4/13 Issue: Faking It

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Svartfreja
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4/13 Issue: Faking It

Post by Svartfreja »

Timelined for a couple of days after [Issue]Texts From Last Night.


<Carol> Carol had been working hard to distract herself the past couple of days. It wasn't working. Running routine maintainence on the jet was a good way to pass the time, though, and it made her feel somewhat better. So, she was doing that today and trying not to add anything to her coffee to take the edge off.

<Carol> The jet was still so shiny and nice. She wanted to keep it that way for as long as possible. No scratches!

<Shinobi> Despite the pep talks from Jess - and there had been several of them - Obi was sure this was a terrible idea. He'd been considering faking amnesia or claiming his phone had exploded in a freak accident on the way to the new X-Men headquarters.

<Carol> Carol worked on the internal systems for a while, until she got bored. Then she decided to poke around the electronics because they were more of an issue for her. She wanted to check everything was properly shielded. Just because the nice people at SHIELD said they were, it didn't mean someone hadn't missed something.

<Shinobi> He assumed she would know the moment he was on property due to all the surveillance and security, so he gave a camera a somewhat more sheepish wave than he cared to admit it was and went inside. He was not gonna freak out. Absolutely not.

<Shinobi> Carol wasn't in her office, and she wasn't in her room. Or, at least she wasn't answering the door.

<Shinobi> Well, he'd tried! She wasn't home. Damn.

<Carol> Carol heard her phone notification sound and reached up on top of the jet to check what it was. Then she nearly crushed her phone. After a moment to calm down she sent a one word message 'Hangar'.

<Shinobi> Obi's phone chirped just as he was really debating if he could get away with sneaking off. He looked at it and winced. Nooope.

<Carol> She set her phone back on top of the jet because she didn't want to see if he just left anyway. She was just going to bury herself in work. Maybe also scotch.

<Shinobi> His stomach was in knots by the time he made it into the hangar and he took a moment to look at the jet. It looked... quite expensive. Tony was sparing no taxpayer dollars on this one.

<Carol> Carol saw the shadow of someone entering the doorway from her position behind a raised panel and sighed. She straightened up into view and lowered herself to the ground, "Hey...."

<Shinobi> Obi had to clear his throat before speaking. "Hey yourself." He slid his hands into his pockets and moved a little closer. She seemed... sober?

<Carol> "Want some coffee?" Coffee was a safe subject. She wondered if she should play dumb about the message or wait for him to say something.

<Shinobi> "Sure?" Way to sound confident. "If you're not too busy with the plane. I can always... leave you to it."

<Carol> "Oh I'm just making sure no one slacked off... I can do that any time." She headed for her coffee station in the hangar and gestured to one of the chairs, "Take a load off..."

<Shinobi> There was only one thing that would take a load off, and it wasn't parking his ass in a chair. However, that was all he had. Obi was beginning to wonder if Carol even remembered what she'd sent him. She was kind of off, but so was he, so she could have just been getting a weird vibe from him. Was he the weirdo? Possible.

<Carol> She poured him some coffee and held out the cup to him, "So... are you in town for work again?"

<Shinobi> Obi's brain stalled out at the simple question, his hand outstretched for the cup. "Uh..."

<Carol> Okay so his brain was on other things... which meant he was probably here about the message. She cocked her head on one side and waved the cup in front of him to remind him to take it.

<Shinobi> "Thanks." Obi took the cup and pretended to investigate it to stall for time. Since she seemed confused, maybe he could just play it off? Maybe she really didn't remember sending him that message...

<Carol> Well... maybe he was having second thoughts about bringing it up... was that good or bad? She chewed on her lip for a moment before distracting herself with a sip of coffee.

<Shinobi> He looked at her sideways while he pretended to take a drink. She looked nervous. He felt nervous. Perfect.

<Carol> She sighed, leaning against the table that held the coffee machine, "So... you're not here for work?"

<Shinobi> Shit. His fake drink became more real than he wanted when he choked.

<Carol> She winced at the reaction, "Then... I guess I can figure out why you're here..."

