Chapter 2- Bonding
"Wait, do we actually have to do this?" Steve questioned to the group as they left Fury's office.
"Apparently so, Cap," Tony replied quickly as he walked ahead of everybody as usual. Bruce slipped his hand into Clint's and the archer smiled, squeezing it like it was second nature for him to do so. They had only just become an item, but their synchronicity was unquestionable.
After an incident involving misfired rockets, Nick Fury was clamping down on their teamwork skills. Obviously, Bruce and Clint had that down (as Steve had so unwittingly discovered one night in the kitchen), but it was about the others.
After the battle of New York, there was still some palpable tension between Steve and Tony and all of their disagreement. Tony would never fail to bring up the fact that he saved the world and Steve would grow increasingly tired of the gloating. He would always be grateful to Tony for laying down his life for the rest of the world, including himself, but Steve wasn't down for the excessive bragging. Steve would roll his eyes and Tony would snarl at him, that was their routine. After Natasha had joked about there being some sort of sexual tension between them, both parties had denied it and boiled it down to the other one being incessantly ignorant. They were Steve's words, anyway. Tony's were much more violent. Natasha had smirked and known that it would just be a matter of time before it came to a head.
Apparently, Nick Fury's mandated bonding session was the place for that.
Thor had a smile on his face as they walked to the common area. "Come on, friends, this is not so bad! At least there are no threats to this world. It is a good idea to get to know each other better! On Asgard, bonding exercises are common, though they often take place in the bedroom!"
Bruce chuckled. "I don't think that's much of an option here, buddy. Unless we were to invite Sam and Jane over and let all of our inhibitions go, then it's not really an option."
Tony gaped. "Are you forgetting there are some of us that are unattached?"
Steve nodded. "And not partial to a casual orgy?"
Natasha scoffed. "Not yet, anyway."
"What was that?" Tony pried.
Natasha simply smirked and walked ahead of them. Tony cocked his head to side and Steve slapped his arm.
"You shouldn't ogle her like that," Steve admonished, "she's more than just something to stare at. She is a person, Stark. How would you like it if all I did was ogle you and not acknowledge your value as a human being?"
Tony shrugged. "I don't think it would be the end of the world." With a quick wink, Tony went on to join Natasha. Steve frowned at the unusual feeling in his stomach as Clint slung an arm around his shoulders.
Clint sighed. "Face it, buddy. You're in love with Tony Stark."
Steve opened his mouth to vehemently deny this preposterous accusation, but found himself unable to. For reasons unexplainable, he said nothing and moved on with his day.
Sam and Jane understandably excused, the group found themselves settled around the coffee table, looking at each other expectantly. Everybody seemed to turn to Tony, the social butterfly of the group. Under different circumstances, it would be Thor but his lack of Midgardian knowledge meant that Tony was their social guru and thus the leader of this little bonding session between superheroes.
"So what is actually happening here?" Steve posited. "Is the exercise to see how long we can quietly stare at each other?"
Bruce rolled his eyes, sensing that Steve was in a mood, but let it go when his eyes lingered on Tony a little too long. One look at Clint told him everything he needed to know. Oh. It's like that. Clint just nodded and continued observing Tony as he had been doing for the past ten minutes.
Tony scoffed. "There's clearly awkwardness between us, Cap. All we've done together is save the world…well, besides Hulk and Katniss over there, but that's a different story. I propose we make this mandatory S.H.I.E.L.D get together more exciting? Alcohol and a high school teenage girl game? And before you say it, Cap, we know you can't get drunk. This is for us."
Steve scowled at him, feeling his heart thump in his chest when Tony locked eyes with him. What is going on? Could Clint be right? No, surely not!
When Tony returned with several bottles of alcohol from his personal collection, Natasha groaned.
"Please tell me we're not playing Truth or Dare," she pleaded.
Tony stopped for a second. "Huh. We weren't going to, but I actually think that's an excellent idea, Widow."
When Clint turned to Natasha, she winked subtly at him and nobody else saw it but him. He nodded, understanding immediately. Wait a few rounds until Tony gets into the game and drinks a little. Then goad him into picking dare if he hasn't already and then dare him to kiss Cap. Got it. Piece of cake.
Steve paused. "Does Truth or Dare sound like what I think it sounds like?"
Thor hummed in agreement. "I'm with Captain Rogers. This sounds like a farce."
Tony inhaled and patiently explained the rules, ignoring the way that Steve was looking at him. That was a can of worms not to be opened.
Thor rubbed his large hands together. "We must begin immediately! I will not back down from a challenge."
So the game began.
"Nat, truth or—?"
Natasha snorted. "Do you even need to finish that sentence?"
Clint nodded. "Dare it is then. Call Sam and get him worked up on speakerphone."
"Really, Clint?" Bruce chuckled.
Natasha shrugged. "I'm all for embarrassing my boyfriend."
Steve smirked a little and sat forward, able to take enjoyment out of Sam's discomfort. It sounded worse in his head. Sam had made him uncomfortable many times in their friendship.
Nat listened for the dial tone and smirked when Sam picked up. "Hey, baby." She eyed the other Avengers and put her finger to her lips.
Sam's voice was cracked and strained. "You okay, Nat? I thought it was superhero game night tonight?"
Natasha moaned seductively. "Oh, it is, but I slipped away for a while. I needed you."
Tony's mouth fell open at how in character Natasha was getting. He felt something in him stir and he tried to suppress it. He didn't need that right now. Clint knew how this was going to end, he had witnessed it before. Thor was unsure of what was happening but was definitely intrigued. Bruce and Steve stared at each other, as embarrassed as the other clearly was. They were more upstanding than the others, not that they didn't have their private sides. Bruce, in fact, was incredibly kinky when with Clint and appreciated some good foreplay. Clint also appreciated it, very much.
Sam coughed. "You just can't resist me, can you?"
Steve rolled his eyes in sync with Tony, making Bruce smirk at them.
Natasha bit her lip. "Even just thinking about you is getting me so hot."
And that was all Steve registered. His blush was a deep red and he had tried to focus on other things. The way he saw it, sexual acts and exchanges were for the bedroom and not to be witnessed by anybody else. He didn't judge Clint for making her do it or Natasha for actually doing it, but it wasn't something he would have felt comfortable with himself.
Natasha looked to Steve. "Truth or dare, fearless leader?"
Steve paused. "Uh, truth?"
Natasha huffed, eyeing Clint pointedly. No, it's too soon and too easy. Clint understood.
"Tell us all your first impressions of us." Natasha thought that was a smart play. It was getting tensions rising between Steve and Tony, making everything so much more heated by the time their inevitable union came around.
Steve nodded steadily. "Uh, they were mostly in terms of professionality, I guess."
"I mean personally, Steve."
Steve nodded in understanding. He rattled off his impressions of them all, each team member satisfied enough with their descriptions:
Thor- reliable and kind.
Clint- easy going and resilient.
Bruce- intelligent and respectful
Natasha- wise and fearless
Except for Tony.
Tony- hot headed and arrogant.
Normally, Tony would have been absolutely fine with such a description, but something about Steve telling him his thoughts put him out a little bit. In reality, though, Steve had two other words picked out for Tony.
Gorgeous and alluring.
At the last minute, he had decided not to share them with everyone, especially Tony. Even though he figured everyone knew about the connection he and Tony supposedly shared, he wanted to keep his feelings to himself. He wasn't sure if his words would have hurt Tony or not. The man had a thick shell, but those who cared about him could easily pierce that and that was what he hated more than anything. Wait.
How did Steve even know that?
Could it be that he was paying more attention to Tony Stark than he realised? Maybe Clint was right.
I mean, it wouldn't be that out of the question to have feelings for Tony. Did my heart stop a little when he carried the nuke into the portal? Yes. Did I find it hard to breathe when he winked to me earlier? Possibly. Oh, god, how could Steve have missed it?
"Oh my god," he whispered to himself. Tony's eyes flickered over to him but flickered away just as quickly.
Clint turned to Natasha. Anytime now.
"Steve? It's your turn?" Bruce prompted and Steve came back to reality, continuing the game. A few more rounds passed. Tony had to drink three vodka shots in lieu of answering a truth question. He knew what it was going to be and wasn't ready for that yet. Clint was dared to eat something of Thor's choice off of Bruce's body, which the archer thoroughly enjoyed (and so did everybody else for that matter). Thor answered every truth question with no shame, even admitting to fantasising about each of the team members in various sexual positions. Tony made a mental note to get Thor to elaborate, but now was not that time.
Finally, Natasha had had enough. After answering a question about her sex life, she turned to a slightly inebriated Tony. "Truth or dare?"
Tony hiccupped and blinked rapidly. "Dare. Why not?"
Natasha shrugged. "Say or do what you've been meaning to for weeks now."
Steve had no idea what that meant until Tony glowered at Natasha and turned his whole body towards him. The eye contact alone was more than enough to make Steve tingle, never mind to overwhelming discomfort that threatened to swallow him whole.
"Steve fucking Rogers," Tony began, slurring his words slightly. "Where the hell do I even begin? Fuck, Steve, I don't even know what to say. I guess it's easier to just tell you straight up." Another hiccup. "I love you, Steve. I love you so much that I didn't even think it was possible to keep it myself. Apparently, I didn't, considering you're the only one who didn't know. I know that I'm slightly drunk and you're probably not going to take this seriously, but it's true. And I don't care if you feel the same way or not, no that's a lie, I absolutely care. But you said it yourself tonight, I'm hot-headed and arrogant, everything Captain America should not be involved with."
Steve blinked past his bewilderment and walked over to Tony, pressing his lips firmly against the other man's to shut him up. Tony's words got lost in Steve's mouth and all was forgotten as Steve drank in the taste of whiskey strongly on Tony's tongue. Steve pulled back and kissed him more chastely this time.
"I guess it's a good thing that Captain America isn't here to disapprove of your language and tell you to watch your manners. But I'm Steve and Steve thinks that Tony is amazing and perfect and Steve loves Tony, too."
Tony frowned. "Okay, you should really stop talking about yourself in third person, it's creepy. But I'm all about the kissing, the kissing's good. More of that."
Steve smirked and kissed him again, sitting fully on Tony's lap now, sinking into the chair below them.
Bruce and Clint felt themselves getting a little bit aroused by the display in front of them and were definitely going to use that as inspiration in their games. Natasha was proud of her scheming and Thor looked bemused.
He shook his head to clear it. "Was I the only one who didn't see that coming?"
