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“I’m gonna run to the kitchen for a snack.”
Steve glanced up as Tony stood, his shirt rising as he stretched, a tiny strip of tantalising skin on display for only a moment. As it vanished tragically from view, the words filtered through and Steve’s stomach grumbled at the mention. “Do you think you could—“
“Yeah, yeah, you big baby,” Tony teased, and Steve tried to look innocent. “One of the greatest strategic minds of a generation and still too scared to use the microwave. You know Jarvis can do it for you?”
Steve knew that. Of course he knew that. But he liked when Tony made it. “He can’t add that fancy seasoning you’ve got, and you’re already up…”
Tony rolled his eyes. “Fine, I’ll get your snack, but you owe me two hours for suit re-measurements on Saturday.” Steve nodded, trying to seem hard done by. Fine by him. Two hours of Tony’s attention and careful hands? Sign him up.
"Okay, but hurry so we can start the show," Steve said, just to be a pain in the ass, and his lips twitched as Tony predictably rolled his eyes.
He watched as Tony walked into the kitchen, the sound of him opening crinkly packets, and digging for bowls in the cabinets reassuring in the background.
He heard the beep of the microwave, and was already considering if tonight was the night he made his move.
And okay, maybe he thought that every time they hung out, but maybe tonight was different! They’d sit together, watch whatever movie or show Tony decided was essential to his pop culture catch up (they were on Star Trek now, which apparently was mandatory), and maybe, just maybe, this time he’d get the courage to put his arm around him or something.
Was that embarrassing? He still didn’t really get dating etiquette nowadays.
It would be a hell of a lot easier if he could just ask Tony for a turn about the floor at the dance hall on Saturday night, but apparently everyone had decided dancing wasn’t ‘cool’ anymore. Now you had to take someone to picturesque locations that were interesting and unique enough for them to post pictures of their food on the internet.
Call Steve old-fashioned, but food was for eating and there was nothing wrong with taking someone to an early dinner and a movie.
So, he’d decided just to wing it. He’d always been good at changing plans on the fly as the situation called for, and he didn’t see why this was any different.
Tony and Pepper had finally broken up for good a while back, both deciding they were better off as friends. He’d been waiting, a respectable time, for Tony to have grieved the end of their relationship and be ready to date again. And now, he was reliably informed by Natasha, Pepper had started seeing other people, and Tony had told Steve that he was settled, happier now they could spend time together without feeling like he was letting her down.
Now Steve lived in a torment of his own making, as he dithered over making a move. The right move, at the right time.
Clint called him a coward. He was probably right.
He was so lost in his thoughts that he didn’t hear Tony’s footsteps, jumping slightly as he spoke. “I’m back.”
He turned, already smiling. “Alright, we can start—“ He broke off as he caught sight of Tony. “What’s that?”
“Sup, Cap Me!”
Tony stared at him, mirroring his shock. He gave the small man - a startlingly familiar small man - in his arms a light jostle. “A snack,” he managed faintly.
What the fuck.
“So, in your universe, when were you born?”
Steve crossed his arms as he leaned back against the wall as Tony grabbed and set up their medical scanner. Jarvis had already checked for any threats and seemed happy enough with the results, but Steve was still suspicious.
“4th of July, 1918.” Little Him looked around with interest at the lab. He was dressed in modern clothes, a tight pair of well fitted jeans, fancy looking boots, and a nice white shirt with the sleeves rolled up.
Tony’s eyebrows went up. “Really? So did we pull you from before the war?” He looked over Little Him’s outfit with some confusion.
Little Him shook his head. “Nah, seems like our timelines are pretty similar. Same year and everything.” He looked around again. “I was just impressed. This looks so much like our lab at home.” He beamed at Tony. “Great minds think alike I guess.”
Tony huffed a laugh, and Steve stepped forward, curiosity piqued. “Did you time travel?”
Little Him shook his head, expression a little knowing, which made Steve feel uneasy. “I took the serum. Just didn’t go the way Erskine figured it would. I have advanced healing, and it kind of bumped up my mental capacities, so I got a good head for strategy, but other than making me a little healthier, I didn’t exactly get super powers.” He shrugged. “Don’t really need them.”
“That’s fascinating,” Tony said, looking interested. “I wonder what the difference was? Was it the formula or some other variable?”
“Guys a lot smarter than me have tried to work it out, still don’t know. But it was enough that when I crashed the Valkyrie, I survived. Frozen solid till I was found and revived. Bit of a culture shock I can tell you.”