<Shinobi> Obi coughed. "I fucking suck at this, sorry."

<Carol> "Just... talk," she suggested, "If it helps... don't worry about hurting my feelings..." She looked down into her coffee, "It's not like I matter in all this..."

<Shinobi> That made him look up, still sputtering. "Well that's not true," he said, clearing his throat. "And I do worry about your feelings."

<Carol> "That's not going to change how you feel about it though, is it? So just... say whatever it is and then we can move on... or you can just not talk to me again..."

<Shinobi> "That's- of course I'm going to talk to you." Obi looked for another chair and hooked it with his foot, dragging it over. The sound was loud in the hangar. "Sit."

<Carol> She frowned a little but took a seat, setting her coffee mug in her lap and holding it between her hands, "I'm just saying... don't feel obligated..."

<Shinobi> He sighed, finally forcing himself to look at her. "It's not... that. Not really." Rubbing his fingers over his mouth, he winced, then went on. "How long have you, uh, been.... feeling this way?"

<Carol> "A while..." she looked across the hangar at the jet, "I thought maybe it had gone away... hadn't seen you in a while... but apparently not..."

<Shinobi> "A... while..." He repeated the words, trying to figure out how long that might be. Before he was married? Finally, he gave up and looked at her. "Why? And... why now?"

<Carol> "Because it's messing with my head now?" she offered, looking at him again. "I'm worried I'm gonna do or say something when I'm with you and cause a mutual freak out... so I figured I'd do it when you were far away and we could do the freaking out in private..."

<Shinobi> Obi laughed a little and took a smoother sip of the coffee. "Yeah, maybe next time don't make me freak out when I'm driving, okay?"

<Carol> "You read it while you were driving?" She was alarmed for several reasons, "I'm sorry... I didn't even think of that...."

<Shinobi> "Well, I skimmed... then there was rereading... then there was the freak out and some swerving..."

<Carol> She looked down at her coffee, deciding to put the mug down on the floor before she broke it, "I'm so sorry..."

<Shinobi> "It's - that part's not your fault. I just... wasn't expecting that. I should have just pulled over."

<Carol> "I should have realised you'd still be driving..." She put her face in her hands, "I could have gotten you in an accident..." and she'd never have forgiven herself for that.

<Shinobi> "Hey, with my powers... It's more the car..." He was bullshitting her, to an extent, but he was already fucking this conversation up, so it was his best effort. Obi reached over to touch her arm, rethinking it at the last moment, but going ahead.

<Carol> Carol startled a little at the touch but peered out at him between her fingers. "I shouldn't have said anything..."

<Shinobi> "It's... okay." Obi licked his lips. "It was just... a surprise."

<Carol> She lifted her head from her hands to look at him properly, "You're going to try to tell me I didn't screw everything up?"

<Shinobi> "That's... overstating it." He sighed and hated the stricken look on her face.

<Carol> She was not convinced. "It's not going to be the same though, is it?"

<Shinobi> "I don't know. I guess the only difference is I know how you feel." He shrugged one shoulder.

<Carol> She sighed, getting up to walk off the nervous energy. "Which is stupid because now everything'll be awkward..."

<Shinobi> Obi watched her pace and sighed. "Well, right now, I guess."

<Carol> "I wouldn't blame you if you just want to avoid me for a while... lessen the awkward...." She paused, "Or, you know... forever... but please don't tell Hope anything because she'll definitely leave her office to come kill me..."

<Shinobi> "Oh. Oh, we are never, ever telling Hope. In fact, before I leave here we're both wiping our phones, just in case." He laughed nervously.

<Carol> "Well... I'm glad we're both in agreement there..." she pushed a hand through her hair, "But what about you though? I mean... you haven't really said anything..."

<Shinobi> "Well... you just surprised me more than anything else." He sighed, taking another drink to try to stall for time. "I may have mentioned that..."

<Shinobi> Finally, he looked up at her. "I do think you're right... about Hope. You're... a great friend, Carol, and I care about you..."

