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regrettablewritings · 6 years

Note

Steve TrevorxReader for the ship meme thingy?

I hope modern!Steve is okay; I didn’t really have the time or focus to make a period-accurate WWI-era setting. But thank you for your patience!

How differently do they think of eachother now compared to when they first met?: To be honest, your first impressions of one another were highly superficial:You thought he was hot, he thought you were cute, and both of you wereembarrassed to be seen in the states of dress and undress that you happened tobe in. To be fair, Steve also just so happened to be moving into the apartmentacross the hall from you on one scorcher of a day, so needless to say yourrespective states of dress were as minimal as possible while still covering up just enough to be decent. At least, youhad when you first laid eyes on him. Up until that point, you’d been strollingaround your apartment, dressed down to your skivvies with the A/C blasting. Youwere quite content to stay that way had it not been for the ruckus. The soundof thudding and muffled yelps from outside your dwelling area drove you tothrow on a baggy t-shirt that ended just above your knees, the heat boilingyour mind just a degree past sensibility.By the time you’d opened the door, you were hearing utterances of “just callDiana” and, “Diana’s in Paris for another nine days!”, with a snide remark of,“Can’t you just sleep on this sofa for nine days, then?” Then came theexpletives, some of which you couldn’t even identify yet seemed to have vaguetraces of French in them.

But by the time you made your presence known, it had all quieted down.Mainly because all four sources of the noise became focused on you. And it wascertainly quite the crew once you got a good look at them: All were men, allwere from varying backgrounds and ages, and all appeared to be struggling withgetting a couch un-wedged from its place in the threshold of the previouslyvacant apartment. But the one you couldn’t help but set your eyes on the mostwas the one who appeared to be the youngest of the outfit. Handsome; awell-built physique visible through the sweat-drenched undershirt he wassporting; his brown hair pressed against his forehead with perspiration …And blue eyes that shot right into you and were probably the main reason whyyou’d been caught staring in the first place. You could feel your face burningin a new kind of way: Not like how they had been due to the heat from before,but something much more innate. Like the source was born inside of you nomatter how long you looked into those icy, blue optics.

They were just cold enough to cool your mind off, your senses resurfacing asyou realized that not only was what you were doing probably considered gawkingat this point, but the blue-eyed fellow, as well, might’ve been gawking rightback. And with good reason: With your shirt hanging low off one shoulder andthe rest of it just barely reaching your knees, you may not have been the mostindecent thing but you were certainly a welcome sight for four souls dying inthe heat. And one of them (whom you’d later know as Sameer) wasn’t afraid tohint that at you.

“Sorry to cause you such a fuss,” he grinned, poising an elbow atop the sofaas though he hadn’t just been cussing up a storm over it moments before. Theman next to him – the tallest and appearing to be of Native descent – rolledhis eyes. The flirter went on, “Once we get this guy” – he nodded at the brunet– “all settled in, I hope we could make this all up to you by … maybeholding a get-together? Some champagne from France, I could use my connectionsto get us some nice cheeses, and maybe –”

“Don’t use my place as your love pad,” the brunet hisses under his breath.He turned his eyes away but that did nothing to stop the red from splotchinghis face. Logic would dictate it as a result of the heat, but it hadn’t been that rouge before. You’d barely managedto utter an embarrassed apology/goodbye before you awkwardly shuffled back intoyour apartment. Deep down you wished that that would be the end of it, thatmaybe the brunet would turn out to be one of those neighbors who was barelyever home either because of work or because of a rich social life.

But deep down, you also knew that this wasn’t going to be the case. And yougot that confirmation about two days later when he appeared at your door,sheepishly offering you a package of “apology biscotti.”

“I, um, yeah, the other day was not thebest way to introduce one’s self to their new neighbors, soooo … yeah,” heattempted to explain.

“… You dorealizethat I’m supposed to be the one giving you a gift, right? Housewarming and all.”The urge to smack yourself in the face for coming up with that response was strong. Thankfully,the brunet took the response in stride.

