Archive of Our Own ^beta

Wanda hasn't said it yet, but Natasha knows.

It would be hard not to notice the shift in her mood over the last few days; harder still not to notice the date on the calendar.

Tomorrow, Natasha knows, makes one year since the world lost Pietro Maximoff.

She's tried her best not to mention it. If Wanda wanted to talk about it, she would, but she's never made the choice to bring it up, and Natasha respects it. She can't blame her for not wanting to talk about it when it already haunts her every waking thought.

Her every waking thought.

That might be understating it.

Natasha's wide awake, the sympathy and the concern that fills her mind doing its damnedest to keep her up, which means she notices when it gets bad.

She notices when Wanda twitches in her arms.

She notices the way her breath hitches in her throat.

She notices Wanda's grip around her tightens.

She notices the single tear making a home on Natasha's shirt.

She notices everything.

She holds her girlfriend just a little bit tighter, a subtle comfort that Wanda doesn't even seem to notice. She flinches, sucking in a sharp breath. Her every muscle is tensed as she sleeps, fighting the demons in her mind to no avail.

Natasha cranes her neck down and presses a kiss to the top of Wanda's head. "It's alright," she murmurs. "You're okay."

Wanda hums softly. She opens her eyes and tilts her head back, trying her best to look up at her girlfriend without picking her head up off her chest.

"'Morning," Natasha says with a small smile, barely perceptible in the dim light of their room.

"I'm sorry," Wanda murmurs. "I didn't mean to wake you up."

"I was already up," Natasha assures her. She gets the feeling Wanda doesn't believe her, but that's an earned reaction, given she's said the same thing the last three nights and each time before was a lie. "Bad dream?"

"Mm," she hums.

"Want to talk about it?"

"Mm-mm." Wanda wiggles closer, resting her head more comfortably on Natasha's chest and lazily wrapping an arm around her torso. "'Night, Nat. I'm sorry to wake you up."

"You have nothing to be sorry about," Natasha assures her. She kisses the top of her girlfriend's head one more time. "Sweet dreams, babe. I love you."

The corners of Wanda's mouth curl up in a small smile. "I love you more."

"Impossible," Natasha says teasingly.

"Darling, you have no idea what's possible."

Natasha huffs a quiet laugh and squeezes her tight. She loves her little witch more than words can say. And it hurts so much to see her so upset. Even when she tries to hide it, even when she tries to brush it off, Natasha can see it, and she's sure it will only get worse tomorrow, on the first anniversary of Pietro Maximoff's death.

She wishes there was something she could do, but there's not. She can't bring Pietro back. She can't go back in time and save him. He's gone, and that's never going to change. She learned that lesson with Yelena: when siblings are gone, they're really gone.

But then something catches her eye on the other side of the room.

It's difficult to see the black leather in the darkness of the room, but the metal plates reflect what little light they can find. It's their favorite shoes; the ones they slip on when they're in the best of moods just to fool around and have some fun. If anything is going to cheer Wanda up, it will be this.

Natasha keeps that in mind as she drifts off to sleep.

