Work Text:
Tony doesn’t get migraines all the time. Headaches, yes, but rarely migraines. But, whenever he does, it’s usually an ocular migraine; one of the most annoying and painful migraines he’s ever gotten.
They usually last days at a time when he does get them, and they get so bad that he can only see out of one eye. They’re horrible, and Tony could barely function when he got them.
Thankfully, most of the time, he could tell when they were about to come on. They usually started right when he wakes up and he and Steve can plan ahead for them. But then there were other times, like right now, where they would come on in the middle of the day rather than in the morning.
The first sign that Tony was developing one was when the words on his computer began to bleed together. His vision was beginning to blur and he had to squint to try and focus on what he was typing.
After that, it all seems to come on all at once.
As soon as Tony realizes that his vision is going out, he texts Steve, letting him know that he was having one of those migraines again, and then promptly lets Pepper know that he was going to have to leave early. That’s all he was able to do before he could no longer see out of his eye.
Whenever he tried to, all he could see was static and flashing lights, almost as if his eye had completely lost connection to the satellite that was his brain.
The throbbing in his head quickly began after that, paralyzing Tony completely to his desk. Keeping his eyes open was too painful and the “flashing lights” that he was seeing out of his left eye just made the pain in his head worse. All Tony could do at that moment was lay his head down on the wooden desk and keep his eyes tightly shut.
Although it wasn’t much better with his eyes closed because he could still see the static and flashing lights behind his eyelid.
The realization that he was going to have to deal with this for another two or three days after this was enough to make Tony whimper, tears slowly leaking out of the corners of his eyes. He could barely deal with it for the few minutes that it had started, let alone days afterward.
Tony doesn’t know how long he sat there with tears streaming down his face, his head throbbing and spinning, before the lightest knock possible came from his office door.
“Tones, are you in here?” Steve’s voice flows into the room so quiet it could hardly even be considered a whisper. Although, it was loud enough for Tony.
To Tony, Steve was practically shouting, his voice echoing off the walls of the room and pounding their way into Tony’s skull. It made him hunch even more into himself, wrapping his arms tighter around his head as to protect it from the assault.
“Hey, let’s get you home, okay?” Steve murmurs, gently taking Tony’s hands into his and slowly pulling his arms away from his head.
It took a bit, with Steve not wanting to jostle Tony too much and make the pain worse, and with Tony not wanting to move because he knew no matter what it would be too much, but eventually, Steve got Tony to sit up in his chair.
“Okay, honey, I’m going to need you to stand up, now. We’ll do it on the count of three, okay?” Steve warns, knowing that one of the worst parts was having Tony stand up.
With Tony not being able to see and the excruciating pain in his head, going from sitting to standing was so disorientating that all it served to do was make Tony nauseous and dizzy.
“One… two… three.” Steve gently counts, lifting Tony up by his armpits. Steve gladly took all of Tony’s weight in an attempt to make it easier on the scientist, but Tony quickly fell to his knees anyway, blindly searching for the trash can by his desk.
Once Steve realized what was happening, he grabbed the can and held it up underneath Tony’s chin just in time to catch all of his vomit.
The two of them sat there for a while, Steve gently rubbing Tony’s back and spilling out a bunch of comforting words nonsensically. As soon as Steve knew that Tony was completely done, the other man only spitting out rotten saliva now, he gently scooped his arms underneath Tony’s legs and brought him into a bridal carry.
“I got you now, My Love. Just close your eyes and I’ll take care of you.” Steve whispers the promises, guiding Tony’s head to lay in between his neck and shoulder so it was easier for Steve to block out the light.
When they finally managed to walk out in the hallway, Tony let out a heartbreaking whimper and pressed his face harder into Steve’s neck. Steve just placed a soft kiss on the top of Tony’s head, wanting to whisper reassuring and comforting words, but knowing that with the light already hurting Tony, it was better to just let them be unsaid for now. Steve didn’t want to add more pain by talking.
After what felt like multiple years, they finally got to the penthouse, which was thankfully made pitch dark by JARVIS and was now a lower temperature than before.
Steve softly laid Tony down on the couch, figuring it would be easier to take care of him in the living room, and quickly made his way to the kitchen to get a damp rag.
Steve’s heart broke right in two when he walked back out into the living room and saw the miserable state of his husband.
Tony was practically sweating through his work shirt - which means that he had already completely sweat through his undershirt - his skin was horribly pale, and the man had tears streaming down his face despite how tightly shut his eyes were.
“It’s okay, Love. It’ll be over soon.” Steve reassures, placing the damp cloth over Tony’s eyes.
Once that was done, Steve began to strip Tony out of his uncomfortable work clothes, only leaving him in his undergarments; although he was quick to cover Tony up with one of the throw blankets on the back of the couch.
“There you go. Now you just rest and we’ll worry about the rest when you wake up.” Steve whispers, gently running his fingers through Tony’s hair and giving him a small head massage in hopes that it’ll make his head feel better.
“Thank you. I love you.” Tony is barely able to grunt out, but Steve was still able to know what he said and smiled at his husband's words.
“I love you too. Now rest. It’ll all be better when you wake up.” Steve promises, Tony taking his word for it and doing just that.