Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

Grocery shopping had never been his favorite thing to do, mostly because he was just pretty bad at it. He was supposed to be an adult and had been for a few years now, but he still just didn't really 'get' it. How were you supposed to know what you would feel like eating ahead of time? How were you supposed to guess how many different kinds of snacks you might need? The pricing and different cuts of meat baffled him, and he had an ingrained aversion to most vegetables that he knew didn't serve him well.

Steve Rogers was pretty damn sure that if it wasn't for his best friends Bucky and Sam he'd have starved to death almost immediately after his college graduation. One or both of them usually tagged along, griping about his tendency to not check prices and the way he grabbed things totally at random. Lists were nice in theory, but he almost never remembered to make one. It was his friends who would put one together on the way to the store, and Steve was very good at ignoring them and getting whatever the hell he wanted anyway. It was just that Buck and Sam made sure he got a few green things in the cart and that he didn't end up with stuff like 'corned beef' just because it sounded interesting.

So yeah, his two friends usually saved his ass, but with neither of them available for this trip, Steve was just... lost. Maybe it would have been better to put it off for a few more days, but he was running on zero snacks and way too much takeout, so he'd chosen to bite the bullet and make an attempt all by his lonesome. He'd been in the store for forty minutes, and all he had in his cart was a gallon of milk (whole milk, since Bucky wasn't there to shame him into getting the milk-flavored lie that was skim) and a thing of noodles. Not even the right noodles, he didn't think, but probably pappardelle ones could be used in mac and cheese. They sounded more fun than shells, anyway.

There was more stuff he needed, Steve wasn't dumb enough to think otherwise. It was just that he wasn't really sure what, and he knew that his friends never let him start shopping for snacks until he was done with the bulk of his 'real food' shopping. He should get some meat, but every time he got near that section, he felt a small flare of panic and he had to do another circle. Did he want chicken? Beef? Pork? Sausage? All of the above? And was he supposed to buy in bulk? It was the beginning of the month, and he was pretty sure that this was when he was supposed to buy enough to last him through until the start of the next one... but Buck also complained a lot about how the selection during the first few days sucked, since everyone else had the same idea. So maybe he should only grab what he needed for the next few days…

Nope. Fruit and veggies first, because meat was way too intimidating. At least when it came to that section he pretty much always got the same things. He was pretty confident that he could manage. Probably.

Sure enough his anxiety eased pretty much completely as he wheeled his cart into the produce area. As a bonus, there was a really cute guy standing over by the melons to check out while he grabbed his apples, grapes and a salad mix. Steve kept peeking up at him as he browsed what seemed like a million apple varieties, trying to be subtle as he went about it. He knew exactly which ones he was going to get, but ogling a fellow shopper was more appealing than facing the rest of the store. The guy was probably around his age, maybe a couple years younger. His dark hair was fluffy and rumpled, and it made Steve want to run his fingers through the strands to make it even messier. Steve was also a fan of the guy's jeans, which were ripped and clung in a very appealing manner. Even his frown was adorable, and yeah. Steve was definitely hanging out in this section until the other man had walked away.

Except ten minutes and too many apples later, the other guy was still there and still frowning at the melons like they'd personally offended him somehow. Steve should probably mind his own business, but there wasn't a sales associate in sight and he had bags of three different kinds of apples, so something had to give. He started to wander slowly towards the melons, grabbing random fruits as he went. Papaya sounded interesting, and he knew he didn't like kiwis but Buck did, and someone would eat the bananas, so it was fine. When he finally neared the other man, he cleared his throat, hoping to get his attention.

It worked like a charm, just a little too well - the guy jumped and nearly fell over as he tried to turn towards Steve in mid-air. Mortified that he'd caused the accident in the making, Steve lunged toward the object of his fascination. He just managed to catch the guy, but the act sent them both careening into the guy's empty cart; Steve took most of the impact, and it went crashing down to the ground on its side.

"Holy shit," the guy breathed, head tipped back so he could look up at Steve. He had the prettiest brown eyes ever, warm and framed by the longest, thickest pair of lashes that had ever existed. Those eyes were definitely going to haunt his dreams, Steve realized, and he'd probably be drawing them forever. "You are ripped. What do they feed you? Truck-fulls of spinach? Popeye has nothing on you," before he could react, there was a hand wrapped halfway around his left bicep, squeezing down. He didn't really mean to flex, it just sort of happened - he couldn't regret it when the guy gave a low, impressed whistle. "You must work out like a fiend. Pilates? Is it Pilates? Because Pepper's been after me to join her class, mostly to get me up before noon on the weekends, and I keep saying no. But if Pilates does this, then I am down. Is it good for your ass? Because I'm told mine is fantastic and I'd hate for it to start slipping, you know?"

"Uhm."

"I mean, my ass is probably my best feature aside from my genius. Genius totally tops the list, but my ass is a close second. Hey, do you know anything about melons?"

"What? Uh..." Steve realized he was still holding onto the guy (who did, admittedly, have a great ass) and eased him back onto his on feet. "Melons. Right. I mean... a little?" Looking over at the display that had held Cute Guy's attention for so long, he was happy to note that he could at least identify all the different ones. "What do you need to know?" Straightening the cart he'd knocked over was the work of a few seconds, and when he straightened he saw that Cute Guy had been checking out his ass. He was flattered until Cute Guy gave him a thumbs up which just made him start to blush.

"Okay! So. How do you know when they're done?"

"Done? Do you mean ripe?"

"Whatever. When I can eat them."

"I think you're supposed to thump 'em."

"... 'thump 'em'? Are we in Bambi? Did we turn into rabbits without me noticing?" That made Steve chuckle, which earned him a beaming smile from Cute Guy. "How do you thump a melon?"

"I dunno. Buck and Sam usually... I mean. I don't get them very often?" Cute Guy's expression turned unimpressed, and Steve coughed to try to hide his embarrassment. "Well I don't. I've got a phone though. I could probably find a video or something, 'cause now I'm kind of curious." How did you tell if a melon was ripe? He knew Buck was better at it than Sam, but he didn't know why or anything. It was all magic for as much as he could tell.

"Huh. Why didn't I think of that?"

"I guess your ass is better than your genius after all," fuck, that sounded like he was flirting, which he probably was, but still. Cute Guy blinked at him for a second, mouth hanging open. As Steve fished for his phone, that morphed into a sweetly shy look - one Cute Guy promptly tried to hide with a broad grin.

"I told you it was a fantastic one. You were looking at it long enough earlier."

"I-- that's not... I mean. I wasn't! There was no ass-staring, or... or..." Steve stopped his flustered attempt at denial in favor of looking down at his phone. He knew he was blushing furiously but he couldn't do anything about it. It was better to just look for a video about thumping melons.

"Your phone is a travesty toward all mankind," Cute Guy informed him, sidling up to Steve again as he looked down at the cell. Now it seemed like Steve's phone had offended him, and there was a healthy dose of distaste in his expression too. "That thing looks older than I am."

"Yeah, well. It works just fine and that's all that matters. Not even that old," he muttered, feeling a little defensive. He didn't need anything new or super-fancy. Steve only needed his phone to be a phone - it was just hard to get one without at least a few of the extras anymore. "D'you want me to help you thump melons or not?"

"I would love for you to thump my melon," Cute Guy murmured under his breath. Steve was pretty sure he wasn't supposed to have heard that, but he was super glad he had, because wow. He would definitely be okay with some melon thumping.

It was just that he had to get groceries first.

The initial search Steve performed got a lot of disturbing results, so he tried 'how to know if a melon is ripe' instead of 'melon thumping'. It made a big difference, and soon they were able to add a watermelon to Cute Guy's cart while Steve nabbed a honeydew melon for himself. There was a moment where they both lingered, and Steve took heart in that - maybe Cute Guy was actually interested. Just before he could ask for his number and maybe even his name, Cute Guy cleared his throat before making a grand gesture that encompassed the rest of the store.

"I have not a single fucking clue about how this works," he announced, looking proud of the fact where Steve found his own ignorance pretty embarrassing. "Think you could maybe walk me through it?" Steve had never hated himself for not figuring out how to be an adult as much as he did just then.

"I don't... um," he floundered for a second, because Cute Guy looked both disappointed and kind of resigned, which was just... he still looked cute and all, but Steve would like him to smile again. "It's not that I don't want to!" He hastened to assure the other man, holding out one hand in the 'wait just a second' gesture - mostly to stop himself from grabbing hold of Cute Guy's arm. "I just... my two best friends usually come with me. I don't really know how most of this works either," he admitted with a shrug. "I mean... you can see my cart. I'm just kind of guessing."

Cute Guy scanned the items he had, then gave another low whistle. This one was definitely not because he was impressed in a good way. "Wow. Okay. Well. Milk! You knew about milk, and you've got some pretty fancy noodles there too, and... a lot of apples."

"I'm going to make a pie?" That hadn't really been his intention, but Cute Guy lit up again, so Steve was definitely making one now. And there was still a chance he could get Cute Guy's number and invite him over to eat it. "Yeah. A pie. With apples."

"Great! So you do sort of know, you have a phone from the stone age to help guide the way, and I'm still a genius even if you think my ass tops the list, so together we can definitely get this done."

"Together?" Steve liked the sound of that. He liked it a lot.

"Yeah! I need to show my parents and Pep that I am perfectly capable of taking care of myself like normal human adults do, and I'm sure you'd like to rub it in your friend's faces that you can manage just fine without them, yeah?"

"I mean... a little."

"So let's go, uh... huh. I just realized I don't know your name, and that is a tragedy. I'm Tony... and you are?"

"Steve. Steve Rogers. It's nice to meet you," he added, holding out his hand. Cute Guy - no wait, he had a name now, and it was Tony - clasped it tightly. His fingers were calloused and strong, squeezing Steve's warmly as those beautiful brown eyes searched his own. "I look forward to our grocery shopping adventure," he teased, taking a step closer even though he definitely didn't need to.

"And I look forward to hearing you scream my name in bed later," Tony returned easily, then laughed as Steve gaped at him. He knew his cheeks were flaming again, and he squirmed to try and get his body under control - it was very interested in taking Tony up on that offer. "Kidding, kidding. I think we should do this grocery shopping thing and make double sure we get you what you need to make me a nice, romantic dinner."

"I couldn't just take you out to a movie for the first date?"

"Well if you want to be all traditional about it," Steve turned to Tony, doing the full once-over before meeting his eyes again. He couldn't help the slow smile he felt curving his lips when Tony began to blush.

"I think being 'all traditional' is exactly how I wanna do it," Tony actually ducked his head, peeking up at Steve through those beautiful lashes as he shuffled his feet.

