#background buckynat

[nocek]

well hello there, please don't mind me using valentines as motivator to at least finish this lineart (but hey, it worked!)

now time for colors and trying to pull of complicated shadows.... yeah. that's going to not be as fun as this part >.<

[themculibrary]

Picnics Masterlist

A beautiful afternoon (ao3) - whiteleander loki/mobius T, 4k

Summary: Loki takes Mobius on a brief summer vacation after they succesfully save the TVA, and they spend a lovely day on the beach.

Jet skiing, romantic beach picnic, stargazing, piningly staring at your friend and wanting to offer him the world are mandatory, of course.

A Nice Afternoon (ao3) - BucksomeBarnes (Freckled_Halos) steve/bucky G, 1k

Summary: Bucky has a little surprise for Steve after a morning of Avengers business.

drink that sun (ao3) - thesunlightmuse bruce/tony T, 1k

Summary: “Let’s go on a picnic.”

Tony suggests he and Bruce have some fun. Bruce thinks about his feelings.

Flying Toward the Light (ao3) - msraven clint/phil, background steve/peggy T, 3k

Summary: Steve and Clint have been friends since they met at a group home when they were kids, but agreeing to a blind date at the Fourth of July picnic is pushing the boundaries of even their friendship.

Grave Meetings (ao3) - Stella_Malodi darcy/steve G, 1k

Summary: Darcy was having a picnic when she met her Soulmate.

-

So, there was a crazy, selfie-taking person having a picnic at his parents’ graves. What was Steve supposed to do about that?

If I Could Fly (ao3) - ChocolateCapCookie steve/tony T, 2k

Summary: How could Tony hate birds?

Birds were amazing. Steve was no biologist, but he had gone to art school in the 40’s, he could appreciate the delicate beauty of the little flying creatures. The positioning of their feathers to make them look aesthetically pleasing, and yet make them lightweight and aerodynamic enough to fly; the brilliant or subtle colorings and shades depending on the species; and their adorably quick movements were all things Steve found fascinating.

And now his husband had suddenly developed an irrational hatred for them? Unacceptable. Steve was going to have to fix this right away.

i would do it again (ao3) - moodymelanist steve/bucky T, 1k

Summary: Steve and Bucky have a fall picnic in Central Park.

Just A Simple Picnic, Nothing Else (ao3) - PheonixWillRise loki/tony M, 7k

Summary: Loki decides that Tony needs to spend more time outside instead of cooped up in his work space. Loki also has something very important on his mind and wants complete privacy and a peaceful setting to talk to his lover without the worry of one of the Avengers storming in. Having a picnic seems the perfect excuse for some alone time.

just let me adore you 9ao3) - peachybuckys steve/bucky G, 1k

Summary: “So?” Bucky whispers, lips brushing against Steve’s again.

“Love it, Buck, love you. Thank you.” Steve kisses him one more time, tucking Bucky’s hair behind his ears.

They eat, practically inhaling their sandwiches and taking turns feeding each other the fruit Bucky packed. Bucky giggles nearly the entire time, earning a few grins from Steve. They polish off their lunch with the cookies and even more kisses.

Picnic (ao3) - MedeaV bucky/natasha E, 4k

Summary: (Buckynat) total fluff, out having a picnic at a beautiful, secluded location and sex outdoors

Picnic Lunch (ao3) - CluckU, Mumble_Bee sam/bucky E, 7k

Summary: Sam and Bucky finally get to go on that picnic. Sam's determined to put Bucky on the menu, but before he can have this particular dessert, he must first help Bucky work through the trauma holding him back. This story can be read as a standalone.

-Or- The one where Bucky buries his face in the blanket like a particularly obstinate ostrich trying to avoid Feelings.

Picnic on the Beach (ao3) - Writer_Lethogica sam/bucky G, 1k

Summary: “Ugh, you’re so old, Sam,” said Sarah, the kids agreeing as they sat down, beginning to eat the food Sam and Bucky made very lovingly, making Sam wonder why they even made anything lovingly at all for these assholes.

“Old,” Sam sputtered, choking on the salad, feeling very attacked right now, “I’m only three years older than you, Sarah. And technically, you’re older now.”

“See? Old,” said Cass, which cut deep.

“So old,” said AJ, which hurt even worse because he thought AJ loved Sam the most, but obviously, that was all a lie.

“Very old,” agreed Bucky, which – seriously?

You come to the beach with your boyfriend and loved ones and he goes and sides with your family over you.

“Bucky, you are over a hundred years old, you have no leg to stand on here,” said Sam, feeling betrayed by his own boyfriend.

Pink in the Night (ao3) - stevesnosebump steve/bucky G, 2k

Summary: Bucky surprises Steve with an evening picnic for Valentine's Day.

Sun, Sea, And Sand (ao3) - Marv_aka_Kitten_Writes yelena/kate T, 5k

Summary: A day at the beach with Kate turns out to be surprisingly fun for Yelena. After all, what's wrong with sand, sun, surf and saying I love you?

The Sisterhood Of The Ruby Stilettos XXV: A Picnic With Peppery Potato Salad ;) (ao3) - BradyGirl_12 pepper/natasha G, 951

Summary: As spring blossoms, Natasha and Pepper enjoy a picnic in Central Park. :)

Violets and Daisies (ao3) - Aenaria steve/darcy G, 1k

Summary: “I know. It’s not right your mom and dad didn’t show,” Grandma said, picking up a violet, glistening purple with sugar crystals that twinkled in the lights of the ice cream parlor. “That just means you gotta show up for yourself.” She popped the violet into her mouth, crunching it up and smiling at Darcy.

Darcy nodded firmly.

She didn't quite fully understand what Grandma had meant at the time, but baby Darcy took the words to heart and always made sure after that to have her own back. Even if no one else was supporting her, she knew how to support and advocate for herself.

