This is my NaNoRebel thing for 2023. I explain what it is here. The prompts are here.
FROM THE WEIRD ART NEWSLETTER:
Okay, so this in the entire story of the Faith Doritos saga as it presently stands:
HARDCORE releases their work Faith Doritos in cooperation with the Museum. It's a bag of Doritos that, if used as the host in a Catholic mass, will spontaneously transform into human flesh. This is based on some old Catholic copypasta. However, the spell only works if the mass is performed perfectly, including having to be presided by a currently practicing Catholic clergyman. Or rather, many bags, which you can buy at the Museum's gift shop. Religious critics take umbrage at the piece's heresy; non-religious critics take umbrage at how edgy it is but let it slide because it's hilarious.
Doritos sues the Museum. They are forced to change the piece's name to Faithoritos and they cannot use store-bought Doritos any more. HARDCORE has to redo the entire spell on thousands of bags. The Museum's head chef steps out and creates a Doritos replacement. Surprising, a five-star chef take on Doritos is absolutely delicious and much better than the real thing. Some people buy it just to eat despite it being incredibly expensive.
Years later, a group of "influencers" are the first to actually set up a complete Catholic mass using Faith Doritos Faithoritos as the host. They used a priest who suspected he would be expelled from the church. It was because of the cliché reason you're thinking of. The Faithorito fails to transform into flesh.
The influencers and some art collectors sue HARDCORE and The Museum, stating the piece was false advertisement. Some suggest that HARDCORE simply slipped up while recasting the spell because of the short timeframe. A different set of "influencers" somehow manage to set up a second mass using the original run of Faith Doritos and it works as advertised.
After a protracted trial, a thaumaturgical analyst discovers that the exact same spell had been cast on Faithoritos as on original Faith Doritos. However, part of the spell's checks to see if it's an actual Catholic mass included the material of the host. Apparently, store-bought Doritos have enough corn start in them that whatever source they used for the spell considers it bread. The Museum's chef's more elaborate recipee, however, was not. So the reason the Faithoritos didn't turn into human flesh is that it wasn't being used in a completely proper Catholic mass, and the reason it wasn't a completely proper Catholic mass is that it was using Faithoritos as a host.
This is the entire story, and that's all I have for you this week. This week's video is quite apt for the subject at hand. Be well, artwatchers.
I’m thinking of not just writing a new novel WIP but if I ever get stuck on that I think I also want to write a few blogs/op eds for a personal finance blog I really want to make. Things like “wtf is a roth ira?” And “wth makes up my credit score?” Or “why do I need a credit card?”
I’m gonna turn this into a series some day, I swear. There’s just only so much I can fit into a one-shot if I have to write it in one day.
Word count: 2738
Warnings: None
Pairing: Tony Stark X Reader
Picture is not mine, but it is of RDJ when he was five, so thank you, Google.
“Stop acting like a child, Tony. I’m busy.”
“But Y/N,” your boyfriend whined, tipping over and letting his head crash into your shoulder, “I’m so bored. JARVIS won’t let me into my lab.”
“If I may remind you, Sir,” the AI cut in, “the artifact you left in there is still letting off a strange smoke-like substance and the ventilation system in place for similar emergencies has not been able to remove all of it because it is out in the open. Allowing you to access your lab would go against every safety protocol you programmed for me.”
“My mistake,” Tony grumbled, rubbing his face into your neck in a manner not entirely unlike a cat.
You let your eyes flicker to him before looking back to your laptop. “Thank you, JARVIS, for keeping this idiot safe.”
“It’s my pleasure, Ms. Y/N.”
Tony let out a rather undignified whine. “I’m still bored here. Pay attention to me.”
You pulled your eyes away from your work and let them meet his as best they could for how close his face was to yours.
“You’re a grown man, Tony. Find something to do on your own. It’s your own fault I have to work anyway, pulling that stunt at the party last night. I swear, accepting the job of being your publicist is the worst decision I’ve ever made.”
“It got you a boyfriend,” he muttered into your shoulder. “That’s not so bad.”
“It is at the moment!” You let your full exasperation bleed into your voice. “Seriously, Tony, this isn’t something I can put off, and you’re just making it take longer! Come back in an hour, but until then find something to keep yourself occupied like the adult you’re supposed to be.”
With a huff, Tony pushed himself off the couch and sulked off towards his lab.
“JARVIS, if I wear a gas mask and safety suit can I go into my lab?”
“Once you are fully suited up, if there is no way the substance could reach you, then yes, I would let you back in.”
“Cool. Where’s that stuff stored?”
“At the present, Sir, you keep all of your safety gear in your lab.”
Tony groaned. “Not the smartest move on my part. Okay, what if I wore my suit? I’ve got a few models that aren’t in the lab, and one of them has a full air filtration system included.”
“That would be an acceptable substitute.”
“Awesome. Send it here, please.” Tony stepped into the suit once it arrived and slipped into the lab.
“Okay,” he said, more to himself than to JARVIS, “let’s get this thing contained.” It took a few minutes, but he got it enclosed in a box with a tube pumping the smoke directly into the ventilation system, allowing him to take the suit off and step into his lab.
“JARVIS, what’s the composition of the smoke?”
