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It's been a day since the events caused by the superhero known as Jewel. Or, as Trish knows her, Jessica. Trish spent most of the rest of the night helping those who had been hurt by the attack, and helping the emergency services people keep everyone calm as they checked each person, figuring out who had it worse off than others. Which means, at least for her, that she didn't truly allow herself process the events, or what caused them, until today.
Having raided the secret liquor cabinet that she's kept for just her and Jessica, Trish has been drinking already most of the day. The Alcohol Brain, of course, made the decision that it would be great if she were to go visit Johnny and the rest of the Fantastic Four. After all, they're fantastic! And being around them is fantastic too! So, with a full bottle of whiskey in a brown paper bag, she calls for a town car, which drives her to the Baxter Building. Walking unevenly in her heels, she enters the lobby, partially stumbling toward the elevator as she opens the bottle of whiskey. "Fire Boy!" She calls out as she pushes the button for the elevator. "I'm here to see Fire Boy!" She says, now in a sing-song voice. "Fiiiire Boooyyy, oh Fiiiire Boooyyy." She giggles softly, finally entering the elevator and pushing the level that she, vaguely in her haze, remembers from last time, allowing any guards or receptionists in the front hall to call up to the Four and…warn them of her arrival.
*
It was a quiet, incredibly productive, two hours in the lab for Sue, and thanks to the beginning of the semester, quiet in the Baxter Building as well. She'd taken her leave from the lab some time ago, retreating back to the residence without garnering attention from anyone else. Her retreat had been near-silent.
Currently, she sits in the kitchen area of the living space, scribbling notes in a very worn looking notebook. Her green dress, pressed hair, and immaculate makeup (yes, she wore make up today), evidence a great deal of effort was put into looking good to… walk upstairs.
She madly scribbles in her notebook, taking down explicit notes about her latest 'experiment'. "Not sure why I bother," she mumbles to herself before padding bare foot to the fridge. There's a loud ping alerting her to the door, and Sue peeks around the fridge to look at Roberta.
"Ms. Storm I believe.. I do not understand what this visitor requires," the AI's tinny voice explains.
Sue's weight shifts. Slowly, she walks to the entranceway adjacent the foyer. The calling of Fire Boy causes Sue's eyes to narrow. "Whaaaaat." But the grainy picture on the security camera actually causes the pair to arch. "Iiiiiit's Patsy," she mumbles.
"My computer processor is not familiar — "
Sue lifts a hand, "I'll handle it." Tight lipped smile. "Thanks, Roberta."
*
Ping! The elevator doors open and Trish wavers slightly as she steps forward, eyes blearily glancing from side to side. "Fire Boy?" She calls out to the room. She takes a quick sip from her bottle-in-a-bag and peers. And there she is. Not the person the actress was looking for, initially, but she'll do just as well. "Oh…my…flapjacks on a bacon soaked buttered bun! It's the Invisible Woman!" She's perhaps a little too excited by this fact.
The unsteady clickity-clack of her heels speeds up, her floral dress swaying as she makes her way toward Sue. "You're…you're…*hiccup*" She pauses to swallow a bit more of her drink. "You're Sue Storm! You're so…darned…adorable! Your *hiccup* brother never told me you were this adorable in person!" She stands there, gazing at Sue, a giant, goofy grin spread across her face.
*
While not the most physically or intellectually intimidating member of the Fantastic Four by a long stretch, Sue does her best intimidating-impression, which channels that of her own mother once when she'd decided to go to the neighbours after school without asking permission. With her arms crossed, her nostrils flared, and her jaw tight-set, Sue looks like a mother whose child's curfew has been not just violated, but utterly obliterated.
The stare she levels at Trish is defensive. But then she's called adorable. Some of the resolve drains from Sue's expression. "You smell like a bar," cue Johnny's surprise that Sue knows what a bar smells like. Her nose wrinkles. "Johnny isn't here," she states flatly. "He's in class. Where he's supposed to be." Like a good student. "Where are you supposed to be right now?"
*
Correction: Johnny was in class. Classes for the day have long since ended, but he didn't come straight home. No sir. First, he'd made a stop at a hair salon.