“Well, yeah,”he admitted. “But considering you caught me and my goofball friends kinda beingungentlemanly, I thought it’d just be more appropriate if I made it up to youfirst. You know, spare you the jello mold.”

This was themoment you began to get a better idea of the man (whom you then learned wasnamed Steve Trevor). Sure, he was hot, but he also appeared to have a sense ofmorality in a way. A principle to live by. And he proceeded to live by it bynot only accepting your later gift of “housewarming meat loaf”, but alsoinviting you in to share it. By the end of the first month of the two of youknowing one another, you thought of him as a very pleasant and rare case of agood neighbor. It actually took his friend, the friend group-famous DianaPrince, to step into the picture and insist to you that he wasn’t secretly ahomicidal maniac. (She had one of the most honest faces you had ever seen, youhad no choice but to trust her.) But thankfully, with backing from his friends (whom you quickly learned weren’tnearly as discomforting as you’d initially assumed), you got the hang of hischaracter: He was pretty kind and a bit hard-headed, but his heart was alwaysin the right place. The makings of a hero you’d normally only read about, they wouldsay. By the time the two of you had been in the tenth month of yourrelationship, you knew that up close and personal. He barely changed from howhe’d been as a neighbor and friend, but he certainly upped the ante in terms ofromance and protectiveness. After all, Steve had a tendency to make his mostbasic self known upfront.

Meanwhile,you weren’t quite as clear but he didn’t mind one bit: He found you to be enjoyablethrough and through. He couldn’t blame you for coming off as bashful the firsttime you’d met, given the circumstances, but he was quite surprised to see youhad some snark in you after the second meeting. Throughout the time he’s knownyou up to the present day where the two of you are a thing, he’s only everknown you as a hard-working woman who knows herself and her surroundings wellenough to determine what she wants and will work to get it. And that’s justgranted you more and more respect from him.

(Of course,the both of you can’t help but appreciate the closer proximity of your bodiesthat this relationship of yours has allowed through the passage of time, butthat’s another story.)

What do their friends/family think oftheir relationship?: “So, you moved in on her before I could, huh?” Sameer teased. Of course, hemeant nothing by it really. He, like Steve’s other friends, were more amused bythe relationship than anything. After all, they hadn’t quite expected for theirbuddy to get with the chick they saw barely dressed their first day at theplace. But that’s not going to stop them from assuming positions in your lifewith Sameer reminding you that “he’s ready and waiting in the wings if Stevedisappoints as a boyfriend” and Charlie and Chief both making it clear to Stevethat if he fucks this up somehow, it won’t be pretty. (“We dinna raise ya li’ that,Stevie!” Charlie would warn.) But of them all, the one who takes the news mostseriously is Diana.

She’s his best friend, after all, and she’s more than ecstatic when hereveals that the two of you are dating (though she also lets you know that ifhe gives you any trouble, she’ll knock his block off). She enjoys slipping thetwo of you date ideas and is honestly your guys’ go-to when the other three aregetting out of hand. She wants to see her friend happy and will do whatever shecan in support of this relationship being happy and healthy for the both ofyou.

Your friends and family are, in a word, amazed. Specifically, at the factthat Steve is, compared to way too much of the human population, nearlyperfect. Sure, he has some flaws here and there, but then again he’s also veryhandsome, very kind, very sweet, very brave, very smart, very dedicated, andvery much into you. When your loved ones learn that he once served in themilitary, some begin to joke that you mean he was grown in a military lab as aperfect boyfriend/distraction rather than serving as a pilot.

All in all, everyone’s supportive of your union on both sides of the couple.

How do their personalities/skillscomplement or contrast with each other?: The two of you both have traits of yours wherein you’re comfortable in takingcharge of certain situations. Of course, Steve’s is the result of years ofmilitary service, but you ain’t no slouch either. You both seek to turn outideal results in whatever the two of you may do and, in that way, you’re a bitof a power couple. However, Steve is also a bit more grounded (ironic,considering his occupation). You’re definitely more of an idealist, given thatSteve’s time away has forced him to witness some pretty gruesome stuff orthings that have given way to more jaded thoughts. The result here is thatwhile you’re a comparative idealist, Steve is a cynic. He is capable of stillbelieving that there is good in the world, but he’s not going to act as thoughit’s anything short of complex.

