Work Text:
Headache after headache time after time; technology was something that Steve Rogers was never going to get along with.
When he had first arrived in the present day, he was astounded and overwhelmed by all of the different machines that surrounded him, wondering how things could have gotten this advanced in a mere 70 years which seemed like just a nap for him. At first it was something that intrigued him, looking at all of the flashing lights, putting food in a box and watching it cook, pictures that used to be on film reels now on a tiny round disk and with the help of glasses, could even appear to come out of the screen. He couldn’t help but stare with awe at most of the gadgets that were thrown his way.
But here’s the thing, Steve Rogers is a simple guy. He likes things simplified and although technology was supposed to make duties easier, it seemed to be getting more and more difficult. After a while the lustre of technology seemed to fade away, especially since it started to get more and more convoluted with new systems being developed and tasks being changed. The super soldier was not so super when it came to developments in technology, one of his main tasks was to file and write mission reports. Firstly, he was used to hand-writing his reports back in the army camps, which would then be sent over to the trained typists who would use their typewriters to get it all filed and written. Secondly, if he were to type, he’d use a typewriter, not a machine that appeared to be no larger than a book. The keys were so small and when he pressed one, multiple letters appeared. It simply couldn’t accommodate the size of his larger than average fingers. Tony would often tease him and tell him that he had bear paws, but Steve wouldn’t pay much attention to the taunts. Lastly, Steve couldn’t stare at a screen for longer than 10 minutes. He had to stare and type and stare, it didn’t help that it took so long for him to type one word, even with the training that S.H.I.E.L.D had given him along with the extra help that Tony provided (but that was mostly for his own entertainment, there was nothing Tony Stark loved more than to see the soldier struggle with tasks that he could do with his eyes closed), but Steve still couldn’t get to grips with typing up mission reports.
Steve wasn’t the type to try and pawn off his work on other people but when he could, he would. Hank was often too nice to say no and he knew how much Steve struggled with the whole thing, so it was only right for him to help out when he could. Sometimes T’challa would take the reports upon himself since he would consider Steve’s work as inefficient and would do it himself with the most detail, and of course, Tony would never do the reports for Steve, since, well, he would never do the reports full stop even if it was his duty to do so. But overall, Steve would never give up on a challenge; he was determined to master writing and typing these reports.
Steve decided to take all of the reports from the previous mission and type them all up. He sat down with a hot mug of coffee by his side, laptop buzzing in front of him and the files next to it. Everything was so neatly organised, the table was clear asides from his work and a cup of coffee. He cracked his knuckles, stretched out his fingers and cracked his neck as he sat down, staring at the blank white screen with the flashing black cursor and took in a deep breath, exhaling as he prepared mentally for what was going to be a long night. He started to type up all of the reports, taking his time and making sure everything was as accurate as he could make it. He had to endure the glare from the screen as he typed word after word, gradually picking up his pace once he became more comfortable with using the system.
Steve had to make sure that Tony was kept busy, but Tony would never be kept busy for long. He would get bored with working on the same old things, and since they lived together with their puppy, Microchip, he would often wonder around and try and get Steve to entertain him. (At first Tony didn’t want a puppy but when Steve brought ‘Chip home, he grew to love him, enjoying his company when Steve wasn’t around). But this time, when Tony walked up to Steve’s office he had built for him, with the little golden puppy following his every step, wagging its curled tail, he noticed the door was shut for a change. Steve would never leave the door shut, and it was pretty late, even Microchip yawned and pawed at the door. Tony would never go to sleep without Steve and Microchip at his feet, so he turned to their bedroom and sat down with his tablet in his hands, messing around and drawing up some new schematics for fun just while he was killing time. After a long while, Tony could hear Microchip whining at him and he looked at the puppy straight in the eyes,
“What’s wrong?” He asked, seeing it give Tony a sad look, with its ears drooping as it crawled closer to Tony. “I know, he’s not in bed yet... I wonder what he’s doing...” Tony said, placing his tablet down so that he could stroke the dogs head, to which it wagged its tail contently and nuzzled up to Tony with its cold shiny black nose. Tony shivered as the cold sensation brushed against his arms, though he felt even colder without Steve in the bed with him. Tony would always wear a black tank top to bed with shorts, the something comfortable which would allow him to go straight to his workshop in the same clothing in the morning. “You go check; you know he’ll kick me out.” Tony mumbled, patting the dog once more before it hopped off the bed, doing as it was told. It waddled down the hallway, looking at the doors with its wide glittering black eyes before finally stopping by Steve’s door and pawing at it again. It jumped back as it heard an angry yell from the other side of the door.
