FANPORT OVERFLOW LOG

[maskormods]

WHO: ImPorts!
WHERE: Heropa's Convention Centre.
WHEN: April 14-16, from 9 AM - 12 AM every day.
WHAT: Registration is in motion alongside FanPort, the most popular imPort convention around! Come on in and see imPort-led panels, the artist's alley, cosplayers, and more! If you have any questions, or wish to amend the way we have written up your characters' panels, let us know here! The original log can be found HERE.
WARNINGS: None anticipated; please let us know if this should be changed.

Comments

[catalysmic]

[She's used to the way he sometimes holds himself as though he's not sure he's welcome - at this point it could be habit or tension and she barely even notices it, angling her body toward him too, and willing herself into an accepting state of mind.

She's not surprised he begins with an apology - it's one of the things the text had meant, too.]

It was. Both stupid and wrong. [But with time to think, she's worked through some of the reasons why he hadn't. Fear, lack of data, probably a worrying amount of denial that they can't really afford. Understanding it helps - not necessarily her, but it probably helps someone. It will help them move past this.] But I'm sure you've already thought through all the reasons why, so I. So okay. Apology accepted. Don't do it again.

[He'll know she means only that he's forgiven, not that she isn't still hurt or angry. That will take time, but she's committing to rebuilding trust and returning to a place of peace. For this, all she wants out of him is patience.] I have a lot of questions still. But not today. If it can wait. [If she's not going to explode in a more literal way, which she assumes is the case. She's a little fried to be absorbing answers.] I...

I'm sorry I blew up at you before you had a chance to explain. Everything. At your own pace. [I'm sorry I immediately assumed the worst. ...Still kind of assuming the worst, though. To be fair, you tried to dodge explaining at first. Being out of the loop drives her crazy.] I'm... ready to listen. If you want to try.

[Or we can table it for today. Her expression says I STILL DON'T LIKE IT, but she does sound much calmer and open. This is the argument she's really invested in at this point, the one she's pretty sure he still thinks he's right about. Maybe he can convince her; she doubts it, but she'll cede that he deserved - deserves - the chance to try.

She doesn't say anything about how she's treating him as though he isn't allowed to make his own choices because, as far as she's concerned, she has every right to a say in this.]

[hyperkinesia]

[ Luckily, patience is something he has in spades. True, he didn't show much of it earlier today, but that was a fluke, a lapse of judgment, a lack of control that rarely happens to him these days. He's ready to let that go, and ready to focus on what they can do to move forward from this, what they should do from this point onwards. ]

I won't, I promise. I won't keep anything from you anymore.

[ And that's a tall order but he's given her his word, so he will live up to it, no matter what. No matter the consequence. Besides, he can still protect her while telling her all he knows about everything and anything. Though right now, there's not much more he can tell her about her ability, for lack of knowledge himself, so that'll have to wait until they look into it.

She's letting him explain now, and he will. The truth is, she kind of had more than enough reason to blow up when she did. He made his announcement out of nowhere, then adopted a defensive stance the moment she started asking questions about it, confronting him about his decision. He still thinks he's right to make his own choice, and that she's in no place to tell him not to, but he shouldn't have reacted that way.

None of it should've gone down the way it did, but that doesn't matter anymore. It's in the past, and now it's time for him to try and make sense of his decision, show her the rational side to it. Because there is one, yes. ]

The thing is, there are pros and cons whether or not we register. If we don't do it, we wouldn't be swearing allegiance to the military, but we'll likely draw more attention to ourselves, not to mention that if an... if anything at all happens, if there's an incident, we'll have no support whatsoever. We'll be on our own to suffer the consequences of whatever goes down. I'm not sure how— your transformation, I have no idea what it will be like, but you know how the Hulk is during an unwilling transformation. So you know how bad it can get. Not to mention that if one day we want to help people and transform willingly, we'd immediately be labeled as Vigilantes. And I'm not going to— I'm not going to stand by and watch if there are lives I can save, people I can help by turning.

On the other hand, if we register, we'll get a degree of protection from the government and the military if something does happen. It does involve being affiliated with them, I know, and trust me, I don't like that thought any more than you do, but we'll be closer to the system, too. We'll be part of it, even. That might earn us a degree of safety and stability here. And let's face it, this whole place is full of superheroes, it's not like we're the supreme weapon they're dying to get their hands on.

