5026/Let Me Give You A Hand With Those

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Let Me Give You A Hand With Those
Date of Scene: 04 February 2021
Location: Wong's Corner Store
Synopsis: Eddie encounters Gwen carrying home groceries, and lends a hand as they talk about social media, genetics, and of course chocolate.
Cast of Characters: Eddie Brock, Gwen Stacy




Eddie Brock has posed:
Afternoon finds Eddie Brock heading back to his apartment. He had stopped in to meet with someone who had given him a ghost writing job for an assignment the man hadn't had time for. Not that meeting face to face was required after he'd sent the article over. But Eddie hoped that the facetime would build more rapport with the reporter for a well-known paper. Even if the man had required they meet at a cafe around the corner rather than have Eddie possibly be recognized paying him a visit in his office.

The latter part was what made his teeth quietly grind. He couldn't blame the man. Eddie would have done the same in his position, hiring a disgraced journalist under the table to write for him.

On the sidewalk ahead, one of the little box vending machines for the Daily Bugle stood along side of others. Eddie gives it a kick with the toe of his boot, denting the front panel. Damn J. Jonah Jameson. Damn Spider-Man.

Eddie tries to shake it off as he rounds a corner and continues down the sidewalk. The street contains a few businesses, then the door to his below-ground apartment. A few more doors down a taller apartment building rises up. And just beyond that on the corner is Wong's Corner Store. Eddie pauses, considering stopping in, but deciding maybe he should save a trip there for when he's in a better mood.

Gwen Stacy has posed:
It was one of those days.

Late for a morning presentation at the uni because she overslept due to being for too long out on patrol the previous night.. Then a meeting with his father for lunch that had went as fine as one could expect. The only thing left saying by him was that she was grounded.. As if she wasn't independent already. But with the sync that had happened, and the shift of her father's memories from her having died to having been in a coma instead..., the man had grown very protective. Too protective perhaps. Sure, she could understand in a way, but didn't mean she didn't end one of those meetings feeling exhausted..

And now it was the afternoon, time to go back home, buy some groceries that she had been skipping for a *long* while and off she went, bags over bags being carried. One thing her strength was good for. Being a glorified bag carrier!

She takes a turn towards her street, past the Wongs, ambling over the sidewalk until she finds a familiar face. She starts to approach. "Still haven't converted yourself to the digital?" she asks when she notes Eddie near the box vending machine for the Daily Bugle.

She is dressed for the cold, big jacket, mittens, bean hat on her face and those fur boots. No cold getting in here today! Smile is still warm though even if her cheeks are rosed from the cold.

Eddie Brock has posed:
The sight of the blond hair that seems to gather in the sun and beam it back out draws Eddie's attention quickly enough. He finds himself hoping she didn't see that kick he gave the newspaper box. She wasn't in sight of him yet, was she?

He stuffs his hands in the pockets of his jacket as he walks over to meet her on the sidewalk, his posture that of someone who is a little cold, the shoulders gathered just a bit be able to keep his arms close to his body to help warm himself.

"Oh, you know, I'm trying. Always liked the feeling of paper in my hands over a keybarod though," he tells her. Eddie takes in the abundance of grocery bags she's carrying. "Got you out doing a delivery now?" he asks. "Want me to give you a hand with a few of those?" he offers, and if she seems amenable he'll take as much of the load from her as Gwen is willing to relinquish.

Gwen Stacy has posed:
With Eddie looking cold Gwen gets that instinct of going over to share her warmth and .... Ufff, what is she thinking? The blonde shakes her head a bit to herself as if dispelling thoughts and lets out a soft chuckle. "Please don't tell me you are one of those that still thinks Twitter is a bird calling." it could very much be! "There's something to say about that more rugged feeling, isn't there? Feels more real.."

Some of the bags are handed over when Eddie asks to help, she not even giving it a moment's thought before she realizes that she is *actually* going home. Oh. "Sure." she then finally says, nodding towards the street she was walking down. "And not a delivery, going home now." she says, "Day off from the Wong's. Yes, I get those too even if I am sure Mrs. Wong doesn't believe in time away from work." she letting out a faint sigh. Not that she didn't feel the same, barely a break from going out at night as Ghost Spider, and university work was always lurking..

"It's just a few blocks down." She then assures Eddie, blue eyes twinkling. "So no, not going to have you walk half of the village to get there."

Eddie Brock has posed:
"Oh, good. Because really, they shouldn't have someone who looks like you delivering stuff in New York," Eddie tells her. "Not that you aren't capable, I'm sure you are. Just, you know. New York. Even in Greenwich you'll find some real... monsters out there."

   «Venom» "You aren't talking about us, are you Eddie?"

