Longing (Steve Rogers x reader)

Fragrance

You finished watching the documentary, and of a few things you were certain. Steve kept looking over at you, and you were also certain that you were never going to get that smile off of your face. You found the documentary really invigorating, and enjoyed it very much. But you had a hard time keeping your eyes off of Steve. He wasn't hiding that he was watching you, in fact he smiled at you the few times you had caught him. You were worried you had something on your face, or your clothes were showing too much skin. His eyes remained trained on your face. He continued to make small talk while the documentary played, and you were grateful he was talking to you about something besides work. He was asking you more questions about you, and the things that you liked. You had admitted to enjoying watching the documentaries on TV, but you preferred to read your books most of the time. He admitted he preferred reading as well, and said the documentaries helped him get caught up with modern times. When it was time for supper you both got up and went in to find the table was filling up quickly. You grabbed a seat beside Nat, and were surprised to find that Steve decided to sit beside you for a change. In the year you had known him, he had always sat across from you. He pulled in his chair a little closer, and you almost wanted to lean towards him, but also tried to keep in mind the elephant in the room. The one woman he would never get over. Peggy. Nat passed down the platter of food, and you found out it was lasagna, and there was garlic bread in the middle of the table. You took a slice and put it on your plate and handed the platter to Steve, who's fingers brushed against your own. You blushed, but he just looked at you and smiled. You smiled back softly and went back to your food. Your heart was pounding in your chest, and you were acutely aware of the cedarwood scent coming off of Steve now that he was sitting so close to you. You felt like your palms were sweating as you tried to focus on eating. You looked up to see Bucky and Sam sitting across from you with small smirks on their faces as they looked between you and Steve. You had to wonder again as to why. You felt your stomach was in knots, making eating almost a chore. To help you get back your focus, you reached across to the center of the table and grabbed a slice of garlic bread and started breaking it up into small pieces and eating them one piece at a time.
"Are you okay Starshine?" Bruce looked down the table at you.
"I'm good" you gave a bright smile.
"Are you going to be reading in the living room again after you're finished with dinner?" Steve asked you suddenly.
"Yeah, I wanted to finish my book before the missions started this week" you nodded, turning your smile on him and he paused for a moment looking at you a little bit stunned. He had a large smile go across his face and he nodded.
"Sounds like a great idea. I have a book I wanted to read too" he grabbed a piece of garlic bread and mimicked you, by pulling it into smaller pieces and eating it slowly. You looked at him from the corner of your eyes and saw he looked over at you often. You didn't know if this was new behavior for him, and wondered if he was pulling a prank. Maybe he figured out your affections and had a bet going. But he also wasn't that kind of gentleman. You just couldn't figure him out.
"Just don't forget we have our walk later" Bucky reminded him.
"I won't forget ya jerk. I missed one night" Steve sighed heavily.
"We won't be forgetting it anytime soon" Sam quipped. "You left me and Tinman alone together"
"That's never a good combination," Nat teased. "You forgot to buy some more of your tea today, Songbird" she looked at you in surprise.
"Loki bought me some special tea" you gave a soft smile. "I still have lots of tea, I got a little hooked on the one he gave me"
"It was cream of Earl Grey. I thought you would appreciate it" Loki gave a smile, a little proud of himself for finding something that you liked so much.
"I need to go to David's tea and pick some up after we get back from one of our missions this week. I really liked it" you grinned at Loki who preened a little bit under the attention.
"I don't have any missions on Monday, I'll go pick some up for you. I have to get some more tea for my cupboard anyways" Loki offered.
"I can't ask you to do that" you shook your head.
"Nonsense, I won't take no for an answer. You are always lending me your books" he reminded you. "Besides, it gives us something to have when I join you for tea in the evenings"
"I have plenty of peppermint," you reminded him.
"Yes, that's been satisfactory as well" Loki acknowledged.
"At least let me pay for it" you took out your phone to e-transfer him some money.
"I'd be insulted" he stopped you in your tracks.
"Alright, then thank you" you blushed and put your phone away.
"Do you two do tea very often?" Steve asked after a small silence, already knowing the answer. He started going on the night walks because he overheard Nat talking about how you sat outside at night and had tea before bed and watched the sunset. He had made it his mission to go for a walk every night with Bucky and Sam ever since, always at sunset, so he could catch a glimpse of you sitting on your balcony. Steve mused he really did have to ask Pietro about switching rooms, and would use wanting to be closer to Bucky as an excuse. Pietro at least would be closer to Peter this way, since they would both be on the main floor. They spend a lot of their free time together as it is.
"At least once a week, isn't it pet?" Loki looked over at you and you nodded.
"I told you, that you are welcome anytime" you shrugged.
"I might join you this evening, I feel like borrowing another one of your novels" he looked to see Steve get a slightly darker look on his face, as though he was jealous. Loki gave a soft chuckle and focused on his food again. You quickly finished eating and got up to put your plate in the sink. You came back and sat down, and took a sip of your water while waiting for everyone to finish. You were acutely aware of how close Steve was sitting to you, the warmth of his body was so close to you. You had a feeling that if you just leaned slightly to the side, you would be touching him. You looked at him again from the side of your eyes, under your eyelashes and saw he was just finishing up. It was almost painful that he was so close, but so far away.