Don't get too ahead of yourself, Nat. He just didn't have anything else to distract himself with.

But OK, Popism: The Warhol Sixties was a really good book, she was right.

"If they let you have a phaser, I'm getting off the ship," Steve fires back, carrying the container of cupcakes back out to the living room. This should last them about an hour.

It's her last remark -- we're also good at landing on our feet -- that makes him pause before he settles back into the couch, smiling faintly, crookedly, looking at Natasha with eyes full of respect, kinship, and yeah, maybe a touch of mocking disbelief. She's missed a lot. But nothing Stark or Q can throw at them will knock them down. It's untangling all of his complicated relationships he's really concerned about. "Yeah. We'll work it out."

He lifts his own cupcake out of the Tupperware, and slings his arm across the back of the couch after he's pulled back the wrapper and started to eat it. This is Steve at his most comfortable in months, the cares of the universe gone in favor of one night with his partner.

"I think we were up to Stakeout on Blue Mist Mountain, right? And no hints. If you elbow me during the season finale, I'm moving to the chair."