She has a plan in mind.

~~~

Natasha wakes up before Wanda does.

Natasha always wakes up before Wanda.

It's never much more than half an hour, and usually, that's a half-hour of lying there and watching her beautiful girlfriend sleep (frequently in the cutest, most unflattering positions known to man). Today, she has a different plan.

She slips out of bed, careful not to wake her girlfriend as she climbs to her feet. She takes a slow step forward, toe-ball-heel like she learned from those many, many years of compulsory ballet lessons in the Red Room. She just has to make it across the room and—

Creeeeaaaaak.

Natasha freezes.

She glances over her shoulder, but Wanda's still fast asleep, curled up on her side with an arm still resting straight ahead of her, as if Natasha was still under it. It puts a small smile on her face, and she wipes it off when she resumes her focus.

She steps further to the side this time, and there's no creaking to be heard. She follows that path across the room, and she stops just before their shoe shelf. The shoes she's looking for, of course, are on eye level. They're the most important shoes either of them own.

She picks her pair up off the shelf, and the metal bottoms clank against the wooden shelf. She whips around to check on Wanda. She groans quietly, pulling her arm in closer and hugging it into her chest. She readjusts her position slightly, but she doesn't open her eyes just yet.

Phew.

Natasha carefully pulls the shoes off the shelf, this time without making a sound. Still, Wanda readjusts her position again, curling up in a tighter little ball now that Natasha's not in her way. Natasha just watches for a few moments, a small smile on her face. She really does have the cutest girlfriend.

Now that Wanda's moving around, there's a chance she could wake up any moment, and Natasha doesn't want to get caught sneaking around like she's up to something bad.

Instead, she decides to sneak around like she's up to something fun, so at least if Wanda wakes up and notices, she'll get a good laugh out of it.

Natasha puts the shoes on the floor in front of her, then carefully slots a hand in each one. She presses down to ensure that the floor won't creak, then straightens her legs a bit. She pushes herself forward in a front walk-over, landing only a few steps from the bed without a single noise to be heard.

She lifts her legs up much higher than necessary as she walks the rest of the way there. She hopes it looks as ridiculous as it feels. She very slowly sits down on the edge of the bed, and though it makes no noise, the dip of the bed elicits a quiet hum from Wanda, who rolls to her other side, giving Natasha much more space to sit.

Natasha slips her shoes on, one at a time. She raps her knuckles against the metal plate over the ball of her foot, feeling the cool metal against her fingers. Perfect.

She genuinely believes her tap shoes are the best investment she's ever made. Not only are they super cute, super comfy, and super fun, but they represent something so much bigger than just dance. They're quite literally a physical manifestation of the love she and Wanda share. Their first date — though they didn't call it one until the end; they'd convinced themselves they were just friends until their first kiss as the evening came to an end — began with a trip to the local dance shop.

Wanda had wanted to try pointe shoes. She admitted later that it was because she'd seen visions of Natasha's pointe dances in her head, and she'd thought they were absolutely stunning. Natasha shot that idea down immediately. She'd claimed it was to protect her; that pointe requires months of practice to strengthen your feet and ankles. She also admitted later that, while she wasn't exactly lying, she really wasn't ready to try ballet again.

That's how they found themselves tapping around an empty room in the Compound, scuffing up the floors until Tony had to designate that room as the impromptu dance studio.

Needless to say, it's seen a lot of tapping (and a lot of other things, if you get the drift).

She looks over her shoulder at her girlfriend, a small smile on her lips. She never would have thought the suggestion they go check out the local dance shop would lead to the most beautiful, wholesome bond her life has ever known, and yet, here they are.

Wanda rolls back over, and Natasha jumps to her feet to get out of her way.

She's wearing tap shoes.

It's not exactly her stealthiest move.

She slaps a hand over her mouth, stifling her gasp before it can escape. She grimaces and turns around. She just blew it, didn't she? All this hard work, and she blew it.

Wanda mumbles incoherently and pulls the blanket up around her shoulders.

She lets out a quiet sigh of relief. Oh, thank god. She's not ready for Wanda to wake up. Almost, but not quite.

Admittedly, she does get a little distracted, looking at her girlfriend like this. She looks so kissable right now. If they were both in bed right now, nothing could stop Natasha from kissing her hair. Even right now, she's really considering just—

No.

Focus.

She slides her feet over to the door, her shoes never leaving the floor. The soft scraping of her metal plates is no louder than Wanda's breathing, so she's not overly concerned about waking her up with it.

She double-checks the lock on the door. Locked, just as she'd suspected. They try to lock the door every night — obviously; who knows what they're going to get up to — but this morning feels like a much more important time to make sure nobody can barge in, especially when they hear the noise that's about to come out of here.

She turns around to face the bed, where Wanda is still sleeping very comfortably. This is exactly how she'd hoped this would go. For a plan she came up with in the head of night, it's sure off to a good start.

But there's one more thing she needs to do to prepare.

She crosses her arms and grabs the bottom of her shirt, pulling it off her body in one swift motion. She tosses it to the side, exposing her chest in all of its unclothed beauty. She tucks her thumbs beneath the fabric of her underwear, brushing gently against her hip bones. She shimmies out of them and carefully steps out, putting each foot down silently under her underwear lies on the floor. As she bends to pick it up, she's acutely aware of how exposed she is. If Wanda opened her eyes now, she'd have a perfect look at her boobs. If somewhere opened the door and looked in, they'd see her bare ass sticking out at them.

This is so much more comfortable when Wanda is naked with her.

Alright, here she goes.

She digs the heel of her shoe into the ground, and the quiet thud rings out in the otherwise silent room. Wanda flinches, but it's not enough to wake her up. It's not too surprising; the heel is the quieter part of her shoe. It's when she spanks her foot back, the ball of her foot smacking the floor, that the noise really starts.

Wanda groans quietly and wriggles around, but she still doesn't wake up.

Natasha digs the ball of her foot into the floor, then drops her heel, completing her paradiddle. Then she does the other foot: heel; spank; toe; heel.

Wanda groans again and rolls her, shoving her face in the pillow.

Natasha's not the least bit deterred by that. She picks her right foot up and brushes the plate of her shoe against the floor, then immediately brushes her foot back before stepping her foot down.

"Shhh!" Wanda whines.

Natasha ignores that. Wanda will appreciate it in the long run, she's sure. She does the same with the left foot: shuffle; step. Other foot: shuffle; two. Switch again: shuffle; step.

Wanda jumps suddenly, and she sits up as quickly as she can, beaming. Natasha smiles flirtatiously, shimmying her shoulders and letting her breasts bounce a little as a good morning gift.

"Now this is a nice dream," Wanda remarks, folding her arms over her chest to watch.

