flourish_or_perish | MHA #8

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MHA #8 | Morning

So. Last night had happened.

There had been no pollen involved. Just a little breaking and entering (and a silly neighbor who Faye hadn't really minded seeing shirtless, but she wished had left earlier. Or not come at all, since he was the cops.) But it had, ultimately, turned out pretty well.

Meaning that Faye had woken up being...held. One might even call it cuddled. And -- this was now Faye's deepest secret. Deeper even than her debt or her real age or her identity -- she had liked it. And cuddled back, however briefly.

So, naturally, she'd kicked Stark out of his own bed and sent him off to the kitchen to make breakfast, before she could get too used to how much she'd liked it. And now, having taken her sweet time to get out of bed, she padded out to the kitchen in what was definitely Stark's shirt, because she wasn't just going to put on her own clothes again, okay? Not before breakfast.

"Are you actually making pancakes?"

[for the glowy guy. NO LIAM, NOT YOU, YOU HAD YOUR CHANCE YESTERDAY]

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Stark had not been expecting any of this, which would have been obvious to anyone who had seen (or heard) his reactions. He'd definitely
not expected being kicked out of bed with a not-quite-demand for breakfast. He would have been quite happy to stay there, cuddling, as long as he could manage.

Instead he was in the kitchen, wearing more clothes than last night (which wasn't difficult, he'd lost his grip on the towel very shortly after Liam left), working on a batch of pancakes.

He looked up when Faye came in (wearing his shirt and he didn't know how to react to that at all but he certainly wasn't complaining) and nodded, just a little uncertainly.

"You were serious about the rest. I thought you were serious about the pancakes."

"I mean, I was, but I wasn't expecting actual follow-through," Faye admitted, leaning against a wall and looking a little impressed, in spite of herself. "No one's ever made me pancakes before."

It might have sounded like some kind of admission that she thought it was nice of him. She wasn't going to come right out and say so.

"You weren't expecting pancakes. I wasn't expecting a break-in, or... anything. Plenty of surprises for everyone."

Neither one of them had expected a shirtless Liam, either. Really there were so many unexpected events.

Stark turned his attention back to the stove because she was wearing his shirt and that was very distracting if he thought about it and he didn't want anything to burn.

It was a convenient thing for her to wear! (Faye could take the shirt off? Would that be less distracting?)

"I really wouldn't have broken in if I'd known you were going to react like that," she added, almost apologetic. "I didn't mean to scare you."

Or for him to call the cops, unintentionally.

That would not be less distracting! And it would almost certainly lead to burnt and ruined pancakes, possibly a smoke detector going off, and did they need the pretty firefighter breaking down the door as a result? No. ~~Not today, anyway.~~

"I don't always react well to being startled. Or frightened. Either. Both. I..." Stark let his voice trail off as he flipped the pancakes.

"I didn't mean to scream. If I'd known it was you I wouldn't have." Probably.

There had been entirely enough random, official men interrupting things in this apartment for awhile. For awhile.

"You really should get more secure locks." Faye would see to it, probably without actually acknowledging that she was doing something nice for him. "So no one who's...you know, not me can startle you."

Not that she thought there was anyone who'd be sneaking around the way she had, but you know. She listened to the radio and the squirrels were apparently able to get in.

"Are you planning on startling me again?" That was a very reasonable question, wasn't it? Then Stark could be prepared and try not to scream. No other reason to ask. Really.

"I thought the locks were fine. They hadn't been a problem before. Except for the squirrels but the squirrels are their own problem. I don't think anyone else has a reason to come in."

"I'd like to think that if I did it again, it might be a little less surprising," Faye replied, curving a smile at him. "But maybe we can squirrel-proof it, since they shouldn't be getting in, either."

Everyone here had a very cavalier attitude about woodland creatures breaking into their homes.

"I don't think it's possible to keep the squirrels out of anywhere they want to be."

They were very persistent!
So was Faye, apparently.

Stark was removing pancakes from the heat now with more concentration than the task required.

"I'll try not to scream if you show up again."

