#or how he was the one who traumatized her in order to trigger her dimension-jumping powers

[lastthroes]

i have already posted other parts of it before but this whole scene will truly remain in my head forever

[saundraswriting]

Interior Design Chapter 4: Accept

SUMMARY:You official declare your acceptance of the job for the Avengers, knowing it will be the biggest one you will ever work on. You start right away.

WARNINGS: None

NOTES: This is an everyone lives/no one dies, Living in the compound, Non Civil War compliant, No Sokovian Accords AU.

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"Oh my god. That was so fucking stupid." You facepalm. "You meet Sargent Barnes and that is what you say. Then recommend a houseplant." You smack your forehead again.

"Are you quite done?" Tony leaned against the wall arms crossed, eyebrows raised, a small smile hovering on his lips. You had dragged him down a ways to be out of sight from the others while you panicked.

"Mr. Stark! No, I am not done. I think I need to go. Right now." You sighed, leaning against the opposite wall, gently thumping your head on the wall.

Tony dropped his amusement very quickly, straightening. "Let me tell you something. That is the first time someone has touched Barnes in weeks. I have never seen someone hug him. Only Steve has been able to touch him, and even he has to ask to not startle him." Tony told you.

"You're right! I didn't ask. How rude and improper of me. I didn't trigger him did I?" Tony's words did not reassure you like he hoped, actually pushing you closer to true panic. You pushed off the wall turning to head back towards the kitchen. Tony threw an arm out stopping your progress. Youi looked at him, eyes wide and unfocused, cheeks flushed.

"Wait. Hold on. Listen to me, Ms. Psych-Minor-lady. A severely traumatized dangerous man let you in close enough to hug him. He was crying, yes but-" Tony was trying to calm you down. You felt terrible, a off the street civilian thinking you were entitled enough to just touch him and prattle on about what is best for him. Tony could see what you were feeling on your face.

"Crying?!? You yelped. "I made him cry??"

"But he was smiling too. You did good, kid. Also that plant idea was solid. Now let me show you to your room? I have your stuff in a guest room right now but that will be moved in a minute. I will give you a room here and an office on the business section as well. Now, the only empty room is in the hallway with Steve, Sam, Bucky and Shuri." Tony smiled at you trying to relax you. You peered at him suspiciously.

"I didn't do anything bad? I just...I don't know everything that has happened lately but what bit I do know just pulls on my heartstrings. I felt he needed some unbiased comfort. I would certainly want a hug after everything too." You wrapped your arms around yourself, shrinking in, still nervous you had overstepped a line. Then the rest of Tony's words registered. "Your giving me a room? That seems weird."

Tony laughed and puled you into a side-hug. "Kid, I have had my eye on you for a while. You are part of this team, especially if you have to deal with all our bullshit. But to get back on track. You aren't wrong about Barnes. We've all been treating him with kid gloves, wondering what little thing we say or do will push him over the edge. In a minute of meeting him, you showed everyone he is still human-one who has been very hurt and is still struggling to deal with it. He needs our support, not alienation."

"He looked so sad and tired, alone. I know what it is like to be alone, to have your family pull away when they should be there for you." You leaned into Tony for a moment, appreciating the hug for the offered comfort. "Now, Mr. Stark. How about you show me a room that I will be working on? I would love to see some visuals." You tried to change the subject to get away from your botched first impression with Sargent Barnes.

Tony nodded, accepting the subject change with grace. Tony and you came upon a room and he asked F.R.I.D.A.Y to open it. "!2 of these rooms including yours included. There are 8 that are for our more frequent flyers and Very Important Powerful Beings." The two of you entered, you stepping deeper into the room to look at the dimensions. "Several of the VIPB are people like King T'Challa of Wakanda or the Black Panther and Colonel Carol Danvers goes by Captain Marvel among others, Ant-Man and his friend The Wasp like to stop by a lot."

"Scott Lang? Hope Van Dyne?" You turned to ask. Tony was surprised. "I respect Hope for trying to help her dad undercover at the Lab and Scott is doing his best. He likes to put smiles on people's faces. He is good about being good." You explained. "This rooms are great. Spacious with lot of natural light. You also didn't limit options, the room can be oriented in any direction." You paced the room, using your arms as a measuring guide. "I will need to plan extensively with the full-time residents. I will need some serious backgrounds on the others. I wouldn't want them to be unhappy upon arrival. I will need to speak to someone about how to make a room fit for a king and princess." You mumbled to yourself continuing to walk around the room. Tony watched with a proud look, like a parent giving their child a present they love.

