Disclaimer - I own nothing you recognise.

Challenges listed at the bottom.

Word Count - 979

Nice To Know

Tony looked out of the Tower window over New York, admiring the many shining lights brought forth by the Christmas season. There wasn't much Tony enjoyed about Christmas—too many bad memories of a cold childhood were set to a backdrop of red and green and jingle bells—but he did enjoy the lights.

"Hey, Shellhead," Clint said, dropping onto the sofa. "What are you doing up so late?"

Tony turned to look at Clint, raising an eyebrow when he saw the garish jumper the man was wearing.

"Couldn't sleep," he replied quietly, turning his attention back to the scene outside the windows. "Seems to be a common trend at the moment."

"Come sit with me," Clint offered. "I'm going to eat junk and watch reruns of Dynasty."

Tony frowned. "Why would you do that to yourself?"

"Because I can't sleep either, and that show is bad enough that my brain might switch off just to hide from it."

Staring at him for a long moment, Tony tilted his head and then snorted. "As good logic as any."

He slumped down on the sofa beside Clint, accepting the offered blanket and wrapping it over his legs.

Tony lasted a whole 20 minutes into the first episode and shook his head. "I can't do this. This is torture. You're actually torturing me."

Clint rolled his eyes and chuckled. Tony snatched up one of the tablets from the table, not caring about the pens he knocked off in his quest. He'd only worry about that when Steve reprimanded him for it later.

"That's the one everyone did their Christmas Wish lists on," Clint said, pointing to an app icon in the corner. "Well… everyone except you."

"All I want for Christmas is a full night of sleep," Tony muttered.

Clint looked at him for a long moment, before he nodded decisively and tugged the tablet from Tony's hand.

"Come on, up you get," he prompted, standing up himself and holding his hand out for Tony to take.

When Tony did, Clint pulled him to his feet and across the room, towards the elevator. Deciding to indulge his friend, Tony let himself be pulled along. He found himself surprised when they left the elevator only one floor up, onto the floor which housed the Avengers bedrooms.

"Clint, what—"

Clint hushed him, and led the way to his own room, waving Tony in before he closed the door.

"When Nat and I struggle to sleep when we're out on missions, it helps to share a bed, you know?" Clint offered, a little awkwardly now that they'd arrived at their destination. "We try not to do it so much at home, because dependency is problematic, but… codependency isn't always a terrible thing. In you go."

Tony swallowed hard. "You don't have to do this, Clint. I know I was complaining but—"

"Get in the bed, Tony."

Not wanting to argue, and not really wanting to say no despite feeling like he should, Tony climbed into the bed hesitantly and settled in on the side against the wall. Clint climbed in after him, and snuggled down.

They weren't quite touching, but then Clint reached out his hand into the small space between them.

After a full minute, Tony turned and gripped the hand with his own.

It took a while, but Tony relaxed incrimently, until eventually the last of the tension left his small frame.

"I… thanks."

Clint didn't reply verbally, choosing only to squeeze Tony's hand in his own.

…

Waking was a slow process, and Tony allowed himself a few moments to just exist in that hazy space between sleep and being awake. It wasn't often he slept restful enough to enjoy such a thing.

Usually, a nightmare forced him straight into waking, or his alarm pierced his sleep after only a few hours with either a meeting, or an Avenger callout, or a workshop alert or… one of the million other things that Tony had to do that he didn't have time for.

A hand brushed through his hair, and he blinked his eyes open at the feeling. Clint was lying beside him, a fond smile on his face.

"You slept the whole night."

Tony nodded slowly. "I. Yeah, I guess I did. Did you sleep?"

Clint grinned and nodded. "The whole night. The longest I've slept in months, actually."

It made Tony feel a little better—even though he knew he was being ridiculous—that sharing the bed had helped Clint as much as it had Tony. He hated to feel like he was dependent on someone without giving back as much or more.

It was a character flaw, at least he knew and accepted it, right?

"That's good."

Clint stretched out luxuriously and sat up. "Breakfast?"

"I don't want to move," Tony complained, pulling the blanket tighter around him.

Laughing, Clint tugged it away. "Come on, Shellhead, I'll even make you coffee."

Tony showed more willing after that, the promise of coffee too much to ignore.

A few minutes later, with the smell of coffee permeating the air, Clint leant on the breakfast bar.

"So, since I fulfilled your Christmas wish early, you know this means you gotta fill in the list on the app, right?"

Tony groaned and threw a croissant at him.

…

It didn't become an every night thing. Most nights, Tony managed to sleep alone, or failing that, spent the whole night working. Most nights, Clint managed to sleep alone, or let terrible television lull him to sleep.

But occasionally, one would go and find the other.

Occasionally, they'd fall into the same bed, and they'd hold hands, and they'd sleep better for it, because knowing someone is beside you that you can trust was something that neither of them ever took for granted.

So it wasn't every night… but it was nice to know that they had the option.

Written for:

North Funfair: Christmas Sing along - 13. Jingle Bells - 2. Laughing

East Funfair: Snow Art - Red: "All I want for Christmas is a full night of sleep." / Brown: Bed Sharing / Black: New York

South Funfair: Fill A Christmas Stocking - 41. Yoyo - Sharing a Bed

365. 287. Dynasty