Just Go Along With It ✔️

Salt And Pepper And Talk Of The Weather

"So, honestly, all it really is, is the body regrowing it's own tissue back at a faster pace than ever recorded in medical and human history," Helen relays to you over her breakfast bun. "It's going to be the future of your area of expertise, I'd say in less than ten years time. Give or take." She beams.

You raise an eyebrow over your smoothie. "Really? I mean, Helen, it's just a concept now, what about -,"

Helen shakes her head. "Concept? Pah, I've already created a prototype, done animal and  human trials, and the university said if I could get a little funding..." you can't help but zone out.

After all, it's a Friday morning, and the cafeteria is bustling with university life. And Helen's life's work is better heard probably any other day of the week.

Across the cafe, another science whiz, Pete Parkley or something is animatedly discussing something with Professor Munroe, Clint's archery friend Kate is wrestling a girl you think is called America - "...are you listening, ______?"

You nod too enthusiastically. "Human trials. Skin regrowth. Next big name in scientific history will be Dr Helen Cho."

She snorts. "I'm not even going to argue, of course I'm going for my PhD. But I was talking about...you know what? It's way too early to bore you to death with theoretical theories - is that Jane? Jane!" Helen waves down a brown haired girl holding a tall coffee and a stack of folders. "Sit with us!"

You wince. "Really? I thought -,"

Helen waves you off. "Relax, Jane is honestly the coolest person I've ever met. Plus, she's great at her field." Jane sits, and beams a smile. "Foster, it's been too long! This is _____ ______."

The girl named Jane shares you a shy smile. From what you can tell, she probably has things to get to, people to see. "Hey, I'm Jane. How do you know Helen? Are you in her course too?"

You shake your head. "No, I'm a nurse in training. We're friends through Bruce Banner, and through him, I'm Clint Barton's old friend from school..." you wince, "I'm rambling, I'm sorry." you gesture to her folders, and stop yourself. "For a study meet-up or -?"

"I'm the student rep, the one who volunteers what time I don't dedicate to astrophysics to greeting new people to the uni." Jane takes a sip of her coffee, "And we've got two new people coming today, so, I'm preparing myself for their arrival."

"What is this, the Breakfast Club sans everyone else but the nerd?" another brown haired girl sat beside Jane heavily, flipping her hair. "'sup, nerds?"

Helen looks to you. "This is Darcy, Jane's friend."

Darcy grins. "Please tell me you aren't doing a super-ultra smart subject like these geeks here so I can communicate with you like a normal human being," she holds her head in her hands like it's going to explode.

You clear your throat, and suddenly uncomfortable with the attention of three pairs of eyes on you, you answer back, "I'm a nurse. You know, like band-aids, x-rays..."

Darcy nods. "Good God, I think we might be on the same wavelength. Almost. Jane? Are we on the same wavelength or not because this here - ______, is it?" she asks you, and gestures to your coffee cup, "I read your name, chill. Not a stalker!" She laughs, "But we are the same - good! Yay! Great stuff - I need to tell Ian. Frick! He's gonna freak when I tell him I found not another rocket scientist in the social circle." Her words are rapid, like machine gun fire had a lovechild with a coffee-hyped up small animal. "Gotta buzz!"

Akin to a buxom Road Runner, Darcy dashes off.

You blink. "She has to be one of the fastest talking people I've ever met in my life," you take a deep breath, and glance to Jane. "Is she always - is she, uh," you hum.

"She's won an award for it once, at a frat party." Jane grins, and gathers her folders. "Yeah, she's always like that. I have to buzz, sorry Helen, ________.  I'll talk later, okay?" The brunette excuses herself.

You wave her off, taking a sip. "It was nice meeting you, Jane!" You glance at your watch, and you gasp. "I'm going to be so late for the -," 

"What, can't anyone be late for reasons anymore these days?" A carefree voice speaks up behind you. Without turning, you know exactly who it is. You've heard enough stories of him and seen enough daytime TV in waiting areas to know his voice. 

"Tony Stark!" Helen Cho's hand freezes on her breakfast. "Holy schnauzer..."

Sure enough, standing there like he owns the cafeteria, is the dark-haired bombshell brunette with a hint of facial hair growing on his otherwise youthful face. Yes. This is the handsome man on the cover of Novi Scientiam monthly, but this is also the face you have the stories firsthand from your closest friend Virginia. 

"Hello," he grins, winking at the two of you. "I couldn't help but overhear that you two were in the science business. I'm enrolled here, with my -- uh, friend, Pepper." 

Your eyes widen, and glancing beside him, you see, almost halfway hidden behind, is the familiar red-headed freckled face of Virginia Potts. She's out of the mini-heels she was complaining about, now in her favourite green sneakers, and in the most un-apprenticeship-y outfit you have ever seen. In fact, it's the most un-Virginia thing you've ever seen.

"Wait, Pepper?" you frown. "You're letting this guy call you by your middle name?" you stand, pushing past the soon-to-be-inheriting-a-billion-dollar-industry Tony Stark like he was a rag doll to hug your friend. "It's been way too long, Gin."

Helen resumes her breakfast bun, assessing the scene unfolding before her eyes. Somehow through the melee of meeting for the first time, reuniting friends and such, you hear her mutter with a mouthful, "This is like an episode straight out of Gossip Girl. But I wouldn't know. I don't watch Gossip Girl." 

"Woah, your dorm is so cute!" Pepper gushes, rushing toward your bed to flop face-first onto it. You hadn't changed the duvet cover in a week or so, but the room, you had to agree, was pretty cute. They allowed you to decorate it the way you liked to, and ever since the landlord had fixed the window, the new one shed more light into the room. "Ugh, I love it."

You chuckle, sitting beside her. "Gin, you live right next door."

She sighs, and turns to face you. "With Tony Stark. Sleeping in the same room, putting his stinky socks everywhere and talking flirty and science in the same breath," she groans. "Like always." 

"Sounds like you don't have that big a problem with the guy," you laugh, grinning, and lowering your voice, you add, "You've never let me call you by that name," you remind her gently.

Pepper sighs again, and flips over to lay on her back. Her fire-toned hair falls into her bright eyes, and she takes a deep breath. "He found my driver's licence. Thought he would taunt me with calling me Pepper instead of 'Miss Potts'. I can't stop him. He just ... does it."

You brush the hair from her face. "It's not going to be long, and if he's the party-goer he claims to be, you'll have the room to yourself more often than not. Or, you know I've always got a blow-up bed under mine if you need it."

She nods. "You're the greatest friend ever, ________. I'm glad we're together again..." Her eyes widen. "Did you meet Bruce yet?"

You beam. "And all his friends, they're a cluster of people I can't imagine together, yet they are."