Steve was prepared to tell Natasha she could mind her own business and tell Tony to do the same - when Marie stuck out her hand, squeezing his arm and if he hadn't already experienced his life flashing before his eyes during the plane crash, he would've sworn that's what was happening to him now.
His girlfriend. It was exhilarating to hear her say that - and yet, it couldn't have been any worse timing on it. Steve hung his head in defeat. Christ on a cross, he was never gonna hear the end of this from Natasha.
Natasha arched an inquisitive eyebrow, seeming a little nonplussed at the information, as much as the straightforward way it was delivered. Still, she had a role to maintain. She reached out and shook Marie's hand, smiling again, more like a cat that caught the canary. "Natasha Romanov. It's a delight to meet you as well. Steve kept telling me he wasn't interested in dating yet. Apparently you changed his mind." It was a dig as much at Steve's reticence on the matter as much as it was at Marie; the 'yet' was added to see how much she knew about Steve. She was also curious on just what it was about this Marie that had made Steve decide to take the plunge into dating.
"That's enough, Natasha." He'd watched the footage of her speaking with Loki, knew how she could hold what seemed to be a perfectly innocent conversation, and at the end of it have all the knowledge she'd wanted, with her subject not even realizing what had happened.
"Steve's very protective about the people he cares about." Natasha couldn't stop herself from getting the dig in - especially if this were a new relationship, which it had to be; no one had ever seen this woman before, and it had barely been two weeks since she'd last spoken to him and Steve had been obstinate about not wanting to date anybody yet.
Unless... Unless they'd already been dating, and he just hadn't wanted to tell her. Natasha dismissed the idea, though; Steve was a lousy liar, and she would've picked up on any evasions or false fronts he'd tried to put up. No, the last she'd seen him, he'd genuinely seemed determined to wallow in grief for the foreseeable future.
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His girlfriend. It was exhilarating to hear her say that - and yet, it couldn't have been any worse timing on it. Steve hung his head in defeat. Christ on a cross, he was never gonna hear the end of this from Natasha.
Natasha arched an inquisitive eyebrow, seeming a little nonplussed at the information, as much as the straightforward way it was delivered. Still, she had a role to maintain. She reached out and shook Marie's hand, smiling again, more like a cat that caught the canary. "Natasha Romanov. It's a delight to meet you as well. Steve kept telling me he wasn't interested in dating yet. Apparently you changed his mind." It was a dig as much at Steve's reticence on the matter as much as it was at Marie; the 'yet' was added to see how much she knew about Steve. She was also curious on just what it was about this Marie that had made Steve decide to take the plunge into dating.
"That's enough, Natasha." He'd watched the footage of her speaking with Loki, knew how she could hold what seemed to be a perfectly innocent conversation, and at the end of it have all the knowledge she'd wanted, with her subject not even realizing what had happened.
"Steve's very protective about the people he cares about." Natasha couldn't stop herself from getting the dig in - especially if this were a new relationship, which it had to be; no one had ever seen this woman before, and it had barely been two weeks since she'd last spoken to him and Steve had been obstinate about not wanting to date anybody yet.
Unless... Unless they'd already been dating, and he just hadn't wanted to tell her. Natasha dismissed the idea, though; Steve was a lousy liar, and she would've picked up on any evasions or false fronts he'd tried to put up. No, the last she'd seen him, he'd genuinely seemed determined to wallow in grief for the foreseeable future.