Story: "Birthday Girl" (Part 13 of 18)
May. 5th, 2013 12:13 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ysabetwordsmithThis story is a sequel to "Love Is for Children," "Eggshells," "Dolls and Guys," "Turnabout Is Fair Play," and "Touching Moments," "Splash," and "Coming Around."
Fandom: The Avengers
Characters: Phil Coulson, Clint Barton, Natasha Romanova, Tony Stark, Bruce Banner, Hulk, Steve Rogers, Betty Ross, JARVIS.
Medium: Fiction
Warnings: Inferences of past child abuse. Current environment is safe.
Summary: Doombots crash a beautiful spring day in the park. The Avengers clean up the mess. This includes Natasha's rather confused longing for something she never had: a birthday party.
Notes: Asexual character (Clint). Aromantic character (Natasha). Asexual relationship. Teamwork. Canon-typical violence. Friendship. Confusion. Hulk is a genius too. Fluff. Making up for lost time. Birthday. Cultural traditions. Games. Gifts. Cake. The cake is never a lie! Tickling. Trust issues. Safety and security. Non-sexual touching and intimacy. Personal growth. Family of choice.
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. Skip to Part 14, Part 15, Part 16, Part 17, Part 18.
"Birthday Girl" Part 13
Phil silently noticed that, although she passed close to them, Natka never pounced at Tony or Bruce. She only grabbed for Steve, Clint, and Betty who had no negative associations with her approaching them.
In the end, Natka caught Betty. The game then reset with Betty as the cat. They played until everyone had a chance to be the cat, although it took even Steve quite a long time to catch Natka and conclude the last round.
Far more startling was that, when Steve did catch her, he flickered his fingers over her ribs -- and she laughed.
"What did you do to me?" Natka demanded as she sprang away, almost tripping over her floppy shoes.
"I just tickled you," Steve said, his eyes wide. "Should I not? Some people used to tickle me until I couldn't breathe. So I won't do it if you don't like it. That would be mean. But Bucky was always gentle with me and then it was fun. Does it bother you?"
"Does it bother -- you can't tickle me because I am not ticklish!" Natka said. "That was trained out of me years ago."
Phil knew that was true. Spies learned to master their bodies, even down to things that were typically reflexive, such as blushes and tickles. What is going on here? Phil wondered.
"Well ... I thought I tickled you," Steve said dubiously. "At least, you laughed when I tried. Did you do that just to humor me?"
She shook her head, red curls flying. "No, it felt, I don't know how it felt. I just had to laugh."
"That's tickling," Steve said.
"But how?" Natka asked. She sounded completely lost.
Steve reached out, slowly so she could move away if she chose. She did not move. Natka let him trail a fingertip down the underside of her arm. She giggled. "Like that," Steve said.
The tension had gone out of her slender body. I wonder ... Phil mused as he watched Natka and Steve together. If she feels altogether safe, if she trusts him with her entire body, that might just make it possible for him to slip past the conditioning. That had all kinds of potential, because there were layers of it that nobody had managed to break before; not controls, but things that she was simply unable to allow herself or anyone else to do.
"Natka," Phil said gently, "do you trust Steve?"
"Of course," she said. Without hesitation. Without thought.
"There you have it," Phil said. "I think that Steve touches something in you that no one else has yet. You let your guard down enough that he can tickle you."
"Oh," Natka said in a wondering tone. "Oh, he broke through ..." She turned to Steve. "Try again? Somewhere new?"
"Sure," Steve said. He curled a finger under the soft hollow of her jaw, moved just so, and --
-- laughter, high and carefree as a child.
It was an unexpected discovery, all the more precious for its novelty. Phil watched them play until Natka collapsed, breathless, onto the carpet. Steve stretched out beside her, his breathing slow and even, her hand falling into his grasp. The other "little ones" gathered around, poking and teasing at each other. They told stories about tickling people or being tickled. Gradually they all calmed down again.
* * *
Notes:
Trust issues can complicate any relationship, not just romantic ones. In this case, Natka has difficulty with body-trust because of her history with the Red Room. Steve does exactly the right thing by talking through what just happened and gently coaxing her to try something new. There are tips for building trust in general.
Tickling is a peculiar social and physiological reaction that is not fully understood. It figures into interactions among all the great apes. Meditation and other techniques are sometimes used to stop being ticklish, which some people can achieve and others can't. In order to be tickled, the brain must be able to distinguish between playfulness and a real attack. Therefore, being ticklish at a certain person's hands can be a sign of body-trust. Some people enjoy it; some hate it; and some are ambivalent, alternating based on context. Done wrong, tickling can be abusive. There are instructions to explore tickling as a positive interaction. Tickling is a good way to practice trust and boundaries. There are tickle games that many people enjoy playing.
