ATTENTION!
I don't care who you are, I don't care where you are, I don't care if you read this story or if you hate it. All of that doesn't matter but if you have already seen Avengers: Infinity War, please, contact me. I don't want to spoiler anyone but I seriously need to talk about this with someone. Just PM me, alright? :)
Hello and welcome to my latest story (which I wrote like an eternity ago but never got to finish). This is a Stony story so if you don't like it, don't read.
This is actually a companion piece to True Strength but if you don't feel like reading it, it doesn't really matter. The only main difference is that the New York invasion wasn't Loki's fault and he is technically a part of the Avengers in this one. Blank Space is a follow up to Yoga, Old Man (a one-shot which is mainly a PWP) but again, you can read this as a stand alone. Steve and Tony just slept with each other and agreed on a date afterwards which turned into.. this.
I don't own anything, it's all Marvel's property. I just borrow it.
Chapter One
Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, Tony pads into the kitchen on the communal floor. Without looking left or right he heads straight for the coffee machine which is already filled with the black wonderful liquid. He pours himself a cup and downs it without really tasting anything as it burns his tongue and throat. Vaguely he becomes aware of the light chatter in the room but he doesn't turn before pouring himself another cup.
Why he had stood up so early, he can't remember anymore.
The spy already sits on the counter with some toast in front of her, chatting with Legolas. Brucie had taken a seat on the table, hiding as usual behind his paper and decidedly ignores their general existence. His eggs, which Steve probably made him, stand untouched in front of the scientist who's too caught up in pretending to be caught up to notice. Spangles is still busy making himself breakfast, the smell of bacon and eggs finally reaches Tony's nose as well. The blond is in his training clothes, a sweater and sweatpants, having just returned from his morning jog. Where he takes the energy for strenuous activities like that at this time of the day is one of the biggest mysteries in Tony's life so far.
'Long night in the workshop?', Romanov asks, looking towards his disheveled form. One of her eyebrows has gone up as she assesses him critically.
'Something like that.', Tony grumbles, running a hand through his already messy hair. The brightness of the kitchen offends his eyes but he forces himself not to crawl back into bed. How anyone could be standing up this early free willingly and not being grumpy about it, is beyond him though that could be due to it being so early. The second cup of coffee is drained just as quickly as the first one to wake himself up further.
He snatches a toast from Natasha's stack which she lets go uncommented, a sign just how bad and sleepy he must still look. Tony flops down beside Bruce. The other scientist already shoves his plate towards him without looking up or saying a single word.
Some minutes and a few slices of bacon later, Steve sits down with them, smiling at them. His plate is full with food and Tony is impressed he doesn't weigh a ton with how much food the super soldier eats daily. He puts even Thor to a shame with it which says it all.
Tony smirks down to his plate while running his foot lightly over Steve's shin. The blond clears his throat, seeking to hide the blush behind a glass of orange juice though he doesn't seem to mind. If he would, he shouldn't have sat down right next to the inventor. Tony chances a glance to the spy and her boyfriend to make sure the gesture goes unnoticed. They are still busy chatting quietly so he needn't worry.
When Steve stands up to place his dishes in the dishwasher after eating in record time, Tony swallows his last bite, then turns to Bruce.
'I'll take another look at that glider thing today.' It had frustrated Tony greatly for he hadn't been able to figure out what makes the Chitauri tech work. It wounds his inventor pride to no end to not find what makes it tick.
'Yes, that's a good idea. I'll come down later and help.' Bruce looks away from his newspaper for the first time since Tony sat down. Finally having someone around who understands what Tony is talking about when he picks apart alien technology is a great relief.
The inventor nods, then stands up as well, leaving his plate right where it is. After all, it was supposed to be Bruce's anyway. 'Kay.' Tony heads for the fridge and gets a bottle of his vitamin drink before heading for the elevator. Steve is just a few steps in front of him.
He shoves Steve unceremoniously against the wall as soon as he is sure that no one would be able to see them, and leans up. Of course Steve is far too strong to be pushed around but he goes willingly enough, his blue eyes sparkling. The blond blushes slightly but his hands come up to Tony's hips. 'Morning, sweet cheeks.', Tony mumbles and presses their lips together.
Since their short tumble on the Helicarrier, they had dated each other which is a completely new concept to Tony. Keeping it a secret from their fellow Avengers had been rather difficult and uncomfortable but necessary. Tony and Steve had agreed upon this on their first date. The pressure of being watched and judged by all their friends is just too much for a fresh romance. Especially since they hadn't been able to tell how long any of this would go. And Tony wouldn't have been able to stand the stares of Natasha just waiting for him to mess this up. So, secrecy it is. Well, at least for now. It makes this all a little bit more interesting as well. Tony feels like a teenager again, hiding to sneak a kiss from his lover.
Until now the brunet man hadn't done anything that would endanger the relationship he has with Steve, he hadn't drunken so much alcohol, hadn't done one all-nighter since returning from the Mansion to the Tower after the repairs in New York had mostly been completed and hadn't turned after other people, hadn't even flirted with anyone. Seriously, he really deserves a medal for that.
Tony enjoys the view when he breaks the kiss and Steve slowly opens his baby blue eyes with the slightly dilated pupils. His lips are still parted. 'Good morning, Tony.', he whispers back, trying to regain some of his composure.
The brunet can't stop the twitch of his lips when he purses them. 'It's really rude to to let me wake up alone, you know?', he informs Steve.
A smile tugs at his lips. Steve's hand comes up to caress Tony's cheek. They share another kiss before Tony draws back and walks down the hallway. 'Got any plans tonight?', he asks, knowing Steve would be just a step behind him.
Steve throws a glance over his shoulder to make sure that no one had seen them, then walks after Tony. 'No, not yet.'
'How bout we go out for dinner?', Tony suggests, sounding as nonchalant as he can.
They reach the elevator and go down. 'Okay.', Steve says with a smile, leaning against the opposite wall, looking at Tony.
'Great.' Tony grins. 'Pick you up at seven?' That should give him enough time to tinker with the alien tech and get ready but not enough to get completely lost. Anyway, Bruce usually leaves at five so that would be a pretty good indicator. It's not that Steve would expect Tony to be on time anyway, he thinks.
Steve bites his lips. 'Better at half past.'
'Working for SHIELD again?' Tony rolls his eyes. Why the blond insists on still working for that organization though they got their own team he probably won't ever understand. He's done talking him out of it however, and simply accepts that as part of who Steve is, always wanting to do more.
Steve shrugs and the elevator stops at his floor.
'Okay, see you later.' Steve leans down and kisses him before stepping out and heading for his personal apartment. Because the Asgardians had left some weeks ago, Steve lives alone on his floor, the other three Avengers share the floor under him. This is of course completely in Tony's interest as none of the others would watch them all the time and they can sneak out of their rooms into the other's bed without being seen. Tony had placed him on that floor with the knowledge if one of the other inhabitants, namely Point Break and Reindeer Games, would see them by chance, that they would be the least likely to judge or tell on them. Well, at least Thor would surely not say a thing.
The doors shut and the elevator heads further down to his workshop in the basement where they keep the dangerous stuff that could blow up or endanger someone. Which apparently includes ninety percent of Tony's devises and experiments if he listens to the other Avengers. Bruce had organized their research and experiments so that everything would be in order even with twice as many scientists in the labs than Tony is used to.
But his personal research has to wait right now as SHIELD had granted them access to the technology the Chitauri had brought to Earth during the invasion five months ago and Tony and his science bro are busy analyzing it. And probably will be for the next few months. SHIELD has a close watch on the alien tech which the Avengers helped to collect and Tony helped lock up. The agents had been busy sorting through all the stuff, finally Fury allowed Bruce and Tony to access the most complete machines to find out how they work and find a way to reverse engineer them.
Tony grabs some of his tools, then immediately walks over to the glider with which the Chitauri had swooped down on the city. Without the main energy source, which had been the space ship Tony blew up with the nuke, it is difficult to make them work at all but Tony's got an idea to make it fly again. Somewhen in the middle Bruce comes in to help him and make sure that Tony doesn't get hit by the rising and falling air craft.
At quarter to seven Tony calls it a day and bids Bruce a good night who had stayed unusually long since they got caught up in one of their theories about the propulsion systems. He is sure if one of their friends suspects something it certainly is the calm scientist who watches him out of the corner of his eyes and wishes him a good evening.
When Tony showers, he remembers to hurry so he wouldn't still stand in a towel like he had at his and Steve's first official date. He had forgotten about the time and actually spend too much time trying to decide what best to wear (would a dark suit be better or should he rather wear a fancy one to impress the blond?). If Steve is anything, he is on time and never comes too late, so when Tony hadn't shown up in the common room at two minutes past eight (and Tony swears it hadn't been any later), their agreed meeting time, he had taken the elevator to check on the brunet man, finding him pondering over his wardrobe just clad in a towel. If Steve hadn't seen him naked before, well, who is he kidding? Tony doesn't care who sees him naked, so he had just excused himself that he made the blond wait and went on pulling a random suit and getting dressed. Their secrecy, which Tony had induced at their first date because he thought a repressed man from the forties couldn't possibly find enjoyment in being stared at in a crowded public restaurant, had let to them finding a nice small restaurant with waiters who don't care who they are and which coincidences to be also a place the paparazzi apparently haven't found yet. Tony might be used to them but the rest of his team isn't, especially Steve. He had wanted their first date to be about them and not about being photographed by a mad crowd who would never let them live this down.
Their first dinner had started with Tony talking to silence the unbearable silence but at the end of the evening, Steve had given him the sweetest kiss, making everything alright. Somehow the blond had managed to fill his stomach with butterflies like he had never felt before. From then on Tony had minutely planned their meetings so that he wouldn't be disappointed or lose interest.
Steve is a great friend once Tony had let him be and hadn't mocked him to shut him up. Even outside of the safe four walls of Tony's apartment they get along well by now, the team had noticed the change but blamed the alien invasion for Tony's slightly changed behavior.
His heart is beating painfully when the elevator stops on Steve's floor and he knocks on the door. How can he still be this excited when picking up his lover?, Tony wonders though it doesn't matter.
'Hey. Ready to go?', he asks when a smiling blond opens the door and greets him with a chaste kiss, freeing Tony of any doubt and anxiety.
'Sure.' Their fingers entwine as they step back in the elevator to head to their favorite restaurant.
Some hours later Tony still tries to catch his breath. No matter how often he falls into bed with Steve, he can't get used to the glorious feeling of touching the soldier, of just being with him. He is still draped over the blond, the warm arms encircling him and keeping him close to his side. Like most evenings they ended up in Tony's penthouse after a good meal and a walk through the empty park.
Tony has his face buried in the crook of Steve's neck, breathing in the sweat and his sweet vanilla scent. Steve runs his fingers lightly up and down his back, lulling the genius slowly to sleep.
'I love you.', Tony murmurs sleepily before falling asleep.