The magenta man- Vision- didn't turn up for the next week, and Eva found she was actually quite disappointed. He was different to her usual customer, not just because of his appearance, but also because he wasn't a pretentious asshole who talked to her like she was still in third grade. It was her regulars, instead- Cap, Stark, Hill- who did the coffee run, as per usual- or at least, usual for her.
Slipping into the back room, she pulled her hair out of its bun and hung up her apron, smoothing out the dress she had been wearing beneath it and dusting some sugar off of the black fabric. It was a nice dress; she didn't wear them often, and this one was practically still new. She grabbed her bag and went out back through the front, ducking beneath the counter and ignoring somebody asking her for a refill. The sunlight made her blink as she stepped outside; she pulled out a pair of sunglasses and wove through the crowds of people on the avenue as she headed towards Central Park.
"Good morning, Eva," said a smooth voice beside her.
She jumped; how could she not notice him? The only place he'd fit in would be comic con, for God's sake. "Jeez, Vision! What the hell are you doing?"
"Paying you back for the advice," he explained, "even if I didn't take it." He held a cup out to her in a long-fingered hand.
"I don't drink coffee anymore," she said, aware of the blush creeping across her face. People were actually slowing down to look at them as they passed. "You wouldn't either, after two years of working in that place."
"I presumed you wouldn't, so I made you tea instead."
"Very English of you." Grudgingly, she took the cup. "Thanks."
"Actually, I have no nationality. Mr Stark selected this accent for me because it reminded him of the classic British butler archetype. And you're very welcome." He followed her as she set off again, staring at the gum-spotted pavement. He didn't say anything, though, and Eva didn't have the heart to tell him to go away.
"Have you not got any innocent civilians to save?" she asked him, taking a sip of the tea. It was hot and sweet, made the British way even if Vision wouldn't own up to it- just enough milk to make it drinkable without grimacing.
"They told me I should gain some experience of the outside world. I suppose the first hand data I have collected so far is somewhat subjective," he added, humour in his voice.
"Yeah. Normal people don't walk around in capes. Or people at all, really." Someone knocked against Vision with their shoulder as they hurried past; he stared at them as they walked away, an almost undetectable trace of confusion in his expression. "You okay?"
"Yes. Where are you going?"
"Central Park, so I can sit and write my dissertation and hopefully get a tan." And without people bugging me, she added silently, despite not actually minding his company- save for the stares.
"What are you studying?"
"Agriculture and forestry. I uh, I like trees. Hence the park."
"I haven't been to a park before," Vision replied.
"Seriously? I mean, I guess you're less than a week old, but seriously?"
He glanced down. "I've been to a forest, if that counts. But it was quite barren."
"Come on," she sighed, "you can't carry on living this shade of a life any longer. I'm taking you to the park."
His cape fluttered in the lightest of breezes; they sat on the grass in the shade of a rowan tree, on the far side of the path so not as many people noticed them, and the golden fabric pooled out behind him. The rest of the way there he had been silent, and she had noted how incredibly gracefully he walked, as if it was only by choice his feet rested on the ground. The blush had faded but without the counter between them she found it hard to meet his eye; she kept her own glued to her laptop screen, at war with herself over whether or not she enjoyed the company. It wasn't like she had anyone else- her friends were all at the other end of the country back home in Austin, and between college work and work work she hadn't the time to socialise up here. Her only friends were the trees.
Out of the corner of her eye, she watched him run his hand over the short, slightly dried grass. He cocked his head to one side and she recalled how he knew "everything on the internet", then wondered if he was cross-referencing the information with what his senses were telling him.
"You like the park?" she asked, pushing her sunglasses back up her nose.
He paused, then nodded. "I like the park."
"Good. I don't think I could continue associating with you if you didn't."
"And I have no concept of what else I should do with my time than spend it with you," he said without sarcasm. Another odd comment that seemed to set him apart from the rest of humanity.
"What are you?" she blurted out, then internally kicked herself. "Sorry, I don't mean to be rude, I just- I'm sorry."
Vision looked up at her, but he didn't seem offended. "I understand. There has never been anything like me in the history of mankind before."
"That's a pretty brave statement."
"I am not brave, since I have no concept of fear."
She grinned. "Fair enough."
He lowered his gaze back to the grass. "J.A.R.V.I.S was originally an artificial intelligence created by Tony Stark to manage his household, which, since it was Tony Stark, meant babysitting him. When Ultron-"
"That's the scary robot guy, yeah?"
"Yes. When he attacked, he destroyed J.A.R.V.I.S and attempted to create an anthropomorphic body made out of vibranium in combination with organic tissues, along with the infinity stone from the god Loki's sceptre. But when the attempt to transfer his own consciousness into the body failed, Mr Stark uploaded me into it instead."
"I thought Ultron killed you?"
"He tried. But the internet is a labyrinth, and an excellent hiding place."
"And here you are."
"And here I am," he agreed. "What about you?"
"What about what about me?"
He blinked. "What is your story?"
"I don't have one, not really. And shouldn't you know it anyway, what with your world wide web brain?"
"I didn't want to pry, so I went no further than your name. Besides, we ought to talk about something. I'd feel a little awkward just watching you work."
"That's because it would be." She closed her laptop. "Born and raised in the weird part of Texas, my parents have a concrete business. Like literally, they get paid to go and pour cement over stuff." She rubbed her forehead. "I didn't ever like that much, so I moved up here to get away from it. I'm in my final year of college now, and working in a dead end job that's nothing like what I wanna do where I spend all my time being talked down to and smelling of a drink I hate," she finished. "And you just saved the world."
He was smiling at her. "Why would you be ashamed of your life?" he asked.
"Why wouldn't I?"
"Do you know what the odds are of you being born?" he said, and she shook her head. "One in three trillion. According to logic, with all the catastrophes and events ever to have happened in the universe, you should never have existed. And yet here you are, alive and talking to me under the shade of a thing you're so fascinated by, you're dedicating years of your life to studying them. And you expect me to believe that you achieving that isn't amazing?"
For the second time that day she found herself blushing. "When you put it like that," she mumbled.
"I've noticed that, as a rule, humans aren't aware of how wonderfully improbable they really are."
"I'll take that as a compliment, then."
"Please do."
It was funny- in that moment, she stopped seeing him as something inarguably separate from her, despite him distancing himself from humanity like that. He was the first person in New York to be genuinely nice to her, to make an effort to find her and talk to her without expecting anything in return. He seemed clever, like a level up from humanity in evolution- and yet he wasn't patronising at all, which made a refreshing change. I think I've befriended a robot superhero.
"Thanks. You're a strange person, Vision."
"I try my best," he said wryly.
A/N I'm flattered that so many of you like Eva, separate of reading this for the superheroes. She's cute, in a messed up kinda way