The Punch Line
Steve was well aware of Tony's substance abuse issues. It was part of the briefing packet (titled "How to Live With Tony Stark, Without Killing Him", co-authored by Virginia Potts, Colonel James Rhodes, Harold Hogan and JARVIS) each Avenger had received upon moving in to the Tower. Even before that, news stories and SHIELD reports had made mention of Tony's alcohol consumption.
This, though? This was new.
Tony sat in a corner of his lab that he had filled with a pile of plush pillows and fleece blankets, his three helper bots resting close enough to stretch their "limbs" across the soft nest and apparently resting. Their cameras continued to move, tilting to follow Tony's loose gestures and easy laughter.
The medical agents of SHIELD were still trying to figure out what compounds today's villain had managed to dose Tony with, and they weren't sure how long before the effects would fade. (They did insist it would be temporary, a day at most.) Either way, no one could deny the shot had left Tony acting, as Clint had put it, "totally stoned". (He'd also thrown in a few uses of the word "dude" and mentioned a fast food chain called White Castle, but Steve didn't see the relevance.)
At the sound of Steve's approaching steps, Tony half popped up before swaying and falling back down. "Steve!" he yelled, the smile on his face more honest than any the soldier had seen previously.
Not bothering to stop his responding chuckle, Steve came to a halt just outside the semi-circle of robots. Sticking his hands in his pockets, Captain America watched in fond bemusement as his brilliant teammate returned to his previous monologue. It seemed he was trying to explain why Santa had to have access to a "TARDIS" or a wormhole in the space/time continuum to his bots. You, Dummy and Butterfingers were riveted (as far as Steve was able to judge the emotions of artificial intelligences lacking human faces or voices, anyway), while JARVIS repeatedly shut down a number of the programs Tony kept trying to fiddle with using his 3D, laser picture set-up.
Then Tony stopped his rambling, and the soldier found himself the target of a dazedly focused stare.
"You okay, Tony?"
The response of helpless laughter was unexpected. "Stark naked!" Tony huffed out between laughter.
Steve felt his brows drawing together as he squinted in confusion. "What?"
Trying to catch his breath, Tony flopped his hands around. "When you asked! Underneath the suit! Stark naked!"
Ranging back through memories of his interactions with the billionaire, he finally landed on one of their very first. It was not an exchange of which he was proud.
"Big man in a suit of armor. Take that off, what are you?"
He remembered exactly how cutting he'd been, telling the man who would become a friend that he wasn't a hero.
Now, though, he brought his attention back to the present. To a relaxed, pleased Tony, and considered the semi-serious original response and the current joking one.
"Genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist."
"Stark naked!"
He had to laugh because both answers were smartass and silly and wonderfully Tony.
It had taken a while, but it looked like they'd both finally found the right punch line.
end.