dee "mindreader" taylor

“I know i did not have to but i wanted to.” she said something was up with this girl because most people would just say thanks maybe she did not want help. “you’re welcome.” america told her. “yes i did.”

“i just... have a hard time accepting charity,” dee admitted as she took the coffee from the barista.

ward’s eyes fell on a woman in the street, hands outreached to him. his hands instinctively reached into his pockets, pulling out a twenty dollar bill to give to the woman. ❛ good luck, with the rest of your day, ma’am. ❛ he nodded at her, thinking more heavily about his situation as he walked away. he left the framework just to be a pawn for hydra again.

“thanks,” dee said. normally she would’ve just left it at that, but he’d given her so much money and she was feeling like giving some advice. “you shouldn’t work for them, you know,” she called out. “they’ll always treat you like a pawn. and they’re not good people anyway.”

America could not over her how the girl was short a few cents for her coffee she walk up to the girl with a smile then pays for her coffee. “It’s okay there is no need to cancel your order.”

“oh,” dee said. “you don’t have to...” but it was too late. the girl had already paid for her coffee. and from what dee could read of the girl’s thoughts, she was entirely genuine about it. “thanks,” dee said. “you didn’t need to do that.”

Steve, hands shoved into his pockets and still smiling, almost walked past the young girl on the corner.  He only stopped at the rattle of her cup, his expert hearing allowing him to hear it as if she had shook a bag of quarters right next to his ear.  Steve stopped and faced her, those big blue eyes wide and worried for her. “Hey-…Yeah, sure, no problem.” Steve fished out his wallet and slipped two tens free, folded them neatly over the other and slipped them into the cup.  “Fancy a coffee too?” he asked, a soft smile now tugging his lips. He glanced to the sky “Looks like it might rain too and there’s a diner across the way.” He gestured with a thumb over his shoulder.

dee smiled at the large amount of money captain america put in her cup. she knew he’d be a good source of money, being as famous and generous as he was. “i could always use coffee,” dee said honestly. her head was gently throbbing as usual when she was around so many people. she stood up and wiped the dirt off her backside. “thank you,” she said. “you’re captain america, right?” she asked as if she didn’t know

“okay so suddenly you know my life story? if i wasn’t trying to be nice i would have let you cancel the order. would have gotten you out of here a lot quicker. clearly i’m beginning to regret my decision.”

“i’m sure i know more about you than you expect,” dee promised. “things you wouldn’t want anyone to know.”

“because you don’t find many archers in new york city. i may not have ‘powers’ but i would rather not have my whole life put on blast because some girl couldn’t just say thank you for a cup of coffee.” Kate angled her body towards the girl now. She wasn’t trying to be a bitch but she needed to be assured that her personal life wasn’t about to be altered.

“look, lady,” dee said. “i don’t even know you. i’m not gonna ‘alter your personal life’ or whatever it is you’re worried about. and we both know you only bought me that cup of coffee so that you didn’t have to wait two more seconds for me to leave. it wasn’t out of the goodness of your heart or any shit like that.”

Kate heard what the girl had said, years of training to hear and detect slight movements like breath hitches, got her really good at hearing the things she wasn’t supposed to. But Kate was too preoccupied with getting her coffee to really say anything. Once the cup was placed in her hands she too made her way the little island holding the cream and sugar and simply placed herself against the wall next to it. “Surprisingly, most female archers come from low income families in the mid-west and southern regions of the states.” she gave the girl a little smirk. “What gave it away? The callouses? The tattoo or the thought I had about pinning you to a wall?” Kate wasn’t mad, she’s been called far worse things by far worse people, instead she was intrigued.

“why do you want to know?” dee asked, focusing on stirring her coffee and not looking up at the girl. she wasn’t about to give away that she was a mutant; she didn’t know how anyone would react to that, even if new york was kind of a safe haven for them. 

“I’m from South Korea. That’s how you haven’t heard of it before” she cleared up the confusion, twirling her hair on her finger from habit. “I came over here recently.”

“oh, that makes a ton of sense,” dee said, laughing. “why did you come over?”

“i get off at 5 today. do you wanna meet up at the library? not for studying, no. totally just a hang out session, i promise.” aiko grinned. despite the slightly stressful day she’s had, she’s happy to finally see a silver lining. 

