Is this the life you chose yourself, or just how it ended up? Is that the yard you pictured when you closed your eyes and dreamed of children in the grass running through the sprinklers? Being somebody's wife, or were you living in another life?
(Wi...
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Am I dropping another time skip? Yes, yes I am. Is it a major one? No, not really, but kinda, sorta, maybe-ish. It depends on your definition of major.
— A. Barnes
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"Uh oh, that's the face of someone thirty seconds away from murdering someone." Clint said from across the dinner table.
Anastasia rolled her eyes and stabbed one of the candied sweet potatoes on her plate.
Tony had the brilliant idea to bring the team together for the holidays — but that wasn't his only plan. He intended for everyone else to move in. The tower was finally fixed up and ready for them to move in whenever they decided it was best.
It would be easier to have them in one place, rather than having to hunt them down if the world needed saving.
Of course, they could come and go as they pleased, but the tower would be their primary housing.
He discussed it with Bruce and Anastasia the night before, and while both were supportive, Anastasia didn't take into account the fact that she would have to deal with her friends constantly analyzing her facial expressions.
His plan was to drop the bomb on Thanksgiving, some American holiday that Anastasia didn't mind celebrating. The food was good, so she wasn't complaining all that much.
"Keep kicking my shin under the table and I'll stuff you in a shoe box and ship it to New Mexico." She said so low it almost came out as a growl.
Natasha snorted from beside her when Clint's eyes widened and Steve stared at her with a disapproving look. Tony and Bruce were talking science, ignoring everyone else for the time being.
Everyone was there, except Thor who hadn't shown any signs of returning anytime soon. He had his own floor too, just in case he decided to return to earth.
"Why are you so violent?"
"Why are you still kicking me?"
"Children." Steve muttered, taking a long sip ofhis lemonade. Both Clint and Anastasia snapped their heads in his direction.
"Says the geriatric at the dinner table." Anastasia muttered in return. "The physical embodiment of wonder bread." Natasha added.
Anastasia and Clint both fought back their laughter.
She knew right then and there, that if any of them moved in, it would be chaos. She lived for the good kind of chaos.
Eventually the conversation shifted and Tony casually brought up having floors for everyone, ready for them whenever they pleased.
Natasha was the first to snatch up the opportunity and Clint came second, knowing he had appearances he needed to keep up.
Anastasia was looking forward to having two of her close friends in the same building.
Steve was reluctant at first because he had a new place in D.C., but in the end he decided to live there too, purely because everyone was and he knew them more than anyone else in this time.
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When dinner came to an end, Clint and Steve went to do dishes, since Bruce, Natasha, and Anastasia were the ones to cook dinner.
Tony wandered off to one of the other floors and the others settled in the living room when the food was put away and the dishes were done.
"So, what's it been like living here for the last few months?" Natasha questioned, taking the empty seat on the couch.
Anastasia looked away from the TV where she was about to put on a movie. "It's been okay, I definitely can't complain. . . Stark was kind enough to give me a place to stay when my old apartment building gave me thirty days to move out. We mostly do our own thing, the only time we see eachother is meal times unless one of us is seeking the other out."
"What about boundaries?" Steve asked.
"If you set clear boundaries, they'll be respected, except for maybe in the event of an emergency. . . My biggest boundary set is privacy. I don't care who is on my floor, but my bedroom is off limits whether I'm in there or not, except for the event where I invite someone in there. . . In the last six months, it has been respected, so we all run smoothly."
"Really?" Steve questioned, his tone dripping with disbelief.
Anastasia fought the urge to roll her eyes again. She could get why he might doubt the word's from Tony's mouth, but from her own? She felt as if he was calling her a liar.
She never took well to people calling her a liar, even when she was Ascella. She remembered all of the fights she got in, whether they were verbal or physical.
Yet Anastasia held back the snark that was dying to escape, along with the need to assault the man with the television remote as she opened her mouth, preparing to answer yet again.
"Yes. Set clear boundaries and they'll be respected ninety-nine percent of the time." Anastasia replied firmly.
She turned her attention back to the TV and scrolled through the guide.
One movie caught her attention and she felt her mouth run dry. Her heart dropped as she read over the name constantly. Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.
Natasha seemed to see her hesitating to put it on, so she spoke up. "It's a good movie. If you haven't watched it, you should."
Anastasia nodded, though her body was on autopilot. Before she could convince herself to watch a different movie, her thumb clicked the button and the movie began.
