17548/Who Has the Olive Branch

Who Has the Olive Branch
Date of Scene:	01 April 2024
Location:	Johnny's Room - Four Freedoms Plaza
Synopsis:	A simple item retrieval goes awry, ending up in forgiveness and a joyful reunion between Johnny and Kenesha!
Cast of Characters:	Johnny Storm, Kenesha

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Johnny Storm has posed:
This is fine. This is just fine. He's not panicking. If he was panicking, one of the building's sensors would be chiming away that his heart rate is through the roof. Or he'd be on fire. And he's not on fire, no matter how much he's sure someone (Probably Ben. Maybe Sue.) would remark about how he's running around like someone who is. He might even get a kick out of this later, rushing around his suite to tidy things up, to show Kenesha he's TOTALLY handling things just fine. And if he does laugh at it, it will be because he's rearranging picture frames and other decorative items that... aren't actually in disarray. He hasn't even got the standard 'Overwhelmed bachelor' pile of laundry that's been cleaned but not folded like he's had so many times in his past.

Sure, he's wearing a white t-shirt with a blue 4 in a circle on it, and a comfortable pair of well-worn jeans, but why not take advantage of his family-slash-corporate discount? He takes a slow, deep breath. "C'mon, man... this is just... it's easy! So what, she calls me a name and slaps me? It's not like I don't deserve it... hell, name /one/ time I haven't deserved it, me... that's right! Can't do it."

He draws a slow, deep breath and mutters softly, "This is fine. Just because I'm talking to myself and I feel like I've run a marathon doesn't mean I'm like... stressed about this... it's not like... I'm... /alone/ alone again and..."

Johnny cuts that thought off. Nope. No thinking about being /alone/ alone. Because that's a very specific alone. Like trapped in another dimension alone. This isn't that. That's not happening again. And he dealt with that! He's fine! Like if he wasn't fine he'd keep self-sabotaging and cutting off relationships before they become serious!

Oh dammit.

Kenesha has posed:
Kenesha tries to be respectful of the family and their home. Even if Johnny just cut off contact and ran off to constantly be busy with 'hero things' and never even told her WHY he wasn't interested anymore. It's no reason to take that out on the rest of the Four or the Tower. So when she realizes that she's left something relatively important at Johnny's suite, she does the responsible thing and calls ahead. And the more responsible thing and shows up like a normal person, signing in at the lobby before taking the elevator up to the living quarters. She could have simply teleported in, grabbed the item, and teleported back out. But she's not that kind of person.

And if it means forcing the confrontation with Johnny.. well.. there are perks to being respectful of people and their homes.

The elevator dings to announce her arrival, doors sliding open in the shared living area. She was half-expecting to be greeted at the elevator, the item in question shoved at her and the door closed before she could say a word. But there's nobody there. Interesting. She's starting to wonder if the rest of the family vacated the space to make Johnny deal with his own 'mess'. Still! Kenesha starts towards the door that leads to Johnny's suite, knocking on it lightly before calling out.

"Hello? Is it safe to enter?"

Johnny Storm has posed:
Johnny doesn't answer with the item in hand, but he does answer promptly... because he's respectful, and considerate, and also because the elevator chimed him when someone selected the family's living quarters as a destination. And probably also gave a quick clip from the security cameras, but... hey, that just means he's looking carefully, calculatingly composed... until he hears Kenesha's voice. Which is about a half second before he's coming around the corner from his manic tidying spree and into view, by which point he's looking flustered. "I... uhh... hey. Hey. Hi."

He pauses for a moment and exhales slowly, seemingly deflating, "I... owe you an explanation, huh?"

He draws a slow breath, "I mean, one beyond 'I'm a jerk', right?" He frowns slightly, "Oh, also the uhh... the actual like... physical thing you're here to pick up."

He grimaces slightly like this is already going not the way he had planned... which, of course, is because he had no plan. "Do you want a drink?"

Kenesha has posed:
"Hello, Johnny. You're looking.. nervous. I promise, I'm not here to cause a scene."

Cut off from saying anything else by his exhalation and question, Kenesha cants her head at him and lets out a sigh of her own, "No, you don't. After the initial hurt and anger faded, I figured that you're probably self-sabotaging as a result of the PTSD you don't think you need to talk to anyone about. I've held you through enough of your sudden jolts awake after the nightmares..." Pausing, she shakes her head, "I'm sorry, I'm not trying to bring up.. anyways. You weren't ready. I get that. I can accept that. I could have wished you would have said something, but.." Kenesha shrugs lightly and offers a faint smile, "I can't say that I wasn't warned."

The offer of a drink has her nodding, "Sparkling water, if you have any. I think someone in the penthouse favors LaCroix, if memory serves." She halts herself, tongue running over her teeth, "If you want to explain, I'll listen. I realize you might need the closure, or.. at least, just to talk."

