2205/On The Dock of the Bay

On The Dock of the Bay
Date of Scene:	20 August 2017
Location:	New York City: Coney Island
Synopsis:	Some quiet time with the Legion's lab rats.
Cast of Characters:	Brainiac 5, Invisible Kid

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Brainiac 5 has posed:
    It's late.  The group has broken up a bit, and Brainy went out to the boardwalk.  Now he's sitting on a bench, overlooking the Atlantic Ocean.  He watches the waves go in and out, smells the salt air, and for a moment, he relaxes.  His image inducer is still up, he hasn't turned it off—and he's tapping the envelope against his thigh, as the wind ruffles his hair.

Invisible Kid has posed:
    "I think I had more fun watching you than I did anything else," Lyle says, settling lightly onto the bench.  He might be using his flight ring to take some of the load off himself—which is fine, it meant he genuinely could enjoy the whole day and not have to go back to the cruiser to rest.
    He offers the paper plate with the remaining bits of funnel cake on it, after taking a piece for himself.  "It's good to see you unwind."

Brainiac 5 has posed:
    Brainy picks at a piece of funnel cake, and he tosses it out into the ocean.  A fish snags it.  Possibly a fish.  "I don't do it often.  I'm a workaholic," he says.  "But it made you all happy—and for some reason that matters more to me than it ever did."  He tilts his head, and reaches into the envelope, taking out strips of photos of the two of them sitting in the photo booth.  Ones where Lyle is invisible except for his clothes.  One where Brainy is… sticking his tongue in Lyle's ear.  Perhaps he blushes a bit.  It's dark out, hard to tell.

Invisible Kid has posed:
    Lyle doesn't blush.  He leans over and kisses Querl's cheek.  "You're amazing.  And I don't care that you heard me say that out loud.  I'm a scientist, I have to respect the facts."
    He scoots a little closer, and puts his arm around Brainy's shoulders.  "Those are great pictures.  Thank you."

Brainiac 5 has posed:
    "I don't know," Brainy says.  He holds them up.  "I never used to be swayed by sentimentality like this.  I looked down on it, in fact.  And yet, the moment struck me, and I thought to myself, 'You'll live for four times the unassisted human lifetime, wouldn't it be pleasant to have something to remember the day?'"  He sighs, and then eyes the picture where he and Lyle are kissing; he turned off the Image Inducer in the booth.  Then he puts them back in the envelope, and… gives it to Lyle.

Invisible Kid has posed:
    "Grife, you trust me not to show these to anybody.  Now I know you're serious about me," Lyle says, not entirely facetiously, and nestles in closer.  "Ngh.  It's times like this I really wish the universe and its inhabitants all worked right so we wouldn't be needed.  So we could go off somewhere and just research for its own sake, and enjoy each other's company for our own sake, and not have to worry about what crisis will be next."
    He laughs shortly.  "And then I remember that neither one of us has the faintest idea of what it would be like to have a quiet, normal life, right?"

Brainiac 5 has posed:
    "I told you what my first memory was, didn't I?" Brainy says, his arm slipping around Lyle.  "I know that I did.  I just don't know if you remember it."  He closes his eyes.  "After that, I was a ward of the state.  And considering my family history, it was not a compassionate upbringing.  A kind way of describing it would be 'clinical'."

Invisible Kid has posed:
    "You did, I remember," Lyle says quietly.  "Heh. Your mom and my dad—you know, there were times I thought I would've been better off a ward of the state… until I realized that I kind of always was.  I suppose I never really had a real family until I joined the Legion.  You too, I think?"

Brainiac 5 has posed:
    Brainy is quiet, for a long time, and he nods, slowly.  "And for a very long time I didn't know what to do with it when I had one.  Such a pain.  Everyone interrupted me, everyone wanted things.  And then I realized… one day… it was because they wanted to spend time with me.  Some of them, anyway."  He looks down.  "They cared about me.  And I didn't know what to do with that either.  I still don't."

