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The Fantastic Four's houseguest has not spent a great deal of time wandering the residence, despite the encouragement she's gotten to do so. A big part of that might be the stitches in her foot and the crutches that she's stuck using to get around as a result, but considering who she is — or, rather, who she isn't — it's likely not the root of it.
Right now, however, the brunette is in the kitchen, her crutches nowhere to be seen. She's effortlessly balancing on one foot while she rummages around in the refridgerator, mumbling quietly under her breath.
*
It's been a strange week or so, but that doesn't change the fact that visitors require some semblance of attention — especially ones that lack their aunts to mother them. Oh !Peter. Seo treads into the kitchen, notebook in hand, to spy the houseguest rummaging through the fridge. Her head cants to the side, and her hands trail to her hips, almost emphasizing the lines of the blue and white uniform as she does so.
"If you can't find something, I can make you something… I was actually going to scrounge up some lunch," if it'll stay down, "and take some up to Reed," her head ticks towards the staircase. Poor Drew probably doesn't know better than to accept the offer…
*
No, no she does not. The brunette straightens up in order to peek towards Sue around the edge of the refridgerator, her expression brightening. "Oh, really? If it really wouldn't be a bother. Thank you." She flashes a genuine smile, and then she answers the question of how, exactly, she's been getting around without her crutches: with just the one leg, she springs upward and plants both palms against the ceiling.
With her tongue sticking out one corner of her mouth, she begins walking on her hands towards the kitchen table, as if the flat ceiling were a set of monkey bars. "I, uh. I met somebody the other day. Re-met, sort of," she says awkwardly, her brow creasing.
*
Huh. Well that's a new one. But it's Seo, and she's used to the odd, so she takes it in stride. "You know, if you go out and about, you really do need to use the crutches." Her eyebrows draw together, "Unless you're like us." She shrugs, "Without a secret identity, I mean." Her nose wrinkles as she takes the eggs from the fridge and several vegetables. Evidently omelettes are on the menu. Be afraid.
"On the other hand," her head cants to the side, "I think sometimes the secret identity would be useful. I mean," she frowns slightly, "being exposed puts us at some risk. Not that we're terribly worried here, just that sometimes it can effect people were care about or," the frown deepens, "it has the potential to anyways."
*
"I used them when I went out," the brunette promises, drawing her feet up so that she can pass over the table and get herself oriented above one of the chairs. She reeeeeaches down with her good foot before she lets go, and even landing on the one leg on a dining room chair? No wobble, no sway. Her balance is apparently excellent.
She aims a slightly odd smile towards Sue as she lowers herself down to sit. "I have to make my identity up in the first place. Doesn't get much more secret than that."
*
"On that front, have you come to any decisions?" Seo asks as she begins to crack eggs into a bowl… and starts turning green as a result. This might be a bad idea. She inhales a deep breath and chews her bottom lip. If it's possible to will away morning sickness, Sue Storm could do it.
"And I wasn't saying anything one way or another. It just… sometimes would be good to have foresight about… what seems like wrinkles in time a long ways down the line." She peeks over her shoulder and manages an almost-easy smile. "We haven't seen much of you," just an observation, nothing more.
*
"I kind of had to. MJ asked me what my name was," the brunette replies, and for whatever reason, this has her leaning forward to let her forehead hit the table with a dull thunk. "So I'm Jessica, I… guess? It was on the waitress' nametag, I don't… I'm bad at names. Like. Really, awfully bad at names."
With a sigh, she just kind of rolls her head to the side to rest her cheek against the table, watching Sue from behind a mess of hair. "Spider-Girl's pretty nice, though. I think she's decided to adopt me or something, which… I'm strangely okay with?"
*
"MJ?" Seo replies with a quirk of her eyebrow as she pushes the eggs around a frying pan. That looks right. They just have to be cooked. "Jessica," Sue repeats. "I like it. Did you think of a last name yet?"
"Well, it's good to have people, and regardless of whatever you choose to do, you will need them." Her eyes twinkle with some unspoken mischief. "Honestly, I know the memories you have are confusing, but, in a way, they're also helpful. You were cared for. You can remember that."
