BlackHill Oneshots

Everything Maria Loves (and hates) about Natasha Romanoff

Maria loves the way Natasha sleeps. How she'll curl into Maria's side with one hand tangled in her hair and the other resting on her stomach. Her face always looks so peaceful, like it belongs to a different person — one who doesn't carry the weight of the world on her shoulders. And sometimes her face will contort into pained expressions as she relives her worst moments. And every time it hurts Maria to have to wake her but she does anyway because she can't stand to let Natasha be tortured by her dreams.

Maria hates Natasha's handwriting. It's absolute chicken scratch, the kind of handwriting you'd expect from a busy doctor or a tired preschooler. It's wobbly and usually only half-complete, leaving letters backward or unformed. She'll leave notes that Maria sometimes finds impossible to read and all their grocery lists have to be translated. While Maria has come to recognize and understand her handwriting, it's still hard to associate the mess of words to something as graceful as Natasha.

Maria loves to watch Natasha dance. Her face is oftentimes blank as she moves to the music, but Maria can see the concentration in her eyes. It's elegant and graceful, her posture perfect but also lighter than it is when she's holding everything together. Natasha translates what she's feeling into choreography as she moves across the floor. The way she dances isn't rushed and it's one of the few moments when Natasha isn't worrying about what comes next. It took several years and a lot of trust for Natasha to let Maria see her dance but it sure was worth the wait.

Maria hates how Natasha's jokes sometimes. How she does it to deflect from the problem at hand. And it's always at the most inappropriate time but Natasha doesn't care. How she laughs at her own expense because avoiding her feelings is sometimes worth the hit to her ego. And sometimes her jokes borderline flirting and it infuriates Maria when people use it to their advantage. But Natasha is loyal, she's faithful till the end and Maria trusts her to know when to stop.

Maria loves how Natasha speaks. She annunciates every syllable perfectly, not a hint of her Russian roots. But when she's tired, curled up in bed, her accent becomes more prominent and Maria can't help but swoon. Natasha talks with an intelligence Maria admires but she also speaks so that even the uneducated can understand what she's saying. Her voice is smooth, is deeper when she's angry and huskier when she's nervous. Her confidence in her words almost never wavers but when it does, Maria loves the words all the same.

Maria hates Natasha's job. It's risky, puts her in danger nearly every day. Every time something bad happens, Natasha is in the thick of it. She will often come home beaten within an inch of her life and Maria wonders if they could find a replacement. But she knows Natasha loves what she does, it gives her a sense of purpose that Maria wouldn't dare take away. And Maria also knows it's hypocritical because her job is almost just as risky, but she hates it all the same.

Maria loves watching Natasha get ready in the morning. How she'll crawl out of bed, slowly because she doesn't want to leave but does anyway. She'll throw on an outfit without much thought, sometimes it's Maria's clothes and not her own. And when Natasha does her makeup, it's quick and simple but she focuses so hard that her tongue sticks out. When she puts on her shoes, she does it while standing and nearly falls flat on her face every time. But then she has to leave and Maria has to watch her go.

Maria hates the way Natasha treats herself. How she acts like she matters less, risks more than she should because she's trying to make up for past mistakes. And she trains to the brink of exhaustion, harder than any other person on her team because that's how she was taught. Natasha forgets to eat, is too busy worrying about everybody else to take the time to care for herself. Often times, Natasha is running on sheer willpower as she comes home and all but collapses into Maria's arms. And Maria catches her.

Maria loves Natasha. She loves how her eyes look different in the sun and the three little freckles she has on her nose. How her crimson red hair is even wavier in the mornings and when she looks like a drowned rat after she showers. The way she gestures wildly when she's confused and how she taps her foot along to any music she hears. How she purses her lips to stop from smiling but it doesn't work because everybody knows what she's trying to hide. And, even when Natasha has had the worst day imaginable, she makes sure to kiss Maria on the cheek every night before they go to bed.

Maria loves Natasha, plain and simple.