"Will you go on a date with me?" Wanda blurts out one day after sparring with Natasha before she can talk herself out of it. To her credit, Natasha barely pauses in between gulps from her water bottle but Wanda can still see a small hint of blush on her neck.
"Of course," Natasha responds easily, swinging her gym bag over her shoulder. "Friday night, you know where to find me."
She walks out, barely pausing to turn and shoot a wink at Wanda before she's gone. Breathing a small sigh of relief, Wanda slumps against the wall as a grin begins to break out on her face. Her bliss lasts exactly one hour. Then, she panics.
It's Wednesday afternoon which means she has just about two days before her date with Natasha. Suddenly, Wanda is regretting her decision. She has no idea what she's doing, doesn't have any sort of knowledge on what Natasha would like as a date. So she goes to the only person that might have any idea. Clint.
Wanda finds him in the kitchen and she immediately harasses him with her problems. After promptly laughing his ass off, Clint actually is somewhat helpful. "Don't get her roses, she's allergic." Wanda makes a mental note of this as Clint continues. "But she loves Lilies so that's always a good course of action."
"Lilies?"
"Yeah, you know, those weird-looking flowers from Alice in Wonderland that talk. They kinda—"
"I know what a Lily is, yes." Wanda huffs and Clint grins smugly, hopping up onto the counter behind him. "I just find it... odd."
"Yeah, well, that's one way to describe Nat." He shrugs, leaning back onto his hands. "You might want to take her somewhere a little private. Nothing too busy or she'll be on guard the entire time."
"And where would I find a place like this?" Wanda raises her eyebrows as Clint shrugs unhelpfully.
"Don't ask me!" He raises his hands in surrender. "Maybe go to Pepper for that information."
Wanda does end up seeking Pepper's help but she's out of the country on business so they only exchange a few quick texts. After successfully finding a location, Wanda feels a little more prepared for Friday night. She's actually excited despite her nerves.
Friday comes soon enough and, after spending the whole day fussing about the upcoming events, Wanda finally feels ready. She's got her flowers, the venue, and she even looks presentable. That is about as good as it's gonna get in Wanda's mind. So, she finally decides to make her way over to Natasha's room.
She gets there at around 6:50 but then spends the next ten minutes burning a hole in the floor as she paces back and forth. Eventually, Wanda gets the courage to knock and does so tentatively. The door opens almost immediately and Natasha stands there practically grinning, wearing black dress pants and a white blouse. The outfit is paired with modest black stilettos that bring her up to Wanda's height. She looks stunning.
"You're beautiful," Natasha says, eyes looking Wanda over appreciatively before Wanda can even open her mouth. She takes in the flowing black fabric of Wanda's dress and her cute red ballet flats. Natasha briefly wonders how she got so lucky.
"Yes, well, Steve helped with my makeup and this dress was from—"
"No, Wanda, you're beautiful," Natasha emphasizes, slowly moving closer to Wanda like she's scared she'll disappear if she moves too suddenly. She stops only a foot away from Wanda, looking at the bouquet she has in her hands as if it's the first time she's noticed it. "Are these for me?"
"Of course," Wanda says confidently even as she blushes and the smile Natasha gives her rivals the sun. She takes them gently from Wanda's hands and raises them to her nose, inhaling their scent for a moment.
"My favorite," she whispers happily before leaving the doorway for a moment to put the flowers in a vase of water. Then, she's back still smiling that gorgeous smile of hers. They link hands as if it's a natural thing for them to do and Wanda leads them to the elevators and out onto the streets of New York.
"Are you okay with walking? It is not far," Wanda asks hesitantly, looking at Natasha nervously. The other woman just beams and follows Wanda's lead. They make it to the small restaurant in under ten minutes and there is no wait for them to be seated. It's practically empty besides an elderly couple at a table by the window. Music is playing quietly in the background and Wanda can immediately see why Pepper recommended the place. It's absolutely perfect.
They sit across from each other, their knees brushing under the table every few seconds. Wanda is almost sad when Natasha drops her hand to pick up the menu but the light touches of their legs brings her comfort. They make easy small talk until their food comes, Natasha laughing softly as Wanda tells a story of Peter from earlier in the week.
Their plates are cleared away and the bill is placed on the table after what seems like 30 minutes but what has truly been upwards of 2 hours. And when they leave, the moon is shining and the stars are twinkling in the sky. The sidewalk is nearly empty as they walk back to the tower, Natasha leaning into Wanda's side as they link hands again.
"It's so beautiful out," Natasha sighs, her eyes reflecting the city lights. Wanda thinks Natasha is much more beautiful than the sky and, when she says as much, the redhead blushes and laughs it off.
