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#Post#: 2--------------------------------------------------
1x1 || TinyGoliath & MagicNightStar
By: TinyGoliath Date: February 6, 2013, 5:07 pm
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"So some people say that there's some sexual tension between
Tony and Steve... I don't really see it but, you know..."
"Yeah... It would be kinda hot though."
"Hm..."[/center]
#Post#: 5--------------------------------------------------
Re: 1x1 || TinyGoliath & MagicNightStar
By: TinyGoliath Date: February 6, 2013, 8:01 pm
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{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
Tony,
I just want you to know that I love you. I love you a lot. I
know I said that it didn't bother me, but when I'm writing from
the ER I can't help but think that I wouldn't be in here if it
weren't for... whatever you've done. I'm not prepared to watch
you fight crime the way you do. I'm nothing but bait and I
really, really love you, but I'm not about to die because your
enemies think I'm your only weak spot. I can't sit and watch,
tied down, and wait for you to blast your way through everybody
to come and save me. You should know that -- you should know
that I don't want to be saved. I just want to live and be happy
and there are times that you make me happy, Tony, but there's
not enough. I've been held hostage too many times -- I might be
blind in one eye for the rest of my life.
And I know it sounds harsh, but it's all because of you. I'm so
sorry. I'm not cut out for being a superhero's girlfriend. I
guess a lot of people aren't, and, god, I never want you to be
alone. You're great. You're a little selfish and arrogant but
you know that, everybody knows that and they still love you for
it. I love you for it. And I hate that I'm the one making you
alone, but the only thing I can say is that I hope you find
somebody... hardy enough for you. Somebody that can handle the
explosions and the blood and the injuries like you. Somebody
that can relate. I'm sorry, Tony. I love you so, so much.
It didn't need to be signed. Tony knew who it was from.
For the eleventh time in a row that night, Tony set the letter
down slowly, drawing a tired hand over his face, taking yet
another swig from the bottle in his hand. Pepper was classy --
of course she'd send him a letter, instead of having to watch
his face fall herself, instead of sending an email or a
two-worded text message like he would've done. He wasn't even
angry at Pepper -- he was really more angry at himself, at the
fact that, maybe, if he'd kept her hidden away, all to himself,
somewhere safe, she would've have gotten hurt. But Tony was a
show-off -- he'd flaunted her around, he'd had his chauffeur
drive them around until he'd found a red carpet event and he'd
let her strut down it, and nobody would care because this was
Tony Stark and that was Tony Stark's girlfriend and he loved
her.
But red is a notoriously good color for a target. Tony hadn't
even had his suit with him.
It was a group of foreigners, convinced their weapons could take
down Iron Man, so that they would be the most powerful. Tony had
plowed through them easily, but they still managed to beat him
-- unintentionally, of course. They couldn't have know what the
repercussions of their actions would do to Pepper, and,
indirectly, do to him. He took another swig.
He wondered if he should call somebody -- Fury didn't give half
a damn about him, but if he called in, ready to fight anything,
maybe they'd have a job for him to do. The phone had been
ringing off the hook for three days, but he'd ignored it.
JARVIS, thankfully, asked no questions, just reminded him to
change clothes and eat the food that Dummy brought in -- but
Tony was considering ignoring even that.
✩Steve✩
"Why me?"
Bam! Pow! Steve punched the punching bag again as his normally
daily routine. After being frozen for seventy years in ice,
nothings really changed in his daily life. He gets up, eats
breakfast, and goes to the gym for most of the day. The only
exciting thing that happened to him recently was The Avengers.
Steve grabbed a towel and whipped the sweat off his face. He
made his way over to the small television set in the corner, and
turned it on.
"Bank has been broken into in Malibu by a gang of no less than
ten and has stolen what appears to be bags and bags of money.
Once again, everyone is asking; Where's Iron Man?"
Steve raised an eyebrow at the news reporters comment as he
watched ten robbers leave with bags over their shoulders stuffed
with money on the television set. Suddenly, the gym door swung
open to reveal none other than Nick Fury. "Fury? What are you
doing here?" asked Steve, hoping it was not about another
Avengers meeting to stop world destruction. "Before you ask,
it's not about The Avengers. Not exactly that is," said Nick
Fury, walking across the room to Steve.
"It's nothing too serious is it, sir?"
"No... not really. Listen Steve, we couldn't help but notice the
lack of justice here. Bad guys are getting away left and right
without any problem."
"I've noticed. The news is covered with unresolved crime."
"Let me make this short. Our friend, Tony Stark, has been
slacking off. Nobody's seen him for awhile, and people think
they can get away with anything. We've tried contacting Stark,
but no answer. I would see him myself, but if it's something
personal I'm sure he won't listen to me. We need you to check up
on Stark. Get him set on track again. He's in Malibu. Think you
can do that?"
Steve stood there for a minute, thinking. Nick Fury thought that
Tony wouldn't listen to him, but listen to Steve? I didn't have
a real problem with Tony, but he didn't seem to be a huge fan of
me. However, things were getting out of hand in the city and
someone needs to stop them. "Shouldn't be a problem, sir." Nick
Fury nodded before slowly walking to the gym door. "Oh, and
Captain, you might want to put on the suit." And with that, Fury
was gone.
Steve smiled before grabbing his bag and unzipping it to reveal
a nicely folded Captain America suit.
•••
Steve clapped his hands together to remove the dust off his
gloves after tying up the crooks that stole the money for the
police. "Now if you'll excuse me gentlemen, I'm going to have a
little chat with your friend Iron Man," Steve said to the crooks
before running off to Tony's place. When he arrived, he simply
knocked on the door and hoped for an answer.
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
Tony probably would have been content to sit there, wallowing in
his own misery, for the next couple days. He would've let the
chaos go on and the suit stay clean and dry and forgotten in the
basement, and JARVIS and Dummy would keep on keeping on while he
wasted away. He would've been happy to stay right there. It only
nobody had knocked.
"JARVIS," Tony groaned, "Check who's at the door; and if it's
Jahova's Witness again, I swear..." Tony's command was answer by
a polite, "Yes, sir," and the man waited, slumped on his couch
lifelessly, every now and again drinking to keep the tingling
numbness in his mind and the logic out.
"Sir? Captain Steve Rogers is here to see you, the hero named--"
"I know what his name is," Tony grumbled, watching as the screen
in front of him flickered to life, displaying an only slightly
disheveled looking Captain America, suited up and ready to go.
Tony got up, but instead of heading toward the door, he
sauntered his way over to the bar, fingers running along the
rims of glasses and the smooth surfaces of bottles. Meh. What he
had in his hand right now was the strongest he dared drink. He
seemed to remember, suddenly, that someone was waiting at the
door, and turned around, staring at the screen again. Tony
sighed. "Might as well let him in."
"Yes, sir."
Dummy whirred across the floor, and seconds later Tony heard the
click of the lock as the robotic arm opened the door for his
unexpected and wholly unwelcome guest.
✩Steve✩
"Why me?"
The door opened to reveal... no one. Steve was expecting to see
Tony standing there, but saw no one. "Weird," said Steve before
shrugging it off and walking to the bar room.
The smell of alcohol filled the room when Steve walked in and
caused his face to turn to one of disgust for a second. Tony had
been drinking, and he had been drinking a lot. Steve turned to
the bar to see a miserable looking Tony Stark. "Sorry to drop by
on such short notice, but Fury sent me here," said Steve, not
really knowing what to say to his old "friend".
With no response, Steve sighed. "Look. I know you don't like it
when secrets are kept from you judging from your time trying to
find out everything about S.H.I.E.L.D. during our time with the
Avengers, so let me tell you what's happening. Fury came to me
today telling me you haven't been seen for days and that you've
been letting criminals do whatever they pleased. Fury being
concerned, he sent me to check up on you and get you back into
gear." Steve wanted to make his visit as short as possible when
it came to a drunken Tony.
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
Tony watch as Steve strode in, unabashed at having been caught
with a bottle of liquor in his hand (in fact, he went ahead and
took another swig while Steve was talking). However, he couldn't
help his eyebrows shooting up a little into an expression of
vague surprise.
"Cyclops sent you?" Tony clarified, and made a little hm noise
in the back of his throat. "How sweet of him; I'll have to send
him a fruitcake." Apparently, Tony disregarded the entire point
of the conversation, opting instead to round the side of the bar
and step up to Steve, looking at him curiously. "Do you want a
drink? You should get drunk; it's fun--" He stopped, quirking
his head to the side. "Can you get drunk, with your
super-human-hyper-steriods?" he asked, waving the bottle a bit
in the air, golden-brown liquid sloshing around inside. Without
giving Steve a moment to respond, he gave a little shake of his
head. No, probably not."
Tony turned away, heading back to the couch and setting himself
down, arranging his limbs so that he was basically taking up as
much room as he possibly could. "That stinks; but more for me, I
guess -- sorry Capsicle."
✩Steve✩
"Why me?"
Steve somewhat smiled at Tony's little jokes as he always tried
to do, but frowned at Ton'y last comment. "I think you've had
enough alcohol Tony," said Steve, walking over to him and taking
the bottle of beer from him. "I came here to talk, not watch you
drink yourself to sleep. Now tell me... why are you doing this?"
Even through all of Tony's insults directed towards him, Steve
was actually staring to feel a little more concerned. What
horrible thing could break a man of iron and steel this much?
Normally I would compare him to a broken soldier, but Tony said
something once. We aren't all soldiers. Little did he know how
much of a soldier he really was and still is under all that
alcohol.
"Tony... I really want to help you with whatever is going on, so
please try to cooperate."
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
Tony's lips parted in a silent protest as Steve took the bottle
away from him, but he didn't fight it and resigned to a simple,
unhappy frown. He resorted to crossing his arms over his chest
and considering whether or not to have JARVIS kindly escort the
Captain out.
"First off, I'm a happy drunk, not a sleepy one. So I think I'm
entitled to however much alcohol I'd like. You want me to be
happy, right Cap?" Tony gave a tight-lipped smiled and made a
wild grab for the bottle in Steve's hand, but instead of
snatching it back, he completely overcompensated and ended up
rolling off the head of the couch, landing on his tailbone on
the floor. A sharp oof of air escaped his as he sat, dazed and
grimacing, before he clambered shakily to his feet.
"Disregard that; not important to the situation," he slurred,
head tilted back in a rather arrogant pose. Once again, he was
avoiding the subject, because the subject was something he
really, really did not want to talk about. "Now gimme." He
resisted trying to snatch the bottle again, instead holding out
his hand, patience just concealing anger -- not really at Steve,
but at himself. His eyes betrayed him as they flickered over to
where the open note lay on his coffee table, but he covered it
up (or at least he hoped) by sending his eyes roaming across the
entire expanse of his living room.
✩Steve✩
"Why me?"
Steve watched Tony roll off the sofa. It was pitiful how a man
could sink so low.
"I do want you to be happy Stark, but I want it to be you, not a
drunk." Steve noticed Tony's eyes dart at the coffee table where
I could see what seemed to be a slip of paper sticking out. Tony
extended his hand for the beer which Steve held tightly in his
hand, but he ignored him. Instead, he placed the bottle on the
table before quickly snatching the piece of paper. It wasn't
like Steve to pry into someone else's business, but Tony was
avoiding his question and Steve needed answers.
Steve unfolded the letter and read it quickly, his lips turning
more and more into a frown as he read.
"Tony.... I-I'm so sorry," said Steve, placing the letter back
on the table. "I can't tell you I know how you feel, because I
don't, but I can tell you I know what it's like to lose someone
you love. It's hard. Very, very hard. But you have to be
strong," said Steve, looking directly into Tony's eyes. Now
Steve felt even worse for Tony.
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
"Uh, wait a minute--" Tony started as Steve put the bottle down,
watching with an almost horrified expression as the
red-white-and-blue man made his way to the coffee table and
pulled out the slip of paper. "That's personal property--"
Pursing his lips, Tony watched Steve's face morph into something
way too sad for a man he could barely even consider a friend. He
had to turn away -- not before grabbing his bottle back of
course, downing it in a single big gulp -- he'd need to prepare
himself for whatever teary-eyed apology came next.
And, okay, there were no tears but it was bad enough -- Tony was
just glad he was as drunk as he was. He turned around, looking
at Steve with a kind of 'silly little boy' expression on his
face. "Be strong?" he repeated ruefully, "What, do I look weak
to you?" His dark eyes turned cold, his jaw set and his face an
emotionless mask. Why did Steve have to come here, and bring it
all up again? Couldn't he tell that Tony was coping with this?
Okay, so he wasn't coping very well and he imagined that if he
kept this up his liver would be a pool of disgusting goop within
the month, but he didn't care -- he just wanted Pepper to stop
tormenting his brain.
Tony turned away again, roaming over to the bar, fingers sliding
against the smooth granite countertop. He remembered when his
arc reactor had malfunctioned while he was trying to land and he
had landed roughly, as in broke through the roof and crushed
this countertop to the ground. Pepper had sighed and ordered him
another one, a replica, because he had liked it so much.
"I think you should leave," said Tony gravely, not daring to
turn around as he slammed the empty bottle onto the countertop.
"Tell Fury that he should find another hero to catch all the
pickpockets -- I've got better things to do." And that was a
lie, unless drinking your brains out was better (it was to him,
anyways) than saving people, but frankly, Tony could care less.
✩Steve✩
"Why me?"
Steve scoffed at Tony. "I think any man that thinks things are
so bad he has to turn to drinking is in one way or another weak,
but that's not what I was referring to." Steve could tell Tony
was angry, and the man had the right to be so he stayed quite as
Tony walked over to the bar and stood there for a minute.
The next thing Tony did Steve saw coming: Tony telling him to
leave.
"You know what? Even if I did leave and Fury picked another guy,
I still come back. I know you don't like me Stark, but I'm not
going to leave you like this. There are people out there who
need Iron Man, and you're just going to sit here drinking? What
happened to the man I saw take a nuclear bomb into space,
risking his life to save the world? What happened to that man
that I actually looked up to? Who I admired?" Steve stopped
right there for he had just revealed something he thought he
never say those words out loud. However, they were true none the
less. Steve did look up to him and admire him. And so did many
other people. "I know that might not mean a lot to you Stark,
but it's true. You're a great man. You're a great hero. And I'm
not about to let that hero fall.... So go ahead and kick me out,
but you know what?" Steve walked around the bar so he could look
Tony in the eyes. "I'll come right back."
At that moment, Steve realized something. Tony was his friend,
and somewhere deep inside Tony the feeling was mutual. After
all, they did make a good team when it came to fixing that
engine during their time as the Avengers.
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
Tony looked up from rifling his various other kinds of liquor to
meet eyes with Steve, defiant and frowning. "News flash, Cap:
I've already fallen," he said, keeping his voice flat. "It's
different for you -- your lady died. She didn't have a choice
whether to leave your not. Mine? Mine chose to leave, because of
what I did to her. And that..." He paused, regarding his
closeness in proximity with the man in front of him, and
side-stepped to give himself more room. "That just tells me that
I'll never be a good enough hero for her -- and if I'm not good
enough for Pepper, I'm not really good enough for anybody, am I?
Find somebody else to admire. I'm not worth it."
The speech seemed to exhaust Tony, and his hardened face fell
into one of complete and utter dejection. He didn't bother to
hide it. "That was... way too emotional for my liking," he
grumbled, and made a grab for the closest, biggest bottle of
something he could find -- it turned out to be vodka, which was
just fine with Tony, even though it would burn worse coming up
than it did going down. With that, he side-stepped again,
effectively ending up behind Steve and walking away, toward the
stairs that led to the basement. Maybe sitting in a vintage car,
looking at holographic screens, would help him relax for a
while. It was a sad day when getting drunk wasn't relaxing
enough. Maybe this was how geniuses made some of their
breakthroughs. All Tony knew was that he wanted away.
✩Steve✩
"Why me?"
Steve watched as Tony grabbed a large bottle of vodka before
going to a door that look like one to a basement. Steve sighed
before quickly walking behind Tony, and placing a firm hand on
his shoulder to stop him. "You are good enough for somebody. I
know you are. And I was once a soldier, so I think I know who to
admire and trust me, I don't admire a lot of people. You are
worth it." Steve let go of Tony's shoulder.
"I won't pester you anymore today, but I want you to think about
what I've said. Hopefully soon the world will see their hero
again. The one that they need, the one that they love, and the
one they deserve."
Steve turned around to start leaving but stopped. "By the way, I
think I will have a drink," he said before walking over to Tony
and taking the bottle of vodka from his hands. Steve took one
look at it before drinking it quickly. Lucky for him, it would
take a lot to get him drunk.
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
Tony stilled as Steve grabbed his shoulder, every fiber of his
being screaming at him to shake the super-soldier off and lock
himself in the basement with a bottle of vodka and his own
swirling thoughts, but he resisted, opting to listening to what
Steve had to say. It wasn't quite so annoying the second time --
Steve gave him nothing but praise, which, of course, Tony needed
like air. When Steve removed his hand, Tony couldn't help but
feel like a certain kind of warmth had just left his body, the
kind of empty feeling you got after pulling away from a hug.
Which was weird, because the only person who ever hugged him was
Pepper, and touching a shoulder was nothing like a hug anyways.
Once again, Tony could only give a disapproving stare as Steve
took the bottle from him, watching him down the entire thing --
which, wow, he really hadn't expected. Tony seemed speechless
for a moment until, finally, in a quiet, mumbling voice, he
said, "Don't touch my stuff." With that, Tony opened the door to
his basement lab, and slipped inside, slamming the door in
Steve's face. Okay, slamming was an exaggeration. Maybe more
like "forcefully yet also gently closing".
