Chapter Text
The air was cool at this hour of the morning. A little later, when they were about to roll out of bed, J.A.R.V.I.S. would turn up the heat so that by the time bare feet landed on the carpet, the room would be warm and welcoming.
But for now, it was the early hours of the morning, with the sun just barely creeping up over the horizon of shadowed skyscrapers. The air was cool against the tips of Tony’s ears, which made him better appreciate the warmth within the nest of blankets. It was why he preferred to set the temperature lower during the night.
Why they both preferred it that way.
Tony’s eyes were slitted open, enjoying the view. He had woken up facing the windows with their magnificent sight of the sun rising over the city, but he had eventually wriggled enough so he could turn around. There was a much nicer view on this side, after all. It was unusual for him to be awake at this hour, but he had stirred from a strange dream involving spider-puppies — he would blame Peter for that — and found he couldn’t go back to sleep again. He decided to take the rare opportunity to feast his eyes on Steve’s face, to greedily take in those soft fair lashes and his slightly open mouth, to admire that plush lower lip that Tony so liked to nip. Steve’s straight nose and chiselled cheeks looked like they could be carved out of the finest ivory, framed by his tousled hair and the relaxed droop of his silvery-gold ears.
Usually, when they were both awake, Tony tried not to be caught staring at Steve, so he often feigned a lack of interest. It was a silly instinct, and it was difficult as well, because Steve was so wonderful to look at. Handsome, and kind, and dry-witted, and kind of judgemental, and generous, and righteous, and Tony’s. Mine, mine, mine, Tony thought happily.
It was almost time for Steve’s internal alarm clock to go off and for him to head out for an early morning run. So Tony didn’t feel any compunctions about nuzzling into Steve’s bare chest, luxuriating in that warm bare skin against his own. It was toasty underneath their thick comforter, with their shared body warmth and entwined limbs. Tony was purring, purring, purring from deep within his chest as he rubbed a cheek against Steve’s collarbone, listening happily to the steady beat of his heart under Tony’s ear. Tony reached down and felt around Steve’s waist until he found that fluffy tail draped over a muscular thigh. He patted that tail, running his fingers through the plush fur possessively to ensure their scents were mixed. Then he pulled his own slim tail forward as well and twined both their tails together. He knew Steve would smile at that, always found it adorable when their tails inadvertently reached for each other. Tony liked to pretend it happened completely by accident in their sleep of course.
Snuggling his face into the place where Steve’s strong neck met broad shoulders, Tony breathed in and enjoyed their intertwined scents. And then, to be extra clear, he rubbed his cheek against Steve’s neck. This part is mine, and this, and this, all of this is mine.
“G’morning,” Steve murmured, voice still thick from sleep, as he was awoken by Tony’s enthusiastic scent marking.
“Mrr,” was all Tony said, too busy rubbing a cheek against Steve’s shoulder, curling possessive arms around his waist.
Steve ran a hand over Tony’s bare shoulder under the cosy blankets, and all of a sudden, he rolled so that Tony was squished under him. Tony let out a ‘mrp!’ of surprise and found himself enfolded in a large sleepy hug. This was not an unusual position for Tony to be in, since they got together six months ago. Given the slightest opportunity, Steve liked to wrap himself up around Tony and squish him or liked to be wrapped up in Tony and be squished. Either way was a delight.
“Steve?” Tony asked, his nose was sticking out beside Steve’s head, but he wasn’t able to see much more than blonde hair and one pale ear, blankets pulled almost completely over their heads.
Steve let out a little snore, falling back into sleep. That was unusual since Steve was generally a morning person, quick to pop out of bed bright eyed and bushy tailed, literally. Tony was the one who often tried to tempt Steve to stay in their cosy nest of blankets. But Steve had been away on a mission since before dawn yesterday, followed by a rather long and energetic night, so that might explain his sleep-in.
Sighing, Tony tried a wriggle but that got him nowhere fast. In fact, he could have sworn Steve tightened his hold even further, even in his sleep.
