Something so simple N.R

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Your POV
I slammed the table and screamed in frustration. I was supposed to have completed this paperwork yesterday and I am still only half done. I don't understand how the others managed to do it so quickly but I am clearly struggling to even read.

Just then, Wanda opened my door and I shouted at her before she could even speak. "GO AWAY!" I could feel myself trembling with anger.

"I just wanted to tell you that Steve called for a meeting. We have a mission." Wanda said before closing the door again. I slumped on my chair and sighed, I can't believe I just shouted at Wanda for no reason.

Steve passed us each a file. "Learn what you need to do and we'll meet at the jet in half an hour." Steve gave us the overview for the mission with individual plans and objectives to be completed during the mission. I tried reading the file but all I saw was a jumbled mess. Everybody had already left to their rooms to focus after receiving their files, leaving me alone to figure things out.

Time was ticking and I still couldn't figure out the headline of this text. I left the meeting room and knocked on Natasha's door. She swiveled around and I saw her beautiful eyes that could make anyone stop in their tracks.

"How can I help you?"

"Ah- I couldn't focus. Could you help me summarise what I need to do in this file?" I passed her the file in my hands.

"Sure." Nat took the files and started looking through them before kindly telling me what the plan and my objectives were. She went through who my partner was, the routes and even things I thought were not needed. Thanks to her, the mission went swimmingly well.

Swimmingly well for the team at least, not for me. I have yet another paperwork to do when I haven't completed the last one. Work is catching up to me and I am under immense pressure. Words can't describe how frustrated I was. I just want to complete my paperwork and rest but that's tough.

I swiped my hands across the table, dropping everything to the floor in a mess. Wanda came to check things out since I was making a lot of noise. "Leave me alone!" I yelled at her.

"Y/N..."

"Didn't you hear me? I said. LEAVE ME ALONE!" I glared at her.

Natasha POV
Wanda came back down and shook her head. It wasn't easy to try and get across Y/N. I could tell she was having some sort of problem. Maria was always chasing her for her paperwork. And the paperwork she submitted always has spelling errors. Not just spelling errors but letters which don't look like letters. It was tough figuring out what she was writing.

"She's thrashing about." Wanda came back and reported to me.

"Okay thanks. I'll look for her later." I quickly finished up my work and went to her room to see her arranging her table.

"What do you need Natasha?" She spoke without looking at me.

"I just want to test something." I picked up a random piece of paper from her table and gave it to her. "Read it." She took the paper and stared at it. "So you're dyslexic." She nodded, setting the paper down. "Why didn't you tell anyone?"

"Reading is such a simple thing to do and I can't even do it!"

"You can learn and I can teach. It's going to be a long process but I'll be with you every step of the way." I took a scrap of paper and wrote a couple of words down. "For starters, can you read this?"

Y/N took a look at the paper and passed it back to me. "No." She shook her head.

"It's okay. At the end we'll come back to it." I took the paper and placed it in my back pocket.

I started helping Y/N by teaching her how to identify each letter and progressing into words with the help of audiobooks. Writing was still too hard for her so we focused on reading for the most part. There was a lot of coaxing and bribing for her to stay seated and focused. I could tell she was frustrated at times, scratching her head and pulling her hair and I had to calm her down.

We took days off when the team had movie nights but I'll still try and get her to read some of the subtitles. It was important to get into the groove of it or our efforts would be wasted.

Slow and steady, Y/N was improving, being able to read the majority of the sentence and figuring out the rest. Writing was still something to improve on. So, while we worked on that, I submitted a request to Maria for Y/N to submit her paperwork online instead of physical paper.

Your POV
Nat was very patient and kind with me. There were times when I wanted to quit because it was too difficult but she managed to convince me to continue. There were mini rewards systems which definitely motivated me to press on. She knows my limit when I am really just too tired to continue for the day.

I could feel myself improving, reading the labels on bottles that previously looked like random lines scribbled on it. The name plates outside the doors and even street names. I was experiencing a lot more being able to read.

Currently, Nat is giving me a mini test which I have to complete since we have been learning for about two months now. She wants to see how far I've progressed. Nat gave me a couple of sentences and I have to read it to her.

"Good. Last one."

I looked at my piece of paper. "Do... you... know the w-way around here?" I looked at Nat for confirmation.

"Well done!" She clapped her hands. "Now we can focus more on writing. But before that, we are going to play a quick game. I am going to flash a piece of paper and you're going to tell me what's on it."

"Okay..." I saw her take out a piece of paper behind her back. She showed it to me for half a second before taking it away. I tried hard to visualise what was shown to me in my brain. "I... love you?"

Nat smirked. "I love you too."

It was only then did I realise what happened. "Wait what?" I was so shocked that I fell backwards on my chair. "Since when?" I said after getting up.

"Remember the time when I tested you if you could understand what I wrote? Since then."

My mouth formed an 'O'. "Since... but that's-"

"Yes. Since the beginning and even before that." Nat interrupted. "So?"

I picked up a pen and pointed it at her. "I want to learn how to write your name."

Nat smiled and picked me up and placed me on her lap. She placed my hand in a writing position and started tracing out the letters with me. Natasha Romanoff, we wrote.

Nat gave me a kiss on the back of my neck. "I love you."

"I love you too."

Written on 8/10/2021
Posted on 13/1/2022

Saw a post on Instagram about dyslexia.

I don't know anything about dyslexia, sorry if I'm wrong. But if I'm not wrong, normally one would start learning to write instead of reading.

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