2693/On Call Afternoon

From Heroes Assemble MUSH
Jump to navigation Jump to search
On Call Afternoon
Date of Scene: 30 July 2020
Location: Dane Whitman's Home
Synopsis: Domestic bliss on a lazy afternoon.
Cast of Characters: Dane Whitman, Jane Foster




Dane Whitman has posed:
Days off? SHIELD Agents get those? Well...yes...and no. Technically they're "On Call" days. Those Agents that technically have other jobs besides SHIELD Agent actually get quite a few of them. Some days you get called...probably more often than most would like, but hey, that's the job. Some days you don't. So far today is a "don't."

And so not at all unsurprising for him, Dane Whitman is in his workshop, which thankfully is nicely air-conditioned against the summer heat that's become somewhat oppressive in the past couple of weeks...even the breeze off the water doesn't help a whole lot. Despite that, it's still a touch warm...enough so that as Dane futzes with the device he's presently working on, complete with safety goggles and a small soldering tool, he occasionally wipes his forehead with the back of his forearm, despite the bandana he has wrapped around it. Thankfully the device has a plexiglass shield over it to keep any errant moisture from getting in. He's been at it for a few hours...about since he finished breakfast, which was after his morning workout. Which was after Jane keeping him in bed for an extra hour or so (he didn't mind one bit). In any case, the device is taking shape, and likely looks familiar...a lot like the photonic sword he already carries, though this casing is different, both in material and size...a bit smaller and thinner in the grip, for one.

Jane Foster has posed:
Believe it or not, the astrophysicist community doesn't stay up overnight like vampires, and sleep during the day. At least most of the time they do not, though some of those long nights being pulled by Jane have everything to do with queries about spatial anomalies, parsing through heaps of data related to the problem of cities in bottles, and all that entails. It means meetings with bureaucrats and scientists, lomg hours in the labs, long hours crunching complex data in programs that take days to munch critical details instead of hours.

That boils down to her sleeping facedown on the couch, her phone shut off except for the Darcy line, and nothing more than a bikini involved. Because eventually she meant to go down to the beach and get some running in, but now it's far too hot and late into the afternoon. They might have to wait a few hours still to go down to the waves. So while Dane works, she sleeps, a pitcher of hibiscus sun tea on the windowsill brewing. Eventually she has to push aside her hair and groggily sit up, looking down blankly at that fancy little black number and thickly remember this is, in fact, nap gear. She has not forgotten anything. "Mmm...?"

Eowyn hears from somewhere and comes wagging her way in, golden pupper of heroic delight. Snoot laid on the brunette's leg, the dog whuffs and tippy-taps, her tail threatening to knock a coffee table over. "All right, we'll go find him. You could have gone and said hello yourself."

Not really, Eowyn the dog is not Strider, and cannot just appear anywhere. The path through the side door to slide on some sandals is all she gives before unleashing Das Hund, who prances around with delight in the grass. The workshop means no pupper, of course, but she can poke her head in. "Doggo says you're working too long, darling."

Dane Whitman has posed:
"Huh?" Dane glances up from his work, turning his attention towards the clock for the first time in a few hours, pushing the goggles up on his forehead. "Oh...guess I could take a break." He looks a bit sheepish, leaving the project where it sits for now, albeit with a plastic drop-sheet draped over it so that dust doesn't threaten to disrupt the proceedings. Not that there's much of it here, as he tends to clean it fairly thoroughly about every other day.

With the work paused for the time being, Dane peels off the gloves he's wearing, along with the goggles and bandana, leaving them in their proper places as he steps to the door, leaning over to kiss Jane in passing, and reaching down to scritch Eowyn behind the ears. Ahhh, domestic bliss.

"Sorry, working up a slightly different model of the Photonic blade for MJ. Strictly non-lethal while she's a trainee, but still, think it'll be pretty useful in her hands, and I'm not as...possessive of my tech as some folks." Not like he's making money on it!

