"Tony, I just don't get it," Steve sighed, letting his hands and the StarkPhone fall into his lap. Tony shifted his weight, leaning over the back of the couch for long periods of time tended to be uncomfortable. He reached down to pick up the phone, ignoring the fact that his hand was dangerously close to an area he'd much like to know more about, and rounded the couch to sit beside Steve.
"Look, you just swipe here, and then tap that, and then type in this," he demonstrated.
Steve sighed again, "I can see what you've done, but I just can't get my head around it quite yet." He looked at Tony, "I mean, you barely trust me with the microwave right now, lets not run before we can walk."
Tony looked like he was going to protest, but thought better of it. "If you say so, Cap," he said chirpily and almost bounced off the couch. "Maybe I'll get JARVIS to give you a course." He smiled as Steve fixed him with an amused expression. He paused for a moment before coming up with an excuse to leave, "I need to get back to the lab. Something top secret in development specially to confuse you."
This time Steve chuckled. As Tony turned to leave Steve stood, "Hey Tony."
"Yeah?"
"Thanks for not treating me like an idiot."
"No problem Cap," he replied as he walked backwards, "I mean, I can't expect everyone to be on my level."
He saw a new smile break on Steve's face as he turned towards his lab.
Tony dropped the circuit board he was working on onto the worktop, frustrated. He just couldn't get his head straight. Because falling in love with Captain America is totally what I need right now. He sighed. What he needed right now was a distraction from his distraction.
"JARVIS, turn the music to full," he said as he tried to get back into his work.
Even with the music loud and enough interesting half built inventions in front of him to keep him amused for days he found himself drifting off again after just minutes. He found himself imagining undressing Steve, running his hands over his body and being lifted onto the bed... He shook his head and asked JARVIS to turn off the music.
"Are you feeling well, sir?" JARVIS asked. "I sense an elevated heart rate and temperature."
"I'm fine," Tony replied wearily, "I just need some air."
Movie night at the Stark tower was always a big affair. Every Thursday they'd get as much popcorn, ice cream, soda and chips as humanly possible and take turns choosing a movie. This week, however, was extra special. Barton had decided that he needed to educate Steve on the wondrous magic of The Lord Of The Rings. The idea was met enthusiastically by all of the Avengers and as such a marathon was declared. Eleven hours of pure fantastical bliss, not including rest stops to restock on snacks and beverages. Clint lay across Natasha's lap as they sat beside Bruce on the big couch, while Thor took up the armchair which he had claimed for movie night the first time they'd ever suggested the idea. Steve and Tony took up the smaller of the two couches.
Thor seemed to be enjoying the epic more than most of the movies they watched together, loudly voicing his approval or unhappiness at certain parts of the film. Clint, although he'd seen the movies multiple times, always whooped when Legolas did something vaguely awesome and Natasha seemed to find Aragorn very appealing. Bruce was definitely on Sam's team. Steve mostly watched quietly, occasionally asking a whispered question to Tony if he wasn't quite sure on something. He was completely in awe of the world on screen. Tony himself watched uncharacteristically silent, only breaking to answer Steve's questions. He was too busy trying to ignore the electric feeling in his stomach every time Steve reached across him to get to the popcorn, or when their arms brushed slightly.
By the third movie, Tony was happily asleep. His head was gently resting on Steve's shoulder. Thor and the others were still riveted to the movie. Probably because they hadn't spent the last three days subsisting on coffee and occasional naps. At the end of the movie when the others made to move they spotted Tony and Steve happily asleep together, heads resting on each other and their hands suspiciously close together. Natasha smiled and shushed Thor. Clint took a photograph as Bruce found a blanket to drape over them. They all quietly filtered out to their own rooms to sleep, leaving the two men to their own dreams.
When Tony woke up he found himself comfortably tucked into his own bed.
