He didn’t make it a habit to try to be boring around a beautiful woman, but this one gave him a vibe that reminded him all too much of Elektra - the fact that they were meeting at a charity function that he was crashing certainly wasn’t helping that impression, but this woman…she just felt like danger wrapped up in delights. Of course, that meant she had his attention and his interest, but it also made him feel like caution might be more important than usual. Her evaluation of his tuxedo added onto the absolutely candid understanding of exactly what his disability meant in social situations labeled her as being both observant and intelligent on a level that he hadn’t expected to run into casually in a place like this.
He listened to her slide the base of her untouched drink along the bar, leaning on the wooden surface himself as he sipped at his own drink, and managed a smile at the very astute musings. “Not necessity at all, actually. I’m totally blind, so it doesn’t matter to me if I have the glasses on or not, at least as far as getting around. Most people like eye contact, though, and I can fake that well enough from behind the glasses, just not without them. I’ve been told that the unfocused stare is a bit unsettling,” he admitted, and while it wasn’t something he dealt with often because he kept the glasses on around anyone who might have had issue with it, it had come up once or twice. That, and the glasses were as much a sign of his handicap for the world to see as his cane was - a combination that occasionally worked in his favor, but usually just meant that he was treated like an invalid to varying levels and with a wide range of sensitivity and kindness down to rudeness and dismissal. Both types brought their own frustrations, but he was so used to it by this point that he usually didn’t rise to it. It was one of the things that made his company currently so unexpected; she fell into neither category, and was instead open, interested, but without any special treatment so far. She wasn’t stepping around her curiosity like he was fragile and easily insulted, but she also wasn’t rude in her questioning. It was refreshing.
She did finally down her drink, all at once and with an interesting custom in a language he recognized as Russian despite not understanding the words - he thought he might never hear the Russian language again without thinking about Vladimir Ranskahov and his brother. She’d spoken so softly that he dare not ask about it, but it was filed away for later, something to remember about her. “I’m a lawyer. Some would argue that a business opportunity and squeezing someone for intel is essentially the same thing. Reporters, too.” Karen Page, for example, was far worse than he was in that regard.
“Matt Murdock. It’s a pleasure, Natasha, but what brings you here? You don’t seem to prefer the company, so there has to be a reason to bother.”
This night was purely for her. She didn’t have to ply a role or work the room in any fashion. No, she could be exactly how she wanted to be and for a lot of people that could come across as unsettling. Though times were indeed changing, there was still this air of misogyny where strong women were concerned. Of course there were successful women in various fields these days, but it hadn’t come without sacrifice. They were either labelled as cold or worse, a bitch. Not that labels really mattered to Natasha, people could think whatever they wanted of her, her skin was thick enough and more often than not she was gone before any lasting impression could be left or felt.
Still, she understood, to a certain degree how Matt felt. His disability meant that people would treat him differently for the rest of his life. Like him, she was met with either indifference because of her gender, or treated in a fashion that was downright insulting to her intelligence and her personality. Perhaps a poor comparison to make, but parallels were there, like it or not. Maybe that’s why she was speaking to him the way that she was. Curiosity was only natural, after all, she wasn’t blind and couldn’t begin to fathom what that would be like. But she wasn’t about to be insensitive, either. There was a way to ask questions and have an open dialogue about such things without being an asshole.
Natasha was very well practised in doing this. If she wasn’t good at it, well, she wouldn’t get the work she got as frequently as she did.
❝ I can see how that makes sense. People can read a lot just by being able to look at a persons eyes. Pupil dilation, a momentary glance here and there... as your eyes don’t react the way everyone else’s does, you’re hard to read, give nothing away. That’s what unsettles people the most. ❞
But now he was giving something away, something that she could use at a later date should she need to look into him. Though on the surface, a blind lawyer wasn’t likely to come up on her radar any time soon, still, it was filed away for safe keeping. ❝ A lawyer? That’s... I’m honestly surprised and that doesn’t happen very often. Did you take the bar while blind, or was that something that happened later down the line? ❞ It was hard to tell, the glasses hid any scarring that could have caused it and it wasn’t too common for babies to be born completely blind these days.
❝ As for me? You’d be right. I don’t much care for the company of those that are classed as high society, most are boring or not as smart as they think. But I am indeed here for a reason; I plan on donating to the charity and perhaps setting up a regular payment to it. I just wanted a little more information before signing any dotted lines. ❞
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