After that Tony chose to fly around, check out the lights of the
city. And, okay, maybe he stopped a petty thief or two. And
maybe the entire time he was beating people up he wasn't
thinking so much about Pepper, but about what Steve had said.
And maybe, just maybe, by the time he flew back home, exhausted,
a little more sober and still thinking, he went to sleep a lot
sooner and a lot better. Maybe. But that wasn't weird, right? It
wasn't weird to fall asleep with those words still in your head.
The one that they need, the one that they love, and the one they
deserve. That wasn't weird at all. It was just a lot to take it.
But it gave him what he needed for a deep, dreamless sleep.
✩Steve✩
"Why me?"
Steve sat down in a chair back home and lied his head back and
relaxed. After everything that happened today, it felt good to
rest. Steve glanced over at his Captain America suit and smiled.
Hopefully Tony thought about everything he said and pulled
himself together.
As if reading his mind, there was a knock on the door and when
Steve answered it, he was looking at Nick Fury. "Oh, come in."
Steve stepped aside to allow Fury in. "This will only take a
moment Captain," said Fury, turning around to look at Steve.
"You did well." Fury pulled out his thing that reminded Steve of
a television set but smaller and with keys. When Fury turned it
on, it showed Iron Man beating up a couple of thieves and
catching bad guys. Steve's smile grew at what he saw. Fury
closed the machine and looked back at Steve. "You did very well,
much better than I thought. What was the problem?" Steve looked
into Fury's eyes and opened his mouth, but he couldn't say what
he wanted. "I'm sorry sir, but it was personal. Even I feel bad
for finding out like I did, but I'm also glad I did it. I sorry,
but I'm not going to tell you unless Stark thinks it's okay. All
I did was find out, lift his spirits, and take away the thing he
thought was lifting his spirits." Steve almost laughed at the
thought of downing Tony's vodka.
Fury seemed puzzled, but somewhat smiled. "I understand. You're
off the hook now." Fury began to take his leave but Steve
stopped him. "Actually sir, I'm going back tomorrow. I'm glad
you told me to do this, but after I found out what happened to
Tony, it wasn't about finding out information for you, it was
about him. I've realized what a good friend he is, and I'm going
to make sure he's okay. Goodnight sir." Steve stepped aside once
again, and Fury left.
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
Tony had no idea that a bed could feel so good and so bad at the
same time.
He was glad that he was rich, that was for sure -- he sunk into
the pillows and the mattresses supported his body, feather-soft
and soothing. The blanket were tangled loosely around him, warm
and comfortable and Tony really didn't feel like leaving. But
there was also the fact that he was drunk out of his mind last
night, and that now he was hungover. So no matter how comfy his
bed was, his limbs still felt like lead (or iron, har har) and
his head felt like it was about to explode and then crumble in
on itself. He let out a child-like, pathetic moan, rolling out
of his bed and managing to get to the bathroom just in time,
where he expelled bitter, disgusting, burning vomit for too
long.
"Coffee, sir?" JARVIS offered, and Dummy was suddenly there with
a tray in its 'hand' that had a steaming mug of caffeine and a
pair of sunglasses. Tony was really glad he was a genius -- that
made his robots smart, too. Tony slowly took the cup and the
shades, sipping down liquid warmth and donning the accessory. He
looked a little comical, actually, shades over his eyes,
clinging to a cup of coffee like it was life support, his head
bowed over the rim of the toilet bowl. It'd be almost funny if
he weren't hungover out of his mind.
He just really hoped that no one found him like this.
✩Steve✩
"Why me?"
Getting up the next morning was no problem for Steve. Actually,
getting a full night of sleep was kinda like sleeping in for him
considering he was in the army. He did his usual breakfast and
dressing but this time with more speed. Steve wanted to check up
on Tony to make sure he was okay. And after all that alcohol
last night, he probably wasn't okay.
•••
Steve walked up to the giant house of Stark's and knocked on the
door just like last night and waited for it to magically open.
It was strange, last night Steve didn't really notice just how
big Tony's house was. Well, he is rich. It was very nicely
styled as well, much different from the small house Steve lived
in. But Steve liked his house. It was perfect size for one
person. And that was the way Steve thought it was always going
to be, a one-person house, and he was happy.
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
Tony allowed himself another groan as somebody knocked on the
door, and, you know, of course he had no idea who it was, even
if it was painfully obvious. He was kind of distracted right
now, what with the taste of bile in his throat and a pounding
headache -- which, by the way, did not get any better when
whoever the hell was here at nine o' clock in the morning
knocked.
He kind of almost wished it was Pepper, here to apologize, but
he remembered that she had a sprained ankle and her femur was
fractured so she couldn't walk up to his front door even if she
wanted to. Which she didn't, Tony dutifully reminded himself,
and only resisted going to find a drink because the coffee was
oh so good and warm.
"Shall I get the door, sir?"
Tony contemplated this, before deciding that anybody visiting
him at this hour (when he would usually be asleep) was either a)
crazy; or b) a salesman. "Just leave it," he grumbled, "And...
don't talk so loud." He leaned his cheek against cool porcelain,
somehow still managing the constant sip of coffee. Whoever was
at the door would leave soon enough, he reasoned, and if it was
someone important, well, then they could kick the door in for
all he cared.
✩Steve✩
"Why me?"
Steve knocked about five more times before getting a bit
impatient. He knew Tony was in there and most likely barfing his
insides out. Steve sighed before a small smile formed on his
face. "Well Tony, looks like I'm going to have to let myself
in," he mumbled before hardly kicking the door with his foot. He
wanted to open it, not destroy it. The door fell off it's hinges
and Steve stepped inside as though he was kindly invited in with
no hassle.
It didn't take long to know where Tony was with the barfing
sounds and all. Steve thought about going to the kitchen and
making some black coffee or something, but when Steve realized
how big the house was, he knew he'd get lost. On the way to Tony
however, he spotted what looked like the kitchen and walked in.
Yep, it was the kitchen. Steve quickly gathered what he needed
and made the black coffee. People these days used a thing called
a coffee maker, but Steve preferred not to use those. Instead,
he made it the old fashioned way which seemed much more
delicious to Steve.
Steve quickly grabbed the cup of black coffee and headed to
Tony's room. His room was huge and quite fancy, but Steve kept
moving until he reached the bathroom to see a sick Stark. "You
might think it's fun while you're drinking it, but it never
seems worth it in the morning," said Steve to Tony before
noticing the man already had coffee. "I made you some black
coffee, but it seems like you already handled that yourself."
Steve set the cup of black coffee on the sink and let the
delicious smell fill the room. "I saw what you did last night.
The man that everyone needs is finally returning." Steve smiled
a little, but not to much seeing as how Tony probably felt
awful. Steve also made sure to speak quietly and calmly to not
make his head throb anymore than it probably already was.
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
Each footstep closer to him got a little more irksome, and by
the time the footsteps stopped at the doorway, Tony's head-ache
was tormenting him like never before. He was vaguely surprised
when he recognized Steve's voice, though not overly so -- it
made sense, he guessed, for the man to check up on him. He made
a little harumph noise at Steve's last comment, not wanting to
admit that he was right (because Tony hated to be proven wrong)
but not denying anything either. Even if last night was a blur,
Tony felt some sense of pride for whatever it was he had done.
Something about the suit.
"So do you actually have a house?" Tony said, turning his head
to give Steve a scrutinizing squint -- not that he'd be able to
tell, with Tony's shade-covered eyes. "Or do you just go to
friend's houses and ask them if you can stay? I mean, really,
thanks for the coffee, but you'd have to pay rent." Even
tremendously hung-over, Tony's biting sarcasm never left him --
even if speaking only meant more pain for his head.
He was glad for the extra coffee, in any case, as he had
finished his first cup and needed another to get himself to his
feet. Careful not to send either mug crashing to the floor, Tony
set his empty cup on the counter above him and reached for the
next, his fingers just barely clutching the handle, and he
brought it down to his level to wrap it in both his hands so it
wouldn't fall. "Can you cook, too? Or are you a one-function
kind of guy?" Tony teased, peeking over the tops of his
sunglasses at the man standing above him, because somehow he was
the only thing it didn't really hurt to look at. He was also
kind of glad that it was Steve who had found him -- I mean,
imagine if Fury had found him like this. He'd never hear the end
of that.
✩Steve✩
"Why me?"
Steve smiled. It was actually quite amusing to see Tony try to
see so... normal even though he felt bad. Steve laughed at
Tony's comment about the paying rent. "Funny enough, I do have a
house. It's not special or big, but it's home. As for friends, I
basically only have you and the rest of the Avengers, so no."
Steve watched as Tony helplessly reached for the coffee he made
him and wished he could help more. "Cook, clean, I'm not your
average everyday Captain." Steve turned his head to see a some
sort of mechanical arm thing. "But I think you've already got
something to do that for you," said Steve, his smile growing.
"Need anything?" he asked as an after thought.
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
Tony's eyes flickered over to Dummy, the 'something' that Steve
was referring to. "Dummy?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "He's
more of a portable cup-holder. In response, the bot gave a sad
like whir and doubled over, as if hanging its head. Tony always
thought the bot was a little much to handle and could easily
replace it with something better, smarter, faster, etc, but
Dummy had kind of grown on him. It was like a small child.
"One thing I do need, though, is a hand." And of course, Tony
didn't like being handed things (even if it was hand to help him
up), so he simply grabbed Steve's arm instead and hauled himself
up, trusting the Captain was sturdy enough to not stumble and
fall at the shift in gravity. One up to his feet, he clapped
Steve on the shoulder, in passing. "Thanks Cap," Tony said,
determinedly more cheerful, oddly, like just human contact had
brightened him up. Or, maybe not human contact -- maybe just
Steve contact. The world would never know as long as Tony didn't
tell.
Once again clutching his Cup, Tony traveled slowly out of the
bathroom and down the stairs, be very, very cautious because he
really, really did not want to fall. Once he got back onto level
floor, he stared around until his gaze landed the letter that
still lay on the coffee table. Tony frowned, wanting to read it
again -- he'd practically memorized the whole thing by now, but
he kept thinking that maybe he'd catch something he didn't
before, going so far as to think of the way Pepper wrote the
letters -- like, maybe a part of the writing would be a little
shaky, break off from the sureness that was embedded into the
sentences. He'd found nothing so far, but maybe if he checked
again...
No, he thought to himself firmly. At least, not with Steve
lurking about. Maybe later, when he was alone and not hungover
and ready to drink and wallow again.
✩Steve✩
"Why me?"
I half-smiled at Dummy. "I think he's... neat," said Steve,
trying to think of a word to describe the foreign object.
When Tony said he needed a hand, Steve was about to offer one to
him but before he knew it, Tony had his arm and was pulling
himself up. His hand was warm from what Steve could tell through
his glove and his arm sort of tingled when Tony let go. The same
thing happened when Tony clapped him on the shoulder. I was
strange.... but in a good way.
Steve wanted to help Tony down the stairs, but figured Tony
would be fine and wouldn't want the help if offered. When Steve
had made his way down the stairs behind Tony he noticed him
looking at the letter. "I know what you're thinking Stark, and
it's not worth it. It won't do you any good. Also, if I have the
feeling your going to start drinking again after what you just
went through, I'm staying here all night which won't be much of
a treat for either one of us. I'm going to look after you until
the man I use to know returns. Then I'll be out of your hair for
maybe forever." Steve hated to admit it, but he didn't want to
leave Tony. He wanted to see him a lot. Steve shook these
thoughts from his head, and looked back at Tony.
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
Okay, Tony wasn't really a jumper, but he made have gotten a
little startled when Steve appeared behind him, breaking him
from his reverie and making his shoulders tense in a way that
was not a jump, dammit. Whatever. It wasn't like anybody saw
him, anyways. And if Steve knew what was best for him, he
wouldn't bring it up.
Frowning deeply, Tony turned around to face the Captain,
quirking an eyebrow. "You realize that I get that drunk on a
weekly basis?" That was a bit of a lie. More like, whenever
something really bad happened to him, which wasn't that often,
but counting that the pain of Pepper missing didn't get resolved
so easily it had been more like daily, resulting in an even
poorer mood and the worst temper imaginable. It wasn't like he'd
admit any of that, though. "How are you so sneaky, by the way?
You're like a cat--" he paused, then gave an almost
imperceptible shake of his head. Never mind."
He made his way quickly to the kitchen, trusting Cap to follow
and not get lost -- he really just wanted out of the "Letter
Room" as he was deeming to call it. His eyes flickered to the
stove, where a robotic arm (which he really had a lot of)
extended from the ceiling and was currently cooking in a pan big
enough for two. "What's on the menu, JARVIS?" he asked, and the
robotic British voice answered complyingly.
"Belgian waffles, sir. Shall I make another plate for Mr.
Rogers?"
"Might as well," Tony shrugged, wincing, "And please, quiet." He
relinquished his cup of coffee, setting it down on the
countertop and looking towards Steve. "That okay with you, Cap?"
He gave a little smile and a nod of his head, not waiting for an
answer, as was Tony Stark's signature style. "Good." It was
obvious Steve really didn't have a choice in the matter.
#Post#: 6--------------------------------------------------
Re: 1x1 || TinyGoliath & MagicNightStar
By: TinyGoliath Date: February 6, 2013, 8:08 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
✩Steve✩
"Why me?"
Steve smirked at Tony's comment about getting drunk. "Then you
better get use to me. And as for the sneaky part, army
training."
Steve glanced at the letter again, thinking. Slowly, he picked
it up and shoved it in his suit. 'Sorry Tony, it's for your own
good.' he thought. Steve was actually considering taking him out
to a club to meet some girls and socialize with other people.
Perhaps he'd ask later.
Steve walked into the kitchen after Tony decided they were
having Belgian waffles which was fine with him. "Thanks JARVIS,
they sound and smell very good," said Steve before looking at
Tony. "One question, what do you normally do when your not being
Iron Man? I mean, a rich guy like you must do a lot of
interesting things." Steve said with a small smile. It was
strange how making conversation didn't seem that hard when it
came to Tony. Probably because everything Tony says is sarcastic
in some way.
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
Tony looked at Steve curiously for a minute, as if he didn't
really get the question, but answer with his ever-constant airy
charm. Argue with senators, crash parties... this." he shrugged,
looking at Steve again over his shades. "I assume you think I'm
just really, really interesting all the time. Which is true, by
the way, don't want to start any bad rumors, but my fame has
grown so much because I'm Iron Man."
He raised his arms from his sides, as if he were displaying
himself. "I mean, I'm fabulously handsome and imperceptibly
hilarious, but no rich guy gets popular from just being funny.
Or at least I don't. The suit's my big... thing." He turned back
to grab his coffee, gulping it down again and then giving Steve
a true-blue smile -- not quite a grin, but a definite upward
turn of his lips. "You should come along with me at some point
-- maybe to a strip club or something. I'd like to see if I can
corrupt you."
✩Steve✩
"Why me?"
Steve laughed. I do think you're interesting all the time, so I
guess it is true." Steve watched as Tony raised his arms and
listen to him, and when Steve thought about it... it was true.
Tony was pretty handsome and Steve already knew he was funny in
an arrogant sort of way, but Steve liked Tony that way and
didn't mind it.
"If you ask me, you don't need the suit to be popular. Through
all your arrogance, you're easy to get along with. Of course,
this is coming from the man who thinks everyone is easy to get
along with," said Steve with a smile. Then, something strange
happened... Tony Stark actually, truly smiled. Steve thought he
might die, and actually thought about looking for a camera
before Tony's next comment. "I'd... rather you not try to
corrupt me... How about a normal club instead?" Steve suggested.
The very thought of being in a strip club disgusted Steve.
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
Tony soaked up the compliments, giving Steve a very appreciative
look that he always gave people, fingers drumming on mug. Well,
at least his smile seemed to make Steve happy. That was good.
Steve always looked best when he was happy. In a completely
non-romantic way. Of course. Tony chose to look back at the
waffles that were cooking, a little breathy chuckle escaping
him.
"No," he flat-out refused, "Normal clubs are boring -- besides,
I'm sure you'd look adorable, all flustered and uncomfortable."
Maybe that was a creepy think to say. It made Tony chuckle
again, in any case, just thinking about Steve, blushing and
surrounded by scantily clad girls. He would probably pay to see
that. "Almost done there, JARVIS?" Tony asked, because he was
starting to think about what if it were guys instead of girls
and then turning to what if it were me instead of other guys and
he really needed to shut up his thoughts because they were
really weird and really scary and what the hell was he even
thinking about?
"Almost done, sir."
✩Steve✩
"Why me?"
Steve's smile grew as Tony chuckled a bit. The way Tony
chuckled... it almost made shivers go up Steve's spine. Steve
had never seen Tony this happy. And to think that he might be
the cause of it.
What Tony said next caught Steve's attention big time. Adorable?
Steve's cheeks flushed, so he turned to look at the waffles
along with Tony. 'What is going on with Tony? What's going on
with me? thought Steve before once again shacking his thoughts.
"Trust me Stark, you're never getting me in a strip club," said
Steve to clear the tension. It was completely understandable
what was happening. Steve was still morning Peggy's death and
Tony's mourning over Pepper leaving him... they both wanted to
feel something again so they turn to the people they care about
right now... each other. At least, that's what Steve thought.
There was nothing but friendship between them.
It was almost a relief to hear JARVIS say breakfast was almost
done.
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
The awkwardness after his awkward comment didn't get any less
awkward, but it didn't get any more awkward either, and Tony was
glad for that. He was not, generally, an awkward person, even if
the past week had been nothing but. "A man can dream," he
replied offhandedly, watching as the timer on the stove gave a
little ding. Usually Tony would let his bots take care of it,
but this time Tony got the plates and doled the food out
himself, handing a plate to Steve as the mechanical arm reached
and set the syrup and butter on the table (okay, so Tony wasn't
doing everything).
