The first time Tony falls asleep on Steve, it is an accident.

It had just been the two of them, since Steve is the most regular member of the Tower, and they had been watching a movie in Tony's on-going attempt to properly educate Steve on the culture he had missed.

Tony hadn't even realised he was that tired. He hadn't been that tired when he had first sat down, but the dark of the common room, and the traitorous softness of the couch had done him in. Contrary to what some people might accuse him of, he had not been spending countless nights without sleep. That sort of thing might have been viable for 20-something year old Tony, but 40-something year old Tony needs to sleep sometimes.

He had slept. Just maybe not as much as he should have.

Because even if he fully intends to sleep like a healthy person, he still has a tendency to sometimes get carried away with a project that really catches his interest. The last few days, he had been working in his lab a lot, and he had been pushing the boundaries between when nighttime starts, and when morning starts. It is so easy in the moment, to think that he can push through a few more hours, and sleep later…and then birds start chirping and the sun starts shining in through the skylights. He had tried to catch a few hours of shut eye on the couch down there, but the thing is from way back in his college days, and the results had been less than restful.

So it probably isn't that much of a surprise when he wakes up to find the movie finished, and his cheek smushed up against Steve's shoulder.

Warm, is the first thing he thinks, because he is still in the post-nap haze, where everything is a little vague and fuzzy. His face is pressed against something warm. Not exactly soft, but not exactly hard either. It also moves gently, as though…something…is…breathing.

His head pops up with a sudden urgency, and it is only pure luck that he doesn't clock Steve in the chin as he sits up. "Whut?" he blurts eloquently, his mind reeling. His tongue feels like it is made of cotton balls, and he wipes his mouth, some corner of his mind desperately hoping that he had managed not to drool on Steve.

The rest of his mind is focused on the man himself. It is near evening now, so the common room is a dusky grey, but he can still make out Steve's face. He is leaning back now that Tony has jerked away, and Tony searches his eyes, trying to get a read on him. As friendly as they have become these last few months in the Tower, he is well aware that this has never happened before, and he doesn't have any predictions for how Steve will react.

As much as living with Steve had helped break down the macho-manly stereotype that is attached to Captain America these days, Tony isn't sure what he thinks of being used as a pillow. Casual touch isn't really a big thing in the Tower—and it definitely isn't really a Steve thing—and this goes much beyond that.

Steve doesn't look upset about it though. He looks a little concerned at Tony's reaction, but his face is lacking in any traces of irritation. It also isn't blank with awkward discomfort, which Tony is taking as a good sign. And, as his brain wakes up a bit more, and he has a chance to get his bearings, he has to admit that the fact he had even been able to fall asleep on Steve must mean something. Steve had apparently been content to let him sleep through the movie on his shoulder, so he can't have been that bothered by it. Hopefully.

He flicks his eyes over Steve, and gets the same treatment in return. "You fell asleep," Steve tells him needlessly, a mix of concern and cautiousness on his face. He pulls away from him, but not far, his shoulders hunching as he glances over him—something tense and searching in his gaze.

Tony blinks at him. He almost looks defensive, sitting there, like he had been the one to overstep a faux pas, instead of Tony. "Uh," he manages, not sure what to make of that. "Sorry about that. You could've, um— next time you can just shake me awake."

Steve shakes his head jerkily. "No," the word is stilted, and Steve's eyes don't quite meet his. His fingers tangle together in his lap and Tony stares. "I didn't mind." He looks away, his shoulders gradually growing stiffer as the conversation wears on. He hasn't looked this tense since he had first come to the Tower and the sudden tension is off-putting.

Tony bites his cheeks as he watches him, and privately wonders if he is lying about how much he had minded his little nap.

His lips press together and he pushes down the instinctive defensiveness that flares up in his chest. Steve has every right to not want to be slept on. Tony hadn't meant anything by it, but he would really just prefer if Steve would just say if he had minded it.

He breathes in and tries to keep his voice pleasant. Probably Steve is just trying to be polite in an awkward situation. He can just make sure he knows he doesn't have to deal with this sort of thing again if he doesn't want to. "You really could've woken me up."

Steve pulls away even further and his chin dips. "Sorry."

It is the embarrassed tone that keeps Tony from saying anything, and before he can recover, Steve is up and retreating out of the room. His eyes never meet his as he leaves, and Tony is left to sit and try to figure out what on earth had happened.