[cherry-shake]

A buckynat OC

Alyona (A-lona) Romanova-Barnes

Alias: Wolf Spider, Brown Recluse, Subject 3, Lonnie

Age: 18

Place of Birth: South Siberian Mountains

Parents: James Barnes, Natalia Romanov

Affiliations: Russia, Red Room (defunct), U.S. government

Abilities: super spy, super soldier, red room serum

Universe: Earth 616

Origin:

Alyona's creation start well before her time with the start of the Wolf Spider program by the Red Room. The Winter Soldier was used to train Constantin and was punished greatly when he failed. Dimitri Petrov was the scientist in charge and knew he would be next. Dimitri stole his unstable red room serum and gave it to his oldest son Sergei at 9 years old. The Winter Soldier killed both Dimitri and his wife leaving their two sons in care of the state. Sergei, much like the wolf-spider volunteer, was hostile and full of rage. Yet he was able to pull it together in order to get his doctorate.

The Russian Government became tired of the failures of the Red Room and largely stopped funding. However, they turned their interest to the young Sergei Ivanov (who changed his name in his youth). He proposed the idea of a soldier who was given no identity and knew nothing but Russia. It was a way to keep the Red Room in check and kill anymore subjects who went out of line. Of course, Sergei had his own plan in mind. Alyona's targets would be anyone associated with the Red Room.

Using D.N.A. from both Natasha Romanov and James Barnes, Sergei made several attempts to grow a child and eventually was successful. However, a girl was not pleasing to many funders. Alyona was dubbed subject 3 and was fed Russian propaganda from the moment she could breath. Isolated deep in the mountains of Siberia, Alyona was given no name, no parents, no background. She learned to talk from the history videos and Sergei barking orders. As soon as she could walk, she started training and had schooling by several child specialist one of them being Nikita Alexovna. Alyona started killing at a young age and was adept at hand-to-hand combat, espionage, and weapons. Her targets she was forced to kill were mainly red room survivors or retired government officials who approved the program. What Sergei did not plan for was Alyona's temper and stubbornness. She was often punished harshly by Sergei himself or left outside with nothing but her tanktop in the Siberian winter. After a particularly harsh beating, Nikita bandaged her wounds. This was one of her first kind memories.

Alyona was able to sneak into Sergei's private quarters with Nikita's key and read his files on her parents. She kept her head down and behaved herself. Soon she was on her first kill outside of the base. Her target was Katerina, a KGB agent and one of the founders of the Red Room. She wasn't able to pull the trigger and went on the run. Wanted by not only Sergei's guards but also the Russian government once they discovered their plan. She went into hiding deep in the forests at the edge of Moscow.

Hydra also heard of the opportunity to steal a Russian asset. Alyona was swarmed by Hydra agents that Captain America and Black Widow were tracking. Black Widow helped to guide her to cover. Sergei arrived with his personal soldiers. While fighting, Sergei yelled out "Laika". Alyona's main mission was started and immediately started to fight Bucky. He avoided her blows the best he could and was able to talk her down. Alyona was able to resist her programming albeit painfully. Natasha and Bucky were able to get her out before Russian forces came. Sergei was arrested by Russian forces after discovering his long list of government officials killed by Alyona. The officials still have a watch out for Alyona. Alyona was rendered unconscious and was unable to be awaken. SHIELD doctors discovered a chip in her neck that allowed them to control her, make her unconscious, and even had a kill switch. They were able to remove it safely leaving a small scar on the back of her neck. The relationship with her parents was rocky at first. She refused to trust Bucky until he showed her his red star. Bucky proceeded to train her and nickname her "Lonnie" and she got extremally close to her mom

Other Comic Tie-ins:

During the Siege of Asgard, Alyona watched her father be killed on T.V. and struggled while he was in the hospital.

The Breakup - When Leo kidnapped and brainwashed Natasha, he also targeted her daughter and wanted her to call him "dad". When Bucky left, Alyona was raised by Natasha and solely used the last name of Romanov. Natasha believed that Alyona was created from her DNA and a random red room donor. Bucky regularly called and checked on his daughter despite the face she often told her she hated him.

Captain America going Hydra: Alyona joined the army at 18 wanting to find herself and truing believing that her only point in life is to be a soldier. Once Captain America took over as a Hydra agent, Alyona abandoned the army not wanting to help Hydra and joined the underground. She spoke at her mother's funeral.

Afterwards: Alyona began her own vigilante work and really became her own person. Without Shield, the U.S. government hired Alyona and a few other military personnel to be trained to handle espionage and Hydra. This included working largely with the OFU along with Ian Rogers.

Natasha's revival: Alyona struggled to bond with her mom after she was cloned because she felt she wasn't real. When Natasha was brainwashed into her life with Stevie and James, Alyona was pulled in from a mission by her aunt Yelena and told the news. She was hesitant but agreed to let her be happy. After all, it’s been a rough few years. Albeit, she still felt hurt that she was not included in her mom’s perfect life. This was purposeful in the plan because Madame Hydra did want her daughter’s namesake to affect the brainwashing.

[wntrsnat]

Mood right now: writing pure buckynat porn with the Weeknd on background as my mom sets a candle next to me because orthodox Christmas is in 3 minutes.

Hello 2023, I guess 😭

[not-close-to-straight]

Hey if you need someone to send them too! Feel free to tell me about them! I can scream about them with you!! Cause honestly after the clips I’ve see I’m also obsessed!!! And honestly single Dad Steve with all his traumatized children meeting their new scary after school D&D campaign GM Eddie is an idea I cannot believe doesn’t exist yet!!

Listen

You don’t realize when you say “feel free to tell me your ideas” you’re setting yourself up to be word vomited all over.

It’s sounds like a nice offer but it’s a trap on my part.

