Dana and Harry, this afternoon
Mar. 2nd, 2015 07:16 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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om_mainDana runs into Harry coming out of the medlab, and somehow this turns into an invitation to Oscorp and... his apartment. She's not sure what to think, but is willing to find out. Harry MIGHT have some ulterior motives, but not the ones she thinks.
Harry had just finished rolling down his sleeve from his latest check-in with Tam as he opened the door of the medlab. He blinked in slight surprise to find a tiny red-headed girl there--Dana Scully. The girl who'd looked at him like he was some kind of puzzle when they first met; the girl who'd both unsettled and interested him. He'd been meaning to talk to her for a while, now. Nothing to see here, just leaving the medlab from a normal, everyday check-up... "Dana. How goes?"
She looked up from her notebook at the interruption. Dana had noticed Harry coming and going from the infirmary, more than some of the students at the school, certainly. She had never commented, though. "Good afternoon, Harry. I'm doing pretty good. How are you?" Dana asked, adeptly avoiding any questions about his health.
"Great," he lied, smile brightening. He noticed her omission and appreciated it. Silently. "Been meaning to catch you, though. I mean, I see you around in the medlab, but I heard from Braddock you had a serious interest in medical research?"
She hadn't realized Mr. Braddock really realized she was there, when he came down to the lab. He always looked very...focused. Determined, but distant. So she was somewhat surprised to hear he'd mentioned her at all. "I'm doing some research with Lydia Martin, yeah. Why do you ask?"
"Just curious, mostly," he said, expression all open curiosity--one of the few honest expressions he could allow himself. "I mean, growing up Oscorp means that kind of thing is always interesting to me. What are you working on? I mean--assuming it's not top secret or personal, obviously."
Dana shook her head. "She wouldn't mind. We've been working on trying to replicate the unique ability she has. Her body self-regulates, maintaining homeostasis. The medical potential, if we could isolate that ability, is immense. Just think about it," she was growing more animated as she explained. "Disease could be wiped out."
Harry applied his usual emotional screens, but his intense interest was still evident. His brow furrowed; what Dana was talking about... was his life.
He made a note to send Brian Braddock a very, very old bottle of Scotch for the tip. "I wondered if something like that might be possible. And, has there been any progress...?"
Dana's lips thinned, just a little. She wasn't used to failing. "Not yet. I'm still trying, though. I'm actually wondering if some of the students with a healing factor might be willing to give me a tissue and DNA sample, too."
"Probably would." They'd given them to Tam and MacTaggert, after all... well, someone had, anyhow. Harry shifted his weight to one foot--his version of bouncing in excitement, though his face still read as interested rather than excited. "My entire motivation for asking was to offer you research access at Oscorp. We have some next level equipment there--and scientists. If you wanted..." He gestured, letting the sentence finish itself.
She watched him shift his weight. Interesting. Very interesting. But not nearly as shocking as his offer of space at Oscorp. "Really?"
"I learned at an early age never to taunt a scientist," Harry said. She was giving him that feeling again, like she wanted to dissect him. But at this precise moment in time, he couldn't care less. " I'd be happy to show you around. Simon's there sometimes, and I could introduce you to my father's PA, Felicia--she helps me out with things."
Dana was intrigued by Harry Osborn's sudden generosity, and the reasoning behind it. As always, his motives were somewhat inscrutable. Still, the opportunity to use the resources of Oscorp in her research was...well, it was a once-in-a-lifetime kind of thing. "I'd love that."
"Great. I'm in the city every weekend--you could go up with me if you wanted, sometime. Or we could make a trip after classes someday; I'm not picky."
"A weekend would probably be easier," Dana said. After classes she had homework to do, and she was volunteering down in the infirmary, too.
"Great. And since I hate to drag you all the way into Manhattan and leave you, we'll do the showing around thing and then grab something to eat? I mean, if you don't want to be seen out with me" --he assumed she understood what all that would entail-- "we can just hit my apartment up and talk science."
