She's taking a risk, but it's a calculated one, they both know it, and somehow that helps. It helps to have a we, it always has. Alice keeps him balanced, she moves through the world in a dance and brings him along with her, but he and Natasha, if left to themselves, they both look at the world with the eye of a fighter, a strategist who intends to win, not seek out a truce or a draw. It's been a long time since he's had someone like that to lean on, and Maria had never had him on an even footing with herself.

His eyes are still clear when she checks them, there's still no danger that he'll need to disappear on her. He'll do his best not to disappear on her for the rest of his life. "My gordimsya etoy chest'yu, Natal'ya," he murmurs, reaching up to set a chilly hand against hers on his cheek. "Somehow I don't think she'll mind."