"Pepper, I am dying here. Get me out of here." Tony whispered harshly into his cell. His eyes scanned around the other passengers waiting in the terminal, "There's a man eating fish. Fish, Pepper! The plane is going to stink."
"Tony, stop it. I'd like to remind you that it's actually your fault the private jet is down." She reprimanded him from where she was in the Japanese office waiting for him.
The billionaire didn't exactly want to think about how he'd demanded that he'd be allowed to fly the jet. Luckily, it didn't get off the runway but the nasty clunking sound only confirmed that he had no business flying a jet. His face burnt red.
"How was I supposed to know it'd be different from a helicopter?!"
"Come on, Tony." Her tone brightened as she tried to make her boss she the bright side, "Thousands of people fly on commercial airlines everyday. It can't be that bad."
He sighed, slumping into the metal seat. The terminal was getting busier and Tony swore he could hear a kid screaming somewhere, "Fine but I'm not exactly happy about this."
"You've made that perfectly clear. Anything else, Mr Stark?" She finished primly.
They hung up and Tony went on trying to amuse himself. He glanced down at the ticket in his hand and froze in absolute shock. This could not be right. There had to be a mistake. There was no way he was booked in for a seat in economy class.
He swore out loud, receiving several disapproving looks.
"Come on, Pepper. Come on. Come on." He tapped his foot as he listened to the dial tone again. He grasped into the cell as though it was his lifeline.
He wasn't even on the end. He was squished against the window with a large man, who was already snoring, beside him. This couldn't be happening to him. He was a billionaire and he was squished into a standard, economic seat on a commercial flight. He couldn't spend the next 6 hours like this.
His fingers turned white. He rang her again. No answer.
"Excuse me, Sir. I'll need you to turn your phone off for take off." A voice asked politely.
Tony span in his seat, ready to rip the head off this flight attendant who'd dare question him. Didn't he understand that he needed to get a hold of Pepper?! This was a complete disaster. He turned to give this man a piece of his mind when he froze, jaw hanging slack.
This man was an Adonis. His body the finest specimen Tony had laid eyes on in months and his face was sculpted by the finest artist. The fire in Tony's chest died instantly as he stared blankly at the man.
The other passengers in his row turned to stare at the billionaire, clueless to why he'd frozen mid-conversation. If he'd been in the right mindset he would have snapped at them for not minding their own business but he was occupied at the present second.
"Sir?" The God asked, concern causing creases to form between his brows, "Is everything okay?"
The name tag was pinned to his chest; it declared his name to be Steve.
"I'm more than okay now that I've seen you, Steve." Tony hadn't thought it through but it spilled out of his mouth as soon as his lips had parted. He really needed to work on some sort of filter to stop himself randomly flirting with anyone good looking. Although, he thought he saw a red blush rising on the man's cheeks.
The airline host frowned and shifted somewhat uncomfortably. Steve could feel the eyes of the other customers glued to him to gage the reaction. His blue eyes sparkled.
"... Does that mean you're going to out your phone away?" He asked uncertainly.
Tony beamed at him, "I'd do anything you asked of me." He turned off the cell and slipped it into his pocket.
"Thank you, Sir." He answered vaguely awkwardly before rushing down the plane to assist other passengers. Tony watched him go with a grin plastered across his face.
The billionaire settled down to enjoy his 6 hour plane journey with a small smile curling his lips.
"Hello," Steve greeted the row with a smile, "Would you like anything from the cart?" He pulled the cart to a stop and the bottles and cans made light clinking noises. He always enjoyed doing cart service as it allowed him to talk to some of the passengers for a while.
He looked up at the row and saw the man at the end beaming at him again. This was unbelievably uncomfortable. Sure, the man was attractive and Steve had always been more into guys than dames but he was trying to be professional. He could lose his job if people reported him for being inappropriate.
The man began to speak and Steve wanted the ground to suck him up. The dark haired man said, "Does anything come with a side of you?"
Just breathe, Rogers. Breathe. He tried not to blush but there was heat rising on his cheeks. He cursed the fact he was always one to blush. This was not professional.
"I'm afraid not, Sir. But we do have an amazing array of drinks and snacks on offer today." He tried to maintain his composure but the blush was not going away, "There is a menu tucked right there in your chair pocket if you'd like options."
The man bought a drink but everyone else in the row declined so Steve hurried onto the next row.
Almost an hour later, the airline host was making his rounds when Tony spotted him. The billionaire raised his hand to gain the man's attention and grinned as Steve made his way over.
"What can I do for you, Sir?" Steve asked politely.
"I need an oxygen mask because you just took my breath away." He delivered it sharply to make sure the man understood his flirtation.
"Is there anything you need? Honestly." Rogers added the word on the end for absolute clarification.
"I'm scared of flying. Will you hold my hand?" Tony tried.
The flight attendant stared down at the floor for a couple of seconds but Stark was certain he noticed the man fighting a smile. Luckily for Steve, this late into the journey, most of the other passengers had fallen asleep so were definitely less likely to report him for inappropriate conduct.
Steve eventually looked up, some of his blond hair flopped over his forehead, "Will that be all, Sir?"
Tony nodded, allowing the working man to continue helping the other passengers.
The wheels of the plane touched the Tarmac with a slight jolt but Tony didn't pay much attention to it as he was instead peering up and down the aircraft for his fight attendant. He wanted to at least say a few parting words to the man even if he knew nothing could ever happen between them.
He'd waited around for as long as possible but now the majority of the passengers had already disembarked and we're making their way to the arrivals lounge. Tony gathered his things and joined the end of the line to filter off the plane. He looked back at the practically empty aircraft as he slipped out through the door. He ignored the smiling blond woman who was thanking him for flying with them.
The hauled himself down the steps and began to slowly trail toward the airport. He rummaged around in his pocket for his cell phone but froze. It wasn't there. He swore he'd left it in that pocket. He began to search through his jacket and bag when a voice called out from behind him.
"Sir!" There was the sound of someone quickly descending the steps and rushing across the runway, "You forgot you cellphone!"
The billionaire turned to see Steve jogging towards him with the sleek Starkphone held tightly in his grasp. When he reached the owner, he passed it across with a napkin. Tony looked down confused and was about to ask why when Steve turned and was already making his way back to the plane.
Tony turned over the napkin to see Steve's name and number written in neat cursive. The genius spun around just in time to get a glimpse of the man entering the aeroplane again.
Tony grinned. Perhaps he would fly economy a little more often now.