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“If the public could see us,” Tony started, his words slow and lazy, just like they both felt, “they'd have a fit.”
Steve didn’t lift his head from where it rested along the high edge of the giant soaker tub in Tony's penthouse bathroom. “Why's that?”
“Their two favourite superheroes, cuddling in the tub with bubble bath and bath bombs and smelling like – what is this? Oranges and coconut? We smell like a tropical drink of some sort, anyways.”
“First off,” Steve said as he lifted his head to look at Tony with a content smile. “This is not cuddling, since you’re all the way across this ocean sized tub-"
“I really wanted a foot rub, sue me!”
“And second, they can all suck it. We deserve self-care too.”
Tony laughed as he let his fingers graze along Steve's calves and feet circling him. They'd lost track of time, sitting here relaxing and indulging in a moment just for them. They were not to be disturbed unless the world was ending, and even then, FRIDAY had parameters for it: no point in telling them if they had no time to save the world, really. They might as well go out happily in each other's company.
“Your toes are getting wrinkly,” Steve mused as he lifted one of Tony's feet out of the tub, which promptly slipped out of his grip and splashed back in the water.
“That is our cue to move this to the bedroom then,” Tony chuckled.
“While I really like the soaking in the tub part of self-care night, I really like the bedroom part of the night.”
Tony reached for the drain and pulled the stopper out. If one of them didn’t do it, they'd spend another hour in there.
“Then let’s get to it, Rogers,” Tony smirked. He tried to scooch backwards just a bit to give Steve room, but he found himself sliding around the bottom and sides of the tub instead. That was odd.
“Babe, can you try and move that way a bit?” Steve asked as his own arms slid from the sides, fingers unable to grasp the high ledge of the bathtub.
“Yeah, no. That is not happening,” Tony answered as he attempted to move and just kept sliding lower into Steve's space instead of away from him. “Where's the washcloth?”
“Here. And coated in the same goo that seems to be all over us.” Steve threw the useless rag at Tony, trying to brace himself with his feet, and instead watching it slip right under him, and tumbling back in the now shallow water.
“Why are the towels all the way over there?” Tony asked out loud, mostly cursing himself or having thought the towel heating bar should go between the shower and the soaker tub.
“Why is this so slippery?” Steve shrieked, as every one of his long, muscular limbs slid off the fine porcelain of the tub.
“You'd think the damned bath bombs were made of pure olive oil!”
Steve groaned as he landed back on his ass in the puddle of water that was left, bumping his head in the process.
“Okay, what if you grab onto the faucet?”
Steve raised an eyebrow at him. “Do you not remember why we had to do a full reno of the ensuite?”
“Oh yeah…” Tony let out over a breath, the memory of a particularly frisky session in the previous tub and Steve managing to tear the fixtures right off the well coming back to him. “I really should have gotten the new ones made out of vibranium.”
“That doesn’t help us right now,” Steve pointed out.
“FRIDAY? Can you see what was in those damned bath bombs?”
“It seems the Jelly Bombs you ordered are made to provide a moisturizing layer to help soften and smooth your skin. They mention it might require some additional clean up after use,” she replied. Then she added tentatively. “Most reviews also suggest never using more than one at a time.”
“Before you say anything,” Tony cut Steve off, who was staring at him with wide eyes and his mouth open and ready to no doubt comment. “We always use two cause the tub is so big! And I had no idea these were jelly ones. I just liked the names when I ordered them.”
“You are lucky you’re cute. And that I cannot make my way across this tub right now,” Steve mumbled with a smirk. “We need to find a way to get out of this tub without me breaking the damned thing. And, FRIDAY? Can you order one of those anti-slip mats for the tub please?”
“No! We aren’t using one of those! They're so ugly !”
“We. Are stuck. In. The tub!”
Tony frowned and huffed but refused to say anything.
“Gimme your hand,” Steve reached out, grabbing one of Tony's hands in both his. He pulled Tony towards him, the film covering them and the tub helping him slide along easily until he was almost flush against Steve's chest. “I’ll try and haul you out of the tub-"
“What?!”
“Tony, we both know you cannot get in and out of this tub easily and I cannot get out without breaking the thing. Either I haul you over the edge or we call Bucky so he can lift us out.”
“Don’t you fucking dare get Barnes in here,” Tony glared at him.
“My thoughts exactly.” No doubt Steve was thinking the exact same thing as him: Bucky would ensure there was photographic evidence of this moment plastered all over the tower. “Now, I can maybe help you get out of the tub, and if you grab me some towels, that might give me enough grip to be able to get out of here.”
“Fine.”
After more time than either of them cared to admit, Tony had been hauled over the edge of the tub. Only to find himself struggling on the gleaming tiled floor.
“Fri? We're going to need a bath mat for outside the tub too, please,” he said, as he tried to slide his way towards the towel bar.
He grabbed all four of the towels, using one to keep his footing as he tried to towel off the substance from his skin.
“I will say, my skin does feel really soft,” he shrugged after Steve had managed to extricate himself from the tub with towels under his feet and hands.
“Earth’s mightiest heroes, bested by a couple damned bath bombs,” Steve muttered as he towelled off.
“So much for the state of zen we'd managed to achieve, huh?” Tony said as he helped Steve into his fluffy bathrobe.
Steve laughed as he pulled Tony closer. “I’m sure some bedroom time can help us get back to some kind of zen.”
“I am willing to try, Cap.” Tony pulled Steve in for a kiss, before leading him towards the bedroom – on a series of more towels so they didn’t accidentally slip and fall.