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Avengers Headcanon: "Submission #2184 - All of the Avengers have asked Maria Hill out at some point."
Natasha this time.
Like Fish Need Bicycles (or 'The Five Times Maria Said No And The One Time She Said Yes')
It surprises her that Romanoff is so tactile at first.
A touch on her arm to get her attention. A smooth cheek close when reading over Maria's shoulder. The press of a foot under the table while at dinner, charming a target. Hands on her neck and back after a rough mission, easing out the knots.
Maria freezes, caught between her body's relief and her mind's sudden alarm as all the pieces come together. Gently, slowly, she puts her hand up and turns around – but only halfway. This isn't an invitation to continue and she doesn't want to give the Black Widow the wrong idea.
"No." She makes the words clear and crisp, so there's no room for misunderstanding. "I'm not interested."
"It's just a massage."
"Is it?"
Blue eyes don't look away – not quite – but they do drop to Maria's mouth. It's not 'just' a massage and they both know it.
"I appreciate the compliment," she says with more gentleness than she'd use if a male agent had tried it on her. It's still a refusal. "But I can't be that for you."
"Is it because I'm a woman?"
"No." Maria's been with a woman before. She wouldn't say she's completely heterosexual, but she doesn't identify as bisexual either. None of that has any relevance to why she's refusing Natasha Romanoff at this moment. "It's because you're the Black Widow, and an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. And because I'm an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. and one of your handlers. I don't know how things worked in the Red Room, but that's not how they work here."
Natasha Romanoff eyes Maria as though not sure what to make of her. Then, after a moment, her expression softens fractionally. "I don't think I've ever been refused before."
"I'm not sure whether to be pleased or sorry to be the first."
--
Natasha this time.
Like Fish Need Bicycles (or 'The Five Times Maria Said No And The One Time She Said Yes')
It surprises her that Romanoff is so tactile at first.
A touch on her arm to get her attention. A smooth cheek close when reading over Maria's shoulder. The press of a foot under the table while at dinner, charming a target. Hands on her neck and back after a rough mission, easing out the knots.
Maria freezes, caught between her body's relief and her mind's sudden alarm as all the pieces come together. Gently, slowly, she puts her hand up and turns around – but only halfway. This isn't an invitation to continue and she doesn't want to give the Black Widow the wrong idea.
"No." She makes the words clear and crisp, so there's no room for misunderstanding. "I'm not interested."
"It's just a massage."
"Is it?"
Blue eyes don't look away – not quite – but they do drop to Maria's mouth. It's not 'just' a massage and they both know it.
"I appreciate the compliment," she says with more gentleness than she'd use if a male agent had tried it on her. It's still a refusal. "But I can't be that for you."
"Is it because I'm a woman?"
"No." Maria's been with a woman before. She wouldn't say she's completely heterosexual, but she doesn't identify as bisexual either. None of that has any relevance to why she's refusing Natasha Romanoff at this moment. "It's because you're the Black Widow, and an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. And because I'm an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. and one of your handlers. I don't know how things worked in the Red Room, but that's not how they work here."
Natasha Romanoff eyes Maria as though not sure what to make of her. Then, after a moment, her expression softens fractionally. "I don't think I've ever been refused before."
"I'm not sure whether to be pleased or sorry to be the first."
--