#he really does adore steve to bits and pieces

[eddiethehunted]

i want you to touch it softly (ao3)

believe it or not, this one isn't a wip, it's COMPLETE! rated: m (to be safe, tbh could probably be rated t) | cw: drug use, horny discussion, eddie has a thing for his hair getting pulled (implied) | wc: 1.6k | robin/vickie mentioned, platonic stobin, mutual pining, steve being into hair care and skincare, idiot4idiot, the usual <3 title from ariana grande 'my hair'

—————

Steve’s curled into a corner of the couch, watching the movie with glazed eyes, his knees drawn up to his chest. Robin’s feeling a little buzzed herself, laying on her side on the other end of the couch, with Eddie sat cross legged on the floor in front of her, scribbling away in a notebook.

Without really thinking much about it, she reaches forward and starts playing with Eddie’s hair. He startles at first, glancing over his shoulder, but she just smiles at him and twirls a curl around her finger and he relaxes, so she doesn’t stop.

“Okay, I have to know,” she says, because really, Eddie’s curls are beautiful, just really dry and frizzy and she’s stoned and nosy and curious. “Is this a perm? Or is it natural?”

Eddie looks offended, shooting her a reproachful look over his shoulder and saying, “It’s natural.”

She nods, twirling a piece around her finger again. She can see Steve on the other end of the couch looking over sulkily. Jealous. She thinks it’s adorable, the way Steve quickly looks away when she glances over at him.

“It’s so crunchy,” Robin says, “how much hairspray do you have in here?”

Another affronted look. “None! I just washed my hair before I came here.”

It’s still a bit damp around the roots, so she knows he’s not lying. She gets her fingers really in it, pulls his head back a little bit, and he makes this weird sound in the back of his throat. It’s something between pleased and irritated, like when you pet a cat that can’t decide if it wants to purr or claw at your hand.

Steve huffs and pretends he’s still watching the movie, but Robin bets he’s jealous as hell right now. He has expressed to Robin several times how badly he wants to be allowed to play with Eddie’s hair but he can’t because that’s weird and guy friends don’t do that and he doesn’t want to make Eddie uncomfortable.

As if Eddie doesn’t melt into a puddle of horny lovesick goo the second Steve so much as brushes against him.

It’s not really her place to tell him how many times Eddie has complained to her about his own pathetic crush, though, so she never does. Just lets them both lament and pine and complain to her about how badly they want each other, and how sad and tragic and woeful their lives are that it’ll never be requited love. Pats Eddie’s shoulder when he covers his face and whisper screams into his hands when Steve walks by wearing those stupid jock shorts and lets Steve lay his head in her lap and whine about Eddie’s arms and his hands and his mouth and—kinda just everything.

(It’s only fair, though. They’ve both heard enough of her salivating over the short skirts Vickie always wears on their dates. And that one low cut shirt she wears that shows off her cute tits. The least she can do is listen, even if it kinda makes her want to bash her head into the wall sometimes.)

Steve likes hair, she knows. Skincare too. He likes products and he understands skin types and hair textures pretty well, considering she’s sure he’s never learnt anything cosmetic-related, at least not formally. He put her on some new shampoo a few months ago and her hair’s never been so soft and healthy and wavy before.

Eddie’s hair is dry. It’s kinda fried, even. It’s brittle and tangled and not really rough to the touch, but definitely not as soft as it could be, and she knows it drives Steve insane. Like, Steve likes Eddie’s hair like it is—she’s sat through way too many sexually frustrated rants about how badly he wants to mess it up—but he knows how to help it, and he wants to, because it’s like, his love language or something.

“Damn. Your hair is dry.” Robin glances sidelong at Steve again, trying to project her thoughts into his mind. “You should use a hair mask or something.”

“Some of us are poor,” Eddie says indignantly, jerking his head away. He scoots closer to Steve’s side of the couch, out of her reach, and glowers at her as he pulls his notes to the other side of the coffee table. “My hair’s fine, thank you very fucking much.”

“I’m poor too, dumbass,” Robin points out. “I just steal Steve’s stuff.”

Steve snorts, letting his head loll back against the back of the couch, his eyelids heavy. He’s been quiet all night—he gets that way sometime when he’s high, just stops talking and sits there, quietly listening to whatever’s going on around him—but he speaks up for the first time in over an hour to mumble, “Not stealing if I’m givin’ it to you.”

“Whatever,” Robin says, waving a hand. “Touch Eddie‘s hair, dude. It’s crispy.”

Eddie shoots a desperate, betrayed look at her, then says to Steve, “I will bite your hand off, Steve.”

“Mhm, bet you will,” Steve says, ignoring the warning, because Eddie is all cozy in his plaid PJ pants and Steve’s old hoodie and therefore about as threatening as a small gerbil, “lemme see.”

He reaches out to touch with only the faintest flush on his cheeks. It could easily be blamed on his high, but Robin knows him as well as she knows the back of her own hand. Steve is absolutely losing his shit right now. He’s just really good at hiding it.

“Dry,” he confirms. His hand lingers in Eddie’s hair and Robin notices that Eddie doesn’t bristle nearly as much when Steve’s the one with his hand all wrapped up in it.

Rude. But understandable.

“What the hell,” Eddie complains, but he sounds decidedly less irritated and a whole lot more flustered now. He’s nowhere near as good at hiding it as Steve.

Robin hides a smile when she notices how he’s not doodling in the margins of his paper anymore, but instead twisting a ring around his finger and staring hard at the wall.

Okay, she's more than aware of the fact that she started this, but she’s starting to think that maybe she should, like, go. Give them some privacy or whatever. Save herself of having to experience this.

“Th’s’not a bad thing,” Steve murmurs in his soupy, slow, stoned voice. Robin might not be into guys at all—especially not Steve, he’s like, Steve—but she’s not an idiot, she can tell in a purely observational way how the gravely sound of it could be sexy. She’s not completely oblivious.

Neither is Eddie, apparently, because there’s a strange glazed look in his eyes that Robin is sure has nothing to do with the weed in his system. His adam’s apple bobs as Steve runs his fingers through his hair, tugging a bit near the roots to pull Eddie’s head closer.

Eddie goes willingly. Quietly. Steve looks delighted, a big stupid smile on his face.

She is seriously such a genius. Steve owes her, seriously.

“Not a bad thing,” Eddie echoes.

“No, s’nice like this anyway.” Steve gathers it all into one hand, like a ponytail, before letting it fall slowly, playing with it like that over and over as goosebumps break out over Eddie’s neck.

“How do I—” Eddie sounds like he’s choking, the back of his ears and neck bright red. “Uh—make it better?”

“A hair mask might help,” Steve says, rolling onto his side so he can get both hands in Eddie’s hair. He’s too out of it to notice the violent shudder that tears through Eddie’s body. “You should do a porosity test.”

“Uh huh,” Eddie says blankly. Robin nearly cackles. Eddie has no fucking clue what’s going on. He checked out the second Steve got his hands in his hair.

“That’s the one where you see if your hair floats?” she prompts, when it’s clear Eddie isn’t going to say anything else, too dumbfounded to process anything that Steve’s saying to him.

“Mmmhm.” Steve gives a little smile, pleased that she remembers, and of course she does.

Eddie’s eyes shut and he presses his lips into a firm line at the sound of Steve’s agreement, like he’s fighting some kind of demons inside. Steve’s still got his hands buried in Eddie’s hair, eyes glassy as he watches the frizzy strands run through his fingers.

“Maybe high porosity. Feels rough.” He tugs a little, maybe on accident, or maybe he’s too stoned to think better of it. “Wanna try a hair mask?”

“Uh,” Eddie says.

Robin kicks him, not at all subtly, and he coughs, straightening up a little bit.

“Uh, yeah,” he chokes out. “Um… if you think it’ll help, I guess. Why not.”

God, Eddie owes her too. She’s such a good friend.

Steve’s hands fall from Eddie’s hair as he pushes himself up to a sitting position, somewhat clumsily. He catches Robin’s eye, biting his lip in an excited smile, and she grins back, giving him a thumbs up.

“If the pizza shows up there’s cash in my wallet,” Steve tells her, getting to his feet and offering his hand to an absolutely flustered-looking Eddie. “C’mon, gonna show you how to take care of those pretty curls.”

Eddie’s mouth falls open, gaping like a fish out of water. Robin can’t help but snicker, grinning wider when he shoots her a bewildered, panicked look over his shoulder as Steve tugs him towards the stairs.

She curls into her corner of the couch, pulling the blanket closer to her chin and putting her focus back onto the movie as she waits for the doorbell to ring. Grease is always a classic, and, well, whatever happens between her two favourite idiots next is really none of her business.

She does turns up the volume, though. Just in case.

[lihhelsing]

Part 3

Eddie can barely react when Steve offers to pick him up at his house for their date night.

Eddie is a nervous wreck at this point as he's been with everything that's related to Steve (or related to not-Steve). 

Ever since he first matched with him, Eddie felt like he was living in a parallel world because there was no way in hell someone like him would ever swipe right on someone like Eddie. And yet. It really happened. 

Well, at first it didn't, but then Steve called and said all those nice things to Eddie and fuck if he wasn't easy when someone flattered him. 

But Eddie was also a paranoid shit, so he kept waiting for the other shoe to drop. For Steve to laugh at him and tell him it was just a prank. For him to ghost him - which maybe would be even worse. 

But Steve didn't and now he was waiting outside of his place in a fucking BMW? What the fuck was that? 

Steve looks good because he always does. They had been exchanging pictures of themselves as they talked and even when Steve was all sweaty and gross from a workout he still looked good. Eddie compensated with good angles and dork faces that Steve said time and time again were adorable. 

He insisted so much that he thought Eddie was cute that Eddie was almost believing him. He had also tried his hardest for their date, putting on some of his favorite clothes, a band t-shirt and ripped skinny jeans that made him look good. His hair was down because it felt like a good armor if he needed to hide from something. 

Steve doesn't even give him time to anything before he's smiling and saying 'you look so handsome,' and placing his hand on Eddie's thigh and fuck, he forgot how to breathe. 

"Thanks, you, uh, you look good, too," Eddie blabbers and Steve chuckles and it's adorable. He's adorable and Eddie is losing his shit. 

"Ready for our date?" Steve smiles and turns the car on, his hand heavy on Eddie's leg still. There's a part of Eddie that's sure he's the farthest thing from ready, but this is happening, no question. 

X

Somehow, Eddie tricks Steve into inviting him over after the movie is over. Steve said he wanted to take him to dinner, but he failed to mention dinner was actually eating popcorn and candy at a drive-in. 

Eddie had no notes. 

After the movie started, he managed to relax a bit. Steve seemed to feel it because he, too, relaxed and when they were done with their food, he offered his hand for Eddie to take. He felt giddy like a high-schooler and like Steve had, somehow, known Eddie never had the chance to do any of that in high school.

Despite his fancy car, Steve's apartment is more modest than Eddie expects it to be. He mentioned having a roommate who he's friends with, although he said he just met her over the internet and she hooked him up with the job. 

"So, is she like your best friend or something?" Eddie asks as Steve opens the car door for him as if he's a prince out of a fairy tale. 

"Oh, no. I mean, we're friends and we talk and I really like her company, but I don't think she likes me very much."

"Why not?"

Steve shrugs, but Eddie can tell it's a sore subject‌. Eddie gets it, though. For the little he knows Steve, he can already tell he cares a lot about people liking him or not. He also doesn't understand why someone wouldn't like Steve, but well, people are weird. 

"Is she out?" Eddie asks as they get in the elevator and Steve nods. 

"Yeah, she usually spends Friday nights at her girlfriend's place. That's why I normally get the Friday shift. I kind of hate being home alone and it's just a nice thing to do for her, I guess."

Eddie hums noncommittally. He's trying to piece Steve together, but it's hard because his looks and his posture sometimes say one thing and then he lets out this incredibly vulnerable information and it leaves Eddie confused. 

They walk in together and the place is small, but cute. There's an old couch and Steve tells him to sit down, saying he's getting them some drinks. Eddie doesn't want to drink, he wants to just grab Steve by the face and kiss him dumb. 

Steve doesn't take long and as he sits down, Eddie can't hold it anymore. He has no idea where all this bravado comes from, but he leans forward and pecks Steve on the mouth. Steve's eyes widen and Eddie is about to apologize when two hands cup his face and pull him forward. 

And then they are kissing. Really kissing. With tongue and little huffs that come out of Steve's mouth and Eddie feels like he's died. 

If he is, in fact, dead, then Eddie is going to make the best of it. He lets his hands move to Steve's waist and he pulls him in. He has no idea what he was trying to do, but Steve seems to be much more confident because he straddles Eddie's hips and then he's on top. 

"Fuck," Eddie says. He's completely out of breath and Steve feels so good like this. He grips his waist harder and Steve thinks it's a go-ahead for him to roll his hips down and Eddie sees stars. 

Steve kisses him like he's hungry for him, and it's a heady feeling. Eddie has kissed boys before, but no one that looked like Steve. No one that made his heart skip so many beats like he does. 

No one that seemed to want Eddie as much as Steve does right now. 

"Stevie," Eddie whispers. He's not even sure he managed to get the words out but Steve stops kissing his neck. His pupils are blown out and his mouth is red and swollen and Eddie did that. 

"Yeah?" Steve is out of breath, too. His chest rises and falls in quick intervals. 

"Can we slow down?" Eddie says when he catches his own breath. He's afraid of saying it because it makes him look pathetic, but he doesn't want to rush this. 

They've been talking for a month before they even went out, but Eddie still feels too raw and insecure and-

"Of course, baby," Steve interrupts Eddie's train of thought and he has a soft smile, but he doesn't move away. He's not repelled by Eddie. He leans in and kisses him softly on the mouth. 

The pet name wraps itself around Eddie's heart. He's desperate to believe all of this means more than just a casual hook up but he knows he can't. Not yet. 

