18423/Post-Adventure Chitchat

Post-Adventure Chitchat
Date of Scene:	24 June 2024
Location:	Lounge and Kitchen - Young Avengers HQ
Synopsis:	With help from Cindy, Billy and Teddy planned to seek advice from some other super-groups
Cast of Characters:	Billy Kaplan, Teddy Altman, Cindy Moon

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Billy Kaplan has posed:
    Despite appearances this is not a lazy afternoon. Billy is working! Working very hard. In his black sleeveless shirt and galaxy-printed pajama pants, lounging by the window with a hefty book about... well from the spine, visible at this angle, it's about Mesoamerican archeology, architecture, and anthropology. It's a big book. Probably why Billy has enchanted it to hover in front of him and turn its own pages while he reads, so he can free up his hands to wield his teacup.

Teddy Altman has posed:
Where is Teddy? You get /one/ guess! If you guessed in the kitchen, you win. The smell of soft pretzels fills the air. He bought one of those boxes of frozen soft pretzels and cooked them up in one of the ovens. The timer bell dings and Teddy reaches into the oven without even an oven mitt on and pulls out the baking sheet with his bare hand. There are six enormous pretzels on the tray. He puts one each on two plates along with a dollop of spicy mustard for dipping.

Walking out into the main room, he brings a plate for Billy, which he sets down near the young magic user.

"These things are great!" he says enthusiastically. He tears a piece off of his and dunks into the mustard and eats the way he does almost everything in life: with unabashed abandon. He smiles over at Billy. In his human form, which he almost always is in, that smile fits so well on his face. "How is the reading going, Billy? Did you find out where that armor came from?" So naive, this young alien. He just assumes there is nothing that Billy can't just pull out of some tome or another.

Billy Kaplan has posed:
    The scent of the food is a little distracting. But if Billy really *wanted* to be entirely focused on his task he had other options. This kind of work is something he can do while enjoying Teddy's company, and sharing some of his more interesting findings aloud: such as the way the Mayans appear to have tracked solar eclipses.
    When his boyfriend reappears from the kitchen Billy looks up with that smile, that *singular* expression nobody else in any universe gets to see directly. With the food... well, snack... planted nearby he grabs a piece, dips it in the sauce, and tears into it. "Oh, yeah, that's perfect," he grunts. "Wow, I didn't realize how hungry I was. Thanks, babe."
    While he chews he nods and points to the book. Then considers, and shakes his head. "Well, um, yes and no? I'm getting some idea who it is we were talking to. Maybe what the significance of that armor was. I'll need to get some others on the team to help me analyze it, I think. There's probably some metallurgy and other things worth running on it. And the printing on the controls, that's still bugging me. I know I've seen something like it somewhere."

Teddy Altman has posed:
Teddy sits on the floor next to the sofa Billy is lounging on. He rests his head back on Billy's hip. He knows Billy likes to fidget with his earrings and can't resist them if they're in proximity. And that's Teddy's favorite. He pops another big piece of spicy mustard laden pretzel in his mouth.

"I wonder if any of our allies might have a computer that can decipher them," Teddy wonders aloud. "I bet the Avengers or the Titans have really powerful computers."

Billy Kaplan has posed:
    It's not even a distraction, really. Teddy *has* ways of distracting Billy, but in this posture the young wizard can reach down and start toying, messing up Teddy's hair or gently tugging on those earrings. He lets his fingertips brush the back of Teddy's neck. All aimless, semi-conscious at best, and yet the very act of it fills Billy's whole being with a deep sense of calm. For an instant that needy, clawing hum in the back of his mind is silent.
    "...I should have thought of that," he replies to Teddy's obvious observation. "I can't believe. I. Wow. Babe, you're brilliant. Computers are, like, the *last* thing I think of, and there seems to be some residual magic on the suit that's bouncing all my analysis spells off of it. That's a great idea!"
    Where most people would tap a note into their phone, Billy traces sigils into the air instead and they poof away into whatever esoteric enchanted secretarial notebook he uses to keep track of things.

