Chilly Boulder | Wednesday Afternoon

[dishesonthetoprack]

Okay, so. When Woo had offered this Fandom place as an alternative to house arrest, Scott had initially been skeptical -- for one thing, it was a hell of a commute from Maryland back to California to see Cassie on the regular, but apparently that wouldn't be a problem?

And you know what? Scott had enough experience with guys who refused to explain themselves by now that he'd just accepted that.

But if he was going to make this work, he was going to need to find a job -- while he had savings from working for Pym, steady income was an important factor for his custody agreement, serving his term, and his overall boredom.

And while there was a castle here -- very European, guys, he kind of loved it -- Scott also knew better than to aim too high right away, thank you. Fool him once, shame on you. Fool him twice, and that master's degree really wasn't worth anything. Better to go with what he knew for now.

"What do you mean you're not hiring?" he demanded, dropping his duffle bag at his feet as he frowned over the ice cream cooler at the woman on the other side. "Everyone loves ice cream! You guys are probably slammed constantly!"

But alas, no, they were not hiring, and Scott was left eating an oversized cup of mint chocolate chip (he'd felt bad not buying anything, even if ice cream wasn't really in his budget), and desolately looking out the window while he considered his other options.

[so, so open.]

Comments

[scarlet_chaos]

Wanda had picked up stuff with her feet, that was reason enough to reward herself with some ice cream. She had ordered a perfectly normal size cup of peanut butter ripple before realizing, hey, she knew that guy.

She might have known that guy. Or she might know him and he might not know her. The multiverse was weird.

"Scott?"

[dishesonthetoprack]

That guy totally knew her. Or at least, he thought he did. The last time he'd seen Wanda, she'd been a lot more brunette. And sort of...Hot Topic-y. In a good way! He didn't judge!

"Oh my god, Wanda?" That was weird! Was he actually in Europe? Where did you send him, Jimmy??? "Is that you?" He fumbled to his feet, taking care not to actually knock over his ice cream in his excitement at seeing a super-unexpected familiar face.

[scarlet_chaos]

"Oh my god!" Wanda immediately went in for a hug, so that was a pretty good indicator that, yes, this was indeed her. "What are you doing here?"

[dishesonthetoprack]

"Serving my time for the thing in Germany," Scott answered, gratefully accepting that hug. Even if this was really weird, seeing someone he knew -- and had served other time with, even! -- was an entirely unexpected relief. "I like your hair! And your accent is like, gone, nice work."

Good for her! Way to reinvent yourself in clearly just a few months, Wanda!

[scarlet_chaos]

"Had to change things up when I was on the run after the Raft," Wanda said. "Then I decided I liked it."

"Wait, so they're letting you serve time here? It's not that bad of an island."

[dishesonthetoprack]

"Yeah, I was expecting it to be a lot worse," Scott admitted, glancing around the shop. "But it was this our house arrest, and I've already done a couple months of that so I'm pretty good on doing it for a full two years."

And while he was a great drummer now, thank you, and had pretty much mastered close-up magic -- being able to walk around freely was an improvement.

[scarlet_chaos]

"Totally understandable." When Wanda went into self-imposed house arrest it wouldn't go as well. But she would learn sweet new eye makeup skills.

"Well, welcome," she said, looking down and noticing the duffle. "You're super new to town."

And first place he went was the ice cream joint. Wanda was not surprised.

[dishesonthetoprack]

And Wanda didn't even know about his ice cream experience. His storied ice cream career, if you will.

"Oh yeah, I'm so new I'm like a homeless tourist, basically," Scott admitted ruefully. "I was kinda hoping to get a job here but they're not hiring. Supposedly."

He was onto you, Chilly Boulder. Probably just discriminating against ex-cons, like all ice cream places probably did.

[scarlet_chaos]

"You...wanted to work at an ice cream shop?" Like, Wanda had no issues with ice cream shops but she was under the impression Scott was, like, a genius.

[anomaly_research_nerd]

Looks like the ice cream shop was the go-to place for the newbies in town. Because here was Connor, wandering up the street, puzzling over the map he had and gawking a bit at all...those...stairs...

"I think we made a wrong turn mate" he muttered as he stooped outside the shop. It was then he took the time to look at what shop he had stopped in front of and gave a grin. "Ah, we could do with a bit of a break though right, Rex?" he said to the reptile perched on his shoulder.

And so, making his way inside, Rex chirping happily and looking all around yet another new place they were seeing today, Connor walked up to the counter to place his order. The barista looked at Rexy somewhat dubiously.

