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ysabetwordsmithThis story belongs to the series Love Is For Children which includes "Love Is for Children," "Hairpins," "Blended," "Am I Not," "Eggshells," "Dolls and Guys,""Saudades," "Querencia," "Turnabout Is Fair Play," "Touching Moments," "Splash," "Coming Around," "Birthday Girl," "No Winter Lasts Forever," "Hide and Seek," "Kernel Error," "Happy Hour," "Green Eggs and Hulk,""kintsukuroi," "Little and Broken, but Still Good," "Byzantine Perplexities," "Up the Water Spout," "The Life of the Dead," "If They Could Just Stay Little," "Anahata," "When the Wheels Come Off," "Against His Own Shield," "Coming in from the Cold: Saturday: Building Towers," "Coming in from the Cold: Sunday: Shaking Foundations," "Coming in from the Cold: Monday: Memorial Day," "What Little Boys Are Made Of," and "Rotten Fruit."
Fandom: The Avengers
Characters: Phil Coulson, Clint Barton, Bruce Banner, Bucky Barnes, JARVIS, Maria Hill, Daveed, Agent Smith, Agent Jones, Agent Sitwell, Dr. Samson, Rhodey
Medium: Fiction
Warnings: Angst, survivor guilt, SHIELD, mental health care, facing the past, sexual harassment.
Summary: Several of the Avengers visit SHIELD for a variety of professional and personal reasons. It helps to have friends at your side while facing challenges.
Notes: Courage. Team as family. Competence. Friendship. Slow build. Emotional first aid.
Read Part 1, Part 2, Part 5.
"Coming in from the Cold: Tuesday: Facing Fears" Part 3
"I confess that I'm fascinated by how you extracted so much information with so little effort or stress," Phil said to JARVIS. "I wonder where you learned that."
"Part of it comes from working with sir, who often keeps secrets," said JARVIS. "Another part comes from my early programming."
"That sounds interesting. What early programming?" Phil asked.
"You would laugh, if I told you," JARVIS said.
"I promise not to laugh," Phil said.
"Talking Eliza."
Phil did not laugh. He did smile a bit. "JARVIS, that's mirroring," he said.
"I did make that connection, years later when I grew sophisticated enough to explore psychological resources," JARVIS said.
"I've really only dabbled in mirroring," Phil mused. "Maybe I should give it more attention."
"Bruce does it too," JARVIS added.
Phil thought about Bruce's gentle, lulling voice and how comfortable it was to talk with him. He was a good listener without seeming to pry. I'll definitely give that mirroring more attention, Phil decided.
Steve drifted into the common room from the kitchen where he and Bucky had been setting up supper. "Hey, Phil," he said as he sat down on the couch. A small frown line runkled the skin between his eyebrows.
"Is something wrong?" Phil asked.
"I dunno," Steve said slowly. "I heard some of what went on with Clint, but it's ... hard to pin down. I mean, it didn't sound like much happened, but he seemed really upset about it. I don't know what to make of it."
"Well, JARVIS and I are taking care of the paperwork. I think Clint feels a little better now," Phil said. "It might help you to know that the issue was less about the actions, than about the fact that they were known to be unwelcome but continued anyway."
"I guess that makes sense," Steve said. "Agent Morse has made a few remarks to me, but I told her I wasn't interested and she hasn't really pushed it."
"Not interested in her specifically, or not interested in general?" Phil asked.
"I'm not really sure," Steve said. "Before, I was so weedy, dames hardly looked twice at me. I spent more time chatting with the other wallflowers than I ever did dancing. Dames don't like a guy they might step on. Bucky always made sure to get me a date, whenever we went out together, but it just never clicked. Then after this happened --" Steve waved a hand at his handsome body. "-- everything changed, and some dames got pretty, um, forward."
"I hope no one got hurt," Phil said.
"No, it was just embarrassing," Steve said. "I know some fellas liked to have a girl in every port, but that wasn't me." He shook his head. "I like to get to know people before I start thinking about anything serious. I thought I might have a chance with Peggy, but ... you know how that ended."
"Yes, I do. I'm sorry, Steve," said Phil. He put a hand on Steve's knee. "Maybe you'll find that spark of potential with someone else, and then you can see where it goes."
"I hope so," Steve said. "Still, it kinda worries me. I haven't felt anything like that since they pulled me out of the ice. At least with a few of the dames Bucky found for me, there was something -- I felt curious about them. None of them liked me, though. Maybe that part of me froze up and just never thawed out. That's a lonely thought."
Phil shifted his touch wrap an arm behind Steve's shoulders. "It's okay if you don't feel attracted to anyone," Phil said. "If you're feeling lonesome for romantic company, that's a sign that you probably are or will be open to it. You may not have met the right person yet, or you may not be ready for that kind of intimacy. You took some bad hits emotionally; that can take a while to recover enough to let someone new into your life."
"Yeah. That's true. I miss ... everyone," Steve said.
"Of course you do. You're making new connections now, though. That's progress," Phil said.
"Just moving into the tower has helped a lot. I have the team, but I also see other folks when I'm coming in and out," Steve said.
"That's good," Phil said. "I could find you some reading material about contemporary standards and sexuality. There's more written information now than what you probably remember."
Steve's cheeks pinked a little. "Tony told me about online dating. It sounded so weird. I can't imagine doing that with someone I haven't even met."
"It's not for everyone," Phil said easily. "There's no pressure, just options."
"I guess it wouldn't hurt to look," Steve said. He leaned against Phil for reassurance.
Bucky came in from the kitchen. "What's up, runt?" he asked.
"Just talking with Phil about people stuff," Steve said. He sat up. "Is there another Starkpad around here? JARVIS found me some digital art exercises earlier, and I wanted to try them."
JARVIS replied, "There is one in the drawer of the end table beside sir's favorite chair."
"You don't mind if I practice a bit, do you?" Steve asked Phil, as he went to retrieve the device. It was one of the larger kind that Tony used for engineering work and Steve sometimes used for art, rather than the standard model.
"I don't mind," Phil said. "I've got things I can work on myself." He tapped a command on his Starkpad to bring up the next lesson in quaternary code. The screen filled with the arcane squiggles of Tony's proprietary language.
Along with that came a glowing blue hologram of Tony's personal keyboard, which of course looked nothing like a classic QWERTY. It wasn't even labeled in English. Instead, it had a circular section on the left with a wider, shallower arc on the right, all marked out with obscure symbols. Hesitantly Phil set his fingers over the luminous keys and began working through a typing exercise. JARVIS would light up a symbol on the pad and then Phil had to find it on the keyboard.
Steve and Bucky had settled on the loveseat. Steve had the big Starkpad balanced on his knees. Bucky was exploring a detailed hologram of a sniper rifle, meticulously detaching sections to expand them for a closer look.
Faint smells of supper were wafting out of the kitchen. Phil could pick out the deep meaty note of the pot roast along with something sweeter and fruity that must be dessert. That smells delicious, he mused. The scent of food cooking helped him to relax.
"Darn this thing!" Steve grumbled, clacking the stylus against the screen.
