Who: Darcy Lewis & Wanda Maximoff What: Gossiping over lunch When: lunchtime some day before Fury's mission network Rating/Warnings: Yellow? The girls have some ~saucy~ conversation, but nothing explicit.
Now that Jane was on the road to recovery, even slowly, Darcy was trying to focus on her own life. That meant finally settling on employment and making an effort to build, or in some cases rebuild, friendships with the other folks who found themselves here. She’d enjoyed having brunch with all the ladies a few weeks back and thought they needed to make it a regular thing. In the meantime, she wanted to get to know some people better one on one, so she’d sent Wanda a message and suggested that they meet for lunch.
She was also interested in checking out the bakery where Wanda worked, so she showed up a few minutes before their scheduled meeting time to give her a chance to browse. The whole vegan craze wasn’t really her bag, but she did like cookies, so there was no harm in trying a few.
When Wanda was able to take her break, Darcy greeted her with a smile. “You’re the expert,” she said. “Where should we go?”
Wanda certainly was not a vegan either, but she liked the cafe - it was within walking distance to the Sanctum, where she’d been living before, and it happened to be the first place that hired her. She couldn’t really afford to be too picky - she’d needed a job, and her lack of education was something of a hindrance. Now that she was living in 30 Warren with Vision, she would still walk to work if the weather was nice or use public transit if it wasn’t.
Today, she was quite ready for her lunch break - she hung up her apron and dusted almond flour off of herself, stopping to fix her hair (or just give it a re-twist back up into a casual ponytail) and put on lip gloss, at the very least. She also put her rings back on, having taken them off to knead bread dough in the back kitchens. “Hello, Darcy - “ A husky chuckle escaped her, “...hm. Well, there is a good pizza place nearby called Joe’s. It’s delicious. Nice and casual.” She could go for a greasy slice or two, come to think of it.
“They have egg creams too. If you want a sugar boost.”
“I was planning to support you and buy some cookies,” Darcy said. “After lunch though.” She’d be less likely to overbuy if she wasn’t hungry. “Pizza sounds great though.” There was nothing quite like New York pizza and thanks to her travels with Jane and Erik, Darcy had tried a lot of pizza in a lot of places.
She headed out of the bakery and let Wanda take the lead so she could follow her to the pizza shop. “So how’s work going?” she asked. “Do you like it?” Dealing with people wasn’t exactly the kind of thing Darcy thought she would enjoy. She was far too blunt and outspoken to be good at customer service.
“I’ll bring you some fresh-baked cookies when we return,” Wanda promised. Darcy could take them home, or even share them if she wanted - no judgment if she didn’t though. People may scoff, but vegan cookies were wonderfully flavored - it was the coconut oil, and the applesauce to give them a nice chewy-soft texture.
She headed for Joe’s, which was just a block or two up the way. “Work’s pretty good. They are flexible about me studying in school - I take culinary arts classes at night a few days a week,” she said. Of course, with all the things that went on in her life - missions (which she loved, admittedly, they gave her a purpose) and tutoring sessions with Stephen and random annoying happenings (read: the reality stone), she was certain she would not finish with her degree until 2050 or something. Oh, well.
“At first I did not like it - a lot of men...they think they can just touch you,” she rolled her eyes. ‘But now that I’m in the kitchen more, it’s a lot better. What about you? Did you get your old position at Stark back?”
Into the pizzeria she went - it was cash only, foldable slices served on flimsy paper plates. She got into the line to order, already looking forward to it.
Darcy made a face when Wanda mentioned men who thought they had a right to touch you. There were far too many of them in the world and they were everywhere. “How many of them did you punch?” she asked. She was aware that Wanda had some kind of powers, but she didn’t know the specifics of them. Punching worked for everyone though. As did using a taser, which was Darcy’s preferred method.
“I am going to get my job back with Stark,” she said. “I haven’t started yet because I’ve mostly been focused on Jane since I got here.” Her friend made it clear though that Darcy needed to stop hovering and start living her own life though and that’s what she was doing.
The pizza smelled amazing and she hoped that the line would move quickly. “She’s going to be moving to Norway soon and I decided I’d rather stay here.” She figured that Wanda was aware of her history with Jane and felt like she should explain her decision.
