#americanpepperony

[cami-chats]

Title: The Butcher, The Baker, The Candlestick Maker-- Only Not the First and Third Ones

Link: AO3

Square Filled: Character Is A Baker

Ship: Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark/Steve Rogers

Rating: Mature

Major Tags: Mention of a lesbian trying to force herself to be with a man

Summary: Pepper meets a gorgeous baker, now she just has to convince Tony to give a new relationship a try.

Word Count: 2231

Created for @mcukinkbingo

Full text also below

The first time Pepper saw him, she didn't give him more than a cursory glance. She hoped it didn't come off as rude, but the truth was that was was trying to make a purchase while talking on the phone, so there was only so polite she could have come across as. Honestly she was so frazzled that she didn't even think about how the blond haired, blue eyed man with muscles stretching his shirt was basically the human form of an all-american apple pie until she was back at the Tower, setting down the box of muffins on the conference table.

Huh. He was... not bad. She'd drop by again when she had a chance and see if he was there. If he wasn't, she'd keep trying until he was, and if he was, she'd try to feel him out for the basics. Namely how much of a judgmental asshole he was, but sometimes that was hard to find out from small talk.

She saw Mister Certifiably Gorgeous the next time she went in, but it was rather busy for her to do any kind of vetting. She left a big tip, tried to make her thanks as genuine as possible, and didn't even think about distracting him. She did find out that his name was Steve though, so she left feeling triumphant. The little flutter in her stomach let her know that she needed to tell Tony about him, so she made a mental note to talk to him before they went to bed that night.

With the minor explosion in R&D that day though, she forgot until they were at the brushing-teeth phase of the night, which was a little later than she preferred to have these talks. Pepper knew that Tony didn't mind, so she didn't put it off any longer. "I met somebody."

"Yeah?" Tony swished some mouthwash then spit it out, making a face at the spearmint taste instead of peppermint like he preferred. "Man or woman?"

"Man. His name's Steve, he works at that new bakery on the corner."

"Is he interested?"

"Well..."

Tony looked at her, then chuckled. "You didn't tell him, did you."

"I didn't have a chance," she said defensively. "We haven't even talked outside of customer-employee conversations."

"And you're telling me about him because?" Tony asked, looking a little confused. It wasn't an unfair emotion considering the fact that they usually had a little more attraction from the third person than this, but Pepper was a little offended all the same.

"He's really gorgeous, Tony."

He laughed again, moving towards their room and pulling back the blanket. "Well why don't you flirt a little and see how it goes."

"You don't want to meet him?"

Tony shrugged, his shoulders slightly tense.

Pepper softened, walking to him and setting a hand on his shoulder. "I'm sorry about Wanda, but they won't all be like that." Wanda had been a lesbian that was half in love with Pepper, and thought that she'd be able to stand Tony as part of the deal as long as she got to be with Pepper. Needless to say pretending to be bisexual hadn't ended well for any of them, especially when she insisted she was okay to have sex with Tony. It was... one of the worst break up's they'd ever had, and it had only ended a month and a half ago.

"I know," Tony said. "It's just. Ugh I don't know."

"You're scared," Pepper supplied.

"No I'm not."

Pepper didn't say anything, knowing that the lie made him feel less vulnerable while at the same time knowing that Pepper wasn't fooled by it. She kissed the back of his head. "I'll see if he's interested and keep you posted, okay?"

He nodded, turning his head for a proper kiss.

She hummed, leaning into him.

"Pep, we just got clean."

She raised an eyebrow. "Your point being?"

Tony laughed again, and she loved the way it lit up his eyes. "Nothing," he said, shaking his head.

"That's what I thought."

*

Pepper flirted the next time she went in, and the time after that Steve flirted back.

"Hey Pepper!" he said, grinning widely as he walked out of a back room, his apron dusted with either flour or powdered sugar, she didn't know which.

"Hi Steve," she said, smiling back just as big.

Sam, the man who had been preparing to take her order, looked between them. "I guess you'd rather take care of her Steve?"

"Yeah." Steve walked up to the register as Sam moved to the side, still smiling at her. "I was hoping you'd come in today, it's been a while."

"Two days."

"A very long two days," he said, pulling a solemn face as he talked before smiling again.

Pepper swallowed, willing her tingles to calm down a little before she got so wound up that she accosted Tony in his workshop for an afternoon quickie. "What were you doing back there?" she asked, glancing at his spotted apron.

He glanced down too, like he needed to double check that there was a reason she looked there as she asked. "Cake order for tomorrow."

"You bake?" she asked, surprised.

Steve blinked, the expression of a man that was so used to people knowing he did that he'd forgotten it wasn't stamped on his forehead for new people to see. "Yeah," he said, laughing a little. "There's me, a night baker, and a couple part time bakers to cover our off days."

"I'm surprised you even have days off," she said. "I feel like you're here every single time I come in."

"Well I try," he said, smile turning shy. "Did you uh, need to order still?"

"Oh! Yes." In all honesty, she'd forgotten that she had come here to get food, caught up as she was in talking to him. "What hasn't been selling today?"

"You want to buy our least popular products?" he asked, a faint, disbelieving look on his face.

She narrowed her eyes at him, personally offended somehow. "Steven," she said, unconsciously folding her arms over her chest as she looked sternly at him. "If you are trying to convince me that buying food you made would be a mistake, we're going to have a problem."

