Tony Stark is a busy man. Everybody knows that.
You know it, your mother knows it, your dog knows it, your auntie Betsi knows it - hell - the long lost brother you never knew you had knows it.
Everybody knows it.
But a lot of people are surprised.
Honestly who would have thought; The Tony Stark, genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist and universal hero has responsibilities?
Well he does.
Stark industries are better than ever, thanks to their perfect CEO Virginia Potts. Pepper was always there next to him, he was surprised she lasted that long; after Thanos and the snap Tony was left flat - lining, his already broken heart stopped at least twice on the way and once more in surgery for good measure. He recovered but until that Pepper had become his personal servant, always asking to make sure nothing was missing and simultaneously managing the industries. She was there when he stepped foot in the workshop for the first time after everything, it's hard to build with one arm and until the one he made was done Pepper was there to help make the new Stark phone so they didn't run out of business.
She is a really good friend; he decided. Probably that's why their relationship didn't work; she was just too good of a friend and he was on the wrong side of forty. She understood and the kept been best friends ever since. After that he didn't need to worry about relationships, not being good enough or letting down his partner; that resulted in spending his heats alone but he was spared the anxiety.
Without someone to busy himself with thought he needed another distraction; resulting in locking himself in the workshop and building. Building stuff about the industries, building new suits for his spiderling. Fixing. Fixing his cars, ( he doesn't think he'll drive them ) fixing his armor, ( he doesn't think he'll need it ) fixing his arm.
So Tony Stark is a busy man.
he guesses nobody will blame him if he ditches the workshop to go upstairs and make a cup of coffee ( or five ), as it turns out; overdosing on caffeine is a very effective way for Tony to have strokes of genius, even if he then ends up smelling colours.
As he rounds the corner of the common room he notices two things; a) Pepper sitting on a stool with an alarmingly big stack of papers ( she probably wants him to sign them ) and b) Bucky Barnes watching TV, some reruns of Hell's kitchen, arms spread on the headrest on each side of his head, and legs as wide as a goddamn bench.
If Tony didn't know better he'd say he looked comfortable.
He and Barnes had a very rocky relationship, to say the least. Always walking on eggshells around each other. Sure he killed his parents and all that jazz but he was a brainwashed play toy slash assassin for HYDRA for a good chunk of his life so Tony forgave him ... Eventually.
He felt bad for the guy, he really did; his life was shit and the only support he had was a lanky Steve Rogers - hell - he didn't even have him anymore, not after what he pulled and went and made a life in the past, god knows though the man deserved it ( not that he would say that out loud, no ).
Maybe it was the lack of caffeine or the sleep deprivation but he found himself walking towards the man uttering a hey pep on his way. She watched bemused as he dropped down on the others lap, wiggling a little bit until his back was supported on the mans legs and the rest of him was sprawled out on each side of the expensive couch. The CEO rolled her eyes at the brunette's content sigh and the little stretch he made as he dropped his arms next to his ears, like a cat her mind supplied, leaving his belly in full display.
Bucky on the other hand was having an aneurysm. What the fuck was chanted in his head like a prayer as he was left with a lapful of mechanic, he was frantically scanning the room for a way out so he could avoid the potential disaster but tensed even further when he received a demanding wiggle for his troubles.
Pepper shook her head.
Not daring to move an inch he looked helplessly towards her, eyes pleading and pure terror masked his features. She just smiled, a fond smile to contradict the previous exasperation, and indicated to her stomach, patting a few times after receiving his questioning look. Was she really doing what he thought she was doing? A low growl interrupted his wallow in self - misery.
He didn't have anything left to lose anyway, so he lifted his arm.
The veteran carefully lowered his flesh hand down and rested his open palm on the genius's tummy, stilling and studying him for a reaction. Testing. Always testing.
To his surprise, the brunette immediately went lax in his lap and started purring encouragingly. Bucky, momentarily shocked, proceeded to pathetically move his hand up and down, clueless of what to do, but when the purring became louder and he started getting the hang of it; awkward pats turned into smooth circular movements, a few daring rubs reaching past his ribs and up his chest and the philanthropist was practically vibrating, melting into a little puddle and radiating happy omega pheromones that made his nostrils flare and he found himself relaxing, his inner alpha swelling with glee.
Pepper was having none of it.
"Tony don't think you got away, you still need to sign those papers!"
"Mmmmh pep noo, I'm preooccupiiied."
A busy man indeed.