"Oh. I mean. That's... you know, I hear there are a couple different good movies that just came out and I sort of would like to see a couple of them. Um. Mostly the ones with the, um. Action? Explosions? Those ones. Definitely not that new science fiction one, because hahahah, nobody likes that lame stuff. Definitely not me. I'm not, you know, a geek or anything. Totally not. I hate that nerdy stuff, so it's not like... it's not like I'm secretly dying to see it. I'd be happy seeing one with explosions and not a single interesting or unique plot line. Sorry, I'm not... this isn't usually how dates with me work. Usually it's a lot more... I lied, you know. I really want to see the new Sci-Fi, and I kinda hate pointless explosions. I mean, time and a place, right? Also, if there was an explosion behind you and you just casually walked away from it, you would probably die. Horribly and painfully. At the very least you'd get your eardrums blown out. So, you know. There's that. Also, are you sure you don't just... dinner at their place is usually how things go. For sex purposes. Not that I'm a whore. Exactly. I just--"

Biting his lower lip against laughter, Steve carefully reached out and wrapped his fingers around the other man's wrist. As he squeezed down gently, the babbling came to a halt that left Tony staring at him with a dropped jaw. "Tony. Do you want to go to the movies with me on Friday night? We can grab a bite to eat, then go see that science fiction movie. The most we're gonna do is talk and maybe kiss, but I think it'd be a real good time. So... you wanna?"

"Uh... yeah. Yeah. Okay. Do you want to meet up at wherever we're gonna eat, or...?"

"If you give me your number, we can iron out the details later. But I would like to pick you up, if you wouldn't mind that."

"No, nope. Would not mind that even a little. You can definitely... oh! Number. Here, give me that ancient hunk of plastic you call a phone," he couldn't help but roll his eyes as he complied, watching as Tony put his number in, then sent a text to himself. He wasn't all that surprised when he heard the voice of C-3PO say 'Sir, it's very possible this asteroid is not stable'. Tony could deny it all he wanted - the guy was definitely a huge nerd. "Shut up," he muttered when he looked up, probably because Steve was grinning.

"I didn't say anything," he answered with a shrug, shoving his phone into his back pocket once he had it back. "Now. Let's go show this grocery store what's what."

"You are so lame."

"Guilty. Do you know how to shop for meat?"

"Nope. But I definitely know how to use the internet, so we can figure it out with the help of our trusty friend, Google! Are we doing meat first?"

"I think Buck and Sam usually do that last? It's supposed to stay cold I think, so maybe--"

"How long has that gallon of milk been sitting in your cart?"

"What? Oh. Shit."

"Don't worry - we'll just swap it. But first... cereal? I like cereal. You can eat it whenever the fuck you want and people who judge you for that are terrible people. Don't hang out with people who judge you for eating cereal at ten o'clock at night, Steve, because they don't deserve your time. Also, I hope you aren't a 'cereal should only be eaten from a bowl with milk' guy, because that would be a deal breaker. I don't care how ripped you are, if you can't grab a handful of cereal right out of the box sometimes, I can't date you. Not that I got to do it often when I was little, because Jarvis was pretty damn vigilant, but still. College taught me much in the way of cereal eating. Pepper will only eat cereal with milk, but she can do whatever she wants because she's amazing and she pretty much runs my life when it comes to work and stuff. Some people think she's scary, but she laughs at most of my jokes and only rolls her eyes when I'm being a brat, so I'm pretty fond of her..."

Tony didn't babble through their whole attempt to grocery shop like adults. He tended to go on little rants that Steve sort of loved listening to, but he always circled back around to draw Steve back into the conversation. They could go back and forth for several minutes before Tony detoured again, and it was pretty damned adorable. It took them about an hour and a half to assemble halfway decent carts, verifying that they had a date Friday and that Steve would call Tony on Thursday to iron out the remaining details. They split up to go their separate ways, and Steve couldn't help but stare after Tony as he walked away, taken in by a lot more than his fantastic ass.

It felt like something important had just happened to him, which would be enough on its own to leave him beaming for the rest of the day. On top of that, he got to rub it in Sam and Buck's faces that he was perfectly capable of shopping on his own. Or almost on his own. Without their hovering and nagging, anyway.

Grocery shopping was his new favorite way to adult.

"Pepper. Pep. Pepper who could make a piper pick her. Peeeepper."

"Tony, sweetheart," her voice was soothing and it was almost enough to cut through his nerves. "I'm fairly busy trying to salvage what small relationship you have left with Mr. Lannigan, so if you could give me just a few seconds, I would really appreciate it," as she looked up at him, her glasses slid down her nose and she arched one perfectly manicured brow at him. Tony loved Pepper Potts for a lot of reasons, but the way she managed to look so serious despite the twinkle of mischief in her eyes certainly ranked. "Did you have to tell him that his ideas were moronic and he smelled like stewed cabbage?"

"Yes, Pep. I absolutely did. You're just lucky I didn't mention his divorces. All nine of them."

"Three, Tony. It's only three," she still had her 'I am scolding you' aura pulled on, but he could definitely hear amusement in her voice.

"Ah. Must have gotten those mixed up with all the public breakups with his various mistresses."

That was enough to make her crack, and her bright laughter warmed every corner of his soul. Tony had been sure that once Rhodey deployed he'd be all alone in the world again... but then Miss Virginia Potts had turned that notion right on its head. She was the best assistant he'd ever had, and was just about tied for first when it came to the ‘best friends’ list too.. Pep was a lot better at listening to him whine when he was nervous about seeing someone than Rhodey was, that was for damn sure.

"Okay, okay. Finishing this email can wait a little bit longer - he's been pretty willing to talk to me. I'm sure you'll be happy to hear that he accepted the apology I extended on your behalf."

"Never make me tell him that face to face, because I will fuck it up all kinds of ways."

"Noted. Now - why are you so anxious?" Tony loved her even more when she pushed away from the desk and scooted down to sit on the floor, ridiculously expensive pantsuit be damned. She opened her arms, and he quickly joined her for a snuggle session, setting his head on her shoulder. "I thought you said you liked this one? This uh... Steve was it?"

"Yeah. Steve. Steve Rogers. I do like him, even if he doesn't really know how to buy groceries."

"Honey, you don't know how to buy groceries."

"I figured it out! Well, we did. Together. Me and Steve. Mostly. We mostly figured it out. Meat is really tricky. There are way more different cuts than there needs to be. Who the hell eats all that?"

"I don't know, Tony. But obviously someone does or they wouldn't keep stocking it all. Now tell me why you're nervous." Pepper started to scratch his scalp gently with her long fingernails, and it made him want to purr. He couldn't help the urge to butt against her affectionately, which made her start to laugh again.

"It's just that he's coming to pick me up, which is, you know, traditional date stuff. I don't do traditional-type dates. Ever. My first date was a frat party, Pep, and I was fifteen and she got me drunk out of my mind." Her quiet sound of anger was another thing that made him tingle happily, because he knew she was angry at all the people who'd taken advantage of him in college, not him. "Now my classier dates consist of dinner and a good fuck. How am I supposed to do this regular bullshit? He seems like a really nice guy, you know? He helped me pick out my groceries, Pep. He walked around the store with me for at least three hours, and he--"

"It wasn't even two hours, Tony. It was nice of him to do that, you're right, but I'm not quite getting why this is a bad thing."

"I'm going to fuck it uuuuuup," he whined, shifting so he could flop over and put his head in her lap. "Pepper, Pep. My dearest Peppy Princess. I don't know how to do this. He's going to pick me up and we're going to eat and then go see a movie. That's... I don't know how that works."

"I love you, but you're a little bit of an idiot," the fond tone and the truth in her declaration of love kept her words from hurting. And really, he was a bit of an idiot - she liked that about him. Tony whined wordlessly again, and she resumed the head skritchies, and fuck, even thinking about it like that made him sound like a pet, not a grown human person. "Steve was willing to help you figure out how to grocery shop, wasn't he?"

"Mm. Well, he was fine with figuring it out along with me."

"Okay. So..."

"Sooooo...?"

"So tell him you don't know shit about how adults date and see if he'll help you out with that too."

"You are just... just the most brilliant, beautiful woman to ever exist. Also. have I ever told you how much I love it when you swear?"

"Over and over again."

"I wish you'd do it in front of the board, I will pay you obscene amounts of money to drop the f-bomb next time I'm in the middle of a meeting with them and you're taking my notes. Please. Obscene amounts, Pepper."

Her heavy sigh was answer enough, no that he'd ever expected her to do it anyway. Not just for money - never just for money. They'd have to seriously piss her off before she deigned to do more than give icy smiles and compliments that he knew were actually vicious insults. "And have your father fire me? No thank you. Who knows how much trouble you would get into before they could find another assistant who can contain your mad brilliance."

"You say the sweetest things."

"And the smartest. Go home--"

"I don't have a home."

"Oh, for the love of... you have a home, Tony."

"No, they kicked me oooouuuut."

"And bought you a house. I’m sure your mother just wants to know that you can take care of yourself. I'm sure it would put Edwin at ease as well."

"His name is Jarvis, Pep, and don't you make me feel bad using him, okay? Fine. Fine. I have a home. It's just messy."

"You could fix that, you know."

"I'm not supposed to hire anyone to do it. I'm kind of hoping that Jarvis takes pity on me during one of his visits. Hasn't happened yet, but I bet he breaks before I do."

"Why can't you just... no. Never mind. I'm not putting a horse in that race."

"Spoilsport."

"I was trying to give you some sisterly advice, you know, and you ruined it."

"I'm very good at ruining things," he hated how much truth was in his voice, how much pain. Howard had always been good at making sure Tony knew just where he stood in the scheme of things. Before thoughts like that could turn him from being nervous to depressed, Pepper carefully stroked his hair away from his face, smiling down at him like she didn't think he was a complete fuck up.

"You're better at building them, Tony Stark. I don't think you could ruin anything you couldn't fix. Now shush and listen to my wisdom please."

"Yes'm," he agreed meekly. She rewarded him by leaning down to press a soft kiss to his temple, and she didn't even 'tut' at him when he nuzzled his cheek against her thigh. "Please continue to be my personal Yoda."

"Always. Now. You're going to go home, take a nice long shower - or even a bath first, you have time if you want to soak - and get dressed in something nice. Not your clubbing clothes either, Tony - you don't want to give the poor boy a heart attack or turn him completely stupid. Just... something nice. By then part of you is going to be worried that he isn't going to show, so call or text him just to confirm. If you need an excuse, say your bossy personal assistant wants to know where to find you, just in case. Once he picks you up, you're going to relax and have a good time. That's all you have to do - just enjoy yourself."

"But I don't know how--"

"The last bit of advice I have," she continued, louder now to drown out his protest. "Is that if you have a good time and you want to go out with Steve again, tell him that you're nervous and that you haven't dated much. I know you've had a lot of 'boyfriends' and 'girlfriends'," Pepper was pretty good at knowing when he was about to interrupt, and she'd stalled him right out of the gate with her words. "But you said yourself that you haven't really gone on many 'traditional' dates. Tell him that, and if he deserves you even a little bit he'll help you figure it out."

"Like he did with the shopping."

"Like he did with the shopping."

"... I guess it's not a horrible plan."

"So follow it please. It's better than you getting yourself all worked up to the point where you scare him off before he can hurt yo--"

"Okay! Wow. No. We are noooot doing that." Tony informed her as he abruptly left the two-person cuddle-pile to scrabble to his feet. "You are not my therapist or whatever, so no. None of that, missy. We are not delving into the many and varied issues of one Tony Stark. Capiche sister? No. You can be my PA and my friend and maybe even a bit of a life coach sometimes, but no... just no. No playing therapist, mkay? I'm just gonna... I'm gonna go do what you told me to do, just... with more 'me' in the mix. But yeah, I'm gonna go home and take a shower, but I totally won't need to call Steve, Pep, he's definitely coming. I mean, he got an eyeful of all this," he reminded her, indicating himself with both hands in sweeping gestures. "So he's going to show. I don't have to... to confirm it or whatever. Okay. So I'm gonna... go. And get ready for my, you know. Date. My traditional, not-scary, definitely-happening date. And you can use the silence to, you know, finish up that email and maybe make sure my schedule isn't too packed next week, because I miss my workshop."

