Stony one shots!

Thank you

Word count: 1068

Summery: art expedition AU.

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Tony was at an art exhibition opening night. Stark Industries was known as a patron of the arts; they go to these shows and sponsor new artists, help them gain recognition. It runs the gamut of painters, sculptors, writers, actors, dancers -- the whole spectrum. It was Tony's initial idea when he heard a pianist that reminded him of his mother play on the street one day. However, it turned into Pepper's baby, and she was very good at spotting new talent. SI was growing a reputation for being both a tech leader and a hitmaker. Tony's moniker had changed from "Merchant of Death" to "Midas." While in this case, the driving for was Pepper, both were happy with the positive press. The climb out of the red was tedious and tiring. It was a long, hard fight that SI still dealt with.

Tony was only vaguely paying attention to the paintings, while he could appreciate the aesthetic appeal and he knows what he liked, it never honestly called to him. He'd always really preferred music. Even his technology, his holograms, his engineering, that was his art, while music was his passion. Pepper was the one who liked paintings, and she was real collector there.

"Tony, come meet Steve."

Tony immediately changed direction when he heard Pepper. He arrived to see her standing next to a tall, handsome blond with blue eyes, broad shoulders, trim waist, long legs, and a smile equal parts shy, nervous, and hopeful. He wore clothes that were neat and clean, taken care of and fit well, but were older and well worn.

"Pepper, my light."

"Steve Rogers, meet Tony Stark. Tony, Steve is one of the artists highlighted tonight. Let him show you his painting and get to know one another."

Pepper would often introduce him to the artists she was planning on sponsoring, so this was nothing new. Still, she seemed very intent, more than usual. Both he and Steve watched Pepper leave before looking at one another.

"So, you paint?" Tony smiled an overly bright smile and took a sip of his drink.

Steve laughed, more of an expelling of nervous energy than anything else before he answered, "Some. I mostly draw and work with charcoal, but there are some things I like doing with oil paints."

"How did you get into it, if you don't mind me asking?"

Steve put his hands in his pockets before he answered, "Art has always been a hobby of mine. I would doodle on everything. But, when I got out of the Army, it became an obsession. I was in a pretty...not okay place. A friend of mine who works with vets at the VA suggested using my art as therapy or catharsis or something. And it worked, uh...helped a lot."

Tony listened, and as Steve talked, they walked to a small alcove with a few pieces. Tony didn't mean to, but he tuned Steve out, focused on the paintings. Some paintings were of animals, or landscapes, or people, the usual things seen. But some were more abstract than realism, but some intentional shapes or people seemed to edge into being a recognizable being. However, he could tell they were all imbued with feeling and intent. Some seemed painful with slashes of paint and hard lines and angry points. Others looked sad and confused, the colors blending without meaning to, unsure of what they were doing. But one, in particular, caught Tony's eye. It was a blue circle with a red and gold background. It seemed both angry but hopeful and how colors splashed on a canvas could be imbued with such feeling boggled Tony's mind. The painting felt like it came from a dream.

"--ark? Tony?"

A light pressure against his shoulder brought Tony's attention back to Steve. Tony took a drink to battle a suddenly dry throat.

"These are good. Pepper is the real art aficionado, but even I can tell these are all amazing. I'm sure you know, or maybe not, SI sponsors various artists, and Pepper has pretty much already chosen you. And I have to agree, after seeing these, I'm behind it 100%. Pepper has the paperwork, and we'll have the lawyers go over it. You'll retain all rights to your art; just SI gets first dips on displaying it. And we get first dibs on anything you want to sell for a set period agreed upon in the contract."

Tony kept glancing between Steve and the painting.

"I've met you before, you know, though I am not surprised you don't remember. You met a lot of people that day. You were giving a weapons demo, and it was amazing to watch. But I also saw you later, leaning behind the chow hall. You looked tired."

Tony didn't remember that because he'd felt that a lot before he got out of designing and selling weapons.

"I just wanted to say that I respect your decision to do what you feel is right. And that even though you are no longer designing weapons, the fact you are still designing body armor is a really good thing. So thank you for that. I know it has saved the lives of a lot of people, many friends of mine included."

Tony felt a painful piercing in his chest like a splinter was working its way out that had been embedded there for a while. He had been vilified for his decision to stop making weapons for the military, had been told he was no longer patriotic or interested in protecting service members who fought. He just made his money on their backs and their sacrifice. To hear Steve thank him for it brought with it a lot of confused feelings. And it choked him up. It had been so long since someone other than Pepper said something like that. Even Rhodey took a while to come around.

Tony stuck his hand out, not knowing what else to do. He saw it was shaking, but before he could pull it back, Steve had grasped it. Never taking his eyes off of Tony's, Steve raised Tony's hand and kissed the back of it, smiling a little while he did it. Tony rapidly blinked, trying to keep his tears in check.

"Thank you for helping to keep our soldiers safe. And thank you for sponsoring my art."