6188/Sparring Session

Sparring Session
Date of Scene:	15 January 2019
Location:	Avengers Mansion, New York City
Synopsis:	Carol, Steve, and Janet meet up for a little socializing in the Avenger's rec room. Then a drunk armed with a robot and a shrink-ray shows up. Things predictable devolve after that.
Cast of Characters:	Wasp (van Dyne), Captain America, Captain Marvel (Danvers), Iron Man

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Wasp (van Dyne) has posed:
Janet is getting her exercise on in the Avenger's private workout room. It's really closer to a gymnasium, with all the possible amenities. If it wasn't for all the modern equipment it'd look less a cutting edge facility and more like an ancient New York gentleman's club-- complete with antlers on the walls and red velvet instead of wallpaper.

Janet's working the punching bag with a surprising focus. She's in a midriff-baring yellow athletic top, wearing black leggings with mesh slashes that run along her thigh and calves. She twists and throws a few snappy punches, her wrapped fists smacking solidly into the heavy leather punching bag.

Captain America has posed:
Having arrived home from the tedium of deskwork, Steve finds himself with pent-up energy. How else to safely work through it than to run a few laps around the neighborhood and then to lose himself in beating the snot out of a sandbag. Thus, he enters into the workout room with a small duffle bag in one hand and a particularly durably-shelled cylinder of sand on his shoulder.

"Janet," he says by way of greeting, a small smile accompanying it. "Did you enjoy the brownies I left on the kitchen countertop? Or did everyone else beat you to them?" He tucks the duffle bag along the wall before he walks over to the nearest chain to hang up his personal punching bag.

Wasp (van Dyne) has posed:
Janet steps in a bobbing half-circle and throws two more punches. When Steve hails her, she glances up and beams a smile at him. "Steve! How nice of you to ask," she says. A palm rests on the bag to balance her, and she rests one ankle over the other, hips swaying a little as her hand props high on her waist. "I did them. You're such a doll, they were just terriffic. Old family recipe or something, from back when it was *real* sugar?" she inquires,her voice a teasing juxtaposition to her earnest smile.

Captain America has posed:
"Nope. Betty Crocker." Steve walks back over to collect his own hand wrapping and grins at her as he straightens from rustling through his duffle bag. "Maithair wasn't a fan of brownies. If you'd asked for snickerdoodles, that would be another matter entirely." A couple of lengths of fabric and one hand is all wrapped. He glances up from wrapping the second hand. "I thought fashionistas didn't get sweaty?" Of course the question is accompanied by a little smirk.

Wasp (van Dyne) has posed:
Janet eyenarrows at Steve and steps forward to swing a fist at him. It's about as far from a punch as can be, wrist bent and her hand relaxed. "A) Women don't sweat, we *glow*," Janet reminds Steve, tartly. "Second, this:" she steps back and gestures grandly from head to toe, one foot turned outwards and her shoulders rolling back and belly sloping towards her hips. "This takes *work*, Captain Cracker Jack," she informs him, with lofty disdain. She turns back to her bag and starts throwing jabs at it, but the grunts of aggression are now much more like 'hmphs!' of disdain from her nose. Wonder whose face she's projecting on the worn old canvas?

Captain America has posed:
The Captain watches the friendly punch bounce off his torso and humors the wee fashionista with a quiet 'oof!' and a little stumble. He watches her project her frustration to the bag once more and dimples to himself.

"Easy there, tiger, you might bust the bag," he teases one last time before idly tossing the roll of hand-wrap towards his opened duffle. "Want some music on? Could do the theme from Rocky. Eye of the Tiger? Seems appropriate." A push at the especially-thick leather bag he's hung for himself sets it to swinging and he punches it lightly to test it. A small sound of contentment. It seems sturdy enough.

Wasp (van Dyne) has posed:
"Gosh, and here I would have thought you'd spin up some Frank Sinatra and maybe some ... old ... timey music," Janet says, struggling with the insult as her wit fails her. She rolls her eyes at herself impatiently and goes back to jabbing the bag, little sharp staccato smacks of flesh against leather.

Captain America has posed:
"I think you're implying I should get with the times." Steve glances towards the ceiling. "Mansion. Put on "Punching Bag Playlist One", override: Captain Rogers."

