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Gwen Poole threw the bouncy ball against the wall of her room, it bounced back, and she caught it. She let out a discontented sigh and then threw the ball at the wall again.
She wished she had healthier coping mechanisms to deal with boredom, but, hey, old habits die hard, okay? She was hardly the worst neighbour anyone had in this city anyway; her roommate upstairs had metal skin and therefore every step landed loudly…
Her phone beeped. Gwenpool glanced at the caller ID and opened up the video call.
“Hey Gwen!” Kamala Khan said, smiling at Gwen kindly. The visible bags under her eyes told Gwen one of two things: either Kamala had spent all night fighting evildoers and literally saving the world… or she had finally caught up on all of her favourited fanfic tags on FreakingCool.
“Hey Kamala. How is being Marvel’s fave new hero treating you?”
Kamala blushed. “I don’t think I’m Captain Marvel’s favourite, y’know. I’m just someone doing her best.”
“Not what I meant, but you are the best girl. So… What did you need?”
“Well… I need your help with something.”
“Superheroing kind of something or fanfiction kind of something?”
Kamala blushed harder. “Fanfic.”
“Coolio. If this is about the last fic you sent me, then it’s really good! Though, between the two versions of you sent me, the version with the floofier unicorns is undeniably better. Who wants unfloofed unicorns when floofed is an option?”
“Are you sure? I was worried that it may be leaning too hard into the cuteness of the unicorns…”
“And I say… Who wants unfloofed unicorns when floofed is an option? ” Gwen repeated.
“Okay, okay!” Kamala conceded. “But no… It wasn’t about that… It was about…” Kamala trailed off and cleared her throat. “You spent some time with the West Coast Avengers, right?”
“Yeah, I did!” Back in the good old days…” Gwen sighed. “What about it?”
“Well… I sort of went down a shipping rabbit hole…”
“Shipping real people? Saucy. Soooooooooo, you wanna hear about me and Quentin?”
“Oh, uh, not you two. Sorry. Unless… Do you want to talk about him? Not as a fan, but, like, as a friend?”
“Nah, you don’t have to spare my feelings. Who’s your OTP then?”
“America and Kate?”
Gwen raised an eyebrow. This isn't how she expected this conversation to go.
“Okay, okay. Both were dating others when I was hanging with them, but I respect it.”
“Do you think they have ever hooked up in real life?” Kamala asked sheepishly.
Gwen shrugged. “Does it matter? Captain Marvel hasn’t actually saved any planets with unicorn-based lifeforms - as far as we know anyway - and that doesn’t make your fics any less awesome…”
“I know, but… I just thought it would be nice to know? They seem like a good pair… and you’re their friend, right? I was told you’ve been cooped up in your room lately… This seems like a good low-stakes intel mission for you to go on?”
Gwen glanced around her room. It was cluttered with take-out boxes. “I’ve been kind of chilling here for a bit… I wouldn’t say I’m ‘cooped up’?”
“Oh. Are you busy?”
“Not really.” Gwen admitted, more than a little embarrassed by the truth of the matter. “But if I leave… Then who is going to make fun of Rogue and Gambit for their Fortnite crossover?”
Kamala’s face scrunched up in confusion. “What?”
“You’ll understand in around 5 months, probably.”
“Okay? So… Would you like to go and confirm my headcanon for me?”
Gwen sighed.
She couldn’t say no to Kamala. Curse her main-character syndrome!
“Sure. I’ll reach out to them… It would be nice to catch up, I suppose.”
“Sounds fun!” Kamala smiled. “Hopefully you enjoy it.”
“I’ll try… Thanks Kamala.”
…
Gwen paced around her hotel room nervously.
She was not prepared for this.
In her pre-dimension-hopping life, she wasn’t exactly a “social butterfly” and certainly wasn’t used to having sleepovers with her pals… and since arriving in the Marvel universe, she had always had bigger fish to fry.
What writer in their right mind would bother to give her a “girl’s night” arc anyway?
She considered retconning the conversation with Kamala entirely just to escape this conversation, but no. She had to do this. She had to face her inner demons…
And by “demons,” she means a one-to-two hour hangout with an interdimensional lesbian and her maybe-on-again-off-again girlfriend.
There was a knock on the door.
It was time to begin.
“America! Hawkeye!”
America gave Gwen a hug. “Hey Gwen! Good to see you.”
Kate took off her sunglasses and shot Gwen a friendly smile. “You can call me Kate, y’know. It’s been a while, but I think we’re at least… sort of friends? Close acquaintances?”
Gwen felt her face flush at the title. She wasn’t entirely used to person-to-person emotional intimacy, regardless of how awkward it or stilted it may be...
“Yeah, sure, but you got the title of Hawkeye! You may as well own it, right?”
