Never One To Be Left Behind ((Bendy Timey Wimey To Fit In Sometime))

[lil_hulk]

Jay had resources. Well, maybe just one resource, but it was a good one: his lawyer Mom. While Roxie occasionally popped up at the mansion, nobody really knew where she lived. That might have been by choice, but it was not particularly wise in Jay's estimation.

So, up to the penthouse dragon's den he went. He had gotten his mother to get information on all legally filed paperwork she had access to. He knew where she lived. Being that he was visiting the Roxstar, he decided to bring three large pizzas with him. As she wasn't around the mansion much, he had no clue how she was eating. He also had a few movies with him.

Now, to get up to her door and hope she was actually home and not beating a centaur or something. Jay shifted the pizza boxes on his arms and started into the building he had the address on.

Comments

[avengingwarbird]

Jay would have found an elevator that went directly to the penthouse - Roxie's penthouse.

Fancy digs for a woman in her very early twenties.

He would've been buzzed straight up, and Roxie was waiting for Jay by the elevators. She was dressed in her workout gear, her hair pulled up into a high ponytail.

There was an awkward smile on her face when the elevator doors dinged open.

[lil_hulk]

"Pizza and company delivery," Jay announced after quickly sizing up that smile. He stepped out of the elevator so he couldn't get sent right back down quickly.

"I also brought some action movies. All for the low, low price of you supplying water or non-alcoholic drinks." He gave her a small grin and shrug. He hadn't thought of everything.

[avengingwarbird]

Roxie chuckled a small little chuckle. "For a second, I was worried that you were...someone I didn't want to see," Roxie replied. She stepped aside and indicated that Jay should enter the penthouse. The savoury scent of pizza wafted into Roxie's nostrils and she breathed in deeply.

It smelled good, and Roxie'd just had a nice, two-hour-long workout session, as was evidenced by the thin sheen of sweat that covered her lithe, athletic form. Her stomach rumbled in answer to the scent of the pizza.

"I have water, iced tea, Diet Coke, and cranberry juice." The latter was generally for the vodka cranberries she liked drinking after a long day of kicking ass and taking names.

[lil_hulk]

"Mm. It took some digging to find your place." He was going to leave the ex out of the equation. Unless she was avoiding her mother. Which would baffle Jay, but that was not why he was there.

"I'll take water." He had his workout this morn- afternoon when he got up. So, he was just jeans and t-shirt unsweaty Jay under a leather jacket. There were some Keewazi designs painted on the back.

[avengingwarbird]

"I didn't exactly post up my address on Facebook," Roxie said lightly. "But I'm glad Mrs. Walters-Wingfoot was able to pull the information up from...wherever these legal things happen," Roxie added. "A friendly face is good to have around." It wasn't Carol who Roxie was hiding from. Carol had actually been the only person to come to Roxie's little housewarming party. Carol and Ares.

And her brother, Alex, who Roxie never really got to see enough of.

She led Jay into the kitchen and handed him a ginormous bottle of water from the fridge. She pulled out a bottle of peach flavoured Izze for herself and then hopped up onto a barstool near one end of her kitchen island.

"How are you doing?" She knew about May, of course.

[lil_hulk]

He set the pizza boxes on the island before taking his bottle of water.

"Hard to have a friendly face around if we don't know where you are," he noted as he opened the bottle and took a sip. Cold and water. Just the way he liked it.

"I'm taking it day by day. Graduate in... the spring." Word got around when May didn't show up at the mansion as much.

"Got worried about you," he mentioned off-handedly before taking another drink.

[avengingwarbird]

Roxie hopped off of her stool and went over to a nearby cupboard. She pulled out a couple of plain white plates, an unopened jar of jalapenos, a container of parmesan cheese, and a container of red pepper flakes.

She laid them out on the counter and pulled out a slice of pizza laden with meat and vegetables.

"I dropped out," Roxie said after a long moment. "Of college. Well, a leave of absence, really." She smiled at him. "But good on you for graduating. And...I appreciate it," Roxie added. "I'm...dealing." She couldn't say she was fine because that would be a lie, and she knew that Jay would know that.

No one who was fine would do what she'd done.

[lil_hulk]

Jay pulled up a stool because leaning against the counter was not good for his proper digestion. "It's only high school."

He pulled out a couple pieces of pizza to put on his plate. Though he fiddled with his plate more than picked up anything to eat.

"You're not the only scientific abduction survivor." Though he got to watch his doctor pull pieces of his insides out instead of being told to mate for the future. "So, I'm here for you."

He glanced down at the plate. "Should eat before you toss me out."

