[ Video, action for Tony's building ]

[vdova]

[ The video feed clicks on, and Natasha looks neutral and blank. ] Thank you to everyone who worried. I'm fine. [ She pauses, and then furrows her brow, her eyes growing steely. ] Lensherr. I'm watching you. [ And with that, it ends. ]



---

[ Later on, Natasha can be found curled up on a couch, reading what looks like an old tome, bound in leather, title printed in gold and mostly faded on the spine and cover. She's let herself in, and has chosen a room, all without any of her new flatmates realizing it.

And as far as they're concerned? She's all better. ]

Comments

[vdova]

[ Natasha looks up from her book at the sound of her name, and her eyes linger on his tea mug, his book, and finally look back at him, smiling. ] Just arrived today. Sorry I'm late.

[stretchy_pants]

It's all right. Everyone needs their space sometimes.

[He sets his book and the tea on an end table next to a nearby armchair. Before taking a seat, he says:] There's more tea in the pot in the kitchen. I can grab you a cup if you want.

[vdova]

I'd like that. What kind is it? [ She sits up a little, setting her feet on the floor and closes the book, though she keeps her finger in it to mark her place. ]

[stretchy_pants]

Green tea with jasmine. [Oh yeah. So manly. He's spent way too much time immersed in world cultures to even bat an eyelash.] Sugar or anything in it?

[vdova]

No, thank you. Jasmine tea is best left to it's own devices, I think. [ She's not gonna judge you, Bruce. Your knowledge of world cultures makes you charming! ]

[stretchy_pants]

I agree with you wholeheartedly there. [A little smile before he leaves to get the tea; returning shortly after and setting it down on the coffee table in front of Natasha.]

Ah.. so what are you reading? [He plops down into the cushy armchair finally and takes a sip of his own drink.]

[vdova]

[ She nods in thanks, and holds up the book -- he can't see the title, it's so faded, but: ] 'Recollections of Imperial Russia', by Merial Buchanan. She was the daughter of an ambassador to Nicholas the second.

[stretchy_pants]

I never made it to Russia after... my accident, but there's certainly a fascinating history there. I.. have acquaintances across the country and didn't want to risk being recognised.

[Russia is known for its scientists, after all. Plus it's kind of cold. Otherwise, he probably would have spent some time there.]

[vdova]

[ She knows a few of those scientists well, for better or worse. She nods, though, drawing up one knee and taking a sip of her tea. ] It's very beautiful. If we ever have the chance, I'll show you around Moscow sometime.

[stretchy_pants]

That would be great, Agent Romanoff. [He gives something of a self depreciating chuckle.] I don't remember the last time I took a vacation willingly.

[vdova]

Natasha.

[stretchy_pants]

..Okay. But only if I'm Bruce.

[vdova]

[ Clint's the only one she calls by his first name, and it's weird to her to say it, at first. But they're teammates, and flatemates, and (Natasha hopes, at least) friends, so it's only fair, right? So her hesitance doesn't come from a reluctance to do so, but from the conscious knowledge of breaking down that wall of formality between them. ] Okay, Bruce.

[stretchy_pants]

[A nod.] Natasha, then.

[Before meeting the Avengers, Bruce had been able to count on one hand the number of people in the world that he was even able to trust, let alone call a friend. Now.. he still doesn't trust easily, but as far as he's concerned, everyone in this building has earned it.]

[vdova]

How are you settling in? [ And she settles back onto the couch, reaching up to tuck her hair behind her ears. ]

[stretchy_pants]

Fairly easily, actually. It's... almost disturbing. But I guess I'm so used to change now, I'm just unfazed by this place.

[He also resettles, sitting so that his legs are folded and his feet tucked beneath them.] What do you make of the claim that we're all fictional?

[vdova]

[ She thinks for a moment on her answer; it's not something she's dwelled upon terribly since her arrival here. When she speaks, it's slowly, carefully -- she's articulating her thoughts, thinking out loud, mostly. ] I don't know. I've seen people know us, know who were are that we have no knowledge of, and there are those here who are nothing more than figments of the imagination where we come from. [ She grows a little serious. ] I'm not sure I believe it at all-- but then again, if you had told me I'd be teammates with one Norse God, and enemy to another as little as two months ago, I wouldn't have believed it, either. Anything, I suppose, is possible, once you've dealt with aliens and magic and Gods. [ There's a small pause, and her voice grows quiet, more distant. ] I feel real. That's what matters to me the most.

[stretchy_pants]

[He listens intently, giving an occasional nod. There have definitely been enough other things to distract him, and the concept of being fictional just seems too absurd to warrant much thought.]

Nobody's recognized me... and I'd definitely rather it stay that way for as long as possible. No matter what this place may be, it's nice not being hunted.

[His own voice grows serious as well, though still with a thoughtful sort of tone.] As unreal as it might seem... Sometimes it feels like the other guy is the realest thing in my life. It kind of makes aliens and Norse deities easier to accept. You're right, though. There's no real proof of what we've been told, so it's our word against theirs as far as I'm concerned. I feel alive. My experiences have been all too vivid to have been.. made up by someone else.

[vdova]

My feelings exactly. There's been so much... Even if the law here says otherwise, it all happened. I don't want it any other way. [ Even the bad. Natasha has many things in her past that were dark, things she no longer talked about to anyone, but none of it was anything she regretted. ] I know that not everyone feels the same, though.