Which is why, when the elevator gives a second *ping*, it is a blond-haired Johnny Storm who steps off, a heavy backpack slung over his shoulder and an IT'S CLOBBERING TIME t-shirt worn proudly on his chest. Sue did say he should try to get photographed in their merch… and boy, oh boy, had he made it happen.
He looks slightly alarmed even before he realizes there are people in the lobby, making it two hurried steps towards the door before he stops and blinks. "…Seo? Did you see the -" Wait. He slowly tilts his head. "…Trish?"
*
"Hey!" Trish furrows her brow. "I shmell like liquor, there's a difference! *hiccup* If I shmelled like a bar, I'd also have the smell of cigarette smoke and cheap cologne!" She furrows her brow at the mention of school. "I've…*hiccup* I've already got a degree in philosophy. Whaddya expect from me? I'm more a TV and movie gal." She brightens up, however. "Which means I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be. The most fantastic place in the city…the *hiccup* home *hiccup* of the *hiccup* Fantastic Four!" She seems proud of the fact that she's here.
"FIRE BOY!" She shouts excitedly as she hears his voice, and her name. She reaches to give him a giant hug, the bottle in her hand pressing against his back. When standing back from the hug, her eyes go wide. In a shocked whisper, which really isn't a whisper because she's drunk, she says, "Did you know your hair is blond?! Also, did you know your sister is extremely adorable?!"
*
If at all possible, Sue's across-her-chest grip tightens. "I expect you to recognize that this is a place of business." Not a three ringed circus. She is not the secretary; she should be sciencing upstairs! "Ms. Walker, please refrain — "
Speak of the devil and he appears. While she doesn't mention the hair, she definitely stiffens at its sight. Sue blinks, but does not give way to humour at the drunken woman in front of her. Instead, as the woman gives Johnny a hug, she shakes her head, "Johnny, what did you do?!" It's impossible to tell if she's talking about the hair or the company, but she is rather obviously unimpressed.
Her chin lifts followed by her hand which, for better or worse, separates the drunken Trish from her Fire Boy accessory, putting a literal wedge between the pair with an invisible force as yet unseen. "Cool your jets, Ms. Walker."
*
The alarm on Johnny's face gets a big ol' additional heap of confusion when Trish comes at him with the hug, his eyes darting to his sister as if she might be able to provide some kind of… context. Something. Anything. "I… I did know that my hair is blond, yes," he says slowly to Trish, bringing his hands up towards her shoulders. The other question, he's not gonna touch. "Are you — you're drunk as a skunk, what happened?"
He manages not to look relieved when the invisible wedge gives him some breathing room. "I didn't do anything! I mean. My hair, but I don't know what's going on here."
*
"Whoa!" Trish doesn't seem the least bit worried about the invisible force. "That's the neatest thing I've seen since yesterday with the person holding up a building using light!" And she does seem sincere. At least as sincere as a person can be when they're drunk. "Wait…" She holds up a finger toward Sue's mouth as if to quiet her for a moment. "Did you say I have jets?" She lowers her finger and giggles, hiccupping again as she does. "Don't worry, I'm jus' kiddin'!" She giggles again.
"I may be drunk…" She says, shaking her head slightly, gazing, unfocused, at the Storm siblings, "But I'm pretty sure I'm not a skunk. Unless I am and nobody told me. Wouldn't that be silly? Wouldn't it?" She laughs and takes a large gulp of the whiskey in her hand.
*
Sue's patience for drunk people begins and ends with her brother. Others? There's not really any grace there. So when she flatly asks, "What building being held up with light?" she doesn't mince words. Her eyes stare openly at Trish, not impressed. "You. Need to sit down, Ms. Walker."
There's a level of skepticism that Sue exhibits that speaks spades about her role in her younger brother's life. <Are you sure? Because this could be the result of — > her eyes flit to Johnny for a moment. <Broken hearts are real, you know. Even if you think you did nothing to encourage it… Leading women on isn't acceptable behaviour…> Her lips purse and her arms fall to her sides. <We ran out of coffee this morning. Ms. Walker is going to need it. I'm running to the store. I'll be back. You, keep that liquor bottle away from her.>
*
That question is one Johnny can answer. "It was on the cover of the Bugle," he tells Sue, his mouth twisting to one side. "It's… it's bad."