Just because Harry didn't look and act like a science nerd, didn't mean that particular gene had passed him by, either. The prospect would've been interesting to him even if it didn't have potential to, you know, save his fucking life.
Dana quirked an eyebrow at an invitation from a famous playboy to come up to his penthouse (undoubtedly), but he had a point. "I'm not really up to the paparazzi of the rich and famous. Your apartment will be fine."
"Great." Harry made a mental note to ask her while they were at Oscorp what she wanted to eat. He could have Felicia make sure it arrived at the apartment just about when they did, that way.
Smile going a little wry, he said, "I know, you must be wondering what the hell my secret motivation is, right? I mean, you've been doing that thing the whole time we've been talking, again."
"What thing?"
"The thing where you look at me like I'm alien technology you're trying to reverse engineer." Though Harry wasn't smirking, he was, in fact, chuckling silently. He didn't take offense to it; she was right and smart to think that way around him. Even if it made him nervous as hell, on one level in particular.
He couldn't help it; he just enjoyed smart women.
Dana actually smirked, just a little bit, in response. She couldn't have explained the impulse, but she teased, "See, that would imply that I believe in aliens that could reach Earth, a proposition which is dubious at best. Maybe I just want to figure out what makes you tick."
"I will endeavor not to disappoint." Harry smirked in return, genuine amusement flashing in his eyes. Yeah, this was going to be... interesting. "I'm sure you're wondering why I'm making the offer in the first place, but I'm afraid that answer is disappointing, so I'll just get it out of the way now, if you want?"
She shrugged. "Better to know than not know."
"Oscorp is the current leader in biotech and genetic research in the country--hopefully soon, in the world. Mutant research-driven advances are going to be a huge part of that, and I'd rather it was mutant minds handling it.
"I have the means, so I'm making the offers." Of course, it wasn't all of the truth--but it was something Harry would be attempting even without the ticking clock in his blood, so it wasn't a lie, either.
If Dana's research, by some act of a particularly playful god, did show something that could help him, he'd let her in on that, too. Until then, it was his--and Norman's--business alone.
"And who will own this research?" Dana asked, arching an eyebrow. "Suppose something comes of it - am I to assume that Oscorp would patent it and then restrict access to what had been found?"
Harry chuckled silently. Even if she was trying to dissect him, he liked her more and more. "I'm glad you asked that question.
"But no. You don't work for Oscorp. It's free access, no strings attached. If you decide to work more closely with Oscorp in the future as a result of this, uh, example of my commitment to science for mutants, by mutants--say, once I take over the company--well, that's more than I expect but exactly what I want."
"I see. An early-bird corporate recruiting policy," she said. Harry Osborn was something else. Dana could never tell if he was three steps ahead of her, or wasn't ahead of her at all and had just made himself seem more mysterious than he was. It definitely piqued her interest, regardless.
"I admit to not doing anything without a reason," Harry said agreeably. "But you don't strike me as the sort to judge that, on its own."
The corner of her lips tipped up, just a little. "Trust no one."
"Seems to have kept us alive so far," Harry said with a slight smirk.
"Or is it just coincidence?" Dana countered lightly, "and has nothing to do with machinations and paranoia?"
"Right, yeah, twice is a coincidence, three is a pattern?"
She shrugged. "Don't confuse correlation and causation. Sure, you're paranoid, and you're still alive. But does that really mean one led to the other?"
"Since you're asking for me specifically, I can say there's no confusion involved. I'm an Osborn." Just like that, all the joke had gone out of him. He was, for a moment, entirely serious. "I couldn't say for anyone else. And wouldn't, outside of a smart remark." There, a tiny smirk appeared again.
His sudden shift to seriousness, something bordering even honesty, stopped whatever it was she was going to say, and she gave him a long look, instead. "Well. I'll see you and your smart remarks this weekend, then."
Harry mock saluted, smiled once more, and started down the hall. Then he turned and, still walking backwards briefly, added, "I'll text you to figure out details."
