oldschoolpatriot | Christmas Fic: Built You a Temple

Title: Built You a Temple.
Prompt: Steve/Tony, nothing angsty.
Characters: Steve Rogers, Tony Stark, and Dummy. Brief mentions of Natasha Romanoff, Nick Fury, Maria Hill and Phil Coulson.
Rating: G
Warnings: Fluff and brief mentions of sex.
Author’s Notes: For Hiedi who basically gave me blanket permission to write all the fluff I wanted. I'm a sucker for fuzzy, cuddly, domestic fic I admit it. I just love cuddles, damn it. I also tossed in some bots because I love those little mechanical suckers.

---

When Steve came home from his meeting with Fury, Hill and Coulson he found Tony and Dummy in their bedroom and a giant hole in the wall. Tony kneeled next to it reading from some plans Dummy was holding for him. It was not exactly the scene he was expecting outside the workshop.

“I really don’t know what to say.”

Dummy dropped the plans, turned and waved at him at the sound of his voice which caused Tony to complain.

“What are you doing? Yes, Steve’s back. You saw him two hours ago, you don’t need to wave. Come here, hold this!” He grabbed the plans from the ground and shoved them at Dummy, who had turned back to him. “There, there, hold it there and hold it still. I can get an easel from Steve’s art room if this is too difficult for you.”

“I guess you’re not going to explain the hole?”

“It’s just something I’m working on.” Tony waved a hand in his general direction. “I don’t have time to explain.”

“Ah, in the zone.”

Tony rolled his eyes. “Please stop using the slang Clint’s teaching you.”

Steve smirked slightly and couldn’t help himself. “Swagger.”

Tony finally looked over to him, even though it was just to give him a ‘Really, Steve, really?’ look. Since he enjoyed that look, Steve didn’t mind.

“I’ll come back later with lunch.”

---

He did come back with lunch a few hours later. He also came back to second hole in the floor which Tony was standing in up to his hips. At this point Steve was really confused.

“Jarvis, what’s going on?” he asked because Tony was bent over something with his welding goggles on and completely lost in his own mind.

“Sir is attempting to install something in the bedroom,” Jarvis explained with his usual dry tone.

“Okay, what is he installing?” Because Steve had no idea what Tony could be building that would require a hole in the wall and the floor. His first idea had been a second closet, but the new hole threw that idea off.

“I’m not allowed to tell you.”

“Ah.” Steve set the tray of sandwiches and fruit on the dresser. “A surprise for me?”

“Most likely.” There was a hint of exasperation in Jarvis’s tone which meant that Tony had ranted about keeping the secret on pain of rewritten code or some other threat

“Remind me to drag him away at dinner time to sort out where we’re sleeping while he works on this,” Steve said with a sigh because clearly this was a bigger project than he had been originally expecting.

“And what time would you like dinner, Captain?”

“Eh, let’s go with seven thirty. He’ll probably eat at eight that way.” Steve could almost feel Jarvis nod, even though he was an artificial intelligence. “Hey, Dummy, bring this to Tony when he puts down the welding torch, okay?”

Dummy nodded enthusiastically from where he was hovering over Tony’s shoulder with a fire extinguisher. It was a familiar scene in their strange little family that made Steve leave with a smile.

---

In the end, Tony ended up eating closer to nine. He was covered in dust, grease and a bit of fire extinguisher residue. Steve not so secretly thought his husband looked adorable.

“I admit, I didn’t exactly think the whole thing through,” Tony said between bites of beef and broccoli. “I figured I’d have more of it done by now and it wouldn’t be a problem.”

“I told you, it’s fine. There’s a spare bed in the workshop.” Steve picked up the sweet and sour pork container. “Are you going to be working all night?”

“Maybe?” Tony looked a little guilty.

Steve reached out and squeezed his knee. They sat in the arm chairs in the little sitting area they had in their bedroom. Dinner, semi-cold Chinese takeout, was spread over the coffee table along with a few tools and empty green soy milkshake cups. He still wasn’t clear on how Dummy got a blender into their bedroom but he had stopped questioning Dummy’s strange abilities a while ago.

