cheesecake and origami
"so... yeah, this is it..." peter said awkwardly, not knowing quite what to do with his hands as he stood in his warehouse with MJ and ned ; he put them on his hips at first, but settled on shoving them deep in his grey skinny jeans.
"it's not much, but it... ya know..its enough for me. i know it looks a bit shabby, and the area's not that nice, well, not well-to-do-"
"pete, it's fine!" MJ cut across his ramblings.
"yeah, in fact, it's freaking awesome!" exclaimed ned, as he wandered over to peter's messy desk, admiring his nerdy setup.
"did you.. build this yourself?" he asked, inspecting the collection of battered machines peter had constructed. ned prodded the washing machine with an impressed look.
"dude, if you think that's cool.." peter laughed, jogging over. "wait til you meet janet!"
"janet?" the other boy queried, and peter opened his mouth but MJ cut across him yet again.
"oh god, petey. you didn't build yourself a sex robot or something, did you?" she asked, wrinkling her nose.
"wha- why would- of course not!" peter stammered, flushing red.
MJ and ned burst out laughing at his embarressment.
"dude, im kidding" MJ deadpanned, smirking as she flicked his ear.
peter scowled, rubbing his ear as he said dryly "very funny"
she shrugged. "it's not unheard of. flash tried to order one from his account in the school library on an incognito tab"
peter cracked up as ned shook his head in disappointment.
"i thought he was smarter than that" he said amusedly, still poking through peter's things.
"anyway" peter said, cheerfully plucking a half-empty vial of chemicals out of ned's hand "say hi, janet"
"hello, peter's associates" janet said, her voice dry but amused as it issued from the speaker on the table by ned, who jumped back in shock, knocking over a box of things peter had scavenged from dumps
"the HELL-" he gasped, and peter snickered.
MJ, on the other hand, just looked mildly interested. barely anything fazed the legendary michelle jones.
"hello janet" she called, and the AI replied with "greetings, MJ. simply delighted to.. well, not make your acquaintance, per say.. but you look lit today"
she looked impressed. "you can see us?"
peter nodded, gesturing to the small camera on the nearest computer. "give her a wave."
MJ walked up and grinned into the webcam. "yoohoo, laptop lady"
ned was still standing a few metres away, his mouth flapping open and closed.
"yoohowdy, babe. and ned, dear, close your mouth, you'll attract flies" janet cooed, and MJ and peter burst out laughing as ned looked even more freaked out.
"i made her." peter explained, snatching up a few papers of his scribbled workings-out and codes and offering them to ned. "she's an AI, and she's really fucking useful on patrol. she can control everything in my suit, so she can phone for help should I ever need it-"
"like you'd ever need help!" ned finally stuttered, still poring over peter's notes.
peter smirked. "thanks, mate. but yeah, she's awesome."
"aww, shucks, boss. i can see ned here is an even bigger cheerleader for you than I am" janet said, and MJ turned to look into the camera again.
"did he give you your attitude? cuz I find it endearing" she asked solemnly.
"petey did all my coding, yeah. he made me pretty cool"
"that you are, honey" MJ praised.
"MJ! stop flirting with peter's AI" ned scolded, and she shrugged.
"might as well practise on someone- or something..." she said nonchalantly, flopping down in peter's squeaky swivel chair and propping her boots up on his cluttered desk.
"I'm honoured, darling" the AI drawled, and peter facepalmed.
"what have I done?" he whisper-yelled dramatically to ned, who grinned and clapped him on the shoulder.
"yeah, it's not bad" wanda said, helping herself to more tea from the pot, pouring a generous amount into the black mug she'd picked. "the boy im working with most of the week is nice. real funny, too"
"that's great!" natasha said, smiling.
"they're not working you too hard, are they?" steve asked worriedly, standing by the kitchen counter with his arms crossed, his serious expression slightly marred by the vibrant yellow thor apron he was wearing
"well" said wanda, sipping the warm drink. "i have never worked a job like this before, so it's the amount of work you'd expect"
"and they don't mind about how you dissappear at random times?" steve continued.
the worry lines in his forehead were beginning to look permanent, she thought.
"i dunno.. paprika is alright with it" wanda said thoughtfully.
"paprika?" asked a voice amusedly, and wanda glanced up to see tony saunter in, complete with his usual pair of sunglasses, dishevelled hair and air of swagger.
"he's my boss" wanda explained. "well, the nice one"
"right. I better be off, buck's waiting for me in the training room" natasha said, gracefully hopping down from the counter.
"you just got back from a mission!" steve protested, and she shrugged.
"no rest for the wicked!" she called as she walked off.
"god I wanna be like her" wanda muttered, and steve smiled wryly before yelling "be back for dinner!"
"what about me?" tony asked with a hurt voice at wanda's exclamation as he rummaged through the fridge.
"you're alright" wanda said matter-of-factly, as steve scolded tony for getting a snack.
