@shieldslingerā /Ā āTony.ā He stood at the door to the lab, leaning against the frame, shirtless. Heād put Halley down for bed, and now it was time for another certain someone to join him in theirs. āDonāt make me go to bed lonely. Donāt make me beg for you to join me.ā
That?Ā That was bait.Ā Steve knew exactly what he was doing.Ā Steve knew - better than anyone - how to make Tony squirm (exactly like he was squirming and wouldnāt admit to), like Tony didnāt know exactly what he was angling for.Ā On the one hand, it was both terrifying and entirely gratifying to be known so well, inside and out, to have those harmless weaknesses exploited for fun and profit (and the entire possibility that Steve thought that somehow he could turn a night owl into aā¦Not night owl, which was working better than Tony had originally planned for it to in ways he was somewhat disgruntled about and failing spectacularly in others), and still be fairly confident and secure in the knowledge that he was still loved despite the fact that those exploitable chinks in the armor existed and had to be made use of.
On the other hand, Captain America using such devious and underhanded means of manipulation all to get Tony to go to bed at a reasonable hour was entirely less out of character than anyone would ever believe, and it was a cursed knowledge because literally no one would ever, ever believe Tony if he told anyone.Ā He felt like a modern day, Avenging Cassandra, forever doomed to know how much of an absolute gremlin Steve Rogers could be, with literally every proclamation falling on deaf ears.
Butā¦Eh.Ā There was definitely worse knowledge to be cursed with, and it was, overall, a win-win situation for the both of them, right?Ā Sure, Steve got the upperhand, and it meant Steve would win, but did Tony really suffer by throwing the fight?Ā Ā
The answer was no, by the way.
āYouāre a cruel, underhanded man, Steve Rogers.āĀ But also, if he didnāt look, he couldnāt fall for it.Ā Right?Ā Right?Ā Which immediately after that thought he chanced a peek through his lashes and-
If he believed in a higher power heād be at least a thousand percent sure they were testing him.
āAlright, fine.āĀ He half-heartedly tossed down the roll of electrical tape heād been holding when Steve had turned up the doorway like someā¦Someā¦Apple pie incubus, where heād been rolling it on both index fingers - a sure sign heād been distracted enough to lose his original train of thought, and gave up his tinkering as a bad job for the night.Ā Ā āDevious.Ā Absolutely despicable.ā
He half-paused long enough to snag Steveās free hand on his way out the door of the workshop.Ā Ā āBedtime, Winghead, hop to.ā
