10165/Birthday Detente

Birthday Detente
Date of Scene:	23 November 2019
Location:	Apartment 3E, Ground Floor, Via Verde
Synopsis:	Summary needed
Cast of Characters:	Venom, Black Widow (Romanoff)

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Venom has posed:
After their last encounter, Eddie had given Natasha, and any Avenger for that matter, S.H.I.E.L.D. too, or at least as far as he knew, a wide berth. But then he sent a message politely requesting that she meet him at his place in the Bronx at 8 PM.

When he received a confirmation that she would, he made sure to be ready, even though part of him worried that something would come up. The life of a spy and Avenger was anything but ordinary. All he really had to worry about was getting arrested or hunted down by some authority figure, or a hero.

He hardly ever did bad things, and when they were, they were either to bad people, or unintentional. Like last week, he had saved a Mercedes Dealership from an attack, though inflicted some serious damage to the facilities in trying to thwart it. Honestly, had he not showed up, the insurance would have covered it all, and the net result would have been less damage, less payout, and just better for everyone.

As the hour approached, he was still busy in the kitchen, putting the finishing touches. The problem was, he wasn't sure how to do it.

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
Honestly, Natasha wasn't really in the best of moods. She never was on this day. It just reminded her of certain things that often had her looking back at her life with a very critical eye.

When she received the invitation from Eddie, she was a bit surprised. Yet, she had agreed. After all, just another day, right?

At the appointed time, there was a knock on his door. Natasha was dressed casually in jeans with black boots, a button up green shirt and a black leather motorcycle jacket to keep her protected against the cold of a New York winter.

Venom has posed:
At the knock, Eddie called out, his voice a little more panicked than he'd care to admit, "just a minute!" he took off the chef's apron, which was currently marked with white, green, purple, and yellow frosting, as well as some cake batter. He hung it up on a peg, and headed across to the other side of the apartment, where he could open the door.

"Ah, Natasha, thanks for coming," and he stepped aside, hoping that she'd take the invitation and walk in. With her, he never knew. His apartment was pretty clean. He liked to keep a tidy ship. There was a big blue bag on the dining room table, with what looked like red and yellow tissue paper popping up from it.

He had been wearing a snug white crew neck t-shirt with blue jeans and a brown belt, but as he walked back inside, it morphed into a grey jumper with the Empire State University logo on it. He must have felt a slight chill when the air from the hallway rushed in. His apartment was warmer than the outside hall. Someone had left a window open after cleaning and the temperature out there still hadn't equalised yet. "Can I get you anything to drink?"

In the kitchen, one she was a little familiar with from before, there was a cake sitting on some aluminium foil, white with green flowers around the base, and decorated with purple flowers, green leaves, and a yellow centre. There was also a 13 candles in multiple colours spelling out happy birthday, as well as a few boxes of unopened regular candles.

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
As he opened the door, Natasha gave a smile. "Good evening, Eddie." When he stepped aside, she entered, hands tucked in the pockets of her jacket. As he bustled off, she made sure the door was closed and locked. Habit. Paranoia. Whatever.

"Sure. I'll take..." She was a spy. She would spot things that weren't out in the open. Having everything visible like that was a dead giveaway that he was celebrating a birthday. She frowned slighty. "Vodka if you have it."

Venom has posed:
"Thanks for getting the door, sorry, so many things on my mind at once." The symbiote corrected him, 'our minds'. "Yes, our minds, sorry." He was okay being open around her about the symbiote, since she had met it, and knew them both. No need to hide or act weird about it.

When she mentioned vodka, he paused mid stride, and turned around, heading away from the kitchen, and towards his liquor cabinet. He bent over, sort of directing his vision with a pointing finger, "Vodka, vodka, vodka... ah, here it is," and he pulled out a bottle that read Beluga Transatlantic Vodka.

Reading the bottle, he said, "A crisp and fresh-tasting vodka from Beluga, inspired by the success of the Russian transatlantic sailing team who broke the record for speed of crossing back in 2011."

He got two glasses, and brought them into the living room, where he'd pour one for her, and another for him. "So, um, yeah, glad you could come."

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
To be honest, she was Russian. As such, she liked her vodka. She wasn't truly picky. She had horrible stuff all the way to the most expensive stuff. The best flavors were in the middle somewhere.

He wouldn't know that it should be served directly from a freezer and never on the rocks but it could be forgiven. After all, he was American.

"Thank you." She accepts her glass, raising it in a mock toast. "Should I play stupid and ask why you wanted to see me?"

Venom has posed:
It was one of the more expensive brands, but he was American. He just got a good quality vodka, and what he understood, the better the vodka, the less impurities and thus, taste. But he hadn't remembered about the freezer part. He was good, but he wasn't perfect.

"Oh, straight to the point, okay, well, you know I'm a reporter, and when I want to get to the bottom of a something, I usually can. It's just a matter of how much I'm willing to put into it, and how much someone wants to avoid it being found out."

