for pepperony week day 2: sharing a bed
title and quote by e e cummings
“I like my body when it is with your body. It is so quite new a thing. Muscles better and nerves more.”
Casual intimacy was never something that Tony had had in spades.
People touched him softly when they wanted something or they hurt him in anger. There were few in betweens; Rhodey had been the first. Happy, too..
And then there was Pepper, of course.
Pepper had never been ashamed to be tactile when he had drunkenly admitted to liking the casual touches. She patted his shoulder, squeezed his hand, even ruffled his hair if she drank enough wine. She doled out cheek kisses and forehead kisses like they were nothing, like they weren’t the reason Tony got out of bed some mornings. Her hugs were even on par with Rhodey’s .
It only got better when they started dating. Suddenly, Tony was allowed to touch Pepper back . He could kiss her good morning and good night. He could drop pecks on her cheek just because. They cuddled together on movie nights, held hands on dates, and generally drove people mad with their cuteness.
(Tony suspected that Pepper craved the touch as much as he did. He didn’t mind giving it to her, not at all.)
Tony wouldn’t have traded their shared bed for anything in the world.
It was a good bed; large, soft, comfortable. Pepper had picked out the sheets, so they were a dark blue instead of Tony’s preferred red and gold. The pillows were a mismatch of ones from her apartment that she claimed were the most comfortable and his own. There was an Iron Man teddy bear under her pillows, Tony knew, that she took out when he went on long missions (he didn’t tell her he knew about it). The blankets were fuzzy and warm. It was a good bed.
What they did in bed was good, too. Sex was fine, sex was great , but what Tony really couldn’t get enough of were Pepper’s cuddles. Her arms were one of the few places he felt truly safe. It was like the embrace of the suit, but better . Pepper liked to be the big spoon. Tony, coincidentally, was a little spoon at heart, so it worked out perfectly.
The nights that they got to be in bed together were some of Tony’s favorite times.
They had just finished a charity gala earlier, both of them exhausted by the hours of schmoozing. Towards the end of it, Pepper had gotten exasperated with Hammer’s whining and ordered several martinis, enough that she was fairly tipsy. Tony, shockingly, was sober, watching his girlfriend giggle her way back to their room with a fond smile on his face.
“Tony!” she called from in front of him. “I can’t get my heels off.”
Tony chuckled as she ineffectually batted at the buckles on her heels. “Hold on, hon,” he said. “Let me help you.”
She kicked out her feet. “Thanks, babe,” she fell back on the bed. “Love you.”
“Love you too, Pep,” said Tony, carefully taking off her thousand-dollar heels and setting them to the side. If they got damaged at all, he knew Pepper would kill him. She loved those shoes. “Come stand up, you have to wash your face.”
“I don’t wanna,” she threw a hand over her eyes. “How about you wash your face?”
“It won’t get the makeup off of yours,” he explained patiently. Pepper didn’t get tipsy often, but when she did, she got absurd. It was adorable. “What do you suggest we do about that?”
She waved her other arm around. “Magic,” she said after a pause. “Yeah, magic.”
“Makeup wipes, more like,” Tony grabbed a pack from the bathroom. “Promise you’re not going to kill me tomorrow for letting me skip your skincare routine?”
“No,” she narrowed her eyes and wrinkled her nose.
“Okay,” Tony shrugged. He wiped her face, taking care to get her eye makeup off. Pepper hated racoon eyes. She grinned giddily, letting him take care of her. “Are you going to get into pajamas?”
She thought for a moment, surveying her dress with visible displeasure. “I suppose,” she huffed, looking put out. She made no motion to get up from bed, though.
“You’re not drunk enough for me to have to dress you,” Tony pointed out. “Get in your PJs and we can go to sleep.”
She mumbled an agreement as Tony went to the bathroom to brush his teeth. He got ready for bed, listening to the soft noises of Pepper thumping back on the bed and snoring. Smiling, Tony turned off the lights and crawled in after her.
“Why are you so far away?” she grumbled as soon as his head hit the pillow. “You’re legally required to be my teddy bear.”
“That sounds like a fake law,” said Tony. He moved closer to his girlfriend anyway.
She wrapped an arm around his waist and pulled him against her. “You’re a fake law,” she muttered, neatly tucking his head under her chin.
“Go to sleep, Pep,” Tony pulled the blanket more securely over them. As her breathing evened out, she hugged him even tighter, tangling her legs around his. Tony just closed his eyes and snuggled as close as he could.
Yeah, nothing was better than Pepper’s touch.
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