14677/Family Matters (Not the show)

Family Matters (Not the show)
Date of Scene:	13 April 2023
Location:	Reed and Sue's Suite - Four Freedom Plaza
Synopsis:	Reed and Sue have a moment together to reconnect and share a typical moment between husband and wife. They might even get to do it again this decade! (They are very busy. It's really quite ridiculous how much so.)
Cast of Characters:	Reed Richards, Susan Richards

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Reed Richards has posed:
Morning dawns on the House of Richards.

The sun shine it's brilliant rays, piercing through blinds and windows into the den of Susan and Reed Richards. The scientist had been hard at work, doing his best to innovate, to make new, and renovate groundbreaking work.

But instead of being awake at the crack of dawn, Reed was sound asleep, having joined his wife in slumber and trying not to let his work interfere with his most treasured relationships. Curiously, his face was no longer clean shaven, but instead a beard covered his face, a streak of white at the sides but largely brown. He had not been wearing a shirt, but rested clothed.

"Susan...Sue...I need..mmgghh...hydrospanner for universal mmmnnnggg translator..." Reed had a funny habit of talking in his sleep sometimes.

Susan Richards has posed:
Susan's up before the dawn, because while everyone constantly talks about Reed's odd hours and almost fanatical focus on work, Susan's hardly innocent of that particular neglect of work-life balance.

She might be fooling herself, but she assures herself it's simply because handling the Fantastic Four's various overseas industrial contacts would be rude to constantly do on /her/ timezone.

But it does mean when Reed's calling out for her, Sue's already moving about, in that classic blue bodysuit, 'business attire' for when she's not headed downstairs to the actual public facing office. Plus, it's useful to have her suit, designed to work with her powers.

She snorts softly as she glances around their room, eyes narrowing slightly... and picking up a small throw pillow to toss it at her husband... not hard, and not aiming for his /head/ at least.

"Here you go dear, that's definitely a... hydrospanner, not a throw pillow." ...It is definitely a throw pillow. She just threw it!

Reed Richards has posed:
"Susan, I need it for my woooooork....."

*FWOMP!*

The pillow wasn't aimed for his head, but it manages to land on his chest/neck area and it immediately wakes up the so-called 'Smartest Man Alive'. His hair a mess, brown eyes unveiled beyond open lids as he looks around.

"Wha-what?" He looks across the room at his wife, who dresses in the blue suit the team was known for. He almost looks upset at first, but well, when faced with her beauty, he could not quite stand before her. His gaze softened.

"My love, what was that for?"

He slowly pulls himself out of bed, stretching his arm across the room and putting his hand on the wall, which identifies his bio signature and opens up to reveal his own blue suit!

Susan Richards has posed:
Sue's lips are quirked in an only mostly sardonic grin, head tilted to the side, eyebrows lifting. "What? Is that not a hydrospanner? You were /very/ adamant that you needed it. You know, I'm not so sure it's healthy to be /dreaming/ about being in your lab when you're sleeping after getting out of the lab, husband dear."

Her shoulders lift and fall and she sighs out, "But really, nothing's wrong. Well, there's those... strange alien bugs in the Antarctic, but I'd like to think the Justice League and Avengers can handle that, or they'll at least give us a call if they need a consultation on it."

She grimaces slightly and shakes her head, "Frankly, I'm fine if they /don't/ call us... giant bugs? Who wants to deal with that?"

Another pause.

"Remind me to make sure Val and Franklin aren't thinking about getting involved. Johnny's... old enough to make his own choice."

She definitely was not going to say 'responsible enough'.

Reed Richards has posed:
"It's a throw pillow..."

Reed sounded almost defeated by the very words. "Do you dream about being in the public eye?" Reed asks as he stands up and starts to get changed. No zipper needed, unstable molecules allowing the suit to be easily slipped into as Reed's elasticity does its thing. "...I like the lab." He remarks with a smile.

"Bugs in the Arctic? Alien or mutated?" Reed asks, his mind hitting all the possibilities. "I wonder if it's prehistoric, global warming and increase of the Sun's temperatures could have unveiled natural fossils when they were flash frozen by the ice age-"

Hd cuts hinself off as he secures his gloves and walks over to Susan.

"Sorry...I forget sometimes that I can talk too much." He chuckles, a low rumble in his throat. "But we can ask if we can study one...assuming the Hulk doesn't smash it all."

"I can take care of that. I need to spend time with the kids, anyway. Val especially." Big brains need to stick together! "I wouldn't worry about Johnny." HAH! "He knows what he's doing...sometimes." No time.

