April 14, 2015:
Felicity and Fitz happen to run into each other at a tech shop. It's super awkward, and kind of cute.
Tech Village - NYC
Characters
NPCs: Shop employees
Mentions:
Plot:
A Dark Hold
Apocalypse: Only the Strong
Blood versus Family
Bones Of The City
Breaking the Universe
Cyberdata War: First Strike
Dangerous Esterikos Wonderous Mystikos
Dark Gods & Times
De Oppresso Liber
Demon Lord of New York
Diaz de Muertos
Don't Tell Thanos The Babysitter's Dead
Empire of Tears
Escape from Sakaar
From the Ashes
Gateway to the Stars
Genosha: Rebirth
God Of The Dead
Hacker, Sass-Mastah, Engineer, Spy
Himmel und Hölle in Bewegung Setzen
Mood Music: [*\# None.]
Fade In…
For a very brief few months (but what felt like years) Felicity worked at Tech Village. She was a sales woman here and was fired for telling people to buy other and better versions of what was available in the store. Today, she only needs a few simple things - things that are at least Tech Village worthy: firewire and thunderbolt cables.
However, by some strange mishap of circumstance the old battle axe that used to be her floor manager is now at the store she went to specifically to avoid her. Swiping a large coupon catalogue, she holds it up, trying to keep her face shielded.
In her mind, the best thing she can do is back away slowly. And so, she begins to do so, not really looking where she's going and muttering to herself, "Oh God, oh God. This is almost as bad as that time I dreamt I was naked at Queen Consolidated. Though, at least, in that one a strong security guard swept me…okay, Felicity? You're nervous talking out loud. We've talked about this."
*
One might not expect the level of vitriol coming from the young man who is Leo Fitz, especially given the loafers, slacks, cardigan and skinny tie. Regardless, he's reading a store clerk the riot act over a spool of fibre optics.
"You're absolutely serious? Twenty dollars for this bundle of hogwash?" He throws the spool down on thecounter. "There's no way this will contain the level of data processing I'm looking for. You can't even find tripe this low of quality in a high school computer lab!"
Now, the clerk makes his own argument, but Fitz has found himself suddenly distracted by a gorgeous and tall blonde woman. Don't… don't girls like that shop at… every where but tech stores??
*
Felicity is tiptoeing as best she can out of the store. However, to do so, that means moving by the counter Fitz is making his last stand at. Unable to not look at what it is Fitz is buying, she starts to angle her direction toward the shorter Scottish man. It's not until she's closer that she realizes that he's looking at her.
At that, she straightens, the cover starting lower. "Oh, um, you're looking for that exact spool?" she tells him, chin gesturing at the fibre optics. "If you're not in a hurry, you're really better off ordering it from here…." she pulls a pen out of her purse and writes down a URL, handing over the whole thing to Fitz. This is why she got fired before.
"Uh, but, I don't work here or anything. No need to take my word for it. I was actually just leaving. Before an evil witch found me."
*
For another moment, Fitz just stares. It isn't until the note is in his hand that he blinks and looks down to the URL. "Oh, I, uh, didn't see this when I was googling. Really, there's so much people do online, it's nice to actually go to a real store. Even one with…" He glowers at the clerk for a moment. "… bollocks like that pitiful excuse for fibres."
The Scot looks back to Felicity, smiling awkwardly. "Googling is a verb now." A beat, before he remembers his manners. "Oh, I'm… Fitz. Leo. Fitz. Leo Fitz." Then, he proudly and quietly adds, "SHIELD R&D."
*
As Fitz starts to stare at Felicity, she blushes reflexively. She's not used to people actually looking at her like that. She's usually just the IT girl or the sales woman. "It is," she agrees. "It's amazing what you can Google." Trying to prove her point, she comes up with the first thing that comes to her mind, "Scottish men don't wear anything under their kilts." The blush grows ever ever fiercer. "Uh, that is. Not that all Scotsmen wear kilts every day. Or that you go commando. Oh God, Felicity, just stop talking forever."
However, out of the corner of her eye she can see the evil witch of a floor manager start to pay attention to the front of the store. Without asking, she attempts to grab Fitz's hand and bodily pull him backward into the shelves where they will be out of sight.
*
"…"
Speaking of red, Fitz's pale face just earned a few degrees on a personal record."No, we, uh, don't always go commando. Wear kilts. It - Agh!"
Leo stumbles when he's pulled along, only to bump into a display case filled with flash drives. Plastic cases tumble everywhere. "Bloody Mother of Christ!" He darts the other way, only to bash into Felicity. A hand grabs her waist for support.
"Er…"
Okay. That's not exactly how one defines 'waist'.
Leo jerks his hand away. "Oohhhh my God! That was not on purpose! Seriously, I'm not — I'm just a scientist!"
*
As soon as they are both 'safely' out of the way of the floor manager's eye, Felicity bumps against the shelves of LaCie drives and then into Fitz again. She didn't expect this to be quite the operation, but then again things rarely go as she has planned. Her face blushes just as bright red at his hand on her waist, though she doesn't say anything about it other than yammering, "Uhhh…."
