![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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," "Coming in from the Cold: Tuesday: Facing Fears," "What Little Boys Are Made Of," "Rotten Fruit," "Keep the Homefires Burning," and "Their Old Familiar Carols Play."
Fandom: The Avengers
Characters: Phil Coulson, Clint Barton, Bruce Banner, Bucky Barnes, Steve Rogers, Betty Ross, Natasha Romanova, Tony Stark, JARVIS, Agent Sitwell, assorted new SHIELD recruits, Sean O'Toole, Pepper Potts, Dr. Samson
Medium: Fiction
Warnings: Indecision, PTSD, nightmares, food issues, boundary issues, teamwork, SHIELD, rude humor, mental health care, facing the past, interpersonal dynamics, intrapersonal dynamics, emotional challenges, memory issues, frustration, and other angst.
Summary: The Avengers help each other cope with challenges, including Steve's nightmares, Tony's new sleep dynamics, and Bruce-and-Hulk attempting to get along.
Notes: Team as family. Competence. Friendship. Comfort food. Emotional first aid. Nostalgia. New hobbies. Hurt/comfort. Science. Music. #coulsonlives.
Read Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 8
Story: "Coming in from the Cold: Wednesday: Coping Techniques" Part 6
Tony arrived, fizzing with energy. He wrapped himself around Bruce in a full-body hug. "I love you so much. That idea, sleep as defragging, it really worked! I feel great. Don't think I'd need it every night, because wow, what a time sink, but maybe once or twice a month?" Tony burbled. "You know, I think this is the first time that talking to a doctor has ever actually helped anything that wasn't a visible injury or illness with a single obvious solution. So thanks."
Bruce's smile glowed brighter than the vaseline glass when he held it. "You're welcome," he said.
Maybe if Tony realizes how much Bruce can do for him, he'll become more willing to ask for help, or at least admit to problems, Phil thought. It will take time to develop new habits, but this is wonderful progress.
Tony peeled away from Bruce to go for his usual coffee. While waiting for that, Tony found the letter in the post basket. "I wonder what this is," he said as he slit the envelope with a pocket tool. "Oh."
"What?" asked Phil.
"It's um ..." Tony held up a card that said Thank You above a red-white-and-blue ribbon with a shiny gold #1 medal. "There must be like two dozen signatures in here from the VA in Washington."
"It sounds like everyone appreciates the new office furniture," Phil said.
Tony tucked the card into his breast pocket and patted it. Then he poured his coffee into a sixteen-ounce travel mug with a red-and-gold Mickey Mouse design. Bruce finished refilling his tea and returned to the table. "So what's the news?" Tony asked, humming a little under his breath. He leaned over the chair beside Bruce.
"Clint likes your new idea for the archery harness," Bruce said. "I think you need more support webbing or it'll mess up his back again. It has to adapt to the way he moves, redistribute the weight on the fly."
"So like a smart harness, yeah, I think I can do that. Some of my ideas for a prehensile suit haven't panned out but might work on a smaller scale," Tony said as he took a long pull from his coffee. "It's hard for JARVIS to see exactly where I am, hence the bracelets. Maybe I can articulate parts of Clint's rig to adapt as he moves ..."
That got Clint and Bruce to continuing what was evidently a long-standing argument about the feasibility of attaching handles to Clint that would make it easier to grab him when he fell -- or more often jumped -- from high places. "As often as you take a dive, I really think handles are called for. You make the Other Guy nervous, Clint, that's not a good thing," Bruce said.
"But if I have handles on me then bad guys can grab them," Clint protested. "Why do you think I keep my hair so short?" He rubbed a hand through his brief scruff.
"I'm with you there," Bucky said with a vigorous nod.
"Guys, cut the whining. I can work on making handles that will only deploy on command, or only for other Avengers, or something," Tony said. He guzzled more coffee. Then he picked up Bruce's bowl. "Wow, this is an ugly shade of green, what junk heap did this fall out of?"
"Tony, be polite," Phil murmured. He finished the end of his sandwich and passed the paper to Steve for disposal.
"Hulk likes it, so don't diss his taste in glassware," Clint said firmly, taking the bowl away from Tony. He handed it back to Bruce. It lit up.
"Oh! It's the gamma!" Tony exclaimed. "No wonder Hulk likes uranium glass. Hey, I wonder if I could make glass with some other radioactive material that would glow a different color. Radium shines blue."
"It's also really dangerous, Tony, I don't think that's something you should put in dishes," Steve said. He folded the paper from Phil's sandwich and added it to the stack. Then he picked up another half-sandwich for himself.
"Doesn't take much to make glass light up, though, and Hulk is pretty much immune to radiation," Tony said, drinking again. "It's worth a try. Hmm, I wonder if I could make a visual-cue Geiger counter instead of the clicker kind ..."
"Oh, that could be useful," Bruce said. "Those things can get really hard to interpret under noisy conditions, even when they have a dial. If you could do that with light somehow, yeah, lots of applications there. In fact if you could make it more sensitive to ambient rather than contact radiation, you could just put little squares of the stuff on walls."
