The Orange Debacle
Natasha yawned and opened the refrigerator door in the kitchen. Her hands reached for a container of Greek yogurt and a small package of blueberries and after closing the fridge door, she opened the bag of bagels in the breadbox and put one on her plate. She didn't feel like cooking a heavy breakfast. It was just one of those days.
Humming to herself, Natasha mixed the tiny blue fruit into her bowl of yogurt. "Oh. I almost forgot the juice." She went back to the fridge and pulled out the carton of orange juice and poured herself a glass. There wasn't much left in the container and she frowned. Why did the other masculine members of the Avengers always happen to leave the orange juice with nary a cup left inside the carton?
Men.
Well, at least there was about two cups in this particular carton. Natasha suspected that either Tony or Thor had left the small amount of juice in the fridge for her to find as a means of teasing her. Apparently, her threats involving creative torture with a knife and a sponge didn't scare them easily. Oh, well. Next time, she would just have to booby trap the juice box so they received a shock when they touched it. Natasha's lips spread into an easy smirk and she sat down on a stool at the counter, taking a bite of her blueberry yogurt.
Familiar sounding footfalls in the hall reached her ears and she didn't look up as she said, "Morning, Rogers. How was your run?"
"Pretty good. I ran twenty-five laps today." Steve ran a hand through his hair, which was damp since he had just finished taking a shower. Natasha knew that he'd gone on a run because he always did so before breakfast.
Even though Natasha was physically got herself, she would never wake up as early as Steve did to go for a workout. She liked to sleep in. Steve liked to wake up before dawn when it was still dark.
A few times, he'd asked her to go running with him and she politely declined every time. "Your morning hours are my sleeping hours, Rogers. I operate better at night than the morning." This, of course, was a lie because Natasha could operate well no matter what time it was. However, if she was not on a mission for SHIELD, then she would be found in her bed until twelve o'clock noon. Particularly on Saturday, which just so happened to be today.
She took a sip of her orange juice and shook her head. "You're the only one who loves to run for ridiculously long periods of time this early. Did Sam join you?"
Steve opened the refrigerator and moved items around. "Yeah, but he stopped after the tenth lap. Said he needed a break. I guess sometimes I forget my own vitality."
"Oh, I'm not the least bit surprised. I'm sure you have enough energy to fuel the entire team. At least, that's what Wanda says."
A chuckle came from behind her and more rummaging in the fridge made Natasha swirl around in her chair. "Do you need help looking for something, Rogers? Or are you just exercising your fingers?" She asked.
Steve looked at her and rolled his eyes. "No...I'm looking for the orange juice. We still have some right?"
She took another sip of her juice and replied, "No. We're all out now. I have the last of it here." She pointed to her glass.
Those blue eyes stared at the glass and Natasha instinctively moved the cup closer to her. She didn't like the way Steve was looking at her juice.
"Nuh-uh. Forget it, Rogers. This is my juice now. The grocery store is five minutes away. You can go buy some more if you want, but this is mine. I'm not sharing."
"Aw, come on, Nat. I was really looking forward to that orange juice. I promise I'll buy you a whole carton if you just give me your glass."
Her green eyes squinted and she watched him carefully. Natasha got out of her stool, orange juice in hand and slowly backed up. Steve followed her with his hands out in a conciliatory gesture, but she wasn't fooled. He wasn't getting any of her juice. "I said no," she responded in a clipped tone.
"Nat, please. I'm begging you and I never beg anyone."
"And you'll keep begging, but you still aren't having any of my juice."
Sighing, Steve put his hand in his pockets and gave her a grudging look. "Alright, fine. I'll just go buy some more."
Natasha watched him turn down the hall and go back to his room before sitting back down on her stool. She took another spoonful of her yogurt and hummed satisfactorily, as she leaned back in her seat.
If she had been paying attention, she would have realized that Steve was still around the corner, waiting for a moment when he could grab her juice and drink it. It was hardly the behavior of Captain America, but right now, he wasn't Captain America, he was Steve Rogers, who had a hankering for orange juice.
Sometimes, thirst turned even the most respectable adults into greedy, duplicitous children. Such was the case of Steve because, when Natasha walked over to the sink to rinse her bowl out, he sprang forward and snatched her glass in his hands.
"Hey!" Natasha yelled and ran after Steve as he ran around the counter, dodging her so he could gulp down the rest of the juice. Natasha was not about to let him finish it, though. In mere seconds, she climbed onto the kitchen counter and threw herself on top of Steve, tackling him and causing them both to fall to the ground. Unfortunately, the orange juice spilled all over their clothes.
Steve groaned and picked up the glass, setting it on the counter as he got up. He hadn't expected Natasha to launch herself at him over a small cup of juice. "...Thanks a lot, Nat. Now I'll have to take another shower to get the orange juice out of my hair and off my skin. Was throwing yourself at me really necessary?"
"Yeah, it was, but don't worry, Rogers. I'll buy us some more orange juice. I'd hate to go without my fix."
The redhead gave him a shrewd grin and took off her jacket. She needed to take a shower too, but first, she wanted to give Steve a little more payback for taking her juice. She stepped forward, invading his space and pressed her lips to his, her tongue lapping up the tiny drops of orange juice that rested on his upper lip.
Once she pulled back, she moaned and smirked at him. The shocked look on his face was too much. It was all Natasha could do to keep from laughing. Instead, she kept her cool front and said, "You taste pretty good, Rogers. Catch you later~"
She gave him a not-so-friendly slap on the backside and took off to her room, jacket in hand. She made sure to make a tiny, yet noticeable, swish of her hips as she walked away to ensure that he'd enjoy the view.
Payback was sweet.