Instead she tries to assure him, "Scientists still can feel a woman—-you know, I can hear it as I say it and I'm going to stop right there." It's rare when she has these moments of clarity, but it's happened now.
"Let's. Let's start over? If that's possible without you're thinking I'm pervert who is imagining you without underwear." The blush happens even stronger - her whole face red now - and she adds so quickly it's a if the words are blending together, "And that is not what I am picturing!"
With a cough, she tries again with the introductions. "My name's Felicity Smoak. I'm, uh, sorry about the pulling. I used to work with the floor manager here and she got me fired."
*
"I don't think - right. Start over." Fitz reaches out to offer a handshake. "I, uh, meeting you is nice. I'm Fitz. But, I already said that, didn't I?"
Aforementioned store manager calls out to them, curious about all of the ruckus. Now it's Leo who re-grabs Felicity's hand. "C'mon!" He moves, dragging her to the front door and out onto the sidewalk.
"Keep walking!" he begs. "She might think we're shoplifting! Just play cool. Trust me, I have field training!"
*
"You said your name was Leo Fitz. So, now I know to call you Fitz?" Felicity tells him honestly. As he takes her hand and pulls her out of the store, she follows, willingly dragged into the street.
As they keep walking, she can't help but look behind her. "Field training in what, running into displays and running from stores?" she asks. It's a smart ass automatic response. But, then, she blinks. "Wait. You said you worked for SHIELD. As in, THE SHIELD. The one that does the spy things that no one can know about. Can I know about it? Are you going to go Men in Black on me and pull out some flashy thing to make sure I never remember meeting you, because that would be seriously uncool."
Also, then, Felicity holds up the packaged firewire cables that she was holding and was going to pay for before getting mixed up in all this. "I, uh, you know. I actually shoplifted. Unintentionally."
*
"Oh, no. Field training. Like, I know how to discharge a firearm. Not that I carry one! I'm… not actually a fan of personal firearms. Even though I own one."
Now, when Felicity actually asks him about his work, he slows a bit. "You know, if I told you, I wouldn't have to kill you. But someone else might have to arrest you. That wouldn't be pleasant." Then, he stops and turns to look right at Felicity, his eyes going wide. "That's right! The flashy thing! Actually, that sort of tech isn't impossible by any means, but I couldn't develop it myself. I'd need Simmons help. She's biochem."
Beat.
"She's, also, Simmons. Just Simmons. My partner. Not that kind of partner, research partner. We make things together."
When Felicity admits to having shoplifted however, he looks at the item, back to the store, then winces. "You, uh, might not want to say that out loud. The city is crawling with vigilantes. Maybe, like, just put it down? A homeless person might sell it. But yeah, I work for THE SHIELD." He looks back at Felicity, suddenly finding it awkward that they aren't walking. He scratches his neck out of sheer nerves. "You, uh, you don't… I mean, what do you do? Wait, don't tell me." He flashes her a smirk. "Vigilante. You've got the whole, unassumingly brilliant tall with glasses thing."
*
"You have a gun?!" Though then, he says he doesn't. Felicity is confused as to what to do with this information. The packaged firewire cable slowly drops, as she was just as confused and worried that she took it that he is.
"Arrested!" She looks alarmed to Fitz. "But, I didn't do anything other than tell you where to get better fiber optics! That's not arresting worthy!" She starts to back away even as he describes that he shouldn't be able to do anything to her without his scientific partner.
"Yes I know it is," she hisses. "You were the one that grabbed me and dragged me out!" she tells him, now worried. Immediately, she drops the packaged product and starts to walk away. "Vigilante?" she asks him, curious and surprised. "Not at all! I'm an IT woman! I help people find their email."
However, she stops, standing a bit taller, her voice softer when she beams, "You think I'm brilliant?"
*
Mollified would be a good adjective to describe Fitz for the next few moments. "No, wait. I didn't… but I…" Finally he stops yammering. The two of them are getting some mighty weird looks!
"Well, I…" He's about to go on a big diatribe about how he couldn'treally judge her IQ based on limited exposure to conversation, when a Christmas miracle takes place.
"Yes. I mean, I would like to think…" He squints his eyes at her, speculatively. "Do you drink? I mean, not a lot, or anything like that but, you could, I mean, we could, if you wanted some time, or if not, tea is always pleasant."
Beat.
"You see, I'm from Scotland."
*
"You what" Felictiy looks at Fitz, not quite understanding his place in SHIELD and what it means for her. As such, she just blinks at his secondary question.
"Are you asking me…" The whole question is something strange to her. "I do. I mean, I've had drinks before. Though, not so much tea as other thing. Like, you know, Cosmopolitans. And Manhatttans." Drinks with alcohol in them.
"If you…if you're asking me out for a drink, then, yes. I will have a drink with you. Though you'll have to promise it's not an opportunity to erase my memory." That's a thing now she realizes she should ask.