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[ofstarlight]

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» For plots, scenarios and scenes I'd love to write out! » Can be duo-based or for a group. » Anyone is free to claim them up. The group ones will most likely have posting orders. » For the duos, multiples are welcomed to tag in, even of the same muse. » Prose and brackets are both welcomed. Pick one of my characters: here.

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STEVE BIRTHDAY SHENANIGANS.

[stevegrogers]

I'm up for just about anything and will gladly use regular Steve here, pre-serum Steve or rule!63 Steve - Stephanie. Just let me know which you want. Regular Steve can be during TFA, CA:WS, CA:CW, post CW or any other kind of timeline. Pre-serum Steve can be pre-war, during the war or time travel and in the present time period. Stephanie can be any time period.

Here are some suggestions -

PARTIES: Whether group based, like a surprise party or something more lowkey with just a duo.

OUTINGS: Something non-party related. Art museums, BBQ/picnic, dinner etc etc.

CAKE TIME: What's a birthday without an amazing cake? Steve's favorite is vanilla bean with apple frosting because it's what his ma used to make when he was younger.

PRESENTS: Good luck getting him to take anything. Birthday or not, he doesn't accept presents very easily.

DANCING: Always bittersweet but one of the ultimate ways to connect for Steve.

FIREWORKS: It's the 4th after all!

SOMETHING ELSE: The sky is the limit. Mix/match, come up with something else. Throw whatever at me.

[wingedman]

[Sam's in the kitchen making a cake - or trying to, anyway. What he's really doing is attempting to play keep-away with the bowl while Steve keeps sneaking his fingers into the batter. He's already smacked Steve's hand with the spoon once or twice - clearly something his mother never did while she was baking - and he sports a streak of batter high on one of his cheekbones.]

Seriously, if I drop this bowl on the floor, there isn't gonna be any cake.

[...they both know that if he does, he'll probably just sigh and make another batch. He won't let Steve's birthday be ruined, goddamnit.]

[stevegrogers]

[ Leaning against the countertop, Steve wore a very pleased expression, licking off one of his fingers in delight. For once, he felt a little less melancholy about his birthday and had Sam to thank entirely. The man usually managed to brighten him up without really doing much of anything. Just existing and breathing. ]

Well, you could share easier and then we wouldn't have a problem at all. Someone did not learn sharing is caring. [ With a wink, he straightened up to press a batter lipped kiss against Sam's cheek. ]

Sealed with a kiss. [ Now, he leaned against the counter with his back towards it, looking over at Sam like your move. ]

[wingedman]

I am sharing. The cake's for you, isn't it?

[But the way Steve licks batter off his finger is goddamn distracting, and Sam's gaze is riveted on him. He swallows and turns back to the counter.]

Just let me get these in the pans, okay?

[Thankfully, he's already made the frosting, and it's chilling in the fridge - assuming Steve hasn't helped himself to that as well.]

If you wanna make yourself useful, you can hold the bowl while I spoon the batter, okay? Promise I'll let you lick the spoon and the bowl when I'm done.

[stevegrogers]

[ Chuckling to himself, Steve grabbed for the bowl to hold it up as instructed. He made sure to let out a dramatic sigh, though, just to complete the image. ] Doing manual labor on my birthday.

[ When they finished sliding the batter into the pans, Steve decided to carefully hop upon onto the counter and start licking said spoon and bowl. Could anyone blame him with how good batter tasted? Besides, with the serum he couldn't really get sick of eating it. ]

You know you didn't have to do this. I would have been fine with just a happy birthday and a kiss.

[wingedman]

I like baking.

[Sam shrugs and bends over to slip the pans into the oven. He likes all kinds of cooking, honestly, and one of the benefits of being with a super-soldier is that he always has an excuse to cook something.]

Besides, you're worth the trouble. Most of the time.

[He grins impishly at Steve and leans in to steal a lick of batter from the spoon.]

