Working relationships

[agent_coulson]

Phil Coulson was used to being woken up from a dead sleep. In fact, he'd basically stopped having "dead sleeps" anymore, after so many years of being on call and needing to be instantly alert at a moment's notice. He dozed more than he actually slept now.

So it wasn't a shock to hear his mobile ringing at 3am, but that didn't mean it was pleasant. His hand shot out automatically, pushing the button to answer the call even before he was fully awake. By the time it reached his ear, he'd opened his eyes and the beginning of a silent hope was already forming in his head: that maybe this would be something needing his authorization, or a question from a junior agent, or--hell, even a question from Fury himself, anything to let him go back to sleep after the call ended.

Of course that was a pipe dream. He listened carefully as the threat was described to him: two speedsters, shooting some kind of unidentified beam, in Newark. Destruction to property. Civilian lives at risk. General chaos.

It made sense, really. Of all the places he least desired to be, New Jersey at 3 in the morning on a Saturday was pretty close to the top of the list.

He sighed, and sat up, swinging off the bed to head for the closet. "I'll be there in twenty minutes. Call whoever's up on the roster, at least a Level 2. I don't want to be there all morning." With that, he snapped the phone shut, grabbed a suit off the rack, and made a beeline for the kitchen--if he was going to deal with this, he wasn't going to do it without coffee.

Comments

[ladyofmarvel]

She snorted at that. "Stark's idea of joy is almost parallel to Loki's, minus human casualties. Mostly."

The turn away from their destination was noted, and had her lifting her brow and tipping her head slightly to the side, curiously. "I believe that's the nicest compliment I've ever gotten, Phil. Mind if I ask about the detour?"

Not that she was concerned, but she was curious. Phil Coulson wasn't particularly known for deviating from regulation and procedures.

[agent_coulson]

His eyebrows rose in mild surprise. "I did say this was an unprofessional conversation to have in a SHIELD vehicle." He gestured ahead of them. "And I need coffee. So, we have two options. One--that Starbucks, where you could let me buy you a latte. Or two--my apartment, a few more blocks north. I have Italian roast, but no milk."

[ladyofmarvel]

Her smile widened. "I'd be lying if I said I wouldn't love a chance to get to see the inner sanctum of Phillip Coulson. It would even be worth foregoing a little milk in my coffee." She was pleased, amused at his obvious and logical adaptation for having a personal conversation; more pleased that this meant the conversation would be continuing.

[agent_coulson]

"It's not very exciting." He shrugged and smiled. "But it has a bed and caffeine, nothing else is really necessary." He paused, his mind quickly replaying what he'd just said. "To clarify, I meant... necessary for me. For life. The life of a SHIELD agent." He shut his mouth again, resolutely disallowing himself from putting his foot in it again. He had a feeling this was going to keep happening with Carol.

A minute later they pulled into a darkened parking garage beneath his building, and he swerved into the first open spot. There were four other cars in this garage registered to him--three of them SHIELD vehicles, and one of them a personal car, which saw hardly any use. He kept thinking about just selling it... but it seemed like one of those psychological steps that would mean his life--down to his ability to transport himself--really did belong to SHIELD: lock, stock, and barrel.

He blinked and brought himself back to the present moment, hopping out of the car and walking around to open Carol's door. He knew she probably didn't expect him to, and apparently whatever they might be doing at some point in the future would be as purely physical as you could get without being by yourself, but he'd been raised with certain ingrained values, and one of those included holding the doors open for people he'd recently professed interest in sleeping with.

[ladyofmarvel]

Another small chuckle, and she reached over and gave his shoulder a light pat. "It's all right, Phil. I get what you meant." But the phrasing itself was certainly serendipitous, along with his obvious realization and attempted verbal backpedalling.

She'd been about to open the door herself, but she'd seen him coming around the back, letting him indulge in his chivalrous attempts. Besides, it wasn't often Carol was actually treated as a lady. It was... nice. Welcome. Getting out of the car, she might have passed by him closer than she needed to, her eyes keeping his as she stood and moved slightly away. "Thank you."

[agent_coulson]

"My pleasure." He tried not to think too much about how the smell of her shampoo left a pleasant waft in the air when she walked by him. Gesturing to the elevator a few feet away, he walked to it with her, then pushed the button for his floor and crossed his hands calmly in front of him as they rose.

"I guess we could have stopped by and gotten you a change of civilian clothes." He glanced at her costume, continuing to resolutely not notice how it conformed to the curves of her body. This was all sensory information he was very, very good at ignoring during the course of his day, but suddenly his brain was making notes of it, was filing it away in files he didn't even realize he'd had. Hell, in cabinets he hadn't even been aware of. The Carol Danvers file cabinet had apparently just been waiting for data entry. "But the people in my building are used to seeing Avengers come through all suited up, so if you're comfortable..."

[ladyofmarvel]

She wasn't sure what the scent coming from him was; body wash, cologne, deodorant, or perhaps something more natural, but it was nice. Crisp, with a little hint of something male. It suited him.

