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"They say it's all in the wrists," Susan smiled, making Reed snort and shake its head.
"It is," he said, looking embarrassed at his instinctive reaction and her raised eyebrow, "But its mostly physics. Skipping stones uses the laws of physics: the crucial part of the motion is the collisional process of the stone with the water surface." He paused, but she looked interested. So, trying to keep the enthusiasm out of his voice and failing, he continued, "The water surface exerts a reaction lift force on the stone, allowing it to rebound. This process is quite complex because it involves the description of the flow around the immersed stone. Some energy-"
"-is also dissipated during a collision," she continued for him, "so that after a few rebounds, the initial kinetic energy of the stone is fully dissipated and the stone sinks."
"Well, yes," He said, staring at her in amazement.
She smiled, bumping him into the side, teasing him, "You see? I read all by myself and everything."
He stumbled briefly, face flushing. "Of course you do. I've read some of your published papers. They're always exceedingly insightful."
She smiled, flashing the same pearly white smile at him as she did when she was in high school. It still disarmed him even to this day, "Thank you. You're not so bad yourself."
"Thanks," he said, doing a mock-pretentious sniff.
She giggled and he laughed too.
They skipped stones in a comfortable silence before she broke it.
"So," she dragged out, taking a rock from the shore and skipping it. It fell after two short skips across the ocean waters. "what have you been up to?"
"Trying to publish my work on astronomical events like meteors and the catastrophic impact they have on their landing sites. You?"
"Gamma radiation," she offered, "Trying to recreate the super soldier serum without too many side-affects."
"Like the Hulk," he said, his bluntness making her wince and laugh.
"Exactly the kind of effect MOST of us are trying to avoid replicating," she said.
"Fascinating," he said, and he sounded really genuine.
"How's Ben?" Susan asked.
"How's Johnny?" Reed shot back, voice stiff.
"I don't know," she admitted after some pause, skipping a stone. It fell flat after one bounce, sinking to the ground with a harsh thud. "Too wrapped up in his own world to care about anyone else?"
There was silence, then Reed admitted, "Ben left, said I was too involved in my research with Victor that it was becoming my entire life."
"Was he right?"
"Yes," Reed step, letting the stone skid three jumps across the ocean, "Doesn't mean I know any other way to live. Are you right?"
"No," she said, voice soft and sad. "Doesn't mean that I don't miss being part of his world, being someone that mattered to him. I miss him so much, but he... doesn't seem to care."
"After all these years, you still think your some invisible girl," Reed shook his head, gentle smile on his face. She was the one girl who seemed to to defrost him, to make him soften his character, "You're not. You never were. You're just..."
"Quiet?" She offered.
"Unwilling to shine," Reed disagreed, "Unwilling to risk yourself because you think everyone is like your father or your brother, but not everyone's blind like them. Not everyone will turn away when you make yourself heard."
Susan leaned closer, "I'm not the only one hiding, am I? You think Ben left? I'm almost positive that you pushed him away because people are stepping stones to relationships and relationships are scary." She laughed, soft, sad, and understanding, "Equations are simple, less confusing. They demand nothing from you, but logic and easy solutions. You've always thought that those getting closer to Reed Richards were Procrustes, but they're not."
"Procrustes?" He questioned.
"In the Greek myth, Procrustes was a son of Poseidon. He had a stronghold on Mount Korydallos at Erineus on the sacred way between Athens and Eleusis. There he had an iron bed, in which he invited every passer-by to spend the night, and where he set to work on them with his smith's hammer, to stretch them to fit. Of course, it was a trick. Nobody ever fit the bed exactly, because secretly Procrustes had two beds."
"I don't think everyone is Procrustes," he denied.
"Don't you?" Susan countered, "There have been people in your life like that, like your dad, who try to put you into a neat little box and you always try, you always reach, you always stretch to meet their expectations, but you weren't able to then so you push others away now. After a lifetime of trying to please people, I know that you are too tired to stretch yourself any further."
"Ben wasn't trying to make into something I'm not," Reed said, eyes narrowing.
"No," she offered, "I don't think he was."
"But," Reed admitted, "he was getting too close and you're right about one more thing." He sighed, "Relationships are really scary."
"Yeah," Susan said, throwing a last and final stone, "Terrifying."