When Natalia Romanova first arrived at SHIELD (this is a euphemism, and all is not as the stories are told), she didn't really eat.
"Natasha Romanoff," she corrected brusquely across the table from Coulson.
Coulson was doing an admirable job of being patient and understanding and treating her like a valued new recruit rather than a dangerous threat who had probably determined twelve different ways to dispatch him using nothing more than her sandwich and plate, but Clint could see the faint frustration in the lines around Coulson's mouth. Natasha was being polite but uncooperative.
Clint watched the food move around and around on her plate. She had carefully picked the lettuce out of her sandwich, shredded it into tiny pieces, and replaced it again. She had cut it into eight pieces with her butter knife and spread the mustard more. She'd even chopped her sliced tomatoes, but she had yet to eat more than the tiniest nibble, and he suspected she hadn't swallowed it.
It was another point of her declining to cooperate. It wasn't just a quirk.
FIC: 5 Times the Black Widow Played with Her Food and Hawkeye Watched (M, no warnings)
"Natasha Romanoff," she corrected brusquely across the table from Coulson.
Coulson was doing an admirable job of being patient and understanding and treating her like a valued new recruit rather than a dangerous threat who had probably determined twelve different ways to dispatch him using nothing more than her sandwich and plate, but Clint could see the faint frustration in the lines around Coulson's mouth. Natasha was being polite but uncooperative.
Clint watched the food move around and around on her plate. She had carefully picked the lettuce out of her sandwich, shredded it into tiny pieces, and replaced it again. She had cut it into eight pieces with her butter knife and spread the mustard more. She'd even chopped her sliced tomatoes, but she had yet to eat more than the tiniest nibble, and he suspected she hadn't swallowed it.
It was another point of her declining to cooperate. It wasn't just a quirk.
(rest on AO3)