A/N: Written for diabla616 for the Avengers Holiday Exchange on LJ, using the prompt friends to lovers, with angst and self-doubt.
Closer
Steve wasn't sure when he started finding Tony amusing rather than annoying or when he started calling him a friend, but it probably coincided with when he decided to actually move into Stark Tower and tell SHIELD they could stop paying the rent on his apartment. (It was a crummy apartment anyway. Tony had been appalled, but then, Tony considered a four bedroom, two bathroom house to be 'slumming it'.)
Steve hadn't been the first to move in. Tony had invited Bruce to stay for a few nights after the business with Loki and he had simply never left. Tony clearly loved having him there and they spent hours bonding over stuff that sounded like a foreign language to Steve. He watched them in Tony's workshop or Bruce's lab sometimes when he was bored but he always made a strategic retreat when anything started smoking.
It wasn't unusual to find the two of them holed up together elsewhere in the tower, bonding (or, as Darcy called it, geeking out) over stuff Steve thought he might never understand, though he was trying. It had to be said that Steve liked sometimes just to listen, even if he couldn't precisely follow what they were saying. Tony and Bruce so obviously enjoyed each other's company that it made Steve glad to see it. Tony's wide smiles and enthusiasm were infectious and even if Steve wasn't a direct participant in the conversation, he still felt like a part of it.
Today Steve found them sitting at the table with papers spread out next to boxes of pizza, having an animated discussion. Tony caught sight of Steve and said, "Hey, Cap, come take a load off. Have some pizza."
Steve sat down and helped himself to a piece of pizza (was that pineapple?) before asking, "You want something, don't you?"
Tony made a show of jerking back dramatically. "I am offended you would even think that my generosity hinges on needing something from you. I thought we were friends."
Steve smiled a little and said, "What are you guys doing? In English, please."
"We're trying to work on some shielding devices that we can mass produce," Bruce explained. "We thought it might help prevent civilian casualties in case anything big goes down. Another alien invasion, maybe." His mouth tilted into this wry, half-smile.
"You don't want me to test it, do you?" Looked like Tony had wanted something, after all.
Which Tony continued to deny. "I told you we didn't want you for anything but your fabulous company. Plus we need to test it on someone without your, how should I put it, unnatural advantages."
"We're gonna ask Darcy," Bruce said, a bit sheepishly. "She's pretty much our go-to lab rat when we're not using you."
"Lucky her," Steve said.
"She loves it," Tony said, throwing an arm around Steve's shoulders. He was always doing that, invading Steve's space and getting handsy. Steve decided he didn't mind.
Actually, it reminded him a bit of Bucky, of the way they were so easy in each other's company. It was nice to have that again, even if only in a small way.
They had movie nights in the tower, with a rotation for who got to pick in an attempt to minimize the bickering. There was still bickering, of course, but at least this way everyone would get to pick what they wanted eventually and there was a sense of finality to the choice, whether you liked it or not. Steve liked it best when Thor was around because it made him feel less silly for not recognizing things. Thor was even more clueless than Steve when it came to pop culture, though Jane and Darcy had clearly taken it upon themselves to educate him.
Tony wedged himself in on the couch next to Steve, pressing into his side. "Whoa, are you always this warm? You're like a furnace!"
Steve shrugged. "Fast metabolism."
"Bet that helped while you were a Capsicle."
"Technically he was in suspended animation so his-" Bruce stopped as everyone stared at him. "Okay, never mind. No one cares."
"What are we watching, anyway?" Tony asked.
"The Exorcist," Thor told him. "I have been informed that it is the most frightening movie Midgardians have ever made. Jane did not wish to watch it with me so I have decided to watch it with all of you."
"Cool," Tony said, swallowing a mouthful of beer. "Not sure I'd agree with it being the scariest movie ever, but it's definitely a classic."
"Oh, come on," Clint said. "What's scarier than The Exorcist?"
Tony opened his mouth to respond but Natasha quickly butted in, "I'm starting it now and no one had better talk over it. Thor should get to see it with the proper atmosphere."
