[IC] Hooked on a Feeling

[Morose]

---

---

Guinevere Stark

---

---

Guin gave Lance a bit of a wave, only managing to grab a cream soda out of the mini bar by the time her father came into the room. She couldn't help but mentally kick herself - Happy probably told Tony the instant she arrived back home. It had been silly to imagine she'd at least have a few moments to just hang with Lance before she got the lecture of the day. Popping open the top of the cream soda, she pretended to be busy taking her first sip of it as she mulled over how to best answer Tony's question.

She knew what Lance's strategy was - to just nod and tune him out - but she was always horrible at sticking to it. "Whatever...I was just talking to the teacher and apparently she thought I was being rude," Guin explained with a shrug. She was leaving out a lot of details but in her mind, that was all that really happened. "Honestly, Dad, I think it was bullshit she gave me detention anyways. I was minding my own business, writing down every 22nd word that she said since nothing she went over was even remotely close to new information...Like I swear, tomorrow she'll probably explain how addition and subtraction work. It was that boring."

[BlueSky44]

---

---

Lance Banner

---

---

"Actually Guin, you were trying to talk to me, and the teacher called you out on it, then your response was somewhat rude..." Lance said softly, before he went back to his book. The classes were pretty boring, he remembered everything and such that was being said easily anyway, but he still took notes and things like that, he tried to pay attention to what was going on. Guin hadn't even really made an effort. "Plus you poked me a few times, which wasn't exactly subtle..."

"Really Guin? You know you need to not lash out at everything someone says... Look, you need to behave, go to school, do the work, and not get detention anymore, otherwise there will be consequences for it. This is your only warning about it, alright?" Tony said, looking at her, before he headed back towards the lab. "That was an incredibly short lecture wasn't it? Though I do agree, school is pretty boring..." Lance added softly once Tony was gone.

[Morose]

---

---

Guinevere Stark

---

---

Guin tried to resist rolling her eyes at Tony during the lecture. Once he left to go back to the lab, she went over to the couch Lance was sitting on and sat down next to him, resting her head on his shoulder. He was her closest friend and she'd always felt incredibly comfortable around him, ever since they first met. Though, she smirked slightly as she thought back on that. She'd scared him unintentionally that day. Taking another sip of her soda, she glanced over at the book he was reading.

"Is that business or pleasure?" she teased him. "Guessing pleasure - since I don't remember being told to go check that one out from the school library." She wasn't all too happy about the gen ed program at MidTown Tech. Her boarding school had had the decency to allow them to combine some of those gen eds - so rather than taking strict English, she instead was taught Japanese and was able to watch anime to satisfy that credit. She had abandoned her bag by the mini bar as well, having no intention of doing homework.

"So...What're the plans for tonight, Lando?"

[BlueSky44]

---

---

Lance Banner

---

---

Lance said nothing at first when Guin sat down next to him and put her head on his shoulder. He had a crush on her, and the fact that she always seemed so oblivious to it was kind of pathetic. The girl who could remember a lot of things, could not tell if someone had feelings for her. He never mentioned it, since he feared it might ruin their friendship if he did, but he was almost positive that everyone else knew about it, which was what made the situation even worse sometimes.

"I finished my homework, and got bored so I pulled this one out. Still though, getting detention on your first day, it wasn't even at the end of the class period, which was kind of impressive if you ask me. Anyway, I wasn't planning on doing anything tonight, I generally just sit around, reading until I eventually go home. I've done the exact same thing after school for what has felt like forever," he said to her, giving her a slight smile.

[Morose]

---

---

Guinevere Stark

---

---

Guin kicked off her shoes, before curling up a bit with her feet on the couch. She was completely unaware of Lance's feelings for her and if she had known, she wouldn't have been in such close physical proximity to him, as she just didn't feel the same way about him. He felt more like a brother to her than a potential boyfriend. "Why'd you do the homework?" she asked him curiously. "It's just practice for the exam - and if you already know of it, what's the point in bothering with it?" She'd tried the same argument on her boarding school teachers and they always insisted on homework - but she'd rarely turn it in and still ace the tests, meaning she passed the courses easily.

She then bowed her head mockingly as he acknowledged her getting detention so quickly. "Thanks, Lando. I do my best - going to make a goal of getting detention in two minutes or less tomorrow." She then grabbed the book from him and started flipping through it. It was interesting, but it wasn't what she wanted to do with Lance until he decided to go home for the day. "You wanna play Just Dance instead?"