“Right. Well, thanks Gwen.”
Kate and America walked into the hotel room as Gwen attempted to remember how to speak to people.
She sighed. She may as well just cut to the chase. Crazy old Gwen Poole has some hijinx for the crowd; they’d understand.
“I’ve been doing some research on how to conduct a ‘girls night.’”
“Oh?” America replied, raising an eyebrow. “I do like both of those things.”
Kate gently elbowed America in the ribs, seemingly embarrassed. Gwenpool made a mental note of this.
“So… I got some stuff for nail art! I got pride-themed colours, the lesbian pride flag for America and also, just for fun, a bisexual flag… for anyone else here who may want to use it!”
Gwen stared at Kate Bishop expectantly, but America caught her off-guard by laughing.
“That’s cute, Gwen! Can’t say I have much in the way of nails to paint, but hey. Worth a shot.”
Kate’s face once again flushed red and Gwen cocked her head in confusion.
“Oh, you keep them short for fighting then? I suppose that’s fair. I can see why that’d be convenient.”
America opened her mouth as if to reply, but Kate interrupted her. “That’s… not exactly what she meant, Gwen…”
“Then what do you mean?”
“We’ll tell you when you’re older,” America joked.
“I’m literally older than both of you! I think, at least? I don’t entirely understand what they’re doing with time-scaling in the Krakoan era, honestly… Regardless, we’re all, like, late-teen early-twenties types, right?”
Kate nodded. “Yeah, sorry. America’s just… being a jokester.”
“Hey, you’re the one who is fun to tease!” America countered.
Kate sighed. “Thanks for organising all of this, Gwen. It’s… very kind of you.”
“Oh, it’s nothing!” Gwen replied. “I just wanna be prepared for a great girl’s night! Y’know, gals being pals and all of that… stuff!”
America nodded and turned to Kate.
“Hey Princess? Can I talk to Gwen alone for a moment?”
Kate nodded. “Sure. I need to use the ladies’ room anyway… Be back soon!”
Gwen’s heart stopped with fear. Maybe she came on too strong… or not strong enough?
Or maybe America and Kate were dating and America thought Gwen was coming in on her turf? That she was trying to steal Kate away?
And what exactly is flirting? Gwen never fully understood how it differed from fighting and/or complimenting someone…
America walked close to Gwen and stared into her big eyes.
“Gwen. I’ve never met someone quite like you.”
Gwen’s brain flipped in confusion. America didn’t seem to be mad at her. “Aw, thank you? I mean, I know people compare me to Wade, but I think we have very distinct flairs and -”
“No, Gwen. I mean this literally. I travel the multiverse. I have met dozens of Kate Bishops and Quentin Quires, but I have only met one Gwen Poole… and that’s you.”
“Well, true… I came here from another dimension, but it wasn’t exactly a Marvel Comics dimension… And Kamala kind of retconned it? Like, I have a new origin story now, but it’s only canon in the sense that it is now canon that Kamla retconned my -”
“Look, I honestly don’t understand the specifics of what you’re talking about, but I understand what it is like to be one-of-a-kind in a multiverse… I also understand what it is like to have false memories about your origin and your childhood… and I understand what it is like to be queer, both publically out and not. We’re not, like, completely different, Gwen.”
America reached out a hand and grabbed Gwen’s hand.
“I’m here for you, okay? Kate is too. You don’t need to make up some excuse to see us. We’re former teammates!”
“Thanks America… and I am sorry I wasn’t there to help you when you were struggling. Most of your issues came out after I was already here and so I haven’t had the privilege of reading them.”
America chuckled. “My issues reveal themselves all the time… Sometimes I’m not even aware of them until they appear.”
“Right. ‘Issues’ as in ‘problems.’ That is totally definitely 100% what I meant.”
America let go of Gwen’s hand. “Anyway, let’s go back and hang out with Kate some more, okay? And just relax. Be yourself, Gwen. You’re the only person who can be that. Literally.”
Gwen smiled.
“Thanks for the talk, America.”
…
It was late at night. America and Kate Bishop had fallen asleep in a take-out-induced stupor. Kate leaned her body against America’s, trapping her in her warm embrace.
Gwen smiled at the sight and pulled out her phone.
“You’re right. They’re a cute couple.”
“Right?!?” Kamala replied. “And… are you doing okay?”
“I’m fine… Thanks for checking up on me. I know I can kind of… retreat easily.”
“It’s okay, Gwen! I wanted to give you space… I just also don’t want you to forget people care about you, okay?”
“So… Was this a set-up? Just to get me to spend some time with my friends?”
“Would I lie about something as serious about my ships? No. Never. <3”
Gwen smiled at her phone and at the pair of women in front of her. She then laid back on the couch and let herself slowly drift into sleep.