Wanda smirked. “I bent a few fingers, almost broke a couple wrists...” Men were such babies when you took their index finger and yanked it so far back they yelped like a puppy that got nipped. “I would have done worse, but I did not want to lose my job.” Likely her next paycheck would not have come if she leveled the entire building in a telekinetic rage. It wouldn’t have even taken much effort but no, she refrained.
“And I bet Jane wants you to focus on yourself now,” she guessed, moving up to place her order. Two slices of cheese pizza, and a chocolate egg cream. She earned these treats - her training with Clint was going well and let’s face it, sex burned a lot of calories too. Living with Vision was a good workout. “She and Thor, they will be happy in Norway together. You probably feel like you have more opportunities here?”
It was a shame that Wanda had to worry about losing her job for defending herself, but the dudes who were inappropriate probably didn’t. Darcy hated that, but she’d been through a similar experience in college and understood all too well how it worked.
She stepped up and placed her own order, two slices of supreme pizza and an iced tea, and nodded in response to Wanda’s question. “That’s what she said, yeah.” Darcy wasn’t necessarily great at doing that. Despite the air of good time girl that she cultivated, she was a helper and felt better when she had someone to take care of.
Weirdly, she had no intention of having children though, despite being a natural caretaker. That was far too much of a commitment.
“And since Captain America doesn’t think I’d be a good Avenger…” she trailed off with a shrug, though she was grinning as she said it. She did not have the skills necessary to be an Avenger and couldn’t blame him one bit for his reaction. It was fun to needle him though.
“Oh, don’t listen to him. He probably still thinks girls don’t play baseball.” That was also said teasingly - she felt bad for poor Steve, who got reamed over that particular comment. As if Peggy Carter would ever let him be sexist - she’d probably punch him in the patriotic testicles. “I think you would be a good fit for SHIELD though?” Wanda suggested. “They need competent people this time around.”
So HYDRA did not infect with their presence again. What a nightmare.
“But either way, I am glad you are staying here.” Darcy was fun and she said hilarious things - the bluntness, Wanda appreciated. She liked having girlfriends, even if it was a new thing for her - the brunches were delightful, and it was good to know she had other women to turn to for talks on things not related to the Avengers at all. More personal things. “We will have to do...it is called a sleepover, yes? Sometime. I have never done one of those before.” Because when would she have had the time, really. After her apartment building was bombed or before she got tossed into the Raft wearing a shock collar and a strait jacket?
“Oh, we can definitely have a sleepover,” Darcy said. She hadn’t done that in years, but Wanda seemed like a lot of fun and she appreciated Darcy’s sense of humor, which made her a great person. And a patient person. Not everyone could handle someone like Darcy. “We’ll talk about boys and braid each other’s hair and eat junk food.”
It would be like middle school all over again.
She did appreciate the suggestion to join SHIELD though. “I should talk to the pirate and see if my history of hacking SHIELD is enough to get me in the door.” It was an unconventional credential to have and she suspected that Fury probably wouldn’t appreciate it so much, but it would be fun to ask.
With their orders up (the pizza people moved like a well-oiled machine - even when the line snaked out the door, Wanda knew this place was quick), she took her tray and nodded toward one of those red vinyl boots. Someone was just vacating the table by the window, so that might be a good spot.
“If you hacked SHIELD, they would be foolish to not hire you and keep an eye on you,” she laughed. That must have taken some skill, to get into those systems.
She settled at the table, eagerly sipping on her egg cream. Slurp, slurp, slurp. Such a soda fountain classic. “Is that what you do at sleepovers, talk about boys? And eat junk food?” she wanted to know. “I usually don’t have a lot to say about boys, but I guess I do now.”
Her love life had taken a nosedive and then built back up again - now she was holding on to the formerly dead lover with every fiber of her being.
Darcy grabbed her own tray and followed Wanda over to a table. She was suddenly starving and couldn’t wait to dig into her pizza. She’d never been the kind of girl who was afraid to eat in public.
“We could talk about girls too,” she said. “Whatever you’re into.” She shrugged and picked up her first slice, folding it in half and closing her eyes when she took the first bite. Oh yeah, that was good pizza.