With a sigh, Johnny just shifts to hook an arm around Trish's shoulders — to keep her upright, more than anything else — and makes an attempt at grabbing the bottle from her. <I haven't done anything! Go, go, I'll handle this until you get back,> he promises. "C'mon, Trish. Let's go inside, Sue's gonna go buy you some coffee, okay?"
*
"The Bugle! You know the Bugle gosshiped…gosh…gossiped about us!" Trish tells Johnny. "I didn' tell 'em nothing! I swear!" She hiccups some more, but grins. "Yesterday! Jewel destroyed a building. An' someone else held it up using light!" She furrows her brow, looking rather more serious than she has since she arrived. "Why'd Jewel do it? Jewel's a good person. She's never hurt nobody before unless they were baddies. Why wasn't she hurting baddies instead? *hiccup*"
She leans into Johnny as he reaches his arm around her. "Adorable Sue's gonna get me coffee?" She cranes her head to look behind her and she shouts, "THANK YOU ADORABLE SUE!" As they continue to walk, she takes another swig from the bottle in her hand. "You's are good people, you know tha', Fire Boy? You's are all good people. Tha's why I came here, because I knew you were all good and fantastic!"
*
Johnny's just gonna get Trish inside as quickly as humanly possible and hope Sue didn't hear that, oh dear god in heaven. (She totally did.) "I didn't say anything, either. Sorry about that," he says awkwardly, ushering her carefully towards the sofa.
After Johnny drops his backpack next to the couch, he takes another try at swiping the bottle from her. We'll see how this goes. "It does seem pretty out of left field for somebody like her," he murmurs, frowning. "I've never met her, though."
*
"Hey! Hey…*hiccup* This is my booze. If you want some, you jus' gotta ask! But don' go about stealin' it!" Trish tries to hug it close to her, eyeing Johnny suspiciously. "Hey…Hey Fire Boy!" She holds up a finger to his lips. "Sshh. You wanna know a secret?"
She looks from side to side in an exaggerated fashion before looking back to Johnny. In her not-whisper whisper, she says, "I know Jewel." She lets out a mock gasp. "I know! I know! It's a shock! How could an actress like Trish-Patricia-It's Patsy know a fancy superhero like Jewel?" She taps the side of her nose. "Because I know her secret identity." She gives him a knowing nod, though her chin lingers a little too long near her chest, her eyes looking up from her face's position. She takes another chug of her drink and holds it out to Johnny. "Want some? Can you do a fire trick with booze? You know, like where people spit out booze and light it on fire at the same time?"
*
Johnny goes cross-eyed trying to look at the finger against his lips, blinking twice. "…you know her?" he echoes, bringing his gaze forward again to give Trish a genuinely surprised look. Under his breath, he mutters <Good lord, no wonder she's so drunk,> and frowns in suddenly very deep concern.
When she offers the bottle to him, Johnny hesitates for a moment before he reaches out for it. "…yes. Yes, I know a few tricks," he admits, and this is technically even 100% true. "Here, give it."
*
"Yep. I know her! Really well! *hiccup*" Trish blinks at Johnny, trying to focus on him some more. "Or…I thought I knew her. She was acting real weird, you know?" She murmurs. "It's *hiccup* not how she promised she'd act when superheroing. She promised me she'd do good! *hiccup*"
She wiggles her nose a little, willingly handing the bottle over to Johnny, brightening up. "Tricks! Tricks! Fire Boy's gonna do some tricks! Yay!" This does seem to actually make her happy, a goofy grin forming on her face again.
*
She's not gonna be happy for long. As soon as Johnny has the bottle securely in hand, he lifts it way up over his head and starts for the kitchen sink. "I'll buy you a new one," he says quickly, fully intending on upending the remains of the entire bottle down the sink.
