Who: Jane Foster, Gwen Stacy and Merlin Where: Stark Industries When Lunchtime, mid August What Congratulations on the pregnancy, Gwen’s first day back at work Status: Complete Rating: Low/None
It was Gwen’s first day back. Her wrist was still in a brace, but it wasn’t in that horrible cast anymore. Actually, it was healing up quickly. Gwen was looking forward to getting some things done, even if she couldn’t write or type all that well. A lot of her jobs consisted of phone calls and whatnot, that she could do left-handed.
She headed into the lobby and toward the elevator.
Jane was already in the cafe, sitting over a cup of coffee and staring at it as she stirred idly. She’d been stuck on a piece of data for days now. It just didn’t reconcile with her other data and she couldn’t understand why. She was planning on taking it to Sam and see if she could make any sense out of it. In the meantime, when she wasn’t contemplating work, she was worrying about Gwen and whether she was all right after her...accident. She was so absorbed in her coffee stirring that she didn’t even see Gwen or Merlin enter the cafe.
Merlin managed to meet Gwen in the corridor outside the cafe and gave her a hug, he’d been the main one responsible for decorating her desk. She may not be on his team anymore but she was still his friend and he’d actually had a little help from Jarvis who he had assumed would be too busy.
Heading inside they spotted Jane and Merlin, deciding to have a little fun, made the cup rise slowly taking Jane’s hand with it. He winked at Gwen.
Gwen paused for a moment when she saw the wink, and gave Merlin time to work his magic. She moved over to the line to order hers and Merlin’s coffees and snacks (she said she’d buy, right?) and kept an eye on the levitating coffee cup.
Jane blinked and sat back as the cup rose, the hand that had been stirring the coffee hovering in mid-air. She sighed as she realised who it was and turned to look at the entrance to the cafe. "Merlin, put my coffee down," she said trying to sound stern but unable to stop the hint of a smile creeping on to her face.
Merlin burst into a grin as he lowered the cup, offering her a wink before helping Gwen carry the snacks and drinks to the table Jane was sat at. “Sorry, I couldn’t resist. It’s like a drug, teasing the physicist”
Gwen chuckled into her hand, watching the cup and Jane’s face… then lowered her hand and gave a little laugh once Jane spoke to Merlin. She waved from the line. A moment later she and Merlin were bringing drinks and snacks to the table.
“I’m just glad it was you and not me. I’m still recovering,” Gwen said, giving Jane a wink and waving her wrist at her friends. It was still in a brace, though the cast was gone now.
Jane smiled at her friends as they came up and sat with her. “How are you doing? Apart from hanging out with this trickster?” she asked, referring to Merlin next to her. “What actually happened?”
“Trickster?” Merlin said mock offended, “Did you just call the greatest wizard ever to grace the earth a trickster. Pfft scientists” he grinned with a wink before looking at Gwen and waiting for her to answer Jane’s question.
Gwen could only beam at her friends for a moment. She hated that she hadn’t seen them in ages. They really shouldn’t have let her become so much of a hermit after her accident. Merlin came to clean up her place, and Jane had visited her in the hospital, but being secluded in her home while she was healing had made her feel quite lonely. “I was out with my friend Lina. We went to a movie, and were walking for Frozen Yogurt when these guys attacked us in an alley. Lina was amazing. She does magic, too--though… her fireball was a bit… strong. It threw me back against the building, and my wrist hit a window ledge and cracked. My head hit the wall, and I got a concussion.”
Jane laughed at Merlin’s reply before turning her attention to Gwen’s story. “Wait, you have another friend? Besides us?” Jane asked, pretending to be shocked. “This can’t happen, I won’t stand for it!” she grinned. “Especially if she’s going end up throwing you into a wall. Even accidentally,” she added, more seriously.
“I have to agree with Jane” Merlin said, “She and I fill all the friend requirements without breaking bones and knocking you out”
“Aww, that’s so sweet. You two are the best.” Gwen reached around the table and gave each of her friends a one-armed hug. “But still. I’m going to keep my other friends, too.” She winked. “Speaking of… the guy from my dreams showed up here. Before my accident. We just haven’t had a chance to talk about it yet.”
“The guy from your Dreams? You’ve met him then? What’s he like?” Jane asked, excited.
“Come on now Gwen, you can’t leave it there. We want all the gossip” Merlin agreed, with a smirk.
Gwen chuckled. “Well, it’s… Peter Parker. Spider-Man. He’s my boyfriend in my dreams, and here he’s a teenager. Moved out here for college. That part’s bizarre. But everything about him is the same. From his eyes to his smile. It’s so weird.”
“You sound like you’re smitten already,” Jane looked at Gwen more closely, a grin starting to form on her face. “She is isn’t she,” she turned to Merlin.
“Totally” Merlin nodded, “Our Gwen, the cradle snatcher. You Mrs Robinson you” he teased her.
Gwen snorted with laughter and indignation. “I have a boyfriend. Besides, he’s just a kid. He’s the kid from my Dreams, sure, but…” She sighed softly. “I care about him so much in my Dreams. It’s bleeding over a bit. I’m not in love with him or anything, but I want to be there for him. Help him.”
“Hey it’s ok to care, because then caring leads to holding. Then holding leads to kissing which leads to loving which leads to…” Jane insinuated, a grin on her face. She winked over at Merlin, enjoying being able to rib one of her friends a bit. “When are you guys meeting up again?”
“We’re just teasing you” Merlin said, “It’s totally fine to want to be there and help him. I’m sure he’ll take instruction very well” he added with a smirk.
Gwen laughed. “Jane!” She gasped, her mouth open wide in a gape and a smile. “Merlin!! Honestly, you two.” She shook her head, turning back to Jane. “You’re trying to live vicariously through me, aren’t you? When’s the last time you got any, huh?” She asked, reaching an elbow over to nudge her friend. Then gave her attention to Merlin again. “Let’s focus a little less on my love life--because it doesn’t need much help--and focus more on Jane’s.”
“Ah! Is that an admission that something happened with Peter then?” Jane grinned, prodding her friend gently in the arm. “I absolutely got some lately, his name’s LANSCE,” she replied.
Merlin laughed at Gwen, both her reaction and her attempt to steer the conversation away from herself and on to Jane. There was no teasing Merlin as he was happily married with a baby on the way, it was a pretty done deal in that respect.
Merlin listened with a smile before realising it sounded familiar, “Hold on a minute. Isn’t LANSCE the name of that particle thingy ma bob?” Merlin wasn’t a scientist but he kept up with certain things that he knew his friends worked on or with.
Merlin was pretty safe from the teasing. Though, they were sure to come up with something. He wasn’t completely free. Maybe it wouldn’t be relationships, but there was bound to be something they could do to ruffle his feathers in a friendly way.
“Yeah, you can’t exactly date a machine.” Gwen said, raising an eyebrow. “...wait, I suppose you could... but that’s a bit gross, sad and wrong.”
“Thanks Gwen,” Jane replied with a smirk on her face. “You described my life as gross, sad and wrong,” she teased with a laugh. “And damn you Merlin with your general knowledge,” she replied to him.
“Welcome” Merlin replied with a grin and a mini salute. “Besides Gwen wasn’t saying your life was gross and wrong...well unless you’re doing naughty things with the particle whoosit in which case I think we need to talk Jane”
Gwen laughed, too. “Some serious discussions need to happen if you’re actually doing the gross and wrong thing.” Gwen teased along with Merlin. “We should find you a nice guy. Preferably one who’s not too young, not too unavailable, and has actual blood pumping through his veins, not electricity through its circuits.”
“Hey now, there’s nothing wrong with electricity and circuits,” Jane grinned, feeling a blush rise in her cheeks as she spoke. “LANSCE is just a bit bigger than…otherthings with electricity and circuits,” she couldn’t stop the embarrassed grin from spreading on her face at the insinuation.
