Nadia nodded with a little smile. "Oh, you know work, the city, that kind of thing. I haven't had a vacation of a couple years so I decided it was time to take one." She replied. She loved making stories for the people she pretended to be. That was actually one of her favorite parts of being a spy.
“That sounds lovely. I’ve always wanted-“ Shane paused suddenly and pulled his phone out of his pocket. The thing was buzzing like an angry wasp nest, and Shane’s expression fell the moment he saw it. He answered the phone and immediately began an irritated rant. “Just because I don’t treat people like bags of garbage doesn’t mean I’m not doing my job, Robert! Stop interfering and go back to playing Solitare on your computer, you self-important bastard! That’s right, I know!” He hung up and offered Nadia a sheepish smile. “Work, you know?”
"Oh I know it all too well," Nadia replied with a little laugh. The waiter arrived with their water, leaving immediately after. She took a big drink of her water. She hadn't brought enough on the plane so she was parched. "If I may ask, what line of work are you in?"
“I work in informational services for a big security firm. My contract is so strict, I’m not even allowed to tell people the name of the firm!” Shane explained. That was the story he told to his friends outside of the CIA; after all, it wasn’t really a lie anyway. “Where do you work?”
"I work at the Moscow Kremlin Museums. I'm actually a manager there!" Nadia had her cover so well figured out that if anyone ever called her for the museum, it would redirect to her tech op in Moscow. They would respond if Nadia was unavailable, if she wasn't they would then redirect it to her.
“A museum? That’s pretty cool! I’ve always loved history, so I really enjoy going to museums,” Shane said. He was like an excited puppy, completely enthusiastic about every word out of Nadia’s mouth. As he put his phone into his coat pocket, the smartpaper fell out and fluttered to the ground right next to Nadia. It still had her case file printed on its surface.
Nadia smiled at his enthusiasm and excitement. "I'm glad you are one of those people. Many of the people I talk to don't enjoy museums or history." Thankfully it was upside down, but Nadia noticed the paper and picked it up. She sat back up, about to flip the paper over to give it back to Shane
“Oh, uh, I can take that! Thanks!” Shane said nervously, taking it from her hand with a practiced twitch of his fingers, careful not to flip it over himself. “Sorry, I always seem to be dropping things,” he apologized. Internally, he was screaming. He almost blew his own cover because he couldn’t keep track of a piece of paper!
(So sorry this is so late, I was a bit more busy than usual)
"Oh, it's okay, no need to apologize!" Nadia produced a practiced smile to hide her interest in the paper. He seemed overly cautious and protective of a simple piece of paper. She wished she had flipped over the paper before Shane had taken it.
The waiter approached them. "Hello, I am your waiter today. Are you two ready to order?" Nadia glanced from the waiter to Shane, not sure if they were ready or not.
(It’s ok! I’m pretty busy too)
“Yeah! Yeah, I’m ready to order,” Shane replied. He picked up his menu and chose a meal at random. Choosing something he really liked felt a bit too revealing for his taste, especially right after his blunder with the paper. Under the table, he jiggled his leg in anticipation. Honestly, the worst part of these jobs was the frantic anxiety about keeping his cover straight. Why couldn’t his mission just be making friends with people?
"Okay, and for you, ma'am?" The waiter wrote down Shane's choice and turned to Nadia.
Nadia pointed to a meal she couldn't pronounce since it was Spanish and that was a language she had never bothered to look at, for some odd reason. He nodded and smiled. "Your meals will be here shortly." She smiled, "Thank you!"
“So, what does a lady like you do for fun?” Shane asked. His manner was relaxed and easy, calm again after his nervousness, but the way he asked the question just barely hinted at the fact he felt way out of his depth. He was usually gaining information from civilian assets, not top-ranked spies. The last time he had been sent on a mission like this… well, he didn’t like to think about that too much. Still, he genuinely wanted to get to know Nadia, or as much of herself as she chose to show.
"Well…" Nadia was thinking she should probably tell the truth in this circumstance since they were going to get closer, no question about it. "I like to read, mostly comics actually. I also um…" She hasn't had much free time recently since she'd been extra busy with the FSB. "I do like cooking. I guess I just haven't had a lot of my own time recently, I've been extra busy."
(Bump~)
(Oof, sorry!)
“Oh, you like cooking! I’ve always wanted to learn how to cook, but I’m a bit too prone to burning things.” Shane chuckled. “It’s always seemed like it’d be a good skill to have, but I usually just get takeout instead of putting in the time to make something. That’s really impressive that you’re able to make time for it with your job!” He pulled a pen out of his pocket and twirled it over and under his knuckles, not even needing to think about the movement.
(It's okay!)
Nadia giggled a little. "I've had to do that a bit though recently since there's not always time to cook." She took a sip of her water as the waiter came back with their food. "Thank you, sir." She said with a smile. She immediately took a bite once he left. "Oh wow, this is delicious."
Shane immediately started going absolutely savage on his enormous plate of food. Seriously, it should've been classified as a massacre with how aggressively he shoved the meal into his face. “So much better than crappy airport food…” he muttered dreamily. Suddenly remembering he was with company, he swallowed and offered a blushing smile. “Sorry!” he apologized, then started on his plate again, albeit at a much more polite pace than before.
Nadia giggled before she took a bite. Realizing just how right Shane was, her eyes widened. "My gosh! This is so good! You're so right, Sam!" She was not nearly as aggressive as he had been, but she was definitely eating fast. Partially due to how hungry she was and how bad the airplane food was, but it was also just a habit of her's to eat fast.