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“Cut those in small pieces,” you said as you placed a bowl of potatoes in front of your older brother, Clint. He looked at the bowl, then at you, then back at the bowl and finally back at you.
“You’re kidding me, right?”
You shot him a glare and he was smart enough to just grab the knife and start cutting.
While that was being solved, you focused on getting the rest of dinner ready.
You were a guest at the Avenger Compound. Being close to your brother meant a lot of hanging out with the Avengers, but you had never cooked for them.
You had no idea how you had gotten into the kitchen – with Clint of all people. Actually, you did. Sam Wilson and his need to bet on everything and, as a proud person, you couldn’t refuse. So you bet that you could make Natasha Romanoff moan while tasting your food.
Everything had to be perfect.
***
“Ready to lose?” Sam whispered in your ear, from behind you.
You smirked and glanced at him from over your shoulder. “Only in your dreams, birdy.”
The entire team sat around the gigantic table, everyone filling their plates with the plenty of food you made Clint place around.
The bet said you had to let Clint help and everyone knew how awful he was at the kitchen, so you made him do simple things: cut the potatoes and set the table. Knowing your plan, he took an extra-long time in cutting the potatoes.
You sat with Clint on your right and Bucky on your left, Steve by Bucky’s other side and Natasha right in front of you.
The team tried to conceal the glances they threw at Natasha as she prepared her first spoonful. Is a whimper a moan? She had to close her eyes? She had to whimper a word or just a wordless moan would suffice? You should have settles rules with Sam first.
Natasha rose the fork to her mouth and froze when the food touched her tongue.
Oh my. You had tasted it, it was delicious. How embarrassing would it be if Natasha hated it?
For three agonizing seconds, the room was dead silent, which was impressive on its own.
“I think my tongue just met with God.”
And then she began chewing and her eyes closed and she… moaned.
“YES!” Clint screamed beside you, standing up with his hands reaching for the ceiling.
“No way!” Sam shrieked before placing his fork in mouth. Sam whimpered.
Not a single word was said during dinner. Well at least not to each other. Some mumbling words escaped from here and there, but they were all quiet and, most importantly, all praises.
When everyone finished, Tony turned to face you.
“How on Earth do you do that?”
“Four years of cooking and experimenting new flavors in college does have its perks,” you explained and then smirked at Sam.
“So you just graduated?” Steve asked. Clint had told him that already, but he wanted to talk to you.
“Yep,” you confirmed, “I’m looking for a job now, but no one wants someone fresh out of college,” you sighed.
Few of them knew what the struggle was for those who had just finished college and were looking for a good job.
“What if you worked here?” Tony blurted out suddenly.
“What?”
“I’d pay you, of course. I’d probably get fat too, because I wouldn’t stop eating, but you’d have a job and be near your brother,” Tony eyes light up as the idea formed in his mind.
“Plus a bunch of lunatics as friends,” Sam chimed in, grinning, “Or more,” he winked at you, making you chuckle.
“And no need to wash or clean anything,” Tony quipped his eyebrows, “I’m a genius so no one actually has to do it.”
“I’d cook for all of you?”
“Yep.”
“I’ll gladly take it.”
“Yes!” Came the response from everyone surrounding you.
Everyone was beaming, but Bucky’s small smile was the most beautiful.
***
“Need any help?”
You turned to see Steve leaning against the doorway.
“If you’re not busy and trust me with a knife near you, sure,” you threw a smile over your shoulder.
“I’m sure I’ll survive.”
You asked him to mix the sauce while you cut the meat.
“You sure you don’t want me do that?” Steve asked. He flexed his arms to show off the bulging muscles from under the shirt he wore.
Poor seams.
Steve wanted to flirt? Two could play at this game.
“Believe it or not, Steve, I’m very talented with my hands,” you winked at him.
Red peppers should feel jealous of his blush.
***
You were walking around the Compound, a book and a snack in hands when he suddenly appeared next to you.
“Hello, Princeza,” Pietro fell into a walk beside you, a grin on his lips, his hair all tousled from the run.
“Hello, Pietro,” you smiled back.
He turned and started walking backwards, his hands clasped behind his back.
“Just wanted to say that you look lovely today.”
You chuckled and thanked him before he took off running.
***
“Hey, [Y/n],” Wanda called you happily, “Wanna watch a movie with me?”
“Sure!”
You settle on the gigantic couch and picked a movie that pleased your tastes and hers.
Through the movie, Wanda laid her head on your shoulder, snuggling close. By the end of it, she was peacefully sleeping and you didn’t want to disturb her, so you simply got more comfortable on the couch and decided on a nap.
***
You slept on the afternoon, so at night, you couldn’t sleep. Maybe, a little walk around the Compound would be helpful.
As you went past the lab, you saw a light. Bright and, as you got closer, more than one.
“Bruce?” you called, softly.
He looked at you from his notepad, a bit frightened.
“Yes, [Y/n]?”
You smiled softly at him, “Can’t sleep?”
