Chasing Ghosts | Natasha Romanoff

Chapter 118: Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic

As usual, not proofread, so please excuse any mistakes. It's very late for me hahaha.

October 1, 2028

Over the years, the Romanoff-Petrova family had accumulated lots of seasonal decorations. Christmas, Valentine's Day, Easter, fall, but most of the plastic boxes in the attic were filled with Halloween stuff. They loved the holiday. Dressing up, bad scary movies, they felt a childish excitement by the time October came around.

And now that she had a permanent place of residence and didn't have to keep her belongings limited in case of a quick getaway, Katya had turned into a hoarder. She bought everything she liked and barely threw anything away unless it was irreparably broken. It meant that her Halloween collection had grown out of control. Box after box, she and Natasha brought their collection downstairs, until the walls of the hallway were barely visible anymore.

Natasha panted as she came down the stairs for the nth time, a skinny, long cardboard box taller than herself perched on her shoulder, no idea what was in it. With a groan of effort, she lowered it to the ground, looking at the mess around her. The boxes were stacked three high, and the bathroom door wouldn't be able to open more than a foot. Katya stood between it all like a very happy kid in a candy store.

"Honey—"

"No."

Katya pulled open a box and beamed at what she found, turning to Natasha with a grin as she slid a headband with cat ears on her head, a cheap thing Maya needed for a kids party a few years back. She looked so adorable, Natasha failed to hide her fond smile.

"You don't even know what I was going to say."

Katya huffed, tossing the headband back. "We have way too much stuff. Don't you think you should get rid of something?" She mocked, in what was a terrible attempt at copying Natasha's voice.

Natasha chuckled, putting her hands on her hips. "Okay, so you did know what I was going to say. But do we really need four eight-foot skeletons for the front yard?"

"Yes.'' Katya didn't even spare her a glance as she carefully rummaged through the contents of the box. She knew Natasha was right to call her out on her hoarding, but come on, too much Halloween decorations was still too little. ''You're a killjoy, Natalia. You kill joy."

An amused smile grew on Natasha's face. "I'm just saying, we have too much stuff."

"And you have too many pairs of dumb patterned socks." Katya's gaze flickered disapprovingly to the scissor patterned fabric around her wife's feet. The worst part was that Natasha bought them because the scissors were interlocked. They were...scissoring. Maya found it hilarious. "But I won't be asking you to get rid of any of those because they make you happy."

Natasha glanced down at her feet, frowning as she wiggled her toes. "What is wrong with my socks?" There was a tone to her voice and a look to her face that Katya knew all too well. It was there when she set a trap. But she forgot that her wife knew all her tricks.

"Nice try." Katya chuckled dryly, closing the box and setting it aside. "I'm not doing that with you."

"The arguing or the scissoring?"

Katya huffed a laugh. "Fuck off."

She didn't want to reward Natasha with a smile, but her hair was up and she knew her round cheeks were betraying her. If she'd had something non-breakable in her hands, she would have tossed it at her head, that stupid, proud grin on her face irking her to no end.

Natasha chuckled smugly, watching her pick up a box labeled 'Halloween decorations front yard'. It was heavy—she knew, because she carried it down earlier—but Katya lifted it with no effort. "Where are you taking that? You promised Maya you'd wait until she got home."