Tony crossed over to the little, circular kitchen table, setting
his plate down, about to sit and enjoy a delicious meal of
Belgian waffles and maybe some orange juice mixed with a little
bit of gin is he asked JARVIS nicely, but of course it was at
that moment that his phone began to ring. Tony frowned, pulling
out the slim phone that, in truth, was mostly just a little
screen, nearly dropping it as he saw the caller ID and the
smiling face that went with it. He gave Steve an almost guilty
glance, before holding up a 'one moment' finger and turning his
back, holding up the device to his ear.
"Hello?" he said, his voice high and strained. Of course, he
already knew who it was. But she didn't need to know that.
"Tony? Hi, it's... it's Pepper...
"Pepper!" Tony said, faking surprise as his face flushed and the
light in his eyes simply seemed to disappear, shattering out of
existence like it had never been there in the first place. "Uh,
Pepper. Hi, hey, hello..."
"Hi," Pepper breathed, sounding just as flabberghasted as he
was, like she couldn't quite believe she was making this call.
"Um, I just, I thought you should know that there's this... this
promotional banquet, kind of thing, on the fifteenth, and uh,
you know, you kind of... need to go..."
"Uh, right. Banquet. Okay."
"Okay?"
"Okay. Is that all?" and maybe Tony wished she'd say no, and
that there actually wasn't a promotional banquet kind of thing
and that'd she'd called him to take him back, but of course that
was only wishful thinking.
"Um, yeah."
"Okay... Bye Pepper."
"Uh, wait, Tony?"
"Yeah?" And dammit, why did his voice have to go up an octave,
all cheery and hopeful?
"Bring a date. There's gonna be dancing and... stuff." Her
sentence seemed to linger, like a dare.
"Okay... Bye, Pepper," Tony repeated, because he wasn't going to
go down that road just to get rejected. He wasn't that stupid.
"Bye Tony."
The line went painfully dead.
✩Steve✩
"Why me?"
Steve thanked Tony as he handed him a plate with the waffles.
Steve looked at them curiously before taking a bite. "Wow! These
are great JARVIS!" said Steve with a big smile.
Suddenly, Tony's phone began to ring. Tony's face when he looked
at the phone said it all. It was Pepper. For some reason,
Steve's spirit dropped a bit. The conversation didn't last that
long and it wasn't very eventful... but the way Tony looked when
he hung up killed Steve on the inside. "What did she say?" Steve
asked quietly.
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
"Thank you, sir," JARVIS piped cheerily to Steve. It wasn't
everyday the robot was praised -- was it possible for a machine
to sound so happy?
The phone dropped from Tony's ear like deadweight, dragging his
arms down with it. He placed it on the table, as far away as
possible from him while still being on 'his' side. He slumped
into his chair, staring at his food with a vaguely sad, mostly
blank expression -- suddenly, he didn't feel so much like eating
anymore. Why was it that the very things that built Tony up were
the things that pushed him right back down again?
"It's not important," Tony mumbled, not daring to look at the
Captain. He reached for the syrup, pouring it over his waffles,
but with fork in hand he merely stabbed at it pointlessly.
"Something about a dance, thing..." And Tony was really thinking
he should just have JARVIS take all his messages from now on,
and to just smash his phone to little bits, but something
occurred to him and the vaguest hint of a smile appeared on his
face. "There's the closest opportunity for a club, though," he
said, still sounding utterly dejected, but it overlaid the
barest trace of something happier. "As long as you can find
yourself a date." Tony didn't bother to say if we can find
ourselves dates, because obviously Tony could -- it might not be
Pepper but it could be someone beautiful and intelligent and
expendable that he could leave in the morning. Hey, maybe if
booze was off limits with Steve around, Tony could just bury
himself in woman. Maybe the Captain would be too embarrassed to
stop him.
✩Steve✩
"Why me?"
Pain began to build up within Steve as he saw Tony slide the
phone away from him. Right when things were getting better....
However, Tony's comments about the dance seemed to brighten his
mood a bit. "Sounds great Tony, but.... uh.... Well, I don't
know how to dance. Nor am I any good with girls... or romance in
general..." admitted Steve. "But I'd be more than happy to some
and sit around and watch you have fun," Steve continued. Another
thing that was bothering Steve was how was he even suppose to
ask a girl out when every time he thinks about relationships he
thinks Peggy? Also, Steve would have to keep a close eye on Tony
to make sure he doesn't drink or doing anything he'll regret.
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
Tony looked at Steve in surprised, eyebrows raised slightly,
head tilted to the side. "You don't know how to dance?" he
repeated blankly. And, wow, tony really wasn't the one to judge
-- okay, so maybe he was, whatever -- but that was kind of side.
Not the tango, the waltz, anything? Sure, Tony wasn't exactly
the best, but he knew enough to get him through the night, and
maybe then some, even... and, honestly, Steve always seemed like
to kind of guy that would be the expert at slow-dancing around a
room with someone.
"Uh, no," Tony said quickly, as Steve suggested he simply sit
and watch. First off, Steve watching him dance sounded a little
weird and not pleasing at all, nope nope nope, nuh-uh. Secondly,
dancing wasn't exactly hard, and a guy like Steve could probably
learn pretty easily. "I'll teach you," Tony suddenly blurted,
and then, realizing how that probably sounded, cleared his
throat and looked down at his nearly untouched food. "If you
want," he added coolly, and, wow, he'd had no idea where that
offer had come from, because Tony Stark teaching Captain America
how to slow-dance was not something he had ever imagined.
✩Steve✩
"Why me?"
Steve's face turned a little pink in embarrassment at Tony's
question. Steve simply shook his head before taking a sip of
orange juice. "I'll teach you." Steve almost choked after Tony
said that. Why did he say that? I mean, Iron Man teaching
Captain America how to dance? That's just not something you
do....
"Okay." Steve wanted to slap himself hard in the face for saying
that. "But I must warn you, I'm a feet stepper..." he added
somewhat quickly. He didn't really know how to feel about all of
this... What is Fury walked in and caught them? What if Fury was
already watching. He did get all that footage of the Avengers to
show us so we could learn about our team mates... Steve shook
his head. No. It was better just to get the whole thing over
with so he could finally learn how to dance.
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
"Yeah? Well, I'm a screamer. Maybe that'll be enough motivation
for you to steer clear of my dear appendages." Tony gave another
no-teeth smile -- it didn't quite reach his eyes, but he
actually took a bite of food while he did so, so that made it a
little better. So in that way the arrangements seemed to have
been made, and Tony would've been perfectly content to simply
wait to teach Steve -- oh, wait, except he wasn't. Which was
weird. Oh well.
"Well let's just go ahead, then," Tony said, again surprising
himself. He licked his lips, wiped his mouth with a napkin and
stood up.
"Sir," JARVIS protested, "You haven't finished your breakfast."
"Well then put it in the oven or something, I'll eat it later,"
"Yes, sir." Was it possible for a robotic voice to sound so
dejected?
Tony ignored JARVIS, knowing he'd have to deal with the whole
Breakfast Is The Only Way to Start Your Day speech later -- oh
well, Tony thought, and kept himself from thinking it's worth
it. Coming, Capsicle?" asked Tony, pushing all the weird and
scary thoughts to the back of his mind because they were weird
and scary and talking to CAp kind of helped with that. Which...
was also weird and scary.
What had Tony gotten himself into?
✩Steve✩
"Why me?"
Steve couldn't help but chuckle a bit at Tony saying he was a
screamer, but Steve would make sure to defiantly try to avoid
his feet. Tony smiled again and it just made Steve feel... Well,
just feel. Steve quickly pushed this to the back of his mind as
something to figure out later.
Steve's eyes widened slightly at Tony wanting to get started so
soon. He was serious. Steve suddenly stood up, making the table
shake a bit and of course, embarrassing him to death. They
hadn't even started dancing and already he was making a fool of
himself. But why? "The sooner, the better I guess, right Stark?"
said Steve, attempting to make a joke out of this.
Steve turned to the claw known as JARVIS. "I'll make sure he
eats it right when we're done, JARVIS. Same goes for me. Thanks
again." Steve smiled at JARVIS, knowing that Tony probably
didn't show much affection toward the machine even though he
obviously loved it.
Steve turned to Tony and smiled. "Call me Capsicle, and perhaps
not." Steve raised an eyebrow in confusion. Why was he suddenly
being so... jokey? Oh well, he was sure Tony didn't mind.
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
Tony smirked a bit, going so far as to tap Cap's nose with his
finger (boop, hehe). "Right, sorry, I forgot, you're the Star
Spangled Avenger now, right?" He put a hand on the small of
Steve's back, guiding him -- his hand was light, but not awkward
-- just careful. He led Steve out of the kitchen and pointed him
in the right direction before letting his hand slide away -- it
wasn't really any kind of romantic gesture, it was more friendly
than anything, really.
"This way," Tony chimed, as he strode toward what he had deemed
'The Ballroom'. It wasn't actually a ballroom, it was actually
an indoor gym, but while Tony did work out he didn't have every
single odd contraption known to man inside, so he had ended up
with a huge space in the middle of the floor. And, okay, he had
danced with Pepper there and maybe that was painful to remember
but Tony was determined to not make this about Pepper. In any
case, it was a good place for dancing, or at least teaching
someone to dance, and Tony was starting to hope that Steve
really, really wasn't a close dancer.
✩Steve✩
"Why me?"
Steve quickly covered his nose with his hand after Tony's
contact with it. "The Star Spangled Avenger sounds much better,
thank you," said Steve jokingly. Tony placed a light hand on
Steve's back, and he tried to stop the shivers from going down
his back, but it was no use. It was strange, Steve never quite
could imagine Tony as a gentle person.... or a gentlemen for
that matter (which had yet to come), but then again he could.
When Tony's hand left Steve's back, Steve felt as though all the
warmth he was feeling had vanished. Friendly warmth, of course.
Besides, Steve would get plenty of... "warmth" from the dancing
lessons.
Steve walked into the room behind Tony and was quite impressed.
His gym was as big as the one Steve used and had a boxing ring
and everything. "Nice place, Stark. Perhaps as a way to repay to
repay you, I can teach you hand-to-hand combat. Not that you
need it really, but it'd be useful for you to be able to fight
well with and without the suit," Steve suggested with a smile.
Since they both obviously felt awkward about the dancing
lessons, perhaps fighting afterwards would clear the air a bit.
After all, they never did get to "go a few rounds" on the
S.H.I.E.L.D. ship.
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
"Combat?" Tony repeated, and one could be mistaken but was that
fear in Tony Stark's voice? "Why would I need to learn that,
I've got a suit that could send a whole group flying, I don't
think hand-to-hand helped me take down that Leviathan I
Jonah'd." It wasn't that Tony was scared. Okay, he was a little
bit -- getting caught without his suit would most likely result
in death, and the thought of practicing combat with a
super-soldier was kind of nerve-wracking too. But, you know,
besides all that, he wouldn't be stupid enough to go into battle
without his suit.
Unless you forget it again, a nagging voice in the back of his
head chided, and Tony frowned at himself, wringing his hands. "I
mean... just... don't break me, okay?" Tony said suddenly, his
mind changed because you know, maybe it would be a good think
that he could go a few rounds without his suit. It would've been
better for Pepper, at least. He stopped himself short, keeping
his thoughts as close-minded as possible. "Um... okay...
dancing..." Tony shook himself mentally, clearing his head and
turning back to Steve, motioning for him to come closer. "Music,
please, JARVIS," he added as an afterthought, saying please
because he didn't want JARVIS to be upset with him later. The
room slowly filled with soft, slow music that was way too
romantic for Tony's liking.
✩Steve✩
"Why me?"
Steve chuckled before smirking. "What's wrong? Is the legendary
Tony Stark afraid?" Steve joked. Tony didn't need to worry about
Steve hurting him. Sure, he might get a bit bruised, but Steve
did not want to seriously hurt Tony... at all. Tony was his
friend. A good friend, and he wasn't going to purposely hurt
him. "Trust me, you have nothing to worry about." Steve didn't
know if he was telling Tony that because of the combat or
himself because of the dancing. Either way, they didn't need to
worry... too much.
The awkwardness seemed to be going away within Steve. That is,
until the music started. It was slow... and sweet. A little too
sweet to make this any less awkward. Steve sighed. He had to
pull himself together. "Right..." he mumbled under his breath.
"Slow dancing." Steve stepped up to Tony, making sure there was
still plenty of space between them. Steve gently and carefully
took Tony's left hand in his right and placed a light hand on
Tony's right side. "Okay... now what do I need to to?" Steve
asked a little awkwardly.
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
Tony looked up at Steve, not realizing how big the guy until he
was right in front of him. Sure, he was only an inch or so
taller than Tony himself, but he had... muscles. Lot of muscles,
Tony noticed, as he put his hand on Steve's shoulder. "Now we
move around and hope it looks like we know what we're doing,"
said Tony, not serious for even a minute. He gave a little
chuckle, congratulating himself on his cleverness, but had the
sense to not joke around for too long. This was awkward for both
of them -- Tony could feel heat radiating between their bodies,
even at this respectable distance -- he kind of wanted it over
quickly, to stop the blush creeping up on his face. Damn, since
when did he start blushing?
"But really... um, there's not much to it. Forward, right, back,
left, repeat." Tony stepped in time with the music, gently
pushing or pulling Steve to and fro, leading even though he was
kind of in the girl's position. He stopped, nodding his head at
Steve, "Now you," he said coolly, "And don't be afraid to spice
it up." Tony gave a little smirk as he tried to not imagine
twirling about the gym like a teenage girl.
✩Steve✩
"Why me?"
Steve chuckled at Tony's comment, feeling a little less awkward.
Steve could tell Tony was looking at his muscles and Steve had
to admit, Tony was pretty muscular himself.... with out
superhero steroids.
Steve's grip around Tony's waist a bit when Tony took the lead
and started dancing, but Steve quickly loosened it. He looked at
Tony's face to see it was... pinkish. Was he blushing? Steve
smiled slightly. 'He must be really uncomfortable doing this.'
he thought. However, Steve could feel his face becoming slightly
warmer. Why was he starting to blush?
Steve took a deep breath and nodded. "I'll try my best. I'm
truly sorry if I step on your feet," said Steve before he
followed Tony's instructions, stepping forward, right, back,
left, repeating. Steve smiled because he was actually doing
pretty good. So far he hadn't stepped on Tony's feet or even
looked at his feet. He just looked at Tony. Not exactly in the
eyes, of course because Tony was obviously uncomfortable or
something. Steve remembered Tony saying to spice it up, but how?
How could Steve spice it up without freaking Tony out? 'One
spin, just one spin.' thought Steve before spinning Tony
perfectly. Steve's smile grew. This wasn't that hard... yet.
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
As Tony had thought he would be, Steve was kind of flawless when
it came to dancing, and, okay, maybe Tony was kind of enjoying
it. But that wasn't weird, right? Dancing was fun, even if it
was with a guy with really big muscles and a nice smile and
really, really blue eyes -- Tony stopped himself there. He kind
of had to, anyways, because it was at that moment that Steve
decided to twirl him around. And it was nice, really, perfect on
Steve's part -- it was just that Tony didn't really expect it.
So with all the grace of a one-legged elephant, Tony twirled and
tumbled, right onto Steve's broad chest, the breath knocked out
of him slightly. "Sorry Cap," he said, preparing to push himself
away -- before he looked up, that was. He got kind of lost,
then, because Steve was kind of looking down at him with those
really blue eye and his breath was kind of minty and it was
really nice--
"AND I-I-I WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOUUU I, WILL ALWAYS LOVE YOUU--"
"Not funny, Jarvis!" Tony yelled over the ear-shatteringly loud
music that the quiet, slow tune had been changed to. Out of the
corner of his eye, Tony could see Dummy poking its kind-of-head
into the gym, wondering what was going on. He pushed away from
Steve quickly, hoping his ears weren't too red.
"I thought it was quite funny, sir," JARVIS said smugly, and
Tony could not believe that his robot was actually getting
payback. The music stopped, though, thankfully, and Tony rubbed
his temples, trying to treat his poor headache (Also his
sunglasses are just gone, I don't care where they went but they
just disappear or something after they went into the gym xD).
"Sorry," Tony repeated to Steve, opening his eyes to look at the
Captain again. "There's not a lot more too it than that, though,
unless you want to learn the waltz, or something..." Tony was
very careful to keep his voice level, so it would not betray how
very awkward he was feeling. Had he really just done that
extremely cliche thing, looked up into Steve's eyes and froze?
Why had he done that anyways? Because it had been awkward --
really awkward -- and geez, Tony wished he was drunk so that
tripping would have been a normal thing.
✩Steve✩
"Why me?"
Everything was going smoothly until Tony tripped while spinning.
Steve hit the ground hard, but it didn't really hurt. He just
wanted to know if Tony was okay. He looked down to ask but found
Tony starring into his eyes, and Steve was kind of enjoying it.
Enjoying it? Before Steve could think anymore on the matter, a
certain song started blasting, making everything more awkward.
Steve chuckled strangely.
Steve lifted himself up after Tony moved and brushed himself
off. "It's fine. I probably should have warned you, huh?" asked
Steve with another small chuckle. "Are you okay?" he asked,
hoping Tony didn't get hurt.
Steve scratched the back of his neck and smiled slightly. "I
think that's enough dancing for now. How about I teach you
something?" suggested Steve, motioning toward the boxing ring.
"I promise if I hurt you, you can hurt me back with your suit
later."
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
"Fine, fine, I'm fine..." Tony said, brushing himself off. That
song still seemed to be echoing around the room a little, and he
frowned, looking up at the ceiling. "Cut it out, Jarvis," he
warned, "Or I'll reprogram you to talk like a Southern lass."
"I have no idea what you're talking about, sir, it's simply an
echo," the bot said innocently, but the music faded completely
and Tony was able to relax a little more, without getting
terribly embarrassed. He turned back to Steve like he had just
realized the man was actually talking to him, eyes flickering to
the boxing ring as Steve motioned to it.
"Teach me," he repeated blankly, and then something seemed to
click and his eyebrows shot up. "Oh, right combat -- yeah, okay,
let's-- let's go--" He was babbling, he realized, and quickly
shut himself up.
✩Steve✩
"Why me?"
Steve couldn't help but laugh a little at Tony's irritation, but
quickly pulled himself together.
Steve nodded and smiled at Tony's comment about training. He
walked toward the ring and stopped about a foot away from it to
remove his shirt. He was still wearing an undershirt, of course.
He threw his shirt over one of the ring ropes before climbing
in. Steve looked back at Tony, widening his smile. "Coming, big
shot?" he asked. Steve was really looking forward to this. Not
the possibility of hurting Tony, but repaying him for the
dancing which was simple enough. Hopefully no one would fall on
anyone this time.
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
Steve's undershirt really did not leave much to the imagination
in terms of imagining him shirtless -- not that Tony imagine
Steve shirtless. Because that was weird. This, in general, was
all very weird. At least he wasn't thinking about Pepper.
"I think 'little shot' would be a better description," Tony said
as he climbed into the ring, "That's part of the reason people
are impressed, because my little shots pack such a big punch..."
he spread his hand in front of him, mimicking the way his suit
fired its repulsor ray. "Not the point, though, I guess --
people tell me I over-analyze things." He shook his head, trying
to clear all the random thoughts, and put his fists up, in the
stance Happy had taught him (and Happy hadn't taught him much
else).
"Okay, so uh, now what?"
✩Steve✩
"Why me?"
Steve once again chuckled at Tony. No one could make Steve
chuckle this much except Tony. "Put those down, little shot,"
said Steve, gently lowering Tony's arms. "First I'll teach
takedowns... Not all of them, but a simple one. You ready?"
Steve asked, looking into Tony's eyes for any sight of
nervousness or something. Steve had to be as gentle as he could
with Tony.
Feeling it was okay to move along, Steve slowly wrapped a foot
around the back of one of Tony's "This is if some one takes you
by surprise and grabs your shoulder or something. You can also
do it with your back toward them. Now I'm going to make you
fall, are you ready?" Steve asked again. This time he was going
to warn Tony before he did something so Steve wouldn't take him
by surprise again.
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
Tony put his arms down, feeling a little foolish, trying to
listen to Steve but all he could imagine was messing up terribly
and breaking his neck or something. It was obvious, in his eyes
and his expression, how nervous and unsure he was -- he didn't
even try to hide it. Maybe it would help Steve go easy on him if
he saw him all shaken.
"Am I... supposed to be ready?" Tony asked, eyeing Steve warily,
"Doesn't that kind of defeat the purpose of falling? I mean, if
you're prepared to fall you're obviously not going to fall, it's
like expecting the unexpected, but you're expecting it so the
unexpected becomes... irrelevant..." Alright, maybe he was
stalling, just a little bit. That was fine. He wasn't used to
falling, anyways. He usually had big thrusters on his boots to
stop him from doing that.
✩Steve✩
"Why me?"
Steve could tell that Tony was nervous, but when he started
rambling on, Steve could on smile evilly. Steve quickly pulled
his foot forward a little harder than he expected, causing Tony
to fall to the ground. "What was that you were saying, Tony?"
Steve asked. It felt kind of good to teach Tony a lesson or two,
but suddenly the thought of hurting Tony returned. "Are you
okay?" Steve asked quickly, offering Tony a hand. What was Steve
thinking, putting that much force into taking Tony down? Steve
would never forgive himself if he had hurt Tony badly.
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
With a heavy oof, Tony landed on his back, hard, and the air
whooshed out of his lungs. His eyebrows had disappeared into his
hairline and he had a shocked, but dazed kind of expression on
his face, as if he didn't really understand what had happened.
He, slowly, came to his senses, and looked up at Steve -- well,
maybe more like glared, really.
"Nothing I can't handle," he said dismissively, ignoring Steve's
hand, pushing himself up without any help. He stood up, and
something wobbled in his chest. He poked at his arc reactor
suspiciously, to find that, somehow, it had halfway dislodged
itself when he hit the ground. Tony pushed on it slightly,
clicking it back into place, and looked back at Steve. "You
tripped me," he accused, vague surprise still hidden in his
voice. "If I weren't so offended I'd congratulate you."
✩Steve✩
"Why me?"
Steve smiled guiltily as he lowered his hand. He watched as he
pushed his reactor back into place, making Tony feel worse. He
could not do anything like that again. "I'm full of surprises,"
said Steve, trying to make himself feel a bit better. "Okay...
how about we move on to disarming, which should be useful for
you." Steve carefully took one of Tony's arms and positioned his
fingers as if he were holding a gun. "Now, you raise your hands
to about shoulder level as if you’re saying that you surrender
and you don’t want to fight. The first thing that you need to do
is to get out of the way while disarming the assailant. There
are a lot of ways on how you can do so. A popular and effective
way is to slide to the left while you grab his right arm with
your left hand. You’re going to use your forearm to apply
pressure on the side of the gun as you push it towards the
assailant. This unnatural position will lead to him letting go
of the gun," said Steve, doing each step as he said without
hurting Tony.
"Also, slaps. Make sure you cup your hand instead of flattening
it." Steve took Tony's hand again and posed it correctly for a
slap. "Slapping the person in the ear would probably be the most
effective thing to do."
Steve thought for a moment about something else he could show
him. "Death strikes. There are vital areas in the body that can
cause death or permanent damage when hit with enough force. The
throat is the most vulnerable as it’s also the softest. You can
also hit him on the temple or top of his head."
Steve was running out of simple things to teach Tony until he
thought of something. "And last but not least, the flip. The
best way to do it is to take your arms and wrap them under the
other persons so they can't get away." Steve wraped his arms
under Tony's before looking back at him. "Get ready, I'm going
to flip you." Steve lifted Tony and flipped him, but halfway
through it, Steve lost balance and fell.... right on top of
Tony, no doubt knocking the air out of him.
Steve felt as though he was glued onto Tony as he stared at him,
his muscles, his face, his eyes.... Wow, Steve had never
realized how sparkling his eyes were. Steve quickly pushed this
aside and pulled himself together. "Today's just not our day,
huh?" said Steve before getting up and offering his hand yet
again to Tony.
#Post#: 7--------------------------------------------------
Re: 1x1 || TinyGoliath & MagicNightStar
By: TinyGoliath Date: February 6, 2013, 8:10 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
Tony tried to be as compliant as possible, letting Steve move
him around and hit him upside the head (okay, so that was an
exaggeration but Tony was good at exaggerating). Of course, it
wasn't as if protesting was going to do any good, but he still
opened his mouth, about to do so when Steve decided to teach him
the flip. Tony could already imagine how that would go -- he'd
end up on his back again.
As it turned out, Tony wasn't wrong, but he was pretty sure
Steve messed up somewhere too, because he was almost positive
that the position they ended up in was way to compromising to be
right for battle. Subconsciously, Tony had put his arms up to
defend himself, and his hands were now resting gently on Steve's
very big, muscle-y arms. The first thing that occurred to him
was that Steve was very, very warm, and would be very
satisfactory as a blanket -- and that was weird again, so Tony
went back to feeling awkward. He looked at where his hands were
before his eyes flickered back up to Steve's face, and he
managed a little smirk.
"Careful, Rogers," Tony said, patting Steve's arm as the Captain
rolled off of him. Steve stood up, offering Tony a hand, and
this time Tony begrudgingly took it, brushing himself off for
the second time that day once he was up. "I think you'll
probably be at fault for my death," Tony said, joking, of
course, though he couldn't help but think that Steve was
perfectly capable of that. He'd already killed his back.
✩Steve✩
"Why me?"
Steve tried to laugh, but he couldn't help but think... about
Tony. Why did Steve keep telling himself how... handsome he was?
Steve shook his head, getting rid of the thoughts. "I'm really
sorry. I'm sure your back is bruised if anything." Steve tried
to think of more to say, but couldn't. All he could think of was
how incredible Tony was. 'We're just friends, we're just
friends,' Steve repeated in his mind.
"Well... uh... Thanks for the lessons, and I hope you learned
some things from me... Um... I need to get going and find a
date," said Steve, feeling incredibly awkward, and wanting to
get away from Tony for awhile so he would stop thinking about
him. "I'll see you tomorrow Tony."
Steve quickly grabbed his shirt and left.
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
Steve announced his need to leave, and Tony couldn't help the
regret that pierced through him. Okay, so time with Steve was
little confusing (no, it wasn't, because that would involved
Tony being confused and he wasn't, just awkward, and he would
tell himself that until he believed it), but it was also fun and
Tony really just felt like he'd be a lot happier if Steve
stayed. But he couldn't say that, now could he?
"Just don't... fall on anybody else!" he called after the
Captain, waiting until the house was completely silent to give a
heavy sigh.
* * *
Later, when the sky was dark, Tony flew around again, but there
was nothing that night to take his confusion out on, and he came
back home unsatisfied. His hangover was gone by then, so he
settled himself down on the couch with a glass of scotch and
attempted to clear his mind. It was only then that he noticed
the letter was gone.
Tony had a sneaking suspicion of where it had disappeared to,
but that didn't stop him from looking for it, under the coffee
table and the couch, between the cushions, on every feasible
surface until he was curled up against the wall, head in his
hands and drunk out of his mind again. He told himself that it
wasn't important, he knew it wasn't, but he couldn't help but
feel like a piece of him, that final part of Pepper, had been
ripped forcefully away from him. He maybe wasn't quite so drunk
as last time, just drunk enough so that by the time he fell
asleep, the blonde hair and blue eyes he was thinking about
wasn't Pepper's.
And, you know, when he was drunk, it wasn't really that weird.
✩Steve✩
"Why me?"
The next day, Steve got ready for the dance even though he had
made no effort to find a date. He just.... didn't want to. Steve
put on a pair of white dress pants with a white tux, navy blue
shirt, and a red rose to pin onto his tux. Steve looked into his
tiny cracked mirror and smiled. He has never worn his tux before
and he thought it looked quite nice. And of course, he stuck
with his red, white, and blue.
•••
Steve slowly walked up to Tony's house, deciding to check up on
him and to see who his date was. Last night, Steve felt a tiny
bit jealous at the thought of Tony having a date, but Steve
spent all night getting those feelings out of him. Now they were
gone, and Steve was positive they were just friends.... Right?
Steve knocked on the door and waited for JARVIS to answer.
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
Tony had a feeling that he was gaining some resistance to
alcohol -- his hangover in the morning wasn't nearly as bad, and
was gone by the time afternoon rolled around, which was good
because that meant Tony could remember that he had a
banquet/dance/promotional whatever it was in about an hour. He
donned a suit, slate grey, powder blue underneath, and, of
course, a bowtie. The doorbell seemed to ring as soon as he had
finished, and, feeling productive, he actually went to answer it
instead of having JARVIS get it.
"Hey Steve," Tony greeted as he opened the door, straightening
his bowtie and giving Steve a little smile. He seemed to have
abandoned the attempt to come with any other mocking nicknames
for now -- I mean, there was the chance that Tony actually
respected Steve enough to call him by his actual name now, but,
pssh. "Don't you look dapper -- come in, come in." he ushered
the Captain inside, again leading him by a hand on the small of
his back, although this time it wasn't quite so careful -- he
made it's presence very obvious.
"Where's your date?" Tony asked as an after-thought, making his
way farther down the hall, into the living room. He kicked the
empty bottle of scotch under the couch, because for some reason
he felt a little ashamed of it around Steve. Tony himself hadn't
found a date, but he'd realized that he hadn't really wanted
one. He'd looked through the names in his contacts, picked out
the ones that he could actually remember the faces of -- Monica,
Jessie, Annabelle (he skipped over Pepper, of course), but in
the end he had set down his phone and resigned himself to going
alone.
✩Steve✩
"Why me?"
The door opened and Steve expected to see JARVIS, but instead
saw Tony all dressed up. Steve felt like kicking himself because
the feelings he had had last night were returning, especially
when Tony place his hand on Steve's back to guide him in. This
time Tony's hand was more firm and Steve.... he didn't know what
to think, and since when did Tony start calling him Steve? "You
look quite smart yourself... Have you been drinking?" asked
Steve, smelling the alcohol on his breath. Steve took the letter
from Pepper away from Tony to prevent this, and he still does
it?
"I should be asking you the same question," said Tony, looking
around for Tony's date. "I didn't really have much luck..."
Steve admitted afterward.
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
"Of course I've been drinking," Tony said, deciding it best not
to lie about that, for some odd reason, "It's one of the many
things that I'm very good at." He turned his head to give Steve
a pointed stare, as if to say by the way, I know what you took.
He turned back, grabbing his phone from a table up against the
wall, slipping into into his front pocket.
"I just decided to go lone wolf this time," Tony explained, even
if he would prefer to be going with somebody -- Tony always had
somebody at his side, even if it was only one time. He was
naturally surrounded by people. It was foreign to be alone.
"Hey, here's an idea," he suddenly piped, "We can go together."
Of course, that sounded terrible, so Tony cleared his throat,
clarifying, "I mean, we're already, technically, going together,
so no plans to be made... as friends, of course," he added,
almost as an afterthought.
✩Steve✩
"Why me?"
Steve raised an eyebrow at Tony when he shot him a certain look.
Steve just shrugged it off for the time being. "Tony... You need
to stop with the dr-" Steve sighed. "Never mind. What I say
obviously isn't going to change your mind from doing stupid
things. I just wish you'd try." Steve shook his head, knowing
that Tony probably didn't care about what Steve was saying.
Steve's eyes widened slightly at Tony's suggestion of going to
the party together as friends. "That sounds fine with me." Steve
smiled. He was very happy that Tony didn't have a date either.
Looks like things weren't going to be so bad after all. "We
should probably get going then, huh?"
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
Tony gave Steve a curious look, wondering if his concern was
genuine. Even Pepper hadn't tried to stop him drinking -- she
may swat his hand away from another bottle, or give a heavy sigh
when he was passed out on the couch, but for the most part
nobody had actually shown any interest in actually helping him.
Well, the sentiment was nice, at least. He still wouldn't stop,
though.
"I assume you've never heard of the term 'fashionably late'?"
Tony said, as Cap popped the question about leaving. He gave a
terse little smile, clapping the man on the shoulder and walking
past him, towards the front door. "Yeah, let's go," he added,
because he didn't really feel like seeing Steve's sad, blue,
puppy-dog eyes again. And he really wanted to show off his car.
✩Steve✩
"Why me?"
Steve smiled at Tony's comment about being fashionably late and
nodded when he said let's go. Steve was took a step forward to
go, but stopped. "Tony, before we go, I'm really sorry about how
I left last night. I wanted to stay longer it was just.... I've
had a lot on my mind recently," said Steve. 'You idiot, why'd
you have to put it that way? What else could you possibly have
on your mind except Tony?' Steve sighed quietly. "Not that you
haven't had a lot on your mind, but... you know." Steve stopped
right there, and walked out the front door. "By the way, I've
heard a lot about your car." Steve chuckled a bit.
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
Tony's head tilted a little to the side, looking thoughtful.
Naive as he was, he couldn't imagine what Steve would have on
his mind. Maybe he was having PTSD over the whole 'waking up
seventy years later' thing. That could have some effect on you,
right? Tony watched as Steve passed him and headed out the door,
eventually following along.
"I have lots of cars," Tony corrected Steve, "But you're right,
you've probably heard about all of them at one point or
another." He darted ahead of his friend (and when Steve had gone
from friendly to friend, he didn't know), going so far as to
open the passenger door to the glimmering Lambo outside.
✩Steve✩
"Why me?"
Steve smiled when Tony opened the door for him. Steve took a
second to look at Tony's car before thanking him, and climbing
in. "I have to say, much different than the cars we use to have
back in the day." Steve still wasn't use to all the advanced
things and changes in the world, but he was glad to be a part of
it. After all, if he'd died in that plane crash he would have
never met Tony... just his father. Thinking about Howard somehow
made Steve's friendship with Tony a little more awkward... But
why?
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
Tony gave a little smirk toward Steve as he slid into the
driver's seat and pulled out of the drive-way. "Different as
in... better," Tony said, "Did the cars in your time even have
cup-holders?" Tony chuckled to himself, and then realized that
Steve probably didn't like to talk about that past very much. He
wouldn't, at least.
"How's the whole 'blending back into society' thing going for
you, anyways?" he asked, not wanting to pry, but-- oh, who was
he kidding. Of course he wanted to pry. "Is fitting into the
future as hard as you thought it would be?" Okay, so he kind of
needed to shut up before Steve got upset. Curiosity truly did
kill the cat.
✩Steve✩
"Why me?"
Steve lowered his head to look at his feet at Tony's first
question. Steve smiled a bit though. "No... they didn't." Steve
glanced at a cup holder, and his smile grew a little. "It's
been... difficult. I mean, it's not like I'm really trying to
blend in. I avoid places with lots of high-tech gadgets... As a
matter of fact, I try to avoid places in general. I stay home
mostly and go to the gym. That's about it. But now I have a new
place to go..." Steve looked up at Tony and smiled. Steve was
glad Tony was driving because that way he couldn't really pay
attention to Steve's expressions.