And lo and behold, over the speaker system in the exercise room, the sultry strains of Lil Jon's "Turn Down for What" begin to filter into the room. The blond man gives Janet a particularly satisfied little grin and then turns to his bag. A stretch of each arm, loosening swings forwards and back, and then he slips into the mindset of the boxer.

A steady rhythm, at first, interspersed with pauses and fakes, and then a few hard hits, enough to puff the seams of the bag in places.

Wasp (van Dyne) has posed:
"Oh my god," Janet mutters, and rolls her eyes even more savagely. She ducks behind her bag and starts working her punches again, though this time it's to hide a smile crossing her face. She's throwing snappy but light punches, circling around, and the two work for a few moments in their own space.

When they get in each other's eyelines again, Janet glances at a tight combo Steve's drilling into the bag with a steady rhythm. She tries to emulate it, glancing from Steve to the bag and back again. It's a textbook one-two cross that carries a lot of zip if thrown right. She's starting to get tired, though, and her form's beginning to falter as her fists drum out a faint echo of the steady tattoo Steve is banging out on his striking bag.

Captain America has posed:
For all the stoicism he projects, Steve inwardly relishes that eye-roll. Excellent. The unexpected has been achieved. Good old Frank can wait for another time. It's a pleasure to feel his heart rate rise without stress upon his body. His lungs feel clear. It's only a matter of minutes before the endorphin high kicks in.

Janet's actions, however, do not go beyond notice. They make eye contact in passing. "Mind your frame," says the Captain between punching through his pattern. "Slow your speed if you need to. Don't burn yourself out early in a fight. Wait for the right time to throw a punch if you need to."

Captain Marvel (Danvers) has posed:
Walking in and hearing voices inside, Carol doesn't quite sees what's going on yet, but from the words she assumes, and calls out, "on that subject I'd take any bit of advice Steve has got to give."

Wasp (van Dyne) has posed:
"I know what I'm doing!" Janet tells Steve. With an almost wilfull belligerence she leans forward more instead of centering her weight, throwing bigger and heavier punches that are launched more slowly and throw her balance off.

Carol's voice floats in, and Janet presses her lips into thin lines. "I *know what I'm doing*!" she repeats, more loudly, and throws a pair of big, loopy overhead punches. She slips on the second one and her wrist bends sharply. Janet suppresses most of a yelp of pain and dances on her tiptoes, hissing softly and gripping her tape-wrapped wrist in her other hand.

Captain America has posed:
"You're too kind, Carol!" The Captain's got time to shout that between his focused pummeling of thick leather. Got a good pace going now, and quick bam-bam-bam --

The sound of regular impacts on the leather punching bag cease soon after the squeak of discomfort. Frowning, Steve walks over and holds out a palm. Clearly, Janet's supposed to show him what she's done to herself.

"Lemme see. If it's bad, we'll go to the medical bay. They'll get it fixed up," he says.

Captain Marvel (Danvers) has posed:
"You do...?" Carol teases Janet, "did you know Taskmaster holds Steve as one of the best brawlers one on one? That's high praise," Carol shares an anecdote, before looking about at the music, "Janet...couldn't you do Steve the courtesy of something less bombastic?" Yeah, she wasn't ever going to assume Steve came up with that pick.

"Janet...you okay?" Carol asks with more concern, suddenly realizing this might be more than a slip up, as she moves closer to Steve and Janet.

Wasp (van Dyne) has posed:
Janet is examining her wrist when Carol and Steve are abruptly both examining her, and she glances up from the joint to the two Avengers. "Woah, woah!" she says, with a surprisingly firm tone, and holds her palms out. "God, you can't both walk at me that fast," she says, putting an over-dramatic fingertouch to her sternum. "It's like having the cover models for Muscle and Fitness charging wardrobe again. I don't need to be triggered."

She rolls her weight onto her left hip, arms folding across her stomach (and mostly suppressing a wince as she does so). "It's fine, I promise. I just tweaked it. I don't need any of your... field medicine. I'll wake up with a log splint-wrapped to my arm with a belt," she mutters.

"And, for the reference: Steve's choice," she tells Carol, and primly upthrusts a thumb at the ceiling speakers. "I don't know who introduced him to Lil Jon, but they deserve a kick in the shin."

