“Well, you are very distracting,” Natasha replied. It was true, as evidenced by the fact that she had forgotten about the books, which had been the only other thing on her list besides food.

Following Clint to a stall that was well stocked with used books of every genre, she handed the last quarter of her sandwich to him to finish, not wanting to overdo it. She had eaten enough to satisfy her stomach, and to hopefully set Clint’s mind at ease a little.

There were books in both Italian and English, and she selected a few of both. She wasn’t too sure what she was in the mood to read so she picked out a little of almost everything: an old mystery, a period drama, something funny, a fantasy, and even a cheesy romance novel.

Looking around for Clint, she found him a few paces away looking at something under one of the tables. Taking a few steps toward him, she caught the end of the conversation and noted the unhappy expression on Clint’s face before identifying the travel crate he had been inspecting. The well being of that poor little creature was clearly weighing heavily on his mind despite all his protestations yesterday, and while her fears and concerns lingered, there were much stronger feelings inside that won out.

Shifting her stack of yet unpaid for books to one arm, she lightly touched Clint’s elbow when she approached. “It’s okay,” she said, giving him a soft smile and nodding her head. If they were going to do this then there was no point doing it half assed.