What is their favorite aspect of eachother?: You love how brave Steve is – and not just in the way that means he’ll kill thespiders. When you’d first been told stories about Steve’s antics as a pilot,you’d felt as though you were hearing a radio drama of sorts, hearing all typesof daring do and then glancing at the very subject of the story sipping aFrappuchino and taking a bite out of a cookie. Most starting to you, though,was the fact that usually they were things he was clearly terrified of doing.There were plenty of servicemen and women who would lie through their teethabout how they’d felt while on duty and even though Steve, with his boyishlooks, appeared to be one of them, he wasn’t nearly so much.

Sure he could pretend to be brave in a moment that required it but, if askedabout it later, he wasn’t going to put up the energy to go and lie about it.And you appreciated that about him: True courage was being scared but doingwhat was right anyway. That was whatmade him a hero to you, not spy missions and infiltrations.

Steve, in spite of his gusto and apparent inherency to take command, enjoysit when a woman knows herself and what she wants and will take the steps to getit. Headstrong may be a bit of a harder word to use, but that’s not far fromthe truth, actually. Maybe it’s a little weird, but he finds it kind of sexy tosee a light go off in your head, followed by you hunkering down on a project ortask with a specific goal of some kind set up in your mind. You both are sortof like a power couple in that way: You take charge in different ways and caneven be a guide for one another if need be. But watch out because …

Do either of them have pet peevesabout each other?: Interestingly, the both of you seem to find about the same thing to be oneanother’s pet peeve: The other’s sense of stubbornness. While Steve’sdedication towards whatever cause he sets his sights on can be endearing, itall too easily drifts into martyrdom/hero syndrome if left unchecked. Apparently,he’s always been this way since he was a child, always stepping in to defendthose weaker than him but upon reaching adulthood, it’s developed into a mix ofthat plus him sticking his nose where it needn’t even go. According to hisfriends, back when they were all on tour, Steve had performed way too manyoccurrences where he’d nearly become a victim of a suicide mission. Sincereverting back to civilian life, it’s not nearly as hectic. But still, youcan’t say you enjoyed starting off date night at a tavern only to end it in thehospital because Steve decided that warning your gawker wasn’t enough and heneeded to break his fist on the guy’s face in a parking lot fight.

While your form of stubbornness doesn’t take you towards the cusp of deathor physical injury nearly as much, it still manages to exhaust Steve after acertain point. Look: He loves thatyou know what you want and use hard work to get it. He even sometimes admiresyour idealism from time to time, given that it empowers you to a degree. Butsometimes you set your mind to situations that are far more complex than whatyou make them out to be and go head-on with a plan that just barely covers thesurface. He’s seen you work yourself to physical and mental exhaustion to getpromotions you knew deep down weren’t going to get passed to you because ofyour bumfuck employers, or to complete tasks that just weren’t going to be donemuch less to the degree you wanted them to be. In those moments, he tries very hard to reel you back in and console you andmake you rest so that you can think clearly about the circumstances. But thatdoesn’t always work, much less not earn him your ire. And sometimes, thoseattempts to console are him just barely off the cusp of hollering at you tocome back to earth and recognize what’s going on. It’s … not pretty to comeback to reality, let alone to your boyfriend being upset with you. Likewise,when you try to do the same to him after he’s put his ass on a line that didn’tcall for it, tensions can run just as high.

