11938/Betties and Broads

Betties and Broads
Date of Scene:	09 July 2022
Location:	Recreation Lounge: Triskelion
Synopsis:	Some off-duty SHIELD Agents talk
Cast of Characters:	Mary Jane Watson, Betty Ross, Blackagar Boltagon, Jane Foster

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Mary Jane Watson has posed:
It's sometime late in the evening and a quiet time. Strike teams are out doing normal operations, there have been no more (reported) breakouts from the cafeteria levels or at least no followup reports of missing maintenance personnel. Mary Jane is currently settled in over on a couch in the room where she has her phone open, "Hey Anna, I'm doing fine. No, latest audition didn't go well. By the time I got there tehy'd already cast someone for the part. I was a little late so I don't think it mattered much. I didn't have a lot of hope in the first place on it but it never hurts to try. Thanks, love you."

Betty Ross has posed:
    Red comes wandering in through the main door, a towel resting around her neck. From her dress she's just come from the metahuman area of the gym, dressed in a black tank top and blue workout shorts she changed into after a shower, from the wetness of her hair. She glances around, then waves to MJ languidly, not immediatley approaching as she's on the phone as she instead detours to get a bottled water before heading her way.

Mary Jane Watson has posed:
Mary Jane Watson would go to close the phone, "Thanks Anna, love you and great to catch up. I'll try and drop by this weekend for dinner. Depends if I have any surprise rehearsals up. Thanks!" Going to shut the phone over and let out a sigh. "Hey Betty, how you doing?" She would smile over at the Brawling Broad.

Betty Ross has posed:
    Rulkie pops her water bottle cap off and takes a long drink while MJ finishes up with her call, lowering it when she does. "Mmm, okay. Really tired of learning SHIELD regulations, but I'm told it's absolutely necessary for me to pick all this up." she grumbles a bit, rolling her neck a bit as she rubs the back of it. "You?"

Mary Jane Watson has posed:
Mary Jane Watson would smile, "Catching up with my Aunt Anna. She gave me a place to crash when family life went to hell and let me stay with her no questiosn asked. She's the only family I have." The way she put 'I have' she meant moreso along hte lines 'that she lvoed'

Betty Ross has posed:
    Betty mmmms, nodding as she takes another long drink, finishing off the bottle then absently crushing it to a small ball of plastic. "Good to stay in touch when you've got family you care about." Her dry tone suggests she's not thinking of someone she'd want to stay in touch with to the same level. "How did your audition go?"

Mary Jane Watson has posed:
Mary Jane Watson would twitch her lips upwards, "Bout as well as can be expected. They're not really a priority with my current day job, but I like to keep up pretenses. And it's something that helps me think sometimes life is normal and I can go ahead with the way I expected it to be. And regulations are regulations. Just learn what ones you can ignore and receite dutifully."

Blackagar Boltagon has posed:
The door to the rec center opens and in... struts... Blackagar Boltagon. Yes, struts is the correct term as the Inhuman King is walking with a rather pronounced gait that quickly can be identified as a combination of dancing and some kind of authority stroll. All he would need is a feather hat and long flowing coat to complete the look. As he arrives, he turns, abruptly, puts his hands on his hips and 'slides' across the floor a couple of feet in a moon walk without even moving his feet. Then he turns and looks rather expectantly at the door behind him as if waiting for something.

Betty Ross has posed:
    "I admit, I'm kinda surprised SHIELD lets you take outside auditions. Or that they don't have you working for SHIELD PR or whatever it is." Red says, shrugging her shoulders a bit as she goes for a three point shot on a nearby trashcan, the crushed plastic spinning through the air to drop into it with a thump. A brief fist pump, then she returns her attention to MJ. "Sorry it didn't work out though."

    The red amazon glances over as Blackagar enters, raising a brow. She's at least aware of who he is. Though she hasn't ever met him in person, of course.

    The moonwalk causes a raised brow of course, before she glances at MJ for a possible explanation?