Tony and Clint reluctantly fell silent, clearly put out at not being able to argue horror movies. Steve had no doubt they would return to it later - he couldn't remember the last time they'd had a movie night without some discussion or other about how this is better than that and no way, so-and-so is definitely the best! It should come as a surprise to no one that Tony was always involved.
Clint draped his arm around Natasha's shoulders. "If you get scared, Tasha, I'm right here. Cuddle all you want."
Natasha smiled sweetly at him. "That's very chivalrous of you but I'm afraid I can't guarantee you'll make it through the movie with all of your fingers."
Clint yanked his arm back and sat on his hands, looking horrified.
"Same goes for you, Cap," Tony offered, slinging his arm across the back of the couch behind Steve's back. "Nothing can hurt you while I'm here."
"I'm so reassured. I was worried something might come out of the screen and get me," Steve said, ignoring the strange warmth building in his belly at Tony's nearness, because what was that about?
"Now that would be a movie!" Thor said, smiling broadly.
Steve actually loved living in the tower. What he didn't love was running into Tony's girlfriends in the kitchen or the halls early in the morning (or late at night). 'Girlfriend' was probably too generous, to be honest, as no one (including the women, Steve was sure) was under any illusion that they would be sticking around. Since he and Pepper had ended things, Tony had gone back to casual sex and one-night stands.
It wasn't that Steve cared, exactly. He didn't like the fact that Tony was so careless with women but then, none of his dates seemed to object, and it certainly wasn't Steve's place to interfere. He didn't want to be the self-righteous, judgmental, narrow-minded guy so many people saw him as. (Sometimes he thought everyone forgot that he used to tour the country with USO girls. He wasn't nearly as naive as people painted him as.) Although, he also didn't think it was wrong to expect a man to treat a lady with a little respect. Right? Good manners never went out of style as far as Steve was concerned.
The point was… Well, Steve might have lost track of the point. Anyway, it wasn't his business. He just didn't like bumping into strange women in various states of dishevelment when he was only trying to get a glass of water.
Today's woman, a tall redhead in a cocktail dress and six inch heels, gave Steve a wink and a jaunty salute as she walked out the door. Steve stared after her, his face burning.
"Makes you feel real patriotic, doesn't she?"
Steve slowly turned around to face Tony, taking in his expression, which hovered somewhere between satisfied and admiring. "You'd know better than me."
"Oh, come on, don't give me disappointed face. It hurts me, Cap, it gets me right here." Tony held his hand over his heart.
"What? What face? Tony, I'm not disappointed. It isn't any of my business."
Tony looked unconvinced but he said, "You know, you could really take advantage of the whole Captain America thing. You think people want to sleep with Tony Stark, imagine how many would sleep with Captain America. Of course," he continued on a more thoughtful note, "you do have that wholesome thing going for you, I'm not really sure how it would all play out."
Steve glanced away again. "I'm not interested in sex without feelings."
"Newsflash: sex is supposed to be fun."
"You're the expert."
"Which is why you should listen to me." The warm weight of Tony's hand settled on Steve's shoulder. "More people should listen to me, honestly."
"Maybe if you stopped talking out of your ass long enough to say something worthwhile, they would."
Tony's mouth stretched into an easy smile. "Touché. You're so much more fun when you're pissy."
"Then it's lucky that you're so annoying," Steve said brightly, bumping his shoulder against Tony's when he edged around him and down the hall.
"Captain, can you tell us if there's someone special in your life?"
Steve blinked at the reporter who had asked the question, not actually all that surprised at the switch from professional to personal topics, but uncomfortable all the same. He would never understand why so many people seemed to find what he did in his free time so fascinating.
The reporters were all staring expectedly at him and Steve fumbled to recover, to think of some polite way to respond without saying anything of import. He was getting used to fielding questions like this but they still managed to catch him off-guard sometimes.
Steve heard, "Cap!" and glanced behind him to see Natasha make a small jerking motion with her head. He turned back to the reporters and offered them what he hoped was an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry to have to cut this short, but I'm needed elsewhere."
He jogged over to Natasha, saying, "Thanks for saving me, Nat. I owe you."
