sixwordstories | (no subject)

What are you drinking instead of real coffee?

Add cream and sugar and I would be too. Though most is far too weak.

Something that tastes like tar and is only pretending to be real coffee.

Not sure either of those would produce a positive result for this stuff.

[Even Steve is slightly terrified of what's been passing for coffee and he had dealt with rationing...

Which is why he'd found one of those ridiculously priced shops and bought coffee for the team.]

Maybe this'll help?

What are you doing then Doctor? [Because Sherry's interest is caught. He doesn't smell human to her. Which is a good thing considering what they smell like.]

[If Captain America is worried about the coffee, then maybe Bruce's paranoia is justified this time. He eyes the cup and takes an experimental sip. There might well be allergies attacking his eyes shortly after.]

I think it just might, Captain.

Why? I could buy you a cup of coffee, if you'd like.

[Bruce is many things, including human. He may have altered DNA, but the base structure is very much homo sapien, although it is true that he might need to take a shower. Sometimes he gets lost in his work.

However, he is not wearing anything to identity him as a doctor, so Sherry is going to get a brief stare.]

I'm sorry?

Don't think anyone's made a new pot since yesterday.

No, I'm good. Thanks for the offer.

Why don't you make a pot?

If coffee sugar and cream won't help with your situation. [The altered DNA is enough to make him smell like something living, unless Bruce wants to smell like a rotting corpse?]

I took a wild guess, been around a lot of scientists in my life, and you have that lab look about you. Am I mistaken?

I'm not sure if the local machine has been tampered with or not.

I'm working. [Actually, no. Rotting corpses smell like rotting corpses. Humans smell alive and vaguely like walking hors d'oeuvres to carnivores.]

Do scientists have a look? I wasn't aware of that. Do teachers and police officers and bank tellers have one too?

[Sherry's wiring got a little screwed up when infected with the G. Okay a lot]

My dad was one so they're a little easier to pick out of a crowd. And cops well good ones, even out of uniform still look like they're still ready to jump into action at any moment. Bank tellers, not so sure about that one.

But was I right about the doctor bit?

Someone would tamper with your coffee machine? What kind of terrible world is this?

Lots of things get tampered with around here.

This one?

[Doesn't seem like much of an excuse, considering the G debacle never happened in Bruce's world.]

I'm pretty certain you could dress a variety of occupations in the same outfit, stick them in a lineup, and it wouldn't be that easy to just pick each type out.

Why don't you get your own coffeemaker, and keep it under lock and key?

I know it's 'this one', but where I live I can trust that my coffee is safe.

I'm pretty sure I could tell the real scientist from the fake. Most have a scent of chemical cleanliness about them. It sticks to them even if they leave the lab. And most doctors have short clean nails, don't want to contaminate specimens after all

Oh god, I know, right? Is it to much to ask for a decent cappuccino? All we have is that Instant shit.

I'm partial to a regular cup of joe with a little cream. Nothing against cappuccinos, they're okay once in a while.

Scientists who live in labs, you mean.

I like to travel light.

Hey. Do you know why they call it Cup of Joe? I never could figure that out.

...We just have Instant on Utopia. It sucks.

I have yet to meet one out of a lab that doesn't keep to that. And one I was friends with lived in the African Congo. He'd freak if he got a splinter under his nail. [Sad thing, she's not kidding]

There's the coffee singles or whatever they're called, but other than that you are stuck with terrible coffee or instant.

Not right off the top of my head. Sorry.

What's Utopia?

See, that's just it. NO ONE knows. I don't think it means anything at all.

Ehh. Utopia's an island. Where the Mutants live now. It actually kind of sucks still, but maybe they'll plant coffee when they finally get around to growing things so it sucks less and we don't have to drink instant, and stop running out of toilet paper.

Yeah, I guess I am.

People come with all kinds of personalities. You can't pigeonhole them into what you believe they should be.

Maybe you could look it up and assuage your curiosity.

What kind of mutants are we talking about?

...Doesn't old coffee have bacteria in it?

I guess... [But that would be a lot like homework or research Mr.Banner, and we are a teenager who really doesn't care that much about trivia] Doesn't matter tho, I mean. Instant coffee still sucks, right?

And you don't know about Mutants? We're like all over the news getting blamed for everything all the time! They're just people, but you know, born with the mutation gene. It gives them powers or wings, or makes them inside-out or something.

Everything has bacteria in it.

...Extra bacteria. The kind that can make you sick.

Are you deliberately trying to provoke an argument?

[Said teenager shouldn't be hanging around someone who is more than capable of telling her to do a large amount of research, then.]

I've been out of the country for a while. Still catching up on current events. Is this natural genetic evolution or something triggered.

Oh come-on. There's this thing called the Internet, it's everywhere. It probably even knows the whole cup-of-joe thing! But uh. Yeah. We're Natural genetic Evolution... You really don't know about Mutants? We have our own island now because people hate us.

Let's bypass the real coffee and go for espresso.

[It's just as good as poking Banner with an electrode.]

Advanced technology hasn't been a priority, or even a necessity until very recently. I do know how it feels to be different, though, so I'm sorry you're going through that now.

Not sure the cafeteria serves espresso.