tobenormal | Hank's Lab, Covert CIA Base

Hank had been thinking about his lunch (turkey and swiss on rye, a coke and macaroni salad as always; though maybe he'd get a Twinky today) when he heard the facility's Director enter his lab. "...Capable of super sonic flight!" The Director was saying proudly, making Hank guess they had some more Washington brass to impress. He stood, straightened his lab coat and adopted his casual yet serious stance.

"You should see the real thing if you want to be impressed," he said when the group finally turned around a corner and into view. The group was odd as only one person was in a suit. Washington Brass always wore suits and there were two woman with them. Agent Mactaggert he recognized, though he didn't know her name, but the blonde....she took his breath away. He stood frozen in awe and swallowed.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

andproud

"No, this isn't - I normally don't go walking around unless I look like this," she admits, gesturing to herself. But he still hasn't seen the real her.

She takes a breath, and in a blink, yellow eyes stare back at him as she lets go, normal skin rippling away to her blue form.

"And now you know why," she adds, resisting the urge that pulls at her, the urge to change, to cover up her true self.

From:

tobenormal

As she changes a look of wonder overcomes Hank. There's no fear or distaste evident, just fascination. His hand's twitch a bit at his sides as he wants to touch her, to see how she feels, but that would be too forward. Still she is so far out of the ordinary it's hard for him to find words. She is still beautiful in a way but it is so different from what he knows.

"Sorry," he says feeling a little guilty for asking her to reveal herself so fully. "I wish the world was better so you could be like this all the time. You're still beautiful though."

From:

andproud

She glances down slowly, briefly, allowing herself a small smile before she finally looks back up, and as she does, red hair spills over into long blonde strands down her shoulders and her eyes return back to brown from yellow.

"Unfortunately, it's not," she says, briefly flat. Her own parents had disowned her when they'd found her looking like this after her mutation had manifested her. As far as they were concerned, she was an abomination, a demon. Charles is her only family now.

"But thank you," she quickly adds.

From:

tobenormal

Hank fights the urge to promise to make the world that better place for her because what can he do? He's just one guy with hands for feet. Instead his growling stomach reminds him it's lunch time and so he says, "Are you hungry? I could show you the cafeteria and buy you lunch."

From:

andproud

She nods in reply at first, a small and brief movement, and then takes a step closer to him, feeling the lift of an invisible weight off her shoulders if for no reason other than his knowing the truth about her.

"I'd like that," she agrees.

From:

tobenormal

It's a relief he shares. As she steps closer he can smell her hair and it sets his mind to buzzing again. He lifts his arm and offers his elbow, all the while not believing he is doing it.

"Then allow me, fair princess, to escort you and show you the delights of governmentally funded cuisine."

Okay, he may have gone to far with that one.

From:

andproud

She doesn't roll her eyes or make a face. She just laughs and slips her arm through his, fingers gently curling against his forearm.

"Lead the way," she says, her eyes finding his through the lenses of his glasses.

From:

tobenormal

Hank's face feels hot as he opens the door for her and he doesn't care. A girl is not only wanting to have lunch with him, she's touching him in a friendly way.

"I hope you like sandwiches cause we don't have much else."

From:

andproud

"I love sandwiches," she promises, ducking through the doorway first before waiting on the other side for him to follow.

She knows Charles won't have to search for her thoughts to know she's alright here.

From:

tobenormal

"There's Twinkies and Coca Cola also if you'd like. I'd stay away from the tuna fish salads though, they don't make it often enough so it can be scary sometimes."

He follows along with her, lost in the moment. Still he is curious about her. "So where did Mr. Black find you guys?"

From:

andproud

"In a meeting with the director," Raven replies, as though it's no big deal at all.

"He was the only one who wasn't completely surprised after I turned into one of them to prove a point."

From:

tobenormal

Hank laughs and holds open the door to the cafeteria for Raven.

"I'm not surprised. You were probably like Christmas to him."

From:

andproud

She looks down as they walk, gaze descending to her boots for a minute.

"He's the first human I've met who was actually excited when we revealed what we can do."

From:

tobenormal

"It's really hard," Hank says quietly. "Growing up like that I mean. I don't know if Professor Xavier or that other guy would really know that. Unless I missed something." Which is quite possible considering he didn't know her mutation.

From:

andproud

"Charles, Erik - they can hide in plain sight," she murmurs, glancing up at him.

"Some of us aren't so fortunate." She has to constantly be focused, constantly paying attention. One slip and she could reveal herself.

From:

tobenormal

He wonders then, what it's like for her. His feet are awkward and uncomfortable as he essentially walks on knuckles but do her powers stay on or does she need to think about them all the time? Definitely a question for later though as they are now in the cafeteria.

"We should be careful of what we say now. This is the CIA and we're the best with secrets but unless you want the whole facility to know about...us," it feels good to be able to say that, "then we shouldn't talk about it here. Spooks are terrible gossips."

From:

andproud

She mimes drawing a zipper over her lips to close them, effectively silencing herself as she lets her gaze wander over towards him, a faint smile still prominent in her expression.

"Not another word," she promises.

From:

tobenormal

"I hope you're not completely quiet," he says a little worried. "I was hoping to find out more about you."

As he talks, a yell of "Hey Flyboy, think fast!" interrupts and his head snaps up. Hank then grabs Raven's shoulders and spins her around in front of him just as an apple hits him in the back of the head. He grunts in pain be yells back, "Watch it guys, I've got a visitor."

"Sorry!" comes a semi-contrite reply. Hank blushes a bit at the immaturity of it all. "Are you okay?"

From:

andproud

"Maybe you will, soon," she says, softly making a different promise.

He's reaching over towards her before she can blink, spinning her around, her feet stuttering against the ground, her center of gravity off-tilt - and she doesn't realize what's happening until she hears the thud, sees the expression of pain flicker over Hank's features.

"Are you okay?" she asks, stepping in closer to him and reaching up a hand to touch the back of his head.

"You got me out of the way."

From:

tobenormal

"Yeah, sorry," he says blushing even more. He can't believe he just grabbed her. Of course the alternative of her getting his with the apple was much worse. He keeps hold of her, to make sure she has her balance (really), a little longer before letting go.
"I didn't want you to get hit. I'm fine, it was just an apple. Usually I manage to catch it."

Really he can always catch the thrown apples but he does make a show of barely being able to.

From:

andproud

Her fingers gently brush against the back of his head, touching his hair before she drops her hand with a reassuring smile, silently lending proof to the fact that she really is okay - thanks to him, anyway.

"Oh. So faster reflexes - that's a part of your, you know." They're in public now, so she keeps her voice low, stays close to make sure that only he can hear her.

From:

tobenormal

"Yeah though I used to just watch things happen. It took me a while to figure out I could stop what I was seeing," he says lower his eyes again. "Stupid huh?"

From:

andproud

"It's not stupid," she promises, gently brushing her fingertips against his forearm.

"I didn't understand what was happening to me at first, either. Didn't know how to use what I had, how to control it."