She'd love to bust out some serious moves, but drunk women don't dance the way she dances. Even if it was fun to drag Steve along after her earlier. The contented swaying is about as much as she should be able to manage. It's still nice, though. Steve is warm, solid, and he hasn't stepped on her toes even once. Granted, it's pretty difficult to stomp on someone when all you're doing is swaying, but still.
It's easy to let one song roll into two into three. She can't see the Senator with her head on Steve's shoulder and her eyes closed, but she's sure that he's keeping an eye out. It'll probably only take the man about fifteen minutes to make it back to his room after leaving, and she doesn't imagine the discovery of the theft will take long after that.
He does spot the Senator leaving soon after, during one of their dances, he just doesn't bother letting her know right away. Maybe it's a bit selfish or greedy of him, but he doesn't overthink it much. Well, he tries, at least. One song turns into two, and at the start of the third he starts feeling a little guilty, so he slows them to a halt.
"We can probably go now. He left," he pulls back a hint, just enough to glance down at her.
"We shouldn't leave right after him," she says quietly without turning her head to look at the door. "Probably best to give it a buffer window." She's assuming that he's told her immediately, that the Senator and his pair of gorillas just left the ballroom and aren't even in the elevators yet. Steve and selfish don't really gel in her mind. It's true of both Steves, something else they have in common. They are givers. Which is why she steps in close again and lays her head back on his shoulder.
"Right," he says first, a hint of unease to his tone. His hand moves up and down her back in an aimless gesture, and he clears his throat. "Just that... he left about fifteen minutes ago already," he admits a little awkwardly, a little guiltily too. "We weren't in a rush to go anywhere, and— I was enjoying myself. Figured there was no harm in waiting a little. Sorry."
It works out in the end, really, because it's served as that buffer window she spoke of, but still.
She chuckles into his neck. "Enjoying yourself too much to give it up? That's almost a compliment." They're still swaying, and she's not mad, so clearly Steve has not fucked up that badly. "All right. Let's wait out this song, then you can lead me out, we'll stumble into an elevator, you can help me back to the room. Good show for the cameras."
Loneliness. It's a bitch. She's not mad at him, and it's not pity she's feeling. It's a certain camaraderie.
"Something like that," he admits with a small smile, since she doesn't seem to mind it all that much. So he does as she says, and keeps dancing slowly until the music draws to an end. The band takes a break for a few seconds and Steve pries himself away from her at last, with a level of reluctance that could be real or just acting, but it works either way.
Taking one of her hands, he leads them away from the dance floor, not particularly quick or purposeful as he takes them both out of the party and towards the lifts.
She lets her steps remain slow and unhurried, leaning heavily on his arm and shoulder, the perfect picture of a lightweight who's had far too much to drink. She keep up the act for the whole elevator ride, stumbles a little down their hallway and dissolves into more giggles when she does, and maintains the picture of ridiculousness until they're behind the closed door of their suite again.
"All right, I know the plan was to get out of here tonight, but I think we should stay." She holds her hand up to her lips to ask him for silence, then stumbles out onto the balcony, taking in great heaving gasps of air like she's trying to keep from throwing up. The real reason is to check the corner of the balcony, and sure enough, the package has been picked up.
Back in the room, she flops herself into a chair. "Walk over here, pet my hair reassuringly, and then go close the blinds." Maybe she's a little paranoid, but it comes with the job.
She plays a good drunk, that's for sure. Not too over the top, but not too subtle either, and Steve looks both awkward and amused all the while he guides her to their room. He lets out a quiet sigh of relief once they're in the room, all the more so when she says they should stay for the night. It's probably less conspicuous, as leaving in the middle of the night would likely get some unwanted attention, but Steve's also glad for not having to pack up and travel now, in the middle of the night.
Granted, he'll have to make do with the couch, but he's slept in much worse places before. He'll live.
He raises an eyebrow at her words, his answer amused as he walks over to her. "You're very bossy, you know that? It'll kill this marriage. We'll have to talk about it sometime," he jokes as he strokes her hair a couple of times, leaning down to kiss her near her hairline. He then rights himself and moves to the window, closing the blinds.
