Chapter Text
The lock on Steve’s door hadn’t been functioning since the first day he moved into the Avengers tower with his team. In retrospect, it might have worked before Steve accidentally broke it by forcing his way inside because he didn’t know the locking mechanism was digital. At the time, the idea of explaining it to Tony to get it fixed didn’t seem so appealing. After all, Tony had commented on his technology deficiency at least twice so far and Steve wasn’t quite eager to repeat the experience.
By now, Steve had learned how to use smartphones, operate modern vehicles and an array of twenty first century gadgets but certain things still confused him. Take Jarvis for an example. He eerily reminded Steve so much of Arnim Zola even though Jarvis was always polite to him and even stayed out of Steve’s room to honor his request for privacy.
Earlier, there was a housewarming party on the upper deck. There were plenty of food and drink for everyone. Steve hadn’t intended to touch the alcohol but ended up with one or two beers and more than a few glasses of wine. At first, he drank because of the insistence from Natasha and later on, due to his new found fondness for the expensive taste of Tony’s wine choice.
The party ended roughly three hours ago. Other than Natasha and Clint who left together and Thor who flew off to Asgard, they’d retired to their individual rooms.
It was a hot summer day but much cooler at night. Steve had his double-paned windows wide open for the breezes and easy exit if there was a need. Having changed into his pajamas, currently, Steve was lying on the bed but not sleeping. Since the Super-Soldier Serum experiment, he didn’t require a lot of sleep although during WWII, he’d gotten used to pretend that he slept much more than he actually did to assume the normalcy.
Before the Avengers, before working for SHIELD, Steve usually liked to prowl the crime-ridden parts of the city but he’d found that with sophisticated A.I.’s monitoring the hot zones via various cameras and satellites, it might not be as fun but more efficient to wait for the alarm.
In his solitude, Steve felt oddly content with a sense of belonging which he hadn’t experienced since 1940s. His sadness for what he’d lost still presented, though it was more like a deep ache which he’d gotten used to live with. Perhaps, it did help that Peggy was still alive and while Bucky was still out there, Steve knew he was safe and recovering his memories.
As Steve pondered, somewhere there was a crash which Steve noticed but chose to ignore for the time being since Jarvis did not raise the alarm. Most likely, it was someone trying to find the bathroom while being drunk. Steve would come to assist if it happened again.
No sooner had he considered the idea, his door opened to let in Tony who looked dazed and confused in the dim moonlight from the window. Tony didn’t greet or acknowledge Steve. Instead, he walked quite unsteadily toward Steve, tripped over Steve’s shoes and landed face-down on the bedcover over Steve’s legs where he lay flat and not moving but clearly still breathing based on the rise and fall of his chest against Steve.
Steve waited a few beats before he chided Tony. “Stark, in case, you’re too drunk to realize, this isn’t your room.”
There was no response coming from Tony. Steve gave Tony’s chest a shove with one of his legs and he must have misjudged his strength because Tony fell right off the bed and made a pained noise when he hit the floor. There were some incoherent mumbles and rustling of clothes against carpet before Tony went quiet again.
Steve had expected Tony to wake up and accuse him of unneeded violence, not to make himself comfortable on the floor. So this outcome perplexed him and made him feel just a tad of guilt. Regardless of their relationship and how things were still awkward and uncomfortable between them with too much disagreement and not enough shared viewpoints and opinions, Tony was still his teammate, which meant Steve assumed the responsibility of caring for Tony’s wellbeing.
When Steve got off the bed to check, Tony seemed unharmed. He didn’t even smell of alcohol but that might be due to the shampoo scent covering it.
Steve helped Tony on his feet with little difficulty. However, trying to get him to walk by himself was a conundrum. After another failed attempt, Steve gave up and threw Tony across his shoulder. For a man with a big mouth and an even bigger ego, Tony didn’t weigh much. Perhaps, Steve could even carry him while he was in his tin can without too much trouble, Steve thought and felt himself smiling at the image as he marched down the hall to Tony’s room.
The door opened automatically and the light turned on to let them in. Steve deposited Tony on his unmade bed not so gently and took the time to admire the result.
“Thank you for your assistance, Captain.” That was Jarvis speaking.
“You’re welcome, Jarvis,” Steve said, not letting his surprise show as he looked around the walls to locate the voice source. He was never going to be used to this.
“It’s my duty to help when one of my teammates is drunk.”
“He is not drunk.”
“Looking like it to me.”
