#and not letting kuseno get near Genos to fix him after Saitama called him or Genos's body automatically alerted him

[narts-kakashi-doll]

So does Genos have cold hands or not? On the one hand (ha), he's made of metal so probably feels cold most of the time

On the other hand, he's basically got a nuclear reactor in him right so that probably puts off some heat. Like warmer than the average human generally and scalding hot in a fight. Maybe

So warm body and cold hands? Does he have a cooling system? That could run heat out into his limbs to cool down his other components? Just normally bc in a fight he has gun arms and flamethrowers and stuff,

which now that I think about it might mean his arms overheat so maybe heat is run into his torso to be dissipated by metal fins.

I can't remember what his back looks like but I'm pretty sure it's got some random metal bits that mimic muscles that would be good for heat dissipation

Or does Kuseno not even worry about it bc Genos can withstand that kind of heat and accidentally melting something isn't a big deal to him so now Genos has to be careful touching stuff after a battle or if he's worked up or it's too hot out

.. if Genos didn't have a cooling system, and it was really hot out, and he was busy training with Saitama, would he shut down? Like ur phone does if you use it outside too much in the middle of summer? Like he would faint?

Of course, considering he and Saitama run everywhere maybe he's just staying cool using the wind

[liketolaugh-writes]

The Turing Test

Author: liketolaugh Summary: Genos’ pursuit of the Mad Cyborg leads him to find a place in the Avengers, where communication is a foreign concept and Steve and Tony can’t seem to agree on anything at all.

Doctor Kuseno was a deceptively unassuming man, Tony noted as he stepped closer. He looked like any other aged scientist – nearing retirement, even. He wasn’t fooled, of course; SHIELD had been tracking the man since he began his pursuit of the Mad Cyborg. (Tony could come up with a better epithet in his sleep, but whatever.)

“Mr. Stark,” Dr. Kuseno greeted in accented English, offering his hand. “Thank you for agreeing to this arrangement.”

Tony smirked back, taking it. “A new heavy hitter, a tech marvel, and another chance to piss off Cap all in one? Pleasure’s all mine, doc.”

Kuseno coughed out a laugh, eyes glittering. “You and the Captain have not quite reconciled, I take it?”

Tony held his smile with a minor exertion of will. “You could say that,” he said vaguely, and then nodded at the metal man standing stiffly to the side. “This is Genos?”

“I am Genos,” the man confirmed, dipping forward in a shallow bow even as amber-on-black optics fixed intently on Tony. “Thank you for this opportunity. The Mad Cyborg’s transfer to America was highly unexpected, but now I can at last continue my pursuit.”

“Sure, kid,” Tony dismissed distractedly, not in the mood to hear about a crusade of vengeful justice, instead stepping a bit closer to look. Genos’ eyes tracked him smoothly, shaping subtly into confusion. “Ninety-eight percent metal, huh? You were lucky to survive the procedure.”

“Doctor Kuseno is highly skilled,” Genos said loyally, twisting slightly to keep Tony in view as the man paced around him.

“And you’re aging, even,” Tony continue, reluctantly coming to a stop back in front of Genos. He cast Kuseno a quick glance, catching the pride in the man’s expression, and then back to Genos to continue, “You look twenty. That’s delicate stuff.”

“Doctor Kuseno and I have spent much time experimenting with changes in shape and size,” Genos explained, face subtly closed. “We are quite used to the procedure by now.”

Tony hummed, fascinated. Genos’ face was shifting fluidly, almost indistinguishable from an organic one, and Tony could just hear his internal fans picking up. Emotional cues, even, built in where they couldn’t stay natural. Kuseno had clearly put his all into this.

Finally, Tony pulled back and grinned.

“You and I are gonna get along just fine, kid.” Ignoring Genos’ confusion, he turned to Kuseno. “I got the blueprints; pretty impressive, if I do say so myself. I’ll make good use of ‘em, don’t you worry.” He winked, knowing full well he didn’t intend anything sinister.

Kuseno quirked a place, unperturbed, and nodded. “Thank you,” he said. “Do call me if there’s trouble, please.” He turned to Genos as Tony waved the words aside. “Take care, please, child. Mr. Stark is not as experienced with cyborg repair as I am.”

“Hey!” Tony protested, affronted. They didn’t call him a genius for nothing, and he’d had over a week to research cyborg biomechanics.

