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Luckily the penthouse sofa was reinforced to take Hulk-sized weight, so Tony in his armor and Steve in his full suit collapsing onto it only caused a quiet groan from the couch.
Steve closed his eyes. He could easily fall asleep right there for the next month. It hadn't been a particularly difficult battle, but it had been long. Most of their time had been spent wrangling civilians away from the large bouncy balls being shot around Broadway like a pinball machine. If Steve's endurance was tested, he couldn't imagine how Tony ass feeling.
He looked over at the battered armor. If he didn't know better, he'd say the suit was unoccupied and thrown onto the couch like a discarded shirt you were too tired to take to the hamper. "You still in there?"
The sound that came through the voice filter probably started as a groan. "Unfortunately."
Steve sat up, his suit feeling stiff. His arms ached as he managed to pull off the top half, and then the bottom, leaving him in just his undersuit. He was quick to peel off the top of that as well, leaving it bunch around his waist.
He turned to Tony again, who hadn't moved a single joint. "Need a hand?"
"No, no. Just leave me here. It's pretty cozy. Might never leave."
Steve smirked. "You're call. I'm going to bed." He stood up on sore legs and stepped over his discarded suit to stand behind the couch.
"Steve. Steve!" Tony called out. "Get back here!"
Steve reached underneath the Iron Man helmet and unhooked it. He carefully pulled it off Tony's head, revealing his unimpressed face and an impressive head of hair. "Is that any way to treat your fiancé?"
Steve leaned over and pressed his lips against Tony's. He gently scratched at the stubble growing on Tony's jaw.
Tony hummed. "That's more like it."
Steve gave him a final peck before pulling back and moving around the couch again. He settled on the coffee table in front of Tony. "Let's get you out of that armor."
He unlatched the right gauntlet and carefully slid it off. Tony's knuckles were raw and bruised. He placed a soft kiss on the roughest one.
Tony hummed in approval.
Steve made quick work getting the left gauntlet off as well, but when he moved over to the table, something fell out onto the floor. For a horrible moment, he thought it was a piece of finger, but when he picked it up, he could help but give a sad little laugh.
It was a silicone ring. Or at least it was before it was broken. The golden shine didn't pass for real metal, but it was really the safest option for Tony if he wanted to wear an engagement ring.
Steve held it up for Tony to see.
Tony sighed and looked at his hand. There was a shallow cut on his ring finger, probably from one of the finger plates being bent in during the fight. "That's what, the tenth?"
Steve fiddled with it. "Something like that." He bit his bottom lip.
It had been almost five years since Steve had proposed to Tony and slid the first engagement ring on his finger. It had also been silicon and gold. He'd spent hours looking online and consulting people. He remembered that elation, that excitement, that pure joy when Tony had grinned and said yes.
That ring had ended up catching on a piece of machinery and getting cut off as well.
Tony had been devastated. Steve had reassured him that it was okay. Steve had gotten that type of ring for that very purpose. It hadn't been worth much either, especially compared to Tony's other accessories, but Steve knew that wasn't the point. He'd bought Tony another the next day.
That one had been disintegrated by a supervillain.
The next had been lost in a jungle in Brazil.
The forth had melted on a hot plate.
The fifth was used to jerryrig a cell door open.
The sixth had been lost on vacation, on a beach while he and Tony were, well, distracted.
Was it the seventh or eighth that had been eaten by a dinosaur?
The last was lost in the chaos at the hospital when Tony was rushed into emergency surgery...
"What? What's with the face?"
Steve looked up to find Tony had managed to take off his chest piece and a boot on his own. "Sorry, sorry." He put the ring on the coffee table and helped him with the next boot.
"You okay?" Tony asked. "You're not bleeding internally or anything, right? You got that pinched look."
Steve shook his head, not looking up as he worked at the clasps on Tony's calf.
Tony let it go until they got all the armor off and he was sitting in his own undersuit with a half-drunk bottle of water in his hand. "Alright. So spill. What's up?"
Steve sighed, picking up the broken ring once more. "Do you think this is a sign?"
"A sign of what?"
"It's been five years!" Steve said, it coming out far louder than he'd meant it to. "I know we aren't in any hurry. It doesn't really matter if we're engaged or married or neither as long as we're together. But—"
"Whoa, hey, hey!" Tony grabbed Steve's hands, which he hadn't realized he'd been flailing. "Where's this coming from?"
Steve sighed. "I got you this ring so we wouldn't have to worry about it hurting you. But it keeps breaking or getting lost. It's like the universe is telling us something."
Tony squeezed his hands. "I love you, Steve."
Steve swallowed shallowly. "I love you, too."
"I'm sorry. I didn't realize how much this bothered you."
Steve shook his head. "It didn't. It doesn't. Not usually."
Tony gave a sad smile. "I'm sorry," he repeated. "I guess we just... We got complacent, right? Whenever we set a date for the wedding, we'd either be halfway around the world or so deep in battle we wouldn't remember until a week later that we missed our own wedding." Tony squeezed his hands again. "I know you don't want to elope, and honestly, neither do I. We just have to wait for the right moment."
Steve frowned. "What if the right moment never comes?"
"Then it doesn't!" Tony said, waving the idea away with one hand, the other still clasped with Steve's. "If the day never comes that we officially tie the knot — our way, the way we want to — then it never comes. And I'll still never have any regrets. Because I don't need a piece of paper and some nice pictures and a cake to solidify that I love you."
Steve gave him a watery smile. Because he knew Tony was speaking the absolute truth.
"Well," Tony hesitated. "Maybe I'll regret one thing."
Steve frowned. "What?"
"Never getting to smoosh cake in your face in front of all our friends."
Steve laughed, wiping at his eyes. "Tell you what, my next birthday party. Go for it."
Tony grinned and kissed him. "It's a date."