That last word is the one that sticks with him. 'Sorry'. As though Steve had been doing something wrong. That baffles Tony, and he can't stop thinking about it, even days later, in his lab. 'Sorry'. That is what he had said. And it hadn't been some kind of trite platitude that one says to end a conversation. He had sounded like he had really believed that Tony had been the one upset about being allowed to sleep on his shoulder.

His eyes narrow and he leans his chin on his hand, staring up at the ceiling as he tries to tease apart the meaning behind that. Is…is it possible that Steve really hadn't minded being used as a pillow?

Why had he been so tense about it then? Was he just reading the situation wrong?

"JARVIS," he calls finally, dragging in a frustrated breath. "The other day, did Steve seem upset at all, when I fell asleep on him?"

JARVIS takes a moment before responding. "He did not, Sir," he says finally. "In fact, the Captain displayed signs of lowered heartrate and stress while you slept."

Tony takes a second to process that. Huh.

So, Steve really hadn't minded getting slept on. According to JARVIS, he may have even benefited from it. He squints at the ceiling and tries to put the pieces together. Steve hadn't minded his nap—which is probably why he had let it go on—but…he had seemed embarrassed about that fact.

Hmm. He is going to have to look into this.

Of course, since Steve now thinks that he is annoyed at not having been woken up or something, he finds that he is tenser around him than usual. That is pretty much the opposite of what he wants. He tries to keep things light and pleasant between them, but it does not escape his attention that Steve keeps a very pointed distance between them whenever they cross paths.

If he were a little less informed, he might suspect that Steve is annoyed with him, but thanks to JARVIS' insight, he is able to see through the guise. For whatever reason, Steve is tense about the fact that he had let Tony sleep on him, rather than the fact that Tony had, in fact, slept on him.

Admittedly, some of that might be Tony's fault, but he had been operating under the assumption that Steve hadn't wanted that sort of thing. Unfortunately, it would seem, he had unwittingly stoked the flames to Steve's own worries about his reactions.

The best way he can think to try to mitigate that, is to make it abundantly clear that he doesn't mind being close to Steve. That is a little difficult while Steve is busy religiously managing the inches between them though, and Tony can do nothing but try to remain patient and wait until their next movie night.

With the weird tension floating between them, he is a little worried about Steve skipping out on him. But, as he loads in the DVD for that night's movie, he is relieved to hear the sound of the elevator as Steve comes up to join him.

Tony gives him an easy smile at his arrival, and he sees Steve shoulders drop several inches as he relaxes. The loss of tension is good, but he can't help but notice that Steve makes a point of sitting at the far end of the couch from him.

He keeps his eyeroll internal. Steve seems to be convinced that he had managed to offend him, and is determined to make up for that. Which makes it a little hard for Tony to convince him otherwise.

To be honest, he isn't exactly sure why this is so important to him. But, he will admit to being a little curious. Before now, Steve had never really shown an interest in casual touches. He can't remember Steve initiating them much, and he had kept his distance even before (although admittedly not as much as he is now.) But…his mind keeps circling back to the list of positive signs JARVIS had gathered from Steve during his nap.

That list, and Steve's apparent unease about indulging Tony's nap, keeps him interested.

Which is why, as soon as Steve settles, Tony scoops himself up and plops down right next to him. He doesn't touch him quite yet, because he doesn't want to scare him away, but he sits close enough that, if he were to lean over, he could brush shoulders with Steve. It is pretty much the same distance that they usually sit, but it is probably a good thing that he doesn't come any closer.

Steve gives a start as he moves, and he almost pulls away. Tony can feel his questioning gaze as the opening credits begin to play, and he makes a show of relaxing into the couch. In reality, his heart is making a bid to jump out of his chest, but he tries not to let that on. A week or so ago, he wouldn't have thought much of sitting this close to Steve, but now he can't help but be aware of the tension in the air.

Whether he had meant it or not, his nap had dropped an element of friction between them, and this is more or less his olive branch. If Steve is stubborn about it, and moves away again, he isn't sure what he will do.

He is pretty sure that Steve's behaviour is all due to his misguided belief that Tony has issues, but if he continues to avoid him, then he might have to re-evaluate that. He is fairly certain he is reading Steve correctly, but he is well aware that his track record for that sort of thing isn't stellar. For all he knows, this could be one giant mistake, and he is messing things up even worse between them.

Just as he is beginning to really worry that this calculated risk had been doomed from the start, Steve relaxes. It is subtle, but gradually, as the movie begins to play, his shoulders begin to ease back into the couch, and his breathing gets steadier.