*
"Oh, uh. The person I re-met. She lived next door," Jessica explains, pushing herself up to sit. Is she blushing? Must be a trick of the light. "I haven't yet. It's… half of me thinks I should be able to just use Parker. It's mine. Except," she quickly adds, rolling her eyes towards the ceiling as she very quietly adds, "It's not. So. That's out."
She puffs up her cheeks in frustration. "At least I have you guys, right? I mean, I'll get out of here as soon as I know what the heck I'm doing," Jessica adds quickly, holding up her hands. "I don't wanna take advantage and like… move in."
*
Seo can feel her lips twitch at the last. "You definitely have us. And we're not exactly hurting for resources around here." She smirks following that. "And there's certainly no rush to leave. Genuinely. We don't have guests enough and, I think it's good for us." She shoots Jessica a grin as she pokes at the eggs. Are they supposed to turn that colour? Probably. That's just what happens when you cook eggs.
She adds the pre-chopped veggies. Wait… was she supposed to do that first? Maybe she should've paid more attention to that cooking lesson instead of making Heather take her blood. "Besides, you still need a family. And that is one thing we have and are. A family."
*
"Oh, well. Then I will absolutely take advantage and move in," Jessica says brightly, shooting a playful grin Sue's way. "Don't know how I'd pay rent anywhere else anyhow. I don't know if you can get a job when you're not a person. Is that a thing?" she asks in a light voice, thoughtfully rubbing the side of her nose.
Jess remains blissfully unaware of the violation of the Geneva Convention underway on the stovetop. All she's got is what Sue's saying. "…I can't even bring myself to be a wiseass over that, it was so sweet. Thank you."
*
"Well," Seo frowns slightly at the question. "I suspect we can get you what you'd need to get a job, but it'll take some work. And our legal team. We have a lawyer on retainer," the smell of the eggs begins to waft and Sue's queasiness grows. But she straightens and holds it together. "If you wanted to stay longer term — " her lips twist thoughtfully " — if you're contributing, we're not exactly…" her cheeks hue pink. "We're a family. It' snot a conventional job or existence. We work to solve problems, try to save the world when it needs us, and look out for each other. It's not exactly conventional, but it's who we are." Her lips tighten into a small smile.
*
"Yeah, I saw the other day. Or… didn't see," Jessica replies awkwardly, gesturing with both hands. "With the… bug… things. The helping." Such an eloquent young woman. Thanks a lot, Peter. "I don't know about saving the world, I'm just… me. But I'm not normal, either. I have power now," she says, taking a breath as she looks down at her hands. "And with power comes responsibility."
*
"Yeah, I'm one of the Fantastic Four," Seo offers in return. "The Invisible Woman," which actually has her chuckling. Evidently the name is hilarious for some reason. Visible minority woman in science seemed pretty invisible before the accident, so. "Reed, my brother, our friend Ben, and I all went up to space and got zapped with radiation. This was some years ago. When we came back, we could do extraordinary things. And, unlike a lot of others who can do amazing things, we," Joon?, "decided to use them for the greater good. For us though, there is no secret identity. We are who we are." Her lips purse, "That said, I'm starting to see the merit of having one. Recently anyways." Absently, her hand trails to her stomach only to go back to the eggs.
That looks done. That has to be done. Seo reaches into the cupboard and retrieves two plates. In cooking, for some ineffable reason, Seo has lost her appetite. Oh well. More for Reed and Jessica.
*
"I feel like this is something I would have read about," Jessica muses, leaning forward to prop her chin up in both hands. "So it can't have been that long ago. You got to go to space?" Sue will have to forgive her for the fact that her eyes are practically sparkling at this notion. "And you got super powers out of it? That's… kind of cool, actually."
*
Seo peeks over her shoulder and manages a small smile. "Probably best to not go too mooney eyed over it. It wasn't ideal or in the plan." The smile tightens and she sets one plate of noxious eggs in front of Jessica. Oh-so-appetizing. "But, even before we were powered, we were the Fantastic Four. Reed got us into space. That alone is fantastic."