Merlin couldn’t stop the snort escaping at Jane’s words, “Oh Jane, Gwen’s right we really need to find a real guy for you” he told her kindly.
Gwen nearly snorted her coffee. “Seriously?” She shook her head, chuckling, and then cleared her throat before taking another sip. “...he and I are in complete agreement. Now we just have to find a nice fellow to set you up with,” she said, breaking into a bright grin. “Any ideas, Merlin?”
“There’s a nice fellow...I just don’t think he’s all that interested,” Jane shrugged, thinking of Thor fondly as she picked up her cup of coffee with both hands.
Merlin looked at Gwen and nodded, "We definitely need to do something" he agreed, "Sadly I have more female friends than male. Oh Jane, are you suffering unrequited love?"
“Ha, I’m the opposite,” Gwen said, but was distracted by Jane’s admission. “Oh??” she reached over to nudge Jane’s elbow. “Tell us more!”
“No, not love,” Jane told them. “I’m much more cautious this time round, but he’s uh...he’s the guy from my Dreams; Thor,” she told them with a little shrug. “We have a lot in common here and we get on really well, but in my Dreams there’s this...incredible feeling between us that’s like...electric,” she shrugged as she tried to explain it to her friends. “I don’t know...I just, I don’t know if he’s even interested in me like that here,” she shook her head.
“Well then it sounds like we need to find out if he is interested in you here” Merlin said, “We could befriend him and find out for you” he suggested rather gleefully.
"I love that idea!" Gwen said, bouncing in her seat a little. "It's like undercover work. Make it a secret mission. We’ll go do reconnaissance and report back!"
“Oh god,” Jane groaned before looking up at Merlin with a smile. “No offence Merlin, but you’re about as subtle as a gun at a knife fight, I have no idea how you kept your magic secret in Camelot for so long,” she teased. “And Gwen…” she turned to look at the girl but just ended up sighing and patting her on the arm. “Well...you’re just so pretty,” she grinned affectionately.
“I’ll have you know I was simply awesome at keeping things a secret. Or everybody in Camelot had selective hearing and memory retention but still I can be subtle when I want to be. Audrey will help. Hell if he goes to Baxter’s she might already know him” he pointed out, “You are very pretty” he added to Gwen with a kind smile.
Gwen opened and closed her mouth like a fish out of water a few times. “What? I mean, I am. But… what has that got to do with anything?” She’d totally ignored the comment about Merlin because the one about her was more distressing. “I could still be a secret agent if I wanted to!”
Jane laughed at her friends and shook her head. “I’m not going to talk you guys out of this am I?” she grinned and picked up her muffin. “I could just not tell you his name,” she teased.
Merlin simply patted Gwen on the arm and raised an eyebrow at Jane, “You mean Thor? You already said his name genius” he teased before laughing at her expression.
“I can’t imagine there are too many Thors running around,” Gwen added, grinning like a Cheshire Cat.
“Damnit, I thought you’d forgotten,” Jane grinned. “Just...go easy on him. Don’t be too obvious about it?” she asked, worried that something would scare him off or something. She didn’t want to damage the relationship she already had with him.
“I’m like an elephant I never forget” he teased with a wicked grin, “Obvious? As if either of us are obvious? We’re like stealth ninjas”
“Absolutely.” Gwen agreed, nodding seriously. “I’m a Secret Agent. Really.” She broke into a grin when she was finished, and reached for her coffee. “I should head upstairs. I’ve got so much work to do.”
“Yeah, you’re like an elephant that everyone can hear stomping around a china shop,” Jane teased again, that wasn’t going to get old, especially with him performing magic so freely around her. “Yeah, I suppose I should go too, hope inspiration strikes me in the elevator back up to my cage, sorry, lab,” she joked as she stood from the table and took her drink. “I’ll see you later? Coffee on me next time,” she called over her shoulder as she left.