Natasha Romanoff - Fluff One Shots

Read To Me

You were in the living room watching a movie with the rest of the Avengers like you do every Friday evening. It became almost a ritual within the compound after you suggested that you and the team do weekly movie nights not too long after you joined the team. Ever since then, like clockwork, the team would gather in the living room and take their designated spots on the sofa every Friday evening at 7pm without fail. The only way this didn't happen was if there was a mission of some sort, but chaos has been low over the past few months and you never really went on missions that lasted any longer than 3 days.

You would usually watch around 3 films in a row, with small breaks in between for drinks and discussions. It was more fun this way as just 1 movie never seemed to satisfy anyone. It also meant that there would be at least one movie that everyone liked so there was less room for argument.

You had a 'random name picker' scheme in place in order to choose the movies. Peter had the name spinner app on his phone with each team members name on it. He would spin it 3 times and those people got to pick 1 movie of their choice to be played on movie night. Tonight, the three lucky winners were Pietro, Tony and Wanda.

Tony went with the obvious and chose 'The Wolf of Wall Street'. Pietro being the menace he is, wanting to stir up some controversy, had selected 'Paranormal Activity', knowing full well that Peter and his sister could not make it through any sort of horror movie without bursting into tears and cowering under a blanket. And Wanda, wanting to lighten the mood and try and rid herself of any scared feelings still left over from Pietro's choice of movie, decided to go with Ratatouille.

You were situated on one of the sofas, slumped in Nat's lap as she absentmindedly stroked through your hair as you both watched the third movie of the night. Her gentle touch, along with her warmth as your head lay against her chest, able to hear the faint thump of her heartbeat, meant that you found it more and more difficult to stay focused. You're weren't tired, per say, but you weren't wide awake either. Your sleep schedule had been pretty messed up recently with all of the paper work you had to do, that it was as if your body was telling you that you should be tired but your brain was resisting. The comfortable embrace of your girlfriend typically tricked your body into thinking it was time to sleep and you would begin to wind down, but that wasn't the case. Your body so badly wanted to sleep but your brain was wide awake.

Nat could see that you were no longer looking at the screen, rather just staring off into the distance, so she decided to intervene, knowing exactly what was up with you. You weren't even half way into Ratatouille when Nat, without a word or warning, picked you up and carried you out of the living room and to your shared bedroom. She gently placed you down on the bed, draping the covers over you and climbing into the bed herself. She instantly wrapped her arms around you and pulled you in close, making sure you were as warm and snug as possible.

"Go to sleep baby, it's okay." She mumbled, covering one side of your face in small, soft kisses. "I'm not tireddd." you whine in a quiet voice, frustrated at your own inability to grow tired.

"I don't care, you're going to sleep. You need it bubs, you must be exhausted." She brushed her fingers across your cheek, her touch ever so gentle and soothing. She was trying to relax your body and convince it to give in to your exhaustion. "But I can't." You almost cried. "Shh shh shhh, I know honey, I know. But you need to try otherwise you'll end up staying awake all night."

"C-Can you read to me?" You suggested, knowing full well that if anything was going to send you to sleep, it was the soft and calming reading voice of your girlfriend. "Of course my love." She pecked your cheek and got up from the bed and over to the bookshelf in the corner of your room. She picked out 'We Were Liars', one of your favourites. She had probably read it to you 100 times already and you could probably recite the whole thing if you really wanted. But there was something about the way that she read it that made it so enjoyable. So much so that sometimes you would beg her to read it to you when you were sad or sick or just in need of a re-read. She would happily oblige because she could never say no to you.

She climbed back in the bed and cuddled back up to you. She was now laying on her back and you had your head resting on her chest, looking up at the pages as her arm wrapped around your waist, gently caressing your stomach as she read to you.

"No one is a criminal.
No one is an addict..."
She began to read, her voice instantly sending your body into a state of serenity and relaxation. Between chapters she would place a couple gentle kisses on your temple, making sure you were still engaged and listening to her. Before you knew it, her words faded into muffled sounds as your mind gave in and let you finally rest.

You heard a very faint final phrase delivered by Nat before you entered dreamworld. "Goodnight beautiful baby." Then that was it, you went under.