Tony Stark had seen his share of oddities, both in his career, and as his time as a crime fighting iron machine of awesomeness. So as he strolled into the rec room of the Avengers' mansion, he wasn't totally surprised to see Steve Rogers sprawled out on the couch-TV playing softly in the background. What DID throw him for a loop, however, was the fact that the legendary super soldier was fast asleep.

With his natural born, James Bond-stealth, the snarky inventor quietly shuffled over to his comrade to get a better look. The blonde man, for his part, looked quite content-face half buried in a pillow, and one arm dangling off the edge of the couch. A pile of colored pencils were littered across the floor next to him; no doubt spilt when he drifted off to dreamland.

"Well, he definitely wasn't kidding when he said he was an art student", Tony thought. A look of pure mischief crossed his features as he stared at the soldier. He finally caught one of his friends when they were most vulnerable, and he just couldn't pass up the chance to pull a harmless prank. He began rooting through his pockets for a sharpie pen he swore he had just a minute ago.

But the more he gazed at Rogers' sleeping form-his expression so peaceful, the more the billionaire decided against it. The team may not have been together long, but it had become common knowledge that Steve had trouble sleeping, as attested by finding him roaming the halls at three a.m. He never really spoke of what he dreamt about, but judging by his often violent wake up calls, it was painfully obvious he suffered from post traumatic stress…and being a man out of his time didn't help much. Often times, he'd be found dozing in a chair, if he wasn't reading, drawing, or saving the world like the bad ass he was. No…it was best to just let sleeping dogs lie. Agent Coulson found THAT out the hard way when he found Bruce Banner passed out on a computer console and tapped him awake…the results WEREN'T pretty…

Tony was pretty sure Steve's reaction would be much more passive…but better safe than sorry…

Instead, the inventor grabbed the open sketchbook lying across the soldier's chest. Thankfully, he was too far gone to be startled awake by such a rough action. Instead, he simply rolled over; his snores increasing in volume. Tony just shook his head, before thumbing through the sketches; expecting to find sexy women or other stuff men daydreamed about. No such luck, although there WERE more than a few outlines of various cars, flowers, and buildings-little mini portraits of his 21st century discoveries. It was actually kind of sweet…but Tony would never say that out loud of course.

But when he got to almost the last page of the book, there was ONE drawing that made his eyes go wide…and his preparation for all things odd go right out the window. His eyes darted back and forth between the sketch and the blonde man lying on the couch; wondering if what he was seeing was some kind of joke…but there it was, in black and white-literally.

A devilish grin spread across the billionaire's lips as he muttered, "…this is SO going in the blackmail file…"

_

The sounds of firecrackers and yelling is what made Steve finally wake up. His eyes fluttered open to the sight of two burly men in masks punching and kicking one another-a screaming crowd egging them on. But the soldier just let out a tired yawn and slowly sat up; knowing instantly what he saw was merely on TV. Perhaps he WAS finally starting to get used to the future. As a testament to that, he didn't even blink when he discovered Thor was sitting next to him-ripping the meat off a chicken leg-completely engrossed in the wrestling match. Steve was about to get up when the son of Odin suddenly turned to him-picking his teeth with a sharp piece of bone, "Ah, friend Rogers; you have finally awakened. I was merely studying the new fighting styles of the realm. I hope I did not disturb you."

"Uh, no; I was getting up anyway", the soldier rubbed his eyes-now more than accustomed to his friend's Shakespearian dialect. He turned his head back and forth; trying to find a wall clock, "How long was I nappin' for?"

"Before I arrived, I could nary a guess", the thunder god shrugged, "But I have been watching your realm's entertainment for quite some time." He then handed his comrade a bucket full of chicken legs, "My friend, Darcy, brought these from the fried land of Kentucky. Come and share some mutton."

Steve couldn't help but chuckle at Thor's ever present camaraderie. As straight forward as he could be, he always made sure to have his "fellow warriors" join in on whatever he thought to be fun. Maybe the unexpected nap had put Rogers in a better mood too. So he grabbed the offered chicken leg and thanked him with a smile and nod, before settling in to watch the outcome of the fight.

Now that Steve thought about it, he and Thor were fast becoming couch potato buddies-both having been introduced to television thanks to Clint. The Asguardian found the big, flat square more than mystical, and thought the remote control to be a magic wand of some kind at first. And that just made the super soldier laugh, mainly because he found himself understanding the technology more than the thunder god did. Maybe because Steve had grown up with radio and Saturday matinees, so he already had something to go on. TV was just the next step-a radio with pictures, or like having your own, personal theater right in your house.

