Work Text:
“Mr. Stark! Mr. Stark! Look what I can do!” Pietro shouted, running in dizzying circles around his legs. He tried not to sigh too heavily as he stopped the kid with a hand to his shoulder, jerking with all the force a clumsy toddler could muster.
“That’s really good Pietro, you’ll have to show me again at recess. Could you sit in your chair for me?” He got a little pout for his trouble, but easy acquiescence at the promise of recess later. The kids were rowdy that day - all hyped up with the promise of special guests that afternoon. “Ok class, I need everyone in their seats before our guests arrive.” This set off a small chain of chaos, all the kids clamoring to put their things away and sit at their tables. He sternly had to tell a few to sit at their assigned tables, or to sit up in their chairs, but in time all his little gremlins were in their seats and at least somewhat paying attention to him.
“Alright, today I told you we were having some special guests.” And, right on time, there was an exceedingly attractive motley crew outside his door. He did his best not to outright stare. Especially at the gorgeous blonde leading them. Judging by some of the reactions he got he was neither subtle nor original. “I asked some of my friends from the fire department to come here to teach you all how important it is to stay safe around fires. I need you all to listen to them and be on your best behavior. Am I clear?”
“Yes!” Several little voices cried as they craned their necks to get a look. Tony rolled his eyes and beckoned them in, wincing under a blush as the mountain of a man he assumed was Captain Rogers knelt down to the kids.
“Excuse me, Mr. Fireman?” Peter asked after a very excitable fifteen minutes of explaining what firefighters do, looking as innocent as an angel sandwiched between Ned and Michelle at their little table.
“It’s Captain Rogers, Peter.” Tony corrected gently, smiling warmly when Peter nodded and corrected himself.
“Why did you become a firefighter?” Tony just about melted into a puddle and drifted away at the warm look Steve directed at Peter, grinning softly as he thought about his answer. Peter bounced in his chair, and it was so damn cute Tony didn’t even bother to remind him to be patient when other people were talking.
“My very best friend was hurt real bad in a fire once,” He began, and aw, what a big sap. His eyes looked warm, but serious. “I decided I wanted to be a firefighter so I could help people like my friend, and keep my community safe.”
Peter screwed up his little face, obviously entrenched in the deep meditative thought that only seven year olds could manage. The rest of the class carried on chattering at the crewmember assigned to their respective tables. “So you help everyone?” He emphasized the last word with his little squeaky voice and Tony couldn’t hold back a grin. It was kids like Peter that kept him in the classroom. By the gooey look on Steve’s face he would lay odds the hunk was in a similar camp. “So you’re kinda like a superhero, huh Mr. Steve?”
“Kind of, but I’m just a regular person.” Steve had a patient smile on his face, with something a little bitter and sad behind his eyes. “I do my best to help my community, but I’m still human.” He took a moment to rock back on his heels while the kids visibly thought about what he said. Tony wondered idly if maybe it was getting a little heavy for a Tuesday afternoon. He didn’t need to worry; Peter just nodded his head sagely and bounced his attention right along to the next question asked.
Tony left Steve to the tender mercies of the children while he did the rounds to the other tables, prompting questions and making sure everyone was being respectful to their visitors. As always his kids were being perfect angels who could do no wrong and-
Yeah right. He loved his kids, would walk to the ends of the earth for his kids, but they were little menaces, one and all. Some of the firefighters seemed to be realizing this, to their shocked delight. A scruffy blonde in particular seemed to be having fun with the purple table.
While Tony was lost in his thoughts, it looked like Steve was wrapping things up at the red table. He unfolded from his crouch and clapped his hands, looking warm and collected with everyone’s attention on him. “Alright kids, now that you’ve met a firefighter, how would you like to help us get dressed in our gear?” This was met with a wall of excited cheering and several children nearly leaping out of their seats with excitement.
One of the group stepped out in the hall for a moment, returning with an overstuffed duffle and helmet in hand. She stopped at Steve's side and dropped the bag, leaning over to murmur into his ear. He nodded, then looked slyly across the room at Tony. Oh no.
“I need a volunteer to play a little dress up with us.” He said, scanning the room with a mock-serious frown on his face. Several kids looked ready to squirm out of their chairs in excitement, but after a few seconds of deliberation Steve finally pointed to him. “I think Mr. Stark would be a great model for our gear. What do you guys think?”
There were some disappointed looks in the crowd, but this was quickly overtaken with the glee that only came with poking fun at the teacher. Tony swept into a mock bow, chuckling at the wave of giggles he earned as he picked his way to the front. “I don’t think I’ll be fooling anyone into thinking I’m actually a firefighter, but i guess if i have to…” He trailed off, looking meaningfully towards the class. Steve clapped a warm hand to his shoulder, weakening his knees with more than just his strength.
