D3 / MCU Breakfast Mingle

[honeyibrokeharlem]

Who| Bruce Banner, the whole MCU cast, open to people who live in D3 or would drop in on D3 during breakfast time
What| Bruce is a stress cooker. He made a lot of food during the night. Now everyone has to eat it. MCUers have gathered to help with this.
Where| D3 kitchen and dining area.
When| Early morning after the first night under curfew.
Warnings/Notes| Possibly discussion of past violence. Twitchy old people with tribbles.

Bruce doesn't do well when he feels trapped. He felt very trapped during the night and didn't have even a wink of sleep. So he kept himself busy with cooking.

And boy, does it show.

There is a ton of food, all over the counter and on the table. Some is still cooking in the oven or on the stove. There are familiar things, like crepes and popovers and pancakes and muffins and bacon, but there are also completely foreign things from other countries, primarily from Latin America, Northern Africa, the Middle East, and India. And to go with all of this are a ton of different spreads, some of which are clearly not even from the continental United States.

There is also, of course, hot coffee and cold juice to drink. Or tap water, if that's what you feel like.

Honestly, it looks like the weirdest breakfast buffet ever.

Comments

[silberfuchs]

Albert doesn't respond right away, he just stares with morbid fascination as the entire pancake disappears into Thor's maw in one go. They're not little coin-sized flapjacks either, these are the half inch think buttermilk whole-plate sized things. How is he not choking?

The smell of coffee is enough to bring Albert's brain from fixation and back up to speed, the German averting his eyes to set aside the mug. "Thank you, but I'm going to sleep after breakfast. The night didn't pass me by, unfortunately."

Even if coffee sounds like the most heavenly thing on the face of the planet about now. But with his brain puttering along through its tired fog now, Albert puts two and two together considering who's assembled in the suite. Jet's here for him, Barbie is here for Jessica, and he knows who lives here. The rest - Thor included - must be related to Bruce somehow. Friends, colleagues. Bruce certainly seems more comfortable with them at any rate. Or rather, as comfortable as Bruce ever seems. "You're friends with Doctor Banner, correct? From before you were all brought here?"

[worldsaway]

The way Albert watches him reminds him much of Jane, Erik and Darcy back in the strange eatery they'd brought him to. It's as if Midgardians had never seen a person eat before. Well, he supposes it's foolish to assume the man is Midgardian at all, but he knows no other realm with such concern for small bites of food.

"Unfortunate that it should. There is little more to preoccupy our time beyond sleeping and bickering." He scoffs, watching Albert and wondering if he might drink the coffee anyway. He'll give him time to consider it before he decides whether he wants to take it from him.

"Allies." He corrects, but with humor in his tone. "We were on a team together, we fought to protect Earth." And he knows he'll ask if he leaves it at that, so he continues. "From my brother." It's a curt little clarification that doesn't leave much room for questions. "We'd not known each other long. You share a district, I presume?"

[silberfuchs]

That's probably because Midgardians don't possess the ability to unhinge their jaws and eat their prey whole.

"We built a blanket fort," he replies, not so much defensive as still a bit slow from his lack of sleep and caffeine. But the point is it's something other than bickering or sleeping, and if Thor's taken a peek at the common area, he could easily see the still-standing fruits of their labor. Albert shakes his head to try and clear it.

It's the casual way he says they protect the Earth that has Albert's mind jumping to attention, the way he refers to Bruce as an ally and a member of a team. It calls up memories, so close to the surface while he's lacking adequate rest, of his own team before they'd learned to function as such. When they'd just escaped and were not beholden to each other in anything but terrible shared experience, some wanting to go their separate ways, some wanting to fight, but all reluctant to refer to each other as friends when it was merely circumstance that brought them together.

"Yes. We share a District." He leans in a bit, trying to put pieces together from what he knows. "So you - all of you (he waves vaguely at the others present whom he's noticed associate with Thor and Bruce alike) - protected the Earth? That's, ah... very familiar."

[worldsaway]

"An admirable use of time. I'd not considered it myself." And he sounds only faintly amused that Albert seems amongst those who would consider it. He does wonder if it was someone else's idea, but the fact that he participated intrigues him. "I'm not sure it would fare well in my District. We all seem content to keep to ourselves, for the most part." Except for Loki, who really needs some sort of award for being so damn annoying. Maybe it would shut him up some.

Often Thor wonders how much is safe to say about what they did, but he doesn't really see a need to hide it. Millions upon millions witnessed what had come to pass in New York, and the Avengers have made no real effort to hide their mutual alliance.

"That we did." He confirms, again with a casual tone. Casual, but fond. Albert's reaction just draws more of a smile. "You've done similar, I take it?"

[silberfuchs]

Admirable? Albert raises his eyebrow at that one. It's not the descriptor he would have used but it was a distraction at least, and it had made Terezi feel better which had been Albert's real goal in helping. "Usually we do too, generally, but considering most of us have people we go see in the evening and that's no longer possible..."

He shrugs and goes for some orange juice.

But it's not the comparison of District suite functionality that interests Albert, it's the laid-back admittance of heroism as if it was no big deal. Albert knows better, saving the world is never that easy, not in his experience. And apparently that showed on his face since Thor grasps readily at shared experience. In contrast to Thor, Albert sounds almost embarrassed to talk about it. "I, well. We fought the things that normal people couldn't face."

Secret organizations, alien threats impervious to Earth weaponry, rogue cyborgs and robots, the apparent voice of God. How they ever had been under the radar in those days is unfathomable in hindsight. Albert smiles a little. "It's good to know that other versions of Earth are protected."

