30 day otp challenge - Steve/Maria. Day 10
With animal ears
OK, so this is set right before their relationship began. I have another one of these stories, day 19, that is set just before this one but you're going to have to wait for day 19.
Anyway, on with the story.
New Year's Eve was fucking fantastic, Tony's words not Maria's.
The group of people Tony had got Pepper to invite was small, including all the Avengers, James Rhodes. Sam Wilson. Jane, Darcy and her boyfriend who Maria only knew as 'the intern'. Betty was also there, keeping very close to Bruce having not seen him for three months. Coulson had made Tony, well Pepper, invite his team, Fitz, Simmons, May and Skye.
They were all stood on the rooftop of the tower, looking over New York. The streets were a mass of colour and noise. People drinking, out partying for the New Year. New York was the place to be if you were wanting to celebrate New Year's properly and in style. Well maybe not in style if you were planning on getting drunk and then passing out in a gutter or something. But still, it was one of the best placed to celebrate New Year's in Maria's opinion. She had once celebrated the New Year down there, in the mass of colour and noise. It had been fun but only because she was drunk. Try getting anyway on this night in a car, Maria had had experience in that having nearly ran about three people on her way home two years ago.
Ten minutes till the ball dropped and Maria climbed up the ladders to the smaller section of the roof which no-one was on. She wanted a little peace from the party and wanted to breath in the fresh air alone. Also because she couldn't deal with Tony keeping on asking who she was going to kiss at New Year's. Thor with Jane, Darcy with 'the intern', Betty with Bruce, Nat with Clint, Tony with Pepper, Fits with Simmons, even Coulson had someone. The cellist he had been madly in love with years ago had been tracked down by Tony and brought here tonight. Coulson had been shocked but thankful at finally seeing here again. Maria thought it was sweet but didn't show it.
Steve watched her from where he was stood next Colonel Rhodes. He wasn't really listening to what the man was saying as he saw Maria walk along the smaller section of the roof and then disappear to the other end of it. Steve had a lot of respect for Colonel Rhodes and not all because he had served in the army, but he had put up with Tony as much as Pepper had. Steve really didn't know how, two days with Tony was Steve's limit. Steve didn't realize what he was doing until he excused himself from the conversation with Colonel Rhodes. The man had been polite and quite interesting to talk to. He spotted Sam talking and laughing with Skye next to the bar Tony had place up on the roof. Tony himself was sat on the ledge of the roof with Pepper stood behind him, both deep in conversation and cuddling.
Steve climbed up the ladder to find Maria stood, leaning slightly over the ledge. She had place her beer bottle on the ledge next to her. Steve took a sip from his own bottle of beer before walking towards her.
"Rogers," Maria said to him, without looking back towards him.
"How'd you know it was me?" He asked. Stupid question, he though to himself as he leaned on the ledge next to her, placing his own beer down.
"By the sounds of your footsteps, plus your the only one that would follow me up here because you were staring at me before," Maria said to him. Steve smiled a little as he took a sip of his beer, hoping the darkness of the night hid his blush. It didn't, Maria noticed the red blush on his cheeks and the back off his ears.
It was a shame sometimes about how he couldn't get drunk, no matter how much he drank. He held the beer bottle in both hands, both thumbs scratching at the green label. It was a thing he did when he was nervous.
"I like the black cat ears by the way," Steve commented, gesturing to the black band that had cat ears stuck to them on the top of her head. Maria sighed lightly.
"Darcy, who is very drunk, put them on me. I just don't have the effort to take them off," Maria told Steve. He smirked at that and turned his body slightly more to face her. She had her eyes looking over New York. Lights flashed up at them and it seemed to be very noisy down on the floor, yet everything up on top of the Stark Tower felt quite and peaceful.
"Well, I love them," Steve told her and Maria turned her own body to face him slightly.
"I think they would look better on you though," Maria said, lifting her hand up to her head, taking the ears off.
"I don't really think they..." Steve began but Maria placed them on top of his head and then stepped back.
"You. Look. Gorgeous," She said and Steve looked up into her eyes.
He felt something warm inside him. Something he remembered feeling only one other time in his life. When he was looking at Peggy. Now, he was looking into Maria's eyes and she was looking back into his. His stomach felt like it was doing somersaults. Was it the beer? Or was it the food Tony had order for the party?
Looking into her eyes, he realized it wasn't the food or the beer. It was Maria. He wondered if she was feeling the same way. He finally noticed her eyes, slivery blue, and how they looked beautiful with the moonlight reflecting off them.
Suddenly, Maria turned away from him breaking the eye contact. Steve cleared his throat a little and turned to face New York like Maria was.
"It's big isn't it," Steve said after a couple minutes silence. The groups laughter and chatter on the lower roof echoed up to them, Tony's laugh the loudest off them all.
