A romantic dinner in a fancy restaurant. An evening spent wrapped in blankets and watching TV. Maybe a special breakfast served in bed. There were many ways to celebrate Valentine's day with your loved one.
Tony didn't get married to spend Valentine's day alone.
Granted, he never really cared about Valentine's day. He and Steve showed each other plenty of affection on a daily basis (Tony was sure of it, they both heard complaints from various team members) and Valentine's wasn't an exception of it.
Just seeing the romance pouring out on him from every corner, was reminding him, that this day he would be spending alone as his stupid husband had been sent away for some stupid classified mission to a stupid secret location. That was another reason why Tony felt so bitter - he and Steve didn't make their relationship official and on paper to still have withheld information about their spouses' location. Stupid safety protocols.
The whole day was stupid.
But Tony definitely wasn't petty about it. No, he was a man of science and had work to do, and was above such trivial thing as Valentine's day.
So, when he entered his workshop and was hit with an overpowering smell of roses and saw the biggest bouquet ever standing in a vase in the middle of his workshop, Tony didn't know what to think of it. There was a note attached, simple and to the point.
'Happy Valentine's day, sweetheart. Love, Steve'
Tony ran his hands over the not fully bloomed roses, feeling the delicate petals and breathing in the sweet smell, reading the note over and over again. There was some fuzzy feeling growing in him and a sarcastic remark about the sappiness of it all to mask his true feelings, but there was no one he could deliver the snappy comment to. Before Steve had left they made a deal, that Steve would be the one calling Tony. So, Tony put the note aside, made sure that roses had plenty of water and got to his work, occupying his mind and thinking that, that maybe today won't be so awful after all.
It was well into the afternoon when Tony’s back started to hurt from hunching over the blueprints and saw an icon with Steve’s name flashing in the corner of one of his screen and a characteristic melody of an incoming call.
“Friday, connect me,” Tony sat back in his chair, waiting for his husband’s face to show on the screen.
"Hi, babe!"
“Hiiiiii - dear God, you look awful,” Tony blurted out, the sight of Steve’s close up face taking him by surprise. Battles were not glorious, and despite the healing factor, last rough days were taking a toll on his husband's face - his eyes were circled, hair hung miserably, and as usual, in extreme conditions, Steve didn’t have time to shave, a dark, thick beard covering his jaw.
"Happy Valentine's day to you too," Steve laughed in good humor. Even his laugh sounded strained and tired.
“Sorry,” Tony said quickly, trying to fix his earlier outburst. It was always comforting when Steve managed to find time to call him during his secret missions, but seeing Steve all worn did worry Tony. “Happy Valentine's!” Tony smiled, finally sounding properly happy.
Steve’s smile dimmed into something subtler before his face became serious.
"Before we talk, I have to inform you that this conversation is wiretapped."
“I know, I know,” Tony said dismissively. Safety protocols, yada yada. He knew the drill. “Is Gary listening to us again? Hi, Gary!”
"No, Gary quit after last time," Steve chuckled, referring to the agent who was assigned to the infamous wiretapping on the superhusbands, something all agents dreaded. Cleaning sanitary facilities was easier. "Now he can’t look me in the eye. Today it is Karen’s turn."
"Hi, Karen!" Tony waved at the screen, "happy Valentine’s!"
"Oh, I am sure she is having a blast. We had a flood this morning and I ate breakfast from a tin can."
“Sorry to hear that, baby,” Tony cooed. Maybe Steve was used to rough military life, but it didn’t mean he enjoyed it. If anything, it was getting harder and harder to sleep on the cold ground, while he had a comfortable bed and a warm husband to snuggle with back in New York.
"I am gonna survive," Steve smiled and Tony hoped that he better, as he didn't plan on becoming a widower any time soon. Or ever. Just for now, he would keep that thought to himself, to not tempt fate. "I wanted to ask, did you find your gift?"
“It is hard to miss,” Tony laughed. Two hundred and ten crimson red roses on long stems in a crystal vase. The whole bouquet took over a square meter out of his workshop and was easier to jump over than walk around. Just to be sure, Tony made Friday scan the roses and count them three times. He had tried asking for a fourth count, but Friday put herself on mute. The reason was that, that the number didn’t add up for Tony, he couldn’t think of any reason why Steve chose that number of flowers. “They are beautiful, thank you. Just why two hundred and ten roses?”
