Hey all! I was lucky enough to collaborate with the awesome Crematosis on this season’s Captain America Big Bang. She wrote a wonderful Ace!Bruce story, and I’ve made moodboards for it. Hope you’ll enjoy it!
Two of a Kind, by Crematosis
Rating: T
Tags: No Archive Warnings Apply, Modern au, No powers au, asexual characters
Summary: Bruce's love life is a disaster and he's almost ready to give up on dating altogether. But Tony convinces him to give it one last try.
*
And here are the moodboards:
1. “Just as Bruce was settling in with a show on forensic science, the front door to their apartment banged open and Tony walked in, dramatically kicking off his shoes. “Jesus, what a day. This calls for some scotch.” He paused in the middle of loosening his tie and frowned at Bruce. “Shouldn’t you be getting ready for your date with Allison?”
“Abigail,” Bruce said with a sigh. “And there isn’t going to be a date. She broke up with me because I can’t get reservations for Masa tonight.””
The rest (4 more moodboards, woo-hoo!) is under the cut! (If you want the story to be a surprise.)
2. Tony is eager to help his friend finding a partner. Sadly, Tony’s many friends are... not really... a good fit for a shy, introverted scientist like Bruce. Which means lots of dates going south quickly.
“After two months of going out with a different woman each night, Bruce was tired and discouraged and the dates seemed to be going worse and worse. He felt further away from ever having a long-term girlfriend than when Abigail had broken up with him.”
3. Tony insists Natasha is the girl perfect for him. Bruce is skeptical, but he agrees on one last date - if Tony promises that no more will follow.
“She took his hand with a smile and slid into her seat. “Well, this is nice. When I heard you were friends with Stark, I wasn’t sure what to expect. Some ridiculous pickup line, probably.”
Bruce winced. “First of all, I’d like to apologize for whatever crass and inappropriate comments he made to you because I know he won’t. I swear, he’s not a bad guy, he just doesn’t always think before he opens his mouth.”
She waved him off. “I’ve heard worse. And he certainly handled rejection well. I’ve never seen anyone so excited to be turned down before.””
4. The date continues, and it goes wonderful...
“She grimaced and wrinkled her nose. “That’s not my fault. There is just way too much whipped cream on this thing.”
“I don’t know. I think it takes a special kind of talent to get it way up on your nose.”
“No, it doesn’t.” She dabbed a small bit of cream on his nose. “See? Easy.”
His eyes narrowed. “Oh, is that how it is?” He reached over to smear a line down her cheek.
Natasha chuckled darkly. “Oh, now you’ve done it. This means war.”
Bruce had never participated in any food fights in elementary or high school. He was far too serious a student and too worried about the possibility of getting in trouble. But if this was how those fights had been in school, then he had clearly been missing out.”
5. Two years later...
“Not for the first time, he wished they had eloped after all. He couldn’t wait to be a married man and spend the rest of his life with Natasha, but actually getting married was more stressful than he had expected.
(...)
She was so beautiful in her strapless, cream-colored gown, her hair long and free flowing over her shoulders, and her smile blindingly radiant.
Bruce forgot to be nervous.
He didn’t pay attention to most of the ceremony. He focused on Natasha and his body went along on autopilot. Somehow he stayed upright and conscious, said all the right words at the right time, and when the minister pronounced them husband and wife, he leaned in for a gentle, chaste kiss.”
YOU KNOW WHAT ELSE I love about your ace!Nat cuddling the hell out of sub!Bucky headcanon? That Nat could get SO MUCH out of it, like, she didn't know what skin hunger really meant until it was gone, until she was curling around Bucky, skin-to-skin and giving him what he was asking for, and realized what she was feeling was the endorphin rush of all that TOUCH that was safe, that was loving, that that easing of a tension she didn't know she was carrying was what Bucky was gifting to her.
oh my GOD THIS IS SO PERFECTTTT
I LOVE THE IDEA of both of them being totally touch-starved (BECAUSE THEY SO ARE) and mutually discovering that touch is a thing that humans need and a thing that can feel good and soothing even when it’s non-sexual.
I actually have a HUGE thing about Nat getting a lot of comfort from splaying out on top of something warm and solid (kinda like a lizard on a sunny rock lol). Bucky, on the other hand, tends to really like a solid, warm weight on top of him. (He uses FUBAR for DPT all the time.) Nat likes the full-body contact of lying on top of Bucky but also likes that she can breathe normally and is still kind of open. Bucky likes being pinned because it helps ground him and remind him where he is. So I always picture a lot of Buckynat cuddles involving Bucky lying flat on his back or his belly and Nat lying directly on top of him.
Sometimes they’ll be in different moods and flip and do it the other way around (because Bucky likes to lie his head on Nat’s chest and hear/feel her heartbeat and lbr boobs are the best possible pillows let’s not kid ourselves and Nat acknowledges that yeah sometimes it feels really good to have the reassuring weight of like 200 lbs of muscle on top of you!)
BASICALLY they’re kind of the ultimate pair for mutual soothing.
I know u dont post much of Hawkeye but what do u think about asexual clint??? And possibly asexual blackwidow
I AM HERE FOR ACE!CLINT (full disclosure: I really don’t know much about him as a character)
and if you scroll down my blog a lil (maybe 2-4 pages back? Sorry I’m on mobile – also check my tag “ace!nat”) I was JUST talking about ace!nat earlier tonight!!! Ace!Nat is ABSOLUTELY my headcanon!
you headcanon Natasha as sex-repulsed ace?! yess you're my fave!!!
I actually headcanon her as a non-sex-repulsed ace, but yes, ace!Nat is my JAMMM
(it’s just as a pansexual i feel like i need to do my due diligence and make sure i’m reading what aces have to say about being ace in general before i form any headcanons, thus the tag on that thing i reblogged)
(I have a lot of Emotions about D/s buckynat where Domme!Nat is ace and sub!Bucky is pansexual. Like she is great at dominating him in non-sexual ways and making him feel safe and loved and in control but also sometimes he needs to be dominated sexually and Nat is THE MOST CLEVER AND RESOURCEFUL person in the history of humanity and has zero trouble making sure her beefy sub feels taken care of without pushing her own limits and comfort)
