2013.03.19 - Low Tea

Janet's been a semi-regular fixture at the Avengers' Mansion when not working on her clothing line and the promotional things that go along with it and has been so especially since she went on a bit of a hiatus to relax. The petite brunette is currently dancing through the living room, StarkPod in hand and earbuds in place, dancing as she moves from one side to another. She miiiiiiight even be singing although it's hard to tell just what song she is as she's slightly off key due to not being able to hear herself.
Bruce is a regular here too, but he doesn't generally like to make his presence known. Habit, mostly. Besides, for the most part he's only here to sleep. And to raid the fridge, which is what he's heading downstairs to do now, except there's someone... uh, dancing around the living room. He has a serious moment of indecision before more pressing matters- as in, a full day at the labs with no food. So he clears his throat to make his presence known (except she's wearing headphones, so Janet probably didn't hear) and then proceeds to awkwardly half-scurry across the room in the direction of the kitchen.
The sound is missed but it's like Janet's guy-dar gets pinged anyhow as she turns around, noticing Bruce and his hurried egress towards the kitchen after she does so. "Hey!" Ahem. Indoor voice, Janet. Blushing slightly, she takes her earbuds out and puts them and the MP3 player into a pocket. "Bruce! How are you?" With how excitedly she's speaking and how fast she's scurrying after him she just miiiiiiiight scare the poor man off.
Not sneaky enough, apparently. Bruce freezes and turns around, looking more than a little bit guilty. As if he was just trying to avoid one of his teammmates and got caught. "Uh, hi Janet. I'm- fine, how are you?" Maybe he should just buy a mini-fridge for his room. Wait, no, he's being /ridiculous/, so he clears his throat and looks away. "I was just going to make some tea, would you like some?" he asks. There. Sociable.
Whooops! That was the kind of reaction Janet wasn't wanting to get, his sheepish-bashful demeanor paired with that kind of scared deer in the headlights look has her feeling bad. Mental note: temper enthuasism with Banner. "Tea sounds good, thank you," she replies with a smile. "How have you been," she then asks, that poised while she heads to the other part of the building.
Okay, tea is something Bruce can do. He practically lives on the stuff, after all. "I've been having a hard time settling in," he admits as he steps into the kitchen. Easier to say when he's not actually looking at Janet. He fills the kettle at the sink before it goes on the stove. "I'm still not sure if this whole staying in one place thing is going to work out. Everyone in New York is always in such a rush." It's a big difference from the small villages and towns he's done his best to stick to in the past few years. He's still adjusting.
"It can be hard, I bet," Jan says with a slow nod. Big cities are all she knows but she understands how not being comfortable somewhere can be. No, times like that are few and far between for the social butterfly but they have happened enough for her to be sympathetic. "If there's anything I can do to help please let me know?" Her mood sobered some, this is an entirely different Janet with some of her more-mature side showing through.
Bruce stands at the stove for a few moments, quietly, but watching water boil isn't particularly interesting. And it's a bit rude, considering there's someone else in the room. "Thank you," he says, because it's a kind offer. Not that he's had an issue at all with any of the other Avengers thus far, but still. It's nice. He pulls two mugs out from a cupboard (it'd taken him a while to find everything, at first, and he's still not sure where the plates are, but this is progress) and sets them aside for later. "I think I'll just have to get used to it again, though."
Janet goes and gets a little thing of sugar and a small bear full of honey, those handed to Bruce so he can set them aside while she moves on to the fridge. "Do you like milk or cream with your tea," she asks while going that way. Nice thing about questions like that is that they let one get to learn something about someone else at the same time it helps let the person know what else they need to get. "I personally like honey and milk. Sooooooooooo good!"
"Just milk, please." It'd been a luxury Bruce couldn't afford for a long while, but they're almost laughably affordable now that he's back in the States. It still feels weird using them at all. "That's how I used to drink it, back in college. I try to avoid too much sugar, though." He's never personally triggered a Hulk appearance by getting hopped up on sugar, but there's been a few close calls with too much caffeine, and this is one thing he'd really rather /not/ experiment on. Goes against his scientific soul, but still. "Have you lived in New York long? Even before-" he shrugs, awkwardly, "the accident, I'd only visited a couple of times. I couldn't get used to it back then either."
Then the kettle whistles sharply, and it makes Bruce jump a little.
Nothing turns green, though. Don't worry.