"So," and he sipped some more of his vodka, probably drinking a bit too much of it. He handled it well. No coughing. He must have a great constitution. Probably due to the symbiote. "It cost me pretty much every contact I have with the Bratva," which was a Russian mafia, "the FSB," which was a successor the KGB, "SVR RF, please, don't ask me to pronounce it," another successor to the KGB, "a fourteen year old kid in Estonia, hackers, right, the New York Department of Health, Pearl Dental New York, the Maggia, something called the Winter Guard, and more things than I can count, but..."

And as he listed them al off, he got up, still talking, and picked up the bag that had sat on the dining room table, returning to sit across from her, holding out the bag, "happy birthday, Natasha."

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
"That was a lot of work to find out information on me. I'm guessing you were looking for more than my birthday." Natasha muses as she takes another sip of the vodka. It was a good quality. Nice flavor. Lots of people thought vodka had no flavor but it wasn't really true.

As the present was placed before her, she smiled slightly. "I appeciate it but you didn't have to do this."

Venom has posed:
"Honestly, it started out that way." He noticed the smile, but was a little worried about the tone of voice. "I had no idea it was going to be so soon. 365 days on the calendar, odds were that it was going to be at least six months. Just, the more I looked, well... I know you're a spy and they're probably covers."

"But, the funny thing was the few times I actually found a birthday the system, or printed records, the day was consistent, but not the year. It's part of why I kept up the search. In all that, I found three. With three different years. Two written records, one on computer. One, just one in all of that. You S.H.I.E.L.D. types don't mess around. So, uh, yeah, didn't know how many candles to put on the cake..."

As he'd drank his vodka, he poured another, and offered her, "more?" filling hers up again if she wishes. Inside the bag, there were a couple of things. Each individually wrapped. One was a booklet of vouchers for 20 spa days that were good for redemption sometime over the next 5 years, at the Oasis Day Spa. Another was a silk scarf. There was a card, Hallmark, with a handwritten part wishing her happy birthday. And the last, buried at the bottom of the bag, was a little box.

The box contained the Hero of the Russian Federation Medal, which has been Russia's highest honour since it was established in 1992, and is the successor to the Hero of the Soviet Union. They are personally awarded by the President of the Russian Federation. It was gold, with the fabric portion being three vertical lines, one of white, the next of blue, and the third of red, with a golden five pointed star below. Despite it being more than 35 years old, less than a thousand people have received it, with the vast majority of them being cosmonauts, or involved in the Chechnya conflict. According to his sources, this had been issued to her, though how could he be certain?

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
The spa vouchers will probably be put to good use. Seems a nice way to relax, something she doesn't get to do all that often. The scarf was quite pretty and she ran her fingers over it, enjoying the softness. The card had her smiling a bit and giving a nod to Eddie. "Thank you."

She started to move the bag then realized there was still weight to it. She dug under the filler paper and found the small box. Opening it, her eyes widened slightly then she tilted her head, looking over at him. "Where did you find this? Have to admit, I never thought I'd see it again."

Venom has posed:
Eddie spread his arms wide, trying to downplay it, "investigative reporter. What can I say? It's my job to find things good and buried." And then he added, "there's cake too. Made it myself. Just didn't know how many candles to put on it. I tried, I really did, but you I guess there are limits to even what an investigative reporter can find." It had actually made him curious, but he had reached numerous dead ends, so for now, wasn't sure how to proceed. "But," and he gestured to the medal, "according to someone called Nicholas Kerensky, that belongs to you. He just kept it warm for you. I don't know if there's any way to tell for sure that it was yours and not you know, something he picked up at a Moscow Flea Market."

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
"Doesn't really matter. It was important to me once upon a time. Not so much these days but it does bring back a lot of memories and for that I thank you." Natasha looks at the medal a long moment then closes the lid and tucks it back into the bag with the other presents. That would make it easier to take them with her later.

"I didn't know you baked. Or should I be warned about how this may go for me since you don't bake?"

Venom has posed:
Eddie leaned his head, opened his mouth, and was about to speak, "I suck at baking, but my other is gourmet chef." The symbiote shouted at him, 'you promised not to tell anyone that!' And then Eddie rolled his eyes, "sorry, wasn't supposed to tell you that..." and then more for the symbiote, "but if anyone can keep a secret, she can." The symbiote made a oohing sound in his head, 'I can't argue that'.

Getting up, and heading to the kitchen, he picked up the cake with one hand, while the other morphed into the symbiote, so he could grab the lighter, candles, plates, a knife, and two forks. That arm looked like a swiss army knife with all of its gadgets extended. As he brought it over, placing it on the coffee table, he set them all down, and that arm reverted back to its normal appearance. "You should try his julienne fries." And the symbiote explained, 'they're not ready. I told you we should have started them earlier.' And to Natasha, "yeah, I sort of messed up the order. They're not ready yet, still in the oven."