[avengingwarbird]

"I'm not tossing you out," Roxie said. "I've never been that kind of girl." It was true. She'd even let Vincent keep their old apartment. No questions, no payments, nothing. "And I know. We've all...well. We've all been through something, but..." She trailed off for a second, furrowing her brow. "This was different, Jay."

[lil_hulk]

Jay picked up a piece of pizza. "How?"

Because he didn't know. If he was going to help her any, he needed to know what to tiptoe around or tackle. While he waited for an answer, he took a big bite of pizza.

[avengingwarbird]

Roxie dumped a good amount of jalapenos over her slice of pizza. She pursed her lips and thought for a long moment. "I'm starting to feel like a broken record about this," she said. "But..." She frowned gently. "I'm just questioning a lot about myself now. Call it a giant karmic bitchslap."

[lil_hulk]

"Could always tell me with interpretive dance," he suggested after he swallowed his pizza. "That might be fresh and new."

He looked her over. She did look different though still undeniably Roxstar. "Might be overcompensating a little. So, you moved from Athens to Sparta?"

[avengingwarbird]

Roxie finished off her first slice of pizza in four large bites.

"I haven't danced since before..." she shrugged. "I know you were joking. And, something like that." She reached out and took another slice of pizza. "I've done a lot of stuff, Jay. Partying. Drinking. Sexing up total strangers." Drugs, though she'd never really admit that one to anyone, considering that she was a hero. "And suddenly, the Kree wanted me, the one woman who would willingly sleep with anyone, to jump start their line of alien babies." She sighed shakily. "People have told me that it's not as though the Kree knew what type of woman I was before they took me but..." she furrowed her brow. "Why not just kidnap someone else, whack them with the Psyche-Magnetron, and then turn them into their brood mare?" She shook her head. "I mean, we wouldn't have allowed that to happen, but...am I making sense?"

[lil_hulk]

Jay was quiet for a moment as he mulled it over and finished up his slice.

"So, what other Kree person could they have grabbed?"

[avengingwarbird]

"That's the question, isn't it?" Roxie asked. "Doesn't Moonstone have a Moonpebble running around somewhere?"

[lil_hulk]

"Pebbles don't make babies with Kree DNA last I checked." He picked up his second piece of pizza.

"Who else could they have gone for, Roxstar? Because they probably could have succeeded with anyone other than you. Other people don't get whole teams coming to save them." He knew that last bit as a certainty. When he become Dr. Green's favorite experiment, the only people who came to save him were his mother and Sir Dopey.

[avengingwarbird]

"Besides my mom? No one. But that doesn't..." Roxie sighed. "Under any other circumstances? I would have gladly jumped Bruce's bones. I've always thought..." she shook her head. "Never mind."

[lil_hulk]

It hurt Jay to have said this. "Your mom's a little too old for what they wanted."

He stuffed some pizza into his mouth. He chewed carefully to not choke himself when he spoke next. "You always thought what?"

He was neverminding that nevermind.

[avengingwarbird]

"Don't tell my mom that," Roxie replied with a slight smile. "She might go into shock." She took a slice of pizza and chewed thoughtfully. "Inappropriate," she said. "What I was going to say."

[lil_hulk]

"Trust me, I won't." Though she'd hear it from Roxie and his little fanboy dreams would be doomed.

"Roxstar, if you've met Mom, you can understand I can handle inappropriate. As long as it's not about Dad." Green lawyer woman with no filter at home made Jay stock up on brain bleach.

[avengingwarbird]

"I've just always had a slight thing for Bruce. That's all." She brushed back a lock of her hair. "Tell no one. I wasn't his type then, and now...I'm just not interested in dating."

[lil_hulk]

"Huh." Jay didn't sound surprised. It kind of fit the Stooges profiles anyway. Bruce was the ladies' man of them all anyway. He shrugged.

"So, how's cold turkey treating you? Being all Athena instead of Ares?" He stuffed the last of his pizza in his mouth.

[avengingwarbird]

"I know. The one guy on the team who would never actually give me the time of day." Or night, but she wasn't in the mood to joke.

"I'm fine. Been keeping myself busy. Lots of mythological monsters need fighting." She tilted her head. "How about you? How're you with...everything?"

[lil_hulk]

"No, that's not it. More he was the ladies' man of the stooges." Now he was all leader man and ashamed of stooge antics. Jay guessed that was the growing up bit.

"I'm busy taking care of my miniature giant space hamster." Which was his favorite distraction technique. Look, cute fuzzy animal. Except he hadn't brought Boo with him. There was a hole in his plan.

[avengingwarbird]

"And I wasn't a lady," she said, her mouth twisting into a wry smile. "Not that I ever tried."

"Was this the MGSH you got from the Kreenapping debacle?"