Work Text:
Tony was dozing off when Steve, still in his uniform from the last mission, entered the lab.
“Tony?” Steve called, rapping his knuckles on the metal doorframe of the sliding entryway.
Tony’s head jerked up. He looked blearily up at Steve, then regretfully at the empty cup of coffee on the table. “Mm-hmm?”
Steve followed the direction of his gaze. “You’re not supposed to eat or drink in here, are you?”
“No,” Tony admitted. “But I’m an adult and responsible for my own irresponsible decisions, so.” He shrugged, then yawned, not bothering to cover his mouth with his hand. “Did you come here just to tell me that workplace hazards are a no-no, or…”
“Not at all,” Steve said, then cleared his throat. “Actually, I meant to ask you something.”
“Let me guess: Barnes sicced you on me for putting magnets on his arm again,” Tony quipped. Steve huffed a laugh and shook his head. Tony crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow. “Lay it on me, cap’n.”
Steve furrowed his brows like he was unsure how to phrase his question. He placed his hands on his hips, mustering up an air of confidence. He drew in a breath. “What would you do if I asked you to step on me?”
“Huh?” Tony sputtered, eyes going wide, and now he was glad that he didn’t have any coffee left, because he would have surely spat it out. “Well, first I would be a bit surprised, then I’d say that I didn’t know a senior citizen such as yourself was up to speed on modern slang,” Tony prattled on, “and then I might ask you if you’re free at, say, nine in the evening.”
Steve frowned again. He licked his lips. Tony tracked the movement. Steve seemed to be hesitating. “... And what would it mean if you asked me to step on you and I said yes?”
Tony chuckled. “It would mean that no one taught you what the phrase signifies.”
Steve mirrored Tony’s amusement, but Steve’s was of a more confused kind. “You got me there.” He took the liberty of perching on the edge of the lab table. Tony appreciated the fact that he felt at ease enough in Tony’s company to assume a more relaxed stance without being told to. “I asked Jane about it, since I’ve overheard some SHIELD agents talking about her stepping on them, but she wasn’t all that helpful.” His mouth twisted in thought. “She just said that it didn’t mean that they were scared of her.”
“Intimidated, maybe,” Tony offered vaguely, “and a little turned on.” Steve blinked, to which Tony grinned, but his heart wasn’t really in it. “That’s the gist of it, anyway.” Tony tapped his fingers on the table. “It’s basically just a way of letting others know that you find someone hot.”
Steve nodded slowly. “I see.” He placed his other foot on the vacant chair next to Tony. “But why not just say it?” He motioned at the black leather and shoelaces tied with military efficiency. “Why bring the shoes into it?”
Tony glanced down at the freshly shined shoe. “It’s not really about–” Steve did have very nice boots – “uh, I mean, the shoes aren’t the main thing.”
Steve planted his foot on the floor again. “Back in my day, we’d just say ‘she’s attractive’ and be done with it.”
Tony toyed with the edge of an A4 resting on the table and forced himself to hold Steve’s gaze. “... And do you think that?” Tony asked gingerly. “Of her?”
“I think that’s beside the point,” Steve responded, something tense in the tone of his voice, “but I suppose? On an aesthetic level, yes, I think she’s good-looking.” Steve pursed his lips for a moment. “But I’m not attracted to her.”
Tony hummed in acknowledgment. “Anyone around here you are attracted to?”
Steve’s body went oddly rigid at that. “Why do you ask?”
Tony stood up in order to meet Steve halfway, face to face. “Call it curiosity.” Tony shrugged a shoulder, attempting to appear nonchalant. “Just wondering if that old heart of yours skips a beat when you catch a special someone’s eye, yada yada.”
Steve paused for a noticeably long moment. “No.”
Tony narrowed his eyes at Steve. “You hesitated.”
Steve averted Tony’s accusatory squint, opting for looking down at the tips of his own boots. “I did not.”
Tony clicked his tongue. “Yeah, you did. JARVIS–”
JARVIS piped up helpfully. “Sir?”
Now Steve fixed Tony with a stern stare. “Tony.” His voice was steel. “I didn’t.”
“Scratch that, Jarvis,” Tony commanded, leaning his left hip against the side of the table. “Running out of honesty there, are we, Stars and Stripes?”
Steve was barely refraining from rolling his eyes. He turned to go. “Remind me not to ask you anything next time.”
“Hey, hey,” Tony rushed to say. “Cap, come on. I’m just messing with you.” Steve did not halt. “All right, I–” He caught Steve’s wrist, but his sentence came to a screeching halt when he felt the speed at which Steve’s heart was hammering. There was a pregnant pause like a storm brewing in the room. “Oh.”
Steve retrieved his hand, nearly jerking it out of Tony’s grasp. “Yeah, ‘oh’,” he echoed, exasperated. The serum had considerably raised the threshold of his heartbeat elevating when exercising, but it seemed that where matters of the heart were concerned, no such mercy was allotted to him.
A dangerously hopeful sort of realization was dawning upon Tony. “Oh, shit.”
Steve set his jaw, visibly displeased. He straightened his posture. “Next time, leave me alone when I ask you to.”
“No, no, wait,” Tony tried, desperate not to fumble this, “back up, Cap–”
Steve crossed his arms. “Did you get what you wanted?”
“Fuck–” Tony grabbed onto Steve’s arm with more force than was necessary – “hold on just a sec–”
Steve sighed, not any more pleased about the way the situation was unfolding than Tony was. “I think I’ve waited long enough.”
