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winterhawksamplers · 2 years

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Pet Fic: Lucky, Alpine, and More

It's dogs. And cats. And the occasional ferret. Come on, of course we love them! This sampler offers a variety of animal-centric fics: in some, pets and animals are what bring Clint and Bucky together; in others, they serve as key components to helping Clint and Bucky figure things out; in one, we get some of Lucky's actual POV. Animals act as therapists, as cockblocks, as the absolute best pillows. This is a (literal) fluff, humor, and pizza dog filled theme, but don't be too surprised when some of these furry facades are actually vehicles for processing complex winterhawk themes like trauma, PTSD, and figuring out how to be human.

Space to Run, Space to Hide by: @ialwayscomewhenyoucall length: 1.1k | rating: T | tags: free verse poetry, barton farm, fluff, avoidance, podfic available, shifting POVs summary excerpt: Clint is spending some time at his farm. Not because he's running away. Nope. Not at all. He just missed the farm. Why this one? In this incredibly beautiful, sweet, and lyrical fic, the author utilizes Lucky's POV to help capture a classic example of Clint's emotional avoidance. bonus: podfic by @flowerparrish

Rescue Me by: NotEvenCloseToStraight length: 25k | rating: M | tags: PTSD, depression, service animals, misunderstandings, amputee!Bucky, Deaf!Clint, h/c, no powers au summary excerpt: Still struggling with PTSD and nightmares a year after leaving the Army, Bucky goes to a shelter to find a therapy dog. He finds companionship in Beef the Pitbull, a purpose in volunteering on weekends, and when the dog trainer starts smiling his way, Bucky finds something else that feels a little like love. Why this one? This heart-wrenching fic situates a post-military service Bucky struggling to find a new normal alongside a disaster human/pet-trainer Clint. C&B's journey to recovery in this fic is realistic, rife with struggles and mistakes, and filled with enough feels to make you want to rush to hug the nearest animal you can find.

Through the Streets of Long Gone Dreams by: Rivulet027 length: 11k | rating: T | tags: canon-adjacent, Bucky Barnes recovering, mutual pining, bed sharing, Lucky as the best bed buddy summary: Bucky’s having trouble sleeping until Lucky decides to adopt him. Now Bucky isn’t sure if he’s sleeping better because of a dog or the archer that comes with the dog. Why this one? This one feels like a more classic Bucky recovery story, in that the setting is the tower, and there are PTSD and nightmare themes throughout. Lucky here helps push Clint and Bucky together and helps Bucky ground and find himself. bonus: art by prompt_fills

A Christmas Miracle: Getting Lucky by: Lissadiane length: 11k | rating: T | tags: veterinarian!Bucky, performer!Clint, temporary animal injury, fluff, holidays, no powers au summary excerpt: Clint Barton’s absolute worst nightmare comes true on a snowy highway in the middle of Colorado on a cross country drive — he hits a dog. It’s just his luck that the only vet he can find hates people — especially those who hurt dogs — and happens to look amazing in a pair of kitten scrubs. Why this one? A sheepishly adorable Clint, an adorably grouchy Bucky, and the cutest Lucky in a pair of reindeer antlers to ever attend a holiday festival make for the most fluff-and-feels-filled fic, possibly ever. A dash of misunderstanding, a sprinkle of enemies-to-lovers, and you're in for a fic streaming from the hallmark channel straight to your ao3 account.

Lucky in Love by: @drgrlfriend length: 59k | rating: E | tags: no powers au, mutual recovery, PTSD, depression, veteran!Bucky, h/c, roommates, pining, touch-starved, canon disabilities summary excerpt: Clint is only a couple of sips into his cardboard cup of coffee, his brain barely out of neutral, which is probably why it takes him so long to realize that some damn psycho is trying to kidnap his dog. Why this one? This classic au blends a variety of canon and fandom favorite tropes in a beautiful story of mutual recovery. Lucky brings Clint and Bucky together in a disaster of a meet-cute, and is there to support them through every nightmare, every flashback, and every shaky and sweet step towards trust and healing. bonus: art by @drizzledrawings

The next nine fluff-filled fics are sorted in descending order by length.

