milliways_bar | (no subject)

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"Look, you can't go around re-arranging the whole laboratory, we just got it the way we like it and... no, no that can't go there at all, just... put it down, gently, yes I know it needs to be locked down I created those protocols and..." Jemma comes in snapping over her shoulder at the poor hapless agent assigned to bring in the new lab equipment. Seeing where she is, she heaves a sigh and makes a beeline for the Bar.

Today requires much more coffee. So much more.

(OOC: Slowish throughout the day - I'm on the road and currently in an area of zero cell coverage, but that will change, and it's a long drive today!)

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"Gettin' the troops in line?" Tahno asks as he approaches, swagger in his step and swing in his hips.

"It should be a simple equipment delivery, there's no need for such drama." Jemma huffs, but the set of her shoulders becomes less agitated when she spots him.

"Drama exists anywhere humans do, generally," Tahno drawls. He might be teasing her. The poking at her waist certainly doesn't help staunch that impression. "All ya can do about it is try not to micro manage, and take breaks when ya can. Like now, for instance. How about a break?"

"Excellent points of management psychology." Jemma notes primly, smirking at him. She'd protest that she wasn't micromanaging, but some lab techs require such things... it happens.

"I was going to have some coffee."

"Coffee sounds like a good break," Tahno drawls, matching her smirk. "I bet I could persuade ya to let me give ya a massage as well?"

"Well, that's a no-lose bet." Jemma notes cheerfully as she takes a seat at the Bar, her tone even more cheerful as she's rewarded with a nice hot mug of coffee. Good coffee. SHIELD lab coffee.

Tahno takes a seat next to her and orders a shot of firewhiskey for himself. "So how've ya been, Jemma? Aside from managing yer lab?"

"Oh, quite well, all things considered, other than that... confusion." She waves a hand at the door and thus the hapless tech behind it. "But things have to be just so, after all, out in the field. "

"I gotcha," Tahno says, sipping his whiskey. "How's field work been? Bein' out there agreein' with ya?"

Her smile is a little less... exuberant, but she makes up for it in sheer 'I can do this I'm Jemma Simmons and this assignment isn't going to defeat me' determination.

"There are a few... wrinkles. But nothing we can't handle, of course.

Ward, for example, is kind of a jerk. That was unlooked for.

"Sounds good," Tahno drawls, scratching his cheek. "What kinda wrinkles have been throwin' ya for a loop?"

She pauses, hesitates, and shrugs.

"It's not as... clean, as I thought it would be. Problems tend to be a bit more straight-forward in the lab."

"Yeah, I get that," Tahno drawls, nodding. "There's a lot more to keep track of out in the field. And ya don't always have the equipment ya need, either. 'Course, that's why ya were yellin', right?"

"I wasn't really yelling." Jemma hedges, between sips of coffee. "More like... sternly worded reminding. It's not as if replacement equipment will magically appear if something is broken."

Never mind half the gadgets in the lab are FitzSimmons original creations.

Tahno sips his whiskey. "Uh-huh. There ain't no need to feel bad. Yer doin' yer job and makin' sure people are doin' theirs."

She colors a little, a blush spreading along her cheeks. She does out-rank the poor tech, though that's hardly an excuse.

"What about you - still working on becoming a champion?"

Tahno's smile is slow and sultry. "I'm already a champion, but yeah, I'm gettin' there again. I've got a few more matches left but I'm lookin' forward to 'em. Should be fun. You should come watch one sometime."

And that lights her up again, no problem. She'll probably be the only at a match trying to figure out how the science of it all could possibly work, but she'd definitely be one of the more enthusiastic fans.

"I'd really like that, you know."

"Well, good," Tahno drawls, stretching as luxuriously as a catbear. "I could give ya a pregame show if ya like. My teammates would love to put on something like that for ya."

Glee! Though Jemma's probably the only one who's ever heard an invitation like that and hasn't immediately hoped the clothing is optional.

"Really? Do you think they'd mind if I asked questions? I'd imagine somehow the different varieties of bending have to work differently, or the manipulation of matter would be similar."

"Yeah, different bendin' works differently for different folks," Tahno drawls, flipping his fingers out and back to make his whiskey jump in his glass. "I don't think they'd mind questions, though they ain't too bright? So don't expect brilliance."

"That's quite alright. They can hardly do worse than that fellow back there." Honestly, she's not sure how he made it into SHIELD as a R&D technician. Someone made a mistake along the way.

"Yeah, they wouldn't take too kindly to bein' yelled at," Tahno teases, poking her in the shoulder.

"Clearly you haven't been yelled at enough if you think that was yelling." She huffs at him, rolling her eyes.

Honestly, the FitzSimmons lab gets noisier than that on an average day before lunch.

"Awright, awright, I'm just teasin' ya," Tahno drawls, waggling his fingers to make the whiskey wind its way around them. "Can I buy ya another coffee?"

"Better make it a decaf - I can't do anything if I get caffeine jitters." She agrees, rubbing her hands ruefully.

"Decaf it is," Tahno drawls, signaling a waitrat. "I don't know how you can drink that stuff. Real coffee's where it's at."

"My loyalty is to science." She retorts, primly. "Besides, it's not so bad. You get used to it after a couple cups."

"Says you," Tahno drawls, ordering a cup of decaf for her. "You may as well be drinking hot water. But if ya gotta drink it to avoid the jitters, ya gotta. I ain't gonna stop ya."

"I'm not making you drink it." Jemma huffs, curling her hands around the warm mug when it comes. "Though I do know now what to serve you when I'm feeling cross."

"I'll stick with whiskey, thanks," Tahno drawls, freezing his liquor into a flower shape. "Or tea. Coffee and me don't get along too well. But let's let bygones be bygones. Ya drink yer thing and I'll drink mine, and we'll both be happy. Yeah?"

Jemma snickers - she now knows what to threaten him with. Who knew that decaf was quite so horrible?

"Does it interfere with your bending? Coffee, I mean?"

"Nah, it just gives me a stomachache," Tahno drawls, melting his alcohol. "Not much interferes with bendin'. I mean, there are chi blockers, or people who hit you in certain places, and they can cause you to stop bendin' for a time, but it's not permanent."

"Wait, things can actually... block the ability?" Consider her interest well and truly piqued. "Has this ever happened to you?"

"Things can," Tahno drawls, and flexes. "Nothin' like that never happened to me, but chi blockers can be pretty devastating. One skilled blocker can take down an entire squadron of benders all by themselves, if they hit them right."

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