Sleep

Tony was a restless sleeper. Generally, he was too hopped up on caffeine to sleep, but on the rare occasion that he laid down his work and managed to quiet his overactive brain, he would toss and turn all night, sustaining bruises from unwelcome contact with the floor, often waking and taking impromptu trips down to his workshop to test out an idea that had come to him.

And those were the good nights.

Sometimes, more often than Tony would care to admit, he would wake himself up with a strangled cry, covered in a cold sweat and struggling to breathe. He remembered the Ten Rings' torture methods all too well and he was frequently haunted by them. On those nights, Tony didn't want to go back to sleep, for fear of what would next plague him; usually, he would roll out of bed and take a long, cold shower, or would traipse down to the workshop to tinker with his suit. The equipment that had saved him.

Other times he would simply pass out in the middle of the day and catch up on several hours of sleep; on the sofa, in the lab, during a meeting, although he tried to avoid the latter because he knew the consequences of pissing off Pepper. The last time he'd fallen asleep was during a meeting was with the Board of Directors, regarding the future of the company. Pepper had asked JARVIS to wake him up two hours early every morning for the next month with loud alarm bells which could only be turned off at the main control room on the top floor. Yeah, he tried to avoid taking a nap in meetings.

Whenever he woke him from these spontaneous naps, he would find a blanket draped over him and a note nearby that usually had some sort of death threat if he wasn't awake at a certain time; occasionally, when he'd been working his ass off on a project, the note would have some sort of comment about his snoring, or that he should really take more notice of the time.

Of course, he didn't tell people about these occasions. Pride thing. Your PA tucking you in at night wasn't something to boast about.

Things had started to change around Stark Tower after the night at the Expo. The differences were subtle, but important. Tony had found himself in involved with something more central to him than anything before; Pepper. Her role in his life had changed but minutely; however, everybody around him could feel the difference. He attended meetings on time; he ate food on a more regular basis; he even stopped drinking as much. But arguably the most significant change to his lifestyle was the repair of his sleeping pattern.

Yes, he still woke up in a cold sweat some nights. Yes, he trekked down to the workshop in the middle of the night sometimes, and yes, he fell asleep at midday by the computer. But his sleep was, more often than not, completely peaceful and uninterrupted.

One night, Tony was idly flicking through some old blueprints on his personal laptop when Pepper wandered into his room. "Didn't expect to find you here," she smiled. It was a rarity to find Tony lying on a bed, wearing some semblance of pyjamas at 11pm; usually he was making a coffee at this time of night.

He glanced up from his laptop to find Pepper standing in his MIT shirt, far too large for her petite frame, and pale blue cotton shorts. She padded over to the side of the bed, muttering "Hey, budge up," but in true Stark form, Tony didn't do as he was told.

"Nope," he grinned, pulling up one knee to bend his leg, and he turned back to the laptop on the other side of him. Truthfully, he just wanted to see Pepper's reaction, as heartless and uncaring as that seemed. Pepper raised an eyebrow and placed a hand on her hip.

"Mr. Stark," she started, "I will sleep on you if you don't shift your ass." Tony smirked, turned back from his keyboard and spread his arms in challenge.

"Will you really, Miss Potts?" he replied, a mischievous grin forming. Pepper, not wanting to lose this battle, rolled on top of him, forehead resting into the crook of his neck and legs bent around his raised knee. One of her hands rested under her face, while the other bent around the other side of his raised neck, fingers brushing his hairline, the pale cerulean glow of his arc reactor familiar and soothing.

"This is…surprisingly comfortable," she murmured into his neck, as he brought his arm up to rub her arched back and she sighed.

"Well, I am perfect, after all," he said, a smile playing around the corners of his mouth.

"Don't push it, Tony," she laughed, and hit his chest. He chuckled and pressed a kiss to the top of her head and he felt her smile into his neck. Ten minutes later, the redhead was sound asleep and her gentle puffs of breath brought comfort to the billionaire, although he would never admit it; in fact, he'd probably complain about how irritating it was the next morning, which would likely be followed up by Pepper telling him how if he had just moved he could have avoided the whole situation.

Half an hour later, having decided that the device he had sketched up several years ago wasn't worth the bother of creating, he yawned, shut off the laptop and pushed it away from him. "JARVIS," he breathed, trying not to wake Pepper. "Lights off." His attempts at not disturbing Pepper failed, and she stirred slightly.

"Goodnight, Tony," she whispered, before, thankfully, dropping straight back into her slumber. He moved the arm that had been rubbing her back into her hair, cradling her head against him, and the other reached down for the sheet at the bottom of the bed and pulling it over them, before resting his hand on her waist.

"Goodnight, Pepper."

And that night, Tony didn't move an inch in his sleep. Pepper's influence did what it always had; it calmed him. Cheek resting against the top of her head, he felt more in control than he ever had.

hiii :3 I hope you enjoyed this. The first writing I've done in a looong time. Forgive the lack of dialogue, I just find it very hard to write Tony. And Pepper. idk, they are two very complex characters and I'm only simple c: