A/N: So this quite literally came to me in a vision one night, and because I love Natasha Romanoff very much and for some reason my brain supplied this idea that seemed plausible to me of her having a weakness for sour patch kids, I went with it. Enjoy bc this is pure CRACK.
Disclaimer: sadly I do not own these wonderfully stupid superheroes.
The first time he noticed, it was movie night with whoever was around, which ended up being Clint, Sam, Wanda, Natasha, and himself. They were at some small theatre in a quiet part of the city to avoid getting spotted and subsequently bombarded by the paparazzi. They passed the entrance with no problems, then got to the snack bar, with only a few minutes to spare before the start of the movie, so Steve offered to get the snacks while the rest got seats. "What does everyone want?" Natasha was the first to respond, interrupting her conversation with Wanda to speak as quickly as she can sneak up on someone in battle, "Sour patch kids!"
Steve quirked an eyebrow up and smiled a small amused smile before asking, "anyone else?"
He's met with a resounding "popcorn please!, just a soda for me cap, whatever you think is good thank you" before they set off to get their seats before the movie started.
He joined them a few minutes later, snacks in hand, passing them out to each individual, with Nat at the end, calling him over excitedly, patting the seat to her left, "Come on I saved you a seat!"
He wore that amused expression again. "Someone's a little excited aren't they?" he questioned teasingly as he sat down.
Natasha grabbed her candy out of his hands greedily, opened it, and popped a few in her mouth before making a moan of delighted pleasure. Steve simply sat there, eyebrow high and eyes wide, a teasing smile playing on his lips.
"Well?"
"THANK YOU Steve. Thank you oh my god."
He chuckled. "Anything for a friend," he responded jokingly.
Clint, who had been watching the whole thing, laughed from a few seats down, "You're probably her favorite person in the world right now, Cap. She loves those things." Steve let out a breathy laugh while Natasha blushed lightly before smiling a brilliant smile up at him and stuffing another handful of sour patch into her mouth. The lights dimmed, signaling the start of the movie, and he turned back to face the screen.
She continued staring at him in the now-dark theater and whispered "Thank you, Steve" before leaning into him and placing her head on his shoulder, settling in for the movie.
From his seat, Steve didn't dare move, but a small warm smile adorned his features for the next 1 hour and 42 minutes, and returned every time he thought back to that moment for the next few weeks.
The next time, he finds her sneaking them from the kitchen in the middle of the night when they've both wandered there because they can't sleep. His sigh when he saw her reaching for the box on the top shelf of the cabinet was tinged with exasperation, "Seriously Nat? Those are going to rot your teeth if they don't give you diabetes first."
She scoffed at him and rolled her eyes. "Okay, dad."
"Nat I'm just trying to look out for you."
"I appreciate that Steve, but - super soldier serum, remember? Can't get sick - you should know."
"I know Nat, I just," he placed a tentative hand on her arm, "I don't want you in any sort of hurt or anything like that - ever," voice softening and quieting to an almost whisper as he stared at the ground between them.
"Steve - look at me." She squeezed his hand which had slid into hers and was now running softly back and forth across her palm. He looked up and into eyes that he thought probably reflected his same concern and care, and they both realized suddenly how close they were to each other, blinking a few times in surprise but remaining steadfast.
She moved her hand to cup his chin and look him straight in the eyes. "I'm not going anywhere, okay? You don't need to worry about me. I'll take care of myself."
Steve opened his mouth like he was going to argue before closing it, deciding it wasn't worth it, and pulling her in for a hug. He buried his face in her hair as her arms wrapped around his back, holding him to her so he could feel her presence and be certain of her well-being. Once he started feeling better he pulled away, "thanks, Nat," he said softly, almost timid.
She responded with a wave of her hand, "don't mention it Rogers."
He stared at her as she went back to retrieving the candy.
"Now come on, have you even tried these?"
He shook his head - no.
"Then you're one to talk! Here, just - try."
She came close and his eyes widened slightly, heart picking up its pace when she reached her destination. She opened his mouth, popped a few pieces in, closed his mouth and patted his cheek before stepping back to look at him.
"Chew."
He did as she commanded, eyes still wide, until he apparently got to the sour part and his face twisted in a way she could only describe as totally adorable.
She laughed, "keep going," encouraging or rather demanding him to continue chewing. She watched him expectantly, and as his face went back to normal she knew he had reached the sweet part and was almost finished. She smiled, giddily awaiting his opinion.
"Good?"
He swallowed, licking his lips to get the remaining sugar and sour crystals off, drawing her attention for just a second before her eyes flitted back up to his, searching. He shrugged, "maybe. But not good for you," as he brushed past her to retrieve and take a drink from her bottle of water. He leaned against the countertop, her back still facing him, until she turned around with that classic teasing Natasha look on her face.
