bakerstreet | (no subject)

(no subject)

CUDDLE MEME

what to do:
☆ post a comment with your character's name and fandom or preferences, if you have them.
★ use the magic RNG 1-12 to pick the cuddly scenario. or not.
☆ then cuddle it out!

cuddle choices:
① Sweet dreams It's been a long day and all you want to do is sleep or just rest your eyes for a bit. Hopefully whoever is close by doesn't mind if you use them as a blanket.
② Stormy weather The heavy rain, thunder and lightning won't be letting up anytime soon. Luckily, it's the perfect weather to stay indoors and snuggle up close and keep warm.
③ Lazy dancer It's the end of a party, or maybe it's only the two of you, but the tempo is slow and the lights are low. Let your dance partner take the weight and just sway.
④ Surprise attack Time to invade someone's personal space. Are they working too much and need a distraction? Maybe you just wanted to brighten their day. Either way, they won't see it coming.
⑤ Movie night It can be on the sofa or in a darkened theater, but you've got your popcorn and someone to settle against during your favorite movie.
⑥ I love you, man It's totally platonic, really. You're just very good friends, no matter what people like to think. But you just love your friend so much you want to hug them, whether they like it or not.
⑦ Jeepers creepers Welp. You were just frightened. Was it a spider in the washroom, a ghost in the attic, a bad dream? Either way, you're looking for someone to cling to right now, and who better than that person right there?
⑧ Hurt and comfort Whether you're sick in bed, just been dumped or suffered a traumatic event, you need someone to wrap their arms around you and make everything go away.
⑨ Sunday morning Maybe you just had a wild night. Maybe there’s just not enough space at your place and you need to share your bed. Or maybe you just got really tired and someone else happened to be there. Doesn't matter because now the person with you looks way more comfortable than any blanket or pillow. Drape to your heart’s content.
⑩ Moment after You just had incredible, vigorous sex (playing out is totally optional) and if you weren't a cuddler before, you are now. You're probably too exhausted to do anything else anyway. Just enjoy the moment.
⑪ Ménage à trois Or four, or five. Get a group and cuddle away.
⑫ Player's choice Pick one or make up your own!

coding taken from

erotiquely

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only | Expand All

She gave him a cold stare, shrugging her shoulders at the question. "Maybe, maybe not". Of course she did and he knew she wouldn't be able to resist. Her humor was normally dry, with a side of witty and sarcasm that suited her. Unless of course you were Clint, in which case humor around Clint seemed to be far more carefree.

"Mmhmm the plan." Natasha nodded, crossing legs as she sat, dragging covers up over her bare legs. She half smiled at his mocking, shrugging as she turned the volume up and hit play. "Yeah, although no mocking him. I mean, we watched Bambi a few weeks ago" She gave him a nonchalant look, placing the remote on the bedside table and curling back under the covers further.

Clint knew when to keep teasing and when to drop it. This was one of those ‘drop it’ occasions, so he didn’t push her any further on the whole fansite business. It was tempting to find it himself sometime, though, and see if he could pick out which comments were hers.

Pulling his own side of the covers up, Clint folded his arms under his head as his laughter died down. “You watched Bambi with Steve?” He wasn’t sure what he felt about that. Maybe it was juvenile to think that he was the only one she sat down and had solo movie night with, but he had. Tony had Pepper, not that that stopped him, and Clint didn’t know much about Jane and Thor, but as far as he could tell Steve and Bruce were flying solo, and with Natasha living here now with all these men... he didn’t like to call it jealousy, but he often... worried. He had hid his feelings for her from everyone, or at least he thought he’d done a good job of it, so it wasn’t like they’d had a reason to not go for her.

She laid back, rolling slightly as the movie started to curl up, curling a leg over his as she yawned. Natasha saw the look on his face, couldn't make out what she saw, couldn't comprehend how he was feeling because she had no idea.

"Yeah. He was feeling down. Didn't realize that Bambi was such a fucking depressing movie. He ended up sobbing while I handed him tissues. It wasn't the best movie experience of my life but it beat watching Bond" She yawned, shifting closer until she slung an arm over his chest, still watching him, eyebrow half perked.

