It had to be the blood loss. Tony had given up the teasing the moment Steve's forehead touched his, his cheeky grin melting, prepared to actually be supportive any way Steve needed him to be. It had to be the blood loss because, Tony figured, Steve would eventually find it more comfortable to just tell him what happened than put up with any more of the flirting.
There was a jarring disconnect the moment Steve's lips touched his, some wire slipped to leave him functioning and only able to watch. He pushed back, challenging Steve's lead, hands stiff and stupid with the need to touch, touch, touch without a guide, fingers just skittering over Steve's hip to hook two through a belt loop, the other hand pressed with a flat palm against his chest, running up to his shoulder to squeeze.
And Tony was thinking: of course Steve called him, now it made sense; he must have been as obvious as a needy dog, he might as well have stuck his nose in Steve's crotch every time he walked in the room, god, fuck, but he was discreet, he didn't kiss and tell, not necessarily, of course Steve called him, the minutes coming off of the field were just as tense as the fight, Tony knew full well the need to just fuck the rest of it out, some sort of adrenaline thing, some sort of regretful encounter thing the way his track record read. there was no way, this wasn't all that it appeared, of course it wasn't but it was even more than it normally was, it was Steve acting strange the second he walked into the medlab, it was Steve disappearing all day, it was maybe the best clue to confirm Tony's suspicions from earlier; that he couldn't trust anyone when they were dealing with a creature with the capabilities of Sinister, but if it was, or if it was just something different in Steve's brain, he had to consider not the regret of doing but not doing because this didn't just happen, he didn't get this sort of chance, and he had to consider what kind of chance he was taking. he wasn't supposed to do this, he knew that from the moment he wanted it. why now, why now, why now.
His tongue ran along Steve's lip, and his breath was sharp, like he wasn't sure when he would again.