Work Text:
Tony was late.
Steve would normally let him be late in meetings or events (an hour, maximum) before he sends someone to fetch him from his workshop.
(That someone was usually himself.)
On movie nights, more often than not, he would find himself on his way down the workshop in the middle of the movie to grab the genius, knowing he had lost track of time again. Tony would be grumpy, but in the end, he would ask for fifteen more minutes to finish his work before following Steve back to the common room to join the rest of the team.
But that day, they couldn’t be late for more than fifteen minutes. It would be disastrous.
JARVIS opened the doors for him, and he saw Tony still dressed in his workshop clothes, typing vigorously in the air. Tony had the tendency to go overboard when he had his muse, but it also meant that he would have nothing but caffeine in his system for days. Nothing, not even a bath. His clothes were clean and his hair was slightly damp though, so maybe there was hope.
“Tony, did you take a shower already?”
Tony hummed absentmindedly. Steve sighed before asking the question again.
“Hmm? Yeah,” Tony said, not once leaving his eyes off the rapid numbers and figures dancing across the screen.
“We need to go,” Steve said, trying to be patient but assertive at the same time.
“But this is an academic breakthrough, babe, and it couldn’t wait for me to change to my pajamas.”
“Another academic breakthrough in the showers?” Steve muttered, shaking his head fondly. Tony was really amazing. If it had been any other day, he would sit down and just let him do his magic. But not today. “I need you to change to your suit, actually.”
When Tony continued to ignore him, he inhaled deeply and pinched the bridge of his nose. “JARVIS, can you help me out?”
“Gladly, sir.”
“What the hell— J?” Tony asked, hands hanging in the air, looking around with confusion evident on his face.
“It appears that the Captain wants to have your undivided attention, sir. All files are saved,” JARVIS replied, sounding too amused for an AI.
Steve mouthed a thanks to the ceiling and turned the office chair around to face Tony. “Yes, I do,” Steve said, placing his hands on his shoulders, and stared at Tony straight in the eyes. “Tony, please, put on the suit.”
Tony tilted his head, confused. Maybe his mind was still in the coding he was working on (Steve assumed it was coding; he couldn’t understand a single thing) because Tony asked, “But isn’t it bad luck for the groom to see the, well, groom, wearing his suit before the wedding?”
Steve took a deep breath. “Tony.”
“Steve.”
“Our wedding is today.”
“Oh.” Tony’s eyes widened and he stood abruptly, making Steve take two steps backward to give him space. “Oh, shit. You’re kidding me, right? No? Is it already today? But weren’t we just talking about the invitations yesterday?”
“That was two weeks ago, Tony.”
“What?” The panic in Tony’s voice was unmistakable. He paced around the room, muttering things to himself. He was starting to sink into self-loathing again, and Steve’s heart ached. He never liked it. Feeling guilty, Steve walked to him and wrapped his arms around Tony, effectively stopping him—both from the pacing and the talking.
“I was kidding, sweetheart. I’m so sorry,” Steve said, kissing Tony’s forehead apologetically. “You’re right, we haven’t finalized it yet, but I still really need you to put on your suit. The red and gold one.”
He gave him a quick kiss on the lips, and another, before he released him. “If you weren’t so distracted, you would actually notice that I’m wearing my uniform,” Steve said with a smile that ended up being a grimace. It was a terrible joke. Tony seemed to notice his internal struggle because he rolled his eyes and muttered something about ‘dumb and too nice fiancé’ before they shared another kiss.
Steve wanted it to last forever, but fortunately (or unfortunately, depends on who’s asking), he had an ounce of sense left and remembered that there was a reason he was in the workshop in the first place. And it wasn’t to kiss Tony.
Surprisingly, Tony was the one to break the kiss. “Wait, there was an alert?” he asked, slightly out of breath.
“Yes, sir. I told you four times before you muted me,” JARVIS said.
Tony blinked. “Show me the details.”
The workshop came to life again with various data and videos floating around them. On one of the screens, there was a video of llamas with mechanical parts rampaging around New York. They weren’t breathing fire or releasing toxic gas or anything, but they were big and sturdy enough to cause damage.
“That’s happening live,” Steve pointed out.
(He was pretty sure he just heard Sam say ‘they better not be fucking right now!’ on the comms.)
Tony laughed, and with a wave of his hand, the screens disappeared and the Iron Man suit came flying to him. When it was complete, Tony brought the faceplate up and gazed at him with those mischievous brown eyes that Steve loved with all his being.
“Okay. Giant steampunk-looking llamas first, wedding plans later?”
“Wedding plans later,” Steve agreed, smiling back at him.