𝐏𝐀𝐍𝐈𝐂 𝐑𝐎𝐎𝐌

𝐞𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐞𝐧

- ⧗  ZARIAH PETROVA ⧗ -
  
   THREE DAYS INTO LIVING AT THE COMPOUND, Zariah was settling in pretty well. Though she'd spent the majority of her time in her room, she'd slowly gotten more accustomed to the idea of living with the other Avengers. She would by no means consider them friends but the scowls she'd sent them in the hallways had began to diminish. One night Natasha had even coaxed her into sitting in the longue area to read her book whilst her and Steve watched a TV show.

   It wasn't a long time before she had met the rest of the team as well. Rhodey was another person who'd she have to learn to not hate. He seemed too cautious around her and tried to make jokes that just weren't really that funny. Vision was also a strange person to meet. His hand felt weird when Zariah shook it and the glowing stone at the centre of his forehead was slightly odd, but he was overall rather nice so didn't rank out on the bottom of her list.

   Most of the time, Zariah had just cooped herself up in her room with a book. She'd finished the sequel Nat had given her and had moved on to raid her shelves of more novels.

For her entire life she'd had to follow such a strict routine and now with the absence of one, Zariah felt extremely odd. Natasha said it was just to give her time to adjust, to get used to living at the compound, but Zariah almost found herself wishing for less freedom. With so much time, it was hard to know what to do with her mind. So, she took the books as a grateful distraction.

   Natasha had also convinced her to eat something other than peanut butter sandwiches for the majority of her meals, telling her that all of teeth would rot if she kept eating that much sugar. Reluctantly, Zariah had accepted the scrambled eggs and pasta salads that she had offered instead.

   Some time after finishing her healthier breakfast option, Zariah sat alone in her bed, nose stuck in a clothbound book she'd stolen from Nat's room the previous night. When there was a quick knock at the door, she called out without raising her head. She of course knew who it was. Nobody else ever came to visit her room and she had also memorised the knock.

   When Natasha opened the door, she immediately spoke. "Get up."

   Zariah looked up from her page, startled. "What?"

   "Cmon, get up," Nat repeated, walking closer to her bed. "We're going out."

   "What do you mean? Out where?"

   "Somewhere fun." Nat reached for the book in her hands, closing it and throwing it across the bed. "So get up."

   "One, you just lost my page. And two, I don't really want to-"

   "You've spent the last fortnight bundled up inside this building and it's not good for you. You need to get out and get some fresh air."

   "We went for a walk outside yesterday," Zariah countered.

   "Zari, stop being lazy and get your ass out of bed and put your shoes on."

   The girl's face dropped. She froze in her bed.

   Natasha looked back with a sudden worry in her face. "What's wrong?"

   The redhead swallowed. "Did you just call me Zari?"

   Nat nodded. "Yeah. What's wrong? You don't like it?"

   She thought of the only other person who'd she'd heard call her by that name, Zariah's mind spiralling back to big blue eyes and little brown curls. Only Mila had ever given her a nickname, until now. Now when Natasha said it, the girl got that same strange feeling in her chest. Zariah now suddenly realsied it was a warmth, spreading though her until a small smile apperared on her face.