Fic: Bad Dreams
Title: Bad Dreams
Fandom: Iron Man/Thor/Captain America/Hulk/Avengers (WHICH I CANNOT WAIT FOR SOBS)/MARVEL OKAY IT'S MARVEL
Rating: T
Disclaimer: If I owned it, the gay would be way more obvious.
Summary: Despite what you'd think, Steve isn't the one plagued by nightmares, and neither is Thor, or Bruce, or anyone else.
Bad Dreams
Tony's sitting room sees a lot of use at all hours of the day. Sometimes, all of the Avengers (and even Agent Coulson, if he's around) pile onto the big sofa and the squishy armchairs (or, in Coulson's case, stand creepily behind the sofa but insist it's a comfortable position) and watch movies or TV. Sometimes it's just Clint and Steve, arguing about sports, or Natasha doing an incredibly difficult crossword puzzle with her legs crossed daintily, resting along the sofa. Sometimes, of course, people have sex there-- it's Tony Stark's house, after all (though, surprisingly, Tony isn't always involved.)
And sometimes, Tony pads into the room in his bare feet at two in the morning, looking vulnerable in the flannel SHIELD pajamas that everyone bought him for Christmas after he drunkenly suggested them, and sits in an armchair. He usually feels around on the back of the chair, pulls down the comfortable old blanket that's draped there, and curls up in it, staring into the distance. He never falls asleep until sunlight is streaming in through the windows, and the room is filled with the sounds of the others eating breakfast in the kitchen.
Everyone knows that if you get out of bed in the middle of the night and find Tony in that chair, he's been dreaming. Despite what you'd think, Steve isn't the one plagued by nightmares, and neither is Thor, or Bruce, or anyone else. Tony's the one who has dreams that make him scream or cry out, the dreams that keep him up the rest of the night.
They all handle it a little differently.
If Bruce is awake, staggering sleepily to the bathroom, he makes a detour on the way back to come give Tony a wordless, probably-not-properly-conscious not-exactly-hug, before staggering silently back to bed. If it's Pepper, of course, she makes sure Tony's warm enough and puts on one of his favorite movies, turned down quiet enough that it won't wake up the others.
Natasha once made Tony a big mug of hot chocolate, heaped with marshmallows. Tony smiled thankfully at her, and she went back to bed thinking it was the first time she'd seen Tony really smile.
Clint always acts as though he doesn't see Tony, except for the brief pause in the walk back to his bedroom to pat Tony gently on the shoulder. Thor always hovers anxiously around Tony, giving him teddy bears and blankets, until one of the others hears him fretting and gets up to send him back to bed. Tony always quietly mumbles a "thank you" as the Asgardian goes back to bed, though.
Once Coulson was spending the night, and he was the one who found Tony in the sitting room. He spent two and a half hours quietly telling Tony stories and jokes, asking his opinion on robots and computers, and just generally saving Tony from another night of silence. When the others got up the next morning, they found Coulson snoring gently on the sofa, and Tony was already fast asleep, even though the first light of dawn was only just beginning to creep across the floor.
Steve almost never finds Tony there. Steve still has a soldier's ability to stay asleep as long as he can. If Steve is the one who finds Tony, it means Tony was screaming that night. On those nights, Steve always pulls up another chair, asks Tony to explain again how to use his e-mail, how to find this app on his phone, how to do things they both know he learned years ago. Tony always smiles as he mumbles his explanations. Steve knows what it's like to feel helpless. Tony always feels better if he's the one who understands something.
-
None of the others know this, but once it was actually Loki who sat up with Tony. The Jotunn was sneaking into the mansion to spy on his brother, but he stopped at the sight of Tony Stark, cursing himself for remaining visible, assuming he had been caught. When Stark didn't move to sound the alarm, Loki stepped closer, curious in spite of himself. "Why do you not call the others?" he asked quietly.
Stark shrugged listlessly. "Wouldn't you escape?"
Well, that was a good point. Loki tried another tack. "Why are you sitting here, instead of in your bed?"
Stark's eyes shifted away from Loki's, and Loki could almost swear he gave a tiny shudder. "Dreams," the human said simply.
Oh. Well. Loki could sympathize with that. He thought about comforting the mortal, but immediately rejected the idea as stupid. "Well," he said, feeling a bit awkward. "I'm going to go spy on my brother."
Stark nodded.
Shrugging, Loki, shifting seamlessly into invisibility, went down the hall to stare at his brother for a while. And no, it wasn't creepy. Hush. When he came back through the sitting room nearly an hour later, Loki was surprised to see that Stark was still awake. Resuming visibility, Loki sat down on the sofa, studying the other man. "What?" Stark eventually mumbled, still staring dully off into space.
"What are they about?"
"What're what about?"
"Your dreams."
There was a long pause. Stark seemed to grow smaller, wrapping himself more tightly into the blankets. Finally, he said quietly, "Different stuff. My dad. My... a man I used to work with." He probably didn't realize it, but Stark's hand was between the buttons on his pajama shirt, rubbing nervously at the arc reactor glowing in his chest.
The silence returned. Stark stared at nothing in particular, and Loki stared at Stark. Finally, with a barely audible sigh, Loki just barely lifted a finger. Immediately, Stark's eyelids drooped, and he slipped into a dreamless sleep. Shaking his head at how soft he was becoming, Loki left the house as silently as he had arrived.
-
The hardest nights are the ones when no one wakes up. Tony learned long ago, when Obadiah was staying with him right after the accident, that nothing comes of waking someone up just because you have some stupid dreams. Anyways, he's too proud for it. So when no one wakes up, Tony just sits there, staring into space, willing the sun to rise and drive away the nightmares still hiding just behind his heavy eyelids. Sometimes he manages to stay awake; other times he falls back asleep, alone and in the dark.
He usually ends up screaming after that.
Fandom: Iron Man/Thor/Captain America/Hulk/Avengers (WHICH I CANNOT WAIT FOR SOBS)/MARVEL OKAY IT'S MARVEL
Rating: T
Disclaimer: If I owned it, the gay would be way more obvious.
Summary: Despite what you'd think, Steve isn't the one plagued by nightmares, and neither is Thor, or Bruce, or anyone else.
Bad Dreams
Tony's sitting room sees a lot of use at all hours of the day. Sometimes, all of the Avengers (and even Agent Coulson, if he's around) pile onto the big sofa and the squishy armchairs (or, in Coulson's case, stand creepily behind the sofa but insist it's a comfortable position) and watch movies or TV. Sometimes it's just Clint and Steve, arguing about sports, or Natasha doing an incredibly difficult crossword puzzle with her legs crossed daintily, resting along the sofa. Sometimes, of course, people have sex there-- it's Tony Stark's house, after all (though, surprisingly, Tony isn't always involved.)
And sometimes, Tony pads into the room in his bare feet at two in the morning, looking vulnerable in the flannel SHIELD pajamas that everyone bought him for Christmas after he drunkenly suggested them, and sits in an armchair. He usually feels around on the back of the chair, pulls down the comfortable old blanket that's draped there, and curls up in it, staring into the distance. He never falls asleep until sunlight is streaming in through the windows, and the room is filled with the sounds of the others eating breakfast in the kitchen.
Everyone knows that if you get out of bed in the middle of the night and find Tony in that chair, he's been dreaming. Despite what you'd think, Steve isn't the one plagued by nightmares, and neither is Thor, or Bruce, or anyone else. Tony's the one who has dreams that make him scream or cry out, the dreams that keep him up the rest of the night.
They all handle it a little differently.