Kuseno ignored him. “And remember to slow down sometimes. You are close, but you do not want to wear yourself out. You still have a life to live even after you reach your goal.”

“I will be careful,” Genos promised, noticeably softer. “Thank you. I will call when I can.”

Kuseno rolled his eyes and huffed, and then, when a moment passed without anything more, he reached forward and pulled Genos into a swift, tight hug. Genos stiffened, and then carefully returned it, at which point Tony turned away pointedly.

A few minutes later, Genos came up beside him, stiff and formal again, his bag slung over one shoulder.

“What should I call you?” he asked Tony awkwardly.

“Tony,” he said firmly, thinking of Peter, who still called him no such thing. Speaking of which- “Now c’mon, kid. You’ve got good timing; there’s someone else joining the Avengers right now.”

Genos made a questioning noise, but Tony ignored it.

Because of the difficulty of bringing a cyborg through airport security, Tony had come to get Genos himself, on a private jet. Thinking vaguely of Peter’s interest in biomechanics and superheroes both, he hadn’t thought twice before inviting him along. It seemed the logical and mentorly thing to do.

Besides, as Tony had said, they’d be joining the Avengers at the same time. Best they make friends now.

Sure enough, Peter perked right up as soon as the two of them boarded, stuffing his phone in his pocket and springing eagerly to his feet.

“Mr. Stark!” Peter protested immediately. Tony fought the paired urges to roll his eyes and smirk, and ended up doing both anyway. “You didn’t say it was Demon Cyborg!” Without waiting for a response – he was getting uppity – he turned to Genos. “It’s so cool to meet you, wow we’re going to be working together, this is amazing, hey how are you powered, is it all biofuel or do you-”

And he was so disgustingly earnest.

“Breathe, Peter,” Tony interrupted, openly chuckling now. Genos was staring at Peter in plain confusion, while the kid, as usual, looked just about ready to shake out of his skin. “Let him sit so we can head back.”

Peter blushed.

“Right,” he agreed reluctantly, sitting down. After a moment, Genos sat beside him, slow and stiff. Brave man.

Ha. Bringing Peter along had totally been the right call.

The jet took off, and Peter turned back to Genos, eyes glittering. Tony grinned to himself and bent over his pad, pretending to lose himself in a copy of Genos’ blueprints. Which, actually…

“I’ve been following you since you joined the HA,” Peter told Genos earnestly, blissfully unaware of how like a stalker he sounded. “You’ve really done some amazing work, I can’t even- and you’re learning from an A-Class, right? Saitama?”

Tony tilted his head slightly, listening; he hadn’t known that. Then again, that was about par for the course when it came to lesser heroes. Peter followed hero-related news much more closely.

Genos still looked stunned, but the mention of Saitama seemed to ground him again. He nodded.

“He has been teaching me for over a year,” he confirmed. “In fact, it was sensei who encouraged me to come here. But I am surprised you call him that.”

Peter ducked his head. “He doesn’t like to be called Caped Baldy, right?”

Tony snorted. Loudly. Both boys turned to look at him, and he waved them off, smirking. Simultaneously, they both apparently elected to ignore him and moved to face each other again.

Caped Baldy. It might be worth tracking new heroes just to hear about names like that.

Genos favored Peter with his first, faint smile.

“No, he does not,” Genos confirmed.

“There seems to be a lot of mystery around him,” Peter continued, giving Genos a crooked smile in return. “SHIELD was running an investigation before they fell, but they didn’t really find anything. But I think he’s stronger than he lets on. Isn’t he?”

How much time had Peter spent looking through the public SHIELD files?

Genos’ smile broadened slightly. “Much,” he said with certainty. “It is what led me to follow him originally, though in reality he has taught me more of wisdom and compassion.”

“I heard he and Mumen Rider are good friends,” Peter continued doggedly, brightening steadily as Genos entertained the conversation. “Is that true?”

“They share many moral values,” Genos explained. “Sometimes they play games together, and Mumen occasionally stays for dinner.”

Peter grinned. “Then you must be friends with him too!”

Genos bobbed his head, and then added, “Mumen makes friends very easily. I believe all of C-Class has at least one fan shirt.”

“I do, too,” Peter confided, and Genos chuckled.

“What is your hero name?” Genos asked, his first active contribution to the conversation. “I try to keep track of current events. Perhaps I know of you.”

“Oh!” Peter sat up a little, offering an embarrassed, but proud smile. “I’m, um. Spider-Man.”

