05 x I'm sex on legs, baby

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After the onus of responsibility as Captain America was handed over, Sam had started to rethink his priorities. Other than serving the nation and helping out the mentally unwell veterans, there were some things he just couldn't seem to get out of his mind. He would be facing bigger obstacles while handling obligations that were too delicate to be left astray.

And of course, everyone had that special person on their agenda. Tia was his. He didn't think he could respect a person even more; that respect he held for her had changed to affection. Whether it was that ability to make things brighter in her own way or having his back during the times he doubted himself, she was unbreakable. He loved her, simple. He only wished she truly felt the same way about him.

'You're right, I should have given you a heads up.'

There it was. The unfortunate fixer-upper Sam could never come to understand. He couldn't help but smile when Tia angrily tapped her pen over the book she had opened on her lap. Dark lips thinned to a purse, her forehead creasing in tension. Oh, you know, it was the look. 

Maybe the park was a bad idea to start with. To the contrary belief, Tia was terrible at anything athletic. She couldn't run to save her life and it was funny to watch her pant like a dog after a mere ten minutes of jogging. And to fix this problem they had arrived at a resolution. He runs, she follows. Slowly. 

So, after thirty minutes of wayward running through the city, they had settled under the virescent shade of a tree and let her rest her tired legs. Being a med student, it was necessary for her to reap her skills wherever necessary. And anywhere she left, Sam noticed her carry-on essential was a book. 

'You know your communication skills still need help,' Sam muttered as he picked on a lone leaf that had drifted down on his lap. 'It has improved.'

'Is it working?'

He grinned. 'Keep talking.'

'I don't want you to feel overwhelmed about meeting my family,' she looked at him after sucking a deep breath. 'I would totally understand if you can't make it to the wedding.'

He chuckled in disbelief. 'Where the hell is this coming from?'

'I overheard Elle talk about you backing out,' she mentioned quietly.

He raised a brow in question. It only seemed to irk her more.

'What is your problem, dude?' She smacked the side of his shoulder with the force of fleeting feather. To humour her, he delivered a dramatic wince. 'I know your decisions like the back of my hand. You better get your ass back to that woman and tell her you're in.'

Again. He knew what was coming. They seemed to have more arguments than the normal couple but this one seemed serious. Might as well dodge it before it blows up.

'Was that a threat or did you just flirt with me?'

Her hazel eyes were stern when she replied unamused by his dry joke. 'I don't like the way you're going about this.'

'So, I backed out,' he shrugged. 'Big deal.'

'Why?' She murmured, looking at him long and hard. Of course, there was no dodging the look. It was onto him from a long time ago. 

'Was the wedding an excuse for you to back out?'

Oh no. This was not happening.

'Dammit, Bright,' he hissed, pressing a finger into his eyes to restrain from lashing out. 'Why you gotta come at me like that?'

Tia was like a soothsayer. She saw things in him no one else could. Uncertainty, puzzlers, qualms; she saw it all. And when she hit the nail on the head, he would never see it coming. Like a thousand knives had pierced through his heart and hot annoyance welling in his truth. The worst part was that she never regretted anything she said, no matter how harshly honest it was. Who was he to deny the facts? In the end, they were always true.

'Don't you answer my question with a question.'

'We are not having this conversation, T.'

'I want to know why you are so reluctant about the shield, Sam,' she said, her sharp eyes probing for an answer. 

The truth was a peculiar sentiment since it always leaned on the aspect. Could the two stand regularly divided? He believed the only spotless custom to be love, for that was the truth that brought everyone to the same perception.

'Baby, you have to talk to me,' she coerced. 

'Yeah,' he breathed out, confounded again. 'There's just so much to go about it.'

'I can take it,' she smiled. Her slender hand reached out to entangle with his and he greeted the warmth gratefully. He took it with both his hands, holding it like it was his life-source.

'My entire life has been an idealized walk through a character-based fiction,' he started in a slow voice. 'Steve Rogers wasn't just my friend. He was my brother. Look, the sins of men are not integral to humanity itself. A society where freedom and justice are the base of its beliefs can not only survive but, succeed.'

'Steve, Barnes, the shield,' he glanced at Tia's curious eyes, 'it made me question that. I was absolutely certain about being this... distinguished. Now there's doubt because the truth is, I'm alone in this world.'

Where he thought he would see sympathy, he saw sharpness. Tia had her lips parted with the confounding feeling of knowledge that had swarmed into her. After a beat and taking it in one word at a time.

'You're not.'

He looked at her in confusion. 'Hm?'

'You're not alone,' she explained softly. 'All my life, Sam, I looked up to superheroes. I practically idolized them. And when you came along, I never thought I would ever meet one. The idea was too big for me to handle. I got to know you and realized, man, you frustrate me like fuck.'

'T.'

'What I'm saying is,' she laughed through her nose, 'you do what you do because you care about the people and America. You're good in a way that I don't understand but one day I hope to. Steve and the shield, that's on them. Not you.'

He squeezed her hand with a deep exhale. 'You think?'

'I know,' she smiled. 'Confidence is built over time. It's not like a magic light switch that comes on one day. And until then, you will be our captain. Mine, at least.'

He wisdom knew no bounds. Never had he been more thankful for capable and optimistic thinker as herself, returning her smile easily. Capturing the side of her jaw, he leaned in for a warm kiss, proving to be both his salvation and torment. Her lips moved while gracing a smile, living for the playful hypnosis she brought in him.

When they broke apart for air, resting their foreheads against each other, Sam's lips lifted with a smirk.