Jane Foster has posed:
Be very certain that, under the proper circumstances, Jane can procure the coat, the foppish hat, and the associated plume. She is not, however, going to strut out into the lounge like Lady Gaga or Beyonce for reasons. They are legitimate reasons, all said and done. Partly because a proper workout in what passes for SHIELD's dojo tends to wear out the unfortunate student meeting a murderous sensei. The other, hard to explain.

Still, Jane stands in the corridor watching this display of light-footed dance and then the actress beyond with a stranger unfamiliar enough to need a nametag for her to recognize. Her smile might be lost by her shaking her head. It's much easier to elegantly pirouette, slipping her hands open and curling her fingers. A turn and she dips forward, poising her hands to frame her face in a classic square. Her arms drop away to her sides as she sashays a few meters forward, dipping from the waist and twirling again. Just in case no one has an idea of what the hell she's doing, poised gestures exaggerated and theatrical. Her singing voice is given more to a softer mezzosoprano, flirting with alto. "C'mon, vogue, let your body move to the music."

Mary Jane Watson has posed:
Mary Jane Watson would turn over to glance at Blackagar, "Ah.. That's Blackagar Boltagon, King of the Inhumans. He's a.. Consultant who drops by here." How does one call an alien king? That's still a weird thing for the city girl to adjust to. King, sure. Alien king, sure. Still weird. Sonja has a somewhat more dismissive view of royalty that Mary Jane has for now mostly kept her inner barbarian to hold on to.

Laughing at Betty, "Well they've never told me I -can't- and I guess they knwo that I do them so.. I figure it means ti's all right. And it's something that gives me a sense of closure. Hey Jane." She would wave over at Jane. "And I think she tried to talk with you once upon a dream."

Blackagar Boltagon has posed:
Blackagar looks up and spots some new people, which makes his gaze widen not in surprise but almost excitement. He makes a small motion towards Jane, one of those 'hold on a moment' hand gestures. Reaching into the pockets of his pants, the King pulls out a pair of black gloves over which are laced wiring and a circuit board upon the wrist. Sliding them on, he opens up his phone and a few moments later moves his hands. The sign language that he motions with has a delay until a voice comes out of the phone; unfortunately it is still Siri. 'More. Of. A. Long. Term. Guest.' The words come as he amends to Mary Jane's comments, grinning a bit. 'It. Is. Your. Pleasure. To. Meet. You.' A blink, he looks at the gloves and shakes his head before turning towards Jane, shrugging.

'At least you do not have to talk at me.'

Betty Ross has posed:
    And then Jane follows Bolt in, Vogueing like mad, drawing a snort from Red as she shakes her head, grinning with shiny white teeth. "Ah, did she? Pleasure to meet you, your majesty. Or whatever we're supposed to call you. And you look familiar..." she adds to Jane, her brow furrowing. "I'm sorry if you tried to talk to me and I missed you though...."

    The comment from MJ draws a smirk from the red hulkster. "Heh, well, forgiveness over permission..." she agrees.

Jane Foster has posed:
"There. I made SecOps' night and someone can post it at the Hallowe'en or Christmas party." Jane puts her hand to her brow, swiping her slightly damp chestnut bangs to the side of her temple where they can reliably be expected to stay put for a moment. The rest of her braid already threatens to come undone, charming wisps wiggling free of the thick plait for that beachy look rather than electrocuted. Lightning is sometimes a little respectful.

