[center][h2][b][i][color=00ffff]Victoria van Dyne[/color][/i][/b][/h2][hr][b][color=00ffff]Date: [/color][/b]Sep 22nd, 2036
[B][Color=00ffff]Location: [/color][/b]LA
[B][Color=00ffff]Outfit: [/color][/b]Sports jumpsuit
[B][Color=00ffff]Skills/Powers/Equipment: [/color][/b]N/A[/center][hr]
It was a late summer, and Victoria was more confused than ever. She has completed the function testing of her new mobile shell two months ago. Therefore, she logically expected to get more advanced training now, preferably alongside some sort of professional with skills she might be of use. Field medics? Firefighters? Maybe a tango with a few F-22s?

No, she has found herself walking through a park in LA, apparently waiting for [i]school to start[/i]. [Color=00ffff]"I still don't understand why this is necessary,"[/color] Vicky said as they passed a playground. [Color=00ffff]"I could be shadowing first responders right now. Assisting search and rescue operations. Paramedic training. Even lazying around in low orbit repairing some satellites! All that would be actually helpful to someone."[/color] she put up, confusion never leaving her face since she was told about the future plans for her a few days ago.

Rhodey let her finish. He never rushed her, letting Vicky arrive to the conclusion mostly on her own, with a careful nudge in the right direction from time to time. When she glanced up at him in a silent question, he raised an eyebrow. [color=silver]"How long did it take you to memorize field triage manuals?"[/color]

[Color=00ffff]"Four minutes and twenty one seconds,"[/color] she replied. [Color=00ffff]"I've been practicing first aid in the nights."[/color]

[Color=silver]"Right. So maybe what you need most now isn't more of the same."[/color] He nodded ahead toward a small plaza in the park, where a few teenagers were scattered across benches, steps, and the edges of the fountain. [Color=00ffff]"Humor me for a minute: Go make a friend."[/color]

Victoria blinked: [Color=00ffff]"Come again?"[/color]

[Color=00ffff]"You heard me."[/color]

She stared at him like he asked her to disarm a warhead with a paperclip. Sweeping her gaze across the park, she analyzed her options. A boy tossing a frisbee. A girl with purple earbuds tapping out a rhythm on her thigh. A couple having a picnic. Her mind offered dozens of conversation starters. [i]"Hello, may I join you?"[/i] No, too intrusive. [i]"Do you enjoy carbohydrate based frozen drinks?"[/i] Well, maybe not that one. [i]"What is the appeal of aimlessly walking in circles around a pond?"[/i] Each of them was promptly vetoed for one reason or other.

After several seconds, she started toward a bench where a girl sat drawing in a sketchpad. But as she came closer, she slowed down, her mind branching into scenarios where the interaction ended terribly. But the girl noticed her and looked up, surprised, but not unfriendly.

Victoria opened her mouth. No words came out. She tried again. [Color=00ffff]"Is this seat taken?"[/color] she asked, voice barely a whisper.

The girl smiled. "Nope. Go ahead."

Victoria sat rigidly, hands folded neatly in her lap. She stared ahead, then glanced sideways at the sketchpad. [Color=00ffff]"You like drawing?”[/color] she asked, mentally kicking herself immediately after. [i][Color=00ffff]I'm sure if I change my last name to Obvious, I'll be taken into the army at the rank of captain as soon as I show up![/color][/i]

"Yeah," the girl said. "Do you?"

Victoria took a moment too long to think of a good response, so she rolled with the first thing that came to mind. [Color=00ffff]"I tried, but I'm too clumsy with a flat sheet. The world does not exist in two dimensions, capturing it like that is... lacking."[/color]

The girl blinked, just having her past time hated on. "Uuh... Okay, then." Sensing Victoria’s tension, the girl offered a smile. "I'm Julia."

[Color=00ffff]"Victoria."[/color]

"Nice to meet you, Victoria." Julia said in a warm tone, trying to thaw the iceberg next to her before she got a frostbite. "You from around here?"

Victoria hesitated. [Color=00ffff]"...Yes. After a fashion. We move around."[/color] The silence that followed was [i]very[/i] loud.

Victoria could not take the awkward situation anymore and rose abruptly. [Color=00ffff]"Thank you for your time,"[/color] she said, then walked back toward Rhodey, gazing down on her feet and looking morose.

Rhodey was leaning against a tree nearby, arms crossed and an amused look on his face, mixed with a little bit of understanding and [i]pity[/i]. [Color=silver]"So, what have we learned today?"[/color]

Vicky considered that seriously. [Color=00ffff]"Having a great theoretical knowledge of human behavior... And applying it are very different things."[/color]

Rhodey chuckled, then nodded towards the path they came from and started walking them back. [Color=silver]"Vicky, I've seen you solve aerodynamics problems that stupmed Stark for weeks in under a hour. But this is not the same."[/color] he explained. [Color=silver]"This,"[/color] he gestured behind them toward the kids laughing near the fountain, [Color=silver]"this isn't a problem you solve. It's about people you need to get to know. And that's slower. And it's not an algorithm or an equation. But it matters, perhaps more than what you can obviously do."[/color]

Victoria looked at him quizzically: [Color=00ffff]"Why?"[/color]

[Color=silver]"Because that helps you grow as a [i]person[/i], not just as a [i]tool[/i]. That person - who you are when no one needs saving? That's the person that decides whether and who shows up when they do."[/color] he shared.

Victoria was quiet for a moment, then nodded. [Color=00ffff]"I think I understand. I will try again... Later."[/color]

Rhodey smiled, clapping her gently on the shoulder. [Color=silver]"That's all we're asking, kid. That's all any of us are doing."[/color]