homeostasis

Light

A light, soft and golden, seeps into the room like liquid honey spilling over the gray carpet. Bruce lies stretched out and blissful against the sheets as Tony circles the bed and dips quietly in. He smiles, his lips stretching easily across each of his cheeks. He lie there in silence as he watches Bruce's calm breathing, knowing that this moment is too precious to be ruined with words.

On reflex, Tony's hands reach out and wrap softly around Bruce's torso, framing him in and then cuddling up behind him. Tony's breath sits warmly against Bruce's back, but he remains still. The engineer's hands run rabbit trails all up and down his side, tracing circles around his hips and finding purchase on the meat of his outer thigh, then slowly trailing back up again. He presses a gentle kiss to Bruce's shoulder, and finally relaxes against the pillow and just holds him. He closes his eyes and listens to the faint sounds of the air moving throughout the room, then into their lungs, and out again.

Softly, he feels Bruce move in his arms. Then, quiet and in a broken tenor, Bruce says, "Daddy?"

"Hi, sweetheart."

Tony responds immediately, leaning over Bruce's side and placing his hand securely on Bruce's hip.

"Hi," Bruce smiles at him as he turns over onto his back and lavishes in the feeling of Tony's arms wrapped around him, his hand placed so firmly on his side. He leans up, brushing his nose just so against Tony's before connecting their lips in a chaste, but firm kiss.

Tony knows that it's his way of greeting after such a long day in separate labs and hardly seeing each other all week. As Bruce's lips pull away ever so softly, he opens his eyes, and Tony realizes that he loves the man even more for having missed him.

"How was your day, darling? Tiring? Stressful? Fulfilling," Tony queries as his fingers trace dainty spirals over Bruce's chest. They leave an impression just underneath the skin; a tingling feeling that Bruce privately likes to call The Billionaire Effect. He answers Tony slowly, savoring that insatiable need to know in the other man's eyes.

"It was good," he supplies, and Tony's hands immediately find more dangerous territory to play in. Bruce makes a small noise of approval, but nothing more. "Cleared a lot of projects for testing, got a lot of the files picked up– it's all looking very promising." Bruce purses his lips to hold in a smile as Tony's hand roams past the silk waistband of his pants. "You?"

Tony's returning smile is as treacherous and commanding as ever. "It was... fine." He pauses, and Bruce watches as he seems to ponder about his day. Meanwhile, Tony has already shed Bruce's loose silk pants in favor of the cool sheets. His fingers stake their claim of Bruce's left thigh and rub all of the tension away before making laps around his adjacent knee. "Just... a bit lonely without you in the lab, that's all."

Bruce blinks for a moment as he takes in the promise of Tony's hands roaming over his skin and tries to calculate the amount of calm he will need for the night. Tony's touch is everywhere, but Bruce feels calm and assured. He uses his gestures to show Tony that he is open and ready, even reaching out to touch him. But Tony's hand meets his chest and softly pushes him back. Bruce can hear the static that their movements create with the sheets, and he tries not to allow his senses to overload him. Knowing that Tony is going to take this slower than they ever have before is something that both stirs his excitement and unnerves him inside.

He calms down when Tony's hands finally end their infernal tracing up and down his thighs and find his chest, sinking into the length of buttons that form a column down the front of his favorite silk shirt. Tony undoes them carefully, taking time on each one as he coaxes Bruce into talking about his lab work and how each of his projects are going, even the ones he's just barely started. Tony isn't usually one to wait things out like this. He's trying Bruce's patience a little by even doing it. But, Bruce knows that it's because they haven't been this close in what feels like far too long. Tony is savoring it while stretching Bruce's limits. It all makes him want to scream, and Tony hasn't even really touched him yet.

Before he can process it, he's already breathing out a soft, pleading, "Tony..."

When Bruce and Tony had first started seeing each other, it had been very hard to keep Bruce calm long enough for them to really enjoy anything sexual together. But, Tony had been diligent, kind, and patient. They had hit a few rough spots along the way, and they did have to take it slow for the first several months. But, the more Tony had realized that being gentle and calm with Bruce actually helped to subdue the Hulk, the better things had gotten.

Even after that, they still had trouble keeping the Hulk down. They tried almost everything, anything that would get Bruce to remain calm, and finally, they all but ran out of ideas and gave up. Then one day, Tony had made a discovery. If he could keep Bruce grounded to reality, while still being able to help him relax and let loose, then they could maintain homeostasis, and Bruce would not be nearly as likely to lose control. Of course, the chances were always there, lurking just beneath the surface, but the signs were much more visible and easier for them to handle. So, they had settled on a name, and it had worked for them ever since.

"What do you call me?"

The words aren't given to be harsh or demeaning. They're meant to remind Bruce of how well Tony can take care of him, and that he is right where he needs to be. It works, and Bruce feels his mouth fall open immediately to answer, "Daddy."

"That's right, darling. Now, what was it that you wanted?"

"I-"

Tony looks into Bruce's eyes, and he sees the mind behind them searching for answers. For a moment, it's quiet, and then Bruce just leans up and kisses him. It's gentle, but urging. Tony closes his eyes and feels it first, and then he just loses himself and falls into it. It almost feels like heaven to kiss Bruce again after so long. He returns the pressing of Bruce's lips with calculated movements. With each touch, he is careful to make just the right impression. He tilts to the side just slightly, then opens his lips and leans back to take a breath, only to press their mouths together again in such loving closeness. When he pulls away a few moments later, his hand is tucked under one side of Bruce's opened button-up shirt, and he tracks the pad of his thumb over Bruce's chest as his lips lift into a smile.

"I know. You've waited for so long, haven't you? But, I want to take it slow tonight. Can you do that for me, sweetie?"

Tony looks at Bruce again, and this time, his eyes are so open and trusting that Tony can hardly stand it. Waiting for an answer, he sits up and reaches over Bruce's side and into the bedside drawer. Bruce shifts, watching him, and Tony grins as he hears Bruce's timid, breathy response.

"Y-yes," Bruce answers, and watches as Tony reaches down, still sitting up, to pull his shirt over his head. His breath catches, as it does every time Tony allows him this close to the arc.

Their relationship had been reciprocal from the start. As Bruce had slowly opened up and allowed Tony in, the iron man had carefully bared small pieces of his heart.

As Tony settles beside him again, Bruce resists the urge to touch and kiss him. In return, Tony's hands skim over the skin of Bruce's chest and push away the sleeves of his shirt until he has pulled it off and let it rest on the floor. He bends down and kisses Bruce's chest, just above his heart, to calm him. Bruce closes his eyes and feels the cool of Tony's lips, and he settles.

As Bruce's chest rises and falls with the soft pattern of his steady breathing, Tony's lithe hands skim down his hips and slip away Bruce's well-fitting gray boxers by their black waistband. He presses a kiss, then two and three down Bruce's stomach, until he's just past his belly button. He looks up from his work and into Bruce's surprised eyes, and then plants a quick kiss to the tip of his cock and pulls away. Then, Tony's lips come to linger just above Bruce's ear as he whispers, "Hands and knees, princess."