Steve was inside the room, typing away when he must’ve pressed the wrong button. Suddenly, poof, all of the night’s hard work was gone. 6/7 hours worth of agonising typing and arranging and it was all gone. Never before had Steve been so emotionally invested in getting something written up, but this was his chance to show everyone that he could do this, that he could deal with technology and he wasn’t a stunted old man who had no idea what he was doing. But now with just a click of a button it was all gone and he had proven everyone right, he really was clueless when it came to technology. After hearing the yell the small puppy pushed the door as hard as it could with the tip of its nose, nudging the door open and peeking in timidly, its ears set down in caution as it observed Steve who was stood up, head lowered and hand over his eyes, so annoyed that his work was all gone. If this were pen and paper this mistake wouldn’t have happened, but only if things were that simple again. It wasn’t just about typing, Steve had felt as though he didn’t belong and he wanted to fit in. Though he wasn’t your typical guy, he just wanted to feel accepted into the community by doing one simple thing that turned out to be not-so-simple. This small task was a big deal for him and he couldn’t even do that, one more, Steve failed. He hated failure. He would never admit defeat but this machine was really testing him, even the previous times he had used it, they just didn’t seem to want to co-operate.
Microchip whimpered and pulled back, seeing his owner distraught was something that he could feel, running back as fast as he could back to Tony. He was a heroic little pup from his upbringing, of course, it was by two superheroes and it really must’ve rubbed off on him. He ran with his little pink tongue hanging from his mouth down the long corridor back to the master bedroom to see Tony lying there with his arms behind his head, staring up at the ceiling. The puppy barked and Tony sat up, looking at it, “What’s wrong, runt?” Tony asked. The puppy barked again and turned its head as if to follow him, Tony’s eyes filled with worry, he knew that dogs would pick up if danger was around, and by the look of it, Steve was in danger. Although it reminded him too much Lassie, Tony followed nonetheless, resisting the urge to go “What’s that Lassie? Timmy fell down the well?” Even the puppy looked far too serious for joking around with. He walked quickly to the hallway, down it and then peeking into the door that Microchip had left open. He heard the angry growl from inside and jumped back just like the puppy did when it had first heard the sound. He pushed open the door and looked inside to see Steve and his eyes widened slightly, he had never seen the soldier get worked up over anything, something really must’ve wound him up.
“Steve..? Something up buddy?” Tony asked, it was very rare that he would speak in such a meek tone of voice but Steve looked as though he was actually upset. He took a couple of steps closer, and then Steve pulled his hand away from his face and gestured to the screen with frustration,
“It’s all gone. All my work is gone. Tony, I’d managed to do 50 reports and now it’s all gone.” Steve said with deep sadness in his voice, sitting back down in the chair with a plod, leaning his head back and staring at the flashing black cursor.
Tony was amazed, Steve had managed to do 50 reports in one night, most people could only get through 10, maximum and there he was blowing them all out of the water, “Gone? Just like that? Cap, what did you do?” Tony asked with a slanted pensive look, feeling sorry for the soldier.
“I didn’t do anything! Tony, I was trying to do this, I tried... I just... I don’t want people to think that I don’t belong here...” Steve grumbled.
