science my way out

[ofpalmers]

noreqviem‌:

“As nice as it’ll be when she start sleeping through the night, I sort of like getting up at night with her,” Ayla admitted as she looked down at her daughter in her arms. Throughout her pregnancy she had been worried she wouldn’t be a good mom. She didn’t have great parents, not until she came to earth and Hal and Carol found her. That fear still managed to creep into the back of her mind, but something about having Adam around made it easier on her to push those fears away. 

“Hate to tell you-,” Adam casually ran off of an average of three to three and a half hours a night during the busier times of his life. A natural poor sleep cycle indulged by his father. “-but I’ve never been a sound sleeper. If I couldn’t go back to sleep I would read, or tinker around or, go wake dad up.” His mouth shifted to the side. “Maybe Hallie will be different though. From me. Hopefully.”

[ofpalmers]

defthcnds‌:

“Listen, I’m pretty sure anyone who can say they’re finishing another degree can also say it’s a big deal. That’s not like - normal, Adam.” She says with the slightest hint of awe in her tone. The truth is, Adam is an incredible person - he’s a genius, he’s funny, he’s energetic and bright, he’s warm and welcoming and just a good guy. And that’s why she’s always been so damn careful to keep him at arm’s length. Because he deserves so much better than to deal with someone like her, someone who is basically a train wreck in nice clothes and stilettos.

He doesn’t exactly look like he wants to be here, either. Elana might’ve worked hard to make sure Adam believed she didn’t care, wasn’t invested, wasn’t interested in him, but she likes to believe she knows him pretty well. And he definitely does not seem like this is the reunion he wanted. “You should know by now I’m always fine.“ She spends a lot of effort making sure no one sees the cracks, to make sure no one actually knows the truth. No one should have to deal with that, and Elana’s not really sure she trusts anyone with that anyway.

If she were going to trust anyone with it, it probably would’ve been Adam. But that was a while ago.

She raises an eyebrow at him, not only at his words but at his actions - if he thinks he’s being subtle about how weird he’s being over his coffee, he’s sorely mistaken. “What’s wrong with your coffee?” She asks bluntly, tilting her head to the side a little as she considers his statement. “I’m studying, Adam. Nothing as advanced as you I’m sure, but I figured it was time to get some kinda degree.” Not that college is hard for her. Elana’s not stupid - she’s pretty switched on, actually - but school isn’t really her priority. And besides - Adam’s not wrong. Of course he’s not. Her hobby had become an amusing sort of competition for them. “Good to hear you’ve upgraded security, though. You sure needed it. Have you done some good testing on the new system? Maybe you should get a consultant in, just to be safe.”

“Well, if you say so-,” of course he knew it was impressive, but he wouldn’t allow it to go to his head. His degrees came from a place of enormous privilege. He was smart but a lot of people were smarter but didn’t have the same resources. “It might be poison.” He replied back, sniffing it one last time. But no nut smell was detected, and again, it had his name on it. This is what he got for not watching the process of it being made, rather, striking up a conversation with the person that had been behind him. “By poison I mean- hazelnut coffee creamer. You may not remember but I’m allergic to a various amount of foods, plant and animal species. It makes my life a little difficult but if that’s the only thing I have to complain about it, then, I’m doing pretty well.”

“You’re studying? What are you majoring in?” He felt- proud? But couldn’t express that. He, as a pseudo-ex boyfriend with a messy sort of history with her, was not supposed to express that. “That’s really great. I’m proud of you-,” it slipped out. Shoulder shrug emoji. “We’ve done excellent testing. The best testing. 100%-,” he realized that in his excitement over the a security system, he was...baiting her into this. “That I wouldn’t recommend you test, really. I’m not trying to..tempt you or anything. I think you should leave it alone.” He was..literally asking for it.

