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Tony Stark: Earth's Best Defender (allaboutego) wrote in snapthread,
@ 2019-11-20 13:19:00

Entry tags:

natasha romanoff (mcu), tony stark (mcu)

Who: Tony Stark and Natasha Romanoff
What: Catching up.
Where: Tony’s Workshop
When: November 20th

They lived in the same house — although for how long, Tony wasn’t really sure. He’d expected Natasha to stay a few nights and then decide that she needed more of her own space, but so far she seemed… content to just be where she was. Tony didn’t mind. He was happy for it, if he was being honest. There was something nice about always hearing someone wandering around, about knowing that the people he cared for most were right there, and most definitely alive.

Not all of them made it out so lucky in the real world, and Tony had been pretty good at shrugging that idea off right up until Peter had shown up bloody and crying and —

Yeah. It was something that was on his mind a bit more lately. Him and Natasha, they were in a different sort of boat together than some of the others. Best to stick together, he figured. Also, they were friends. But despite all that and living together, he didn’t feel like he actually saw her much beyond in passing. Which was why he invited her over for coffee, some tech check ups and some random chatter. Why not, right?

“So,” he said, making conversation and grabby hands at Natasha, so she’d give him her stingers to look over. “Tell me what’s new in the life of the Black Widow.”

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alwaysactive
2019-11-21 03:51 am UTC (link)

In truth, Natasha had thought the same, she'd get her bearings for a few days and then she would figure something else out. But there was something about being here, after everything. Having Tony there and Steve, and now Peter and even Gwen. It was nice, in a way she couldn't quite name. After years spent alone in the too big compound that had once housed the Avengers, to be in a space that was filled with those she cared about most? It was proving a difficult thing to give that up.

So she'd stayed, even if she did tend to stick to herself a bit. Letting Steve and Tony both have their space, but she watched plenty, while she figured out what it was that she was going to do there, what her life would be now that she was here like this. Knowing what she knew of the life she'd left behind and how it had all turned out. For the first time in her life there didn't seem to be some new mission, no secret plot being weaved, no data to gather, no mark to take out, or someone to rescue. There was only the town and whatever she chose to do here.

It left her a little at loose ends.

"So," She echoed, an easy smile on her face when Tony grabbed for her stingers, allowing him to take them off her hands and do his thing with them. He was one of the only people she'd trust with her brand of tech. "Nothing too exciting." She admitted, "I don't know if you know this yet, but there's not a lot to do in a place like this. I don't know how you've managed not to go stir crazy after all the time you've been here." She added. She wasn't quite there yet but she could see how that would be a thing that could happen all too easily.

"I've been talking with Gwen some, she's a good kid." Tacking that on at the end. It had been surprisingly welcome, the addition of Gwen, she hadn't ever had a ton of experience with kids, Clint's were the first she'd ever known, and then Morgan had come later. But Gwen was a fully realized person, she was out in the world doing big things and Natasha felt a sort of kinship in that way. So it turned out that was something she wanted to foster more.

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allaboutego
2019-11-21 08:56 pm UTC (link)

Luckily for Natasha, she wasn't going to be asked to give it up, so she could stay as long as she liked. It was a good status quo, so far as Tony was concerned. If Natasha wanted to stay, she could stay. Even if she was occasionally distant, it wasn't like he was all that shocked over the concept. Natasha often sat back and observed while everyone else made noise around her.

And Tony was pretty great at filling the spaces of silence with noise so. It all worked out.

"You don't know if I know this yet?" Tony asked with a sideways smile even as he got the stinger off her wrist, set it on his work desk in front of him. "I mean -- you're not completely wrong, obviously. It's a sleepy place. But when I got here, there wasn't electricity or running water, even. It's been a matter of building it up one thing at a time. Generators, plumbing, washing machines, air conditioning, heating -- just last week, on that one. It's all easy projects, you know? The kind of stuff I could build with my eyes closed. But I was doing most of it from scratch for a long time." He gestured, vaguely, to the workshop around them. "This wasn't here to start." The point was, he'd had a lot to do, and it'd filled a good portion of his time. The rest was for -- well.

