Foggy winces. It's worse because Matt doesn't sound accusatory. He sounds tentative, like Foggy's going to walk out the door again, and Foggy really hates feeling guilty for his completely justifiable anger. “Only at work five days a week, I know, it's pretty awful. We'll hang out sometime this weekend, okay? I've just been spending some time with Sam, reconnecting.”
“Are you dating?” That's tentative too. “You never mentioned if you did before, but when you're spending so much time ...”
“No, Matt, honestly, we're just hanging out.” He's spending way more time with the Avengers than he really means to. Natasha texts him weird videos at least twice a day, Steve laughs at his jokes, he's unexpectedly bonded with Jim Rhodes, Vision keeps asking him about points of law, and Wanda keeps plying him with tea. “When do you want me this weekend? We can spend the day together on Saturday, maybe, I don't have Saturday plans.”
Matt's shoulders relax, and he feels even worse. “I'd like that. We can have brunch, take a walk, maybe.”
“Oh God, I've just realized that your terrible sleep schedule has turned us into the kind of people who brunch. Next thing you know we're going to spend our Saturday mornings going to farmer's markets and talking about the economy.”
“You like doing both of those things,” Matt points out, because he's a filthy traitor. “You like haggling, and I like farmer's markets better than the grocery store when we can afford it.”
“Then maybe we can go to the farmer's market after brunch and admit to ourselves that we're turning into brunch people.”
Matt laughs, finally relaxed, and Foggy really hopes he can't smell relief. “We ate brunch almost every weekend at Columbia.”
“That's because students mostly sleep too late for breakfast but still like breakfast food. If you do it when you're an adult it's a thing.”
“It should be a thing. We'll have brunch, and we'll go to the farmer's market, and then maybe we can call Karen and see what she's doing,” says Matt, and nods, everything decided.
“Fine, then, we're succumbing to the inevitable.” Foggy kicks Matt gently under the conference table. “You can just tell me if I'm not hanging out with you enough, you know? Sam is great, but you're my best friend. I'd rather be with you any day.”
Matt smiles down at his braille display. “Thank you, Foggy.”
“Anytime, buddy. Brunch or no brunch, you're stuck with me.”
*
“Brunch.”
Natasha says it so blank that it's a judgment in and of itself, and Foggy rolls his eyes. “I know, right? His idea, in my defense.”
“And you went along?”
“Well, I wasn't going to tell him no.”
“Of course you weren't.” She sounds indulgent enough to make him wince. He knows that tone; he's been friends with Marci for years. It means he's digging himself a huge hole and she's the only one who's got a ladder long enough to get him out. “I feel like I should meet him, he's so important to you.”
“That's, um … very nice, and probably unwise.” Matt is going to say so many things about glass houses and stones when he eventually figures out that Foggy's Sam is Sam Wilson. For now, he's just lucky that they were busy being miserable at Landman and Zack when everything went upside down and Foggy didn't think to mention it. “When's everyone else getting here, again?”
“They're running late from Stark Tower, I think.” Natasha raises her eyebrows at him. “I'm assuming you don't want to meet Tony Stark.”
Foggy considers all the hair-raising things he's seen in the press and heard from Jim and decides that she's probably right. Tony Stark is like a walking lawsuit, he and lawyers probably can't exist in the same room. “Yeah, but I don't want you to judge me about eating brunch either,” he says.
“Did I say anything about judging you?” Natasha, who's been systematically exploring his apartment and stopped in front of his bookshelf to frown at his selections, turns to raise her eyebrows at him. “I just think that maybe you weren't being honest when you said that you and your Matt aren't dating, that's all.”
“Very funny.”
“Honestly, Foggy, you should consider having a date with someone else.” Natasha tilts her head, and Foggy's been to law school, so he knows that they've reached the point, that she's been leading him and he followed like a complete idiot. Matt would be so ashamed. “If only to remind yourself of the fact that you and he are apparently not together.”
