@vvdova asked: [ flirt ] when someone else shows interest in receiver, sender steps in and makes it clear they're "taken"
The bar was dimly lit, shadows curling at the edges like secrets waiting to be spilled. Bucky leaned against the counter, sipping at the cheap beer he’d barely touched. His leather jacket creaked as he shifted, keeping one eye on the mark and the other on the woman now sidling up beside him. She was all gloss and smiles, the kind of attention he used to chase before everything got complicated. Her fingers ghosted over his arm as she leaned in, murmuring something flirtatious—but he barely heard her. He was already scanning the room for a flash of red.
And there she was. Natasha. She moved like smoke, weaving through the crowd with that practiced elegance only a spy could perfect. Her eyes locked on Bucky and flicked briefly to the woman beside him, narrowing just slightly. He caught the moment her expression shifted—from professional interest to something colder, sharper, possessive in a way she rarely let show on a mission. Natasha didn’t break stride. She slipped in beside him, curling her arm around his waist like it belonged there, which, frankly, it did. Her smile was saccharine as she turned to the woman. “Sorry, sweetheart,” she said, tone velvet but edged in steel, “he’s taken.” Then, as if to hammer it home, she leaned in and kissed Bucky like it wasn’t just part of the mission—but something she’d been meaning to do all night.
The other woman huffed, muttered something about territorial girlfriends, and vanished into the crowd. Bucky chuckled low in his throat, glancing sideways at Natasha as she pulled back just slightly, still dangerously close. “You know,” he said, voice rough with amusement, “if this is what I get for pretending to flirt with the wrong woman, maybe I should do it more often.”
