InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "Where's the Beef?"

Henry Foss (computer_geek) wrote in colligo_threads,
@ 2011-05-22 02:03:00

Entry tags:

henry foss, kate tesla

WHO: Henry Foss and Kate Freelander
WHAT: Awkwardness and computer-geekery
WHEN: Not long after this.
WHERE: Henry's lab in the Sanctuary
RATING: TBD
STATUS: Closed, Incomplete

Henry hated awkward. He wasn't a fan of social situations as a whole and he really wasn't good at awkward. He tended to talk complete crap and babble on and make stupid jokes that didn't really make sense and he was just really, really bad at it. What he liked, he decided as he closed down the window he was working on, was computers. Computers and software and people who were really a very long way away and didn't decide to start a frankly weird relationship and upset the social balance. Social balance was important. It should be maintained and given more respect.

Henry sighed to himself, dragging a hand down one side of his face before pulling a second laptop over the desk and opening up the Sanctuary system. He'd send the readings he'd taken from the shield over to Magnus' workspace so she had them once she was done talking to the others. A few clicks later and he was waiting for the file to load, absently running his fingers over his stubbled chin, his face bathed in the blue light from the monitor.

It wasn't that he was completely against the Kate and Tesla thing, he thought, watching the bar creep across the screen. It was just... weird. It was so weird. He was a hundred and fifty year old Vampire he'd grown up hearing and knowing about, and Kate was Kate. It was... well, weird. But he wanted her to be happy. Say what you wanted about Henry, but he never wished a bad thing on anyone, and he felt guilty for feeling like he did at the moment. But he was also a creature of habit.

He was just finishing off, typing a quick message to Magnus, firing off a text to Dyson, when someone wandered in. Henry didn't have to look up to check who it was. Kate had said she was coming, and there was only one person who marched into the room with that much loud, stubborn confidence. Henry held up a hand vaguely, clicking once more before pushing himself away from the desk. "Done," he announced, before finally looking at her. "So... you come grovelling for my geeky expertise?"

(Post a new comment)

soundsmadeup
2011-05-22 02:07 pm UTC (link)

Kate, as anyone could attest, had no real use for awkwardness. For the most part, she just ignored the very concept and carried on with her life. The problem was that not everyone shared her entirely well-adjusted way of dealing with awkwardness, and they insisted on treating situations with discomfort and avoidance. It was really freaking annoying. Most of the time she'd just write the whole thing off, but this was Hank and she just couldn't do that. He was family in a weird way, like the incredibly annoying brother that she would give hell but god forbid anyone else fuck with him. Kind of like that. The fact that he had been avoiding her honestly hurt, something she hadn't entirely expected.

The thing was, she knew this thing with Nikola was weird and probably confused a lot of people. Hell, it confused her most days and she was the one doing it. Then again, she wasn't lauded for her stellar decision making. But, for reasons she couldn't even begin to explain, her strange little relationship with Nicky made her happy. She liked spending time with him, and bickering with him, and just looking after him...because it wasn't like he was going to look after himself. And all she wanted was for one of her closest friends to be happy for her.

So she had dealt with the issue the best way she knew how, appealing to Henry's giant inner - and outer...really all of him - geek. She had the game set up on her laptop, because it was always safer to do that part yourself if you didn't want Hank "optimizing" your system so that it was six months before you got to play the damn thing. Carrying it into Henry's lab, she set it down and gave him a smile. "There will be no grovelling," she insisted. "There's just...all these different kinds of little guys...and all these little things they can do. And some of the guys can do some things and some of the guys can do other things...and I am completely lost."

She sighed. "So...maybe I'm grovelling," she admitted. "A little. Just help me pick one that lets me set things on fire." What? It sounded like fun.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

computer_geek
2011-05-23 11:22 pm UTC (link)

Henry reached for a spare chair, wheeling it towards the desk as Kate put a laptop down on top of the bits of paper and abandoned notes that covered the surface. "Good," he pulled the laptop to him, frowning as he examined the screen. "Because you know you lot can't function without me."

"You know..." One eyebrow raised thoughtfully, "This could run a lot faster if you'd just let me clean out some of the crap on here. Right... If it's fire shooting you want, pick Warlock." Of course Kate wanted to kill stuff with fire. It was Kate. If there wasn't something exploding or burning by 6pm then she wouldn't call the day productive. Henry was more than capable to taking care of himself if the need arose - he had built a lot of weapons Kate used to blow things up, after all - but given a choice he was always much happier here in the Lab.

Henry moved the laptop back over to Kate, leaning absently over her shoulder to watch what she was doing. It was easier to concentrate on the game than the whole awkward thing. Perhaps they could just push through it. If he didn't think about it, he decided, he could pretend it wasn't happening, and everything would be sunshine and rainbows. Or at least until the bloke in charge of this place decided to put his eyes on the back of his head or something.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

soundsmadeup
2011-06-06 06:13 am UTC (link)

Kate rolled her eyes, but her smile was fond and her voice was playful when she spoke. "Yeah, yeah," she said. "We're absolutely hopeless without you genius ways, geek god. Just remember that you can't function without me either. Or did I imagine all those times I saved your skinny ass with my badass skills." It was a old argument between the two of them, one that had lost any real meaning ages ago and continued only because it was familiar and routine.

"No, Hank," she said. "The computer might run faster, but it would be weeks before you gave it back and I want to kill things now." She adored Henry, but sometimes he needed a bit of a firm hand when it came to his obsessive need to fix everyone's stuff...even when it didn't necessarily need fixing. Like her laptop. "Warlock, huh?" she said, clicking on each of the little races and seeing which ones had the option of being a Warlock. She almost chose a Worgen, just to annoy Henry, but she remembered hearing Alliance was a bunch of annoying twelve year olds, so she looked at the other side. She finally settled on one and grinned. "It's even pretty," she said with amusement, admiring her blood mage. She quickly named it and let the game start.

"You know this isn't the real reason I'm here," she said, once she had fiddled around a bit and figured out how the game worked. "I mean, I really do want to learn about this, but we both know it's not why I actually came by." She looked over at Henry. "Are we ever going to talk about this, or are we just going to be awkward forever? Because personally, I vote Option A. Option B is really lame." She sighed. "Talk to me, Hank. I...miss you. And stuff." Not the most emotional of admissions, but emotions had always made Kate somewhat uncomfortable. Why should now be any different?

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

computer_geek
2011-06-09 11:26 pm UTC (link)

"My ass is pert, I'll have you know," Henry vaguely argued back, "Peachy. People like it." In fact, most of his attention was still fixed on the screen, apart from a brief break to shoot Kate a deadpan look in response to her refusal of his (excellent) software-upgrading skills. After that it was back to peering over Kate's shoulder as she started up the game and began to pick it up, Henry occasionally pointing something out or making a sarcastic comment. Just to point her in the right direction, of course. He was nothing if not helpful.

But then she was doing that talking thing again and he felt his cheeks flush with embarrassment. Kate's dark stare was trained on him with the intensity of two very strong lazers. This was stupid, Henry decided. Kate didn't do emotional chats. She was Kate. What was going on?? Next she'd be bringing in flowers and stray pets. Henry sighed, slumping back in his chair and spinning it gently, so he drifted round in a lazy circle and didn't have to look at her for another few seconds. Every little counts.

"I'm not awkward," he answered. "Are you awkward?" But she was still doing that looking thing so he sighed heavily, letting his head roll back to give the light a reproachful look for doing this to him. "I don't know. It's my problem. I'll get over it. I always do, right? You're gonna get killed." He flapped a hand vaguely towards the computer screen.

(Reply to this) (Parent)