Finally, he just /looks/ at Susan...and he leans in to give her a warm kiss, the kind that lingers, that says 'I love you' in every language of the human tongues for each second the kiss is permitted - if at all.

"Did you sleep well?" He asks, once parted.

Susan Richards has posed:
Susan laughs softly, "Oh, god no dear! I dream about being back in high school and not studying for a test. Or have stress dreams about board meetings." She sighs out as she rolls her eyes and smirks, "Yes, of course you like the lab, dear. I would hope you do with how much time you spend in it. I... tolerate the board room. And it gives me the resources and time to focus the company on social issues and outreach. It's a way to make a living, no?"

She sighs and chews her lower lip, "Alien, apparently. Some sort of species that infects and converts biological life into its own species. Called the Brood. There's an email from Ms. Prince about it. Very thorough. Concerning, but it sounds as though it's being contained. I just don't want to risk the kids finding a small once and declaring it is 'cute'."

Sue doesn't quite /melt/ into the kiss, though, when married to a man of such flexibility, her melting is never really enough to be /called/ melting. But she does sway forward until it breaks, "Oh, well enough! I woke up with an idea for another outreach program though. There are more and more... people who are isolated by their unique circumstances. Clones, alien refugees, refugees from other realities. I was thinking about working up some sort of support group for them."

Her shoulders rise and fall helplessly, "I tried a support system for less... resource-gifted heroes awhile back, but I think we may be victims of our own success, they were reluctant to accept help from 'establishment' heroes." She quirks an eyebrow and sighs out, "And yes, I think Val would enjoy that. I don't know what she's been working on since GIRL had their spaceship launch. It can't be anything /too/ worrying or we'd have noticed... wouldn't we?"

Reed Richards has posed:
"High school?" Reed's bafflement was so rare that when it appears, it oft came with endearment and a little embarrassment. "Why on earth would you dream about high school? You were always too smart for it." Reed was a big nerd and geek, who somehow got lucky with the GODDESS who took his last name, but he appreciated her mind (often far more than he appreciated her looks). That she's the CEO of their company does earn a wince from Reed.

"I'm sorry you're in so many meetings. If..if you want - not that you can't handle it yourself - but if you might like, I can take over for a few weeks and give you a breather?"

Reed clears his throat. "If you want."

The kiss. Reed pours his heart out in that small contact and even when it breaks, his arms are still wrapped around her and his nose is pushing softly against her own. He's always had...difficulty telling people how he feels without using a formula or giving an insanely cool tool as a gift or making a building after someone.

But with Sue? He could at the very least do that. It was with Sue that Reed felt like the world slowed down just enough.

"Oh?" He asks, looking into her lovely blue hues and smiling softly. "It's true, established heroes can provide a challenge in the minds of others...typically not in a good way, especially those displaced by our conflicts or those caught in the crossfire. "Her work with GIRL has been nothing short of extraordinary." Reed comments with a smile. Though...it's a smile that becomes a frown. "I hope we would...we're all so busy nowadays, it's hard to tell where all those days went."

Susan Richards has posed:
Sue laughs and shrugs helplessly, "What? I dropped out of university when we had our... incident. I should probably reach out about finishing my degree, not just getting honorary ones, but..." She shrugs, "I guess because I knew I never finished it, it's not good enough for my stress dreams when I have them? I really don't worry about it."

She perks her eyebrows and grins impishly, "Oh! No, if I get /too/ overwhelmed I just schedule all my meetings as remote meetings and let the computer assistant handle them... it records them too so I can watch them at double speed later on to pick up the nuances of what people were saying, and the non-pertinent info the summary algorithm leaves out because it doesn't care about smalltalk."

She grins impishly and hums out, "Well, maybe I'll make you take over for a week sometime if I want to get away on a vacation. I was thinking about maybe doing something with GIRL, or at least visiting Vivian, Vision's daughter? She's quite the artist and I haven't seen her progress recently... and given how bright she is I can only imagine she's accrued quite the portfolio."

She laughs softly and smiles a touch brighter, "Oh, do relax dear. If Val was working on some sort of megalomaniacal plan to rule the world, either we'd notice her practicing her grandiose speeches, or Victor would be calling you to taunt you about it. As long as he's..."

She trails off for a long moment, "...Victor /is/ staying out of trouble. Surely. I mean, there was some unusual thing about... someone taking over Latveria for a bit using magic I believe." She shrugs helplessly, "But I think magic is someone else's responsibility so I didn't really pay attention to it once I realized it was only localized on Latveria and someone was handling it."

