6791/Discussing the Birds and the Ants

Discussing the Birds and the Ants
Date of Scene:	03 July 2021
Location:	Pym's Midtown Lab
Synopsis:	The masks come off. Bo is forgiven.
Cast of Characters:	Hank Pym, Damian Wayne

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Hank Pym has posed:
Hank Pym fixes his sternest gaze on his charge. "That was a bad boy Charles Baudelaire!" Wats his finger appropriately. The ant goes to a corner and hangs his head. After a moment he faces the corner.

"No eating boards without permission. Remember what that treated wood did to you." Explosive diarrhea in a giant ant would send the Hulk running.

"You just stay there and think about what you did. A flooded gym is no joke. Poor Mo!"

Sure the ant is not going anywhere, Hank begins further research into those shills from NOWHERE and just what he will do to them.

It's times like this his brief career as a villain comes in handy.

Damian Wayne has posed:
     Damian stepped into the lab, carrying a messenger bag on him, filled with borrowed texts. "Doctor Pym, I finished the thesis you wanted me to read. It was interesting but I think that the writer's strict adherence to elastomers instead of cyanoacrylates...jarring."

  The black haired boy walks up to the lab before glancing at Bo, and the Doctor looking over something. "You two have a fight?"

Hank Pym has posed:
Hank Pym blanks his screens. "He was a bad ant. He ate a support at the science fair and caused a bigger flap than Janet wearing last year's dress. How goes the stealth suit? It is still leaving footprints that register on thermal imaging? That can be embarrassing." He leaves out the business of treated wood.

Damian Wayne has posed:
     Damian stepped to the Doctor before shaking his head. "No, it seems like I've made more of a breakthrough in materials, carbon fibers seem to like keep heat inside, and not transferring onto the ground."

  The young Wayne puts his bag down, and gives Bo a bit of a look. "So, that's what flooded the gym. I saw the email about it being closed."

  "Now it just needs to be assembled and the energy source compressed."

Hank Pym has posed:
Hank Pym shrugs. "Well you missed the science fair. I can outright help you now. I think you might find a good purpose for such a suit. I'm pretty sure the suit will not be perfect but what is? Compressing the the power systems... this I excel at. SO what else can I do you you, your Wayneship?" He gives Bo another hard look as the ant turns around to seek an appeal.

Damian Wayne has posed:
  "The Science Fair was never my goal anyway. Nor do I have to worry about a scholarship, so I let others have that spotlight." Damian's words don't sound like bravado, they are just fact, most high school students aren't on his level of science.

  "I have access to my own manufacturing, and prototyping. But...what does an atom look like blown up?" His own curiosity getting the most of him.

  Damian's eyes look around the lab, handing over the books he had borrowed, after removing them from the messenger bag.

Hank Pym has posed:
Hank Pym looks a little embarrassed. "I'm not sure. Shrinking below a ten thousandth of your original mas throws you into a different continuum -a Microverse. There are worlds strung into what resemble molecules; one world has a benzene ring sun. I am not sure what atoms look like in our Universe... or how I'd see them. But the Microverse is what they SHOULD look like."

Damian Wayne has posed:
     "A microverse? Funny. I kinda want to see that sometime. Sounds more interesting than space does." Mainly cause Damian thinks there's a bunch of A-holes out there. "What about you?" he asks in his soft voice, the same voice he uses when there is no mask on his face.

Hank Pym has posed:
Hank Pym raises an eyebrow. Is this an attraction thing? Dear Lord not that. He puts the coffee on. This may be a long evening.

Pffft. Hank starts chuckling. He chin taps a moment. Then he looks over at Damian and says, "Damian sit down and let us discuss the eleph-ant in the room. Not you Bo. Go hole up. This is people talk." He smiles what he thinks is his friendly smile. "Let me start by saying, understand you have a problem with Nadia and... I care about you both. Not everyone is going to like her. I like you for what it's worth. Before we go on... do you... would you feel better talking to Fire Ant?"

Damian Wayne has posed:
     Damian's brow archs in question to Hank's. "Who's Nadia?" A lie, but he doesn't know that Hank knows. But he is catching on. "Why would I want to talk to...you?"

  Damian took his phone out of his pocket, placing it on the nearest table as he went to take a seat, looking a bit uneased right at this moment.

Hank Pym has posed:
Hank Pym looks at the phone, then his console, watching the internal cameras go dark through no fault of their own. He smiles. "That is a fine piece of technology. Uhm yeah, maybe I confused you with someone else. If I did I apologize. I thought you knew my daughter. If you want to talk, we can talk. Consider me like a doctor. Anything you say Goes. No. Further."

Damian Wayne has posed:
     "I knew the napkins were a giveaway." Damian's voice goes slightly darker, huskier than the student used. This was his voice, the one Robin uses, the real Damian Wayne. "Thank you, we have plenty of use for things such as...phones." Damian's mouth curls into a small smile.

