Author's Note: I found this pompt on the Iron and Patriotism tumblr blog where they have a bunch of Stony and Marvel prompts. This one is number 25 which was: Steve uses cosmo tips to court Tony/get his attention. Bonus: Cling suggested it. So that's how I got the idea. Enjoy!
"He totally just ignored you."
"What?"
"Tony ignored you," Natasha reiterated towards Steve. "Tony walked in here, you said 'good morning', he grabbed his mug, and walked out without even looking at you."
Steve stood up feeling his cheeks turn a bit pink. "So… you noticed that?"
Nat rolled her eyes as Clint sat up from finishing his breakfast. Steve quickly left them alone. They were the only two who were currently at the table for breakfast. Clint leaned over towards his best friend.
"You know Tony's been ignoring Steve for awhile now. They've barely spoken to each other," Clint informed her before taking another piece of bacon.
"That's weird because usually you can't tear those two apart." She peered over at Steve. "Did you and Tony have a fight or something?" She asked loud enough for him to hear.
Steve slowly turned towards them. "What? What makes you say that?" He asked getting a bit nervous. Clint and Natasha both folded their arms. "Tony's just been busy is all…" They each raised an eyebrow at Steve waiting for an actual explanation. Steve sighed heavily. "Okay, yeah, he's been ignoring me lately. He is busy right now with… stuff."
"So you don't know why he's been glued to his phone lately?" Clint inquired.
Steve knew there was no way out of this conversation with both assassins staring at him. "Not really."
"How long has been doing this?" Natasha asked.
Steve rubbed his hands together and tried to avoid their gaze. "A few days," he admitted.
"Seriously, Steve? Why haven't you asked him what's up?"
He shrugged. "Well you know Tony, he can either be nice or he can snap at you in a moment. Besides I know what he's working on is important."
"He can be nice?" Clint seemed surprised to know this, but one glare from Steve shut him up about it.
"Tony seems really stressed, so I'm trying to give him space," Steve tried to explain himself. Neither of super spies were happy to hear this.
"Steve, you have to talk to him because obviously you aren't happy with this." Natasha watched Steve rub the back of his neck. She sighed heavily not understanding how Steve could command an entire team, but not talk to his boyfriend.
"Hold on a second," Clint said standing up, "I have the perfect thing for this." He went over to their mail pile.
Steve and Natasha were both a bit scared to see what Cling would come back with. The archer threw a magazine in the middle of the table. Steve walked over to see what he was talking about. His face grew red when he saw the cover of Cosmopolitan.
"'Fifty Kinky Sex Moves?'' Nat read the bold print on the cover.
Clint huffed, "Not that. This part." He pointed to the part of the cover where it said '25 Ways to Win Your Partner's Heart.'
Steve started to protest, but Natasha was already flipping through the pages. He finally found the article they were talking about. Scanning over the list, she nodded her head.
"You should totally do some of these things to get Tony's attention," Clint suggested. He was bit too eager about this.
Natasha handed the magazine to Steve. "It's actually not a bad idea. Some of these things might work on him."
Steve furrowed his eyebrows, but took the magazine anyways. His glanced over the first few things listed. "I don't know guys. 'Let your partner take home the leftovers.' Seems kind of ridiculous." He kept shifting his weight back and forth on his feet as he thought over this.
Natasha leaned back in her chair. "We'll help you out with some of this stuff. I mean if it doesn't work then it doesn't work, but if it does work then great. Just try out some of them."
Steve thought about it for a second. He looked at them and nodded his head. He agreed to try out some of the options that might actually work on Tony. Clint gave a silent cheer.
"Let me look over a few of these, though," Steve said before walking away from them.
When he reached his room, Nat and clint both looked each other with huge grins.
"This is hilarious," she said. "Who subscribed to that magazine anyways?"
"No one. The mailman brought it to the wrong house, but it works in our favor." He sat down next to her so he could finish his breakfast.
Nat couldn't stop smiling. She knew it was okay to joke around like this because in the end Steve and Tony would be fine.
Let them vent about an annoying thing at work or throughout their day with no interruptions.
