When Tony came into the kitchen, engrossed in his tablet, he didn't notice at first.
He opened the fridge and frowned. He was sure he'd left the leftovers of his last celery-spinach-strawberry smoothie in there.
Tony pushed a bit at the jug of milk and the covered casserole, hoping that the half-filled blender would magically pop out at him if he just—
Tony blinked and stared. Casserole. Glass jar of milk. He pulled his head back and looked at the counter. The cheese grater and large knives were resting in the stainless steel dish rack. Tony let the refrigerator door shut and thumped his head on it twice before sighing.
Victoria was back.
Tony opened the fridge again and rooted through the crisper for some vegetables. He let out an annoyed grunt when he noticed all of the celery was gone, so instead he satisfied himself with some tomatoes and the leftover bits of green peppers. He was sure there was some honey he could use too.
He was pulling a bunch of bananas out of the fruit basket on the counter when he heard the clack clack of a pair of familiar plastic-heeled shoes. Tony didn't bother turning around, just reached into an overhead cabinet for the blender.
"Anthony," a disapproving voice behind him said, "as much as it pleases me that you're getting your daily dose of vegetables, what you're making is truly appalling."
"Tastes good," Tony mumbled. He plugged the blender in and yanked one of the large knives out of the dish rack. He took a deep breath, calmly grabbed the wooden cutting board, and began to cut the ends off of the tomatoes, biting the inside of his cheek when he felt Victoria's warm body move next to his. She pulled another knife out and, with a sharp tsk at his cutting skills, began to chop up the leftover peppers. "How's it hanging, Vicky?"
"Victoria," she corrected. She scooped up the pieces and added them to the blender, where Tony had already stuffed two bananas. "I was thinking about going over your training schedule. Steve has you in that gym five nights a week. That's hardly fair. He works you far too hard."
"He likes it." Tony picked up his cut up tomatoes and added them to the blender. "I like it. Hand me the honey, would you dear?" When she handed it over Tony made a faint sound of thanks before she gripped his wrist with one of her large hands.
"It wears you out too quickly." She jiggled his wrist in her hand and Tony let out a sigh before he looked up. She had picked out the red dress today, and was wearing the bright red lipstick to match. She's smeared rouge onto her cheeks and added a light coat of mascara to her lashes. It made her blue eyes pop out distractingly. "Last week you barely made it to your office in time. When I spoke to Miss. Potts about this—"
Tony yanked his hand back and gaped at her. "You talked to Pepper?" Victoria frowned at him so he turned back to the blender and unloaded the honey into it. He squeezed at the bear and watched the thick amber syrup fall.
"She's concerned you aren't dealing with this as well as you've been saying." Victoria cupped Tony's cheek in one hand, her thumb brushing over the edges of his beard. He put down the honey and gave her his full attention. "I understand, it must be very hard for you."
"It's not that," Tony was quick to deny. He smiled at her and let one hand come up to knock under her chin. She smiled at him. "I just love Steve. I want to spend as much time with him as I can when he's here. If he wants to spend that time sparring then I am all for it. Trust me when I say that I really don't mind when he pins me to the mats," he added with a wry grin.
"We all love Steve, honey. Even Jackie loves him, in his own way. And we all love you too, Anthony. Have you..." She trailed off, somehow looking down at him through her lashes. "Have you given any thought to what I said last time I was here?"
"It's Tony." Tony looked at the wet smear of tomato juice he'd left behind in his wake and reached out to tear off a paper towel. He folded it up and wiped the spot off of her chin. "And it's not that I don't like you guys, too. I think you're all pretty swell. But it's Steve that I want to be with."
"We're all in here, too." Victoria pouted and turned back to the counter. She grabbed the cover for the blender and put it on, holding it down with one hand. She was about to hit the button when Tony laid a hand over hers, stopping her.
"That needs ice," he explained when she gave him a confused look. "And milk."
"Oh, I picked up some up today. Whole," she added as she trotted to the refrigerator. "I know Steve likes it, and it tastes a thousand times better than that skim rubbish you like to drink."
