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"I thought you'd be in here." Yelena's voice came from the door to the tower's library.
Bob glanced away from his sun lamp for a moment.
"I'm here."
"Alexei's making waffles. Want some?"
Bob shrugged.
"Not really hungry today."
Yelena paused.
"Have you eaten anything this morning?"
Bob didn't look away from the sun lamp this time.
"I'm just not hungry." Partially true. The other part was that he didn't have the mental energy to be around the others right now.
Yelena glanced at her watch.
"Bob, it's 10 am. How long have you been sitting there?" she asked, walking over to him.
"Not long enough."
Yelena paused.
"The meds aren't helping?"
"They help, but they don't completely stop the episodes." Bob glanced up from his book gloomily, "I feel like I'm slipping. I'm hoping the extra lamp time keeps it from getting too much worse."
Yelena squeezed his shoulder.
"If you need anything, let me know."
~ ~ ~
Bob woke up the next morning to quiet. He checked his phone. It was late morning again, and according to his messages, the team was out on a mission. Bob sighed and set his phone back on the night stand. He had a vague recollection of hearing alerts over the tower's intercom system, but he'd been sleeping so heavily they hadn't woken him.
Sun lamp, Bob thought.
The sun lamp had been the most effective relief from depression he’d found; a device that blasted harsh light in his face for a set period of time. Bob didn't know exactly how or why it worked, he just knew that it did, most of the time. The past few days it had only been taking the edge off.
Bob tried pulling his blankets off, only to recoil and re-cover himself when the warmth left the bed. His brain was starving for dopamine, and staying warm in bed gave him a meager dose of it. He lay there, not even on his phone, just welcoming the stillness. The bouts of intense sadness that accompanied a depressive episode hadn't started yet, and he wanted to hold onto every moment before then.
Eventually, the guilt of staying in bed well into waking hours managed to outweigh the meager pleasure of the warm bed, and he dragged himself out from under the covers.
Sun lamp. Things will be better after the sun lamp, he told himself. Maybe not much better, but he didn't want an inevitable crash if he went without.
Bob took the pills from the line of bottles on the nightstand; incredibly high doses of antidepressants and stabilizers, along with OTC supplements to counteract the medications' side effects. It was a lot - enough to get regular calls from the pharmacy to check that there wasn't a typo in the medication scripts - but his super-powered body needed a lot to affect it.
He'd left the sun lamp in the small living space attached to his bedroom, not wanting anything to happen to it if he'd left it out. He wished he'd left it in the library - he'd been hoping on catching the autumn sunrise in the library again today, watching the sky changing colors while the lamp blasted him in the face. But now the sun was already up. He'd missed that window. There wasn't a point in leaving the room now.
~ ~ ~
Bob heard the intercom from the door to his living space chime.
"Bob?" Yelena's voice came, "Can I come in?"
"It's unlocked." Bob called in a sluggish voice.
Yelena entered.
"I was just talking to Ava and..." Yelena glanced him over. "Have you been in here all day?"
Bob glanced up. The timer on the sun lamp had long since shut the device off, but Bob still couldn't find the energy to get up from his seat. He'd been sitting here in his pajamas for hours, book finished, mindlessly scrolling through social media and liking cute pet pictures.
"Is... there anywhere else I should be?"
Yelena paused for a moment.
"Yes, actually. Put some clothes on. We're going out."
Bob set his phone down.
"Out?"
"Out."
"I don't think I'm feeling up to that."
"You'll like this. I'll be back in five."
~ ~ ~
Yelena was indeed back in five, on the dot.
"Bob?" she asked, knocking on the door again.
Bob sighed. "Sorry..." He hadn't moved from his seat. "Five more minutes."
"Five minutes." Yelena's voice came through the intercom. "Or else I'm coming in there."
"I'm not a child. You don't have to-"
"You're my friend and I care about you. Five minutes." and she was gone.
Bob sighed, braced his hands against the chair's arm rests, and slowly pushed himself up.
Alright. I'm up.
He stood there for a long moment.
Clothes.
Slowly, he trudged into his room.
Bed...
The compulsion to flop back into his bed was overwhelming - to just be at rest and feel some comfort from the weight of soft blankets. He stared at the unmade bed for a long moment, struggling against the impulse to refuse Yelena's order again. He didn’t want to go out. He didn’t want to be out in an unfamiliar place around unfamiliar people. Granted, Yelena would probably try to physically pull him out of bed when she came back…
Bob grabbed the covers and pulled them tight, straightening the bed enough to look marginally made. It was a mild obstacle to getting back in bed, and a minor accomplishment that gave him just enough energy to keep moving.
