stardustly | au scenarios open post

[He still hesitated for half a second, head cocked to the side, before Tony slowly slipped his way back of the counter and slowly made his way over. When it seemed like Steve genuinely wasn't going to change his mind, Tony stepped right into the shower, fully clothed and all. And smiled a little as he pushed his now-soaked hair back from his face.]

Better?

[ Even with the request, he never expected Tony to follow through with it. He believed Tony would tell him he had to go and to find him later. The rush of soulmate feelings and needs were confusing to contend with and he really wished things were easier to navigate.

Looking at Tony as he entered the shower, his heart squeezed in his chest.

Please. ]

Almost. [ With a shy smile, he started to lean in to kiss Tony softly and fleeting on the lips.]

[His smile widened before he could stop himself as Steve leaned in, and Tony just stepped closer to meet him. He held the contact but kept it light, almost gentle as one hand brushed against Steve's side and then settled there lightly.

It should have been weird, Steve naked and Tony still dressed, both of them utterly soaked. It was hard to pay attention to that, though. Not when he was finally kissing his soulmate.]

Lucky for you, [a soft, warm murmur] I have a very good water heater.

Finally kissing his soulmate unlocked something within Steve, emotions flooding full force throughout his system but not just from his end. The fondness and what seemed like awe had to be from Tony's end and it only heightened everything. Talk about a wow moment. He pressed a little closer but kept his lips pressing softly and gently. Even just the soft press caused dozens of sparks, though.

"Even if we might need some cold water?" Steve teased, leaning in for a second kiss, this one a little firmer. A soft groan escaped against their parted lips.

Tony huffed a laugh out into the kiss, smiling almost helplessly. That knot of unhappiness that had been sitting heavily behind his sternum was all but gone for the moment, and it was blowing Tony's mind slightly that it was because of him. He could do that, make things better for Steve just by being there. Who knew?

The grip on Steve's side tightened a little, then slid around to press against his back as Steve shifted closer. They were almost flush now, bodies tucked together, and even with the water still pouring down over them it was the most comfortable Tony could remember being.

"Need is a strong word," he teased back in between kisses. He did have to pull back to breathe every so often, unfortunately.

"You make me feel strong things," Steve teased right back, feeling the awe he knew must have come from Tony's end. It settled around him and he found he enjoyed the back and forth already. He wanted to experience everything right along with the other man. His soulmate. Actually having one really changed his entire outlook and while there were so many uncertain things being with Tony made sense. It would always be the one thing to hold onto.

"But we should probably get ready soon to meet the team. The Director will be mad if I'm late," Steve voiced with a deep sigh, resuming kissing Tony rather than make any move to get out. Slowly running hands over his back.

"Fury can wait," Tony murmured back with almost audible delight. It wasn't entirely true, and Tony was pretty sure they both knew it. But this was definitely worth playing hooky for, and the Director would just have to deal with it.

His soulmate. His soulmate, and here they were. Tony was never going to make fun of a romance novel again. Okay he was, but the intent was there.

He pressed one last lingering kiss against Steve's mouth, then made himself back up just a little. "Something for later," he promised with just a hint of heat in his eyes.

Each kiss and touch tempted him to stay put and forget all about duties and obligations but in the end he knew what he needed to do. They were all depending on him and he couldn't let them down.

Stealing his own last kiss, he finished up in the shower and turned off the water. "You're going to have to change if you're still coming with me," he remarked, reaching out to brush his fingers through Tony's hair.

His soulmate!

"You're very distracting," he muttered before climbing out of the shower with a shiver. He dried off quickly and tied the towel around his waist.

"I've heard that before," Tony called after him with an almost audible grin. Though it was only after the water was shut off that he seemed to realize that he was currently wearing a lot of completely waterlogged clothing. He stripped off without shame, leaving his wet things pooled in the bottom of the shower as he wandered over to grab a towel of his own.

"So are we going in style or what?" He asked as he padded through to his bedroom and disappeared into a far door. "You're the strategist, regale me with your plans. Do you have spare clothes? I might have something that will fit you."

Of course, Tony has heard it before and with a roll of his eyes he moved forward to walk into the same bedroom. Tony's bedroom. A thrill and surge of heat swept through him and knowing Tony would pick up on it only made it a more heady of a rush. Almost too much to handle, especially when he needed to focus and keep to the tasks at hand.

"I don't have any spare clothes," he admitted, looking dubious on Tony having anything to fit him. The serumed body had a very different appearance from his regular one. Previous more more like it. Sometimes his skin just felt wrong.

"We are going to meet everyone and see what kind of team we can form here. Then I'm going on that mission the Director has lined up for me."

Tony paused, mid-motion towards his closet. "You're going?" Somehow, he hadn't expected that. He wasn't sure what he had been expecting, but having Steve walk away so soon just felt...wrong.

But he forced himself back into movement. Pulling open the closet to peer into it critically. Okay, maybe he'd been overstating slightly when he'd said he could find something to fit.

"What's your feeling on sweatpants?" He called over without looking.

"How can I not go?" Steve asked, leaning against the door frame but keeping mindful of the towel even if Tony saw plenty in the shower. The shock from the other man flooded through his system and confused him. "Do you not want me to go?"

Moving further inside, his eyes peered into the closet. "Looks like sweatpants will be the only option here." Not the best first impression but hopefully no one would really notice and look at his clothes. There were so many things to take care of. "That will be fine. Thank you. I'm surprised you're not making the obvious joke."

Tony nodded once, more to himself, and dug out the sweatpants to hand over. They were big on him, they'd probably fit Steve mostly decently. He busied himself for another moment in finding a shirt, then turned to find himself nearly nose to nose with his soulmate.

He was quiet for a moment, then quirked a small smile. "We're a team now, right? Seems counterproductive to send somebody off on their own right away." Which was a reason, if not the real reason. He just wanted, wanted to keep Steve as close as possible. Was that weird? Too much? He let out a long breath and glanced away.

"I mean. I'm not going to tell you not to. Just think you should have someone watching your back."

It all boiled down to Tony missing him if he went off for two months on his own for the undercover mission. A time or two he had already wondered why the Director wanted to separate him so soon after his discovery. A test? To see what he might be able to withstand?

"Thank you," he murmured as he took the pants and wiggled them on, sliding the towel off to fold it. But he kept a hold on it, not sure where Tony wanted it.

Silent for a moment, he offered, "Do you want to come with me? It'll be a long undercover mission. Probably not too exciting and without ....technology." They would be together, though, and could bond far easier. Along with doing the mission, of course.

It startled a huff of a laugh out of him, even as he reached a hand out to take the towel from Steve. "I'm not sure anyone on the planet would think I'm a good person to take on an undercover mission." He was a little recognizable, after all. But he busied himself with throwing the towel into the laundry as he thought it over.

He wasn't going to say that the idea wasn't tempting. Just him and Steve. And whatever the mission was, but that was nearly a secondary consideration. But. He owed to many things to too many people to be out of touch for that long. And that was even if he could actually manage to hold up the pretense. The last thing he wanted was to be a liability.

"We can talk to Fury about it," he said finally. "See what he thinks."

Given what he knew of Howard once upon a time, he could only imagine the notoriety his son managed to produce over the years. How would anything undercover work with such an image? Steve, on the other hand, knew how to blend in and not really have anyone look twice at him. His childhood trauma worked in his favor for one thing at least.

"Let's get going," he commented, waving off a hand towards the door. "Do you know the rest of the team well? I was briefed on them but not really given much information at all about them." The frown deepened on his face. "Hope everyone gets along."

Tony rolled his eyes, but did at least start heading in the right direction. "Steve, I'm not even supposed to be on the team." Not that it stopped him from having more information that he probably should, but that wasn't the question at hand. And he wasn't at all still slightly bitter about it. "So no, I don't know anybody."

And he couldn't stop himself from glancing over at Steve as they walked, wondering exactly how this was going to go. Were they telling people, would they think the whole soulmate thing was a liability, would it even make a difference. Tony was pretty sure he knew Steve (and himself, honestly) well enough to be able to say that nothing in the world was going to stop him from doing exactly what he wanted, but. There were complications.

"I guess the doesn't make friends easily comment next to your way wasn't a joke," Steve responded with a shake of his head because it still sounded like something a teacher would scribble down on an elementary school progress report. Did the Director view them like children he needed to herd around and try to lure into what he wanted them to do? Steve had never reacted well to being hoodwinked or pushed somewhere he didn't believe in. In fact, they had no idea the lengths he could go to when cornered.

"Itll be different now with us...." His voice trailed off as he stepped out of the building and back onto the street in the direction of the neural territory Director Fury wanted everyone to meet. Speaking of, he pulled out the sheet of paper to allow Tony to see it. "Is this place far? Can we get there by foot?" Steve tended to walk everywhere, a habit from his childhood too.

Tony paused in the middle of slipping on his sunglasses to eye the paper Steve was holding out, then glanced at the man himself. "Walkable yeah. But we'll get attention." That was, Tony would probably get attention and Steve would get dragged along into it. He wasn't exactly at his most Tony Stark at the moment, but that never stopped him from getting recognized occasionally. And he had no idea what Steve would make of it.

"I've got a car, if that's what you're worried about. Well. Cars." Was he showing off a little? Maybe. It was hard to tamp down on the urge to impress Captain America, even if he knew it wasn't entirely necessary.

Cars. How different it must be having everything at your disposal no matter what it may be. It didn't make him jealous, more like sad for Tony's sake because it seemed to be a way to compensate for missing other more important things. Such as genuine connection and being apart of something. Oh yes, he noticed the looks Tony offered any time he mentioned the Avengers group. A sort of wistful but still disdain look so there had to be a lot of history there.

"Okay, let's take a car." A pause and then. "Can you drive?" Technically, he could but he had never been the best at it and didn't technically have a license yet. But small details. Tanks and cars couldn't be that different to handle.

"It'd be a lot of questions and comments if we're caught together."

And Tony flicked him a look as he made his way towards the garage. "Are we not telling anyone then?" His tone was even, honestly just sounding a bit curious, though he couldn't help the slight twinge of regret that went along with it. It made sense and god knew he could understand the reasoning, but a part of Tony couldn't help wanting to shout about his soulmate to the sky. But. If that's what Steve wanted, Tony could absolutely roll with it.

He picked the nearest car rather than waffling about what to chose, waving Steve towards the passenger seat as he climbed in. They were just going crosstown anyway, not exactly the best chance to really open them up. Maybe someday he'd take Steve upstate and really let loose.

Moving closer to the car, he slid in quickly and pulled on his seatbelt, the clicking sound filling the air. The question gave him a few dozen things to consider and think about, the adjusting giving him a few more moments to think it over. Did he want to tell people or should they keep it quiet for the time being? The group as a whole seemed to be in a questionable phase and he needed more information to know how to proceed there.

The look on Tony's face, though, pretty much made up his mind. "I want to tell them," he responded, glancing over. "They'd use it against us if they found out on their own before we told them. Like we were hiding it for something." Not a pleasant thing there.

"Would you prefer to keep it quiet?"

Well okay, that was a surprise. Though maybe it shouldn't have been. Steve seemed to be the type of guy who made decisions and then stuck with them. It made Tony glance at him briefly out of the corners of his eyes, take a deep breath and then let it out as he thought about what to say.

"It's complicated," he said finally, eyes back on the road. "I'm a public figure. Very public. That's just the way it is. So if we go large with this, it's going to be a lot of attention on you. Tabloid shots, talking heads, all of that."

Another quick glance over. "I wouldn't blame you if you didn't want to deal with that."

Since acquiring the serum, things were very public and focused on him. The public wanted to know every little detail but he supposed the eras were very different on what and how they wanted the information. Would it be easier to keep it all quiet?

No. He loathed secrets unless they were absolutely necessary to protect someone and maintain what needed to be done. Emotions could ruin even a sturdy foundation.

"Keeping it secret won't work in the long run and if you're as public as you say, people will find out about it." Hiding it would seem odd, especially when most celebrated finding their one match. "If you'd rather not deal with more I understand."

"Me?" Tony gave an almost startled laugh. "Please, you're like the ultimate catch. I couldn't ask for better if I tried." Which was possibly a little too honest. Tony cleared his throat and kept his eyes firmly ahead of them.

"Besides. I haven't let that pack of rabid hyenas stop me from doing anything before, not about to start now. So I guess we talk to my PR department about what the best way to go public is." Though really, if Tony had his druthers, they'd skip that too. But he wasn't actually trying to piss anybody off at the moment.

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