I will literally

Talk at you

Until you want to die

Also the more I talk about ideas the more ideas I come up with (ie, wouldn’t this be a good stony story with background BuckyNat and then wouldn’t it be great if there was a sequel BuckyNat with Clint and Sam and then maybe a story for—)

So I just tuck them away in my drafts/idea document and hoard them quietly till a few slip free and turn into like, 110k words worth of “this was supposed the be a one shot”

[thenexusofsouls]

https://buckyntasha.tumblr.com/post/637325112649072640/a-history-of-buckynat-1-because-ive-been#notes

This link should also be helpful in addition to the other two I sent you!

__________

{i am the caretaker of souls} Thank you, that actually really does help! That person also has a link to a more detailed history that I’d like to read to give me as much background as possible so I don’t screw this up, heh. Natasha is still so quiet, though, so what I might do is rewatch Black Widow sometime soon, and then hopefully between that and reading up on their comic romance, I’ll be all good to dive into all their asks. =)

[gwynpool]

Same anon from last week but the new CA didn't turn out to be the opposite of SoL imo (high expectations but low delivery)😕

I should've lowered my expectations from the preview + that old white man writer's tweets, it was so boring like idgaf abt tony stark funded real estate business, and I bet #2 is gonna be the same and turn into sipder-man fest ugh

The things I got excited for from the announcement was preWW2 Steve & exploration of USA's + Western allies' appeasement/alignment with Nazi Germany, but it ended up being a much smaller thing than how the articles made it seem...

And it doesn't feel like the exploration of Steve's youth is gonna be very important. I though it was gonna really flesh out and enhance his backstory and maybe even go back and retcon his barebones origin, or highlight how Steve's mother is an Irish immigrant to make him less of a bland white blond American, but no. They played it safe with a super generic Captain America origin and generic we luv Cap 🇺🇸 🦅 modern Avengers cameos storyline. It didn't feel like a Steve Rogers story at all. It's so boring and bland and didn't add/enhance anything to make his background interesting 😞

My main hope for good Cap character content is Thunderbolts now, since marvel decided to kick all the Cap characters except for Steve out of this new run and put them all in TBolts. Even then, looking at the 4 covers is just filled with random added characters idc abt. Which ig makes sense, it's meant to be a different team, but it still sucked up all of Steve's main characters anyways lol

I'm really only excited for the first one of Bucky + Red Guardian killing(?) Red Skull. I hope there's good historical references there and good writing, but idk marvel seems dedicated to avoid keeping the Cap characters super blank slate and bland and not rock the boat with any of their stories unless it's to make Steve a Nazi. It feels like there's a curse around these characters as if the editors hate them all or smth 😕

hey anon! i just read the newest issue of jms’ cap run and i don’t know if i have an opinion yet. what i do know is that i no longer have expectations for marvel comics so as not to be disappointed lmao

tbh i’m not into the new TB run, mainly because it’s still written by the hivemind and i immensely dislike what they wrote in their cap run and its characters. i am hoping we’ll get buckynat content and natsharon but that’s just me being a 🤡

[marvelsmusings]

Do you ship BuckyNat?

{I do, granted I've not read much of the comics so I don't understand their pre-established background well and I prefer to start from scratch.}

[rookthorne]

Hi, Lana! 💚 For the ao3 wrapped: 6, 9, and 19!

Cyn, my darling! It’s good to see you and I hope you’re doing okay! 💗

6. Favorite title you used

oof. this one is hard because I have multiple. I’ll cheat and do my top 3. 🤫

May God have Mercy on You, Because I Won’t

Second Nature

Crooked Crown

9. Favorite pairing you wrote for this year?

By far my reader pairing. I felt like I had a lot more freedom in it, but that’s not to say I didn’t love writing stucky.

19. What’s one pairing you want to explore next year?

Honestly? I don’t know. I covered most of my bases this year, however, I do want to do a winterwidow/buckynat fic - but I will likely turn that into a Steve x Reader fic, with winterwidow as the background ship. the opportunity for sassiness is too good to pass up!

Come ask me about my year on AO3! 🥰

[userpeggycarter]

Would you do a blending tutorial? The blending on that first gif in the Peggy set is unreal

hi anon! first of all, thanks! i'm quite honored :)

i can make a tutorial if you still really want one, but really, i don't have any new technique to show you that other blending tutorials haven't. if have a few tips to tell you, though, hope this helps! don't be shy to ask for clarification, english isn't my first language and my PS isn't in english lol so sometimes i get the terms wrong

half of the work is picking the right scenes or editing them right. the pink Peggy in the first gif in that gifset that you mentioned? i just erased a little of the background details to make it work! the nature of that scene was very appropriate for blending in the first place - it has a lot of contrast and a dark background without many details. that's the gifmaker's dream for blending, really. the more dark spots you have in your image, the more transparency the layer has while in lighten/screen mode, making it easier to blend. so, ideally, you should pick scenes as similar to that as possible for your gifs.

but i gotta be honest with you, "picking the right scenes" is easier said than done. not every scene has a simple dark background and little movement, after all. i spend a lot of time trying different combinations to see what works and what doesn't. in that first gif's case, it was quick and easy, because i thought both shots were good examples of Peggy being smart and i was lucky that they were an easy match. but it's not every time that i get lucky, in some dire cases i need to blend layer by layer, using the layers method of giffing. (i don't know about you, i'm a timeline gal, so using layers is a nightmare for me, but sometimes there's no other way!)