[BlueSky44]

---

---

Lance Banner

---

---

"I did the homework because I was told to... You know that I generally do the work that people ask me to do, it literally is the only boring thing that I do with my life, since there isn't much else to do... And give that back," he said with a smile as he snatched his book away from her. He let out a sigh at her comment about getting detention in even less time tomorrow. "You shouldn't be trying to get detention at all Guin..." he said softly.

He let out another sigh when Guin suggested a game. He really wanted to just sit and read, but he doubted that Guin would let him just sit there ignoring her. "I don't care much for dancing games Guin... I'm horrible at them and they make me feel silly and dumb..." he said as he went over to his bag and put his book away.

[Morose]

---

---

Guinevere Stark

---

---

Guin pouted slightly. She loved playing Just Dance. And of course, she did want to go off on Lance about how it was pointless to just do things because someone said to do them, but she had to pick her battles. Just Dance seemed to be a better battle that inspiring teenage rebellion in her best friend at the moment. "Lando, you don't look silly or dumb - and if you do, then I look equally ridiculous playing them," Guin encouraged him.

She stood up from the couch and finished her drink, walking over to him and taking his hand. "Come on - shut up and dance with me," she urged him, singing the last few words a bit with a large grin. "Look, if we play Just Dance, then I'll do my homework or whatever. Sound good to you, Lando? And it'll be fun. I'll even let you pick the songs."

[BlueSky44]

---

---

Lance Banner

---

---

Lance just stared at her with a deer in the headlights look. He did not want to do any sort of dancing, at all. Most games were fine by him, and he knew that Guin loved the game, but he hated it. Dancing was pointless to him in general, and it was silly, especially when you didn't know how to dance. Not to mention he was still somewhat distracted by what had happened after school, he was still debating about whether or not he should tell Guin about that entire incident.

"Look Guin, I really don't feel like dancing right now. I know you like the game, but I really don't want to play it, at all... It isn't my type of game in general anyway," he said, looking at her. "Besides, to me that game is not the most fun to play when I make a fool of myself..."

[Morose]

---

---

Guinevere Stark

---

---

Guin sighed, letting go of his hand. "Fine, whatever..." she grumbled. She went over to where she had abandoned her book bag and she picked it up, pulling out the homework assignments that were due the next day. She put in her headphones, before queuing up Twist and Shout. Guin then began to quietly work on the homework assignments. Her mind went faster than she could write down information on the page. She was tempted to write down because I'm not stupid for every step that asked for an explanation.

She eventually grew incredibly bored with the homework, only to find that she had barely made a dent in the pile. Had the material been advanced enough, she would have been able to focus on it. But instead, her mind solved each problem a few seconds after she glanced at it and the effort of putting down her thought process on the paper was exasperating at best. Her fingers twitched slightly against the countertop.

[BlueSky44]

---

---

Lance Banner

---

---

Lance let out a sigh, looking at Guin. She was bored it seemed, and she was giving him the silent treatment, just because he wouldn't play a dumb game with her. He knew that Guin was a little more used to getting her own way, or doing whatever she wanted, but he generally never wanted to play that game anyway when they hung out together. She was pretty good at ignoring people, unless they spoke up about something, or contradicted her in some way.

Lance looked at the time, before he let out a sigh, standing up. He walked over and grabbed his bag, making sure that he wasn't missing anything. He gave Guin a smile before he headed to the elevator. At least at home, he would have the apartment to himself for a little while, well, more of several hours still before his dad showed up. He tended to work in the labs for hours, losing track of time constantly, and when he and Tony were working on something, it generally took a while before they came out again, or at least a while before his dad came out of the lab.

[Morose]

---

---

Guinevere Stark

---

---

Once Lance left, Guin gave up all pretenses of even trying to work on her homework. She left it on the counter, taking her music with her as she walked to her room. She paused in the hallway for a moment, pressing a few buttons on one of J.A.R.V.I.S.' interfaces, followed up by typing in a manual override. To all security cameras, her room would be looped with footage she had taken a few days ago for just such an occasion - her, lying in her bed, just listening to her walkman.

