Chapter 3
"A Steve Rogers Christmas"
(I think I’m In Love – Kat Dahlia)
Day 2: Saturday, December 12.
STEVE
Steve smiled softly behind the glass of wine when he saw Bruce relax, he couldn’t get drunk but Natasha insisted he tasted the food with the wine. He then caught a sight of Tony who winked at him while sipping from his glass, he knew the man had something to do with Bruce feeling a little bit tense but it was over now and it was clear Natasha had something to do with it. He finished his plate without wanting to eat much, he had, after all, a dinner with Tony at Chef Didier’s restaurant.
The food didn’t go to waste, Thor and Vision gladly finished the rest of the food even thought Clint complained about not having leftovers for later.
“Anyone up for Mario Kart?” Pietro asked winking at Clint.
“You know I can take you, kid” Clint retored, taking another sip from his wine.
Wanda rolled her eyes, “Finish your spaghetti first, children” she said.
“Already did” Pietro and Clint said at unison.
“By the way, this was amazing, Clint” Wanda added.
“Thank you, princess” Clint winked at her.
“You need to slow down on the wine, old man” This time it was Natasha who spoke, making them all laugh, including Clint, who grabbed the bottle and poured himself more wine.
“I’ll help with the dishes, yes?” Wanda offered standing up.
“No dessert?” Thor asked slightly disappointed noticing they were all standing up, Steve chuckled.
“There’s ice cream in the fridge” the blond said, “Chocolate mint”
“I hope there’s enough for everyone” Thor commented, putting another piece of garlic bread in his mouth.
“It’s fine, no one else likes chocolate mint but you” Tony said, “And Steve”
“We shall share the last of the ice cream you and I, my friend” Thor smiled with complicity.
“Nah, have it all, I don’t want to eat much”
“Bruce? Vision?” Thor asked, “I know Clint won’t turn down ice cream”
“Damn right!” Clint said running towards the kitchen.
“Leave me some” Thor then stood up and ran behind Clint with a spoon already on his hand.
“I’ll go unpacking, I feel asleep and didn’t have time to do it” Bruce excused himself.
Wanda stood up and started piling up the plates, she tried not to use her abilities when she was near too many people. Vision, who was still sitting, stood up and copied Wanda, he piled up the remaining plates and followed the woman to the kitchen.
“I think they are cute” Tony shrugged, he poured the last of the wine on his glass and raised his eyebrows, “I ship them”
Steve couldn’t help but laugh, he was familiar with the term, spending a lot of time on the internet he had encountered it a few too many times.
“Just like I ship Bruce and Natasha, also Fury and Maria but don’t tell him, I don’t want to die just yet” he added.
“I won’t” Steve said.
“You didn’t like the food?”
“It was very good” He answered, “I just didn’t want to eat much”
“Excited for our date?” Tony smirked.
“What? No I-“ Tony’s smirk fell, “I mean yeah but it’s a-“
“I was joking, Cap” the older man grinned, “It’s at eight though, you won’t get hungry? You know, with you super fast metabolism and everything…”
“Oh, no, it’s fine” Steve shrugged.
“Mm”
Silence again.
“Well” Tony emptied the glass of wine, “I have to go to the lab again”
“Work?”
“Lots of it”
Steve stared at Tony as the man disappeared towards his lab. He had being meaning to ask Tony about his work, he had being doing a lot of work on his lab lately, as far as he knew the man only stopped to eat and sleep, and he didn’t do much of those either.
“You look like you are thinking about something important” Natasha sat next to him with her arms crossed.
“Hey” Steve said, kissing her forehead.
“You are working on your paintings?” Natasha asked.
“Yeah, I-” He frowned, “Tony told you?”
“You smell like paint, also there is dry paint under your fingernails and a little bit on your hair” She grinned, “And Tony told me”
Steve chuckled, “I’m working on something, it’s a surprise”
Natasha raised an eyebrow, “Now I’m interested” she said, “Tell me”
“It’s secret”
“Steve”
“I can’t”
“Stevie”
“Tasha”
The woman pouted and took a sip of her wine, “I’ll tell you mine if you tell me yours”
“It’s a surprise” Steve insisted, he really wanted to keep it secret until christmas.
Natasha smiled widely, “A surprise?” The man nodded, “For me?”
“No, not for you” He chuckled.
“Steve!” Natasha hit him in the shoulder softly.
“I have already said too much” he zipped his mouth.
“Fine, then I won’t tell you my secret” Natasha stood up looking at Steve under her lashes.
“Natasha” Steve raised his eyebrow to her.
