Yelena
Yelena knew instantly as soon as she freed Daria that the girl would be different than the other Widows.
It wasn’t just because of her young age. The moment that Daria stared up at Yelena with wide skittish eyes, not attempting to fight back or run like the rest of the girls, Yelena just knew.
Being different wasn’t bad per se, it was just that the other Widows were not used to Daria’s type of ‘different’.
Daria was a quiet, clingy mess at first. Yelena had to be very upfront with her about what to do and tried not to think about how quiet and obedient she was.
The girl was content to trail after Yelena like a shadow, looming just behind her as if she was a ghost and Yelena could always find her lurking nearby out of the corner of her eye.
Daria doesn’t breathe a word, creeping around on her tiptoes, and seemed to be afraid of making any noise.
Yelena knew instantly that she would not adapt well to the farm. So when the time came and went for Daria to head out, Yelena let her stay a little longer, hoping that she settled down easier before she inevitably went on her way.
Daria fit in easily in Yelena’s life and once she realized that Yelena would offer her positive physical contact she was all over her, constantly pressing against her side to sitting in her lap, sometimes humming softly to get her attention so that Yelena would pat her head or squeeze her shoulder.
The physical contact helped Yelena too. She was unaware of how much she missed the warmth of another person until she had a teenager constantly climbing on her. There was something about feeling another heartbeat pressed against her that was incredibly soothing.
Daria became a fixture that Yelena adored but she also knew that she had to keep freeing Widows.
Her next Widow to be freed, Varvara, was undercover in an office building. When Yelena had her cornered on the third story and freed her, Varvara looked at her as soon as she was coherent, a mixture of confusion and anger on her face.
She called Yelena a ‘fucker’ and then dove toward the window. Yelena had to wrestle her away from where she had already opened the locks and was halfway ready to leap, yanking her back in before she ended up splattered on the pavement because of her impulsiveness.
Varvara cursed at her, threatened her, and then when Yelena had her in her car, she finally cried.
Yelena couldn’t help but worry that Varvara would scare Daria. Varvara was everything that Daria was not and the loud-mouthed teenager would undoubtedly frighten the already skittish girl currently dwelling with her.
Varvara and Daria sized each other up when they first met. Yelena was worried for a brief moment that she was going to have to break up a fight but the girls nodded at each other and that was that.
And then, to her surprise, Daria took to Varvara like a duck to water. Varvara’s spunk and foul mouth didn’t seem to deter her at all. If anything Varvara talked enough for the two of them and learned to read Daria better than Yelena could. Varvara could speak what Daria wouldn’t, even if she would add a lot more cursing.
The pair were close and Daria took to climbing on Varvara rather than Yelena. Varvara never seemed to mind the extra weight of Daria wrapping her arms around her neck or crawling onto her lap. Varvara even managed to get Daria to laugh out loud, a noise that not even Yelena had been successful in coaxing out.
Varvara helped Daria out of her shell and in return, Daria helped mellow Varvara out. Varvara had a soft and gentle side that was seemingly reserved just for the tiny girl.
Yelena then witnessed the more intimate affection. She would see them holding hands, Daria crawling into Varvara’s lap, kisses on the cheek, nose, and forehead, and soon they were crawling into bed with each other.
At first, Yelena worried that they were slowly edging into an intimacy that was not only inappropriate but would quickly become toxic. Not only were both girls very young, one only just bordering on the age of consent, but they were both undoubtedly sexually abused and would not understand going too far. Yelena was in no way prepared for a conversation like that and hoped that she wouldn’t have to break them up before things went too far.
But clothes stayed on while sharing beds, kisses stayed away from the mouth, and hands didn’t stray where they shouldn’t.
Then Yelena witnessed the duo late at night, Varvara carrying Daria in her arms after the younger girl had a nightmare, the tiny girl’s limbs wrapped around the redhead as the older girl paced the best she could with the weight in her arms. Yelena was instantly transported to a time when Natasha would do the same thing with her as a child and she knew at that moment that she had nothing to worry about when it came to the duo.
Varvara and Daria were each other's shadows, best friends, and close sisters.
Viktoria was the first one to refer to them as “The Twins” despite the fact that the girls looked nothing alike. Varvara overheard her and thought the nickname was hilarious so it caught on fast.
Many would not think that Varvara’s mischievousness would rub off on Daria but the younger girl would often egg her sister on in whatever impulsive idea she had that wouldn’t possibly end in bodily harm. Yelena eventually had to scrawl a note on the rules pinned to the fridge.
KEEP AN EYE OUT FOR THE TWINS
It was not an official rule, Yelena would never put the safety and well-being of their siblings onto the shoulders of the other girls, but it was simply there as a reminder that if Yelena was busy and didn’t have an eye on the pair and nobody else knew where they were, then the duo were undoubtedly getting up to trouble.
When Yelena had to switch from her safe house to an actual home big enough to house all the girls she had taken under her wing, she didn’t hesitate to stick Daria and Varvara in a room together. She had tried to give them separate beds but she should have known better when they didn’t hesitate to push them together on the first night to make a bigger one.
The room was theirs, shared in a way that none of the other girls shared theirs. What was Daria’s was Varvara’s and vice versa. There was no need to split the room because it was already a mix of the two’s clashing preferences.
Varvara like building model airplanes, tank tops with graphic designs, cool posters, and action figures.
Daria had a preference for soft pastel colors, knitted blankets, stuffed toys, and penguins.
The ceiling was decorated with a mix of glow-in-the-dark starts and model planes, the walls plastered with a mixture of movie posters and pastel stickers, the bookshelf full of plush toys and action figures, and the two pillows on the bed in a respective deep blue and pastel pink.
The room was an eyesore but the girls liked it. They don’t bother with organization because they shared pretty much anything.
Varvara was all too happy to share her jackets in particular. She found out that Yelena couldn’t get mad at her for not wearing a jacket when Daria was happily snuggled up in said jacket.
And as often as they would get into trouble, they would stumble their way out of it together. They’d take the fall for each other, ganging up on their sisters, and if one was nearby then the other was never far away.
Yelena was happy that they were happy. She was pleased that they were close, even if she was unsure of why they were closer to each other than the rest of the girls.
In the end, it doesn’t matter. Varvara and Daria had each other's backs, there was no doubt about it. They were thick as thieves and Yelena had no doubt that their close bond would never wane.