“yeah, sure, i’ll see you then” dee said. she got lonely all by herself on the streets, so she was actually looking forward to this. “i’ll let you get back to work for now.”

“nonsense. you don’t have to have knowledge of my field to help. trust me.” aiko tapped on the screen to get ready for more orders. “but if study buddy isn’t your thing, maybe just a buddy instead?” aiko asked, a small hopeful smile on her face.

“sure, then,” dee said. “i can hang out. when do you wanna meet up?” she wouldn’t normally befriend total strangers, but she could tell that this girl’s intentions were good, she didn’t have any ulterior motives here.

“I’m sure, Don’t worry about it,” she smiles, sitting back down at the table she had managed to hijack for the meantime. It kept her out of the rain as long as she made sure not to draw attention to herself enough to be kicked out for not buying something. She wasn’t expecting the other girl to continue to speak to her, but she welcomed it and nodded “it’s nice to meet you Dee. I am Myunghee” she bows her head politely.

dee put cream and sugar in her coffee and then went to go sit down with myunghee. she noticed the other girl hadn’t bought anything, so hopefully they wouldn’t kick her out if dee was sitting with her, especially since dee knew the girl was worrying about that. “it’s nice to meet you, too, myunghee. that’s an interesting name, i’ve never heard it before.”

aiko nodded, her smile remaining. “don’t worry about that. it’s just a few extra cents.” she surveyed the line behind the girl. “you seem cool though, so here.” she quickly scribbled something on the girl’s receipt. “i’m a university student going for my master’s, and i could always use a study buddy. if you really feel that bad about a few cents for your coffee.”

“oh, i don’t think i’d be a good study buddy...” dee said. “i didn’t even finish high school. i’d probably just slow you down.” she did spend a lot of time at the library, though, mostly just to have something to do and to be someplace warm and quiet.

“Here,” The blonde wandered over and gave her the rest of the money she needed. Myunghee could part with a few cents to help another out. “Enjoy it while you can”

“are you sure?” dee asked. from the looks of it, the other girl could use whatever money she had, and she could tell from her thoughts that money was important to her. “thank you,” dee said honestly. she didn’t usually like charity, but it meant something different when it came from someone who didn’t have a lot to give themselves. she handed over the money to the barista and waited for her coffee. “i’m dee,” she told the girl.

Kate’s foot tapped against the ground, clearly impatient. Thank the lords she already had two cups of coffee in her or this poor girl in front of her would probably be pinned up the nearest wall by a couple of perfectly placed arrows. As she watched the girl count her change she let out a small sigh. “Just put it on my tab!” she called out, stepping up so the barista could see her. Technically it wasn’t her tab, it was Clint who she was pretty sure was using one of Stark’s card, but it was a tab none the less. “And my usual to go please” she added before the barista could walk away.

dee felt utterly humiliated by this rich bitch who bought her coffee for her. she knew she was only doing it because she didn’t want to be held up any longer. and dee was honestly a little bit scared by the image she’d seen in the girl’s head of her trying to pin dee to the wall with arrows. why arrows? “archery’s a rich bitch sport, i guess,” dee muttered to herself, hopefully quiet enough that the girl didn’t hear. she took her coffee from the barista and went to go put sugar and cream in it.

aiko gave a small smile. it was rush hour and a smile to give was rare, but she couldn’t help it. it was an opportunity to help and pay goods forward. she waved it off. “a few cents is nothing!” her chipper voice a stark contrast to her coworkers’ monotone drones. she gently nudged the coffee to the girl. “have it. be on your way. i got it.” she grinned, a wink at the end of her sentence.

“really?” dee asked. she was always hesitant accepting charity, even though it was her main source of income. “it won’t, like, come out of your paycheck or anything, right?” she knew that baristas and all that didn’t earn that much, so she didn’t want to take away from that.

        “  here  –  ”   mindlessly,  rose digs through her purse,  pulling out a couple pennies and what nots.    “  that should cover it,  yeah ?  ”   the brunette asks,  dropping the change on the counter.  what can she say ?  maybe she’ll get good karma  AND  coffee on time,  for once.

“sorry to be holding you up for a few seconds,” dee muttered to herself, hearing the woman’s thoughts. she got her coffee and headed towards the creamer and sugar. “thanks,” she told the woman who’d given her the change as she passed her.