The shirt he'd worn the day before still seemed clean. He put it on with the pair of jeans he'd been wearing that week. Finally being out of pajamas felt... decent. It gave him enough energy to wash his face and brush his hair before Yelena came knocking on the door again. This time, he was ready to go.
Yelena didn't tell him where they were going as she powered up the quinjet. Bob was only mildly curious. He really didn't want to be out and about. Hopefully it'll be somewhere relaxing, he thought as the two of them flew from the city and headed towards the countryside.
Eventually, they circled over some tree-covered hills and settled the jet into a nearly-empty parking lot next to a barn.
"What is this?" Bob asked as they disembarked.
"You'll see."
Bob looked at the horizon. Whatever it was, they'd only have a few hours to do it - the sun was already beginning to dip in the sky.
There looked what seemed to be a fruit stand set up at the front of the barn, the occupants of which looked bewildered at the presence of the jet in their parking lot.
"Two baskets, please." Yelena said when they reached the table. "I hope you don't mind us taking several parking spots."
"It's... fine..." The man behind the table said. He gestured to the boy next to him, prompting him to hand over two wooden baskets with paper printouts in them. The two of them were still looking back and forth between the jet and its owners.
Yelena thanked the two with a smile and grabbed Bob's hand, pulling him in the direction of the nearby trees before the people could ask questions.
As it turned out, the place was an orchard - rows and rows of apple trees running down the hill and up the surrounding ones. Several nearby signs listed what Bob assumed were apple types, pointing in all directions.
Yelena stopped in front of the sign.
"So Bob, do you have a favorite apple?"
Bob had never given it much thought.
"... Nice ones?" he offered.
Yelena pulled the paper printout from the bottom of her basket. It listed the available apple varieties, as well as having small descriptions below them. There was also a map on the back showing where in the orchard the different trees were.
"It says they have Jonamac apples that are sweet, Idareds that are tart, Macoun for baking, and Cameo, which is a sweet-tart combo."
Cameo sounded like the best of both worlds.
"Cameo then?" Bob asked.
"Those are..." Yelena consulted the sign in front of them, then the map, then turned to the left and pointed downhill, "... that way." She stuck the map back in her basket. "Come on!"
She strode off at a brisk pace. Bob followed at a slightly slower gait, enabled by his longer stride, and still managed to keep up. They walked the trail alongside the rows of trees in silence. It was a minute into their walk before Bob noticed the distinct smell of vinegar wafting from somewhere in the orchard. It got stronger the further they went, periodically relieved by the sporadic breeze, but present all the same.
"Watch out for the wasps." Yelena said as they reached the Cameo grove.
Bob had already been keeping an eye out, having noticed the unusual numbers on the walk over. He dodged one that flew past his face as they stepped into the rows of trees. His bullet-proof skin couldn't be stung, but he didn't like them all the same.
As they went further down the row, Bob finally realized where the vinegar smell was coming from; dozens of apples littering the ground around the trees, overripe, rotting, and peppered with wasps eating to their hearts delight. Yelena tip-toed around a wasp-riddled apple in her way as she approached a tree.
"There are some pretty ones up there," She pointed higher up the tree, "Bob, give me a boost?"
Bob wasn't sure what she meant by 'boost' - the last time he'd heard her use the term, Alexei had thrown her up to a second-floor balcony. That probably wasn't what she wanted this time.
After a moment of thought, Bob picked her up around the waist and set her on his shoulders. Yelena gave a little yelp of surprise. Bob cringed inwardly. He'd messed up again...
"... Too high?" he asked.
"This is perfect!" Yelena said with a laugh, "Move closer!"
Bob felt some relief and stepped closer to the tree Yelena had pointed out, trying not to anger any wasps. Yelena reached out towards the tree.
"Little closer..."
He moved closer.
Yelena kept reaching.
"Closer... closer..."
Suddenly, Bob felt his foot slip out from under him. He lurched forward, trying to keep his balance with the teetering weight above. Yelena gave a startled shriek as he crashed face-first into the mass of branches in front of him, disturbing the dozen wasps that had been feasting below as he regained his footing.
Bob could feel little prickles on his arms as the wasps tried to take their anger out on the one who'd smashed their apple buffet. He clamped his hands around the hems of Yelena's pants, keeping the creatures from crawling up her ankles to bare skin.
Yelena's voice came from above, amid the rattle of branches.
"Everything okay down there?"
Bob turned slightly to glance at where he'd been standing a moment before. The smeared remains of a rotting apple that had been buried in the weeds was already attracting more bugs.
"Yeah. Just slipped." He glanced at the wasps on his arms that were slowly losing interest in stinging him. Meanwhile, the rustling sounds of apples being pulled from branches filtered down through the leaves as Yelena picked. Eventually, the wasps gave up and flew away, off to eat elsewhere.
Bob felt Yelena shift above him.
"Okay you can let me down. I got some good ones!"
"One minute..." Bob carefully stepped back onto the trail, this time making sure to not step on anything other than the empty ground.
A small group of apple pickers happened to be walking past as Bob put Yelena back down on her feet. One of the pickers pointed out a long, basket-shaped device on a pole leaning against a nearby Cameo tree.
"You know you can use those to pick the apples, right?"
Yelena and Bob sheepishly looked from the apple-picking gadget, to each other, and back.
"Right."
"Thanks."
-
The rest of the picking went uneventfully. Bob and Yelena figured out how the apple picker worked, using its prongs to pull select apples from the branches. It was easier then the two-person stack. Eventually, they filled up their two baskets and headed back to the barn.
Bob realized he was walking more quickly now. Somehow, his footsteps didn't feel as heavy as they had before. He still had a mental weight from the depressive episode, but his head felt clearer. Something about the brisk walking and moving around in ways he wasn't used to had helped. Yelena had been right. He had enjoyed this.
Back at the barn, the two baskets of apples got poured into a large plastic bag and weighed. Yelena pulled her wallet out and thumbed through to find which card she wanted to use, asking if cash was a better option. Bob wasn't paying attention. Now that he was more alert, something else had caught his eye - a large cardboard box at the other end of the table with the word 'FREE' sharpied in big letters on the side. Something was scratching and thumping inside it.
Bob found himself drifting over to the box in curiosity. Yelena was saying something, probably to the man behind the table, but Bob didn't hear. Reaching the box, he pulled one of the flaps back and looked inside. Four little pairs of eyes stopped what they were doing and looked back at him. The box was full of kittens.
The kid behind the table who'd been watching Bob spoke.
"Want one?"
Before Bob could say anything, the kid reached into the box and scooped a kitten up. He held it out to him with a grin.
"You can hold it."
Bob wasn't sure how to hold a kitten. The kid didn't wait for him to respond.
"Here, like this." He pushed the kitten into Bob's grasp, moving his hands so he'd be supporting it from beneath. "Yeah, you got it!"
Bob cracked a faint smile as the kitten snuggled in his hands.
"It's so small..."
Yelena's voice approached them.
"What do you have there?"
The kid looked over to her.
"Kittens! For the excellent price of free!"
Yelena chuckled.
"They won't be free after the vet visits and..." she trailed off when she saw the look on Bob's face. He was actually smiling, the kitten having grabbed onto one of his fingers with its tiny claws and started gnawing on it. Of course, it wasn't bothering him any more than the wasps had.
The kid watched.
"I named that one Cameo. But you can change its name if you want."
"Cameo..." Bob said quietly. He glanced at Yelena. There was a pleading look on his face now.
Yelena held her hands up. "Ohhhh no, I'm not a cat person."
"I'll take care of it." Bob said, "I have enough time on my hands."
"Will you be able to though? You barely moved from your room the past two days."
The kid spoke up again.
"Cat's don't need much. They're not like dogs that you need to let out all the time. You should take it!"
Yelena shook her head.
"It'll just get hair everywhere and-"
"It can stay in my area." Bob said.
"But what if-"
Bob made up his mind for the first time that day.
"I'm keeping it." He said firmly, holding the kitten close.
There was a pause before Yelena groaned and buried her face in her hands.
"Valentina is going to kill me..."
~ ~ ~
It was evening by the time the quinjet returned to the tower.
"We're back." Yelena called into the tower's intercom system once the jet re-linked with the tower.
A chorus of "Finally!"s came through the speaker.
John's voice continued after the others quieted.
"We got a weird delivery while you were gone - a whole bunch of cat supplies. We're trying to contact the delivery service to send them back but-
"Don't." Bob broke in. "Those- those are for me."
There was a pause before Ava spoke.
"Bob, did you get a cat?"
"A kitten." Bob corrected her.
There was another pause before Bucky spoke.
"Do they allow pets here?"
Yelena sighed.
"I looked at the housing contract on the way over, it says nothing about pets."
One more pause before Alexei's voice came over the speaker.
"Well bring it down here, we want to see!"
Several minutes later, Bob and Yelena were entering the common room, Yelena on her way to the kitchen with the apples, and Bob carrying the newest addition to the tower. The others were already there, waiting for them. Bob smiled as he held the kitten in his hands.
"Guys, this is Cameo."