Devotion [Book 1]

By The Fire

FanFiction.net

By The Fire by shadowhuntingdauntlessdemigod

Rated: K+
Language: English
Genre: Romance and Family
Characters: Steve.R + Natasha.R
Words: 861
Published: December 27th 2014

***

Natasha was curled up on the couch like a child, a blanket thrown across her and a mug of lukewarm coffee in her hand. It was winter and outside the snow was blowing across the landscape, throwing tiny bits of ice at the windows. The cars were buried in a foot of the blended ice and the trees glistened with the frozen crystals.

Even though she was inside, it was chilly. The heater was on, but her fingertips still shook slightly with cold.

The door blew open and she jumped, looking to the door to see what had caused it. She smiled as she lay eyes on Steve was standing there, brushing off his coat, a grin on his face. Snowflakes began to flit in through the door, lightly dusting the floor before melting.

"Close the door!" Natasha ordered from her place on the couch. Steve obeyed and pulled off his wet boots, letting them drop unceremoniously to the floor.

"It's cold out there," he said as he hung up his jacket and blew warm air into his hands.

"Really? I had no idea," Natasha replied.

She laughed as he pulled off his hat, his usually neat, blond hair falling down all over his face. He pushed it back up and asked, "what are you laughing at?" before snickering a little himself at how he must look. His cheeks and nose were red with cold, his lips a soft scarlet color. Natasha thought he had never looked more adorable.

"I couldn't find the thing Tony wanted, I looked everywhere I know," he said.

"Tony has plenty of useless gadgets. I'm sure he'll survive without this one," Natasha replied and took another sip of her drink.

Steve walked up to her and sat down, shifting the blanket so it fell off of her arm.

"You cold?" he asked as goosebumps raced up her exposed arm until she pulled the blanket back up.

"What do you think?" she said, taking another sip of her warm drink.

He touched his frosty fingers to her hand and she yelped, slapping his hand away. "Do that again and I'll electrocute you," she threatened, showing one of her widow bites strapped to her elbow.

"C'mon, even inside?" Steve asked curiously, already knowing the answer.

"I feel naked without any weapons," Natasha confessed. "Who knows? Maybe an evil Santa will come down the chimney and I won't have anything to defend myself with."

"That's why you have me," Steve replied.

"Oh, shut up. I can hold my own, you know. You would probably let the deranged Santa go, him being a symbol of a holiday and all," she retorted.

"Maybe, but if he came after you, he wouldn't know what hit him," Steve replied and made the motion of punching someone.

"He'd probably be able to tell, if he ever woke up after," Natasha said matter-o-factly. He kissed her playfully on her cheek before getting up, walking into the kitchen and coming back with a box of matches. He sat down next to the fireplace and struck a match, the warm light dancing before his eyes until he set it into the bed of the fireplace. The gas was turned on and the fire roared up in a blaze before settling back down.

It cast a warm light on the room, flickering back and forth with its' red and orange glow. Soon, the room began to warm and Steve sat back on the couch, grabbing his own blanket.

He watched Natasha for a moment, held captive by the beauty of the firelight. He watched the fire play before her, her gaze set upon it, mystified. "Better?"

"Mhm," she mumbled. "But I could be warmer." She set her mug down on the coffee table and snuggled up next to the soldier, her head on his chest, rising up and down slowly with each breath he took. "At least it will keep all of the evil Santas away."

He smiled and bent down, placing a soft kiss on her fiery red hair, a shade darker than the glimmering fire in front of them.

"Merry Christmas, Natasha," he whispered.

"Merry Christmas, soldier," she replied.

He watched as she drifted off to sleep, the fire reflecting off her face and her hair. She had never looked more radiant, bathed in the light from the fire. Steve gently took his free arm and wrapped it around her. She snuggled closer and breathed a deep sigh before going into a deeper sleep.

He was her protector, and even though she would argue against it, he would never let her go.

Steve closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep, the fire burning in front of him, waving and moving as it continued to warm the room.

Outside, the world was cold and snowy, but inside, the spy and the soldier were warm in each other's arms.