Her smile is friendly as she approaches Blackagar and the other two, not holding her hands out to the Inhuman King for him to prove himself some sort of Fred Astaire. Ginger may have walked on air, but not so the astrophysicist. With interest, her gaze ticks to Red and remains. "A pleasure to make your acquaintance. Jane Foster -- I'm the director at the Hayden Planetarium." They can skip all the heavy scientific jewelry on her mantel nicely that way. "Second career here making myself occasionally useful. Mary Jane, are you having a relaxing evening? I'm afraid we're here to spoil it." See, she can share that grin without saying as much to her better half. However, a quick flick of her fingers conveys the silent form of sign language. No cool gloves for her. ~See, this beats having to block another flurry of strikes for my annual qualifiers.~

Mary Jane Watson has posed:
Mary Jane Watson would smile at Blackagar, "Pleasure to meet you as well. Uh.. Forgive me, I'm totally not sure on how to deal with all the formalities." And Sonja's not much of a help there, most of her experience being in what formal rituals were useful when it came to assassinating kings, members of the court, and identifying who the weak links were in the noble families to use to get the most chaos out of the royal court.

"We're just talking. You've.. Met Betty I guess?" S he would wave to the red-skinned part time Hulkette.

Blackagar Boltagon has posed:
Blackagar's hands move, the sign language once more delayed in translating for him as he does. 'No need for titles. Bolt seems to do well as a short name.' He glances at Jane as if to affirm that would make sense to everyone, the words that do come out sounding weird in some ways. The look he gives to Jane then follows with a series of movements that are not quite the same, followed with the phone replying. 'You never ask me to teach you.' It is accompanied with a small smile.

Looking back towards Mary Jane and Betty, he asks, 'What do you do here? Field? Research? Juggling?' The last word has him blinking and looking at his hands. 'These make mistakes still.'

Betty Ross has posed:
    Red She Hulk snaps her fingers at the reminder. "Right, Dr. Foster! I read your book. Interesting stuff. Not my field, but eh. Still neat." She pauses, then says. "Red She Hulk and...Dr. Betty Ross. Recruit." she says after a moment, naming herself Betty Ross as an afterthought. It's not totally who she thinks of herself, in this form.

    She nods to Blackagar, waiting patiently for his signed words, before smiling. "Bolt, yeah. That's a lot simpler, I'll go with that. And I guess I do either breaking things or biology dealing with radiation effects, specifically gamma radiation. Though they've been focusing more on me proving I can punch things AND not break SHIELD regulation." she grumbles.

Jane Foster has posed:
Jane watches Blackagar signing, probably prepared to act as an interpreter as necessary. ~Commander or Chief will put me through my paces soon. After the baby, likely.~ She grins then. "I'm asking you now." Dual-stranded conversations are fairly easy for someone used to crunching immense strings of data into functional language and explanations, while occasionally besieged by sandstorms, rainbows or the press.

"Which do you prefer me to call you?" she asks of Betty. "I heard about you joining us. Welcome. Always wonderful to have another biologist in the fold." Her smile eases into something a bit more relaxed, though her posture remains somewhat stiff from far too much exertion in one day. "Punching without exceeding SHIELD limits, that's something. I have to wonder where they set the limits and if Captain Marvel had anything to do with it or if she gets a pass." A bit of mild banter, no more. She sweeps her hand to the side, grimacing at stretching out the protesting muscles, but so it goes.

Mary Jane Watson has posed:
Mary Jane Watson would look back over at Betty and note, "Shouldn't that be -Doctor- Ross?" She would tease, "Just so you're not feeling outranked in the field of academia. I suppose that Jane probably has way more PhD's though." Her tone is tesaing and back and forth. Trying to at least tease her.. Friend?
    "And I can follow that.. Bolt, if htat's what you prefer to be called." She meant the ASL. "And I've heard stories on Carol."

Blackagar Boltagon has posed:
'There are those of my people who may wish you sentenced for death. But they are not here.' Blackagar indicates back about being called Bolt. Of course, the small upturn of his lips gives the impression of humor. He looks at Jane considering before nodding slowly. The gaze remains a few moments then he takes back in the others with his expression. 'There is a struggle in keeping yourself in check. Limits are difficult. But are they limits to restrict? Or to protect?'

He looks back over at Jane and walks towards a table. He runs his hand over it and then makes a beckoning gesture.

