Owner	Pose
Mister Fantastic	Reed was many things. He was an adventurer, a scientist, a husband, father, brother-in-law, friend, adversary, but good with children was not really high up on that list. He had two of his own, and still, he felt he lacked in that particular department. And as the scientist that he is, he had recently offered some of the residents of Four Freedoms Plaza his temporary services as a babysitter. Conspicuously, Ben and Johnny had decided to make themselves absent this day, with Sue having some appointment. She wasn't supposed to be back for hours. Reed was so far in over his head. Anna and Elsa Steinberg, twins named after Frozen, were watching the wall. It was currently set to display the Cretaceous Period, and was actually a sophisticated monitoring device, relaying signals from unobtrusive hidden cameras sent back in time and to other dimensions. Valeria was trying to help her older brother Franklin with a rocket, sounding every bit like Hermione Granger trying to help Ron Weasley. And did she adopt a British accent? That girl was scary. Not even five years old, and already one of the ten smartest people in the world. They were the children who were behaving. The rest, well, there was some chaos going on as ketchup was on a wall, crayons on tile flooring, two kids pulling each other's hair, and Reed, frantically in the middle, trying to sort everything up. He was stretching this way and that way, separting problem people, dealing with issues one at a time, as concisely as he could. He had found that brevity with most children was rewarded. He was out of his depth.
Sue Storm	As Susan re-enters their apartment, she is stopped in her tracks by the sounds of absolute chaos. //What the hell...?// Slowly setting down the bags she's carrying in the front closet, slipping out of her coat quietly, she moves invisibly into the living room. Franklin's eyes drifted toward the door and a small smile plays about his lips. Turning his attention back to the rocket, he murmurs to his sister in that curiously exclusive way they have together. Sue is flabbergasted to see what Reed is up to. She moves toward the kitchen, debating on whether or not to leave him to his own devices ... and decides to take pity on the man. Becoming visible near her own two children, she leans down and kisses them both. There will be rewards later for their behavior. And then his lovely wife cuts loose with a single, shrill, loud whistle that freezes a bunch of children -- and possibly one way-out-of-his-league husband -- in their tracks. "Right then... I can see that we've all gone just a little around the bend here. Heather, please take the rag off the table and wipe the ketchup off the wall," she instructs a 9-year-old girl. "Isaac and George, please don't hurt Dr. Reed. I think you might be about to tie him in a knot and he's REALLY hard to untie." Sue's tone is a velvet caress underlain by adamantium - there is *no* room for disobedience here. It's just what Moms do. "Krystal," she addresses a 6-year-old, "please pick the Legos up off the floor so that I don't step on one and cut my foot." Then she looks around and in that same friendly, calm tone, she says, "Move." The chaos is now and organized one. And Sue raises a single brow at her husband. "I thought we agreed no experiments in the house, honey."
Mister Fantastic	Reed had no way of telling that Sue was there. Franklin had gifts, even with most of them artificially subdued due to Reed's efforts, but Reed, he was elastic. The rest of him was just a man, and one who did not deserve Susan. The way she took control of the situation, gaining attention and admiration in equal measure, always seemed to astound Reed. She just had a way about her. With the children calming down and behaving better, Reed made his way, now that no one was trying to tie him in knots, to Susan. He gave her a quick peck on the cheek, "darling, you've rescued me from Annihilus, Doctor Doom, and the Wizard, but this may be your greatest feat yet. I'm glad you came home early." Smiling, his cheeks turning a bit of a rosy hue, he whispered in her ear. "Would you have preferred that I conduct my experiments on attempting to become a better father in the laboratory?" He felt this was the most appropriate place for this particular experiment.
Sue Storm	Tipping her cheek up to the caress, amusement twinkles in those blue eyes. "I bet you are," she retorts with a chuckle. But with all seriousness, Sue is touched that what he's trying to do is become a better person. She murmurs in return, "No. Definitely not the lab. But... perhaps next time you want to practice, you should let me know? It's always good to have back-up when you're trying out a new stunt." She winks at him. For all that he's an amazing man and a brainiac, Sue isn't blind to Reed's faults. And the particular one that he's apparently working on fixing has been something of a strain on her lately -- creating some tension in their home that Franklin, ever attuned to his parents, has sensed. She didn't sign on to be a single parent... and as she wraps her arms around his waist to hug him tightly, Sue tells Reed in a soft whisper, "Thank you for listening to me."