[ofpalmers]

gammasgirl‌:

“good morning!” winnie chirped brightly as she approached adam’s desk in the library. she had spotted him as she’d wandered through the aisles to try and find a particular textbook, but couldn’t help herself to go over and say hello to him. leaning against his table gently, the redhead was always excited to see him – there almost relationship had blossomed into a wonderful friendship, and now she didn’t know where she’d be without him. “i can see you’re working, but– i thought you might like a coffee. you need a break, or anything?” she asked politely, nudging him a little. [ @ofpalmers ]

“Goood morn-ing,” he sang back, to the tune of the song. Lost in his work, he looked up to see Winnie Banner. A truly pleasant surprise. It was rare for anyone to approach him like this, here in the library. “Winnie Banner, hello.” He’d never held ill will toward her for the ending of their non-relationship. It seemed that they worked better as friends. “I could always use a break. And coffee.”

[ofpalmers]

noreqviem‌:

“Look what Daddy brought you, Baby,” Ayla cooed, taking the bottle from Adam to feed Hallie before scooting closer to her best friend resting her head against his shoulder. “You’re fine, I promise.”

This was all new territory for them. They had been, in Adam’s opinion, great at being best friends. The very best of friends. And now- things were different. She was still his best friend, but they had Hallie. “alright.” He felt like he should stay up now, with her head on his shoulder and all. Adam readjusted, making his back more comfortable against the wall. “You rock at this, kiddo.” he said, sort of absentmindedly, on a fast track to being back asleep. 

[ofpalmers]

babycanary‌:

* closed starter for / @ofpalmers !

“you want a hot chocolate?” the offered cup, after all, was FOR him. it wasn’t like she had walked to the stall serving it and accidentally bought two - she was being nice, or at least trying to be, and part of that, she thought, meant giving. wasn’t that the real spirit of christmas? “it’s got a special ingredient in it, added by yours truly-” her eyes sparkled, ruby lips pulling wide with a delighted sort of smile, “i like to call it BOURBON - and trust me, it’ll really warm you up.” 

“Special ingredient?” He brought the cup to his nose, hoping for caramel before she mentioned alcohol. His hopes dashed a little, but it was still nice of her to think of him in her hot chocolate buying endeavors. She even personalized it, Nora style. What more could a friend ask for? “thank you, nora. Personalized hot chocolates, with special ingredients, really are in the holiday spirit. Even if it is-” he took a sip, and gave his head a small shake. “warm- that is some hot- this is going to do me in, right here.”

[ofpalmers]

niightshadc‌:

of course, he saw her. was she stupid, thinking she could outrun him? thinking she’d go her whole life without seeing him again? perhaps the shame of arkham made that wish a thing, but it was clearly not to be fulfilled today. not with him standing in front of her, a stain pen held out, both looking at each other with looks expressing their own shock.

“adam.” she said flatly, looking from side to side until she realized she was firmly stuck. there was no way out of this situation, no way to erase seeing him, just as there was no way to erase the years the spent together, no matter how hard she’d tried in her quest to forget her past life.

she looks at her soaked shirt and to the tiny stain-fighting pen, “yeah, situation is that won’t do shit for… 90 percent of my shirt,” she says flatly, groaning as she grabbed a few napkins ( always hating how wasteful they were ) to begin to soak up the mess, “whatever, it was a thrift find anyway,” she shrugs it off, finally looking from the ground to him

it hurts, seeing how well-off he seems. not that she can blame anyone for the hurt but herself… still, it’s there, dull and throbbing in the pits of her chest as she looks over him again, “yeah. i work– in town. I work in town,” she’s nervous, and is just unsure of how much to reveal in this situation, “long time no see,” she finishes awkwardly, instantly regretting the word choice.

“it’ll come out. Or else..all of my clothes would be coffee stained.” It would be a lie to say that that he had not missed her. All of his relationships since Lux- were stained with Lux. Their relationship began when they were young. And they were two people that were different. Different temperaments. Different upbringings. Different stances on hero things. But he had loved her as she was. Thorns and all. As she was. And then she became- not the women he knew. Upon reflection, maybe he hadn’t loved her fully as she was. Maybe he had romanticized their relationship like he did with everything else. 

“I work in town too.” He says. But that’s almost a joke. Adam works..for Palmer tech. His dad’s company. Doing..whatever Adam wants. It’s work- and he enjoys it. Lux knows what he does, and that really, it can be done anywhere in the world as long as the right equipment is in the room. 

