study_in_scarlet | Dancing in the Dark (for farmboyhawk)

Great, Barton. Clint silently cursed when he felt Natasha's back muscles tighten, remembering just a bit too late how careful he had to be with compliments around her. Although he had tried to form it the right way, some of her demons were just too strong in her soul, and after all these years he still didn't know his way around all of them.

He might as well try to fight them just another time then. He was not willing to let long gone and buried bastards in Natasha's past ruin this beautiful evening for her.

"Look at me, Tasha."
He put the clothe back on the tub edge and rested his fingertips on her chin to turn her head, his arm gently curled around her waist again.

"When I say, you're perfect to me, that's what I mean. You're perfect to me because of all this..." He shortly nodded down her body and let his fingertips wander up and down her side. "...but mostly because of all you are here."
His knuckles softly brushed her forehead.
"There may not be the nicest person in there, but that doesn't matter to me. I'm not the perfect son-in-law for any mother either, you know. I love you with all you are and did, and you make me happy, just the way you are. This is what love is about for me. To be made for each other, not for anyone else."

She wanted to brush it off, to pretend the words hadn’t had any effect on her, but Clint knew her too well for that and there was no way he would let her get away with it. She thought of refusing to look at him, of quickly distracting him which would be easy to do considering the position they were in, but everything had been so good before and she didn’t want to lose that, didn’t want to risk pushing him away now that she’d let him so close.

Reluctantly she let him turn her head to look at him.

Of course she was perfect because of her body, and Natasha felt a stab of disappointment as Clint gave that reason, but he didn’t give her time to dwell on it before he continued, making sure to point out that there was much more to his claim. So much more.

As silly and childish as it sounds, she was sure she felt her heart skip a beat at his words. She had known he loved her, of course she had, but to hear him say it like this, to hear him claim to love her even with all her baggage, and that she made him happy, just seemed to drive the point home. He wasn’t finished, though, and it was his final statement that almost made her curse him because she could actually feel tears stinging her eyes and she hated crying.

Made for each other. It was such an immature notion, stupid and nonsensical and completely beautiful. Nobody was made for anyone, she knew that, but it was a lovely sentiment to think that it could be true, that they could last and they could be together because they were meant to be, they were made to be. There was nobody else for her, nobody else for either of them, and she wanted that to be true.

“You’re perfect to me too,” she admitted, her voice slightly choked. It was the best way she could say that she wanted all that he said, all that he offered. She wanted to wrap her arms around him and hold him tight but she couldn’t in their current position, so she settled for laying her hand against his cheek and kissing him softly.

Clint was glad that Natasha didn't leave him any time to reply and happily gave in to her kiss. They had been close to serious talk yet again and he wanted her to feel good, not constantly fight tears.

But he couldn't help but smile into their kiss, quickly blinking away another rush of too strong emotion. She couldn't have made him more happy than with this simple answer, coming straight from her heart. It really was all he needed to know she cared for him as much as he cared for her. She had picked the perfect night for such words finally to be said.

He tried to give her a matching answer with his lips, tenderly exploring the beautiful full line of hers, his hand softly cupping her cheek. Every now and then he teased the tender skin with the tip of his tongue or sucked her lower lip softly into his mouth, but it was all nothing but sweet and slow.

The teasing tension from just a few minutes ago gone, he longed for holding her in his arms a little longer, just enjoy this intimate tenderness and be happy she was here. But the water was slowly going from comfortable to lukewarm and he didn't want her to freeze again. Reluctantly he pulled away from her, leaving another short kiss on her chin.

"Give me a minute to shower off? Should be getting clean too before I take you to my bed and don't let you out for the next hours." He grinned.

She could feel his smile against her lips and her heart instantly felt lighter. This was good, it felt... it felt right, and it was about time she stopped running away from true happiness because she didn’t think she deserved it, or was too afraid to let herself feel it only to lose it. It was cowardly and selfish, the former something she had never considered herself, and the latter something she didn’t want to be.

The kiss was slow, tender, and exploratory. Natasha was sure they already had every bit of each other’s mouths memorized but this was different without the rush of adrenaline or pull of desire fueling it. She even thought for a moment that she could be happy with just this for the rest of the night.