Steve worked away at the punching bag, trying to vent the strange feeling he had in the pit of his stomach. Tony had been great tolerating his complete ineptitude with anything technological, but Steve felt like he must just be annoying the genius himself. Tony had told him multiple times he didn't mind helping him figure things out, and once or twice had mentioned the word adorable, but Steve knew Tony was a professional faker. He punched harder at the bag. Hell, Tony had been almost silent the whole way through the latest movie night, only giving him the barest answers when Steve asked him a question, whereas he'd usually be laughing and joking the whole way through and making fun of Steve if he couldn't keep up. Then Tony had fallen asleep on his shoulder, and he'd been too scared to move. Too scared he'd wake Tony up and he'd lose the contact. Of course Tony didn't feel for him, and he'd never tell him, but he relished being able to have that closeness. Steve had woken up sometime after the movie finished to find the rest of the Avengers gone and himself and Tony draped in a blanket. He'd gently picked up Tony and put him in his own bed, before retreating to the kitchen to get something to eat and try to keep his mind off of the squeeze in his chest.
The next few weeks were surprisingly quiet for the Avengers. It appeared it was bad-guy vacation time, New York was left unscathed. As such the six team mates had plenty of time to wind each other up and generally get on with their own projects. Steve was making progress with the various pieces of StarkTech riddled through out the tower, with Tony's help of course. Tony was spending extra time in the lab, often barely making it up on time for movie night. He also seemed to be falling asleep a lot more often during the films, though Steve didn't mind carrying him to bed every week. A few times he'd even found Tony sleeping with his head resting on his arms on the workbench in his lab while bringing down food or pondering a question. Eventually it became habit to check before Steve went to bed, just to make sure. Most nights he ended up with a mostly sleeping Tony in his arms, listening to him murmur as he tucked him into bed. Sometimes he'd pluck up enough courage to brush the hair from his forehead and kiss the skin exposed there.
One morning Steve was getting ready for a PR shoot, standing in the kitchen with his uniform on making himself some toast. He heard the door open.
"Hi Tony," he said without even having to look.
Tony grunted at him, before flicking his eyes Steve's way. He let out a surprised sound as he collided with the fridge door, having been distracted by certain... assets the uniform accentuated.
Steve turned and looked at him, concerned, "Are you ok?"
Tony rubbed his head, hoping he wouldn't have a bruise. "Yeah," he replied, "Just tired. I'm fine Cap," he said as Steve tried to look at his forehead. He waved him away and sat at the table with his favourite coffee miraculously in front of him. He let out a faint grin before catching Natasha looking at him with her eyebrows raised. He quickly looked back into his coffee cup.
Steve brought over his toast on a plate and a glass of orange juice. He sat beside Tony and looked at him with a worried expression.
"Are you sure you're fine Tony? You've not been yourself the last couple of weeks," he said, and pressed a hand to Tony's forehead. "You've been sleeping a lot, and usually you'd have a few new inventions for us to test in that kind of time frame."
Tony was too exhausted from his nightmare filled sleep to even protest the contact, "I'm fine Steve. Really. I'm just... working through some stuff."
"Anything SHIELD should know about?" he asked.
"No. There's no way I'm talking to SHIELD about this, don't you dare," Tony replied with a flash of life brightening his eyes for a moment.
Steve paused, removing his hand from Tony's forehead. "Well, if you ever need to talk I'll always listen," he said.
Tony looked at him and paused, terrified he would both say and not say what he desperately wanted to. "Thanks Steve," he said sincerely after a moment, before looking back down into his coffee.
They sat in companionable silence for a few minutes before Steve cracked a dumb joke about getting the toaster to work, and Tony choked on his coffee with laughter, setting them both off.
Steve was worried about Tony. He was still out of sorts, but despite his offer, he just wouldn't talk to Steve about it. He wished he could make him feel better, but you can't get anything out of Tony Stark he doesn't want to give you. After that morning in the kitchen with the fridge incident all of the Avengers had begun to notice Tony seemed to be a little less aware of his surroundings than usual. He'd trip on the corner of a rug, or he'd walk into a door frame while doing something on his StarkPhone. He just didn't seem to be quite all there. Any attempt to talk to him about it was met with "I'm just tired", "I'm working on something, that's all" or "I'm fine". When Steve asked the other team members about it he just got shrugs back, or they all exchanged knowing looks and left him in the dark. Then came the day it just couldn't be ignored any longer.
