4176/Changeling: The Inner Circle

Changeling: The Inner Circle
Date of Scene:	30 March 2018
Location:	Unknown
Synopsis:	Skye tells her closest friends (family, really) about her talk with Fury. Nobody runs screaming. Darcy, of course, walks away with... nefarious plans. ps. Skye's roast chicken was great!
Cast of Characters:	Quake, Hawkeye (Barton), Melinda May, Darcy Lewis

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Quake has posed:
The mood at Skye and Clint's was subdued this evening. Darcy and May were invited over for dinner - a dinner Skye actually helped Clint cook. Chicken, because Skye already knows how to cook that (sort of) and the assorted things that go with a roast chicken dinner. Wine. Candles. The whole shebang are set up and ready for their guests when they arrive. Skye, understandably, a bundle of nerves.

"You don't think they're not coming, do you?" Skye asks, looking at her cellphone for probably the fifth time in as many minutes. Dinner is finishing cooking in the oven. Everything else is as close to ready as it can be without being overdone, all waiting those last few minutes. And clearly not doing their job in distracting Skye who, when she's not looking at her cellphone, is pacing between kitchen and the front windows to peek out.

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
Rising from where he checks on the chicken, Clint he gives Skye a smile. "Trust me, they're coming, it's either traffic or work," he says confidently before he grabs his beer from the counter and takes a swig. He swallows it down then, checks in on the mashed potatoes.

"Also, like I said, it won't change who you are to them," he says. It hadn't for him.

Melinda May has posed:
Finally, the non-descript little car that May usually uses around Manhattan pulls neatly into a space a few doors down from the home where Skye is pacing. May and Darcy disembark mostly promptly, though there's a second where they seem to be at a disagreement over a bag of takeout. Apparently they didn't realize cooking was going to happen?

May eventually frog-marches Darcy toward the house, repeatedly swatting a hand away from trying to open the container despite repeated glares, rude gestures, and undoubtedly VERY choice language. They make it to the door and May knocks.

Darcy Lewis has posed:
As May moves to knock, Darcy steps back a bit.. to give May space. And to make another attempt at the stuff inthe take out bag. Because even choice language isn't doing it anymore. After all, she worked through lunch. Darcy's Sass needs food badly.

Melinda May has posed:
May levels a Look at Darcy. One that clearly states, 'Try, and I'll break your fingers.'

Quake has posed:
"How can you say that?" Skye moans at Clint, still terribly not sure about the news herself, and quite possibly regretting this decision to let others in on the secret. "I'm not sure I'm okay with it!"

Though so far, of those who did know, Clint nad Fury, the numbers were 2 for 2 with being cool with things. Small sample size; no real statistical significance, but if you had to make bets, and took a survey of Skye's friends, it was looking good.

As it happens, Skye is midway between kitchen and front door when the door knock comes. And despite the fact she's been anxiously awaiting the company, Skye freezes in place, eyes wide. "Oh my god, Hotshot. You answer the door." All the while looking about for something - anything - for her to have to attend to instead of answering that knock and letting their friends in.

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
"Because I know them," Clint says with confidence. "And it's different for you, this stuff, it's closer to home for you, still, you're still you, no matter what those tests say."

As far as Clint's reaction went, he was more curious than scared by it, oh there was worry too, but he wasn't letting himself get rattled, or at least let it show he was getting rattled.

When the door bell rings he wipes his hands on a towel and says to a frantic Skye, "Here, stir these," he says nodding at the pot of spuds.

Melinda May has posed:
May keeps right on staring Darcy down. "Either hand those to me, or wait until we're inside." It's probably not the most positive thing to open a door and see right off. But blame Hangry-Darcy. She even offered the younger agent OTHER snacks to keep her from losing her shit before they got here. But NO.

Thus, May is about THIS close to completely losing her patience.

Darcy Lewis has posed:
Darcy levels A Pout to counter The Look from May, but since they are here now, she leaves off trying to get a nibble... with a very audible exasperated sigh.

