2019-07-01 - Complex Systems

Summary:

After some unwanted mental spillover, Kelly changes tactics on how to keep everyone in their own heads.

Log Info:

Storyteller: None
Date: 2019-07-01
Location: Kelly's Lab, Triskellion, NYC

Related Logs

None

Theme Song

None

roy-harperkelly-dehaven

Kelly tried candles and incense and meditation. That didn’t get her very far. So now, she’s done a complete 180 and is looking at this like a computer system. Quite literally.

The workday is done, but she’s still in her lab so that she has access to the computer systems here. The hallways are dim in this portion of the building as the others have gone home and Kelly’s taken off her labcoat and gloves and even stripped off her blouse, leaving her in the chemise she was wearing beneath it. While not really work-appropriate, it’s still entirely decent. Given it’s summer, a lot of women are wearing the same thing out on the streets or at the park.

That puts her silver arms on full display as she works. Holographic screens are up all around her and the silver striations through her eyes have all but chased away the green. Network maps are up around her, and code runs off to the side in a steady stream.


"I bet you would be amazing at Call of Duty." Roy is looking over Kelly's shoulder as she works, and carrying a small tray. Chili dogs and iced lemonade. He takes a seat next to her and settles in, sliding the food between them to share.

"How's the link between us?" And with Jemma. It's odd. And well, he doesn't /want/ to be disconnected from her, she can tell that easily enough, but if it helps with her work with Jemma and Dethlok… leaning over, he places a kiss on Kelly's cheek. "I also have some SPF 80 in my pocket, so you know. Burnage." They're both fair-skinned redheads, after all.


“I have a bit of an advantage.” Kelly admits. Usually it would come with a smile. Perhaps a joke. But her expression stays focused. She’s been keeping the ‘doors’ tightly shut between all of them after Jemma’s appreciation had Roy practically begging her to pull the link from him. If he tries to talk to her, she can still hear him but otherwise it’s been surprisingly quiet in his head.

“Status is nominal.” The brief, to-the-point answers aren’t what Roy’s used to. Combined with the quiet in his head, it’s like dealing with a very different Kelly.

Her hands pause briefly and she finally looks over at him with mostly-silver eyes. “Burns? From what?”


There's a frown. "The sun? You know, big flaming ball in the sky that's gonna devour us all someday?" Roy asks and then he lifts his brow. Something's off. It's not just the silence. It's her demeanor. He nudges the lemonade closer to her.

"Are we having a fight? Because I feel like we're having a fight in your head, and I'm losing, big time."


“The sun is outside.” Kelly says, pointing out the obvious. When he nudges the lemonade towards her she looks down at it and then back up at him. Code continues to stream off to the side.

At least until he asks if they’re having a fight. Then there’s a blink. The code pauses with the cursor there at the end. Blinking. The silver retreats from her irises and Kelly blinks like that cursor.

Finally, that placid expression is broken by a furrowed brow and a look of concern. “Fight? What? No. Fighting would have a lot more yelling.” Her tone has some of that teasing back again and she leans over to kiss his lips briefly. “I’m trying to make sure we don’t have any more.. Issues.”


"Good, because I soooo do not like the silent fights. Those are the worse. Ever seen mimes fight? Terrible. All fake boxes and pulling ropes and lifting things." Roy mock-shudders at that before she kisses him and he returns the kiss. He pulls his knees up to his chest and sucks on his lemonade some more.

"I can get a healthy appreciation of the opposite sex. I mean, I have the same. Doesn't mean I want to see Jemma salivating like a child in a candy store that just saw a prized lolli." And then he realized she used those exact words, and this time the shudder's more genuine. "Ew."


Kelly winces a bit as there are inflections of Jemma’s speech to go with her syntax out of Roy’s mouth. Yeaaaah. That’s a problem. “And let’s be honest. It wasn’t seeing Jemma salivating,” Though Jemma wasn’t *that* bad. Was she? Maybe she was. You know what they say about the quiet ones. “It was feeling like *you* were salivating. Emotional response at odds with your thoughts can cause dangerous disassociation.” Not to mention it’s just awkward.

The redheaded scientist finally takes up the lemonade that Roy brought for her, sipping at it before she points to the main GUI in front of her. “I didn’t have great luck with the meditation, so I’m essentially hacking my own brain here. This is you. Me. Jemma.” She touches each icon in turn and they pulse with her touch. Roy’s icon actually looks icon-y from his Arsenal branding. “Right now we’re sort of all running as a single system. Great for processor power. Not so great for privacy. I need to break the system up so it’s more like computers on a network that share a server.”