"Evil vacation is over then," Tony stated through the comm as he blasted another Doom bot. He weaved in between buildings as Steve and Natasha held the ground. Clint was picking bots off from the highest vantage point he could find, while Thor swept through where he was needed. The Hulk was just doing his own thing, his comforting roar echoing off the glass walls of the buildings. He swept past Steve and Natasha, destroying some more bots which had been about to attack from above.
"Thanks Tony," came Cap's voice across the comm.
Tony tried to ignore him, purposefully not replying. The last thing he needed right now was to get distracted by Steve.
With a tip off from Clint he rounded the corner to fire through another group of bots. There weren't many left, the streets were littered with their remains. Then he heard a strange noise come across the comm from Steve.
His heart in his mouth he flew around the corner to see Steve standing defensively, with, oh god, with most of his uniform missing. Torn. Off. He made a strangled noise, staring at Captain America with his mouth open, and flew straight through a wall.
He groaned and sat up as Steve's voice came through the comm, a hint of panic in his voice, "Tony, are you ok? What happened?"
Tony got back on his feet and flew through the Iron Man sized hole in the wall to stick another Doom bot full of rockets. "I'm fine Cap. Just a minor mishap. All good."
Within minutes the battle was over and the Avengers had re-grouped. Tony made sure to keep his visor down as he was confronted by a mostly naked Steve, who seemed pretty embarrassed about his situation.
"Nice look Cap," he said smoothly, "Maybe I should just make you some hot pants next time to stop my wonderful inventions getting ruined again." He was glad his visor concealed the fact he was bright red and failing woefully at keeping his heartbeat down.
By this point Bruce was back, Clint handing him the shorts and sweater he kept stashed just for him while in the field. He gladly took them.
Natasha turned to face Steve, "You should go back with Bruce, get yourselves dressed properly."
Steve nodded before turning to walk back to the tower with Bruce.
Natasha rounded on Tony. "You're coming with us."
Tony found himself tied to a chair in the tower.
"Is this what all de-briefings are like?" he asked, "Maybe I should start going to more." He grinned widely at Natasha who stood in front of him, flanked by Clint and Thor.
"This has to stop, Stark," she said.
"I'm sorry I'm just too much of a genius for you guys to keep up, I'll try and tone it down... well, not really, but I'll pretend to," he still smiled.
Natasha stared at him, her face blank.
Tony shifted, "What, a guy can't fly through a wall once in a while?"
Clint spoke. "We were willing to let your new found clumsiness slide when it was around the tower, because frankly it was kind of cute, but when it's in the middle of a battle? The last thing we need is Iron Man out of commission because Captain America fluttered his eyelids at him."
Shit."I don't know what you mean," he replied.
Natasha looked at him. "You're not as good an actor was you think Stark." She crossed her arms. "And besides, if you think you've fooled anyone with your pining over Steve then you're stupider than we all thought."
Tony looked at them all for a moment. "I want my lawyer. JARVIS, help me out here!"
JARVIS' voice rang out through the room, "I'm sorry sir, I believe this intervention to be in your best interest."
Tony glared at the ceiling, "Traitor."
Barton smiled, and Natasha's expression held a definite sense of victory. Tony knew he was caught.
Thor piped up, "I do not know why you Midgardians are so reserved when it comes to courtships. It is a great compliment to be considered worthy to be someone's mate!"
Tony knew there was no point in denying his feelings any more, "Yeah well, you're not the one in love with your childhood idol."
Natasha leaned in towards him, "You ask him out, or we'll tell him ourselves." The threat came through loud and clear, chilling Tony to the bone. Now he had no choice.
"Fine, I'll ask out Captain fucking America, only to be rejected and make everything awkward for everyone," he said snappily. "Happy now?"
Natasha smiled and all hope was lost, "Yes." The three team mates sauntered out of the room, leaving Tony tied to the chair.
"Uhh, guys?!"
Steve sighed as he pulled the white t-shirt on, having changed into his comfy grey sweatpants. Bruce buttoned up his shirt and gave Steve a look.
"I want to see Tony," he said, running his hands through his hair, "Make sure he's ok after that crash and everything."
Bruce smiled slightly, "I'm sure he's fine. He's being de-briefed at the moment, I'm sure you can see him once it's done." Bruce paused, "Come on, I've got some stuff in my lab I'm working on, you can keep me company."
