He nods, turning the water on. He gets it hot as he could stand, then reaches down to plug the tub - it's not something he thinks about until after he does it. Then he seems to realize what he did and he looks up at Natasha. He sits obediently on the toilet, looking up at her trustingly. The door is closed, it's just her and him in this little bathroom. He offers up his left arm, holding it awkwardly up so she can work on the damaged section.
She takes a towel and wipes down the skin she'll be covering, cleaning it
up a little before she takes some medical tape and a torn up plastic bag,
sealing the damaged area. It's not amazing but it works for their purposes
and she makes a note to see if she can get in touch with Tony or Bruce in
the ext couple of days.
How that's going to go is....Interesting, but well, not really much of a
choice when it comes to people she felt comfortable handing him over to.
"All right, are you good from here? Or do you want me to stay?" It's a
casual question, like she does things like this all the time. Which is far
from the truth but she doesn't want to make him feel odd if he does
want her there. She doesn't mind it and she's happy to do so if he needs
her to.
"Will you stay?" He doesn't want to be alone. The plunge into the river had almost taken his life. Trapped beneath a girder he'd had to free himself and almost drowned. He had freed himself and dragged Steve out of the water as well, but it had been close. He doesn't want to risk drowning again.
He stands and starts to strip out of the rest of his clothes. He doesn't realize just how torn-up he looks. In addition to just plain dirt, there are bruises and still-healing cuts all over his body. He looks like he's been in a fist fight with a mountain lion, he's so torn up.
He steps into the tub cautiously. The water's as hot as it'll go, steam rising up off the surface. He sighs in relief and sinks down, making sure to hang his left arm out over the edge of the tub so it wouldn't get wet.
She knew he was living rough and wans't surprised to see he'd taken a fair
bit of damage. She frowns a little at the sight though and makes a note to
try and get him to let her patch him up when he's dry.
Settling next to him, she dips a finger into the water, testing it and
nodding. "Let me know when it starts to get cold and we'll get you out and
warm."
She can't promise that she'll keep him warm but she can certainly try.
He nods and looks up at Natasha. He's flushed from the heat of the water, but he looks more relaxed than he has all day. He dips his right hand into the water, rubbing his thumb over his own thigh. He seems oblivious to his own nudity. All the shame had been burned out of him so long ago. "Okay." He straightens up, toes curling against the bottom of the tub. Now that he's in the water, he's not sure what to do. With the cold showers, somebody had scrubbed him down. His only task had been to stand still and allow it. The soap they used had always been rough - there was no care for any scratches or still-healing lacerations, or any of his bruises. It had just been getting him clean, then dry, then into the cryo tube.
She watches him, uncertain if he even knew what to do. She didn't want to
make assumptions but as the time passed, she found herslef becoming more
and more certain that he didn't.
Moving to grab soap and a wash cloth, she lathered it up and started work
on his chest. She moved gently, taking care not to aggravate any of the
wounds or bruises. She washed him clean, pausing every now and then to
make sure he was all right. Washing his hair and his body, she seemed to
fall into a rhythm, comfortable and easy.
She was even humming softly as she worked, an old tune from a long time agol
He looked up at her when she started to wash him and he leaned into the touch. He kept his eyes straight ahead, moving with her as she ran the soapy washcloth all over his body.
Then she started to hum. It was familiar, in a way that tickled some long extinguished memory. He looks up at her. "What are you humming?" His brows furrowed and he tried to recall the rest of the song that she was humming. He's suddenly oblivious to her washing him, his entire mind turned to focusing on the song.
"Nothing really," she says with a shrug. "It's an old song from where I
was born." She's not sentimental but sometimes it got stuck in her head,
lodged deep in there and she couldn't get it out. It would come to her
mostly when things were calm, peaceful even and now that she thinks about
it, she is amused it found her now.
"I remember it... One of the doctors... He sometimes hummed it..." He bows his head. "He was... nice. Compared to the others. He always made them take a break so I could... rest." Between the shocks. He blinks up at her then asks, feeling tired, "Am I clean yet?"
He was tired. He just wanted to curl up in his closet and maybe get some more rest.
She washes his hair, rinsing it and then does a quick look over him once again to make sure she hadn't missed anything. She wanted to patch him up a littl ebeore he went to sleep but she also knew that he needed. the sleep and the wounds culd probably go a few more hours without disinfectant.
