Marvel One Shots

Night Shift (Stony)

AU where Steve is a cashier at McDonalds and Tony is a regular

When Steve and Tony first met, it was totally casual. So casual that it didn't mean anything for the both of them. They even forgot about it.
It was a cold November night and in New York it was raining. Tony was just out of the club he spent the night partying at and he was so drunk he could barely stand. He thought that stopping at the nearest McDonald's for something to eat and a cup of coffee was the best idea.
He could hear his father's words "you're a 27 years old man, the future of the company, you can't go out and party like a child". But in his opinion, it was exactly because he was a 27 year old man that he could go out partying until he felt like it. And to be honest, it was not like his father, may he rest in peace, could stop him anymore.
Steve was working his night shift, like every other night. He had picked up that job that no one wanted to do, in order to pay for the expensive art school he was studying at. Between his two jobs he didn't have much time to catch up with his homework but the good news was that during the night shift the restaurant was never particularly busy and usually it was just him. Him and that one customer that from a certain point on became a usual.
Steve noticed him the very first time he walked in, mostly because it was the first customer to ever come in during the night shift. He didn't pay much attention to him though. Steve gave him his cheeseburger and his black coffee at around 3am, watched him pass out on a table, ignoring him, and then gave him a donut and another black coffee once he woke up. Other than that, Steve didn't even look at him in the eyes.
Tony, however, had plenty of chances to look at Steve, too bad that the next day he had already forgotten about him.
Something at the back of his mind told him that there was something special about that McDonalds, but he would have never guessed that it was the tall, blond and handsome cashier. So, the next Saturday, after yet another party, he went back there. This time, he was a hell of a lot less drunk and managed to avoid passing out on the table, looking at Steve instead.
But that was not the  last time Tony went back to that McDonalds. He actually took up the habit of crashing there after a long night partying, every weekend and sometimes even during the week. And every single time, his now new favourite employee was there.
Steve eventually started noticing him. A first he thought he was somehow weird that the same man showed up every single Saturday, smelling like alcohol and cigarettes, in what once were very fancy clothes. They still were fancy, but they had suffered the heat of a night of partying. Tony still looked good though, even if it took him forever to realise it. But as soon as he did, Steve's homework and assignments became pretty much Tony-centered.
Tony looked old, well, older than Steve, that's for sure. Steve was a 19-year-old boy and his facial features were still pretty much boyish. He wasn't even sure he could even grow a beard. Tony had a beard, a perfectly shaven beard, probably making him look older than he really was. This didn't stop Steve from fantasising on his mysterious client.
The first thing Tony noticed about Steve were his broad shoulders and his perfectly shaped body. It was difficult not to notice Steve's body, even under those hideous gray t-shirts, and Tony could only imagine how Steve would look with any sport t-shirt or a tailored shirt, or even better, without them. But if Steve ever asked, Tony would tell him that the first thing he noticed were his eyes. Which, in truth, were the second. Lastly, he noticed that the boy might have been way too young for him, and he was for sure not looking for a playboy.
But Tony kept showing up more and more often and he always spent the night.  When he wasn't drunk,he stayed awake, sometimes working, sometimes just, kind of creepily, staring at the blond man.
Steve, on the other hand, spent his nights staring at Tony, justifying by reminding himself that it was all for academic purposes. Truth was that not even half of all of his sketches and drawings were submitted to his professors as assignments, the others he kept for himself.

It took Tony several months to build up the courage to talk to Steve. In his mind, he had to ask him for his name, and maybe, just maybe, ask him if he was interested in drinking a cup of coffee with him, right there and right then. But Steve was studying his history of art manual for an exam he had that week, for the first time not really caring about Tony. And Tony's brain went to mush and his playboy personality spoke of him.
"I thought that the David was in Rome, not working in this McDonalds" Tony said, leaning on the counter, hoping to meet Steve's eyes.
"It's actually in Florence, thank you very much" Steve replied, not looking up from his book.
Tony ordered his cheeseburger and went back to his table, where he stayed until Steve finished his shift.
If Steve had been any other person,he wouldn't have made any effort to at least have him to look at him. Usually, people would chase after him,  but Steve was different. He had set his mind on going out with him and when he did set his mind on something, he was determined to reach his goal.
For a year, every single night, Tony went back to the restaurant and every single night he tried a different pick up line. At first, he started with something very subtle, he didn't want to creep him out, more than showing up every night like a stalker might have already done. But ten,  seeing that Steve was totally indifferent to them, he upgraded his game. The pack up lines became more shameless and dirtier and Tony started writing them down, crossing the ones that didn't work,  which were all of them.
Steve was clueless and oblivious, always had been. His problem was that he noticed Tony's attempts to catch his attention, but he didn't believe that he was really interested in a simple cashier.

Tony was tired of trying. It had been a year and he hadn't made any progress so far. He decided that that night he would try one last time and, if it didn't work, he would move on, going back to partying and getting wasted.
He walked into the restaurant, fixed his tie and walked towards Steve. Tony leaned on the counter, waiting for Steve to look at him. When the blond finally took his eyes away from his sketchbook, looking at Tony, he finally spoke.
"Are you a parking ticket? Because you have FINE written all over you"
Tony winked at him, while Steve was still looking at him.
"Are you flirting with me?"
Tony smiled, rolling his eyes in his mind.
"Have been for the past year, but thank you for noticing"
Steve blushed and looked down at the cash register to hide his red cheeks.
"In that case, it was the lamest pick up line in existence" he replied, once the redness went away.
"Don't worry, that's just plan A"
Steve looked confused.
"And what's plan B?"
"To take you hostage" Tony replied way too quickly.
Steve blushed again, thinking back to every interaction he had with Tony, remembering every single pick up line Tony had used with him. He cringed thinking at the very dirty and not-so-subtle une he used and especially at how he had never reacted.
"This is crazy"
"Well, usually crazy works. So tell me, is it working?"
Steve shrugged. "Maybe"
"Do I need plan B or are you going on a date with me on your own?"
Steve chuckled, shaking his head.
"I guess it's better that being taken hostage"