By that point, she'd been on her feet for a while, arms crossed and lips twitching in what was probably an aborted smile. "Tony? Get out of here so I can finish up for the day and leave myself. I have a date with a glass of wine and the Turner Classic Movies channel."

"You are just... so lame and so sad. But fine!" Tony hastily agreed, darting forward to plant a kiss on her cheek. "Love you, see you Monday, enjoy your weekend, thanks for everything. Bye!"

Unfortunately, it turned out Pepper Potts knew him pretty damn well.

Once he was out of the shower, instead of debating clothing options Tony found himself agonizing over the possibility that Steve might not show up. Maybe he wouldn't pull into the driveway at six-thirty. Maybe he would be with his friends instead, laughing over how some scrawny nerd in the grocery store thought that a beefcake like Steve Rogers - if that was even his real name!! - would ever actually want to go out with Tony. Nobody would, not unless they knew his last name too, so maybe he should have dropped that little bomb right away to keep Steve interested... fuck. Fuck fuck fuck.

Pepper had said to call Steve, but that wouldn't help if Steve lied, but maybe it would help him calm down enough to pick an outfit for their probably-not-happening-date. He did want to be dressed, just in case the slim possibility this wasn't all a joke turned out to be a thing that happened, so calling Steve might work. His fingers definitely thought so, because they were already dialing the number.

"Tony!" Wow, that just... that just wasn't fair. Steve sounded really happy to be hearing from him, which just sort of made his heart clench unpleasantly. Good thing that exuberance quickly morphed into concern. "Is everything okay? I'm supposed to be there in an hour and a half... are you calling to... cancel?" It was awful of him, but that brief pause and the way he'd been able to hear Steve swallow hard before continuing was a hell of a balm to his confidence. "I'd... understand I guess. If you wanted to. Just say the word and we can--"

"No!"

"... no? No to cancelling or no to the date, or...?"

"I meant... no. No I'm not cancelling," and it was a lucky break that Steve couldn't see him just then, because Tony could feel himself blushing. "I'm not... no. That wasn't it. I was kind of worried that... that maybe you might have... You know. Changed your mind."

"Well I haven't," Steve told him almost immediately, a smile in his voice. "Not even a little bit. I'm just getting ready, and I was gonna stand around awkwardly until I could leave without being ridiculously early, but... I could change that plan, if you wanted."

"Change it how?"

"How soon can you be ready?"

"Uh... I just got out of the shower, so in theory... now? Is this where you tell me you have teleportation powers and I look over my shoulder just in time to see you poof into my bedroom?" Steve’s laughter warmed him almost as much as Pepper's did, which was a pretty good reason to follow her plan.

"No, I'm not 'poofing' inta your bedroom, Tony. Even if I could, I wouldn't - we haven't even had a first date yet. Bedrooms can wait."

"Yeah..." he agreed absently, feeling just a little dazed. "Bedrooms can wait. Um. Which is a good thing, because in practice it's going to take me probably about ten minutes to actually be ready. I want to. You know. Look good. For yo-- the date!" He interrupted himself in what some people would probably call a yelp. "For the date. I want to look good for the date, God I am such a disaster sometimes. Are you sure you haven't changed your mind?"

"Nope. And I can be there in twenty minutes... if you didn't mind me being early to the point where I look incredibly uncool."

"... I think I'd like to see you look uncool, actually. But with traffic... I really don't think you can get here that fast."

"Watch me," and Tony could just see the wolfish grin that would be on that unfairly handsome face. It was enough to make him a little weak-kneed, actually, and maybe even a little sorry that bedrooms had been very clearly marked as a 'no-no' in Steve's mind. "Be there in twenty minutes Tony. You could even time me, if you really wanted."

"Do I get a consolation prize if you're late?"

"Sure. Anything you want."

"Mm-hmm... I see. Interesting. And if you're right on time?"

"Then I think I should get a reward."

"Like...?"

"Like maybe a second date?" Tony couldn't help but be the one to start laughing at that, because the hope and bashfulness in Steve's voice were just adorable. They were also completely at odds with the cool confidence that had been there just a minute ago, and Tony found himself interested in the shift, in how many other feelings Steve could put in his voice. He wanted to figure Steve out.

"We haven't even had a first date yet," he teased, feeling just giddy enough that he sat down on his bed to finish out the conversation.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. But I'd be a lot less nervous about making a good impression on this date if I had another one in the bag."

"You're nervous too?"

"Yeah Tony," and from the sudden gentleness in Steve's voice, Tony's own had been far too revealing when he'd asked the question. "I'm nervous too. And if you have a shitty time with me, or you decide you don't like me after all, I wouldn't hold you to that second date. But if you do enjoy yourself, my reward might help us both be a little less nervous about what happens after the night is over."

"What if you have a shitty time?"

"I really, really don't see that happening. So... if I take longer than twenty minutes from when you hang up, you get to pick a consolation prize. If I'm on time or early, I get my second date. Deal?"

"I think I like you and I'd like a second date, but I don't know how this works, because like I told you at the store this isn't usually how... I haven't really had a lot of, you know, dates that were dates," he continued despite being mortified with himself. He was ruining Pep's plan by doing things all out of order! "It was mostly just 'hooking up' as the kids would say, and I don't know why I said that because it's not like I'm some old fogey or anything, but... yeah. That's sort of been the extent of my dating life, so I'm really not sure how to do this, but I want to try, and Pepper - the best, most beautiful girl in the world - said that I should tell you that I'm sort of super nervous about this and about how it works and so now I have and I'll add that I'm pretty sure I'm going to fuck everything up sometimes, so could you please be patient when I do?"

Tony was practically panting by the time he'd finally gotten the rush of words out. He was unnerved by the silence that seemed to last forever on the other end of the line though. Fuck - he'd scared Steve off! Before he could panic completely though, Steve spoke up again.

"Pepper sounds like a smart lady. Tell her thanks for me, will you?"

"For giving me advice that ended up letting you know I'm a disaster ahead of schedule and making you realize you don't want to take me on a date after all?"

"What? No! Thank her for telling you to talk to me."

"Because it made you change your--"

"Because now I know how important it is for me not to fuck this up."

"... excuse me?"

"Dating is supposed to be fun Tony. Fun, with zero pressure to do anything you don't wanna. It's a chance to get to know each other and have a good time doin' it. Especially at first, even if things get a bit more serious later on. So I gotta make sure that's what it is for you. Fun. If I fuck that up, dump me right away, alright?"

"I don't get it," Tony told him honestly, feeling a bit lost. Dates were supposed to be all romantic and shit, not just... 'fun'. They were supposed to lead either to the bedroom or the altar, and he sure as hell wasn't getting married anytime soon. Possibly not ever, not after seeing how enjoyable Maria and Howard clearly didn't find it. Still, Steve had probably been on more actual dates than he had, so Tony would try to give him the benefit of the doubt except on one critical point. "And trust me, you will be the one breaking up with me Steve. Not the other way around."

"It is waaaay too early to jinx this with bets like that," Steve answered with a soft huff that could have been laughter or irritation, maybe even a bit of both. "So how about we, you know, go on some dates before we argue over who's going to break up with who? And... it's okay if you don't 'get' it. I'm gonna show you Tony. Promise."

Something about Steve's voice on those last few words sent a shiver of delight and anticipation up Tony's spine. They'd been sweet and sincere, two things often lacking in his 'wham-bam-thank-you-sir-or-ma'am' partners. He didn't really know what to do with that, but he knew that he liked it. He also knew that he was showing far too much vulnerability in his answer. "Pinky promise?"

"Pinky promise," the man agreed easily. "We'll seal the deal with a pinky shake when I get there. I'll even cross my heart and hope to die, if you want me to."

"... no. That's alright. What I want is for you to be here in twenty minutes."

"Then I'm on my way, sweetheart. Start a timer once you hang up. See you soon."

"See you when you get here, Steve. Which will definitely not be in twenty minutes or less." Steve unfortunately didn't really rise to the bait, just chuckled in his ear, whispered 'we'll see' and hung up. It sucked not to be talking anymore... but they would be seeing each other soon, and Tony was about 97% sure that Steve was actually going to show up. Maybe even 97.5%, which was unheard of levels of certainty for him when it came to other human people. He was even smiling as he set the stupid timer, and picked his clothes out with care - he really, really wanted to look good for Steve.

It was probably a really good thing Pepper had already put a firm kibosh on his club clothes. They were a bit much for dinner and a movie.

Steve rang his doorbell with three minutes to spare, which had Tony pretty fucking sure they guy had magical powers of some kind. Until he opened the door, anyway, and saw the man's leather jacket and the motorcycle helmet he had tucked under one arm.

"That is fucking cheating, you little shit," were the first words out of his mouth, complete with a finger jabbed right in Steve's flushed, smiling face. "I thought you were driving a car, and while I could probably get anywhere in this godforsaken city in twenty minutes in a car, it's because I drive like a reckless bastard and people get the fuck out of my way. People in cars take longer, and it's just... no. Deal's off because I thought you had a car - you didn't tell me it was a motorcycle! They can weave in and out of traffic and go down all those bullshit alleys that were not made for four- or even two-door models to travel down, and I just. You are a shit. You knew I thought you had a car," Steve didn't interrupt his rant, just stood grinning up at Tony - only because he was about halfway down his steps, leaning casually against the railing, and Tony found that infuriating even as he wanted to see if he could tuck his head right under Steve's chin if they stood on level ground.

What Steve did do was offer up his right pinky; Tony hooked his own around it in a seal of the earlier promise without even slowing down. "Is this what you're like? All tricksy and shit when it comes to dumb bets? Because if so, it is on buddy. I am going to massacre you when it come to our next stupid challenge. You won't even know what hit you," if he were being honest, Tony didn't really know what had hit him either. He was still holding Steve's pinky, because it was warm and Tony's skin was kind of tingling where they were connected, and seeing Steve smiling so warmly at him was making his stomach do that awful clenching thing again that he was realizing maybe wasn't so bad after all. "And you will beg for mercy before the end. Then I will remind you of this moment, where you bamboozled me into a second date under completely false pretenses."

"It's nice to see you too, Tony," he returned after waiting a few seconds, clearly making sure Tony was actually done first. That was just... Rhodey and Pepper were the only ones who ever did that for him. It was. Nice. Good. Warm. "And does the indignant betrayal you’re feeling mean you don't want to ride it?"

Tipping his head to the side, Tony considered for a moment, then shrugged. "Only if you drive really fast and take corners sharp enough to make me whoop with glee."

Steve's smile broadened as he gave Tony's pinky a light squeeze with his own before finally (and unfortunately) pulling his hand away. "Guarantee it. Maybe not tonight though? I'd wanna make sure you had a helmet that fit right and enough gear to keep you safe before I went that fast."

"Then I'm driving tonight."

"Can I put my bike in your garage then?" Tony was a little surprised that Steve wasn't protesting, or insisting that he be the one to drive even if they were taking Tony's car. The only one Howard had let him bring with him, the bastard - and it wasn't even his favorite! "I don't like leaving it out on the street much."

"Yeah, that's cool. If you start wheeling your bike that way, I'll grab my car keys and open the garage from the inside to meet you there." Steve beamed at him for a second, which made Tony pleasantly uncomfortable (and how was that even a thing). Fighting a blush, he turned to head back inside... only to feel warm, calloused fingers wrap around his wrist.

"Hey Tony?"

"Hey Steve?"

"You look..." Tony brought his eyes back to Steve's face, delighted to find that now the blond was the one blushing. "You look incredible. I'm real lucky to have you on my arm tonight." The earnest sincerity and open appreciation in Steve's face just about killed him dead. Of course he looked good - he always looked good, so long as he hadn't disappeared for hours/days at a time into his workshop - but it still was nice to hear Steve say it. And not even in a way where it felt like he was just saying it as a formality, or like he wanted to get into Tony's pants. He was starting to wonder if he was dreaming or something.

"You look pretty good yourself," Tony murmured, hating that he sounded a little shy. "Though I reserve my final judgment for after you fix your helmet hair and take off the jacket that you only wore to facilitate your dirty, rotten, cheating ways."

The smile he sent Steve as he shut the door in his face was one he'd heard people call 'angelic'; Steve seemed to freeze at the expression, losing track of what Tony'd said before giving it. He saw when it penetrated though, right before he lost sight of the other man completely. What he caught was shock, a little bit of betrayal and maybe even a hint of anger... but just before the door clicked all the way shut, he heard Steve start to laugh.

Dating 'Tony fucking Stark' was an... experience. Steve hadn't been scared off when he found out who exactly the guy he was dating was. It had actually explained a lot of things about their earliest dates, and the knowledge prepared him for the times when Tony would drag him to high-class restaurants instead of the chain establishments he was used to. Sam went with him to get a suit and some ties for when that happened - not that it often did, not after Tony saw how uncomfortable Steve got in places like that. They mostly did things 'normal' couples would, just with a little Tony Stark flare tacked on when he was the one orchestrating them.

So far he'd rented out a zoo, brought Steve to the Met after hours for an amazing private tour, bought out the tickets for a movie theater three times and chartered a helicopter for a ride around the city. When Steve had mentioned a love of baseball and basketball, Tony had gotten season tickets for both in the best seats possible, and when he saw that Steve had an appreciation for theater and classical music he planned outings that incorporated those as well.

Steve's dates were a lot more low-key, but Tony seemed to enjoy them all the same. Tony had eaten enough hot dogs and cotton candy that he'd made himself sick at a carnival they'd gone to and had been delighted by all the stuffed animals Steve won for him. He never complained when Steve brought him to diners before they took a long walk either. And maybe he'd been clumsy and uncoordinated, but he'd still laughed and laughed until his cheeks were flushed and his eyes sparkled when Steve took him to a roller-rink.

It had been almost three months since that first date, and they seemed to be in a pretty good place. Sam was still voicing his doubts about how long Tony would remain interested; Bucky just wanted to know if Tony would give him a tour of SI's R&D department. At least they were mostly supportive and were even game to help Steve clean his apartment in anticipation of their first ever 'date night in'. Well, they'd been okay with it for a while, but they seemed to be quickly losing their enthusiasm.

"Ho-kay, I am not sweeping again Steve. They floors are clean enough to eat off of, man. I'm not using the Swiffer either," Sam added when Steve opened his mouth. "I've done it four times, and now I'm done."

"Bathroom's fine too," Bucky said as he walked into the kitchen. "Your shit's all dusted, carpets are as good as they're gonna get - but they're still shit, Stevie, and ya really oughta get 'em torn up and replaced soon - and I put that weird powder stuff on your couch before I vacuumed the cushions. The place is fucking spotless and ya need to calm the fuck down."

"But-"

"Look man, you've said that Tony likes you for you, right? You've been taking him out on lame dates--"

"Hey!"

"And he hasn't dumped you yet. He's not going to cut and run because you have a few smudges on your fridge."

"Smudges? Where?" Bucky interrupted his fretting by catching him around the waist and not letting him get to the fridge. Intellectually Steve knew that Sam was right. Tony was a bit of a slob if what he'd seen of the guy's house from the doorway was anything to go by. If he could see Steve's floor and there weren't any dirty dishes hanging out on the counters he'd probably be happy. Steve tried not to judge, not when he was guilty of letting his daily chores go when he was too tired or too busy, but... well. Tony's house seemed to be rapidly approaching 'irredeemable cesspit' territory. He hoped that Tony's dad would let Jarvis stop by and help Tony clean soon.

Or maybe if that night's stay-in date went well, he'd let Steve come over and help him instead. He was decent at keeping house, and they'd had fun on their grocery shopping adventure.

"Would ya calm down? Take some deep breaths and let the cleaning go Stevie. Let me'n Sam escape your insanity so you can start making dinner."

"Still don't know why you didn't just order take-out," Sam muttered, laughing when Steve threw the sponge in his hand at the man's head. "It'd be easier, that's all I'm saying. But you go ahead and be fancy if you think that'll get you laid." His eyebrows began a suggestive dance that Steve didn't really appreciate.

"This isn't about having sex! I told you - we're taking things slow. From the sound of things Tony hasn't ever been able to really date before and it's not like I'm the kind of asshole who demands we fuck immediately or else I'll leave him. I just thought maybe if we ate in--"

"He wants to cuddle and shit," Bucky told Sam knowingly. "You know how he is about PDA. Bet him and Tony haven't done much more than hold hands. Steve wants some privacy to wrap himself around Tony like a octopus and lay a few smooches on him." His best friend began making kissy sounds at him; Steve fought against a laugh as he splayed his hand over Bucky's face.

"Get the hell outta here, the both of you," he said fondly. "Gotta cook my boyfriend a nice dinner."

"Freedom!" Sam shouted as he dropped his broom and ran for the front door. He backtracked after a couple seconds though, peeking around the corner to wink at Steve. "Good luck man. I want details tomorrow on our morning run. Later!" He waved and was gone again - Steve appreciated that he didn't take the chance to mention the doomed nature of Steve's relationship with Tony.

Bucky, however, had stepped back when they heard the front door close, lips pursed in concern. "I know I only met Tony the once so I don't really know much about him," he started. Steve's stomach immediately dropped like a stone. "And ya keep saying that dating is going great. 'S nice that neither of you is jumping straight to sex, but... look. You turned down that girl Stacey the other day, and I'm pretty sure Kevin would ask ya out if you flirted back. You're doing the exclusive thing - you sure that's what Tony wants?"

"I don't think I like what you're implying, Buck."

"I'm not trying to say anything bad about Tony," he protested, holding his hands in the air. "Like I said - I don't know him. You haven't let me and Sam horn in on any of your dates yet."

"We're not at the 'meet friends and family' stage yet," Steve defended.

"Could you listen to all of what I'm trying to say before ya start getting worked up? I just... look. It's great if you're casually dating and it's great if you're seeing each other exclusively. All I'm saying is that you should make sure you're on the same page. You're turning down dates and shit, you're planning a romantic dinner in... you're invested, Stevie. You're only gonna get yourself hurt if you don't let him know that. It's not fair to him either if he thinks you're going out on dates but not dating. So open your big dumb mouth and let him know, alright?"

"I don't want to scare him off. I like him a lot," he admitted quietly, shrugging. "I figure I can hold off on making this serious for a while yet so that he doesn't get uncomfortable."

"That's a bullshit plan. How are you gonna feel if he shows up in the tabloids kissing some pretty movie star 'cause he doesn't know ya don't want him to?"

"... pretty damn crappy."

"So tell him that, you punk. Do the communicating thing before one or both of you ends up with a broken heart." Bucky smiled at him before he reached out and clasped Steve's shoulder. "That's just my two cents. At the end of the day it's up to you. Just trying to look out for ya."

"I know. And I guess you might even have a point. I hate when you have a point. Get the hell out of my house with your sensible relationship advice!"

Once he'd chased Bucky out, Steve gave his words some serious thought while cooking. The idiot was right, and he couldn't let the fear of chasing Tony away keep him from doing what was right for himself. He didn't want to date other people and he didn't want Tony to see anyone else either. The best thing he could do was talk to Tony about it all and see where he stood on the issue.

Just... he'd wait until after dinner. After dinner was the best time to bring stuff like that up.

Tony got there a couple minutes after he was supposed to, which Steve had been expecting. The guy tended to get kind of wrapped up in whatever he was doing and time ceased to mean anything. The fact that he was only ten minutes late meant that he really wanted to be there.

"Steve!" He greeted with a beaming smile as soon as the door was opened. He had a bottle of wine that would probably be wasted on Steve's taste buds in one hand and a bouquet of lilies in the other. Instead of his usual clothes (a stylish suit for dates he'd planned, jeans and a t-shirt when Steve decided where they were going), Tony was in black slacks and an emerald sweater that clung to his frame. "Pep said I should bring a gift and said that no, you would not appreciate a Rembrandt no matter how much you're into art and that I should keep it simple. But then I didn't know what to bring, so I figured that if I brought two things then that was an extra chance to prove that I don't suck at presents no matter what she says. I even remembered that you didn't like roses!"

Tony looked so damn proud of himself for that, and it was enough to drag him out of his stunned stupor. "You're right, roses are my least favorite flower," he agreed before stepping forward to wrap Tony up in a hug.

"So I did good?"

"Yeah," he murmured against Tony's temple. "You did good."

"Could you write, sign and date a note to Pepper to that effect? She won't believe me when I tell her."

"If you want, we can record something on your phone to let her know. That'd probably be even better than a note."

"You're such a thinker. It's kinda sexy."

Steve laughed and pulled back before ushering Tony inside. "Yeah yeah. Dinner will be ready in just a little bit. Why don't you give me the flowers and you can open the wine. It's probably one of those fancy kinds that needs to breathe or whatever."

"You are such a pleb," Tony told him, looking around the room with interest lighting his eyes. "I should have just mixed some vinegar and grape juice - you wouldn't have even known the difference."

"Sure wouldn't have," he agreed easily. Steve took the flowers from him, then grabbed his hand and tangled their fingers together. "Come on - corkscrew's in here, and I got some stuff I need to stir anyway. Hope you're hungry and that you like mashed potatoes. They're my favorite, so I think I'd be obligated to dump you if you didn't like them."

"Well then it's a good thing I do. If you like peas, I'm going to have to dump you. Peas are an invention of the devil. Maybe PETA. They seem like the kind of people that would decide peas should be a thing. Are we only having mashed potatoes?" Tony's fingers were moving almost as much as his mouth, tapping the back of Steve's hands, twisting this way and that, thumb rubbing over the inside of his wrist. His inability to be still wasn't something that bothered Steve, and Tony had finally gotten past the stage when he would try to keep from moving or shoot Steve apprehensive looks when he couldn't help himself.

