The Sun was already up and Tony and Steve developed some sort of pattern when it came to living in Steve's apartment. Each morning, Steve, after his morning run, woke up Tony, forced him into the bathroom and, in the meantime, prepared breakfast for both of them. And it was one of those mornings, when they already ate and Tony was now sitting on the floor in the living room, tinkering with the toaster. He was whining that he needs to have something to play with, as the only electrical appliance he was allowed to take was his goatee trimmer, and after threatening Steve that he will shave him at night, Steve decided that he can mess with the toaster. Brunet just took it, grinning happily, promising that he will buy a new one later. In fact, they both decided to change the apartment a little, nothing fancy, still keep it simple, but some equipment needed to be changed for a new one. Despite his initial protest, Tony was getting used to living here. Still, he couldn't wait to get back home (only two days more!), but it was nice being so close to Steve. The Avengers Tower was a massive building and they often had to ask JARVIS where the other was, here, there was no such problem. So, when Steve finally got back from the kitchen and sat on the couch, Tony looked briefly at him with a smile, before going back to playing. It was when he heard a deep sigh from him, which made him look back at his fiance. Something was troubling him.
"Steve, you okay?" he asked, putting the toaster down.
"Hm? Yeah, babe, I'm fine," Captain smiled. Tony just rolled his eyes, standing up, plopping on the couch next to Steve.
"Do we always have to go through that? Just tell me," brunet smiled, elbowing him gently in the side. Steve frowned, huffing a bit. Tony moved to sit on Steve's lap, his knees hugging blonde's sides.
"Is this about the bet coming to end?" he asked, feeling that Steve slightly flinched. "It is. Steve, forget about it, okay? If you want we can stay here for a bit longer," he smiled. "I mean, yes, sleeping conditions are terrible, and your bathroom is a joke, but I'm starting to like it here. It's like a mini-break," he smiled more, lifting Steve's head by holding his chin. But it wasn't the facial expression he expected. Tony thought that his boyfriend will be relieved, will smile and dip him to the back, kissing him, happy with what he just said. But Steve just frowned deeper, looking concerned. He sighed again, and gently moved Tony's hand from his face.
"Tony, I want to go back," he blurted, looking at his baffled fiance.
"What?"
"I want to go back, babe. I kinda miss being in the tower.." he looked away, biting his lip. "I miss our floor, my gym, our bed and I miss that we could be as loud as we wanted to, without worrying about banging on the ceiling after 10 p.m.," he said angrily, rolling his eyes to look at the ceiling, sending it a glare. Tony was just sitting there, on Steve's lap, with a dumbfounded expression.
"Tony," Steve looked back at him, "I know, that I accused you of being spoiled, but I think that living with you made me also a bit spoiled. So what do you say that we pack our things and go back?" he smiled lightly, cupping brunet's face. Tony blinked some more and slowly, slowly his lips started to curl in a grin.
"So that means.."
"Yeah," Steve interrupted him, letting go.
"You sure?" his grin got a bit wider.
"Yes."
"So…"
"Yhm."
"Can I.."
"Yeah, let's be over with it," Steve made a face.
Tony bounced a little, before shooting his arms up.
"I won!" he shouted with a victorious smile. Steve laughed and the moment Tony raised his arms, he gripped him by the ribs, pinning him on his back on the couch, making him squirm and yelp in surprise.
"Didn't you tell me to forget about the bet?" he smiled, holding Tony's wrists away, sitting on his hips.
"I did, but not when I won," he grinned.
"Oh, you think you won here?" Steve leaned down, pecking his lips, once, twice, more times, not long enough for Tony to deepen the kiss. Tony pouted at that, but Steve just kissed him more, nibbling on his lower lip gently, but pulling back each time he wanted to kiss back.
"Stop that!" he yelped, getting frustrated. Steve just smiled, continuing, now kissing his neck, just the right places. Tony let out a slow moan. "Ok, ok, nobody won!" he gave up, trying to free his hands. Steve kissed his nose and let go, sitting back.
"That wasn't fair!" brunet growled.
"What? Knowing my way with you wasn't fair? I think it was fair," Steve smirked.
"Well, you forgot about one thing.." Tony scooted closer to the blonde, leaning on his side. "I know my way with you too," he murmured and kissed his soldier's ear, next gently bit his earlobe, knowing that it always made him go weak. And it worked.
They finished packing and Steve called for a limo from SHIELD to pick them up. He noticed that Tony had now less baggage, and the brunet explained with a shrug that he is leaving some of his clothes here in case, they would need some break, and here was closer than his home in Malibu. Steve smiled and locked his apartment and they got down just in time when the limo arrived. Tony was bouncing happily all the way back, waiting for a moment when the car will stop, so he could run off to his workshop, say hi to JARVIS, hug his suits, hug his cars, hug his robots, heck, he will even hug Dummy, he was just hoping that the little bugger didn't break anything while he was gone. When the limo stopped in the garage, Tony, after a quick kiss, sprinted out from it. Steve just laughed and shook his head as he took their baggages and took the ride to their floor.