How would each reconcile with eachother after a fight?:Steve was raised by old-fashioned parents. That would probably explain whymost of his methods of reconciliation are more reminiscent of an older era. Hisfather taught him that “if Momma’s not happy, nobody’s happy”, and while you certainly aren’t a momma yet (God bewilling), the principle of the matter still apparently stood with you as hisgirlfriend. Probably because so much of his own social circle was fond of youto the point of being more than willing to throttle him whether he was theactual source of the argument or not. The first time the two of you had a bigargument, it was Diana who stepped in and had to push the two of you togetherto reach an understanding and apologies. All people involved (and watching fromthe sidelines) agreed that it wasn’t exactly an ideal method, so she had tojust trust that Steve would do a better job in the future. And indeed, he did.This is where that “All-American Boy” persona of his comes into play, utilizinga bouquet of your favorite flowers, coupled with chocolates flown in fromFrance (he has connections [read: Sameer]), and a night on the town in abrand-new outfit that he had to lurk on your Pinterest to get the basic feelof.

Of course, date night’s going to be all about you, so that means you get todecide what actually happens. You wanna go see that cheesy chick-flick? He’sdown for it. You wanna go to that upscale restaurant because “you can’t livelike you’re still only allowed to ration food, Steve”? He’ll make it happen.You wanna just stay home and cuddle and talk or have him massage your achingfeet? Hell to the yes. Heck, he may even try to cook you something if you’dlike to take that risk but be warned: This man spent just enough years with themilitary to be used to rationing and eating crummy food. Don’t mistaken hisability to make something out of very little for competence: The only one whocan do that well is Chief.

However, food is a great way to this man’s stomach and the best part? He’lleat nearly anything, given how that’s what he’s been trained to be able to do. Granted,he might’ve already been like that by nature. Anyway, you make note of thiswhen you try apologizing to him and it has served you well since. Of course,there’s more to it than just that but it’s a decent place to start. Steve issurprisingly in tune with his emotions and isn’t afraid of his feelings, sotalking things through really is a great way to go in the end. Be real withhim, but also be sensible about it. Don’t just bulrush into the conversation,that’s how you guys got into this mess in the first place. But also don’t betoo afraid to tell him how the situation makes you feel. Remind him that he’ssupposed to be back in civilian mode: He doesn’t have to keep jumping intoaction and throwing himself between you and a fist or something and be the heroof everything. Nobody’s expecting that of him, not anymore.

“You’ve done enough hero-ing,” you once said. “I’m already impressed. I justneed you to be my boyfriend ow. Okay?”

He understands. The apple pie a la mode was a pretty sweet closer anyway.

What would be their ideal vacationgetaway together?: His job’s taken him around the world, so it’d be easy to assume that he’d beindifferent to going anywhere. But considering that, for the most part, thosejourneys had mostly been work related, Steve’s never truly had the chance toconsume the realms to their fullest enjoyability. So actually, he has quite alist of places he wants to go, starting with a cross-country roadtrip. The oldboy floats on a cloud that romanticizes the idea of the two of you packing uphis car with snacks and clothes and junk and his guitar, and driving from onecoast to the other. You would only stop at the greasiest of food stops, sleepin either the car or a motel (whichever was cleanest), and just take in thesights and odd roadside stops from the Beagle B&B in Idaho to the EnchantedHighway of North Dakota and beyond. All the while singing along to the radioand driving each other nuts with car games and just talking and bonding throughthe shared experience of dwindling sanity.

Aaaahhh … Simply the life.

Of course, if you want something a bit more practical, there’s alwaysGreece. Diana had hyped up her homeland to such a degree that of course Steve’scuriosity was stoked. He really wants nothing more than to whisk you away on aromantic vacation to an island or a city by the sea and wander the streets,hand in hand, basking in the culture and touring museums and, of course, gorgingyourselves on the local cuisine. It’s a pretty stark contrast to the, ahem, homely ways of the cross-countryroadtrip but it nevertheless sounds beautiful just through him talking about it. Just keep your witsabout you come your next birthday, that’s all I’m saying.

Think of a new way (AU, differentsituation, etc.) they could have met for the first time:You bit a curse back as you shuffled through the snow. Frankly, this wasn’tan ideal situation: After a long shift, rather than settling in for a warm,cozy evening, you were headed to the house of somebody you didn’t know, bearinga gift for an unknown recipient.