“He is not drunk,” Jarvis repeated.
“So how do you explain this?” Steve gestured at Tony’s form.
There was a short silence before Jarvis replied, “Captain, Mr. Stark has a sleepwalking disorder which is not known by many. Please do not let anyone know and bring Mr. Stark back if you come upon him during one of his episodes.”
“Shouldn’t I wake him up instead?”
“That is not advisable due to unpredictable responses. Mr. Stark might think he was being attacked and summoned Iron Man,” Jarvis clarified.
“Did that happen before?”
“Twice.” Jarvis didn’t elaborate further and let Steve second-guess.
“I’ll do what I can but you have to promise not to tell him.”
“You have my words, Captain.”
Afterward, Steve retreated to his room for some well-deserved rest. That was the first time Tony sleepwalked into his room but it wasn’t the last.
***
Steve expected Tony to show up the next day but it didn’t happen, not the day after, the day after that, or the week after that. In the meantime, Steve tried to get along with his teammates. Co-operative living wasn’t always easy, and even with his time in the military, Steve still had some minor problems with the living arrangement. Others were less fortunate without the same experience.
As a mismatched group with different backgrounds, values and interests, it was quite difficult for them to find a common ground. There were always conflicts. Who spilled the coffee without cleaning or drank the last cup of coffee without brewing a fresh pot? Who kept putting leftover food in the fridge until it spoiled? Who left half-empty soda cans all over the place? Who drank all the organic orange juice and buying a replacement? Who left the dishes in the sink instead of the dish washer? And so on.
Steve learned that the Avengers were all reserved people who kept to themselves and didn’t talk about their problems, including Tony who seemed to have the boundless capability to drone on for minutes and hours without revealing anything personal.
Natasha and Clint had a thing in the past but currently, she was interested in Bruce who was the most quiet among them albeit not due to a lack of confidence or eloquence. Hulk and Bruce were two separate entities and Hulk wasn’t as stupid as media outlets portrayed.
Personally, Steve was closest to Natasha after having been through at least two major battles together with her. And yet, she still would not tell him anything about her or her whereabouts and occasionally, she would disappear for days and show up afterward without explanations.
Clint did that too, leaving sometimes at the same time as Natasha. Steve strongly suspected that they both still worked for Nick Fury who might be stationed anywhere from New York to Russia. Like Bruce, Clint didn’t talk a lot. He was similar to Natasha in many ways even with a different sense of humor.
Thor was the most straightforward Avenger with outgoing manners and uncomplicated thoughts. He traveled often between Asgard, New Mexico and New York where his visits were always brief and often during lunch or dinner hour. Thor always carried his healthy appetite with him but sometimes, he also brought a strong Asgardian mead, the only thing that could get Steve drunk if he drank too much.
To Tony, Howard Stark was a sensitive issue as was Afghanistan. Steve figured out how to read between the lines and not to take what Tony said so seriously because more often than not, Tony didn’t really mean it. Tony could be sarcastic and appear dismissive and insensitive toward other people’s feelings but he was actually generous and nice. Often, he would go out of his way to accommodate them and get what they needed be it an upgrade to their existing equipment or building the latest gadget. Tony enjoyed both the attention and the sense of being useful to the team, and at times, his behaviors were almost needy. It was a little difficult to imagine how such a great man and father like Howard Stark could produce such a child.
In battles, Tony always went without a plan, his actions always unpredictable and reckless. Tony believed thinking on his feet was his strength but from Steve’s point of view, it was a weakness. Steve also didn’t like how Tony relied on his armored suits and Jarvis too much and he believed that Tony needed some hand-to-hand combat training for him to not be a liability outside of his armor.
Overall, Tony spent more time around Bruce than anyone else. Whenever two of them got together, it seemed as if they isolated themselves in their own bubble with their technobabble. If Steve was honest with himself, he would say Tony and Bruce’s friendship bothered him. A lot.
Jarvis was also part of the team. He was the polite but aloof butler who ran the Avengers Tower and provided some technical support behind the scene. Unlike most butlers in movies and fiction, he was actually better at the second job than the first. He assisted them with many daily tasks whether it meant restocking the shells, doing the laundry, or sending Dum-E from the lab to clean up the mess but beyond that, they were on their own.
Prepared meals were only available during special occasions and thus, cooking duty was on a voluntary basis. Most of the time Steve would make breakfast and someone else would make dinner or order in. Every Friday, unless New York was being terrorized by the villain of the week, was either a party or movie day.
They generally had a lot of downtime to pursue other activities. Bruce worked as an adjunct lecturer at a local community college and Tony was the Director of Technology at Stark Industries. Steve himself spent a lot of time working out at the gym and drawing a comic book. He did it not only because he needed to fill the time but because he didn’t want to rely on the Maria Stark Foundation as his sole income source.
Comparing to working for SHIELD, being an Avenger was a remarkable improvement in terms of pay, working hours and benefits. Overall, the positives outweighed the negatives and Steve didn’t have a lot of issue with anything until Tony started making it a habit to show up in Steve’s room at night.
The second time was after two supervillains and one bank robbing case. Steve had been lying awake in his bed and counting sheep while watching the clock on the wall when Tony entered. Even in the darkness, Steve could see that Tony’s eyes were open and glazed over as if he was in a dreamlike state. In the very same manner as the night before, Tony walked to Steve’s bed and tripped over Steve’s shoes. Before he fell down, however, Steve caught his midriff and held him up.
“Not my bed, Stark,” said Steve in a mild admonishing tone.
Tony slept on, fully relaxed in Steve’s arms with his head rested against Steve’s chest. Steve caught a wisp of his hair which smelled amazing and held him a few seconds longer to relish the sensation of a warm body against his. Once the moment was over, Steve chastised himself for his action and reasoned that he might have gone for too long without intimate touches from a bed partner.
Steve took Tony to his room in a fireman’s carry, received Jarvis’ thanks and bade him good night.
***
On Thursday, Steve asked Sharon out for a lunch date at a Greek restaurant near the museum. After SHIELD, she’d transferred to the CIA and worked at a desk job or so he was told. Steve’d intended to ask her out much earlier based on Natasha’s advice. He just never did.
They had chosen to sit together at the outside dining area in sunny weather with cold drinks and very good food. Sharon wore a summer dress with a modest neckline, a trendy belt and matching heels. A small handgun was trapped to one of her thighs and Steve was observant enough to notice. When Steve joked about it, she laughed and deflected the topic expertly. Even with his preferences for brunettes, Steve had to admit that she was a very desirable girl with curled blond locks, a great smile and a nice figure.
She didn’t eat much but enjoyed his attention and tried to engage him without prying into his private affairs. Comparing to Peggy, Sharon was just as strong-willed and independent. While many men did not consider those positive traits, for someone in his position, being in a relationship with a person who could take care of themselves and did not require his constant attention was ideal. Having been an undercover agent, Sharon also understood and accepted the inherent risks of his profession. Steve wanted someone who could move on to live a full life if anything ever happened to him like Peggy did and she fit the bills.
When they finished lunch, Sharon let him pay. She gave him a parting kiss on the cheek and let him know that she would be happy to see him again. Steve told her likewise and watched her driving off, knowing she would be good for him if he was ready for relationship.
The walk home was uneventful. Mostly, Steve tried to resist the urge to visit the veteran cemetery or the hospice where Peggy was staying. He’d visited her in the morning and she appeared well and lucid enough to recognize him.
There was this tiny bookstore two blocks away from the Avengers Tower. Steve was quite fond of it partly because it reminded Steve of the bookstore which housed and camouflaged the lab where Steve received the Supersoldier Serum, and mostly because it seemed to be the only bookstore within a five mile radius. There weren’t many of them these days. On the news, it was said traditional brick-and-mortar bookstores such as these would be out of business within the next ten years. Steve found the idea ironic because people condemned book burning in Nazi Germany, protested and fought against censorship but collectively agreed to give up printed newspaper and books all in the name of technological advancement.
The kind of trust people had in computers was ridiculous, Steve thought as he entered the store.
After flipping through several books, Steve idly wandered the shelves, skimming titles and surrounding himself in the smell of new books. He had been looking for something to buy to support the locally owned business and couldn’t find any. That was before he passed by the magazine rack and saw one with Tony’s photo on the cover. Steve decided to pick it up and walked to the front to pay.
***
For a dwelling that housed so many people, the Avengers Tower could be surprisingly quiet, especially during daytime. Bruce was probably busy with his part-time job and Natasha and Clint were MIA like usual.
Jarvis gave Steve his standard impersonal greeting when Steve entered and disappeared from the walls. Steve went to his room to change into more comfortable clothes as he reconsidered his newest purchase. He’d gone out to avoid thinking about Tony and returned with a magazine featuring Tony. It had a very good picture of Tony though.
The door to Tony’s lab was locked when he tried. Steve’d never been here before. The place was commonly considered Tony’s sanctuary because Tony spent more time there than anywhere else. When Steve knocked, a small blue panel blinked briefly before the door unlocked and opened by itself.
The interior was quite spacious, easily spanning half of the floor. The first thing Steve noticed, however, was Tony who bent toward the screen in front of him.
“What do you want? I’m not done fixing your car yet. Been too busy. Did you get any of that? No? Ok. Actually I did finish it but it needs some touchups.”
“This is Steve,” Steve said, clearing his throat.
Tony turned his head to give him a cursory glance and said. “O Captain! My Captain! Look what I got for you.”
Next, Tony grabbed an imaginary object from the screen to put it in the air between them, brought his other arm up and then, both of his hands moved apart, palms spread. The object magnified into a holographic projection of Steve’s shield which slowly rotated as he watched. No, not his shield, Steve corrected himself. The coating was too flawless and in place of the duo leather straps on the back was a metal holster with small blue lights.
“What do you think about that?” Tony sounded proud. “You can’t always carry your shield around so I made this for you. This is the armband that projects the energy shield. You can hold it like any normal object, throw it and catch it back.”
“I don’t need another shield.”
“Why not? This is a perfect replica of your shield. I assure you that you won’t even be able to tell the difference.”
“I don’t want it.”
“Ok, fine.” Tony sounded petulant when he dismissed the holograph at last. “What are you doing here anyway if not seeking for my expertise?”
“Just checking to see if you’ve had lunch.” What he’d said was a lie but a white lie. Steve knew he wasn’t good at lying and anyone could see right through him but Tony wasn’t looking at his face.
“I have pizzas if you want some.” Tony gestured absently at a pizza box on top of a small side desk.
“I already had lunch.”
“Oh, really? More for me then. Don’t complain that I don’t share.”
Tony wiped his hands on a questionable piece of rag which looked almost as dirty as his hands and dragged his swivel chair over to the desk. When Tony flipped the lid, Steve expected something fancy in there but it looked like a store-brought pizza albeit with a lot of green on top.
“This is gluten-free. J ordered it,” Tony explained. “You can have some if you want. All those muscles probably need a lot of food for energy.”
“Glad you noticed,” Steve responded sarcastically, then became mildly surprised when Tony averted his eyes, an action that was uncharacteristically out of character. Tony might be flushing; it was difficult to tell with the oil grease on Tony’s cheeks.
Steve decided not to pursue the topic to its conclusion and let Tony have his lunch. Tony seemed ravenous. He ate with such an undisguised delight that it made Steve feel hungry himself. After a moment, Tony started talking in another attempt to convince Steve to use his invention and pitch the alternative idea of gloves with magnets. Steve’s responses were mostly out of courtesy and generally not needed since Tony did all the talking even though the most oblivious person in the world would realize that Steve wasn’t buying it.
Steve didn’t really mind. Tony might not be very convincing but he was knowledgeable and passionate about his work. His mouth was very nice, his voice pleasant, and his inner energy brightened up his expressive brown eyes. At one point, Steve helped himself to some pizza to have something to do other than watching Tony eat. By the time the last piece of pizza was gone, Steve probably had more than his share of Tony’s lunch, not that Tony paid attention to it.
“Dummy, clean that up.” Tony waved and Dum-E rolled over to fetch the empty box.
***
The third time Tony sleepwalked into Steve’s room, he once again tripped and fell facefirst onto Steve’s bed.
For such an unpredictable person in battles, Tony was surprisingly predictable when he wasn’t in full control of his actions. His daily routine might appear erratic and not following a set pattern due to his strange schedule but there were always certain constants. For an example, Tony always showered before bedtime, skipped breakfasts and consumed at least three cups of coffee in the morning. In fact, Tony was the culprit who often drank all the coffee without brewing a new pot. It wasn’t careless of him. He asked Jarvis to take care of it and Jarvis, in turn, asked Dum-E who was often unreliable.
Beside Dum-E, Tony had another robot called U. The odd naming convention for them could either be spontaneous or deliberate so that Tony could call them, ‘You’ and ‘Dummy’. If Jarvis was Tony’s butler and adviser, U was his technician and Dum-E was the housekeeper, a thankless one though because Tony always made him wear funny hats as a form of discipline and threatened to donate or recycle him.
Steve’d promised with himself that if Tony ever did that, he would rescue Dum-E.
Initially, that noble intention translated into Steve’s visits to Tony’s lab a few times a week to make sure that Dum-E was still there until he realized that Tony treated his robots like children and the idea of harming them was unthinkable to him.
The habit had been formed, however, and Steve’d grown to enjoy Tony’s company more than he should to change. In general, Tony was an entertaining fellow with his oddities and he could either be charming or adorable if that was a word that could be applied to an adult. Every now and then, Tony still reminded him of Howard although Steve’d stopped comparing Tony to his father.
There were just so many differences between them. Howard worked a lot but Tony was the very definition of a workaholic. There was always a secondary brain or an undercurrent of thoughts running inside Tony’s head and he might be sitting on a couch and watching a movie with them but if someone gave him a napkin and a pen, he would be scribbling equations and drawing diagrams. Often, Tony stayed up to work and slept the next night once he finished whatever he was working on. Tony was actually a very easy sleeper. Steve had caught him sleeping more than once while wearing Iron Man during the debriefings. Tony also had what that seemed like unlimited energy and the only thing that prevented him from bouncing was probably his heels which barely helped to compensate for his diminutive size.
The fourth time Tony sleepwalked into Steve’s room, he didn’t trip because Steve’d left his shoes on the other side of the bed out of kindness. This time, Tony lay down next to Steve on his side, his breathing slow and regular, the reactor on his bare chest fully exposed to Steve’s eyes.
Steve didn’t mean to stare. He just couldn’t look away.
The scars around the reactor were very faint in the dim light, which gave the impression that the metallic object blended seamlessly into skin. It didn't diminish how unnatural and painful it looked. Steve’s own chest ached from mentally picturing the kind of procedure that Tony’d gone through to have muscles, sinews and bones removed so that he could house the reactor in his body.
***
After the lunch date last time with Sharon, Steve’d spent some time to ponder about his loneliness and relationship in general. Since he was quite content with his right hand and imagination, Steve eventually concluded that what he needed was companionship and not sex.
“I want to adopt a dog,” Steve announced to his team on a Friday night.
“Aye, that is a great choice, my friend. A Freki-like creature is a truly mighty beast!” Thor said and resumed eating his oversized sandwich.
“No pet is allowed here,” Tony said, still appearing sober after having quite a few drinks. Steve hadn’t expected it that kind of comment from him because of Tony’s many pet bots.
“Oh, why not, Tony?” Bruce seemed surprised as well. “I think a dog would be a welcome addition to the team. I used to own one before. They make great friends.”
The next person who offered an opinion was Clint. “Yeah, I had a dog too. Lucky was a great friend.”
“No, I don’t want any dog around here,” Tony restated his objection without elaborating.
Natasha shrugged her shoulders and flipped to another TV channel. She usually didn’t want to get involved whenever Steve and Tony disagreed.
“Are you allergic to pets, Stark?” Steve asked.
Jarvis chose that moment to provide his expertise. “Mr. Stark is not allergic to pets of any kind. As a matter of fact, when he was six, he had a dog named Leo.”
“Thank you for your unneeded assistance, J,” Tony said, sarcasm dripping from his voice. “You’re being helpful as usual.”
Steve raised an eyebrow at him. “Then what’s your problem? You keep disagreeing but you don’t even give me a good reason why.”
“None of us has time for pets,” Natasha said, abandoning her pretense to be interested in the news.
“Sure we do,” Clint said. “We can all share the responsibility in raising him. It shouldn’t be so hard.”
“Clint, you cannot imprison a dog in a building such as this. They need space to roam around but we don’t even have a backyard.” Her point was a common one for people who never had dogs before.
“Many people have dogs in apartments with a lot less space than our home without any problem. I’ll take care of him and walk him if no one else wants to do it,” Steve explained to her.
“I don’t want them here. I can’t have dogs. Do you understand? They bark, they smell and they make a mess.” Tony sounded unhappy for no discernable reason. Steve didn’t like it at all.
“No, I don’t. If you don’t like it, you just have to deal with it. Not everything is about you, Stark.”
The others stared at Tony and him with various degrees of concern especially Natasha and Bruce as though a replay of the Helicarrier dispute was about to happen in the living room on a team-bonding day. Back then, they had been strangers to each other but now, they were teammates, and thus conflicts should be mediated and resolved via discussions and not fistfights.
At the risk of the issue escalating into something bigger, Bruce put a hand on Tony’s back, the action distracting Tony from an emotional outburst or a verbal throwback at Steve. Tony looked at Bruce who caught Tony’s eyes and said nothing but some kind of message was being silently passed between them. Tony bit his bottom lip, his shoulders lowering, resigned.
After a few more terse exchanges through gritted teeth, it was finalized. While the Avengers Tower belonged to Tony, Steve was their leader and the Avengers’ decision making was democratic.
***
Initially, when Steve considered the adoption, he’d thought about an adult dog, a strong and fast one that could run and possibly keep up with him in the morning. The argument with Tony, however, changed his mind and Steve came back from the shelter with a ten-week-old corgi. The low-energy puppy should be able to adapt well to the lack of running space and Tony wouldn’t be able to resist his golden coat, brown eyes and cute wet nose. Steve even named the puppy after Tony’s childhood pet to sell his point.
Presently, both Clint and Bruce were cooing over Leo and even Natasha, who had objected to the idea, was also charmed even though she didn’t fuss over the puppy. Tony, on the other hand, was particularly resistant. He didn’t leave but sat apart from the group, pretending to watch TV.
Steve was very disappointed.
“Puppy, go to your mommy,” Clint said, pointed a finger at Tony and gave Leo’s butt a little push. The puppy ran toward Tony, tried to jump on the couch but failed and fell sideway on the carpet. Tony glanced down at Leo and shook his head. Not even remotely deterred, Leo tried jumping again. Sighing, Tony reached down and with Tony’s help, Leo climbed up the couch and into Tony’s lap.
“You shouldn’t do that,” Tony said in disapproval and walked over to deposit him in Steve’s arms.
“What’s wrong with you, Tony?” asked Steve, exasperated and just a bit indignant. Steve had specifically picked out the puppy for Tony and he wanted Tony to appreciate the gesture.
“No offense, Cap. Maybe it hasn’t occurred to you that some people just don’t like dogs.”
“Not you.” Steve insisted. “How do you not like Leo? Look at him. Look.” Steve held Leo’s short legs and waved them at Tony. “Hello, Tony. How are you doing today, Tony? Tell me that you to love me, Tony.”
Steve’s face burned slightly at the antics and Leo chose that moment to give a little bark at Tony who looked as if he was holding back a laugh.
“No. I can’t like you. Especially not when you smell awful,” Tony said and looked away. He was talking about Leo but he might also be talking about Steve who hadn’t a chance to shower after his morning workout.
“Tony is wrong. You don’t smell, right, puppy?” Steve raised Leo to his face, gave a sniff and got a noseful of dog odor.
Well, that still didn’t mean Tony was right.
Since Leo was technically his pet, Steve assumed the full responsibility of feeding, bathing and walking him. He didn’t mind the chores. In general, he liked pets and Leo’s presence livened up the Avengers Tower a lot. Everyone seemed happier and they mingled to talk, play and pet Leo instead of staying in groups of two. The ice appeared to have been broken. They argued a lot less and talked to figure out the issue instead of giving each other a cold shoulder. In general, they were behaving more like friends and family, not a ragtag group of misfits forced to live and work together. Steve enjoyed being part of the group and he was starting to develop a sense of belonging the way he used to feel in the Howling Commandoes.
In front of them, Tony still pretended not to care about Leo’s existence but many times, Steve caught him petting, washing Leo’s water bowl and giving Leo dog treats. The living room’s floor was littered with pet toys, a lot of them carrying Stark Industries tag or label. Tony’s workshop even had a special pet door to let Leo run freely while Steve still needed to ask Jarvis for permission to enter. Tony never once raised his voice at Leo even when the puppy chewed on his shoe, dragged a destroyed toilet roll into his workshop or knocked over an expensive ancient vase. Overall, Tony had overcome his initial preservation and become so fond of Leo that at times, it seemed as if Tony paid more attention to Leo than Steve.
It almost hurt.
***
Tony showed up to the new mandatory hand-to-hand combat training at the gym in black yoga pants and a hoodie instead of something more flamboyance. He didn’t look like the kind of man who had did a press conference wearing a T-shirt with what that looked like a purple dildo on the front the week before.
When Tony stood in front of Steve, Steve had to look down to catch his eyes since Tony had been forced to remove his heels for the mat. Tony looked mildly offended at the entire things.
“I don’t need to learn how to fight with my fists. My suit has missiles and canon beams.”
“You can’t always rely on Iron Man, Tony. When you’re in trouble, it’s your hands that will save you.”
“I’m telling you that this is where you’re wrong. In case you haven’t realized, I’m the smartest person that I know so I would rely on my brain first,” Tony said and tapped one side of his head with his fingers.
“And how would your brain help you when you face an opponent like me?”
“You?” Tony smirked and gave Steve the once-over. “I wouldn’t hit an old man…”
That was all Tony managed to say. Steve grabbed the front of his hoodie with one hand and threw him into one of the padded walls. Tony hit it, yelped and landed on his side on the floor with a loud thump. He rolled on all fours before standing up and accusing Steve. “I call foul play. I haven’t said ‘start’!”
Steve snorted, not sure if he was amused or miffed. He might be ninety-six years old but he didn’t feel that old and he hoped that Tony felt the same way. “When you’re in a battle, no one waits until you say ‘start’.”
Tony narrowed his eyes, his hands clenched up into fists to cover his front and his body shifted to a fighting stand. “Is that how you want to do it? Fine! Just don’t complain that I don’t respect my elder when I kick your ass.”
Tony must have had some boxing training, Steve thought as Tony advanced toward him and bounced a little on his feet. Turning to one side to avoid a long jab punch with barely any effort, Steve swept Tony off his feet and watched with some kind of satisfaction when Tony fell on his butt. “This isn’t boxing. You should watch your legs and when you decide to attack, you need a plan. Look for openings and pay attention to your opponent’s body but don’t look at where you want to hit next.”
“I want my suit. This is not fair at all,” Tony grumbled but stood up quickly and grew more determined. His second bout of attacks was more purposeful, his strikes faster but still way too slow for Steve’s eyesight and speed. Steve dodged about ten of Tony’s punches before he grabbed Tony’s left arm and wrestled Tony to the ground. Not giving Tony a chance to stand up, Steve used Tony’s arm to roll him and pin him down with his body from behind. Then Steve looped an arm around Tony’s neck in a chokehold for good measure.
Tony was a fighter. He struggled, tried to elbow Steve and buck Steve off in useless attempts but would not surrender, not for the first ten minutes at least.
“Resistance is futile,” Steve said into Tony’s ear, which only renewed Tony’s struggle.
“If you quote Star Trek again, I’m going to summon my suit.”
Steve laughed and considered letting Tony go but he liked Tony under him so much to do that without any concession from Tony.
“If you think you can call Iron Man faster than me knocking you out, go ahead.”
“I can think of forty-seven ways out of this, not all of them practical and seventeen of them don’t involve Iron Man.”
“Really?” Steve called his bluff, tightened his hold and didn’t let go until Tony surrendered.
After that, they sparred some more and by the time an hour had gone by, Tony was lying spread-eagled on his back, breathing but not moving.
Steve grabbed two towels and tossed Tony one. It landed on his face. Steve then put a water bottle on the floor and kicked it so that it rolled to him. Tony made no movement to take either of them. He looked defeated.
Steve waited, walking around Tony and circling him like a prey until Tony struggled to sit up and rubbed his face with the towel without speaking. He was huffing, sweating profusely and watching Steve warily, his top entirely drenched and his matted hair sticking to his skull.
“I’m done for today. No more,” Tony said, uncapped the bottle and drank some water. “Thanks for showing me today,” Tony added quietly.
“Anytime, Tony.”
Satisfied, Steve gave Tony a hand which Tony took, and pulled him to his feet. He staggered into Steve, letting Steve steal a brief hug before standing and walking on his own.
***
“Steve, please,” Tony groaned where he lay on the mat. Steve was pressed against him from behind with his cock slotted into the crack of Tony’s ass. Both of them were wearing clothes but the material of Tony’s yoga pants didn’t hide the generous mound of his ass. Tony smelled good and looked delicious as usual.
“Tell me you want me, Tony,” said Steve, pushing Tony’s legs apart with his knees and grounding his erection into him.
Tony trembled in response and threw his head back to rest against Steve’s shoulder, the soft skin of his neck vulnerable and bare. “Yes, yes. I want you. All the time. You’re the hottest ninety-six-year-old that I know,”
Steve kissed Tony’s temple and ran his tongue along the shell of his cute ear which had been inviting for Steve’s mouth.
Tony started to come apart in his arms, reduced to a bundle of needs and wants that could only be satisfied by Steve’s touches. As Steve ran his palm down the length of Tony’s body, Tony’s clothes disappeared under his hand.
“Please touch my butt, Steve,” Tony begged sweetly and tried to turn over so that he could kiss Steve but Steve’s powerful body held him in place. “Please Steve. Please,” Tony wriggled his behind, asking Steve to fuck him. Steve squeezed his ass, feeling the hard muscles under the smooth and silky skin. Unable to resist himself, Steve took his cock in his hand and plunged the entire length into Tony’s body.
“Ahhh, Steve!” Tony screamed in ecstasy as he was impaled on Steve’s big cock but he wanted more because no one ever made him feel better than Steve did.
Raising Tony to his knees, Steve pushed Tony’s upper body down by a hand on the small of Tony’s back. Tony didn’t resist, willingly letting himself bent and folded to Steve’s liking. All he could do was to take Steve while struggling futilely so that he could have more.
On the bed, propped against the pillows with his eyes closed to better focus on his fantasy, Steve fucked his own fist in a swift pace. Precome was drooling from the tip of his cock to moisten the column and easing the way. In Steve’s imagination, he was grabbing Tony’s tapered waist and pounding Tony who was now spread even wider, completely open to his eyes. Steve tightened his fist a fraction around his cock the way he thought Tony’s ass would grip around it.
Steve groaned Tony’s name as he felt himself drawing closer to the edge.
“Yeah, so good, Tony. Almost there,” Steve muttered to no one.
At that moment, the door to his room opened and Steve turned his head only to find Tony standing there in his pajamas.
Startled, Steve gasped out Tony’s name and suddenly came all over his hand and his chest. Tony walked forward slowly and in that unsure way of his in his sleep but still managed to reach the bed. Steve was given only a few seconds to recover and bolt into the bathroom while trying not to knock anything over in his haste.
“Fuck, fuck…” Steve cursed as he washed his hands and upper torso before dunking his head in the water sink.
It did very little to cool his face that was burning in embarrassment.
God, why didn’t he fucking lock the door? The lock didn’t work. That was why.
Steve pulled his face out and shook his head in denial which sent water splattering all over the place. Any other time, Steve would be appalled by the mess but right now, he was more guilty and mortified by the event that just transpired.
Steve stared at his wet reflection in the mirror, chewing on his bottom lip.
His fantasies were his private thoughts and even if he’d been jerking off to them, he saw no harm done as long as he wasn’t acting on them. He hadn’t been getting any action for more than seventy years and a man had to make do somehow.
So why was Tony the featured star in all of them?
Everyone wanted him and Steve wasn’t an exception.
But he was Captain America and there was still Peggy!
Captain America or not, he was a man with needs and he was technically still single!
For roughly five minutes, Steve stood there and fought with his own thoughts, accusing and justifying his actions and stalling so that he didn’t have to go out and face Tony.
Eventually, after tiring himself from the internal battle that ended in a stalemate as usual, Steve dried himself off and walked outside.
On his bed was Tony, a small lump almost swallowed by the pillows and the blanket.
Reminding himself that Tony hadn’t seen anything, Steve sat down on the edge of the bed and roused Tony with a hand on his shoulder.
“Tony, wake up. You can’t keep walking into other people’s bed uninvited like that.”
Then Steve jerked away as if being burned when he realized that he was touching Tony with same hand that he’d used to jerk off.
Wiping his palm on his pants, Steve tried once more. “Tony, if you don’t get off my bed, I’m going to kick you out. I’m serious this time.”
Still, Tony didn’t move. Frustrated, Steve stood up and started pacing the room as he considered his dilemma. He couldn't force Tony to wake up or let Tony sleep in his bed and yet he didn’t want to carry Tony out.
When it became too much, Steve had to leave his room for some fresh air and grab himself some water before he could return, this time more calm and collected.
Nothing had been changed between them, Steve told himself as he watched Tony sleep. Tony appeared so relaxed and peaceful, oblivious to everything, his hair perfectly tousled even in his sleep and the dark soot of his long eyelashes so pretty on his pale cheeks.
Steve’s eyes wandered and caught a dark bruise on Tony’s wrist where Steve had grabbed him during training. It surprised Steve because he didn’t think he’d been that particularly rough on Tony. Wondering if Tony was injured or had more bruises, Steve put two fingers under Tony’s chin and raised his head. Sure enough, around Tony’s neck was a ring of purple bruises, proof of what Steve’d done to him.
Steve pulled his hand away, sighing. If Tony had given up sooner, Steve wouldn’t have to choke him that hard.
When he took Tony back, Jarvis thanked Steve and remarked that he enjoyed watching their training.