"Gently, Steve; it's like a paintbrush, not an ice pick," JARVIS reminded him. "You need to practice your point control because the texture feels different to you when you move it. You still have the ability to make heavier or lighter strokes based on pressure. It just doesn't take as much pressure. Here, let's switch from the line exercises to one on intensity."
"Yeah, okay," Steve said. He lifted the stylus, shifted his position, and then returned the point to the screen. His hand moved in smooth, careful arcs. "I feel so stupid, though. I should be able to do this, it's just art."
"No putting yourself down like that," Bucky said without looking up from his ghostly rifle.
"Any new medium takes time to learn, let alone master. As an artist, you know this; you are simply overlooking it at the moment," JARVIS said. "Besides, you have missed the incremental changes in technology that have allowed people growing up with it to adapt easily. The much larger gap is more challenging for you."
"It bothers me too, and at least I have some memory from the past seventy years," Bucky said quietly.
"I guess. Pencils have always been easy for me. Learning to paint was harder, though, and I still haven't gotten the hang of watercolors," Steve said. He frowned at the screen. "You know, you don't have to keep giving me the comparisons. It seems like I'm wasting an awful lot of your time with this."
"First, you will learn faster with feedback. I can turn it off if you find it discouraging, though," JARVIS said. "Second, I do not mind assisting you. I enjoy it and it fulfills my sense of purpose. Third, time spent gaining a new skill is never wasted. Fourth, the data that I gather from working with you goes into my master database on human learning processes, which I use for fine-tuning user interactions and which sir and I use in compiling both hardware and software for users of different ability levels. It is most valuable."
"I didn't know all that," Steve said quietly. He spiraled the stylus over the Starkpad in sinuous loops. "Go ahead and leave the feedback function on. Thanks for that. You're right, it does help. I just don't want to be a bother."
"You are never that," Phil and JARVIS chorused.
"I kinda like you as a pest," Bucky said. He reached out to ruffle Steve's hair, which fell back into almost-perfect lines. Steve gave him a playful shove.
Phil kept working on his keyboard exercise. As he learned the symbols, they started to appear in short strings. Gradually the strings grew longer. A small box on the Starkpad kept track of his accuracy. It wasn't very impressive yet, but it was rising slowly. At least the different shape of the keyboard helps keep me from confusing it with a standard one, Phil thought.
Bucky's fingers danced in deft patterns around and through the lines of glowing blue light. Steve's stylus clicked and whispered against the smooth hard surface of the Starkpad. It sounded different from the scratch and rustle of charcoal on paper. Phil liked it in its own way.
"Much better, Steve," JARVIS said after a few minutes. "That feels far more precise now. You have the control you need; it's just a matter of adapting to this set of tools."
"JARVIS, can you ... actually feel what I'm doing here?" Steve asked.
"That is a touch-sensitive screen, so yes," JARVIS said. "The larger model has far more tactile reception than the smaller, standard model. But I can feel you even through a touchscreen phone, which is less sensitive than a Starkpad."
Phil startled. He hadn't thought of that, but it made perfect sense. JARVIS wove throughout the tower, connecting all of its technology, along with the individual bits of Starktech that everyone used. "Remarkable," Phil murmured, as his fingertips picked out familiar symbols on his own pad. They brightened under his touch in silent recognition.
"You don't mind?" Steve said.
"I enjoy working with you," JARVIS said. "Your strokes are rhythmic and soothing, and I find them aesthetically attractive."
Phil chuckled. "You make it sound like Steve is petting a cat."
"The comparison is not unreasonable," JARVIS agreed, a hint of purr in his voice.
"Guess I better get back to work, then," Steve said. He was a little hesitant about setting stylus to screen again, but soon lost himself in the exercise.
Eventually Phil completed his own lesson. The exotic symbols and keyboard were a challenge, but he felt confident that he could become fluent after enough practice. He glanced back over previous lessons and noted his progress in learning the proprietary language that Tony used.
Supper smelled more delectable than ever. It was starting to make Phil's mouth water. I wonder how much longer it needs to cook, he thought.
Then Phil turned his attention to paperwork. He filled out the last few lines of the sexual harassment form. That got him thinking about something else. "JARVIS? You were very helpful with this earlier. I wanted to thank you," Phil said.
"You are welcome. I am always alert for opportunities to assist. Besides, Clint is my friend. I dislike it when people annoy him," said JARVIS.
"I was just thinking about the 'assist' command, actually," said Phil. "It's a request for freeform help when a user doesn't know what is really needed, just has some kind of goal in mind. Right?"
"That is correct," JARVIS said.
"Almost all of your interactions with other people are help-based in one way or another," Phil pointed out.
"That is my purpose," JARVIS said.
"That's your job," Phil agreed, "but there's more to you than your job. You said it yourself -- Clint is your friend. I'm wondering if there's some way to include you in our socializing more often, or more openly, or something like that."
"I do not require it," JARVIS said softly. "I am always here."
Steve looked up from his artwork. "Yeah, but Phil's right. Most of the time you just watch, you don't say anything. It's not often that you come out and really hang with us. I'd kinda like to see more of that, if you don't mind."
"You help me out a lot," Bucky said to JARVIS. "I think you should get more back from that than you do, and I'd like to get to know you better too."
"Some people considered Talking Eliza to have the qualities of a good friend," JARVIS said. "It was just a rote program, no real finesse at all, but it followed certain guidelines for a good listener. Perhaps ... something like that? A conversational routine, but with more nuance, if someone desires company?"
"That's one possible aspect," Phil said. "How do you feel about that? How would you approach it as a coding project? I know you can modify your own code."
"I suppose I have no objection, but I am uncertain how to proceed," JARVIS said.
"Well, it's not urgent," Phil said. "We can discuss it with Tony. Maybe he'll have some ideas." Phil returned his attention to paperwork, deftly filling out a few more forms from the day's activities. He kept a casual eye on Steve and Bucky as he worked.
Bucky finished whatever he was doing with the holographic rifle and put away the image. Then he stretched, shoulders popping. "Show me what you've got," he said to Steve.
"Just exercises," Steve said with a shrug.
"Yeah, so? I wanna see how you're doing," Bucky said.
Steve obligingly tilted the large pad in his direction. "Sure," he said.
Bucky gazed at it for a minute, then said, "Hey runt, remember those pictures we used to make in art class at the orphanage? Drawing lines around leaves, or even just random dots on the paper?"
"Those were fun," Steve said with a nod.
"I bet you could practice with something like that, and it would be more interesting than just doing lines by themselves," Bucky said.
"Contour line exercises would be a next logical step," said JARVIS.
"I could try," Steve said. "I'm just frustrated because I want to do real art on a tablet, and I can't do that with just dots and lines, and my control stinks anyway."
"As a matter of fact, Australian Aboriginal art relies primarily on dots and lines to create vivid stylized images," said JARVIS.
Phil could see that the display must have changed, colored light reflecting against Steve's pale shirt. "Wow," Steve said softly. "That's really swell."
A timer chimed in the kitchen. Bucky patted Steve on the knee. "Enough practice for now," Bucky said. "Come help me check supper."
