2013.06.08 - Aqua-Battle Speedball

Rainy days make Robbie Baldwin a little bored....
Okay, make that a /lot/ bored. Crime-fighting is not all that wicked in a downpour like this, and it's been this way all day. At school, at home, even going for a bounce across town. This doesn't go quite right. His kinetic field doesn't quite deal with all the raindrops, and his goggles have no little windshield-wiper blades on them. He might have to ask Scarlet Spider about that. Another day, though. Preferably one less wet.
And speaking of wet, it's a damp-haired and civilian-clothed Robbie that appears at the door to the Odinsons. He ponders, once again, how awesome a sitcom with that name would be and he'd be perfect for the wacky neighbor he's sure of it. Knock knock.
There's a small delay before the door is answered. Eddie's a little damp to but his state comes from getting out of the shower. In lounge pants and a homemade Sif-logo t-shirt, he's sporting some fresh bruisies and scrapes but nothing too severe. When it registers that it's Robbie, Eddie smiles. "Hi, Robbie," he greets, gesturing his friend inside.
"Yo," Robbie says, entering the apartment. "Dude, can you ask your dad to turn the rain down outside? No one's done an Aqua-Battle Speedball action figure yet so I have no idea how to get around in this mess." He doesn't have any action figures. Let him dream. "But man, what tried to eat you this time?" He does want to hear about whatever adventure Ed's been up to, from the look on his face. "Want me to order a pizza for you?"
Closing the door behind Robbie, Eddie pauses when his Dad is mentioned. At first he just looks confused but then it registers that Robbie means Thor and Eddie smiles. "Oh um, I c-can ask him if I see him today. I haven't seen him since last night," he admits. He frowns for a moment but shakes it off. "Aqua-Battle Speedball?" he asks with a little smile. "With like a lighter version of your costume and flippers?" he jokes. There's another moment of confusion as Robbie asks that question and Eddie looks down at himself. "Oh umm...n-nothing today. I was just um...training," probably harder than he should have been. "Sure, we c-can order some pizza. Would you like something to drink?"
"Anything but water," Robbie replies. "I've had enough of it today." He plays around, shaking his head back and forth rapidly, trying to shimmy some of the water on his friend. "Flippers and hair-soaking action! Dude, that would be so awesome!" He pulls out his cel, and starts auto-dialing the closest pizza place. He plans for things like that. "Eddie, what did we tell you about going to the lion cage at the Central Park Zoo to train? You do, sometimes, work too hard."
Eddie laughs as Robbie gets more water on him. "H-hey, I just got out of the shower. I don't need another one already," he says. "Would you have some k-kind of squirt-gun weapon too?" he says as he heads into the kitchen to grab two bottles of root beer. He blinks when Robbie mentions lions, blushing. "I went and trained with the wolves this time," he jokes.
"Of course I'd have a squirt gun!" Robbie replies, in that tone of voice that really says 'I didn't even think of that!' He has /got/ to get on this Aqua-Battle Speedball thing, and fast! He takes the root beer gratefully, and finds a seat as he texts a pizza order in. "The wolves. That werewolf show is giving everyone ideas, I swear!"
Eddie moves to sit down next to Robbie, smiling wider at the reply. He's liking the idea of Aqua-battle Speedball too. "Werewolf show?" Eddie just looks lost at that. "I was probably training t-t-too hard. I j-just want to get stronger. Better...so I c-can help more."
Waving off discussing the werewolf show, Robbie offers up a nod. "Yeah. Hawkeye asked me about training and stuff while I was on cleanup duty last week. I'm all for it, tell you the truth. Not going to be able to use my powers all the time." He pops the cap on his root beer.
"She mentioned that at a sort of meeting too," Eddie replies, remembering it. "I'm for it too. I still have to ask Sif if she'll train everyone," he would have earlier but well...Loki happened. "Why won't you b-be able to use your powers all the time?"
Here, Robbie leans forward and rests his elbows on his knees. "Well, I guess if I wanna be discreet or something, or if I'm in too small a space where my energy field'll be a problem." His lips purse, and he glances over to Ed. "Also, without my powers, I'm kind of...well, made of suck, really."
"You don't suck, Robbie," the words come from Eddie automatically. He's absolutely confident in the statement and he smiles at Robbie. "You're awesome when you're Speedball or not," he adds with a nod. "And I'm s-sure that with some training, you'll be even better than you already are."
This being why, out of all the team, Eddie is the one Robbie confides in with things like this. His hand traces the edge of the container in thought. "Maybe. But the self-defense skills are a useful thing to have. Unless Thor wants to adopt more of us." he adds, with a wink.
