The Scientist (Loki x OC)

Pt. 1: Meet The Scientist

Friday lunch break wasn't supposed to end like this. No lunch break should end like this. Lunch breaks were reserved for recharging halfway through the workday so you could power through the afternoon until it was time to go home.

Placing her lunch in the microwave, Luna wasn't concerned about how her lunch break would end at all. They've all begun and ended the same way for her entire career at the new Avengers compound. She popped in her earbuds and put her playlist on shuffle, quite delighted when "Harlem Shuffle" queued up. The perfect tune to walk and groove to. Punching in 1, 3, 0, and "start" along with the opening notes. She moved around the kitchen, walking to the beat.

"You move it to the left," she mouthed along, spinning to the left.

"You move it to the right," again, moving to the right and taking this opportunity to fill her tumbler with iced tea.

The microwave still had about a minute more, so on she danced. Thank goodness no one was around. Fridays were out-to-lunch days for most folks around the complex so, as a result, no pair of eyes were there to watch. The security cameras didn't count as her boss Tony knew she did this on the regular.

"You slide it to the limbo," sliding to check again how much time remained. Not too long. This time, Luna stayed in front of the microwave, watching the timer countdown. Her body occupied itself by rocking back and forth, her foot tapping along to the rhythm. The timer went 'ding' in no time.

She gripped it carefully with paper towels, wincing a bit at the heat. She made sure everything was held tightly before strutting straight for the elevator and pushing the down button with her elbow.

"FRIDAY, Level 1, please!" she said, stepping into the elevator, nodding along to the beat. As she made her decent, she swung her hips at each change in key, still careful not to drop anything.

No sooner had she left the elevator, the song changed, the opening drum beat of "Sound and Vision" instantly recognizable. She strode out into the sunshine with pep still in her step. What luck, a fair enough day in New York to eat outside. A perfect picnic for one. Not too windy, not too sunny, just right.

Before sitting, she placed her food and purse down and took a deep breath. The surrounding trees made the air smell and feel divine. Quickly, the aroma of her rice dish reached her senses, arousing her appetite.

As she ate, she read up on blog posts on her phone, laughing at the occasional meme in between bites. Upon finishing, she admired the clouds in the sky, although there were only a few. They were still beautiful to look at. Any squirrel or bird that crossed her periphery was also subject to her gaze. Just as a bird landed nearby, "Lake Shore Drive" graced through her earbuds. The feeling it gave made the day seem even more gorgeous. She tapped her foot as carefully as she could, hoping not to scare the bird away as it pecked at just about anything on the ground. Before long, it flew away in search of more food.

She decided to stare at the sky as every tree looked the same after a while, but nothing was seen. It was like she tried to peer past the clouds and atmosphere and out into space. Her thoughts drifted off to the Superfriends, as she called them. Where were they? Would she ever see any of them again? Were there others she didn't know about? Questions, questions, questions. They seemed to go on for days if she dwelled on them, so she didn't.

She scrolled through her music, skipping a bunch of songs until she found the perfect one to fit the moment. 'I'll listen to those later,' she thought to herself. Yeah right. "Starman" seemed appropriate. It was always appropriate. She glanced again at her phone. No messages at all. Whatever.

No sooner had she glanced back up, something in the sky captured her attention. It looked to be a bird descending, but it was way too big and circular for a bird. She took her glasses off and checked for a bug. There was nothing, so she put them back on. She sat still, watching it as the object got closer and closer. She quickly paused her music and put it away. It looked like it would be landing quite close to the bench. She got up abruptly and backed away from her seat, brandishing her plastic fork as if it was a much more threatening weapon. The nearer the thing got, it became more apparent that this was a spaceship of some kind. The shape and colors gave it away. No human on Earth would make something that looked like that.

As it landed, a strong breeze was stirred up that knocked over all of the empty Tupperware, not that it was of anyone's concern now that there was a huge spaceship on the ground. Oh man, Tony is gonna be so mad. He's a stickler for lawn care.

When the sound of its whirring engines finally subsided, the air was quiet for a moment before the ship doors began to open. Luna was startled, not knowing what to expect. She backed away slowly and attempted to hide behind some shrubbery, not that it helped in the slightest. Her heart hammered in her chest, anticipating the next moment.

              Movement inside caught her attention. There was someone in there, alive. She watched as the someone made their way to the open door and walked out, stumbling a little bit. They had shoulder-length black hair and light skin, from what she could see. They looked to be human. Were they human? It was possible.

              "Hello," their voice rang out. They spoke English. And they had spotted her. "Is Tony Stark available? It's urgent." She rose up from her crouched position and spoke back.

"Uh...I think so."