"Oh, wait! I saved a video I wanted to show you," Steve says as if they weren't eating each other a few short seconds ago. Eddie chuckles. He likes it. He likes how Steve can just roll with whatever Eddie throws his way. 

"Yeah, let's see this video," Eddie smiles, takes a moment to just admire Steve, hair a complete mess thanks to him, face flushed a pretty shade of pink. He looks perfect and Eddie wants to keep him so bad. 

"Wait, can you call my phone? I don't know where I put it." 

Much to Eddie's disappointment, Steve gets out of his lap and pats his pockets, frowning. He starts moving around the house and Eddie fishes his phone, dialing Steve's number from his contact list. 

He watches as Steve disappears back inside the kitchen and listens as his phone starts to ring right beside him, on the couch. Eddie can't see it, so he pushes his hand at the edges and pulls out Steve's phone. 

They must've been making out pretty hard for the phone to go this deeper on the couch. Eddie chuckles and presses the red button at the same time Steve comes back into the living room. 

"Found it! I left it at the kitchen counter when I grabbed us water," Steve says, waving a phone he has in his hands. Eddie frowns at him and holds out the phone he found. 

"Me too."

It's Steve's turn to look confused. "What?"

Previous | Next

[oiveyzmir]

Living with Eddie is… well, it’s an experience.

It’s not a bad thing, not in the slightest. There’s nothing Steve loves more than the fact he gets to fall asleep next to the love of his life, wake up to his soft little snores, and go about their lives together. There’s a soft kind of domesticity to it Steve wouldn’t give for the world.

He loves their routine so much he’s even willing to move past the little things Eddie does that make him lose his mind, like the way he never washes the sink properly after doing the dishes or how he constantly leaves the cabinet doors open. He can even move past how Eddie will come home from a late night shift at the bar when it’s raining and forget to take his shoes off, leaving a muddy trail of footsteps anywhere he goes. Hell, Steve’s even willing to excuse Eddie’s phases.

Wayne had warned him about those when they first moved in together three years ago. “It’s just that he gets easily excited about things,” he reasoned then. “Which doesn’t make it any less annoying.”

Steve didn’t get what it meant then.

He surely gets what it means now.

He found something- a bout of inspiration- and hyperfixated on it until moving on to the next. There was this one time Eddie got really into gardening and bought 11 different herb seedlings, only for them to wilt and die three weeks later when he got into water coloring, then moved on to filmography, then to operas.

He had that month once where he’d developed a sudden interest in learning to play the violin (It’s for a song, Stevie, did you ever listen to Skyclad?), so he stayed up until 5 AM to play something that resembled music (but was closer to being nothing but) with the instrument he burrowed from Robin’s then girlfriend. That month was so close to being a breaking point for Steve, but he loves Eddie too much to do anything about it. He honestly believes that if he managed to live through Eddie’s Violin Month he can live through anything.

He lived through Eddie’s sewing phase, his novel-writing phase and his (honest-to-god awful) baking phase, and survived to tell the tale.

Nothing had prepared him for Eddie’s current phase, though.

It seemed harmless at first. It was even kind of adorable, really; the way Eddie’s eyes glinted with excitement when he sat Steve down to watch him do a cute little card trick, the way he laughed triumphantly when it was, in fact, Steve’s card.

It got less cute when Eddie got himself cuffed to their bedpost for hours in the most unsexy way Steve could imagine, refused Steve’s offer to let him out and making him feed him since his hands were, well, preoccupied.

It also wasn’t cute when Eddie stabbed himself with a pencil in attempt to make it disappear.

But it’s plain rude now, when Steve’s trying to get a little nap after a terrible day at the school where he’s started teaching. Eddie knows he’s sleeping, Steve made sure to call him on his way home and let him know he had a bad day and that he’ll be spending as much of it as he can sleeping it off. He trusted Eddie enough to keep it down that he didn’t bother to close their bedroom door properly, and he had also kinda hoped Eddie would see it as the invitation it was for him to cuddle up to Steve and make his awful day just a bit better.

Yet here Eddie is, an hour or so after he got back home, seemingly running into every single piece of furniture they own.

“Shit, shit, shit,” he mumbles, and Steve has to give him credit for at least trying to be quiet. “Come back here.”

Steve sleepily opens one eye at that. There shouldn’t be anyone out there but Eddie, right? He listens intently to hear someone else speaking, but he can’t hear anything but the quiet thump of someone hitting their kitchen table and Eddie’s frustrated grunting.

“Please, babydoll. Come back to me.”

And now Steve’s interest is really piqued.

Steve opens his other eye and sits up. He debates heading out there and seeing whatever happens out there himself, but decides to let it all play out just a little bit longer. It’s not like he believes Eddie is capable of cheating on him; he knows Eddie loves him too much to make him go through something like that, and he also isn’t dumb enough to do so when he knows Steve is sleeping in the other room.

He listens as Eddie makes some quiet tsk noises with the tip of his tongue. “C’mon, princess,” he whispers, not loud enough to wake Steve up, but definitely loud enough that Steve hears now that he’s really listening. “No, no, don’t go there, Steve’s sleeping, fuck.”

Steve lies back down quickly when he hears the door creak a bit wider to pretend being asleep, covering himself up to his eyes with their blanket. He can hear something’s small feet tapping on their bedroom tiles before hearing Eddie’s steps, and is he tiptoeing?

Even when he’s almost panicked about whatever it is Eddie had brought home, Steve can’t help but have a fond smile spread across his face. There is love in this, so immense and great, and Steve can be nothing but grateful and madly in love as well.

The tiny feet keep running around and Steve can vaguely imagine what it is- a kitten, or maybe a puppy, but relatively tiny ones at that. The tapping sound comes to a short stop then starts off again.

Eddie sighs, relieved, and it sounds like he crouches down. “Come on, come on,” he whispers. “There you go, good girl.”

The sound of tapping feet stops and Eddie gives the thing a kiss. “Don’t ever make me go through this again, babylove.” He mutters accusingly. “How can I trust you in battle if you pull this kind of shit on me?”

Eddie turns to go. Steve can imagine the kitten cuddling itself in Eddie’s arms. Knowing Eddie, the kitten’s probably black, maybe missing an eye or an ear, whichever makes it harder to adopt for regular people. Eddie’s not a regular person, though. The mental image he created is so endearing to him that he can’t help but loudly yawn. “Baby?” He says, trying to make his voice sound as sleepy as he can, even though he’s been wide awake for a while now. Eddie stops and turns around.

The room is dark, but even in the darkness Steve can see that whatever it is Eddie’s holding is both white and obviously not a cat.

“Hey, Stevie, did I wake you up?” He whispers, his tone apologetic, like a kid found out with his hand in the near-empty cookie jar.

“What’s that?” Steve asks back instead of answering.

Steve turns his bedside light on, and after the initial shock of light momentarily blinding him he can clearly see it; a white bunny being cradled in Eddie’s arms.

“She’s my assistant,” Eddie explains, as if it explains anything, “her name is Jessica. Get it? Jessica Rabbit?”

“Your assistant.”

“Yeah,” he says sheepishly.

“For the…”

“Magic tricks?”

“Oh.”

“I’ll take care of her, though,” Eddie sits down on the edge of the bed, Jessica sitting in his lap, “take her out on walks and feed her and everything. You wouldn’t even notice she’s here.”

Steve sits up and motions for Eddie to hand him the bunny, which he dutifully does. Her fur is so soft, probably the softest thing Steve had ever felt. “That’s not how you take care of a bunny,” Steve says as he rubs his hands gently through her fur, “she isn’t a dog.”

“How do you take care of a bunny then? ‘Cause I bought, like, a bunch of carrots.”

Steve laughs. “Oh god, I love you.”

“That means we’re keeping her, right?” Eddie takes his shoes off- Steve pointedly does not think about how their living room might look like- and cuddles up in bed next to Steve. He looks up at him so hopefully Steve is flooded with warmth and love, so flooded he can’t even remember what annoyed him so much at work today.

Steve kisses his forehead, then his nose, then softly his lips. “Sure. One condition, though.”

“What is it?”

“Can you teach me the pulling her out of a hat trick?”

Eddie grins wide. “Of-fucking-course.”

[astermath]

my muse.

pairing: steve harrington x fem!reader

summary: a short oneshot of steve's girlfriend painting him, and him being able to see his own beauty through your eyes.

word count: 1.1K

notes: got this cute idea out of nowhere, thought maybe steve would like to know how beautiful others think he is.

let me know if you'd like to be added to the tag list for further steve harrington related content!

“Is it done yet?”

Steve sits on a stool in front of the window in your atelier. The slowly dimming light of the sun setting illuminates him from the back, the lamp you have set up besides you letting you see him from the front.

“Almost Stevie, be patient.”

He’s been sitting perfectly still for over an hour. An admirable feat, to be honest. He’s not usually one for sitting idly at all, always fidgeting one way or another or wanting to move about.

But he’s been doing quite well. He wants to do well. For you. So you can do your thing.

He’s been secretly wanting to do this ever since he’s seen your paintings. You’re incredibly talented, something between a Monet and a Renoir. An incredible eye for colour and composition, but most of all, you like to paint people.

You do a hell of a job at capturing someone’s likeness, even through the lens of an impressionistic art style. Steve is sure you’ll make it big with your art one day. You told him most painters only get famous after they die, and that didn’t exactly sit well with him. He'd rather have you alive and famous, but mostly the first part.

You’d been going through a bit of an art block, and so you’ve went through your old sketchbooks. You realised there is a surprising, almost embarrassing, amount of drawings of your boyfriend in there. Like… Pages, upon pages. You’ve always thought he has this effortless, beautiful air about him that just made every pose look like it should be captured onto paper forever.

When you asked him if he wanted to model for your next painting, Steve's heart nearly leapt out of his chest. He's always adored your art, supporting you and your passion every step of the way, so to be immortalised on one of your canvases is a huge honour to him.

He was a bit nervous though. He knows you think he's the prettiest boy alive, and though he does think he's serviceable, he's not sure if he's painting worthy.

Still, who is he to deny his sweet girl of using him as a reference?

At first, it was hard. How in god's name do you capture someone as beautiful and complex as Steve Harrington onto something as simple as a blank canvas? You want it to be perfect. You want it to reflect the type of person he is. You want the adoring glint in those gorgeous brown eyes to come through, the dimple in his cheek when he smiles, the constellations of freckles and moles gracing his skin. In a sense, it has to be your best piece yet.

"Alright," you lean back for what feels like the hundredth time already, getting a good look at your work. You take a moment, deciding not to let your nerves get the best of you and not overthink it. The urge is there, but you'd feel awful about letting your boyfriend sit there for yet another hour.

"I think... I think I'm done." you put down your brush, clasping your paint clad hands together in your lap.

Steve perks up in that adorable way he tends to do when he's curious. "Really? Can I come see?"

You bite your lip, unsure once again if the painting truly reflects the beauty of its subject. You sigh, knowing nothing probably ever will. You nod, lifting your hand so you can beckon him over.

He can barely contain his excitement, breaking into a little jog as he makes his way over to you. His arm drapes over your shoulders as he positions himself besides you.

"Woah..." His eyes widen as he takes it all in. The entire artwork exudes warmth. A mix of yellows, oranges and pinks surround him in the way a beautiful sunset would, and his smile looks as if it could cure anything. The brush strokes are a bit experimental, but not messy. Nothing is accidental, every placement and detail has a reason. A purpose.

You nibble on the back of your finger, anxiously awaiting his approval. You find that the longer you look at your art, the more flaws you notice. Now you're conflicted. You just want to do Steve's pretty face justice.

"D'you like it?" You look at him, all nervous.

But Steve looks like he has stars in his eyes. And tears. Yeah, he's definitely about to cry.

"Stevie? You okay?"

He blinks a few times, a stray tear rolling over his cheek as he clears his throat. "Yeah, I, uhm-- wow, it's-- it's beautiful." He looks at you, those pretty eyes he loves, all confused at him.

"Are you sure?" you smile a little sheepishly.

"Peach..." He leans in and presses a kiss to your head. "I love it. It's beautiful. It's just, I... I'm amazed you think I'm so beautiful too."

"I just painted what I saw. 'N what you make me feel."

Steve feels like he's going to melt, your words fulfilling every bit of his loving fantasies. You don't even mean to, and yet you know exactly what to say to pull on his heartstrings.

"Makes me feel so appreciated. Thank you baby, I love it." He grins, all boyish excitement.

"Yeah, I love it too... I think this one's my favourite, actually." You look up and capture Steve's lips in yours in a chaste kiss. "Might have to frame it, hm?"

"I have a better idea."

"I'm listenin'."

"Could you paint the two of us? Like on that polaroid in my wallet?"

He's referring to the polaroid you took when you first met. It was a party, and you were both fairly inebriated. Somehow, you'd started talking, and you hadn't left each other's side all night, leaving the dancing to the others and instead opting to entertain each other. Robin captured the moment the two of you were stuck in a laughing fit together, and Steve has kept it in his wallet ever since. It warms your heart to know he's kept you with him even far before you two got together.

"Yeah, I can do that. What do I get in return?" You smile, faces so close your noses are still rubbing together.

"One million kisses."

"Hmm..."

"Two million kisses."

"You drive a hard bargain, Harrington."

"Three?"

"Sold."

"Sold."

"Good." you peck his lips, "better start that down payment now."

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[the-gayest-show]

The Haunting of Wells House/Best of Luck Review/Analysis

NEW EPISODES AGAIN YIPPEE YIPPEE YIPPEE

The Haunting of Wells House:

I love a fun episode to get my mind off the angst of Operation Birthday Take back!

The gag of this being a paranormal TV show were so great! So many minor things I loved like the "Paranormal Pursuit" show title they keep saying. Literally cracked me up the way they were saying it.

I also adore the interview gags, you cannot tell me this ain't so fitting for both of them!

"My local paper called my performance of Ebenezer Scrooge 'Not as bad as it could've been'" 😭

Her expression is golden.