Eventually, though, it had to end and she slowly nodded at his words. The water was getting cold, and if they stayed longer it would completely defeat the purpose of the bath in the first place. “I like the sound of that,” she said, stealing another quick kiss before reluctantly pulling out of his arms and moving to get out of the tub. “Though it seems a bit silly to get clean just to get all sweaty again later,” she said this with a wink.

"One can never get enough of a hot shower", Clint claimed, grinning even wider.

Still reluctantly, he pulled out the drain plug and got up to shush Natasha out of the tub, not without giving her ass another quick grab.

The mood had shifted to playful again and he liked it. There was precious little to laugh in their lives.

"Over there." He nodded at a few towels waiting on the washing machine and turned on the shower then, reaching for a bottle of gel.

Moving slow and nearly as thoroughly as he had taken of her, he started soaping his skin, flexing his arm muscles a bit more than necessary, just to give her something to watch.

"Beats a river in winter in Greenland anytime."

Edited 2013-09-08 16:22 (UTC)

Well, she certainly couldn’t argue that. If it turned out that they needed another bath or shower later she definitely wouldn’t be complaining.

Climbing out of the tub, Natasha gave a yelp when Clint grabbed her ass on the way. “Hey!” she protested, turning to point a warning finger at him. “Hands. That is not behaving.” She was already smiling again as she turned away to grab a towel. Drying off quickly, she wrapped the towel around her body, tucking the corner in at the top, before returning to the side of the tub. Lowering the toilet seat she sat down and propped her feet up on the tub’s edge, wrapping her arms around her knees.

“You just have no appreciation for the cold,” she teased, openly watching him as he lathered up his skin. If he was going to put on a show then she might as well enjoy it, and she was hardly bashful by any stretch of the imagination.

Suddenly the room was lit up by a particularly bright flash and the lights inside flickered and dimmed but still held on... for now. “You might want to hurry up a bit,” she said, her eyes drawn to the small window across the room. “Do you have any candles?”

"If you want me to behave, beautiful, you have to stop this."
Clint didn't even try not to stare at her legs and the other parts of her skin the towel revealed in this position, slightly red from the bath, smooth and totally inviting to bury his face there right away.

Before he could follow the thought any further, they were interrupted quite impolitely.
"Great. Just had the damn generator replaced."

Clint pouted a little, silently already going through the expenses to be expected if there would be yet another power problem in the house. Working for S.H.I.E.L.D. didn't exactly make you rich.

At least he had indeed made the right arrangements for such occasions, because yeah. Not the first time.

"Wardrobe drawer. If we're lucky, we'll get that petrol lamp going too I brought from Egypt back then. At least you don't have to watch horrible movies with me tonight, huh?"

Sighing, he grabbed for the shower head to wash the foam off his body, without putting up a show this time. A towel wrapped lazily low around his hips, wetness still trailing from his skin, he followed Natasha to the living room and went to the kitchen corner.

"Water? Booze? Orange juice?"

“Stop what? I’m not doing anything,” Natasha replied innocently, and in all honesty she wasn’t doing anything more than sitting there, watching him, yet her faux innocent tone seemed to imply more.

“I suppose we will have to find another way to entertain ourselves tonight,” she continued, getting slowly to her feet. Of course she couldn’t help but reach into the shower and give Clint’s ass a quick tap on the way by; he had been asking for it, after all. “Now that was doing something.”

Giving him a mischievous smile, she disappeared out into the rest of the house to locate the candles, finding a few right where he said they would be. Setting them up on the coffee table, she trailed after him to the kitchen. “Surprise me,” she replied, running one fingertip across his broad shoulders as she passed behind him. “Matches?”

Clint startled slightly feeling her touch along his shoulders, the memory of her nails raking over his skin very vividly present on his mind. Yes, something to drink was a really good idea now. Preferred cold, before the power and the fridge would go out.

"Careful. You're playing with fire enough as it is."

Smiling amusedly, he handed her a half full matchbook and forced himself to turn back to the counter, before he could get lost in the sight of her barely covered breasts.

Drinks. Surprise. Right.
Well, never needed to ask a guy twice for bringing up some good liquor.

The idea wasn't to get drunk so he kept the amount of tequila to pour into his cocktail shaker very small. He made sure to add enough of that special brand of orange juice he had bought in the morning, knowing it was Natasha's favorite. One or two more ingredients to reduce the taste of alcohol next to nothing, done. Save for a few well trained shaking movements with just one hand, while he went back to the living room, bringing two glasses.

