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[Matt frowns in confusion, was that fly talking to him?]

Um...hello.

[Janet hovers nearby, but gives him some personal space so he doesn't have to go cross-eyed to talk to her. At least she assumes as much.]

You wouldn't happen to know of a good mall around here, would you?

[A very specific question for a fly to ask. And a lady fly at that. Matt decides to take this in stride for now.]

There's one a few blocks from here. [He seems to be speaking in her general direction as much as he can, his white stick in one hand.] Are you lost?

*Slightly creepy smile. Then he shakes himself, and the lunacy fades away.* Hello, little one. What are you?

[She backs up a few more inches, and then realizes what's in his hand. Oh. But she takes it in stride.]

I didn't think so, but I haven't been in this area much so I figured I'd ask.

[She buzzes back a little further, and without anyone else on the street, she figures she might as well give her wings a break and grows back to human size.]

It feels like I've been running around the neighborhood all evening, and you were the first person around to ask.

[Tony smiles and sets aside the bit of armor he was buffering.]

Hey Janet....what's up?

[She at least minds her manners and stops in the doorway to grow back to her proper height before chatting.]

Oh, not much. Hank's buried in his DNA sequencing again so I thought I'd head out for lunch. Figured I'd see who was around, and if they wanted to come too. Are you, uh, busy?

[She gives a glance down at Tony's armor.]

[Tony's stomach growls at the mention of lunch which he would have skipped if Janet hadn't happened along. He sets aside the work and smiles.]

Take a pretty woman to lunch and annoy her lab partner at the same time, sign me up.

[She just smiles and laughs at Tony. She doubts he'd outright annoy Hank for going to lunch with her, but she's not going to say anything. He might take it as a challenge.]

Great. Meet you at the front door in five? I want to change out of the costume.

[She turns to leave and then catches herself on the doorway, leaning back into the room.]

Oh! And I hope you don't mind Greek. I've been dying for a gyros all day.

[Tony grabs his leather jacket and zips up before following Janet out the door.]

I don't mind Pepper loves me coming back to the office smelling like garlic. She thinks it's sexy.

[Janet's dressed sharp, but still in normal clothes, though she can't quite seem to ditch the yellow. It's her favorite color, after all.]

In that case, I think you're in all kinds of trouble. This place believes that there's no such thing as too much garlic.

[She snickers, a small bounce in her step.]

Hank could smell it across the lab, last time.

[Matt is backing up a whole lot more, wary as his ears are telling him very strange things. That this person just sort of....appeared. Out of a fly. Confusion painting his features as he's trying to figure out what happened.]

...um....so...you're not from around here?

[Jan notices that he's backing up, and takes a step back herself. That expression on his face is obvious and she pulls her hands to her chest. He hadn't been able to see her, so she thought perhaps her powers might go unnoticed, but it seems she's terribly mistaken and now she feels bad. She liked confusing bad guys, not normal guys out on the street minding their own business.]

Oh, um, well, yes but no. [Her words take on a more apologetic tone.] I mean, I usually don't come down this way so I don't know the streets all that well.

[Now it's his turn to apologize.] I'm sorry, I think I must have missed something... [Which he hates when that happens, but he can't deny it. He couldn't see the wings on her back but he could hear her heartbeat so she was definitely a person.]

I do know most of the streets here, I grew up in this town.

[Tony laughs.]

I bet he was a crabby about it for weeks too. I know how he gets when his experiments get messed with.

He said that even the ants were complaining.

[She scrunches up her nose as she leads the way down to the sidewalk.]

I think he was just regretting that he turned down my offer to bring back take-out.

Oh, no, it's my fault. I didn't realize how rude I was being. [Janet hates rude people, and even though she's a motor-mouth, she tries not to bother everyday citizens.]

Look, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt your walk, but I am a bit, well, lost. At least around here. Catch me anywhere else in the city and I got the place down, but I haven't been to this part yet.

Hank actually wanted to eat.......I'm shocked. He's worse then I am when it comes to food.

Even I know a great mind doesn't work well without food. I know exactly how to get Hank to remember he needs a break...usually.

[She gives a coy smile, looking up at the blue sky.]

I'm certain Pepper knows what buttons to push for a certain other genius, too.

[Tony coughs and fights the urge to laugh.]

Yeah well lets not go there, I'm sure you and Pepper share enough about Hank and me during girl talk.

As if! [She sticks her tongue out at him.] Girl talk is a strictly no-Tony, no-Hank time. Unless it's embarrassing. Pepper's house-rules, anyway.

