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Click.“... And there goes the lock. Right.”“So what? It’s only seven minutes, Tony. We don’t even have to do anything,” Steve says pointedly.“Yeah, but where’s the fun in that?”“What do you mean?”“I mean,” Tony huffs, “that we mess with them a bit. It’s already childish enough that a bunch of adults are playing seven minutes in heaven.”Steve furrows his brow, shifting within his minimal space. “Fair enough. But mess with them how, exactly?”Tony shrugs. “I dunno. We can make them think we’re having sex.”“Tony...”“What? Come on! It’d be funny. It’s not like we’d ever have sex anyway. Or be in a relationship for that matter.”Admittedly, the supposedly playful statement felt like a punch in the gut for Steve. However, he knew Tony was right. There was no way the genius would ever want a lousy old fart like him.Steve nods despite his hurt. Tony grins.“Great. That took a lot less convincing than I thought it would,” Tony rubs his hands together, similar to a fictional evil villain. “Here, let me set an example.”Tony pauses a moment before slamming his fist into the wall, moaning, “Fuck, Steve.”Steve raises an eyebrow, but readies himself anyway. Why not play along, right?Steve himself elbows the closet door, trying out an, “Oh, Tony!”Sure, some of the sounds they continued to make were over exaggerated, and maybe a few giggles were exchanged, but it did turn out to be pretty good fun.“Thirty seconds!” Someone calls from the other side of the door. “Hurry up, lovebirds!”“Shit,” Tony curses. “I almost forgot. We sound the part, but we don’t look the part. Yet. C’mere.”Tony reaches up to muss Steve’s hair, unbuttons his top two buttons, untucks his shirt from his jeans, and undoes his belt. Tony does the same with his hair, and instead unzips the fly of his own jeans. Steve stares, dazed a moment. Tony looked good—of course, he always did—but looking like he’d just... wow. Steve wishes it were true. Just a bit.“You forgot something,” Steve murmurs.“And what’s th—oh, oh,” Tony is cut off by Steve ducking down to press his lips against Tony’s. Steve pulls away the moment his brain catches up with his actions, though.Tony blinks up at Steve a few times before surging forward to capture Steve in a more heated kiss. Tony has Steve pushed against the wall, the former’s leg held up to the latter’s waist. They’re too busy to notice the lock click once more, but are snapped out of it when light comes flooding in.They immediately detach from one another, Tony taking a step back. They both take a moment to smooth out their shirts, and fix up like nothing happened.Tony exits the closet first, making a beeline for the elevator without a word. Steve lingers awkwardly for a moment before stepping out himself, headed for the stairwell.More unresolved issues it was, then. -=- Steve ends up bringing Tony down a sandwich to his workshop a few hours later. The man was very predictable on where he’d be most of the time—whenever some sort of... something... came up that should really be discussed, Tony would always rush down to his workshop. Always.“Hey,” Steve greets softly, in the hopes of getting Tony’s attention.“Hm?” Tony looks away from one of the many holograms he’d been playing with. “Oh, uh. Hi Steve. What’s up?”Steve shrugs. “Thought you might be hungry. You’ve been down here awhile, and I wouldn’t be surprised if you hadn’t eaten anything before the... um. Yeah.”“Oh. Thanks. You can just put it on the table,” Tony gestures in the general direction of an empty space on his desk. He turns back to his work.Steve puts the plate down before crossing his arms. “I actually came here for something else, too.”Tony falters. “Something... else?”Steve nods. “Mm hm. I wanted to talk to you about... the thing.”“The thing? What thing? I don’t remember a thing. There’s nothing to talk about,” Tony dismisses. Steve sighs. “Tony, you can’t ignore everything you don’t want to talk about.” “Why not?”Clenching his jaw, Steve suppresses his frustration. “I want to talk about the kiss, Tony, because it was more than that. You know it was more than that.”When Tony doesn’t respond, Steve takes a deep breath. “I like you, Tony. I have for a while. And... if that kiss didn’t mean anything to you, tell me now. I want to know, because then... then I’ll know to move on. I can live with that, if that’s the case. But... I need to know.”Tony shuts down his work, placing his hands on his desk to steady himself. With a rattling breath, he starts, “Steve, I—I like you too. A lot. But... you deserve better. You’re sweet, and kind, and witty, and smart, and—and I’m just me.”Steve snorts. “Bullshit.”“W-what?”“Bullshit,” Steve repeats. “There is so much more to you. You’re a genius, for God’s sake! And you’re so generous, and selfless, and an overall amazing person. Tony...”Tony gives a weak chuckle. “Has this become a praise-fest, then?”Steve rolls his eyes fondly, taking a step closer, around the desk. “Could we try?”“Try what? A relationship?”“Well, yeah.”Steve holds his breath in wait for a reply from Tony when they both fall into silence.Tony looks from the tabletop to Steve. “I don’t suppose there’s harm in trying.”