Work Text:
Everybody thinks that Captain America was the world’s first superhero, and for a long time Tony bought into that as well. As a kid he had the posters on the wall, the duvet cover with the shield on it, all the comics (including the ones that were incredibly rare), the trading cards, and half a dozen action figures – it was safe to say that he was a giant fan. Now that he is living with Steve Rogers, the man behind the mask, he is finding out just how wrong he and everybody else was.
Because before he was ever Captain America, Steve Rogers was a superhero, and his superpower is that he is the best person in the world. He was the type of person who would stand up to any bully, irrespective of their size, help little old ladies cross the street, and get kittens out of a tree for a bawling rugrat. The serum might have changed the outer appearance, but inside he was still the same kid from Brooklyn. Steve still described himself that way, and at first, Tony thought that it was Steve’s idea of a good joke to tell, but living with Steve and seeing him every day have shown him how very true that statement is.
These days Steve still stands up to bullies, helps children and old ladies when they’re in distress, but he does so much more. All the Avengers get fan-mail by the sackloads, and they all have various ways of dealing with it. Tony’s preferred way is to foist it off on a personal assistant who is very good at forging his signature, but Steve replies to each and every letter he gets with something heartfelt and sincere. Any drawings that he gets are put up either on the fridge or in the training room. Tony has seen him sit for hours doing this, but Steve never complains and at the end he merely shakes out his hand, cramped as it is from writing so much, and smiles happily to himself.
Steve Rogers is a superhero, and Tony wishes that he could be more like him, but simply being around Steve is enough to brighten his day, and for that he is exceedingly grateful.