[ If they were, they'd never have let them out of the facility in Cape Canaveral. Bruce is sure of that much. ]

Besides, if things ever turn sour and we have to, we can always run away. Right? If the military tries to... I don't know, use us and force us to do something we don't want to, we can just run. I'm pretty good at that at this point. [ He smiles a little, though he doesn't feel or sound quite as amused as he might look. ]

Either way, Betty, the point is that they're not going to stop watching us just because we don't register. They'll still keep tabs on us, they'll still always know where we are, what we're doing. The freedom of being unsettled is just an illusion, nothing more; we're still stuck here.

[ He reaches out for her hands now, thoughtlessly, not hesitating or even stopping for a moment before continuing on. ]

I have no one else, Betty. You're the only one— the only one I trust here. Tony's not even Tony, I don't even know which version he is for sure but I do know he doesn't like me, and I can't trust him. But I trust you. I trust you and I love you, and I need us to be close. I need us to be together through all this. Whatever ends up happening, I just need you to be there for me. And you have to let me be there for you, too.

[ Alright, so that part is less rational, more heartfelt. But whatever, he doesn't care. He told her he'd explain his reasoning, and that also includes what he's feeling, along with his logical thoughts. ]

We can't do things separately, not in this. Whether you register or not, I'll do the same. But I definitely think we should. The point is: we make this decision together, and we do this together, or not at all.

[catalysmic]

[On some mostly subconscious level, she does have this idea that her deep personal investment in Bruce's well-being makes her entitled to having a say in his choices, as though loving someone grants you some degree of possession over them as long as your intentions are good; she's still her father's daughter, and unhealthy ideas about autonomy and personhood unfortunately come with the package. The fact that she figures this goes both ways doesn't really ameliorate any of it.

She does make the effort to listen to him, though. His explanation is thorough - as expected - and convincing - which, less expected. He makes a lot of points she hadn't come to herself, most importantly the fact that he (now they) was no longer the hottest weapon any military could fail to contain, but also that there was any kind of stability to be found. She's conceptualized the thing they'd made as a weapon of god-like potential for so long, it's jarring to realize that here, that doesn't have to be true. Here, the Hulk could be only as much of a weapon as Captain America. As Iron Man. And if they could reproduce it in her, [citation needed], he was no longer unique.

In her time by herself, she'd reached the same conclusion he'd ended on, that their fates were intertwined, but she'd wanted to run, to abandon her plans of integrating into the system and flee. If Bruce, who had run, thought there was a chance of building something here, then that weighed as heavily as all the opinions and advice she'd been given during FanPort, which had been overwhelmingly reassuring. She trusts him too, his intentions, but also his assessments. His declaration of love doesn't leave an impact - she's always known that - but when he tells her he needs her to support him, that he wants to do the same, she's defenseless. Phrasing it in that way is dirty pool, but it's effective; his feelings are effective. It's all she's wanted for too many years.

Her hand remains loosely in his grasp while she thinks, eyes tightly shit, presenting new and old arguments and finding their counters in the darkness behind her eyelids. It's still a disorganized maelstrom, but she thinks she can make out the form of it now. They'll be together. And they'll try to make it here. Maybe they'll be safe, and maybe they can even do some good. At last, she squeezes his hands and looks at him.]

You're too smart for your own good. [SIGH.]

I think... Let me sleep on it. But I think you've convinced me. Unless one of us thinks of something, then... fine. We'll register.

[A humourless laugh, almost under her breath,] If the General could see us now.

[hyperkinesia]

[ To be honest, considering how mad she'd looked earlier today, he wasn't all that sure that he'd be able to get through to her. Betty can be too stubborn for her own good sometimes, and even once or twice might fight reason just for the sake of standing her ground or stick to her opinion. Even when said opinion is proven wrong.

But that's just when her emotions get the best of her, which... might not be too great a thing right now. He's not sure yet, though this reminds him they really need to figure out the trigger for Betty's condition before something Very Bad happens.

Right now he's just glad that she seems to be going down the more rational part. Things work out better overall like this, not just because it's easier to get through to her, but also because Bruce really isn't the kind to let himself get too swept up by his emotions, at least not anymore. Which in the end might not help his case much if it angers her even more. ]

You knew that already.

[ He smiles at her, relief showing in his expression, in the easing of his shoulders, the way he leans into her minutely, his thumbs brushing over her knuckles. There really is no need to be this near, to be touching her, but right now he doesn't care nearly enough to force himself to pull away.