Standing in the elevator with him, she looked down at herself, taking in her costume with a small sigh. "It is a bit much for civilian interactions, but I have a change of clothes at HQ, so I don't have to stay suited all day. Unless you find it discomfiting...?" That last was said with a bit of a curve to her lips, tone light and easy.

[agent_coulson]

Phil met her eyes, trying to hold in a grin that was just going to be too inappropriate, even if they were out of the car now. "No... no, it's just fine with me."

The elevator stopped and the doors swung open. Phil let her walk out first, then led her down the hall to his apartment. He unlocked the door and turned the knob slowly, listening carefully. When he heard the sound of something small falling to the ground, he nodded and opened the door, stepping inside and picking the little weighted object off the floor. "Come on in. Make yourself at home." He closed the door. "Is coffee all right, or would you prefer tea?"

He stepped into the kitchen, waiting for her response--it was more of a kitchenette, really, just a little island of linoleum and tiny countertops, with an undersized fridge and a coffeepot. The rest of the apartment was similarly pared down, with the right furniture in the right places, but not much personality or thought put into them. A couch and television were situated in the living room, he had towels in the linen closet, a bed and dresser in the bedroom... all the basics. The place had an upscale feel to it, with new carpeting, modern fixtures, but it didn't feel quite lived in. More like a well-appointed hotel suite. The only thing that hinted at a past or a life beyond his work at SHIELD was a framed picture of two older people standing in a field with a Golden Retriever, hung on the wall by the kitchen.

[ladyofmarvel]

The little booby-trap was a bit of a surprise, only because of the simplicity of it. But it didn't phase her in the slightest that he had a contingency security measure to endure the safety of his home. She had one; herself. Anyone attempting to break into her place would likely find being kicked out the window to be a deterrent. "That all depends on what kind of tea you have."

The apartment was sparse, not much in the way of knick-knacks or personal touches. Though, considering how often he was at the office as opposed to his home, it made sense. She went over to look at the picture, smiling at the dog. "Aha. The fabled best friend. Your parents look nice, Phil. Happy."

[agent_coulson]

"I have, ah... Early Grey and some kind of... orange..." He rustled through a container of tea from the top of his fridge. "Orange Pekoe," he told her, reading aloud from the writing in the packet. "Sorry, not much of a tea person, I don't have a great selection."

He walked out to take a look at the picture with her, still holding the tea container. "Yeah, they are nice. I try to get out there to visit them every once in a while. They think I'm still in the military."

[ladyofmarvel]

She looked over at him as he came to stand beside her, looking down at the container. "For future reference, Orange Pekoe is basically black tea. But I think I'll be happy with a coffee, if you're making some for yourself, thank you."

Looking back to the picture, she tipped her head to the side slightly. "Must be hard, balancing family, lies, and work." Not that she intimated that in a negative way. Lying sort of came with the package when you worked where they did.

[agent_coulson]

"Not really. They know not to ask a lot of questions--even when I was in the military, most of what I did was classified." He smiled and closed the container again. "Good to know about the tea. For future reference... is there a kind you would pick over coffee?"

He walked back into the little kitchenette, pouring some coffee he'd ground the night before into a filter, and setting up the coffee pot. He took two mugs down from the cabinet, setting them beside it, and then two spoons. When everything was ready, he walked back out to where Carol stood. "I could keep a particular kind... on hand for you." Then he colored again, realizing that sounded like he was expecting her to be over all the time. Navigating this tactfully was like trying to navigate a minefield with a fork on a wire.

[ladyofmarvel]

"Ah, you trained your parents well," she teased, nudging him slightly. Tucking her hair back behind her ear, she slid her mask up, preferring to not see everything surrounded by a black border. "I like a little cinnamon tea, but you don't need to go out of your way for me, Phil."

She moved her head to look at him when he came back, seeing the small flush and smiling slightly. "If you wanted to, though, I'd like that." One hand lifted to rest on his shoulder, giving it a light squeeze.

[agent_coulson]

"It wouldn't be any trouble." He raised his own hand experimentally, more to see if he could get himself to do something with it than anything else, and to his surprise he found it settling at her waist. "I'd like you to be comfortable." He let out a little gust of air and dropped his eyes to look at where his hand was on her waist. His thumb rubbed gently against her. "I'm... I'm rusty at this," he muttered.

[ladyofmarvel]

"Don't take this the wrong way, Phil, but... it's entirely endearing. And makes me even more interested." The hand on his shoulder slid up to let her fingers play at the side of his neck, her eyes watching him, looking for any signs of discomfort. "Not that you aren't interesting enough."

[agent_coulson]

He breathed in sharply when her hand touched his neck, eyes closing for a moment. Then they opened again, meeting hers. The coffee pot in the kitchen beeped, twice, to indicate that it was finished with half a pot (enough for two cups, at least), but he didn't move.

"I'm glad it's endearing," he said quietly. A few seconds later, he added, "...do you want any coffee? Or would you rather...?" His eyes flicked toward the couch, the bedroom, then back to the couch. He wasn't sure what they were doing here, what to suggest.

