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The phone has been ringing nearly constantly for the better part of three days. Roberta has answered it repeatedly, and many messages have been left regarding the public image of the Fantastic Four and whether Sue Storm is in love with Victor Von Doom (thanks for ambiguity, Janice).
It's clear that a press release is imminent, yet Seo is too busy doing other things to attend to that side of her life at this moment. The seats at the kitchen table are full — with whatever pseudo-bodies Seo could find, and she stands at the head of it, pointing to charts and graphs set upon a flip board. "As you can see," she forces a large grin, "the research suggests that this is, at least, theoretically possible. I believe my future work will encompass strategies to do just that." She bows to the row of inanimate characters (mostly stuffed toys, old dolls, and relics from days long past).
*
Quiet applause suddenly rings out from behind Seo. Joon is perched in the windowsill and god only knows how long he's been there, but he's smiling impishly towards the back of her head from his seat. <Very well defended,> he says proudly, his eyes twinkling as he points towards one of the seats. <I don't know if Fluffy has entirely bought in, but one more go 'round ought to do it.>
*
Sometimes, the phone just has to ring off the hook and get left there. When Sue inevitably turns toward Johnny, a… slightly impish Reed Richards steeeeeeeeps his way behind the couch. He hunkers down an waits for the attendant retort towards Johnny, picking aparticularly educated-looking stuffed bear off the couch, and bobs its head to imitate talking while he gets Sue's attention back in the other direction.
"But Ms. Storm," he notes in a squeaky voice as the bear, "how do you account for the data variances in graph seventeen? Doesn't that affect your endpoint data?" He's helping and not at all teasing her. Really.
*
Seo's cheeks flush bright red at the sound of applause, and her shoulders draw into one another as she slowly turns to see who has been watching her. Of course, the Korean is a huge tip off. Her hands scrub her face and she frowns. <Pffft! Ridiculous! The whole theory was Fluffy's idea in the first place! He suggested it!> her chin lifts defiantly.
Of course, seconds later Fluffy is calling attention to the data in graph seventeen. She turns back towards the table slowly and arches a wry eyebrow while her face flushes even more crimson, and fights the ridiculous smirk that tugs at her lips. And then, with another lift of her chin she places her hands on her hips, "I don't have to defend my art to you~" Because that's clearly what this piece is: art. Obviously. "Also," more seriously, so Mr. Fluffy can understand the importance of this point, "They're outliers. Exceptions. There will always be outliers, but that's why we focus on the general pattern." She smirks. Practice is good, right?
*
"Oy, oy, don't you try to pawn this off on Doctor Fluff," Johnny says with a lofty wave of his hand, sliding back to his feet. He gestures towards the bear that is definitely speaking on its own and not in any way being assisted by his partner in crime. "Aish, you need to clearly document your statistical outliers so you don't get redundant questions like these." He pauses, craning his neck to try and see Reed over the couch from where he's standing. "…right? I've never done one of these. That's. That's a thing you do, right?"
*
Reed leans in and pokes the bear on the nose. "She has you there, Dr. Fluffy," he notes, and sets the bear down. He peers back at Johnny and rocks a hand back and forth. "Ehhhhhh, it wouldn't exactly hurt to explicitly note what is and isn't pertinent in the data but then again, they'll probably ask anyway. The point of a defense is to make sure you were thinking. In my experience. I could go either way."
*
"I've got this," Seo asserts with a grin towards her brother. "Honest. I've thought it through. It's not perfect, but… good enough to qualify me as Doctor?" She nods slightly. "I'm pretty sure." Her eyebrows lift at Reed, "You think it's likely?" her jaw tightens. "I thought about rerunning some statistics, but I think there comes a point when you've done too much math and all that's left is the reasoning. I think." She could be wrong.
*
Johnny just holds up his hands and smiles, hitching up to sit on the edge of the table. "Fair enough. And you're going to do fine, Seo," he says immediately, reaching over to squeeze her shoulder. "Honestly. You could do this in your sleep."
*
Reed shrugs his shoulder. "It doesn't really matter as long as you have the answer you need to have. They'll ask to make sure you didn't make a massive mistake… but if you've got it covered, it's covered." He pushes himself up, joins the animals on the couch. Fluffy goes in his lap. "I think you've got this. I was actually just trying to make you laugh in the middle of your practice."
