Along Came a Spider ...

[twelve_not_fourteen]

Were Han another kind of man, he might be concerned that "the plaza" is not all that specific of a meet up point. The thing is, he has all types of rendezvous with people where he comes from that are planned only in light details. Sometimes on even less than what he and Nat agreed upon yesterday. At least he got a time in this case.

One of the few instances where the Captain puts faith in something beyond himself ... when two people are meant to find each other, they do. And when they aren't meant to, they won't. A lot of bitter pills of all kinds were swallowed in learning that particular lesson, but it's one he knows to be true.

She said she would be there. With the strange qualifier that she might be busy needing to 'save the world'. Something he didn't really know how to interpret truth be told - a joke maybe? Hard to tell when nearly all the things she says comes in that difficult to discern tone. Even then, she said she would find him later.

That makes him generally more optimistic that he'll see her here, then not.

Han is trying to look casual, while leaning on the outside of one of the shops in the plaza. His eyes weaving though the crowd looking for that person he found drifting in and out of his thoughts ... like wisps of smoke since he met her.

Comments

[red_room]

If she is his practice partner, he's going to get all kinds of good at doing it to everyone else. Natasha plays her cards close to her chest, and even when she doesn't, you have to wonder if that's done calculated and on purpose too (the answer is yes).

The fact that he's been enjoying himself around her even after seeing her with her 'work' face on, rather than backing away or getting uncomfortable, has Natasha cautiously pleased. He still doesn't know her--not that she expects him to. But he's either very foolish or very brave, and Natasha hasn't quite figured out which it is yet.

She's not sure it has to be either or. Clint was always both, after all. And catching herself comparing Han to the legendary sharpshooter Hawkeye makes Natasha smile privately to herself, her chin tucked downward briefly to hide it from view.

It's definitely a point in his favor, whether he knows it or not.

"Oh, the usual. Check my algorithms to see if I've breached the database I'm cracking, clean my weapons, strip down a bit and go training." She could be kidding or serious about any or all of those. Judging by the cheeky smile, at least the last one was said purely to get a reaction.

[twelve_not_fourteen]

Oh, don't you worry Natasha. That line doesn't get worked in there just to get ignored. He won't let you down in that respect.

"Yeah, the skin tight black number would have you way over-dressed for whatever training you might be doing." He might be teasing, but there's a touch of something in his eyes that's easy to tell what it means ... even though the look only hangs around for a second.

He finds the idea of her stripping, even if it's only the mental image, an appealing one.

"What time is usually good for getting a hold of you?" The kind of question that only someone without cell phone experience would ask. The convenience of text messaging and voicemail versus radio communication he doesn't quite get yet.

[red_room]

"It tends to intimidate training partners when I go with full weaponry attached to my person. Two guns, several knives, and her shock batons are visible. The rest of her arsenal is a bit trickier to spot, even with the skintight suit.

His question makes her smile more fond. Is the sort of question Rogers would ask, before he acclamated to living in the future. She misses those days sometimes. Things felt simpler then. Even though the world was still ending.

"Anytime. The devices record audio and text messages and store them for whenever the listener hastime to check them. So I may not answer right away, but I'll get the message. "

[twelve_not_fourteen]

Han gives her a once-over with his eyes. Again. It's just been kind of a continuing series of once-overs. Perhaps some of these eye gropes she didn't even catch because he is trying to be subtle about it. He can't help it.

The outfit is awfully distracting, okay?

"Intimate them more, you mean. Looking across from you in a sparring match is probably intense either way." She'd be in his head for sure.

Listening to her answer, he nods. It sounds like a pretty convenient device. He's gotta wonder how often he'll remember to check it or carry it around when he's not used to having one, but ... at least it sounds like he'll be able to get back to people later.

[red_room]

It's supposed to be. The psychological factor isn't lost on Natasha. She uses every angle to her advantage, including her body. Though she uses her body as much as a weapon as any other thing she carries. When you can suffocate someone with a thigh lock and throw them across a room among other moves, you can call your body a lethal weapon.

"It's supposed to be." Natasha agrees with Han's sentiment. Her smile turns a bit sharp, only backing up his observation more. It's difficult to tell if she's trying to scare him or flirt. Maybe both? Neither?

The shop isn't much to look at from the outside. There's a clean and neat sign out front and inside are rows of the devices lined up on shelves along the wall. There seems to be a huge range of them, in varying stages of tech and ability. The spy makes her way immediately over to a corner to compare her own device with one of the ones on display.

Han doesn't need one that's crazy smart right yet. Basic cellphone package/camera/data plan should be good for him for now. At least until he learns how to use the damn thing. Any extra features would only be dangerous and/or confuse the man.

If he hasn't followed her over, Natasha will wave him down to where she is. The demo phone is placed into his hand.