Jane Foster has posed:
Domestic bliss: the dog he rescued from evil darkness, the girl he won from an evil scientist. She reaches up to brush her hair off her face, and then flashes Dane one of those languid smiles. "Dare I ask who you are making that for? Or what?" The mysteries of the workshop aren't entirely lost on her, though most of her creations are in the climate-controlled and occasionally blastproof bowels of the Triskelion. The deal of being on a chain, albeit a long one, with SHIELD.

Tapping his goggles to the side where it won't smudge a lens, she leans over and looks past. "For Miss Watson! That will prove a blessing, then, giving her something better to work with than raw steel. I imagine it's a hard transition going from a standard blade to that. It's good of you to share. I wasn't sure what would happen if Fitz started tinkering, so better to go with a stable technology that can be reworked or augmented rather than building from scratch."

Eowyn's tail beats a steady thump, the dog flopping in the grass and ultimately proving she is in fact a common Atlantic harbour seal. Rolling means her coat is greenish soon enough, but not for long.

Dane Whitman has posed:
Dane crouches down to insure that Eowyn's belly is thoroughly scritched as well, playfully "wrestling" the dog a bit before plucking up an errant toy and tossing it across the yard for the retriever to...retrieve. Which is undoubtedly leading to a few minutes of repeating that particular little cycle.

"So far it's been quiet..." He glances to Jane, half-smiling, "Looks like you were heading beachward at some point or another, should I change?"

Jane Foster has posed:
"You know what happens if you change." Watching Dane in that perfectly normal setting, no blood and gore involved, is pleasing to say the least. Jane tilts her head and shades her brow with her hand, watching the dog bound excitedly around the yard in a way that would never happen anywhere but Queens. Blessings of living outside the city, even as she softly chuckles and pursues a hug from behind out of the man. Not the dog, she got those earlier. "I think I was intending it, though it's still horribly hot. We might be better off hiding inside until things cool down some, and it's actually enjoyable instead of freezing and scorching."

The rueful quirk of a smile plays out, but then she shrugs. "But we can take a run through the forest and jump right in. You won't hear complaints out of me. Is everything well? No earth-shattering mysteries so far?"

Dane Whitman has posed:
A few more rounds of fetch are indeed indulged. Got to get the dog some exercise, after all. "Yeah, we could wait until closer to evening." Dane agrees, hands moving to rest on Jane's when she hugs him from behind, and shifts from that position to escape, but only so far as to slip an arm around her waist as they move back towards the house, "I think I've got everything we need to whip up some frozen drinks if we want to wile away the afternoon."

As they step through the door, Dane holds it open for Eowyn to bound back inside. "No, just tinkering. Haven't heard a peep from anyone all morning." He grins, "Not to jinx us, but we might actually make it through a day without anyone besides Darcy poking their noses in." Because Darcy will ALWAYS have something to say....

Jane Foster has posed:
"That sounds absolutely charming. Let's pretend no one is going to summon us to go investigate the intrusion of another dimension or some kind of peril." She knows full well the other guy at the top of the rainbow bridge might hear that, but it might or might not be worth her while to pursue. "You ever feel a bit... mm... too lucky sometimes? I get a day to ourselves and wonder what needs to interrupt. Life of a knight and an agent, isn't it?"

Sliding her hand over Dane's bicep, she flashes one of those warm, wide smiles. Passing ahead of him, she glances to her phone. "Darcy is currently wrapped up to her nose dealing with conference preparation, which I can say wholly is never fun. She has insisted we rent a cabin or cottage somewhere without wifi."

Dane Whitman has posed:
"See now /that/ sounds like a great idea." Dane says of the isolated cabin idea, though he laments, "Not that SHIELD couldn't find us anyway. But everyone else we'd likely be safe from." Dane replies with a wry grin, moving towards the kitchen to start setting up the margarita mixer (also good for daiquiris and pina coladas!) while gesturing towards the adjoining room, "You know where the liquor is...so what're we cooking up? Lady's choice."

