Post AoU for starkingenuity

[starspangledspandex]

He's old. Old enough to have settled down. Old enough he's letting other people save the world and only stepping in from time to time. There's no 'Honey I'm home' when he steps through door. There's silence and quiet. He makes dinner for one. His bed is cold. He sits and reads the paper while he watches the world move on outside. There's laughter in the hallway. Footsteps. No one knocks on his door. He eats leaning against the counter in the kitchen. Alone. All alone. 'I got no plans tomorrow night' echos in his mind.

Suddenly, no one is on the streets. There are no numbers in his phone. Everything empty and gone and there's just Steve. Steve standing in nothingness. 'Man out of time' 'Nothing but a soldier' 'You can't live without a war' 'Go home, Steve'

He jolted awake, hand raising to rub at his face and it shouldn't have been a nightmare at all but it is anyway. How alone he felt in this century. His friends helped, they did, but they couldn't always be here. He lived and breathed his life as an Avenger. What else did he have? Nothing. He shook it off, like he always did and got dressed, laced up his boots. Most of his team was out of the picture right now. Off doing whatever they did on leave.

Steve paced his room at the New Avenger facility, paced the hallways and spoke to the Agents that were here. He took a walk outside and thought of Tony. The billionaire visited every once in awhile but it'd been awhile. He didn't even know what the man was up to now but Steve... Steve needed to connect with someone to shake off the dredges of his loneliness, someone that wasn't just working here, someone he had a connection to.

So he called Tony.

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[starkingenuity]

It was like they were back at playing chicken again, just a few inches from each other, only enough to keep from touching when they exhaled. Nothing else seemed to make a difference any more. The vodka wasn't enough to remind him of how stupid this was or how pointless in the end. There was no way to keep the strings off.

Tony saw his jaw, lifting his hand slowly to press it against Steve's chest the same way that Peggy had when she first caught a glimpse of him. He was so warm. Warm like Banner was warm. And hard.

Tony wet his lips, eyes on his fingers rather than on Steve watching him. He had to say something... "Just a prototype. Trying out different fabrics. I think a darker blue, what do you think?" Talking about boxers at a time like this was obviously a sign of nerves.

[starspangledspandex]

Almost like they were playing chicken, yes. It was almost silly. They were both already here and apparently willing or they wouldn't even have made it this far. He supposed it was easier to flirt than to go through with it but he did mean it. Dancing around one another wasn't going to work.

He glanced down at the man's boxers now, though he definitely inspected the hand pressed against him and looked back up at the older man. "It should be darker," he agreed. "Closer to mine."

Okay, this was just ridiculous now. Both of them were nervous but neither of them needed to be. One of them needed to take charge in here somewhere and Steve did just that, drawing on Captain America for a little help in the matter. He grabbed Tony and pressed him up against the nearest wall, hesitating only a moment to see if the man struggled, then leaned in to firmly press their lips together.

[starkingenuity]

"Woah--" This was a first for him. Tony was like an old time crooner, a little bit smarmy but incredibly romantic when it came down to these particular moments. He wasn't a press em to a wall type but you know what? It kind of worked. Okay, it really worked. Tony liked rushes. And the charge of adrenaline. He liked the pressure. The way it made him gasp. And honestly, it was pretty romantic, in the old timey sort of way where gentlemen grabbed their ladies for a kiss.

Not that he was lady. He didn't look good in dresses but he did have nice calves...

Never mind. Didn't matter. If Tony struggled, it was only to make himself a little taller so that he could meet Steve as halfway as possible. He grabbed onto his shoulder and then slid an arm around his neck.

Whatever else was going on, Tony wasn't sure he cared. In the back of his mind, he did try to memorize the color of Steve's underwear. For market research.

[starspangledspandex]

He tended to prefer a little more romance himself but this was taking too long and one of them needed to break the ice. He figured it might as well be him and he dropped his hands to gently rest on Tony's waist, relaxing slightly to soften the action just a little.

See. There. Ice broken. Now they could get on with it.

Steve was more than happy to kiss Tony and made a pleased sound when the man returned it. He pulled back and his breath was just a little quicker. Yes, he was definitely interested. Certain parts of him would prove it rather easily. "Sorry," he said, instinctively apologizing for any awkwardness in the kiss. "I'm a little rusty."

[starkingenuity]

Tony wet his lips yet again and he watched Steve's mouth move away from him. He couldn't help but smile, one of those real smiles, not a smirk as usual. He hadn't expect this when he jumped into the suit and came over to do some repair work. His whole body was singing so strangely now, humming almost. He had done this enough to sort of forget what butterflies could feel like sometimes.

"What? No. Shut up," he breathed, pulling Steve back again. Their hips didn't exactly line up but Tony tried to fit that by letting the wall hold him up.

He wouldn't always say that he was picky-- But when he picked up leggy blondes in the time before Pepper Potts, they tended to have breasts.

