tushanshu | [video]

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[Nita has been uncharacteristically absent from, well, everything lately, because she's been curled up on the couch having an identity crisis. But now she's on the network! She looks fine, if disgruntled. Unusually for her, she's posting from a console cafe, in Fire Sector if the view behind her is anything to go by.]

Uh. Can someone come get me? I can't navigate on the ground.

[Yeah, she managed to wander, on foot, as far from her apartment as it's possible to be and still be in Keeliai, and she's finally given up on finding her own way home because everything looks the same. Good job, Nita.]

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My clinic isn't a short walk from here, but I will assist.

[ beat. ]

Do you need water? [ He learned! ]

[Inadvertent poking of sore spot!]

...No.

[ Small miracles masks underneath heavy hoods hid any red around the neck from being taken aback. ]

I see- ah, well it didn't occur to me the waning of our abilities would extend to what was natural for a species.

My gills stopped working last night.

[He probably knows she sleeps in the pool.]

I can only imagine it was under unpleasant circumstances you found this out. Are you otherwise well? Assuming you have lungs like the rest of us there could be some underlying damage.

[ He does for reasons. ]

Do you have anywhere else to re-cooperate besides your pool? [ You did furnish your suite with an actual bed. right? ]

[She has a bed! In the pool. Where she put it when she arrived. She is now not strong enough to get it back out.]

I'm okay.

[Physically, anyway. Her mental health is currently pretty questionable.]

I might...stay with someone else tonight.

[Watch as she invites herself over to Cap's place.]

[ One of the perks of being a manipulative bastard is he can pick up on the little hints someone is putting up a front, and Nita wore her heart on her sleeve more than most. ]

Nita. [ Short and disbelieving but not intentionally sharp. ]

There are extra beds in the clinic if nothing else presents itself. [ He lacks the Tribe sentimentality to keep his own doors open, or the forwardness. ]

[She's fine okay!!!]

Noatak, I--

[Something occurs to her.]

--I'm not sure I could actually find it.

[If anyone cares to check, this is coming from a Wood Sector suite, not the one in Earth that Bucky actually sleeps at.]

You still need a pickup? I can come find you.

[...]

...Yes, please.

[It's a good thing none of her team are here or she'd never live this down.]

[He studies the background of her video intently for a moment, trying to mentally place the cafe. He thinks he might've been to it before, just because he never really talks on these things at the same one.] I think I've got an idea of where you are, I think I've made deliveries on that block. Gimme about an hour, maybe less.

[An hour's fine by her. Her feet hurt.]

I can go sit outside, if it'll help.

Yeah, do that. Be there soon. [He manages a little smile and a jaunty, two-fingered salute before he switches off the console and heads out.

Sure enough, it takes him about an hour to get there, and he'll forever be glad he took the time to learn the layout of the city first hand.] Nita?

[Nita does not handle boredom well, and she immediately bounces to her (shoeless, because it didn't occur to her) feet.]

Bucky!

[He's getting hugged, but this is the only time in his life he might be able to escape it.]

[Oh. Well that's unexpected. But he's never turned down a hug from a pretty girl (even if it's still a little odd to think that of Namor's cousin, he's pretty sure Subby would drown him if he were here and could read minds), so he just slings an arm around her casually and returns the hug with a light squeeze.] Hey to you too. Where we headin', and how exactly did you manage to get lost all the way out here?

[Namor's remarkably tolerant about the losers Nita dates. He'd probably consider Bucky a step up.]

Back home.

[She looks around at the not-even-close-to-Water Sector, chagrined.]

This is a tiny city! I figured I couldn't get too lost!

[She's so stubborn she just kept wandering after it became apparent she had no idea where she was.]

[Bucky just sighs and rolls his eyes, relatively good-naturedly despite.] Right. Good thing I know a couple'a shortcuts. [Doing less than legal deliveries for a living has taught him all about the little alleyways and less traveled roads in the city, and how to get places quicker. He doesn't exactly have the power of flight to rely on, after all.]

I wouldn't exactly call it 'tiny' when you gotta go about it on foot. [He checks the street markers again and then picks a direction to go in, what he figures is the quickest route to the Water Sector. His tone changes to something a little more serious, more concerned.] ...You okay besides the whole gettin' lost thing, though?

It's so weird not being able to just...go up.

[She's always been able to fly, and before that, she lived underwater where swimming in any direction is normal. Nita's literally never had to think two-dimensionally.

Even as a mere mortal, she's in excellent physical shape, and despite her long afternoon, she has no problem keeping up--or at least no problem she's willing to show.]

...My wings fell off, Bucky.

[She is not okay.]

[He's not one to make fun when there are real adjustments to be made. It's a bit like Toro and feeling heat now. He doesn't know that the stove is hot and will burn his hand just because it never has for him before, and so he won't prod too hard about Nita's sudden need to think two-dimensionally.] Yeah, I'd imagine so.

[That startles him, though, and he looks at her, eyes gone a little wide with surprise and concern.] They what? That's- Ah, hell.

It's happened to Namor before, so I always knew it was a risk, but...

[She trails off. Just the wings she probably could have handled, but combined with losing her Atlantean heritage, she's close to her breaking point.]

...my gills closed, too.

[It's worse than he'd originally thought it might be, from the sound of it. First Toro burning himself, then Steve being skinny and sickly, now Nita unable to breathe water and with parts of her falling off... Criminey.

He just throws a companionable arm around her shoulders again and gives her a light squeeze of support, because hey, she's Namor's family so she's practically an Invader.] Hey. We're gonna fix this. All of it. How'd it happen to Namor? What'd he do about it?

[She was an actual Invader for about five minutes in Berlin once! Cap, Namor, Jim, and Jackie were there, Toro was dead at the time, and Bucky was growing mold in the back of a Soviet fridge somewhere, so it totally counted as quorum.

