Down periscope! Dive dive dive! [open, btw. come talk to the grouchy green genius, newbies]

[cabbage-butt.livejournal.com]

Anyone who ventures near the bathrooms will hear odd, strained clanking noises, to the point of possibly making some wonder if one of the Transformers is trying to go and having a hard time of it.

This is not a sign of one of the 'bots on board needing more robo-fiber, however.

Brainiac 5 is up to something.

Surprisingly, his techie hijinks are something he's been ordered to do--Jaime, the one in charge of the team trying to open up more of the ship has tasked him with building things to scout out where the waste goes, to use that to find out more about Stacy's hidden structures and ductwork, and that's exactly what he's doing--building an array in the bathroom to control and track the sensor-bots he's about to send where the sun don't shine.

"Hmm...still losing signal strength..."

Comments

[cabbage-butt.livejournal.com]

That's when he stops in mid-air, right over the treetops, which means she barrels on ahead without him.

[girl-of-steel.livejournal.com]

She's gotten quite a distance away from Brainy before she realizes that he's not following her.

That he's just stopped in mid-air.

That he's just...staring straight ahead.

Cripes. I think I broke him.

Slowly, she makes her way back towards him.

[cabbage-butt.livejournal.com]

When she gets close, he seems to back away just a little bit.

[girl-of-steel.livejournal.com]

Kara freezes, knitting her eyebrows together.

That's...not the reaction she was...well, not that she was looking for a reaction, but if she had been, that wouldn't have been the one she wanted.

What, did she have crystals sprouting out of her body or something? A quick check proved that wasn't the case.

Then...what?

"Brainy?"

[cabbage-butt.livejournal.com]

He looks down at the treetops, his body language distinctly uncomfortable. If only he had something he could hold in his hands and fiddle around with so he didn't have to look her in the eye--oh wait.

He's trying to process this information, but it's difficult.

Ultimately, the conclusion he comes to is perhaps more painful (why is it painful when he doesn't care about her at all? he wonders) but ultimately the only he thinks seems most likely to be true.

"I know you must do it because my reactions to your...behavior are likely entertaining, but I find it distinctly discomfiting. Please stop."

Please stop flirting with the socially retarded nerd just because you think it's funny when he flails, Kara.

Because he knows the alternative, that you might actually like him, certainly can't be true.

[girl-of-steel.livejournal.com]

Kara licks her lips, studying him. Is he...being serious? Like, entirely serious? Doesn't he know? Can't he tell? You don't have that many...moments...between two people just think that it's all a joke!

"Is that why you think I'm always coming to talk to you? Because your discomfort amuses me?"

[cabbage-butt.livejournal.com]

"That seems the most accurate conclusion, given your behavior, yes."

Others come to talk to him, spend time with him, but the only reason someone would come back over and over and seem to be so fascinated with him, the only reason she would act so...oddly, as if she had romantic interest in him certainly must be her trying to amuse herself.

[girl-of-steel.livejournal.com]

Kara's eyes glaze over for a moment and her jaw goes slack. Disbelief is clearly written on her face for a moment. "The most accurate conclusion. Right." She zooms over to him and holds out Brainy's security blanket device. "Here," she says coldly. "I just remembered that I have someone else to go bully."

[cabbage-butt.livejournal.com]

Snatching his omnicom back, there's an actual...hurt look on his face, just for a moment, before the shields are back up, and his own cold expression is there.

"Yes, well, I'm sorry I'm no longer entertaining for you now that I've discerned your ruse."

He believes her. He thinks he just got confirmation. She's going to flit off and tease someone else, and he's going to go without the recurring...warmth he was trying to pretend he wasn't fond of that her presence kept bringing him.

Of course that's how it is. Some had deep, genuine fondness for him, like his friends in the Legion, but a part of him knew that anyone that seemed to care about him more than that was likely being deceptive. Past experience had taught him that.

Inwardly, Brainiac 5 is cursing himself for not detecting the telltale signs of her social manipulation sooner.

[girl-of-steel.livejournal.com]

"Yeah. My ruse. You're so smart, aren't you, Brainy? You saw right threw it all. I mean, look at me. Cute. Perky. Blonde. Gifted with incredible superpowers. Why would someone like me take a serious interest in someone like you, right?" Her voice is colder than usual, and for someone who's eyes would usually be flaring red at this point...they're not. Her breath is particularly icy though. She turns and flies away towards the exit of the sensorium. Stopping at the doorway, she turns back to Brainy. "Y'know, for someone with your codename, you can be a real idiot sometimes. Don't worry, though. I won't come and bother you again," she added before looking up at, well, where the ceiling should have been. "Stacy, you can drop the setting. Game over." And then she was out the door, heading for some place where she could be alone.

[cabbage-butt.livejournal.com]

Brainy is left floating there for a moment, and for all his mind is brilliant, it can be just as traitorous as anyone else's. Her words are twisted in his head. The coldness of her tone means her saying that she couldn't possibly be interested in him is exactly what she feels.

He doesn't care, of course. He is a Brainiac, after all. He's one of the most intelligent individuals in his universe and time, and possibly the smartest in all of the United Planets. His ego has taken barrage after barrage of pointless cruelty, insults, and jealousy since he was born, and remained completely intact. After all, most other Coluans may as well be apes compared to him. He's a Legionnaire and done absolutely incredible things in his time at the Legion, and well known for his conduct. His fellow Legionnaires accept and trust him.

Kara's feigned interest means nothing to him. It hasn't harmed him at all. He'll simply go back to work, as usual, and be glad she knows better than to attempt to distract him. After all, he'd never been interested back.

He's not hurt at all.

Not at all.