[ladyofmarvel]

That was certainly a positive response. As was the fact that he ignored the beeping of the coffee maker. Thumb tracing lightly over the line of his neck, she watched his eyes flick around, saw a moment of hesitancy as he tried to put it in a way he was likely trying to think of as inoffensive.

"Phillip... are you feeling a bit of an itch?" She took the burden of opening the topic from him. He could either deny it, and they could have a cup of coffee and head in to work, or he could admit it, and... well... she was curious what he looked like out of that suit.

[agent_coulson]

He sighed and inclined his head a little toward her thumb. "I feel like we should talk about this more first," he said, but even to his own ears, he didn't sound especially convincing. He frowned, trying to pull himself together. "We both just responded to a 3am call, you must be exhausted. I... I want you to want to, not just... doing me a favor."

He reached up and brushed a bit of her hair back. "You're tired, aren't you?"

[ladyofmarvel]

The hand at his neck moved to settle more firmly there, thumb moving up to trace over the edge of his jaw. "Heightened stamina and durability, Phil. They go a long way."

She moved to lean into him slightly, her other hand coming up to rest on his chest. "We can talk about it all you like, but I wouldn't be doing it out of obligation or anything similar. I'd definitely be doing it because I want to. Very much."

[agent_coulson]

He turned his head, pressing a small kiss against the pad of her thumb. "Okay. Then... I also want to." He smiled, and pulled her closer, a flutter of anxiety and uncertainty mixed with arousal stirring in his stomach. "The, ah, bed is more comfortable. If that's not too formal for this." He chuckled at himself and shook his head. "I don't even know what I'm saying."

He met her eyes. "Can I kiss you?"

[ladyofmarvel]

"Considering you likely got the same amount of sleep I did, if not less, I think comfort might go a long way." She felt the press of his hand as he pulled her in, the hand on his chest sliding up to press a finger to his lips while the fingers of her other hand toyed with the hair at the back of his head.

"You don't have to say anything, Phil. And I think you know the answer to that, but just in case you're still unsure..." She let her quieting finger fall, replacing it with her lips. Gently, she pressed her lips to his, letting him take the lead - if he wanted.

[agent_coulson]

He shivered a little when she played with his hair, then closed his eyes, kissing the lips she'd presented him, his hand tightening around her. He kissed her tentatively at first, then deeper when she let him open her mouth.

After moment, he broke off for air, but went right back to kissing her once he'd taken a breath. God, her lips were perfect, soft and yielding, but there was a playfulness to the way she kissed, to everything about her, and it stirred something in him. It made him want to leave Agent Coulson at the door for a while and slip back into being Phil with her. He hardly ever did that anymore, even alone.

He slid his hands down to cup her ass, gently, then lifted, encouraging her to wrap her legs around him. He knew she could just float to the bedroom on her own if she wanted to, but the idea of carrying her in there was appealing. And he didn't want to stop kissing her if he didn't have to.

[ladyofmarvel]

Her intrigue and attraction had prompted her to persist in this, and she was finding it was paying off in spades. There was something that ran underneath the calm, collected veneer he presented in his work, and to most of the world. Something very un-calm. Very un-collected. And very enticing.

That small gasp for air, followed by his lips finding and claiming hers again had her making a small, pleased sound against his mouth, tongue tracing over his lips before dipping in to taste him.

And then his hands slid down, cupping and lifting her, and she complied with that unspoken request. Arms winding around his neck, she lifted her legs to slide around him, another louder sound leaving him as she shifted and rocked against him. One hand was playing in his hair, the other clutching a handful of his jacket while she gave his lower lip a playful nip, then went back to the intricate dance of tongues she was enjoying.

[agent_coulson]

Phil walked them both slowly down the hall, the rhythm of his gait sending their bodies gently rubbing against each other, which kept distracting him from making faster progress. By the time they reached the bedroom, he was already half-hard, and it was with a little pang of regret that he lay her back onto the bed.

The pang disappeared quickly, though, as he toed off his shoes and climbed on over her, kissing her as he worked at his jacket. He got it off of one arm and most of the way off the other before he had to touch here again, and he ran his fingers through her hair. "God, you're so beautiful," he murmured, a note of reverence in his voice.

[ladyofmarvel]

She could feel his body respond to hers, a fact that sent a jolt of need through her. Feeling him lower her, she reached up and pulled her mask all the way off, tossing it off the edge of the bed before reaching for him as he climbed on with her, almost hovering over her as he worked his jacket off.

As he touched her, she slid it the rest of the way off, looking up at him as he spoke, smiling at both the words and the gentle sweep of his fingers through her hair. "I'm glad you approve. I'd hate to think this was a chore." Teasing, she moved up to kiss along his jaw, the barest edge of teeth running over his neck as she flicked her tongue out over his pulse.

"You're a marvel in your own right, you know." She hummed softly, whispering as she let her teeth close over the lobe of his ear.