Steve actually thought that was actually one of the best pieces of advice in the magazine. He was not so sure about the rest of this stuff, but he was getting fed up with Tony not paying attention to him. Down in Tony's lab, the genius was designing pieces of technology on his laptop. He was so focused that he hardly noticed Steve entering
Steve knew that his usual greetings wouldn't work while Tony was in this state. He went over to his boyfriend and put a gentle hand on his shoulder. Tony paused for brief second to glance up at him.
"Oh, hey," he said rather fast as he went back to his work. "What's up?" Tony asked still trying to show some interest.
"I wanted to talk," Steve said taking a seat next to the man. "Or rather, I wanted you to talk about work and stuff."
"Works going well," Tony deadpanned.
Steve fornwed. "Well, is there anything bothering you?"
"Not to be rude or anything, but you are kind of distracting me right now." Another blunt statement that really hurt Steve.
"Sorry, I'll you get back to work," Steve said getting up to leave. He expected Tony to stop him or something.
"Thanks, hon." The light off the screen covering Tony's face.
Steve sighed as he left the lab, he was hoping that the rest of these things would go smoothly.
Surprise your lover with take-out of their favorite meal.
Steve thought this one was perfect since he knew Tony's favorite foods. Plus he knew how much Tony loved eating expensive food too. Tony had to eat at some point, so Steve planned that he would at least be able to sit down with his boyfriend and eat dinner.
Almost right on time, Tony passed by the kitchen working on his Stark-pad.
"Hey, Tony!" Steve called out cheerfully.
"Hm?" Tony turned towards the kitchen, but didn't take his eyes off of the screen.
Steve handed out a brown paper bag. "I got you your favorite pasta from that one restaurant you like so much. The one where I complain about how they charge you for a water."
It was almost impressive how Tony kept watching his screen the whole time. "First off, they were charging you for sparkling water. Second, I'll eat in my lab since I'm working tonight." He snatched the bag out of Steve's hand, and walked away.
Steve stood there a bit shocked by what just happened. He had never seen Tony so invested in one thing. Now, Steve just hoped that Tony would actually eat his dinner.
"That's harsh," Natasha said from behind Steve.
Clit was rummaging around the bags. "Did you get enough for all of us?" He asked. Steve nodded sadly.
Leave your phones behind on the next date or the next time you hang out.
Steve crossed his arms over his chest. "There is no way this is going to work."
"Come on, Steve. Have a little faith." Clint got into his position around the corner.
Steve started to grow worrisome over this plan. "You know he's just going to get mad at you after you take his phone. What am I supposed to do if you actually get it?"
"That's not up to me. It's for you to decide. Now go get in position," he whispered at the end.
Steve took a few steps away from him. When he saw Tony walking this way, he knew he would be on his phone. Steve got in front of Tony in the hallway.
"Tony," Steve started off. "I need you to look at me." He used commanding voice so hopefully Tony would think it was serious.
Luckily, Tony bought it as he looked at Steve. It had been so long since the captain had seen those beautiful chocolate brown eyes. God he missed them so much. He nearly forgot what they were doing for a second when Tony looked shocked as he felt his phone leave his hand. Clint ran off with it as fast as he could.
Tony's mood turned fast to anger as a piece of his soul was being stolen. "Get back here, Barton!" He pushed Steve out of the way to run after Clint.
Clint thought he was in the clear until Tony activated some sort of command to the tower causing one of the tiles to rise up. Clint tripped right over it, and felt Tony tackle him the rest of the way down. Clint kept his stern grip onto the phone.
"Tony!" Clint yelled. "I know what you are thinking, but this is for your own- Owch! Are you biting me?"
Clint really shouldn't have come between Tony and his electronics. Tony Stark was, in fact, biting the archer's hand. Once Clint let go, Tony ran off with it.
"Lock the doors behind me!" Tony commanded his A.I. The door shut right behind him.
Steve observed Tony running away from him. Once again, he felt defeated. He wasn't sure why he felt even worse this time. Maybe it was because Tony pushed him against the wall.
"I told you it wasn't going to work," Steve mumbled feeling upset.
"Why aren't you freaking out over the fact that he bite me!" Clint cried form the floor. Tony nearly drew blood to get his phone back.
Work on a project together, and help them out.