“It’s just a small get-together with some friends of mine from when I waswith the military,” she explained a few days ago. “I think it’d be great if youcame!” God knows you did not really want to attend all that much. But God alsoknew that Diana was painfully hard to say no to once she flashed that smile ofhers. Plus, she was like a human lie detector: Any excuse you’d make wouldsurely come into light just by the sound of your voice, no matter how rehearsedthe line.

Though when you knocked on the door and were greeted by a red-faced manbellowing cheerfully in a thick Scottish accent, you began to wonder whichwould be worse: Possibly disappointing Diana by failing to be her plus-one, orenduring the loudness that was flowing from inside the house.

… Definitely disappointing Diana.

As you awkwardly stumbled through the threshold, your fate was sealed.Immediately, your senses were filled with the sounds of Christmas musicrumbling through some speakers and people both drunk and sober attempting tochat right over it. A small table with a red plastic cover hosted simple partysnacks of chips and pretzels and Christmas cookies and a box of pizza (of whichstood on three other boxes that you had a suspicion where empty at this point),a small cooler by his leg revealing cans of beer and soda like a treasurechest. It wasn’t the energy-restoring manna you’d been hoping for, but it wouldhave to do. But first, you had to take care of the present. It was a godsendfor you to have your sights land on Diana, whom was sitting on a small couchand chatting avidly with someone sitting beside her. You took no notice of them:You just needed to do one thing and one thing only.

“Diana,” you sighed as you neared her.

To your surprise, she actually managed to hear you. At the sound of her namebeing called, the brunette stopped talking to glance up at you, her facelighting with joy.

“You made it!” she exclaimed, pleased. You tried to offer a weak smile butcouldn’t find the ability to do so completely. You lifted the present into herview.

“So what do I, um – ?”

“Oh, don’t worry,” she insisted. “We’ll be starting soon; you may as wellkeep it on your person. Anyway …” Your brows furrowed in the suddendiversion away from the original discussion topic. She posed a hand in anintroductory manner to her side and your eyes followed. They led to her speakingpartner, the one whom you had paid no mind to before. But after taking note ofhim, you sort of which that you had.

He was quite handsome, almost boyish in a sense. So much so, in fact, thathe actually managed to make his ugly Christmas sweater look decent – and youwere pretty sure he hot glued that rhinestone reindeer and snowman portraitinto place! While his eyes were an almost icy blue, though, they didn’t comeoff as cold at all: In fact, they were warm and clear and rather focused.Specifically on you. Shit, weren’t you supposed to say something?

“Oh, uh …” Smooth.

“(Y/N), this is Steve. We’re friends from way back, but he just now decided to move here and join therest of us ‘civilians,’” Diana teased, playfully smacking the man on hisshoulder. You’d known Diana long enough to know that the woman sometimes didn’tknow her own strength. The average person would’ve ached in pain after even themost lighthearted smack of her hand. And yet, to your innate shock and awe,Steve did not appear to be bothered whatsoever. In fact, he merely returned thesmile (no trace of pain-induced teeth-gritting, no hiss of pain)!

“I told you, I was busy!” Steveinsisted. His blue eyes glittered (and your heart might’ve fluttered). “Theywouldn’t just let me leave, I was – ”

“A valuable asset, I know, I know,” Diana groaned with a roll of her eyes. Shelanded them back on you. “Such the hotshot. But you should hear about thethings he did, it will ruin that entire image for you.”

You could feel your eyes widen at the prospect (or maybe it was becauseSteve was now smiling at you). Whatever the case, you weren’t going to take anychances. You were on a singular mission and you refused to be compromised, nomatter how pleasing to the eye youropponent’s distraction for you was. In fact, just to assure that you would notfall prey to the pretty boy, you gently requested that Diana follow you to asomewhat quieter corner. It wasn’t much of an improvement, but at least thereyou didn’t have to worry about Steve distracting you with his boyish goodlooks.

“What’s the matter?” Diana asked. Her brows furrowed with concern. “Ithought you’d like to hear some of his stories; you always seemed keen to hearmine …”

“Look,” you sighed, “I think I’m gonna make off with some of the snacks andthen do an Irish goodbye.”