Reed Richards has posed:
The incident.

Reed wasn't expecting the cosmic storm to shift and target their spaceship. He wasn't expecting the storm to alter each of them on a genetic level. But it did. All because of all the things Reed had thought of and considered, he wasn't thinking about shielding. Basic shielding that would have protected their lives.

A choice that changed so many lives.

That's why he tries so hard to get everything right. Hd can't get it wrong again or the consequences would be severe. "You've gotten so many...I think we've both almost finished the wall." The wall where Reed insisted they display their degrees. If you accomplish something as magnificent as education, you deserve to be praised and recognized for it.

"Honest, Sue, I'd support your decision to go back and finish. It'd be a cakewalk for you. I'm still in university, getting more PhDs." But Sue denied having him takeover for her. She was always tough and capable, even more so than Reed often was. If he was the brains, she was by far the beating heart. "Alright, I'll keep that in mind. Let me know when you need that break. If you want, I can even have Franklin with me to learn the ropes of business." Reed suggests. Father-son bonding!

....by doing homework. Come on, Reed.

"I've heard you mention it once or twice. That Vivian is so...spectacular is in itself, a wonder." But that Val might be like Victor does add a sternness to Reed's expression. "...She can't turn out like him, Susan. She's brilliant...but that brilliance is a gift to be used for the benefit of mankind. If Victor had his way? He'd rule the world." He shakes his head. "Is it bad that I felt...relieved when he temporarily was removed from power?"

Susan Richards has posed:
Susan smiles warmly and nods, eyes rolling a little at the mention of her going back to school, "Oh, I know. I'm sure there'd be some cognitive dissonance too once one of my classes wound up using our business as an example in a lesson and..." She grimaces playfully and shakes her head at the sheer insanity of the thought.

Only to hum cheerfully and flash another bright grin, "Besides, it's pure ego that makes me think about it. I don't need another piece of paper for my office wall, and even if I did, the investment in time versus benefit is... I can do more good for more people by spending that time on ongoing and new ventures. Maybe something at the space port. I was thinking some sort of... outreach program. Send gifted kids on a quick orbit or a little jaunt out around Mars and the like. Maybe I'll bring it up with the League, and see if they want to combine efforts, let some kids see space /and/ meet some heroes..." Her eyes glance about in mock shiftiness, "Plus, that way if anything goes wrong, the League has a fast response team on site already."

She snickers and rolls her eyes again at her husband's concern about their daughter, leaning over to give him a quick peck. "Oh hush. Victor is... less extreme than he used to be. And our daughter is /far/ more level headed than he is even now." She quirks her lips slightly and murmurs dryly, "Perhaps a little more outgoing and... open to parties than I remember being, no matter /what/ Janet claims I used to be like. Our children are just fine dear."

She sighs and rolls her eyes, "I don't think it's bad to feel relieved when a maniacal despot who has arguably tried to /destroy/ our family more than he's tried to save it is deposed. But I imagine if he'd only had that coffee shop in Manhattan to manage, there'd be robots armed with espresso machines marching to the Federal Reserve because he got bored."

She clicks her tongue sharply and points, "Now, you need to get some breakfast before you disappear into your lab, and I need to go disappear into... some meeting about upcoming patent renewals or something."

Reed Richards has posed:
"There's always something they're trying to do. Use us as examples, try and get us to give a guest lecture...you're right, it is a piece of paper, but it's such a /nice/ piece of paper to have." Reed isn't pushing the subject, he just /really/ likes adding the word 'Doctor' to his name. He has several PhDs already with two more in the works. He has the time, since there are groups like the Avengers and the Justice League to take care of plenty of the protection. The Fantastic Four is definitely a major group amongst them, but...

Well, it's nice to know someone else can do the work sometimes.

"We are such things that dreams are made of." Ah, Shakespeare's 'The Tempest'. Reed always did appreciate the thespian's art, though he smiles softly to his lovely bride. When she gives him a quick peck, he smiles warmly at her and moves a starnd of her blond hair behind her ear. "Old habits, love." Reed remarks, looking at the ground for a second.

"She is her mother's daughter, but...she's a bit more wild than either of us ever were. I suspect that's her uncles influence." Johnny, not Ben. Though she does have Ben's temperament.... He lowers his eyes. "Yeah..."

But that's enough of Victor for one day. When she tells him he needs breakfast, he laughs. "Okay, okay..." he's an old man! He'll get there. But he does reach for Susan's hand. "I can make pancakes?"