"Thanks, he'll love that." Tony turned back to the blender and tried not to fist his hands in frustration. Instead he gathered up the remains of the vegetables and tossed them in the sink. He flipped the switch for the garbage disposal. "How long were you planning on staying around this time, Vicky?"
She tsked at him again as she pulled the cover off and added the ice. "I'll stop calling you Anthony when you stop calling me Vicky." She held up the glass milk jug and waved it at Tony. "How much?"
"Here, let me." Tony gently moved her aside and tended to his shake. He could feel her eyes on him as he worked. Her gaze always felt warm and loving, unlike Jackie who would stare out at him from beneath the kohl liner he wore with heat and sex pouring off of him like pheremones. When she touched him it was always with affection, just like Steve, and it was getting harder and harder to tell her no.
When she laid her warm hand on the back of his neck and opened her mouth he moved quickly to hit the 'purée' button. It drowned out anything she could've said, but didn't do anything for the way she moved to stand behind him. Victoria wrapped her arms around Tony's waist and laid them delicately over his chest.
She kissed the back of his neck lightly and for a minute, just a minute, Tony tilted his head to the side for more. She hummed and moved her mouth against his skin. When he felt the tip of her tongue come out to lap gently at his earlobe he leaned forward and away from her embrace.
"It's done," he said, hastily moving away to grab one of the many plastic bottles he liked. He unhooked the blender and filled it, ignoring her sigh when she pulled her arms back.
"I'm sure he wouldn't mind," Victoria said as she moved to lean back against the sink. "Steve just wants you to be happy."
"And he makes me happy," Tony responded without looking up. "He makes me happy in a way that you can't, Victoria."
"Sure I can," she said with a smile, then gestured down at herself like she was Vanna White. "After all, we share the same body."
"No you don't. That's Steve's body. You're just a passenger." Tony gave her a wan smile and picked up his tablet again. "Now if you'll excuse me, miss. I've got a deadline to meet."
"If you don't come up here for dinner I won't hesitate to come down there," Victoria mock threatened. "I made a very yummy casserole."
"Wouldn't miss it," Tony mumbled into his drink as he exited the kitchen. He made his way back down to his workshop and sealed the door, forcing JARVIS to exercise Defcon Level Three.
True to her word, Victoria showed up outside the door hours later with a steaming plate and a large glass of... Tony squinted, then smiled when he recognized the rest of the smoothie she'd helped to make in the kitchen today. She was really trying.
She knocked on the door with the edge of the tray and held it up for him to see.
"Should I allow entrance for Miss. Gladstone, sir?" JARVIS asked smoothly. Tony waved a hand and turned back to his designs.
"Sure, why not?"
The door opened and she came in on her high heels, moving swiftly over to the table Tony was working at.
"You missed dinner," she announced. Tony let out a soft sound of agreement. "Tony," she started, and he turned to her in amazement.
Victoria only ever called him Anthony. Much like Jackie, who only ever called him either Tones or Daddy. There was, of course, the memorable time in front of the board of directors when Nate had shown his face and called him nothing but Mr. Stark, dressed in his sharp suit and carrying both Tony's tablet and his coffee, which made Tony flush for the remainder of the day when the rest of his colleagues called him that with raised eyebrows and tiny smirks.
God, what they must think about their relationship.
"I'll eat," he said quickly, cutting off whatever it was she had planned on saying. He picked up the fork and took a big bite. It was... delicious, actually. Not so surprising, though. She spent most of her day puttering around the kitchen with various cookbooks. He grinned at her through the cheese.
She smiled back and ran her fingers through his hair before turning on her heel and making her way out.
"Don't stay up too late, honey," she called over her shoulder. Tony took another large bite and she smiled again before she walked up the stairs.
Tony dropped the fork and rested his head in his hands. After a few minutes of his steady breathing had passed JARVIS made another appearance.
"Shall I save today's work to the server so you can join Miss. Gladstone in watching the evening news, or would you like to continue?"
Tony straightened and cleared his throat.
"Let's keep going. I'm almost done."
"I estimate another two hours and eighteen minutes before these designs should meet your expectations. Are you quite certain you wouldn't like to finish for the night?"