"Come back here." It had been awhile since he had just made out with someone. And he liked how Steve kissed. That didn't mean he couldn't show him a thing or six.

[starspangledspandex]

Tony's smile made him smile in return. He liked the genuine expression on the older man. It made him feel good and so did Tony pulling him back in for another kiss. If he wanted their hips to meet, all he needed to do was say. Steve readily, and easily, slipped his hands under Tony's thighs so he was supported.

"Oh, I'm not going anywhere," he told him. He was definitely happy with the making out, with tasting Tony and yeah, learning a little bit. Steve learned fast which just made it fun.

[starkingenuity]

"Just rub it in," Tony breathed, talking about his stature as Steve gave him that boost. He couldn't help but feel equal parts ridiculous and cared for, though Steve surely could not know what it would do for him. Tony moved his arms around Steve's neck again, feeling entirely too much of Steve's body.

Why did he even bother wearing clothing?

When had he started finding men so irresistibly sexy?

He ended up wrapping one leg around Steve's waist. Just because. His fingers inched up into blond hair.

"I don't usually say this about dudes," he panted, "but you're fucking hot. Literally. How are you not always sweating?"

[starspangledspandex]

Of course, that might be what Tony meant but that didn't have to be how Steve took it. He wasn't quite the naive person that some people took him to be. So he ground his hips briefly against Tony and chuckled, leaning into him.

Steve shrugged, "I'd have to say that's because my temperature regulates itself pretty well without sweating." Thank you, Captain Obvious. He knew it too. He distracted the older man with another deep kiss, sliding his tongue along Tony's lips and not giving him a chance to worry about it.

[starkingenuity]

Tony's eyes opened before his mouth did to retort, but it was hard to talk with a tongue in your mouth and besides, he could just file that away to torment Steve about later. As he had on the motorcycle, Tony's hands decided to wander. He was somewhat fascinated by Steve's body. Anatomically perfect, he could feel each muscle group work with even the smallest twitch of Steve's arm or leg. He was insanely powerful, not just before he could lift him and hold him so easy, but because there was almost no strain that he could feel beneath his fingers.

In fact, there was only strain on one particular area...and that area was throbbing against his thigh, massive and thick and Tony wasn't really sure how far he wanted to go with that right now. He wasn't the sort of man to really like babysteps but...

"Your bed isn't going to work," he groaned. "You might not get rug burns but I will."

[starspangledspandex]

He hummed appreciatively as Tony's hands moved over his body. He liked being touched. He definitely didn't get enough skin contact. Maybe this would fix that. If this could be a regular thing, it might even keep the nightmares at bay which was his ultimate goal.

So he kissed Tony and maybe rubbed himself a little on the man's leg. He couldn't help it. His body was young and very interested in the older man.

Steve pulled back slightly, glancing over his shoulder at his bed and then he gave Tony a confused look. "Rug burns?" he asked. "What do you mean?"

[starkingenuity]

Tony was surprised that he didn't find Steve naivety to be annoying. He was too breathless and he felt a little bit like a teenager. Of course, as a teenager, he was around young adults several years older than he was who didn't want to get it on with a kid. He never had this experience until his parents died and he took over the company.

The weird kid was suddenly God's gift. He drank up the attention, slept with everyone that he could manage--

But this was different. It made him realize how hollow sex could be. Now, he was just having a good time without some pressing need to sew his wild anythings.

"Did anyone teach you about the birds and the bees, Rogers?"

[starspangledspandex]

It wasn't exactly his fault he was frozen in ice for seventy-five years. Schmidt was the one that created the ship and forced him to go down with it. He couldn't help that he didn't have a lot of time for sex either.

"I know how sex works, Tony," he scoffed, eyes amused as he shook his head.

[starkingenuity]

"So... We roll around on the carpet and you get a little too Captain for my America and I'm going to need skin grafts." It was not going to be a good look for him. Tony gave Steve a little tap on the shoulder to let him down and ran his hands through his own hair. He was sweating, even if Steve wasn't. The man was ridiculously attractive...something Tony couldn't help but note was a recent thing in his notice. He was pretty sure that had nothing to do with anything sinister and just that he really needed to get off. Badly.

But here? Nah, they couldn't do it here.

He turned back to Steve and put his hands on hips that were somewhat feminine in their plumpness as he smirked. "You'll have to come and visit me in the Tower for round two."

And that would give him time to figure out if he really wanted something so sexual with Steve Rogers of all people.

[starspangledspandex]

Steve was still confused because he did have a bed and he was pretty sure two would fit if one of them was on top of the other, which was how this worked. "And what's wrong with the bed?" he asked again, because he was really trying to understand this here.

He didn't want to put him down. Steve was hard and throbbing inside his underwear. It made him pant slightly as he hesitated, then did as Tony wanted, which freed one of his hands to press against his erection. He didn't expect Tony to be so much of a tease.

