[for Natasha and Steve] carnival

[onlyapassenger]

The first day had been dedicated to making sure the rides and the games and the food weren't about about to kill anyone, but by the second, Bucky's suspicion towards the unexpected carnival had waned enough that he could attempt to enjoy it while it lasted; the Island was by turns benevolent and sadistic, and in this action, it seemed like the biggest harm to the people of Tabula Rasa was getting sick from eating too much processed sugar. He hasn't been to an amusement park since he was young, not having had much cause later in life (let alone the time), but it's difficult to not get swept up in the atmosphere at all, even though better judgment would have him maintain a level head.

Given the outfit Natasha's chosen for the day, though, his better judgment went out the window some time ago. They aren't, perhaps, the most romantic of couples, though their story is certainly as sweeping as anything in fiction, but there are times when even he can forget the darkness from which they were created. His hand has barely left hers throughout the afternoon, letting go only to watch, with pride, as she dominated the shooting games, though he expected no differently. Sharpshooting skills aside, however, there's no mistaking them at a glance for Captain America and the Black Widow, his appearance and demeanor so clean cut and quaint that he looks like he stepped out of a period film; the only difference is, she's the one winning him prizes.

With a stuffed Iron Man tucked under his arm -- target practice, she said -- and a grin on his face that stretches from ear to ear, he laughs as he presses an easy kiss to just below her ear, not minding the public display for the gleeful chaos surrounding them.

"I ever say how much I love you?"

Comments

[widowskiss.livejournal.com]

"Enough that I will not forget," Natalia tells him, laughing. As if she could. He tells her often enough, if not in words than in action, in the way he looks at her when they're alone, the way he reaches for her without thinking. Not as often, however, in public, and it's Natalia who reaches this time, winding an arm around his waist, green skirt swirling when she pauses to bury a smile against his collar.

"If I'd known a simple - " She has to search for the word. Natalia's been stateside more times than she can count, and yet all this, the fried food, the rides, the too bright and cheerful signs, they cannot feel to her anything but foreign. "Carnival could make you so happy, I'd have wished for one long ago."

[onlyapassenger]

"Reminds me of better days," says Bucky. An interesting statement to make, given that his first kill had happened in an environment not unlike this, albeit with more clowns; his thoughts aren't in the past, though, instead on Natasha.

"Of course, that skirt of yours could've done the same on its own. Sixteen-year-old me would've swept you off your feet before you'd taken so much as a step."

[widowskiss.livejournal.com]

"As I recall," replies Natalia, twining her fingers through his, "sixteen-year-old you had that very opportunity not two months ago, and danced with several girls before ever attempting to sweep away my anything."

[onlyapassenger]

"Well, I didn't want to look too desperate," he replies, tone nonchalant for that he flashes her a playful look. This island is hardly lacking for beautiful women, but even when he had his pick of the girls during those few days of enforced amnesia, no one had stuck out in his mind quite so much as Natalia Romanova.

"You were a proper dame." He pauses, then amends with a wicked smile: "Still are."

[widowskiss.livejournal.com]

"I should not like that word," Natalia observes, knocking her shoulder against his as if to dislodge that impish smile. "Has every awful word out of your mouth always been so charming, or is that a talent learned with age?"

[onlyapassenger]

"I got that dance, didn't I?" he points out, grinning all the more wider for the protest, however slight. "I'd like to think the talent inherent."

[widowskiss.livejournal.com]

"Or luck," says Natalia, "or indulgence, or pity," and knows full well it was none of those. Relenting, she lays her head on his shoulder, casting a doubtful look at a stand marked Funnel Cakes. Whatever that is sounds dreadful.

"What next?" she asks. "Jason says I'm to keep you away from the Small World ride, for it is 'creepy' and you might 'shoot everything in its face.'"

[onlyapassenger]

"I don't know, that sounds kinda fun to me," Bucky replies on a laugh. Appearances, after all, can be deceiving; a cursory glance at his person might reveal nothing dangerous of note, but he doesn't go anywhere without a knife, let alone one of his guns. It's old habit more than anything else, and given the unpredictable nature of the island, probably a wise habit, too. Even so, he won't be wasting precious ammo on some dinky ride, even if Jason's warning makes him more curious than not.

"Then again," he adds, catching sight of a quieter area up ahead, "you're kinda making me want to defend my honor, with all this pity talk of yours."

[widowskiss.livejournal.com]

"I would apologize," Natalia tells him, but she's caught sight of a sudden break in the crowd, too, a small, dark space caught in the shadow of the taller rides. It's a place where a younger couple might take advantage of the quiet, and she could almost believe that the thoughts of any man on her arm would run in a similar vein, but the man on her arm is James, and...surely not.

"But that sounds entirely too enjoyable."

[onlyapassenger]

Bucky looks at her for a moment, attempting to hold her gaze; there's a hint of a challenge behind his eyes, the kind of glint he gets whenever he's about to do something particularly like reckless, though the risk in this endeavor is far less considerable than anything he might have done at home.

"In that case..." He steps ahead, tugging on her hand to follow. "C'mon."

[widowskiss.livejournal.com]

Natalia lets herself be led, free hand wrapped around his wrist as he pulls them along, past the thinning crowd until there's precious few people at all. She realizes all at once she's beaming, girlish, ridiculous, but the effort to stop is more than Natalia cares to muster, and when James brings them to a halt, she sees they're all alone.

"Truly?" she asks, even as she reaches for him.

[onlyapassenger]

"Yeah," he murmurs, taking the care to drop the plush toy to the ground as to free up his hands. In reality, he should be taking care to get a better read of their area, but he hasn't picked up on anything suspicious yet, and his attention is otherwise occupied now, the thought of tactics and exit strategies not seeming quite as important as proving himself to Natasha, even if he knows, without a doubt, that she was just teasing him. The look on her face, carefree as it is, makes the point moot. They're doing this.