Suffice it to say, both blondes found the box to be amazing, and within the course of a few months, both superheroes had racked up a hefty Pay-per-view bill-watching anything and everything under the sun when they found the time. The History Channel seemed to be the one station they were both drawn to, but for very different reasons. Thor was much more interested in learning about various battles and weapons-both old and new, while Steve took to watching documentaries-hoping any familiar names or faces would pop up. (So far, nothing, but he had plenty more to sit through, so he held out hope.) Other than that, a handy invention called Tivo was there to satisfy both their needs.

The son of Odin very much enjoyed the aforementioned wrestling programs, even though Clint kept insisting to him it was all faked. For one month straight, that's all the Asguardian wanted to watch, to the point that Tony temporarily blocked all the wrestling channels with the parental controls-adding in his own unique codes for good measure. So the warrior was forced to find various movie channels instead, and it pacified him for while…and to the complete and utter surprise of everyone, The Wizard of Oz became his favorite film. Apparently, the lush colors, fantasy elements, weird characters, and Emerald City reminded him of Asguard. Jane thought it was rather touching…but then it got annoying when Tony made the off comment that the movie was a documentary and the events really happened. THAT took another month of arguing and convincing, and twenty more sit throughs of the movie before everyone was thankful to have the wrestling on again.

Steve, on the other hand, left his preferences more of a mystery. True, he tended to lean towards the History Channel, but other than that, he wasn't clearly committed to any one show. He usually just subjected himself to whatever someone else was already watching, and if he didn't like it, he could just catch up on his endless amount of studying. Up until that point, he hardly said anything about the wide selection of programs, which led the others to believe that either he found most shows boring, or he just hadn't found a favorite yet. The only other station anyone was sure of that he gravitated towards was the Turner Classic Movie network. The soldier loved the fact that he could watch all the films he grew up with-going to the theater every Saturday and staying all day. But now he could watch them anytime he wanted-anywhere, and fast forward or rewind to whatever scene he desired.

Of course, he didn't limit himself to just the classics. He gradually ventured into the several thousand other films that came along after his time in the ice, and the increase in lush colors and special effects were astounding. It nearly scared him at how real some of the locations and creatures looked…in 3-D no less. Good lord, 3-D…THAT was one experience he did NOT want to relive. Tony had gathered them all together to watch Transformers; passed out odd-looking glasses, and didn't tell Steve what they were supposed to do, other than "make the experience cooler". So naturally, he wasn't expecting Optimus Prime to suddenly jump out of the screen at him, to which he threw his popcorn in the air and hit the deck as if he were hiding in a trench. Thor just found the whole thing amusing; saying the robots were no bigger than the average frost giant. But no one could hear him because Tony was laughing too hard at Rogers getting frightened, to the point that Darcy shoved a crème donut in his face just to shut him up.

So after that…incident…Steve decided to just stick to discovering films on his own. And for everyone else, his choices were left a mystery again…save for one rumor that Agent Coulson once spotted him watching Saving Private Ryan…then checked on him two hours later only to find him in tears and an entire box of tissues depleted.

Whether it happened or not, he never spoke of it, and everyone knew better than to ask. But all n' all, anytime the super soldier was caught watching TV, he was almost always watching something different.

Case in point, the current wrestling match was finally over, at the same time that Steve was polishing off his third chicken leg. As sick as he was of the over the top fighting, Thor had offered him lunch, so it was only polite to hang out with him for bit. But the fancy lightshows and footwork was getting to be tiresome, so the soldier made his excuses-beginning to clean up the mess he made. Quickly, he ran through a checklist of everything he had before nodding off on the couch; colored pencils, pens, eraser, sketchbook…

…where was the sketchbook?

He glanced around; scratching his head as he became more puzzled. He had the thing right in his hands-where could've it disappeared to? He scowered the nearby bookshelf, the coffee table, magazine rack, the couch cushions. He even went so far as to get down on the floor and scan underneath the couch itself (he would've just lifted the whole thing if it wasn't for the Asguardian sitting there). But there was no sketchbook to be found. Unless…

Steve turned to Thor as a thought suddenly occurred to him, "Hey, Thor?"