"Actually the whole night was pretty depressing. We spoke about the past, things he'd missed that I remembered. It was.. well, depressing". Balancing her chin on his chest Natasha poked him softly. "You look like someones just shot your dog, want to tell me why?"

Clint’s brow pinched together as he listened to her talk. He knew Steve had a soft heart and had lost so much, but he couldn’t picture the man openly crying, let alone on Natasha’s shoulder. Then again, there was a lot he didn’t know about his teammates, something he knew he should rectify in the near future, but his lingering trauma regarding Loki had made him keep them at a distance thus far.

That was something else she and Steve had in common, their whole ageless super soldier schtick. They would probably still look just as young and beautiful when Clint was old and grey, not that he ever expected to live that long. He didn’t wear a suit of armour, he wasn’t a god, and he healed slow and steadily, just the same as any normal human, no matter what superhuman tasks he took on. The way he lived his life it would be a miracle if he saw forty.

Looking down at Natasha, her head propped on his chest, he smiled faintly. “Nah, it’s nothing,” he responded. She was so warm against him, her weight so comfortable, he felt his heart constrict. Was he just being stupid to think that this could last? Could they actually make a go of this? Did she even want it to be exclusive, or was he just an idiot to think this was more than just something casual? “Just sucks for the guy, you know? Waking up to find out that everything you knew and loved was gone.”

The silence was suddenly over-whelming, usually Natasha reveled in silence. It gave her a chance to study, to think tactics but silences between Clint and herself only happened when things got rough, after a bad mission, after a bad call, after admitting things nobody wanted to admit, after thinking about the what ifs' too much. She circled a pattern on his shirt.

His flippant reply about Steve caught her and made her watch him for more then a few lost heartbeats. He was covering up, she could tell. No matter how well versed his was being a sniper, no matter how calm his exterior they'd worked too long together and Natasha managed to pick up on the little things. She hummed a response, eyes half closed, feeling his words vibrate through her head. "I know there's something that's biting at you, but it's fine." She let herself slip down until her cheek was resting against his chest, heavy eyes focused on the television screen.

"Yeah it sucks, I guess everyone needs a release and Bambi seemed to do it. Who knew" Stifling a yawn into her fist, curling her leg more around his as if she was clinging on for some sort of impact.

It’s fine? She knew something was bothering him but it was fine? Clint didn’t know how to take that. No, that wasn’t quite true. He knew she only meant that she wouldn’t push him, that he could tell her in his own time, but shouldn’t she at least want to know?

This was what he had been afraid of, that he would go and screw everything up if he ever let her know how he felt, if he ever tried to make a move. He was already worrying about things that he shouldn’t, blowing things out of proportion. Just because their relationship had become physical didn’t mean everything had to change, but already it was changing him.

“For a children’s movie it is pretty damn depressing,” he replied, letting her other words go completely without comment. It was better to just let it all go, try to focus on the now and not on the past or the future. If she wanted someone like her, someone she didn’t have to worry about getting hurt, someone like Steve then he would deal with it when it happened. Not tonight. “You picked a great one to start with.”

Laying his head back on the pillow, Clint wrapped his arms around her and let out a slow breath, forcing himself to just let it all go and relax.

This was the quite understanding between each other. They knew not to push. She knew he still held some cards close to his chest just like she did, like how there was one safe house of hers nobody knows exists, like what she really remembered from her time as a child, what she really thought about Shield and the way they worked and how sometimes she'd go to see opera shows on her own just to recollect her thoughts.

Natasha always presumed if it wasn't spoken then she wasn't meant to pry, that if she needed to know he'd tell her. A quiet understanding constructed through looks and changes in breathing. She did lift her head, did stare at hip, tapped fingers against his chest, along with the look the simple offer was there, if you want to talk, i'll always listen just like when the world got too heavy she'd be there to pick him up onto his feet, just like when the weight was crushing her he pushed it aside and helped her breath.