"Are we there yet?" she asks, because she needs to be annoying right now. Because she's not her when she's Hangry. And when she's Hangry-Darcy instigating a May Meltdown sounds like the Best Idea (TM) ever.

When the door opens, a bright smile graces her features and she manages to wait for may to get in so she doesn't elbow past (Because self-preservation is a thing Darcy has sometimes) while saying.

"Oh my god, You wuold not believe the fucking traffic man! Fuck it smells like Heaven in here. Speaking of, May should go there for not hitting Jesus on the way over. Can you believe they fuckign stopped traffic for that shit? I mean, God couldn't you have taught your son to use the fucking cross walk like everyone else? Jaywalking has to be a fuckign sin," she rambles.

Quake has posed:
Skye may or may not be overstirring potatoes in the kitchen, and missing the entry of their guests, which is likely just as well as she needs to calm the fuck down (tm) and take a deep breath or three. Girl needs some yoga or some shit. Or, you know, some quality time with her bow.

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
Clint steps aside to let the ladies in, closing the door behind them. "Yeah, the chicken's almost ready, and the potatoes and the beans too," he says before calling down to Skye. "Can you check on the beans."

He turns back to Darcy, "Wait? What's that about Jesus?" he asks with a puzzled frown.

Melinda May has posed:
May plucks the container out of Darcy's hands when she's distracted, then all but shoves her toward the kitchen where the house-filling smells of awesomeness are originating. "There was a religious procession crossing the street, right in the middle of rush hour." She doens't say it aloud, but is thinking it almost loud enough to be heard: This time of year is ANNOYING because of religious reasons.

Darcy Lewis has posed:
"The Fucking Procession to Calva- Caval- um.. that place with the hill and the people singing ...Always look on the bright side of life, do do , dodo do dodododo do," Darcy sings it, not ear piercingly but still badly none the less, while moving to the kitchen with no container in hand. Clnt helped distract her long enough and with the shove to the smells, Darcy haeds over.. to help chekc on the beans.

"Hi Skye!" she chirps moving over to give Skye a hug before looking into the pot of hte mashed tatters.

"Hmm.. fucking yum. I think. Better taste to make sure," she reasons. A hand reaches out to dip finger in pot ...of mashed potatoes.

Quake has posed:
There's a plaintive whine from the kitchen, and the sound of pot lids being lifted (as well as some very bad words), "Which one is the beans?!?" As though she has never met a bean in her life (she might not have), and hadn't helped put all the things in their respective pots (she did).

The potatoes, however, have been stirred to within an inch of their lives, and at that very moment, the oven timer *bings!* announcing that the chicken is, indeed, roasted and would like to come out and rest now before serving.

Before Skye can even react to that, there's Darcy, giving her a hug, and just like that, things suddenly get that little bit better. Because, really, how anxious can you remain with Darcy helping herself to the spuds. With her fingers. While May is in the other room, and doesn't see, and is going to be eating those very same spuds later.

"Help?"

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
Clint nods, "Ah," he says. To be honest he'd forgotten about the holiday. Dinner had other reasons for being tonight. Besides, his family never did Easter Dinner, he wasn't really aware it was a thing.

"Cav-" he begins before his eyes shoot to May. "I know what you mean," he says as they turn back to Darcy. "Anyhow, let's go see Skye!"

He leads the way into the kitchen. "The one with the metal steamer thing," he says as he moves to the pot and checks them himself. "And I've got it, Keyboard, go sit."

Melinda May has posed:
May watches Darcy for a moment to make sure she doens't detour away from the kitchen, then nods to Clint. "Some Catholic church decided that rush hour was the best time to do their symbolic Easter procession." She leaves it at that and heads for where the table is set to put her contribution to dinner out. She then follows Clint into the kitchen, and promptly reaches to pull both younger women out of the way.

Clearly, she doen't believe in those antiquated stereotypical gender roles. She also doesn't bother to mention that Darcy has a bit of mashed potato on the corner of her mouth. If she parks the two in front of the pot stickers, that'll keep them entertained.