It really just depended on how bad Faye wanted something. A lot of times, she'd give up pretty easily.

Other times, you know, she'd break into a guy's apartment.

"You can scream after I show up again," Faye replied, going over to perch on the counter with a little wiggle of her eyebrows.

Yeah, she just wanted to see if she could embarrass him. She thought it was cute.

Well, lucky for Faye, Stark was easily flustered by her.

"But I..." He looked up at her, caught the eyebrow wiggle and immediately looked down again.

"I didn't mean it like that!"

Putting some pancakes on a plate was easier than making eye contact but he did look at her when he offered the plate. She was sitting right there. On the counter. In his shirt.

"You do that on purpose."

"I do most things on purpose," Faye told him, taking the plate. "But yes, I do that on purpose, every time."

And it was a skill set that had served her very well over the years. There was a reason Faye was a pretty effective thief.

"Would you rather I didn't?"

Didn't mean she'd stop, considering that how flustered Stark got was one of the things that kind of drew her to this. Faye knew perfectly well what to do with confident, flirtatious men; this was different and intriguing. (And, like, dangerous, but she would deal with that when it all hit her and she panicked and not a second before!)

"No," Stark said, more quickly than he meant to. He didn't want her to stop.

"I just... you're... it's confusing."

Although maybe a little less so after last night? But maybe not.

"Do that on purpose, too, usually," Faye replied cheerfully, tucking into her pancakes. "But I don't know what's so confusing about me now."

Given that she was sitting here, on his kitchen counter, wearing his shirt and eating pancakes he'd made her. Was she unclear now?

Of course, she also refused to use her words pretty much ever and had thrown him out of bed for daring to cuddle her, so. There were perhaps some mixed messages going on here.

"You're here," Stark pointed out, which was confusing all by itself.

And she'd kicked him out of bed when he was very contentedly cuddling!

"I really didn't think you were serious." Until she grabbed him last night in front of his shirtless neighbor and how was he supposed to look Liam in the eye now?

"Not unhappy to be wrong." Just confused!

"I can keep proving how serious I am," Faye pointed out. "We have some time before class."

More flustering, please.

"It's not a big deal," she added, because she had to.

Stark very nearly dropped his own plate at that, which would have been a shameful waste of pancakes.

"I..." Now was a good time for a mouthful of pancake. Yep.

He disagreed about how big a deal things might be but he wasn't quite clueless enough to argue. He could just be quietly confused.

Quietly confused and eating pancakes and looking at Faye, perched on the counter.

She watched him, eating her own pancakes for a moment before amending, "It doesn't have to be a big deal."

But so help her, Stark, if you made a big deal of this, she would get into her spaceship and fly away before you could cuddle her again.

"Just two neighbors being friendly," she added, just to make herself even less clear.

Edited 2021-06-04 16:23 (UTC)

"None of my other neighbors are quite so friendly," Stark pointed out. "But even close to as friendly."

Exactly one other person on this island had been anywhere near as friendly and that was only the once during the pollen.

"But... there is time. Before class."

He was awkward and occasionally clueless but he wasn't stupid.

Faye's smile was slow and appreciative. "Probably after class, too," she added lightly.

Look, she was a very busy woman, obviously, with all her day-drinking and random thievery, but she could probably make an exception today.

"There's paintball," Stark said thoughtfully. He'd hate to miss a chance to shoot at Anakin. "I don't have to go, but there's Anakin."

He might come back covered in paint. But that wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing.

"Then why don't you do that and come back and tell me all about your victory?" Faye suggested.

Suggestively.

Because yeah, paintball meant he'd need to rinse off. Maybe with a buddy!

"Sometimes he cheats," Stark told her. "He might shoot me first."

Not today, thanks RNG!

"Don't let him," Faye replied helpfully. "Cheat back."

This is what you get for hanging out with Faye, Stark. You get these kinds of helpful suggestions.

"It's usually too late. Or he comes up on my right and I can't see him."

Plus, cheating got you disappointed looks from Captain America.

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