*
Jessica points towards Seo with both hands, a growing smile on her face. Fantastic? Ehhhhhh? Ehhhhhh? She sees what Seo did there. "Believe me, I know aaaaall about things not going to plan," she says dryly, and just… points at herself as Exhibit A.
She leans back in her seat to make room for the plate, and the "Thank you," is out before Jess gets a look at — and a whiff of — what Sue has prepared. Oh. Oh maybe she spoke too soon.
*
"You're welcome," Seo replies as her eyes flit towards the windows of the Bxter Building. "Our lives are complicated," she suggests. "But not painfully so, and certainly not in a way that we regret. I just think, if you're going to use what you can do to make a difference," her eyebrows lift, "you need to decide what capacity you want to do that. Reed has outfitted our team with unstable molecule uniforms that can respond to whatever our bodies need. I suspect he'd be delighted to do the same for you," if Jessica hasn't read between the lines of the pair's dynamic, it's likely getting increasingly obvious thanks to Seo's undeniable admiration at the thought.
"But again, you need to decide what's important to you. Ir recognize you're in an unusual spot, and it's one I would like to respect."
*
"That's the thing. All I have is what I can do," Jessica replies, taking it as an opportunity to lean back in her chair, slouching back. It is definitely not an attempt to get as far away from the eggs as humanly possible, not at all. "This is it, it's… everything else is… Peter's." And it's still really, really weird to speak about him as if he's a separate person, but the fact of the matter is, he is.
Maybe Jessica's not that hungry after all. She loosely curls her arms around herself and tries not to frown, looking down at her lap. "Spider-Woman," she murmurs quietly. "That's what Spider-Girl decided to call me, I didn't have 'Jessica' yet."
*
Slow paces have Seo closing the distance between them and offering a consoling hand to squeeze Jessica's shoulder. "But you still have potential. You can choose whatever direction you desire. And, in a strange way, you are Peter Parker. You have values, beliefs, and a foundation to move forward." She manages a tight-lipped smile. "And, as I said before, you have support. It may not be the support you remember, but you have it just the same. Just you mind that."
Her lips press together tightly and she shakes her head. "It's easy to lose track of that. Truly. But we aren't going to abandon you. But what you do with what's happened — with who you are — that is entirely your choice. Just know that you have people in your corner."
*
"People who know Peter. At least, it sounded like you did," Jessica muses, looking up at Seo with a very odd smile. "So this must be weird for you guys, too." She pauses at a thought and her eyes go wide. "…oh, god, you're not going to tell him, are you?" she asks, some of the color draining from her face. "He would freak out. I know this because I'm freaking out."
*
Seo's cheeks flush lightly. "I do. Kind of," not well, but the fact remains that she does. She shrugs at the notion of weird, "I'm an unmarried woman who can turn invisible and create invisible forces against people. My brother can literally light on fire. My fiance," woah, first time using that word, "is essentially rubber." Her lips purse, "And our friend Ben, who also lives here, is basically a human-rock-man." Her hands lift and she shrugs, "Weird is just par the course." Her eyebrows lift at the last. "No, I won't tell Peter unless you request it. That said, he does come by time to time…"
*
Fiance? Jessica slips a quick "Congratulations," into Sue's role call. But the important thing here, to her, is the rest of it. She lets out a relieved sigh and reaches up to pat Sue on the arm. "Thank you. He's not… he doesn't deserve this. That sounds really self-serving to say," she mutters, looking off to the side with an odd frown.
*
"It's not. Protecting someone who is kind of you, but not you, is actually the opposite of selfish," Seo returns with a tilt of her head. Her cheeks puff out with a long breath. "But, that's just the way it is." She manages an easier smile before looking towards the frying pan, "I should, however, get some food up to Reed. He doesn't eat if it's not set in front of him." She slips back towards the pa to plate Reed's lunch.
*
Once Sue's back is to her, Jessica lets her eyes fall to rest on her own plate of eggs. Or… 'eggs'. "Oh, yeah. We wouldn't want Reed to skip a meal," she says lightly, leaving her arms wrapped around her midsection. Steady on, kid. This too shall pass.