

:'''{{#var:137|Clint Barton (137)}} has posed:''' Clint offers Tim a smirk, "Good way to live, I guess," he says. Totally not jealous or anything. Clint had done the orphan thing too, but had run away to the circus before his Daddy Warbucks showed up. Still, when Tim balks at saying the 'died' when it came to his parents Clint understands. There was no good ending to any orphan's story, just less shitty ones. "Sounds like you have a lot going on," he says, before smirking along with Skye when May catches them. ~Sorry~ he signs back, but by the smile on his face, he doesn't mean it. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Tony's attention lances back to May as she makes a statement about making sure her schedule is clear. Evidently May doesn't mess around, she makes plans into reality. Good to know. But Tony gets his attention focused back onto Skye when she responds to him, though he does pause before answering, handing off his most recent empty glass to passing waitstaff that clearly knew it was coming. They're used to Tony. "No. Tonight is to relax and enjoy, not be grumpy about my gifts. Can I ask, what convinced you to come? Purely for scientific interest, if I should I want to replicate the conditions again," Tony says with a sly smile to Skye, but the expression is relatively friendly. "Was it this one?" he asks with a toss of head towards the other Avenger. 

:'''{{#var:1191|Skye Johnson (1191)}} has posed:''' Skye is back to smirking at Tony. "What, jealous? You had your opportunity to ask me out. Not my fauilt if you didn't." Mind you, Clint hadn't asked her out either. That whole story was a comedy of purely Clint and Skye fueled errors - with a little nudge from Nat. Which didn't make sense, but there you go. "I got an invitation," Skye says simply as to why she came. Though she'd have come as Clint's date regardless, so one might suspect she's prevaricating all around. 

:'''{{#var:137|Clint Barton (137)}} has posed:''' Yep. How Clint and Skye got together was a comedy of errors only the two of them, plus Nat could put together. He shakes his head fondly at the thought. "I'll let you two talk," he says with a sip of his drink and a further shake of his head. "Find me later?" he asks Skye. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "I see. The flower responds to printed matter on special paper and... the incredible selfie played a role, no doubt," Tony decides aloud of Skye. And then seems to... realize something. "I've forgotten to eat." Just a statement. "Hungry?" he suggests to Skye simply, inviting her to come with via a hand motion, to continue to chat for now. At least, that is, until the party pulls the king back to the throne for more announcements or showmanship! 
}}

3541/New Year, New Start

2018-01-03T06:18:38Z

Malky: Created page with "{{Log Header |Date of Scene=2018/01/02 |Location=Tony Stark's Office |Synopsis=Tony and Pepper discuss... dating. It is horribly awkward. |Cast of Characters=22, 83 |pretty=ye..."

{{Log Header
|Date of Scene=2018/01/02
|Location=Tony Stark's Office
|Synopsis=Tony and Pepper discuss... dating. It is horribly awkward.
|Cast of Characters=22, 83
|pretty=yes
}}
{{Poses
|Poses=:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' To say there has been a lot of activity is a massive understatement. The parties went on (and on) for four days. Each party had a slightly different demonstration of the new safety repulsor technology. And then, abruptly, that was IT for the parties, and intense negotiations began related to the technology unveiled there: meetings galore. Tony has been both a hindrance and a dream related to the meetings.     A hindrance, because he keeps scheduling and moving them around fit to make any assistant want to strangle him. Most of them are being moved UP and some appear to overlap!     A dream, because he's ...actually SCHEDULING them and GOING to them with confusingly good efficiency. In the meetings (at least the ones witnessed), Tony is using his extreme charisma and clout to pretty much just shotgun others into going along with his deals. Both sides are happy about the results, generally: it isn't negative, just aggressive. The style has been to get into a meeting, skip pleasantries, and make agreements fast: and then move on to the next one: hence the weird scheudle overlaps. Which means, in essence, Tony is /doing his job/ as a CEO for once, and has shown he can be a powerhouse (...which is good and bad, because it means he's been performing well under his potential there before, for ages). If only he focused his full energy on it like this all the time: it might be like working for a more traditionally functional boss. And so, despite the meeting tilt-o-whirl directly after the party spree, it has been, no doubt, a positive week. ...Maybe. There's all kinds of red flags in it: something is up, and probably very wrong, with Tony. Behavior of this type (being a type that is out of character) has indicated incoming meltdowns before. It started with the SHIELD niceties, the fewer women brought home, and has gotten more obvious now with business stuff. But it's not BAD behavior. Just... different. But problematic, since it suggests he's been replaced by a pod person, or that his train is going off the rails. Due to the New Year, most employees have the day off, those that want it. But, well, not so much Ms. Potts: there's a bunch of things to handle! Ringing in the New Year for Tony was not at one of his own parties: he went elsewhere (Vegas apparently), and tumbled back in to the tower obnoxiously late after having slept on the flight. And so it is more like around 1pm that JARVIS alerts Ms. Potts that she has a meeting with Tony in his office in 20 minutes. He must have just scheduled it - or moved it up, after noticing she was in for work. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' Pepper, of course, worked like a horse through the holidays. Cleaning up after the parties, then running around to all the meetings. Actually securing the contracts that Tony negotiates and ensuring everything is signed before people back out of them. A dozen other small things that happen behind the scenes with every deal and she ENSURES they are done, but it's a lot of work. And rare that the work comes this quickly in a row. So, she's in on New Years day, catching up on a bit of back log of old business that got neglected while she was handling new contracts, when that meeting pops up. She blinksi n a touch of confusion, echoing to the computer: "Thank you, JARVIS." She doesn't even bother asking when Tony put the meeting on her schedule. She wanted to talk with him anyway. So, twenty minutes later, she's shown up outside of his office. She has two coffees in hand, his just the way he likes it and from the special roasters. SHe never forgets these things, even overwhelmed with other work. A touch of exhaustion is showing around the edges, but she carries on. "Tony?" SHe asks, as she ducks her head inside his office, "You... put an appointment on my schedule?" 