Kate Bishop: Practically an Avenger. (hawkeyeout) wrote in onewaythreads, @ 2018-09-24 21:27:00 |
|
|||
Entry tags: | !complete, kate bishop (hawkeye), scott lang |
Who: Kate Bishop and Scott Lang and Cassie Lang (NPC)
When: Sept 8th - ish
Where: Out to dinner
What: Planning for Halloween
Rating/Warnings: Low/None
Status: Complete!
"We're not moving quite yet," Scott says, right after the bread is brought out. He loves bread. He knows that if he takes one slice, he's going to end up eating half the bread basket. He hopes that someone will start eating it so he doesn't. Cassie, who seems to have a natural intuition for basically everything, reaches for one of the rolls and breaks it open, then starts knifing whipped butter out of the melamine butter dish that was nicely flanked by -- Scott starts counting them -- eight rolls.
Eight.
Scott pulls his eyes away from the rolls and focuses back on Kate, who actually is even more appealing to him than the eight dinner rolls still left in the basket. Most women would probably object to having their magnetism compared to that of dinner rolls, but most women did not know precisely how much Scott Lang liked dinner rolls.
"Maybe a month or two. I've gotta get together the money for furniture and find something decent first. I don't want to settle. Plus, I'm looking for something with 3 bedrooms, in case we ever have a guest over. 3 bedrooms are impossible to find."
A guest over that wasn't Kate, anyway. Because Scott's pretty sure that if he hosts a sleepover, Kate's going to take up residence in his room. Scott has no objections to this whatsoever.
"If I ever have friends over, they're going to stay in my room," Cassie informs them.
"You want bunk beds, then?"
"Yes!"
Scott gives Cassie a thumbs up. "Done."
Family dinner time was a new thing for Kate. Sure, she’d had friend dinner time, but this was different. Sitting around a table, talking about what you did that day… it was a very rare thing for her family when Kate was growing up. She didn’t have a very close relationship with her father, and her mother died when she was young… so this whole family business was really new to her.
But she liked it. In fact, she wanted more.
“Good! Then I’ll have a place to crash when I spend the night.” Kate teased. Cassie knew that Kate and Scott shared a bed when she slept over, right? ...didn’t she?
Kate reached for a roll, then for the butter. “What other kind of furniture do you want for your room?” She asked, trying not to feel awkward about what she’d just said.
Cassie shot Kate a skeptical look. "It's okay if you'd rather stay in daddy's room."
Scott was three sips into his water when Cassie started speaking. And he chokes on the third of them once she finishes.
Oh, poor Scott. See, Kate was used to having these kinds of conversation with Cassie in her own world. Sure, she wasn’t sexually active when she and Cassie were close, but they talked about boys a lot. And about sex. The kinds of things teenage girls thought about, wondered about, talked about. So it wasn’t that big of a deal to Kate to hear it coming from Cassie.
But then Scott started choking. And Kate couldn’t help but laugh in an almost nervous, slightly embarrassed kind of way.
“Thanks, Cass. I’ll keep that in mind.”
"I just wanted to make sure that you knew," Cassie says, matter-of-factly.
"Thank you, Peanut," Scott finally manages. This time he reaches for one of the rolls. After that, he feels like he deserves it.
"I really want my own desk, though," Cassie says, getting back to Kate's question. "And a bookshelf."
"We're going to have to get you one of those cubbies," Scott interjects, buttering up a roll. "Like the ones from IKEA." He turns to Kate. "Is there an IKEA here?"
Kate paused to consider it for a moment. She shook her head. “I have no idea. I haven’t seen one, anyway. Maybe we should go exploring and find one.”
Now that Scott had a good job, and Cassie was back in school… maybe it was time for Kate to figure out something to occupy her time, too.
“Are you guys really moving out of Stark Tower, then? In a couple of months?”
"We're not going to be going far," Cassie says.
"Yeah, she's right," Scott says, pointing a finger at her in agreement. He takes a bite of the roll. God, why did he make this choice? It was a bad choice. He was going to end up eating half the bread basket again. "I'm thinking someplace closer."
Cassie nods her agreement.
"To you, obviously," Scott says, as if that weren't obvious.
Kate felt her face grow really hot as his words sunk in. They were going to move closer to her? Not Cassie's school, or his work... they were really incorporating Kate into their lives, and she was just. Completely honored. A little overwhelmed by it, actually. She felt warmth and happiness wash over her like a tidal wave, and for a moment she was emotional to the point where she couldn't speak.