"What do you think? Will it fit in your pocket? Your hand? DO you need one that's water proof? Bullet proof? They make all kinds of things here. Though to be honest, this thing is simple enough that you probably don't have to bother. It would be cheaper just to replace it unless we're talking you destroying the damn thing every other day."

[twelve_not_fourteen]

The thing that he appreciates most about Nat is that she's like no other person he's met before. Sure, he's seen shades of her in others, but she's dialed up to eleven most of the time. He has to wonder if she's always like this or if, maybe when he gets to know her, he'll see another side of her.

At any rate, he's far too fascinated by her to let a Cheshire smile scare him off. His look back at her cool and confident, with perhaps a slight raise in his eyebrows when that smile looks it's most dangerous.

Dangerous with a cell phone? How much trouble do you think this man can ... yeah, she's probably right to think that way. More likely to be confused though.

"I don't imagine I'll need anything that stands up to your earth bullets." He's had the pleasure of seeing one of those firearms in action and he finds them a tad ... savage. This coming from the guy whose world has vibrating bladed weapons. "And I don't see much water most of the time."

What he notices is that the phones seem to predominantly be divided by if they have a lot of analog things to trigger or if they've got those fancy touch screens the way Chris' phone is. Unsurprisingly Han tends to gravitate towards the former. Just as well. Those phones tend to be easier to learn on. Right now he's eyeing a Blackberry Bold 9700.

[red_room]

Natasha's been around fighters her entire life. Her coworkers are no exception. Well. Except for one. The man who'd avoid fighting because he knew he'd win. He's the one who taught her that there are other kinds of strong, even if he'd ripped her heart out to do so.

It's because of Banner that Natasha is housing Chris. Is protecting him. And it's because of him that she doesn't write off Han Solo just because she doesn't see a fighter in him. Rather, that she doesn't and he doesn't seem to be afraid of her despite that makes her want to tease him all the more.

There isn't enough history between them for her to think much more about it than that as of yet. But she is thinking about it, whether Han realizes it or not.

"My earth bullets?" Natasha quirks the corner of her mouth up. "Honey, you haven't seen my Earth bullets. Nothing stands in their way." He doesn't mean it like that, and she knows it. "You want to hit up the shooting range when we're done here? Have a friendly competition?" She may not be Hawkeye but she's trained with him for years.

What she doesn't tease him about is his choice of phones. She could--lord knows she could think of a million snarky comments about it. But she remembers seeing the design of the Falcon and its interior. Knows how his tech looks. Why wouldn't he want a phone that is somewhat familiar to the way he thinks?

"That one's good too." She sets the smooth touchscreen phone down that she was holding and moves over to inspect it. "Gotta be careful with it. More buttons means more things that can break. Still, it seems pretty...you. I can still teach you how to use that."

[twelve_not_fourteen]

"I'll shoot with you anytime, sweetheart." Han is pretty accurate with his shot, but where he really excels is in his draw time. For a human that is a non-force user, he's awfully fast. "Hell, it sounds like fun."

As for the phone choice, he likes to have things to push, okay? Have you seen how many triggers, levers and switches there are in his ship? And that's ignoring the way he pushes people. At least he didn't go for the Razar.

"They all seem alright as far as I can tell. I'm willing to put my cellular future in your hands though, Nat."

[red_room]

"Natasha."

She doesn't explain right away, plucking the Blackberry out of his fingers and sashaying over to the cashier to pay for the phone like she had with their breakfast earlier.

"They all get the job done, one way or another. I think you'll like this, and once you're used to it I'll help you find an upgrade when you need one." She tucks her hair behind her ear as she looks back over her shoulder at him before handing over the box his actual phone comes in. The demo isn't really for buying after all.

"You have your piece on you? If not I can lend you one of mine. Lord knows I have enough." She heads for the door, holding it open for Han to follow after her. "But first, I should show you how to use this."

[twelve_not_fourteen]

Her name. He earned her name. Sure, Chris and Josh already told him what it was, but now he can actually call her that. Just knowing that makes him feel like he won something.

And with all the paying for stuff she's been doing for him today, he figures he should do something nice for her. Probably he'll try when she's not expecting it. She might even let him get away with it if she doesn't see it coming.

The box is accepted, but before he can thank her, she gets to asking him if he's packing. Which will get her an 'are you serious' look. Yes, he's wearing his DL-44. It's on his thigh. He's always got it on him unless he knows he's going somewhere that weapons aren't permitted.

In which case, he brings a less favored blaster and usually something he's tried to conceal. Depends on the situation.

"Sure," he says as he follows her out the door, "I suppose we should probably go somewhere quiet where you can teach and I wont be as distracted."

[red_room]

"Should I change clothes then, if the goal is to not have you be distracted?" This time Natasha is definitely teasing. He can have that one, as well as her name.