BUT… sometimes you can force your scene to be the "right scene" by editing it. in that cases, you could:

add contrast;

use curves/levels to add "dark spots" in your image (i don't know how to call it). here's an example:

take the original shot (in b&w & with a bit of editing) that i used for my most recent Buckynat edit (gif 1). i didn't want Bruce in it, i wanted Bucky instead, so with a curves layer, i darkened the whole gif (gif 2). then, inside the layer mask of the curves layer, with a black brush, i erased the effects of the curves layer on Natasha (gif 3).

you can still see his face, so in another layer, so i painted above those gaps with a black brush and black gradient (gif 4). that way, i created a region to put a gif of Bucky over it (gif 5). without my retouches, you still would be able to see Mark Ruffalo's face (gif 6).

play with colors & b&w! the first Peggy gif wouldn't have worked as well if the smaller Peggy wasn't entirely pink, because more of the background would show up over the main scene, for example.

play with size, too! having a big pink Peggy in the first gif was easier to blend than a smaller Peggy.

hope this was useful 🙈 i too wish there was a secret technique for me to tell you, but i discovered through trial and error that picking (and/or editing) the right scenes is the gifmaker's best friend. and while there's a "theory" for it (using scenes with a lot of dark and bright spots, filling missing gaps with black brush strokes in an underneath layer), you get better at picking the right scenes (and blending in general) with practice!

[janeykath318]

Beautiful In White: A Shieldshock Soulmates Story

Darcy had been a bridesmaid six times already and still had a rainbow collection of colorful dresses in her closet, but for her seventh bridesmaid appearance, the bride was wearing the colorful dress, and the bridesmaids were all wearing white. Natasha Romanoff certainly was all about bucking convention and Darcy thought the deep red ball gown she wore was absolutely stunning. Apparently, Bucky agreed, judging by the way his eyes bugged out when she’d walked down the aisle toward him.

Darcy didn’t have any objections to white, but it was a very challenging color to wear and she was extremely careful during the reception to avoid any spills. Nevertheless, despite her best efforts, she ended up in the restroom, scrubbing furiously at a spot of something.

When she emerged, she had a wet spot on her dress and was more than ready to change, but the evening was still young. Heaving a sigh, she watched the couple enjoy their first dance as newlyweds, smiling at how relaxed Natasha looked in Bucky’s arms and how Bucky looked at her like she was the center of his universe.

“After today, I firmly believe that white is overrated,” she said quietly, to the tall figure who stood beside her. Steve’s gaze moved from Natasha to her and he gave her a very appreciative look, which caught her off guard. She’d known Steve for a while now, but she’d thought he thought of her as just another friend, the quirky scientist wrangler who showed him the ways of Instagram and Netflix.

“Well, I think it looks beautiful on you,” he said softly, making her blush. Steve Rogers didn’t just go around telling people they were pretty. Oh, no. If he offered such a compliment, it was definitely sincere.

“Ah, Steve, you’re so sweet,” she sighed, then suddenly jolted at a very intense tingly sensation in her left shoulder. She frantically rubbed it, wondering what the heck was going on, and noticed Steve rubbing his own neck and staring at her.

“What in the…..?” She began, trying to examine her shoulder and not being able to see clearly.

“Darcy, I think Your Words just appeared,” Steve said, sounding rather awestruck. “They’re on your shoulder blade.”

“Really? What do they say?” She asked, heart starting to pound.

“Um, they say what I just said to you: ‘Well, It looks beautiful on you.’”

Knowing Steve would never lie about something like this, Darcy gasped, turning around to face him and seeing a glimpse of her handwriting on his neck, where there definitely hasn’t been anything before. She lifted her hand and lightly traced over her declaration about white being overrated which had now permanently marked him as hers. Most of the time, Soulmarks appeared the first time two people ever spoke to each other, but in rare cases, they happened later, which was evidently what had occurred with Steve and herself.

Steve placed his hand on hers and she could have sworn she saw his tears in his eyes.

“Looks like you’re stuck with me, Lewis,” he said, cracking a watery smile.

She grinned back up at him. “Yup. But I must confess, I’m really happy it’s you. I was so bummed when Words didn’t appear when we first met.”

“Really?” Steve asked in amazement. “After I had just been handed my ass in front of you?”

Darcy giggled. “Especially then.”

She’d first met Steve when she was hanging out with Clint in the gym, watching the super soldiers sparring and trying not to openly lust. Bucky had sent Steve sprawling, wind knocked out of him and she’d instinctively run over to make sure he was okay.

Dazed blue eyes had looked up into hers and she’d blurted out, “Want me to beat him up for you, Cap?”

He’d looked at her startled, then glanced at his smirking best friend and grinned.

“I would pay good money to see that happen,” he’d gasped out. “The jerk’s getting cocky in his old age.”

And they’d been friends from the start.

Steve and Darcy were still staring at each other when Bucky and Natasha finished their dance and approached.

“Whoa. You having a moment, punk?” Bucky asked, clapping Steve on the shoulder.

“Looks like a very important moment,” Natasha agreed, pointing at Steve’s neck. Bucky took a quick looked, then grinned like the Cheshire Cat.

“I’ll say,” the groom declared. “Delayed soulmate marks. Congrats, guys.”

Bucky beamed with pride and Darcy couldn’t help but show off her own Words, wiggling her bare shoulder a bit.

“I must say, fate got it right,” Natasha said, giving Darcy a hug. “You two are perfect for each other. I suspected this would end up happening. I’m calling dibs on a bridesmaid spot.”

Darcy blushed and laughed.

“Okay,” she said giddily. “But I’m gonna make you wear blue, so just be prepared.”

“Worth it,” Natasha said, winking at Darcy before she dragged her husband away to give them space.

Darcy turned her attention back to her Soulmate, reaching up to place her hands on his very broad shoulders.

“You happy, Steve?” She asked.

“Very.” he murmured, hands wrapping around her waist. “I’ve been stuck on you for awhile, but thought destiny was against us. Guess it just needed time.”

“Let’s make up for it,” she suggested, giving him a very encouraging look.

Steve grinned and did his absolute best, making Darcy’s knees buckle from his kiss.

Happily for him, he did get to see Darcy wearing white again, and she looked just as beautiful, this time with a delicate veil over her dark hair.

