5812/Not everything's broken, I swear

Not everything's broken, I swear
Date of Scene:	19 November 2018
Location:	Avengers Mansion, New York City
Synopsis:	Summary needed
Cast of Characters:	Captain America, Slipstream, Iron Man

---

Captain America has posed:
The regular heavy //thud// of repeated impacts is proof of Steve's presence in the gym. The mansion is back -- huzzah! -- but still in dire need of some love. Here and there, proof of damage by the otherwordly insects is present on the walls via gouges and unsightly dark stains. Cringe-worthy those, it took two scrubbings to get the critters' blood out of the Captain's hair once everything had returned from the other dimension.

Even if this is the second bag he's working at (sand and a somewhat deflated sack off to one side is proof of him testing durability), he's still keeping at it. A sheen of sweat at his temples, some sweat present on the collar and armpits of his white workout shirt. A quick side-shuffle in his sneakers and his wrapped knuckles make another pop-pop-pop of impact. His eyes are narrowed, focused, but not so much that someone walking in won't break his attention.

Slipstream has posed:
Heading down into the gym is a familiar face who has been absent as of late, which is Drake Winters, aka Slipstream, the youngest Avenger. He had been in Seoul during the events of the mansion disappearing, having missed out on a ton of action while still trying to keep up via his alerts. Having been overseas for his last Overwatch World Cup Championship, he was assured 'it was taken care of' and to 'not worry about it', which only caused him to worry about it. Once the mansion returned, he had a quick jaunt to Gotham, and now he's back.

Dressed in a pair of workout black pants and a snug Overwatch green shirt over his body, the young hero is starting to finally fill in with some muscle and no longer the skinny string bean computer nerd when he first arrived. At the sight of Cap, he gives a pause, always in awe of the world's greatest superhero of morale and American values. "Good afternoon, sir." He says respectfully, followed by a quick up and down salute of his fingers across his brow. "Place could use some paint." He says with a turn of his lips upwards.

Captain America has posed:
Dancing back and forth lightly before the bag behind the defense of his forearms, Steve's brows unknit to hear the sound of a greeting. He pauses in his exercise and straightens, looking back over his shoulder to see the young Avenger arriving. With a quickly-blown sigh, he grins wryly back and gives one of the damaged sections of the gym wall a squint.

"Thought I heard Tony had some interior decorators lined up, but he also commented that they got a bit teary looking at the //outside// of the mansion, so we'll see how that pans out. A slap of paint isn't going to do it, apparently." He then makes to walk over and offer a hand to shake, still wrapped in that grubbed white tape-wrapping. "Wish you'd back to a clean house, but at least it's here in the first place."

Slipstream has posed:
"You'd think we'd be a contractors dream come true. I'd charge Mister Stark out the ass for this kind of project and then retire to some island." Drake says as he reaches out to grasp him by the hand, giving it a shake. "I'm just happy to come back /to/ a house. I was scared to death that people got killed and we were under attack by aliens and of course my buddy Zapp was like SKRULLS! And I started Googling and went down the bad guy rabbit hole of the Internet and I started to freak out and I may have barfed on stage at the championships but we still pulled it off." He's rambling again, as always.

"But I'm just glad everyone is safe. So, what's the mission now, sir? What do you need /me/ to do? I'm here. I'm ready. I'll even paint. I just want to be useful and to help out."

Captain America has posed:
Steve is kind enough not to laugh outright at the sudden onslaught of information, but he smiles a little nonetheless to hear of the tenacity of interest in the going-ons across the ocean, here in the young man's backard. This he can find kindred appreciation in.

"I appreciate you keeping tabs on the situation and being available as you could have been. It was close, a few times, but we managed it." A little shrug. He begins peeling the bag-marked tape from his hand, unwinding it with the ease of long-practiced motions. "I don't think Tony would be opposed to paint here and there, but considering he had those contractors on-call, it might be best to leave them to their worst. Or best. Whatever he ends up paying for it all." And Steve's not going to think about that. "There's some clutter out back still that needs to be moved before grass and brick can be laid down again. It's grunt work, but still something," he offers, glancing up at Drake again as he wads the collections of white wrap into sticky balls between his palms.

Slipstream has posed:
"Sure thing, sir. I'll get right on that after my work out. I promised the guys at home I'd get my fifth of hopefully a six pack at some point. I'm sorta sitting at a four point six right now." Drake says as he gives his stomach a few pops with his fist. "But, how are /you/ doing? Are you okay? Everything coolsville with you? You kinda always have it together on the outside so .. you know.. I'm never sure if on the inside you're freaking out. I'm always willing to listen if you want to let it out. Doc tells me that all the time." He says as he heads over to the punching bag, giving it a few strikes with his fist in a rapid movement as his arms give a quick blur. "But knowing you, you're all put together."

Captain America has posed:
"I won't say that I'm not relieved to have the place back." The Captain replies as he walks over to a trashcan to toss the clump of wrapping. "Tony put us up in comfortable quarters while we worked at figuring out how to get the place back, but there's nothing like home." He has the faintest thread of wistfulness in his voice and it melts away quickly enough. His next thought dies on his tongue as he suddenly frowns and looks askance, as if attempting to listen very hard for something.

In the wall above the small metal trashcan, the faint sound of scritching, like a...large rat? Steve has time to lean in before something seems to 'blip' into existence and fall with an ignominous squishy thud. A bug larvae, purply and wormy and not supposed to be there AT ALL. The Captain makes a face down at it. "...got a new plan, Drake. We need to find these eggs in the walls."