"Welcome home, sir," JARVIS greeted him, when he came out from the elevator.
"Hi JARVIS," Steve smiled, "Good to be back."
Tony was roaming through his workshop, sliding his fingers on the counters, taking tools in his hands just to put them back. He missed being here. No more playing with toaster, while pretending that it is an atomic pile driver, now he can build a real one! When he was getting ready to work, he felt something bump him in the shoulder. He turned around to see Dummy's robotic arm.
"Yeah, hi Dummy, I already said hi to you remember?" he patted the robot and turned around again. Another bump. "Dummy, I know, I missed you too," Tony said slightly irritated, hoping to be left alone. Bump. "What?!" he turned around again. Dummy was chirping and pointing with his arm to the ceiling.
"Hm? What? Up?" Dummy nodded with another chirp. "I should go up? I just got here, why should I.." he turned around, just to be bumped again.
"Okay! One more time and I will.." he turned to face Dummy who was now holding a Captain America plushie. It was a really old one, one that Tony got from his dad and kept. Steve found it one day and had most of fun, rubbing it in Tony's face. But now the doll had its special place in his workshop, right next to the picture with his dad. Tony looked at Dummy and gently took the doll.
"Steve. You want me to go to Steve?" he asked insecurely, while Dummy chirped more, swinging his mechanical arm up and down, as nodding. Tony sighed, putting the doll back on the desk, just to scratch Dummy fondly, to which the bot reacted with a whirr. Tony smirked. "I think you're right on this one. Good boy," he praised.
When Tony got out on their floor, he went straight to the bedroom and saw Steve unpacking their things.
"Leave it, Cap, we can do that later," he rolled his eyes, approaching him. Steve stood up and smiled at him. Tony got even closer and looked with soft, blurry eyes at him.
"God, I missed you.." he whispered. Steve reached his hand to cup Tony's face, but Tony then moved to the side, past him and plopped on the bed. "I really, really missed you," he chirped, hugging the covers of their enormous bed. Steve stood there for a while, his hand halfway where his fiance's face was a few seconds ago. He should probably feel offended by that..
Tony was nuzzling into his 1000 thread Egyptian cotton covers when he felt a 6 feet tall and nearly 220 pounds of a super soldier, pouncing on his back, pressing him deep into the mattress.
"GAH!" Tony shot his head up. "Oh God, Steve, you're heavy!" he whined. Steve just giggled and pressed him more, making them both bounce on the soft bed.
"What do you say if we test if our bed is still so comfortable like a week ago?" he smiled, brining his head down to nip Tony's ear. Tony turned his face to the side to look at him, a happy lustful smile plastered on his face.
"Mmmm, I say let's do it. And later we can test the couch. And maybe floor and some walls. And definitely the bathtub."
"Bathtub?" Steve repeated puzzled.
"Yeah," Tony grinned. "Your bathtub was too small for both of us."
"You didn't seem to mind," he said softly.
"Need to do a comparison. You know, for future reference," Tony was still grinning. Steve chuckled, getting off him, rolling him on his back.
"And we don't have to worry about being quiet after 10 p.m.?" Steve grinned.
"Steve. We don't have to worry about being quiet at all," Tony rolled his eyes, before moving his head to kiss him.
"MY FRIENDS! I HEARD YOU WERE BACK FROM YOUR JOURNEY! COME AND JOIN US, WE'VE THROWN YOU A PARTY TO CELEBRATE YOUR RETURN!"
Tony's head hit the covers, and he let out a long, irritated groan hearing Thor's voice echoing through the floor. Steve just smiled brightly and kissed his forehead.
"Come on, we will have all the time we want later on," he smiled, standing up, dragging his fiance along. Tony huffed. He didn't know what was worse - neighbors or floor-mates.
A week later
Tony was in the kitchen, tossing pancakes on the pan. It took a while, but he was getting a hang of it. Steve was sitting at the table, glancing over his newspaper, checking on Tony. He knew that Tony tried but he already managed to burn himself few times, nearly caused a fire, not mentioning the time, when his pancakes turned out to act like rubber balls - they were literally bouncing off the floor. Till this day, he didn't want to admit what he had added. And now he put two portions of pancakes, one plate sliding closer to Steve. Steve folded the newspaper and put it aside, examining the food. They looked alright. Not burnt. He took a bite and after chewing for a longer while swallowed.
"Safe," he smiled at Tony, who was looking anxiously at him, "you can eat." Tony smiled back and dug in the breakfast. Steve looked at him for a while, before eating more.
"What do you say if next week I'll show you how to make spaghetti?" he smiled. Tony smiled back, maple syrup leaving a shiny coat on his lips.
"Sounds good. But I'll finally teach you how to use the dishwasher," he grinned. Steve nodded and they continued to eat in silence. Maybe Steve will end with eating pancakes and pasta till the rest of his life, but as long as they were made by Tony - he didn't mind.