Captain America has posed:
Knowing better than to fuss over Janet further, Steve simply rocks back onto his heels to take up an easy stance, arms lightly crossed. He glances between the two women, his expression markedly composed.

"I'm not a dinosaur...and Spotify shows me a new playlist every week. I liked this one, so I saved it. Blame technology." A gesture towards the wrist being guarded instead of cared for. "I think there's some athletic wrap in the med kit on the wall. Bright orange, Janet, your favorite. We'll break off one of the chair legs and stabilize your wrist with it," he deadpans with the ghost of a grin.

Captain Marvel (Danvers) has posed:
Carol easily takes a few steps back as Janet's quip makes her laugh, "don't ever change, Janet, well, you can have a change of clothes...but not who you are." She's about to make a comment about field medicine, when Janet notes the music was Captain's choice, leaving Carol to look at Steve sketpically, "was it?" She usually believes Janet on pretty much anything, but this one made her hesitate, before Steve affirms it. "Spotify, huh? Will wonders ever cease..."

Wasp (van Dyne) has posed:
Janet sticks out her tongue at Steve's suggestion. "Someday you're gonna have to come up with a personality to even out those looks, Rogers," she tells him, with all the lofty derision she can summon.

Carol's rhetorical question gets a wide-eyed nod of consensus. "Right?" Janet asks Carol, spreading her hands in askance. She beams sunnily at the blonde's suggestion about changing clothes. Janet's the sort to pull off a dozen wardrobe changes a day.

"Don't worry, Carol. I couldn't leave you and Jess and Jen stuck in this boy's club without me," she says, and skips forward on one foot to give the aviator a quick hug. "C'mon over here and sit on my feet, I need to do situps and I don't want THE FOSSIL to throw his back out," she tells Carol, speaking sotto voce.

Captain America has posed:
Both wrapped hands rise from the man's biceps as he takes a conciliatory step backwards, now smirking.

"Teaches me to apply my field medic training," he says as he then wanders back over to his bag. "And I appreciate your concern, Janet. It's been some time since I last dealt with a torqued disc. '43, I think it was, throwing a Panzer tank. That stung for a bit." He gets back to punching at the bag, giving both women a more friendly grin in passing. "Don't let me stop either of you." The song ends and the next track comes on: LMFAO's "Sexy and I Know It". Steve simply sighs and focuses on the bag before him, his brows furrowed in concentration -- and supposed ignorance of the fact that this playlist belongs to him.

Captain Marvel (Danvers) has posed:
Carol returns Janet's hug without skipping a beat, grinning at the resident fashionista, "you did pretty good going toe to toe with Rogers, wish I came in earlier to see more of it." She laughs at Janet's mean spirited quip 'not meant' for Steve to hear, "sure, let's go," she shifts position to support Janet's feet under her weight.

Then Steve relates one of his stories and Carol looks at him with a big grin, "threw a Panzer tank, did you? Man...I missed out not being able to fight scumbags like the Nazis, but knowing our esteemed military, if I lived at the time, I'd never be accepted to the Air Force back then."

Then comes "Sexy and I Know It," and Carol just bursts with laughter, "my god, Steve, are you sure this is your playlist? Are you sure it's not Tony's?"

Wasp (van Dyne) has posed:
Janet settles down on the floor and starts knocking out some situps. To her credit, she does them military style, with her hands behind her head. "I can take Steve any day," she says, with that endless self-assurance, between crunches of her abs.

She pokes Carol in the hip on an upwards rise. "Are you kidding me? Zinda Blake was one of the best pilots in the world. There were a ton of women in the WACs, the Air Corps, even in the irregular units. You would have been a... a total commando babe, superspy," she tells Carol. "Killing Nazis with a Tommy Gun and with your secret poison-dispensing fountain pen."

She pauses as the music comes on, eyes going back and forth. She shakes her head, finishing the set. "It's a parallel universe. A strange parallel universe where Steve is a frat bro from CUNY and we're trapped in Hell with him."

