That ignore everything until an undetermined later date thing is something Daisy can certainly relate to. It's a strategy she's used more than once in her life to varying degrees of effect, though it's certainly not one she'd recommend. Ignoring and pushing the bad stuff down just leads to it all overflowing at the worst times. That's not to say that she's the perfect picture of mental health these days, her coping mechanisms definitely need some work, but she's a hell of a lot better than she used to be.
Maybe that's the real reason Coulson asked her to do this. He always did know how to bring out the potential in others.
The voice at the door is muffled but she has no trouble 'hearing' it, the vibrations in the air pinging against her senses and enhancing the words in a way she couldn't explain to anyone else. She's had her powers for so many years now that so much is instinctual and beyond even her own definition. Every so often, she and Jemma will try to nail something down, her best friend eager to understand ever more about Inhuman biology and abilities, but there are some things they just haven't cracked yet.
Moving to the door, she opens it with an open expression, not even pausing before addressing the other woman in a slightly more playful tone than Maria had managed. "Testing me already, huh?" But she doesn't wait for an answer before stepping back, opening the door wider for Maria to enter. "Come on in."
The apartment isn't anything fancy, though for NYC it probably could be considered that way. SHIELD purchased the entire building shortly after the Chronicom attack, doing the same in various cities around the world to provide secure housing for the agents stationed there. There's a full security system installed, noise shields in every apartment to allow for secure conversations, and any individual modifications needed for enhanced individuals. For Daisy's apartment, that means both bedrooms are lined with the power absorption panels used in containment modules, though they're hidden behind panels that give the rooms a more normal look.
As for the 'public' part of the apartment, there's a little hallway from the door that opens onto the kitchen that's separated from the living room by an island counter that serves as the main dining table. There's a couch and an oversized chair, coffee table and TV mounted to the wall — the colors and decor look like something out of a standard catalog, no real personality infused into those choices because they'd been made before any tenants moved in. No, it's the little things that tell the story of the people who live there — the assortment of instant photos crowding the fridge; the collection of Avengers-themed dancing hula dolls on the bookshelf crowded with bad movies and books from the '70s and '80s; the purple fuzzy blanket folded over the back of the oversized chair. The sisters might not be there much, but each stay leaves a little more of their imprint on the place.
"Do you want anything to drink?" she asks her guest, trying to be a good host when she's more than a little out of practice. "I've got beer, coffee... water?" A little apologetically, she adds, "I haven't been here much lately."
Maria smirked at Daisy’s reaction to the announcement of her presence as she opened the door. “Well, hello.” She said as the first time she and Daisy had ever stood face to face in their tenure. It was a brief face to face. Was she supposed to introduce herself? How did you meet someone that you knew of, who you knew knew of you? Why waste time saying what is already known, it wasn’t very efficient. Did it make it more awkward? Having taken the time to think about this she realized probably the moment had passed and she had to keep it moving. At least some things were same since before the blip, once you missed your intro window, you missed it.
As she followed Daisy inside she observed her apartment. “This is cute… nice…” Maria quickly self corrected realizing cute could be demeaning in a way she did not intend. “It kind of reminds me of my old apartment—-I know it is like a standard look but it’s almost like a little deja vu.”
Maria’s eyes darted to the photo covered fridge—the true sign of life in one of these places. “You have a lot of friends?” She asked reviewing them. Photos. Maria never had many of those to begin with but now she realized she didn’t have any—at least she hadn’t found any of her old photos from before the blip.
“Do I want anything to drink?” She repeated the question to herself “uhm. I will have whatever you’re having.” She paused, so familiar with the ‘I haven’t been around’ apology. “Yeah? Have you been busy, what have you been doing?”
Daisy grabs two beers from the fridge, taking the caps off before offering one to Maria. It feels weird to have someone else in her apartment, especially someone who doesn't really know her. Aside from reputation, neither of them know anything about the other, but that's probably what this is supposed to be. At least they're on more even footing than they would have been if they'd met when she first joined SHIELD. The legend of Maria Hill had been more than a little intimidating then, but not much of anything intimidates her now.
(That's a lie. She's intimidated as hell by the idea of actually settling on Earth again and trying to have what some people refer to as a Life. For the last decade, SHIELD has defined her entire existence, and she can't imagine anything else filling even a fraction of that space.)
"I've been off-world with them," she answers with a fond smile, gesturing with her bottle before taking a sip of her drink. It's a decent middle-range brand, not cheap grossness or ridiculously overpriced craft nonsense. "That's my sister, Kora," she points out the younger-but-actually-older girl grinning in a ridiculous selfie, then continues to other equally silly photos, "and the rest of the Zephyr-3 team. They should be reaching Xandar right about now."