She sat again, closer this time and leaned towards Steve, “Bruce and I, it’s a thing now” she whispered, Steve laughed, it was like they were high school girls.
“That’s great Natasha” Steve whispered back, “I’m happy for you” the woman smiled, “Are you happy?”
Natasha looked at the wooden floor and blushed. Steve smiled, Natasha Romanoff never blushed.
“I am the happiest I’ve ever been” She said finally.
“So, how did that happen? When?” Steve asked after a few seconds.
“Well” she looked around, “I went to pick him up in Washington and when we were in his hotel room, after we…” she trailed off.
“What?”
Oh.
“Oh”
“He just asked me what I wanted and I told him” Natasha shrugged, “He said he wanted the same” she smiled softly.
“Can he even do that, I mean, Tony said the thing about his heart and-“
“Do you and Tony talk about my love life?” Natasha glared at him.
“No!” Steve shook his head, “I mean we were talking about Bruce and then you and-“ he sighed, “Sorry”
“It’s fine” she shrugged, “Tony’s love life is a crash and burn and yours is non existent so…” she teased, he laughed. “You and Tony are getting along well, huh”
“Yeah, he’s… he’s fine” Steve sighed, “He spends most of the time at the lab working, though”
“What is he working on?”
“I have no idea”
“You haven’t gone there?” She shook her head, “where’s you curiosity, old man?”
“Curiosity killed the cat”
“You had a cat?” Wanda entered the room.
“No, it’s-“ Steve laughed, “It’s an expression”
“It means it’s bad to peek” Natasha winked at her, “I was telling Steve than he should go to Tony’s lab to see what he’s been working on”
“Oh” The woman sat next to them, “I like cats” she mentioned smiling.
“I was also telling Steve about me and Bruce” Natasha added.
“Isn’t it great?” Wanda asked, sounding genuinely happy.
Steve nodded.
Wanda and Natasha seemed to have become very good friends, he could tell since he notice they spent a lot of their free time at the New Avengers facility together. He felt happy Natasha was starting to trust more people, specially Wanda, who really needed to open herself to the possibility of having more friends, the young woman always seemed very shy and reserved, but when she was with Natasha she seemed to be comfortable just like she was around her brother or Vision.
“Steve has a date with Tony tonight” Natasha told Wanda, the young woman looked at him surprised.
“It’s not a date” he rolled his eyes, “Pepper told him to invite me to this restaurant”
“And he’s taking you?” Wanda asked.
“Yes”
“Two people eating at a restaurant alone? I think that’s called a date” she said casually, Steve groaned.
“Told you” Natasha grinned.
“You have taught her wrong” Steve sighed with a small smile.
The last thing he heard before heading to his room was Natasha and Wanda giggling.
FRIDAY let him know a suit had been left at his closet for him a few minutes before by Pepper. She had left a note with it that said “have fun, not too much” that made Steve chuckle.
Bruce knocked on his door a few minutes later.
“It’s almost seven and apparently there’s traffic” Bruce said once Steve opened, the man was having trouble with the tie.
“I can’t-“ he sighed heavily.
“I use clip on ties” Bruce said making Steve chuckle, “You want me to get Natasha? She’s good at that”
“Bruce?” Wanda waved from the door, “Steve”
“Come in” Steve said, walking towards the room mirror.
“Tony is calling you from the Lab, he needs you to go” She said to Bruce.
Bruce nodded and left the room. Wanda was about to leave the room when Steve cursed lowly. She smiled and walked towards him. “May I help?” she asked pointing at the tie.
“With the tie from hell? Yes, please” She laughed, “I bet Mr. Stark doesn’t look as good in a suit” she mentioned.
“I doubt that” Steve blurted, Wanda stared at him, “I mean… I suppose” He regretted the sound of that too, “No teasing, please”
“Mmhm” she winked, “There you go, very handsome”
Steve whispered a thanks and looked at himself in the mirror. Surely Tony didn’t look this stupid in a suit.
“Don’t be nervous” Wanda flattened the suit on the shoulders, “You look really handsome, Captain” Steve chuckled, “I’m pretty sure Mr. Stark will think the same”
“It’s not a date” Steve almost whined.
Wanda chuckled, “Whatever this is, you look great for the occasion” She then left the room leaving Steve looking at his reflection.
He wanted to look good, more like, he wanted Tony to think he looked good but he didn’t know why, it wasn’t a date, Tony and him were just going to dinner, the man didn’t even invited him, Pepper was the one who wanted him to go, right?
“Hey, Cap , we have to get go-“ Tony stood outside of his door.