“According to preliminary analysis, it appears to be an alien compound of unknown elements in smoke form. Would you like to take a sample for further analysis?”
“Yes, I’ll get to that in a moment. What about the box itself?”
“It appears to be just that, Sir: a box. Enough of the compound has come out of it that it either produces it internally or, as seems more likely based on the fact it didn’t release anything until it was here, it is reacting to something in its surroundings. Perhaps a chemical response to something in the lab?”
“If that’s what’s causing it, it should stop soon now that it’s contained.”
“That would be a logical assumption, Sir.”
“All right.” Tony rubbed his hands together and headed for the safety gear he was not going to only keep in the lab from now on. “I’ll get suited up and take a sample. You’ve got all of that stuff in a containment tank?”
“Yes, Sir. I won’t dispose of it unless it is absolutely proven safe.”
Tony slipped into a biohazard suit and grabbed a couple of vials with stoppers before heading into the side room where the containment tank with the alien compound was located. He filled both vials from the tank, flipping on the ventilation when some of the smoke escaped into the room.
“Damn it,” he muttered as one of the vials slipped from his hand and shattered on the floor. He reached to pick up the stopper from the mess – no point in wasting that just because he needed a new vial – when a piece of glass caught the suit and ripped it open.
“JARVIS,” he said, realizing something was wrong, “I don’t feel so good…”
The last thing he registered before blacking out was the armor scooping him up and getting him out of that room.
----------
You shut your laptop with a sigh, glad to finally have your work done. You were about to get up to check on Tony when JARVIS requested your attention.
“Excuse me, Ms. Y/N, I hate to alarm you but something has happened to Sir. I’ve already contacted the Avengers. It will take them a few hours to get here from New York, but they are on their way.”
If the Avengers had already been contacted, this was not a “miss-stepped on the stairs” type happened. At least JARVIS hadn’t said he’d called an ambulance.
“What happened, JARVIS?” you asked, standing.
“Sir was in his lab when his biohazard suit was breached. The alien compound seems to have reverted him to a much younger age.”
You froze mid-step. “How much younger?”
“Sir appears to be around five years old.”
----------
You peeked through the windowed wall of the lab to see a tiny, naked, squirming brunet sitting on one of Tony’s workbenches. He was pressing an oxygen mask to his face and being guarded by one of the suits.
“Tony?” you called softly, entering the room.
He put down the mask and cocked his head at you. “That’s me. Who are you?”
“My name’s Y/N,” you told him, coming over and standing in front of him.
This was awkward. Your boyfriend is a small child. What were you supposed to do in this situation?
“You’re pretty,” Tony announced. “Can I marry you when I grow up?” Before you could even process his question, he continued, “The voice in the ceiling told me I passed out and someone would be coming to take care of me. Is that you?”
That question was more manageable.
“Yes, for now. There’s a group of people who are coming to figure out why you passed out” (I mean, really, how were you supposed to explain this to a five-year-old, even if he can build a circuit board?) “and they’ll be here in a few hours. I’m going to take care of you until then.”
“Cool,” little Tony said, standing on the table and launching himself into your arms. “I’m hungry. Can I have spaghetti?”
“Sure sweetie,” you managed. “Let’s go upstairs and I’ll make you some spaghetti.”
----------
Five-year-old Tony loved spaghetti. He also was significantly messier than adult Tony when eating. Good thing he didn’t have any clothes to get dirty. You ran him a bath as soon as lunch was over and let him play with your StarkPad in the tub – good thing Tony’d made it waterproof – while you figured some stuff out, namely what he was going to wear when he got out. Fortunately JARVIS was already on it; clothing in Tony’s current size was delivered while you were pouring through your closet for something that would stay on his child-sized body.
Turns out, JARVIS had a good sense of what child Tony would like, not just what would fit him. Tony dug through the bags excitedly, choosing a t-rex shirt, jeans, and underwear with tiny beakers on them. You tried to get him to wear socks, but he preferred to run around barefoot and he was just as stubborn when fun-sized as when full-sized.
Keeping him occupied after getting dressed was significantly easier. You took him back to the lab and after making sure all his current projects were put away let him go ham, building whatever he wanted. DUM-E was his new best friend in just a few minutes, bringing him whatever tool he asked for. Tony couldn’t stop giggling at the bot’s antics, and by the time the team showed up there was a smaller remote-controlled version of DUM-E following both Tony and the larger bot around.
You stood outside the lab with Steve, Bruce, and Natasha, watching your juniorized boyfriend playing with his robotic friends.
“So… that’s what happened, as far as I can gather from what JARVIS told me.”
“I can confirm Ms. Y/N is correct. That is what happened to Sir.”
“Okay,” Bruce rubbed a hand over his face. “So, I’m gonna need to study some of this compound to see if I can reverse its effects.”
“We can’t send you in for a sample,” Steve said with a frown. “If you get miniaturized too, we won’t have anyone left to work on this.”
Nat smirked. “Send Clint. He’ll be the most harmless as a kid out of any of us if anything happens to him.”
“If I may interrupt your brainstorming,” JARVIS cut in, “there was an extra tube filled with a sample in the containment room. I sent one of the suits to retrieve it and it is waiting for Doctor Banner in his lab.”