Tony laughed, and Steve wasn’t sure why but he felt a tendril of irritation. It felt strange to hear someone tell his story so casually, so unconcerned by how difficult it had been for him. But this guy was him, too. It was weird.
Not to mention how much smoother his first meeting with Tony was going.
There was a beep, and Jarvis’ voice broke through. “The scan is complete.” The results popped up on the surface in front of Tony. “He is a perfect match to you, Captain, bar a few minor differences, which the change in serum effect would account for.”
Little Him waved at the camera he seemed to already know was there. “Thanks Jay!”
There was a pause, and then in a much warmer sounding tone. “You’re welcome, Steve.”
Steve’s eyebrows shot up at that.
He liked Jarvis a great deal. He was amazing - a whole person made from a machine, who could control the tech in the tower, helped in the field, made sure Steve never missed a baseball result, and could verbally spar with Tony like no one else.
But, well, he assumed Jarvis put up with the rest of the Avengers for Tony’s sake. Yet here was Little Him tossing a nickname his way without second thought. And Jarvis seemed to like it.
Steve didn’t know why that too made him feel a spark of irritation.
Tony’s hands clapped together and he tapped at the holographic display. “We’ll do everything we can to get you back to your universe. I might have to confer with Bruce, see what he thinks.”
“Is Natasha here?”
Steve felt a flash of surprise that he caught reflected in Tony’s expression. “Yes, she is.”
Little Him hopped off the stool. “I might see if she wants a bit of company while you fellas work this out.”
“Wow, you’re brave,” Tony snorted. “I’m sure a lot of men have taken a run at Nat, and I’m sure most didn’t survive it.”
There was an incredibly familiar eye roll, and it was strange for Steve to see. “She’s my friend back home, and I bet she’ll spar with me. And for your information, I got someone waiting for me back home.”
Wait, what?
Tony gave a low whistle. “Some pretty thing got you wrapped around your finger, huh? Good for you mini-Cap.”
Steve smiled, and this time, it was so obviously besotted. “I’m actually engaged. And he’s going to be working pretty hard to get me back. Anything you can do to help would be much appreciated.”
“Engaged?” Steve blurted, the word tumbling out before he could stop it. Tony gave him a single eyebrow, but Little Him seemed not to notice.
“I proposed. We’re having a summer wedding.” Little Him’s shoulders slumped a little. “I hate to make him worry.”
Tony’s face softened at that, his hand finding its way to Little Him’s shoulder with a squeeze. “I’m sure we can fix this.”
Little Him reached up to squeeze the hand back, and Steve felt something ugly twist in his stomach. “Thanks. If anyone can do it, it would be you.”
He looked at Tony, all big eyes and easy smile, and felt his jaw pinch as he realised he was clenching it, and forced himself to relax.
The sooner they sorted this out, the better.
Little Him was a pain in the ass.
Steve didn’t get it.
When he’d been short and skinny, no one had even looked twice at him. He’d been missing out on the war, on love, on not getting beat up behind half the buildings in Brooklyn.
So just what in God’s name was happening here?
Because Little Him had Tony eating out of the palm of his damn hand.
Suddenly everywhere Steve went, he found all 5’4” of Him leaning into Tony’s space, making him laugh. In the workshop, in the kitchen, on the couches in the living room.
It was like he was everywhere all at once.
And the rest of the team seemed to take to him, no trouble at all. He was sparring with Nat, tossing around a frisbee with Clint and Thor, and drinking tea with Bruce.
Steve didn’t get it. He loved the team, but he didn’t have this ease with them. They hung out together when they weren’t on a mission or saving the day, but they certainly didn’t have this kind of intimacy. Steve had never even seen the inside of Nat’s bedroom. He was only seventy five percent sure the room he saw her go into was the real one - she did love her secrets.
Steve had come into the kitchen after his morning run to find Little Him, parked up on the counter, laughing his way through some story about how he’d dropped out of the ceiling to wrap his thighs around some AIM goon’s neck.
Natasha smirked. “You know that does sound sort of familiar.”
Little Him grinned wide. “I learned from watching the best.”
“Just watching? Show me, I bet you could use some tips.”
Steve watched, his sweat damp shirt sticking to his back as Little Him hopped down before taking a fighting stance. He went for the takedown but Natasha was too quick, reversing the move and landing him on the floor, his neck between her legs.
“Nice try,” she taunted, looking amused. “It could use some work.”
There was a low whistle. “I remember that one. Never seen Happy so stunned in his life.” Tony walked in, heading straight for the coffee machine. “I’m surprised she didn’t snap you like a twig, agent.”
Little Him tapped out with. Wheeze, but the smile was still there. “Hardly the first time.” He threw a wink Tony’s way. “I’m pretty flexible.”
Tony barked a surprise laugh, and Steve felt his heart drop.
“You’re smooth, ace, I’ll give you that.” Tony turned, mug topped up and caught sight of Steve in the doorway. HIs face lit up. “Hey Steve. Good run?”
Steve managed to untangle his tongue, arms coming to cross against his chest. “Did an easy 32 mile lap around Manhattan.” He looked pointedly at Little Him. “Piece of cake.”
He didn’t mean to flex but he realised with some embarrassment that he had.
Little Him looked amused. “Oh just Manhattan? I would’ve thought you’d make it out to Brooklyn daily.”
That little—
“Don’t be too tough on him,” Tony cut in, clapping Steve on the shoulder. “I put in some calls to some people I know - who aren't as smart as me, but who is? - about your situation, and while we're waiting to hear back, Steve promised to come lift some stuff for me in the lab. Can’t have him too tired.”
That’s right. Steve might not have the same ease as Little Him, but he was still more useful than—
“I was thinking I could come talk to you about what the portal looked like, might help you work out what caused it?”
Oh great.
“So I’d be the deli meat in a double Cap sandwich? Sign me up.”
Natasha groaned, tossing an apple from the fruit bowl at his head. “Come on, Tony, have some class.”
Tony caught it, biting with a crunch and an eyebrow wiggle, and gave Steve a push.
“Come on Big and Blond and Small and Blond, let’s get to work.”
Steve had fought in the war, and now he led a team. He was trustworthy and logical, and he could look at any situation and find the right course of action.
Which was why this sudden bubbling frustration was throwing him for a loop.
“So we were looking into this device we picked up when it happened. Clint and I …ahem …liberated it from a few thugs guarding a warehouse but we didn’t know what it did. Then halfway through the diagnostic, a flash of light, and here I was!”
Tony tapped the end of his screwdriver against his top lip. “Interesting. So, it didn’t seem to power up or anything?”
Little Him shook his head, sipping on the smoothie Dum-E had been all too eager to place in his hand. “Not in any way that was obvious. I guess it must have though, unless it was powered by magic or something, which isn't out of the realm of possibility.”
“I hate magic,” Tony complained, and Steve watched as Little Him mouthed the words along with him with a chuckle.
So what, he and Tony shared a brain now?
“I think I can probably sketch out the schematics from memory, if that helps?”
Oh, because of course he could. Steve could barely hold back the eye roll. Steve could draw a schematic if he had to, he basically had photographic memory. It wasn’t his fault he knew how to stay in the right reality.
Unlike some people.
He sidled up to Tony as Little Him started drawing onto one of the pads Tony used for work, but always left out for Steve’s use when he didn’t have his sketchbook in hand. This was his chance to get a little of the spotlight.
“You need me to lift something?”
Tony smiled at him. He liked that smile. “Yeah, you mind grabbing me those metal sheets over there? The big pile?”
Steve gave him a snappy salute. He headed over, gathering the metal carefully. He could probably do it all in one rip.
As he placed sheets on top of each other, his ears pricked.
“I know what you’re doing, you know.”
“What?” Tony sounded a little like he’d been snapped out of distraction.
“Giving him that little task? I see you, Stark, and your wandering eyes.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Tony replied, absolutely lying. Steve knew what that sounded like. When he turned to look at them, Tony was looking away, eyes glued to his workbench.
Steve felt his face flush. So, it was just busy work? Tony wasn’t even watching?
The bright little pulse of usefulness was blotted out as he delivered the metal to where it belonged, and he took his seat next to Little Him who was still scribbling frantically.
He tried not to sulk but he wasn’t sure he managed it.
When the schematic was done, Little Him passed it to Tony who looked it over critically. “Incredible detail." He murmured, and Steve bit back a huff. "Alright, let’s try and build it and then we can see what it does.”
The workshop was a flurry of activity for an hour or so after that, where Steve sat through Little Him’s endless banter with Tony. It was like he had a hundred inside jokes, a secret little smile every time he made Tony laugh, and Steve felt his mood darken. In the end, he’d been the one to go for the lunch run just to get some peace.
