𝐏𝐀𝐍𝐈𝐂 𝐑𝐎𝐎𝐌

𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐲 𝐨𝐧𝐞

- ⧗  ZARIAH PETROVA ⧗ -

   ZARIAH DIDN'T FIND SLEEP EASILY THAT NIGHT. For the majority of the afternoon, the girl spent the day in and out of tears. Natasha held her close when she cried and didn't stray far when she calmed. She'd attempted to return to the office, but Natasha had quickly forbade it. So instead, Zariah had spent her time curled up on the living room sofa while Nat typed away on her laptop right next to her.

   When it came to dinner, Zariah had joined the Avengers at the table once again. But when she started crying into her salad, she had to excuse herself, followed quickly by Natasha who held her hand as she sobbed into her bedsheets. Once she'd calmed the pair warmed up to watch another movie, both eating peanut butter out of the jar with big desert spoons.

   Natasha had went off to bed like usual, bidding Zari a warm farewell before slipping out the door. The girl had lay in bed a while, invested in the pages of her newest novel. When her eyes began to burn with fatigue, she eventually called it a night and retired her adventure until the morning. However as the girl tried to fall asleep, she found the task unbearably difficult. Each time her eyes closed, she saw the face of the agent staring back at her, a disgusted look upon his face. After an hour or so of the torment, Zariah finally gave up.

   Her feet hit the floor silently, padding their way across the carpet. As she opened the door into the corridor, the building was void of any noise at all. Moonlight shimmered in through a window as the redhead slipped her way up the corridor. Against the door, she paused, momentarily rethinking her decision, but then pushed through it raised her hand to the handle.

   The room inside was dark, only the barest of light filing in through the blinds and lighting up the shadowy figure against the bed. The girl suddenly realised it was her first time inside the room, her first time entering Natasha's space. It was very modernly decorated, the barest of decoration present and almost perfectly clean. Very Natasha, she thought silently.

   As Zariah slowly peered her head around the door, the body stirred, head raising in her direction. Natasha met the girl's gaze in the darkness. "Zariah?" she called.

   The girl swallowed as she stepped fully into the room.

   "What is it?" Natasha asked, sitting herself up. "Are you okay?"

   "I can't sleep," Zari replied, dancing on the balls of her feet. "Could I maybe...sleep with you?"

   The question felt heavy in the air. Zariah never used to ask questions, especially those that held such heavy emotional correlation. For a second she wanted to run, to apologize and turn away like nothing had happened at all. But the fear disappeared in her throat as she saw Natasha's lips form a smile in the dark.

   "Of course," she called. "Come here, malysh."

   Zariah released a breath as the redhead drew the covers back. She edged her way across the room, slowly slipping down into Natasha's bed. Nat wrapped the duvet around the girl's shoulders, pushing her close in. Zariah melted in the warmth radiating off Natasha, slipping herself into the woman's arms as if they were carved out just for her. There, in the peacefulness of her steady breaths, Zariah could not have felt safer.

   "Goodnight, Natasha," the girl breathed, exhaustion rapidly descending on her.

   "Goodnight, Zari," Nat whispered as the warm confines of sleep fell upon the girl's tired mind.

•••

The next morning, Zariah awoke still in Natasha's bed. The pair lingered there for longer than they probably should have, basking in the warmth of the duvet as they watched a show Nat had put on the TV. By the time they'd both gotten out of bed, everyone else in the compound quarters had already begun their day.