"Well, no music, either, unfortunately. Unless you want to hear my stunning Axl Rose-imitation. Then you'll just have to wait for the fourth drink."

Natasha raised her eyebrows and gave him a bemused look for his pun. Shaking her head she took the matchbook and headed back into the living room to light the candles. The instantly gave the room a more homey feel and she found herself hoping that the power did go out so it didn’t have the somewhat false atmosphere of simply turning out the lights themselves.

Leaving the spent match to sit on the edge of one of the candle holders, she straightened back to her feet when Clint rejoined her with cocktail shaker and glasses in hand. “I will keep that in mind, and maybe I should mix the next round,” she said, leaning up to give him a quick kiss on the cheek. If she did the mixing then he would end up with four drinks in one the way she poured. “I’m going to go raid your closet. This isn’t exactly the warmest thing to lounge around in,” she said against his ear before heading to the bedroom.

"If you're doing our drinks, you won't have much fun with me tonight I'm afraid", Clint stated dryly, a little of disappointment on his face when she left to redress. Well, better for both her warmth and his self-control.

He quickly put some track pants and shirt he had left on the sofa and poured them their drinks then, thankfully holding the glass against his forehead to cool his mind. Having Natasha around for the night was just too damn tempting.

But he still meant to spend some calm, somewhat romantic time with her, so he stretched out on the sofa on his side, moving back against the back rest to leave her enough space and closed his eyes for a moment, a content smile on his lips.

"I better hear you not laughing over there, woman. I swear, it's all undercover stuff."

Stripping off her towel just before she was out of view, Natasha threw it into the washroom on the way by before disappearing into the bedroom. Moving straight to the closet she started pushing aside hangers, pursing her lips at the selection. He had more clothing than any other man she knew, save for probably Tony Stark. Hearing Clint’s words she grinned and dug deeper into the back of the closet.

Less than two minutes later she emerged, leaning against the doorframe. Seeing Clint stretched out on the sofa with his eyes closed she half considered leaving him be but quickly passed that thought off. “You mean like these?”

She was wearing a pair of leather pants and a matching jacket. The pants were too big so she had to hold them up with one hand since she hadn’t bothered to find a belt. With her other arm she leaned against the wall, her arms stretched partially over her head which opened the front of the jacket just enough to show off a good portion of her tight stomach and make it very obvious that she wasn’t wearing anything under the jacket. “What job did you ever need this for? Were you infiltrating a biker gang?”

Turning his head at her playful voice, Clint had to try hard not to spill the sip of his drink he had just taken. Once he didn't feel like coughing tequila anymore, he started to laugh, even while his eyes were magically drawn to the unclothed parts of Natasha's body. So much for being good. That was a game two could play.

And thankfully, she had not found the worst clothes so far.

"Actually that's my outfit when I take the old lady in the garage for a ride. I thought about taking you along one day, but if you don't like the clothes..."

He pretended to pout, his eyes still roaming her body extensively.

"I don't see how that's helping you with staying warm, though." He frowned demonstratively, rubbing his chin. "Except you're trying to make me tear your clothes off your body and do the job myself. In that case get that fine ass over here."

Natasha grinned when she won a laugh, and even wider at his story. Somehow she found she wouldn’t be surprised if these were actually his clothes. The jacket, at least, she thought would really suit him, and she could just imagine how good the leather would make that find ass of his look.

“No, not this time,” she said, pushing away from the wall and shaking her head. “I wouldn’t want to risk damaging these ones.” Pulling the jacket aside slightly she stroked the leather thoughtfully with her thumb, giving him just a glimpse of the valley of skin between her breasts. “Maybe you should wear this more often...”

Turning away she walked back to the bedroom and removed the leather clothes, hanging them back up where she had found them. Deciding to abandon her search for the worst clothes in his wardrobe, at least for now, she settled on an oversized hoodie and a pair of drawstring shorts. As fun as it would be to continue to tease him with a fashion show, she would much rather curl up with him on the sofa by the candlelight.

Padding back out, she stopped beside the couch to look down at him. “Better?”

"Well, the offer for that bike ride still stands."

Natasha revealing even more of her beautiful rack also reminded Clint that this special fantasy of his also included eating her out and fucking her hard on that bike saddle, but mentioning that wouldn't exactly help keeping his hands off her.