Captain America has posed:
The punching bag continues to swing back and forth, its chain links quietly gritting as Steve pauses. He pinches at the bridge of his nose and blows a sigh. Then, glancing up at the ceiling, he says,

"Change to "Playlist 4", override: Captain Rogers." The mansion's speakers shift over in the last handful of seconds of that thumping beat to something far more brassy and big band. He points at Janet. "You want Frank, you get Frank." It's a bouncy little beat and recognizable shortly thereafter as 'New York, New York'. Back the Captain goes to hitting the bag with a bit more effort and a set to his jaw. "Peggy would've made sure that you got where you wanted, Carol," he's sure to add, glancing over at the woman. "Zinda as well."

Captain Marvel (Danvers) has posed:
Carol looks to Steve when Janet mentions there were ways for women into the Air Force during WW2, "can you vouch for that, Steve?" Carol asks, not entirely sure, from what she knows the Air Force wasn't very keen at all on female fighter pilots at the time. Heck, she still had to face sexism, chauvinism and downright misogynism decades later. Who knows, maybe Janet's right and it used to be better than imagined, but she figures to check with the guy who lived through it all.

When Janet gives her funny quip, Carol does burst in laughter, almost shifting from position, before reapplying the pressure to keep Janet's feet in place. "That was savage, Janet."

Getting Rogers' approval is all she needs, as she grins at Janet, "who knew, maybe I would have had a shot back then...I always look up to women who had to suffer those harsher times."

Iron Man has posed:
    "Have you never been in a proper gym? This is hardly workout music; needs some energy. But, since I'm not here to work out, I suppose I don't have a horse in the race," Tony comments over the Frank Sinatra that is now filtering out of the door. Tony is not dressed at all like he's here to work out; jeans and his long sleeve shirt suggest 'work', but not 'out.' He has some heavy gloves on, a protective welding smock, and tech goggles that sport thick eye protection. In his hands is something that looks a great deal like a flattened, stubby bazooka with a socket for folding over a shoulder. Behind him, an innocent robot trundles along: it is about human size, with a little bucket that could maybe be a safety hat. For fun, it is also wearing a red shirt with a large sensor zone painted on its chest in a broad target pattern.

    Tony observes Janet's workout while the robot obligingly rolls towards the far end of the room near some scorch marks on the wall that nobody probably has ever really questioned the origin of.

    "Busy in here; I'm glad I didn't make any new years' resolutions, or that could have been me," Tony observes, friendly, but amused.

Wasp (van Dyne) has posed:
Janet flashes a gimlet eye at Tony. "Fitness is a process, Tony, not a resolution," the Wasp tells her teammate, primly. "You don't get abs like this from sitting in front of a computer."

She mumbles something about cracker jack boxes, NOT glancing at Steve, and rolls her eyes expressively at Carol when Frank Sinatra comes on the overheads. "I was being sarcastic, *Steven*," she says, peevishly emphasizing his name. "Put on something else, before I start craving a gin and tonic."

She goes back to her ab routine, but flashes an impish grin up at Carol (the blonde aviator is standing on Janet's toes while the petite Avenger does situps).

"What's up, Tony? Are you here to actually work out a bit, or did you invent another robot to do it for you?"

Captain America has posed:
Hearing the genius-inventor's voice filter in, Steve looks away from the punching bag. He flattens a palm against it to stop it from bumping into him in turn and drags the back of a wrapped hand across his brow.

"Just in time, Stark, for...something not exercise," he finishes deliberately, his gaze flicking from the robot to the weapon on Tony's person and to the man himself. A glance back over his shoulder at Janet. However, he speaks in particular to the aviator aiding in the crunches set. "Carol, you pick the music. Janet has no taste." That being said, he turns his attention to Tony again and raises an eyebrow. "This is a gym, Tony, not a firing range." It bears saying by Captain Obvious with hands resting on his hips now.

Wasp (van Dyne) has posed:
Janet grabs a foam workout ball and hurls it at Steve. It's a lousy throw, and goes a mile wide of the soldier.

Captain Marvel (Danvers) has posed:
"I would personally go with Tony has the robot to do it for him," Carol rolls along with Janet's joke, "by the way, Tony, do you know who the heck was behind curing that Black Sleep? I want to know who to thank for doing something when I couldn't."

Carol laughs at Janet's poor attempt to hit Steve with the foam ball, but does take the challenge, and as she speaks up to the computer, she selects "Welcome To The Jungle" by Guns & Roses.

