Pepper flinched

"Sorry, Miss Potts," Steve muttered, flushing when he stepped on her foot.

"It's okay, Steve," she said dismissively, correcting the way their hands were positioned. " And call me Pepper, please. It can take a minute to get into the rhythm of the movements if you're not used to dancing."

Steve took a deep breath and glanced at the floor, saying, "Nope. I haven't danced since the war."

"Well, I'm flattered to have the honor of being your first dance partner in so long," Pepper replied with a grin. "Come on, Steve, just relax. What's one dance between friends? You used to act, right? So just act with me now… pretend that I'm someone else, if that would help."

Steve snorted. "No, that won't help."

"At least smile, then, please? Pretend I'm one of those pretty USO girls who just want a piece of good ole Captain America."

Steve shuddered at that, and Pepper couldn't help but laugh. "Okay, okay! Don't do that." Then she thought of a different tactic. "You remember how you lost your shield yesterday?"

"Of course," Steve frowned.

"It was Tony who took it… and he ran experiments on it."

Steve's eyebrows rose protectively as he asked, "Did he?"

Pepper nodded before asking conspiratorially, "Is Tony watching us?"

"Yes," Steve said, glancing over her shoulder towards Tony.

"So why don't we just punish him for his little act of thieving?"

"How so?" Steve asked warily.

Pepper stretched her prettiest smile across her face and moved Steve's hands so that they were as low on her back as Loki's were on Natasha. His cheeks became a little pink as she wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her head on his shoulder, letting her eyes drift closed with a blissful expression on her face. Though she didn't show it, she was surprised when he followed her lead and rested his chin on the top of her head.

A second later, his lips ghosted near her ear as he whispered so only she could hear, "They should've put you with Loki."

Pepper smiled at that and asked, her voice only a murmur, "But we're convincing them, aren't we?"

Steve's tone held a grin as he whispered, "I think we might just have made Tony furious."

"Good for us; that means we are being convincing."

She felt Steve's chest heave in a sigh beneath her cheek as he tucked her head back underneath his chin while they kept dancing. Something told her that dancing was a big deal for Steve, but whatever was going on inside his head, he was handling it well, and she was glad that she had been able to help him.