Ariadne (building_dreams) wrote in doorslogs, @ 2012-06-18 00:54:00 |
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Entry tags: | ariadne, peggy carter |
WHO Bianca & Andrew
WHAT Catching up
WHEN After the hotel debacle but before she meets Cory
WHERE Andrew's Apartment
WARNINGS None!
Andrew was her best friend and not only because he wouldn’t look at her too funnily for dressing up and wearing the incredibly expensive necklace that she would probably never have the chance to wear. She paired it with a little black dress that she almost never got a chance to wear and heels to match, relishing the opportunity to get dressed up. It was silly and fun and exactly what she needed to just kick back and relax. The past few weeks had been crazy busy and she hadn’t had nearly enough time to do her volunteer work, let alone take time for herself. She knew she could count on Andrew to help her relax for a while. Bee swept her hair up in a twist and put on a little bit of light make up before grabbing her wristlet and two forks. After a quick goodbye to Mike, letting him know where she’d be if he needed him, she made her way down the hall to his apartment. Being neighbors had its advantages. She wouldn’t have to wear her heels for too long. Armed with a killer smile, Bee knocked on the door to his apartment and then leaned against the door frame like she was some sort of hot date. She looked damn good and she knew it, but there was absolutely nothing going on between her and Andrew. Lord knew her dad would love it if there was, but they were more like brother and sister. Hell, Bee would have been proud to call Andrew her brother, far prouder than she was to call Becky her sister, as awful as that thought was. She felt guilty a moment later and her smile slipped, but then the door was opening and her smile came back, even if it didn’t quite reach her eyes. Her sister could always ruin everything, even from beyond the grave. “Hey, hot stuff,” she greeted, teasing her best friend. Apparently, Andrew had a lot of luck on his side. He had missed that insane transformation party everyone had been buzzing about when he finally bothered looking at that those journals. And he dodged the insanity caused in Las Vegas when fiction dumped itself in reality with dragons and the walking undead and blue monsters. He was glad, honestly, that his grandfather pressed him to visit New York for work because everything going on was just absolutely bizarre. Things were tense between grandfather and grandson following Maren Westerberg’s botched job, but Andrew took the blame. He liked Maren and didn’t want Wayne Mumford’s wrath to befall the girl for something he probably should have planned better. But he did regret leaving Bee there with all the crazy as fuck things and wanted to make it up to her. So, cheesecake seemed like the best thing. She asked for candles, and he obliged, setting his apartment up like a romantic date that wasn’t romantic at all. He never thought of Bee as more than a sister, even during that one time they ‘tried’ being a couple out when they were twelve. He needed to protect her, make sure she was happy, but not out of some romantic notion. Love, of course, but sibling-like love. Still, they had a good rapport, and when he opened the door to see her all dressed up and beautiful (not that she wasn’t always), he gave her an exaggerated once-over. “Well, lookit here. Who’s this beautiful thing ending up on my doorstep?” He grinned and stepped to the side to let her walk through. “Did it take you long to get here?” he asked, knowing it didn’t take her very long at all. By some miracle, Bee managed to keep a straight face as he looked her up and down and it was for this very reason that Andrew was the one person she knew she’d be able to count on no matter what. He had a knack for knowing just what she needed and she tried her best to do the same for him. “I got lost actually,” she replied, pushing off the door frame and stepping inside the apartment with an easy smile. She brightened quite a bit as soon as she caught sight of his table. And did he clean? Bee turned to face him with mock surprise. “Did you know I’d be showing up on your doorstep? Or do you always put candles out?” she teased. “It’s good to see you, stranger.” She gave him a tight hug, realizing that she’d missed him quite a bit over the past few weeks. “Alright, I’ve got the forks,” she said after she pulled away, holding them up as proof. “Where’s this cheesecake you promised me?” It was one of her favorite foods in the whole world but she really loved the ones from Juniors. Nearly every year she spent in New York, her birthday was celebrated with a cheesecake from Juniors and they’d eat it right out of the box instead of cutting it up and divvying it out. Bee took a seat at the table and unconsciously slipped out of her shoes, tucking one leg beneath her as she waited for him to get the cheesecake. “You really missed out this time around. Catwoman, Poison Ivy, and Harlequinn took over Caesar’s, the Hulk, Captain America, and Superman kicked this dragon’s ass. If it hadn’t been for the fact that I would’ve probably gotten myself killed leaving the apartment, I would’ve been all over that.” One of her guilty pleasures was comics and it had been pretty awesome, watching the news reports of some of her favorite characters - good and bad - running about Las Vegas. “What did you need to go back for?” He pressed a quick kiss to her cheek as he squeezed her back. Affection didn’t come easy for Andrew, at least not genuine, but it was always second nature with Bianca. His best friend. His sister. There were never expectations from her. Pressure to call her the next day or bring her out on another date. No, things with Bee were always effortless, and Andrew