*
A very audible gasp can be heard from Trish as he starts toward the kitchen sink. The clickity-clack of her heels can be heard behind him, though she's not as sure on her feet as she would be if she were sober. "No! It's…it's the last of the *hiccup* liqour I'd kept *hiccup* for me an' her!" She cries out! Not specifying the 'her' in this statement, though possibly meaning Jewel, or possibly Jessica, who'd she'd mentioned the last time she was here. "Please…" It's a desperate plea from a drunken soul, who would probably do better without the alcohol, and thus is being done a favour by Johnny.
*
Oh no, not alcohol with sentimental value. Johnny actually does develop a pained wince at this news, but it does not stop him from upending the bottle and sending its contents down the drain. "I'll buy you ten," he promises, giving her an apologetic look. "Each. Trish, you're a mess. You won't save any for her at the rate you're going."
*
"I…" Trish's lip trembles slightly as she watches the rest of the alcohol get poured out. "I was *hiccup* drinking to remember. And *hiccup* to forget." She grabs the edge of the counter to steady herself as her whole body sways from side to side. Slowly, as steadily as possible, she moves herself around so that she stands next to Johnny. "You're *hiccup* you're a good man, Johnny Storm!" She tells him, planting a big, wet kiss right on his cheek, which leaves a bright red lipstick mark. "Oh dear…" She murmurs as she tries to rub off the mark. "Lemme get that for you!" She says as she continues to try to rub the mark off.
*
When she starts looking unsteady, Johnny just sticks the neck of the bottle down the drain to stand it up and allow it to continue emptying itself. That frees his hands up to catch Trish's shoulders and make sure she manages to stay upright — aaaaaand puts him in no position to avoid the sloppy kiss on the cheek. He makes a bit of a face when he gets a face full of whiskey-breath, but can't help a bit of a nervous laugh. "Thank you..? It's fine, it's fine, just — sit down before you fall down? I'll get you some water. Okay?"
*
"You're such a nice guy, Fire Boy." Trish smiles, lightly tapping him on the face. "I'm gonna tell everyone how nice you are. I'll go on the radio, I'll make ads, I'll do a guest spot on some interview on TV just to say how nice you are! Because you deserve it. You're fantastic!" She murmurs, allowing herself to be guided to a seat. "Why are you so fantastic, Fire Boy?"
*
"I guess Sue and Aunt Margay raised me right," Johnny replies with an odd smile, carefully steering Trish back towards the couch. Oh, man. He needs to wash his face. "You don't need to do that, though, honestly. But it's sweet of you to say." …okay. Trish has the couch, and no more alcohol. This is a net win. "Let me get you that water. Stay right there."
*
"Adorable Sue helped *hiccup* raise you?! Of course she did! She had a very nice motherly vibe to her!" Trish smiles widely again. "Oh, I wanna do all o' that! The wold hasta know how fantastic you are!" She tilts her head at the mention of water. "Water? You…do…do ya mean non-alcoholic vodka? 'Cause I'd rather have alcoholic vodka."
*
Johnny chuckles as he retrieves a glass from the kitchen. "Yeah. She really did," he replies absently, peeking into the fridge. Cold water. Yes. That is correct. "I mean, if you still feel that way when you're sober, I guess," he says awkwardly, making his way back over to the sofa to offer her the glass. He'll wash his face in a minute. Probably. "I get enough press already, to be honest with you. It's exhausting."
*
"I'd never say *hiccup* something while I'm *hiccup* drunk that I wouldn't wanna do sober! *hiccup*" Trish tells Johnny in a matter of fact tone. "OH! My non-alcoholic vodka!" Her drunk, lopsided grin that keeps returning has, once again, returned. "Thank you! Boop!" The 'boop' corresponds with Trish bopping Johnny's nose lightly, which is followed by Trish giggling.
Sipping the water, she sighs. "You know, *hiccup* my place is fancy…but it's not this fancy." She looks around, giving the place a good once over again. "I need myself some Fantastic *hiccup* Four type income." She gives Johnny a silly grin.
*
PING!