Tony pulled out his Starkphone and made rapid notes with one hand while chugging coffee with the other. Then he frowned at his half-full mug. "What's wrong with my coffee?"
"Give me that," Bruce said, lifting the mug from his hand. He sipped. "This is the Gesha, right? Dark rum, dark chocolate, layered fruit emphasizing pineapple, and the floral note is narcissus. It tastes fine to me."
"That is the Gesha blend, and according to everything I can find, it is unaltered," JARVIS added.
Phil used his Starkphone to check the results that JARVIS got. In his line of work, you could never be too careful about kitchen supplies. No anomalies, Phil thought, looking at the display.
"Tony, can you tell me anything more? What's different?" Bruce asked.
"I don't know. It just ... doesn't taste good anymore. Almost like it's gone stale or something," Tony said.
"Hmm. Here, try this," Bruce said, holding out his cup of green tea.
"I hate tea," Tony protested.
"I know. Humor me anyway," Bruce said.
Tony took a grudging sip and then made a face. "Bleah, that's even worse that usual," he said.
"Okay," Bruce said. He boosted Steve's half-full glass of orange juice. "Now this one."
"What am I, your guinea pig?" Tony said.
"If you want me to figure out what's going on, then yes. Squeak for me, Little Fuzzy." Bruce poked a playful finger into Tony's ribs.
Tony squeaked and sidled away. Then he sampled the orange juice. "Huh. Perfectly normal. I don't get it," Tony said.
"You probably don't need as much caffeine as usual," Bruce said. "Think about it, you're already wide awake and
humming away. Too much caffeine would be like leaving the jumper cables on after the car starts. So you shouldn't knock back mass quantities of coffee the way you usually do."
Tony gave a mournful little whimper. "But I like coffee. I love coffee! It is the oldest and most stable relationship in my life."
I'm glad Tony's relationship skills are improving, Phil thought. Tony's playboy antics were legendary. At least now he has teammates for stability.
"You're coming out way ahead on fuel efficiency," Bruce pointed out.
"I guess that's a fair trade, if regrettable for my loss of coffee capacity," Tony said, peering at the substantial amount of liquid remaining in his mug. "Here, Steve, you have this. I know you hate wasting things."
Steve accepted the travel mug, poured in a lot of heavy cream, and then drained it. "Thanks, Tony," he said.
"Come to my lab later and let me run a few tests," Bruce said to Tony. "I can probably confirm the caffeine theory."
"Not a guinea pig," Tony grumbled.
"If you let me test the theory in the lab, I'll give you another episode of Kitchen Chemistry with Dr. Banner for the Starklings. I'll even let you pick the topic; I know the kids have given you a wishlist," Bruce bargained.
"Done," Tony said, pouncing on the rare offer before Bruce could back out. He hugged all over Bruce again and then scampered away. Bruce looked quietly, deeply pleased at Tony's response to his problem-solving skills.
"JARVIS, make sure Tony has noncaffeinated beverages in his lab and garage," Bruce said. Tony had a tendency to stock artisan soft drinks, but he brought them down in small cartons so it wasn't rare for him to run out. The bots knew how to make smoothies because he was too lazy to do it for himself every time, only when he really wanted one. "If not, send somebody down to restock. I don't want him forgetting and drinking more coffee or cola out of sheer habit. He could make himself sick."
"Yeah, caffeine overdose is not fun," Bucky said.
"Routing delivery of one case Joia blackberry-pomegranate-ginger soda to the lab and one case GuS Meyer lemon soda to the garage," JARVIS said. "Those rely on genuine fruit juice for flavor, containing less sugar and no caffeine."
Phil perked up. "Oh, is there any more of that lemon?"
"Yeah, that sounds really good," Bucky said. "Wait, does it have the good sugar or the bad sugar?"
"GuS soda is sweetened with pure cane sugar," JARVIS said at the same time Bruce said, "It's the good sugar."
"I will direct another case of Meyer lemon soda to the common floor for you to distribute as you wish," JARVIS said.
Phil reached for the pile of used wrappers, only to have Bucky sweep them out of reach. "I've got this," Bucky said. "I know you're busy, Phil, you don't have to clean up after us."
So Phil headed to his office after lunch. "JARVIS, log me as unavailable for the next four hours, unless something important comes up," he said as he turned on the screen. "I really should take care of some SHIELD work."
"Done," JARVIS said. "I have taken the liberty of sorting your messages by the priority of their contents. If you can address the top three this afternoon, that should suffice, as the rest are more or less ordinary concerns." Three folders appeared on the screen.
The first featured a dozen reports on possible HYDRA actions. "Cut off one head, two more grow in its place," Phil muttered. These were the most likely recursions following the major damage the Avengers had done to the organization. The problem was, HYDRA actually had designed its infrastructure so that if a ranking officer went down, two subordinates assumed that rank and split off in different directions to pursue the same goal. They didn't always survive or succeed, but they could cause a lot of trouble. It was a variation on the cell structure used by subversives.