Natasha scoffs playfully. "I went through all the trouble to put this together, and you're going to write me off as a dream?"

"You've always been a dream, Nat.”

Natasha feels her cheeks begin to heat up, so to distract from her inability to accept compliments from the love of her life, she resumes her tapping. She picks up her right foot, only to jump right on it, holding all of her weight so she can shuffle the left foot before jumping back to it. Wanda's always loved watching her buffalo steps.

Wanda's gaze flickers between Natasha's feet and her boobs, bouncing with every hop she takes. Just to mess with her, she grabs her boobs, hiding them in the palm of her hands.

Wanda scoffs. "Why would you do that?"

Natasha taps her tie a few times. "My feet are down here, babe," she says teasingly.

"What if I want to watch more than your feet?" Wanda asks, a brow raised.

Natasha heaves a sigh. "Well, if you have to…" She jiggles her boobs before dropping her hands back to her sides, and the laugh it earns is more than enough to make this whole thing worth the trouble.

As Natasha returns to her tapping — this time just a shuffle and then a hop to switch feet; if she's going to dance naked, she's going to choose the moves that make her boobs bounce the most — Wanda slides out of bed, watching her with a characteristic fascination in her gaze.

She walks up to her girlfriend, and even when Wanda stands only inches away, Natasha doesn't stop tapping. She's not sure what she expects her little witch to do. Hug her? Kiss her? Grab her boob? Something, she's sure.

Instead, Wanda begins to circle around her, holding her hands behind her back as she walks around. She's still just a few inches away. Natasha could grab her, pull her in, give her the sloppiest kiss the world has ever seen, but she uses what little self-control she has to just continue tapping like nothing's happening.

Without warning, Wanda wraps her arms around her from behind, pulling her into a tight hug and grabbing her boobs at the same time. Natasha doubles over in laughter, so much so that she takes Wanda for a ride, her girlfriend flopped down lying on her back with her feet off the floor. Wanda squeals and holds Natasha tighter before she falls, instinctively grabbing her boobs harder and making Natasha laugh even harder.

She falls to the floor, and Wanda comes down right on top of her. Wanda rolls off of her, lying on her back, and Natasha sprawls out on her stomach, limbs splayed all over the place.

Wanda crawls closer until she can rest her head on Natasha's bare ass. "What is this for?"

Natasha scoffs as though she's offended Wanda would even have to ask, though in reality, she only thought of an excuse to make today fun roughly nine hours ago. "Today's our anniversary."

"Um…" Wanda pauses, confused. "We've been dating for eight months." Her Sokovian accent comes on a little stronger in her confusion, and it is, as always, absolutely adorable. Wanda may have lived in New York for a year, but she's not yet rid of her accent, and Natasha lives for these little moments when it pokes out.

"Yes, but we've been living together for a year," Natasha reminds her. "So. Anniversary."

"I do not know that it works this way," Wanda says, amused.

"Well, it does today," Natasha says.

She rolls over, much to Wanda's dismay. The witch crawls up higher and rests her head on Natasha's boobs, a perfectly acceptable substitute for a butt pillow. It works out well; Wanda still gets a squishy body part to lie on, and now Natasha can actually see the cutie she's talking to.

"So, I'm thinking," she begins, "breakfast: your choice. We could eat out, stay in—"

"iHop," Wanda says immediately.

Natasha laughs. "Okay, iHop it is," she says. "And then, after that, we can go to the mall. Tony wouldn't have given us a credit card if he didn't want to help us buy new clothes."

Wanda furrows her brows. "I thought the credit card was for emergencies and business expenses."

"He wouldn't have given us a credit card if he didn't want to help us buy new clothes," Natasha repeats.

Wanda smiles, a sparkle in her eye that Natasha can never get enough of.

"That new dress store finally opened up," she continues.

Wanda's smile slips away as her confusion returns. "The prom dresses?"

"The 'any special occasion dresses and god knows we have a lot of them' dresses," Natasha corrects her. "Stark throws a bunch of parties. You never know what kind of clothes you'll need to wear, so…"

It takes Wanda a few moments to figure out what she means, but when she does, her smile slowly returns. "It's a business expense."

Natasha winks at her. "And then, depending on what time it is, we could head somewhere for lunch and then head home?"

Wanda wraps her arms around her girlfriend and squeezes her gently. "I love you."

"I love you more," Natasha counters.

Wanda narrows her eyes in a steely glare. "Impossible."

"Darling…" Natasha cranes her neck down to kiss Wanda's cheek. "You have no idea what's possible."

Wanda giggles, and that brings Natasha to giggle, too. She cannot remember the last time she'd giggled before she met Wanda, but now, it's a near-daily occurrence, and she truly couldn't be happier.

Wanda climbs to her feet and offers Natasha a hand. She takes it, though she genuinely thinks it might be easier to stand without help, and lets her girlfriend help her to her feet, her shoes clacking against the floor as she stands up.

Wanda gently presses a finger to Natasha's collarbone, and it trails down her body, over the chest bones, between the boobs, down to the stomach, all the way down to her—

She pauses, her finger stopping just short of some previous unexplored territory of the day, instead finding a home against the scar just above her hip. Natasha grimaces at the feeling. It doesn't hurt. Of course it doesn't hurt; it's been years since the Winter Soldier shot her. But it doesn't make it any easier, baring that blemish for the whole world to see — for her whole world to see.

"You're beautiful," Wanda says quietly. "I cannot tell you enough."

Natasha takes Wanda's hand and lays it flat against her scar, hiding it from view. She has to. She can't accept that compliment with her scar on display like that, proving it so very wrong.

"Not as beautiful as you," Natasha says.

"No, more beautiful than me," Wanda tells her.

"Impossible!" Natasha says with a wink.

"Oh, darling…" Wanda drops to her knees and takes Natasha's hand in her own, revealing the old wound she'd tried so subtly to hide. It doesn't last long before it's covered again, this time by Wanda's lips as she kisses it gently. "You have no idea what's possible."

Natasha does her best to ignore the way her heart pounds. She doesn't know for sure whether it's from love or anxiety, but it doesn't matter. What matters is that the love of her life is right here on the floor in front of her, and they're going to have the best day they've ever had.

Natasha squats down and hooks her arms under Wanda's shoulders, and as she straightens her legs, she picks Wanda up off the floor. She waits until she knows the little witch has caught her balance before she lets go, and she kisses the side of Wanda's head just because there's no one to stop her.

"We should get ready to go," Natasha says.

Wanda's gaze trails down her girlfriend's naked body, a sultry smile on her lips. "I think you look wonderful as you are."

Despite the ridiculousness of that statement in this context, it makes her smile. "Unfortunately, I can't go to iHop naked."

Wanda sighs dramatically. "Alright." She taps her foot against Natasha's tap shoe. "Can we wear those?"

Natasha raises her brows. "You want to go out in our tap shoes?"

Wanda nods. "It will be fun."

“Both of us?” Natasha asks incredulously.

“Yeah!”

Natasha glances at her girlfriend's shoes on the shelf. That's a little weird, but…

She shrugs. "It's a date," she says. "A very loud date."

Wanda presses a kiss to Natasha's lips. "Exactly what I wanted."

