Unserious fic idea, just because I think outsider phoenix pov would be hilarious
Natasha knows that Bradley is clueless. And it's Clueless with capital C.
She also knows that Jake Seresin has imprinted on Bradley in the six months she was deployed and Bradley's squadron was staying on base when Jake's squadron got restationed to Lemoore. Bradley is under the impression that this is a friendly rivalry bordering on a dick-measuring contest, when in fact it is Jake fucking Seresin trying to keep Bradley's attention on himself at all times, positive or negative, take as much space in his life as possible and all but literally marking Bradley as his territory.
Natasha could tell all of that just from her personally knowing Seresin throughout the academy and flight school and from Bradley's little rants in the few instances where she called him from the carrier instead of calling her actual blood-born brother.
And she comes back and its fun to watch -- Seresin stares at her like his willpower was all he needed to set her on fire just with his gaze just because she gives Bradley a brief hello hug and Bradley keeps his hand on her waist as they talk. Then she sits in what, someone later informs her, has been Jake's usual seat the months she's been gone (on Bradley's left) and if she was a weaker woman, the way Seresin bit on his lip and narrowed his eyes would have scared her away, even if Seresin made a joke about the seat thing at the time.
Bradley's always been touchy in a subtle way - she knows she's the closest thing to family he has and he's probably touch-starved a bit because he doesn't date often, what with him being more interested in guys than girls and not really having the time to travel far away enough from their base to not be paranoid about that bit.
Unfortunately, aside from knowing that Bradley is clueless, she also knows that Seresin is Bradley's type.
She decides she will do anything and everything to piss Seresin off and make him fucking explode with jealousy. You know, just for fun, but also because she's pretty sure Bradley would never make the first move and she's pretty sure that if (when) Seresin explodes from jealousy, Bradley will find it endearing
She uses Bradley's touchiness to her advantage and maybe also takes advantage that she's been away for months with minimal contact and he's missed her (not that Bradley would ever admit that) and leans into the affection a bit more than they usually would.
She starts small - greets Bradley with a both-arms-around-his-neck hug whenever they see each other and Seresin is present, then she starts grabbing Bradley's elbow whenever she wants to tell him something, so he leans in, and sometimes she even keeps her hand on his elbow, like they're a happpy old married couple or something. She takes his drinks out of his hands and takes a sip for herself from the same straw. She brushes his hair off his forehead when he takes his helmet off after a sortie and his hair gets both more curly and sticky. And Seresin watches, seething silently and trying to kill her with his eyes.
And she gets braver and braver with it.
She starts to give him chaste kisses for a goodbye alongside the hugs. She holds and fiddles with his hand whenever they stand in queues for food or drinks when they're out or in the base cafeteria.
It all peaks one night when they're out as a group and Natasha comes in late and greets Bradley in what is her usual way now - hugs him, grabs him by the arm so he leans into the hug and gives him a kiss on the jaw and then lets his arm fall to the small of her back while they chat with their friends. She can already see Seresin's eye twitching as he glares at her.
Then they move to the booth and instead of sitting on Bradley's left, she plops herself onto his lap.
Seresin's glare intensifies and as Bradley, out of habit more than anything else, wraps his arm around her, the plastic cup with mojito that Seresin is holding gets squashed in his hand and the drink drips all over his hand and the floor.
[I don't know how this ends, okay, it was just a funny incomplete fic idea, do not expect much]
