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“It’s easy.”
“It’s not easy.”
“Come on, just try.”
“I’m not going to!” he shot back, just a little too loudly, and now people were staring at them. Steve’s face grew hot as he glanced around the diner and he pursed his lips in frustration, lowering his voice again. “I can’t.”
She raised an eyebrow. “I wasn’t aware that you didn’t have control of those muscles, Cap.”
Steve frowned. “I mean, I can, but...”
“But you won’t.”
“It’s... embarrassing. What would a pretty girl like her want with me?”
“Well...” Natasha hummed, reaching out to straighten Steve’s collar. “You’re tall, and handsome, and pretty muscular.”
“I, um...” Steve stammered, unsure of what to do with the compliment.
“Want me to show you?” she asked with a small smirk. “Watch closely.” Steve was staring directly at her now. Despite his earlier protests, his eyes were focused and concentrated on hers. Easily, she winked one eye at him, throwing in a little brow raise for the heck of it. “That’s all there is to it. Now you try.”
Steve exhaled and nodded, face in complete concentration. After a short moment, he looked straight at Natasha and well, whatever he did, it sure as hell wasn’t a wink.
She knew she shouldn’t have, but she laughed. It was stifled, sure, but Steve noticed it, and his frown grew bigger as a red hue started creeping up his neck.
“Oh, don’t give me that look,” she chuckled, but when she noticed Steve was still scowling, she tried to curb it. “Okay, so winking isn’t your strong suit. That’s okay; we’ll try something easier.”
“Easier,” Steve repeated with a small scoff.
“Come on, Rogers,” she teased. “You can singlehandedly take down a HYDRA platoon, and yet you can’t flirt with a girl?”
“Yeah, well, the serum didn’t change everything,” he replied with a sigh.
“Not a ladies’ man, huh? You know, I bet Stark could give you some tips,” she joked. Steve snorted, his mouth curving into a smile at the thought. “Now come on. Do you want to learn how to pick a girl up or not?”
“I never asked for this! I thought this was just lunch!”
“It is lunch. I’m just giving you a few 21st century tips in the meantime. Training.”
“Training? More like torture—“
“Give me your best pick up line,” Natasha ordered, ignoring his complaints.
“My what?”
“Your best pick up line,” she repeated.
Steve ran a hand through his hair as he thought for a moment. “I don’t... I don’t think I have any.”
“We’ll go classic, then. You can probably get away with the cheesy stuff. Repeat after me: are you okay?”
“What does this—“
“Repeat.”
Steve sighed heavily. “Are you okay?”
“Because it must’ve hurt when you fell from heaven.”
“Because it must’ve hurt when—Do I really have to do this?” he asked, pulling idly at his collar as he turned his gaze away in embarrassment.
“Yes, you do,” she answered simply.
He exhaled and trained his eyes on the coffee cup sitting on the table in front of him. “Because it must have hurt when you fell from heaven,” he grumbled.
“Are you angry? You sound angry. Come on, do it again with a little more life this time. No monotone, and look at me, unless you’re planning to ask your coffee out.”
Steve bit his lip nervously, and then after a short moment looked up to face Natasha with renewed conviction. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah, why?”
“Because it must’ve hurt when you fell from heaven—“
“Well, aren’t you the sweetest thing?” the waitress said suddenly as she appeared at the table to refill their coffee.
Steve’s face turned bright red. “I didn’t—“
“Oh, don’t be embarrassed, hon. That was so sweet,” their server chuckled. She turned to Natasha and pretended to whisper, “He’s a keeper.”
“Oh, yes,” Natasha replied with a sly smile as the woman walked off.
“You...”
“What? That was good. Your voice was a little pitchy, but—“
“Why am I doing this?”
“So you can ask out the girl you like.”
“Why?”
“Because you’re lonely.”
Steve looked at her for a short moment before sipping his coffee. “I’m fine,” he dismissed.
“No, you’re hopeless. At this rate I don’t think you’ll actually be able to do it without passing out from all the blood rushing to your face.”
“I don’t... I mean, I can’t just pick up anyone off the street. I’d... I’d want to get to know her first,” he thought aloud, eyes low and focused on his coffee again as he rubbed his thumbs around the rim of the cup.
Natasha shrugged and nodded. “That’s reasonable. Then ask out someone you’re close to.”
Steve exhaled. “It’s not... that easy.”
“Isn’t it? What’s the worst that can happen?”
“... I don’t know.”
She paused, and then leaned forward in her booth, lowering her voice. “Tell you what, I’ll let you in on a little secret.” Steve met her eyes curiously. “There’s this... coworker of mine. Never thought I’d be as... partial to him as I am.”
Steve’s eyes fell back down to his cup. “You like him, then. You ever ask him out?”
“Mm-hm,” she answered as she leaned back in her seat.
“And?”
“Well, he’s cute, but he’s kind of an idiot.”
He glanced back up at her. “I take it... it didn’t go well?”
“Well, he didn’t really realize it was a date.” She paused for a moment, and then added, “It’s like I’m not even on his radar.”
Steve frowned. “His loss, then. I’m not sure what kind of man he is that he could look over a beautiful woman like you.”
She grinned. “Beautiful, huh?”
Steve’s face immediately turned bright red again. “I, um—I didn’t—“
“Don’t apologize. I should be thanking you.”
“I—Well, I mean—It’s...” he stumbled, and then took a breath. “I’m sure you get that a lot.”
“It means more when it comes from the right person.”
“The right... person?”
She hummed in confirmation. “Someone who’s cute, but kind of an idiot.”
Steve’s brows furrowed. “Wasn’t that your cowork—Oh.” He paused, realization settling in on him. “Oh.”
Natasha watched with amusement as a series of confused emotions made their way across Steve’s face, one after another.
Finally, after a good moment, he looked back at her, eyes wide like a child’s, as he asked, “Is this a date?”
She smiled. “Like I said, kind of an idiot.”
“I— I didn’t even think...”
“I know.”
“But you...? Me?”
“What, you don’t like the idea?”
“No—I mean, yes, but yes as in ‘I like it,’ not as in ‘I don’t’ because I do... like the idea of it, I just don’t want you to think I don’t because—“ She watched as he cut himself off to take a moment to pull himself together.
“You okay there, Cap? You’re not gonna combust, are you?”
“I just... This is a date?”
“Yeah,” she replied with a little amused nod.
The corners of his mouth curved into a silly half-smile. “This is a date,” he repeated, a bit excitedly, almost as if he was convincing himself.
She chuckled. “You really are an idiot, Rogers,” she repeated once more as she stood up, leaving money on the table. “But how about we go for ice cream and try this again?”
Steve stood up too, unsure of what to do with himself otherwise. “Yeah – I’d like that.”
“But first, you’re going to have to wipe that ridiculous grin off your face.”