Long time no see, she says. Like they were buddies that had drifted apart after graduation. That hurts, probably more than it should. But he forgives it because he wants to believe the words were formed in shocked state of mind, rather than one of trying to hurt him with subtle jabs. Sure, she’d broken off the engagement and left him alone with all of their dying plants. But he didn’t think she would go out of her way to hurt- him? 

Maybe she was hurting too. And he had loved her. Apart of him still loved her, despite all of that. “Yeah. How’ve you been?”

[ofpalmers]

sugvrplum‌:

it wasn’t that dot disliked adam. [ @ofpalmers ]

in fact, it was quite the opposite – the young woman thought he was lovely, and an especially kind young man. she had, for a brief time, had a crush on him, not that anyone knew. but now things were awkward, and in fact, things had been awkward when he’d got her sister pregnant, and in the eleven months between then and now, she’d seen him a grand total of two times, as opposed to the three or so times a week she had seen him at one point. so she didn’t dislike him, things were just… awkward.

and though her office was open to everyone, she certainly wasn’t expecting to see him. “hi,” dot signed, hesitant and shifting a little. “what can i do for you?”

The nurse’s office had been his thing growing up. Aside from being the place where his inhalers and tylenol were kept under lock and key to be accessed whenever he felt that he needed it, he used to spend copious amounts of time there. In elementary school often went there to read instead of going out for recess, or to read when the class was too far behind where he actually was (each scenario, he was wearing his own surgical-like mask, to hide from the actual germs that lived there). Often times, accompanied by an excuse- he had a stomachache, a migraine, the flu, he tried everything. 

Now, he walked by the office without much of a thought. He had...mostly overcome that part of his life. Mostly. And he figured Dot would be in there. Adam hadn’t seen Dot in a while, since Ayla had become pregnant, actually. He’d always been Ayla’s friend, but Dot had been his friend too. At least, he thought she was. 

He backtracked, entering the room, and signed hello back to her. “I am sick.” His face was very straight at first. Adam had told Dot, several times, about his childhood antics of the nurses office. He hoped that she remembered or this was about to be odd for her. “very, sick. maybe with the flu. maybe a migraine. Could be the asthma.” 

[ofpalmers]

defthcnds‌:

For someone who’d been so determined to make their arrangement something more, Adam definitely seems… well, fine. Granted it’s been a couple of years and it’s not like they were dating, Elana made sure of that. Besides, it’s not like she’s the kind of person anyone should really get all cut up about. If anything, it was probably a hell of a lot better for him when Elana up and disappeared out of his life. God knows he deserved better than her, someone who wasn’t ready, still isn’t ready, to face the music on just how much he actually came to mean to her.

“I’m not even surprised. Boy genius, at it again.” She says with a laugh, playing it casual, doing her best to stay calm, to keep her cool, collected, closed off impression for as long as she can. Adam’s probably one of the few people who’s always been able to shake it - but it’s been a while, that’s changed. She has to believe it’s changed. She’s in no position to be vulnerable right now. “Me? Fine, totally fine as always. Lots to do around here you know.” Elana answers with a wave of her hand and a grin, staying as casual as possible.

“Psh- it’s not a big deal or anything.” A small, somewhat bashful smile formed on his lips. It was a huge deal. And he was excited to have another one under his belt and get back to work full time. Or working part time, hero-ing the other part. Or he could- be a dad full time. Let Ayla do her thing uninterrupted while he took care of Hallie. The possibilities seemed endless. There was nowhere from here but up, right? That was his mindset, anyway. 

But bad things come in threes. And Adam would not classify running into another ex in the same week as a bad thing. Running into Elana was not the greatest. He was sure to go home and think about it for the next two weeks. Rerunning the scenario in his head until he went to sleep every night, with a positive tint too it. But other people would see it as an affirmed negative. That bad things come in threes and this was a second. He looked down at his coffee. Maybe there was hazelnut creamer in it. He did have a nut allergy, after all. 

