As Darkness Falls Upon Us // MCU

harlem hijinks

"One part of her wanted to be strong like Thor, but the other part of her wanted to scream it out and show just how much she was struggling."

♦️

Maize watched the sun set through the trees of the dense forest via the large windows in the empty room. She eventually laid down, one arm behind her head while the other covered her eyes, the shadows cast from the woods creating silhouettes on the walls and floor that grew and eventually disappeared into darkness. Time seemed to float by and she thought that she was feeling a little better after her period of isolation, but she was rudely reminded of her humiliation when she heard a familiar voice in the hallway. Down towards the elevators she heard Talia's immediately recognizable voice, with Tony's voice to follow suit. They were arguing as they entered into Tony's office, and the voices faded. She no longer could hear them speak, as the walls were an incredible sound barrier between them and her. It hurt so badly and she didn't know what to do. When she got the courage to leave the room and escape her isolation, were the people she called friends going to defend her? Were they going to be there for her?

That was a worry that quickly dispersed itself, because both Peter and Meaghan eventually found her. She was startled at the knock on the door and the jostle at the handle, accompanied by their soft but concerned voices. She was startled at their presence at first, assuming it was either Tony or Talia, neither of whom she wanted to see. She was pleasantly surprised at her friends' presence, but didn't know what she could possibly say to them, or what they would say to her.

"Maize, are you in here? Can you let us in?" Peter asked through the door. Maize thought out her response.

"Why do you want to come in?"

"To check on you! We're worried." Meaghan answered.

"Well, I'm fine. I'm feeling really betrayed and vulnerable, so I think I need to be alone." She spoke.

"We just want to help, okay? Please let us in." Peter asked, trying to convince her. Maize couldn't seem to pull herself off the floor, so she muttered a command to Jarvis to unlock the door for her friends. The two of them walked in slowly, closing the door behind them. Peter spoke first.

"What are you doing, sitting in the dark chewing wet cigarettes?"

"Gross, Peter. What the hell?" Maize groaned, Meaghan also giving a similar answer to him.

"It's like, an SNL skit or something. I thought it fit." He admitted, shrugging.

"Can we sit, hun?" Meaghan asked.

"You're going to even if I say no." Maize spoke. The two of them lowered to the ground to be with Maize.

"Yeah. But we just want to let you know that we're here for you, babe. We're on your side, we have your back." Meaghan reassured, though Maize felt differently.

"But you've both been so distant. Peter, you won't even talk to me. Meaghan, you're so smitten with Steve I feel like I'm being pushed to the furthest back burner possible. I feel like I'm losing you two; my two best friends. And no one here likes me, that much is obvious. I just don't know how much more of this I can take."

"I'm sorry I'm being a bad friend. I know how distant I've been, and I wanted to say I'm sorry for that, Maize. I miss the three of us hanging out together after school, and I miss all those fun times we had together, honestly. This is just such a big thing, you know? It's pushing us apart when we need to be a team the most." Peter explained.

"Yeah, I agree. It's not just you that's having a hard time assimilating with the group, Maize. I've seen that none of us are working together, and it's starting to hurt all of us. And I want to try and fix it, starting with the three of us."