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Steve Rogers had been a lot of things in his life. A symbol, a legend, a man behind time, a teammate, a friend, a threat for the world, an outlaw, a lover, a hero, again, but he had never been the kind of person who minded others’ business.
Steve Rogers was an observant man as well, and while he didn’t really care about what was going on between Tony Stark and the Supreme Sorcerer, he couldn’t deny that something existed.
It all started once they managed to revert the Snap and the ones who had been dusted came back to life. Steve and Tony had to work together, and they did it, trying to suppress all the unsaid things that had been between them in the past two years. Not speaking about that was better. They had more important things to focus on, and both of them were avoiding the specific topic concerning Siberia and Bucky. This until Thanos’s body laid on the dust floor of the Wakandan battlefield.
Well, even after, considering that Steve had been very, very busy in trying to speak Bucky into the entire “I’ve always been in love with you” ordeal. Steve cared about Tony, but he would have chosen Bucky over and over again, and that was clear to all the people involved.
So, when the majority of the Avengers headed back in New York, Steve and Bucky decided to stay in Wakanda a little bit longer, to help T’Challa in the rebuilding of his own kingdom, take some time for themselves, and figure things out. Nat’s malicious smile, when he said that loud, was still haunting Steve’s memories, but once his friend all but threw herself in Bucky’s arms whispering something which Barnes still didn’t want to tell him in his ear, Steve realized his life was going on the right path, for once since 1945.
But, of course, despite Wakanda being a literal paradise, Steve knew that he still had things to do, back home. He wasn’t a coward, he wasn’t going to hide forever in Africa in order to avoid his old friend. They needed to speak, and they needed to work together, again, in case some looming threat was waiting for them at the corners of this universe. Or a different one, if Wong wasn’t a liar. And considering that the man didn’t give Rogers those kind of vibes, he was pretty sure the Avengers couldn’t just retire.
So, thanks to T’Challa’s help, who all but bought their pardons to the UN, Steve suspected - but it wasn’t like he could be picky about his coming back in the US - they managed to land at the JFK, journalists and photographers miraculously interested in something else, apparently.
Natasha and Fury were the only people standing near the airstrip, along with a blonde woman that Steve had never seen before.
“Captain, Sergeant,” The woman gathered them. “Major Carol Danvers. It’s a pleasure to have you back. Director Fury will update you on the new version of the Accords you’ll be asked to sign. Agent Romanoff and Tony Stark went through them which is the reason why she’s with us today.”
Steve wondered why the woman was there, to be honest, but decided to keep his questions for another time; and while he felt Bucky’s body straightened uncomfortably at the mention of Stark, the soft squeeze his boyfriend gave him was enough for Steve to understand that he would have been fine, for the time being.
During the car ride, they both understood that they were heading to the Avengers Compound, that Carol Danvers worked with the team of New York during the planning of the strategies that lead to the defeat of the Mad Titan, that Phil Coulson was still alive (Steve was sincerely relieved by that information. He really liked the man and felt like his death was on him), and, most important, about the New Accords. Which contained a lot of restrictions for him (and, surprising enough, not for Bucky).
Apparently, being very likely the next queen of Wakanda brought Nat to have more freedom than everyone else in the so-called “Team Cap”, or maybe Stark was just being petty toward him. Not that Steve could blame him, but every hope to go back to Brooklyn needed to be stored away for the time being, apparently.
--
“Stark wants to see you,” Sam told him, and for a moment Steve found himself looking at his friend, wandering with whom he was speaking. Since Bucky and him came back from Wakanda, the man had been a sort of ghost. They met a couple of times, of course, during meetings both with the Avengers and the New Accords Commission, but it wasn’t like they really spoke in those occasions. Stark wanting to see him came out of nowhere.
“Did he mention why?” Steve asked. Sam shook his head, moving closer and looking over Steve’s shoulder to meet Sharon’s smile. Skype was the greatest invention of the century if you asked Cap. He and Peggy’s niece were still in more than good terms, and with the fact that she worked with Everett Ross and spent half of her time in Wakanda anyway, she really helped him with the entire Bucky question.