[stevegrogers]

[ a nearly heartwrenching kind of fondness seeped into Steve's eyes, nearly as if he couldn't believe the sort of affection Sam offered so freely and easily towards him. ]

Well, I like you. [ overly cheesy but not any less true. ]

[ letting out a little gasp, this time he mimicked Sam from earlier and swatted his hand softly. ] What about the other part of the time? I'm just alluring then huh? Too much to resist. [ with a lopsided smile, he licked right up the side of the bowl just to see Sam's reaction. ]

[wingedman]

The rest of the time, you're just trouble.

[Sam tugs the bowl away for a moment for a batter-filled kiss, smiling against Steve's lips. An arm hooks around his waist to pull him closer, till Steve can tell just what kind of effect all that licking has been having on Sam's body.]

[stevegrogers]

[ there would have been plenty of quips but the kiss took over Steve's attention first. groaning into it, he kissed Sam more passionate, hooking an arm around his neck to pull him even closer. ]

[wingedman]

[Sam pulls back for just a moment, leaning over to set the timer on the oven. Then he turns his entire attention to Steve, kissing him again before he kneels down in front of him. Since he's sitting on the cabinet, his crotch is at just the right height, and Sam smirks up at him.]

So, you want one of your birthday presents now?

[stevegrogers]

[ Groaning for a different reason, Steve started to protest but stopped short when Sam moved to kneel on the ground. Well then. But because he is who he is, he can't just go with it without saying something. ]

Depends on what you plan on doing there kneeling on the ground in front of me.

[ A light joke, honestly, but there were a few things people did when they knelt down. ]

[wingedman]

[Sam hums lightly as he pushes Steve's thighs apart, leaning in between them.]

Well, I can't say I'm here to pray, although one of us is likely to be taking the Lord's name in vain pretty soon.

[stevegrogers]

[ breath hitching, steve looked down at sam with slightly hooded and quickly darkening eyes. one person should not be so sexy so easily. ]

Sounds like you're doing a lot of talking. The cake is going to be done before anything happens here.

Best Friends AU

[murdocksboy]

Steve's not big on birthdays -- no, scratch that, Steve's not big on his own birthday, and Matt is fully aware of this. Doesn't mean he's going to just let his friend pretend the day isn't special.

It's taken some wrangling to get Steve out of the apartment for a little while, on some invented errands that hopefully don't come across as suspicious. When he returns, it'll be to the smell of his favorite Thai takeout. A small table has been set up in front of the couch, holding a TV (borrowed from Foggy) hooked up to Matt's laptop and a stack of DVDs of movies Steve has expressed interest in seeing.

And there is, of course, a cake sitting on the counter, Happy Birthday Steve expertly written across the top in icing.

Just a nice low-key little celebration. No guests, no balloons, no big public fuss. Matt isn't even wearing a tie.

!!!!!!!!!!!!

[stevegrogers]

With a deep sigh, Steve ran around trying to complete the errands and positively ignore all the 4th of July hoopla going on around him in the process. Once, he enjoyed the brightness and the celebration going along with the day but since arriving home, well, he knew the darker aspects of freedom and how much some had to lose to keep it for everyone else. It seemed unfair in a way for him to stand there while others were six feet under. Others were depended on him.

Shaking the thoughts away, Steve returned back to the apartment, almost dropping the bags in his arms from the look on Matt's face. That little sneak! Smile pulling at his lips despite himself, Steve carefully put things down and without saying a word, he went up and hugged Matt. Sometimes even if he claimed otherwise, he wanted a little fuss. Of course, Matt understood.

Tucking his face against Matt's neck, he smiled a little wider. "Sneaky. I see now why you were trying to get rid of me." Pulling back, he cupped Matt's cheek for a moment. "Thank you." A slight pause. "Let's eat! That smells delicious and you have no idea how hot it is out there. Oh, and just so you know that's not sweat but water. Some kids are hosing people down with water guns as they pass by."

[murdocksboy]

Despite the moment of surprised silence when the door opens, Matt isn't worried about the reaction. Not that Steve never gets angry, but the utter gratitude he's always displayed anytime someone did something nice for him is a trait that isn't likely to just disappear.

