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ysabetwordsmithThis story is a sequel to "Love Is for Children," "Eggshells," "Dolls and Guys," "Turnabout Is Fair Play," and "Touching Moments," "Splash," "Coming Around," and "Birthday Girl."
Fandom: The Avengers
Characters: Phil Coulson, Clint Barton, Natasha Romanova, Tony Stark, Bruce Banner, Hulk, Steve Rogers, Betty Ross, JARVIS, Bucky Barnes, Nick Fury.
Medium: Fiction
Warnings: Mind control. Inferences of past child abuse and other torture. Current environment is supportive.
Summary: A mission in Russia introduces the Avengers to the Winter Soldier. Steve wants Bucky back and will stop at nothing to make that happen. Everyone else helps however they can.
Notes: Asexual character (Clint). Aromantic character (Natasha). Asexual relationship. Sibling relationships. Fix-it. Teamwork. Canon-typical violence. BAMF!Avengers. Bucky!whump. Vulgar language. Drama. Rescue. Hurt/Comfort. Emotional whump. Survivor guilt. Friendship. Confusion. Mind control. Memory loss. Slow recovery. Nick Fury makes stupid-ass decisions. Fear of loss. Arc reactor. Fluff. Nonsexual ageplay. Making up for lost time. Tony Stark has a heart. Games. Trust issues. Safety and security. Howard Stark's A+ parenting. Obadiah Stane's A+ parenting. Food issues. Multiplicity/Plurality. Sleep issues. Non-sexual touching and intimacy. Yoga. Personal growth. Family of choice. ALL THE FEELS. #coulsonlives.
Begin with Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11, Part 12, Part 13, Part 14, Part 15, Part 16, Part 17, Part 18, Part 19, Part 20, Part 21, Part 22, Part 23, Part 24, Part 25, Part 26, Part 27, Part 28, Part 29, Part 30. Skip to Part 33, Part 34, Part 35, Part 36.
"No Winter Lasts Forever" Part 31
"All right, that's enough bickering," Phil said. "Let's pick something with a similar mood to the original King Kong for Bruce and Steve to enjoy, minus the giant ape motif."
"How about watching Werewolf of London?" Steve said.
"Negative portrayal of shapeshifting might not be optimum," Phil murmured.
"Sorry. Scratch that suggestion," Steve said.
"What do you think of Gojira?" Tony asked. "I've got the original Japanese version and JARVIS can do subtitles. It's a couple decades later than Kong but the flavor's really close."
"Radioactive breath --" Phil began.
"No, it's great, Bruce loves everything Godzilla, always has," said Betty. "We've only seen the TransWorld version of the old black-and-white movie, though, and the modern stuff. Put it on, put it on!"
JARVIS turned the movie on as soon as Bruce came in with the popcorn and a cooler full of assorted beverages. "Is that, is that -- it's the original in Japanese? Toneeee!" Bruce's voice scaled up almost to a squeal. Phil couldn't help grinning at the fanboy glee.
"Love you too, science bro," Tony said.
Bruce plunked onto the couch beside Tony and said, "Here, I made white cheddar, Hungarian hot paprika, and plain popcorn. Drinks are in the cooler."
"Hey, don't let Tony hog all the snacks, pass them around," Clint said.
Bruce scrambled over to hand him the paprika popcorn. "Have this one, you like it and Tony doesn't."
"If you're gonna keep bouncing like that, get off the couch," Clint said, pushing Bruce with his foot.
"Play nice, children," Phil said.
"Sorry, Uncle Phil," Clint said automatically. This wasn't game night -- it was in fact the earliest sliver of Sunday -- but it was close enough and they'd all gotten into the habit of minding him. It made life easier for everyone.
"Come over here and sit with me, Bruce," said Betty. She patted the loveseat beside her. "I don't mind you bouncing." Bruce hastened to join her. He cuddled into the soft cradle of her embrace. Betty gave him a soothing pat on the chest. Then she dipped into the bucket of plain popcorn he brought.
