Secrets to Tell
Steve had been waiting a couple of days, thinking of whether he should just turn up with the food and surprise the other, or phone ahead? He wasn't sure if the other man was going to phone him instead. If he left it and went round to surprise him then the other might not be there and that wouldn't be very good... Finally, just before his hunt, wondering what he'd be able to catch to feed the two of them - mainly himself considering how much more he needed to eat... - his phone began ringing. It was quite late at night, but that would mean he'd be a lot more hospitably this time in the day.
"Um, hey Steve!" Tony exclaimed, trying not to sound as nervous as he felt. He ignored the butterflies in his stomach and concentrated on cutting the tomatoes he needed for his dinner. Which was a lot, considering he had to look over some projects Nick left him and now he was stress cooking. He really just wanted to hear Steve's voice for a bit, "How's it going? How's Pete?"
"Hey, Tony!" Steve sounded happy to hear from him, that was always helpful. "Peetee's doing good, he asked me to say hi when we spoke." He chuckled, trying to build up his courage. "So, what time do you usually close?"
Tony stopped ''Oh, I'm not working today. It's Saturday, I'm at home. Can I ask why?"
"Oh... I just thought if I would come round to cook and repay you for looking after Peetee, then I'd make sure to come to the shop after it's closed, but not too late?"
Tony took a big breath, trying to find his courage. After a moment of pause, he found his voice again. "Um, Steve? I just wanted to say that I'm sorry if this is too forward, and if you want to meet at the shop it's totally fine! But, maybe you could, um... Come over to my place?" He asked, a bit hopeful.
There was a seconds pause, where Steve smiled. "Sure, what's the address?"
"Really?!" Tony asked loudly, then winced. "Sorry about that, I get excited sometimes..." As he told Steve his address, Tony hurried up to hide his dresses, skirts and feminine clothing, along with his heels. He didn't want to freak Steve out.
Steve had said he would just need to hunt the meat and then would head over, apologising if it was too late for Tony, but was quickly reassured. He made his way into the forest, taking a few of the boys with him and leaving Peter back with the pack Aunties. They got to the hunt.
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Quickly fixing his hair and clothes, making sure his apartment was clean for the last time, Tony almost jumped when the doorbell sang out. He almost tripped as he quickly stepped over to open it. Trying not to stare too much, Tony gave Steve a friendly smile. "Hey, Steve! Thanks for coming!" He added, opening the door all the way. "I hope this wasn't any trouble."
Steve smiled, holding a brown parcel with the steaks in. "No problem at all, Mr. Stark." He waited for Tony to invite him in and when he did he complimented the mans apartment, it was a nice place, if a bit empty. He pulled out a bottle of a fairly nice red wine. Nothing too expensive but a fairly nice bottle.
"Tony's fine, Steve." Tony chuckled, taking the parcel, eyes widening at the sight of the bottle. "Oh... did you bring this for dinner?" Tony asked quietly, feeling his cheeks redden slightly.
"Yes, I bought red meat so... From what I've heard red wine is best. I think white goes with fish but I only eat fish when they're around the rivers." He answered, seeming embarrassed about his hunting.
"Oh, Steve, thank you, that's so sweet but, um..." Tony stopped a bit to think of how to say it without making Steve feel bad. "Red wine DOES go good with red meat - which looks awesome, by the way, I love it, um... I don't... Steve, I don't drink. Anymore, I mean." Tony said gently, playing with his fingers.
Steve paused before chuckling. "Oh, good!" He laughed more at Tony's confused look. "It's alcohol free, I don't drink, It doesn't exactly... agree with me." He shrugged. "I wasn't sure if that made me weird or anything so... But, it looks like we have something in common!"
"Oh!" Tony exclaimed, taking the wine. Good then. Thank you, Steve, like I said it's a very sweet thing to do." He smiled, placing the bottle on the table, as he went back to cooking. "You can go and wait until food's ready in the living room! Should take another 30 minutes or so."
"Oh um.. Actually, I thought I might help you? I am fairly good at cooking... Not so much baking though." He chuckled, nervous. "I am kind of particular about my meat in all honesty... Plus I thought it would be fun for us both to cook?"
Tony stopped, blinking, turning to Steve with wide eyes. "You... want to help me?"
"Of course." Steve smiled.
Tony smiled brightly, and what a happy little thing that smile was, as softly looked up at Steve, motioning to follow him into the kitchen. "Thank you, Steve! Really. I can't remember the last time someone offered to help me. The onions are in there, can you cut them up for me?"
"Sure." Steve smiled and happily got to work chopping the onion.
"It's kind of late, though." Tony said, trying not to be too obvious. "Won't your wife get angry for staying this long? Assuming you didn't tell her?"
Steve gave a small smile. "Actually I never had a wife. Well, I had one girlfriend but that was only because my family didn't agree with not continuing the bloodline. we were only together when Peter was a baby, then she had to leave to join her father's... family." He shrugged. "I don't exactly find myself attracted to women anyway, I've always been more inclined to men."
"Oh, awesome..." Tony nodded, mentally doing a happy little dance. "Boyfriend, then?"
"Not with the people I'm currently with, we don't really have a lot of gay or Bi men in our... community."
"Oh. Cool." Tony wanted to know more about this whole thing, but he didn't want to make things uncomfortable between them. Eventually, he asked "...This will be very forward, but...I know what it's like not to be respected or treated like a human being because of something you can't control. I don't wish that on anyone. So if you and Peter ever need a place to say, or help in general... I'm here."
Steve looked up at him. "Oh, thank you." He gave a small smile. "I am happy with my people, we are a... close knit bunch. In fact one of the people from Shield is in our group! But it does get tiresome being with the same group all the time so I appreciate the offer, and I'm sure Peetee would love to come over, he doesn't exactly enjoy training..."
"Oh, training? Are you guys into sports, or something?" Tony asked curiously, as ever. He was waiting to see what type of training a toddler would need.
"Not exactly, more hunting, cooking, though running is a big part of it I suppose, so there is some stamina training involved." He seemed to get shy when talking about this sort of stuff, like it was something to be ashamed of.
"Hey, no need for that." Tony gently bumped Steve's shoulder with his, sending a reassuring smile in the other man's direction. "I...I don't know, the way you're talking about it makes me feel like you're ashamed or something. There's no reason to be that way with me. I won't judge."
Steve smiled, something twinkling behind his eyes. "Most people aren't as accepting of... Hunters. In all honesty, we aren't like most hunters, like I said we use all parts of the animals to make sure there's no waste and the animals life went to something good. We also make sure to not hurt them too much and try to be as humane as possible... Well, most of us." he continued chopping vegetables and such. "So what about you? Partners, girls, boys?"
"Both." Tony answered, turning a bit red, avoiding Steve's eyes. Now it was his turn to take the shy guy role. "I get the best of both worlds, I mean. I-I like them both. Equally. I don't make differences, why do people even do that?" He was rambling at this point, and he wanted the ground to swallow him because he just embarrassed himself in front of Steve. Again.
But Steve chuckled. "Sounds fun in all honesty. Though I've never personally been attracted to women, I can see the appeal." He smiled, reassuringly. "Want me to put the meat on?"
"Yeah, sure, I'll uh, I'll roast the potatoes." Tony stuttered, as he began his work. He noticed his shirt was getting a little dirty, and not thinking, he said; "Steve, do you mind bringing me a new shirt? They should be in the closet, in my room."
"Oh, um, sure, I'll be right back." He chuckled and headed into the bedroom, picking up a nice shirt he thought would look good on Tony and accent his good parts, mainly his muscles.
The colour drained from Tony's face once he realised that he put his other clothes in there too. He dropped everything he was doing and raced up the stairs, praying Steve hadn't found them yet. "Steve, wait! I'll get it myself, it's-" as he arrived in front of his room, Tony gulped when he saw Steve holding his favourite red dress, a nice shirt of his resting in Steve's forearm, but the hunter's attention was completely on the red material. "Fine..." He finished, almost none audible.