One corner of her mouth lifted upwards slightly. "Oh, I wasn't being altruistic. I would've been more than happy to watch them make you squirm for a bit longer, but you really should get checked out by medical."
"What?" Steve lifted a hand to his forehead, his fingertips coming away bloody. "It's nothing."
"Fair enough, but it's bleeding now. Get yourself looked at."
Steve thought for a second about protesting further but Natasha's stern expression told him it would be pointless. "Fine," he said with a sigh.
"Just come back to the tower," Tony said as he joined them, still in his suit but with the faceplate up. "I can take care of that for you."
Natasha raised an eyebrow. "You? No, thanks, he can come back to SHIELD with me."
"I can manage basic first aid."
She still looked doubtful but Steve said, "I trust you, Tony."
The smile Tony flashed him was brilliant. "Come on. I'll even give you a lift."
The 'lift' Tony offered meant Steve ended up clinging to the back of the Iron Man suit while Tony flew through the air. It was admittedly exhilarating and he'd never seen New York quite like this, the city spread out beneath them. He might even have felt a small pang of jealousy at the knowledge that Tony got to do this all the time.
"The way you heal really is amazing," Tony said as they stood in Tony's private bathroom. He had an easy, gentle touch that Steve supposed he shouldn't be surprised by considering the delicate work Tony did with his hands.
"Thanks to the serum," Steve said unnecessarily. Everything was down to the serum.
Tony carefully smoothed a few Steri-strips in place over the cut, his fingers lingering after he had finished, brushing lightly over the surrounding skin. "I'm surprised SHIELD hasn't taken you to study like some specimen yet."
"They have," Steve admitted. "It was very… uncomfortable."
"You could've said no." Tony chuckled at Steve's expression. "Of course, I'd forgotten. It's you."
"What's that supposed to mean?"
"Please," Tony scoffed and failed to elaborate.
Clearly it was meant as some sort of knock on Steve's character, but he decided not to bother pushing it. Tony was still idly touching him and honestly, it was far more pleasurable than it should have been.
Why was he even thinking things like that? Part of Steve knew he should really go, he should take a step away so Tony stopped touching him and he should leave.
"Wanna watch a movie?" Tony asked, his hand dropping down to Steve's shoulder, where he rubbed his thumb in circles over Steve's collarbone. "I'm in the mood to just crash out on the couch, you know?"
"Yeah, I know," Steve agreed. "Nothing too intense, okay?"
Tony took that to heart so that when Steve, freshly showered, collapsed onto the couch, it was only to discover Tony had chosen a cartoon.
"It's about fish?" Steve asked. He was a little confused that Tony would own something like this.
"No one dies, you'll laugh, it's a win-win," Tony said. "And before you ask, it's Pepper's, I swear."
"Right," Steve said and settled back.
He did laugh, he laughed a lot, and halfway through Tony nodded off, his head falling onto Steve's shoulder and his hand curled loosely on top of Steve's thigh. That was okay.
Steve still maintained that Stark Tower (or Avengers Tower, as Tony had taken to calling it of late) was a hideous monstrosity of a building, but he had to admit the view from the roof was amazing. He liked to bring his sketchpad up there and sit, drawing the Manhattan skyline or whatever happened to be on his mind. Sometimes he just sat, enjoying a few moments of solitude. He liked being around Tony and Bruce, or whoever else happened to be in the tower at any given time, but occasionally it was nice to be alone with his own thoughts.
Sometimes, however, he couldn't even get solitude on the roof.
"JARVIS said you were up here," Tony said, sticking his hands in his pockets. "Nice view."
"Yeah," Steve said, following Tony's sight-line. The sun was just starting to set, painting the sky in colors. He almost felt like going inside for his oils so he could try to capture the shades of yellow and red and purple, the way the reflected light made the buildings seem to shine.
"Agent Carter, huh? She was a real looker."
Steve dropped his gaze down to the sketch in his lap. "You knew Peggy?"
"Sure. She knew my dad, remember? She was a busy woman so I didn't see a lot of her, but she came to family stuff sometimes. She was vaguely terrifying to my young and impressionable self."