“Right, I’ll get on that, and I’ll call Helen Cho for backup.” Bruce made his escape to the bio lab Tony had built for him when rebuilding his Malibu residence.
“So, until Doctor Banner has the cure…” Steve trailed off, eyes returning to the child playing fetch with DUM-E
“Yeah, I know,” you said softly. “He’s still Tony. He still has so much curiosity and energy. But he’s more innocent, too, like the world hasn’t broken him yet.”
“In his mind it hasn’t,” Natasha added, then asked, “He seems okay. If he’s stuck as a kid for a little while it’ll be hard for the rest of us, but he’ll be alright.”
You nodded. “It’s more than we could have hoped for, I suppose.”
Your small conference was interrupted by a smaller head poking out of the lab.
“Y/N, Y/N, come see what I taught DUM-E to do!”
“I’m coming, Tony. Just give me a minute, sweetie,” you smiled at the boy. Glancing at Steve and Nat, you started toward the lab. “If you guys think of anything that would make this easier, I’d appreciate it. I’m not sure I’ll be able to handle babysitting duties this whole time.”
“I’m sure Clint won’t mind taking a turn later.”
Steve gave Natasha a skeptical look. “You’re really good at volunteering Clint for stuff he doesn’t know about.”
She shrugged and tossed her head. “What can I say? It’s one of my special talents.”
---------
“The end.” You closed the book and set it aside before reaching to run your fingers through Tony’s hair. “Now it’s time for you to sleep.”
“Aw, just one more, please?” the boy pled with you. “I’ll go to sleep after that!”
You couldn’t help but laugh at how hopeful he looked. “You said that before I read this one. Nope, mister, it’s time for you to get some sleep. You’ve got a big day tomorrow. You’ll be hanging out with Clint and Steve while I’m at work.”
The little Tony snuggled up against you in your big bed that seemed even larger than usual with a child instead of another adult pressed against you. “Do you really have to go to work?”
“Yes,” you told him. “That’s what being an adult is like.”
“But Clint and Steve won’t have to go to work.”
“Clint and Steve have a different job than I do,” you said, snuggling under the covers and wrapping your arms around him. “I won’t be all day, though. I’ll only be gone a few hours, and then I’ll do the rest of my work on my laptop while hanging out with you.”
Tony sighed as his eyes started drooping. “Okay. Y/N?”
“Yes, Tony?”
“Thanks for letting me have a sleepover with you. I’ve never gotten to have a sleepover before.”
“It’s my pleasure, Tony,” you smiled at the little boy. “My room is your room.”
----------
It was two weeks before Bruce and Helen found a cure, and by the time they found it little Tony had all the Avengers wrapped around his little finger. He would laugh and ask questions and get into trouble but get right back out of it with his big grin and puppy eyes.
“Are you sure we have to turn him back?” Clint asked, protesting when Natasha elbowed him.
“Yes, Clint,” Steve gave him the patented look of disappointment, “we have to turn him back. We’re not leaving Tony as a child forever.”
“He’s more fun when he’s a kid though,” the archer complained. “He actually thinks I’m cool.”
Bruce passed you a small canister with a breathing mask on the end. “Since he inhaled the original compound, we made the cure something he has to inhale as well. Just fit the mask over his mouth and depress the button for one second. Make sure he’s sitting down when he breathes it in, though; he’ll probably black out for a moment like he did the first time.”
You nodded and took the canister into the lab, where Tony was engaging in his favorite activity – playing with DUM-E. The rest of the team watched from the other side of the glass.
“Hey, Tony,” you called, motioning the boy over. “I need you to sit next to me on the couch, okay? Bruce figured out why you passed out a couple weeks ago, and this will make you better. You just have to breathe it in.”
“Okay,” he piped cheerfully, launching himself onto seat next to you. “But first you have to answer the question I asked you when we first met. Can I marry you when I grow up?”
Your heart melted a little and you hoped one day you and he would have a little boy just like this. “If you still want to marry me when you grow up, then yes, you may.”
“Cool.” He flashed you a cheeky grin, and then he was reaching for the canister. When you got the mask over his mouth, you pressed the button, and in just over the time it took to blink, you had an unconscious yet fully-grown Tony next to you again.
----------
“You’re telling me I lost two weeks of my life?” Tony asked as Bruce gave him a thorough physical.
“Not lost it, per say,” Steve explained, “you were just…different.”
Tony narrowed his eyes at the soldier. “Different how?”
“Smaller,” Clint piped up, “and much cuter. You were five.”
Your boyfriend’s eyes shot to yours and you nodded. “I can confirm the whole thing, except for the cuter part. You’re still cute.”
Clint pantomimed gagging as Natasha dragged him and Steve out of the room. Bruce followed them as soon as he finished his examination.
“You’re back to normal now,” he told Tony on his way out the door. “But stay away from that smoke.”
“Speaking of,” you said.
“I have sealed all smoke in a solid drum it cannot escape,” JARVIS informed you both, “and the box is sealed up as well.”
Tony leaned back on the couch and you let him pull you into his arms.
“So…I guess having a tiny Tony running around probably put you off kids forever.”
