Chapter 2
By: MysticFantasy
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Steve sighed sleepily as he rolled onto his back. It took a second for him to remember where he was when he realized he wasn't in his bedroom. The clock on the side table next to the large bed said that was just before five.
Normally, he would already be up and getting ready for a morning workout but after dinner last night Natasha had made him promise that the only workouts he would be getting during their vacation would be when he was swimming at the beach or participating in the limbo contest at a luau.
Not wanting to upset her, Steve decided to agree to her request. She was so happy and relaxed and he didn't want to do anything to ruin it for her. Plus, it would be nice to relax.
Trying to fall asleep again proved to be a failure for the super soldier. The army was part of his life and some of the drills still stuck. Waking up so early wasn't exactly Tony's favorite habit of the soldiers.
Deciding to get ready for the day, Steve freshened up and thought that trying to catch the sunrise in his sketch book might be fun.
Gathering his art supplies, he walked out onto the balcony, sat at the table and began to draw the outline of the horizon with a charcoal pencil.
He was able to get the basic outline done when he noticed that the color of the sky was starting to change. He quickly changed to the colored pencils he had and tried to catch the first new light of the day.
By the time the sky had turned a redish orange color, Steve was finishing his sketch. He was finishing a few details on it when he heard footsteps.
He looked up to see Natasha walk out onto the balcony wearing a white robe and her hair pulled back in a messy ponytail.
"Good morning." he greeted.
"Morning." Natasha replied with a half sleepy smile as she sat on the second chair. "What are you doing out here so early?"
"Old habits die hard." Steve answered. "Once the army gets you into a morning pattern, it's hard to get out of it. So I thought I'd come draw for a while."
"I'm going to have to teach you the fine art of sleeping in." Natasha commented with a smirk.
Steve lightly chuckled.
"But why are you up?" he asked.
"No clue." she answered. "It's barely going to be seven and normally I don't get up this early. Guess vacation changes us a bit. I see that you stuck to your promise of not working out."
"Well, I thought I'd try something new and it would bring attention to us if I was running faster than the cars or lifting something three times heavier than anyone else could lift. I don't want anything to ruin this."
Natasha smiled at him, glad that he was finally able to relax. In her eyes, he worked too much. Took on more responsibility than he really should and she wasn't sure if it was because he felt he had to because he was the leader of the team or if he was trying to prove that he could handle anything that was taking place in this new time he was in.
"So...what do you feel like doing today?" she asked. "It's our first full day in Hawaii, we have seven of Tony's credit cards and nothing to hold us back from causing some chaos."
"What sounds fun?" Steve replied.
"How about we look at a few shops and then hit the beach."
"Sounds great but how about some breakfast first?"
"Ok. Just a fair warning though, if I get fat from eatting too much of your cooking I will kill you." Natasha said as they both walked back into the suite. "I think I gained a few pounds from dinner last night. Why'd you have to make it so tasty?"
"I'll make something lighter tonight." Steve vowed through a chuckle.
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Bruce walked into the kitchen and began making a pot of coffee. Usually Steve would have a large pot of coffee ready since he was always the first one up. But since he was gone, there was no coffee ready and Bruce was just glad that Tony wasn't the one who had discovered that.
Everyone had gotten use to Steve making the coffee that they were sure they forgot how to work the coffee machine.
Luckily that wasn't the case and now Bruce was just waiting for the coffee to brew. He was soon joined in the waiting game by Clint who was still half asleep when he sat on one of the bar stools.
"D**n." the archer muttered. "I forgot that there wouldn't be any coffee."
"So did I." Bruce said. "I miss Steve already."
"Me too." Clint said.
"He'll be back soon. We just have to make our own coffee until then."
"Think we can get Jarvis to do it?"
Bruce lightly chuckled although he was sure that Clint would attempt such an act.
"Think they're going to bankrupt Tony?" The archer asked as the coffee finally started to pour into the glass pot.
"Maybe not bankrupt him." Bruce answered. "But they sure are going to make him realize to never bet against them again."
"I knew it was a bad idea to do that." Clint said with a tied smirk. "If there's one thing you can count on Natasha for, it's that she'll make you sorry you bet against her."
"I can see that but I still have to admit, I didn't think she would get Steve to dance something like the tango right off the bat."
"Neither did I." Clint agreed. "I thought for sure she was going to teach him the waltz or something."
"That I could have easily seen Steve do but the tango? Guess you do learn something new every day."
Clint nodded in agreement. He had been super stunned when they all watched Natasha and Steve tear up the dance floor.
