It was an old joke, but the oldness of it made him smile. Familiarity. Comfort. Those were the things he liked about Natasha. She'd never looked at him like the fossil she called him. She'd never looked at him like the legendary hero he'd never felt that he was. Her teasing was something that no one else really gave him, and it made him feel more at ease than seemed logical. He wasn't sure why, couldn't have put it into words if someone had asked him right then, but he felt a swell of affection for the woman at his side.
"Well preserved?" he asked, giving her a raised brow look. "Just how well preserved are we talking?"