Steve followed him, his thoughts on Tony and the panic that had run through his system like lightening when he thought he'd been hurt.
Bruce moved between his different experiments, occasionally glancing up at Steve. He asked a few leading questions about the battle, trying to get Steve to open up.
"So what exactly happened with Tony?"
Steve ran his hands through his hair again, "I don't know. One moment he was fine, fighting the bots. Then my uniform got shredded and the next thing I know after dealing with that was Tony crashing. I thought he was really hurt. It was scary." He sighed again. "I'm always so frightened of losing any one of you, especially Tony."
Bruce gave a subtle smile, Steve seemed to be talking to himself more than him now, which is exactly what he needed to be happening. The others had trusted him with this task, he wasn't going to let them down while they were handling Tony.
"I couldn't bear to lose another person I love," he said quietly, pausing before seeming to realise what he'd said. He looked at Bruce, colour rising in his cheeks. "Uhh... I mean..."
Bruce smiled gently, "I know what you mean, Steve."
"You can't tell anyone, Bruce. I don't want this to affect the way we work together," Bruce could almost hear pleading his voice.
"So you don't think Tony flying into a wall at the sight of you half naked affects the way we work?"
Steve opened his mouth to say something before his expression changed mid way, "But that wasn't... He didn't... You think I'm the reason he crashed?"
Bruce shrugged, "I don't know, you'd have to ask him yourself."
Steve thought, before turning and walking very deliberately calmly out of the door. Bruce smiled to himself. Success.
Steve was working out in the gym, throwing himself into his punching bag like it was the last thing left on earth. His head and his heart were spinning. Bruce's comment had left a maelstrom of emotions in it's wake, as Steve tried to figure out if it was remotely possible that Tony Stark, genius billionaire playboy philanthropist, could possibly be interested in him. He didn't know what to do, whether he should go and find Tony right now or let himself try to work out his feelings, or wait for Tony to make a move. If he did feel that way at all.
He was lost in his thoughts as JARVIS' voice came out across the speakers.
"Captain Rogers, I believe Mr Stark's de-briefing has finished."
Steve's heart may have stopped in his chest for a moment as he was faced with a choice that could affect him so drastically he couldn't quite comprehend it. Was he about to make a fool out of himself? At least he could check that Tony wasn't hurt.
Steve could hear Tony before he saw him, hearing his half of a conversation from the room. He opened the door to find Tony talking into his earpiece and wriggling in a chair.
"They tied me to a chair, Pep... Whether or not I enjoy that isn't the point!"
Tony looked up at the door as Steve walked in.
"I gotta go," he said quickly, hanging up with a verbal command.
He barely got a "Hi Steve" out before Steve was untying him, asking him how he felt and telling him off for being so careless. Tony flapped him off as he got free.
"I'm fine Steve, you'd think you've never made a mistake! Oh right, you're Captain America, I forgot," he said, his customary snark coming through loud and clear, but definitely with an affectionate edge.
"Seriously Tony," Steve said, "I don't want you to get hurt." His brow creased as he stood up. "Bruce said you were in a de-briefing."
So he's in on it as well? Tony stood and rubbed at his wrists where the rope had rubbed, "Yes, apparently all de-briefings now consist of me being tied to a chair and humiliated for half an hour."
The two men stood there awkwardly, looking at each other. Close enough to feel each others breath. Tony broke first.
"Thanks for saving me Cap," he said, all suave and cool on the outside, turmoil on the inside, "But I gotta go re-programme JARVIS' loyalty core."
Steve turned as Tony began to walk towards to the door, "By the way Tony, next time you're tied to a chair you can always call me instead of Pepper. I'd probably get there quicker."
Tony winked at him, "Unless you're the one who did the tying."
With that Tony was gone, and Steve was left breathless in the middle of the room.
Tony poured himself another scotch as he tinkered idly with a piece of circuitry. He tried to reconcile the knowledge that if he didn't ask Steve out the others were going to tell him and in doing so were going to tear apart his team. His family. However it went, whether Steve turned him down in person or just ignored what the others said, he was going to avoid him afterwards and Tony didn't want to lose what he'd just managed to find.
