Birds of a Feather

He is not oblivious. He has seen it plenty of times before. Being rich and famous, people want to get with you. It is usually more for the money than anything else, maybe publicity. He knows all the hints and signs. He has had almost all the displays in the books thrown his way. Flashy, over the top, obnoxious... it was clear their motives.

But this. These timid almost subconscious little shows... they seem honest, show vulnerability. But who it's coming from... Tony hardly dares to hope that it is not just his mind imagining things.

However, he knows he's not imagining these things, he had asked JARVIS to verify that this was actually happening. Just one of the perks of having your home run by a wonderfully sophisticated AI.

It was just that of all the people who could have shown interest in him, it was Steve Rogers himself. The man was every bit as good and wholesome as you would expect him to be. He was one of those people rare few people who were incorruptible in this world. He wasn't swayed by fame, fancy cars or money. The man could live in a shoe box and find it in himself to still be happy and giving.

There was something unbelievably endearing to the way Steve seemed to try and find reasons to be around him, the way he would puff up his wings whenever he was near. How Steve would expand his wings fully when sparing if he was in the room, despite knowing that there wasn't all that much space for his rather impressive wingspan – something he was planning to work on some time in the future. The way Steve's wings always seem so well preened, or how he seems to always bring food down to the lab for him.

Maybe years ago he would have thought that he wasn't worthy of Steve's affections, but Steve has known him for over eight years and though some pretty horrible situations... and he hasn't turned away yet. They have learned some intimate truths about one another and that hasn't push either of them away yet. So maybe there was a chance between them. So maybe if they work so well on a team and as a duo... maybe they could work together in a more private relationship.

He was willing to take a chance on it, seeing if something could work between them. And he is more than willing to bet Steve is too.

So Tony waits down in his lab, whittling his time away working on some SI projects, knowing that Steve would come down to the lab with food. In that time he runs over all the different ways he could take this. Works out what options could yield the best results.

It isn't long before FRIDAY signals to him that someone has entered the lab, and he can hear Steve's footfalls as he approaches.

"I brought burgers" Steve says in greeting. The man moves to sit beside him at the desk, pulling over one of the wheelie chairs from one of the other stations as he makes his way over. Steve is fully confident in the way he moves about Tony's space, knowing the boundaries and rules with how long he spends down here with him. Steve seems totally content in filling the space he has caved out for himself in Tony's life.

Steve pulls a burger from the takeaway bag and passes it over to Tony as he looks at his new project. "'s this for the new renewable grid energy storage?" he asks around a mouthful of food, looking over at the specs.

He remembers helping Steve learn about all this years back, the man had come to him wanting to turn over a new leaf between them after their rough start. Steve figured having Tony teach him about engineering and technology would help out their relationship. And to be honest, it did. It had finally given them a reason to communicate with one another outside of the field... put them in a position where they could be a little more open and vulnerable. And it wasn't long before teaching Steve science in his lab turned into hanging out with Steve as they worked on his motorcycle. And then getting burgers together.

"Tony?" Steve says, pulling him out of his thoughts.

Looking over at the man he realizes he should just go for it, now could be the chance he needs. Alone together down in his lab sharing burgers. Tony expands out his deep raven wings, puffing up the feathers in display.

Steve looks at him with wide hopeful eyes. He quickly puts down his burger and puffs up his own light gold wings.

Reaching out, Tony grabs Steve by his collar and pulls him forward, smashing their lips together. Steve's lips are soft and taste like the burger he recently set aside. He moves his hand from Steve's collar to the back of his neck and pulls him in closer.

When they they pull away from one another, they are both smiling.

The End

Notes: For the prompt "Wingfic + Mating Displays" for ANY CANON

I thought it might be interesting to try the WingFic trope... but I didn't realize just how broad the prompt was. I ended up doing research into bird mating behaviors for this, hmmm...

The prompt was tagged NSFW but I decided to keep it SFW.