Title: Trial and Error
Fandom: Captain America: The Winter Soldier
Pairing: Sam/Steve
Rating: G
Length: ~470 words
Notes: Fluff! Thanks to mergatrude for read-through.
Summary: Sam and Steve try to invent a new sport.


Sam was at the kitchen table twiddling a pen in his hand and humming under his breath when Steve came in.

"You making a shopping list?" said Steve. "We need bread and eggs and bacon." He got a glass and poured the last of the milk into it. "And milk."

"We always need bacon and eggs and bread and milk," said Sam, shaking his head and smirking. "It's like feeding a platoon." He grabbed a used envelope and scribbled the shopping list on it, then looked up. "Actually I'm inventing a new sport to take advantage of our unique skillset – my wings and your everything. Figure if we can come up with something good, we can challenge your friends to a competition."

"A sport? What have you got?" Steve came up behind him and leaned over his shoulder to see, taking the opportunity to kiss his ear.

Sam turned his head and kissed him properly, then waved his hand at the paper. "I've got a few ideas. You want to try them out?"

"Sure." Steve didn't have any other plans for the day. This sounded like fun.


1. All-terrain tag

"Aw, not fair," said Steve, craning his neck up. "New rule: your feet can't leave the ground for more than five seconds at a time."

Sam touched down a few yards away, teasing him. "Okay, but no more jumping off cliffs so I have to catch you, either. That's entrapment."

While Sam was still talking, Steve dived forward and grabbed him.

"Hey, that was a time out!"


2. Cordless bungee

"How does this work?" asked Steve.

"You jump off things, I catch you."

"Variation on a theme, then."

"Yeah, we've done this before. And I saw how much you had for breakfast this morning." Sam rolled his shoulder, pointedly. "Scratch this. Stupid idea."


3. Mega Jenga

Steve was laughing so hard he could hardly stand up, but he managed to use his shield to ward off the planks that came tumbling down every time Sam flew close to the tower and destabilized it with the turbulence from his wings.


4. Surface-to-air badminton

"I give up," said Sam after fifteen minutes. "Somewhere in Baltimore it's raining shuttlecocks."


5. Open-ocean shield-surfing

Sam's wings beat hard, silhouetted against the sun as he towed Steve over the rolling waves at thirty or forty miles an hour. The wind whipped Steve's hair back, and he was drenched with icy saltspray. It was exhilarating. He couldn't stop grinning. He arced the shield from side to side, dancing over the surface of the water and almost feeling like he was flying.

Sam glanced back at him and cracked up, slowing them both down. "Dude," he yelled over the wind and the beating of his wings. "Dude, you just literally jumped a shark."


END