There was something mysterious and confusing about December. On one hand, Christmas atmosphere was in the air, gingerbread houses and smiling Santa Claus resembling figures appearing in every shop display, streets were decorated with colorful lights and pleasing the eye. On the other hand, it was an extremely busy month, people running around trying to find the perfect gifts, perfect food for Christmas dinner while being bombarded with commercials promising their products to bring the perfect, cozy mood.
The pattern repeated in almost every house and Avengers Tower wasn’t an exception.
On the outside, the tall building in the middle of New York was decorated with lights going around the tower and topped with Santa’s sleigh and a row of reindeers, twinkling with colors. Inside matched the exterior, with a beautifully decorated Christmas tree in almost every room that could fit a one, something Tony personally coordinated and took care of, garlands and Christmas wreaths stretching from wall to wall. It was a nice distraction and a calming breath in the near end of the year chaos, while everyone kept rushing from place to place, trying to wrap things up, both work and personal.
In all the rush, the team members didn’t forget to bring the Christmas atmosphere in, and so, Thor cooked up a storm in the kitchen, giving out plates of homemade gingerbread cookies with the most delicate, intricate patterns done in royal icing. Natasha, rushing through the corridors with stacks of SHIELD papers, put a headband with reindeer antlers and small bells in her red hair, making everyone who looked at her smile. Bruce served cups of amazing hot chocolate and herbal tea, infused with a secret mix of spices that warmed up everyone, and Clint left small notes filled with uplifting messages and holiday sweets in various corners of the Tower for anyone who needed a quick pick me up. Every team member had their own unique way of bringing Christmas cheer into the Tower and into their family and it was a welcomed distraction in the busy month.
Steve also found his way and switched his usual white cable knit sweater for an array of the infamous Christmas sweaters - his current pick for the day, was an all red sweater with white patterns and reindeer on the arms and knitted 'merry Christmas, ya filthy animal’ on the chest, a quote from a movie that was a must to watch during the holiday season in the Avengers Tower. His collection of Christmas sweaters was carefully selected and eye-catching in a bad way and photos of him in more or less offending sweaters were all over the press and people were going crazy. Steve wasn’t bothered, and he even ordered everyone else on the team their very own, personality matching Christmas sweater, already wrapped and waiting under the Christmas tree for the official unpacking of the gifts. That would be one Avengers group photo, Steve couldn’t wait to be ‘leaked’ into the press.
In all this pre-Christmas chaos, Steve found his quiet corner in the library. It was filled with rows of various books on every topic imaginable and comfortable furniture and Steve took a particular liking to a big armchair where he could curl up with a book, while a Christmas tree was blinking at him with colorful lights and swirls of steam rose from a cup of hot chocolate. It was his place to relax and enjoy the Christmas atmosphere.
It didn’t take long until his hiding spot was found out and he began to have company. It started pretty innocently, with Tony barreling one day into the library, eyes circled and hair in a crazy mess as there was a lot of paperwork to be done for SI before the end of the year and it kept Tony awake, probably following the scent of chocolate. It was a short break, Steve and Tony chatted, Steve allowed Tony to drink his hot chocolate, and Tony was on his way, back to his home office. The pattern repeated for a few days until Tony started to bring his tablet with himself and stretch out on the couch, just to change his surroundings a bit. Steve didn’t mind, Tony, usually chatty, didn’t try to engage him in a conversation and they just sat together, both in their own worlds and enjoying the quiet companionship. Just with time, Steve found it pretty distractive to be around Tony, as something was attracting his attention.
No, two things.
Meaning Tony’s feet, always dangling over the couch armrest, lightly kicking to some pattern. Tony’s feet were not large at all, they couldn’t be, as Tony had a sturdy, short frame, and big feet were not needed, unlike in Steve’s case. He had big feet and needed big shoes to balance all the muscles and keep him stable from toppling over. Steve was a practical man, and for those reasons his choice of underclothes was pretty monochromatic - it was easy to train in white tank-tops and dump them into the washing machine with white socks and white boxers, and or do the same with a set of black underclothes.
Tony represented an opposite view. To start with, Tony had a liking of walking barefoot, which seemed natural as in some part of the Tower the floor was heated, and rarely wearing socks, but when he happened to wear ones, they were blindingly colorful. Steve noticed that some time ago, and as most of Tony’s wardrobe was in cool, perfectly matched tones, the socks were an explosion of colors. Bright yellows, cheerful oranges, screaming pinks, or vivid purples. Sometimes one color, sometimes striped, or polka dots, sometimes mismatched. Sometimes socks told a message like some had a periodic table or multiplication table, but with roman numerals or list of time periods, starting on one foot on prehistory, ending on middle ages, to start with modern history on the other foot and continue up to contemporary times.
It was quirky and adorable and oddly charming and somehow fitting for a guy like Tony.
