gwen stacy (labrat) wrote in thedoorway, @ 2014-08-01 10:04:00 |
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Entry tags: | !log, !max dillon / electro, gwen stacy (mcu) |
Who: Gwen Stacy & Max Dillon
When: Friday, August 1st
Where: An Elevator at Stark Industries
What: A chance meeting, Max talks about his birthday party that evening
Rating: Low
“Woah-ho-ho, well, look who’s here.” Max said to the coloured in, composite sketch he had of the masked hero, taped to his wall beside his mirror, as he shaved. “How was your morning? Aces, Max, Aces. Been out saving the world. Protecting everybody. But is someone celebrating a birthday today? That’s why you’re here! You remembered my birthday. Oh-- I mean, all the crime fighting you’ve been doing, and all of a sudden you take time out just to come visit little ole’ me, Max. It’s--it’s just amazing that -- but, but, but of course you would. Why wouldn’t you visit me? We’re best friends.” Max set his razor aside and crossed the apartment, opening up his refrigerator to reveal a small, white and green birthday cake decorated with yellow lightning bolts. He’d made it himself the night before, but continued on,talking to Spider-Man as if he really in the apartment, and as though the cake was some kind of surprise. “Oh, oh, what are you doing? You made me a cake?” He lifted the cake from the fridge to examine it, turning around to continue his conversation with the Spider-Man that wasn’t there. “See, they don’t get to see these small kind things that you do for people -- I, I know what they say about you in the press, but it doesn’t matter to me because I know the real you. Because you’re amazing -- Wow. That’s what the press needs: They should call you the Amazing Spider-Man. You like that Spidey? I like it a lot, Max Good, good, because today is going to be amazing.” For two year, Max Dillon had slaved away for Stark Industries, working thanklessly on using the electromagnetic energy fields introduced to New York by Pavel Chekov to update and engage the aging, faulty power systems of the city which were damaged as a result of hurricane Sandy. It was good, it felt good to be a part of the process that produced clean, sustainable energy to New York City, and now they were about to take it to the next level. Because it wasn’t good enough for just one city to reap the benefits from reverse engineering the technology of the distance future. They had to find and design ways to make a dynamic change to all energy systems in the United States, maybe even the world. In fact, the electromagnetic fields that he was designing rivaled, he was sure, Stark’s own reactor technology. It would be something unique, something that he was keeping very close to his chest, and which he planned on testing tonight, on his birthday, now that he had Spider-Man’s help. Because Dillon had needed a component to his field generators that Stark Industries had refused to provide: plutonium. But during the hijacking earlier that month, his friend, his partner Spider-man had delivered what the Russian mob was trying to take from OsCorp. Plutonium. The one thing that he needed -- or well, close enough anyway. His actual design called for uranium, and it had taken a few weeks to reorganise the schematics, but obviously Spider-Man had left him that plutonium for a reason, obviously Spider-man saw the logic in this that he missed. There was just no way any of this was left to chance, and of course he trusted him. Spider-Man was his friend. “What floor please?” Max pushed his glasses up along his nose as the Stark elevator spoke to him. “Seventy-four.” “Oh! Oh -- hold that!” Gwen wasn’t late, per se. Lab work was flexible, both her bosses tended to work with her schedule, taking into consideration all the other stuff going on in her life (that may have included the new enthusiasm for marine biology research) and plus she was always on time. She was just one of those New Yorkers that had to rush everywhere; otherwise a missed bus or elevator made the morning a little sour. The only downside at the moment to rushing was the potential of having the books in her arm falling over and the latte in the mug spilling out. Still she made the best attempt, and luckily it was rewarded when she didn’t see the elevator closed on her face. Max stuck his arm out to stop the elevator doors, they closed on his wrist but sprang open again so A young woman could join him in the elevator “I got it, I got it.” “Thank you.” Max was sure he’d seen before stepped into the elevator beside him. He shook his arm out and thought about it. Maybe it was with Bruce Banner that he’d seen her, but he wasn’t quite sure. Either way he barely listened as she continued to speak before retreating to the other corner of the elevator. “You’re a real gentleman. Most people would have just let those close.” “Well, most people don’t notice other people.” Max explained with a quiet nod. “What floor please?” “Uh.” She cleared her throat, “Sixty-thr” “I got it.” Max interrupted her. “I got it, what is it?” “Sixty-three.” She told him, adjusting her coffee mug in her arms. None of which spilled. And her books were still in her arms. “Sixty-three.” He repeated loud enough to the elevator to register his request. “Thank you. Very much.” She said to Max, giving him a questioning, side-ways glance. She apparently hadn’t been even a little bit wrong when she’d called him a gentleman. Which just made her think back to his comment about noticing people and she felt a slight pang of sadness. She hadn’t noticed him. Ever. Maybe she ought to change that. Maybe she ought to get to know more of Stark Industries employees. Maybe, he would octopuses and boating trips too. He touched his hair, making sure it was neatly parted before speaking to her again. “I’m um, I’m Max. Max Dillon.” “I’m Gwen. Nice to meet you.” At least now she had a name to match up with the face. “Nice to meet you.” Gwen was about to turn her eyes forward again until her eyes caught something. “Is it your birthday?” She asked, noticing that besides Max’s briefcase, he was also carrying a large black and red flyer announcing that very fact. Max looked at her for a moment, bemused as to how she’d concluded correctly that it was his birthday until she gestured towards the flyer in his hands. “Did I -- oh, well, a few of my friends made this flyer up. Birthday party, big club, a lot of celebrities.” “Wow.” “I’d love to invite you, it’s just the guest list is closed.” “Oh, got it. Got it.” Gwen said. “Well, thank you anyway.” She didn’t believe him entirely, but she wasn’t offended. She did, however, hope that if he was going to really throw one, that someone would show up. Much like the back of a New York City cab, and instead of irritating elevator music, Stark elevators had, playing in the corner, a small television showing the local news, at the moment it was recapping a story about Spider-Man from a few days earlier, when he and a few of the other Avengers had located one of the trucks that had been transporting some of the plutonium stolen earlier in the month. The television caught Max’s eye and he smiled, gesturing for Gwen to pay attention to it. “Must be nice, huh? To have the whole world look at you like that? You know, Spider-Man saved my life one time. Of all the people in the whole city, he saved me. He said he needed me.” “That’s a pretty good feeling.” Gwen murmured, looking at the news footage as Max recounted his experience. This day was starting to fill up with one too many I-should-do-more-of-this moments, because the second she saw Peter on the screen, she thought back to when was the last time they got to see each other. Too long ago, and it seemed even longer since Peter’s plan to move over to OsCorp with Dr. Jekyll. It wasn’t that Gwen hadn’t gotten used to sharing her boyfriend with his superheroing life, especially considering how busy her own life was, but those small moments of freedom seemed to just… not match up. Unless it was a full moon or something. Yeah, maybe it was time to change that. She considered the weekend but she had really hoped to get back on Happy’s boat for the weekend. Although it wouldn’t have hurt to ask Peter to join them... The doors opened on the sixty-third floor, and Gwen pursed her lips before stepping forward to get off the elevator. “Well, it was nice to meet you, Max.” Half-distracted with her mind split between marine life and boyfriend life, she headed in the direction of the lab, the pathway committed to memory a long time ago. When she said his name, Dillon finally looked away from the television screen in the corner, and just as the elevator doors started to close, he realised -- “Wait! She--she remembered my name...” |