Foggy has heard worse from half of his relatives, Marci, and at least two strangers. “Let me guess, you know a great person.”
“I know many.” She grins at him. “Just ask Steve.”
Right on time, there's a knock on Foggy's apartment door, because Jim is a polite man who makes his teammates use the door, and Foggy goes to let everyone in.
Natasha stays quiet on the matter for the rest of the night, but he's got a healthy amount of suspicion. She hasn't dropped it. He has no idea why the Black Widow is suddenly interested in matchmaking Foggy of all people, but it's clear she and Marci must never, ever meet.
Steve, because he's kind of an asshole but also a polite asshole, stays after everyone else leaves to help Foggy put his apartment back in working order and spray his couch down with the horribly expensive non-scented cleaner he buys for Matt's sake, and Foggy waits until he's pretty sure that even Vision can't hear them before he says “So, if Natasha is trying to encourage me to go on dates, is my doom pretty much ensured?”
Steve grins at him in the middle of lifting Foggy's coffee table out of the way so he can get crumbs off the floor. “I was wondering why she's stopped with me.”
Foggy takes a second to consider that. “She tried to set Captain America up with people? How did that go for her?”
“Not well.” Steve shrugs and moves the table back. “I wasn't ready. She wants people to be happy, though, and teasing them. This takes care of both things at once.”
“So I'm doomed.”
“If you wanted to date someone besides ...” Steve clears his throat and straightens Foggy's collection of newspapers that he hasn't bothered to throw away on the coffee table. “If you aren't ready, that's fine. But if you wanted to take a chance, she knows how to vet people.”
“For secret spy organizations, not for dates,” Foggy points out, and then sighs. “And you're allowed to say it. If I'm not ready to be over Matt.”
Steve raises his hands. “That's your business. Don't let Natasha make you do anything you don't want to do, but you can always think about it.”
Foggy's got a feeling he's not going to be thinking about much else for the rest of the night.
[FILL] Any Possible Similarity (3/?)
Foggy winces. It's worse because Matt doesn't sound accusatory. He sounds tentative, like Foggy's going to walk out the door again, and Foggy really hates feeling guilty for his completely justifiable anger. “Only at work five days a week, I know, it's pretty awful. We'll hang out sometime this weekend, okay? I've just been spending some time with Sam, reconnecting.”
“Are you dating?” That's tentative too. “You never mentioned if you did before, but when you're spending so much time ...”
“No, Matt, honestly, we're just hanging out.” He's spending way more time with the Avengers than he really means to. Natasha texts him weird videos at least twice a day, Steve laughs at his jokes, he's unexpectedly bonded with Jim Rhodes, Vision keeps asking him about points of law, and Wanda keeps plying him with tea. “When do you want me this weekend? We can spend the day together on Saturday, maybe, I don't have Saturday plans.”
Matt's shoulders relax, and he feels even worse. “I'd like that. We can have brunch, take a walk, maybe.”
“Oh God, I've just realized that your terrible sleep schedule has turned us into the kind of people who brunch. Next thing you know we're going to spend our Saturday mornings going to farmer's markets and talking about the economy.”
“You like doing both of those things,” Matt points out, because he's a filthy traitor. “You like haggling, and I like farmer's markets better than the grocery store when we can afford it.”
“Then maybe we can go to the farmer's market after brunch and admit to ourselves that we're turning into brunch people.”
Matt laughs, finally relaxed, and Foggy really hopes he can't smell relief. “We ate brunch almost every weekend at Columbia.”
“That's because students mostly sleep too late for breakfast but still like breakfast food. If you do it when you're an adult it's a thing.”
“It should be a thing. We'll have brunch, and we'll go to the farmer's market, and then maybe we can call Karen and see what she's doing,” says Matt, and nods, everything decided.
“Fine, then, we're succumbing to the inevitable.” Foggy kicks Matt gently under the conference table. “You can just tell me if I'm not hanging out with you enough, you know? Sam is great, but you're my best friend. I'd rather be with you any day.”
