𝐏𝐀𝐍𝐈𝐂 𝐑𝐎𝐎𝐌

𝐭𝐰𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐲 𝐬𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧

- ⧗ ZARIAH PETROVA ⧗ -

   THE BED WAS COLD when Zariah woke up. In her half asleep state, she searched out for the warm body she had laid next to the night before, but her hand only met the touch of the cool fabric of the bed below her.

   Zariah's eyes shot open. Where she had expected to spy Natasha, the other side of the bed was entirely empty. Not just that, there was no reminisce of her whatsoever, none of her usual warmth lingering on the sheets. The redhead's brow furrowed in confusion.

   It had been a few weeks now since her objective at SHEILD had changed, her mission to locate the red room still in pursuit. And since the confession her and Natasha had shared a couple weeks prior, they had fallen back into the easy routine of sliding into the same bed each night.

   Everything had felt softer since that moment, something Zariah couldn't quite pinpoint but felt surely in her bones. The way her and Nat interacted had become ever closer and despite their occasional scheduled argument, Zari had learned to be okay with the fact their dynamic had shifted from not just care, but to love.

   It had been hard for the girl to admit at first, the words like a poisonous betrayal of all she knew on her tongue. But as always, with Natasha's guiding hand, the young redhead had thawed her heart and let the shadowed lies of her past finally be shed. Now, the words slipped easily off her tongue like a familiar song, whispered into the crook of Natasha's neck each night as they fell asleep. Very soon, Zariah had come to learn she liked the feeling of love.

   What she didn't particularly like, was waking up in an empty bed when she had desperately wanted a hug to wake up to. As Zariah's eyes had scanned her bedroom, Natasha was nowhere to be seen, much to her disappointment. There had been no notice of early training so Zari couldn't quite figure out why she had been left alone.

   The sun streamed in through her curtains as the girl slowly dragged herself out of bed. The warmer weather had meant she had began to sleep in shorts, sometimes her and Nat's legs sticking together uncomfortably in the middle of the night while they tried to sleep. Nevertheless, the air conditioning that flowed in the early Summer mornings meant the girl always woke up with a particular chill she never had the night before.

   Zariah reached across to her sofa where she had thrown her hoodie last night before getting in to bed. Well, if she was being totally honest it was actually Wanda's hoodie - a comfortable black one she had stolen and never really got round to giving it back. Now, the girl simply sighed at the warmth it brought as she slipped it over her shoulders and yawned into the morning air.

It was just then, as she was readying herself to go in search of Natasha, that the woman had walked back into Zariah's room. "Oh, you're awake," the redhead said as she closed the door behind her.

"Yeah," Zari replied.

She eyed Nat, scanning the fact she was still in her pyjamas. Whatever she had been doing, it hadn't involved going outside. "What were you doing?"

   Natasha raised a brow, then answered a moment later. "Nothing. Just...things."

   The curiosity within Zariah was strong enough to enquire about what things exactly Nat had been doing, but there was an ever larger part of her that simply beckoned her body forward, still searching for that hug she had wanted when she had awoken. Natasha was quick to return the gesture, though seemingly a little confused at the suddenness of it. "You alright?" she asked, stroking the girl's long hair.

   Zariah hummed, tucking her head into the crook of Nat's neck. "Just wanted you," she mumbled.

   Over the last few weeks, the girl had begun to finally see the end of some of her sleepless nights, the frequency of her reoccurring nightmares slowly dwindling to just a few times a week. But that morning she had awoken having slept thought one the night before and this hug was exactly what she needed to soothe the residual pain she had still felt in her chest.