Steve Rogers thought he was one of the lucky ones but Natasha Romanoff, well, she thought that she was terribly misfortunate and she would love to kick fate's ass. In a world where soulmates are real, unequivocal marks etched on skin signifying an i...
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Steve Rogers had seen many beautiful things in his lifetime, but there was nothing like the view from the Stark Tower. High up in the clouds, he could see Manhattan and beyond, the skyline stretching endlessly as life carried on in the city below him. He had never thought that he would find himself working in a skyscraper, but Fury had instructed him to read through everything they had gathered about Loki - the augury man who had emerged from The Tesseract - and meet his teammates, the Avengers, as Fury had called them. The glass windows surrounding the conference room offered a breathtaking view, and Steve had spent over ten minutes staring out them, perceiving every small detail of the world around him.
He had really only dreamed of views like this.
The only thing more beautiful than the view from Stark Tower was Natasha Romanoff who sat beside him at the massive, glass table. She stole the breath from his lungs every time he looked at her, his body thrumming in her presence and his soulmate mark kindling with heat whenever their hands accidentally brushed or their legs touched underneath the table. It was just them and Epic in the quiet conference room while the others drifted in and out, making remarks about Loki or offering ways to stop him. No one really had a plan yet.
He was glad to be in her company as he wasn't sure what to think of the others yet. Bruce Banner was unnervingly quiet, Tony Stark was obnoxiously outspoken, and Thor was well...downright weird. Natasha had assured him that Clint, who had been apprehended by Loki, was one of the few normal ones. She did mention, however, that they all were trustworthy and he would also learn to drown out Tony's vexing quips eventually, but Steve wasn't so sure. The man was just an incredibly, eccentric person.
The room had been quiet other than the sound of Epic chewing her bone as they had been reading through the hundreds of files Fury gave them to look over. Well, they had been reading them until over two hours had passed and the words had begun to blur together, muddling Steve's mind into asininity. He had sparked a conversation with Natasha and now in a surprising turn of events, she was teaching him Epic's commands in Russian.
"No, it's вниз." [Down.] She laughed at Steve's attempt to speak her native language, the words rolling off her tongue effortlessly while Steve slurred and stumbled over them like a drunk.
He was fluent in French, Spanish, and German but for some reason, Russian wasn't coming easily to him. He knew it had something to do with the beautiful Russian in front of him who he simply couldn't take his eyes off. She was quite the distraction.
Epic, already in a down command, tilted her head at Natasha in confusion. Steve couldn't help but chuckle at the dog's expression as he looked down at her and then back at the beautiful woman. "Tell her to stand." She told him encouragingly, leaning back in her leather chair and propping her feet up on the table as if watching him try to speak Russian was entertaining to her.
Well, it probably was.
He was sure he sounded ridiculous.
"Эпично, стой." [Epic, stand.] He said, focusing on the words that felt so unfamiliar on his tongue. His blonde eyebrows creased in concentration as he watched Epic. Her dark eyes shifted to him as he spoke the command and then to his utter relief, she jumped up to stand beside him, her tail wagging excitedly. "Oh, you're such a good girl." He praised the German Shepherd, combing his fingers through her long, black fur and smiling as she pranced around him. Before Project: Rebirth, he had never been able to have pets because of his allergies, but he had always wanted a dog. It wasn't feasible now, but he hoped if he ever retired as Captain America, he would be able to adopt a dog from the city shelter and discover the joys of having a loyal companion.