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "Yep, come on down; you're the next contestant to get to sit on 'uncomfortable visitor chair'," Tony agrees from across the office as she arrives. He's seated in his chair at his desk, partially spun around such that he was looking out the window, but rotates as she comes in, and scoots in to rest an arm on the desk, reclined halfway. He looks hungover but is handling it to some extent, although many of the windows are drawn with shades. He's dressed in suit jacket and pants, but has a graphical tee under it, one of the old STARK emblems. "I've got two things to go over. ...And don't get tense on me right away. Both of them are entirely 'me' things," Tony clarifies, patting his palms down once or twice on the surface of his desk, as if the whole desk were partially in the way, but he couldn't quite put his fingers on why. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' Silence lingers for a few moments as Pepper looks over his face, trying to see just how bad the hang over is and how crazy he's driving himself. She steps the last few feet across the room and settles into the uncomfortable visitor's chair as offered, though not until after sliding his coffee across the desk to him. "Got your favourite. Just like you like it..." She offers with a half smile, though she doesn't entirely hide the worry. Then she's settling back down in the chair, nursing her own coffee between her fingertips. "Alright, I'm listening... but then I have one thing for you. But you first. What are your two things?" Pepper asks, her voice all professional business. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' The whole situation is very boss-assistant heavy, with that desk, the office, visitor chair, the whole thing. The office is designed to put visitors in their place, of course, to some extent. And Tony doesn't like it. "This thing is like a barracade," Tony observes of the desk itself, and gets up come come around it, sitting on the corner, in a far more relaxed manner, without the gulf of desk between them. Far better - to him, anyway. Or he's stalling. A mix, likely. "There we go." He picks up the coffee brought from the desk with a brief flash of appreciation, warms his other hand against it. "The first thing is about, ah, the second night of the party, when Thor and I did some 'light' drinking," Tony identifies. Of course he would place it in his memory that way. He looks up from the coffee to check for reaction. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' "...Tony, you could barely walk. There was no light drinking about it." Pepper states flatly, but she is sitting just a bit straighter up in her chair now, shoulders square and jaw a touch set. She doesn't move away as he comes around the desk, but she also doesn't move closer. "...Should I get my tablet out and take notes, or is this a... personal discussion, Tony?" He might be trying to make this more person to person instead of boss and assistant, but she's in the middle of her hours and firmly in the head space of his employee. So, that's how she responds. She doesn't yet, however, actually get that tablet out. She remains with her delicate hands around her coffee cup and pale eyes leveled up at his handsome face. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Tony sort of brushes her question aside with a hand, as if fanning it away as unnecessary. His tone and body language suggest he's doing a person-to-person session, though. "Light for /Thor/," Tony admits. "Anyhow, I couldn't remember what we talked about other than that you said something that I was supposed to remember later," Tony says, starting to lean into his way of ...talking rapidly to sort of fill the air with words: "Since that was important to remember." Only a brief pause. "But when I checked on it with JARVIS, there was a problem there, too -- being the part where I over, ah--" hmm. "I, you know." The struggle is real. "I seemed to have put you in a category of flirting," Tony manages to get through it. "And that's not..." Tony seems to work through how to best get his point through. "It's not a position that's fair." Another pause, but the train just keeps going: "You're one of the best things to happen to me --this company," Tony slips and adjusts, looking away. "Top three, at the least," he adjusts again. "So I wanted to say I'm aware I was an asshole to tease you, or treat you that way. You're not Rebeca or Traci or whoever." She's important, /better/. His expression is dismayed, tired, but gaze moves back to her finally, with a genuine quality, but uncomfortable. He has a hard time with fixing his social misteps. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' While Pepper wasn't exactly mad, she has been more distant over these days. That last thing she said had been enough -- she a touch tipsy and beyond exhausted when she dared to say it -- and nothing had come of it. So, Pepper threw herself head over heels into business, drowning in it, working herself to the breaking point. After all, it was most comfortable for her that way. Now, however, the hesitance in his voice, his dancing around those words, it's all enough to gain a slightly longer look from her. She does not yet speak, simply listens, the line of her lips softening just a bit more. Hovering on the edge of uncertainty as her green eyes study his handsome gaze. "Tony..." She finally begins, breathing out slowly, tasting his name without having real words to follow it for a few heartbeats. "I... appreciate your words. And you are correct. It wasn't fair. And I set you to rights that night, and you didn't... Really... push, so that is that. It's behind us. Forget it happened." She states flatly, half closing off her heart, shutting down just a bit more. Clearly, he doesn't remember the other part. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' The emotional gulf rips open between them, as Tony evidently fails to respond or 'fix' things in the way she needs, as his understanding remains skewed. He sets his coffee aside behind him on the desk, adjusting his position in leaning to drop one hand to either side of him on the desk. He doesn't LIKE lingering in this uncomfortable, awkward place: it's awful. "So there was more, but you want to forget it happened, sure. Then you'd said something you regretted, too? It happens. I mean, other than thanking me for saving you. I still get credit for making sure you were alive, when you were passed-out drunk." That other part: he's taking it that she didn't mean to suggest a date, now, and, by the sound of it, is letting her out of it instead of teasing her on it. "I hope I'm not a boss that always is told what he wants to hear," Tony laughs. ...which turns all of that inside out, suggesting she said something he wanted to hear. "Anyway, second thing..." Tony says, trying to pivot, tone forced upbeat. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' "...And JARVIS helped you remember.. what initially happened... and not the end of it? Or is it better to just ignore it?" Pepper finally asks, almost out of no where, not entirely able to conceal the hurt from her voice even as she's desperately trying to keep this professional. After a night like that, purely professional is a little beyond possible. So, she dares ask that, not quite able to keep his eyes as she does so, heart half in her throat. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' That attempt to escape awkward land was started... and thwarted, as Pepper hangs onto the previous topic. His forced upbeat attempt to move on away from the discomfort fails, and he coughs against his hand. He watches her look at him, and clearly seems to try to figure out how to respond to her. The pause as he calculates reveals, at the least, that he isn't /confused/. "I have a full transcript, which we can put behind us, like you asked?" Tony ends up with, gesturing some to her as if trying to give her more say here. His dark eyes soften in dismay as he sees the edges of her hurt. Oh geez. And he reacts to it. "Shit, Pep. I didn't mean to wound you that night. I don't know why I crossed a line." He doesn't suggest it's the drink, or her dress, or anything: he takes the blame personally. And a sort of haunted strength of force comes into his gaze, a set to jaw. The streak in Tony that is Iron Man. "I don't want to lose you." 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' Green eyes stare hard up at him as he comments about having a full transcript. So he did know. Pepper's expression cannot hide the hurt, not in the least now, and some strange mix of hope around her heart which beats bird-like in her throat. She tries not to speak for a few moments, forcing her voice back in her throat, swallowing the words she knows could ruin both of them. But she can't find others. So she just watches him, heart in her mouth, the glassiness of her eyes probably not entirely exhaustion. "...But you don't want to date me either." It just spills out the moment she does part her lips. "No...I'm not Rebecca, or Traci, or one of your... flings. And you shouldn't have flirted like that. No... not unless you meant it. Not unless there was going to be something..." And finally, her good sense catches up with her brain and she shakes her head quietly, forcing her eyes away and back down. "...Sorry. I... I shouldn't have... Sorry, Mr. Stark..." She's trying to pull herself back into being entirely proper and professional again. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Tony's brows launch very high as he takes in her own spilling of words. Normally that's him, rambling. "Hey, uh, ahhh," Tony fumbles, letting go of the desk, taking one step towards her to close the distance, one hand lifting towards her head but then he can't quite figure out what to do once he's there, and fidgets the fingers a little bit, drops the hand. "It, I uh." Tony clicks his tongue against his teeth a few times, breathing through his nose. "I'm sort of un-datable," Tony reminds her. "A path into a dark and tangled forest of doom, really, at best." 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' Undateable. Pepper is silent for several heartbeats, glassy eyes turning back up to him, coffee forgotten. Hopes forgotten. She just watches him for too long, uncertain what to say, hope quickly leaving her. Finally, she just nods. He's seen that look before, the careful shutting down. Closing off. Turning utterly nothing but professional but painfully loyal. No matter how much it hurt, she'd be loyal. "...Of course. Mr. Stark. If... if you really think. I was... foolish to... I mean, I shouldn't have... " She exhales a brief puff of air, trembling just a moment then pulling it all together. "You had something else to say. Sorry I interrupted." She does not meet his eyes now. She does, hwoever, put down her coffee and pull her small phone tablet out of her back pocket. Note taking time. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Ack. "Well, no, that's a 'me' thing, not so much a you thing. I'm sure with a whole dating thing, that you're.... well --some things I probably can't actually say without sounding like I'm flirting, so I'll stop where I'm ahead," Tony says, looking down at their feet, and folding his arms in front of him, before unfolding one to scratch a little bit at one of his temples, and squint at her. "Please stop with the Mr. Stark thing," Tony suddenly says quietly to her, his voice naked and exposed, and aware. He attempts to reach out and put a palm on her device, pushing it down some, to get her to look at him again. "And besides, it wouldn't shock me if you had a machete in there that was good at hacking apart jungles." He cracked open the door, carefully. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' As his hand goes onto her tablet, that pauses her ability to take all notes. Pepper can do nothing but look up at him. For a moment, he might realize why she was hiding her eyes. They are definitely glassy, unspent tears hovering just behind her gaze. It hurt, to realize that he might not ever want to date her. THat there is no chance, which is what her mind heard. But now he's looking back at her, reaching out to touch her, and giving her just enough words to give some hope. She swallows her heart back down her throat. "...I... am generally prepared for such things, yes. And... consider the challenge to be worth while, but... that would involve you actually wanting to step up to such a challenge also. And maybe I was a fool to think that. You...flirted. You were drunk. You did to me what you have done with dozens of other women before. I... I shouldn't have read anything into it. Maybe. Even if I did..." She confesses softly, some scratchiness behind her throat. "Maybe...I thought I... was different. Maybe I was wrong..." 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Tony doesn't like standing over her anymore, and drops to squat in front of her chair instead, and gently draws the phone out of her hands to set it aside on the chair arm next to her. And for a little while, as she talks, he's just... there, looking at her, and as she makes her last confession, snares both of her slim, petite hands under his against her knee. He's just looking at her, attention entirely on her: his eyes move over her face, to her hair, mouth, eyes. "I think you're the best of us, there. And I'm still pretty sure I'm the asshole. You deserve the best, really." 