“Steve,” Tony said emphatically, and when Tony brought Steve’s fingers to the dip of his throat, Steve felt his pulse skipping at a pace similar to his own. “So have I.”
“You…” Steve’s expression softened somewhat, morphing into something strangely vulnerable. “This isn’t a prank?”
“God, no,” Tony breathed. “I swear.”
Steve shifted toward him again. “How long have you…?”
Tony rocked on his heels. “Well, that’s, uh…” He seemed to ponder this long and hard. “My best guess is since before the whole space stint.”
Steve arched his eyebrows. “All this time?”
“Yup,” Tony replied, popping the p. “How about you?”
Steve mulled this over. “I’d say after the rescue,” he confessed, then lowered his voice, “but if we take into account my more… internalized feelings, probably before it.”
Tony blinked at him, absorbing this information. “Right, so we’re a pair of dumbasses.”
Steve gave Tony a slightly mischievous smile. “Maybe,” he began, “but your ass is very nice.”
Tony inhaled sharply. “Who taught you that, huh?”
Steve swallowed his pride and embarrassment and commended, “I learned from the best.”
“Okay,” Tony drawled, composing himself. “Okay, how do you want to go about this? ‘Cause I would be ready to jump your bones, like, right now, but this whole thing is minutes old and I don’t want to assume anything.”
Steve exhaled. “If it clears up any assumptions, I’d like to kiss you.” He tilted his head. “Or is that too fast? I’m a bit out of practice.”
Tony looked up at him. “I’m fine with fast.” Steve smiled, taking a step closer.
Tony kissed him first, hungry and exploring like he had wanted to do this for ages. Maybe that was the case; Steve had certainly done his fair share of waiting and watching, always thinking that Tony was unattainable.
Steve pulled Tony closer, guiding him forward with two hands against the small of his back. A small noise of surprise made its way through the soft pair of lips on Steve’s, but Steve was determined to drown the sound, as lovely as it was. He opened his mouth just enough to suggest, and Tony caught up with him immediately. He parted his lips and slid his tongue in Steve’s mouth, and Christ, when was the last time Steve had French kissed anyone? Whenever it was, he was sure that that kiss couldn’t beat this one.
Tony’s hands were raking through Steve’s short hair, grasping for purchase and wandering back to the nape of his neck every once in a while. Tony kissed eagerly, like a man who knew what he wanted and what he could give, and Steve could only hope that he was enjoying this as much as Steve himself was. Tony tasted distantly like coffee. Steve wondered if he had gotten any other sustenance today, but when Tony’s tongue clashed with his again, he allowed himself to forget about that for a moment. Steve hummed in contentment, relaxing further into the contact, laying down his defenses and letting himself have this after years of yearning.
Tony broke the kiss with a teasing nip to Steve’s lower lip, then inhaled aggressively and wolf-whistled. “If I had your stamina, Cap,” Tony began, “I’d never stop making out with you, but I don’t, and some of us need to breathe.” Tony sighed mournfully. “Alas.”
Steve smiled sheepishly. “Sorry. It’s been a while.” His tongue darted out to wet the spot Tony had just worried his teeth over.
Tony bit his lip briefly. “Oh, I don’t mind,” he said casually, but his voice was heavy with a damning sort of lust. His eyes roved over Steve and his no doubt disheveled hair. Tony caught his gaze with a mirthful glint in his own.
Steve wanted, desperately, to kiss him again. “So you’d be willing to…?” He trailed off, not knowing how to finish that sentence.
“What, come to your room and do this again until our lips start hurting?” Tony questioned. “Of course. Believe me, it is taking me a tremendous amount of willpower not to ask you to ravish me right here where a non-ideal part of the Chimera’s population would hear us.”
Steve swallowed, forcing himself not to inspect that mental image too closely. He filed it away for later even as a jolt of desire made itself known on its way south and said, dumbly, “Ah.”
“But now is not the time for that, so…” Tony arched an eyebrow “Are you free at nine?” He paused, gauging Steve’s reaction. “I’m asking for real this time. Given the scintillating turn of events.”
Steve was fantastically unoccupied. “I could be.”
Tony nodded. “Good. Make time if you’re not.” He smirked. “You won’t regret it.”
Steve huffed in amusement. “I don’t doubt it.” After a short pause, he opened his mouth to speak again, but a broadcast bearing Nick Fury’s voice and summoning a strike team to assemble interrupted his intentions. Steve listened to the heroes who were listed for the mission and exhaled deeply when he heard his own name. It was a call to arms, and Steve Rogers had never been known to turn one down. “Duty calls,” he said apologetically.
“Go be a hero,” Tony urged Steve, who ran a hand through his blond hair in an attempt to smoothen it.
Steve tugged on the front of his trousers and nodded. He approached the doorway, but before he could leave, he stopped and looked at Tony. “I’ll see you later?” He sounded uncertain, almost shy.
Tony chuckled softly. “You will,” he swore. “I’ll wait for you.” Steve nodded, pleased with the promise. He stepped into the corridor, but Tony wasn’t quite done with him yet. “Oh, and Cap?” Tony called, and Steve stood to attention. Tony grinned. “Wear some nice shoes for me.” Steve clicked the heels of his boots together and saluted Tony with a gleeful smile. It was going to be a very, very long wait until the night, but they could figure it out.
One step at a time.