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They played rock, paper, scissor about it, like the adults they were, and Steve stood as the eventual loser and therefore got the responsibility of finding Tony to drag him out of his workshop for fresh air and food, which was something he’d done too many times to count, but he felt different about it now. Had been feeling different about Tony for a while now.
He looked at Clint helplessly, but he only shrugged with a sympathetic grin that Natasha didn’t share beside him - at least not the sympathetic part.
“Feed him and be done with it,” Clint said, slapping his back in a manner that wouldn’t even budge a civvie. “Once he’s out of that hole of his it’ll go quickly.”
Steve was aware, but he merely sighed and left the rest of the team. Time to save Iron Man.
Steve had spent enough time in Tony’s workshop to be prepared for pretty much anything - seriously, once he found him hanging from the roof for no reason he cared to specify - but he still found himself pausing by the door, eyes wide as he took in Tony’s shirtless form. This… really wasn’t helping matters. Tony didn’t hear him enter, his attention absorbed in whatever he was working on, and his ears filled with the music he was blasting. Steve recognized the song, but he couldn’t place it. But it didn’t matter. His mind was officially elsewhere.
He tried clearing his throat, partly to announce his presence, partly to get rid of the lump that had begun forming. His efforts were rewarded with no reaction, and normally Steve would’ve pulled at Tony’s shirt, but seeing as there was no shirt around to pull, and there was no way he was gonna grab his friend’s pants, he decided to accept his fate and reached out to touch bare skin.
That got him a reaction all right.
Steve had barely tapped Tony’s shoulder before the genius practically hit the ceiling, a yell breaking through the music as he attempted to twist his body around to look at the intruder. Steve, in turn, panicked and tried to steady him, but as he grabbed Tony’s ribs it only resulted in him jumping again, this time away, with a nervous laugh leaving his lips.
Good god this wasn’t good for Steve’s sanity.
“Steve!” Tony exclaimed. “JARVIS, turn the music off.”
The workshop wasn’t a place for calm or quiet. It was a place for chaos and working, and the silence felt wrong, but Steve welcomed it anyway.
“I feel like I lost years of my life just now,” Tony said, slightly out of breath. Steve could almost hear his frantic heartbeat calming down.
“Sorry,” he replied sheepishly. “Didn’t mean to startle you. I came to force you to eat.”
“Like the mother hen you are.”
“In my defense, the others agree with me.”
Tony let out a laugh and reached for the dirty rag on his worktable to wipe his even dirtier hands. “Well, if the others agree, then I guess there’s something to it. Give me a sec to wash up.”
Steve, who’d never been able to keep his mouth from screwing him over, blurted out, “Sorry for touching you.”
Tony froze, his eyebrows meeting his hairline. “Pardon?”
“You, uh, flinched when I touched you. I’m sorry if I made you uncomfortable.”
“Steve, you scared the shit out of me. Of course I flinched.”
“Not that. Afterwards. The second time I touched you.”
Understanding swept across Tony’s face. “Oh, that. Don’t worry about it. Your hands just tickled me.”
“T-tickled?” Steve wasn’t sure why his face was heating up, but it was, and he was certain it was all too apparent.
Tony seemed amused. “Yes, tickled. That thing where a light touch makes you laugh.”
“I know what it is,” Steve replied, rolling his eyes as best as he could. “I just didn’t realize you were ticklish.”
“Surprise?”
Steve laughed, aware of how flustered he still was. Aware of how strange that probably was.
Tony grinned before turning around. “Give me a sec to wash up,” he repeated. “And afterwards we can go eat and I can tease you over how red you’ve suddenly gone.”
That didn’t help matters. At. All.
Forcing himself to not squirm too much where he was standing, Steve made a point of not looking at Tony as he walked away. Of not looking at the way his muscular back curved or how low his jeans were. God, that man would be the death of him, which of course would go down in history. How did Captain America die again? Oh, from looking at a half-naked Iron Man. The usual.
They entered the elevator a moment later in silence, though Steve reckoned it spoke volumes anyway. He knew Tony was observing his reflection in the mirror, just like Steve was observing his, but neither of them commented on it. Tony’s slight smirk made it hard for Steve to comment on anything.
“Did you know a year ago I never would’ve guessed you could be flustered?” Tony finally said as they walked side by side through the hallway on their way to the kitchen. “I mean, I knew you probably had issues and wasn’t that stone faced all the time, but flustered? No way.” He turned to Steve with a grin. “Proved me wrong just now.”
“Please stop talking.”
“What I can’t figure out is why, though,” Tony continued as if he hadn’t said anything. “Was it my manly scream when you scared the crap out of me? Was it my godlike body? Was it me acknowledging that you had tickled me?”
Steve didn’t say anything, but Tony could see right through him anyway.
“It was the tickling, wasn’t it?”
“God, just-” Steve ran a hand over his face. “Just stop talking.”
Tony made a victorious sound. “I knew you had a thing for it and that I didn’t just dream it up.”
“I’m literally going to-”
“What? Tickle me?” They had stopped walking, and Tony was standing too close for comfort. “Because you can if you want to.”
“Tony, I-”
“Steve. It’s okay.”
Steve averted his gaze. “I’m taking it that you remember-”
“That night? No amount of liquor could make me forget that night.”
It wasn’t as bad as it sounded. They’d been drinking a few weeks ago, just the two of them, once Thor had handed Steve a flask of that Asgardian booze that actually worked on him after he’d noticed what a bad week Steve had been having. Steve had been so grateful that he’d almost kissed him, but instead he’d grabbed Tony and hidden in his workshop. They hadn’t even been drinking much, partly because just a sip helped Steve temporarily forget, and partly because Tony wasn’t hanging out with bottles as much anymore. But they’d gotten tipsy, and the comfort of the moment and slight buzz to their heads had made them say way more than their sober selves would’ve, at least on Steve’s part.
So he’d told Tony that he liked tickling. Both being the one who does it to others and being on the receiving end. They hadn’t talked about it since, and Steve had assumed Tony didn’t remember.
Apparently he was wrong.
“Hey.” Tony grabbed his wrist, as if afraid Steve would run away. “It’s okay.”
Steve looked at their hands and then looked at Tony’s face. He wasn’t mocking him. Not even close. Instead, he’d adopted this fond look, as if he found Steve endearing, and that made him flush more than any mockery could.
“Aw, there’s that blush again.”
“Shut up,” he mumbled, unable to stop his smile. Unable to keep looking Tony in the eyes.
Tony responded by letting go of his wrist and using both his hands to poke him in the belly a few times until Steve batted him away. “You’re cute. Let’s go eat before I do something I might regret.”
“Like what?”
Tony was the one who seemed a bit flustered now, but he was better at playing it off. “Like tickle you, which will inevitably result in me becoming the victim since you’re ten times stronger. I don’t have as much energy as I would like right now, but once you’ve fed me I can put up a fight.” He poked Steve’s tummy again. “Whoops, too late.”
Steve laughed nervously. “You’re ridiculous.”
Tony grinned as they started walking again. “Or kiss you.”
“What?”
“Like tickle you or kiss you. Two things I might regret doing depending on the outcome.”
Steve stopped again. They might not even reach the kitchen that day. “You… can do both. If you want.”
Tony was definitely as nervous as him now. “At the same time?”
“If you want.”
Tony did, but his wiggling fingers found Steve’s sides several minutes after they’d started kissing. Steve let go of Tony’s face and reached for his wrists instead, but he didn’t push him away. Instead, he allowed himself to laugh into the kiss, and he felt Tony grinning, and for the first time in so long everything felt right.