“You just got here! Besides, you can’t do a white elephant with only fivepeople; you need at least six for a proper exchange.”

You bit your lip. She had a point but you couldn’t just give up. Not yet, atleast. “Yeah but I get the feeling that maybe I don’t … I dunno. These are your friends.” At this, Diana’s facerelaxed. A confident smile spread along her features.

“And they can be yours, too, just as easily,” she proclaimed. Somehow youdoubted that.

Mainly because, at that moment, you heard a Moroccan accent belt from thekitchen, “Who wants to hear me sing ‘Santa, Baby’?!”, followed by the sound ofglass shattering and the Scottish accent from before screeching about “the goodwhiskey going to waste.” At this, Diana’s smile flicked for only a moment.

“With … some moments of sobriety, of course,” she admitted. Your browsraised high, but your lids stooped low. You were the very essence ofunconvinced and Diana knew it. She clicked her tongue in thought. “How aboutthis,” she started. “If you stay for just oneof Steve’s stories, you can go.”

“Holding me hostage, Ms. Prince?” you snarked. Unfortunately, the effectwasn’t as promising as you’d pitifully hoped for. You should’ve known that noamount of sarcasm or lampshading could hold its own against Diana’s charming expressionof hope. As gentle as it was, it still packed a punch. Just enough for you torelease a sigh of defeat.

“Fine,” you rasped, your body even beginning to slouch in composure. “Irevoke my perfectly cunning plan in turn to keep you company – in a house whereyou already know everybody.”

“Oh, don’t be such a sourpouss,” Diana said in spite of her grin. It was atalent of hers to flash a type of smile that would instantly infect anotherinto returning it right back. Try as you might, you were not yet immune tothis. Dammit. So much for avoiding being compromised.

Well, you tried to think as thetwo of you began to return back to the couch, at least I’ll get to listen to a hot guy talk.

“Alrigh’, everybody!” Charlie bellowed. “Time for the whi’ elephant!”

Shit. You were doubly compromised.

++++++++++++

This probably wasn’t going to end too well. To be fair, white elephants wereless about gaining and more about the entertainment that surrounded the giving.But as you took in all those who were involved, you weren’t entirely sure ifthe gifts being given were going to be safe. The first hint of this had beenwhen the one called Sameer, a chatty and rather flirtatious fellow, opened thefirst box and pulled out a nightlight cover in the shape of a very famous leg. The leg lamp from A Christmas Story in all its tacky, tiny glory. Charlie from beforebeamed proudly, cueing it in that this was his contribution to the festivity. Diana,on the other hand, seemed to fit in just fine: She laughed right along witheveryone else when she unwrapped a misshapen package to reveal a bowie knife ofall things.

If you ever needed a blatant reminder that you were surrounded by veteranswho’d seen so much that very little fazed them, then that was it.

“Oh, wow,” she breathed, marveling the blade. She began to chuckle. “Chief,was this you?” The tallest of the bunch attempted to appear mysterious only fora smile to break and give himself away.

Great, you mentally groaned. I run a 50/50 chance at getting eithersomething from a Cracker Barrel sale, or an actual weapon that may or may nothave already been used on someone.

You apparently didn’t look unnerved by the prospect, however, given that oneof the partygoers then turned to you and told you it was your turn. You glancedat what gifts remained in the small pile and selected a package wrapped in thevague shape of a rectangle. It soothed you somewhat to find that whatever wasinside was quite plush, but then again you had no idea what could’ve beeninside.

Oh, god. Your mind began to raceas you peeled away at the wrapping paper. Whatif it’s something soft but contaminated? What if one of these guys snuck somethingout of a government lab and now they’re trying to hide it amongst civilians? Thathappened, right? That was a thing. Who’s the say it wasn’t – What if it was Steve, who had only just “becomea civilian” again?! This was a cover, this was a setup, this was –

“T-shirts?” Chief grunted. “Who brought that?” Indeed, there in your lapamongst the paper debris, was an eight-pack of plain Hanes t-shirts. The typethat was always on sale at Walmart. And yet, due to your overactiveimagination, it was magnificent. You were prepared to relax in the gift’smediocrity when a ruckus of laughter began to start up again.

