14248/AEC, part 3, 'The one where they talk about it, but don't talk about it.'

AEC, part 3, 'The one where they talk about it, but don't talk about it.'
Date of Scene:	31 March 2022
Location:	Williamsburg, Brooklyn
Synopsis:	Nat and Alex talk about the upcoming missions. But don't really talk about them.
Cast of Characters:	Black Widow (Romanoff), Phobos
Tinyplot:	Avengers Exploration Corps

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Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
After meeting with Steve, Natasha headed back to her SUV and headed off toward home. The streets weren't really busy yet for rush hour so she made it pretty quickly. Parking a little up the block then walking the rest of the way. Her mind was lost on the contents from the folder.

It was a bold step. She just wasn't sure she was ready to take it. It was hitting on all those things she didn't feel comfortable about.

She walked up the steps, pulled out the hidden key from under the block of wood, opened the door. The key was replaced then she headed up the stairs after locking the door behind her. Quick footsteps as she trotted up. Alexander had been sleeping when she left. There was no smell of breakfast or coffee, no sound of movement like he was working out. Thus, she didn't call out who she was but he would know the sound of her entering. If it was bad guys, they would be more stealthy.

Phobos has posed:
    Unless they were bad guys who knew their morning routine, then they might be being stealthy by not being stealthy. But perhaps he knew exactly how she sounded while not being stealthy, which added to their level of security.
    In any case, there was not the smell of breakfast. Nor was there activity on the second floor. But as she climbed the steps she heard the hiss of the shower through the closed bathroom door, letting her know that at least Alexander was up and about. If not being too terribly productive.
    Yet she must have caught him on the tail end of his shower, because after a minute there's the abrupt cut off of sound aided by the light /thump/ and reverberation of pipes shaking when he kills the water. Then the sound of steps inside. Only a few steps. Then a slight pause, followed by the door creeeeaking open slowly and him lifting his voice. "Nat?"

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
Hearing the shower, she smiled softly and continued toward the living area. But then she heard the door open and turned back that direction. "It's me. Got done faster than expected," she added as she moved toward the bathroom door, intending on getting a little morning smooch.

"When you're more awake, I want to get your advice on something though. No rush." Forty-eight hours was plenty of time. "Would you like me to start some breakfast? Or order something?"

Phobos has posed:
    When he emerged he was wearing a white towel around his waist and nothing else, though he still managed to maintain a bleary look as he continued on into the living room. Only pausing to slip an arm around Natasha's waist and lean in for a small kiss, fingertips lightly brushing through her short red hair.
    "Hey..." He says with a wan smile, blinking a few times before his eyes widen a little as if only then coming alive. "Advice on what?" He asks as he moseys on in. On the couch she'd see his casual clothes he'd picked out for today. Nothing elaborate, just a pair of grey sweat shorts, blue boxers, and a black t-shirt that had a caricature of Thor on it that looked... clearly inebriated as he thrust a mug of beer into Iron Man's hands.
    The caption beneath that t-shirt? It declared simply, 'Holdeth Mine Ale!'
    It was cute, he must've got it from one of those street vendors near the mansion.
    But for now he was pulling on those clothes, taking his time with it as he then says, "And sure, just some eggs and toast s'good."

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
She did pause at the couch for a moment. Sitting down and unzipping her boots then leaving then by the end of the couch for now. "I am going to have to steal that shirt, you know."

Then she was off to the kitchen where she washed her hands before beginning to take out everything. Eggs on the counter. The butter dish from inside because she liked real butter, not margarine. The bread drawer was opened and she took out two slices. Then popped those in the toaster though she didn't push the down yet.

"Cap wanted to talk to me about a mission he has. I can't really get into details about it." Alexander was familiar with that limitation. "A long term thing. Short missions but repeated for an unknown amount of time. He hand picked me as someone he would trust on keeping the team safe but..."

She took out the pan, putting it on the stove and firing up the propane flame. Then a bit of butter into the pan so it would start melting as the pan warmed up.