Slipstream has posed:
"You want me to find bugs in the wall? Sure thing, sir." Drake says as he stops his rapid punching of the bag, leaning back to stare down at his busted knuckles. He gives a quick shaking off the causes his hand to vibrate as the wounds begin to knit together. "Though this is a pretty big mansion, and when it comes to eggs of any types, usually they will try and find the most warmest and humid places to lay and hatch. It simulates gestation." Why does he know this? He did say he was on a Google rabbit hole.

He gives a quick stretch of his body, cracking numerous joints. "I think we should get a pair of infrared goggles from the technology lockers. That way we can see multiple heat indexes through the walls which /should/ make it easier for us to pinpoint where they're at. They're big enough to show up and then from there, we can cut them out and squish 'em if that's the plan."

Iron Man has posed:
    From the gym entrance comes a little group of robots. They busily enter the gym, leading the way in a weird mechanical parade for Tony Stark himself. He has a tablet in hand as usual, and a large heavy robotic squat thing lumbering along at his left. "Hello," Tony greets Drake and Steve casually, as if he were just stopping by to pick up something he left behind.

    The little robots streak forwards and attempt to try to trap the larva-slug under a clear plastic-looking dome. It oozes and dodges, and the robots give chase across the gym floor, trying to capture it under the plastic. Tony's very nonchalant about the whole situation.

    Space larva is whatever, guys.

Captain America has posed:
"Good idea, we'll go at it with the goggles and whatever we can find to get rid of them. There's something awful about brushing your teeth and having one suddenly fall into the sink when you're half awake." Steve's not about to admit that he yelped and spat foamy toothpaste-spit all over the mirror, but if someone's imagining it, there's a grain of truth to it. The sound of approaching robots is enough to make him pause in lifting his foot to give the larvae a good stomping. What occurs afterwards as the robots give chase is entertainment in its weird way.

"Tony," he says by way of greeting, frowning in bemusement as he watches the robot continue to attempt to corral the critter. "Drake's back. We thought we'd try and find these things in the walls before they come out from //within// them. Maybe get the worst of them before the contractors show up." He glances back to and makes a come-here tilt of his head at Drake, intending to invite the young man closer.

Slipstream has posed:
The sight of robots cleaning up after a larvae doesn't phase Drake. He's so used to Mister Stark doing something insanely cool by now. "Hello Mister Stark." He says with a bolstering smile on his face as he lifts his hand upwards. "I was thinking of grabbing heat seeking goggles from downstairs and use it to track the walls and floors to see if we can find the eggs that way." He inches in a bit closer at Cap's head tilting. "... unless you already have a really cool plan of extracting them, then I can help do that too."

Iron Man has posed:
    "Great, you're hired," Tony says with a very even relief. He taps his tablet a few more times, and then crosses to hand it to Drake. "We have SOME coverage and mapping. A lot of the sensors are down, but it's not bad, really. They don't have heat, but they do /cool/ the areas, so your heat goggles are still a go. Most all of the gear was cleared out because I don't need things growing legs with the mansion full of people, but I'll get those brought back for this." With a shrug, Tony pauses to observe the robots catch their quarry against part of a weight-lifting machine. They work out how to slide some metal under it, and begin to bring it over to the larger lumbering machine, clearly intending to dump it in. "Their little phase-shifting routine is making them obnoxious. But they're harmless for now. Let's not let any get into the face-hugger stage," Tony says mildly. He's kidding, there's a smirk there, and awareness Steve won't have any clue what he's referring to. Drake though, he bets will get it.

    "Bring them to one of the containments, though. Just because they're gross, not that they'll eat holes in the floor," Tony requests, gesturing to the machine the little robots are maneuvering with.

Captain America has posed:
Hmm. Face-huggers. Steve does give Tony a quick frown, recognizing the potential for another pop-culture reference flung as easily over his head as a ball in keep-away. Still...there's tonight's Google search, sure to leave him staring at the screen in a combination of fascination and horror. "And here I wanted to squish them and throw them away with a tissue," he quips mildly, watching the larvae retrieval in progress.

"I suppose we can just take an axe to the walls where we find the cold spots, since the consultants are coming in to patch things up as is?" This he asks of Tony with a bland expression, attempting to yank the man's chain in turn. "Last I checked, the fire axes are still hanging in respect to code." He glances over at Drake, his eyes twinkling in repressed humor. "You'll know how much progress Drake and I make by the number of holes. More'n twenty and we know we need some heavy-duty pest control."

Slipstream has posed:
"Better a face hugger than a chest cracker." Drake says to Tony with a firm nod of his head. "At least one is considered affectionate, the other is just a broken heart." He gets it. Totally gets it. The idea of taking a fire axe to the walls is appealing as he gives a wide smile along his face. "At least I can get the job done fast if the goggles show me where to whack at. They aren't poisonous or anything are they? I'd hate to get bug guts on me and then I start melting or something, you know.. acidic. Maybe we can have Snowball scan the walls for their lifeforms?" He says as he shifts his jaw a bit in thought. "Since that is her prime directive as it is, we could calibrate her to bugs and she can do all the heavy lifting a lot faster."

Iron Man has posed:
    Tony releases a breath at Steve, and then holds up a few fingers. "I deserved that," Tony says smoothly and grandly, as if accepting the latest award. He earns things, and accepts ownership over those things. Even if it is an award in obnoxious. He'll rock it.

    "Snowball might work, particularly at close proximity. Let's just expose heat to the side of the wall and see if it encourages them to pop out on the other. The left over freeze propulsion guns should work out, and those are still here. I'll moderate their output to work for this, come get them in the lab later," Tony says, checking his watch. He'll have time to quickly change them over. "All my good tools aren't here," he mopes as if greatly put-upon, but starts for the door. He'll MacGyver it anyway. "Carry on," he says over his shoulder.

    Meanwhile, the robots have started to chase another slug towards the shower room.