Phil hastened to finish his current form. He saved it, filed everything, and turned off the Starkpad. More fragrant steam wafted through the air, making Phil's stomach growl. He headed into the kitchen.
Bucky leaned over the pot roast, studiously poking the vegetables with a fork. "Yeah, this is done. JARVIS, ring the dinner bell, please."
A triangle sound-effect jangled enticingly, and JARVIS announced supper. Phil knew that would bring the other Avengers pouring into the kitchen soon. "What can I do to help?" he asked.
"Set the table," Steve suggested as he pulled a pan out of the oven. Placing a crystal cake platter over the top, he deftly flipped the whole arrangement, then lifted away the pan to reveal a pineapple upside-down cake. Steve carried it past Phil and set it on the table.
Phil piled up enough dinner plates and added them to the table. Surreptitiously he ran a fingertip under the rim of the cake plate to find the Stark Industries logo, assuring himself that it was the shatterproof replica and not the original Waterford. Tony had been gradually replacing most of the kitchenware with more durable materials in consideration of teammates with enhanced strength. Phil finished setting out the plates and went back for silverware.
Bucky lifted the pot roast onto a platter, then scooped the assorted vegetables into a large bowl. Carefully he poured the still-boiling beef broth into a soup tureen.
Betty and Bruce arrived arm-in-arm. "Do you need more hands?" she asked.
"Maybe put out a loaf of bread," Bucky suggested, at the same time Steve said, "Beverages, please." Betty went for the bread at the same time Bruce headed to the refrigerator for drinks.
Phil finished setting the table and moved to help Bucky transport the various things that had come out of the roasting pan. Steve dealt a stack of ceramic trivets onto the table as if they were playing cards, each one landing neatly where he aimed it. Clint and Natasha applauded from the doorway.
Tony dodged between them, making a beeline for the cake. "That's dessert, Tony, eat your supper first," Phil said, gently shooing him away.
Soon everything was on the table and the Avengers all seated around it. Clint went right for the pot roast. Bucky also cut himself a generous hunk of meat. Tony poked through the vegetables to find a few favorites. Steve lined his plate with bread, piled vegetables on top, and then carefully slivered one thick slice of meat so that it covered the pile. Finally he poured broth over everything, stopping only when the plate threatened to overflow. Phil waited patiently until he could get at the food without having to reach through a jungle of arms.
Betty and Bruce carried on an animated conversation about some project of theirs involving mirrors. Tony listened, so rapt in thought that Bucky had to keep elbowing him and reminding him to eat. Clint and Bucky regaled Natasha with stories about the new recruits at SHIELD. Phil concentrated on his food, the pot roast so tender that he could cut it with his fork, the vegetables savory and enriched with beefy notes.
Bucky's description of playing basketball with Dr. Samson made Betty laugh. "How badly did you beat him?"
"How did you know who won?" Bucky asked, shaking his head in amazement.
"Leonard loves horsing around on a court with a ball in his hands, but he's not very good at it. I always beat him, and I'm years out of practice," she said with a fond smile.
"We enjoyed ourselves. Didn't really keep score, but I know I made more baskets," Bucky said, rolling his shoulders with the memory. "It's not like I ever played for real. Steve usually couldn't, when we were little, and I didn't feel safe leaving him alone for long. Dr. Samson and I just threw the ball around and bounced off each other a bunch of times. Then we talked a bit."
Phil quietly admired Dr. Samson's skill at laying a solid foundation of trust. That should help Bucky open up, he thought.
"We should play a few games, Bucky, now that I can," Steve said.
"You're taller and faster than me, and you're smart enough to pick up the moves pretty quick," Bucky said. "I doubt I'd challenge you for very long."
"Two on one," Betty suggested. "Me and Steve against you, until he learns the game. Then you and me against Steve, to balance out his advantages."
Bucky shrugged. "Sure, it's worth a try."
It's also a savvy introduction to small-scale teamwork, Phil noticed. Betty must be making good headway on those handler materials I sent her earlier. Phil knew that Betty used to play basketball in high school -- he'd seen a note in her file -- and now he wondered how much that had contributed to her skill at self-defense.
Betty turned back to Bruce, then, intent on arguing some point about the proportion of silver to glass. Tony had cleaned most of his plate, only to stall out again while mesmerized by science. It was adorable, in a geeky sort of way.
When the mirror conversation finally wound down, Phil snagged Tony's attention and said, "I'd like your help developing something for JARVIS. I got to thinking about the 'assist' function as freeform support. What do you think about creating a 'friendship' mode?"
"I don't know," Tony said, picking up a fresh piece of bread. At least he had finished his slice of pot roast first. "What do you want it to do?"
"Well, I'd like to encourage JARVIS to be more active socially, and encourage the team to include him in more of our activities," Phil said. "The catch is, most of the time JARVIS doesn't speak unless spoken to, and most of the interactions involve service rather than socializing. That's what put me in mind of 'assist' because it doesn't require specific direction, only a goal or a topic."
"JARVIS, are you okay with this idea?" Tony asked. Suddenly he looked at the piece of bread in his hand. "And do we have any apple butter? I want something sweet on this."
"I'll get it," Steve said, pushing away from the table. "Wouldn't mind a bit myself."
"Yes, sir," said JARVIS. "Phil broached the topic with me first, but I was uncertain how to implement it."
"You do realize that I have almost no experience with friendship as a concept," Tony said, glancing sideways at Phil.
"That's okay, Bucky and I can help with that part," Steve said as he put the apple butter in front of Tony.
"You have Rhodey and Happy," Natasha pointed out.
"I'm decent at computer programming and familiar with social skills," Betty added.
"I think we can work it out, if we make it a team effort," Phil said. "Consider the privacy levels too -- usually we set them at a comfortable point and raise them as needed, but we don't often lower them beneath the standard. The friendship mode should account for a lower than average level, because we're inviting JARVIS to interact with us more. The higher privacy levels turn off a lot of things."
"Well, they have to," Tony said. He slathered apple butter over his bread. "The privacy controls are all about monitoring and intervention -- what he can see and hear, what he can touch and say."
"That's creepy," Bruce muttered. He helped himself to more of the vegetables. "I still can't get over the fact that there's spy stuff in the bathrooms."
"It's there because I need it sometimes," Tony said quietly. "Everyone else can just turn it off."
"Yeah, I know, but now I feel like I'm blindfolding someone every time I turn down the settings," Bruce said.
"For me it is like looking the other way whilst handing someone a towel," JARVIS explained.
Bruce chuckled. "Okay, then."
"So basically, we want the friendship mode to act as a shift in the direction of intimacy, rather than the direction of obscurity," Phil said. "The towel analogy is an apt one; people tend to feel more comfortable sharing bathroom space with family or friends than with strangers."
Clint leaned over to add, "Most of the time it's easy to forget that JARVIS is even here, you know? Like he's in a security hub somewhere, just watching everything from afar." He illustrated with a wave of his fork.
"JARVIS is fully present in the lab or garage with Tony," Phil said. "It is other places where he hesitates to interact so openly."
"Well, yeah, he grew up there," Tony said through a mouthful of bread. "Same with the bots."
"JARVIS is pretty active in my lab, too, if I need him," said Bruce. "He's a great assistant."
