Winter slipped out of the room, merely shaking his head at the thanks Yasha showered at him. He made a mental note to teach the Russian how to cook sometime in the future. Then again, he had made that mental note often, but never actually did it. He wasn’t going to admit that cooking for Bucky and Yasha (and Faith and Fabian) made him feel needed, as stupid as it sounded.
He didn’t jump as he walked into the kitchen to see Faith with a bottle of whiskey sitting on the counter.
“I thought you were at SHIELD.” He stated, no question in his voice, because if she was hiding from the boys for some reason, he wouldn’t call her out on it. He needed a break from them too occasionally.
“Just got back. I was gonna head in the living room, but I heard you being coerced into making food and I thought I’d join you.” She said, as if hanging out together was something they did often. Well…they did spend time together often, but usually during missions now a days. Too much awkwardness when they were expected to converse alone, still dancing around one another.
“Okay.” He agreed instead of saying any of that. Moving pass her, he reached for the cabinets to get out the things he’d need.
“What’re you making?” she questioned curiously, before taking a shot of whiskey. She offered him the bottle and wasn’t surprised when she got the minuet shake of his head.
“Pasta. The type depends on the sauce we have.” He didn’t even notice the use of ‘we’ that he used, even in Faith’s apartment. Faith did though, but knew better than to comment on it, simply smiling down at her drink.
“There are some sauces in the fridge.” Winter nodded, grabbing the pasta out of the cabinet before turning to the fridge. After assuring himself that he had all necessary agreements, he grabbed a pot. Moving next to her, he turned on the sink to fill it.
Faith gasped in surprise as cool water splashed onto her shirt and soaked through to her stomach. Winter lowered the pressure on the water to stop splashing, pointedly not looking to her.
“Sorry.” He offered and she nodded, knowing it was an….
He was trying not to laugh.
Son of a bitch.
Lips pulling into an involuntary grin, she flipped her whiskey bottle upside down. Winter yelped in genuine surprise, jerking forward as whiskey slid down his spine. He gaped up at her as she smirked and sipped at the now mostly empty bottle.
“Sorry.” She offered back, expecting that to be the end of it and to maybe even startle a laugh out of him. She knew he wasn’t one to get angry at silly pranks and stuff.
She was not expecting him to turn his attention back to the sink and grab the spray hose.
Crying out in surprise and glee, she bolted off the counter, managing to get completely soaked on her left side. “You’re gonna regret that babe!” was practically a battle cry.
She upped the ante.
Winter sputtered as tomato sauce slid down his face, making a leap for the fridge to grab his own new ammo. She followed with her tomato sauce, but he was quicker than she expected and soon had her wrapped in his arms, locking her in place as he dumped an entire jar of tomato sauce over her head.
Her complaint was more of a laugh. Winter was being playful. She didn’t know that was possible. She probably could have escaped his arms, but he was having so much fun, especially when he added cheese to her.
“I thought you were cooking dinner! Not me!” she complained, spinning to face him and pushing to reach passed him into the fridge.
“No!” Winter objected, even as he laughed and tilted his head away from the grape jam she spread over his face. Faith nearly giggled at his put out expression, dripping tomato sauce down one side of his body, whiskey down his back, and jam over his face.
“Children, do we need to separate you?” Faith spun around while Winter just looked up at the threshold of the kitchen. Fabian crossed his arms over his chest, attempting stern, but lips twitching in amusement. He was much better at hiding his shock than Bucky and Yasha, both of who were practically gaping at the scene.
“We heard screams…” Bucky offered, shifting slightly and glancing around. Yasha finally snapped out of it, shaking his head and turning on his heel, muttering under his breath in Russian about ‘the oddest flirting attempts ever’.
Surprisingly (then again, what wasn’t surprising about the night), Winter was the first to break, bursting into laughter and turning away from the two other men. Faith quickly joined his laughter and Bucky shook his head, nudging Fabian slightly before tilting his head to the living room.
‘Subtle.’ Fabian mouthed at him and Bucky rolled his eyes, grabbing the man’s arm and tugging him out of the kitchen. It was a few minutes longer before the laughter stopped and they calmed down some. Faith shook her head, and Winter snorted.
"Stop, you're getting sauce everywhere."
"And who's fault is that?" she teased and Winter spared her an eyebrow raise.
"Yours. You poured whiskey down my back." he pointed out, shrugging and crossing his arms over his chest.
"After you sprayed me with water!" she objected, pointing to the sink.
"Accidentally." he insisted, but Faith could see the mischief dancing in his eyes. She rolled her eyes.
"Right." she drawled, sarcasm dripping from the word. With what happened next, she kind of expected it, but it still stung. Winter seemed to realize what he was doing. Having fun. And he shut down.
"I should finish dinner. And then get a shower." he declared, spinning on his heel and heading to the sink again. Faith scowled at him, grabbing his arm and spinning him back around, "Wha-"
Hooking her hands in his collar, she tugged him down to press their lips together.