By mid afternoon, Tony had something that looked mechanical on his bench, and he was tinkering around inside it.
“Can you hand me a three-eights?”
Steve quickly reached for the tool in question, eager to be helpful, but Little Him darted past, reaching for a quarter inch instead. “Trust me, he says he wants the three-eights, but he always actually wants this one.”
Little Him held it out towards Tony’s flailing hand, just as Tony said, “actually, I think I want the—oh! Yes, that exactly.” He beamed at Little Him who smiled back, looking fond.
Goddammit.
A cool breeze wrapped around Steve’s legs as they hung over the edge of the launch platform. There was a chill in the air, but he liked it out here.
Light footsteps pricked his ears, and a moment later a smaller form dropped down beside him.
“It’s nice out here right?”
Steve nodded. “When it gets a little too loud, I like to come out here.”
Little Him smiled. “It’s a different kind of loud, right? More familiar, even if what makes the noise has changed. Still the sound of New York.”
That was it exactly. His own thoughts echoed so easily.
They really were alike, he guessed.
“If you don’t mind me saying, you don’t seem all that comfortable here.”
“Maybe you’re a little too comfortable,” Steve shot back snippily, then felt a little stupid. He was basically snapping at himself.
He got an unimpressed, knowing look in return. “Well, I got out of the ice, and I was struggling. Same as you I guess. But since I was stuck here, I had to decide what that was going to look like for me. Good or bad.”
Steve was getting a naggingly familiar feeling about the words. He had the feeling the SHIELD therapist had said much the same.
“So, I figured, why not embrace it? I guess it was easier for me, I have a secret identity so I could still go on missions, but I could live a normal life too. Made it easier to adapt.”
Little Him looked out at the city. “It’s different, but still the same in a lot of ways. People still trying to just live their lives, love and raise their families, and hey, you can still get a hotdog at the ballgame.”
That part was nice, Steve had to agree. “You ever walk around the old neighbourhood?”
Little Him nodded. “Quite a lot at the start, less so now, but I like to stop into some of the stores that are still going, and visit some of the new ones. I got my wedding suit ordered from old Murphy’s on the corner, his great-granddaughter's running it now.” He grinned, and Steve couldn’t help but smile back. “But, it took me a while. At the start, I was spending a lot of time sleeping around, but then I met Tony and I knew he was it for me.”
Wow, that was— wait. Steve frowned. “I’m sorry, what?”
“When you know, you know. You know?”
“No, I mean—“ Steve could feel something oddly like panic building in his chest. “—you, ah, slept around?”
Little Him looked confused. “Yeah? I mean, once I could hear better, and breathe better, and I wasn’t getting laid out by every bug that swept through the tenement anymore, it was a lot easier to talk to ladies.” He smirked. “And a lot of guys too, though that was more once I woke up, didn’t have to worry about getting arrested.” He gestured to Steve. “But you must know all about that, I mean look at you. People love a Short King, but you’re a hunk.”
When it came to his sexual status, Steve honestly wasn’t embarrassed. Sure, it was private, but it was also hardly the first time someone had assumed he’d spent the war sleeping his way through Europe. He’d never minded that assumption before. He’d had things to do, wars to fight, and one of the nice things about the future was people cared a lot less what others got up to, not to mention the focus on making sure you had your first time when you wanted to.
But for some reason, hearing it said by his own tiny mouth with such authority made every part of him want to shrivel up. He felt his face go red hot. “I’mstillavirgin.”
Little Him’s face twisted in confusion. “What was that?”
“I said I’m…still a virgin,” Steve managed. “I’ve kissed Peggy and Mary Kelly from—“
“—apartment fourteen,” Little Him finished, eyes wide. “Oh my god.”
“Shut up,” Steve said, rubbing his hands over his face. “Don’t—It’s…fine.”
“I just—I don’t—“ Little Him spluttered. “I just don’t get how that’s possible.” He gestured to himself. “As soon as I wasn’t sick and miserable all the time I realised I just needed to be more confident. Girls love confident. Guys too.” He looked at Steve, eyes wide with disbelief. “You’d barely have to open your mouth to have them all over you.” He cleared his throat. “And uh, being big down there even without the serum really helps.”
Steve couldn’t work out how he was still standing with all the blood in his body now solely in his cheeks. This was actually the most humiliating thing that had ever happened to him, and that was saying something. “Well, I wouldn’t know anything about that.”
“I guess not. Wow.” Little Him bit his lip in amusement.
Then Steve realised something. “Wait. Did you say Tony?”
Little Him sighed. “He’s going to be out of his mind.” The words were half worried, half fond. “Even before we got together he was always worrying about me. Remaking my uniform all the time to make it safer, giving me gadgets. He used to tag along sometimes on SHIELD missions, like I wouldn’t notice I had a red and gold tail. Hell, he even used to make me popcorn because I was scared of the microwave. He always says he was in love with me before he even realised.”
Steve was pretty sure his jaw was on the floor. Surely that didn’t mean…could it?
“You’re engaged to Tony Stark?”
Little Him gave him an odd look. “Uh yeah? I told you he’d be looking for me.” He definitely hadn’t said Tony, Steve would’ve noticed that.
His fingers snapped in realisation. “That’s why you’re so comfortable in the workshop.” Steve couldn’t decide if it was better or worse. In some ways, better. Little Him apparently wasn’t some sort of cad, swanning around and flirting across the multiverse with a fiance at home worried. But in some ways, worse. Because that meant there was a Him who had apparently romanced Tony Stark to the point of proposal while Steve hadn’t even managed a date.
Was he a loser?
Little Him looked at him expectantly, and Steve realised he’d missed something. “Sorry, what was that?”
“I said, do you hang out down there as well?”
He did. Pretty often, as things went. But he didn’t have the ease Little Him had. It was Tony’s space after all, he was a guest. And he just appreciated being allowed down there to enjoy his company. “Yeah, I like to take my sketchbook down.”
“You should try taking down a sandwich or two. He likes turkey but he won’t make it for himself.”
There was another flutter - and this time, Steve recognised it as jealousy. The notion that Little Him knew Tony so well made him jealous.
“Thanks.” And this time it was more clipped than he’d intended.
Little Him looked a little sheepish. “I don’t mean to tell you how to get your man. I just figured maybe it’d be nice for you to hear it from someone who gets it? Like really gets it.”
Steve slumped, feeling a little ashamed. He was squaring up to himself, and that felt a little ridiculous. “No, I’m— I’m sorry. I think we’ve just had two different experiences settling in here, and I’m a little envious that you’ve got something I really want.”
“I get it.” Steve believed him. “I think you’ll find though that maybe you’re overthinking it. He’s into you. It’s so obvious. He wasn’t getting you to move metal in his lab for nothing.” At Steve’s eyebrow raise, he huffed in amusement. “The bots can do the hard stuff, he just wanted to admire the view.” Oh. ”But he’s already tried with Pepper, so it’s a case of once bitten,, twice shy on dating people he really cares about. You just have to be the one to take the plunge.”
Little Him got up, patting Steve on the shoulder. “You got this, Cap.”
Steve could hear his footsteps fading away as he left the platform, and he nodded to himself.
Maybe he was talking some sense after all.
***
In the end, sending little Him back wasn't as hard as they’d thought.
Once the machine was up and running on their end, it started picking up an inter-dimensional signal that sent it beeping and whining like crazy.
Tony smiled at Little Him. “Looks like you were right about your fiancé. That signal is being pinged everywhere and anywhere looking for pick up.”
Little Him looked pleased. “Never doubted.”
Bruce and Tony spent a day or two looking over the equations, making sure the signal was enough to create the connection between the two machines so they could open the portal safely.
And Steve…hung out with himself.
Turned out, when it wasn’t a contest, Little Him was kind of fun.
They walked the old neighbourhoods together, reminiscing about what used to be where and who they’d looked up in the archives. They ate at the old haunts that still existed, and took their sketchbooks around Central Park.
It was just nice. Nice to speak to someone who got it. Not got it like the veterans Steve sometimes talked to at galas, but someone who knew what it was like to find the homefront and everyone in it gone completely.
Plus, Steve liked hearing about Little Him and his Tony. Easier, now they could differentiate between the two. It sounded…sweet. Perfectly imperfect in the best way.
“…and then Tony bet Rhodey that I could beat him in a fight, and if you’ve never seen an Airforce Colonel pout, trust me, it is so worth it,” Little Him said, halfway through a hotdog at Nathan’s. “Bucky almost died laughing.”
Steve froze. “Bucky?”