Teddy Altman has posed:
Teddy can sit like this forever and have his hair and ears messed with. Even the remaining pretzel on his plate sits forgotten. His eyes sink shut. "No, I'm definitely not brilliant. I'm not smart like you, Billy," Teddy announces without the slightest shame in his voice. He knows what he is and he's comfortable with that. Everyone should be so lucky.

"Also, I guess I'm thinking that a trip to the Avengers Mansion or the Titans Tower would be so dope. Those dudes are the /real/ /deal/," he says, but his tone is a little distant and lost in the petting.

Billy Kaplan has posed:
    "Don't neg yourself like that," Billy demands firmly. "You *are* brilliant. There's more to it than reading spells or translating dead languages. You can talk to people. You can *lead* people. And you have some of my favorite ideas." He gives Teddy's hair a gentle, scolding tug before he resumes casually playing with the strands. "You know it makes me angry when you refuse a compliment. You wouldn't like me when I'm angry." He manages to sustain the faux menace for several seconds before letting out a giggle.
    He calms down though and settles in for more of the lazy, relaxing contact, skimming over pages and using his other hand to trace notes over the text.
    "I bet you're right, either of them should have some... some files, probably? A database? I should be able to move the armor again and we can use their equipment to get a good scan of it. There's got to be something."

Teddy Altman has posed:
When Billy pulls on his hair, Teddy growls a little bit in his throat. That's a touch he likes too, but in a very, very different way that can't be explored out here in the main room.

He lets out a brief snort. "The first time you moved it, you broke two tables in the dining area," Teddy says. His eyes are glittering and glossy, his cheeks are rosy hued. This sort of sitting and bantering with Billy is one of his blisses. "I was thinking of reaching out to Dr. Strange to see if he can move it for us," Teddy says in way of a jabbing tease. His moist lips curl up in a grin.

Billy Kaplan has posed:
    Billy huffs at something Teddy just said before Cindy arrived, a reference to an ancient suit of armor that somehow teleported into the dining room and smashed through two tables. "I fixed them!" he says defensively. "And I made them better. They're reinforced, so the next time something that heavy falls on them they won't even scratch." He's not actually too upset by being reminded of the incident. It was slightly funny.
    He pats Teddy on the cheek anyway and gets back to his favorite relaxing meditation: playing with Teddy's earrings.
    Then his fingers pause. "Babe, if you call that guy for anything other than a bag of sugar, we're gonna have words. I mean, look, he's very good, don't get me wrong. And I learn so much from him! But the attitude on that guy has enough mass to *collapse a star*."

Cindy Moon has posed:
Click. Click. Click. Click.

It's not the quiet footfalls of a Spider that approach, but the sharp stiletto rat-tat-tat of thousand dollar, red-soled Louboutins. Those patent black stilettos are attached to long(ISH!) legs that lead up to a black pencil skirt, a burgundy silk blouse, a small pendant necklace, and a young Asian woman who, only a few days before, was hanging out on the ceiling.

She even has makeup done, if modestly and tastefully. Red lips, dark eye shadow. She doesn't look _different_ necessarily, though she definitely looks at least a little different from a skin-tight spider-suit. She does look a little older and a LOT more professional.

No phone in her hand this time, though. It must be in the designer handbag that's slung over her shoulder tucked under her arm.

"You two are are so sweet you're going to give me a tooth ache," Cindy Moon points point, making a little circular gesture towards them on the couch as she makes her way towards the coffee pot. A little smile curls the corners of her lips.

Teddy Altman has posed:
Cindy is wearing shoes that just might cost more than all the clothes that Teddy has bought in the past ten years put together. But when Teddy lifts his head and peers at her Hollywood entrance there isn't the slightest hint of jealousy in his expression. Teddy simply isn't capable of that. He smiles wide, his expression lighting up. If it were a lamp, that expression would blind everyone in the room.

"Gosh! Cindy you are SO hot!" Teddy says in the way that only a gay man can say to a woman without it approaching a line. He twists his neck to look up at Billy. "Isn't she so hot, Billy?" he asks enthusiastically.

