milliways_bar | (no subject)

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charlotte gage-radcliffe

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First week living with Babs. It was totally great! Charlie got to bond with Oracle and Lady Blackhawk and Barda, sorta. Babs is pretty insistent about not wanting her out in the field, but she's going to train Charlie anyway so there's totally wiggle room there. All in all, you know, great. Up until they found a dead Fury on the street with a hole in her chest, which was...

Yeah.

Charlie excused herself from dinner, but she still manages to throw up something when she wakes up from a nightmare later that night. And then, on her way back, the door to her room turns into a Door to Milliways, with all its great food smells, and. Yeah.

A few minutes later, she comes out of the Milliways bathroom, holds her breath, and makes a beeline for the door outside. She's wearing pajamas and is in no way dressed for the weather, but at least the cold shocks her brain away from other things she could be thinking about.

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Jay's been jogging. In clothing that's only appropriate while running. It rather shows off his muscular form. And his scars.

He greets Charlie with a nod. "Hey. You okay?"

No. "Uh. Yeah. Just... wanted some fresh air." Maybe some brain bleach. Sudden onset amnesia. "You?" she says, because obviously this is small talk and there is no possible reason he might think she's not okay.

Except that Jay's good at this sort of things. He shrugs. "Just a bit of training. I was planning to hit the gym and find someone to spar with later on?" There's something of an invitation in that.

"Yeah, that sounds cool," she says, not really catching onto the implied invitation in there. Just as well, since right now her killer fighting move would probably just be grossing her opponent out.

Man, she really wishes she'd grabbed water or something on her way out. Toothpaste would also be nice, but that would mean braving the smells inside again and no thank you.

Jay cocks his head, watching her. "Charlie? What do you need?" His question is direct but gentle.

"What? Nothing. I'm good."

Witness the master of lies.

"Charlie," Jay pushes gently. "You're not okay. What do you need? Start simple and work out from there."

She crosses her arms, because (a) slightly warmer and (b) being defensive is a step-up from a minute ago. "What makes you so sure I'm not okay?"

Jay gives her a slight wry look. "Lets just say I've had some practice at reading people. And you need a lot of practice if you want to hide your emotions."

Ugh, sneaky mechanic/mercenary/whatever he is. She huffs. "I just have a flu or something."

Jay watches her intently for a long moment. A beat longer than most people find comfortable. Then he lets up. "If you're feeling off, you should touch base with the doc here. Guppy. He's a good bloke."

"Yeah, maybe." That is not going to happen. "He's not, like... actually a fish or anything, is he?"

Just in case.

Jay laughs softly. "No, he's not at fish. He's a human male of continental Indian decent. He's a great doctor and a very nice guy. And someone you can trust to talk to." Just in case she needs someone.

Noriko, outside in shorts and a hoodie suitable for running distance, stops at the redhead a respectable distance away, and cocks her bright blue head of hair.

"Hey. You need a jacket or something out here, don't you?" she asks, pulling off her sweatshirt to offer it.

"I don't want to take your jacket," she says, a little mechanically. She kinda does want the sweatshirt, but she'll feel kinda pathetic taking it from whoever this is.

"Because hypothermia sounds like a better option?" Noriko says, still holding it out. "It's okay, I promise I've got about a million and ten of these, I can spare one for someone who looks like they've had a really crap day."

Ugh, she has a point. Charlie sighs. "Yeah, okay. Thanks." She pulls it on, and yeah, way better like this. Plus, comfy. "I'm Charlie."

"Noriko," she says, tossing her hair to lay on the other side of her head. "At the risk of asking the obvious, are you okay?"

"Uh, yeah. Kinda. I just needed some air or whatever."

Even if it comes with mild hypothermia!

"Yeah, I get that." She does, really. Hey, it's why she runs. That and the physical necessity.

"You want me to bring you something to drink, maybe?"

"Water. Would be good." Even if she doesn't really want to ask or anything.

"Water can be done," she says. "Gimme just a sec." And she does take about that long, coming back with that bottle of water and a bottle of a couple kinds of flavoring, if she's inclined. Noriko likes being prepared.

"Thanks." Okay, water was a really good idea. Charlie gulps down a few plain swallows before it occurs to her that she should probably say something else. "This was nice of you."

"It's alright," she says. "I don't want to pry, but are you going to be okay?"

"Yeah. I probably just ate something bad or whatever." Or didn't eat. One of the two.

"Well. The bar food is generally safe," she says, in offer.

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