Work Text:
A shiver wriggled up Tony's spine, and he shifted around in his chair. He was freezing - he hadn't even noticed the chill creep up on him, but now that he was thinking about it, his focus was sapped. His fingers were stiff, and his feet were nothing more than blocks of ice.
"JARVIS? I think it's time to switch to autumn protocols, climate control-wise."
"Of course, Sir."
He heard the heater click on softly, but it was going to be too little too late; he was properly chilled now, and his deadbeat ticker wasn't great at bringing him back from that. If he was going to warm up again, he'd need some help.
He stretched his arms over his head, leaning in his chair, then sighed at the disassembled electronics he had laid out on his desk. He really wanted to finish this tonight. Cap was going to love his new magnetized gauntlets.
But his stiff, frozen fingers would make mistakes, and the longer he stayed down here, the closer to a popsicle he'd become, even with the heat on. And he certainly didn't want to be the next one of them to accidentally spend seventy years on ice.
He pushed away from his desk and rose, saving all his notes with a flick of his hand. JARVIS switched the lights off as he slipped out of the workshop.
Tony checked his phone on his way up in the elevator, sliding through the hundreds of notifications that had arrived while he was in work-mode. And that was after JARVIS sorted out the obviously deletable ones.
It was only eight o'clock, so Tony held out no hope that his penthouse would be anything other than empty, and sure enough, the lights were off, the TV quiet, and no smells from dinner wafted out of the kitchen. He contemplated coffee and the fireplace, but the ice under his skin had brought exhaustion with it, and he figured the best way to warm up would be bed, and once he was in bed, he'd inevitably fall asleep. Tony could go forever, until he laid down, and then it was all over.
He tossed his phone on the charging pad in the kitchen and pushed through the door to the bedroom, planning to change into cozy clothes and curl up under the covers.
But there was already a lump under the big duvet, with a tuft of blonde hair poking out the top.
"Steve?" he asked quietly, not wanting to wake him if he was asleep. But his eyes poked up, out of the giant heap of blankets, and they were clear and bright.
"Tony!" Smile-crinkles creased the corners of Steve's eyes, even if Tony couldn't see the smile itself, and he grinned back. "You're up here early."
"So are you, what are you doing?"
"I- um…" Steve trailed off and a hint of pink appeared on the tops of his cheeks.
Tony stripped off his clothes and crawled up on the bed, shivering when the cool air hit his bare skin. "Let me in."
Steve lifted the corner of the blanket, and Tony could now see that he had his tablet under the covers with him, a movie paused partway through. He was wearing nothing but boxers, and radiating heat like he usually did. Tony hummed with pleasure as he snuggled up into the warm, cozy nest, the heated air chasing away his chill.
He pressed his feet against Steve's calves, and Steve yelped. "Holy shit, Tony! You're frozen." Instead of pushing him away, Steve drew him closer, wrapping around Tony like a combo octopus-heated blanket. It was heaven.
Tony sighed and burrowed his ice cube nose into Steve's chest. "You didn't tell me why you're in bed so early," he murmured against Steve's skin, turning the end of his words into a series of kisses.
"I missed you," Steve said quietly, burying the words in Tony's hair. "The bed smells like you."
"Well shit, that's the cutest thing you've ever said in your life." Tony extracted his arms from where Steve had trapped them between their chests and slipped them around Steve's waist. It was a sauna in here; it was glorious. "You know you can always come down and get me if you miss me, sweetheart. You're the best reason to be interrupted."
"I know. But if I did that every time, you'd never get any work done." Tony could feel Steve's grin pressed against his scalp.
"Naughty."
"I didn't mean it like that!" But his hands slipped lower down Tony's back to brush over the swell of his butt.
"Sure you didn't." Tony snuggled closer, slotting his legs in between Steve's.
Steve gasped when Tony's feet hit his calves again, but didn't pull away. "How'd you get so cold?"
"I was working, and I lost track of time… and sensation. I still had my workshop on summer settings, but I guess it's not really summer anymore."
"It's really not…" Steve rolled onto his back and took Tony with him, settling him sprawled across his chest. "Almost winter now… hot chocolate, fireplace, snow…"
"Mmm… cuddles…"
"Well, we can do that any time of year."
"Yeah," Tony agreed, "but it's nicer when it's cold out there and warm in here."
They lay in silence for a while, and Tony could feel the slight pull of sleep, but he fought it for now, wanting to hang onto this moment for as long as he could. He felt like this was a bubble in time, a little pocket universe under the covers where, as long as they didn't peek, nothing existed outside of the bed and the two of them.
With the last of his chill chased away, sleep became too hard to resist. Tony pulled back a little and rubbed his face over Steve's chest. "What were you watching?" A movie would keep him up a bit longer.
"Forrest Gump."
"Oh, nice. Wanna keep going?"
"Sure." Steve shifted them around until Tony was pressed against his side, the tablet balanced on its stand on Steve's stomach, still fully cocooned in the blankets. Instead of unplugging the headphones to play the sound out loud, Steve put one earbud in Tony's ear and one in his own, tying them together with the wire. Tony hooked his arm over Steve's stomach, behind the tablet, then threw his leg up over Steve's legs. He was warm now, but he wouldn't sacrifice an inch of skin-on-skin with this man. This man who had miraculously agreed to share his life with Tony.
Tony curled closer into Steve's hold, a solid, warm chest against his front and Steve's sure hold cupping his back. He'd fall asleep before the movie was over, it was inevitable. But he knew Steve would take the earbud out when he did, finish the movie, then fall asleep beside him, face buried in Tony's hair, both hands possessively holding Tony close. It was the best sleep Tony would ever have in his life.
And when he woke, Steve would be there.