If Bruce is awake, staggering sleepily to the bathroom, he makes a detour on the way back to come give Tony a wordless, probably-not-properly-conscious not-exactly-hug, before staggering silently back to bed. If it's Pepper, of course, she makes sure Tony's warm enough and puts on one of his favorite movies, turned down quiet enough that it won't wake up the others.
Natasha once made Tony a big mug of hot chocolate, heaped with marshmallows. Tony smiled thankfully at her, and she went back to bed thinking it was the first time she'd seen Tony really smile.
Clint always acts as though he doesn't see Tony, except for the brief pause in the walk back to his bedroom to pat Tony gently on the shoulder. Thor always hovers anxiously around Tony, giving him teddy bears and blankets, until one of the others hears him fretting and gets up to send him back to bed. Tony always quietly mumbles a "thank you" as the Asgardian goes back to bed, though.
Once Coulson was spending the night, and he was the one who found Tony in the sitting room. He spent two and a half hours quietly telling Tony stories and jokes, asking his opinion on robots and computers, and just generally saving Tony from another night of silence. When the others got up the next morning, they found Coulson snoring gently on the sofa, and Tony was already fast asleep, even though the first light of dawn was only just beginning to creep across the floor.
Steve almost never finds Tony there. Steve still has a soldier's ability to stay asleep as long as he can. If Steve is the one who finds Tony, it means Tony was screaming that night. On those nights, Steve always pulls up another chair, asks Tony to explain again how to use his e-mail, how to find this app on his phone, how to do things they both know he learned years ago. Tony always smiles as he mumbles his explanations. Steve knows what it's like to feel helpless. Tony always feels better if he's the one who understands something.
-
None of the others know this, but once it was actually Loki who sat up with Tony. The Jotunn was sneaking into the mansion to spy on his brother, but he stopped at the sight of Tony Stark, cursing himself for remaining visible, assuming he had been caught. When Stark didn't move to sound the alarm, Loki stepped closer, curious in spite of himself. "Why do you not call the others?" he asked quietly.
Stark shrugged listlessly. "Wouldn't you escape?"
Well, that was a good point. Loki tried another tack. "Why are you sitting here, instead of in your bed?"
Stark's eyes shifted away from Loki's, and Loki could almost swear he gave a tiny shudder. "Dreams," the human said simply.
Oh. Well. Loki could sympathize with that. He thought about comforting the mortal, but immediately rejected the idea as stupid. "Well," he said, feeling a bit awkward. "I'm going to go spy on my brother."
Stark nodded.
Shrugging, Loki, shifting seamlessly into invisibility, went down the hall to stare at his brother for a while. And no, it wasn't creepy. Hush. When he came back through the sitting room nearly an hour later, Loki was surprised to see that Stark was still awake. Resuming visibility, Loki sat down on the sofa, studying the other man. "What?" Stark eventually mumbled, still staring dully off into space.
"What are they about?"
"What're what about?"
"Your dreams."
There was a long pause. Stark seemed to grow smaller, wrapping himself more tightly into the blankets. Finally, he said quietly, "Different stuff. My dad. My... a man I used to work with." He probably didn't realize it, but Stark's hand was between the buttons on his pajama shirt, rubbing nervously at the arc reactor glowing in his chest.
The silence returned. Stark stared at nothing in particular, and Loki stared at Stark. Finally, with a barely audible sigh, Loki just barely lifted a finger. Immediately, Stark's eyelids drooped, and he slipped into a dreamless sleep. Shaking his head at how soft he was becoming, Loki left the house as silently as he had arrived.
-
The hardest nights are the ones when no one wakes up. Tony learned long ago, when Obadiah was staying with him right after the accident, that nothing comes of waking someone up just because you have some stupid dreams. Anyways, he's too proud for it. So when no one wakes up, Tony just sits there, staring into space, willing the sun to rise and drive away the nightmares still hiding just behind his heavy eyelids. Sometimes he manages to stay awake; other times he falls back asleep, alone and in the dark.
He usually ends up screaming after that.