"All right," she announced once she'd deemed him fit. "You're good." Stepping back, she grabs a towel and gestures for him to exit.
He nods and stands. The water he was sitting in is brown with dirt. Carefully he steps out and takes the towel, starting to dry himself efficiently. He looks down at his clothes. They're gross and filthy and suddenly he doesn't want to put them on, where before he didn't mind at all. "What should I wear?" He turns his attention back to Natasha.
"Come with me," she gestures. "We'll find you something." She wasn't
entirely sure she had anything that would fit him but she can try.
The enter the bedroom and she heads for the closet. It's another walk in
and she starts digging around. She finds an over-sized shirt and a large
pair of sweatpants that she was pretty sure would fit him. A part of her
makes a note to try and get his size and pick up clothes for him later but
that can happen at another time.
He takes the clothing she gives him and dresses. He feels vulnerable like this, with only one layer of thin clothing. He tucks his chin to his chest and wraps his right arm around his midsection. "Can I go sleep again?" He asked. Coffee would be nice, but he's still warm, and he's sleepy.
She nods, waving him off. "Yeah, go ahead. I'll be awake when you get up."
Meaning she's not sleeping until after he's gotten a good amount and she
feels like she can. Frankly, she knows she should probably take another
tactic toards sleep but she has no plans to right now.
He heads for his closet and slips inside. He pulls on his boots, then the layers he had discarded before, and laid down. He was asleep almost instantly.
Natasha is quiet as he sleeps, getting coffee, doing things on her laptop.
It's all just a way to pass the time. There' snot much that needs her
attention this very moment and while it's sort of nice, it leaves her a
little restless too.
She knows she has the capability to stay up for as long as she needs to but
it, in all honesty, is pretty dull.
He wakes another few hours later - it's 2 AM and he's restless. He pushes open the closet door and peers out curiously, before standing and exiting. Before her, and after them, he'd had to scrounge and wander all hours of the day and night, eating barely enough to keep himself alive and sleeping only when he was too exhausted to stand any longer.
It's so different now - he's warm, and can sleep, and she feels safe. She doesn't expect anything from him, unlike Steve. He feels like he can let her down, while he can't let Steve down or fail at all.
About a week passes with nothing interesting coming up. She takes him out
at one point to acquire clothes and that's about it. Things are mundane
and she's still trying to get used to that.
Having this much downtime makes her feel like she's forgetting something,
even though she knows she isn't.
Eventually groceries have to be acquired and she finds herself wondering if
he'dlike to come. Looking up at him for a moment as she makes a list of
what to get, she points her pen at him.
"In the mood to go out for a while? We'll pick up coffee on the way."
He jumps when she addresses him. He's curled up on the couch, watching How It's Made on TV avidly. His hair is brushed and tied back out of his face (her doing) and he's got a little more color back in his cheeks, but he's still sleeping in the closet and no identifying by any name. But he's in clean clothes and has learned how to bathe himself.
He still hasn't seen Steve face to face, but there had been a few panicked, late-night conversations over the phone, unsure if he'd been remembering or imagining a certain thin.
"Where are we going?" He asks, unsure. Coffee is still a great lure for him, but he doesn't to go until he knows for sure where they're going and how long they'll be out.
"Groceries," she tells him, spinning th eben between her fingers. "We're
out of....most things really." She's still getting used to maintaining a
place of her own like this and groceries, while useful, were not on the top
of her list of things to do most of the time.
"And we can pick up creamer. It makes your coffee taste like all sorts of
things. Hazelnut, chocolate, mint and a ton of other stuff. I think you'd
like at least a few of them."
Why yes, she has realized that part of the way to his heart is through
caffeine.
He has to think about that for a moment. He rests his head on his hand, watches the tv for a few more seconds, then nods. "Okay. Can we stop and get a coffee, too?" He'd started to like the coffees that Steve brought Natasha more than the coffee that came out of the pot, though it was all still good.
He stood slowly, and headed for his boots - those were something he refused to let Natasha replace - they were military boots, the leather still good, broken in to his feet. He didn't want to let those go at all and slipped into them. He was still in sweatpants and a t-shirt but he pulled on one of the jackets she had bought him, wrestling his left arm through the sleeve.
