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om_mainIllyana and Steve talk art, college apps, and paparazzi-free transportation
Steve checked the settings again on the scanner and scowled, opening up the manual again. Not that it made much sense- there was a troubleshooting section, but it didn't go very in depth, and didn't seem to cover his problem. Or maybe it did- he was so sick of this thing that it was making him crazy.
He pressed the button again, only for the error message to pop up, and anger swelled up in his chest, hands raised as he wanted to shake the thing, but thankfully stopped himself, clenching his fists and dropping back into the seat.
"You win," he sighed, dropping his head into his hand. It was only a few days until vacation started, he still hadn't packed, and yet he was sitting here wasting time with this. "I change my mind, I don't want to go to art school anymore."
"How come?" Illyana asked as she entered the room, doing a quick look around to establish that no, no one else was there except Tony's boyfriend. "Also? I'm pretty sure there's no one else around right now, winning. Unless Pietro was here and left while you were facepalming."
Steve looked up, startled, and a little flushed at having been caught talking to himself. "Oh, no, sorry. I was just talking to, well. The scanner." He gave her a little shrug and a lopsided grin. "It's finals?"
Illyana shuddered sympathetically and made a face. "Don't remind me. I'm trying to cram the semester in a week. I'm not sure it's working." She came over and looked at the error message on the scanner. "Did you check the cord?" she asked, peering back behind it to make sure the network cable was plugged into the wall. "Sometimes it comes loose, and then it refuses to scan anything until you jiggle it around a little."
"Really? No, I hadn't." Steve looked like a man that barely dreamed to hope, but he did push the scanner desk out a little more and did as she instructed. Nothing, so he did it and again, and-
"Don't tell my boyfriend, but I think I love you," he teased, beaming at her as the scanner up and began processing the document. "Thank you so much, Illyana."
"Hey, not a problem." She grinned mischievously. "And I won't tell yours, but can I tell mine? I'm still trying to figure out if there's any way to make him jealous. He doesn't seem to do jealous; it's really disappointing."
Steve's face scrunched up in confusion. "Uh...why would you want to make him jealous?"
"To see what he'd do?" Illyana replied. "I've never had anyone get jealous over me; it'd be kind of cool." She shrugged and grinned. "Anyway, your secret's safe with me."
Steve just still looked a little bewildered - he couldn't say he saw the appeal. But in the end, he just smiled, glancing up at his computer as he checked to make sure the file uploaded correctly. When it did, he beamed, and save it before carefully removing the picture, and putting it back on the table. "What're you up to?" he asked, glancing over at her as he started preparing the second picture to scan.
"Nothing much," she admitted, leaning back on the desk. "I didn't feel like hanging out at Kitty's while she was working. I'm supposed to be studying," she wrinkled her nose, "but I think I've got burn out, so I'm taking a break until I have to go back and pick her up." She picked up the picture he'd set down and eyed it curiously. "Did you do this? It's really good."
Steve twitched a little when Yana picked it up, but just nodded with a little smile. "I did, thank you. It's for my portfolio- that's why I was trying to get the scanner to work. I've been trying to upload pieces to submit with my art school applications."
"Where are you applying? That college Alisha goes to?" Illyana asked, eyeing the picture for a moment longer before setting it back down.
"I'm not sure I know Alisha," Steve admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. "But I'm applying to several schools in the city. FIT would be my first choice- they offer an illustration major, which is actually fairly rare, and they're a public school, so they're less expensive. At least, comparatively." The price of schools made his head spin, even with the settlement and chance of scholarships.
Illyana wrinkled her nose. "Yeah, I saw the tuition rates when Kitty was doing her applications. Ouch." She grinned a little. "Really, really glad I'm not college material. And that I wouldn't have to worry about it for a couple of years, anyway. At least if it's in the city, you don't have to worry about room and board?"
