agentpcoulson (agentpcoulson) wrote in newalliance, @ 2014-06-15 00:23:00 |
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Entry tags: | agent coulson, maria hill |
Who: Maria Hill and Phil Coulsom (started in Gdocs)
When: Backdated, June 6th & 7th
Where: Undisclosed cabin
What: Vacation
Rating: Low, but allusions to sex
The small cabin was a nice enough distance into some local woods to feel away from everything, and yet not too far away for a supply run, or takeout delivery. He’d selected it for those reasons, along with a few others. It was also well built, had a small number of exits, and the windows were modern enough for the inhabitants not to worry about someone or something breaking in in the middle of the night.
Unlocking the front door, Phil stepped inside and glanced around. “Good.” He looked behind him at Maria as she entered as well. “It’s smallish, but not enough so that we’ll feel like we’re stepping on each other. A little bit smaller than the apartment,” he shrugged a shoulder as he set down his suitcase and then a large black duffel bag, “but it does have a very nice jacuzzi style tub, roomy enough for two.” A smile was offered her way. “And, I made sure to find a place that did not have any of the usual strange decorations that generally come with these kinds of homes.” In fact, the cabin was very spartan as far as decorations went. Only a few pictures hung on the walls. Some couples might have found it barren, but Phil was willing to be that his companion for the next two days would enjoy it.
~~~~~
She’d let him have two days, in which they both had no fear of the world intruding, and Maria was still bemused that he’d decided to take them out into the backwoods, far enough from anyone and anything that could actually intrude. Close enough, though, that they could have all the conveniences they needed for a truly peaceful vacation; she looked over the cabin as she lugged in her heavy duffel, and approved of his assessment.
“I’m sure the tub will come in handy soon enough,” she said as she set down her bag on the tartan-blanket-draped couch and wandered over to see what the kitchen looked like; it faced into the great room, which meant it looked over all windows and other exits, and had plenty of counter space and knives. “This is good,” she murmured, and glanced at her phone out of pure reflex. She couldn’t tell if it hadn’t rung because nothing had happened, or if she had no signal here in the boondocks.
Either way, it meant that she had no responsibilities, except for grinning at Phil. “You did good.”
~~~~~
Phil also inspect their new surroundings, carefully noting windows and closets, and also gave the main door a close inspection for stability. It was simply what professional spies did. “I hope it does, I made sure to bring bubble bath along,” he said as he crouched next to the duffel bag, and unzipped it. “But first, the important things.”
From the bag, he started removing at least six different kinds of guns, ranging in size , and arranged them on the kitchen table. “You hide three and I’ll hide three,” he said as he picked up a pistol. “And of course, we’ll keep our service weapons on ourselves or at least close by.” He grinned back at her. “I do imagine there would possibly be times where we’re not completely dressed.”
~~~~~~~~~~
At that moment, watching Phil crouch in front of the duffle and remove not trinkets or blankets but weapons, and place them in front of her with as much care and consideration as if they were diamonds, Maria realized that damn her commitment issues, she loved this man. He was taking care of exactly what she needed to feel secure, and thought it normal, not something that warranted any sort of fuss.
In honor of that, she ignored the guns, just for a moment, and circled around the counter to join him. “Oh, yes,” she said, laying a hand to his shoulder. “I would hope that it would be more often than not. But, no, I think we should hide the guns together. In case we’re ambushed away from the three we’ve hidden, we should know where all our weapons are.” Which was just reasonable, and almost romantic. For two professional spies.
~~~~~~~~~~
There was some surprise when she moved forward to not take the guns, but to press close. And then his grin became affectionate at her suggestion. Maria was the most important thing in his life, and they knew and understood each other far better than anyone outside of SHIELD would. There were comforts that they found in weapons and routines that no one else could ever understand, because it meant keeping them alive. And they very much both worked in a world where doing something as simple as that wasn’t simple at all.
“Together, then,” he said, leaning forward to kiss her, not so briefly. “I like that idea.” Together, they found suitable places to stash the weapons, each place nicely spaced out from other other. It was important not to just throw everything in one corner, of course. What if you ended up with your back to the wall in one of the other three.
