Title: Look At Her (And Thank The Stars That You Did)
Rating: PG-13
Word Count: ~1,800
Characters: Steve/Natasha, Pepper
Prompt: "steve gets jealous of random guy flirting with nat!" + gif (check my AO3 version of this for the link)
Summary: She's gorgeous and people can't help but watch as she goes by because everything about her kind of just demands it, you know?
For: the anon that requested it
Look At Her (And Thank The Stars That You Did)
Natasha is beautiful.
Well, she's so much more than just her looks and he's always known that. They've been together (as a couple) for almost three years now, and they've known each other for three years before then, but she still amazes him. Like yesterday when they were at this café and a visiting elderly couple with thick accents was having trouble ordering, Natasha just smiled and spoke to them in perfect Italian and then relayed their order to the waitress, and the four of them ended up sharing a table and having lunch together. He knows every language that Natasha's fluent in, and he's seen her be totally adorable with strangers before, so he can't really tell you why it felt like he was seeing her like this for the first time.
It just did, and feeling like he falls in love with her all over again each day?
It's kind of the best thing ever.
Natasha is amazing in more ways than he can count. She's hilarious and playful and smart and compassionate, and so full of life. She's more than just a pretty face, but she is pretty and there's no ignoring that. She's gorgeous and people can't help but watch as she goes by because everything about her kind of just demands it, you know?
So, no, he's not really bothered by people staring unless it makes her uncomfortable, which isn't often, but it's happened before.
The flirting, though… That's what gets to him.
"Hey, Steve," a voice says, and then Pepper's coming to stand beside him, two glasses of champagne in hand. "This collection is gorgeous," she starts, handing him a glass, "but I can only act so chirpy about jewelry for so long while sober."
"Alcohol dependencies," he points out. "I see Tony's finally begun to rub off on you." She laughs, shaking her head, and they both take a sip (well, more than just a sip) of their champagne. "And I'm sorry I forgot to tell you this earlier, but you look very pretty tonight," he adds, glancing (appropriately) over her dress. "You always do. Tony's a lucky guy."
"And you're a charming one," she says, grinning, but then nudges his arm. "You're pretty lucky, too, you know."
She glances away and he follows her gaze across the room, eyes landing on Natasha, and yeah.
He knows he's lucky.
Natasha's wearing a black dress with thin straps and sweetheart neckline (at least that's what she'd called it) and a hem that falls a few inches above her knees. It makes her waist look so tiny, and she told him it shows off just the right amount of skin and curves. He doesn't know much about fashion, but he has to agree. She catches his eyes, brings her straw up to her lips and winks as she takes a sip, and he just chuckles and lifts his own glass up. She's not drinking champagne like him, and of course asking for a glass of water when one waitress tried to hand her champagne caused people to whisper, but whatever. She'll start showing soon enough, so what's the harm in letting people assume what's already true?
"She really is gorgeous," Pepper says, almost randomly, tilting her head a little, as if in thought. "And so are you, Steve. Your kid is going to be crazy beautiful," she sighs almost dreamily, getting this smile on her face.
"Well, you know what they say. Beauty attracts beauty," he tells her. Pepper arches an eyebrow and he laughs as his own words sink in. "I meant that about you. Natasha is beautiful and so are you, and since Tony likes to point out my appearance all the time, it feels less weird saying that he's a good-looking man, too. Your kids will be gorgeous."
Pepper smiles. "You really are quite the charmer, aren't you?"
He laughs again and shrugs.
(He's been told that.)
They talk for a while as the party goes on, mostly about nothing particular. She ends up asking how Natasha's doing with the pregnancy, so they talk about that, and then he asks if she and Tony are doing anything for their anniversary because that's coming up soon, and she tells him about their plans. She's sharing her debate on which private properties are more remote when Steve catches Tony across the room, talking with quite a few women. It's not alarming, per se, because he knows Tony would never do that to Pepper, but still.
"It's strange, right?" Pepper says, noticing what's caught his attention. "They know he's married and they still flirt."
He looks at her. "Does it bother you?"
She laughs a little, for some reason, and shakes her head. "No. I mean, a little bit, of course, but it can't really be helped. There will always be women trying to flirt with him. Tony doesn't flirt back, but he's charming and friendly and they take that as permission."
"That sucks," he says, because he means it and really, there's no better way of summing that up.
She shrugs. "It's nothing you and Natasha don't go through, right?"