Playing the drunk is easy. The difficult thing is actually being drunk and dodging hostiles as you race through the streets of a city you're only passingly familiar with. Stumbling down a hallway? Very much preferred. Though, honestly, she had a lot more fun swinging around the outside of the building earlier.
Once the curtains are closed, she gets up out of the chair and shakes her head at him. "Hey, some guys like that. I was on this op in Kiev once, and the man I was supposed to ingratiate myself with liked it when--" She breaks off, shaking her head and laughing a little. "Just. Trust me. Some guys like a take charge woman. Do me a favour and make sure the curtains in the bedroom are all closed?"
She kicks her shoes off again, flinging them in two different directions with her toes.
Steve raises an eyebrow at her observation, particularly as she goes on to tell him that story. When she trails off he ponders for a moment whether he wants to know what she did that this guy was so into, but then decides he doesn't really want to know. Not like it matters, in any case. "I never said I didn't like it."
It had been a playful remark, and that was all. He had expected her to tell him what to do plenty of times throughout the night, considering it had been a very long time since he'd gone on an undercover assignment like this. Either way, he had sounded far from upset when he mentioned her taking charge and telling him what to do.
"Alright," he nods, making his way to the bedroom and closing whatever curtains are still open, then he makes his way back out, gesturing back inside. "All yours."
She gives him a grateful smile and heaves herself out of the chair. She is a little tired, but also keyed up on the energy of the evening. Not to mention, relaxing isn't really an option. Ideally, they'll ride this out wait until the Senator decided it must be an outside job, and then disappear. She can't discount the possibility that they'll be found out, and that this whole thing will turn violent quickly. So relaxing fully is not an option.
She can get a little more comfortable, though.
So she turns her back to Steve and sweeps her hair out of the way. "Would you upzip me?" It's easy to get it up with a piece of ribbon threaded through the zipper pull, but much more difficult to get it down again without help.
He stares down at her back when she turns and asks him to unzip her dress, the hesitance and awkwardness stronger than him even if he knows there's no reason for it. Clearing his throat, he reaches for the zipper, one hand holding the dress up while he tugs down the slider.
The corset she's wearing underneath barely shows a thing anyway, which is probably for the best. His hands still linger for longer than strictly necessary, but as soon as he catches himself, he pulls away, letting his arms fall to his sides. "I think that's... good."
"Well..." She lets go of the front of her dress and it falls and pools around her feet. "It comes off, so yeah, that's good." She's teasing him, but only a little bit. She kicks the dress away, leaves it in an awkward pile in the middle of the floor.
Right, time to get comfortable. "I'm going to put on my pajamas. Do me a favour. Call down to room service, order some champagne, be very flustered and hurried when you answer the door." Though he currently looks far too put together for that. She reaches out and undoes his tie, throwing it over the television. Same with the cummerbund, first retrieving the knives and then draping it in a way that hides the sheathes. She pops the buttons on his shirt and yanks half of it out of the waistband of his slacks.
Then she steps back and takes in the effect. "Yes, that's-- good." She frowns for a moment, and then rubs her mouth against his. It's not really a kiss, but it transfers a bit of her long-wear lipstick. "There we go. Perfect. Call down now."
it's not the teasing so much as her next actions that catch him by surprise, but he's too stunned to do little more than stand there and stare wide-eyed while she messes up his clothes, his hair, then— promptly rubs their mouths together. It's definitely not a kiss, he knows. He still lets out something of a muffled yelp against her lips, eyes wider when she pulls away.
And for a moment, staring is really all he does, mouth hanging open like he can't fully process what just happened. "Right," he manages once Natasha's already vanished into the bedroom, huffing nervously while he shakes his head, calling out while he looks around for the phone. "A little heads up would have been nice, you know?"
Well, at least he's sporting that deep fluster she spoke of. Can't really fake that. Grabbing the phone, he asks for room service to bring up that bottle of champagne.