Betty Ross has posed:
    "Heh, well, it's not clear exactly where my upper limit is. Hulks are notorious for emotional output affecting their physical output. ?Though obviously I've got more control than others I could name." She shrugs her shoulders, then grins wolfishly. "Now there's someone I'd like to arm wrestle sometimes. Oh, you're expecting?"

    She pauses to nod to Bolt. Not being executed for lese majesty, always nice, yes." Red says dryly, shaking her head. "And yes, it's doctor, but I don't usually make a point of it unless I need to." She shrugs, fairly laid back about it. As she generally is when she's Red She Hulk. All that impulse control and such being lessened, along with any desire to conform.

Jane Foster has posed:
"Carol is something to see in action, though she's a good team player about it. That mission in the desert." A faint jostling of memory sends the thoughts scattering on a sirocco wind to distant places less visited than some.

MJ is a friend in Jane's book so reciprocity in teasing goes with the role. "We could invite Reed Richards over for a coffee and all feel academically outranked?" Making the offer with a dram of mischief among the sweetened honey of a very reasonable explanation, the brunette follows Blackagar to the table while the spectre of Mr. Fantastic(ally PhDed) haunts the conversation. His intent might not be utterly crystal clear but trust holds fast; and this, people, is how you might up end up turned-turtle by a sudden movement of a skilled combatant.

"I..." A blink, and then she shakes her head. "We aren't ye-- that is, no, Chief Carter." Doubly distracted, she breaks that spell with a faint laugh. "I'm surprised we haven't had an announcement, though givne how these things go, there might be none."

Mary Jane Watson has posed:
Mary Jane Watson would lean back, "Limits are important. For your understanding of your own abilities and for others. Of what you feel comfortable wiht and boundaries. I'm not really the one to ask. I can just ask nicely on most things." She would inquire over and turn over to Betty. "I think you've been pretty reasonble the most times we've interacted." That's mostly sincere. "I mean, you saved the Triskelion from the cafeteria." She would laugh at Jane.

"I'm sure that he's built things which are smarter than the rest of the wrold put together. Was that robot in a cartoon or.." She likely means HERBIE, if that was an acutal thing and not from a badly done tv show.

Blackagar Boltagon has posed:
Blackagar moves his hands, letting the voice activate again. 'I need a new voice for this device.' The simple observation of how annoying the Siri tone is being made clear. 'I have no degrees. Does that help in any way?' He looks very innocent about the declaration. Granted, how the Inhumans handle education would not be the same as the Earth.

A steady look is given to Jane, thoughtful as he sends thoughts, <<Quiet your mind. Feel this table in that silence. Become one with it.>>

Looking back up, he grins a bit towards the others, 'If you are ever worried about knowing the limits of your strength, feel free to reach out.'

Betty Ross has posed:
    "Hey, I'm always happy for throwing down in a dojo. Just most aren't really set up for me like this. I'd have have to be back to Betty, and then I've got the issue that I'm best against other human level opponents." Red shrugs her shoulders. "Eh, the chief is just wondering if I'm gonna start smashing things again. And I'm not." she says pointedly. "I understand the deal she gave me, and I dont' really feel like fighting the Hulkbusters by messing it up."

    She tilts her head at Bolt. "You could probably find a voice pack to download these days pretty easily. Plenty of fan ones floating around. Depends what you're going for. Darth Vader, maybe?" she says, with a grin, a twinkle in her eyes.

    She peers at Jane. "WAit, you and the Chief are together? Or..." She looks unsure.

Jane Foster has posed:
"It should be simple enough programming to reroute the synthetic vocal samples through AI-generated or mixed media speech patterning, and build you a database, depending on the accent you want -- or don't, darling," Jane says of replacing Siri with something else. Her hands slide along the table to gain a sense of the best place to sit without toppling it, as much as that might be a minor concern. Hopping up earns a wince, and she suffers the consequences by leaning back a little to the wall. "There are reinforced rooms. SWORD and SHIELD have enough metahumans between them."