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
"I...see." Natasha was trying not to be amused. She was but she managed not to laugh and smile. Just the smile. She didn't want Venom to think she was laughing at the revelation of his secret. It was a nice secret. "I promise I won't tell anyone. Without your permission." Meaning both of theirs but mainly Venom's.

As he wandered off, she watched with interest as the symbiote helped be sure he could pick up all the extra stuff with no difficulty. She didn't bother offering to help considering. A sip of her fresh vodka was taken. "It looks great. You decorated it too. So much trouble for such a little thing. It's just another day."

Venom has posed:
"Oh no, it's not just another day. Russians celebrate birthdays, just like we do. Okay, maybe not exactly. I read that I'm supposed to pull your ears a number of times equal to your age, plus one, and say, and forgive me, but the translation said 'Grow up, don't be a noodle?' Also, apparently there's a superstition about giving gifts too early, it's got to be on the day, or the day after, but never before. But hey, we have the hokey pokey, so the way I see it, we're even. Now, how many more candles to do I need to put on this thing?" There were 13 so far, each one a letter in Happy Birthday. None were lit yet.

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
"The number of candles there is sufficient. My age wouldn't be hidden so well if it was meant to be shared, simply for some superstitions," Natasha says simply as she settles back into the couch a bit, sipping her vodka again. The smirk returns though.

"And if you try to touch my ear, I will break your hand."

Venom has posed:
The symbiote hated fire. But it wasn't an irrational all consuming fear. He was able to lit the candles using the lighter, doing the thirteen since apparently she was happy to consider herself that age. "Just one more mystery. The more I delve, the more I realise just how little I know about you, Natasha." With them all lit, he sat back down, "you are going to make a wish and blow them out, right? Because my other gets a bit antsy around open flames." In fact, his left hand was squeezing and un-squeezing as he took another drink of his vodka in his right.

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
"It's itty bitty though." Natasha points out, holding thumb and forefinger very close together which is about equal to the size of the 13 flames on the candles. But she does lean forward, taking a deep breath and blowing out the candles. One almost doesn't go out but she manages to get it before she runs out of air, thus it counts as a single attempt.

Venom has posed:
Eddie gives a clap of his hands as she blows them all out with one go. She likely would never have fared so well had he put the proper number of candles on the cake. He then takes the knife, and cuts a piece for each, leaving the happy birthday on, as it'll take a while before they can make it that far. He probably should have made a smaller cake, given it's just the two of them. Still, the fact she chose to visit on her birthday would suggest few know it. That made sense to him. He had a hell of a time finding it. "So, what did you wish for? You're allowed to right, after blowing out the candles?"

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
"Supposedly if you tell, it won't come true. I just wished for continued good health." There is a hint of humor in Natasha's voice as she says it. After all, she's been in peak physical condition for longer then he's been alive. Or his father. Or his father's father probably. Her time may have crossed over with the latter a bit.

Venom has posed:
She may have meant that as a joke, but it had something of a special meaning to him. He should be dead. He would be dead. If not for the symbiote. "That's... I think that's only if you tell the wish before you blow out the candles. If you tell after, it has to come true." He was trying to put on a brave face, but it was clear something else was on his mind, the little tells that people routinely give away. Cutting it, he offered her a piece of cake, she getting the corner piece, with more icing, that's the best part, and him taking the next piece.

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
She accepts the piece of cake, along with a fork, and takes a bit before she focuses on him. It's obvious there is something on his mind. Maybe even to someone that can't read people as well as she can. "What's going on in that head of yours?" she asks bluntly as she takes another bite of the cake.

Venom has posed:
Eddie looks across at her, after having taken a forkful of cake. He thought it was really good. But she asked him a question, so he had to chew and swallow before speaking. He let out a long sigh of air, as he was trying to compose his thoughts. "Uh... I should be dead. The cancer should have, would have, gotten me a while back, if not for my other. Kind of makes me wonder. I mean, it can beat cancer, I've broken bones, tendons, suffered some pretty major injuries. But it's healed me. Make me wonder just how long that'll go on. It... it's not old, you know, for its species, hasn't had many hosts, and there really aren't uh, records, you know, humans and symbiotes. But some species live... they live a long time. A really long time. It's... a lot to deal with, you know."

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
"It is. I would recommend finding someone who has lived a very long life to talk to about it sometimes." Natasha still isn't sharing or giving anything away about her own longevity. "Maybe I can arrange for you to meet Thor. Or even Deadpool."

Venom has posed:
At the mention of Deadpool, his name, the symbiote appears, kind of stretching tendrils out, almost like hairs standing on end. "Not Deadpool, definitely not Deadpool." The symbiote was going on and on at him in his head, so much that it was hard to keep track of. It just sort of blended in. "Yeah, sorry to bring up my problems. Maybe Thor... I guess. Though, he knew he'd be long lived from the day he was born. He's some kind of god right, so not, you know, a human who suddenly has to deal with the idea that they might have a... much longer life."