Look What The Cat Dragged In by: @flawedamythyst length: 22k | rating: G | tags: Bucky Barnes Recovering, Lucky, Alpine, co-raising a cat with the Winter Soldier

Making Me a Habit by: @kangofu-cb length: 20k | rating: T | tags: war vet! Bucky, Clint owns an animal shelter, no powers au, PTSD, kittens, + 1 ferret, bonus: art by @soapyquartz and art by CountessofLovelace and art by noxnthea

Barking Mad by: @xria-rose length: 4k | rating: T | tags: magic, pre-relationship, established stony, Steve and Tony are turned into a dog and cat

Ready to Hear it by: @noxnthea length: 3.7k | rating: T | tags: feelings realization, love confessions, Clint treating Lucky like his therapist

How to Prevent Sugar Bloom by: @tawryn length: 3.7k | rating: E | tags: flipped A/B/O, humor, dog park meet cute/disaster, STEVE IS A LITERAL DOG

Winter Puppy by: @pherryt length: 3.5k | rating: G | tags: werewolves, towerfic, Clint wants a dog so bad he's willing to believe the random wolf in the tower is one

Modern Drift by: @claraxbarton length: 2k | rating: T | tags: alpine, no powers au, Nurse!Bucky, pre-relationship, covid, best cat dad Bucky

Five Facts You Need to Know About Clint and Bucky by: @skylarkevanson length: 1.8k | rating: G | tags: domestic fluff, one fact is=Clint is the type of man who stops in the street to pet every dog

it's got to be you(r cat) by: atheoryon length: 1k | rating: G | tags: no powers au, firefighter! Bucky, meet-cute, alpine is not stuck on a fire escape

What other animal or pet related fics would you include? reblog or add in the comments for your fellow readers!

Find other themed winterhawk samplers here. Suggest fics for us to include on future lists here!

#winterhawk samplers #winterhawk #clint/bucky #clint x bucky #clintucky #winterhawk fanfiction #fic list #pet fic #lucky the pizza dog #alpine barnes #bucky barnes #clint barton #fluff fic #avengers fanfiction #no powers au #it wasn't until we had this list ready that we realized all the featured fics featured lucky #unintentional dog over cat preferences oops

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diamondsareapearlsbestfriend · 7 years

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Sans/Toriel 30 Day OTP Challenge: Day Ten

day ten: flustered

prompt: “Your OTP being flustered. It could be one member, it could be both.“

It was just a pie.

Sans had been over to Toriel's a ton of times – with Papyrus, on his own, for dinner, swapping joke books, helping Frisk with homework, whatever. Today wasn't any different; she'd been promising/threatening to teach him how to bake properly pretty much from the moment they met. Just because he might have accidentally developed some...complicated, possibly not 100% platonic feelings about Toriel, it didn't have to change anything. He hadn't screwed everything up yet, and anyway, it was probably just a phase, like that week he let Papyrus convince him that matching backwards baseball caps were a good idea. No big deal. And those couldn't be butterflies in his stomach when he thought about spending the day with her, because he didn't even have a stomach and if there were butterflies, they'd just fly out of his ribcage, so. No butterflies. No reason for anything to bug him – just two good buds, making baked goods. Sans smirked to himself at the unintentional becoming-a-poet-without-being-previously-aware-of-it, mentally filing it away to tell Toriel later as knocked on the door.

"Knock knock," he called through the door as usual.

"Come in! It's open!" came Frisk's cheerful response. Sans let himself in, sighing and shaking his head at them in (mostly) mock disappointment.

"Kid, you're supposed to ask 'who's there?' Kinda irresponsible to leave the door unlocked like that, don't you think? You know, there are some real weird types around here."

