nextgenerationmarvel | Guy talk, maybe?

Considering what Vincent had put the Avengers through, there was probably not as much clearance as he would have loved.

But at least there were no cavity searches?

Nicky met Vincent at the door and, considering their parentage, it was very good that Nicky didn't have his axe out.

Granted, it probably helped that Nicky was generally one of those pacifistic, peace-loving people.

He was dressed in usual out-of-costume uniform of blue jeans and a white button-down shirt, a mug of...yeah, that wasn't coffee...in his hand.

"Hey," he said, swinging the door to the Mansion a little bit wider. "Long time no see, Amorason. Come on in."

"Hello, Nicholas." He replies politely. "I had some time, so.. I thought I'd swing by. See how everyone is doing. Check if there was anything around the Mansion that could use a tune-up or upgrades."

"Niklas," Nicky gently corrected him. It was a small, but fine, difference. "Everyone's doing pretty well," he then said. "At least, I believe they are. How about yourself?" Once Vincent was inside, Nicky shut the door and looked at Vincent expectantly. "Mr. Stark seems to have everything working smoothly in terms of tech around the Mansion, to be honest."

Vincent pauses, then nods his head. "I'm sorry. That was an oversight." And he really means it too. Names have power. ~~And there's the whole Asgard matter. Gods he envies you so much for having that real background, instead of just stories as a child.~~

"Yes, well..." He folds his arm, as his gaze drifts up and to the right a little bit. It's a tic of his when he's only half talking to the person in front of him, and half thinking out loud. "Stark's a brilliant man, but he's a brilliant salesman. Great engineer that he may be, and a very accommodating employer as well, to be fair, he still sees science in terms of products. 'Don't repair, replace.' I believe is how the modern advertising goes. That kind of repeated refitting can leave gaps in a system over time."

His focus returns to Niklas, and he jostles his bag, a very faint clinking of metal on metal to be heard. "Mind if I take a look?"

He pauses, then, a bit more quietly. "I'd like to do something beneficial for the Avengers."

"No harm done," Nicky said casually. As always, he was the forgive and forget type.

He listened carefully to Vincent, his hand going up to the axe-shaped pendant that he wore around a chain on his neck - the same pendant that actually grew into his axe when commanded to.

No, he wasn't going to take the axe and cleave Vincent in two.

"I really can't imagine Tony Stark leaving gaps in a system," Nicky said after thinking about it for a moment. Dammit, where was Bruce when one needed him? Bruce was infinitely better at this sort of thing than he was. "Look, Vincent, as much as I'd like to say that it's cool for you to actually look around and...I mean, I get it. You want to help, and believe me, that's really appreciated. But after everything that happened last time, I'm not sure that anyone...feels comfortable with you trying to fix things just yet." Fix things as in the tech stuff, or the personal stuff, Nicky wasn't saying. It was possible that Vincent could read it both ways. "I'm sorry."

He stops, and secures the bag on his shoulder, his gaze lowering a bit.

"Everyone's afraid of my magic... no-one wants my technical help... you certainly don't want me on the team...." He says quietly, then picks his head up. "What do people want from me? How am I supposed to solve this?"

He can't even solve his own decisions right now, let alone the reparations.

"It's not that they're afraid of your magic as much as it is that they're afraid of how you wield it," Nicky replied. "No one's saying that you're intentions are bad, Vincent, but...I think that maybe you need to prove yourself while apart from the Avengers. Accomplish something. Show the team what you can do on your own. Use your powers and your technical know-how smartly and responsibly and maybe things will start looking in your favour." Nicky sighed and gently rubbed the back of his neck. "It's easier said than done, I know, but I'm sure you can manage something."

"Well what else is there for me to try and fail at?" He responds, somewhat exasperated. "Thrown off the Avengers, deemed unfit to care for Audhild by myself, and then, to top everything else off... the first person to actually care about me for me leaves."

He hadn't quite meant to blurt out that last bit, but it had been on his mind lately. Well, it was always on his mind, but more at the front of it.

