Summary: When Yelena goes out for her run, she brings home an unexpected houseguest. Natasha is not particularly impressed at first, but when she sees how happy Yelena is, she finds herself swiftly giving in. But naming it Fanny is something she's going to have a hard time getting used to.
"Natashka!" Yelena called from the opposite side of the house, and Natasha smiled a little, happy to hear Yelena's voice.
"I'm in my room folding laundry!" Natasha shouted in reply, letting her younger sister know where she was, and she returned her attentions to her pile of clothes she had resting on her bed.
Yelena had gone out for her usual run, and Natasha had remained inside to catch up on some household stuff. At the moment, she was folding her laundry and quickly realizing that Yelena had stolen ninety percent of her hoodies. It was cute but it was getting sort of frustrating since Natasha really liked wearing those hoodies.
She was interrupted from her thoughts when she heard the oddest sound and her sister's panicked voice.
"Hey! No, no, no, no! Don't go in there yet!" Yelena whisper-yelled and Natasha quirked a brow, looking over her shoulder at the doorway. She could hear something that sounded like skittering across the floor accompanied by Yelena's quick footsteps. Natasha just gazed at the doorway, hearing the commotion growing nearer.
To her pure and unadulterated shock, a fluffy little ball of chubby folds and fur came racing through her doorway and stopped at her feet, sniffing her excitedly and jumping up on her legs. Natasha froze, staring down at the creature and quickly realizing that it was a dog looking up at her.
Yelena quickly came rushing through the door at that moment and she froze, staring at Natasha like a deer in the headlights. Natasha ripped her gaze away from the dog to meet Yelena's eyes, her own light greens questioning.
"Yelena... what is this?"
"A puppy," Yelena replied, suddenly finding her words again and striding forward to pick up the little dog in her arms. Natasha furrowed her brow as she took in the sight.
"I can see that," Natasha spoke slowly, studying the creature before shifting her gaze back up to Yelena.
"What's it doing here?" Natasha asked, and Yelena straightened her posture just a bit, running her fingers through the puppy's fur carefully.
"Well, you see, I was out on my run," Yelena started, holding the little puppy in her arms, and Natasha nodded, never taking her eyes off of Yelena as she patiently awaited the full answer to her question.
"And I passed by my favorite convenience store, thinking about getting a slushie," Yelena continued, and Natasha winced just a little at the thought of those disgusting things that Yelena loved so much, and Yelena smirked just a tiny bit in response to the expression.
"But before I went in, I heard something by the dumpster, and I went over to check it out. And that's where I found this cutie," Yelena explained, and Natasha glanced down at the little pup again, noticing how the creature was just panting happily and looking between Natasha and Yelena as if it were just thrilled to be there with them.
"She was alone so I picked her up and I went in and asked the people at the store if she was a stray or if she belonged to any of them."
"And they said?"
"They said that she had been lingering around there for several days and they didn't think she had a home," Yelena answered, and Natasha sighed deeply, knowing exactly where Yelena was going with this entire story and situation. And unfortunately, even though Natasha was not particularly fond of dogs, the redhead knew exactly how she was going to answer Yelena when it came down to the question that the blonde was no doubt going to ask.
"So I picked her up and took her home. She was alone and defenseless... Kind of like us when we were small," Yelena pointed out, and Natasha felt a sharp stab to her chest as soon as Yelena uttered the words.
Natasha could see the slight pain in the blonde's eyes as she explained, and Natasha now understood why. Yelena had found the stray and brought it there because she had once been a stray herself, no one caring if she lived or died.
Natasha let out a slight breath, continuing in her laundry folding as she considered what they were going to need to take care of a dog.
"I'm going to name her Fanny," Yelena suddenly declared after a long moment of silence, and Natasha narrowed her eyes, immediately remembering the name and its origin.
"Fanny?" Natasha questioned, spinning her head over to look in Yelena's direction, and Natasha quickly noticed how Yelena tightened her grip just a little on the fluffy little pup in her arms. It made Natasha's chest tighten just a little to see her sister holding onto the animal as if it would be taken away from her at any moment.
"Fanny," Yelena firmly asserted, but her face quickly broke from its firm façade when Fanny threw her head back and licked Yelena's chin, nibbling it just a bit. Yelena could not help but giggle a bit, and Natasha tried to bite back the giant grin threatening to take over her as her heart melted at the sight.
"Are you kidding me right now?" Natasha asked, but her voice was much softer than she had intended for it to sound. She did not like the name Fanny at all, and she was really hoping that Yelena would give it up or at least be joking.
"No," Yelena responded, still trying to be tough about it but her frequent gazes dropped down to the puppy was more than enough to ruin her ultimate effect.