"I know, and most of them are our friends," Frisk pointed out, not incorrectly, without looking away from examining themselves in the hallway mirror. "Anyway, it's obviously you because no one else except Mom actually says "knock knock" when they knock." They grinned as they caught Sans' sockets in the mirror and spun around, striking a pose as he took in what they were wearing: an anime-style school blazer and skirt, topped off with a neon pink wig that almost came down to their knees and a matching pair of huge, fluffy cat ears.

"What do you think? Notice anything different?"

Sans cocked his head. "Hmm...nope, not getting it. Help meow-t here?"

Frisk groaned, burying their head in their hands to stifle a giggle. "That was pawful. Mom!" they yelled up the stairs. "Sans is here!"

"I will just be a few minutes!" Toriel called back. "Tell him to come in and make himself at home!"

"Come in and make yourself at home!" Frisk told him, enthusiastically if unnecessarily. Something buzzed, and they grabbed their phone from their blazer pocket, glancing down at it with concern. "Oops, I gotta go. Alphys will freak out if we're late to the convention – more than she is already, I mean. Tell Mom I'll be back for dinner! Wait, Sans, come here a sec –" Before he could blink, Frisk pulled off their cat ears and slipped the headband over the top of Sans' skull instead, holding out their phone with a triumphant smile. Sans played along, grinning and throwing up some bunny ears behind their head as the camera clicked.

"I'll send it to Mom later! Save me some pie, okay?" Frisk grabbed their ears back before they disappeared through the door in a pink whirlwind, leaving Sans alone in the hallway. He remembered Toriel had a thing about people moving stuff in the kitchen without her, so he hung back, looking at the pictures framing the walls while he waited. There was Toriel and Frisk smiling outside the school; a surprisingly good portrait of that kid with no arms with Frisk's signature scribbled underneath; a still life of some flowers that looked older, but it was hard to tell because they were yellow anyway. Sans was halfway up the stairs looking at them when he heard Toriel...singing? It was more like a soft hum, indecipherable but tuneful snatches of words, or maybe just noises, floating down the stairs, rising and swooping around a melody as soothingly beautiful as Toriel herself. Sans felt the smile on his face growing as he listened to her, and he found himself following the song the rest of the way up the stairs like the call of a Shyren.

"Tori?" It was coming from behind an old-fashioned wooden door; Sans hadn't been upstairs too many times, but he was pretty sure this was her room. He knocked, and the door creaked open. "Are you in –"

The song cut off in a sharp, startled bleat as Sans poked his head around the door and Toriel whirled around –wisps of fire magic dancing in the shower around her, pure white and very naked. She scrambled to cover herself with the shower curtain as Sans slammed the door so fast he barely avoiding taking his own skull off in the process.

"Sorry, Tori, sorry! I thought, uh, I mean, I didn't know you were..." The words tumbled out in an incoherent rush as he felt himself blushing so furiously he had to press a hand to his cheekbone to make sure he wasn't actually on fire, eyes still firmly shut even though there was a whole door between them now.

"No, no, Sans, please, it is not your – ah, silly me, I ought to have locked the door!" Toriel let out a shrill, nervous giggle, her voice rising to a pitch more audible to dogs. "I do apologise for keeping you waiting. I will just be a few minutes more, and then we can..."

"No, right, sure, yeah – you take your time, I'll just be, uh...stairs. Down. Downstairs." Sans cringed at his own incoherent babbling as he headed back down the stairs – seriously, what was he doing? He was supposed to be a lot more chill than this – if he'd walked in on anyone else, he'd just have shrugged it off or thought it was funny. It was funny, sort of, the kind of wacky misunderstanding that happened in those terrible MTT sitcoms Papyrus used to watch all day. Toriel was cool, they'd probably laugh about it later – or just never mention it again, he'd be cool with that too.

"Hello, Sans!" True to her word, she reappeared barely a minute later, greeting him with a typically warm, though slightly apologetic smile. "Please do excuse the, ah, delay. I thought I had better find some suitable attire for baking." Instead of her royal robes, she was wearing a loose, flowing skirt and her #1 GOAT MOM shirt from Frisk that was maybe a size too small, but she always wore with pride anyway; her cheeks looked just a little pinker than usual, probably from her shower – not that Sans was still thinking about that, or at least he was sure he'd forget in, like, the next five minutes. "Anyway!" she beamed, clapping her hands together excitedly. "I trust you are ready for your..."

