In Which First Impressions Are Not The Best
When Steve Rogers first met Darcy Lewis, his first thought had been:
So this was a modern dame.
It wasn't exactly a good thought or a particularly kind one.
It had been a touch of surprise, a touch of unease and discomfort going through him as he thought it.
Because he had been unprepared, and somewhat blindsided by the meeting, and because he was very much still the little guy from Brooklyn that constantly put his foot in his mouth when he was uncomfortable.
Darcy Lewis had come in with Doctor Jane Foster, Thor's girl, a joint package, apparently. Brought directly to the Tower in the aftermath of the attack on New York. He knew nothing of her, just knew she worked with the lovely Doctor who Thor had mentioned off-handedly before he left and had asked Tony Stark to bring in.
He just knew that the girl trailing after the Doctor was probably the youngest thing in the room and that she kinda looked really out of place.
And she looked bored.
Dark blue eyes half-lidded behind chunky, thick frames, make-up a dark pointed slash like a cat, muted lavenders, mouth a ripe scarlet and plump.
Typing away on her cellular phone, chipped varnish a brilliant red with splotches of yellow like a lightning bolt on her thumbs so quick he would have thought her to have some sort of super-power herself. Her chewing gum had been a brilliant green, the mint a sharp tang to his enhanced senses. Loud sounds blasting away her eardrums via tiny little speakers, a song that made his ears hot. Some blasting beat that sounded too harsh to him, too foreign and unlike the music he had been listening to just a few months ago.
Darcy Lewis had looked around in vague interest to the communal floor of the Avenger's tower, eyes lingering on the high vaulted ceilings and clean walls and spacious room, before quickly returning to her phone. She only really put it away when she was closer, stuffing it in her back pocket when Tony lead the two women over to be introduced, his smile exuberant as he and the two petite dames reached the coaches that for once the team were using.
The younger woman had popped out just one of the little speakers and gave a small wave to every one of them even before Stark started naming them by their real names.
She snarked at Tony when he made a vague comment of her... Curvacious figure, her hands landing akimbo on her hips. She made the crass billionaire laugh as they suddenly started to exchange verbal barbs, and it was obvious that the young woman, whom he still didn't know her name, was on par with Tony's type of humor. It didn't make him really eager to talk, but he found himself standing up to be introduced once the younger one of the women had stopped verbally sparring with the billionaire. Anything less than that would have shamed his mother after all.
"Captain Steve Rogers ma'ams," he had said, somewhat stiffly. A mixture of military formality and lingering uncertainty of being in front of pretty women that he doubts he will ever shake.
The good Doctor had given him a vague smile, mumbling her name as she scribbled away in a leather-bound journal. Pretty, soft, with clear eyes that were a lot more direct than her slight appearance would be lent to believe had focused on him for a fraction of a second before she returned back to her journal. Miss Darcy Lewis however had given him a once over and smiled a smile that was all teeth. It was a little nerve-wracking really, the way her dark blue eyes shone from behind her clunky glasses.
"Darcy Lewis and I like you Kaptien!" said the young woman, saluting, and he was very surprised to see that she did it correctly, something that most civilians didn't do. He wondered at the fake accent at the end and was startled with laughter from Clint.
"Was that a Star Trek reference?" asked the younger man, his blue eyes glittering.
Steve found himself frowning. Another popular culture thing that the archer had mentioned that he had to see when he had been confused over his and Stark's remarks over it a few weeks ago.
"Live long and prosper, dude," said the girl, grinning her fingers doing a strange sign. Pair of fingers pressed together in a 'V' shape.
"You are my new favorite person. After Pepper," said Tony, a grin coming upon his face as he did the sign as well, flashed it with glee.
"Status accepted. I expect a badge that says so," said the girl seriously.
The billionaire laughed and went off to do something else when his phone beeped.
When the girl turned to Natasha, she blinked and stared at her hair. The older woman gave the younger woman a glance over, from her chunky boots to the woolen sweater on her torso. She didn't smile, but there was a strange gleam in her emerald eyes that looked almost pleasant.
"You're smoking hot, and I bet you could kick everyone's asses on a regular basis," said Darcy, grinning ear to ear as she went over to the older woman, crossing her arms as she stared at her.
Natasha said nothing and only raised a brow.
"You just made me proud to have lady parts, go you," she said firmly. Steve was surprised to find that the girl earned a small twitch of the stoic woman's lips at that.
When the girl moved over to Doc Bruce Banner, he winced, thinking that it would be oil on water. Bomabstically forward girl and the mellow Doctor? Opposite and obviously really different. Her blue eyes however just looked at the Doc, not saying a word and her lips pursing slightly as the Doc looked back with nervous dark eyes. He was utterly shocked when the girl just took one full look at him and embraced him. Tightly. Brought her short arms to crush the taller man straight into her body.
Everyone, including Doctor Foster, looked shocked at the action.
"Darcy!" exclaimed the woman, looking up from her journal. The younger woman didn't say a word as she let go of the Doc and walked over to her boss as if nothing had happened.
"Come on, I bet you ten bucks our rooms have hot tubs," said the woman, and both were lead away by JARVIS.
Neither of the four people in the room had much to say, the two masters spied leaving almost as soon as the new arrivals did, and when Steve looked at the Doctor, he was surprised at his somewhat shocked look.
"I kinda needed that," said the Doc, slowly, before he got up suddenly and ran off to his lab.
Steve's overall impression was that the two women would screw up the dynamic of the Tower.
Or at least, the younger one would. He had no idea how right he was.
EDIT: 29 January 2021