"I'm sorry," Nicky apologized. "I wasn't aware that you'd lost custody of Audhild." Truth be told, any free time Nicky had was usually taken up by his working with Habitat for Humanity. He studied Vincent for a long moment, and something that he never thought he'd feel for a son of Amora welled up within him. Not compassion, because if anything, Nicky tended to have compassion for everyone, but pity. He looked down at his scuffed black Chelsea boots, not wanting Vincent to catch that emotion. He wouldn't appreciate it, being where he was, and the last thing Nicky wanted was to knock the man down by another peg or two.

"Vincent, you're a...I'm not exactly sure what you are. I know you've got tech know-how but...scientist? Is that it?" Nicky shook his head and continued on, "You should know better than anyone that there's always experiments that fail, until one goes exactly how you want it to - or surprises you by working in a way that you didn't expect but was unexpectedly wonderful." He placed a gentle hand on Vincent's shoulder. "You cannot let yourself get caught in a pool of bile and vinegar and tears. Pull yourself up out of it, go out into the world, and make something of yourself on your own. You're the child of Doctor Doom and you're half-Aesir. I know that you have that in you."

He paused, then, and raised an eyebrow. He'd heard rumors of Vincent maybe having a romantic entanglement with that Mira girl, but not more beyond that. "Are you talking about Roxie? Or Mira?"

"No, no, she hasn't been taken away, but... I don't resent Kristoff at all, not him anyway, but.. his presence just still feels like I'm being told I'm not good enough to care for her." Vincent clarifies.

And he'll sigh and nod quietly, because he knows all that Niklas is saying is true and well-intentioned, however much he might want to make some comment.

Although Roxanne being mentioned, even if he started it, is another little twist of the knife.

"I'm talking about Roxanne... I... I could understand her leaving, because she felt she had to. That she'd changed. I took it badly, but I was moving on with my life. Then I heard about my replacement... and... what could I not do for her? What made it wrong?"

He is supposed to be perfect. He is supposed to be one of the smartest people on the planet.

He tries to move away from that bit of personal drama, letting out another breath. "Mira is an entirely separate issue..."

"Okay. This is going to call for some mead," Nicky said after a long beat. He headed straight for the kitchen and pulled out an enormous flagon of the stuff and poured two mugs full of the frothy, tasty beverage. He pushed one across the counter towards Vincent and then took a long drink of his own. He sat down at the counter then and said, "Once issue at a time. First of all, Vincent, you can't look at Joe Rogers as your quote-unquote replacement. Roxie's just moving a different direction in her life, and you can't fault her for that - not after what she's been through with being kidnapped by the Kree and everything. Things like that, they change you."

It was true. Nicky had been quite the playboy back when he'd been on Asgard. The same values he had now and everything, sure, but he'd had the power to hook up with any Valkyrie that he'd wanted, and he certainly had. Having his mother killed in front of him, being locked out of Asgard, that had changed Nicky. He'd lost that playboy aspect of himself, gotten more serious. In a way, he understood where Roxie was coming from.

"Nothing made you wrong, Vincent. Believe me, I've known Roxie most of our lives. She's got all kinds of second and third chances in her. Something serious must have happened to her to make her change her outlook on life. This literally has nothing to do with you and everything to do with her."

Vincent follows along, but ends up stopping in his tracks when Nicklas pushes the mug across the counter to him. He stares at it intently for a minute, before just looking away. He doesn't push it back. Not yet.

Does recovering from a bad spree of self-medicating really mean he can't ever have a drink again?

"I just... I still love her. I can't help feeling I should have been able to change along with her, so we could still be together. More than that, I failed right from the start with letting her be kidnapped and not being able to save her by myself.

She's happy now, and I'm happy for her, really, but.. how do I forgive myself for... for..."

He clenches his jaw and flicks his wrist, and Roxanne's face, called from his memory, shimmers into view.

"After the Kreenapping, all I had was regret and darkness, I didn't think I'd ever smile or be happy again. Joe is changing that. He's bringing that light back into my life again. Things aren't so heavy when he's around and - I'm sorry, I know you really don't want to hear this--" He flicks his wrist again and the image vanishes.

"I just don't know where to draw the line between not giving up hope and not moving on with my life."

Especially with there possibly being a new option.

Vincent didn't know at what point he had reached for the mug, but he was holding it between his hands now.

"Do you think... do you think it's right to try to be with someone if you know you're still in love with someone else? I've done more than enough wrong to more than enough people already, I don't want to make any more mistakes."