"...tu-Toriel?" Sans finished with her; he knew it was coming, but somehow it still hadn't gotten old, the way Toriel's eyes sparkled as she brayed with laughter and nodded approvingly.

"Ah, you are learning already!" she teased back, beckoning him into the kitchen with a twist of her head. "Come – take off your jacket, and we can get started. I mean..." Toriel hesitated for a moment as she caught Sans' sockets, a blush colouring her cheeks as she realised her accidental innuendo, "you do not have to take it off, of course, if you would prefer not to! But it will be easier without your clothes – I mean sleeves – in the way."

"Heh." Sans grinned back at her, trying to shrug off any lingering awkwardness along with his hoodie, as he slung it over the back of a chair. "Sure, Tori, whatever you say – you're the boss."

"Wonderful." With a sweep of her hand, Toriel turned to the immaculately presented countertop, where all the ingredients were already precisely weighed and laid out in preparation. "In that case, let us begin! First we make the shell. Combine the flour, sugar and butter in that bowl, if you would be so kind."

Sans did as he was told, and they soon settled into a rhythm; it was weirdly soothing, pouring and mixing and breaking eggs while Toriel directed him, reading from the recipe and occasionally nodding and murmuring to herself as she studied his technique.

"Mm-hmm, yes, good...ah, I see." She paused, hovering over Sans' shoulder for a moment as he prodded ineffectively at the sticky mass in the bowl that had yet to turn into anything that looked like pastry with a wooden spoon. "May I?"

"Uh, sure...knock yourself out." Maybe it was all the stirring, but he was starting to feel very warm as Toriel leaned over him, removing the spoon before gently taking his hands and guiding them into the bowl, kneading and squeezing the mixture between their interlinked fingers.

"There, do you see?" she murmured, breath warm against the top of his spine as the dough began to form, soft and sticky under their hands. "Like this – it is a little messy, but do not be afraid to be firm with it. Feel your dough. After all, a good pastry is an essential foundation for the perfect pie – the backbone, one might even say!"

"Heh...right." Sans managed a weak chuckle, even though it was pretty difficult to concentrate on the dough with Toriel's body pressed against his back, the gentle vibration of her laughter through his bones; he could feel his cheekbones heating up as her fur inadvertently caressed his bare forearms, electricity like little pinpricks shooting all the way up his arms and straight to his soul. He wasn't even sure whether to be more relieved or disappointed when Toriel moved away, appraising their handiwork with a satisfied nod.

"Much better! Now you can roll it out."

Sans scooped up the ball of dough, squishing it experimentally a few times before he laid it out on the countertop and picked up the rolling pin. He attempted to flatten it out, but the dough clung stubbornly first to his hands and then to the rolling pin, making it pretty much impossible to roll it into anything resembling pie-shape.

"Ah, you may want to use some more flour for this part," Toriel offered, after a few moments watching him wrestle with the dough with her head cocked curiously to one side. "To stop it growing so...attached to you." She smiled and winked when Sans caught her eye, reaching for the flour bag. "Allow me..."

She sprinkled a generous helping of flour over the dough, dusting the countertop, the rolling pin and a little on the top of Sans' skull too, but he was more than okay with it as he flashed her a grateful smile in return. "Hey, you're right - that's a lot better. Thanks, Tori."

"You are most welcome, Sans – that is what I am here for!" She beamed like a proud teacher – which he supposed she was – as he rolled out the dough again and this time it actually stayed in place, enough for Sans to lift it carefully into the pie tin. He glanced back at Toriel for confirmation, who nodded encouragingly, so he started evening it out, pressing the dough with the tip of the rolling pin and his fingers - messily but firmly - as far into the crimped edges as it would go, like the recipe said. Toriel was quiet for a few moments, giving him space to work until Sans stepped back to take a look and she leaned in expectantly.

