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"Why did you do that?"
Tony winced at the harsh tone in Stephen's voice and chose to look at his burnt right hand instead of answering. The words had been cold, yes, but Stephen's hands where gentle as they turned his wrist this way and that way to check the mobility.
"They are only superficial burns," he finally said. "Also, I'm still waiting for an answer."
"There was no time."
Stephen snorted. "No time to grab the gloves lying next to you before touching a superheated, burned out plasma coil casing? Try another one, Tony, not even Rogers would believe that one."
"It wasn't superheated!" Tony would be in a whole other galaxy of trouble and pain in that case. "It was just warmer than I expected."
"Tony." Now Stephen sounded frustrated. Great. "You're a fucking engineer. You know how long duranium takes to cool down and that you're not supposed to touch a burned-out coil with your bare hands anyway."
He shrugged. "You know that I'm not a fan of gloves."
"Yes, I noticed." They both looked at the assortment of scars on Tony's hands and fingers. "You're lucky that you have me to put you back together after one of your stupid stunts."
So he was forgiven. Tony dared to smile and looked up at Stephen who smiled back. "I'm glad to have you, period. Doctor or not."
"One of the few good decisions you've made in your life." Stephen sealed the deepest of the burns with the dermal regenerator. "Here, all done. Please, be careful in the next few days. You know how tender your skin will be."
In answer, Tony raised his hand in clear invitation. Stephen rolled his eyes but bent down to press a light kiss against the still slightly red skin. "There, treatment done. You're free to go back to work." He'd proclaimed the custom stupid when Tony had first brought it up but he'd never refused him either.
Tony put his newly healed palm against Stephen's cheek. Thanks to his partly Vulcan ancestry he was cooler than Tony and the differences felt more pronounced now. "We're still on for tonight?" They had booked some holodeck time and Tony was determined to treat Stephen to a fun night out in classic early 21st century New York.
Stephen leaned into the contact, closed his eyes for a moment and relaxed noticeably. "Of course we are. My shift ends in three hours." Tony's would be over in two.
"Commander Stark, please come down to Engineering." Damn intercom, always interrupting them.
He looked up. "Coming!" He hopped of the table and pressed a short kiss against Stephen's lips. "I'll be here to get you," he promised and looked in awe as those beautiful, mesmerizing eyes opened once again. Those eyes alone would have been enough to make him fall in love but they just had to come with a lightning quick mind and the prettiest packaging a crazy amount of interspecies DNA combination could produce. Tony had been doomed from the moment Stephen looked at him for the first and called him a "stupid idiot who doesn't even know basic safety protocols" in that wonderful deep voice of his. Love at first argument, really.
Stephen stole a quick kiss for himself and smiled when Tony waved at him in goodbye. "Looking forwards to it," he called after the retreating figure before he busied himself with cleaning up the mess Tony's short visit had caused in his infirmary.