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]

"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]

"They kick me out, I send Mom over to cook a meal for them. She'd do it, too. She hates it when I pout. Bruce and Marcus would never let me live it down." He doubted a pet was as bad as naked Hulk pictures to get them to drop it.

He scratched his head. "So, split up or work together to cover the same rooms more quickly?"

[mocking_you]

"They won't kick you out. I'll shoot them if they do." She grinned.

Susan pondered for a second. "Work together? He might react badly to seeing me by myself. He knows you, though."

[lil_hulk]

"Just shoot them so they stay in place while Mom murders the kitchen," he advised sagely. Anyone who even remotely liked their kitchen did not want Jen Walters doing anything other than nuking food in it.

"Okay. Then forward h-mm. Yo. No easy jokes with yo. Forward yo."

[mocking_you]

"You'd be back in no time. Jarvis loves his kitchen. Jen wouldn't even have to crack one egg."

Susan snickered. "Should we link arms and skip down the hallway singing?"

[lil_hulk]

Jay's eyes narrowed slightly as he considered SuuuUUUUuuuusan's question with all due seriousness. "Nah. I haven't introduced Boo to Broadway yet. He might react badly. Also, there's no wizard here to be off to see."

[mocking_you]

"There's a Jarvis? He's a wizard in the kitchen. Kinda counts."

[lil_hulk]

"Is he at the end of the yellow brick road?" It was a valid question as Jay peered around corners and tried to look around furniture to find his missing pet.

[comic_awareness]

Bruce rounded the corner to see Jay and Susan searching for... something.

This couldn't possibly be good.

"...Do I want to know?"

[lil_hulk]

Jay stopped and pointed. "You are not Boo. Too tall and not furry enough."

Well, all the Avengers were going to find out about Boo at sometime. At least they would know they weren't Jay's Boo.

[vincent_amora]

And there will be a crash from the front hall, accompanied by a slurred yell. Something about someone being sent back to the Kree as a wallet.

[mocking_you]

"Uh...guys? I think I might have an idea where Boo is."

[comic_awareness]

Face, meet palm.

"...I just know I'm not gonna like what I see when we go check this out."

[lil_hulk]

Jay wrinkled his nose. "That does not sound like Boo. It sounds like something many times more unpleasant. If it's not Boo, Bruce has to take care of it. Right, Susan?"

Ever looking for a way not to deal with drunks, Jay was going to offer his partner-in-search a way out, too. The fellow Stooge came too late to the party.

[vincent_amora]

When they make their way to the hallway, they'll find Vincent, looking horrible and disheveled. A mostly empty bottle of peach brandy is clutched in one hand as he's on the floor, sitting against a wall.

"The furry thing tried to kill me..." He comments. "Good morning."

[comic_awareness]

"I'm... pretty sure it's mid-afternoon," Bruce said, for lack of anything else to say.

His eyes narrowed as they fell on the bottle.

[asgardian_angel]

"There's nothing wrong with a drink in the afternoon, as long as you're strong enough to handle it," Nicky said, coming from the opposite direction. He'd actually seen Boo scamper his way, after supposedly having attacked Vincent, but since the furry ball of cute hadn't seemed to be harmful, he'd let it go on its way. He figured that sooner or later, the space animal would catch up with his owner, if not vice-versa.

"Which our friend may not be," he added, looking at Vincent's slumped form. "So what are we all gathered here for?"

[mocking_you]

"We're off to find the missing space hamster," Susan said to Nicky.

She turned her attention towards Vincent. "Are you...okay, Vincent?" Though he definitely didn't look okay.

[lil_hulk]

Jay glanced over the fallen Vincent, noting the bottle in his hand. "I'm here to find Boo, but if he's taken down a mage already, he's the best miniature giant space hamster a boy could ever want."

He glanced around the room and turned to Bruce. "The drunk's yours. I gotta find me my Boo."

[vincent_amora]

Vincent let out a dry laugh as he staggered to his feet. "I had an unfortunate evening... Roxanne dumped me. I decided to stay out drinking until I could stop thinking about it and feeling horrible.

It turns out its really hard for me to get drunk. I haven't been home yet." Another weak laugh. "I just need to clean myself up before I pick up Audhild from Jarvis."

[asgardian_angel]

"..." Nicky hadn't really been paying attention because he'd been a little pre-occupied with Susan and her beauty. He'd been trying to figure out a way to compliment her when Vincent laughed and started talking.

But he did catch that last part.

"Maybe you should let Audhild be and go rest for a little while, Amorason," Nicky suggested. "I'm not sure it would do for her to see her brother in this sort of state."

He turned his attention back to the others, then. "I saw the space hamster not a minute ago. He went scampering past me that way," he indicated the way from which he'd just come.

[comic_awareness]

Bruce felt a headache coming on. He closed his eyes and slowly counted to ten.

"Okay, you three go look for the missing pet. I'll deal with the drunken demigod."

He was pretty sure there was still some of that Kree coffee for just these kinds of situations.

[mocking_you]

"I could go get Audhild and keep an eye on here, if you'd like," Susan suggested.

Was she passing up getting to eye the hot Asgardian? Yes. But at least this way, Vincent would know that his sister was in capable hands, and that he could focus on sobering up.