Rating: PG-13
Word Count: ~1,300
Characters: Steve/Natasha
Prompts: "drunk/sloppy kiss"

For: seaductress

A/N: For an askbox meme on tumblr. Posting this from the dumpster I now belong in. I just couldn't resist.

... ...

It takes a lot to get her drunk—another side effect from what they'd done to her in the Red Room, because a higher tolerance keeps her senses sharp. But she's never really batted an eye at it before, because it's not like she can't get drunk. She still can.

It just takes harder liquor and larger doses. Half a dozen beers will get a nice buzz going. A few shots will speed things up, and the only reason she found this out was because she and Maria wanted to (it's always beneficial to know your limits, so you know what you can work with). Otherwise, the extent of her drinking for pleasure is a glass of something dark to unwind from a mission, a drink at lunch with Pepper and Maria once a week, a bottle of wine to catch up with Laura, a few beers when she watches a game with Steve—all fairly harmless doses.

Throw Tony Stark into the picture, though, and things get interesting. Get a few drinks into him and then it gets fun.

(And, okay, he's definitely calmed down a lot more thanks to Pepper, she'll give him that. He just likes to cut loose a little, and he wants all of them to do the same. And there really isn't anything wrong with gathering his closest friends and a hundred other people in the penthouse for a night of finger foods and an open bar with the finest alcohol money can buy.)

(It's great.)

Her first drink is something fruity that Pepper hands her half an hour into the party. Then she shares a cocktail with Maria that has a lot more liquor than it does alcohol, which neither of them have any complaints about. Then Sam's favorite song comes on, and he pulls her onto the dance floor and then takes her to the bar so they can do shots, and barely even an hour later, she's having a round of Girls Only round of shots with Pepper, Maria, Wanda, Sharon, Laura, and Helen. They totally draw a crowd and Tony takes way too many pictures of them, but whatever. And then Clint points out that Wanda and Pietro have never officially celebrated their 21st because of the experiments, so that's another round or three of shots that she's in.

Mixing alcohol, especially lights and darks, is a tried and true method to get you drunk faster. It also almost guarantees that you'll be nauseous later, so she orders a glass of water and makes herself comfortable next to Laura on one of the couches, since the woman's taking a break from drinking, too.

The crowd starts thinning a little before 2:00, and by 3:00, everyone else is gone, and it's just them lounging on the couches around the coffee table.

She's sitting on Steve's lap, because she got up to use the bathroom and came back to find him in her spot next to Laura, so she made herself comfortable, took a sip of his beer and picked up her conversation with the woman about Clint's latest home improvement project. Steve didn't even blink at the interruption. It wouldn't be the first time Natasha's done it.

"You know," Laura says, grinning at the two of them. "This is probably the most PDA that I've seen from you guys in the three weeks you've been officially together."

"He kisses my cheek all the time, and holds my hand," Natasha points out. "You've seen that."

"Yeah, but considering this"—Laura gestures between them—"has been over two years in the making, I'm just saying. It's kind of anticlimactic."

"It hasn't been that long," Steve corrects at the same time Clint declares, "I'll drink to that!" Natasha narrows her eyes. Clint clinks their beers together and takes a gulp.

"She's got a point," Pepper chimes in. "We were all expecting a little more."

"Is our relationship that important to you?" Steve asks. But he sounds more amused by this than upset.

"Yes," Sam replies, flashing his teeth in a smile. Natasha chucks a throw pillow at him, which Maria deflects. Sam holds his hands up. "I'm just saying. After all of the unresolved sexual tension that we had to sit through, and all of the pep talks of getting you two to ask each other out that got ignored, we figured there'd be a bit more, you know—explosions."

"You can say sex, Sam," Darcy says flatly. Pietro laughs, throwing an arm around her as he reclines. Wanda flushes, giggling into her hand. "What? We're all adults here."

"We're not discussing our sex life with you perverts," Natasha tells them. Steve presses his lips together like he does when he's trying not to laugh.

"No one said anything about that, because gross," Tony interjects, making a face. Pepper elbows his side lightly. "I mean, yeah, we're all adults here, but—no. Not interested in hearing how great our dear grandpa over there is in bed, thanks, anyway. But, come on. Some visual confirmation would be appreciated. How do we even know you two are even together?"

"Tony," Helen hisses.

He shrugs his shoulders, but keeps his gaze locked with Natasha's, because he's always loved pushing her buttons the most. He's also more likely to get a reaction out of her than he would from Steve. They like to act like children with each other and everyone knows it.

She arches an eyebrow in return. This entire conversation is a little ridiculous, if she's being honest. It's also a little hilarious that their friends are so nosy. Not that that's new.

The thing is, though, is that she's definitely had more to drink than she has in a while. She's not drunk just yet, but she's definitely buzzed, and – to no one's surprise – she gets ballsy when you put a little more alcohol in her than usual. It doesn't help that she's just naturally competitive, and stubborn, so you can't just expect her to turn away from a challenge.

"Fine," she says, because, in her buzzed mind, this is the only logical conclusion to come to after this conversation. "Here's your proof."

And then she twists in Steve's lap, placing a hand on his cheek as she slants her lips over his and kisses him.

He makes this little noise from the back of his throat, caught off guard for the slightest of seconds, but then one of his hands flattens over her leg, drawing her closer as his other hand tucks into her hair. There's a whistle or two in the background, but it's distant to her ears as he sucks onto her bottom lip, then pulls his hand from her hair and grasps her chin with his fingers, tilting her head as he presses his tongue between her lips. She whimpers. He tastes like dark liquor and it makes her senses a little fuzzy. She forgets why they started kissing.

Then someone – Clint – calls out, "Get a room!" and she pulls away a little, feeling a laugh bubble out of her. Steve grins against her lips.

He kisses her again, chastely, and she slowly pulls away, making herself comfortable again. Then she turns back to Tony, expression straight as she asks, "Well?"

He holds his hands up in surrender. "Message received: no more prying. Though, I did enjoy the show," he adds with a wink, because he still likes to be an ass like that sometimes.

"A little too much, darling," Pepper says, patting his cheek. Everyone laughs.

The conversation shifts as Darcy asks Maria and Sam about their vacation in Cabo, and Natasha smiles, curling herself a little more against Steve's chest. He presses a kiss to her hair and rubs his hand over her back, and she hums, tilting her head back to kiss the underside of his jaw. "Better get your sleep now," he tells her softly.

"Why's that?" (But she smirks, already knowing the answer.)

"Still got a few things I want to prove to you back in our room," he says, and she gnaws on her lower lip, smiling widely.

"Sounds like a plan, Soldier."