Iron Man has posed:
    "Oh no you don't; she does not need a gin and tonic," Tony says, without looking, but pointing two fingers at the robot. The robot had heard her drink order and, as per normal expectation, it had started to go fetch the drink. Usually when drink orders are given it does that. A lot of Tony's robots are very good at hearing drink orders and fetching them, for some reason. The robot stopped dutifully.

Tony actually pauses, and looks at the robot. "But maybe I do. Go ahead." The robot, released for the moment, beeps and goes off to fetch it. It doesn't seem to notice the foam work-out ball that bounces off of it as thrown by Janet.

Tony leans the gun against his leg, taking a moment to relax and watch them work. He does not look inclined to join in even a little bit. "All of our rooms are multi-purpose," Tony replies to Steve smoothly. "And I do intend to move some weights around. Ideally. My test range downstairs is full of storage from the repairs."

His attention then moves to Carol, and a grin at her music choice, and approving nod. She found something to please Tony! "We know that mages as a worldwide effort were involved. I have some tentative names, but they're being elusive about it. Why they don't want credit? Eh. /Wizards/," Tony shrugs. "Thor has more information, I think. I've yet to drag him into making a report. Busy being a king, go figure..." Tony sounds distracted towards the end of that description, and checks on a panel on his 'bazooka', poking at a readout. "Why are you draining, you're not in use," he asks it, as if he were asking why a puppy was misbehaving ....again.

Wasp (van Dyne) has posed:
Janet finishes her last rep and leans against her knees, slender shoulders rising and falling. Flickering, lean lines work across her bare shoulders as she gets her breathing under control. The petite fashionista claps Carol's calf twice to signal that she wants to rise, and lfits a hand upwards for Carol to help haul her to her feet.

"Wizards," Janet says, and her tone matches Tony's with wry irritation. "Wizards creep me the heck out. Strange is about the only tolerable one I know, and *he's* kinda ~out there~," she says. "If you know what I mean." She moves towards the bench on the wall to retrive a bottle of water, popping the nozzle with her teeth and upturning it to chug heavily.

Iron Man has posed:
Tony considers the gun's readout, and then clears his throat. "So, I need to discharge prior to this exploding; something's up with the conversion. It's fine, just, you know, look away," Tony suggests, stepping two paces to one side. He turns the gun towards the unused punching bag, and levels the front of the weapon at it. It churns, whirring, and then energy surges out. It looks like nothing, invisible tension in the air and a vibration like a deep pulse of music. The bag shivers a little and then starts to squeeeeeze in on itself like it was being sucked into a black hole in the air. It squeezes more and more and then drops on the floor, pulverized.

"I mean, /Wizards/, yeah, I know, right?" Tony comments smoothly, non-chalant.

Wasp (van Dyne) has posed:
"I'm out," Janet announces, throwing her hands up. She picks up her duffel bag and slings it over her shoulder. "The last time I stood around while someone was playing with a shrinkray, I got stuck at two inches tall for six weeks."

She flickers a look at Tony, then hugs Carol and blows Steve a kiss. "You kids play nice," she bids them, tauntingly-- then flickers down into a bug-sized version of herself and flits away from the room, buzzing on near-invisible wings.

Captain America has posed:
Steve does his best to look blandly interested in the report about the Black Sleep. He nods when appropriate and glances over at Janet, now finished with her workout. A little shrug to himself, as if deciding that he'll continue regardless of whether or not the others leave, and he picks at the wrapping of his left hand in order to secure it more firmly in place.

And apparently has no comment to add about wizards. Perhaps telling.

A brief consideration of the fashionista's wrist, but it's (to make a bad pun) in her own hands now. "Get that wrist looked at, Janet," says he, uncertain if the briskly-shifting woman heard him in her attempt to escape possible casualties of a new invention.

At hearing Tony's comment in regards to the gun, he gives the thing a wary look. "Look away? Tony, wait -- " And he watches the punching bag basically shrink like a rotting pumpkin on fast-forwards. Steve lets out a long sigh before giving the genius-inventor a squint. "That was my extra bag. You owe me a punching bag, Tony."

Iron Man has posed:
"The bag is fully functional. Probably. Just requires decent accuracy from /you/," Tony replies, as if this were entirely normal. The robot returns with his drink, which allows him to smile at Steve while sipping it.