Steve folded hands together under his chin and looked at his husband with love, Tony could feel all the way from the screen. Steve liked symbolics in their relationship. His favorite flowers to give to Tony were daisies because he claimed that Tony was cute and small like a daisy but also was resistant and stubborn, just like the innocent looking white flowers able to grow in harshest conditions. Their wedding rings had hidden gems, Tony’s had a blue sapphire, Steve’s had a red ruby, to represent their superhero colors. There was no way Steve ordered two hundred ten roses on random.
"I got you two hundred and ten roses to represent each and every pound of you I love and cherish."
Tony stared. And stared. And started some more before losing it again.
“What the hell, Steve?!” Tony yelled in outrage. Steve just smiled brighter, as if enjoying this situation. Well, he always claimed that angry Tony looked like a puffed out cat. So cute.
"I know I might have been a little off with your weight -"
“Damn straight, you are,” Tony hissed.
"-so I added an extra ten roses to count in your winter weight."
And it became tense again. Tony pinched the bridge of his nose, knowing that Steve was just teasing him. It was working beautifully. Years of marriage meant that they knew exactly how to push each other buttons.
“If you weren’t God knows where and I wasn’t sure when I see you again, I would totally hang up on you,” Tony gritted out through his teeth.
"I love you too, butterball," Steve cooed, blowing him a kiss.
“Steve!” Tony protested, feeling that his face became heated from embarrassment. Tony knew he wasn’t overweight. Chubby at most. He was thick in all good places. Places Steve seemed to enjoy on a daily basis. “Don’t embarrass me in front of Karen!”
"I am pretty sure that at this point Karen hung up on us," Steve laughed.
“Good, because I planned to give you all of this,” Tony motioned to himself, “once you will be back, but now you won’t get any.”
Steve narrowed eyes. "Like you will be able to resist this," Steve slowly raised his eyebrows and pressed lips together, jutting them forward. Tony tried hard not give up and let the playful jab be forgotten so easily, but he had to admit that his husband’s seductive face was quite a success. "Uh, hold on, babe," Steve said, leaning out of the camera view, exchanging a few words with someone, before coming back into view. "Sorry, Tony, I have to go."
“Is everything alright?” Tony asked, alarmed that Steve wanted to cut him short so abruptly.
"Yeah, it’s fine, just a meeting about strategy," Steve smiled, trying to ease his husband. "Will talk tomorrow, okay?"
“Okay. Stay safe!” Tony added hurriedly.
"I will."
“You would be safer if I was there with you.”
Steve’s eyes softened. That was true, but Steve was glad it wasn’t happening. Tony was safe back in New York and didn’t belong out there on the battlefield. This was good.
"I know, babe," Steve agreed.
“And not just because it was scientifically proven that a sufficient layer of fat can make one almost bulletproof -”
Steve laughed, interrupting Tony’s ramble, not expecting his husband to poke fun at himself.
“I love you, babe," Steve smiled, grateful for the short moment with his husband. It was good to see him, even briefly.
“I love you too,” Tony said and the screen turned black, the connection cut off.
Looking at the empty screen, Tony sighed, sinking into his chair. The smell of roses was strong and all around him, and became a painful reminder of his husband stuck somewhere far away from him in a state of constant danger. He needed something to fill up the void in his heart and remembered that before Steve had left for his mission, he prepared an array of homemade food and stuck in the freezer, saving Tony from constantly ordering takeaway or burning the pots. A tray of lasagna sounded especially good. He could save his work, go back to his quarters and mope over layers of pasta, cheese and tomato sauce with meat, or he could do something even better.
“Hey, Fry,” Tony looked at the ceiling, where one of the cameras to Friday’s system was located. “Let the team know that I am putting one of Steve’s lasagna in the oven and if someone wants a piece, they should come to the shared kitchen.”
“Okay, boss,” Friday replied, passing the message to the Avengers currently present in the compound and Tony could almost hear Thor and Clint sprinting in the kitchen direction. Tony stood up, thinking that he should get some nice bottle of red for him and Natasha to drink, Bruce was all set up with his weird, green teas. He could always count on Vision and Wanda to prepare something sweet, as the pair went through cookbook after cookbook, trying all kinds of recipes. Maybe he could reach Peter and invite him to swing over for a piece. Wonder what Pepper and Happy had planned, he should call them too.
After all, even if he couldn’t spend Valentine’s day with his husband, nothing was stopping him from spending it with his family.