They're back to the tower before they know it and on Natasha's floor within minutes. Wanda is sad to see the night coming to a close and she hesitates at Natasha's door, still gripping onto her hand. Their eyes meet and Natasha's hand comes up to her cheek, stroking the pale skin of Wanda's jaw. And then they're kissing. It's soft and slow, a culmination of the quiet night they just had.
And, when they pull apart slowly, Natasha grins slyly. "Let's do this again some time," she murmurs before pecking Wanda on the cheek and opening her door. She goes in without so much as a glance behind her and Wanda doesn't even mind, she's too dazed to care.
They do, in fact, do it again, spending a week in between their first and second date glancing at each other slyly and ghosting their hands ever-so-slightly across the other's skin. For their second date, Natasha takes Wanda to a Russian restaurant on the east side of town that's tucked between a sketchy looking bar and an even sketchier looking apartment complex.
But the food is to die for and the beetroot salad she has as a side dish reminds her of a time before the bomb dropped on her apartment. Natasha knows the staff by name and smiles at all of them like they're old friends. They treat the pair like they're royalty and Natasha holds Wanda's hand for the entire meal. She doesn't even care that it makes it harder to eat.
At the end of the night, they kiss again outside Natasha's door. It's longer this time and tastes faintly of the cheesecake they shared for dessert. Wanda momentarily hopes it will never end but then it does and they say their goodnights. That night, Wanda has her first dream of Sokovia that isn't a nightmare.
On their third date, Wanda walks Natasha to her door as per usual despite Natasha's protests. Once they get there, they both pause and turn to face each other. Wanda has to lean down because she's wearing heels and Natasha isn't. The redhead meets her halfway, joining their lips together softly. They stay like that for awhile moving in sync slowly until Natasha opens her mouth wider and brushes her tongue gently across Wanda's lip. The younger girl lets her in without much hesitation.
Natasha hums in content, her tongue sliding past her lips with confidence. Wanda wraps her hands behind Natasha's neck, twisting her fingers into her fiery red hair. She tugs on it ever so slightly and Natasha gasps into her mouth before pulling away, out of breath.
The look that's on Natasha's face is one that Wanda is familiar with but has never experienced herself. Natasha's eyes are darkened, her pupils dilated, and her breath is almost imperceptibly shallower. Her breath hitches in slight panic and Wanda curses herself for not thinking about this before. Her skin is crawling as she just barely steps back from Natasha, trying to shove down the guilt she feels.
"I should get going," Wanda murmurs, still holding onto Natasha's hand. "It's late."
To Wanda's relief, Natasha nods in agreement with the same soft smile she's had on her face all night. "Goodnight Wanda."
"Goodnight," she says, her hand feeling strangely cold as she takes it away from Natasha's. Without sparing a glance back, Wanda makes her way to the elevator. She only turns around as she hears the soft click of the door closing and pauses just to look at Natasha's door before she hurries on.
The moment she gets back to her room, Wanda collapses onto her bed. Kicking off her heels, she sighs happily and brings her fingers up to her lips. Even after she's showered and changed into her sleep clothes, Wanda feels the ghosts of Natasha's lips on hers. But still, there is the remaining feeling of panic.
After a few days, once Wanda and Natasha have confirmed their next date, the witch realizes she needs to figure out what's wrong with her. Only one person pops into her mind so she ventures down to the labs of the Stark Tower.
"Dr. Banner, may I talk to you for a moment?" Wanda calls hesitantly as she raps on the open door to the lab.
"Of course, Wanda! Come on in." Bruce waves his hand vaguely, gesturing her into the lab. "And please, call me Bruce."
"Right... of course," Wanda says distractedly, looking down and fiddling with her hands.
"What can I do for you?" He pulls up a stool, sitting on it as he politely waits for an answer.
"I, uh, am probably not supposed to tell you this but Natasha and I have recently started dating." Wanda pauses, stopping to gauge Bruce's reaction. He barely blinks, just raising his eyebrows and nodding to urge her on. "Which has brought some... problems for me to the, uh, surface."
"If you don't want to be seeing her I'm sure Nat would never force you to—"
"No, no, no!" Wanda waves the suggestion away frantically. "That is not the problem. Natasha is great, I really enjoy dating her."
"So what's the issue?" Bruce asks curiously, his expression open and non-judgmental.
"I, uh," Wanda takes a shaky breath, now playing with the hem of her shirt, "don't... like sex? I find it, um, gross and unappealing."
Wanda squeaks and covers her face in embarrassment, cheeks burning a bright pink. "Wanda, there's nothing to be ashamed of." Bruce waits until she lowers her hands before continuing. "I don't like to make judgments so quickly but it sounds like you're asexual."