Steve huffed a laugh. Somehow he doubted Tony had ever been impressionable. "She was really something. She shot me once. Well, shot at me, actually. I had the shield." Was it strange that Steve remembered that moment with this much fondness?
"Ah, love," Tony said in a wistful voice. "So, you and Peggy? I guess the hero always gets the girl."
"Peggy was never mine."
"Part of the tragic back story, then. Every hero definitely has one of those."
"Guess so," Steve said, fingering the edge of the sketch.
"Well, I'll leave you to wallow. Pepper's always saying I need to learn when to leave people alone, so, consider this me making progress."
Steve looked up and wanted to say, You don't have to go, but Tony was already halfway to the roof door. He sighed and flipped the sketchbook back a page. He brushed his fingers over the pencil lines of Bucky's cheek.
Peggy had never been his, not really, but Bucky had been. Peggy had been like a dream that Steve knew would never come true but Bucky had been real. The two of them huddling together under the blankets, trying to be quiet. Bucky laughing and Bucky teasing him, Bucky standing by his side through everything. It had always been Bucky, until he'd been gone.
Sometimes Steve missed his old life so much it hurt. He missed Peggy, her bravery and her strength and the way she had believed in him. He missed the camaraderie of the Commandos and he missed Bucky.
Steve had people now. It wasn't like before, but he had people. He had Bruce and the other Avengers. Pepper, Darcy, Jane. And then there was Tony. Tony who was somehow so like his father and so completely different at the same time, Tony with his infectious smiles and his sarcastic jokes and his incorrigible spirit.
Tony reminded Steve of Bucky, his cockiness and his recklessness, and sometimes Steve wondered if that wasn't why he had started to like Tony in the first place. The more unsettling part was that their biggest similarity was in the way they made Steve feel. He wasn't at all sure what to make of that.
"Do you know where Tony is?" Steve asked when he saw Bruce. "There's this new exhibit at the Brooklyn Museum I want to see, I know it's not really his thing but I figure he owes me. Have you seen him?"
Bruce looked shifty. "Tony is-"
A burst of unfamiliar laughter rang out and Steve turned to see Tony walking down the hall, accompanied by a man in tight pants, looking like he'd just rolled out of bed, if his hair was anything to go by. "Oh," Steve said.
Tony stroked his hand down the guy's back, familiar and lingering, before sending him on his way. He walked over to Steve and Bruce, that slow, easy, pleased-with-himself smile on his face. "What's up?"
"Hi, Tony," Bruce said, casting Steve a fleeting glance.
"Either of you doing anything interesting this morning? I'm gonna hit the sack because, let me tell you, didn't get much sleep last night. Navy SEALs, man, they've got stamina."
Steve looked at Tony's smug face and he just couldn't be there anymore. He turned on his heel and left without a word, moving blindly through the tower until he managed to end up in the kitchen.
He didn't know why he was so bothered; it was only Tony being Tony. But Steve had thought… Oh, damn. He was such an idiot. Had he seriously thought…? Him and Tony…
"Steve," came Bruce's quiet voice and Steve moved to look at him where he was standing barely inside the doorway. "If you… if you want, I could go to the museum with you? I'm not Tony, but…" Bruce shrugged.
Steve hesitated and then said, "Yeah, you know what? That'd be great. Not Tony is exactly what I want right now."
"There's this benefit thing I've got, for Stark Industries, you know, one of those black tie events. You should come with me," Tony said unceremoniously, blithely interrupting the conversation Steve had been having with Bruce.
Steve stared. Bruce looked remarkably unperturbed but then, very little seemed to phase him.
"As my date," Tony elaborated.
"As your date."
"Right. Well, actually I was thinking it could be more of a serious thing, like, you could pretend you're my boyfriend. Just for the dinner."
It was at that moment that Bruce, rolling his eyes, stood up. He paused for a second in front of Tony, his back to Steve. Judging by Tony's wide-eyed, innocent expression, Bruce must have been communicating something disparaging. He was shaking his head as he left.
"You want me to pretend to be your boyfriend?" Steve asked, as he still wasn't entirely certain he was following what Tony was saying.
"That is what I said, right? I didn't imagine this conversation? Sometimes that happens."
