Avenger Ships

“You look like a Smurf.” Both super soldiers could hear Clint’s amused voice all the way down the hallway.

“Better than you. You could pass for the Tin Man right now.” Peter was giggling as he teased Clint.

Steve and Bucky shared a grin because they got that reference before deciding to go investigate. They’d been held late at SHIELD filling out some tedious paperwork and were comforted by the cheery sounds from the living room.

“This is similar to the war paint used by warriors back home!” Thor enthusiastically boomed as the other two men entered the room. “Hello Steven and James! How was your trip?”

“It wasn’t bad.” Steve answered. He took in the sight before him. Clint was seated on the floor with his back against the couch. His face was entirely gray. Peter and Thor were both lounging across the couch. They each had a headband on and their faces were also covered. Peter’s was a bluish color while Thor had a pretty intricate mix of blue and grey that Steve assumed mimicked war paint.

“What’s on your face?” Bucky was curiously examining Thor’s face.

“Face masks!” Peter exclaimed “MJ gave me some clay ones after finals finished. She says she thought I could use them, which I’m hoping wasn’t an insult. Do you want one?”

Bucky opened his mouth to refuse, but before anything came out, he made eye contact with Peter’s pleading puppy dog eyes. “Yes.” His voice betrayed him and suddenly Peter was dragging him by his metal arm to the nearby bathroom. “You’ve gotta wash your face first.” He handed him a wash cloth and some face soap that looked expensive.

Once his face was washed, Peter helped him put on a neon pink headband and held up two jars. “This one is for de-stressing. It has deep sea minerals apparently. This one is cleansing and pore cleaning. It’s got volcanic ash. Which one do you want?”

“Surprise me.”

Peter smiled and put down the volcanic ash one. He put his finger in the blue, de-stressing one and spread it thinly across Bucky’s forehead.

“I can do it myself.”

“Nope. It’ll be uneven and you’ll miss spots.” Peter continued spreading the mask all over his face. “There we go! Now you just need to wait ten minutes. Don’t talk or smile too much or it’ll crack around your mouth.” Bucky nodded, unable to point out that he neither talked nor smiled that often anyway.

“Steve. It’s your turn now!” Peter abruptly stood up and grabbed Steve to give him the same treatment. In a matter of minutes, Steve was also adorning the blue mask.

“Have we been attacked by Na’vi?” Tony joked as he came into the room. A timer went off and Clint moved to the bathroom to peel his mask off. Natasha, who silently entered seconds after Tony, pulled out her phone and took a candid photo of the group. It was a rarity for everyone to look this relaxed.

It wasn’t long before Tony and Natasha were also wearing masks.

“Here, I’ll help you.” Peter showed Steve and Bucky how to remove the masks without irritating their skin too much and handed them a moisturizer for their faces. When they came back, Natasha was giving Clint a back massage while Tony was painting Thor’s nails with a clear polish from somewhere.

“Can I draw on your arm?” Peter blurted out. “I mean, don’t feel obligated to say yes. Ned just always lets me draw on his leg. It’s nice but he’s ticklish so he jerks and…”

Bucky silently held out his arm to Peter, who promptly ran off and came back with a box full of colorful sharpies.

He was surprised when Peter pulled out a damp washcloth and wiped down his arm. He was being so careful and staring at it with so much admiration. Bucky wanted to tell him he didn’t need to act like it was so delicate, that it was pretty much unbreakable and he couldn't feel anything, but the kid’s intense stare deterred him. He felt so warm when the kid looked at his arm, a weapon of mass murder, like it was a beautiful thing.

Peter picked up a marker and slowly started to draw an intricate pattern around his finger. His head jerked up like he got an idea and he grinned. “You can’t look until it’s finished.”

Bucky protested, but Peter unleashed his wide eyes again and his words fell flat.

“Fine.”

“That includes everyone else too.” Peter motioned for Bucky to move into the corner of the room. Tony and Clint groaned while Thor respectfully looked away.

Bucky sat completely still as Peter worked. Occasionally he felt Peter gently tug at his arm to adjust the position or heard the squeak of marker on metal, but for the most part, he relaxed and watched the movie.

“Done yet Spidey?” Tony called out, still looking at the TV screen. He’d been caught trying to peek twice before and Natasha threatened to hurt him if he continued disturbing the peace.

“One second. I kinda ran out of room though.”

“How?” Clint mumbled, thinking about the size of Bucky’s arm.

Peter ignored him and declared that he was ready for everyone to see.

Bucky looked down at his arm. Near the shoulder was a drawing of muscular golden retriever wearing a collar that had a miniature version of Steve’s shield hanging from it. There was a bald eagle on its back, but the edges of the wings were red and white like Sam’s. Facing away from the dog was a black cat that somehow had a smirk very similar to Natasha’s when she was pleased. There was the marking of a black widow on the cat’s back. Below the cat was a lizard curled around his arm. It had purple patterns atop dark blue skin. There was a black arrow shaped design down its tail. Across from the lizard was an owl with its wings outstretched. It appeared like it was mid-flight and had a distinctive green tint. Lower still was a whale shark whose spots were shaped like lighting bolts. Close-by was a scarlet octopus whose tentacles were encompassed by a thin line of glowing flames.

Just below and over his elbow was a peacock with a butterfly and a firefly on either side. The peacock had red and gold ocelli adorning its wings. The butterfly had red wings with black and blue lines criss-crossing out from the body. The firefly had just done a loop which left a trail of golden light resembling a portal. There was a snake wrapped around his upper forearm which was wearing Loki’s helmet. An emperor penguin was sliding on its belly beneath them. It had tiny cat ears and a silver spiked necklace around its lower neck. There was a cheetah with silver spots licking its paws next to the penguin.

Finally, compassing the rest of his forearm was a caribou with intricate metal antlers extending out from his head.

Bucky was speechless. He twisted his arm around to admire each animal and how they were posed to fit perfectly together.

Natasha had a soft smile she almost never showed on her face. Steve was praising Peter’s artistry. Tony was looking smug. He even reached out to touch the peacock. Clint was laughing at the lizard and attempting to explain what a whale shark was to Thor at the same time. Bruce pulled his phone out and snapped a picture, presumably to send to Wanda, Pierto, Sam, Strange, and T’Challa.

It made Bucky’s heart swell, seeing himself portrayed with all the other Avengers. Even if it was in animal form, it was nice to feel included as a part of their team/family. It’d been a long road toward getting forgiveness, then trust to join them in battle, and then friendship, but he would do it all in a heartbeat as long as he wound up in the same spot.

“Thanks kid.”

As Bucky walked to his room, he was approached by Natasha. “I have a spray that would keep it from smudging for longer, do you want some?”

Bucky nodded silently. In a minute, she was back and helping him coat his arm in a glossy spray.

For the next month, Bucky was sporting a full sleeve tattoo on his left arm. He loved it.