It's all Skye's fault. Well, most things are, but this especially.
He isn't the type of person to create an online dating profile, and yet there it is in front of him. It has a picture and everything — that's why she'd been browsing through his Facebook photos earlier, he realizes — and it's not a bad representation of him, except for the small fact that he had no role in putting it together.
She grins cheekily and shrugs one shoulder. "So what d'you think, Wardie? The guys'll be coming in hordes, I'm sure of it."
He rolls his eyes. "Skye, really?"
"Yeah really. You're always doing that weird pouty thing when I go out with Jemma. You need someone." Ward makes a small noise of objection: it's not pouting. It's meditation, and it requires concentration, and it's not his fault if he looks... pouty. She doesn't even pause, saying, "And as your roommate and friend, it's my job to get you laid."
"Did it have to be online dating?" Ward sighs, rubbing one hand across his eyes. She leans over him and begins to type, and he shifts from side to side trying to see what she's writing. After a moment he gives up.
"It was that or me taking you to a sketchy bar, so I think you're lucky."
Lucky isn't the word he'd use, but he also knows better than to try and convince Skye otherwise.
Plus, well, he's a little glad. It's probably because she talks nonstop about the double dating possibilities — or so he tells himself — but the idea of being with someone isn't all that unwelcome.
There's a small pinging noise, and Skye squeals. "Look! You've already got a message! I told you the pictures I put up would work."
"Pictures... Plural?" Ward questions. He hadn't spent too much time looking at his page, and he wishes he had. The main profile had seemed reasonable enough: there were a couple of quotes he actually liked and one Cinderella quote that he had caught before Skye could get away with adding it. The rest of the info was surprisingly accurate, and he had to give her some credit: she had tried.
"Duh. You've got the main picture — you saw that one — and that super hot picture of you shirtless with the weird dog-mop-thingy. I mean I don't even like guys, but damn. Nice abs."
He drops his head into his hands and doesn't even bother protesting, and she gleefully opens the message. There's a beat of silence before she begins to laugh.
"Wow. I think they meant to ask you to be their fuckbuddy, but they missed half the letters. What does that even- Maybe it's in a different language."
"It's english," he mutters, glancing up and reading the message with a cringe. "Sadly."
"The guy's not even hot, and he's super creepy. Can we agree that he's a no?"
"Skye."
"I'm taking that as an agreement. Cool."
Ward pushes the chair away from the computer and stands, walking into the kitchen. He quite wants a beer or something of that ilk, but it's only eleven in the morning. He's not that desperate. Yet.
Pulling open the fridge in boredom, Ward leans down, and his brow furrows. "Skye, do we have any milk?"
"Um… No. I used it, but in my defense the cereal was starting to get stale, so I figured I'd just eat it all."
He closes the fridge with a quiet sigh, trying to quell an amused grin. "I'll go run and get some. Don't do anything I wouldn't do while I'm gone."
Skye hums in agreement, and the computer pings once more as he walks by. She clicks the message open and nods appraisingly. "Speaking of doing, would you do this guy?"
Ward shakes his head and chuckles, raising one eyebrow at Skye. "No. I'll be back in twenty."
He grabs his coat and walks out of the apartment, and by the time the door closes behind him Skye is typing furiously once more.
She trolls through various other profiles, leaving up a couple she thinks Ward will like. It's tempting to send off a message or two and get things started, but she knows that's also an excellent way to get Ward's support revoked within seconds.
But she's bored without Ward to bug or Jemma to talk to, and so her hands drum uselessly on the armrests. She gets increasingly involved in the motion, bopping her head and humming along the tune of a song she can't remember the name of. The noise of the computer jolts her from her dancing, and she instinctively lifts her hand and whacks it on the rim of the desk.
She had told Ward his profile would be popular — she has eyes, after all, and the man isn't unattractive — but even she's astounded. There's a box on the screen, the third message in the twenty minutes it had been up, and the guy's actually cute.
Skye reads his profile once and then again, grin growing larger. The apartment door swings open, and Ward enters with crash, dropping the grocery bag onto the chair unceremoniously. Before he can speak, Skye is out of the chair and at his side.
"Wardie! You got another message from Something-something Fitz. He's cute. Go check it out."
Ward looks more than a little uncertain, but he complies. Fitz's profile is up on the screen, and he sits to read. His expression doesn't change and he doesn't say anything, but Skye can tell he's interested. It's the way his shoulders tighten just barely, the way he glances almost shyly toward her to see if she's noticed.
"Message him back," she insists. "And you can thank me later, by the way."
Ward glares and mutters something about "just go put the groceries away," and she smirks knowingly. There's a rather infuriating skip in her step as she complies, and as soon as she's out of the room Ward messages the man. Yet for all of his excitement, there's something bothering him.
"Skye?" he calls. "Do we know him? I feel like I've seen him before."
She walks back into the room with a shrug before answering, squinting at the screen to get a better look. "I don't know. You're right, though; he does look kind of familiar."
They stare in silence, and Ward looks between his roommate and the computer awkwardly. His first instinct is to assume this is all some elaborately planned joke, but Skye seems genuinely interested. He knows her well enough to tell when she's lying or trying to hide something, and he doesn't get that impression from her right then. But the man — Leo Fitz, his profile said — was just too familiar to ignore.
"Wait," Skye starts. "Oh my god, Wardie. I've got it."
She stops, a look of pure surprise on her face, and Ward has to prompt her to get her to continue. "You've got what?"
"That's Leo Fitz. That's Jemma's college lab partner."
It's his turn to be completely surprised, and he asks, "How on earth did you remember that?"
"She was talking about him the other day, saying that people always used to assume they were dating. It was funny because that's exactly what happens to us. Wardie, did you message him? You have to message him now."
"I already did," he admits. "But isn't this a little weird?"
Skye doesn't have a chance to answer because Fitz writes back. "Guess not!" she declares.
"What do I say?" Ward frets. "How do I bring up the fact that my roommate is dating his old lab partner? Isn't that weird? That's totally weird." He waves his hands vaguely, and Skye taps his shoulder.
"It's okay. Be chill. He wrote back in, what, a minute? He was obviously waiting for your reply." She nods knowingly and walks away, disappearing into the kitchen and returning a minute later with two beers. Eleven AM might be too early to drink, but apparently 11:30 is the perfect time. "He's interested, you're interested. Doesn't having a connection make it even easier?"
Ward shakes his head enthusiastically, and she rolls her eyes. "Ward, just say hi. Be all 'hey, I'm Grant Ward, want to go out sometime?' Use Jem and I as an excuse, pull the double date card."
He looks at her nervously, and she offers an encouraging smile. "Okay," he says. "I'll message him. Okay."
Skye claps twice and watches, realizing after a moment that he was waiting for something. "Oh, do you want me to-?" She cocks her head toward the other room, and he nods slightly. It's hard not to laugh, but she manages to stifle the urge to at least a small smirk.
"'Kay, I'll leave you to it. You've got this, Wardie. I believe in you."
Before he can make some remark about how she's making this into an awfully big deal, she's out of earshot and in her bedroom.
There are four text messages waiting for her when she picks up her phone from her bed, and she immediately goes to answer one: "It took me a sec to recognize him, I'll give you that. But for someone who wasn't sure about double dating, you picked a great looking guy, Jem."