“Yeah, okay” Steve turned to find Tony staring at him, “What? Is it-“
“It’s… it’s great” Tony nodded, “the suit, it’s a nice suit, good suit, cool suit”
“Pepper picked it up” Steve said.
“We should-“ Tony pointed out
“Yeah, sure”
Despite the traffic, they made it to the restaurant on time. A young woman approached Tony, she turned out to be a french model Tony had “dated” a few years back, Steve stood awkwardly on the entrance of the restaurant.
“You! In the penguin suit!” An old man approached Steve, “Can you tell me where this Street is?” he asked showing him a map of the city.
“Yeah, um- it’s two blocks away” Steve answered, he actually knew the Street, it was where Tony and him had bought the christmas tree, “In that direction”
“Thanks” the man said he then looked at Steve with narrowed eyes, “You look familiar”
“Do I?”
“Mm… Nah, forget it” the man kept walking, “Have fun in your date”
Steve sighed and just waved at the man, shaking his head.
“Hey” Tony said, “Who was that?”
“He was asking for directions” Steve shrugged.
“Mm” Tony put his hand on the low part of Steve’s back, guiding him inside the restaurant, “He seemed familiar” Steve chuckled.
The restaurant was on the top of the building there were in, you could see the whole city from there, it made Steve feel small, like he used to be before. He then wondered if Bucky was somewhere in there, maybe he was in one of the apartment buildings or in some seedy bar drinking and surrounded by women like he used to. For a moment it felt nice to think that Bucky was fine. Even after all.
He felt Tony grab his arm, the chef greeted them personally and guided them to their table, to Steve’s luck it was on a very far side of the restaurant. With dim lights and very low music.
“Looks nice” Steve said once they were alone, looking at the city lights far away.
“It does” Tony answered looking at Steve.
Their waiter came back with some wine and gave them the menu.
“Thanks for inviting me” the blond said, even thought he didn’t feel Tony wanted him to go with him.
“Pepper- FRIDAY made the reservations” Tony said looking through the menu.
“I know” Steve said looking away.
“I’m glad you came” Tony added looking at him for a fraction of second before looking back at his menu, “with me” He looked at him more intensely.
Steve’s eyes met Tony’s, the man only smiled and nodded. A warmth spread inside him, like it did when Tony used that tone of voice he only used on with him, like he was being as truthfully as he could be.
“What do you want to order?” Tony asked, the waiter was already by his side.
“Um- I-“ Steve looked rapidly at the menu, “Everything looks good” in reality he didn’t understand what it said, he had never heard of those plates before.
“Perfect” Tony then took his menu, “We want everything” he told the waiter handing him the menus.
“Everything” the waiter repeated looking at Tony, then at Steve, who was in shock.
“Everything” Tony nodded.
“Very well, sirs” the man left.
“Are- are you serious?” Steve whispered, “It’s- that’s-“
“I’m really hungry, couldn’t decide” Tony shrugged, taking a sip from his wine.
“That hungry?”
“Steve” Tony put his hand over his’, “Enjoy the evening, please?” he said, Steve stared at Tony for a few seconds, the older man then grabbed the glass of wine infront of him and handed it to the blond, “Yes?”
Steve accepted the glass, “Yes”
Tony grinned widely.
“You’ve been working a lot lately” Steve mentioned trying to sound casual, he put a piece of what he thought was chicken on his mouth.
“Yeah, Bruce and I have been working on these… it’s for the twins” Tony explained vaguely, he had already eaten his… chicken? And was tasting the soup.
Steve nodded, “Pietro is doing really well on his therapy” he took a sip of water.
Pietro had struggled a little bit with his abilities after he got shot, he had been five months in a comma after all.
“He’s… A fast learner” Steve said smiling to himself.
Tony then laughed, “The girl-“
“Wanda”
“Wanda” Tony repeated, “Vision says she’s learning levitation”
“Yeah, she had trouble blocking people’s thoughts but now that she has it under control, she’s learning how to fly” Steve then laughed softly, “She tried to convince Sam to let her try his wings once and they ended up almost giving Natasha a broken arm”
Tony chuckled, “You seem to be rather fond of them” he mentioned looking at Steve.
“Yeah, they are-“ Steve sighed, “A real pain in the ass, but they are amazing kids”
“You did good in giving them the chance” Tony added, “The rest of the team seems to like them”
“And we like them back”
“Specially that Bromance Clint and Pietro had going on, I don’t think Thor can handle more teasing from those two” They both laughed.