He absolutely beamed at the mention of Gwen. "She's the best," he said, with no small amount of pride. Because, obviously, she was his kid. That was just fact at this point. "You two been bonding?"

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alwaysactive
2019-11-22 04:47 am UTC (link)

She just smiled when he gave her that look, it was nice to be able to do this again. Even after Tony had made it back it hadn't been like this, and of course she didn't blame him - they were all processing what had happened, they all had to carry the weight of what they'd lost. So it was good to see him smiling again, teasing and eager to get his hands on something. So how could she do anything other than indulge that? When she hadn't seen it in so long.

Her eyes went a little wide when he told her how they hadn't even had electricity to start with or running water. It had been a huge labor to get things to this point, for all Tony tried to tell her it was just easy projects. And certainly each part of it had been easy for someone like Tony, but all of it together had been a large effort. "I'm impressed with what you've done with the place in that case." And she meant it - more than just in a teasing way, she was impressed with everything Tony was building here. And not just the town but the relationships too.

It was good to see.

Just like that look on his face when she brought up Gwen. Natasha just nodded in agreement, "We're making a go at it." She agreed, she thought they'd definitely make it there, it was easy to feel a sort of kinship in Gwen, and not just because some other her had been here and paved the way but there was just something about Gwen that was easy to relate to. Natasha saw something similar there in her.

"You've been doing good here." She said honestly. Not meaning the town or even Gwen exactly, but all of it together. This life that Tony was making for himself was good for him. He looked lighter than she'd seen him in a long time and it was a welcome thing to see.

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allaboutego
2019-11-27 11:25 pm UTC (link)

After the snap -- directly after it, nothing had been the same. Tony had had a rough time on that ship out there in space, even with Nebula's tough love because everything he'd known before it was gone or changed. And he supposed, if he'd ever actually made it back home instead of having shown up here, Tony might not have managed quite the same. If he hadn't been forced into a little group setting and had things to focus on that had immediately needed it, he probably would have strayed. Separated himself from everyone else.

A lot of things would have been different. But here, they weren't. Not really. Instead of making his own way, Tony had grown with and for the people around him and it was -- he thought, probably, it was best this way. It made the most sense, and for the first time in a long time (maybe ever) he sort of liked who he'd become.

"It could still use some work," Tony said, but not really in a way where he was calling it bad so much as implying he was really good at finding ways to keep himself entertained.

He was glad. Glad that Natasha and Gwen were working things out, making friends (or, perhaps, family). He thought maybe he'd be jealous, but... he just wasn't. He was just pleased. "Good. You both deserve it."

Tony's smile was a little crooked over Natasha's high praise, but shrugged it off all the same. "Most everyone else does the heavy lifting."

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alwaysactive
2019-11-28 04:59 am UTC (link)

"I'm sure it could." She agreed, trusting that Tony could always find something that he felt needed improving, no matter how advanced or how serviceable it might be. But it wasn't the kind of obsessive work she'd seen him do in the past, this was something to keep his hands busy, and to help those around him, and she could only approve of that kind of work. They could all use a little something like that. And maybe she was still trying to figure out what her sort of work was going to be here, but she was on a path, just the same as he was, she was just at the start of hers.

But it would get easier in time, of that much she was certain. Especially with Tony around, and Steve, Clint, James, and Gwen too - there were so very many people here that she found she cared for and she knew would help her if she needed it. It made the idea of facing all of this that much easier.

She was looking forward to getting to know Gwen more in the mean time, training with her and helping her improve. It wasn't at all what she'd expected of this place, but she thought it suited her nicely.

"I think you've done a lot of that yourself." She told him honestly. "Still it's good seeing you accepting a little help now and again too." She added.

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allaboutego
2019-11-30 03:13 am UTC (link)

For some people, it might be hard trying to figure out what to do in a place like this. For Tony it had been easy -- something always needed to be built or repaired or installed. It seemed to have been easy for some of the others too -- Clint had taken the lead and opened an actual business, important and honestly surprising when it'd happened. And then there was Van Dyne's, and Tony was glad Gwen had kept it up after Jan had disappeared. Pancho's -- well, Peter was probably owed a debt of gratitude for that place. But there were plenty of others who were between things, helped out randomly with whatever but didn't have an actual job and that was fine, no one expected them to.

