Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐄𝐓𝐄𝐄𝐍 || 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘉𝘪𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘧 𝘖𝘶𝘳 𝘌𝘹𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯
PARTIES HAD NEVER BEEN JAXON'S CROWD. No matter if friends were there or not, he hated the entire idea of parties. He knew no one expected much from him. Only for his time and a chance to catch up for old-time sake. Then again, he knew only a handful of people here. Most members of the Avengers he didn't even know on a personal level or level of speaking.
He didn't want to be here.
The irony is, at a time before Talon, the Avengers, Natasha and Quantum, he wanted to attend things like this. He wanted to get out of the heat of Afghanistan and be back home with his sister where he felt like he belonged. Be at each of her birthdays and spend time with her. A time that he was wasting away in those deserts hunting down men who threatened the lives of the world with their ideals. Now, some may see that as justified, but Jaxon had always been homesick when it related to Sharon.
But now, he wanted to go back. He wanted to be in that heat. He wanted bullets flying past his head. He wanted the danger of the battlefield. It's where he thrived. He rejected the idea of normalcy when he had abilities that suited the ideals of war more than expensive parties and champagne. And finding people who understood that or seemed to immigrate gracefully into this lifestyle was fairly rare.
Living outside the wire felt more natural than anything he had going for him inside.
That's why he stuck to the pool table with Steve and Sam. The both of them likely understand fully what the man was wrestling with. But he couldn't help his gaze from occasionally flickering to the bar where Natasha and Leah were. Of course, the adult was serving drinks with the 12-year-old sitting at one of the stools talking to her. A smile seemingly cemented to Natasha's lips as she joked around with the little girl who indeed did look quite cool with a standard white button-up, tie, and dress pants.
"So, when's it happening?" Jaxon shook away from his thoughts to turn his attention to Sam. The man grinned, motioning back to Natasha. "You guys figure your stuff out?"
It fell under the obscurity of already demanding thoughts that plagued Jaxon's attention. Although what he said in that changing room was the truth, he couldn't place a state of being in the relationship he and Natasha were in. It was complicated. More complicated than either man would even begin to understand. But since the dressing room, Natasha seemed to be handling herself with ease despite what he wished for.
