(open) there's got to be a morning after;

[hypoxic]

Who: Leo Fitz and anyone else who really needs a beer right now
Where: The bar
When: August 9th, during that very still period between the end of the event and the return of everyone's powers.
Rating: PG-13, will note if anything escalates
Summary: Everyone got to live different lives and be different people! And then they woke up with the realization that they might have said or done some things that maybe shouldn't have happened. Beer is the solution to this problem. Come commiserate.
The Story:


[People talked about it, of course. They mentioned that events could change more than just parts of the mansion. But this was the first time Fitz had the chance to experience it. He'd lived an entirely different life, and it was... Pathetic. He'd become a person so steeped in published dogma that he lost track of common sense and self-awareness. He let people perform atrocities on him, all because he "knew" he was adhering to science.

And ever since waking up with his true memories restored, he's felt absolutely sick about it.

He settles down at the bar at just before noon, nursing a beer and brooding. He's not an expert drinker, and lets the beverage sit long enough for condensation to bead along the exterior of the glass between sips. But the sips do come eventually. How else is he going to wash away an alternate lifetime's worth of horrible choices?

Occasionally, he'll glance to whomever's settled down nearby, seeking comfort in shared misery.]

If I never hear the word "mutant" again it'll be too soon, yeah?

[This might be the most social he's been in the four months since his arrival.]

Comments

[hypoxic]

[He recoils then, as if Len has just accused him of being a mustache-twirling supervillain.]

What? Of course not! But when powered people first come into their own, they struggle to learn control -- having their powers cut off gives them a break from it.

[And then sometimes people are evil and need to be easier to kill, but that's a stickier issue.]

[catchacold]

And what about the people with powers who don't consent to something like that?

[Free will. People inevitably being assholes on both sides.]

Tricky, stuff like that. How do you regulate it, where do you draw the lines?

[hypoxic]

[He draws himself up straighter.]

We draw the line at being good people. We help them, until they don't need our help anymore.

[catchacold]

And what about those that are dangerous? Who do you help there?

[The road to hell and all that.]

[hypoxic]

Case by case basis. Depends a lot on what their powers are. How they're hurting people, whether they want to do it.

It's often not my call to make.

[catchacold]

It's never gonna be your call, not with stuff like that. That's what they say about Einstein and the atom bomb, ain't it?

[Leonard hands the bottle back over to Fitz. He can use it.]

Cheers.

[hypoxic]

Einstein could never melt iron with his bare hands.

[That would've been really cool though. He'll go back to drinking without complaint.]

More of 'em every day, it seems.

[catchacold]

And you can't grow such fabulous hair. What's the matter, genius, don't know what a metaphor is?

[It would have been really cool.]

True. How you feel about that?

[hypoxic]

[He gives Len a lopsided smile.]

I think it's incredible. I think they're misunderstood ... and frightened. And that they could really use some help.

[catchacold]

What about you? Got any powers?

[Incredible. Maybe. He thinks of the first time he's dealt with the Flash. A day that changed his life. Incredible. Sure.]

[hypoxic]

[He shakes his head, then stumbles slightly. That's a gesture that'll make a man a bit dizzy, it seems.]

No, I'm. I just end up studying them a lot.

[catchacold]

...maybe you should sit down.

[They are in the middle of a hallway, so what?

This isn't even a drunk thing, Leonard will always sit literally anywhere he wants anyway he wants.]

Always volunteers? The ones you study.

[hypoxic]

Mm? Oh -- oh, right...

[He sinks against the wall and slides down to the floor without needing any further prompting. It's not a drunk thing for Len, but it definitely is for Fitz. He's had quite a lot more than his usual stopping point.]

It's -- complicated. They're new still -- accidental. And there's another group trying to take them. They dissect. We offer protection from that while we straighten the rest out.

[And now that they're settled on the nice hallway carpeting, it's fine if he keeps sinking until he's leaning on Len's shoulder, right?]

[catchacold]

[Fitz is too drunk to really deal with this with any seriousness, so instead of telling him to stop touching him, Leonard merely subtly moves a little to the side, so Fitz will have to support his own head. He's still closer to sober than drunk, clearly more used to drinking than his new buddy here.]

Gotcha. Would you want to have powers?

[hypoxic]

[ When detached, he moves to sit back without complaint. There's no reason to argue, and this works just as well besides. ]

Me? Oh, probably not. Seems like they're more trouble than they're worth, for most of them. I don't know if anyone who's had the chance to really enjoy being a powered person. I mean... There's Daisy, but she's been through a lot to get to where she is.

[catchacold]

What's Daisy's power then?

[He thinks of the people he knows who have powers, considering if any of them would want to give them up.]

Most that I know seem to be doing all right with them. At least the ones that survive.

[hypoxic]

She has control over frequencies. We aren't certain about the upper limits of it, but she seems to be able to sense the invisible spectrum in its entirety. When her powers were new, we had a problem with earthquakes. I developed the suppression tech as a means to help her cope.

It's... been a process for us all.