Work Text:
Pepper carded her hand through Tony's hair, watching with a soft smile as he buried his face further into her stomach. She'd laid a blanket on him when she noticed him first beginning to fall asleep, making sure to keep up the steady movements of her hand so not to disturb him. Now, he slept, fully relaxed for the first time in weeks.
It had been a hard fought battle to get to this point. After New York, after Killian - Tony hadn't slept well. He only slept when he had to, when his body threatened to force him if he didn't. In her mind, it took her far too long to understand, and guilt sometimes twisted her stomach.
But they were beyond that now. The arc reactor was gone. Proof that Tony Stark has a heart sat on the shelf above the television.
Tony slowly got to where he could sleep, through many conversations and trial and error of methods, but up until this point, it was only at night when he slept, curled around her where he could listen to her heartbeat.
The afternoon sun shone through the penthouse window, giving the floor a golden glow. She'd noticed when he came up from the lab, his clothes not stained and rubbing his eyes, that he was sleepy - not exhausted, but sleepy, for the first time since the Mandarin incident. She somehow convinced him to lay down on the couch for a few minutes, just to talk. He'd fell asleep within five.
He had so much on his shoulders, so much more than he needed. He was Ironman, but also the head of R&D and owner of Stark Industries. His brain constantly worked, spinning gears through inventions and guilt. He rarely stopped, rarely took a real breath.
But then there were these moments where he did, these peaceful moments where he let himself relax, and Pepper loved being a part of those moments. He would curl against her, almost like a cat, and the tension would ease from him. She loved it.
She loved him. She loved him so much.
Pepper bent down and pressed a kiss to his temple, watching a faint smile form on his face. Then she leaned back into the couch, watching the sun slowly move across the horizon.
For a little while, they could let the world turn without them.