“No, but he’s with Strange, so if you need back-ups just tell me,” But he was looking at Sharon and probably Steve had to leave the two of them alone. Oh yes, Steve was also a good observer.
“It’s fine, thanks,” He said, instead, leaving the ‘Rogues common room’ and following Friday’s voice to reach her creator. Tony was seated on one of the couches, half curled up against the Supreme Sorcerer. At Stark’s other side there was a redheaded woman that Steve had never seen before and Bruce. The four of them seemed to be invested in some conversation that Steve couldn’t hear from where he was and that didn't want to eavesdrop.
He found himself asking how much he missed from not coming back from Wakanda. After the Snap, he went back to the Compound just to see what was left of the City he loved, and then came back in Africa leaving Bruce, Rhodey and Tony (once he came back from the space) to coordinate the scientific resources while he took care of the search for Thanos. Natasha was looking for Clint all over the world, and Thor was in the middle of the space, searching for the remains of his people along with someone called Valkyrie. Most of the people he knew in that span of time, were from Wakanda or from the Army, and none of them was the woman in the common room.
But, anyway, introductions should be postponed because the moment the four of them acknowledged of Rogers’s presence, Banner and the woman left, and Tony straightened up on the couch. Steve recognized that behaviour. It was the one Stark showed when he was speaking with politicians or lawyers, fake smile and all. Being at the other side of that was slightly uncomfortable for the super soldier, and he couldn’t even imagine how it was for the people who wanted to ask Stark some favour.
“Sam told me you wanted to speak,” Steve said, looking at the two men in front of him and questioning why Strange was there. He met the man’s companion and trusted Wong, but he knew too few about the Sorcerer Supreme to understand why he was around. If Tony wanted to speak about Siberia, which was highly probable, involving the other man meant that the genius had someone ready to agree with everything he was going to say.
Maybe he should have asked for Wilson to join him.
“Oh, yeah. It’s more Stephen’s, here, idea. Like, I agree on everything, almost, of what he said and we need to speak, and considering that everytime is just the two of us we blow up. Well, Stephen is the Switzerland.”
“Did you really just quoted Twilight?” Strange asked, mildly offended, apparently. The sorcerer was a different book to read from Tony, and Cap was just too surprised to do anything else but nodding, listening to what the younger man was saying. “Anyway, I came to know about the Siberian ordeal, and while I suspect both of you are trying to pretend it never happened, you are still working together, and living in the same place, so I think it’s better if you figure it out once for all. We are all tired of your passive-aggressive behaviour.”
Steve nodded. He tried to speak with Tony, when Stark came back, but that wasn’t the right moment, he understood that much too late. The man gave him a small smile and told him that they were good. They weren’t.
“I’m sorry,” Tony let out, before that Steve could say anything. He didn’t even understand what the man in front of him was sorry for. There were tons of things Steve blamed him, before. Now he couldn't bear himself to think about those. They both were wrong. Steve still didn’t believe to let others decide for their intervention was a good idea, but this didn’t mean that he wasn’t sorry for having tried to kill Tony.
He didn’t want to blame his boyfriend, because it wasn’t Bucky’s fault if he couldn’t keep his punches when he was involved, but he knew that seeing the man he loved being beaten by one of his friends drove him crazy.
“When I saw the video, I lost my control. I should have seen that was what Zemo wanted. I should have trusted you, back at the airport. If I did, Rhodey…” His voice trailed off, and Strange’s hand was on his shoulder a moment later. Tony rose his eyes to look at the Sorcerer and a moment later both of them nodded. Steve couldn’t help but noticed a sort of tenderness in Stark’s glance. “I’m sorry.”
Steve shook his head. He wasn’t ready for that. Once he walked into the room and understood what Tony wanted to speak about, he thought it was going to end in another fight. Not Stark telling him he was sorry. That changed the perspective of things.
“I was scared that you could kill him,” He said, who he was speaking about went unsaid. “What they did to him… Bucky would have never, he knew Howard, they were friends. And I know this doesn't justify what I’ve done. I knew he was alive, and I knew what he did. It was my call to take. But I just couldn’t... Hide what I knew about Bucky because I wanted to save him,” That was the reason why he deleted the file before giving the flash-drive to Nat. That was the reason why that video wasn’t among the other files spread in the world after the SHIELD downfall. “But I had other ways to stop you from killing him.”