"Only, it involves something I said I'd never do again." She glanced off toward the living room. "How do you want your eggs?"

Phobos has posed:
    "You'll have to fight me for it." Which, really, would be nothing new. Though he pulls said shirt on and slips his arms through the sleeves, once that's settled he pushes his fingers through his blond hair and shakes it out some before he follows along in Natasha's wake.
    Sidling up to that breakfast bar he pulls the stool out and settles on it, still looking a bit sleepy as he leans there, elbows resting and one hand holding his chin up as he watches her.
    "That's good isnt it?" When she says Cap wanted to talk to her about a mission. But then he follows along listening and nodding as she speaks. It's only at the end when he nods a little more slowly. Perhaps he might have some hint what the missions might be about, since he knows there are only a few types she actively dislikes.
    "Scrambled, please." But that only has his attention for a brief moment. "Hand picked is a good thing. But if it's outside what you are comfortable doing..."
    He lets those last few words hang there. Not voicing an opinion really one way or the other.

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
She pulled out a bowl from the cabinet and set about cracking eggs into it as she continued speaking. "It's not the job itself. Cap wouldn't be asking me to do things that the Red Room might've, after all." Which was a given. But she was sort of feeling things out by speaking, moving through her thoughts carefully. She sprinkled some salt then pepper into the eggs and whipped them a bit more with a fork before pouring them into the pan.

Natasha brought the butter dish over to the counter then went about setting out plates. No warming them this time. It was just going to be a down and dirty breakfast. "It's more the location."

Which probably was saying entirely too much. Cause there was really only one place she'd ever said she was never going again. "The mission is for a good cause. I see the reasoning behind it, even if I may not agree with it completely. And the fact that Cap asked makes it difficult for me to say no. Yet, I just don't know what to do."

She pushed down the slide on the toaster then moved to stir the eggs.

Phobos has posed:
    For a time Alexander sits there, and after a moment he wipes at his eyes with thumb and forefinger before he straightens up. A deep breath is taken then he rests his hands palms flat upon the counter-top there. His eyes follow her movements, wandering to her hands as she methodically prepares the breakfast. He can tell her thoughts are racing down several lanes of traffic at once, and she's reaching mental waypoints quickly.
    When she gets like this he tends to prefer to only offer small bits of insight. He's seen her like this before. Sometimes when they're training. Sometimes when she's planning an op. And sometimes... when cooking breakfast.
    "So." He starts, "If it's something where you wouldn't operate well under those circumstances, then yes you'd owe it to your team to not volunteer. Perhaps let them find someone who is more comfortable in that regard."
    Then he catches her eyes and he adds a 'but' rather quickly. "But." He smiles a little, "I sort of know how you'll be if you think your friends..." Because he knows Cap is one of the few people she considers a friend, "Are in danger without you."

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
She continues to stir the eggs, making sure they don't scald. The heat isn't up too much but eggs tend to cook quickly and so they required attention. They were done a moment after the toast popped back up. She scrapped half of the eggs on one plate then the rest on the second. The pan was dropped in the sink for now. Then the toast was put on the cutting board, bread knife used to cut them from corner to corner, then the little triangles put on the plates next to the eggs. A drawer opened for a fork and knife for each of them then she picked up the plates and used her hip to push the drawer closed before joining him at the counter.

"I can operate there. I've had the training. Done it before. It's just not something I like."

His but was true. She wouldn't be happy with herself if she let her friends go into danger. She didn't know who it was yet on the team outside Cap but if she trusted them, they were likely people she considered friends. So that made it far more difficult to say no.

"So am I selfish and just don't go or suck it up and put on my big girl pants." She was pretty sure she knew which she would do. Dammit.

