The first thing Lauren noticed was that she was not in the communal living room. And she felt very dry. She knew she had quite a bit of alcohol the previous night and she…

'Fuck.'

She scrambled to find her phone. She found it on her bedside table which was odd. That was not where she would put it normally. She brushed off its oddness and noted a message from Steve. She delayed opening it in favor of checking if she was able to send her alcohol prompted message. She knew she wasn't drunk enough to have written gibberish. Given her almost laser focus as she wrote it before she was interrupted by…

'Hnggg.. Putang ina Ren… '

Apparently, drunk-Lauren decided to also practically tell all her secrets to Steve. She also decided to fall asleep while talking with Tony fucking Stark. It wasn't the worst thing she could've done. But still what a way to make an impression.

She pushed away her mental scolding of herself in favor of checking the message.

She was coherent enough to have sent it apparently. But had to re-read the whole thing to remember what she said. Despite the attention she knew she gave it, she barely remembered what it was she wrote.

She made no mention of the Avengers yet. Though she should probably tell them about her housemates soon. Especially since she might have caught Tony's attention. She didn't remember exactly what she and Steve were talking about when he came in. But she knew that it was something that caught his interest.

She couldn't help but groan.

But… it wasn't exactly a bad thing, was it? She could work with both scenarios. Either it goes positively or negatively. She could roll with it. It was no use to continue worrying about it.

Her optimism did nothing to alleviate her nervousness. Her adaptability to either situation wouldn't matter if it ended up biting her in the ass anyway. She really hoped that it didn't.

It was then that her mind kindly reminded her that she wasn't where she was supposed to be.

She was in her room.

She clearly remembered being in the communal window seat and being comfy enough to forgo getting more alcohol. So how did she…

She couldn't get any more embarrassed than she was that morning. It was worse than her first day in the Tower.

Steve probably carried her to her room after she dozed off. She knew that he could probably lift ten of her, but that didn't make it any less embarrassing. Her level of embarrassment made her wish she didn't have so much alcohol the previous night. If only because she wanted to drink more now.

Really, it wasn't enough that she spilled her guts out to the man and fall asleep while talking to her boss. She also managed to make Steve carry her to her room. What was she seven? The warm tingly feeling in her chest did not help. How fucking starved for affection was she?

With a sigh, she shook her head in an attempt to… to do something other than think too deeply.

She heaved another sigh. She was not doing herself any favors. But first the message, she gave it another once over before she opened Steve's message.

Morning! Don't worry about preparing breakfast. Meet you in the communal?

She was glad for its casualness.

Steve wasn't acting differently. Everything was normal or as normal as they could be. Which reminded her… was it just the alcohol or was there really something awkward between Steve and Tony? Was that normal for them? Once she thought about it, Steve never really talked about Tony. On the rare occasion that he did, it was mostly one-liners of… neutrality? At least that's what she thought it was. Last night was a whole different thing though. It wasn't the kind of awkwardness between people who didn't know what to think of each other. It was more… sad? Or maybe it was disappointment?

She really shouldn't meddle in things she wasn't involved in. Based on what was public information, she only knew that Steve knew Tony's dad. Tony's dad was part of the reason why Steve was found in the ice. That part Steve had told her. There was also the thing with James being the Winter Soldier… It was too early to think about it. And again, she shouldn't meddle in things that didn't concern her.

If Steve went to her about it though…

She pushed that train of thought away.

She also just realized that she didn't change out of her sleepwear. Compared to her previous embarrassment, it didn't even bother her anymore. So might as well own it. She was in America. She wasn't in the Philippines, where there would be endless comments about how she chose to dress in the comfort of her own home. Well, she wasn't in her own home but that wasn't the point. She was in a private space with people she could trust. How she chose to dress shouldn't be an issue.

The inkling of freedom that was sat on her chest blossomed. If it was because she rid herself of her culture's conservativeness or because she now had someone to talk to freely close to her – she wasn't sure. In fact, she didn't really care.

It was exhilarating.

Realizations were neat.

So with some kind of new energy, she set off to try not to look like she was hungover. Which she wasn't. But she looked like a mess.

She strode out of her room, refreshed, and comfy in her tank top that showed off her odd flower tattoo and loose shorts. The sense of freedom returned to her. The fact that she could be in her most comfortable clothes outside of her room was really something.

She made her way to the communal to make coffee. Steve and James would be back soon. Her sense of freedom was invaded by a slight feeling of unease. A small voice that told her Steve would think differently of her. But she valiantly silenced it. Steve wasn't like that. He was a good friend. A good person. He'd never.

She was so lost in her thoughts once again that she didn't realize that she wasn't the only person in the kitchen.

"Interesting tattoo you've got there Grimms."

Whoever it was got punched in the gut. And judging by the person's alternating breaths and gasps, she got them good.

It took her a moment to process who she sucker-punched.

When she did she couldn't stop fussing and apologizing.

"Damn, you've got one hell of a punch." Tony gasped. He was still hunched over and rubbing his stomach to stave off the pain.

"Oh god, fuck... I'm so sorry Mr. Stark…"

He took one deep breath and straightened himself out. He waved off Lauren's continuous apologies.

"Seriously…"

Lauren bit her lip, her hand clenching and unclenching in nervousness.

"Stop apologizing Grimms. I'm fine. That was one fine sucker punch." Tony teased.

"I'm really, really so sorry sir." Lauren apologized for one last time.

"You're worse than Peter. How about this, you tell me about that tattoo of yours and we're all good. And I've told you before, call me Tony."