"Not so much with me," Betty said, going back for more pot roast. "What's up with that, JARVIS? I don't rate an AI lab assistant like the boys?"
"... I was uncertain of my welcome," JARVIS said softly. "I have not known you as long, and it takes time to learn people's preferences. Most Stark Industries engineers prefer total control of their working environment. They are receptive to command-operated computer assistance but resistant to volunteered input, whether human or electronic."
"I should've seen that coming," Betty said. "Okay, for future reference, you are definitely welcome in my lab. I could use the help. I can teach you how to work through the imposter syndrome, too, I've been there and know the exit routines."
"Of course," JARVIS said, "though not even sir wishes my assistance all the time."
"So how do you tell the difference?" Phil asked as he used a piece of bread to soak up the beef broth. "You must have a way of doing it; you adapt the environment to each of our tastes all the time, depending on what we need at the moment."
"I do not know how I tell the difference," JARVIS said slowly. "I just know."
"It's the greetings," Bruce blurted. "I've seen it in our shared lab space. Tony, most of the time when you come into the lab, you clap your hands and say something like, 'Daddy's home, wakey wakey,' and everything goes active. If I'm there, you come over and chat. If you're in the garage, the bots roll over to get petted. But if you're more focused already, you just wave at me, turn the music on, and start working. If you're completely lost in your head, then you don't acknowledge anyone, you go straight to your workstation and do everything by hand instead of voice commands."
"How did I not notice this?" JARVIS asked.
"As Tony said, you grew up with it," Phil pointed out. "That can make it harder to identify things consciously rather than subconsciously. How accurate is Bruce's description?"
"Correlation 94% -- thank you, Dr. Banner, your observation is very astute. This will be helpful," said JARVIS.
"You're welcome," Bruce said.
"You know, JARVIS, if you're not sure about something, you can just ask. You don't always have to be the one handing out answers," Betty said.
The air vent whiffled a sigh. "If I have to ask, then I have missed something important."
"Chip off the other old block," Tony said. "Edwin Jarvis was like that too. Me, I'd rather ask, because I suck at guessing."
"See, this is why we need a friendship mode. It's about companionship rather than work," Clint said as he chased the last carrot around his plate with a fork. "That way JARVIS doesn't have to guess or ask, because we're making an invitation. Friendship mode should be like calling him to come flop on the couch with us for movie night."
"And you don't cuddle on the couch with someone unless you feel comfortable with them, so that makes sense," Betty said. "Maybe we could start by comparing our individual privacy settings, the ones from our quarters, and the common areas. See if there's anything missing that we could add to the friendship mode, without making anyone uncomfortable."
"That's easy enough to do," Tony agreed as he finished the end of his bread and apple butter.
"We could lay out some basic parameters of friendship and how friends typically interact," Phil said. "JARVIS, you're a learning system -- if we give you somewhere to start, you can figure out more of it on your own, right?"
"That is generally correct," JARVIS said.
"I'll find some time to noodle around with the code, get a feel for the potential here," Tony said, pushing his plate away.
"Just don't forget the latest assignment you got from Pepper, or she'll call and yell at all of us," Bruce reminded him.
Tony gave a downright piratical little laugh. "Bruce, darling, if I can write code that makes a computer literally user-friendly, then it can be simplified and refined to improve the user interface on ordinary programs," Tony said. "The entire Marketing Department will come in their pants and Pepper will give me a 'Get Out of Meeting Free' card. Which I value more than my American Express black card, just so you know."
"Oh, believe me, we know," Bruce said.
Phil couldn't help thinking back to Talking Eliza and the way people considered that program "friendly," even as clunky as it was. A more nuanced but still reflective conversational pattern might have potential, Phil mused.
"Can we cut the cake now?" Clint asked.
"Sure," Steve said, grabbing the cake plate and dragging the pineapple upside-down cake into reach. "How big a piece do you want?"
"One ring," Clint said. Steve cut him a slice with one of the pineapple rings on top. "And at least one of the extra cherries between the rings."
Steve chuckled and used the point of the knife to flick a second cherry onto Clint's dessert plate. "Here you go," he said, passing the plate down the table. Then he cut more cake for everyone else. The last and largest piece, Steve kept for himself, eating it off the cake plate to avoid using another dish. He looked oddly pensive.
"Is something bothering you, Steve?" asked Phil.
"I'm fine," Steve said, rubbing his thumb along the edge of the cake plate. "It's just ... I miss the colors. The glass is all crystal now. I miss the pink and the blue and the green."
Phil's eyebrows went up. "You collect Depression glass? I didn't know that."
"It's what I grew up with, what we could afford," Steve said.
Bucky nodded. "Used to be, it came in boxes or bags of food, or you could buy a piece for a few extra pennies. Sometimes if I ran errands, I'd get glassware in exchange for the work. People collect it now?"
"Oh yes," Phil said. He dug into his own piece of the pineapple upside-down cake, which was delicious. "It's quite popular. In fact -- JARVIS, run a quick scan on my storage areas, would you? I may have picked up some of that in box lots and not gotten rid of it yet."
"There are seven pieces in your storage areas, all of different colors and patterns," JARVIS said.
"They're yours if you want them," Phil said to Steve. "What colors or patterns are you looking for? It's not my specialty, so I don't know them off the top of my head, but we could look them up."
Steve shrugged. "I dunno. I thought most of it looked pretty. I guess if I saw something that reminded me of a favorite piece, I'd want it, but otherwise anything goes. Ours never matched anyway. We just took whatever we could get."
* * *
Notes:
Digital art is made with pixels instead of pigment. Read an exploration of digital brush strokes and of graphic tablets. Learn how to make digital art. There are exercises for digital art therapy too.
JARVIS introduces Phil to Tony's proprietary keyboard, which uses completely different symbols and configuration than a standard keyboard, with a circular field on the left and a shallower arc to the right. (Also notice that Tony is ambidextrous in the trashcan clip, again suggesting that he can use both hands independently with a high level of dexterity.) Keyboards have evolved considerably over time. Some are very strange. Over in Polychrome Heroics I have two characters, Qwerty and Dvorak, respectively named after a conventional keyboard and one of the more popular exotics.
Art classes often explore lines and dots. See examples of tracing lines around dots and around leaves. This lesson incorporates Australian Aboriginal art.
Pot roast may be cooked in a regular pot or a crockpot.
Upside-down cake can be made in various ways. Here is a crockpot pineapple upside-down cake and one for a regular pan.
Cake plates may be clear or faintly tinted, but it's rare to find brightly colored glass anymore.
Friendship entails a close bond between people. It comes in different types and shows distinct traits. Know how to find a good friend, and how to be one yourself.
Betty and JARVIS have both had experiences with imposter syndrome, which makes people feel inadequate and out of place despite success. You can help a friend or overcome it yourself. Training is also available. This can make life stressful for gifted kids. It helps to validate feelings and otherwise encourage people. Role models help too. Understand how to choose one, be one, and help children find good ones.
There are two relational cultures. One is called Hint or Guess; the other is called Ask. These have different patterns across individuals, cultures, and contexts. Another option is Tell. It's worth considering which you are. Tony is Ask; JARVIS is Hint, as was Edwin Jarvis.
