coffee and alien invasions
"I can't believe you did that, honestly" said the little girl to her friend who had a baby black wolf on her lap
"I give you my word, my friend" said the other girl with one hand over her heart and the other petting the sleeping puppy "It was bleeding so much, I did what mother taught us last lesson and healed it" she finished with a wide smile, proud of her work
"Well, he got lucky, does he have magic qualities now? you know, your mother said that when the creatures stay around even after being saved by our magic it means you have a bond with the them..." the girl was now in front of her friend petting the cub as well "Oh! you have to give him a name!" Exclaimed the younger of the two, a little too loudly as the wolf had now opened its shining green eyes
"Fenrir" decided the dark haired girl
"Aww, Hela that's a beautiful name, I love it!" the little girl beamed and giggled with her friend when Fenrir licked his new companions' cheeks.
BONG
Cora jolted awake and her magic instantly took a grip on the source of such piercing sound, in this case it was Strange with a cong in his hands and the same group of students who just a couple of weeks ago had helped her fill the sorcerer's office of post-it notes
"Fucking traitors" grumbled the still sleepy woman pointing to the cowering sorcerers in training before snapping her head towards the doctor that had decided to so rudely wake her up "And you," she practically hissed at him "you are now condemned to spend the whole day with me." The doctor, who was still struggling with Cora's magic ties, opened his mouth to object, she sent another wisp of magic that produced a muzzle on the poor man "I'm so glad you accept, my dear" With that she loosens her grip on the wizard and he leaves cursing under his breath something along the lines of 'she can always mess with us and when we try she turns it against us, i hate her'
- - -
The two friends were taking a break in-between lessons and decided to go to the park, grab a coffee and chat a bit. It was a nice secluded spot, far from the kids running and knocking over whatever was on their path, away from the creepy old men in unflattering too-tight bike shorts, and out of sight of paparazzi and reporters who were obsessed with constantly knowing and sharing whatever anyone acquainted with the Avengers was up to.
They sat in a bench, both sipping silently their hot beverages, in peace, at least that was until the goateed man decided to speak
"Who are you, Cora?" asked the doctor, though it looked more like he was asking his cup of coffee as he wouldn't even glance at his friend while waiting for an answer.
Cora on the other hand was panicked but hardly surprised so she cleared her throat and spoke "You know who I am, Stephen" she said with a sigh, not looking at him either "I'm your friend, the one you ambushed with questions when she suddenly appeared in Bangladesh... the one you interrogated for being outer-worldly... the one you welcomed into your sanctum..." Cora continued distantly as she examined thoroughly the tree that currently covered the rays of sun from attacking her light brown skin
"Can you at least tell me something about your past that isn't absolutely vague?" Said Stephen after taking another long sip of his drink
"Alright, you get... 4 questions, but you can't ask anything too complicated, simple stuff, please" Cora negotiated, she knew there were too many questions she wasn't going to answer but she hoped Strange would think about it and ask something good, if not, she hoped he didn't get too mad when she didn't answer.
"Where are you from?" Cora shook her head "Last name?" again "Okay, back 'home', wherever that is, were you a good or bad person?" he asked losing a bit of his composure because of her constant refusal, when she didn't shake her head he replaced his forming frown for an interested glare
"You should know there's no good or bad, we're all nuances, no black or white, we're, I don't know, grey I guess, some darker some lighter" she shifted and caught her friend's death stare "Ugh, okay, I want to believe i was and still am a lighter grey, i'm guessing this was to see if i left because i was bad or something, the answer is no" The doctor opened his mouth, probably to ask why she left then, but she stopped him "I wasn't kicked out, i just needed a break, that's all i'm gonna say about why" He nodded and continued with his questions
"Are you from this galaxy?"
"I think so, yeah"
"You think?" he asked with furrowed brows
"It's complicated, we didn't group planets in galaxies" she explained roughly, shrugging she gestures with her free hand for him to carry on
"Then what did you group planets in?" Oh, no, dangerous question, 'he deserves it though, it's not like i'm giving everything away' she tried to reason with herself 'fuck it'
She coughed an almost inaudible "Realms" averting her gaze completely from the gobsmacked wizard
"God I have so many more questions now" said a very vexed Strange, what was meant to clear some of his inquiries regarding his deity friend only left him more in the dark
She laughed at his irritated state "Well, Mister Doctor, you better choose what you're most interested in finding out 'cause this is your 4th question" and gave him a shit eating grin when he deadpanned at her
"Are you asgardian?"
"Nope" she said simply, smugly popping the P "That was fun, let's never do it again" she said getting up from the bench to throw her now empty coffee cup in the trash, Strange does the same and soon they start walking back to Bleecker 177A.
"Let's just hope this time you get drunk on New Year's Eve, maybe i'll get more answers then" Stephen jokes
"Firstly, you wouldn't. Second, I can't get drunk, unless you get me some of that asgardian liquor from your teammate" Cora says laughing
"Ohhh, so you know Thor then" The wizard felt pleased with himself at the thought of having been able to get more information out of her friend
Poor dummy, he'll only end up extra confused "Actually I haven't properly met him, but I have read his file" she told him nonchalantly
"File? What the hell does that mean- Forget it i give up"
Cora pats his back and gives him a soft smile "good choice, wizard"
"Anyways, would you like to come by tonight?" he asked then, after offering her his arm to hold onto
"Again? I could barely walk after the other night, the students definitely know something, and Wong... don't even get me started on that little shit" she grumbled, eliciting a deep laugh from her friend
"Too bad then" he sighed, then leaned down to her height, "you know how much I love being able to wipe that smart ass grin from your face"
"Hey" she called out as he walked away from her with his head thrown back in laughter
As they were about to open the sanctum's front door Wong came out distressed and cursing very colourfully
"Wong, hey, dude, calm down, what's wrong" Both Strange and Francis were holding their agitated friend
"Big- shit- big, very, very- invasion and- avengers, they- god" the bookkeeper kept saying words without connection as he tried to catch his breath
"The avengers need us?" Asked the sorcerer to which Wong nodded "Alien invasion?" his question was met yet again by another nod
"And how the fuck did we not notice a fucking alien invasion when we were coming back from the park?" Wong was still trying to catch his breath to answer and Strange just shrugged "Aren't you supposed to sense possible extraterrestrial threats, oh great sorcerer supreme?" Cora asked while sending a message to all the students to get ready for a fight.
"I may had gotten a little warning, but it didn't feel urgent and-"
"STRANGE!" Interrupted Cora with a scolding yell
"and i was too busy finally getting some answers, didn't wanna ruin it... Sorry Francis" She just gave him a look that said 'this-isn't-over-yet' and used her magic to change into her old battle gear.
It was an impenetrable, sleeveless, dark purple, leather armour that fell just above her knees, an old black scabbard, securing her favourite sword, tightly belted around her waist, matched with some surprisingly comfortable black leather pants, and, to finish the look, Cora's best pair of black combat boots, with tiny silver crowns on each side of them
The three stood outside the sanctum, ready to go wherever it was they were needed
"The fight has waited long enough, let us go" she mused, looking expectantly into the horizon
"Shakespeare in the park, Cora?"
"Shut your ass, Stephen"
"He stole that line from Stark"
"I'm not surprised, Wongy"
"Shut up, there's a fight waiting for us, or whatever poetic shit Cora said before" said the flustered sorcerer, walking first into the portal Cora had conjured up
Cora and Wong shared a knowing smile then walked through the portal that would lead them to the battlefield.