"How on earth would me posing as your boyfriend benefit you?"
Tony gave him this extremely disappointed look. "Cap, you severely underestimate both your reputation and the value of your good opinion."
"All right, fine, but I still don't see why you need this so much. You don't care what people think."
"No, but I've been told that it would be a good idea to show people that I've changed my womanizing ways."
In other words, Pepper was behind this. "But you haven't." Steve was keenly aware of that.
"But they wouldn't know that, would they?" Tony said with an aggrieved sigh, like Steve was being particularly thick. "Who the hell would cheat on Captain America? It would be like kicking puppies or small children."
It was probably an indication of the sort of company Steve had been keeping lately that he was neither surprised nor insulted at being equated with puppies and children. "I can't pretend to be your boyfriend."
"Sure, right," Tony said, like it was no big deal, but Steve wasn't entirely certain he hadn't seen a quick flash of hurt in his eyes. "On second thought, you'd probably be a bad choice. I don't think anyone would believe that you actually have sex and clearly I'm not gonna magically become celibate."
When Tony started to move away, Steve grabbed his arm. "I'll go, but I can't be your fake date." Only your real one, he thought, his stomach twisting up in knots. The fact that he still wanted that had to mean he was in possession of a masochistic streak, didn't it? He wished he knew why he kept doing this to himself.
"Great." Tony gave him a big smile that Steve could tell was completely false. "Pepper can give you the details. See you there."
"See you," Steve said to the empty air because Tony was long gone.
Steve's eyes were drawn to Tony as soon as he entered the room. He had a kind of magnetism about him, demanding attention, and he was always at the center of the action. He was laughing, his head thrown back to reveal the line of his throat, smiling that mega-watt smile that always made Steve want to be in on the joke. Tony looked far more comfortable in his tux than Steve felt in his, wearing it like a second skin. A perfectly fitted second skin, Steve noted admiringly.
Tony had apparently decided to replace Steve with not one, but two beautiful, leggy women in low-cut dresses. They were hanging off of each arm, giggling at everything Tony said. Steve had no idea how that was supposed to show anyone Tony had changed, but Tony certainly seemed to be enjoying himself.
It made something in Steve ache and he made a beeline for the refreshments table, snagging a glass of champagne from the first waiter he saw. He couldn't get drunk but he could at least have a good go at trying.
Steve grabbed a - what did they call them? Canapés? Anyway, he stuffed a tiny piece of food in his mouth and tried to make himself seem small and inconspicuous, wondering what his chances were of being left alone. Probably close to nil but a guy could hope. He heard Tony's laugh ring out and glanced in his direction again, watching one of Tony's 'dates' paw all over him. Steve felt kind of… sick, actually. How long did he have to stay so it wouldn't seem rude when he left? He was going to have to go talk to Tony, wasn't he? Damn it.
"Yeah, I can see how that's better," came Natasha's voice from Steve's left. "That'll show everyone he's a new man."
"Yeah," Steve sighed. "I guess he didn't have much of a back-up plan when I said no." He turned to look at Natasha and did a double-take. She looked stunning, wearing a body-hugging black dress with a knee-length pencil skirt slit up the back. Her heels looked pointy enough that she could stab someone with them and she probably could. Steve wouldn't be surprised if that was why she had chosen them. "Wow. You look amazing."
Natasha's mouth curved in a small smile as she lowered a glass of champagne from her lips. "Thanks. You don't clean up so bad yourself."
Steve tugged at his collar. "You think so? I hate wearing these things. I always think people must look at me and think, hey, what's that guy doing playing dress-up? He looks ridiculous."
"You don't look ridiculous. I can guarantee you that when people look at you, that isn't what they're thinking." She gave him a slow once-over that made Steve blush, realizing what she meant.
"Um," he said and then didn't know how to continue, feeling stupid. Apparently some things never changed.
Now Tony was twirling a woman across the floor, dipping her low and then drawing her close to his chest, his hand sliding indecently low on her back.
Yeah. Some things definitely never changed.
"Would you like to dance, Steve?" Natasha asked.