"It strange to think this whole thing started because of Nick
Fury... I'm glad he chose me to check on you instead of someone
else." Steve whispered that last part, but not quiet enough to
wear Tony couldn't hear him. It was true, Steve really owed Fury
now. Perhaps he would thank him and give him an update on Tony
later.
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
Tony nodded as Steve explained, keeping his eyes on the road
only because he didn't trust himself to keep his expression
level. "Well, lucky you, now you have the best mentor you could
ask for. Keep hanging around me and you'll be another me." Tony
seemed to consider this for a moment, before adding, "Actually,
not really. But you'll be close enough."
Steve whispered the last part, so Tony had to lean a little
close to catch it, feeling a hint of surprise at the words.
"Really?" He sounded flattered, though, obviously, surprised.
"Why's that?" Of course, Tony had an unshakable feeling that he
already knew the answer, but there was nothing wrong with
validating it, right? Even if it made Steve extremely
uncomfortable -- ah, why'd he have to be so curious.
✩Steve✩
"Why me?"
Steve thought about Tony's question. Yeah, why's that? Steve
wanted to say because I got a friend out of all of it, but that
just didn't seem fitting enough. Steve sighed when thoughs
feelings came back to him. The ones about Tony.... How
incredible he was, how handsome he was, how perfect he was.
Steve shook his head furiously. Why wouldn't those thoughts go
away? Steve wondered if Tony had seen him shaking his head or
not, so he apologized in case he did.
"Because anyone else would have torn you to shreds out of
frustration," Steve joked. Joking about it was much better than
giving the answer Steve had wanted to say. "As for the becoming
like you, I wouldn't be surprised if it's already happening,"
Steve said with a chuckle. "Hey, who knows? Maybe soon you'll
start becoming more like me." However, Steve didn't want Tony to
change. He liked him as the arrogant, selfish, narcissist he's
grown attached to who makes sarcastic comments every minute. But
hey, it would be nice to see Tony truly smile some more and
laugh and chuckle a bit more.
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
Tony shrugged, nodding in agreement to Cap's statement. He had a
point. Hell, imagine if it had been Fury come up to check on
him. The man would have torn him to shreds. He and Clint would
banter back and forth until one of them got tired of it and ran
away, Natasha would just crush him like a bug, and Bruce would
get all exasperated if the conversation was going nicely. If it
wasn't, he'd get angry and Tony would be a pancake in the
morning. He was grateful, he supposed, that Steve had been there
-- patient, puppy-eyed Steve, the man that he had definitely not
fallen asleep thinking about last night.
Tony gave a little half-hearted grin as Steve spoke again,
giving a little shake of his head. "Sorry, not gonna happen," he
laughed, and, then, because he was thinking to much about
becoming one with Steve or whatever the hell was going on in his
mind, he leaned down to turn on the radio. AC/DC blasted through
the speakers, a song that held some kind of vague significance
to him... and then he remembered. Back in Black. It had been the
song that was playing while he traveled through Afghanistan, the
one that had been playing when the Hummer had been pocketed with
shrapnel, probably still been playing when Tony had stumbled
outside and nearly gotten blown to bits.
Frowning, he cut the radio back off.
✩Steve✩
"Why me?"
Steve squinted a bit due to the sun as he looked out the window.
That's when he heard it.... Tony's laughter. Steve looked at him
and smiled the biggest smile he could muster at the moment. When
Tony laughed it seemed to make Steve happier. Just watching the
man be happy after only two days ago he was so miserable. Could
Steve really have that much affect on the man?
Steve almost jumped when Tony began to blast his rock music.
Steve wasn't really a fan of rock... or loud music, but he could
probably learn to get use to it being around Tony. Suddenly, the
music stopped. Steve turned back to Tony, a bit confused.
"What's wrong? I thought you loved rock music, especially when
all the cars around you can also hear it." Steve grinned, but
the look on Tony's face made him frown. "What's wrong?" he
repeated.
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
Once again, Tony found himself trying to shrug the question off,
taking care not to look Steve in the eye. "Uh, nothing, you
know, it's just that, bad... memories... are... associated...
with that song..." He forces the words out one by one, careful
not to reveal to much. It was a stupid reaction, really. I mean,
it even sounded silly, even in his own head. Oh, yeah, sorry, I
just got upset because this is the song that played when I was
really scared and in a foreign country. He was Tony Goddamn
Stark, not some scared little boy.
And, yet, Tony Goddamn Stark still found himself feeling a
little guilty, because Steve deserved more than a lie from him.
He deserved a lot more, because he had been to one to make him
miraculously feel better and put up with all his crap and oh god
what was he even talking about? He shook himself out of his
thoughts, drifting into safer territory. He turned to Steve to
give what he hoped was an encouraging kind of smile. "Don't
worry about it," he told Steve, but something about his tone of
voice said that Tony himself was definitely worrying.
✩Steve✩
"Why me?"
Steve listened to Tony very carefully before nodding. "I am
going to worry about it, but I'm not going to press the matter
anymore. I just want you to know you can tell me anything. I
won't judge you. I'm not going anywhere." Steve tried to put as
much emotion as he could into those word to let Tony know he
meant them. "You don't have to be alone anymore, Tony. You got
me."
Steve looked at Tony, and couldn't seem to take his eyes off
him. There was so much this man was hiding from everyone, and
Steve just wanted to know it all so he could tell Tony
everything was going to be alright and mean it and for it to be
true. Steve's biggest dislike now seemed to be when Tony was
upset, or worried, or troubled because it made Steve hurt to, to
see his friend like that.
Steve finally managed to take his eyes off Tony, and focus on
the window in front of him.
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
Tony's driving slowed for a moment -- it seemed like he was
trying to process it all, his jaw set and his eyes set straight
ahead. It was... a lot to take it. Especially since Steve
sounded so sincere, so caring, and damn, had anybody ever said
anything like to him before? In between all the hustle and
bustle of being famous Iron Man, had anybody really taken time
to consider what he'd been through? Sure, he didn't want a pity
party, but he still had nightmares about bleeding out in the
rotten sands of Afghanistan, or getting left behind while he
watched a nuke bloom on the Chitaque home-base. He was Tony
Stark, and he was, maybe, a little broken.
"Um... yeah, I know. I know you got me," Tony choked out -- it
felt a little weird to say, but he had to say something and it
was the closest he could get to thank you without getting all
choked up. He glanced over and Steve, and my god he was staring
at him with soulful blue eyes that would be so easy to get lost
inside if only he would let himself -- he looked away, at almost
the same time Steve did, fingers gripping the steering wheel
tight to keep from roaming over and touching Steve, any part of
him, maybe hold his hand and god bless America they were finally
here.
Tony pulled up to the sleek, very modern-looking building,
letting out the breath he didn't know he'd been holding and
quietly as he could. "We're here," he said needlessly,
scrambling out of the car, because being is such close proximity
with this man was going to make him do some very stupid things.
✩Steve✩
"Why me?"
Steve could tell Tony was about to lose it, and Steve couldn't
take it very much either. Tony was already getting a bit choked
up. "Tony Stark.... What has the world done to you?" Steve
whispered under his breath. The way Tony was on the verge of
breaking down.... Steve held his breath, trying to stop a tear
from falling down his face. Has the world really shown Tony
hardly any compassion? Steve wanted nothing more than to reach
over and hold his hand. To prove to him that he is there for
Tony.
Suddenly, Tony announced there arrival. Steve watched as Tony
quickly got out of the car, and Steve followed his example. The
sooner they get into the party, the sooner they both could feel
a bit more... normal.
Steve caught up with Tony and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Hey. Not a lot of booze now," said Steve before letting Tony
go. He didn't want Tony to drink a lot if anything at all, but
the true reason Steve did that was just so he could touch Tony.
And just that simple touch brightened Steve's mood.
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
Tony's moment with the Captain was over -- he had forced all
that weirdness back in the corner of his mind, and was
determined to not let it surface again because he would probably
have a speech to give and some kind of award to accept that was
just as meaningless as all the others. He kind of wish he'd paid
more attention to JARVIS when he'd given all the details, but
knew it probably wouldn't matter in any case.
Steve caught up to him and clapped a hand over his shoulder, and
this time, instead of the familiar warmth, Tony felt an eletric
shock go down his spine -- he barely repressed a shudder. Maybe
it was just because he was startled, but Tony wasn't startled
easily unless it was because of this man. What was he even
doing?
"Yes, mother dearest," said tony as Steve spoke, looking up to
give him a genuine grin. He was forcing all the weird feelings
and the electric shocks back for now, trying to go back to their
normal, playful banter that had been taken up. With that, he
broke his gaze (not really trusting himself to look at Steve any
longer), and pushed the doors open to the whatever-it-was.
Immediately, all the civilized people in their gowns and tuxedos
quieted, turning to look at him, and suddenly there was a clamor
to be the first to say hello. Tony took a step back, cursing
himself for forgetting to bring Happy along -- when an idea
struck him. "You're big enough to be a bodyguard, aren't you?"
Tony asked, turning to Steve, his eye pleading for help as hands
reached out to shake his. Tony really didn't have a problem with
attention -- he was just, you know, used to having so much be
kept at bay.
✩Steve✩
"Why me?"
Steve smiled at Tony's comment, and smiled even more when Tony
grinned.
As if Tony had a target painted on him, right when they walked
through the door people went crazy. Then again, who wouldn't go
crazy for Tony? Wait. What? Steve pushed this thought away. "Yes
sir, Mr. Stark," Steve said with a wink as he stepped in front
of Tony. "That's enough, people. Mr. Stark needs his personal
space. I'm sure you'll all get a chance to say hello to him as
long as it's in an orderly manner." Steve smiled at the crowd of
people, but frowned at the next thing someone in the back said.
"Is that Captain America?" Suddenly, people began to go nuts
again, but this time over him. Steve tried to be nice about it,
but after a minute it got old. "Hey, hello, hi.... HEY! Same
rules apply to me as well!" Steve said loudly, causing the crowd
to go dead silent. "Now... everyone please go back to the way
you were before we arrived." People followed his instructions
instantly as if he had a gun pointed at them. "Better?" Steve
asked Tony.
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
Tony watched the room around him dead-pan, smirking slightly
behind the muscle-y mass guarding him. "Oh, you're good at
this," he said, "Maybe I should hire you full-time." With that,
Tony put on his biggest fake smile on and made his way through
the crowd, who obediently parted way for him. He'd shake the
hand of people who broke through the pack, grinning and greeting
all the way to the stage.
"Thank you, thank you... oh, thank you..." Just as Tony was
about to climb the stairs to the stage, he snagged a champagne
flute from a passing tray, giving Steve a wink as he clambered
up to the podium. He looked down up the expect faces of the
People, organizing a short speech quickly in his head. "Steven
Rogers, ladies and gentlemen." Tony motioned to the blonde that
had been guarding him, "Great, superb bodyguard, some of you may
know him as Captain America... but he will remain, always and
forever in my heart, as Capsicle." There were a few laughs, a
few appreciative whoops for the Captain from the audience. With
that forethought out of the way, Tony was able to wrap it up
quickly.
"So... I have absolutely no idea my I'm here," he admitted, and
there were the oh, silly Tony giggles, along with the Wait, is
he serious? laughs. He continued, "But I'm sure it's for some
great cause, in any case-- you all look great, that's for sure
-- and uh, once I'm drunk enough and I know what's going on, I
will, hopefully, come back up and make myself look smarter.
Thank you." He didn't dare try to ramble, simply smiled again
and clambered back down to quiet applause.
✩Steve✩
"I won't judge you.
I'm not going anywhere.
You got me."
"Anything you say, sir," said Steve with a smile. Then Steve
watched as Tony put on his fake smile that he used for just
about everybody.... everybody except him.
Tony made his way to the stage, and Steve made sure he could see
him all the way. When Tony winked at Steve with his new glass of
champagne, Steve mouthed the words, "Just this once." while
still keeping a smile on his face.
Steve was a bit shocked when Tony "introduced" him to everybody.
Normally, Tony kept his speeches all about him. Steve of course
laughed at Tony using Steve's old nickname that only Tony ever
used. Actually, it didn't bother Steve anymore. Not one little
bit. He actually kind of liked it when Tony called him that or
Cap, but nothing would compare to when Tony says Steve's name.
So far he has does it twice, and both times seemed to send
chills up Steve's spine and catch him off guard.
Steve listened to the rest of Tony's speech and gave Tony a
dirty look when he mentioned getting drunk. Steve might let him
drink a little, but he didn't want Tony to get carried away. He
liked Tony much better sober.
When Tony stepped off stage, Steve made his way over to him
while saying hi to people. "Enjoying yourself?" Steve asked.
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
Tony was a completely different person in public -- he was
faster-paced, a little more confused, not at all in touch with
his weird feelings, which suited him just fine because he really
needed a break from those. Steve appeared beside him, and Tony
turned, smiling.
"Hey, Steve," he said cheerily -- he had already down his first
glass of champagne, and helped himself to another from a passing
waiter. "Yep, enjoying myself, having fun, lots of fun. Are
you... having fun...?" Tony asked distractedly, trying to focus
on Steve, but there was a woman talking to him with a recorder
in her hand, held in front of his face, and he suspected that he
had missed something. "Sorry, what was the question?" He turned
to the woman, who he assumed was a reporter for some kind of
paper or magazine.
"People are saying that you're losing your edge as Iron Man,
what do you say to that?"
"I say that's ridiculous, Iron Man lost his edges a long time
ago -- makes the suit more dynamic -- it's more of a system of
interlocking plates so there's really no edge at all-- if
you'll... excuse me..." Tony pushed past the woman, who was kind
of just staring after him in shock. Tony turned and motioned for
Steve to follow him, so that, perhaps, they could find somewhere
quiet to talk, where they both weren't be constantly pestered.
✩Steve✩
"I won't judge you.
I'm not going anywhere.
You got me."
When they finally found a place where they could talk in
private, Steve smiled. "I'm having fun when you're around and
not focusing on getting drunk," said Steve, eyeing the glass of
champagne.
Steve was about to say something else before the lights dimmed
and slow music began to play. Steve turned around to find people
grabbing a partner to slow dance with. However, Steve wasn't
really interested in slow dancing right now unless asked nicely,
or if it was with Tony. Steve pushed that thought away, which
seemed to be getting easier considering he was doing that a lot
now.
Suddenly, Steve felt a light tap on his shoulder. He turned
around to find a beautiful girl standing there. "Um... Captain?
Would you... uh... like to dance?" she asked, looking down at
her feet. Steve looked at Tony, and considered her offer.
"Please excuse me," Steve said to Tony before standing up and
taking the girl to the dance floor with the others. This was
good. Steve needed to talk to more girls to distract him from
his weird thoughts about Tony.
Steve took the girl's hand while his other hand went to her
waist. 'Remember what Tony taught you. It's easy,' thought
Steve. But as soon as they started to move, chaos happened. It
wasn't as often as it use to be, but every now and again Steve
would step on the girl's feet. Not on purpose, of course.
"Sorry, sorry, sorry." seemed to be the only conversation they
were having because of Steve's clumsiness. "It's fine... I'm use
to it," said the girl with a sheepish smile, but Steve could
tell she wasn't exactly having fun... and neither was he...
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
"Not drunk," Tony protested, smirking despite himself, "Not even
close." He, of course, kept the yet to himself.
It was at that moment that a girl came up behind Steve and asked
him for a dance. For some reason, Tony frowned as he watched the
pair walk away, feeling an odd kind of feeling settle in the pit
of his stomach (it was around that time that he found another
glass, too), and Tony came to realize it might be jealously.
Well, that did just not make sense at all. Why would he be
jealous? This was good for Steve -- Tony wondered if the man had
even gotten laid, this may be the closest he's ever gotten to
any woman before--
"Hey, you," Tony stepped in front of a waiter with a tray full
of flutes and a bottle of champagne, "Can you just put that
bottle down over here, please? Yeah, thank you..."
The song went on for too long and Tony really had nothing to do
but watch, but by the time another song started, Tony was
considerably looser and feeling very impatient for Steve's
attention. So, because he was drunk and he had that excuse, Tony
strode across the room and stood in front of Steve and his dance
partner, giving them an awkward, scrutinizing stare for a bit
too long to be comfortable.
"Hi," he said finally, looking at Steve's dance partner. "Hey,
you know what, you're pretty, but uh, I'm bored, and you're kind
of dancing with my date... I mean, he's not date, he's my
friend, but I brought him as a date as friends... he's... my
friendly date... so uh... shoo." And, okay, that was a little
rude and probably incredibly awkward, but it wasn't like Tony
actually noticed. Like I said, he had an excuse.
#Post#: 8--------------------------------------------------
Re: 1x1 || TinyGoliath & MagicNightStar
By: TinyGoliath Date: February 6, 2013, 8:11 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
✩Steve✩
"I won't judge you."
I'm not going anywhere.
You got me."
Steve continued dancing with the girl (who he learned her name
was Barbra) into the next song. His "foot stepping" seemed to be
getting a little better, but not really.
Suddenly, Tony appeared and told Barbra to "shoo". Steve had to
admit, he was a bit mad at Tony for the way he spoke to Barbra,
but then again he was happy to be free from her. "Fine... I'll
just.... leave," said Barbra before storming away. "Tony, what's
gotten into you?" Steve asked a little too angerly. "Oh wait,
let me guess, alcohol." Steve's tone was a bit too bitter for
his liking, but he was tired of Tony being drunk. However, maybe
Steve was being a little too rough on him. "I'm sorry Tony, it's
just... We've been over this." Steve put a hand on Tony's
shoulder to keep him from falling over or something.