"Did I? I mean I pretty much got the idea with the title 'Sleeping Beauty', I mean they're not exactly vague" If she knew of his turmoil she'd certainly tell him to shut up. They both had faults, but the way Natasha saw things were to live in the moment, to not plan because in their line of work they never knew if they'd be coming back from a mission or left to rot in a gutter somewhere. So Natasha made habits of not planning and just going with whatever happened.

It was irritating her, this nagging feeling because she could feel the shift in his mood, could taste it radiating from his pores. "Alright seriously what's wrong? If it's something I said you can have a pass to tell me to shut up".

“I meant with Bambi. Wouldn’t be my first choice for an introduction to Disney,” Clint replied, fixing his eyes on the screen. He could feel her looking at him, could even see her out of his peripheral vision, but pretended to actually be watching the film and caring about what was happening. He hadn’t seen it before but he did know the story, so if she called his bluff he was pretty sure he could pull a summary out of thin air.

Natasha, on the other hand, wasn’t even pretending to watch. It didn’t take long for her to give up trying to pull the answer right out of his brain and just ask him point blank. Now that it wasn’t ‘fine’ and she had actually asked he didn’t know how to answer.

“Nah, it’s nothing,” he said again, but he knew that wouldn’t cut it. “I was just... thinking. You know how dangerous that can be.” He grinned at her, trying to alleviate the tension with a joke. “Now I know I’m incredibly good looking, but you keep watching me you’re gonna miss your movie.”

Natasha knew he was avoiding her gaze, there wasn't much that got past her, even with Clint. "I'm not well versed with Disney so I wouldn't know where to begin anyway" She didn't need to mention the reason why again and checking to see what order they should all be watched in wasn't high on her priority list.

"It is something" She responded immediately, rolling her eyes at his tepid attempt at a 'joke'. "Why can't you just say it Clint?" Shaking her head at him, huffing out a sigh.

"Fine, act like a stubborn child" Finally dropping her head back down and fixing eyes on the television, even if she'd gone stiffer in his arms. It was one thing to not talk about certain things, it was another to have something you wanted to discuss, drop the bait then backtrack.

She backtracked in her own head, concentrating on what she'd said and how he'd become 'colder' at the mention of Bambi and Steve and suddenly her head lifted up and eyes fixed back on him. "Wait, you don't think.. wait.... what.."

She was getting testy, he could not only just hear it in her voice but he felt it in her body, in her breathing, and he could see it in her eyes. She actually wanted to talk about it, thought to be fair she didn’t know what ‘it’ was, but still, wasn’t this a good thing? Wasn’t that what normal people in relationships did? They talked about what was bothering them, they worked it out. Except Clint and Natasha had never been normal nor had they really had much for normal relationships, if that was even what this was.

Swallowing hard, Clint tried to wrap his head around everything he was thinking and feeling, tried to put something into words even as she gave up on him and fell into irritated silence. She hadn’t pushed him away, hadn’t put any distance between them, but he wasn’t sure if that was a good thing or not.

Why was it so hard to be honest with her? Why couldn’t he just tell her how he felt, ask her what they were doing here? Before he could form any words, though, Natasha seemed to come to her own conclusion and suddenly he was frozen in her questioning gaze, his blue eyes widening. “What?” he asked, because what else was he supposed to say to that?

She laughed, actually burst into laughter, smothering herself into his chest and waiting for it to subside. She shouldn't have laughed, the idea of him thinking that her and Steve, no, she should have been angry, should have rolled off of him and stalked off but the whole idea was hilarious. Wiping away a tear from the corner of her eye she finally managed to look up at his widened eyes.

"Are you entertaining the thought that myself and Steve have been, in his choice of words, fondue-ing?" She coughed back a laugh, crawling up slightly until she could level her gaze with his, staring down at him, green eyes matching his blue. "What kind of girl do you think I am Mr Barton?" Natasha could answer that herself, she used her body as a weapon, caught people in her web and spun them up. But that was Natalia, that was her past. Natasha was a little more picky. "Because I can honestly say that no, there was no heated moment during Bambi." She lent, trailing her lips over his cheek. "And if I'm way off base then you need to tell me, because if that's what you were thinking then you're wrong and we need to have a serious discussion about your perception of me."

