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[certaininequities]

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<DR_OSBORN> You've reached Dr. Norman Osborn.
<DR_OSBORN> Please leave a message: I'll respond as promptly as possible.

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Comments

[heyunderoos]

More than likely, they're really fun.

[That does draw Peter to a stop, the pooka openly frowning. He shakes his head a little to clear out the disappointment.] Its okay, Norman. It's not your fault in the first place.

[Harry is more to blame here. Though, the man has his own problems.] I can always take that as like a challenge to make you a new better one anyway. I think my sewing has gotten way better.

[certaininequities]

Then that's what I'm more sorry to hear. That, and that your only option to support yourself was to work in a place like that.

[he pauses, then gives a soft chuckle of his own]

No wonder you weren't bothered by Emily's lack of tact. Regardless, you won't hurt for options, here. And I'll certainly never ask you to put yourself to any task you aren't comfortable with.

[the elevator gives a soft, pleasant ding, and the doors slide open to reveal a hallway much more like what Katurian may have been envisioning: clean walls and floors, off-white and pale gray with deep green accents at the door jambs and the sills of the windows that look into the sectioned off laboratory spaces. Most of them are pristine with lack of use, but Norman steers them toward the one section with racks of tubes and several tools laid out upon the tables.]

The main laboratory is this way. My adopted son, Peter, has a workspace here, but it's for his own personal use and projects, so you won't need to worry about knowing where that is.

care to start wrapping so we can focus on the new stuff?

[certaininequities]

I don't think I'd know what to do with myself if you actually worked yourself up to his level.

[Norman chuckles softly, starting to clear up the workspace. it's clear that with the equipment he has, they won't be able to study anything from Mana, and he's trying not to be mad about it. talking about other things with Peter as he does so is helpful]

Isn't that ever the goal. Always better.

[he reaches out and gives Peter a couple of Very Dadlike thumps on the shoulder]

We'll just do the same thing here, won't we? As best we can.

[certaininequities]

Oh, hello, Molly. Thanks for seeing me in. Hope you're doing well.

[is it workplace harassment to pet the secretary? he pats her on the shell anyway as he moves inside, smiling]

I hafta say, it really was a nice surprise getting that email from you.

[certaininequities]

But that - that was my Father's Day present.

[the way he says it makes it plain how much it meant to him: as a symbol of their relationship, a talisman of the day that they really started to heal from what had happened to him but not yet to Peter. from what had happened that May morning on the shore of Lake Dala. from ... everything, really. the day they'd honestly started supporting each other.]

[sweartoyou]

[If it is harassment, neither Molly nor Ray are rushing to HR about it..]

Have you been wanting to work with the morgue for a while?

[Obviously the thing one would be pleased about, when getting such an email.]

Works for me!

[heyunderoos]

To be fair, I don't think I'd ever reach his level. [Peter answers with a shake of his head.] Pretty sure being with Steven has kind of made him chill out a little.

[Peter glances back at note pad Norman had been using. So much for them figuring out the differences. It all just... is the same. Maybe now they can just make his normal formula? Peter isn't sure.]

It's all we can do sometimes. Keep striving to get better, even when its not easy.

[heyunderoos]

[The ferocity of the sentiment startles Peter a little. His ears and whiskers pin back briefly before he eases again.] I know... I just- I can always make you another one. Cause I wanna, and I love you.

It won't be the exact same, but, we have more fathers days to come, right-?

[certaininequities]

[the fact that he startled Peter cows Norman quite a bit, and he gives a slow, heavy sigh to calm himself down.]

You're right. Of course you're right. How is it that sometimes you're wiser than me about this stuff?

[he shakes his head, bemused, then reaches up to put a hand on Peter's shoulder]

And I love you, too, kiddo. Here's hoping there'll be a lot more of all that kind of good stuff.

[certaininequities]

I don't know about working with them specifically, but ... I've been trying to think of other ways to make FEAST run a little more smoothly. And you've got a very good idea, there. ... You must work with Sherlock, then.

[he finishes his Molly-coddling - for the moment - and finds himself a place to sit.]

[heyunderoos]

I dunno about wiser, just- [He shrugs a little, not sure how to phrase it.] May and I always kinda viewed stuff that way, you know? It sucks to lose something you love, but if you can make it again, it'll be even better next time?

[He feels a bit silly saying as much, he smoothes a hand through his fur in passing.] I know there will be.

[certaininequities]

You're absolutely right. ... I'll have to try and apply that to Oscorp, too, next chance I get to talk to Mana. Are there any things you'd want me to add or change for you? Or are you still going to use the tower?

[sweartoyou]

Mm. I was surprised... I didn't think the doctor would stop working in the prison morgue as well, but...I don't mind working with Mr. Holmes.

[It helped that she went to get her job back during a time of crisis and Sherlock would have been completely swamped without her. Now she has the benefit of technically working there the longest despite the lack of qualifications, and thus she has the confidence to suggest changes and sass her new boss. Even if he is Sherlock Holmes...]

...One thing... [She does want to keep most of the business talk during their business lunch, but it wasn't the most professional of moves she's pulling even if she thinks that it would help a lot professionally. If he's looking to make things improve, there's an opportunity to step in.] Doctor, do you mind if I ask why you changed the name of the soup kitchen? It was known the other way for years.

[heyunderoos]

I'm gonna use both, Norman. It doesn't hurt to spread out a little, considering... [He shrugs awkwardly.] The whole fire thing. You kinda never know what will happen here sometimes.