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' Pepper doesn't fight the removal of her phone at all, nor the touch of his hand. She just watches him as he kneels in front of her, some odd glimmer of hope rising up in her hurt eyes. Her fingertips are trembling, ever so finely, beneath his fingertips. She is actually scared -- Pepper Potts, who is never intimidated by anything -- is scared. She draws in a deeper breath against her frantic heartbeat, trying to calm and steady herself even as she doesn't dare look away from his handsome features. "You...can be an asshole. But... sometimes... you're the best man in the world, as well. A lot of times. You don't see it... not often. But I do. Why else do you think I've been here almost ten years, Tony? You're so much better than you ever realize..." She whispers, and she dares to slip one of her hands free so it can come up and trace over his cheek, her thumb against the edge of his goatee. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Tony gets somewhat embarrassed and also arrogant with her compliments: his usual combination: which starts with a sort of sly laugh and smile, and evolves into the more cocky shrug about that yes, he can be awesome. He adjusts his weight on his leg, shifting weight due to the strain of the squat position, and sort of takes stock of how... awkward this is. And feels a massive pressure to ...stall, or get a moment. And also to stop squatting. "Hey, um, let's go to the couch. I feel like I'm proposing on one knee here," Tony says, without censor. "C'mon, c'mon," he coaxes in his 'playfully persuasive Tony' way, no saying no allowed, trying to draw her along by the hand to the other side of the office by the televisions, briefly tapping a few buttons on the control on the side of the couch, and all the televisions (with the various news, sports, etc) dim out. It isn't dark in particular. "Sorry. Where were you? Oh. Compliments." He smiles at her, though, and squeezes her hand. His tone is more playful but body language is... kind. Receptive. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' The comment about the proposal makes Pepper blink and actually laugh a bit awkwardly -- straight up nervously, "Yes! Oh...god. Yes. I can't unsee it now. Let's move. Yes." She almost sounds relieved for the excuse to break out of the too-serious conversation she had been having. But he's still touching her, keeping her hands, and that's a touch that is a bit more than being boss and assistant. It's one she's hesitant to draw back from but doesn't entirely know how to handle. So, she allows herself to be led to the couch, the room growing a bit more dim and intimate. "So. Couch. And... I... am... I'm just being honest. I think you are better man than you know. But...if... If you think you're not. Or if you don't want to be, then forget I said anything. We'll go back to work, we'll forget it happened. When you get bored in a week, I'll call Traci for you again. It's... fine. I know how this works." And then he's lost her eyes again, Pepper talking herself quickly out of the courage she did have. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Okay, the couch is already better. Tony relaxes back some, quickly moving to adjust his coat, then pivots to face her, which draws one of his knees up onto the couch more between them, other arm to the back of the couch. He pulls her hand forward to rest against the raised knee. Tony looks down at her hands and checks her face quickly for a cue on if she wants to pull away or if she's fine. "I wasn't intending to say I had no good traits, I'm not that humble," Tony supplies. "But I wouldn't bet on me being the best at being /right/ all the time. Your track record is pretty spotless. So I mean. If you .... really have an idea... I may be willing to get on board, provide funding." He releases her hands by opening his, but it isn't a withdrawal. More that he doesn't want to push. "...Unless it's weird. Might be weird," Tony squints a little at her. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' That deepens her smirk, eyes levelling at him, "Are we talking about a date or a business proposal, Tony? Because if this is business and funding, we're going back to your desk. If this is a date? The out with it... just come out with it. I...I don't want to dance around this. Pretend we're not discussing what we're discussing. Yes, it's terrifying. Yes...it... It could be weird. You're my boss and we probably shouldn't and this is the worst idea I've had in a while but I just felt like I should be honest and dammit, Tony, it's been ten years and I'm not going anywhere so I just... came out with it." Pepper gets riled up and rambling not to often, but when she does, she just goes. So it all comes spilling out again, hand slightly shaking under his, courage, determination and terror all locked in her green eyes. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Tony is pleased to get her to fire back at him: it shows. His smile deepens and arrives in his eyes as well. He's proud of her fire. Besides, it's so much better than the nervous worry. "Whatever it is should be fun. If it's not fun, just serious and weird, that's not going to fly." "Fine. Have it your way." Tony says, with a deep, overly dramatic breath. And looks at her sternly -- except that there's a flex in his jaw and a slight pass of amusement through his eyes as he keeps it 'stern'. It ends up reading overly charming. And then a long pause. "So. Am I supposed to pass you a note before gym class about going to prom, or?" Tony questions in deadpan, purely intending to make her frustrated. Because it's only under that veil of explosive frustration and misdirection that he'll pull his hand up and in towards her neck and ear, a caress to her cheek and into the front side of her hair. His gaze holds an intensity, currently on her cheekbone and ear, accompanied with him sliding expertly into her personal space, closer... but with some caution: there's some tension here, because this ...does matter. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' That pleased look in his eyes is actually enough to make her relax just a little bit more. A half smile escapes Pepper's lips and her breath comes just a little easier as something in her realizes that she's pleased him. Even now, she thrives on that smile of his. On them working together as a strange team. But then he's asking about notes before gym class and Pepper cannot help but slightly roll her eyes. "Tony..you've asked hundreds of women on dates before. It's not that hard." She whispers gently. But then he's touching her. Hand to her ear, her neck, the caress over her cheek, and that sends her completely speechless. A little breathless too. She sinks a bit closer into the touch, her head tilting to the side, seeking out more of his warm fingertips and palm. That touch, so surprisingly gentle, was more than she'd ever even imagined. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' There's a trap here, and he's aware: yes, he's good at this, and yes, hundreds of women. But she knows that as well, and if he comes off as 'just the same as usual business' he's in trouble. So the general plays won't be available. Also, it's /Pepper/. There's a weirdness to it all, in a fashion. To aim this at Pepper, to actually allow that interest to come forward into something physical. It's exciting and eerie. And good. "Yeah, well. You're not them," Tony says, very simply, with a bit of a breathless discomfort, that reveals that he's not just messing with her head. Tony slips in closer to her, curling the arm from the back of the couch around her more. "Hi," he says, quietly, close now, looking at her face, eyes. No smile, but instead, the earnest bambi look: wearing his emotion without bullshit. That he's interested, but a little alarmed. His thumb at her cheekbone sweeps down to follow the curve of her jaw and chin. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' While Pepper hadn't knowingly set that as a trap, he did find the right answer after all. Something tightly tugs at her heart as she hears that statement, her chest oddly heavy and expression hopeful. Her eyes flutter shut for a heartbeat or two, just savoring the touch of his fingertips and the scent of his cologne. She breathes out quietly against his wrist, nose almost just brushing the base of his palm. "...You... right. I'm not them. And... if... if we do this, you will have to work for it. We have to work to get it right. It'll be... hard. Sometimes. But... worth it. I think. I hope. Do you think you're up for that work? We... we can forget this ever happened." Pepper is probably lying to both of them in saying that, but she has to try. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "You're ... already my best person. ...Well. My only person; I don't exactly have anyone else. So that's not really different," Tony says, as if thinking through it at exactly that moment, and just saying things as they come to the surface to be said. Probably would be better to filter, but he's distracted. By her. And now she's backpedaling. And he's getting confused. Is he pressing her? He sits back a few inches, trying to sort through it. "Am I doing the same ... bad flirting I did that night?" Tony asks, with a crushing dismay that starts to shift into frustration. But only defensively: because he as actually trying. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' Then he is backpeddling because she did, and it's all just such a careful tower of cards that could fall at any point in time. Pepper's eyes go wide, staring at him hard again as she shakes her head, "No! No...you... you're doing... Great. This... it feels great, Tony. Hell, I've dreamed of this and it didn't feel that good and I don't want to stop but I'm scared too so... shit. I... I can run this entire company, Tony, but I don't know how to do this." She admits softly, one of her hands coming up to gently cup over his against her cheek. She doesn't want him to pull away, that much is clear. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "I'd be shocked if you didn't see me in your dreams. I mean, you see me all the time, every day. You're in mine. I think in the last one you had REALLY wanted to go to Tahiti to do yoga, and you had a pet squid named Clarence." Tony pauses, and clears his throat. Yeah, sometimes the rambling gets in the way. Unfortunately the 'run the entire company' is a land mine she didn't know she stepped in until she did: "I'm running it today. Meetings and all." A pause. "...because a little break is happening. I'd... rather leave things in good shape." 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' A small laugh escapes her lips at the Tahiti comment, a half innocent smile dancing across her lips, "I have heart Tahiti is lovely, and I wouldn't *mind* a vacation out of this cold..." Pepper teases back lightly, falling into the relaxation trap because, a moment later, this discussion isn't relaxing at all. Pepper blinks, sitting up just a bit straighter as she listens to his words but also the meanings under his words. No argument from her, or even disregard. If nothing, there is a brush of worry through her green eyes. "Yes, you've been...running everything, the last few days. It's been remarkable, really. I... just don't want you to burn out. And what do you mean a little break? Just... tell me what's going on. I can handle it, Tony. You take the time you need, but... what's going on?" 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "And I did good: new deals are solid, on the product branch. Positive stuff. It'll be fine, though, you'll barely miss me. I can't say you won't notice I'm even gone, because, well." He gets a bit more fierce with the last statement despite the soft laugh that comes with a gesture to himself, aware he's a lot to deal with, and leans in, enough to almost bonk his forehead to hers in an affectionate move: but doesn't QUITE get there, he aborts. But does leave his fingers gently on her face. But the second topic is now front and center, so he's on it: "Yeah, this is that.. other... thing." Vague. "It's a medical thing I've been delaying. Should be fine though. I'm confident." A flash of easygoing confident smile. "Got in some legendary parties just in case," he winks. Priorities. All of the insanity with the parties may suddenly click into place. And playing nice with SHIELD. And fewer women around, despite said parties. And setting up the company with a large new income source, doing a good impression of his father. And being undatable. The list goes on. All of it. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' Somehow, she knew. Her first instinct had been that maybe he was going to rehab, but that didn't seem exactly right. And now he's dancing around something about a medical thing and Pepper's eyes just widen more, her heart climbing into her throat again for dramatically different reasons. She sits up straighter on the couch, turning her body to entirely face him, shoulders squared off, green eyes half panicked and all worried. She had just let herself open a her heart an inch and now it's tearing apart a mile. "Tony. What. Is. Going. On. Tell me, please. Trust me. You trust me, right? I'm going to sit here worried sick this whole damn time and have to keep things together while you're away and not certain... just... Just tell me what's wrong. Please? How can I help? I... please, Tony..." She's a bit too worried to even ramble. Now her hand comes up to his face again, tracing down his cheek like she might break him to touch him too hard. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "Whoa, whoa. Okay. Breathing," Tony suggests quickly, firmly, dropping hand from her face to instead bring both hands up to both of her upper arms, giving her a gentle squeeze there, and look at her directly, straight on. He's calm: a bit overwhelmed by the strength of her reaction. "Well, sure: basically, the gist of the problem is that I need to replace the arc reactor. And, while I have a good upgrade, it's going to cause atrophy with the current casing: so I need to replace the current casing first. That's mostly just risky since I'll probably be unconscious and my heart /might/ stop, and, well, it's hard to do things while unconscious, even for me. It's quite not like it's a meeting I can phone in. But I've got a feeler out to Dr. Richards, shouldn't be any big deal." He's cool and smooth about it, but she'll see he's well aware it could kill him, too. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' "I... I want to be there, Tony. If Dr. Richards is doing it, great, if someone else... Well, I'll research it. I'll find you the best doctor in the world. This will be fine. We... we can make sure this is fine. But god! Why didn't you tell me?!" Pepper then swats at his shoulder gently, swinging from abject worry to a touch of anger that he's just spring it up like that. It all comes from the same place of deep, too deep to really admit, care, but it's certainly an emotional swing. "It will be fine, yes... I'm sure. But, we can make some contigencies. What about a back up reactor, just in case? And there should be a second surgeon on call for the whole operation..." Pepper's business mind is now kicking in, a defense against the too deep well of emotions she's trying not to feel. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "Hey... hey, I'm telling you. On the schedule and everything," Tony defends, with a soft laugh as she swats him, fine with her rebuttal, clearly. "No real reason to worry you or anybody until I found a solution, right? And it's best to get the casing changed out, the current one already has the issue, it's just not as pronounced," Tony says, drawing one hand off her to tap with a few fingers through his shirt on the cover to the reactor. It isn't glowing through his current layered shirts, but his tapping makes a hollow sound. "I don't want to get a huge team involved, already unhappy with one guy digging around in my chest." 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' "Tony, they have two surgeons for routine gall bladder surgery. This is heart surgery. At... at least have one back up. It doesn't have to be a whole theater, but, please... For *my* sake. I'm going to be sitting there, trying not to have my own heart attack the entire time. So... Please?" Pepper asks, giving him the biggest, most innocent doe eyes she can manage. She's gotten good at those eyes after all these years, when it really matters at least. So, she pulls out every bit of ammo she can to convince him of that. Her hand still hasn't left his cheek either, though. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' As if Tony could do much against her doe eyes in this situation? Maybe if he was distracted or unaware, but staring right into them at close proximity? Tony moves to try to reduce her pain. "Yeah, I mean, more than just one guy. But I'll be there too, for pretty much all of it." Because that's a great idea, having the patient help. Yet so very very Tony. "Also, you don't get to have a heart attack," Tony reminds her, deadpan, "Although I do consider it high flattery you want to follow in my footsteps." 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' Following those doe-eyes comes that familiar, stubborn set of her jaw. "Then you get another DOCTOR there, and NOT you. Someone who isn't a patient on the table. You agree to that, and I'll agree to not have a heart attack. Otherwise, no deal." Pepper's fingertips slip back, resting around the back of his neck instead of on his cheek, which actually draws her slightly closer. But she's not letting go, not now, even if it means her leg is drawn up on the couch, the outside of her calf running along his knees, touching him in several points -- none of which are appropriate for boss and assistant. Her skirt's also ridden up quite a bit, basically sitting at the top of her thighs and exposing the leggings she has on beneath. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "Does it have to be a doctor? I mean, I wouldn't discount some highly skilled nursing staff, some of them are phenomenally experienced," Tony answers, automatically having to counter her deal and bargain, of course. "And possibly more attractive. Only the very best get near my heart, you know," Tony continues more quietly, and draws in close to her, his dark eyes full of her as he ends up just inches from her face, nose nearly touching hers. There's a sort of hesitant question there that hangs between them, the same tension from the night in the blue dress, but the spark is a bit different this time. Because it's not a surprise. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' Not a surprise, and not something Pepper wants to resist. She hovers there, just on the edge of his lips, sharing breath for a heartbeat or two as her pale eyes search his darker gaze, looking for any hesitance or doubt. But all she sees is that question and, a moment later, she answers it. No words, just her lips on his in a kiss that isn't full of lust and hunger, but something more gentle than that. Passion, yes. Love? Probably. Loyalty. Trust. Affection. A thousand things she never let herself say but has felt for too many years. She kisses him long enough it should steal both their breaths. And then, just as she's pulling away, she finally whispers. "Another surgeon. No arguments." Her lips curl up into a smile as she whispers that against his mouth. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "What was that? I wasn't listening," Tony asks with a very brief shake of head, immediately following that with a second approach to kiss her back, more strongly. There isn't a hesitancy there, just a real response and warmth, hands leaving her upper arms to come in gently on both sides of her face, framing her cheeks in palms, though there's no force to it if she did pull away. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' Pepper's mouth opens to respond but, well, there are better things to do than speak right now. So, she leans up into his lips, this kiss somehow deeper, more insistent. She rather liked it, in truth. Her second arm comes up, wrapping around his back and pulling their bodies closer on the couch. She sinks easily into him, fitting ever so neatly against his body, like she was meant to be there, somehow. Or perhaps she just knows the cut of his frame after all these years. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Tony gathers her in and adjusts cleanly as she draws him close, running one hand down from her cheek over shoulder around behind her lower waist, supporting the draw of her hip to him. The kiss is broken by him this time, because he has to try to ruin good things with talking. But.... this is important, too. To not just steamroll over her. Even if it's amazing and he's... feeling something very very pleasant in the soar in his chest of ...hope. And so he draws his head back some: "Not ... too strange, right?" 