Seeing Steve wear that tango outfit was surprising enough. Getting the soldier to wear modern day clothing was a pain in the neck and the rest of the male Avengers only assumed that Steve wore the outfit was because he couldn't say no to a lady.
Plus he knew that Natasha would hurt him if he didn't comply.
Bruce poured the freshly made coffee into two mugs and handed the second to Clint who accepted it happily.
Together, they both drank the first two gulps before they both halted with wide eyes. Gulping down the mouthfulls they had, they both set their cups down.
"I miss Steve." Clint said as Bruce poured his coffee into the sink.
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Steve looked around the busy street he and Natasha walked down. People were everywhere and steel drum music filled the air. He shifted the bags he held as he continued to follow Natasha back to their hotel.
Most of the bags he was holding were Natasha's but she had managed to talk him into spending a few hundred dollars on himself. He'd felt bad at first but then Natasha reminded him that Tony had bet against the two of them and constantly teased him about his age.
That was enough to get Steve to notice a few things for himself.
Soon they were back in their suite and Steve unloaded the bags on top of the dinning room table.
"That was fun." Natasha said removing her sunglasses and sun hat. "I could have carried my own bags you know."
"And let you have all the fun?" Steve replied with a smirk.
Natasha chuckled.
"Don't forget we're heading to the beach soon and then the luau tonight." Natasha reminded.
"I'll remember." Steve said before reaching into one of the bags. He pulled out a small black box and handed it to the female Avenger. "I picked this up for you when you weren't looking. Which I have to say I think that's a first."
Natasha took the box curiously and opened it to see a white plumeria flower on a silver chain. She smiled at how beautiful it looked and that Steve had gotten this for her. Normally she didn't wear jewelry but she believed she was going to make an acception.
"Steve, this is beautiful. Thank you." she said and gave the blond man a hug. She pulled back and smiled at him. "I'll admit it. You're one of the first to sneak something when I wasn't looking. Just know that I'll be watching you from now on mister."
"I'll be on my toes." Steve said before heading into his room.
Natasha went into her own and shut the door. She then sat on her bed and looked at the necklace once more.
Though it was a simple flower native to the island, Natasha found that it had now become her favorite.
She was now determined to find something that Steve would love which actually sounded a little more tricky than originally believed.
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Natasha smiled as she spread out her black and red stripped beach towel as Steve stabbed the beach umbrella into the sand and opened it up to have shade cover the upper halves of their towels.
Once the umbrella was secure, Steve took a quick look around the piravte beach he and Natasha had managed to find. There weren't very many people in this location. Only a few groups that appeared to either be friends or families and a few couples.
He was amazed at how comfortable people in this era are about showing their bodies. Women were wearing swimsuits that could easily be mistaken for their undergarments.
Luckily, Natasha wasn't like those women. She wore a simple black one piece swimsuit with a light red sarong skirt aroud her waist that flowed to right about midthigh.
And a few men, although some were wearing swimming trunks like his, Steve noticed that some were wearing what Natasha called 'speedos' which could be mistaken for different colored underwear were it not for the fact that they were swimwear.
"Steve,"
The blond soldier turned to Natasha just as he sat on his American flag themed beach towel.
"Think you can rub some suntan lotion on my back for me?" Natasha asked holding up a bottle of said lotion.
"Uh, sure." Steve answered.
Natasha smiled as Steve moved to kneel behind her. He took the bottle of sunscreen, applied some to his hands, rubbed it between his hands to warm it and then began to spread it on Natasha's back.
As he rubbed the sunscreen, Steve couldn't help but notice how soft Natasha's skin is. He was amazed at how flawless her skin is considering their line of work. He'd seen her walk out of fights with minor cuts and bruises but it seemed that the Black Widow knew how to take care of herself.
He began to massage her shoulders and felt the knots she had start to fade and her frame began to relax. Soon the lotion was off his hands and he stopped.
"Thanks." Natasha said with a smile.
"No problem." Steve said sitting back down on his towel.
"Did you ever get to go to a beach before?" Natasha asked lying down.
"I was at one once but it was just to get onto a ship. Other than that, this is the first time I've ever been to a beach." Steve answered lying down on his towel.
"So you never got to make a sand castle or learn to surf?"
"What's surf?"
"It's kind of a sport. It's basically standing on a board while riding a wave."
"Why would anyone want to do that?"
"I have no clue. It doesn't really look all that fun to me honestly." Natasha answered. "I'll show you a few beach sports later that you might like."
"Thanks."