"Yeah, that was the idea. I only applied to schools in the city." And if he didn't want to move away from the city and his friends (and his boyfriend), well, no one could blame him, could they? It wasn't as if there weren't plenty of art schools in New York. "I considered not going, but I'm not very internet-savvy and it can be hard to get taken seriously if you don't have a degree, and if you don't have something like a web comic that generates a lot of attention, or something like that."
"You should do a web comic then, too," she suggested. "That'd be kind of cool. You could make it about LZQ or whatever Alex's brother's team is calling themselves."
Steve laughed and made a face as he shook his head vigerously. "I can't write. I'm not saying that to be modest- I write so poorly that its embarrassing, even on essays and the like." He could do well enough to get good grades, since his research was good, but that was as much as he could hope for. "And web comics, I don't know. It's not really my thing."
"Hey, you should borrow Lockheed from Kitty. He's being a huge help with mine - he's way better than spell check." Illyana cocked her head and eyed Steve curiously. "What do you want to do, then? With the art degree, I mean?"
"I actually ask JARVIS for help a lot," Steve said with a laugh, because of course there were multiple homework helping AIs to choose from. "But I want to major in Illustration. I'd like to work in comics, it's just the web and writing parts I don't know how to do, and don't have a lot of interest in it either. But other than that, any type of illustration work- children's books, animation, stuff like that."
"Sounds cool," Illyana allowed. She smiled at Steve, then tilted her head curiously. "Speaking of JARVIS - I haven't seen you around at Tony's as much lately. You guys okay?" Not, granted, that she knew either of them well, or that it was any of her business, but...well, she noticed things. And one of the things she'd noticed recently was a distinct lack of Steve.
"Oh, uh, yeah," Steve said, a little surprised. "There's just lot of attention on the brownstone right now, with all the out mutants living there. I'm not completely comfortable with all the attention, so I'm hanging out here, for now. He's been coming up, though, and we'll be going public with our relationship soon, so everything will go back to normal."
"Cool," Illyana replied, relieved. Not that she really knew either of them, but Kitty did, and they seemed cute when she'd seen them together. Also, she was pretty sure Steve wasn't the guy she'd seen with Tony at the gala - but if he wasn't cool with the attention, that definitely explained it. Still...
"Y'know...I'm back and forth to Tony's all the time with Kitty. If you ever want a lift...well, it's not like I don't 'port inside. Pretty much paparazzi-free."
"Oh," Steve said, considering suddenly, the thought having never occured to him before. It might not work for all the time - once he was in, he wouldn't be able to leave until she could teleport him back to the school, but still. A far better option than he had now. "I think I'll take you up on that, Illyana, thank you. I appreciate it. You're sure the extra person won't cause strain or anything?"
"Nah, I've teleported more people than that further," Illyana assured him. "Tony's is no problem. Just text me when you want to go - as long as I'm not at work, it's no big deal." She grinned. "Besides, it gives me an extra excuse to harass Pietro. Can't pass that up."
"It is hard to pass up harrassing him," Steve agreed- he did it a lot himself, though not as much since he'd stopped going up to the Brownstone, he was realizing suddenly. He'd have to make up for it after finals and the holidays. "But thank you, Illyana. I appreciate it." He grinned and added, "Mention it to Tony sometime. I bet you'll get a great lunch out of it, at the very least."
Illyana laughed. "Honestly, I pretty much try not to draw Tony's attention - I'm always afraid he'll decide to revoke my access to Kitty's apartment or something," she confided. "But anyway, it's no big deal." She wrinkled her nose. "On the other hand? Failing my classes probably would be a big deal, so I should probably get back to studying. You'll let me know when you want to go?"
"I will, thanks! And don't worry about Tony. The apartments are no strings - don't threaten people in the building and you're good." He grinned. "He's really just a big nerd, so seriously, don't let the name intimidate you. And, hey, good luck on your exams."
"Thanks - I need it! Good luck with your applications." Illyana grinned impishly as she summoned up a stepping disk. "And let me know if the scanner acts up. There might be some other cord you can jiggle to fix it." She winked and waved as she disappeared.