He watched her go with a grin, shaking his head, enjoying this harmless mood more by the second. Much too seldom he got to see Natasha like that. They definitely needed to make a habit out of this.

"Much better", he noted when she got back, snickering at the way the hoodie all but swam around her body. "Not making me want to eat you alive here and now."

Smiling, he reached out for her to pull her softly into his arms and rested his chin on her shoulder with a deep sigh. "God, I've missed this."

“I may take you up on that. I’m sure I have some leather in my closet that would fit the occasion.” More than she cared to admit, probably, and some entirely inappropriate for riding a bike. Being ridden on a bike, however...

It really was rare, this completely carefree mood, and Natasha wasn’t sure how to describe it, not that she tried too hard. Some things were better left unexamined, and this was definitely one of those things.

"Mm, maybe later then," she said. Smiling warmly at Clint while he surveyed her outfit, she let him pull her into his arms and settled comfortably against him again. “Missed it? You mean in the last ten minutes?”

Edited 2013-09-09 01:28 (UTC)

"Hey, that's long enough to go detox." Clint pinched her waist playfully but quickly wrapped his arm around her again.

"Missed sharing a bed with you. And... you know. Nice to know we don't have to watch out for bullets and bombs for once. And not having to be careful with any bandages when I want to put my hands on you."

His fingertips brushed the underside of her breasts, his leg sneaking in between hers to pull her even closer against his body.

"I think I could get used to this."

Edited 2013-09-09 07:02 (UTC)

Natasha squirmed against him when he pinched her but did little else. Of course they both knew that she could retaliate easily and painfully if she so wished, but what a way to ruin a mood.

It had actually been a while since they’d had a night to relax when they were both in perfect condition. It felt like lately all the crazies were crawling out of the woodwork, and when the two of them weren’t out there on the job they were nursing some wound or another. Not that that stopped them from making time for a quickie when they could, but nothing like this, not for quite some time.

Maybe never completely like this before.

She let him touch her, move her, mould her to him. She thought she could get used to it too, but the thought was a little frightening. Was he talking about just trying to spend more time together? Or more than that? Deciding she was reading too much into it, Natasha let out a slow breath.

“You just like having a human body pillow to snuggle with,” she said, lifting herself up on one elbow so she could reach for her drink and take a sip.

With another loud crack of thunder and brilliant flash of light the electricity finally gave in and went out leaving them with just the candlelight.

"Well, there's that pillow thing."
Clint leaned forward to give her earlobe a quick gentle bite, his knuckles again brushing her curves, before he easened his grip a bit, giving her more room to move. The last thing he wanted her to feel like was uncomfortable.

He also forbid himself every too sincere answer to her mocking and rather reached for his own glass, trying to drown his melancholy in it.
"The fact that you're my favorite person to spend time with, might have a part in it, too."

He startled, with a quiet unnerved sigh when the lights finally went down but at the same time couldn't help admiring that the dim light did an amazing thing to Natasha's hair color.

"So, finally, Greenland all over again. Can't be long before we see the first polar bears."

It was clear that her joking answer wasn’t just not what he wanted to hear, but completely unwelcomed. For every two steps forward she made she seemed to take another back. They were definitely moving forward, she was getting better at the whole relationship thing, but it certainly wouldn’t be without constant stumbling.

Needless to say, when the power finally cut out Natasha was glad for the distraction it offered.

“I guess we just have more reason to keep each other warm now,” she said, setting her drink aside and further tangling her bare legs with his. Maybe they should have grabbed a blanket before settling down. “Any chance your tenants will be knocking on your door soon?”

"Good thing I'm a certified oven." Clint half snorted, half chuckled into his glass and half finished it with a long sip.
"Also, there's lots of blankets in the wardrobe. Just let me know." He caught one of her curls between two fingertips and pulled her in for another tender kiss.

"No need to worry, no. Haven't heard anything in the house all the time since we arrived. Mostly students, I guess they all went home to their families for the weekend."

He tried his best to keep his smile but had to hide his grimace in his glass. Just for one evening not thinking of everything he was missing in his life, was that so hard?

His body temperature always was much warmer than hers, and while she usually did better with cold climates than him, he certainly provided more body heat when they needed to share. Even so, he seemed to read her mind about the blankets and she couldn’t help but smile into the kiss.

