Chapter Two:


Tony watched Steve's receiding back till he was out of sight. 'What the fuck?' Tony was still standing there in shock as his friends bombarded him with questions.

"Leave him be guys." a new voice said.

Tony turned to see Bruce, still in his purple speedo and suit jacket, coming over to him.

"You sure about this Tony?" Bruce asked quietly.

Tony nodded absent mindedly. "I think so, I just sort of answered without really thinking. . . nobody's ever just. . . asked me out to dinner."

Bruce nodded simpathetically. He knew how the true performers got treated, and he knew that when someone came along who didn't treat them like that it was hard to resist.

"Well then, go out and have fun, He seemed like a nice enough guy." Bruce told him, "Though apparently he's friends with Thor."

Tony raised an eyebrow at that, "You mean that customer of Loki's?"

"Yeah, though he would love to be more than a customer from what I've heard. But his royal highness will of course not let him."

Tony chuckled, Loki was a haughty bastard, and even though Tony had had the hots for the taller man when the other had first started working at S.h.i.e.l.d, he now just pitied the guy.

He had plenty of customers but never anyone special. Even Tony had had Pepper for a while. But when your boyfriend works as a stripper it's hard to hold your relationship together.

Especially if you're jealous. Which Pepper was, often. "Alright well, I've got two more acts I'm a part of, so I'll see you on Stage." Bruce said as he walked off.

Tony mumbled a farewell and prepared for his next appearence.

When Tony went on stage he could feel Steve's eye's on him, and he kept finding himself glancing at the man's table. Dying to see that smile again.

He went through the rest of his routine and finally got off the stage 30 minutes later.

When he went back to his room he quickly changed into his 'street clothes'. A pair of worn denim jeans and a black band t-shirt. Pepper used to always tell him that if she didn't know she never would have supected he was a stripper or even Bi from his street clothes.

He'd just laughed and said that was the point, it was enough that he got the 'whore' treatment at work. He didn't want it in the streets. Not that he couldn't take care of himself if he needed to, it was just less of a hassle. And he liked these clothes anyway.

5 minutes later Tony heard a knock on his door and opened it to reveal a slightly red Steve.

"Ah, Hey." He said with another of those smiles that might have been the real reason Tony had said yes.

'How the hell could anyone have a smile that pure?' Tony wondered.

"Hey, so where did you want to go?" Tony asked as he stepped out and closed the door behind him.

Steve bit his lips as he thought, an endeaing action that made Tony smile. "How about we go out for burgers?" Tony asked. "There's a great place just around the corner."

Steve lit up, "Sure!"

Tony lead him through the club and out the back door into the alley. They walked in silence at first before Tony finally couldn't take it anymore.

"So Steve, What do you do?" Tony asked as they neared the burger place.

"Well I was in the National Guard for a couple of years, but these days I'm an Art teacher."

Tony tried to stop his laughter from bubbling up but he failed.

He laughed even more at Steve's confused face. "I'm sorry." He said as he wiped his eyes. "It's just, your a teacher. . . I do what I do. . . It's kind of funny."

Steve shrugged with a smile, "If you say so."

After they ordered their food and found a table Tony started asking more questions. "So, do you work at one of the schools here?" He asked.

Steve nodded, "I work at the highschool just up the road actually. It's an okay job, But it would be nice to sell some of my art. I'd love to be able to live off just that."

Tony nodded, "Yeah, you gotta do what you gotta do."

"What about you?" Steve asked, "Is there something else you would like to do or are you happy with what you do now?"

Tony eyed him, trying to figure out if he was being condecening or not. He didn't seem to be, so Tony answered truthfully. "Actually, I always wanted to be an arcitech. But school wasn't what was on my mind when I was in my early twenties."

Steve nodded, "So how did you starting working there?"

Tony grimaced, "Well, I was twenty-four, broke, and starving. The place had just opened up and there was a sign in their window 'Strippers/Performers Wanted' So I went in, figure I'd seen enough to do some myself. Fury gave me a chance, and when I started bringing in customers I got moved up. Life is pretty good for me now but. . ."

"It's not where you thought you would be?" Steve finished for him.

Tony nodded, not looking Steve in the eye at first. But after a moment he felt a warm hand take his and he looked up in surprise.

"You know it's never to late to do what you want to do."

Tony scoffed but didn't move his hand. "If I quit I don't really have any other way to support myself."

"You could find another way. Or just go to college part time till you feel comfortable quitting."

Tony looked at him, that was actually a good idea. "Well... I guess that might work..."

Steve smiled at him, "You seem like a really great guy Tony. You deserve to have things work out for you."

Tony grimaced, he'd said it, those words Tony hated with a passion. 'You Deserve' because he never did deserve anything. Steve may think that, but he didn't actually know him. "Look, I don't think that would work out for me." Tony said, pulling back his hand. "Things never do."

"Maybe you just need someone to work them out for you."

Tony's head shot up again to search Steve's gaze. This guy couldn't possibly be for real. Could he? "What are you, suggesting?" Tony asked hesitantly. To his surprise this brought a light blush to Steve's cheeks.

"I uh, I was just saying, maybe if you had someone helping you it would be easier."

Tony gave a bitter chuckle, "Yeah right, who in their right mind would want to help me?"


I'm sorry Tony got such a short chapter compared to Steve's but Steve's was only that long because a lot had to happen. I can't help that. Tony will get the sex chapter though, I promise!