“I don’t know,” you said, snuggling into his chest, “it was kind of nice. Not as nice as this, but I think I’d enjoy getting to have both. Only if you wanted to, though.”
“If I wanted to?” Tony asked, pulling back and looking at you in amazement. “You’d be willing to commit to that with me? I’d be a terrible father.”
“No,” you told him firmly, “you had a terrible father. That doesn’t mean you’ll be one. If anything, it means you already know what not to do.”
Tony pulled you back in, resting his chin on your head and running his hands up and down your arm.
“I guess I wouldn’t mind giving parenthood a shot if you were the one who did it with me.”
“Is that an invitation?” you asked slyly, running your hand along his thigh. “It was a long two weeks, you know.”
His eyes blew wide and he scooped you all the way into his arms, standing and heading for the stairs.
Summary: Welcome to the masterlist for my NaNoWriMo 2k18 project! Every day I will be writing a new Avengers-related one-shot that is at least the daily word count (1667 words) in length. All will be reader inserts.
Total Chapters: 30
Series warnings: Fluff, angst, battle, graphic nightmare, panic attack, various shenanigans tagged in individual fics
Author’s note: This is going to be fun! Drabble requests will be put off for the month but I’ll still be taking one-shot requests. All fics will be posted near the end of the day AKDT since I’ll be writing them the day I post them and in the spirit of NaNoWriMo will be mostly unedited. To maintain my sanity, all my current WIPs will be on hiatus for the month. Also, all credit for the photos on each fic goes to the wonderful photographers who post their stuff on Unsplash.
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Chapters:
November 1 - Tony Touches Something He Shouldn’t (Or: How Steve Kind of Ends Up with a Gladiator Girlfriend)
November 2 - I Told You She Likes You (Steve Rogers X Reader Highschool!AU)
November 3 - In Which the Worst Day Is Made Better (Comic!Clint Barton X Reader)
November 4 - Sir Could Use Some Help (Platonic!Tony Stark X Employee!Reader) - CONTAINS PANIC ATTACK
November 5 - Five Firsts with Bucky Barnes
November 6 - Chasing Stars (Steve Rogers X Reader - CONTAINS GRAPHIC NIGHTMARE)
November 7 - Save the Last Dance (40s!Bucky Barnes X Reader)
November 8 - Always a Child (De-Aged!Tony Stark X Reader)
November 9 - The Little Things (Bucky Barnes X Reader)
November 10 - I Wish... (Jinn!Loki X Reader)
November 11 - The Amulet of Sisters (Spider-Man X Reader)
November 12 - Of Royals and Robots (Prince!Tony Stark X Reader)
November 13 - Sing It Out (Steve Rogers X Reader)
November 14 - We’re Gonna Go Flirt with Superheroes (Bucky Barnes X Reader ft. my friend Dean)
November 15 - The Chibi Falcon (Sam Wilson X Reader)
November 16 - Best Birthday Ever (Steve Rogers X Reader)
November 17 - Falling Slowly (Tony Stark X Reader Highschool!AU)
November 18 - Your Love Is A Song (Steve Rogers X Reader - Sequel to Sing It Out)
November 19 - Special Plans (Bucky Barnes X Rogers!Reader with Brother!Steve - Modern!AU)
November 20 - Haiku Can Be Hard, But Not As Hard As Saying, How Much I Like You (Clint Barton X Reader - Modern!AU)
November 21 - First Date (Clint Barton X Reader - Sequel to “Haiku...”)
November 22 - A Tingle and an Itch (Tony Stark X Reader - Soulmate!AU)
November 23 - Liquid Perfection (Bucky Barnes X Reader - Coffee Shop!AU)
November 24 - Second Opinion (Loki X Reader Drabble)
November 25 - I’m Blaming You (Sam Wilson X Reader Drabble)
November 26 - The Lie (Steve Rogers X Reader Drabble)
November 27 - Hacker (Tony Stark X Reader)
November 28 - Reference Questions of Questionable Importance (Librarian!Bruce Banner X Reader - Modern!AU)
November 29 - Vacation in the Vents (Clint Barton X Reader)
November 30 - Beautiful Wings (Bucky Barnes X Reader - Wingsfic)
Inspired by the song “Save the Last Dance” by Capital Kings. That song is decidedly not the right feel for the fic, though, so I used lyrics from “Body and Soul” by Tony Bennett.
Word count: 2585
Warnings: Slight accidental Stucky angst. (So sorry, I surprised myself.)
Pairing: 40s!Bucky Barnes X Reader
Bucky slouched into the booth across from his friend, using his hand to block the morning light coming through the window. Why he’d agreed to come to breakfast with this bad a hangover was beyond him.
Okay, so he’d do pretty much anything Stevie asked. Maybe the answer wasn’t that far beyond him. Speaking of the smaller man, he was studying Bucky with his classic look of disapproval.
“You look like hell,” Steve finally commented. Bucky flashed him a grin as best he could.
“Feel like it, too. Probably a good thing you didn’t come. You’d have hated it.”
“Yeah,” Steve agreed with him, “I’m not exactly the club type. You weren’t quite as enthusiastic about them either until a week ago, particularly with that much drinking. What changed?”