The relative openness was new, but it had been a condition of joining the Avengers. Even if the public remained in the dark, Peter’s teammates would need to know his name and face. It hadn’t been as hard a sell as Tony was expecting; for all his worry and attempted secrecy, Peter was naturally a rather open kid.

Genos seemed to mull that over for a moment, and then nodded seriously.

“A New York vigilante,” he noted. “Super strength?”

“And I can stick to walls,” Peter confirmed, pleased. “Plus a healing factor. Super useful.”

Genos smiled again, slight but honest. “It is good to meet you.”

Excellent. Tony repressed the urge to cackle like a cartoon villain.

“Hey!” He snapped his fingers, and both of them looked at him again. Good minions. “Glad we’re all getting along so nice. Now, for the sake of preparation, here’s how this is going to work. Steve doesn’t know you’re coming yet, I’m just about to pop him a message, so he’ll be pissy but he doesn’t have the authority to stop you.”

Peter scowled a little, which was not an uncommon reaction to mention of Cap these days. It was frankly adorable. Tony smirked back.

“Feel free to piss him off all you like, honestly, I’ll back you up if it comes to that. You’ll be sharing a floor, let FRIDAY know if you need anything – Genos, what do you run on?”

“Primarily biofuel,” Genos answered promptly, “supplemented by some oil and petroleum.”

“FRIDAY’ll take care of that,” Tony went on without so much as missing a beat. “Let me know if you need repairs, I’ve got your blueprints and I don’t bite unless strictly necessary. Peter, you mostly know what’s what already, just don’t hiss too loudly at any of our friends on the other side.” He clapped, once, as Peter huffed petulantly. “Any questions?”

God, he felt like a schoolteacher. But it was pretty nice to see the two of them hanging on to his every word like that.

Genos shook his head, and a moment later, Peter did the same.

“Then be free,” Tony declared, waving his hand. Watching them talk was hilarious; he wasn’t done yet.

Peter snorted quietly and Tony grinned at him, but Genos shrugged and seemed to take him at his word, looking back at Peter.

“How did you gain your abilities?” he asked, clearly interested.

Peter flashed him a rueful smile. “Experimental spider bite,” he admitted. “It’s kind of… weird.”

Genos shrugged. “My teacher claims to have gained his abilities from a fairly ordinary exercise routine. Whatever works.”

Peter grinned and nodded.

“Why did you start?” he asked. Genos’ expression shuttered, falling into a stern frown, and Peter added quickly, “You don’t have to tell me.”

Genos, solemn now, opened his mouth. Tony cringed as he recognized the Monologue Expression. A moment later, though, Genos frowned, closed his mouth, counted under his breath for a few seconds, and then said,

“A cyborg destroyed my city, so I set out to destroy him.”

God, Tony could kiss whoever had trained that into him. Kuseno? Tony might be willing to kiss Kuseno for sparing him a monologue he was sure would have given him nightmares.

Peter’s smile had vanished, though, and after he spent a long moment regarding Genos with an equally solemn expression, he offered in return, “I didn’t save my uncle, so I’ll save everyone else I can.”

The two of them nodded at each other, as if gaining new kinship and understanding, and Tony felt a bitter smirk tug at his mouth as he opened the messaging app. Aw, they were so cute with their baby traumas.

They’d fit in fine.

Just before they landed, Tony shot Peter a cocky grin. In return, Peter tensed uncertainly, and Tony had to hold back a laugh. Peter was learning.

And just as expected, when the door opened, Captain Spangles was waiting, arms crossed and face pinched with disapproval.

“Red-white-n-blue!” Tony greeted the man with a broad and insincere grin, feeling his heart tighten in his chest at the sight of him. “Did you get my message, then?”

“Yeah, I did,” Steve said flatly, gaze unwavering. “Thanks for the warning.”

“Anytime, Capsicle, anytime,” Tony said easily, striding down the ramp with a slight gesture to hold the other two back. “Come out to meet the new recruits? What a good and responsible team leader you are.”

Steve’s mouth tightened. God, Tony loved winding him up; it was so satisfying.

“I wouldn’t want them to feel unwelcome,” Steve replied steadily, giving away nothing else of his thoughts. Then, in a sharp return to business, “What did you bring us?”

