I'm so sorry I didn't post this last night. I fell asleep and forgot. I have a 1k word goal for each chapter, this one kind of ran away from me 3.
Day 9 Hanging out with friends
Steve had been acting weird since the trip to Babies R Us and Tony hadn't known how to solve it. Steve hadn't told him anything was wrong. Every time Tony asked, he would find a way to change the subject. Most of the time Tony let it slide. Whatever was bothering Steve was obviously not something he wanted to talk about just yet. Tony was sure that in time Steve would be comfortable talking to Tony about his problems.
Steve had a habit of shutting people out when he was having issues. He had grown used to ignoring his problems. He was the suffer in silence and allow others to think he's fine, kind of person. Tony knew this about Steve, and he was willing to allow Steve to stew in his issues until it got out of hand. Tony would pick up the pieces when Steve couldn't hold his facade together any longer. He loved Steve, but it wasn't his job to change him or even fix him. He was there to be supportive.
Steve had been away on a mission for S.H.I.E.L.D for the last week and Tony was itching to spend time with his boyfriend. He hoped that whatever had been causing Steve to be down, had been fixed, but he wasn't going to hold his breath.
The door to his lab whooshed open and he looked up. Steve had returned and he was followed by someone.
"Hey look who I found in the living room." Steve said as Darcy surveyed the lab.
"This place is bad ass." The short brunette looked around at the holograms, her fingers dancing in the air as she played with one of the Iron Man models.
Darcy had been in the Tower once before but she had mostly stuck to Thor's level. The wake had been hosted there and Tony had slipped away early.
"What brings you to my abode, pint size?" Tony said putting down the hologram of the mock holodeck he was trying to create. He was going to prove Bruce wrong. It was his newest mission.
"Just wanted to see Thor, but I couldn't find him." Darcy looked tired. The light Thor had always talked about, wasn't there. Tony figured it had to do with Jane's death. Her loss had hit everyone who had known her pretty hard. Tony still had nightmares about it. He had witnessed it after all.
"Did you check Bruce's lab?" Steve asked walking over to Tony and kissing him hello.
"Yeah, no. I hadn't thought about that." Darcy said watching Steve wrap his arms around Tony. "You two are cute together."
Tony wanted to glare at her. Everything about that statement should have had him pushing Steve away, straightening his clothing and pretending she never said anything. Tony couldn't bring himself to do that, though. He liked the feel of Steve's arms around him. Liked the touches and the kisses and he really didn't care what other people thought.
"Jarvis, locate Thor." Tony said, ignoring Darcy's comment.
"Master Thor is on Master Bruce's personal level." The smooth voice of his A.I. filled the room.
"See, he's with Bruce." Tony had expected that. In the recent months, he rarely saw one without the other. It was like The Avengers had coupled off and they had refused to let each other out of their sights. The abductions had really messed with the group psyche.
Tony had panic attacks when Steve wasn't around. He was always worried when Steve would get sent on a mission, that he wouldn't come back. Tony's greatest fear was that he would get a call from Fury or Hill that Steve had been killed or captured. He wasn't the only one either. Clint and Natasha were rarely outside each others company. They didn't go on separate missions anymore and while he could tell it annoyed Nat that Clint hovered, there was also a slight crack in her exterior when he wasn't around.
"I'll take you down there," Steve said holding his elbow out for her.
Darcy smiled and wrapped her arm in his. "Thank you, Prince Charming. Why are you dating Tony again?"
Steve laughed and Tony followed them out, he wasn't going to let Steve out of his sight. He had been away far too long.
"So, what actually brings you to New York?" Steve asked as the three of them entered the elevator.
"Oh, I was looking at colleges for my Masters. Its kind of lonely in New Mexico without... Anyway, I figured, Thor was here so I might as well see if there was a school that could handle me. At least I'd have a friend."
"Oh hey, none of that. You have lots of friends. Any friend of Thor's is a friend of ours." Steve said pulling Darcy in close.
The elevator door opened and all three walked out. The place seemed deserted but Jarvis had said Thor was there. Steve and Tony hung back, unsure that they should do. Darcy however walked through the large spacious apartment.
"Do you think we should stop her?" Steve asked watching Darcy head down the hall.
Tony considered the idea, he was pretty sure he knew what she would find if she kept going. "Nope, its about time those two came clean about their relationship. Who better to out them than Darcy Lewis." Tony smiled at the idea.
Steve scowled, "You are mildly evil, you know that right?"
Tony did know that and he loved it.
Darcy turned the corner and disappeared from sight. He wondered how long it would take before she found Thor. He hadn't actually asked Jarvis if Bruce was with Thor. For all they knew Thor was asleep and by himself.
"SWEET MOTHER OF GOD!" Darcy's below came from down the hall and Tony knew Thor was not alone. "My eyes!" Darcy ran back down the hall, her eyes wide as saucers. When she reached Steve, she buried her face in his chest.
Tony laughed. He knew Darcy wasn't actually traumatized but her reaction had still been worth not telling her. He should be a little put off by the fact that Steve had his arms wrapped around her and her head was buried in his boyfriend's chest. Again, Tony wasn't.
"Darcy!" Thor said, coming out of the bedroom in a simple pair of boxers, Bruce followed in a pair of sleep pants that hung low on his slender hips.
"And what, pray tell were the two of you up to?" Tony asked sweetly.
Bruce rubbed the back of his head nervously. Thor just looked at Darcy. Both Bruce and Thor had a distinct bedhead look about them, Bruce's mop could almost pass for freshly fucked. Tony was positively humming with excitement. He had been waiting for this. Not many people knew about Bruce and Thor or the possibility of them actually.
Bruce had one night during an alcohol induced pity party they had thrown themselves, admitted to his attraction to the demi god. It had been before Tony had gotten sober. It had also been the night he admitted his feelings for a blond super soldier. Together they had bonded over not only science but what they thought was unrequited love.
Tony wasn't typically sappy, he left that for other, lesser mortals. But when it came to Steve, Tony was unable to keep himself in check. He loved the man, more than he had ever loved anyone before.
Bruce had been the same way when it came to Thor. The worst part for him had been the knowledge that The Other Guy didn't like the demigod. For that reason, Bruce had had to keep his distance. The likelihood that The Hulk would make an appearance and beat the ever living crap out of Thor had been a true fear of his. Tony had been shocked when he had found out that The Hulk was Thor's new personal body guard.
Though, if he was being honest with himself, it made sense that the feelings from Bruce would transfer to The Hulk. They were after all the same person. Tony had never, for one second believed that The Hulk was some mindless beast. He had always believed that Banner could control him, he had just needed the right motivation and people believing in him.
"We were asleep, Tony. Nothing more." Bruce said moving to the kitchenette and starting the coffee pot.
It was evening, Tony hadn't expected anyone to be asleep. He knew he kept odd hours but most of the people in the tower kept normal sleeping hours. Still the coffee smelled good.
"I don't get it, if all you were doing was sleeping, why does Darcy have her head buried in Steve?"
"Bruce prefers to sleep naturally," Thor said, still not moving.
That was a mental image Tony could have dealt without, still it wasn't the worst thing Darcy could have walked in on. Darcy should count her lucky stars they were asleep.
Darcy turned her head to look at Thor, "There is nothing natural about walking in on your friend snuggled next to his very naked boyfriend." Darcy pulled away from Steve when both he and Tony laughed.
"You knew! You knew what I would find and you didn't warn me." She hit Steve square in the chest making him laugh even harder.
"You barged into Bruce's bedroom, looking for Thor. What did you expect to find?" Tony asked simply.
Darcy crossed her arms and huffed. The glare she tried to level at Tony fell short and the corner of her mouth twitched up. "At least it was a good excuse to cop a feel on the super soldier."
"Hey!" Steve said.
"Oh don't be like that, cupcake, you smell good too." Darcy patted Steve where she had hit him and gave his peck a playful squeeze.
Tony could hardly disagree with her. Steve was still looking a little indignant, but Tony knew it was all show.
"So, are you two actually together? Or did Banner fall asleep as The Hulk?" Tony didn't think Banner had Hulked out. He was pretty sure Jarvis would have alerted him if The Hulk was loose in his tower.
"The Doctor and I are an item now. Does this bother you?" Thor asked, mostly looking at Darcy.
It had been five months since the fight with Morrigan, Tony felt that was adequate time to mourn the loss of a lover and possibly move on. As Thor was Asgardian and they typically celebrated life, not mourn the loss of it, he figured Thor was ready to move on as well.
"Nope," Darcy said happily. She really did look happy for them. "Just, I don't want to hear any of the details. Okay?"
Before the fight with Morrigan, before the murder of Jane, Thor and Bruce could hardly be in the same room. The Hulk took a special kind of pride in bringing Thor down a peg. That changed the day Tony and Nat had been rescued and he hadn't seen it coming. It was a nice change though.
Bruce had come back into the room carrying two mugs of coffee, one he sipped, the other he handed to Tony.
"Thanks, Bruce." He said as he sipped the drink.
"What brings you all the way out here Darcy?" He said motioning for them all to have a seat.
Darcy planted herself between Steve and Tony. Tony grumbled but let it slide. He actually really liked Darcy. From what he knew about her, she was smart and sassy. He could see bits of it coming out, but it was still masked by sadness.
The night passed easily with Darcy, Bruce and Thor. They had ordered pizza and watched movies. Darcy had demanded compensation for walking in on Bruce and Thor. Thor had done everything he could to get the fiery brunette to laugh, which hadn't been that hard to do. Darcy was a happy person, even if she missed her best friend.
"I think its time to call it a night." Steve said looking down at his lap. Darcy had decided to use him as a pillow during the movie and had fallen asleep. Tony was tucked under Steve's arm on the other side.
Tony moved from his seat though he didn't want to. He was starting to fall asleep on Steve himself. The super soldier was just too comfortable for his own good.
Steve stood with Darcy in his arms, deciding it was too late to wake her and send her to wherever she was staying. Instead he took her to his floor and laid her to rest in his bed. He would spend the night with Tony.
He'd been away for a week and he wanted to spend time with his boyfriend. He had expected to have the whole day with him. Steve hadn't expected to find Darcy wondering around the tower, nor had he expected his night to be filled with hanging out with her, Thor and Bruce. Not that he hadn't had fun being with his friends and making a new one. Steve liked Darcy, he really did. She was fun and sweet and just a touch flirty.
She had kind of reminded him of Peggy in her timeless classic look and her fiery attitude. It was a welcome sight to see. Were it not for his love of Tony, he could have seen himself with someone like the little brunette that occupied his bed. He could also see loving her like the little sister he never knew he wanted.
Shutting the door, he told Jarvis to wake them when Darcy woke up, and he went to join his boyfriend on the couch.
"Not exactly the evening I had expected." Tony said, snaking his arms around Steve's waist and pulling him flush.
"I'm sure we can make up for it." Steve said running his fingers down the side of Tony's face. He loved the feel of the stubble. "Seeing as how my bed is full, perhaps we should..."
Tony pulled Steve to the elevator without letting him finish his sentence. Yes, hanging out with his friends had been a great way to spend the evening, but a night with his boyfriend, that was what Steve was really looking forward to.
Well now we know what Thor and Bruce are up to ;) and welcome Darcy to the story. Yall should know I am one of the strange ones that ship Steve/Darcy so there will be some undertones, I can't help it. This is a Stony story period. Don't you fear.