The Art of the Tattoo- Marvel Soulmate story

Chapter 29

IT WAS THE DELICIOUS SMELL OF BACON wafting through the house that woke you up. You blinked your eyes open and found that you were comfortably trapped underneath Thor's hulking body. His warmth radiated through you as the rest of the farmhouse was a bit cold. Frost licked at the windows and you wondered if it had snowed last night.

You poked Thor until he woke up and rolled off of you, then slipped out of bed to get dressed in something warm and comfortable. You stuck to a sweatshirt and some sweatpants, stuffing your feet in furry Uggs and headed down the stairs.

The table had been set with platters of eggs, bacon, sausage links, fresh fruits, pancakes, and hash browns, but the cook was no where in sight. Several of the Avengers had settled down around the table, helping themselves.

"Morning." You said as cheerfully as you could manage for eight forty-five in the morning.

"Morning." The others replied with various degrees of wakefulness.

As you passed Clint, you paused to pull hay out of his hair and toss it in the trash. He must've gone up to the hayloft at some point. You wondered when that had been.

"Who made breakfast?" You asked curiously as you helped yourself to the pancakes and bacon.

Steve shrugged, "It was ready when I got down here and I was the first down here."

"Must've been Elizabeth, if I had to guess." Rhodey replied. "It tastes the same way she makes it. I can taste the butter in the eggs."

You nodded. Elizabeth had come up with this trick where if you got the butter to boil in the pan when you scrambled the eggs, then the eggs would cook through so fast that they didn't have time to stick to the pans and the pans would be easier to clean. The result ended in the eggs being extremely fluffy, but also with a heavy taste of butter. It was a surprisingly good combination.

"Did she eat?" You asked and then realized none of them would probably know.

"No idea." Rhodey replied.

You nodded, looking out the window but you couldn't see anyone out on the farm. It still looked cold out, the sun behind the gray clouds and the windows were still foggy. This October weather was going to be a cold one.

You sat down next to Steve who was being somewhat quiet this morning.

As you neared finishing breakfast, Elizabeth finally stepped into the house. She was wearing her winter boots instead of cowboy boots, and had put on a thick hoodie and fingerless gloves. A gray hat with a pink pom pom on the end had been pulled down over her ears.

"Morning." She said easily as she headed past everyone to the kitchen.

"Aren't you freezing?" You asked after her in worry. "You'll catch frostbite."

Elizabeth grinned at you. "I don't feel cold anymore, remember?"

Damn, well that had to be nice.

"I should check that out later though." Tony added, a frown on his face and he reached out to take her hand. "Your hands are freezing. Maybe you can't feel the cold, but I'm worried your body still does."

Elizabeth smiled at him. "You can run your tests later. I've still got lots of morning chores to do and I've left Hogun to fend for himself with the chickens."

And then she was gone once more, slipping out the backdoor so that you could barely feel the cold wind come in for a split second.

"I wonder if the lake froze over." Natasha commented, looking at you. "Do you ever ice skate on it?"