A/N: Again, HUGE thank you to my beta Yoshinator. There was a lot to fix in this chapter and without her help it probably would have been a hot mess, lol. Enjoy the Chapter.
"Thor!" Darcy's scream of joy could be heard by nearly the entire apartment building as the young woman flung herself at the blond. He caught her up in one of his strong hugs, swinging her around a bit like a child. She laughed, patting his arm to be set down.
"Lady Darcy! It is good to see you! How have you been?" he asked, laughing as he set her on her feet.
"I'm good. Jane's been busy with work and Erik is still a little quirky, but he's better than the last time you visited. What's been going on with you? You disappeared with Stark and Captain America for a while since you got back," she questioned.
"Ah, yes. The Man of Iron has taken it upon himself to show the Captain and me around Midgard and present to us all of the fascinating things your world holds. I must say, I quite enjoy the moving pictures…films? There was one we watched that I wish to see more of," Thor explained, a look of childish glee on his face as he talked about the movie.
"What was the movie?" she asked.
"The one with the children who use magic and go to the strangely named school and the three headed dog."
"Oh yeah, Harry Potter. You should read the books before seeing any more of the movies. The books are much better and explain more of what's happening. I went with my parents last time I was home and Dad hadn't read the books. Mom and I had to keep explaining different things so that he could understand what was going on. It was annoying. Anyway, your flashy flying entrance onto the terrace was a bit of a waste. Jane is at work and Erik is at his weekly SHIELD mandated therapy session. I think Barton is with him actually. I think it's like a group therapy session of which I am supposed to have no knowledge," Darcy told him with a pleased grin on her face.
"That is unfortunate. Will you tell me how to get to Jane's workplace? I wish to spend some time with her since I haven't been here in a long while. SHIELD and the Man of Iron kept me for longer than I planned."
Oh yeah, I'm actually heading by there to drop off some paperwork before going to meet with a friend. I'll walk you over. By the way, you might want to change into some Earth clothes there big guy," she mentioned, eyeing the alien armor. Thor glanced down almost sheepishly at his Asgardian wardrobe before going into Jane's room to change into some spare Midgardian clothes they kept for him. Darcy kept herself busy by collecting and double checking that she had all the paperwork while she was waiting for Thor to change. She gave him a quick smile and an approving nod when he stepped out.
"Nice, you even managed to put the shirt on the right way. Let's head out, I don't want to be late," she said, striding toward the door. The walk to the science labs was mostly quiet, Thor asking a question about something or other every now and then.
"Darcy," Thor called, waiting until he had her attention to continue, "I wish to thank you for all that you do for Jane and Erik. It means a great deal to them and I that you are willing to take care of them so often and go without recognition…" Darcy was stunned for a moment before giving the Asgardian a huge grin.
"It's no problem big guy, it's what interns and friends do. Now here's the stuff Jane needs, you can pass this along to her while I go meet up with my friend. Have fun and don't make a mess of anything," Darcy said, handing Thor that stack of files from her bag. She patted him on the shoulder, told him where Jane's office was and sent him on his way. The closer Darcy got to the coffee shop the livelier her step got. There was no reason for her to be so excited about a meeting up with a sort-of friend for coffee. As Lawrence said, just two friends hanging out.
"Hello there," a voice behind Darcy made her jump and take a swing. Lawrence stepped back easily, grinning at her obviously startled reaction.
"You're an asshole. Oh my god why the hell would you sneak up on me like that?! I would have tazed you if we weren't in such a public place," the young woman demanded angrily. He frowned at her and Darcy would swear that his eyes seemed brighter in the late morning sun when he tilted his head slightly.
"I'm sorry. I didn't realize I would frighten you that badly. Allow me to make it up to you by buying you a drink," he said, smiling slightly and opening the door to the coffee shop with a little flourish. Darcy huffed before stepping inside and heading straight for the counter.
"You know I'm going to get the most expensive drink I can now, right?" she mentioned, browsing the food offerings while they waited. Lawrence smiled at her.
"I wouldn't expect anything less," he answered. It was quiet between them for a moment, the barista preparing their drinks and grabbing Darcy's scone, but it wasn't a weird silence. The young woman had a scale of awkward silence ranging from one: comfortable to a ten: SHIELD interrogation silence. This was definitely a one on her scale.
"So, did you have a plan for hanging out or were we just going to sit in silence and sip at our drinks the whole time?" she asked as the two settled down at a table near the window.
"I didn't plan out a whole conversation in my mind if that is what you are asking. You talk so much that I thought I would mention something and just let you have at it," Lawrence chuckled.
"Fair. But I only ramble to Jane because she doesn't listen anyway and I ramble to myself when I'm doing work because my thoughts are too loud to keep in my head. I don't go on and on when I'm hanging out with a very new friend. I tend to conduct interrogations to see if they're worthy of my awesome presence," she explained. There was a quiet moment where the two of them were sizing each other up for the looming possibility of invasive questions from Darcy before the man across from her grinned.
"Do your worst." A slow smile spread across Darcy's face as she leaned back in her chair.
"You're going to regret saying that," she informed him, hiding her pleased smile behind her drink, Lawrence's self-assured smile slipping off his face as he took in her expression.
"Question one…" she began.
A/N: WARNING: The new semester is starting for me and since I'm near graduation time, I probably won't have much opportunity to write as frequently as I do now. I can no longer promise weekly updates, so dear readers, I'm sorry, but you're going to have a longer wait now between chapters.