till forever falls apart

stitches leave a scar

okay. last week of this fic. i'm grieving it all over again but i do have good news: there's a new fic out! it's canon to this ✨multiverse✨ (haha tease for the fic after that one) and it's very fluffy and wandanat focused, so check it out! now onto this regularly scheduled angst-fest :)

Living with Yelena has proved one thing to be true: Kate knows almost everything about her. Maybe she's never seen the photos from the photo strip that Yelena keeps face down in her phone case. Maybe she doesn't know where the thin white scars that used to line Yelena's left calf came from. And maybe she doesn't understand how Yelena keeps track of everything while Kate can't manage to find both of her shoes half the time.

But she does know how Yelena will play with her rings when she's anxious. And how she used to braid her hair tightly and hold it in place with bobby pins because sloppiness doesn't make for good work, Kate Bishop. She knows that Yelena loves some good food made by professionals and cooks food of that caliber but if she doesn't have mac and cheese at least once a week she'll get super pissy about it.

Kate also knows that Yelena refuses to look at her residual limb (Kate absolutely refuses to call it her stump). She avoids looking at it, she avoids talking about it, she avoids everything about it. It's been miserable watching it all happen and not being able to do anything about it.

But today, she gets her stitches out, so Kate went out before Yelena woke up and bought bagels from her favorite bagel place and came home and walked the dogs and fed the dogs all before Yelena woke up.

She's still asleep now, actually, curled into their comforters with Fanny asleep at her feet (that dog is about as stubborn as Yelena, she hasn't even eaten her food yet and Kate had to drag her out of bed for her walk). Kate's not sure when she wants to wake Yelena up, she has to be up by noon if they want to make the one o'clock appointment, but she also has to get up and take her meds and a shower.

So, Kate decides that she has to wake her up.

Quietly, she walks into their room and slowly moves her hand to Yelena's back.

Kate gently rubs Yelena's back and presses a kiss to Yelena's temple, "Lena, wake up."

"No," Yelena pulls at their comforter, "Not getting up."

"You're getting your stitches out today, Lena," Kate climbs over Yelena and sits next to her, "It's a big day."

"It's another day," Yelena mumbles, "of sitting around, being bored, and being told I can't do anything."

"It's a step toward you getting back to your normal life of doing things, Yelena," Kate half-glares at her, "c'mon. I got us food and the dogs are walked and I really want to actually kiss you but your breath definitely tastes like feet right now."

"My breath is wonderful, Kate Bishop!" Yelena exclaims, glaring back at her before pulling the covers over her face, "I'm not kissing you."

"Hey!" Kate pulls at the blankets and they fall, revealing Yelena's face again. It strikes Kate for half a second that months ago, Yelena would've been able to hold them there and Kate's heart admittedly sinks a little in her chest.

"Get up," Kate brushes the thought off, "and please don't boycott kisses."

"You said my breath smells like feet, Kate Bishop," Yelena glares at her, "That's rude."

"I'm so sorry," Kate responds, rolling her eyes. She gets up off the bed, "That your breath smells like feet."

"Kate!"

"Oh no," Kate walks towards the door, "You're going to have to get up to yell at me! How terrible!"

"Сука!" Yelena calls after her.