“Oh. Oh, wow,” you heard a voicemurmur. You looked up. It was Steve, post-unraveling his own selection. Helifted his hand to reveal straps, dark red and dangling with lacy trim. Agarter belt. A wheeze followed by a sound barrier-shattering cackle eruptedfrom Charlie. The man bent over in laughter, and the others weren’t too farbehind either. Sameer and Chief had all but collapsed on top one another whileDiana just barely attempted to hide her own giggling behind her hand. Sheplaced her free one on Steve’s shoulder as if you console him, though shecouldn’t offer any words straight. Not for the moment, at least.

“Who brought that?!” cried Chiefonce more, his voice ablaze with amusement and bewilderment. While he never gotan answer amongst the chorus of laughter, he didn’t appear to be disappointed.If anything, he was just as amused as everybody else was. Everybody else, thatis, except for Steve and yourself. For his part, while he didn’t look upset oranything, Steve at the very least responded to the lingerie pieces with bafflement.At least, that was what you thought you were detecting. Of course, he had awobbling smile in place but what else could he do?

As for you, a sense of secondhand embarrassment was threatening to bubble upto the surface. You weren’t certain as to why, given that Steve himself didn’tappear particularly troubled. You didn’t even know the guy; pretty or not, whyshould you feel intense enough to conjure up even pity? Perhaps it was becauseyou were more tenderhearted than you enjoyed letting in on. Or perhaps it hadto do with the fact that, as you observed even longer, you noticed his cheekspinken. Or maybe you just wanted the game to move on already. Whatever thecase, it wasn’t long before something within you snapped.

“Trade you,” you blurted. The laughing trickled into silence as Diana,Chief, Charlie, and Sameer watched you hold out the pack of t-shirts. Steveblinked rapidly.

“Sorry?” he coughed.

“I said I would trade you,” you repeated. You nudged the pack even closer tohim, praying that he would take the hint and end this already. But he didn’t;at least, not immediately. He seemed to be stuck on a buffering mode, in fact,with the only things moving being his eyes… . Of which seemed to drift downon you, down and down to meet your legs –

“Naughty, naughty, Steven!” Sameer chided with a hiccup. “When a young ladyoffers to relieve you of a problem, you don’t just gawk!” Immediately Stevetensed, eyes snapping back up to your face.

“Shut up, Sam,” he hissed. He madequick work of the swap but that didn’t seem to do much for the taunts aimed athim by his friends. Well, most of them. Because while Sameer, Chief, and Charliebecame sidetrack with calling Steve “a feisty young man” and having “needing tolearn how to be a gentleman”, Diana remained focused on you. She had a look inher eye, a mischievous glint she only seemed to have whenever she was connectingthings. Plotting. You knew that look all too well at this point: You were, mostoften, the victim of these schemes. As much as you wanted to snap at her to justfess up to you whatever she was planning, you were just too exhausted for this.You glanced down at your newly acquired gift and wondered what possessed you totake them on so boldly, much less in front of four men.

You sincerely hoped that Diana’s expectation that you become friends withthe group wasn’t set in stone because after this, you knew you were going to beknown as Garter Belt Girl. And, inevitably, at least one of them was going toimagine whether or not you had even worn them.

Steve, by the looks of it. Thethought made your heart flicker, remembering the way he’d been right beforeswapping your gifts. You didn’t stop your eyes from trailing up in spite ofwhat your innermost worries had screamed. You saw blue. And this time, theywere staring right back at you. Against your better judgement (and throbbingheart), you didn’t look away immediately.

