TITLE: Nine out of Ten
Iron Man (movie) mixed with comicverse
tiny reference to Collision at the end
AUTHOR: Macx
RATING: PG-13
DISCLAIMER: None of the characters belong to me, sadly. They are owned by people with a lot more money
Author’s Voice of Warning (aka Author’s Note):
English is not my first language; it’s German. This is the best I can do. Any mistakes you find in here, collect them and you might win a prize The spell-checker said everything's okay, but you know how trustworthy those thingies are....
FEEDBACK: Loved





What did you give a man who had everything, and if he didn’t… could buy it?

Steve had been wreaking his brain over that question and wasn’t any closer to an answer than he had been a week ago. He had gone through the usual stuff:

Flowers. No, flowers were out of the question. How much more clichéd could it be? Steve knew he would be degrading Tony to the little woman in their relationship and Tony was far from little and definitely not a woman. He also didn’t strike Steve as the flower type. Rogers would probably get a repulsor into the face next time they were training. No, no flowers.

Candy. Well, ditto. He wasn’t romancing the man and he wasn’t trying to woo a woman.

Steve had experience with women, at least as much as a man of the forties could have. That time had been different back then, he had been different, and Tony was a man.

Steve almost laughed. Definitely a man. He could doubt a lot, but not Tony’s masculinity. And he was very much attracted to this masculinity.

So cologne was out of the question, too. Tony had this ridiculously expensive cologne that smelled nice, but Steve preferred him when he used the simple stuff, mostly Steve’s, and that was it. Tony only whipped out the expensive one when he went to events. It was part of his charm, he had once told his lover.

So Steve had ended up with the dinner option -- and had dismissed it. Surprising Tony Stark with a really nice dinner wasn’t special. Tony had wined and dined in the most exclusive places. He had tasted all the good stuff, and he could pig out with the best of them in front of the TV, watching sports, stuffing himself with all the unhealthy couch potato food – and he wouldn’t gain an ounce.

The weekend getaway. Great idea, but where to? Aspen? The Hamptons? Overseas? Steve had neither the money nor the secret connections to set up a weekend getaway place without Tony getting wind of it. Steve was paid by SHIELD and while he didn’t really spend all that much, just looking at the internet sites or glossy brochures had him give up on that.

A weekend in some romantic hotel wasn’t Steve’s forte anyway. He also didn’t think that going sailing, skiing or riding was anything Tony hadn’t done before.

Giving him some token of affection, like a ring, was so teeth-achingly sweet, Steve just knew Tony would probably have tooth decay. And he wasn’t the ring-wearing type either. Nor did he wear any kind of special jewelry, like a chain around his neck or a bracelet. And a watch was so… common. It was also more along the lines of what one would give to a woman. Steve wanted to make sure he didn’t leave the impression that Tony was the woman for him.

Rogers found no help in his friends either. He didn’t really want to ask them outright because his Tony’s relationship was kept private. The others knew that they were together, but neither Tony nor Steve were big on holding hands in public, kissing on the couch, or making goo-goo eyes at one another. The way they touched was subconsciously there and Steve didn’t think it was any different than before.

So, no asking the others outright. And MJ’s ideas were too romantic, as were Aunt May’s.

What did you give a billionaire who had it all?

Tough question and Captain America was failing to come up with an answer.

“Captain?”

Steve tried not to roll his eyes. It was hard. Jarvis was formal again.

“Yes?”

“I noticed your predicament.”

Of course he would have. Steve had spent a lot of time surfing the web and the AI was everywhere.

“May I suggest something?”

“Sure.”

It couldn’t be any worse than what Steve had come up with himself. And Jarvis had known the man a lot longer and might have a really good idea.

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The atmosphere was electric with eighteen thousand people cheering on their teams. The air smelled of popcorn and hot dogs and spilled soft drinks and sweat.

A cry erupted from their section as the Lakers scored, but the Knicks retaliated and the fans erupted in even more cheering.