Oh so it is all the time then. Hank and I are embarrassing on a scale that is itself embarrassing.

[She seemed nice enough. Matt tries to help out.] No, no it's fine, I just...were you really small a moment ago? [That sounded even weirder to say it than to think it.]

Well, I can't argue with that, but anything that qualifies means you have to one-up your daily routine. It says it right in Pepper's charter:

[She ticks off items on her hand. Not a word of it is true, the 'charter' doesn't exist, but it's still fun to poke at Tony and Hank. They're brilliant guys and she's proud they let her be on the team.]

"Items which do not qualify include: blowing up the lab, hurting yourself doing something when you know better, failing to realize days have passed since you ate or slept, and falling asleep in corners of the lab."

Uh, yeah, actually. I was. [Color her impressed. This guy must have amazing hearing to pick that up. She didn't think she'd been that close but she's been mistaken before.]

I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do that to you, really. I didn't notice it might get confusing until after I'd opened my mouth.

[Amazing hearing indeed, but not half as amazing as what she was telling him. He takes a step closer, as if to make sure she's real.]

How did you do that?

[Tony holds up a hand.]

Okay let me mention the last one. If you two don't like us falling asleep in the lab then don't pose us together and take pictures.

Facebook almost exploded over that one.

Hey, that totally wasn't my idea, okay? [She throws her hands up defensively, but she has the worst poker face, and keeps smiling.]

[A faint smile quirks on her face when he leans in, but she doesn't move away this time.]

Actually, long story short and lots of science later: I know a really smart guy who came up with it.

It? Came up with what? [curious despite himself]

Yeah I don't believe you Pepper is better at playing innocent then you are.

Okay, but it was completely worth it. [She gives a little hop in her step, hopefully taking her just out of arm's reach as they get near the shop.]

The whole process. There's a lot of things going on that make it happen, involving dimensions and particles and things, but basically it lets me shrink down really small.

[Or large, technically, but she liked tiny. There was far more science there, much of which Hank had taught her, even if her understanding was limited. Still, his process wasn't a secret, but there wasn't a reason to go into fine detail.]

Wow...that sounds complicated. [But he's intrigued despite his lack of knowledge.] You do that often?

What? Shrink? Uh, sometimes, yeah. If it's important then I'll stay small, but it's tiring so being normal size is easier. Unless I'm trying to get somewhere. I can fly pretty fast when I'm little, and it sure beats the Subway some days.

[She laughs gently.] Unless I get lost, of course.

[He smiles at that.] I'll bet it does. Maybe I could help you get to where you're going Miss....?

Oh! Sorry! Janet Van Dyne! Just 'Janet' is great though. You? [They can get back to the topic of helping her get around once she remembers her manners again.]

[He shifts his cane to the other hand so he can extend a handshake.] Matt Murdock. How do you do?

[If only he could see the brief moment of confusion on her face. She shakes his hand and then the light dawns.]

As in, Matt Murdock the lawyer? [Her voice betrays the semi-recognition, and perhaps a bit of excitement. He wasn't a face she'd recognize, but his name popped up on TV from time to time, for sure.]

[He smiles and nods once.] That would be me. Does that put me on a short list of lawyer jokes? [No worries, Matt can take them goodnaturedly if they happen.]

What? Oh, no, promise no lawyer jokes.

I hear about you on the news sometimes; I just can't believe of all the people to run into! This is so cool! It really is, and I'm sorry about all the added crazy I just threw into your day.

[Matt chuckles, his eyes not tracking as he talks.]

Not a problem, Miss Van Dyne. I can't say I get recognized often. [Which helped with his night work.] Where were you trying to get to?

Well, there's supposed to be a mall somewhere around here, or maybe it's a couple of shops, but I was hoping to hit some new shopping spots.

[She huffs, this is what she gets for trying to take shortcuts. She's got herself disoriented in a city made to be friendly to tourists!]

It's um, somewhere along Sixth, and crosses one of the high forties. I am so taking the Subway next time. Or a cab. This is what I get for trying to be clever.

There is, but it's nowhere near Clinton here. A cab is probably a good idea, if you don't mind the hazardous driving. [Some cabbies drove like they had no regard for human life.

Matt puts two fingers in his mouth and gives a typical New York call for a cab. A shrill whistle. One soon pulls up to the curb.] There you are.

[Tony laughed as he followed her.]

I thought it was funny at the time. Once I got the pictures down of course.

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Sorry for disappearing!

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That's okay stuff happens.

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