"To be fair, you probably didn't let her be kidnapped any more than you let Bruce be kidnapped," Nicky said. "It was out of your hands. And I get it - you wanted to be there to protect her and to save her. Perfectly understandable." He took another long drink of the mead. "But you were not at a fault here, and there is nothing to forgive yourself for. Even Roxie herself didn't blame you for being kidnapped. Vincent, you guys are heroes. Champions. Avengers. Well, you know what I mean. Things like this, like it or not, are bound to happen, and you cannot hold yourself accountable when the woman you are or were dating gets thrown into danger. I get it, everyone wants to be the hero, but you need to realize that, at some point, powers or not, someone else ends up the hero. And beating yourself up about it i going to do nothing to fix it."

Nicky shifted around in his seat and licked his lips. "I think you're already at the point where you aren't moving on with your life, Vincent. Pulling up images of Roxie, wallowing in some form of self-pity because she moved on..." Nicky shrugged. "This isn't healthy for you, and it's not going to help you achieve whatever it is that you need to for the Avengers to take you back."

And as for that last question... "I think that the next person you date should be someone who you aren't trying to have a long-term relationship with. You're on the rebound, to use a Midgardian term. You need something fun, casual, and not emotionally heavy. Though that might be difficult because you seem to be a very emotionally-heavy guy." A result of being the son of his mother?

Maybe.

He certainly doesn't feel lightly, about anything.

"My whole life.. I had direction. Whether laid out by Mother, by Doom, or by myself... and now, the only thing I can think of that I want.. doesn't want me. And that's... I have to learn to be fine with that." His hands are still on the mug.

"I.. there is someone. Mira's nice. mart. Pretty too. Not sure what her interest in me is... besides the obvious." He makes a gesture to himself. Even crippling unease and shattered self-worth can't suppress quite all that ego.

"Name one of us superheroic kids who isn't good-looking Vincent," Nicky said, point-blank. "That's not an accomplishment. Almost all of us were blessed in the genetic department. Looks and powers." Granted, Nicky's case was different, his being a god and all, but the argument stood. Bruce, Roxie, Jay, Alexa, and the others - they'd all won the good-looks lottery.

"How long have you been seeing Mira?"

"I haven't been. We're just friends. I think she might be interested in dating, though. Possibly other activities."

As he goes into analytical mode, he seems to even out a little bit. He's not holding the mug as tightly, but he's still not drinking either.

"Maybe take her out and see where it goes? But don't get serious about it, Vincent. You need something to heal from this emotional upheaval, but not get invested in another emotion-heavy thing. If things go south...you may not be able to deal with it."

"I'm aware." He mutters, fingers drumming on the mug. "That is high among the reasons I'm hesitant to enter another relationship while I still have feelings for Roxanne."

He picks his head up, looking at Niklas with a shrug. "I just... I don't have any frame of reference for this. Roxanne was my only romantic relationship, and the first time I ever saw any merit in putting someone else's needs before my own."

"Your...wait. Roxie was your first?" Odin's teeth, that changed a lot. "Vincent. You're the son of Amora. It shouldn't be in your blood to be this hung up over someone. Unless this obsessiveness is coming from the part of you that's all von Doom." He refilled his mug of mead and took another long drink. "No wonder you'll still hung up on this like a kid whose lost his favourite teddy bear."

Vincent's grip on the mug tightens again. "I am not. My. Parents." He says sternly.

"Aside from a friend with benefits, Roxanne wasn't just my first. She was my only. I was dating a demi-goddess. Being interested elsewhere at the time really seemed like it would have been a step down."

"Hold on," Nicky said, putting his hands up. "I'm not saying that you are your parents. But we all share some aspects, some quirks with our parents. Look at me, for instance. I could have arrived on Earth and just been Niklas Thorson of Asgard. Most gods would have done just that. Instead, I'm Nicky Blake, son of Dr. Donald Blake, of New York - just like how my father used to disguise his identity in the earliest of his days on Midgard."

He shook his head. "I know, Vincent. Roxie was something special. Believe me, everyone who grew up in Avengers Mansion is aware of that. Like it or not, she was the first something-or-other for a lot of guys. Crush, kiss, love. Something. But, tell me, because you brought it up. Would being interested in anyone have been a step down because she was a demi-goddess, or because she was Roxie Danvers?" It was a small, but important, distinction.