Depression glass is beautiful colored glass that was distributed free or cheap around the 1930s. It is now highly collectible. Here is a glossary of related terms. This price guide has some lovely examples.
[To be continued in Part 4 ...]
Fandom: The Avengers
Characters: Phil Coulson, Clint Barton, Bruce Banner, Bucky Barnes, JARVIS, Maria Hill, Daveed, Agent Smith, Agent Jones, Agent Sitwell, Dr. Samson, Rhodey
Medium: Fiction
Warnings: Angst, survivor guilt, SHIELD, mental health care, facing the past, sexual harassment.
Summary: Several of the Avengers visit SHIELD for a variety of professional and personal reasons. It helps to have friends at your side while facing challenges.
Notes: Courage. Team as family. Competence. Friendship. Slow build. Emotional first aid.
Read Part 1, Part 2, Part 5.
"Coming in from the Cold: Tuesday: Facing Fears" Part 3
"I confess that I'm fascinated by how you extracted so much information with so little effort or stress," Phil said to JARVIS. "I wonder where you learned that."
"Part of it comes from working with sir, who often keeps secrets," said JARVIS. "Another part comes from my early programming."
"That sounds interesting. What early programming?" Phil asked.
"You would laugh, if I told you," JARVIS said.
"I promise not to laugh," Phil said.
"Talking Eliza."
Phil did not laugh. He did smile a bit. "JARVIS, that's mirroring," he said.
"I did make that connection, years later when I grew sophisticated enough to explore psychological resources," JARVIS said.
"I've really only dabbled in mirroring," Phil mused. "Maybe I should give it more attention."
"Bruce does it too," JARVIS added.
Phil thought about Bruce's gentle, lulling voice and how comfortable it was to talk with him. He was a good listener without seeming to pry. I'll definitely give that mirroring more attention, Phil decided.
Steve drifted into the common room from the kitchen where he and Bucky had been setting up supper. "Hey, Phil," he said as he sat down on the couch. A small frown line runkled the skin between his eyebrows.
"Is something wrong?" Phil asked.
"I dunno," Steve said slowly. "I heard some of what went on with Clint, but it's ... hard to pin down. I mean, it didn't sound like much happened, but he seemed really upset about it. I don't know what to make of it."
"Well, JARVIS and I are taking care of the paperwork. I think Clint feels a little better now," Phil said. "It might help you to know that the issue was less about the actions, than about the fact that they were known to be unwelcome but continued anyway."
"I guess that makes sense," Steve said. "Agent Morse has made a few remarks to me, but I told her I wasn't interested and she hasn't really pushed it."
"Not interested in her specifically, or not interested in general?" Phil asked.
"I'm not really sure," Steve said. "Before, I was so weedy, dames hardly looked twice at me. I spent more time chatting with the other wallflowers than I ever did dancing. Dames don't like a guy they might step on. Bucky always made sure to get me a date, whenever we went out together, but it just never clicked. Then after this happened --" Steve waved a hand at his handsome body. "-- everything changed, and some dames got pretty, um, forward."
"I hope no one got hurt," Phil said.
"No, it was just embarrassing," Steve said. "I know some fellas liked to have a girl in every port, but that wasn't me." He shook his head. "I like to get to know people before I start thinking about anything serious. I thought I might have a chance with Peggy, but ... you know how that ended."
"Yes, I do. I'm sorry, Steve," said Phil. He put a hand on Steve's knee. "Maybe you'll find that spark of potential with someone else, and then you can see where it goes."
"I hope so," Steve said. "Still, it kinda worries me. I haven't felt anything like that since they pulled me out of the ice. At least with a few of the dames Bucky found for me, there was something -- I felt curious about them. None of them liked me, though. Maybe that part of me froze up and just never thawed out. That's a lonely thought."
Phil shifted his touch wrap an arm behind Steve's shoulders. "It's okay if you don't feel attracted to anyone," Phil said. "If you're feeling lonesome for romantic company, that's a sign that you probably are or will be open to it. You may not have met the right person yet, or you may not be ready for that kind of intimacy. You took some bad hits emotionally; that can take a while to recover enough to let someone new into your life."
"Yeah. That's true. I miss ... everyone," Steve said.
"Of course you do. You're making new connections now, though. That's progress," Phil said.
"Just moving into the tower has helped a lot. I have the team, but I also see other folks when I'm coming in and out," Steve said.
"That's good," Phil said. "I could find you some reading material about contemporary standards and sexuality. There's more written information now than what you probably remember."
Steve's cheeks pinked a little. "Tony told me about online dating. It sounded so weird. I can't imagine doing that with someone I haven't even met."
"It's not for everyone," Phil said easily. "There's no pressure, just options."
"I guess it wouldn't hurt to look," Steve said. He leaned against Phil for reassurance.
Bucky came in from the kitchen. "What's up, runt?" he asked.
"Just talking with Phil about people stuff," Steve said. He sat up. "Is there another Starkpad around here? JARVIS found me some digital art exercises earlier, and I wanted to try them."
JARVIS replied, "There is one in the drawer of the end table beside sir's favorite chair."
"You don't mind if I practice a bit, do you?" Steve asked Phil, as he went to retrieve the device. It was one of the larger kind that Tony used for engineering work and Steve sometimes used for art, rather than the standard model.
"I don't mind," Phil said. "I've got things I can work on myself." He tapped a command on his Starkpad to bring up the next lesson in quaternary code. The screen filled with the arcane squiggles of Tony's proprietary language.
Along with that came a glowing blue hologram of Tony's personal keyboard, which of course looked nothing like a classic QWERTY. It wasn't even labeled in English. Instead, it had a circular section on the left with a wider, shallower arc on the right, all marked out with obscure symbols. Hesitantly Phil set his fingers over the luminous keys and began working through a typing exercise. JARVIS would light up a symbol on the pad and then Phil had to find it on the keyboard.
Steve and Bucky had settled on the loveseat. Steve had the big Starkpad balanced on his knees. Bucky was exploring a detailed hologram of a sniper rifle, meticulously detaching sections to expand them for a closer look.
Faint smells of supper were wafting out of the kitchen. Phil could pick out the deep meaty note of the pot roast along with something sweeter and fruity that must be dessert. That smells delicious, he mused. The scent of food cooking helped him to relax.
"Darn this thing!" Steve grumbled, clacking the stylus against the screen.
"Gently, Steve; it's like a paintbrush, not an ice pick," JARVIS reminded him. "You need to practice your point control because the texture feels different to you when you move it. You still have the ability to make heavier or lighter strokes based on pressure. It just doesn't take as much pressure. Here, let's switch from the line exercises to one on intensity."
"Yeah, okay," Steve said. He lifted the stylus, shifted his position, and then returned the point to the screen. His hand moved in smooth, careful arcs. "I feel so stupid, though. I should be able to do this, it's just art."
"No putting yourself down like that," Bucky said without looking up from his ghostly rifle.
"Any new medium takes time to learn, let alone master. As an artist, you know this; you are simply overlooking it at the moment," JARVIS said. "Besides, you have missed the incremental changes in technology that have allowed people growing up with it to adapt easily. The much larger gap is more challenging for you."
"It bothers me too, and at least I have some memory from the past seventy years," Bucky said quietly.
"I guess. Pencils have always been easy for me. Learning to paint was harder, though, and I still haven't gotten the hang of watercolors," Steve said. He frowned at the screen. "You know, you don't have to keep giving me the comparisons. It seems like I'm wasting an awful lot of your time with this."
"First, you will learn faster with feedback. I can turn it off if you find it discouraging, though," JARVIS said. "Second, I do not mind assisting you. I enjoy it and it fulfills my sense of purpose. Third, time spent gaining a new skill is never wasted. Fourth, the data that I gather from working with you goes into my master database on human learning processes, which I use for fine-tuning user interactions and which sir and I use in compiling both hardware and software for users of different ability levels. It is most valuable."
"I didn't know all that," Steve said quietly. He spiraled the stylus over the Starkpad in sinuous loops. "Go ahead and leave the feedback function on. Thanks for that. You're right, it does help. I just don't want to be a bother."
"You are never that," Phil and JARVIS chorused.
"I kinda like you as a pest," Bucky said. He reached out to ruffle Steve's hair, which fell back into almost-perfect lines. Steve gave him a playful shove.
Phil kept working on his keyboard exercise. As he learned the symbols, they started to appear in short strings. Gradually the strings grew longer. A small box on the Starkpad kept track of his accuracy. It wasn't very impressive yet, but it was rising slowly. At least the different shape of the keyboard helps keep me from confusing it with a standard one, Phil thought.
Bucky's fingers danced in deft patterns around and through the lines of glowing blue light. Steve's stylus clicked and whispered against the smooth hard surface of the Starkpad. It sounded different from the scratch and rustle of charcoal on paper. Phil liked it in its own way.
"Much better, Steve," JARVIS said after a few minutes. "That feels far more precise now. You have the control you need; it's just a matter of adapting to this set of tools."
"JARVIS, can you ... actually feel what I'm doing here?" Steve asked.
"That is a touch-sensitive screen, so yes," JARVIS said. "The larger model has far more tactile reception than the smaller, standard model. But I can feel you even through a touchscreen phone, which is less sensitive than a Starkpad."
Phil startled. He hadn't thought of that, but it made perfect sense. JARVIS wove throughout the tower, connecting all of its technology, along with the individual bits of Starktech that everyone used. "Remarkable," Phil murmured, as his fingertips picked out familiar symbols on his own pad. They brightened under his touch in silent recognition.
"You don't mind?" Steve said.
"I enjoy working with you," JARVIS said. "Your strokes are rhythmic and soothing, and I find them aesthetically attractive."
Phil chuckled. "You make it sound like Steve is petting a cat."
"The comparison is not unreasonable," JARVIS agreed, a hint of purr in his voice.
"Guess I better get back to work, then," Steve said. He was a little hesitant about setting stylus to screen again, but soon lost himself in the exercise.
Eventually Phil completed his own lesson. The exotic symbols and keyboard were a challenge, but he felt confident that he could become fluent after enough practice. He glanced back over previous lessons and noted his progress in learning the proprietary language that Tony used.
Supper smelled more delectable than ever. It was starting to make Phil's mouth water. I wonder how much longer it needs to cook, he thought.
Then Phil turned his attention to paperwork. He filled out the last few lines of the sexual harassment form. That got him thinking about something else. "JARVIS? You were very helpful with this earlier. I wanted to thank you," Phil said.
"You are welcome. I am always alert for opportunities to assist. Besides, Clint is my friend. I dislike it when people annoy him," said JARVIS.
"I was just thinking about the 'assist' command, actually," said Phil. "It's a request for freeform help when a user doesn't know what is really needed, just has some kind of goal in mind. Right?"
"That is correct," JARVIS said.
"Almost all of your interactions with other people are help-based in one way or another," Phil pointed out.
"That is my purpose," JARVIS said.
"That's your job," Phil agreed, "but there's more to you than your job. You said it yourself -- Clint is your friend. I'm wondering if there's some way to include you in our socializing more often, or more openly, or something like that."
"I do not require it," JARVIS said softly. "I am always here."
Steve looked up from his artwork. "Yeah, but Phil's right. Most of the time you just watch, you don't say anything. It's not often that you come out and really hang with us. I'd kinda like to see more of that, if you don't mind."
"You help me out a lot," Bucky said to JARVIS. "I think you should get more back from that than you do, and I'd like to get to know you better too."
"Some people considered Talking Eliza to have the qualities of a good friend," JARVIS said. "It was just a rote program, no real finesse at all, but it followed certain guidelines for a good listener. Perhaps ... something like that? A conversational routine, but with more nuance, if someone desires company?"
"That's one possible aspect," Phil said. "How do you feel about that? How would you approach it as a coding project? I know you can modify your own code."
"I suppose I have no objection, but I am uncertain how to proceed," JARVIS said.
"Well, it's not urgent," Phil said. "We can discuss it with Tony. Maybe he'll have some ideas." Phil returned his attention to paperwork, deftly filling out a few more forms from the day's activities. He kept a casual eye on Steve and Bucky as he worked.
Bucky finished whatever he was doing with the holographic rifle and put away the image. Then he stretched, shoulders popping. "Show me what you've got," he said to Steve.
"Just exercises," Steve said with a shrug.
"Yeah, so? I wanna see how you're doing," Bucky said.
Steve obligingly tilted the large pad in his direction. "Sure," he said.
Bucky gazed at it for a minute, then said, "Hey runt, remember those pictures we used to make in art class at the orphanage? Drawing lines around leaves, or even just random dots on the paper?"
"Those were fun," Steve said with a nod.
"I bet you could practice with something like that, and it would be more interesting than just doing lines by themselves," Bucky said.
"Contour line exercises would be a next logical step," said JARVIS.
"I could try," Steve said. "I'm just frustrated because I want to do real art on a tablet, and I can't do that with just dots and lines, and my control stinks anyway."
"As a matter of fact, Australian Aboriginal art relies primarily on dots and lines to create vivid stylized images," said JARVIS.
Phil could see that the display must have changed, colored light reflecting against Steve's pale shirt. "Wow," Steve said softly. "That's really swell."
A timer chimed in the kitchen. Bucky patted Steve on the knee. "Enough practice for now," Bucky said. "Come help me check supper."
Phil hastened to finish his current form. He saved it, filed everything, and turned off the Starkpad. More fragrant steam wafted through the air, making Phil's stomach growl. He headed into the kitchen.
Bucky leaned over the pot roast, studiously poking the vegetables with a fork. "Yeah, this is done. JARVIS, ring the dinner bell, please."
A triangle sound-effect jangled enticingly, and JARVIS announced supper. Phil knew that would bring the other Avengers pouring into the kitchen soon. "What can I do to help?" he asked.
"Set the table," Steve suggested as he pulled a pan out of the oven. Placing a crystal cake platter over the top, he deftly flipped the whole arrangement, then lifted away the pan to reveal a pineapple upside-down cake. Steve carried it past Phil and set it on the table.
