Work Text:
Mistletoe - Day 01
Holiday parties were never quite the festive collection of wonder they were planned out to be, whether they were family gatherings, office parties, or a group of friends. This particular party happened to be all three. There had been questions coming in asking how the Avengers would spend their Christmas, and speculation over how the band of merry heroes would tackle a Christmas dinner with a norse god, two top SHIELD agents and the Hulk. Truthfully, no such dinner would occur, but there was a party.
Natasha was absent and while Tony had grilled Clint on her wearabouts, there was no budging on his part to reveal what mission she’d been sent on. Thor was also missing, but he had no reason to celebrate a Christian holiday with them, even if it were the commercialised, secular version of such an event.
The party itself was held in the penthouse of Stark Tower, and had a collection of Stark Industries employees, SHIELD agents, old friends from the world over, and sub group of the famous team. Bruce had agreed to come as he had managed to make himself quite at home visiting the tower regularly to work with Tony or catch up on his own research. Clint had arrived with some lower-ranking SHIELD operatives who had agreed to the mass invite Tony had extended. Pepper, Happy and Rhodey were also obviously in attendance. And then there was Steve.
Steve was a near constant visitor of the tower these days. This was general knowledge, as was the fact that Captain America and Iron Man had formed a great alliance, strategising, acclimatising, play-fighting. What wasn’t known was that one of the frequently visited spots in the penthouse was the master bedroom. Steve even had his own drawer. Tony had offered him a wardrobe, but it had been declined in replace of something more suitable to his needs. As Tony had learned, Steve travelled light.
It had suited them, keeping their relationship quiet, but Tony had been getting antsy. He had spent the holidays with special people before, even one successful one while dating Pepper, but he didn’t like the idea of having somebody, having a working relationship with someone he cared about, and not being able to do something basic like celebrate a holiday openly. If Tony were being absolutely honest, the idea of locking press out of his get together was precisely because of one strategically placed sprig of mistletoe. He’d had it hung around the penthouse, as it was the closest to debauchery he was allowed in a room full of scientists, assassins and security.
He had seen it put to use already, with tipsy researchers meeting equally tipsy tactical engineers. That was fine by Tony, the more love in the room the better, but fortunately no one had met under his chosen sprig yet, the one he’d put above the counter in the open plan kitchen.
It was eleven-thirty when he got to use it himself. He’d chosen the kitchen as he knew his partner well. It might not have been a party planned or hosted by the perfect Steve Rogers, but he was still offering to freshen drinks and help catering with returning empty trays of food. He might not have been ridiculous enough to actually be cooking or serving the food, but it was the sort of gesture Tony had anticipated.
Steve had just been returning a discarded tray of pate when Tony pounced. He excused himself quickly from the utterly fascinating conversation he’d been having with one of the younger board members and made his way quickly over to the kitchen without sloshing the drink he still had in his hand.
“Are you having fun or should I just get you an apron and organise a paycheck?” He asked, smirking as Steve looked up first with surprise, then with a quirk of the lips showing that tolerant amusement Tony saw in him so often.
“I’m just helping out, Tony. It’s not that strange.”
Tony enjoyed the long-suffering smile he got from Steve, the one that just seemed to flood his partner’s face with affection. Steve leant in and for a moment it looked like he was going in for a kiss, then he stiffened, his eyes widening as he started to pull back. Tony followed Steve’s eyes as they darted around the room and his guess was for a moment he’d forgotten they had more than a little company.
“Oh, no you don’t!” Tony said, grinning though he could see Steve had misinterpreted. He looked up quickly at the mistletoe and it was enough for Steve’s eyes to follow.
“Too late,” Tony added and grabbed Steve by the back of the head, pulling him down for a kiss. Steve was strong enough to have relented, but he didn’t, so Tony didn’t play it down. He only heard one glass drop to the floor as they kissed, but when they pulled away the room was distinctly quieter. His grin returned and to his surprise he got one in return.
“Merry Christmas, Tony.”