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' Half in his lap now, and Pepper couldn't be happier about it. She settles there, as the slightly draw away to catch breath. Her lips draw back but she doesn't pull her body free. If anything, she just lets her hand from his neck drop to gently trace across his chest, where his heart and that reactor lay. It's a worried touch, but a caring one too. Her eyes are almost shy now, even as she sits in his lap. "...No, not... too strange at all. It actually felt quite... nice. Right... for once." She admits softly, studying her hand across his chest. "...but I'm not forgetting about the other surgeon." 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "You pose a really persuasive argument about it, I'm starting to see it your way, I could be convinced," Tony answers. "...And I'm thinking maybe strange, but good, too," he adds, more thoughtfully, and with some minor heat in the 'good' word's emphasis. He's mostly just looking up at her now: there's some playful tone here, and she'll feel there's tension through his torso that his verbal chattiness doesn't quite mask. Tony's hand slides from her lower back to the side of thigh, but only to hold her there more securely. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' This time, Pepper settles in a bit closer to his hand, not shying away from that touch on her thigh. She lets her own hand stretch out, fingertips splaying across that worn our arc reactor with a heaviness that isn't just about seduction. Green eyes flicker from his chest up to his eyes, "Yes... strange, but good. And... I want that date. I do. I'll even ask you. But that requires you survive this whole mess and having someone else on hand... Just in case, will make it far more likely. Promise me you'll get a back up, or let me find one? Please?" Even this close, this intimate, she's insisting on taking care of him. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Tony doesn't do anything aggressive with the hand, he doesn't put moves on her. He looks down at her hand on the surface of the reactor. He clearly ... prefers to dodge the topic, it shows in his mild flippant sort of response, but he doesn't fully dodge her this time. "Yeah, figure it's better to be sure there's something LEFT to go on a date," he jokes, but the weight of it is still there. It's not really funny. "If you want to research more and find more options, I'll look at them," Tony gives. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' Holding her this close, Tony can feel the inches of tension leak out of her as he says that he'll let her research more. She lets go of a breath she didn't even realize she was holding. She nods almost immediately, "By the end of the day I'll have three options to back up Dr. Richards. You pick which one. Just... have one of them there too. That's all I ask." She leans up again, then, kissing him, but this time it's the most gentle kisses meant just for the side of his mouth. Something achingly tender and honest about it. "Then you'll rest up, be back on your feet soon, and we'll go on that date." She whispers against the edge of his lips. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Tony clears his throat really thickly and looks sideways /away/ from her, a clear message of him reining in some emotions here. And some movement of dark masculine lashed eyes to keep any emotional display more in check. He isn't truly okay with looking at his own mortality and the weight of what could come. Which is why he has turned into a pod person version of himself for a few weeks: dealing with that weight alone. "Well, you are the professional at taking really good care of me. I'd better let you do it for once, huh." 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' As she watches him turn away, practically feels him curling in on himself, Pepper can't hardly take it any more. She wraps her arms tightly around him, tugging his body closer and wrapping him up against her as tight as she practically can. She tucks her chin across his hair, letting him curl up into her chest, if he'll permit her holding on like that. She just holds him and breathes for a few moments, her fingertips tracing over his back. "...It'll be alright, Tony. You're going to get through this. I'll be right outside the door... and you'll have experts. You'll be fine." She whispers into his mop of slightly unruly, dark hair. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' There's resistance. Because this enveloping comfort is weird to him. He doesn't, ever, have someone do the action that Pepper is currently doing: not even as a child, really. So he doesn't have a page in his handbook to cover an appropriate response. And he also isn't willing (or able?) to expose quite that much underbelly. So he adapts what she attempted to do: he won't put his head to her chest, no, but he will come in and rest his chin on her shoulder, because a close embrace, chest to chest?: he'll accept that. He does turn his head a little bit into her neck: she'll feel his facial hair there, his shirt collar close to her own nose. "I've every intention of being just fine. Better, even. Faster, stronger. Bigger flashlight if it gets dark." 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' She'll take his head on her shoulder, it's close enough. Pepper's cheek turns so it rests against his temple, instead of the top of his head. She keeps him enveloped in her arms and just holds on for dear life for these few moments he'll allow. A faint smile crosses her lips. "I know. And I can't wait to see it. But, meanwhile, I'm here. We'll do the research, get this all set up, and I'll take care of the company while you recover. We make a good team, just like... we always have. I'm not letting you go anywhere now." She whispers against his temple, arms tightening for a heartbeat or two. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "I'm sure my plan for zero days of recovery is entirely realistic," Tony says in a muffled voice against her neck. She'll feel, more than see, the smile that hooks one side of his mouth as his short beard moves on her skin. The smile she's used to seeing, not necessarily feeling in such proximity. But he starts to ease out of the whip-cord tension he'd been in, slowly starting to accept her offer of physical support. "I didn't want you to deal with this. Worrying about something is like... suffering twice." 