He ran a hand in his hair. Steve was exhausted by simply stand here and speak and it wasn’t something that ever happened to him. He knew whatever kind of friendship he could have built with Tony was as good as dead, but Stark needed to know. He must give that much to the man.
“Thanos killed Gamora, and when Quill understood that, on Titan, he blew our only opportunity to take the gauntlet off from him,” Tony said, and that was the last thing Steve expected to hear. Nobody but the people who were there knew what happened on Titan, nobody knew how he got the Time Stone. Bruce, Wong and Thor, the people who knew Strange, said that he wouldn’t ever give the thing up, so everyone suspected blood had been spread on the planet. Once Tony and Nebula did come back, they said the others turned into dust and gave no further explanations. “He snapped, and I knew how he was going to react. I did the same. I screw up because I was a twenty-one year old kid again,” Steve tried not to think that Tony just put Bucky and Thanos on the same plane. I was a metaphor, a figure of speech. “And in front of me there was the person who killed my parents. I came there as a friend, as your pal Sam told me to do and… What I’m trying to say is that we both had been jerks, and I can understand why you did what you did. This doesn’t make it easier to accept, but, whatever. We might not be friends again, but no bad blood, ok?”
And when Tony extended his hand, Steve shook it. He hoped that, with time, things could go back to normality, but, for now, he wasn’t going to complain. “No bad blood.” He said.
“See, doctor, Cap and I are grown-ups, don’t need a babysitter,” Stark said, walking past the Sorcerer and smiling at him. Steve had been around Tony long enough to recognize that smile.
--
Harley Keener backed off the moment Steve walked into the penthouse main hall, not that the Captain was surprised but the kid’s behaviour. The last time the two of them had been in the same room, the blond teen told him that, considering that Tony said they need to be nice which each other, it was better if their paths didn’t cross. He simply couldn’t be civil with “fake Cap”. Because, apparently, Carol Denver was now Captain Marvel and “the Real Cap”.
Whatever, Steve never met the kid before, and considering that he was one of Tony’s kids he didn’t hope for him to understand how they managed things to work out. And he, anyway, was trying to speak with Peter who was speaking with the other teen for a moment before.
The point was that, even if he wasn’t Natasha, he noticed things. And he had to admit that Strange wasn’t as half an asshole as he appeared. They sort of getting along well. Like, not best pals, not even what Steve expected and wanted to, but in more than speaking terms. Of course, he was an ironic prick, but he was Tony’s friend or whatever, he couldn’t hope for nothing different. Anyway, he was sure not to be the only one to notice that there was something weird between Strange and Stark. And, maybe, involve a teenager wasn’t the best thing, but still.
Perhaps it was because he had never been there for a long time, but how could the other go through their constant banter-flirting every couple of days? He didn’t pretend to know so much about love stories, but they weren’t supposed to be excruciating for everyone around them.
Honestly, Steve spotted Strange looking at Tony a couple of times and if stares could strip clothes, Tony would have find himself naked in the middle of the training room more than once. But, apart from that, the Doctor was imperturbable. And Rogers had no idea about what him and Tony spoke about for hours. Everytime he and Strange spoke, the Captain found himself with the greatest headache ever. Just as it happened when he spoke with Banner, to be honest.
Anyway, back on the matter in question, he was sure whatever there was between the two of them was more than what it met the eyes and wanted to be sure about that. “Peter,” He said, seating on the coach opposite to the one the teen was occupying. Differently from Harley, at least Parker tried to be civil with him. It didn’t exactly work, but he didn’t walk out any room Steve entered either so he was going to count it as a win. “Can I ask you something?”
“I suppose I can’t forbid you to speak, Mr Rogers,” Peter said, looking at the man in front of him for half a second before going back to his StarkPad. “So, yeah, shoot.”