"Careful, Trevor," she calls over her shoulder before the bathroom door closes behind her. "You're about to be touched and then not kissed by another consenting adult."
She takes her time removing her makeup properly, cleansing, moisturizing. She hunts down every pin in her hair, then brushes out the tight curls until they resemble something closer to her own hair's texture. It takes her far longer to get out of her complicated underwear and weaponry than it did the dress, but no surprise there. She locks the jewellery away with one of the guns and most of the knives.
Her pajamas do not conform to the image of the trophy wife, a sports bra, oversize tee shirt, and pair of jogging shorts. They weren't actually planning to stay the night, so her pajamas are just her workout clothes, an earlier trip to the hotel's gym and a jog around the perimeter part of her scheme for scoping out security.
When she leaves the bathroom, she stays in the bedroom, sitting on the bed and turning on the television on mute, waiting for Steve to come back with the champagne.
Steve just rolls his eyes at that but doesn't spare her another answer, shrugging off his blazer while he waits for room service. It doesn't take too long, unsurprisingly, and when finally there's a knock on the door Steve makes his way over, managing some slight panting as he pulls the door open suddenly enough that the waiter even startles slightly.
Luckily, and predictably, he doesn't say much of anything, not aside from giving Steve something of a knowing look, which only deepens the fluster tainting his cheeks. It's literally nothing of what it looks like, but then what it looks like is all that matters, in this case. The waiter offers to get the cart into the room but Steve simply hands him a generous tip and grabs the bottle and the two glasses, sending him on his way again.
Closing the door with his foot, he heads towards the room again, though he stops just near the slightly cracked door. "Can I come in?" He figures she's had more than enough time to change into her pyjamas, but no harm in making sure.
"Yeah, come on in." Natasha knows that Steve wouldn't be knocking and asking if the waiter were in the room, so she takes the television off of mute and turns the volume up a little bit. "You can order food in a while if you're still hungry after the spread at the party." She very much doubts he's got any interest in the protein bars she has in her bag. Besides, a burger sounds pretty good. Later. At the moment, she just holds out her hand for one of the glasses.
If Steve cares to look around the bedroom, it's mildly trashed. Very mildly. Her corset is draped over a knocked over lamp, her panties are on the headboard, stockings on the comforter for her to tangle up in the sheets later. Most of the furniture is pushed at least a little out of place. "Toss some of your clothing around in here. Doesn't have to be right now. Oh, and in an hour or so you need to call down to let them know we want to stay another day while I'm loud and drunk in the background. Don't let me forget."
Steve steps inside and immediately stops for a few seconds, looking around. Some changes are too subtle for him to notice right away, but others he picks up on almost immediately, and he raises an eyebrow as he smiles in amusement. Maybe a hint of embarrassment, almost exclusively brought on by her panties hanging on the headboard of the bed. "Love what you've done with the place."
His tone is dubious at best, as he steps closer and hands her one of the glasses, setting the other down on the nightstand. He pops the cork carefully, then pours them both a bit of champagne. Not that they're celebrating anything in particular, but might as well. "Another night? Damn, this married life is more exciting than I thought."
She pats the mattress beside her, inviting him to sit down. "He's going to be in a panic, and he's going to be suspicious of everyone. The easiest way to do this is to let them get in and check the room. Tomorrow morning, we go down to breakfast, take our time, and give them a chance to do just that. I'd rather not blow this cover just yet. I like her. She's useful."
Natasha has no idea if he's kidding or not, about a second night in a hotel being the height of exciting married life. Probably not. He comes from a time when a flash of ankle was pretty risque. She's sure his tastes and expectations are still skewed.
He really wouldn't know what the height of excitement in married life would be, as he has no idea of what married life is like to begin with. Either way, any sort of life where any couple can simply decide to postpone their lives for another day of lounging around doing little more than having sex in a hotel room sounds pretty exciting. A different sort of exciting than what he and Natasha are used to, granted, but still.
