[Perspective: Aryan Spencer]
I gestured grandly toward Wanda, who was standing beside me looking radiant in her emerald dress. "See who I am with? I managed to pull the most beautiful and most powerful woman on the planet. I clearly possess elite level romantic strategies."
Wanda swatted my arm, rolling her eyes, though she was smiling widely. "Do not listen to him, Peter. He bribed me with chocolate ice cream and Italian food."
"Hey, bribery is a valid tactic," I defended. I looked back at Peter, putting on my most serious expression. "Listen to me, kid. If you want to win her heart, you have to be dominating. You have to take charge of the situation. Girls like that kind of bad boy energy. You need to lean against a wall, look away into the distance and sigh heavily like you carry the weight of the world."
Peter blinked, looking incredibly confused. "I... I do carry the weight of the world, Dr. Spencer."
"Yeah, but you don't brood effectively," I corrected, shaking my head. "You need more angst. Less 'friendly neighborhood,' more 'dark and mysterious stranger'."
"Aryan," Wanda scolded, stepping forward and placing a gentle hand on Peter's arm, giving me a stern look. "Do not teach him your bad things."
"I am not teaching him bad things," I protested, holding my hands up in surrender. "I am giving him highly sought after dating advice! Look at him, Wanda. He's vibrating. If he walks up to that girl right now, he's going to drop the box in the canal and probably apologize to the water."
"I... I am pretty nervous," Peter admitted, looking down at his sneakers. "Her name is MJ. And she's... she's so smart and cool and she sees right through everything. If I try to be a bad boy, she's going to laugh at me until I cry."
"See?" Wanda said, giving me a triumphant look. "He knows the girl."
"Fine, fine," I sighed, adjusting the cuffs of my shirt. "New strategy. You walk up to her, you look her dead in the eye and you say, 'MJ, I bought this for you because you are the most observant person I know and I am hopelessly intimidated by you.' Trust me, vulnerability is the new brooding."
Peter took a deep breath, clutching the box to his chest. "Okay. I can do that."
"That's the spirit," I grinned, clapping him on the back. "Now, go get her, tiger. We will provide moral support from a safe distance."
Peter nodded, his face set in a mask of determination. He turned around, marching through the crowd of tourists toward a girl standing a few feet away, leaning against the edge of the bridge.
She had curly dark hair, a completely deadpan expression and was currently staring intently at a folded map of Venice as if trying to decipher ancient hieroglyphs.
Wanda and I followed a few paces behind, stopping just within earshot.
'Are you taking notes?' I directed my thoughts to the invisible audience, crossing my arms over my chest. 'This is a high stakes teenage drama. It is significantly more entertaining than fighting a CGI water monster.'
Peter walked up to MJ, stopping abruptly. He stood there for a long second, just staring at her profile.
"Hey," Peter squeaked.
MJ didn't look up from her map. "Hey."
Peter shifted his weight from foot to foot. He shoved his hands, box and all, deep into his pockets. He looked around the bridge, desperately searching for a conversation starter.
"So," Peter said, gesturing vaguely toward the sprawling architecture surrounding them. "Venice. It's... it's pretty cool, right?"
MJ finally slowly lowered the map. She looked at the water, then at the buildings.
"It's the most perfect architecture in the world," MJ said. "Italians created it and I just discovered it."
Peter blinked, thoroughly derailed. "What... what doesn't that mean?"
MJ turned her dark eyes on him. "That's the thing. It can mean a million things. It can mean, 'I don't know.' It can mean, 'Get out of my face.' It's totally the best architecture ever created by Italians. Except for maybe espresso. Hahah."
Peter stared at her, his brain completely short circuiting. The 'honesty' strategy I had given him was currently burning to ash in the face of her impenetrable sarcasm.
"Oh," Peter stammered, rubbing the back of his neck. "So... you have been drinking espresso?"
MJ ignored the question entirely. Her observant gaze dropped from his face, landing squarely on the bulging shape in his right pocket where his hand was currently suffocating the velvet box.
"What's in the bag, Parker?" MJ asked, her eyes narrowing suspiciously.
