Here's another Disclaimer:I do not own the Marvel Cinematic Universe, but I have enjoyed watching many-a first dance.

Here's another Soulmark AU Reminder in case you've forgotten since the last chapter that you just finished reading before clicking here: Everyone has a Soulmark, a tattoo of the first words their Soulmate will say to them.


Dinner was over, the speeches had been made, and cake had been consumed. The bride and her groom looked nervously at one another at the center of the dance floor and everyone's attention.

The music started. One chord, and a beat, and the lyrics would begin. They would be in their own world, just the two of them, no matter how many other people were watching, taking pictures, or shouting encouraging things at them ("Thanks, Buck, I think I know how to slow dance").

Steve smiled as Darcy wound her hands up behind his neck and laced her fingers together. This was it: their first dance together as husband and wife, appropriately chosen for its importance in bringing them together in the first place.

They had time for one sway.

And then the music stopped.

"Sorry, everyone, I must have missed the cue to give my speech."

Darcy rested her forehead on Steve's chest in frustration. Steve glared at the DJ, whose microphone had been appropriated by The Matchmaker. The DJ gave a shrug that Steve interpreted as, "what was I supposed to do? He's Tony Freaking Stark!"

"I need to get this said before you dance, so just hang on a second," Tony told the brand new couple, then looked out to address the crowd. "A lot of you know that if it were not for a certain person, we would not be here today. And that person... is me."

Steve sighed a long-suffering sigh, and Darcy nudged him with her hip. Her look was trying to assure him that this would all be over soon, so he sighed again, resignedly, and looked back up at the stage.

"Steve and Darcy are together today not just because they met at my party that I insisted they both attend, but because they danced at that party. And they would not have danced if it had not been for a certain person. That was also me."

Darcy shifted her feet and looked around. Natasha had promised to make sure that Tony would not get the opportunity to make their day all about him, but she was nowhere to be seen. Darcy hoped she was off on a secret mission to thwart evil, because her mission to thwart Stark had failed.

"Now, I've been accused many times of being... I think it's been cleverly phrased as, 'a cheating cheater who cheats.' I believe in leveling the playing field as much as the next guy, but I am being completely honest with all of you," he paused to enjoy the laughs of the guests, "when I tell you that I had no idea that these two were Soulmates. No hidden cameras, no eavesdropping equipment, nothing. I just didn't want Miss Lewis—ah, it's Mrs. Rogers now, of course—to get bored or be lonely while her friend," he gestured at Jane, "was on the other side of the world. There's nothing worse than knowing a totally awesome party is going on upstairs while you're alone in your apartment downstairs."

Steve rolled his eyes and lifted a hand from Darcy's waist to give Tony a wave: wrap it up.

Tony cleared his throat and nodded at Steve. "So there we all were: me, enjoying myself, Darcy, not enjoying herself, and Steve, trying to check out Darcy pretty much any time that he thought nobody was watching." This earned another laugh from the guests, and one from Darcy. "You're not as sneaky as you think you are, Cap, because I noticed. And Natasha noticed. And Thor noticed. I think even Bruce noticed." Laughter rippled through the room again.

"But the only one to take the initiative was yours truly. And it wasn't because I had any inside information, or because I knew in my heart that they were meant to be. I just wanted them to be happy. Both of them."

Tony looked down at Steve and Darcy. He was pleased to see that Steve looked less annoyed, and in fact was grudgingly smiling at him.

Addressing the crowd again, Tony continued. "And so they danced. And it was during that dance that they spoke to one another for the first time. I'm told it was very romantic."

Darcy tugged on Steve's neck to pull his attention back to her, and he smiled down at her.

Up on the stage, Tony was winding down. "That brings us to today. They're here, we're here, and everybody's happy." The guests laughed again.

Tony paused, as if trying to decide how to end. "It's hard to articulate how happy I am for them. I'm pretty sure that I'm almost as happy for them as they are to have each other." He raised a glass, and the rest of the room followed, with a sprinkle of applause. "Congratulations, you two. And you're welcome. Now, dance."

People fall in love in mysterious ways
Maybe it's all part of a plan
Me, I fall in love with you every single day
And I just wanna tell you I am


Author's Note (February 14th, 2016): Happy whatever whatever! I hope you enjoyed this adorable headcanon that I have turned into ficcanon. (That's A Thing, right? FicCanon? If it's not A Thing, I'm making it A Thing.) Go read more awesome fics in the Silly Words for the Silly Soul(mate fic) Series on ao3, or check out the behind the scenes whatever whatever on my fic blog, iwillwriteyourfic DOT blogspot DOT com.