Steve's been having a pretty good night.

It's his first party with Bucky in over seventy years. "Sylvie" is being their usual flirty self, even without the usual revealing dress they wear to every party. (He likes it better this way, he thinks. He feels like he always has to try too hard not to look at their boobs.) He has Sam and Natasha by his side. It's going pretty well, he'd say.

And then, much to his chagrin, Tony starts making his way back toward them. He doesn't seem to notice – he's just going wherever the crowd pulls him, which, in a word, would be 'everywhere' – but he's getting closer. It's only a matter of time until they're roped into a conversation with the guy, and he's really not looking forward to it.

He glances at Bucky, who looks back at him. It's hard to read his expression. It often is, these days. He can't even tell if he's noticed Tony yet. He hopes he has. He suspects he's going to need a moment to mentally prepare, too.

As soon as Tony and Pepper finish talking to whoever it is that they're talking to, Natasha raises her hands in a very dramatic, eye-catching wave. It sure does catch their eyes, and Natasha gestures for them to come over. Pepper whispers something in Tony's ear, and they begin to make their way over.

"Finally," Sam says. "I was starting to think we weren't gonna see 'em until after the party ended."

Steve suspects Tony would have been okay with that.

Loki, who's been comfortably resting in Steve's arms for at least the last fifteen minutes, moves to his side instead. He glances over at them, and Loki offers him a small, uncertain smile. Steve grimaces in response. He's not looking forward to this. He suspects Loki knows that.

Loki leans in and cups their hands around his ear to whisper, "Just act normal. Don't make a big deal of this."

Steve just nods. He knows that. Of course he does. Tony has so many other things going on right now. He just got engaged, for god's sake. If there's even a slight chance that they can have a nice, normal conversation right now in spite of what happened the last time they spoke, he's going to take it. He's just... not sure he expects it to work.

When Tony and Pepper reach them, Natasha greets them by immediately pulling them each into a hug, beaming from ear to ear as she gushes about how happy she is for them. It puts a smile on Tony's face, too, which is a good sign.

"Show me the ring," Natasha says, wasting no time with her demands. "I have to see the ring."

Pepper obliges, of course, holding her hand out so that Natasha can see. The rest of them peer over at it, and just one look at it tells him that this ring is worth more than the entire building he grew up in. He's not sure he's ever going to get used to having a rich friend. (He hopes he can still call him that, despite everything that's happened.)

"Oh my god," Natasha breathes. "Okay, somebody needs to find a rich man for me to marry – preferably one I can kill as soon as the ceremony's over."

"Hey, stop it," Tony whispers loudly. "You're going to give her ideas."

That earns some laughter from the group, and Steve cracks a smile, too. It really is good to see Tony smile again. He hasn't seen much of that lately.

"Did you know?" Natasha asks Pepper eagerly. "Or was this just completely out of the blue?"

"I knew it was coming eventually," Pepper says. "But I figured it was gonna be, you know, weeks from now; months from now. I wasn't expecting it tonight."

"He must really love you," Loki quips. "He took a night that was all about him and made it about you, too."

"You know shit's serious when Stark's willing to share the limelight," Sam agrees

Natasha jumps in with a teasing, "I think he just wanted an audience so Pepper wasn't able to say 'no.'"

Tony scoffs. "Rhodey said the same thing," he says with an exaggerated frown. "Why does everyone think I'm holding her captive?"

"Likely because she's a lovely woman," Loki says, "and you have zero redeeming qualities to speak of." They shake their head to themselves. "I truly don't know how you did it, if not through threats or blackmail."

Tony scoffs, playing up his offense. "Gee, thanks, Sylvie."

"You're welcome," Loki says with a smirk. "Somebody has to keep you humble."

"I don't think Tony knows what 'humble' is," Pepper says teasingly.

"Never heard of it," Tony agrees. "Doesn't sound like my cup of tea, honestly."

"Trust me, we've noticed," Natasha jokes.

"You guys want to hear something crazy?" Pepper asks, looking at them all eagerly.

"Obviously," Natasha says immediately.

"Guess when Tony got the ring."

Tony rolls his eyes, but there's a slight smile on his face that he can't hide.

They throw out a few guesses – February; April; yesterday; in 1999. Steve would love to join in with a guess of his own, but he doesn't. He's not sure how welcome his presence would be if he did, and the last thing he wants to do right now is get in the way of Tony enjoying this day. (Bucky's been silent throughout this whole interaction, too. It seems he's not the only one feeling this way.)

Pepper finally gives them the answer: "He got it last year."

Sam scoffs. "He's been sitting on it for that long?"

Tony shrugs, almost sheepishly. "What can I say? I like to be prepared."