"Well, you could always pull me out for a bit? I mean, it's not like I'm gonna run screaming for the hills." Roy responds, and reaches to take the chili dog to take a bite.. and then stops. "Ugh. I should have gotten the funnel cake instead." Mental imagery, go.

He reaches up, rubbing at the back of his neck. He still has the ear cuff, but it's not on his ear at the moment. "It feels weird now- not having you there." he finally admits quietly. "It's like.. being in solitary confinement and finding out the voice in your head wasn't so terrible after all."

He's not one of the great romantics.


Kelly gives him a pained look, trying not to snicker with amusement. “That was *awful*.” She informs him.

“And no.” She’s oddly firm on that. She’s not letting him go, damnit. “This is something I should have done earlier, anyhow.” But with it just being her and Roy in that ‘honeymoon’ stage of a new relationship, they didn’t mind the bleedover.

Of course, there’s the implication that it might not just go back to being the two of them. Either because of keeping Jemma in the link to deal with the Dethlok augments or because others might get added.

“I can keep up the walls until I’ve got this nailed down. And at least keeping you in, we can still talk.” It just takes effort. Like using your mouth would. And it doesn’t usually come with the layers of emotion.


"I never said I was good at this. Just passionate." Roy responds. Of course, she knows that. They kind of went into all of this whole-hearted. "It was a bit like that dude and princess in Frozen. Except you know I'm not gonna eventually betray you to turn you into a popsicle."

He smirks a little. "But I think we were just short of the Vegas weekend wedding, or you know, Justice of the Peace type stuff." Stuff that would normally scare him, but after what happened with Lian and Cheshire and everything.. maybe he wants a slice of normal. As normal as they can be, at least.


Kelly just looks at him for a long moment, mirth bubbling in her eyes and finally shakes her head. “Really, *really* bad at this.” She teases him as he goes for the Frozen villain on top of it.

The code has started back up on the monitor to the side, but it’s running a lot slower. Most of her attention is on Roy now, and not eyeballs deep in machine logic.

Mirror-finish hands take hold of Roy’s, only one flesh-and-blood between them, and squeezes lightly. “You’ve been too busy going to places like Afghanistan to sneak off to Vegas.” She teases him.


"Told you. Needed that voice in my head." Roy smirks at that as he feels Kelly's hand in his and his fingers automatically twine with hers. He squeezes back.

"That wasn't exactly a no." he points out to her. But he didn't exactly ask either.


“I finish this up, you’re gonna be stuck like this, thinking on your own.” Kelly teases him, though it’s a bit subdued. Being able to maintain separation is important. But that doesn’t mean she’s not going to miss the echo of him in her.

It feels like it should be a bigger decision, the idea of marriage. They haven’t even been ‘dating’ for a month yet. And yet it almost seems trivial to Kelly, after seeing as deeply as she has into his heart and mind.

Kelly leans in to kiss him again, lightly. “Like I could ever tell you ‘no’.” Even though she did. When he told her to take out the link.


"You can totally tell me yes later tonight." Roy promises. But there's no more push on the marriage front. Instead, he frowns a little. "I hope you don't think I was putting you out, Kel." he says quietly, after a moment's thought.

"I mean, we've almost been bonded since we met.. I mean. The first time I kissed you, I felt more sparks than I ever have before.. and now.. I just." he shrugs his shoulders. It's the addict in him - and she's the drug.


Does Roy have a therapist? They might have something to say about Roy and Kelly’s relationship. Even more if they know all of the details.

Kelly’s brows rise as Roy worries about putting her out. One of her hands comes up to cup his cheek and follow the line of one cheekbone with her thumb. “I don’t know how you can still worry.” She chastises him lightly.

“I’m sure we’re breaking all sorts of Relationship 101 rules.” Kelly admits. “But I also don’t think those rules were written for what we have. How could they be?” Unless it’s telepaths writing those rules. Then maybe. “But you’re right. We’re bonded now. And even if I were to pull the link, it would just mean I’d have a Roy-shaped piece of me missing.”

Knowing that Roy is letting the marriage bit drop because he doesn’t want to push, she kisses the tip of his nose. “Logically, if we want to avoid the awkward question and judgement, marriage should wait. But, at whatever point you decide you do want it to happen, I’m already yours, Roy. The answer will be yes.”


