5790/A Friendly Challenge

A Friendly Challenge
Date of Scene:	16 November 2018
Location:	Triskelion, New York City
Synopsis:	Grant challenges Natasha to a test of skills.
Cast of Characters:	Grant Ward, Black Widow (Romanoff)

---

Grant Ward has posed:
The Triskelion never really sleeps. At any given time during the day, Agents can be found in it's halls, preforming duties and acting on leisure activities. Still there are times when it slows down, and 0235 local is one of those times. So it's also when Grant Wardd likes to go and give himself a quick workout. Just something light today, so he is pounding a heavy bag in a focused and methodical manner. His style a cross between boxing with a spice of Krav Maga. Pretty SHIELD standard really.

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
There are very few of the agents who show up around these times. Mainly, it's the security details that man the property. Certainly some or the lab rats are up and doing their thing in their secure rooms.

A petite figure enters the gym, dressed in a pair of shorts and a white, cutoff top. Athletic shoes on her feet. She starts to head for the heavy bag only to see it is already in use. Though there's more than one, she isn't wanting to get in someone else's space so she goes out to the mats instead. She gives a nod of acknowledgement to Grant in passing.

Grant Ward has posed:
Grant Ward looks up when he sees that someone has come in, and can't help but smile a bit to notice who it is. Truth be told, though Ward would firmly deny it, he's always had the tiniest of crushes on the Black Widow. Nothing overt, more a hybrid of a high degree of professional respect mixed with an extremely attractive woman. He nods back to her in acknowledgement as she heads for the mats, but says "If you want the bag, I'll hold for you for a bit. Was going to move to the speed bag shortly anyway."

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
At the offer, Natasha glances over to him as she gives a half shrug where only one shoulder really lifts. "Either or. But if you want, that works for me." She changes her course and heads toward the bag. Her hands were already wrapped for the workout so she doesn't have to worry about prep.

"I didn't expect there to be anyone here this early. I prefer later to when it's crowded. Less of the youngsters either terrified or trying to challenge me." She gives a roll of her eyes at that as she takes up a position beside the bag.

Grant Ward has posed:
Grant Ward nods, moving to the opposete side of the bag to hold it steady for the Avenger. "I have pretty much the same motivation, except it ends with 'LEss youngsters.' Full Stop." he says with a bit of an amused smile. He nods to the Russian woman to signal his readyness.

Since his player neglected to mention it earlier, Grant is wearing a black "wife-beater" and a pair of martial arts style pants. He is barefoot, though both his hands and feet are taped as he was practicing his kicks earlier as well.

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
She doesn't bother removing her shoes although she probably should. But Natasha opts to stay as she is. After all in a fight, she wouldn't be taking them off. Neither would she have her hands taped but no quibbling over details.

His answer elicits a chuckle from her. "You act like you're old or something," she says with a flash in her green eyes. Then she punches the bag. From nothing to a full strength punch as she steps in for the strike.

Grant Ward has posed:
Grant Ward braces the bag and absorbs the punch. "Oh I wouldn't say I'm /old/," says the man with the defensive tone of someone who A) used to think 30 was old and , B) Is now over 30. "It just seems to me that Fury is now recruiting out of High Schools sometimes." He is of course mostly more refering to Sci-Tech rather then Spec-ops naturally.

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
Considering the woman facing him looks to be a bit younger than he, but is infinitely older, Natasha finds that amusing as she falls into a rythym with the bag. Jab, jab, punch. She's moving and dodging as though her opponent might get a bead on her as she starts to work up a sweat while they chat in a leisurely tone.

"They're the ones who understand the tech these days. It's like cell phones. Once we are of a certain age, the technology we knew is now obsolete. Same for sci tech around here."

Grant Ward has posed:
Grant Ward nods a bit and rolls his eyes in silent agreement. "I can actully remember when all phones were attached to the wall." He says with a bit of mild amusement. "In fact the phone in the kitchen was a rotry dial." he takes a few more blow easily enough, watching her form. He is always studying things like that, both for his own use and of course to use agienst others should the necessity arise.