Phil settled next to Clint on the couch. He cupped a hand over his Starkphone to hide the light and discreetly requested the security feed from Natasha's room. It wasn't blocked, but it did pop up a note that said, We're both fine. Natasha had known that Phil would check on her and Bucky.
The next file that opened was Natasha's mood tracker; she had evidently entered her reports for the day. Her overall mood, as usual, fell in the neutral range. Yet the list of individual feelings ran longer than average, most of them at low to moderate levels. Excitement, frustration, and satisfaction came from the battle with sore and tired following after it. She felt disappointed at missing game night. Natasha had such a hard time identifying what she felt that this list alone showed improvement. What really caught Phil's attention was the sole emotion to rise into the bottom of the high range: relief, tagged to Bucky carrying her to bed.
Why relief? Phil wondered. He couldn't simply ask her: one of Natasha's demands in exchange for reporting her emotions at all was that nobody nag her about how she felt, or didn't feel. Maybe Betty was right, and Natasha appreciates the compensation for her injury. Phil suspected, though, that something much deeper and subtler was going on between Natasha and Bucky which would take longer to emerge.
Ah well, the important thing is that she felt something strongly positive and recorded it, Phil decided. With that, he closed the mood tracker file, and the security feed came up.
The image showed Natasha and Bucky on the king-size bed that she usually shared with her brother Clint, watching the ballet Swan Lake. It was particularly touching because, while Phil knew about Natasha's secret love of ballet, he also knew that she rarely let it out. She had used it on missions a few times when nothing else would serve. She watched ballets or played the music only in private. Phil smiled and turned off his phone. They would be all right for the night.
Phil looked around the darkened room. Weary heroes sprawled on the furniture, gradually winding down toward rest. Even Bruce had stopped bouncing so much. Clint snuggled into Phil's side and offered him the popcorn. This wasn't game night, but it helped.
Phil took a handful of popcorn and turned his attention to the movie. The original dialog added an edge of authenticity to the old classic. JARVIS provided English subtitles for the viewers not fully fluent in Japanese.
Steve was clearly riveted. He startled and grinned at the special effects. Halfway through the show, Steve reached for some popcorn only to find the bucket empty. "Aww, it's all gone," he said.
"I'll get more," said Bruce. As he stood up, JARVIS paused the movie. "The machine should have refilled by now. It's your turn to pick a flavor, Steve, what would you like?"
"Apple cinnamon?" Steve said hopefully. "If it's not too much trouble?"
"What, to crumble in a handful of apple chips with the cinnamon topping? No trouble at all. You worked hard today, so you deserve a treat," Bruce said. "Phil, what about you?"
"Barbecue, please," said Phil. He liked the combination of spicy, smoky, and sweet flavors.
Bruce padded into the kitchen, where he puttered and clattered around for a few minutes. He returned with buckets of fresh popcorn. Bruce nearly dropped one handing it to Steve. Fortunately Steve's reflexes caught the bucket before it could spill.
"Are you all right?" Phil asked quietly as he accepted the barbecue popcorn from Bruce.
"Not ... entirely," Bruce said. "Sorry, Phil, I guess I'm a little distracted." He rubbed his left hand over right, paused, then did the same thing in reverse. "It's just, the Other Guy keeps raining emotions on me. It's making me all bubbly and weird. I don't know how to cope with what I'm getting from him right now."
"Well, you say that you deal with his anger by keeping it at a low simmer all the time," Phil said. "You might try that."
"With happiness?" Bruce said. "How am I supposed to do that?"
"Yes, Bruce, with happiness," Phil said. It hurt that Bruce found the idea of maintaining a base level of positive emotion so inconceivable. "Now go cuddle up with Betty and give it a try." He shooed Bruce back toward the loveseat.
The movie resumed. The barbecue popcorn tasted delicious. Phil glanced over at Bruce from time to time, but he seemed to be relaxing more. Betty stroked her fingers through the rumple of dark hair. Bruce sighed and wriggled into a more comfortable position that gave her better access.