Invisible Kid has posed:
    "I don't know.  I was always expected to produce, just about from when I was old enough to know which end of a test tube was up.  I'm used to people… I'm used to my father wanting things from me, and me just making them."  Lyle shrugs.  "Now I'm still expected to produce, but it's a lot more on my terms, so I don't mind."
    He smiles sidelong at Querl.  "D'you know what a pressure reliever it is to have you around, and not be the smartest guy in the room for once in my life?  It keeps me balanced.  And you, you're needed.  You know it and we know it.  That's so much better than being just wanted.  Or used."

Brainiac 5 has posed:
    Querl looks down, and says, softly, "Being needed is—it was a revelation, but only the first one.  It satisfied my ego."
    There's a gleam of light on Querl's cheeks.  "But it took me so long to realize that I was loved, Lyle.  I couldn't recognize it!  Nobody ever loved me.  And I still don't know what to DO with it.  It's like this alien… entity.  I need it, but I don't know how to make it a part of me."

Invisible Kid has posed:
    "I think… I think you just let it happen," Lyle says.  "It's not something you can calculate.  An emotional thing, you just kind of let happen, and ride it out as best you can.  And that is alien to you, isn't it?  But here's the big secret—us emotional Earthlings don't really have any better an idea how to deal with them either."

Brainiac 5 has posed:
    Brainy cants his head down, and his breath comes in a deep sob.  "It's like… a dizzying high.  And like feeling sick.  Like getting too much high-concentrated oxygen all at once.  And I'm frightened—that I'll hurt people—"  He grabs for Lyle's hand.  "…If I did, I think you might be the one Legionnaire with a chance of stopping me.  Promise me, you will."  He squeezes Lyle's hand, hard.  "Promise me."

Invisible Kid has posed:
    "I'll make that promise," Lyle says, squeezing Querl's hand back, "only because I don't think you could deliberately hurt us.  Emotions are crazy-making.  But they're worth it, even with the crazy.  I mean, what's your alternative?  Feeling nothing about the rest of the team?  Or me?"

Brainiac 5 has posed:
    Querl closes his eyes, and says, "It'd certainly be easier.  But I've come too far in the other direction now.  I am a Brainiac, Lyle.  Worlds tremble as my shadow passes by.  That's just the way it is."

Invisible Kid has posed:
    Lyle traces a finger down Querl's jawline.  "You make me tremble.  So that's not always a bad thing."

Brainiac 5 has posed:
    Querl looks up, and his expression is… astonished.  "You're flirting," he says.  "You're unbelievable."  Then his brows knit.  "…Really?"  He's all kinds of curious, now.  "I'm not a sensual person—"

Invisible Kid has posed:
    "I don't need to be subtle anymore, remember?  No more sneaking up?"  Lyle grins.  "And you were pretty sensual yesterday morning, as I recall."
    He sighs, and rests his head on Querl's shoulder.  "You're different from your predecessors, you know.  How many of them would have worried about becoming a galactic threat?  Most of them just went out and became one.  You don't.  So I really don't believe you will."

Brainiac 5 has posed:
    Querl sighs, and he dips his shoulder just a bit when Lyle lays his head on it, and then he mutters, "How is it that you continue to confound me, Norg?  Malicious pranks to cuddling against my shoulder.  I cannot figure you out."
    But his hand has moved to rest on Lyle's knee.  "I have had my flirtations with madness—you know that."

Invisible Kid has posed:
    Lyle chuckles.  "You like a challenge, and I am one.  Is there a better way to attract and maintain your attention?  If there is, I can't think of it.  And my pranks are never malicious.  Besides, who else could I pull them on that wouldn't be an unfair target?"
    His hand drops to Querl's, and he gives it a squeeze.  "Genius and insanity are closely knit.  I know I'm not a model of mature stability."

Brainiac 5 has posed:
"You could dye your hair blond," Brainy says, in a candid admission.  "But other than that, your point stands."
    He looks out over the water, and blinks, slowly.  "This is all very new to me.  I admit I'm not sure what to say.  I am—enjoying being here, in this moment, and only working on two theorems while I talk to you."