Johnny Storm has posed:
Johnny sighs out and laughs ruefully, "Oh no, I'm not nervous. Ashamed?" He frowns thoughtfully, like he's working the word around, "Yeah, I think that's probably the right word. Embarrassed? Fully aware I'm a dork?" He shrugs lightly, "I'm feeling a lot of things... I'm very complicated, aren't I?"

He blinks slowly and snorts out softly, and for a brief moment, there's one of those bright, genuine smiles of his, "Hey, do you think you could just... write down insight like that in a bunch of fortune cookie style slips of paper? Because... uhhh... it took me like a week to reach that realization myself." He draws a slow breath and then exhales again and grins lopsidedly. "Well, you've clearly figured this out already... you really are amazing. And brilliant." He quirks one eyebrow, "And like... I mean this in the most self-deprecating and humorous way possible... you are settling WAY too low if you're thinking about.. I mean if we can... work out and... if... this like... if I didn't wreck everything?"

And then he's heading off to acquire that requested sparkling water, and one for himself, "Honestly, these all kind of taste the same to me... the liquid equivalent of like... the static you used to get on old analog TVs. Which... should probably worry me because I like it?"

And then as he's returning with the water, he offers it up with a rueful little smile, "I mean, I imagine you've already got my explanation figured out because you've been right so far I... like you. A lot. Really. But yeah, I've... okay, I'm willing to admit I have not handled my shi-... stuff particularly well. And then it hit me. Even without /that/... like... my entire family has powers because we ran off half-baked to try something daring and dangerous like we were trying to put together an Ikea bedframe without the instructions, and not flying into space in an experimental craft. And... like, what right do I have to ask someone to be with me when I'm willing to be that reckless?"

Kenesha has posed:
Offering up a bemused smile, she murmurs, "Well, at least you're willing to admit it now. You were *so* adamant about being a 'simple man'.. despite all the evidence to the contrary." She gives a small nod, "But.. alright. I can allow for all of that. As long as you stop beating yourself up over it. You're human, you're allowed to panic, to freak out, to make mistakes. It's part of how you grow and learn."

Laughing softly, she shakes her head, "No.. but if you want, I can swing by every now and then to offer pearls of wisdom and your lucky numbers." Unfolding her arms, Kenesha smiles faintly at him and gives a nod, "I'm not 'settling' at all. I didn't take up with you because I was expecting a white picket fence, a dog, and 2.5 children, Johnny. I was with you because you're exciting and fun and I like you." She looks him over, as if she's considering his words even though she already knows the answer. "You didn't wreck everything. But.. I'm going to have some requirements if we're going to try this again. I understand why you did what you did, but it still hurt, and I don't care to go through that again."

When he returns with the sparkling water, she smiles at him as she takes it from him, "I mostly enjoy the carbonation, the flavors are all.. artificial."

Kenesha chuckles softly and offers, "You can swear, I'm far too old to be bothered by curse words." His explanation has one brow lifting, however, a faint look of surprise crossing her features. She hadn't expected that. But he's always managed to surprise her. Sipping from the water as she formulates a response, Kenesha finally gives a small nod before looking at him, meeting and holding his gaze. "Johnny. You're going to die. It's.. it's part of being human. I know that. And it's going to be far, far sooner than I'd like. But, I'm immortal. I learned millenia ago that I need to accept the loss when it happens, and enjoy the time that I have with people. I'm not asking you to not be reckless, that would be asking you to go against part of who you are. I only wanted you to consider that you don't *have* to run off on your own. Whatever comes up, whatever happens... I can help. I can be there."

Pausing, she adds, "And if you die too soon, I have a crystal all set aside to download your consciousness into so I can rebuild your body and bring you back. Because I'm an ancient alien from a highly advanced civilization, and death is just a stumbling block for my people." Kenesha winks at him with a teasing smile.

Johnny Storm has posed:
Johnny takes a slow sip of his sparkling water, glancing sidelong, swallowing, and then chiming out. "Hey. Simple can mean stupid. See? My self-esteem issues have layers. I'm really proud of them." And then he's laughing softly, "And fine, fine, I'll try to stop beating myself up, and... try to stop messing up too. And remember to communicate. And... pick up a whiteboard and some dry erase markers so I can write all this down."

He clears his throat and murmurs dryly, "I mean, yeah, 2.5 kids is... tricky. What if the .5 is just legs? Like, sure, they'd be great at soccer, but riding a bike? Plus, they wouldn't be able to look both ways when crossing the street and that's just so important..."

He nods and groans softly, "Oh, I get that I"m going to die... I mean, I've been there. Done that. I'm worried I'm going to die and it's not going to stick and then I"m going to wake up again with that bugfaced sonofabitch laughing and..." He clears his throat and drains a good deal of his sparkling water.