Steve checked the settings again on the scanner and scowled, opening up the manual again. Not that it made much sense- there was a troubleshooting section, but it didn't go very in depth, and didn't seem to cover his problem. Or maybe it did- he was so sick of this thing that it was making him crazy.
He pressed the button again, only for the error message to pop up, and anger swelled up in his chest, hands raised as he wanted to shake the thing, but thankfully stopped himself, clenching his fists and dropping back into the seat.
"You win," he sighed, dropping his head into his hand. It was only a few days until vacation started, he still hadn't packed, and yet he was sitting here wasting time with this. "I change my mind, I don't want to go to art school anymore."
"How come?" Illyana asked as she entered the room, doing a quick look around to establish that no, no one else was there except Tony's boyfriend. "Also? I'm pretty sure there's no one else around right now, winning. Unless Pietro was here and left while you were facepalming."
Steve looked up, startled, and a little flushed at having been caught talking to himself. "Oh, no, sorry. I was just talking to, well. The scanner." He gave her a little shrug and a lopsided grin. "It's finals?"
Illyana shuddered sympathetically and made a face. "Don't remind me. I'm trying to cram the semester in a week. I'm not sure it's working." She came over and looked at the error message on the scanner. "Did you check the cord?" she asked, peering back behind it to make sure the network cable was plugged into the wall. "Sometimes it comes loose, and then it refuses to scan anything until you jiggle it around a little."
"Really? No, I hadn't." Steve looked like a man that barely dreamed to hope, but he did push the scanner desk out a little more and did as she instructed. Nothing, so he did it and again, and-
"Don't tell my boyfriend, but I think I love you," he teased, beaming at her as the scanner up and began processing the document. "Thank you so much, Illyana."
"Hey, not a problem." She grinned mischievously. "And I won't tell yours, but can I tell mine? I'm still trying to figure out if there's any way to make him jealous. He doesn't seem to do jealous; it's really disappointing."
Steve's face scrunched up in confusion. "Uh...why would you want to make him jealous?"
"To see what he'd do?" Illyana replied. "I've never had anyone get jealous over me; it'd be kind of cool." She shrugged and grinned. "Anyway, your secret's safe with me."
Steve just still looked a little bewildered - he couldn't say he saw the appeal. But in the end, he just smiled, glancing up at his computer as he checked to make sure the file uploaded correctly. When it did, he beamed, and save it before carefully removing the picture, and putting it back on the table. "What're you up to?" he asked, glancing over at her as he started preparing the second picture to scan.
"Nothing much," she admitted, leaning back on the desk. "I didn't feel like hanging out at Kitty's while she was working. I'm supposed to be studying," she wrinkled her nose, "but I think I've got burn out, so I'm taking a break until I have to go back and pick her up." She picked up the picture he'd set down and eyed it curiously. "Did you do this? It's really good."
Steve twitched a little when Yana picked it up, but just nodded with a little smile. "I did, thank you. It's for my portfolio- that's why I was trying to get the scanner to work. I've been trying to upload pieces to submit with my art school applications."
"Where are you applying? That college Alisha goes to?" Illyana asked, eyeing the picture for a moment longer before setting it back down.
"I'm not sure I know Alisha," Steve admitted, rubbing the back of his neck. "But I'm applying to several schools in the city. FIT would be my first choice- they offer an illustration major, which is actually fairly rare, and they're a public school, so they're less expensive. At least, comparatively." The price of schools made his head spin, even with the settlement and chance of scholarships.
Illyana wrinkled her nose. "Yeah, I saw the tuition rates when Kitty was doing her applications. Ouch." She grinned a little. "Really, really glad I'm not college material. And that I wouldn't have to worry about it for a couple of years, anyway. At least if it's in the city, you don't have to worry about room and board?"
