negovanman | oneshots

Home, Home, Home

Hey, it's been a while. I've been incredibly busy with college and haven't really been up to writing. I found this one shot in my drafts and decided to post it now. But I think this will be the last one I post for a while because I honestly don't really stan Elise and Natasha as much as I did in the past. So I don't really have enough drive to write about them anymore. Sorry if anyone was looking forward to more after this, but I'm pretty sure that this is the last one shot I will be posting about them.

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She's up just as the sun is rising, and the most beautiful woman she's ever seen is wrapped up in her arms.

She kisses her forehead and Elise sighs in her sleep, shifting close to Natasha, her lips tilting up into a smile in the tendrils of dawn's light.

Natasha groans internally, but the way she strokes Elise's hair gives her away: sure, she wants to go for her morning walk, but if this, this amazing woman, is the thing preventing her from leaving the warmth of the blankets, the warmth of her body heat, the warmth of her still-sleeping smile?

Well then, Natasha figures she has it pretty damn good.

She watches the growing sunlight dance across Elise's sleeping face, and she runs her fingers over Elise's bare shoulder, torso, thigh, which is hitched up over Natasha's stomach so she's half on top of her.

"My little koala," Natasha whispers to no one in particular, and kisses Elise's hair.

She doesn't know how long she's watch Elise sleep, how long she wonders what she's dreaming about, how long she wonders what she ever did to deserve this kind of peace, this kind of happiness, this kind of perfection.

"You're staring at me, Nat," Elise croaks eventually, without opening her eyes, her smile growing and her voice thick and gravelly with sleep.

"Pfft, no, I'm not – no," Natasha splutters, and Elise cracks open first one eye, and then the other, shifting groggily so her body is fully on top of Natasha's.

"You were, Nat, no point in denying it." She plants sleepy kisses on Natasha's face, on her very slightly fuzzy jawline, on her neck.

"No?" Natasha asks, running her hands up and down Elise's body, making sure the blankets are still over her so she's still completely wrapped in the warmth their bodies have made together all night.

"Nope," Elise concludes, her tongue flickering out against Natasha's throat, and Natasha tosses her head back and groans softly. "I have heightened attention when I'm sleeping Nat, or have you forgotten?"

"Such heightened attention you can see things with your eyes closed, huh?"

"Mmhhmmmm. And I can see that you didn't go for your walk this morning."

"An accurate assessment, Ms. Bauman."

Elise swoons and pretends not to, and Natasha kisses her fully on the mouth. She can't pretend not to swoon anymore, and neither, quite frankly, can Natasha.

"So here's what we do," Elise proposes between soft kisses. "You go out for your walk, and when you get back, I'll have coffee and pancakes and much fresher breath than I currently have."

Natasha chuckles and kisses her deeper.

"But I'll miss you if I go for my walk," she protests, and Elise beams and rolls off of her. She whines and Elise mercifully rolls back halfway to kiss her again.

"And you'll be grumpy all day if you don't go, Nat. Miss me for an hour and come back to coffee and breakfast and me wearing nothing but one of your flannels, how's that?"

Natasha tries to pull Elise back toward her, and Elise shrieks a giggle and dodges before getting twisted up in the covers and surrendering happily to Natasha's touch.

"Okay?" Natasha confirms, and Elise kisses her shoulder.

"Yes."

"Was that a promise?" she wants to know, and Elise tilts her head as she looks up at the person she loves like she's never loved anyone before.

"Was what a promise, Nat?"

Natasha swoons at the use of the nickname that only ever feels right off of Elise's tongue, that feels perfect off of Elise's tongue.

"To only be wearing one of my flannels when I get back."

Elise bites her lip and Natasha practically growls with desire. "Hurry back and find out."

It takes several kisses and a mild tickle war that leave them both gasping for air and finding it in each other to get Natasha dressed and out the door, and Elise sighs into the silence when she leaves.

She's never had this before – this intimacy, this domesticity, this perfection – and she never, ever wants to lose it.
She takes her time in the shower, remembering every amazing thing Natasha has done for her, every compliment she has given her, and she's never felt more cared for. More beautiful.

As promised, she slips on one of Natasha's old flannels as she makes four times the amount of pancakes she normally would, because it's Sunday and Winny will be over soon for their weekly breakfast after Natasha gets back from her walk. She hums to herself the entire time, even as she listens to the news and occasionally interrupts her own rhythm to yell indignantly at some story or other.

Before long, the scents of coffee and homemade pancakes – some plain, some with blueberries, some with bananas, some with chocolate chips – fill the entire apartment, and by the time Natasha steps back in, the red bandana just above her forehead dark with sweat and her cutoff, sleeveless Canada sweatshirt perfectly highlighting the muscles in her arms, the table is set and soft jazz has replaced the news and Elise's hair is still wrapped in a towel and Natasha's racing heart stops at the sight and scent and sound of it all.

Because before?

Before, her apartment was just that: an apartment. A place to store things, a place to sleep, a place to function.

And now?

"What, no double-toasted boring-as-hell piece of toast this morning?" she asks, and Elise laughs and shakes her head as she presses a glass of water into Natasha's hands.

"I love you too, Nat. I love you, too."

And Natasha beams, and Natasha kisses her, and Natasha pours every emotion she has into it, because together, she's home, home, home.

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Alright, that's it! I hope you guys enjoyed this one shot. Thanks for the support and the number of reads throughout the years, it's honestly been awesome! I really appreciate it. Maybe I'll come back in a while and write about something that I'm actually passionate about, but for now, I don't know! Adios amigos.