"Aye?" the son of Odin gave his full attention.

"Who else came in here while I was sleeping?" he raised a brow.

"Not a soul has entered this room since I first arrived here", Thor replied without hesitation, "I give you my solemn word."

"Oh, I believe you", Steve smiled-not questioning the warrior's honesty. But inside, he was still confused. Thor had said no one else was in the room AFTER he got there…but anything before that was anyone's guess. His brain came to one conclusion, and he didn't like what it was…he knew a few individuals who wouldn't mind playing a seemingly harmless prank…

"Knock, knock; the fun's here!"

Speak of the devil…

Thor turned his head at the sudden voice, then grinned, "Ah, Tony, Clint, Pepper-how joyous to see you all again."

Clint just grunted; Pepper gave a quick hello and waved-a bit preoccupied with typing something on her smart phone. But Tony waltzed right over to the blonde duo; his usual "walk around like I own the place" swagger in full force.

"Hey there, oh mighty one", the billionaire answered, but his eyes were completely locked on Steve, "So, Goldilocks finally woke up from his nap." He spied the KFC bucket, "AND you helped yourself to some fine dining. I guess us modern folks are finally rubbing off on you."

The second Tony mentioned a nap, Steve folded his arms. So his theory was right-he KNEW the inventor was up to something. The smart-ass grin; the mischievous twinkle in his eye-he was just like Howard in more ways than one. So having already known one Stark, he also learned how to handle him; that is, don't try to force an answer out of him; he'd only come up with something even more smart aleck-y. It was best to just play along, and soon enough, the answers would come on their own.

So, steeling himself for the old, "I know that he knows that I know" game, Steve just played it cool and sat back down-trying to look as non-challant as possible, "Well, when a friend offers you lunch, it'd be rude to say no."

Clint merely plopped himself in the nearest armchair, while Tony circled the couch. To the untrained eye, it appeared like the billionaire was simply looking for a place to sit, but Steve knew better-Tony knew something no one else did, and he was waiting for just the right moment to spring the trap. He finally decided to lounge on the end of the couch-propping his feet up on the coffee table and helping himself to some Doritos, "Haven't caught ya' watchin' the boob tube for a while. Usually, you're in the gym-what made ya' change your mind?"

The super soldier turned his gaze on Clint briefly, "Ever since he decided to let off some steam, the gym's been under repair for the past three days."

The archer shrugged, "Yeesh, so I got carried away. I said I was sorry." As Pepper brought over fresh coffee, Clint flicked his eyes to the bucket of chicken, then up at Thor, "Are you gonna' share those?"

While the two argued over the snacks, Steve tried to steer the conversation with Tony back on track, "The other thing is, I just needed some peace and quiet."

"So you looked for silence…with the TV on?" the inventor raised a brow.

Admittedly, he caught the soldier off guard with that one. But Steve was determined to prove he could be clever too. So he unsheathed his own sword with, "Just for something to listen to while I was drawing."

Got him on the ropes. Now he'll have to spill the beans.

"Which, by the way", Steve continued, "My sketchbook seems to have grown legs and ran off. You wouldn't happen to know where it went, would you?"

Tony was about to say something witty, when the soldier leaned in; his usual gentle eyes now drilling into the younger Stark-his gaze clearly saying, "I've caught you red-handed, now fork over the goods." A tense standoff began between the blonde and the brunette, to the point that even Clint and Thor took notice. For someone with such a humble personality, Steve could look pretty intimidating when he needed to be-who knew the guy loved artwork THAT much.

Tony was about to open his mouth, when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He glanced up, only to see Pepper glaring down at him. She kept her tone even, but firm, as if she were reprimanding a child, "Tony…whatever you took from Steve…give it back."

In a rare act of weakness, the billionaire blushed, "Miss Potts…"

"I know more about you than you probably know yourself", she countered, "Give. Steve. His stuff. Back. Now."

The Mexican standoff amounted to Clint muting the TV just to focus on the REAL fight waiting to happen; Thor mumbling something about "Lady Sif being impressed"; Steve glancing between Tony and Pepper-thankful that someone stepped in to help him, and Tony's eyes darting between everyone, as he sized up his odds.

But finally, at long last, the inventor reached into his inside jacket pocket, and produced the sketchbook-not a page out of place. All at once, everyone in the room seemed to heave a sigh of relief.

