Jennifer Kale has An Encounter (much to her chagrin)
The bell above the door dings, as he shoves it open, a quiet noise that’s loud in the thick silence of the shop. “Hello?” He takes a step in when there’s no reply, shrugging at the look Kate gives him. “Jennifer Kale? Anyone home?”
A pause. Then a door in the back of the store opens, a woman stepping out in an elegant, put-together ensemble that doesn’t hide the haunted look in her eyes. “We’re closed,” she says coldly.
He raises an eyebrow, tilting his head to the side as he stares at her. “Door wasn’t locked.” It’s a challenge, more than anything, because he knows fully well that it was- not that it was hard to get open. He isn’t going to think about why he knows how to pick a lock, though. Later.
She knows it was locked too, if the way her jaw tenses is anything to go off of. “It’s meant to be,” she replies in a carefully measured voice- a customer service voice, he thinks to himself with a quiet snort of laughter. “So kindly leave.”
“No thanks,” he says casually, grabbing one of the weird gem-egg-things off the display shelf and fidgeting with it as she stares at him. “You’re Jennifer Kale, right?”
“Please get out of my store,” Jennifer Kale says sharply, a gleam in her eyes. Magic , he thinks, then wonders if Kamala’s glowing nonsense can create shields, too, in case things go badly. “You’re trespassing.”
He glances at Kamala, still visibly in her hero gear. “Is it still trespassing if you’re a superhero?”
“Yes,” she sighs, shaking her head. “It is. Which is unfortunate, at times, but probably good, y’know.”
“I don’t really care if you’re the Avengers themselves,” Kale says flatly, an edge in her voice. “You can’t be here.”
“Rio sent us,” Kate offers innocently, and then Kale’s hands spark a sharp, glowing pink.
They freeze. Jennifer Kale freezes.
The shop is very, very still.
There’s a long pause- he can’t tell if it’s because the time is stretching around him, pulled thin, or if it’s real. Then, after a long moment-
“Rio?” Jennifer repeats, her voice strained.
He digs his elbow into Kate’s ribs without looking at her, lips pressed tightly together. “I. Wasn’t really going to mention that one, Kathrine.” Maybe he should’ve briefed her on that before they came in. Whoops.
“What?”
“It just felt like a stupid plan,” he forces out sweetly, not taking his eyes off Jennifer, “given that Rio did say she wouldn’t be happy to hear from her.”
“I thought it would help,” Kate protests quietly, and Jennifer’s eyes narrow, her hands twisting in glowing pink.
“It doesn’t. Get out.”
“We aren’t here about Rio,” he cuts in quickly, shoving Kate and Kamala behind him as he holds his hands up- see? Not a threat. “If you don't wanna talk about Rio then we don't need to talk about Rio. Just- can you put the sparkles away? Please?”
Jennifer watches him for a long moment, her gaze hard, before she looks away, something flickering over her expression as her glowing pink fades away. “Talk fast, kid. You’re still trespassing.”
“I’m a teenager,” he corrects under his breath, and her face twists into something pained, so quickly he probably wouldn’t have caught it without his speed.
“If you’re not here because of Rio,” she starts, voice carefully controlled.
“We aren’t,” he interrupts, and Kamala nods along out of the corner of his eye.
“Yeah, totally. I mean- I don't even know who Rio is.”
“Count yourself lucky,” Jennifer says flatly, before her eyes dart back to Tommy, brows drawn together. “If you aren't here because of Rio… then why are you?”
He hesitates, rocking on his heels, and Jennifer rolls her eyes, waving a hand lazily through the air.
“Would you prefer I pinkie swear not to get mad, first?”
“A little,” he shoots back dryly. Kate rests a hand on his shoulder, a grounding touch, and he sighs, chewing on his nails as he avoids Jennifer’s gaze. “I need… help.”
Her expression turns guarded, a stiff hand smoothing down her skirt as she carefully asks, “What sort of help?”
The words catch in his throat- Billy, Billy, Billy -and Kate speaks up, stepping closer to him, a comforting presence by his side before his mind slips into spiraling entirely. “We’re looking for someone. Someone you know?”
“How ominous,” Jennifer says, strained. “Please, by all means, keep the suspense up.”
He forces out a quick breath, squeezing his arms tightly around himself as he drags the toe of his shoe over the linoleum floor. “I’m… I’m looking for- for my brother.”
“...your brother,” she repeats dubiously, crossing her arms.
“He’s… missing,” he explains quietly. “Or- hidden. Gone. Not here, which is where I needhimtobeand-”
“Tommy,” Kate cuts in, and he snaps his mouth closed before the words can spill out in a flood.
Jennifer presses her lips together, watching him carefully. “I’m afraid that’s not the kind of magic I have, kid. I can’t help you find… whoever it is you’re looking for.”
“But you can,” he insists, pulling away from Kate’s touch and gesturing rapidly as he speaks. “You can, I know you can, because you know my brother!”
Jennifer’s eyes turn confused, her tightness fading. “What?” she asks, voice unsure. “I don’t-”
Then she stops, and stares at him for a long moment, eyes glowing that same pale pink.
“...magic,” she whispers to herself after a moment, letting whatever spell she’s using fade. “You’re made of magic. But it’s not yours, it’s-”
“My brother’s,” he finishes softly, and her face blanches as she takes a step back, fingers sparking pink.
“I know your brother.”
Something in his chest loosens, a bit of disbelieving tension he didn’t even know he’d been clinging to. “You do?”
“I know your brother,” she repeats, a growing anger in her voice. “He’s the son of the Scarlet Witch. And I,” she spits, drawing herself up, hands shining pink, “want nothing to do with it.”