"Eva?"
"I DID IT!" she yelled down the phone. "I GOT A FIRST! I DIDN'T EVEN THINK I WOULD PASS!"
"Congratulations," said Vision, sounding genuinely pleased. "I told you that you could do it."
"I have a three kilo tub of nutella and I'm gonna eat the whole goddamn thing to celebrate," she told him, as the students around her called their families and friends to share the news. "Graduation's next Thursday afternoon, so if y'all order drinks then it won't be me delivering."
"Do your parents know?" Vision asked.
"No, since I haven't told them. I plan on enjoying my graduation ceremony, thank you very much."
Vision laughed. "Enjoy your vat of diabetes, Eva. I have to go."
"Okay. And Vision…"
"Yes?"
"Thank you for caring," she mumbled.
"It's a very easy thing to do," he said.
"Debatable. Bye." She hung up, as the girl next to her started crying again. She genuinely hadn't believed she could do it- and here she was, with one of the best marks in the class. She was a qualified gardener, she had money in the bank, and there was an ungodly amount of chocolate hazelnut spread waiting for her. Life was good.
%
Her new sleeve tat still felt a little raw under the fabric of her graduation robe, but at least it was no longer covered in clingfilm. The silhouette of a forest started at her wrist and climbed up to her elbow, with birds flying above it over her upper arm. She had missed the kick that came from the needle running over the skin, the knowledge that the pain it brought her was worth something. That a little bit of self destruction could result in something beautiful. She had been having an existential crisis a couple of weeks ago when V had told her something that he had also apparently said to Ultron- that there was grace in her failings. That reminded her of this, a little. Good coming of bad.
The graduation ceremony was configured so that once someone was called up to get their certificate of qualification, they were not seen again and did not return to the waiting room. For all that everybody else knew, they could be going outside and getting shot in the head.
"Who's coming for you?" a natural sciences girl asked a biology major.
"My parents, my aunt and uncle, a couple of cousins… the whole fam's coming up from Detroit, actually. What about you?"
"My boyfriend- well, fiancé now," she said, extending a glittering hand to show biology, who squealed.
Slowly, Eva began to edge away from the two.
"Hey!" cried natural sciences. "Agri girl, you got anybody in the audience?"
Eva's shoulders sagged as she slunk back towards them. "No," she said, and even though she had spent the previous night convincing herself she was fine on her own, there was a twinge of sadness that not even one of her Austin friends had come up to see her, like they had all been promising to do. "I'm the lone ranger today."
"Aw," said biology, without emotion, "that sucks." And then they were called away to go receive their degrees. Eva yawned, and resisted the urge to take a swig from the flask sitting heavily in the pocket of her gown.
"Kresk! You're up!"
"Coming!" she said, running forward and up the stairs towards the stage that fronted out onto the university green, which had been filled with seats for the occasion. All she could think of was how badly the turf would be getting torn up by the heels on all the fancy dress shoes. She couldn't see the crowd behind the stage, but she could hear the discordant echo of the principal's microphone, and the clapping every minute or so.
"And graduating with a first in agriculture and forestry, Evaline Chloe Kresk."
I hate my name, Eva mused as she climbed the stairs- and instead of the harmonious clapping that she had been hearing beforehand, several loud, discordant whoops came from the back of the audience, along with a victorious battle cry.
What the hell…?
As the unnerved-looking principal handed her the certificate and shook her hand, Eva squinted to the back of the seats and saw her most loyal customers stood there, cheering. Stark, Cap, Pepper Potts, Sam, War Mach- Iron Patriot, Thor even, with his cute scientist girlfriend. Hawkeye was there with Black Widow, who despite being terrifying was also smiling reluctantly, the girl in red with dark hair from the HQ who was probably only there because the rest of them were, a middle-aged man she vaguely recognized as the astrophysicist Dr Selvig- and Vision, who winked at her.
Something bubbled up inside of her; whether it was a laugh, sob or just pure embarrassment she couldn't quite tell, but it was definitely something. She vacated the stage and jogged towards them, feeling a blush spread over her entire body until she may well have been Vision's younger sister.
"Seriously?" she said disbelievingly. "Seriously?"
"They've got a free bar after this part," Tony pointed out, and Pepper tutted.
"The Avengers came to my graduation ceremony," she muttered to herself, "oh my God, the Avengers came to my graduation. In costume."
"This is my uniform," Cap pointed out, "and Thor wore ceremonial battle carb."
"Congratulations," said Jane, shaking Eva's hand and being a well-needed bit of normality. "Degrees in science really open doors, just wait and see."
"Especially with the state of the HQ lawn every time Thor rainbows in," said Black Widow, who was at least dressed normally instead of her catsuit.
"So what happens now?" asked Sam.
"I look for a job, I suppose."
"Nah, I meant as in right now. Do we have to stick around for the rest of this or can we go and get wasted?"
She shrugged. "Nobody's gonna make you stay here, I guess."
"Sweet." The motley assortment took off towards the building where the bar had been set up, leaving Eva alone with Vision.
"You told 'em it was today?" she asked him.
He nodded. "I didn't anticipate all of them coming with me, but I wasn't about to let you graduate on your own. I hope you don't mind."
"Mind? V, people pay thousands of dollars to get an Iron Man lookalike to come to their birthday parties, and I just got the package deal for free. Did you see the look that biology major was giving me? Priceless." Eva wasn't great with words, so instead of trying to articulate the overwhelming gratitude she felt, she pulled Vision into a hug, instead. "Thank you."
He hesitated for a moment, then wrapped his arms around her. "You're very welcome. Although I think everyone still expects you to do the coffee run, regardless of your new qualification."
A/N COMING NEXT WEEK (or immediately if you're reading this in the semi-distant future): the Avengers and Eva go for celebratory drinks. Then some more celebratory drinks. And then some more drinks, and then singing happens.