She rolled her eyes at the mock salute, and waved him off. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'll look forward to it."
Harry had just finished rolling down his sleeve from his latest check-in with Tam as he opened the door of the medlab. He blinked in slight surprise to find a tiny red-headed girl there--Dana Scully. The girl who'd looked at him like he was some kind of puzzle when they first met; the girl who'd both unsettled and interested him. He'd been meaning to talk to her for a while, now. Nothing to see here, just leaving the medlab from a normal, everyday check-up... "Dana. How goes?"
She looked up from her notebook at the interruption. Dana had noticed Harry coming and going from the infirmary, more than some of the students at the school, certainly. She had never commented, though. "Good afternoon, Harry. I'm doing pretty good. How are you?" Dana asked, adeptly avoiding any questions about his health.
"Great," he lied, smile brightening. He noticed her omission and appreciated it. Silently. "Been meaning to catch you, though. I mean, I see you around in the medlab, but I heard from Braddock you had a serious interest in medical research?"
She hadn't realized Mr. Braddock really realized she was there, when he came down to the lab. He always looked very...focused. Determined, but distant. So she was somewhat surprised to hear he'd mentioned her at all. "I'm doing some research with Lydia Martin, yeah. Why do you ask?"
"Just curious, mostly," he said, expression all open curiosity--one of the few honest expressions he could allow himself. "I mean, growing up Oscorp means that kind of thing is always interesting to me. What are you working on? I mean--assuming it's not top secret or personal, obviously."
Dana shook her head. "She wouldn't mind. We've been working on trying to replicate the unique ability she has. Her body self-regulates, maintaining homeostasis. The medical potential, if we could isolate that ability, is immense. Just think about it," she was growing more animated as she explained. "Disease could be wiped out."
Harry applied his usual emotional screens, but his intense interest was still evident. His brow furrowed; what Dana was talking about... was his life.
He made a note to send Brian Braddock a very, very old bottle of Scotch for the tip. "I wondered if something like that might be possible. And, has there been any progress...?"
Dana's lips thinned, just a little. She wasn't used to failing. "Not yet. I'm still trying, though. I'm actually wondering if some of the students with a healing factor might be willing to give me a tissue and DNA sample, too."
"Probably would." They'd given them to Tam and MacTaggert, after all... well, someone had, anyhow. Harry shifted his weight to one foot--his version of bouncing in excitement, though his face still read as interested rather than excited. "My entire motivation for asking was to offer you research access at Oscorp. We have some next level equipment there--and scientists. If you wanted..." He gestured, letting the sentence finish itself.
She watched him shift his weight. Interesting. Very interesting. But not nearly as shocking as his offer of space at Oscorp. "Really?"
"I learned at an early age never to taunt a scientist," Harry said. She was giving him that feeling again, like she wanted to dissect him. But at this precise moment in time, he couldn't care less. " I'd be happy to show you around. Simon's there sometimes, and I could introduce you to my father's PA, Felicia--she helps me out with things."
Dana was intrigued by Harry Osborn's sudden generosity, and the reasoning behind it. As always, his motives were somewhat inscrutable. Still, the opportunity to use the resources of Oscorp in her research was...well, it was a once-in-a-lifetime kind of thing. "I'd love that."
"Great. I'm in the city every weekend--you could go up with me if you wanted, sometime. Or we could make a trip after classes someday; I'm not picky."
"A weekend would probably be easier," Dana said. After classes she had homework to do, and she was volunteering down in the infirmary, too.
"Great. And since I hate to drag you all the way into Manhattan and leave you, we'll do the showing around thing and then grab something to eat? I mean, if you don't want to be seen out with me" --he assumed she understood what all that would entail-- "we can just hit my apartment up and talk science."
Just because Harry didn't look and act like a science nerd, didn't mean that particular gene had passed him by, either. The prospect would've been interesting to him even if it didn't have potential to, you know, save his fucking life.
