8/11 Instance: Like A Lead Balloon

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Svartfreja
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8/11 Instance: Like A Lead Balloon

Post by Svartfreja »

Timelined for the same day as [Instance]Stay With Me.


<Jessica> It had been a long time since Jess had felt like doing what had been a daily activity. Now, however, she was feeling much more like herself again and she needed the calm that Tai Chi provided. It helped her clear her mind and she easily remembered step after step. It had been ingrained in her memory.

<Jessica> The rooftop garden was coming along so, like the old days, she took to the roof for this exercise and enjoyed the feeling of the sun on her skin.

<Shinobi> Bored with his homework and in need of a break, Obi stepped out onto the roof with his phone and book in hand. Seeing he wasn't alone, he stopped and watched Jess. Wow, it'd been a while since he'd seen her do that.

<Jessica> Jess heard the door and felt out with her powers to see if she could work out who it was without turning around. "Michael?" she guessed.

<Shinobi> "Hey." He smirked at the super senses at work and stepped out the door. "I just wanted to get some fresh air. If I'm intruding I can go to Starbucks..."

<Jessica> "The air isn't fresh in Starbucks, it's saturated with coffee," she pointed out, turning her head to the side and watching him out of the corner of her eye, "You're fine, though."

<Shinobi> "It's also saturated with fresh baked peanut butter cookies." He moved into her line of sight and grinned. "That's why I like it."

<Jessica> "You make an excellent point... and also now I hate you because I want those." She laughed, "I'm so going in there later."

<Shinobi> "I'll go with you. I have time to decontaminate before Hope gets back." He checked his phone with a chuckle. Yup, plenty of time, judging by her last selfie.

<Jessica> "Hooray!" She laughed again, "I do like sneaking cookies." She ceased her movements and stretched, running her hands through her hair and turning for her bottle of water.

<Shinobi> Jess was perky... this was strange. He smiled, circling her warily. "Having a good day?"

<Jessica> She paused mid sip and blinked at him. That was an odd question. She lowered her bottle and gave a small shrug, "Average, I suppose... why?"

<Shinobi> Maybe commenting on it would be a mistake. "Nothing," he backpedaled, grinning and taking a few slow steps toward her, hands in his pockets.

<Jessica> "... Okay," she smiled and sat down on one of the chairs. "How about your day?"

<Shinobi> He flung himself into another chair and tipped his head back, smiling up at the clouds. "Good. Really, really good."

<Jessica> "Yeah?" her smile grew, his happiness infectious on many levels - levels she'd forgotten about even.

<Shinobi> "Yes." Closing his eyes, he let the wind ruffle his hair and just enjoyed the sunlight on his skin.

<Jessica> Jess leaned over and poked him in the ribs, "Share?"

<Shinobi> "The doctor called."

<Jessica> "And there was good news?" She felt a little jolt of excited happiness and tried to contain herself.

<Shinobi> He rolled his head to the side to give her a grin. "There was great news." By now, of course he knew he was teasing her, but it was fun. "She gave me an idea of my life expectancy... I've only got sixty years or so, so I should get busy."

<Jessica> Jess shrieked with happiness and pounced him for a hug, "That's fantastic!"

<Shinobi> "I'm still in shock, honestly. I thought I was dreaming." He returned the hug, laughing and giving her a squeeze.

<Jessica> She squealed happily and returned the squeeze, "Oooooh we need to celebrate!"

<Shinobi> "Peanut butter cookies seem like a great start..." He grinned and let her go, sliding back into the chair.

<Jessica> "They do! Let me get changed and we can go get some!" She hopped up from her seat.

<Shinobi> "Mmm... that means I'd have to get up, and right now I don't want to." He grinned up at her.

<Jessica> "If I add showering onto the list will you feel like getting up when I'm done? Or should I just jump off the roof and go pick some up now and bring them up here?"

<Shinobi> He hummed. "Well, that second one sounds tempting, but the first one would give me time to do something..." Obi held up the book and held it out to show her.

<Jessica> Jess took it and inspected it, "You're reading poetry now?" She raised an eyebrow, a small smirk playing at the corner of her lips, "Putting those glasses to good use, I see."

<Shinobi> "Yeah," he laughed, shaking the case. "I have been, yeah, but... I've been recording them." He smirked to himself, but found he was no longer ashamed to admit what he was up to. "For Hope."

<Jessica> "Awwww," she offered it back to him, her expression soft, "That's really sweet...."

<Shinobi> "Well, it started because I was scared..." Obi took the book back and looked at it, rubbing his hand over his mouth in thought. "I thought... it would help her remember me..."

<Jessica> Jess sat down again, "That's a really nice idea... but I'm very glad it won't be needed anymore..."

<Shinobi> "Nope." He rubbed his thumb over his lip and looked up at her. "She told me she wanted us to get married..."

<Jessica> "Yeah... Sebastian mentioned that..." She reached to take his hand, "You still want to, right?"

<Shinobi> "She asked me because she thought we wouldn't have much time together. Now, unless something just happened... I don't have an expiration date. The doctor said I've got the genetic predisposition for heart disease and cancer the same as Sebastian, but... nothing from the way I was made..."

<Jessica> "She asked you because she wanted it. The timing may have been accelerated because of circumstances but that doesn't change how you two feel about each other, does it?" She gave the hand a gentle squeeze.

<Shinobi> "No. It doesn't change how I feel anyway."

<Jessica> "I'm sure it wouldn't change her feelings either..." Jess frowned a little.

<Shinobi> He noticed her frown and mirrored it. "I don't know... I can feel things from her, you know. She felt... I don't know..."

<Jessica> "Maaaaaybeeee you're both worried about the same thing and are both being too worried to say anything? Because you do have this problem a lot."

