(no subject)

[outstandingbalance]

Who: Natasha Romanoff + you?
Broadcast: Fleetwide, text
Action: upon request
When: now

[If Natasha thought she escaped the rumors, she's going to be disabused of the notion. The notes start appearing here and there—short and anonymous. Things like:]

Natasha has a cat named Boris.

Natasha Romanoff once killed a man in Vegas just to watch him die.

Romanoff has been lying about about her age.

[And—]

Nataasha is a lingerie model.

[That last one, it seems, comes with some evidence. Sponsor drop? Either way, a few files seem to have been uploaded to support the case.

file1
file2
file3
file4

She shouldn't be surprised those came back to haunt her, should she? The real question is if anyone will dare to comment on them.]

Comments

text » private;

[uprightness]

Can I come over?

text » private;

[outstandingbalance]

Yeah. If you want to.

text » private;

[uprightness]

expect me in 15 mins.

three knocks.

text » private;

[outstandingbalance]

I'll let you in. Promise.

» action;

[uprightness]

[ it takes less than fifteen for three knocks to come.

he may have been in a rush. ]

[outstandingbalance]

[Oh, Steve. She lets him in, getting out of the way so he can fit into the small room.]

You're early.

[She show outward signs of being bothered, but Steve knows her well enough to catch that she's on guard. The little bit of extra tension. The way she looks like she's focused on something else.]

[uprightness]

Funny - I think it might be the first time I'm not late.

[ he takes a seat, keeps his eyes on her. ]

[outstandingbalance]

[She leans against the wall, arms crossed.]

I'm fine, Steve. It's just some old pictures.

[uprightness]

I don't like it.

[ honest to a fault, he frowns and shifts. this is the second rumor involving her. he said nothing about the first one but this is pushing it.

Natasha is a friend. as fierce and strong as she is, he hates to see this happening to her. ]

[outstandingbalance]

[The first one caused more than enough of a mess.]

I don't like it either, but there's a lot worse they could say.

[And she means that first part. She's a very private person. She rarely tells her friends about the details of her life, let alone strangers. Lies and rumors, she's used to. First quietly, when she was a spy, then more open, tabloid speculation as an Avenger.

But she doesn't like any of it.]

[uprightness]

They shouldn't be saying anything.

[ he moves on the bed, shifts to the side, a silent request for her to sit with him. ]

I know you can look after yourself but you don't have to. if anyone else will say anything.

[ he will hit them, that's heavily implied. ]

[outstandingbalance]

[She hesitates, briefly, before she takes his invitation and sits beside him.

Close enough for their shoulders to touch.]

I don't think anyone's going to say anything. Not to me, anyway.

[She sighs softly.]

You saw the other one two, didn't you? The video with Kara. That hurt her a lot more than it did me.

[uprightness]

Nat.

[ he turns to look at her, nudges his shoulder against hers. ]

It still did.

[ hurt her. ]

They had no right to do that.

[outstandingbalance]

[She starts to respond, to protest, to say that it didn't really matter if the Atroma had the right because they could do it and they did. She start to say that she did it, and maybe she just had to deal with the consequences of her choices.

She starts to say that it might have hurt her friendship with Kara, and she regrets that, but not enough that she'd change her choices.

But she can't. It's revealing too much, and it's more than Steve wants or needs to know. The situation was all frustrating.

So instead she closes her mouth and she bites her lip, and she drops her eyes.

And she leans on Steve. There aren't many people she'd do that with. But for just thirty seconds, she'll let herself be comforted by how big and warm and solid he is, and the knowledge that he's there for her if she needs him.]

[uprightness]

[ he, in response, doesn't miss a beat, wraps his arms around her, sure as a house, really and keeps here there for a little bit longer than 30 second. steve sighs, keeps the embrace firm and comforting for as long as he's able. ]

I'm sorry, Nat.

[outstandingbalance]

[She is not very good at receiving comfort, but his hug is appreciate.

Unsurprisingly, she's the one who tries to pull away first.]

Don't be. I'll be okay. I don't like it, but... I don't know. Maybe I'll just have to be more careful n the future.

[uprightness]

It has nothing to do with it. I have a feeling we're all going to get a few of those. I don't think it matters to them if they're true or not.

[ heavily disapproving. ]

[outstandingbalance]

Depends on how you look at it. [Maybe it didn't matter to the Atroma, but there were other factors.]

Damage control could be a lot easier.

[uprightness]

Seems like it's all we keep doing lately.

[ with these rumors running about about everyone and everything. ]

Most of mine have been pretty harmless.

[ save for one. ]

[outstandingbalance]

Most doesn't sound like all.

[Most of her own were harmless too. All of them, really, on the large. There could be a lot worse pictures up there.]

[uprightness]

You've seen the one Peggy got.

[ which included his and which included a certain level of damage control. he didn't mind it as much as she did which is worse. He hates that it stung her. ]

[outstandingbalance]

It really bothers her, doesn't it?

[Not the first time Natasha noticed that. She understands why, too.]

Hopefully it wasn't too frustrating.

[Gently changing the topic.]

[uprightness]

Aside from my backache, it went just fine.

[ dry but amused, it would seem. ]

[outstandingbalance]

Dare I ask?

[uprightness]

The usual, you know.

[ he shakes his head. ]

I threw a sticker at her, turned into a sparring session, she threw me off a shuttle.

[ their lives, really. ]