He eyes the empty spot beside her for a moment, then slowly takes a seat, his back resting against the headboard. "Alright, then. Let's make sure they're both beyond suspicion, and I don't see why we can't revisit this cover for a future operation." They work well together, he likes to think. Steve knows how difficult that is sometimes, finding a partner in whom he can rely and from whom he knows what to expect. Well, sort of.
"Cheers to that." Natasha clinks her glass against Steve's, taking a sip while she flips through the channels. "Do you want to watch anything in particular? Do you have favourite shows yet? I'd say we could rent a movie, but given the cover so far, it would have to be porn."
A little smirk hid in her glass, and she watches out of the corner of her eye to see if he'll blush. "Not sure you're ready for that part of the future yet."
He takes a small sip himself, chuckling and shaking his head when she mentions porn. Yes, he's aware of what it is, and yes, he's definitely blushing. "I caught some... porn on TV, already. Accidentally. Just... no, I'd rather— not." Terribly embarrassing when he was on his own, he can only imagine it would be mortifying with Natasha sitting next to him.
"I like cooking shows? Not the competitions. The ones where they just teach you new recipes, like Jamie Oliver or Nigel Slater. Do you know about those?"
Natasha is pretty sure that, if he caught it on television, it wasn't the kind of porn that she was talking about. Still, his reaction had been enough that she's not going to push him on it. Not tonight. She's a better friend than that.
"I do. I like those, too. Can't cook, but I love watching other people do it." She also likes the competition ones. Her DVR at home is full of episodes of Cupcake Wars. She enjoys the competition aspect of things, too, and watching people fail can be just as entertaining as watching them succeed.
She continues to flip until she finds the cooking channel. No Oliver or Slater, but a pretty good re-run of Carnival Eats. "Oooo, this show is good. Just wandering around to awesome carnivals and food fairs indulging in all the stuff that no one should ever eat. Sometimes the people who do the cooking, if it's iconic, give a sort of recipe. Not that you'd want to try making most of this stuff on a regular basis." She takes another sip of her champagne and snuggles herself back against the padded headboard, getting comfy.
If there's an even worse kind of porn than that out there, then he sure as hell doesn't want to see it right now. He may just lock himself up in the bathroom for the rest of the night.
"Really?" He sounds surprised, but he realizes a moment after that it's silly of him. What with her line of work being what it is, it shouldn't be so strange that she doesn't have the time to dedicate to a skill that, in these days, doesn't seem as important. "I can. I mean, I'm no chef, but... I can find my way around a kitchen pretty well. Not to brag or anything."
Alright, maybe he is bragging a little bit. He nods at the explanation, watching the show for a few minutes before commenting on it. "These people must love their jobs. Traveling around and just eating and talking about that, getting paid for it too. Must be quite the life."
"I can make toast," Natasha says with a decisive nod, "and I am absolutely bragging." Whenever she's in charge of breakfast for Cooper and Lila, it ends up being toast and hot chocolate. If the kids are upset with the limited food, the chocolate keeps them quiet. The chocolate and the cartoons.
Natasha lays her head against Steve's shoulder, watching the television and sipping her champagne. "I'd get so fat." There might be something wistful there, though. A normal life. She's sure she would get bored, but maybe being bored might be nice once in a while. Being mundane and normal. Having to make the choices that normal people make. Or, no, not even that, but getting to make those choices for herself. She's sure she wouldn't actually choose the white picket fence and the dog and the PTA meetings. It all sounds horrible, but the choice should have been hers, not someone else's.
She doesn't say any of this, but she drains her glass and then holds it out to Steve for a refill. "We could go to a carnival when this is over. If you want."
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It's easy to let one song roll into two into three. She can't see the Senator with her head on Steve's shoulder and her eyes closed, but she's sure that he's keeping an eye out. It'll probably only take the man about fifteen minutes to make it back to his room after leaving, and she doesn't imagine the discovery of the theft will take long after that.
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"We can probably go now. He left," he pulls back a hint, just enough to glance down at her.
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It works out in the end, really, because it's served as that buffer window she spoke of, but still.