Steve almost said yes. He could see by the way Natasha was looking at him that she understood, that she was offering whatever he needed. He could go out there and dance with his own gorgeous woman, and… And what? It wouldn't make a difference. It would still only be Steve and Natasha, and Tony would still have his line of one-night stands, and nothing would change because there was nothing to change.
"Thanks," Steve said, "but I don't feel like dancing."
Natasha gave him a tiny nod and pressed her hand to his elbow before moving way. "If you change your mind, come find me."
Steve watched her disappear into the crowd, grace in her every step, and wished that he could, just once, have Natasha's poise. Everything seemed to slide right off of her and he wished he could be like that, even if it was only an illusion.
"Hello, Steve," said Pepper's soft voice.
Offering her the best smile he could manage, Steve said, "Hello, Pepper. You look lovely."
She did, she always did. The blue dress she was wearing brought out the color of her eyes and accentuated her tall, slim form but it was her warm smile that Steve always thought made her really beautiful.
"Thank you. I thought perhaps we could find somewhere to talk? Do you mind?"
"No, of course not." He probably looked like the weird loner guy who spent the entire evening hovering by the food, so it was likely for the best that he went elsewhere.
Pepper took Steve's arm, leading him off to a small seating area. As they sat down, she fixed Steve with a sympathetic gaze. "How are you?"
Steve fidgeted in his chair. "Um. Fine?"
"I heard about Tony's request."
"Oh, that. I don't think he meant anything by it and anyway, he seems perfectly happy now."
"Well, I'm not sure that's exactly true, to be honest." Pepper sounded a bit wistful and Steve was reminded of how hard it must be for her, to know Tony the way she did, to be around him so much, to still be his friend after everything.
"Which part?"
"All of it, actually."
"Okay, I'm confused."
"You like Tony, don't you?"
That was the whole problem. Steve liked Tony too much. "Sure I do, he's my friend."
Pepper prompted gently, "No, I mean, you like Tony."
Steve dropped his eyes to the table and managed a nod.
"Good, because he likes you, too."
Steve felt a little bit like he was back in school, talking about which girls liked Bucky like that. Unfortunately the intervening years didn't seem to have changed anything - there still wasn't anyone who liked Steve. "Not like that. That's been made very clear to me."
"You're wrong about that. Look, there are two things you need to understand about Tony. One, he doesn't know how to interact with people like a normal human being. Two, he doesn't have feelings."
"That's not true, he-"
Pepper raised a finger. "No, Steve," she said with a meaningful look, glancing to Tony and back to Steve. She repeated with careful emphasis, "Tony doesn't have feelings."
Steve looked at Tony, his arm around the slim waist of a woman who could have been - and possibly was - a supermodel, his too-bright smile and his cheery laughter. He remembered Tony's fake smile when Steve had refused to be his fake date.
He suddenly understood.
"Would you excuse me?" he said to Pepper. "I need to talk to Tony."
Pepper nodded, eyes soft. "I was hoping you'd say that."
Steve weaved his way through the crowd, having to politely excuse himself from a few people who stopped him to chat. He found Tony in the midst of telling some elaborate story, no doubt exaggerated for effect, and waited until he'd finished before going right up to him.
Before Steve could speak, Tony said, "Cap! How nice of you to grace us with your presence."
"Can we talk?"
"Sure, what about?"
"Can we go somewhere private?"
Tony ran his tongue over his bottom lip in a gesture that made Steve feel inappropriately warm. "Oh, so that's how it is." He excused himself from his companions and Steve was too anxious to even protest the innuendo.
They went out to stand on the balcony, the night air feeling pleasantly cool after the heat of the room. Maybe, if Steve was lucky, it would even help guard against his body's treacherous reaction to Tony. Or not. Steve generally wasn't that lucky.
"So what's on your mind?" Tony asked.
Steve wished he'd had time to prepare something, or even just to think for a second about what he wanted to say. Especially when what came out of his mouth was, "You replaced me with two women who've been undressing you with their eyes the whole night?"
"Why, Steve, is that jealousy? What a petty emotion, I thought you were above that."
"I'm not jealous! Jealous of… of what? You doing what you always do? You're a shallow, sex-obsessed narcissist and I don't care what you do." Steve held Tony's gaze, feeling inexplicably angry all of a sudden.