Dana quirked an eyebrow at an invitation from a famous playboy to come up to his penthouse (undoubtedly), but he had a point. "I'm not really up to the paparazzi of the rich and famous. Your apartment will be fine."
"Great." Harry made a mental note to ask her while they were at Oscorp what she wanted to eat. He could have Felicia make sure it arrived at the apartment just about when they did, that way.
Smile going a little wry, he said, "I know, you must be wondering what the hell my secret motivation is, right? I mean, you've been doing that thing the whole time we've been talking, again."
"What thing?"
"The thing where you look at me like I'm alien technology you're trying to reverse engineer." Though Harry wasn't smirking, he was, in fact, chuckling silently. He didn't take offense to it; she was right and smart to think that way around him. Even if it made him nervous as hell, on one level in particular.
He couldn't help it; he just enjoyed smart women.
Dana actually smirked, just a little bit, in response. She couldn't have explained the impulse, but she teased, "See, that would imply that I believe in aliens that could reach Earth, a proposition which is dubious at best. Maybe I just want to figure out what makes you tick."
"I will endeavor not to disappoint." Harry smirked in return, genuine amusement flashing in his eyes. Yeah, this was going to be... interesting. "I'm sure you're wondering why I'm making the offer in the first place, but I'm afraid that answer is disappointing, so I'll just get it out of the way now, if you want?"
She shrugged. "Better to know than not know."
"Oscorp is the current leader in biotech and genetic research in the country--hopefully soon, in the world. Mutant research-driven advances are going to be a huge part of that, and I'd rather it was mutant minds handling it.
"I have the means, so I'm making the offers." Of course, it wasn't all of the truth--but it was something Harry would be attempting even without the ticking clock in his blood, so it wasn't a lie, either.
If Dana's research, by some act of a particularly playful god, did show something that could help him, he'd let her in on that, too. Until then, it was his--and Norman's--business alone.
"And who will own this research?" Dana asked, arching an eyebrow. "Suppose something comes of it - am I to assume that Oscorp would patent it and then restrict access to what had been found?"
Harry chuckled silently. Even if she was trying to dissect him, he liked her more and more. "I'm glad you asked that question.
"But no. You don't work for Oscorp. It's free access, no strings attached. If you decide to work more closely with Oscorp in the future as a result of this, uh, example of my commitment to science for mutants, by mutants--say, once I take over the company--well, that's more than I expect but exactly what I want."
"I see. An early-bird corporate recruiting policy," she said. Harry Osborn was something else. Dana could never tell if he was three steps ahead of her, or wasn't ahead of her at all and had just made himself seem more mysterious than he was. It definitely piqued her interest, regardless.
"I admit to not doing anything without a reason," Harry said agreeably. "But you don't strike me as the sort to judge that, on its own."
The corner of her lips tipped up, just a little. "Trust no one."
"Seems to have kept us alive so far," Harry said with a slight smirk.
"Or is it just coincidence?" Dana countered lightly, "and has nothing to do with machinations and paranoia?"
"Right, yeah, twice is a coincidence, three is a pattern?"
She shrugged. "Don't confuse correlation and causation. Sure, you're paranoid, and you're still alive. But does that really mean one led to the other?"
"Since you're asking for me specifically, I can say there's no confusion involved. I'm an Osborn." Just like that, all the joke had gone out of him. He was, for a moment, entirely serious. "I couldn't say for anyone else. And wouldn't, outside of a smart remark." There, a tiny smirk appeared again.
His sudden shift to seriousness, something bordering even honesty, stopped whatever it was she was going to say, and she gave him a long look, instead. "Well. I'll see you and your smart remarks this weekend, then."
Harry mock saluted, smiled once more, and started down the hall. Then he turned and, still walking backwards briefly, added, "I'll text you to figure out details."
She rolled her eyes at the mock salute, and waved him off. "Yeah, yeah, yeah. I'll look forward to it."
