Marvel: The Psychologist Who Stole Wanda and Gwen's Hearts!

Lorien understood Natasha perfectly.

In short, the Avengers’ authority had been cut by more than half. Captain America had disappeared with some members. The rest either joined the United Nations or retired.

But everyone knew that retirement wouldn’t bring peace. Staying at the base wasn’t great either.

For example, unless they were on official missions, superheroes weren’t allowed to appear in the normal world. That was why Natasha lived the way she did. When she wasn’t on duty, she was free—but she couldn’t reveal her superhero identity.

Otherwise, it could cause unrest in certain regions, or even be seen as a potential crisis and trigger panic.

So... yeah, it was a bit miserable.

Lorien nodded in understanding.

But after sensing Natasha’s thoughts, he smiled.

"I can tell you already have your own way of dealing with it. And the main reason you came to me is to let out what’s on your mind—to complain, basically.

The rest of the reason is because you wanted to check on Wanda. See if she’s doing well. Am I right?"

Yes.

A seasoned agent like Natasha didn’t need anyone to "guide" her. She knew exactly what she wanted to do.

But here’s the thing—women are emotional creatures. Most of the time, what they want is understanding, someone to listen, and recognition. They want their thoughts to be known—but not by saying them outright.

Which... makes the whole thing rather curious.

Fortunately, Lorien had the Phoenix Force.

Natasha’s mouth parted slightly in surprise when she heard him. Everything he said was spot-on. He’d voiced every thought buried deep in her heart.

It was as if her years as an agent had been stripped away, leaving her completely exposed in front of him.

She stayed stunned for a while before nodding slowly.

"Your words are lethal to women. No wonder Wanda’s been glued to you since she came here."

"Don’t say it like that." Lorien cleared his throat. "Anyway, business. Wanda’s doing quite well. I sent her to Kamar-Taj to study magic and receive proper sorcerer training.

After some time, when she’s ready, I’ll take her to retrieve an artifact—then she’ll become the strongest sorcerer in the Nine Realms."

Natasha’s curiosity was instantly piqued.

"The strongest sorcerer in the Nine Realms? What about you?"

Lorien only smiled without answering.

Natasha gave him a knowing look. She probably guessed he was the strongest sorcerer in the galaxy or something. But in truth... she couldn’t even imagine.

Still, she couldn’t help but comment about Wanda.

"Congrats to her for finding a great partner. Kamar-Taj—I’ve only read about it in SHIELD. files, and sorcerers are rare enough as it is. Didn’t think she’d go train there."

Lorien only smiled again.

If she knew who was teaching Wanda, she’d be even more surprised. But Natasha had never heard of the Ancient One, and S.H.I.E.L.D. didn’t have files on them. So there was no point in explaining.

"You should think more about yourself, Miss Natasha," Lorien said, gesturing at the untouched milk tea in front of her. "How’s the Avengers under this new management treating you?

If you’re not happy, you can quit. I just happen to be short a housekeeper and secretary—you’d be perfect for both, and I’d save some money."

As the saying goes—when there’s work, the secretary works; when there’s not... Ahem.

"That actually doesn’t sound bad." Natasha blinked. "But my salary is high."

"No problem, I’m not short on money," Lorien joked.

Natasha lowered her head, picked up the milk tea, and opened the lid.

"Strictly speaking, the new Avengers is easier than before. The UN doesn’t want us on classified missions—because once we’re on them, we’ll definitely find out the details.

The non-classified ones are simple. Honestly, the rest of us feel like we’re getting rusty.

But at least the burden is lighter."

She took a sip of the milk tea.

"Mmm~ Not bad. Very good. You didn’t spike it, did you?"

"..." Lorien was speechless. "Like I’d need to."

Seriously, with his power, would he need to?

And she didn’t even act like she was worried.

He watched her—first she took a small sip to test it, then, finding it good, she took a big gulp. Who does that if they’re afraid of being drugged?

After drinking, Natasha seemed more relaxed. She started taking in the details of Lorien’s office.

Before, she’d only given it a quick glance. Now, she took her time. Her gaze lingered on the little green-haired girl playing intently in the corner.

Natasha blinked, then feigned a look of sudden realization.