Steve knew there was something more between Clint and Pietro but didn’t want to say anything.
“I’m almost finishing the thing for the twins” Tony said.
“Oh” Steve murmured.
“You can come to the lab and see it if you want”
“I’d like that”
“You can take a peek when we get home, then” Tony said.
“Okay”
They continued eating in a most comfortable silence, giving each other’s opinions on the food every now and then. When they were finishing the main plate the chef approached them. A short, chubby, rather funny looking man smiled at Tony. He reminded Steve of the man he had seen in that terminator movie where he had a twin.
Tony, always so polite, stood up to shake the man’s hand.
“Oh, please, Mr. Stark, not necessary to stand” The man said, his french accent heavy, “Food delicious?” he said with a hopeful smile.
“The food is perfect, Chef Didier” Tony nodded with a signature Stark smile.
The man clapped happily and then shook Steve’s hand, “la nourriture est délicieuse” Steve said with a small nod and a polite smile,Tony raised his eyebrows, “Mes compliments au chef”
Didier then laughed while looking surprised, “tu parle bien français!” Didier said, smiling.
“Je suis désolé, je ne parle… pas très bien français” Steve looked apologetic.
“No, no, no!” Didier gave him a thumbs up, “It is very good, just a little practice, sir”
Steve nodded and smiled, he then clapped Tony’s shoulder, “Et toi?”
“Voulez-vous coucher avec moi?” Tony said with a grin, Didier laughed, “I don’t really speak at all”
“Well, your boyfriend is good, good” the man smiled.
Steve and Tony chuckled while looking at each other. Didier then excused himself and promised to bring them their desserts personally.
“I didn’t know you spoke french” Tony said taking another sip of wine, Steve noticed it was his third glass of wine but he looked unaffected.
“A little bit” Steve shrugged, “It’s not very good” he chuckled.
“It’s adorable” Tony shrugged back making Steve blush, his eyes smiled over the glass of wine. Steve continued eating his chicken, quail actually, under Tony’s gaze.
He tried to look around to distract himself, paying attention to the band that was playing on the other side of the restaurant. They were playing a song that sounded “old timey” like Clint often described the music Steve and Wanda listened to.
I bless the day I found you
I want to stay around you
And so I beg you
Let it be me
“My mother loved that song” Tony said, Steve smiled softly.
For a second Tony looked lost in thought. Like he did a lot lately. The mention of his mother confirmed Steve’s suspicions of him constantly spacing out having something to do with his mother and christmas.
Don't take this Heaven from one
If you must cling to someone
Now and forever
Let it be me
“It’s beautiful” Steve said, he looked at a couple that had stood up and was dancing.
He didn’t even noticed that Tony had stood up and offered him his hand. Steve chuckled and shook his head.
“Come on, cap” Tony insisted.
Steve thought about it for a second before he nodded and stood up. Tony put a hand on his back and he held his hand. They started swaying slowly. Steve felt nervious about the proximity but he would lie to himself if he said he wasn’t enjoying Tony’s warmth. The older man seemed unaffected by it though.
“This is weird” Steve said, “Is this weird?” he added.
Tony chuckled, “You are the one who opens doors for me”
“I open doors for everyone” Steve retorted.
“Mmm” Tony hummed, his eyes glassy, from the wine probably.
“Are you alright?” Steve asked softly swaying against Tony’s body, his heart wanting to burst out of his chest.
“Never better, cap” Tony smiled against his neck.
“I’ve been meaning to ask” Steve said, Tony hummed, “You don’t like christmas, right?”
Tony looked at him, “I don’t like the memories” he said after a few seconds, and Steve had to look away.
“Why did you agree?” Steve asked, “To us staying, the party… You didn’t have to” he said.
When Fury called them, a mass conference call, Happy had told them about Tony's dislike for christmas. Natasha was even against it, saying that maybe it would be awkward for Tony but after Pepper insisted that it would be good for him they all agree.
Tony chuckled and pulled Steve closer to him, “I guess I need to make new memories” he admitted, “besides” Steve blinked, “the Tony Scrooge jokes were starting to get to me” Steve snorted a laugh.
Tony hid his face on Steve’s neck, “I like that”
Steve swallowed, “What?”
“Your laugh” Tony said, and maybe it was the wine speaking but that didn’t stop Steve’s heart from skipping a beat.
It was then when he realised that the music was over, it had been for a few seconds but they were still swaying slowly.
“The music is over” Steve said after a few seconds.
“Mmm” Tony said.
“And dessert is here” Steve added.
“Mmm” Tony sighed and looked at him, “You are a good dancer”
“Not really, but thanks” Steve smiled softly.