Then, eyes a little wet, she smiled at Scott. "That sounds amazing."
Scott grins. "It's just more convenient," he assures her with a wave of the hand, though he's pleased to see that she's touched. "I just like to live near the important things. The grocery store. A Thai restaurant. My girlfriend."
Scott takes another bite of his roll.
His girlfriend. That was Kate. Someone’s girlfriend. It was a little terrifying, and incredibly exciting. And yes, if Scott wanted her to stay the night, he would absolutely get lucky. Because she wasn’t good at putting all her feelings into words, but she could sure show him how she felt about him.
“I’m sure you’ll find a nice, big place eventually. I can help you look, if you like.”
"I think we'd like that."
"Yeah," Cassie chimes in.
Scott finishes his first roll. "We could just make it easy," he says, taking his second roll. He starts buttering it up. Cassie grabs a second one, too. Thank god. The more rolls other people took, the better. "Your complex have any vacancies?"
While they were taking rolls, Kate figured she should probably take another one, too. Before they all disappeared. She set it on her plate and grabbed a little more butter for it. Kate wasn’t going to take any more, though. Too many carbs. Kate had a figure to think of. (Though, now she was getting laid on the regular… part of that was off the table.)
“I don’t know. The building seems pretty full--and, actually, a little run down. I’m not sure you guys would like staying there.” Kate was concerned about the state of the building and Cassie’s safety. “Besides, it’s such a walk to school. I’m sure you can find something closer for Cassie to get to school in the morning.”
"I like taking the bus," Cassie says.
"She likes taking the bus," Scott says, gesturing at Cassie with a butter knife. "But point taken on the apartment thing. How do you feel about starting the search next weekend? If you're not down for looking for apartments, we should at least start looking for the IKEA-equivalent."
"I miss their Swedish meatballs," Cassie says wistfully.
"We all do."
Kate nodded. There was almost nothing better than Swedish meatballs, lingonberry jam, and gravy. She’d eaten her fair share of IKEA meals in her day both back in New York and southern California.
“All right, let’s start looking this weekend. I’m sure we’ll be able to find at least a big, cheap, furniture store somewhere in Preya, but I can’t guarantee they have amazing food to boot.”
"So we'll just have to make a contingency plan, just in case," he says. "Look up restaurants or something."
Here he is in a restaurant, talking about eating in another restaurant. Scott finishes his second roll and wills himself not to reach for another.
Somehow he manages to exert some manner of self-control.
"What's your favorite food, Kate?" Cassie asks. Scott perks up, ears ready for the answer. He was able to tell easily enough what foods Kate liked or didn't like (they'd eaten enough take-out and restaurant meals for him to get a good idea of her tastes), but he didn't know what she liked best.
This would be useful information for the future.
Kate responded honestly. She grinned over at Cassie. “You and I spent a lot of nights with pizza. I mean, that’s sort of a staple in my life--more like a part of my family than a favorite food.” She gave Scott a wink, then turned her attention back to Cassie. “That and coffee.”
Cassie doesn't look entirely satisfied with the answer. Scott does, though.
"So I should bring over more coffee. Got it." Scott commits that particular factoid to memory. "Either that or we should be meeting up during the day. "Either that or we should grab some before work. I probably need to cut down on the caffeine after dinner."
“I’ve reached a point where I’m not sure the caffeine hits me anymore.” Kate said, smirking softly. She could tell that Cassie wasn’t satisfied, so she considered the question a little longer before she added, “I really like spicy food, too. Like, Mexican, Indian, Thai… I like food that has tons of flavor. Tiki masala and green curry, and enchiladas. You know what I mean?”
"Yeah," Cassie says. "Mom and my step-dad used to get enchiladas from this food truck on the way back from my soccer games."
Man. Scott really wishes he had been able to go to her soccer games. Maybe if he made better life decisions, that wouldn't have been a problem.
"I'm doing soccer again this year," Cassie says, and Scott's expression brightens a little at that particular reminder. "And karate."
"Karate's new," Scott confides to Kate. "Thought it might be good for Cassie to know how to defend herself."
“Karate is excellent,” Kate grinned over at Scott, loving the way he looked when he talked about his daughter. She was also pretty pleased that Cassie was taking up self-defense. Kate had taken it, too, when she was just a little older than Cassie.