"Sorry," he says, and ducks away to move it off the stove. He forgoes fixing Janet a cup because there's no way he'll get the right ratio, and instead brings the teapot and cups over to the table. "You said honey and milk, right?" He brought those over too.
"Jarvis, the house is practically empty. Go do whatever you would be doing, I can get it myself. I'm fine," comes the voice of Steve Rogers. The mn himself cmes into the kitchen from the hall of the gallery. The door to Jarvis' room shuts after a very reluctant 'Yes, sir'.
"Oh, hello, Janet, Bruce." Steve says. He's dressed in a pair of blue jeans and a simple white T-shirt. He has a datapad in his left hand.
"I was just coming in for a snack, I've been in Tony's off--er the Chairman's office," he adds, pointing over his shoulder with his right thumb even though office in qurestion is on the second floor. "I'll join you."
Getting a mug, Steve slides into a chair and puts both the mug on the datapad on the table.
There's a slight squee from Janet when Steve's seen and she moves in, shrinking and then taking to flight at the exact same time the off-duty Cap is making himself at home. Once close enough to the partiotic hero she darts in to give the tip of his nose a kiss. "Hey, Steve. How are you?" Tea is forgotten for now although she does glance at her mug and the teapot once, a quick glance. It'll stay hot for quite some time so it can wait. "Oh! Look who came out to say hi!" She flits over to Bruce now who gets a smile. "It really is good to see you out and about," she says, fairly well repeating what she had said to him earlier. The winsome one flies back to the tea service and returns to her normal size. "Shall we have some tea?"
It's promising that Bruce doesn't give another start when Steve makes an appearance. "Hello," he greets as he pours himself and Janet a cup of tea, and he's about to offer to have Steve join him when it becomes apparent that they're all on the same wavelength. There's plenty to go around, after all. Bruce likes his tea. There's a whole pot. Steve's mug gets filled as well and then leans back with his own in his hands. "Actually I just came out for this," and he waves his mug a little, but not enough to slosh the tea around, "But I'm not an angst-ridden teenager, I suppose I can't justify staying cooped up in my room." He probably would if he could, but he can't, so he won't.
Steve laughs when Wasp plays Tinbkerbell. "What with everyting at our disposal here and at the Tower, there's no excuse for anyone to stay in their rooms. Even if we weren't in the greatest city in the world." It's a tourism line, yeah, but you can tell Steve believes it. You can take the boy out of Brooklyn, but you can't take Brooklyn out of the boy. Not even after 65 years.
"I'm well, Janet," he answers, "I hope both of you are." He taps the datapad before pickin up his mug. "I've been trying to get organized online. Again."
"Bruce, you do know, that Tony is perfectly fine with you using any of the equipment in the basements, or at the Tower, yes? You don't need to sit around and do nothing until someone is trying to eat Times Square. Not having a life is my job." Steve winks before he takes a sip.
Steve's reaction to her peck has Janet beaming, genuinely pleased that he seems to enjoy it when she does that. That shall be stored away for later. "I am alright," she answers after doctering up her own tea which is given a splash of milk and a very liberal dousing of honey, the mixture then stirred into the hot drink. When he mentions 'online' she grins, her eyes narrowed slightly. "Do you need help with that? If you do let me know. Always glad to help!" The first sip of her tea is taken then and she hmmms, a sound that's one hundred and ten percent content. "This is great tea, Bruce. Perfect! You can make my tea from now on."
Bruce is more of a Pennsylvania kind of guy, but he won't say that to Steve's face. He spends a good few moments adjusting the ratio of milk and sugar in his tea until he's being addressed, and he looks up. "Oh, yes, I've been to the facilities at the Tower, they're," completely mind-blowingly amazing after several years of dirt-floor labs, "nice. I have a couple of experiments running." He takes a sip of tea and even if his approval isn't quite as obvious as Janet's, he's definitely pleased. And also visibly more relaxed already. "It's from India. I used to drink gallons of it when I was in Calcutta. You have to boil the water anyway, so." He shrugs and takes another sip.
With a snort, and a mock desperate hand gesture across the throat, Steve says "Don't let Jarvis hear you say someone else can make your tea." He takes another big gulp. "But , yes, it is a nice brew." He nods at Bruce's mention of experiments. "I suppose it is amazing that there is so much technology embedded in what was - " Steve waves an arm around the room, " - Tony's mother's house. Even moreso ehen you consider Howard Stark had labs doenstairs even before Tony was born never mind outfitted it all for us. But then, the same kind of thing went on under innocent looking boutiques in 1941." Steve is referring to the place where Operation: Rebirth made him what he is today. He doesn't mention the barbershops Nick Fury had 'improved', or a certain deli in Gotham. Some things in his head are on a need-to-know basis.
