#literally no reason not to!!!! you cant fucking sleep without the heating pad and over time thags not good for you my liege!!!

[iron-sides]

stares at massage pricing. stares at my wallet. i can afford it cash and without straining my present finances or future savings. HOWEVER! What If

[brightengale]

Movie Night

@deadpoolxandxfriends I was struck with this idea last night and intended to just outline it but then basically ended up writing most of it. Cant focus on work so cleaned it up a bit this morning. Wanted to add even more context but don’t wanna force it so hope you like how it is! Love you babe! 

She’d brought her laptop, booting it up while Steve makes room on the standard springform twin mattress for her. Her own has a thick foam topper, rendering it something halfway comfortable for relaxing and sleep. For not the first time Alison makes a mental note to find a reason to gift Steve one. Maybe this time she’ll actually remember when she leaves. 

His bed is pressed into a corner, as many students do to utilize the most of cramped hovels masquerading as rooms. To make room for Alison Steve flushes his side with the wall while sitting upright, pillow offering some cushion between his back and the other wall that doubles as headboard. Alison is slid down beside him. Head resting against his narrow chest, one arm tucked beneath her as the other fiddles with her laptop which sits atop his thighs. Her own legs are nestled against his own beneath his comforter. 

Steve is wearing a sweatshirt sweatpants combo as extra armor against the chilly evening. Even with the heat turned up there’s a draft from the windows near the beds. 

The ensemble is something he is simultaneously grateful for and cursing as soon as Alison snuggles close to him. As if she belongs there. Which he would never question. She can belong there if she wants. If she never wanted him to move again, just stay there and be her living teddy bear he’d do it without protest. It’s not like this is something new. Not entirely. She’s crawled on his bed to do homework. Even watch movies movies like this before. But not like this. Those other times she hadn’t melded herself to his body. 

Again, he’s not complaining. Really he isn’t. It’s just, as soon as she settled in this position his heart rate skyrocketed. Sweat broke out all over his body. Which is where the grateful bit of his outfit choice comes in. It would be a while before he completely sweat through and Alison noticed. Hopefully. He could make it to the credits before needing to make a dash to the bathroom and compose himself. Maybe. 

“Are you ok?”

Alison’s soft question jolted Steve out of his racing thoughts. “Uh, what? Yeah…yeah I’m fine, whaddya mean?” Ali’s brows knitted, eyes narrowing and nose scrunching up in a way that really shouldn’t have been as cute as it was. Especially since it heralded her calling someone out on their bullshit. Calling him out on his bullshit.

Her hand left the keyboard to lay gently over Steve’s chest. “I can literally hear and feel your heart racing. You sure you’re ok? Are you sick and not telling me Steve? If you need to rest I can go." 

Ah. Of course. His traitorous body always getting in the way. Steve willed himself to take a couple deep calming breaths. The pause made Alison rise up on the arm tucked beneath herself, pulling away from him. He had one thin arm draped around her back-because where else would he put it with her glued to his side!-palm awkwardly hovering a couple inches from her back. Inches minimized to zero when she pulled away, back pressing against his palm. Come on Stevie get it together before she leaves. Bucky’s phantom voice coached from the sidelines of Steve’s subconscious.  

"Not sick, just…” he stumbled over his words as Alison’s bright blue eyes bore into him. Earnestly searching for the truth because she knew his propensity for shrugging off the severity of his ailments. “Just a little hot is all. It’s hotter in here with you.” Bucky could have played that off as a line that would’ve made most people blush. Steve realized his delivery missed the mark when Ali didn’t smile. 

“Oh.” Her worry appeased, Alison’s expression remained pensive as she considered the role she’d played in his discomfort. “Sorry. I didn’t mean to crowd you so much. I-,” she was about to start in on a ramble of how she was just feeling lonely lately and needed to be held but tamped down on those floodgates before she made a fool of herself. “I can scootch over." 

"Wait, no. It’s ok.” His voice sounded panicked to his own less than stellar hearing as Steve found himself scrambling to fix the moment he’d just ruined. “Uh, I’ll just take off this sweatshirt. You can stay where you are." 

Rushing to maneuver out of the thick fabric swamping his body Steve completely miscalculated the space between them. Resulting in one of his elbows clocking Alison right under the chin. Luckily, the padded sweatshirt softened the blow from the pointer jab it could’ve been if his arm had been bare. Unluckily, Alison had been about to say something which culminated in her biting her tongue on impact. 