Entering her room, Guin locked the door and set her walkman aside. She pulled out her phone, scrolling through Spotify until she found the playlist she was looking for. She didn't like to listen to modern music on her walkman. It felt sacrilegious to do so. She plugged her headphones into her phone, tucking her phone in her pocket before she climbed on top of her dresser. Pulling out a screwdriver that she kept for these occasions, Guin dismantled the vent cover, pulling it off and grabbing her stash. She smiled weakly at it, her hands still twitching.

Grabbing a few pills from the bag, she put the stash back in the vents and replaced the cover. She sat cross legged on top of the dresser, just staring at the pills. Her body was shaking lightly with need. Slowly, she raised her hand to her mouth, tilting it slightly so the pills would fall back.

"No...I can't do this..." Guin whispered, before hopping down from the dresser. Her entire body was trembling as she walked into her ensuite and flushed the pills down the drain, a single tear sliding down her face.

---

---

The next morning was a Friday, universally agreed to be the best day of the week. At MidTown Tech, Fridays were shortened slightly, with school ending two hours early in order to allow the teachers a chance to get a head start on grading before the weekend. When Guin woke up that morning, she spent a good ten minutes in bed debating as to whether or not she should just skip class. She hadn't gotten much sleep that night. She had tried playing Just Dance against J.A.R.V.I.S. around 3 AM, since she couldn't sleep, but the A.I. was worse than Lance was at the game.

She arrived to class on time that day, dark shadows under her eyes. She didn't argue with the teacher this time, just sketching in her notepad.

[BlueSky44]

---

---

Lance Banner

---

---

Lance had stayed up pretty late, reading and coming up with different experiments he could run. That night, he only slept about half of the night, as his powers decided to trigger in the middle of the night. He wasn't able to fall asleep until he had gotten the light that was around him to dim down, but it was almost time for him to start getting ready for school anyway by the time the light turned off. Like always, he ignored his dad when he passed him by as he got ready for school, and said nothing as he headed out the door.

When he got to the school, that was when he would run into some problems. He had no sooner walked through the doors of the school, when he was shoved to the ground from behind, sending him sprawling to the floor.

"Look who it is? It's the little Banner, no dad to help you out right now right?" the boy said with a smile.

"I don't want any trouble," Lance said as he got up off the ground.

"Wonder what'll it will take to make you turn green," he said, before he punched Lance in the stomach.

"Leave me alone," he said, as a little blood came out of his mouth, he was focusing all of his energy on keeping his powers from going off.

The boy didn't listen, and soon there were others joining him. The bell for the start of class went off, but they would not leave him alone. Eventually a teacher saw what was going on, and broke it up, giving each of the boys detention, except for him, Lance was sent to the nurse's office. His face was a little bloodied from that experience, not to mention the black eye he had gotten.

[Morose]

---

---

Guinevere Stark

---

---

Guin glanced up from her desk as the bell rung and there was no sign of Lance. Had he decided to skip? It didn't seem like him. He had been rather adamant about always following the rules the night before. He'd finished his homework before she had even considered looking at her own. As the teacher started to take attendance and marked Lance down as absent, she considered getting up from her desk and looking for him herself. It was just too weird, in her opinion, for him to not be in class.

However, she also knew her dad would have killed her if she ditched class, especially after already getting detention. She instead put her notebook in front of her, taking her hair out of its ponytail and letting it down, as she placed her phone on the desk. With one hand holding a pencil and jotting down notes, she typed away on her phone furiously. Maybe it was a bit of a future stalking streak in her, but she managed to get a location on Lance's phone - and cross referencing that against the map of the school, it looked like he was in the nurse's office.

To: Lando Calrissian (Lab Husband <3)
What're you doing in the nurse's office?

She then paused, before sending off another message.

To: Lando Calrissian (Lab Husband <3)
Also be proud, haven't gotten detention yet.

To: Lando Calrissian (Lab Husband <3)
Today, I mean.

[BlueSky44]

---

---

Lance Banner

---

---

His phone started buzzing as he sat there with an ice pack to his face. His injuries weren't too bad, but for him, this was a first. Not the first time he got beaten up by anyone, but the first time his injuries were actually visible, and he couldn't hide them from anyone this time around. Made him wonder what his dad would say when he found out, since he did tend to hide this sort of thing from him. He usually was able to convince the office not to say anything to him, since his injuries were't visible, but now they would have to. He looked at his phone, and saw Guin's messages.

To: Guin Stark
It's nothing important, just a small incident, though I'm pretty sure they are going to call my dad or something about this one...

