"What's this?" Tony asks, resting his hands on his hips. "One day. One day is all I asked."
It had been so long since they had been able to take a vacation, all of their schedules were completely booked months in advance. They had all been looking forward to this well-deserved break. The only downside that Tony had an important meeting with the R&D team today meaning he had to miss the first day of their vacation.
Was it too much to ask that James and Steve keep themselves out of trouble, just for one day?
Tony removes his tie with a sigh and tosses it over the back of a chair before stepping further into the hotel bedroom.
"Either of you wants to explain this?" He asks tiredly.
Steve was laid across the bed on his stomach, his back and neck bright red; extremely sunburnt.
"Not my fault," James says gruffly, arms folded across his chest. "I left him by the pool to get somethin' to eat," the man says. James was sat in a chair that he had pulled up beside the bed and was watching over Steve protectively.
Tony lets out another sigh. "At what point did you think that was a good idea?" he asks.
"I don't know, I thought Steve could be trusted enough to take care of himself in the sun."
"Yeah, well, we are talking about the guy who took a 70-year ice nap," Tony says, giving Steve a stern look.
"The ice doesn' count" Steve mumbles. "Wasn' my fault."
"Shhh, you're currently in time out," Tony says before turning back to James. "What made you think he was going to be any better sunbathing?"
James' lips twitch up in a tiny smile. "I honestly don't know," the man says. Tony fights the urge to throw his hands up into the air and scream in frustration. Why did he fall for these two idiots again?
"Despite what you may think, I am completely capable of taking care of myself," Steve mutters into the pillow, his face turning a bright red to match his burnt skin.
"Uh-huh, right. Which is why you are currently impersonating a cooked lobster," Tony says. He can't help the small smile of his own pulling at his lips.
Steve huffs and turns away, moving carefully.
Tony makes his way over to the bed and sits down beside Steve. He lays a hand down gently on Steve's back. He can feel the heat radiating from the man's red skin. "At least you heal fast," he says, "You'll be all better soon, probably by morning."
He runs his fingers through Steve's short blond hair.
"Come on. Up" Tony says after a while. "A bath would do us all a load of good" Steve lets out a whine as Tony helps him up from the bed.
Tony leads Steve to the bathroom, James following closely behind. He passes Steve off to James as he starts running them a lukewarm bath.
When the bath was full, all three of them get in, sitting Steve in the middle. "Nice tub," James says, looking around the bathroom as he gently pours water over Steve's shoulders.
"If you think this is great, I should take you to Atlantis the Palm in Dubai. The views are amazing. I didn't really have the chance to really appreciate it though the last time I was there." He says.
"Wherever you go, we'll follow" Steve mumbles, his eyes slipping closed. James mumbles something out that sounds to be an agreement.
"I know," Tony says, smiling softly.
"Good," James says, reaching around Steve to grab Tony's shoulder, pulling them all closer together.
They sit there in the tub as the water slowly cools, basking in each other's presence, happy and content. Finally relaxing for what felt like the first time in months.
The End
Notes: In response to a prompt by Faustess in the stuckony_summer_stocking_2020 collection.
Inspired by the prompt: "At what point did you think that was a good idea?" + with "Despite what you think, I am completely capable of taking care of myself" thrown in there too 😃
