FORTUITY ☆ B.BARNES ✔️

7; Rainy Day In

FRESH RAIN, MAEVE LOVED RAIN. She loved the soothing sound and the drowsy feeling she got when she looked at the fresh raindrops running down her window. Maeve traced the rain with her fingers, barely touching the glass as her long nails collided with it. The pitter patter on her windows hypnotized her. In New York, there was a fair amount of rain, and everyone would look like little ants scurrying to find shelter from the thunderstorm. She loved looking at the view below.

It was now 8 AM and this calmness of rain also brought along sadness with it. It usually made her happy. Today, she wasn't feeling very happy. She was feeling sad, her mood matched the melancholic atmosphere. Maeve paused the sad playlist she was playing on her phone and collapsed on her bed. As the first sound of loud thunder shook, the whole room went black.

"Dammit! The power's out again!" Maeve could hear Scott scream with a muffled voice outside her bedroom. She chuckled.

Another muted voice screamed back, "I know! Wait for a second, would ya?" Bruce yelled back.

The only light reflecting in her room was the purple RED hue and the grey sky outside her window. She didn't realize this, but Maeve had been stuck in her room for days now. Ever since her late-night talk with Bucky, she realized how attached she had gotten to the soldier, and decided to avoid him at all costs.

There wasn't much need for her anyways, Scott explained that the gang liked having her around. They were more than happy to provide a home for her. Maeve usually cooked and cleaned, because living with the Avengers was hard. After missions, they'd clean out the fridge in hunger and their exhaustion would prevent them from preserving their hygiene. Maeve handled the shopping lists, the clothes shopping, she was like the house mother. It was the least she could do. But even after all the praises they gave her for her cooking, and the fun times she spent with them, Maeve couldn't help but feel like a burden to them. She had no superpowers, except for the radio waves she couldn't even control, and she had probably the blandest personality out of them all.

She decided that lurking in her room wasn't productive at all, so she went outside to spend time with her friends. Well, not before freshening up and getting changed out of her pajamas. She decided a white-and-beige, checkered, long-sleeved dress would look nice. Maeve wanted too look fashionable, but also comfortable. She also threw on a white beret just in case her oily hair started to look weird. Maeve was just too sad and too lazy to wash her hair today.

The door creaked open to see all of the Avengers sprawled out in the room. Scott was eating breakfast on the island table, barely squeezing into the barstool. Bruce was flipping through channels on the biggest flatscreen TV Maeve had ever seen in her life. Bucky was juggling with his knives on the couch, still dressed in his sweatpants, Sam and Wanda were cooking eggs. "Good morning, guys." Maeve meekly greeted, a small wave accompanying her. "Oh! Maeve! You're awake!" Scott said, mouth stuffed with pancakes. "Good morning, Maeve. Pepper Stark and her daughter are visiting us today. " Bruce informed. Maeve nodded, unconsciously holding her RED in her fist yet again. "That's cool. I guess you can introduce me to them." Maeve smiled. She was eager to meet the family of her hero, and quite a bit nervous.

Bucky stared at Maeve as if he was waiting for her to talk to him. He really wanted to hang out with her today, maybe even go to Papa Reno's again and eat honestly the best pizza in the city. His hopes wavered when she never even acknowledged him other than a short nod. Before she went to Wanda, laughing and joking with her instead. Bucky frustratingly stabbed his knife in the couch with blunt force.

"Hey!" Bruce snapped. "That's the third time this week. The hell is wrong with you, man?" Sam chided as if he was talking to a child. Bucky immediately regretted his actions and pulled the knife out of the couch just as hard. Grumbling profanities, Bucky trudged back into his room and slammed the door.

"What's wrong with him?" Scott asked.

"I don't know, bro. I think he's on his period or something."

-

"NO WAY! I BLOCKED YOU FIRST!" Maeve jumped up and yelled, shoving the red Uno card into Sam's face. "Okay-baby girl, but I COUNTERED." Sam retorted. Bruce banged on the table, shutting everyone up for a few seconds. "Sam! You can't do that! That is against the Uno rules you Uno NOOB!" He said, clutching his cards tightly in the air. The reason Maeve was so annoyed was because she was only two cards away from a guaranteed win, but Sam was already about to win. Scott laughed at the childish argument between the three and Wanda watched on, observing her cards intently. "I don't get this game." Wanda declared.

"Fine. I'll let it off the hook this time, but just you watch, Conner! I'm gonna show you how a legend plays Uno." Sam joked, waving his second-last Uno card at her, before throwing it down on the Uno pile.

"What are you guys doing?" Bucky asked. His brown hair was tousled, and he had his shirt off. The sight of his six-pack almost made Maeve drool. He leaned on the doorway on the living space and listened intently as Wanda explained the game to him. She stopped gawking at him when Scott nudged her, telling her that it was her turn. She raised a brow at her cards, deciding if she should throw down her +4 power card and make someone suffer. Maeve giggled evilly and not-so-subtly placed the card down ever so slightly. Scott came after her and surprisingly, he had a card identical to hers. Bruce was safe as well, tossing down a +2 card. Wanda laughed, faking having no power cards, only to pull out a +4 last minute. "Sam, it's your turn!"

A couple of sweat drops rolled down the side of Sam's face. He swallowed a big lump in his throat. "I don't have anything." He murmured. The group looked at him, inching closer to hear him better and to get a good look at his face of defeat. "I said..I don't have anything." He sadly announced, his hand reached towards the neatly stacked pile of Uno cards and slowly pulled out ten cards, making the whole room (with the exception of Bucky) erupt in laughter.

"I'm crying! Oh god, I'm crying!" Scott howled, he fell out of his floor cushion and rolled around on the carpet. Wanda's face was cherry red. Bucky couldn't help but let his eyes wander to see Maeve's reaction. He was surprised to see that she wasn't laughing like the other, she kept a smug smile on her face with her arms crossed and watched on as Sam desperately tried to redeem himself.

"Who's the legend now?" Scott joked, making the group crack up again.

Bucky smiled, he had never seen the Avengers so happy after what happened. He believed that Maeve was the one responsible. "Wow, now I wanna play!" Bucky declared, slowly jogging to Maeve's side. She flinched, jumping up as fast as she could. "Uh-I-" She stuttered. Sam awkward stared at the pair. "Let's play together, Maeve," Bucky said, not really understanding what was going on.

ding-dong.

Maeve closed her eyes in relief for a split second. 'Saved by the bell' she thought. "OH! That must be Mrs. Stark. I'll get it!" She suddenly exclaimed a little too loud. The group didn't understand what had just happened.

"Did you tell her?" Sam asked Bucky, now looking a little concerned.

"Tell her what?" Bucky asked.

"The thing."

"What the hell? Of course not, Sam. I'm not that stupid." Bucky scoffed shuffling the Uno cards with his fingers.

"Good, you can't tell her anything about that...She'll be afraid."