Steve smiled, a small blush on his face. "Yours, or?" His tone wasn't mean or mocking as Tony had expected, it threw him through a loop in all honesty.
Tony blushed darkly, playing with the material of his shirt, not being able to meet Steve in the eye. He nodded shortly, not saying a word.
Steve walked over, handing the shirt he'd picked out to Tony, before leaning down and whispering; "It's cute." Before waking past and back to the kitchen to prepare the steaks.
Tony stayed there frozen for about 5 more minutes, tightly clutching the shirt to his chest before changing. The blush never left his face as he slowly walked downstairs to Steve preparing the stakes. He went straight for his own job, ignoring the silence that suddenly fell upon the room.
"How do you like it?" Steve asked across the room.
"I-I love them, " Tony managed, concentrating on his work, determined not to make eye contact. "they smell good. Good job."
Steve chuckled. "I meant how do you like it cooked, silly." He placed his own onto the plate, almost raw. "I'm guessing medium well? That's how most people have it?"
Tony nodded, actually looking up now. "Y-Yeah, that'd be more than perfect. Thank you."
"No problem! Wanna set up the table while I dish up?" Steve smiled.
Tony was already on it. "Sure thing! Tell me if you need anything else, okay?"
"Will do" Steve replied, still smiling as he began plating up the food.
As Tony set the table, he couldn't help but feel like he was being watched. It wasn't an uncomfortable or unfamiliar feeling since he was used with getting checked out by strangers everyday, but still, this time felt... special. After he was done, he turned and smiled at Steve, moving to take the plate of steak out of his hands. "Let me help."
Steve nodded. "You can grab the wine if ya like?"
"Yeah, sure, I'll do that." Tony nodded back, placing the steaks on the table and leaving to grab the wine.
Steve smiled and took a seat, waiting for the other man to return before he would begin eating.
"Alright, I'm back!" Tony smiled, pouring some wine for Steve and a little for himself, sitting down at the table. "So, how are things with you?"
"Grand." Steve smiled, accepting the wine and sending a thanks tony's way.
"I'm glad." Tony smiled softly, staring into his plate.
Steve looked up at him. "Do you say grace? If not we can dig in?"
"Oh yeah, I wasn't - no problem, dig in big guy." Tony blushed, closing his eyes with a wince. 'What is it with me and being like this around people I like?' He though, sheepishly playing with his food.
"So, Tony, how did you get into baking?" Steve asked, seeming generally interested in tony's life.
Then, the biggest, warmest smile stretched on Tony's lips, a genial sparkle twinkling in his eyes as he began to tell Steve about it. ''My mother was a busy person, you know? She always had something to do, someone to see, charities to attend, and so on. Point is, I didn't see her often..." Tony looked a bit sad as he got to that part, but quickly recovered "But when I did... God, Steve, I was at my happiest. She didn't have much time, but when she had, we'd always bake together. I always liked it, and my mother learned it for me so we'd have something to do together... When I bake, I feel like she's with me. I feel at my happiest."
A smile had crept onto Steve's face as Tony spoke, his enthusiasm contagious. "That's pretty cool, Tony. I had to get into cooking quite early with my lot, how to season meat, and seal it and stuff, but I'm terrible at baking." He admitted.
"You're very good at cooking, thought." Tony complimented him as he bit into the tender meat, an appreciative moan escaping his mouth, which he ignored, along with his red face. "This may be the best dinner I've ever had."
Steve blushed slightly at the praise. "Thank you, the others tend to get me to cook a lot."
"If they all have Peter's appetite, then I'm sorry buddy."
Steve chuckled. "Trust me, the full grown men are animals and the women aren't that much better. I try to teach Peetee that if he eats like they do he'll get sick because it's happened before. Kid doesn't realise when he's full." He had an exasperated smile on his face talking about his son, he clearly had a lot of love for the boy.
A gentle upward arch of his lips that made his cheeks hurt made Tony's eyes sparkle again as he chuckled. "If you need back up for dinner night, you know who to call."
