Hey sweet anon, thank you so much for the ask! 💖 If you’re the same anon that sent me the ask yesterday for more headcanons I’m sorry I didn’t get to it. Yesterday was a bit of a rough day at my house 😑.

I do have a couple more to share from my Phoenix verse, if you’re interested 🤓 I can’t say too much due to spoilers but I can share a couple.

Funny enough, in this verse it’s Steve who knows how to dance instead of Tony. Steve was taught by his ma, who originally met his father in one of the dance halls that were popular back in the day. Since Tony’s parent’s’ relationship deteriorated so badly after his father’s trial he never even saw them be affectionate with each other, and with Howard’s disdain of anything he deemed artsy it was never something that Tony got around to learning. It’s become something of a tradition for Steve and Tony to share a dance before they settle in for the night. Since Tony is afraid of the dark it’s a way for Steve to hold onto him and reassure him that he’s safe 💖

The motorcycle that Steve drives used to be his father’s. Since he couldn’t be outside much as a child and teenager he taught himself how to fix it up, and it runs like it’s brand-new.

Tony considers Steve’s barracks room his home, rather than the house he grew up in and Howard still lives in. He was planning to bring up the log cabin on the lake once Steve got back from his trial space mission.

NSFW-ish:

Steve’s favourite position for making love is facing Tony, so he can see his face and kiss his lips, but Tony’s is lying on top of Steve, his back to Steve’s chest.

I hop you enjoy these, sweet anon! Thank you so much for the ask! 💖

I like to think maybe it started fast and desperate. It’s been years in the making after all, it’s been over a decade and Steve never thought he would be here. He never thought he could have Tony like this. He’d promised himself just repairing their friendship would be more enough. He’d been happy to simply be by Tony’s side during his recovery after the War, hold his hand through the long days of howling agony and the endless nights that echo with screams and exhaustion. 

He’d thought Tony would shove him away at any given moment when he’s had enough and remembered Steve was part of the reason he’d had to suffer the loss of so much. After all, if Steve had only listened, Tony wouldn’t have had to face the end of the world alone the first time. If only Steve had listened. 

So having Tony pulling at him with the same heated desperation and frenzied kisses now stuns Steve and shatters every ounce of his control. 

All of the clenched fists, turned heads, clenched jaws, the years of pain and hurt and lies and fights that created gulfs between them is now closing as they pull each other in. The same way they come together now echoes the clash of punches from so long ago, and Tony is the only one who can drive Steve to such extremes. Only Tony can drive him from ferocious anger to feral obsession, and Steve has come to live with both emotions tangled irrevocably within him until his whole heart and mind are consumed with Tony, and Tony only, especially now. 

Now that he gets to have Tony. 

He has Tony, Steve repeats to himself wonderingly. 

It’s everything and nothing at all like their first time all those years ago in Clint’s home. That had been fast and brutal, sharp teeth and bruising grips and hard thrusts, moans swallowed down in the opaque dark. Steve had been punishing Tony for Ultron as much as he had been punishing himself for falling for someone like Tony—rash and abrasive and arrogant and broken and brilliant and so damned beautiful it hurt to look at him. Even then, Steve couldn’t shake the tangled mess of emotions he felt for Tony, and even then it had been an infatuation wrapped with obsession. But Tony hadn’t loved him then. 

Now. 

Now, Tony is looking up at him with bright eyes full of warmth and love and the same relieved wonderment Steve knows is reflected in his own. Tony’s nails are digging crescents into Steve’s shoulders, his head tossed back and neck bared when Steve pushes in again, chasing that wild edge of desperation to claim thrumming through his veins. He has to bite back the feeling of wanting more until he’s connected with Tony in every way, inside him where he belongs. Home. 

Steve had spent so many years running from home, and for what? They had lost so many years because of him. He’d let his fear and arrogance nearly destroy them both, running from the one thing he can’t live without. He could’ve had all of this, all of Tony so long ago. 

And then Tony leans up to kiss him again and Steve breaks. His breath rushes out of him with a sigh as Tony’s lips press softly against his own, and his thrusts slow to a stuttering stop. Steve doesn’t realize there are tears running down his face until Tony is brushing them away with the pads of his fingers, heartbreakingly undeservingly gentle. 

“Beloved,” Tony murmurs, kissing Steve’s cheek. “What’s wrong?”

Steve doesn’t know how to explain his emotions in that moment but he tries. “Everything is right,” he finally replies and Tony’s eyes are impossibly soft in the low dark. 

“I love you, you know that?” Tony says, and Steve does know that. 

The words both ease and tighten the vise around his chest, and there are still tears dripping down his cheeks even as Tony shushes him gently and cups his face with both hands, one flesh and one metal. Steve presses a kiss to each palm before forcing himself to meet Tony’s eyes. 

“I love you, and I forgive you,” Tony says. 

The words break Steve’s heart open like a ruptured dam and he shudders as he pulls Tony close. Tony has said those words before, he’d forgiven Steve before, but hearing it now when he’s still inside Tony fractures another unreachable part of him, even as he’s healing whole, his cracks sealing with seams of gold. This forgiveness is the worst punishment and greatest gift Tony can ever give him, and he doesn’t deserve this. 

Before Steve can give that thought a voice, Tony who knows him so well, says gently, “you don’t get to decide if I should forgive you. Because I do.”

The earlier heavy rush is gone and in its place is a slow steady burn that Steve wants to keep for the rest of their lives. There’s still an edge of desperation beneath the newly gentle way Steve handles Tony, his touches tender and reverent, but his eyes are still wild and full of wonderment. Steve definitely doesn’t deserve to have this. How in the world did he get so lucky to have someone like Tony who’s given him more than his fair share of second chances?

