“Did you eat this for dinner? I feel sorry for you!” A familiar voice was heard from the door.
“When did you come back?” Natasha asked in surprise.
“I was already at the door when you discussed Carol’s new hairstyle earlier, but I decided to wait for a while. I didn’t expect to catch the infamous Black Widow cry. Is it that bad?” Dio asked curiously.
Natasha put her hand together and covered her face. Her eyes were red from the tears, and now, she was embarrassed that Dio had seen her in that state. At the same time, Dio took the sandwich on her plate and ate it.
“Your cooking skill really is bad! I would have cried too if I had to eat this every day. Whoever you married to would be sick after eating your food for quite some time!” Dio said teasingly.
Natasha couldn’t help but laugh at Dio’s comment.
“It doesn’t matter. I can just find a chef to marry!” Natasha said with a smile on her face.
“Are you hinting at me right now?” Dio said as he ate the whole sandwich.
“Well, I don’t know. Are you interested?” Natasha said as she winked charmingly at Dio.
Dio made a vomiting sound, which left Natasha frowning. “Okay, why are you here?” Natasha said astutely.
“Hey, relax! I am just joking around! Do you want me to cook dinner for you?” Dio said as he begged for mercy. He knew there was no hell worse than a woman’s rage!
“Well, that would be a start! After all, you did eat my whole sandwich!” Natasha said with a frown on her face.
“Alright, you win! I’ll see what I can make in the fridge!” Dio said as he walked to the kitchen. Natasha smiled but immediately sighed as she watched Dio walk away.
In less than half an hour, Dio had cooked two dishes with the few ingredients in the fridge that was about to go bad and then fried two steaks and cooked a pot of rice. The stir-fried dishes he made paired with steak and rice. It was a strange combination for the western palate, but now that only Dio and Natasha were at the base, it didn’t matter at all.
This was the reason why Dio was reluctant to fuse [Pearl Jam] with another Stand as it was his first Stand that could make some money for him to start earning some gold in this world. Furthermore, it really provided a good meal on his plate!
Natasha, who has not had any good food lately, smelled the familiar scent and immediately threw her last sandwich into the trash can and grabbed a bottle of red wine before pouring it into two glasses.
The two lightly toasted while smiling at each other. They hadn’t had dinner together in a long time that they even forgot what it was like! But after sitting down and having a small talk with each other for a while, a faint warmth reached Dio’s heart.
After they had done eating, Natasha excused herself to the bathroom, and once she came out of the bathroom, all the food and plate at the table was swept clean. Natasha herself was radiant and glowing now as the effect of [Pearl Jam] rejuvenated her.
“No matter how many times I have eaten your food, it never ceases to amaze me! Why don’t you consider my earlier proposal?” Natasha said teasingly.
Dio took a sip of the water on his glass and closed his eyes as he tried to ignore Natasha teasing and advances.
“Where is Steve? Why didn’t I see him around here?” Dio asked as he changed the topic of their conversation.
“I don’t know myself. He probably ran somewhere and found a new lover, or maybe he knew that you were coming and leave us alone to give us a quality time together?” Natasha said teasingly.
“Okay, stop it Natasha!” Dio said as he took another sip of his water.
Natasha smirked and sighed. She knew that she couldn’t tease Dio for long, so she went back to her business demeanour.
“How long will you stay here this time?” Natasha asked solemnly.
“It’s hard to say. I came back because I need to do something important that I don’t even know whether I can pull it off or not!” Dio said casually.
“Dio, you should’ve heard what Rhodey said earlier. You need to calm down!” Natasha said nervously.
“That is nonsense! I don’t have anything to do with what you are worried about! Am I that cold-hearted in your eyes that I would disregard the overall situation in the world right now?” Dio said with a sullen look on his face.
Natasha was forced to remain silent as she didn’t know what to say to that.
“From a friend’s point of view, I hope you and Barton will remain safe! Although the people you killed deserve to die, the country they live in have to maintain their law now that the chaos has subsided! What the world needs right now is stability, not violence!” Natasha said after a while.
“I understand that. In fact, I am thinking about resting for a while. I already killed too many people who shouldn’t survive! It is ironic because I am afraid that I have to end humanity itself if I want to follow the path of rage!” Dio said as he smiled to himself.
In less than two years, Dio had visited many countries and saw the ugly side of humankind with his own eyes! Of course, there were many good things too, but they were pale in comparison to the atrocities that occurred right there! In the end, even Dio got a little numb from killing these evildoers.
No matter how many thugs he killed, there will always be more evil in this world! Yesterday alone, he killed some man that killed his own wife! One could say that Dio was the executioner for those who weren’t grateful for surviving the snap!
Natasha looked at Dio with mixed feelings. Although she didn’t know what Dio had experienced in the past two years, she could still feel the disappointment in Dio’s eyes, it was the disappointment with humanity itself!
“Then stay here and rest! At least you don’t have to face that kind of pressure to go on another rampage! Steve and I would be willing to share your pain. By the way, did you already hear that Bruce and Vision opened a pizza restaurant in Brooklyn? If you have time, we can go there together, their pizza is pretty good from what I heard!” Natasha said with hopeful eyes. She hoped Dio would listen to her this time!