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She’s sitting at the bar nursing a glass of whiskey and trying to fight the bone deep exhaustion that’s closing her eyes and yet has been preventing her from falling asleep for the past few weeks.
Wanda’s taking a sip of her drink as a woman sits at the hotel bar stool next to her. She glances briefly only to see that it’s Natasha Romanoff, “Oh, right, I’ve heard she’s doing a movie here”, Wanda thinks absentmindedly. She takes another sip and looks straight ahead at nothing as Natasha makes her order next to her, Martini.
“Hey”, Wanda’s surprised to hear the raspy voice say.
“Hello”, she says as she turns her head in the direction of the voice with a slight nod of her head.
“Rough night?”, Natasha continues the conversation and Wanda wonders what the hell is happening, yet she answers, but cannot stop the tiredness from seeping into her voice.
“More like a year”, “Something like that”, she says, “You?”
“Just a nightcap”, Natasha looks at her from under her eyelashes as she takes a sip of her drink. Wanda can’t help but look at the redhead and wonder how is it possible that she holds her attention so effortlessly when nothing and no one could for the past months. She decides not to dwell on that and enjoy the conversation.
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After their second round of drinks, which Natasha ordered, Wanda notices that the hotel manager is walking in their direction, she already knows what’ll happen next, it’s always the same, every country, every city, every hotel. She doesn’t really like these types of situations, because they always make her realize how exposed to the world she really is, but she also cannot bring herself to say no.
“What should I sing?” Wanda asks Natasha as she points her head in the direction of the manager. Natasha briefly looks behind her in the direction of the man understanding what’s about to happen and says
“One of yours, I suppose”, she smiles a half smile, which Wanda is sure she’ll always came to associate only with Natasha after this night.
The redhead takes another sip looking back at Wanda.
“But I don’t want to sing my songs” Wanda whispers unable to hide small, barely audible traces of bitterness in her voice as she takes a sip of her own drink knowing full well that she’s going to sing her own songs.
The redhead notices Wanda’s reluctance and offers an alternative,
“Dream a Little Dream of Me”, she says as the manager approaches and a small smile stretches on Wanda’s lips as she briefly looks at Natasha before turning politely to the manager.
“Miss Maximoff, if it wouldn’t be too much trouble, would you, please, consider singing something from your repertoire for our guests and staff? We would appreciate it very much.”
Natasha clearly saw the change in Wanda when the hotel manager approached them. The singer visibly got taller as she straighten her spine and plastered a polite smile on her face as she said “Of course, it would be my pleasure”.
The redhead watches as Wanda downs her whiskey and walks to the piano, “Good luck” she mouths when the singer glances at her and Wanda smiles quietly again as she sits down behind the instrument.
Natasha observes as the murmur in the hotel restaurant dies down to listen to the sound of the piano and Wanda’s beautiful voice, as does Natasha, after all, an opportunity to hear one of her favorite songs performed by one of her favorite artists does not come every day.
“Good evening”, Wanda starts and her tone indicates that she actually may be sorry for interrupting the conversations.
“My name is Wanda and I would like to sing you one or two songs if you don’t mind”, Natasha can’t help but laugh quietly at Wanda’s awkwardness.
Everyone claps and Natasha claps too because she kind of can’t wait to hear Wanda sing, a smile stretches across her lips as she observes the singer observing her.
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“And the last one for the evening was a special request”, Wanda smiles as she glances at Natasha, familiar notes starting to escape from under her fingertips.
Natasha grins into her glass as she rests her head on the palm of her hand and looks at Wanda briefly, then at the floor seemingly unable to hold eye contact in such an intimate situation, because when a world renowned singer basically sings a song for you then it is an incredibly intimate moment.
But when Wanda starts Natasha can’t stop her eyes from resting on the singer, not surprised that she is looking at Natasha too.
Stars shining bright above you…
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“That was beautiful”, greets Wanda as she comes back to the bar after talking briefly with the hotel manager.
“I ordered you another one”, Natasha adds as she points to the glass.
“Thank you and thank you”, says Wanda as she takes her sit next to the actress.
They bask in each other’s silence for a few moments before Wanda notices that Natasha looks at her delicately, she smiles tiredly and finishes her drink.
“You can’t sleep, can you?” Natasha asks knowingly as she too downs her drink.
“Is it that obvious?” Wanda asks feeling awfully exposed and thinking how terrible she must look.
“Don’t worry, you’re gorgeous, the tiredness is not visible unless you look closely” Natasha says.
Wanda blushes at the compliment, because, apparently, the redheaded goddess looks at her closely and turns her eyes to Natasha, for the first time really, truly seeing her. She looks at pale, round face and deep, deep green eyes. She also notices the tiredness behind them and says “Yeah, you’re right”.
Natasha smiles her half smile and says “I should go to my room, it’s getting late”.
Wanda feels a pang of disappointment in her chest as she responds “Yeah, me too”.
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The elevator ride is quiet, the door opens and Wanda says “This is me”.
There’s a second of awkwardness and Wanda decides that “what the hell” and she leans down to place a delicate kiss on the apple of Natasha’s cheek and murmurs,
“Thank you for such an unexpected but lovely night”.
Natasha returns the kiss and Wanda heads to the front of the elevator and just as she’s about to walk out the door slides shut. She puts a lock of hair behind her ear awkwardly, embarrassed for her weird behavior.
Natasha can only smile at her, this half smile seeming to hold some kind of a secret. The redhead taps softly the place where Wanda had been resting against the wall few seconds ago and the singer wordlessly leans against the wall again, next to Natasha.
The elevator goes up and after a few seconds it stops and the door slide open. This time Natasha leans up to Wanda and the brunette meets her half way. They somehow end up kissing, truly kissing, but they don’t mind it. Wanda feels her face growing hotter but she doesn’t feel embarrassed, because the moment, somehow, was natural, they simply couldn’t not kiss.
Also, Wanda is surprised (but not really) at how good it feels, Natasha’s lips wonderfully cool against her tired skin washing it with an indescribable sensation.
The actress glances briefly at Wanda with her lip between her teeth and she walks out of the elevator. Wanda can only look after her with her heart beating fast, fast, faster.
Suddenly, before the door has a chance to close completely, a hand slides between them. Natasha walks back into the elevator with her arms starched, aimed for Wanda’s shoulders.
Wanda instinctively braves the small distance between them and she slides her hands on Natasha’s waist and they’re kissing again.
This kiss is different, it’s slow and deep and Wanda feels a tongue licking her bottom lip. It makes her feel light but it also makes her ache all over at the same time when she gently opens her mouth in an invitation, which Natasha eagerly accepts.
They pull away from each other just a few inches and look into each other’s eyes. Natasha thinks she can see every possible emotion in Wanda’s orbs, which just makes her want to get to know her. Makes her want to discover who she really is. She glances at Wanda’s lips and sees how they shine with traces of the kiss.
Wanda can’t read Natasha, she isn’t really sure what she sees, but the shy, coquettish look in the redhead’s eyes makes her knees go weak.
“Sleep well”, is all Natasha whispers and she’s leaving Wanda alone again.
“Good night”, Wanda says into the emptiness of the elevator knowing full well that she won’t get a wink of sleep thinking about Natasha Romanoff, but she quietly laughs feeling happy because this is the most relaxed she has been in months.