Tony’s bright brown eyes widened even more, “Is that why you were doing this?”
“Not only for them... But for myself, I guess I was too out of my depth...” Steve said, looking to the side.
“Listen Steve, we all make mistakes now and then, but really, Cap, it’s nothing to beat yourself up over. Not all of us are good at this stuff you know? You’ve got your strengths, so have I.” He said, watching out of the corner of his eyes as Microchip waddled up to Steve and sat down by him, staring up at him with what seemed to be concern that mirrored Tony’s.
“I just... I wanted to do this right Tony, I really did.” Steve spoke through clenched teeth before Tony stepped closer to Steve and touched the side of his face with the back of his index finger, “Just let me have a crack at this... Just a little help, like you always say, we all need a little help now and then right?”
Tony furrowed his eyebrows and took a step closer to the screen, leaning over Steve’s shoulder and reaching for the keyboard, pressing a couple of keys and then all of the text appeared. He smiled smugly to himself and then rested his hand on Steve’s shoulder, “See, it’s all back.”
Steve’s eyes widened and he jumped back up to his feet, startling Microchip a little as the pup got back to all fours, staring at Steve who stared at the screen with disbelief. “H-how!?”
“It’s called the undo button, Steve. Now, just press ‘save’ and you’re done.” Tony said, he always enjoyed explaining things to Steve and it was clear the boy did a lot of work, he saw the masses of text and he felt proud of him, it was an odd feeling. He hadn’t felt proud of Steve like that before, but seeing all the effort he put in just to fit in, even though in his heart, Steve would always fit in. They were like two pieces of a puzzle, yin and yang, and his strengths were Steve’s weaknesses. They were the perfect pair, helping each other always. That’s exactly why they were so perfect for one another, they could always help when the other was struggling, though, truth be told, Steve was more likely to accept the help whereas Tony loved to do things on his own but that was something he needed to work on, and would work on with the soldiers help and time.
The super soldier threw his arms around Tony with intense gratitude, shutting his eyes tightly, “Thank you Tony, you don’t know how much this means to me.”
Tony was taken back slightly, “Hey, Steve, it was no problem at all, it was a pretty simple fix... And I do, I really do know how much it means to you, that’s why I helped.” He said in return, enjoying the tight embrace of the large muscled arms around him. That was the warm grip that he loved, that not only warmed his body but his heart too.
“This is why I love you, Tony.” Steve muttered, burying his face into the crook of Tony’s neck, keeping him close. Tony could feel Steve’s racing heart and his eyes softened, pulling back,
“Come to bed now, you’ve done enough work.” He said, looking into the bright screen-lit eyes of the man he adored.
Steve nodded in agreement, whilst Microchip barked happily to see his owners embracing, wagging his tail. The blonde man smiled at the dog, leaning down to pet it before picking it up in his arms and walking out of the room, not before Tony clicked ‘save’ on the document to make sure that Steve had done it correctly, nodding before walking to the bedroom, sneaking under the sheets with Steve and Microchip sprawled out happily on the soft silk sheets.
Steve curled himself around Tony, wrapping his arms around him as Tony smiled. Steve was happy, now he could show others that he could fit in, not that he needed to, he had all he wanted right there in his arms and he held Tony above everyone in his life. Tony was the only one he wanted to impress and he achieved that, just seeing how proud Tony was made him feel a hundred times better.
"Maybe I'm starting to get the hang of this technology thing." Steve said with a chuckle,
"Hah! In your dreams, Rogers." Tony replied after today's fiasco, that wasn't going to be any time soon but Tony would definitely help him and admired his perseverance.
After a while of cuddling up, Steve finally spoke again,
“Goodnight, my genius.” He said ever so softly before letting out a deep sigh of relief.
“Night, Captain.” Tony replied with a small smile, shutting his eyes happily with the soft huffing of their puppy by them, knowing for well that Microchip would protect them, and that he was the real hero in all of this.