The steady look from Blackagar has her carefully drawing out a breath. Centering isn't instantaneous, but silence generally tends to be. Though her eyes flick to Red and she shakes her head. "She's married. Agent Sousa. Proud parents. Now, to..."

Find silence. Easier said than done with plenty of distractions.

The percussive crackle of air conditioning, conversation, her own mild amusement -- or worse, or better. Albeit the art of yanking nascent psychic shields to the fore to reinforce that silence is a private art, one committed to without much obvious happening. Pull the shades, feel the cold weight of the material under her.

Mary Jane Watson has posed:
The sudden shift of quiet has Mary Jane havea side eye at Jane Foster. She's not -particularly- sure of what happened, just the little observation from the Sonja part of her consciuosness has taken note of the minute shift in body language and posture. "And there are places wehre folks can cut loose. So if you can find someone to spar with on your oen level you're more than abel to. It might just mean reserving the facilities in advance but I'm pretty sure that no one will make an issue of it. You can probably get a betting pool on and take a cut of it if you'd like."

She would watch at Blackagar, "Or Frank Welker. I mean, he's voiced everyone and everything ever. Him and Mel Blanc. Between the two of them you should be set for any role."

Blackagar Boltagon has posed:
'There is a show which I saw. It was called Archer I believe.' Oh yes, Blackagar, voiced by H. Jon Benjamin. How often would he be signing /Grill me a Cheese/. His deadpan expression makes it seem as if he may be genuinely interested in that idea. Looking to Jane, he tilts his head and smiles. <<Deep mental focus, without losing your surroundings. Balance between those two. Difficult to attain.>>

The silent man takes back in Mary Jane and Betty, 'Even secure or safe places are not always that. Being aware of the limitations of what is around you, and your own strength compared to them. It is a good balance to hold.' He motions with his hand towards Jane. 'It is what we are working on. The balance between deep focus and awareness of surroundings.'

Betty Ross has posed:
    "Ah, right. She did look ready to pop." Red says, stretching a bit as she watches the posture from Jane curiously, not quite sure what she's doing. Were she Betty she'd be too polite to stare. But, she's not currently.

    Though she does let out a snort and a chuckle at the idea of Bolt's voice of choice being Daffy Duck or Bugs Bunny. She shakes her head, grinning. "Mm,m well, I don't know my upper limits either, to be fair. They'll probably toss me in a lab somewhere to test it out against some mechanism for measuring ungodly amounts of weight. Or godly, if it was built for Thor or Hercules or something first." she admits.

Jane Foster has posed:
The slender channel carved through a rimed ice field -- hello, astrophysicist, the metaphors couched in geophysical references will be thick -- reaches her and warrants a flash of mental laughter. Not much, but there at a distance. <<It is.>>

The meditative state is the harder part, not the easier, than psychic dampening. "Mmmhmm." See, she hears, but that's about it, the mildest of sounds to acknowledge they are interesting. The conversation normally might tempt her out, but not for the moment. Contemplating the weight and steadiness of the table, the grain of any wood or the hard edge of metal through a sheen of mild fatigue is patently unexciting.

Maybe this is Blackagar's clever prank to see how long she'll be quiet.

Mary Jane Watson has posed:
Whatever is up with Jane, Mary Jane isn't going to break it. The woman does seem peaceful so maybe it's just her taking a moment to meditate? Ther'es a bit of a shrug over and then a nod from Betty, "I know they have places setup for the Justice League and the Titans to do some real high end fighting. I'm sure there's something close enough in the Triskelion that you could do it. So just find someone that you can take being hit on by and get at it."

Blackagar Boltagon has posed:
As Betty talks about being tossed in a lab, Blackagar looks over, frowning for a moment but then letting it dismiss replacing it with a thoughtful look. 'There are places you could stretch your legs that are not a lab.' He offers the suggestion before looking at Mary Jane since she is looking at Jane. 'I have a friend and mentor. He is a person with deep focus. In that focus he finds balance in himself.' The Inhuman turns to look at Jane. Stupid Siri voice really does not carry the impression of what he signs.

