hurricane

“no, not right now at least.”  she smiled, “but i guess if i got really desperate.” 

“not going to lie, the latest spiderman wasn’t my favourite. i still think the best spiderman film made, to date, is into the spiderverse. like so funny and creative — saying that, tom holland is the best spiderman, live action. which ultimately, isn’t hard to do considering how bad toby maguire was and like andrew was like a gate way spiderman to something good.” the blonde chimed, her love of comics and superheros being something she loved to discuss. “anyway, we’re getting the first official gay superhero in the next wave of marvel films, in the eternals. it’s cool but like, cowards just confirm captain marvel is gay.” 

“i just grow tired of it,” mateo shrugged, eyes averting as he nursed his golden margarita on ice. it was friday night and he should have been with his girlfriend, but something had happened at work today that he wasn’t ready to tell her yet. “so, i quit. cornell is so far that i am alone without mi amor or mi familia when i am there, only see them on weekends or off-days when i come back to the city. they do not treat me well, the pay is small-” he sighed, taking a gulp of his alcohol. “i have never quit anything in my life. i do not know what to do now. maybe i have made a large mistake.”

“sometimes when i see a super tall dude in the street, i really really hope it’s godfrey gao. sure, i don’t know if he lives in new york or not but i’m really hoping for a meet cute with him so i can pretend not to know him and then marry him.”

“can honestly say i don’t know who that is. i really have no clue.” hayden shrugged. “but like, how tall are we talking?” 

“of course i care about you, phe,” she laughed, kissing her friend’s cheek back. “what’ve you been up to?”

“oh not much. making new friends. found out my roommate is friends -- or at least friendly --- with my ex-something. i didn’t expect to see her in my apartment. ” ophelia had been pretty strictly on boys, but yet she didn’t think about letting the pronoun drop around tara even though she never really talked about alice with anybody.

eliana leaned against the bar, looking to the person across her. the bar had slowed down a little bit where she could stop and chat for a minute. “you know, it’s kind of rude to tip people poorly and then leave your phone number.” she commented, “i don’t know who they think is going to call their cheap ass, but it’s not me.” 

as much as hayden could be a rebel, she had never had a fake ID and never tried to go into the bar scene before she turned twenty-one. she had just turned at the end of june so she had been living it up when she had money to, tipping generously at the end of the night. she thought it was ridiculous when people didn’t treat someone doing a service well --- especially if they were good at their jobs. she scoffed, “yeah, honestly. i don’t know why they think that would leave a good impression.” then she hummed, “but at the same time, it would be rude to try to bribe you. leave at least a middle of the road tip.”

“Google is just as good a teacher as I am,” she teased. “So are Hannah Witton and Sexplanations on Youtube. Giving you a sex talk is above my pay grade,” she laughed.

“so what i’m hearing is if i pay you, you will.” ophelia grinned, “fine, fine. i’ll look that up.” 

danny listened to what she said and a smirk appeared on his lips as he nodded, “yeah, alright. you are pretty skilled. i’ll give you that. my dad pretty much hires any guy that says he’s touched a steering wheel.” his smirk turned into a grin, “i don’t know. i just thought there was a vibe or something.” he teased.

“maybe i’d let you hold my hand over dinner.” she made it sound like it was the worse thing in the world. “it’s the 26th, you know. it’s my birthday, and i don’t know. you could treat a girl after we get this project done.” 

“I am so not giving you the talk on the difference between topping and dominating,” she teased. “I hope so. I just don’t wanna be too much, you know?”

“why not? someone’s got to. be a pal, genie. don’t leave me out of the loop.” ophelia pouted playfully. “i get it. i do. don’t want to scare her away.” 

“just because you’ve been to school for it doesn’t mean you’re the best but you are a little more capable than the rest of the guys and at least i don’t have hold your hand while you’re working and tell you what to do,” he paused, a small smirk appearing on his face, “unless you want me to hold your hand but you’re going to have to wait until after we’re finished working.” he added. “we’ve gotta replace a couple of doors on a tahoe. it was an unexpected job that showed up when we were already booked.”

“no, of course school doesn’t make me better than them, but you know what does? my work ethic and my skill. both of which you cannot deny that i have.” hayden rolled her eyes at danny’s comment and tried not to blush. “who said i’d EVER want to hold your hand?” hayden nodded, “okay, yeah. let’s do it.” 

The bar wasn’t necessarily empty. It never really was. Fitz had considered applying for some time, but his lack of patience with people would eventually stab him in the back. Instead, he ordered another whiskey and pulled out his computer, considering posting on the forums, but instead scrolling through it. 

ophelia was trying not to look over the man’s shoulder but her eyes kept drifting over to the screen. she sat for a moment, took a sip of her mixed drink, and decided to open her mouth. “so what’s the most interesting theory on that forum?”