'Thank you,' he murmured.

She laughed under her breath, her breaths caressing his jaw. She lifted a finger to play with the plushness of his lip. 'All that for thanks?'

He smiled. 'Not enough?'

'You can thank me by making a good impression on my brothers and sister,' she tilted her head in contemplation. 'And maybe my parents.'

He pulled back, sinking her into his hold. Deep in thought, he sunk into the tree trunk with a huff while Tia made herself comfortable on his side. The wispy breeze picked out the floaters in her curly, dark hair which she pushed behind her ear.

'What am I dealing with here?' He asked, concerned. 

'Well,' she hummed. 'There's my older sister, Anika. She's an up and coming model in the industry. A little shallow-minded but dare I say it, my best friend. And Kiks is—'

'Hot?'

She glared. 'Homosexual.'

'The last thing I could care about,' he rolled his eyes. 'And what of brother Dre?'

'Oh, Dre's everything in my family,' she chuckled into his shoulder. 'He is the boss man. Very authoritative and disciplined. Runs a trading or shipping company, I forgot. Tends to get a little overprotective over the three of us. Especially Ty.'

'Ty's the...'

'Yeah,' she nodded sadly. 'Very quiet and sensitive. After the whole drug addiction situation, he's not a fan of strangers. But you're in luck because he loves Captain America.'

'Okay, a plus point. I can work with that.'

'They'll love you,' she grinned in reassurance. 'I do.'

'You're different,' he pointed out. 'I didn't even try to impress you.'

She looked hurt. 'You dumb hunk of sh—'

'You know that was a lie,' he laughed, pressing a kiss to her temple. 'I broke my ass trying to get you to say yes.'

'Fuck you, Sam.'

'Like, right now?' He smirked salaciously. 'Totally would. I'm sex on legs, baby.'

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'Rayshaun, dinner's ready!'

'Yeah ma, I'll be down there in a second—just gotta finish this!'

Shaun sported a counterfeit smile hoping the awkwardness they had been indulged into had been washed into transience. It felt as if they very tear ducts in his eyes were about to burst as he thinned his lips to speak out a soft, 'Sorry.'

'Whatever,' Riri rolled her eyes. 

Skyping with a friend was okay. But, Skyping his crush while his mother was in the house? Not cool. Recently, he had harboured a crush on the famous Ironheart everyone around the Avengers Headquarters seemed to praise. Riri Williams was so damn cute. 

With her dark, choppy hair and colourful headbands, Riri was the epitome of sweet. She spoke like she knew everything because she did and smiled like in a toothpaste commercial. He swore it was only a crush but in a cliched way, she had him at hello. One time, she fixed his shield when the drone part of broke and left a little scratch at the end. He did not have the repair it, leaving it there as Riri's mark on his guard.

'Thanks for helping me catch up, Riri,' he smiled. 'Focusing on saving the world as Patriot makes it hard to focus on calculus, you know?'

Okay, now that was trying too hard. He had to tone it down a little bit. 

'No, I don't know,' she retorted drily. 'Why can't you ask someone else, Shaun?'

Because you're adorable, he wanted to say. Propping his cheek into his hands, he watched her shake her head to rid of the dryness and continued to prod a laser pen at something she was working on. 

'So, how you feelin'?' She asked casually and his eyes lit up at the sound of her question.

'I—I'm good,' he answered, a little flustered. He scratched the back of his ear and cleared his throat quickly, trying to prolong the conversation further. 'All patched up, you know.'

'Mhmm,' she nodded, unobserving. 'Try coconut oil. It helps to heal the stitches.'

'Oh, thanks.'

'No problem,' she shrugged, giving him a smile. 

Shoot your shot, Shaun. Go for it!

'Hey, Riri?'

She looked at him from the corner of her periphery to show that she was listening. With a gulp, he sucked in a slow breath and decided to hit the nail on the head.

'Do you want to meet me at the Avengers training facility tomorrow?'

'Sure,' she nodded, not exactly grasping what he was going for. He listened anyway. 'What time, though? I promised I would tag along with Mags for that Taylor Swift concert at MSG. Mr Stark got us backstage passes.'

'Mags?'

'Margo,' she enunciated with a shake of her head. 'We call her Mags.'

'The Stark kid?' She's like, five,' Shaun chuckled, amused. 

Riri had gotten closer to the Stark family after she redeemed the position as a Young Avenger. He started to think she got along because of that brilliant mind she got in her pretty little head.

'She's eighty-seven per cent smarter than an average six-year-old,' Riri corrected, sensing the condescending tone. It sounded as if they were best friends. 'And besides, it's Taylor Swift and backstage passes.'

'Taylor Swift,' he mumbled with a scoff under his breath. He was getting blindsided by some blonde pop star. 

'Is two okay?'

'Yeah,' he nodded. 'Maybe movies—'

Ah, damn it.

A message pinged on the side of this screen and judging by the look on Riri's face, she had gotten on too. Wiping her hands on a cloth nearby, she regarded Shaun with a cocked brow.

'Mail?'

'Yep,' he popped his lips. 

'Oh my god, mine's from Mrs Stark.'

He gasped. 'Same!'

'Dude,' Riri whispered, 'I got an official legation with the Iron Maiden in Chi-town.'

'Hang on,' Shaun skimmed through his document with the touch-pad in lightning speed getting to the part where the place of legation was stated. He prayed under his breath for some good news and read it out loud.

'Pullman, Chicago,' he muttered, sizzling with delight on the inside. Nope, keep it together, Shaun. You're cool. 

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