Bucky felt a flush slowly creep up his neck, a thing which didn’t go unnoticed by his friend.
“Nuthin’,” he mumbled before turning his attention to behind the diner’s counter. “Janie, can I get a cup of joe over here, please?”
“Already got it comin’, sweetheart,” the middle-aged waitress replied, bringing a steaming cup of coffee over and placing it in front of him. “Can I get either of you anything to eat?”
“Just our usuals,” Steve requested. “Thank you, Janie.”
“Anything for my two favorite boys!” she called back cheerily as she returned to the kitchen to place their orders.
Steve sat a little straighter so he could lean forward with his elbows on the table. “All right, Buck, talk. There’s a reason you’ve got out dancing every night this past week, and it’s one that makes you both get soused while you’re out and blush when asked about it. What’s her name?”
Bucky buried his face in the coffee mug as he felt the blush spread. “Y/N.” He briefly wished he could wipe Steve’s smirk off his face.
“And I’m guessing Y/N likes dancing?”
“She seems to,” Bucky shrugged, trying to act casual. “She’s there every evening, anyway.”
“Buck,” Steve realized, eyes going wide, “have you actually told this woman how you feel, or are you just stalking her?”
“I’m not stalking her!” Bucky protested. “I’m just, you know, working my way up to it.”
Steve leaned back and crossed his arms, a smirk playing across his face. “Well, what do you know. There exists in New York a dame the great Bucky Barnes is scared to like.”
“So take me tonight,” Steve said with a shrug. “Point out this doll you’re so enthralled with.”
“You sure? You’ve never been much for the jazz club scene.”
“Sure I’m sure. This has gotta be a once-in-a-lifetime type woman to get you flustered.”
“Whatever, punk.” Bucky reached across the table and gave his friend a light shove. “I’ll pick you up at seven?”
Before Steve could reply, Janie came over and set a plate in front of each of them. “There you go, boys. Enjoy!”
“Thanks, Janie!” they chorused together before digging in. Food was always a surefire way to shut both of them up.
----------
The band was warming up for the night as the two men made their way into the jazz club. Bucky immediately staked out a position at the bar, ordering a beer for himself and a soda for Steve. The smaller man hoisted himself onto one of the tall barstools and studied his friend, who was chugging the beer like his life depended on it.
“You know,” Steve mused, “you’ll probably have a better chance with this dame if you’re not drunk off your ass.”
“Shut up, punk,” Bucky muttered. “If I’m too sober I won’t be able to talk to her.”
“Yeah, ‘cause alcohol has been so helpful up to this point,” Steve helpfully pointed out. “So, where is she?”
Bucky’s eyes roamed the room before his entire body froze. “She’s right there,” he said breathlessly.
Steve turned to follow his friend’s gaze and there you were. Your dress fit you perfectly and the color highlighted your eyes, making you stand out even from across the room. Men were already perking up, watching you as you entered on the arms of your friends, the five of you talking and laughing about how fun the night would be.
“Okay,” Steve admitted, “she is beautiful.”
"Beautiful?” Bucky looked at him like he’d grown an extra two feet. “Beautiful? Stevie, she’s a living work of art. Her smile could light all of Brooklyn. Her laugh is prettier than angels singing. When she dances even God Himself stops to watch.”
“All right, all right,” Steve said, holding up his hands before his friend could continue. “Obviously you care a lot about her. How many times have you two danced?”
Bucky blushed and ducked his head at the question. “I, um, haven’t exactly, well, talked to her yet,” he admitted.
“You haven’t even talked to her? At all?”
“Jeez, Stevie, keep it down,” Bucky whispered harshly, pawing frantically at the younger man’s arm. “The music isn’t playing yet. She’ll hear you.”
“Buck,” Steve asked him, eyes wide, “have you been coming here for the last week to just sit at the bar and stare at her? I’ve never seen you like this before.”
The brunet pouted and fiddled with his bottle. “That’s because I’ve never seen a doll like her before. She’s perfect, Stevie. She could have any guy in here. Why would she want me?”
“Because you’re worth wanting, Buck,” the blond says softly. “You care for people and you fight for what’s right and you’re loyal to a fault. If anyone would know, I would. Go talk to her. If you’re really that nervous, don’t put on your game, just be yourself. Any dame would fall for that.”
Bucky watched your group settle into a table and quickly downed the last of his beer. There was already another man making his way towards you and he knew there wouldn’t be a moment he could get you alone all evening. At the same time, as much as he wasn’t sure he could talk to you, he also didn’t know if he could go another night sitting back and watching as every other man in the room asked you to dance. Shoving himself off the bar, he gave Steve his best “I’m gonna go for it” look and started making his way towards you.
The closer he got, the more his nerves bubbled up. From a distance your beauty was brilliant, but the closer he got, the more it left brilliant behind in favor of blinding. Your smile left him weak in the knees. He couldn’t do this; the man talking to you was staking his claim on the first dance and you were agreeing with a shy blush that highlighted just how soft your cheeks were.
Just as he was about to divert and give up, however, you looked up right into his eyes and smiled. You smiled right at him and his knees nearly gave out, but he couldn’t back down. Swallowing his nerves as best he could, Bucky put on his best smile and walked up to you.
