Steve Rogers (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
rogers_that) wrote in ![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png)
fossilised2018-07-04 03:34 pm
rogers_that) wrote in fossilised2018-07-04 03:34 pm
Birthday fun
It all started with a cake. Not enough stories these days did anymore, especially not in the lives of the Avengers. This wasn't just any cake either. It wasn't store-bought, picked up from the grocery with a hope that the teenager doing the lettering spelled a name correctly. It wasn't from a fancy bakery, though the person who had taken it upon himself to do the baking could have afforded something outlandish. No, this cake came from various boxes and cartons, the contents of which were painstakingly mixed together in more or less the way the recipe card was read off.
There may have been some corners cut, the eggs might not have been carefully folded (mostly because how do you fold eggs when they're goopy), the buttercream might be too runny, but the result was still fairly remarkable.
Even more remarkable was how intact it arrived, in a box in the back of an Audi, to all the usual fanfare Tony himself enjoyed when speeding through the security gates that those working at the Compound feverishly rushes to open for him. One scratch on that car would mean less of a Christmas bonus for everyone.
The cake was transported carefully from the back of the car towards one of the living quarters, a building shared by most of the non-retired Avengers. It did not need to be announced, so the man carrying it didn't bother to knock. Not at the front door and not at the recipient's bedroom. There was no need. No one would be awake anyway.
The time on his watch read 11:58 and so the cake was forced to wait a full two minutes until the day rolled over to be dramatically presented.
Tony Stark burst through the door and JARVIS started the Star-Spangled Banner on his cue, red and blue lights flashing. It was all beautifully patriotic, much like the cake itself, decorated to resemble Captain America's shield. "Happy Birthday, Grandpa!"
There may have been some corners cut, the eggs might not have been carefully folded (mostly because how do you fold eggs when they're goopy), the buttercream might be too runny, but the result was still fairly remarkable.
Even more remarkable was how intact it arrived, in a box in the back of an Audi, to all the usual fanfare Tony himself enjoyed when speeding through the security gates that those working at the Compound feverishly rushes to open for him. One scratch on that car would mean less of a Christmas bonus for everyone.
The cake was transported carefully from the back of the car towards one of the living quarters, a building shared by most of the non-retired Avengers. It did not need to be announced, so the man carrying it didn't bother to knock. Not at the front door and not at the recipient's bedroom. There was no need. No one would be awake anyway.
The time on his watch read 11:58 and so the cake was forced to wait a full two minutes until the day rolled over to be dramatically presented.
Tony Stark burst through the door and JARVIS started the Star-Spangled Banner on his cue, red and blue lights flashing. It was all beautifully patriotic, much like the cake itself, decorated to resemble Captain America's shield. "Happy Birthday, Grandpa!"
no subject
The tentative smile was audible in Steve's voice before he hung up. He spent much of the rest of the next day with a very smug Natasha (and for the good of his own mental health he didn't ask her why she was suddenly so smug) who coached him on what to wear. Apparently slacks and a nice button down with a tie were no longer acceptable casual date wear, and she picked out clothes that, in her words, would 'knock 'em dead'.
He wasn't sure.
He felt kind of uncomfortable in the jeans, they were so tight that it felt like they'd been painted on, but at least the soft leather jacket over a light blue shirt looked nice enough. When he showed up at the Tower he had flowers, because his Ma raised him right, a bouquet of mixed colours and types.
"Sir," JARVIS said, "Captain Rogers has arrived and is waiting in the atrium."
no subject
Technically, Steve only had to cross the Compound to pick him up, but Tony had decided to send him to the city where he was overseeing the construction of the damaged Tower. It would give them some space, after all, and there would be no damned assassins bothering them.
Tony dressed well, as he always did, in a three piece suit minus the tie. He’d made fun of Steve on his birthday for wearing a tie to a jazz club, and he didn’t want to be a hypocrite.
Besides. It might not be that kind of date.
He wasn’t expecting Steve to arrive looking so good, though. Both eyebrows lifted as he strode into the main room of what used to be his penthouse.
“Natasha?”
no subject
But he was smiling all the same as he held out the flowers towards Tony and even bent down to offer a peck on the cheek. If he were about to do a date, then he was going to do it properly.
"You look real smart, Tony, I'll have a good looking guy on my arm. Are you ready to get going?"
no subject
This just sounded so... weird. It was almost worse that he was getting flowers too. Tony didn’t even give flowers so he had no idea what he was supposed to do with them. He’d been baffled enough not even to notice that Steve was going in for a kiss to his cheek, and that just floored him too.
This wasn’t 1940 but Steve evidently was still stuck there despite having immersed himself in modern day culture for the last year and a half. Still, he was trying to do things right and Tony felt both charmed and somewhat horrified.
“Uh. So thanks. And I mean that. But you can’t treat me like a girl. Except holding doors. You can hold doors for me.”
no subject
Steve wasn't the sort of guy to be threatened by something traditionally feminine. Hell, he had grown up into art as a skinny asthmatic during a time when men should be boxing and joining the military. And he knew he was no less of a man for it. Flowers were nice, they said you cared, guy or girl.
"How about you hold off on complaining until the date is done, deal? Then you can tell me all the things I did that were uncool or not modern enough. But for now, let yourself enjoy it, okay?"
no subject
What Steve probably meant was that he wanted to enjoy it (so said Tony’s brain) and given his feelings towards the blond, he saw no reason why he couldn’t let him, or them both, have that. Maybe something more traditional, despite the players, could do him some good. Tony wasn’t going to speculate on that, so he wrinkled his nose just a little and shrugged.
“I did say it could be your way,” Tony said, though he wasn’t sure if that had been a thought or said outloud. Either way, he was sticking by his promise and so he laid the flowers down and reached for Steve’s arm.
“What did you have planned?”
no subject
"Well, first I'm gonna take you out to dinner, and then maybe we'll go for a walk downtown depending on how we feel."
Not the most original date, but Steve felt that stepping out with someone should be about getting to know them, not about showing off or loud music. He led Tony around to his car and opened the passenger side door for him, before getting in and heading off towards a little Italian place on the outskirts of Manhattan.