“That thing between Tony and Strange,” He said, unsure about how to finish the sentence. Maybe ask a teenager wasn’t the best thing ever, but Steve found himself at short of allies and the only two people in the Compound who he would have ask told him to mind his own business. Steve regretted the times when his boyfriend and his friend used every possible occasion they had to argue. At least, one of them was always by his side. But nope, he had to plead Bucky and Sam to try and get along. His words, anyway, caused some sort of reaction in Peter because Parker lowered his tablet and looked at Steve, brown eyes wide in attention.
Good, I’m not seeing things, then. He thought, before continuing. “Do they know?”
“Believe me, Mr Rogers, the only people in the Compound that don’t know that Mr Stark loves Dr Strange are Mr Stark and Dr Strange. I thought they would figure out when they helped Dr Palmer and Dr Banner, but nope, I’m delusional.”
Steve tried to remember who Dr Palmer was, then the image of the redheaded woman he saw a couple of times with Bruce and Strange crossed his mind and he decided she must be the person Peter was speaking about. “Anyway, why did you want to know?”
“It’s just… I can recognize the weird way Tony has to flirt. Been there, both with Bruce and Nat. And I think he honestly deserves happiness.”
Peter’s glance was enough of an answer to that, but, again, it wasn’t like Steve could complain. He messed things up. It was his fault in the first place if Tony’s last couple of years before Thanos hadn’t been his happiest ones. But the kid had a good heart and he cared about Stark, which meant that he also was the best person to ask help to. And maybe he didn’t need to know about Bruce and Nat, but it wasn’t like it was something someone couldn’t find on Tony’s Wikipedia page.
“Yeah, he does. And Stephen does, too,” Peter said, and there was a glimpse of sadness in the deep of his dark eyes. “If that’s a way of yours to buy Tony’s pardon, I don’t think will work, but I’ll help you. Because I want them to be happy.”
Steve nodded, again, he knew things with Tony couldn’t go back to be the same because of that, but he didn’t care. They weren’t going to solve the problems from their past, but Steve could understand how it was to have someone who cared for him in his life, to have someone to speak with, and while he was sure either of the men was so found of opening up, they’d probably find their own way to do that. Again, apparently, it was clear in the sun, so it wasn’t like Steve was going to risk something, wasn’t him?
--
“Not exactly subtly,” Bucky said, looking at the decoration someone put around the main hall of the Wakandan Royal Palace. Apparently, Peter convinced Shuri and Nat to organize a Valentine's Day party, of which T’Challa knew nothing, pretending it was an Avengers’ team bonding dinner. As in, everyone was pretty much obligated to take part of it. Bucky had a point, or an hundred of those, but every other try they did (including hacking Friday's system to block the two of them in one of the lifts of the Tower, again, not the best of the ideas, but they were running out of those) ended in nothing, so it was time to call the big guns.
“And you aren’t even sure that Strange will show up,” Sharon added. Sam said she was in Wakanda because she was working on something with Everett Ross, but Bucky suspected that the real reason was that she and Wilson has started to date and Steve was more prone to believe in his boyfriend’s explanation. He gave his not-quite-Uncle seal of approval to the relationship, not that he said it loud, but still. If he’d dared to, well, Sharon could kick him in places he might need if he wanted to be a good boyfriend.
“You are just worried that if those two finally get together and even decided to take over the world, we will all have huge problems in not being enslaved,” Sam answered, and, yes, maybe that was a valid concern at which he hadn’t thought about enough. “I mean, I understand you, but still. Seeing Steve and Peter’s plans fail is funny enough to take the risk.”
Sharon rolled her eyes to the ceiling and walked away with Sam before he could say something else, leaving Steve alone with Bucky. “You know I’m always by your side, but what’s your plan, exactly?”
“It’s Peter’s idea,” Steve answered. “He thinks that if one of them gets drunk enough he will spill the bean, and we just have to been sure that this happens in front of the other.”
“You know that this is the dumbest plan I’ve ever heard of? And it’s coming from the man who fought guys three times his size, jumped without a parachute from an airplane and crashed another airplane in which he was when he could have said to anyone where he was going to do it,” Bucky’s smile softened a moment later. “You are lucky I love you, Steve Rogers, because that’s enough dumbness for me to walk away with another pretty super soldier.”