"Hey there are pretzels in there, Cindy. They just came out of the oven. Do you like pretzels? You should have a pretzel! I bought 'em at Whole Foods. They're organic." He peers back once more at Billy. "Did I tell you they're organic, Billy?"

This adorable golden retriever is just pleased to be here around people. In his human form, he looks like he is still in high school. He still struggles a little bit at aging that form.

Billy Kaplan has posed:
    Billy looks up at the unusual sound to see who's coming. He blinks a few times at the sight before he recalls, ohyeah, she's working for OSCORP now. The very embodiment of it, even. He grins to her and waves with his free hand, only for the expression to twist into a faint smirk at her remarks. "Teddy's the sweet one," he replies with a hint of mischievous smile. "*I* am the spicy one."
    He doesn't for even a moment stop playing with Teddy's hair and jewelry. Priorities, yanno.
    "But he's right, you've really stepped up your fashion from the other day. How's it going? Mister Osborn treating you alright?"
    Then he's reminded there are fresh giant pretzels on the plate nearby so he grabs one, gives it a dip in the mustard, and takes a bite. Of course he offers the rest to Teddy. "No, you did not mention that," he answers Teddy around a mouthful of hot salty snack, "but I appreciate it. And you've baked them just perfectly."
    With socializing afoot Billy waves a hand at his book. The volume snaps itself shut and floats to land on the nearby table, without smashing through or causing any other kind of calamity.
    Yay.

Cindy Moon has posed:
Heat rushes into Cindy's cheek immediately and she waves her hand in front of her like she could swat the compliments away.

"Thank you, but this isn't... _me_. Not really. I'm ice hockey and K-pop. Not.. Saks Fifth Avenue."

She's grabbing a coffee cup and going for the straight black option. Maybe because that's all she knows how to make. Maybe because that's all she has the patience to attempt.

"It's going well. Mr. Osborn is... demanding, as always, but very fair."

So diplomatic.

"I was actually stopping in to check on things before I went from _there_ to the Triskelion. I've gotta check in with my handler. But those smell _delicious_. Do you guys have like... some kind of tip jar or lunch fund I can start donating to? It's not that I don't appreciate it, but I haven't had a man -- much less men -- buy this much food since..."

She rolls one shoulder.

"Ever."

Which might sound a little sad. It might sound even _more_ sad if they knew Spider-Man was her ex-boyfriend, and they'd never even been out on a date. Which... technically makes him more of an ex-lover and more of a current boy-friend (dash inserted to provide proper spacing for the friend zone).

Coffee made, brought up to smell and take a sip off, she sets her purse down so she can focus on the important task of fetching a pretzel.

Teddy Altman has posed:
When Billy offers up the last bit of his pretzel, Teddy smiles and grabs it with his mouth right from Billy's hand, making sure to slurp any excess mustard dip off of his boyfriend's fingers. As he chews, he grins at Billy with scintillating eyes. He may be innocent and upstanding, but he knows his way around flirting.

When Cindy announces her lack of formal dating experience, Teddy peers at her with his mouth agape. "Awww that's no good! Billy and me should take you out on a proper date!" He peers back at Billy. "We should take Cindy out on a proper date. Everyone deserves a proper date at least once."

Back to Cindy. "I can't afford no fancy places. But oh man, have you ever had a burger, onion rings, and a Blizzard from Dairy Queen???" he asks enthusiastically like he was talking about Per Se or Eleven Madison Park.

He eventually gestures to the book that Billy floated down on the table. "Billy and me were in the jungle in the Yucatan. You would not /believe/ what we found there, Cindy," the excited Teddy blurts out. "Billy was looking stuff up in one of his books about it." He peers back to Billy. "Tell Cindy about what we found, Billy!"