This left Phil to wade through the reports in hopes of identifying the worst threats. It took him an hour to read them all, cross-reference the contents to other files, and pin down which of the HYDRA operatives had belonged to each of the "severed heads." Then he spent another half hour sorting them by threat level and writing suggestions to deal with them.
The second folder featured an urgent request from Jasper Sitwell to look into a situation in Distractions. One of the handlers there had made a bad call regarding his asset, Sean O'Toole, a truly beautiful young man who looked like a male version of Pepper Potts and was the leading choice of honeytrap for homosexual targets. Agent O'Toole had gotten captured and sexually assaulted as a result, and now threatened to resign if not separated from his handler immediately. That usually took time to process, so Sitwell was appealing to the Senior Handler to expedite the process.
Phil spent an hour filing the Emergency Separation forms. Then he took Agent O'Toole off active duty and referred him to Dr. Samson. Hopefully the counselor could repair the damage enough to salvage a skilled asset.
The third folder concerned the SHIELD member being sent to the Iceland justice system for his part in their economic trouble. That contained a small mountain of paperwork. It took Phil forty-five minutes on the phone with various officials in Iceland to clarify some missing details, and then another half hour to fill out all the forms. He filed the last one with a sigh of relief.
* * *
Notes:
Defragging is a type of computer maintenance that should be done periodically.
See Tony's Mickey Mouse Travel Mug (16 oz.).
Coffee comes in a variety of gourmet flavors. Enjoy a review of the Gesha. Yirgacheffe is another.
Little Fuzzy is the titular character of a series of science fiction novels. Read the first one online.
Gourmet soda flavors include GuS Meyer Lemon and Joia Blackberry-Pomegranate-Ginger.
Read about the cell structure of subversives. It's just a pattern; it can be used for good or evil.
[To be continued in Part 7 ...]
Fandom: The Avengers
Characters: Phil Coulson, Clint Barton, Bruce Banner, Bucky Barnes, Steve Rogers, Betty Ross, Natasha Romanova, Tony Stark, JARVIS, Agent Sitwell, assorted new SHIELD recruits, Sean O'Toole, Pepper Potts, Dr. Samson
Medium: Fiction
Warnings: Indecision, PTSD, nightmares, food issues, boundary issues, teamwork, SHIELD, rude humor, mental health care, facing the past, interpersonal dynamics, intrapersonal dynamics, emotional challenges, memory issues, frustration, and other angst.
Summary: The Avengers help each other cope with challenges, including Steve's nightmares, Tony's new sleep dynamics, and Bruce-and-Hulk attempting to get along.
Notes: Team as family. Competence. Friendship. Comfort food. Emotional first aid. Nostalgia. New hobbies. Hurt/comfort. Science. Music. #coulsonlives.
Read Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 8
Story: "Coming in from the Cold: Wednesday: Coping Techniques" Part 6
Tony arrived, fizzing with energy. He wrapped himself around Bruce in a full-body hug. "I love you so much. That idea, sleep as defragging, it really worked! I feel great. Don't think I'd need it every night, because wow, what a time sink, but maybe once or twice a month?" Tony burbled. "You know, I think this is the first time that talking to a doctor has ever actually helped anything that wasn't a visible injury or illness with a single obvious solution. So thanks."
Bruce's smile glowed brighter than the vaseline glass when he held it. "You're welcome," he said.
Maybe if Tony realizes how much Bruce can do for him, he'll become more willing to ask for help, or at least admit to problems, Phil thought. It will take time to develop new habits, but this is wonderful progress.
Tony peeled away from Bruce to go for his usual coffee. While waiting for that, Tony found the letter in the post basket. "I wonder what this is," he said as he slit the envelope with a pocket tool. "Oh."
"What?" asked Phil.
"It's um ..." Tony held up a card that said Thank You above a red-white-and-blue ribbon with a shiny gold #1 medal. "There must be like two dozen signatures in here from the VA in Washington."
"It sounds like everyone appreciates the new office furniture," Phil said.
Tony tucked the card into his breast pocket and patted it. Then he poured his coffee into a sixteen-ounce travel mug with a red-and-gold Mickey Mouse design. Bruce finished refilling his tea and returned to the table. "So what's the news?" Tony asked, humming a little under his breath. He leaned over the chair beside Bruce.
"Clint likes your new idea for the archery harness," Bruce said. "I think you need more support webbing or it'll mess up his back again. It has to adapt to the way he moves, redistribute the weight on the fly."
"So like a smart harness, yeah, I think I can do that. Some of my ideas for a prehensile suit haven't panned out but might work on a smaller scale," Tony said as he took a long pull from his coffee. "It's hard for JARVIS to see exactly where I am, hence the bracelets. Maybe I can articulate parts of Clint's rig to adapt as he moves ..."
That got Clint and Bruce to continuing what was evidently a long-standing argument about the feasibility of attaching handles to Clint that would make it easier to grab him when he fell -- or more often jumped -- from high places. "As often as you take a dive, I really think handles are called for. You make the Other Guy nervous, Clint, that's not a good thing," Bruce said.
