Two weeks. That was the amount of time Tony had been gone on a business trip to Japan. Despite Pepper having taken over Stark Industries as CEO, Tony was still the face of the company and head of R&D. He liked to think that without him, the company would collapse. And while thoughts like that were only meant to feed his ever-expanding ego, they were incredibly true, and he knew it.
As much as he appreciated being needed, twelve days of smiles that made his jaw ache and shaking hand after hand, Tony's energy was running low. If he'd had to stay any longer, he would've grabbed his iron man suit and flown back to Avenger's tower in Manhattan, where his energy source lived. Steve was like the overly caffeinated coffee he drank every day; Tony couldn't function properly without him. Steve gave him life when he was drained, tired, and sick of everything.
So, saying that Tony Stark was glad to be home would be a major understatement. He practically flung himself out of the elevator onto the communal floor, stumbling to the living room in hopes of finding the faces he'd missed dearly (though he would never admit it out loud). He slumped against the wall when he found not a single person in the main room.
He continued to drag himself along, taking a sharp right into the hallway of bedrooms. Instead of finding a hallway, however, he found himself with a face full of cotton-covered muscle. Arms almost immediately snaked around his waist, pulling his body close. He easily fell into the embrace, humming happily as he felt a kiss being pressed against the top of his head, warming him all the way down to the tip of his toes.
"You're back."
Tony grinned, pulling back slightly from the embrace in order to look up at the familiar face of the man who held him. He found Steve smiling warmly back at him and…. oh. Oh. That was new. A hand trailed up Steve's neck to his face, stopping to cup his jaw. "What's this? You decided to grow a beard?"
Coarse blond hairs covered his chin and jaw, though they were short and thin. It looked like 5 o' clock to the extreme as opposed to an actual beard, Tony thought to himself. He had to admit, it was a good look on him.
Steve leaned into Tony's hand, his smile softening. "Oh, yeah… You always seem to like the stubble you find here in the mornings, so I thought, why not. Surprise?"
Tony stood up on his toes to press a kiss to Steve's mouth, his fingers scratching at the light facial hair. "Yes, surprise," he murmured, his face hovering close. "A very nice surprise."
The super-soldier held his breath, Tony's lowered voice sending heat straight into the pit of his stomach. "Tony…"
"I like it," Tony whispered, grazing his teeth over his jaw, all the way to his earlobe where he nibbled before taking it into his mouth.
Steve groaned desperately, digging his fingers into Tony's hair. "God, I missed you."
A tongue ran around the rim of his ear, pausing only to allow a stream of hot air to be blown against it, drawing another moan from him.
"Prove it."