@dereiserne moved for beta editor
STEVE STEPS BACK, seeing Tony's gesture for what it is: a need for personal space and an intact bubble of privacy that Steve isn't allowed in anymore. That's fine; everyone has their own definition of what is too close, after all. (Then why does Steve feel so bad all of a sudden?)
"Let's be honest, you wouldn't even feel it if I gave you 5,000 bucks for that room every month," Steve points out. That doesn't keep him from feeling kind of guilty. Should he pay for the room? For all that food he eats (which is a lot because he's a super soldier with a very busy metabolism)? Stark's right, he doesn't have any money to his name – not yet, anyway. SHIELD and the US Army are still quarreling about the backpay he's apparently entitled to because they never declared him killed in action, only MIA.
"A hot drink sounds splendid," Steve says, but then he looks down at himself and his wet shirt and dirty, sand-covered pants. He has goosebumps on his arms and feels a shiver coming. "Maybe rendezvous in the kitchen after we put on some dry clothes? I can't get sick anymore, but you, on the other hand…" Oh boy, he doesn't want to envision a sick Tony Stark. His annoyance level would ramp up to five thousand, probably. Or drop to zero and make Steve wonder if he was about to die.