"But if I have handles on me then bad guys can grab them," Clint protested. "Why do you think I keep my hair so short?" He rubbed a hand through his brief scruff.
"I'm with you there," Bucky said with a vigorous nod.
"Guys, cut the whining. I can work on making handles that will only deploy on command, or only for other Avengers, or something," Tony said. He guzzled more coffee. Then he picked up Bruce's bowl. "Wow, this is an ugly shade of green, what junk heap did this fall out of?"
"Tony, be polite," Phil murmured. He finished the end of his sandwich and passed the paper to Steve for disposal.
"Hulk likes it, so don't diss his taste in glassware," Clint said firmly, taking the bowl away from Tony. He handed it back to Bruce. It lit up.
"Oh! It's the gamma!" Tony exclaimed. "No wonder Hulk likes uranium glass. Hey, I wonder if I could make glass with some other radioactive material that would glow a different color. Radium shines blue."
"It's also really dangerous, Tony, I don't think that's something you should put in dishes," Steve said. He folded the paper from Phil's sandwich and added it to the stack. Then he picked up another half-sandwich for himself.
"Doesn't take much to make glass light up, though, and Hulk is pretty much immune to radiation," Tony said, drinking again. "It's worth a try. Hmm, I wonder if I could make a visual-cue Geiger counter instead of the clicker kind ..."
"Oh, that could be useful," Bruce said. "Those things can get really hard to interpret under noisy conditions, even when they have a dial. If you could do that with light somehow, yeah, lots of applications there. In fact if you could make it more sensitive to ambient rather than contact radiation, you could just put little squares of the stuff on walls."
Tony pulled out his Starkphone and made rapid notes with one hand while chugging coffee with the other. Then he frowned at his half-full mug. "What's wrong with my coffee?"
"Give me that," Bruce said, lifting the mug from his hand. He sipped. "This is the Gesha, right? Dark rum, dark chocolate, layered fruit emphasizing pineapple, and the floral note is narcissus. It tastes fine to me."
"That is the Gesha blend, and according to everything I can find, it is unaltered," JARVIS added.
Phil used his Starkphone to check the results that JARVIS got. In his line of work, you could never be too careful about kitchen supplies. No anomalies, Phil thought, looking at the display.
"Tony, can you tell me anything more? What's different?" Bruce asked.
"I don't know. It just ... doesn't taste good anymore. Almost like it's gone stale or something," Tony said.
"Hmm. Here, try this," Bruce said, holding out his cup of green tea.
"I hate tea," Tony protested.
"I know. Humor me anyway," Bruce said.
Tony took a grudging sip and then made a face. "Bleah, that's even worse that usual," he said.
"Okay," Bruce said. He boosted Steve's half-full glass of orange juice. "Now this one."
"What am I, your guinea pig?" Tony said.
"If you want me to figure out what's going on, then yes. Squeak for me, Little Fuzzy." Bruce poked a playful finger into Tony's ribs.
Tony squeaked and sidled away. Then he sampled the orange juice. "Huh. Perfectly normal. I don't get it," Tony said.
"You probably don't need as much caffeine as usual," Bruce said. "Think about it, you're already wide awake and
humming away. Too much caffeine would be like leaving the jumper cables on after the car starts. So you shouldn't knock back mass quantities of coffee the way you usually do."
Tony gave a mournful little whimper. "But I like coffee. I love coffee! It is the oldest and most stable relationship in my life."
I'm glad Tony's relationship skills are improving, Phil thought. Tony's playboy antics were legendary. At least now he has teammates for stability.
"You're coming out way ahead on fuel efficiency," Bruce pointed out.
"I guess that's a fair trade, if regrettable for my loss of coffee capacity," Tony said, peering at the substantial amount of liquid remaining in his mug. "Here, Steve, you have this. I know you hate wasting things."
Steve accepted the travel mug, poured in a lot of heavy cream, and then drained it. "Thanks, Tony," he said.
"Come to my lab later and let me run a few tests," Bruce said to Tony. "I can probably confirm the caffeine theory."
"Not a guinea pig," Tony grumbled.
"If you let me test the theory in the lab, I'll give you another episode of Kitchen Chemistry with Dr. Banner for the Starklings. I'll even let you pick the topic; I know the kids have given you a wishlist," Bruce bargained.
"Done," Tony said, pouncing on the rare offer before Bruce could back out. He hugged all over Bruce again and then scampered away. Bruce looked quietly, deeply pleased at Tony's response to his problem-solving skills.
"JARVIS, make sure Tony has noncaffeinated beverages in his lab and garage," Bruce said. Tony had a tendency to stock artisan soft drinks, but he brought them down in small cartons so it wasn't rare for him to run out. The bots knew how to make smoothies because he was too lazy to do it for himself every time, only when he really wanted one. "If not, send somebody down to restock. I don't want him forgetting and drinking more coffee or cola out of sheer habit. He could make himself sick."