And Steve was glad when he felt Bucky’s metal arm around his waist, dragging him closer to his body so that he could place a kiss against his cheek. It too longer than he would have imagined, especially because Bucky had always been open about dating back in the 40s — and he confessed to Cap after a long time that he was just pretending, that showing himself with a different woman every night was the best way to hide the fact that he was attracted by men —, but now that his boyfriend was keen to public manifestations of affection Steve couldn’t help but smile like an idiot.
It took more than two hours before one between Stark and Strange showed up at the party, half dragged by the Cloak through a shining portal in the middle of the room. Strange was wearing what looked like a bodysuit, total black with details in charcoal grey and gold and white lines that crossed his chest and backs. Steve had never seen the Sorcerer wearing anything different from his robes or, on some rare occasions, casual clothes. And definitely that suit wasn’t either.
The Doctor looked at his surroundings with a questioning glance, the Cloak disappeared a moment before he stepped into the room and everyone else around him acting like nothing was weird. It was supposed to be a team bonding event, not some kind of stupid party, and it was clear Strange didn’t appreciate the surprise.
This, at least, util Peter ran in front of him and started to speak about something that Steve couldn’t and didn’t want to hear. What was important was that the Sorcerer was that. Now the plan became more complicated, but, at least, part of it was accomplished.
--
Tony froze, the moment he walked past the doors of the main hall of the Wakandan Royal Palace. He had spent the entire day in the labs with Shuri — but for a fast lunch break because the princess seemed to be very much aware of the passing of time, differently from another teen Tony knew and kicked his ass out of her reign at half past twelve — listening to her lessons about all the stuff he didn’t know about vibranium. Which were a lot, and the most important one was “do not use vibranium to create a giant frisbee with the only purpose to do propaganda” which was, well, legit.
She showed and kicked his ass in the process, how to use it to create little marvellously for which his father would have sold Tony himself, and also things that would have helped the population (in which Stark was more interested in) worldwide. She also agreed on a collaboration with Stark Industries and asked Tony about his nanoparticles. He had been more than happy to share those information with her, his mind yet on how to combine those and the Wakandan technology to create suits for everyone of his teammates. And only when Shuri suggested that they could bring back the old Ultron's project and trying to recreate it, Tony decided to be interested in the mandatory dinner.
He had no idea if the princess understood the reason behind that, but was positive that she was smart enough to never mention Ultron again in front of him.
It was theoretically possible, that was true. He had better technology nowadays and with the help of both Bruce and Shuri he could recreate the entire thing without the part in which he decided to kill the superheroes. But the lives of the people who died because of that error of his were still hunting his sleep even more than Thanos.
He shook his head and decided that needed something to drink, which was why he went straight for the open bar once he reached the hall, only to stop himself mid-way, his dark eyes following infinite legs wrapped in dark fabric. Which eventually ended in a fine, fine ass. And whatever the thing Strange was wearing was, well, Tony appreciated it very much.
The bastard had gold details, and white stripes on the pitch black fabric of it placed there with the sole aim to have people looking at his ass, Tony was sure of that, his own suit had shining lights on that very same spot.
And well, maybe, just maybe, he had been very vocal with a certain other doctor and a US Army Colonel about how frustrating was the fact that Stephen couldn’t understand that they banter was Tony’s way to flirt with him (and the totally negligible fact that he found the Sorcerer attractive and smart, and dreamed about kissing those lips and having them on other parts of his body as well), but still. The only result had been that his two closest friends started to laugh.
And Tony was the one they should thank if they were very much taken with two women who could take over the world without crack a nail. Well, still, he could do without their help. Except that he couldn’t. Because he spoke with them something like six months before and nothing happened since then. Or better, nothing different from the same snark and filtracious interaction he always had had with Strange.
“Stark,” Stephen’s voice reached him through his thought and, for a moment, Tony went back to be a thirteen years old kid in front of his first crush.
“Oh, nice outfit,” Was the only thing was able to say, and being him Tony Stark, well, he said it. Thank you so much brain which didn’t stop him in time. “I mean, it seems more durable than your temple robes.”
He flashed him his trademark smile, but noticed how a pinker shade spread over Stephen’s cheeks. It lasted just one second, the time Tony needed to see that there was no opinionated piece of outerwear around Stephen’s shoulders. That was as weird as the fact that everyone around them seemed to be invested in dancing instead of, well, team bonding activity.
Also, there wasn’t the entire team there either. He spotted Bruce and Christine when he entered the room and if his attention hadn’t been catalysed by a certain Sorcerer in a very thigh bodysuit he would have understood that there was something weird. Stephen’s best-friend was a consultant for the Avengers, but she wasn’t forced to take part to the Commission for the Accords events. Rhodey and Carol were a more familiar sight, considering that both of them lived in the Compound and both were Avengers, but Ned who wall all but flirting with Shuri, well, technically he and MJ shouldn’t even know about Peter’s secret identity.
Thor and Loki weren’t around, probably hidden somewhere with their warrior friend and the Grand Master of something - Tony didn’t ask and nobody explained to him, he was just happy to know that Stephen didn’t had a relationship with neither of the Asgardians because the Sorcerer’s interactions with the gods gave him those kind of vibes. While for the others, T’Challa wasn’t trying to kill Ned only because he was giving heart eyes to Nat (who was even more beautiful than usual and was wearing typical Wakandan clothes), Steve and Bucky were very much busy in trying to occupy the very same space and Wilson was trying to get killed by Sharon. Tony didn’t saw Wanda and Vision yet, but probably they were together and - and then something hit him.
Strong, in the middle of his brain: it was fucking Valentine's Day!
And he was behaving like a crazy in front of the man he had a crush on. Fucking great! Which was why he smiled when Peter called him. “Yeah, Pete?” He asked, turning completely to face the kid in front of him.
“The ice is finished and I was wondering if you could go and take some, like, King T’Challa is busy and…” Tony nodded. It wasn’t like he knew where they kept ice (also, they probably had butlers for that, but Tony wasn’t going to point it out now), but at least he would have enough time to think about the fact of being cornered during a Valentine's Day party.
“Yeah, I’m going,” He said and walked toward one of the hallways. The last thing he expected for, though, was to see a red flash of something in front of him and, a moment later, to hear Stephen’s voice.
“I’ll help you,” He said. “It’s not like there’s something more I can do there anyway.”
Yeah, and maybe he could use his magic mumbo-jumbo to lead them to where ice was kept. What Tony didn’t notice, though, were Peter and Steve following them down the hallway.
--
“Are you sure they won’t freeze to death?” Peter asked, looking at the door they just locked. Steve’s cerulean eyes ran on T’Challa by his side. The King of Wakanda nodded.
“They just entered the first room they found, this is a conference room,” He explained. “And, anyway, Strange can always portal them outside. Now, do you want to look at the camera feeds, considering that we are closing two adults in a room so that they could speak? That I don’t think will work, but still.”
“And, anyway, are you telling me that I should have closed Bucky and you in a freezing room so that you would have kissed without forcing me to hear you pining over him?” Nat asked, looking death serious at Steve. Who had, at least, the decency to blush. “Now, why don’t we just project the feed in the main hall?”
T’Challa’s wicked smile matched his fiancé’s.
--
“What’s wrong with you?” Stephen asked again, looking at the Cloak which was blocking them to reach the door and find another room. In that one there wasn’t ice, apparently. The Cloak didn’t move, and it wasn’t like there was something Strange could do but stare at it.
“I can try to shoot at…” Tony wasn’t really serious, but the glance Stephen threw at him was enough to make him never finish that sentence. And the fact that he was the only person capable of doing that said a lot about the one Supreme Sorcerer. “Ok, bad idea. I was joking, by the way.”
“I know,” Stephen said, deciding to ignoring the Cloak for the time being. “I’m just exhausted and kind of protective with it. The Cloak saved my life more than once.”
Tony nodded, Stephen wasn’t giving any intonation to his words, those were simply facts. Though he couldn’t help a smile to form on his lips. “It’s fine. Do you know something we can do to make it move, though?”
