14651/We Need To Talk

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We Need To Talk
Date of Scene: 03 January 2023
Location: Safehouse, NYC
Synopsis: Ares is not happy at the elaborate spending on the purchase of a yacht by his son. He comes a'knocking to find out what they were thinking!
Cast of Characters: Black Widow (Romanoff), Phobos




Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
Everything was back to normal. As normal as the life of a former Russian spy turned American hero and a Greek god might have that is.

Natasha had been reinstated at SHIELD. She had resumed her duties over the holidays and didn't even push her luck asking for extra time off. She was back on the rotation for duty at the Avengers Mansion. She even had gone out on a few assignments in the last two weeks. Though she still got a look from Maria Hill each time she passed the woman in a hallway, much to Natasha's amusement.

Today she was off and at home, in the house she shared with Alexander. It had been changed from a place that was just storage and bare to a home. The bottom floor was still for show but now the second floor was fully lived in with all the little things that made life comfortable.

Currently, she was over on the mats, working through a dance routine but then pausing as she considered a step she had taken. She took the step again then turned it into a high roundhouse kick and grinned at herself before focusing again on the task at hand. It was more being done for a workout but she wasn't taking it too seriously since it was a day off and she was feeling quite mellow.
Phobos has posed:
    Then downstairs she heard the sound of the door opening and closing. There was a heavy thud, then the familiar thump of Alexander's backpack being dropped at the doorway. But no raised voice offering a hint of humor or a wry joke given as he so often did before ascending the stairs. Instead she heard the heavy thud-thud-thud rapid-fire footsteps and then his voice rising, "Tasha?"
    And she might sense something strange in his voice... a touch of... anxiety?
    Which might well be surprising.
    He reached the top of the steps and suddenly there he was, but he paused as he took in the view of the Black Widow dancing and wearing her black leotard with the light slippers. And for a moment he briefly forgets what he was about to say. But then he shakes his head, "Hey, got a text from my dad. He's coming by in like..." He looks at his phone, and shakes his head. "Ten minutes."
Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
Usually there was a smart comment when she heard him coming in the door. Yet no, instead there was silence. Even the thudding ascent was lacking verbal commentary. Thus when he arrived at the top of the steps, she had stopped her movements and was looking that direction with a hint of concern in her expression though she did smile upon seeing him.

The bombshell landed and she immediately asked, "Why?" Because his father wasn't really someone who generally came to visit. They usually had to go to him if they wanted Alexander to have some time with his father. So the idea of him coming here had her mind going a million directions as she wondered immediately what might be wrong.

"Ten minutes?" She glanced around but at least the place was tidy so she wasn't worried about that. Though her own state with the sheen of sweat and the little wisps of hair clinging here and there at the edge of her forehead was enough to have her heading for the bedroom. She paused on the way there to stand on tiptoe and steal a kiss before going to gather clothes. "I need to get a fast shower. But seriously, why is he coming here? Is everything okay? Did he say?"
Phobos has posed:
    Her young paramour smiles a little and rubs the back of his neck, and on some level... he's amused, or enjoying this? The little jerk. But he is also a little on edge as he said, "He uhh said..." A moment as he swipes a thumb across the screen oh his phone and then shows it to her.

<< Be there at 6. We will talk. >>

    And that was it, but the young Olympian starts to look around the house with a somewhat critical eye. His father knew they had been staying there, and in truth he had been very positive about their relationship since Natasha was viewed as... a very prominent warrior in his regard. Alexander, however, still had a single touch of trepidation which was very out of the ordinary for him.
    "Best guess?" He takes off his pea coat and tosses it on the back of the couch. He's wearnig blue jeans, sneakers, and a black t-shirt for now. Usually he takes off his shoes when he comes home but for now... he leaves them on. In case he has to run probably. "He took a look at his bank account."
Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
She had been about to disappear into the bathroom with her clothes in her arm but those words had her pausing and looking back at him. He wasn't afraid. That was impossible. But she couldn't help but notice that he was a little on edge. That explained why.

"I can skip the shower. We can leave now and not come back for a week. Sneak out the back window maybe?"