Peter looked down at his pocket. He opened his mouth, clearly struggling to formulate a sentence that didn't sound like a complete disaster.
I let out a quiet sigh. The kid needed a wingman.
I took two steps forward, smoothly inserting myself into their peripheral vision, placing a casual hand on Peter's shoulder.
"He bought a gift for you," I announced, my voice carrying clearly over the chatter of the tourists. "But his heart rate is currently hovering around one hundred and eighty beats per minute and he is entirely too shy to say it out loud. It is a severe case of adolescent romantic paralysis."
MJ startled by my sudden appearance. She looked at me, her dark eyebrows knitting together in confusion. She looked from me, to Peter and then over to Wanda, who had stepped up beside me with an apologetic smile.
"Are you guys like... his chaperones?" MJ asked.
Everyone on that section of the bridge looked at Peter. A group of tourists holding gelato cones paused to watch the drama unfold.
Peter's face turned the color of a ripe tomato. He looked absolutely mortified, but the intervention had forced his hand. He couldn't hide it anymore.
With a trembling breath, he pulled his hand out of his pocket, revealing the small velvet box. He held it out toward MJ, his eyes squeezed shut as if bracing for an explosion.
"It's... it's a Black Dahlia," Peter blurted out in a rush of words. "Because of the murder. I know you like the murder. I mean, the story of the murder. Not actual murder. Obviously."
He shoved the box into her hands.
MJ stared at the box. She opened it slowly. Resting on a bed of white satin was a beautifully crafted necklace featuring a black glass flower.
She looked at the necklace and then she looked up at Peter.
"It's nice," MJ said softly. "Thanks, Peter."
Peter slumped forward as if a massive weight had been lifted off his shoulders. "You're... you're welcome."
MJ closed the box carefully, tucking it into the pocket of her jeans. She turned her attention back to me and Wanda. She squinted, tilting her head to the side as she studied our faces.
"You guys look familiar," MJ said, her eyes narrowing in recognition.
"I have one of those faces," I offered smoothly. "Very generic."
"No," MJ said, pointing a finger at me. "You're that guy. From the news cycle. The one who was doing chest compressions in the mud while wearing a very expensive looking shirt."
She shifted her pointing finger to Wanda.
"And you're the famous Avenger," MJ stated.
"We prefer to maintain a low profile while on vacation," Wanda smiled kindly.
"I am Dr. Aryan Spencer," I said, offering MJ a nod. "I am currently functioning as Peter's personal love guru and crisis management consultant. And as you correctly identified, she is my immensely talented girlfriend, Wanda."
MJ looked from me to Peter, her lips pressing into a thin line.
"You hired a famous superhero and a viral doctor to be your wingmen on a school trip?" MJ asked Peter.
"We just ran into them!" Peter waved his hands frantically. "It was a total coincidence! I swear!"
"It's true," I defended, wrapping my arm around Wanda's waist. "We were just enjoying a romantic stroll across the Rialto, entirely unaware that we were about to stumble into a high stakes teenage soap opera."
"Well, your love guru needs to work on his subtlety," MJ noted, giving me a deadpan look. "Interrupting a conversation is terrible form. You get a C minus in wingman duties."
I burst out laughing, genuinely delighted by her absolute lack of intimidation. "Fair critique. I will adjust my syllabus for the next semester."
"Come on, Peter," MJ said, turning away from the railing and pulling her map back out. "Let's go find some espresso. I need to recover from this deeply awkward social interaction."
"Yeah. Right behind you," Peter said, practically glowing with relief. He turned back to us, giving a frantic wave. "Thanks, Dr. Spencer. Thanks, Miss Maximoff. Enjoy your vacation!"
"Don't forget the brooding!" I called out after him as he jogged to catch up with MJ.
Wanda reached over, swatting my arm hard enough to sting.
"You are a menace, Aryan Spencer," she laughed, shaking her head as we watched the two teenagers disappear into the crowded streets of Venice.
"I am a professional love guru," I corrected, pulling her close and kissing the top of her head. "I got him to hand over the necklace, didn't I?"