NOVEL NEXT Chapter 43: 42
I have been personally invited by Reed Richard to discuss the various prosthetics that were I designed. Although he wanted to meet with Thoris she wasn't keen on talking with him. Honestly though she didn't really care about anything besides the terraforming technology as it was her dream to begin with. It has gotten so bad that she rarely if ever leaves the lab I had to force her to properly take care of herself and even acknowledge anything outside the project.
The Baxter building was about what I expected to see it appeared to be a high end corporate skyscraper. I decided not to make much of a commotion although a few people seemed to recognize who I am and were murmuring while I went to the front desk. I could have called ahead but I was trying to keep things low profile as possible. Keyword trying fortunately Jhonny storm came to greet me but I forgot that he loved the attention.
Jhonny: Hey Julian Black! Glad you came to meet the Fantastic Four!
Immediately those that were speculating on who I was began crowding, gossiping, and taking pictures. Although it has been a short time since I arrived I was already well known. It hasn't been long since I have been seen with the Avengers although I was never officially declared one. I was also well known for the various prosthetics that my company developed that changed the lives of many people. These things made me a popular figure along with my speech about the Emperor of mankind.
Jhonny was preening to the crowd basking in the attention and pretty much forgetting about the reason he was supposed to get me. I was relieved when Susan Storm came as Jhonny tried to made a show of how close we were which was extremely exaggerated considering that this was our first meeting. I course remained in character the entire time.
Susan: Jhonny you went to go Julian a half hour ago! Reed invited him to talk about his developments not be paraded around for your social media
Jhonny: Oh come Sue Reed is just going to bore the crap out of Julian with his science talk and let's be honest that is all he cares about. I wouldn't be surprised that he forgot about Julian because he was so wrapped up in one of his projects.
A sad look crosses Susan's face before it disappears just as quickly as it appeared. I assumed this was related to the fact that Reed seemed to forget about her being wrapped up in one of his projects. Ironically it was the catalyst that caused her powers to manifest as they had. It was difficult to ignore such a tempting feast of vulnerability with a beautiful super heroine but now wasn't the time. I needed to create a more substantial connection with the Fantastic Four before making any decisions on interactions with them.
Although Reed liked to play the role of independent super scientists he was highly dependent upon those around him. This is doubly true due to his poor people skills and his massive ego thinking that he was the smartest man wherever he was. It wasn't out of any sort of malicious intent he just thought of it as his responsibility to advance humanity. This has caused him to alienate others and isolated not only himself but those around him to an extent especially Ben Grimm. Although he was responsible for Ben's condition and he has tried to reverse the effects but it was never truly priority past the time they initially received their powers.
The upstairs loft seemed to be normal but most things were heavily reinforced for obvious reasons. The place wasn't only their home as it was directly connected to Reed's lab. This was a clear attempt by Susan to try keep Reed involved with the team to prevent him from isolating himself. At least that is what she probably tells others the real reason is most likely so he wouldn't forget her but that seems like she failed as she sighed in almost defeat. Either Jhonny didn't notice or was too numb to this that he didn't even acknowledge her depressed behavior. It clearly obvious that the so called Fantastic Four were all alone even if they lived together.