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[gotup]

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[gotup]

"That's the kinda thing you accidentally stumble across when you're looking for normal stuff," Steve grumbles, a little disgruntled, and it's clear that he has seen enough to have an idea of what it is, and that he regrets his life. Once Tony's got his shirt on, Steve peers out into the hall to make sure the coast is clear. Thankfully, none of the other Avengers are anywhere in sight, and the trip back to his room is uneventful.

Steve gestures to the dresser. "Help yourself." He's already tugging his jeans off, and once they're in the hamper, he nabs a pair of shorts from a drawer and tugs them on.

[myheartglows]

Tony hesitates a step in the doorway, but he turns his head in the opposite direction of the bed, like someone ashamed, and beelines to the dresser. He rummages through until he pulls out pajama pants, which he secures around his waist by the time he throws the towel aside. "Right side's mine," he declares and clambers across the bed and over Steve if he has to. Shortest distance between points is a straight line and all, technicalities aside.

[gotup]

Steve just watches the entire display with raised eyebrows. Odds are they'll end up tangled together by morning, unless Tony pushes him away; Steve, from past experience (all of once) cuddles a lot like an octopus. "You wanna get bunk beds so you can call dibs on top bunk?" he asks dryly. He's absolutely leaving that open for innuendo on purpose; even Steve Rogers isn't that naive.

[myheartglows]

"Oh, I'd prefer bottom," Tony retorts without so much as a glance or missing a beat, completely innocent and blasé. Preoccupied with adjusting the blankets and pillows, he leaves Steve to determine the meaning.

[gotup]

In lieu of being able to smack him directly on the ass, Steve swats the aforementioned body part with a pillow after he climbs into bed. "I'll-" Steve rethinks what he's about to say - technically not a lie, but probably more innuendo than is strictly necessary. "Just hurry up, Stark."

[myheartglows]

After a tired smirk tossed over his shoulder, Tony curls up on his side, facing and right on the edge of the bed, with a healthy distance between his body and Steve's. "Night, Rogers," he says softly.

[gotup]

Although he gives Tony plenty of space at the beginning of the night, as Steve sleeps, he progressively inches closer, and by morning, he's got all four limbs wrapped around him and his face mashed into the nape of his neck. So it's not especially surprising that, yet again, his erection is nestled right up against Tony's ass.

Steve sighs and swears under his breath as he sets about extricating his arms and legs from their tangle without waking Tony. It's every bit as excruciating as sneaking through enemy lines during the war, and nearly as hazardous. Every time Tony shifts, Steve freezes and holds his breath for a few moments before he judges it's safe to move again. Bit by bit, inch by inch, he wins his way free and eases off the bed. The carpet is silent under his feet, and he's almost breathing normally as he shuts the door behind him.

When he returns from his shower, he tries to slip back into bed just as silently, and he makes sure to give Tony his personal space back. Definitely no cuddling here, no sir.

[myheartglows]

Tony's sleeping form suddenly breathes in deeply and shifts, more than any faint rustle from when Steve crept out. Without other fanfare, he opens his eyes to the sight of Steve's dorm and remembers not nightmares but a vague recollection of being spooned during the night. Was that a dream? With a furrowed brow he swipes his arm down to his waist, where he remembers the warm stripe of someone else's -- of Steve's arm. He swears it happened.

The other side of the bed gets jostled. "Cap?" Tony calls roughly and turns over to stare groggily at the ceiling. "Did you spoon me last night? That's not a euphemism."

[gotup]

Steve settles back into a half-doze, half-staring at the ceiling as he waits for Tony to wake up. It'd be rude to just leave him and go about his day, he thinks - although maybe Tony might prefer that, being able to slip out and pretend nothing happened. Which actually makes him even more stubbornly determined to stay right here.

"Mmhm," he hums sleepily in response. Just because he stopped when he came back to bed doesn't mean he's going to deny doing it at all. He doesn't care if Tony knows, only if it bothers him (and it's debatable how much he would really care then, depending on the objection raised).

[myheartglows]

Arms sore (exercise: apparently an effective punishment), Tony just hums back in solidarity before his brain catches up to his body. Was that a yes? Is Steve even awake enough to answer? Tony's not even sure he's awake enough to ask; he slept so deeply and soundly, a rare occurrence. So Cap's a cuddler, big surprise, what does it matter? the siren of sleep offers. Pepper matters, he sends back. The idea that she's the One is cemented. He needs her.

Tony sits up on his elbows and rubs his eyes. The various sections of his brain reluctantly light up: rational thought, motor function, memory... Memory. His head fills to bursting.

"I think we should set better parameters," he says carefully, "in light of all that happened last night." I wasn't myself, he should add, but doesn't: a running theme lately.

[gotup]

Steve both is and isn't surprised by this: he's felt like their boundaries aren't quite good enough for a while, but he also isn't entirely sure what about last night brought this on. Did he overstep somewhere? He doesn't think so, but apparently he's wrong about that.

"Yeah?" He rolls over onto his side to face Tony. "What do you want?"