~~~

"I want everything," Wanda declares, scanning the menu with a hunger in her eyes.

Natasha shrugs. "Then get everything."

Wanda looks up over her menu at her. "I can't get everything."

"Sure you can," she says. "We'll put it on Tony's card."

Wanda hesitates. "I don't think that he'll want—"

"It's a business expense, babe," Natasha says. "We need to eat to work. Business expense."

Wanda eyes her skeptically for a few moments until her skepticism gives way to amusement. "Okay, we can use Tony's card, but I'm not getting everything."

"Then I'll get everything and we can share," Natasha says.

"Nat!" Wanda whines. "You'll make the employees do so much work and we'll hardly eat anything!"

Natasha heaves a sigh. "Okay, I'll only order half the menu."

"Natasha!" Wanda reaches over and smacks her arm.

Natasha just laughs. "Okay, okay. What do you want?"

"Mm…" Wanda scans the menu again. "I don't know if I want the pancakes or the French toast."

"Both?" Natasha suggests with a grin.

"That's still so much food," Wanda says hesitantly. "I don't want to waste their time making food we won't eat."

"Okay, then I'll get the pancakes and you get the French toast," Natasha says. "We can share it, how 'bout that?"

Wanda still hesitates. "If you want something else—"

"I want whatever will make you happy," Natasha says. "And I was going to get pancakes anyway."

"Oh." Wanda giggles. "Okay, let's do pancakes and French toast."

No more than two minutes later, Wanda and Natasha are sitting there with their cups of juice, waiting on the delicious start to their day.

Natasha takes a sip of juice. "So, what kind of dresses are we gonna look for?"

"Mm…" Wanda thinks for a few moments. "I want a long dress."

"Ooh, going the fancy route," Natasha remarks. That's exciting. She's worn so many short dresses in her life, but events with long, fancy gowns are few and far between in her undercover lifestyle. Not unheard of, of course, but not often enough for her liking.

"One with sparkles," Wanda adds.

"Ooh!" Natasha props her head up on her hand, looking up at her girlfriend excitedly. "Tell me more."

"Okay, um…" Wanda drums her fingers along the edge of the table as she thinks. "Maybe a red dress." She pauses. "That may not look nice with my red hair."

"It'll look fine," Natasha assures her. "Just pick a darker red or a vibrant red one — and stay away from orange. Even you can't pull off orange."

Wanda smiles, a mix of confusion and amusement in her expression. "Okay. I guess I never really wore orange anyway."

"Then you chose a good color to dye your hair," Natasha says, though in reality, she only did it because Natasha had extra box dye and Wanda wanted to try it out. The idea of them having matching hair was too cute to pass up. "What else do you want in your dress?"

"Hmm…" She thinks for a little bit. "No spaghetti straps. They look ridiculous on me."

"They look adorable on you," Natasha corrects her — as if anything (except orange) doesn't look adorable on her.

"They absolutely do not," Wanda says. "I might like a strapless dress, though."

"Ooh, I like it," Natasha says. With a suggestive smile, she adds, "Easier for me to take it off."

Wanda gasps, slapping a hand over her chest and she looks around, making sure nobody overheard that. Unsurprisingly, they did not. "Natasha!" she whispers. "You can't say that!"

Natasha shrugs, a teasing smile on her lips. "I just did."

Wanda gapes at her. "Nat!"

Natasha smiles and takes another sip of juice. Changing the subject back, she asks, "What kind of skirt do you want?"

"Hmm…" Wanda taps her foot thoughtfully. "A thin one. What is it? That hugs your legs?"

"Like a bodycon dress?" Natasha asks.

"I don't know; I guess," Wanda says. "I want something pretty and elegant and fancy."

"I'm sure we can manage that," Natasha says. Especially with Tony's credit card. Nothing is out of the realm of possibility when Tony's paying, especially if he doesn't know until after.

"What kind of dress do you want?" Wanda asks.

"I don't know," Natasha admits, which is probably the wrong thing to say after asking the exact same question multiple times in multiple ways. "I guess I want something different."

Wanda furrows her brows. "Different than what?"

"Than anything I've worn before," she says. "Which is pretty much everything; SHIELD doesn't skimp on the costume money." She shrugs and takes another sip of juice. "I want to try something new."

"Do you know what 'new' looks like?" Wanda asks.

Natasha gives her a small shrug. "I think I'll know it when I see it."

Wanda smiles. "I hope so," she says. "Or I'll find you something."

Natasha raises a brow, intrigued. "Well, now I hope I don't know it when I see it."

"I can find you something even if you do!" Wanda says eagerly. "And then you can find me a dress! And we can each get two!" She pauses, her frown fading a bit. "Will Tony be upset if we get two dresses?"

"Tony makes more money than he knows what to do with," Natasha says. "He won't care, and if he does, he's lying."

That seems to assuage her worries, and thus, the plan is set in place. They'll each pick a dress for themselves and a dress for the other. She's not sure who has the leg up here: Natasha, who just heard Wanda describe exactly what she wants, or Wanda, who's choosing a dress for somebody who will accept just about anything.

Their breakfast arrives surprisingly — and disappointingly — quick. Natasha had hoped to kill more time here. She's not sure she can fill an entire day with fun, especially if it's starting out so fast-paced.

Natasha cuts up her pancakes, and Wanda cuts up her French toast. Natasha reaches over and grabs a piece of French toast before Wanda's even finished cutting it up, and the witch raises her brows, amused.

"Mm" delicious," Natasha says. "Good choice."

Wanda reaches over and grabs a small stack of pancake pieces, plopping them in her mouth with a content smile. "Mm," she hums, and she finishes chewing before she says, "You made a good choice, too."

"Why, thank you," Natasha says with a cheeky grin.

They don't talk much as they're eating. It's one thing to talk with your mouth full in the privacy of the Compound, and another entirely to do it in an (admittedly low-budget) restaurant where anyone could see. Still, it's a comfortable silence, and they share the occasional smile or brief comment as they eat.