"Yes, Tony. I made a meal entirely of sculpted mashed potatoes. The Eiffel Tower was a bitch to put together." Tony's laugh echoed in the apartment, easing the knot of tension Steve had been carrying in his chest. Tony was still looking around eagerly and didn't seem to be judging Steve too harshly on his simple lifestyle and possessions. They were worlds apart in a lot of ways, and Steve appreciated the way Tony adapted to his. If he didn't scare Tony off with his request to be dating exclusively, Steve promised himself that he'd work harder to fit into Tony's world.

Once they were in the kitchen, Tony hopped up on one of the counters and heckled Steve while he finished cooking their meal. After he'd opened the wine he fidgeted and squirmed, fingers ghosting over the counter and cabinets. He also turned the water on whenever Steve turned his back - the way he shut if off when Steve rounded on him turned it into a game. It felt... really nice and domestic, and this had been a really good idea on his part. They could both be a little more relaxed than when they were in public, and this was a way better environment for discussing the nature of their relationship than a crowded restaurant.

Everything was finished and just needed to be plated when Steve rounded on Tony and moved into his space. He wasn't quite between Tony's legs, but he did have his hands rested on either side of the other man. It was strange to have to look up at him, but he consoled himself with the knowledge that usually Tony was short enough to tuck under his chin. "Didn't mention it earlier," he said, smiling up at Tony. "But you look really cute in that sweater."

It was so hard not to laugh when Tony started to glare at him - he always said that he hated being called 'adorable' or 'cute' just because he was a little shorter and younger than Steve. The blush on his cheeks was a hint that maybe he wasn't as adverse as he pretended to be. "You are such an ass."

"Aww, come on Tony - don't be like that," he said, leaning up to try and sneak a kiss. Tony evaded the attempt and the one that followed, even crossing his arms over his chest in a show of his resolve. His lips kept twitching though, a sure sign that he was holding back laughter.

"Uh-uh, buddy. No kisses until you take back the insult to my manly pride. I wasn't going for cute, Steve. It hurts me that you went there."

"Sorry buttercup."

"Nope."

"You don't look cute at all."

"Better. Ish."

"That sweater makes you look very handsome, not adorable."

"We're getting there." Steve huffed out a sigh before tucking his face against the curve of Tony's neck.

"I said I was sorry," he murmured, nosing the other man's skin. "What more do you want from me?"

Tony relented enough that he draped his arms over Steve's shoulders, grabbing handfuls of his shirt. "A sculpture of Big Ben done in mashed potatoes, carrots and asparagus. Asparaguses? Asparagi? More than one asparagus."

Steve burst out laughing and Tony joined in soon after, both of them leaning against each other. It wasn't all that funny, he knew that, but neither of them could stop; every time Steve thought he was done, Tony would give a giggle-snort that set him off again. It was a good few minutes before they got themselves under control. The quiet that fell afterwards was comfortable, and he wasn't in a hurry to break it. They had food waiting though, so eventually Steve wrapped his arm around Tony's waist and lifted him from the counter. Tony yelped, which prompted him to swing the man around in a circle before setting him on his feet and stealing a quick kiss.

"Cute isn't the word for the sweater," he admitted with a grin. "Just didn't think it'd be appropriate to say how sexy it makes you look. Kinda want to peel it off with my teeth." Tony made a strangled sound, a hint of a blush covering his cheeks. Steve winked and guided him to the table; once he was seated, Steve fixed their plates, poured two glasses of wine, and joined him.

Everything had turned out well, and while they ate Tony caught him up on how things at SI were doing. He also had Steve record a video assuring Pep that he'd done a great job at picking out gifts to bring. Steve made sure to point out that he didn't expect Tony to bring something every time in hopes that the woman wouldn't harass Tony about it too much. The conversation wandered into Steve's day job and the few commissions that he was working on. Tony promised to get him in contact with some people, and Steve thought he might even take him up on the offer.

Steve had intended on leaving the dishes for later, but Tony offered to do them instead. It was an exercise in hilarity, watching Tony fumble around the simple chore. It didn't take him long to join in, showing Tony a better way that wouldn't send so much water slopping over his counter. The domestic nature of it hit him again, and he really hoped that Tony wouldn't dump him before the night was over, because he really would like to help Tony get his house in order.

They'd planned to watch a movie after dinner; after going through his limited collection of DVD's, Tony put on a mindless comedy. Bucky's words were ringing in Steve's ears as they both settled on the couch, Tony tucked against his side. Maybe... maybe he really should talk to Tony before the movie actually started. That way if things went well the cuddling while they watched would be awesome. If things went to shit, it would still be early enough to call Bucky and Sam over to commiserate with him. Yeah, it was time.

"Hey, so I was thinking," he said as he took the remote from Tony.

"Uh-oh. That can't mean anything good." Despite the light tone of voice he used, Steve could feel tension radiating from Tony and it made him feel terrible.

"No! Well. Probably not. Maybe not? It... kinda depends on you."

"This is when you tell me you're a serial killer or something, isn't it? You couldn't have told me when I did my own big reveal? That's just mean, Steve."

"If I were a serial killer I wouldn't tell you," he answered with a shrug. "That's pretty much the first rule of being a serial killer - don't let other people know."

"Oh, well that makes me feel better. Promise that if you are one you won't kill me in too gruesome a manner. I want to be a pretty corpse."

"You're really something else, you know that?"

"I've actually heard that a lot," Tony told him, a strange look on his face. "But usually people sound mad about it, not like it's something they enjoy. I tend to, uh, irritate people. I know it's hard to believe since I'm so charming, but quite a few of our fellow human beings do not see my good points."

"Well I do. That's what I wanted to... Bucky said..." Pausing, Steve took a deep breath and decided it was better to just rip the band-aid off. "I don't want to see other people, and I don't want you to either. I like you a whole hell of a lot, and I know I told you that going on dates should be fun and without expectations and that's true at the beginning. But I... we never talked about whether we were exclusive, and Bucky pointed out that it could be a problem if you went out with someone else."

Tony was wearing another odd expression, one that seemed part confused, part disbelieving and part hopeful. "What if you want to go out with someone else? I'm not exactly boyfriend material."

"Bullshit," he disagreed bluntly. He set the remote down in favor of taking Tony's hand, giving his fingers a soft squeeze. "I think you'd be a great boyfriend. It's been going great so far, hasn't it? And I don't want to go out with anyone else. I want to date you."

"... well, yeah, okay, it's been really..." Tony swallowed, clinging to Steve's hand. "Really good so far. But it's the slowest part of the year for me at SI - things are going to start getting crazy in a month or so. And maybe I hate all the 'business man' bullshit but I love the part of my job that involves my workshop and terrorizing my minions in R&D. I'm going to be unavailable a lot, and even when we're on dates or whatever I might have to take calls or I might start designing things on napkins - people are always irritated by the napkin thing for some reason, and phone calls are only a little better. I don't... you should be able to have an exclusive boyfriend that's actually, you know. Around."

Steve gave a quiet sigh before running his free hand through his hair. It took a little bit before he could gather his thoughts - long enough that he had to let go of Tony's hand and wrap an arm around him instead to reassure him that he wasn't upset. "Okay, so parts of that might be hard," he admitted. It was better if they laid all their cards out on the table at once, he figured. "But I know that I'd be dating Tony Stark. I might not know all of what that means when it comes to the glitz and the glam, but I know what it means in terms of the genius inventor who's just as bad at shopping as I am."

"You are so much worse than I am," Tony argued weakly. "You'll hate it, Steve. You'll hate dating me once things pick up at SI."

"I don't think I will. Look, maybe it won't be all... all sunshine and daffodils and unicorn farts--"

"Unicorn farts, oh my God."

"- but if we work on it and talk about stuff I think we could get through it just fine. I think we could make a go at it. I'm not asking you to promise me forever or saying that we won't ever fight or whatever. I'm just saying that this," he gestured between the two of them, then dropped a quick kiss to the tip of Tony's nose when he saw that Tony looked suspiciously teary. "What we've got is worth trying for. But it's up to you, alright?"

"But you don't want to do the casual, seeing other people kind of dating."

"No. Not with you - you're too important to me to pretend that I'm okay with that. But you don't have to let me know right away. I know I kinda side-swiped you with this and that you've got a lot to think about. So if you want to take a couple days--"

"I don't need time," Tony interrupted, curling up against Steve's side. "Well, I mean... we'll need time to work out how to work around our schedules and, you know, all that. But we can try. I can't promise it'll work and I still think you'll hate it... but we can try."

Butterflies took flight in his stomach and he couldn’t keep himself from grinning like a crazy person. Tony had agreed! Steve had a feeling his boyfriend would keep trying to talk him out of wanting this, but he could deal with that. He knew that it was Tony's low self-esteem talking rather than any sincere desire for Steve to leave him. There were definitely some rough patches ahead and he didn't know if they'd make it all the way... but having Tony willing to try meant everything to him.

"So we're going steady then," he said into Tony's hair. He ignored the smack Tony gave his chest at the 'old timey talk' that Steve liked to pull out to annoy him with. It wasn't his fault his ma had been a huge fan of all the classic movies - TCM was still his favorite channel even with her gone. "Consider yourself pinned."

"Jesus fuck. I changed my mind."

"Aw, c'mon doll--"

"Steven Rogers, if you don't cut it out--"

"I'm not doing anything!" he protested, smiling too hard for anyone to take him seriously.

"Lies! You are a liar and an annoyance, and I'm not sure I wanna date you after all."

"I am the least annoying person on the planet!" he declared dramatically. "You take that back!" In an effort to turn the tide his way, Steve tried tickling the other man... and it went horribly wrong right away.

Tony, as it turned out, wasn't ticklish at all. He also had an unnerving way of zeroing in on all of Steve's most ticklish spots. Within moments he had Steve breathless from laughing, on his back on the couch and trying to scooch away from his boyfriend. Tony just followed him, attacking his ribs and stomach with glee. It didn't take long for Steve to beg for mercy - with Tony kneeling between his legs and looming over him, he could think of a few better ways to occupy their time. He had to promise to accompany Tony to every gala he had to attend in the States for a year before Tony finally relented.

It wasn't so bad though. He'd get to see Tony in a tux and it'd be a good way to get a handle on the more glamorous aspects of his boyfriend's life. Plus, once he'd stopped giggling Tony had draped himself over Steve's body, head tucked under his chin and their legs tangled together. He wasn't heavy enough that his weight bothered Steve, and it was a hell of a way to watch the movie. For the first part he got to let his fingers wander over Tony's back and stroke through his hair, more interested in Tony's soft, happy noises than he was in the plot.

About halfway through, Tony started to shiver which meant Steve had to wrap his arms around the man - he couldn't let Tony be cold! When that wasn't quite enough to make Tony comfortable, he pulled the throw blanket off the back of the couch and together they managed to wrap it around them to hold the heat in.

Tony fell asleep before the movie was over and Steve didn't have the heart to wake him up right away. It was fine - he'd let Tony get a nap in before he had to drive home. Half an hour couldn't hurt, in his opinion, and then he'd rouse Tony and send him on his way. It would have been the perfect plan if he hadn't let the soft, steady sound of Tony's breathing put him to sleep as well.

It was worth the crick in his neck he had in the morning when he opened his eyes to find Tony there with him.