Tony lets out a quiet breath of relief and fights to keep a grin off his face—lest he give Steve anymore wrong ideas. His pulse begins to slow a little and he wipes his hands on his pants as he congratulates himself on managing not to muck anything up.

Steve is currently still on the couch next to him, and not exuding discomfort like a cornered animal, so he is counting that as a win.

He doesn't want to push it too far, so for now, he doesn't move any closer. He isn't quite finished with his plan though. He lets them watch the movie for a while, just so that Steve can get used to being next to him again, before piping up.

"Hey, I noticed something last time."

Steve looks over, and every bone in Tony's body does its best to throw out casual signals as he continues. "You're like, really warm." He nods towards Steve's shoulder and tries to portray the fact that he very much does not mind the fact he had slept on it not that long ago. "I should have tried napping on you earlier. You're practically your own mini-heater."

That said, he waits for how Steve will respond. His speech is the best he can come up with for how to reassure Steve that he hadn't minded that whole incident last week, and he really hopes it comes across well.

For his part, Steve breathes in, almost looking like he is expecting something negative, but as his speech progresses, he can see him begin to lighten up again. By the time it is finished, Steve looks a little cautious, but mostly bemused. His eyes flick over him as though trying to get a read on him, and the corner of his mouth pulls up into a brief smile as he leans back into the couch again.

"You're not the first one to say so," he says softly, his fingers fiddling in his lap as he looks towards the TV. His eyes remain focused on the movie, but his voice slips into something reminiscent as he speaks. "The Commandos used to fight over who got to sit next to me in camp. Most of the time I'd find one or more of them trynna steal body-heat, especially in the wintertime."

He shrugs, and as he blinks, a look of longing slips over his face. It is gone in an instant, and Tony would have missed it if he hadn't been watching, but he sees it, and he remains silent as Steve turns and offers him something of a smile. "I think the serum makes me run hotter. I didn't mind."

Ah.

That is what he had said the last time, when Tony had told him he could shake him awake.

No, he had said, refusing the offer outright. I didn't mind.

He thinks…he is beginning to get a clearer picture of what is going on.

oOo

The pieces of the puzzle are such: He had fallen asleep on Steve. Steve hadn't minded. He now knows that Steve is used to that sort of thing, because of the Howling Commandos. Ergo: Steve is much more used to casual touches than he had first assumed. But. Obviously, casual touches are not something Steve experiences now.

He relays his observations to JARVIS, and then spends a fun afternoon scrolling through the articles JARVIS provides about something called 'touch starvation'.

Having a lack of physical contact may result in some people experiencing what many refer to as touch starvation, it says. Touch starvation may increase feelings of stress, depression, and anxiety, it says. It is possible that a lack of contact could put a person's mental and emotional health at risk, it says.

The term is new to Tony, but the concept seems sound, and it helps explain what exactly had happened between him and Steve. It makes sense why Steve had reacted positively to the initial touch…but if the term is new to Tony, then he doubts Steve knows about it. He isn't surprised that Steve had been embarrassed about letting Tony sleep on him—especially if he felt it was for selfish reasons, and especially if he thought Tony was upset by it.

Sorry, he had said, and Tony finds himself wishing that his past-self had been a lot less self-conscious about the whole incident. If he hadn't been busy worrying about irritating Steve, then maybe they could have avoided this whole problem.

Then again, if he hadn't jump-started this whole venture, then he probably would never have stumbled down the rabbit hole into this unexpected revelation about Steve's mental health.

Taking all the pieces together, he thinks it is pretty clear that Steve could benefit from being napped on more often. The sources he reads suggest blankets, and hugs, and other methods of dealing with touch starvation, but he worries that something too hands-on might spook Steve even worse than he already is.

Because he can't help noticing that Steve doesn't go out of his way to touch people. He isn't sure if that is a subconscious choice, or if Steve just assumes that casual touching is not something people do as much in the 21st century. In reality, it is probably a mix of the two.

And, even if Steve wanted casual touches with people, it is probably hard for him to do that, thanks to his Avenger status and history as Captain America. Tony is well aware of how hard it is to get comfortable and close with actual people as a high-profile figure. He had spent years of his life trying to quench the need for people through casual flings, because there weren't a lot of other avenues open for him.

He doesn't need to do that now, but he imagines that even that option isn't really viable for Steve. The people Steve is close to are the Avengers, and that probably isn't going to change. If this situation is going to be dealt with, then it is going to have to be done by them.