Also the reference to that one painting from Cosmo and Wanda was a nice touch (I mean they already had The Scream up there before this)

(The original is called American Gothic, I had no idea! I knew the art piece generally but didn't know the name till I googled and it and suddenly boom that's the name. AND it's from the 1930s! Ain't that cool stuff!)

Jorgan reappearance! We haven't seen you in like. A bit. I'm pretty sure not since the fairy testing thing but I could be wrong. "Father Jorgan" I love how Wanda and Cosmo literally summon him for the sole purpose of "exorcising" a ghost fairy. Funniest shit on Earth fr. Bro was NOT built for the "Father" role. HE LITERALLY GETS "DA RULES" OUT INSTEAD OF A BIBLE IM CRYINNGGGGGGGGGGGGGG

Also why does bro just have like so many cassette tapes? Are they all cursed? Are more fairies trapped in tapes or something? And it's a LARGE collection. WHY DO YOU HAVE THAT MANY TAPES JORGAN WH-

Overall, this episode was fun as hell and I ADORED Hazel and her dad's dynamic together. Tbh it's so cute! Hazel is so enthusiastic about hunting for the apartment ghost with her dad it's so wholesome 🥺 I honestly love the father/daughter duo sm an episodic adventure episode is so nice. Also the TV segment thing was awesome af, enjoyed that a lot. I feel like it's probably in reference to Buzzfeed Unsolved or something.

Best of Luck:

Ohhhhh boy, Dev is back again! And it is NOT looking good! I found this episode to be kinda heartbreaking for many reasons. This entire episode essentially revolves around Dev wanting to make "rule breaking" wishes (eg. win the tournament and that t-shirt) but Peri (being normal about Da Rules) tells him he can't (because he can't) and Dev and Peri have a little fight in which Peri seems to quit. I find that looking back, he might've been crying?

Bro's got tears rolling down his face and everything!

And then he gets replaced with Minecraft Steve Foop Irep, who retains the cube shape he was born in (is this a glimpse into a potential timeline where Peri would've been a sphere?), and really hates his name change unlike his normal fairy counterpart.

HE SAYS HE'S MORE ATTRACTIVE 😭 If only he knew that Peri was a Tumblr sexy man and he.... isn't.

Anyway, Dev literally uses the anti-fairy powers of not giving a fuck about the rules to essentially wish his way into winning the stupid prize, while giving Hazel bad luck (which she manages to get past using good luck charms) and making her lose the tournament.

-

Important thing, let's talk about that scene after Dev wins. He's expecting Hazel to be upset about losing, like... really upset. When she's not that upset and takes losing normally, he lashes out at her.

He WANTS her to react like how he's been reacting to the thought of losing the competition. I think this is still a reaction to his dad being neglectful at the party (and he very likely hasn't stopped being absentee since then). He's projecting his own emotions, and rejecting Hazel's attempts to be nice.

"I don't need your caring and understanding, Hinkle!" (This is also a sign of Dev's detachment from Hazel, since he reverts back to the "everything but calling her Hazel" bit)

He's more happier with physical things rather than emotional. He seems to avoid the emotional wishes, likely a coping mechanism for the neglect, opting to use the rule free wishes of Irep to wish for money, love from some classmate (who he's never been shown to love back in any way before this), to be the King of America (bro really invented monarchy for a monarchy-less country. Crazy.).

And then he literally wishes for Cosmo and Wanda to be nothing! To kill them essentially! I think that's driven by Dev's idea that having two fairies is better than one (a concept I remember being battled on with Remy Buxaplenty and his one fairy), even if it isn't and they're all still bound to the same rules, and by some motivation to get back at Hazel, likely another projection of his feelings.

Just before the mini battle ends, Dev exclaims that he's "finally going to get everything [he's] ever wanted" and that they're ruining it for him. I think, deep down, Dev really wants his dad's affection. I've mentioned this before in the review I did for the Take back episode, but he seemed so devastated about the lack of attention from his father then and even way back from scavenger hunt episode when Dev and Hazel first bonded with each other. Personally, I think Dev was likely going to use Irep (and his ability to basically with whatever, in Dev's eyes) to wish his father could be different. I think that was the real goal, and all the physical stuff was for show and very surface level wishing.

Dev's rejection of Hazel eventually gets to Hazel herself, where she chucks the shirt at him and says "Fine! Take the dumb shirt! I hope it was worth it." Hazel is probably very much done with Dev for the time being, because she tried to reach out to him but she could see he doesn't want any of it.

Let's spawn in the question of Peri. Peri technically should act as a father figure or some kind of parental figure in this case, but he's defo been screwed over by the council for giving him this boy with issues and seems to resent him for constantly not listening when Peri says that some things are against the rules, which is why he temporarily takes a break. I know someone on a discord server pointed out that Peri isn't really bonded with Dev yet, and that really rings true.

You can see this when Peri pretty much ignores his godkid in favour of his parents (which I guess contextually could be described as just being wrapped up in convo, but knowing his track record it's likely the former). THE KID WAS SITTING RIGHT THERE! SAD! Peri, to me at least, doesn't seem like he's emotionally equipped for the job of truly being there for Dev. Cosmo and Wanda seemed way better at this in OG FOP, where they constantly looked out for Timmy, even if he was a bit of a brat at times. But Peri really does care, even a little, as evidenced by the fact that he was jealously watching over Dev while he was gone. He wanted him to call Peri back. I wonder if Peri will figure out how to adjust to being a more parental figures than he hoped, because for now it seems he's thinking about this more as a job than an actual child he has to take care of. I hope he'll improve that aspect of himself, especially concerning the finale.

-

NOW ON TO THINGS I NOTICED!

AYOOOOOO FLIPPED GENDER ROLES OF THE KNITTING AND READING NEWSPAPER LETS GOOOOOOOOO

It's also kinda weird to me that they sorta fly up and come out of the box at Hazel's school after this. It gave me the vibes of "we're living inside the box" but they aren't? Wasn't that their home? Anyways.

I said it once and will say it again: Irep is built like Minecraft Steve. You can't change my mind.

Mr Guzman is so happy at the new nickname lol. He's got that 😎 expression.

JORGAN YOU ARE BACK AGAIN. DOUBLE WHAMMY RETURN. TWO EPISODES IN ROW, KEEP UP THAT STREAK DAWG!

I guess there's a fairy HR too? And I thought the DMV was bad enough. Placing my bets on a fairy godparent union now.

Overall this episode had a lot for me to ponder on and now I wonder what Dev's gonna do with the information about anti-fairies he's gonna collect (how the fuck are the o-pears gonna know shit about this anyway). One of the episodes is Irep and Dev taking over fairy world, so I guess minecraft Steve is gonna make a reappearance, plus Dev will likely try to take over Fairy World with the same vulnerable-ish state he's in. I LOVE the plot thickening! FUCK YEAH BITCHES WE GETTING LORE

[nitpickrider]

a bit silly, but if you had to fill an Avengers roster, who would you pick?

Wooof, oh me oh my. Let's lay down some ground rules before I do this. 1). Only people who have been Avengers at some previous point in time. Doesn't narrow it down a LOT but this list would be a jigsaw of my favorite Z-Listers otherwise 2). Limiting it to seven people. That's the magic number with superhero teams and it gives me a reason to stop

Steve Rogers, AKA Captain America: Sometimes you just cannot beat a classic and when it comes to Avengers line ups there is no one that I think is more integral than Captain America. The pathos that he brings to the table no matter what character he is interacting with is palpable and reading through his first big volume has given me a deep respect and love for the character. He's our leader for sure, the axis of solid, steady service I can hang my weirder picks on.

Dr. Walter Newell AKA Stingray: You all saw this coming and don't act like you didn't. One of my favorite if not my FAVORITE Marvel Characters of all time. He's a doctor with an interesting specialization. His "I'm only a part time superhero" hangup is even funnier and more interesting if forced into the limelight on THE hero team. Not to mention he comes with his own swanky Hydrobase we can use for an HQ and with his wife and four kids running around underfoot we have the kind of domestic adorability I think any good team needs.

Miguel Santos AKA Living Lightning: The first time I can ever remember reading about a comic book hero being gay, as just like, part of who they are. A tiny detail in their rich inner life. Not to mention the less respect a character gets the more I want to lift them up on my shoulders. He could be the sweetheart with a little chip on his shoulder from not getting the respect his objectively awesome powers objectively deserve.

Angelica Jones AKA Firestar: Something you may not know about me. The first piece of media that really opened my eyes as to the potential and depth and scope of the Marvel Universe was Spiderman and His Amazing Friends. It was cheesy, it was cheap and yet Angelica was the first character that I felt SPECIAL for knowing and caring about. She's happy, she's passionate, her simple classic costume kicks ass and the New Warriors need their goddamn respect. 'Nuff said.

Sersi, Just Sersi: What little I have seen of this character fucking FASCINATES me. This woman is chaos incarnate. It's like she is actively making on the fly decisions with everyone she meets whether she's going to kill them, screw them, turn them into a small mammal or some combination of the three. She's *Instant Plot Complication Just Add Water* because she saw a butterfly and that somehow translates to her blowing the entire team's cover.

Dane Whitman AKA The Black Knight: I love everything about him. I love his vibe, I love the fact that his backstory is built partially around recontextualizing the lore of a mostly forgotten Atlas fantasy comic. I love that he has a wickedly evil cursed blade that comes with the side effect of basically holding him hostage to a heroic moral code. And on top of that he's a dorky intellectual who can't see a social cue if it's blaring at him from oncoming traffic.

Jennifer Walters AKA She-Hulk: ...I do not feel the need to explain or justify this choice. YOU know Jen is awesome. *I* know Jen is awesome. She-Hulk does not need justification. She shows up in stories and makes them better by existing. Also yes this is the bodytype I'd use. Yes, I have an addiction. No, I don't feel the need to explain that either. RESERVISTS: Characters I really like but either don't know enough about or don't think they make good Avengers

Marc Spector and System AKA Moon Knight: One of my favorite dudes but does NOT play well with others. Was interesting for about 10 seconds as a member of the West Coast team but I'd prefer he never touch the ranks again.

Flint Marko AKA Sandman: Marvel did Sandman fucking dirty by never letting him fully reform and be the good guy. I want Sandman to be the good guy dammit

Maria de Guadalupe Santiago AKA Silverclaw: I know literally nothing about her outside of reference books but her powers are dope and I dig her vibe.

[livwritesstuff]

for those who have never lived in a rural area, there’s a certain level of cohabitation with the wildlife that sort of comes with the territory.

Steve and Eddie live in a fairly rural town in my steddie!dads ‘verse, so I’ve been thinking about how they would feel about this.

Steve is mostly neutral about it. He likes the bird feeders they have scattered throughout the yard, and does his best to learn how to identify all the different species so he can point them out to their daughters, and he thinks the owls that live in the woods behind their house are neat, but other than that, he doesn’t really pay all that much attention to it.

Eddie, on the other hand, fucking loves it, thinks it’s the coolest thing in the world, so much so that it actually becomes a source of stress for Steve.

There’s a possum who comes to their back porch for food that Eddie christened Alonzo and is adored as practically another member of the family. It disappeared for a while and they were all convinced it had died until one day it suddenly was back and snuffling around the porch. Ed and the girls threw a welcome home party complete with a hastily-made banner they taped to the door so he could see it.

Eddie would happily get chickens if not for the fox that lives in their backyard (in his words, “the fox was there first”).

Once, when Hazel is a baby, Eddie takes her on a walk around the neighborhood and comes home to see that a hawk had flown into the porch and gotten its talons stuck in the screen door. He looks at it for a second, decides it’s stunned from the impact, closes Hazel in the car parked in the driveway, and then helps the bird out. Doesn’t get gloves or anything, just bare-hands it and gets the bird unstuck. He’s correct about it being stunned because once it's free, it kinda just collapses on the porch. After a little bit, it flies away. Steve finds out about this a month later and flips out (“Sorry, was the last time you got gutted by flying wildlife not enough for you or something?” are his exact words).

When Moe is a teenager and starting to learn about all the ways the Earth is falling to pieces, she finds out that native bee populations are dwindling. Eddie is equally upset to learn about this, so they tag team planting native flowers around their yard. This is the same summer they learn that Robbie is allergic to bees.

Steve comes home one day to see Eddie fully conversing with a juvenile screech owl perched on the rafters of their front porch.

Eddie: So glad you’re here.

Eddie: But

Eddie: We have a cardinal family and a blue jay family

Eddie: They’re off limits.

Eddie: Rats, mice, insects, vermin – go to town on those fuckers.

Eddie: Do not touch my cardinals or my blue jays. Got it?

Steve:

Steve: Don’t let Moe see that thing

Steve: She’ll think it’s delivering her Hogwarts letter

[acowardinmordor]

Idle thoughts for the historical royalty au it turns out I want to read, but can’t be bothered to write.

This is a fairly young or small kingdom. Early Plantagenets but less established.

Steve’s mom is more in the category of Eleanor of Aquitaine. She’s off in her own lands trying to fix the mess that the King made. The King forbade her taking Steve with her and they both have other lovers. Steve’s mom had several failed pregnancies when he was young, and at least one or two siblings that died too young for him to really remember.

The King is fighting yet another push against Not-France. Has been gone for at least two years, will be gone at least one more. Left his advisors and council in place, and gave Steve very little authority. He’s basically Henry the first. Except he’s Richard

Most of the important Lords and families left the capital when the King did, either to go on campaign, or back to their own homes. The adults who remain are either greedy and manipulative or too low ranked to have another option. Lots of the children of families are left there as good faith

Nancy and Barb are the daughters of nobility, not known for their social standing. Carol and Tommy are trying very hard to get/stay in Steve’s favor so they can elevate their and their families’ status. Joyce got elevated to a role like a chatelaine because the prior died while the king was gone. Hopper is Captain of the Guard.