It is nice to feel that wide grin pressed against his neck, though, and it brings a matching one to Matt's face. "I was a little worried you'd be in a hurry and catch me before everything was ready. Should have known better, you've always had great timing."

With a laugh, he nudges Steve to grab himself a plate and take it to the couch. "I know, you smell like tap water, not perspiration. Well...maybe a little perspiration. Nothing wrong with that, though." He'd rather smell a little clean sweat and a person's natural scent than get a nose full of heavy cologne, anyway."

Handing Steve a beer to go with his meal, he sinks down onto the cushion next to him, gesturing with his own drink toward the television. "I hope these are the right ones. Karen helped me find them, so if there's anything weird in there, I officially pass the blame to her."

[stevegrogers]

Taking the plate and the beer, Steve settled onto the couch with a content exhale. What a perfect evening already but Matt always knew what to do when it came to surprising him. They didn't happen too often but Steve usually made it difficult to give him anything or to be taken care of in any way. It used to be a downright nightmare to have him take his medicine back in the day or accept any sort of help with anything. His list of health risks had been really, really long then. But the experiment took care of it and he hadn't faced any complications yet.

"Matty, are you saying you like the way I smell?" Steve teased, fluttering his eyelashes with a laugh. "That's so romantic. It really must be my birthday. You're being extra nice." And not banged up or knocking on death's door either.

Setting his plate down for a moment and his beer, he picked up the DVDs to see what Karen selected. "It looks like she got everything. Except I don't remember mentioning this -" He paused to flip over the DVD to look at the back of it. The title read 13 Going on 30. "Seems like a romance film I think." He shook his head but with a shrug decided to put it on rather than Inception like he planned on. "Must be a reason she included it. She must have thought we'd like it." Best friend being in love with their best friend for years? Yeah, nothing at all similar to their situation.

[murdocksboy]

Matt chuckles over the mouth of his beer bottle, raising his eyebrows. "Well, I'm not saying you stink." Maybe he does like the way Steve smells. There's nothing wrong with that, a lot of people smell nice to him. And they use the same soap and shampoo, so it's probably just the familiarity.

His brow furrows at the title as Steve reads it, and he shakes his head. "Not familiar with that one, but I'm game if you are. Just so long as describing all the sexy smooching scenes isn't going to make you uncomfortable."

With a grin and a gentle bump of his elbow, he settles in shoulder to shoulder. Karen has good taste, and even if he ends up hating the movie, the whole point is for Steve to have a good time. That is -- always has been -- the most important thing.

[stevegrogers]

Just being with Matt made Steve completely happy and at ease with the world in a way he never found anywhere else. From the very beginning, Matt had always been the person he turned to and trusted to be there. Things had changed a little with recent revelations but not in a bad way and if nothing else it pulled them closer together rather than further apart. Trust mattered and Steve knew Matt would never keep anything from him ever again.

"Do you think you can handle me describing the sexy smooching scenes?" Steve teased with a wide grin. "It might be too much for you to handle."

Settling in against Matt with a happy exhale, he continued to eat. He slowly turned his attention to the screen for the film once it started to play but found himself looking at Matt more often than not. Matt made such an effort to make things special for him and it really meant everything. "This kind of feels like my life. I mean I wasn't 13 and suddenly in a 30 year old body mindset but I did zoom forward in time." He shook his head. "Don't know how it'd have been if I was younger."

[murdocksboy]

"Is that a challenge? Just so you know, I expect realistic sound effects and everything." God, it's nice to just relax and joke around and not worry about what's going on out in the world. Matt can never quite tune everything out, but he probably comes closest when he's with Steve. It's just always been easy for him to narrow his focus on his best friend, easier than anything else.

He nods while he chews, not really paying all that much attention to what's going on in the movie unless it's something Steve is making a point of telling him about. "Weird. I think it would be really weird. None of this-" He gestures with his fork. "-is anything like what I imagined for myself when I was 13."