Natasha groaned, shaking her head but unable to fight the warmth in her heart from Yelena and the puppy together. Yelena herself was really cute but when combined with something that she seemed to love so much already, Yelena became absolutely adorable.
"Are you trying to name the dog after me?" Natasha finally questioned, huffing a bit as she immediately noticed how Yelena stiffened.
"No! Why do you say that?" Yelena cried much too defensively, and Natasha chuckled just a bit before returning her attentions to the clothes that she was folding. It made something inside of her warm to think that Yelena would actually want to name the puppy after her.
"That's my alias in Norway," Natasha told her, looking back at her with a quirked eyebrow. Yelena suddenly looked uncomfortable before composing herself and returning to her ordinary confidence.
"So? You don't have the monopoly on the name Fanny," Yelena spoke, and the puppy reached its head up to lick her again when she uttered the name.
"I think she knows her name is Fanny," Yelena pointed out, her voice impossibly warm and a chuckle bubbling at the edges of her words as she pressed a small kiss to the top of Fanny's head. Natasha felt a grin starting to rise onto her face against her will, and she quickly looked away, trying to keep Yelena from seeing just how absolutely adorable that she thought that her sister was.
"Wait... Are you smiling?" Yelena questioned, and Natasha quickly fought back against the grin, hiding it efficiently as Yelena approached her side with curiosity and suspicion in her eyes.
"No," Natasha replied, trying her best to sound casual. Yelena, however, seemed to quickly catch onto her bluff and she moved closer, resting her chin on Natasha's shoulder as her eyes glowed with unbridled affection.
"I think you're full of it," Yelena smugly spoke, and Natasha rolled her eyes, just barely glancing at the blonde perched on her shoulder before focusing entirely on her laundry.
"You know, she could be your little niece," Yelena told Natasha, and the absurdity of the statement caused the redhead to laugh against her will, shaking her head as she dropped her chin to her chest.
"Yelena, she's a dog," Natasha informed her, looking at the blonde with her chin still on her shoulder. Yelena hesitantly moved her head away from Natasha with a smile on her face.
"So? She's still your niece. Families come in all shapes and species!" Yelena defended, shifting her grasp on Fanny. Natasha glanced down for a small moment at the puppy before focusing her attention on Yelena.
"Look at her!" Yelena declared before shoving the small floof in Natasha's face. It happily leaned forward, trying to lick Natasha's nose. Natasha moved her head back just a little, squinting as she narrowly avoided the puppy's tongue.
"'I love you, Auntie Nat!'" Yelena heightened the pitch of her voice, her Russian accent thick in every syllable. Natasha almost chuckled from the ridiculousness of it, and Yelena shook her head before pushing Fanny toward Natasha more.
"Here, hold her, you'll understand," Yelena insisted, and Natasha sighed deeply before reaching out and very hesitantly taking the puppy from Yelena. She stared into its sweet-natured brown eyes, and even though they did not have that honeyed look to them, she was intensely reminded of Yelena.
The unadulterated trust, pure adoration, and untainted innocence in them sent Natasha back to a time when she and Yelena were just kids and things were so much simpler. Of course, looking past the puppy just a bit to meet Yelena's eyes, she saw quite a bit of those same things in Yelena in this particular moment.
Her attentions were swiftly returned to the puppy in her hands when it actually managed to lean forward and lick her nose. Natasha could not help the slight giggle that escaped her, and she was almost surprised at herself for the sound.
"Aww, look, Natashka, your niece loves you!" Yelena cooed, some mix of teasing and genuine happiness in her tone. Natasha rolled her eyes before suddenly getting a whiff of the puppy. She wrinkled her nose, looking down at the little creature.
"We need to give her a bath," Natasha spoke, handing the pup back to Yelena and the blonde just froze as she took the puppy from the redhead.
"We?"
"We. And then we need to go to the pet supply store and get food, a harness, a leash, and dog stuff," Natasha informed her, and she noticed Yelena's huge grin out of the corner of her eye. Natasha finally allowed the smile threatening to take over her to spread across her face as she stopped to meet Yelena's gaze. Yelena looked absolutely and deeply touched and so much love was in her eyes that the intensity of it almost took Natasha off-guard.
"Thank you," Yelena expressed, stepping closer to Natasha, and the redhead's eyes softened, looking down at the puppy for a short moment before closing the distance between her and her sister, taking the back of Yelena's head in her hand and pulling her near to kiss the bridge of her nose between her eyes.
"You're welcome, sweet girl. Now let's get Fanny Longbottom in the bath," Natasha spoke, hesitantly reaching out a hand to gently scratch at the fur on the pup's cheek.
"I didn't name her after you," Yelena somewhat weakly persisted, and Natasha shook her head, rolling her eyes just a bit with a loving grin. She knew the truth.
"Sure."