Phobos has posed:
    "Mmm," Alexander says as he lifts a hand to rub at the back of his neck, though then she sets the plates down and he pulls his closer to himself. For now he just munches on a slice of toast, still pondering before he tells her.
    "Not knowing the stakes or what happens if you say yes or no, I think you need to be selfish at times for your own self-interest. But..." Alex takes another bite of toast and chews for a time, swallows. "If you aren't prepared to move on to another phase of your life, this is what you do. Who you are, right?"
    A small yellow curl of scrambled egg is picked up between two fingers and he pops it in his mouth. "Is it something only you can do? Or that you'd be the best for? Then I'd lean more toward doing it. But if it's something that you hate... and there are other equally qualified people..."
    Then he shakes his head.

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
"I don't know all the details. Just that he assured me the team would be people I would trust. So that means people who are also friends since I don't trust a lot of people with my back," Natasha said as she picked up her toast and pulled over the butter. Slathering a bit on each of the bits of bread. "I'm one of the people he thought would be good for it. Which tells me my skills may be well suited." She's not sure how they are well suited from what she read but Steve wouldn't lead her astray on that.

"It is what I do. What I'm made for in some ways." She frowned a little and stabbed some eggs with her fork, taking a bite and chewing thoughtfully before she continued. "I'm not ready to move away from that yet. Someday is there. In the cards for our future. But no, it isn't right now. And if something did happen to them, something I'd feel I could've helped and I just didn't go because it was uncomfortable to me..."

She sighed and picked up her toast. "You know I don't think many people are as qualified as me." Not meant to sound egotistical. It was just extreme training with literal decades of experience on top of that.

Phobos has posed:
    As she wrangled through her own thoughts, Alex smiled. He ate along with her, albeit slower and taking his time just watching this woman putting her thoughts into order. "Well then..." He takes up a fork finally and pushes around some of the eggs, lightly poking them and gathering them on the tines before taking a bite.
    "Sounds like you sort of already knew what you wanted to do, but had to hammer through it." Which makes sense. "Just let me know when you're going to be gone and I'll keep the home fires burning."
    His lips twitch as he says, "I promise that while you're gone I won't have too many sexy parties, and no dead hookers. Ok? Ok." He nods as if that solved everything then takes another bite of toast, smiling around it teasingly.

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
She hated when things didn't go quite as she had thought they would. But she'd managed to realize that she needed to go. And was being kind of selfish and childish by not wanting to. Even if it was...there.

At the promise, she looked at him for a very long time. "The fact that sexy parties immediately was followed up by dead hookers concerns me." It didn't. She knew his sense of humor by now and she wasn't going to smirk. "How about no sexy parties? Parties sure. Not of the sexy variety."

Phobos has posed:
    A hand lifts a little as he says lightly, "We'll put a pin in it, talk about it later." But the wry smile gives him away. He takes another bite of toast and then reaches a hand out to lightly rest it on hers. "Honestly, Natasha. Whatever you decide I'm alright with. I just know you'll be grumpy either way. It's what is more important to you and all."
    That said he leans in and touches a small kiss to her cheek before he rises from the stool and starts to gather up the plates, taking the small trip over to the sink to deposit his and hers if she's done.
    He does, however, linger by the fridge as he fishes out a bottle of orange juice to drink directly from it, taking a few swallows and then standing there with the fridge door open. "I'll miss you, though." He says, knowing she likely will be gone at times.

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
"That's another of the cons to taking the mission."

She watched him standing there in front of the fridge in his shorts and novelty tee. Didn't even matter he had the door wide open. He'd shut it when he was done. Simple.

"I'm hoping none of the missions are more than two or three days. Hopefully less. It's just a lot of unknowns at first. Once we have done a few, then we'll have a better idea how things are going to go."

She gave him a soft smile. "And you know I'll count the minutes until I'm back."

Phobos has posed:
    The juice is put back into the fridge and he closes it behind him with a light 'boot' of the back of one foot. Then he walks over toward her and smiles gently, "I'm very curious, but tell me more when you can. Until then..." And as he says that he lightly squeezes her hand...
    Then starts to walk toward the bedroom, drawing her along as he smiles sidelong affectionately.