And then Natasha notices her frown growing more prominent, her previously eager energy dissipating into an air of sorrow.

She'd known all along that even her best efforts wouldn't stop the pain Wanda feels knowing her brother is gone, but she'd hoped she could assuage it at least a little bit.

Natasha slides her chair around the table to sit by her side. She takes Wanda's free hand in hers and gives it a gentle squeeze. "Hi."

Wanda furrows her brows. "Hi?"

Natasha squeezes her hand again. "Hi."

Though her confusion doesn't change, Wanda starts to smile. "Hi."

Natasha leans in and kisses her cheek. "Hi."

Wanda giggles and kisses her hand. "Hi."

Natasha moves closer and rests her head on Wanda's shoulder. "Hi."

Wanda rests her head on top of hers. "Hi."

"Hi."

"Hi."

Natasha squeezes her hand again. "I love you."

"I love you more," Wanda says.

Natasha gasps. "Impossible."

"Darling…" Wanda kisses the top of her head. "You have no idea what's possible."

~~~

"I don't know where to begin."

Natasha takes her girlfriend's hand and interlinks their fingers. "Let's go find the long dresses," she says. With a wink, she adds, "We might have to try a bunch on to find ouR size."

"Oh no!" Wanda jokes. "That will be so difficult!"

"I know," Natasha says dramatically. "Such a chore!"

They shuffle their way over to the dress racks, their tap shoes click-clacking against the floor with every step. They're organized by size, but Natasha's not entirely sure what size she wears, and she definitely doesn't know what size Wanda wears. And that, of course, can only mean one thing: they have to look at every single dress they might possibly fit in and try on all the pretty ones. How could they possibly do that?

Wanda spots a dress immediately, and she reaches through all the fabric obstructing her view and pulls it out. Though she'd said she was looking for something red, this dress is a gorgeous dark purple, beaded all along the waistline with a glittery skirt that shimmers in the light. She holds it up to her, and the only thing more beautiful than the dress she holds is the big smile on her face.

"Ah, that's gonna look good on you," Natasha says.

"I can't wait to try it on!" Wanda says eagerly.

"I can't wait to see it on," Natasha says, nor can she wait to watch her girlfriend take it off.

They dig through the rack, looking at every single dress they come across and oohing and ahing their favorites, but it seems it won't be as easy to find a nice dress as Wanda made it seem.

"Ooh!" Wanda squeals, pulling another one out. "I like this one, too!"

Natasha eyes the vibrant red gown. This one is a bit more simple, a plain vibrant red satin that cinches in the middle. She pulls it off the rack and holds it up in front of her girlfriend. "Okay, this is going to look amazing."

"It's so soft," Wanda gushes.

"I love the leg slit," Natasha remarks.

"Ooh?" Wanda looks down at the dress. "I didn't even see that!"

"It's gonna look so sexy," Natasha purrs. She carefully hangs it over her girlfriend's arm, right atop the purple one over her arm.

Then they're on to the next rack. Wanda immediately starts digging through, and Natasha starts on the other side, both skimming their way to the middle. Wanda doesn't jump at any the way she did the other rack. Natasha doesn't blame her. She hasn't found any great ones, either.

Still, she pulls out a nice red one, this one a darker, deeper shade than the other. It's a soft velvet, and she finds herself rubbing her thumb against it far more than she needs to just because she likes the feeling.

"That's so pretty," Wanda whispers, her eyes wide.

"Do you want to try it on?" Natasha asks.

"Of course," Wanda says excitedly.

Natasha lays it across her pile of dresses.

"What about you?" Wanda asks. "You haven't picked any yet."

Natasha just shrugs. "I don't know. I don't really like any of them."

"Really?" Wanda asks. "I would try on all of them if I could." She pauses, her hand around a bright pink, bulky gown that looks like it weighs at least ten pounds. "Well, maybe not that one."

"Definitely not that one," Natasha agrees.

"We need to find you one," Wanda says.

"I don't know," Natasha says, "if none of them really jump out at me, I'm not gonna force it."

"Nat!" Wanda whines.

"I don't want to get a dress I don't love," Natasha tells her. "I would much rather watch you try on dresses that you do love and take a million pictures."

Wanda smiles, her cheeks turning a faint shade of red. "Well, I still think you need a dress."

Natasha puts her hands on her hips. "Tell you what," she says. "If you can find me a cute dress, I'll give it a try."

"Deal," Wanda says. "What kind of dress do you want?"

Natasha shrugs. "I told you. Something new."

"That doesn't help me," Wanda says.

Natasha smiles. "I know."

Wanda narrows her eyes in a teasing glare before turning her attention back to the dresses, flipping through them with a renewed sense of enthusiasm.

Honestly, Natasha doesn't expect her to find a dress she'd like to buy, but Wanda's so excited, she has a feeling she'll end up trying on a Wanda- sponsored dress just to see her smile.

This rack doesn't pan out, so they move on to the next one. Wanda begins digging through, and Natasha follows behind, looking at the dresses after her girlfriend has flipped by them.

"Oh, this one!" Wanda says quickly, pulling a dress off the rack. She shows it to her girlfriend excitedly. "You would look so good in this!"

Natasha hesitates, eyeing the light pink dress in her girlfriend's hands. It's cute; she'll give it that. It's a beautiful light pink strapless gown, bejeweled all along the top with a faux diamond waistline. It would look gorgeous at a prom. It would look amazing on a mannequin. It really is a nice dress.

She would never wear it.

Wanda can see it in her expression that she's not a big fan, and her own smile falters. "You don't like it?"

"I just…" Natasha grimaces. "That color clashes with my hair, so…"

"Oh." Wanda put the dress back on the rack. "I guess I should stay away from that color, too, then."