'Balance in self. Imbalance in all other things. Flaws. Imperfections. Points that can shatter.' The words are signed slowly, almost trance like to let them soak into Jane's mind as he turns back to look at the others. 'Balance.'

Betty Ross has posed:
    Red nods to MJ, then Bolt. "Yeah, yeah, I know. Not sure if she wants me out of here yet or not, but I guess there are places to go." She quiets a bit, watching Jane work curiously, before she finally flops down on the couch opposite MJ with a thump. And a creak of furniture straining a bit at her bulk.

Jane Foster has posed:
Jane's not asleep, her eyes open and trained to a point no one quite occupies. Instructions lull her as she follows them, drawn into the quiet but not so overly deep. "You have choices. She doesn't shackle us." Usually. Peggy's methods apparently deserve some comment as a quiet, distant reassurance for Red.

Idle questions about mentors and places to get a good smoothie are otherwise pushed to the wayside. For no reason -- okay, for several -- she smiles.

Mary Jane Watson has posed:
Mary Jane Watson would nod over and curl her head over. "It's fine. You're allowed to be here. You're a part of us and this is a public hangout area. So.." She would go to hand the remote over to Betty. "I guess that means you get to pick whatever we watch on tv."

Blackagar Boltagon has posed:
Blackagar motions with his hands, 'If I may suggest. If you have not watched it there is a delightful show on Tigers and Kings that I have heard about.' So what if he likes Tiger King. He's allowed.

Attention returns to Jane on her table and reaching over, he gently raps his knuckles against it softly to send vibrations through it towards the woman. <<Excellent job.>>

The look of pride in his blue eyes is certainly there, although what has been done beyond sitting is a toss up. Sometimes just quieting oneself is an accomplishment. 'You have had a long day. Should we grab dinner while walking home?'

Betty Ross has posed:
    Red holds up a hand. "Let me clarify: now that I think she'd kick me out, but it will be interesting times when someone outside of SHIELD sees me, given certain events, and it's likely going to cause her some stress. I don't really wanna cause her trouble like that, but I don't wanna be shuttered up in here like I'm in a nunnery or something either." Says the legally dead doctor/formerly brainwashed gamma villainess.

    She glances at MJ as she's handed the remote. "...I don't even really watch it." she admits. "Unless we're' counting streaming Youtube.....well, other than binging occasionally...." She glances to Bolt, then hmms. "Yeah, sounds good? I like tigers." She'll see if she can find it, flipping through the menu, then tilting her head at the question. "Nice meetin' you two, either way, have a nice night then?" she offers.

Mary Jane Watson has posed:
Mary Jane Watson would shrug, "Tigers are good. Just so long as there aren't lions and bears." If Steve were around then he might be happy at getting that reference. "And Peggy's a good person. And a principled one. She's not going to let anyone do something to you that she's not willing to do to you first." She would try to quip.

Jane Foster has posed:
Next up, blinking, slightly startled. Ooh, the emotional range is increasing. Though when Jane drags herself out of navel-gazing about a table, she reports, "The couch looks more comfortable. MJ knew what she was about." Her smile blossoms, though a fleeting thing, drawn away. "You won't find this a nunnery. Talk to Agent Simmons or Agent Fitz if you get the chance, they can help you remain occupied if that's the concern."

Her shoulder makes an audible pop when rolled this way and that. Not loud enough to be a problem, but definitely audible. "I hate to call it an early night but getting out for a walk would be wise. I will feel this in the morning. After that ride and practicing kicks, let's say I'm feeling it." A rough sigh follows as she offers her hand to Blackagar. "It's good to meet you, and to see you again, MJ. We can catch up soon. Have a lovely evening!"

Betty Ross has posed:
    "If Fitz has forgiven me for the dislocated shoulder yet." Red mutters, then makes a face at MJ. "That makes me feel so much better." she says dryly, looking amused as she throws a languid wave after Bolt and Jane as they head out."