he wouldn’t huff at being back in the field. years served behind a desk recovering from something he scarcely remembered only served to dull senses that coulson would always argue were best served with dirty hands. he’d taken the operation and headed it with little argument - a toe in the water, something easy … where it blew itself into a chase that seemed as if it would last years. evelyn frye had been the thorn he hadn’t expected, something that took him entirely off guard … kept the mission interesting. her involvement seemed to be the scratch on the surface of something deeper, with s.h.i.e.l.d.’s interest running into the root of something even he wasn’t quite privy to - not yet. coulson long suspected it would come to light when he dug a bit closer to home … but not a moment sooner.
this was not the first even that he had to gussy himself up for. a three-piece suit and his hair slicked back —he might pass for one of the london socialites to anyone who didn’t know the false name given at the door was a cover for something else. and perhaps phillip coulson belonged here - he made enough money, squirrled it away into savings to keep himself comfortable - but that wasn’t his life. no, tonight he pretended, tonight he laughed at the snobby jokes and acted as if he saw the world from down his nose, when in reality he kept that gaze to the corner of his eye. it was how he noticed her —the little thorn, forever buried in his fingers, where his flesh would scar over it, where she’d be forever apart of him, somehow.
“ whatever do you mean? ” his tone held a lilt, something boyish as if challenging her to answer the question so openly, in such a place where she could easily blow it for them both. she brought out something feral in him - uncertain, where coulson could feel each and every one of his more common senses slip away. caution thrown to the wind, as they said. perhaps it was her most dangerous tool, that affectation, how sternly it gripped him.
HOW EASY IT WOULD’VE BEEN TO PLAY THIS GAME FOR THE ENTIRE NIGHT? skip along the outskirts of morality and sheer playfulness just to get steam pumping through her system. a worded toss back to pass time, wait out for moment to take a hit felt like a disaster waiting to happen. one minute counting, starting now. it was so unlike the professional to saunter about a warm evening toying with an agent who kept his weary eye on her and she imagines that term to be loose as there is another player to be aware of --one with common interests.
such a debonair image he presents, irresistible. her chuckle was soft as it leaves her, right from her belly as she coils around him, “ milan. london. across the states, ” she lists with gesture, diamonds hang off her wrists as digits twirl along. no eye contact was needed, just the velvet lightness of her voice carrying on gives insight to taking her verbal turn.
the very last of her drink was consumed without another word. well, not just yet. eyes were trained on along the extravagant golden territory housed by snobs and socialites. the disgust she feels --not just for the dress she sports but for the crowd. “ gets tiring after a while, you need your rest, ” her tone candied, perhaps there was mockery beneath it. the crystal glass kept between her fingers by its neck turns downwards to the floor. as soon as a saucer passes them by, glasses full, she places it just in time, “ i counted seven of your ‘guests’. any more i should be aware of? ”