Darcy Lewis has posed:
Fingertip of tatters secured, Darcy pops it into her mouth while hissing and ahhing at the hot hot hot spuds. Clint comes in and Darcy grants him her best Innocent Darcy smile as she side steps to Skye and tosses an arm over her shoulders, just at May come to pull them out.

Darcy smiles at Skye, walking with her to the table and when she's parked in front of the containers, she brightens further.

"OHMYGod, Skye! Come and have some sex in your mouth," she states, hands reaching for the tub, opening one and clearly looking like she's just going to grab one with her fingers to offer to Skye.

"And while you're nomnomming, tell me the shit, man! Been ages. That fucking warehouse, I swear to Zombie Jesus, no one knows how to handle inventory. it was like a hyper active ferret was runnig the place." Which explains where Darcy has been. Work ate her face in the form of Agent Ferret.

Quake has posed:
Skye is.. well, both happy to be pulled away from the stovetop - she's fast run out of savvy on what one does in the kitchen, but also a little frazzled by the fact that she's been left, now, with nothing to distract her from why she's invited their friends over to dinner in the first place.

But those pot stickers look interesting...

"Huh? Religious parade? What the fuck is a religious parade?"

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
Clint nods thanks to May as Skye and Darcy are sicced on the pot stickers, and he checks the stove, opening it up and stabbing a thermometer in the chicken. "How's it going, May?" he asks the other agent. "And oh, do the beans look done. Never sure," he says as he comes up to get the oven mitts. The chicken is done.

Clint laughs to hear Skye's question, your place was Catholic right?" he ask, and by place he means orphanage. "It's Zombie Jesus weekend," he says. "Means the hard core god botherers drag out their crosses and make like Jesus walking up a certain hill."

Melinda May has posed:
Leaving Darcy to educate Skye on Zombie Jesus weekend and pot stickers, May steps back into the kitchen to help check on the food. "They need a bit more, but the potatoes are done." She moves them off of their burner and hesitates, not sure if Clint is the sort to put food into serving dishes or not. May is ambivalent either way.

Darcy Lewis has posed:
"What Boytoy said," Darcy quips with a grin. She drops her chin to her hand and her elbow to the table, and a pot sticker is shoved in delicately into her mouth where her eyes roll in a foodgasm.

"Fuck, but I love these things. Here, have one," she says, offering another again, with her fingers. Because Darcy

Quake has posed:
Skye scrunches up her nose, "St. Agnes? Yeah, one of those stand, sit, kneel places. But I wasn't there for long." Skye wasn't anywhere for long thanks to SHIELD. "So, what, they took it to the streets?"

She has some vague memories about the whole matter, but frankly social media has totally combined most major holidays into commercial festivals in her mind, and she's still trying to figure out what chocolate sales have to do with some parade. But she's easily enough distracted by potstickers.

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
Clint gets the chicken out of the oven, then nods to May on where to find the hot pads to put under the pots. Serving dishes? What are those? Then he peeks at the beans and moves the potatoes to a cold element. "Chicken's going to need to rest a bit," Clint says, "How about we have some drinks and dig into the pot stickers a bit while we wait."

It would also give them a chance to talk.

Darcy Lewis has posed:
"because it's the fuckign Proession. Like... Jesus waling throughte h steets dragging his cross to that place with the hill," Darcy explains. Because she knows people who knows things. She chew chews another pot sticker with a grin as Skye noms her first one.

"Fuckign amazeballs right? But, prolly not as good at your man's meat. FUCK YOUR CHICKEN SMELLS AMAZING< BOO!!" she yells at hte kitchen for Clint. Oh. he walked back into where she and Skye as sitting? Oops. She still yelled it.

Melinda May has posed:
May nods to Clint and lets him situate the foods. It's his kitchen after all. She does, though, make sure beverage containers are prepared, and she fills her own glass with water right away. Because she has already filed her official protest againt that nasty frou frou beer, and she will not deal with it ever again, thankyouverymuch.

Returning to the table, she takes a seat and looks at Darcy Skye while they sample the potstickers.

They're just okay.

