Title : The Proposal

Author : peaceful_sands

Fandom : The Avengers

Rating : PG-13 (there are implications in the ficlet but nothing more)

Word Count : approx. 1,100 words

Prompt from fic_promptly: Marvel, Avengers, Tony Stark/Any, "Is there anyone in this room he hasn't slept with?" with the added instruction that there be absolutely NO dialogue in the ficlet itself

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this work. No copyright infringement is intended.

The Proposal

Steve was sitting at the conference table early, waiting for everyone else to arrive. The room was quiet and he enjoyed the peace while it lasted. This new world was loud and uncomfortably overwhelming. He missed the world he knew, was still amazed at how much it had changed in the time he'd been . . . gone . . . asleep. . . absent.

He heard the door open before him, the sound of approaching voices and the shuffle of footsteps. He pulled himself to sit more upright in his seat as he turned to give the new entrants to the room his full attention, trying to match each with their names. They weren't all "The Avengers", some he recognized from his meetings with Tony or Nick. Nick was swift to cross to the head of the table and then there was some awkward shuffling round of seats and people trying to jostle for who would sit where. He wondered for a moment if he'd sat in someone else's seat and if that was what was causing the confusion, but as he watched, he realized the problem wasn't where he was sitting but was actually people attempting not to sit by Tony Stark.

Tony seemed unperturbed, possibly even slightly amused by the kerfuffle he'd caused as he moved through the people smoothly and pulled out the chair alongside Steve and sat down. He pulled out a sheaf of papers, shuffled them on the table and then sat back in his chair at ease, sparing a wink for Steve as he settled.

A little more of the body checking for seats and Thor sat down on Tony's other side, at which point there seemed to be a collective sigh of relief and everyone else quickly took seats and began to relax. Nick Fury glared at Tony and then round the table before asking the question that had everyone but Tony, Steve and Thor blushing in embarrassment. Thor clearly had his own interpretation of the question as he began to talk about having fallen asleep during a television program that Tony had talked him into watching. Tony smirked, knowing full well that he hadn't understood the real implications of the question.

When the woman alongside Thor leaned closer and whispered into his ear what must have amounted to an explanation of the question, the man's first reaction was one of shock, eyebrows shooting right up as he sat bolt upright and shifted awkwardly in his chair. A moment later, he looked round the table and then burst out laughing, clearly finding the whole thing amusing the more he thought on it.

As part of his re-integration into society, Tony had felt it necessary to set Steve up with a number of what he called educational TV programs or at least so he'd said. Steve had soon realized that they served to highlight how different this world was. He'd stopped watching but not before he'd had chance to pick up enough of the modern day slang to follow conversations like this one and to be sure that calling women 'dames' wasn't really the right thing to do anymore. It had left him feeling even more off-kilter although in the current situation he was reassured that Thor must to some degree feel just as out of depth although he wasn't sure that he'd have reacted in quite the same way. It seemed that Thor was not easily embarrassed.

Steve shuffled through his own papers, wondering when Tony had the time to work his way through so many people in between all his research and . . . why would he do that? He glanced up at the man in question and saw that he was being watched in return. Tony's eyes were boring into him and he had a quirky smile. He mouthed something that Steve couldn't make out.

Steve frowned and Tony repeated the words, but Steve looked away before he had time to work out what was being said as Nick began to speak about the forthcoming plans. He heard paper ripping beside him and then a few seconds later he felt Tony nudging at his arm. He frowned at Tony intending to tell him to concentrate or at least that he needed to concentrate. It wasn't like this was going to be easy for him, everything was so different to how it had been in his day. He sighed as he took the piece of paper that Tony was holding out to him with a smile. He put it underneath his papers and turned his attention back to Nick Fury.

He could almost feel the energy vibrating through Tony next to him as the man tapped his pencil on his papers and one leg bounced up and down for the most part but every now and then his leg would nudge against Steve's and remind Steve yet again of the man's warmth, his friendliness, all the different ways he'd tried to help with the adjustment to this age. Steve sighed and looked round at him, letting a hand drop to still Tony's leg where it knocked against his.

He tried to convey the 'please don't' with his expression so that he could continue listening to the discussion, the important one. Judging by Tony's broad grin and the way his hand dropped to cover Steve's, he'd failed abysmally on conveying the right message. He pulled his hand out from under Tony's and ignored the way Tony's leg resumed its bounce and now almost continually contacted with his.

The meeting finally drew to a close and Steve gathered up his papers to leave. As he pushed his chair back to stand, he caught Tony's eyes again. The man was now frowning at him, a mix of consternation and expectation that at first Steve couldn't place. The tap of Tony's pen on the pad of paper before him reminded Steve of the note Tony had passed earlier. He drew it out from between the other sheets, opened it and read the words there.

"You're next" was all it said, although there was some sort of simple drawing of a bed and some stick figures lying side by side with one smoking a cigarette. Steve felt himself pale. He closed his eyes, thought again of the implication of the note and, on opening his eyes again, found that Tony was looking at him with a self-satisfied smirk and a twinkle in his eyes.

Steve felt as heat rose to his cheeks. He shuffled his papers and without a word dashed for the door, saving what was left of his modesty.