bio_nerd (bio_nerd) wrote in marvel_nextgen,
@ 2013-06-05 02:54:00

Entry tags:

Rad chamber sessions back to the usual?
Okay, so since Josh and his...admission after that whole kidnapping business, Lena had been in full hermit mode. Only people she saw regularly were people helping about in her lab. Considering she hadn't left her lab much at all this wasn't a surprise. A few meetings here and there were mandatory but on the whole she didn't need to do anything but dive into her work.

And yes, she'd been avoiding Aleks too. For his rad chamber sessions one of her assistants had been doing them for the time. She had an excuse, it was easy to say that the extra notes on the serum had changed the game and there was work to be done. It was true but she still could've made time for his sessions. But what was she supposed to say? Hi, an old friend sort of confessed, I'm shit with feelings, I don't know what to do or what this means to...whatever this is between us, what is it anyway? Is this being pushy and asking for something more? Because that wasn't what I intended.

Awkward.

But Aleks was a reasonable sort and she felt bad for avoiding him, she'd been cowardly enough for long enough, time to actually try and talk and make up for that.

So when he enters the room today, his regularly scheduled doctor will be there instead, clipboard and files ready like old times.

"Hi."

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heytheredelilah
2013-06-05 04:30 am UTC (link)

And Aleks, in turn, has been giving her her space. Because he knows he pushed the envelope a little further than she was used to last time they had dinner - so he left it there until she wanted to talk about it. And then came the kidnapping... which came with its own issues.

And so, now that she appears ready, he does his best to not make a big deal of it.

"Hi, yourself." he responds, starting to undo the agent jacket.

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bio_nerd
2013-06-05 04:54 am UTC (link)

She looked a bit more tired than usual, though that was the result of diving headfirst into work and what came with the lab coat. A well rested scientist around here was a lie. Though they had enforced time off after the kidnapping. That had been hell. The time off that is.

"How's the temp been?" Might as well ask, though she didn't doubt the person on the job was anything less than qualified.

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	heytheredelilah 2013-06-05 05:12 am UTC (link)
	He's continuing to casually get down to the comfortable sweats so he can get what little sleep he's going to get, eventually, as they talk, quite comfortable with things being a bit more back to normal. "Not bad. I prefer your bedside manner, though. You doing ok?" it had to be asked, sooner or later. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

bio_nerd
2013-06-05 05:20 am UTC (link)

She organizes some of her files and reading material, putting aside the stuff she'll need later. It wasn't difficult to get back into the routine, it was rather...normal. Which honestly was rarely a bad thing.

"I hear mine is too dry," she says, though the smirk is more half-hearted than usual. "About what?" What specifically was he-oh probably kidnapping right? That was manageable. It was always fallout that was harder. She shrugs and continues casually. "That overseas fiasco? Fine until they mandated time away from the lab to 'recover'. That was just maddening. You?"

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heytheredelilah
2013-06-05 05:31 am UTC (link)

"I kind of like dry. Its... comfortably different." he responds readily, while settling into the reinforced chair for all the blood draws and everything that comes with this.

"I understand. Being kept here as part of intelligence and logistics during a field op was... unpleasant. But especially after the nuclear arms disaster, I understood. Which almost made it more frustrating. As for the 'ok' question - about whatever. Just wanted to let you know, if there's anything you want to talk about, it won't leave the room."

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bio_nerd
2013-06-05 05:51 am UTC (link)

The relevant syringes are already set up, and she takes one for the initial drawing of blood.

"Especially for a field agent I imagine." She pauses at his last sentence before shaking her head and getting back to the task at hand. "Not when I'm jabbing you with a needle hmm?" Though that wasn't a no to talking about something after that task was done. Which it shortly was, though she took a bit longer with going over to process the sample than usual.

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	heytheredelilah 2013-06-05 05:57 am UTC (link)
	Really, that's ok. He gets the general intimation regarding the sharing of information, and that even coming in here took some effort for her. So he leaves her to running the tests. "Let me guess, gamma levels are below critical, but well above ideal tolerances?" (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	bio_nerd 2013-06-05 06:07 am UTC (link)
	Luckily or unluckily the set up is fast, and designed to be, so the answer doesn't take long. "Right on the nose, Agent. Are you that predictable?" (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	heytheredelilah 2013-06-05 06:09 am UTC (link)
	"I've been reading high ever since pushing it at the incident, but pretty calm - so, kind of a guess. I certainly don't feel like I'm about to start speaking in one syllable words and smashing things, anyhow." (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

bio_nerd
2013-06-05 06:17 am UTC (link)

"Good, our budget is only so much and single syllable words don't make for much conversation I'm afraid." She returns to her original seat, this time with a tablet showing readouts. It felt like an awkard silence, at least to her, and she knew this was the point where she was supposed to start the 'talking about' stuff. But she'd never been the type to share about personal issues or feelings or anything in that area, so the silence lasts longer than it should while she plucks up the courage and decides to get things over with.

