"No!" She said wide eyed. "No I just wanted you to know so that you're not surprised when you see the mess in the lab. But I'll make sure it's all cleaned up and figure out what went wrong so we can fix it."
She nodded in agreement, letting out a deep breath. "Yeah, it nice that people are so happy and having a good time but I wish there was a quiet space."
"I saw this guy wearing full-blown glittery wings and honestly, I am mad at myself for not coming up with this idea," Klara mused with a sad sigh but a smile appeared immediately on her face as her daughter ran up to her to give her the half-eaten glitter cotton candy she didn't want anymore. "Though, I suppose wings aren't too practical with two kids," she chuckled as she watched the little girl run back to her friends.
Gwen watched the young girl quickly run up and then run back away. It was sweet, and the girl was very cute. "Practical? No probably not. But it would make for some great photos!" She pointed out. "Maybe just put them on, take the photos then take them off? But I guess that would be a bit of a waste of money to have them wear it for two seconds."
Gwen gave the other girl a shy smile. "Yeah, it's just so hard being thrown into all of this! I usually feel like I'm not doing enough and it's just been amplified here with how important the work is here." She sighed. "Just started and I'm already freaking myself out!" The girl laughed to herself, shaking her head.
"Sorry- It's like I've started talking and now I can't stop. You're totally right that I'll probably be able to actually get work done once I'm not worrying about it like I am now."
Darcy nodded sympathetically as they walked. "I hear you, Gwen. It's a lot to take in, especially when the stakes are high. But trust me, you're doing better than you think. Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither were any of us." She gave her a warm smile. "And hey, don't apologize for venting. That's what friends are for, right? Plus, sometimes just getting it all out there can make the weight feel a little lighter."
Gwen smiled at the girl, "Thanks, I really appreciate it." She told her. "And even though getting chocolate was technically your idea, I'm gonna pay. You can get it when you're the one having the break down and I'm helping you alright?" She laughed, it made her feel better. Even though Darcy said they were friends, she still felt like she should do something more to thank her than just saying the words. "Is this the place up here?"
She was sure that her face was probably extremely red, but there wasn't much she could do about that. "Oh uh- I'm Gwendolyn Stacy. I was recently brought on as a new intern." She said, pulling out her badge to show him. "It's nice to meet you Sir."
"Perfect! Chocolate it is," Darcy said with a grin, standing up and grabbing her bag. "There’s this place I know that has the most amazing chocolate croissants. Trust me, it'll be worth it."
As they started heading out, Darcy gave Gwen a reassuring nudge. "You know, sometimes the best ideas come when you're not actively thinking about the problem. It’s like your brain needs a little vacation to sort things out on its own."
Gwen gave the other girl a shy smile. "Yeah, it's just so hard being thrown into all of this! I usually feel like I'm not doing enough and it's just been amplified here with how important the work is here." She sighed. "Just started and I'm already freaking myself out!" The girl laughed to herself, shaking her head.
"Sorry- It's like I've started talking and now I can't stop. You're totally right that I'll probably be able to actually get work done once I'm not worrying about it like I am now."
"Okay, woah. Why don't we try some deep breaths?" Darcy suggested, knowing the feeling. "Beating yourself up isn't going to solve anything. How about a break? When's the last time you took one of those? We could go grab coffee, maybe something smothered in chocolate?"
Gwen looked up at Darcy, attempting to take a deep breath like she suggested before responding to her. "That sounds good- not coffee cause I've already had two cups today but definitely chocolate!" She gave her a small smile, taking a moment to see if she needed to grab anything to bring with her before standing. "Thanks."
Gwen felt like banging her head against the wall, though instead she just laid it on the table for a moment. She couldn't help but to let out a groan in frustration. "I've been stuck on this for almost a week. I haven't made any progress!" Between work and school, she was getting stuck with both. Maybe she should just quite everything and become a hermit. That didn't sound so bad.
"Hectic might not be the right word, but there's always an undercurrent of energy," she replied, looking at the other. "What did you want to know about magic?"
"Can a person get powers like out of no where basically?" She basically blurted out as soon as Wanda had asked. "Like totally normal most of their life and then one day just- BOOM! Weird stuff starts happening?"
Mantis carefully listened to Ella's explanation of spring cleaning, her large eyes blinking slowly as she absorbed the information. She found the concept intriguing, a ritual of renewal and purification. With a nod, Mantis picked up a cloth and began wiping down the surfaces of the room. Dust particles danced in the sunlight streaming through the windows as she worked methodically, her movements precise and deliberate. As she cleaned, Mantis couldn't help but ponder the idea of getting rid of things one no longer needed. It struck a chord within her as she thought of her journey of self-discovery. She'd gotten rid of things that no longer served her, and it had in fact enriched her life in ways she never expected. "Interesting... shedding the old to embrace the new," Mantis murmured softly, her voice barely above a whisper, "a beautiful analogy for growth."
Ella nodded with a smile, glad that it seemed to resonate with Mantis so well. "It is isn't it?" She grinned, finishing up what she was wiping down. "This is probably my favorite time of year. With all the flowers blooming and the weather getting nice but not too hot yet." Speaking somewhat mindlessly. "How do you like the weather here? I bet you've experienced a lot of different types on other planets right?"
The flickering glow of the desk lamp cast a warm pool of light in the otherwise dim room, as Darcy sat hunched over her cluttered desk, surrounded by textbooks and notebooks. The clock on the wall mercilessly ticked away the late hours, yet Darcy found herself engrossed in the labyrinth of schoolwork that sprawled across her workspace. After what was quite possibly the longest textbook chapter she'd ever had to read, she shoved her books to the side and crossed her arms in front of her, resting her head on top. "I can't do it anymore..." she groaned, dragging her words out to vocalize her exasperation. "Save me."
Ella looked up from what she was writing. She gave the other girl a small, sad smile. Darcy definitely had it worse than her at that moment. Even though she'd done well in school, she couldn't imagine herself doing the kind of stuff that Darcy was. The girl was way more than just smart but it obviously still had it's downsides. "Well I was just thinking that I was getting hungry! So it seems like a perfect time to call it."
"Is it really hectic there all the time?" She asked curiously. She'd only been a few times and there was only so much that she'd been allowed to see each time. "Hey um-" Ella said awkwardly. She didn't know exactly how to bring up the subject so she was just going for it. "Can I ask you something? It's about like, magic I guess?"
The bustling sounds of the city outside were an annoyance to some, but Mantis found some comfort from the noise as she diligently tackled the task of spring cleaning. It was rather odd that humans only cleaned once a year, but it was a tradition she was willing to embrace. Thankfully, she'd have help understanding what was quite possibly the most boring holiday that humans had come up with. "So what do you do in between spring cleanings? What if everything becomes too dirty to wait until the next cleaning? Do you just suffer with the dust?"
Ella didn't mind cleaning, she found it a good way to distract herself from other things going on with her life. At the sudden question though, she paused. "Oh we still clean in between! But Spring cleaning is supposed to be like a big deep clean. Where you might get areas you don't usually clean or you even get rid of stuff in your house that you don't need anymore."
Wanda looked up when she heard the other's voice. "Of course," she smiled when Ella took a seat. "It's fine. I needed an excuse to leave the tower and stop pretending to be busy so they wouldn't send me out somewhere."
"Being an Avenger is so cool though!" She laughed, "But I can also get how it could be really stressful. You definitely deserve a break every now and then."
Ella grinned seeing the other woman, "Thank you so much for meeting up with me today! If I had to spend one more day at my desk I think I was actually gonna go crazy." She said, sitting down at the table.