Magic exists if you ask the right person, but in any official sense or statement there is science, religion, and blasphemous rumors.

El is for sure somewhere in the changeling shade of things. But in the sense that she got stolen, lived with the Unseelie Court, and escaped. Because he is the reason I am in this fandom; El follows the sound of music and laughter and finds Eddie.

Eddie lives with his uncle, who was in the last war, took an arrow to the knee and can’t serve again. Does odd jobs and repairs things for people. Eddie is supposed to be apprenticing as a scribe, but hates writing down ledgers of how much the Lords spend and how much they tax. It’s doomed from the start. But, it means he’s the rare example of a poor kid in the city who can read and write. He makes spare money telling stories, writing down and using bits of histories and rumors he hears while apprenticing. And because he travels from the town up to the court, he’s also doing a bit of unofficial trade.

Lucas helps at the stables. Mike wants to be a knight, but was too young to go with the king to war. Younger kids went, but the Wheelers are just noblé enough that he didn’t. Only son privileges. Will was sick as a kid, so he’s seen as kind of a ‘what’s the point’ but he learned to read a little, then spent so long sick he taught himself more.

Dustin flits around the court and castle, bullying people into explaining things to him. He has learned many things, and is still a little genius, but his reading is kinda self taught so he can’t always say why he’s right beyond saying that he is. Claudia came with the Queens court but stayed after the Queen left again. She’s in a weird important-but-not-noble position. Steve adores her because she was around more than his mom.

Actually. Yeah. Dial up the magic a little. The King conquered the region and stomped out most of the hedge-witch type folks. Also pissed off some of the more powerful ones as they fled. But the big piece is that he broke A Thing™ that served to hold the worlds separate. That was a least 15 years ago. The leak is slow/irs been getting worse.

Lucas’s family isn’t nobility, but they’re wealthier than some of the nobles. He’s the personable son with a fondness for horses, racing, hunts, etc.

Max and family moved to Hawkins and something something, Max is now working at a smithy. It’s not what she should be doing, but she’s really good at it. Also: horseshoes gets us LuMax.

Maybe the Hargrove were noble, mayfields weren’t. Lord Hargrove went to war, Billy has been there too, and the second you look away from max she’s back to doing what she wants.

Murray is something like a hedgewitch.

The Russians become some of the conquered people, looking for an opportunity to reclaim and lacking that: a chance to fuck things up for Hawkins.

Creel is def a kid from wayyy long ago, who got conned by the fae, but spent so long there that he’s got magic of his own, and a love/hate with a humans.

[aemiron-main]

Dream A Little Dream Of Me: Is Patty Real?

So, in TFS, Patty sings Dream A Little Dream of Me. And I’ve posted before (even before TFS was released) about the idea of Patty not being real and being a dream/part of a simulation/possibly even a piece of NINA computer code.

And so, it’s just interesting to me that we have the lyric “night breezes seem to whisper I love you,” in DALDOM, versus Patty telling Henry that she loves him up in the drafty attic at night.

It’s also really interesting to me that I talked in this post about how in-show Victor’s “vision,” has constant NINA parallels vs how he was seemingly picked up by the lab on the night of the murders and dropped off on the side of the road with his memories scrambled- almost like he got NINA’d.

The same Victor who claims that during his “vision” (possible NINA simulation), he heard the “voice of an angel,” singing DALDOM and guiding him out of France- meanwhile, Patty in TFS both a.) sings DALDOM and b.) is constantly compared to being an angel, right down to even wearing wings and a while dress.

Did Victor interact with some sort of Patty computer program?? Like Hal from Space Odyssey (which is on the S4 board) singing Daisy Bell vs a Patty program singing DALDOM??

And look, I ADORE Patty, this PAINS ME to type, but I genuinely get less and less convinced rhat she’s real every day. Especially considering all of the Creelby vs Stobin parallels I’ve mentioned previously vs Steve in the bathroom scene talking about Suzie and how he’s “not sure this girl is even real.”

And like, Bob never mentions a sister- and he also mentions his PARENTS (plural) in Maine- but the whole reason why Mr Newby resented Patty was because he adopted her to try and save his failing marriage & then that failed and Mr Newby resented Patty after his wife left him for Ted’s dad. So, why does Bob never mention his sister and why are his parents seemingly still together??

And like?? Is it not just a LITTLE bit weird that there’s all of this focus on Patty’s unnamed mother vs Mother from Alien being a computer?? And Bob naming his radio device “Dad” in TFS?? And Argyle saying that NINA was a “small woman”???

Something weird is going on here.

[yonderghostshistories]

Which actor from Holy Flying Circus do you think did the best job at portraying their Python??

Thank you for the ask @michael-palin-is-the-loml !!

Short answer: All of them.

Long answer: Tbh, I think all the actors did a pretty great job at portraying the Pythons! But ESPECIALLY Charles Edwards as Michael Palin, like not only does Charles PHYSICALLY look like he COULD be Michael Palin, but he (Charles) got Michael's mannerisms down TO A TEE.

Darren Boyd as John "Basil Fawlty" Cleese was also pretty great, and I think he ironically got John's mannerisms pretty accurate as well! Also, idk if it's just me here, but I think Darren's portrayal of John is actually kinda nuanced, despite what his "Basil Fawlty" persona might suggest. Like Darren/John, even though he is shown throughout the film to be more or less largely sarcastic, DOES and CAN show emotion (see the "I do love you.....Mike" scene as emotional damage evidence) and shows that he DOES care for other people (especially Charles/Michael), plus "John Cleese Vs the Islamaphobe" scene is pretty epic imo, and actually does has a point about the difference between FREE speech and HATE speech.

Tom Fisher as Graham Chapman was, ofc, ABSOLUTELY PERFECT. RIGHT DOWN TO THE TEE. His mannerisms, his quotes, his cool asf jackets...his..his... EVERYTHING. Tom truly served cunt with his portrayal of Graham FR FR, even if he had minimal screentime. Also, Tom/Graham really portrayed Graham's debonairly sassily gay charm pretty well, as well and Gray's bonkers & wise self too!!

Rufus Jones (unfortunately no relation to the actual Jonesy) as Terry Jones was pretty great tbh. Like other people have said, Rufus J/Terry J felt more like Jonesy when Rufus J/Terry J played Jones the Wife/Mrs Palin (aka Mike's Wife), which i can agree with tbh, since Jonesy did mostly portray the women in MP! But I'd argue that Rufus' portrayal of actual Terry J was pretty great too! I think his mannerisms felt very accurate to Jonesy in some ways, also Rufus/Jonesy's (slightly exaggerated) speech impediment with pronouncing the letter "r" was pretty funny tbh, and also because of this in HFC, I did learn that the actual Jonesy DID have a mild speech impediment! Tbh, Rufus/Jonesy is pretty adorable<333

Steve Punt as Eric Idle was pretty great tbh, not only capturing the quote unquote "Money Grabbing Bastard" side of Eric pretty accurately (imo), but as well as Eric's cheekiness as well! I think Steve/Eric is pretty funny tbh. Also the fact the Steve actually DOES look like Eric FR lmao 🤣.

Phil Nichol as Terry Gilliam was pretty adorable tbh. Phil's portrayal of Terry G as a lil goofy goober chaotic child-like goblin of a man who grabs random bits and pieces and makes a paper cut animation in, like, a second was pretty funny tbh. Phil/Terry G certainly does capture the essence of Terry G very well imo.

Overall, i think all the HFC actors did a pretty great job at portraying their Python pretty great!......BUT, but, but, BUT....

If I HAD to choose ONE(/two) actor(s) who did the best job of portraying their respective Python, it would have to be Charles Edwards and Darren Boyd.

BUT BUT BUT.....honourable mentions for the OTHERS who did a pretty great job at portraying their respective Pythons would be (imo), Tom Fisher and Rufus Jones!

Thank you for coming to my TED-ED Talk, I hope you enjoyed it!

[anika-ann]

Hello my friend, I request ALL the details about Professor Rogers:

D - Dominance

E - Extra info

Z - Zones

Thank youuuuuu 💕💕💕☺️😈

Well well well, I should have seen this coming 🤭💕

D - Dominance

Come on now. We know he very much enjoys dominating his girl 👀 He just looooves how pliant she is for him, how a little whisper to her ear can have her boneless in a second and so ready to please him. That said, there are some very fond memories of the one time she tied him up and had her way with him, even if he was, in a way, still in control and kinda turned tables on her 🤭 and he has veeery fond memories of how he repayed her for her teasing too!

Z - Zones

Hmmm. Prof Steve is easy to please (bad pun not intended) and isn't that much on an enigma. Place a hand on his thighs, run those finger up his inner thigh and he's going to make you a happy woman. He's a tiny bit vain - proud of how he keeps his body in shape, so especilly if we're talking abs, he'll be ready to go if he catches his girls admiring them - with her eyes, fingertips or lips 👀 Pulse point on his throat too.

The one most surprising maybe would be his wrists. For one, he still remembers when she tied him up and how much fun they had (see above), but also... His girl leans onto his desk as he's working, gently taking his hand off those stupid essays he's grading, first enveloping his large hand in both of hers, smiling a little silly, soft... and then she's gonna kiss his fingers to make him smile too, only to sneakily undo the button of his sleeve and press a kiss to his inner wrist, gives him innocent bedroom eyes, maybe rolls up that sleeve a bit to show him she wants to see those hands do some dirty work... and he's a goner.

And so is she 😏

Rest is under cut because it's truly truly nsfw

Extra - if she grazes pretty much any part of his body with her teeth? He's hot and bothered in an instant. It's cute she's trying to seem like she can be dangerous, like she can have a hang of a situation... when they both know all too well that's he's going to have his way with her and have plenty of fun making her whimper his name and beg him for it whenever he pleases.

E - Extra info

I mean, we already know a lot. He does have a weak spot for his girl calling him Professor, he loves when she's at his mercy, is a bit into, uhm, cum play... but he also really, really adores her beautiful and very dirty mind. She's still rather shy about it, but when he gets his hands on a piece of her writing (and he loves when she leaves it around for him to read despite the fact she's a nervous wreck about it) and he just knows that's her way of asking if he'd like to ry to play that out? Heart soft in a moment - the other parts of him, not so much. He recently discovered a piece in which Prof tries a little temperature play since they are celebrating with champagne and it comes with a bucket of ice... isn't it fun to raise goosebumps on that searing hot skin which he's blamed for? He definitely thinks so😁

Also. His girl does not need any toys since she has him, right? But if when she writes about him using some on her? Oh. Oh boy. Watch him. He's going to have. So. Much. Fun.

Thank you so much for asking, love 💕 I went full ramble, but I think hope you don't mind 💖

[therollingstonys]

“H-Hey Carol,” he murmurs, cringing awkwardly at the way his voice catches, sure that his cheeks are bright red with embarrassment

Can I say that shy and awkward Bucky is super adorable?! 😊

Too thin Bex has said, not enough meat on his bones to keep himself warm, and she’s right—but it’s not like Bucky has the means to eat three meals a day, so, whatever.

When I first read this line I was thinking 'well…. you did get 700 dollars and are getting a tatoo with it'..... 😖 Then I read a little further that he does buy groceries and stuff after that so GOOD! (But also judgemental on my part, I don't know why tattoo's would trump food on the priority scale, I don't have any or want any. But it's clearly important to Bucky so. But yes, my judgement is revoked now. 😖😖)

Sam being all kind and sweet and a bit teasing. I love him already!❤️

She asks, and he says no, and she knows he’ll say no, but she asks anyway because she’s a good sister, a good person, and Bucky—well, he’s a piece of shit just like his father always said he was.

That is NOT TRUE! His father was a liar! You could argue that his father is the piece of shit.

“I will,” she whispers, and he can feel it when she goes tense a moment later. “He loved you, I know you think he didn’t but—”

How can she say that?! Does she not know the shit that happened to Bucky or her mom? Did she not see, did he not tell her?! Why is she even asking him to come to the damn grave with her?! Did she ask? Or does Bucky just do it because he feels like he has too? He clearly loves her but I doubt she would want him to come with her if she knew??? IF she knew what it did to his mental state? 😡

I'm going to go with 'she doesn't know' because otherwise it's just worse. And I really liked her in the previous chapter. But damn Bucky, she's also grown up, you could tell her some things right?!

I don't understand, I've not grown up in those situations so I can't possibly understand how complex his emotions are towards his father/family. I just want to hug him so bad. Or get Tony and Steve there to hug him.

“I hate that I miss you,” he says to the headstone, “I hate that you fucked me up and treated me and ma like shit, and yet I’m still fucking here, every goddamn year.”

THIS. The complex emotins I was talking about!

At least he realises that they did deserve better then him. And I hope that will rob off on his 'situation' with Brock. He deserves A LOT better than that piece of shit.

Oh wow, I have a lot of feelings on the chapter it seems. I can swear on Tumblr right?! 🤣🤣

Seriously that 'checking what Brock maybe did to me' line just! That wil stay in my mind all week.

I can understand your judgement, there's a lot of people here in the US who will often say things about impoverished people having an IPhone when they're on food stamps, or if they have a nice manicure, a cute purse, tattoos, etc.--as if people who are impoverished can't have nice things or indulgences. In the US it's very much based out of a puritanical ideal--if you're poor it's your fault and you don't deserve nice things. I think you'll see this in Bucky's thought process this chapter, and in the future--he struggles to justify nice things for himself because he doesn't think he deserves them, and it's utterly heartbreaking.

Sam is the best!! No matter what I write, if Sam is in it, you can BET that he's going to be just as awesome as he is in canon!! I love my Captain!!

Ahhh yea. Bex and Bucky have a very complicated relationship when it comes to their father. She was definitely old enough to see the way their father treated Bucky and their mom, but their father played favorites and fawned over Bex, which is something that happens in real life. Often times an abuser will favor one child over the other, and in this case, it was Bex—which as you can see, leaves Bucky with some really complicated feelings. We’ll definitely see more about this as the story goes on—don't give up on Bex--she's just as traumatized as Bucky is by their childhood, she just lived it differently and therefore has her own shit to unpack and process, and when she does, this little ritual just might change 👀

Bucky has a lot of processing he needs to do (and he needs to go to therapy, but that's further down the road lol) so he can feel like he deserves better than what his father did, and what Brock and Jack have done. It's painful and hard, but he can do it!!

