17688/Checking On The Doc

Checking On The Doc
Date of Scene:	18 April 2024
Location:	Bruce's Room - Avengers Mansion
Synopsis:	Kitty stops by to see Dr. Banner. She reveals she's a member of the X-men.
Cast of Characters:	Kitty Pryde, Bruce Banner

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Kitty Pryde has posed:
Kitty Pryde shows up at Avengers Mansion a few days after the UN incident, and that accompany one at the Holland Tunnel at which she was part. The first notification that Kitty is there is a message from JARVIS.

"Doctor Banner. Kitty Pryde is here at the mansion, asking if you were free for a visit. Shall I let her inside?" that smooth, disembodied voice asks.

Bruce Banner has posed:
Bruce Banner had been doing some napping. He doesn't seem to be sleeping as well of late - troubled dreams, anxieties, the general dangers of a broken mind. He awakes at the notification and sits up, "Um, yes, certainly," he says. He knows Kitty but they haven't seen each other much of late. He knows she has the heart of a hero though..

Banner isn't quite sure he qualifies as a hero. More like a weapon. But that might just be his cynical side coming out.

He does, at least, change his shirt, putting on a simple button down and a pair of slacks to greet his visitor.

Kitty Pryde has posed:
It doesn't take Kitty too long to make the trip up the stairs to the residential wing, and she's familiar with the place from past visits. Though she works for Stark Industries now, she first met Dr. Banner a few years ago when Bruce was giving a talk on a science topic at a local university. The questions afterwards were all about the Hulk. Until Bruce escaped the gaggle of students and professors who wanted to talk to him after, slipping out a side door. Only to have Kitty approach him and ask some cogent questions about nuclear decay and his topic.

After that, and hearing she had been a student of Hank McCoy's, Bruce had suggested a few books to Kitty. And thus was a friendship started, as they would meet every few months to discuss them, Kitty receiving new suggestions each time.

But this time she shows up without any books. "Bruce!" she says warmly, flashing a pretty smile at him. "I hope this isn't a bad time?" she asks.

Bruce Banner has posed:
Bruce Banner shakes his head, "No, no, not at all. I'm between projects at the moment, in fact, so I'm a little at loose ends," he says.

He's never good at personal interactions, the classic nerd that he is, but he does give her a very careful hug of greeting, gesturing for her to take a seat.

"How have you been? I'm sorry we haven't gotten to meet up much lately. Avengers business keeps cropping up and I have a bad habit of hyperfocusing in my scientific endeavors. A lab will always be my happy place."

Kitty Pryde has posed:
Kitty Pryde returns the hug warmly. "I'm good. And no worries, I had a bit keeping me from devoting some time to the last set of books you suggested. I've still got a third of the book by Edwards and Rossini to go," she tells Bruce. She gives a wry grin. "I keep getting sidetracked looking up papers that get mentioned," she says, somehow making that seem a bashful admission.

"I've been good though. As it turns out we almost sort of crossed paths not too long ago. I was in the Holland Tunnel. Though down at the city end while I heard you were at the New Jersey end. I mean, I actually did -hear- you echoing down the tunnel at one point," she says.

Bruce Banner has posed:
Bruce Banner runs a hand through his hair, "Well, you heard Hulk," he says. He still struggles with the idea that Hulk is just another part of himself, a multiple personality, a shard of him that broke off during his horrifying childhood. His protector. Bruce doesn't usually feel very protected.

"I'm always glad that I've found a way to put him to good use. That he seems to accept the Avengers and wants to do...good. I'm glad he was of help there. The villains of the world certainly seem willing to do worse and worse things in pursuit of their goals," he sighs.

"There has to be some way to prevent further tragedies like that. But it will take a better mind than mine."

Kitty Pryde has posed:
Kitty Pryde moves over to take a seat on the edge of the bed as she listens to Bruce's comments about the Hulk. "He's been a help a few times that I've personally seen," Kitty mentions. "I didn't really discuss it before, but there was a time in Harlem that I helped get him away from the city," Kitty says.

She draws a little breath. "Not sure how much you read up on other teams, but I'm one of the X-men. I can go intangible, phase myself out of reality. So, even he wouldn't be able to hurt me. Though he didn't try, anyway. He was pretty gentle with me that day in Harlem actually. Got him to jump out of the city with me. Though he left me in a crater in the woods he made when he landed," she says, giving a slight grin so it's clear she wasn't upset by the outcome.

"I know we haven't really talked about any of that. And we don't have to. Happy to stick to science. But if you would like an ear, someone not on the team, to vent or talk about that stuff with? I know how nice it is to have someone outside, yet who understands and you don't have to worry about secret stuff with."

Bruce Banner has posed:
Bruce Banner looks over at Kitty and softens a bit, "My relationship with Hulk is complicated. To say the very least. But I'm glad you had a good experience. I don't think he would hurt you anyway. He usually needs to be provoked, at least, and you're not likely to make him mad. Might give him a crush, though."

"I know about the X-men. The prejudice against mutants is one of the stupider movements in American politics and culture at the moment. Sorrowful. I know Magneto, in the past, has proved himself a threat, but you can't judge an entire offshoot of humanity by the actions of a few individuals. Especially when other individuals have stepped up to stand against that."

"Not that I'm in a position to judge anybody. I have atrocities of my own. I'm still trying to make amends."

Kitty Pryde has posed:
Kitty Pryde rests her hand on Bruce Banner's shoulder, just letting him feel that companionable contact. Someone who doesn't worry to be in his presence. She never has, really, though now he also knows she's someone that's fully safe around him all the time.

"I'm luckier than some, since I'm not outwardly obvious," Kitty says. She lets out a sigh and gives a tiny shake of her head. "People always are going to find reasons to dislike people that are different than them, I'm afraid. And yes, Magneto doesn't help matters at all. He nearly killed me. Well, more than once. But he was electrocuting me when I was fourteen and we were trying to stop him at his base," she says.

Kitty reaches up and pulls out a necklace from inside her blouse. A silver Star of David. "He saw this and it was the only thing that stopped me. He was in the concentration camps, in World War II, you know? And, well, you'd think someone who had suffered that kind of persecution wouldn't do it to others. But then it's part of what drives him to not let his people go through that again."

She sighs and squeezes Bruce's shoulder. "Unpleasant topic. I keep hoping we can redeem him though."

Bruce Banner has posed:
Bruce Banner nods at the necklace, reaching out to take it in his hand for a moment before she tucks it back away, "A simple thing can make all the difference. Everyone's connected to each other in ways you can't always see," he says.

"You are obviously remarkable, even if you aren't obviously a mutant," he says. He appreciates Kitty as someone who seems to understand him on a deeper level than just the usual - his teammates try, but they are, many of them, wired pretty differently than Bruce Banner. Sometimes he thinks they relate better to the Hulk.

Well, except Cap, but Cap's good with everybody and everything. Sometimes it's maddening.

"I hope so. I do try to believe in redemption. I have to, after all," he says.