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Tony had a personal Swedish massage therapist on his payroll, one he hadn’t seen in years. He had gone for all of two sessions and was so far from relaxed at a stranger touching him all over and leaving their unfamiliar scent all over him that he couldn’t enjoy the massage. Most of the time, he booked in a massage session and ended up tinkering in his workshop while telling everyone that he couldn’t be reached because he was getting a massage.
So it was with great reluctance that he agreed to go to a couple’s massage session with Steve. Steve had sworn that this place did such an amazing job that he had become a loyal customer after Natasha had recommended the massage therapists there. Tony was completely certain they were secret assassins, but figured they must be good at massaging to keep up a good enough cover that Natasha approved of them.
He went to the session expecting soothing music that would do nothing for him and scentless air that was suited for any kind of shifter. He imagined a gentle but firm massage from someone with impressive forearms and biceps because you probably needed to be suitably muscular to knead Steve’s muscles into submission.
Instead, who he got was an older, slender Thai lady who told him to call her Miss Thahom and abruptly ordered him around.
“Take off your clothes, put on this wrap pants and lie down,” she said in a rather commanding tone for a woman of her stature. Her pricked-up ears flicked once in annoyance when he didn’t comply immediately. From her tail of long, dark hair tied into a thick braid, Tony thought she was a horse shifter. An increasingly irritated horse shifter.
Tony whispered out of the corner of his mouth to Steve, “I don’t think she’s doing a good job maintaining her cover as a massage therapist.”
“She’s not an assassin, Tony,” Steve said with an exasperated sigh.
“So you say,” Tony responded sceptically.
Miss Thahom told him, “You’ll find out for certain if you don’t follow my instructions. You should be changed when I get back.”
Then she was out of the door. Tony let out a little meep, eyes wide as he turned to look at Steve, about to suggest that they flee for their lives. But Steve interrupted him by leaning over and brushing their cheeks together, an unfair move which instantly started to relax Tony once their mingled scents were strengthened.
“Come on, let’s undress and put on the clothes they’ve prepared us,” Steve said as he coaxed Tony into reluctantly changing.
Changing...was not as easy as expected.
Okay, Tony was an engineer and a genius, but pants should just involve being pulled up his legs and over his hips, with a hole at the back to accommodate his tail. There shouldn’t be any nonsense about wrapping some fabric here and there, while finding the hole for his tail, and long ties on the pants going through tiny, hard-to-find holes… Whatever, Tony was a genius, which meant he didn’t have to know how to wear wrap pants. That was what Steve was there for.
“You’re so dramatic,” Steve murmured in response to Tony’s grumbles and kissed him on the cheek. Steve’s happily wagging tail made Tony want to complain some more, because Steve shouldn’t be amused by all this.
At least the wrap pants were very, very soft to the touch and completely scentless. Tony had to give them that; they knew how to make the massage experience a calming, non-disturbing one. There were no shirts, so presumably, the massage was done shirtless. They both sat down on their individual narrow beds, which were made of hard wood and had a very thin mattress on top. Ooh, and these were heated sheets. Tony hummed in appreciation at the warmth underneath him.
There was a positive to having a shirtless massage, which was that Steve being topless was always a wonderful distraction. At least Tony could pass some of this time staring at Steve’s impossibly broad shoulders and generous pecs that were more than Tony’s hands could hold, speaking from personal experience. He was pretty sure Steve was also flexing unnecessarily as he tossed their clothing into the prepared basket, that shameless dog.
As if she had a sixth sense to pick up on their readiness, Miss Thahom came back with another younger woman, someone Steve already knew and called Kanokwan. Presumably, this was Steve’s usual massage therapist. Kanokwan seemed much, much nicer. She smiled at them and gave them both a slight bow with her palms pressed together. The gleaming dark scales on her neck indicated that she was a reptilian shifter of some sort.
When Kanokwan moved towards Steve’s bed, Tony almost asked for a swap, but he was afraid that Miss Thahom would murder him dead if he did. Under her stern glare, he laid meekly down on his front, positioning his face on the hole at the end of the massage bed so he could easily breathe while lying on his front. There was disposable paper lining the hole, clean and new, without any scents of the previous customer.
Tony’s view of massages was changed from that point onwards. Sure, some things lived up to his imagination. He had gotten the dim-lighting and the wonderfully heated hard bed. The décor was lush but functional, with beautiful antique chairs for them to sit on and finely woven baskets for their clothing.
Then Miss Thahom cracked open a jar of something and a sharp, almost biting scent filled the air. Tony’s fur stood on end and Miss Thahom only said, “It’s Tiger balm. It’ll be good for you.”
When she started massaging him, Tony had to force himself not to stiffen up.
“Stop stiffening up,” she told him, because clearly he hadn’t done a good enough job trying.
She was not in the least bit soothing or gentle. Climbing onto the bed, she pressed down hard on his feet and calves with her palms, working her way up to his thighs. Then she used her knees to dig into his thigh muscles, and it was painful bliss, a tension he didn’t even know was there releasing under her persistent pressure.
“You’re still not relaxed,” Miss Thahom complained with a click of her tongue before getting off the bed and walking away. When she came back, she draped something over the back of his head.
Tony’s fluffy ears laid back in unwelcomed surprise at first, but then the scent from the fabric seeped down and enveloped him.
It was the scent of warmth. Warmth and safety, sunny afternoons in an art room, contented purrs and a gentle hand on his ears.
Steve.
It must have been Steve’s shirt, it was so soaked in his scent. Tony almost let out a purr of satisfaction to be covered in Steve’s scent this way. When Miss Thahom started working on his muscles again, he found he was finally able to relax into it.
Her massage was the most contradictory mix of pain and relief. She pressed with her forearms onto his lower back, suddenly highlighting tension that he didn’t even know he was carrying there. Tony heard something pop as she pressed firmly along his spine, sweeping up to his shoulders, and his tail would have swished at the stimulus, but she had it gently tucked under his own thigh. Her elbows worked on the stiff muscles along his shoulder blades, digging at muscles he hadn’t even realized existed until he felt the deep aching relief from her relentless massage. She folded his right arm up along his back and dug with steady pressure against the muscles on his back until he hissed, but then he also let out a ‘mrrp’ of pleasure when she released the pressure.
He was so absorbed in his massage that he barely noticed Steve’s own quiet sighs when the massage was particularly good.
When Miss Thahom applied some Tiger balm to his shoulders and pressed down hard on them, he groaned in surprising relief, tail trying to flick up and jolting instead under his thigh. She pressed with her knuckles along his shoulders and neck until he felt like a boneless lump on the bed. She even moved his tail out from under his thigh and massaged gently along it with the tips of her thumbs, which was just…so strange and yet so good at the same time. The fur on his tail and ears alternated between standing on ends but also flattening with pleasure.
By the time she made him sit up and started physically moving his body into deep, spine-cracking stretches, he was beyond the ability to feel embarrassment. She put him on his back this time, twisted his body at the waist, stretched his legs up, even pummelled his ass at one point, but he was like a limp noodle and let her do as she pleased.
“Cats can stretch so much more,” Miss Thahom said to Kanokwan in a tone of an instructor, even though Kanokwan looked to be in her thirties and was massaging Steve with enough expertise that she was unlikely to be an apprentice. But Kanokwan nodded and took note of what Miss Thahom was doing, which was to pin Tony down on one shoulder and twist his hips in the opposite direction until his knee was hanging off the bed and he felt like his spine was going to turn all the way around. A series of loud cracks followed by sharp relief ran down his spine. Tony’s tail lashed and his hands flexed at the strange but pleasurable sensation.
“Mrp,” Tony squeaked out unintentionally, staring wide eyed up at Miss Thahom.
Steve chuckled right before Kanokwan did the same to him and he let out a little whine of pleasure when his back was twisted into a good long stretch.
By the time Miss Thahom let him go, Tony was flat on his back, unable to move.
“You need more massages,” Miss Thahom declared. “Your back was a giant knot.”
Then she was out the door. Kanokwan looked faintly embarrassed but only bowed to them slightly and said, “There’s hot tea outside. Please take your time.”
Tony stared up at the ceiling until Steve’s face filled his vision.
“Good?” Steve asked, smiling.
Tony wanted to nod, but he didn’t think he could move his head ever again. Or any other part of his body.
“Carry me home,” Tony slurred.
Steve shook his head and helped him sit up. “You’re a spoiled cat.”
Tony only leaned his head against Steve’s shoulder, breathing in the scent of Tiger balm mixed in with Steve’s familiar, delicious smell of warmth and sunshine.
“I’m your spoiled cat,” Tony said, because why deny when he could turn on the charm offensive instead?
It absolutely worked, because Steve gave him an utterly sappy, fond smile. Then he curled an arm around Tony’s waist and kissed him on the tip of his ear.
Tony sighed as he closed his eyes briefly, a soft purr rumbling out from inside him at how relaxed his body felt. He had to concede, the massage had been a great idea after all.
---
Steve didn’t understand how once upon a time he had to coax and cajole Tony into getting a couple’s massage, but now it was Tony who was going for massages almost weekly. Which was fine, because Tony should get all the pampering that he deserved.
Except for how, once a week, Tony now smelled of Tiger balm and…other people.
It was almost always Miss Thahom’s scent that lingered on Tony for a few hours after the massage. Sometimes it was other people, probably when Miss Thahom wasn’t available. And it was absurd because this was their job, and the scents on Tony only lasted a few hours before Tony started smelling more like team, Pepper, Rhodey, Steve and home again.
But still.
Since Tony always got all up in Steve’s space when Steve came back from massages, and he enjoyed that experience very much, he decided he should try to emulate Tony on this matter.
The next time Tony came back from a massage, Steve took action.
“So…do you want a massage?”
That hadn’t been what Steve had planned to say at all, but massages was on his brain and he couldn’t help but just think that the best way to mark over all that other-people scent was to massage Tony from his toes to the tips of his ears. And that had just come right out in a very unsubtle way.
Tony blinked slowly at Steve. “I just had a massage. Miss Thahom wasn’t free again, but Kanokwan does a good job too. I tried to offer Miss Thahom a permanent job with me but she just laughed in my face. I know she owns the establishment and all, but I’m hurt that she didn’t even consider my offer.”
Tony sniffed, but the way his tail was arched up behind him indicated that he was in no way hurt by her turning down his offer. Steve was well aware by now that Tony particularly liked people who gave him crap on a regular basis.
“I know you just had a massage, but…I thought you might like another one. Don’t you like massages?” Steve tried, knowing he didn’t sound convincing at all.
Tony tilted his head a little and then suddenly smiled knowingly. “Alright, I’m not going to turn down another massage. Looks like I’m going to be extra pampered today.”
When Tony walked by Steve, he brushed up against him purposefully, and Steve couldn’t help but lean into him, brushing his cheek briefly against Tony’s.
All in all, it was a successful experience. Tony had stripped down completely and Steve had rubbed scentless oil onto every inch of Tony’s body. Every. Single. Inch. From Tony’s flexing toes to his relaxed thighs, to the tips of his fingers, and even onto his velvety soft ears. And…other more exciting parts too.
Sure, Steve probably wasn’t very good at actually giving massages since it was the very first massage he had ever given. But Tony had no complaints whatsoever and they were both deliciously satiated by the end of it. And most importantly, they both smelled entirely of each other, without a hint of anyone else on Tony’s skin.
That didn’t stop Steve from handing Tony his shirt when they were getting up.
“That’s your T-shirt,” Tony pointed out.
Steve looked away and started collecting Tony’s clothing. “You like wearing my T-shirt.”
Tony let out a chirrup of a chuckle and agreed amiably, “That I do.” He pulled it over his head, the shirt hanging loosely around him. He looked adorable and delicious at the same time, but he always did when he wore Steve’s clothing.
Steve put all of Tony’s clothing, still smelling of Tiger balm and other people’s scents, into the laundry basket firmly.
“You’re really not at all subtle about this,” Tony said, hugging Steve from behind, pressing his mostly clothed body against Steve’s still bare back. Steve’s tail tried to wag in happiness except it was pinned between them.
“You weren’t exactly subtle when I came back from a massage the first time and you told me to shower before joining me in there to make sure I got all the strange scents off,” Steve pointed out, aware he sounded perhaps a little petulant.
Tony rubbed a cheek against Steve’s neck and Steve relaxed. Tony leaned his head on Steve’s shoulder and said with an amused note in his voice, “I know I wasn’t. But what I was getting at is that you don’t have to try to be subtle either. I get it, and next time, you can just march me into the shower so we can both make sure I get completely clean.” There was a rumbling purr in his voice now. “Same as what I’ll most definitely do the next time we do a couple’s massage or if you go alone.”
Steve turned in Tony’s embrace and looped his arms around his waist, returning the cheek rubbing and then pressing a kiss to Tony’s hairline, breathing in his sweet scent of contentment. “I like giving you massages though. And…it helps.”
“Then feel free to give me as many massages as you want,” Tony murmured with a throaty purr.
Steve smiled. “I hope you’ll be able to bear the hardship of frequent massages then.”
“Oh, I’ll bear the hardship, alright,” Tony said with a leer.
“That…was just bad,” Steve laughed, shaking his head.
But Tony only looked smug. “Made you laugh anyway.”
“That’s just the effect you have on me,” Steve said fondly.
“Wait, are you saying I’m witty, or are you saying you laugh atme a lot?” Tony asked with the beginnings of outrage in his voice.
Steve leaned down and kissed him, and kept kissing him until Tony kissed back and turned pliant in his arms. He smiled into the press of their lips when Tony’s grumbles turned into a sweet purr.
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Epilogue
Mutual massages became the norm between them. Tony seemed particularly pleased about giving massages to Steve, most likely because it was an excuse for him to put his hands all over Steve and mark him thoroughly. Sometimes Tony even stopped in the middle of a massage to rub his cheek against Steve’s nearest body part, not even hiding his blatant scent marking.
Steve had no complaints whatsoever.
Sometimes though, Tony got much too…absorbed in the massage and he would fall into a massage trance of some sort. This was possibly an issue that Steve should have predicted, considering that Tony was a cat shifter.
“Tony…” Steve tried.
There was no response as Tony kept kneading, his eyes heavy-lidded and his motions repetitive and constant, like he could continue doing this forever.
“Tony, you’ve been kneading my chest for ten minutes,” Steve tried again.
Eyes still a little glaze, Tony blinked slowly, his palms continuing their kneading motion, pressing and squeezing Steve’s left pec, before he did the same on Steve’s right pec.
This wasn’t the first time Tony got stuck in a kneading loop during a massage. The last time, he spent twenty minutes on Steve’s backside. Which had been very enjoyable but a little embarrassing for Steve.
This time, lying on his back, Steve could see for himself how out of it Tony seemed, with his lowered lashes and how he seemed to have forgotten where he was while he kneaded and squeezed Steve’s admittedly ample chest.
Steve let out a little laugh at how much Tony looked like he had been hypnotized by his own kneading. The sound seemed to break through the trance a little. Tony blinked, looked up in surprise. Then he looked down at what his hands were doing. Steve expected Tony to come to his senses, and maybe blush or apologize.
Surprisingly, he just let himself fall face first into Steve’s chest without a single explanation. He then proceeded to rub his face and cheeks enthusiastically against Steve’s chest.
“Best,” Tony said, without any further clarification. It seemed to be all he was capable of saying.
Smiling, Steve wrapped his arms around Tony and held him closer as Tony started purring even with his face buried straight in Steve’s chest. Despite the unusual turn Tony’s massages tended to take, they really were becoming the highlight of Steve’s week. He closed his eyes and let himself be lulled into contented sleep by Tony’s deep, happy rumble against him and Tony’s warm scent against his skin.