That line made me shiver in revulsion when I wrote it--knowing that Bucky has been raped in the past and is just....so numb to it? Fucking kills me 😭😭

There was a lot in this chapter, a lot of heavy emotions and pain, and I know how hard that can be to read--but I think readers getting to know Bucky more intimately outside of the context of his relationship with Steve and Tony is so important. He is not just their partner, he's a brother, a son, a musician, and so much more, and it's important to me to make sure you all get the chance to know him.

Thank you as always for your comments and asks, it brings me such joy!!

[stellar-solar-flare]

I appreciate you being so patient and understanding with my delay, and apologize for being so late to comment. Lots of crap going on this week, which unfortunately made me unable to honor my original promises on the exchange schedule. <3

Comment under cut.

For years, you have been in love with your Dad’s best friend, and your family’s next-door neighbor, Steve Rogers. Having just graduated from college in May, you’d decided to come back home for the summer while you figured things out.

I mean. I would be too, if he was my dad’s best friend.

He wanted you to come home and move in with him, to finally come out and tell the world you were in love. The problem was that you weren’t sure if you were ready.

Oh, interesting! I didn’t expect this to go here but it’s a lovely change on the trope – I’ll admit I don’t read it a ton but most of the fics I’ve seen are about the couple getting together, and this feels interesting to me. Also definitely like Steve to a) want to be public about it and not hide it and b) be a bit of a hotheaded dumbass and push too hard.

Placing your bags down, you considered unpacking, but instead decided that there was no time like the present to talk things out with Steve. You were both adults, and would be in close proximity for the next few months, so the sooner things were settled between you, the better.

Oh, healthy communication! Always here for it. At least they’re hopefully finally going to talk like adults about this.  

“What do you want to talk about? It’s been five months since you left me hanging without a single phone call or text.”

Oof. Yeah, it’s understandable he’s hurt by that. And understandable that she wasn’t ready to make a commitment/be public about it. It’s always interesting to me when situations are actually complex since the age gap and the relationship between him and her dad does make this complicated.

“I don’t know if you can doll. I love you dearly, never stopped, but you really did a number on me.”

Oh, this feels very realistic, and it breaks my heart. And it may sound odd but I like it that he’s not willing to immediately roll over once she wants to make amends – sometimes in fic you see the female main characters do all this crap and then the male main character just doesn’t have feelings over it other than absolutely adoring her. And like, I’m not blaming her for being ready but five months of ghosting is a… lot.

“I’m giving you another chance, but this time you have to talk things through. No shutting me out like you did before. Does that sound fair?”

Healthy communication! Boundaries! Love it!

Ohh, sex after making it up! Another trope I definitely love and hey, I don’t blame them from not wanting to give this up if they are feeling like this over each other and have such good chemistry.

“After you left, I wasn’t in a good headspace. So one night, I show up depressed and drunk at your dad’s house. He asks what’s wrong, and I say I’m in love with your daughter. That I wanted you back and I was going to marry you.”

OH. MY. GOD. I definitely didn’t expect this but honestly, such a Steve move just deciding to jump on that grenade and SURE he should’ve asked her but this is just so in character. And just accidentally spilling the marriage thing too. Oops.

“Your dad threatened to shoot me if I ever broke your heart. We didn’t talk for a few months, but by April we were hanging out again.”

Good Dad. And good Dad for respecting his daughter’s agency, too, letting her in the end make the choice for herself.

“Same Stevie. This is the start of a new chapter for us.”

Awww! A happy ending. I’ll admit I was so nervous at one point because I jumped into this without checking the tags on whether it had a happily ever after after the angst – it could’ve gone either way, you built it so realistically with their conflicted feelings.

Thank you so much for sharing this lovely piece of writing. <3 Now I’m just sitting here like WHERE’S MY STEVE TO CUDDLE IN BED. Dammit.

Love Knows No Bounds

Pairing: Steve Rogers x Female Reader 

Word Count: 2004

Summary: Your dad’s best friend, Steve Rogers, has been in a secret relationship with you. When Steve wants to take your relationship public, you freak out and leave for college. Once you’re back in town, you want to work things out with him. Will he forgive you?

Warnings: Age gap, Reader is in late 20s & Steve is in 40s, Angst, Arguing, Dry Humping, Make up sex, P in V. 

A/N: For @avengers-assemble-bingo AA-Kinky Bingo with squares Dad’s Best Friend + Dry Humping. Card (KB010)

A/N 2: Thank you to my beta readers @late-to-the-party-81 & @lfnr-blog-blog-blog. Thank you to Jen @late-to-the-party-81 for my header.

Please Read, Reblog, & Comment. It lets me know you like my work. 😊💜

I do NOT consent to translating or reposting my work on any social media platform, app, or third-party site or run through AI. If you see my work anywhere besides my personal Tumblr & AO3 accounts, it has been stolen.

For years, you have been in love with your Dad’s best friend, and your family’s next-door neighbor, Steve Rogers. Having just graduated from college in May, you’d decided to come back home for the summer while you figured things out. However, as you travelled, sinking into the familiar comfort of your Dad’s truck, you couldn’t help but remember the last time you saw Steve, devastation plastered over his face.

That night, the pair of you had argued over what your plans were gonna be once you graduated. He wanted you to come home and move in with him, to finally come out and tell the world you were in love. The problem was that you weren’t sure if you were ready. Steve had been so upset by your indecision that he’d pushed for an answer. However, it had the effect of making you so mad that you’d threatened not to come back home. Then, before you’d let him get a word in, you stormed off. 

That had been a horrible way to leave things, and you wondered how were you supposed to fix things that seemed so broken? Especially considering that you’d been at college since January - a whole five months had passed with no contact between you.

It was nighttime by the time your dad arrived back at the house and pulled into the driveway. Grabbing your duffle bag and backpack, you got out and made your way to the front door.  A glance over to Steve’s house revealed him standing at a window, staring at you. Not knowing what to do, you waved, but he just walked away and disappeared into the house. Your fingers curled, and your arm lowered at your side. Great, so this is how it was going to be, you thought. 

Walking into the house, you headed upstairs to your room. It all looked the same as when you’d left. Placing your bags down, you considered unpacking, but instead decided that there was no time like the present to talk things out with Steve. You were both adults, and would be in close proximity for the next few months, so the sooner things were settled between you, the better. You looked in the mirror and decided you were just going to stay in your leggings and shirt.

Heading back down the stairs, you told your dad you were going for a walk, not even waiting to hear his reply. Walking next door, your stomach was in knots as you made your way to his front door; however, before you could even knock, the door swung open.

Steve filled the doorway and just stared at you, as if he didn't know what to say after you left him the way you did. It was clear that a part of him was still angry, but you hoped that a part of him had missed you too.

“What do you want, doll?”

Your hands started to fidget in front of your body, fingers twisting together, as you spoke. “Can we talk?”

“Now you want to talk? Fuck.” He ran his hand through his hair, sweeping it back off his forehead. “Fine. Get in here so no one gets nosy.” He stepped to the side to let you pass. You walked into his house, and he motioned you towards the living room as if you weren’t already intimately familiar with the place, its similarities to your own home’s open concept notwithstanding. You made your way to the couch and sat down, Steve taking the easy chair to your left.

 “What do you want to talk about? It’s been five months since you left me hanging without a single phone call or text.”

You took a deep breath to prepare for the fight that had been brewing for months.

“Steve, I want to apologize for how I left things between us at the beginning of the year. I was confused and scared.”

“No shit. But what exactly were you scared of? Me? Commitment? Both?.”

You shook your head. “No, I’ve never been scared of you. You’ve never frightened me in all the years we have known each other. And I’m not afraid of commitment either. I’m afraid of what my dad would say if he found out about us. He trusts you, Steve, like you’re family to him. This would break that trust and damage my relationship with him.”

“Don’t you think I know that? I’m not dumb, doll, and I’d been figuring out a plan for months, but you never gave me a chance to explain. Do you know how badly you hurt me? I thought I lost you. Hell, I might’ve already.”

You started to tear up as you listened to him speak. You’d never intended to hurt him as badly as you did, and now he thought he’d lost you for good.

“All I wanted to do was take our relationship to the next step,” he continued. “But instead, you broke my heart. I don’t know how to fix this!”

You’d really screwed up and also had no idea how to fix it, either. But you were going to try anyway.

“Steve, I want to fix this. Tell me how, and I’ll work towards it.”

Steve got up from his seat and started to pace the living room.

“I don’t know if you can doll. I love you dearly, never stopped, but you really did a number on me.”

“Steve, I love you too. Always have and always will. Please, I'm begging for another chance.”

Tears started to gather in Steve's eyes, and he looked completely lost. Did he still long for you inside his heart? You waited, breath caught in your throat as he contemplated what he was going to do. Would he tell you to go, or would he give you another chance?

“You know, a part of me wants to call this quits. Move on and find a wife. The other part of me knows I won’t ever be as happy as when I’m with you. You complete me in every way imaginable.” He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, before opening them again and pinning you with his ocean blue gaze. “I’m giving you another chance, but this time you have to talk things through. No shutting me out like you did before. Does that sound fair?”

Tears spill down your face as you start crying. “Yes, that’s fair.”

Steve sits down in his chair and holds his arms open for you. “Come here, love.”

You pushed off the couch, crossing the space between you, and straddled his legs as you sobbed into his chest. Steve wrapped his arms around you and held you close to him. 

“Shhh, it’s okay, doll. Everything is going to be okay now. Just wait and see.” His hands rubbed soothing circles on your back.

Your crying slowed, and then stopped, as you nuzzled your face into Steve’s neck. Your lips start to press softly against his skin and you could feel his cock twitch beneath you. A moment later, Steve grabbed your hips and started to move them, making you grind against his muscular thigh. You let out a whimper as you began dry humping against his ever-growing bulge. The friction was increasing your arousal and a wet spot formed on your leggings. 

Steve kept making you grind against him, but when you were about to cum, so close your body was trembling, he suddenly stopped. You whine at the loss of the friction, and Steve chuckled.

“I don’t want you cumming in your leggings. Your pussy only cums around my cock.”

He lifted you with ease, and your legs wrapped around his waist. Steve carried you up the stairs and to his bedroom and when he placed you back on your feet, you both started to undress one another, clothes flying everywhere until you were both naked.

You crawled up the bed with Steve’s eyes following your every movement. You lay on your back and spread your legs for him and he finally moves to follow, climbing onto the foot of the bed and working his way up your body, kissing you all over. When he reached your face, he went back down again, kissing your breasts and the spot on your neck that always made you whimper. You knew he would love to take his time with you right now, he always did prefer it that way, but right now both your bodies are screaming with need. He grabbed his cock and slowly pumped it a few times and you couldn’t draw your eyes away as he rubbed his tip through your wet folds and finally sank home to where he was meant to be.

Steve leant on his arms as he drove his thick cock in and out of you. You groaned in pleasure as he pushed you higher and higher, back towards your orgasm. In and out, slow and steady, Steve made love to you. He dips his head, panting against your neck, now and again, kissing and sucking on that spot that drives you wild. Your legs are wrapped around his trim waist, anchoring you together even more, as he worked you over and over again.

Steve finally drove his cock into you for that one pivotal moment where you finally came around him, a long moan of his name on your lips. As your walls squeezed and spasm around Steve’s cock he slowed down for a moment before speeding back up and starting to fuck you into the mattress. Your fingers laced with his and he placed your hands by your head.

“Fuck, doll. You feel so good. I just want you in my bed. Every. Fucking. Night.” He punctuated each word with a hard thrust. In and out, harder and faster, he took you until finally, he came deep inside your pussy with a shout of your name. 

After a few heavy breaths, Steve pulled out of you and went to the bathroom to clean up. He returned with a towel and cleaned gently between your legs before throwing the towel in a hamper. In a moment, he crawled back into the bed and pulled the covers over both of you. You turned to cuddle into his side, your head resting on his chest.

“Steve? What was the plan you had figured out for months that I didn’t listen to?

Steve chuckled for a minute before he could compose himself.

“I talked to your dad about us already,” he admitted.

“Wait, what?” You sat up and looked down at him, taken completely by surprise

“After you left, I wasn’t in a good headspace. So one night, I show up depressed and drunk at your dad’s house. He asks what’s wrong, and I say I’m in love with your daughter. That I wanted you back and I was going to marry you.”

“You want to marry me?” You gasped in shock. 

“I do, doll. Well, after I spilled my drunken heart out, your dad punched me in the face a few times. Told me he had a feeling something wasn’t right cause you kept going for walks every night. He even said he could see you light up every time I was around.”

“So what did my dad say after that?  Is he mad at us?”

“Your dad threatened to shoot me if I ever broke your heart. We didn’t talk for a few months, but by April we were hanging out again.”

“I’m surprised he’s okay with this. Us. Although, it wouldn’t have mattered anyway because I’ve decided I wanted to move in with you. I’m going to find a job in town so we can be together.”

Steve rolled you onto your back and kissed you passionately. “Now that just made my day. I’m so happy you decided to choose me. I can’t wait to spend the rest of our lives together. Just the two of us.”

“Same Stevie. This is the start of a new chapter for us.”

