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It began as a joke.
He just wanted to have a bit of fun with Peter, who’s been bringing him most of his recent chemistry project every other afternoon, asking question after question about how to improve them. At first, Tony just helped him, spending the afternoons working with him on them, and that was the end of it.
But at some point, the idea of creating the stickers appeared in his mind.
It probably happened one of those nights he pulled an all-nighter only fueled by caffeine and a tight deadline; he’s had lots of pretty good ideas in those situations.
So he just did it, as he does with every single idea he has.
And yeah, the first “Tony Stark Approved” sticker went to one of Peter’s chemistry projects, which made the kid ridiculously proud and Tony ridiculously amused.
So of course he kept printing them.
As a matter of fact, he got used to having a couple of stickers always on hand whenever he was out. He didn’t know what he’d end up using them for, but it seemed like a good inside joke with himself.
That’s how, barely a week later, he gets to grant his next sticker.
They’re in the meeting room in the Avengers Tower, and in the middle of a briefing on a new mission Fury wants to send them on, Steve says something along the lines of, “and what if we try to surprise them using Tony’s last tech? You know, the chameleon skin he’s just developed.”
And aw, shucks , for Cap to suggest using Tony’s tech on a mission is always the highlight of his day, so of course Tony takes advantage of the fact that Steve is sitting right next to him —his body slightly turned towards him, as it always seems to be— and stamps one of his stickers in his forehead as he says, “such a good idea, Cap.”
And well, if the way he frowns in confusion is just way too adorable for Tony to cope with, that’s totally on him.
“What…?” Steve starts to ask, reaching with his hand to touch the sticker. He doesn’t try to pull it off, though.
“Tony Stark Approved,” Clint reads the sticker, and proceeds to cackle so hard he ends up having to hold his tummy. Nat and Thor smile beside him, going as far trying to disguise their own laughs as coughs. “Brilliant!”
“Always am,” Tony smiles widely, enjoying the way Steve’s flushing.
The fact that Steve doesn’t take it off for a while isn’t lost on any of them.
It doesn’t take Tony more than a week to find another excuse to use his stickers. And if this time the winner also happens to be Steve, well, that’s just a coincidence.
They’re lounging on the common room when Steve enters the room wearing a rather tight shirt. Or, more accurately, a shirt that’s sticking to his wet body. He seems to have just taken a shower, and Tony seems to be the only one aware of the fact that Steve’s nipples are clearly visible through the shirt.
So of course he has to take another sticker out and put it over one of them —to protect Steve’s honor, of course. What other reason could there be behind it?
None. None at all.
“What’s this one for?” Steve asks him, touching the sticker with curiosity. He seems to be admiring it, as if he finds being awarded one of those some kind of honor. Tony has to look away when he sees Steve’s expression soften into an amused smile, totally unbothered by Tony’s anctics. Something short circuits in Tony’s mind at the sight.
“Had one to spare,” he mumbles, running to the other side of the couch to cuddle at Bruce’s side.
And if Steve and Tony spend the rest of the movie night exchanging looks when they think the other one isn’t looking? Well, that’s just another one of the many benefits of his stickers, Tony thinks.
He’s known for only having brilliant ideas, after all.
As time goes by, Tony realizes they’ve fallen into a routine without really meaning to. For one, he’s gotten used to always having a handful of stickers close; just like Steve’s grown used to giving Tony these looks from time to time, as if trying to guess when will be the next time he earns one of them. It almost reminds Tony of a puppy looking for a treat, a comparison he never says out loud.
There’s the time they’re on an incognito mission and Tony’s cover is blown up. In the end, Steve is the one that gets both of them out of there as soon as possible. So of course he gets a sticker in his arms —the same ones he used to carry Tony to safety— for that.
Then there’s the day Steve tried out his new suit, and Tony couldn’t help putting a sticker on his butt. He’ll never forget the way Steve stuttered a question and proceeded to be rendered speechless when Tony smiled at him and answered sweetly, “don’t you agree such an artwork deserves a prize?”
Or the day Steve said something so funny Tony couldn’t stop laughing for ten minutes, which earned him a sticker on his cheek.
The fact that Steve never complains about them, and never takes them off in front of Tony, only fuels this slowly growing tradition even more. Tony’s mind is really simple: as long as he keeps getting positive feedback, he’ll keep printing the stickers.
Curiously, it also ends up being the perfect excuse to spend more time together. Tony’s not sure if Steve realizes how they’ve slowly grown used to spending more and more time together; be it in the gym, where they get used to spar —and where Steve gets a new sticker every time he lets Tony win—, or in the kitchen during the nights where both of them gravitate towards the fridge looking for some remedy to their insomnia.
Of course, Tony gives Steve a sticker every time he makes him some warm milk without Tony needing to actually ask for it. Then they sit shoulder by shoulder in the kitchen aisle, New York’s skyline reflecting in Steve’s eyes as Tony tries very hard to avoid being caught staring.