[myheartglows]

"Just the escape," Tony stresses; and the companionship, echoes after, but he digs his heels in and deepens the line drawn. "I belong with Pepper. Once I work things out, we'll be together and you'll be an eagle free to fly. Good news for you, right?" He tries to smile. He needs to nip this in the bud before Steve confuses his own emotions.

[gotup]

"Never thought you wanted anything else." Steve shrugs and hopes it looks casual enough. He certainly doesn't want to betray his own feelings on the matter. "But if that's the case, you might wanna set up your own bedroom here so you have someplace to go - or a couch in the workshop or something." His best guess is that Tony has some problem with the cuddling, and he can understand that. "Hell, you're welcome to the couch in my office. But if we end up doing things too late at night, I'm not gonna let you drive back to the city when you're still half-under, you know?"

[myheartglows]

Tony breathes out in relief only for pain to spark in his heart, which makes no sense whatsoever. "Yeah. That'd be smart. I'll work on that," he agrees, nodding. Then, eyes growing distant as he rambles on: "Probably a fancy futon in the shop. Wouldn't be my first. You can dump me there."

[gotup]

"Might wanna bring all your fancy face stuff, too," Steve teases with a grin that only looks a little forced. He likes sleeping with Tony, which is probably a good enough reason why he shouldn't. "And some clothes that actually fit." God, he's making it sound like Tony's moving in. Truth be told, he's always secretly thought Tony should live here with the rest of him, and now that he's beginning to piece together just how Tony's doing on his own, he feels it more strongly than ever. But Steve knows he'll never convince him of that fact; the best he'll get are these brief sessions together.

[myheartglows]

"A routine would be good," Tony adds quietly. He can plan, that's something he can do: a step-by-step process of how to convince Pepper that he can be stable for her. Maybe he can look to the past and his parents for solutions. Trying to build the future as he sees best ultimately led to more destruction.

[gotup]

"You gonna pencil me in on your calendar?" Steve snorts. "You can call it a workout or something." He doesn't mind the idea of scheduling these things at all; it means he has more advance notice to plan and prepare for what he's going to do. It's not the sort of thing he ever imagined, but very little is, when dealing with Tony.

[myheartglows]

"Or date night with Steve," spills out in good humor. (Tony misses date nights. Pepper strove to keep him on a schedule that worked with hers -- for them.) He blinks out of his thought-induced trance and turns to Steve. "What 'bout you? You only looking to get your good Samaritan badge and maybe your flagpole polished?" He glances downward at flagpole to make sure his meaning gets across.

[gotup]

At least he doesn't visibly flinch at Tony's joke, so maybe his poker face is getting better. And Tony doesn't seem to notice, because he just keeps going on into the realm of ridiculous innuendo (he doesn't need any sort of helpful gestures to get what he means, thank you). "We'll just stick to the good Samaritan badge for now," he replies dryly, in the tone of voice that implies that he absolutely doesn't want to elaborate on his sudden change of heart regarding sex. "Besides, I kinda like it."

[myheartglows]

"Yeah? Well, consider me your playground." Tony briefly spreads his arms. "Find out what you do, and don't, like for the next lucky lady -- or, or a guy! -- that comes your way."

[gotup]

Steve scrubs his face with a hand. Maybe he's too picky (Nat would say he's too picky), but so far, he's met exactly one person in the twenty-first century he'd consider being with, and that person is too caught up in his ex to be interested in Steve. So he's pretty sure nobody's going to come his way anytime soon, especially since he doesn't get out too much. "You sound like you're about to tell me that it's okay to be gay in the twenty-first century," he sighs, and there's a hint of Brooklyn seeping into his voice from frustration. "And, for the record, I don't need that talk."

[myheartglows]

Tony smiles, a little. With firmer borders established, he feels stronger. No more questioning Steve's motives (or his own) in this endeavor -- he's lacked certainty like that far too much these past months. "To be fair, up until the point you kissed me, I thought you were as straight as a Catholic school ruler," he says.

[gotup]

And there's the sound of the point whooshing over Tony's head. Steve strongly considers smothering him with a pillow, except with his luck, that would turn out to be another one of Tony's kinks. "Never judge a book by its cover," he says finally, after a moment of hesitation that lasts just a little too long. "And let's be honest - you probably thought that sex never even crossed my mind, didn't you?" That's what nearly everyone thinks about him. It gets real old after a while.

[myheartglows]

Tony winces. "Can you blame me? I sooner saw you chasing truth and justice than some tail. It was either that or you were adamant on the right-person ideal, which..." he trails off as a possibility occurs to him on what should be a logical conclusion based on evidence but contradicts past experiences. It can't be right. Haltingly he finishes, "... obviously you proved false," and looks Steve in the eyes for affirmation. It can't be right.

[gotup]

For just a moment he considers lying (it's not even a lie, really) and saying that the right one was Peggy. But Tony looks him dead in the eye and Steve's a terrible liar and, goddamnit, he doesn't need any more rejection today. He looks down at the bed, breaking eye contact, and rubs the back of his neck awkwardly. This is why they shouldn't have these conversations, clearly. Steve's silence says more than his words ever could, and his shoulders hunch slightly, like he's preparing for another emotional blow.