Philip and Noriko - Backdated
Mar. 12th, 2015 07:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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om_mainNoriko checks in on Philip after Tony comes out.
Noriko figured that Philip might want to talk about it. Or he might not, but he might want distraction. And if he wanted neither one of these things, she trusted him to just tell her. So after watching Stark's little coming out press conference online, she headed over to the junior staff's dorms and knocked on Philip's door. The sound of metal on wood made it pretty clear who it was doing the knocking.
"Come in," Philip called out. He needed the distraction, at least he'd seen the press conference on his laptop in the dorms, instead of the apartment at the brownstone. If he'd been close enough, there might have been... yelling. A lot of yelling. Again.
Noriko slipped inside, closing the door behind herself before greeting him with a simple, quiet, "Hey." The kind that said that yes, she'd seen it. "Talk or spar?" Or a third option. Whatever worked for him.
"Go out to the brownstone and smack Stark until I get tired of it?" Philip said wryly. "He's making my life very difficult."
"It's kind of his thing, isn't it," Noriko replied evenly. Neutrally.
Philip blinked and looked up at her, actually looking this time. "Is he getting on your nerves for something specific or just because?"
"Just because?" Noriko offered. She didn't sound 100% certain because 'getting on her nerves' probably wouldn't have been the words she'd have used. But it was close enough that she went with it anyway.
Philip just quirked an eyebrow at her. Noriko didn't usually do 'just because'.
"I like your timing," she stated. Realizing she didn't really like Stark right when he could use that to turn the tables on her. But she didn't mind talking about it, and she didn't mind letting him evade if that was what he wanted. So the words were more tinted with her usual wry humor than anything else, before she went on, more seriously. "I don't like the way he presents himself to people."
She was sure there was more to him than the front he put up, because she trusted Philip, and she trusted Steve. But she genuinely could not manage to like Stark, at least for now. For all that she owed him.
"He's difficult," Philip said with a shrug. He set the laptop on the bedside table, to keep half an eye on the news but gave her most of his attention. "He's noisy that way to obfuscate. There aren't many people that actually know much about him, not anything real."
"I have a hard time with people like that," Noriko answered simply. Even when they cared that much about Philip, which had been made abundantly clear.
"Hazards of being wealthy, as I understand it, plus his parents being pretty terrible. Which I did not tell you," Philip replied. "I saw it when we were kids, he didn't really have anybody around him that didn't want something."
Noriko shrugged, moving further into the room. "Honestly, before I manifested, I would probably have had a crush on him." Which was her way of saying Philip didn't need to explain or justify how Tony was. He was who he was, she was who she was, and that was that. "But yeah, my lips are sealed," she confirmed, laying a hand on Philip's hip. Not that she was exactly prone to gossip, anyway.
Philip sighed and leaned back, pinching the bridge of his nose between his fingers. "Things are spiraling out of control and there's nothing we could do about it. It was blind luck that there were enough of us at the brownstone to mobilize when he got attacked and there was more outing than I think is a really good idea."
Well, that body language was clear enough, and Noriko let her hand drop and moved back to sit on the edge of his bed, watching him as she listened. "Do you know why he did it?"
"Did which part, the flying around or outing himself?" Philip asked as he looked over at her. "The flying around was because he was insisting on handling the problem himself. We already had that discussion. Loudly. The outing... I don't know. My only guess is, he did it to take the attention off the guys that were overtly involved." He wasn't all that worried about himself, for obvious reasons.
Noriko had meant the outing, since that was the topic of the day, but she didn't mind Philip opening up about what had led to it either, so she let him talk. "How do you think that should've been handled, then?"
"Something that didn't involve unmasked mutants running around chasing suits of armor. If there'd been any kind of warning at all, I know we could have done something. I have no idea what, but at least something." Philip frowned and just looked tired for a moment. "It didn't help that it was harder than I thought it'd be, sitting back there and coordinating. I know that was the best place I could have been, the most effective but still."
"I can only imagine," Noriko stated with a small nod, watching Philip closely. "Is it making you reassess anything?" It didn't sound like it, but better safe than sorry, so she'd rather ask.
"Besides completely revamping the living room?" Philip said dryly. "Having JARVIS project on the walls only helped so much."