Steve thought about how he might actually try to help Tony with his project. That could work since Tony could use Steve's extra muscles. Steve could also follow orders, and Tony would love to boss him around. Walking into the workshop, Steve was greeted with deafening sounds of heavy metal. He had to cover his ears because it was so loud. It did not take him long to find the familiar oil stained tank top. Steve made his way over to where Tony was standing while wielding some parts together. Talking to him would be useless, since the captain could barely hear himself think. Steve grabbed Tony's shoulder to get his attention.
Tony turned around to face him, but he still had his goggles on. He held up a finger to Steve, and then commanded the music to stop. He put down his tools for the moment.
"What's up, buttercup? Something going on?" Tony asked with his hands on his hips.
Steve mustered up a smile. "No, nothing's going on actually. I'm not doing anything, so I thought I would come and see if I could help you with work."
Even though he was wearing goggles, Steve still knew that look when Tony raised his eyebrow.
"I appreciate the offer, but I'm going to decline." Steve was about to open his mouth, but Tony raised a hand to stop him. "Listen, Steve, you just have no idea how technology works nowadays. You especially don't know how my technology works. And you know that's pretty much what I use, right?"
Steve's face furrowed. "I know, Tony. I just thought I could lift some stuff for you, or something."
"Oh, I made machines to do that for me," Tony told him while shuffling Steve out of the lab, "so you don't have to worry your pretty little head." He smiled at him before resuming the music.
The door shut behind Steve who was about to scream from frustration. The music would have drowned out his voice anyways. He couldn't believe Tony got rid of him so quickly.
Compliment them because everyone loves a good compliment.
"I don't know about this, Nat."
She stood in front of him. "Are you serious? Tony Stark has the biggest ego on the planet. He loves being showered with compliments. You should know this because you're his boyfriend."
"I mean you're right," Steve said gently. "I just don't know how he's going to take them right now since he's so stressed."
"Then this is the perfect time to do it. He'll be so distracted by your compliments that he'll stop working." She gave him a reassuring look.
Steve nodded at her before going into the bedroom. Tony was sitting in bed working on coding his latest project before going to sleep. He glanced up when Steve walked in.
"Don't worry, I took a shower so the sheets will still be clean," Tony told his boyfriend.
Steve walked over, and laid down next to where Tony was sitting. To make Tony stop working, Steve held onto his hand. Once Steve actually had Tony's attention, he told him how he felt.
"Tony, you are so brilliant and amazing. You design such wonderful things to help so many people. I may not understand how you do it, but I'm still amazed at the fact that one man can accomplish so much. I hope you know that I think the world of you because you are incredible, Tony." Steve smiled at him.
Tony stared blankly for a minute. Then there was a small snickering noise right before he started laughing. Steve let go of Tony's hand, unsure why his boyfriend was laughing so hard.
"Well, you better think so because I am one of the smartest people in the world," he pointed out. Tony had a few more chuckles to get out before he focused back on his laptop.
Steve rolled out of bed, and then left their room. Tony wondered where Steve was going, but wasn't going to stop him. At least he had a moment to continue his work.
The next morning, Natasha was most surprised to see that Steve wasn't making breakfast for everyone. She was less shocked to hear that Tony was already down in his lab. It didn't take her long to figure out where Steve had gone. She went to their training center, and saw the pile of busted punching bags. Natasha had never seen so many torn bags before, so she knew something was wrong. She walked over to where she heard Steve's punching grunts. The man seemed majorly pissed off about something. That look on his face actually made Natasha feel a bit uneasy.
"Hey!" She called out at him. Figuring that would be the best way to approach the man right now.
Steve stopped as soon as he heard her voice. "What are you doing here?" He asked as he wiped off the sweat from his face.
"That's what I was going to ask you. You're really upset about something, what is it?" She more demanded an answer from him.
Steve huffed before sitting down on the gym floor. Nat had no idea what was going on.
"I think Tony is done with me," he said rather blunt but with sadness in his voice. "Nothing we've done has worked. He hasn't paid attention to me in about a week. I just… I just think he might be over me. This might be his way of telling me that he doesn't find me attractive." It crushed Steve to say that. Nat could practically hear his heart breaking. Steve really loved Tony, and thinking about this nearly out him in tears.
Nat knew that the only person in the tower who was good at dealing with people when they are like this is… Steve. I guess even super soldiers have rough patches.
She walked over and sat down next to him. "Steve, I don't think Tony is trying to dump you, or else he would have just done it. He doesn't beat around the bush. You should just go with our first plan, and talk to him."