"You mean... like a plant?" Wanda blurts out, confusion written all over her face. Bruce just chuckles. Clearly, Peter must have gone on one of his science rants to her recently.
"No, not really," he turns and rifles through a few things on his desk, "but I, uh, am asexual too so I've done a lot of research on it. I can give you some papers to read if you'd like?"
"I would appreciate that, thank you." Wanda is still blushing as Bruce starts collecting a few things from his filing cabinet. Eventually, he hands her an entire textbook and several packets of paper. Wanda takes them gratefully, thanking Bruce several more times before she leaves his lab.
Wanda spends most of the night and the following day holed up in her room, doing more research than absolutely necessary on her newfound sexuality. She's surprised to find that instead of feeling overwhelmed, there's actually a quiet peacefulness that has settled over her. Honestly, it's just relieving that she's not alone in how she feels.
It's likely that Wanda would have spent all of the weekend researching asexuality if there hadn't been a confident knock on her door that night. She quickly hides her books away so as not to give away what she's discovered and then pads across her room to the door. It swings open to reveal Natasha dressed in a faded band tee and yoga pants.
"Wha—"
"Come on, you've been in here all day," Natasha whines, grabbing onto Wanda's arm and tugging on it slightly. She pauses momentarily and then offers a meek smile, "I've been missing you."
"Where are we going?" Wanda asks as she allows herself to be dragged to the elevator without much resistance. "It's late and we are in our pajamas."
"I've noticed," she teases, bumping her shoulder against Wanda's. "You haven't come out of your room for the last 24 hours and I'm dreadfully bored so we're going to watch a movie."
When they make it to the living room, it's empty of all people. There's what seems like a hundred blankets on the couch and a movie that Wanda doesn't recognize is already set up. They settle onto the couch together and Natasha presses play on the remote.
Wanda is curled up into Natasha's side, her arms wrapped securely around the small woman's waist. They're sharing a single blanket and Natasha is carding her fingers through Wanda's hair as the movie plays. It's relaxing but Wanda can't help but focus on the research she left back in her room. Mostly, she's worried about how Natasha is going to react.
"Penny for your thoughts?" Natasha asks gently when she notices the Sokovian is spaced out, using her index finger to tap on Wanda's temple lightly while simultaneously pausing the movie.
"I, uh— there is something I must tell you." Wanda's shoulders slump, instinctively moving to fiddle with her hair. Before she can start tugging on the strands, Natasha takes her hands and holds them in her own. "Please don't be angry with me."
Wanda glances at Natasha when she feels her stiffen and sees that a mask has slipped over her facial expression like she's now guarding how she truly feels. Too late, Wanda realizes that's she made a mistake with her wording. Natasha pulls her hands back. "Wanda." Natasha's voice is even and void of emotion, almost to the point of being cold. "Think very carefully about what you're about to tell me because if it's something I'm not going to want to know—"
"I didn't cheat on you." Wanda cuts in anxiously, looking as genuine as possible. "It is nothing like that. I just... it's something about me that you should know before we, um, further our relationship."
Natasha's mask slowly cracks into a more gentle expression, one that shows how much she really cares. It's easy to tell that she's trying to hold it together, to detach herself from the situation and it's a testament to how much Natasha cares that she can't quite do it. She inhales sharply, her posture slumping just barely to match Wanda's. Slowly she breathes out, "Okay."
She hesitates before blurting out, "Dr. Banner is asexual." Mentally, Wanda facepalms.
Natasha is briefly stunned. Then, she raises one of her perfectly arched eyebrows and a confused smirk forms on her lips. "So I've been told," she responds slowly, only her fingers that are tapping lightly on Wanda's knee giving away her nervousness.
"I am also asexual," Wanda says in one breath, plowing on before Natasha can get a word in. "And I know I should have told you but I was scared and I really like you. I don't want to lose what we have and—"
"Wanda," Natasha's calm voice cuts in again, her eyebrows raised in what seems to be amusement, "calm down. I'm not angry."
"You're not?" She squeaks out, worrying her bottom lip in between her teeth.
"No, I'm not." Natasha continues to run her hands through Wanda's long hair gently, trying to soothe her nerves. "I'm actually very proud that you've told me this. I know it was hard and—"
This time, Wanda cuts Natasha off with a sudden kiss. She's too excited to not kiss her, a happy feeling pooling in her stomach. Natasha makes a noise of surprise but reciprocates the kiss, pulling Wanda closer to her. Once they eventually stop, they're both grinning widely.
"This doesn't mean we're not going to have to talk about this," Natasha warns gently. "We're still going to have to set boundaries and all that fun stuff. But I'm willing to continue this if you'll have me?"
Wanda answers her with another kiss.