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Loneliness. It's a bitch. She's not mad at him, and it's not pity she's feeling. It's a certain camaraderie.
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Taking one of her hands, he leads them away from the dance floor, not particularly quick or purposeful as he takes them both out of the party and towards the lifts.
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"All right, I know the plan was to get out of here tonight, but I think we should stay." She holds her hand up to her lips to ask him for silence, then stumbles out onto the balcony, taking in great heaving gasps of air like she's trying to keep from throwing up. The real reason is to check the corner of the balcony, and sure enough, the package has been picked up.
Back in the room, she flops herself into a chair. "Walk over here, pet my hair reassuringly, and then go close the blinds." Maybe she's a little paranoid, but it comes with the job.
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Granted, he'll have to make do with the couch, but he's slept in much worse places before. He'll live.
He raises an eyebrow at her words, his answer amused as he walks over to her. "You're very bossy, you know that? It'll kill this marriage. We'll have to talk about it sometime," he jokes as he strokes her hair a couple of times, leaning down to kiss her near her hairline. He then rights himself and moves to the window, closing the blinds.
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Once the curtains are closed, she gets up out of the chair and shakes her head at him. "Hey, some guys like that. I was on this op in Kiev once, and the man I was supposed to ingratiate myself with liked it when--" She breaks off, shaking her head and laughing a little. "Just. Trust me. Some guys like a take charge woman. Do me a favour and make sure the curtains in the bedroom are all closed?"
She kicks her shoes off again, flinging them in two different directions with her toes.
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It had been a playful remark, and that was all. He had expected her to tell him what to do plenty of times throughout the night, considering it had been a very long time since he'd gone on an undercover assignment like this. Either way, he had sounded far from upset when he mentioned her taking charge and telling him what to do.
"Alright," he nods, making his way to the bedroom and closing whatever curtains are still open, then he makes his way back out, gesturing back inside. "All yours."
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She can get a little more comfortable, though.
So she turns her back to Steve and sweeps her hair out of the way. "Would you upzip me?" It's easy to get it up with a piece of ribbon threaded through the zipper pull, but much more difficult to get it down again without help.
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The corset she's wearing underneath barely shows a thing anyway, which is probably for the best. His hands still linger for longer than strictly necessary, but as soon as he catches himself, he pulls away, letting his arms fall to his sides. "I think that's... good."
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Right, time to get comfortable. "I'm going to put on my pajamas. Do me a favour. Call down to room service, order some champagne, be very flustered and hurried when you answer the door." Though he currently looks far too put together for that. She reaches out and undoes his tie, throwing it over the television. Same with the cummerbund, first retrieving the knives and then draping it in a way that hides the sheathes. She pops the buttons on his shirt and yanks half of it out of the waistband of his slacks.
Then she steps back and takes in the effect. "Yes, that's-- good." She frowns for a moment, and then rubs her mouth against his. It's not really a kiss, but it transfers a bit of her long-wear lipstick. "There we go. Perfect. Call down now."
And she's off to change and call in an update.
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And for a moment, staring is really all he does, mouth hanging open like he can't fully process what just happened. "Right," he manages once Natasha's already vanished into the bedroom, huffing nervously while he shakes his head, calling out while he looks around for the phone. "A little heads up would have been nice, you know?"
Well, at least he's sporting that deep fluster she spoke of. Can't really fake that. Grabbing the phone, he asks for room service to bring up that bottle of champagne.
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She takes her time removing her makeup properly, cleansing, moisturizing. She hunts down every pin in her hair, then brushes out the tight curls until they resemble something closer to her own hair's texture. It takes her far longer to get out of her complicated underwear and weaponry than it did the dress, but no surprise there. She locks the jewellery away with one of the guns and most of the knives.
Her pajamas do not conform to the image of the trophy wife, a sports bra, oversize tee shirt, and pair of jogging shorts. They weren't actually planning to stay the night, so her pajamas are just her workout clothes, an earlier trip to the hotel's gym and a jog around the perimeter part of her scheme for scoping out security.