"You don't have to do this, Steve. Babe. Sugar lumps. We can just turn around and walk away and pretend that we never got the invitation. We could go get burgers and fries. I love burgers and fries and so do you. We could get some and invite Pepper and Sam and Bucky and maybe Rhodey could even FaceTime in for a little while and our real families would be there and we could take off these fucking ties and shit and just--" Tony felt Steve's fingers wrap gently around his wrist a squeeze, which caused him to come to an abrupt stop and take a deep breath. Probably encouraged by that, Steve ran his hand up Tony's arm and around to grab hold of the back of his neck, delivering another squeeze before digging his thumb gently into the tight muscles under his hand.

"If that's really what you want to do, Tony, then that's what we'll do," his boyfriend told him, voice a comforting rumble. Steve put his lips to Tony's temple, and he did his level best to relax in return, but it was so hard. "But this is just a dinner, Tony. I've already met Jarvis and Anna, right?" That was true, and it had been a really great day. Both Jarvis and his wife had approved of their relationship - Tony was now regularly ferrying baked goods from the mansion to Steve's place. "And I know Howard and Maria too."

That was less great, because Steve didn't really know his parents. He'd met their gala-selves, the masks they pulled on when they needed to dazzle and impress. They couldn't allow themselves to be anything but model parents in public, and they played the roles well. Behind closed doors when the flash of camera bulbs were gone they were different people altogether. Tony wasn't sure if he wanted Steve to meet those people.

Unfortunately, they were sort of at that stage where if he didn't allow it to happen all parties involved might jump to the completely wrong conclusion that Tony was ashamed of Steve. That he didn't want his blue collar, hard working, simple living boyfriend to invade the ritzier parts of his life. Steve, his parents and other people in the know might see the evidence and come to the conclusion that Tony didn't think Steve had a place in the parts of his life where being a Stark meant something. That couldn't be farther from the truth, and it would kill him if Steve thought that way for even a heartbeat.

Because it sure as fuck wasn't Steve Rogers that he was ashamed of.

"Yeah. Yeah. I know, I know. It's just... Steve. They're terrible. I mean, I love them - mostly Maria, I know she tries - but they're. They're not nice. Howard is going to say all kinds of awful things and pretend he’s joking, and that's if he's not already deep into a bottle of scotch. Maria won't remember anything you've talked to her about, not any of it, because she's a little, you know. Flighty. Not much holds her attention and even less of that sticks, but she... she tries, okay? She tries and she cares even if it's hard to... she tries. And God, Howard. You're going to hate me by the time tonight is over, he's going to make sure that you hate me--"

"I need you to breathe," Steve interrupted, his mouth now against Tony's ear and his hand resting over Tony's heart. "Can you do that for me doll? Take a deep breath... good. Another one? You're doing great," he crooned as Tony followed the directions. Steve was great at not interrupting unless Tony was working himself up into a panic attack - which he totally wasn't just then and even if he was it was completely justified - and he would never be over that. He'd never stop appreciating the way Steve seemed completely content to just listen as Tony rambled, or the way he had not a single problem stepping in to prevent a complete meltdown on Tony's end of things. It was... it was a nice, perfect balance.

One that Howard could take away from him.

"Please don't hate me after tonight," he whimpered, hating himself for doing it.

"I couldn't ever hate you, sweetheart," Steve said against his skin. "This is dinner - just dinner. I don't give a fuck what Howard says," that was hot, okay, because usually Steve only swore out loud when they were in bed together. "And I can smile and gently remind Maria of anything we've talked about. I don't mind doing that for her or for you, alright? And look, if we get in there and it's too much, you just say the word and we'll get the hell out and get dinner somewhere else. But I'm not scared of Howard, and there's not one goddamn thing he could say that would ever make me hate you or walk away from us."

Warmth spread through Tony's limbs slow and sweet as honey. His stomach and heart fluttered a few times before settling completely, leaving him feeling more certain of himself than he'd been all day. Steve loved him - they hadn't said the words, but Tony was still pretty sure - and he wasn't leaving on account of Tony's horrible family. They could do this together and it wouldn't... wouldn't ruin anything. It was going to be fine.

"Okay. Yeah. If you're sure. But if I say 'prickly pear' - if I manage to work that into a sentence or just, like, blurt it out at the top of my lungs - then we're leaving. No questions asked, no passing 'Go' even for two hundred dollars, no goodbyes or sorry's - none of it. If I say 'prickly pear', we walk. Deal?"

"Deal. Now. We've been sitting in the car here for twenty minutes, Tony. I think we'd probably better get inside."

"Right, right. Of course. Makes sense. Can't eat in the car. But if the words--"

"Tony, if you say 'prickly pear' I will put you over my shoulder and carry you out just as fast as I can. Pinky promise." Steve promptly held out his finger, looking solemn and serious. It was their thing, and Tony didn't care how many people made fun of them for it - pinky promises fucking worked. Tony hooked Steve's with his own and nodded firmly, then took a deep breath.

"Okay. Let's do this."

Getting out of the car wasn't too scary, and the way they linked hands and held on tight kept the walk to the door from being terrifying. Tony didn't bother ringing the doorbell, and Steve's look of light disapproval could bite him - the mansion was still home even if he didn't technically live there anymore. Jarvis was standing by the door, of course, and he gave both of them a warm smile before offering to take their coats. They let him, Tony's usual happy babble silenced by the lines of strain around Jarvis' eyes and the bubbling laughter he could hear a few rooms away - that wasn't just Howard and Maria.

Shit.

Tony took Steve's arm in a death-grip and tried very hard not to shout 'prickly pear' over and over. As soon as it was out of his mouth, Steve would get him the hell out of dodge, so he could only say it if he really did want to leave. They were already in the door, so they might as well say hello before he turned tail and ran like a coward. This was still going to be okay.

Steve looked amazing in a blue-grey button up and black slacks, so his parents’ guest couldn't get on him about that. There were a few lingering stains of oil paint on Steve's fingers, but his boyfriend was never ashamed of those. If asked, Steve would just laugh and then start an impassioned talk about art that would sweep people off their feet and absolutely ruin most attempts to judge him for those little smudges. Tony couldn't do anything about Steve's job, but working security wasn't the worst and anyway they were all bigoted assholes and Steve wouldn't even care about anything they said about him, so it would be fine.

Besides, anyone Howard was likely to have invited for the evening would take way more offense at Tony's outfit and his current predicament at work. Sure his jeans were nice and dark wash, but they were still denim and thus completely unacceptable. Even a suit jacket couldn't turn the band t-shirt he was wearing underneath into something his father's friends would find appropriate - he'd have been fine if it was only Howard and Maria, but the opinion of their friends mattered too much for them to let it slide now. His recent setback in negotiating more funds for the robotics division would be at the forefront of many minds belonging to Howard's coworkers, who might not even remember to ask what Steve did at all. Hell, they might spend so much time politely (covertly, viciously) insulting Tony that they'd forget to use Steve to hurt him.

A guy could hope.

"Tony, my boy!" Obadiah Stane's booming greeting was enough to make Tony relax just a little, because Obie had been taking his side - subtly, so Howard wouldn't be furious - for years. He'd help Tony and Steve get through this mostly unscathed. "Look at you... it's been too long." The large man swept in with surprising grace and pulled Tony into a tight hug that smelled like scotch and cigar smoke. On pulling back, he kept his hands on Tony's shoulders, beaming down at him. "Nice band choice, Tony. Your father," he added, pitching his voice low, for Tony and Steve's ears only. "And the rest of these old fogies might not appreciate it, but I'm a fan."

A knot of tension in his chest eased, and he shot the man a grateful smile. "Thanks Obie. I didn't know anyone else was coming - glad you're here too. You can help me fend them off." Obie laughed, a booming, rolling sound that had heads turning their way. It was a pretty small gathering, really. Besides Obie there were two board members - Doug Oliver and Thomas McBride, Pepper's ghost whispered in his ear - and their newest wives. Maria's friends Beth and Rhoda had dragged their husbands along as well, which left Obie as the only single in attendance. Not that the man would mind, since his 'lone wolf' status was one he embraced and flaunted. "God, this is going to suck ass. You remember Steve?"

"

Of course, of course - put her there, son," Obie said, holding out a hand to Steve... whose smile was now looking just a little bit fake.

"Nice to see you again, sir." Their handshake looked almost adversarial, like they might crush each other's hands, and Tony's relief skyrocketed back into panic. Steve had never said he didn't like the man who was pretty much Tony's uncle - really, he never said anything about him at all. Fuck. Shit. Abort, abort, prickly pears ho…

"Please, call me Obie! You and Tony have been together for... what now? Almost a year, isn't it? Why, you're practically family at this point!" That was... had it really almost been a year? Shit. Oh fuck. Before he could panic about that, Steve answered in a voice that was way too earnest not to be fake, and why the fuck hadn't Steve said that he didn't like Obie?

"Really sir? It would be my absolute honor if you'd let me. I know you're important to Tony."

"Okay!" Tony's voice was too loud and too happy even to his own ears, but Steve and Obie were still shaking hands, and it was weird. Super weird. "Hate to break this up, but I really need to take Steve and go say hi to the parents. You know how it is. Duty calls. Bye Obie!"

"Bye Obie!" Steve parroted in that new, strange voice of his that sort of made Tony want to elbow him in the gut.

"What the hell was that?" he hissed as he lead Steve away, headed (unfortunately) to Howard and Maria.

"I don't like the way he looks at you," Steve answered just as quietly, shrugging.

"Oh my fucking... we will talk about that later, Steven." Tony promised, a headache already forming behind his right eye.

"Sorry Tony."

"It's fine. Just... mom!" Maria turned towards him with a sweet smile but a slightly puzzled look, like she wasn't entirely sure why someone would be calling her that. As soon as she saw Tony that part of her expression cleared, and she was quick to wrap her arms around him in a hug.

"Tony, darling - you're here! ... and you're... wearing... that. Oh Tony," she murmured, and Tony felt the familiar prick of guilt that came whenever he disappointed his mother.

"I didn't know we were having guests," Tony told her quietly, ignoring Steve's slight frown in favor of kissing first one of her cheeks and then the other. "If I had, I'd have worn something else."

"I didn't tell you? My goodness, I thought I had. Do forgive me darling - I've been rather lost in my work. And Sam!"

"Steve," his boyfriend corrected gently with a smile warmer than the absent, unmeant oversight warranted. "It's good to see you again Maria. Have you perfected the theory yet, or are the numbers still giving you trouble?" Steve leaned in and pressed kisses to her cheeks while she beamed at him. He didn't seem to mind when she looped her arm through his, clearly intending to stay for a while.

"The numbers are being terribly unruly. Not as bad as Tony could be as a child, of course, but still very uncooperative. And now Beth and Isabella are insisting I do more charity works for puppies or something." Tony's mother was the pinnacle of the 'absent-minded professor' stereotype, but as they walked over to join Howard, Steve very patiently listened to her talk about her only true love - math - and didn't get upset when she didn't remember even a single detail about him.

"You're late."

"Hello to you too, Howard. I'm fine, thank you for asking."

"Tony, don't start with that bull--"

"Howard, look! It's Steve!" Maria introduced his boyfriend with all the grace and gusto she could manage, distracting both Howard and Tony himself from a fight before it could really start. "I hadn't realized they were still together, did you? When you said you wanted to throw a little get-together to show off Tony's beau, I thought you meant a new one. Not that I'm disappointed, of course. I'm rather fond of Steve. Aren't you, Howard?"

"Better than our son sleeping around, I suppose," Howard answered disinterestedly before taking another large swallow of his drink. "Be even better if they'd managed to arrive on time. Dinner will be ruined at this rate, and a fine thanks to Anna that would be for putting up with your antics over the years, Tony."

Steve was not only frowning now, he was also opening his mouth, and that was just... just a recipe for bad. "Steve! Drinks. Are you thirsty? I'm thirsty. So let's do the drink thing. Come on, come on, no need to be shy, I'll even make you that fru-fru candy drink that you like, I'm sure we have all the necessary... ah! Thomas. Sorry, didn't see you there."

The board member he'd accidentally bumped into was glowering with the force of ten suns as his pretty young wife dabbed at his chest ineffectually. "Dammit, Chloe, just... just go. Suit’s ruined and you're not helping... just..." Sniffing, the woman did as she was told, pausing only to give a haughty flip of her hair first. "So. Tony. And your... partner."

The amount of disgust and disdain he managed to pack into the single word was almost impressive. This was one of the homophobic ones, Tony remembered suddenly. Crap. Fuck. Shit. "I'm surprised you're still around. Rogers, wasn't it? Commitment isn't exactly a strong point for you people, after all. Though I suppose all the Stark money is reason enough to stay." Before Steve could reply, his attention was already back on Tony. "And you. Have you given up that pipe dream of yours yet? Weapons are still the future of the company, Tony, not your little toys."

Tony felt heat creeping up the back of his neck, and he did his best to swallow his temper. It helped that Steve settled a broad hand on the small of his back. "My 'little toys'," he started, trying to channel Pepper's ability to stay polite while ripping someone to shreds. "Have applications that are far more broad than simple weapons ever could be. I'm not saying we need to do anything crazy like shut down weapons development completely, but there's no reason that SI shouldn't start broadening its horizons. Otherwise we're going to fall behind--"

"I've heard this from you before," Thomas told him dismissively. "And I still don't buy it. Maybe if you'd come into reality with the rest of us once in awhile--"

"Excuse us, we were on our way to get drinks," Steve interrupted, leaving Tony gaping as he steered the both of them toward the bar. His boyfriend didn't interrupt like that, not so rudely or with such a brittle smile. Steve didn't low-key glare at people or subtly bump shoulders with them, and he didn't use his size and muscle to intimidate other people. Not usually. The Steve who'd come with him to dinner, however, did all of that and more.

Every time the conversation at hand started to veer into waters that were even vaguely insulting towards Tony, Steve interrupted and changed the topic of conversation. At every backhanded compliment, he drew himself up to his full height and glared the speaker into submission. He kept one arm locked around Tony's waist and seemed to be tempted multiple times to just steal him away. If he hadn't found it all so fascinating, Tony would have let him.

Pulling out of the small crowd waiting for dinner to be announced didn't save them, not when Howard was leading the charge in the 'business' circle. If Steve had pulled them away to regroup closer to where Maria and the other women were discussing charity or whatever, things probably would have been fine. Maria probably only barely remembered they were at the party anyway.

Howard was, of course, determined to embarrass his failure of a son and his date (who was a man and thus would never be able to provide the necessary heir to the Stark empire) whenever possible. Tony could hear a few of the jokes that had him as a punchline, ones that made his ears burn and that familiar ache well up in his chest. He'd been trying for years, his whole life really, to be what Howard wanted him to be. Every decision he made, every weapon he invented, everything he built... it was all rooted in the desire to make his father proud.

Why couldn't he make Howard proud of him?

He didn't realize there were tears of frustration pricking his eyes until Steve swooped in and pressed soft, sweet kisses to first the left and then the right. "Hold my drink, doll," he murmured quietly. "I have to go make a scene."

"Wha--" Before he could really process what was going on, Tony was holding Steve's strawberry-red drink and gaping after the blond as he strode into the middle of the business circle. He interrupted the joke Doug was telling (with Howard's gleeful encouragement) about Tony's previous promiscuity. God, he hated that Steve was hearing this - why the hell would his boyfriend want to stay with him after hearing about the way Tony'd dropped to his knees in a public restaurant and sucked like an obedient slut? Why would he be proud to be dating Tony when his own father had spent the last forty-five minutes laughing at his expense?

Of course, just then Howard was glaring up at Steve for ruining the fun. "Excuse me!" Steve called - his voice wasn't as booming as Obie's, but everyone still fell silent and turned his way. "Thanks - I just have a quick announcement to make, and we won't be staying much longer," he added to everyone's obvious displeasure and Tony's bewilderment. Why weren't they staying? Steve had been the one to say they should come and oh God they were going to leave so Steve could break up with him and Tony guessed he was just glad that he wasn't going to do it in front of everyone. "I mean, it was nice to get an invitation and all, and thanks for having us, Maria - maybe you, me and Tony could get lunch sometime."

"It was lovely having you dear," Maria answered serenely, raising her glass to him. "And I love lunch - call my office and we'll get something in the book."

"Of course," Steve agreed with a boyish grin. "You're a doll. As for you," he continued, voice turning hard and full of disdain as he got Howard in his sights. "I hope very much not to see you outside of a gala or other event ever again - that'll be up Tony, of course. Tony, your son, who is the smartest, sweetest, warmest human being I have ever had the pleasure of knowing. From what I understand, none of you have brought shit to the table when it comes to designs or fresh ideas at Stark Industries for years, so why the fuck you think you have the right to dismiss him while he’s picking up your slack I'll never know. He could invent circles around the 'great' Howard Stark, and he doesn't need any sleazeball business partners to help him do it," he added with a glare at Obie.

That wasn't fair, in Tony's opinion, but the way his heart was living in his throat wouldn't let him say so. Steve was... Steve was standing right in the middle of them all, saying... saying nice things about Tony. When this group got together nobody ever said anything nice about him. Doug and Thomas hated him, Obie didn't like to rock the boat, and the women were always benignly neglectful of his presence. This particular group was the one Howard invited to dinner when he wanted Tony to remember his place, remember how much of a failure he was. To have someone, to have Steve doing the opposite was... it was sort of breaking his brain a little. A lot.

Downing what remained of his rum and coke eased the pain of cognitive dissonance a little.

"What the hell are yo--"

"Tony Stark," Steve practically bellowed over Howard's attempt to slow him down. "Is worth more than all-a you put together, and it has fuck all to do with his money. He is one of the most amazing men I've ever met, and he deserves more than you assholes trying to rip into him this way. Must burn you, knowing that no matter how many chunks you rip outta him Tony'll always be bigger, brighter and more than any of you ever have a hope of being. You all oughta be ashamed of yourselves, but especially you, Mr. Stane, for staying quiet and you, Mr. Stark for encouraging people to do this to your son. It ain't fair that my ma and my da, who would have loved Tony as much as I do," holy shit, holy fucking shit. "Are both in the ground and you're still walking around acting like a bully toward your own flesh and blood. It's a goddamned tragedy. By the way, Thomas,"

It was wrong, probably, to be getting a little bit turned on by all of this. Steve's words weren't exactly masterpiece theater, and they weren't anywhere near as cutting as the ones Tony would have chosen if he'd managed to find the strength to stand up for himself that way. He was no Pepper either, cutting people down to size eloquently and politely... but fuck, did he mean every word he was saying. Tony felt that down to his toes, and even if it was still really fucking weird to have someone taking his side at one of these awful dinners it was also... kind of a little bit sexy.

"I've ignored all those little homophobic hints you've dropped because I didn't want to make you uncomfortable, because I have manners and at least a little class. But before I leave, and even though you have no business knowing anything about our sex life, I'd like to give you a taste of your own medicine. I'm a serial monogamist and I have no intention of leaving Tony anytime soon if ever. While I make you squirm I can put Doug's worries to rest too - Tony doesn't need to look anywhere else for sexual satisfaction. I can take a nice dick up the ass - and his is very nice - as well as I can give one."

"Young man--"

"What the devil--"

"Tony! Control your--"

"Holy shi--"

"If there's not enough lube handy or neither of us is in the mood for a lot of prep," Steve continued loudly over the protests of everyone else, unholy glee on his face as he kept his eyes locked on Howard's. "I am more than happy to be the one doing the sucking. I love the taste, love the weight of him on my tongue, and the noises he makes are absolutely delicious. I doubt any of you've ever left a partner really satisfied," here all the women began to snicker, probably in agreement. Steve just smiled and kept right on going. "So you probably don't know what I'm talking about, but there is nothing I enjoy more than going down on my guy until he's moaning my name coming undone. So he doesn't need to look elsewhere for 'fun', and I won't be stealing his shit and heading for the hills. We're quite happy together, and we're going to stay that way for quite some time. Have a lovely evening."

Steve ignored the shocked, disgusted faces he left behind him as he stalked back over to Tony. He held eye contact, maybe waiting for Tony to say he'd gone too far or protest their apparent departure, Tony didn't know. All he knew was that he loved what he saw in Steve's expression and that he loved Steve himself. The blond didn't stop until his body was pressed right up against Tony's, which was when he snagged his drink again and finished it off. As soon as it was gone, he dropped the glass onto the thick carpet and bent down to catch Tony's mouth in a long, passionate kiss.

That made it easy to ignore the way Howard was shouting, the offended exclamations from the other men, and the catcalls from the women. It was just Tony and Steve - the rest of the world didn't matter. Tony dropped his own glass to wrap his arms around Steve's shoulders, holding on for dear life. The kiss stayed hot and heavy - though Steve didn't grope him the way he would have in private - and Tony was breathless when Steve finally relented.

"Prickly pear," he growled against Tony's lips. Tony's laugh turned to an embarrassingly high pitched squeal when Steve grabbed him and tossed him over one shoulder with ease. The force of his grin had his cheeks hurting before they were even out of the room. He got to watch their shocked, enraged faces (mostly the men) on the way out, which was just the best. He gave a cheerful wave and, just before they turned the corner, gave Steve's ass a playful smack. The man carrying him barked out a laugh of his own, and as they made their way down the hall Tony was pretty sure he heard his mother say 'what a delightful young man' over the renewed shouting from Howard.

"I'll take both our coats, Jarvis," Steve said as they neared the entrance, sounding downright peppy.

"Of course. Do hurry to your car - I'd hate for the young master to catch a cold."

"The 'young master'," Steve answered dryly, keeping tight hold of Tony as he tried to wriggle free. "Is a pain in my ass when he's sick, so I'll get him in the car as fast as I can."

"Very good, Steve. My wife and I suspected you might not last long, so she took the liberty of packing up some food for you to take along with you."

"That was real nice of her." He loved when Steve's voice went all soft and warm over Jarvis and Anna that way - he really, really wanted his boyfriend to get along with the couple he often wished were his parents. "Thank her and give her a hug for me, if you don't mind. And here," he added, turning so Tony could see Jarvis. "He can carry the containers - it'll make it easier for me to get into the car."

"Hi Jarvis!" Tony greeted with a grin. "Steve yelled at everyone. He's the best. Or he would be if he let me down," he amended, smacking Steve's ass again and wriggling to drive the point home. "I can walk perfectly fine, you know!"

"I know."

"Steve is the best," Jarvis agreed with a nonplussed little smile, like he'd seen Tony get lugged around like a sack of potatoes a million times already. "For you, at the very least, he is the best. Make sure you let him have one of the pieces of cake, Tony. I'll know if you don't and I'll tell my Anna."

"Tattle tale," Tony said even as he accepted the containers full of Anna's delicious food.

"Indeed. Have a lovely evening, the both of you. And Steve?"

"Yes?"

"Thank you for standing up for him. Even if I never needed to know that much about your love lives... thank you."

The naked gratitude in Jarvis' voice had Tony blushing - he knew that meant Steve's face was probably delightfully pink as well and he didn't even get to see it!

"You don't gotta thank me. It wasn't right, what they were all saying, and I... I'd do anything for him. So don't thank me."

"As you say, sir."

"Goodnight, Jarvis."

"Bye Jarvis!"

Steve was quiet as he took them to the car and as he carefully set Tony down on his feet. He didn't speak as he took the containers from Tony and secured them in the back seat, though he did briefly break his silence when he asked for the keys. Tony handed them over without complaint, even though it was his car and he'd been the one to drive them there.

Steve usually had a pretty good handle on his temper, but when he was angry Tony knew he liked to drive - it helped him focus and get his feelings under control. So Tony didn't complain, just slid into the passenger's seat and buckled up. Steve joined him in the car a few moments later, and he white-knuckled the steering wheel all the way down the winding drive that lead to Stark Mansion.

The tension he was carrying seemed to ease once they were on the main road, which helped Tony breathe a bit easier as well. Though…

"Did you... did you mean it? All that stuff you said to... to Howard and everyone. Did you mean it?" Tony didn't want to sound needy or weak, or like... like he needed Steve to tell him he was amazing all the time, because he didn't. He knew that Howard and the board and most of their acquaintances saw him a certain way and their impression of him wasn't exactly a great one. He just... he also knew that Steve had gotten caught up in the heat of the moment, and maybe he didn't... maybe he didn't mean the things that had come out of his mouth. They were together, sure, but they hadn't said they loved each other or really talked about where this was going or anything like that.

So he just... needed to know if Steve meant it.

"Hey..." Steve said quietly, eyes on the road even as he offered one hand to Tony for him to hold. "Of course I did. Every fucking word. I mean..." Tony watched as a blush spread over his boyfriend's cheeks, visible even in the panels of light and shadow thrown off by the streetlights. "I oughta apologize for what I said about, you know... the way we... it's private, for us and only us, and I shouldn't have... I am sorry, about that. I shouldn't have done it without asking you first, but I was just so... who the fuck do they think they are, talking about you like that? Like you don't mean anything, like you weren't the smartest, most amazing person in that whole goddamn room? And I don't care if you slept with everyone you met at those awful galas before I came along, I don't - nothing wrong with sex, long as it's between consenting adults, though it boils my blood that maybe sometimes it wasn't all the way consensual on your part, but you've asked me to let that go. I don't give a shit who you slept with before me or how many there were, but they had no right--"

"I know, stud muffin," Tony murmured, dragging Steve's hand up to his mouth to kiss the back of it. "They shouldn't have been telling jokes like that in front of you."

"They shouldn't be telling jokes like that at all!" Steve shouted, immediately quieting when he felt Tony wince. "Sorry, sorry. I'm gonna... hold on. Just... gimme a second to pull over, okay? Thought driving would help, but if we're gonna talk, I gotta put this in park before I crash and kill us both." He clung to Tony's hand as he looked for a place to do that, and Tony held on just as tight in return.

Tony didn't think he'd ever seen Steve rattled like this... but then, he'd never been around such a concentrated cloud of 'anti-Tony' before. Enough people at the galas were fond of him that Steve might have gotten whispers or hints of stuff like that, but he maybe hadn't realized that Howard both bought and sold the sentiments, or that the board tended to treat Tony as either an unruly, ungrateful child or the punchline of a joke.

Nobody but Pepper and Rhodey had ever reacted to the realization negatively the way Steve had. Even they hadn't gone so far to make it clear that they didn't agree. Not that he blamed them. Pepper wanted to keep working with Tony and Rhodey was probably worried that if he didn't keep complete control he'd start punching out old white men which, as a young black man, probably wouldn't end well for him. Besides, Tony had been adamant that he could fight his own battles, so they were content to let him do that and ply him with cuddles and sweet words when they were alone. Steve was the first person to say 'fuck it' to the consequences and really go to bat for him.

Tony had known he loved Steve for a while - this whole fiasco had just cemented the idea in his mind.

They didn't speak again until Steve had the (very expensive, very explode-able) car parked in a nearly deserted parking lot. "I meant every goddamn word of it." Steve's voice was husky with feeling as he turned toward Tony and took his other hand as well. He held eye contact as he pulled both of Tony's hands to his mouth to press a kiss to each palm, keeping hold of them once that was done. "You are... you are amazing. You're the kind of smart they all wish they could be - the way your mind works is beautiful. Even I can see that much. So what if it's different than the way mine does, or if you do things a little different because of it? They shouldn't be acting like those quirks and traits of yours are something you should be ashamed of, because they're all just part of that amazing package. And you shine, did you know that? Like... like a candle in the dark or something, I don't know. I just know that it's brighter wherever you are, and I can see that. So can Pepper and Rhodey and even my friends - and my friends, God love 'em, are fucking morons."

Tony laughed and was surprised by the wet sound of it. He was even more shocked to realize that a few tears had started to run down his cheeks. Steve let go of his left hand to gently, carefully wipe away one tear with his thumb, hand cupping the side of his face after.

"It kills me to know that they say things like that at all, let alone where you can hear 'em. You're so... you acted at first like it didn't even matter, so they have to do it all the time. You don't deserve that, Tony. You deserve... you should have a dad that's so damn proud of you he just about bursts with it, because you are a goddamned wonder. You deserve a mom who remembers you even when you aren't in the room. You deserve the whole world and I hate that I can't give it to you. What I can do is refuse to listen to that fucking garbage they were spewing - if you let me, I can make damn sure you never hear it when I'm around either."

"Language," Tony tried past his trembling lower lip, searching Steve's eyes. "You only swear when we're doing the sex, usually. Dunno if I'm really, really touched or just super horny. Not fair, babe." Steve gave a chuckle of his own, then leaned in to brush a few feather-light kisses against his lips. When he came to a stop, his thumb was still sweeping over Tony's skin in a gentle caress, their foreheads touching. "... Steve?" he asked, even knowing he should just let it go. "Did you... did you also mean it when you... You said that your parents would love me as much as you do. Did... you meant that too?"

Steve's breath caught, and then he let out a long sigh. "Had it planned, you know," he said quietly. "It was gonna be the most romantic thing. I made reservations at Per Se--"

"You hate Per Se."

"You love it though. I have reservations for next week, and then I thought we could maybe go on a nice walk, and I could... you know. Tell you. I was gonna tell you and then see if you wanted to maybe move in together, because... because I do love you, and we're good together, Tony. I think we could really make it, you know? We could go all the way." Steve stopped, blushing again as he pulled away just a little. "I think so anyway. So yeah, I meant it. Well, they probably wouldn't love you just as much as I do, but they would have loved you. Bet they still do if they're somewhere they can see us. You're amazing and you make me happy - 'course they love you."

"You're a giant fucking sap, Rogers," Tony accused, fully aware of the fact that he was crying now. Steve, thank God, was smiling instead of pulling away or looking offended by his lack of response. "You should be a maple tree - you could keep all of Canada in syrup with all that sap."

"Shucks, Tony. You sure know how to compliment a guy," he teased in return, eyes sparkling in the dim light. Tony knew he should probably respond verbally - he should let Steve know that he loved him back and that yes, they should live together and they could absolutely make it all the way - but he just... it was too much.

There were too many emotions and love didn't even really begin to express how he felt about Steve just then, and it wasn't even about physical attraction when he pulled Steve forward and gave him a hard, messy, passionate kiss. It was the kind of kiss that had them both panting for breath only a few seconds in, the kind that you gave someone because words just weren't enough.

"I love you too," Tony managed when they finally separated. "Love you so much, was afraid to... I've never... Steve," he whined, dragging him forward into another kiss. It ended sooner than he would have liked, and Steve tried to soothe his whimpers of protest by tucking Tony's head under his chin and making calming sounds. "Wanna move in together - your apartment is better."

"Yours is bigger," Steve commented idly, though Tony could hear him smiling.

"Yours is warmer," Tony returned, and Steve wrapped his arms around him and gave him a squeeze of understanding. They both knew it had nothing to do with temperature. "Plus I think you can have animals. I want a dog. Maybe a cat too. Yeah... a dog and a cat. And an iguana."

"An iguana?" Skepticism ran rampant in Steve's voice as he carefully hoisted Tony over the gear shifter and into his lap. Cuddling in a car was kind of uncomfortable, but Tony thought they both needed the contact and reassurance.

"Yes, Steven, an iguana. I want a cat, a dog and an iguana. And they're all going to be ours because we're going to be together and in love until we're both old and gray, so we can have animals together. Fuck, we could probably manage kids together if we decided we wanted to."

"We probably could. Someday."

"We could parent the fuck out of some kids if we wanted."

"Let’s wait on kids until we're a little older, alright? We should make sure we can keep the iguana from eating the dog and cat before we try to wrangle any human children. Maybe get married and move to a bigger place too."

"Yeah. So just the animals and your apartment for now, and we'll talk about the other stuff later."

"Can't wait," Steve whispered into his hair, making Tony grin and fight down a giggle. "I love you, Tony Stark."

"Love you too, Steve Rogers. Now take me home - your apartment now, in case that wasn't clear - so we can eat the food Anna gave us. Next week we can go to Per Se and eat yummy, ridiculously expensive food to celebrate, 'cause I can probably get moved in by then. Would you be upset if I kept the house for the workshop in the basement for a while? I don't... I don't want to live there, but I'd have to buy your whole complex to put in a workshop there."

"Wouldn't mind at all, Tony. I want you to be able to work - part of why I love you is for your crazy-beautiful brain and 'cause I get to bring you food and a change of clothes when you spend too long locked away from the world. I love sleepy manic inventor Tony even if he's a pain in my ass."

"I love overbearing mother hen Steve even if he's a pain in mine. Now mush!" Steve laughed and Tony joined in as they shifted to get Tony back into the right seat. They shared a few more kisses over the gear shifter before Steve started the car up again and pulled out of the parking lot to get them home - Tony knew they were going to hold hands the whole way. They'd been driving in happy, comfortable silence for about ten minutes before Steve finally asked what Tony knew he'd been dying to ask.

"... why in the world do you want an iguana? We can totally get one, but... why? I need to know the why, Tony, before it drives me crazy."

In the ensuing discussion on the merits of lizards in general and iguanas in particular, Tony basked in the warm, sure knowledge that Steve loved him and they were going to make it all the way. Steve was... Steve was sort of it for him. He needed to plan the best first anniversary celebration ever, and then (once they'd settled into living together) he needed to buy a ring.

Steve had been the one to initiate this semi-terrifying step forward in their relationship.

Tony wanted to be the one to pop the next question.