Nita leans into Bucky, because unlike Namor, she is not a bipedal porcupine.]

This time? He was exposed to an anti-mutagenic agent. They still haven't grown back.

[The juniors miss all the cool Invaders meetings.

Bucky sighs hearing that, because damn, that's not exactly optimistic news.]

We will fix this. [His tone is firm, determined, but then he takes up a lighter tone, looking down to give her a patented Bucky Smile.] I kind of have a knack for saving everybody when the chips are down. Don't worry.

I'm guessing by now you got help for the call you made, but if you want company going around later, I'll be glad to come over.

[It's an open offer.]

[Nita's back in her suite.]

Hi, Bucky. If you're in the neighborhood, you could stop by.

[She's gotten her sulking out of the way.]

Yes, ma'am.

Should see if I can bring you anything in particular, or you're generally all set?

[Never hurts to ask, right?]

I'm all set, I guess. I can get most of what I need in Water.

[Shoes being anything other than a fashion choice is new for her.]

You sure? Because it'd probably be no trouble.

[Did she get a pair or three?]

Either way, be there soon.

[She already had some as part of outfits, but they weren't exactly what you'd call practical.]

Okay, you can just let yourself in.

[... fine, he'll pick up a pair on his way in. Just in case.]

Yes, ma'am!

[And he'll head over, not double-timing it but fast enough. With practical shoes stop on the way, more or less likely to fit.]

[When he arrives, he knocks on the door and calls out when he does let himself in, anyway.]

Hey, Nita? I'm here.

I'm assuming you've been found by now. Can we talk?

[Nita's not sure she wants to deal with The Wrong Johnny right now...but it's not his fault.]

Sure, what's up?

[She's back in her suite.]

Face-to-face?

[He makes an accompanying gesture.]

Edited 2013-06-27 06:26 (UTC)

Uh...sure.

[Oh my god, it's going to take either of them forever to get to the other's apartment. THIS NO-POWERS STUFF IS TERRIBLE.]

[A few minutes later..]

Crap. I can't leave right now.

[He glances behind him before pulling his jacket more tightly around himself.]

Do you have time to talk here?

Is it just about your powers going away, or something else?

[She has to keep reminding herself that this Johnny has almost no experience.]

I want you to tell me about the other Fantastic Four. The ones you know.

[What the--]

Uh, sure. What about them?

I want to know what they were like. Especially your Johnny and Sue.

Well, let's see...

[She'll leave out the explicit superhero stuff for the moment and talk about personalities, she guesses.]

...Dr. Richards is brilliant, and hardworking, and generous, and he loves his family more than anything...but he's not all that practical and he might forget the world between the lab and outer space existed if Sue didn't haul him out once in a while.

[And he built a prison in the Negative Zone for people who refused to register as superheroes? Ugh, everything went to hell after she died, apparently.]

Mr. Grimm pretends to be a big grumpy meanie, but he's really a total softie. He's pretty down on himself for being a monster, but he's the only one who thinks that.

[Regardless of what Johnny tells him.]

Sue is...well, the Fantastic Four would fall apart without her. Sometimes I think she's the only one of them who can see beyond her personal problems. She's calm, and very kind, and she cares about people a lot, even the bad guys, but she's also the scariest member of the team by a long shot. Everyone knows you don't mess with the Invisible Woman. Neptune himself couldn't move her if she didn't want to be moved.

[As another card-carrying member of the Compassionate But Really Stubborn Club, Nita likes Sue a great deal.]

Johnny is...a lot like you. He's impulsive, a huge jerk, and thinks he's the gods' gift to the universe. [Hey, you asked.] But when he's not busy overreacting or trying to sleep with anything female [something that doesn't actually bother her, but it's a big part of his personality] he's a real sweetheart and loads of fun. He cares almost as much as Sue does, but tries to hide it...which, like with Mr. Grimm, absolutely nobody is buying.

[Okay, how honest are we being, here?]

...He's super-hot.

[That honest, ahem.

(All opinions expressed herein are what Marvel wants you to think, no matter how the characters are actually written! 8Db)]

Edited 2013-07-10 22:40 (UTC)

[Johnny listens silently, pensively. Once she finishes, he still looks just at thoughtful, almost bordering on concerned.]

Did your Reed and Sue retire? Did they quit the team to go be together?

Huh? No. They've taken vacations, but they always come back. The world needs the Fantastic Four.

[This idea is inconceivable to Nita.]

Mine were talking about leaving. The only thing that stopped them was the Surfer and my blood being screwed up.

Well, I don't know what they talk about just among the team, but I do know no one's ever quit permanently, no matter how burned out or mad they were. I missed a lot of stuff because of the time travel, though, so who knows.

[Ben or Johnny are pretty much always ragequitting. It never sticks.]

...What's wrong with your blood?

[Ignoring that question.]

I need to get back and make sure they stay a team. Every time I think this place can't get worse, it does. What if we don't get our powers back?

Edited 2013-07-11 05:33 (UTC)

[Under other circumstances, she might press, but Nita's just about out of cope herself.]

I.

I'm trying not to think about it.

[She's lost a lot more than Johnny has--even ignoring the disappearance of her mutant gift, she hasn't fallen back to the baseline for her species; she's fallen below it, her gills sealed and her deep-water physiology gone.]

Yeah, well. That's not good enough for me. We can't just pretend this isn't happening.

Johnny Storm, you think I'm pretending this isn't happening? Forget about losing powers! My gills closed. I didn't just stop being a mutant. I stopped being an Atlantean.

[That's the first time she's put the feeling into words, and she folds in on herself.]

[He frowns, suddenly very concerned and genuinely worried for her.]

We'll get them back.

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