Author's Note: Wooboy, I got busy there for a bit! But we are back and it's time for a bit of fluff before we get back to the fun tension! I'm sure we all need it as much as our favorite boys!
Tony stopped when he didn't feel the blond lumberjack on his heels. He turned to see Steve looking 3 levels of stricken.
"Hey, Cap. Not fair pulling the kicked puppy act when you get accused, you know," Tony said suddenly feeling like the bad guy. "I'm sure we had some kind of HR rules I've abused the hell outta in between commenting on Clint and Natasha's asses years ago. Oh, yours was commented on often enough too, leather does wonders for you stealth soldier types." He was babbling. Why was he babbling? "So...take a joke, okay?"
But really, was Tony joking? Or was he just feeling the consequences of calling the man out on his actions last night?
They had so much to talk about, this seemed so low on the list of sins, but it was the one Tony for some reason was focusing on. It was a pleasant, more agreeable sin than the others at least.
"Tony…" Steve murmured his name, but it got Tony's attention all the same, looking up to see it was Steve's turn to avoid eye contact. "When everything went to hell, I thought you were dead. And I…" It had to be a trick of the light to that Steve's eyes looked shiny, it had to be. Steve looked up, gave Tony a weak smile and walked forward.
Tony stood stock still, feeling frozen to the spot as he watched Steve with open fascination.
Steve closed the distance and lifted a hand to cup the back of Tony's head before pressing his lips to Tony's forehead like he'd done in the surveillance video. Tony's eyes slid shut of their own accord, but he kept his hands at his sides against every instinct he had to reach out and touch the soldier.
He felt the pressure change and realized Steve had pressed his forehead to Tony's. He couldn't open his eyes right now, he couldn't be that close to those deep blue eyes.
"I should have been there with you, Tony. Shoulder to shoulder. Not wondering if the last time I'd seen you was in Siberia..." Steve's thick voice was not hard to read, nor was the undertone. But Tony needed space or he was going to push this to a point he highly doubted Steve intended it to go to.
Feeling Steve's breath on his cheek and lips made Tony want to lean that little bit forward, instead he bit down on his tongue hard and rocked backwards. Being touch starved was no excuse to push what seemed to be an innocent display of affection. Though some niggling, stupidly hopeful part of him said this didn't feel innocent. More the reason to stop it now.
"I'm sure Barnes fretted the whole time you talked about coming here that I'd 'take off your head' the moment you turned your back on me," Tony spat, opening his eyes to see the pained look on Steve's face before the soldier could put up his defenses.
Tony regretted it the moment it came out of his mouth, but it worked. Steve dropped his hand away and stepped back, leaving Tony to breath only his own air. Tony felt cold.
"Yeah, well...none of us walked away from Siberia in one piece," Steve agreed, but there was no heat in it. Just pain. The soldier shook his head. "I'll get us some food going."
Steve made to walk past and Tony silently cursed himself before grabbing a passing upper arm to stop the soldier. He felt the iron muscles coil tightly under his touch. Whether because Steve was surprised by the touch or prepping for a fight was unclear. But Tony still held on for a second before speaking.
"Okay…" Tony finally said, feeling as tired as he sounded.
"Okay, what?" Steve asked, turning to look at the genius's profile curiously.
Tony took a deep, calming breath and exhaled before turning his head to look at Steve. "Let's talk, really talk. We'll order something food wise for now. Let's just...talk."
Tony felt as much as saw Steve relax, relief mixed with trepidation on the soldiers face. Tony didn't blame him, this was not gonna be fun. But hopefully, they could actually talk this time.
Steve nodded, "Okay, let's talk."