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Steve hadn’t had an easy life.
That tended to happen when one was born a vampire- you were written off the second they identified you in the hospital room, and from that moment on, every step of the way became a battle.
His mom, Sarah, was also Unhuman, Vampire, just like him. She’d done everything she could; fought tooth and nail to let him have the same opportunities as the other kids. When they’d refused to allow him into a nursery, she’d taken it to court and battled until they’d rescinded and let him in. When people had seen him and run away, or told him that he belonged in a cage, or worse, she’d always made sure to let him know that they were wrong. That Steve was perfect, just the way he was.
He’d grown up knowing that Baseliners hated him. He’d made his peace with that. For the most part, Steve kind of hated them too.
Because no matter what he did, he tended to be persecuted for it. And not just him- Unhumans all over the world had it exactly the same. They weren’t protected by the same laws; most of the time, they were forced to look after themselves. But not too well, of course- if they were caught attacking a human, it was serious trouble. Other kids fought in school, and they’d get detention, maybe a few days of suspension. Steve? He’d be kicked out in the blink of an eye. It was the same for all Unhumans- worse, very often. For werewolves like Bucky, it was mandatory for them to take suppressants twice a month, which not only made them horribly ill for a few days, but was also unable to be mixed with any other medication. If you were a werewolf with depression or chronic Migraines? No pills. And then Natasha, who’d had to go through a period of time a few years ago when congress had been pushing for a bill that forced Demons into wearing contacts, simply so that all those sensitive little Baseliners didn’t have to get scared by some red in the iris.
It sucked. Being Unhuman just… sucked. Especially when 90% of the world was most definitely not, and seemed to hate you just for existing.
Jeeze, Steve hadn’t even been able to attend a school with any other Unhumans in, in case they banded together and terrorized the place or something. Him and Bucky had been separated as soon as they’d been old enough to attend; and as some of the few Unhumans who braved mainstream school, they’d of course been allocated some of the toughest conditions in order to stay in them. Steve was taking fucking calculus, for Christ’s sake, and it hadn’t even been his choice. Bucky had to get an A this year in Physics if he wanted to keep his place.
All in all, if you were an Unhuman in the 21st century, you could either live your life isolated within your small community of people like you, never interacting with the rest of the world and keeping yourself to yourself, or force your way into Baseline society and remain there with a determined grip as they did everything they could to make you fail.
Of course, Steve was the latter option. His stubborn nature and bitter pride in himself and his people meant that he persisted, even through all the knockdowns, all the challenges. Because failing meant that those snotty bigoted 60-year-olds who made all those shitty rules would win, and Steve would chew his own shoe before letting that happen.
He’d contented himself to being alone through school. Baseliners wouldn’t talk to him, and Unhumans were separated from one another in school, workplace or extra-curricular, so they weren’t around either. Steve had made his peace with being lonely. He’d become used to the stares and the whispers. He’d barely even noticed the absence and vast empty space that seemed to follow him throughout every school corridor he walked down.
And then came Tony.
Tony Stark. The homeschooled Baseliner. The genius. The socially awkward, beautiful, fumbling nerd who blushed when he looked at Steve and had, for some reason, not been afraid.
He’d just… talked. Talked to Steve like he was normal- even when Steve had informed him of what he was. Tony just hadn’t cared. And that had been… it.
At first, Steve had been suspicious, sure that it was some sort of prank or trick or ruse- he’d kept himself to himself and not encouraged anything, because he’d just known that it would almost certainly end badly. Baseliners and Unhumans just didn’t interact. It was life. Steve had learned that very early on.
Although, for some Goddamn reason, Tony had never gotten that particular memo, because he just kept trying.
And Steve… fuck, he’d tried not to let it get out of hand, okay? Because he’d known- he’d known the moment he’d watched Tony sit down on the desk beside him and then been hit with the beautiful, intoxicatingly delicious smell that the boy had radiated, that he could not afford to get carried away with him. Not because Steve couldn’t control himself- Jeeze, he wasn’t one of those Hollywood Vampires who seemed to just turn completely rabid at the smell of a pretty human- but simply because Steve had been so sure that falling for a Baseliner would never work. Not really. He’d been convinced that Tony hung out with him because he had no one else; that Tony was happy to be friends, but the thought of anything more would probably terrify him.
But Tony was good at defying all expectations.
He always radiated such anger and distaste whenever he heard about how Steve was treated. He shamelessly called himself Steve’s friend, sat with him in class and talked to him even when everyone else was around, and not only because he had no other choice. He seemed to genuinely enjoy Steve’s company.
And God, when Tony had rushed up to him and hugged him for the first time, Steve had just known in an instant, that there was no way he could back out by that point. It had been like being hit by a freight train- the realization that he was already past the point of no return, falling hopelessly for the beautiful Baseliner that smelled of metal and berries and coffee and something so gorgeous that it drove Steve mad when Tony walked away from him. Being around Tony was like taking a tiny glimpse into what it must be like to be Bucky, and smell that on everyone, at all times. Steve was lucky in that front- the smell of the people he was attracted to was stronger by far, but as a general rule, he could only ever smell the emotions and then the integral human scent that everyone carried with them. Bucky and other Werewolves could smell it all.
God. No wonder he was so head-over-heels for Natasha. If Tony’s smell was driving Steve nuts, God only knew what it must be like to be a Werewolf in a relationship.
And then Tony had kissed him, and it had been like everything in Steve’s hind-brain had just exploded so violently that he’d seen stars. He’d thought that hugging the boy had been a trip, but holy shit, the kiss had been like nothing else he’d ever felt before in his life. Steve had had his fair share of kisses, and none of them had been bad- he hung out in Unhuman bars and sometimes hooked up with succubae and elves, who were both genetically wired to be good at that sort of thing- and yet as he’d stood there in Bucky’s kitchen and felt Tony run the tip of his tongue over Steve’s canines, he’d just known that it was the best kiss of his life. Period.
Tony was… an enigma. He was crazy and sort of naïve and completely adorable, and Steve was just in love with him. Plain and simple.
Which was, incidentally, why he was so nervous about the next few hours of his immediate future.
“Buddy, just breathe,” Bucky patted him on the shoulder fondly, and Steve smiled back at him in the reflection of the mirror as he readjusted his hair. Had he put too much wax on it? What if Tony put his hands through it and they came out sticky? Oh no, he was going to have to wash it and start again-
“Your hair is fine, Steve,” Natasha told him as she picked up on his internal anxieties, running an experimental set of fingers through it and then pinching them together, “see? Not sticky. Do not waste any more time rewashing your hair. You’re going to be running late as it is.”
His two friends were stood over him as he looked at himself in the dressing table mirror and bit his lip. This was his first ever date with Tony, and he knew it was stupid, but fuck, he was nervous as hell. Tony was… Tony, and God Dammit Steve really didn’t want to mess this up, not when he’d only just managed to get it right.
“What if the movie’s boring?” Steve asked worriedly, “I picked it out because he’d been saying he thought it was cool, but what if it’s just not and then he’s bored and thinks I’m dull?”
Both his friends just rolled their eyes. “Steve, I really don’t think Tony is going to judge his relationship with you based on your cinematic preferences,” Bucky told him, “plus, you can just use that as an excuse to make out in the back seats like hooligans. It’ll be fun.”
“It’s not fun,” Natasha said with a straight face, “not when you get made to leave by the staff and have to take the walk of shame down the central aisle.”
“Oh come on, you enjoyed that-“
“I could hear everyone’s thoughts, Bucky, and believe me, that definitely wasn’t fun-“
“Hey, guys?” Steve asked, elbowing them both in the stomach grumpily, “can we please focus on my internal struggles as opposed to yours? Seeing as I am the one about to possibly humiliate myself and ruin the only friendship I’ve managed to make since joining highschool?”
Natasha rolled her eyes. “Steve, do you honestly think I’d let you go out here tonight if I didn’t know that Tony was totally feeling the same way?” She asked, her face somewhat fond as she placed a hand on his shoulder. “I’m not going to breach Tony’s privacy by telling you everything he thinks, but… Steve, you’re going to be just fine tonight, okay? I promise.”
Steve shut his eyes and took in a long breath, before blowing out and then nodding. “I know,” he said, “I do, I just…” he turned around and looked at them both, before turning his eyes back down to his shoes, “I really don’t wanna mess this up. I’m… I’m a vampire, he’s a Baseliner, there’s- there’s a lotta things that could go wrong.”
Bucky sighed, glancing over to Natasha before taking Steve’s hand and tugging him up into a fierce hug that Steve reciprocated with an equal amount of tightness.
They all knew the struggles that they faced. The internalized worries and fears that they wouldn’t be good enough. The knowledge that they were always going to be held at a higher expectation than any Baseliner, and a fuck-up for them could mean much worse than a fuck-up for a regular guy on the street.
“Stevie,” Bucky told him as he patted his shoulder, “it’s Tony we’re talking about here. To him, you’re just another guy with some pointy teeth.”
“He won’t care if you mess up,” Natasha continued, “’cause I bet my bottom dollar that he’ll probably mess up too. But that’s alright. It’s your goddamn first date, Steve, of course it’s going to be awkward and weird and messy. Just roll with it.”
Steve nodded again. He knew he was being stupid- he’d known Tony long enough by that point to see that all his fears were unfounded. But a lifetime of apprehension and watching your steps around Baseliners tended to leave an imprint that was hard to get rid of.
He looked down at his watch and then blinked, before turning back to his friends. “I gotta go,” he said, “I’m supposed to be picking him up.”
Bucky wiggled his eyebrows and Natasha smacked him on the back, pushing him forward a few steps. “Go get him, tiger,” she said with a grin, “we want to know all the details when you get back alright? And no skimping.”
“Remember to use protection!” Bucky informed him, before stopping and then making a face. “Wait, you don’t actually need to, do you?”
“Bucky, shut up,” Steve blushed bright red as he grabbed his keys and then gave his friend the middle finger, “that’s not… just shut up.”
“Now you’ve made him think about fucking Tony, idiot,” Natasha smacked her boyfriend around the back of the head in annoyance, “he’s nervous enough as it is, what are you trying to do to the poor boy, give him an aneurysm?”
“No, I was merely trying to make a light-hearted joke in order to alleviate the nervousness of the situation-“
“Oh, because sending him out onto the roads whilst he’s busy thinking about dick is definitely a way to ease everyone’s nervousness isn’t it-“
Steve slammed the door behind him with a note of finality, shaking his head at the bickering between the two. Steve had no idea why he’d called them of all people to try and help him out- at least Peggy might have been able to give him a good-luck charm or something.
Breathing out into the cold air, he zipped his jacket up a little further and then steeled himself.
It was going to be fine. It was Tony. This was just like hanging out, except… not. Steve just needed to be cool. Calm. Collected. He was good at that. He could do that around anyone else. Although, that being said- Tony did seem to have a remarkable knack when it came to breaking down Steve’s defences.
He pulled out his phone and shot off a text as he slid into the driver’s seat, smiling in an almost childish excitement as Tony’s contact flashed on his screen.
There in ten. That okay?
And not even five seconds later, he got a response, which made something warm and fond tingle in his chest. Tony must have been watching his phone.
That’s dandy, Steven. See you in a bit x
Oh God. The simple sight of that little kiss, and Steve’s heart was going nuts. He felt like that was probably going to be a regular occurrence throughout the night, too, which could be potentially embarrassing.
He just hoped the place was dark enough that Tony wouldn’t be able to see him blush.
The drive passed quickly- possibly because Steve went a little(or a lot) over the limit in order to reach Tony’s place faster. As soon as he’d pulled up on the road outside his drive, he was pulling out his phone in order to let Tony know he’d arrived.
Turned out, however, that he didn’t need to. He saw a shadowy body slip out behind the iron gates through the corner of his eye, and turned with a smile to watch Tony hurry over, hands stuffed into the pocket of his wool jacket.
God, he was so gorgeous.
Tony slipped into the passenger seat of the car and then shut the door with a click, before turning to look at Steve with red cheeks and a shy smile. “Hi,” he said, shuffling around on his butt.
“Hey,” Steve responded. His fingers gripped tight to the steering wheel as he tried not to get too caught up on Tony’s scent; he’d showered with a different type of body wash that night, and it smelt expensive and amazing. Then there was the underlying smell that was just Tony’s own, and that was just as intoxicating as it had been the first time around. Steve was getting better at ignoring it, but he didn’t think he’d ever be able to manage fully- especially not when they were in a confined space like this.
Steve could also feel the nervousness coming off him in waves, too. But underneath that- excitement. Happiness. And attraction.
Always good. Definitely… definitely good things.
He blinked, realizing that he’d been staring at Tony’s face for longer than what was probably acceptable. He swallowed and turned away, looking back onto the road. He knew he was blushing. Tony could quite clearly see it too, but he didn’t mention it. “Right- shall we, then?”
He wasn’t looking, but he could see Tony’s smile. “Put your foot on it, Rogers, or we’ll miss the trailers. They’re the best bits.”
Steve glanced at him, and then huffed. “You’re a weird one,” he said, as he followed Tony’s instructions and pulled out back onto the road, “but if you insist.”
Ever so faintly, he heard the fast thump of Tony’s heartbeat across the car, and he smiled to himself as he looked out of the window. Tony didn’t seem uncomfortable- he wasn’t fidgeting or overly anxious, and Steve could feel him stare unabashedly at him as he looked at the road.
Yeah. Okay. So maybe Steve had been working himself up over nothing. They were going to have a great night. He just knew it.
*
The movie was, in fact, boring as fuck.
Not only was it slow, but the lighting was shitty and the characters couldn’t act. Steve found himself struggling to focus on any of it at all; seriously, Steve liked his fair share of explosions, alright, but this was pretty much all that was happening, and he was so confused by that point that he had no idea what was even going on.
He remained still, blinking at the next obnoxiously loud bomb that blew and then rolling his eyes when the protagonist yet again managed to escape death by the skin of his teeth. They’d killed the female love interest and painted her as some senseless damsel in distress which was completely different to the book it was based on, and ever since that point Steve had just regretted spending the money on the stupid film.
He looked over to Tony out of the corner of his eye and swallowed. God- he wished he was Natasha right now. Was Tony enjoying it? Was he regretting ever coming out with Steve? He had no idea, but the more he watched the stupid movie, the less he believed that Tony was having fun. Come on, it was fucking ridiculous. He was probably sat there wondering what the hell he’d gotten himself into, going on a date with the guy who had the dullest tastes in the universe.
Tony shoved his hand into the popcorn box and stuffed a handful into his mouth, completely oblivious to Steve’s silent crisis. When his hand came back down to lay against the armrest, Steve noticed that his palm was upturned this time.
He stared at it with what was probably too much intensity than necessary. Was it a coincidence? Or did Tony want him to take it? Or would he be freaked out if Steve did and pull away? Fuck, that’d be mortifying.
God. He was working himself up over something as stupid as an upturned palm now, fuck, Tony must really think he was stupid. And now Steve was starting to feel the slight sense of doubt creeping around Tony’s aura, meaning that yeah, it must’ve been intentional. But… what if Steve had left it too long now, and the moment had passed? He didn’t want it to seem forced-
Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck, what was he doing? He was a goddamn eighteen-year-old man. He could hold someone’s hand.
So he did.
He felt like every single nerve in his fingers were all on fire as he swallowed and kept his eyes fixed on the movie in front of him. Then, a moment later, Tony’s fingers slowly curled around Steve’s and locked them in place, and when Steve dared to look over at him, Tony was smiling right back.
He leaned forward. “Hey, Steve?”
“Uh huh?”
“I take it back. This movie is boring and the hero isn’t even attractive. I say we blow this popsicle stand and go get dinner. I’m starving.”
Steve looked down at the nearly empty popcorn box. “I’m pretty sure you ate that all by yourself,” he said wryly, before continuing, “but thank God you hate it too. I thought I was gonna have to sit through this shit all the way until the end.”
Tony giggled, looking down. As he did so, a piece of hair fell from behind his ear and flopped into his face, and without even thinking about it, Steve tucked it back in again. He let his fingers linger over Tony’s jaw, brave for a moment, and then when Tony looked back up, he could feel the way his own heart sped up.
“How does Italian sound?” Tony whispered, “I’ll take us to some place fancy, with good quality food. No processed stuff. You’ll like it, I promise.”
Steve nodded, letting his hand drop. “Sounds like a plan,” he said, and then without another moment to waste, Tony stood up and then tightened his hand around Steve’s, pulling him along as they both shuffled out of the stands with muffled giggles. It was the smallest thing, holding hands, but Steve found himself absolutely despising the thought of ever letting go. Tony’s skin was warm and his touch electric, and his heartbeat thrummed fast and loud under his wrist. It was a strange thing to focus on, but Steve thought it was rather beautiful all the same.
“I’m just going to blindly follow you, by the way,” Steve told him as they stepped back out onto the streets a few minutes later, “because I have no idea where the nearest Italian is.”
Tony simply nodded wisely. “Trust me, I have excellent taste,” he assured Steve, before winking cheekily, “just look at my boyfriend.”
Be cool, be cool, be cool, you’re a mysterious deadly vampire and you are not going to turn to mush over that, you are not, you are n-
“Hnngh,” Steve choked, stumbling over his feet as they got caught on an uneven bit of pavement. He quickly balanced himself and tried to play it off, but Tony noticed anyway, and laughed in amusement. God, he had the most beautiful laugh. And happiness was definitely the emotion that smelt best on him.
Tony leaned up, resting his hand on Steve’s shoulder in order to kiss him on the cheek. “Come on,” he said softly, “let’s go eat.”
*
And that’s when the night started to go downhill.
Tony took them both to a fancy restaurant with a lot of glass and waiters who held trays on one hand, and Steve watched it all in faint awe as he stepped through the entrance. It was rare he ever got to visit places like these- last time he’d been, it was probably for Sam’s eighteenth birthday, when they’d all gone to the posh Indian place that had opened up nearby.
“Wow,” Steve breathed in awe, looking at the ornate ceiling, “this looks… expensive.”
Tony waved a hand, walking through the place with a familiar ease. “This is my treat,” he said, “considering I put you through that movie for an hour, it’s the least I could do.”
“Tony, you don’t have t-“
“Steve,” Tony turned, looking at him with soft amusement on his face, “I want to. Just let me spoil you with nice Italian dishes, okay? A thank you, for putting up with me.”
They slid into one of the booths, and Steve took a moment to smack Tony gently around the head. “Not even slightly correct, but I’ll let it slide just this once,” he told him, picking up a menu, “now, what do you suggest?”
They made small-talk for a few minutes whilst Tony leaned forward and picked out some good dishes he could try, the Italian words rolling off his tongue easily. Steve found himself rather distracted by the sound of it, and realised he had forgotten to listen for the past thirty seconds because he’d ended up getting too sidetracked by the lilting of Tony’s voice.
“Are you fluent?” He blurted, watching Tony’s mouth intently, and the boy looked up in surprise, before cottoning on with a smile.
“Yeah,” he said, resting an elbow on the table and leaning forward, looking up at Steve from under his eyelashes. “Why?”
Steve kissed him- short and fast and just a little bit nervous as he waited to gauge Tony’s reaction. He decided it was positive when he saw the way Tony swallowed heavily and then licked the taste of Steve off his lips.
“It sounds beautiful on you,” Steve admitted gently, watching the way Tony’s pupils dilated. As a vampire, all his senses were dialled up to eleven constantly- he noticed everything, every change- and with Tony, it was all that times 10. It was like Steve was just wired to him; tuned in on his frequency, spotting everything. The tiny little scar by his hairline. The different shades of brown in his eyes. The sound of each breath he took, in and out. Every little part of him made Steve crazy; it was like being intoxicated, it was all he could damn well think about.
Tony’s mouth curled upward. “I’ll remember that,” he said gently, a note of promise in his tone before he looked away and hailed the waiter, “but for now, let’s order. I’m starving.”
Steve and Tony both picked the salad as the starter; Steve having to quietly inform Tony that the garlicky options probably wouldn’t be the best idea. Tony’s eyes had widened almost comically, and he looked as if he was trying to hold back a grin as he said, “wait, so that is actually true? You really can’t go near garlic?”
Steve laughed. “No, we don’t burn up we get touched by holy water, crucifixes or garlic, Tony. It’s… it’s the specific chemical that’s in it. Allicin. It just makes Vampires kinda sick.” Steve shrugged, picking up his menu again, “it’s not bad in small concentrations, but it’s sort of like being lactose intolerant. It just makes me icky. The higher doses of the stuff, that’s when it’s dangerous.”
Tony seemed fascinated as he listened, and although he looked slightly mournful when he saw the waiters carrying a tray of garlic bread past him, he didn’t end up picking it when their order was taken, which Steve appreciated. It made any potential kissing a lot easier.
As Steve reeled off his order, he spotted the waiter staring at him a little funny. When Steve looked up and caught his eye, however, the man hurriedly looked back down at his notepad, swallowing and then moving onto Tony without another glance. Steve let it slide, too caught up in listening to Tony list off his own order in that beautiful melodic accent to care about waiter who shot him strange looks when he took their order. He’d gotten his fair share of them before, after all, and it wasn’t as if he wasn’t used to it.
Another few minutes passed, with Tony and Steve making easy conversation in the comfort of the booth. Steve found with extreme relief that Talking to Tony in a date environment was just as simple as talking to him at school- natural, just like breathing. There was always something to say, and Tony was so damn interesting, with his robots and his science. Steve could listen to him ramble about it all day.
In fact, Tony was half-way through a fond little rant about his bot, DUM-E, when Steve felt the hairs on the back of his neck start to stand on end, telling him that he was being watched. He glanced behind him, spotting the waiter from earlier as he stood behind the counter and whispered hurriedly to a man in a dark suit, who he guessed was the manager.
He was gesturing at Steve and Tony.
They both caught his eye as he turned, but although the waiter looked away again, the manager kept his gaze. Steve could already sense something was going on, and that was before the man even began to walk over to them.
Deep down, his heart sank in disappointment. Because he knew exactly what was about to happen. That was the worst fucking part. He God-Damn knew.
“Hello gentlemen,” the manager greeted them both stiffly, and Tony’s conversation petered off in confusion, looking up at the man with a frown on his face.
“Hi,” Tony said, as Steve just glared at the stupid owner angrily, “is- is there a problem?”
In response, of course, the man turned to Steve. “If you would be so kind as to show me your teeth, Sir, that would be greatly appreciated,” he said coolly.
Tony gasped as Steve just scowled harder, jaw tightening as he bit back on the urge to outright snarl at him. “Excuse me?” Tony said incredulously, “you can’t be… are you serious?”
The manager didn’t look away from Steve- like staring alone would assert his dominance. “Unfortunately, we don’t allow Domesticated Monsters in our premises. There are specific areas and bars in which you would be more then welcome, but if you will not offer proof that you are not a Vampire then I cannot let you continue to eat here.”
Tony was just staring, open-mouthed. Steve wasn’t even surprised. Not by this point. He should’ve goddamn expected this- should have worn his fucking fake teeth to cover them up, God, how could he have been so stupid-
“Sir,” the manager’s face was ice-cold by that point, “if you do not leave immediately, I will be forced to call the authorities.”
It was Tony who stood first, banging his fists on the table and drawing attention from the rest of the room. “This is fucking insane,” he snarled, “he’s just eating!”
“Tony,” Steve said tiredly, beginning to grab his coat and stand up, but Tony just waved a hand angrily and continued his tirade at the manager, eyes alight with fury.
“Don’t you have any respect? He’s not threatening anyone by being here, he just came out for some food like everyone else. What, you think he’s gonna leap over the table and fucking eat me? Although to be honest, going to be quality of your shitty limp salad, I wouldn’t fucking blame him.”
At that, the owner seemed to pause, and then he looked over to Tony with a flash of concern. “Sir- would you, perhaps, prefer to stay here for a moment whilst we escort this man from the premises?” He said, his tone going quieter and more gentle for Tony’s benefit, and oh God, Steve was starting to feel sick.
They really thought… they thought Steve was that scummy, huh? That he was forcing Tony to be here. And obviously, it wasn’t like everyone didn’t hear every single fucking story about the vampires and other Unhumans that would pick some poor Baseliner and then keep them as their ‘pets’, abusing and- and doing awful things to them. But of course, the media didn’t like to talk about the other and far more common side of the coin- about all the Unhumans, typically younger ones, that got kidnapped and sold into the underground sex trade on a regular basis, drugged and kept compliant so those fucking freaks could keep them in cages and do as they pleased with them-
God. Fuck. Steve… really didn’t to be here any more.
Tony seemed to have been completely stunned into a horrified silence as he stared at the owner, but Steve wasn’t looking at either of them any more. Humiliation was curling in his gut, and it was stupid, but he could feel heat behind the back of his eyes anyway. The night had been going so well. He’d almost… Steve had almost made Tony forget what he was really getting into here.
Of course, maybe this was for the best. Tony deserved to know, he supposed. It was only fair.
Everyone stared at him as he walked out, head down and hands stuffed into his pockets. He could still hear Tony shouting furiously behind him, smelling like everything angry and vicious in the world had curled into a hot, tight little ball right under his chest. Steve appreciated that. It was nice of him to care so much.
Steve had given up the will to even bother fighting it, any more. It had happened too many times. People’s minds weren’t going to change.
To them, he’d always just be a monster.
The night was cold when Steve stepped outside, and he thought about just running- back to his car, back home, never coming out again. But Tony needed a lift back; and fuck, wasn’t that going to be an awkward trip. He could imagine how it would go. ‘Hey, Steve, I know I said I was down for this whole relationship thing, but then I realised that we’re never going to be able to be in public together without someone thinking that I’m being kept as your sex slave and actually, that’s kind of a bummer-‘
“Steve!”
He pursed his lips and shut his eyes, freezing up with his back to Tony. He was a coward and he didn’t want to look at the expression on his face.
“Sorry about that,” he said, forcing his voice into a gruff mutter so that it didn’t waver, “I- I should have put my fake teeth on tonight, I was just… distracted, and it slipped my mind, I-“
“Steve, shut the Goddamn hell up,” Tony hissed, and Steve heard him march forward with anger in each step of his stride. Steve turned slowly on his heel, just in time to feel in surprise as Tony threw himself into Steve’s arms and hugged him astonishingly tight.
Steve blinked in surprise, just standing there like a statue for a moment before slowly curling his hands around Tony’s slim waist and hugging back. He didn’t know what this was- pity, possibly, but… fuck, Tony just felt so good. And he smelled like fury and rage and that beautiful Tony smell that Steve could never get enough of.
He sighed deeply and shut his eyes, burying his head into Tony’s thick hair.
“You should never, never have to apologize for something like that happening,” Tony choked into his shoulder, dropping down so he could look at Steve with his serious eyes and frame his face between shaking hands, “God, I can’t believe that even happened at all. I would never ever have brought you there if I’d known-“
“Tony, don’t worry about it,” Steve shook his head and smiled tightly, “you never know. That’s the thing. Sometimes they just ignore you, sometimes they tell you to leave, sometimes they throw glass at you and call you a soulless monster.” He shrugged. “This is… Fuck, Tony, this was a mistake.”
He stepped out of Tony’s grasp, eyes on the floor. He could sense Tony’s pause in breath, and felt like a complete fucking tool. He should never have done this. Should never have even thought it might work.
“What do you mean?” Tony asked, voice quiet.
Steve threw his hands into the air. “This!” He said, “us! Tony- Tony, sweetheart, just being around me is going to be all sorts of terrible for you. Do you have any idea what dating an Unhuman means for you? It means that other Baseliners- normal people- they won’t go near you. They’ll either think you’re some freak who wants to be one of us or they’ll think I’m fucking forcing you to be with me and they need to stay away unless they want the same to happen to them! You’re going to ruin your life just by associating with me, Tony.” Steve looked down at the pavement and shook his head. “I’m just. I’m not worth that. You could be popular and- and you could do so well for yourself, Tony, you don’t want to throw that away for-“
Tony kissed him.
It was a pretty effective way to get Steve to stop talking, he’d give him that. He blinked in surprise, stumbling back a little as his hands automatically went for the material of Tony’s jacket to pull him in closer. He couldn’t help it. Yeah, he could talk the talk, but at the end of the day, when Tony was there in his arms, it was just… Steve couldn’t pull away. He was a selfish, selfish bastard and he just couldn’t.
“I want you,” Tony muttered into the kiss, pushing Steve’s chest with the flats of his palms until his back bumped the wall of the sidewalk, “I want you with all the problems that come with you, and all the baggage, and all the difficulties. I don’t care about them, Steve. I don’t care what people think.” His laugh turned a little hysterical as he broke off for a moment. “Fuck, my own fucking dad thinks my existence is a mistake. If I listened to what people said about me, I’d have jumped off a bridge a long time ago.” He leaned up, and his mouth was so soft and his face was so warm and he smelled so divine that it made Steve shiver. “Luckily, however, I’ve never given a fuck, and I never will.”
Steve swallowed. “I do,” he said, shutting his eyes as he leaned his forehead into Tony’s and laid his hand over Tony’s flushed cheek, “I know the sort of things they’ll call you. I know what they’ll do and I hate it, I hate thinking it’s because of me-“
“It’s not because of you,” Tony’s voice was fierce, convicted, “it’s because of them and their bigotry and hatred, and as long as I live I’m never going to stop telling them they’re foul and wrong if I hear it. This is my choice, Steve. Deciding for me isn’t going to make the problem go away. It’s only going to piss me off and make us both miserable.”
His voice softened, and he moved his head to the side, kissing the inside of Steve’s palm. “Let me choose to be happy, please,” he said, “don’t throw this away because you’re trying to be righteous and save me. That won’t work, and we’ll both just end up being lonely again.” Tony swallowed, looking away nervously as he curled his smaller hands around Steve’s own that little bit tighter and sighed. “I don’t have any other friends, Steve. I don’t know anything about dating or- or relationships, and I try to break everything in life down to a scientific equation that I can get my head around as opposed to just some aspect of socialization that I need to learn- but with you, I don’t need to worry about any of that. I don’t need to try and analyse it all, or make charts about it with common factors and outliers. I just… I know how I feel about you. It’s easy.”
Steve could feel Tony’s heartbeat increasing as he spoke; could sense the nerves coming off him at the admittance. For whatever reason, this whole debacle hadn’t seemed to have scared Tony away. In fact, it seemed that Tony was more anxious Steve was going to be the one to bolt, now.
Which would be the right thing to do. For Tony’s sake, really, it would be… it would be the right thing to do.
But Steve just couldn’t bring the words to his mouth. He couldn’t look at Tony and tell him no. He was too selfish. He was too greedy and he wanted Tony so badly it ached, deep inside his chest like a magnet that was pulling him insistently toward the other boy’s aura. Steve couldn’t escape it. Most of all, Steve didn’t want to. Even if he knew it was the right thing to do.
He curled his hand back slowly around Tony’s neck, pulling him in again. Tony went easily, tucking his nose into the hollow of Steve’s throat, and God, he just fitted so perfectly. Like that’s where he was supposed to be. Steve shut his eyes tiredly and pressed his mouth against the top of Tony’s forehead, just breathing him in.
“You’re mad,” Steve muttered, the smallest of smiles creasing his lips, “you really are, Tony.”
“I prefer the term ‘eccentric’,” Tony responded easily, the vibrations of his words buzzing against Steve’s throat. They remained curled around one another for a few more moments, before Tony leaned away with a small smile on his face and a look of fondness in his eyes that Steve could still hardly believe was being directed at him.
“I say fuck that place,” Tony told him, “I know a much better spot, and some much nicer food. And while we’re at it, we can show them just what we think of their shitfuck Unhuman Bans, huh?”
Steve raised an eyebrow. “I can’t help but feel as if you’re thinking of doing something unwise here.”
Tony just grinned wider, raising a hand and offering it out to Steve. “Really? I’d never even dream of it, Steve. Come on. We’re not cutting our night short because of a bunch of stuck-up assholes. I’m all dressed up and I want to put this effort to good use.”
Steve shouldn’t say it. It was way too soon to even think it, really. He was being overemotional- just because Tony was looking at him with that smile under the harsh orange streetlight, the air crystallizing in front of his face and strands of hair falling over his forehead as he leaned up and gazed at Steve, his hand outstretched in askance- it didn’t mean that Steve had to go and think ‘I love you’ like that. They’d not even had a second damn date yet.
He huffed out a small laugh and took Tony’s hand. “After you, Stark,” he said with a gesture, and Tony didn’t spare another second- pulling them forward through the lamplit streets and warming Steve’s hand with the heat of his own.
*
And this was how they ended up sitting on the roof exactly opposite the restaurant they had been at earlier, a huge bag of MacDonald’s on their left which they were both picking at greedily, and a box of twelve eggs on their right.
“Okay, so maybe not the high-class meal I’d been planning on earlier this evening,” Tony said through a mouthful of fries as he popped his collar and shuffled closer to Steve in order to preserve what little warmth they had as they sat out in the cold night, “but it’s definitely tasty.”
Steve nodded, swallowing a chicken nugget and then taking an obnoxiously loud sip of his coke. “I like this better than in there anyway,” he said, gesturing over to the little place beneath them, “there’s a nicer view up here. And I get to sit closer to you.” He blushed as he bumped their shoulders together, and Tony just looked smug for a minute before he swung his legs around and then sat them over Steve’s lap, tucking himself into Steve’s side easily.
“On a scale of one to ten, how okay is this?” Tony asked him a second later, which made Steve laugh and almost choke on his mouthful of fries.
“Ten,” he confirmed, “and I thought you said you didn’t need to do any studies when you were around me. Thought you said it was ‘easy’?”
Tony punched him lightly. “I am still, at heart, a scientist. Plus I’ve been told I have bony knees.”
Steve made a face, snorting as he ran his tongue absently over his canines. “Who thought to specifically mention you’ve got bony knees? How did that even come up in conversation?”
“Shush, I was trying to play off the fact that I was worried I’d just overstepped a boundary and you didn’t even let me turn it into a joke.”
Steve paused, looking down at him with a small smile as he leaned in nervously and caught Tony’s mouth in another soft kiss. Tony’s lips were wonderfully soft, and Steve’s enhanced hearing meant that he heard the way the other boy’s heart fluttered happily in response. Steve was fast-beginning to think that the sound of Tony’s heart was one of the best things in the world.
“In future, assume that there aren’t any boundaries, okay?” Steve told him, before pausing and then adding, “to an extent, anyway. Just don’t cut off a piece of my hair and make a voodoo doll out of it or anything, ‘kay?”
Tony’s laugh was magic in his ears. “Damn, well there goes my plan.”
Steve was happy to just sit there, eating fast food on the roof and talking quietly with Tony as the night gradually continued to get colder. Steve had wondered why Tony had decided to pull them all the way up the fire escape of some random building that didn’t look like it was even habited at all after they’d grabbed their food and wandered back onto the streets again- but then when Tony had taken a detour into a corner store and come out with a box of eggs in his hand, Steve had caught on pretty fast.
Really, it was stupid. Childish. If they got caught, there was gonna be hell to pay.
Tony glanced up at him, and saw where he was looking with a small smile and another kiss to Steve’s cheek. “I’ll let you take the first shot if you want,” he whispered.
Steve kissed him back, irrevocably drawn towards Tony’s beautiful mouth. “What if they see us?” He asked.
Tony just rolled his eyes. “Four CCTV cameras, all pointed in the opposite direction. We’re too high up and we came in from round the back. Don’t sweat it, Rogers.”
“And since when did you become such a rebel, Stark? I thought you were this awkward little homeschooled kid who didn’t know how to talk to anyone?”
Tony made an unimpressed face. “Um, rebellion runs in my blood, pal,” he huffed righteously and then stood up, rubbing his hands together as he scooped the box of eggs off the floor. “Now either you can throw, or you can just watch me as I do. Either way, their premises are getting egged.”
Steve folded his arms and looked at Tony through the harsh orange glow that shone from the streetlights below him. His hair was blowing in the faint wind, cheeks rosy from cold and a stubborn glint in his eye that showed the anger which still simmered beneath his calmer exterior. It seemed that Tony had taken the earlier interaction very seriously, and had not been at all impressed by the treatment that Steve had received. Probably why he’d bought the eggs.
It was still a little odd, to think Tony even cared that much. That he even cared at all, for that matter. Steve was still kind of trying to get his head around that, if he was being honest. Because Tony of all people- a Stark, the heir of a billionaire who Steve was pretty sure had a hand in some of the anti-vampire weapons out on the market today- was the one Baseline human who saw Steve as more than just a monster. He saw Steve for his shitty humour and his awkwardness and sullen attitude and, for some reason, still seemed to stay.
That was… a lot.
And not only was Tony staying, but Tony was staying with vengeance and an innate desire to prove the entire world wrong about Unhumans. Steve could see it in the way he’d been glaring at the manager earlier that night- in the way he was about to go and Goddamn vandalise their property just because they’d refused to serve a Vampire. And that- the loyalty in those actions meant a lot, to someone like Steve, who was used to having to watch his back at every corner. Unhumans in general tended to have a stronger pack mentality than most Baseliners- what with the constant fear of persecution, a lot of Steve’s kind had banded together into small clans and packs across the world, keeping one another safe in small communities. To Steve, the kind of loyalty that he saw in Tony was the kind of loyalty that was… it was rare. Rarer still to be coming from a Baseliner.
And of course, Steve’s hindbrain was going crazy for it. In fact- Steve’s rational brain kind of was too.
Smiling across at Tony, he leaned forward and opened up the box, slipping an egg into his hand. “It would be my pleasure,” he said, winking as he glided past Tony and over to the edge of the roof.
He looked down at the building, still dimly lit but pretty much empty by that point in the night. He thought with bitterness about all the times this same thing had happened before, and how many times it was probably going to happen again. He thought about the unfairness of it all- the injustice and the cruelty, and how fucking satisfying it would be to get an egg right on the middle of the door.
With a vicious smile, he reeled his arm back and then threw.
He watched in exulting terror as the white oval arced gracefully through the air, moving from one side of the street to the other and then careening right toward the center of the restaurant. It hit just left of the door with an incredibly satisfying splat, and Steve couldn’t help but laugh loudly when the cracking sound split through the street.
By his side, Tony cheered, before tossing one of the eggs from his left to his right hand and then throwing wildly. As opposed to Steve, his aim was pretty far off, and it hit the sidewalk just outside the restaurant, stopping short a couple of metres.
“God, this is such a bad idea,” Steve breathed out and then chucked another egg, this time hitting the window, “tell me how you managed to rope me into this?”
“My charming smile and peppy can-do attitude,” Tony responded immediately as he hurled another egg, putting so much force into it this time that Steve had to catch him around the waist in order to stop him from stumbling. “And THAT’S where bigotry gets you!” He called out loudly, pointing an angry finger at the empty street and yelling at the manager who could not hear him.
Steve laughed, burying his head into Tony’s shoulder and spinning them both around a few times. He felt almost euphoric- high off the danger and cocktail of emotions that he felt whenever he looked or heard or touched Tony.
It was crazy, how fast he was falling.
Steve took another egg from the fast-emptying box, turning back to the restaurant and then gearing his arm back. By the time his eyes actually spotted the person that was beginning to step toward the window on the inside of the restaurant with eyes wide and horrified, Steve’s hand had already released its projectile, and the egg was flying through the air.
He froze, mouth dropping open as he watched the thing splat right across the window directly in front of the manager’s face, obscuring his features with yellow yolk. Both he and Tony stopped moving, shocked into silence; watching as the man slowly stepped further forward, his face carved into fury as he looked around the street in search of the culprits. Then he suddenly jerked sideways, rushing to the door of his building, and both Steve and Tony lurched backward back into the shadows, eyes going wide.
“Shit,” Steve blurted as Tony grabbed his hand and then began to tug him backward frantically, obscuring them from view.
“Quick, fuck, let’s go before he sees us and calls the fucking cops!” Tony hissed with a half-giggle, pulling Steve by the hand as they ran back across the roof and then made their way over to the opposite side where the fire escape was. Both of them were having to hold in their loud laughter as they hurried as silently as they could down the metal steps; Steve straight-up vaulting the last set and landing on the floor with easy feet, opening his arms in order to catch Tony as he jumped quickly down the last few and stumbled into his arms.
“Go go go!” Steve heard Tony say hurriedly, pushing him in the chest and moving him forward. Taking initiative this time, Steve wrapped his hand around Tony’s and then ran fast, pulling Tony along with him as he sped through the streets at a high enough speed that he could feel the wind tugging through the strands of his hair.
They both sprinted across the sidewalk, ducking into a back alley and then taking a shortcut onto a quieter road where only one working streetlamp lit their way. They were long since safe from being detected, but they ran anyway, Steve keeping his hand clasped around Tony as he pulled him along and stifled his laughter into the wind. He felt childish; like he was being stupid, reacting foolishly to all of this- but Tony’s face was alive under the night sky, and he was looking forward at Steve with a wicked glow in his eyes, and Jesus Christ Steve was just falling harder and harder with every passing moment, it was too hard to even care about anything else.
He finally came to a halt under the next streetlamp, turning around to Tony and beaming, teeth and all. Tony laughed back at him, untamed and wonderful, and Steve didn’t even have to think about moving forward and taking Tony’s face between his hands. He just did it.
Pushing them both back against the wall of some shut-up corner store, Steve leaned down and kissed him.
Tony was still a little out of breath- his chest heaved and his skin was hot under Steve’s fingers, but everything was just as perfect, if not even more so, than the first time. Tony’s mouth opened under Steve’s pressure, and he tilted his head up to get the angle just right as his fingers snaked around the front of Steve’s jacket and pulled him in, until they were chest to chest, skin to skin. His tongue slipped inside Steve’s mouth almost nervously, and Steve remembered that Tony had probably never kissed anyone like this before. It made something deep and primal burn under his chest; the thought that Steve was the only person who’d ever felt Tony’s kiss, who’d ever gotten to hold him like this. It was a sharp tug of pleasure under his sternum, and he breathed in sharply before taking Tony’s soft bottom lip between his teeth and tugging softly, before closing off the space and pushing their mouths together once more. It coaxed a breathy moan of delight from the smaller boy, and Steve grinned. Making out with a succubus once or twice sure taught a guy a few tricks about a good kiss, that was for sure.
A few minutes of heat-filled making out later, and they both eventually ended up breaking off slowly, amending the new distance with small interspersed kisses every few seconds- like it was impossible for either of them to keep away from one another. Steve sure felt that way- he knew it was silly and all in his head, but he could still almost feel the magnetic pull under his sternum, keeping him there, right in front of Tony.
For such a shitty beginning, the night had still managed to be one of the best of Steve’s life.
Tony giggled nervously, fiddling with the folds of Steve’s jacket and looking at them attentively as he licked his lips. Steve just watched him. God, some of the things he did- and he didn’t even know the effect that they had on Steve, either- the way he’d move his hands or bite his lips or stroke his fingers absently over his jawline when he was distracted; almost everything he did drove Steve damn near crazy. Sometimes, he wanted Tony so badly it physically hurt.
“So,” Tony whispered, finally daring to glance up at him, “would it be weird if I asked you to fill out a survey to help with some of my new hypotheses?”
Steve burst out laughing, burying his head into Tony’s shoulder and spinning them around on the sidewalk as he did so. Tony went pliant in his arms, allowing Steve to sway them both slowly on the street before coming to a stop once more, when Steve pressed his mouth into Tony’s temple.
“I’ll fill out whatever form you want if I get to kiss you like that again,” he murmured.
*
“So?”
“How did it go?”
“Did you hold hands?”
“Make out?”
“Fuck in the back-seat of your car?”
“Bucky!”
“Hey, I was only asking-“
Steve smiled wearily at his two friends as they stood outside the porch of his house, waiting for his car as it had parked up outside. It had been five goddamn seconds, and they were already bickering like some old married couple.
“Go inside, freaks,” he said with a smile, pushing them both backward and into the door, “I’ll tell you everything.”
“Well, he’s happy, that’s for sure,” Bucky informed Natasha as they were herded back indoors. He looked back at Steve and wrinkled his nose. “He goddamn reeks of the stuff.”
Steve rolled his eyes, feeling a blush start to crawl its way up his cheeks as he looked down at the floor. He could still feel the ghostly tingle of Tony’s fingerprints against his face, his arms, his everywhere.
They hurried into the living room and dived onto the couches, Steve sitting in the space that the other two made for him and then glancing at both of them as they wiggled their eyebrows and waited impatiently.
Steve grinned. “So. The movie was boring and I got kicked out of a restaurant because they didn’t serve to Unhumans.”
He could see the way their faces automatically fell in confusion. Bucky physically reared back. “You what? Where was it? Why are you… why do you smell so-“
“Because Tony went absolutely batshit insane on the manager, took me up to the roof opposite the restaurant and then hauled eggs at the window until the owner came out and started screaming.” Steve’s lip curled up in amusement, watching as both of his friends blinked in surprise.
Then Natasha smiled, throwing herself forward and hugging him tightly. He paused in surprise, before returning it with an equal amount of enthusiasm.
“Please please please can we keep him?” She asked sweetly, “he’s cute and he’s smart and he has good taste in movies, and he’s a Baseliner who actually cares about the welfare and treatment of Unhumans? Steve, that’s someone you keep.”
“That’s someone you marry,” Bucky told him with a pat on the back, “I agree with Tash- Tony’s cool. I mean, I’ve only met him like twice, but… cool.”
Steve just laughed. He still felt the lingering euphoria, even though he’d dropped Tony off back home half an hour ago by that point. “He is cool, isn’t he?” He said softly.
Bucky cooed, and then patted Natasha on the head pityingly. “Sucks to be you babe, you’re gonna have to listen to Steve fantasize about fucking Tony on every surface for the next three months-“
“Shut up, Buck!” Steve squeaked in embarrassment, shoving a pillow in his face and baring his teeth playfully, “if you dare say anything like that in front of Tony I swear, I’m gonna chuck you outta the window-“
“Hey hey hey, don’t worry, she’ll have to hear Tony imagining the fucking, so like, go comfort Natasha and stop beating on me!” Bucky scrambled away and shielded himself from attack with the pillow Steve had chucked at him, whilst Steve just spluttered and then gave him the middle finger as a response.
On his other side, Natasha just sighed. “I should have just stayed in the KGB. Easier than dealing with this teenage bullshit.”
*
The next day, as Steve was heading to his locker ready to shove his coat in there, he found that he had someone waiting for him.
“Hi,” was all Tony said, before he pushed off the lockers, strode forward and then kissed him in front of the entire corridor of people.
Steve stopped, frozen in surprise for a few seconds before he kissed back on autopilot. He thought of all the hundreds of eyes that must be staring blatantly at them both in that moment; the whispers that would be going around like wildfire and the rumours that’d get passed around faster than it takes for Steve to even get to first period. By the end of the day, without doubt, the entire school would know that Tony Stark had been making out with a vampire in the middle of the corridor and hadn’t even bothered to hide it.
And Tony didn’t even seem to care.
They broke away after a second or two, Tony keeping one hand on Steve’s jaw as the other rummaged through his sweater-pockets, before pulling out some folded up pieces of paper with a coffee-stain ringed around the corner of it.
He held it up between their chests, kissing Steve gently on the mouth once more. “I made the survey,” he said, and then smiled in triumph at the burst of laughter it brought out of Steve, “hey, don’t laugh, it’s a serious scientific study on the process of friendship-making and socialization-“
“Yeah, sure, because kissing a vampire in front of everyone is definitely one of the most sure-fire ways to earn yourself some popularity,” Steve told him drily as he plucked the sheets from Tony’s hands. His face felt warm where Tony was touching it.
The next kiss was almost like Tony was making a point. “It’s the most sure-fire way to wheedle out the assholes who I don’t have any time for anyway,” he corrected, before pushing off Steve and then walking off, his bag swinging carefree behind him as he waved, “see you in math class, babe!” He yelled- and yeah, at the amount of shocked faces that followed him, it seemed he’d definitely been heard.
Steve just watched him go, shaking his head as the butterflies threatened to burst right out of his chest.
He might be the Unhuman here- but Goddamn, that Baseliner was gonna be the death of him.