Chapter Text
Tony rubbed the sleep out of his eyes as he kicked the door to the bathroom shut. He could hear Clint complaining of his grumpy attitude and snorted to himself before turning on the sink. He thought he was entitled to a little grumpiness. A person couldn’t be expected to keep a sunny disposition when sporting cat ears and a tail and having just been broken up with by their best chance at happiness. Tony’s tail drooped, curling around his leg, as he brushed his teeth. The mint from the toothpaste still stung a bit but it wasn’t too bad.
Tony caught his own gaze in the mirror and wrinkled his nose. His eyes were red and his cheeks crusty with dried tears. Dark hair stuck up in wild tuffs, in desperate need of a trim. Or was that because of the cat ears? Tony made an angry face at his reflection, baring foamy fangs, and looked away with an upset growl. He didn’t blame Pepper for breaking up with him. Nobody would want to put up with the train wreck that was Tony freaking Stark. He couldn’t even keep his mouth shut during a fight! What sort of loser gets turned into a cat? Tony freaking Stark, that’s who.
He rinsed his mouth out and fairly threw his toothbrush down onto the counter. It’s a wonder that Pepper hadn’t broken up with him earlier! Tony always knew she was incredible but to put up with him for so long qualified her for sainthood as far as he was concerned. The brunette shimmied out of his clothing, the shower turning on full blast as he yanked open the glass doors. Tony stepped inside and let out a pleased trilled as the hot water fell over him. The sore muscles in his neck and back loosened and Tony tried to relax, turning into the spray. He scrubbed at his face with a wet cloth, removing all evidence of tears.
Still, it had been nice while it lasted. It had been nice to call someone his own and to have that person lay equal claim to him in return. Tony had thought he and Pepper were doing well! They had settled into a pattern of orbit that seemed to suit them, like the sun and the moon. But, looking back, he could see what Pepper meant about them pulling apart from each other. Their gravity hadn’t been enough to keep them together.
Tony snorted to himself and grabbed the shampoo. Now he was using astrology metaphors. How distressing. His ears flattened as he soaped up his hair and gazed at the shower tile mournfully. Pepper had been in pain and Tony hadn’t even noticed. He’d been too dumb to realize something was wrong between them, too distracted by the Avengers and being Iron Man to realize that their relationship was crumbling. (No wonder Pepper broke up with me,) he thought disapprovingly at himself. He was a horrible boyfriend. Tony was oblivious enough that he hadn’t even noticed them drifting apart or that Pepper was unhappy. He always knew that relationships weren’t for him and now he’d messed up with the one person who knew him best, who knew all his faults, and had still taken a chance on him. It was empirical evidence that Tony Stark just wasn’t meant to be with someone. Something just wasn’t wired right in him.
Tony stood frowning at the shower drain until shampoo dripped into his eyes. He squawked and fumbled the wand down so he could wash the suds away. He rinsed himself off with an aggravated sigh and stepped out of the shower. The pants he had been wearing were the only ones with a hole for his tail. Tony dried himself off, rubbing briskly at his hair, and then put on a clean shirt and the dirty modified pants. Annoyed, he grabbed another pair of sweatpants and headed down to the common floor.
Everyone was crowded into the kitchen when Tony arrived and he announced his presence with a loud meow, heading straight for Natasha. “Good morning, Tony-kitty,” said Clint as the brunette wiggled between him and the other assassin.
Natasha cocked an eyebrow as Tony held the clean sweatpants up with a plaintive mew. “I see. Give them here, котенок,” she said, grabbing the clothing and reaching down to her boot. She flicked open the small knife and set about delicately picking the seam out of the pants. Tony chirped in thanks and went around the counter to where Steve was making the pancakes at the stove. With a dramatic and put-upon sigh, Tony collapsed against Steve’s back, burying his face between the larger man’s shoulder blades. The brunette whined theatrically. He was not above playing it up for sympathy from his friends.
Steve tensed and Tony blinking in confusion. He lifted his head with a questioning trill. The Avengers were all used to his lack of respect for personal space and his tendency to place himself wherever he damn well pleased and Tony sure as hell couldn’t have surprised Steve. The man was a super solider. He would have heard the brunette coming from a mile away. Tony felt Steve relax and the blond looked over his shoulder to smile down at him. “Sorry, Tony. You startled me.” Tony frowned at him. (Bullshit.)
“Done!” exclaimed Natasha, lifting the pair of sweatpants she was modifying into the air with a flourish. Tony looked at her, missing Steve’s grimace. The redhead tossed the pants to Tony. “Here, go change.” Tony gave Steve one last suspicious look before trotting out of the kitchen. Natasha pursed her lips at Steve, unimpressed, and the blond couldn’t stop himself from flinching.
“Sorry,” he mumbled, flipping the pancake in the pan only to find the underside had burned. Natasha sighed while Clint rolled his eyes. Bruce huddled over his coffee cup, not getting involved in the tension. Thor gave the group a disapproving frown before pouring everyone some orange juice. “I didn’t mean to,” Steve said sulkily to the spatula.
Natasha deflated, lifting a hand to rub at her eyes. “Crap,” she muttered. Steve poured fresh batter into the pan as Tony came back in wearing the clean pants. He slowly climbed up on his usual stool while frowning at the subdued atmosphere. “Clint, stopped trying to eat all the bacon!” growled Natasha, the world snapping back into motion.
The archer’s hand froze midair and he whined, “But I love bacon.”
“You’ve already eaten half the plate!”
Thor gave a boisterous laugh, the room seemingly brightening. “Bacon is a fine food, my friend, but save some for the rest of us.” Clint pouted but dropped his hand.
Steve chuckled, flipping the pancake . “Tony, do you want to get some strawberries from the refrigerator and slice them up?” he asked, attempting to not overthink his actions. Tony brightened and slipped off his chair. A raid on the fridge produced a packet of strawberries and something else. Steve looked over at the touch on his arm and found Tony looking hopefully up at him with a basket of little dark fruit. “Yes, I’ll put blueberries in your pancakes if you want,” Steve said with a smile, taking them. Tony gave a happy murr and settled at the island with the strawberries and a small paring knife.
Bruce took one of the red fruits and bit into it. “See? Told you you would have blueberry pancakes. Aren’t you glad you came down now?” Tony stuck his tongue out at him and went back to slicing the strawberries. Soon there was a big stack of golden fluffy pancakes; blueberry for Tony, strawberry for Natasha and Bruce, chocolate chip for Clint, and, well, Steve and Thor would probably have some of each type. Those two could probably eat everything by themselves and still have room for more. Tony contented himself with a glass of milk, although he looked longingly at the coffee everyone else was drinking.
“So, what are we going to do today?” asked Clint, shoving a forkful of pancake into his mouth.
“Should we look for Loki ourselves?” Natasha suggested.
“No,” replied Steve. “Loki has proven dangerously unpredictable when confronted and we have little recourse against his magic.” Tony gave a little shudder. Spending a night lost in the forest being menaced by a coyote had not been his idea of fun. “Jarvis, what about you? Have you been able to find anything?”
“I am afraid not, Captain. There have been no reports of sightings of either Loki or the creatures Queen Frigga sent out,” Jarvis announced.
“The andar my Mother summoned will find Loki in due time,” Thor assured them confidently. Then he hesitated a little. “But my brother is an accomplished magic user in his own right. If he is trying to hide, then it may take some time for the andar to find him.” He looked apologetically at Tony. “I am sorry.” Tony’s ears dropped but he gave Thor a shrug and a crooked smile in forgiveness.
“More waiting. Lovely,” Clint complained lightly. He’d somehow managed to get more bacon and just grinned as Natasha glared at him.
“Some more movies then?” proposed Bruce. Tony gave an unenthusiastic murr.
“We should check in with Director Fury and SHIELD,” Steve said. That got a couple of groans.
“You’re assuming that Fury doesn’t know everything that goes on here,” Natasha countered.
“He’s probably got a spotter in one of the other buildings with long distance binoculars trained on us,” Clint said sourly. Tony’s ears perked up in alarm.
“There is not,” Jarvis said, sounding peeved. “My security measures would make such a thing quite impossible.” Tony relaxed. He trusted the AI to look after the Tower and everybody in it.
“I should still update him,” insisted Steve. Natasha gave an unconcerned hand wave, uncaring what the blond did.
“Looks like another exciting day in store for us,” grouched Clint.
“I think we could use a little less excitement around here, don’t you?” Bruce asked mildly. Clint grimaced and crunched on some more bacon. Thor slid the plate to the other end of the island and gave the archer a stern look. Suddenly finding crispy goodness in front of him, Tony gave a pleased chirrup and transferred a few bacon strips onto his plate before scooping the remaining pieces onto Steve’s plate. Steve gave him a smile in response.
Clint looked on in horror. “You guys are so mean!” he cried.
Natasha gave his shoulder a light punch as she chuckled. “Come on, if we have nothing better to do, than I want to do some sparing down in the gym.” Clint groaned but obediently shoveled the last of his pancakes into his mouth before following the redhead out of the kitchen.
“I guess I have some projects I could focus on in the lab,” Bruce said, pushing his glasses up his nose. “Tony, if you have time I’d like you to join me. I want to see what we can learn about your musculature with an MRI, if you’re amicable?” Tony ears twitched but he was curious too. (Curiosity killed the cat but satisfaction brought him back,) he thought. Tony nodded. Bruce smiled, pleased. “I’ll see you when you are free then.” With that, he put his plate and silverware in the sink and left.
Thor pulled the left over pancakes toward him and equally separated them between himself and Steve. “More blueberry pancakes, Tony?” asked Steve politely. Tony shook his head, smiling a little, and gave him a little ‘you go ahead’ motion. The two blonds tucked in and soon the remaining pancakes were gone. Leftovers were not a thing that happened when housing a super soldier and an Asgardian prince.
“Thank you for the meal, Steven,” Thor said when he’d scrapped his plate clean.
“You’re welcome, Thor. It’s no trouble.”
Thor nodded. “Good day to the both of you.” Tony trilled as he left, still sipping at his milk. Steve was still finishing the last few bites of his pancakes, so Tony gathered the rest of the dirty plates and dumped them in the sink. He then turned on the hot water and grabbed the dish soap, upending it over the water and squirting a long stream in. Soap suds began to fill the sink and Tony gave a pleased chirrup.
Steven grabbed the bottle out of his hands. “That’s enough,” he squeaked, pushing the faucet arm away. A white mound of suds filled the sink to almost overflowing and Steve shuffled around Tony to scoop some of it away before they could drop onto the floor. Tony shrugged and grabbed a towel, standing at the ready for drying duty. Steve glanced at him from the corner of his eye. “Why don’t you head down to the lab? I know you and Bruce have been wanting to do your science thing.” Tony’s tail ticked like an annoyed clock. ‘Science thing,’ he mouthed to himself. He frowned at Steve. The blond glanced at him and then tipped his chin at the door. “Go on. I don’t need any help here. Have fun.” Hesitantly, Tony put the towel on the counter and headed out of the kitchen, looking over his shoulder like maybe this was a trick. Steve just smiled at him and gave Tony another ‘go on’ nod.
Tony walked through the living room to the elevator, catching sight of Thor standing out on the balcony. The Asgardian seemed to be slowly scanning the city skyline. Tail twitching in agitation, Tony disappeared into the elevator. Steve sighed as the doors closed, his shoulders slumping. “Get a grip, Rogers,” he muttered at himself as he fished a dish out of the suds and began to scrub. “Get a grip.”