----------
Charlotte was getting married in two weeks, and she was determined to drag all of her friends out to have fun every night she could before it happened. It had been a week already, and she still had plans to go dancing every night the next week as well.
Dancing had always been something you enjoyed, but this was definitely more than you were used to. You teased her that by the time she walked down the aisle you would have better calves than ever, and she just laughed.
“Maybe you’ll find a date for my wedding. Now wouldn’t that be a miracle!” she teased.
It wasn’t that you weren’t interested in dating; it was more that all the men who seemed interested in dating you were, well, rather shallow. They would complement you as you spun around the floor but at the end of the dance they didn’t have anything about them that held your attention.
The first night Charlotte had dragged you out with your friends you had caught sight of a brunet at the bar. You’d noticed him watching you through the night, but he never approached. You told yourself that if he couldn’t talk to you, you didn’t need to waste any time thinking about him, but think about him you did, far more than you would willingly admit to anyone. He’d been back every night since, always there at the same spot at the bar when your group arrived, and always at that same spot when the music ended for the night and you all went home.
Tonight, though…
Everett had come up to ask you for the first dance as he always did, and as you always did, you said yes. He was a good dancer, one of the better partners you’d had, and he’d made it clear that all he was looking for was a dance partner for the night so you didn’t feel like you were leading him on by dancing with him so often. He always took a turn with each of your friends as well, but he always asked you for the first dance.
As he went back to his table, your eyes automatically moved to search for the brunet and to your surprise he wasn’t at the bar. No, he was heading right for you. Your eyes locked with his and after a brief moment he smiled, a smile that had your stomach doing little flip flops.
“Hello, ma’am, I couldn’t help but notice your beautiful smile from across the room,” he said, taking your hand and pressing a kiss to the back. “Bucky Barnes. And you are…?”
“Y/N Y/L/N,” you replied. You were proud to hear you’d managed to keep the breathlessness from your voice.
“It’s a pleasure to meet you, Miss Y/N Y/L/N,” he smoothly replied, the edges of his mouth still turned up in a manner that honestly was making it a little hard to think. “I was wondering if you’d do me the honor of saving me your last dance tonight?”
All you could manage was a nod, but it seemed to work. His smile grew a fraction and he kissed your hand one last time before disappearing as the music started and Everett came up to claim you for the first dance.
----------
“Really?” Steve asked, eyebrow cocked at his friend. “You go over there for maybe twenty seconds and you’re back already?”
“I asked her for the last dance,” Bucky argued. “It’s not like I didn’t talk to her.”
“Buck, the last dance is over two hours from now!” Steve threw his hands up in exasperation.
“Well she already had a partner for the first.”
“So naturally,” Steve said rather dryly, “you asked her for the last instead of the second.”
Bucky sat back on his stool and put his head in his hands. “I wanted to be memorable. It seemed like a good idea at the time. Now I know I’m just going to freak out until then.
“Just don’t get drunk.” Steve patted him on the shoulder. “That would be the wrong kind of memorable.” He grabbed his coat off the bar. “I’m going to head home; this really isn’t my scene. I can’t dance and I sure can’t drink the whole time or I’ll be dead.”
“I’ll walk you,” Bucky said, gathering his own coat.
Steve protested, “You don’t need to, I’ll be fine. It’s just a few blocks.”
“Punk,” Bucky teased, throwing his arm around his friend, “I am not leaving you alone. Who knows how many fights you could get into in a few blocks. Besides,” he maneuvered his friend towards the door, “you said it yourself. I have more than two hours until I need to be here for the dance.”
----------
Between dances you kept glancing towards the bar, hoping for a glance of the brunet – of Bucky. For the longest time, he wasn’t anywhere to be found. He wasn’t by the bar, he wasn’t at one of the tables, and you definitely didn’t see him on the dance floor. As it drew closer to the end of the night, you kept turning down requests for the last dance, saying it had already been claimed. You hoped he would be here; it would be a lie if you said you weren’t very curious about Bucky’s dancing skills. You’d never seen him dance once in the week you’d been coming.
But then the singer announced their last song and Bucky was suddenly at your side, leading you onto the floor. The music started and the lyrics felt perfect.
My heart is sad and lonely
For you I sigh, for you dear only
Why haven't you seen it
I'm all for you body and soul
I spend my days in longin'
And wondering why it's me you're ogling
Bucky, well, the man could dance. He swept you across the floor, lighter on his feet than any partner you had yet danced with that week.
“Well, that doesn’t answer that question,” you teased. “You haven’t been sitting at that bar all week because you can’t dance.”
“No,” he agreed, biting his lower lip and smiling, “it’s just taken me this long to get up the courage to ask. I saw you that first day I came in, and your smile is breathtaking. My pal had to give me a pep talk just to get me talk to you.”
You looked in his eyes and saw a nervousness there that nearly made you stumble.
“Why? Handsome man like you can probably have any lady he wants. Why me?”
He took a deep breath before replying, but didn’t take his eyes from yours.
“When you walk in the room, it lights up. Your smile could melt the coldest heart. When you dance the whole world has to stop and watch because you are stunning, and I’ve never seen anyone like you before.”