Tony contemplated his position, and then went back to rubbing his cheek against Steve’s hair, even gnawing briefly on one floppy ear. Later, he would paw at Steve’s face until he woke up and gave Tony the attention he deserved. But for now, Tony was contented with this task. Mine, mine, mine, Tony thought with unrestrained delight.
# # # # # #
Steve watched the movie, not really caring what was on the screen. He was deep in a haze of contentment, pleased to be surrounded by his pack, by his family, and to feel the small warm furry body against his neck, draped over his shoulder. The steady rumble that vibrated against his neck flooded him with happiness. Steve lifted a hand and pressed it against Tony’s small form that was curled up on his shoulder. The feel of Tony’s purr under his hand lulled him into a blissful calmness. Tony butted his head against Steve’s palm, encouraging the soft patting.
By the time the movie was done, Steve wasn’t sure if he even knew what had happened on screen. The lights slowly came up again and the others in the room started stretching and shifting.
“That was very enjoyable,” Thor said. “I appreciate Earth’s entertainment about heroic warriors who battle impossible odds and never leave a comrade behind. The assistant especially seemed like a fine specimen of the human male form.”
“You know we just watched the Ghostbusters remake, right?” Clint asked doubtfully.
They were almost certainly being teased by Thor who affected an archaic way of talking when he was putting on his ignorant alien act. Steve always found how often people fell for Thor’s faked bewilderment at human norms amusing.
Thor pointed out, “I’m aware and I believe I’ve spoken accurately.”
Bruce got up from his armchair and offered, “Maybe we could watch the original version.”
“Ugh, please no,” Bucky said, having formed a lot of opinions after several movie marathons.
Tony finally stirred on his perch on Steve’s shoulder, and Steve had to fight the urge to coax him back into sleep, warm and trusting against Steve’s neck. But he couldn’t hog Tony all to himself. After a few minutes of stretching and soft meowing, Tony hopped down from his shoulder to his lap, pausing to rub a cheek against Steve’s side. Then, Tony turned around in a circle, turned around again like he was looking for something, and suddenly flopped onto his side in Steve’s lap. Steve held his breath, and Tony rolled onto his back. Oh, Steve was looking at that fluffy spotted belly, all that inviting fur which Steve knew from experience would be soft and silky, like touching a warm cloud.
“It’s a trap,” Natasha said as she stood up to join Bruce in the kitchen.
“Dude, you know it is,” Clint said. “Don’t let the cuteness lure you into the trap!”
Tony twisted his back and tilted his head at Steve, blinking slowly. He let out a quiet, quizzical, “Mrrp?”
“Oh, that’s just cheating,” Clint said with admiration.
It was beyond Steve’s ability to resist. He laid a hand on that exposed belly of fur, ready to spend three seconds luxuriating in the feeling before his hand was turned into Swiss cheese.
But then, Steve realized he was actually stroking Tony’s fur and thinking soft, so soft, it was so lovely and amazing under his fingers. It was such a show of trust, a sign of affection… and…
Steve realized that his hand wasn’t being attacked.
Instead, his hand remained on the silky softness, unharmed. Tony met his eyes, and blinked very slowly.
Steve knew his cheeks and neck were turning red from the sudden flood of excitement and pure joy at this show of trust, his tail trying to wag from where it was pinned beneath him.
“Holy shit,” Clint uttered in awe.
“Wow, that’s…something,” Natasha said, sounding genuinely stunned out of her earlier cynical certainty.
Steve rubbed gently through the softest of fur on Tony’s vulnerable belly, and Tony let him. In fact, Tony leaned down and started licking Steve’s hand, grooming him.
“This is some cute shit,” Clint said, inching his phone out to record it.
All of a sudden, Tony was back in his human form, body resting half over Steve’s lap, with Steve’s hand giving him a belly rub. Tony twisted and flashed Clint his middle finger, looking very smug. Laughing, Steve bent down and gave Tony a kiss on his pointed furry ear.
With a shrug, Clint took the photo anyway, and captioned it “Iron Lap Cat,” when he posted it on Instagram.
It went viral overnight.