"Or is this another 'subtle' attempt to invite me back to your ship, Captain Solo?"

[twelve_not_fourteen]

"I said not as distracted." He points out. "I like the level of distraction that comes in ... save my world uniform."

He's not sure how else to describe her outfit and the concept of superhero still hasn't been especially well explained to him. He's not even sure that Natasha qualifies. Does she have powers? Are powers needed? It's all a little grey for him.

"If I'm being perfectly honest, it's hard for me to imagine anything between us happening that's not completely on your terms." For better or for worse. "If I thought dragging you to my cave and clubbing your inhibitions away with booze was actually going to work, I'd say 'yes'."

[red_room]

"At least you're honest." It seems to be a satisfactory reply the way her eyes crinkle slightly when she grins back. "It's practical for what I find myself doing more often than not these days." Nothing extra to get caught, ripped, or grabbed. Weapons easily within reach.

If she wanted to go truly unnoticed she'd do so in a different outfit.

"...And clever. I like that." She nods along with Han's observations. "And that doesn't bother you any?" Natasha is genuinely curious on that front, but she still arches her eyebrow as though she may be teasing.

It won't take very long at all to find an empty couch in the Plaza where Natasha can take a seat and begin unpackaging the phone and it's various booklets.

[twelve_not_fourteen]

It dawned on Han that, probably, if she didn't the attention that the skin tight number was going to get her ... she would have brought a change of clothes. Or stopped at her apartment on the way. It's why he doesn't feel all that bad about checking her out.

"Does it bother me?" He says out loud. You can practically see the thoughts tumbling around in his head while he thinks about the question. Funny that someone who is a stone face at the card table can be so expressive otherwise.

"I think on some level if you're a decent guy, it's always that way." He says after a moment. "We can flirt and suggest all we want, but ..." His voice trails off. The rest doesn't need to be said. Trying to force yourself on anyone is just wrong.

And possibly suicidal if you try it on someone like Ms. Romanov.

Anyway Solo takes a second to decide in his mind what is socially appropriate distance to sit from Nat on the couch given how long they've know each other. And then sits a little bit closer than that. Because Scoundrel.

"I admire your strength."

[red_room]

"I think we both know it's a little different when it comes to me." Especially given her penchant to never say precisely what's on her mind. They could be making out somewhere or in an entirely altogether different state of connection somewhere more private, and Han still wouldn't have any idea where he stands with Natasha.

"And I..." She draws the word out, giving the captain a once over from head to toe at his distance apart from her when she has everything removed from its packaging, "admire your guts. Here's the phone. Are you going to bother reading any of the manuals if I give them to you?"

[twelve_not_fourteen]

How much he'll get let in by her will almost exclusively be based on how much she decides to let him in. Good as he is at trying to get a read on people, it seems nigh impossible to see past her facade.

His ace in the hole is Chris. It's possible that if he feels like he needs to know something important about her, he could find out from him, but that's an option he's very cautious about using. He could stand to make people he cares about hurt or angry at him if he missteps there.

"Not anytime soon." He admits. "I actually do tend to read manuals for things on long trips, but since I'm not likely to go on one of those anytime soon ... I figure I'll mostly have this phone thing sorted before that point."

Not to mention plenty of people around him who are experts to call upon for guidance.

"Tell me something." He says as his eyes narrow in thought. "But be as sparse in detail as possible. Are you impressed with my guts because of what's going on right now or because of something that I might do someday?"

[red_room]

"Fair enough, and still better than most men I've ever met." Natasha smirks and tucks the manuals back into the box rather than tossing them away with the rest of the packaging. He's free to read those on a quiet rainy night or somesuch at his leisure.

The question he poses next makes Natasha pause. She gives him a long, scrutinizing look, before shaking her head.

"There would be no point in admiring your guts for something you've never done. This You may never do the things people have heard in stories. You should only be judged by what you choose to do in the here and now, not what some version of you may or may not have done."

It's something she's given a lot of thought since meeting an alternate version of her most trusted friend and learning how different he is. She can't assume Han will ever make his fateful trip across the galaxy, helping drive back the Empire. Not if he's here.

Even if he wasn't. Alternate realities are a bitch.

"I admire your guts for not being afraid of me." She clarifies slowly, her eyes narrowed in kind.

[twelve_not_fourteen]

"I agree with you." He says with a shrug.

That said, people are doing it anyway. And he knows it because people who have never been to his galaxy recognize his ship and look at it with awe. Or they come up with a certain respect that he doesn't get at home where he actually deserves the recognition.

Those are just the subtle ways. That doesn't include when people smack into his fourth wall entirely.

"I'm wary of you." He says after shaking multiverse concerns out of his head. And he's sure that it's a matter of time before he goes too far and he will end up with bruises to show for it, but ...