With a wide grin, he jostles his arm again. "Well, almost none of it. I always knew that wherever I ended up in the future, you'd be there." He can't, and doesn't want to, think about what his life would be like if Steve hadn't come home. And it is home, no matter how often Steve brings up the idea of getting his own place. Matt just...isn't ready for that. It feels wrong to him.

[stevegrogers]

Challenges were something Steve always gravitated towards even ones that made him want to blush. "You mean like -" And he paused to be able to breathe out a faint moan into Matt's ear. "That?" he concluded with, feeling a little pleased with himself to have pulled it off and not fumbled. While Matt easily picked up people, Steve always struggled to even connection on a basic level with other people. So, relationship type of dynamics were nonexistent but he never really minded. He had Matt.

"Like you could get rid of me," Steve responded, nudging Matt as if to further make the point. "We made that pact as kids and I never break a vow." He took anything with Matt serious, though. "It'd be awful to be in love with your best friend and they don't even notice. Then don't even care at first."

[murdocksboy]

Unexpectedly, the sensual sound in his ear makes Matt's skin prickle, and he snorts a laugh to cover up the way his breath hitches. It doesn't mean anything really, it's just his enhanced senses overreacting in a totally natural way to the fact that he hasn't had so much as a coffee date in months.

The fact that the soft moan, specifically in Steve's voice, is now reverberating in his head? He'll just shove that away with all the other issues in his life that he ignores.

"Because I've been trying so hard." Rather the opposite, in fact. Matt knows he's put up a roadblock or three on Steve's occasional quest for independence. He smiles at the reminder of their childhood oath, though. And blinks a moment at the sudden swerve back into the movie plot. "Yeah, that would be hard. But I mean, it's not an unrealistic scenario. Doesn't everybody want their significant other to be their best friend too?"

[stevegrogers]

Mostly, Steve tried to venture out on his own every now and again to stop from constantly disrupting Matt's life. The man built something for himself in his absence and returning so suddenly changed everything. Plus, things were never easy for soldiers returning from war and Steve had plenty of issues to untangle, which he felt badly pulling Matt into. His best friend had more than enough to deal with of his own making.

But he never wanted to leave. Not really.

"I think it's different if you're childhood best friends. That's a different kind of friend level than someone you just meet and become friends with," Steve explained, finishing off his food with a content sigh. He placed his things aside, wiggling around until he managed to lean against Matt, practically his back to Matt's chest.

He continued to narrate the film, adding in his own commentary, of course.

[murdocksboy]

Steve's right about the friendship thing. No matter how close Matt has felt to the people who've come into his life since, none them will ever hold a candle to their bond. And he takes his promises to Steve as seriously as any fancy marriage vow.

With a warm smile, he sets his empty bowl aside and wraps one arm around his friend's chest, perfectly happy to be a cushion. The running commentary has him laughing, head occasionally bowing to rest against Steve's hair as he does. It's been ages since he sat through a movie, because nobody else quite manages to narrate them right.

Once the credits roll, he gives Steve a poke in the side and nudges him to sit up. "C'mon, there's cake, from the best bakery in the Kitchen." And a gift as well, in an envelope hidden under the couch cushion.

[stevegrogers]

Along with countless other things, Matt tended to bring peace into his life, something he normally failed to find anywhere else. Usually, he kept on alert, a type of hyper vigilance he couldn't shake even after returning home. They trained him so long to never let his guard down and they managed too well with him. But with Matt he found it easier to breathe and just exist in the little pocket moment they settled around them. It never occurred to him to look too deeply into why.

"But you're comfortable," Steve grumbled but a smile filled his face at the mention of the word 'cake'. He loved sweets and birthday cake happened to be the best dessert of all. It only happened once a year, after all! Walking over to said cake, he had the fondest look seeping into his eyes. "Are you going to sing 'happy birthday?' I can't make a wish and have it come true if you don't." He didn't make the rules, just enforced them, clearly.

"Make sure you add in the 'dear' part in front of my name. That's just nice."