Steve deposited him at the front of the room, abandoning him and his completely inappropriate feelings in favor of producing a small mountain of clothes from the duffel. The rest of his crew - along with the kids - giggled as Steve made a show of comparing the size of the overcoat to Tony.
“Yeah, yeah, ok. We all get it, Mr. Stark is short.” The giggling increased in volume - it didn’t go unnoticed that the man feigning seriousness right next to him had some suspiciously shaking shoulders. “So what, am I getting dressed in that?”
“No, actually,” Steve set the jacket on the ground, straightening allll the way up. “You kids are gonna dress Mr. Stark here in all this gear.” All the little menaces perked up at this, sitting right up in their tiny chairs. “We brought two sets of clothes, so we’re gonna split you up in two teams and you’ll race to see who can dress their firefighter the quickest.” He motioned with his hand and the scruffy blonde stepped up, fiddling with something in his ear as the kids cheered and laughed with glee.
The morning passed smoothly and Tony was pleasantly surprised. The crew seemed charmed by the kids, and the fiends were absolutely thrilled to be giving a new group of adults the runaround. Tony almost forgot to check the clock, and one hundred percent did not curse under his breath when he saw the time.
“Alright kiddos, time to say goodbye. Our new friends need to get back to the station, and you all need to go eat your lunches.” There was a general protest at that, but once the redhead whipped out some plastic helmets from a bag they were all too excited to care.
Steve drew Tony off to the side while his team finished packing their things. The kids all waved as they bounded off to lunch, chattering a mile a minute about their stickers and new hats. In the following quiet Steve shook his hand with a new warmth, grinning widely. “Thanks for having us in here Mr. Stark,” He began, looking earnestly into Tony’s eyes. “Kids can be scared of the gear, so introducing it to them in a positive way now could really make our jobs easier in the future.
Huh, Tony had never thought of it like that before. “Really, I just wanted to give them a morning for enrichment. We’ve been doing a lot of prep for the state reading tests this year, and I think we all needed a break.” Steve looked sympathetic but Tony waved away his concern. “Also, just Tony works fine.”
“Tony, then.” Steve dialed his grin up to blinding proportions. Tony swore he could see the cheesy twinkle effect on his perfect white teeth. It would have been sickening if not for the fact that Steve pulled it off outrageously well.
It made Tony want to rough him up just a little bit. Muss his hair or open his shirt a bit. Yeah, not work appropriate thoughts in the slightest.
Steve cleared his throat, and after a labored second Tony realized he had been staring at the taut sleeves of his shirt for a truly inappropriate amount of time. Oops. “Sorry, what were we talking about?”
“Actually, I believe the Captain here was trying to ask you out to dinner!” Interjected blondie from the sidelines. Steve flushed bright red, and did his level best to look anywhere but at Tony’s face. Tony was going to pretend the startled jump of his heart was his heart condition and not something altogether more mushy.
“Oh really,” And he had Steve’s number now. His Irish complexion was doing him no favors as he flushed bright red. To his credit, he looked Tony in the eyes before he started speaking.
“Uh, yeah,” He cleared his throat, “Yes. I was wondering if you’d be free for dinner this Saturday?” Bless his heart, the man actually looked nervous . “If not that’s totally fine! I meant no disrespect-”
“I’d love to get dinner with you.” Tony cut in smoothly, trying for his most soothing smile as Steve actually breathed for a moment. “Hand me your phone, I can call you later about the details.”
There was more restrained giggling from the crew as Steve passed his phone over, looking gleeful and bashful all at once. Tony resisted the impulse to roll his eyes, not wanting Steve to get the wrong idea, as he punched in his number under a new contact.
Seeing the group out of his classroom was a little awkward after that, but after a couple more awkward goodbyes and a couple of completely inappropriate comments they finally made their way back to the station. Tony tried not to go through the rest of his day with heart-eyes, but judging by the jokingly-disgusted glances he got in the teacher’s lounge he wasn’t doing a very good job.
It took a herculean effort not to vibrate out of his skin when his phone lit up with a new notification, making attempts at focusing on his lessons a hundred times more difficult. Finally, when his last kid bundled out the door, he picked up his phone.
Steve: Hey Tony, it’s Steve.
Steve: Would you still like to go to dinner on Saturday?
That dork. Tony tried not to laugh at his expense.
Me: Of course.
Me: I know a place that does a great cheeseburger
Me: how about 6:30?
Steve: See you then. :)