Matt wasn't sure what the hell was the history between these two that had been causing such anonymously, and frankly, he just wasn't sure he cared. He shrugged Danny's hand off of his shoulder and made his way down the steps of the front stoop to put some distance between him and the construction inside his house, leaving Danny's bag of food safely on one of the top stairs so that even that would have less of an effect on his senses. Standing nearly in the street he stopped and turned to face them both, feet planted shoulder width apart, his cane resting on the ground in front of him. He clasped both hands on top of it and straightened his shoulders and spine, lifting his chin. It was a very similar stance that he'd use just before questioning a witness or presenting his case to a hostile judge- not that either Maria nor Danny would know that.
He took his time, inhaling deeply , his dead eyes closed behind his signature red glasses.
That was much better.
He could still hear the raucous clamor from inside the house, the pounding of nails, swishing of paint, shouting, foot steps and the lot but he could also hear the wind of cars rushing past behind him, the tinkling of bike bells, kids shouting and running up and down the street, people greeting each other...
Along with that, his sense of smell cleared as well-- not completely, but enough for him to actually assess the situation instead of bumbling along blindly.
No pun intended.
He tilted his head towards Maria, then to Danny, "No. You're right. Not dating, my apologies. Danny, when was the last time you saw anyone outside of your secretarial staff?" And people thought Matt needed to get out more.
Matt faced Maria next, a steely, contemplative expression on his face. "Gardenia. Thank you." He said of the plant, nodding his head towards it. It smelled lovely; now he just had to be diligent about keeping it alive. Matt never had been good with living things. Just ask the seeing-eye dog Foggy had gotten him...
"I donated them to the elementary school down the street." He said honestly of the reparation funds that she'd given him. Matt hadn't found a way to deny them (the director of SHIELD was very persistent when she wanted to be), and he certainly hadn't wanted them- so he'd done the next best thing. He would have put the funds into the hands of the local parish- but it was probably frowned upon to donate government money to the Catholic Church, even if they would be able to distribute it more appropriately throughout the neighborhood.
Matt paused for a moment, considering the two people on his stoop for a second longer before giving a resolute nod and holding one hand out as though presenting his closing arguments.
"Now that I've pissed you both off, you're both welcome to stay for MSG-laden Chinese provided by Danny and a skrull-pounding headache from the construction inside, or leave and get back to your own lives." Either way, at least they'd be pissed at him instead of each other. He was fairly certain that Maria was a friend (probably?) and the last thing he needed was two friends at war; not when he had a life to rebuild.