Steve walked down the stairs to Tony's lab on his nightly check. Sure enough he found Tony asleep on the workbench, an empty scotch bottle beside him with a little left in a glass. He let out a slight sigh as he smiled at the sight of Tony so peaceful. Such a difference from his larger than life persona. He walked over and scooped Tony up from his chair, carrying him up to his room. As he lay him down on his bed and moved to tuck him in Tony stirred. He opened his eyes a crack and struggled to focus on Steve.
"My saviour," he slurred, smiling, "You wanna go dinner wi' me sometime?"
Steve, internalising the sudden surge of adrenaline, replied softly "Sure."
"Awesome," came Tony's half asleep answer.
Steve tucked him in and paused at the door to look back at the now asleep man as he walked out of the room. He didn't sleep that night.
Tony awoke bleary eyed and fuzzy headed. His moves were sluggish as he shrugged out of his old clothes and pulled on some pyjama pants and a bath robe. He tied it loosely around his waist before going on a quest for food, for anything to fill his protesting stomach. As he entered the kitchen he groaned, his stomach rumbling as he smelt the bacon frying on the stove. He didn't register who was cooking it as he rubbed at his eyes and sighed.
"I'm never drinking scotch again," he groaned. "Or at least not for a day. I had the weirdest dream."
He heard Steve's chirpy voice, "So, I was thinking dinner for Friday?"
"Huh?" came Tony's reply, as he looked up to see Steve placing a couple of strips of bacon on a plate set at Tony's place. His mind struggled to catch up.
"Dinner, Friday?" Steve asked again smiling.
Tony froze. It wasn't a dream. Oh god. Wait, he said yes?! "Sure, sounds good," he said, still a little shellshocked.
Steve smiled as he began to flush red, "Made you some hangover food." He nodded in the direction of the bacon and pancakes before putting some bacon on his own plate.
Tony sat down and began to eat, staring down at the table, not quite sure how he'd managed to get Steve Rogers to say yes to a date to him. He couldn't screw this up. He heard Steve sit down opposite him and glanced up at him. They both smiled as they caught each other's eyes. They sat in silence for a moment before Tony piped up.
"So, where you wanna go?"
Steve spent most of the next five days in the gym, trying to work out his nervous energy. He made sure to visit the barber to make sure his hair was freshly cut, and he washed his favourite outfit. His brown leather jacket was newly waxed and his shoes were just that little bit more shiny.
Tony made sure he booked the nicest restaurant he could bribe for and spent a little too much time trying to pick out the best outfit with the help of the ever patient Pepper. He spent many hours pacing the workshop floor, rambling at DUM-E and going over multiple situations in his head. He couldn't see any way he'd make it out the other side of the date without being a puddle.
Both of them spent so much time worrying about Friday they forgot about Thursday.
It was Clint's movie of choice, and he went with Kate & Leopold. Rambling on about how it was so romantic that the man out of time meets this modern day woman and falls deeply in love with her and they manage to have such a deep and romantic relationship despite the differences in culture and understand and just wasn't it just the most romantic thing they'd ever seen. It earned him a kick from Natasha.
Everyone sat in their usual places. Clint, Natasha and Bruce all happily on the biggest couch, Thor in his armchair and Steve and Tony on the smaller couch. Tony noticed the other four Avengers occasionally giving he and Steve knowing looks or smiling between themselves after glancing in their direction. They spent most of the movie almost-holding-hands, their fingers brushing against each other's, sending electric signals through both of them. Steve held a bowl of popcorn on his lap, and every so often they'd both reach in together and blush gently. Any time Clint opened his mouth to say something he got another kick from Natasha.
As soon as credits rolled all of the other Avengers seemed to have sudden excuses to leave straight away. They were tired, or had something important to work on, leaving Tony and Steve the last to filter out of the room. As they stood outside the door, readying themselves to walk to their rooms, they faced each other. They held eye contact for a few seconds longer than comfortable, and moved their heads together slightly, before Steve pulled back and sighed.
"I'll see you tomorrow," he said, a faint smile on his lips.
"Looking forward to it Cap," Tony replied.
Another few moments of eye contact passed before they turned away from each other and began walking to their own rooms, their eyes meeting as they both turned back to look at the other, blushes rising to their cheeks.