Tony was right there in the middle. Dressed in jeans, black t-shirt, a Knicks shirt, a Knicks baseball cap and waving a half eaten hot dog, he looked nowhere near the suave playboy the press loved to paste all over their news section, mostly the business area.

Steve booed with the others at a foul and clapped when the next basket was worth three points.
The game drew to an end and the Knicks were clearly winning. With the final whistle the fans turned the Staples Center into a boiling kettle. With Tony in the middle and whistling and cheering just as loudly as anyone else.

Steve had no idea where Jarvis had been able to get the tickets from. Front row, behind the players’ bench, the best seats in the house. Close enough to touch and to listen to the coach and the players. They had cost, of course, but not as much as Steve would have feared. Jarvis hadn’t lost a word about how he had made this possible. Steve wondered how he could repay the AI for this.

Tony was still smiling happily when they filed out of the Center with everyone else. There was pushing and shoving, but Steve easily made his way. They made it home by car, Tony driving, and Steve relaxed into the passenger seat. The penthouse was empty. No sign of the others.

Tony pulled Steve closer and gave him a kiss. “Thank you for a great day.”

“Glad you enjoyed it.” Steve wrapped an arm firmly around the more slender form.

It had taken him long enough to find something that wasn’t too tacky.

“We should make this a regular,” Tony murmured against Steve’s ear as he nibbled his way to the jaw.

“Hm?” The little bites were distracting.

“You, me, a great game, great sex…”

“Great sex?” Steve teased.

“Wait for later.”

“Hm-mm. So, you want to do this again?”

“We haven’t had the great sex yet, but yeah, I want to do fantastic sex with you a lot.”

Steve chuckled. “One track mind. I meant the game. You and me and just having a good time. A day off, so to speak.”

Tony shrugged. “It was fun.”

“Compared to spending all day in the workshop… what does it rate on your scale?”

“You’re unfair, Steve,” the other man complained.

“So?”

Tony kissed him. “A nine.”

Steve blinked. “Really?”

“Only topped by flying in my armor,” Tony winked.

“Oh.” Steve was more than surprised.

His lover grinned wickedly. “It would rate a ten if we had had great, fantastic, amazing, mind-blowing sex right away.”

“In the middle of the stadium,” Steve commented wryly, not even making it a question.

It got him another wink. The man was incorrigible.

“I didn’t think you were big on gifts,” Tony said almost conversationally as he worked on getting Steve out of his Knicks jacket and t-shirt.

Who was Rogers to stop him?

“I found it appropriate,” he replied, stripping the t-shirt over his head.

“You’re a hopeless romantic,” Tony sighed theatrically.

“Nothing bad about being one.”

“Probably.”

Steve was distracted by the feather-light, explorative touch around one nipple. “I wanted to celebrate…”

“What? Anniversary? That’s more like…” Tony shrugged, the pad of his index finger brushing over the hardening nub.

Steve grabbed the distracting hand and interlaced their fingers, drawing Stark into a hard kiss.

“I thought it was as good an excuse as any to get you out of the business suit, out of the workshop, out of the Avengers mansion… just somewhere we could be just us. Tony and Steve.”

Tony blinked. “Tony and Steve?”

Steve nodded.

The bemused expression slowly turned into a warm smile. “It worked.”

“I figured.”

“By the way, it wasn’t our anniversary,” Tony remarked casually. “At least not that I remember. And I didn’t think we had one.”

“It was. And we have. First time we met.”

Not the first time they had kissed. Or slept together, It had been the day Steve had woken in another time, in the future, and looked at an alien creature, a metal mask, with glowing eye slits. It had been the day he had held onto the gloved hand, metallic and cool, the only anchor he had had.

“Oh,” Tony said quietly, squeezing the hand holding his. “Sap,” he then added.

Steve laughed. “Like I said… as good an excuse as any.”

“It was fun, though. Loads of fun. Still missing the great sex, though…”

One track mind. That was Tony for you. He set his mind on something and he would see it through. He wouldn’t be swayed from his goal, in this case Steve and sex with Steve.

So Steve Rogers decided to no longer keep him waiting.