Chapter Text
Yelena groaned into her pillow as she flopped dramatically down onto her bed.
It wasn’t like this past mission was super exhausting - just a quick trip to Montana and back to bust a drug ring that was trying to replicate the super soldier serum - but for some reason, her bones ached especially deep afterward. It was like her very soul had been damaged by the mission.
She didn’t put together why until that evening, when she saw him: reading, leaning against the kitchen counter, twirling his straw to clink his ice cubes against the glass as they spun around in the water.
She had missed Bob.
Like, a lot.
His soft smile and wave as they reentered the Tower had brightened her resolve in a way that she couldn’t remember ever feeling before this new life. She had been so tired, all she had managed to give him back was a soft hello and pat on the shoulder, barely able to smile. She’s sure that, if she - the one he was closest to - managed only that, the others probably didn’t do much better.
She felt bad.
She had promised him that they would stick together from now on, and for some reason, it was eating at her that she hadn’t - at least, for the past week or so - kept that promise.
Yelena pulled her phone from her little robe pocket, pulling up Bob’s contact. Instead of texting, like she would normally do, she pressed the call button.
He picked up on the first ring. “H-Hey, Yelena,” he said, his voice soft in the receiver. “What’s up?”
“Want to come over and hang out?” she asked him. “I miss you.”
“Oh! Uhm, y-yeah, sure.” He sounds almost nervous. It’s cute. From what she knows, they’re his first friends in years - she’s his first close friend… maybe ever. That part isn’t as cute. “Uh… right now?”
“Yeah, are you busy?” she asks, hoping to make this work. If he has plans with someone else, it might genuinely offend her.
“No, no no! Not at all.” He chuckles awkwardly, and Yelena hums in amusement - and in relief. “I’ll be right over.”
“Excellent.” She smiles at her phone. “See you soon.”
“Yup. Bye-bye.”
“ Byeee .” She draws out the final syllable, like she does for almost every greeting and farewell of the people she cares about - and the people she doesn’t care about. But it's reserved in a special way for those she does care about. How she used it with Bob was definitely the former.
In a few moments, there were soft taps against her door. She smiled warmly. “Come on in - if your name is Bob.”
The door opens tentatively, and brunette curls peek in from the other side. “Technically, it’s Robert… Does that still count?”
Yelena scoffed. “Only because you’re cute.” She waved him in, and he stepped inside. He was wearing some typical blue pajama set that was one size too big on him. He looked cozy, even though she could tell he was tired like her.
“C’mere.” She patted the spot on the bed next to her.
Bob, bless his heart, looked briefly embarrassed - like he didn’t consider himself worthy to occupy the same space as her, or something of the sort - but he slowly crawled into the other side of the bed, lying down on top of the covers.
“You can get comfortable,” she told him.
Bob looked around himself, landing his gaze directly at her eyes. “Pretty comfortable right now, if that’s alright.”
“Hmm, okay,” Yelena chuckles. Bob chuckles back. “Hi there.”
“Hey.”
A few minutes pass.
She can’t stop herself from being forward. With Bob, beating around the bush is just prolonged lying, and lying to Bob is not an option in her heart.
“I’m sorry I haven’t been around much.”
“Oh, no, it’s fine.”
“No, it’s not,” Yelena insists, looking at him. “I made you a promise that we would stick together, and I have let work consume me for the past week - maybe even more. We haven’t gotten to spend time together, and I… want to fix that.”
Bob blushed softly. Yelena noticed how his cheeks and the very tips of his ears would turn a beautiful pink whenever flushed - not hot to the touch, but definitely warm. It nearly made her blush from the sight of it.
“Thanks,” Bob said quietly. “That means a lot.”
“Of course,” Yelena whispered.
They sit in silence for a bit, not uncomfortable, but not exactly peaceful either. There was definitely more to be said. Only problem: neither of them knew what the hell that was.
Bob finally blurted something out after about a minute.
“Somewhat related… I think I need a hobby.”
Yelena looked over at him, a curious glance. “Oh?”
Bob tries to make sense of the word salad that has been plaguing his brain for a while. “I… I know I can’t turn into Sentry, right? B-But I wanna be helpful, not just to the team, but to myself as well. And, and I just… I feel like all I do is read, clean, and stare into space when people aren’t here. That’s no one’s fault, but like, I read that keeping your mind occupied is one of the best ways to deal with depression, anxiety, all that stuff. And… I don’t know, I think… I think it could just be good. Like, in general. Y’know?”
Yelena pursed her lips, nodding. “It sounds nice. Anything in mind?”
Bob shook his head, looking down at his phone on his chest. “No.”