"I'm not afraid though."

[red_room]

"It can be hard to reconcile what people think they know about you. I understand. Like it or not, to people like the kid I'm housing, we're both household names. You even moreso than me. It's part of the reason I'm being more upfront about who and what I am. Everyone from a huge chunk of worlds already knows. Thinks they do, anyway."

She shakes her head. It's frustrating, but the confusion offers her a different kind of concealment if she tries hard enough to work the angles.

"You should be. Widows bite, after all." He has no idea. "That's why I like your guts. Not many people say that about me."

[twelve_not_fourteen]

"I don't think you want me to be afraid." He says point blank. Nothing that he's observed tells him that, but ... Han was blessed with a good sense of intuition. He tends to know when things are about to go wrong. Sees things that other people should be more likely to notice than him.

"And even if you do." He says with a slight wave of his hand. "I know you're hoping I'm not like other men."

[red_room]

"What I want and reality don't tend to mix very often." Natasha points out. She can't control how other people feel, much as she might like to on occasion. She can influence, manipulate. But control? No. That requires powers Natasha does not have nor want.

She's been on the receiving end. She's not a fan.

"I'm hoping you're as interesting as you make yourself out to be."

[twelve_not_fourteen]

"Let's cheat then, Natasha." That voice of his can get so deep, but there's a richness in it, sometimes a softeness too. "We'll make up our own rules."

Maybe he got a little to assertive there, but he doesn't take back anything he says. He's pretty sure that she doesn't want everyone to be afraid of her. Who in their right mind would? And he's pretty sure he's not like most men. In an interesting way.

So far she doesn't seem especially bored with him. So far, they've been making excuses to spend more time together than not over the last two days. He should be somewhat confident.

Don't back down, Solo, but ... it's probably time to be careful how much you push.

He picks himself up from the couch and adjusts himself so that he can lean in - elbows to the knees - to see what he might learn about this phone, without completely being in her personal space. Just ... a little bit. He glances over into the box she's still got.

"So it looks like there's a battery that goes in there and a charger." He might have to set himself with a small generator so he has something to plug those two and three pronged devices into, but he can figure that out without her.

[red_room]

That's a honey coated voice that Natasha is sure has won over many a woman into the Captain's quarters for the night. It may not have that effect on her, but it doesn't mean she can't enjoy it for what it is. Her lips quirk upwards ever so slightly, and she angles her head so she's looking at Han through her eyelashes with a half lidded gaze. She can play this game. It's a fun game to play. A game of chess, with every move and glance and breath calculated.

Her smile isn't as genuine as it had been for that brief moment in the diner, but it's still there. Persistent and amused.

"Yeah. Don't mess with the battery if you can help it, just leave it in there. Opening the case is just inviting crud to get in. This cord has an adapter on one end that plugs into a wall socket, or into a computer or charge station by pulling out the USB plug from the adapter."

She points to each object as it gets named, so that Han can follow along with her explanation easier.

"Depending on the model, it takes a few hours to charge fully. It's pretty common for people to just plug their phones in when they go to sleep at night."

[twelve_not_fourteen]

There's a couple of things that she doesn't have right in her thought process. Firstly, there is no Captain's quarters, there's a cabin that's the size of a spacious walk in closet which he shares with Chewbacca, with a few other empty bunks pushed against each wall.

Secondly, for a number of different reasons, his sexual conquests rarely happen in the Falcon. Generally, the woman in question would need to be awfully special to him to make the exception.

Thirdly, he ain't playing a game with her. His actions might have him falling on his face with her, but they're real to him. He'd love to get through that tough shell of hers, so he could be a little more of himself around her too.

As it is, he doesn't know her reactions have that ... hollowness to them, because she's better at lying with her actions than he is at seeing through them. Something tells him he mistepped somewhere, though. He can feel it. But he can't read her thoughts and he can't control her actions either.

Jesus Nat, this guy with a computer?! Not anytime soon

"That seems straight forward enough." He says pursing his lips in thought. "Is it charged enough for us to turn it on now?"

[red_room]

It doesn't occur to Natasha that Han's words are genuine because who would be such around someone like her? He's like she is, a mystery wrapped in an enigma of lies. Made to manipulate and to swindle. He doesn't have the earnest obliviousness that the men she's let close to her have had in the past, which isn't a bad thing necessarily.

But it also means she doesn't realize it's not a game. Perhaps it's Natasha who missteps. When he doesn't call her out or step up his game, Natasha watches him for several long seconds before she nods and returns to the task at hand.

"Yeah. This button here is the master power button. You don't generally need to turn it on and off, they'll go into a standby mode automatically if left alone for a specified period of time. But if it dies or locks up and you need to reboot, here's where you do it."