But when Steve went to grab the book, Tony swiped it away-keeping it just out of reach, and making it clear he was still staying in control of the situation. The soldier rolled his eyes, "Come on."

The inventor cast a smug grin, "Why? Maybe I wanna' look at it."

"You had plenty of time to look at it", Steve dropped the nice act; he wasn't playing games anymore, "Now give it back, please."

"Well THEY didn't see it", Tony nodded his head towards Thor and Clint, "Maybe they wanna' look. Am I right?"

The archer didn't know if this was all some prank, or if the iron hero was being serious. Either way, he merely shrugged, "Whatever."

Thor gave a genuine smile, "Friend Rogers, I heard rumor you were an artist, but I was unaware that you kept a book. If thou grants permission, I would be pleased to see what you have created."

Pepper leaned in over the back of the couch, so she was between the two blondes. A smirk came to her face as she looked at the soldier, "Actually, I've never seen your artwork either."

Tony folded his arms as he called checkmate, "Looks like the democracy you always fought for just backfired on ya', buddy. You've been out voted."

Steve could feel his cheeks burning as all eyes were now on him-either excited or curious. Finally, he heaved a sigh as the billionaire took the victory, "Fine. You all can take a look."

The inventor was physically fighting back giggles as he began thumbing through the pages at lightning speed-preparing the axe he'd been waiting to drop for the past twenty minutes, "Alright then…let's start with THIS one!"

Flipping to almost the last page, Tony held the book up like a trophy for everyone to see. Although the style was very cartoonish, it was clear the creature was a horse-pegasus, technically, judging by the bird wings. It had a lemon yellow coat, with a long, sugary pink mane and tail, and bluish-green, doe-like eyes. It was gliding through a field of tulips-showing off the three, pink butterflies on its flank-a tattoo of some sort. A beautiful sunrise completed the sketch; proving the artist was just as skilled at coloring was he was with drawing.

Clint just blinked; confused expression stating, "What the hell is THIS crap?"

Thor tilted his head; not understanding what the drawing was, exactly, but still quite bemused at its charm.

Pepper didn't make a sound, but she still opened her mouth to say, "Aww…"

Steve put on his best poker face, though truthfully, he was in a similar camp with Thor. He had nothing to hide, so why was Stark so fascinated with this one doodle? He was just angry that his stuff got stolen while he was sleeping.

As for Tony, he kept his grin to a minimum, but it was clear that inside, he was ready to explode, as if he just found a frat boy's secret stash of dirty magazines. After a full minute of stunned silence, he raised a brow at the soldier, "Of all the TV shows for you to finally stick with, I would've never considered you to be a brony."

"A what?" Steve blinked at the inventor as if he just spoke Spanish.

A look of realization dawned on Pepper, "Wait a minute…I've heard that word before…" She pointed at the drawing as the gears turned, "Darcy had a key chain that looked like that; T-shirt too, if I remember right." And then it clicked, "Steve…YOU like My Little Pony?"

Thor was still confused, but Clint suddenly sat up, "Is THAT what that is?" He then covered his mouth to hide his laughter, "Oh God…"

Much like the Asguardian, the super soldier didn't get what all the fuss was about, and merely shrugged, "I always liked the Betty Boop and Popeye cartoons when I'd go to the matinees, so I was surprised there were channels just for that stuff." He calmly snatched the sketchbook off of Tony, at long last, and stared down at the drawing, "It was the only GOOD thing on. Besides, I was just changing channels."

The archer couldn't stop giggling, while the thunder god just shook his head and made his way towards the kitchen. Obviously, he didn't understand the joke and resolved to just look at the other sketches later. Tony rambled on, "Yeah, but you could've picked something a little more your speed, like the Thundercats…or Samurai Jack; you'd like that one." A pause, and then, out of the blue, "So what, Pinkie Pie's your favorite?"

Steve immediately shot back, "Her name's Fluttershy."

The billionaire pointed an accusing finger, "Ah-hah! So you DO watch the show!"

Pepper came onto the defensive, "And so what if he does?" She leaned in over Steve's shoulder; glancing at the drawing, then at him with a smile, "From what Darcy's told me, Fluttershy's very sweet and kind…just like you."

