A few weeks after the Hug- as Tony's brain insists on calling it, much to his resigned horror- he manages to build the world's first truly unbreachable safe. The safe is made of pure vibranium and locked with the most complex lock ever made by anyone in Earth's history; it took even authorized personnel (aka Tony and no one else) a solid fifteen minutes to open, He even called in a favor with Thor to have Norse symbols to ward off thieves carved into it.
Tony placed his coffee inside and sealed it in, confident that when they ran out of coffee again, he, at least, would have some.
A few days later, (on a Tuesday, I think), they indeed ran out of coffee. It was a beautiful morning in New York. The smog was thinner than usual, pigeons were valiantly attempting to paint the entire city white, and the sound of honking could not be heard from so high up in the tower, regardless of how loud it got below. In short, is was nearly a perfect morning, missing only one thing.
Bruce and Steve had already left to go pick up more from the store down the street, as well as other groceries that Tony didn't care about, but he didn't want to wait, nor did he have to.
He practically skipped over to his special safe, cheerfully submitted to all of the careful security procedures he'd put in place, and pulled open the heavy door to reveal... nothing. For a moment he stared in wonder, thinking that it must have been an extra security measure he'd put in place and just didn't remember, or that the sheer awesome power of his brilliance had vaporized the coffee within seconds after he shut the door. A detailed search of the inside of the safe soon followed, only to reveal what Tony knew in his heart of hearts: the coffee was gone.
Dejected, he wandered listlessly towards the kitchen, hoping that Steve and Bruce had returned with the next dose of his lifeblood. He couldn't figure out what had happened. Did he get drunk and try to sober up with it? He didn't recall doing anything like that recently. Somehow he ignored that he hadn't for months because he knew Steve disapproved.
Halfway there he heard the sound of heavy footsteps jogging in his direction and thought, Steve. A wide smile replaced the dejected frown and he spun around to say hello. This plan was thwarted when Thor was there instead, looking every bit as cheerful as he always did.
"Good morn, brother! Would you care to put on the Man of Iron and spar?" he asked, looking excited at the prospect.
Tony shook his head, the grin still in place because it was impossible to not be glad to see Thor. "I don't have enough caffeine in my blood for that. You know if the guys are back yet?"
"Nay, they are still at market. They called me not a moment ago to ask if I wanted mutton or the meat called 'tri-tip.' I asked that they acquire the latter, as I do not recall having eaten such a beast before."
"Actually, it's just a different-" he stopped, mid-sentence to sniff the air. That scent was unmistakable. "Are you sure they're still out?"
Thor raised Mjolnir, clenching it tightly. "Yes. Is there danger?" He looked glad for the chance, even more so than he had for their practice session.
"Oh yes. There is definitely danger," he hissed, like the supervillan he could have become oh so easily.
He stalked the last ten yards to the kitchen and glared at the scene before him. Natasha held a steaming cup of coffee in her hands and was breathing it in appreciatively. She didn't even look like she needed it, with her perfectly styled hair and full make-up and clingy catsuit. Clint also had a mug, but he was gulping it down greedily. When he noticed Tony he waggled his eyebrows and smirked from his perch on top of the fridge.
"IS THAT MY COFFEE!" Tony screamed, honestly outraged for the first time since they'd met him.
Natasha waved a hand dismissively. "Sharing is caring, Stark. You want the Captain to know you were holding out on us? I don't think he'd approve, do you Clint?"
"Nope," came the reply. "I think he'd be disappointed. Really fucking disappointed."
Tony stared. "You will rue this day, Hawkeye," he said, low and dangerous.
"Hey! I'm not the one who took it!"
"You're much easier to kill."
"Does that mean you are interested in a duel?"
"No, Thor, this is revenge-"
"I just came in here and there was coffee being brewed-"
"RUE THE D-"
"Shut up!" Natasha's voice cut through the rabble. "Bruce just called and he sounded halfway green. There's some sort of alien charging at people a few blocks away. Everyone suit up."
Author's notes: Insomnia and I becoming fast friends. I think Tony might get jealous if this keeps up.
As you may have noticed, this has both expanded and gained plot, which I will proceed to write by the seat of my pants. So, we're probably looking at a bunch of vaguely connected, coffee flavored, chronologically ordered chapters which will hopefully end in Tony and Steve getting together. I already have an idea of what I want to do with the next two chapters, but beyond that I'm open to suggestions. And beta readers, if anyone is interested.