And it looks like he is the one to have noticed it first, so he is going to have to get the ball rolling. He is aware that he doesn't have to, but…his mind flashes back to the brief look of longing that had passed over Steve's face while he had been talking about the Commandos…and he finds himself wanting to fix that look the best he can.

That is what he does. He fixes things. And this is his next project.

He starts small. He is aware enough to know that Steve will probably bolt if he tries anything too forward like hugging or something. Tony himself isn't really a hugging person—or at least, he doesn't really feel comfortable doing that right now—and he imagines that Steve will sniff that out immediately if he were to try.

So he doesn't go in for the hugging, but he does try to reach out to Steve more. He keeps the touches casual. Usually, clasping his shoulder or his arm in greeting, or slapping his back when he says something amusing. He continues to sit next to him on the couch, and he invests in a whole collection of fluffy blankets for them to use during their movie sessions.

From what he can tell, Steve isn't overly bothered by his efforts. He thinks he does notice the increase of touches, but he doesn't shy away from them, which is a good sign. He even reciprocates sometimes, and Tony finds that it soon feels almost natural to give or receive a pat on the back when they are together.

He thinks the other Avengers notice too, and he wouldn't be surprised if they put together the same pieces he had. It is almost blindingly obvious now that he knows about it. After one particularly difficult mission, all he does is nudges Steve shoulder in a gesture of comfort, and the tension that had been growing there practically bleeds out of him.

Tony hadn't missed the calculating look in Natasha's eye at the display. And, he isn't surprised when, the next time he enters the common room, he finds Natasha stretched out on the couch, a book in hand and her feet propped up on Steve's lap.

Steve himself is looking a little bemused at the situation—and Tony thinks that he hasn't quite caught on to what they are doing yet—so he has to duck away before he inadvertently gives everything away through an overenthusiastic, triumphant smile.

It doesn't take long for casual touches to grow more common among the other Avengers too. It becomes a habit almost, and the shoulder clasps and nudges don't just stay reserved for Steve. Their group itself becomes more casual with each other, which seems to be exactly what they all need.

Tony may or may not reserve a little pride for kickstarting it all.

He waits awhile before judging Steve to be comfortable enough for a redo of their first incident.

They are both alone in the common room again, sitting next to each other for their usual movie night. By now Steve is perfectly relaxed sitting next to him, and Tony quietly hopes that he won't mess that up with his next move.

He makes a show of it, yawning through the previews, and letting his head bob and his eyes blink heavily as the movie wears on. And then at last, when he thinks he has alleviated all suspicion of trickery, he lets his head slump over onto Steve's shoulder.

He doesn't fall asleep. He keeps his eyes closed, and he lets his breath mellow out as he waits to see how Steve will react. He can feel him tense for a moment at the contact, and Tony fights against stiffening in response. He does his best to keep his heartbeat as calm as possible, trying to make everything about him seem well and truly dead to the world.

He feels Steve shift, and through his lashes he sees his hand raise, as though to shake his shoulder. His breath nearly catches, and it takes a concentrated effort not to freeze as Steve's hand hovers uncertainly in the air.

He had told Steve he could shake him awake if this ever happened again, but he had also spent the last few weeks trying to make it abundantly clear that he actually hadn't minded this at all. He knows Steve hadn't minded this either, and he thinks this is something he needs, even if he obviously isn't comfortable expressing that need. This is an easy way to deal with that though, and he quietly hopes that the man will just let himself relax without overthinking anything.

It takes the longest seconds of his life before Steve's hand finally lowers back down to his lap. He can feel the muscles of his shoulder gradually begin to loosen as he settles, and Tony finds his own body growing even more relaxes in response. He hears Steve let out a quiet, slow breath, the sigh soft and relieved, and exactly what he wants to hear.

A ghost of a smile flickers over his face, and he already knows that this time, when he wakes up, he is going to make sure there is no confusion over whether or not Steve is allowed to let him sleep on his shoulder.

He fixes things. And he thinks that this one is a job well done.

AN: This is based off of a short oneshot I wrote for a prompt on tumblr. I was glad to get to write something for touched-starved Steve, because I've been wanting to write something like this for a while. I really think he lacks that sort of thing once he wakes up in the future. Knowing Steve though, I can see him feeling self-conscious about it, and not feeling like he can reach out.

Luckily for him, Tony is on the case for this one.