And that perhaps the Zero Zero Cyborgs aren't so alone in their calling.

[worldsaway]

Fun in the place of misery and frustration is something Thor has severe amounts of respect for. It's probably part of the reason he's come to like Terezi, after setting her on fire for her funeral and all. Albert's brow raise just earns him a sly look, as if Thor knows something that he doesn't. He doesn't.

For Thor it wasn't exactly a commonplace situation, but it had happened before in some capacity. It wouldn't be the first time he fought to protect on a large scale and it certainly wouldn't be the last. Albert's modest approach is curious to Thor, it reminds him a little of Bruce and it isn't something he objects to. He knows he could do with a little more modesty, but there's a time and place for boasting. Right?

"And what we did was much the same. Our team had been predetermined before we had any certainty we could work together." He thinks on that for a moment. "Or if we'd even be there, rather." Such is the life of a space flake. His smile widens some when Albert makes his last point, clearly it resonates with him. "Earth is precious to me, there is little I would allow to come between it and myself."

[silberfuchs]

"Ours too, by circumstance." He's not sure if it's the sleepless night loosening his lips or just a wish to finally share this with someone who may understand, but he doesn't have that clench of foreboding in speaking with Thor about their work in saving the Earth. "Though we were all from Earth, different countries, but kidnapped from our respective lives and then-"

Okay, maybe sharing all of it is a bit much to expect from himself, especially to someone who's still largely a stranger. "Well, as I said, circumstance. Even so, Earth is precious to us as well."

Finally, his brain catches up with the rest of him and his eyebrows furrow, looking at Thor quizzically. "Wait, you're not actually from Earth?"

He thought that whole 'God of Thunder' thing was for effect, but... "From... what was it in the Edda... Asgarth?"

[worldsaway]

"Ours came with more interference, I'd found. We'd all shown ourselves to be different in a way that some would believe to be useful." He states, then listens with interest as Albert speaks. It does fascinate him to know that there are others in other worlds who took on such similar roles.

"Earth is not as safe as the rumors made it out to be, it seems." He means to ask what it is they fought against, but he briefly allows himself to become distracted by the first question and the speculation that follows. He can't help the short bark of laughter that escapes him when Albert makes his mispronunciation, but he doesn't stifle it.

"Asgard, my friend. That is where I hail from, yes." His grin returns for a moment, but it leaves once he begins to gauge the more serious topic again, deeming it more important for the moment. "I don't believe you told me what it is you fought against."

[silberfuchs]

It's not so much a mispronunciation as the word is different in German, but perhaps to someone who actually comes from the higher realm there is the correction to be made. The same small part of him that's excited over Dwarves and Hobbits is delighted at an honest to reality Norse God, even if Albert knows he doesn't exist in the world that the German is from.

Even if Albert had wanted to ask about Yggdrasil and Jörmungandr and the other stories he knows from what his father told him of the Prose Edda, Thor steers the conversation back to where it had been and Albert leans back in his chair, rubbing his face with his hands. "Ah... generally it was a black market weapons manufacturing cartel aiming to profit from starting wars across the world. Ultimately, they didn't succeed, but there are always others seeking to do the same. It wasn't just Black Ghost we fought, but other threats as well. Aliens, renegade robots, monsters from deep under the Earth's surface. Even our own governments at times."

He sips at his orange juice, thoughtful and tired. "It never seemed to end."

[worldsaway]

Thor's experience with language is limited, thanks to the all-tongue. To him, there are set words and he doesn't often hear different when it comes to Asgard. Words like fridge, iPod and burrito are new, however. At the very least, he'd be glad to discuss myth with Albert, since he's interested in anyone who seems to know about his homeland. It's just that he's also interested in their similarities, what happened to Albert's earth and. Well. Albert in general at this rate.

He nods along with a stern expression as he explains. It isn't all things he's familiar with, but there are equivalents that he's dealt with across the realms over the years.

"Evil is an endless resource." He observes with a nod. "When I returned home, the nine realms had fallen into chaos. I took it upon myself to bring them back into line, but it is no brisk task." Really, the fact that they're being all says a lot about how evil is thriving, but that's a naughty thing to say. Suddenly, he's a little tired too.

[silberfuchs]

"It is. It's in all men's hearts just as is good, or so I keep reminding myself." He has to. it's not too difficult with some; the Stylists, most of the Escorts, many of the Capitolites at large, met at parties or other functions aren't so much "evil" as simply stupid, vapid creatures, products of the society which reared them on the blood of others. Disgusting as it is, evil as the environment can be claimed, the people themselves are only working within what they know.

Save for Snow. At his position, his ability to see the entirety of Panem sprawled and dying, he chooses this. He has the power to change it and does nothing. That. That is Evil. And not exactly a good topic of breakfast conversation after a sleepless night.

"When you say the 'nine realms', do you mean those united by Yggdrasil? I've heard the stories, but that sort of cosmology isn't widespread on Earth anymore, at least the Earth where I am from."

[worldsaway]

"And a heart can change, more often than not." He says with a hopeful inflection, not because he thinks of Capitolites but because he still holds those feelings for his brother. Speaking this much about what happened in New York was bound to dredge those feelings up, so he welcomes the change of topic.

"That is precisely what I mean." He confirms with a smile. "No, it's not widespread in the Earth I know either. Mortals scarcely knew Asgard truly existed until I made myself known." He doesn't mean to make that sound egotistical or condescending, it's just the truth of it. "I know it to be lore to many, in reality it is more than likely ill documented truths."