She didn't remember him telling her that. Which meant that he said it last night.

Now that he wasn't gasping for breath and in pain. He stood straight, his eyes darting to the cause of what could be a bruise on his stomach. "So… what about it?" He prompted, clearly impatient.

"If you're sure…?"

"Yes, now tell me."

"Err, okay. So… what about it? It's a friendship tat. My friends and I got it after I graduated uni."

"Yeah, yeah. But what is it?" He questioned. His eyes squinted – clearly trying to discern what it was himself.

"Oh uhm, it's something I drew myself when I was a kid. Mostly inspired by a cherry blossom but I could never get the proportions right and ended up with this. I've been enamored with it ever since."

This was a first. She kept her tattoo hidden most of the time. This was only the second time she'd showed it off. But before the tattoo, she always had a version of it on her belongings. No one had ever asked her what it was. Then again, even she didn't know what to call it.

"Are those deer antlers?"

"What? No! No, they're… those are vines…" She argued – her tone taking on a very defensive tone.

Her flushed complexion told him a lot.

"Interesting. So Deery," Lauren eyed him suspiciously for that. "Since you fell asleep on me last time. Let's talk about your job."

She really wanted to hit him for his not so subtle teasing, boss-man or not. She blamed the tattoo artist for putting in those vines. She suspected that Iris had a hand in it, but couldn't be sure. She wasn't complaining though. She actually really loved it. She just didn't like it when the vines were called deer antlers. She had a feeling that there was no escaping her Tony-dubbed nickname. So she decided to not comment on it in favor of talking about her job.

They ironed out her employment. She was basically employed as a cook (personal chef) for the Avengers, employed by Tony, and a sort of virtual assistant to Pepper. Her main task as Pepper's assistant was to filter out Pepper's emails and contracts or proposals that came through those and make the necessary amendments and what not to them. Pepper also wanted her to eventually be the point person for SI's New York branch, so she could focus on the main branch. It was a bit of a heavy role to take up, but they were in no rush to put her in it. She took it as a challenge.

Their conversation also helped her forget the embarrassment caused by her actions the previous night. Which she was thankful for. It surprised her how easy it was for her to talk to Tony. She figured it was because of his charisma.

"So those friends of yours? Do they have names?"

She tried her hardest not to show Tony the unease that his question brought her. She had really hoped that he didn't notice her avoidance. Steve mentioned that he had the tendency to disregard privacy when his curiosity is piqued. She prayed to whatever god or gods there were out there. Whatever it was that caught his attention the previous night, she prayed that it wasn't something that would uncover what she wasn't ready to reveal yet.

She really should tell Iris and Greez who she was living with.

Her phone chimed. She hastily excused herself from answering. It was a shitty delaying tactic. She knew she couldn't escape answering. But it gave her a moment to breathe.

The message was from an unknown number. It only contained a name.

Cervus Oakley

Her eyes widened at the sight of it. Her heart leaped. She couldn't discern if it was to her throat or out of her chest.

She was not blushing. She definitely was.

"What? Got a salacious message?" Tony teased.

She cursed her luck. Out of all the people that she could've been with when she received the message. It just had to be with Tony Stark. Who was, perhaps, the most audacious with his curiosity. It didn't help that he had the means to sate that curiosity.

She put her phone down on the counter to massage her temples. She should really talk to Iris soon. ASAP.

Tony, who was already impatient for answers took a peek at the message. He didn't even bother to hide the fact that he was.

"Cervus Oakley? What kind of name is that? The name sounds suspicious. Friday!"

"What? Wait no!" Lauren frantically called to him. "It's good... I – I'm okay… I was just… surprised."

His raised eyebrow and pointed look meant that he wasn't buying it.

With a heavy sigh, she tried to explain herself.

"He's a friend. It's just... I wasn't expecting him."

"If he's a friend, why are you so stressed? Let me guess… bad break up?"

"What?! No! Definitely not. We weren't… aren't like that."

"Your face tells me otherwise."

She could only hide her face in embarrassment. It didn't help that she felt her face grow hotter. She really needed someone to save her from this conversation.

"Mr. Stark, your intern is waiting for you at the lab."

Lauren would've kissed Friday right then and there if she could.

"That's all the time I've got for you, Deery. You still haven't told me your friends' names."

She told him just so he would leave her alone. "Iris Nagasaki and Greez Monki."

"Your friends have such odd names… I like it. Introduce them to me when you get the chance!"

With that, she was Tony-free, who was replaced by Clint. Who just exited the elevator as Tony approached it. Which meant that he also heard all three names.

"Gotta warn you, he will look them up."

"I know."

With a sigh that sounded like something between a groan and a whimper, Lauren made herself a large cup of coffee. If the two shots worth of rum she poured into her coffee raised questions (or an eyebrow), she didn't care. If her liver or stomach hated her the next day, she'll let tomorrow-Lauren handle it. It was still morning and the day already felt too much. She needed the alcohol.

I really wanted to avoid putting more alcohol references after the last chapter. But with how this turned out, Lauren deserved it those two shots.

So! I just put in a bit of visual-aid for Lauren's tat, the story's cover photo. I'm not an artist, but that's pretty much how it looks. Lauren's claim that it was something she drew when she was younger is pretty much how it came up. I tried and failed in drawing a cherry blossom flower and ended up with that.

So, what do you guys think of Lauren's backstory so far? Do share. I'd love to hear them.

Til the next chapter!