“Well, why don’t I help you?” She pulls her own phone back out. “We can look for something fun to do.”
That grabs Bob’s attention. “We? Like, together?”
Yelena smiles tentatively. “If you want this to be your own thing, I’ll butt out. But I think we could have fun together, no? It could be our thing, possibly.”
Bob smiles, a little giggle brimming from his chest. It’s adorable. “I-I like that idea.”
“Mhmm,” Yelena hummed, feeling a bit of relief. “Excellent.”
She opened up Safari and typed into the search bar: “fun things to do for adults”. It took a few seconds to load - Ava had been complaining nonstop about the internet, and yet, nothing got done because it was a miracle any of them were even alive four months into living in the Watchtower, let alone had even crummy internet access - but when it did, she scrolled through the suggestions.
“You sound like you want something physically demanding,” she muttered. “Reading books is quiet. Does not need much brain power.”
Bob shrugged. “Not, like, where I’ll be sweating bullets, but… Maybe.”
“Ah, well, here’s something.” Yelena passed him her phone. “Adult dance classes - first one free at that studio. It’s only a twenty minute walk away.”
Bob gingerly took her phone to look through the links provided to the Steps On Broadway dance academy. There were so many pictures of happy dancers with toned bodies and beautiful faces; it was designed this way to be enticing, surely. They probably neglected the sweatier people of the class.
Yelena, for her part, was holding her breath with this one. She wasn’t exactly sure about the idea - but Bob looked at least semi-interested. Right now, that was all that mattered to her.
He didn’t know about the Red Room ballet program. He didn’t know the perfection those little girls had to go through… because of her extreme tenacity, borderline psychopathy if you asked her, she was able to speed through the ballet program and head straight into field training at the age of ten. Horror stories from former Widows, among which included her dear sister Natasha, would paint horrific portraits of utter perfection. The consequences of failure, so often, were deadly.
As long as he didn’t go with ballet, she would probably tag along for at least one class. That’s if he decided to do this, anyway - it could be fun, perhaps. It would get him out of the house, something he was in desperate need of…
The promise of not being taken out back and shot for not executing a step perfectly was enticing to the part of her that wanted to heal from this.
“Oh, she looks nice,” Bob mumbled.
Yelena looked over, and saw him scrolling through the tap sections. Indeed, the teacher with the jet black hair matted down to her scalp in a tight bun looked extremely inviting and sweet.
“You want to try tap dancing?” Yelena asked.
Bob bit his lip. “I don’t know… It could be fun. Maybe once.”
Yelena shrugged. “I’d do it with you. We can see if you like it.”
“You would?” Bob almost sounded surprised. As if she hadn’t made it clear about her intention to follow him at least part of the way in this pursuit of a new hobby… “Really?”
“I told you I would,” Yelena gave one of her softer smiles. “Not backing out just because I’ve never tap danced before.”
Bob couldn’t help but snicker. “I-I’m gonna be so bad.”
“Well, we will go absolute beginner, and take it nice and slow,” Yelena decided, taking her phone back to figure out how to book the class for themselves. “And no - you will not be bad. You will be new. There’s a distinct difference.”
Bob was quiet after that.
But his smile spoke for him.
Yelena scrolled through the options, landing on one where she was positive that she wouldn’t have anything going on - no calls with Valentina that she had to resist shooting the phone on, no training exercises, and best of all: no fucking prescribed chores.
“How about Tuesday at seven?” she suggested, showing him the screen.
Bob shrugged again. “I’ll do whatever you want.”
Yelena shook her head fondly. “You need to make some bolder declarations, Bob. Your input is valuable.”
“Well, yours is more valuable, so…”
“Alright, stop it, you.” A low rumble came from within her spirit, manifesting in one of her signature laughs. “You’re too sweet.”
Bob giggled.
“And… we’re going to tap class.” Yelena showed him her phone, confirming their presence for the Absolute Beginner course. Tuesday at seven. Steps On Broadway. “It will be fun.”
“Yeah,” Bob nodded. “It will be. Even if I su-” He paused when Yelena gave him a dangerous glare. “Even… If… I don’t get it? At first?”
“There you go,” Yelena smiled proudly, shuffling a little closer to him as she grabbed the remote. Her heart was set on watching something cute tonight - to celebrate the mission, and now, her and her best friend’s newfound hobby. “Was that so hard?”
Bob huffs. “Actually, uhm… it wasn’t.”
“See? It’s not hard for me, either.” She gives his sleeved arm a little pat, bringing back that pretty pink hue to his cheeks and the tips of his ears. “Now, what movie do you want to watch?”