<Shinobi> "Yeah, I know. We haven't really had time to talk about it yet." He sighed and gave her hand a squeeze, before taking it back to run both hands over his face. "Probably over thinking it, huh?"

<Jessica> "Almost certainly," she gave a soft laugh, "I know how much you two love each other, you shouldn't take that for granted. So make sure you do clear this up before you both blow it out of all proportion, okay?"

<Shinobi> He sighed, looking up at her through his hands. "Yeah, I just wasn't sure how or when to bring it up."

<Jessica> "Sometimes it's better just to rip the bandaid off... there's no such thing as 'the right moment'..." she reached out and stroked a hand over his hair. "Don't worry about it."

<Shaw> Tracking their link, Sebastian stepped out onto the roof garden and paused, head tilted, at the display before him. "There's nothing to worry about on such a lovely day, yes?"

<Shinobi> "Oh, hey." Despite himself, Obi sat up a little when Sebastian showed up, tensing.

<Jessica> "Nope!" Jess turned and gave Sebastian a smile, before adding in a whisper to Shinobi, "Except our plan may be foiled."

<Shaw> Sebastian's brow arched and he looked from his wife to his faux son, then back.

<Shinobi> Obi looked at Jess with wide eyes. The fuck did that mean?

<Jessica> "Were you looking for me?" Jess prompted after a moment of silence.

<Shaw> "Indeed." He strolled closer, slowly, assessing them both.

<Shinobi> He was doing that thing again. Obi's mouth twisted.

<Jessica> "What for?" Jess cocked her head on one side watching him, then she remembered she had water and reached for her bottle to take another drink.

<Shaw> "Well, I was just curious what was... up." He smirked at Shinobi, then looked at the sky. "It is a lovely day."

<Jessica> "It's a very lovely day. I was up here doing some Tai Chi..." she gave Sebastian a bright smile, though a challenging look lurked behind her eyes.

<Shaw> Sebastian just smirked at her, standing in front of them both with his arms crossed. "I didn't know you'd taken up tai chi, Michael." His tone was perfectly civil.

<Shinobi> "I haven't. I was taking a break from homework." Tiring of this, he straightened in the chair and met Sebastian's eyes, chin up.

<Jessica> "We were having a chat about how nice a day it is," Jess gave Sebastian another benign smile.

<Shaw> He rather liked it when the boy showed some fire these days. How curious. "Were you?"

<Shinobi> "Yeah, we were." Obi continued to stare at Sebastian, one corner of his mouth curling into a smirk. "Actually, I have some good news to share." He bared teeth in an uncannily familiar grin. "Doctor Maximoff called. I'm perfectly healthy."

<Jessica> "See? Nice day!" Jess grinned. She was being unnaturally perky and she had to stop it because she was scaring herself.

<Shaw> "Really now..." He honestly hadn't heard this news, so the surprise showed.

<Jessica> "Really really! We should celebrate," she was on her feet in an instant, "I'm going to bake a cake."

<Shaw> "You're healthy?" He moved closer to Shinobi, arms uncrossed in his interest. "What did she say?"

<Shinobi> Obi smirked. "Disappointed?"

<Jessica> Aaaaand she sat down again. She didn't want to be standing in the crossfire if this got ugly.

<Shaw> "Why on earth would I be disappointed?" The corner of Sebastian's mouth twitched. The truth was, it was a massive relief, although the boy's insufferableness about it was... well, very Shaw of him.

<Shinobi> "You won't be rid of me just yet," he said, standing up slowly to meet Sebastian eye to eye. "Not easily, anyway."

<Jessica> "He doesn't want to be rid of you..." Jess frowned a little, "Why would you think that?"

<Shinobi> "So I won't further corrupt Hope, of course." If Hope even still wanted to get married now that it could be forever.

<Shaw> Sebastian refused to step back from the boy. He smirked.

<Jessica> Jess stared hard at Sebastian to see if he would take the hint to stop being an ass.

<Shaw> "You flatter yourself, believing you corrupted her." He felt Jessica's eyes on him, but held his ground.

<Shinobi> "I don't believe that, you do." He met Sebastian's eyes. "I know I don't deserve her, but I try."

<Jessica> You did this, Jess pointed out, her eyes still on Sebastian, And it's going to keep getting worse if you don't stop challenging him like this.

<Shaw> I did this? I don't recall getting up and launching into a staring competition. Sebastian tipped his chin slightly. "She wishes to be with you."

<Shinobi> He couldn't read his tone, and it bothered him. Did she? Of course she did now, but for how long? Obi swallowed and looked down.

<Jessica> You know damn well what I mean. Her previously buoyant mood was sinking fast.

<Shaw> Sebastian regarded the top of his faux son's head for a moment, then turned his gaze to Jessica. Do I?

<Jessica> He thinks you hate him. I keep telling him you don't but then you play these games and try to make him feel small... why do you pick fights with him all the time? Who is it helping? Really? She raised both eyebrows at him as she took another sip of her water.

<Shinobi> Obi knew what they were doing now, and he brought his hand to his face, rubbing it. "I think I'll go get those cookies."

<Shaw> He looked up at the boy, then back to Jessica.

<Jessica> Jess sighed and got to her feet again, "I'll come with you."

<Shaw> He knew he should stop Shinobi, should stop them both, but instead he watched them go without a word.
:quicksilver Pietro Maximoff [Quicksilver]

Quicksilver: Howisshe?Isshealright?Imusetspeakwithmysisteratonce.
Hawkeye: What is that noise?
IronMan: That is the noise Pietro makes right before he's tossed out of the airlock. ~ Avengers: The Children's Crusade #6
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