Quake has posed:
"My chicken," Skye corrects Darcy. It was the one item in the meal that Skye had handled all on her own. Though taking Clint's cue, she starts pouring win. "So okay, here's the thing, this dinner thing. I uh.. have news."

She gives Clint a slightly wide-eyed look, then blurts out, "I talked with Fury, about my past, and uh.. There's something not.. normal about me. It's all fucked up, but he's got a file on me and I'm going to ask to have it opened, and when I do, things are going to come out. Like.. I might not be totally human."

There, she said it. And drinks half a glass of wine to reward herself for doing so.

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
"All her," Clint says to Darcy about the chicken as he heads to the fridge asking people what they want to drink. He's barely back before Skye's blurted it all out, and he sets down his beverages to come rest a hand on her shoulder, giving it a light squeeze of support.

Darcy Lewis has posed:
I might have news. "You're preg-," Darcy starts to blurt out just befoer Skye starts on her rant about her past only for May to kick her chairleg under the table hard enough for Darcy to unbalance and get tossed forward a bit. She looks over at May, receives The Look (TM), huffs faintly, then turn her attention back to Skye as she says that she's not totally human.

Clint returns with Darcy's requested beer, which she takes but doen't drink yet. She is processing.

Darcy.exe is loading. Please wait.

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"Bad ass," is her only remark about Skye not being human. After all, who is she to judge? Darcy's not one to discriminate for any reason. Besides, human isn't on her Check List. Alive? Yes. Adult? Yes. Consenting? Yes. Human? Not a factor. The beer is drunk in a healthy and unconcerned swig.

"Your meat then. Fuck, I am drooling just thinking about getting a bit of your breast in my mouth."

Darcy'd.

Quake has posed:
Trust Darcy to lighten the mood. Skye nearly spittakes her wine - "Uh...?" Then she giggles. "Oh god. And hells, if ever my breasts were going into a mouth, you'd get first dibs." Because the best way to tackle Darcy.exe is head on. You can't beat it, might as well join it.

Darcy Lewis has posed:
"Fuck yes. I win the internet," Darcy exclaims, smiling hugely. Because this is what life is about man! She lifts a hand up to the sky, because she won.

Melinda May has posed:
May is quiet and simply watches Skye as she blurts out her news. Her expression doesn't change one iota, not even when she kicks Darcy's chair. "Skye, I was under the impression that you had something important to tell us." She's still got her eyes on an electric pink dress that she knows it exactly Skye's size.

Hawkeye (Barton) has posed:
Clint snorts, "Oh god no, we're not-" he says quickly before the truth comes out. He cracks his beer and drinks deep while he listens to Skye's confession and Darcy's response. The latter brings a slight smile to his lip, as does May's.

He gives Skye a squeeze on the shoulder, leaning in to whisper, "Told you."

Quake has posed:
Skye just looks confused, brain not parsing 'preg-' until after the rest of it all flies past her. Cheeks pinkening when it finally clues in. "We aren't even married!" she protests, because /that's/ really an indicator of whether or not they could possibly be expecting.

But it's out there, and nobody fainted or even came close to it (except possibly herself), ran screaming (except possibly herself) or was weirded out by the matter (except.. oh you know the drill by now).

Cheeks still pink, she ducks her head some, muttering, "Thanks. I mean, I was worried. I'm still trying to deal with it. Fury's got a level 10 file with my name on it. And after the housewarming, Clint and I are going on vacation to talk about things and get stuff sorted before.. well, before we deal with that. I just wanted the people close to me to know first. Before it all comes out."

Phew.

Melinda May has posed:
May nods. "If Fury has a sealed file on you with that much secrecy around it, then what your bloodwork has to say in there should honestly be the least of your worries." She punctuates her comment with a sip from her water glass.

Was that meant to undermind Skye's sense of relief?

Darcy Lewis has posed:
"Psst! Slacker. Turn that shit up to eleven! And bust out your meat. I need your breast in my mouth so bad," Darcy says, redirecting everyone's attention on food and off Not-Human Skye. Plus, with Skye sayign she and Clint aren't married, Darcy smiles angelically and quips: "Yet."

"Food time. Feed me Seymour."