Whooops. Right. Jarvis! She's still not used to having a butler at her disposal as she has come to think of Jarvis as a friend, not someone who makes tea and butles in other ways. Blushing, Janet looks at herself and then around sheepishly. Thankfully the butler in question isn't around to hear her, causing her to sigh in relief. The men are allowed to talk science for a moment as she is happy to just listen, sipping her very sweet tea as she does.
"I'm still not sure how I feel having someone wait on me. I mean, grad students are different." Yeah, he'd checked around to make sure Jarvis wasn't within earshot before saying that too. Bruce sets his mug down. "I'm used to taking care of myself. His cooking skills probably beat mine, though," he admits, with just the faintest grimace. He glances down into his tea. "There's more tech in the basement than I've had access to in years. It's a little overwhelming, to be honest."
"There, I know how you feel," Steve replies nodding. "I still can't believe all the miracles people take for granted today. I went from television being a big deal, to having all the information in the world in the palm of your hand." He turns to Janet, "I'll yell if i need any help, but I've come along way from 'I think it runs on some sort of electricity'." He flashes that Robert Reford smile, with a mischievous twist."I actually have made online notes for an something I want to propse at the next formal business meeting."
"Fair enough, Steve," Janet says with a grin. "But it is a standing offer. I'm not schooled in computers but I've gotten good at the basics." Her cup is drained and then more tea is poured into it, this time going left unlightened and without honey in it. Like Bruce, giving her too much sugar might not be a good thing to test out. "Speaking of meetings, either of you guys know when the next one's scheduled?"
There's a meeting scheduled? Bruce looks a little clueless, though it's entirely possible someone's told him and he just hasn't retained the information. So when Janet asks when it is, he seems /very/ interested in the contents of his mug. Time to top it off, even though it ruins his tea to milk and sugar ratio. Fixing that gives him more time to not answer. "It is amazing, how far we've come. Moore's Law. I remember when IBM launched their first computer, it was the only thing on my letter to Santa that year. And the phone in my pocket now has more computing power."
"That's exactly what I mean," Steve says to Bruce's observation. He shrugs at Janet. "I suppose as Chairman, I could just call one, but enh. Tony won't show up unless Pepper drags him by the heels so I might as well wait until _she_ tells us when the dragging will be most successful."
Janet van Dyne ohs. Okay. So no meeting yet. Which is a good thing, really. Janet's got a lot on her plate already - her fashion designing as well as several social obligations. Not that she isn't devoted to the team! It so is not that. It's just that her own availability is going to be spotty for awhile and she'd hate to have to tell the gang that she can't make it on a night that will work best for everyone else. "I'll forward you my schedule so you can figure out when you think will be best," she offers.
"I made a reference to floppy disks earlier today at the Tower and the intern working with me looked at me like I was crazy." Bruce takes a sip of tea. "Or maybe that was because he was sharing a lab with the Hulk. It's debatable." Some people have an issue with that. At least the intern didn't wet himself. That's happened more than once. Actually... a seriously concerning amount of times. "My schedule's wide open, if it matters. I'm either at the Tower or here." Steve isn't the only one without a social life to speak of.
Steve nods, "Yes, we should all start using the calendar system. The GPS I'm still not buying Tony's argument that if any future Avenger wants to not reveal his or her civilian name that it will respect privacy, but he swears by it."
Steve blinks at Bruce. "What's a floppy disk?"
Janet looks at Steve from over the rim of her mug at that, her brows arched high enough to be hidden by her short bangs just about. "Uhm... did he just ask that," Janet queries curiously. Granted, Steve still has a long way to go but there are some questions one does not expect to hear in their life. That was one of them.
Bruce stops, mug suspended in the air. First his mouth opens, then it closes, thinning into a line, and then he takes a long, steadying sip of tea. Do not Hulk out in the mansion kitchen. "It's a outmoded form of computer storage media. The predecessor of the CD," he explains. This is Captain America, who admittedly /was/ asleep for 70 years, Bruce needs to be understanding here. "They were popular up until just before the turn of the 21st century."
"Yes, he really asked thaaaaaat, " Steve says, sticking his tounge out at Jan. "Ah, I see," he replies to Bruce's explanation. "They must have had some interesting drive for it, if it was floppy - not like the rigid CD." He pours himself another cup of tea.
