Bloom // WandaNat Florist AU

Periwinkle

If asked to describe her life, Natasha Romanoff would throw every adjective out except glamorous. The majority of her time was spent in her store, a humble passion project; small, with its dim yellow lights and homely displays. It was nothing special, but she could tell it brought people joy. The way a patron brightened upon receiving their meticulously crafted creation fueled Natasha, every bouquet, each arrangement a chance to make something special. Flowers (in vases, at least) were not eternal, of course, only living a few weeks at best, but the feelings and memories they elicited lived on.

This store, and every pot, bud, bloom, and speck of dirt inside of it, was her legacy. She was not just Natasha, she was purpose, she was the florist, the woman who could craft stories and portray the complexities of human emotion with just a few blooms. She took great pride in it, so she rarely minded the menial tasks of shop work, such as the sweeping that currently occupied her.

However, every so often, if she had rough days, or if patrons were unruly and rude, she sometimes became unreasonably bitter thinking back on what could have been. When Wanda asked about her college days, she did not quite feel bitter, but mildly nostalgic. Where could she be with a college degree? Maybe working her way up the national park ranks, maybe living in much bigger city in a much bigger apartment.

Of course, this line of thinking was futile. Natasha had no regrets about the way her life turned out. Yelena needed her as much now as she did then- a scared fourteen year old when Natasha dropped out, promising to take care of her. No, she held no regret, no resentment, but sometimes the redhead could not help but wonder.

"You know, you could be helping me," the redhead said to her younger sister, not looking up from her work.

Yelena perused the perennials display by the front. "I'm working."

"On what?"

"The Watkins funeral arrangement."

"Oh, right." Natasha shook her head. "It should not have surprised me that you wanted all the funeral work."

"What do you mean?"

"Nothing."

Seeing the sun beginning to set outside, Natasha paused her sweeping and flipped the front door's sign to 'closed'. Taking off her green apron, she sighed and took a step back to survey her work.

"Missed a spot," Yelena prodded, not even facing her sister.

"Oh, you know, I think you're right." Natasha retook her broom, then snuck across the store before whacking Yelena gently on the head with the bristles of the broom.

"Nat!" The younger woman complained, smoothing out her braids. "God, how do you walk around so quietly?"

Natasha shrugged with a laugh, kissing her sister's temple. "Can you make yourself useful and start dinner? It's getting late."

Yelena nodded, hungry herself. As she turned and started up the stairs, she said, "ooh, you should invite your girlfriend. I know you miss her!"

"My girl- what, Wanda? Come on, Yelena."

The blonde laughed. "You knew who I was talking about though, so point proven."

"She's the only girl I know in this town, it was not a difficult deduction."

"Do you like her?"

Most of the time, Natasha appreciated her sister's blunt cadence, but this exasperated her. "You're such a teenager."

"Well, I will not be twenty until February, so you're not-"

"Just go make dinner."

"Fine, fine, okay mother..." Yelena mumbled, disappearing up the staircase and leaving Natasha with her thoughts.

It embarrassed her how quickly she assumed Yelena's meaning. Sure, Wanda was cute, and funny, and beautiful, and mysterious and alluring, and holy shit she's right there, Natasha realized, seeing Wanda's haggard walk down the sidewalk, backpack slung on one shoulder, yawning.

This was the third day in a string of equally concerning ones where Natasha glanced out her store window in the evening and observed Wanda's zombie-like walk home. She had not spoken to the Wanda since she rushed out of the shop on Monday, exclaiming she was late for class. Natasha was concerned for the woman; her eye bags were nearly visible across the street, her hair held a greasy sheen, the pants seemed to be the same each day. Without thinking, Natasha opened the shop door and called out to the other woman.

"Hey, Wanda!" She said with a wave.

With a reaction time equal to that of a turtle's, Wanda turned with an, "oh, hey."

Natasha beckoned the other woman over, who slowly nodded and crossed the street, nearly tripping over the curb.

"The she goes, falling for me again," Natasha chuckled, welcoming Wanda into the store. Wanda gave a half hearted smile, like she had not really heard the joke. "You okay?"

"Just really tired."

"How has the first week back in class been?"

"Like I thought it would be."

"I'm guessing not good?"

Wanda absentmindedly browsed the shop's small collection of succulents, fingers just grazing over the leaves. "How is the store? I've been meaning to stop by again, just..."

"No, no, it's good. It's been great, really. Everyone here is very nice."

"They're a little too nice sometimes."

"What do you mean?"

"They ask too many questions."

"I guess I can't follow that up with a question."

Shaking her head, Wanda turned to the other woman, talking a deep breath. "Okay, sorry. I don't mean you. I'm just sick of going to campus and have everyone staring at me and asking where I've been."

"No, I get that. People are curious, but they also need to be patient. And mind their own business."

"You're telling me."

"But, um... has the course work been okay? You getting caught up?"

"The classes themselves are alright, I just feel so far behind. Well, I am so far behind."

"What are you taking?"

"Chemistry, American history, neuroscience."

"You know, Yelena is something of a chemistry wiz, which, in retrospect is very concerning, but I'm sure she'd be willing to take a look at whatever you're working on."

"You're pulling out every excuse in the book to get me over here more, huh?"

Natasha smiled, relieved the other woman joked back. "Well, can you blame me? You're the only person I know in this city."

"Same, kind of. Except you have an excuse because you've just moved here. I'm a recluse."

"You're not a recluse. Just selective. Like flowers that close up at night and open in the day. Maybe all you need is a little prompting."

"Who knew flowers were so poetic."

"I definitely knew." Natasha bit her lip, debating on phrasing her next question. "So, I was wondering... maybe you'd like to join me and Yelena for dinner sometime?"

Wanda responded so quickly, so relaxed, so easily, that it almost make Natasha shake out her ears to ensure she was not hearing things.

"Sure. How about tomorrow?"

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Hi thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed.

A lot of my books have hit milestones lately so I'd really like to say an extra thank you. When Spies Collide hit 8k, Back To Me hit 7k, Several Nightcaps Later hit 21k (wild), Love, Wanda is almost to 400, and this book is already over 100 reads.

Thank you all so much. I never thought I'd hit so many reads with my WandaNat stuff, so thank you all for reading.