Noriko had a small, wry smile at that. "Hey." He'd probably heard this already, and he definitely knew it already, but maybe he could use hearing it again. "You got them all back in one piece."
"This time," he said and was willing to agree at least that much. "I very much doubt that it was a one time thing though, none of them are the type for that."
"You'll help them out next time, too," Noriko stated, tilting her head to the side slightly. If he could, he would, and they couldn't have anyone better watching their backs, as far as she was concerned. They were lucky to have him.
"I wish I could be out there but that's not the best idea. I don't exactly have the right skillset for that." That Barton wasn't augmented wasn't the same situation at all, snipers had their own place and value.
That he'd only bring up his skillset as a reason not to be out there made Noriko wonder, and she had to ask. "Is it making you rethink where you wanna go with..." Well. "Your life?"
Philip did actually give the question a serious thought by the pause, but he shook his head in the end. "No, not really. All I could have done out there was damage control, getting people out of the way, and Pietro was faster at it. I wouldn't have anything like the view I had if I'd been on site, I don't think." He gave Noriko a little self-deprecating smile and shrug. "Eternally condemned to the background, to the surprise of no one."
"What surprises me is that you sound like you mind," Noriko answered honestly and, as usual, a little bluntly. She wished he had welcomed touch, so that it might smooth the statement over, but it would have to stand as it was, the unvoiced question ringing clear.
Philip finally sat up straighter, pulling himself out of the introspection and looking at her more fully. "It's complicated? And don't smack me for saying that," he said with a smile that was only a little forced. "It's frustrating is all, not being able to be right there, to help people out in a hands-on sort of way. That kind of distance, something could go wrong and I wouldn't be able to do anything about it. I was warned about this, more than once, this disconnect that happens when it turns real. I'm not sure how to explain it better."
"No, it makes sense," Noriko confirmed with a slow nod. She wasn't just saying that. She could only imagine how she would feel if she had something like Claudia's skillset. It might be the best place for her to be, and for Philip to be, but it had to suck, not being able to be in the thick of it with your team. "I know I'd hate it," she added with a small shrug.
"Now if we needed to get in somewhere, that'd be a different story," Philip said as he leaned back again, this time trying to make his posture a little more open. "But sadly, the life of a superhero will never be for me." It was dry, but at least he was smiling as he said it. Sort of.
"I kinda really don't like that word," Noriko stated, unlatching one gauntlet, then the next, and pulling them off. "Superhero, I mean."
Philip just laughed, low and short, but still. "I'm not the biggest fan either, at least not applying it to real people. I think we're in the minority there though."
"Everybody else wants to live in a comic book?" Noriko asked, amused. Although to be fair, she had as many issues with the 'hero' bit as with the 'super' bit. She set the gauntlets aside, then bent a leg on the bed, her boot dangling off of its edge, so she could be facing Philip. "With secret lairs and archnemeses?"
"I'm fairly certain Stark's place is turning into a lair," Philip said dryly. "Though it's not entirely his fault. You could certainly argue the same about here," he leaned back a little then, obviously making a space for her.
She scooted closer at the unvoiced invitation, resting a bare hand on his thigh. "...oh, god, we have our own Batcave," Noriko realized, making a face. But even beyond the comic book aspect of the phrase, she found the 'hero' bit problematic.
"Please don't ever say that where any of them can hear you," Philip said, voice and expression pained. "Especially Stark, I don't want him trying to convince everyone he's cooler than a comic hero."
"Isn't he already doing that?" Noriko asked wryly, never mind that she'd meant here at the school. They were set up in the sublevels, after all.
"Yes, but he'd be more obnoxious about it if someone made the comparison." It was fond, even through the exasperation still there. Stark was Stark and honestly, Philip got more worried when he stopped acting that way.
"I'll keep my lips sealed," Noriko confirmed.
"Anyway, it's all a problem I can't do anything about at the moment. Did you have anywhere you needed to be?" Philip asked.
"Surprisingly enough, no," Noriko wryly stated. It was pretty rare. She wasn't quite as busy as Philip, but she was getting there, or so it felt.
"You're welcome to stay," he offered. "I'm sure we can figure out something to do."