Steve doesn't mean it. His choice of words are not intentional. Janet knows this. But the more the mostly-innocent former-soldier goes on the more she finds it a struggle not to laugh or make some kind of joke and she has to excuse herself for a moment. Feigning having to 'powder her nose', the slight figure hurries to the bathroom where she allows herself to laugh and laugh and laugh.
Oh science. Bruce finishes off the last of his tea at that and pours himself another cup just to halfway drain that one too, no milk or sugar. Then he clears his throat and bites his lip. Deep breaths, Banner. Deep breaths. "I think the term was coined because the casing for the original 8" disks were made of vinyl. The actual physical medium is the same as CDs, at least in shape." Okay, now he's putting milk and sugar in his tea. "The way they record and store data is very different though. Magnetic storage versus optical storage."
Pepper Potts actually finished up the last meeting of her workday early -- not that uncommon on Fridays, really, but there are usually at least half a dozen other things to get done before she can truly call it a day. Today, though, no so much. Maybe it has something to do with everyone else planning St. Patrick's Day festivities. No telling. For her own part, Pepper has just arrived at the Avengers Mansion about ten minutes ahead of the weekly grocery delivery, wanting to check the items over personally. Last time, Tony managed to modify the list behind her back, and she had to ask the delivery people to return three refrigerator-sized boxes full of marshmallows, a full bushel of strawberries, and four of the six 50-pound bags of flour that had been included. 
Pepper walks briskly into the kitchen while looking at her phone, then stops abruptly in clear but quickly concealed surprise at seeing others already here. "Good afternoon."
Steve shrugs "I'm just a the average American user. I can't tell the difference between optical and magnetic. I just enjoy what it can do for me, and I'm glad when the people who understand the insides are around to fix 'em." That's why people love Captain America - he considers himself the average American.
"Speaking of people I'm glad are around," he says turning to Pepper with that smile that makes everyon feel included. "Happy Friday, Virgina! Join us for tea time?"
Janet returns once she has regained her composure, her face a bit red still but at least she's no longer lost to helpless peals of laughter. "Oh! Hey, Pep," the executive lady is greeted with. Janet's all about being casual, especially today while she's among friends. "How are you and your boss doing, huh?" She returns to her mug which she drinks out of, her smile easily seen as she does.
The arrival of someone new has Bruce leaving his seat, but only to fetch another mug. "Hello, Ms. Potts." It's only a moment before he has a steaming cup of tea ready for her, placed in front of one of the unoccupied chairs at the table, and then he's returning to his own.
Pepper Potts grimaces faintly, and only for a second when Steve greets her by her proper first name. "Please call me Pepper, Steve. And I'll gladly join you for tea time, after I make sure the grocery delivery is correct." She smiles at Janet's friendly and casual hello, then when Dr. Banner gets a cup of tea ready for her, she can't do anything other than relent. "Thank you," she says as she steps over and settles into the chair. She takes a sip of the tea and her eyebrows go up promptly. "This is really good. What is it?"
Inclining his head and raising his mug to Pepper, Steve says "I'll make you a deal, I'll call you Pepper except the first time you come into the room and I say hello, or if I'm introducing you formally. After that, for the rest of conversation it will be Pepper." He shrugs. 'It's the way I was raised, I can't help it." He turns to the Wasp. "Same deal with you - 'Jan'. Ok?" He looks back and forth at the two ladies.
"Jan works for me." It goes back to the whole casual attitude she keeps about herself. "It is my name after all. But when you feel the need to be all formal, please feel free." There is a jar full of cookies that she forgot and Janet goes to fetch it, the container opened and then offered around, starting with Bruce. "But really? I think we're family-like enough to not have to worry about it, don't you guys?"
"Darjeeling," Bruce answers. It's imported, and he gets the feeling he'll have to start ordering more. Or maybe keep his stash locked in his room. Okay, no, that would be ridiculous. He takes a sip, and then he's being offered cookies, which are a traditional tea accompaniment, so he accepts with a polite "Thank you." Just one, though. "I'm, uh, fine with being called Bruce? Or anything, really. I don't care. It's fine." It's nice going by his real name, though. No more aliases. It's a definite plus to his current living arrangement.