"And just for the record, I totally DO plan on pretending like nobody's going to bother us. Because otherwise we'd never get to have ANY fun."

Jane Foster has posed:
"Doesn't it? I should have taken her up on finding the spot. Something that SHIELD might take ten minutes to locate instead of six. Darcy has a track record for those things." The kitchen awaits and through careful consideration, the bright-eyed scientist starts to rummage through the cabinet in search of rum. "Do we have fresh strawberries or mangos? That makes the vote for margaritas. If not, we've got lime, I suppose. Or pina coladas, getting lost in the rain. I don't care about junk food, but have you all the same." Dancing around in a bikini with a bottle in one hand and a towel tossed over her arm has that Margaritaville-ish vibe to it, even if they lack sand.

Dane Whitman has posed:
Dane takes a moment to extract a doggie biscuit from an airtight container kept in a high cabinet and grants it to Eowyn before rinsing off his hands and cocking his head in the direction of the refrigerator, "Pretty sure we've got some strawberries in there, at least. Don't think we picked up mango though." He takes a moment to admire the view before turning back to the preparations, "Either way, sounds like a /great/ use of Darcy's time." He teases, hitting a point where he can pause for a few moments while other ingredients are arrayed for preparation and mixing.

"So what's the conference you've got coming up?" He asks, leaning back against one of the countertops.

Jane Foster has posed:
Eowyn prances around in search of her treat, then plunks her bottom straight down on the ground. Her tail swishes hopefully but she has been appropriately educated in canine behaviour. Black nose twitching, she performs a disappearing act. A biscuit, now no biscuit.

"Strawberries we can use then. I will pick up frozen mango or fresh tomorrow and we can have a proper mango time. Expect that you will get absolutely nothing done after one and a half of them," Jane assures in a good-natured tone, tucking her hair behind her ear after putting down the bottle on the counter. Rum swishes around and settles. "You and I can watch a movie and totally forget why we were watching it. That's the fun of mellowing out." Blowing a kiss to Dane, she rounds up a pair of glasses just in case, and fetches the sugar, setting it aside.

"The IAU 365 at the end of the month. We're handling a symposium on stellar convection conves and their observable patterns. I have Vienna in September for the interplay between particle and astroparticle physics, which looks deliciously exciting. Dark matter!"

Dane Whitman has posed:
"Funny how we never seem to make it through many of those movies we watch." Dane replies with a mildly wicked grin, setting to preparing the frozen concoction as he listens to Jane's answer to his query. "Ooooh, Vienna. Maybe I'll have to put in for a sabbatical for a few days. Always wanted to see Vienna." He admits, the smile turning a few shades wistful, though conversation might be drowned out a bit as the machine starts working at whipping up the proper frozen consistency for the desired libations.

"You know, as long as you don't mind a tagalong." There's a tease there, but also a sincerity. He's quite conscientious of not getting in the way of her work.

Jane Foster has posed:
"That's why we keep them on order or take advantage of my contacts to get them." Darcy makes a great movie pirate. No dark web, all VPN. Good times! Jane grins back at Dane over the hum of the blender, the whirl of ice cubes in their glassy prison. No point in trying to talk over them as she playfully scoops up the strawberry pint and starts chopping them, cutting the stems away and slicing them in twain on the plastic board. Hey, wood is better, but strawberry juice stains like nothing. No point to do that. "Put in the request. Third week of Vienna. I promise you and I will go, and we can stay in a building right by the city center. It's properly a pension, which is better than any hotel. Six days; the symposium covers three and walking through the Ringstrasse -- the ring street -- in the night is magical. One of my favouite places, though I have only been there once, and its magic ... Ah, I could live there forever with you. Consider yourself invited always, hmm?"

She wags a finger playfully his way, watching the libations take form, and more strawberries for a fruitier kiss. "I mean, I could live with you for the rest of our lives as it is, no matter where. Fancy castle, cramped apartment, shack in Quebec, digging out the dirt. One day soon we ought to talk about what you'd like out of life."