[goddess-of-silvers]

Stony x MLB AU.

Tony Stark is CatNoir. Steve Rogers is MisterBug. They’re New York’s superheroes, two teenagers who go to a high school in downtown Manhattan. Tony Stark is the son of eccentric billionare and weapons tycoon Howard Stark who is also HawkMoth and wants the miraculous to bring his coma tosed wife back. Thor and Bucky are Steve’s best friends, while Natasha and Bruce are Tony’s. Buckynat and ThorBruce are heavily seen in the background while the ridiculous love square of Tony and Steve plays out. Steve has always had a giant crush on the science wizard and model Tony Stark who is too caught up in love with Misterbug Steve to realize how obvious Steve is. Catnoir Tony constantly flirting with serious Misterbug who drops their act alot and flirts back. Misterbug Steve rejecting Catnoir by saying he’s in love with this guy back in civilian life he’s pretty sure doesn’t know he exists. Catnoir Tony, being sad but understanding but happy he at least has him as a best friend. And fuck its 3am and this is fucking brillaint, has anyone written this yet???

this is so niche christ.

[give-me-back-my-rhodey]

Let’s Burn the World Down - AUgust Day 6

Title: Let’s Burn the World Down

Author: Purple_ducky00

Rating: Teen

Relationship: Clint Barton/Tony Stark, Background relationships: Bucky/Natasha, Steve/Sam

Link: Read on AO3

Summary: Tony falls in love with the guy he keeps meeting in the ER. Too bad the guy already has a girlfriend... or does he?

+++++++++++

For a billionaire, Tony has to go to the hospital very often. Whether it’s a lab accident, a car accident, an assassination attempt, and/or anything else, Tony finds himself in the ER at least once a month. His insurance is higher than his standards, which isn’t saying much, Tony surmises, because he’s halfway in love with the guy he sees almost every time he goes.

 They’ve seen each other so frequently that they’ve started nodding to each other and saying, “What are you in for?” like they do in the movies at the police station.

 Although he’s being truthful, Tony knows that most of his incidents sound very made up. “Oh, they sent someone to assassinate me, but I managed to flirt my way out of it with only a stab wound.” “My lab exploded.” “My robot dropped a steel sheet on my foot.” “I tripped on something and fell off my porch to the porch below.” But he is even more disbelieving of this man’s injuries.

The guy says stuff like “I shot myself with a boomerang arrow.” “I was skydiving with my dog and my parachute got caught on a tree branch, and an eagle attacked me.” “I think that pizza I ate was too old.” “My old circus buddy tried to kill me. He failed.” “I fell out of the vents, and the bad guys beat me up.”

 Today Tony comes in because he had to jump through a window to avoid Sunset Bain. He now has glass sticking out of his side, and he’s sitting calmly until a doctor can see him. The man limps in, bloody and skin mangled on his leg. The others in the ER gasp as he signs in and takes a seat beside Tony. “Hey man, what you in for?” He asks.

 “Jumped out a window to avoid my ex.”

 “Mood.” The man nods sagely. “I just battled a cougar and won. Before you ask, yes it was the cat kind, although I don’t doubt that a middle-aged woman couldn’t do this if she was rejected.” He gestures to his leg. Tony barks out a laugh.

 “Oh, they could. Trust me. By the way, I never got your name. Or did you want to stay anonymous?” Tony asks.

 The man shakes his head. “We’d go great no matter how we do it. Name’s Clint.”

 “I’m Tony.”

“Yea, I know.” When Tony looks at him, surprised, Clint pats his shoulder placatingly. “You’ve got these people fooled with your greasy shirts and hats, but I never forget a face. Don’t worry, I won’t rat you out. But why do you come to this crappy ER all the time? Aren’t you supposed to go to the ones that are made for rich people?”

 Tony shrugs. Truthfully, the first couple time he came, it was because he had happened to be in the neighborhood when disaster struck. He had struck up conversation with Clint, and he decided that if he were able to talk with him, Tony would keep coming to this ER. “I don’t know. I’m in the area a lot, I guess.”

 Tony gets that he has problems. He knows that he quickly falls in love with anyone who will show him kindness or even just the time of day because he didn’t get enough love and attention from his parents as a child. He goes to therapy, and he does make an effort to figure out which people are being nice only because they want something, which people are just simply being nice, and which people are flirting. It’s still hard sometimes, like now. He doesn’t think Clint wants something because 1.) he just said that he won’t rat Tony out and 2.) he could have taken Tony’s wallet very easily many times. But is Clint just a nice dude, or does he like Tony?

 A nurse gets Tony just as another comes for Clint. Tony lies on his side for far too long as they pull glass from his body. When he’s cleared to go, the doctor tells him, “You have to be more careful, Mr. Stark. You’re not invincible, and I’d hate to see anything happen to you.”

 “Thanks Doc. I’ll do my best.” He shakes the man’s hand.

 On his way out, he sees Clint talking to a beautiful redhead. She is reaming him out in Russian, calling him and idiot and a few other unsanitary words. Clint tries to console her, but she grabs his hand and pushes him into her car. She speeds off, still shouting in Russian. Tony’s heart drops. He has no chance with Clint now. No one would give up a woman like her for him unless they wanted something.

 The next time Tony gets hurt, he goes to the ER near his home. He is in and out shortly, but Tony feels incomplete. He misses the easy camaraderie with Clint. I can still joke with him as friends, right? There’s no harm in that. He reasons, but he chickens out the next time, when he accidentally burns his arm with his blowtorch, and then when he gets shot. This keeps happening until it has been at least three months since he last saw Clint.