<Carol> "But I'm just a friend... I know..."

<Shinobi> "Not just, but... yeah." He tried to hide his wince behind the mug.

<Carol> "See what does that even mean? That's the kind of thing my brain will stall out on when you leave..."

<Shinobi> "No, don't stall! I just mean that just makes our friendship sound inconsequential, but you're... a great friend." He was so failing at being reassuring.

<Carol> "Except that I'm still just a friend..." Not that she was expecting anything to change but it was still horrible. "I can't promise this is going to go away..."

<Shinobi> "You... can't help how you feel. If, you, uh, want me to stay away, tell me, okay?"

<Carol> She shook her head, "I don't want that..." That'd for sure make the loneliness worse. "I do want you to be happy though... so... fix stuff with Hope... because there's no sense both of us being miserable..."

<Shinobi> "Yeah..." he sighed, leaning to indicate the chair again. She was making him more nervous with all the pacing. "I keep thinking... things will change." Obi gave a helpless shrug.

<Carol> "It's not gonna change if you don't talk to her..." she sighed and went to take the seat again, picking up her abandoned coffee from the floor and reheating it.

<Shinobi> "That's what Jess said," he sighed, then realized what he'd said. Shit.

<Carol> Carol couldn't hide the cringe. Great. So Jess knew. Which meant Sebastian knew. Argh. Fuck the coffee. She got up to get a more palatable drink. "You disagree?"

<Shinobi> "Sorry. I... panicked. I didn't know who else to talk to..." Obi gulped his coffee. "No. Not really. I just... don't want to do it."

<Carol> "So... you're hoping it magically fixes itself? You realise who you're talking about, right?" She retrieved one of her hidden bottles, dumped out her coffee, and replaced the contents of her mug with scotch.

<Shinobi> "Yeah, but more that I hoped it was a temporary situation than there was magic involved." He watched her with the scotch. "So more self-fixing. You, uh, sure that's a good idea?"

<Carol> She gave him a flat look and took a sip from her mug. "How long has this temporary situation been going on for?"

<Shinobi> "A... while." He got up to get some scotch for himself.

<Carol> "So it's not temporary... you have to talk to her... If you don't, I'm gonna."

<Shinobi> "Nooo, you're not." He spun around to gape. "I will. It's just... Hope."

<Carol> "She's your wife. What's the worst that could happen?"

<Shinobi> Obi blinked and took a swig of scotch straight from the bottle. "It's Hope."

<Carol> "That is not an answer. She married you. She's gotta put the effort in. Otherwise what's the point? Just so she can have you and be the boss of you? I thought marriages were supposed to be equal partnerships?"

<Shinobi> That just made him take another drink.

<Carol> Carol frowned at him, "I'm serious. I will go talk to her."

<Shinobi> "Nooooo. I know you're serious, but just... please. Don't. I will talk to her. I just... one thing at a time. Okay?"

<Carol> "This is the same thing..." she pointed out, "I'm gonna nag you."

<Shinobi> "How is it the same thing?"

<Carol> "... How is it not?"

<Shinobi> "Hope has been ignoring me for years, but this just happened last night!"

<Carol> "To you!" she pointed out. "And if you've left it for years how in the heck am I supposed to believe you'll do something about it now?"

<Shinobi> To him? How long had she been hiding this? "Because I have to!" Obi stopped himself when he realized he was raising his voice, looking down at the bottle in his hand.

<Carol> She blinked at him, "Why didn't you have to before?"

<Shinobi> "Because you're right, and things can't stay this way forever." And if Hope killed him herself, all his problems were taken care of.

<Carol> "Of course they can't... it's not healthy...." she looked down into her mug, "I'd offer to help but I'll probably make it worse..."

<Shinobi> Yes. Absolutely she would. "I think it's just something I'm gonna have to do on my own... she is my wife." He sighed. "I love her, and she loves me, but... I'm not her priority."

<Carol> "You should be..." She frowned, looking up at him again, "What are you going to do if it doesn't change?"

