Work Text:
‘Steve… Cap… Buddy boy you – who, okay, who dressed you? Did Pepper do this? You look like an Abercrombie model’ Tony informs him.
‘That’s a good thing, right?’
‘Yeah totally, it suits you. Where are you going, please tell me you’re not wasting that on S.H.I.E.L.D?’
‘Thanks. And I’m sure they’d love that enthusiasm too’
‘So what’s the occasion and why am I not invited?’
‘Natasha’s setting me up on a date. So do I pass the ‘looking good test?’’
Steve reflects on his earlier conversation with Tony before he left for the pizza restaurant in Queens. He grins to himself, remembering Tony’s astonishment at the ordeal.
A guy on also on his own catches Steve’s eye and nods, pulling out an easy smile.
‘Waiting for a date?’ he asks.
‘Yeah’ Steve replies.
‘Blind?’
‘Got in one’
‘I feel your pain, man. Hope she’s a catch. I’m waiting for my sis’
He checks his phone and sees Natasha’s text.
Natasha: She’s brunette. Have fun, soldier.
He snorts. Thanks, you too.
‘It’s a compromise. I’m setting her up as well’ Steve flushes.
He waits. Orders another beer. Waits some more. He peers at his watch, sighs, and bites his lip in frustration. This isn’t the first time he’s been stood up. Granted, it’s the first time since the serum and all, and yet –
His phone vibrates.
Natasha: Frwd: Scarlett: Sorry, client meeting gone nuts! I don’t think I’m making it out of here any time soon. Sorry. Tell Steve sorry. Xx
Oh. He deflates and feels sympathy for her, however can’t hold much against her seeing as she had the foresight to let (Natasha) him know.
Steve glances over at the other guy’s table: he stands up grinning madly and hugging his sister. He drinks from his beer, thinks, considers taking off and maybe taking a stroll around the village when –
‘Hey’ and he jumps as Natasha is standing beside his table as calm as could be.
‘Natasha, what are you doing here?’ he asks. She should be somewhere else with Chris.
She looks stunning. Beautiful. Her hair is tied to the side, her little black dress fits her every curve. She’s wearing heels, Steve can tell.
‘Scarlett cancelled’
‘I know. That doesn’t explain why you’re not with Chris’ he asks and waves at the chair for her. She sits.
‘He didn’t show either’ she says and Steve’s eyebrows hit his hairline.
‘Wow. Reasons?’ he asks.
‘No’
‘Oh. Sorry, Tash’ he apologises.
‘Don’t apologise’
Steve looks about helplessly, and the guy with his sister raises his wine glass and winks. It dawns on him that he thinks Natasha is Steve’s date.
‘Uhm, Tasha, do you want to join me?’ which sounds stupid considering she’s already sitting down.
‘Are you asking me on a date?’
‘Yes’ he says determinedly, about to say – ‘since we were both supposed to be on one’.
‘Sure’
Steve grins and Natasha scans the menu. Steve is caught up, watching the soft lighting play on the skin of her neck. He coughs, distracting himself with his own menu.
They order not long after when their waiter approaches and the talk flows from work gossip to swapping weird stories, clinking bottles in mutual cheer. It feels like a ‘date’. He feels like he’s on uneven ground.
His phone chimes and he opens the text message.
Chris: Hey Steve. She never showed. Problems? Not like my face? :(
Steve re-reads the text again. Natasha brushes his ankle with the toe of her heel to get his attention.
‘What’s wrong?’
She left her own date to come to Steve’s.
‘Nothing’ he blames the heat of the candles on the pinkness of his cheeks. He smiles.
He texts back, So sorry Chris. I don’t think it was that. See you on Monday.