But Natasha didn't seem like the sort to sit around forever. She'd figure it out, whatever it was, eventually.

"Some of it, maybe," Tony allowed, because he supposed he wasn't the mayor for nothing. "Admittedly, I do sit back and watch sometimes. The help doesn't hurt -- Steve bending over to pick things up is one of life's high points."

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alwaysactive
2019-11-30 07:59 am UTC (link)

Admittedly it was strange to suddenly find herself at loose ends like this, but between training with Gwen and her desire to be of use Natasha was certain something would present itself to her in time. She wasn't in a rush, but she knew she'd find something to keep her busy. But for now she was observing, seeing what the others did and figuring out the best place for her to fit herself int.

For now that was right here with Tony letting him play with her weapons and talking with him about the life he'd been building.

"Steve always has been very good about showing off his best assets while he's helping out." She agreed with complete honesty. She and Steve might be better friends than they ever would have been anything else, but she wasn't blind.

"The rest of it is pretty good too," She added, "Gwen and Peter, the house, all of it." Being able to see Tony build a life, and not one that was just him running from everything and everyone he'd known, but making one that was full of people, and providing for them too? That was good to see. It was different than what she'd known, but it was still good. And she was proud of him.

"I wasn't always sure you'd get there." But she'd always been certain he deserved it.

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allaboutego
2019-12-05 03:44 am UTC (link)

No one was blind: Steve was one hundred percent the hottest guy in town and it'd be a sin not to look, frankly. Tony wasn't even upset. Just sort of amused and pleased over his own stupid, ridiculous luck. "I think he does it on purpose," Tony said a little conspiratorially.

It was different, what he was doing here. In a way, anyway. He'd always tried providing for the people he'd considered family -- but back then, back at home, he hadn't done it with any kind of hands-on finesse. He'd simply given and then stepped back, not ever really making himself a part of the equation. He just hadn't known how back then. Maybe it just took the right people. He didn't know. Either way, he was happy with what he had here. It was probably pretty obvious.

"Me neither," he admitted, glancing back down to his new project. Not shy, really. Because Tony didn't do shy. But maybe a little humbled. "It's still strange some days."

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alwaysactive
2019-12-06 01:50 am UTC (link)

"You're kidding right?" She asked dryly, "Everything that guy does is entirely on purpose." She told him shaking her head. Steve could pretend to be unaware about a great many things but he wasn't nearly as wholesome as that picture that people often created in their heads. She knew at least if there was anyone else in the world who understood that it would be Tony.

It was good though, that Steve could be like that here, and that Tony obviously enjoyed it and no doubt so much about his life that he'd made here with Steve and everyone else that he'd managed to claim as his own. If she had to find out that there was some type of after life she was glad this was it, with her people.

That it was strange though she understood entirely. "I don't know if that feeling will ever go away." How could it here? When things changed so much without any sort of reason. "But I don't think that takes away from any of it." She leaned back on her elbows against the table top, watching him work for a moment, an easy smile on her face as she watched him work. She was glad to be there, with him, and the rest of them. It was more than she deserved.

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allaboutego
2019-12-12 01:34 am UTC (link)

Of course it was on purpose. No one walked around in shirts half a size too small and bent over like Steve did to pick things up without knowing what they were doing. It was devious. More devious yet because Steve didn't do it to be devious or malicious at all. Tony only grinned and if it was a little on the dreamy side, that was between him and Natasha, thank you very much.

"Stop being so wise, it makes me look bad," he told her, not at all irritable, even as he went back to tinkering, little tools in his hands as he did basically what came down to a routine sort of maintenance. There was no big upgrade, not at the moment. Maybe he'd work on one for a future gift -- he liked giving in ways like that -- but it would be a disservice to both of them if they pretended the reason she was here currently was't basically just to hang out and talk.

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