 Tony gets drunk in a bar | in Brooklyn. Very, very drunk. The thing about being a Stark – you can hold your liquor very well, and even when you are so drunk most people black out, you can still walk and talk albeit hindered a little. Well, Tony is that drunk, and this is when he tends to overshare. He’s telling the bartender, a beefy man with long brown hair, about Clint. “So, there’s this guy, you know. Only time I see him is when I go to the ER. He’s really cute, he’s got like tons of biceps, and he’s funny. We used to see each other all the time, and I think I love him. But one time, I saw him, and he had a girlfriend. Super, smoking hot redhead – like I don’t even stand a chance. So, I’ve been avoiding him. It’s dumb because he doesn’t know I like him, and I keep convincing myself that I can still talk to him as friends and such, but then my brain just tells me he has a girlfriend, and I end up going to an ER near my house. You know?”

 “Not really.” The bartender grins. “But I’m not an ER regular.”

“That’s too bad. It’s fun there sometimes.” Tony pats his hand somberly. “Sometimes we freak people out with our injuries. But we’re calm. It happens so much that we’re just like ‘meh’.  The doctor told me to be careful because I wasn’t invincible, and I was like ‘ok, I’ll tell my enemies to stop trying to kill me. I hope it works.’”

 The bartender throws back his hand and laughs. Tony drains his glass of Scotch and asks for another. “Don’t you think you’ve had enough?” The bartender asks. What was his name? Barney? Barn?

 “Barnes!” Yells someone from the other end of the bar. “I need a mimosa stat!”

 “Shut your whore mouth Wilson!” Barnes yells back. “I’m not serving you anything after what you and Steve put me though last night!” He turns back to Tony. “The dude’s dating my step-brother, and our walls aren’t soundproofed. I hate them so much.”

 “I could soundproof your walls for you.” Tony offers. He’s not sure why he offered, but he did. It’s not like he hasn’t done it before.

 “Thanks for the offer, but Nat and I will get them back at some point. Maybe we’ll do it on the couch.” Barnes grins. “Someone else can make Sam’s mimosa. Wanda’s working that end of the bar anyways.” He gives Tony one more Scotch and says, “This is your last one. I’m going to have to cut you off because I don’t want you to die.”

 Tony quietly sips on his drink while Barnes makes other drinks. Once done, he stuffs a few hundreds in the tip jar and turns to leave when a scarlet-haired woman sits on the stool beside him. Tony blinks at her for a second, thinking that she looks familiar. Barnes’ face lights up, and he comes over to her. “Hey, come here often?” He asks, fake seductively.

 “Don’t be an idiot,” She tells him and pulls his face in for a kiss. Tony realizes why he thinks she looks familiar. She’s Clint’s girlfriend!

He spins on his stool to face them. “You bitch!” He yells at her, then clamps a hand over his mouth as Barnes growls a warning. “I am so sorry. I don’t know your situation. You could have broken up with him, or hey, you’re a threesome, or an open relationship. I’m sorry. I was just caught up… and I’ll just go.”

 Tony stumbles off the stool and heads out of the bar. Mind swirling with liquor and shame, he doesn’t notice he’s in the street or the ugly purple car headed towards him until it’s too late. Frozen, he stares down the lights until the car smacks into him.

 Lying on the ground, the last thing he remembers is a person jumping out and yelling, “What are you doing, you idiot? Tony?”

 Tony wakes up in a strange place. He feels like he should be in the hospital, but he’s not. Looking around, he sees a lot of… purple. “Ugh, no one should have this much purple anything,”

 “I take offense to that.” A voice says. Wait… that’s Clint. Tony wildly tries to sit up, and Clint comes into his line of vision. “Hey, hey lie back down! I don’t think anything’s broken, but you should probably just let your body rest for a while.”

 “What happened?”

 “I hit you with my car because you were standing in the middle of the street. Why were you standing in the middle of the street?” Clint looks worried.

 Tony tries to wave him off. “You know, just for the thrill.”

 “Tony, most things I do are just for the thrill, and I know it’s idiotic to stand in the middle of the street.”

 “Yeah well, the thing I did before it was idiotic, too, so I’m pretty good at that.” Tony sighs. He doesn’t really want to get into it because Clint will probably make him leave. Tony’s good at leaving. Everyone makes him leave after they learn his true self. Ah, well, what does he have to lose but the love of his life?

 “So, last time we were both at the ER, I saw the woman who picked you up. I guess I just figured you were dating the way you both interacted with each other,” Tony explains. “Well, at the bar last night, she came in and made out with the bartender. I called her a bitch because my first thought was that she was cheating on you. Then I remembered that it had been three months, and I didn’t really know anything about you – you might have broken up, or were poly, or open relationship. Point is, I’m an idiot who speaks before he thinks then faces the consequences, even if they’re not direct.” He is very confused when Clint starts to laugh. “What’s so funny?”

 “I can’t believe you called Natasha a bitch and still live to tell the story.” Clint says between gasps. “That’s fuckin hilarious. I am sorry that I hit you with my car.”

 Tony is thoroughly confused, and Clint takes pity on him. “Natasha is dating Bucky, the bartender. She’s my best friend and confidante. She gets angry when I do stupid things, but I still do them. We are not dating, never have, and never will. Hopefully, that clears things up.”

 “A little.” Tony just feels disoriented. This is not something he has ever had to deal with before.  

 There’s a knock at the door. This “Natasha” pokes her head in. “Hey Clint, is he ok?”

 “Yea, come in. Tony meet Natasha Romanoff. Natasha, this is Tony Stark.” Clint gestures to the both of them.

 Natasha smirks. “Hi Tony.”

 “Hi,” He says weakly. “I’m sorry for calling you a bitch. I sometimes talk before I think, and I’m sorry.”

 “Just don’t do it again. Are you guys hungry? Bucky’s making blini.”

 Clint nods. “Tell him I love him. We’ll take two plates. You like blini, right?” He directs the question at Tony.

 “I think so. I’ve only had them once or twice,” Tony says. When Natasha leaves, he tells Clint, “You don’t have to stay with me. I’ll be fine.”