You'll learn how to maintain happiness, Phil thought fondly. I have faith in you.
* * *
Notes:
Werewolf of London is a classic movie.
Godzilla is a famous monster with radioactive breath, originally introduced in the 1954 movie.
Swan Lake is a beautiful ballet. According to various Marvel canons, Natasha Romanova studied ballet and became a skilled dancer.
You can buy flavored popcorn and toppings, or make your own. There are recipes for cinnamon, barbecue, and many other flavors.
Apple chips are a crunchy snack resembling potato chips, but they are more often baked than fried. Again, you can buy these or make your own.
Maintaining happiness is an act of deliberation. Happiness comes from within. There are ways to find happiness and keep it from fading. You can also find text and video meditations on happiness.
The Hedonic Set Point is a level of emotion that a person gravitates toward. Even major positive or negative events typically produce only a temporary change. Steve and Natasha are conspicuously stable, although their levels are different. However, the baseline can shift, sometimes on purpose, other times by circumstance. Bruce has adapted to living with anger, both in terms of himself and sharing his life with Hulk, maintaining a baseline of anger. Changing the baseline takes a lot of work. It helps to measure baseline happiness to see where you're starting, and later, if you're making progress.
[To be continued in Part 32 ...]
Fandom: The Avengers
Characters: Phil Coulson, Clint Barton, Natasha Romanova, Tony Stark, Bruce Banner, Hulk, Steve Rogers, Betty Ross, JARVIS, Bucky Barnes, Nick Fury.
Medium: Fiction
Warnings: Mind control. Inferences of past child abuse and other torture. Current environment is supportive.
Summary: A mission in Russia introduces the Avengers to the Winter Soldier. Steve wants Bucky back and will stop at nothing to make that happen. Everyone else helps however they can.
Notes: Asexual character (Clint). Aromantic character (Natasha). Asexual relationship. Sibling relationships. Fix-it. Teamwork. Canon-typical violence. BAMF!Avengers. Bucky!whump. Vulgar language. Drama. Rescue. Hurt/Comfort. Emotional whump. Survivor guilt. Friendship. Confusion. Mind control. Memory loss. Slow recovery. Nick Fury makes stupid-ass decisions. Fear of loss. Arc reactor. Fluff. Nonsexual ageplay. Making up for lost time. Tony Stark has a heart. Games. Trust issues. Safety and security. Howard Stark's A+ parenting. Obadiah Stane's A+ parenting. Food issues. Multiplicity/Plurality. Sleep issues. Non-sexual touching and intimacy. Yoga. Personal growth. Family of choice. ALL THE FEELS. #coulsonlives.
Begin with Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11, Part 12, Part 13, Part 14, Part 15, Part 16, Part 17, Part 18, Part 19, Part 20, Part 21, Part 22, Part 23, Part 24, Part 25, Part 26, Part 27, Part 28, Part 29, Part 30. Skip to Part 33, Part 34, Part 35, Part 36.
"No Winter Lasts Forever" Part 31
"All right, that's enough bickering," Phil said. "Let's pick something with a similar mood to the original King Kong for Bruce and Steve to enjoy, minus the giant ape motif."
"How about watching Werewolf of London?" Steve said.
"Negative portrayal of shapeshifting might not be optimum," Phil murmured.
"Sorry. Scratch that suggestion," Steve said.
"What do you think of Gojira?" Tony asked. "I've got the original Japanese version and JARVIS can do subtitles. It's a couple decades later than Kong but the flavor's really close."
"Radioactive breath --" Phil began.
"No, it's great, Bruce loves everything Godzilla, always has," said Betty. "We've only seen the TransWorld version of the old black-and-white movie, though, and the modern stuff. Put it on, put it on!"
JARVIS turned the movie on as soon as Bruce came in with the popcorn and a cooler full of assorted beverages. "Is that, is that -- it's the original in Japanese? Toneeee!" Bruce's voice scaled up almost to a squeal. Phil couldn't help grinning at the fanboy glee.
"Love you too, science bro," Tony said.