Unfortunately the tender moment passed and she felt the shift in his mood even if she couldn’t see his grimace. Shifting onto her back but keeping her side pressed to his front, Natasha ran her fingers lightly along his neck as she looked up at him, studying his face.

“That works well for us, then,” she said, tracing one finger along the line of his jaw. “That means we have the place all to ourselves all weekend.”

It was confirmation that she planned to stay the whole weekend if he wanted her to, which she was pretty sure he did, but it was also a silent acknowledgement that she knew and she understood but that it didn’t matter. The only family they needed was each other.

"Oh, I see where this is going." Thankful for the chance to flee into yet another bantering, Clint eyed her body from head to toe as if marking his territory. "We can try the cellar or the attic next. Maybe we should leave out the roof, unless we want to give all the residents in the surrounding houses a good show."

Before she could think about hitting him, he quickly bent down to cover her lips with another kiss. Still a slow one, but maybe not all that sweet anymore, his tongue sneaking into her mouth while he caressed her stomach, gently teasing her breasts through the thick fabric covering them.

The sweet hint of oranges mixed with her very own flavor tickled his senses, a warm content feeling of home and relaxation. He made sure to explore her mouth very thoroughly, his tongue caught in a silence dance with hers. The prick of sadness died away with every second of tenderness, his breath growing deep and steady, a smile on his lips when he could finally bring himself to pull back. What he had now was maybe not everything he had ever expected out of life, but it was good, and with her it was certainly enough.

"You can stay as long as you like, you know."

Natasha managed to roll her eyes but not much else in reply to Clint’s suggestions before he cut her off with another kiss that she willingly let distract her. It was a little more heated this time and he let his hands wander a little more freely, not that she was complaining. Running her tongue along his to remind him just how good she could be with it, one hand moved to the back of his neck, fingers teasing the soft hair at his nape, while she ran her toes up along his leg until she could prop her knee over his hip, turning a little more towards him.

When he finally pulled back she was glad to see his smile had returned, though it was only because of her extensive skills that she kept her own from faltering.

It was what had made her nervous earlier, the feeling that this was leading somewhere she wasn’t sure she was ready to go. Maybe she was just being silly, but it almost sounded like Clint’s way of asking her to move in with him, but what was even sillier was the fact that this should make her nervous. Although they had taken a big step tonight, she couldn’t claim that it was all happening too quickly. It had taken them years to get to this point, years of dancing around each other and only taking the smallest serious steps at a time. If anything they had been moving at a snail’s pace compared to normal relationships.

The thing she had to ask herself, though, was would it really be a bad thing? They were away so often anyhow, and any time they had off together they spent with each other anyway, so what would really be the difference other than the location? Clint knew how much she sometimes needed her solitude, and she knew he would respect that, so what was the problem?

Okay, so maybe the silliest part of all of this was her jumping to conclusions and reading too much into what he was saying.

“Be careful,” she warned playfully, giving no hint of what was going on in her mind. “Say things like that and you may never get rid of me.”

Clint just stared at her for a few long moments, silently. Of course he could drop it. Would make things much easier.

But the only thing he had always expected out of this whole thing with Natasha was honesty. He could live, somehow, with everything, no matter how little, she was willing to give him, but he wanted to know where they stood. And he sure as hell didn't want to spend a weekend worrying if he made her feel bad.

"You're missing a muscle. Right here."
He let his fingertips trail from her cheek upward to brush the corner of her eye.
"Might want to train that, then your eyes match the smile.
Don't you know by now that you don't have to keep anything from me, Nat? I didn't mean to... I'm sorry if I was coming too close, okay? I don't want you to feel obliged in any way. All I'm saying is, I'm enjoying spending my time with you and I can never get enough of it. That doesn't change anything for you. You can come or leave whenever you like, okay? I'll be here."

He hesitated again, fingers softly threading through her hair, not sure if another thing going on on his mind would make it even worse or if she would understand that all he wanted to offer her was a chance. An anchor, a base to return to whenever their crazy lives let them.

"If you want... You can have a key for this apartment. You know. When you're around. Worst thing that could happen is, you could find me drunk ass standing on the sofa doing my best Freddie Mercury homage."

Dancing in the Dark (for farmboyhawk)

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject