So roughly eight or nine months. While much of it was spent on the water, that was certainly enough time to really get comfortable in this place.

Natasha had been on another mission when he had been shipped out and had only found out about his post upon her return two weeks later. She remembered feeling upset but hadn’t let herself think about why. She also remembered when he had come back injured. She hadn’t let herself linger at his bedside, though she had spent time there at night when he was sleeping and nobody else was around to see her. The party, though, she had taken advantage of everyone else’s absence to spend the time with him though he hadn’t been awake.

“You never did like the cold,” she said with a fond smile. Unlike her, who was never bothered by it. All part of her conditioning.