"That doesn't work," Steve whined.
"Then make him listen to you," she told him sternly. "You're Captain America after all. Don't let Tony walk all over you, go tell him how you feel. You're feelings are important to him, so just go tell him."
Steve took a deep breath before thanking her. Then he leaped up and ran off to Tony's workshop. The soldier was filled with determination for he had a new plan.
When he arrived at the workshop, Tony still must not have trusted Clint because the door was shut tightly. Steve pounded on it knowing Tony would hear him. For some reason, he didn't have to try too hard though because the door opened right up. Tony stood right in front of him.
"Steve!" Tony exclaimed. His whole face lite up when he saw the super soldier. His eyes were sparkling. "Perfect timing! Come check out my latest project!" He grabbed Steve's hand leading him into the workshop.
Steve was confused by what was happening. He followed Tony blindly into the workshop. Tony stopped to show Steve some sort of screen that was about the size of his head.
"So this guy is a face scanner. We're are going to use these things in schools by programming students and faculty pictures into the system so it reads their faces when they walk in. If it detects an unfamiliar face, the doors to the school lock and alert the main office. Hopefully it will help a lot of school prevent disasters from happening."
Steve took the scanner in his hands. "That's amazing, Tony. Does it work?"
Tony nodded proudly. "Yep! My company can start assembling these things ASAP. Don't worry, I'm installing them in the tower as well." Steve marveled at the machine for awhile longer. "What did you come to tell me though?" Tony asked.
Steve looked over to see his boyfriend's beautiful smile. He felt his chest twist a little. Gently, he put the creation down. "You're probably gonna mock me…"
"Is it funnier than this?" He asked tossing something at Steve.
Steve caught it, but was embarrassed to see that it was the magazine. He wasn't sure what to say or how to respond to it. Tony were never supposed to find out that Steve was using this magazine to win his boyfriend over.
"It fell out of your sweat pants when you rolled out of the bed last night," Tony said with a slight mischievous tone.
Steve knew he had to come clean. "Ok, fine," he sighed. "I was trying to get you to notice me, and spend time with me. You barely looked at me in the past week. I felt neglected and lonely. I knew you were working, but I still wanted you to spend at least five minutes with me away from your tech. I thought if I followed this stupid magazine, I would get something from you." Steve stared down the magazine in disappointment. Then he felt Tony's strong hands against his. He met with those brown eyes he missed so much.
"Steve, the next time you feel this way just tell me. I know I can be an ass sometimes, but I still want you to be happy in our relationship. I don't ever want you to feel that way again." He leaned up and kissed Steve's cheek. The first bit of attraction he had gotten all week. "So next time, tell me rather than going through Cosmopolitan."
Steve chuckled. "It does sound ridiculous when you put it that way."
Tony agreed. "I mean 'Let your partner take home the leftovers.' That's such a stupid thing to put."
"I thought so too!" Steve laughed. "Yeah, I skipped a few of these."
"More like you skipped the best ones," Tony told him as he leaned against Steve's broad chest with the article in his hands. "'Pretend you're strangers at a bar, and roleplay'. That's a good one."
Steve blushed and rubbed the back of his neck. "I wouldn't even know how to do that."
"Fine, fine," Tony waved it off. He flipped through the magazine a bit. "But the 5o Kinky Sex Moves have me interested."
Steve covered his eyes. "Oh my god, Tony."
Once again, he felt Tony's hands on his. He opened his eyes to see his boyfriend smiling at him.
"Well, since I got that done early I now have the next two weeks off. What should we do?" He purred as he inched his face closer to Steve's.
Steve wrapped his arms around Tony's slim figure. "How about we watch a TV series and order in?" He proposed.
"Sounds delightful. As long as we get food from that one fancy seafood place you don't like."
"That place is so expensive," Steve complained.
"Shut up, you love it."
"Make me shut up."
Tony smirked he wrapped his arms around Steve's neck, and pulled him in for a long awaited kiss. Their mouth so perfectly molded against one another. Steve held Tony a bit closer in that moment not wanting him to leave.
When they parted Tony breathed, "God, I almost forgot how great that is."
"Let me remind you." Steve leaned down for another kiss.
That was the last time Steve read Cosmopolitan.