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Tony thought something might have been off with Steve, but he couldn’t put his finger on it. It wasn’t the hair, that was perfect, as usual. He didn’t look sick or anything, not that he could get sick with the serum. There was something though, and he was gonna find out what.
.
.
Steve couldn’t sleep. Which usually wouldn’t be a problem. Except for the fact that it had been a problem for the last five days. And yes, Steve could do with less sleep than the average human, but six days was pushing it even for him. He had tried everything. Rain sounds, showers, warmth, cold, counting sheep, warm milk, cocoa. You name it, Steve had tried it.
Part of the problem was, Steve couldn’t stop thinking. He kept thinking about missions coming up, things he could have done better on the last one, Tony, paperwork he needed to get done by the end of the week, Tony, getting Fury to get him some new trainees, Tony, dinner with the president next month, Tony, the art classes he was thinking about taking next semester, and oh yeah, had he mentioned Tony?
Initially, they had been like oil and water, never agreeing on anything. But eventually, with living together, they had mellowed out. They were actually friends now, but a couple of months ago, Steve figured out that he wanted to be more than friends. He just didn’t know how to ask Tony. Because, what if Tony didn’t like him like that? What if Tony didn’t even like guys? What if Steve and his dumb feelings ruined one of the best friendships he had?
And his and Tony’s friendship was probably the best one he had. They could sit there for hours talking about everything or just sit and be with each other. The latter happened a lot when either of them were kept up with nightmares. They’d stumble down to the kitchen and JARVIS would let the other one know. They’d just sit with each other, human presence was nice sometimes. Also, sitting in the shop was one of Steve’s favorite past times. It had one of the best views in the building, and it helped that all the bots had declared him their new best friend the first time he brought in a tennis ball. Tony had called all three of them traitors but had been laughing the whole time. Both of them knew he didn’t mean it, those bots were the closest thing Tony had to children, he loved them with all his heart.
See, this was Steve’s problem. When he couldn’t sleep, his thoughts always ended up on Tony, which made sure he couldn’t sleep. Because once he started thinking about Tony, there was no way to stop. It was a black hole Steve couldn’t get out of.
His brain wouldn’t shut up, so eventually he just went down to the gym, thinking that maybe he could physically tire himself out enough to sleep.
.
.
Eventually, Steve just got so tired, he thought he was sleeping and that everything he was doing had to be a dream. There was no way he was awake, he was just so tired. No humanly possible way he was awake. With that thought, he made his way to the elevators, towards his floor. Apparently though, he hadn’t been clear enough to JARVIS, because the elevator stopped at the communal floor, not his personal one. Unfortunately, Steve was so tired, he didn’t really even notice. He just assumed that JARVIS had taken him to his floor and stepped out.
The first person he saw was Tony. Which was weird. Why was Tony on his personal floor? Tony almost never came to Steve’s floor. Why was he there? And why was there coffee? Steve didn’t keep coffee in his apartment. It must be the dream. Dreams can be whatever you want them to be, right?
Assuming that this was a dream, Steve stepped forward and kissed Tony, smack on the lips.
.
.
Tony was just coming up for coffee. Yes, he had a coffee maker in the shop. No, his coffee supply in the shop wasn’t out, he just liked seeing the team first thing in the morning. He had just sat down at the breakfast bar with his coffee mug, when Steve stepped out of the elevator. And Steve looked like shit. Now, Tony was in love with Steve no matter what the man looked like, so it took a lot for him to say that Steve looked like shit. But it was the truth. It was written all over the man’s face that he hadn’t slept for a week.
Suddenly though, Steve stepped towards Tony. Next thing Tony knew, Steve was kissing him. And not just kissing him, pretty much full on, making out. Which Tony was perfectly okay with, but he usually like a little warning beforehand. Eventually though, Steve pulled away. And then Tony could talk.
“Well, Steve? As much as I enjoyed that, I usually like dinner before we start anything serious.”
Steve’s eyes got comically wide, “Wait. This isn’t a dream?”
Tony chuckled over his coffee, “I sure as hell hope not, ‘cause that kiss was fantastic. I woulda made a move sooner, but wasn’t sure you’d appreciate it.” He hopped down from the barstool, “But right now, I think you should get some sleep. We’ll talk more about this when you’re not severely sleep deprived, huh?”
Steve was stumbling at this point, but Tony just took his arm, guiding him back to the elevator and to his floor. Once they got to Steve’s room, Tony was just going to deposit him on the bed and leave, but Steve had other ideas. Tony was turning away from the bed to leave, thinking that Steve would want some space, when a hand grabbed his wrist. He turned back around to look at Steve.
“Stay, please? Can’t sleep on my own.”
Tony just smiled and climbed into the bed, “I’ll be here when you wake up, kay?”
Steve was already snoring.