They can't hear him.

They can't hear his teeth chatter. Or the raspy scratch of his breath. They can't hear his pained whispers.

But he can hear them. He can hear the voices at the other end. The telltale signs of bickering and panic.

He can't decide whether that's a good thing or not.

Or Steve Rogers and his terrible, no good diary of woes. Starting with the cold, ending with Tony Stark.

How can a simple malfunction in a building's computer keep two people apart? It can when they're both too stubborn to talk to one another and too embarrassed to take anyone's advice. OR - this is what happens when you accidentally become a porn star to your own friends.

The very first time Steve Rogers saw two men kiss, two twenty somethings at a coffee shop he was frequenting for an Avenger's Community outreach appearance, he excused himself to the bathroom, got down on his knees right there on the cracked linoleum floor of the farthest stall to the left and vomited up his entire breakfast on the spot.

He gagged over the public toilet, vomiting until he was only able to bring up bile mixed with little specks of blood, as he tried desperately to screw his eyes shut tightly- refusing to let any tears fall.

OR

Tony thinks Steve is a homophobe, but it turns out he really just hates himself.