Tony stood nervously outside the restaurant, in his favourite black shirt to block out the light from his arc reactor and a pair of perfectly fitting jeans. His light beige jacket felt stifling as he waited for his date to arrive.
Steve sat in the car, wondering where the driver was taking him. He was under orders from Tony not to reveal his destination. Steve was wearing one of his new shirts, a pair of simple light coloured pants and his leather jacket.
The car pulled up at the kerb and Tony held his breath as Steve stepped out onto the pavement. The two men smiled at each other as he approached.
"Looking good, Cap," Tony said, running his eyes over Steve as he looked at the doors to the restaurant somewhat awkwardly.
"Are you sure? This place looks kinda fancy," he replied.
"Hey, I'm wearing jeans. You'll get away with a leather jacket, it's vintage," Tony smiled.
They walked into the restaurant, Tony confirming his booking for Stark, table for two. They were lead over to their table and their jackets taken off of them. Steve looked uncomfortable surrounded by so many people dressed up. When the menus came he baulked at the prices.
Tony piped up, "Hey, I asked you on this date, I'm paying. Some of the benefits of being a billionaire."
Steve looked pained, "I can't expect you to pay for all of this."
"Well I am anyway."
They spent the rest of the night talking and laughing. Steve told Tony some of his funnier stories from his time with The Howling Commandos while Tony told of his tamer escapades at MIT, including the creation of DUM-E.
After the laughter from one of the stories died down between them Tony gained a different expression.
"I wasn't expecting you to actually say yes, you know," he said, looking at Steve.
Steve blushed slightly, "I wasn't expecting you to ask."
"I actually thought I dreamt asking," Tony said, chuckling.
"Ahh," Steve smiled, "That would explain your reaction. You know, until Br-someone pointed it out to me I didn't even think you saw me as more than a friend. I guess I thought Tony Stark wouldn't be interested in some old fashioned soldier like me."
Tony looked at him in silence for a moment, "You didn't think I liked you? Wow, you must be the most oblivious person on the planet!" They both chuckled, "I thought asking you out would just end up with you awkwardly avoiding me forever."
They both looked at each other and started laughing.
They ate their delicious food with gusto, and Tony refused to let Steve even offer to pay.
As the car was driving them back to the Stark Tower it began to rain. As they got out of the car, Steve grabbed Tony's hand and they ran into the Tower, laughing and sopping wet. They jumped in the elevator as Tony peeled off his soaked jacket. As it started going up the two men looked at each other, their laughter quieting. They looked at each other for a moment before they slowly met in a gentle kiss. Tony's hands moved to Steve's waist, as Steve cupped Tony's face. Electricity raced between them, both of their hearts pounding. After what felt like an eternity they pulled apart.
"Want to stay with me tonight?" Tony asked quietly.
Steve shifted, moving backwards slightly. "No, I mean yes, but... not yet." He looked at Tony with a slightly anxious face.
Tony smiled at him, "No, I understand. We'll take it at your pace."
He saw the relief break over Steve's face. The elevator binged and the doors opened at Tony's level. He stepped out.
"Night Steve," he said, smiling.
"Night Tony," Steve said, as the doors closed.
Tony raced back to his room. He felt like his skin was on fire and his heart was going to explode. When he turned his StarkPhone off silent he noticed a text message from Pepper.
"How did it go?"
He hit dial, and lay on the bed. As soon as he heard Pepper answer he exclaimed down the phone, "Oh. My. God."
Over the next week Tony never had to worry about forgetting breakfast, Steve was always there with his smile and unassuming niceness. Tony spent a lot of time down at the lab, working on his new pet project. Then on Friday, after a night spent watching mindless action films, he found a backpack and a pair of boots waiting for him on the breakfast table along with a bigger breakfast than usual. A note sat against his coffee cup. Meet me outside the tower at 10, boots on. S.
Tony resisted the urge to eat at hyper speed but was still at the door for 9.45. He was leaning nonchalantly against the side of the open door, backpack in hand, as Steve pulled up on his motorcycle. He walked down the steps, swung the backpack over his shoulder and smirked.
"Planning to kidnap me Rogers?"
