InsaneJournal

Who: Darcy and Sharon
What: Spa day
When: Friday 8/6
Where: Out to a cafe
Warning: None
Status: Completed via Gdoc


A mani/pedi sounded like absolute heaven to Sharon. She hadn’t had a whole lot of chances for pampering over the last few years, though once things were established in Madripoor she was a little better able to take care of herself. (Hard to have a spa day when you were on the run, right?) So when Darcy suggested it, Sharon jumped at the chance. Not only did she want to make more contacts and allies in this strange, new world, she also wanted to get the gossip from someone who probably knew what the heck was going on around here. For some reason, Darcy seemed like that girl.

So, clad in jean shorts, flip flops, and a t-shirt, she went downstairs to meet up with the brunette. There were so many questions flitting through her mind, Sharon wasn’t really sure where to start.

***

Darcy was most definitely the girl to get the best gossip from about this weirdo alternate universe. She’d been here for two and a half years and made a point of being friendly with everyone. Plus being Tony’s daughter gave her some extra access to security things.

Wearing a light sundress and flip flops, sunglasses perched on top of her head, she went to the lobby to meet Sharon. The SHIELD agents were always fun and she remembered that this one in particular had helped Sam and Steve when they were on the run a few years back.

“Hi, I’m Darcy,” she said with a bright smile. “It’s nice to meet you in person.”

***

Sharon turned and smiled at the sight of her new friend. Hey, she was making so many allies, getting to know the people here… it was a really good start. “Hi, Darcy. Sharon,” she added, motioning toward herself.

“Weird to meet in person after chatting on the Network, right?” She laughed. “What do you think about a salad?”

***

“I think a salad sounds good as long as it’s got some meat on it,” Darcy said. “I arranged a car to take us to a cafe near the spa that has patio seating.” Before coming here, saying something like ‘I arranged a car’ was a sentence that she never thought she’d say.

They headed outside and she recognized one of the regular drivers sitting at the curb. “That’s us,” she said, guiding Sharon towards it. “You settling in okay?”

***

“Meat sounds good,” Sharon paused and then laughed. “I mean, meat on the salad. It sounds like a solid meal. I think my waistband will thank us if we can keep it fairly light.” She was used to using car services, so the arranged a car comment didn’t really phase her.

Sharon nodded, and followed Darcy to the car. “So far so good, I guess. Weird that Tony Stark is here and alive.” She said it with full understanding of how strange that sentence was.

***

The driver wasn’t in the know about the weird alternate universe shenanigans, though he did know Darcy was the lost Stark heir. Still, she put up the privacy window so she and Sharon could talk freely. “Yeah, that’s a tough one for a lot of people,” she said. “Nat too.” It was good that they were here and had the opportunity to live a life they wouldn’t have at home, but definitely weird.

“What was the last thing you remember happening before you ended up here?” she asked. “Did you happen to hear anything about weird things in Westview, New Jersey?”

***

Well, here and alive could mean a lot of things, right? Sharon looked sheepish as Darcy put the privacy window up in the car. She gave her new friend an apologetic smile as she pulled on her seatbelt. “Yeah, I noticed she was here, too. Must be weird to have people coming from different parts of the timeline.”

Then the question about Westview. Sharon had read all about that. But that was actually a while ago.

“There was a new Captain America. I’d been in Madripoor, and Barnes and Wilson came out to see me there. They were trying to find some super soldier serum developed by a chemist out there. The Flag Smashers had taken it.” Was that happening here and now?

***

Darcy nodded as she listened to Sharon. “Yeah, a team just went to Madripoor,” she said. “The flag smashers and the GRC have been pretty big in the news.” It was all so weird for her, since she’d lived through the snap back home and then basically skipped five years here in the blink of an eye.

“Sounds like you’ve got further ahead memories than anyone else,” she said. “Wanda, Vision, and I all remember Westview.”