Well. Not quite the answer you were expecting, not that you’d had an expectation. You could feel the blush creeping across your cheeks, and his smile grew wider.
“And,” he whispered in your ear, “when you blush like that it’s prettier than the stars in the sky.”
“Now I know you’re lying,” you laughed, lightly slapping his shoulder.
“Never, doll,” and the earnestness in his eyes made it hard to breathe. “Never to you.”
----------
I tell you I mean it
I'm all for you body and soul
I can't believe it
It's hard to conceive it
That you turn away romance
Are you pretending
It looks like the ending
And less I could have one more chance to prove, dear
My life a wreck you're making
You know I'm yours for just the taking
I'd gladly surrender myself to you body and soul
--------------------
The two of you danced through the rest of the song, and when it was over, you quickly scribbled on and slipped him a small card as your friends dragged you off.
Bucky glanced down to read it. “Call me up some time,” it said, followed by a phone number. He grinned as he slipped the note in his pocket. The walk home hardly registered; he couldn’t feel the pavement beneath his feet and would swear he was floating.
The most beautiful dame in Brooklyn, and he had your number.
November 18 - Your Love Is a Song (Sequel to Sing It Out)
I couldn’t resist continuing with these two. I may do a few more even after November.
Partial lyrics are “Sakura” and “You Are My Sunshine”. Full lyrics are “Your Love Is a Song” by Switchfoot.
Word count: 1838
Warnings: Described death of a child. Not graphic but not pretty.
Pairing: Steve Rogers X Reader
You were sitting on the floor in front of the couch in the common room deep in an online gaming session when Steve stumbled in and collapsed face-first on the couch.
“Long mission, babe?” you asked, pulling one ear of your headset back so you could hear his reply. It turned out to be pointless, his muttered reply so muffled by the couch cushions that you couldn’t make anything out.
“Words, babe,” you teased him, briefly reaching back to pat his leg. “Preferably understandable ones.”
He responded by rolling his head to the side and letting out a long, slow groan.
“That about sums it up,” Tony said, trudging in wearily, followed by Sam.
“Yeah, it was a long mission,” Sam agreed. “Not one of the ‘nightmares for weeks’ types, which was nice, but very long.”
“Okay,” you said as your game ended, “super-soldier maintenance time.” You hopped up and started tugging on Steve’s uniform. “Upsy-daisy, big guy. You need a shower if we’re gonna sleep in the same bed tonight.”
“I could sleep right here,” the blond mumbled but managed to stand up and stumble down the hallway to the elevator as you herded him carefully.
“You could,” you agreed as he slumped against you. You braced yourself, grateful that you weren’t any smaller, and wrapped his arms around your neck to make moving him easier once the elevator reached your shared floor. “But then you couldn’t snuggle with me all night.”
Rather than replying, Steve buried his face in the back of your neck and breathed deeply.
“You smell good,” he hummed, nibbling gently. “I love the perfume you wear.”
You couldn’t help the amused chuckle that snuck out. “Trying to start something, soldier?”
“Just enjoying you.” He rubbed his nose into the crook of your neck. “Too tired for anything else. Just wanna smell you. Feel you. Touch you. Hear your pretty voice.”
“Okay, lover boy,” you laughed, maneuvering you both out of the elevator and onto your floor. “Enjoy away. I’m gonna get you into a shower.”
It took far longer than it should have, but you finally got Steve out of his clothing and into the shower. You had to join him just to keep him from falling asleep on his feet, but you made sure to keep your hair out of the water – you did not need to have to deal with wet hair tonight along with your sleepy boyfriend.
“Play me a lullaby?” Steve asked as you lowered him onto your bed. “One of your pretty Japanese ones?”
With a little smile, you settled in at the electronic keyboard you had bought just so you could play for him in your bedroom. It hadn’t taken long for you to both realize that if you sang him to sleep Steve was less likely to have a nightmare, or the nightmare that woke him up would fade away more quickly.
You let your hands dance over the keys, making sure the volume was a soothing level, before you started singing.
“Sakura, sakura, yayoi no sora wa…”
When you finished the Japanese folk song, you looked over at your now sleeping soldier. His deep even breathing hitched for a moment, then continued. With a smile, you returned to playing, determined to fill the room with music long enough his nightmares wouldn’t dare show themselves.
----------
Steve woke slowly, his senses immediately consumed with you. Your scent filled his nostrils. Your hair was brushing his cheek. Your skin was warm against his, your breathing deep and slow, your heartbeat steady. He opened his eyes and smiled as he found your face inches from his, your eyes closed as you were still very much asleep. After a few minutes of enjoying the view, he pulled you closer and fell back to sleep.
----------
“Captain, the quinjet is en route and will arrive in five minutes.”
“Thank you, JARVIS.”
Steve set aside his sketchbook and reached for a t-shirt, preparing for your arrival. When he arrived on the roof, Clint and Natasha were already disembarking, Clint limping and letting Nat support most of his weight, but you had yet to appear.
“It was a rough one, Steve,” Nat said quietly as they passed him. “She’s not handling it very well.”
