#imjustteddy

She wasn’t quite sure what’d driven her to this point. Stress? Exhaustion? The sheer desire to spend time alone for a few moments before being whisked away on her next mission? 

The shapeshifter was lounging in the living area of Stark Tower, on the floor reserved for those utilizing the apartments in the building for Avengers. The entirety of her cat-like form was draped over an armchair, her legs crossed at the ankles and propped up on the back of the piece of furniture. One arm propped up her head, the other cradled a half-empty bottle of Patrón with a thick novel resting against the tops of her thighs. This was what she considered a relaxing night in. The hum of activity around her had faded from a swirling eddy of people and conversation to a dull thrum of cooling units turning on and off intermittently, interspersed with the occasional announcement via the AI system.

Maria had stopped reading when the words became fuzzy little caterpillars that began crawling across the page. She slammed the book shut, however, when they threatened to squirm off of the confines of the paper. For now, it rested heavily on her abdomen, its edges brushing against the cool glass of the tequila bottle in the crook of her arm. The shapeshifter exhaled, feeling the coolness on her breath comforting after several fingers of tequila. She was suddenly so tired. What had she become? After years at Empire State University and now a twenty-four year old Avenger, this was what her evenings consisted of? Getting lit by herself and passing out on the sofa? Maria grumbled to herself and slung an arm over her eyes, casting the world as she knew it into blackness. 

How long had she been sleeping? The latina started and stirred at the sound of several voices. In her state, she hadn’t detected their scent or specific gaits, so she lifted her arm from her face, squinting into the now bright fluorescent lights. “Quién está ahí?” she mumbled, quickly scrunching her eyes shut and rolling over in the chair, still miraculously draped over its entirety. “’stoy durmiendo,” she slurred lazily.

[While everyone else is busy with the Hobgoblin, the Young Avengers will be coerced, persuaded, or threatened (as necessary) into joining Viper and Amora. After all, evil crusades corrupt the young and innocent.]

The secret for the two hormonal ridden boys with still more absurd amounts of power - really she didn't understand why the Avengers didn't simply retire when they had such good potential successors - was each other. Contrary to popular belief, Viper was very in touch with emotions, her own and those of others, but due to her line of work, found them extremely inconvenient and for the most part was content to ignore them. Unless, of course, such emotions could be exploited and used to her advantage - as was the case with most heroes and their familial love, or even better, romantic love. 

As was the case with Billy Kaplan and Teddy Altman, the Anti-Christ and the Hulkling, who were seemingly infatuated with each other - though had they been asked, the emerald haired woman was positive they'd complain to completely in love with each other. A wry smirk crossed her poison coated lips, because once again, contrary to what people seemed to believe, she knew what romantic love felt like, and having weighed the costs and benefits, thought it was quite possibly more dangerous than any superpower she had faced. 

It made people vulnerable. 

She had heard he was back. Again. She had texted him, asking him to meet her at her favorite ice cream parlor. She needed to know why he kept coming and going without so much as a goodbye. But, not so much for her. For Billy. She loved them both (and everyone else on her team) dearly, but she couldn't stand for Teddy to hurt Billy. Not again. She saw how devastated he was when she had awoken from her coma. Noticing that he seemed a little lost without Teddy. But, she had also seen him begin to grow without him. She had watched his eyes twinkle when he was talking about his new crush. Or whatever one chose to call it. 

However, she too was a little hurt by Teddy. The fact that he hadn't come to see her while she was in the hospital. It hurt. He was one of her closest friends, almost like family. They had known each other since they were kids, first developing their powers. She knew he was away on a mission and things were probably complicated, but he could have at least called. 

She drew away from her thoughts as she pushed open the door to their meeting place. The instant smell of ice cream and sweets put her in a slightly better mood almost immediately. Seeing Teddy, she decided to make him wait. She went up to the counter and ordered her favorite, a chocolate ice cream with twizzlers and gummy bears. She knew it was a strange combination, but she love it anyway.