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WHO: JEN & LEN
WHERE: Avengers Mansion.
WHEN: YESTERDAY...
WARNINGS: none
SUMMARY: idk feelings
FORMAT: lazy

[He's been in the mansion before--the one back home, anyway--but being invited to stay there gives the entire atmosphere a new and uncomfortable weight.

But more importantly: Skrull invasion, et cetera. He turns to Jen after looking around the living room for a second.]

So.

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[ Shulkie's sitting on her hands on the couch, staring... at her feet. of course, she whined to Clint about her whole situation but she still doesn't feel very sure about any of this or her... uh... former psychiatrist who doesn't know he's former being here.

so she forces up a smile anyways. ]

So! Hi. Hey. What's up?

[ oh dear god someone shoot her ]

[Classic Jen. He sits down next to her, propping his elbows on his knees.]

Oh, not much. A friend of mine's trying pretty hard not to let me in on something, and I'm hoping I can figure out why.

[ oh goddammit. she rocks her head back and stares at some wall instead. ]

Maybe you're just imagining things and your friend really isn't doing any such thing? Or maybe she -- or he -- just doesn't know what to say to welcome you to the City?

You know, in this... hypothetical... situation? [ it's not hypothetical shulkie... ]

Jen, I'm not going to disappear if you don't look at me. Whatever it is you think you can't tell me, I'm sure I can handle it.

[He pauses.]

Unless I'm dead in the near future; that might be a tough one.

[It was a joke, but it suddenly seems awkwardly possible.]

[ she hesitates and decides to stare at her knees instead. ok, Clint said she could do this. just... bring it up briefly. slowly test the waters. ok, she can do this.

slowly... looking over at him after a moment ]

Before you came here, did you... did you talk to Bruce? Like, recently?

[He looks at her for a second, wondering at the lack of obvious relevance.]

No, not recently. Why do you ask?

[ well, that's a little comforting, but... ]

No reason!

[ a beat ]

What about Tony? You know... before coming here.

[No reason. Of course.

Vague uneasiness makes him hesitate.]

I talked to Tony about a few things, yes.

[ this is a bad idea. this is a really bad idea. ]

Maybe... about Bruce?

He asked for a psych profile. [Pause.] What happened to Bruce?

[ dammit. she's just going to get angry about this again... not that she isn't but ]

Nothing happened to him. [ liar ] I was really just wondering! You know what, this isn't something you need to talk about on you first day here!

Edited 2012-05-13 20:10 (UTC)

[Part of him wants to call her on it, but there's no point in escalating things--nobody would like either one of them when they're angry, etc.]

Well, when should we talk about it?

[ a pause ]

Never?

Uh-huh.

[should've seen that coming. he leans back against the couch.]

Here's what I don't want: I don't want you to not be able to talk to me without having this thing, whatever it is, getting in the way. I don't want you to have to watch what you say.

There is no thing. I swear. [ stop lying.

pause. ]

I can talk to you! This nothing-thing wouldn't even be a problem. Things are just -- you know -- you're the last person that I expected to show up here.

[No point in reading into that. He's quiet for a few seconds.]

Well, it's up to you.

[ she's going silent to... staring at her hands now ]

A lot of things have happened since you last saw me. Not even just me managing to get over my transformation issues.

[and that's all it takes for him to swing into therapy mode.]

Jen things, or bigger than that?

[ oh damn. welp. ]

A little bit of both?

[ a beat ]

Definitely a lot of Jen things.... a lot. [ WEH MY LIFE SUCKS WEHHH ]

[raising an eyebrow at her, even though she ISN'T LOOKING AT HIM]

Not so good?

[prompt prompt prompt, listen listen listen]

[ STILL NOT GOING TO TBH ]

Is it ever really good? [ a beat... well.... god she has no idea how she feels about him anymore or how to deal with him ]

I got disbarred a while ago. I stopped being a superhero. I got arrested. I found out I had a bunch of family members I've never known about. I got married and then divorced to John Jameson.

A lot of stuff.

[ NOT INCLUDING GETTING SHOT FULL OF NANOBOTS YYYEAHH ]

[that...is a lot, and it shakes him right back out of therapymode.]

You got disbarred? And-- [everything else, good lord] How did all that happen?

[ siiigh ]

I made a lot of bad choices and a lot of stupid decisions. No surprise there, right? [ ha... ha....... ]

[with a little hey now nudge:]

Every human in history has made bad choices and stupid decisions. I could write a book on mine.

[ YEAH SHE KNOWS. burying her face in her hands though ]

Yeah, well, mine took away everything I loved to do and cared about. Not a big deal though, right?

It's old news.

You need to focus on what you can do to get those things back. Have you told, uh-- me about any of this?

[wow differing timelines make it awkward to phrase things like that.]

Whenever you come from? You know I'd help you any way I could.

No, we... haven't really talked much lately.

[ because of the reasons she's trying to avoid talking about. y e p. ]

I mean, not that I don't appreciate the thought, Doc.

That's too bad.

[back to being quiet. strange that they wouldn't talk--unless both of them were incredibly busy.

or it's related to the thing she clearly doesn't want to talk about, which is a little unsettling.

after a second he gets up.]

I guess I'll turn in. Do you mind pointing out an empty room?

[ there's this awkward pause from her because Len is still one of her best friends, but... ]

I'll walk you.

[ and she's standing up a moment after him, gesturing ]

Most of the rooms here are available so you can take your pick. But you might end up waking up next to Lockjaw one day; I have no idea how that dog works.

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