Video || Lydia Martin || 05

[preytosociety]

First of all, any and all comments I've made about Stiles since the Secret Santa exchange are to be completely forgotten and disregarded as horrible lies made during a state of mind alteration. Any attempts at bringing them up after this point in time will result in severe bodily harm. [She smiles sweetly... oh wait.] Sorry, Dan.

[Ahem. Moving on.]

A lot of new people have shown up recently. Do we have a plan for gathering food when our supply runs out? Also, it would be nice to know what skills, if any, we collectively have as society.

Comments

[manofiron]

I have a lot of skills. Do you want the comprehensive list or the CliffsNotes version?

[preytosociety]

Okay, there's only so much room here in this small town, Tony. Keep that ego on a short leash before it inflates and kills us all.

[... Someone's in a really bad mood. She rolls her eyes.] Sorry. I know what you can do. I meant everyone else aimlessly wandering around with no intentions of helping or working together.

[manofiron]

[ He may not be able to see, but his eyes narrow anyway. ]

Right.

[ It might be reading into it too much to feel like she's commenting on his general uselessness here, but he can't help it. ]

Hope that works out for you.

[preytosociety]

Hope isn't going to save us, Mr. Stark. We need a plan.

[And nothing else has worked out for her so far, so she doesn't have much hope left for anything.]

[manofiron]

Maybe you ought to talk to Steve Rogers. He's the man with the plan.

[ And oh, is that sarcastic. ]

[private]

[preytosociety]

I'm talking to you. [And she can put aside her issues long enough to realize something isn't right here. If he was okay, he'd be turning this into a joke or flirting or something. She sets the video to private and clears her throat.]

This isn't an attack, Tony. I'm not accusing you of anything.

[private]

[manofiron]

[ The edge to his voice softens slightly. ]

I'm standing by what I said. You want a plan, talk to Steve. That's what he does.

[private]

[preytosociety]

Alright. I will. But I still want to know what's wrong with you. [And then a small moment of panic,] Did something happen to Bruce?!

[private]

[manofiron]

What? No. Not that I know of. Last I talked to him, he was fine. You want me to call him and check?

[private]

[preytosociety]

... [She wants to say yes but then rational brain takes over. Calm down, Lydia.] Not if that's not the reason you aren't your usual, sparkling self.

[video]

[greenisnteasy]

Don't make me separate you two.

[He sounds like he could be amused, but that's just his voice in general. Something's off here, with both of them. With Tony he can guess why, but Lydia -- Maybe it's to do with this mind alteration?]

[private]

[manofiron]

Unless he's missing, Bruce isn't a problem. Bruce is never a problem.

[manofiron]

Playing referee now, huh?

[greenisnteasy]

Can't have my staff crash down around my ears. That happened already, and it sucked.

Remember, kids, snark fests are only permitted if they don't escalate to actual anger. We can have a meeting about it if you want. I'll make a bulletin board.

[manofiron]

I'm not crashing anything.

Are there going to be little felt animals to go on that bulletin board?

[greenisnteasy]

There can be. We can add arts and crafts hour to clinic duty, to help you guys vent some stress in a creative manner.

What about sock puppets, or puppets in general?

[manofiron]

What's the blind person equivalent of a puppet? Because I think regular ones are going to be lost on me.

[greenisnteasy]

Funny voices, so it sounds nothing like me and is vaguely cartoonish. [His tone is just a little on the teasing side of duh.]

[private]

[preytosociety]

But you're not going to tell me what the actual problem is.

[video]

[preytosociety]

I apologized.

[RELUCTANTLY!]

[manofiron]

Yeah, okay.

...Deal.

[private]

[manofiron]

We're running depressingly low on booze.

[ That's not actually the problem, but it's a problem. ]

[greenisnteasy]

Great. I'll try to amp up our juice and cracker supply, too.

Maybe I'll find some play dough for all of us.

And build us a jungle gym.

[private]

[preytosociety]

[Right. Of course. Tony, you do remember she's not an idiot, don't you? But she's also not a fan of people prying into her personal life and doesn't intend to do the same thing to others. Lydia just nods.]

Yes, well, you could always resort to drugs if you need to numb the monotony that badly. I hope you feel better, Mr. Stark.

[private]

[greenisnteasy]

[Hey, you. Bruce is too worried for this to stay a public channel, so he switches it over.]

What's the matter? Are you okay? You seem... on edge. Judging by your replies to other people too, not just Tony. What happened with the mind altering?