Someone that Pepper only recognized in passing around the store snorted as he walked by. "You haven't been on a date yet, an' she's already settin' you straight." He pat Steve's shoulder, leaning in to say something that she couldn't catch. Whatever it was made Steve blush harder though, so perhaps she didn't want to hear it.

"Go away punk," Steve said, shoving playfully at him. "Sorry about him," he said bashfully, smoothing the front of his apron for something to do with his hands. He glanced at the door his friend had gone through, then turned back to her. "So uh, you can definitely say no and we can forget all about it, but would you maybe um- want to go on a date with me sometime?"

Pepper blushed lightly, a dusting of pink across her cheeks. She wanted to say yes so badly, but going on a first date with someone and then explaining the situation was so much worse than explaining it beforehand. "Ah. It's... complicated."

"Oh." Steve's smile was fading now, and she hated it. He looked like a golden retriever that was just told it wasn't allowed to be pet. "Sorry uh." He cleared his throat uncomfortably. "So what can I get for you?"

"Steve. When I said it's complicated, I didn't mean 'I'm taken so back off', I meant it takes some time to explain and most people aren't okay with it."

"So you're... poly?" he asked tentatively, probably afraid that he was wrong and she'd get upset.

She smiled though, relieved. "Yes. And we date as a pair, so I didn't want to agree to anything without him. If you're still interested, we can all meet up when you're free. If you're not, no harm done." She reached into her pocket for a card and a pen. "Take some time to think about it," she said, scrawling her personal number on the back, "and get back to me." She held it up, holding her breath until he took it from her.

He nodded, tucking it into his back pocket, obviously taking her seriously.

"Great," she said, unable to keep the relief from her voice. "Take some time to think it over, there's no pressure." She smiled reassuringly and left. It wasn't until the door was closing behind her that she paused, realizing that she hadn't bought anything. It would probably be more embarrassing to turn back now than to deal with it later, so she kept walking.

Of course that was the moment that Tony texted her, asking if they had anything with cherries and if they did would she please get him five. She took a deep breath, bracing herself as she turned around and walked back in.

Steve was shocked to see her again, and she waved sheepishly. "Tony's craving cherries," she explained, going back up to the counter. "Do you have anything like that?"

*

"I talked to Steve," Pepper said, sliding Tony the pastries.

He shoved a whole one in his mouth before he responded. "How'd he take it?"

"He needs some time to think. I gave him my number but," she shrugged. There was nothing they could do but wait-- or so Pepper constantly had to remind him so that he didn't gift people with Ferrari's at every turn.

Before she could worry too much about future bakery purchases, Steve texted her that night.

It's Steve (from the bakery). Can I meet your partner before I agree to anything?

Absolutely. We'll drop by tomorrow? At 3?

Sounds good. See you then.

*

"Okay Tony what are we not going to do?" Pepper asked as they walked to the bakery.

"Pepper," he whined. She shot him a sharp look, and he rolled his eyes. She was always so uptight about new people and he wished there was some way he could force her to relax a little. Tony heaved a sigh before dutifully repeating, "We are not going to proposition him or otherwise try to scare him off, and I'm not allowed to casually hand him a hundred dollars."

"You're not allowed to hand him any money. Leave all exchanges of paper-- monetary or not-- to me. He's going to think he can hand you things otherwise, and you'll pretend to be okay and then you'll panic when we get back to the tower. Hands to yourself for the good of mankind."

"I don't think the good of mankind hinges on whether or not I panic."

"I disagree."

They were still bickering goodnaturedly as they walked into the bakery, and Pepper had to poke him hard in the arm to get his attention. "What?" he asked, rubbing his arm with a betrayed look on his face.

She nodded at something, and Tony turned to look.

Then he froze. "Wow." He was pretty sure there were Greek statues that looked exactly like this man, only not quite as pretty. Steve-- because that must have been who it was-- was certainly more attractive than any slab of marble could be, no matter how nicely it was carved. "Do you think he takes steroids?" Tony asked under his breath. "There's no way those muscles are natural."

Pepper looked at him disbelievingly. "People say the same about your ass."

"They say I take steroids to get it that way?"

She narrowed her eyes at him. "Not the time Tony."

"You always say that."

"That's because it's always true."

"You're so mean to me."

"Only as mean as you are to me," she said, shooting him a saccharine smile.

"Am I interrupting something?" Steve said, standing a few feet away as he looked between the two of them, looking like he was legitimately concerned that they were having a fight and not just arguing for the fun of it.

"No," they said in unison, and it sounded like the truth instead of when most couples said that as a complete and utter lie.

"You must be Steve," Tony said, grinning at him.

"I must be." Tony knew there was every reason for him to look nervous, but he still had to swallow down the urge to tease him about it. "And you're Pepper's boyfriend?"

"I prefer partner."

Steve winced. "Right, sorry."

Tony waved the apology off. "It's fine. I'm Tony, by the way." He fake glared at Pepper. "I guess someone hasn't been talking your ear off about me as much as she's been doing it to me about you."

"I have to talk about you all day, I didn't feel the need to inflict you on Steve."

"You're inflicting me on him now," Tony grumbled.

Steve looked like he was starting to have doubts, so Tony tried to dial it down a little.

*

How they ended up getting a date after that, Tony had no idea.

*

How they ended up spending morning-afters with Steve making muffins in their kitchen, neither Pepper nor Tony knew, but they were going to enjoy the hell out of it. Especially since sometimes Steve would bake shirtless and they'd get to see the hickies they left from the night before on him.