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Midday at the headquarters for the Fantastic Four finds it rather quiet in the living room. Which is perfect for the oldest member of the team. Sitting on the couch, he has his normal pot of coffee in hand while he watches a rerun of It's Patsy. His laughter can be heard from the elevator to the bedrooms, and even a bit up to the lab. "Oh Patsy, you sure know how to make your classmates feel foolish for underestimating you! You got 'em good!" He laughs again and shakes his head in amusement.
Next to Ben is an open book, forgotten from his watching of television. A quick glance shows that it's a book on geology. A rock man reading about rocks!
*
An easy smile pulls the edges of Sue's lips upwards as she leans against the door frame of her room. She slips into the hallway and asks, "You're still watching 'It's Patsy?' Still stand the test of time?" she asks with an easier smile. The newly minuted Doctor Storm (less than 24 hours, thank you very much), issues Ben a small shake of her head.
The book is given a pensive look and Sue cranes her neck to peek at the book. "Heavy reading?" yeah, sometimes even ladies like puns.
*
"Of course I'm still watching it, Doctor." Of course Ben's going to call her Doctor! At least until the novelty wears off. Which probably won't be for a while. "It's a fine show. Real fine. It brings the laughters and joy, and it's full of pertinent life lessons, like family values, how to treat friends, and if you put your mind to it, you can do anything!"
There's a quick glance from Sue to the book and back again. "The subject matter's a little rocky, but nothing I can't handle." Yes, he's happy to dish out the puns as well!
*
There's a slight reddening of Sue's cheeks at the title. Her arms cross over her chest and she pads over to sit next to Ben on the couch. "So you learn a lot from this show then?" There's a playful arc of her eyebrows as a glimmer of mischief reflects in her eyes.
"So… while I would love to trade puns with you for another hour, seriously, why the book? Just looking into rocks? Newfound interest in geology or — ?"
*
"I learn tonnes from the show! It's very informative, don't ya know!" Ben chuckles softly, looking back at the television. "And I just like it. It's easy to watch, lots of fun. Reminds me of the good ol' days." What good ol' days, one may never know. Before he was a rock? Before he joined the gang or after he left it? It could be any number of 'days'.
"Some say that it's good to know yourself. I figure, I'm part rock, I might as well learn about rocks, right? Being an engineer and a hero are just parts of who I am!" He explains.
*
"You're not exactly part rock, your chemistry is just… rock-ish," she offers with a flicker of a smile. Sue leans back in her seat and emits a soft sigh. "You know, I'm not happy about what happened with my work and what they used it for, but it's really nice to have that new title…"%
*
"You're right." Ben nods, still looking at the TV. "But I'm not exactly not rock. I'm rock-ish is rock like. And rock like is good enough for me. It's been a little while, I figure I should know something about rocks, right? I'm sure it'll come up at some point!" He shrugs a little.
"Look at that! Silly Patsy, you can't just chase after a dog like that! Read the sign! It's says dangerous! You're running straight toward the docks." He shakes his head. "She needs to learn to keep a closer watch on her surroundings!"
*
"Clearly, like we all do. See? I'm learning so much from Patsy already~" Sue chuckles and shakes her head. "You know, Johnny met her. She came through here once yelling Fire-Boy! while drunk and searching for him." She motions towards the couch they're sitting on, "She even slept in that very spot while she sobered up. And then in the morning I asked her what her intentions were with my baby brother. Little Joon needs someone to look out for him…"
*
An audible gasp emits from Ben. "Patsy…Patsy from It's Patsy was here and NOBODY TOLD ME?!" He sighs. "This is when I was with my aunt, isn't it?" He rolls his eyes. He nearly chokes, though, at the 'Fire-Boy' comment. "Oh, that's good. Fire-Boy." He laughs, hard. "I don't think I'll be able to call him anything else from now on!" He says through the laughter, slapping his knee.
After a moment, he catches his breath on calms down. "Phew. Well, I'm sure someone like Patsy Walker would have good intentions. Sure, she showed up drunk but who of the best of us hasn't been drunk once in a while?" He smiles softly. "Johnny can look after himself. He's an adult now. I know you're used to looking out for him, being Mama Bear, but he's free to make his own, occasionally idiotic, decisions now. Though dating Patsy Walker would definitely not be idiotic. I mean, it's Patsy! C'mon, Doctor Seo Hyun Storm, you can't find fault in him dating her, can you?"
