Kill Your Mind ⋙ Avengers

f o u r t e e n

[E D I T E D]

PEACE OF MIND
❝life is simply a mix of mayhem and magnolias, so embrace this gentle riot and gather flowers along the way.❞

14. Belligerent Betrayals

❝I'm sorry for offending you.❞

Elizabeth mumbles, finally. It'd been a whole ten minutes of silence between the two before it got too much. It had been three days since the party and everything had gotten back to as normal as it used to be. Clint and Bruce returned from wherever they had left to, Thor was still in Asgard however, and the Avengers seemed to be as calm as they would get. Jarvis had failed to find any sign of Katherine. They'd all had a mission the day before, meaning that Elizabeth was left alone in the Tower for the evening, but had returned promptly and all in one piece. Yet, there was still an underlying awkwardness between the young girl and Natasha. Of course, Natasha wasn't awkward. Elizabeth wasn't sure if that word was even in the woman's dictionary as she always seemed cool and unbothered but a more correct term would be 'aggressive'. Not that Natasha was being flat out rude but she'd not spoken to Elizabeth since and whenever the pair were in a room together; the elder female would act even colder than usual.

So, Elizabeth had finally apologised. For what, she wasn't sure, but she'd apologised. She only hoped that the woman would accept it.

Natasha looked up, eyebrows furrowed, and faced the girl. They were in the kitchen alone. They'd been eating with Steve, Clint and Bruce, Tony being in his lab as usual, but the men had left quickly to go do other pressing tasks which meant that the females were left alone together. Elizabeth had spent most of the morning humming. She'd had a tune stuck in her head for a few days and had been humming it to herself since the party. She supposed it were a song that was played in the background but, when the men left, Elizabeth made sure to hum it quieter as to not annoy Natasha further. Of course, Elizabeth couldn't have just walked out without seemingly being rude so she'd stayed opposite Natasha and ate her cereal whilst humming to herself. Natasha continued to stare at the girl for a long time. Around twenty seconds of solid staring. It was uncomfortable to say the least but Elizabeth was just glad that her gaze didn't seem spiteful or full of pent up anger. Instead, the Black Widow seemed calculating. She'd hesitated at first, before choosing her words carefully.

❝And how did you offend me?❞

It wasn't condescending, like she was making sure a child knew what they were apologising for, but was genuinely curious as to if Elizabeth understood the complexity of what the issue was. That stumped the young girl, however, and Natasha knew immediately that the person opposite her was simply apologising because she felt that it was her fault.