appreciated that greatly. It was why she was one of two people he could say with certainty that he actually loved. His grandfather being the other person, of course. But his grandfather wasn’t in Las Vegas, and he was glad for that. Glad to have him as mostly a thought back on the East Coast. Andrew waved her towards the table and drifted into the kitchen to grab the cheesecake out of the fridge. He wasn’t a big fan of the food, but he knew it was one of Bianca’s favorites, and the cheesecake from Junior’s was the best of the best. “Sounds like a real party,” he shouted from the kitchen as he pulled the cake out of box and onto a serving plate. He had all of these things for show mostly because he never did entertaining in his home, nothing past early morning. His fridge was filled with beers and take-out, staples in a life of bachelorhood. But Bee warranted the special treatment, and as he strolled back into the dining room with the serving plate, he grinned. “M’lady.” Two other plates, smaller ones, were already placed on the table along with glasses for drinks. “You must have been in nerd paradise, Bee.” He shrugged at her question. “Just some charity gig. Granddad wanted to catch up, I think.” He wished he could tell her the real reason why. Catching up, sure, but for a completely different reason than she surely thought. Bianca would always love her mother for sending her away. Her father hadn’t really wanted Bee to go to New York, but he understood the need for it with everything going on with Becky. It had been awkward at first, certainly, but she’d found her groove and she’d made friends with Andrew, as improbable as that had seemed at first. Truth be told, Bee had been a little put off by Andrew at first and then by his grandfather, but she was determined to be a good influence for him. He’d become her nearest and dearest friend and there was nothing she wouldn’t do for him. She knew it was the same for him and it was part of why their friendship had only grown, strengthened thanks to good times and bad. She took a seat at the dining room table, smiling at the long tapered candles that were lit for them. She couldn’t resist blowing lightly at the flame, childish though it might be, as she waited for him to return with the cheesecake. It was probably the only decent thing he had to eat in that fridge of his, but that thought was accompanied by a fond smile. “Party is the best word for it, absolutely,” she replied, elevating the volume of her voice appropriately. He was in the dining room a minute later with plates and the cheesecake. “No plates! Special occasion cheesecake only gets forks,” Bee chastised playfully as she pulled a bite off with her fork. “Nerd heaven maybe. Nerd paradise would have been if I’d gotten to meet any of them.” Her hand went to her necklace, fingering one of the jewels there. It would’ve been awesome if she could have met Catwoman. “How’s your grandfather doing?” Andrew rolled his eyes. “I was trying to inject ourselves with a little class, Bee. We’re adults now, you know.” But he sounded amused, and his smile was good natured as he sat across from her. “Aren’t we supposed to eat off plates and drink from glasses and not geek out over comic book characters in the flesh?” Teasing Bee, that came easy, too, but again, it was all out of love. He took the other fork up in his hand and broke off a piece. “You’re such a dork, Bee, good god.” His eyes were drawn to the necklace when her fingers brushed against it. “Where’d you get that thing? Some suitor you’re not telling me about?” Shrugging again, his gaze drifted away to the cake for a moment before he popped the food in his mouth. “He’s alright. Being the bossman as always, of course. You know, same old, same old.” She scoffed with a smile. “Class is for those upper east side snobs,” she teased, taking another bite of cheesecake. It was just as delicious as she remembered, even though the last time she’d had it was a few years ago, before she moved back to Las Vegas. “Oh god, I have missed this. I think I might owe you for this one,” Bee replied, a look of absolute pleasure crossing her features. Cheesecake was her weakness, sad to say. His teasing earned him a mock glare. “Geeking out over comic book characters is the new big thing, Mumford. You’ve been back East too long if you don’t know that. And you love my dorkiness. Don’t deny it.” Another few bites of cheesecake disappeared between her lips as she contemplated how to answer his question about the necklace. Honesty was the way to go. “Catwoman.” Bee looked up at him, a warning already in her gaze. “It was just a thank you. I did some research for her.” Andrew quirked an eyebrow, bemused, and pointed the fork at her. “Bee knee’s, we went to highschool with those people. We dated those people. We are like, ten blocks away from being those people, don’t you remember?” But he was glad they weren’t those people, the disgustingly snobbish boys and girls that populated their school. The ones who turned up their noses at people for no reason at all. (Andrew, of course, had a reason to do that. He was the shit, after all.) “I love your dorkiness in the same way you love a sad dog. Pity, that’s all.” His smile told her different though. He looked impressed when Bianca told her who gifted the necklace, even as he rolled his eyes. “God, Bee, of course you’d get insanely involved with these people. Are you nuts? She’s a villain. A super hot villain, but still a villain.” “You dated those people! I think I gave one of them a chance once and I ended up dumping my soda over his head.” She had actually enjoyed that because he’d had to walk around school all sticky for the rest of the day and although she’d gotten in trouble for it, her uncle hadn’t been mad and she’d had a laugh with her mom