memeboxing

[fe_male]

Comments

[fe_male]

Water under the charred remains of that particular bridge. Never do things by halves.

[motherofnemesis]

All in or nothing? [ Shifting again, restless. ] It's a good policy.

[fe_male]

Something wrong?

[motherofnemesis]

It's been half an hour, right? Can I get up now?

[fe_male]

[ Considering. ] Slowly. And you can't trick me if it didn't work right - although, I mean, it will, because I made it - but don't even try it anyway.

[motherofnemesis]

You wouldn't give that warning if you didn't think I could. [ She's just saying. And pulling herself into a sitting position, carefully keeping her face smooth in case of any pain. ] Not that lying down with you isn't very nice, I just. [ Shrug. ] I don't like medical looking places. Or staying still when there's danger.

[fe_male]

I could just be trying to save you the effort of an inevitable failure, given your weakened state, currently. [ Who knows.

But that's fair enough. He helps her up a little bit, where he can, and then sits up with her and swings his legs over the edge of the bed. ] How is it?

[motherofnemesis]

I'm not weakened. [ A retort that doesn't hold a lot of truth in it, but she felt the need to make anyways.

She puts out her hand to his shoulder to help support her as she slides off the slide of the bed, then pulls it away to stand firmly on her own two feet for a little bit, silent. ] Not bad. I mean, I think my ratio of not bad is skewed, but this is pretty okay.

[fe_male]

[ Yeah it's okay, he was expecting that response. It's probably just continuing to poke the wounded bear, the smirk he makes, but he still doesn't really care. ]

'Pretty okay' does not actually explain things very well. [ But it's cool, he's trying to look at it himself, ducking and tilting his head, eyes narrowing to track how she's moving with it, how well it seems to be holding. ] Especially with a skewed starting point.

[motherofnemesis]

[ That is a much worse bedside manner than he had before. ]

It explains it perfectly fine. I'm not going to fall over, it hurts at an acceptable level, I'm pretty okay. [ But she takes a few steps to the side and back at an angle that he can see, then stands still for him to examine it. ] I mean, I'm exhausted and eventually I'll crash, but I don't feel that bad. Promise.

[fe_male]

[ He's not totally satisfied with her self-report until he's finished looking at it in depth. Not having to get up and examine it physically, but vetting it with every sense he's got. When he determines that a. it is working, and b. okay cool she wasn't lying about it working, he finally chills it out and looks back up at her, no trace of further examination on his face. Actually he looks suddenly very tired, and pleased, and just. If there's an expression specifically for someone whom you had just thought might be dying about two hours ago actually walking around being totally okay, that's the one he has. ]

Good.

[motherofnemesis]

[ It's okay, she might not quite enjoy being looked at so thoroughly but she knows the tension that runs just under your skin when someone you care about is in danger and she knows she matters to him enough for that to have been worrying. She doesn't even want to think about how she'd feel right now if it had been him instead of her. That's a good expression to be a result, though, and she sort of smiles back, shuffling back over to lean her head on his shoulder for a moment. ]

All good. Let's go somewhere more comfortable.

[fe_male]

[ He just breathes a little bit, letting the moment happen. ] Can you walk to your room?

[motherofnemesis]

[ She listens to that, him breathing, and it's nice. ] I'm a superhero, I can do anything.

[ More seriously, pulling back a little. ] Yeah, I think I can.

[fe_male]

Wow, hearing that from you I suddenly realize that face you make every time I say it. [ But regardless, he lets her pull away, stands up fully himself. Okay then, let's go. ]

[motherofnemesis]

Maybe you'll stop saying it now, that would be new. [ Blinking, a smile for a moment, and then she turns and starts heading towards her room, a little stiff and slower than normal but fairly determined to do this on her own two feet. ]

[fe_male]

Yeahhhhh, I doubt it. [ Following her down the hall, towards her room, not necessarily a test but at least walking her over there just in case. She seems mostly okay. At the point to which he seems to have stabilized her, she's probably okay. He's seen her shrug off much worse in the past.

But he follows her all the way to it, whenever they get there. He's not planning on veering off at any point and going somewhere else. ] Pain's okay? You'll be able to sleep?

[motherofnemesis]

Your learning curve needs improvement. [ If he didn't walk her over there she'd probably follow him instead tbh. She doesn't have a lot of interest in sleeping, because she knows it won't go well because of how injury experiences tend to go - they stir up bad memories and things she doesn't like thinking about. But she does need to. ]

Pain's fine. I can barely feel it, I'll be able to sleep. [ Hesitation, because she doesn't want him to go but if she's going to try to sleep then she might not want him around for that for the simple fact that watching someone else sleep badly is unpleasant. ] Do you know if they found them yet?

[fe_male]

My learning curve is phenomenal, thanks.

[ It's cool he's not totally sure he's that keen on leaving her here himself anyway, he just figured she'd be more comfortable sleeping in her own bed. Maybe not. ]

Most of them. I was reading a feed in the other room. [ Another pause, because... Pause. ] I might stay. Look at it throughout the night, you know. Make sure it actually continues to hold up properly and isn't just a temporary 'fixed for four hours' thing. Chemistry can be tricky. [ Well, it can be, just usually not for him. It's a pretty thin excuse, but it's one that either of them can grab onto to save face. ]

[motherofnemesis]

Then stop saying being a superhero means you can do anything.

[ Spirit in it, if tired sounding.

And that's an excuse she'll go ahead and seize on, because she doesn't really want him to leave at all. She'll sort out her shields carefully, that's all, make sure she's tied everything down. ] Yeah? That sounds like a good idea. Guardian angel and all that.

[fe_male]

[ Ow, okay. ] Just for future reference, next time you want to teach me something, you don't quite need to go all out with it.

[ Well, no, she probably does, but not like this, okay. This is bad. But, he's quite pleased she chose to take the excuse. ] Do you want to like, take a bath or a shower or change first? I can... leave and come back, or you know, help in a totally guardian-type fashion, or if you're tired, I mean, it doesn't matter, it's up to you.

[motherofnemesis]

I'm just taking the learning opportunity in hand. [ Please Tony she always needs to go all out to teach you something, this is a constant.

But yes she does agree that this is perhaps taking that a little far, if it had been on purpose. Also she's just realizing that getting undressed might be a little difficult, and that there's blood on her clothes, and sleeping like that would be unpleasant. ] Shower - bath would be good, but I might need some help with clothes. [ The rest she can probably figure out for herself, and if not, well, she's both too proud and too independent to ask for help getting clean. ]

[fe_male]

[ Yeahhhhhhhh, it is. ]

So. You get out of as much as you can and like, shout, or should I just help you out from the start? Hey, JARVIS: Bath, Gibson, normal-to-hot temperature. Thanks buddy.

[motherofnemesis]

I don't think I can work my shirt or bra at all, so maybe from the start. [ Pants are a little bit easier, and she's just going to go ahead and start unbuttoning those so she can step out of them. Tony's seen everything of hers anyways, if right now in the light of day and this whole incident her scars look too obvious to her. ] Thanks JARVIS.

[fe_male]

Okay, yeah. That works. [ Normally he's totally cool with helping her out of her clothes, but this is because she's injured and she's not in immediate danger anymore, so the parameters are all weird. ]