Eddie smiles a bit. "Thor adopting you m-means you need self defense skills even more," he says. "I already g-g-got attacked by a troll and kidnapped by Dark Elves b-b-because of it. And I found out I'm going to have to fight some p-p-people too because they want to test me," he shakes his head. "I d-don't think there'll be any more adoptions for a little while though...since Sif's going to have a baby."
"Oh, you havr got to tell me about all of that," Robbie says with a grin. "Asgard stuff is always good for the best stories." One can hear his brain to come to a complete stop at the last bit of news. "Really? Oh...that's so cool!" he crows. "You're going to be an older brother! I mean, does he get a bottle shaped like a drinking horn? Or she?"
"There's not much to the troll thing but I c-can tell you about when Malekith the Accursed kidnapped me," Eddie replies. He may not think it's impressive but if Robbie wants to hear it, he'll tell the take. He ends up nodding, rubbing the back of his neck. "R-really. And I have n-n-n-no idea about bottles or if I'll be getting a brother or a sister."
Reaching over, Robbie claps a hand on Ed's shoulder. "Dude, you're a hero, you're brave, and you're a good person. You'll end up being the best big brother ever. I figured I'd break that news to you now just to save time. WHen's the baby due? Oh man, and the wedding's later this month!"
Eddie blushes at Robbie's words. "I hope you're r-r-right," he says. "I um...I have no idea. You'd n-need to ask Sif about that," he admits. When the wedding is mentioned, Eddie nods. "It is. Are you going to come?"
"You'll be fine. Besides, you have an entire team of aunts and uncles to help out." An Asgardian infant. Add the Young Allies. That's a feature film waiting to happen. "The wedding of two Norse gods? Hell yeah I'm going to be there. I wouldn't miss this for the world."
"You have n-no idea how relieved I am to hear that," Eddie admits. The Young Allies...superhero babysitters! "Great. Oh man, Asgard is so cool. I can't wait to show you around. And there's someone p-p-people I want to introduce you to."
Actually taken aback, and having bad memories of his first time off-planet at the Rave, Robbie almost drops his soda. "You...really? Me? Um, dude, I happen to make being a screwup an art form, and you want me to go chill with Norse gods?"
"You're not a screw up," Eddie turns that smile of unending faith on Robbie again. "You're an awesome guy and I definitely want you to meet them. There's this girl there I think you'll like too. I think you two will r-really get along."
It can be seen, but Robbie can actually feel the tops of his ears turn color. "That's dirty pool, Eddie," he says, embarassed. "And you want me to meet an Asgardian woman?" He almost hiccups at the end of the sentence. If asked, he'll blame it on the root beer. "Oh...okay. Challenge accepted."
Eddie blinks, head tilting to the side. "Dirty pool?" he asks, confused. When he notices Robbie blushing and hears that near-hiccup, Eddie snickers. "Relax," he says. "I really think you'll like her. Her name is Bridgette and she c-c-comes here to Midgard...err...Earth a lot these days."
This is answered with a nod. "That's cool," Robbie says. "Asgard. For-real, Asgard. Maybe I won't freak out like I did at the Rave." He shakes his head. "She's totally going to beat me up, isn't she?"
"It'll be fine, Robbie," Eddie reaches over to put a hand on his friend's shoulder. "You're n-not going to be alone there and I have faith that you c-c-can handle it," he says. The question makes Eddie jump. "What? N-n-no, she won't beat you up. Why would she beat you up?"
"Well," Robbie says. "I've been doing a little reading up on Norse myth. And they're a very fight-y culture. I'm a lover, not a fighter." There's his old bravado, back again. "I don't exactly look all Fabio-build, here. Hell, I'm not even related to those other Baldwins." Pause. "Which is okay because they're all kinds of broken."
"Other Baldwins...?" Eddie looks confused once again. He then shakes his head and chuckles. "They are kind of fighty but a lot of the myths are exaggerated and some are j-just wrong. Like the myths all say Thor has a pair of giant goats that pull his chariot...and Thor just laughed at that."
"And miss all that fresh milk on the hoof," Robbie says as a counter, but it does ease him and make him laugh. He decides, not then, to ask about Loki and the horse thing. Some things are better off now knowing. "Baldwins. Alec, Stephen, Billy...the actors? I think there's one more. Anyway...so, what about the rest of the Allies. You going to set up this cross-dimensional matchmaking service or what? You could make a ton of money with it."
It's probably for the best not to ask about the horse. Eddie's still slightly weirded out by being related to the Norse Goddess of Death. "I have n-no idea who they are," he says in reply to the explanation about the Baldwins. So behind on pop culture even still. He then laughs a little. "I d-d-don't think so. I don't even know that many Asgardians yet."
"It's all right. We'll figure it out as we go," Robbie says with a laugh.
Category:Log