She laughs a little, nodding her head and setting the pen down. "Yeah, I
was planning on it." She hated shopping and tended to reward herself with
coffee anyway, so it wasn't as if it was out of the way for her.
Getting to her feet, she grabbed a brush and ran it through her hair, then
threw on a pair of boots herself and grabbed her jacket from behind the
couc.
"Ready to face the world," she questioned, only half joking. She knew it
wasn't easy for him to go out and if they needed to take a few moments,
hell even longer than that, she was ready and willing to do so.
He hesitates at the door, tucking his left hand into his pocket. He takes a deep breath, then another. He turns to face away from the door and closes his eyes shut tightly. Then he nods and turns back. "Okay."
She offers a reassuring smile. "We'll be in and out, I promise. I made a
list for that exact reason."
Opening the door, she exits the apartment, moving to wrap her arm around
his elbow after he does the same. It's meant to be a reminder, a silent
promise that she's right there and she won't let anything touch him if she
has anything to do with it.
He nods and is glad for her touch and support. He curls his hand around her arm and moved in close - he doesn't want to get too close and trip her up, but the physical contact still helped tremendously.
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timeasmymeasure
no subject
Date: 2014-07-22 02:16 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-07-22 02:22 am (UTC)She takes a towel and wipes down the skin she'll be covering, cleaning it up a little before she takes some medical tape and a torn up plastic bag, sealing the damaged area. It's not amazing but it works for their purposes and she makes a note to see if she can get in touch with Tony or Bruce in the ext couple of days.
How that's going to go is....Interesting, but well, not really much of a choice when it comes to people she felt comfortable handing him over to.
"All right, are you good from here? Or do you want me to stay?" It's a casual question, like she does things like this all the time. Which is far from the truth but she doesn't want to make him feel odd if he does want her there. She doesn't mind it and she's happy to do so if he needs her to.
no subject
Date: 2014-07-22 02:47 am (UTC)He stands and starts to strip out of the rest of his clothes. He doesn't realize just how torn-up he looks. In addition to just plain dirt, there are bruises and still-healing cuts all over his body. He looks like he's been in a fist fight with a mountain lion, he's so torn up.
He steps into the tub cautiously. The water's as hot as it'll go, steam rising up off the surface. He sighs in relief and sinks down, making sure to hang his left arm out over the edge of the tub so it wouldn't get wet.
no subject
Date: 2014-07-22 04:55 pm (UTC)She knew he was living rough and wans't surprised to see he'd taken a fair bit of damage. She frowns a little at the sight though and makes a note to try and get him to let her patch him up when he's dry.
Settling next to him, she dips a finger into the water, testing it and nodding. "Let me know when it starts to get cold and we'll get you out and warm."
She can't promise that she'll keep him warm but she can certainly try.
no subject
Date: 2014-07-22 05:20 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-07-22 05:44 pm (UTC)She watches him, uncertain if he even knew what to do. She didn't want to make assumptions but as the time passed, she found herslef becoming more and more certain that he didn't.
Moving to grab soap and a wash cloth, she lathered it up and started work on his chest. She moved gently, taking care not to aggravate any of the wounds or bruises. She washed him clean, pausing every now and then to make sure he was all right. Washing his hair and his body, she seemed to fall into a rhythm, comfortable and easy.
She was even humming softly as she worked, an old tune from a long time agol
no subject
Date: 2014-07-22 05:59 pm (UTC)Then she started to hum. It was familiar, in a way that tickled some long extinguished memory. He looks up at her. "What are you humming?" His brows furrowed and he tried to recall the rest of the song that she was humming. He's suddenly oblivious to her washing him, his entire mind turned to focusing on the song.
no subject
Date: 2014-07-22 06:05 pm (UTC)"Nothing really," she says with a shrug. "It's an old song from where I was born." She's not sentimental but sometimes it got stuck in her head, lodged deep in there and she couldn't get it out. It would come to her mostly when things were calm, peaceful even and now that she thinks about it, she is amused it found her now.
no subject
Date: 2014-07-22 06:13 pm (UTC)He was tired. He just wanted to curl up in his closet and maybe get some more rest.
no subject
Date: 2014-07-22 06:29 pm (UTC)"Almost," she assures. "Tilt your head back."
She washes his hair, rinsing it and then does a quick look over him once again to make sure she hadn't missed anything. She wanted to patch him up a littl ebeore he went to sleep but she also knew that he needed. the sleep and the wounds culd probably go a few more hours without disinfectant.