"Wanna live in delicious sin with me, Kelly Dehaven?" Roy asks with a toothy smile, deflecting his own thoughts on the matter. It is a dangerous game, it's a dangerous thing. She's a control freak, he's an addict.

And yet they're supposed to make this work? Just imagine how messed up any kids would be.

"I think we threw the relationship rules out the window when you had me move in with you less than a week after we met, Kel." he points out to her. "Not to mention when I agreed to bond myself to you on the deepest level possible."

He shrugs his shoulders and takes the lemonade, making a slurping sound as he hits ice and frowns. "I just know that you know, I want you here." His mechanical hand taps the side of his head. "And here." He taps his heart. "And totally here." he doesn't tap lower though, promise.


“I think we already made *that* decision.” Kelly points out about the living in sin bit, because yeah. She did invite him to move in. Who really wants to *live* at SHIELD anyway? Crazy people, that’s who. “And regular people jump to that step too, so I don’t think that was what burned the playbook.”

But agreeing to keep her in his head pretty much 24/7? Not just given the intimacy of the connection, but the trust knowing just what she could do with that access. Control his actions, change his memories. Twist his emotions? Entirely possible.

Kelly’s soft smile turns to a quiet snort of amusement as he finishes punctuating his comments, giving him a Look. “Well once I get this cleared up, you won’t feel alone up there anymore.” She taps his brow. “And I’m always here.” She places her hand over his on his chest. The last though? She just chuckles and can’t help teasing him. “You sure? You were checking out Agent Hotbod there..”


She's already shown her control over him a couple of times. While he was weirded out for a bit, she did it in more pleasant ways to show what she could do, if given free reign.

Not that he ever really had a choice there. Though he's smirking at her comment. "Yeah, no. I'm a taken guy. You and Jemma wanna discuss lollis and tushies and chiseled abs, put a sock on the mental doorknob or something."


Kelly is already close enough to Roy she doesn’t need to move to tug up the hem of his shirt so she can tickle his belly. “What if we want to talk about *your* lollis and tushies and chiseled abs?” While it’s still easy for Roy to tell that she’s teasing, it’s not as easy for him to infer all the nuance of it with the ‘doors closed’.

Though that does bring up something that couples can often run into trouble with. Kelly drags a fingernail along his belly. “You might be taken, but you’re not dead. Just try to limit the actual fantasies to me, hmm?” The words are relaxed and teasing, not threatening. It’s hard to feel threatened when you know what someone feels about you.


"Oh, I didn't say I was dead. And I'm totally not checking out the way that chemise hugs you." Roy responds coyly, a little squirm as she tickles him and he leans in close to her to just feel the warmth of her next to him.

"What, you think I have other fantasies? Come on, I even tried to put you in the leather bondage gear Widow wears." he points out.


“Oh I dare you to call her outfit that to her face!” Kelly says, laughingly aghast at his audacity. “And the answer is still no. If you start calling me Natasha..”

Her eyes are almost entirely moss-green now, the silver striations only visible when they catch the light just so so the amused glint to them is au natural. “I think my time in your head has been rubbing off on you. You knew what a chemise was versus a tank-top.”


"I know what the difference is between hip riders and a bikini as well, and I don't see you taking credit for that. Had a daughter, remember?" Roy asks. And she /might/ catch just the slightest tone of hurt and guilt in his own tone as he glances down.

"I think she'd have liked you." he finally says quietly. "She always wondered if I'd find her a new mommy."


“I’m a bit concerned that you were needing to know the difference.” Kelly replies, though the humor is a little flat given how much pain Roy has tangled up with the memories of his daughter.

As Roy glances down, Kelly pushes his knees apart so she can get close enough to wrap her arms around him in a hug and presses a kiss to his temple. “I like to think she would, so long as I addressed her most pressing agenda item: Maker her father happy.”

There’s a blipboop from the computers behind them and Kelly turns enough to look over. “Ah. Looks like we’re done. Simulations look good. I’ll hold off until we have the three of us together, in case something goes wrong.”


There's a small chuckle. "You know, they say women are drawn to single fathers? Yeah, that so did not happen with me." Roy says with a hint of ruefulness. He's deflecting. It's what he does in cases like this. And as he presses to Kelly, he wraps his arms around her to hold her tight.

That's probably the reason for the marriage talk - to give himself something now that he didn't dare try for when he was alone with Lian.

And then Kelly provides the distraction, and he sucks it up. "Okay. So lets go find Jemma and see if it works."

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