A Little Parlor Trick (Avengers)

Chapter 1

Tiana Davin was a morning person.

When the sun came up, Tiana woke up. When the sun went down, Tiana went to sleep. She loved waking up early. She loved the reclusive serenity of the rising sun in the early morning.

And when the first rays of light streamed through the windows and into her sleek black New York apartment, Tiana's eyes snapped open, much to the displeasure of her unnamed companion from last night.

He was a pretty little boy, of about 18 or 19 with curly brown tresses and brown eyes to match. He reminded her of a Labrador. She picked him up at a sushi bar where he was very openly dared by his friends to get her number, not that she minded.

Tiana noted that he had a tendency to ramble when uncomfortable, and Tiana loved making people feel uncomfortable. Thus, she ended up knowing almost everything about him... except his name. And that was okay with her because she didn't really care to know it anyway, because to her, he was just an expendable toy.

He told her all about how he had moved to New York from a small town in Idaho or Iowa or some other insignificant state on a biochemistry scholarship. He'd been taking college classes in high school and was now starting his first year of university as a senior.

He was real life science geek.

She allowed him ramble on for another 20 minutes before she asked him if he'd like to come back to her apartment for drinks. He hesitated, looking back to his stunned group of colleagues, before stuttering out a yes and following Tiana out the door.

The second they walked through the doorway, the rambling was cut short. His eyes nervously darting from her face and back down to the dark wooden floor. Tiana gently offers him her hand as she leads a new kind of conversation to her loving bed, all thoughts of drinks vanishing from his mind.

Tiana slips away from the heat of his naked body. A clammy sheen clinging to her skin, as she shrugs on her long violet and emerald silk kimono leaving it open for her bare brown flesh to show.

She walks to the master-bathroom while stretching her sore body from the aches inflicted by her novice of a one night stand, the long legged shadow she cast across the floor imitating her movements. Turning the shower knob to the hottest setting, Tiana runs her hands along the ice cold water, washing away the deeds of the previous night.

The water is still running ice cold when the loud rumbling of her stomach decides that it's time to find something to eat.

Tiana turns to leave her bathroom and heads back in her bedroom, looking at the sleeping John Doe as he clutches the sheets in his fist on the side of the bed where she slept. He mumbled incoherently, shifting as he slept peacefully.

Almost gliding into her living room, Tiana opens all the curtains in the apartment to let in the light, not caring if the people in the neighboring buildings saw her nakedness. The morning sunshine makes her small apartment feel bigger, the black furniture sleeker, feel more comfortable.

In the distance she sees her face on a billboard for Versace.

"Hey Sydney, play my morning playlist"

A soft beep is heard from the living room area before the brassy intro to Aretha Franklin's Respect is played. Tiana searches her cabinets and refrigerator for a quick breakfast, making a mental note to go grocery shopping later, when she came up empty handed. The only reasonable thing in the kitchen is a bagel. Unless Country Crock butter and  potato salad counted as breakfast?