“Oh - I’m...what?” Wanda coughed into her drink, because some of it had suddenly gone up her nose. “I’m not into girls. Or at least, the opportunity has never presented itself.” She supposed it didn’t make much of a difference overall, as long as she felt a connection with someone - Vision was an android, technically, and he just so happened to have a masculine sort of programming. It was very likely she’d have felt the same way about him if he had feminine programming; to her, it was the person that mattered.
The best part of this pizza was, yes, actually folding it - that was what the slices were made for, and it was fun to watch the grease drip off before you crammed part of the piece into your mouth. Wanda would try not to do that - it didn’t seem very polite.
“Are you into girls?” she asked curiously, taking a moment to wipe off her fingers with her napkin.
“I’m into everyone,” Darcy said. “Male, female, non binary, whatever. Doesn’t matter to me.” She liked people, especially attractive people. As long as they were fun and at least moderately intelligent, Darcy wasn’t picky.
One benefit of growing up with aging hippies for parents was having a very relaxed view of pretty much everything. They may have been benignly neglectful during her childhood, but at least they had taught her to be accepting of all people. “Like, I would legit hook up with any of the Avengers.”
Yes, including Wanda.
Any of the Avengers? Wanda snorted a laugh, pink flooding her cheeks. They were all good-looking, she guessed, but she wouldn’t want to sleep with everyone on the team - like Tony Stark, for example. He was...not her type. And older. And it would be weird.
Actually, it would probably be weird to experience that with many of her teammates. Clint?? It gave her a shudder - he was like an older brother, not someone to roll around with in the sack.
“I admit I am biased, but none of them would be as good in bed as Vision,” she theorized. “It’s just due to biology. They have human parts that go limp and get tired, he doesn’t.” Even Cap probably needed a break to get back up to full American flagpole again, despite the super soldier serum. “But, hm - I wish you luck with that. You are fun and attractive, I’m sure you could land one.”
Age, like gender, wasn’t really much of a concern to Darcy. Well, as long as the person was legal. She had no interest in doing anything that might get her arrested. Handcuffs were fun in the bedroom, not anywhere else.
“Woah, seriously?” she asked, eyes getting wide. “I’m jealous. He’s like a vibrator who can cuddle. That’s the dream.” Too bad he was already taken. Or at least she assumed as much from Wanda’s comment.
She did smile at the compliment though. “Seems like a lot of them are already partnered up,” she said. “My loss.”
A vibrator who can cuddle. That was it, Wanda just about died - but then again, it was an accurate descriptor. Even if she was currently tomato-red.
Her eyes were watering because she was thisclose to wheezing herself into a coma but she fanned her face off and focused on her pizza. “I will put in a good word for you,” she promised. “Keep an ear out for any interest, if you have a particular one in mind.”
Though it was true, some of them were in serious relationships - for example, she very much doubted Steve would stray away from Peggy, and conversely, Peggy seemed like she would not want to share. And it seemed unwise to take what belonged to a woman like Peggy. But oh well, there were other options - Darcy was young and free, she should enjoy herself.
“This is what friends do, yes?”
Darcy almost felt bad when she saw how red Wanda’s face was. Almost. She lacked a filter a lot of the time. “Or, hey, if anyone is looking for a third, I’m down for that too,” she said. The more, the merrier was her motto in just about every facet of her life.
“Do you know Bobbi?” she asked. “She’s making moves on Banner. It’s… not going well.” The texts she’d been receiving from the spy were hilarious, though Darcy thought it sounded like way too much work.
“A third?” It took Wanda a second to latch on to what that meant. “Oh, right, yes - that could happen too, perhaps. Do couples do that often - invite someone else?” She didn’t really know the rules on that sort of thing; her experience was limited to more one-on-one scenarios, but she wasn’t...opposed.
Maybe Vision would want to watch. She’d never asked him before.
But anyway, she just filed that away for later and ripped off pieces of her pizza crust to nibble on, listening as Darcy spilled the tea. “Bobbi? I know her. Not very well though.” The SHIELD agent was someone she didn’t encounter beyond the occasional gathering - she had been at the ladies brunch, for example.