Little Him’s eyes went wide. “Oh my god! I forgot things are different here. You wouldn’t have gone on the mission, holy shit, I’m so stupid.” He dug out his other universe phone, tapping away until he pulled up a file.
A moment later, the phone was filled with information, laying out the details for a secret HYDRA project called the ‘Winter Soldier’, and where the asset was being held. Steve stared at the picture of Bucky, long hair and a metal arm.
What the fuck.
“Natasha can get him, especially if she has warning this time. In and out, with Clint as back up. Jarvis can grab notes from this, which will help make it easier on him.” He wiggled his phone which lit up as Jarvis presumably remote accessed it. “It wasn’t easy, but you can get him back. You just have to be patient.”
Steve reached out, more instinct than thought, pulling Little Him into a hug. He was feeling honestly overwhelmed with hope. “Thank you.”
Little Him patted him on the back. “Hey, we got two guys in our life we need, right? That’s the key to one, and now all you gotta do is land the other. I believe in you.”
And maybe this time, Steve did too.
Finally, everything was set.
Formulas were written, the machine was prepped. And they’d apparently managed some sort of morse code system to confirm with Little Him’s home universe.
All that was left was the goodbyes.
“It’s been a trip, Agent Rogers,” Tony said, reaching out to shake his hand. “I’ve never been so relieved to have something from SHIELD in my arms.”
Little Him rolled his eyes. “Yeah well, I’m glad I can count on Stark engineering, no matter what universe I’m in.”
Tony grinned, and walked over to the machine. “You ready?”
Little Him nodded, and Tony pulled the switch, the machine beginning to hum. This time, instead of a flash, a portal actually opened, blue and glowing in a wide circle. Tony had hypothesised this, suggesting the flash was the result of only one machine trying to make the connection instead of two, with Little Him being spat out at random. Now, it could be used for its real purpose - inter-universal travel. They’d have to make sure no villains got ahold of it, in that universe or their own.
Little Him took a deep breath and stepped forward, right at the edge of the circle.
He turned. “Bye, Cap Me!” He said, throwing him a salute as he stepped through the portal.
Tony moved to stand next to Steve, and Steve expected the circle to close immediately once Little Him was through. Instead, for a moment, they could see through to the other side. Steve stood next to Tony, watching as Little Him was suddenly scooped up and kissed within an inch of his life, by none other than Tony Stark.
It was sweet, sending a flutter through Steve's chest.
Then— oh.
“Oh wow,” Tony said, eyes going wide. “They’re really going at it.” Then he frowned. “Wait, I thought he was enga— Oh.”
Steve looked Tony’s way, trying to gauge his reaction. Tony’s eyes were wide as he cleared his throat, cheeks turning pink. “Uh, good for me I guess.”
That was one way to look at it. Personally, Steve was kind of jealous of how Little Him was small enough to climb Other Tony like a tree.
He could stand to learn a little bit about toning down the PDA, in Steve’s opinion. (He gave himself a little mental high five at using the slang Clint had taught him correctly.)
Little Him opened his eyes, giving Steve a significant look and a little wink before he delved back in.
The portal closed just as Little Him was seemingly trying to map Other Tony’s tonsils with his tongue, leaving him and Tony staring at the space where it had appeared.
Tony cleared his throat. “Well that was…”
Steve wasn’t sure what to say. He was a little embarrassed? But also - he shifted slightly - kind of turned on. Which was weird, surely. He wasn’t sure what to do with that.
“Yeah,” he managed. “Sure was something.”
They stood there a little longer, the silence heavy. Steve wanted to break it, but he didn’t know what to say, and he had the feeling that if he said the wrong thing, that they might just move on, the moment lost forever.
He looked over at Tony - sexy, smart, funny Tony, and he couldn’t imagine wanting anyone else.
When you know, you know, you know?
He might not get another chance at this and he’d been putting it off long enough.
Confidence. That’s what Little Him had said. If Steve could face down a Hydra army, he could take the first step.
He was Captain America. He could ask someone out, dammit.
“Tony?”
“Yeah?”
“Would you maybe like to get dinner with me?”
Tony looked over at him, face full of careful hope. “What, like two guys grabbing a pizza?”
Steve shook his head, keeping his tone light and easy. Confidence . “More like two guys at a nice restaurant with some hand holding? If that works for you?”
The blinding smile that took over Tony’s face was beautiful in its joy, and Steve knew he’d remember it forever.
“Yeah, Steve,” Tony said, reaching out to tangle their fingers together. “I’d love that.”