Tony had spent three days on the other side of the country doing talks in high schools for his student programme. The only reason he was arriving at 3 in the morning was because he had more scheduled in the state the next day. Coffee was going to be his friend...or so he thought.

He'd walked into his and Steve's apartment, thrown his keys on the table and taken his jacket off before he clocked that all the lamps were on. He froze, before turning around slowly.

"TONY!" Steve sat beaming and wild eyed, his hair was a mess and he was on his way to 5 o'clock shadow. Tony would've appreciated the aesthetic if it wasn't obscured by the forest of balloon animals his boyfriend was lost in. Steve hadn't even seemed to notice them. "You're back!"

"Which five-year-old's birthday party did you raid?" Tony asked wearily. He was so damn tired. He couldn't quite acknowledge how ridiculous this was. Steve laughed manically.

"Do you have any idea how much stuff 24 hour places stock now?" He threw the box and instructions for balloon tying in the air. "Hobbies are so much easier in the future."

Tony made his way wearily forward. As if the inflatable dogs and swans and lions were going to form a giant supervillain he'd have to call his suit for.

"Please tell me this isn't your new hobby, Steve."

"I was just keeping myself occupied while I was waiting up to surprise you."

Steve was still beaming. It had to hurt his cheeks by now. Tony relaxed a little.

"You didn't have to -"

"Here, try it." Steve took a step forward, holding out a deflated balloon and kicking up a cloud of colourful animals. Tony heard several cups clutter to the ground. It was then that he noticed the jungle of balloon animals was founded on several hundred cups and pots of coffee. Ah. That explained it. Steve and coffee did not go well. And Tony hated it. Because he knew the coffee grounds would be clogged in the sink. There might not even be any left for him in the morning. Tony rolled his eyes.

"I'm going to bed, Cap."

Tony jumped off the island in their kitchen, rolling on floor in the momentum, and twisting where he lay as he stuck the can of bug killer in the air.

"Avast ye sting rays!"

A long tssssssssssssssst noise proceeded and clouds of the stuff began to shoot into the air. Steve looked up from his newspaper for a moment, pausing in his mouthful of oatmeal, before resuming the morning like this wasn't happening.

"They're wasps, Tony."

Tony bounced onto his feet. The cloud settled around him. It looked very dramatic. Which was no doubt the intention. Every summer. Without fail. Their apartment was filled with wasps. Why did it have to be every summer?

"Think you're so tough, don't you? Amigos of death."

Steve sighed as Tony span around, creating a spiral of more spray. He karate-kicked the air when he was done.

"I think you got them all Tone." Steve didn't look up from his paper. Tony rolled over the sofa and sparred with the things some more. The spray would be fogging up the place any time now. Tony had a habit of finding a terrifying level of energy in the morning. And Steve hated it. Because the smell of bug spray was really getting to his head.

Steve hated it when Tony played rock music at 5 in the morning when he was in his workshop. Tony hated the glitches and crackles in Steve's old records. Steve cringed when Tony had stale cake for breakfast. Tony was irked every time Steve was baffled to the point of seeming uninterested in modern technology. Because Tony was modern technology. But really, Steve loved to watch him invent things. And Tony loved it when Steve slipped up and used some archaic slang. Tony loved how Steve left post-it notes everywhere for him. Steve loved how Tony left clutter and mess everywhere he went, but he still woke up to find his shield miraculously polished. And Tony loved how Steve knew how to help him deal with anxiety attacks. Steve loved catching up with the century through the TV shows they binged once they'd both woken up from nightmares. For both of them, they loved how they'd finally found a home.

AUTHORS NOTE: It's been a while since I've binge-written some Marvel fanfic, but I remembered saying I would write some stand alone Stony in another fic and this just sort of...happened. There's a lot more Marvel *cough*Bucky*cough* fics on my profile if you're interested. Feedback always welcome. Until next time!