That’s why for the first few days, Steve didn’t notice when Tony switched his colorful socks for Christmas themed ones, and once he did, he started to pay very close attention to them, trying to keep a low profile and not seem creepy. Penguins, reindeers, candy cane stripes, rows of small Christmas trees. It was pleasant to look at and was supposed to make people smile, opposite to Steve’s idea of wearing increasingly ugly sweaters to make everyone cringe. In particular, the colorful socks were always bringing a small, fond smile on Steve’s lips whenever he had caught a glimpse of them, while Tony was working on the couch.
It was unexpected of someone who was such an important figure in the business and science world to have such silly socks and wear them so casually and Steve thought that Tony was someone really special, even if he himself didn’t realize that.
Steve never asked about his teammate’s choice of socks but found himself waiting for the moment when Tony would join him in the library, sporting a new set. And then came a day, when Steve kept squinting at Tony’s feet for way too long and just had to ask.
“Are those music sheets?”
“Huh?” Tony twisted to the back from his laying on the stomach position, looking at Steve with a thoughtful face. Even when he turned around, he kept tapping on the tablet, which was quite impressive.
Steve smiled, feeling nervous, but trying to act casual. “Your socks. I can’t figure it out,” he said, trying to not sound like a creep who had spent last days staring at his teammate’s feet.
Finally understanding, Tony turned around, a light, playful smile appearing on his lips. “Come closer and find out for yourself,” he advised, turning his attention back to the device.
It was an unusual offer, but Steve decided to take it. He wouldn’t pass an opportunity to get close to the brunet and seeing that Tony invited him over it would be a shame to not take it. Steve walked closer, and the mystery solved itself. Indeed, on the background of a light cream color were music lines with notes, but no lyrics.
“Oh,” Steve said, looking at the notes. Tony giggled and wiggled his toes playfully and maybe Steve got a little mesmerized by the sight.
“Satisfied now?”
No, not yet. Steve, of course, didn’t say that and looked at the back of Tony’s head.
“What song is that?”
“A Christmas song.”
Well, duh. Steve’s shoulders lowered a little in disappointment after hearing the clipped answer. He was hoping for something more specific.
“Yeah, but which one?” Steve tried to push, without sounding too pushy. After all, it was supposed to be their quiet time.
Tony didn’t answer, just tapped more on his tablet. “How about you try to play it and find out?” he asked playfully.
Steve felt a little bashful. It seemed like crossing some boundaries, but Tony was in one of his friendlier moods and Steve would beat himself up forever if he didn’t take the invitation.
“Okay, move,” Steve demanded in a surprisingly firm voice, that was used solely to convince himself to do it, batting on Tony’s calves lightly.
Tony made a quiet, surprised sound Steve didn’t miss and obediently turned on his back and sat up, pulling his legs to himself while maintaining a sideways position, not really expecting Steve to play along. Using the recently freed space, Steve sat down and pulled Tony’s feet into his lap, a very bold move that made Tony’s eyes bulge out in surprise, but Steve didn’t really pay attention. The socks still intrigued him and he carefully placed his hands on Tony’s ankles, as if informing the brunet of his intentions. Tony didn’t react and Steve took it as a signal to continue. He slid his hands further, gliding palms over the smooth material until they stopped at the toes, and Steve lightly pulled on the socks, smoothening out the creases to get a better look at the design. The notes were on the upper part of the sole, stretching over pads and ending all the way down to the heel. He put his fingers against one note and gently pressed as if it was a piano key.
He didn’t expect Tony’s knee to jump and his whole foot wiggle. Steve stopped his fingers at the reaction, but Tony didn’t take his feet back. Instead, they still stayed in his lap, regaining their stillness.
There was something very sweet about this situation and Tony granting Steve this moment of closeness. He put his fingers back against the pad, and resumed the light pressing on the notes and started to hum, trying to decipher the song. The whole time, Tony kept his face hidden behind the tablet, but the quiet, muffled giggling, and the small body jolts from time to time, were giving him away.
Steve never before had an occasion to be so close to Tony, and brunet clearly craving his touch was giving him hope for the future. He kept gently tracing the pattern, letting his fingers venture lower and scribble back up the soles, and Tony quietly giggled away and curled his toes. Steve noticed that he was still holding the tablet as a disguise, but his free hand was not pointed at the screen, but covering his eyes as he kept giggling away. Steve really wished for the tablet to be out of the way. After a less than a minute of soft warm-up, he felt confident enough to increase the pace and pressure, and moved his fingers more roughly, not sketching, but really digging into the material.
“HAH!” Tony yelped, almost sending the tablet flying across the room, quiet giggles changing into a steady flow of laughter. “HAHAHAHA!”
Steve was utterly delighted. Tony was beautifully responsive to the ticklish sensations on his soles and his whole face scrunched up while giggling away and it was as adorable as Steve expected it to be. Feeling more confident, Steve changed the up and down pattern to a more chaotic one, brunet’s laughter rising by an octave. Good thing that the library was in a secluded area and not visited by many, or they would have a lot of explaining to do.
