⧗

out of mild curiosity, she’s finishing reading the engraved metal plate below a painting when the shape of another person’s figure comes into her peripheral vision. her head turns, instinctively, and then her brow raises when she sees who it is. “oh, we meet again.” at least this was believably better circumstances than having to be entirely standoffish because of a spontaneous security threat. not that she wasn’t usually stand-offish. “i was outside your building the other night,” she adds, in case he didn’t remember himself.

“fair enough,” mouth curved into a half smile, she scans the room casually. so far, so good, at least. security was high, and she was certain that everybody around could understand why. “i noticed,” natasha says, head bobbing in a gentle nod. “the same,” she says. well, in theory, at least, she wasn’t here to work. but, more so she was here to ‘make an appearance’ (which, in her opinion, was sort of work) or whatever, so that tony would hopefully back off her case a little bit. “it’s a nice break, though.”

she shrugs, “no, i haven’t intermingled much, there. but, you know, i end up standing too nearby, one of them ends up dead in two weeks, and when they were last seen with yours truly, this theoretical situation does not end well.” she’s joking, the look on her face says so    though natasha is of course ever skeptical, she’s not that paranoid; just fond of the subtle, dark humor she’s so accustomed to. “did you talk to them?” she shrugs at his question, a small smile pulling at the corners of her lips. “not too much. working. arguing with tony. the usual. oh, and the other day i went to meet this old hirer and ended up in this whole thing with an arms dealer. it was exhausting, and kind of boring, actually but    well paying, so i can’t complain.” natasha’s stories weren’t usually actually that boring, she was just long since into the habit of telling them like they were. “what about you?”

“exactly,” natasha says. she too watched people mill about for a moment before she looked back to johnny when he spoke up again. “no, you’re right.” she gives an indifferent shrug, and then says, “not that i think something is up, but, more so i’m surprised that something’s not. like you were just saying, there are all kinds of people here with powers and power itself    as much as it’s not supposed to be, this whole event has potential to just be a giant target. but, what do i know?” again, she was certainly no optimist.

“not to be a pessimist, but,” her disclaimer is pointless, natasha’s pretty sure no one’s ever thought of her as an optimist. “i’m surprised this is going so well, considering all of the guests here.” not that she was complaining. she’d rather got the whole evening than find out what party tricks people have up their sleeves.

“    hey.” she doesn’t know why it surprises her so much when she turns around and he’s a few feet away. he is the one hosting this, after all. it’s not like she’s avoiding him, but there’s certainly a different kind of rift between them lately. “everything looks great.”

like she’d been told she should, natasha’s making her rounds    or, at least, she’s giving a halfhearted effort at it. she’s no stranger to exchanging pleasantries on a superficial level with people, but perhaps that’s what makes all of this feel so boring, right now. still, at least she had friends here, and the met itself was certainly a welcomed change of scenery. she’s almost finished wandering one side of the reception hall before dick’s frame a few feet away catches her attention, and she gives a small smile in greeting. “off duty tonight?”

“hi,” she says, sliding in next to him. it wasn’t that natasha didn’t want to be here    she understood its importance, and she was already on thin enough ice with tony that she sort of felt like she had to attend anyway    but there was a sort of superficialness that she saw in interacting with people in this setting. which, that superficialness, she could get paid to take part in any day of the year. they were only so far into the night, and the gala was beginning to feel a little redundant, as shallow as the thought was. “pretty boring,” she replies flippantly, and at least she’s being honest. natasha shrugs, head moving to glance up at him. “yours?” 

it’s not her ideal way of going about things, but she’s supposed to be trying to be more cooperative. so, she flashes the ID that she’s supposed to be carrying while working, and says, words accompanied with a small, albeit sort-of fake smile, “natasha romanova.”

“i’m sure a neighbor can give you their version of the story, later.”

“well    that’s something.” though, she’s certain it’s not even remotely close to being the strangest thing to be uncovered in recent history. she nods in agreement. he was right, and hopefully they did have it under control    or, at least the means to keep it under control if necessary. and...if not, well, at least they were all in the city. eventually and inevitably, natasha imagined, somebody would step in. “i agree. you’re right, though. the best thing we can do now is be mindful.” it was almost amusing as it could be frustrating sometimes    both she and steve, holding similarity in their natural reservedness, had the regular habits of making conversation revolve around anything but themselves. still, natasha did care, even if she wasn’t incredibly vocal about it (or much else, to that point). he was one of the few people she would truly call a friend. she had watched up close as steve went through hell and back again    from having to adjust to an entirely different world to witnessing loss over and over again in his new life. maybe that was why she saw him in such a different light than she saw herself. he’d lost so much time    and, now, life could still be opportune for him. she’d been going through the same cyclic motions for years, on the contrary, no matter how her allegiances shifted, natasha had long since felt that her window was closed. “this is my life,” she speaks delicately, lips turning upwards into a small, grateful smile nevertheless. as idyllic as imagination could be, she couldn’t really picture herself in any other situation anyway, as unfortunate as it was. “keep trying,” she says. she thinks he’ll get there within time. “and    that’s it. that’s as much of a motivational speaker as i am,” she adds.

“do you have me confused with clint? i feel like you might. come on, give me more credit    i order better food than pizza.” she laughs quietly, contemplative as she watched and listened as steve gave her further instructions on what to do next. she crosses the small kitchen, picking up the bag of potatoes and the peeler beside it before setting them down in front of her and next to the sink. “alright, alright.” her expression mirrors his, a harmless smirk. “so    what’s new?”

“oh. okay.” a pause, and then she introduces herself. “black widow. thanks for waiting. sorry for coming off so    aggressively. it’s been a long day.”