(Attendance please…)
….
Natasha looked at Gojo, a feeling of utter exasperation washing over her. She was just… lost with this guy.
He had come here, to this high-level, world-changing meeting, where so much was at stake, where her team the closest thing she had to a real family was on the verge of being broken apart forever, and his reason for being here was that he wasn't listening and was bored?
"Are you for real?" Natasha asked, her tone carefully neutral, though her eyes betrayed her disbelief.
She wasn't angry; you couldn't get angry at a force of nature, and besides, Gojo had only really been "living" in their world for about a year.
Getting mad at him for this was like getting mad at a cat for knocking something off a table. It's just what they do.
Gojo looked at her, his expression turning thoughtful. "Well, that depends," he said. "If you plan on telling Tony what I just said, then no, of course I'm not serious. I was paying rapt attention. But if you're not going to tell him, then yeah, it is what it is. But let's be honest here, Black… uh, hmm, Widow… ugh, man." He shook his head.
"People can't really stick to one part of your name, can they? One sounds a little racist if you think about it, and the other is just a term that would have been true if you'd lost your… not-so-true husband back in the day. Tough break, really."
He continued, seemingly unbothered by Natasha's stony silence, "People really have to call you by your full name, huh? Natasha Romanoff. Sounds cool. But, oh well, past that, let's be honest. The government is kind of a loose cannon, and by that, I mean they're dumb."
"They want a 'meeting,' but in the end, they don't actually want opinions. They just want to hear what they already want to hear. Everything else is just a formality, a show they put on to make themselves look good and reasonable."
"Isn't that what a government really is?" Natasha countered, a hint of her own cynicism showing through.
"You know," Gojo said, his tone shifting as if he were explaining a simple concept, "the government is a thief. Technically. Or, in all seriousness. They're 'public servants,' right? So that means we, the public, are their masters. But the 'masters' are out here, living in small houses, scraping by, running around trying to make ends meet."
"Meanwhile, the 'servants,' the government officials, are printing big notes, hiding black money, and keeping all sorts of secrets from their masters. So, they're hiding money and information from the very people they're supposed to serve."
"And the highest government officials, the 'public servants,' they act like their masters are just some low-life mutts who don't even deserve their grace… like the master doesn't deserve the servant to do their actual, you know, servant things."
Natasha just stared at him, trying to follow his rambling, convoluted logic. Was he high? Or had he genuinely lost a screw somewhere on his way here? "You're certainly chatty about this, aren't you?" she finally said. "What did the government ever do to you, Satoru?"
Gojo looked at her, a 'are you serious?' expression on his face. "Well, how do I even count the ways?" he said. "Let's start with them, you know, sending the entire military to hunt me down? Which is funny, because not only did it not work, but on the contrary, the old man who was in charge of the whole thing is now in a coma." He paused, looking down the hallway.
"Second… well, I think we should leave things here for now. It looks like the others have arrived."
Natasha, following Gojo's gaze, turned back towards the entrance of the building.
They hadn't really made much progress down the hallway, thanks to Gojo's philosophical, and slightly paranoid, monologue. And now, the others were beginning to arrive.
A sleek, ridiculously expensive (though, for Tony, not that expensive) sports car pulled up to the entrance.
Tony Stark got out of the passenger side, looking sharp in a designer suit. From the driver's side, looking equally composed, exited Jarvis, Gojo's new gaming buddy.
Gojo watched them approach, a look of mild disappointment on his face. "I was kind of hoping he'd do a superhero landing," he said to Natasha.
"You know, fly in with the suit, crash through the roof or something. I mean, I really would have appreciated the drama."
Tony strode inside, his eyes immediately landing on Gojo. "Oh, well, look who it is," he said, a smirk on his face. "I was kind of hoping you would come barging in here late, just to annoy us. But I'm glad to see you arrived on time. A pleasant surprise."
Gojo sighed dramatically. "To be honest… I don't know why I didn't do that. It was a golden opportunity. Now I've lost an item on my 'to-do' list, which was 'arrive dramatically late to a world-changingly important meeting.' If I do it now, it would just seem annoying and kind of cringy, especially after telling you all this. So, heh, let's just save it for the future."
"It would have been incredibly and equally annoying, regardless of when you did it," Tony retorted.
"But let's be glad you sometimes know what not to do… and the reason being that you think it's 'cringe.' Ugh, I don't even want to talk about it." He looked around. "Nat, where are the others? And… what's the dog doing here?"
Natasha, who was still holding a very happy Mochi, shrugged. "Well, no one in the official memo said that pets weren'tallowed in this meeting, did they? So, that's kind of your fault, or whoever arranged this whole thing."
"Really? Saying that right in front of her?" Gojo said, feigning offense. "And what's with 'the dog'? Her name is Mochi, man. Have some respect for her name. And just so you know… she would have come here even if pets weren't allowed. She's family to me."
Gojo then tried to take Mochi back from Natasha's arms, but the little dog retaliated, wriggling away from him and letting out a series of sharp, playful barks, insisting on staying with Natasha.
"Woof, woof, woooof!" At this clear display of rejection, the others, including Jarvis, couldn't help but stare at Gojo.
Gojo, now in a visibly embarrassing situation because of his own dog, just laughed awkwardly.
"Haha, let's just… let's just ignore her," he said, waving a dismissive hand. "She's kind of in her teenage rebellion stage right now. I'm just hoping she doesn't bring home a boyfriend one day to introduce to me. That would be a tough conversation."
Tony grinned. "Well, she knows who to stay with. Good taste. Oh well, glad to know at least one of you will be kind enough to listen during the meeting."
Gojo narrowed his eyes behind his sunglasses. "Was that jab aimed at me, or at Mochi?"
"The fact that you're asking that question isn't helping your case, Satoru," Tony replied smugly.
"Sir," Jarvis interjected, his voice a calm, steadying presence, "I believe that is enough joking around. The meeting will commence in approximately ten to fifteen minutes, upon the government official's arrival. We should probably get settled and be on the same page with each other."
Gojo nodded in approval. "Well, someone's smart enough to know that. Good to see you, Jarvis." He then leaned in and whispered, "Though, I hope you brought some of those cheat codes for that game I told you about. I honestly can't play it normally. It's too hard."
….
A/N: Well just to answer all of you… no you dont have to wait 10-15 days for the next chaoter, i'm already writing it and you will get the next chapter tomorrow or the day after that.
Now for the real thing: So, how was it? I told someone that it will be a big chapter but it is what i able to write in that time, so not wanting you people to wait for more i just uploaded this. Next would be straight to meeting.
Q: All complaints and swearing here for the author.
:—
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