Risk

Twenty Three

By the time they arrived at his apartment, he was exceptionally drenched from the rain having only his suit jacket to keep him dry. Hailing a cab in a torrential downpour was almost impossible, even in the city, so they had ran most of the way to the nearest subway and then from there to his home. Both their feet and legs were soaked from splashing through large puddles, and they shivered in the hallway as he opened up the front door and immediately put the heating on.

"Jesus," he complained, pulling his suit jacket off and hanging it to dry before peeling his white shirt off his torso. It was soaked through and sticking to his skin, his tie limp around his neck. Natasha laughed softly, her top half only a little more dry form her coat, but her hair drenched as much as his was. She pushed it from her face, kicking her shoes off.

"I thought you are supposed to wait an hour after eating before going swimming?" She joked, removing her jacket as she went to find dry clothing. He followed her to the bedroom, struggling with removing his tie.

"In hindsight maybe getting the subway and running a few blocks home was a bad idea," he chuckled, dropping his tie with a shrug. "My hands are freezing," he brought them to his lips, blowing on them to heat them up as she stepped up to undo his tie for him, nimble fingers freeing him from it in seconds.

"Tell me you have jumpers, large warm ones." She asked, visibly shivering as her teeth cluttered together as she spoke.

"More than I need," he opened up the wardrobe, taking a few steps inside and reached up to grab two along with some sweatpants and dry socks. Natasha emerged from the bathroom with some towels, already undoing her hair to dry it off. James undressed, throwing everything in the laundry, along with Natasha's jeans and socks and pulled on the dry clothes, already feeling a little warmer.

When he turned back around, Natasha was practically drowning in his jumper, not to mention the sweatpants which she tied tightly and rolled up around the ankles so she could walk in them. "Honestly, the dumbest I've ever looked but also the warmest." She smiled while he laughed and pulled the cover from the bed.

"I think it looks great," he teased, dragging the cover to the couch as she followed him down the hall. She dropped onto the sofa and he draped the cover over them as he sat beside her, both burrowing together for warmth. He flicked the tv on, letting her get comfortable leaning into his side, picking some reality tv show to play that they could make fun of and relax to.

"Is this how you pictured celebrating your divorce?" She asked, smiling up at him as he chuckled.

"I thought there would be balloons and confetti cannons and maybe a cake," he joked, making her laugh softly. "But this is good too."

"You sure? That can all still be arranged." She teased, moving to lay with him as he got more comfortable resting back against the pillows on the sofa. She rested her head on his chest, looking towards the tv as he stroked through her hair.

"On second thoughts, this is much better." He smiled, linking his legs through hers and relaxing back into a comfortable state of normal.

***

Around an hour of bad tv later, and the storm growing worse outside, a large crack of lightening descended the place into darkness. The lights and tv shut off instantly, plunging them into darkness with the occasional lightening their only source of light from the window.

They lit all the candles they could find, and James went off to find a flashlight he knew he had in a closet somewhere, only to be given a near heart attack when Natasha pounced from behind a door on  his return.

"Are you trying to kill me!" He laughed breathlessly, snatching for her in the dark and pulling her back into a bear hug as she laughed.

"Don't pretend you weren't thinking of doing the same to me!" She giggled, wrapping her arms around him. There was a sudden pang of familiarity about the situation, being in a dark space pressed close to another body that made her stomach churn with guilt.