Eddie clears his throat and falls into step beside Gwen, shifting half the bags she gave him to his other hand to balance the load. "Yeah, you just live down here? My place is up ahead too," he comments. And then, "And yes, I know what Twitter is. Even have an account. Though, you know, the problem with a place where everyone can share their thoughts so easily?" he asks her. "Is that, everyone can share their thoughts so easily. Spend too much time on there and I sort of start to wonder," he says.

"Done with classes too? What is it that you're studying at ESU?" he inquires, gaze swinging over to Gwen as the pair walk down the sidewalk.

Gwen Stacy has posed:
"Not so easily." Gwen points out about Twitter before grinning amusedly. "Only 140 characters at a time. Sure, you can get lengthy and do various posts in a row with something but noone wants to read all that." she keeping up the pace alongside Eddie. Not that she is in too much of an hurry. Good to have a respite out of that busy, stressful day and just talk with someone..

As for monsters, "There are monsters everywhere. We can't be scared though, that's what they want." She shaking her head slowly. "But hey, what do you mean someone looking like me..?" she laughing, "Wait, not sure if I want you to answer that."

"I am on Genetics." She then answers about ESU, "Got a scholarship from Oscorp, but it's not been enough to keep me up so ..., Wong it is." she explains, "It's a fascinating field, I could bore you to death with details if you wanted to learn more about what makes us who we are. Deep down." bit of a teasing tone to her voice. "Last time we met you said you went to ESU too, right? What did you study?"

Eddie Brock has posed:
Eddie isn't walking with a very purposeful stride at the moment. When he doesn't actually have somewhere pressing to be, he tends to walk with a bit of an amble, as is the case now. The pair making their way slowly enough down the sidewalk that other New Yorkers move on past around them frequently.

A wry looks crosses Eddie's face. "See, that's what I mean though. No one wants to hear more than what can be said in 140 characters? What happened to more complex conversations? Complete topics that are well-reasoned and thoughtful?" he says. "Though, granted. What I see in 140 characters often makes me glad for the limit," Eddie tells her.

His eyes drift away quickly as she touches on his earlier comment. Speaking his mind more than he should. "You've probably never heard this, in your life. But there are some who find the whole blond hair, blue-eyed look on the attractive side," he says, keeping his tone as light-hearted as his deep, slightly raspy voice is capable of. He glances over to her and then away again as he makes more room for Gwen as a passing man doesn't seem to want to give her too much space on the sidewalk.

Too late Eddie realizes the minefield he set for himself by bringing up her major. He'd told her he went to ESU too, which would naturally lead to, "Yeah, my degree," he says. "Journalism. See, paper, right?" he says, giving a shrug and look that sort of says, what is one to do?

Gwen Stacy has posed:
"Exactly." As if Eddie had touched exactly what she meant about the Twitter issue. "People go there to express themselves, or try to, but in the end it turns out to be an whole mess of nothing what comes up." not that she hadn't been guilty of doing similar in the past, specially in those early years she became Spider Woman, paying more attention to her popularity than ..., anything else really. But that's way in the past now.. "No more cafe talks, or just talking through the night. It's all ..." she gestures with one hand, "Eh ..." as if she couldn't exactly put it into words.

The frisky handsy one that is more and more appearing like they will be an obstacle has Gwen do quite the the daring escape, her hips sliiiding away just as the man was thinking there would be contact. Truly, it all looks very graceful. "Sorry about that, almost bumped into you." she says easily to the man who just looks after her for a bit. And with a lower tone she says up to Eddie, "Some people just can't keep to their lane." an eyeroll.

Of course that then he goes and tells her about the attractive part which .., just makes her face to feel warm. Sure, it's not as if she hasn't heard that before and she knows well how she looks but .., there was just something different about having this man say it. "Are you included in that lot too?" ack! What is she saying ... now she will just get more embarassed.

But at least there are SUBJECT CHANGES she can focus on too, "That explains the whole thing around paper, yea. Do you work on any newspaper around here? Or .., wait.., don't tell me. Undercover and doing a story on the neighborhood here?"

Eddie Brock has posed:
At the question about Eddie's inclusion in that particular segment, the thirty-five year old has to think fast in his answer to the girl of eighteen or nineteen. Lord, he hopes she's at least that old. "Oh, you know, some of us just judge people by what's on the inside," he tells her, looking over to Gwen and giving her a brief smile.

   «Venom» "Nice one, Eddie"

"Thank you," Eddie answers, before realizing he said that aloud. "For letting me help you back with these," he says, motioning with some of the bags. "Makes me feel like I accomplished something helpful today."

   «Venom» "Good cover."

He gestures with a hand at the mention of paper again, the bags contained therein not too heavy to hinder the gesture. The question she asks though is the one he would have liked to avoid. "Nah, that didn't really pan out. Though I really like that undercover thing. That's going to be my answer from now on, I think," he says, looking over and the man's whiskered face splitting into a bit of a warmer smile.