Kind of a dangerous question, you might end up with another food cart somewhere in the building. [He is teasing, but is unsurprisingly food motivated.]

[certaininequities]

Which doctor?

[he isn't as familiar with the staff as he realizes he probably should be. But then she changes the subject]

Hm? - OH! That's the name of the kitchen and hostel Peter and his aunt were involved in. It's an acronym, see:

[he recites it slowly, trying to remember the print on the side of the truck that had brought them all to the apartment complex from the Sanctum Sanctorum]

Food, Emergency Aid, Shelter, and Training. I ... I did it to honor her memory. For Peter. And as a reminder to myself that I should give everyone the same chance she gave me.

[certaininequities]

[somehow, that had not occurred to him. He had thought it had to be one or the other. One more case of an absolute he had to remove from his way of thinking ... sometimes he thought they would never end. But the mention of food stirs him out of it, though not in the way Peter might have expected]

Oh! Food. ... That, uh. That reminds me... I had a talk with a few people, recently, and ... somethings been pointed out t' me I wanted to hash out with you.

[heyunderoos]

Oh, sure-? What is it you wanna talk about? [The shift of topic isn't a bad thing by Peter's standards. He's pretty open to talk to Norman about anything at this point.]

[sweartoyou]

Dr. Mor -- ah, Rhodes.

[He was Rhodes now, even if he had been very patient with her and her slime memory constantly forgetting, due to most of her concentration working on not calling him "Dr. Kitty" in front of others.]

Ah... I see... [That's -- hm. Under normal circumstances, it would be fine, and it's nice to honor someone like that. It makes her hesitate, but... No, okay, she's gotta.] It...is bad. It's a bad name, in my personal and professional opinion, Doctor.

It might be a means of helping monsters, but from the way it looks from a human perspective... It makes the place seem like a celebration of all the hunting we do. Not only are they not currently getting any remains of those that are dear to them, but it might be like saying they're not only for survival, to us. They're a feast, which are happy. So... It would be easier to get support from the community on our partnership if you changed it, Sir.

[certaininequities]

[that was ... NOT what he was expecting. his shock and confusion, however, begin to evolve as Ray clarifies what she means, breaking it down for him. the shock remains, but his cheeks begin to turn a darker green - the arachne equivalent of a blush - and he winces. By the time she's finished, Norman is shaking his head slowly, like a man who realized he left something in the toaster oven too long and came back to a pile of charcoal.]

Oh.

[he's silent for a long moment, trying to catch the words that are racing the Indy 500 around his mind. they're spinning faster and faster, nudging him toward panic, but somehow he manages to make them stop long enough to keep himself in control.]

I need you to know: I hadn't even considered that, and now I feel terrible. You're right. I should change it.

[this is hard: guilt and shame are the two biggest triggers for him. but this is Ray, she's always been honest with him, and she deserves his best for giving it to him straight now. his words come a little slowly, but they're even. and he doesn't shy away from it]

... Thank you for telling me.

[certaininequities]

The kitchen.

[he leans next to the door. it's not that he doesn't feel comfortable helping himself to a seat in Peter's room: more that he doesn't want to upset whatever pooka ecosystem is happening in it. the various strata of snacks, projects, and blankets may be important, after all.]

Ray had reached out to me about collaborating with her workplace in sourcing some of the meat, but ... she raised a concern I hadn't considered before. And it's very valid.

[he winces, breathing in slowly. this will likely be as hard for Peter to hear as it was for him, for most of the same reasons]

She said that I shouldn't have renamed it. That "F.E.A.S.T" has the wrong connotations, here.

[sweartoyou]

[She nods, not watching him directly but feeling like she has to mind the atmosphere. She doesn't think he'd be a danger to her or himself over this, but it was still a situation where she is making the attempt to be more delicate than she normally might.]

Yeah. I didn't think you had. [be pretty fucked up, not that there's anything wrong with that] Ah, maybe I should have saved something like that for our business talk tomorrow...

[heyunderoos]

[Give him a second to take in that information. His brows pinch together before it hits him.]

Oh. [He never put that together. Damn. All of them had to normalize cannibalism that he hadn't quite realized F.E.A.S.T wasn't the best name for a soup kitchen where they had to eat humans.] Yeah, that's... I guess that really is the wrong connotation isn't it-?

It'd be a good idea to change it too.

[certaininequities]

No! No, it -

[he catches himself, realizing that he sounded a little desperate for her not to feel like she'd done wrong. which, of course, he WAS, but it wasn't a good look given their age difference. He was supposed to be The Competent Adult and have his shit together. so he scrabbles around mentally, scraping his composure together as best he can]

I appreciate you telling me in private, instead ... since it's a pretty personal thing that doesn't really look like it would be on the outside.

[certaininequities]

I had a feeling you'd agree.

[he still looks relieved about it, though - particularly because starting the kitchen had been one of his olive branches, last spring. a proof of intent.]

But I would like your help thinking up something new. And I still want to keep the color scheme and the design of the New York logo.

[sweartoyou]

[She considers him again, but nods at his reasoning and the fact that he managed to pull himself back from a more impulsive response.]

Mm. Okay. I don't think anything else should be like that.

[Phew, though. Mr. Holmes is going to be a little less full of ire about the soup kitchen, now, whether her other proposed changes went through or not. She won't have to sit through as long of a rant in the future.]

Anywhere else, the name would work. It's too bad. And it does make me think that we could offer different kinds of training... Things that wouldn't be appropriate for the school setting.