He’s staring. Every single time.
Time goes by, and by the time Tony suspects this might become another thing he just does out of habit, never to change, Steve decides to prove him wrong.
“Hm, would you stay for a moment?” Steve asks him one morning, after they’ve just finished sparring with the team. All the Avengers have already abandoned the gym, and Tony was about to do so too, until Steve’s voice —full of doubt and hope and everything in between— stops him where he stands.
Tony turns around, and sees Steve standing in the center of the ring. His shoulders are thrown forward, as if he’s trying to make himself look small, and there’s a small smile on his lips.
But what attracts Tony’s attention is the way he keeps reaching for the sticker he’s just stamped on his left arm with his right hand, as if it’s some kind of talisman.
“Sure,” Tony simply answers as he approaches him, hands buried in his pockets. “What’s up?”
“Um, I was wondering…” Steve bites his lips, playing with it as if doing so is going to make the words magically show up. “Would you like to go out sometime?”
Tony blinks, caught off guard.
“As in, just the two of us?” Tony asks, just to make sure he’s hearing right. Are you asking me on a date?
“Yeah,” Steve answers. And, well, there’s no other way to describe the way he says it. It sounds as if Steve is eager to go out with him, which feels wild to Tony. It takes him a couple of seconds to find his own words.
“Okay,” he finally answers, nodding to himself. “Yeah, sure.”
And the way Steve’s whole face illuminates at that answer? Well, if that manages to make Tony’s heart skip a couple of heartbeats, he can only hope he’s the only one to notice.
***
They go out.
First, it’s the movies. Then, dinner in a normal place. Then, dinner in a fancy one.
Then… Well, if it weren’t for the fact that Tony’s a certified genius, he could say he almost loses count of how many dates they go on (no, he doesn’t: he’s perfectly aware they’ve been on nineteen dates so far).
And then… Well, Tony doesn’t expect what comes next.
They’re visiting a gallery Pepper has been pestering Tony about —a gallery Tony is going to exit being the owner of yet two more paintings; the fact that both attracted Steve’s attention first being purely a coincidence, of course—, and they’ve received their fair share of looks.
Or, more specifically, their joined hands have received their fair share of looks.
Now they’re both tucked away in the shadows, next to the catering tables. Tony might be a bit tipsy, the world pleasantly blurry around its edges as he rests his hip on the table behind him.
So, of course, when Steve leans forward to clean a breadcrumb from Tony’s lips, Tony can’t help stealing a brief kiss from him. It’s a small, innocent thing. Something that has probably gone unnoticed to everyone there.
And yet, Tony realizes it’s not nothing the moment he takes in Steve’s expression. The way his lips are slightly open as his eyes blink once, twice, even three times, as if expecting the image before him to change.
Or maybe to make sure he’s not dreaming?
Tony giggles at the thought, taking a sip from his champagne.
“Sorry, Cap, I—” Steve’s lips drown his words the moment his lips collide with his again, robbing him of his breath in a swift move. When Steve separates enough for their lips to stop touching but not enough for Tony to stop feeling Steve’s breath merging with his, Tony sighs, “Oh.”
“Don’t apologize,” Steve says, his voice rough with emotion. “Not if you meant it.”
“I—”
“Did you?” Steve asks.
How can one not mean a kiss? Tony wants to ask. But even he knows that would be a stupid question to ask, and a cruel one at that.
Because that’s the moment he realizes, as he looks at Steve trying to desperately find an answer to his question in his eyes, that he might have been underestimating this thing that’s been growing between them, between sticker and sticker.
“Because I do,” Steve ends up saying before Tony can find his own words. He speaks earnestly, with the kind of passion Tony’s only seen him show in battle. “I think I love you, Tony. I– I think I’ve loved you even before I realized I did.”
Tony gulps, looking up at Steve as if he’s seeing him for the first time. He suspected he wasn’t the one that was starting to have feelings, but he hadn’t allowed himself to build castles in the clouds, not so soon, at least.
But now he can’t just keep doing that, can he? No, of course he can’t, not when Steve is putting his heart in a tray, wrapped up in all these unguarded emotions, all for him to see.
That wouldn’t be fair, of course it wouldn’t. But then again, Steve’s just managed to do what few others could in the past.
He’s left Tony Stark speechless.
Can anyone blame him for taking a sticker out, sticking it over Steve’s heart and leaning forward to kiss him yet again?
It takes him a few seconds before thoughts finally rearrange themselves in his mind; by then, he’s already lost himself in Steve’s arms, unable to pinpoint where his body ends and Steve’s starts.
“I do,” Tony finally whispers, breathless, the confession rolling off his tongue in a relieved sigh. “Of course I do.”
And damn him if Steve’s laugh doesn’t taste like the most intoxicating thing in this world.