[To be continued in Part 14 ... ]
Fandom: The Avengers
Characters: Phil Coulson, Clint Barton, Natasha Romanova, Tony Stark, Bruce Banner, Hulk, Steve Rogers, Betty Ross, JARVIS.
Medium: Fiction
Warnings: Inferences of past child abuse. Current environment is safe.
Summary: Doombots crash a beautiful spring day in the park. The Avengers clean up the mess. This includes Natasha's rather confused longing for something she never had: a birthday party.
Notes: Asexual character (Clint). Aromantic character (Natasha). Asexual relationship. Teamwork. Canon-typical violence. Friendship. Confusion. Hulk is a genius too. Fluff. Making up for lost time. Birthday. Cultural traditions. Games. Gifts. Cake. The cake is never a lie! Tickling. Trust issues. Safety and security. Non-sexual touching and intimacy. Personal growth. Family of choice.
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. Skip to Part 14, Part 15, Part 16, Part 17, Part 18.
"Birthday Girl" Part 13
Phil silently noticed that, although she passed close to them, Natka never pounced at Tony or Bruce. She only grabbed for Steve, Clint, and Betty who had no negative associations with her approaching them.
In the end, Natka caught Betty. The game then reset with Betty as the cat. They played until everyone had a chance to be the cat, although it took even Steve quite a long time to catch Natka and conclude the last round.
Far more startling was that, when Steve did catch her, he flickered his fingers over her ribs -- and she laughed.
"What did you do to me?" Natka demanded as she sprang away, almost tripping over her floppy shoes.
"I just tickled you," Steve said, his eyes wide. "Should I not? Some people used to tickle me until I couldn't breathe. So I won't do it if you don't like it. That would be mean. But Bucky was always gentle with me and then it was fun. Does it bother you?"
"Does it bother -- you can't tickle me because I am not ticklish!" Natka said. "That was trained out of me years ago."
Phil knew that was true. Spies learned to master their bodies, even down to things that were typically reflexive, such as blushes and tickles. What is going on here? Phil wondered.
"Well ... I thought I tickled you," Steve said dubiously. "At least, you laughed when I tried. Did you do that just to humor me?"
She shook her head, red curls flying. "No, it felt, I don't know how it felt. I just had to laugh."
"That's tickling," Steve said.
"But how?" Natka asked. She sounded completely lost.
Steve reached out, slowly so she could move away if she chose. She did not move. Natka let him trail a fingertip down the underside of her arm. She giggled. "Like that," Steve said.
The tension had gone out of her slender body. I wonder ... Phil mused as he watched Natka and Steve together. If she feels altogether safe, if she trusts him with her entire body, that might just make it possible for him to slip past the conditioning. That had all kinds of potential, because there were layers of it that nobody had managed to break before; not controls, but things that she was simply unable to allow herself or anyone else to do.
"Natka," Phil said gently, "do you trust Steve?"
"Of course," she said. Without hesitation. Without thought.
"There you have it," Phil said. "I think that Steve touches something in you that no one else has yet. You let your guard down enough that he can tickle you."
"Oh," Natka said in a wondering tone. "Oh, he broke through ..." She turned to Steve. "Try again? Somewhere new?"
"Sure," Steve said. He curled a finger under the soft hollow of her jaw, moved just so, and --
-- laughter, high and carefree as a child.
It was an unexpected discovery, all the more precious for its novelty. Phil watched them play until Natka collapsed, breathless, onto the carpet. Steve stretched out beside her, his breathing slow and even, her hand falling into his grasp. The other "little ones" gathered around, poking and teasing at each other. They told stories about tickling people or being tickled. Gradually they all calmed down again.
* * *
Notes:
Trust issues can complicate any relationship, not just romantic ones. In this case, Natka has difficulty with body-trust because of her history with the Red Room. Steve does exactly the right thing by talking through what just happened and gently coaxing her to try something new. There are tips for building trust in general.
Tickling is a peculiar social and physiological reaction that is not fully understood. It figures into interactions among all the great apes. Meditation and other techniques are sometimes used to stop being ticklish, which some people can achieve and others can't. In order to be tickled, the brain must be able to distinguish between playfulness and a real attack. Therefore, being ticklish at a certain person's hands can be a sign of body-trust. Some people enjoy it; some hate it; and some are ambivalent, alternating based on context. Done wrong, tickling can be abusive. There are instructions to explore tickling as a positive interaction. Tickling is a good way to practice trust and boundaries. There are tickle games that many people enjoy playing.
[To be continued in Part 14 ... ]
(no subject)
Date: 2013-05-05 03:19 pm (UTC)Thank you!
Date: 2013-05-06 02:39 am (UTC)