Lena stared at the screen and scrolled through information idly, before finally speaking up. "So umm...Josh may have decided, after that uh kidnapping thing, to admit certain things in relation to..." She gestured emptily, trying to find out how to put this. Yes, a doctorate and she couldn't just spit it out. "...Well me I guess."

Wow, she apparently could not have made that less clear.

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heytheredelilah
2013-06-05 06:28 am UTC (link)

He spends a moment taking that in, then nods.

"So tell you what, let's get this out of the way early, then we can play chess or talk radiology or literature. I like you. I don't love you, but its possible I could get there if we went that direction. If it was what you wanted, I'd be happy to continue the dinners, and maybe take some downtime together and see what happened. But there's no pressure. If Josh is what you want in your life - I'll be happy for you. If you need to be single until things clear up, do that. If you need someone to go for steak and have a couple beers with and maybe share a bed somewhere no one else is going to know - no strings, I can do that.

I'm a big boy. I can handle whatever comes of things. But I wanted you to know where I was at. I've had my flings and good times - and I'm comfortable with that. I also don't mind the thought of maybe slowly seeing where... well, dating someone who shares my hours, who can talk radiology, chess and literature with me - and outsmart me in half a dozen other things.

So, there you go. Unless there's more guys I don't know about, the guys in your life, to whatever degree, have expressed themselves. Whatever you need - I'll be ok with. If you don't know what that is, that's ok too. You need or want something, now or later... you know where I sleep."

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bio_nerd
2013-06-05 06:52 am UTC (link)

...Not the response she expected.

"I...You're...entirely too reasonable you know that?" There's a small smile there though and it does feel a bit like there's a weight off her shoulders for the first time in...well a while. It's still a bit baffling to process, she's not used to the matter-of-fact manner to be applied to issues of feelings and relationships. It's...refreshing if foreign.

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heytheredelilah
2013-06-05 06:59 am UTC (link)

"And entirely too reasonable is what I'll call myself over a couple beers if I miss out on a good thing." he agrees, with a small shrug.

"But, seriously, there it is. I want you to be ok with things. So, you know, if you want to figure out how to talk more - works for me. If you're trying things out with Josh... it'd be a little self-defeating to say good luck, but I hope it goes well.

If, I don't know... you're not ready to decide anything, but want to try things out and see what sticks... I could always make you dinner... and maybe breakfast, and we can decide later what it means or doesn't."

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bio_nerd
2013-06-05 07:10 am UTC (link)

She can't help the relieved laughter that comes out at 'figure out how to talk more'. "Oh no, not that. I'm afraid this is as far as I've managed to go in terms of...talking more about...stuff. Very eloquent as you can see," she rolls her eyes at herself. And from the slow train wreck that it felt was her initial explanation...she didn't have much motivation to practice.

She shook her head at herself with a small smile as she looked back down at the tablet, though not reading anything off it really. "I...I'm not actually sure what I want but...last option sounds best. As you can tell, I'm no good with decisions on..." Some floundering hand gestures. "...feeling things...since I'm...well...a mess." She chuckles at the end.

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heytheredelilah
2013-06-05 07:20 am UTC (link)

Aleks nods. "Not what I meant, as far as the talking more, it wasn't a cri..." he pauses, looking her in the eye.

"And analyzing more isn't going to help. So alright, since I don't have my doctorate yet, let's play scientist. Take all the time you need to figure things out and figure what you want. No reason to hide out and not do anything til you're there.

Come over tomorrow. I'll fix you dinner. If you're still comfortable after that, stay the night. I'll make garlic scrambled eggs for breakfast. Maybe it ends up something, maybe its just seeing what feels right or doesn't."

One more brief pause. "You're welcome to say no. But I figured I could at least ask, right?"

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bio_nerd
2013-06-11 11:38 pm UTC (link)

She chuckled lightly. "Yes, asking is fine."

"...I feel like I say this a lot but you are far too reasonable. I hope you know that," she teased lightly now that some more of the nervousness was gone. "I don't know what I expected but...definitely not a bad thing this...being reasonable. Though I don't expect I'm going to get any better at dealing with talking about feelings related issues anytime soon, as long as you're okay with that."

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heytheredelilah
2013-06-11 11:50 pm UTC (link)

"It helps to stay reasonable. People have this way of not liking me when I'm angry." he responds with a smirk.

"So, let's not try and talk about it for a while. I'm ok with that. Let's just try and relax for a bit, enjoy whatever this is without screwing it up, and go from there. If it doesn't work out, I'd rather say I tried. So, is that a yes, you'll come over for dinner... and maybe breakfast?"

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	bio_nerd 2013-06-12 12:11 am UTC (link)
	"Shocker," she shot back with a wry smile. "Sounds like a plan I can live with so yes, it's a yes for dinner," she chuckled. "I'm terrible about planning breakfast though." Clearly a tease but it didn't mean anything was off the table. (Reply to this)(Parent)(Thread)

	heytheredelilah 2013-06-12 12:38 am UTC (link)
	He can't help but grin. "No planning needed, on your part. Garlic scrambled eggs. I'm just saying... seriously though, after dinner, it'll be your call." (Reply to this)(Parent)

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