Nat had stuck to her conditions. A check in every forty eight hours. And in between she texted him. Sometimes once, sometimes a dozen times. Everything from what she had for dinner to mission reports. She’d been working with Steve Rogers since Clint had taken his leave of absence and seemed to enjoy tormenting the man.Their timezones were nearly antipodal, and had the phone off during the day when he was hunting. But there was an overlap during what was nighttime for him, and morning for her. Often they’d talk. He still missed her every day.Sometimes he didn’t answer and she kept up the patter on her own. She never nagged, though, and never commented on when he did reply. Just went along as if it was a normal conversation. It added a certain steadiness and normalcy to his life in the bush.Someday, he’d figure out how to tell her what she meant to him.Chapter 11 of Between the Shadow and the Soul, by NyxEtoile and OlivesAwl