He looked up at the nurse who had come back over to him. Lance had been in the room for a few minutes now, and he was pretty sure he knew what she was going to start talking about, it made sense.

"You do know that we need to call your father about this incident, right?" she asked him with a smile.

"Yeah, yeah, I know, wasn't like I'd be able to hide a black eye or anything from him anyway..."

She nodded before she pulled up the contact information for Dr. Banner, and picking up the phone before dialing. Lance was quiet, not really wanting to hear the conversation between them at all. The conversation was about him anyway. This was a little ridiculous in his opinion, but rules were rules, and they had to follow them, no matter how much he didn't want to sometimes.

[Morose]

---

---

Guinevere Stark

---

---

Guin raised an eyebrow at her phone. If they were calling Banner about this, then it clearly wasn't a small incident. She had gone to private school her entire life - boarding school to be precise - but even Guin knew what the standards for calling a parent had to be. If Lance had just scrapped his knee on the way to class and felt a bit ill, he wouldn't have had Banner called in the first scenario or referred to it as a minor incident in the second. There was only one logical conclusion to draw - someone had attacked her best friend.

To: Lando Calrissian (Lab Husband <3)
Send me the names.

And like hell was she going to let someone get away with that. Lance's life was hard enough without people beating him up. After she beat the living daylights out of whoever had hurt him, she figured now was as good a time as any to teach Lance how to fight. If he didn't want to play Just Dance with her, fine. She'd teach him hand-to-hand then. It'd probably help him with his self confidence as well - and there was a chance Aunt Nat would help him out too. She had been the one to train Guin, after all.

"Ms. Stark, what could possibly be more fascinating than physics right now?" her teacher scolded, having finally noticed Guin playing on her phone.

"The amount of bullying and abuse in this school for the so-called best and brightest," Guin shot back. "You'd really think that if someone can take advanced calculus courses in their sophomore year, they'd know better. But hey, I guess that's where super villains with degrees come from, right? Or intelligent serial killers who don't get caught until they actually start leaving clues on purpose?"

"That's enough, Ms. Stark. Put the phone away or it'll be detention again," the teacher ordered sternly, her arms crossed.

Guin hesitated, before slipping her phone into her pocket. "See, was that so hard?" the teacher asked, before returning to the lesson. Guin then pulled up her messages application on her watch, waiting to see if Lance would send her any information on the punks she was about to go school after class. She couldn't help but smirk slightly at how silly the teacher was - did she honestly think her phone was the only electronic device she had on her?

Meanwhile, Banner picked up. "Hello?"

[BlueSky44]

---

---

Lance Banner

---

---

To: Guin Stark
Don't worry about it Guin, I'll be back in class in a few minutes once my head stops pounding... Don't worry about it, alright? I'm fine... I don't even really know the names of the kids anyway...

The fact that Guin sounded like she wanted to beat the kids up made him feel a little better. Though he did not want Guin to get into trouble just because of him. He wasn't lying though, he didn't actually know the names of the ones who had beat him up or anything, he never knew their names. This wasn't the first time something like that had happened to him, but this time it was more obvious, as the injuries were on his face, and visible to others.

"Hello Dr. Banner, I am the nurse at your son's school, and there was an incident that resulted in Lance getting several injuries," she said into the phone, and Lance rolled his eyes at her.

"The injuries weren't that bad, just a black eye and bloody nose... Look, I feel better can I head back to class now? Honest, I feel better," Lance said, loud enough for Banner to be able to hear him on the other end of the phone as he started to stand up.

"No, you are to sit still, and your nose started bleeding again, not to mention the bruises, now, sit down and put that ice pack back to your head," she replied, handing him a paper towel for his nose. Her voice was muffled to Banner, as she tried to cover the receiver with one hand as she spoke to Lance.

[Morose]

---

---

Guinevere Stark

---

---

Guin huffed, her nostrils flaring as Lance said he didn't even know the names of the kids that had beat him up. She started putting together a three step plan in her mind to flush out those responsible. She couldn't help but wonder how much cred she had left due to her last name and her moderately good looks. Hopefully, it'd be enough to complete her plan. If all went well, by the end of the day, the idiots who hurt Lance would be hospitalized. She didn't care if she got in trouble for it. It'd be well worth any punishment the school or her father could contrive.

To: Lando Calrissian (Lab Husband <3)
Physical descriptions?

