Thread: Human Connection [Avengers -- Sprouts & Virginia]

Even if she knew Bruce wasn't looking directly at her, Theresa would have been playing the full game. Of course she could get the tone of voice without the expression but the face helped. It got her into the mindset more, and it was entirely too dangerous not to be doing everything like she needed to while she was in his house. It wouldn't matter where the doctor was, she had to be entirely in character except in the safe space that was her mind. Well, 'safe space' wasn't exactly a great way to describe it. No pain pills? That was a little bit concerning for his work. She had things SHIELD provided but there wasn't exactly a way to get it to him without bringing any sort of attention to herself. If his job was easier it would make hers a little easier, but there was no way to do that. Her eyes followed his nod towards the mountain and she stared at it for a moment before looking back at him. Even if she hadn't known what he was doing it wasn't exactly hard to read some amount of meaning into the gesture. Oh. It was the dejected little sound of someone realizing that her short term future contained a whole lot of pain, and she put on her best ' I'm trying to put on a strong face ' face. Well I'll survive. Probably. Bleh. In her mind she was crafting an optimistic woman who tried not to be a bother and had as endless an amount of positivity as someone could reasonably have, but it was the sort of sweet that rubbed her the wrong way. Being herself usually had a certain set of outcomes and none of those were what she was going for at the moment. Instead she was going for the mask of someone who'd be found agreeable and appealing. His offer got a little wince in response. It already hurts. Screaming was something Theresa didn't much care for anyway. It annoyed her, she hated it when other people did it. She didn't bother to dig deep into herself to find out why, though it would really be less of an excavation and more taking ten seconds to dust something off and look underneath it. It was work she wasn't willing to do right now though, so she didn't. Better things to do than reflect on all the reasons she was a mess. If she did too much self reflection she'd be less effective. Everything got shoved in a box in the back of her brain where it couldn't bother her. it left her more room to focus on the matters at hand. She didn't want tea either. Tea she wasn't actively opposed to though she didn't really see the point because coffee was a thing that existed, but drinking something right now seemed pretty unappealing. She'd need to pretty soon because staying hydrated was important when it came to healing, but her preference would be for cold water. No. No time was left on that answer so that it wouldn't seem like it was a thing to dwell on. He hadn't asked her what had happened, but she should probably get that out. It was better if he didn't wonder. I, she hesitated for a moment, for some reason I thought it would be best to go home. It had been a traumatic event, that she wasn't thinking clearly and instead was seeking the safety and comfort of a place she knew definitely wasn't outside the realm of belief. Human beings were stupid creatures of habit. Someone tried to steal my bag. I should have just given it to him, it was so stupid of me to... she trailed off, closing her eyes again. Pretending someone could mug her was honestly a little bit degrading. She could basically feel the disapproval of the gruff man who'd done most of her basic training. But he'd have been disapproving anyway, she hadn't exactly done well today. Oh shoot, apparently she was going to be someone who didn't like to swear, do you have my jacket? She jolted a little like it was something pressing she'd just thought of, not something she'd been planning for the last second, and then settled back down uncomfortably. My key is in there. People slipping their key into their pocket instead of their bag wasn't uncommon. Everything she needed was in the pockets of her jacket because she pretty much never carried a bag. Purses were a thing that people could grab and yank and use to strangle someone, none of which were things that Theresa was really interested in having to deal with. It worked fine now because she rarely carried a wallet with her while following Bruce around, to make sure that there was no sort of identifying information on her in case something happened. Her wallet should still be in her backpack, which at least meant that if he offered to go get her clothes from her own place she wouldn't have to worry about him finding it unless he went snooping. But she didn't really want him in her apartment so for the moment she wouldn't bring up clothes and play someone who would probably be distressed if left alone.