Billy Kaplan has posed:
    "But a job like that requires its own kind of hero outfit," Billy jokes to Cindy. "And patience at dealing with difficult people. That's definitely a *talent* to be able to do that." The very idea makes Billy's eyes go wide, glazed over in fright.
    There's no doubt his first day trying to work in an office would conclude with a rain of frogs and probably a meteor.
    Unless Teddy was around, of course, to suck sauce off his fingertips.
    "Huh? Trisk... oh, right, the. The big triangle thing. What is it with them naming things like that... Here, you gotta take some snacks with you, I think Teddy packed some things in the fridge there."
    He looks down, lifting a brow slightly before answering with an airy shrug. "Actually, a date sounds like fun! Probably not to Dairy Queen, maybe something just slightly more upscale than that, huh? Dinner and a movie, that sort of thing." He grins to Cindy as he endorses Teddy's pitch for this mad idea. What could possibly go wrong?
    Then as Teddy infodumps all that on Cindy, Billy tries to reel it back in a bit. "Well, we don't know yet what all that was. A giant Mayan pyramid sunk halfway into the ground. Some twins, who might have been Mayan ghosts, or projections of some kind of jaguar-gods? And this suit of armor--" The one that landed here in the dining room the other day-- "with some weird writing inside, and what we *think* is a mummified skrull. It's. Kind of a lot. I still need to write up the, uh, memo. For everyone."

Cindy Moon has posed:
'Everyone deserves a proper date at least once.'

Laughter bubbles up Cindy's throat and comes out of her nose because her mouth is full of pretzel, and she has to cover her mouth with her hand to try to make it seem at all polite.

Then Billy jumps onboard, and Cindy's eyes cut back between them, the laughter dying off.

"That's not... you don't..." She's stumbling over her words, but at least she had the decency to swallow first. "We can just hang out... it doesn't have to be a..."

She can't even say the word, and she's so red it looks like she might be having a medical issue.

Omg. Yucatan. Thank God. She takes a step closer, shifting her body language as if somehow the angle of her shoulders might lock the subject on _this_ instead of on her dating life. Or lack there of.

"Oh! That sounds... really need, actually. I mean, all of it is so far out of my wheelhouse that I wouldn't even know where to begin. But if you guys need to talk to anybody, I know people at SHIELD that might be able to help. Just... you know. Offering."

Teddy Altman has posed:
Gay? Yes, gay af. Likely to want to be romantic with a woman? Not really, and definitely not with Billy in his life. But incisive and able to get to the heart of emotional matters? Yes with a capital Y!

"You think about it and let us know. I think it would be awesome to take you on a date," Teddy says warmly. "Dinner, conversation, getting to know everyone, then a movie with LOADS of snacks. Everyone deserves to be pampered and taken out proper. Heck, I think everyone should go on a date with everyone at least one time. It accelerates friendship."

Teddy peers around at Billy. "SHIELD? Aren't they government? They might try to confiscate the armor for national security and stuff," he says warily to his boyfriend. "I'm not sure if we should trust them with this until we know more." Wow! Who even IS this? Teddy being all distrustful and worried? He must have some strong feelings about the government.

Billy Kaplan has posed:
    Billy snaps fingers and points. "SHIELD! Oh, maybe. Teddy was just suggesting we should get someone with *computers* to look at it! I tried magi-lyzing it but there's still some kind of residual energy from the curse."
    Curse? Billy doesn't expound on that, as if it's nothing worth discussing further.
    "But he also raises a fair point. Those folks have been known to have some sticky fingers. Maybe they shouldn't be our first choice, but we'll keep them in mind for a backup. At the least, once we get some further scans and data collected, maybe they have an expert we can borrow to look at that without exposing the artifacts themselves."
    Billy ponders all this while he continues unconsciously toying with Teddy's hair and earrings. Like an enormous blond fidget spinner. "So, about this date!" he suddenly blurts out. "He's right, people should just go on more dates. What are we thinking? French? Spanish? Oooh, there's that rooftop restaurant with the great view, what was that one called..."

Cindy Moon has posed:
It's almost like getting hit by little rocks every time the word 'date' is said. Cindy just seems to flinch, until she finally just sort of squeals in frustration and waves her hands.

"No dating," she laughs, shaking her head.

She wasn't _upset_. She just... couldn't reconcile it. The 'pampered' bit might have been what pushed her over the edge. She just couldn't seem to fathom it, much less spend a whole night being doted on.