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
Since her real age is a well kept secret, Natasha doesn't point out she remembers well before that point. Instead, she keeps her focus on her workout. Her form today seems to be primarily boxing techniques. She isn't throwing in martial arts at all.

To be honest, she gets enough of that during the day when she's around. It's nice to hunker down with something that seems simple but is very complex. That's what non boxers don't realize about the sport. The man behind the bag would understand. "Now you're just fibbing. I can't imagine you are any older than 30. Didn't those go out before the turn of the century?"

Grant Ward has posed:
He chuckles a little bit, "My father had some very old fashioned ideas. One was 'If it isn't broke, why replace it.' I'm fairly sure if the house hadn't burned down he'd still have that old Rotery phone in the kitchen." He waita till she stops for a breath and lets go of the bag and fetch a bottle of water for both of them. "So I have a question for you, just a little thing that's been gnawing in the back of mind. I wanted to run it by if you were interested."

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
"Thanks," Natasha says automatically when he offers the bottle of water. She takes it, opening the seal to twist off the top. She moves over to the pile of towels kept on a table nearby and wipes her face off before taking a sip of the water. Then she responds. "Sure, what's on your mind?" She motions to a bench, seeing if he'd like to sit down for the discussion.

Grant Ward has posed:
Grant Ward leans agienst the wall looking a bit amused and perhaps with a bit of a naughty boy twinkle in his eye. "So when I first graduated I was told that I, and I'm quoteing here, 'Had the best espionage rating since Romanov." he tips his head in acknowledgement. "Eventually curiousity got the better of me. It was by 15 points." He takes a long swollow, "Now admitedly that's outside the margin of error by a significant measure. Still ever since I've wanted to...I don't know, match wits agienst you somehow in that area. I was wondering if you had any thoughts on it."

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
That earns an arched eyebrow from Natasha. "You really felt the need to look? Why?" She doesn't seem to be mocking. She's genuinely curious. To her, it didn't matter what numbers said as long as you stayed alive. And the training at SHIELD was far less than what she had in her past so she didn't believe in the numbers being a valid judge. "I'm not sure how one would match wits? As far as I'm concerned, whoever dies first doing it? They lose."

Grant Ward has posed:
Grant Ward shrugs a bit. "Ego, I suppose." he answers honestly. "If I'd been told that I was fifth best, or even third, it wouldn't have bothered me. But being told that I was /second/ best, for that I had to know the details. By what margin in perticular." To the second part of her statement he nods, not so much in concession of the point so much as noting he'd came to a simmilar conclusion. "Still we both know espionage isn't /just/ a fancy word SHIELD burocrats throw around so that they don't have to say "Assassination". There is an art to it. And art can be compared, messured, judged, and competed with. Wouldn't you agree?

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
"In my youth, I perhaps would have agreed with you," Natasha says. Perhaps so it isn't a definite. Still. "But I have seen far too much and done too many things that would be considered evil to much of the world. Oh who am I kidding? Many things I did were evil, before I opted to fight on the side of the angels." She considers a moment, falling silent and sipping her water again. "So you want to go on an assassination spree and see who does it better? Being that it is art, then it becomes subjective. We both know we can beat the lie detectors." Seems she isn't completely unfamiliar with him. "We both can kill people with anything we have at hand," she says, lifting the water bottle as an example. "How would you propose we be rated?"

Grant Ward has posed:
Grant Ward chuckles a bit, "I wasn't actully suggesting we actully /kill/ a bunch of people.?" he says with amusement in his eyes. "Pretty sure Fury wouldn't be happy about that." he sips hi water and shrugs, "Still that's the same place I ran into the wall. How do we actully rate something like that. I mean obviously SHIELD has a metric of some sort. One that you score 15 points higher then me at I'll add." He says this last a bit amused. "But surely we can come up with something just for ourselves. A Game basically."

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
"If they were people Fury wanted dead, he wouldn't mind," Natasha points out. Strange to have a conversation like that with someone. Outside certain people, such topics would be forbidden. Or in bad taste at the very least. He knows that what they do is ugly sometimes so it's easy to just speak. "SHIELD probably was adding the extra points for good looks. Or ability to fit easily into air conditioning ducts." She shakes her head, bemused he is feeling this need to compete. "Will it make you feel better if I simply concede that you are better than me?" Whether she believes he is or not.