"All right," she announced once she'd deemed him fit. "You're good." Stepping back, she grabs a towel and gestures for him to exit.
no subject
Date: 2014-07-22 06:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-07-22 06:59 pm (UTC)"Come with me," she gestures. "We'll find you something." She wasn't entirely sure she had anything that would fit him but she can try.
The enter the bedroom and she heads for the closet. It's another walk in and she starts digging around. She finds an over-sized shirt and a large pair of sweatpants that she was pretty sure would fit him. A part of her makes a note to try and get his size and pick up clothes for him later but that can happen at another time.
no subject
Date: 2014-07-22 07:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-07-24 04:28 am (UTC)She nods, waving him off. "Yeah, go ahead. I'll be awake when you get up."
Meaning she's not sleeping until after he's gotten a good amount and she feels like she can. Frankly, she knows she should probably take another tactic toards sleep but she has no plans to right now.
no subject
Date: 2014-07-24 04:38 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-07-24 04:54 am (UTC)Natasha is quiet as he sleeps, getting coffee, doing things on her laptop. It's all just a way to pass the time. There' snot much that needs her attention this very moment and while it's sort of nice, it leaves her a little restless too.
She knows she has the capability to stay up for as long as she needs to but it, in all honesty, is pretty dull.
no subject
Date: 2014-07-24 06:00 am (UTC)It's so different now - he's warm, and can sleep, and she feels safe. She doesn't expect anything from him, unlike Steve. He feels like he can let her down, while he can't let Steve down or fail at all.
no subject
Date: 2014-07-24 06:31 am (UTC)About a week passes with nothing interesting coming up. She takes him out at one point to acquire clothes and that's about it. Things are mundane and she's still trying to get used to that.
Having this much downtime makes her feel like she's forgetting something, even though she knows she isn't.
Eventually groceries have to be acquired and she finds herself wondering if he'dlike to come. Looking up at him for a moment as she makes a list of what to get, she points her pen at him.
"In the mood to go out for a while? We'll pick up coffee on the way."
no subject
Date: 2014-07-24 06:44 am (UTC)He still hasn't seen Steve face to face, but there had been a few panicked, late-night conversations over the phone, unsure if he'd been remembering or imagining a certain thin.
"Where are we going?" He asks, unsure. Coffee is still a great lure for him, but he doesn't to go until he knows for sure where they're going and how long they'll be out.
no subject
Date: 2014-07-24 06:55 am (UTC)"Groceries," she tells him, spinning th eben between her fingers. "We're out of....most things really." She's still getting used to maintaining a place of her own like this and groceries, while useful, were not on the top of her list of things to do most of the time.
"And we can pick up creamer. It makes your coffee taste like all sorts of things. Hazelnut, chocolate, mint and a ton of other stuff. I think you'd like at least a few of them."
Why yes, she has realized that part of the way to his heart is through caffeine.
no subject
Date: 2014-07-24 07:01 am (UTC)He stood slowly, and headed for his boots - those were something he refused to let Natasha replace - they were military boots, the leather still good, broken in to his feet. He didn't want to let those go at all and slipped into them. He was still in sweatpants and a t-shirt but he pulled on one of the jackets she had bought him, wrestling his left arm through the sleeve.
no subject
Date: 2014-07-24 07:06 am (UTC)She laughs a little, nodding her head and setting the pen down. "Yeah, I was planning on it." She hated shopping and tended to reward herself with coffee anyway, so it wasn't as if it was out of the way for her.
Getting to her feet, she grabbed a brush and ran it through her hair, then threw on a pair of boots herself and grabbed her jacket from behind the couc.
"Ready to face the world," she questioned, only half joking. She knew it wasn't easy for him to go out and if they needed to take a few moments, hell even longer than that, she was ready and willing to do so.
no subject
Date: 2014-07-24 03:13 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2014-07-24 09:56 pm (UTC)She offers a reassuring smile. "We'll be in and out, I promise. I made a list for that exact reason."
Opening the door, she exits the apartment, moving to wrap her arm around his elbow after he does the same. It's meant to be a reminder, a silent promise that she's right there and she won't let anything touch him if she has anything to do with it.
no subject
Date: 2014-07-25 03:07 am (UTC)(no subject)
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