The teacher didn't notice that Guin once more wasn't paying attention, instead tapping away at her watch. When homework was collected, Guin passed her sheet forward with the rest, her eyes sweeping around the room to find a suitable target for phase one. She spotted a guy in the corner - his name was Flash, if she remembered correctly - and she caught his eyes, giving him a sweet smile. He grinned back at her and Guin tried not to visibly gag.

To: Lando Calrissian (Lab Husband <3)
Don't worry, I'll take care of this.

Meanwhile...

"What the hell happened to my son?! Is he okay?" Banner exclaimed right off the bat. There was the sound of him punching a wall on the other end of the line as he heard Lance list his injuries. "Did they find the kids responsible for this?"

[BlueSky44]

---

---

Lance Banner

---

---

"Do not worry, he is resting here before he goes back to class. The answer to your question is yes, they did catch those responsible for hurting him, and they have been disciplined." she replied calmly, hearing him punch the wall in the background. Lance just rolled his eyes, knowing that this was not going to end well, and he was not too thrilled about the conversation that would be awaiting him back at Stark Tower when he got back.

"Careful, otherwise he might hulk out on you and smash the phone... I told you that you shouldn't call him, but no one listens to me," he muttered, but the nurse shot him a stern look as she held the phone in her hand. He heard his phone buzz, and shook his head. Guin was going to land in major trouble, but he knew that she wasn't going to leave him alone about it.

To: Guin Stark
Alright Guin... But this is mainly to make sure you stop bugging me about it, just... Please do not get in trouble or something alright?

He sent her, before giving her a description of those who had attacked him.

[Morose]

---

---

Guinevere Stark

---

---

The bell rang and first period ended, with Guin collecting her things and pulling out her phone. She glanced at the text from Lance and rolled her eyes slightly. It wasn't a question of if she'd get in trouble at this point - it was more a matter of when she'd get in trouble. And perhaps, how severely she would be punished for the actions she had every intention of committing.

To: Lando Calrissian (Lab Husband <3)
You know me. I never get into trouble.

She smirked slightly as she hit send on that, making her way to her genetics class. It was perhaps one of the few classes at MidTown Tech that she actually hadn't studied before. Yet it had been easy and straightforward so far. They had discussed probability of inheriting traits, based on the simple model of dominant and recessive alleles. She was mostly interested in when they would discuss more advanced cases - such as genetic mutations. But according to the course syllabus, that wouldn't be for weeks.

When she got to class, she realized with a sigh that Lance was probably still at the nurse. She glanced around the room, not really remembering where she had sat the day before, only for two boys to wave her over. She paused for a moment before sitting down next to them. "Hi, I'm Guin..." she introduced herself.

Meanwhile...

Banner was still quite clearly pissed. "I'm coming to pick up my kid. Whoever did this to him - I expect they'll be suspended for a week for their actions! Anything less and you'll be hearing from Stark Industries' lawyers!" Banner shouted, before hanging up the phone in a rage.

[BlueSky44]

---

---

Lance Banner

---

---

He took one look at the message for Guin when the bell rang, and let out a sigh. It was obvious that Guin was planning on doing something to those who had hurt him, and he partially wanted to see what would happen, but he knew better than to think about it.

To: Guin Stark
OK, well... Just don't get into too much trouble, and at least this time it is after first period, instead of during the first five minutes of the school day.

He looked up when the nurse hung up the phone, and looked at him. "You are excused for the rest of the day Lance, your father is coming to take you home." she said, letting out a sigh. Lance had to stop himself from hitting himself in the forehead. He had known that this could happen, and he hadn't even done anything to get sent home, he literally had just walked through the doors of the school when it happened, at least he was smart and constantly got some of his assignments early.

"Of course he is..." he muttered, before shooting off another text to Guin.

To: Guin Stark
Looks like you're on your own for the day, they called my dad, and apparently he is coming to get me... Sometimes I freaking hate it, kind of feel sorry for the nurse though... She's the one who had to call him.

"Hey, would it be alright if I waited for him outside? Don't want to risk any sort of, um... Accidents..." he asked the nurse.

She thought for a moment, "Alright, you may, there are plenty of people nearby who could help you if need be, and your nose bleed has stopped, take the ice pack with you though," she said, and he nodded. He grabbed his bag and headed outside, in front of the school. It was true, he knew that there was a risk of his dad hulking out if he wasn't careful, and he did not want to get anyone else hurt because of him or something.