"Yeah, caffeine overdose is not fun," Bucky said.
"Routing delivery of one case Joia blackberry-pomegranate-ginger soda to the lab and one case GuS Meyer lemon soda to the garage," JARVIS said. "Those rely on genuine fruit juice for flavor, containing less sugar and no caffeine."
Phil perked up. "Oh, is there any more of that lemon?"
"Yeah, that sounds really good," Bucky said. "Wait, does it have the good sugar or the bad sugar?"
"GuS soda is sweetened with pure cane sugar," JARVIS said at the same time Bruce said, "It's the good sugar."
"I will direct another case of Meyer lemon soda to the common floor for you to distribute as you wish," JARVIS said.
Phil reached for the pile of used wrappers, only to have Bucky sweep them out of reach. "I've got this," Bucky said. "I know you're busy, Phil, you don't have to clean up after us."
So Phil headed to his office after lunch. "JARVIS, log me as unavailable for the next four hours, unless something important comes up," he said as he turned on the screen. "I really should take care of some SHIELD work."
"Done," JARVIS said. "I have taken the liberty of sorting your messages by the priority of their contents. If you can address the top three this afternoon, that should suffice, as the rest are more or less ordinary concerns." Three folders appeared on the screen.
The first featured a dozen reports on possible HYDRA actions. "Cut off one head, two more grow in its place," Phil muttered. These were the most likely recursions following the major damage the Avengers had done to the organization. The problem was, HYDRA actually had designed its infrastructure so that if a ranking officer went down, two subordinates assumed that rank and split off in different directions to pursue the same goal. They didn't always survive or succeed, but they could cause a lot of trouble. It was a variation on the cell structure used by subversives.
This left Phil to wade through the reports in hopes of identifying the worst threats. It took him an hour to read them all, cross-reference the contents to other files, and pin down which of the HYDRA operatives had belonged to each of the "severed heads." Then he spent another half hour sorting them by threat level and writing suggestions to deal with them.
The second folder featured an urgent request from Jasper Sitwell to look into a situation in Distractions. One of the handlers there had made a bad call regarding his asset, Sean O'Toole, a truly beautiful young man who looked like a male version of Pepper Potts and was the leading choice of honeytrap for homosexual targets. Agent O'Toole had gotten captured and sexually assaulted as a result, and now threatened to resign if not separated from his handler immediately. That usually took time to process, so Sitwell was appealing to the Senior Handler to expedite the process.
Phil spent an hour filing the Emergency Separation forms. Then he took Agent O'Toole off active duty and referred him to Dr. Samson. Hopefully the counselor could repair the damage enough to salvage a skilled asset.
The third folder concerned the SHIELD member being sent to the Iceland justice system for his part in their economic trouble. That contained a small mountain of paperwork. It took Phil forty-five minutes on the phone with various officials in Iceland to clarify some missing details, and then another half hour to fill out all the forms. He filed the last one with a sigh of relief.
* * *
Notes:
Defragging is a type of computer maintenance that should be done periodically.
See Tony's Mickey Mouse Travel Mug (16 oz.).
Coffee comes in a variety of gourmet flavors. Enjoy a review of the Gesha. Yirgacheffe is another.
Little Fuzzy is the titular character of a series of science fiction novels. Read the first one online.
Gourmet soda flavors include GuS Meyer Lemon and Joia Blackberry-Pomegranate-Ginger.
Read about the cell structure of subversives. It's just a pattern; it can be used for good or evil.
[To be continued in Part 7 ...]
(no subject)
Date: 2017-04-13 03:19 am (UTC)Tony gave a mournful little whimper. "But I like coffee. I love coffee! It is the oldest and most stable relationship in my life."
LOL!
Time for Bruce to improve on the Swiss water process. ;)
Well...
Date: 2017-04-13 03:23 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2017-04-13 05:16 am (UTC)Isn't this something JARVIS could do, and megatimes faster? It looks very much like that sort of thing: lookup and cross-referencing.
Well...
Date: 2017-04-13 05:57 am (UTC)Espionage is a little different, though, and JARVIS isn't a SHIELD agent. For now, this is Phil's job. But if Phil is doing it where JARVIS can observe -- and Phil clearly hasn't told him to go away -- then JARVIS will probably learn more about this over time.
(no subject)
Date: 2017-04-13 10:13 am (UTC)Yes...
Date: 2017-04-13 06:20 pm (UTC)These are things JARVIS could learn, the way he has learned to help Tony ferret out stockpiles of Stark Industries arsenal gone astray. But it takes time and practice -- not just computer time, but observing how humans act and react in biotime.
(no subject)
Date: 2017-04-13 10:22 am (UTC)The comment about "good sugar" has me wistfully wondering if Bruce would know of a good sugar substitute. I don't like the aftertaste of stevia, sugar alcohols are laxatives, and engineered sweeteners each have adverse effects all their own.
Type II diabetes in the family (even my skinny Dad) is not a favorite thing.
Well...