Pressing in close, he guides her backwards until she's leaning against a tree, the shade from the ride giving them enough cover that he feels only a thrill of excitement as he ducks in for a kiss driven by unmistakable intent.

[widowskiss.livejournal.com]

Natalia can't help herself the bright laugh that escapes her when she feels the tree at her back. She knows James well enough, loves him well enough that his ardor is not unexpected, even if the setting most certainly is, but his hand is splayed possessively at her hip, the other snaking with purpose beneath the hem of her dress, and Natalia is rapidly losing what care she has for modesty.

It's almost nothing, James' knuckles a scant few inches higher than her knee, yet in those few inches Natalia reads everything, pulling her mouth away from his with a breathless, oh god, giggle. "James," she murmurs, hooking her ankle around his. She doesn't care how ridiculous these American carnivals are, they are Natalia's favorite thing.

[onlyforthedream.livejournal.com]

I've spent more than enough time at the fair. As amusing as it was to come across Logan prowling through that kind of environment, the noise of it is bothersome. I had almost gotten used to how loud and fast the world was when I was transported here, and the sudden cacophony of the carnival rides is, after an hour or two of taking the thick of it in- even if seeing Olivia was a bright spot- more than enough.

As I fall out of the immediate range of neon lights and tinny calliope music, heading with my hands in my pockets into the shadows of the trees, I all but stumble onto a couple caught in a clinch. I come up short.

"All right, kids, I think there's probably somewhere else you can- ...be- Bucky?"

[onlyapassenger]

There are a few things for which Bucky is immediately grateful: that it's dark, that his pants are still zipped, and that his hand hadn't gotten any further than Natasha's thigh. But the cons, though fewer, far outweigh the pros; if Bucky had to choose someone to catch them in this situation, Steve Rogers would have been at the very bottom of the list. While Bucky breaks away from Natasha with reluctance in his heart, he manages a degree of haste in his actions, drawing back his hands as though Natasha were, literally, too hot to handle.

Eyes wide, he stares up at Steve with plain disbelief, tempered by an instinctive annoyance.

"Jesus Christ."

[widowskiss.livejournal.com]

If asked, Natalia would say she is a spy first, an agent second, and a teammate later still. In spite of this, she's served on many over the years, but no team so readily as Steve Roger's. To call him a natural leader would be a disservice to him, and yet Natalia could not produce the words adequate to describe his effect on people, how eagerly they fall in behind him when the time for action has come. Natalia is no different, and though it's been months since they saw battle, the effect of her commander's voice is immediate.

She releases James, back straight and eyes forward. What she does not do is jump away as if he were something distasteful. "Christ," she repeats with a brow raised for both of them, "would imply a certain amount of holiness in this situation." She looks at Steve, determined that if she is going to suffer, they all will, and shows him a sweet smile. "I was hoping for very much the opposite."

[onlyforthedream.livejournal.com]

"Good," I say, briefly digging my fingertips into the center of my forehead, "excellent, thank you for that, Natasha."

I drop my hand and return it to my slacks pocket. Despite what some people- mostly Tigra- may have implied over the years, I am not a prude. Other than the inherently embarrassing nature of the situation, which is as much evidenced in Bucky's face and Natalia's pointed calm as much as my own reaction to finding them, I have no objections. They're consenting adults, and moreover, not that I would necessarily say anything about it, I'm actively invested in them as a couple. They both deserve to have something good in their lives, someone they can trust who makes them happy, more than anyone else I know.

That doesn't mean I want to be kept this well informed of how things are going.

"You two enjoy your evening," I say, taking a step back the way I came.

[onlyapassenger]

"We will," Bucky replies, evenly, trying hard to keep the smirk off his face, but failing miserably. He's more irritated for the interruption than embarrassed, strictly speaking, and while under other circumstances Natasha's words would leave him blushing redder than his gloves, he's mostly just glad that they proved enough of a deterrent to send Steve packing without any lectures about public indecency and foul language.

Giving his friend a halfhearted salute, Bucky looks at Natasha out of the corner of his eye, unable to hide his amusement when he adds, "Won't we?"

[widowskiss.livejournal.com]

Natalia is not so startled that she can't appreciate the rarity of the situation - the ease with which James brought them back here, the good humor with which he sends his friend off now. She's never seen them quite like this, and she wonders if this was how it was for them all those years ago, James a handsome terror while on leave and Steve enduring it.

"We," she says, taking a fistful of his shirt and tugging, "will have to apologize." The later is of course implied, and it should be impossible, to feel naughty after all she's seen and done, but the sight of Steve Rogers' retreating back will do that to a woman.

[onlyforthedream.livejournal.com]

As a parting shot, over my shoulder I call out, "Don't do anything I wouldn't do," and then I'm ducking into the deeper shadows of the jungle, heading for home.

[widowskiss.livejournal.com]

She shouldn't - that poor man - but she can't help herself, and Natalia pulls her mouth from James' ear with a giggle. "Sharon is remarkably talkative after a third martini!" she calls back cheerfully.

Not to the degree that Natalia's suggesting, but neither man need know that. "Don't worry," she tells James, "we have quite a few options left."

[onlyapassenger]

Bucky coughs out a surprised laugh, letting his forehead fall to rest against Natasha's instead of going for the kiss he planned before the interruptions. He supposes he ought to feel a little mortified, but the emotion, if it even qualifies as one, barely registers, Natasha far too warm underneath his hands for the distraction to prove sufficient.

"Doesn't matter even if we didn't," he says, the words half lost against her mouth. "I've got my own way of doing things. Now, if I recall correctly..." He trails off, fingers climbing back up her thigh. "We were somewhere around here."