"i dont care how hungry you are, metal man, dinner's in half an hour!" the blonde insisted, and tony retorted with "I need to eat more than the average man to retain my spectacular musclage and wisdom!"
wanda rolled her eyes and slipped off the bar stool by the counter, walking over and plopping herself down in a squishy armchair.
she leaned forward, ignoring the men's squabbling behind her, and picked up a random book on the coffee table. she flicked through it lazily, but set it down when she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket.
she fished it out and smiled when she saw the new message flashing on the screen.
origami: bro i am so tired aftr today
peter had nicked her phone during a break on their shift when she wasn't looking and added his number, naming himself origami.
they'd chosen nicknames for each other last week ; wanda chose origami for peter when she saw him casually fold a posh gold napkin into a swan out of boredom, peter named her cheesecake after discovering her strong passion for the dessert.
wanda was grateful he hadn't stumbled upon any texts from her fellow avengers and discovered her identity. it was so nice having a friend her age, and she didn't want to mess it up.
it hurt a little. he reminded her of pietro, but since everything reminded her of her deceased other half, it was fine. and this way she was remembering her brother whilst having fun, something wanda was sure he'd approve of
cheesecake: 😂 did u get all the sauce out of your pants?
origami: after fifteen minutes of vigerous scrubbing, i can proudly announce tht i got the stain out
cheesecake: god it was funny tho
cheesecake: watching that asshole be forced to leave by carlos after he dumped a bowl of spaghetti on a waiter..
origami: carlos. my saviour with the nose stud. his dreamy green eyes will forever be my inspiration to persevere and succeed in life
cheesecake: wierdo
origami: only the finest for you, dear
cheesecake: hey what snacks should I bring for tmrw's break? cuz I'm getting tired of eating stale crisps from the vending machine
origami: well what snacks do u like
cheesecake: that's the point, I'm asking you
origami: no you
cheesecake: you're ridiculous ngl
origami: I repeat my statement with pride. only the finest for you
cheesecake: 🙄
origami: 😊
"wanda! could you please lay the table?" tony called. he'd evidently lost the argument and was moodily putting a block of cheese back in the fridge.
she nodded and walked over to the drawer with a slight smile on her face, grabbing knives and forks.
"is it pasta?" she asked, smelling the tomatoey scents, but not seeing any pasta on the hob.
"lasagne" steve answered, opening the sleek silver oven with his hulk oven mitts. a birthday present from clint to bruce, who was less pleased than the ecstatic tony and had decided to donate them to the main floor's kitchen.
tony groaned under his breath, but steve heard him and flicked him with a tea towel.
"it's going to be nice!" he insisted, passing a stack of plates to wanda. "i used fresh basil!"
"ohh yes basil... that makes everything better" tony sang, and received a glare from the captain.
"its going to be lovely, steve" wanda assured him, and kicked tony on the ankle when he muttered 'kiss-ass'
"yo! is that lasagne?" a tinny voice rang out above them, and they glanced up to see blue eyes peeking out of the metal hatch.
"clint, nice of you to show up-"
"BARTON, GET THE HELL OUT OF MY VENT!" tony yelled across steve, shaking his fist in a comical way at the hatch.
clint's metallic sniggers issued from over their heads, and the little hatch door popped open with a heavy clank.
the archer leapt down with ease and sprinted off down the corridor, tony hot on his heels with loud strings of curses.
"guys! GUYS! it's dinner, like now -" steve called hopelessly, turning to sigh and roll his eyes at wanda. she giggled as she filled up the jug of water.
"JARVIS, could you please let everyone know that steve's made a nice dinner and if they don't get their arses down here in the next five minutes he's going to cry" she said loudly.
"of course, little witch" the AI replied calmly, and she giggled at steve's unimpressed look.
"i mean, I did pour my heart and soul into this..." he muttered as he started scooping up bits of lasagne and slopping them onto plates. "i wouldn't be surprised if tears were shed if it went unappreciated"
wanda hummed in agreement as she sipped her water, checking her phone.
origami: willow bruh my mate just said pistachio ice cream is better than mint choc chip, I feel betrayed
she smiled, but felt a pang of guilt at the 'willow'. was it really fair to lie to her new friend? could she risk-
"oh this smells amazing, cap!" called bruce as he joined them at the counter. she hadn't even heard him come up the stairs.
"thanks, bruce" steve said, beaming as he placed the four massive dishes of food (superheroes eat a lot, okay) on the table, along with two bowls of salad.
"its nice to have proper home-cooked food" the doctor said as he sat down at the table ; wanda hummed in agreement, it was a nice change from takeaways every evening, as tasty as they were.
scuffling sounds came from the hall, and they all looked as natasha, her fiery red hair tied up in a neat ponytail and still wearing workout gear, dragged a struggling clint and tony in by their ears ; bucky and sam were following the trio with amused expressions. tony was still yelling strangled curses.
"nat, really?" steve asked dryly, his blue eyes glittering with amusement though.
she smirked and released them. "play nice, boys" she said sternly, before taking the seat beside wanda.
"right. bon appetit, everyone" steve said excitedly as soon as they'd all settled down.
bless him, wanda thought, as she looked at the glee on his face. he was like a big patriotic golden retriever.
she smiled at the team's antics throughout dinner: currently natasha was stealing bits of mozzarella from a completely oblivious clint's plate, tony and bruce were yakking away about some complicated science shit that she wouldn't even attempt to understand, and bucky was carefully ripping up bits of lettuce and putting them in sam's hair, ignoring steve's disapproving glances.
the team's antics. her family's antics.
she couldn't be more proud of them.