TFLN overflow 5/24 for badgirlshenanigans

[bravelittlemonkey]

[ It took Fitz a great deal of effort to drag himself out of bed (only half-literally), but he managed to make his way through the base, though at a snail's pace. He got pity glances from the others he passed, but he paid them no mind, checking first the cantina and even the entryway before he managed his way out to the hangar where their limited aircraft seemingly slept. He looked around and even called out for Jemma, before pausing and taking out his phone to snap a photo of the backends of the Zephyr and the Quinjet with the caption,

Getting warmer? ]

Comments

Sorry so long!

[badgirlshenanigans]

[she smiles at him. Sometimes, it’s all she can do not to stare and smile, even while he’s in this condition.]

I want you to be in tip-top shape when you fulfill it. All the better I can appreciate your talents.

[She’ll only have fun if he’s having it too, but she has every intention of collecting on Fitz’s promise.

Every intention.]

Don’t worry, I’d defend your treasure with my life.

[There are so many levels to that statement.

She lets out a small frustrated breath.]

We thought there was an underground auction of alien tech. It turned out to be pieces of a Chitauri leviathan. No tech, just metal. I was there in case any of it was infected by the virus.

no worries!

[bravelittlemonkey]

[ His cheeks flush a little with her remark, and he clears his throat. ]

The feeling is absolutely mutual.

[ He shifts the case in his arms, following close beside her. The mention of the virus that nearly took her from him made him frown. ]

It... it wasn't, was it? Are you all right? It didn't infect anyone, did it?

Re: no worries

[badgirlshenanigans]

[Jemma’s going to reach out to try and touch his arm. She can’t hold his hand due to the case, so this is the best she can do. ]

I love when you go a bit pink.

[Overly excited Simmons science babble coming in 3, 2, 1...]

Oh, everything was fine, too fine really as I was hoping for a good project but no, nothing. Do you know how many times that thing must’ve been scrubbed down for there only to be a few degraded Chitauri cells left? I’m talking industrial strength cleaners. I tell you the only thing I got out of the trip was your Irn
Bru.

[She sounds utterly disappointed, missing entirely his frown.]

[bravelittlemonkey]

[ The thing that Fitz has always loved about Jemma in the years he's known her is just how she lights up when she gets to talk about science and the oddities in that realm. Her excitement is infectious and entirely palpable. It's hard not to get roped into her feelings whenever she starts going off this way, and as usual, he finds himself enraptured with her enthusiasm. ]

Well, it's probably for the best, anyway. We haven't got nearly the resources to deal with people getting sick as we used to. At least someone's taking precaution.

[ He looks down to the case in his arms and laughs a little. ]

And at least there's this. I'm sure there'll be something for you to dissect and shove under a microscope soon enough.

[badgirlshenanigans]

[Jemma’s disappointment over the lack of something gross to study, something oozing, or something dangerous, is clear. To often, she has to study the body of a colleague while injured. A nice alien virus sounds great about now. Thus, she’ll sound entirely unconvinced.]

I guess that’s best. We wouldn’t want too much excitement, would we?

[She perks back up because of the Irn Bru.]

I was proud of that. You should’ve seen the cashier at the Sainsbury’s when I ran in to buy the a whole case. I got asked what party I was coming from.

[She leans in and whispers.]

I told her I was preparing for one.

[bravelittlemonkey]

No, not too much. at least not for the time being. Excitement can wait for until after my head stops throbbing.

[ He gets brief flashes of memory, late night, celebrating the end of sixth form, stumbling into the shops, and nearly knocking over a whole display of lemonade. He remembers the shopkeep shoving his first Irn Bru into his hand, taking a fiver for it and the trouble and kicking the lot of them out.

He smiles. It's an embarrassing, but good memory.

He gives Jemma a curious look, and as if on cue, his cheeks and neck turn red and he laughs, sheepish. ]

Well.. I... I didn't know you'd thought that far ahead. Should be surprised though, should I? [ He clears his throat and straightens his back, holding his head high and confident as if he hadn't just turned entirely pink. ]

[badgirlshenanigans]

No, let’s get you back to bed, and if you ask nicely, I’ll curl up with you.

[She expects nothing but a cuddle, but they rarely have time just to do something that simple.

Jemma smirks. She’s said it before, and she’ll say it again.

We both know I excel at preparation.

[There’s also the fact he’s always in the back of her mind, thinking of ways to make him as happy as he’s made her.]

[bravelittlemonkey]

Oh, I've got to ask now?

[ His fake offence dissipates quickly and he laughs. ]

You do, you do. Which... makes me wonder about this party you're apparently planning. Did I miss a birthday? Or do I need to book a hotel..?

[ He's curious and maybe a little concerned now. Not exactly scared, but sometimes Jemma has bigger ideas than he can reliably conceive of. ]

[badgirlshenanigans]

Yes. Very nicely.

[He can take fake offence, she can play into it.

She doesn’t last and laughs.

No party, though if you want me to offer the Irn Bru to others in the base, I can.

[She laughs again. She wouldn’t do that to him.]

I was preparing a present for you. I was going to hide it in the base, until you provided me with the opportunity to give it to you.

[She already had half a dozen places in mind in which to hide it.]

[bravelittlemonkey]

[ He ruminates over the idea of letting the others in on the wonder of Irn Bru. On one hand, he would love nothing more than to share a piece of home with his friends. On the other, he's not keen on sharing it, either. He hugs the case to him a little tighter. ]

They're for party aftermath only. Can't properly appreciate it otherwise.

[ He pauses and his brow knits. ]

A present? This wasn't good enough?

[badgirlshenanigans]

Fine, I’ll start planning a party.

