As Darkness Falls Upon Us // MCU

thor 1, thor 2

"Maize deserved a father. Or at least someone who was willing to try."

♦️

Maize yet again couldn't sleep. She had gotten a few hours of rest, but she woke up for good at 2:15 in the morning. Her stomach was growling and she was nervous, she was scheduled to formally meet Thor at nine in the morning. She tossed the covers off and exited her room, and she eventually found herself in the dark kitchen where she grabbed a bowl, a spoon, some milk and the only type of cereal in the compound- stale Cheerios in the back of the pantry. The other types of cereal had been devoured by the rest of the residents in just a few days, but Maize took what she could get.

Her feet were cold against the gray slate flooring of the kitchen, and the metal stool sitting at the island wasn't any warmer. She wished she had known it was cold, she would have taken one of the blankets off of her bed to accompany her. Or at least some socks.

Suddenly, she was joined in the kitchen for a midnight snack. It was Tony Stark.

"Oh, hi, Tony." Maize greeted in a hushed tone since he was still very much asleep and she wondered if he was sleepwalking. He was silent for a moment, he paused to take in the situation.

"Why are you stress eating... stale cheerios?" Tony asked, his eyes barely open and awake. He glanced over at the time displayed in green letters on the microwave; it was 2:35 in the morning.

"Cereal is my comfort food, okay?! This was all we had left and I've already had six bowls, so I'm not feeling at my best."

"Instead of refilling your bowl, why don't you just pour milk right into the bag of cereal and use a big spoon?" Tony suggested, yawning.

"The shame spoon is reserved only for my weakest moments when I'm feeling the lowest, Tony. Until then, I'm sticking with my system but thanks for your input." She responded. He nodded and opened the fridge, a blue light was cast on them both, revealing dark purple under-eye circles just for a brief moment. Tony grabbed a slice of pizza from the mostly empty box and ate it cold, leaning against the fridge.

"Hey, I can get you a box of your favorite cereal that only you have access to for times like this. How does that sound?"

"Better than stale cereal. Thanks, Tony." She said gratefully as she got up and put her bowl in the dishwasher.

"Of course." He responded as she walked towards the door. They exchanged goodnights and Maize headed back to her room. She swiped her card and entered her room, able to fall asleep now that her stomach was full. Her still-warm sheets welcomed her back to bed and embraced her in a cocoon of comfort, just a little too well.

Maize had set her alarm for 7:30 in the morning to give her time to shower and dry her hair as she would get ready for her meeting, but she had slept through each round of snooze and was shaken awake at 8:40 by a frantic Meaghan.

"Maize! Wake up!! Aren't you meeting Thor in T-minus 20 minutes?!" Meaghan asked once Maize was waking up. Upon hearing this, Maize realized that she was right and she bolted out of bed.

"Meaghan, what do I wear? I don't have time to get ready-"

"You brush your teeth and your hair and I'll take care of your outfit!" Meaghan commanded. Maize followed along and headed to the bathroom while Meaghan headed to the closet. She whipped open the doors and was presented with a multitude of options, and she finally settled on a red blouse, black jeans and white sneakers with gold accessories for her friend to wear. Meaghan knew Maize wanted to make a good first impression with Thor but she wasn't sure if she was supposed to dress nicely or casually, so she picked a safe middle-ground.