Pepper Potts simply smiles and acknowledges Steve's conditional agreement about her name with a returned nod. "I think I can live with that." She takes a cookie from the container being offered around by Jan. "Because honestly, I've been called far worse." When Banner answers her question about the tea, she makes a mental note to find out what brand it is and make sure that there is always a ready supply in the kitchen. "Oh, since I mentioned groceries just a bit ago, if there's anything anyone wants, let JARVIS know and I'll make sure it gets added to the delivery schedule." She sets her phone on the table after glancing at it, having asked JARVIS to ping her when the delivery pulls in to the mansion's drive.
Steve laughs when Pepper mentions the AI. "I wonder how Jarvis likes having a conversation with JARVIS. That must sprk some interesting dialogue about name-calling." He also takes a cookie. "So, Jan," he says, "We know Bruce is running experiments, and Pepper is always running Tony - how are things going with your work? I haven't asked since you accepted those advertisment illustrations I did for you." Steve winks again, because at the time Jan didn't know artist Steve Rogers was Captain America.
"Oh. I sent them into the magazines who will be running my ads. Will be a bit before they get printed as the issues they'll be ran in won't be out for a few more weeks." Janet's antsy to see them and this has been a test of her patience. But she's kept busy since they were sent off so it helped, some. "I'll get a copy of all of them so I can show everyone."
"I don't need anything special, but thank you." Then Bruce's phone buzzes in his pocket, and he pulls it out, glancing at the screen. "And my adamantium-48 is about to decay, so if you'll all excuse me," he stands and drinks the last of his tea before taking it over to the sink to clean his dishes. Jarvis would probably do it for him, but that just doesn't sit right with Bruce. He knows how to take care of himself. "There's more if any of you ever want to make a pot. Top shelf on the left." With that, he goes upstairs for his jacket and then heads out.
Pepper Potts lifts her cup as Bruce takes his leave. "Thank you again for the tea." She finishes her cookie and tea unhurriedly. "So, you drew advertisements for Jan, Steve?" She smiles at them both. "Now these I want to see." Luckily, she's accustomed to being patient, so waiting for Jan's copies won't be any hardship at all. She does make a mental note to NOT tell Tony, though, because knowing him he'll hack into the magazine's servers to get spoilers. "When are you expecting your copies, Jan?"
Steve flips a cookie across his knuckles like a poker chip. "The dresses were wonderful. A combintion of modern and classic. Which is why I got the job! I have my originals, Jan's people scanned them to send to the magazine." He looks at the brunette. "Yeah, when are you expecting your copies? My contract says I get a dozen!"
Janet smiles at Pepper. "A couple of weeks for a few of them, I think a month or so for the others. I kind of mistimed the whole process so hoping it won't hinder the sales." A beep chimes from her phone and Janet looks at the text that just came in, her smile widening as she does. "Ohhhhhhhh. I got to go interview some male models for a new run I'm going to be doing for fall! Steve, you'll get as many as you want. But I got to run!"
Pepper Potts moves to stand, picking up her phone and tea cup. "I'm looking forward to seeing them." Then Jan's phone calls her away and she can't help but shake her head amusedly as she goes to wash the cup out and snoop a bit for that darjeeling. "Say, Steve? Has anyone made any dinner plans?"
"Nope," Steve saids shaking his head as Janet runs out. He stands up, eats the cookie, and brings his cup to the sink as well. "Either Jarvis will have the household cook for us, or I can put on a real shirt and go out. Will Mister Stark be joining us?"
Pepper Potts plucks Steve's cup out of his hands to wash it as well. "I'm not sure, though knowing him probably not. Though, maybe if I tell him that I'm cooking lasagna..." She offers the man a smile, then dries her hands quickly as her phone chirps then emits the AI JARVIS's voice. "Miss Potts, the delivery vehicle is approaching the side entrance." 
"Well, that's my cue. You're welcome to come help me with the groceries if you want, but I won't hold it against you if you don't." She knows that that's likely NOT a very appealing offer, so is already on her way toward the aforementioned door.
Dusting his hands of cookie crumbs, Steve follows Pepper out "I wouldn't miss it." As he expected, the delivery men are stunned to see the red-head with the combination of commnding prescence and sweetheart personality actully offering to carry the groceries into a Fifth Avenue mansion herself - where superheroes live no less. When the butler starts to protest they don't what to do and just stand there until the handsome hunky blonde picks up some bags and carries them past the argiung Pots and Jarvis.
"No," he says laughing to himself, "I wouldn't miss it for the world."
A day unlike any other indeed.
Category:Log