[starkingenuity]

Tony narrowed his eyes for two reasons. First, it was to gesture to the bed. "There's no reinforcement there. And it's boring. You can't move around."

Second... Oh, the way he covered himself... Tony needed to remember how young Steve was.

How very half his own age Steve was.

Damn.

"If that's bothering you... There are other things to do that don't require archaic and horrible SHIELD beds."

[starspangledspandex]

"Boring," he repeated, frowning at Tony. He didn't see how sex could be boring but okay, he wasn't going to force him into it. If he wasn't feeling it, Steve would just have to go to the Tower and take care of himself in the meantime.

...but damn if he wasn't horny now.

He shook his head, because it stood to reason that if Tony wanted to do one of those other options, he would have already done it and Steve wasn't going to pull the guilty card on a partner. It wouldn't be the first time he was uncomfortable. "I'm alright. I'll just take a cold shower. When should I come by the Tower?"

[starkingenuity]

Sex was boring, or could be, when you had as much of it as Tony had. Maybe it was less about showing Steve had to do it as letting Steve show him how to do it? Reminding him that it could be good without all of the paraphernalia again?

Tony found himself curiously drawn back to the blond but he had never begged for it in his life and if Steve wanted his shower cold, let him.

"Got any plans for tomorrow night?"

[starspangledspandex]

A connection probably helped in that department. Random one night stands just didn't have the same appeal to them. It was the whole reason Steve didn't just jump into bed with random people. Where was the fun in that? Surely it was better to know the person you were sleeping with?

Cold shower was just fine by him. They were just taking it slow here. It was probably better than jumping into the deep end.

"No, team should still be out," Steve told him.

[starkingenuity]

A connection? Tony had that once. Pepper had taken that away from him. And in a way? So did Banner. He frowned a little, watching Steve, before the corners of his lips turned up.

"Even if they were back, you deserve a night off. They take one whenever they want, huh? Where's my pants... Never mind, got them."

He was dressed a few minutes later but that didn't mean that Tony wasn't lingering. He found the thought strange. "Or tonight..?"

[starspangledspandex]

"Not necessarily whenever they want, but they're on official leave right now," Steve explains and technically he's on leave too but he doesn't have anywhere to go, not with Sam out chasing Bucky leads. He tracks down his own pants, just so he looks a little proper when Tony leaves and he raises an eyebrow at the offer.

He can hardly turn it down. "I wouldn't mind but I'm not sure they'll be able to have a jet ready for me."

[starkingenuity]

"Whenever they do," Tony smirked, shimmying into his jeans. "You know where I'll be." Steve could just take the two hour ride by bike if he wanted to as well but the quinjet would be quicker.

Tony dressed slowly. He had to crawl under the sofa for a kicked away shoe. And maybe he was stalling.

Was it wrong to like kissing someone so much?

[starspangledspandex]

"I do," he nodded, still watching Tony and that wasn't helping him in the erection department. Steve was convinced he did it on purpose.

"I can bring the equipment to the Tower instead," he offered, since he didn't know how long it would take. "We won't need it right away."

He crossed to the table by the door to pick up his phone and called down to tell them to ready a jet for him. He was pleasantly surprised to hear it would only be an hour.

[starkingenuity]

Tony wasn't expecting something so soon, but he did tell Steve whenever. It wasn't going to give him a whole lot of time to think... But hey, thems the breaks. And it was probably better if he didn't stop to think too much. He'd enjoyed the against the wall make out...a lot. Too much. To have Steve on his own turf would be a lot easier.

He pulled on his shoes and finally did up his fly before glancing over his shoulder. "Friday will let you in," he said, not lingering.

That was another game...to make them want more. What had he gotten himself into?

[starspangledspandex]

Steve might be a little stir crazy. He didn't expect a jet so soon either but they probably thought he needed to get out as much as he did at this point.

He was enjoying himself. No doubt about it. Steve nodded, "I'll be there." He watches Tony leave wishing just a little that he had kissed him again and goes for the shower. He didn't need to be sporting anything when he went down to get the jet.

It was actually two hours before the jet was ready and loaded with the equipment. Steve sent ahead his arrival time and took off, letting the AI fly. Sitting here thinking about it for two hours was a terrible idea too, so he worked to distract himself and was relieved when the Tower came into sight.

[starkingenuity]

It wasn't that Tony had forgotten about Steve... He had just gotten distracted. Tony hadn't showered. He still smelled like wings and like Steve himself. He was busy in the lab checking out a ping from surveillance about where Bruce might be.

Friday let him know that Steve had landed a few moments after it happened and Tony blinked. Where had the time gone? "Send him down," he started, before catching himself. "No. Prepare a scotch, neat. And send him to my bedroom."

Tony needed to take his shot and then he would join the blond somewhere comfortable. It did mean that Steve would be left waiting another few minutes.