Date: 2017-04-13 06:05 pm (UTC)Basically when a planet evolves, the chiral molecules are coin flips. Earth went right-handed. So the human digestive system is keyed for that, and doesn't recognize L-sugar even though it tastes and behaves the same.
Locally, cost has been prohibitive in offering L-sugar as a substitute. Bruce could probably find better ways, but honestly, with Tony's money they could afford to subsidize production. However, Steve doesn't need a low-sugar diet, it's just prudent to avoid ingredients which are actively destructive, like high-fructose corn syrup.
Re: Well...
Date: 2017-04-13 08:25 pm (UTC)nod A super-soldier needs grounded nutrients and sugar boosts, both.
Re: Well...
Date: 2017-04-13 08:31 pm (UTC)Re: Well...
Date: 2017-04-16 04:25 am (UTC)Re: Well...
Date: 2017-04-16 05:55 am (UTC)Re: Well...
Date: 2017-04-18 01:36 am (UTC)Sam was envious that it didn't have to be stable at what unholy high heat his own packs were at in-theater.
Re: Well...
Date: 2017-04-18 01:40 am (UTC)And yeah, fat is important. Over in Polychrome Heroics, one of my characters, Stan, burns through calories so fast that fat-soluble vitamins act like water-soluble vitamins for him -- he can't really store them like humans are supposed to do. His solution was to make batches of buttermints loaded with fat and fat-soluble vitamins. It works.
Re: Well...
Date: 2017-04-17 02:54 am (UTC)Blend It: 15 Picks for Your Perfect Smoothie
"The perfect smoothie can satisfy your sweet tooth without a lot of calories -- but with bunch of nutrients. Looking for cool ideas to throw in your blender? There are plenty of options for you to try."
Re: Well...
Date: 2017-06-26 12:53 am (UTC)Re: Well...
Date: 2017-06-26 03:47 am (UTC)Followed by Agent Coulson assigning some hapless SHIELD agent to latrine cleaning for having let Steve have it instead of explaining it wasn't fuel.
Re: Well...
Date: 2017-11-03 02:15 pm (UTC)Not sure if you could make a number of things work with same-handed sugars and amino acids. Molecules might not curl up the right way.
But that still leaves a possibility for left-handed sugars combined with right handed amino acids on some other planet.
Unless, of course, the general left hand bias of the universe has an effect in there too.
(no subject)
Date: 2017-04-17 10:54 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2017-04-17 10:59 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2017-04-13 04:05 pm (UTC)Thoughts
Date: 2017-04-13 11:24 pm (UTC)Aww.
>> Phil tackling SHIELD paperwork always makes me happy to see because you tackle it so well, showing how efficient and methodical he is without being cold.<<
Yay! I'm glad you enjoyed this. I think it's an important part of his character, touched on in canon but rarely acknowledged as Saving the World.
>> I hope O'Toole gets the help he needs.
-kellyc<<
He will. Phil referred him to Dr. Samson, who is quite good.
(no subject)
Date: 2017-04-13 06:26 pm (UTC)Thank you!
Date: 2017-04-13 08:08 pm (UTC)Yay! It's a way to show what's working for him.
>> It seems quieter without him, though there is probably a lot more oxygen in the room.<<
LOL yes. He's like the Tasmanian devil.
Re: Thank you!
Date: 2017-04-13 09:03 pm (UTC)That is an apt description.
(no subject)
Date: 2017-04-13 09:15 pm (UTC)>>He wrapped himself around Bruce in a full-body hug. "I love you so much.<<
Not words Tony says out loud often. :)
>>Bruce's smile glowed brighter than the vaseline glass when he held it. "You're welcome," he said.<<
Look at that, Bruce is taking a compliment! And happy about it! :) (Also, he was vindicated in the earlier debate about waking Tony up. That must be good for his self-confidence, too!)
>>I can work on making handles that will only deploy on command, or only for other Avengers, or something,"<<
Or a mini-parachute that only deploys when Clint is in free fall. It wouldn't be enough to stop him falling, but it might slow him down to give the others more time to get to him, AND it'd give them something big and easy to grab! I mean, he's already wearing a harness...
>>"What am I, your guinea pig?" Tony said.<<
I love how Tony does what Bruce says , grumbling notwithstanding. And I love how unfazed Bruce is by the grumbling, with no sign of is usual fawn response.
The guinea pig comment in particular might have hit a sore spot for Bruce, given his history, but his faith in his relationship with Tony is strong enough that he can even tease him about it.
Also: ticklish Tony is the cutest thing ever.
>>Too much caffeine would be like leaving the jumper cables on after the car starts.
"You're coming out way ahead on fuel efficiency,"<<
Aha, car metaphors. +g+ Bruce speaks fluent Tony.
>>If you let me test the theory in the lab, I'll give you another episode of Kitchen Chemistry with Dr. Banner for the Starklings. <<
...I didn't get that reference. What did I miss/forget?
Hydra's cell structure is scarily smart, sadly.
>>Hopefully the counselor could repair the damage enough to salvage a skilled asset.<<
...and to help out the guy who was sexually assaulted in the line of duty, yeah.