She shot up into a sitting position. Alternating between sticking out her tongue and pressing it to the roof of her mouth in an attempt to alleviate the pain. 

"Fuck! I’m so sorry Ali!” Bucky wasn’t coaching from his subconscious anymore. Obviously second hand embarrassment affected phantoms too. If Steve wasn’t so occupied by heaping apologies onto Alison the first hand embarrassment probably would’ve lead to an asthma attack. “I’m so sorry. Are you ok? Can I get you something? Is it bad? Are you bleeding?”

Alison lifted a hand to Steve’s chest once more. Her other hand covering her mouth as if that could somehow shield her poor tongue from more pain. Extracting herself from the comforter Ali padded on sock clad feet to the bathroom shared with the room next door. No blood. Just mortifying embarrassment coloring her cheeks in the mirror and a pain that was slowly ebbing.

Steve remained in his bed. Completely lost for what to do until Alison returned to the room. She stopped a few feet from the bed, hands held palms out in a defensive position.

“Ok. I’m out of the danger zone.” Her hands stayed palms out while gesturing toward his bed in wide circles. “Now, remove the sweatshirt slowly so no one else gets hurt.” A broad grin settled across her face. There was still a dull throbbing ache in her tongue but she ignored it. 

“Ha. Ha.” Steve huffed out sarcastically as he swallowed down residual embarrassment. Allowing a whole new wave of embarrassment to crash in as he carefully removed the sweatshirt while Alison watched. A bright flush crept up his neck to spark color in his usually pale cheeks. Only minutes before this course of action had seemed so casual. A means to an end to get her to remain cuddled to his side. Now with Alison completely out of the bed standing at least three feet away the action felt somehow exceptionally intimate. 

The removal of his sweatshirt left Steve’s short golden hair tousled. Coupled with the blazing scarlet beaming from his face, eyes downcast, plain white tee two sizes too big draping off his form made for an impressively sweet picture. Alison’s playful grin evolved into something more tender. She wished she could snap a photo but there wouldn’t be enough time. A soft sigh escaping her lips as she committed the image to memory as best she could.

Steve tucked the hoodie between himself and the wall, eyes sweeping up to Alison who was still standing off to the side staring at him. A fresh flush blistered his cheeks. “What?” 

“Nothing.” Alison shook her head slightly side to side as she crawled back under the comforter with him. 

“Sure your head’s ok?” He fell back on attempting to make a joke to break the awkwardness he was drowning in. 

“Pssh. Just warn me of any sudden movements this time, Mike Tyson.” Alison snuggled back in close, able to feel Steve more solidly against her body without the wealth of fabric masking his form. 

Steve’s arm draped around her back, fingers cautiously curling lightly over her side. “Yeah yeah, start the movie would ya?” Ali clicked the enter button and rested that hand over his stomach as she settled comfortably against him. 

Relaxation for Steve remained more elusive. His breaths rattled shallowly in his throat. Scared to take deeper breaths for fear of jostling her head too much. He was used to having Ali’s head rest against his shoulder, not his chest. It was a lot to handle. Eventually the smell of Alison’s shampoo and the idle strum of her thumb over his stomach eased him enough. His breaths syncing up with her own.  

When Alison had shown up at Steve’s room it had already been late into the evening. By the time the movie finished it was just shy of midnight. Bucky crept into the room, attempting to be considerate in the off chance Steve was beating the insomnia tonight. He pulled up short when he saw Steve and Alison cuddled on Steve’s bed. The comforter was pulled up high, tucked under Alison’s chin. Whatever they had been watching on the laptop had since stopped but a stream of light played across their features as Alison’s screensaver scrolled. Swiftly Buck pulled his phone from his jacket pocket, snapping a picture and shooting it off to Natasha. 

[text: Light of my life 😍💞💖 ] Look what I found.

[text: James 🥰 ] Finally confessed their feelings?

[text: Light of my life 😍💞💖 ] Doubt it.

[text: James 🥰 ] You should leave them and come back to my room.

[text: James 🥰 ] Roommate isn’t coming back tonight.

[text: Light of my life 😍💞💖 ] B ther n 5!!!

Bucky turned on his heels to head back out. Completely intending to interrogate Steve the next day.