Carefully making her way across the room Natasha dances and twirls through the drunken crowd politely murmuring 'hello' and 'excuse me' before scaling the stairs where Maria had once disappeared to in the heat of the party. Holding onto a cocktail she gracefully takes a sip humming in curiosity. She had noticed no matter if the Commander was working or not that she never left a Stark party unsupervised.
Reaching the last few steps she sees Maria sitting on the ground leaning forward staring longingly at a bottle of half empty whiskey and an acoustic guitar laid out by her feet. Humming once again in curiosity Natasha walks over to her taking notice that there's only two balcony chairs and Maria chose to simply sit in front of one. Casually, she sits askew in the balcony chair right across from Maria. Starring for a moment she takes in Maria's dishevelled yet beautiful moonlit figure. Smiling faintly she sets her drink down before leaning in closer to her 'almost' girlfriend. They haven't gone on any dates or spent long periods of time together like they use to which made moments like these treasurable even if one spent it completely drunk. It used to bug Natasha to no end when recruits would talk about Maria in such disgusting ways and she couldn't do anything about it. To be perfectly honest she did end up snapping and around 20 people ended up in the hospital. Only 12 happened to be from her the other 8 was only answered with very sexy yet secretive smirk.
"Maria, what are you doing up here? I'm sure the Commander has a few... Suitors seeking her out."
Flinching in surprise a faint hiccup escapes from Maria's lips as she tries to straighten out her posture. Both hands making contact to the ground she glances up quickly at Natasha. Having a feeling that this plan was not going to work her watery vision showed two beautiful green eyed women looking at her with a sly smile. Begrudgingly she accepts that sitting up straight is no longer an option. A faint smirk spreads across Maria's face as she instead uses the balcony chair behind her as a back rest.
"Hmm, such a shame for those 'suitors' then. I have someone perfect enough for me and I don't think she likes sharing." Was all Maria could say without her drunken self slurring or speaking painfully slow. She had learned early on that lying about this pretty woman while drunk didn't work out. She can even faintly remember the last time Natasha's name came up while having a few drinks, more so shots, with her friends. She was forced to take 3 months of training again by Fury because of it. She thinks it's just a nervous tick that's solely directed at Natasha.
Cocking her head to the side Natasha raises an eyebrow at Maria's bluntness. She smiles affectionately at her poor drunken Commander. Shifting in her chair to face Maria more, amusement dances behind her eyes.
"Oh, I'd have to agree. She most definitely does not like sharing. Perfect on the other hand... That's a little far fetched."
Throwing her head back Maria lets out an airy laugh before returning her focus, or what little focus she had, to Natasha. "Says the woman herself." A faint slur could be heard as her focus shifts to unscrewing the cap on her whiskey bottle.
A loving smile briefly appears on Natasha's face. As soon as that smile appeared it quickly got replaced with a smirk. Playing around with her options she chooses to ignore Maria's last words and play southern since it pared well with whiskey. Amusement still danced behind her green eyes.
"So, my beautiful, why's a woman like you really up here all on her lonesome?"
Immediately catching onto her loves antic Maria sloppily copes Natasha's smirk. Drinking never really dulled her puzzle solving it just switched it to be more childish than she'd like to admit. Barton found this out when she ended up laughing at his immature joke about boobs and beer for 5 minutes straight. Maria's musings stop once she remembers why she's smirking.
"Always the gentleman now, Natasha? Well, I was tired of the crowd and I hoped to get you alone."
Chuckling softly Natasha waves her left hand in dismiss before playful nodding her head to the staircase.
"Always and I'm pretty sure you're up here to put some distance between you and that bottle of scotch you where attached to."
Maria's cheeks flush more as she adverts her eyes from Natasha's face. The amount of alcohol she had consumed already made her whole face feel flushed but the small truth in that sentence was, in the least bit, embarrassing to admit to. However, she won't deny Natasha the truth. It's not like she could of anyways.
"A little of that too."
It was a weak answer but an answer she knew Natasha would smile at even if there was worry behind it. Gaining a new sense of focus she picks at her whiskey bottles label before taking a few good gulps of the burning liquid. Pulling a pained face Maria sits up as best as she could before settling on starring at the bottom of Natasha's dress.
"I,... I wasn't joking though. You know, about getting you alone with me. I've been workin'- working on something really stupid and childish and it's really embarrassing and I don't think I could ever d-show it to you without drinking and-"
Natasha's brows furrow in confusion and worry before waving her hand slightly trying to gain Maria's attention.
"Maria! Calm down you're rambling."
Jerking up right Maria was able to catch Natasha's worried expression before slowly slumping back over.
"Oh- I'm- Uh, sorry."
A light laugh escapes from Natasha's lips as she leans in a little closer hoping to catch Maria's eyes again. She really needed to get that whiskey away from her but finding out what was wrong nearly consuming every thought she had.
"It's cute."
Groaning weakly Maria tilts her head up at Natasha.
"Humph. Well, that'll probably change."
Natasha's eyes flicker over to the whiskey bottle in Maria's lap. A faint frown pulls at her face before smiling again shaking her head.
"Doubtful. Now what have you been working on?"