Natasha caught his lips quickly, shuffling back down to drop a kiss on his jaw.

The laughter was completely and wholly unexpected and Clint actually bristled a bit. He didn’t see what was so funny about it, especially when she laid out what she presumed he had been thinking; she was partially right, of course, but his pride made it so he couldn’t feel too much relief at her strong denial.

“Come on, Nat, is it really that far of a stretch?” This wasn’t about ‘what kind of girl’ he thought she was, but what he thought she might want, or not want, and it wasn’t like she had any reason not to before.

He should have stopped, should have let her brief kisses lull him into contentment, but he just couldn’t seem to stop talking. It was a curse, or a disorder or something. He really should get it looked at. “It’s not like he gets out much, I doubt the guy’s been laid since he woke up, and you’re the only person he knows that lived in the world he did, the only person who shares the same abilities. There’s a connection there and, I mean, why wouldn’t he fall for you?”

And why wouldn’t she want Steve in return? At least he didn’t voice that part.

"Yes it's a far stretch" She'd sobered up considerably, had quickly re-established her walls, built them back up and huddled behind them. The laughter certainly died in her eyes first, turning back to their same old stoic stare.

Natasha listened to his reasoning from her position, breaking lips from his jaw to stare at him. "We don't share the same abilities at all. Steve had the best, I got a Soviet quick fixed that fixed nothing and gave me a shit ton of problems I've had to deal with. "She sighed, pulling back to sit up, dragging the covers up to her chest, eyes still focused on him.

"Careless of whether he falls for me or not, it's not the point. You're reading into it too much Clint, presuming things, dwelling on the details." She reached out, tangling fingers into his shirt. "Steve.. found out some things from Shield files that he probably wasn't prepared for, he needed a friend, someone who could relate to lapses of time. I offered him an ear, I didn't offer to fuck him to provide comfort."

She couldn't say if she was angry, hell if she was she'd probably have told him to leave, instead she simply tugged on his shirt softly. "When Loki, all I could think of was that I'd lost one of my senses, I wasn't thinking about how Steve looked in his suit, I was constantly preoccupied with the thought of losing you." She shrugged as if she hadn't just admitted something she'd kept concealed. Then again everything about those days she'd kept hidden.

"Plus me and Steve would never work, he'd be borrowing my face creams and constantly hogging the mirror."

He should have just joined in with her laughter, just accepted her denial and let it go, but he’d had to go and open his big mouth and made everything serious and tense. This time she did pull away.

“Nat...” he started to protest, pushing himself up to rest on his elbows, but she wasn’t finished. Surprisingly, though, she didn’t move away completely, nor tell him to get out; instead she grabbed the front of his shirt and held on, like somehow she needed the contact and that she still wanted to be close to him despite everything.

He flinched at her words, they sounded so tawdry when she put it like that. He hadn’t meant that Steve had just been some pity fuck, he had thought that maybe they had spent more time together than that one night, that maybe... god, he just didn’t know anymore.

Then she spoke about Loki and the time Clint had been compromised, and all thoughts of trying to interrupt, of trying to say anything, completely fled his mind. All she had thought about was him, about losing him, and how he was a part of her. She may have said it nonchalantly, but he didn’t take it that way; he couldn’t.

Keeping his eyes on her face, Clint pushed himself up to sit, one hand covering the one that was clutching his shirt. Her joke barely registered, it wasn’t the important part. “I”m sorry,” he said softly, bringing his other hand up to brush through her hair. “I guess I just...” I’m nothing special “I’m not sure where we’re really going with this, and I...” I want it to be just you and me. “I don’t wanna lose you either.”

Edited 2012-10-01 01:01 (UTC)

She ignored the shortened name, pushed it back to continue because if she didn't she felt like she'd drown under all her secrets and fears.

She watched him sit, felt the weight of his hand on hers, in her hair, brushing it back. She took in his words, felt something inside her snap, felt Natalia like a crushing weight, like a raging fire wanting to reach out and crack him around the face for being so weak, for telling her words she didn't want to hear. Natasha swallowed, fighting to keep those voices low like a badly tuned radio through static, focusing on the film still playing in the background, of the tiny other noises she could hear outside the windows, the few cars, a bird here or there until there was silence and she could feel herself breath again.

"Does it need to go anywhere? Do we need to have a future plan set in stone?" She stared at him, head half tilted, shuffling closer until she could smell her soap on his skin. "We live day by day. Knowing the next call might be our last. We're not planning people Clint, we do things, we get the job done and thank whatever higher power we believe in that we're still breathing."

Natasha took a breath, suddenly wishing she'd at least grabbed a carton of juice from the fridge downstairs. "I could have killed you. That day. I was ready too, if I couldn't get you to submit then I was going to tare you apart. But then I couldn't. Because there's always another way and, I couldn't face losing you. So no, I don't want to plan ahead. I want to live in the moment and I've made it clear I'm not prepared to lose you."

She really had tired herself out even more, muscles still screaming at her to shut up and get some well earned sleep, eyes feeling heavy.

She was silent for so long that Clint thought he had said something wrong again, it seemed to be one of the things he was best at. After a long moment she spoke again speaking of living in the moment like they always did, and he felt himself nodding. That hadn’t been what he had meant at all but he didn’t clarify; it sounded so silly in his head, trying to explain that he didn’t want this to just be a thing when they were both around and casual when they were on their separate missions. It was too much too soon, and everything she had said was enough.

He knew she could have killed him; he knew that had any other agent found him that day they wouldn’t have hesitated to shoot him on sight, but not Natasha. She had fought so hard to take him down alive, to get him back to his right mind, and in the end she had saved his life. It made them even in his mind even if she would never accept it.

“Hey, come here,” he said in a murmur, pulling her into his embrace, hugging her tightly. “Okay, we don’t plan ahead... except one thing.” He pulled back to look into her eyes. “I don’t plan on going anywhere, alright? So it looks like you’re stuck with me.”

Natasha found herself clinging to him, legs sliding easily either side of his hips, hands clutching his shirt, holding on as if he was her life support and she guessed in some ways he was.
"You better not go anywhere, and you better stop thinking ridiculous things too." She nodded, catching and holding his gaze even though her eyes were still full of the walls she'd built so easily.

She lent, lips finding his and kissing him long and hard, as if she was trying to steal his breath. For one she was committing everything to memory, the way he felt, the fact he still tasted of butter and waffles, how the smell of vanilla was everywhere and for two to remind herself that this was real, not a dream and not a lie, something she needed to figure out before she fell deeper then she already had. She may not have understood love or 'feelings' but she understood trust, compassion and the comforting weight of him.

Breaking off only to use her weight to topple him backwards, legs bending so knees hit the mattress either side of his waist, reaching to tuck hair behind her ears. "You tire me out Barton" She mumbled, catching his lips again before she was gone, rolling back over to his side and curling her limbs around him once again.

“I’ll do my best,” he replied, but obviously he couldn’t make any promises. Not all their missions had them stationed together, so while he didn’t plan on going anywhere, while his heart would stay with her no matter what, he couldn’t truly promise not to leave, at least for a while. The ‘thinking ridiculous things’ part, though, he certainly couldn’t guarantee. At least he could try not to think them about her.

The kiss was powerful and deep and it succeeded in taking his breath away. It felt like she was trying to absorb him, to make him part of her and her part of him. It was a confession in its own, further proof that maybe he wasn’t alone in what he was feeling. He couldn’t put a label on it, he didn’t want to, but it definitely felt like this, like this one kiss was the embodiment of all of it.