“I can’t wait to come to your games. And your meets. And all the other… y’know… events.” Kate finished the last of her roll and leaned back in her seat to make more room for her stomach. “I’m gonna be full before I even start on my real meal.”
"You'll really come?"
Cassie looks absolutely delighted at this admission. Scott looks absolutely delighted at this admission, too. And not just because he's been stressing about probably having to miss some of them because of work, but also because those he could go to?
Well, he'd have really great company.
"I'll email you a list of dates when I get home," he tells her, just as the waiter drops off their meals.
"Thanks," he says to him. Fast enough so that he'd only devoured two rolls instead of the basket.
"Mom and Paxton used to make it to all my games," Cassie informs Kate. But before Scott can feel too bad about it, Cassie continues: "And daddy always watched the videos later."
Oh, yeah.
"You think you could film the ones I can't make?" he asks, picking at his food. "I understand if you can't, but I'd really appreciate if you could. It doesn't have to be anything fancy, either."
"Mom and Paxton recorded on their cell phones."
"And I could buy you a power bank so you're not draining your video the whole time."
“You don’t have to buy me a power bank,” Kate said, brushing off Scott’s offer. She would have used all of her cell phone battery to record the games either way. “I’ll record all your games, Cass. Of course I will. All the ones I can go to, anyway. I’m gonna try for all of them, but… it’s probably time for me to get a job, too.” Kate had been thinking about it for a while. She needed something to keep her occupied, some way to bring in some money on her own, so the trust fund wouldn’t be her only source of income.
Cassie lets out a hum. “What do you want to do?”
Scott looks at Kate, rapt with attention. He hasn’t really asked her anything about a job because when he didn’t have a job the last thing he wanted was for people to harp on him about looking for one.
And yeah, maybe asking her what she wanted to do wouldn’t have come across as pushy, but he didn’t want to risk it. Especially when things were going as well as they were. He’s just grateful Cassie asked so he wouldn’t have to.
Yeah, Scott Lang was sometimes a coward.
But a lovable coward. In Kate’s eyes, anyway.
She shrugged in response to Cassie’s question, considering it for a long moment while she chewed. “I think I’d like to do something relating to… I don’t know. Fashion. Or helping people. Or both?”
Kate chanced a glance at Scott, and caught his eye. A gentle flush began to bloom on her cheeks, and she smiled sheepishly. “I figure the shallowness of the fashion part is balanced by the helping people part, right?”
"A job's just a job," Scott says, after he's swallowed another bite of his dinner. "Most people aren't doing any good in the world with whatever they're doing for a living. You want to do fashion, you do fashion."
"Aunt Jan is opening up a clothing store," Cassie adds, helpfully. "You could ask if she has any openings."
Scott points at Cassie, though he keeps his eyes on Kate. "See? You already have a lead."
“I guess I do.” Kate said, smiling softly. Her eyes twinkled as she looked into Scott’s, the rest of the world fading away for a moment. A beautiful moment. Then she turned to look over at Cassie once more. “I’ll send her a message. Thanks, Cass.”
Cassie beams. "We still need to finish our superhero costumes," she informs Kate, and then she returns to her meal.
"You're forgetting," Scott says, waggling his finger once at his daughter. "Halloween's coming up and we haven't even decided what we're going to wear."
Cassie turns to face Kate. “You’re coming trick-or-treating with us, right?”
“Oh yes,” Kate hadn't forgotten about the superhero costumes, she'd just been distracted by her blossoming relationship with Scott. The mention of Halloween made her brighten.
“I'd love to go trick-or-treating with you both, so long as I get a cut of the candy.” She was mostly teasing. Mostly.
"I think that can be arranged," Scott says.
Cassie nods in agreement. "No Reese's Cups, though."
"Reese's Cups are off-limits. Cassie candy only. I can be persuaded to share my Snickers, though."
“Understood,” Kate agreed, solemnly. “I’ll be happy with a Snickers and a Milky Way. Especially the dark chocolate ones.” She grinned softly. “It’s all about the chocolate. I don’t know why people give out anything else.”
Cassie appears to consider this. "I don't know," she says, after some deliberation. "I don't mind Starbursts or Skittles."
"I like Sour Patch Kids." Scott takes a bite of his meal. "Don't know what we're going to do for the kids that stop by when we're out, though. Leave a bowl of candy out?"