<<It took Phil forty-five minutes on the phone with various officials in Iceland to clarify some missing details, and then another half hour to fill out all the forms. He filed the last one with a sigh of relief.<< He really should let JARVIS help him more. We already know JARVIS is good at filling out forms. In fact, he could probably just have hacked the Icelandic government and get all the details needed that way, if Phil were willing to overlook the ethical implications. +g+ If Phil trusts him enough to let JARVIS decide which work files he even needs to bother looking at, letting him help with the actual work more is just logical. And JARVIS would love to be helpful, I'm sure. I really love this fic (heck, the entire series). Thank you for writing.
Thoughts
Date: 2017-04-16 07:15 am (UTC)Yay!
>>He wrapped himself around Bruce in a full-body hug. "I love you so much.
Not words Tony says out loud often. :) <<
So very true. But he is getting a little better.
>> Look at that, Bruce is taking a compliment! And happy about it! :) (Also, he was vindicated in the earlier debate about waking Tony up. That must be good for his self-confidence, too!) <<
Within certain areas, Bruce has more confidence and self-worth: chiefly where it benefits other people.
>> Or a mini-parachute that only deploys when Clint is in free fall. It wouldn't be enough to stop him falling, but it might slow him down to give the others more time to get to him, AND it'd give them something big and easy to grab! I mean, he's already wearing a harness... <<
Hmm, that's not a bad idea.
>>"What am I, your guinea pig?" Tony said.
I love how Tony does what Bruce says , grumbling notwithstanding. And I love how unfazed Bruce is by the grumbling, with no sign of is usual fawn response. <<
As long as Tony is grumbling, he's okay. It's when he goes silent that he is either A) extremely unwell, or B) plotting how to kill you. There are hard limits, and then there are soft ones like this that are negotiable. Bruce can take no for an answer, but he also knows that Tony's consent is somewhat bent from past damage, which makes it worthwhile to see if it's possible to sweet-talk him into doing things that might help.
>> The guinea pig comment in particular might have hit a sore spot for Bruce, given his history, but his faith in his relationship with Tony is strong enough that he can even tease him about it. <<
Tony doesn't mean it in the same way, and Bruce knows that. It really does show how much they've come to trust each other.
>> Also: ticklish Tony is the cutest thing ever.<<
:D He seemed like the kind who would be.
>>Aha, car metaphors. +g+ Bruce speaks fluent Tony.<<
That he does.
>>If you let me test the theory in the lab, I'll give you another episode of Kitchen Chemistry with Dr. Banner for the Starklings.
...I didn't get that reference. What did I miss/forget? <<
Children of Stark Industries employees. I think I've mentioned them before, but maybe not recently.
>> Hydra's cell structure is scarily smart, sadly.<<
The model works; it can be used for good or evil.
>>...and to help out the guy who was sexually assaulted in the line of duty, yeah.<<
Dr. Samson is good at his job, so yes.
>> He really should let JARVIS help him more. <<
They're working on it. JARVIS needs time to learn what Phil needs. This is more complicated than shopping for pajamas!
>> We already know JARVIS is good at filling out forms. In fact, he could probably just have hacked the Icelandic government and get all the details needed that way, if Phil were willing to overlook the ethical implications. <<
Well yes, but that's a tactic better reserved for enemies, not allies. Alternatively ...
"JARVIS, I'm standing in a HYDRA base and the computer -- oh. Thank you for unlocking this."
>> +g+ If Phil trusts him enough to let JARVIS decide which work files he even needs to bother looking at, letting him help with the actual work more is just logical. And JARVIS would love to be helpful, I'm sure. <<
JARVIS is just beginning to chip in with this stuff. Remember him helping to fill out the sexual harassment form for Clint? But JARVIS is also cautious, because lots of people dislike computers that are too forward.
>> I really love this fic (heck, the entire series). Thank you for writing.<<
*bow, flourish* Happy to be of service.
Re: Thoughts
Date: 2017-04-16 05:26 pm (UTC)I think it also helps that Tony has been brutally honest wit him from the start--"You work on [science stuff] is unparalleled--and I love the way you lose control and turn into and enormous green rage monster."
>>Hmm, that's not a bad idea.<<
The hardest part would be impressing upon Clint that this is not license to jump off buildings even more. ;)
>>Bruce can take no for an answer, but he also knows that Tony's consent is somewhat bent from past damage, which makes it worthwhile to see if it's possible to sweet-talk him into doing things that might help.<<
And he knows Tony trust him, and will put up with things from him he wouldn't from most people--especially not doctors.
>>>> Also: ticklish Tony is the cutest thing ever.<<
:D He seemed like the kind who would be. <<
Well, that's one way to handle him when he's being a bit much! +g+
>>Children of Stark Industries employees. I think I've mentioned them before, but maybe not recently.
<<
Thank you for explaining!