***

Sharon nodded. Westview. It sounded like a disaster. Thankfully, the body count was relatively low, considering. Their little troupe of heroes had done more damage in other events. Sharon had done more damage on her own, actually, though no one seemed to be counting bodies in Madripoor.

“I have some of the details, but I don’t know all that went down in Westview. That’s in New Jersey, right?” Sharon asked, the epitome of innocent curiosity.

***

“Yeah,” Darcy said. She didn’t want to say too much, mostly to protect Wanda, so she kept her answers vague since she wasn’t sure how much Sharon knew. “It was… an experience. I was brought in as a consultant. Worked with Jimmy Woo and Monica Rambeau.” Idly, she wondered what happened to the other consultants that she’d arrived with. None of them really stuck out after their ride.

Disasters were pretty par for the course with their people though. “In the end, it all worked out okay, I think.” Aside from the part where Wanda lost her boys. That was unfair.

***

Sharon knew Jimmy Woo. Or, well, she knew of him. She'd never had reason to interact with him, but she'd been keeping tabs on all of the Avengers after everything, and Woo's name kept coming up. Monica Rambeau was someone Sharon didn't have any experience with or knowledge of. But she nodded encouragingly so Darcy would continue explaining.

"I hope so." Sharon said, leaning back a little in the seat and folding one leg over the other. She winced just slightly and adjusted her waistband. "She's a pretty powerful being. Wanda. Always seemed like a very sweet person. I wish I'd had a chance to get to know her."

***

Though they hadn’t actually spent time together in Westview, Darcy felt like she had a much better understanding of the other woman after that experience and she hoped that since their conversation, Wanda realized that Darcy was someone she could trust. “Well, you have the opportunity now,” she pointed out.

The bright spot of this alternate universe was getting to interact with people she may not have ever met back home.

***

"This whole deal feels like it's full of second chances," Sharon mused, thinking about Tony Stark and Natasha Romanoff. She'd interacted with Tony a great deal back in her world, and Natasha to some extent, but here she could actually get to know them. Get to know who they are as people rather than just…

But would that mean they’d get to know her? She wasn’t ready to relinquish her secrets.

“So many opportunities.”

***

Darcy grinned as the car pulled up outside the cafe and she gave the driver instructions on when and where to pick them up. The spa was only a half a block away, so they wouldn’t need him again until they were done.

“Definitely a lot of opportunities,” she said. “Though I still haven’t gotten to space. Quill promised to take me but then he disappeared.” She still missed him.

***

“Space, huh?” Sharon smirked a little as she climbed out of the car with Darcy. “That sounds like the ultimate adventure.” She closed the door behind them and turned to look up into the cafe. She was thrilled about a nice, light-but-filling salad.

“Who is Quill?” She moved with her new friend into the cafe so they could place their lunch orders.

***

Once they were seated, Darcy answered her question. “Peter Quill. He had a team that helped out in the second battle against Thanos. Interesting group of people from other planets.” That was putting it mildly, but she didn’t want to talk about talking trees or raccoons in public and potentially draw attention to them.

“Remind me later and I’ll show you some pictures,” she said, picking up her menu so she could decide what to order.

***

Sharon lifted the menu to glance at it. She hadn’t heard of any Peter Quill, but there were a lot of people she hadn’t heard of. And if he was from another planet, that would explain it. SHIELD and the CIA only had so many files on people from outer space--she knew a ridiculous amount about Thor and Loki, for example.

“I’ll remind you.” Sharon grinned at Darcy over her menu. “I’m thinking the summer chicken salad with strawberries. And… a glass of wine? It’s a spa day so we can treat ourselves, right?” Sharon was a big wine fan.

***

“We can absolutely treat ourselves,” Darcy agreed with a grin. “I think I’m going to go with the grilled peach chicken salad. And wine sounds fantastic.” She had her black card that was paid out of the Stark accounts, so it wasn’t like money was a concern.

She was looking forward to getting to know Sharon better.

***