“Yeah? I guess going off-world is getting pretty popular…now…” Maria joked at Fury’s sudden absence, with the mess of what is left on the world. Maria leaned closer to the photo of Kora and she couldn’t help but grin, Kora’s giant smile was infectious. It was hard to believe that was the same Kora who had been such a headache for SHIELD for a bit. Kora’s name and story did precede her but Maria hadn’t put a face to her until now. “I always thought Kora was such a cool name.” She leaned back from looking at the photo. “My sister has a cool name like that too, much cooler than mine… but she’s just like an actuary, a total nerd, seriously, it makes no sense. How does that happen?” Maria laughed and took a sip of her beer.
“How come you’re here and they’re … there…?” She struggled for a better word to ask her question.
And there is perhaps the oddest part of this conversation. There's so much that Maria already knows without having to be told. Kora's story is only known to people within SHIELD and a few others who needed to know for security reasons; to the rest of the world, she's just Daisy's sister, the two of them finally reunited after a lifetime apart.
Kora's smile is infectious, and it's a good sign that Maria is still influenced by it. The expression is genuine, she can tell, and it looks good on her. The former SHIELD agent certainly deserves more reasons to smile, given everything.
"Well, with everyone coming back..." She shrugs, letting it show how she's also struggling with how to phrase things. "I felt like I needed to be here to help. And it was time to let Kora fly on her own for a bit, even though we still talk every day."
It makes her wonder about the sister Maria mentioned, but instead of setting it aside, she just asks. "Are you and your sister close?"
“Yeah, well, that’s good that someone like you wanted to stick around. No one ever prepared for anyone to go come back but I guess, why would they? But, I’ve always heard good things about you. Is that creepy, it is … was … work related.” She paused thinking about how strange everything just was now. “Which reminds me…” She smirked just thinking about what she was about to ask Daisy. “What terrible thing did you do that Coulson saddled you with this unfortunate favor?” Maria understood though, she would do anything Coulson asked personally or professionally.
It was weird to talk with someone about family who wasn’t in her family, she was of course for safety reasons a very private person. But there was just something about the look on Kora’s face in that photo that just made her feel like should could mention it. Plus now it was like she had to talk about them to help restore some order in her life. Plus, she figured Daisy had to be in the same boat about keeping her family stuff close to her chest. “When we were kids yes, but she has a family and I’m always working and then you know the Blip so… but I think so, I should probably figure that out… But we do both work in forms risk assessment, I guess—albeit very different. Are you and Kora close? Are you keeping in touch while she’s off world?”
It really is a weird situation they're in. Knowing each other but not knowing each other, just slowly piecing things together as they go while not fully touching on why they've finally met each other. Their lives have been full of strange things, from aliens to shady organizations and everything in-between, but it's the socially strange element that feels hardest to deal with.
Daisy guesses from the way Maria phrased things that her sister didn't disappear too. If she had, they would have something more to bond over, whereas now there's probably some distance between them that feels insurmountable. But hopefully, they manage to find a way around it and back to each other.
"Yeah, Kora and I are close," she confirms with a nod, leaning against the island counter. "It took a while for us to get there, but now we're family, and it's like we always have been. Coulson's the person I'm closest to, though. We would do anything for each other — which is why I agreed to this favor when he asked. Besides, you know Coulson. He gives you that look and there's no telling him no."
![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
no subject
Maybe that's the real reason Coulson asked her to do this. He always did know how to bring out the potential in others.
The voice at the door is muffled but she has no trouble 'hearing' it, the vibrations in the air pinging against her senses and enhancing the words in a way she couldn't explain to anyone else. She's had her powers for so many years now that so much is instinctual and beyond even her own definition. Every so often, she and Jemma will try to nail something down, her best friend eager to understand ever more about Inhuman biology and abilities, but there are some things they just haven't cracked yet.
Moving to the door, she opens it with an open expression, not even pausing before addressing the other woman in a slightly more playful tone than Maria had managed. "Testing me already, huh?" But she doesn't wait for an answer before stepping back, opening the door wider for Maria to enter. "Come on in."
The apartment isn't anything fancy, though for NYC it probably could be considered that way. SHIELD purchased the entire building shortly after the Chronicom attack, doing the same in various cities around the world to provide secure housing for the agents stationed there. There's a full security system installed, noise shields in every apartment to allow for secure conversations, and any individual modifications needed for enhanced individuals. For Daisy's apartment, that means both bedrooms are lined with the power absorption panels used in containment modules, though they're hidden behind panels that give the rooms a more normal look.
