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[helpdesk_hero]

This is David Alleyne, I'm not available at the moment.
Please leave your name, contact information, and what this is regarding after the beep.

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[helpdesk_hero]

[Oh his smile grows.]

Oh yes. Not here, because Excelsior is stupid, but it's a thing. In fact, there's one on the desk of Jessica in accounting. Actually, there's one on Chad in HR's too. I'm jealous that they found some.

[doctopoda]

[Otto chuckles, because - okay, it's sort of embarrassing, but it also feels too silly to actually be annoyed over.]

Oh my god. They're importing them. What, has he got -

[He shifts the actuators so that one is behind his back and one just sort of...is in the middle, he guesses? Why would you have an odd number of them?]

[helpdesk_hero]

Yep, like that. I think there was talk of a drone toy too. But the current one has clamp action.

[doctopoda]

You hear that? You've got clamp action.

[That's directed at a claw. Flo is not impressed! Probably, it's hard to tell.]

Well, it could always be worse. He's not in the jumpsuit, is he?

[helpdesk_hero]

I can't tell if they're impressed or not.

[Oh the jumpsuit. David shakes his head.]

Nah, looks more like you do now.

[doctopoda]

They don't really have that kind of emotional range. But I'm sure they would be.

[In Otto's experience, the most he can really attribute to them is fear, curiosity, and anger. You know, like a creature.]

Good, good. I can live with that. Though I'd rather be getting some royalties, as long as I don't have a secret identity to hide.

[helpdesk_hero]

I mean, you could always sign on to a merchandise deal with the Guild. Then they could make licensed ones that look good, and you would get your cut of the pie.

[It's the fact that it's all unlicensed merch that is denying Otto money.]

[doctopoda]

I could.

[And the unlicensed merch is mildly annoying when you think about it like that. All the same - Otto grimaces a little.]

Though I hate to play into their marketing hands like that. Last time I went into the HQ, this young kid wouldn't stop badgering me to get a "Tiktok".

[Suffice it to say, Otto did not get an Tiktok.]

[helpdesk_hero]

[And if there was licensed stuff, maybe the guilds would step on the unlicensed. But David doubted it.]

Yeah, don't do that. No reason to give in to that specific sort of social media horror.

[doctopoda]

He thought I could get good videos, because of all my hands.

[Which like, objectively he probably could. One dedicated tentacle as he leaps over the rooftops! But, uh, that's really not his scene.]

If I'm honest, I find the idea of using all of this to gain fame distasteful. [A claw taps on the ground for a moment, thoughtful, before he adds:] Especially in my position. Feels like cheating.

[He'd been public enemy number one for a while there. Why should he suddenly just be vaulted to hero status?]

[helpdesk_hero]

[Okay, yeah, he thinks he gets what the guy would be getting at there, so he chuckles.]

He's not wrong. But yeah, I've done the whole fame thing. Avoid it, as much as you can. It's miserable and people start making fanfic about you and that's just upsetting.

[doctopoda]

What?

[WHAT MAKES YOU THINK HE KNOWS WHAT FANFICTION IS, IT WAS NOT THAT COMMON PARLANCE IN 2004]

[helpdesk_hero]

[Oh Otto, you poor thing. At least it isn't Doreen telling you this.]

You know how some people get really into celebrity relationship gossip?

[doctopoda]

Yes...?

[oh he doesn't love where this is going]

[helpdesk_hero]

Well, some people go further and write stories about it. It's a mess.

[doctopoda]

...ugh. No further questions.

[He's done, he has more than sufficient information! And anyway, thank god, there's the timer on dinner!]

Ah, perfect! Let's never talk about that again. [he's smiling but also oh my god]

[helpdesk_hero]

ANd that's the advantage of being bright. I don't have to draw more of a picture. Trust me. I never want to remember it.

[Even if some of the fanart was good. He rises, time to head back to the kitchen.]

Wish I could help more on the Arc tech too, but I never had the breadth of my powers around Tony, not close enough, so that's something I don't have in my head.

[doctopoda]

Oh, don't worry about that. I've been enjoying working my way through it! I'm sure if I really wanted, Peter could give me some pointers - the technology seemed common in his world.

[He may have a slightly biased vision of the tech levels there, seeing as he spent most of his time in that world in Peter's (friend's?) apartment. But like, the arc reactor and fabricator were just...sitting there? In someone's residence???

Otto opens the oven and removes the dishes with a careful claw - no oven mitts in sight. If you've got specialized heat-proof tools, may as well use them when you can.]

Looks good!

[helpdesk_hero]

Well, Peter Parkers seem to be prone to genius. It's a facet of theirs that seems to help.

[Those are useful tools and for a moment David is jealous]

This is one place where I don't back down from my pride. Instead I own it and say 'of course it does, I made it'.

[doctopoda]

[From operating nuclear fusion reactors to taking casseroles out of the oven...they've really fallen in the world.]

I'll hold you to it. [The arms weave past David to set the dishes on the table, while Otto gets a serving spoon. Time for dinner!] I'm a decent cook at best. It was never my forte.

[It was Rosie's. When there's something missing, in what Otto says, it's nearly always her.]

[helpdesk_hero]

[Hey, perhaps they've risen. Now they are providing food. That's good.]

It was my father's forte. I chose to make it my own.

[doctopoda]

[They may or may not agree! Otto, for perhaps obvious reasons, doesn't much like to discuss the reactor with anyone, much less them.]

Admirable. Please, sit.

[AND THEN THEY EAT I GUESS]

wrap?

[helpdesk_hero]

I try my hardest.

[Indeed they do. And hey, it really is good.]