There's a trace of displeasure in his look when she mentions the General, but he tries to keep his answer in a tone as fleeting as her remark. ] If the General were here, I have a feeling our decision might've been different.

[ Because the General would want to be part of the military here, Bruce has no doubt of that, and he wouldn't rest until he got his hands on Bruce. Not just that, he dreads to think what he might want to do with Betty (or to Betty) once he learned that she has inside herself something similar to the Hulk. Bruce always thought the man's single redeeming quality was the fact that he loved her daughter, but at some point he's become pretty doubtful and downright cynical of that belief, enough that the possibility of him coming here genuinely scares him. ]

[catalysmic]

[She does have her moments. Even now, she's agreeing to go along with him, but she doesn't really feel like she was wrong before, either. For Bruce, the nature of her powers may not have been an important factor in his interest in registering or to his goal of protecting her, but for Betty, it changes a lot. She has no delusions of invulnerability; her mundanity and relationship to the General had both acted as a form of protection for her in the real universe. In this ridiculous new one, she has neither, which makes her an entirely different sort of agent and means every risk needs to be recalibrated. At the same time, the danger specifically to Bruce is also different, because for once, not everything is about him.

The fact that there's less relative risk in being known here is not something she feels deep down, but she can act on it without faith thanks to the rational part of her Bruce is so glad to see. It's couched in caveats and conditions but at least they have their resolution.

It's not like her to bring up the General and she regrets it pretty much immediately.] Even though he isn't, it still feels like he's watching. [Just invoking him makes her want to insist again that Bruce remain nominally off the grid. It's easy for her to project his likeness onto every shadowy authority figure in this world, and she understands his obsession all too well - she shares it obliquely.

She smiles absently at Bruce, sitting more stiffly, mind already defensively skipping elsewhere and fingers tightening around his. It's perfectly normal for him to be seeking comfort from her through touch, and for her to be doing the same; she's barely aware they're doing it.]

There's only a few hours left and I'm spent. Let's grab some real food and go home. Leave the breaking and entering for tomorrow night.

[hyperkinesia]

[ He can almost sense the regret in bringing up her father the moment she tenses, and immediately he stops himself from talking about the man at all. He knows all too well the issues she has on that particular topic, and frankly he can't blame her at all. The last years haven't helped much either, and he knows that. At least before they kept some kind of relationship, even if a tense one, with nearly as many bottled up feelings as Bruce keeps these days. Things tend to change when a woman's father wants to get their hands on the love of her life, lock him up and use him as a weapon as he sees fit, though.

But he is glad, genuinely, that the General isn't here. He dreads to think the kind of power he'd have here— metaphorically and otherwise, considering everyone's given their own ability. He doesn't see the man in every shadow or authoritarian presence like she does either, something that frankly relieves him.

Her last remark draws a smile from him, true though tired, and he nods. ] Sounds like a plan to me. We can go somewhere for dinner, if you want to?

[ Which he really doesn't mean as a date, even if it kind of comes out that way. He doesn't realize it, though. ]

[catalysmic]

[That's okay, she sort of takes it for granted that they're leaving together and doesn't really hear it as a date invitation either. Consequences of being both bffs and it's-complicateds, and years and years of moving through the same orbit. She would have at least looked for him after a while if he hadn't texted, regardless of their argument, or she would have skipped Heropa by now.]

We can probably find somewhere interesting before we head back. [Which means yes, she wants to. Up on her feet, brushing her lap off, and turning to pull him up too, but she doesn't take his arm when he stands.] You pick, but nothing heavy.

[hyperkinesia]

Sounds good.

[ Frankly Bruce has never been a fan of really intense food, even less so now when even something like too much spice might do more harm than good to his system. Standing up, he fixes himself up a little, then pockets his hands like he's not entirely sure what to do with them. ]

Alright so, if you're all set to go, then... [ He nods vaguely towards the way out, waiting until she's gotten her things, then starts walking. Not that he's in a rush, but a stroll through the streets is much nicer than in here. The whole convention thing's kind of weird for him, frankly; he doubts he'll get used to it anytime soon. ]

[catalysmic]

[Well, only one more day of that to go. Although it's the one that includes actual registration; that probably won't make it less weird.

Instead of celebrating their new allegiance, which is obviously something they would ever consider doing, she's going to drag him off to some lab afterwards and make him look at her blood with her under a microscope and puzzle through test results until they reach their inconclusive conclusions.]