Fortunately, in his desperation to swallow his feelings along with his beverage, he doesn't choke when she brings up copying his consciousness into a new body, "...Okay, I'm going to /sidestep/ the like... legitimate and myriad ethical and philosophical considerations about that, and just remind you that you don't need to remake my exact body and if you can skip this little notch in my collar bone from this time I tried to jump my bike over a shed to show off to Sue and her friends..."

He grins crookedly and shakes his head slowly, "Well, I /was/ afraid my recent bout of plummeting self confidence would be lasting, but you did just remind me I'm smitten by a brilliant badass alient superbeing who can /conquer death/, so... yeah. I'll be good. I'll follow any rules you set out."

Kenesha has posed:
Laughing lightly, Kenesha shakes her head, "For the hundredth time.. you are *not* stupid, Johnny Storm. Severely underselling yourself, but not stupid." Stepping in closer, she nudges at his shoulder and murmurs, "You're going to make mistakes Johnny. That's okay. I don't expect you to be perfect. Not even close. I'm not, I have my own issues that have lingered... well, longer than any of you have been alive." She chuckles and shakes her head, "No whiteboard, just.. talk to me. Anything that comes up, we can deal with it if you'll talk to me."

Laughing at his attempt to break the tension, she nods, "Don't tempt me. My science borders on magic, I might be able to make it happen. But.. I mean... we've already had that talk. Kids aren't likely. So, you know, no pressure to procreate or anything." She flashes a quick smile.

Frowning lightly, she sets the water aside to reach up, cupping his face with both hands, "If, by any happenstance, you end up back there. I *will* come and get you. If I have to raise an army and storm the Negative Zone, I will. You aren't going back there without a *fight*. And I'm damn sure going to rescue you if you do." She smiles softly, leaning in to brush a kiss to his cheek before stepping back, letting her hands fall away.

Picking up her sparkling water, she laughs softly and smiles at him, "Hey, I already offered to do it for you and yours so you could drop some years off and keep going a bit longer. It wouldn't happen without your full and complete cooperation. I might tease you, but.. I would never force you to live just to save myself some pain. And whenever you want to get rid of the scars, all you have to do is say so. I told you before, I don't have a problem with them, but I know they... bother... you. If you want them removed, I'll help you."

Kenesha reaches out to take his free hand with hers, tangling her fingers with his, "And she's smitten with you, too. As for rules... just.. get help. I know you don't want to have to talk about it, that you want to deal with it on your own.. but it isn't working. You need to talk to someone that can help you work through it. I'll do everything I can, but I'm not a psychiatrist." Kenesha smiles softly, "And talk to me. Communicate. You're going to have setbacks, fall off the wagon, so to speak. But we can get through it if you'll talk to me."

Johnny Storm has posed:
Johnny sighs and bobs his head with a soft laugh, huffing out at that little nudge, though he doesn't play up being flung back by it, he just takes it in stride and heaves out a breath, "Oh thank god, because yeah, I know perfection is unattainable. They covered it in this podcast I listened to... well, okay, I had it playing while doing other things, but I remember that part about it. I think it was about spiritualism or something." And then Kenesh's /close/ close and he's reflexively reaching out to wrap arms around her as his cheeks are cupped and he nods slowly, eyes might actually even be brimming with tears as he draws a slow, steady breath. "Got it. Real genuine conversation... it really /is/ the boring mundane stuff that works, huh?"

He perks an eyebrow and mutters out, "I mean, no pressure, but like... you know, it's not like Sue and Reed are the only ones who can have kids! ...Okay, admittedly, them having kids led to a whole bunch of dramatics and Victor showing up and... yeah. Yeah. No pressure. Deal with my shit first before considering a whole new adventure in life."

He grins crookedly and nods, "Oh, and yeah, if I go back there again? I'm putting out a call to like... every enthusiastic user of ludicrous weaponry I know or can get a number for. Also Hulk. And I"m definitely going back with an escape plan in place. Maybe just a really long rope tied off in Reed's lab..." Yeah, sure, Johnny's going to work on his issues... but he's still going to be real Johnny about it.

Eyebrows perk as he grins wide, "Now! I think you were here for something, right? So we should probably rummage around until we find it... because it'll distract you from considering the myriad intersections between procreation and super science /before/ I've found a psychiatrist... Although the most famous one I've ever heard of is a clown now... so uhhh... yeah. I'm just going to use the yellow pages. ...By which I mean a search engine." And then he's skillfully and playfully pulling away from her to flash a grin over his shoulder... and really hoping she won't realize he hasn't actually specified what she dropped by to pick up. What? He didn't forget! Really.