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[cleanedslate]

[ not too much later in the day, on a less populated section of the beach, Tony and Bruce are on a mission.

the mission is science, of course. and their weapons, at the moment, are a large expanse of beach that is currently serving as a makeshift whiteboard.

scrawled across it are a series of equations, all of them deceptively brief (read: condensed), but also filled with cryptic symbols that won't be familiar to anyone who hasn't gotten deep into physics. a healthy heaping of biochemistry will also help you to parse their work, which at the moment seems to be very focused on energy conversion and heat especially.

come stare! or step all over their hard work! you jerk :(

feel free to tag either of them but expect some thread jacking! after all, they are both standing right there ♥ ]

Comments

make your own threads! just indicate in body or subject who you're talking to <3

[cleanedslate]

[ he's discarded jacket and button-down, too hot. instead they've been swaddled together into a makeshift "hat", keeping the sun off his head and shoulders.

Tony is standing over the carefully-constructed equations, his eyes scanning them, thinking. he points at part of it ]

Walk me through this part. I'm a little rusty on my organic chem. [ he said, but he's been picking it all up pretty quickly, because. yeah. ]

[sublimating]

[he's just sort of crouched and squinting in the sun, having given up on shirts himself but not worrying too much about the sun just yet]

We can't just tell PGE2 to take the day off and direct the fever energy elsewhere, or we'll lose activity in the signal transduction pathways that induce vasodilation. That would make the, ah. Heart explode. [rubbing his forehead] We need to reprogram the receptor to turn those "Let's have a fever" signals into something more productive. Since its primary function is a muscle relaxant, we also need a roundabout way to recycle the heat generation.

Chuck wants all the Marvels!

[buymorelifer]

[ Ohhhh. You are sciencing. Chuck is very, very impressed. He keeps a respectful distance, but is actually quite content to fanboy watch you work without saying anything. He gets some of the physics symbols, but the biochem is beyond him and really, he's better with computers. ]

[neverforgets]

[ Has absolutely no idea what the two of them are doing, but there are numbers and equations involved. He's fully covered up and looks like hell, but even more than a little feverish, he's still very interested in the potential for new information. Nobody back home knows about this (probably). ]

The science guys back home'd love to see this.

[waytobreakithero]

[ She doesn't know what they're doing, either, but she just assumes it's a form of magic. But she's more interested in their technology savvy, and since they seem to be the most capable guys she can find right now, here she is.

She holds out her lyrium device. ]

Could one of you supremely intelligent gentlemen tell me how to work this?

1/2

[cleanedslate]

Definitely no explosions. I think as celebrations of engagements go, champagne is the more traditional choice.

[ but then he can't help tangenting, thinking out loud ]

I had them looking at the DMH and rRPa connection. Kill that and you don't keep the heat in. [ muttering ] They should have been dripping sweat. [ correcting himself ] They were dripping sweat. Their skin's just too hot, evaporates it almost immediately. Hotter they run, the less they seem to sweat, until they're actively steaming.

Something in the formula juices them. They get almost high off it. The whole process is addictive. But that might just be the energy generation itself...

[cleanedslate]

[ he shakes it off, goes back to the relevant part of the equation ]

Sorry. Heat recycling. I'm on topic.

[ slowly he frowns ]

The way the stuff works now, cellular regeneration is almost an afterthought. Killian weaponized it, sold it for the part where his people can set things on fire and lift cars and explode and, oh by the way, regrow limbs. But it doesn't have to. We could -- dammit, what's the word. Anabolize? [ he waves a hand impatiently ] Put the excess energy to work building new cells. Strengthening the ones she has.

[ and then the pause, the glance up at Bruce's face. ] Right?

[ no hearts exploding? ]

aw yeah

[cleanedslate]

Careful, this is an audience participation show. The first four rows will get wet.

[cleanedslate]

Of course they would, it's great work. [ totally confident in that, and not looking up ]

[cleanedslate]

[ his lips twist just a little. he looks up at her, then down at the equations, then at Bruce ]

Do you want to field this one, or should I?

[ he's slightly less of use, in this conversation. so maybe he should be the one to tear his attention away for irrelevant side problems for a minute or two. ]

[maidenlysense]

[Aren't they too old to be drawing pictures in the sand -- thinks Petunia, except as she comes closer she realizes that they aren't pictures but incomprehensible scribble that seems very important?? Those are numbers right?!]

[She squats to peer at a section more carefully. Maybe if she stares at it she'll magically understand it all.]

Umm...

[sublimating]

You want to make the body generate its own steroids. [a quick, amused smile at him, and then he gets to his feet, straightening out] Nice.

[some stretching. he's still thinking, but he needs to move]

[sublimating]

Pretty sure our equations are in a lot more trouble than he is if that happens. [he lifts his head to give Chuck a brief smile]

[sublimating]

I think it -- probably would actually depend on what kind of "science guys" they were. I don't imagine an astrophysicist is going to want to spectate. [right, Jane? he does look up at the newcomer though]

[sublimating]

[he glances at the communicator, and then his lips quirk up. for a second he was thinking, maybe someone found something!! but it's one of their renfaire crowd] Gadgets are kind of your thing, Tony. [assuring Hawke] He's an expert, but you might have to give him a shove if he starts using words only other experts would know.

[cleanedslate]

Well, when you put it like that, it sounds so potentially illegal. So, bonus points. [ with a crooked grin. he watches Bruce get up, but after a beat he gets it. leaning back on his hands, himself ]

Better use for the energy. Might slow the aging process down a little. Hey, marketable. [ further lipquirk ]

[cleanedslate]

Can we help you? Blue light specials are on aisle eight.

[sublimating]

[folding his arms and offering her a crooked smile] Sorry. You might have to watch where you step. We kind of -- claimed this section of the beach. In the name of science.

[fuck yeah science]

[waytobreakithero]

[ Good-natured. ] I'm more than used to that.

[ Turns the device over in her hand. ] I'm thinking of doing a little exploring tomorrow. Might as well finally learn to use this thing.

[neverforgets]

[ Gives Bruce a faint grin and then crouches down unsteadily to get a better look. ]

Alchemists and inventors, mostly. But they dabble in everything. They like t'tinker with things an' invent potions that turn people into zombies. [ Reaches out to trace one equation with his finger -- very carefully, of course. ]

What's all this for?

1/2

[cleanedslate]

[ slooooowly lifting his head to give you this look ]

[cleanedslate]

So, what's that like? Working for the Umbrella Corporation. [ he points at Lavi with his stick ] You must be infected with like, three strains of the T-Virus by now.

[ to Bruce ] Officially demoting them. No more "science". From now on, they're just "guys".

[ did you ask a question, Lavi, because he's a little distracted ]

[cleanedslate]

Just what are you implying? [ in his most wounded tone. he leans forward to look at the comm in her hands ]

So, what seems to be the problem? Is it "the part where it exists and voices come out of it sometimes"?

[sublimating]

You, ah... think commercializing it is an option down the line? [the tiniest fidget. no dog in this fight, certainly. nope]

[sublimating]

[his lips quirk up, but he tells Lavi] Back home we've got a manmade virus floating around that's a little bit -- dangerous. We're trying to find a way to stabilize it.