Small Town Christmas – NotEvenCloseToStraight
Steve/Tony
34,097 words
Tony Stark has never liked Christmas and this year while he’s still reeling from a publicly humiliating break up, he doesn’t want anything to do with the holiday. He books a remote cabin in a tiny town as a post-break up retreat and plans to hide away until New Years.
Steve Rogers loves everything about Christmas, from the trees he sells on his farm to the parade where he gets to play Ol’ Saint Nick, and when Tony comes to town Grinchy and cranky and sad, Steve turns his attention towards finding any possible reason to make the gorgeous newcomer smile.
Steve’s goofy flirting is first met with sarcasm and exasperation, but as the days count down towards Christmas, Steve’s easy charm and lingering kisses have Tony warming to the idea of a burly lumberjack to keep him cozy on the cold nights.
Tis the season for apple cider and mistletoe, but is Steve’s adoration enough to change Tony’s mind about the holidays? Or will the chance to reconcile with his ex take Tony back to the city and away from the promise of romance and a small town Christmas?
au: no powers, au: small town, Christmas, getting together, strangers to lovers
Lost and Found – NotEvenCloseToStraight
Bucky/Tony
108,855 words
Six months before ‘I am Iron Man’, a man is left in an alley with nothing but his clothes, a first name, and a missing left arm. James doesn’t remember anything, but he picks himself up and tries to navigate the lost pieces of his life anyway.
Six months after ‘I am Iron Man’, Tony is falling apart. Pressure from Capital Hill, stress about the Expo, PTSD from Obadiah and Afghanistan and a blood toxicity monitor reading 19% has Tony tipping over into a nervous breakdown, so one day he runs away and tries to get lost, hoping to find some peace.
Tony and James meet as strangers but with Tony crossing things off his bucket list and James having nothing to lose, what starts as an offer to fix James’s arm quickly escalates into more.
Through Monaco, the Expo, and a birthday party, Tony and James learn that getting Lost can lead to being Found in incredible ways, but James doesn’t know about the palladium and Tony isn’t ready to admit they have an expiration date.
With time almost up, is Tony ready to say goodbye? And what happens when a Captain from James’s past shows up and calls him ’Bucky’?
canon divergence, hurt/comfort, panic attacks, PTSD, slow burn, strangers to lovers
Runaway Rescue – NotEvenCloseToStraight
Thor/Tony
19,199 words
--“Who hit you?” Growling. “Give me their name.”
The Omega tried to cower away and cover his face but the Alpha too quickly reached across the table and cupped his chin in a huge hand, forcing him to look up and into the light again.
“It--it was nobody.” Anthony stammered as the Alpha loomed closer to peer at the ugly bruises. “I-- I’m clumsy, it was nothing. No one. No one hit me. It’s alright. I'm fine”
“Tis not alright.” A brush of calloused thumb at the Omega’s jaw, the softest touch he’d had in years, and Anthony was mortified when tears sprang to his eyes. “Does it hurt?”
“I--” Anthony nearly lied, but another feather soft touch at his cheek had him whispering soft, “Yes. Very much so.”
“The nobody that blackened your eye will never do so again, do you understand? They will never touch you again.” Conviction burned bright in Thor’s good eye. “You are safe with me, little runaway.”
au: a/b/o, au: historical, hurt/comfort, mates, strangers to lovers