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“There you are!”
“Hm?” Steve looked up from his book, eyed Tony warily. Tony was wearing a worryingly manic grin. “Were you looking for me? I've been here all morning.”
“Well, not you per se, just someone who could do me a small favor.”
“What small favor?” Steve was even more wary. Favors for Stark had a way of not turning out to be small at all, no matter how innocuous the initial request might seem.
“Really, I'd do it myself, but Foster's annoyed with me.”
“You're not scared of Dr. Foster, are you?”
“Of course I'm scared of her, she's one of only about two people I ever met who might be almost as smart as I am.”
Steve chuckled at that. Physical might didn't frighten Tony. Only intellect. “So what's the favor?”
“I need to return this to her lab.” Tony held up a small machine. Steve hadn't the faintest clue what it did, but looking at the duct tape that appeared to be an integral part of its structure, he suspected it didn't belong to Tony.
“Why am I suddenly quite sure that machine is the reason why Dr. Foster is annoyed with you in the first place?”
“She'll be a whole lot less annoyed when she gets it back,” Tony cajoled, “which means Thor will be in a much better mood too.”
Steve sighed. Tony was quite correct. Thor did pick up on his tiny girlfriend's moods, and his temper had been on a hair-trigger for at least a week.
“Fine. Team unity and all that. Anywhere in particular I should put it?”
“Well, if I couldn't convince you to go I was just gonna lob it in the door and run,” Tony grinned, “So I guess anything is an improvement on that?”
Steve couldn't help laughing at Tony’s silliness as he headed up to the labs. Jane's astrophysics lab and observatory was actually on the Tower's very top floor, not that she could do much star observation in New York, considering the light pollution. Still, it made for convenient arrivals and departures for Thor and the other Asgardians who stopped by to visit her regularly.
The lab actually appeared deserted, though the lights were switched on. The doors slid open as he approached, and he stepped inside, looking around. “Dr. Foster?” he called.
There was no reply; he looked down at the machine in his hands, wondered where to put it. Every flat surface in the lab appeared to be occupied.
Darcy's desk , Steve thought suddenly. Darcy liked to keep her desk tidy, refusing to let Jane's mess encroach onto it. He could leave the machine there, and even better, that would draw her attention to it and she could let Jane know it was back. He headed across the lab with renewed purpose, careful not to trip over any of the multitude of cables snaking across the lab floor.
Darcy's desk was not clear. Steve stopped, startled, at the sight. He'd never seen so much chocolate in one place outside a candy store before. There was a mountain of it, huge boxes of premium Swiss chocolate, jumbo bags of Hershey’s Kisses, blocks of Ghirardelli’s… there had to be several hundred dollars’ worth there.
Who gave Darcy all this? The green-eyed monster of jealousy seized hold of Steve; his fingers tightened on the machine in his hand until the metal casing creaked with strain. It was Valentine's Day; that was why the Tower was so empty, everyone off spending time with their nearest and dearest. Had some admirer… or many admirers… sent her all this?
And why on earth hadn't Steve thought of it himself?
“Steve?” a surprised voice said behind him, and he suppressed a groan before pasting on a smile and turning around. There she stood, the girl on whom he’d been nursing a silent crush for quite a few months now, Darcy of the big blue eyes and lustrous dark locks, Darcy who was always willing to take the time to explain pop culture references he didn’t understand. Darcy, whose soft pink lips were stretched in a brightly welcoming smile. For him.
“Hi,” he said awkwardly.
“Is that what I think it is?” She let out a screech of delight, grabbed the forgotten machine from his hands. “You just made my day, this’ll make Jane so happy!”
“Well, good,” he said, awkwardly shoving his hands in his pockets and eyeing the mountain of chocolate on her desk again. “So, er, Valentine’s Day, huh?”
“Yes, which is why I’m just gonna leave this here.” Darcy plonked the machine down on a stack of papers on a nearby bench. “Jane’s off out for a romantic lunch with Thor. She’ll see it here when she gets back.”
“Right, right. Right.” Stop saying that, Steve mentally ordered himself. “Sure.” That’s no better. “So. Valentine’s Day.”
Darcy gave him a peculiar look. “Yes, it is. You doing anything special? I’m planning to eat my bodyweight in chocolate.”
“I see that.” He shot a sideways glance at the mountain, found himself rocking back and forth on his heels, hands shoved deep in his pockets. “Is that, from, uh, a particular admirer?”
Darcy blinked at him. “What?””
“The chocolate. I mean… I wish I’d thought of it myself.”
“Well, you can still stock up,” Darcy said cheerfully. “I saw a funny meme on Facebook earlier about how the real holiday is the fifteenth when all the chocolate is half price, actually, I’m gonna go on another shopping raid then.”
“You… wouldn’t mind if I got it a day late?”
“What?” Darcy blinked at him again, suddenly getting the feeling that she and Steve weren’t quite on the same wavelength.
“But really, it looks like you’ve got quite a good supply so maybe I could get you something else? Is there anything else you would like? Or maybe, um, dinner? Something savory before all that chocolate?” You’re babbling, Steve, shut up shut up for goodness’ sake… she looked so puzzled, though, that he couldn’t make himself be quiet. “No, wait, we probably won’t be able to get a reservation anywhere, because it’s Valentine’s Day. Or maybe Tony or Pepper could pull some strings. Or, you know, takeout. But that doesn’t feel special enough…”
“Steven Grant Rogers, are you trying to ask me on a date? That’s so sweet of you! But I really don’t want a Valentine pity date, thanks all the same. I’m quite happy to spend the evening chilling with my chocolate and Chardy.”
“It’s not a pity date… wait, who’s Chardy? Did he give you the chocolate?”
The conversation was getting more confusing by the minute. Darcy frowned at Steve and spoke slowly, figuring she should really sort out whatever misapprehension Steve was laboring under right now. “Chardy is what I call my wine, Steve. Chardonnay. A bottle of Chardonnay. I bought myself the chocolate, because growing up as one of four daughters of a single mother, my Valentine’s Day tradition is to buy myself a ton of chocolate and some nice wine, and then spend the evening being as self-indulgent as I can possibly manage.”
Steve’s mouth hung open. He finally managed to close it, though he couldn’t quite think of anything to say. He had a sinking feeling that Darcy was about to think back over the conversation, put two and two together, and come up with the fact that he’d just completely given away how he felt about her. He could already see her quick mind working, her blue eyes going a little distant behind her glasses. He took a step back, wondering if he should just turn and run. Could he make it out of the lab before she put it all together?
“Wait a minute,” Darcy said.
Oh, help.
“You like me.”
“Of course I like you, we’re friends,” he tried to bluff, but Darcy had seen through him now. She took a couple of steps closer, raised her hand to poke her forefinger into the center of his chest.
“No, you like me, like me. You were jealous because you thought someone else had bought me chocolate for Valentine’s Day!”
Steve shut his eyes so he didn’t have to look at her, before sighing and opening them. He couldn’t lie to her, not about this. “Yes,” he confessed baldly. “I… like you a lot. You… kind of crept up on me when I wasn’t looking. But… it’s okay. If you want to spend Valentine’s Day with your chocolate and your Chardy, that’s fine, we could maybe do dinner some other time. Or not. If you don’t want to. Because that’s, well, not fine , but…”
Darcy lifted the finger that had been firmly poked into his pectoral muscle and placed it gently against his lips, silencing the babble. “I wouldn’t mind sharing, you know. The chocolate and the Chardy. Some takeout might be good, as well.”
“Is it a date?” Steve asked shyly as she dropped her finger.
Darcy’s smile was very bright. “It’s a date.”