"You already have a daughter?! That fast?!"

Lorien: ...

He knew she was doing it on purpose. Natasha had emotional intelligence—asking directly would sound like an interrogation. But phrasing it this way made the conversation playful.

In terms of social skill, Natasha definitely had game.

Lorien turned halfway toward her and said...

"You’ve met before. The person who appeared at your base in the middle of the night—that was someone I sent over."

"Huh?" Natasha looked a little confused. "That... Hela?"

"Exactly." Lorien nodded in confirmation.

When Hela heard Lorien mention her name again, she immediately turned her head, biting her little fangs and raising a tiny pink fist at him, as if to say, Say that again and I’ll hit you!

"How cute!" Natasha exclaimed in surprise when she caught a glimpse of half of Hela’s face.

She hadn’t expected it at all—Hela, who looked so fierce and commanding in her mature form, gave off such a strong princess aura as a child. Well... she was a princess, after all.

"This is Agent Natasha Romanoff," Lorien said, introducing her to Hela. "And don’t worry about your identity. With her abilities, even if she wanted to report you, she wouldn’t be able to contact Odin."

Hela couldn’t help but giggle at that.

Natasha rolled her eyes at Lorien. Did you have to be that blunt? Couldn’t you just say I have good character? Both were true, but did he really have to emphasize her skill instead of her morals?

Lorien turned to her with a calm smile. "Don’t worry, you’ll get used to it after hearing it a few times."

Natasha: ...

"You’re impossible!"

...

And so, Lorien and Natasha settled into an easy conversation. They had nothing better to do anyway, and Lorien still had time before his shift ended. He was more than happy to have someone to pass the time with—especially when that someone was Natasha.

They talked from noon all the way into the afternoon. By the time it was past four o’clock, Natasha stretched in front of him with a satisfied look.

She was ready to leave... but just before heading out, she held her zipper and gave Lorien a sly smile.

"Want to see a bit more?"

"..." Lorien smirked. "I’ve got something even better to—"

He didn’t get to finish. Natasha had already pulled the zipper down and slipped a hand inside her clothes.

Lorien thought she was about to pull something far more provocative... but instead, she took out a still-warm bank card from the space in front of her and held it out with a grin.

"Swipe it."

Ah. So that’s what this was about—payment.

Lorien took the warm card from her. Natasha, still not bothering to zip up, looked at him playfully.

"Still warm?"

"You’re not a corpse." He swiped the card, charged her a few thousand in gold, and handed it back. "There—smells nice, feels smooth."

A few thousand in gold was nothing to him. It was pocket change compared to what Natasha earned from her missions, and this had only been for four hours. Sure, the rate would be steep for an average person, but neither of them cared.

Natasha took the card back and, right in front of him, slipped it back into place.

"Zzzip~"

With that, she pulled the zipper back up, hiding the view away once more.

"Let’s go, Lorien. See you next time."

Zipping up her jacket, Natasha’s smile faded, and she instantly slipped back into her goddess-like demeanor. She stood, waved to Lorien, and headed for the door.

"Goodbye."

Lorien got up to walk her out, watching as she left.

Clack~

As the door closed, Hela, still playing her game, spoke without looking up.

"That woman is bad."

"Hm?" Lorien turned to her. "Bad how?"

"She’s a bad woman."

"Tsk..." Lorien thought for a moment. "But bad women can be pretty nice."

"If she wasn’t bad, how would I get to enjoy the benefits?"

Hela: ...

Lorien’s mind drifted back to the view from earlier—

Wow.

The sheer wow factor of the bodysuit and stockings was off the charts.

So much so that his mind was still filled with nothing but wow, wow, wow.

A glance at the clock.

4:50.

Time to wrap it up.

No more wow for today. He could just have Gwen wear something wow another time. After all, her Spider-Woman suit had plenty of wow on its own.

4:55.

"Hela, pause the game. It’s almost time to go," Lorien reminded her.

"Ah~?" Hela looked up, thinking he was cutting her off from playing.

"I clock out at five sharp. You can keep playing upstairs."

"Alright."

5:00.

"Time to go!"

As the clock struck, Lorien led Hela out, locking the door behind them. In his mind, he whispered—

Check in.

