Chapter 10

"Oh my god, I am so full. I never eat that much at once. I never know when I am going to need to run." I sat back with a satisfied sigh. It really was the best lasagna I've ever had. And the breadsticks were amazing. I knew I couldn't eat there often as I would quickly get out of shape. But as a place for a special treat... well now I knew where to go.

Wanda looked at her watch. "We should be heading back. I had the things we bought taken to the Tower already. They are probably in your room. I hope Loki asks you out soon. I know he will like the dress and I know he is going to love the new underwear better. I've never seen him so taken with someone. He is usually pretty reserved and keeps to himself. It's a nice change. I can see he is being more of himself around us.

And let's not forget you seem to have caught the interest of Steve. Not too surprising there as you have the same ethics. And you have the interest of Bucky which is another surprise. He doesn't really warm up to people. Again, another reserved person. You seem to have a way of attracting the bad boy types don't you? Lucky girl. I prefer Vision but I still think they are all very attractive men."

I shook my head at her smile. I had met Vision earlier and he was definitely different. I really liked these two women. I never had female friends before but I was enjoying my time with them. It felt strange to be out in the open without watching my back every second. I was still alert but had relaxed some. I already knew that if trouble came up, Nat and Wanda would have my back. 

"Can I use the training room when we get back? I need to work off some of this meal. And I need to keep in shape. I don't want to get too far behind because of the injury and things."

Nat nodded. "Sure. You can use it anytime. It's big enough that all of us can train without getting in each other's way. Well, except Hulk. But he doesn't really need to train so that's not an issue. It has all the equipment you should need. What are you going to be doing?"

I thought for a minute. "I'm going to do some gymnastics to keep up my flexibility. Probably some work with the punching bag for strength and finish with some sword practice. It's more like shadow fighting. It helps keep my reflexes up."

"That sounds interesting. I would like to watch it sometime if that's ok?"

"Absolutely. I don't mind."

We paid the bill, well, had them bill Tony, and walked out onto the sidewalk. The sun was going down and I stopped to admire the colors. I never really looked at sunset as something other than bad. I couldn't help the tightening in my shoulders as I tensed at the oncoming dark. Dark is when it was most dangerous to be out. 

"Shouldn't we get back?" My voice shook a little as I watched the sky. 

Nat understood. "Ariane, it's ok. We don't have your Monsters here. Here, the dark is simply the dark. That's all. It will take time to fully accept that, I know. But really, you're safe. Plus if anything happens, they really don't want to tangle with me and Wanda. She does more than she has shared yet."

I was grateful for their understanding. It was hard to wrap my head around the fact that I didn't have to be on my guard every second. It was a habit I had my whole life. I knew I had been scanning everyone we passed today, watching to see if they were following us. Even though I was prepared to fight at all times today, I had fun but was ready to get back. I still needed to train after all that food. And with the injury, I didn't want to get soft and have a harder time getting back. I needed to stay at peak performance.