"God," she rolled her eyes, "you really do act your age sometimes."
His face transformed into one of mock hurt and anger, "hey!"
She laughed, a true and free laugh.
"Lighten up Rogers or you'll give yourself a heart attack," she teased as she began to walk back to the elevator, box of sour patch in hand, passing him and giving his ass a slight pinch on her way out to emphasize the end of her sentence. He jumped and she heard his surprised gasp and smiled as she kept walking, not turning around to see the blush now present on his face, neck and arms, and his features gaping at her, still in shock with a hint of something not so innocent.
The third time, Fury had just assigned them a new mission a few hours prior, and it looked like it was going to be a big one. Natasha left as soon as the meeting was over to go begin her prep work, reading files and conducting her own research to leave as little to chance as possible. A few hours later, Steve had gotten through most of the files and knew they definitely needed to come up with a solid plan, and backup plan, and backup to the backup plan for this one, so he left in search of his partner. When he arrived at her room the door was closed so he knocked, waited, and, hearing no answer, opened the door cautiously - after all, he was there to check on her. As he opened the door and her bed came into view, it was clear she was not in any real state of distress but he did catch her throwing something on the ground. He brought his gaze back up to find her sitting on her bed with files spread all around her, eyes scanning and stopping to look at him as he entered.
"God Steve, don't you knock? I could've been naked, or doing other things that require privacy" she said with a mischievous glint in her eye, throwing him a wink as she cleared a spot for him to sit.
He looked to the ceiling and scratched the back of his neck, which was now burning with heat and flushed red, as he tried to get some words out, "ah, I - I did knock, but you just - didn't answer so I thought maybe you didn't hear or were in the other room or - I - sorry," he finished.
She let him finish and stew about before resolutely laughing at him.
Adorable, she thought. Wait, what. No, no, nope, no. Normal, normal just really good, best, friends. Okay. Okay! Good.
"It's fine, Steve," she said, breathless from laughing.
He squinted his eyes at her in mock anger before plopping onto the bed.
"So can I help you with something or did you just come here to entertain me for the night?"
"Hilarious. No, I just wanted to check in with you, see if you've had a chance to finish reading and maybe we can start on some plans."
"Oh, yeah, yeah better get right on that."
And so they sat, they talked, they planned, and miraculously managed to stay fairly focused on the mission. After a base plan had been formed, they decided to call it a night.
"Well, it's definitely not going to be easy," Natasha stated as Steve stood and started to stack up the files.
"They never are."
Natasha hummed in agreement.
"Hey, listen, Natasha," she looked up, eyes a bit wide in concern at his serious tone, he noticed this and reassured her "it's nothing bad, I promise, it's just -" he looked up at the ceiling and scratched the back of his neck again "- I just, I care about you, a lot, and I trust you with my life, you know that," he looked down at her again at this, "but that's why - listen, I need you to stay alive, please. The last big mission like this, I lost Bucky," his voice softened, breaking at the end.
She stood, stepping close to him, face soft and caring, and placed a hand on his cheek, looking directly into his brilliant blue eyes. She shook her head, closing her eyes and opening them again, "Steve, I don't know what I did right to deserve you - caring about me like this - but I'm so glad I did it, whatever it was. You have my word, I'll do everything in my power to stay alive," just so you never have to hurt on my behalf, she finished in her head.
She stood her ground, and he was enraptured by her. They looked into each other's eyes for what seemed like ages but was probably just seconds, and eventually his flitted down to her lips and then back up. He started leaning in and then she used the hand that was still resting on his cheek as an anchor as she leant closer to him, and then kissed him with passion, indeed, but tenderly, not rushed or hard. And maybe it was the sugar rush or something else but she was overcome with the urge to tell him what he means to her, that maybe her sweet tooth means that she really is a child, which would make sense because, after all, love is for children.
After too short of a time, however, he pulled away and crinkled his face up, "Nat, have you been eating sour patch again?"
She just smiled her brilliant, perfectly confident smile back up at him, "You know you love it old man."
He sighed in defeat, "Yeah, I do. I really, really do," looking straight into her eyes.
She knew they weren't talking about the sour patch anymore and smiled a small, genuine, affectionate smile before pulling him back in quickly to continue where they left off. Steve pulled her as close as super-humanly possible, tongue tasting all the sweet and sour inside her mouth.
You know, maybe he could learn to love sour patch kids, too.
A/N: told you! literal crack! anyway hope you enjoyed this as much as I enjoyed writing it and as always, reviews are greatly appreciated 3 thanks for reading!