While the store wasn't an impossible distance, Sue dawdled coming back just a bit. Dealing with drunk people in their living space is not the kind of thing she wants or enjoys doing. With a brown bag of groceries in hand, Sue walks back into the living space. Immediately she walks to the coffee maker in the kitchen to make coffee only to stop as she looks at her brother's face. Her mouth parts and her brain short-circuits.
*
"You say that now," Johnny says with an amused smile, managing to resist going crosseyed when she boops his nose. Siiiigh. "We'll see if you're still singing the same tune in the morning."
He straightens up and turns to head back towards the sink, but stops short when he hears the door. "Oh! Sue. Welcome… back?" Johnny looks puzzled for a moment before he realizes why, precisely, she is making that face. Immediately, his hands come up. OH GOD. <Nothing happened! On my life, Seo!>
*
"I always *hiccup* sing the same tune in the morning. *Hiccup* It's the tune of, 'I wanna go back to bed!'" Trish enters a little giggle fit for a moment until, that is, Sue returns. "ADORABLE SUE!!" She shouts out cheerfully from the couch. "Welcome back, Adorable Sue! Sue! Sue!" She tries to push herself up but just falls back again.
Shrugging it off, she smiles brightly. "Sue! Sue! Sue! Hey Adorable Sue! Hey Sue! Guess what!" She looks from side to side and then says, "How can I make my place as fancy as yours?"
*
A few quiet moments allow careful reflection on current circumstances. 1) Johnny has a very bright red lipstick smudge on his face. 2) There is a very intoxicated young woman here fawning over baby brother. 3) Young woman came here when intoxicated.
Sue's eyes glaze over and her hands tug at the earrings dangling from her ears, drawing them out to leave on the counter. Calmly, perhaps too calmly, Sue takes a step towards Trish. "First," her gaze trains on the other woman, "I am not adorable. I am a leading scientist in my field. I am not the damned secretary. I am not," her chin drops to assess her too-cute dress and she frowns, "some silly girl who — " her eyes lid lightly and the thought is lost. "I am a scholar. I am a scientist. And you are in my home." There's a pause. "Where you are welcome."
She turns on her heel and takes a step towards Johnny, <Joon Hyun, you are with an incredibly intoxicated young woman! I asked you to do one thing! One thing! How did you get lipstick on your face?! Did you draw it on yourself! Clearly something happened!> So much loud Korean yelling.
*
Oh no. Not the earrings. Johnny takes a half-step towards Sue that he immediately rethinks, cringing and just… inching his way backwards and out of the blast radius. Very tentatively, he notes "Nunim, don't be too hard on her. You said yourself, she's drunk. I'm sure she'll apologize in the morning." He looks towards Trish and raises his eyebrows, looking for help from the incredibly drunk woman, because that's always a good idea. "Won't you?" SAY YES. PLEASE.
And then he's rounded on and Johnny visibly jumps, holding his hands up as if he can shield himself from Sue's ire. <But I did the one thing!> he insists, pointing hurriedly towards the upended bottle of whiskey sitting in the sink. <She kissed me, I didn't — I wouldn't! I'm not an asshole! And if I'd kissed her, wouldn't it be here?!> he demands, gesturing at his own mouth. <It was just on the cheek, she's drunk, it's fine!> Poor Trish. What a show.
*
"Heeeeyyy, shh, shh. Calm *hiccup* calm *hiccup* it's all okay!" Trish says, raising her arms defensively, her hands just sort of hanging instead of being upright. "You can *hiccup* be accomplished and still be adorable! There's nothin' *hiccup* wrong with being both. I admire your *hiccup* *hiccup* I admire your scientific work. I don' understand most o' it, but I admire your smarts an' your dedication an' all you do! I jus' think you're also *hiccup* really adorable." She furrows a brow. "Who'd think you'd be a silly girl? You ain't silly! You a strong independant woman who don't need no man tellin' her what to do. I admire that!"
"I'm always very apologetic." She nods at Johnny. "This one time I accidentally stepped on a butterfly and I cried and apologized to my sister for hours. And I was a teenager at that point!"
