Reed Is Not Interested

"That's nice dear," Mister Fantastic said, as he stretched one arm past her to adjust a dial.

"You're not even looking!" Sue Storm said, tone a touch more petulant than she intended. She held the photos out towards him, the more demure early photos on top. The Invisible Woman had hoped to catch Reed's attention and draw him in toward the more risque photos. Instead, he had barely glanced at them. "Is whatever you're working on so much more improtant than your wife!?"

"I'm trying to isolate a Pym anti-particle," Reed said. "Which theoretically could generate negative mass that has profound impact on our understanding of physics—"

Sue stopped listening. Her face was flushed now, and she could feel the irrational anger beneath the surface, threatening to bubble forth. She knew she needed space.

So she turned away, the portfolio of near-nude and nude photos under her arm. Out of the lab, away from Reed and his obsession with science instead of with...her.

Which is perhaps why she slammed into Alicia Masters into the hallway.

They both ended up on their ass, the photos scattered around the hallway.

"Oh God, Alicia, I'm so sorry..." Sue said. "I wasn't even looking."

"Neither was I," Alicia said. The blind woman's sightless eyes stared straight ahead. Her sculptor's hands felt the floor around her, found the photographs. She was slim, with short, orange-red hair and a constellation of freckles across her nose and cheeks. Her left hand still held her walking stick, the strap around her wrist, and she used it as a guide as she helped Sue pick up the photos.

"What are these?" she asked. "It feels like photo paper."

"I...I had some glamour shots taken," Sue admitted as she helped scoop up the photos. "I had hoped that Reed would notice, but he's...preoccupied."

Alicia gave a knowing smile. "So they're...racy?"

The blind woman couldn't see Sue's smile. Just like she couldn't see the naked photos in her hands. The Invisible Woman took them from her, and helped her to stand.

"Yes. I took off some clothes. My therapist thought it would...well...be good for me. Getting some exposure," Sue admitted. Alicia seemed to become more alert at this small admission.

"Would you...come with me to my studio?" Alicia said. "I'd like to show you something."

"Of course," Sue said. She knew that Ben had arranged for Alicia to maintain a small studio space on the west side of the building, in what had formerly been storage space. Unlike most artists, Alicia didn't need light, but she did need room, ventilation. The Invisible Woman let Alicia lead the way, the folding cane tapping against the floor as they moved through the corridor until they came to the room, which Alicia unlocked by typing a code into the braille-pad beside the door.

Once they were inside and Alicia turned on the light, she saw what Alicia wanted to show her.

It was a chunk of blue marble, which varied from deep azure to veins of an almost scintillant, neon purple marked with flecks of silver. Sue vaguely recalled that Ben had brought it back from the last trick to the Negative Zone. From the stone had already emerged a carven face—modeled, clearly, after Alicia's own.

The sculptress tapped over to a smaller sidetable, where there was a clay model of the finished sculpture. Two female figures stood, back to back. One of them was nude, obviously based on Alicia herself. The other, though distinctly feminine, seemed unfinished.

"I have a bit of a creative dilemma," Alicia said quietly. "You see, I need a model for the other figure. But that requires an—intimate understanding of their anatomy. I would need to touch them."

Sue blinked. "You want me to model for you? In the nude?"

Alicia nodded, once. "I mean, you don't have to answer now. I just thought...well...I trust you."