+++++++++++++

Surviving the white elephant gift exchange had been about as lively assurviving an encounter with an actual white elephant. It had taken longer thanwhat such a small group should have, given the constant drunken laugh breaksand a small, playful argument between Sameer and Charlie about whether a large,sparkling glitter bathbomb was within the price range. However, you had done yourpart: You had survived the ordeal and gotten a nice garter belt out of it, theuse of which you were still questioning. And now it was time to take your tiredbutt home –

“Uh-uh,” Diana hummed. You felt her hand land on your shoulder just as youcame a few steps short of the front door. Crud. So much for the Irish goodbyeyou’d been hoping to use. “You still have one thing left.”

You probably looked like a toddler as you poutily turned around to face her.

“Diana – ” you started.

“Just trust me,” Diana insisted. She leaned in close to your ear, “I have agood feeling about this.” You wanted to doubt that. But as she led you back tothe couch and gently ushered you down, you found yourself unable to think specificallyof that: All you could think about was the man also seated on the furniture. Youwere quite surprised to find that Steve was still awake; Charlie had passed outnot too long ago, Sameer was following suit, and judging by the soft clatteringin the kitchen, it was safe to assume that Chief was taking it upon himself totidy up a bit. But Steve? Awake and alert. And, judging by the hint of smirk onhis lips, quite pleased to have you join him.

“Thanks for saving my ass back there,” he greeted. You gulped and nodded.

“N-no problem.” You couldn’t see her from your position but if you could,you would have seen the expression of accomplishment present on Diana’s face.

“Nah, really, I know these guys: If I’d kept them, I’d never hear the end ofit,” insisted Steve. To that, you could only shrug.

“I dunno about that … I’ve only known these guys since I got here, and Iget the feeling they’ll still neverlet you hear the end of it.” You paused. “Provided they even remember thisafter the hangover.” His response was a small yet genuine-sounding chuckle.

“You’re catching on quick,” the brunet declared. “But seriously, I owe youone. And, according to Diana” – he nodded at her – “it has to be the TransylvaniaIncident. That way you can have an actual laugh at me with no expense.”

Frankly, this normally wasn’t an ideal situation: After a long shift, ratherthan settling in for a warm, cozy evening, you had headed to the house ofsomebody you still didn’t entirely know and had become the recipient of asomewhat intimate gift. And yet, as you took in the features of this Steve guy,you didn’t mind. Not as much. And you told him that with a simple nod of agreement.

“Great!” Steve exclaimed. “So some keywords here are ‘paint grenades’, ‘popsiclesticks’, and ‘bee allergies’ – ”

+++++++++++

You never noticed when Diana left the two of you to carry on the storyexchange. In fact, you’d become so engrossed in story after story – from Steveand from yourself – that you didn’t even seem to notice that it was pastmidnight until you happened to glance at your phone. A flustered amount ofapologies and goodbyes and “We should do this again sometime” were exchangedbefore you both went your separate ways. And although a piece of hope dwelledwithin you that such a suggestion would get carried out in the near future, youweren’t going to cling to it.

A mere two days later, you had a brunch date with Diana. It was somethingthe two of you did often enough, so you had no reason to suspect anything outof the ordinary – which was why you were caught off guard to find one Steve R.Trevor present at a table set for two.

“Lemme guess,” he murmured, pulling out his phone, “she called you forbrunch, then told you she’d be late but to order without her?”

“… I’m sorry, what?” youquestioned before scrambling to retrieve your own phone. Sure enough, a messageilluminated the screen:

Lookslike I’ll be late. Be a dear and enjoy yourself 😉

It took everything in you not to heave a sigh of defeat. Well, you’d alreadycome out all this way. And though you’d never admit it to her face, this wasn’ta compromise you minded. Not that you needed to ever confess that to her: Thatlady was a human lie detector for one thing; and for another, this was exactlywhat she’d intended from the start.

#i actually got motivated to write but at what cost #i started off strong but...then i felt like it was balloons full o'ground beef hitting a window near the end #oh well...#i think i just wanted to get something out just in case #hope it was passable....#steve trevor x reader #steve trevor imagine #steve trevor imagines #wonder woman imagine #wonder woman imagines #regrettablewritings #ship meme #character ship meme

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