Life Goes On And Hides Under The Couch ((Open to Avengers))

[lil_hulk]

After Christmas but before New Years, Jay and May had mutually decided to stop dating. They had drifted slightly apart. It was an amicable split and also half his choice, but Jay was still a bit sad. Though rather than brood in his room as he had done before, he went out and about all over New York City. Distractive outings. Though he made sure if he was with Stooges that the girlfriends were not along. He didn't want to dwell on being suddenly single nor did he want to feel like a fifth wheel.

Jay had gotten up late today and slogged out to the kitchen. When got back to his room, he noticed his door still open. He slapped a palm to his forehead and grunted.

"Crap. Crapcrap. Crapcrapcrap." The miniature giant space hamster, otherwise known as the pet he had that no one particularly knew about, was loose in the mansion. Jay turned on his heel and started down the hallway. He needed to find his pet before Jarvis found him and called the intergalactic exterminator.

"Boo," he whispered through clenched teeth as he stalked through the mansion. "Here, Boo. Heeeeeeeeere, Boo."

Comments

[mocking_you]

And Susan would peer her head out of her bedroom when she saw Jay. She grinned. "Lose something there, Jay?"

[lil_hulk]

Jay startled a bit. He was more focused on finding his pet than anyone in his vicinity. "Ack! SuuuuUUUUUuuuusan! Didn't see ya there."

He laughed a little nervously and rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah. Uhm. Lost my Boo."

[mocking_you]

Susan laughed at starling him. "I'm practicing my stealth," she said, smirking.

She raised an eyebrow, folding her arms over her chest and leaning in the doorway. "You lost your...Boo? Mind telling me what 'Boo' is?"

[lil_hulk]

Jay winced a little hearing how that sounded out loud. But crazy warriors like him needed their Boos. He scratched his cheek and then pressed his fingertips together.

"Boo's my pet. He's about the size of a teddy bear. Walks around when you accidentally leave the bedroom door open."

[mocking_you]

"What kind of a pet is Boo?" Susan asked. She smiled at him. "Ya know, so I know what to look for when I help you look."

[lil_hulk]

"Boo is a rescue from a Kree science ship that no one else probably knows about. He fit into the palm of my Hulk hand." He might as well come clean now. It would be easier to face the music later. He just barely kept his feet from shuffling like he'd been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

"He looks like a teddy bear with a fleshy mouth and bat-wing like ears. Happy little guy. Black fur with white stripes."

[mocking_you]

"Sounds...adorable. And now, I know what he looks like. Any idea where he might be?"

[lil_hulk]

"Good question." He looked around. "He hasn't been out of my room since I brought him here."

He shrugged and sighed. "I gotta find him before Bruce or Marcus gets wind of this."

[mocking_you]

"Or Jarvis or Uncle Tony. That might be slightly worse than Bruce or Marcus." She laughed, smiling at him. "C'mon. We'll scour the mansion from top to bottom."

[lil_hulk]

While Bruce worked on de-sousing a half-Asgardian and SuuuUUUuuusan went on babysitting duty, Jay went in the direction Nicky had indicated with Nicky in tow. He tried to look for tell-tale signs Boo had been this way, but it was hard to do in a well-kept mansion.

"How fast was Boo moving?"

[asgardian_angel]

"Perhaps not as fast as Quicksilver would," Nicky said as he watched Susan go. Pity. He'd have to get a chance to talk to her alone for a minute sometime, maybe ask her out for coffee.

Did people still ask each other out for coffee? Nicky hadn't really dated since he'd returned to Earth, and that one disastrous dinner with that reporter, Kate Durance, really didn't count. She'd wanted a story.

"But fast enough, I suppose." He turned his attention back to Jay. "So. Space hamster."

[lil_hulk]

"Miniature giant space hamster," Jay corrected sagely. Not that he could read the Kree gobbledygook that had been beside the cage he had freed his ever-trusty Boo from.

[asgardian_angel]

Nicky chuckled. "Yes, because that's not a contradiction," he said. "I don't suppose he actually poses a threat? No crazy powers or anything?" Honestly, with space animals, you never knew.

[lil_hulk]

"Not as far as I know..." Jay hadn't been gnawed on or killed in his sleep. He took that as a good sign. The creature had been generally well-behaved for being cooped up in his room. He didn't really blame it for the escape.

"Though I've been careful with handling him and figuring out what food he eats. Seems to be omnivorous. Likes raspberries a lot." He glanced around the hallway as they strolled down it.

[asgardian_angel]

"You should try a bowl of raspberries, blueberries, blackberries, and strawberries with a goji berry sauce and some crème fraîche," Nicky said off-handedly. What? He enjoyed a good, tart dessert. "It's delicious."

[lil_hulk]

Jay raised any eyebrow at Nicky. "I like to try one thing at a time to see what he likes and what he has a bad reaction to. If I can build him up to that fruit salad, maybe."

He stuffed his hands and his pockets. "So, you like Susan, huh?"

[asgardian_angel]

Jay was perceptive. Nicky liked that. He grinned a bit idiotically at that, though, as he was prone to do. It wasn't like Nicky hadn't enjoyed a good amount of women up in Asgard - he was Thor's son, and with that came some very enjoyable perks - but every time he saw one that he took a certain liking to, he became a little less smooth. "She's beautiful," he stated, simply. "And strong. I like a woman who can wield a weapon well."

The Kitchen

[vincent_amora]

Vincent slumped into a chair, holding his head in his hands after putting the bottle at the opposite end of the table from him.

"I just don't understand it..."

Re: The Kitchen

[comic_awareness]

Bruce rummaged around in the cupboard, finally finding what he was looking for, and starting the Kree coffee brewing.

He frowned. He knew, or at least suspected, the probably cause of Roxie's sudden reversal of course.

"I'm sympathetic, Vincent," he said. "Really. Break-ups are harsh. But this... this isn't the way to handle it."

Re: The Kitchen

[vincent_amora]

"I just don't want to think about it at all right now. This helps with that." He huffs.

"I just need it for a little while is all."

Which is what everyone tells themselves.

Re: The Kitchen

[comic_awareness]

"You keep telling yourself that, dude," Bruce said. He poured coffee and handed the mug to Vincent.

"Look," he said. "A lot of stuff happened in space."

Re: The Kitchen

[vincent_amora]

Vincent takes the mug as his expression darkens sharply.

"A lot of stuff that she won't talk to me about and that apparently I can't help her with."

Re: The Kitchen

[comic_awareness]

Bruce frowned as he took a seat, wondering exactly how much he should disclose. Most of it was in the mission file itself, but he'd also exercised his prerogative as Avengers field leader to lock them except for him and any senior Avengers like Mr. Stark or Uncle Steve.

"Okay," he said. "Let's start from the beginning. Do you know why they took the two of us?"

Re: The Kitchen

[vincent_amora]

He sniffs the coffee and shakes his head. "I don't. She wouldn't tell me, so I didn't press the issue."

Tentatively, he takes a sip. He's not a coffee drinker to begin with, but he's pretty sure it shouldn't be quite this potent.

Re: The Kitchen

[comic_awareness]

"Okay," he began. "Here's the big thing. Roxie and I both have Kree-DNA, in one form or another. The Kree captured both of us because they thought, collectively, we could restart their evolutionary potential."