They are drawing near to her apartment. Just three more doors down. "That's me," Eddie says, motioning to the side. "The stairs down. That's my apartment at the bottom of them," he says.

Gwen Stacy has posed:
"Don't tell that to a geneticist." Gwen then admonishes Eddie at the 'judging people by what's inside'. "I could go into a lengthy discussion on *what* we can find inside people." Yay, geneticist jokes! "But, in a way, you are right. There's a lot to be said about someone's genetics and the behavior they have, besides the environment in which they grow of course. There are fascinating studies about it, in fact it's been proven that in some ways it's more impactful than your experiences." a pause and she looking at Eddie with a critical eye. "Wait, don't fall asleep yet!" gosh, she was getting a bit nervous.. And now here she was talking about genetics like a nerd to someone who most likely didn't care for it..

There is a bit of a gloss over that Gwen does when Eddie says he didn't accomplish much today. It wasn't her place to pry really. Everyone has those parts in their lives where they are down. Still, she smiles warmly up at the man before inclining her head at the journalism thing.

"Maybe you should go to the Bugle. J Jonah is *always* looking for stories on Spiderman..." Gwen rolling her eyes a bit, "But what are you thinking about doing if not journalism then? You don't look like the kind of person to give up." She says, perhaps trying to cheer the man up some.

As they get closer to the apartment she looks at the door, then over. "Mmmm, I am three doors down. We are almost neighbors." she says before adding with a bright laugh. "Now I know who to come bother when I am missing sugar."

Eddie Brock has posed:
Eddie keeps his face relative stoic at the mention of the Daily Bugle and it's loud-mouthed editor. Stoic but for a small tick of his jaw muscle tightening. Though there's no sign of the emotions fueling it when he says, "Yeah, maybe I could try there," he agrees, finding that agreement is a good way to move on from a topic.

   «Venom» "We should have ripped him apart by now, Eddie. Tear his arms from his body. Feed them to him, bite by bite, and then eat his stomach and his arms all in one swallow. Because his arms will be inside of his stomach. And then his spleen. Rip it from..."

It can be difficult to concentrate with a voice in one's head, but Eddie tries to keep his attention fully on Gwen rather than on the homicidal ramblings of the symbiote. "Oh yeah? Neighbors and never knew it," he says. He glances up at the building that she indicates. "Pretty decent looking place," he tells her. "Here, let me get the door for you," he says, stepping ahead to get it for her.

Gwen Stacy has posed:
"Who said chivalry was dead, mmm?" Gwen says with a gentle smile, completely oblivious to the inner-talkings of the symbiote and Eddie. Not even her danger sense gives a peep! She squeezes past the small door, a difficult thing with all the large bags but eventually she gets them in, placing them on the ground. A moment adjusting her beanie and she turns to Eddie, hands on her hips. "Thanks for bringing me over and .., for the talk. It was fun." she tells him, eyes twinkling in that warm manner of hers.

"Don't forget there will be more hersheys back at Wong's if you get a craving for chocolate again." Is she inviting him to return over to the shop to see her? "I mean, there's hersheys in other shops too. I mean, you know."

She turns to start picking up the bags from the ground before she embarasses herself further. "Take care of yourself, Eddie." she then murmurs.

Eddie Brock has posed:
As Gwen stops inside the building's entrance, Eddie does as well. Passing the bags over when he sees she intends to go the rest of the way up on her own. "Yeah, I had been thinking about stopping in, actually, when I saw you," he comments. "I can probably hold out a bit longer though," Eddie tells Gwen. Until she's working? Or because he walked away from the place to walk her home. It's not quite clear.

"Yeah, you take care of yourself too, Gwen. Good luck with the genetics and all. And you're going to have to explain all that to me in a bit more detail later," he tells her. "I get the feeling it's not a sidewalk conversation. Probably needs some drawings too. You know, on real paper," he says as he gives her a lopsided smile, but one with a touch of warmth.

"Alright, good seeing you," he says, lifting a hand for a motionless wave before he steps back outside onto the sidewalk.

   «Venom» "You should have carried them up to her apartment"

Eddie starts walking back towards his underground apartment, a scant three doors down. "I was worried how that would look. Like I was trying to go back to her place. I don't know if you noticed but there's a bit of an age difference. Girls like that aren't really interested in guys not quite old enough to be their father seeming to invite themselves over to their place. I don't want to go to that Special Hell." He takes the steps down to his door, pulling out his keys and unlocking it.

   «Venom» "You are quoting Firefly again, aren't you? You know I hate it when you do that."

Eddie swings the door open, knocking his shoes on the door jam to knock some slush from them as he steps inside. "Yeah, well, you can't take the sky from me."