Bruce plunked onto the couch beside Tony and said, "Here, I made white cheddar, Hungarian hot paprika, and plain popcorn. Drinks are in the cooler."
"Hey, don't let Tony hog all the snacks, pass them around," Clint said.
Bruce scrambled over to hand him the paprika popcorn. "Have this one, you like it and Tony doesn't."
"If you're gonna keep bouncing like that, get off the couch," Clint said, pushing Bruce with his foot.
"Play nice, children," Phil said.
"Sorry, Uncle Phil," Clint said automatically. This wasn't game night -- it was in fact the earliest sliver of Sunday -- but it was close enough and they'd all gotten into the habit of minding him. It made life easier for everyone.
"Come over here and sit with me, Bruce," said Betty. She patted the loveseat beside her. "I don't mind you bouncing." Bruce hastened to join her. He cuddled into the soft cradle of her embrace. Betty gave him a soothing pat on the chest. Then she dipped into the bucket of plain popcorn he brought.
Phil settled next to Clint on the couch. He cupped a hand over his Starkphone to hide the light and discreetly requested the security feed from Natasha's room. It wasn't blocked, but it did pop up a note that said, We're both fine. Natasha had known that Phil would check on her and Bucky.
The next file that opened was Natasha's mood tracker; she had evidently entered her reports for the day. Her overall mood, as usual, fell in the neutral range. Yet the list of individual feelings ran longer than average, most of them at low to moderate levels. Excitement, frustration, and satisfaction came from the battle with sore and tired following after it. She felt disappointed at missing game night. Natasha had such a hard time identifying what she felt that this list alone showed improvement. What really caught Phil's attention was the sole emotion to rise into the bottom of the high range: relief, tagged to Bucky carrying her to bed.
Why relief? Phil wondered. He couldn't simply ask her: one of Natasha's demands in exchange for reporting her emotions at all was that nobody nag her about how she felt, or didn't feel. Maybe Betty was right, and Natasha appreciates the compensation for her injury. Phil suspected, though, that something much deeper and subtler was going on between Natasha and Bucky which would take longer to emerge.
Ah well, the important thing is that she felt something strongly positive and recorded it, Phil decided. With that, he closed the mood tracker file, and the security feed came up.
The image showed Natasha and Bucky on the king-size bed that she usually shared with her brother Clint, watching the ballet Swan Lake. It was particularly touching because, while Phil knew about Natasha's secret love of ballet, he also knew that she rarely let it out. She had used it on missions a few times when nothing else would serve. She watched ballets or played the music only in private. Phil smiled and turned off his phone. They would be all right for the night.
Phil looked around the darkened room. Weary heroes sprawled on the furniture, gradually winding down toward rest. Even Bruce had stopped bouncing so much. Clint snuggled into Phil's side and offered him the popcorn. This wasn't game night, but it helped.
Phil took a handful of popcorn and turned his attention to the movie. The original dialog added an edge of authenticity to the old classic. JARVIS provided English subtitles for the viewers not fully fluent in Japanese.
Steve was clearly riveted. He startled and grinned at the special effects. Halfway through the show, Steve reached for some popcorn only to find the bucket empty. "Aww, it's all gone," he said.
"I'll get more," said Bruce. As he stood up, JARVIS paused the movie. "The machine should have refilled by now. It's your turn to pick a flavor, Steve, what would you like?"
"Apple cinnamon?" Steve said hopefully. "If it's not too much trouble?"
"What, to crumble in a handful of apple chips with the cinnamon topping? No trouble at all. You worked hard today, so you deserve a treat," Bruce said. "Phil, what about you?"
"Barbecue, please," said Phil. He liked the combination of spicy, smoky, and sweet flavors.
Bruce padded into the kitchen, where he puttered and clattered around for a few minutes. He returned with buckets of fresh popcorn. Bruce nearly dropped one handing it to Steve. Fortunately Steve's reflexes caught the bucket before it could spill.
"Are you all right?" Phil asked quietly as he accepted the barbecue popcorn from Bruce.