"We're very resourceful like that," Noriko confirmed, lips twitching up as she shifted closer to him.
Noriko figured that Philip might want to talk about it. Or he might not, but he might want distraction. And if he wanted neither one of these things, she trusted him to just tell her. So after watching Stark's little coming out press conference online, she headed over to the junior staff's dorms and knocked on Philip's door. The sound of metal on wood made it pretty clear who it was doing the knocking.
"Come in," Philip called out. He needed the distraction, at least he'd seen the press conference on his laptop in the dorms, instead of the apartment at the brownstone. If he'd been close enough, there might have been... yelling. A lot of yelling. Again.
Noriko slipped inside, closing the door behind herself before greeting him with a simple, quiet, "Hey." The kind that said that yes, she'd seen it. "Talk or spar?" Or a third option. Whatever worked for him.
"Go out to the brownstone and smack Stark until I get tired of it?" Philip said wryly. "He's making my life very difficult."
"It's kind of his thing, isn't it," Noriko replied evenly. Neutrally.
Philip blinked and looked up at her, actually looking this time. "Is he getting on your nerves for something specific or just because?"
"Just because?" Noriko offered. She didn't sound 100% certain because 'getting on her nerves' probably wouldn't have been the words she'd have used. But it was close enough that she went with it anyway.
Philip just quirked an eyebrow at her. Noriko didn't usually do 'just because'.
"I like your timing," she stated. Realizing she didn't really like Stark right when he could use that to turn the tables on her. But she didn't mind talking about it, and she didn't mind letting him evade if that was what he wanted. So the words were more tinted with her usual wry humor than anything else, before she went on, more seriously. "I don't like the way he presents himself to people."
She was sure there was more to him than the front he put up, because she trusted Philip, and she trusted Steve. But she genuinely could not manage to like Stark, at least for now. For all that she owed him.
"He's difficult," Philip said with a shrug. He set the laptop on the bedside table, to keep half an eye on the news but gave her most of his attention. "He's noisy that way to obfuscate. There aren't many people that actually know much about him, not anything real."
"I have a hard time with people like that," Noriko answered simply. Even when they cared that much about Philip, which had been made abundantly clear.
"Hazards of being wealthy, as I understand it, plus his parents being pretty terrible. Which I did not tell you," Philip replied. "I saw it when we were kids, he didn't really have anybody around him that didn't want something."
Noriko shrugged, moving further into the room. "Honestly, before I manifested, I would probably have had a crush on him." Which was her way of saying Philip didn't need to explain or justify how Tony was. He was who he was, she was who she was, and that was that. "But yeah, my lips are sealed," she confirmed, laying a hand on Philip's hip. Not that she was exactly prone to gossip, anyway.
Philip sighed and leaned back, pinching the bridge of his nose between his fingers. "Things are spiraling out of control and there's nothing we could do about it. It was blind luck that there were enough of us at the brownstone to mobilize when he got attacked and there was more outing than I think is a really good idea."
Well, that body language was clear enough, and Noriko let her hand drop and moved back to sit on the edge of his bed, watching him as she listened. "Do you know why he did it?"
"Did which part, the flying around or outing himself?" Philip asked as he looked over at her. "The flying around was because he was insisting on handling the problem himself. We already had that discussion. Loudly. The outing... I don't know. My only guess is, he did it to take the attention off the guys that were overtly involved." He wasn't all that worried about himself, for obvious reasons.
Noriko had meant the outing, since that was the topic of the day, but she didn't mind Philip opening up about what had led to it either, so she let him talk. "How do you think that should've been handled, then?"
"Something that didn't involve unmasked mutants running around chasing suits of armor. If there'd been any kind of warning at all, I know we could have done something. I have no idea what, but at least something." Philip frowned and just looked tired for a moment. "It didn't help that it was harder than I thought it'd be, sitting back there and coordinating. I know that was the best place I could have been, the most effective but still."
"I can only imagine," Noriko stated with a small nod, watching Philip closely. "Is it making you reassess anything?" It didn't sound like it, but better safe than sorry, so she'd rather ask.
"Besides completely revamping the living room?" Philip said dryly. "Having JARVIS project on the walls only helped so much."