<Shinobi> "I... don't know." He gave her a helpless shrug.

<Carol> "Well... you know where I am if you wanna talk... but I'll understand if that's a non topic between us now..."

<Shinobi> "Thanks. I... don't know the answer to that, either." Obi decided scotch might help and took a drink.

<Carol> "I'm sorry..." she mumbled again, deciding now was a good time to drink more scotch herself.

<Shinobi> "Don't apologize, Carol. You shouldn't have to hide your feelings. There's nothing wrong with them."

<Carol> "Apart from that you're married and it's not gonna get me anywhere and your wife could totally kill me."

<Shinobi> "Yeah, apart from that," he agreed with a shrug.

<Shinobi> "I just meant that you feel how you feel. You're still important to me, and I don't think any less of you for this." He smirked. "Although I could question your taste in men."

<Carol> "But then you'd also be questioning Hope's taste in men..." she pointed out, which caused a realisation to dawn on her and made her wrinkle her nose. She shook it off. "You're a great guy... and if you drink any more scotch you'll have to stay here for the rest of the day before you're safe to drive so I'm going to cut you off." She held out her hand for the bottle.

<Shinobi> Obi tipped his head sideways a bit as his smirk grew at her nose wrinkle. Yeah, exactly.

<Shinobi> Defiantly, he took one more long slug and then gave it to her.

<Carol> "... What did I just say?"

<Shinobi> "Couldn't tell you, since I'm too drunk. Can I cut you off, too? Seems fair."

<Carol> "It's not fair. My tolerance is higher than yours." She topped up her mug from the bottle, "My four year old listens better than you."

<Shinobi> "I'm... older than that, but technically not by much," he countered, the corner of his mouth twitching.

<Carol> She gave him a playful shove, "You need food. Pizza?"

<Shinobi> "Pizza is always a good choice." He phased at the shove and stepped through her, popping out on the other side, again holding the bottle. "Still, no deal unless you're cut off too."

<Carol> "You know I'll just drink after you leave, right?"

<Shinobi> "Let me have a little while without worrying about you, okay?"

<Carol> "You don't need to worry about me..."

<Shinobi> "Telling me not to worry about you doesn't mean I'm gonna stop worrying, Carol. I told you, you're important to me... and to a lot of people."

<Carol> "Only because I'm supposed to lead this team and Tony wants it to do well..."

<Shinobi> "Carol, you have a daughter."

<Carol> "Who I'm not allowed to see without supervision or permission," she pointed out.

<Shinobi> "Yeah, because of the drinking." He sloshed the bottle. "It's not your friend."

<Carol> "Well, it's the only company I have in the evening so it's not going anywhere."

<Shinobi> Obi sighed. "You can see this is a cycle you need to break, can't you?"

<Carol> "Sure... but if I give up scotch what do I do all evening? I'll just sit on my ass on my own being depressed about being on my own so... might as well drink until it goes away."

<Shinobi> "You can work, or fly - the jet or on your own, since you can do that. Learn a new skill or something. Or, try meeting people without being drunk."

<Carol> "I work all day... flying doesn't get me out of my head like it used to..." she shook her head, "I tried that in in DC... I tried being a functional adult and I couldn't do it."

<Shinobi> "Well, try it again. And again. And again... that's sort of what you have to do." He knew she had a million bottles stashed all over, so getting rid of this one wouldn't do anything but annoy her.

<Carol> "What's the point? Nothing's going to change..." She put her mug down and went to get her phone from on top of the jet for pizza.

<Shinobi> "Not with that attitude, for sure." He reclaimed his chair, bottle still in hand.

<Carol> "You don't get it... sooner or later, people figure out there's something wrong with me... and then they leave... or I screw something up..." Phone retrieved, she landed again and held it out to him once the app was running, "Put whatever you want on it."

<Shinobi> Obi took the phone from her with a frown. "There's nothing wrong with you. You've just got some terrible coping skills to deal with the terrible things that have happened to you."