He can't help but nod, because yeah, that's very true and he doesn't forget that. He's seen pictures of her ring and articles on their engagement, or just them as couple, all over the place, so he knows the world (or, most of the world, at least) knows that he and Natasha are together and have been even before the baby rumors and before he ever put a ring on her finger. That doesn't stop people from flirting with either of them, and Steve doesn't want to be jealous, because he feels like that's a form of doubt in Natasha, and he doesn't doubt her or her feelings. Maybe before, when they were still figuring things out, but definitely not now, and feeling jealous over a guy flirting with her just seems petty and childish.
But he can't help that he does, just a little bit, every single time he sees it happen or hears it from somewhere – usually her, because she knows how he feels about it and doesn't want to hide things from him.
He loves her even more because of it, if that's even possible.
And speaking of which…
He looks around, finding Natasha in the same part of the room she'd been in when he'd seen her before, and he feels his entire body tense slightly when he notices the man walking up to her. She has her back to him as she's carrying on a conversation with a few women, but he doesn't doubt she knows the guy is there and is just trying to ignore him. But then he taps on her shoulder and she blinks slowly, in the way that she does whenever she's annoyed but trying hard not to show it, and looks rather reluctantly over her shoulder at him.
The guy looks over her shamelessly and Steve holds the stem of his champagne flute a little tighter.
"Steve," Pepper says softly, placing a hand on his wrist as if to remind him that he could shatter the glass if he's not careful.
He doesn't loosen his grip, though.
He obviously can't hear what they're saying, and he's not sure whether that's good or bad since he wants to know, but, judging by the smug look on the guy's face, Steve's fairly sure hearing what the guy's telling her will just make him want to hit something – preferably him.
He's not typically a violent person, and it's an awful thing to want to hit anyone, but he can't really help it right now.
The guy reaches for her hip and then Natasha presses her glass against his chest rather forcefully, gives him a smile as she lets go and he kind of has to scramble to catch the glass before it falls to the ground. And okay, now Steve wishes he could hear, because he knows from the tilt of her head and the stunned look on the guy's face that she's probably telling him off in the way that she can pull off, because she words things so that it's like a slap to the face and does it with this adorable smile and this eerily tone of voice that it catches you off guard.
He's glad he's never been on the receiving end of that voice.
She pats the guy's cheek with the hand her engagement ring is on (and yeah, Steve knows that's on purpose) and then turns on her heels, meeting Steve's eyes almost immediately and then walking right towards him.
"Hi, Pepper," Natasha greets once she's close enough, but then she sets one hand on his shoulder and the other at his neck and kisses him without waiting for Pepper to respond. He slides his free hand over the small of her back and she leans against him as they part, licking her lips. Pepper's chuckling and he feels himself grin. "Let's go home?"
"Yeah," he breathes, but then he looks at Pepper, because… well, they can't just leave her here, right?
"Just go," she tells them, laughing now. "Tony and I can find another ride." Natasha smiles and Pepper kisses both of their cheeks. "Try to wait until you guys get home, alright? Happy has been traumatized enough as it is," she adds, then winks and heads towards Tony.
Natasha takes his hand as they leave the ballroom, threads their fingers together as they're stepping into the elevator and he's hitting the button for the lobby, and he brings her hand up and kisses the back of it. "Don't get mad at me for saying this," she begins, and he arches an eyebrow at her. "I kind of… It feels a little nice whenever you get jealous."
"What?" he laughs. He wasn't expecting that.
She's grinning, too, so she knows he isn't upset by what she said, but she still explains it to him. "I mean, I don't enjoy seeing you uncomfortable or anything. It's not that. It's just… I like knowing that you'll fight for me if I ever need you to, is all."
"You'll never need me to, but yeah." He squeezes her fingers gently. "I always will."
She smiles, biting her lower lip.
She does it again – bites her lower lip – when they're back on their floor of the Stark Tower, and he kind of (absolutely) loves it because it's something she only does with him. They kissed, slowly and lazily, almost the entire twenty-five minutes it took for Happy to drive them from the venue to the Tower, and then he laid her down on the bed and coaxed two orgasms out of her like this, with his tongue against her folds and her fingers digging into the mattress. She breathes his name and he swears she's so beautiful like this, her cheeks flushed and her hair splayed out over the pillow and her eyelids fluttering as he sinks into her and she bites her lower lip, tipping her head back and holding onto him so, so tightly.
Yeah, he's pretty damn lucky.