Falling back to the mattress, he returned his arms to their home around her, kissing her again when she brought her lips to his and loosening his hold on her when she moved to curl up against him again. “Yeah. Unfortunately not always the good way,” he replied, because this had been more along the lines of emotionally exhausting than physically. “Why don’t we just get some sleep and try the movie again tomorrow?”

Natasha knew he could promise, just hearing him say he'd do his best was good enough. As long as he didn't start getting stupid and slow she'd have nothing to berate him about.

Lips turned into a smile, nodding slowly as she reached behind her to grab at the remote, turning the television off and dropping the remote back on the table. "I don't know, felt kind of good to spill some home truths, like a weight off my shoulders" The sleep idea sounded too good, she was already tired as hell and the little 'fumble' there hadn't helped in the slightest. "I like this idea" Nodding as she tucked her face into his neck, one arm slung over his chest, legs curled back with his like she was slotting herself into his jigsaw puzzle and she was literally gone. Falling asleep easily for once, curled around him like a comfort blanket.

Usually it was hours of tossing and throwing herself around her bed, but she was already completely worn out before their little talk, and now it was certainly too easy for her to push inane fears aside and let herself go, he was certainly more of a comfort then her gun or knives.

Maybe this honesty thing wasn’t so bad. They both had a lot of work to do, on their own and together, when it came to communicating but it felt like they were on the right track. It had been a struggle getting to the truth, but ultimately the end result had been worth it.

Pulling the covers up around them again, Clint lay silently in the dark, listening to the steady sound of Natasha’s breathing. He had felt it quickly grow steady, had felt her body go soft against him as she fell asleep almost instantly. It had been a long two days on very little sleep.

The past twenty-four hours had been full of revelations, but how much was too much too soon? How honest could he be, not only with her but with himself as well? He cared about her very strongly, more than anyone else he had ever known, but was it possible to love someone who didn’t believe in love? And even if she did, where could this really go? Marriage? Maybe. Children? Definitely not.

Clint forced himself to stop thinking about it. Natasha was right: in their line of business especially they couldn’t look to the future, they had to just live in the moment, enjoy everything that they could as it happened and just hope that there would always be another tomorrow.

Closing his eyes he focused on her breathing again, her heartbeat, and in the blink of an eye he was out like a light.

Natasha needed sleep, it was one thing she couldn't live without. It kept her focus, let her think clearly and overall made sure she could use her body for longer. But as she opened eyes and stared at the clock she thought maybe sixteen hours of sleep was pretty ridiculous even for her.

The again it had been a long time since she'd had long, unbroken sleep. Taking a moment to adjust, blinking away the haze from her eyes, knocking the sleep back she found she was still in the same position she fell asleep in, curled up to Clint like a lazy cat.

And there in lied the problem, not only did she need the toilet but she also found herself stuck under a tangle of his limbs, not wanting to wake him up because hell, she understood how hard it was to get to sleep without waking up every hour jumping at your own shadows. Wiggling lightly until she was half out and finally taking the plunge by untangling her legs and crawled out of her bed, stretching with a triumphant smile. Mission accomplish, another small win for Natasha to add to her belt.

And there was the victory, making a bee line to the bathroom and reliving herself, managing to scrub the remnant of waffles from her teeth and re-pinning her hair. It took her longer to tare her gaze away from the mirror, staring at her own pale reflection and thinking probably too hard for the amount of sleep she'd had.

Feelings, emotion. Love. She didn't know the meaning of love, had never full experienced what was typical, had never wanted to get that close to anyone but by a happy mistake it had happened. She'd broke her own rules and fell in line with Clint. Love didn't touch it, realizing for a second that it wasn't love, it was something that ran deeper.

That of course spurred the voices to start rumbling and Natalia's dusky tones slipped through with each, a small lapse of Russian that left her lips low and light. You're a fool.
It took her longer then a moment of watching her pupils change in size before she shook her head, rinsing her face down with cold water and scowling at herself. "No. I'm not". Then she was moving, light footed and angry at herself back into the bedroom, curling up in a chair so she could watch the bed and the door at the same time.

This required more then staring at herself and trying to work it out in her head, it would take longer to stop Natalia voicing her concerns as if Natasha really cared. Fuck, why was life so hard.