"Does that look okay to you?"

"Wonderful!" Toriel clasped her hands together, her eyes lighting up with delight as she looked over his shoulder. "That looks to me like a fine dough indeed. I do believe it is ready for the oven – would you like to do the honours?"

"Don't mind if I dough." It wasn't his best joke, but Toriel still giggled as she made a show of opening the oven door for him; Sans had to admit he never expected to get this excited about pastry, but her enthusiasm was infectious and he could feel himself grinning too, weirdly honoured as he slid the pie carefully into the oven.

"Usually, I would add a touch of fire magic at this point," Toriel added as they closed the door together. "But sometimes it is nice to do things the traditional way, is it not?"

"Sure, traditional is good." Sans agreed as he glanced up from the oven and into her eyes; there was a smudge of flour across her nose, and it made him smile. "Hey, Tori – you, uh, you got something there..."

"Hmm?" Toriel blinked, her crimson eyes widening as Sans reached up, edging forwards onto his tiptoes just a little. She lowered her head to meet him, and the slightest hint of pink seemed to bloom across her now extra-white cheeks as Sans gently brushed his thumb across her nose, making her scrunch it up in an almost unfairly adorable way that made him want to do it again, and again.

"Got it."

"Oh! I see. Thank you." Toriel straightened up, but there was a mischievous edge to her smile, a sudden glint in her eye that was somehow simultaneously alarming and exciting (alarmingly exciting?) – and then she reached out and patted the top of his head, deliberately dusting off the flour and dough debris on her hands. "How rude of me. I suppose I ought to share?"

"Oh – okay, you wanna go?" Sans asked, any attempt at sounding tough probably undermined by the fact that he was laughing too as he shook the sticky flakes of dough from his skull. "Fine, if that's how it is – but I gotta warn ya, Tori, you might be about to have a -"

A blizzard of flour hit Sans right between the sockets before he could finish, and then it was on, both of them shrieking and snorting with laughter as they hurled any and all available foodstuffs across the kitchen at each other like they were Frisk's age. Toriel wielded her flour bag like some kind of snow queen, casting merciless flurries into the air and coating everything in her path, while Sans grabbed whatever he could to defend himself – sugar, cinnamon, the sticky globs of dough still clinging to his hands – until they ended up in a kind of standoff, backed against the counter. Sans was pretty sure he'd got her with a conveniently placed tub of cocoa when she dropped the flour and hurriedly bent down to pick it up – but she somehow slipped past with ninja-fast reflexes before he could touch her, neatly reversing their positions as she caught both of his hands in one of hers, not roughly enough to hurt but effortlessly rendering him helpless as she pinned him back against the counter.

"Oh my – I am sorry," she crowed, a blatant lie going by the triumphant smirk playing on her lips as she dangled the flour bag threateningly just above Sans' head with her other hand, "but what was that you were saying about a bad time...?"

"Okay, okay..." Sans knew she wouldn't actually dump the whole thing on him – even if she was that cruel, it'd be a terrible waste – but he squirmed ineffectively in her grip anyway, because damn, she was strong. She could probably snap him in half if she wanted to, and that...probably shouldn't have been stirring up as many feelings as it was when he caught Toriel's eye, both of them flushed, laughing and panting, "you win, I surrender, uncle. I'll do anything you say – just, please, no more flour."

“Hmm, I thought so.” Toriel released him, smoothing down her skirt and trying to sound stern, but she still had a twinkle in her eye as she glanced around at the state of her kitchen. “Very well, enough of this – we still have a pie to complete, do we not? The work has barely begun!”

She wasn't kidding about that, as they spent the rest of the afternoon dashing between pots of ominously bubbling cream and caramel, pouring and stirring and whisking frantically under Toriel's guidance: "Hmm, that looks a little lumpy. Try raising the heat – not too much, it will burn! Ah, perhaps leave this to me, you can start mixing the eggs over there...you do not think it is supposed to look like that? Well, try tasting it – with a spoon, Sans. You did remember to separate all the yolks, yes? What is that on the floor...?"

