Steve is always in a state of awe whenever he is in her presence. And in the beginning, it was just the warmth she brought to his chest with her words, the smiles that touched his mouth from peering down at her and watching her speak about anything and everything. He found her thoughts and emotions intriguing, refreshing, a blessing away from the life he’d always known. Strife. Grief. Loss. A constant battle with the world and an internal one with himself when he realized he wouldn’t always be Captain America- and then she’d call him by that nickname, a hero, her hero, and then he thinks that it doesn’t matter that he’ll eventually have to put the shield down and the mask away and settle for something else.
He wasn’t sure what that something else was, but he didn’t think it would be peering down at Minyoung, and wondering how he could shift without waking her from her precarious position against him, cheek carefully resting against his shoulder with the light of the television giving her face a glow. Min’s jaw is slack, no more worry or sorrow in the arch of her brow or the set of her eyes, no more hint of… sadness. He’d seen it a few times, but only because he’d seen the same look so many times before reflected back at him through a mirror. Her hair is splayed out a bit against him and he carefully reaches over to brush it back, a ghost of touch so as not to wake her because he didn’t have the heart to. She looked exhausted earlier while they prepared the sushi, their conversations always soft-spoken (but his laughs are much louder than he means them to be), but he didn’t think she’d fall asleep so soon.
Still, she deserved the rest and who was he to deny her his sturdy shoulder?
The gentle movement of a hand against his bare back brings the super soldier out of his sleep with a start, his blue eyes fluttering open sleepily as the warmth behind him began to move against his back. It only takes a moment of assessment for him to realize that not only is he in the confines of his room, but there’s someone beside him, someone small, someone extremely warm. Steve’s brows furrow and he’s not sure if this is a dream or reality, but he slowly turns over in the covers, a bit intimidated by whatever it is he’ll find; he wasn’t expecting to come face to face with a still dozing Minkyung wrapped up in his dark blue sheets with one of the most vulnerable expressions on her face. He doesn’t understand the context or how or why- but does it matter?
In her sleep, she shifts towards his heat to find safety from the cold coming in and Steve does nothing but invite her close into the haven of his arms, carefully clutching onto her and letting her head rest against his bare chest. As bizarre as it is, finding a woman in his bed, the fact that it is Minkyung makes it both nerve wrecking and calming at the same time. Steve tries to think back to how this could be possible, but he’s growing blank. Glancing down at her and the way she fits into his grasp, his eyes graze over his hands and there is something resting on his ring finger that wasn’t there before. The wedding band is a not traditional gold or even silver, but a titanium black that he realizes is perfect.
His brain starts to mull over this as Min shifts slightly, her cheek rubbing against his shoulder gently as she mumbled under her breath. She’s getting restless as the sun takes its time to cast pale hues of blues and pinks and purples into the sky as it rose. And even if he doesn’t know how this is possible, Steve would be a fool to give up the chance to watch Minkyung wake up. It’s not like he hadn’t thought of it before. What does she look like when she first opens her eyes? What does she think about? She’s probably pretty then, too-
But she always is. It’s a tiny confession he can admit to as her eyes finally flutter open with the rising sun, the tiny smile that parts her lips like see a whole new world. His question is answered a thousand fold, she’s beautiful when she wakes up in the morning. Her eyes find him and the way he stares at her, he can’t tell what she sees in him.
“Why do you always watch me when I’m sleeping, Silly?” Her question is a tease that makes his cheeks flush and a quiet cough of embarrassment to leave him. If this is real and he does this, he’s such a dork.
“I- ah-” He can’t compute how all of this real, really real. Had Tony had a hand in some kind of simulation- no. She’s real and here and warm and alive. “I don’t watch you sleep.” His reply is weak in response but it’s the best he can muster with her smiling up at him as if he set the sun in the sky. She rests a soft kiss against his shoulder, so soft he can barely feel it, before drawing away with a little yawn.
“I wake up to you like this almost every other day. You should sleep more,” She gently chided as she drew away. The hero has always known what to do or had a plan but he feels like he’s going into this blind. Instead of responding, he watches her sit up in an oversized shirt and stretch out her lips above her head, a hum of satisfaction leaving her.
“Are we… married? Married-married?” He asked out of the blue, just to clarify that everything he’s feeling and seeing is really there and not a dream he’ll wake from. Arching a brow, Minkyung tilted her head to the side and lowered her arms, reaching out to show him the diamond-crusted ring that sat snuggly on her finger.
“Are you feeling alright, Steve? Did you get hurt yesterday?” Her concern is clear in her voice and on her face and Steve is quick to ease her worry.
“I’m fine, I promise. I guess.. I had a weird dream.” A dream where they weren’t married.
