Unlocking the door, Tony lets himself into Steve's apartment with his key. The man was away on a mission, a favour for SHIELD to extract a high ranking agent with sensitive intel.
Steve was due back in a few hours, and Tony wants to plan something special for his return.
Tony makes his way through the apparent to the bedroom. He walks over to the bed and sets his bag of toys down.
He pulls his phone out of his pocket and checks the time. Two and a half hours, he had plenty of time.
Tony flops back onto the bed and kicks his shoes off. Closing his eyes, he a moment to breathe, relax. There was no need to rush.
Suddenly there is a sharp pain in his ankle. Tony sits up with a yelp, pulling his feet up onto the bed.
There is a quiet noise of something running under Steve's bed.
He watches, looking over the edge of the bed, waiting for it to show itself again, but to no avail. The room is silent and still.
Feeling brave, Tony reaches a hand down and scratches his fingers against the floor.
Tony lets out a startled cry as a ginger blur shoots out from under the bed and attacks his hand. He pulls his hand back, and the bed monster is gone just as quickly as it appeared.
"Steve..." he whispers to himself, getting up from the bed and sitting himself down on the floor.
A tiny ginger kitten springs out from under the bed. The little cat bites down on his pants leg and tugs.
Cautiously Tony reaches out towards the cat, gently stroking its back. It rolls over, letting go of his pants in favour of his fingers, it's little legs kicking away at his palm. "Hey there, who are you?"
"I see you met Flynn." says a voice Tony would recognize anywhere.
Tony turns around and flashes Steve a smile. "Uhhh, your back earlier than I expected," he says.
Steve frowns and looks down at his watch. "No, I... I'm right on time, actually."
Tony tries not to think too hard about the fact that he may have just spent two and a half hours playing with a cat. "Oh. Well, welcome home," he says. "I was planning something... but I got distracted I guess. When did you get a cat?" he asks.
"About a week ago. Found him behind a bin, far as I can tell he's a stray." Steve says, crouching down. The kitten, Flynn, rushes over to great Steve eagerly.
The End
Notes: For the 2020 Captain America/Iron Man Holiday Exchange
Community Prompt: "Adopting a kitten"