In a bar...

[captain_fucking_magic]

Harry's having a fairly good day, as these things go. He's taking a break from work, and has absconded with Perry's laptop to the bar, where he is typing up a blog post detailing their last case. Or at least, what he's allowed to blog about. Perry still insists on checking these things over before Harry posts them (confidentiality and all that, which fine. Harry can work with that), but he's got pretty good at knowing which bits to leave out or alter slightly to keep Perry in business.

And besides. It's kind of fun, being like Dr Watson. Only, you know. Without the doctor part.

Comments

[captain_fucking_magic]

Harry's good at pretending he didn't do anything wrong.

Sometimes.

"I been in trouble for this sort of thing before, so, like... Pretend I didn't say anything?"

[myeuh_muh]

Darcy gives him another look.

"So in your universe, do the Avengers exist?" She asks, finally. There's a feeling that whatever conclusion she's working her way towards, she might not like the answer. Increasingly though, Darcy feels that there is no way she can not follow this line of questioning.

[captain_fucking_magic]

"Uh. I plead the fourth," Harry says.

He doesn't look up from his laptop, or even realise that he got the phrase wrong.

[myeuh_muh]

"Fifth." Darcy corrects absently. "So that means no, right? So like, does that means no mutants as well?"

[captain_fucking_magic]

"Really? What's the fourth, then?" Harry asks, hoping to derail this conversation completely, now that he has a potential way to do so.

[myeuh_muh]

"Guards against unreasonable searches and seizures." Darcy swirls her milkshake.

"So if you don't have the Avengers, how do you know about Loki? 'cause like, I don't remember anything about him turning his brother into a frog in the old myths."

[captain_fucking_magic]

Damnit.

"Really? Huh. I didn't know that was a law. Or maybe I did. I don't know."

See how artfully he's dodging Darcy's questions?

[myeuh_muh]

"So that means someone's telling stories about Loki. And he doesn't know. And the only way he couldn't know is if he was dead or something."

Darcy refuses to be swayed. Better just to 'fess up, Harry.

[captain_fucking_magic]

"Well, I mean, he's pretty old," Harry says. "You know, those Viking guys were like, around a long time ago."


He has no idea that the Loki Darcy knows looks about twelve. How could he?

[myeuh_muh]

"No, he's not. Well, he might be, but he doesn't look it. He looks like, young. Handsome, if you like the sort of winsome thing."

Getting off the subject here.

"But anyway. Probably not dead. Which means that something else has happened, right? Because you know about the Avengers, but like, not personally. You just read about..."

Oh.

Oh.

[captain_fucking_magic]

Harry's not gonna say anything. He doesn't know what she's thinking, and he doesn't want to help her out.

So he'll just be a good little boy and fiddle with his journal entry some more.

[myeuh_muh]

"So... What, like, books, or maybe a TV series, right?"

Darcy sits back.

"Uh. Huh. Who wrote them? Anyone good?"

[captain_fucking_magic]

"Uh."

Harry scratches his head, not sure how to get out of this one.

"Not... really?"

Does that get him out of it? She didn't say, specifically comic books. Or movies.

[myeuh_muh]

"No, look, stop fucking around. I've guessed the secret, so we can talk about it. That's how it works right?"

Darcy leans forward, more threatening than flirtatious now.

"So. Talk. I'm not in them, am I?"

[captain_fucking_magic]

"Not that I've seen?" Harry tries, rather cautiously. This sort of thing is Against The Rules. It's either breaking the rules, or getting shouted at for not doing it.

He sort of resents this whole thing all of a sudden.

[myeuh_muh]

Darcy rolls her eyes.

"Look, what's all the dancing about? I mean, I guessed all by myself, right? So actually, all you're doing is having a perfectly legitimate conversation with someone who also knows what's going on. I mean, I am really interested in these books, like, I've seen them, but I don't know what they're about or anything. Why don't you tell me?"

[captain_fucking_magic]

Harry gives her a deeply sceptical look.

"I told you. I been in trouble for this sorta thing before. So. Like. You know."

She probably doesn't, but he's in sulk mode right now. Words are not his forte.

"But it's just comics. It's not even a big deal. So. Yeah."

[myeuh_muh]

"Oh. Comics? That's kind of cool. I always fancied myself as like, Wonder Woman or something. What do you think?"

Darcy takes a look at Harry's face and tries not to smile. That's an honest to god pout right there. It's adorable, in a you-took-my-sweetie way.

[captain_fucking_magic]

"There were movies too, but I had to go somewhere else to see them," Harry says. If he gets shouted at again, he is so blaming Darcy.

"We only have the comics where I'm from, though."

[myeuh_muh]

"Ohmigod. Were they good? Was I in them?"

Darcy's eyes open wide.

"Did I have... A costume? Please, tell me I wasn't wearing heels."

[captain_fucking_magic]

"No," Harry says. "I mean, not in the ones I saw. Apparently there are some more, but I only watched the ones with Iron Man."

And he's still not over how fucking weird that was. Even after meeting himself here, watching some clone be Iron Man was a bit mind-blowing.

[myeuh_muh]

"Oh. That figures."

Biggest ego, biggest movie. She considers Harry.

"You know, actually, you only sort of look like him. Like, you could be a brother or a cousin maybe."

[captain_fucking_magic]

Harry doesn't have anything near like Stark's ego. He's quite happy being a nobody, actually.

He shrugs at the idea of even being related to someone like Iron Man.

"He was my favourite cape when I was a kid. 'S the only reason I even watched it in the first place."

[myeuh_muh]

"I was never into superheroes really. I wanted to be a pirate fairy princess when I was a kid. And sometimes also I wanted to be a robot."

Coming from a world where superheroes are a bald statement of fact (or over-statement, like some red and gold show-offs one could mention) Darcy missed out on running around pretending to be Superman.

[captain_fucking_magic]

"I guess being into capes would be kinda like growing up and wanting to be a cop," Harry says.

And he says cop like it's the last thing anyone would want to be.