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Early dawn suffuses the room with a gentle, dim light. The sun is barely creeping over the horizon, its rays peeking through grey clouds.
He leans against the door frame, hardly daring to breathe. Watches his lover dozing on the couch, stretched out, all long limbs and restless grace. One arm tucked beneath his head. A blanket pooling around his hips.
He smiles and pads across the room, treading over to the couch.
The other man doesn't stir, a testament to his exhaustion.
He slides onto the edge of the seat, careful not to jar the blond. Reaching out, he gently brushes aside a golden lock of hair, cups Steve's strong jaw as he leans down and kisses him slowly.
Reluctantly, he pulls back, only to find blue-grey eyes blinking open sleepily.
Steve opens his mouth but Tony shakes his head. He presses a single digit against Steve's lips who kisses his finger lightly.
Steve slides a hand around the back of his neck, pulls him down for another kiss.
The brunet wishes time would cease to flow.
He tastes heat under lips, warm but gentle. Tastes skin, smooth and cool.
But the moment is already vanishing.
The moment never lasting.
They break apart and Steve gives him a smile that sends a twisting hurricane through his stomach. His heart feels so very tight, feels like it's about to explode. It's unsettling and he's not sure what to do about it. It leaves him wrecked. Utterly wrecked. Yet a small part of him doesn't even mind. And perhaps that's the scariest part of it all.
The blond tugs his blanket out and makes room for the other man, a clear signal. Once Tony settles down, Steve drags the blanket over both their bodies, tucking it in around them.
Tony lies half on the couch, half on the other man, but Steve doesn't seem to mind. Gently, the billionaire lays his head upon Steve's chest. Even through his shirt, Tony can hear his heart beating. It's steady, unfaltering, constant. He feels fingers gently running through his hair.
Out there, he's whatever the world makes him to be. Playboy billionaire. Genius. Controversial. Engineer. Reckless danger. Out there, he's got his duties, his job. He's got people to save, creations to dream up.
Out there, he could never be himself in the ways he wants. He's got his image, his reputation. Out there, he's become a prisoner of his own design, his own machinations.
But in here, it's different. In here, the only thing that matters is the man right here with him. This genuine, selfless person who is so beautiful, sometimes it hurts, sometimes it makes his heart ache in the way his old arc reactor never could.
This is their own little world.
And for a short while, they're just two people in love.
~*~
After Tony falls asleep, Steve slides his arms around the older man and just holds him.
He's got one of the most powerful men in the world right here in his embrace. This man who is, all at once, brilliant, frustrating, silly, wonderful. This man who has the words to change a nation, who can make or break anything and anyone.
This man who has never been anything less than impossible.
He knows what they have is different, to say the least. He knows, that for them, it's still not generally socially accepted even though the law says otherwise. They're not like other people. When they do touch or kiss or walk down the streets and do something as innocuous as holding hands, it's been known to garner looks.
There are still bigots and hypocrites out there. There are still people who are afraid of those who are different.
He's not afraid though.
Even if what they have is different.
He wants to shout it sometimes. Wants to yell it from the rooftops.
He wants to let the whole nation, the whole world know that this man, this beautiful, stubborn, contrary, amazing man is his.
He's not ashamed.
They can take their pictures. Plaster it all over the papers and television. They can play it on the radio.
He's not anything but grateful to have found something worth holding on to.
Things have changed a lot. It's not the 40s anymore; he knows that. The world is ever-revolving, slowly evolving. He's glad for that.
And one day, he'll ask this incredible man in his arms to marry him.
And one day, maybe one day, he will finally, instead of saying no, say yes instead.
END