"Always", Clint answered quietly, as calmly as he managed it when he realized how bad this one apparently really had been.
Natasha certainly didn't admit often that she was shaken, that she needed him to go easy on her. He probably didn't even want to know what it was that she had seen in her nightmares. And would have listened to it anyway, word for word, if that was what she needed. But that was something she had to want, to offer herself. He had never forced her into anything, and that wouldn't ever change.
Just out of the same habit he didn't try touch her arm, her hands, her legs, her neck, anything that might make her feel caged in any way. Instead he rested his hand softly on her waist, warm and unmoving save for the smallest caresses of his thumb along the lower line of her ribcage, and waited. She could pull away from such a soft touch anytime if she needed to, stand up and withdraw to another room for a while if that helped. It certainly wouldn't be the first time.
But he still hoped, she wouldn't. Feeling that helpless when she was down in one of her darkest abysses, always hurt.
"I'm here", he said, still in that calm, quiet voice, not demanding, not impatient, just an anchor for her to find her way into the brightening daylight. "I'm here for you, Tash'. I love you and I care for you. I'm that idiot who carries you over rocks and brings you flowers, remember? You're okay. We're okay. I'm here for you, okay?"
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Date: 2014-03-30 04:17 pm (UTC)From:Natasha certainly didn't admit often that she was shaken, that she needed him to go easy on her. He probably didn't even want to know what it was that she had seen in her nightmares. And would have listened to it anyway, word for word, if that was what she needed. But that was something she had to want, to offer herself. He had never forced her into anything, and that wouldn't ever change.
Just out of the same habit he didn't try touch her arm, her hands, her legs, her neck, anything that might make her feel caged in any way. Instead he rested his hand softly on her waist, warm and unmoving save for the smallest caresses of his thumb along the lower line of her ribcage, and waited. She could pull away from such a soft touch anytime if she needed to, stand up and withdraw to another room for a while if that helped. It certainly wouldn't be the first time.
But he still hoped, she wouldn't. Feeling that helpless when she was down in one of her darkest abysses, always hurt.
"I'm here", he said, still in that calm, quiet voice, not demanding, not impatient, just an anchor for her to find her way into the brightening daylight. "I'm here for you, Tash'. I love you and I care for you. I'm that idiot who carries you over rocks and brings you flowers, remember? You're okay. We're okay. I'm here for you, okay?"