"Sorry... habit." Vincent sighs.

He gives Niklas an incredulous, but not harsh look, tilting his head down and raising his eyebrows.

"I would have just as happily said 'goddess', but I'm too particular about accuracy for that." He smiles softly. "Roxanne could have been anything; goddess, mutant, human, Inhuman, Eternal, Deviant... and she still would be what she is to me."

Even if it hurts, he still smiles when he thinks of her. Sometimes, a lot of the time, he just feels sick at the same time.

"God's teeth, but you have it bad," Nicky said. "Vincent, you need to snap out of it and move on. i know that you may not realize it - and maybe you do, I'm not sure - but all of this wallowing and clinging on to someone who's moved on? It makes you seem a little pathetic." He paused. "That's unbecoming for someone who's even a little Asgardian."

"I know... and I want to. I just don't know how."

And excuse him for growing up on Battleworld, and never getting to get in touch with his heritage. Hmph. He lifts the mug off the table, then puts it down again.

"Any suggestions, besides asking Mira out?"

"Honestly? No clue. I've never been dumped before." Probably not what Vincent wanted to hear, but let's be honest. Nicky was next in line for the throne of Asgard. He was the son of Thor. Back on Asgard, no one in their right minds would have broken up with him.

"But I think that you do need some sort of closure on this, with Roxie. You've obviously already spoken to her, but you don't seem to have gained the closure you need to move on." After another drink of mead, he added, "Also? Throw yourself into something. Work, a project, take up a hobby - anything that might focus you and help you move on so that she's not occupying your every thought. Find something else to give your life meaning."

At that, the handle on the mug gets crushed in Vincent's grip, but he doesn't say anything. He mutters something that might have been an apology, or might have been 'screw you, Niklas'.

"On that, I don't have a clue. Again, no frame of reference. I haven't been dumped before either. If she's happy, then I'm happy for her, but I don't really know what else to look for."

He sits back, thinking. "I've got school... and work.. of course taking care of Audhild gives me immense joy, but.. nothing else seems to gain traction. That's part of why I was trying to make another go at reparations with the Avengers." He stops to think again. "I haven't done any magical experiments in a while.. haven't really had a safe place for them."

Edited 2014-03-13 14:57 (UTC)

"Well hey, first experiences for everything, I suppose," Nicky replied, letting Vincent's little wayward curse roll off of his shoulders. The guy was going through a lot. Nicky understood that perfectly.

"Maybe you need to stop looking and just let things be?" Nicky asked. "I mean, if the stories I heard are right, you weren't exactly looking for Roxie the night you two met. Things just happened, and eventually, one thing led to another." Gossip travelled fast in their small circle, and when Nicky had been banished from Asgard, Sofia Strange had been quick to fill Nicky in on all the gossip he'd missed out on while gone.

"Like I said, with the Avengers, you're going to need to go out and prove yourself. Show us that you can use your powers wisely and responsibly, prove that you can be part of a team instead of trying to be the best one on the team." Because, at least to Nicky, sometimes when Vincent tried to use his powers to do everything, it felt was though Vincent was trying too hard to prove himself or something.

He killed/attempted to kill his father and take over the world. He's got a certain deficit of character he's trying to come back from.

Honestly... 'Malefactor'. What was he thinking?

He can't help but laugh at himself, just a little. "Trying to prove myself was what started this whole banishment... but I understand the distinction you're drawing."

A slightly more awkward pause.

"I don't suppose... you'd be interested in a double-date? If Mira says yes, I mean. Are you seeing anyone right now?"

As miserable as he is, he's not going to hold anyone else's happiness against them. Really.

Edited 2014-03-13 15:09 (UTC)

"Between the Avengers and Habitat for Humanity, I haven't really been dating all that much," Nicky said, honestly. "No one's really caught my eye yet, and I'm not really looking for anyone just yet." Which wasn't to say that he hadn't had dates and that he hadn't had...more than dates. He had. But all of it was nothing serious, and that had been understood in advance each time. After all, this wasn't Asgard. He wasn't going to have girls here who would forgive him easily if he played them, and he hated conflict anyway.