<Carol> "Semantics..." she countered, "My point still stands. You know the whole time I was in DC no one even called me to see how I was? That's how I know no one wants me around. And I wasn't okay. I'm still not okay. And it's lonely here..."

<Shinobi> He was just drunk enough to get frustrated. "And what, you thought I could fix it? Carol, even if I was single, and if we tried a relationship like that, things would have to change!"

<Carol> "I didn't say I thought you could fix it! I'm not an idiot! But at least I wouldn't have to be alone all the time anymore... At least I can talk to you..."

<Shinobi> "You can still talk to me."

<Carol> "Yeah... for now..." she sighed, sitting back down in her chair.

<Shinobi> "None of us are guaranteed tomorrow, Carol." He made a face at her phone, thumbing through and selecting a repeat performance of her last order - whatever it was.

<Carol> "You realise you're talking to someone who is essentially indestructible, right?"

<Shinobi> "Physically, yeah. I know. So you wanna spend forever miserable?"

<Carol> "Of course not... but I can't see a way to fix it... The more I think about it the worse it feels..."

<Shinobi> "Okay, so now we're back to fixing the problem. How do you want to do that?"

<Carol> She shrugged helplessly, "I don't know... I don't know where to start... and I have nothing to fall back on when I screw it up... There's just me..."

<Shinobi> "I can't be there for you in the way you want, but I can be here as a friend, Carol." He rubbed his hand over his face. "So, maybe it's good this is all out in the open?"

<Carol> "How? How is this better?"

<Shinobi> "No more second-guessing? I guess I have wondered about things sometimes... I knew you were lonely, but I was surprised you came to me when you were... upset."

<Carol> "Where else was I going to go? I don't have anyone else..." she looked down at her lap.

<Shinobi> He sighed. "Well, it's not the way you want, but you do still have me, okay?"

<Carol> She nodded, still not looking up from her lap, "I miss Steven..."

<Shinobi> "I know. I'm sorry." He watched her and slid his chair closer to give her a slightly awkward side hug.

<Carol> "If we're going to just be friends, you have to be my Steven now, okay?" She slid her arms around him to return the hug.

<Shinobi> "Okay, I can do that. I'll be the best fake brother I can be." He smiled and moved to give her a tighter embrace.

<Carol> "You need to sharpen your sarcasm... and mock me relentlessly when I do something stupid. Those are the rules."

<Shinobi> "Like sending drunk text messages?" The corner of his mouth twitched.

<Carol> "Exactly like that." She nodded, "Though... full disclosure... technically Rogue sent that."

<Shinobi> "Rogue sent that?" It was enough to make him move back from her and raise his brows. "How drunk were you?" He had to laugh.

<Carol> "We were both drinking... it was her idea... but mostly came out of the fact I didn't want to do the thing... So she wrote it and sent it but I saw it before it went..."

<Shinobi> "Great, so she knows, too. That's fun. Good thing I'm not an X-Man, huh?"

<Carol> "She knew before... we got wasted in her hotel room and couldn't remember a lot of the night before so I let her touch me to access the memories I couldn't... so, of course, she got all the other junk."

<Shinobi> "Sounds like you two don't need to have any more slumber parties," he said with a soft laugh.

<Carol> "But that's my only social life..." she pouted.

<Shinobi> Obi sighed. "Yeah, I hear ya. Visiting you and my folks is my only social life..."

<Carol> "We suck at being real people. We need a hopeless Aliens and Clones club."

<Shinobi> "Aren't we already the hopeless aliens and clones club?"

<Carol> "... Technically..." She frowned, "But that makes it sound like a terrible club to be in."

<Shinobi> "We make our own fun?" Obi put on a cheesy grin for her.

<Carol> "We'll have to try and find some trouble to get into... but nothing dangerous... maybe we can play tag with the portal sometime..."

<Shinobi> "Find some more clones and aliens to go along with the fart demons?"

<Carol> "Sure! What's the worst that could happen?"
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Re: 4/13 Issue: Faking It

Post by Esynthia »

Aww, see, Carol, that wasn't so bad!
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