(no subject)

[capsicle1919]

*post-battle (genetically-engineered pterodactyls, really?), Steve arrives via helicopter back at the Tower, hops out and gives a tired wave to Natasha and Clint as they power down, makes his way inside and down the elevator to the debriefing room, which is not, in fact, where they are debriefed - that happens at SHIELD - but rather where they shower and change, and so named because Tony decided it's where they are de-briefed, and Steve's never been able to think of it as anything else, goddammit*

Hey. *nods at Bruce, who is drinking a gallon of Gatorade, passes him by and heads straight for the showers, leaning his shield against the wall, starts stripping out of his damaged, blood-spattered uniform*

Comments

[capsicle1919]

*smiles a bit more, pops an olive into his mouth* We didn't even have a phone, when I was a kid. We had to run down to the five-and-dime and ask Mister Possetti if we could use his. *licks olive brine from his fingers* I bet you wouldn't last five minutes without a phone.

[thestarkside]

*stares at him, losing track of the conversation in favor of the curl of Steve's tongue around his fingers, forces himself to shake it off* ...sorry, I -- what was that?

[capsicle1919]

*makes a face* Eat your sandwich, Tony. You'll need your strength so you can paint the suit yellow like a taxi cab. *grins toothily and bites into a ghost pepper*

[thestarkside]

*blinks, good god he's attractive* So I can what? Did you make that up? I think you just made that up. *finishes reassembling his sandwich, much better, gives it a satisfied nod before taking a bite, chews, swallows, and adds, as an afterthought -- * Tease.

[capsicle1919]

Okay, then how about orange like a school bus? *grins, the pepper is terrifically hot, but for him it's a nice burn that flushes his cheeks* I think it'd look pretty snazzy.

[thestarkside]

You'd have me paint it red, white, and blue if you could. *and if he's a little breathless, who can blame him, really, with Steve grinning at him, fucking well flirting with him, while looking like that*

[capsicle1919]

*brightens* That. Is a great idea. Stop jabbering and eat. Wastin' daylight, son. *chows down on his sandwich*

[thestarkside]

That was a joke, honeybear, gold and hotrod red are my colors, and those colors don't run. *throws a piece of tomato at his head and misses entirely, gives up and eats his sandwich*

[capsicle1919]

*plucks the tomato from the counter and chomps on it, smirking at Tony, eats like his sandwich is going to run away*

[thestarkside]

*tries not to stare at Steve's mouth as he eats -- boy can open his mouth wide, and his lips are so goddamn pink -- manages to eat about three quarters of his own (actually pretty delicious) sandwich before all the bits that always get squashed to the end while eating any sandwich start dripping out, and suddenly there's mayo all over his hand* Oh, fail. *puts the sandwich down and licks up the palm of his hand up to his fingers, cleaning himself up, honestly -- honestly -- not even thinking about what it looks like*

[capsicle1919]

What- oh. *stares, because Tony is licking his fingers, and it looks like... It looks like things he does not let himself think about, but he's thinking about it, how much he wishes Tony's flirting was sincere and not just attempts to get his goat, swallows hard and puts down the remainder of his sandwich, clears his throat and goes to the fridge* Want something to drink?

[thestarkside]

Nah, I'm good. *looks up and the back of Steve's neck and his ears are bright red, Tony didn't even say anything, what -- oh, oh, WELL then* Huh.

[capsicle1919]

*gets a glass of milk and chugs it, swallowing quickly, finishes up and licks his lips, puts the glass in the sink* I think Natasha baked some cookies. *looks at Tony, little smile* You finished your sandwich, so you should have a couple.

[thestarkside]

*laughs* My reward for being such a good boy? *hops off the counter, waggles his eyebrows* I can think of better ones.

[capsicle1919]

*rolls his eyes* I bet. *picks up his sandwich, takes a bite, a little rivulet of mayo at the corner of his mouth*

[thestarkside]

*blinks, stares at him for a beat too long, then steps in close, swiping his thumb across the corner of Steve's lips and bringing it to his own mouth, sucks it off, maintaining eye contact, grins wickedly at Steve around his thumb* Messy.

*lets the moment hang for a moment, then drops his hand and claps Steve on the shoulder, bouncing a little on the balls of his feet* Now c'mon, are we going to do this thing or what!

[capsicle1919]

*nearly chokes on his last bite of sandwich, forces himself to swallow and looks at Tony, startled, did he really just do that, he'd underestimated how much Tony enjoys getting him riled up* All right. *clears his throat* Let me just clean up. *puts their dishes in the sink, turns off the light and follows Tony to the elevator*

[thestarkside]

*studies Steve as the elevator climbs to R&D* Do you feel more secure in the grip of your left hand or your right? *pauses* Not an innuendo. *smiles*

[capsicle1919]

Tony... *sighs* I favor my left. My ma said I was born a lefty but the nuns made me be right-handed. Said left-handedness was unnatural. *snorts* I guess I missed Jesus's monologue on the evils of people who use their left hands to do stuff.

[thestarkside]

*barks out a laugh* Amen, etcetera. *gives him a thumbs up as the doors open, strides out into his kingdom* But when I said grip, I meant grip -- like, which hand would you want to hang on with and which would you rather have free? *frowns* Which hand would I rather have free. Huh. *snaps at Dummy, points at a pile of rusted (bloody) pieces of old armor on a table he told Dummy to clean up this morning* Hey, this your new art project or something, or are you gonna do what we talked about?

[capsicle1919]

*is momentarily distracted by Tony's laugh, it's a real one, sincere, and it's because of Steve and for a second he feels like it might be his greatest achievement, making Tony Stark laugh for real* Uh - right. I'd rather have my right hand free. I throw with it. *mimics swinging his shield*

[thestarkside]

Right. *looks at him for a long moment, trying to figure out how to test this* ...Okay, I think I lied before about talking this out. We've gotta try it first, otherwise how're we going to know what the gaps are, what's needed and what'd be extraneous. *sucks at his teeth, thinking, then nods* Yep. That's it. Okay. You left a jacket here once, it's in the closet there, go grab it, it gets kinda chilly the further up you go -- though, uh, I guess you'd know that, crap, sorry, okay, yeah, I'm just gonna go -- suit up. *feels like an ass, snatches up two bracelets and snaps them on*

[capsicle1919]

*gives Tony a funny look, but goes and gets the jacket, truth is he's a little thrilled that he's going to go flying with Tony, he's only ever been in a plane, but Tony looks so free and Steve would, for once, like to know what that's like* I think this is my favorite version of the armor yet.

[thestarkside]

*the suit flies out at him, unfolding as it goes, latching and clicking and whirling around his torso, his arms, his legs, looks up at Steve when he says that, kind of startled that Steve has opinions about his suits, and smiles brilliantly once it sinks in* Thanks, Steve. *the helmet builds itself around his head but he doesn't close the faceplate yet* Right, so. C'mere, let's figure this out.

[capsicle1919]

Where do you want me? *regrets it the instant he says it, because he's just given Tony the key to the city, if the city is flirting and making Steve miserable* I mean, tell me where to stand. *gruffly*