valuedstrength | missing scenes

Natasha searches his expression, but if she sees anything amiss in it she doesn't react nor comment. Just pushes each plate towards him so he can put the food on it before going to the fridge for some juice or something - she looks strange as hell doing domestic tasks in her catsuit but doesn't seem to notice that either.

She'll meet him around the other side of the counter, gracefully vaulting up into one of the high barstools and cracking into her food like she's been starved all her life. "Are there others?" she asks around a bite before clarifying: "Perks."

It's actually weird to see an agent going around doing domestic tasks while he plates them both generous portions of everything. Steve keeps that to himself too along with how graceful she seems to be. That really would have been a nasty fight. Peggy only taught him to hit hard and creatively.

He digs in right alongside her. This part never gets old. He loves the taste and variety of modern food. "Yep." He agrees instantly. Steve washes a bite down with the bottle of water he's been nursing. "They stopped rationing food. There's so much it you can lose an hour trying to pick one thing to eat." He couldn't sound more amazed by such a thing. The way she eats he can't help wondering if she can relate to that.

So this is a self-comfort session. She can get down with that. Though the realization (along with shoveling food into her mouth) has Natasha going quiet for several moments.

"That's the worst thing about food. Choosing something to eat." She wrinkles her nose after a swallow though it barely seems like she's chewing, washing it down with Tony's fancy juice.

Steve nods in agreement. He is quick to add a new discovery of his between bites. "Hitting the bag helps. Whatever I crave after a couple hours of that is usually what I go with." For obvious reasons he hasn't hunted down spring rolls at 2 a.m.

He'll learn he can get anything at any hour in modern day New York soon enough.

"Is that your stress relief? Hitting things?" If she sounds bemused, she is.

He bobs his head because yeah. Is that weird?? Steve looks at her with uncertainty. "Sure is. Why? Did they come up with something better?" The future already fixed food!!!

Her smile is downright wolfish as she turns to set her expression on him, still chewing appreciatively.

"Oh yeah. I'll show you after we eat. It's called MMA."

Steve is intrigued like the fool that he is. "I'd like that." Especially since he's getting from that smile that this will be dangerous.

Steve might be hurrying through his meal to find out now.

Natasha bites into her lip to keep from laughing at him, though she notices instantly him picking up the pace. She's a fast eater as it is so it's no trouble to speed up a bit herself.

"Mixed martial arts," she explicates when she goes for her drink again. "It's like a combo of every different style you could think of except with no rules." Or very few, anyway.

"No kidding?" Steve asks brightly. He's like a kid being left home alone with a dangerous toy. He absolutely wants to play with it. "You don't mind showing me some moves? I can't promise I'm a fast learner." Says the guy with the permanently altered brain that allows him to pick up things quickly.

"Oh, I don't mind winning," she sing-songs, getting up to clear her dishes and wash her hands. She thinks they'll actually be pretty evenly matched, at least at first. Once he picks things up, which she thinks will be fast, she's betting she won't stand a chance and for some reason she kind of likes the idea of losing to him, too.

"Who said you'd be the only one?" Steve gently challenges as he finishes his meal. He's quickly getting up to wash his dishes and hers. He is kind of a guest here too. He can't let dishes sit all day!!!

She just lifts her eyebrows, leaning against the counter to watch him for a second.

"Doesn't Stark have robots or something that could do that for you?" Or, like, a dishwasher. Whatever. She finds this whole thing incredibly endearing and she's not trying too hard to hide it. "It's too bad we're not at his Malibu estate. He has a whole boxing arena."

He chuckles softly at that. She does have him there. "There's a dishwasher. I'm just not brave enough to use it yet." Steve breezes through the job pretty quickly. He didn't make too much of a mess. He's soon drying off his hand and sucking any last bit of sweetness of his lips in a quick gesture.

"Ready? It may not be a whole boxing area, but..." He cuts himself off with a shake of his head. "You probably know this place better than I do." He'll just head to where he hangs his bag.

"Ready as I'll ever be," she admits, but follows him into the room set up as a makeshift gym. Oh yeah, this should work. She's already unlacing her boots to get ready to roll. "Want to start out showing me what you know?"

Natasha straightens up and takes a loose stance on one side of the mat, eyes watching him like a hawk and one stubborn curl falling in front of her face.