Invisible Kid has posed:
    "What, and not be your not-blond obsession?  I couldn't do that to you!"  Disingenuous grin.  Lyle's good at those.  "It's one more thing about me that drives you up a wall."  He sits up a little, and runs his hand through his hair.  "Yikes.  I just imagined myself blond.  Trust me, Querl, it doesn't work."
    He nestles back in, head on Brainy's shoulder.  "Really, I've got you all the way down to only two?  It must be serious, I thought five was your minimum."

Brainiac 5 has posed:
    "Normally yes," Querl says.  "But you know," he says, "I'm re-evaluating the relevance of other things in my life."  His arm moves to slip around Lyle's shoulders, and he says, "I am still concerned—the probability that SOMETHING is going to happen to me that causes me to abandon my ring—something I would never do under ordinary circumstances—is likely.  And now I have… reasons to be afraid.  Things I wouldn't want to give up."

Invisible Kid has posed:
    "Have you stopped to think," Lyle says slowly, as though piecing it together as he speaks, "that there's a chance you end up having a good reason to give it up?  Or just genuinely lost the ring, without anything sinister implied by it?  Or maybe that Booster Whatzis character caught us napping and stole it.  I mean, we're not perfect.  We've had security breaches before."  He snickers softly.  "Or that you eventually get so worried about it, I made you a duplicate and stole your original, just to close the time loop in as invisible a manner as possible.  I still don't think the loss of your ring means anything more than an annoyance at most."
    He looks up, and says deadly seriously, "In any case, I am not letting anything happen to you."

Brainiac 5 has posed:
    "I would be extremely annoyed with you if you did that," Brainy says, haughtily.  "Please don't do that."  He puts his hand over his ring.  Perhaps it has sentimental value to Brainy.  After all these years.  But then, it's his ring.  He earned it—it's not something you just put down, it'd be like asking Lyle to give his up.
    "There's a non-zero possibility of that?  But the odds are significantly lower than me giving it up unwillingly."
    Then he gives a soft sigh.  "I know you won't let something happen to me, Lyle."  Then Brainy turns his head and kisses him on the temple.

Invisible Kid has posed:
    "Then you should feel perfectly safe.  Nothing that could happen is sneakier than I am."  Lyle snuggles up a little closer, a little tighter.  "I'll promise to quit planning to steal your ring and replace it with a duplicate if and only if you quit worrying that something… something unthinkable happens that causes it to become available."

Brainiac 5 has posed:
    Brainy looks down at Lyle for a moment, and then he decides to lie.  "I promise."  Then his arm tightens around Lyle.  "You know if this era of human history wasn't unimaginably disgusting, I'd say we should go rent a suite in a hotel."  He makes a face at the thought, however.  "But perhaps not."

Invisible Kid has posed:
    "Depends on the hotel," Lyle says.  It's an open question as to whether he's decided to let the lie pass and is factoring it into his plans, or has actually missed it.  "I mean, what does it need past a clean bed and a 'Do Not Disturb' sign on the door?"
    He cogitates a moment, then adds, "And maybe a hot tub."

Brainiac 5 has posed:
    "Hmmmmmm.  You know, Sun Boy did split a magnum of champagne with me once, after I helped him with the Stellar Reignition project.  It had a certain charm."  Brainy mulls this over.  "But I SHOULD get back to work—time not spent in the lab is wasted time."  He is thoughtful.

Invisible Kid has posed:
    "Not all time not spent in the lab is wasted," Lyle says, with a waggling of the eyebrows.  "And when are you not spending at least two lines of thought on your work, even when you're engaging in recreation?"

Brainiac 5 has posed:
    "I don't know," Brainy says, "I've never not."  He tilts his head at Lyle.  "But maybe it would be a fun experiment to try.  All right, find a hotel that doesn't offend my sensibilities."  He rests his chin on Lyle's head.  "And we'll rejoin the others tomorrow.  Tonight, I'll try a different sort of science."