[She’s still joking as she sees him hug the Irn Bru. She wouldn’t make him share, unless he wanted to. ]

It’s a hint. I might’ve asked the director for something.

[bravelittlemonkey]

[ Well, now she's given him a puzzle and he raises an eyebrow ]

You realise that until I find out what it is, I'm going to do nothing but look for it, don't you? You've dropped a puzzle in my lap and now I've got to solve it.

[ What could she have possibly asked him for? What could she give him that would require clearance?

He gasps. ]

You didn't get me a monkey, did you?

[badgirlshenanigans]

You can look, but you won’t find it.

[She grins like the cat who swallowed the canary. Her trip gave her the idea, and she made quick work of putting the plans together.

Jemma laughs. She laughs so hard she has to stop walking for a second. ]

Fitz, I love you more than anyone in this universe, but let’s be clear, I am never buying you a monkey.

[bravelittlemonkey]

[ This time, an eyebrow lifts instead, and her grin is enough to put one on his face as well; now it's a game. ]

Not unless you've swallowed it, anyway. Or-

[ He stops dead in his tracks and looks her over, in something of a panic. ]

You're not pregnant are you? I-I-I was trying to be so careful!

[badgirlshenanigans]

Oh god.

[To the planner and organizer that is Jemma Simmons, the idea shocks her.

She definitely stops laughing.]

Pregnant? What! No! I’m not — I don’t look, do I? We’re always careful. I couldn’t imagine — not now.

[Stop her, she’s nervous babbling.]

[bravelittlemonkey]

What?! No! Of course you don't! I just...

[ God now he's embarrassed them both. Still, the relief coming off of him is nearly palpable, and his knees nearly buckle with the weight of the sudden stress washes off of him. He laughs, but the sort of tired laugh that can only come from being suddenly unburdened with a ridiculous made-up situation. ]

R-right, no, of course not. That'd be silly. Ha... Heh.

[ He swallows and clears his throat. ]

But! See! That's exactly my point! It's gonna drive me up the wall thinking it you know!

[badgirlshenanigans]

[Jemma tries laughing too, but fails. She’s still not going over the imaginary pregnancy.]

And it’s not —I want to have one with you someday — but that someday is a way off. Not today.

[She feels that she’s explaining herself poorly.]

No matter what it is it’s going to be anti-climactic after our not-baby.

[bravelittlemonkey]

[ He's ruined the mood and he feels just terrible about it. ]

I-it's not that I wouldn't want to either... Just.. not exactly ideal right now, is it?

[ He smiles a little and leans over to kiss her cheek. ]

Well, I don't know about that. There's still plenty of time to get me a monkey.

[badgirlshenanigans]

[He’s definitely freaked her out a little, but something came of it.]

Did we just decide that we’ll have a baby someday?

[Momentous life decision come at the strangest of moments.

But back to his now anticlimactic present.]

No monkey, four days.

[bravelittlemonkey]

[ Having children wasn't something Fitz ever gave a tremendous amount of thought to. Sure, it had always sort of been at the back of his mind as a "maybe", but after dedicating himself to SHIELD and to science, he worried about it instead more often than not.

He'd seen how miserable his mother had been, and the last thing he'd wanted was to put someone through that. Repeated cycles.

But Simmons was different. They could make it work. He's not sure how, but he knows.

He smiles, bashful, and unable to keep the blood from his cheeks. ]

I suppose we did.

[ And he's not scared about it anymore. ]

Four Days?! You're gonna make me wait four bloody days? You really are a sadist, aren't you?

[badgirlshenanigans]

[She’d thought about it the way she thought about any science experiment; first she’d have to collect the right materials, including the right father. It had never gone much beyond that.

Until now. Fitz would be a brilliant dad, she’s sure of it.]

I would have a baby with you.

[She'll leave that there, as that’s something that requires further discussion, a lot of further discussion.

They could use four days of discussion on that.]

No, silly, four days is the present. Another team’s going to go back and investigate the auction house, and how they came into possession of Chitauri artefacts. They have four days to investigate where there might be two extra spaces on the Quinjet.

We’ve been given permission to tag along and not work.

[bravelittlemonkey]

Four days? Just... The two of us?

[ Now that is good news. He would hug her if his arms weren't full of fizzy drinks. ]

That... that sounds brilliant. When was the last time we had a proper day off, much less four? In a row?

And, there's a very distinct possibility that if they do find something, maybe we'll get to do some science after all. I see literally no downsides to this.

[badgirlshenanigans]

Just the two of us. We don’t have to see a single person we don’t want to.

Oh, did I mention it’s Scotland?

[Not like the Irn Bru wasn’t a clue.]

See? How perfect is that? Either we get four days to ourselves, or something fascinating to work on.

[Only he would understand why this is a win-win situation.

She leans in and whispers]

We can practice making that future baby.

[bravelittlemonkey]

I think you just described my perfect holiday.

[ What in the world did he do to deserve Jemma Simmons? ]

Scotland? Really? Had you ever been before now? Any chance they'll let us go to Glasgow? There's this amazing Kebab shop I've got to show you, if it's still there..

[ It had been years since he'd been home, and since he'd seen his mum. He would like to make time for that... and to properly introduce her to Simmons... but that might have to wait until things were a bit more... settled and concrete. He's still having trouble believing something's not just going to rip her away from him any moment. ]

Or just a quiet hotel, privacy, ocean sounds, you and me... sounds nice. And I could always use the practice.

[badgirlshenanigans]

I knew you’d love it.

[He may be thinking it, but she’s going to broach the subject properly.]

Do you think we could take one of those days for me to meet your mum?

[She raised a brilliant son on her own and has Jemma’s complete admiration.]

Along with the quiet hotel and lots of practice.