 “Well this is my room, so I want to stay here. By the way, how have you been? I haven’t seen you in a while. I was starting to think you took my fancy ER comment seriously.”

 Tony grimaces. “Well, it’s a long story. But I did end up going to the ER near my house a couple times. It’s hard to get no injuries in the stuff I do.”

 “Well, I don’t blame you for going to the uber fancy ERs, you know, because there’s better service or whatever. But if you do, can we hang out somewhere other than the ER, then? I kind of missed you, man.” Clint looks at Tony earnestly.

 “The main reason I stopped going to our ER is that I saw you with Natasha and thought, ‘how could I ever compete?’ I would tell myself to just go. I could talk to you as a friend, and not me crushing on you, but I always psyched myself out when I got hurt, and I just went to the ER by my house.”

 “You’re crushing on me? Wow. I did not know that. I crushed on you the first day I saw you, and I thought you were just being nice. I’m a dumpster fire on my best days.”

 Tony shoots him a wicked grin. “Then let’s burn down the world together.” 

[cap-samwilson]

prompt: "I thought you and Tony were still gazing into each other's eyes" + stevetony? :)

[steve/tony college au, background bucky/nat]

“what?” steve asks,feeling the pencil slide across the paper with purpose, inspiration steppingbefore every stroke. her voice is the first he’s heard in hours, the artsdepartment buildings pretty empty this time of day, except for the peopleleaving classes in the studios.

“well, the lasttime i saw you, you were drooling pretty heavily over tony stark in thoseskinny jeans, and… well, you know the rest,” nat teases, and unfortunately,steve’s pen has to come to a halt before the heat in his cheeks distracts fromhis homework. “figured you were stuck there.”

letting out asigh, he looks up at her with eyes that beg her not to continue. “no, i don’tknow the rest,” steve says firmly, and his instrument presses against the paperagain. he summons to mind the image he was trying to recreate, but before hecan even make another line he’s glancing up again into nat’s eyes. bright,green, and all-knowing, perfectly complimenting the smirk on her face.

if he wasn’t soannoyed, he’d love to put that image onto paper. of course, nat herself is awork of art. he’s seen her performances after all, bucky lifting her into theair, easy even with one arm, the crowd erupting into cheers. she’s beautifuland smart and funny and she knows what’s going on, even when people like stevedon’t.

again. annoying.

“well, let’s justsay however much you were ogling him, he was equally ogling you,” she says, andreaches for the pencil, snatching it from his fingers. they’ve gone slack.

“what? no, he wasn’t.”his voice is a little strangled as he says it, which gets a laugh as she tucksthe pencil behind her ear. taking away his only sanctuary from this attack. “nat,c’mon, i’ve got to finish this piece for next week.”

that gets a laughout of her, too, though this one is almost… kinder. she reaches out to squeezehis shoulder. “next week is next week, rogers,” natasha tells him, straighteningup to her full height before turning toward the door. her duffle easily fits onher shoulder, and he watches her strut away, his charcoal leaving with her. “buty’know, tony’s coming to my place tonight.”

“wait, tonight?” heasks, and his sketchbook is shoved away in his backpack so he can stand andfollow her out, gripping onto both straps. “what for?”

the cool hits ‘em.it’s springtime, the flowers blooming, the rain passing through washing awayany chance at heat, and the sun on their skin is a setting one.

“i’m having aparty. after all, graduation is in a few weeks, and by that time finals willhave rotted our brains enough that even thinking about having a good time wouldbe out of the question.” she shrugs a bit, and something flashes across herface, something sad, wistful. “and y’know, we’re all spreading out. clint’sgoing up north for a training thing. sam’s going down to d.c., bruce is goingwest coast for grad school. bucky’s… staying in new york.” she catches on thelast one, and steve grimaces a little. he was there when that fight happened.it wasn’t pretty – nat trying her damnedest to pull bucky with her, bucky fightingto anchor them both here. but before he can comfort her, she’s marching on, hershoulder hitching up the duffle that had started to fall.

“anyway. we’re allgoing places. spreading our wings. just thought it’d be a good thing to haveone last hurrah.”

“and i’m justhearing about it now?” steve says with a raised brow, which earns him a solidpunch on the arm.

“yeah, because i’mnot letting you weasel your way out of it. especially since when you’re thereyou’re going to ask tony stark out on an actual date.”

that’s enough tomake steve stop in his tracks, but natasha keeps walking, not even turningaround so he can see the smirk he knows she’s wearing.

“that is nothappening.” he says it firmly enough that she turns around with a raised brow,staring at him block the sidewalk. “what? it’s not. tony doesn’t like me likethat.”

that gets the browpushing higher on her forehead. “you’re joking, right?”

“no, i’m not.” hisvoice is low, and he looks down to kick at a pebble on the sidewalk, a littlebit of his frustration coming through. “if he did he would’ve asked me outalready. or said something, or done something, or… y’know. something like hedid with ty. or christine. or –”

“or who? justin hammer?”nat’s voice is incredulous, and she walks toward steve to push up his chin. “steve,you’re not any of those people. which is why tony hasn’t asked you out.”

“oh, yeah, thatsupposed to make me feel better?” it’s a little angry now, and he kicks anotherrock, hard enough to be gone in the grass. “i’ll see you around, nat, okay?” hehuffs, shaking his head, and he’s about to turn around before he feels herfingers on his elbow. gentle. barely there.

“steve… you don’twant to be those people.”

when he turns tolook at her, her lower lip is bitten, and she’s not looking at him, as if there’ssomething she wants to say but can’t. or won’t. “what do you mean?” he prods,and she sighs before tucking her arm in his, pulling him along toward thelibrary.