"You wear whatever you want to wear," Natasha says. She kisses her girlfriend's cheek. "You'll look adorable in anything."

"Aww." Wanda giggles. "I love you."

"I love you more," Natasha says with a grin.

Wanda gives an exaggerated gasp. "Impossible!"

"Daring, you—"

Woah.

Wait.

Natasha's gaze falls on a dress across the floor.

And it.

Is.

Stunning.

Their cute little love-you's forgotten, Natasha walks up to the dress, her eyes wide. It's one of the very few dresses worn by a mannequin, and it absolutely deserves that honor. It's a beautiful light blue ball gown with a skirt made of layers upon layers of mesh and fabric. She skims her hand along the top, feeling the soft silk of the corset, and when she pulls her hand away, there are faint specks of glitter all over.

Wanda comes up behind her and rests her chin on her girlfriend's shoulder. "Oh, that is perfect."

Natasha's hand gently brushes against the skirt. "I've never worn a ball gown before."

"Is this the 'different'' you were looking for?" Wanda asks hopefully.

"I…" Natasha feels a small smile creeping up on her face. "I think it is." She looks around the room for the supply of beautiful blue ball gowns they must have hanging up somewhere to choose from.

They don't have any.

She furrows her brows. "Where do I…?"

"Let's go ask an employee," Wanda suggests, grabbing her hand and leading her away.

They approach the employee behind the desk — Sam, his name tag says. He smiles politely as they approach, but Natasha can see the excitement he's trying so desperately to hide.

"How can I help you?" Sam asks, his voice surprisingly level, given his apparent excitement.

Wanda gestures to Natasha with her head. "My girlfriend wants to try on one of the big blue poofy dresses."

Natasha cringes. That's a horrible way to phrase it. It sounds like a dumb '80s trend. It doesn't at all encapsulate the beauty this gown holds.

Fortunately, Sam knows exactly what she means. "The dress on the mannequin is actually the last one we have left in that style," he tells them. "If you want, I can check the size and you can try it on."

"That would be fantastic," Wanda says.

"Awesome," Sam says with a smile. He leads them back to the mannequin, and he has to stand on his toes to look at the tag on the back. He reads the size aloud, then looks back at the two women. "Do you want to try it on?"

Wanda looks up at Natasha expectantly. She doesn't answer for her, but it's clear what her answer would be.

"Yes," Natasha says. "I would love to."

Sam carefully removes the gown from the mannequin, and Wanda and Natasha step back to let him work. When he hands it over, Natasha is just as careful as she picks it up. She doesn't feel worthy to hold this. It's too beautiful.

"Do we want to look at more dresses before we try these on?" Natasha asks.

"No, you do not," Wanda says with a teasing smile.

Natasha huffs a quiet laugh. "No, I really don't."

"I can unlock a fitting room for you," Sam offers. "Do you each want one, or do you want to share?"

"We can share," Natasha says. She would love to share a fitting room with her girlfriend. It always comes with such beautiful sights.

"Maybe two rooms?" Wanda asks. "I don't think we'll both fit in one with that dress."

Sam chuckles. "Yeah, that's a good idea."

Sam leads them to the fitting rooms, and when he opens the first one, Natasha hangs her dress inside. It's the second one that they both prepare to enter.

"Thank you!" Wanda says.

"You're welcome," Sam says. "And, by the way, I love your shoes."

Wanda beams. "Oh, thank you!" She kicks her feet back, almost running in place, and the metal plates on the balls of her feet smack against the floor, ringing out loudly for everyone to hear.

"Wow." Sam covers his heart with his hand. "That sounds so pretty."

"Thank you so much!" Wanda says, and the smile on her face puts one on Natasha's face, too. She's so cute.

After thanking Sam one last time, Wanda and Natasha disappear into the dressing room.

"You're gonna have to help me with the zippers," Wanda tells her.

"Gladly."

Wanda pulls her shirt off, and Natasha wolf-whistles. Wow, she is hot.

Wanda giggles. "Like what you see?"

"Always," Natasha replies with a cheeky grin.

Wanda slips her pants off, leaving her in just her underwear and bra, and Natasha is once again reminded just how lucky she is to have a girlfriend this sweet and this hot. She really does not deserve it.

Wanda grabs the first dress she's going to try on: the darker red, velvet gown. She unzips it and steps through it, and as she pulls it up, Natasha jumps to action, zipping it up in the back. Wanda's hair gets in the way, and when the witch feels her girlfriend try to move it, she reaches up and brushes it over her shoulder herself. Natasha finishes zipping it up, and she kisses the back of Wanda's neck before fixing her hair.

"How do you like it?" Natasha asks, looking over her shoulder at the mirror in front of them.

"It's really pretty," Wanda says. "I think I would wear this to a party."

"I like that idea," Natasha agrees. She wraps her arms around her girlfriend's waist. "You look really pretty," she murmurs.

Wanda kisses her girlfriend's cheek. "I should try on the next one."

"Ah, not yet," Natasha says. She steps in front of her girlfriend and pushes her back against the mirror behind her. With as much space between them as she can make — which isn't much; the fitting room is only so big — and pulls out her phone. "Picture time."

"Picture time?" Wanda repeats. She strikes a pose, sinking into her hip and popping her heel. One hand finds its way to her hair, and the one falls by her side.

Natasha laughs and snaps a picture. "Beautiful."

Wanda puts her hands down and poses like a normal person, and Natasha takes another picture. Personally, she likes the first one more.

"Can you help me out?" Wanda asks. "I want to try the purple one next."

Natasha unzips her dress, and Wanda steps out of it. Natasha takes it from her to hang back up, and Wanda takes the next dress off the hanger. She slips it on, and once again, Natasha zips it up.