"Yeah, that was the idea. I only applied to schools in the city." And if he didn't want to move away from the city and his friends (and his boyfriend), well, no one could blame him, could they? It wasn't as if there weren't plenty of art schools in New York. "I considered not going, but I'm not very internet-savvy and it can be hard to get taken seriously if you don't have a degree, and if you don't have something like a web comic that generates a lot of attention, or something like that."
"You should do a web comic then, too," she suggested. "That'd be kind of cool. You could make it about LZQ or whatever Alex's brother's team is calling themselves."
Steve laughed and made a face as he shook his head vigerously. "I can't write. I'm not saying that to be modest- I write so poorly that its embarrassing, even on essays and the like." He could do well enough to get good grades, since his research was good, but that was as much as he could hope for. "And web comics, I don't know. It's not really my thing."
"Hey, you should borrow Lockheed from Kitty. He's being a huge help with mine - he's way better than spell check." Illyana cocked her head and eyed Steve curiously. "What do you want to do, then? With the art degree, I mean?"
"I actually ask JARVIS for help a lot," Steve said with a laugh, because of course there were multiple homework helping AIs to choose from. "But I want to major in Illustration. I'd like to work in comics, it's just the web and writing parts I don't know how to do, and don't have a lot of interest in it either. But other than that, any type of illustration work- children's books, animation, stuff like that."
"Sounds cool," Illyana allowed. She smiled at Steve, then tilted her head curiously. "Speaking of JARVIS - I haven't seen you around at Tony's as much lately. You guys okay?" Not, granted, that she knew either of them well, or that it was any of her business, but...well, she noticed things. And one of the things she'd noticed recently was a distinct lack of Steve.
"Oh, uh, yeah," Steve said, a little surprised. "There's just lot of attention on the brownstone right now, with all the out mutants living there. I'm not completely comfortable with all the attention, so I'm hanging out here, for now. He's been coming up, though, and we'll be going public with our relationship soon, so everything will go back to normal."
"Cool," Illyana replied, relieved. Not that she really knew either of them, but Kitty did, and they seemed cute when she'd seen them together. Also, she was pretty sure Steve wasn't the guy she'd seen with Tony at the gala - but if he wasn't cool with the attention, that definitely explained it. Still...
"Y'know...I'm back and forth to Tony's all the time with Kitty. If you ever want a lift...well, it's not like I don't 'port inside. Pretty much paparazzi-free."
"Oh," Steve said, considering suddenly, the thought having never occured to him before. It might not work for all the time - once he was in, he wouldn't be able to leave until she could teleport him back to the school, but still. A far better option than he had now. "I think I'll take you up on that, Illyana, thank you. I appreciate it. You're sure the extra person won't cause strain or anything?"
"Nah, I've teleported more people than that further," Illyana assured him. "Tony's is no problem. Just text me when you want to go - as long as I'm not at work, it's no big deal." She grinned. "Besides, it gives me an extra excuse to harass Pietro. Can't pass that up."
"It is hard to pass up harrassing him," Steve agreed- he did it a lot himself, though not as much since he'd stopped going up to the Brownstone, he was realizing suddenly. He'd have to make up for it after finals and the holidays. "But thank you, Illyana. I appreciate it." He grinned and added, "Mention it to Tony sometime. I bet you'll get a great lunch out of it, at the very least."
Illyana laughed. "Honestly, I pretty much try not to draw Tony's attention - I'm always afraid he'll decide to revoke my access to Kitty's apartment or something," she confided. "But anyway, it's no big deal." She wrinkled her nose. "On the other hand? Failing my classes probably would be a big deal, so I should probably get back to studying. You'll let me know when you want to go?"
"I will, thanks! And don't worry about Tony. The apartments are no strings - don't threaten people in the building and you're good." He grinned. "He's really just a big nerd, so seriously, don't let the name intimidate you. And, hey, good luck on your exams."
"Thanks - I need it! Good luck with your applications." Illyana grinned impishly as she summoned up a stepping disk. "And let me know if the scanner acts up. There might be some other cord you can jiggle to fix it." She winked and waved as she disappeared.