He climbed up the ramp through the cargo door and found you still strapped into your jump seat, eyes focused on your hands which were covered in blood. Before he let himself panic, he took a deep breath.
“JARVIS,” he asked softly, “is any of it her blood?”
“Y/N appears to have superficial lacerations across her left shoulder and lower right ribs, but the majority of the blood she is covered in is not hers,” was the AI’s quiet reply.
At JARVIS’s voice, you looked up and saw Steve.
“Hey, love.”
“Hi,” you replied, tears welling in your eyes as he knelt in front of you and began removing straps. “I couldn’t get there in time. I couldn’t save her.”
The pain in your voice hurt his heart. “Who couldn’t you save, baby girl?”
Something about Steve’s voice broke you, and the tears you’d held back for almost an hour broke free. He scooped you up in his arms and carried you in as you sobbed into his neck, shudders racking your body. Tony intercepted the two of you and opened his mouth to ask the soldier a question, but one look at you and he backed off with a nod. It only took a few minutes for Steve to get you down to your shared floor and stripped out of your uniform.
“Okay, baby girl,” he told you, holding your shoulders and gently directing you into the stream of warm water JARVIS had already started, “I’m going to take care of your uniform. I’ll be right back to help you get all clean.”
When he returned you were simply standing under the water shivering, so he stripped off his own clothing and climbed in with you. Gently he soaped up your loofa and took one hand, then the other, cleaning the blood from your hands. He used your face wash for the shallow cuts on your shoulder and ribs so the fragrance of your body wash wouldn’t irritate your skin. Once you were all clean, he turned off the water and wrapped you in a fluffy towel.
“Y/N,” he finally said, leading you over to the bed and pulling you into his lap, ignoring the wet spot spreading across the comforter, “can you tell me what happened now?”
You took a deep breath and kept your eyes fixed on the floor. “It was supposed to be a recon mission. I was stationed manning an ice cream cart while Nat was in the coffee shop and Clint was our eyes in the sky. There was this little girl, Sophia; while I scooped her cone, she told me all about how her family had just arrived from Puerto Rico for her daddy’s new job, and how excited she was to get to go to school in America.
“When the target arrived… he must have seen Clint, or maybe he recognized Nat or me. All I know for sure is that he was suddenly firing wildly into the crowd, and Sophia… he hit her in the stomach. I tried to keep pressure on her wound, but she bled out in my arms. Her mom was dead beside us.” You were shaking again, tears streaking your cheeks. “Her family just got here, just wanted a better life, and now her father is all alone in the world. I couldn’t even save his daughter for him.”
Steve held you in his arms and rocked you until you had no more tears to cry.
“I don’t know if I’ll be able to sleep for a while,” you finally said, and he could hear the exhaustion behind your voice.
“How about you get into your pajamas,” he suggested, “while I get us some dry bedding, and then I’ll play for you tonight? I asked Tony to teach me a little piano, and I’ve been practicing. It won’t be as pretty as when you play, but maybe it will help a little.”
You nodded and stood on shaky legs. “Please.”
Fortunately the water hadn’t soaked all the way through the comforter, and it didn’t take Steve long to discard the wet blanket and replace it with a dry one. You slipped into your sleep shorts and one of your boyfriend’s tees. Once you were settled in, Steve turned on your keyboard.
“You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make me happy when skies are grey…”
Steve singing to you was… nice, you decided. It was really nice. He didn’t know many songs, but all the ones he played were soft and relaxing, and his pitch was mostly under control. You fell asleep shortly after he started cycling through them for the second time.
----------
The room was full of soft piano music as Steve blinked himself awake. You smiled when you saw his owl eyes blinking at you.
“Good morning, soldier. You slept well?”
His brow furrowed. “I should be asking you that. You’re the one who had a rough mission yesterday.”
You gave him a sad smile. “I’ll be alright eventually. My boyfriend playing and singing me to sleep last night helped. So did playing this morning.”
“It sounds beautiful.” He paused. “Play me a song?”
You brought your current chord progression to a soft resolution and paused for a moment before switching keys.
I hear you breathing in
Another day begins
The stars are falling now
My dreams are fading now
Fading now
I’ve been keeping my eyes wide open
I’ve been keeping my eyes wide open
Oh, your love is a symphony
All around me, running through me
Oh, your love is a melody
Underneath me, running to me
Oh, your love is a song
The dawn is fire bright
Against the city light
The clouds are glowing now
The moon is blacking out
It’s blacking out
So I’ve been keeping my mind wide open
I’ve been keeping my mind wide open
Oh, your love is a symphony
All around me, running to me
Oh, your love is a melody
Underneath me, running to me
Oh, your love is a song
Your love is a song
Oh, your love is a song
Your love is strong
With my eyes wide open
I’ve got my eyes wide open
I’ve been keeping my hopes unbroken
Yeah, yeah
Oh, your love is a symphony
All around me, running through me
Oh, your love is a melody
Underneath me, running to me
Your love is a song
Yeah, yeah
Your love is my remedy
Oh, your love is a song
Slowly, you reached over and turned off the keyboard. Before you’d even realized he’d gotten out of bed, Steve’s arms were around you.
“I love you too,” he whispered into the back of your neck, “and I’ll carry you whenever you need me to.”