Steve is- for a lack of better words, nervous? And he knows that he has no right to be because it’s only Minkyung but in the same instance it’s her very essence that’s making a small twist in his stomach. But they’d made and broken these plans for two months, and his guilt at having to push back a mere movie outing was almost at its peak when he managed to return home from a mission early to surprise her. And the look of surprise, joy, relief that passed through her expressive eyes was enough for the soldier to internally strive to make the night as perfect as possible. She deserved to have his unending attention, even if only for a night. He was tired of always having to run off to another country or secret territory to do surveillance or worse, combat. But he could ignore all of that and simply try to stay focused on the present and how pretty Min looks in the early evening air.
Not that she doesn’t always look that way- Clearing his throat bashfully, the super soldier fought back the want to grin as he watched her pull her door closed and carefully lock up. Despite it being a mere friendly outing, Steve still wanted to look his best. It wasn’t every day that he was able to wear normal clothing outside of his battle suits or workout clothes. And so what if he took advantage of having a few fashionable people at his disposal. Calypso helped him pick out the perfect navy button up and comfortable black jeans. Look at him, wearing jeans was so far out of his comfort zone, but Steve thought why not?
“I have the tickets, hopefully, we can make it there with no trouble,” He mentioned as they began to stroll along. He was glad that the soft, grey cardigan wrapped around her tightly because there was a cold breeze in the air that he didn’t account for. They make comfortable conversation, catching up on each others lives like reading pages from an on-going book. He was happy that she still felt safe with him, still trusted in him and his ability to protect her at any cost. As they walk along, gradually they shift closer, a natural gravitation that Steve has no notice of until he can feel the warmth emanating from her small figure. If he had a jacket, he would have gladly draped it over her shoulders for extra warmth, but he does settle for the second best thing. He’s not truly thinking of what it may look like to pedestrians outside of their own little bubble, and truth be told, he doesn’t really care to. Carefully, his larger hand clasps onto her own small digits and he notes that it was a good idea because her hand is cold and that just won’t do.
Her pause of surprise almost made him feel guilty for not asking the way he usually would, but he couldn’t help the impulse to hold her hand. It causes a shift in dynamic and Steve ignores the warmth in his face and his chest when she gives his hand a small squeeze as they continued on they’re way, always close.
Even with the passage of time and distance, he knew that he’d always feel this good around her.
❛When can I see you again ?❜ { for steve bc i know it will hit us in the feels ~ }
And didn’t that just make his heart give a twinge? Steve is not used to the feeling of being missed. His team, he sees on an almost regular basis and even when they aren’t available, they have to keep in constant contact with the captain for updates on the progress of the mission or if reinforcements (like himself) were needed to complete the initiative. He’s not used to being missed, wholly, for the person he is instead of for what he does.
Minkyung is outside of what he is used to feeling. To know that she wanted to see him again, for whatever reason, to meet in the park or her home, to anything and everything or nothing at all… Steve could shed tears over a development like this (he wouldn’t because that would be even more embarrassing than the blush trying to plaster its way on onto his face at this very moment). He reached out to gently grasp onto the small female, pulling her in close to his chest and enveloping her in a hug tight enough to keep her in place, but not enough to hurt her.
“As soon as possible… I won’t be called in for a while.. so whenever you want to see me, I’ll be there.”
“I wish we could stay like this forever…” [ for steve ~ ]
“So do I,” The hero murmured softly, unable to hide the disappointment under the surface as he carefully ran a hand through her soft strands, half expecting to run the full length only to remember that her hair had been cut much shorter. He had adjusted to it fairly quickly, even finding it adorable in the way it framed her face, her bangs always falling in her eyes at one time or another. He always had this strange urge to brush them back, but something always stopped him every time.
He stopped trying to figure it out a long time ago when he realized he couldn’t be there as much as he wanted to be. There was always this strange sensation of happiness whenever she was around, even if others would consider what they do boring or mundane (Tony would, the jerk). But he liked the simplicity it what they have- of the camaraderie and friendship he found in her, someone who lived such a different life. He wished he could stay like this, with her, for as long as his heart desired, watching something as simple as a show dedicated to cooking. Something simple, relaxing, another day spent out of enemy fire and the dread filling him up from the upcoming trouble.
But… maybe he didn’t have to think about that now. Not with her leaning against him comfortably, not with her calm spreading through his very bones. No, he could stay like this longer, for her sake or for his, he wasn’t sure anymore.
Steve likes simple. It is a rarity in this modern day and age and despite popular belief, he isn’t as caught up as his teammates would assume. It’s difficult to swallow on some days, when the quiet reminds him of a little jazz tune and the obsolete fox trot in the back of his head, when he misses the sound of his mother’s voice after taking out the painstaking moments to find the right sequence with the rotary dial. Man out of time, they called him, a quiet sigh escaping his chest as he set aside the newly polished sketch. Man out of time, indeed. Pressing his pencil against a new, blank piece of sketching paper, Steve busied himself with his new project, the person sitting just across from him on the other side of the park, busy with a book of sorts and stock still.