When she leaves the bathroom, she stays in the bedroom, sitting on the bed and turning on the television on mute, waiting for Steve to come back with the champagne.
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Luckily, and predictably, he doesn't say much of anything, not aside from giving Steve something of a knowing look, which only deepens the fluster tainting his cheeks. It's literally nothing of what it looks like, but then what it looks like is all that matters, in this case. The waiter offers to get the cart into the room but Steve simply hands him a generous tip and grabs the bottle and the two glasses, sending him on his way again.
Closing the door with his foot, he heads towards the room again, though he stops just near the slightly cracked door. "Can I come in?" He figures she's had more than enough time to change into her pyjamas, but no harm in making sure.
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If Steve cares to look around the bedroom, it's mildly trashed. Very mildly. Her corset is draped over a knocked over lamp, her panties are on the headboard, stockings on the comforter for her to tangle up in the sheets later. Most of the furniture is pushed at least a little out of place. "Toss some of your clothing around in here. Doesn't have to be right now. Oh, and in an hour or so you need to call down to let them know we want to stay another day while I'm loud and drunk in the background. Don't let me forget."
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His tone is dubious at best, as he steps closer and hands her one of the glasses, setting the other down on the nightstand. He pops the cork carefully, then pours them both a bit of champagne. Not that they're celebrating anything in particular, but might as well. "Another night? Damn, this married life is more exciting than I thought."
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Natasha has no idea if he's kidding or not, about a second night in a hotel being the height of exciting married life. Probably not. He comes from a time when a flash of ankle was pretty risque. She's sure his tastes and expectations are still skewed.
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He eyes the empty spot beside her for a moment, then slowly takes a seat, his back resting against the headboard. "Alright, then. Let's make sure they're both beyond suspicion, and I don't see why we can't revisit this cover for a future operation." They work well together, he likes to think. Steve knows how difficult that is sometimes, finding a partner in whom he can rely and from whom he knows what to expect. Well, sort of.
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A little smirk hid in her glass, and she watches out of the corner of her eye to see if he'll blush. "Not sure you're ready for that part of the future yet."
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"I like cooking shows? Not the competitions. The ones where they just teach you new recipes, like Jamie Oliver or Nigel Slater. Do you know about those?"
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"I do. I like those, too. Can't cook, but I love watching other people do it." She also likes the competition ones. Her DVR at home is full of episodes of Cupcake Wars. She enjoys the competition aspect of things, too, and watching people fail can be just as entertaining as watching them succeed.
She continues to flip until she finds the cooking channel. No Oliver or Slater, but a pretty good re-run of Carnival Eats. "Oooo, this show is good. Just wandering around to awesome carnivals and food fairs indulging in all the stuff that no one should ever eat. Sometimes the people who do the cooking, if it's iconic, give a sort of recipe. Not that you'd want to try making most of this stuff on a regular basis." She takes another sip of her champagne and snuggles herself back against the padded headboard, getting comfy.
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"Really?" He sounds surprised, but he realizes a moment after that it's silly of him. What with her line of work being what it is, it shouldn't be so strange that she doesn't have the time to dedicate to a skill that, in these days, doesn't seem as important. "I can. I mean, I'm no chef, but... I can find my way around a kitchen pretty well. Not to brag or anything."
Alright, maybe he is bragging a little bit. He nods at the explanation, watching the show for a few minutes before commenting on it. "These people must love their jobs. Traveling around and just eating and talking about that, getting paid for it too. Must be quite the life."
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Natasha lays her head against Steve's shoulder, watching the television and sipping her champagne. "I'd get so fat." There might be something wistful there, though. A normal life. She's sure she would get bored, but maybe being bored might be nice once in a while. Being mundane and normal. Having to make the choices that normal people make. Or, no, not even that, but getting to make those choices for herself. She's sure she wouldn't actually choose the white picket fence and the dog and the PTA meetings. It all sounds horrible, but the choice should have been hers, not someone else's.
She doesn't say any of this, but she drains her glass and then holds it out to Steve for a refill. "We could go to a carnival when this is over. If you want."
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