She looks between Johnny and Sue, confused. "I don' know what you're saying, but it's loud. Really loud. Even Jessica wasn' this loud when she was destroyin' the building. I mean Jewel! Jessica…Jewel…*hiccup* Jewel. I mean Jewel." She goes wide eyed realizing she'd said her adopted sister's real name, instead of superhero name. "Oh, I shouldn'ta said that. I should not have said that."
*
Trish telling Sue everything is okay probably has the opposite desired effect. The ire that reflects in Sue's eyes reflects brightly, but fortunately Sue Storm is diplomatic. Most of the time. With strangers. "I — " her eyes widen with something unspoken, and then, deflated, her shoulders sink. Her voice turns to a whisper, " — really tried." She swallows and takes a single step back. "For three days I've been trying. And I think I need to resign to the fact that adorable doesn't cut it." Pause. "Thank you. I do actually appreciate someone noticing. But please don't call me Adorable Sue. It's condescending." She sucks on the inside of her cheek.
She eyes Johnny with a little more scrutiny than Trish and point she finger at him, <Touch her to your own peril. I have eyes everywhere, including the back of my head! She's one woman, I'm sure you could've managed to keep her lips off your face!>
She shifts back to the kitchen and frowns at the talk of Jewel and Jessica. Johnny is cast a very concerned look, but she makes no comment.
*
Is… is his own sister suggesting he'd take advantage of a drunk woman? Johnny actually looks legitimately hurt, maybe even a bit offended, his mouth working silently as he gapes at Sue. Fortunately — or unfortunately, perhaps — he doesn't say anything before Trish has her verbal slip, and he closes his mouth.
Johnny glances between the photo of Jessica he'd stuck to the refridgerator door and Trish a few times, his eyebrows creeping up his forehead. "…no. No, I'm glad you did," he says slowly, running his hands back over his hair. "You — this is good. You know her, so you could tell us if there's -" He stops and closes his eyes. No. "…in the morning. After you've slept this off."
*
Struggling to get to her feet in her drunken stupor, Trish unsteadily walks toward Sue, the click-clacking of her heels ever present. "Sue. Sue. Sue. Hey Sue!" She repeats the name as she walks to the woman. "Listen to me, Sue. Listen. Look at me and listen." She does a two-fingered wave between her eyes and Sue's eyes. "I…am…*hiccup*…sorry if I've made you angry." While she sways slightly on her feet, she maintains eye contact. "You deserve to be treated with respect. *hiccup* We women hardly get the respect we deserve. I may just be an actress, but you…you are doing the *hiccup* really important work. Don't let jerks push you around. You deserve every little of credit and to be treated like the amazing woman you are!"
It's then that she actually sees the picture of Jessica on the fridge and tears start to build up in her eyes. "I'm sorry…*hiccup*" She looks around. "Does anyone have any tissue. I just…I seem to *hiccup* have something in my eye."
*
The hurt expression isn't missed, but Sue is still wallowing the adorable Sue remark — although not for the reasons likely suspected. "It wasn't… you … I've a rough week," she finally settles on. "And then I thought something that wasn't what it was… I guess?" Her lips twitch on one side. "Just. Don't know I guess. Or I thought I knew but then I proved I didn't?" She squints.
"I… I'll get you a tissue." She frowns and walks towards the kitchen to grab the box of kleenex from the top of the refrigerator.
*
Johnny waits until Sue's moving towards the kitchen before he takes a couple of quick steps to come back up to Trish, wincing. "Sorry — here, sit," he says quickly, reaching for her shoulders to try and very gently guide her back to the couch. "You can stay here tonight, okay? I'll get you some blankets. Breakfast'll be my treat, to make up for the bottle. Would that be okay?"
*
Despite tearing up, Trish smiles a little. "I'm glad it wasn't me. I hope we can be friends. Proper friends." She sniffles a little and lets herself be led to the couch by Johnny. She nods a little, hiccupping a few times in a row. "I…I like the sounds of that." She murmurs. Glancing between Sue and Johnny, she sniffles again and says, "You're both *hiccup* fantastic people, did you know that? So nice and fantastic."