@killerqueenwidow continued from this
Natasha had been working on a few things and getting paperwork completed. She had elected to sit out in a common area and when she heard familiar footsteps, she finished up the last of the reports. She wasn’t anticipating being used as a pillow, but okay. That was what was happening.
“Oh? Is the bill anything I want or does it have to be something like money? Because that’s just not fun,” she teased lightly. “I just finished the reports for our last job together. What’s on your mind?”
“...within reason,” came the softly spoken, teasing reply. “I’m not on top of a world-class tech company, so don’t expect anything as extravagant as what Tony could manage, though somehow I feel like something simpler would suit your tastes better anyway.” Over-the-top was probably not an environment that would match Natasha, though she would match it if a mission required it, certainly. She was good at blending in with most things, which Steve couldn’t always manage in certain situations. But she was the former spy, after all, not him.
Steve let out a soft sigh, thankful she wasn’t pushing him away or asking him to move. He needed to relax, sure, but he also needed a familiar presence right now, someone he trusted, and that was Natasha...and the fact that he did trust her that much now would surely have come as a surprise to him if he’d discovered they’d eventually have a bond like this not long after they first met.
“It just hits me hard sometimes when I realize I’ve not had a lot of time to catch my breath since I came out of the ice, you know? When I’m not on a mission, I’m trying to make sure I’m caught up on things I missed that happened while I was away. It’s enough to make your head spin. I guess it’s not as easy to adjust when you’re trying to fill in the gaps for over 60 years of the world changing. A lot can happen during that time.”
