Chapter 1
Lady barks, runs around like a whirlwind, tries to get attention from Y/N or Steve and does everything to get the pent-up energy to go away before Y/N takes her for her walk. To say Y/N is not very pleased and VERY annoyed is a lie but she doesn’t snap at the dog, though. She watches her run up to Steve as he goes through a folder and over some papers beside him before he takes his sketchbook and tries to paint something. Lady doesn’t jump him but she presses her wet nose against his cheek and licks it a few times before Steve grumbles and shoves her away, gently, before he sneezes two times. “Lady, stop already.” Steve looks at the dog and runs his hand over her fur before he goes back to his sketchpad. Growls a little and sighs dramatically, rips the side out and throws it away before he starts on a new one. Lady rushes up to the paper ball and carries it dutifully back to the man. Steve glances up briefly but continues drawing. Lady lets out a confused whine, clearly expecting to throw it again. The dog picks the paper up and carries it to Y/N instead. “Hey, girl. Can’t you wait until we’re outside?” Y/N smiles at the dog and ruffles her fur. Lady starts panting in delight, flops to her side and lets Y/N scratch her tummy. “Ah, shit!” Y/N looks up and stares at Steve. He looks frustrated, rubs his temples and rips the page out of the book, throwing it away again. Then he rubs his eyes tiredly and stares at the new fresh page. She sees his hands shake a little as he picks up the pencil again. She stands up, ignores Lady’s whine and walks into the kitchen. She fills a glass with water and walks back to Steve. She all but presses it into his face until he looks up. “What?” He doesn’t snap but he sounds clearly frustrated. He looks tired and a little paler than normal. “Drink something, Stevie. Maybe it helps.” She smiles kindly at him and runs her hand through his hair as he frowns at her but takes the glass. He takes a few gulps of water until the glass is empty and passes it back to her. “Thank you.” He leans back on his lest hand, rubbing his right against his eyes again with a tired sigh. “No problem.” She smiles at him and leans in to give him a quick pack against the lips before she retreats to her spot on the couch. She picks up her laptop and looks through the new models of the newest SI creations and throws the paper ball for Lady, all while still keeping one eye on Steve. She sees him rub his eyes a few times, groaning in frustration as some new paper balls add to the floor. She swirls a little around him, passing him a glass of water here and some little snack or hand running through his hair there. If he notices her coddling him a bit, he doesn’t say so.
An hour later Steve sits still on the ground and tries to sketch. He looks more tired than before, yawns more often and rubs one of his eyes almost constantly to the pint that they must itch a little. “Stevie.” Y/N walks over and places her hand on his before he starts on drawing again. Why don’t you take a break? I see that you are tired and can’t concentrate. Come and sit with me. Finish this tomorrow, hm?” she gestures at his sketchpad and tries to look him into his eyes. But Steve sakes his head. “I want to finish this. If my hands just would stop shaking.” He’s more frustrated now and glares angrily at his hands. Y/N sighs. She takes his hands in hers, holding on tight before Steve can draw them away and gives each a kiss. “Okay. But don’t work to long, you’re tired and need a break okay? I’ll go out with Lady now and when I’m back we eat some lunch and you take a break. Deal?”
“Yeah, fine.” Steve sighs, half angry half defeated. He doesn’t argue back so Y/N takes it as a win. “Good. See you in a bit.” She kisses the tip of his nose what makes him sneeze three times in a row. Y/N chortles a bit but passes him a tissue before she whistles for Lady. “Come on, girl. Daddy want’s some space.”
“I didn’t say that!” He calls after her but Y/N only laughs and walks out of the door with the brown Labrador.
One and a half hour later she walks back into the apartment. Lady walks straight to her bowl in the kitchen, drinks greedily and then walks back to fall down on her pillow under the window in the living room. Y/N is pleased to see that Steve is no longer in the living room. His pencils and sketchpad still lying on the ground but the man is nowhere to be seen. She walks into the kitchen and sees a cursing Steve. His hands shake clearly and Y/N figures that it’s not good when he’s holding a knife and tries to cut some carrots. She walks over, takes the knife from his hands and places it on the counter before she circles her arms around his waist. She kisses the back of his shoulder and rests her forehead against it. “This is shit! They just won’t stop shaking.” Steve curses again. “Stevie.” He r left hand wanders under the hem of his shirt and dances over the skin on his stomach. “Come on. Sit down. I’ll make some sandwiches. And then we can lie down for a bit, yeah? You look pretty tired.” Steve sighs defeated, supports himself on the counter and lets his head hang. “Yeah, okay.” Y/N kisses his shoulder again and then guides him to the dining table. She watches as he sits down with a tired groan and places his forehead on the table. She frowns at the gesture and runs her hand through his hair. “Are you feeling okay, Steve?” The man nods against the table before he lifts it to sneeze again. “Just tired, stupid shaking hands and a little sneeze. I’m okay. A bit fuzzy maybe.”
