Natasha had kept her hands moving as he talked; turned out that underneath the stoicism, Bucky was a person who had a lot to say, once he got going, and it meant that by the time he finished, the coffee pot was much more clean than it really needed to be. She rinsed it out one more time before filling it with clear, cold water, then emptied it out into the back filter. It wasn't a fancier model. She'd never needed anything that steamed milk, that made swirling, pretty designs in foam, none of the elaborate trends that swept the rest of the Capitol along. No frills. Functional. Something in her life worked as it should.
"You didn't screw anything up worse," she told him, when it seemed like he'd said all that needed saying. "You haven't done anything wrong." Which was the truth; between the three of them, James was the one who'd made the least amount of mistakes over the past few weeks. Any trouble he'd found himself in had been directly related to either herself or Steve, not by his own actions. If there was anyone who ought to be apologizing, it was her. Last night may have fallen squarely on Steve, but Natasha, well.
Natasha had been the tinder paper and the match. Steve had just brought the two things together.
"And I hope to fuck you don't really want to be like me," she added, her voice evening back out, quiet but calmer. He'd meant it kindly, she knew, but it was a hell of a thing to be complimented for: how good she was at faking connection. How good she was at being anyone but herself, at manipulating everyone around her. Pretty obvious I'm not as good at it, or I'd have better things to say right now. Pretending. That was what she was good at, and when she tried to be good at other things, this was all it came back to in the end. At least in this case, her ability to pretend had helped he and Steve out in a productive way.
If Bucky wanted her to be whoever she really was, he'd had it right the first time.
The bag of grinds was still out on the counter; she undid the twist-tie at the top of it and began to fill the white paper filter with them, slightly more than she needed, enough to make it strong and she breathed the smell in, letting it settle her back to a steadier baseline. "If you want some of this, mugs are in the cabinet to your right."