*
An odd smile pulls at Seo's features and she leans into the touch at her shoulder. The smile, however, is not wholly convinced, and, perhaps, a little secretive. "I… " her cheeks flush. "I hope so." She shrugs.
There's a small tick of Seo's eyebrows as she watches Reed replace one of her inanimate audience members, "Really? I mean," her eyes turn upwards, "I know my stuff, and I worked hard, but I just… it's hard to imagine that it's actually over, you know?" Her lips purse lightly only to give way to a stitch of a frown. "Honestly? I'm not exactly sure how it will go. I haven't spent legitimate time in a room with all of them since — " she doesn't finish the thought. The pair can discern what that means. " — I suspect I know who did it.
"
*
"I know it sounds stupid," Johnny says slowly, already holding up his hands in self-defense. "But. Try not to think about that until afterwards. I mean, unless you've got what you need in order to prove it," he murmurs thoughtfully, loosely folding his arms and cocking his head to one side. "Then we can sic Jen and the firm on him for theft, or I can melt his tires, or whatever."
*
Reed bobs his head, hands fidgeting with the stuffed bear in his lap to make him do a litle dance. "I agree. Defense first, try to forget the rest. If we've got anything actionable, that can be handled legally and seperately. The important thing for you right now is to be focused and get it done. Then you can move on to the real work."
*
"Nothing that would hold up in a court of law," Seo offers back towards Johnny, "but it begs questions, I guess." She shrugs. "I was following one before the conference, invisibly," as one does, "and he received a phone call from someone he called Stryker." She frowns slightly. "I'm not sure exactly what it was about, but it had something to do with developing more adamantium."
The thought of forgetting about it for awhile has her nose wrinkling, but the bear dance seems to allay any actual objection, especially with the flicker of a smile that edges her mouth. "I… agree. Which is why I haven't actively pursued anything. I need to finish, get out, and then we can take action. Together."
Her head tilts, "Wait. That's what you mean by real work, isn't it, Reed?"
*
"Stryker," Johnny echoes, dropping his voice to as close to a baritone as he can manage. He purses his lips and looks to Reed, lifting his eyebrows. "Name sounds about as respectable as Victor's." So… not at all. His expression asks a silent question: what's adamantium?
He clasps his hands and rests them against the back of his head, glancing between the pair. "We'll handle it," Johnny promises Sue, offering her a smile. "And not just because they messed with you. That just made it personal."
*
Reed frowns thinly, which does not jive with the bear dance. Johnny catches his eye, and Reed answers the silent question. "Virtually indestructable metal. Very effective, very hard to work with. Feindishly expensive and rare."
He smiles at Sue. It is something of a patient smile. "I meant all the interesting independent research and taking-things-further you do when a doctorate is no longer your concern," he notes gently. "But also, yes, taking action will be easier with it behind you."
*
Seo frowns at the thought of Stryker. "It was a weird phone call. I have no idea what someone like Stryker would want adamantium for — I looked up common uses." She shrugs. "But regardless, I have suspicions." Her lips press together tightly. "So much that when I was sick," she actually smirks, "I tried to convince Heather to go with me to the university to give the professor a piece of my mind." She rolls her eyes. Illness is strange.
Sue's lips hitch up on one side. Sheepishly, she nods. "Right. I.. yeah. A world of independent research. To be honest, I don't even know what's next."
*
"We'll figure it out," Johnny tells Sue with a confident smile. "Don't worry about it yet. Focus on impressing Doctor Fluffy and his colleagues for now," he says wisely, jerking a thumb over his shoulder to indicate the bear. "And then we'll all go out and have a nice dinner to celebrate your shiny new doctorate. Then we'll worry about the rest of it."
*
Reed has the presence of mind to work the bear's arms again when Johnny thumbs at him. "Probably wise. One thing at a time. There are other people chasing Stryker, we can afford to take care of these things."
*
Johnny is given a nod, "You're right. I'll keep focusing. D-day next week~" she rubs her hands together and collects the charts on the stand. "And dinner will be good. It'll all be over soon~" she virtually sings as she collects the materials and treads back towards the kitchen.