“tony’s… been hurta lot,” she relents, and she won’t look at him while she talks, her voice softso no one passing overhears. “you know relationships here. they spark and thenfizzle out, and it ends up being shit for both parties. with tony? it’s notjust a spark. it’s never just a spark.”

and steve can seeit. because tony isn’t just a spark, tony’s fire. he’s passion and verve andthere’s nothing calm about him. hell, when steve first met him he could hardlyhandle it. they snapped and they argued, steve’s stubbornness clashing withtony’s reckless words and behaviors and smiles. the fire wasn’t a flame, it waswild.

but then they gotto know each other, and… well. steve saw more than just something raging thatcouldn’t be contained. steve saw the gentle campfire, barely burning but justas hot, lulling you to sleep with its warmth. like when tony and bruce firstbecame friends. the way he poked and prodded but never pushed bruce furtherthan he wanted to be, always pulled back, always touched and hugged but neversqueezed too tight. he saw the torch, the one held out so others could see. thebest in his field, top of the class, always teaching. bucky and tony were neverbest of friends, but he was always willing to explain something because bucky likedthat stuff, and tony liked talking about it. and he never got annoyed talkingto people like steve about it either, when he saw huge formulas and couldn’thelp but ask what it was. he smiled like it meant something to him that hewould even bother to ask in the first place.

“those peoplewanted something from tony, steve. they wanted his body, or his publicity, orhis mind,” she continues. “and tony got blindsided. justin moved on, and fast,and christine posted an instagram photo and never looked back. hell, ty stole tony’s work on that final project,steve. that’s the reason he had to start from scratch last week. because tywouldn’t admit to it and never got punished.”

they stop again,steve grinding to a halt like he’d been punched in the face.

“what?”

all he got in responsewere those green eyes. sad ones, that seemed to punch him again. a quickone-two that made his mouth fall open a little.

“you’re not likethose people, steve,” she says. just as gentle as her fingers. “you’re sweet,and kind, and generous. and tony doesn’t know what to do with you. with thatkind of love.”

there’s a silence,and they walk in it for a while, his wheels turning. when he does speak, it’s hesitant.

“how did you knowthat i –”

“loved him? rogers,i watched you carry him up ten flights of stairs after his birthday partyfreshman year because the elevators were busted and he was too tired to standup straight. you hand-iced the birthday cake he got with the schematics heturned in for his final last year. hell, i don’t think he’s ever paid for a cupof coffee when he’s with you, and that boy drinks a lot of coffee.”

that gets anotherblush while he rubs his neck, and she laughs, hell, giggles before they stop infront of the library doors.

turning to him, shelifts up a hand to squeeze his shoulder again. “come to my place tonight. 10:00.there’ll be a sizeable amount of booze, a lot of sugar and snacks, and a goodtime with all of your friends. and when you see tony, just. tell him how youfeel.”

“it’s not thateasy, nat,” he suddenly manages, and he can feel every anxious thought he’sever had about tony cloud his brain. “what if he doesn’t feel that way? what ifi’m not what he wants? i’m not pretty like christine or smart like hammer or…smooth like ty, i’m just me. i can barely talk around him sometimes.”

“steve.” he stops when he hears her, andwhen he manages to look at her again, she’s still smiling. raising her browlike he’s just made her point for her. “that’s okay. trust me. it’s coming fromyou. that’s all he wants.”

he’s frozen, butmanages a nod, swallowing tightly. “i just… i don’t want to mess it up, y’know?”

“i know. but youwon’t.”

after a moment, henods again. her confidence seems to work to lift his shoulders, his chin. hestands up straight before glancing over, and she’s grinning from ear to ear,offering the charcoal pencil back.  

steve takes it inhis fingers, twirling it a bit, looking at it from end to end. his sketchbook weighsheavy in his backpack, one page holding tony’s image in charcoal pencil, painstakinglycrafted one evening they spent together. homework, they’d said, tony’s hands flyingover his laptop and steve’s fingers blending shadows into tony’s hair. becausesteve hadn’t had homework, had just been wanting and willing to keep tonycompany, and it’d been peaceful, the two of them. they’d shared two pizzas overthe hours they’d spent in tony’s living room, eventually giving up on work (or pleasure,in steve’s case) completely to watch dumb youtube videos on tony’s television.

it was perfect. inthat way time with tony always was. in that way steve knew the genius himselfalways would be. perfectly tony. snarky and brilliant and bright. with all thestubbornness and sarcasm that steve could want. kind and generous and real.

“i’m gonna treathim right, nat,” he finally tells her, as the wind blew by them, bushesrustling, the sun almost completely gone behind a cloud that’d come in with thebreeze. “i’m gonna give him the world.”

“i know,” she says,taking his arm again, walking into the building together to go stir clint froma deep sleep. “i expect nothing less.”

[616natasha]

Natalia & James in Black Widow (2020) #12

[not-close-to-straight]

TWO KARMA KICKS TO THE FACE INSTEAD OF ONE????? IS IT CHRISTMAS ALREADY???? Love it!!! Cannot wait to see it!!!! Also I love the stark (hehehehe see what I did there??) difference between the two couples!! NatBucky is this instant connection and attraction that leads to s*x very fast and they seem to know how to get the reaction they want from each other! Where as Tony and Steve ALSO had an instant connection that was squashed by expectations and manners and now they are both hurt and lost!!

Sheesh I didn't realize I was so behind in answering messages! Sorry!

YES! Howard will get comeuppance-d not once but TWICE in MAMC. Once by Steve because of course Steve's gonna stand up for Tony

BUT ALSO once by Natasha because thank you, Bucky but she doesn't actually need an Alpha to fight her battles, she's got it taken CARE of.

And YES the dichotomy between Stony who has to literally work just to have a decent conversation and BuckyNat who won't stop kissing long enough to have an actual conversation is EXCELLENT. BuckyNat is a really fun background Stony and Nat and Tony as siblings is something I've wanted to write for AGES.