"Not ... entirely," Bruce said. "Sorry, Phil, I guess I'm a little distracted." He rubbed his left hand over right, paused, then did the same thing in reverse. "It's just, the Other Guy keeps raining emotions on me. It's making me all bubbly and weird. I don't know how to cope with what I'm getting from him right now."
"Well, you say that you deal with his anger by keeping it at a low simmer all the time," Phil said. "You might try that."
"With happiness?" Bruce said. "How am I supposed to do that?"
"Yes, Bruce, with happiness," Phil said. It hurt that Bruce found the idea of maintaining a base level of positive emotion so inconceivable. "Now go cuddle up with Betty and give it a try." He shooed Bruce back toward the loveseat.
The movie resumed. The barbecue popcorn tasted delicious. Phil glanced over at Bruce from time to time, but he seemed to be relaxing more. Betty stroked her fingers through the rumple of dark hair. Bruce sighed and wriggled into a more comfortable position that gave her better access.
You'll learn how to maintain happiness, Phil thought fondly. I have faith in you.
* * *
Notes:
Werewolf of London is a classic movie.
Godzilla is a famous monster with radioactive breath, originally introduced in the 1954 movie.
Swan Lake is a beautiful ballet. According to various Marvel canons, Natasha Romanova studied ballet and became a skilled dancer.
You can buy flavored popcorn and toppings, or make your own. There are recipes for cinnamon, barbecue, and many other flavors.
Apple chips are a crunchy snack resembling potato chips, but they are more often baked than fried. Again, you can buy these or make your own.
Maintaining happiness is an act of deliberation. Happiness comes from within. There are ways to find happiness and keep it from fading. You can also find text and video meditations on happiness.
The Hedonic Set Point is a level of emotion that a person gravitates toward. Even major positive or negative events typically produce only a temporary change. Steve and Natasha are conspicuously stable, although their levels are different. However, the baseline can shift, sometimes on purpose, other times by circumstance. Bruce has adapted to living with anger, both in terms of himself and sharing his life with Hulk, maintaining a baseline of anger. Changing the baseline takes a lot of work. It helps to measure baseline happiness to see where you're starting, and later, if you're making progress.
[To be continued in Part 32 ...]
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
(no subject)
Date: 2013-06-10 06:04 am (UTC)Thank you!
Date: 2013-06-11 06:05 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2013-06-10 01:11 pm (UTC)And as a fan of Japanese rubber monster movies - Yay! Gojira!
Thank you!
Date: 2013-06-11 05:50 am (UTC)They're getting to where they shift in that direction when they need comfort or safety. It's not good for the team to miss their downtime, but some Saturdays the world needs saving anyway.
>> I'm looking forward to seeing Bucky's reaction when he catches on that something odd is up. <<
He does gradually start noticing some things, yes.
>> And as a fan of Japanese rubber monster movies - Yay! Gojira! <<
Hee! It's a fun part of movie history, and something that Steve deserved to discover. I figured that Bruce had always been fascinated by radiation, so would be a Gojira fan. It certainly caught my attention at an early age.
:-)
Date: 2013-06-10 01:33 pm (UTC)"Play nice, children," Phil said.
"Sorry, Uncle Phil," Clint said automatically.
Re: :-)
Date: 2013-06-12 07:10 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2013-06-11 11:22 am (UTC)You're welcome!
Date: 2013-06-13 01:55 am (UTC)This is an early hint of the deep, intimate relationship between these two. Bucky is the first person that Natasha can remember trusting with herself. There is more about this as the story progresses.
>> And what a strange concept for Bruce, happiness (and from Hulk, no less...) <<
Sooth. Bruce really doesn't know what to do with this, but he can't shut it out. It scares him as much as pleasures him, because Bruce is so unused to happiness.
>> Another sweet and rich chapter, thanks! <<
Yay, I'm glad you enjoyed this!
(no subject)
Date: 2014-06-24 03:16 am (UTC)Yes...
Date: 2014-06-24 06:49 am (UTC)