Taglist:

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[katethetank]

The Dungeon - Chapter 9

Rating: 18+, minors gtfo Chapter Summary: Movie night at Steve's! The boys make things official, get a little more intimate, and have a talk about their sexual boundaries CW: Handjobs, Eddie has several piercings, discussions of consent, STI testing, kinks, boundaries Pairing: Rock Star!Eddie x Counselor!Steve Word Count: 3.7k

Chapter 8<<Masterlist>>Chapter 10

He’s all set. Soft t-shirt on, gray sweatpants (yeah, he went there), wrapped in a hoodie, and he’s got a bag full of snacks in hand. Eddie never thought he’d be so excited to just have a night in watching a movie. His last date with Steve was absolute perfection. They opened up so much to each other, and having the honor of watching Steve fall apart on his thigh was nothing short of breathtaking. He may or may not have fucked his fist to the thought of it several times since then. 

Shaking that image from his head, he raises his hand and knocks on the door. Moments later, it opens up and he’s greeted by Cozy Steve. Flannel pajama pants, white t-shirt that shows off his arms (good god), and fuzzy socks with ice cream cones on them. Fucking christ, Eddie wants to devour him.

“Hey Eds. C’mon in. I got the couch all set up and you can grab something from the fridge if you’re thirsty.”

“Hey Stevie. You look adorable. Kiss first?”

That blush is going to be his undoing. Steve steps towards him, gives him a small peck, and ushers him inside. Eddie kicks off his sneakers, and they head into the kitchen. “Alright sweetheart, I wasn't sure what kind of movie snacks you preferred, so I got a little bit of everything,” he says as he starts to unload his haul. “Popcorn, Twizzlers, M&M’s, Sour Patch Kids, Reese’s Pieces, gummy worms, Junior Mints, and Milk Duds. I hope at least one of these is up to your standards!”

“Oh my god, did you rob a gas station? This is awesome! Ok uh…let’s get the popcorn going first.” Steve puts a bag in the microwave, and while it’s popping he gets a big bowl out and they get their drinks ready. He fills the bowl with finished popcorn and then moves to select his snacks. Eddie watches his eyes bounce around the options, then he reaches out and snatches the Twizzlers and Reese’s Pieces, holding them protectively to his chest. “Mine.”

Eddie giggles and grabs the Sour Patch Kids and gummy worms. They wrangle their candy, glasses of Coke and bowl of popcorn and move to the living room. The lights are all off, and he’s got candles lit around the room giving it all a warm glow. The couch has extra pillows on it and a pile of the softest looking blankets. They put down their haul and settle in, not bothering with the opposite sides of the couch anymore. Steve pulls out one of the blankets and tucks it around their laps. Before Eddie gets fully comfy, he unzips his hoodie and drapes it over the back of the couch. He’s about to reach for the popcorn bowl when he notices that Steve has gone stock-still beside him.

“You ok Stevie?”

His eyes look a little glassy and his mouth is kind of hanging open. “Just uh…I like your tattoos. They’re um…” he visibly gulps and continues, “Really cool.” 

Eddie reaches over, grabbing Steve’s Coke and hands it to him. “Here sweetheart. You’re lookin’ a little…thirsty.” 

“Oh fuck off!” Steve laughs. “You know you look good, asshole!”

“Me?! You got a license for those guns?” he asks, poking Steve’s biceps. 

Ooh. Firm.

“God, you and these lines.”

“You love it. Now, what are we watching?”

Steve turns on the tv and there’s already a movie queued up ready to go. Eddie gasps. “You didn’t!”

Steve looks smug. “I did.” He presses play and they finally settle in with their snacks, snuggled under a soft blanket.

The intro to the movie plays and Eddie does his best David Bowie impression. “It’s onlyyy forever! Not long at all!” Steve laughs and joins him, doing a truly awful impression himself. “Lost and lonely! No one can blame you, for walking away! But too much rejection, no love injection!”

Steve sighs and tosses a piece of popcorn in his mouth. “I think this movie was my first true bi-panic experience. When I was a kid I had such a crush on Jennifer Connelly, and then in comes Bowie…that hair, a cloud of glitter, those pants?! Game over.”

“Oh yeah, Little Eddie definitely had some fantasies about the Goblin King taking him away.”

“Nothin‘ little about it,” Steve mumbles.

Eddie chokes on his gummy worm and splutters, “What was that?!”

“I said ‘do you want a Twizzler?’” Steve replies with the big stupid smile on his face. 

Eddie bites it right out of his hand. “You’re a menace.”

They spend the movie singing along, doing horrendous impressions of the characters (including Eddie using a gummy worm to impersonate the little blue worm in the wall), and filling themselves full of sugar. Eddie’s so happy.

The credits roll and Steve asks, “Have you heard the theory about who the goblins actually are?”

“No? What theory? They’re goblins.”

“Not exactly. So, Jareth steals children, and if they’re not found they turn into goblins, right?..”

“Oh…yeah ok…”

“There’s this theory out there that he was once in love with a girl named Sarah. He wanted to marry her, but her father forbade it, and wanted to keep her as a servant. So he kidnapped her little brother and took him away to this fairy realm in hopes that it would lure Sarah there so he could keep her, and turned the brother into a goblin to be his servant. But time passes differently in the fairy realm, so Sarah ends up growing old and dying and never finds him. He goes totally mad, and spends his eternal life searching the mortal world for girls named Sarah, taking their child or sibling or whatever, and then she’s lured into the labyrinth to save the kid. Only they never make it. So when Hoggle asks what her name is and she tells him it’s Sarah, that’s why he says, ‘that’s what I figured.’ Because they’re all Sarah.”

Eddie’s mind is sufficiently blown. “That’s so fucked up.”

“I know right?”

“I love it.”

“I know right?!”

“God, my boy’s so smart.” Eddie doesn’t even realize what he’s said until Steve looks at him all bashful and sweet.

“Your boy, huh?”

In for a penny, in for a pound. “I don’t know…how would you feel about that? Being mine.”

Steve’s eyes shine with unshed tears and Eddie’s heart feels like it’s going to pound out of his chest. “I think I’d like that a lot.”

“Yeah? So you wanna make this official sweetheart?”

Suddenly he has a lap full of Steve and big hands planted on his chest. “Yes. I want this. I want you Eddie.” 

“Then you have me, Stevie.” He wraps his arms around Steve’s waist and pulls him in close, lifting up his chin and being met with Steve’s soft lips. It starts slow and sweet. Savoring this moment and what it all means. The intensity picks up as their tongues dive into each other’s mouths. 

Eddie sucks on Steve’s tongue and is rewarded with the filthiest moan and grinding of hips. God bless soft pants, he can really feel Steve’s dick this time as it rubs right alongside his own. It feels heavy and Eddie wants to get his hands and his mouth on him. Anything his boy - his boy - wants.

He takes charge, as he so often prefers to do, and flips them so Steve’s on his back and Eddie’s settles in the cradle of his hips. Steve lets out a startled sound gasping, “Holy shit, you’re a lot stronger than you look!” 

“You saying I look weak?”

“God no. Just surprised me.”

Eddie smirks and leans down to pick up where they left off. Their mouths are plastered together, kissing like it’s their last day on Earth, hands pawing at each other’s shirts. Steve tugs at the hem and pants, “Off!” right into Eddie’s mouth. He reluctantly parts from Steve’s lips, sits up, and pulls his shirt off, tossing it to the floor. 

Steve looks up at him like he hung the goddamn moon. “Jesus Christ, Eds. You’re so fucking hot.” He tentatively reaches up, his big hands gently skimming over the flesh of his abs, up to his chest, and his thumbs graze over the barbells in his nipples. “Fucking hell, I had no idea you had piercings here.” He applies a little more pressure and Eddie hisses. Shit that feels good. “Sensitive?” Steve asks.

“Very. What about you, gorgeous? Can I take your shirt off? We don't have to do anything you’re not ready for.”

Steve sits up and starts to remove his shirt, Eddie helps to get it off and join his on the floor. His breath stutters as he takes in this beautiful man underneath him. Miles of golden skin, speckled with these biteable little moles, and lord help him, he wants to bury his face in all that chest hair. He’s muscular, yet soft. Eddie wants to map his body with his tongue.

“God damn, look at you Stevie. You’re a fucking work of art.”

He arches an eyebrow and says, “Me? Look at you. Fuck, you’re beautiful.”

Eddie can’t recall if he’s ever been called beautiful before. If he has, there’s no way it meant as much as it does coming out of his boy’s mouth. He wastes no time getting his lips back on him, and buries his hands in all that glorious hair on his pecks. He pushes Steve back down to the couch, elbows on either side of his head and kisses him breathless.

Their dicks are sliding alongside each other as Eddie grinds down. Steve’s hands, god those fucking hands, grab hold of his ass and pull him in, adding even more pressure. They’re gonna get a friction burn at this rate and Eddie couldn’t care less. He kisses his way to Steve’s ear and whispers to him, “This what you need honey? Tell me what you want. Anything.”

“Ah, fuck, Eddie! Please, please!”

“Please what? Gotta use your words princess.” He feels the full body shudder that runs through Steve. Yeah ok. Put a pin in that one for later.

“Hands…please Eddie. I need your hands.”

“Good boy. Thank you for telling me sweetheart. This ok?” he asks as his hand moves down to the waistband of Steve’s pants. He dips his fingers in the tiniest bit and pauses, waiting for confirmation. Steve nods his head and Eddie tuts, “Ah ah, I need words.”

Steve’s pupils are dilated as they lock eyes. “Yes. Please baby. Please touch me?”

Baby.

Call the coroner, Eddie just flatlined. He’s never been somebody’s baby before. And goddamn if he doesn’t love it. He crashes their mouths together and snakes his hand past Steve’s waistband. His fingers graze over the silky flesh of that hard cock and Steve whimpers into his mouth. Eddie wraps his hand around the shaft and gives an experimental stroke. He’s thick and heavy in his hand. Long and hard as rock. His boy must be aching if the loud moan he lets out is anything to go by.

He pulls his hand away and Steve grapples at his shoulders and whines. “Don’t worry honey. I’m not going anywhere. I’ve got you.” He spits into his hand and is about to reach back down when Steve stops him, grabbing his wrist. Steve then makes all the wires in Eddie’s brain cross as he leans up and spits into his palm, adding to the mess. Jesus. Steve helps him along further by shuffling his pants down and letting his cock spring free. It’s just as gorgeous as the rest of him. Flushed pink, thick and long, balls already drawing up tight.

“You’re so gorgeous Stevie. Such a pretty cock.” Eddie gets his hand back on him. The glide is better now as he starts to jack Steve off like it’s his job. He squeezes on the upstroke and twists his wrist, earning groans and whimpers and thrusts. He speeds up his movements and Steve holds onto his shoulders for dear life, thrusting into Eddie’s fist, his breathing getting faster and faster.

“Oh god,” Steve pants. “Baby, I’m so close.” 

“What do you need, honey? Tell me.”

Steve’s glassy eyes look up at him, eyebrows scrunched, mouth hanging open as he gasps, “Kiss me. Kiss me, please!”

Such a simple request. How could he ever deny it? He lowers himself down just enough to capture Steve’s lips in his. It’s nothing filthy. It’s nothing ravenous. It’s soft and simple, just lips on lips. Steve cums immediately with a choked off moan, his whole body shaking while spurts of cum shoot up his stomach and into that fucking delicious chest hair. Eddie’s never seen anything more beautiful.

“Eddie. Baby. Oh my god,” he pants as he comes back down to Earth.

Eddie kisses his forehead and slowly lets go of his softening cock. “Feel good honey?”

“Fuck, so good. Get your pants off. Now.”

Eddie chuckles and kisses him again. “You don’t have to Stevie.”

“Fuck that, I want to. C’mon. Sit up.”

Eddie obeys and rises to his knees. His sweatpants are tenting obnoxiously and there’s an obvious wet patch where his cock has been leaking since this all started. He locks eyes with Steve and he slowly slides his pants down, his dick bobbing heavy over Steve’s soft cock.

He sees his boy’s eye flicker down and widen comically. “Holy fuck. Knew you’d be big but Jesus...”

Eddie, a little smug, reaches down and lifts up his dick, giving it a slow stroke and making sure Steve sees the whole thing. 

“Oh my god, are you serious?” He’s practically drooling as he spots the Jacob’s ladder piercings on the underside of his cock. “You’re gonna fuckin kill me, Eds.”

“Like what you see, sweetheart?”

Steve nods dumbly and bats Eddie’s hand away. Before he reaches his hand out, he pauses and then scoops up the cum on his stomach and chest. Eddie’s going to have an aneurism. Steve wraps his cum covered hand around Eddie’s shaft and starts to stroke. Eddie groans and throws his head back, panting at the ceiling, “Goddamnit Steve, that’s so fucking hot. Get your cum all over me baby boy.”

Steve whimpers at the pet name and speeds up his strokes. “Little tighter honey. Fuck that’s it. God, you feel so good. Those big fuckin’ hands of yours. Christ!” The pressure is perfect, and he can feel himself teetering on the edge. 

Steve bats his eyes at Eddie and goes in for the kill. “Come on baby. Come on my tits.” Eddie momentarily blacks out as his cum shoots all over Steve’s chest, soaking the hair, coating a nipple, and some even makes it up to his neck and chin. It’s a fucking sight to behold. He wants to take a picture and fucking frame it. 

Legs now like jelly, he collapses onto Steve, careless of the mess between them. He slowly drags his tongue over the cum on Steve’s neck and chin, and feeds it to him in a filthy kiss. Maybe he should have asked first if he’d be ok with that, but Steve doesn’t seem to mind, groaning and gripping the back of Eddie’s head, bringing them impossibly closer. The kiss turns languid as they relax into each other, humming contentedly.

Eddie nuzzles his nose with Steve’s and whispers, “You were incredible, sweetheart. So hot. Was all of that ok?”

Steve hums and closes his eyes. “Absolutely. God, Eddie…those fucking piercings.”

Eddie laughs quietly and plants tender kisses along Steve’s cheeks and jaw. “Just wait till I fuck you. When you’re ready, I’m gonna make you feel so good angel.” Another full body shiver he gets makes him smile wide. “C’mon Stevie, we should get cleaned up.”

“Mmm. Shower?”

“Can’t say no to that.”

