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The kiss cam at a baseball game persistently targets Steve and Natasha.
• • •
Baseball?
It wasn't really Natasha Romanoff's thing.
She actually couldn't recall ever watching the game because it was like waiting for paint to dry. However, she would never say that aloud because her good friend and colleague, Steve Rogers, loved to cheer on the Dodgers. It made him happy, and she loved to see him smile because he was her friend, after all. Once upon a time, she had even feigned interest in the game. They had been getting to know one another after Fury assigned them as partners before S.H.I.E.L.D. fell in a fiery fury. Steve quickly realized she didn't know what the words he was saying meant - outfield, infield, inning, bunt (she had really been sitting there wondering how many terms one sport could use). He teased her for not telling him that she didn't care for the sport, but she cared for his interests so sue her for trying.
The first time she even saw a baseball game was on Steve Rogers' television at his apartment in Washington D.C.. She had been too exhausted to drive home after a grueling, solo mission, and he insisted she stay for her 'safety.' She didn't think anyone had ever worried about her because she was a Black Widow, but she tried to disregard the thrum of her heart and tried not to think too hard about staying the night at his place because they were friends. She ended up curling up on his couch under a thick blanket as he sat beside her reading the post-mission report as the television played The Office, a show she introduced to him months ago. She had been dangerously comfortable, her head on his thigh and his hand resting on her shoulder, as she drifted in and out of sleep. She hadn't even noticed him changing the channel (nor did she care) to a baseball game. He had lowered the volume, and she fell asleep to his fingers running through her hair.
She knew he thought she was already asleep.
A lot had changed since then.
They were mostly good changes, living in the Avengers Tower with her team and spending more time in Steve's suite than in her own. They were closer now and not dating, contrary to the rumors. One day at brunch over bottomless mimosas with Maria Hill, she joked the world would know if she and Steve started dating (which they wouldn't, they were just friends) because she wouldn't be able to keep her hands to herself. Maria had laughed, nearly falling out of her chair and telling her that she would be the luckiest girl in the world if Steve was her man.
They had toasted to that.
Now, Natasha definitely didn't feel like the luckiest girl in the world after she was roped into attending a New York Yankees game on her first Saturday off in a long time. Tony had asked her if she wanted to go because he reserved a private suite for them, and she politely declined. Then, Steve asked if she was going and that he would love to take her out to dinner after... how could she refuse an offer like that? She figured she could eat all the junk food she wanted, get a little tipsy on cheap beer, and enjoy dinner with Steve because she always relished in his company. Seeing him in his jersey and goofing off with their friends when he always carried the weight of the world upon his shoulders helped her entirely forget her dislike for baseball. It wasn't so bad listening to him laugh as she ate M&M's and conversed with Pepper about anything and everything.