Invisible Kid has posed:
    Lyle cackles.  "I can't promise to not offend your sensibilities, but I bet I can distract them long enough they don't notice…."  He slips his omnicom out of his pocket and connects it to this era's entirely inadequate world-wide network, the Internet.  Never mind how far away the nearest access point is, or whether he has any business connecting to it.  "There are plenty of very nice places nearby.  What kind of budget do I have?"

Brainiac 5 has posed:
    "Mmmm, I'll dip into the stipend I put aside for the Legion, under the miscellaneous allocations fund."  Brainy shrugs, gently.  "There's a billion or so in there, no one will notice.  It was really slumming it of me, but I played the stock market for a bit to raise capital to build the cruiser—"  He shrugs his other shoulder, just a tiny bit.

Invisible Kid has posed:
    Lyle grins.  "I think we can find an acceptable place with that kind of credit line," he says, raising his head off Brainy's shoulder, but only so he can deliver a kiss unto his neck.  "We can probably even afford to have some top-line sushi delivered," he adds, tapping away on his omnicom, "as well as something very French and very bubbly."

Brainiac 5 has posed:
    Brainy lets out a thoughtful noise.  "Humans.  Offer you something with bubbles in it and you can't think of anything else."  But then he's butting heads with Lyle, gently.  "I am enjoying this entirely too much.  Say something to annoy me."

Invisible Kid has posed:
    "I don't want to annoy you," Lyle says.  "I'd much rather drive you to distraction… which would probably annoy you since you'd be distracted."
    he chuckles, then adds, "Alternately, to the suggestion I say something to annoy you… 'no'."  There's that 'whack me with a two by four' grin again.

Brainiac 5 has posed:
    "Good enough," Brainy says, before he lets out a slow sigh.  "All right, Norg."  He rises to his feet and floats in the air.  "Let's go investigate this hotel.  I'm sure I'll run over the suite with a UV light and get incredibly upset."

Invisible Kid has posed:
    Lyle floats up as well.  "How 'bout I promise to hide your UV light so you have nothing to get upset up about?"  He flips his omnicom around and shows a few options, hotel-wise.  None of them are… well, inexpensive.  "I bet even you can't be disappointed with any of these."

Brainiac 5 has posed:
    Brainy frowns at that.  "That WOULD annoy me."  Then he scans the list, and says, "I shall consider that a challenge.  You can consider it a challenge to creatively distract me."

Invisible Kid has posed:
    Lyle briefly, almost surreptitiously, licks his upper lip.  "You know what handing me a challenge means, Dox," he says, with an edge of… danger?  interest?  amusement?  who knows… to his voice.  He flips the omnicom back and taps away at it for a second.  "All right.  I've chosen one.  For three nights.  Because I bet I can keep you distracted from your lab for at least that long."  He glances at it again before slipping it back into his pocket.  "There is a non-zero chance that sushi, champagne, and hot tubs may be involved."

Brainiac 5 has posed:
    Brainy's eyes have that hard sapphire look to them.  "We'll see."  He's already imagining he'll be borrowing a whiteboard from a conference room to write theories out on.  He's already breaking down the beginnings of formula, dancing behind his eyes.  Or maybe he's thinking of something else—?

Invisible Kid has posed:
    Lyle floats closer.  "And for starters," he says, giving his omnicom one last poke so that it starts playing something classical, slow, and romantic, "may I have this zero-g dance?"
    He doesn't wait for an answer.  He takes Brainy's left hand in his right, curls his other arm around the green genius, and then bends him over backwards in a dip, stealing a kiss in the process.

Brainiac 5 has posed:
    Surprise surprise, Brainiac 5?  Not known for his ability as a dancer.  Still, the zero gravity helps.  And he's a very fast learner—but then again, Lyle is starting out with a move he's learned to enjoy—so he simply pulls the black-clad Legionnaire close, and spins with him, out over the Atlantic.