7/21 Instance: Piece of Candy

[Svartfreja]

Current Timeline.


<Pietro> Hmm... Pietro was done with the user manual in less than a minute despite its thickness. He tossed it onto the desk and swapped it for the crowbar to open the crate, neatly sidestepping the wooden panel as it fell forward and onto the floor with a loud bang.

<Jamie> Jamie jumped in the hallway when he heard the loud crash and looked around him for it before realizing it had come from Professor Maximoff's room. He poked his head in and saw the giant crate. With wide eyes, he had to force his jaw shut before he could say anything. He cleared his throat, "Um, Professor?"

<Pietro> Pietro turned from frowning at the Sentinel - they didn't even try to make it look friendly - to see if someone was talking to him. He was going to have to do away with that 'Professor' title as soon as possible, "Yeah?"

<Jamie> "Is everything okay? I heard a loud banging sound..." He took one step into the doorway. "What's in the box?"

<Pietro> "Class project... sorta..." At least there weren't packing peanuts. "Figured I should get it out of the box and have a look at it before class...."

<Jamie> Jamie walked closer, "Class proj---Ahh! Hey! That's-! Why?!"

<Pietro> "Why not?" He knocked on the robot's head, "Don't worry, it's fast asleep.... I wonder if it has one of those little plastic tabs to pull out by the batteries..." He peered into the box again to investigate this.

<Jamie> "But, it's... it's.. it can..." He licked his lips and cleared his throat again. "It's not on?"

<Pietro> "Nope, I literally just opened the crate... Wanna throw stuff at it?" he gestured to a box of scrap metal, "If it'll make you feel better, knock yourself out... but not literally because they'll totally think that was me."

<Jamie> Jamie looked at the box of scrap metal then back at the crate. "Maybe..." That didn't sound like a half bad idea. "So... Somebody let you bring this in for a project?"

<Pietro> "I bought it for a project," he corrected, "I figured it would be the easiest way to learn more about them."

<Jamie> "But... That can't be allowed, can it? Isn't that, like, student endangerment or something?"

<Jamie> He blinked as he realized something, "Wait... You bought it? Are you as rich as Professor St. Croix?"

<Pietro> "She likes to think she has more money than I do," He started to remove the remaining sections of box, "I have sufficiently reassured the SHIELD liason so there's no endangerment issue. I'm more than confident it'll be a non-issue in fact."

<Jamie> "Oh... Okay... Well, that's good, then, I guess." He stepped closer and peered at it. "It doesn't scare you?"

<Pietro> "Why should it? It's just a machine. Granted it's a machine designed to combat mutants but I see that as more of a challenge than a concern." And there was the robot's butt.

<Jamie> Jamie leaned over the crate and peered at the butt. After a moment, he slowly reached out and poked it. His nose wrinkled. "So, you're married, right?"

<Pietro> "Yep. With kids, even.... why?" Wow it was shiny... and he wanted to take it apart so so much.

<Jamie> "Does... Does your wife know about this?" He poked it in another spot. "Wouldn't it worry her?"

<Pietro> "She's fine as long as it's nowhere near the kids," he gave the boy a grin, "Really it's nothing to worry about. I can unscrew every joint on this thing before it can turn itself on."

<Jamie> Jamie frowned in thought. "I guess... I mean, I guess Jean would find it pretty cool. Not too dangerous. But." He frowned harder, "What if it turns your powers off or whatever before you realize it's on?"

<Pietro> "Then it's the fault of whoever turned it on without asking permission. This is my shiny robot, only I get to play with the buttons... but also you're talking to a guy that doesn't sleep and has to consciously slow down to talk to people. If I don't notice, we're all screwed."

<Jamie> "Did you fight with your wife about it?" Jamie tilted his head at the robot, "Where's the on button? I don't want to push it on accident."

<Pietro> "It's not anywhere you'll accidentally hit," he pointed at the base of the robot's neck, just under the casing at the back, "It's under there.... and there's a remote control thing in the box I haven't opened yet."

<Jamie> "That's so creepy that people can just turn it on with a remote... They could do it from anywhere." He sucked on his teeth and rocked back on his heels. "Sooo... How'd you know your wife was the one?"