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
Tony gave an ostentatious little smirk, looking, if anything,
proud of himself. "Hey, listen, not drunk, okay? Just prepared
for the worst." He gave a smile, stepping forward to lock his
hand in Steve's and put the other on his shoulder. "Let's dance
-- you lead," he suggested, even though his feet had already
begun to move at a steady rhythm.
"I found out what this thing is for," he piped suddenly, "It's a
promotional banquet for charity, trying to raise money for
cancer research, really thoughtful of me if I do say so myself,
I'll have to thank... whoever it was who organized it... I
didn't even know I was involved in cancer research... got any
ideas for my speech?" Tony's head was bouncing around,
scattering thoughts and questions and dopey little smiles
everywhere, and maybe he really was quite drunk, but, hey, Steve
would get over it, because he was feeling just dandy.
✩Steve✩
"I won't judge you.
I'm not going anywhere.
You got me."
Steve furrowed his brow in confusion. "Wait. Tony I--" but Tony
already had his hand on Steve's shoulder and his other hand
locked with Steve's. Steve sighed and began to slow dance yet
again with Tony.
Tony started rambling on about cancer research, and Steve would
have listened more if he hadn't of realized how he wasn't
stepping on Tony's feet. "Well Tony, I think you should just
wing it," said Steve, knowing it was best not to get involved
with Tony's famous speeches.
Steve looked around to see lots of people staring at them. He
would have pulled away if he didn't have the feeling him and
Tony were stuck together. "Tony... should we really be doing
this? People are staring. There's no telling what the press will
do." Steve looked deep into Tony's eyes, hoping Tony would
listen, but it probably wasn't any use.
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
In answer, Tony stepped closer to Steve, their chests brushing,
and smiled up at him. "Come on, Cap, it's fun," he said, "And
this is definitely not the worst the press has caught me doing."
As if to prove exactly how much fun it was, Tony spun them
around together in a tight circle and gave a little laugh,
grinning ear to ear.
Tony suddenly gaze Steve a scrutinizing gaze, his smile gone,
his face a bit too close for comfort, but in a second he had
bounced right back again. "Wow -- your eyes are blue," he said,
like it was some kind of amazing phenomenon. "Really, really
blue. Have you ever been to Bermuda? No, probably not -- but the
water there is just super blue, really blue, and I'll tell you
Steve it still doesn't compare. Anybody ever tell you that
before? It's gonna impress the ladies, yup, you can line 'em up
fry 'em up with those babies."
✩Steve✩
"I won't judge you.
I'm not going anywhere.
You got me."
Steve grew in a sharp breath at his and Tony's close contact.
Steve's head was spinning like mad... which was probably because
he was spinning. When they finally stopped spinning, Steve
released the breath he was holding in.
He looked at Tony... handsome, perfect Tony and had to admit, he
felt lucky to be dancing with him. This time Steve didn't push
his thoughts away because he realized he couldn't. They weren't
thoughts, they were feelings, true feelings. Steve was falling
in love with Tony Stark....
Steve listened as Tony went on, and on about Steve's eyes.
However, it was when Tony mentioned about Steve getting all the
girls that he couldn't hold it in any longer. "Tony... I don't
want girls..." Steve took a deep breath. 'Just say it Steve.
He's too drunk to remember it later anyway.' Steve looked deep
into Tony's eyes again. "Tony, I think I'm falling in love with
you." Steve stopped dancing, and just focused on Tony.
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
Tony nearly stumbled as Steve halted, words Tony didn't quite
understand ringing in his ears. He looked up at Steve, like he
was trying to translate some old, foreign text that was behind
smudged glass. Apparently, though, he seemed to get it, and the
dawn of comprehension shone on his face. "Oh!" he said, sounding
surprised, but not unpleasantly so. He took his hand off Steve's
waist, bringing it up to pat his friend lightly on the cheek.
"Love you too, buddy, he laughed, though it was cut short as the
speakers boomed to life.
"And now, ladies and gentleman, with millions of dollars donated
and hundreds of goals easily reached, we welcome the Iron Man,
genius Tony Stark to the stage!"
"Guess that's my cue," Tony shrugged, breaking free of he and
Steve's embrace. He gave a little wave as he clambered up onto
the stage, having the grace to not fall on his face. He, once
again, began his speech by pointing to the blonde-haired man
he'd just left in the middle of the room. "Take a bite of that
man, ladies!" he yelled into the microphone, grinning ear to
ear. Several other people had also gotten drunk, apparently, and
gave appreciative whoops of laughter. "Alright, alright, on to
other matters..." And true to his form, Tony winged it,
prattling on about all the right things even when he was drunk
and threateningly close to falling with every step. If only he
were as good at romance as he was at business.
✩Steve✩
"I won't judge you.
I'm not going anywhere.
You got me."
Steve's face fell when Tony gave him a pat on the cheek and
saying, Love you too, buddy." He felt heart broken. But what was
he expecting? This was Tony Stark, the playboy who did it with
just about every girl around. There was no way he'd ever fall
for Steve.
Steve let Tony go up to the stage where he told all the ladies
to "take a bite out of him". Steve rolled his eyes. He wasn't
exactly mad at Tony, just a little irritated. After all, Steve
didn't want Tony to remember what he said, so it was best Tony
just ignored it now.
Steve watched as Tony winged his speech and started swaying more
and more with each sentence. Any moment now he would collapse
and of course, Steve would be there to catch him.
After awhile, Steve git the weird feeling that someone was
staring at him and turned to see that woman reporter from
earlier, staring evilly at Steve. He didn't pretend to not know
why she was doing that, instead he just made his way to her.
"How much?"
"Excuse me?"
"How much money do you want to stop whatever story you have
prepared from running?" The reporter just laughed at Steve's
question. "How much?" Steve asked angerly. The reporter stopped
laughing and looked Steve dead in the eye. "You really don't
want me to humiliate you, huh?" she asked. Steve shook his head.
"This isn't about me, it's about Tony. Say whatever you want
about me, but don't think for one second I'm going to let you
humiliate Stark. He thinks too much of himself for his legacy to
be destroyed." The reported smirked. "You must really love him.
How about one hundred dollars? That seems fair enough, right?"
Steve stared blankly at the reporter for a moment. "Fine," Steve
said, pulling out his wallet and giving her just about all the
money he had. It didn't really pay to be a superhero. The
reporter smiled and walked away as if nothing happened.
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
It was really easy, Tony thought, to just talk to people, like
this. His mind was always five words ahead of his mouth, so he
pretty much never sounded stupid, even if he didn't always sound
smart -- that was why people liked him, probably. He got his
facts right but he managed to be witty and it wasn't even
exhausting. The speech was over in a flash and then he was
making his way down the steps again, and a woman ten years
younger launched herself at him, locking their lips in a fierce
kiss that Tony returned the best he couldn't in his drunken
haze. He didn't really care who it was, really. It had been fun
and all, but he really just want to go home again.
"Remember me?" the woman said, hands still cupped around Tony's
face.
"Absolutely not," Tony admitted, and pushed her away, finding
Steve in the crowd that was pressing in on him. "Can we go?" he
asked, because everybody was crowding now and there was no more
room to dance so the only other option for Tony was to drink or
leave, and he wasn't stupid enough to get any more wasted. He
was sure, this being a banquet or something, that there was
probably food involved and then an award afterwards, but they
could just mail it to him or something, it was all the same to
Tony.
✩Steve✩
"I won't judge you.
I'm not going anywhere.
You got me."
Steve nodded at Tony's question before realizing something. He
had to drive. Tony was way too drunk to do so himself, so it was
up to Steve. Steve, the man who was in the middle of World War 2
before he slept for seventy years and woke up in present time.
Hopefully, cars hadn't changed that much.
"Come on Tony," said Steve, taking one of Tony's arms and
wrapping it around the back of his neck then grabbing his waist
to support him.
Steve made it outside without any trouble. Supporting Tony's
weight actually wasn't that hard at all. Steve walked to the car
where he safely buckled Tony into the passenger's seat before
buckling himself up in the driver's seat. Now another problem
arose: How could Steve get them home without knowing the
directions. Steve took a deep breath before saying, "JARVIS, I
need directions to Tony's house, please." Steve hoped that Tony
somehow installed JARVIS in this car.
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
Tony looked a bit like he had gone into a vegetated state,
sprawled across the passenger seat, pretty much limp except for
his head, which was roaming around, looking to and fro.
Silence filled the car at Steve's request for directions for a
few moments, until, finally, JARVIS's voice could be heard,
thought slightly muffled. "Yes, Mr. Rogers," he said, and Tony
seemed to perk up at the sound of the robotic voice, which
seemed to be coming from his chest. He fumbled a bit, but
eventually managed to slip his fingers inside the pocket on the
front of his jacket, pulling out his phone. Apparently, some
kind of voice-recognition software had been activated and JARVIS
had been called automatically. "Take a left at the next
intersection and go straight until you reach address 1254. It's
quite simple -- would you like me to repeat?"
"No, JARVIS," Tony cut in, shutting off the phone and giving
Steve a fake-hurt look. "I'm drunk," he admitted bashfully,
taking a moment to consider this before adding, "But I'm not
completely useless."
✩Steve✩
"I won't judge you.
I'm not going anywhere.
You got me."
Steve smiled when he finally heard JARVIS's voice. He laughed at
Tony's comment before saying a simple, "Thanks JARVIS, that'll
be all for now."
Steve followed JARVIS's instructions until he finally made it to
Tony's house. Steve got out of the car, the unbuckled Tony and
supported him again. He walked up to the front door and knocked.
"Dummy, JARVIS, it's me." Steve guessed that JARVIS and Dummy
would recognize his voice and let him right in.
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
Just like Tony didn't like behind handed things, he didn't
really like people leading him around, either. Of course, he
wouldn't complain -- he never complained when Steve touched him,
even if he was drunk, but he was bothered by the fact that Steve
hadn't answered him. That was probably him just being needy, but
he was, seriously, extremely so, especially drunk out of his
mind, and he wanted attention now.
"Are you ignoring me?" Tony demanded, the hint of a pout
creeping into his voice. The door clicked open and JARVIS
welcomed them back, but Tony didn't wait to be led. He broke
free of Steve's grasp, and, okay, he stumbled and ran into a
wall, but right himself immediately, looking at Steve for an
answer. Given, said answer wouldn't matter in the morning, but
he wanted it nonetheless.
✩Steve✩
"I won't judge you.
I'm not going anywhere.
You got me."
Steve grinned as the door opened. "Thanks again, JARVIS," said
Tony before turning to Tony who had just ran into a wall. "No
Tony, I'm not ignoring you. As a matter of fact, you're the only
thing I can think of right now." Steve walked over to Tony and
placed both his hands on Tony's shoulders. "Listen, you need to
go to bed and get some sleep," said Steve, staring dead into
Tony's eyes. "I'm not going to leave you like this tonight."
Steve let go of Tony. "JARVIS, is there a guest bedroom?" he
asked.
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
Tony frowned, seemingly not satisfied with this answer, though
if he weren't drunk perhaps it would be very pleasing to him.
For now, though, he simply crossed his arms and gave a little
huff of indignation, wondering why Steve had to be so serious.
"There are three spare rooms, sir, which would you like?" JARVIS
responded, casting a soft blue glow across the room as he
displayed a holographic floor-plan in front of Steve and Tony,
the guest bedrooms highlighted in a lighter blue. People had
always asked Tony why he had so many spare bedrooms -- Tony
never really gave a straight-forward reply to this, but thought
to himself that it was because he wasn't really sure what else
he could put inside beside a bed and hope people would come and
fill the rooms up themselves.
✩Steve✩
"I won't judge you.
I'm not going anywhere.
You got me."
Steve looked at the hologram of Tony's house. "The one closest
to Tony's room thanks," Steve said to JARVIS. Steve turned back
to Tony and smiled slightly. "Believe it or not, but I did have
a lot of fun at the party, Tony. Of course, being with you was
the best part." Steve knew Tony wouldn't remember half of this,
but he just wanted to tell Tony how he felt.
"And I was serious about you going to bed right now," Steve
added before going to the guestroom closest to Tony's room.
"JARVIS? One more thing, please make sure Tony goes right to
bed, thanks." Steve closed the door to the guestroom before
turning around. The room was... huge and fancy. The bed looked
very comfortable as well. Steve took off his tux and shirt,
leaving only his pants and underwear on before climbing into
what Steve thought was the most wonderful bed in the world.
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
Tony watches Steve disappear into a guest bedroom, mind foggy,
words still ringing in his head. However defiant he's feeling,
however, he can't deny that he's tired and that it's terribly
late. He strides into his own room, kicking off his shoes and
peeling of his jacket, but really just giving up after that,
with his fingers begin so uncoordinated, and collapses onto the
bed. It feels like he's going to sleep nicely.
Oh how wrong he was.
The air is filled with gunfire and screaming, the smell of
sulfur and smoke and blood. There's something crunching under
Tony's feet, and when he looks down at the charred white bits
and pieces he can tell it's definitely not gravel. He has a gun
and he's charging into battle, unstoppable, bullets bouncing off
him like he's made of armor -- but something dark and heavy
lands beside Tony, and suddenly he's on the ground, the scene so
familiar, staring at the white Stark Industries logo imprinted
on black metal. Imprinted on the bomb.
It explodes, and the sound shatters Tony's eardrums and sends
him flying. His vision goes blurry, but the unseeing faces of
men in arms catch his eye. He recognized the one who had tried
to get his picture taken with him. Tony fumbles with the buttons
on his shirt, trying to ignoring the red flower blossoming on
his chest. He pulls the fabric back to find that shrapnel has
pierced the Kevlar he wore underneath, and blood, hot and sticky
against his skin, is pouring out of the wounds. If it were not a
nightmare, somebody would come and save Tony -- but this isn't
real, and Tony can only think that the worst feeling in the
world is bleeding out your entire body.
In his sleep, Tony lets out a whimper, gripping the sheets, hair
plastered to his forehead in a sheen of sweat.
He's got the nuke -- it's not easy, when it could so easily fly
out of his hands, but he's got it and he's steering it, narrowly
missing the side of the Stark Tower as he directs it upward,
into what Tony can only explain as another universe. Darkness
engulfs him, but Tony can still feel the presence of the real
world at his back. He just needs to fly a little farther and
then he can fall back. Even if that voice won't stop echoing in
his head, telling him it's only a one-way-trip.
JARVIS is the last voice Tony gets to hear. Soon, he is replaced
by silence, too.
Tony is falling in a way that gravity has no effect on, but he
is still going down, even with the pressure exerted on him from
all sides. He watches the nuke fly home, a white speck of dust
on the wind amidst the looming black expanse of the great
beyond. It disappears from view before blooming into a ball of
fire, rapidly consuming everything, expanding and covering and
taking. Tony falls, but he doesn't look behind him because he
knows the portal isn't there anymore. He stares at the fire that
races toward him, body glowing in the magnificent light that's
all the same terrifying, and everything is red and white-hot and
Tony only wishes he'd had some last words of his own that would
be remembered by everybody--
It shouldn't be as terrifying as it is.
Tony wakes with a yell, agonized and desperate, tangled in
sheets, too hot, grasping at the air like it will give him a
better hold on reality. His breath comes in great gasps and for
the moment he can't speak, only push away the covers and cling
to a pillow, rocking back and forth, shuddering as he tries to
keep his head on his neck.
✩Steve✩
"I won't judge you.
I'm not going anywhere.
You got me."
Steve suddenly awoke from his sleep by a yell.... Tony's yell.
Steve quickly jumped out of the bed and rushed into Tony's room
to find him holding a pillow, rocking back and forth while
shuddering. It was a horrible sight to see. Terror filled Tony's
eyes and face as sweat covered the bed. Steve quickly rushed
over to him, climbing in front of him.
"Tony... Tony... It's all right. I'm here now. Like I said
before, I'm not going anywhere. It was just a nightmare, you're
okay," said Steve calmly while gently placing a hand on Tony's
arm, hoping to calm him down or get him to relax. "Tony, look at
me. I'm not going to let anything hurt you." Steve looked deep
into Tony's eyes again.
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
Tony's head snapped up, and he stared at Steve with clouded
eyes, mouth opening slightly as if to question the man's
existence. But something clicked in his mind, and he tilted his
head to the side, sounding way too lost for someone so sure of
themselves. "Cap?" he said, as if he couldn't quite believe it.
His gaze flickered to the hand that rested on his arm, and, just
like that, it was validation enough. Tony reached for Steve's
arm, gripping it tightly, drawing himself closer to the man,
needing something to ground him here, in reality, and Steve was
kind of the best way to do that.
Tony sat, shivering and shaking, until simple contact was no
longer enough, and he slid his arms around Steve's waist, hands
gripping fistfuls of the man's shirt. "Stay," he breathed, his
voice wavering, threatening to break in the fragile silence that
was only broken by the rustle of fabric and their own soft
voices. "Stay with me." This time it was a plead, because Tony
knew that he would never fall back asleep alone, and he didn't
care if it was Steve that slept beside -- heck, maybe that made
it better, even if they made a pillow wall between themselves,
Tony didn't care. He needed something, desperately, to steak him
down on the ground and keep him there.
✩Steve✩
"I won't judge you.
I'm not going anywhere.
You got me."
Steve watched as Tony grabbed his arm. Suddenly, Tony wrapped
his arms around Steve's waist, pulling him closer. Steve closed
his eyes, almost getting lost in the contact.
