Tony was still an emotional wreck, hours after the encounter. He was still an explosion, reacting violently to everything in his workshop. Most of his distraught energy was focused toward working on his many suits, making improvements a little too fast. He had JARVIS crank up the volume as he worked.
Pepper ripping out his heart then ignoring him until Loki shows up.
He pulled up some plans and re-drew them.
Then she gets tired of dealing with him and dumps Latex Glove on him.
He tested a few blasters on his wall. Four holes were scorched right into it, light smoke coming out. He ignored JARVIS' inquiry about his tantrum. The AI should know what was upsetting him, damn it! He did live with him after all. He knew everything that went down in the house.
Steve was just too perfect.
He would never be like him. At least Tony wasn't selling weapons anymore. Stark Industries was going strong with alternative energy.
He was going through a downward spiral? Ha!
"I'm not going through any spiral, JARV! Look, I'm fine!" he yelled, mostly to himself of course.
"Sir-"
"Not now!"
He spent the rest of his evening burning off four months worth of hurt, frustration, all the pent-up feelings he had drank away. It all came rushing out at once, a little overwhelming. He managed to get much done through his meltdown and soon he had to come up with new stuff to do. He finished half of that and finally decided to rest. He fell into a fidgety, anxiety filled sleep which he woke up constantly from in the middle of the night. Eventually he managed to stay asleep, his dreams coming down to a manageable level.
A great breakdown was all Tony needed. He woke up feeling fine, not the best, but better than usual. He went to his room to get ready for the day. After a nice long hot shower he got dressed and headed to his kitchen for his daily black coffee.
He was surprised when he got there. Piling fresh pancakes onto a plate was Steve. The captain had cooked beautiful pancakes, each one looking golden crispy. The smell in the air was wonderful, a mix of the cakes and coffee that the captain had JARVIS brew ahead of time. Tony could feel his mouth water and stood back and watched his guest for a little while longer.
Somehow he had made many pancakes. To the side was an even bigger plate, staked at least a foot high with the food. Where did he even get that much mix, Tony thought. The only food he stored in the kitchen was takeout, canned food, and frozen dinners.
"Hello Tony," Steve said easily, giving him a hesitant half-smile. "Feeling...any better?"
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to go all PMSy on you." Tony said evenly, hoping the apology didn't sound too rough. Steve took it though.
"It's fine. Sometimes we need a good scream."
"Where did you get all the mix for this? And where did you learn how to use a pan? I thought my kitchen was state of the art." he changed the topic, not wanting to get too deep into that. Steve couldn't help but roll his eyes as he flipped a pancake over in the pan.
"We had pans back then, y'know. And stoves."
"Really?" Tony said sarcastically.
"I made the mix myself though," Steve went on, "I went to the store earlier today."
"It's only eight in the morning."
"I know. How are you up?" Steve joked. "I went at six. Finally got back."
With that the captain took out the last pancakes and fumbled with the stove to turn it off. It had also taken him ten minutes and a tutorial from the neighborhood friendly AI for him to get the thing on, but he wasn't going to tell Tony that. It was pretty embarrassing. He took out a plate and put a stack of three cakes onto it before grabbing the syrup. After a slight nod from Tony, he carefully poured the sticky-sweet maple substance over the cake and stepped back for a second to review his work.
It was a true piece of art. Any chef in a fancy renowned restaurant would be jealous of the skill, Tony decided. He almost didn't want to eat it; it was just too pretty. Steve had him sit down at the table and eat it properly with a fork and knife. Maybe having the elder man around wasn't too bad, Tony thought. Mr. Face of America could sure cook a mean breakfast.
"So, have you seen Loki?" Steve asked tentatively, hovering around the stack of pancakes.
"No. Not since yesterday." Tony shoved a piece of cake into his mouth, the food melting on his tongue.
"Does he always stay holed up in his room?" Steve asked again with the same tone.
"Eh. He's like a cat." he shrugged. "He did come out yesterday though."
Tony inwardly frowned, a bit concerned with Loki for the first time that morning. He halfway forgot he was even there. Had Tony's outburst scarred the poor guy? Loki wasn't in the most stable mental condition either, even worse than Tony he'd bet. Oh no.
"JARVIS," he said. "Can you get Loki to come out here for breakfast? He needs to interact like a normal person would."
"Sure thing."
"Well! Looks like we'll have bonding time. We might as well play chest or uno. I think I have a stack somewhere."
"Is he always so quiet?" Steve asked, but before Tony could answer Loki padded in. He hesitantly stopped a few times, turning slightly as if he wanted to run away. But eventually he made it to the two men.
"Hey Lokes," Tony said with a smile. "Want some pancakes? They are really good. Better than any restaurant in this city."
The captain beamed at Tony's words and quickly got together a plate for the frost giant. Loki quietly sat down, looking like an awkward turtle at the table. Steve joined them shortly afterwards with a sizeable amount on his plate and seated right across from Loki. It made the latter flinch.
"I'm sorry if I scared you yesterday." Tony said after a long awkward pause. Loki simply nodded.
"It's fine."
Another awkward pause at the table. Steve fidgeted, Loki tried to blend into the shadows, and Tony just watched the two.
"So," he said lazily. "what now?"