It's starting to sound like Scott's plan is to move out sooner rather than later.
“At Stark Tower?” Kate asked, cocking her head to the side. She reached for her wine glass, because they were eating at a place that served wine, and lifted it for a sip. “I think they’ll have people there to help with the trick-or-treaters while we’re out collecting candy. I don’t know what Billy’s plans are. I’ll see if he’s staying home or wants to come out, too?”
“It’s almost two months away. Maybe I can get moved in before then. Just really need to speed things up.”
“Billy can come too,” Cassie decides. Clearly, she is the authority on who can come and who can not. “And Peter and Ned. And Aunt Jan.”
“I’m not sure if everyone’s gonna wanna come.”
“We can at least ask,” Cassie says, in the same kind of voice that makes Scott melt with affection every time, without fail.
“Then we’ll ask.”
Kate grinned. “It sounds like a Halloween party. I think… I think that’s an excellent idea. We’ll just have to find a good neighborhood. One with lots of wealthy people and lots of candy.” That was the best part about the really expensive neighborhoods where Kate lived in New York--they gave out full size candy bars and cans of soda on Halloween night to trick-or-treaters.
"We'll scout out the rich neighborhoods while we look for apartments," Scott says. Not that he could afford to live in any of them, but if they're going to be out and about looking at places anyway, it'd at least be convenient.
“Gotta find the places that give out whole bars of chocolate and whatnot.” Kate grinned over at Cassie. “And maybe we can make post-Halloween S’Mores.” She set her wine glass back down and continued in on her food… though she was super full from all the bread. Maybe they’d have to get to-go boxes.
"Consider it added to my mental to-do list," Scott says. "Less than two months away, huh?"
"It's our favorite holiday," Cassie informs Kate.
"Hey," Scott says, directing a finger at Cassie. "You like Christmas too."
"Not as much as Halloween."
Touché.
"You want me to get us boxes?" Scott asks. Somehow, he managed to stave off the temptation to eat all the rolls before dinner, but nothing was going to stop him from taking the remainder home if Kate didn't want them.
“Yeah.” Kate hated admitting defeat when it came to this sort of thing. Under other circumstances, she might have picked out the best parts of the meal and left the rest behind. But she didn’t want to overstuff herself and then feel uncomfortable. That was just a bad idea. Especially since she might have ideas for later. For after Cassie’s bedtime kind of later. Being overfull for those kinds of ideas was a bad idea.
“I think it’s time we head back to Stark Tower and cuddle up for a movie or something.” Kate turned to Cassie. “What do you think? Did you save room for dessert?”
Scott flags down a waiter, who drops off a baggie and a few boxes and the check. Scott slips his card into the credit card sleeve and passes it back over to him. Scott tells him thanks, the waiter disappears, and Cassie turns her attention away from the waiter and over to Kate.
"Daddy made sugar cookies at home. They have pumpkins on them," Cassie informs her. "Do you want some?"
"They're already selling them," he says. He doesn't want Kate to expect homemade cookies when all he did was pick up a package of Pillsbury ready-to-bake pre-cut cookies, put them on a cookie sheet, and threw them in the oven.
Kate gave a little laugh. “I didn’t think you were the kind to make Halloween cookies.” She said, eyes sparkling, as she looked over at him. “But hey, can’t go wrong with sugar cookies. That’ll make for a delicious dessert.”
She took the box from Scott and dumped her plate into it, all the pasta and sauce. It would make excellent leftovers. “And maybe some hot chocolate? Or root beer floats?”
"We'd have to stop at the grocery store on the way home if we're doing hot chocolate," Scott says. "Not chilly enough that I'm picking it up on the regular."
"We do have root beer and ice cream, though."
"If the other kids didn't eat it." Peter and Ned probably wouldn't like to be referred to as kids, but that's how Scott saw them. Sure, they weren't kid-kids, but they were still young and they still needed someone to watch out for them. Even if they didn't think they did.
"We could swing by the store and pick up some supplies on our way," Kate said, grinning over at Cassie. "Maybe some sour gummy worms and caramel popcorn?" She wasn't above bribing Cassie to love her even more. Not that she really needed it, she thought/hoped. She and Cassie were good friends. This whole "dating your dad" thing was weird, but didn't come between that.
"And maybe we can watch a movie?"