That's what it was like having such a wonderful and supportive girlfriend.
Phobos has posed:
    That causes him to laugh as Alexander steps toward her and pulls her into his arms. He shakes his head and whispers, "That is why I love you." He pushes a hand through her sweat-slick hair and shakes his head. "But no we need to stay. Remember if he was _really_ mad, he would have teleported here and shouted at us. He's doing us a favor by giving us a warning, and he's calm..."
    Then there's a pause as he looks thoughtful, "Or he's doing a cold burn, that's possible with him."
    Yet after those reassuring words he says, "Seriously, it'll be ok. Trust me." And he knows what that might sound like, but he seems halfway amused and halfway stressed.
Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
"Good point." She forgot that teleportation thing sometimes. Because Ares hadn't really been doing that to them. He didn't just teleport in and surprise them ever since they'd been together. So it was easy to forget about it.

Though the cold burn option was NOT reassuring.

"Alright. I'll be out in five minutes or less." Because she could take a super fast shower when she needed to. Moms had nothing on super spies!

She stole another kiss and quickly moved into the shower. No waiting for the water to warm up either, she needed to do this in a flash. In four minutes and 48 seconds, she came back out. Her short hair was wet. She was dressed in a pair of comfortable jeans with that beloved Mew-Tiny t-shirt. She was still barefoot.
Phobos has posed:
    When she emerged, alexander looked across the way at her and smiled, then he held out a hand to her as she drew close, clearly wanting her to take it. Once she was close enough he says, "It'll be alright. I mean, remember how it went when we told him about us right? We got all stressed about him being all huff and grump, and he was okay with it..."
    Which is the moment that they heard the thump thump thump on the door out front. A heavy authoritative thumping of a fist on the frame of the house and it did seem to shake a bit. Though perhaps not too much. Alexander quickly rose to his feet, but Ares was not a patient man as the sound downstairs was heard of a click-ca-click sounding as Ares tries his keys in the door most likely...
    Not knowing that they had changed the locks a while ago.
    Alex was off in a dash, hopping on the bannister and sliiiiding down it as he called out, "Coming!" Hoping to get there in time before his father just smashes the door open.
    The voice from outside is deep and gruff, "You changed the locks?!"
    Alex skid to a halt at the door and opened it. "Hey pop."
    "You changed the locks on my own house!" The tall powerfully built man with the short hair and wild beard _glared_ at Alexander.
    "Oh there were, you know, some robberies. Bad neighborhood."
Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
Robberies yet they still kept the key hidden under that piece of wood on the porch. Natasha had followed him but stopped at the top of the stairs. Shew as standing there as the door was opened and the grumpy Olympian was given access. To his own house.

"Technically it is your house but you live somewhere else. Since we live here, it made sense to me." Solidly laying the blame at her own feet though it had been a joint decision at the time. He doesn't need to know that. Natasha did give a bright smile. "It's good to see you again, John. Please, come upstairs. Would you like something to drink?" And while Alexander would be able to feel her trepidation, one would never think she was nervous in the slightest by her voice or appearance.
Phobos has posed:
    John Aaron _glowered_ down at his son, shaking his head with such disappointment, even as he then looks up at the Black Widow. "Natasha, it is good to see you." His tone at least showed he held no ill will against her, considering they'd known each other since the war it made sense in some ways. But it's clear his ire with his son... is another thing entire. He squints at Alexander.
    Who smiles back at him.
    "You have any beer?" He asks as he starts to stalk up the steps after her, and when Alex is behind Ares' back he shoots a look over at Natasha with a smile, just one of those shared conspiratorial looks even as they ascend.
Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
"We do. Some from Germany at that so you aren't stuck with the sorry excuse for beer we have here in the States," Natasha told him with another smile. She glanced back to be sure all was good and caught that look from Alexander. Once upstairs, she headed to the kitchen area. "In a glass or is in the bottle fine?" she asked as she motioned to the living area, a silent invitation for John to sit if he wanted.

She did look over to see if Alexander wanted anything as well, that silent glance with the uplifted eyebrow to ask the question.
Phobos has posed:
    Alexander gave his head a slight shake, perhaps pondering that he shouldn't partake in case his dad wants another and they might run out or something similar along those lines. Always thinking ahead.
    John, however, gave a small nod and waved his hand to the side dismissively, as if he could wipe away the entirety of the American beer industry with that gesture. He looks around the room and one can almost imagine him taking a mental inventory of the moment, noting the furniture, the lived in state, the small signs of their shared occupation for such a good length of time. He makes a face, then looks at them. "I was informed. Recently." A glance is given to Alexander, but he speaks with Natasha for now. "Of an expenditure from one of the trust funds I have placed for the use of an emergency in case matters took a turn for my son."
    He looks between them, "I am told. A yacht."
    His jaw extends.
    "An eight million dollar yacht."
Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
Natasha heads back with two bottles held by the necks in one hand. One was the beer for John, a very dark bottle that was impossible to see through. The other was a clear bottle of vodka which she had pulled from the freezer. Her right hand had three small rocks glasses and she brought all that to the coffee table as she listened to John.

