"You look so beautiful in this light

Your silhouette over me

The way it brings out the blue in your eyes

Is the Tenerife sea"

-"Tenerife Sea" by Ed Sheeran

-line break-

Pepper pushes the door open, and light falls through to show the sleeping body on the bed.

Tony hadn't even had the energy to undress and get under the covers. He'd simply dropped where he fell and passed out.

Since the Expo, he's been running nonstop: doing cleanup after Vanko's drones, creating spare reactors that run on the new element—Tony's still determined to call it Starkanium— supporting his choice to appoint herself as CEO, developing new ideas for R&D—Pepper's trying to push him toward clean energy—and of course, his continued work as a superhero.

All in all, despite having a new, "stable-ish" relationship, the couple haven't had much time for each other.

This is the first time Pepper has seen Tony in over a week, having stayed in New York to reassure the priggish New York executives that Stark Industries still has a capable CEO at its head. Never mind the fact that she'd practically been running the company for years.

She's exhausted, and all she wants to do is get into that bed and snuggle her boyfriend and sleep for ten days straight.

However, she has a problem.

Not only has Tony fallen asleep on top of the covers with his clothes on, but he's spread out his limbs farther than should be humanly possible.

There is absolutely nowhere for her to lie down.

Pepper touches his shoulder gently, "Tony…"

He mumbles something in his sleep, and she has to lean closer to hear what he's saying.

"Mm nice smell. Pepper always smells nice. Not like pepper though. She smells like flowers. I like flowers."

Doing her best to hide her sniggering, Pepper decides to give up and let him sleep, beginning to tiptoe her way out to the guest bedroom.

She is suddenly stopped when his hand grabs her hand out of nowhere, dragging her closer toward the bed.

Still mostly asleep, Tony frowns, an adorable pout forming as he takes hold of her wrist.

"No… stay. Come back to—"

Here he interrupts himself with a huge yawn.

"Come back to bed."

Pepper fights a smile as she pulls herself loose, "I would, but I'm not sure I'd fit! Care to scoot over a couple of inches?"

Not awake enough to quip back, Tony simply rolls over on the mattress, continuing to squint at her adorably.

-line break-

Tony's barely awake, and his eyes are closing even as he tries to keep them open.

Pepper Potts is bathed in the glimmer of the arc reactor in the dark room, the blue glow highlighting her eyes and hair as she stares down at him.

She crawls under the covers, snuggling down further with a sigh of relief. The reactor's light is still shining in her eyes.

He doesn't know how he got to be so lucky. She's so beautiful… her own kind of beautiful: all natural and completely Pepper. She's glowing like the arc reactor…

She really is proof that Tony Stark…

He's asleep before he can finish his thought.

-line break-

Pepper takes a minute to stare at the blue light on the ceiling, take stock of recent events, and enjoy sitting in the presence of her once-boss, now-boyfriend, so different from how he was before and yet so much the same.

At least, that is what she does until Tony rolls over again.

Lying practically on top of her, Tony digs his head into the crook of her neck and immediately begins letting out soft, even snores.

Tony Stark—a cuddler. Who would've thought?

Pepper sighs and resigns herself to being used as a pillow for the rest of the night.

Tony is mumbling something in his sleep again.

All she can make out is, "My Pep."

She smiles and chuckles softly, running a hand through his hair, "My Tony."

He's here, he's safe, and he's all hers.

That's all she cares about.