“You’ve got an idea. It’s okay.” He kept his hand on Tony’s knee until he relaxed again.

“I’ll probably come down at like three?”

He leaned over and kissed Tony’s temple. “It’s fine. Just wash off the worse of the mess before getting into bed, okay?”

“I promise it’s going to be worth it.”

“Everything with you always is.”

---

Steve was so used to Tony sneaking into bed at all hours that he barely stirred when his husband finally joined him in bed. He vaguely remembered waking up enough to put an arm around Tony and haul him in against his chest.

When he woke up at his usual time Tony was sprawled across his chest with his head on his heart. There was a familiar swell of love and then an overwhelming sense of peace. Steve thought about going for a run but he leaned down to nuzzle Tony’s hair. It smelled fresh and clean which meant his husband had showered before coming to bed. Yes, he was in love with this man.

So, he closed his eyes again and went back to sleep. When Tony was in one of his working moods Steve focused on getting as much time with him as possible for the urge to build and create stole him away. It was worth it because even though he missed his run when he woke up the second time it was to Tony’s mouth on his dick.

Sleeping in was definitely worth the lazy love making before Tony wiggled out from underneath him. “I just have to…”

“I know, I know.” Steve rolled to the side and let Tony escape. He sprawled on his stomach to watch his husband move around the workshop for his clothes. Tony looked really good with a pair of jeans hanging off his hips.

“Why do you look at me like that when I’m trying to finish something?” Tony asked rhetorically because he kept talking. “You never look at me like that when I really, really want you to.”

“You always want me to.”

“And that voice! Your sleepy, satisfied, sexy voice. Why can’t you do that in meetings with Fury? Wait, no, no, I take that back. Don’t use that voice around Fury.” Tony pulled a tank top over his head. Judging by the stains it was the same one from yesterday.

“I’ll check in on you later today. I’ve gotta catch up on my workout.”

Tony snorted and shot him a look. “Babe, I just gave you a workout.”

---

What would’ve taken a normal construction crew three weeks or more took Tony three days. Steve was in the middle of training with Natasha when Tony came into the gym. Without a word, Natasha tossed him a towel and went to train with Thor instead.

“If you’re busy I can come back,” Tony offered while Steve toweled off his head.

“No, it’s okay. We can finish up later.” He draped the towel around his neck and smiled curiously at Tony. “What can I do for you?”

“The, uh, thing is finished.” Tony fidgeted. “I wanted to show it to you.”

For Tony to fidget about his work meant he really wanted Steve to like it. Steve smiled, curious and excited to see what exactly got them kicked out of their bedroom for three days. He gestured for Tony to lead the way to the elevator.

“Okay, so, so… I know the tub is pretty great but it takes forever to fill and the water doesn’t exactly stay warm forever. So I was thinking about winter and the cold and you.” Tony glanced at Steve, a little anxious and excited. “I want to make it easier for you. This is really just to help and if you want anything to change I can do that, okay?”

“Okay, Tony.” Steve reached out and rubbed at the small of Tony’s back, hoping to relax him. It worked until the door opened to their bedroom. It was spotless even though a day ago most of the floor had been ripped up. There was just one spot that was slightly different that Steve noticed immediately.

Tony pushed a button next to the headboard of their bed and that odd spot on the floor moved. It slid into the rest of the floor to reveal a hot tub bubbling away underneath the floor. It was about the side of their bathtub, a bit skinnier and not as deep but there was plenty of room. It was obviously built with Steve’s super solder frame in mind.

“It uses infrared coils to warm it up quickly and it’s self-cleaning. You can adjust the bubbles and the temperate right there on the panel next to it. On bad days or bad nights you can just get right in and warm up without waiting.”

Steve reached out for Tony and pulled him into a tight hug. As it got colder Steve had more and more nightmares, more flashbacks and chills that he couldn’t shake. So far the only things that helped him were Tony wrapped around him and hot baths. Avengers Tower had a hot tub but it was on the roof patio and closed down for the winter.

“I love you,” Steve said, a bit choked up that his husband went to all the trouble to do this for him.

“I love you too.” Tony nuzzled his chest. “You’ll be warm now. I promise.”

“Because I have you.”

---