about it the next time she came to visit. “And those ten blocks did me a world of good or I might’ve ended up worse than you.” Bee stuck her tongue out at him for a brief moment before taking another bite of cheesecake. De-licious. “Yea yea yea. You say that, but we both know you’re full of shit.” Her smile only grew when she realized she’d managed to impress him. “Oh come on. She’s not all bad. It’s amazing, having the chance to get to know these people. I mean, my girl, she’s from that movie Inception. Ariadne, not Mal. I’d probably go crazy if Mal was in my head. We don’t talk all that much though. How’re you doing with all of it?” “I did,” he agreed with a laugh. Almost all of Andrew’s ex-flames were of that same class -- rich, snotty, hot girls. Those cookie cutter, waify young women who looked like they were dropped right out of any episode of Gossip Girl. But they were never serious, like girls were never serious now either. Almost like a simple breath before the next one. “But those girls meant nothing, clearly. You’re the only girl for me, Bee.” He stuck his tongue out as well. “Not full of shit. I never lie, scout’s honor.” Screwing his face up at the thought all this madness, he sighed. Bianca might be pleased about all of this, but Andrew wasn’t nearly as impressed. “She sounds normal, at least. She’s not like, building alternate worlds in your brain, right? Mine...well, sh-- they, they are pretty judgemental. Don’t like the way I act apparently.” He didn’t want Bianca to know he had a woman in his head. A military woman at that. Bee honestly couldn’t remember any of Andrew’s ‘girlfriends’ because she was pretty sure he went through them faster than Tony Stark. That thought made her smile. “I am, and you’d best remember that.” A slight shake of her fork in his direction was all that she needed to emphasize that point. She didn’t think he’d get married until his grandfather handed him a woman and said ‘marry’, and Bee knew she would never be that woman. She didn’t want to be. There was a part of her that still clung to the idea of Prince Charming coming in to sweep her off her feet and Andrew wasn’t Prince Charming, at least not in the traditional sense. “No, she’s not. Well, not that I know of anyway. I took her through the door and now she’s even quieter. I don’t know how often I’m going to be able to let her through because of how busy I am, but I’m sure we’ll make it work.” She couldn’t help chuckling at what his alter thought about him. “That’s funny. Maybe they’ll get through to you since they’re already through that thick skull of yours.” Bee was teasing. Mostly. Andrew was certain Bee would be the only woman he could see himself with years from now. Not in a romantic sense, or that they would even be married, but no one mattered to him as much as Bianca Simon did. She was his best friend in the entire world, his conscious and his rock, and nothing, absolutely nothing would change that. He didn’t want to ever marry her though. He could never, ever burden her with a life like his anyway. Being his best friend put her at enough risk as it was. His lips turned down in jealousy at the idea of a quiet brain buddy. Peggy, because that’s who was in his head, was hardly quiet. “Lucky lady,” he teased. “If only we could all get that opportunity. And I don’t need to be taught a damn thing. I’m perfect.” He grinned, believing the sentiment 100 percent true. “Of course I’m lucky,” Bee replied with an eye roll worthy of a Mumford. She’d been lucky to escape the fate of her sister, lucky to have awesome parents who let her live with her amazing uncle, and she was sure as hell lucky to have Andrew in her life. “Yea yea yea, perfectly ridiculous most of the time.” She laughed though, because she had no hope of keeping a straight face trying to say that. “You’re the best friend a gal could ask for. I’m sure whoever it is in your head will figure that out soon,” she reassured him, giving his hand a squeeze before letting the moment go. “Hey, take a picture with me?” she asked, already fishing for her phone in her wristlet. “I want proof that I’ve actually worn this necklace.” Plus, she thought maybe it’d make Catwoman smile and she hadn’t talked to the DC thief in a while. “I know I am. I guess you’re alright to keep around, too,” Andrew quipped, grinning mercilessly. He didn’t even have to say that he agreed with her, that she was the best friend a guy could have, and he was bad at sentiments like that anyway. Bee could sense it anyway, he was sure. Still, he squeezed her hand back and offered her a wink. “Yeah, sure. You know I love a good photoshoot.” He pushed himself out of his seat and rounded the table to Bee’s side. An arm slung around her shoulder, he leaned forward to make sure his big ol’ head was in frame with her. Before the phone flashed to indicate a picture, however, he turned and pressed a kiss to her cheek while squeezing her shoulders. Affectionate, brotherly, and so very Andrew. She hadn’t expected him to say anything in return, knowing him better than that, but it didn’t stop her from offering it to him. It helped him, she was sure of it. “I know! That’s why I asked,” Bee replied teasingly as she pulled the camera up on her iPhone and switched it to the front camera so they’d be able to see themselves in the screen. Once he was ready, she hit the button and the flash went off, smiling happily. Of course, there was an element of warm surprise in her eyes when she felt Andrew kiss her cheek. It was always a nice surprise when he showed her such affection and she leaned into him for a brief moment. “Thanks,” Bee said warmly, turning up to look at him with a smile. “Okay, what are the chances of us finishing this cheesecake tonight? Because if we don’t, I’m totally taking half of it back with me.” |