Natasha tsks at him. "You are so lovesick, Tony."

"Okay, in my defense," Tony says, "if you were dating Pepper Potts, you, too, would be 'so lovesick.'"

"You know," Sam says, "I think Pepper might be the only person I've ever heard you say good things about."

Tony scoffs. "That is not true," he says indignantly. "I say good things about a lot of people! I just usually only do it if I'm also saying bad things about them."

"Yes, you do that to me, I've noticed," Loki remarks, "except instead of saying good things with the bad things, you say bad things with more bad things."

Tony rests a hand on their shoulder. "Well, rest assured, Sylvie," he says, "I will start saying nice things about you as soon as there's something nice to be said about you."

Loki just laughs, no offense taken to the remark. There never is, these days. It's nice to see how far they've come, but Steve would be lying if he said it didn't sting a little to see that Tony seems to have a better relationship with Loki right now than he does with Steve. That's not how that was supposed to go.

"Alright," Tony says, clapping his hands together once. "Pep and I have about seven million other people we have to talk to before the night's over, but we'll see you guys later."

There's a collective groan that Steve does not take part in. He would love for them to leave. He would love to get out of this awkward situation that he has to pretend isn't awkward because very few people actually know that it is.

The team bids them farewell, repeating their congratulations and well-wishes, and Steve tucks his hands in his pockets uncomfortably. This is why he was hoping to catch Tony before the party started. He doesn't know where they stand right now. He would rather have figured that out without an audience.

As they're about to leave, Steve decides to bite the bullet. "Congratulations, guys," he says. "I'm happy for you."

Pepper offers him a smile, and Tony looks at him, an unreadable look in his eye. It feels like a million years goes by, though he's sure it's only a few seconds before Tony responds with just a nod.

And then they're off to talk to other people.

Steve glances at Bucky, who looks back at him with a frown. If there was any hope that Tony had moved past what Bucky did or the secret Steve kept, that did a damn good job at squashing it.

"He's looking good," Natasha remarks.

Loki playfully sucks in a breath through their teeth. "Is he, though?"

Natasha rolls her eyes lightheartedly. "You know what I mean."

"Hey, Buck," Sam says, "you just got here a couple weeks ago. Is this the first time you've ever seen Tony Stark look happy?"

Bucky, of course, is visibly uncomfortable with that question. Fortunately, Bucky has been visibly uncomfortable since this party started, so nobody else seems to notice.

Loki takes the attention off of him with ease, quipping, "It is for me, though I think that's less to do with his quality of life and more to do with the fact that every time I see him, I'm present."

That gets a huff of laughter from Bucky – something that seems pretty difficult to accomplish lately. He's seen both Bucky and Tony laugh tonight. If he ignores all the tension, it almost feels like a good day.

"Did we ever figure out what was going on with him?" Natasha asks, glancing around at her friends. Her gaze seems to linger on Steve longer than it does on everybody else. It may be his imagination. It may be her Widow skills at work. He's not sure.

Loki shakes their head. "Not that I'm aware of," they answer, as casual as casual can be. Steve knows damn well that Loki knows what's going on, and even he wants to believe it. Loki really is the world's best liar.

"Stressed about the proposal, maybe?" Sam suggests.

"Maybe," Natasha says. She doesn't seem sold on the idea.

"And, I mean, we did have that whole big fight with the Accords, like, three weeks ago," Sam adds.

"A fair point," Natasha agrees.

"And he did retire shortly after," Loki adds. "Something he only chose to do because of the wracking guilt he felt. It would not surprise me if that was related."

Steve tries his best to keep his expression neutral, as though he's not the least bit uncomfortable hearing Loki lie through their teeth like it's the most normal thing in the world. It should not be this easy to act like they don't have any idea what's going on.

He tries to venture into the conversation with a casual remark of his own, if only because silence feels like the most suspicious option. "He has had a lot going on," he agrees. "I think he just needs time." He hopes he just needs time. Time is something he can give him – time, and space. He just has to hope that's enough.

"He better not take too much time," Natasha says. "He's really killing the vibe lately."

"He just got engaged," Sam reminds her. "I wouldn't be surprised if he becomes the most annoyingly happy man in the world after this."

"You can just say 'happy,' you know," Natasha says. "Calling Tony 'annoying' is just redundant."

Steve snickers at that – and he feels bad about it, but everybody else laughs, too, so he feels like it's okay.

"This is wonderful," Loki says wistfully. "For once, I am not on the receiving end of your disparaging remarks. We should do this more often."

"Oh, don't worry, Sylvie," Natasha says teasingly. "I'll go back to making fun of you in no time."

Loki sighs dramatically. "Damn," they say. "I suppose I'll have to enjoy this while I can, then."