She offered him the beer after he mentioned the price of the yacht, giving a sage nod as she did so. "Yes, it was unfortunate that circumstances brought us to that point after a work situation took a very negative turn," she said, making sure to school it in that necessity column. "After, we could have flown home but the stress of all that had happened was extreme. We realized we needed time to release that before we were around people again, for their own safety." Just that little carrot, dangled before the God of War.

"We wanted to be able to do a full trans-Atlantic sailing in the least amount of danger. I'm just glad that they had the lower priced one."
Phobos has posed:
    Alexander coughs briefly for a moment, which earns him a glower from his father. He murmurs quietly, "Excuse me."
    But Ares looks back toward Natasha and squints a little, his eyes narrowing as he gauges the woman. Then he squints back toward Alexander. "I do not wish to know. Except that you are both good. I can see this. Yes?" He glowers at the young God of Fear, "And you can handle everything this job throws at you so no need for me to ever lift a finger, yes?"
    "Yes, sir. Was just a stressful thing." He looks over at Natasha, then back toward his father. "Also I just wanted to. I knew you had plenty of money."
    Which got Ares to suddenly raise his voice, "WHAT!?"
    Alexander clearly was playing the rodeo clown role distracting him from Natasha. But he advances his case, "Also how many years have you been talking about getting a boat?"
    "That hardly matters..."
    "And you always said you wanted to sail back home once, and recreate the Argo's trip right?"
    "Well yes, but that does not excuse..."
    "And hey if you bought this boat you woulda had to hire someone to sail it to you so you could make the trip yourself. So really we saved you money."
    He snorts and makes a sort of 'HAH' sound.
Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
And just like that, everything she was working for was blown up by her own partner. As Ares focused fully on his son, Natasha allowed herself a moment of palm being applied to face as she simply could not believe the tact being taken.

Until Alexander continued. She dropped her hand and found herself smiling as he turned it back around on his father. By the time he was done, it seemed they had done Ares a favor by their indulgent purchase.

"And it will last you for many years. Good craftmanship. Something cheap would wear out in no time and you would be forced to replace it. This should last decades with proper maintenance."

But to answer the other portion before Alexander's perfect handling, she did give a nod. "And yes, we can handle anything thrown at us. We learned a lot more about that during this incident. I won't bore you with details but I think you'd have been proud."
Phobos has posed:
    Ares scowls while looking at his son, but then looks at Natasha. His features ease a little as he ponders the super spy... but then he squints back at that son of his. "Next time, you clear it with me first. There are... taxes. To be paid. You do not know if I needed that money."
    And as easy as that they were past the hurdle. At least hopefully so.
    "You're right dad, it was partially an impulse thing. But we had just... been through a lot, and neither of us wanted to rush back and be around people and... damage them."
    Those words are chosen for the impact they'd have on his father and Natasha can see that he realizes what his son is speaking about. He nods slowly and exhaled just as slowly. "Indeed."
    For he knew that feeling as well.
    "Fine then." Ares scowls. "I am going to borrow it this weekend. Non-negotiable." He says, perhaps needing some sort of... trophy to feel he has won the discussion. "And perhaps the next."
    He then folds his arms and looks over the house. "What have you both done with this place?"
    To which Alexander says, "Um, lived here?"
Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
"Of course," Natasha agreed readily enough when Ares laid claim to the yacht for the next two weekends. "I don't think we'll be needing it for a bit so enjoy yourself." Nothing like giving someone permission to use something they paid for. The irony was not lost on her.

She considered the house by looking around the room. "Decorated? Your stuff is still here. We just moved it up into the attic." Before he thought they had gotten rid of it or something. After all, she was wearing one of the shirts from those supplies! "We just added some homey touches. It started with just one thing then I added another. And another. And the next thing we knew, ta-da!"
Phobos has posed:
    Ares grunts.
    Then he adds with a curious twist to his features, almost as if he smelled something bad, "And you like it here?"
    To which Alexander sort of grins sidelong at Natasha then back to him. "It's grown on us..." He then thumps Ares on the arm and says, "C'mon I'll show you around. Also Tasha likes your taste in t-shirts." As he points to the Mew-tiny shirt she was wearing.