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' The smile lets her relax a little bit more as well, but she's not quite letting him go yet. She lets him ease into her, breathe through that tension, accept the fact that she might actually, deeply care for him. This close, she smells like the fresh, clean soap she uses, a faint trace of vanilla and roses. Some sort of oil in her hair, maybe? It's so delicate and feminine but utterly Pepper. She turns her head enough she can bury her nose against his cheek, breathing in deep of his own scent, something familiar and oddly relaxing about it. "I know you didn't. But I care about you... I... if something happened and I didn't know? It'd destroy me, Tony. When... this all first happened, when you were missing for months... I was half dead inside. I walked around. I kept things going here. I... kept waiting. But it was like I couldn't breathe. I was just going through the motions because I didn't know what else to *do* without you..." 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "How long've you been holding onto all of this? No wonder you're tense," Tony asks her, moving his head now to turn it and look sideways more at her face, seeking to catch some expression instead of just going off of her bleeding tone. "But... no, I don't believe you'd be destroyed. You're tougher than that. We both are. I'm a tough stain you can't just bleach out," Tony assures her roguishly. Getting him to stay serious is a feat in and of itself, but then some comes in on its own: "I wasn't going to let them win then, and certainly not now." 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' She does let them part enough that he can meet her eyes. Pepper's are slightly glassy, but no actual tears have come from this conversation. Pepper leans up one moment to kiss his forehead and then settles back, smile earnest. Slightly blushing, even, probably left over from the kisses. "I know you're not. Which is why I'm not worried. I just like to be... Prepared. So let me do that research, we'll set it all up... and then this will all be past us soon. Alright?" 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "Yeah. Planning. Putting it on the schedule," Tony says, in mock businesslike tone, with a 'stern' little nod, amused. "That was for your benefit, you know. I know you like to know what's coming. But that's not really the way I drive," Tony warns her. He looks at her lips again, full strong awareness in the gaze of that they were, indeed, kissing before. His dark eyes dart to hers, feeling that memory with her, no doubt, with the flush to her cheeks. "Sometimes, gotta look at the way you assumed would never play out." A pause. Tony seems to kind of think over something, and glances down and aside. It's a look she'll know well. His brain just fired up on some direction or idea. 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' Pepper was just about to lean in for one more kiss when she sees that look in his eyes. She blinks, a single brow arching. So, instead of the kiss, she leans back and looks him over with a bit of a smirk, "...Alright, what's in that head of yours now? I was just about to kiss you then get back to work, but you are clearly onto something. Spill it, Tony. Before I DO get called away to a meeting and we get nothing else done here." Yes, his brilliant mind just kiss-blocked him. But she was thinking about it. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Tony flips his attention back to her with a start. He didn't intentionally drift. It just happens with his mind. He isn't aware he lost the kiss, though. "JARVIS, what meetings does Ms. Potts have coming up?" Tony inquires, with an expression of tease. JARVIS starts to list them. "That all sounds cancelable," Tony informs her with a shrug and one of his more obnoxious little smiles. But it lacks much wattage: he's pushing at her buttons of course. Since she called him on his drift? Maybe. "...I had a thought about some of the rejected materials from the containment of the first reactor. I think one of those might be a good alloy," Tony says, obviously unable to resist his brain-path. "JARVIS, pull up full schematics in the bunker on the A2 to C5 concepts. --Maybe A1, too." 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' A little huff of a sigh comes and Pepper leans up, kissing him on the forehead instead, before she begins to extract herself from his arms. "If you are going to go plot and plan in your lab, then you are NOT cancelling my meetings. I'll go back to work. You'll work on this brilliant solution. Everything will be fine in the morning and back to normal by next week, alright?" She doesn't quite leave his side yet, though, even if his mind is off on a tangent again and she's lost his focus. It would always be that way, that was the Tony she knew and loved. Instead, her hand comes up to comb through his hair just a moment, "I'll have three surgeon's names on your desk by the end of the day. Pick one. They'll be there for the... Meeting. It'll be done and fine soon. Now... go get to work." 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' Yeah, she lost the full focus. But she did HAVE it... for quite a while, really. He doesn't fight her extraction, because he's starting to pull apart the labyrinth of ideas suddenly going nuts in his creative mind. However, he doesn't just stand up and leave the room like he's done to, say, Traci. Yes, not full focus, but he's still present. He looks at her as she combs through his hair, seeming to come back for the moment. "Hey." He catches her hand as it comes down from his hair. And looks at her, a long pause. "Bug me with dinner tonight, okay?" he suggests. "Maybe Chinese." 

:'''{{#var:83|Virginia Potts (83)}} has posed:''' As he catches her hand, her smile just blooms. It's a smile almost no one ever gets from her -- no one but him. It lights up all the way to her eyes. "I can do that. Chinese. Lyn's, from up town. It's your favourite. Pain to get but... worth it. Go work. You have until 7 when I will barge in your lab with Chinese whether you like it or not." Pepper grins a bit more, squeezing his hand which holds her small palm. And then, with that squeeze, she's letting go. She understands when his mind gets into that focus. She won't hold him back. But she spends the rest of the day smiling and thinking of chinese. She will be good to her word that night and even gets his favourite order. 

:'''{{#var:22|Tony Stark (22)}} has posed:''' "Done," Tony agrees in the same way he seals deals in meetings. Same tone, really. He stands up as she does, taking in that beautiful smile, and... answering it... before moving to the job at hand, and starting to announce additional orders and chatter at JARVIS, heading off to his workspace. No doubt she'll have to pry him away from his work later ("It can't possibly be 7..."), but that's normal. Back towards normal, except for a little bit of.... comfortable fire in the tension between them, instead of the uncertain cliff. Strange, but... pretty good. 
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