“that’s- good to hear.” With his eyes not leaving Elana’s, he pulled the coffee to his nose and sniffed. Nothing but vanilla. He checked the cafe printed label on it, the coffee was marked as his. “that you’re fine as always.” But she hadn’t always seemed fine...not everyone was like him, saying exactly how he felt most of the time. “well-,” he finally broke his stare and went to take a sip of his coffee. But he stopped, now fearing the non-existent nut-flavored creamer. “let’s hope the new Palmer tech building isn’t one of those things. Security’s pretty tight.”

[ofpalmers]

noreqviem‌:

“I think we can do that,” Ayla smiled. Adam had been one of the first friends she had made on earth, in an odd way it almost felt fitting that they had a daughter together now. “There’s no reason you can’t sleep in here, Adam, I have a big bed for a reason.”

“Oh- alright.” Just for tonight, he was certain it was the tired version of her brain talking. Or maybe she was talking as a co-parent and knew that he would be more likely to get up with Hallie if he was here instead of on the couch. Either way, the tired version of his brain accepted. Just for tonight. Back to the couch tomorrow night. He went back to his side of the bed and gently climbed in. “I swear I’ll get up next though. Deal?”

[ofpalmers]

defthcnds‌:

Elana knows that voice. She’s known it for a few years know. She’d recognise it anywhere. It makes her stop dead in her tracks, frozen on the spot, pivoting slowly on the balls of her feet, almost comically as she turns to the face she was perfectly content to never see again. Not because the person it belongs to wasn’t a decent human being - but because she wasn’t. Not to him, at least. And god knows he deserved better. “Adam. Wow. Uh - yeah, yeah. It’s been a while.” She says slowly, eyes wide, very much like a deer in headlights. Of course he caught her on campus, on the grounds, in the middle of the day where there’s no real way for her to escape without making it obvious. Of course her luck is that shitty. “You’re… here. At Paragon.” She says slowly, blinking a couple of times as she processes this. The reality is, though - she has no goddamn idea where to start. “Visiting friends?” She asks hopefully - if he was, that means he’d leave soon and she could go back to avoiding just what he was to her, not to mention the fact that she’d disappeared on him without a word.

He took heartbreak in stride, always. Efforts were put into retaining his natural enthusiasm and throwing himself into the next project. Or the next mission. Or whatever it was that would keep him distracted enough to feel the full effects of that hurt. Adam had not been allowed to love Elana like he had wanted to, and she may not have reciprocated any of his feelings, but they had something. And Adam felt the same type of sadness when she left as he had with the handful of others that had.

Adam had been here for months. But Paragon was a big place that seemed to grow larger by the day. It seemed that people from his past, most of which were welcome presences, appeared unexpectedly. “Yeah! I am here. I’ve been here for..sometime now. I’m finishing up another degree with the University.” His voice was pitched as if he was excited to see an old friend. Because he was. The enthusiasm, combined with the shock, came together to form a- positively exasperated tone of voice. “How have you been?”

[ofpalmers]

noreqviem‌:

Cradling the infant in her arms, Ayla settled back into bed, leaning against her pillows. “I’m fine, I took a nap with her earlier when I got out of class. Can you go grab a bottle out of the fridge though? You just have to heat it up a little bit.” She reassured her friend before turning her attention back to her daughter in her arms. “Your daddy is such a worrier, baby girl, what are we going to do with him?”

He wants to question and point out that a brief nap does not make up for losing literal days of sleep since the baby was born. But Adam goes with it for now since everyone was awake and speaking, including a crying and hungry Hallie. “Keep me around, regardless, I hope” He replies on his way out. Minutes later, he’s back, warmed bottle in tow. “There’s something off about that bottle warmer-,” he muses, still groggy, “I’m going to take it with me tomorrow to the lab and look at it-,” It’s 1 am, he reminds himself. “Do you want me to take her? or-” show himself back to the couch, where he typically slept anyway. 