"Like you wouldn't enjoy it," came the equally snarky reply, with added Captain America Smile ™.
Tony placed the helmet Steve was holding out on his head and swung his leg over the back of the motorbike. He wound his arms around Steve's waist and held tight as they took off down the road.
Steve pulled in to a mostly empty gravel parking area and the two men climbed off the bike. Tony took his helmet off and attached it to a strap on the bike as Steve took out his own backpack from the saddle bag.
"So what's the plan, Cap?" Tony asked.
Steve pointed at a post with some different coloured arrows on it, "We're following the blue."
It had been a long time since Tony went for a simple hike through the woods, and allowing himself time to take it all in without technology getting in the way was more relaxing than he imagined it could be. Steve loved to point out any interesting wildlife or plants, and his overwhelming enthusiasm was impossible to resist. After around one and a half hours they wandered into a small grassy glade by a stream and Steve took off his backpack. He rummaged for a moment before getting out a blanket and laying it down. He sat down as Tony followed suit and told him to check his backpack. Soon there were sandwiches and yoghurt and fruit in tubs sitting on the blanket as the two men tucked into the picnic.
Tony brandished his sandwich at Steve. "These are really good," he muffled through a mouthful.
"You always like my cooking, when have I ever made something the team didn't like?"
Tony thought for a second, "Well, there was the incident with the birthday cake."
"I said cooking, not baking. Baking is hard, cooking is easy," Steve said in reply, grinning.
The two men laughed as the sun beamed dappled green through the leaves. Steve sighed and lay back on the blanket, hands behind his head and a big smile on his face. Tony moved to lie with his head on Steve's chest, hands clasped over his arc reactor. After a moment of lying silently, completely content, Steve moved to intertwine his fingers with Tony's.
That night they ate pizza on the couch together as they finished watching Return Of The King.
Winter came in fast, the summer colours changing to reds and yellows and browns before disappearing all seemingly in the blink of an eye. Steve got used to pulling Tony out of the way of walls and lampposts when he was wearing his uniform and Tony worked on getting his project perfect. They'd been out to a few places, an art gallery or the Tesla museum, but mostly they enjoyed going out for long walks, bike rides to the middle of nowhere or watching movies together. The other Avengers were quietly happy watching their friends so happy together, especially after the amount of pining they'd had to wade through before. They often walked in on Tony showing Steve how to work some new gadget or Steve trying to get Tony to sit still as he drew him. Steve still had to carry him to bed most nights.
"Captain Rogers, Mr Stark requires your presence in the lab," came JARVIS' voice through the gym.
Steve stepped out of the ring and grabbed a towel, "Everything ok JARVIS?"
"Yes Captain, Mr Stark is fine."
Steve visibly relaxed as he padded along to the lab. When he arrived he saw Tony with a huge grin on his face turn to face him.
"Ahh Steve!" he said as Steve walked over to give him a quick kiss.
"Everything ok?" Steve asked, just to make sure.
"As a matter of fact, more than ok," Tony said, moving around the work bench to stand beside something small and technological looking, his expression puppy-like with excitement. He picked up the object, "I made you something."
Steve walked forward and took hold of it, turning it over in his hands.
"It's a camera," Tony said, moving to stand beside Steve and show him some of the controls. "I stripped it down so it's easy to use, but you can still get great shots. Not to mention it's almost indestructible."
"You made this for me?" Steve stared at the camera.
"It's no big deal, Cap," Tony shrugged, "Here, I've tried to make it as intuitive as poss-"
Steve grabbed the front of Tony's shirt and pulled him in for a long, deep kiss. When he let go Tony swayed a little and blinked stupidly.
"Note to self, make Steve more stuff."
Steve smiled, "So how does this work?"
Steve took to his camera like a fish to water, it wasn't often you saw him without it somewhere nearby. His natural artist ability seemed to transfer well, and he had an intuitive understanding of how to produce a good shot. The cabinets in the kitchen slowly got covered with photographs of the team, whether engrossed in a movie, training or partying. They were never safe. Steve's favourite shots, however, were captured one evening in December.
The snow had been falling all day when Clint turned around to the others.
"I am going outside, anyone want to join?"
Everyone stood at once, choruses of agreement chiming through the room.
