𝑻𝒓𝒂𝒑𝒅𝒐𝒐𝒓 ✘ 𝐍𝐀𝐓𝐀𝐒𝐇𝐀 𝐑𝐎𝐌𝐀𝐍𝐎𝐅𝐅

{3¹¹} {FIREFLIES, VANILLA AND LEMON}

∆ {3¹¹} {FIREFLIES, VANILLA AND LEMON} ∆

"WHAT?" NATASHA'S FACE was scrunched up into a confused frown as she tried to figure out what the brunette meant.

"Roxi. It's uh, it's my name," The woman in question admitted, her eyes fixed firmly on the ground. Natasha simply stared at her for a few minutes, mouth cracked open slightly, her whole face displaying shock as she processed what was happening. This woman was trusting her, more than the redhead had ever expected her to, with information only a handful of special people had access to, one of them being the woman in front of her, another, no doubt, was Nick Fury. But Natasha couldn't help but wonder what had prompted her to share something she kept so private. Had it been her? Or did it have to do with whatever Wanda Maximoff had shown her? After a moment more of consideration, deciding that she didn't need to figure that out now, she realised she hadn't spoken, and at least a few minutes had past. She let her surprised face melt away into a soft, although slightly teasing, smile.

"Roxi Ryder," Natasha announced gently, staring up at the darkening sky with a kind of wonder she hadn't shown in a while, "It's got a nice ring to it."

"Yeah, I suppose," Roxi trailed off, trying to analyse the other woman's reaction to gain a clue on how she felt about this. And still, it felt weird to have her name spoken out loud, even in the slightly chilled air of an isolated forest, on the edge of a farm, in the middle of nowhere. She had fallen into a rut, a routine, of shutting people out and keeping her past firmly to herself. Maybe, having her mind pried open by a superpowered teenager was what she needed to finally pull herself out of it. The redhead sitting beside her, forest green eyes focused on her face, she most definitely had something to do with it. Natasha's face creased into a gentle frown, more of confusion than anger or anything similar.

"Why are you telling me?" Her voice was as soft as her frown, simply trying to understand, while attempting to show that she understood how hard this was for the other woman - for Roxi. 

"Because you were right," She admitted, "I need to open up to people more, let them in. But I don't think I can tell anyone else, even if that means putting up with Tony Stark continually trying to guess my first name. I suppose it's a mental block, really. I've never been great at getting close to people; friends, family (not that I have any), anything more.." Roxi trailed off slightly at the end, trying to keep her glance at the redhead as subtly as possible. It seemed to work, because Natasha didn't mention anything about it.

"I've always struggled with it. There's not really anyone to blame for that but myself, so it's not like I can complain about it. Even as a kid, I was quiet, reserved, or so I've been told," Natasha's curiosity about Roxi grew as the woman spoke, only noticing when she paused that the sun was beginning to sink in the sky, the trees beginning to whisper the secrets they had heard as the women spoke in the evening breeze. Apparently, the ex-SHIELD agent could sense Natasha's curiosity increasing, because she turned to the redhead with a soft, genuine smile and a tiny chuckle that made the other woman feel as if she were melting, her hand growing warm in Roxi's. 

"You sure you want to know my story?" She asked, interpreting Natasha's look correctly, wondering how on earth she would explain the mess of tangled wires and strings that made up her past, her life. 

"Yeah. All of ours are messed up, just maybe ours more than the others," The redhead reassured her, as if sure that the strange knot of strings would make up a piece of art if you could see enough of it. She just couldn't see that much, at least, not yet. But maybe, in a short while, she'd be able to.