  The young Robin leaves the question about Nadia be silently answered. He did know her, and has a rough history with her. "What do you wish to talk about, Doctor? That little coda, placing trust in Hank's discretion.

Hank Pym has posed:
Hank Pym shrugs. The coffee beeps for attention and he gets back up. 'In honesty... I thought it was disingenuous to know and be quiet. In truth... Baudelaire was the confirmation. At the steakhouse. He insisted Robin smelled like Damian... I am working on a scent suppressant spray by the way. I will make it available to you and your... family of course."

At that point Baudelaire does creep over to give a head dap against Damian's leg.

"I'm old school Damian, these things should be shared willingly or not at all. I feel terrible having you at a perceived disadvantage though I would never repeat this."

Damian Wayne has posed:
  Damian's face softens at Bo's approach and a dap to his leg. "Good boy, Bo." He admits, reaching out a hand and patting the ant's head. "You are a better person than I." he admits to Hank. "I would have used that information to my advantage. But look at who I work with on a nightly basis, and who raised me before I met my actual father."

  Damian crosses a leg over the other, sitting comfy, yet he is always ready to jump up and make a play. It was an unconscious action on his part. "Doctor Pym, do not feel bad on my account. It would have been revealed at some point regardless. And I do not hold anything against you. I actually like having someone not in the Titans know. And no, your daughter is not among those who know."

Hank Pym has posed:
Hank Pym chuckles as he sets coffee out. "Since my daughter is a teenager, I have no doubt she has her own share of secrets. I feel no obligation to out you to her. It's nice to network in our profession. I can introduce you to She-Hulk sometime... she's, well we're more than friends and less than lovers let us say. She's great." Hank finally pats the ant on the head as well.

Damian Wayne has posed:
     Damian rolls his eyes. The continued talk of Nadia leaving a bad taste in his mouth. "I will take you on your word. I have only heard of her in passing. But then again...I am limited in scope most of the time."

  Damian serves himself a black cup, and sipping it gently. "So." Damian offers up. "Where does this leave us, and Happy Harbor?"

Hank Pym has posed:
Hank Pym adds some oat milk and several sugars to his coffee. He sips it. "Well our students' powers are their own business. You should be given the same courtesy. After all, you or I, we worked to become what we are. It was harder for us, not being rocketed here from a doomed planet or commuting over a rainbow. You're as much a good guy as anyone I saw. Why would this change anything? You're Damian, I'm Dr. Pym. I teach. You learn. If I go to the Tower, you're Robin. I'll write it on my hand."

Damian Wayne has posed:
     "Yes, some of us paid in blood and flesh. Not just our own." His voice was hollow, years of disconnecting from his own traumas there. "Some had the privilege of being born a 'god'. I was born the grandson of The Demon." Damian's pale green eyes look over Hank before he gives a nod. "Okay then. I will keep it the same." Damian holds up his cup to his face, sipping again before placing the cup back on the saucer. "And do you have any questions for me? You heard most of my story in Malta. Veiled though it was."

Hank Pym has posed:
Hank Pym takes a sip of coffee. "What interested you about me? I am honored but, I mean your boss could have you talk to anyone -Stark, Richards, Luthor probably. I am not well regarded among many of our colleagues. I snapped and attacked my team. I would think your clan would teach you to be more cautious. I've been described as one lab accident away from being a supervillain."

Damian Wayne has posed:
     "I wanted someone who was not Reed Richards. That was Batman's pick. No. I will not be beholden to anyone's preference so that I can be 'watched'."

  Damian places the coffee down, before approaching Hank. "Until last year, I was the youngest master in the League of Assassins. I was known as The Demon's Hand, Ibn al xu'ffasch. I am also not well regarded among my colleagues. I was a supervillain, to put it lightly. I chose you because you are mighty. And you just so happen to teach at the school my father sends me to."

  "And...I like your ants." He admits, blushing just a bit. "I enjoy animals, they listen. They don't judge. And rarely do they talk back."

Hank Pym has posed:
Hank Pym takes it all in. It takes a minute to be sure. Then something strikes him as very funny. Lauhing his ass off funny. This might be a new experience for Damian, cracking someone up. Hank totters over to a lab table and comes back with his insect comm. Bo picks his antennae up. Hank holds a finger up to the ant, points to Damian. Then he holds the com set out to him.

"Animals do listen, and they do talk back, if we only have the ears to listen. Give it a try."

Damian Wayne has posed:
     "For what it is worth. I have always enjoyed our discussions and the time we spent together. When I gave you that donut on the plane..." He trails off, before he admits out loud exactly how it went down." But, as the insect comm got brought out; for the first time since his dual identity was dissolved here, he looked like an intrigued boy. No pretense of being Damian Wayne or Robin, just youthful curiosity. "I always thought it was some gadget in your helmet." He knew about Ant-Man's ability to speak to ants, but never thought he would see it in action.

  Damian, raised the comm to his head,checking the fit as the carpenter ant came over for a chat a scant few moments of silence before taking the plunge. "Hello, Bo?"