[ Of course he's going to find ice already, and it's all Natasha can do not to roll her eyes. Instead she keeps her eyes fixed on his movements, tries to look through him rather than at him, and when she's sure that Steve's back is turned she flexes the hand still pressed firmly against the bench. He's right, of course. It's already bruising, and it's such a careless mistake that it takes another small shift of the muscles along her fingers, a small jab of pain for her to truly confirm it actually happened.
She doesn't make mistakes. Black Widow doesn't make mistakes, and she certainly doesn't hit things when she's angry. ]
New York was...[ different, maybe, or complicated - she likes that one. Complicated can mean a lot of things, and New York does to. She helped save a lot of lives that day - but how much of that had been self-preservation? How much of that had been cold-blooded revenge for dancing inside of Barton's head and scrambling the wires until he looked at her the same way she'd first looked at him? How much of it was really being a hero, and how much of it was the usual muddy conclusions that she'd been wading through her whole life?
None of that makes it out of her mouth though. Her shoulders hunch just slightly, muscles taut in her back as she seriously considers walking out, but she needs that ice, and she probably prefers Steve around to not.
(Probably, she thinks, as though 'probably' cuts it for the first person to be able to provoke an emotional reaction from her since Clint). ]..unusual circumstances.
[ All the information is there for the taking now, and she can't help but wonder if he's looked into it - looked into her. She wonders if he has poured over the files now in public domain the way she had when Fury first suggested she team up with Captain America.
He'd told her that friends usually ask each other that kind of information. She'd told him to stop being such a child. ]
Unrealistic expectations do more damage in the long run, Steve.
[ The words are barbed, but her expression is a careful mask and her eyes are trained on her darkened knuckles. She's not quite sure who she's trying to convince anymore. ]
gently overloads inbox back yr welcome
She doesn't make mistakes. Black Widow doesn't make mistakes, and she certainly doesn't hit things when she's angry. ]
New York was...[ different, maybe, or complicated - she likes that one. Complicated can mean a lot of things, and New York does to. She helped save a lot of lives that day - but how much of that had been self-preservation? How much of that had been cold-blooded revenge for dancing inside of Barton's head and scrambling the wires until he looked at her the same way she'd first looked at him? How much of it was really being a hero, and how much of it was the usual muddy conclusions that she'd been wading through her whole life?
None of that makes it out of her mouth though. Her shoulders hunch just slightly, muscles taut in her back as she seriously considers walking out, but she needs that ice, and she probably prefers Steve around to not.
(Probably, she thinks, as though 'probably' cuts it for the first person to be able to provoke an emotional reaction from her since Clint). ]..unusual circumstances.
[ All the information is there for the taking now, and she can't help but wonder if he's looked into it - looked into her. She wonders if he has poured over the files now in public domain the way she had when Fury first suggested she team up with Captain America.
He'd told her that friends usually ask each other that kind of information. She'd told him to stop being such a child. ]
Unrealistic expectations do more damage in the long run, Steve.
[ The words are barbed, but her expression is a careful mask and her eyes are trained on her darkened knuckles. She's not quite sure who she's trying to convince anymore. ]