They get up and wobbly legs, shucking their pants and socks, and Eddie follows Steve to the bathroom. That ass of his, fucking hell. What a view. Steve gets the shower running and pulls out a couple towels from the cabinet. Water perfectly warm, they get in and take turns under the spray avoiding getting their hair wet. They just need a quick rinse to get all the dried jizz off.

Eddie quickly washes Steve and then himself, and a little while later they’re wrapped in towels and laying in bed, Steve’s head resting in his chest and fingers tracing his tattoos. “Stevie honey?”

“Yeah Eds?”

“We need to talk. About what happened earlier.”

He feels Steve tense up in his arms. “Is everything ok? Did I do something wrong?”

Eddie immediately realizes his mistake. He’s never been in a relationship before, but he should know better than to start a conversation with ‘we need to talk’ - god he’s such an idiot.

“No baby!” Ooh, that feels nice. “Not at all! I just thought it would be a good idea to talk about our limits. Consent is really important to me, and I honestly wish we would have discussed this sooner. That’s on me! We just kinda jumped right in without thinking and I want to know what you’re ok with.”

“Oh.” His body relaxes again, thank christ. “Yeah, we can do that. Where do we start?”

“First off, safety. I wanna let you know I’m clean. Obviously I wouldn't have done any of that if I wasn’t. I got tested when I was in L.A. and I’ve got a clean bill of health.”

“Me too. Got tested a few months ago and haven’t been with anyone since.”

“Good baby, thank you for telling me. Wish I would have done this before my cum was in your mouth, but here we are.”

Steve giggles and buries his face in Eddie’s chest. “Yeah, probably would have been smart. It’s ok though. I trust you. And…I liked it.”

Eddie smirks. “Yeah honey? You’d be ok with that again?”

Steve shifts so that his arms are folded on Eddie’s chest, his head resting in them so they can look each other in the eyes. “Yes. Absolutely. So what else?”

“How do you feel about oral?”

“Love it. Giving it, getting it. Green light all the way.”

Eddie’s eyebrows raise. “You’re familiar with the stoplight system?” Steve nods. “Fantastic. We can check that one off the list. Next up: top or bottom? Any preference?”

Steve thinks for a moment. “I don’t have a problem with topping, but I definitely prefer to bottom.”

Excellent.

“That’s great honey. I pretty much exclusively top, so that works perfectly. You ok discussing dynamics?”

The crinkle in his brow is adorable. “How do you mean?”

“Dom and sub dynamics. It’s nothing crazy really, I just prefer being more dominant in bed. Taking control, calling the shots. Is that something you’d be ok with?” He has a feeling it would be, but…verbal confirmation and all.

“Oh, yeah I can see that. I haven’t really done much stuff like that before. Mostly just had quick hookups for the last few years, which really don’t give you a lot of time to play with that. I think I’d really like it though.”

“Thank you for your honesty baby, that’s so good.” Steve’s cheeks flush and Eddie knows exactly what his next question and the answer will be. “I gotta ask now Stevie, because I’m pretty sure I read this right. Do you have a bit of a praise kink baby?”

Steve hides his face in his crossed arms and lets out a muffled, “Yes.”

Eddie giggles and runs his hands through his hair. Goddamn that’s soft. “Nothing to be embarrassed about. How can I work with that if you don’t tell me, huh? Is it just praise, or are you into degradation too?”

Raising his head Steve says, “I’m not sure really…do you have some examples?”

“Slut, whore, stuff like that.”

He wrinkles his nose. ‘Nuff said. “No, I don’t think so. Is that ok?”

“Anything and everything is ok as long as we both consent to it. I don’t have any expectations Steve. My kink is providing pleasure, however my partner likes it.”

“Any other kinks I should know about?” Steve asks with a smirk.

Eddie hasn’t had the luxury of conversations this involved in a really long time. God, he is loving this. “A few, yes. I like control, right? Sometimes that might mean restraints. Cuffs or ropes or scarves. Other times it might be deciding when my partner gets to cum. I get off on controlling their orgasm. Sometimes I like a little pain. Giving or receiving, kinda depends on the mood. Toys are always fun, but not required. And I kinda joked about it before, but I don’t mind at all being called daddy.”

Steve takes a deep breath. Eddie hopes he didn’t just scare him the fuck off. “That’s…a lot.”

Eddie swallows the lump forming in his throat. “A lot…in a bad way? Because we don’t have to do any of that Stevie, promise. I only want to do what you’re comfortable with. So…is any of that a problem for you sweetheart?”

“What do you think?” Steve shifts his hips and even through the towels he can feel Steve’s hard cock press into his leg.

Oh thank fuck.

Eddie breathes a sigh of relief. “God damn, you had me worried for a second there! There’s just one more thing I want to be clear about. It’s one of my favorite things, and I haven’t really gotten to do it in a while because quick hookups don’t really allow the time for it.”

“What is it?..”

“Aftercare. I don’t just want to take you apart Steve. I want to put you back together. I love taking care of my partners, especially if something was really intense. There’s a kind of privilege in that.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever had anybody do that.”

Eddie’s heart breaks a little bit. How have Steve’s past partners not doted on him? Criminal. “I’d be honored to do that for you baby.”

Steve’s small smile is everything. He scoots up to give Eddie a sweet kiss. “Thank you.”

“You never have to thank me for taking care of you. So…all the other stuff I mentioned. What do you think?”

“Green.”

“Mmm, good boy.”

“There’s just one thing I need you to do, Eds.”

“Anything. You name it, it’s yours”

Steve’s smile turns mischievous. “You need to meet my kids.”

Chapter 8<<Masterlist>>Chapter 10

Taglist is open!

@annachronisme @mrsjellymunson @kozuuji

[mercurial-chuckles]

HIS FIORE - PART 2

Summary: Steve smexy Rogers moves into the neighborhood, and one evening, he catches you sneaking into the building opposite his through the fire escape. He watches curiously, slightly amused and, quite frankly, amazed by you. Guess what he does next? He writes a note, signs it with his middle name, Grant, and slips it under your door. How will you discover that Grant is none other than Captain America? Series Warnings: Language | Eventual smut | Mature content (minors DNI) | Steve’s naughty thoughts | Steve in-love Rogers | Steve possessive jealous Rogers | Drunk Steve (adorable, hot mess) | Neighbors | Secret identity | Steve watching the reader from a distance (slightly stalker-ish…ish) | A smidge of angst | Overloaded fluff | Happy happy ending

Chapter Warning: Language | Smidge of Angst | fluff | Reader being confronted by some high-off-their-rocks guys (nothing bad happens, but including this warning in case the idea is triggering to anyone) | Mention of growing up as an orphan | Steve Rogers being a hot boy mess | Lemme know if I'm missing anything

A/N: Finally finished writing this! Originally, I wrote two parts as connected prompts for Steve Rogers Bingo Round 3, but I've decided to revamp the entire piece. Also, I'm going to try sticking to a schedule--wish me luck! 😉 Banner credits: Me | Photo credits: The internet | Divider credits: @buck-star (Sydney, thanks a trillion ❤️)

Note: Do not Steal, Copy or Plagiarize any part of my work! Check out my other works: Masterlist

His Fiore Series Masterlist

Indulge Away!

You were more than a little eager to get home. After giving three long lectures back to back, you felt drained.

God! You hated Wednesdays. Hopefully, you'll have some reprieve next semester if the department considers your schedule preference. The only thing that might soothe your ache would be if Grant had left any notes.

Grant and you had been exchanging notes for about three weeks, and it was going great. You'd started as skeptical but soon realized he wasn't a psycho, and it wasn't premeditated. That was a bit settling. Besides, it was really fun keeping the note exchanges going.

It started innocent enough, simple harmless note exchanges. You told Grant about Mrs. Reindell and how he should avoid her since she was too nosy. You left him food, and he'd return it with cookies or chocolates.

Neither of you had exchanged phone numbers, and neither seemed eager to break that bubble by making it awkward. Soon, the exchanges became lengthy and deep, and you were pretty sure you both started flirting at some point.

He was an old soul, and he enjoyed music a lot, and played it loud for you to enjoy. He loved home-cooked food and hated chocolate. Grant was multilingual. Sometimes, he spoke like old Mr. Benedict, your 90-year-old building supervisor.

Grant knew you grew up as an orphan since the age of 9, jumping from foster home to foster home. Grant told you how he lost his mom to a disease and his dad to war. You were both very similar in some sense.

When he told you how he suffered nightmares, you told him how you dealt with yours, how you imagined yourself in that happy place, where you were far away from the hustle and bustle, nestling in a small cozy home someplace isolated, cold and with the slight pitter patter of rain, as you sat on the porch, overlooking your garden, enjoying your coffee.

He thanked you for sharing, and of course, not without adding a smug, 'There's always a coffee, huh! He knew your addiction to coffee and lectured you on unhealthy drinking and eating habits. You scribbled a 'Thanks, grandpa' to it, to which you were sure he rolled his eyes.

At times when you were exhausted, he'd leave sweet encouraging notes. When you realize he didn't play his music that day, you'd know he had a bad day and bake him some coconut cookies or Oatnut raisins, which were his favorites, and drop them at his door, saying to take it easy.

You knew the relationship tipped at some point into something more despite you both not even knowing what you did for a living. It also became a thing where you'd guess what each did for a living. It was heartwarming and endearing.

Before you opened your door, you quickly glanced at Grant's door. Of course, he was not around. You wondered if you would ever accidentally meet, but fate seemed to work otherwise. He and you never did pass each other, and you might hardly know if he did because, unlike him, you didn't know how he looked. It wasn't fair, really, but you didn't mind.

There it was, the note lying on the floor as you entered your living room.

You didn't have a set schedule, but you dropped it off whenever you wrote. Your hours were flexible as a professor, but your work was exhausting after hours. You brought home tons of research that messed up your work-life balance, but you were not really complaining.

Quickly dropping your keys, backpack, and grocery bags, you read the note.

Fiore, 

What exactly do you mean I give you a short-working-in IT vibe? TBH, I don't know how I should feel.

–Grant 

You rolled your eyes. He'd started using the cool lingo list you shared with him. He was terrible at slang and barely knew some of the terms, so you'd given him a neatly written list.

You knew you'd been teasing him a lot lately. Maybe he would get bored of you and stop talking altogether. That fear crept now and then.

After gorging down the Subway sandwich, you opened a bottle of wine and switched on the TV. A steady headache crept onto you as the exhaustion from the day settled further into your bones as soon as you settled to relax.

You needed a damn day off. Ugh! Midterm grading was getting to you.

In your semi-inebriated state, you scribbled the note and pushed under his door before heading to bed.

Grant, 

What's wrong with being short? It's just… you give that vibe. 

The chairs and the couch on your balcony are too small, like really really small. And your ungodly working hours tell me you might be working at a corporate IT company.

On a side note, your balcony could use some plants. Unless you're afraid to get dirt under your nails, Mr. IT. ;) 

–Fiore

The following day, you woke up feeling sick. Cold shivers ran through your body. You emailed your department and your scheduled classes that you were taking the day off.

You found a note at the door when you were heading to the kitchen. You rushed eagerly, picking it up so fast you felt your head dizzy.

Fiore,

You're half-right on some of them. You know what, most of them. 

Dirt under my fingernails? Oh, the horror! But you might be surprised--I can handle a bit of grime. Maybe one day I'll show you my skills. 

How are you? You seem dull. I didn't hear music or find Agent Fiore on rescue missions. 

–Grant 

Your heart tugged just a bit, and you smiled like a fool as you scribbled down.

Grant, 

I'm fine! It's just a bit of a fever. Took some medicine. I've been overworking myself the past few weeks (I know, you already said that I'm burning out. I'm AWARE, and please don't lecture me on this when I'm sick. ☹) I'll be fine by tomorrow. Thanks for being creepily observant. I appreciate you. :D 

–Fiore 

Fiore,

You're welcome! You'll see the doctor if you don't get better by evening.

BTW, I left you a basket of goodies. It has soup, freshly baked bread from the store on the 18th, and some coffee sachets. I didn't know what flavors you liked. Why the hell are there so many flavors?

PS: Don't worry, I watered the plants for you. At least, I hope I did it right. That should suffice until you get better. The plants miss you, and so do I. Get well soon!

–Grant 

You were floating in the air by his thoughtful gift, and the butterflies in your stomach at his command didn't help either.

No one had ever done something like that for you. Growing up in foster homes, you rarely felt a connection, and you always were the one to take care of yourself when you fell sick.

Grant's gesture made you genuinely happy. If not more, you could be good friends. With that conviction, you finally decided to meet him. So, you wrote a note inviting him for a cup of coffee.

Grant, 

Thanks for watering the plants. 

And thank you so much for the thoughtful gift. I loved every bit of it, and the coffee flavor was perfect. I've never tasted it before, and I absolutely love it. It's going into my collection. 

What do you mean by "how many kinds of coffee"? 

Tell you what, Coffee at Maple Cafe down the street. I'll be there from 3 p.m. till closing time tomorrow. I am going to work from there. Join me if you can :) My treat! 

–Fiore 

As soon as you pushed the note under his door, you were a nervous wreck and regretted writing it in the first place. There was a chance he might not be home to get the note, but it was the weekend, and you hoped he'd see it or leave a note.

You sat in the café, glancing at the door every few minutes. You sipped your coffee, trying to distract yourself with work, but your eyes darted up each time the door swung open. A few hours passed, and there was still no sign of Grant. It was almost closing time, and disappointment washed over you as you gathered your things and returned home.

Maybe he wasn't home and didn't get the note. You did expect a note soon. But the next morning, there was no note under your door. 

Days passed, and the notes stopped coming altogether. It was then you realized how deeply attached you became to Grant. Confusion and sadness filled the space once occupied by excitement and curiosity.

You wondered if you'd said or done something wrong. Grant didn't seem like the type to ghost you, but your insecurities crept in, and you couldn't help but think maybe you did something wrong. Did you word the note like a date? Oh, shit!

