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13drabbles's gamma theme. Title is taken from Echo by Jason Walker.
Title: i don't hear a sound
Fandom: The Avengers
Pairing: Steve/Tony
Prompt: 09. dance
Words: 634 words
i don't hear a sound
Learning how to dance with Tony was, to put it bluntly, something of an adventure. The extent of Tony's dance skills was swaying on the spot in vague time with the music. And then he got irritated – which Steve thought was cute since it was more exasperated irritation than actual irritation – and his face would scrunch up in a rather adorable little frown.
It was a learning process for the both of them. Tony pulled up all sorts of videos and technical schematics (most of which he probably had devised himself) and tackled it like any problem to be solved.
Natasha caught them at it, rolled her eyes, and gently elbowed Tony in the side, taking up his position, “It's like this, Stark. Watch carefully. Captain, you lead, I'll follow. We'll keep things simple.”
“Oh, uh, right.”
Steve took a couple of steps forward, remembering the basics that he'd picked up from the videos Tony had showed him. Despite his halting movements, Natasha was all grace and fluidity, easily floating as she followed; she made it look easy.
“That's right,” she said. After a few more paces along the floor, the two of them broke apart when Natasha deemed Steve good enough. She added, “You just need to work on your confidence. Dancing really isn't as hard as you think of it; think of it... like sparring.”
Tony frowned, “You want to give him another reason to throw me on my ass?”
There was a glimmer of amusement in Natasha's eyes, “You need a firm but flexible frame to fight; it's the same in dancing. You must be firm in your stance, but flexible enough to be able to lead your partner successfully and to follow your partner. Once you have the basic stance down, everything else is easy.”
From there, Natasha guided them both back out onto the floor, nudging them into position. Then, she went about fixing their form with a poke and a prod here and an adjustment there until she judged them perfect.
“Alright, now walk. And remember, keep your frame strong but flexible.”
It went much better this time. Tony quipped, “You make an excellent dance teacher, did anyone tell you that? Did they teach you how to dance in your top secret spy-assassin classes in between learning how to kill someone with your toes and infiltrating Forbes 100 companies?”
Natasha rolled her eyes and gave one of those small, enigmatic smiles of hers, “Phil taught me, actually.”
“What? He's got time to dance? I thought he was all business all the time; the man never sleeps – he's an android that SHIELD built in their basement.”
“Tony.”
“Fine, fine, I get it; you're on her side and I should shut up now – oh but hey, you're a lot better now and not stepping on my feet all the time.”
“Confidence.” Natasha smiled and turned to leave, “I assume you can work out the rest on your own; I'll come back if you need more help.”
She strode out of the room with confidence and her usual grace in her stride, disappearing down the hall. There was silence left in her wake apart from the soft sound of music coming from the speakers.
The two of them danced in a small circle before Steve decided to try and execute one of the dips he'd seen. With how Natasha had explained it, it seemed much less daunting than it had before. He managed to pull it off despite Tony's surprise and slight stumbling over the moves.
He stole a kiss before he let Tony up, grinning when he saw that faint dusting of pink in Tony's cheeks that was so hard to put there.
“Thank you,” Steve said, smile replacing his grin. He wasn't just thanking Tony for the dance and they both knew it. Tony smiled back, words not needing to be said; he knew.
FIN.
13drabbles's gamma theme. Title is taken from Echo by Jason Walker.Title: i don't hear a sound
Fandom: The Avengers
Pairing: Steve/Tony
Prompt: 09. dance
Words: 634 words
Learning how to dance with Tony was, to put it bluntly, something of an adventure. The extent of Tony's dance skills was swaying on the spot in vague time with the music. And then he got irritated – which Steve thought was cute since it was more exasperated irritation than actual irritation – and his face would scrunch up in a rather adorable little frown.
It was a learning process for the both of them. Tony pulled up all sorts of videos and technical schematics (most of which he probably had devised himself) and tackled it like any problem to be solved.
Natasha caught them at it, rolled her eyes, and gently elbowed Tony in the side, taking up his position, “It's like this, Stark. Watch carefully. Captain, you lead, I'll follow. We'll keep things simple.”
“Oh, uh, right.”
Steve took a couple of steps forward, remembering the basics that he'd picked up from the videos Tony had showed him. Despite his halting movements, Natasha was all grace and fluidity, easily floating as she followed; she made it look easy.
“That's right,” she said. After a few more paces along the floor, the two of them broke apart when Natasha deemed Steve good enough. She added, “You just need to work on your confidence. Dancing really isn't as hard as you think of it; think of it... like sparring.”
Tony frowned, “You want to give him another reason to throw me on my ass?”
There was a glimmer of amusement in Natasha's eyes, “You need a firm but flexible frame to fight; it's the same in dancing. You must be firm in your stance, but flexible enough to be able to lead your partner successfully and to follow your partner. Once you have the basic stance down, everything else is easy.”
From there, Natasha guided them both back out onto the floor, nudging them into position. Then, she went about fixing their form with a poke and a prod here and an adjustment there until she judged them perfect.
“Alright, now walk. And remember, keep your frame strong but flexible.”
It went much better this time. Tony quipped, “You make an excellent dance teacher, did anyone tell you that? Did they teach you how to dance in your top secret spy-assassin classes in between learning how to kill someone with your toes and infiltrating Forbes 100 companies?”
Natasha rolled her eyes and gave one of those small, enigmatic smiles of hers, “Phil taught me, actually.”
“What? He's got time to dance? I thought he was all business all the time; the man never sleeps – he's an android that SHIELD built in their basement.”
“Tony.”
“Fine, fine, I get it; you're on her side and I should shut up now – oh but hey, you're a lot better now and not stepping on my feet all the time.”
“Confidence.” Natasha smiled and turned to leave, “I assume you can work out the rest on your own; I'll come back if you need more help.”
She strode out of the room with confidence and her usual grace in her stride, disappearing down the hall. There was silence left in her wake apart from the soft sound of music coming from the speakers.
The two of them danced in a small circle before Steve decided to try and execute one of the dips he'd seen. With how Natasha had explained it, it seemed much less daunting than it had before. He managed to pull it off despite Tony's surprise and slight stumbling over the moves.
He stole a kiss before he let Tony up, grinning when he saw that faint dusting of pink in Tony's cheeks that was so hard to put there.
“Thank you,” Steve said, smile replacing his grin. He wasn't just thanking Tony for the dance and they both knew it. Tony smiled back, words not needing to be said; he knew.
FIN.