Tony shook his head and pushed the plate away. "No, I'm not. But these have to be done by tomorrow morning. Let's go."
"As you wish, sir."
The lights were low when Tony climbed into bed and the shower was running in the bathroom. He made himself comfortable and was just dozing when he felt the bed dip and a warm body was plastered against his back.
"Hey," Steve murmured into his neck. Tony rolled over and came face-to-face with his boyfriend. "I saw the apron hanging up in the kitchen. How long was she here?"
Tony shrugged and let one hand run up Steve's bare arm to rest on the back of his neck. His short hair was damp and soft under his fingers. There was a small smudge at the corner of Steve's right eye, leftovers from Victoria, so Tony rubbed at it gently until it went away. "A few hours. There's a casserole in the fridge if you're hungry."
"Oh, I'm hungry, but not for food," Steve replied, dipping to rub his lips back and forth over Tony's. Tony arched into the embrace and Steve slid his knee between Tony's legs. Tony dropped his head back when Steve's mouth kissed and nipped along his jaw.
Steve pulled back sharply. "You have lipstick on your neck," he said in a flat tone. Tony looked up at Steve's pinched face. "You were with her."
"No, Steve," Tony tightened his thighs around Steve's leg when he started to push himself away. "She got a little frisky, but I wasn't. I swear."
"But you wanted to be."
"You in a dress and those brown pumps? Hard image to resist."
"That's not me, Tony." Steve pulled himself away and turned his back on him. He brought his legs up and curled his arms around them. "None of them are me."
"I know, Steve." Tony sat up and maneuvered himself until he was sitting with his legs on either side of Steve's body. He wrapped his arms around Steve's tense waist and tugged until Steve relented and sagged back against him. "I know. That's what makes it so hard to fight them off all the time. Well, except for Nate. I'm pretty sure he's straight."
"I'm serious, Tony." Steve turned in the circle of his arms and looked at him seriously. "I don't like the thought of you with other people, and I especially don't like the thought of you with any of my alters. I know Dr. Huang said that while they are all their own personalities, they are all still parts of the whole that make me Steve Rogers, but still. The thought of you and anyone who isn't... well, me scares me. Like I'm not enough," he mumbled that last bit, staring at Tony's t-shirt. His fingers picked at the seam of Tony's sweatpants listlessly.
"Hey." Tony leaned forward and kissed Steve lightly. "I know, Steve. And I would never. As hot as Jackie is when he wears those ripped jeans, as sexy as Victoria can be in those dresses — hell, even Nate in his three piece suits is incredibly dashing — I know that's not who you are. In here." Tony paused to lay his hand over Steve's heart. "You're the man I fell in love with. Those other parts of you? They're all just facets of Steve, and I would never try to block them out. And I love them all, Steve, but I'm in love with you. I will never want to be with them the way I want to be with you. Like this. Here, in our bed."
"Thank god," Steve choked out. He surged forward and took Tony's mouth in an aggressive kiss. Tony let out a startled noise when Steve pushed him to his back and slid his hands up Tony's shirt. "I was wondering if you thought I should go back on the blockers."
"Only if that's what you want." Tony closed his eyes when one of Steve's hands came up to rub off the lipstick Victoria left in her wake. Steve urged Tony to sit up long enough to take his shirt off, then he pushed him down again.
"It's not. They come out for a reason, and as much as I hate waking up in the poolhouse every time Jackie feels like getting stoned, I'm afraid of what they would do to me in here if I stopped letting them again." Steve tapped the side of his head. Tony let his hands run up Steve's back under his shirt.
"Well, feel free to stop them for the night," he said with a grin. Steve smiled back before he sat back to pull his shirt over his head. Tony let himself stare at the tattoo Jackie had inked on Steve's chest. Tony's initials, while gothic in choice of lettering, would never look out of place on Steve's body. Steve caught his stare and when Tony ripped his eyes away, back up to his face, Steve just grabbed his hand and placed it over the tattoo.
"Yours," he said as he sank forward onto Tony's pliant body. "All of me."
"All of you," Tony agreed, and as he spread his legs to let Steve sink between them he knew, from the rapid beating of his heart under his palm, that it was true.