"Sure." Steve takes a stance on the other side of her. It's a generous thing to call it that. It's really Peggy's advice to always plant your feet firmly on the ground with his fists up. The last one coming from Bucky before the procedure. It's a poor imitation of what might have been solid advice once. He takes a swing at Natasha a second later.

With any luck, she won't fall over laughing that this is how a legendary super soldier fights. At least he keeps his arm straight?

So... nothing? Cool. She ducks his fist neatly and goes right for the leg sweep, figuring it will only get harder to attack his center of gravity as they go. And her best weapon is as always the element of surprise. Nat puts her hands on her hips and looks down at him with his back on the mat like she isn't sure how he got there.

Steve doesn't look like he's sure how he got there either. He is nothing if not a good sport. He's not the least bit bothered as he stares back up at her. Steve draws his legs back and kicks himself back up to a standing position. He goes to shove her with both hands which might work better if he had the shield with him.

Points for having half of a winning concept. The idea of getting some distance between them is solid enough even if the execution is weak.

She watches him with that same intense emerald gaze that followed him in the kitchen, though it's for a whole new reason now. He pushes her and she doesn't try to meet him in strength where she knows she could never win. Instead, she rocks back and uses that leverage and space to kick up a knee to strike at his unprotected middle. Her elbow hits the mat a second later, but like it's made of elastic it bounces her right back up so she can dig her other elbow into his opposite abdominal. Nat isn't necessarily holding back, but she is using moves she wants him to understand conceptually rather than just take the abuse.

It hurts though not as much as it would if she wasn't essentially hitting a tank. Steve grunts lightly at the double hit. He's still not put off. If anything his gaze is sharpening as he starts to process what she is doing. This is a challenge and he is going to meet it.

He is so used to dealing with opponents who take wild swings. This is the first time he's dealing with someone who utilizes their entire body in a fight. He is going to have to track every limb if he has even a chance of keeping up.

This time he borrows one of her moves. He goes to knee her to get some space between them, following with a quick jab just to see how she reacts.

She's more pleased than she ought to be that he follows her direction, and she has to jump back to keep from taking the full weight of his knee. Already behind, her block isn't as strong as it could be, but she does catch Steve's meatfist of a hand by some miracle though the force pushes her almost to the edge of the mat. It's time for her signature move. Natasha leans back to get him to lose his balance some then ducks under his arm and bounces off the other side of the mat rush his back, vaulting over him so she can wrap her thighs around his neck in a headlock.

He couldn't be more pleased with himself. It isn't that he's smug about finally starting to catch up. Steve is just so excited by these baby steps. This has been going on for five minutes and it's already more emotionally fulfilling than hours pounding away at a sand bag. As expected life comes back at Steve fast. Just as quickly as he feels he meeting the challenge, Natasha is gone and then just as suddenly on his shoulders.

He's pretty sure she is going to choke him with her thighs. Oh God. Steve really never knew that this is a thing. He's both amazed and kind of panicking?? Steve lifts his hands off to pry her thighs off his neck on instinct.

Leverage and speed are on her side though he's much bigger and stronger - which tends to be her whole schtick really, but it's challenging. He isn't as strong as even the strongest men she's faced, maybe more like three put together. She can keep her hold, but not forever, and she's already anticipating hitting the mat. Nat makes sure she's at least facing the other way so when he does toss her off, she'll hit her back and not her front, and on the way down she manages to slam her elbow hard into his ribcage.

That elbow bites more than the other two hits. His hand goes over it as he takes a second to breathe it out. God knows he's had worse hits just by existing in a broken body, but still that doesn't lessen the sting. Steve smiles at her, stepping forward to hold out his free hand to give Natasha a lift up. "That was amazing."

Sometimes, she gets so caught up in these things she forgets it isn't life or death. That hand being offered to him is met with a raised eyebrow even as she takes it, briefly considering flipping him, but if he considers this match over then she supposes she can let it go this once. Natasha pulls herself up with his strength, breast heaving laboriously as she finally plants her feet on the ground, coming up much closer to him than she calculated.

"Any time you want a rematch... come find me." Nat winks just to really seal in the cheese. He needs to stop smiling like that or she won't be able to hold hers back.

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject