Work Text:
Steve watched as Tony presided over a board meeting with Deadpool giving a presentation on a weaponized duck scheme and had to laugh at Tony’s attempt to argue science with him. It was made all the more worse and funny by the serious expressions of everyone else at the meeting. Of all of Tony’s dreamscapes that he’d walked through, this one was quickly becoming his favorite.
If Tony really didn’t remember any of this like Strange had said, Steve would be sure to remind him. This was too good not to share.
“That’s not how bio-circuitry works! You can’t interface a nervous system with double A batteries! I don’t care how many umbrellas you use!” As tempting as it was to just watch this ridiculous dream, Steve had a mission and he turned away to search for the critter.
They were called somnapilosae according to Stephen and they were entirely harmless unless you counted their habit of hopping into someone’s mind and putting them to sleep forever. They’d looked so cute in the delicate gilded cage they’d stumbled upon in the castle and the fuzzy things had made the saddest chirping noises. Steve really couldn’t blame Squirrel Girl for wanting to help them (they’d even looked like technicolor squirrels, after all!) But, well… They’d leapt out of the cage the moment the door was open and the next thing Steve knew he was flat on his back and Strange was frowning down at him, a colorful “squirrel” in his hand. All around him the rest of his team were sleeping soundly wherever they’d fallen.
Looking annoyed in Stephen’s patented way, he’d explained to Steve what the somnapilosae were and how he’d gotten the one out of Steve’s head, as he gave him an enchanted bag to catch them with. He’d then slapped a charm on Steve and told him to get to work. They’d each go into someone’s dreams, wake them up and then those people would be marshaled in as well till all the creatures were back in their enclosure.
Without any thought, Steve had picked Tony. Tony hated magic.
As Tony tried in vain to convince the board that Deadpool’s duck artillery was NOT the next great thing, Steve hunted around the room, digging into cabinets and dumping out waste baskets. Instinctually he wanted to just wake Tony up or at the very least, get his help in the search but Strange has said that was pointless.
“He’s in a dream. He’ll only perceive you in the framework of the dream. There’s no rationalizing him out of it.”
“Maybe not, but I won't know till I try. If I can get through to Tony-”
“Like I got through to you?” Strange had countered flatly.
“What?”
“Like I got through to you, when I was in your dreamscape and told you what was happening and told you again and tried pushing you out of it and set off multiple spells right in your face.”
“I… I don’t actually remember-”
“Precisely. Because it didn’t work. Now get going. These damn rodents aren’t going to stuff themselves into the bag.”
And wasn’t that the truth! He had one to find, just one and it felt like he’d been looking for hours. All he could do was just follow Tony through his weird and sometimes shockingly boring dreams (there was one where he was just re-soldering a circuit over and over again!) Somewhere hidden in some nook was the somnapilosae. Steve just had to find it.
He was down on all fours, digging through a console when he heard the dream’s Pepper come in and tell Tony he was late to his next meeting. Steve groaned and didn’t even bother to get up as the world around him predictably shifted into a new room with all new spots to search. Back to square one. Great. Strange was going to have the whole team up by the time Steve got Tony clear.
“Can’t say I’m surprised you’re late Tony. Always too busy chasing after fun, huh?” Steve heard someone say in a patronizing tone.
“I’m a busy guy, what do you need, Ty?”
If the other guy's tone wasn’t enough, that name got Steve’s attention fast. He turned away from his hunt to see Tiberius Stone looking slick and terrible. He'd never met the guy, but he’d heard enough. While Tony hadn’t wanted to talk much about it, he knew Tony well enough to see Stone had twisted him up badly back then. And now here he was again, haunting Tony’s dreams the old fashioned way.
It really hadn’t occurred to Steve that these would be anything but silly dreams, which was pretty shortsighted he was realizing. There was nothing stopping things from becoming a nightmare.
“Busy? Busy running everything into the ground, more like it. Have you even bothered to check your stock prices lately? You’re crashing fast, Stark,” Stone announced and the tv on the wall shifted to show a news segment on Stark Industries failing.
“It’s fine. A temporary downturn. Nothing I can’t handle,” Tony replied as he tried unsuccessfully to turn the tv off.
Steve’s reflex was to toss Stone out of the room with maximum force, but no point. He can’t affect anything in here, Strange had been clear on that. This was Tony’s dreamscape and it played by his rules. Best thing Steve could do was find that creature and end this, but damn it was hard to stay focused now.
Behind him, he could hear the nightmare ramping up, Stone lording over Tony his imaginary failure. His company was in a tailspin, the public had no faith in him or his inventions, the stocks were bottoming out, and the icing on the cake: Stone had bought up the stocks.
“You’ll get my company over my dead body, Ty!”
“Sounds fine to me.”
“It isn’t going to happen!”
“It’s already happened, you waste! You didn’t hold enough stocks back. You were sloppy and I’ve got controlling interest now.”
“No! That's not possible. I have the stocks. They’re locked down!”
Steve ramped up his search, ripping a drawer clean out of a filing cabinet. He could hear the desperation in Tony's voice and it was doing terrible things to his nerves. It was all just an illusion, a nightmare. God knows Steve has had more than his fair share, but to just stand here and watch as Tony goes through one from the front row? That was another matter.
“You were sloppy, Tony. Just a sloppy drunk like you always were. Maybe if you’d managed to stay out of the bottle you’d still have a company,” Stone sneered and Steve looked over again to see the office now had empty whiskey bottles all around and used glasses.
“No, no, no… I didn’t… I haven’t…” Tony pleaded as he threw the bottles away but there were always more. For every one he threw away two more appeared.
“Of course you did. This is who you are, who you’ve always been. A drunk wreck of no use to anyone. Especially now that you’re broke. The heroes let you tag along for a while when you could pay up, sure. But now? You think they’re going to keep around a clumsy fool, lumbering behind the real marvels in his tin can? You’re done, Tony. They’ve already tossed you out,” he remarked with glee and Steve saw Tony’s Avengers identicard appear on the desk. It flashed twice before going entirely black.
Tony snatched up the card in his shaking hands, tapping at it to try to will it back to life. “No, please. I can fix it. I can get it all back. I swear. I’ll fix it! Please!”
Steve couldn’t take one more second of this. He couldn’t just ignore this and let Tony spiral into his nightmare, to hell with Strange’s directions. “Tony, stop!” he broke in, grabbing Tony and pulling him away from Stone. “This isn’t real, stop. Everything’s fine. I promise!" he assured him and snatched the card from his hands, which then dissolved into nothing.
“Wha- Steve…?” Tony asked to his surprise and blinked blearily at him. He still looked distraught and seemed like he was only partially seeing him, but that was still a victory for Steve.
“Yeah! Yeah, it’s me. He said you wouldn’t- Doesn’t matter. Tony, you’re dreaming, none of this is real,” Steve explained quickly as the world around them faded away.
“What? Steve, I don’t…” he tried, wavering and confused but at least the tears he’d seen forming were gone now. Steve pressed on.
“Tony, you have to wake up. I need your help.”
“Help?” Tony asked and Steve was relieved to see his dark blue eyes finally really focusing on him.
“Yes. I need your help. We need to get-”
“Of course, anything you need. You know I can’t say no to you," Tony remarked, putting on a weak smile. “Need me to swing a last minute reservation for you, again?”
Now it was Steve’s turn to be puzzled. “What? Tony, no. Listen we-”
“It’s no problem. Just tell me where. I can get a table for you anywhere,” he assured him pleasantly as he pulled out his phone. “I can’t leave you high and dry for your date.”
“Date? Tony, I-” he started and finally noticed the room had reformed again around them. Now they were in the old Avengers mansion, down by the front door. Steve looked down at himself and saw his uniform was gone. Instead, he was dressed nicely, looking very much like he was about to go on a date.
“What about Marco’s? You’d love their meatballs,” Tony said as he tapped away at his phone, making reservations for an imaginary date.
Steve sighed. Strange had told him, hadn’t he? This was Tony’s dreamscape and he’d see everything through that lens. There was no way to get Tony’s help finding the somnapilosae, but at least he’d gotten him out of the nightmare. Small victories. “Yeah, sure Tony. Sounds great. Thanks,” he said gently as he started looking around again. Unfortunately this space was crammed full of little spaces and drawers and nooks for the damn thing to be hiding in. At this rate, Strange really would get through everyone else and come stomping in here to do Steve's work as well.
“Excited? I can always tell when you’re really sweet on someone,” Tony remarked, oblivious to Steve’s searching. “You always get a handful of carnations for the lucky lady.”
To his surprise, Steve found he now had a small bouquet of white carnations. He had to admit he did buy them pretty often for dates, but he hadn’t realized he was that predictable. And about such plain flowers, too… “Well, I… I know they’re not really interesting but…”
“No, they're perfect,” Tony assured him with a smile that still didn’t quite reach his eyes. “You pick them because you like them, not to impress with a price tag. They’re you all over. Genuine and nothing for show. Anyone who doesn’t see that doesn’t deserve them.”
His voice was so earnest that Steve felt both silly and proud. Tony made his ten dollar flowers sound like a treasure. “Thanks… But I’ve really got to-”
“I’d be the luckiest person to be the one getting these,” he said, reaching out to run a finger along the petals slowly.
Once again, Steve was entirely derailed from his job of searching. “What?” That wasn’t- He didn’t- What?
“Don’t worry. I know, I know,” he replied quickly and went back to his phone. “I was just saying. I know the rules.” He was frowning hard at his phone, scrolling and flipping through pages, seemingly not getting the results he wanted.
It’s just a dream, Steve told himself. Who knows what crazy thing Tony’s mind had invented. He could think he was a celebrity chef next shift. Still, despite himself, Steve had to ask,“What rules?”
“The rules. For us. For no us,” he explained and finally looked back up. “I can’t get a reservation today. Everything’s blocked off. I- I’ll find something. Just give me a minute. I’ll fix it.” Steve could hear the desperation from before creeping back into his voice. Around them the scene changed again and now the mansion was broken and ruined. And damn it, he didn’t want reminded of when it looked like this. “I can fix it.”
“It’s okay, Tony,” Steve reassured him and reached out to cover his phone with his hand. “You don’t have to fix anything. Everything’s okay.”
Between them Tony looked down at Steve’s hand on his. He wasn’t barreling towards a nightmare now but he didn’t look great either. “I wouldn’t mess up your date on purpose. I love seeing you happy. Helping you and being your friend. It’s so much more than I deserve.”
“Tony... You’re-”
“And I wouldn’t risk that for anything,” Tony continued, meeting Steve’s eyes again. “Besides,” he added with a sad smirk. “What could I gain, huh? No real appeal in hearing you turn me down. Like I don’t know you’d never want me. Even if you were into men, you could do a whole lot better than me.”
The world screeched to a halt for Steve because he couldn’t manage to misunderstand that. But… Tony? How could- He didn’t- This couldn’t-! And Steve had also become keenly aware of how close Tony was. And how warm his hands were.
“But a fool can dream, huh?” he asked, continuing along, oblivious to the pandemonium going on in Steve’s head. “You’d have those carnations in tissue paper. I’d take you to Albert’s for pizza.” A warm dreamy smile spread over Tony’s face. “Nothing fancy. I know you don’t like fancy. We’d be tucked away in a back booth with coke in those red plastic glasses. You’d be warm against me while we chatted about paperwork and training. I’d steal a kiss and you’d taste like pepperoni.”
He grinned at him, radiating happiness at the thought and Steve just had to smile back. Because didn’t that sound… good? It sounded damn good. He couldn’t picture a nicer date. Even though he wasn’t- He and Tony weren’t- They weren’t like that. Or maybe Tony was, but he wasn’t. He’d never been…
“I’d have to take you dancing of course. Put all that grace of yours to good use. And sure you don’t do that much, but I know how you move. We’re always at our best when we’re synced up.” Tony’s hand was now on his shoulder and still just as close. And where were they now? Steve wasn’t sure, it was hard to pay attention. Tony was so close.
“We’d come home. Late. Just us left awake with everything quiet. Maybe we’d linger in the foyer. Maybe we wouldn’t,” he added with a heated smirk that promised… so much that Steve had never ever considered. He sure was considering it now. “Maybe we’d make good use of the rare privacy,” Tony whispered as he leaned in close and pulled Steve into a slow, deep kiss.
Steve barely paused a second before kissing him back, drawing him against him.
And he shouldn't, he really shouldn't for so many reasons. Tony is dreaming, he doesn't know what’s going on, he's not in control, he might not even want this! And Steve, he's never even considered Tony. Or any man.
Of course he knew Tony was handsome, shockingly so. When he’d first come to the mansion it had bowled him over that their billionaire patron looked like he'd stepped right out of the picture show. But he was an artist when you got down to it. How could he not see the lean cut of his body, those thick eyelashes, or thick, dark hair. And soft, damn it felt soft as he ran a hand up into it. But he was an artist. That's all it was. Wasn't it?
But if so, why did he chase after Tony’s mouth when he pulled back with a breathless laugh? "You're going to keep me up all night if you keep that up. Which normally I'd be all for but Pepper will literally kill us both if I'm not at the office on time tomorrow," Tony explained as he stepped away.
"Huh? Oh." He'd nearly forgotten what was going on. Looking around he saw the scene had changed again. Now they were in Tony’s room. Or was it? The closet was in the wrong place, right? And he knew that bedspread. And those windows…
All of a sudden he understood what he was looking at. "This is both of our rooms. Smashed together." The bedspread was his and the lamp on one side. On that nightstand was a paperback copy of The Mysterious Island and both his and Tony’s clothes could be seen in the open closet. At the side of the room Steve’s team photos were set on Tony’s dresser like they belonged there. Everything was a cozy blend of their lives and it all felt… like home.
He’d lived with Tony more or less constantly since the ice but living with him had never occurred to him. None of this had ever occurred to him, but clearly it had occurred to Tony and here was the happy fantasy he’d made.
Tony was chatting happily about team matters as he stepped away to the closet, starting to undress when an Avengers alert sounded. “Damn,” Tony swore and his clothes shifted into the armor as the dream changed again.
“No wait… We just got here.” Steve was bereft to see their fictional home fade away so soon and now the scene was some battle against a giant octopus dripping ooze but Steve couldn’t bring himself to concentrate on it. That was… That last dream… It was silly but, he found himself upset about those damn flowers. He hadn’t given them to Tony and he’d wanted them so badly. He’d made Steve that wonderful scene and he’d been too surprised to give Tony the flowers before they were gone. They were just dream stuff and Tony would forget all this but…
As the imaginary battle raged on unheeded, a car smashed down in front of him. It’s doors flew open and out tumbled a very scared looking technicolor squirrel. His mind still racing about his “date” with Tony, it actually took Steve a moment to remember what the hell he was supposed to be doing, but once the gears clicked back into place he leapt at the furry bastard. In a moment he had it in the stupid bag and the dream around him dissolved.
***
Steve stepped out of his shower and toweled himself off before wrapping it around his waist. At the sink he brought down his good shaving soap and brush from the cabinet. Today was a day for a proper shave.
The mess with the somnapilosae had been a little more than a week ago and life had rolled on. Avengers matters kept them busy with training and planning and just a couple days ago they’d had a small run in with AIM. Being an Avenger didn’t allow for days of quiet introspection but that didn’t mean it didn’t happen in the moments available. Steve still sat next to Tony at breakfast as he drank too much coffee and they stole food off each other’s plates. Steve still brought his sketch pad down to Tony’s workshop and drew while Tony soldered something and they talked about the latest movies coming out. Steve still walked with him to the coffee shop they both liked as they griped about the new changes to the team’s insurance plan.
Absolutely nothing had changed except for how Steve looked at it. Just the smallest shift in his perspective. He smiled to his reflection in the mirror as he patted his face with aftershave. He probably should be scared by all of this, and maybe he was a little but not as much as he would have thought.
He pulled on the clothes he’d set out for himself and straightened his collar. Yes, he was feeling some nerves he admitted to himself as he straightened out creases that weren’t there, but when he knew his course was right, it was right. Backing down or taking an easier path just wasn’t an option. The only direction possible was straight ahead.
“Hey, Tony. Got a moment?” he asked as he stepped into the workshop.
“For you? I have all the moments. What’s up, oh captain my captain?” Tony pulled his head out of the contraption he’d been working on to see Steve dressed nicely in civilian clothes. His eyes fell on the tissue wrapped bouquet of white carnations in Steve’s hand. “Oooo, got a hot date lined up?” Tony’s tone was light but Steve couldn’t miss how his eyes lingered on the flowers. How had he never noticed?
“Well, that’s the plan.” Steve stepped over to him, straightening up nervously, trying to look his very best as if Tony didn't already know every stitch of him. “All depends. On whether you say yes.”
Steve watched Tony’s eyes go wide as he offered him the flowers. Shocked, he searched Steve’s face for any sign that this was some misunderstanding, some joke… but Steve didn’t waiver. Slowly a small disbelieving smile slid onto Tony’s face.
And he reached out for the carnations.