*
"Well, I wasn't so sure. Seriously, some woman comes through here calling for Fire-Boy while completely drunk? Doesn't exactly inspire confidence." Seo's eyes narrow, but her smile remains. She clucks her tongue at the mention of Johnny taking care of himself. "Do you know Joon? He needs… I don't know. If our parents were alive, it'd be different. But they're not." Her smile subdues and she notes, "I know they'd want me with a nice Korean boy and him with an equally nice Korean girl. There are some things that don't change. A lot does. Not that. It was basically indoctrinated into us. He just doesn't remember."
Her lips twitch at the last. "Joon would assume date multiple women at once. He even took Heather out on a date. So." Her eyes turn upwards.
*
"It could've been worse. She didn't fly through the window. She didn't set the place on fire. She didn't destroy the lab, and she wasn't Doom. So all in all, I'd say you should be glad that she was only drunk." Ben laughs, grinning widely. "Patsy's probably the next best thing to a nice Korean girl." He clucks his tongue. "I just wish that our Johnny weren't such a playboy. If only we could get him to settle with dating one girl at a time!" He shrugs a little.
"As for you, Doctor Storm," Ben starts off. "Reed may not be Korean, but he's smart, and he's got multiple degrees. That would be certain to make your parents proud, if they were still here." He says softly. "I mean, all you need to do is ask him to marry you and that'd seal the deal." He says without thinking, looking back at the television screen. It's a moment before he realizes what he said, his eyes going wide.
*
"Yes, well, Victor has his own agenda when it comes to hanging out around here. Whatever that is," Seo shrugs her shoulders. "He came by the other day when we hired for that administrator position. Hired a nice young lady. Noemi Nahoranga. Lovely young lady." Her throat clears as she hones in on the television.
"No, Reed is certainly not Korean," she agrees. The last, however, has her coughing. A lot. A lot of coughing. She may be choking on something. Except she wasn't eating or drinking anything. Evidently the topic is one that merits choking on nothing.
*
Sue has disconnected.
*
Sue has connected.
*
"Victor is always up to something. Let's just hope it's nothing nefarious, hmm?" Ben scratches his nose lightly and clears his throat. Still wide eyed from his marriage comment, he starts gently patting Sue on the back as she coughs. "There there. It's okay. Just…just breath. You can do this. It'll be okay, Sue. It's all gonna be okay!"
*
The coughing slowly subsides, and Sue, red-faced, peeks up at Ben. "That's not — It's been — there's no — " her lips twitch downwards. "We're just — but it's not like — I just can't — " words evade her. It's really good no one brought this up in her defence, it would seem.
*
"It just slipped out. It didn't mean anything, Doctor Sue." Ben smiles gently. "Though if you were to consider it, I could help pick out the rings." There's a pause. "I wonder if Reed has any family heirlooms that would work as engagement rings." He shakes his head. "Nevermind. You're not even at that step of your relationship!"
*
"Right!! Exactly. Too soon! I can't - I'm not — " Sue stumbles on her words. " — it's not." Her shoulders sink and she follows with a slow frown. ""No rings. NO rings. No discussion. Don't," she waggles a finger and her lips crack into a smile. "Do not bring this up. That's all I'm trying to say. Don't bring it up."
*
"But if Reed should bring it up on his own…" And by 'bring it up on his own', Ben may already be working on a way to implant the idea of talking about marriage into Reed's mind, "Well, there's no use in thinking about 'ifs' now is there." He clears his throat. "Really, though, I bet it would be a beautiful wedding! I'd cry tears of dust in joy!"
*
Sue blanches. "Uh… this is new, Ben." She reaches out a hand to squeeze Ben's shoulder. "Just, remember that, okay? I mean, we're not exactly… we haven't…" she emits a soft sigh. "It's been like a month, officially. Right? I mean, you know how thing have been around here long term, but it's not — " pause. " — I really care about Reed." She's admitted love already. Mind, she was sick at the time, but it's still a thing that happened.
*
Chuckling, Ben nods. "I'm only joking around with you, Doctor Sue. You know me. I'm just happy as long as you two are happy." He gives her a gentle pat on the head. "I'm not going to push this. I don't want to make the two of you uncomfortable. Besides, as you say, it's a new relationship. Marriage proposals don't normall happen this fast. That'd be rare indeed!" He offers her a kind smile.
*
"…yeaaaaah. I'm going for a run. Don't… " Sue's nose wrinkles as her head shakes as she steps back towards her room "…just. You know." She nods once and then retreats back into her room, shaking her head as she moves.