rodrikstark's headcanons (part 1)

s. rogers + his smile

ok ok so steve tends to come home from work very tired and a little grumpy

and you don't blame him, because his work is exhausting, and he spends so much of his time with all these people with an inflated sense of self-importance, constantly dealing with heavy issues

it's also dangerous work

one of those jobs that you can't just put down and be done with for the night

so he always carries a certain weight with him

and you absolutely respect his desire for his home to be like, this calm and safe space where he doesn't necessarily have to talk about the burden of it all, he can just seek comfort in you

and you don't want to push him, but...

you kind of make a little game for yourself

to see how soon you can get him to crack a smile after he gets home

even if it's a small smile :)

you learn to cook a couple of his favorite meals and you make them on the days you'll know he'll be home really late

that earns you this slow, happy smile as he chews on the food and looks at you with gratitude in his eyes

but then you go harder

you write these cheesy messages with hand-drawn hearts on sticky notes and you put them on the bathroom mirror, on the bedroom door, in the hallways

next, you place flowers in a vase right by the front door so it's the first thing he sees when he walks in.

first, they're red, white, and blue flowers so he knows they're specifically for him and not just decoration

but then he tells you that his favorite flowers are these delicate and yellow things, so you get those

and eventually you're just launching yourself at him the second he shuts the door, before he can even take off his jacket

"what has gotten into you?" he asks fondly.

you look up at him, waiting until this big beautiful smile spreads across his face before answering. "nothing. i like seeing you smile, is all."