He hopes Tony knows how much he loves him too as he kisses him again and again, pressing the words to Tony’s lips and jaw. Tony gasps beneath him, his mouth kiss bruised cherry red as Steve rocks into him long and slow. 

“Marry me,” Steve says afterwards, their limbs still tangled together. 

Tony’s eyes are wide and shocked and there’s a strangled laugh wrenched from his throat. “W-what?”

“Please,” Steve says, begging now. “Will you marry me?”

“A little soon, isn’t it, Cap?” 

“It’s been almost eleven years, Tony, but I would like it to be forever,” Steve replies. “I love you so much.” His heart is pounding in his throat but he’s never felt more sure of anything before in his life. 

Tony doesn’t say anything for a moment, but he does pull Steve down for another long kiss. 

“Yes, Steve, yes,” Tony finally says, and his words feel like absolution for Steve’s frayed soul.

I’ll blink it to you in Morse code (hint, it’s a tie)

- Bucky

Ahhh, thank you so much! 🥺💖I hope you enjoy this little ficlet!

(20: washing their back/hair in the shower. ~1k, hurt/comfort, fluff)

~~~

“Hi, sweetheart.”

Tony looks up at the sound of Steve’s voice from the doorway, though it’s ragged and tired enough that he doesn’t have to see his husband to know this most recent mission must have been a rough one. Sure enough, when Tony turns, Steve’s face is more wince than anything, despite what’s clearly an attempt at a smile.

Part of Tony hates this, that he has to brace himself to see what shape Steve might show up in. Another, much larger part of him is just thankful to have Steve back in their bedroom in one piece. Years ago, this was all just part of the job, just another part of their lives together. Now, though, Steve isn’t even supposed to be in the field. Retirement was supposed to be for both of them, aside from the occasional call for backup. The problem, of course, is that Steve can never find it in him to say no, which means those calls start coming with increasing frequency.

Which is how they end up here, with Steve gone for weeks at a stretch, leaving Tony to think himself into a panic attack as he waits for him to get back, wondering if this would be it, the time Steve doesn’t come back at all.

“Hi, darling,” Tony says, the pet name slipping out on a sharp exhale. Because he really does hate this; hates that he knows, just by the way Steve’s holding himself just so, that his ribs are bruised but luckily not broken, or Tony would be picking him up from medical right now. He hates the long periods of silence, and the look on Steve’s face, drawn and gray, that lingers for days when he gets back from a job like this one.

Tony attempts to mask these thoughts from his face, though he knows it’s a wasted effort, that Steve can see right through him. They took those kinds of walls down years ago, and it isn’t worth it to build them back up now.

“Tony.” Steve’s voice breaks Tony from his reverie. He looks truly exhausted, shadow-eyed and frayed, like this time might have felt different for him, too.

Tony just nods, crosses the room in a few quick steps, and wraps his arms around his husband as carefully as he can, thankful to feel the reassuring, warm weight of Steve all around him. Warm and solid and home. Steve hugs him in close, nosing into Tony’s hair and breathing deeply, his own form of reassurance. They stand like that for a few minutes, breathing each other in, before Tony leans up and presses a kiss to Steve’s mouth, soft and warm as ever, despite everything.

“Nothing’s broken, right?” Tony asks, just to be sure. Just to hear Steve say it.

Steve shakes his head, and Tony breathes a small sigh of relief, tracing a line along the nape of Steve’s neck, just because he can, because Steve’s here, safe and sound. “Good. I’m getting way too good at putting you back together again.” 

Steve just huffs a humorless laugh, and lets Tony lead them to the bathroom.

“Alright soldier, I’m thinking shower, painkillers, then bed. And food, if you’re up for it.”

Steve nods, still quiet, as Tony runs the water until it’s good and hot, letting the room fill with steam before helping Steve out of his tac pants and undershirt and into the shower. A few minutes under the hot spray does Steve a world of good, washing away the grime of the fight and the trip home, and while Tony can see the tension start to melt off of him, he can’t help but notice the splotches of bruises that cover Steve’s back, arms, and chest.

Tony kisses his shoulder as gently as he can manage. The rational side of him knows they’ll be gone in a day or two, thanks to the serum, but he just wishes he could—

“Just looking at you hurts,” Tony murmurs, then realizes there is something he can do, however small. 

The scent of their citrus shampoo permeates through the steam as Tony makes careful, methodical work of Steve’s hair, carding gently through the strands and smiling when Steve’s eyes slip shut almost immediately. Steve has never been one for fussing, but he’d stopped denying himself these small moments of comfort years ago, and for that, Tony is thankful. He rinses Steve’s hair and massages his scalp, working down to his shoulders and the nape of his neck, until he feels more than hears Steve’s soft sigh.

“Thanks, Tony,” Steve says after a beat. His eyes open again, still tired and hurting, but grateful, too. “For, you know.” He gestures around them.

Tony presses a kiss to the back of his neck, chasing down a drop of water. “I know.”

When they make their way to bed, Steve doesn’t hesitate before wrapping himself up around Tony, unwinding a bit more, breath by breath. Tony thinks he might have fallen asleep that quickly, until he hears him suck in a deep breath. 

“What if this was the last one? For good, this time.”

Eventually, Tony would hear the whole story. When Steve was ready to tell him, he’d be there to listen. For now, though, Tony just presses a kiss to the top of his husband’s head and nods, relief coursing through him.

“If that’s what you want, you know I support you. I never wanted to force you out, you know that.”

Steve smiles, like storm clouds finally giving way to sun. “I know. I want to. I think it’s time.” 

“Then I think that’s good. Besides, that means more of you for me,” Tony says easily. “I can be selfish that way.” 

Steve laughs, like he already feels lighter, and nuzzles into Tony’s chest until he laughs along with him. “I’ll call Fury in the morning.”

(wordless ways to say I love you)