"Besides, you don't need the awkward sort of cushion that I would provide, Vincent. Just. Be yourself. If she likes it, then great. If not, then there are other maidens out there."

Vincent sighs, but nods in understanding.

"I'm reasonably sure I'm overthinking this... I just.. I really need something to go right." He confesses.

"Thank you for your help, Niklas." He works a minor mending spell to repair the mug, then pushes it towards him.

"You're reasonably sure you are. I'm absolutely positive that you are," Nicky chuckled. He nodded and stood up, collecting Vincent's mug. Noticing that he hadn't taken a single sip of the stuff, Nicky shrugged and downed the whole thing.

"Look, I know that you and I have never been close for whatever reason, but you ever need someone to talk to, well. You know where I live." He couldn't help but reach out to Vincent that way. Even if he was from another dimension, Vincent still had ties to Asgard. To Nicky, that meant something. "But good luck, Vincent Amorason. I hope you find what you're in search of."

"Right now I'd settle for knowing what I'm searching for." He extends a hand to Niklas after the other finishes his drink.

Nicky took Vincent's hand and shook it firmly. "Give it time. It'll come to you." That was really the best advice he could give for the situation.

Vincent nods, and a reasonably comfortable silence hangs for a moment or two.

"...want to watch some football?"

Nicky blinked. Vincent didn't really strike him as the football watching type. Then again, maybe the guy just needed some company? That, Nicky understood. He took a quick peek at his watch - he didn't have anything going on until late afternoon, so he certainly was free.

"Yeah, alright," Nicky nodded. Why not?

Vincent grins, checking his watch.

"Excellent. There's a Japan v. Brazil game on in about half an hour. Want me to make a run for sushi? Or whatever takeout. Most anything's fine with me."

"Actually, I can have Jarvis cook us up a thing of chicken wings, buffalo skins, and fried mozzarella sticks?" Nicky liked his food easy and simple.

He also wasn't big on the sushi thing.

"He actually knows how to make sushi, too."

Because Jarvis? Jarvis knew everything.

Vincent nods. "That will be fine."

He prefers more nuanced fare, although in large portions, but anything that makes him full generally sits well.

"Good! I'll get right on that, then." Unlike Vincent, Nicky was pretty simple and easy going when it came to food. The basics was really all that he needed, as long as he had a good, strong mead to wash it down with.

And while he was locked out of Asgard, he'd still been able to find ways to get his hands on the really good stuff.

A short while later, the boys are comfortably rooted to the couch. Piles of fried food decorate the table in front of them, although they've each made a considerable dent.

Mira walked in behind them a baggy tee over sweats looking very un-rockstar. "I was wondering who was over." She took a swig of the beer she had snagged while in the kitchen. For once, Lucifer wasn't over her shoulder. Though wrist was in a brace and she was sporting some bruises, one on her cheek, the other peeking out from her shirt collar.

"Hey Vincent." She leaned against the back of the couch. "So, we get to see you around here more often? Or a one time pass?"

"Oh, hello-- Mira!" Vincent's tone shifts abruptly as he takes stock of her injuries. "What, or who, happened to you?"

He offhandedly gestures to Nick, a soda in his hand. "Oh, nothing much. Just... guy stuff."

Mira laughs a little. "Vamps were messing with a girl downtown, I went to help minus my bike. Really I'm fine nothing broken just bruises." She wasn't too worried about it. "Just means heavier on the makeup when I go out." She moved around the couch deciding to take up a spot on the floor in front of Vincent.

"Guy stuff? That ends in snacks and sports, sounds like the usual, if you two were girls it would be dome sappy romcom and chocolate ice cream I bet." Hey she could tease both of them.

"We decided it was high time the two of us got to know each other," Nicky said before he inhaled an entire chicken wing, sans bone. "Since we have Asgard in common," he added. "Vampires? See, this is why I love Midgard. There's always something interesting happening!"

"I hope the vampire looks worse." Vincent comments, liberally applying sour cream to a potato skin, before taking it in two bites.

Guy talk, maybe?

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Gametime (open to all Avengers!)

Re: Gametime (open to all Avengers!)

Re: Gametime (open to all Avengers!)

Re: Gametime (open to all Avengers!)

Re: Gametime (open to all Avengers!)

Re: Gametime (open to all Avengers!)