As for the 'public' part of the apartment, there's a little hallway from the door that opens onto the kitchen that's separated from the living room by an island counter that serves as the main dining table. There's a couch and an oversized chair, coffee table and TV mounted to the wall — the colors and decor look like something out of a standard catalog, no real personality infused into those choices because they'd been made before any tenants moved in. No, it's the little things that tell the story of the people who live there — the assortment of instant photos crowding the fridge; the collection of Avengers-themed dancing hula dolls on the bookshelf crowded with bad movies and books from the '70s and '80s; the purple fuzzy blanket folded over the back of the oversized chair. The sisters might not be there much, but each stay leaves a little more of their imprint on the place.
"Do you want anything to drink?" she asks her guest, trying to be a good host when she's more than a little out of practice. "I've got beer, coffee... water?" A little apologetically, she adds, "I haven't been here much lately."
no subject
Maria smirked at Daisy’s reaction to the announcement of her presence as she opened the door. “Well, hello.” She said as the first time she and Daisy had ever stood face to face in their tenure. It was a brief face to face. Was she supposed to introduce herself? How did you meet someone that you knew of, who you knew knew of you? Why waste time saying what is already known, it wasn’t very efficient. Did it make it more awkward? Having taken the time to think about this she realized probably the moment had passed and she had to keep it moving. At least some things were same since before the blip, once you missed your intro window, you missed it.
As she followed Daisy inside she observed her apartment. “This is cute… nice…” Maria quickly self corrected realizing cute could be demeaning in a way she did not intend. “It kind of reminds me of my old apartment—-I know it is like a standard look but it’s almost like a little deja vu.”
Maria’s eyes darted to the photo covered fridge—the true sign of life in one of these places. “You have a lot of friends?” She asked reviewing them. Photos. Maria never had many of those to begin with but now she realized she didn’t have any—at least she hadn’t found any of her old photos from before the blip.
“Do I want anything to drink?” She repeated the question to herself “uhm. I will have whatever you’re having.” She paused, so familiar with the ‘I haven’t been around’ apology. “Yeah? Have you been busy, what have you been doing?”
no subject
(That's a lie. She's intimidated as hell by the idea of actually settling on Earth again and trying to have what some people refer to as a Life. For the last decade, SHIELD has defined her entire existence, and she can't imagine anything else filling even a fraction of that space.)
"I've been off-world with them," she answers with a fond smile, gesturing with her bottle before taking a sip of her drink. It's a decent middle-range brand, not cheap grossness or ridiculously overpriced craft nonsense. "That's my sister, Kora," she points out the younger-but-actually-older girl grinning in a ridiculous selfie, then continues to other equally silly photos, "and the rest of the Zephyr-3 team. They should be reaching Xandar right about now."
Without her.
no subject
“How come you’re here and they’re … there…?” She struggled for a better word to ask her question.
no subject
Kora's smile is infectious, and it's a good sign that Maria is still influenced by it. The expression is genuine, she can tell, and it looks good on her. The former SHIELD agent certainly deserves more reasons to smile, given everything.
"Well, with everyone coming back..." She shrugs, letting it show how she's also struggling with how to phrase things. "I felt like I needed to be here to help. And it was time to let Kora fly on her own for a bit, even though we still talk every day."
It makes her wonder about the sister Maria mentioned, but instead of setting it aside, she just asks. "Are you and your sister close?"
no subject
It was weird to talk with someone about family who wasn’t in her family, she was of course for safety reasons a very private person. But there was just something about the look on Kora’s face in that photo that just made her feel like should could mention it. Plus now it was like she had to talk about them to help restore some order in her life. Plus, she figured Daisy had to be in the same boat about keeping her family stuff close to her chest. “When we were kids yes, but she has a family and I’m always working and then you know the Blip so… but I think so, I should probably figure that out… But we do both work in forms risk assessment, I guess—albeit very different. Are you and Kora close? Are you keeping in touch while she’s off world?”
no subject
Daisy guesses from the way Maria phrased things that her sister didn't disappear too. If she had, they would have something more to bond over, whereas now there's probably some distance between them that feels insurmountable. But hopefully, they manage to find a way around it and back to each other.
"Yeah, Kora and I are close," she confirms with a nod, leaning against the island counter. "It took a while for us to get there, but now we're family, and it's like we always have been. Coulson's the person I'm closest to, though. We would do anything for each other — which is why I agreed to this favor when he asked. Besides, you know Coulson. He gives you that look and there's no telling him no."