-IronHawk-
They spent three hours in the workshop with the bots when a tiny yawn from Tony had Clint hustling him into the house, "Geniuses need their sleep."
"Thank you, Mr. Barton. Sir hasn't slept more than six hours over the course of the past three days."
"Tattletale," Tony stuck his tongue out towards the kitchen camera and complained, "I don't want our date to end."
Clint pulled Tony into a hug, resting his forehead against Tony's, "I don't either but you have to be up early for school."
Tony popped a kiss on the tip of Clint's nose, "state mandatory testing tomorrow so I don't have to go in since Coulson doesn't trust me to proctor tests. He says I'll get distracted and start designing something. For the record, that's only twice this quarter."
"Your friend will be home soon and you need to get some sleep."
"Colonel Rhodes texted, he will be spending the night with Mr. Rogers and Sergeant Barnes," Jarvis piped in helpfully.
Tony grinned at Clint, "Good, then you can put me to bed."
"Just sleep, though. I'm not easy," Clint followed Tony to his bedroom, "I only put out after the third date."
Grabbing sleep pants and a loose t-shirt, Tony gestured towards the bathroom, "Want first shower?"
"Sure," Clint accepted the clothes, "by the way, I usually sleep in the nude."
Groaning in frustration, Tony shoved him into the bathroom, "Towels are there and new toothbrushes are in the cabinet.
Alone, Tony laid back on his bed, covering his face with his hands. He wanted Clint so bad. Tony loved how responsive he was to caresses and kisses. His body was so warm, so firm. His eyes darkened when he was aroused and God, did Tony want to see him aroused again. The kitchen makeout was PG, maybe PG13, and Tony wanted so much more, "I'm gonna need a cold shower."
Later in bed, Clint rolled on his side to watch Tony. He ran his hand up and down Tony's arm as they talked about Tony's job and leaving Stark Industries behind, "do you really like teaching? Is it as fulfilling as creating new projects?"
Tony held Clint's hand, their fingers linked together, and brought it up to his mouth for a kiss, "yeah, I like teaching. It's not as satisfying as collaborating on a project with other engineers. I think teaching would be better if the students wanted to be there, not just get credit. I have a few students that are really into science and engineering. I don't think I'd like teaching college anymore than high school. I think college would be more of the same, follow the syllabus, teach to the book so kids can get a good grade. No free-thinking, exploring, failing."
"You are too far away," Clint tugged and pulled until Tony was plastered to his side. "So this isn't a long term career for you?"
Tony rested his face on Clint's chest, melting a little into his warmth, "I don't think so. But I don't want to go back to SI either. He took that from me. Stane."
Clint rubbed Tony's back, "I know, I'm sorry."
"Pepper has weeded out all his people in the company. There are three still left on the board; they won't accept a buyout. But Pepper won't give up. Not like I did."
Tony grew quiet, Clint wondered if he had fallen asleep when he spoke again.
"One day, I'll go back. Maybe take the R&D division and turn it into a non-profit. Or start a whole new company. One that isn't tainted."
Humming, Clint cuddled Tony closer, "yeah, what would you build?"
"Clean energy is now SI's mission and that helps the world but want to go small scale. I want to help individual people. Medical devices, something better than my pacemaker. Maybe advanced prosthetics. Artificial skin. There is a doctor in Seoul who is creating tissue with nano-molecules. It doesn't get rejected."
Clint shifted around until he could see Tony's face, his voice low and urgent, "you didn't tell me you had a pacemaker. I had you swinging through the air and you have a heart condition."
Shifting up on his elbows, Tony half sat up, "it's not a heart condition, per se."
"This is not a joking matter, Tony. What if you had a heart attack?"
Seeing Clint's panic, Tony turned and straddled him, rubbing his hands up and down on Clint's arms, "No heart attack, I promise. When I was kidnapped, um," Tony paused and breathed hard through his nose, "there was shrapnel, near my heart. In the desert, a man, a good man, um, he fashioned a magnetic device to keep the shrapnel away from my heart. It would have torn my heart apart. When I was back, the hospital, they worried the device would not stay powered so they implanted a small battery similar to a pacemaker. I am fine, my heart is fine unless both the arc reactor and the pacemaker fail which is statistically impossible, okay?"
"Is the shrapnel still there?"
Tony nodded, "I am okay. It sounds more dangerous than it is."
"Arc reactor? Isn't that your clean energy source?" Clint asked as he gently placed his hand over Tony's chest, feeling the hard housing of the arc reactor beneath the shirt.
"Yup, it's clean and sustainable. Under Pepper's guidance, Stark Industries will be known as the leader in clean energy, not weapons," Tony wiggled on top to Clint, leaning forward to kiss him.
Clint moaned, biting at Tony's jaw, "this conversation is too heavy. I am glad that man saved your life. You'll have to tell me about him someday." He thrust upwards as Tony rutted up against him.
"Oh god, Clint," Tony felt feverish and so alive.
They groaned in unison as they continued to grind against each other. Clint's hands moved to cup Tony's ass, "I'm gonna come in my pants."
Tony pushed Clint's shirt up, revealing his golden skin, "maybe we should take our pants off,"
"Goddamnit, you are irresistible," Hooking their legs together, Clint smoothly flipped them over until Tony was beneath him. He kissed Tony deeply then pulled away to roll off.
"I can't stop. I don't want to stop, Clint," Tony grabbed a pillow and covered his face, "I really really want you."
Clint laughed as he pulled the pillow away, "I know. I really really want you too. But I want more than sex. For the first time in my life, I want more."
In the dim light, Tony could see the vulnerability on Clint's face. He wondered if his own face matched, he whispered, "I want that, too."
Laying side by side, they held hands. Not accustomed to sharing their intimate feelings, they enjoyed the silence for several minutes.
Twisting around, Clint sat up and gestured to his ears, "I am going to take my hearing aids out. If you want to talk to me, can you please poke me so I can put them back in?"
Nodding, Tony watched as Clint popped the purple aids from his ears, dropping them on the nightstand. He tugged Clint back down but the larger man shifted them until Tony was cuddled up against him. With Tony's head on Clint's chest, they joined hands again. Clint's thumb caressed the top of Tony's hand even after his breathing had evened out. Adjusting the blankets, Clint pressed a kiss to Tony's forehead before allowing his own eyes to close.
-IronHawk-
A/N: so close...but no sex…
Proctoring tests is easy except for the rule about proctors not using computer/smartphone when students are taking the tests. I can't imagine Tony sitting still or not using some form of technology so it would totally make sense for Phil to "excuse" him.