"Ay, don't worry about him, he'll be good...won't ya mate?" And to that Rex gave a little happy trilling chirp.

And so a few minutes later, Connor had his ice cream in hand and a small cup of whipped cream for Rex. Did dinosaurs like whipped cream? They were about to find out!

[dishesonthetoprack]

"I don't know if that's good for your iguana," Scott commented.

None of his business, really, but he was pretty sure lizards shouldn't have sugar. Right? Whatever, he didn't care, but that British guy probably didn't want to clean it up later.

(Also: another check in the column for 'am I actually in Europe, for real?')

[anomaly_research_nerd]

"Guess we'll find out" Connor said with a slight shrug. "Rexy here has a pretty good head on his shoulders. He'll know if he likes it of not" Connor said... yes, totally missing the point.

"I'm Connor by the way," he added with a slight wave and an all too enthusiastic grin. "You wouldn't happen to know where the museum is around here would ya?"

[dishesonthetoprack]

Wow. People were friendly here. Just coming out with their names and asking for directions.

Not the worst thing, even if it was a little...weird. (Again: maybe Europe?)

"Scott," he replied with a quick smile and a similarly brief wave. "And I wish I could help you, man, but I just got to town myself. If you come across a map, let me know, though."

[anomaly_research_nerd]

"Ah, lack of a map isn't really the issue," Connor said with a somewhat embarrassed grin as he held up the map. "Not the best reading them to be honest... and all these stairs and pathways! It's like whoever designed this place got paid based on how many stairs they included."

[dishesonthetoprack]

"Yeah." Had Scott already thought about how much fun it would be to run up the stairs and pretend he was that boxer from those 70s movies? Of course. (He would be very winded if he tried that, though.) "Your museum's not on that thing?"

Scott hadn't been given a map. Unfair.

[anomaly_research_nerd]

"Not that I'm seeing..." Connor said glancing at the map in his hand again. " Guess I got a hold of an old map or something.. Well, just adds to the newbie adventure eh?"

[dishesonthetoprack]

"I guess," Scott said, thinking that was a very positive way to frame being lost in a new place with your pet iguana. "You could ask someone who's not brand new? I think they live here."

He jerked his head at the workers behind the counter, refusing to look over at them since they were, clearly, biased against him for no reason.

[imafuturist]

Well, Steve was braving the terrible shirts and Tony had very gladly escaped it. But he was being a good spouse in buying ice cream as a reward for not getting dragged along into the 'fun'.

He had delicate skin. Polyester was just bad on it.

Tony offered a smile at the new person who looked... vaguely familiar? But this was Fandom, after all. "Hello."

[dishesonthetoprack]

"Holy shit, you too?" Scott swore, actually scooting his chair back a little bit like he was expecting Tony to go full Iron Man right here in the ice cream shop.

Which -- you know. He probably could, knowing Stark technology! At least Scott had the Ant-Man suit buried deep in his bag. It would take him a couple minutes to get it up to full size -- right now, it would fit a Polly Pocket nicely -- and then to get it on (always kind of a -- process. Shut up.) But then! Then he'd be totally ready if this turned into a fight! Totally, totally ready.

[imafuturist]

"Uh... yes?" He was used to the occasional reaction here anymore, but usually not one like that! "Have we met before?"

Couldn't even remember the poor guy. God, Tony.

[dishesonthetoprack]

Well, Scott's Tony also acted like he didn't know who he was, too ('acted'), so that tracked.

"Uh, yeah," Scott replied slowly, now feeling like maybe he was a crazy person? "At the airport? I was the really small guy and then the really big guy? Ant-Man?"

Come on, dude!

[imafuturist]

"No, that's--" He cut himself off with a little sigh. Because no, it wasn't Hank. He gave that name up. "Scott?"

That was the guy's name back home, at least. Janet kept an eye on him sometimes.

[dishesonthetoprack]

"Yeah," Scott replied, with the slow wariness of someone who was about to get his first lesson on alternate universes. "And you're Tony Stark."

Just to make sure everyone was on the same page. Scott could say names too!

[imafuturist]

"I am," he agreed amicably now that he had a grasp on the situation. "Nice to meet you, Scott."

Was that what you expected in this situation, Scott?

"I see you've met a version of me before."

[dishesonthetoprack]

Scott narrowed his eyes suspiciously, frowning. "What do you mean, 'a version' of you?" he asked slowly, marginally less panicky and hostile in favor of straight-up confused.

And also totally using the air-quotes there. Just to really underline how unprepared he was for this revelation.