"Glad to see you enjoying yourself. We'll be getting dinner here shortly. We eat together and usually watch movies afterwards." Tony was speaking to you while leading you back to the kitchen by the elbow. He could relate to the distant look in your eye. He knew you weren't listening, too busy thinking and planning. He led you to the edge of the hallway and you stopped.

"Mr. Stark." You interrupted the man. He smiled knowingly. "I accept your offer. I am honored to work for you. I do have some small current projects but I should finish them quickly to give my full attention to this."

"That is exactly why I wanted to stay here. You will be able to balance everything easier. I don't want to take away from your inner city clients. Now dinner tonight is Chinese. What do you want?" You gave Tony your Chinese order, the two of you moving forward once more.

You sat down at the large kitchen table, propping up your tablet and opening your laptop. The design app you used had the update blueprints and layouts like Tony promised. He huffed a small laugh. "I will leave you to it for a while. See you later, Y/N." Tony left, you mumming distractedly.

You decided to start a fresh page of notes to work with the labeled blueprints F.R.I.D.A.Y installed for you. You build a list of the basic of what everyone would need, knowing that is where their personal taste came into play. You listed some style motifs and examples to help with the planning.

An hour later and you were clawing at your hair. 'How do I make individual room layouts open to change without doing, undoing and redoing all the work over and over until they like it?' You were obnoxiously tapping a pen against the table while you thought, you were staring at the kitchen zoned out when it hit you. "Magnets! I make a magnet image board. I use the specs of one room and the basics into magnets and then I can make their personal choices magnets to be movable!" You smacked the table energetically. You began frantically scribbling and searching for custom magnets. You figured that a decent sized board with a grid would be best, you can make your own with pictures and plain lightweight magnets. "I am going to need so many samples." You muttered.

"Hey, you ready for a break? Chinese will be here soon. As will some of the others you haven't met yet." Tony chimed from next to you. "You've been at it for like two hours now. I have been waiting for you to come up for air for a while now."

"I am a bit of a workaholic. Sorry. You have to be forceful to get my attention when I am in the zone." You apologized sheepishly. "This is very large undertaking, I wanted to get some thought in order before I got started." Tony waved off your apology and moved to the couch where Steve was already sitting.

The sight of him on the couch made another thought cross your mind. You left the mess on the table and walked quickly to the living room. You peered closely at the sectional in front of you. "Reinforced furniture." You commented. Captain Rogers and Tony looked at you in confusion. "Captain Rogers, can I borrow you for a moment?" You asked. He nodded and they both stood up. "I need you to lift this couch please."

"Um, sure." The good captain did just as you asked and you got down on the floor and looked underneath. Nodding a few time you got back up, "Thank you for the assist. You may put it back."

You went back over to your notes and began muttering and scribbling. "Thicker wood frames, metal brackets at joints, some metal supports?"

"You are...very welcome...Y/N." Steve and Tony looked no less confused.

"I will admit to being more confused than before." Dr. Banner spoke from next to Tony. You looked up at the new voices freezing at who you saw.

"Oh my god. #sciencebros." You breathed. "Dr. Banner, an honor to meet you." You spoke louder, coming up to shake his hand. "I needed to see the wear and tear on the everyday furniture. The frames need reinforced." The three men ah'ed in understanding. Any further explanation was interrupted by Clint and Natasha coming in arms fully loaded with bags.

"We come bearing gifts! Everyone ready to eat?" The four of you jumped to help, you scrambling to put away your stuff and get out of the way.

Moments later the Avengers that were there had settled to eat. You sat across from a silver-haired younger man, who sat on the left of a beautiful Burnette who had a man with red skin on her right. Clint. Sam, Steve, Bucky, Tony, and Natasha then filled the rest of the seats. You were trying to gather your courage to introduce yourself when the red skinned man spoke to you first.

"Hello there, Ms. L/N. I don't think we have been fully introduced." His smooth British voice eased your nerves slightly but also caught the attention of everyone at the table.

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Okay, here we go...time to get to the good stuff. Anybody want tagged? What are we thinking?