Noriko had a small, wry smile at that. "Hey." He'd probably heard this already, and he definitely knew it already, but maybe he could use hearing it again. "You got them all back in one piece."
"This time," he said and was willing to agree at least that much. "I very much doubt that it was a one time thing though, none of them are the type for that."
"You'll help them out next time, too," Noriko stated, tilting her head to the side slightly. If he could, he would, and they couldn't have anyone better watching their backs, as far as she was concerned. They were lucky to have him.
"I wish I could be out there but that's not the best idea. I don't exactly have the right skillset for that." That Barton wasn't augmented wasn't the same situation at all, snipers had their own place and value.
That he'd only bring up his skillset as a reason not to be out there made Noriko wonder, and she had to ask. "Is it making you rethink where you wanna go with..." Well. "Your life?"
Philip did actually give the question a serious thought by the pause, but he shook his head in the end. "No, not really. All I could have done out there was damage control, getting people out of the way, and Pietro was faster at it. I wouldn't have anything like the view I had if I'd been on site, I don't think." He gave Noriko a little self-deprecating smile and shrug. "Eternally condemned to the background, to the surprise of no one."
"What surprises me is that you sound like you mind," Noriko answered honestly and, as usual, a little bluntly. She wished he had welcomed touch, so that it might smooth the statement over, but it would have to stand as it was, the unvoiced question ringing clear.
Philip finally sat up straighter, pulling himself out of the introspection and looking at her more fully. "It's complicated? And don't smack me for saying that," he said with a smile that was only a little forced. "It's frustrating is all, not being able to be right there, to help people out in a hands-on sort of way. That kind of distance, something could go wrong and I wouldn't be able to do anything about it. I was warned about this, more than once, this disconnect that happens when it turns real. I'm not sure how to explain it better."
"No, it makes sense," Noriko confirmed with a slow nod. She wasn't just saying that. She could only imagine how she would feel if she had something like Claudia's skillset. It might be the best place for her to be, and for Philip to be, but it had to suck, not being able to be in the thick of it with your team. "I know I'd hate it," she added with a small shrug.
"Now if we needed to get in somewhere, that'd be a different story," Philip said as he leaned back again, this time trying to make his posture a little more open. "But sadly, the life of a superhero will never be for me." It was dry, but at least he was smiling as he said it. Sort of.
"I kinda really don't like that word," Noriko stated, unlatching one gauntlet, then the next, and pulling them off. "Superhero, I mean."
Philip just laughed, low and short, but still. "I'm not the biggest fan either, at least not applying it to real people. I think we're in the minority there though."
"Everybody else wants to live in a comic book?" Noriko asked, amused. Although to be fair, she had as many issues with the 'hero' bit as with the 'super' bit. She set the gauntlets aside, then bent a leg on the bed, her boot dangling off of its edge, so she could be facing Philip. "With secret lairs and archnemeses?"
"I'm fairly certain Stark's place is turning into a lair," Philip said dryly. "Though it's not entirely his fault. You could certainly argue the same about here," he leaned back a little then, obviously making a space for her.
She scooted closer at the unvoiced invitation, resting a bare hand on his thigh. "...oh, god, we have our own Batcave," Noriko realized, making a face. But even beyond the comic book aspect of the phrase, she found the 'hero' bit problematic.
"Please don't ever say that where any of them can hear you," Philip said, voice and expression pained. "Especially Stark, I don't want him trying to convince everyone he's cooler than a comic hero."
"Isn't he already doing that?" Noriko asked wryly, never mind that she'd meant here at the school. They were set up in the sublevels, after all.
"Yes, but he'd be more obnoxious about it if someone made the comparison." It was fond, even through the exasperation still there. Stark was Stark and honestly, Philip got more worried when he stopped acting that way.
"I'll keep my lips sealed," Noriko confirmed.
"Anyway, it's all a problem I can't do anything about at the moment. Did you have anywhere you needed to be?" Philip asked.
"Surprisingly enough, no," Noriko wryly stated. It was pretty rare. She wasn't quite as busy as Philip, but she was getting there, or so it felt.
"You're welcome to stay," he offered. "I'm sure we can figure out something to do."
"We're very resourceful like that," Noriko confirmed, lips twitching up as she shifted closer to him.