Steve continued to tickle the wiggling feet, even though Tony tried his best to stay in place and not end the moment. Just when Steve pushed Tony’s feet back and wiggled fingers into the spaces between the toes, brunet completely lost it.
“HAHAHA! You ahahahahare not plahahahying!” Tony pointed out, trying to tug his feet away and Steve was fast to wrap one arm around them, locking them in place.
“I am,” Steve said happily, temporarily scribbling his fingers back on the pattern, “it is just a really hard song and it seems that my instrument is malfunctioning.”
Tony took a swing, which Steve efficiently ducked away, but instead of feeling offended, it just made his smile brighter.
“Okay, so you see, I am playing on the notes, but instead of a song, there is this high pitched sound coming out-”
“Whahahat the-?!”
“- I don’t know, maybe I need someone to repair it -”
“Steheheve! Doahan’t! Hahaha!”
“ - or a mechanic! You’re a mechanic, right?”
“HAHAHA! I gihihhihve up! It’s -”
Steve didn’t want to hear the answer yet. Instead, he dug his fingers into the spot below the big toe on Tony’s left foot, which turned out to be a reaaallly good spot, because Tony completely lost it and flailed his arms around. He pushed himself so hard away that he fell off the couch with a loud thud and a big smile, while Steve was left with one sock in his hand and an equally big smile at such reaction.
Tony took a minute to regain his breath and when he uncurled from the floor, he looked at the soldier with sparkling eyes, his face full of a healthy pink blush Steve’s antics had caused.
Steve just calmly examined the sock in his hand, and while not on wiggling foot, the notes became pretty clear.
“Oh, it’s ’Rudolph the Red-nosed Reindeer’,” Steve said with a fond smile. “You kinda look like Rudolph now yourself,” he playfully pointed out, locking eyes with Tony’s.
“You jerk!” Tony laughed, doing the not well-thought thing and trying to kick Steve. Supersoldier reflexes or just pure luck, Steve easily grabbed Tony’s foot by the ankle and brought wriggling fingers closer to the bare foot, slowly enough to let the other man know his intentions. Tony screeched and tugged his leg away, standing up in panic as he saw the mischievous expression on the soldier’s face. Quickly, Tony understood what a big mistake it was to let Captain America know about your ticklishness. In a second, Tony bolted out of the library and ran for his life, fearing that Steve might want to test on what other parts of Tony’s body he could play. Steve laughed and quickly followed the one socked genius. He even tried to trick Tony into slowing down by promising to give him his sock back, but Tony only yelled that he could keep it and kept running. It was a bizarre sight, but when Steve finally caught Tony there was a lot of laughter.
In hindsight, it was one of those moments that pushed Tony and Steve to go on a first date, and in consequence, become a couple.
“Hey! Come here faster!”
“Okay, okay,” Steve laughed when one year later, he watched his boyfriend bounce on the bed, holding a colorful package he had just taken from underneath the Christmas tree in their shared bedroom. The Avengers team was supposed to exchange gifts tomorrow, but before that, Tony and Steve wanted to have their personal moment, almost a year after the evening in the library that helped to unblock something in their heads. When Steve sat on the bed, Tony stopped bouncing and handed him the package right away.
“Merry Christmas!” he exclaimed, smiling from ear to ear.
“Merry Christmas, babe,” Steve smiled back and after a kiss, Steve started to unwrap the silver paper. “What!” he laughed, seeing a six pack of colorful Christmas underwear and socks, in bright, blinding colors and patterns. Just like Tony’s socks were. Once, Steve had wondered if Tony’s bright socks matched his underwear and after a year of dating, he could say with all confidence that yes, yes, they did and it looked like Tony was trying to push his stylistic choices on Steve.
“Hope you like them,” Tony smiled brightly, “your white boxers and socks were driving me crazy for the past year,” he justified his choice of a present.
“So is this for you or for me?” Steve asked in a playful tone.
“For us both,” Tony decided with a laugh.
“Convenient,” Steve smiled and handed Tony his present. It wasn’t half as neatly packed as Tony’s, but it didn’t matter, as Tony was already tearing the paper to get to the inside. His mouth fell open when he saw his present.
“Seriously?” he asked, taking out a pair of knee high socks. White. “This is what you want me to wear?”
“Look at the bottoms,” Steve smiled and watched with pleasure as Tony’s eyes widened when he did that.
“Oh,” Tony murmured softly, putting their presents aside and purring invitingly, “I am gonna wear them for you every day,” he promised, before locking their lips in a kiss, and pushing Steve on the bed, starting their celebration.
On the edge of the bed, next to the colorful underwear, were two white socks, one with ’kiss my feet’, the other one with ’tickle my feet’ written across on the sole in bold, black letters.