AU Ask 14

[arukou]

 (From Reioka: You know what that last one was really sad so here: Tony is a champion equestrian. Steve is totally uninterested in horses but Peggy, who loves dressage, drags him to events because he lost a bet one time and she continues to hold it over him gleefully. Tony sees this adorable, tiny blond and mistakes him for a jockey and starts talking horses with him. Steve LIES THROUGH HIS TEETH because Tony is also adorable. Tony is even more adorable when he realizes his mistake and blushes and apologizes.)

Listen, give me Peggy Carter on a horse. Oh my god, the very thought. I’m weak in the knees. For that matter, Haley Atwell on a horse. Jeezums, be still my beating heart.

On to the AU!

Tony would totally be a great equestrian. It fits his background so well, such a prim and proper thing for the son of a rich business empire. I picture him riding English style, but having always secretly envied Western style riders because there’s something about cowboys that makes him a little hot and bothered. Can you imagine him in those riding pants? Tony’s perfect bubble butt and the pants.

And he’s damn good at riding, too. He’s small enough, but strong enough, and he loves his horse. He loves tech, but he also spends his off days designing riding equipment and he’s in the stables every day to ride and care for Excelsior, his chestnut gelding.

And then there’s city boy Steve who thinks that the only place horses ought to be is far away from him, but he loves Peggy, even if it didn’t work out between them romantically, and he’ll literally bend over backwards for her. So he puts up with her “dumb overgrown carrot-eating dogs” because she begs him to come and see her perform, and then he sees this amazing guy and his horse jumping the fences and something in him just lurches and he’s not the only one.

Once Tony clears the end of the track and is waiting for his scoring announcement, he notices a little guy standing off to the side with Peggy Carter. His first thought is “new competition” and his second thought is “yes please.” He dismounts and trots Excelsior over because he’s gonna make a good impression on this amazing little jockey and clearly he is because jockey looks like he’s about to swallow his tongue.

“You here with Peggy? You in one of the events?”

“I, uh, yeah. Yeah. Yes I am. I am in an event.”

And Peggy, who’s just walked up behind him, grins and knows she’s going to have fun. “Tony, lovely to see you. This is my friend Steve. He loves horses and racing.”

“Oh? Nice to meet you, Steve. What event are you entered in?”

“I’m…I’m in a horse event. With horses.”

“He runs the barrels,” Peggy supplies and Steve resists the urge to turn and give her a look because what the hell does that even mean?

“Yep,” he says instead. “Barrels.”

“Ooh, a Western rider,” Tony says, and he has a niggling suspicion, but Peggy looks like the cat who got the canary and Steve is clearly trying hard, so he goes with it a little while longer. “I’d love to meet your horse.”

“Right. My horse. My horse who is named…uh, Rembrandt.”

“Like the toothpaste?”

“Like the artist.”

“So can I meet him?”

“Sure he’s…he’s right over there.” Steve gestures at a horse about twenty feet away hitched to the fence, and Tony resists the urge to giggle, because that horse is done up in an English saddle, and is a mare, and he knows her, because she belongs to Carol Danvers. But he nods and turns back to Steve with the biggest eyes.

“Will you show me her?”

And Steve is doomed, because he’s gonna do it. He’s gonna pretend this dumb overgrown carrot-eating dog is his and he’s gonna try and act like he loves it all so he can impress Tony. So he leads Tony and Excelsior over and starts attempting to pet Marvel, which goes about as well as Tony expected, given that Marvel is notoriously mischievous. She’s got Steve’s hair in her mouth in two seconds flat and in no time, Steve’s sporting a horse-slobber hairdo.

It only gets better when Carol shows up and says, “Tony? Why is this man molesting my horse?”

Tony can’t keep it together at this point anymore and he bursts out laughing and Steve is mortified.

“You were so cute, though, trying to look like you knew what you were talking about. Do you even know the difference between English and Western riding?”

“…The hats?”

Tony snorts and mumbles, “I guess you’re not wrong,” and then he says, “You wanna try riding Excelsior? I’ll lead you around a little.”

And Steve steels himself, because for this amazing guy named Tony, apparently he’s going to ride a dumb overgrown carrot-eating dog.