Mister Fantastic	He was always going to be a better parent to Valeria than Franklin. She was a genius like him. But unlike him, she seemed to have a better grasp of the emotional element. Nathaniel Richards was hardly the best father figure, and his mother Evelyn died when he was only seven. Plus, he had the Sheldon Cooper situation going on, just, and fortunately not nearly as bad. Real life was rarely reflective of television with their exaggerated situations. Thankful for the hug, which was eagerly returned, Reed and Sue drew something of a crowd, with some of the children letting out a prolonged eww at their public display of affection. Rolling his eyes at the childrens' childishness, Reed leaned in to give them a real show, kissing Susan on the lips. It was soft and tender, and though they had been married for some time, but he was as passionate about her now, as he was then. "I always listen to you. I just don't always succeed in following your advice." But there was no shame in that. Failure was an essential part of science. Sometimes, he could learn more from failure than success.
Sue Storm	Sue laughs and returns the gentle kiss, telling the kids, "Oh eeew yourselves, brats." But then she extricates herself and tells Reed, "And the dinosaurs are not an acceptable babysitting method, love," on a laugh. "Looks like it's time to make holiday cards for parents. Let's do that, huh?" Reed might be brilliant... but apparently Sue's a field marshal. "Dr. Reed can help get the construction paper and scissors out and stuff, right?" Now she's dragging him into Craft Time! "Heather, you know where the markers are. Anna, Elsa, the glue sticks are in that bin under the television, so bring them over." Well... if you're gonna invite a bunch of kids over to play, might as well do something useful. That's the trick with small kids. Even Franklin and Valeria leavethe rocket to do this one -- because brilliant or not, powered or not, they're still just kids. "You just choose to think you know better," Sue informs Reed with a small smile. "You forget that IQ isn't everything."
Mister Fantastic	Sue was amazing in her element. She took to being a mother like a duck to water. She did have extensive experience, having looked after Reed and Ben for years, and Johnny, much longer. Reed just looked upon her with that twinkle in his eyes. It was the same sort of look he'd get when he found a difficult equation. IQ was not everything. If it were, Reed's 13 doctorates would have gotten him out of the earlier fracas. But no, he would have given them all up, for he was still chasing that elusive 14th doctorate, the best of the bunch. He would never earn it. Until his dying day, he would pursue, with great pleasure, a degree in Susan Storm. She is the one question he will never answer; his theory that ends with an ellipsis; his hypothesis that evades empiricism. The one mystery he will never figure out. And the best part of it, even without him saying it, she knew exactly how he felt. How did she know him so well, when he still struggled to understand her at the most basic level. In fact, he had been staring at her for so long that Valeria tugged on his pant leg, and gestured that she wanted to be picked up. Once up in his arms, she gave him a hug, and whispered into his ear, "daddy, she knows."
Sue Storm	Sue organized the dining room table with all the craft stuff what suddenly began appearing in small hands. Her smile was easy, and the midnight blue sweater she wore emphasized the blue of her eyes behind her glasses when she looked up at that moment to smile across the room at the sight of him with their daughter. Once most of the munchkins were settled into chairs and starting to make their individual messes, Sue stepped back a bit to let the more controlled chaos reign. "Oh, Georgie." She gave a slight wince when the 8-year-old yanked the cap off the glitter container. *That's* gonna be around for years. "It's okay, sweetie. How about we stick with glitter GLUE instead, hmm?" She seems to take so much of it in stride. When she comes around behind Franklin's seat, she ruffles the boy's hair gently. A conversation apparently happens all in a moment when he looks up at her, because Sue laughs. "Oh really? I don't think he'd have resorted to duct tape, but... maybe."
Mister Fantastic	There were advantages to having two genius' in the family, as when Georgie yanked the cap off the glitter container, Reed and Valeria began having a conversation, not private, or hidden in any way, but the way they were speaking, it might as well have been in another language. They were discussing how to scan for, and remove the glitter particles from the table, walls, carpet, and anywhere else they might get to, since it would be carried on the air conditioning system. There were words that came up that some of the kids, and especially Sue, understood, but the way they talked, in short hand, it was remarkable. A moment later, Valeria is set down and the little girl heads off on her own, presumably to deal with the issue. Meanwhile, Reed moved around to Sue and Franklin. He didn't want Franklin to feel like he had a favourite. He just had more in common with Valeria because of the science stuff, but Franklin was his son and Reed loved him with all his heart, or at least as much as a man like Reed was capable of an emotion like that. "Duct Tape has many uses. Remember when we watched those episodes of Mythbusters?"
Sue Storm	There is a roll of blue eyes behind her glasses and Franklin -- cheeky bean -- grins. "Yes, but I'm pretty sure you'd need a lot of duct tape to get Isaac to stay on the wall," the boy points out. Sue has to stifle her laugh behind her hand and just shakes her head. Her household once more in a state of CONTROLLED chaos, she seems to relax and her smile is definitely happier than it was a week ago. She leans her head on Reed's shoulder while she watches the kids make sweet things for their parents and murmurs, "You know... just knowing that you're hearing me is the best gift you could give me."