After the shotgun was hidden behind the fridge, Phil went back for their suitcases. “The bedroom is this way, and it’s a little unorthodox, but I think it works for a vacation space.” Opening the door, he revealed a smallish room with a king size bed in it. The bed itself took up almost the entire space. “Cozy,” he said after studying it. “And not what I’d want in my apartment, but … we’ll manage.” He looked at her, eyebrow raised. “Yes?”
~~~~~~~
As playfully as children - and with interspersed kisses that were almost as playful, though deeper - they settled into the work of securing the cabin, tucking weapons in concealed but easily reachable places. “Excellent,” Maria finally said as she stepped back from the fridge and gave the room a cursory once-over, looking for any tell-tell gleams from muzzles.
It was just pragmatic; perhaps nothing would happen except they had a rare two days off in a row, but if something did, they wouldn’t be caught off-guard. She was always surprised that people thought it strange - enough did that she was likewise surprised when someone agreed with her notions exactly.
And when that someone was Phil… He showed her the bedroom, and Maria chuckled, low and amused, but also approving. “Well, we should be comfortable, at least,” she said, edging along the bed to check how much of a gap was between bed and wall. Almost idly, she undid her holster, and shoved rig and gun between mattress and headboard, butt pointing out and ready for her hand in case of emergencies. “Since I strongly suspect we’ll be spending much of our time here,” she added with a pointed grin.
~~~~~~~~~~
“It does look comfortable,” he agreed as he leaned over to press a hand to the mattress. “Not too soft, but also better than sleeping on the ground.” Phil removed his jacket and also extracted his holster from his body. Carefully, he found a gap on under the other side of the bed where it could be stashed and grabbed quickly if needed.
He now took a seat on the bed and began removing his shoes, grinning up at Maria. “Yes, I’d expect that to be true. Since we’re on vacation.” Scooting back, he stretched out on the bed and settled on his side. Once comfortable, he patted the mattress next to him and grinned once more up at her. “We didn’t really specify the logistics of “no work while on vacation”, but knowing the position you hold and the organization we work for, I have a suggestion. One hour twice a day to check our messages, emails, ect.” Phil leaned in for a kiss, fingers trailing over her side. “Is that satisfactory?”
~~~~~~~~~~
“While I would have taken a literal camping trip as an acceptable vacation,” Maria said as she stretched, then started unbuttoning her shirt with casual ease that came from trusting where she was and who she was with - through the windows had yet to be tested. “I think my back would thank me for an actual bed.” She’d slept on far worse, but in the privacy of her own mind she was forced to admit that she wasn’t getting any younger.
Sliding off her shoes, she sank down onto the mattress next to Phil, automatically finding a comfortable spot to lean against him a little. “That might be sufficient,” she agreed. For the two of them, not planning logistics was a spontaneous vacation itself, but that didn’t mean they were dropping all the way off the grid. “And if the world ends, well, I’d rather not hear about it,” she added frankly. Or, much more likely, SHIELD would send a Quinjet for both of them.
“So, besides bubblebaths and beds,” she added, eyes half-closed in pleasure, “anything else planned for our little nordic excursion here?”
~~~~~~~~~~~~
“I’ll plan that for next time, camping in a tent. We’ll really rough it, and hardly take any supplies along.” Phil’s grin was teasing. “We’ll even leave the coffee at home, I’m curious to see what happens to you when you’re away from it for two days.” He watched as she undressed a bit, eyes traveling with obvious enjoyment over her form. And his arm slipped around her waist when she pressed close, fingers sliding to behind her neck.
“The world can’t end,” he said before he pressed his lips to her neck, “You won’t let that happen while you’re away. You’ll make it so that if it ends, you’ll be able to face it head on.” Phil continued kissing her neck, little rumbles of enjoyment coming from his throat. “Baths and bed sounded enough of a focus for me, but,” he shifted to press her more onto her back, hips settling against hers as his mouth dipped lower near where her neck met her shoulder, “If you want … it is legal …. to go hunting around here …” His free hand slipped under her waist, cupping her rear and pulling her hips even closer to hers.