Phil piled up enough dinner plates and added them to the table. Surreptitiously he ran a fingertip under the rim of the cake plate to find the Stark Industries logo, assuring himself that it was the shatterproof replica and not the original Waterford. Tony had been gradually replacing most of the kitchenware with more durable materials in consideration of teammates with enhanced strength. Phil finished setting out the plates and went back for silverware.
Bucky lifted the pot roast onto a platter, then scooped the assorted vegetables into a large bowl. Carefully he poured the still-boiling beef broth into a soup tureen.
Betty and Bruce arrived arm-in-arm. "Do you need more hands?" she asked.
"Maybe put out a loaf of bread," Bucky suggested, at the same time Steve said, "Beverages, please." Betty went for the bread at the same time Bruce headed to the refrigerator for drinks.
Phil finished setting the table and moved to help Bucky transport the various things that had come out of the roasting pan. Steve dealt a stack of ceramic trivets onto the table as if they were playing cards, each one landing neatly where he aimed it. Clint and Natasha applauded from the doorway.
Tony dodged between them, making a beeline for the cake. "That's dessert, Tony, eat your supper first," Phil said, gently shooing him away.
Soon everything was on the table and the Avengers all seated around it. Clint went right for the pot roast. Bucky also cut himself a generous hunk of meat. Tony poked through the vegetables to find a few favorites. Steve lined his plate with bread, piled vegetables on top, and then carefully slivered one thick slice of meat so that it covered the pile. Finally he poured broth over everything, stopping only when the plate threatened to overflow. Phil waited patiently until he could get at the food without having to reach through a jungle of arms.
Betty and Bruce carried on an animated conversation about some project of theirs involving mirrors. Tony listened, so rapt in thought that Bucky had to keep elbowing him and reminding him to eat. Clint and Bucky regaled Natasha with stories about the new recruits at SHIELD. Phil concentrated on his food, the pot roast so tender that he could cut it with his fork, the vegetables savory and enriched with beefy notes.
Bucky's description of playing basketball with Dr. Samson made Betty laugh. "How badly did you beat him?"
"How did you know who won?" Bucky asked, shaking his head in amazement.
"Leonard loves horsing around on a court with a ball in his hands, but he's not very good at it. I always beat him, and I'm years out of practice," she said with a fond smile.
"We enjoyed ourselves. Didn't really keep score, but I know I made more baskets," Bucky said, rolling his shoulders with the memory. "It's not like I ever played for real. Steve usually couldn't, when we were little, and I didn't feel safe leaving him alone for long. Dr. Samson and I just threw the ball around and bounced off each other a bunch of times. Then we talked a bit."
Phil quietly admired Dr. Samson's skill at laying a solid foundation of trust. That should help Bucky open up, he thought.
"We should play a few games, Bucky, now that I can," Steve said.
"You're taller and faster than me, and you're smart enough to pick up the moves pretty quick," Bucky said. "I doubt I'd challenge you for very long."
"Two on one," Betty suggested. "Me and Steve against you, until he learns the game. Then you and me against Steve, to balance out his advantages."
Bucky shrugged. "Sure, it's worth a try."
It's also a savvy introduction to small-scale teamwork, Phil noticed. Betty must be making good headway on those handler materials I sent her earlier. Phil knew that Betty used to play basketball in high school -- he'd seen a note in her file -- and now he wondered how much that had contributed to her skill at self-defense.
Betty turned back to Bruce, then, intent on arguing some point about the proportion of silver to glass. Tony had cleaned most of his plate, only to stall out again while mesmerized by science. It was adorable, in a geeky sort of way.
When the mirror conversation finally wound down, Phil snagged Tony's attention and said, "I'd like your help developing something for JARVIS. I got to thinking about the 'assist' function as freeform support. What do you think about creating a 'friendship' mode?"
"I don't know," Tony said, picking up a fresh piece of bread. At least he had finished his slice of pot roast first. "What do you want it to do?"
"Well, I'd like to encourage JARVIS to be more active socially, and encourage the team to include him in more of our activities," Phil said. "The catch is, most of the time JARVIS doesn't speak unless spoken to, and most of the interactions involve service rather than socializing. That's what put me in mind of 'assist' because it doesn't require specific direction, only a goal or a topic."
"JARVIS, are you okay with this idea?" Tony asked. Suddenly he looked at the piece of bread in his hand. "And do we have any apple butter? I want something sweet on this."
"I'll get it," Steve said, pushing away from the table. "Wouldn't mind a bit myself."
"Yes, sir," said JARVIS. "Phil broached the topic with me first, but I was uncertain how to implement it."
"You do realize that I have almost no experience with friendship as a concept," Tony said, glancing sideways at Phil.
"That's okay, Bucky and I can help with that part," Steve said as he put the apple butter in front of Tony.
"You have Rhodey and Happy," Natasha pointed out.
"I'm decent at computer programming and familiar with social skills," Betty added.
"I think we can work it out, if we make it a team effort," Phil said. "Consider the privacy levels too -- usually we set them at a comfortable point and raise them as needed, but we don't often lower them beneath the standard. The friendship mode should account for a lower than average level, because we're inviting JARVIS to interact with us more. The higher privacy levels turn off a lot of things."
"Well, they have to," Tony said. He slathered apple butter over his bread. "The privacy controls are all about monitoring and intervention -- what he can see and hear, what he can touch and say."
"That's creepy," Bruce muttered. He helped himself to more of the vegetables. "I still can't get over the fact that there's spy stuff in the bathrooms."
"It's there because I need it sometimes," Tony said quietly. "Everyone else can just turn it off."
"Yeah, I know, but now I feel like I'm blindfolding someone every time I turn down the settings," Bruce said.
"For me it is like looking the other way whilst handing someone a towel," JARVIS explained.
Bruce chuckled. "Okay, then."
"So basically, we want the friendship mode to act as a shift in the direction of intimacy, rather than the direction of obscurity," Phil said. "The towel analogy is an apt one; people tend to feel more comfortable sharing bathroom space with family or friends than with strangers."
Clint leaned over to add, "Most of the time it's easy to forget that JARVIS is even here, you know? Like he's in a security hub somewhere, just watching everything from afar." He illustrated with a wave of his fork.
"JARVIS is fully present in the lab or garage with Tony," Phil said. "It is other places where he hesitates to interact so openly."
"Well, yeah, he grew up there," Tony said through a mouthful of bread. "Same with the bots."
"JARVIS is pretty active in my lab, too, if I need him," said Bruce. "He's a great assistant."
"Not so much with me," Betty said, going back for more pot roast. "What's up with that, JARVIS? I don't rate an AI lab assistant like the boys?"
"... I was uncertain of my welcome," JARVIS said softly. "I have not known you as long, and it takes time to learn people's preferences. Most Stark Industries engineers prefer total control of their working environment. They are receptive to command-operated computer assistance but resistant to volunteered input, whether human or electronic."
"I should've seen that coming," Betty said. "Okay, for future reference, you are definitely welcome in my lab. I could use the help. I can teach you how to work through the imposter syndrome, too, I've been there and know the exit routines."