Grant Ward has posed:
Grant Ward grins that same little boy smile, "Hey, I'm not that bad looking." he mock protests and smiles a bit, "And no it most certainly would not." He adds, three pointint the last of his water bottle into the recyleing bin across the room. "But I think I may have improperly phrased what I'm suggesting. Like I said, a game. A /friendly/ competition. I'm not wanting to usurp your place in SHIELD's eyes or anything of the like, but you don't get better unless you put your skills to the test. Preferably agienst someone whose skills are already superior." and then there is that smile again, he does get allot of milage out of it, "Give or take 15 or so points."

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
"Aaah." Natasha takes another sip of her water then puts the cap on the top. "So even in the wee hours of the morning, I can't get away from being challenged. I should get a gym membership at Planet Fitness or something," she adds in a mock mutter, making sure it is easily heard as the amusement shows in her expression. "I don't understsand why my concession wouldn't be enough. I have no problem stepping down from the top of the dog pile so that someone else can take the brunt of it for a while. No? Alas."

Grant Ward has posed:
"Well if you'd rather play Upwords, we could do that instead." He says with amusement. "I'm pretty good at that one. Although I'm still not convinced aglet is an actual word." he makes a face of consternation at that, like someone probing a sore tooth with their tounge...it hurts but you keep doing it. "Seriously, I was thinking more of something fun rather then..whatever."

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
They may define fun differently, Natasha realizes. She rises to her feet, wrapping that towel around her shoulders as she does so. The water bottle is kept in her left hand for now. "Upwords? I don't know that one. Risk might be more my speed. Seriously? Just cut to the chase and tell me what you would like to do to compete? And if you suggest Twister, I'll kill you where you stand."

Grant Ward has posed:
Grant Ward raises an eyebrow and, for /just/ a moment, he gets that glazed over expression most healthy heterosexual men would get at the idea of playing Twister with NAtasha. He comes back from it faster them most would at least. "Upwords? It's like scrabble only you can place tiles ontop of other tiles. Boot can become Boat for instance." he shrugs a bit. "And I'm not trying to be evacive. I was hoping you might have a suggestion."

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
At the glazed over look, Natasha rolls her eyes but waits. At his suggestion, she shakes her head. "I'd hate Upwords. So we'll have to go with something more related to our particular skill sets."

She considers a moment as she looks somewhere over his left shoulder at absolutely nothing. "Sniper rifles." Then she is looking him in the eyes. "No live rounds. I'll get Fitz to fit them with cameras. We take 'shots' of people. The higher the value of the target, the higher the points. Highest points in a month wins? We can figure out the scoring later or get someone else to write them up."

Grant Ward has posed:
Grant Ward considers a bit then nods slowly, "Yeah I think they could come up with something, microchip the hell out of it for accuracy, then try to pass off something completely impractical for our purposes." Hegrins a bit, obviously liking the idea quite a bit. "Personally I prefer the SSG 69, would you be okay with that as a template?"

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
"I'm fine with any model you put in my hands." A teeny tiny bit of a boast from Natasha. "So you choose the weapon, we'll get them to put them together. Find someone who would be willing to make the scoring system. They probably can program that into the system," she muses as she thinks about it. "Anyway. Once we're set, we'll start. Then 30 days. Deal?" She offers her right hand.

Grant Ward has posed:
Grant Ward takes her taped hand in his and shakes it once. "Now this should be fun." He says with obvious amusement and just a touch of excitement in his eyes. "I've got an SSG-69 in my quarters, I'll take it up to FitzSimmons and we'll see what they come up with." He pauses, considering "Should we have a list of pregenerated, pre scored targets, or simply decide on a neutral arbitrator to assign them values at the end of the month?"

Black Widow (Romanoff) has posed:
"See what FitzSimmons say. I'm willing to go either way or a combination of both. Maybe some set targets then we can throw in random ones that are high profile, difficult to 'shoot' for ourselves as well." Natasha gives a good firm handshake then heads for the door. "Just let me know."