<Pietro> Pietro raised an eyebrow at the kid, watching him over the shoulder of the robot. That had come out of nowhere. "Uh..."

<Jamie> "How'd you know? I mean, I've been with Jean for almost two years now, and I think she's the best ever. ...But I just... Forever is kind of freaky, right?"

<Pietro> "Well don't look at it from that perspective. Anything forever is scary. Don't think about forever with think about forever without. If that's offensive, you have a keeper."

<Jamie> Jamie's nose wrinkled up, "But, what if she doesn't care about that? Like, the without part? That's not cool... Right?"

<Pietro> ".... Have you talked to her about this or are you just guessing? Because if you're guessing you should stop. The worst mistake you can ever make is to assume you know what a woman is thinking," he sat down on the corner of the desk and rummaged in the drawer for the supply of candy that he'd replaced the scotch with.

<Jamie> "No... But we're almost at that two year mark. And that's when girls want the question popped, right? Because any longer and they'll think something's wrong... Right? Right?"

<Pietro> "For the answer to that question you should ask girls. Illyana and I got married as soon as it was legal but we didn't have a very conventional relationship... Honestly I think it depends on the woman in question. Have you even talked about marriage as an abstract concept?" He offered some of the uncovered treasure.

<Jamie> Ooh! Piece of candy! Jamie gladly accepted the treat and shoved it into his mouth after unwrapping it. "Um, no. So, what's she like? Mrs. Maximoff."

<Pietro> "Russian, scary and adorable," he nodded sagely, "And I wouldn't have her any other way. She's forgiven me for a lot of things I haven't forgiven myself for, keeps me sane."

<Jamie> "That sounds nice," he smiled a toothy smile, his piece of candy between his teeth. "Do you think I should say something to Jeannie? Or let her bring things up?"

<Pietro> "How good are you at subtle?" Given the suddenness of the question in the first place, Pietro was going to guess the kid was about as subtle as a wrecking ball.

<Jamie> "Subtle? About what?" Jamie was lost. Why was he asking about him being subtle?

<Pietro> "Bringing up the subject of marriage in casual conversation... to see how she feels about the general idea of being married at some point in her life. It might help with the freaking out you appear to be doing at the moment."

<Jamie> "But what if she hates the idea and then freaks out and we get in a fight?" Terror filled his eyes, "What if she breaks up with me?!"

<Pietro> Pietro rolled his eyes, "See, this is the freaking out I mentioned. She's not going to break up with you for talking about marriage as an abstract concept. She might even like that you brought it up because maybe she's wondering the same thing and doesn't know how to bring it up because you're the freak out type."

<Jamie> "Oh..." Jamie thought about that for a moment. "I guess that makes sense. Should I make it like a date to talk about it? Candles and dinner type thing?"

<Pietro> "That would be super non-casual and obvious... just bring it up in conversation like it's just a normal thing to talk about - because it is. If it helps, watch a movie or something related. But relax, you've been dating for two years so she obviously doesn't think you're terrible."

<Jamie> "Oh, yeah, I guess that's true, huh?" His mouth screwed up and then he pursed his lips, "I'm going to go do it right now!" Jamie leapt forward and hugged the professor tightly. "Thanks!"

<Pietro> Pietro managed not to flail, though it was a close call. "You're welcome... please don't ever do that again."

<Jamie> "Ask you for advice?" Jamie was confused as he stepped back.

<Pietro> "...." Wow. "Advice is free... if you're going to hug you have to get me drunk first and you wouldn't be able to afford it."

<Jamie> "Oh. Um. Sorry," Jamie blushed, embarrassed. "I just, I was so happy for the help. I didn't mean to offend you or anything."

<Pietro> "Not offended, I'm just not really a hugger..." he gave a shrug, "Plus I'm not sure on the whole teacher boundaries thing... it is what it is. Good luck with your casual interrogation, I'm going to go back to poking my robot." He did offer more candy as a parting gesture.

<Jamie> Oooh! Piece of candy! Jamie took another one with a grin, then waved as he headed towards the door. "Please don't turn it on anywhere near me."

<Pietro> "It's not leaving this room," Pietro waved back then picked up the box with the remote control. Time to tinker!