Work Text:
Tony’s eyes fluttered open, neck aching from the weird position he had fallen asleep in, head tucked into his folded arms, and a small dribble of drool on his metal workstation. He wasn’t sure how long he’d been down there. The lack of windows in the lab had a casino-like effect, hours could go by in what seemed like minutes to a busy engineer. Tony lifted his head letting out a big yawn as he stretched, his back popping causing him to let out a sigh. Blurry-eyed, he stood shuffling his way to the elevator. He had a couch in his lab that he used to make good use of before the Avengers decided to boss him around. He checked his watch, “ JARVIS, what's for dinner?” “The chefs prepared several different Italian dishes, Mr.Rogers was just on his way to get you.”
The elevator doors opened to the common floor where the Avengers bustled around. It was an unusually busy night, it wasn’t often all Avengers were free for dinner at the same time. Tony used to have his dinner delivered to the lab. He didn’t often think about it, but their team dynamic had changed so much over the last few years. Tony wouldn’t admit to it, but he found a lot of comfort in being cared for by his team. He’d never have associated himself with the word family, but here he was walking out of the elevator for… Family dinner.
“I was just coming to get you,” Steve stated, walking up to Tony, grabbing his elbow, and leading him up the three steps to the dining room. The seats were quickly filling up at the long dining table, the Avengers talking amongst themselves. Tony had a special seat, he rolled his eyes as Steve got him situated in it, too tired to make a fuss as he buckled him into it and clipped the tray shut in front of him.
See, Tony was one of two littles on the team and the only baby. Clint was also little but fell in the age group just short of pre-teen, which was unfortunate for Phil who had to deal with the constant threat of teen angst, scarier than any mission Coulson could have gone on in Tony’s opinion.
Tony rubbed his eyes as Steve made his plate, cutting the food into extra small pieces before sticking the suctioning plate onto the highchair tray, along with a sky blue sippy cup and a small dull spork. Tony grimaced at the bits of diced Brussels sprouts on the small sectioned area of his plate. He looked up taking in his surroundings before making eye contact with Bucky in the seat to his right. No way he was getting out of that chair before eating them all… Bucky was more strict when it came to veggies.
“Good of you to join us tyke.” Bucky acknowledged ruffling Tony’s hair. Tony let out an indignant huff. “Not like I have much of a choice,” Tony muttered, he would have chosen to join anyway, but he wasn’t in the mood to admit that. Being in between headspaces always made him a bit moody, so Bucky let it go, not affected by Tony’s attitude.
The Avengers ate and conversed over their meals, catching up on each other's lives. Tony waited until Bucky was distracted in conversation with Natasha to push some of the brussels sprouts onto the floor as slyly as he could. He wasn’t really hungry, and he definitely wasn’t hungry for gross things like Brussels sprouts.
Tony picked up his sippy cup and allowed himself to sink back into the cushioned highchair as he sipped it. His eyes just felt so heavy, who needed food anyway…
Tony let his eyes slip closed, falling back into a soft slumber.
The next time his eyelids fluttered open the room was bathed in the soft glow of early morning light. He could feel the calming rise and fall of Bucky’s breathing, and hear the gentle hum of the ceiling fan whirling above. Steve was already awake, sitting up and doing a word search he kept on his nightstand, his free hand gently rubbing Tony’s back. It was almost enough to put Tony back to sleep. He kept still and stayed quiet taking in the comfort of his caregivers, he never thought he’d have this. He lay there peaceful and content, pacifier slowly bobbing his mouth, feeling snuggly and loved.