"There's no way in this world I'd ever leave you right now,"
Steve replied, wrapping his arms around Tony. Slowly, he lowered
them down to where they were lying on the bed. Steve didn't even
care if he was lying in Tony's bed with him anymore. All that
mattered is that Steve stayed with him. Carefully, Steve removed
the pillow that Tony had been clinging on to so Steve could wrap
his arms more around him.
Steve figured Tony was mostly sobber now, therefore probably not
remembering hardly anything Steve said to him. Steve got rid of
this thought right away. Nothing mattered anymore except
Tony.... being with Tony.... clinging on to him.
Steve looked into Tony's eyes as he waited for Tony to drift to
sleep. Steve was not going to let himself sleep until he knew
Tony was okay. "You can go to sleep now. I'm not going to
leave," he assured him again.
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
Tony gave a tiny nod of his head, letting out a shaky breath
against Steve's skin. "I know," he murmured, "I trust you." He
didn't drift off right away, but rather pressed himself closer,
resting his head on the crook where Steve's neck and shoulder
met.
His breathing eventually evened out, and Tony fell asleep like
that, legs tangled together, arms wrapped around each other,
perfectly content to share the warmth between he and Steve. He
would be terribly confused in the morning, but for now this was
all he needed.
* * *
Tony woke up with an enormous headache and an unsettling feeling
of warmth that didn't seem to be coming from anywhere.
He opened his eyes and was met with the surprising sight of a
sleeping Steve, long lashes resting on his cheekbones, face more
relaxed, more innocent. He looked nice asleep, and Tony realized
that the warmth was coming from the fact that they were pressed
so close together. Tony considered going back to sleep, but his
stomach suddenly flipped and he was met with the breaking
realization that holy sh-- I am in bed with Captain America.
Tony pried himself away as easily as possible, causing him to do
an ungraceful kind of wiggle to him out of the other man's arm.
He stumbled to the bathroom, and was just glad that he had
skipped out on dinner, otherwise there would be a lot more to
hack up.
"One day, I will invent the cure for hangovers," he murmured
under his breath. Bile rose up in his throat again, and Tony
swore.
✩Steve✩
"I won't judge you.
I'm not going anywhere.
You got me."
Steve watched Tony until he finally went to sleep. He closed his
eyes and surrendered himself to Tony's warm embrace. He hoped
things wouldn't be too weird when they woke up in the morning.
•••
Steve awoke the next morning due to the fact that a large amount
of warmth left his body. He looked around to realize he was in
Tony's bed. 'Oh yeah, that's right.' Steve quickly noticed that
Tony was gone and that he was the warmth that left him. However,
it wasn't a second later Steve heard Tony get sick in the
bathroom.
Steve quickly got up and went to the kitchen. He grabbed all the
things he needed to make black coffee again, and couldn't help
but glance at the coffee maker. It was true, Steve had no idea
how to work one, but he was willing to learn for Tony.
Thankfully, it didn't take long at all for Steve to figure out
how to use it and soon had a steaming cup of coffee in his
hands.
Quickly, he made his way back to the bathroom, but not before
grabbing Tony's sunglasses. When Steve entered the bathroom, he
was once again greeted with a sick looking Tony. "Here," said
Steve, setting the sunglasses and coffee down next to Tony since
he didn't like to be handed things.
"Please tell me I don't have to pay rent," said Steve, jokingly
with a small smile, remembering what Tony once said about Steve
having to pay rent if he ever stayed with him.
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
Tony looked up at the sound of Steve's voice, a sense of oh no
settling onto him. How was he not supposed to feel awkward? Tony
had just found himself curled up with another man like long lost
lovers, and Tony Stark was not--
"This one tastes different," Tony noted, cutting his thoughts
short to take a sipped of the coffee that Steve set beside him.
He looked up at the man beside him, smirking despite the fact
that he felt so awkward. "Did you finally learn how to use a
coffee maker?" He flipped on his shades, and then realized, a
bit to late, that Steve had said something before Tony started
speaking. "Sorry, what?" Tony asked belatedly, shaking his head
to clear his thoughts.
✩Steve✩
"I won't judge you.
I'm not going anywhere.
You got me."
Steve leaned against the door frame of the bathroom before
smiling. "I did," said Steve, quite pleased with himself. He
couldn't help but feel a little awkward around Tony now I mean,
they just slept in the same bed together. However, Steve had to
admit he kind of enjoyed it if he wasn't so worried about Tony
and all. Steve wasn't afraid to tell himself he had feelings for
Tony now, but he didn't want sober Tony to know that.... not
yet, anyway.
"It's nothing," Steve said, shaking his head at Tony's question.
"Tony, how much do you remember from last night?" Steve couldn't
help but ask. What if Tony remembered what Steve had said about
falling in love with him? Steve wasn't ready to deal with
something like that right now. After all, Tony didn't like Steve
like that. He just knew it.
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
Tony couldn't help but think that perhaps Steve had learned to
use the coffee maker for him -- that wasn't an entirely
unappealing thought. However, it was also extremely unlikely --
Steve was probably just trying to ingrain himself with the rest
of society, right? Right, because it was ridiculous that-- okay,
Tony didn't know why it was ridiculous but it was ridiculous.
"Last night?" he repeated, looking back, but it was more of a
blur than anything else. He remembered blue-- lots of blue-- he
remembered taking the stage, a pair of red lips... "Not much,"
he admitted, shrugging. "Some girl kissed me." He seemed
satisfied that he could remember this much, and peeked up at
Steve again. "Why, you going to give me the whole Drinking is
Bad for You speech?"
✩Steve✩
"I won't judge you.
I'm not going anywhere.
You got me."
Steve's heart sank when Tony said that all he could remember was
that some girl kissed him. Then again, this was good. Tony
didn't need to know about anything else.
"Yes and no..." began Steve. "Tony, I made a bigger mistake than
you last night. I chose to let you drink. I wish I hadn't
because the party was actually kind of fun and you missed out...
you missed out on a lot." Steve left it at that for now.
Suddenly, Tony's phone started ringing. Steve went to retrieve
the phone from Tony's tuxedo pocket to see the name "Nick Fury"
on the screen. "It's Fury," Steve said, placing the phone in
Tony's hand. What could Fury possibly want?
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
Tony frowned at Steve as he spoke, watched him disappear from
the bathroom, his brain muddled. Was Steve blaming himself for
Tony's problem? That was something he definitely did not want --
drinking was just something Tony did, and it ended up kind of
badly for anybody who tried to stop him. He took the phone that
Steve handed him, sighing heavily at the caller ID.
"Here we go," he mumbled, about to answer, when suddenly, he
hesitated, looking back up at Steve. "Don't blame yourself," he
said sincerely, "I do what I do and I take the consequences."
With that, he slides his thumb across the phone screen and puts
it up to his ear.
"Hey, Goldilocks," tony says cheerily, and apparently there is a
very loud rebuttal on the other end because he winces and says,
"Ssh,I feel like there's an elephant stepping on my head." His
frown deepens the more the conversation goes on, and eventually
Tony rolls his eyes, staggering to his feet. "Hang on, Patches,
I'm going to transfer you to an expert," he says, and holds the
phone out to Steve, looking utterly exhausted. "Can you please
figure out what this man is talking about while I'm gone?" he
asks, wandering out of the bathroom, to the other side of his
bedroom. The clothes he fell asleep in feel pretty nasty, and
Tony is thinking it might have something to do with waking up in
the middle of the night, shuddering like he was dying, having
Steve come in-- and, woah, he stopped himself there because that
was something he needn't think about right now. He just needed a
change of clothes.
#Post#: 9--------------------------------------------------
Re: 1x1 || TinyGoliath & MagicNightStar
By: TinyGoliath Date: February 6, 2013, 8:12 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
✩Steve✩
"I won't judge you.
I'm not going anywhere.
You got me."
Steve sighed at Tony's comment about the drinking. He wanted to
talk more about it until he remembered Fury was on the phone.
Next thing Steve knew, he was the one holding the phone. He
slowly put it put to his year.
"Hello?"
"Rogers! We need you and Stark's help," said Fury. Steve could
hear a lot of background noise on Fury's side of the line.
"What's going on?" asked Steve.
"It's Dreadknight. He's gone haywire. I've called the rest of
the Avengers, but we need you and Stark. We're in Brooklyn."
"Dreadknight? What's he doing in Brooklyn." Steve shook his
head. "Never mind that last part. We're on our way."
"Rogers. Before you leave... he was trying to get into your
house."
"Wha... What?" Steve's eyes grew wide. Why would Dreadknight be
trying to get into Steve's house?
Before Steve could ask another question, there was a loud boom
before static filled the other side of the line. Steve closed
the phone, and rushed into Tony's room to find him... shirtless.
Steve felt as though the breath knocked out of him. He knew Tony
was muscular, but not THAT muscular. Steve looked at his
six-pack and his glowing reactor. It was strange.... Steve had
seen his reactor glowing underneath his shirt plenty of times,
but it was more stunning to see it without anything covering it.
Tony was... breath taking... literally.
"Um... That was uh.... Nick Fury.... um... but you knew that....
Uh.... he needs us to meet him with the other Avengers... in
Brooklyn. Also..... Dreadknight was trying to get... get into my
house, so I'm going to have to.... figure out a way to get
inside to grab my suit without... without being .... um....
noticed." Steve struggled with trying not to stutter and talking
slow, but he couldn't help it. He had never seen something so...
perfect...
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
Tony turned as Steve walked it, not really embarrassed at having
been seen shirtless -- he was a little smug about it, actually,
because it obviously seemed to bother Steve. "Sorry," he said
absently, finally pulling a shirt from a hanger. "Should've told
you I was indecent... what the hell's a Dreadknight?" Of course
Tony would be the one to know absolutely nothing about the
enemy. He threw the shirt over his shoulders and buttoned it up,
walking past Steve, heading down to the basement.
"You can tell me on the way," Tony decides, striding down the
steps. "JARVIS, can you get the suit ready?"
The robotic voice booms over whatever invisible speaker in the
ceiling there is. "Yes, sir, but since your spontaneous upgrade
I have yet to update all the protocols. Fighting in the suit
could prove to be a problem if--"
"Mute," Tony interrupted, and the house fell silent.
✩Steve✩
"I won't judge you.
I'm not going anywhere.
You got me."
"It's... fine..." said Steve, getting one good last look at
shirtless Tony before he put his shirt on.
Steve listened as JARVIS told Tony about his suit, and he began
to worry. "Tony... JARVIS said something about a problem if you
use the suit... Maybe I should just go," said Steve. The last
thing he wanted was something bad happening to Tony.
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
Tony looks back at Steve as he walks, not bothering to stop, and
gives a little Are You Kidding Me kind of laugh. "Like my suit's
never had some wear and tear before," he says, and taps the
glowing arc reactor in his chest. "Besides, this baby can power
through near everything." It obvious how foolishly unconcerned
he is, obvious that Tony doesn't care one little bit and the he
honestly thinks that nothing, in a million year, could go wrong
with this. He thinks back to those however-many years ago, when
he was first testing the suit, remembered the thing he had said
to JARVIS, and repeated it now: "Sometimes you've gotta run
before you can walk."
Tony reaches the basement, and walks over to the black pad in
the middle of the room, where disassembled parts of the suit are
ready and waiting, suspended by mechanic arms. As soon as Tony
steps foot in the right place, parts are plastered all over him,
fitting together like puzzle pieces, locking into place. The
glow in his chest amplifies as the chest-plate fits over him,
the last thing on his mask, which he flips onto his face. He
always looks a little more heroic in the Iron Man suit, stands
with his chest thrown out and his shoulders squared and maybe
it's just the suit but Tony likes to think he looks like a
badass.
"To Brooklyn?" Tony says, holding out his hand to Steve.
✩Steve✩
"I won't judge you.
I'm not going anywhere.
You got me."
Steve wanted to say more to Tony about the dangers of using his
suit, but he knew he wouldn't listen. Tony was just like that.
While Tony was in the basement, Steve quickly grabbed his tux
before running back into Tony's room where Iron Man now stood.
He extended his hand out to Steve in which Steve smiled at took
it. "To Brooklyn, but try to be careful with the suit...
Dreadknight's tough." Steve made sure he had a firm grip on Iron
Man's hand, pretty sure that Iron Man was going to fly them both
there. "Seven ten Jefferson Avenue," Steve added as an
afterthought.
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
"Anybody with the name Dreadknight is probably pompous enough to
blow up their own head, with all that hot air," Tony replies
easily, and the Iron Man pulls Steve closer, hefting him up and
hooking one arm under Steve's knees and the other under his
arms, bridal style. Not that it's appropriate at all, but it's
certainly easier. And Tony's definitely not enjoying it, nope,
not one little bit. "Hold onto your hat," says Tony, and takes
off. He's a little less stable, not using his hands as well as
his feet to fly, but he really doubts Steve could hang on all by
himself so there's not much of a choice.
Tony assumes he's close to Brooklyn when JARVIS informs him that
his communications has been overridden, and a voice crackles to
life in his helmet, feminine and authoritative.
"Mr. Stark, Director Fury wants me to inform to not waste your
ass out there -- you are approaching the target in a full-blown
war zone."
"Sorry, who's this?" Tony asks -- he assumes it's someone from
SHIELD.
"Agent Maria Hill of SHIELD. Do not test your luck with
Dreadknight, Stark, you shouldn't be headed into battle without
information."
"Relax," says Tony, a vague memory of the brunette popping up in
his mind, and is glad that Steve can't hear the conversation
going on inside his helmet. "I'm at full power, it's not like
I'm sending myself to my death."
"Ninety-eight percent power, sir," JARVIS corrects, "Some
circuits in the arc reactor are not reacting well to the changes
in your suit."
"Shut up, JARVIS."
"Just... be careful," Ms. Hill says warily, and the
communications are back under control as she clicks off. Tony
looks down at the ground below him, seeing, indeed, a war zone,
explosions and smoke spiraling up. He sees some guy in a
ridiculous helmet, surrounded. Men are shooting at him to no
effect, a giant green beast is leaping at him repeatedly, only
to be easily dodged, and two tiny black shapes move around with
assassin-like precision.
"That your house?" Tony voices comes to life outside the helmet,
and he points at a tiny house amidst all the fighting. His
camera zooms in, confirming the address, just as a blonde-haired
man appears from nowhere and swings an enormous hammer at who
Tony can only assume is the enemy.
✩Steve✩
"I won't judge you.
I'm not going anywhere.
You got me."
Steve was a little shocked at the way Iron Man decided to hold
him, but Steve couldn't say he wasn't enjoying it.
The ride there was fairly silent as Iron Man flew threw the sky.
Steve had never really been this high before without a plane.
Steve couldn't help himself from glancing at Iron Man every now
and again. Steve had to admit, Tony was still handsome even as
Iron Man in a weird way. Perhaps he just thought that because he
knew it was Tony.
Steve looked at the house Iron Man was pointing at and nodded.
"That's it." He grew a little more worried as they drew closer.
Thor, Bruce, Natasha, Clint, and Fury were all there trying to
hold off Dreadknight along with the police. When Steve was about
fifteen feet above ground, Steve jumped out of Iron Man's arms,
landing perfectly on his two feet.
Clint turned and saw Steve standing there and loaded another
arrow. Clint aimed at Dreadknight and shot the arrow directly
into his right eye. "That outta buy you some time. Suit up."
Steve nodded gratefully at Clint before rushing into his house.
He quickly locked the door and grabbed his suit that was lying
on the sofa.
Steve ran as fast as he could to his room and locked the door.
He quickly began putting on his suit, but soon the door busted
open to reveal Dreadknight. "What?! How did you get in here
without the Avengers catching you?" Dreadknight laughed.
"Haven't you learned from now that I'm a genius? Your friends
are fighting a little.... decoy of mine," said Dread with his
low bellowing voice.
Steve glanced behind Dreadknight to see his shield lying on the
table. He quickly slipped the suit up his body, but didn't quite
get in all the way before Dreadknight shot a lazer at Steve with
his gun. Steve barely dogged it in time. Somehow he had to get
his shield.He zipped his suit up and grabbed his gloves. There.
He was finally dressed.
Steve watched as Dreadknight slowly came closer to him. He knew
it would be no use trying to fight him with his hands because
Dreadknight was just as skilled in hand-to-hand combat, so Steve
would be a little too predictable. Dread shot another lazer at
Steve, and this time, Steve rolled toward Dreadknight before
jumping up and punching him in the face.
As quickly as he could, Steve launched himself at his shield,
grabbing it and turning around just in time to block another
lazer. Dreadknight smiled before he... vanished? Sure enough,
Dreadknight was gone. Steve felt like slapping himself in the
face. He was fighting the decoy! Little did Steve know that
there where three decoys, one of which had installed a bomb on
the outside of his house, rigged to blow in a minute.
Steve ran to the door, but ran straight into some sort of
electric force field Dreadknight had set up. Steve couldn't get
out...
"TONY!" Steve shouted, hoping Tony could hear him through the
force field and through the house.
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
Tony heard Steve's shout before he truly realized what was going
on, but by the time he'd reached the house (which took all of a
second), it was too late. He stared at Steve, trapped behind a
field of sparking energy, and examined the situation. That's
when he noticed the bomb.
20... 19... 18... 17...
Tony watched the numbers count down with a kind of speculative
horror, until he realized, Steve might die, so he charged,
hoping to break the field with a forceful punch.
16... 15...
"Ah!" Tony exclaimed as his first connected. The feild didn't
break, but sent Tony to his knees, electricity conducted easily
through his suit and traveling down his spine. It was a
terrifyingly paralyzing situation that should not have happened
-- Tony had an idea that Dreadknight had planned this, had
designed specifically. He got up, though shakily, casting a look
to Steve that wasn't visible through the face-plate but said I
will get you out of there.
14... 13... 12...