Tony then stepped back and went back to his seat. Steve stood there for a few seconds before copying Tony. The rest of the dinner continued silently.
When they arrive home, it was already late so everyone was sleeping, he was about to say goodbye when Tony started walking downstairs.
“You’re not coming?” he asked.
“Right, the lab”
Tony chuckled.
Steve walked behind the man quietly, the lab was, as always, messy. Parts of what were probably inventions were all over the floor and the tables. Tony took his jacket off, followed by his shirt, leaving only the sleeveless undershirt he was wearing. Steve stared at him for a few seconds, Tony's hands had always caught his attention, the many drawings of them in Steve's sketch books were proof, but now he could see that his arms looked as strong. Mostly because of Tony's training with Thor lately.
“FRIDAY, get me those suits” He said.
“Yes, sir”
A small pod appeared from the floor, there were two suits hanging from what seemed a rack. One with several shades of red and another one blue.
“Come” Tony called Steve, who was standing on the door.
“You made suits?” he asked standing next to him, he couldn’t imagine Tony sewing.
“Nope” the man unhooked the blue suit, “I made the material they are made of” he passed his fingers over the sleeve, “Touch that”
Steve did so, “Feels… like-“
“Normal, ordinary, not special at all fabric” Tony finished for him, “But it’s not”
“Do elaborate” Steve grabbed the suit.
“This one, for Pietro, is specially made to resist friction, it will never rip or wear down, for long runs, you know?”
Steve was actually surprised, Tony had spent almost five months making this for the twins. Tony smiled widely.
“Cool, huh?”
“It’s… more than that” Steve said, “It’s amazing” he gave Tony the suit back, “What about that one” he pointed at the other one.
“This one it’s just pretty cool and stuff” Tony shrugged. Steve laughed, “Kidding, that one is made of the lightest material on earth, yet the strongest, it is aerodynamic, so Wanda can fly easily”
“Wanda is going to love it”
“Pepper design them, I just did the rest of the job” Tony said, “The really hard part, you know”
Steve smiled. He then looked around the lab, petting Dum-E when the robot almost roll his foot over. Tony let him look around while he put away the suits. On the corner of the room there was a cabinet with a bunch of trinkets. He walked over there a grabbed one.
“What’s this?”
Tony looked at it, “Junk”
“It looks like a musical box”
“I think it was, I don’t know” Tony shrugged, “Maybe Pepper left it there”
Steve nodded. He examined it and smiled. When he was little, his father long gone and his mother could barely support him, Bucky and him use to give each other bad christmas presents. Whatever they could get for a few cents or if they get to trade something with the kids of the neighbourhood, nothing fancy or pretty. Still, ever christmas they got excited about exchanging gifts. Their own tradition.
Tony frowned at him softly.
Steve waved his hand and then he yawned.
“Tired, huh”
“kind of”
“Well, then” The man clapped his hands, “I let you to your… resting”
Steve nodded.
Tony guided him outside of the lab, his hand on the small of Steve’s hand made him sigh. Steve started walking away when Tony called.
“Hey, Steve” Steve turned on his heels, “Maybe you can show me some more of your paintings?” Tony asked, “You know, I showed you mine, you show me yours”
“Yeah” Steve said after a few seconds, “Sure”
Tony smiled and nodded, “Goodnight, Steve” he said before closing the door.
Steve said goodbye quietly and went to his bedroom.
Once in the safety of his room, he stripped himself from his suit and laid on the bed on his boxers. There was something weird happening between them, apart from the fact that Tony hadn’t teased him in months, not like he did before, the man seemed to be acting really nice towards him, and all that touching, maybe he didn’t do it on purpose, but Tony seemed to be touching him more lately, small touches, sometimes he would put his hand on his shoulder when he passed next to him, he would bump their shoulders together when they sat next to each other and when they walked he would feel Tony’s warm hand on the lower part of his back. It was driving him crazy.
“Maybe it’s my imagination” he whispered.
But another part of his brain supplied him with something else, something that told him that things had been different for him and Tony for a while now, ever since they started enjoying those dinners every night, ever since he started telling Tony things he saved for himself most of the times, ever since Tony started talking to him in that goddamn tone he only used when they were alone.
He sat on the bed.
“Fuck” He never cursed, he didn’t like it, “Fuck, fuck, fuck” but the situation required it, “I am in love with Tony Stark”
At that moment he knew he was truly, deeply, utterly fucked.
"I think I'm in love again, I didn't think that it would be true Let alone that it would be you"