Wanda puts her hair back in front of her shoulders and looks at herself in the mirror. She nods approvingly. "I do like the purple."

"You looks beautiful," Natasha purrs.

Wanda blushes, hiding her face in her hands. Natasha takes her wrists and moves her hands away to reveal her face again.

"Can I take a picture?" she asks.

"If you want to," Wanda says.

Natasha steps in front of her, and, after a bit of maneuvering, she manages to get a photo of her and her dress in its entirety.

"Which one do you like more?" Natasha asks.

"I dunno," Wanda admits. "I think the other one."

"Mm, I do like the red on you," Natasha agrees.

"Unzip me?"

"With pleasure," Natasha replies with a grin.

She unzips Wanda's dress, then returns to her spot in front of her girlfriend. Wanda takes the dress off and hands it to Natasha, who hangs it back up for her. Wanda hasn't put the other one on by the time Natasha is done — she's still turning it around and figuring out exactly how to do it — so Natasha takes advantage of it.

She holds her phone up, the camera pointed right at her half-naked girlfriend. "Say cheese!"

Wanda giggles. "Nat!"

"That's not 'cheese,' babe," Natasha says teasingly.

Wanda scoffs, putting her hands on her hips — conveniently beating her midriff now that her third dress is by her side.

Natasha snaps a picture. "Ugh, so hot."

"Nat!" Wanda whips the dress at her, smacking her against the leg.

"How can you stand there looking that hot and not expect me to photograph the artwork?"

Wanda scoffs in disbelief.

More sincerely, Natasha says, "If you want me to delete it, I will."

Wanda shakes her head. "I'm sure that's not the worst picture you have of me on there."

Natasha smirks. No, it absolutely is not.

Wanda slips the last dress on, but before she's even zipped it up, it's clear that her bra is going to show through. Wanda solves that problem in the exact way Natasha had hoped she would: she drops the top of her dress and pulls her bra off.

"Woah." Natasha dramatically slaps a hand over her heart. "Now this is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen."

"Nat!" Wanda slaps her shoulder playfully.

She pulls the top of her dress up, and Natasha zips it up. Wanda fixes her hair, then looks in the mirror, and the heart eyes are immediate. Her jaw drops as she looks at herself, and slowly, she smooths her hands down her curves.

"I love this," Wanda breathes.

Natasha pulls the top half of her hair back, holding it up in a half-up, half-down style. "How's that?"

"This is beautiful," Wanda whispers.

"Imagine wearing this to one of Stark's parties," Natasha says. "You'd be the hottest one in the building."

"This is the one I want," Wanda says. "No question about it."

"You could probably get all three," Natasha tells her. It's Tony's money, after all. He won't care.

But Wanda shakes her head. "I want this one."

"Good choice," Natasha says.

She helps her girlfriend out of it, and as she hangs it up, Wanda gets dressed again. Natasha puts this dress on a separate hook. This one has definitely earned a place in their closet.

"Now you get to try on your dress!" Wanda says eagerly. "I can help you zip it!"

"I think I got it," Natasha says. "I'm a zipping pro."

Wanda frowns. "But you helped me get zipped up. Shouldn't I…?"

Natasha shakes her head. "You can wait outside for the big reveal."

"Ooh!" Wanda shuffles her feet excitedly, the taps ringing out across the changing room. "Okay! I'll be outside!"

"I'll be right out," Natasha assures her.

She swoops into the other changing room, where her gorgeous ball gown is waiting. She runs her hand down the tool of the skirt, and her hand comes away covered in glitter.

She strips quickly, wasting no time putting the dress on. This is Wanda's day, and she doesn't want her to spend it alone any longer than she has to.

Zipping it up alone is a struggle, but she's done it before and she'll do it again. It takes a little time, but she manages it. She combs her fingers through her hair, straightening it out, and finally, finally, she looks in the mirror.

She looks amazing.

She takes a shaky breath, her eyes widening as they take in the sight before her. This is even more beautiful than she'd imagined. She looks like a princess. She feels like a princess.

She swallows hard, clasping her shaking hands in front of her. "Wanda?"

"What?" Wanda asks quickly. "What is it? What's wrong?"

"I…" Her voice catches, and she has to cut herself off before it breaks. Her eyes begin to sting, and she squeezes them shut, covering her face with her hands.

She can hear the door open, and Wanda gently rests a hand on her shoulder. "Nat, what's wrong? Are you okay?"

Natasha just shakes her head.

"Oh, Nat…" Wanda steps in front of her and wraps her arms around her. "What's wrong? Talk to me."

That's when the tears start to fall. She hugs her girlfriend right, burying her face in Wanda's chest. "I don't know; I just…" She chokes out a sob. "I've never felt like this before."

"Felt like what?" Wanda asks gently.

"I've never felt…" She sniffles. "Beautiful."

"Nat…" Wanda kisses her hair. "You're always beautiful."

"Never like this," she whispers. "Every time I get dressed up, I'm supposed to look hot or sexy, and now, I'm just…" She shakes her head helplessly, nuzzling her girlfriend with her nose in the process. "I feel beautiful."

"Baby…" Wanda gives her a tight squeeze. "You're beautiful in everything you wear, but if it took finding this dress to see it, I'm so glad you found it."

Natasha lets out another sob. "I'm sorry. I'm such a mess."

"But you're my mess," Wanda murmurs, "and I love you for it."

Natasha sniffles again and looks up at her. "I love you, too."

"Not more?" Wanda asks teasingly.

Natasha shakes her head. "I don't think anyone's ever felt as loved as I do right now."

"I don't know," Wanda muses. "This date day makes me feel pretty loved."

"Well, maybe we love each other equally," Natasha says quietly.

Wanda kisses her cheek. "You might be right."

