Summer started to laugh in earnest; Fitz sounded like Tony trying to explain an explosion in the workshop. “I’m still trying to figure out how it just happens in a lab! What kind of work are you doing in there!?” she managed.
“Well, it’s… active lab work,” he explained, screwing up his face. “Shooting ranges. Weapons testing. Some people… like to play pranks on me? Painful, painful pranks?”
“Leo Fitz, you are trying to have me on.” She shook a finger at him. “I know perfectly well you aren’t allowed on the ranges around here without earplugs. Come on, give. The truth.” The shaking finger curled into a ‘gimme’ gesture.
Dryly, she said, “I think you’re supposed to wear a mask for the latter, and ear plugs for the former. What even are you doing that people are firing guns by your /head/?”
“How was I suppose to know that when introduced to inorganic matter, Argon reacts like a bonfire display during Guy Fawkes Night? I’m not a chemist!” He crossed his arms, a little indignant, but still managing a small smile. “… Work? It’s not like I control when it happens. Sometimes it just happens! Bang bang! Ow ow. Ears bleeding.”
Summer started to laugh in earnest; Fitz sounded like Tony trying to explain an explosion in the workshop. “I’m still trying to figure out how it just happens in a lab! What kind of work are you doing in there!?” she managed.
“A what?” She blinked a couple times, pulling back. “‘Laryn’ — that’s like larynx, so throat … but I don’t know the rest. Well, ‘ologist’, that’s doctor of some sort.”
“An ENT,” he said simply. “Ear-Nose-Throat doctor. I know a good one.” He nodded slowly, scratching the top of his head. “It’s helpful when people are firing guns by your head, and things blow up, and you deal with abrasive chemical compounds that get into your sinuses.”
Dryly, she said, “I think you’re supposed to wear a mask for the latter, and ear plugs for the former. What even are you doing that people are firing guns by your /head/?”
Summer giggled. “They said it, not me!” She leaned over a little. “But you can check my ears if you like.”
His brow furrowed, mouth abruptly going dry. Was this flirting? He could never tell. Especially when the girl was prettier than he was — then, it was usually a joke. “I—I’m not an otolaryngologist.”
“A what?” She blinked a couple times, pulling back. “‘Laryn’ — that’s like larynx, so throat … but I don’t know the rest. Well, ‘ologist’, that’s doctor of some sort.”
“Well, yeah. Someone was asking about the cute engineer. That’s you.”
“… Huh? Sorry? What? I’m not sure I heard you correctly. Did you say you had a q-tip in your ear? It’s actually not recommended… to put cotton swabs… in your ears…”
Summer giggled. “They said it, not me!” She leaned over a little. “But you can check my ears if you like.”
“I’ve got supersonic hearing. No—actually, I thought I heard it echoing down the hall and thought I’d play a trick, see if anybody would fess us to it.”