But despite being dangerously close to hard work, when Sans pulled out the pie wearing Toriel's way-too-big oven gloves, it was worth it. Because even the delicious aroma of butterscotch wafting temptingly through the room couldn't compete with the way Toriel's face lit up as he revealed their masterpiece, her fangs gleaming as she broke into a wide, dazzling smile.

"Oh my goodness, it looks perfect! Such a lovely colour – a little burn is fine, it adds character – and a very nice rise. And that smell! Mmm, I can hardly wait to taste it!" Toriel licked her lips as she threw an arm around Sans' shoulders, pulling him into a celebratory hug. "Well done, Sans! Truly, I am impressed with your progress."

"Heh...thanks, Tori." He grinned up at her, flushing a little with pride despite the automatic instinct to shrug off the compliment. "It's not bad, huh? I mean, you helped a lot, but –"

"Oh, nonsense – do not be modest," she interrupted, fondly but firmly, giving him a playful squeeze before they separated and she moved onto collecting the various pots and bowls scattered across the countertop. "You should be proud of yourself. I must admit," she continued, piling them into the sink, "when Papyrus told me about your...first attempt at baking, I was surprised. I did recall you asking for the recipe, but somehow, I did not expect you to be interested in this type of thing."

"You mean the infamous sweet quiche?" Sans met her eyes with a wry smile as he joined her, picking up a few spoons and dropping them into the sink. “Yeah, I know –guess I was finally ready for a change from Grillby's every night. That and, well, Paps always cooks for us, even if it isn't the most...edible – but he tries, y'know? Always has. So I guess I thought maybe it was time to start pulling my weight, too. Make us something nice every once in a while.”

“How sweet.” Toriel glanced over at him, smiling with big, soft eyes that made him a little weak at the patellas. “Well, you have certainly made us something nice, and I do not doubt there will be many more where that came from – if you wish to continue learning, of course. But, for now...” She paused, quickly drying her hands on a tea towel while casting a hopeful look back at the pie. “I would say you have earned a little break, have you not?”

“You saw right through me, Tori.” Sans pulled up a chair, grinning as Toriel eagerly placed two plates on the table and went to bring the pie over – because yeah, of course he wanted to make something nice for Papyrus, But maybe he'd also kind of always wanted to make Toriel proud of him, even back in Snowdin when she was just a mysterious voice behind a door. He wanted to tell her he'd tried her recipe, just to hear what she'd say; back then, obviously, he never thought he'd get to bake it with her, and that it'd be better than anything he imagined, watching Toriel cut the pie into near-perfect triangles with as much care and precision as she took over everything as he sat with his jaw resting on his hand and a warm, fuzzy feeling growing in his soul, so sweet and strong he had to glance down to make sure it wasn't actually glowing through his t-shirt just before Toriel looked up and caught his sockets.

"What are you smiling at?" she asked, raising a suspicious eyebrow but smiling too as she slid a generous portion onto both of their plates.

Sans resisted the temptation to point out that technically he was always smiling, even if he was pretty sure he hadn't actually smiled like this in a long time. "Just the, uh...the pie. It's a great pie. Great lesson, Tori. I really feel like I've learned a lot.”

“If you say so.” Toriel let out a soft chuckle, a little bemused but fond as she dug into the pie. She was so perfect, closing her eyes and sighing in bliss as she took her first bite, and Sans couldn't have wiped the grin from his face if he'd tried, as a heavenly chorus of butterscotch and cinnamon melted in his mouth and he knew for sure – if he didn't already – that he was so, so boned.

But he didn't even care any more, because this – this was so, so worth it.

#30 day otp challenge #soriel #fanfiction #undertale fanfiction #we now return to your regularly scheduled ridiculous fluff #in which sans has much less chill than he thinks #and author has VERY STRONG pie cravings #my fic

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