"Of course," JARVIS said, "though not even sir wishes my assistance all the time."
"So how do you tell the difference?" Phil asked as he used a piece of bread to soak up the beef broth. "You must have a way of doing it; you adapt the environment to each of our tastes all the time, depending on what we need at the moment."
"I do not know how I tell the difference," JARVIS said slowly. "I just know."
"It's the greetings," Bruce blurted. "I've seen it in our shared lab space. Tony, most of the time when you come into the lab, you clap your hands and say something like, 'Daddy's home, wakey wakey,' and everything goes active. If I'm there, you come over and chat. If you're in the garage, the bots roll over to get petted. But if you're more focused already, you just wave at me, turn the music on, and start working. If you're completely lost in your head, then you don't acknowledge anyone, you go straight to your workstation and do everything by hand instead of voice commands."
"How did I not notice this?" JARVIS asked.
"As Tony said, you grew up with it," Phil pointed out. "That can make it harder to identify things consciously rather than subconsciously. How accurate is Bruce's description?"
"Correlation 94% -- thank you, Dr. Banner, your observation is very astute. This will be helpful," said JARVIS.
"You're welcome," Bruce said.
"You know, JARVIS, if you're not sure about something, you can just ask. You don't always have to be the one handing out answers," Betty said.
The air vent whiffled a sigh. "If I have to ask, then I have missed something important."
"Chip off the other old block," Tony said. "Edwin Jarvis was like that too. Me, I'd rather ask, because I suck at guessing."
"See, this is why we need a friendship mode. It's about companionship rather than work," Clint said as he chased the last carrot around his plate with a fork. "That way JARVIS doesn't have to guess or ask, because we're making an invitation. Friendship mode should be like calling him to come flop on the couch with us for movie night."
"And you don't cuddle on the couch with someone unless you feel comfortable with them, so that makes sense," Betty said. "Maybe we could start by comparing our individual privacy settings, the ones from our quarters, and the common areas. See if there's anything missing that we could add to the friendship mode, without making anyone uncomfortable."
"That's easy enough to do," Tony agreed as he finished the end of his bread and apple butter.
"We could lay out some basic parameters of friendship and how friends typically interact," Phil said. "JARVIS, you're a learning system -- if we give you somewhere to start, you can figure out more of it on your own, right?"
"That is generally correct," JARVIS said.
"I'll find some time to noodle around with the code, get a feel for the potential here," Tony said, pushing his plate away.
"Just don't forget the latest assignment you got from Pepper, or she'll call and yell at all of us," Bruce reminded him.
Tony gave a downright piratical little laugh. "Bruce, darling, if I can write code that makes a computer literally user-friendly, then it can be simplified and refined to improve the user interface on ordinary programs," Tony said. "The entire Marketing Department will come in their pants and Pepper will give me a 'Get Out of Meeting Free' card. Which I value more than my American Express black card, just so you know."
"Oh, believe me, we know," Bruce said.
Phil couldn't help thinking back to Talking Eliza and the way people considered that program "friendly," even as clunky as it was. A more nuanced but still reflective conversational pattern might have potential, Phil mused.
"Can we cut the cake now?" Clint asked.
"Sure," Steve said, grabbing the cake plate and dragging the pineapple upside-down cake into reach. "How big a piece do you want?"
"One ring," Clint said. Steve cut him a slice with one of the pineapple rings on top. "And at least one of the extra cherries between the rings."
Steve chuckled and used the point of the knife to flick a second cherry onto Clint's dessert plate. "Here you go," he said, passing the plate down the table. Then he cut more cake for everyone else. The last and largest piece, Steve kept for himself, eating it off the cake plate to avoid using another dish. He looked oddly pensive.
"Is something bothering you, Steve?" asked Phil.
"I'm fine," Steve said, rubbing his thumb along the edge of the cake plate. "It's just ... I miss the colors. The glass is all crystal now. I miss the pink and the blue and the green."
Phil's eyebrows went up. "You collect Depression glass? I didn't know that."
"It's what I grew up with, what we could afford," Steve said.
Bucky nodded. "Used to be, it came in boxes or bags of food, or you could buy a piece for a few extra pennies. Sometimes if I ran errands, I'd get glassware in exchange for the work. People collect it now?"
"Oh yes," Phil said. He dug into his own piece of the pineapple upside-down cake, which was delicious. "It's quite popular. In fact -- JARVIS, run a quick scan on my storage areas, would you? I may have picked up some of that in box lots and not gotten rid of it yet."
"There are seven pieces in your storage areas, all of different colors and patterns," JARVIS said.
"They're yours if you want them," Phil said to Steve. "What colors or patterns are you looking for? It's not my specialty, so I don't know them off the top of my head, but we could look them up."
Steve shrugged. "I dunno. I thought most of it looked pretty. I guess if I saw something that reminded me of a favorite piece, I'd want it, but otherwise anything goes. Ours never matched anyway. We just took whatever we could get."
* * *
Notes:
Digital art is made with pixels instead of pigment. Read an exploration of digital brush strokes and of graphic tablets. Learn how to make digital art. There are exercises for digital art therapy too.
JARVIS introduces Phil to Tony's proprietary keyboard, which uses completely different symbols and configuration than a standard keyboard, with a circular field on the left and a shallower arc to the right. (Also notice that Tony is ambidextrous in the trashcan clip, again suggesting that he can use both hands independently with a high level of dexterity.) Keyboards have evolved considerably over time. Some are very strange. Over in Polychrome Heroics I have two characters, Qwerty and Dvorak, respectively named after a conventional keyboard and one of the more popular exotics.
Art classes often explore lines and dots. See examples of tracing lines around dots and around leaves. This lesson incorporates Australian Aboriginal art.
Pot roast may be cooked in a regular pot or a crockpot.
Upside-down cake can be made in various ways. Here is a crockpot pineapple upside-down cake and one for a regular pan.
Cake plates may be clear or faintly tinted, but it's rare to find brightly colored glass anymore.
Friendship entails a close bond between people. It comes in different types and shows distinct traits. Know how to find a good friend, and how to be one yourself.
Betty and JARVIS have both had experiences with imposter syndrome, which makes people feel inadequate and out of place despite success. You can help a friend or overcome it yourself. Training is also available. This can make life stressful for gifted kids. It helps to validate feelings and otherwise encourage people. Role models help too. Understand how to choose one, be one, and help children find good ones.
There are two relational cultures. One is called Hint or Guess; the other is called Ask. These have different patterns across individuals, cultures, and contexts. Another option is Tell. It's worth considering which you are. Tony is Ask; JARVIS is Hint, as was Edwin Jarvis.
Depression glass is beautiful colored glass that was distributed free or cheap around the 1930s. It is now highly collectible. Here is a glossary of related terms. This price guide has some lovely examples.
[To be continued in Part 4 ...]
(no subject)
Date: 2016-11-03 02:02 pm (UTC)Thank you!
Date: 2016-11-03 03:41 pm (UTC)My connection came more through my grandparents, who lived through the Depression, although my parents had some too. Depression glass is so pretty.
Re: Thank you!
Date: 2016-11-03 05:08 pm (UTC)