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James watches Tony sleep, face pressed into their pillows, drool in the corner of his mouth as he snores inelegantly and for a moment it feels like he can’t breathe with how much he loves this man. It’s been a lifetime of wars, don’t ask don’t tell, assassins and Avengers and now, finally, after all of it they get to just be together.
His fingers are gentle as he brushes Tony’s too long hair out of his brow, lips curling up softly as Tony snuffles in his sleep and shifts closer, pressing his face into James’s hip. Closing his eyes, he leans back against the headboard and adjusts his glasses, flipping the page on the novel he’s been working on all weekend, the other hand sank into Tony’s silky hair.
It’s snowing outside again, soft and silent and white as far as the eye can see and James sinks lower in the sheets, savoring the warmth of Tony against his legs. They’re stronger than they’ve been since the whole Civil War of it all, but in weather like this they tend to be sore and achy, so he stays where it’s warm.
Eventually Tony starts waking, nuzzling at his hip, hand sneaking under the hem of his t-shirt, fingers splaying out against his soft belly. Tony hums and smiles up at him, sleepy and soft with lines pressed into his face from the sheets and James feels his heart lurch exactly the way it did the very first time Tony had smiled at him like that.
“Hey Buttercup,” Tony murmurs, voice hoarse and low and unbearably tender.
“Morning Tones,” he murmurs back, fingers trailing through Tony’s fluffy sleep hair, fondness filling his chest so full it feels hard to breathe.
Tony tugs at his shirt and James rolls his eyes, setting aside his book and glasses before allowing Tony to pull him down into the sheets. They get pressed together from hips to lips, their kiss slow and steady and sweet, morning breath be damned. Tony hums happily and tucks his face into James’s throat, sighing happily when James’s arms go around his back, holding him close and dear.
He thinks back fondly on the vows they’d exchanged just yesterday, the Valentine’s Day ceremony officiated by Happy and attended by Pepper and his brother Sean.
“Tony, I gave you my heart a long time ago gladly. You were the love I’ve waited my whole life for; a love that wasn’t easy, that saw us suffer and break and grow stronger together. I promise you now that I’m going to love you for all of our days because I need you like a ship needs the sea, like birds need the sky, like lungs need air--completely and all encompassing. My mother told me once that I didn’t need a man to make me happy, but Tony, you do and I don’t ever want a day without you in it. I love you.”
“I love you,” he whispers to Tony, smiling as Tony presses his smiling lips into James’s throat in response. “For all of our days,” he whispers, “forever and ever amen.”
Tony chuckles and pulls back to grin at him, bright eyes sparkling joyfully, and his heart throbs with love, joy blooming in his chest like a blossom in the sun. “For all of our days,” Tony agrees before closing the distance between them and sealing the promise once more with a kiss.
Tony and James Stark-Rhodes
Like ships need the sea, like birds need the sky, forever and ever and amen.