Steve chuckled. "That I do, it is much better company~"
"Stop." Tony whispered with a smile on his face as he stared down at his shoes, heart beating faster and faster with every minute. "You're too sweet."
Steve chuckled. "Well, I'm from Brooklyn." He shrugged, like that explained anything.
Tony chuckled "Georgia boys are the sweetest, and that's that."
Steve laughed. "So, got any hobbies other than engineering and baking?"
"Um, well, I like fashion a lot, so..." Tony said shyly, almost with shame. ''Its... Something I'm very fond of, and it's fun for me, so."
"You realise there's nothing to be embarrassed about... right?"
Tony's shocked eyes snapped up to meet Steve's soft ones as he quietly asked. "W-What?"
"I don't mind, I think it's... endearing. Besides, aren't most fashion designers guys?" Steve smiled softly. "It's nothing to be ashamed of and I bet you look damn good in that dress." He gave a small wink and drank some of his wine.
'He doesn't mean it,' that ugly voice that always walked around Tony's mind whispered to him. And his voice remained a terrible thing still 'he thinks you're a freak. A weirdo. He's just saying it to get into your pants, then he'll ditch you, like I did~'. "Steve are you,'' Tony hated how his voice broke like it did. "Are you-are you making fun of me?"
Steve looked up at him, an eyebrow raised and a sad look coming across his face. "No. Tony... I'm being completely honest..."
"But it's not..." Tony gulped, taking a shaky sip of water "Normal. For me to do, what I do."
Steve raised a brow "Really? Cuz in the nearby town I believe there's multiple bars dedicated to what you do, with lots of customers..."
"It's-it's not the same!" Tony shook his head with a blush. "I don't... Do that for money or something like that. I mean, I know some, um, people do it because they're comfortable, so am I, but it's just it... Makes me feel pretty..." He said the last part so quietly, that if Steve wouldn't have had werewolf hearing, he wouldn't have caught it.
"And that's completely fine, honestly. I do some pretty questionable stuff myself but you don't judge me for that. Why on earth would I judge you for something you enjoy?" Steve seemed to not know what to do, a bit flustered at suddenly getting questioned by the man he had been having a rather fun night with.
Tony was at loss for words, so he decided to stay quiet for the rest of their dinner. He didn't know how to respond to the positivity of responses Steve gave him. He was used to disgusted stares from his partners, a wink and lecherous lick of lips from interested peers who'd leave the next day, and ignorant questions, not... What Steve gave him. He washed the dishes in the sink when he felt a hand on his shoulder and he tried not to wince. Looking up, Tony gave Steve a smile. "Yeah?" He asked softly.
"I have to get back to Peter... This was a lovely evening, though." He smiled softly, worried he'd hurt Tony's feelings. "Did you like your steak?"
"Yeah, it was awesome." Tony nodded. "Let me pack some for Peter, I'm sure he'd like them, right?" He asked, already getting to work.
"Oh, no it's fine, honestly." He smiled. "I'll make sure to tell Peetee you said hi... Um... Would you want to... hang out again? I do like your company."
"I...I'd love that, if you wanted."
Steve smiled "Of course, well I should get going, you have my number." He smiled. "maybe next time we could go into town or... Take Peter somewhere."
"I'd love to take him to a dog park!" Tony suddenly brightened. "He loves wolves so much, so I figured dogs might be his favourite. We could go play there for a while then have lunch afterwards if you want?"
Steve smiled, happy Tony was happy. "Of course." He headed to the door. "Thank you for the great dinner"
"Thank YOU..." Tony shyly said, raising himself on his tiptoes to press a gentle kiss on Steve's cheek. Blushing, he pulled away and looked down. "I'll... Be seeing you?"
Steve smiled softly, a slight flush coming over his face. "Definitely."
"Awesome." Tony smiled back. "It was nice seeing you again. I can't wait to see Peter."
Steve nodded and they agreed to phone each other within the next week, and Steve headed back to the forest.