“Bruce?” Wanda laughed a little, eyes twinkling. “He is so into his work, plus I think he got burned in his last attempt at a relationship. I bet he’d come around though, if she was persistent.”
“Some couples do,” Darcy said with a shrug. She wasn’t sure how common it was in the grand scheme of things.
She took another bite of her pizza while she listened to Wanda’s reaction to her gossip. “He’s completely oblivious to everything,” she said. “She took him food and made a show of licking her fingers, you know, all sexy like?” She put down her slice so she could demonstrate with the grease that was dripping off of them. “He offered her a paper towel.”
That level of obliviousness might require a lobotomy more than persistence.
“No - “ Wanda gasped, her hands covering her mouth like she was trying to hold in the giggles. It didn’t work very well, because they sneaked out anyway. Darcy’s demonstration was really the icing on the cake. “In his defense, licking food off of one’s fingers...isn’t all that sexy.” Unless you had a food fetish? Honestly though, she probably would have offered a paper towel too.
Now that she wasn’t crying from laughter she could resume polishing off her pizza and wiping her own fingers, with a napkin, rather than using her tongue. “Why doesn’t she just ask him on a date? Take him someplace with Thai food, treat him to a nice dinner?”
That was probably more direct than the show of sexiness, and he’d certainly get the hint that way.
Asking would be much less fun, but Darcy wasn’t sure how to explain that, so she shrugged before picking up her slice of pizza again so she could finish it. “No idea, but that’s way too much effort for me,” she said. “I want to have easy fun.” There were a lot of reasons Darcy wasn’t really a relationship sort of person.
“Okay, so, what good gossip do you have?” she asked. “You know these people way better and you’ve been here longer so you must have something.”
It was true - and also, there was the point that if Bobbi had just asked, it would be far less amusing to Wanda right now. So, there you go? She had never really been much for easy fun herself - she liked sex, but was mortified at the idea of putting herself out there for it without feeling at least some connection to the person. In a way, she admired Darcy’s brazen courage.
“Gossip? Let’s see - “ Wanda hummed, thinking it over as she sipped the dregs of her egg cream. Usually she was not one for chattering about these sorts of things but maybe that was because she never had girlfriends to chatter with. “I actually do not know a lot, I try to stay out of people’s heads - but there have been a few versions of Natasha’s and Clint’s that have appeared and disappeared. The ones before the current versions - “ Or maybe it was the third Natasha back, guh, anyway, “...they started sleeping together about two weeks in. The ones now, not so much. It’s interesting, how different the same people can be.”
Did that even make sense?
Darcy hadn’t gotten to know Natasha or Clint well, but she recalled reading their SHIELD files back in the day and it wouldn’t have surprised her one bit to hear they were hooking up. That was a pretty mental image.
“Yeah, well, apparently the previous mes were involved with Loki, which, UGH gross,” she said. “I don’t understand that at all.”
“Really?” Wanda lifted an eyebrow - she found that fascinating, actually, though clearly Darcy felt otherwise. No judgment for being involved with the God of Mischief, however - apparently he’d turned over kind of a new leaf (new leaf, new universe?) and the conversations she’d had with him had been friendly. He was one of the people who even encouraged her to dive into things with Vision, instead of being afraid of the opportunity.
Either way, she knew he was engaged to someone else now. Maybe everyone involved was better off. “It’s so strange, isn’t it? I can’t explain why there are such differences like that - I don’t think anyone can.” It was just...one of those things?
She checked her phone, sighing when she saw the time. Well, all good things must come to an end at some point. “I better back,” she said woefully. “But I will be sure to grab you a dozen cookies or so. To take back with you.”
“Oh, gosh, yeah, I don’t want you to get in trouble,” Darcy said, hurrying to finish the last bites of her second slice of pizza. While she chewed and swallowed it, she wiped her fingers and mouth with a napkin, hoping she got off the worst of the grease.
She took a long drink of her soda and then stood. “We’ll have to do this again though. It was fun.”
Wanda smiled happily, her eyes alight with it too. “Yes, I would love to. I don’t often do much for my lunch breaks anyway,” she said. No, usually she sat in the back room and ate a salad or a bowl of soup in relative quiet - it was much more interesting to see a friend.
And get pizza. That always made any day about ten times better, no matter what.