Clint was an incredibly light sleeper, but since Natasha hadn’t moved an inch all night (or all day, more accurately... or was it all day and all night?) and the room remained dead silent, he had managed to sleep straight through until he felt her wiggle against him. Keeping his eyes closed he feigned sleep still, somehow managing not to crack a smile at just how hard she was trying to slip away without waking him. Clearly she had never understood just how serious he was when he said he was a light sleeper.

While she was in the washroom he tried to drift off again but the lack of her body heat had left him cold and the blanket just didn’t cut it. Still, he didn’t move, just laid there with his eyes closed, listening. He thought he heard her voice once but couldn’t make out any word and a moment later she was back in the room. He was disappointed when she didn’t resume her place beside him, but considering how she had struggled not to wake him it was no surprise.

He let her sit there for a few minutes, keeping his breathing steady in a trick he had mastered to give the illusion of sleep. When he finally decided to reveal himself all that moved was his lips.

“Are you watching me sleep? ‘cause that’s kinda creepy.”

Natasha should have known better, should have known it didn't take him long to pull himself out of any depth of sleep but thoughts were lost on the static in her ears.

She vaguely heard his words, locking arms around her knees for a second before she stood, smoothing the shorts down her thighs. "You know I like to watch people. It's a bad habit" Her words started like a low rumble in her chest but grew in strength when she realized that it was all spilling out in English, not broken Russian and the static finally grew quieter. She couldn't answer for it being creepy, probably wouldn't have gone that far although it was, especially when she wasn't sure who was watching through her eyes.

She studied him carefully from her position until she grew tired and moved slowly to the foot of the bed, gaining the leverage to crawl back onto the mattress, working her way up until she was sitting where she presumed his legs were, head half tilted, smile playing on the corners of her lips. "Didn't want to wake you."

“You and me both,” Clint replied with a smile, finally opening his eyes. He liked to watch everything, really; people, nature, traffic, and nothing at all. He just liked to observe the world around him in all it’s beauty and ugliness. Propping himself up on his elbows he held her gaze for a long time, both of them studying each other, before she finally returned to the bed. A bed he would soon have to vacate if his bladder had any say in the matter.

“That’s pretty much impossible, but I appreciate the effort,” he said, unconsciously tilting his head to match hers. “You know, once you’re comfortable you sleep like the dead. I don’t think you moved the whole time.”

At the safe house she had woken him by shifting until she had been practically laying on him. This time she had started that way, already curled comfortably around him, and hadn’t moved an inch until just a few minutes ago. Just the thought of it spread warmth in his heart.

“How long were we out?” He lifted one hand to rub the back over his eyes.

That was the beauty of their job, the fact they got to concentrate on the little things, for him it was the world around them, for her it was human body language. Natasha would play innocent, watch the careless emotion flicker in eyes, watch the way people reacted to the simplest of things all in the aim of finding out how they worked, what made them tick.

A smile broke out on her lips, and she shrugged shoulders from her upright position, feeling the warmth radiate from him through the sheets. "I only sleep like that when your here, probably because I know I don't have to worry about you killing me." Or the nightmares. The voices. The unfiltered images of death and destruction.

He was her comfort, it was only natural that she'd feel relaxed in his company. He didn't make her on edge, didn't make her feel awkward (not that she knew how it felt to be awkward) and he certainly didn't try to harm her.

"Sixteen hours, give or take. It may be a new personal best for me" It probably was, she remembered her record sleeping time being around the twelve hour mark, those four extra hours had broken the lead. "Obviously needed it though" She nodded, rubbing her own eyes with her hands, working on unpinning her hair, growing tired of the clips digging into her scalp every time she shifted her head.

"Think I might drag myself off for another shower and then find some food, you game?" The shower was a good idea, considering how heavy her sheets were and the fact she'd been curled next to a human heater for the past sixteen hours, and of course food was necessary considering her stomach was protesting. Maybe a glass or two of alcohol to drown out the voices too.