>> But JARVIS is also cautious, because lots of people dislike computers that are too forward.<<
...and also, he may have picked up rejection issues from some other source. Like, someone close to him. Hmmmm.... nope, can't think of anyone he might get that from. ;)
Re: Thoughts
Date: 2017-06-26 12:54 am (UTC)Re: Thoughts
Date: 2017-11-03 02:30 pm (UTC)Hmm, that's not a bad idea.<<<
Alternatively, a streamer might work as well. The "fluttering" in the airflow creates a surprising amount of drag. They are definitely more rugged and easier to "pack" (you literally roll them up into a cylinder). I'm pretty sure that you couldn't make a safe landing with a practical sized one for a human. But for just slowing down it *might* be possible.
Of course size (width & length) and most likely altitudes to be falling from all affect things.
One reason for the suggestion is that if it's workable, it might be possible to have *two* of them. Spares are always good. Plus it'd be *different*.
(no subject)
Date: 2017-04-14 03:22 am (UTC)Also, now I am thinking about interesting ways to prompt Avengers/Terremagne crossovers.
Thank you!
Date: 2017-04-14 04:00 am (UTC)I'm glad you enjoyed that.
>> Also, now I am thinking about interesting ways to prompt Avengers/Terremagne crossovers.<<
I don't think they'd fit all that well. My little Terries would be appalled by Marvelverse. I think their response would amount to, "We need some EFA over here!"
From the supervillains.
Re: Thank you!
Date: 2017-04-16 09:27 pm (UTC)Re: Thank you!
Date: 2017-04-17 08:49 am (UTC)So much this. And now I am imagining Hulk with a palmful of caney, and then Bruce waking up under said caney because Turq is just that soothing.
>> Tony taking apart a zatzer gun to find out how to build a couple into his suit, <<
LOL yes.
>> Steve & Stan sitting down for a long, long talk... <<
They have a great deal in common.
small error
Date: 2017-04-16 05:30 am (UTC)Re: small error
Date: 2017-04-16 05:33 am (UTC)Thought ⇶ action. (Or should that be ↬ )?
Date: 2017-04-17 03:04 am (UTC)> Somewhat impulsive, ain't he? ;-)
• "It's also really dangerous, Tony, I don't think that's something you should put in dishes," Steve said. ...
> And it's a really good idea to have someone around who can rein in the worst of them.
• "Doesn't take much to make glass light up, though, and Hulk is pretty much immune to radiation," Tony said, drinking again.
> Sure, but if there's anyone else around who isn't immune...
• "It's worth a try. Hmm, I wonder if I could make a visual-cue Geiger counter instead of the clicker kind ..."
> Of course, not all sudden impulses/ideas are bad...
• "Oh, that could be useful," Bruce said.
> ... and the good ones should be encouraged.
Re: Thought ⇶ action. (Or should that be ↬ )?
Date: 2017-04-17 10:58 am (UTC)Re: Thought ⇶ action. (Or should that be ↬ )?
Date: 2017-04-17 10:58 am (UTC)Re: Thought ⇶ action. (Or should that be ↬ )?
Date: 2017-04-17 05:48 pm (UTC)Re: Thought ⇶ action. (Or should that be ↬ )?
Date: 2017-11-03 02:35 pm (UTC)https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNSdKnAAjnw
Re: Thought ⇶ action. (Or should that be ↬ )?
Date: 2017-11-03 12:53 am (UTC)Re: Thought ⇶ action. (Or should that be ↬ )?
Date: 2017-11-03 01:53 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2017-11-03 01:50 pm (UTC)Radium doesn't glow blue. And if radium salts fluoresce I have no idea what color they'd glow.
The blue glow is Cerenkov radiation. Basically, the particles emitted are travelling faster than light *in air* (but still slower than c, the speed of light in a vacuum). So it's the photonic equivalent of a sonic boom.
You get the same effect in water, which is why "swimming pool" reactors have that lovely blue glow.
>>"Doesn't take much to make glass light up, though, and Hulk is pretty much immune to radiation," Tony said, drinking again. "It's worth a try. Hmm, I wonder if I could make a visual-cue Geiger counter instead of the clicker kind ..."<<
Scintillometer or spinthariscope. The latter is a really crude form of what he's talking about (uses a screen coated with zinc sulfide in a hooded viewer). And the former is a way high tech that uses flashes inside a crystal plus some light amplification stuff to produce a reading (or clicks)
Trouble is, it's really hard to get something that will glow all that brightly at non-lethal amounts of radiation. the energy isn't there.
Of course, the easy solution is to just hook a light in parallel with the indicator dial on the geiger counter. Or a multi-color LED bar graph display. Green/yellow/red
For the sticker sort of thing, you'd likely have to borrow a trick from the passive IR detectors. These are cards with a pink strip that glows when exposed to the right wavelengths of IR. It needs extra energy to work, and it gets "charged" by exposure to ordinary light (sort of like those glow in the dark toys that need to be exposed to light first).
Also, you have to problem of different particle and radiation types affecting things differently. Alpha, beta, neutrons, various wavelengths of gamma, x-ray and UV...