You got emotionally attached pretty easily. It was maybe because you grew up reaching for the feeling of unconditional love. So, when you did try dating, it was an absolute catastrophe because the one serious relationship you had, you came out feeling more insecure and terrible about yourself. Keenan, your ex, dumped you, "You're so clingy," were his exact words.

Rationally speaking, you knew that Keenan was an asshole one month into the relationship, and you were more than glad he broke things after nine excruciating months because you were incapable of doing it. You tried everything you could to maintain that relationship, and the whole ordeal hurt you more than you could take it. Thus, you dedicated all kinds of emotions to your other love, which was research, and it hasn't let you down so far.

But with Grant, you felt really happy; he was as thoughtful as you, and you vibed on so many levels without even meeting. He was flirty, adorably old-fashioned, and a bit of a mess like you. You were foolish enough to think there was something there.

You sighed, deciding to get back to your life and focus on knocking down a few deadlines before finals week, hoping to forget your faceless neighbor, Grant.

But of course, you had to leave one last note.

Dear Grant,

I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable. I was just hoping for a friendly coffee, no pressure. I never intended to scare you away. I hope everything is okay. If you ever want to talk again, I'll be here.

–Y/N

~

Steve had the overwhelming urge to knock on your door when he heard you were sick. But he decided against rushing it and wanted to give you space to do something special. So, he'd handpicked everything carefully, knowing how much you loved bread and, of course, how you couldn't go a day without your coffee.

Adorable coffee addict. His adorable coffee addict!

He'd gone to those charming home stores, browsed the shelves until he found the perfect items, and packed them carefully. He left the basket right before your door, hoping it might brighten your day.

Steve waited to get home that afternoon to see if you liked his little surprise. But before that, they'd received intel about Vibranium smuggling--another mission to handle, and fast. Wakanda was now their ally, and the task was critical. But as the minutes ticked by, Steve was frustrated by one thought: He should've gotten your number.

"Damnit!" He groaned, hitting the wall in frustration as he picked his suit to head to the jet, helpless, caught in a situation where he couldn't reach you.

Hopefully, the mission would be over quickly, he thought, but boy, it stretched. It was nearly twelve days when the jet touched the compound, and when the debriefing was finally over, Steve rushed out of the room as if his life depended on it.

He knew you wouldn't be home yet, but he couldn't wait any longer. He sprinted down the hall, narrowly missing Mrs. Reindell, who would've had a heart attack if she saw him tearing through the building like that.

Without hesitation, he unlocked his door, rushing in, only to stop dead when his eyes landed on the few notes on the mat.

He picked them up, his heart sinking with every word. As he read, the weight of realization settled over him. You had written to him and signed your name instead of Fiore. Panic rose as it hit him like a ton of grenades. Did you think he'd intentionally avoided you?

Son of a bitch! He grunted. The timing of everything was so immaculately against him.

Quickly rushing out, he knocked on your door, calling out your name, but he heard nothing.

No. No. No. He was the biggest punk in the world. He should've asked for your number.

Determined to fix it, he called Nat, the teasing and the repercussions be damned.

"I need a favor," he said, his voice tense.

"What's up?" Nat's voice crackled through, and the background noise indicated she was still at the compound.

"Can you give me my neighbor's number if I give her name?"

"Whoa, wait… who's this 'her'?" Nat chuckled, clearly amused by his newfound interest in a girl. "Come on, spill."

"Nat, please, I'll explain later, just…"

"Alright, alright," she teased, noting your name. Within a few minutes, he heard a chuckle. "She's gorgeous, Steve! A professor? Wow, quite a catch. Out of your league, maybe? Is she why you were so cranky during the mission?" Nat asked.

Steve absorbed the information in a daze. You were a professor. He grinned, trying to picture you teaching, though his mind immediately flashed to the memory of you jumping onto the fire escape in that silly victory lap or when you tripped and fell flat on your ass.

"Sending you the number now. You better tell me everything later, or I'll whoop your ass," Nat said before cutting the call.

He immediately dialed, his heart hammering in his chest as he sat on the concrete railing by the stairs. The line rang and then went straight to voicemail. His shoulders sagged. Maybe he could leave a message?

He typed a quick 'Hi, this is Grant,' and hit send. No response.

He checked to see if your car was in its usual spot, but it wasn't there. Frustrated, he paced outside, hoping to catch you when you returned, praying you were okay.

~

Meanwhile, your car had broken down a few blocks away, and to make matters worse, you'd forgotten your phone charger at home.

Reluctantly, you started walking, but a creeping unease took hold when you passed an alley; a few men sitting on the corner caught your attention. Their glazed eyes and smug expressions didn't sit well with you. They looked stoned, most likely drunk.

You quickened your pace, silently praying you'd make it home without incident. But then, you heard footsteps behind you. The men had gotten up, following you. Your heart raced as you tried to walk faster, but they caught up in no time. They surrounded you, and panic rose in your chest.

5 vs 1. It was bad. You should probably start shouting now.

"Hey, we mean no harm," one sneered, reaching for your arm.

'Yeah, right!' you mumbled in fear.

Before you could react, a strong hand grabbed the man and tossed him aside like crumpled paper.

You froze, blinking, as you registered the tall, muscular figure standing between you and your attackers. It had happened so fast you could barely process it, but then you realized, standing there, looking down at you with fierce determination, was none other than Captain America.

He didn't waste any time. He took down the other men fluidly, his fury palpable in every strike. Your breath hitched as your mind struggled to keep up with the chaos around you. Your hands gripped your backpack straps in a death grip.

Captain America turned towards you.

The slight wind tousled his blond hair, a stray lock fell loose on his forehead, the loose, navy-blue jacket hung open, and the slight breeze revealed the plain white undershirt stretched across his chest. The fabric clung just enough to hint at the sculpted physique underneath, his broad shoulders and defined arms giving nothing away of his strength. Everything about him was so…so damn put together.

With a concern that jostled your senses, his gaze searched yours, softening his otherwise strong, chiseled features.

You could see the slight flush on his cheeks, probably from the fight, and his lips parted as if he were about to say something. But for a moment, he didn't. He just looked at you, and his Adam's apple bobbed when he swallowed as if struggling to figure out the right words.

"Are you alright?" he asked finally, his voice low and gentle.

In that fricking moment, it became hard to decide which was more overwhelming, the fact that you'd just met Captain America or that his piercing blue eyes searched yours with concern.

You could barely respond, still shaken. "I'm fine," you managed, nodding.

He stepped closer, his commanding tone softening as he spoke again. "Gimme the bag." His voice brooked no argument. You handed it over, too stunned to do much else.

"Breathe with me," he instructed, crouching in front of you and meeting your gaze. He held you steady, his presence anchoring you. You did as he said, the panic gradually receding.

A full minute passed before he spoke again, his eyes searching for any sign of distress. "You're okay now, right?"

"I'm fine now, thank you…Captain…I mean, sir," you whispered. What the hell should you call him?

"Steve is fine," He chuckled, a soft, reassuring curve of his lips, though his concern lingered.

"You sure you're okay?" His voice was soothing. You couldn't speak if you tried, so you resorted to nodding.

"Good," he spoke after a long minute of complete silence, just observing you, and you flushed under his gaze, your heart still beating out of your chest.

"I'm sorry," he said suddenly, and you looked at him, confused. "I couldn't come for the coffee. They called me on a mission... and I'm just getting back..."

Your brain struggled to absorb the words. "Huh?" was all you could manage.

"Nice to finally meet you, Agent Fiore," he said, a playful chuckle escaping his unbelievably pink lips.

Your heart dropped, and the panic he'd just helped you through flared up again, and this time like a tsunami. You took a few steps back, and your breath came out in gasps.

"Okay… I think you need to sit down," he said, his tone suddenly more serious. "Sorry, I didn't know how else to break it to you. I thought maybe I'd walk you home first, but then I saw you, and... I couldn't help it."

You were frozen, staring at him, your mind still reeling. "Wh...what?" you stammered as he gently helped you sit on the steps of a nearby store.

He squatted down in front of you, flashing that irresistible smile. "Hi. Steven Grant Rogers, your next-door neighbor."

It hit you like a freight train.

Shit! Shit! Shit! No!

Captain America was Grant--the man you'd been teasing and sassing all this time. The man who just saved your ass. And now, here he was, telling you... this?

"Oh my god, I think I'm gonna be sick," you muttered, holding your head.

Grant… Captain America is Grant.

Shit. Shit. Shit. Nuh-uh! It just can't be.

"Are you okay? Are you…angry? I'm… I'm really sorry to…" His voice was soft, concerned.

You glared at him, your mind still trying to wrap around this reality. "Shhh... just give me a second," you hissed. His sudden confession had thrown you into complete confusion.

"Okay... I'm sorry," he chuckled, now looking guilty, still squatting in front of you, his fingers gently caressing your knees.

Your heart raced as you processed what was happening. You were sitting here with Captain America, your neighbor.

Realizing you just shushed him after he saved you, you quickly apologized, "I'm sorry…" you muttered, feeling guilty and betrayed, and everything in between.

"Thank you for saving me," you whispered, still grappling through the aftershocks of the grand revelation.

He nodded, his expression softening. "Do you want to head home? We can talk there. It's getting cold."

You nodded mutely, and with a grin, he stood to his full height. With a gentle, reassuring grip, he helped you to your feet, his strength steadying you as he lifted you with ease.

Just like that, your evening and your entire fucking life had taken a very unexpected turn.

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[jonathanbiers]

thinking thoughts about avoidant attachment steve (because try and tell me he isn't, with THOSE parents? get out) getting scared when he realizes he's in love with eddie because being in love is scary and hasn't gone well for him in the past. he's always been the one who loves harder, he's always been the one who puts others first, and never had someone do the same for him. now that he and eddie feel like they're on equal footing, he's fucking terrified of having that ripped out from under him. so, subconsciously he starts pulling away because when he's gonna get hurt he might as well be prepared for it, try and at least put up some walls so that when eddie breaks his heart he won't just be standing there obviously crushed like, y'know, the last time.

cut to eddie thinking he's done something terribly wrong because his previously sweet and warm and cuddly bordering on clingy steve is suddenly being so quiet and so distant, not really initiating any of the touches he usually does. he's not pulling away but he's definitely not doing that (annoying, but insufferably adorable) thing where he pointedly removes eddie's guitar from his lap to sit there himself and demand attention anymore. and yeah, eddie would always roll his eyes and sigh loudly at first, but he loves giving steve his undivided attention. he misses those moments already and it's only been like this for a week.

so, he confronts him about it. he tries to do so carefully, because he doesn't know what he did wrong and he thinks maybe it should be obvious or whatever. he's preparing for an, "are you serious, i really have to tell you?" but maybe he's a bit too vague about it because steve just looks like a deer caught in headlights for a second before his face goes cold, blank.

and steve's thinking this is it, this is eddie about to rip off the bandaid, and he's obviously trying to go about it gently and there's a tilt to his eyebrows that says he feels bad about it, so steve might as well just go and do it for him, y'know? says it's fine, he'll leave if eddie wants him to, and he's got his hand on the doorknob before eddie can say anything. completely misses the confused look on his face.

and eddie has to just about chase him out the door before he can reach his car because steve doesn't seem to be hearing when he's calling after him that what the fuck, no he doesn't want steve to leave, he's in– but he stops himself from saying that, because something is clearly upsetting steve and it's got to be his fault and now's not the fucking time. but he does manage to get his hand on the window of steve's car door before he can get in, hold it closed so that steve will finally look at him. so he can ask steve to please talk to him.

and you can imagine eddie's confusion and then shock when steve just starts mumbling (actually mumbling which is so out of place for him because he hates when others mumble to him, because he can't fucking hear) and he keeps cutting himself off mid-sentence and starting over and he won't look at eddie at all and this is all so out of character for steve, until eddie finally manages to piece together some of the abandoned sentence fragments into something that's starting to sound a lot like steve thinking eddie's going to get sick of him sooner or later, or sick of his bullshit (the look steve gets on his face on this word suggests there is more under the surface here, but again now is not the time) so eddie should just get it over with and that it's okay. but steve isn't looking like he actually thinks it's okay, in fact he's looking like he's trying so hard not to cry.

so, speechless for maybe the first time in his life, eddie just pulls steve into the tightest hug he can. hugs him until he stops his rambling, keeps hugging him until he feels steve's arms wrap loosely around his waist. only when he finds the words again does he pull back, doesn't even let go really, just moves one of his hands to steve's chin, makes him look at him.

"i'm not going to get tired of you, steve," he says, "i love you. i'm in love with you."

but steve doesn't look relieved or happy to hear it, not at first. no, he looks like he doesn't believe it, which is confirmed when he says, "don't say it if you don't mean it. i can't- i can't do that again."

and doesn't that just break eddie's heart into a bunch of little pieces, because here's possibly the best, most caring, bravest person he's ever met and yeah, maybe he acts a little bitchy sometimes but he's got a heart full of love for those around him. here he is, seeming utterly convinced that he's not going to receive that love in return. seeming like he's been shown time and time again he's never going to receive in return the level of love he puts out.

eddie's determined to show him otherwise, though, and he starts by repeating himself; in between soft, slow kisses at first (thankfully it's night time, and no nosy neighbors in sight) but the kisses get lighter and start to travel all over steve's face and by the time eddie's kissing the little space between his eyebrows, steve's smiling, he's actually kind of laughing. it's a nervous, i'm-not-convinced-this-is-real laugh, but it's there and eddie wants to hear more of that laugh and less of the sad, defeated mumbling he was doing earlier so he brings steve back inside where it's warm and he takes his time pressing kisses all over steve and telling him every single reason he loves him. he knows off the top of his head because he actually made a list of them all, he was trying to write a song about it, was planning on dropping the big L word with a grandiose gesture of flowers and candles and his acoustic guitar before steve started pulling away from him. oh well, he thinks he has some candles stashed away somewhere anyway.