Lark

It's a surprise

Aria's POV 5:40 PM

Taking a deep breath, Aria slowly let it out as she opened the front door to her apartment and stepped out into the hall. Her nerves that had calmed down this afternoon had ramped back up the second her hand touched the door knob to meet her date. Thinking about all of the things she’s ever done this seemed like the scariest. Every training that could end in pain, every mission perfectly planned out that could still end with her death and it had nothing on dating. The uncertainty of what to expect and how to act had Aria’s hand trembling. Giving herself a silent pep talk as she made her way out to the common area.

'You can do this, Aria. You can do this. It'll be fine. He likes you and thinks you're worth being with.'

Not knowing what to do with her hands, she repeatedly flexed them at her sides to get rid of the shakes while she took determined strides down the long hallways with her head up straight. Pepper and Peter's pep talks had helped a lot, but she was still nervous. Like really, really nervous. She hoped Bucky liked what she was wearing. What if it was too much though? He did say tonight would be like when they hung out. She didn't know if that meant they were doing any of the date stuff she'd googled. Just in case, she'd dressed nicely.

Seeing as Aria usually wore leggings and a plain t-shirt when they hung out she never really thought about trying to impress him until today. Glancing down at the dress she had chosen, she bit her lip. It wasn't super fancy but it was pretty. Pepper had helped her pick it for tonight. She said the dark red dress matched well with her skin tone and that the neckline was nice without being too revealing. Pepper and the sales woman had paired the dress with black strappy wedges. It'd been a while since she wore heels so she figured these would help ease her into wearing them again.

Almost at the end of the hall that led to the kitchen, Aria could hear several people talking. She took one more deep breath. 'You can do this.' Stepping into the room she kept her eyes on the ground for a second to center herself. Looking up she saw Tony looking at her with a wide smile. Sam, Peter, Ned and Loki all turn to see what he was looking at with such affection. Peter ran over to give Aria a brief hug then stepped back to look her up and down. "You look amazing!"

He had already seen her in the dress earlier, but he hadn’t seen the whole look. Besides, as her best friend he'd have told her she looked nice even if she was wearing a sack. Same with Ned, And Sam? Well, he was Sam. "Hot damn, Lark. You actually are a girl." He grins at her from his spot at the counter as Tony smacked his chest. Aria didn’t mind. They were back on friendly terms since he had fixed the damages to her closet and had gotten her a gift card to replace the clothes that got shredded.

"Thanks, I guess." She scrunches her eyebrows together. He winks at her reassuring her that it really was a joke.

Coming over Tony opens his arms in warning of the impending hug he was going to give her. "Was this the girl emergency you needed help with?" Aria nods, fiddling with her hands. "You look so beautiful, Ninja." Flustered, she glanced away and saw Loki staring at her. He silently kept his distance, but his eyes roaming over her slowly spoke volumes. Aria just wasn't sure what exactly they were saying.

Crossing her arms under her breasts Aria glared at him without the usual heat of anger in her eyes. "What?" It came out a little more hostile than she had intended, but he was staring at her and not saying anything.

Loki being Loki, a slow smirk spreads across his handsome face while he raises a coal black eyebrow. "You look absolutely stunning. Red is definitely your color, darling."

The Asgardian rarely said anything he didn't mean when he talked to her. Probably because she was one of the few who could actually tell when he was lying. Blushing, Aria quietly thanked him. He and Aria had become friends of a sort recently. They had bonded over their shared love of daggers. After lunch one day they had gotten to talking. Coming up to her, Loki told Aria that he was fascinated by her abilities and admired the craftsmanship of her blades. Without thinking about it she had made him a set of daggers to keep. Loki had been surprised but pleased. He'd returned the surprise by extending an offer to help her and Bucky with Pete's knife training. So far they were still feeling each other out, it was a day by day kind of thing.