Dumont Restaurant had good reviews, and Sammy liked to try new places. Raised on take out, dine out, and SHIELD cafeteria food, she secretly enjoyed the ones that advertised home cooking.

She settled into her chair, (glanced up at the ceiling to check if there was anything more interesting to see) and turned a bright smile on Qamar. "I like it."

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Qamar takes a seat, looking briefly at the spot on the ceiling, a little confused by her glance, then smiles at her. "It's nice," he agrees, opening the menu and glancing it over. He decides quickly, and sets the menu aside so there's less between him and his date.

"So... Alice took me to coffee the other day. She seems like she'll be a good teammate."

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"She's been my best friend since we were in diapers. I asked her to get know you." She made her selection from the menu and put it aside. "I'm a firm believer that the important people in my life should know each other. I'm lucky enough to work with both of you this time."

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He nods. "I hope I made a good impression," he tells her. "I know I can be... awkward."

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"She didn't think you awkward. She said you were cute and funny and good for me." There had also been some talk about new lingerie to celebrate, but Sammy kept that to herself.

"Alice is a good agent. I suspect Dad and Dum Dum have been working on her to take over Mom's spot when they all finally retire."

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"I need to introduce her to real coffee," Qamar points out. "You too, if you'd like it. If I can find a place in New York that will serve the real thing."

He glances back up at the spot on the ceiling where Sammy had been looking, trying to figure out what she had noticed up there. Was there a spot or something up there?

Then he looks back at her and smiles.

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Sammy frowned and looked back at the ceiling, then at Qamar. Maybe she'd been too hasty about ruling out the ceiling as competition.

Then she smiled back at him. She couldn't resist. "Bring it on, babe. I've had coffee that could crawl away and fend for itself in the wild. We don't have to settle for only New York to find coffee. The helicarrier is a jumping off place. That's why Dad insisted we be stationed on it. Easy access to other countries."

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"I'm talking about coffee that invents the wild before crawling off and taming it," he replies, challenging. "But... I don't think we should move the Helicarrier to Cairo just for a cup of coffee."

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"Jumping off spot," she repeated with a head shake. "I need to meet this coffee and bend it to my will. If we happened to be in the area sometime. Or we can take a short vacation."

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"This is not coffee you can bend to your will!" Qamar declares, mock-urgently. "This is coffee you must learn to survive! Coffee you can, if you are skilled... and lucky... learn to coexist with!"

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She burst out laughing and immediately tried to hold it back with a hand over her mouth.

"Can you teach me to make this coffee? I feel the need to dominate it as soon as possible."

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He eyes her. "But are you worthy of learning these secrets?" He looks her over through overly-skeptical eyes. "Can you handle the secret... of the bean?"

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"The bean has a secret?" She leaned forward. "You know better than to dangle a secret in front of me. Bean secrets are especially tempting."

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He regards her carefully for a long moment.

Without breaking eye contact, he slips his phone from his pocket. He glances at it briefly while typing something in.

After a moment of searching, he's apparently satisfied. He shuts the phone, putting it back in his pocket, and sits back.

"We'll be delayed to dancing," he explains.

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Suspicious and delighted, she tapped his foot with hers. "You realize that if we do anything that'll keep me awake all night, you'll have to spend every second of it with me. No staring at ceilings, either."

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He blinks. Somehow, he missed part of that and only heard ceiling. He glances back up. "Did... do you want to move to a table outside or something?"

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Confusion was shared by all. "No, this table is fine. What are you talking about?"

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"Why do you keep talking about the ceil..." ...and then the rest of what she'd said sunk in, and he hesitates for a brief second. "...oh. Um... okay."

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"You seemed more interested in the ceiling back in my quarters. It's not bugged if you were looking for any surveillance."

The hesitation was...well, don't think about that. "I'm kidding, Qamar. You don't have to do anything you don't want to. We're having a good time and I like spending time with you."

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He breathes out. "It's not that at all. I mean... you're incredibly beautiful, and, well..." His voice drops to a hissing whisper. "And you were naked."

His voice returns to normal, though there's definite blushing there on his cheeks. "I just wanted to... respect you."

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"The towel covered more of me than my swim suit," she pointed out. "But, I wouldn't change anything about you, so I do apologize for making you uncomfortable. I didn't think there was anything questionable about my boyfriend waiting in my quarters while I finished getting ready for a date. I should have asked if you were all right with it."

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He blinks. "I just..." He thinks for a moment. "It's not that it's questionable, or that I was uncomfortable. I just wouldn't want you to think I was trying to take advantage of you."

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"That is one thing I'm not worried about with you," she said simply.

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"Oh," he says quietly.

"Then... next time I won't try hard to not look?" he says, as if asking for permission.

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"The next time you won't try hard not to look," she said with a firm nod. "I like that you don't assume but maybe communication is something we should work on?"

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