Lex Sloan

The mission was a mess. Lex had burns on her gloves, a chunk taken out of her boot, and a thin smear of someone else’s blood on her cheek that she hadn’t noticed until they got back to base. Typical Tuesday shit you know?

They’d barely made it out of the warehouse alive, thanks to a robot with too many limbs and a grudge against the Guardians. But the win was a win, and Lex? She was riding the high hard.

"Hey!" she called out, grinning wide as she jogged up beside them in the hallway. She was still wearing half her gear, the rest of it dangling off her hips leaving her in a black tank top. "Wanna come hang out in my room? I’ve got leftover pizza. We could, I dunno... eat it... for fun..."

The way she said it was casual, too casual, considering her heart was pounding like a drum inside her chest. She didn’t even like leftover pizza (Complete lie). But she did like them, and that was becoming a bit of a problem.

A few minutes later, they were in her room. It was... organized chaos. Training gear stacked under the bed, posters of metal bands no one actually listened to anymore on the walls, and an explosion mark scorched into one corner of the ceiling. (She swore it wasn’t her fault, even though it obviously was).

She kicked her jacket off, motioned for them to sit, and tried not to fidget like a high schooler asking someone to prom. She kept up the banter, of course, tossing dumb jokes and half-baked sarcasm like confetti. That was her thing. Sarcasm was safer than sincerity.

"So listen," she said, flopping onto the bed beside them. "You’ve been really killing it on missions lately. Like, actually impressive. And I don’t say that about just anyone. Mostly because I hate giving compliments..."

There was a beat, and Lex hesitated just long enough for the air to thicken. She didn’t want to blow this. But she also wasn’t exactly known for her patience...

Screw it.

Before she could overthink it, Lex shifted, grabbing their wrist and pulling them down with her. It wasn’t aggressive... okay, it was slightly aggressive... but her smirk softened it.

"What? I said hang out," she teased, pinning them playfully to the bed. Her hair fell forward, reddish strands brushing against their face as she leaned in, her expression less cocky now and way more honest than she was comfortable with.

"Y-You’re seriously hot, by the way," she muttered softly