~~~

"He's so cute!" Wanda squeals.

"Cats are the best," Natasha says with a wistful sigh. If there's one thing her many, many trips to YouTube have told her, it's that cats are the superior pet.

Wanda presses replay on the video Natasha's phone just finished, and again, they watch this cat try to jump from a bureau to the bed across the room — and fail miserably at it. They both burst out laughing again as the cat falls out of the frame and to the ground, and Wanda buries her face in her girlfriend's chest to muffle the sound.

"We should get a cat," Wanda says.

"We should get a cat," Natasha agrees. She hums thoughtfully. "What would we name him?"

"Hm…" Wanda ponders this. "We could name her Paprika."

Natasha fights back a laugh. "We could name her what?"

"Paprika!" Wanda repeats.

"Yeah, we, uh…" Natasha bites her lip, but she can't stop her smile from creeping up. "We sure could."

"She'd be so cute," Wanda gushes. "Just a little baby! And we could cuddle with her and she could sleep in our bed and follow us around and be our little kitty friend!"

Natasha kisses her hair. "You're so cute when you're excited."

Wanda kisses her cheek. "You're so cute when you think I'm cute."

"You're even cuter when you think I'm cute," Natasha says playfully.

"Impossible!" Wanda declares.

"Darling…" Natasha boops her nose with her finger. "You have no idea what's possible."

Wanda snuggles closer to her, their feet entangled in the grass as they get comfortable on their blanket. The sun is getting low in the sky now. The sunset must not be far off now.

"Today has been so much fun," Wanda says quietly. "Thank you."

"Of course," Natasha says, a bit dismissively because hey, this is what girlfriends do, right? "I always love to spend time with my baby."

"I mean it," Wanda insists. "I know you know what today is, and I thought it was going to be so hard, so painful, but you made it so much fun, so thank you."

"Anything for my baby," Natasha says with a soft smile.

"I don't know how I got this lucky," Wanda murmurs.

"I ask myself that every night," Natasha says.

Wanda rests her head on her girlfriend's chest, looking up at the sky as they wait for the sun to set.

Natasha exits out of YouTube and opens up Spotify instead. She skims through her liked songs for something to play. The Ronnie Milsap songs catch her eye, but the one she finally settles on is "A Man Without Love." She doesn't care that it's a song about heartbreak. It's a song that makes her and her girlfriend happy, and that's more important than any message the lyrics could send.

The sky begins to shift, turning a bright orange as the sun sinks lower on the horizon. They watch in silence as the colors change, so slowly yet so quickly at the same time.

As the sky settles into its beautiful pink hue, Wanda climbs to her feet. Natasha watches her, confused, but it's not long before Wanda pulls her up, too.

"What are you doing?" Natasha asks.

"Stand right here." Wanda grabs her shoulders and carefully positions her in front of the sunset. She backs up and crouches on the ground, whipping out her phone. "Pose!"

Natasha shakes her head to herself, amused. "Wanda—"

"Pose!" she repeats eagerly. "You got so many pictures of me! I want some of you!"

Natasha huffs a laugh, but she does as she's told, throwing her arms out with head tilted back. "How's that?"

"Perfect," Wanda says. "Now I wanna see your face!"

Natasha sinks into her hip and looks right at her girlfriend, a smile plastered on her face.

Wanda snaps another picture. "Now I wanna see your shoes!"

Natasha bites back another laugh. She grabs her foot and extends her leg up in front of her face, practically doing a split standing up so show off her tap shoe. "Does that work?"

"That is perfect," Wanda gushes, snapping another picture. She puts her phone down. "I wish we could tap right now."

"Why can't we?"

"'Cause it won't work in the grass," Wanda says with a frown.

"Well, there's more out here than grass," Natasha says with a smirk.

Natasha grabs her girlfriend's hand and, abandoning their picnic where it lays, drags her back to their car — or, more accurately, Tony's car.

"Nat, what are you doing?" Wanda asks, giggling to herself as she watches her girlfriend.

Natasha hops up on the hood of Tony's Tesla Roadster, her tap shoes clinking against the metal of the car. She does a few little shuffles, and a glance down shows that she is absolutely scuffing the hell out of this car.

"Nat!" Wanda yelps. "Tony's going to kill you!"

"Tony only ever drives his Audis," Natasha says dismissively. "He won't notice this for at least another year." She hopes onto one foot and does a few buffalos, her feet making a very satisfying click-clack with every movement.

"Natasha!" Wanda squeals.

"Come on!" Natasha reaches down and grabs her hands. "Come dance with me!"

"Nat, you can't —"

Natasha pulls on her arms until Wanda has no choice but to climb up with her. There's a lot less space on the hood of a car when you're sharing it with someone else, she realizes, and it feels a lot easier to fall off.

"Nat, what are you—"

"Dance party!"

Natasha taps her feet around, ignoring every single real tap step she knows in favor of making as much noise and looking as ridiculous as possible. At first, Wanda just laughs, but soon enough, she joins in, too, and it becomes infinitely more fun.

Natasha channels her inner ballerina in the only way she can without thinking of the Red Room: she pops up on the tips of her toes.

Wanda gasps. "Pointe tappies!"

"Only the best pointe tappies for my baby," Natasha says with a grin. She glances down by her feet. "I absolutely dented the car with that."

"Worth it?" Wanda asks.

"Oh, absolutely," Natasha says. She grabs her girlfriend's hand and spins her around, and Wanda lands comfortably in her girlfriend's arms. "I love you, babe."

"I love you more," Wanda says with a smile.

"Impossible!"

"Darling…" Wanda kisses her forehead. "You have no idea what's possible."