He chuckled. “Not tonight. I’m almost done with this and my mind won’t settle until I finish it.”
“Oh, I’ll leave you to it, then.”
“You can’t sleep either?” he called before you made it out the door, his voice a bit shaky.
You turned to him again. “Nope.”
He scratched the back of his neck, his eyes not meeting yours. “Maybe some snack would help you settle? I could accompany you?”
***
You had just served your newest chocolate cake recipe. The first cake was enough to serve a piece for each person in the room. Thank God – or Thor really, since he was the one that suggested you baked more, “with his help, of course,” since he loved cooking – that you baked four.
“Lady [Y/n], this is divine,” Thor gushed, his eyes closed in delight.
“Why, thank you, Thor,” you smiled at him.
Steve, Tony, Bruce, Natasha, Wanda and Pietro all looked at you dreamily. Clint cleared his throat, annoyed that they wouldn’t stop flirting with you. They all recomposed themselves.
In Clint’s mind, you were only a child, a freshly-graduate woman. With a bunch of people he called family hoovering over you.
Bucky was the only one that escaped Clint’s radar, being subtle while looking at you.
“Maybe you should come to Asgard with me and become my Queen. We make a tremendous pair, don’t you think?” the God smiled brightly at you.
“I might agree with you, Thor.”
If there was one thing you loved, was teasing your older brother.
***
You turned your head to your right and then forward, trying to stretch it out. When you repeated the process to the other side, a cracking sound echoed throughout the kitchen.
“Wow, you’re tense,” Natasha exclaimed as she walked over you. You had a recipe book opened on the marble counter in the kitchen, your favorite place in the huge Compound. Nat served herself a glass with water and offered you one, which you refused.
“Am I?”
She looked at you. “Yes. Want me to help you with that?”
And that’s how you ended up in one of the stools, book forgotten as Natasha worked her gentile hands on your neck and shoulders, getting rid of all the knots.
***
Your crush on Bucky had developed to not being so small anymore, but how could you make him see? He was the only person that didn’t flirt you, the only one that you wanted to. Maybe you didn’t have to wait for him to do it.
And maybe you could be a perfect sibling and tease your older brother some more. You knew Clint didn’t like when the Team flirted with you, but would you truly pass out on a bunch of opportunities to annoy him? No way.
So, this happened:
Bucky had just came from the market with Steve and Sam, each of them with two bags in each hand full of food.
“Need any help?” you came to the kitchen, where the pair had just came in and where conveniently Clint was talking to Natasha.
“No, it’s okay, we got it,” Bucky responded, his features calm upon setting the groceries on the counter. Steve and Sam followed suit.
“Doesn’t surprise me, with all those muscles of yours,” you dismissively said.
Clint promptly sent you a side-glance, quirking his eyebrow, but didn’t say anything.
Steve, noticing the not-so-subtle actions, bumped his arm on Bucky and looks pointedly at [Y/n].
Natasha spoke, “Hey, I need someone to test the new Widow Bites.” No one answered, all looked at her in fear. “Sam’s wings and Steve’s shield. Now.” She left the room and the two quickly followed quickly.
In fact, they went to the Security Room and watched it all from the cameras.
***
You always cooked with music, no exceptions. What changed, if someone was observing, was if you’d dance or not.
No one was in the kitchen as you finished dinner, so what was the harm in swaying your hips and bumping your head to the rhythm? None, except-
“I can show you how to dance to this kind of songs, if you want.”
You quickly turned to see Bucky leaning against the counter.
“Would you, really?”
You were listening to some old 40s classics, obviously Bucky knew how to dance to them.
“Yeah. If you want, that is.”
“I’d love that,” you smiled at him. Before he realized, he was smiling back.
“Now?”
“Sure.”
So you turned the oven off and stood in front of him.
“How do we do this, Sergeant?”
“Like this,” he guided one of your hands to his shoulder and the other to his own hand, while he placed his free hand on your waist. As he instructed you on your feet, two steps front, one step back. Only increasing in speed to actually match the song’s.
By the end of the lesson, you were both laughing and breathing heavily. As a final move, right when the song was about to end, Bucky dipped you while holding onto your lower back gently but firmly.
“Very good,” he praised, bringing you to an upright position again, his steel eyes focused on yours. You couldn’t help but return his gaze, your hands still on his shoulders and his resting lightly on your waist. “I’m impressed.”
“I had a great teacher.”
At that, he laughed.
“[Y/n],” he said, focusing entirely on you again, “Would you go on a date with me?”
Bucky thought your smile could light up the world.
“I’d love to.”
The other were all bundled up on the doorway of the kitchen, hiding their lower parts behind the wall but their upper bodies visible as they leaned to the side to watch you and Bucky, trying – as in, completely failing – in being subtle.
“Why do you get mad at us for flirting with her, but not with Bucky who has his hands all over her?” Tony whispered-yelled, grumpily crossing his arms over his chest. A typical two-year-old tantrum.
Clint grinned, “Because he truly knows her value.”