The soldier blushed, but more because of Miss Potts getting so close to him. Between that little scene, and what she just said, it only made Clint and Tony laugh harder. Pepper rolled her eyes, as if to say, "why must I play den mother for these idiots?" So Steve gave her a tiny smile to thank her for the effort anyway. He then turned to his teammates; his tone clear that he was not at all ashamed of his fandom, "Well maybe if you all gave it a chance, you'd see it's got great writing, art, and characters." He then made a smug grin as he added, "Much better than those 'reality shows' Clint likes so much."

Immediately, the laughing ceased, and it was the archer's turn to get defensive, "Hey! Don't you dare bad mouth Snookie! She's hot!"

A second later, Clint realized he said too much, and Pepper made sure he knew when she sneered, "Ooh, I'm SO telling Natasha you said that."

The archer grew quiet, wondering if the secretary/CEO/smartest woman to never mess with would make due on that promise. Thor returned from the kitchen with a three foot long sandwich, while Steve grabbed the remote and changed the station. His new favorite show was coming on…

Tony finally got up-now bored that his attempt at embarrassing his comrade pretty much backfired. As he started checking his 'to-do' list on his smartphone, he quietly snuck out of the room, but not before mumbling, "Over a thousand channels…and he picks ponies…"

Two months later…

"Good morning, Miss Potts", Steve smiled, as he entered the Avengers mansion.

The secretary looked up from her IPad and shook her head, "I keep telling you, call me Pepper."

The blonde merely blushed, before looking around, "Do you know where Tony is? He said the repaint on my shield would be done today."

The red head jerked her thumb behind her, "Down in his lab, as usual. I'll let you in."

She started typing something out on the keypad as Steve thanked her. He made his way down the hallway-nodding a few hellos to some passing S.H.I.E.L.D. agents as he went. Eventually, he made it to a staircase that led down into the basement of the building, where he strolled through the reinforced steel doors, and called out, "Tony? You in here?"

There came the sound of someone spitting out their drink, and the super soldier turned to see the inventor standing by a work bench-eyes wide and mouth agape. Apparently, he wasn't expecting anyone to suddenly barge in. Steve slowly stepped forward, "Sorry if I startled you."

The billionaire swiveled so his back was to his friend, "Oh no, no…just, um…just wasn't expecting you this early."

The soldier raised a brow at Stark's sudden, awkward movements, "Is the shield done?"

"Oh yeah, yeah…" Tony nodded.

"…well, can I see it?" Steve shrugged.

Almost immediately, the inventor turned on his heel; producing the soldier's weapon of choice. The vibranium glistened under the over head lights, making the fresh, red, white, and blue paint job stand out even more boldly. Steve couldn't help but smile, "It looks great. Thanks."

He moved to take the shield off of Tony's hands, but the billionaire held it back; keeping it close to his chest and obscuring the whole top half of his body from view, "Um…it's not ready yet."

Steve gave him a funny look, "What do you mean? You just said it was."

Tony took a step back, "The paint's not dry."

The soldier stepped forward, "You're touching it right now."

"…well, I'm still looking at it."

"For what? Come on; I need to get in some practice."

"Practice later."

"I have to study later. Give it here."

"No."

"Come on."

"No. It's not ready."

"Quit being so weird."

"I'm not being weird; you are."

"Quit it!"

By then, the blonde and the brunette were pulling on the shield; going back and forth-each getting increasingly frustrated. Finally, Steve exerted his super serum strength and yanked-snatching the shield out of Tony's grasp…and what he saw made his eyes go wide.

Tony Stark; billionaire, playboy, and inventor of a flying suit of armor, was standing ram rod stiff, and trying not to make eye contact at the black T-shirt he was wearing…

…a T-shirt with a silhouette of Rainbow Dash…underneath of which it read, in bold, white letters, "This shirt just got 20% cooler."

Steve stared long and hard at the shirt, before glancing up at Tony; utterly dumbfounded. But soon, his lips curled up into a mischievous grin-blue eyes practically screaming revenge.

Tony's face was as red as his armor, and he finally found his voice, "Um…all my other shirts were dirty…"

Steve shook his head; still smiling.

"…Pepper got it as a gag gift for my birthday…"

The soldier let one, tiny giggle escape.

"…um…well…Rainbow Dash CAN fly…at sonic speeds…just like me-SHUT UP!"

Tony quickly shuffled away; tearing the shirt off his back as he went, at which point, Steve couldn't take it anymore. He burst out laughing.

But he swore to himself he would keep THIS incident under wraps. It was the only kind thing to do.

Just like Fluttershy.