Stephen looked at the relic which decided it was a good time to stay perfectly still while floating in front of the door. They both know that if they try to move toward the exit it would wrap around them, pushing them back. The point was why it was behaving like that. “Not really. It does what it wants to.”
“Crazy clothes,” Tony said, glaring at it. “It makes me questioning if all the Artificial Intelligence thing I’m trying to achieve is for the best. What if I give Fri a body and then she starts to act like a little bitch?”
“She already is,” Stephen said, and it was barely a whisper, but Tony could hear him. “But she probably took after her creator so she can’t be blamed.”
Tony smiled, looking at him. And ok, that suit was illegal. Whoever created it (which was still a huge question mark in his mind) should have been sued for crimes against decency, if something like that existed. Nobody could give something so provoking to a man like Strange. A man who was able to make loose robes sexy on top of everything.
“Do you like what you see?” Stephen’s low voice reached him, and Tony should really stop to stare at the Sorcerer, apparently.
“You can’t just walk in there wearing this and pretend people won’t look. That thing is unfair,” He decided to be honest, at least with himself. Again, it wasn’t like there was something different he could do.
--
“Everyone go home; I won!” Shuri said, her dark eyes focused on the holographic image of the two of them speaking. Steve and Peter shared a confused expression for a moment, looking at each other before the princess continued: “Do you really think you are the only one tired of those two acting like teenagers around each other? The difference between you and me is that I didn’t even need to kidnap them.”
And ok, maybe Steve had to admit that his and Peter’s plans were based on the fact that if you close them somewhere they would eventually speak to each other, which resulted in nothing all the previous times. But, at least, they tried.
“And how should this be your victory? We closed them in the room.”
“You shouldn’t be proud of that, Steve,” Carol said, smiling, but it was clear that she was more curious about Shuri’s answer than everything else.
“Who do you think created Strange’s suit? He asked me something practical, and I’m pretty sure it is.”
“Am I the only one who doesn’t want to know how far practical goes?” Peter asked, focusing back on Tony and Stephen on the screen in front of them. They were still speaking, and seriously, for being friends it seemed like they didn’t speak for ages. “I mean, we are speaking about my mentor and a man I really appreciate and look after, I’d really like to think they will speak with their clothes on all the time, ok?”
“Yeah, Pete, whatever,” MJ said, and, yup, Parker totally blushed at that.
--
The Cloak let them reach the door only after both of them admitted that they had feeling for each other. It was a long and excruciating process considering that none of them really wanted to ruin their friendship, but, at the end, they managed to speak also about that.
“We can try and see how this works, we don’t have to rush things or something,” Stephen said, a soft smile on his lips, content with Tony squeezing his hand a moment later. Neither of them was ready for a relationship different from a very close friendship. Their lives and their pasts having proved that they weren’t ready for romantic stuff. But knowing what they felt for each other was enough, for now.
Tony nodded, a more relaxed smile while he let his eyes ran on Stephen’s arm, stretched between them. “Thank you. For understanding and, well, thank you.”
Stephen shook his head before walking pass the Cloak, which decided that it was enough to let them go. The door, though, seemed to be of a completely different opinion, considering that it didn’t move once Tony tried to open it. A moment later, they heard someone running at the other side of it.
But, in that moment, something different starting to emerge in Tony’s mind. “Wait! That’s Rogers and the kid’s doing.”
Stephen’s eyes looked questioning for half a second, then he seemed to realize. “It’s the same as the elevator and the London situation? And all the other times we found ourselves looked in some place”
Tony nodded and a soft laugh started to rise on his lips. “Yeah, I’m going to kill them.”
“I have a better idea,” Stephen said, moving his hand to open a portal in the middle of the room. “And, honestly, I’m not even sure that’s their doing, but we should thank them.”
Tony said nothing, but crossed the Portal still holding Stephen’s hand, and that was good. Yeah, he should probably thank the two of them. Even if it was sad that him, Tony Stark, former playboy, needed the help of a teen and a hundred-years-old man with his love life.