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Steve smiles as he paints, using the brand-new watercolors that Tony had bought him for Christmas. He’s excited about spending his first Valentine’s day with Tony, especially since it’s really his first Valentine’s day with a lover. He’s excited to give Tony the painting he’s been working on, even if he knows it’s nothing that special.
But he’s worked hard on the watercolor of Iron Man, and he knows Tony is proud of the suit, even if sometimes people mistake that pride for cockiness. Steve himself knows there’s a fine line between confidence and cockiness-- one he’s crossed a few times since becoming Captain America-- but Steve’s never really seen Tony be cocky. Oh sure, when he’s around the press he is, but that’s an act. The real Tony barely even has confidence, except when it comes to the suits.
Steve pulls back from the picture, cracking his back as he moves to clean up his tools. Once that’s done, he heads down to the kitchen. He moves to the fridge and grabs a bottle of water, downing it in a few gulps before pulling out the roast he’s going to make Tony, along with some carrots, onion, and potatoes. He starts the dinner, then heads up to his room, showering and getting dressed in a pair of dark gray slacks and a deep blue button up before he asks Jarvis to make sure that Tony is ready for dinner in an hour.
Heading back to the kitchen, Steve grabs the nicest plates and silverware, setting the table as fancy as he can. He checks on the roast, smiling when it’s almost perfect. He closes the oven door and goes about continuing to set the table, lighting the candles and arranging the flowers just so. He runs upstairs and makes sure the painting is dry before he wraps it in plain brown paper and string. Carrying it back downstairs, he smiles when he sees Tony walking in from the other direction.
“Cap, I didn’t realize we had a date. I’m sorry.”
“It’s fine, Tony. But it’s Valentine’s day, so I thought...” Steve’s face falls at the confused expression on Tony’s face. “You’re too busy. That’s fine. I’m sorry for pulling you away from your work.”
“No. No, that’s not it. I thought... J, is today Valentine’s day?”
“Indeed it is sir,” Jarvis says and Steve swears he’s rolling his eyes at his creator, even if he hasn’t got eyes.
“Well, shit.” Tony looks down at his dirty jeans and torn t-shirt and then back at Steve. “Can I get forty five minutes to go clean up?”
“The roast... Yeah, that’d be fine.” Steve bites his lip, hoping that the roast doesn’t dry out in the meantime.
“Okay. Fifteen, then. I need to wash up and change, but I can do that quickly.” Tony smiles at Steve as he heads for the elevator. As soon as he’s on the elevator, he curses loud and long. “Jarvis,” he says after he’s got the swearing out of his system. “Get my shower running and hot. I need to be fast. Also, where did I leave the gift I made Steve?”
“In your room, in the closet behind your tuxedo, sir.”
Tony nods and starts stripping before he even exits the elevator. He’s naked and in the shower within two minutes and out of the shower less than two minutes after that. He drags on a pair of black slacks as soon as he dries off. “J, time?”
“Sir, you have eight minutes until your fifteen minutes is up.”
“Thanks, J.” Tony drags on a dark gray button down, doing up the buttons as he tugs on socks and shoes. He digs out the package he’d gotten for Steve, hoping that Steve likes the watercolor he’d bought. He’d been in a gallery with Pepper and saw the hearts done in multi colored watercolor and knew, he had to have it for Steve. Pepper had thought he was crazy, and he probably was-- buying a ten thousand dollar painting for his boyfriend for their first Valentine’s day was a little ridiculous, but Tony was known for that, so he figured Steve would forgive him.
He glances around, then heads for the elevator. “How long do I have?”
“Three minutes sir. You will be at least one minute early at this rate.”
Tony lets out a sigh of relief as he steps on the elevator. “Thank goodness.”
Steve looks up when the elevator opens and he smiles, getting to his feet. “You made it in fifteen minutes.”
“Fourteen, actually, Captain,” Jarvis announces.
“Even better,” Steve says, reaching out to take Tony’s hand. “What’s that?”
“A gift. For you. For Valentine’s day. I’m sorry, it’s a little.... extra.” Tony shrugs. “Do you want to open it?”
“Later. Let’s eat first. I made a roast with carrots and potatoes?”
“I’m starving. Should I find a bottle of wine?”
“No. I have sparking grape juice. Is that all right?”
“Why no wine?”
“I don’t like the taste and it doesn’t affect me. It does you, though. I know you haven’t been drinking much lately. I want to help with that.”
Tony leans in and kisses Steve. “Thank you.”
Steve smiles and hugs Tony. “Sit down and I’ll get our dinner ready.” He moves to the kitchen and comes out a few minutes later, carrying a large platter with the promised roast, carrots and potatoes. “I’ve also got some rolls. Give me just a moment to grab them.”
“I’ll pour the grape juice.” Tony grabs the bottle and pours two glasses full. Then he plates up Steve’s food, before plating his own. He smiles when Steve walks back in. “Happy Valentines’ day, Steve. Thank you for going to all this trouble.”
“It’s no trouble and it was my pleasure.” Steve sits down and holds out the basket of rolls. “You know how I have been working on my art lately? I made a sale. I’m astonished that someone actually bought one of my paintings, especially when I didn’t announce that I’m the one selling it. I’m so excited about it.” Steve shifts a little in his seat and starts to eat. He glances up to see Tony digging into the meal as well. “Is it good?”
“Steve, it’s delicious. I didn’t know you could cook this well.”
Steve beams at the praise and continues eating. It’s not long before they’re done eating and Steve gets to his feet, carrying dirty dishes to the kitchen. He turns when he hears Tony coming in. “You don’t have to clean up.”
“We’ll clean up together.” And they do, taking turns carrying in dishes and then washing and drying them.
Once everything is cleaned and put away, Steve leads Tony to the living room. “So, I got you a gift. Well, to be exact, I made you a gift. I know you don’t care much about art, but I thought you’d like this particular painting.” Steve sets the painting on the couch. “Go ahead!”
Tony smiles and kisses Steve’s cheek before he unwraps the painting. His mouth drops open and he can only stare. The technique is so similar to the painting he’d bought Steve that he has no doubt that he’s the one who bought Steve’s painting. He stares longer, smiling when he realizes Steve has painted Iron Man and made him look beautiful. “Steve, its... It’s amazing. Thank you! I love it!” Tony turns and hugs Steve, kissing him softly. “Now, I have a slight confession to make to you. I was out with Pepper the other day and she took me to a gallery. Some of the most beautiful paintings I’ve seen in recent years and I found one that really spoke to me. I couldn’t resist buying it for you. I thought it would be perfect for you. I thought... I looked at it and it evoked all of the feelings I feel for you.” Tony grabs the painting he’d brought up earlier.
Steve takes it, smiling at Tony. He carefully opens the painting and when he sees it, he frowns. “Tony.”
“Yeah. I figured it out when I saw the one you made me.” Tony snorts. “Sorry. To be honest, I guess I can just keep it, if you don’t want it back. Or you can return it to the gallery and re-sell it.”
“Tony, stop. I love it. It’s one of my favourites that I’ve painted, and to be honest, I didn’t really want to let it go. But my agent convinced me that it would be one of the first ones to sell. And she was right.” Steve smiles at Tony. “I think they should go together in your living room.”
“In here?”
“No, up in your suite.”
“But I bought the hearts for you. Because... well, looking at them makes me think of you and how I feel and I know we’ve only been together a little over a month, but I love you and I wanted to give you something that would let you know that.”
Steve flushes, cheeks starting to hurt from how big the smile on his face is. “I love you too. That’s why I painted Iron Man. I wanted to show you how proud I am of all you’ve become. But it’s more than Iron Man, Tony. Everything about you is amazing.”
Tony moves closer. “Yeah?”
“Yeah,” Steve answers, reaching out and pulling Tony closer, bending his head to kiss Tony deeply.