i c a r u s

          steve chuckled “i appreciate that, but if i keep this thing on i’ll get paint everywhere.” he shut the door behind tony and followed him into the kitchen. steve was honestly quite happy to see tony, since their last conversation steve had been trying to come up with some sort of plan that would a good date but he kept scrapping every idea he came up with. “yeah, i guess i’ve kinda kept the place to myself. between working with shield and the volunteering i’ve been doing i just haven’t gotten around to having people over.” he explained, moving to the sink to wash his hands of as much of the paint as he could. “everything alright?”

Tony hummed, acknowledging what Steve had said. He sat down in a nearby chair, watching him. “Ah well. Being Tony Stark is still...pretty damn hard.” he chuckled.”I think I’d be happy if I never had to go to another business meeting.” he mumbled tiredly. “So I thought I could use a pick me up. And you plus burgers sounded like exactly what I needed.” he smiled then, opening the paper bag and laying out the food.

          steve had been working on some art all day, between all his work with shield it was the sort of day he needed to relax. he had started working on a painting after his run, a sunrise piece. his hands, arms, and face were speckled with paint in various shades of pinks and purples and blues, fingertips coated in charcoal. hearing the knock at the door, steve set his brush down and wiped his hands on his shirt as he made his way out of the studio. when he opened the door to see tony, he neatly beamed at the male “tony! hey, i uh, i didn’t know you were stopping by.” he blushed slightly, remembering he was in his painting shirt “come on in, i just need to change real quick.”

Tony looked the male over when the door opened, and almost dropped the food in his hands. He tried to keep his mouth from hanging open. “Oh, honey. You’re totally fine just the way you are.” he looked up at him, before holding up the paper bag. “I got lunch.” he told him, before stepping in and looking around. The apartment smelled like paint, as he assumed it would. It was also covered in natural lighting by the windows on the walls. “I don’t think I’ve ever actually been here.” he set the bag on the counter, shrugging off his blazer and stretching a bit. He rolled up his sleeves for comfort. “Had a long day.” he explained.

Tony wasn’t usually one for showing up unannounced, but he found it harder to make plans with Steve than to be spontaneous. He walked up the steps to his apartment, leaning against the wall as he straightened out his shirt. In his hands was some take out. A good old American cheeseburger for each. He hoped it would have the right toppings for Steve. He knocked on the wood door finally, having not felt this nervous since he was in his early teens. “Kissogram!” he called through the door teasingly.

          the blonde just laughed as he walked further into the lab “i think nat might just kill us both if you do. she’s trying to set me up with loki and i think she might maim someone if they get in the way.” he shook his head “well you’re always welcome at the shop, avengers get a really steep discount. you do get out of here right tony?” clint grabbed a cup for himself before leaning against a table “i’m not gonna turn down improved anything, but the bow doesn’t get much use these days… of course, what’s up?”

“Yeah, well you know. Security measures. I get bored.” he looked at him for a moment. “Loki, huh? He’s a lot different than when we first met him.” he sat down, taking in a breath. “Ironically, this conversation is about my love life.” He looked at his hands, clearing his throat nervously. “I uh...I think Steve and I are becoming a thing.”

continued from here with @iron-coded

          clint had been neck-deep in decorations from the shop. now that the holidays were over, he had to get them all packed back up and stored away for the year. sure, he could have had some of the staff do it but clint wasn’t going to have them come in when the shop was closed. when he finally finished he saw the missed call from tony, laughing as he listened to it. before leaving he made a few coffees to take to the tower and he headed out. the blonde somehow managed to make it there without losing one of the cups, and he poked his head in the lab with a grin on his face “shellhead! i bring gifts.” he held up the carrier as he walked in 

Tony perked up as soon as he saw Clint, and the coffee. He stood up, walking over as he turned down his music. “Legolas, I could marry you right now.” he took the coffee, setting it on one of his work benches for him. “I’m glad you came. Gets quiet down here.”He told him, but he had to admit that he had other motives for inviting him over. “So I’m working on some stuff for you. It’s not completely ready yet, but it’s awesome.” he nodded to the screen of his computer. “Improved arrows. I’ll get your thoughts in a sec...There’s actually something I wanted to talk about.”

Magic City - Gorillaz

You put me up here in the penthouse

And painted me in red, white and blue

I filled the canyons with my ego

Look there’s a billboard on the moon

@ofbartons

“Hey, Legolas. How’s it hanging?” Tony spoke into the phone, holding it between his shoulder and his cheek. He was tinkering again, and honestly felt like he was on the verge of something great. He usually was. Maybe he should tell Clint that? “I’m making some big progress here, Clint. Big stuff. You should come see and tell me how great it is. Not that I don’t know, you know…but…Oh, I got you some arrow upgrades. You’re gonna love ‘em.” he cleared his throat. “Anyways, let me know when you’re free.” he ended the message, hanging up on the voice mail machine.

Cringe - Matt Maeson

Sweating all your sins out

Putting all your thoughts back together

Oh, we just don’t blend out

All of my attempts seem to weather

@ofredrakes

Tony sat back in the booth of the diner he was in. It was disgustingly late, and the place was practically empty. He played with the Sweet ‘N Low packet in front of him, flipping it back and forth between his fingers that were coarse and rough. He had a lot on his mind, and the coffee in front of him just wasn’t keeping his focus anymore. But the waitress, a sweet woman really, kept it hot for him regardless.

He was thinking about a lot of things, but the main topic of the day was his self worth. Mainly, he was questioning if he was worthy of dating Steve Rogers. He had gone through all the facts in his mind over and over, and just couldn’t come to a conclusion. His eyes drifted over to an individual sitting alone, and decided to say fuck it. He stood up, abandoning the beige coffee mug to sit in front of the other. “Hey. Mind if I ask you for a hypothesis?”

....God. You’re cute. It’s not even a question. Of course I want a date. Even though my favorite fruit is blueberries. 

steve: yeah, now that i've thought about it i guess it has been

steve: what do we do now? now that it's spoken i mean

steve: i've never been good with this kind of thing

Tony: Depends. I want this, honestly. But I can go fast sometimes.

steve: i have no doubt you did

steve: while i was more forward than i usually would be, i did mean everything i said

steve: you're more than just pretty tony

Tony: It's kind of been an unspoken thing huh?

Tony: Us.