cold_shoulder | Sample scene flavor one for marvel

Since they had given him the assignment to train operatives, the Winter Soldier had seen quite a few go through the Red Room - the training for which happened far from only in any particular room. Most of them were fast and precise and eager to do things right. Some of them were smart and could be taught to be quick-thinking.

But nobody had been using their mind to the objective at hand until she had appeared, gun in one hand and grenade in the other. Brave, determined, beautiful. Not allowing herself to be distracted from the tasks she had, and at the same time with a hint of a sense of humor which meshed inexplicably well with him, somewhere below the level of his usual thought processes.

He's been watching, yes.

Natalia Romanova.

He'd been watching others try to emulate her, too, and had been greatly amused at girls imitating her motions without fully realizing the ideas behind them. And then feel disappointed at failing.

But mostly, he'd been watching her. He wasn't allowed access to much information about her; that was classified and not a part of his assignment. So he'd been piecing things together. Little things betrayed by her motions, but her reactions to knowledge betrayed by others.

And he'd been watching the beauty of her. The dancer training was clear in everything from her flexibility to the graceful efficiency of her motions. It stirred something in him. Something warm and unknown and strange, separate from the definite physical desire. The latter he could define and control. The former... it confused him. And drew him closer to her, until the evening when, all exercises complete, he knocked on her window.

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"Yes." His lips twitched up in the ghost of a smile. "I believe you will."

Because training could become mission before it was expected, and because the sooner one shifted the way of thinking about what was happening, the deeper roots it would take.

But he did notice the too-wide eyes and eased slightly, opening his hands, palms towards her ever so slightly.

"You want to know people. All people. The most important things... the most important tasks are played in the mind. The physical, it's only to get through to where you can actually work." Small shrug. "So that is why I want to know you. So I know what you need to learn, try to make sure you get to learn it."

At least... that was one of the reasons.

I just want to didn't sound like a good enough one, so he tried to drown it in words.

He believed in her, that was what she took from his statement, and from that fleeting smile. He saw potential in her and it drew her own lips up. Perfectly shaped full lips, pretty white teeth and a sparkle that reached those emerald eyes. When Natalia smiled, really and truly smiled, she was radiant. Something Red Room hadn't yet taken from her or used for it's own purposes, one of those secret things that few saw.

It was that Natalia was thought of as glowering or overly serious. She was lively and even humorous when not training. She was considered popular if one could call a trained killer such a thing. But this, a moment of true guileless sincerity was rarely scene. But there it was, for her Comrade.

"So I should study everyone? It seems so much, do I study one at a time? How do I even begin?" Her brow creased as she thought, already working out how do you even begin to study people and as an extension how do you do so without being caught doing it?

"Would you allow me to study you? Then you could judge how well I am doing it." She could easily study his mannerisms, movements, habits...his mind though was not so freely given.

It was his turn for wider eyes - slightly, more noticeable than it would have been minutes ago because much of the usual scowl had smoothed away. That was a breath-taking smile, and he couldn't help answering it a little bit. Less fleetingly this time.

"I would expect you to study me." There was a tinge of sadness to the reply, but then, it was a cynical world he was going to introduce her to. Eventually. "But the beginning... the beginning is yourself. The better you know your own mind, the less others will sabotage you by surprise."

His eyes had caught the time, and while he could keep going, she probably could use her sleep. It had been quite a bit of talking he had done, anyway. Almost like a lecture in itself. For the hour...

"Over the next few days, try to observe yourself. What prompts your decisions. The ideas that get you praised - how do you reach them? Who do you pay attention to and who do you ignore? What affects your reaction times in different activities... anything that you can notice about yourself." Gentler, he added in warning, "it's not an easy task. But it's worth the effort."

And his eyebrows twitched slightly up, then down. Time for more questions, if she had them.

"We've been instructed to do as we're told." This thinking on her own business was counter to the obey without question line she been told thus far. That she even spoke back to him was out of her usual character, for some reason the note of disappointment in his voice stung. She didn't know why, aside from valuing his teaching as everyone did.

Observe herself. Well that sounded easy enough, except that he stated it wouldn't be. Natalia looked away from him, trying to understand her own reaction. If she was to study herself she should begin now. He was disappointed and she felt humbled, defensive, wanting to make an excuse. Just why was that? It was puzzling, now she began to understand why he said it would not be an easy task. But she would prove to him she could do it!

"Will you come again?" It was important to her to know.

"And do as we're told we will," he answered, a smidgen too quickly. Why hadn't he thought of that? Other than the knowledge that some autonomy is necessary for actual work... he didn't know. Thinking independently was a necessity, and obeying orders was a necessity, and the two were contradictory and thinking over that was giving him a fierce headache. So maybe he would be thinking that over another time. "This is for the situations when orders are incomplete. The party knows best, and we are but its tools."

But his lips did curve up again, not quite the smile of a few moments ago, but a smile nonetheless. A promise. "I will come again." Quick nod, and he was turning to open the window again. "I'll see you tomorrow at practice, Natalia. Sleep well."

Disappointed? No, he wasn't. If anything, the bright flame that she was in his mind was burning even more brightly.

But she did need the rest.

"We do." She agreed, but already in her mind she was paring that with the effectiveness of one who could work outside the boundaries of orders. If one took some license with method, tactic it would disarm those who expected a certain way of thinking. It could easily give advantage and be harder to predict. It was sound logic and she would hold on to it. "I understand. It is another strategy, when others are not available. Like the dance if your partner misses a step you must be ready to compensate creatively or the grace is lost."

She equated it to what she knew and it made sense to her. She could accept this and make it part of her training as well, look outside the given objective and plan to see other options, variables and outcomes.

She brightened when he said he would return, she wasn't entirely sure why but it pleased her, as did his smile. "I will see you then." And obediently she scooted down in her bed and pulled the covers up. He bid her good night and that was her order to sleep. She trusted him to close the window behind him and she tucked a hand under her cheek, curled on her side she watched him as he departed. He will return, her smile only faded after she drifted off to sleep.

A small smile played on his lips as he did close the window behind him, then sat for a moment longer, looking through the layers of glass into the dark room asthough he could make something out.

Then he set off,climbing out to the roof, and then started moving. Fast and far.

He was far out by the time he stopped, crouching on a ledge, panting from the exertion and looking out into the night. Trying to figure out... where it had all come from. And what it meant. What it was going to mean.

Somewhat contrary to his own instructions to her, he barely got any sleep, that night.

Sample scene flavor one for marvel_universe

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