Maria took a quick glance up at Steve. He was looking out at the city, a lost look on his face. She let her eyes wondered over his face, his lips a soft pink colour, eyes unfocused on the city and his hair blowing softly in the wind.
"It's changed a lot hasn't it," Maria said and Steve nodded. "I always wanted to come to New York when I was young. I grew up in Chicago which was great, but this city always... appealed to me more," Maria told Steve, looking back at the city.
He was a little shocked she was telling him something personal about her. He knew Maria was to be a closed book. He only knew what she wanted him to know. "Being here now... well it's nice," Maria told him and Steve looked over at her. Her hair was down, running just past her shoulders. He had had only seen her with her hair down once before this, at a party Tony had thrown a while back. Very formal party. She swallowed some more beer as Steve glanced away from her, feeling like she knew he was staring at her.
"I grew up in Brooklyn, so I was close to the city," Steve said, remembering times he had come up to New York with Bucky. They were fun but never ended good. Always getting yourself into fights, Bucky's voice said in his head, and it's not even your neighborhood Steve.
"Brooklyn's nice in the Autumn," Maria said and Steve nodded.
"So I take it you've been then," Steve more said than asked.
"One of my old friends used to live down there," Maria said. "It's a nice place... not as good as Chicago though," Maria said, a small smirk on her lips. Steve turned to look at her, a playful smile on his lips.
"Are you saying Chicago is better than Brooklyn?" Steve asked and Maria shrugged her shoulders.
"Well... I came from Chicago so you know," Maria began and smirked lightly at Steve. "And plus, our pizza's are much nicer." Maria said and Steve laughed.
"Ten...Nine," the chanting down to New Years had began.
"Who you kissing at midnight?" Maria rushed out all of a sudden and Steve turned to look at her.
"Seven...Six ," the chanting continued.
"No-one," Steve replied to her. Maria raised an eyebrow as the chanting went to four.
"Want to kiss me?" Maria asked.
"ONE!" and the ball dropped. Steve didn't need to answer her with words. He answered her by leaning over towards her. She closed her eyes just before Steve pressed his lips against hers.
It might have been the New Year fireworks over them but Steve could have sworn that the movies were right. You do hear fireworks when you kiss someone. Her lips were warm and soft, nothing like he had excepted. She was fierce and strong on a daily basis. He never thought she would be so soft and gently.
And was he wrong.
Steve felt Maria lean closer to him, arching her back to curve into him. She wrapped her arms around his neck as he placed his arms around her waist to pull her up a little. She was smaller when stood next to Steve. She rose onto her tiptoes as he deepened this prefect moment. The cat ears fell off his head as Maria ran a hand through his blonde hair.
Fireworks sounded around them, lighting up the dark night sky. Steve didn't want this night, this prefect moment to end but it had too. Time moved on, Steve knew that. Maria was the one to pull away from him. His arms were still wrapped around her waist but he lowered her onto the floor after having picked her up fully. She looked into his eyes, the bright blue having seen so much. Pain, love, loss. He looked into hers, he finally saw the specks of grey in her blue eyes.
The cheering of one Tony Stark and Thor Odinson broke the prefect moment between the two. Maria stepped back and then titled her head a little to look up at the see of fireworks above them.
"I still think the cat ears look better on you than on me," Maria said after a couple of minutes, bending down to pick the ears off the gravelly floor. She was about to place them back on Steve's head when he smirked at her. He raised his hands to place them around hers that held the ears. He took the cat ears from her, letting go of her hands, running the ears through his fingers before placing them back on top of Maria's head. A piece of her hair fell forward in front of her eyes. Steve took the piece of hair and tuck it behind her ear. His fingers brushing against the warmth of her cheek. He couldn't see her perfectly well in the dark of the night but he could tell that she was blushing ever so slightly. And that was a first.
"Hey you two lovebirds, get down to the party," Clint said, his head popping up from the edge of the roof. Steve and Maria took a step away from each other and Clint smirked. "Don't worry, we all know what you two were doing." He said before disappearing. They both turned and grabbed their bottles of beer, then started to walk over to the ladder.
After climbing down the ladder, Steve and Maria walked over to the bar together and got another drink. They turned and went to sit at the large table on the roof. They sat down next to each other just as Thor finished up telling a story about when he was hunting back on Asgard. Maria has one hand on her thigh as Steve moved his own hand from on top of the table to under it. Maria felt Steve take hold of her hand under the table. She wanted to let a smile slip upon her face but she kept it straight as she brushed her thumb along Steve's hand.
Maria then realized she probable looked like an idiot in the cat ears and took them off, placing them on the table in front of her. Steve looked at them with a smile on his lips. Maria, seeing Steve's smile in the corner of her eyes, let a small smile appear on her lips for less than a second. But that was all Steve needed.
He had seen it bright as day.