Peter used to come over to help her study for her GED. They _never_ made it to studying. It was simple. They both knew what was going on, even if was all just pheromone-driven lust from being bitten by the same Spider (for real.. it's canon.. and a _really_ weird excuse for Peter Parker to have yet another 'girlfriend'). More importantly, they didn't owe each other anything. There was no power imbalance. No appreciation imbalance.

She was so uncomfortable with the whole 'relationship' thing that she didn't even seem to know how to handle talking about it.. or 'dating' friends.

"We can _totally_ hang out, though. Promise. I've got a job. I'll pay my own way."

She does, however, move back over to her purse, dipping one hand inside (the other was still holding a pretzel) and pulling out a wallet. She dumps that wallet open, and in it is a shiny SHIELD badge.

"Who's _they_? I haven't tried to confiscate your armor even once."

Which didn't mean that those above her wouldn't, but still. Even Peter mistrusted SHIELD, despite the fact that she and MJ were BOTH agents! There's still a little grin lingering on her lips, though, as she dumps the wallet back into her purse.

"Really, though, if you end up needing help, let me know. I can try to make it... helping a friend, instead of an official investigation."

Teddy Altman has posed:
Teddy's eyes land on Cindy's badge. There is a bit of dampening of his otherwise bright spirit. "I..." He turns his head to look back at Billy with a what-should-we-do? expression on his face. Then back to Cindy, "This is a very strange, alien find. A Skrull mummy and very, very old armor that visually looks very much like Iron Man's armor are involved. How they ended up in an old Mayan ruin is what we can't figure out. And there is strange writing on the armor we can't decipher."

Won't Teddy be surprised to learn that it is Skrull writing. Despite having been born on the Skrull homeworld and being the grandson of the (now deceased) Skrull emperor, he has lived here on Earth since infancy. He doesn't speak or read a word of Skrull.

"We were thinking about talking to the Avengers or maybe to the Titans," Teddy says. "What do you...what do you think about either of those ideas?" he asks Cindy.

Billy Kaplan has posed:
    Billy looks to Teddy, then to Cindy, and shrugs. "I don't think we have to pay for it?" he says innocently. "It was just an excuse to get out and be off the clock. All the clocks. Take a night-- take a few *hours*-- to clear our heads, you know? I think Teddy likes to call any night off of work a date. He's wonderful that way. So come along, it'll just be that. Not a date. Promise." He thumbs lightly across the blond boy's earrings, silently promising him a date *later*.
    "You know, 'they'," Billy says vaguely. "Not you, necessarily. But you aren't the boss of SHIELD yet, are you? So, yeah, it'll be good to have options. I just want to make sure we have some data secured before 'they' get any ideas, however well-intentioned they might be."
    He nods swiftly to Teddy's suggestions. "Those are both a better start, I think. Titans first. For some reason they just seem less likely to want to take the whole thing over. And maybe they have some more applicable expertise..."
    With so much suddenly going on Billy sits up a bit and takes a slow stretch. "All that talk about food got me properly hungry. Lemme go get dressed and we'll hit up something, yeah?" Offered to the room at large, as he ruffles Teddy's hair and bounces to his feet.

Cindy Moon has posed:
"Captain Marvel has a lot of Skrull experience. And she's a SHIELD agent?"

Cindy raises her arms a little from her sides in a shrug, smiling.

"I'm probably biased because I work there. But she's _also_ an Avenger. So, maybe they're the better choice, if it really does look like an Iron Man suit?"

She shakes her head.

"Well, regardless, I won't say anything. You guys just let me know if you need me to start making calls. I don't know any of the Titans. I don't know much about them except that apparently Supergirl is dating a new girl? Starlight? It was on social media..."

Another smile curls her lips.

"You guys have fun. You've got my number. I've gotta get going, too."

The second half of her pretzel stuffed into her teeth, she grabs her purse and her coffee, slinging one and hoisting the other so that she can wave.

"Shehwyoosoon!"

Or whatever she said with preztel in her mouth as she started to make her way out.