"Tell me how you really feel," Tony drawled. "For someone who isn't jealous, you sound remarkably, well, jealous."
Steve turned away, gripping the railing in his hands and peering down over the side of the balcony. "I just thought… I thought maybe we could be something. I thought I wanted that."
"But you don't?"
"I'm not sure that you do."
Tony's hand snaked out to clasp Steve's. "Because of those women?"
"Because of everything. What am I supposed to think, when your bedroom practically has a revolving door?"
"Oh, that? Don't worry about that. I hired them."
Steve blinked. He raised his gaze from their hands to Tony's face. "You hired them?"
"Sure."
"All those people were prostitutes? Oh my God, Tony, that's worse, that's disgusting. I don't even want to touch you in case I catch something." Steve actually did take a tiny step away from Tony and surreptitiously wrung his hand out because, well, disgusting.
He was even more confused now though. Why would Tony hire prostitutes? It wasn't like he had trouble getting dates. Women would probably pay Tony for the opportunity to say they'd slept with Tony Stark, for the reflected glory.
"Hey! They were classy, they came from two very high-end escort services. And I didn't actually have sex with any of them."
"What?"
"We didn't have sex," Tony explained as he stared out into the night sky, the city lights twinkling in the darkness. There was something in his face that Steve couldn't place, something that Steve was sure would make everything clearer if he could only figure out what it was. "I put them up in rooms at the tower, fed them, let them order movies, whatever they wanted. It was a good deal, let me tell you."
"You paid them to not have sex with you."
Tony shrugged. "Basically, yeah."
Vulnerability. That was what was in Tony's expression and what Steve was thinking now was so crazy it just might be true. This was Tony. "Did you hire escorts to pretend to sleep with you to make me jealous?"
"No, that would be ridiculous. Unless it worked, in which case, yes, I did do that."
Steve wasn't sure if he wanted to shout or laugh or cry. Who did that? Who would even think to do that? It was outrageous, it was… It was just Tony.
It was just Tony and for whatever unfathomable reason, Steve was charmed. Oh, God, he was so stupidly smitten and he couldn't do anything but kiss Tony. He slid one hand up the back of Tony's neck and into his soft hair, seizing Tony's hip with his other hand, holding Tony in place and just kissing him and kissing him. Tony went pliant, mouth opening and body melting against Steve's, until he pressed his hands against Steve's chest and pushed him back.
"Wait, wait," Tony said, sounding a little breathless, his face flushed. "Not that that wasn't great, because, yes. But… Okay, do you know why Pepper and I broke up? Because you seem to have failed to notice this, but I'm actually kind of a jerk."
Steve held his hand to Tony's cheek, rubbing his thumb over the edge of Tony's goatee. "You aren't a jerk, Tony. You just try very hard to make people think you are."
"Okay, well, delude yourself if you want. I'm also a terrible boyfriend."
"Why don't you let me decide that for myself?"
Tony gazed into Steve's eyes like he was trying to gauge Steve's sincerity while he smoothed his hands up and down Steve's chest like he didn't even realize he was doing it. "What the hell," he said finally. "I'm no saint and you're a big boy who can make bad decisions if he wants."
"I can-" Steve started and then lost his reply in the press of Tony's mouth. He sighed into it, let Tony nip at his lower lip and slide their tongues together. He thought maybe they needed to talk some more, maybe they should seriously figure out what they were doing, but Tony's mouth was so warm and Steve had never been much for talking.
Through Steve's closed eyes he made out a sort of flash, and then another, a series of clicking noises ringing in his ears. Suddenly he realized what that meant and forcibly pushed away from Tony.
A small crowd had gathered behind them, armed with cameras and those little recording devices the reporters talked into these days. Oh, crud. Steve felt his face heat, especially when Tony palmed his ass in full view of the cameras. He caught the look on Tony's face and had enough sense to think, What the hell have I gotten myself into?
"Hey," Tony said, lips forming that familiar media-ready smile. "Hey, guys, if you don't mind, I'm gonna go debauch Captain America now, so can we do the interviews later?"
End