[ofpalmers]

niightshadc‌:

this was the third time she’d seem him since she got to town, and she was absolutely avoiding him, especially with a baby on his arm. in fact, the first time she saw him, she had to collect herself in a bathroom that was a short run away. Adam Palmer, in front of Lux once again… she knew the possibilities were endless on who could be here, but she didn’t want him around. she didn’t want the biggest possible reminder of what could have been in her ex-fiance. and she ESPECIALLY did not want to fawn over the adorable baby she’d seen him with…. so, she’s admittedly happy the baby is no where to be seen, but it distracts her just enough to where she is not turning tail and running the other way immediately. she’s so distracted in fact that she ends up running straight into a person with a full cup of coffee just waiting to be spilled on her.

“fuck!” she shouts without thinking as the hot liquid coats her front, unable to help but announce her presence, “god– shit I– I’m sorry,” her stammering and cursing flows together like the pro she was at frazzled speech, and though she’s utterly sure she’s blown it, she turns her face away from Adam in some futile hope he won’t see her. [ @ofpalmers ] 

Adam was patiently waiting in line to order, he knew he should have used the app to order his coffee in advance. Had he done that, he would be back in the lab by now. But he argued to himself that the fresh air was needed after being stuck in a building since the wee hours of that morning (5 am, he had been ahead of schedule).

It was his turn to order when he heard the commotion happening to his left. Adam rarely let these things go not investigated, even if that meant a quick glance to make sure everything was fine. He looked, determined it was just a coffee spill, it was a shame that woman’s blouse was going to be stained the rest of the day. What if she had something important, like a high-powered meeting. Or a job interview. Pulling his stain pen from his messenger bag as he walked, he looked back up.

He was standing right in front of her now. It was her. Lux Wayne had abruptly left his life years ago, first with a note, and then with a second goodbye. But he loved her, he said, they could patch it up, whatever was wrong he could fix it. But it ended there. He left, moved back in with his dead, and rebuilt his life from there. 

He had moved on from that night on the rooftop in Gotham. It had hurt., “uh-,” the stain pen was already extended to her in his mindless state of panic. “this is uh- quite the situation we have on our hands. Hi.”

[ofpalmers]

noreqviem‌:

Having Adam with her had made the past two months since Hallie was born so much easier on Ayla. She was so thankful for her best friend and honestly couldn’t imagine it any other way. Ayla had been working on putting the last minute touches on a research paper when she must have dozed off and before she knew it she was woken up by the sound of her daughters cries. Closing her laptop, she put it on her nightstand and reached over to Hallie’s bassinet, carefully picking her up. Feeling Adam move, she turned her head, “it’s okay, I have her, go back to sleep.”

Adam’s first thought was how much he wanted to go back to sleep. But that’s what she wanted as well. He had gotten a handful of full nights sleep a handful of times since Hallie’s birth. Ayla likely hadn’t had any. He’d been reminding himself of this for the past 2 weeks, it was why he was so quick to jump up. He sat back down on the bed and scooted closer to them. “I can take her.” he whispered, regardless that all three were awake. “I’m not keeping track or anything but-,” he was. totally was. “-I think that I have something like, 2 hours of sleep on you.”

[ofpalmers]

“Hey- heyyyy- Elana?” This was a strange time for him. He was a new dad, trying to finish up the degree, research, continuing to moonlight as Quark- it was a lot all at once. But Adam was used to juggling most of it. The dad thing was new. And he’d never seen Elana in public like this before. It had been nearly two years since he had seen her last. Maybe a little bit more. Time sometimes blurred together for him. “Hey!” He sounded more enthusiastic than what he felt on the inside. But he was here, in front of her now. “Long time no see.” a disaster. ( @defthcnds )

[ofpalmers]

It had become a regular occurrence for him to sleep here in the last couple of months. The idea of leaving Ayla here to take care of the baby herself didn’t sit right with him. If she was sleepless, he should be as well. So he started sleeping on her couch most nights after Hallie’s brith. Tonight, however, he had dozed off next to Ayla while reading, his book light was still on. Adam had been sleeping for an hour and a half or so when he heard a cry from the bassinet on the other side of the bed. Ayla’s side. Shutting off his light, he pushed himself off of the bed slowly, hoping to get to Hallie before she woke Ayla. ( @noreqviem )