Good enough, they were getting there. Ever so slowly, mumbled into a second kiss, Tony added, "And we have to talk about the Avengers," because he was not tolerating Steve's avoiding the subject any longer. Either they talked about it, or Tony did it himself, and they both knew there was a distinct qualitative gap in his work without Steve to fill in the gap. That was on a good day, before he burned his Avenger bridges. Tony really didn't want to have to do it on his own. He didn't let Steve refuse, but kissed him again, curling both hands around his neck and up through his hair to pull him close, wrapping himself in warmth he could fall asleep in if he didn't have a hundred more things to say to Steve, the man, not the Avenger. Like all of the apologies that were overdue and how much he really missed...a lot of things, really. Tony wasn't prepared to look too deeply into that one. Steve was supposed to be the reliable one, all composed and predictably solid when Tony needed something to hang onto, not tie him up in new, terrible knots. Forget them, Steve was still solid and standing there like always when Tony came home. Worry about it later.