[Ding~!]

[Obtained: Symbiote Battle Suit x1!]

"Hm?"

Now this reward was interesting.

First off, it wasn’t called the Venom Battle Suit—it was the Symbiote Battle Suit. As he’d noted before, Venom was just one of many symbiotes. "Symbiote" was the umbrella term.

That meant this suit was likely a pure, original version.

And the fact it was called a "battle suit" rather than just "symbiote" meant it was equipment, not a living organism.

Of course, what really caught Lorien’s attention wasn’t the technical details—

it was the transformation ability. Ahem.

He pulled up its description.

[Symbiote Battle Suit: A battle suit crafted from the original symbiote. It is immune to high-frequency sonic waves and flames, and can transform into any style of battle suit. However, it must start from scratch, evolving by devouring the flesh of higher lifeforms!]

Well now.

It could devour and evolve.

Only the original symbiote had no weakness to fire and sonic waves—

later ones, after being forged by Knull, had that vulnerability ingrained into their DNA.

"Not bad, not bad."

Still, the most exciting part was that third line—It can transform into any style!

Which meant... yes, even something like what Natasha had been wearing earlier.

"Mm." Lorien smirked to himself. "I’ll give it to Gwen later."

Ding~

Just then, the elevator behind him chimed. He turned—

"Lorien~!"

Speak of the devil. Gwen stepped out, backpack slung over one shoulder, throwing him a peace sign.

"I’m out of school!"

Lorien opened his arms and she ran straight into them. They hugged, prompting Hela to curl her lip.

"Hmph. Beast. You even go for students."

That made Gwen blink, realizing there was another small figure in the room. She crouched down, eyeing Hela curiously, then reached out to pinch her cheek.

"And who might you be~?"

Lorien couldn’t help but laugh at that.

Hela just scowled in silence.

"Guess who she is," Lorien teased. "You’ve seen her before."

"I have?" Gwen frowned. "I’d remember seeing such a cute little girl."

"Here’s a hint." Lorien raised one finger. "You saw her on the rooftop."

"!!!"

Gwen’s eyes went wide. She got it instantly.

"You’re Hela?! How did you get so tiny?"

"Hahaha! You’re adorable!"

She’d been pinching Hela’s cheek with one hand, but upon realizing who she was, Gwen immediately went in with both.

"Knock it off~!" Hela swatted her hands away. "You’re mocking me! I hate you!"

"I’m not mocking you." Gwen grinned, ruffling her hair. "I’m being serious—you’re cute, like a little princess."

"Calling me cute is mocking me. I want people to fear me, not fawn over me!"

Gwen burst out laughing, and Lorien was quietly amused too.

Hela glared at them both before stomping off upstairs to resume her game.

Gwen was still giggling when she made to follow, but Lorien stayed put.

"Hm?" She paused. "We going out?"

"Yeah," Lorien said with a smile. "But we’re going way out."

Her eyes lit up. "Way out?"

"Before that, though, you need some gear."

Once Gwen had the Symbiote Battle Suit on, she wouldn’t need oxygen to breathe. She’d be able to withstand extreme heat and cold, as well as cosmic radiation. Essential if they were headed into space.

Ahem. This was definitely not just an excuse to see her in it.

"Here—try it on."

Ten minutes later, Gwen stepped out clad head-to-toe in sleek black, the suit hugging her like a second skin.

"This suit can take any form you want," Lorien explained, arms crossed. "You can even change the colors. Give it a try."

"It can do that?!" Gwen’s eyes sparkled as she began experimenting right in front of him.

She started with the original hooded style. Then, realizing the mask could snap open and shut instantly, she ditched the hood entirely.

The fit stayed snug to her curves, much like her old Spider suit, but the look was completely different—originally black and white with pink accents, it now became black with pink highlights, the white reduced to fine trim along the lines.

It made her look far more like a ghostly figure.

She switched back and forth between the classic black-and-white and the new black-and-pink, admiring the versatility.

"Now this is Ghost-Spider. And I can swap it anytime I want."

Lorien was just as pleased with the result.

"Alright, let’s go."

"Where to?"

"To Mars."

Gwen: "Ah~!?"

...

(70 Chapters Ahead)

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