BAILEY THOUGHT IT WAS TOO EARLY FOR TRAINING,
but Steve tended to disagree. It had only been a few days since Sokovia, and Steve was already back to combat and strength training.
"Come on, Cap. Can't I skip it? I got shot, remember?"
Bailey had been using that as an excuse all week even though the bullets didn't hurt her. She tried to make people feel bad to get out of things which was hilarious to her.
Pietro was teasing her like usual, and he had gone a bit far. Bailey reminded him that she saved his life and he shut up almost immediately.
"You're strong enough to train, Bailey. Come on."
Steve had grabbed onto her arm.
"Hey!"
With his super strength, Steve pulled Bailey into the training room. "We're not doing anything extreme."
Bailey got into position and so did Steve. They always started out fighting each other in combat, not using any powers at first.
When it was time, Bailey ducked Steve's punch, sending one of her own directly into his chest. He stumbled back, but knocked her right back down.
Bailey tumbled to the ground with a groan as Steve extended her his hand.
"You normally beat me, Bails."
That wasn't completely true. Steve was extremely strong and he was often able to beat Bailey. But usually it was a pretty fair fight. Commonly, Bailey was even able to knock him to the ground.
She was being serious now. "I don't know, ever since I got shot, I've been more tired."
"We should probably tell Bruce that."
Bailey shook her head. She didn't think it was anything to be too concerned about. "No, no. I'm fine, really."
"Are you good to keep going then?"
She nodded, breathing in and out and using methods of motivation in her head. Bailey could do better than this.
"Yeah, I'll try harder."
Steve and her got into position. Bailey punched and missed. Steve tried to hit her aswell, but she managed to grab his arm and bend it.
He let out a noise of discomfort, Bailey using that opportunity to walk him in the chest and slide under him, ultimately knocking him off his feet.
Bailey wasn't sure if she was trying too hard but all she did know was that she beat Steve. Even though he was her own friend and teammate, this gave her a sense of pride.
However, when she looked over across the other side of the gymnasium, she saw that Steve and her had a spectator at their match. Pietro.
He was already staring at her, mesmerized and smirking.
"That was impressive, Bolt," Pietro simply said.
Steve got to his feet, taking his place next to Bailey. He turned to her with a smile. "You were very impressive." His hand was on her shoulder.
Pietro stared at Steve, rolling his eyes. Jealousy filled his eyes. At least that's what it seemed like to Bailey.
She was all sweaty in her workout clothes. "I think I'm to go take a shower. We're done for today, right Steve?"
He nodded. "See you later, Bails."
Bailey smiled and jogged her way out of the gymnasium. She looked back and out of the corner of her eye she saw Steve approach a punching bag and start hitting it with all of his strength. How could he call her impressive when he could punch like that?
She stared in awe. Bailey was wondering if he let her win or something.
"Mmm, a punching bag. So impressive," a Sokovian accent mocked.
Bailey looked at a Pietro. Her cheeks grew red again realizing that she was caught pretty much staring at Steve working out.
"I mean how can you not be impressed with those muscles? You know I have them too-"
Bailey hit Pietro on the arm. "Shut it, Maximoff."
Before he could even respond, she began to continue walking down the hallway. Of course the speedster was following her like a lost puppy.
"Didn't know he was your type."
"Steve is not my type. He's older anyways."
That wasn't really an excuse. Even though Steve was a couple of years older, most of the Avengers were close enough in age.
It was true that he wasn't exactly her type. Obviously anyone could agree that Steve was attractive, but she didn't see him in a romantic way at all. She saw him as a close friend. One that she worked with and could confide in.
"Then who is your type, dragã?"
Pietro made Bailey face him.
She had to think about it. Who was her type? Bailey preferred a good personality. He should be funny, charming.
And even though she and no one else wanted to admit it, she did have a bit of preference for looks. Nothing extremely strong though. Tall, blonde hair (maybe almost silver), blue eyes...
Oh my god. Bailey gulped looking at the man in front of her. Everything she just described in her head matched Pietro perfectly.
Ok, ok. That didn't mean she had to like him. He was just her ideal type. But she didn't like him.
"Uh," Bailey managed to spit out.
She wasn't usually like this...
"stiu ca sunt genul tau-" Pietro started in his language.
Tony walked into the hallway, clapping his hands together. "Just who I was looking for!"
Both of them turned to face Tony with a small jump, startled.
"Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt anything, lovebirds."
Bailey groaned. "Don't call us that."
"You have holes all over you because you wanted to take a bullet for the guy, Crisp," Tony pointed out.
Tony did not have to do that. Not in front of Pietro. Did the embarrassment ever stop? She always managed to look like a fool in front of Pietro. Not that she cared...
"Tony!"
"It is true, printsessa."
Bailey sighed, trying to just focus all of her attention on Tony. "What did you need, Tony?"
"We were going to have a team bonding night if both of you are intrested."
"What is included in this team bonding, Stark?" Pietro asked mischievously.
"Movies, hanging out, games, that kind of stuff. Hopefully I'll see you there, lovebirds."
Before Bailey could protest again, Tony was already gone.
Pietro kept staring at her. She wanted to leave to go shower and get changed, but Bailey couldn't when he was following her like this.
"Are you gonna let me shower, dummy?"
Pietro smiled. Genuinely smiled. "Of course. You smell terrible."
Bailey rolled her eyes. His sense of humor always knew how to ruin a moment. "And you don't smell great either."
Bailey watched as Pietro's mouth opened wide, clearly insulted on a personal level. He pouted a bit which made Bailey laugh to herself. He could be such a child.
"I actually smell great. I smell fresh and like lavender!" he said, beginning to walk in the opposite direction.
"I don't trust that! You clearly bleached your hair too!"
"It's all natural, prunc!" Pietro yelled once more before speeding off.
Bailey sighed to herself, slowly grinning. Some of her conversations with Pietro were very amusing. They were constantly bickering, but at this point it seemed like it was on more of a friendly level. After all, the first time they met Pietro threw her onto the ground. And during their second encounter, Bailey had kicked him in the stomach.
She opened the door to her room at the compound, undressing and getting into the shower.
BAILEY HAD BEEN REALLY CURIOUS TO FIND OUT WHAT PIETRO'S NICKNAMES MEANT.
I mean, every single day he was calling her by these nicknames in the Sokovian language. And she had absolutely no idea what she was being called.
It felt embarrassing to be on google translate, but she was determined. If it was a mean nickname, Bailey would find something to get him back with.
The first up in the translator was printsessa, although she was fairly confident in what she thought it meant.
Princess. Pietro called her princess more than her actual name. Interesting.
Bailey cleared the search, typing in something else.
She typed in prunc. It meant... babe.
Pietro freakin Maximoff was calling her babe.
Dragostea meant love.
Dragã meant dear.
The color on Bailey's face was extreme. Blood rushed into her cheeks, as her dimples showed in her big smile.
All of these nicknames, correction, pet names that Pietro were calling her were all very rather affectionate ones.
Bailey was so flustered. And had he been saying them in Sokovian so she didn't know what they meant?
She didn't know what this feeling was. Butterflies were flying in her stomach. She had this warm and fuzzy feeling that she couldn't describe.
Why was Pietro Maximoff making her feel this way?