Matt smiles down at his braille display. “Thank you, Foggy.”
“Anytime, buddy. Brunch or no brunch, you're stuck with me.”
“Brunch.”
Natasha says it so blank that it's a judgment in and of itself, and Foggy rolls his eyes. “I know, right? His idea, in my defense.”
“And you went along?”
“Well, I wasn't going to tell him no.”
“Of course you weren't.” She sounds indulgent enough to make him wince. He knows that tone; he's been friends with Marci for years. It means he's digging himself a huge hole and she's the only one who's got a ladder long enough to get him out. “I feel like I should meet him, he's so important to you.”
“That's, um … very nice, and probably unwise.” Matt is going to say so many things about glass houses and stones when he eventually figures out that Foggy's Sam is Sam Wilson. For now, he's just lucky that they were busy being miserable at Landman and Zack when everything went upside down and Foggy didn't think to mention it. “When's everyone else getting here, again?”
“They're running late from Stark Tower, I think.” Natasha raises her eyebrows at him. “I'm assuming you don't want to meet Tony Stark.”
Foggy considers all the hair-raising things he's seen in the press and heard from Jim and decides that she's probably right. Tony Stark is like a walking lawsuit, he and lawyers probably can't exist in the same room. “Yeah, but I don't want you to judge me about eating brunch either,” he says.
“Did I say anything about judging you?” Natasha, who's been systematically exploring his apartment and stopped in front of his bookshelf to frown at his selections, turns to raise her eyebrows at him. “I just think that maybe you weren't being honest when you said that you and your Matt aren't dating, that's all.”
“Very funny.”
“Honestly, Foggy, you should consider having a date with someone else.” Natasha tilts her head, and Foggy's been to law school, so he knows that they've reached the point, that she's been leading him and he followed like a complete idiot. Matt would be so ashamed. “If only to remind yourself of the fact that you and he are apparently not together.”
Foggy has heard worse from half of his relatives, Marci, and at least two strangers. “Let me guess, you know a great person.”
“I know many.” She grins at him. “Just ask Steve.”
Right on time, there's a knock on Foggy's apartment door, because Jim is a polite man who makes his teammates use the door, and Foggy goes to let everyone in.
Natasha stays quiet on the matter for the rest of the night, but he's got a healthy amount of suspicion. She hasn't dropped it. He has no idea why the Black Widow is suddenly interested in matchmaking Foggy of all people, but it's clear she and Marci must never, ever meet.
Steve, because he's kind of an asshole but also a polite asshole, stays after everyone else leaves to help Foggy put his apartment back in working order and spray his couch down with the horribly expensive non-scented cleaner he buys for Matt's sake, and Foggy waits until he's pretty sure that even Vision can't hear them before he says “So, if Natasha is trying to encourage me to go on dates, is my doom pretty much ensured?”
Steve grins at him in the middle of lifting Foggy's coffee table out of the way so he can get crumbs off the floor. “I was wondering why she's stopped with me.”
Foggy takes a second to consider that. “She tried to set Captain America up with people? How did that go for her?”
“Not well.” Steve shrugs and moves the table back. “I wasn't ready. She wants people to be happy, though, and teasing them. This takes care of both things at once.”
“So I'm doomed.”
“If you wanted to date someone besides ...” Steve clears his throat and straightens Foggy's collection of newspapers that he hasn't bothered to throw away on the coffee table. “If you aren't ready, that's fine. But if you wanted to take a chance, she knows how to vet people.”
“For secret spy organizations, not for dates,” Foggy points out, and then sighs. “And you're allowed to say it. If I'm not ready to be over Matt.”
Steve raises his hands. “That's your business. Don't let Natasha make you do anything you don't want to do, but you can always think about it.”
Foggy's got a feeling he's not going to be thinking about much else for the rest of the night.