Chapter Text
The first day Jane visits the set of Mr. Coulson’s Technicolor Dreamhouse there’s a fine, cool mist in the air, and she blinks it off of her eyelashes as the door closes behind her, locking the weather away into another dimension. Tony has told her about this effect, the way the windowless set with its black-painted fixtures becomes its own world, with the various colorful puppets and the massive Fairytale Land backdrop all glowing under the lights. It reminds her of technical theatre courses, and she smiles, unwinding her scarf.
“Hey, Jane!” Tony grins at her, setting a box of spare parts aside. “Welcome to the People’s Republic of Puppetry.”
“It’s amazing,” She says, letting Tony take her jacket and hang it up. “You said you usually took a break about now, so I thought this might be a good time to stop by.”
“It is. The boss is lurking somewhere around, but you know Bruce, and this is Steve.” Steve approaches with a sweet smile of welcome. He’s a delicate little creature, but when she shakes his slender hand she can feel the strength in it.
“Pleased to meet you, Steve.”
He turns out to be the voice and the main puppeteer for Bill, and of course Darcy will never forgive her if she doesn’t get a snapshot and an autograph. Steve is shy about it, but also incredibly gracious, and Jane takes some shots of the puppets to make him feel less conspicuous and because they’re amazing. She’s about to ask Steve more about the technical aspects of Bill when Thor comes in from the workshop. Tony has described his colleague as ‘an enormous fuck-off Viking’ but Jane hadn’t realized how little hyperbole was involved. He’s a little intimidating as he comes rushing up, but he stops at a reasonable distance and beams at her, little wisps of hair escaping from his ponytail.
Steve smiles. “Jane, this is Thor Odinson. Thor, this is Dr. Jane Foster.”
“Just Jane, please,” she says, extending her hand to Thor. He takes it gently, and before she has any idea what he’s doing, he rotates her knuckles upward and makes a graceful bow over her hand. Guys have kissed her hand before, and with most of them it’s creepy and damp. Thor just barely touches his lips to her skin, though, dry and soft and utterly chaste. She barely has time to register the silky-prickly feel of his short beard before he’s upright again, smiling at her and releasing her hand. That brief touch glows on her skin, and she hopes she’s not blushing.
“I’m very pleased to meet you, Jane,” he says.
“Uh, pleased to be here!” It’s all she can do not to wince, feeling about twelve years old. Thor just smiles, and then looks over her shoulder.
“Phil!”
She turns, and sure enough, there’s Phil and a guy who must be Clint (“an ass that won’t quit and lifetime tickets to the gun show,” thank you, Tony.) It’s kind of surreal to see Mr. Coulson in real life, and he smiles as he shakes her hand.
“It’s a bit weird, isn’t it?”
“Only a little. I’m mostly thinking of how much my niece Anna would love to be here.”
Phil smiles softly. “You’ll have to bring her sometime. Come on, I’ll give you the grand tour.” Jane follows him, and answers his polite questions about Anna as they walk.
There actually is a lot to see for such a small space, an elaborate network of catwalks and vents and scaffolding as well as the cozy green room where Phil makes them each a cup of cocoa before they move on to the labyrinthine majesty of the shop. It’s a fascinating place, and Jane gives in completely to her inner seven-year-old when she catches sight of Princess Tiye’s wardrobe. There are dozens of the tiny dresses, most of them doing double or triple duty for other princesses and fairies and whoever else needs to be fabulous, and all of them are beautiful. She fingers shimmering artificial silks and makes the light dance on hundreds of sequins before remembering to be embarrassed. She drops the fabric and risks a quick glance at Phil, but he just looks amused.
“They’re great, aren’t they? Natasha and I do most of the sewing. She should be arriving at any minute.”
“Right, Tony mentioned her."
They finish up in Phil’s office, where there’s a whole hidden stash of Dreamhouse toys in what reminds her of one of the old metal supply cabinets at her elementary school. She wasn’t fishing for anything when she mentioned Anna, but Phil gives her a plush Fuzzy for the kid. She doesn’t even remember mentioning that Fuzzy was Anna’s favorite of the puppets, and is still trying to work out how Phil knew as he leads her back to where she started, near the side door where she’s out of the way but can watch everyone work. After thanking Phil again, she watches him go to greet an absolutely beautiful woman with red hair, who moves onto the set with such assurance that she must be Natasha. Phil brings her over and introduces them, but after that indulging the visitor is over, because they do have to make an episode here. For a while she just examines Fuzzy, admiring his bendable legs, soft synthetic fur, and big, scratch-resistant eyes. Anna is going to love this, and she smiles at the thought. Feeling someone near her, she looks up and sees Thor, who beams at her, open and guileless and beautiful.
“Phil is a generous man.”
“Seems like it,” Jane says, and Thor grins at her, heading back to the shop as the lights dim and Phil helps Natasha and Steve manipulate the various puppets needed to tell ‘The White Cat.’ Jane watches in utter fascination.