Nightmares - Tony Stark
You startled awake, chest heaving. Your heart pounded in an anxious rhythm and you let out an exhausted, disappointed whine as JARVIS informed you that it was already 7:30 am. You supposed it was better than waking from a nightmare right as your alarm went off. Now you at least had some time to try and compose yourself; a distant part of you hoped to return to sleep but you knew that was unlikely.
You tossed and turned, just managing to drift only to start right back awake. You couldn’t even remember the entirety of the dream, but clearly the feeling was not going to go away. You sighed in defeat, resigning yourself to a couple hours of panic before you made yourself get out of bed.
Meanwhile, across the hall, JARVIS woke Tony as gently as he could, knowing the man was prone to his own nightmares. “Sir, I believe our guest is in distress. I advise you to check on them as soon as possible.”
“On it. Thanks, J.”
Tony padded softly over to your room. At first glance, you looked to be casually scrolling your phone. However, the closer Tony got, the more panic he could make out on your features.
“It’s gonna be one of those nights, huh?” Tony questioned, keeping his tone light. “Alright, phone down. You know the drill. Under the fur you go.”
Tony made a move to grab your preferred faux fur blanket. It was a go-to comfort item on bad nights. As much as you wanted to be enveloped in the fluff, though, you stopped him. “I don’t need it. I promise, I’m fine.” It wasn’t true, but Tony didn’t need to know that.
“The hell you don’t. You look like you haven’t slept a wink and JARVIS said you were “in distress”, which is Artificial Intelligence code for the exact opposite of fine.You can try to fool me all you want, but there is no fooling the ceiling robot.”
You snickered and Tony added, as an afterthought, “No offense, J. I meant that with all the love in the world.”
“None taken, Sir.” the faithful AI replied.
“Now,” Tony started, turning back to you. “Care to tell me what happened?”
“Nothing. Same old, same old. I promise it’s nothing.” You shrugged, aiming for nonchalant and missing entirely. The quiver in your voice gave you away.
“Kid, I’m not gonna force anything, but it might feel better if you talk about it; get it outta your head.”
When you still didn’t reply, and only moved to lay back down, Tony took it upon himself to follow through with his original plan. Gently, he wrapped you as snugly as he could in the earlier abandoned blanket. Despite yourself, you instinctively burrow into the safety and warmth, a hand resting protectively on your heart underneath the covers. Tony’s hand finds the same spot, only on top of the blanket, and he begins to run soothing circles over the area.
“See, this is better, huh? You’re okay. I’m here, you’re safe, and everything is okay. I’m not going to let anything happen to you, I promise.”
You let out a whimper at that, still disappointed in yourself, even if you did feel a bit better for Tony’s intervention. You shouldn’t need his help. “That’s the thing. Nothing tried to happen. It was just my stupid brain being, well, stupid.”
“Well, then I guess my brain must be stupid too then.” Tony says light-heartedly, running the hand not already occupied through your hair. “It’s stupid when it makes me dream about Afghanistan or nearly dying in a wormhole or a million other different things.”
“That’s different.” You protested weakly. “That’s, like, actual trauma. My dreams are just…”
“No less scary. Seriously, fear shouldn’t be a comparison game. The things that scare you are completely valid and it’s completely understandable to have nightmares.” You nodded, settling down just enough to yawn as Tony smiled. “Okay, that’s my cue. Enough philosophical chats for the evening. Well, night…morning? I don’t know. Point being, we need sleep.”
Tony noticed you tense at the mention of sleep and quickly added, “Don’t worry. I’m not going anywhere. I’ll stay as long as you need.”
You snuggled under the covers, finally feeling safe enough to close your eyes. You still kind of hated that you needed Tony, but you were glad you had him.