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Tony was bored, which wasn’t unusual in any sense, but at the moment he was less then impressed with the way the meeting was going. It was supposed to be a simple briefing on the transportation and storage of certain recently discovered weapons, thirty minutes tops. Naturally, Rogers decided that it would be the perfect opportunity to bring up an entire host of other things that should have been delegated to another meeting.
From the looks of things, going on fifty minutes, he wasn’t the only one feeling that way. Stephen was sat beside him, tense and glaring at the front of the room, a gaze which Rogers was wisely avoiding. Tony understood, Stephen’s time was precious, and he hadn’t agreed to this bullshit, though at the very least, he provided Tony with a very welcome distraction.
His arm had been resting on the back of his chair, casually for the better part of the meeting, but now, in attempt to drown out the droning from the front of the room, Tony let his attention wander to Stephen’s hair. His fingers began by skating up and down Stephen long neck, barely touching just to watch the shivers go through his lover, before beginning to gently pluck at the hairs on his nape.
In the past month, playing with Stephen’s hair had become a bit of a habit. There was no rhyme or reason behind it, except that he knew his lover enjoyed the feeling of his delicate touch and the soft pull against his scalp. For Tony, whenever he began to let his hand have free reign of his hair, pushing it back, tugging on strands, curling it around his finger, or scratching at the streaks of grey, his mind would wander pleasantly, helping him think.
It was weird, he knew that.
But Tony was a weird guy.
This time, however, instead of Stephen tilting his head into his touch or his posture relaxing automatically, he tensed. His entire body shifted to the side, away from him, a hard glare being directed at him. Tony’s stomach twisted a little, because Stephen never protested his touch, the man was half starved for it most of the time, like an insistent kitten.
That was pretty much all it took for Tony to clear his throat loudly, “Rogers, I’m going to stop you right there. I and I’m sure many of the others have other engagements and we’ll schedule a meeting for the rest.”
There was a collective silence for one long moment. Tony had been putting effort into being a team player recently and would have put up with the man’s continued tirade, except that he knew nobody wanted to be there and if Stephen wasn’t happy, well Tony wasn’t happy either, cliché as it might be.
Rogers nodded stiffly and people didn’t hesitate to shove back their chairs and beat a hasty retreat. Tony and Stephen stayed seated until the room had cleared out and his lover was shaking his head at him.
“Tony, why the hell did you do that?”
“What? You wanted to stick around for another thirty minutes of it?” he raised a knowing eyebrow.
Stephen sighed quietly but a small smile slipped onto his lips, “I’m sorry about-”
“Its fine,” Tony interrupted. “See you tonight?”
He didn’t want him to go, but he also knew Stephen really did have more important things to do. His heart still warmed when Stephen leaned forward and pressed a hard kiss to his lips, a hand coming up to rest against his throat.
“Of course.”
---
It was nice.
Rare were the days that he and Stephen could just spend an evening together unbothered and unpressured. Whenever they did have the chance, it was precious for both of them, using it to just curl up together.
This evening they were in the penthouse, Wong taking over for Stephen at the Sanctum. A movie was playing, chosen at random but Tony was paying it no mind, all his focus on where his hands were delivering the perfect scalp massage.
Stephen was laying against his chest, between his legs on the small couch, eyes closed, completely pliant, soft little sighs slipping from his parted lips. He was mesmerizing and Tony couldn’t help his smile as continued to tug, pull, rub, and scratch, occasionally dropping a kiss to his temple.
Stephen hummed quietly, “what if I told you Kamar-Taj needed me to shave my head?”
Tony held back a laugh at the image it conjured, “then I’d have to have words with them and explain that as your boyfriend and the saviour of the world, it would be unacceptable.”
“Really?” Stephen murmured. “What if I wanted to shave my head?”
Tony paused, tried for sincerity, “I’d advise you against it…but its your body.”
Stephen shook his head a little, seeing right through him, “I don’t get your fascination,” he muttered.
Tony stilled at his words, “if you don’t want me to-”
A huff, “I didn’t say that. I just don’t get it.”
“Well,” Tony continued his petting, trying to figure out how to explain without making Stephen sound like a toy. “It’s a nice distraction. I like to…fiddle with things when I’m working, it helps me think and your hair…well I get the added bonus of your reactions.”
“My reactions?” Stephen tilted his head back a bit, stormy eyes looking at him curiously.
Tony caught an eyelash with his finger, blowing it away to the side, “you’re really sensitive but we both knew that.”
He tilted Stephen’s head forward again. Suddenly, he twirled a few strands around his finger and tugged which resorted in a shiver moving down Stephen’s body and Tony grinned, “you like it and I like watching how you react.”
Stephen head moved further forward at his insistence until he could scratch at his scalp line on the nape of his neck, making Stephen let out a breathy sigh, “this is where you’re most sensitive, no matter how light the touch. I watch your eyes close and your lips part and it feels good to watch you do that.”
“Or,” he pressed Stephen back against his chest and pet at the streaks of grey on the side which his lover immediately turned towards. “When I touch these streaks you always try to nuzzle my hand and I don’t know if its because you’re trying to hide them or because you like it, but either way its adorable.”
“M not adorable,” Stephen mumbled, lax and sleepy against him.
Tony chuckled softly, back to massaging firmly over the entirety of his scalp, “and there’s that. The way you get all tired and pliant at the feeling, making you finally relax and let me take care of you.”
Stephen’s smile was small as he nodded, “kay.”
“Okay?” Tony asked.
“Yeah, you can keep doing it, but not in meetings.”
Tony just grinned, dropping another hard kiss to his head, “It’ll be a hard habit to break, but I’ll try my best.”