“Oh man. Okay, cupcake.” She uses the little endearment that she started calling him by and kisses his cheek. “Then I’ll hurry up and we nap a bit.” Steve nods with closed eyes and rests his head back on the table, this time so he can watch her work.
After lunch Steve takes her hand and surprisingly pulls her with him. He doesn’t walk into one of their rooms like Y/N thought he would, instead he drags her outside, to the elevator and up to the common room. Lady follows them and, as soon as they reach the common room, runs up to Tony’s favorite armchair to sleep on it. Steve drags her to the couch that faces the door before he falls on it. “Steve, I thought we would go napping.”
“We do. Here.”
“why here?” Y/N looks confused at him but Steve only turns on the couch so he’s not suffocating on the pillows and looks at her. “Don’t want to miss Buck coming home.” Y/N raises her eyebrows. It’s right that Bucky comes back from his mission with Nat and Clint today but only in the evening. She doesn’t think Steve will sleep that long. “It’s movie night tonight. He will come up here first.” Y/N smiles kindly at him and sits down so he can lie his head on her lap. “Of course, he will.” She runs her hand through his hair while her other hand wanders lightly over Steve’s eyes. “Go to sleep, cupcake.” Steve smiles back at her, grabs her free hand and hold it. Y/N runs her hand a few times more through his hair and listens to his breathing as it slowly evens out. She’s surprised that he actually takes a nap, which he never does. At least not when he’s feeling well. His nap just proves Y/N’s guess that he’s either, not feeling well and overtired or is getting sick. The man is asleep rather quickly but his grip on Y/N’s hand softens barely.
“What are you doing?” Y/N looks up and meets Tony’s surprised eyes. “You’re the genius. Tell me.” Tony rolls his eyes and walks to his armchair only to be greeted with a perfect Labrador-roll on it. He makes a displeased sound before he sits on one of the couches. He gestures with a head move to the blonde. “Since when does he take naps?” Y/N runs her hand again through Steve’s hair and looks down at him. “He’s tired, maybe getting sick.” Tony raises his eyebrows. He hums and studies Steve’s features a little longer before he gets up and walks to the kitchen area to get some coffee. “You want something?” He shouts and peeks over to her form the doorway. “A tea would be nice, thank you.” She waits until Tony comes back and passes her a cup of tea. Since her one hand is trapped in Steve’s she extracts her hand from his hair to take it. “When’s frosty coming back?”
“Tonight. That’s why he wants to nap here.” Tony nods again and pats her shoulder. “See you later, kid.”
“Pff. Kid. I’m not Peter, you know!” She shouts after him as the engineer leaves. Y/n stays on the couch, though. She watches both, Lady and Steve, sleep until lady stands up. She stretches and comes to her, wriggling around a bit and trying to get Y/N to pet her. Then she settles at Steve’s feet, rolls back together and falls asleep again.
Two hours later Steve starts to stir. He opens his eyes, rubs them and snuggles into Y/N’s thigh. “Hey, sleepyhead.” She smiles down at, squeezing the hand that he still holds. “How are you feeling?”
“still tired. Head hurts a little.”
“Yeah?” She frowns at him as he looks up at her. She runs her hand through his hair and feels his forehead, cheek and neck. “You don’t feel too warm, though.”
“Buck home?”
“Not yet.” Y/N shakes her head, continuing to run her hand through his hair. Steve sighs, waits a minute and then sits up, rubbing his eyes with a yawn. He stands up and sways a little so that Y/N quickly grabs his hips to steady him. “Steve. Are you sure you’re good?” Steve nods irritated and sneeze two time before he rubs his nose. “Yeah. Yeah, ‘m good.”
“Really?” She frowns at him a little but Steve nods again. Y/N looks him up and down, then she frames his face in her hands. “Stevie. How about you go down, shower put on some cozy thing and go to bed, huh? Put on a show or something.” Steve sighs and slowly nods. Y/N is a little taken aback, having sworn he would argue about it. “Yeah?”
“Yeah, kay.” Steve rubs over his face and turns to Y/N. He kisses her temple and looks into her eyes. She can clearly see the worry about Bucky in them but also the tiredness. “You coming too?”
“Yes. Just go out with Lady for a short walk.” She kisses his cheek and walks together with him to the elevator, just in case he needs some stabilizing again. “Lady! Come!” The dog come bolting from the couch and makes a little dance around Steve.