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ysabetwordsmith ([personal profile] ysabetwordsmith) wrote2014-10-13 12:31 am

Story: "Up the Water Spout" Part 19

This story belongs to the series Love Is For Children which includes "Love Is for Children," "Hairpins," "Blended," "Am I Not," "Eggshells," "Dolls and Guys,""Saudades," "Querencia," "Turnabout Is Fair Play," "Touching Moments," "Splash," "Coming Around," "Birthday Girl," "No Winter Lasts Forever," "Hide and Seek," "Kernel Error," "Happy Hour," "Green Eggs and Hulk,""kintsukuroi," and "Little and Broken, but Still Good."

Fandom: The Avengers
Characters: Natasha Romanova, Phil Coulson, Clint Barton, Betty Ross, Bucky Barnes.
Medium: Fiction
Warnings: Mention of human trafficking and nonconsensual drug use. Slightly offstage sexual violence. Dubcon/Noncon.
Summary: Sometimes the Black Widow needs to hunt, and sometimes she needs help settling her personality afterwards. Uncle Phil arranges an extra ageplay session.
Notes: Hurt/comfort. Family. Fluff and angst. BAMF!Black Widow. Black Widow is creepy. Spiders. Coping skills. Asking for help and getting it. Hope. Nonsexual ageplay. Caregiving. Competence. Girl stuff. Toys and games. Gentleness. Trust. #coulsonlives

Begin with Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11, Part 12, Part 13, Part 14, Part 15, Part 16, Part 17, Part 18

NOTE: This scene takes place before  the first chapter of this story, but it was written later and I don't think the bonus scenes would work as well at the front.


"Up the Water Spout" Part 19


When the message came from Dr. Hall that the patient was awake, Coulson stacked up his packages and headed to SHIELD medical. He hushed his steps to near-silence as he slipped through the tiled corridors, leaving only enough sound to alert the room's occupant of his arrival. The door opened silently at his touch.

"Everyone treating you all right? How are you?" Coulson whispered, closing the soundproofed door behind him.

"As well as can be expected, I guess," Daredevil replied. He shifted uncomfortably in bed. Right now, even quiet sounds hurt.

SHIELD had picked him up after an altercation with a criminal wielding an airhorn had left the super-sensitive hero writhing on the pavement. The last thing the poor man needed after that was a ride in a shrieking ambulance. His enhanced senses allowed him to compensate for the blindness, but left him vulnerable to loud noises. SHIELD had soundproofed rooms for agents recovering from sonic grenades. That buffering should make it easier for Daredevil to recover, too. It would be safe to release him in a day or two.

In the meantime, the poor fellow must be dying of boredom. Phil unfolded the white cotton blanket that he'd borrowed from Betty, its textured design slipping through his hands as he spread it over the narrow bed. Daredevil ran his fingertips over the surface, then grinned. He found the tasseled edge and played with that.

Coulson smiled. The blanket looked plain enough that it wouldn't raise a fuss from SHIELD staff, but would provide tactile stimulation. On top of that Coulson placed a foam puzzle, its Tetris-like shapes wedged in their frame. The pieces could be fitted together to make three-dimensional sculptures. Daredevil swept a hand across it, then found the heavy cardstock tag with its three lines of Braille.

To Daredevil
From Hawkeye
Get well soon
.

"Thanks," Daredevil whispered.

Coulson took out a Stark Industries pocket Braille printer, which was no bigger than his cell phone if you didn't count the little roll of notepaper attached. We have added Dartmouth to our watch list, and can easily transfer his case to someone else, Coulson typed. The printer silently applied tiny blobs of toner to the paper, then just as silently lasercut the end. Coulson handed the note to Daredevil, along with the printer.

He's on my turf. I don't mean to shirk it, Daredevil wrote back.

Coulson had no trouble reading the reply. He'd learned Braille as a show of support the first time somebody threw a flash-bang in Hawkeye's face and left him blinded for a while, when they didn't know if the archer's sight would return. It's only shirking if you don't have anyone to take the handoff, Phil pointed out.

Why should I agree? Daredevil asked.

You won't be able to pursue him immediately anyway. Meanwhile, I have some other cases that might interest your friend Mr. Murdock -- paying ones, even, Coulson typed. Along with the note, he tucked a thumb drive into Daredevil's hand.

I'll think about it, Daredevil replied as he began prying the foam puzzle pieces out of their frame.

* * *

Notes:

Dr. Streiten appeared on Agents of SHIELD.

Daredevil is a blind lawyer by day, superhero by night. Per the movie, imagine him played by Ben Affleck. While a lot of people hated the movie, I really appreciated the way it depicted Daredevil's use of other senses to compensate for his blindness -- which is just a souped-up version of skills that some blind people actually develop. At least one man uses sonar to navigate.

Temporary hearing loss can happen from extremely loud noises. Daredevil's vulnerability to sonic attacks is canon, and appears in the movie.

Hobnail coverlets use texture instead of color to create interest. Blind people often like decorations with tangible patterns.

Foam puzzle pieces may be formed into three-dimensional shapes. Daredevil can enjoy the shapes even though he can't see the colors.

Negotiation is a dialog that leads to a mutually acceptable agreement. Good negotiation skills, such as Coulson has, enable more successful outcomes.


[To be concluded in Part 20 ...]
rabidsamfan: samwise gamgee, I must see it through (Default)

[personal profile] rabidsamfan 2014-10-13 01:56 pm (UTC)(link)
I'm glad to see you back on the main timeline for Love is For Children, because I'm curious about how Bucky's going to react when Tony finally gives him his new arm. (And curious as to why that hasn't happened yet. Does the energy source in it somehow make everyone who gets close push the idea to the back of the queue? Including Tony and Bucky, who get closer than anyone else?)

The series counts as comfort reading for me. (Well, most of it. I haven't read the story with Loki yet, but that's because I haven't been in the right mood yet. Loki doesn't really interest me, and Odin's behavior in the first movie makes me upset, so, no, that one is probably going to wait a long time before I poke at it. Or watch the second movie, come to that.) I'd love to see more of Pepper, someday. She really needs to get some feedback from Phil on possible ways to interact with a changing Tony. Most of the time she's been just trying to keep him patched up enough to be functional, and she never got the kind of training Phil has.

I'm also intrigued by the idea that the Tesseract may have damaged/influenced SHIELD, especially Nick Fury, who appears to have somehow lost some of the skills he must have had to become the director in the first place. Thank you for that! It fascinates me.

In any case, I'm glad I've figured out how to sneak ahead of the postings on AO3. It's lovely that you post there (hey, an easy way to download to my NOOK for subway reading), but I'm glad you've got more for me to find.