~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Tent, forging, sleep deprivation, celestial navigation - my God, it sounds like Basic all over again,” Maria muttered, but there was a trace of a smile around her mouth in spite of herself. She’d always been good at surviving, and a temperate forest might not be where she wanted to live forever, but at least the predators were nicely defined and she was encouraged to shoot them.
He was scattering kisses over her skin and murmuring sweet words - and if they weren’t traditionally romantic, well, Maria was still purring back in her throat over them. Stretching and shifting with quiet approval, she dug her fingers into his back and murmured in his ear, “But then we’d have to look up what’s in season, and that’s too much work. Let’s just stay here.”
Phil had no arguments on that matter.
Much later, Maria was back in the kitchen, wrapping a robe around herself and belting it loosely as she considered the counter space again, and then turned her attention to the fridge. She considered the contents, then made a rude noise. “So, what game animals are we allowed to shoot?” she asked.
~~~~~~~~~~~
It was good to get away with her. It was wonderful to have this time together, to spend by her side, away (mostly) from work and distractions. It renewed his love of Maria, and made part of him wish that it was more than two days. Wishful thinking, of course.
He was now leaning against the counter, coffee mug in hand and watching her with a look that was more than a little adoring. “Hmm?” he said, completely distracted by this time together, and mostly the sight of her in the robe. “Oh … hunting.”
“I understand that there are a number of wild fowl that we can hunt, turkeys, pheasant, some wood duck. There’s also deer and elk, but of course rules apply. Does with fawns are to be spared, along the young themselves. None should be pregnant anymore, so we don’t have to look for that. And we’re obligated to hunt responsibly, and not just shoot everything in sight.
“So don’t treat this like Madripoor,” he said with a smirky grin, knowing full well that they both knew the rules of respecting the time to kill and not. “And I’m going to insist that you don’t be allowed to use any scopes. We want this to be fair.”
~~~~~~
Two days was pushing it as it was; Maria had woken up and fully expected her phone to be ringing, or at the very least to be summoned in to work, for no greater reason than she was always at work. But, no, she had a second full day off, and wasn’t even injured and so in theory could enjoy herself.
If she had the faintest notion of what that entailed, at least. What the hell did people do on weekends, anyways? She hadn’t had one since she joined the Marines; she had vague memories of wandering around Chicago, or working in the boxing gym, restless and purposeless and waiting for school to start up again on Monday just so she could get back to what amounted to work. She had the feeling this time wasn’t going to be much different.
Phil took a moment to answer, long enough that she looked over at him, and gave a fond sigh at his expression. She still didn’t know what to do when he got that adoring look, but at least she was better at accepting the answering curl of affection in her heart.
“Automatic weapons against wildlife wouldn’t be fair anyways, I suppose,” she conceded, turning from the fridge to lean against the counter, smiling a little at him. “Though scopes are cheating. Scopes are very fair. It’s not as though the scope does the targeting, calculating angles and windspeed and steadying the rifle.
“So,” she continued, looking towards the stashed weapons, considering her options. “Duck, do you think? Butchering a full deer is messy.”
~~~~~~~~~~~
His vacations had been rare as well, usually just a day off at home to attend to cleaning with perhaps dinner in and a movie. Nothing elaborate, not for a long time. Hence, why this time with her was so special.
“Most hunters don’t have the high quality scopes we do,” he said as he set his empty mug on the counter. “Why, do you think you really need one? The Marines made you soft, Hill.” That little comment was bordering on poking the bear, but he was sure that she would take and return it with playful ire and a dig at the Army. Which he could handle.
“Yes, I think sticking to fowl or even rabbits would be preferable,” nodding his agreement. “We’re also obligated to dispose of the carcass properly, and I’d be uncomfortable wasting so much meat. Though I’m sure that a rack of antlers would look nice in your office. We can make either the fowl or rabbit into a stew that will keep the days that we’re here, and if we find fresh eggs, I can whip something up for breakfast.” Phil lifted a brochure from the counter where it had been left by the owners. “It’s either hunting or … Antiquing, Flower Arranging or …. attending a tea service a half hours drive from here.” He looked up at her, amused. “Care to browse some mid century collectibles before having tea, darling?”