Tony relaxed slightly, glanced back, and flicked his hand in a beckoning gesture. Peter and Genos, hovering just out of sight, exchanged a weary look and then moved to follow him off the jet, Genos just a step behind Peter.

Peter, now, was visibly unsure, shoulders stiff with defiance as he picked his way down, gaze flicking between Steve’s chest and Tony’s ear. Genos, by contrast, had wiped all expression from his mechanical face, eyes flicking once over Tony and settling on Steve.

“Cap,” Tony started – about as respectful as he got these days – and then, with a hint of pride he couldn’t quite suppress, “This is Peter, also known as Spider-Man. You might remember him – local vigilante, super strong, wall crawler, stole your shield once?”

“Experienced at cleaning up your messes,” Steve noted, without changing expression or tone. Because of course he knew about that. The man broke his stern countenance briefly to nod at Peter. “Spider-Man, good to have you with us. No hard feelings, of course.”

Peter smiled, tight and uncertain. “Of course,” he echoed, which was a dirty, dirty lie; Tony knew for a fact that Peter’s grudges against Steve were extensive and numerous.

“I’ve been mentoring him for a while, he’s more than ready,” Tony continued. He offered Peter a quick grin, and then continued, jerking his head towards the other new face. “This is Genos, the Demon Cyborg. Bigshot back at home, you understand. I know ‘cyborg’ might be a bit much for your 1940’s brain, but I promise he won’t blow up.”

Steve’s expression shifted into subtle, incredulous disapproval, which was interesting because Tony hadn’t actually meant for that to happen this time.

“It is an honor, Captain,” Genos offered, voice carefully neutral.

Steve inclined his head slightly, but, uncharacteristically, didn’t return the greeting or take his eyes off Tony.

“You’re an interesting man, Tony,” Steve said quietly, as if they were still friends, still close. Then he shifted back and shrugged. “Get them settled in, introduce them to your people. I’ll explain the situation on my end.”

Steve rarely acknowledged the divide remaining between the two parts of their team. For that matter, Tony didn’t mention it much either. Tony smiled tightly.

“Can do, Spangles. Have fun.”

Steve gave Tony a terse nod, and then turned and left. Only when the door shut behind him did Tony relax and turn back to face the two newest.

“Come on in,” he said with finality, as light as if the tension between him and Steve did not exist. “I’ll get you introduced to the cool kids. You’ll meet Cap’s people over time.”

To Steve’s gratitude, half the team was waiting for him when he returned to his floor, assembled and ready. Scott and Sam were fiddling with Sam’s wing pack, making minor repairs. Clint and Wanda were arguing quietly, and Bucky was by himself, gaze steady on the door, waiting for Steve.

Steve offered him a small smile in greeting, a moment’s pause before he got to business, and then crossed the room to settle on a chair, drawing everyone else’s attention to him.

“So what did Stark do this time?” Clint asked with a small grin, dark amusement dancing across his face as he faced forward again.

Steve let himself sigh, running his fingers through his hair.

“He’s recruiting,” he said dryly, thinking of the wide-eyed and wary look on the kid’s face. He shook his head wearily. “Two new teammates. A kid and a robot.”

And it was so like Tony to use the fancy, technical term for something just to mess with him. God knew what the pedantic difference between a cyborg and a robot was, but the days when Steve could just ask had long passed.

There was a brief, stunned silence. Bucky shifted back and raised his eyebrows, looking mildly impressed with Stark’s absurdity.

Sam did, too. “That man is something else,” he remarked, shaking his head. And then, concerned, “A kid? The hell is he thinking?”

Steve shrugged helplessly. “It’s Spider-Man,” he conceded, voice tinged with doubt regardless. “He has experience, and he’s proven already that he can keep up with us.” He huffed quietly. “It’s ambiguous, but it’s not really our call, either.”

Sam’s grimace deepened, and Clint hissed his disapproval, lines digging into his forehead.

“I am more interested in the robot,” Wanda chimed in, head tilted just slightly in a way that sharpened her gaze. “Is he that desperate to pad his numbers?”

Steve winced, and Clint jabbed Wanda in the side.

Once circumstances had forced the Avengers to reunite, the Accords set aside as a matter for a later date, Steve had initially hoped that things could go back to how they used to be.

He had swiftly been proven wrong, but of all the differences their conflict had wrought, the one that hurt the most was the deep, lingering divide down the middle of the team.

“I don’t know,” Steve said at last, and then shrugged. “Maybe.”