His next try was a repulsor ray from his palm, which rebounded
and nearly hit him -- would have, if Tony hadn't been expecting
it. He tried another one, amping up the power, and for a moment
the field dispersed into motes of light, but formed back again,
like a swarm.
11... 10...
Tony glanced desperately at the counter, his mind a whir. There
was nothing to do, no way to get to him... unless... "JARVIS,"
Tony said, speaking quickly, as to not waste time, "Set
thrusters to one hundred percent." The A.I. didn't even bother
to question it, Tony just aimed for the field and was blasted
forward. His body lurched and fireworks exploded behind his
eyelids as he collided with the force-field, but this time he
didn't fall back, kept pushing until one of his hands broke
through, tearing and clawing to get past, get to Steve.
9... 8... 7...
"You are at eighty-nine percent power, sir," JARVIS informed
him, and Tony said nothing, kept pushing until his chest was
through and then his torso.
6... 5... 4...
"Seventy-six percent." But that didn't matter because Tony burst
through the field with a vengeance, flying for Steve, grabbing
him by the waist.
3...
Tony forces them upward with another boost from his thrusters,
breaking through the ceiling and heading for the top of the
force-field.
2...
He fires a repulsor ray downwards, hoping the hit the generator
of the field, and it flicker and dies.
1...
There won't be enough time to escape the blast range.
0...
The house explodes in a bloom of fire, reminding Tony sorely of
space and nukes and falling, falling, falling. The fire burns
and consumes and moves upwards, eating up the space between them
but Tony's already going as fast as he can go. He wraps his arms
protectively around Steve as the fire engulfs them and throws
them sideways, so that when they hit the side of a skyscraper
and fall two hundred feet, it's all on Tony, and the concrete
shatters because of his body hitting the ground, instead of
Cap's.
"Your suit has received sustainable damage, sir," JARVIS tells
him as he lays on his back, sore and stunned. "Continued flight
will be unsteady at best." Tony can't answer just yet, so he
simply focuses on the body on top of him, making sure he can
still sense a heartbeat, or a gentle rise and fall of ribs.
✩Steve✩
"I won't judge you.
I'm not going anywhere.
You got me."
Steve watched as Tony flew down to look at him. He needed to get
out and it wasn't like it was urgent or anything... was it? Tony
punched the field with what look to be incredible force. Why was
Tony so desperate about getting Steve out? That's when he heard
it.... the quiet ticking of a bomb. Steve's house was set to
blow in who knows how long.
Steve was worried, but more worried about Tony than himself when
Iron Man fell to his knees and cried out after hitting the
field. Steve could see sparks coming from Tony's suit. "Tony!"
Steve yelled, hoping he was alright. Tony stood up and looked
directly at Steve. 'Please don't do anything risky, Tony. I
can't stand to watch you get hurt. It's better me than you,'
thought Steve.
He watched as Tony tried firing at the field, but it only
rebounded. Thankfully, Tony dodged it.
Then, Tony did something that Steve never thought he would do.
He could see Iron Man's thrusters light up with more power.
No... He wasn't.... He couldn't.... He did. Tony flew into the
force field and kept flying until his hand broke through. "Tony!
You have to stop! Your suit won't be able to take that much!
Tony... TONY!" Steve shouted, desperately. Tony couldn't die for
him.... Steve wouldn't allow it.
Suddenly, Tony grabbed Steve had started flying upward. 'We
aren't going to make it..." thought Steve as Tony tried to break
through the upper force field. "Tony... Leave me.... Go help the
others.... I won't let you die for me..." Steve whispered to
Tony. Then, it happened. A big burst of fire replaced the place
where Steve's house was suppose to be.
Tony started falling, and Steve struggled to flip himself over
to where he would take all the force of crashing. He could take
it better than Tony, but it was no use. They crashed.
Steve opened his eyes to find himself still on top of Tony. He
quickly scrambled to get up, and turned to look at Iron Man. He
grabbed the bottom of his face mask and forced it up to look at
Tony's face. He heard footsteps behind him, but figured it was
one of the Avengers. Sadly, it was not.
"Fool," hissed Dreadknight. "Trying to save the Captain." Steve
turned around to see Dreadknight standing there. "Leave him
alone. You'll have to get through me first to get to him,"
growled Steve. Dreadknight chuckled. "Actually, I planned on
just going through you both." Steve watched in horror as Dread
pulled out what looked to be like a whip.... made from what the
force field was made from except... brighter.... stronger.
Steve looked over to see his shield lying in reaching distance.
How it survived the explosion, who cared? He quickly grabbed it
and put it in front of him and Tony. Dreadknight took the whip
and managed to grab Steve's shield and throw it far away with
his whip. "There's no saving him now." Steve realized that
Dreadknight wasn't talking about him, he was talking about Tony.
Dreadknight lashed the whip down onto Tony, causing sparks to
fly everywhere. However, the whip didn't effect Steve....
because the whip was designed for Iron Man. This whole thing
wasn't about killing Steve, it was about killing Tony.
Steve leaped at Dreadknight, only to be met once again with a
force field. Dreadknight had place it around him. "NO! STOP!"
shouted Steve, jumping at the field again. This time, the pain
was terrible. Electricity shocked Steve like mad until he fell
to the ground. "Ah..." Steve lied there for a second, unable to
move, watching Tony get electrocuted. Steve fought the
paralyzers until he could finally stand up again.
"You never give up, do you?" said Dreadknight with a smirk. He
reached down to some sort of device on his belt. He pressed the
button, and the field around him grew brighter and stronger, but
Steve didn't care. Tony wasn't going to die, even if it meant
him dying.
Steve backed up a few steps before running into the force field
again. The pain was.... unbelievable, and to think that Tony was
going through the same pain if not more made it worse.
"AAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!!" Steve yelled as he continued trying to push
his way in through the field.
Suddenly, Steve closed his eyes. He thought of Tony. How happy
Tony made him. He thought about his smile, his laugh....
everything. He imagined being wrapped up in his arms again as
they lied on the bed. Steve quickly opened his eyes. "TONY!" he
shouted again, breaking through the force field and giving
Dreadknight the strongest punch he could muster, sending
Dreadknight to his feet. Steve grabbed the end of the whip and
jerked it away from him, causing it to stop electrifying Tony.
"You do not mess with him," said Steve with absolute disgust.
Steve raised Dreadknight's whip. "Let's see how you like it."
Steve slashed the whip on Dreadknight, causing him to yell. It
only took about two minutes before the yelling stopped, and
Dreadknight stopped moving.
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
It was a kind of out-of-body experience after Tony fell, trying
to make his body move, but he was sure that despite the suit, he
had broken some bones and moving wasn't about to get any easier.
The only thing he could move freely was his head, and with that
advantage he looked around, behind Cap and Dreadknight, as the
ruined street. He saw Bruce, back in his human form, collapsed
under rubble, Thor, unconscious, his hammer thrown away from
him, Clint and Natasha passed out side by side and Tony was
screaming (metaphorically) at himself to get up, but his body
would not obey.
When Dreadknight pulled out his whips, he knew who it was for.
He knew, somehow, that this would be how he was to go out and,
it was for Steve, so did it really matter all that much? He was
vaguely reminded of of Ivan, the Russian that had come to avenge
his father or something, Tony was never really sure. His whips
had hurt -- these hurt worse.
As soon as the electrified coil wrapped around his, Tony locked
up, his mouth opening in a silent plea and his back arching off
the ground, fingers digging into the concrete, crushing it under
his fingers. Pain raced across his body, amplified and made
worse by the thousand circuits that overcharged and popped,
biting against his skin, blistering and splintering. Tony had a
feeling that it wouldn't hurt so much it he didn't have his suit
on, but then, the suit was always his downfall, wasn't it? And
still Tony watched Steve, watched him try to get past
Dreadknight's defenses for him, and Tony was simply satisfied
that Steve was alive to try, and he was content to die in this
kind of pain as long as Steve didn't die with him.
"We at thirty-eight percent power, sir," JARVIS informed him,
"The suit is wiring the energy directly to the arc reactor. I'm
afraid that it is overloading." A particularly painful group of
fuses snapped and exploded at Tony's ribs, and he thrashed
violently against it, tiny fragments breaking his skin and
electricity seeping down into his wounds, into his bones. His
body was slick with sweat and blood in the suit and this only
worked to further the sting, conducting. Tony wondered if he was
dreaming, but realized pain this great could not be a
hallucination. "I fear this may be your final mission, sir."
Tony wished he could reply to JARVIS, to ever-loyal, snarky,
snide, sometimes even funny, JARVIS, because even though he was
just an A.I. he'd become more of a friend to Tony. Would he be
dismantled? He hoped not -- he hoped he'd left his house to
someone that wouldn't get rid of him, but Tony couldn't even
remember if he'd even written a will or not.
"Zero percent power, sir -- backup emergency power activated."
Suddenly, the whip was gone, and Tony's body went limp, slumping
against the ground again as he looked over to Steve again, who
was holding the whip in his hand, standing over a limp body that
Tony, once again, could only assume was Dreadknight. Sparks
danced along his suit, blowing out the few remaining circuits --
draining the last bits of life out of him. But for the most
part, the pain was gone now, replaced with an empty, aching
sensation that throbbed beneath his skin, leaving him feeling
like an empty shell. And, in a way, he was -- or he was going to
be. The suit would be empty, a shell, as soon as his life ran
out. He wondered if Rhodey would take over as Iron Man for him.
"Backup power extended, sir. Arc reactor is shutting down. It's
been a pleasure, sir."
Tony appreciated that JARVIS was telling him this -- it was
depressing, sure, but he wanted to know. He didn't want to hide
from death, only to have it sneak up on him. What had his last
words been? Set thrusters to one hundred percent. That wasn't
bad. But it wasn't anything he particularly cared about. He
wished that, on his last breath, with the reactor flickering on
and off, he could say something important.
"Cap," the word was forced hoarsely out of his mouth like a
dying wish, and he mustered up what strength left in his body to
move his fingers. They lifted off the ground for a second, a
tiny wave, and then dropped. Tony was satisfied. That word was
important. Cap was important. He filled his mind with a sea of
blue and dazzling smiles, and that was the last thing he saw
before it all went black.
The reactor in Tony's chest glowed faintly, flickered once, and
went blank.
✩Steve✩
"I won't judge you.
I'm not going anywhere.
You got me."
Steve stood over Dreadknight, painting heavily. He had done it.
"Cap." Steve turned around quickly... just in time to see Tony
fall. "T-tony..... Tony no..." Steve ran over to him before
collapsing to his knees next to him. "Tony, no.... please....
don't do this to me.... Tony.... TONY!" Steve screamed, his
voice gushing with pain. Steve looked down to see Tony's
reactor... black.
This couldn't be happening. Steve suddenly felt very light
headed as he slowly slipped onto Tony's body. Tears flowed like
there was no end as he lied there. Tony was gone.... What did
Steve have left. Now that made two people that he loved dead
except this time, it was worse.
The pain of losing Tony was.... Steve sighed. Was there even a
word to describe it? Steve could feel himself slipping away from
reality. He had nothing now.... So why bother living.
Suddenly, Steve heard a noise... it sounded like.... His head
slowly rose up to see a helicopter with the initials
"S.H.I.E.L.D" on the side. He would have felt happy... if all
the happiness hadn't just been torn from him. The helicopter
landed close to Steve and Tony. Then out came Fury.
"You can't give up yet, Captain," he said, staring at him.
"He-he's.... gone...." Steve could only seem to say those words
before the tears returned again. He felt a pair of hands lift
him up and began to take him to the helicopter. "NO! I'M NOT
LEAVING HIM!" Steve shouted, thrashing furiously. "We know,
we're taking him with us," said Fury.
Steve went limp again and allowed himself to be carried onto the
helicopter. Then he watched as they did the same for Tony. Steve
dragged himself back over to Tony where he threw one arm over
his body then placed his head down as if to say, 'you can't take
us apart again.' "I-I told him.... I'd never leave him...... and
I'm not...." said Steve trying to hold back tears that couldn't
be stopped. "I know Captain... I know." Fury placed a hand on
Steve's shoulder. "There's still a way, though." Steve's head
shot up like a firecracker to look at Fury. "How... how?" he
begged, grabbing one of Fury's legs with the arm that wasn't
over Tony.
"His reactor... it must be replaced," said Fury. "Though, it may
not work..." Steve squeezed Nick's leg hard. "It will.... it
must..... pick us speed..." ordered Steve. The pilot followed
his orders and picked up speed. Soon, they were at Tony's.
"We'll come with you--" "No," said Steve, glaring at Fury. "I'm
going to do it.... and I'm going to do it alone...." "But how
are you going to do it? You don't even know what you--"
"Sometimes you've gotta run before you walk," said Steve,
repeating what Tony had said to him once before grabbing Tony
and jumping out of the helicopter.
Steve kicked the front door down and ran down to the basement.
His tears where gone now and his heart was racing. He could save
him. He would save him.
He rushed over to a medical bed in which he lied Tony down on.
Steve began to literally rip the Iron Man suit off of his piece,
by piece. He gasped at the sight of blood soaking through Tony's
body. Steve quickly ripped Tony's shirt off and..... oh god....
Steve looked at all the blood and sweat that covered his body,
causing some more tears to fall.
"JARVIS! I need you to walk me through the steps of replacing
Tony's reactor!" Steve said, scrambling around to find a
replacement. Finally, he found one.
{:: T O N Y J A R V I S ::}
"You with me, JARVIS?"
"Always, sir."
JARVIS wasn't really sure what had happened to Mr. Stark -- he
went offline as soon as the emergency power had been depleted.
But the answer was evident as a helicopter came roaring into
view of the house, and it became clear the JARVIS that Mr.
perhaps Mr. Stark was not as dead as he had thought him to be.
And while JARVIS did not know the feeling of hope, he knew
satisfaction, and knowing that his creator was alive gave him
that.
JARVIS watched through the house's cameras as Steve Rogers made
his way through the house, crashing and banging until he reached
the basement, where, of course, JARVIS had eyes everywhere.
JARVIS knew that the state of Mr. Stark's arc reactor was not
good, but he had prepared for that. The was a spare, just in
case, which Steve Rogers quickly found and brought to the table,
where a curious Dummy was watching, not fully understanding what
was going on.
"Find the safety lock on the reactor, Mr. Rogers," said Jarvis,
"It should be pressed down and rotated until the reactor pop out
of place. Pull the reactor out and, please, do not let the wires
touch the wall of the chamber. The shock may kill him." JARVIS
whirred through his database, organizing files in the blink of
an eye. "Mr. Stark will then go into cardiac arrest," he added
thoughtfully, "I would recommend that you hurry during that
time."
There was an unaffordably lengthy pause as JARVIS examined Mr.
Stark, and if he could feel he supposed that worried would be
the correct term. He certainly did not want Mr. Stark to die --
that would not be in the man's best interest. He would probably
have to be taken to a hospital after this -- if he was still
alive after this. "Then," Jarvis began, snapping back to his
duty, "You will need to attach the end of the spare reactor --
that is, the metal bit dangling off the end -- to the bottom of
the chamber. It should click back into place. Insert to reactor
in the chamber, twist, and the transition should be complete."
There was more silence as JARVIS considered adding on to his
instructions, give Steve Rogers a bit more information to go on.
Yes, he finally decided, he would probably like to know. "Mr.
Rogers," JARVIS added, and was it possible for an A.I. voice to
sound so gentle? "I must warn you that Mr. Stark only has a
twenty-three percent chance of recovery, even with a new
reactor."
✩Steve✩
"I won't judge you.
I'm not going anywhere.
You got me."
Steve listened to JARVIS's instructions very carefully. He
squeezed his eyes shut to stop anymore tears from falling at
JARVIS's last comment. "One percent is better than none, JARVIS.
I will save him..." Steve quickly examined Tony's wounds.
"Dummy, could you please roll that over here," he said, pointing
to the thing in the corner that doctors used to transfer peoples
blood. "Also, I'm going to need some stitches." Steve would have
added please or thank you at the end of his sentences if he
wasn't in such a panic.
It was time to go into full operation mode. Steve gently popped
Tony's reactor out of place and took it out carefully without
letting the wires touch the edges. Steve moved quickly and
carefully as he grabbed the replacement reactor and lowered his
wires into Tony. He didn't mind the fluids or anything that he
had to touch as he attached the wires to the base. All he cared
about was saving Tony. Steve snapped the new reactor
successfully into place.
"Thank you JARVIS.... thank you so much," said Steve, putting
all his emotion into the thank you. Now it was time for the hard
part....
{:: T O N Y J A R V I S ::}
"You with me, JARVIS?"
"Always, sir."
Dummy whirred, dragging what Steve needed over, and stood
patiently, like a dog, for his next command, not caring if his
use had already been expended.
If JARVIS had a face, he would've frowned, calculating the odds
of Mr. Stark's acceptance to a blood transfusion. It did not
look good, especially when the arc reactor in Tony's chest
remained unlit, like it was trying to find something to bring to
life, but there was nothing there. "Sir," JARVIS protested,
"Combined with your modified DNA, any blood transfusion could
easily send Mr. Stark into a vegetated state." JARVIS, however,
knew it was necessary for Mr. Stark to get a blood transfusion
-- he'd lost quite a lot. But this was going into extremely
dangerous territory.
JARVIS let himself wonder what the purpose of mutated friends
truly were.
✩Steve✩
"I won't judge you.
I'm not going anywhere.
You got me."
Steve nodded at Dummy when he brought the things he needed.
"Nice work, Dummy. That'll be all for now."
Steve thought a moment about what JARVIS said, but not too long.
"JARVIS, I love him. I have to do it." