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“Oh my God! Tony? Where are you, Tony?”
Steve covered his mouth and nose with the hoodie he was wearing and stumbled through the thick smoke in the hallway. He had just entered the apartment he shared with his lover after a long day at SHIELD HQ, excited for the dinner Tony had promised to prepare for him.
It was their three year anniversary and usually cooking and baking was Steve's forte. But Tony had seemed to enthusiastic to do it today, which was why Steve accepted the offer, ignoring the memories of the stomachache he'd had after Tony's attempt at making omelette for him two weeks prior. Thank god that Doctor Erskine had made Steve's body so resilient to toxins all those years ago.
Steve coughed and hacked. The biting smoke burned in his dry throat like a thousand needles. There was a faint sound of clattering and voices coming from the direction of the kitchen down the hallway. Steve gripped the shield on his forearm a little tighter and deposited the bag he'd had slung over his shoulder in one corner as he hurried down to where he suspected Tony.
Was there a fire? Why wasn't JARVIS already calling the fire department or the ambulance? Why wasn't the sprinkler system on? Was this an attack? Was Tony in immediate danger?
“Tony? Tony! What the hell is going on?” Steve clutched the door frame that led to the kitchen and attached pantry and stared at the scene in front of him.
Dark smoke was making it hard to see, but there was Tony standing in front of the stove and something not identifiable was spread all over the place. The kitchen was pure chaos, broken eggs on the floor, flour on every surface, and dirty plates, cutlery and kitchenware in the sink. Tony was standing amidst the massacre and wore a hilarious frilly apron in light blue with the words “Iron Chef” embroidered on the front. Beneath it, Steve saw a band tee with the AC/DC logo and was that just his imagination or was Tony not wearing pants? To top it off, he had the Iron Man helmet on. The blue glow from the eyes slits and Tony's chest would have given the scenery something menacing if not for the mismatched socks Tony was wearing. The left one was pink with donuts on it and the right one was gray with cats.
“Steve? You're back already? I thought you said you wouldn't be home before eight?” Tony's voice was slightly distorted from the speakers of the helmet, but Steve heard fondness and surprise in it.
“It is ten past eight, Tony!” Steve was still coughing. “JARVIS, windows please!”
The windows instantly opened and let the smoke out.
“Wah, don't Steve! The aroma will vanish if you open up the windows!” Tony turned to close the windows mechanically and that granted Steve a nice look on his boxer clad butt.
“No, Tony! I will die of smoke inhalation if I don't open up the windows.” Steve sighed in relief when fresh air (or as fresh you could get in in New York City) filled the room again.
“What were you trying to do?” He carefully came closer to take a look at the “food” on the stove and placed his shield on the ground near the fridge.
“It was supposed to be lasagna, but I'm not sure if I did it right… Actually, I think I fucked up pretty much everything that you can fuck up.” Tony admitted with a sigh. He flipped the faceplate open of the Iron Man helmet and pulled it off to look right into Steve's eyes. “I'm sorry, sweetheart. I wanted to surprise you with something special but it seems I'm really a lost cause in the kitchen. I didn't even managed to make the dessert, and tiramisu should be easy with no actual cooking involved...”
Tony sounded so defeated that Steve couldn't get himself to be cranky about the burnt and wasted food.
When the air was cleaner and Steve could breath properly again, he stepped closer to take a look at the disaster. Whatever this was, it certainly was neither lasagna nor tiramisu.
But Steve didn't care right now. He was so unbelievable happy that his lover had tried to cook for him, even though Steve knew he didn't do it often or liked to do it. So he pulled Tony in for a welcome home hug and kiss that Tony keenly returned.
“I think it's better if we order pizza for today, what do you think?” Steve suggested carefully. He knew how his lover was about failed experiments and didn't want to make some kind of stupid comment that Tony would end up taking the wrong way.
The engineer sighed again. “You're right. Let's order pizza. I'm sorry, Steve. I really tried my best, JARVIS can confirm it.”
“I believe you, darling. It's okay, I really appreciate the effort you put in it.” He bent down to kiss Tony on his nose in reassurance and continued to nuzzle his neck lovingly. Steve's arms were circling Tony and his fingers wandered lower until he had two hands full of luscious ass. “Pizza is perfect as long as you're here with me. And if you're up for it, how about letting me taste that sweet butt of yours as dessert?”
The exited leer he got as an answer made him smile into Tony's dark hair.