It should surprise no one that Tony broke out just a few hours later.
Thor was sometimes wise beyond even his considerable years, but sometimes he expressed an almost childlike trust in others that often ended in much destruction and mayhem. It was probably more a credit to his character than a flaw, but that didn't mean it wasn't a pain in the ass when it backfired.
Steve found Tony in one of SHIELD's offices, tapping a finger irritably against one of those holographic monitors only Tony and government agents seemed to own with one hand and holding a steaming, paper cup of cheap coffee in the other.
"You're not supposed to be drinking that," Steve said, lips quirking at the corners as he stood motionless in the doorway. Only the slight creaking of the metal doorjamb under his white knuckle grip gave away that he was feeling anything besides fond annoyance.
Tony turned just enough so that Steve could see his raised eyebrow. "And according to these reports, you're supposed to be sleeping."
Steve plucked the cup from his hand with his own shaking ones and set it aside; to both their surprise, he met no resistance. "I've been breaking all sorts of rules since I woke up. I suppose you'll want to take credit for my corruption?"
"Always."
For a while they just stood there in front of the monitor, comfortable silence speaking for them. It settled into the small amount of space between them, every bit as tangible as their respective body heats, and bundled close until it became too good for Tony not to break it, because that boy had a troubling tendency to go messing with good things like he had a vendetta against them.
"So we killed a prince? That's kinda new. I mean, Loki was a prince or whatever, but Hulk just kinda smashed him and he was mostly okay, except for the probably broken bones and some serious bruising. But he deserved it. I mean, did you see what he did to my tower? Total dick. It took me forever to..."
He kept talking and Steve just let him, enjoying the way the words just poured over him. He'd... missed that. It was nice to have it back again. To have Tony back. It had been wrong when he did his headcount during missions only to turn up one short. Each time felt like he was trapped beneath the ice all over again until he remembered that Tony was alive and safe, just not with them, where he should be.
His eyes tracked Tony's hands on the monitor. The fingers were long and slim, with short blunt nails, callouses, and a bunch of small scars from long past accident and fights. They were as quick and nimble as the man himself as they danced merrily across the restricted files.
"...and then Bruce gave Namor the Nutella and the ice sculpture and everything was cool." Tony finally finished. He looked at Steve expectantly and Steve had no idea what to say. He'd spent the entire time watching Tony's hands.
"Maybe we should get you back to your room. Your drugs should be wearing off soon and it's going to hurt," he suggested quietly, expecting an argument.
Instead, Tony said, "Yeah. Hey, do you know what they're giving me? I want to serve it at our next party; it's kinda amazing."
Steve stared, rightly suspicious when he agreed so quickly. His voice was just a little on the painful side of high and he wasn't really doing anything to the monitor anymore because it stretched his ribs too much. Steve hadn't noticed it earlier, but it was plain to see when you looked for it.
"Why didn't you say anything?" he hissed in concern, already easing one arm around Tony's waist to help prop him up. "Do you want me to carry you?"
Tony huffed, "Don't you dare. I've been the damsel in distress enough for this story."
Steve didn't say anything, and simply wrapped his arm around Tony a bit more securely before the began their trek back towards medical.
Author's notes: Whoops! Thought I posted this days ago!