"I'll grab us a taxi to the park," Bruce said, "Ten minutes."
Tony and Steve looked at each other, Tony squeezing Steve's hand.
"Tony and I are gonna walk," Steve said as the others filed out of the room.
Fifteen minutes later the others were all gone, and Steve and Tony finally made it out of the tower after locating their cold weather clothes. Steve had opted for a scarf wrapped around his neck under his leather jacket and a thin pair of gloves. Tony was wearing a red padded jacket, thick scarf, black gloves and a Russian style faux-fur hat. As they walked down the street hand in hand, the crisp snow lit by the street lights and their breaths misting everything felt perfect.
Tony looked at Steve, "Are you sure you're not cold? You're not exactly dressed for the weather."
"I don't feel the cold much after, ya know," Steve replied. "Besides, you must be overheating pretty badly in all your layers!"
Tony moved his spare hand to his chest, "Arc reactor conducts cold. Also, I don't want to get sick over Christmas. Everyone knows if you're sick at Christmas Santa doesn't bring you any presents." He winked at Steve who chuckled and gently bumped his shoulder against him.
By the time they reached the park the other Avengers had already divided themselves up into teams (Clint and Natasha vs Bruce and Thor) and had mostly built their snow forts. As Tony ran in screaming "EVERYONE FOR THEMSELVES!" Steve got out his camera. He got some fantastic shots of everyone in various states of throwing or getting hit, everyone laughing, and a few of Natasha convincing Thor that Mjolnir was not an acceptable substitute for a snowball. His favourites, though, were of Tony. Tony no holds barred, a huge grin across his face as he threw a snowball or got hit. Tony wrapped up in all those layers yet still getting a handful of snow down the back from Clint, or poking his head out over a bank of snow scouting out his next target.
After a while Bruce, soaked and smiling, appeared beside him.
"I can take over for a while if you want," he said.
"Oh no I'm fine," said Steve, not wanting Bruce to miss out on the fun.
Bruce took the camera from Steve's hands, "Go, I can take photos. I'm done for the night anyway."
Steve smiled at him before running off into the fray and tackling Tony into a snow bank. Bruce snapped some pictures as they both got up laughing and brushing snow out of their hair. Steve leant over and kissed Tony before throwing a snowball at Clint who had been trying to sneak up on them.
The team all rode home together, exhausted and happy. Tony leant against Steve's shoulder in the car, half asleep. As they arrived at the tower Steve gently shook Tony's shoulder to wake him properly and they walked hand in hand into the tower, Tony still a little slow.
Steve looked at him, concerned, "Are you ok Tony?"
"Yeah yeah, I'm fine," he replied sleepily, as he visibly shivered.
Steve pressed his hand against Tony's forehead, "Gees, you're freezing! Let's get you up to your room and warmed up."
As they stood in the elevator Steve helped Tony out of his soaked jacket. "Tony, you're wet to the bone. Why didn't you say something?"
Tony shrugged, "I didn't really notice how cold it was until we were on the way back."
The doors opened to Tony's level and Steve lead him to his room and into the bathroom. He turned on the shower and helped a shivering Tony strip out of his sodden clothes before undressing himself. They climbed into the shower and Steve held Tony against his chest until he started to heat up and the life came back into him. They stood in silence holding each other under the water, steam filling the room.
"Steve?" Tony spoke softly, lifting his head from Steve's chest. "This is the best Christmas present I've ever had."
Steve looked down at him and they kissed, gently at first but before he knew what was going on Steve found himself pressing Tony against the wall of the shower as Tony's lips parted for his tongue, all heavy breathing and desperate feeling. Tony slid down to kneel in front him.
Later Steve lay in Tony's bed, his lover lying against him with his hand on his chest, Steve's arm around his shoulder. Both exhausted and completely happy they lay holding each other.
Softly Steve spoke as Tony's breathing began to slow, "Tony?"
"Mm?" came the contented reply.
"I love you."
Tony's eyes didn't open, "That's just the sex talking, it always happens the first time."
Steve smiled and turned his head to look down at Tony, "It's true though, I really do."
Tony sat up to lean over Steve, "And I've loved you since I first saw you."
Steve grinned as Tony leaned down to kiss him.