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Tony liked the rain, usually.
After twenty minutes of watching it pour down while sitting at a bus stop, soaking wet, with no indication that the clouds would be clearing up any time soon, though, he was starting to like it a little less.
Then a blonde guy with an American flag-themed umbrella crossed into Tony’s field and stopped short at the sight of him, hunched and dripping on the bench.
“Uh,” blonde guy said. “Hey.”
“Hey,” Tony said, pushing his bangs out of his eyes.
“I don’t think there’s going to be another bus coming for a while. Do you want me to call you a cab?”
“Nah, I’m good. Thanks.”
“Oh,” the stranger said, seeming a bit nonplussed. It was a good look on him, but Tony suspected most looks were good on him. “I could walk you somewhere?”
God, this guy was so sweet. He was wasted on Tony. Wasted on New York. “Nowhere to go,” Tony said, wryly amused. “But I appreciate the offer.”
“Oh,” the good samaritan said once more. “There’s a shelter nearby--”
Tony barked a laugh and held up a hand. “I’m gonna stop you there. I have a home; I just can’t go there right now. Let’s leave those beds for the people who deserve them.”
The guy frowned. “Well, you can’t stay out here. This storm’s supposed to get really bad.”
“Great,” Tony sighed. “Of course it is.”
“Why don’t you come wait it out at my place?” asked this person who was apparently just dead set on being Tony’s hero for the day. It was possible he had impure intentions, of course, but Tony was seriously doubting that at this point.
But that wouldn’t stop him from joking about it. “Gee, handsome, I don’t even know your name yet. Don’t you think we’re moving a little fast?”
A dusting of pink settled endearingly over the guy’s cheeks, but he laughed easily enough. “Name’s Steve, and I promise not to do anything untoward. I’m not entirely convinced you haven’t caught a cold out here by now, anyway.”
“Coughing not a turn on?” Tony asked, smiling now. “Or is it the mucus?”
“I had more than my fair share of both, as a kid. I try not to be selfish.”
Tony laughed in turn and stood, stepping into the deluge to stand next to Steve. “Okay, alright. I’ll come with you, but only because I get the feeling you’re going to stand here mother-henning me until either I give in or you get struck by lightning, and I don’t want that on my conscience.”
Steve snorted. “Your sacrifice is noted and appreciated.”
“Yeah, I’m a saint. Where are we headed, Steve?”
“To the subway, actually. I live in Brooklyn. It’s a ways away, I know, but you don’t seem to have anywhere else to be, so.” Steve shrugged.
Tony raised his eyebrows. “And you’re just dying to hang out with me?”
“Well, you looked so small and sad. Like an abandoned puppy. It’s just human instinct to want to bring you home and take care of you.”
“Is that a roundabout way of saying I’m cute?”
“It’s a roundabout way of saying you’re drenched,” Steve said, amused, and wrapped an arm around Tony’s midsection to pull him in close. “The umbrella only works if you’re actually standing under it, you know.”
“Look what you’ve done. Now we’re both wet.” Not that Tony could say he minded. The gentle warmth of Steve’s body, solid against his, was… really nice.
“I’ll manage,” Steve said. “Come on. Let’s get out of here before that lightning you were talking about earlier decides to make an appearance, huh?”
Tony let Steve tow him towards the subway, distractedly thinking that he might still like the rain after all when he looked up and realized Steve had said something.
“Sorry, what?”
“Your name,” Steve said, a smile tugging at his lips. “I told you mine, but you never said yours.”
“Oh. It’s Tony.”
“Nice to meet you, Tony.”
“You are going to eat those words later, Steve.”
Steve laughed. “I take that as a challenge.”
On second thought, Tony maybe loved the rain a little, right now.