D A R K

G O H O M E

Maria hobbled in the direction of the kitchen, wincing at the sharp pain which tremored up and  down her leg. Her defiant self continued to refuse the cane that the MedBay had offered her, her dignity was far too great to accept it. Maria simply gritted her teeth and pushed onwards. She could hear clattering of pans and cups in the kitchen as she made her way down the hallway. What was Natasha up to?

"Natasha?" She called out, there was no response. Whatever Romanoff was up to, she clearly didn't want Maria to see it. Which, in turn, only made Maria hobble faster to try and catch Natasha in the act.

When Maria finally reached the kitchen she had to brace herself up against the door in order to not fall over, she really did need to sit down sometime soon. The sight in front of her was enough to make anyone laugh, Maria chuckled silently under her breath not wanting to startle Natasha. It was a silly gesture really, Natasha probably heard her enter the kitchen a while ago but chose to simply ignore it.

"Hi, Hill" Natasha smiled innocently, hear head turning to look down at Maria. Natasha quickly closed the cupboard and turned around fully, still stood on the kitchen counter.

"You know, if you couldn't reach whatever you wanted you could have asked me to get it for you?" Maria smiled back, still finding the shorter woman's position quite humorous. Natasha didn't reply but instead slowly sat down onto the counter and then proceed to jump off of it.

"You're injured Hill, wouldn't want you to reach up and pull a stitch" Natasha landed on, obnoxious as ever. 

"Right, so this has nothing to do with you dignity and your inability to reach the top shelf?" Maria quipped an eyebrow, poking at the shorter woman. In return Natasha gave her a defiant look, typical Romanoff.

"Just as your dignity forces you to stand on your leg which is wounded, rather than walk with your cane?" Natasha replied bluntly, two could play at that game. They were like chalk and cheese, always hitting a brick wall but at the same time they were perfect for one another. For some reason they always chose to be the antithesis of each other rather than compliment each other.

"Fair play." Maria responded, swallowing down any stupid come back she could have responded with. Maria prided herself on her ability to be in control and calm, even when Natasha was around.

"I only wanted the Cheerios" Natasha changed the subject, Maria snapped herself out of her daydream.

"Did you get them?"

Natasha pulled the cereal box from behind her back and grinned wildly, the sugary breakfast cereal was perfect for her sweet tooth.

"They have probably been in there for months" Maria grimaced, she really did not spend a lot of time in her apartment.

"Don't care" Natasha muttered already prying the box open.

"I really can make you something healthier" Maria tried again.

"Nope" Natasha replied before popping a cheerio into her mouth.

"Don't you want a bowl? Some milk?" Maria raised an eyebrow, Natasha was acting like a child craving sugar. Romanoff simply shook her head to Agent Hill's questions, placing another handful into her mouth. Maria gave up and made her way to her sofa, Natasha following close behind with her cereal box in tow.

"God I love this" Natasha spoke her thoughts aloud, sitting down next to Maria. Natasha pushed her back into the sofa, getting comfortable.

"Cheerios?" Maria questioned. Natasha simply nodded her head, she wasn't going to tell Maria the real reason. Truth be told she loved the domesticity of it all, she was still wearing Maria's old shirt, sitting lazily, eating a sugary snack. This was the type of freedom the Red Room would never allow. Sure SHIELD was a million times better, Natasha didn't have to expect and random beatings or punishments for failure and she could freely walk around the Hellicarrier but SHIELD didn't quite trust her walking the actual earth yet. To their credit they were right, Natasha did sneak away twice now. Once on Maria's mission and now when she hid away in a quinjet just to get here.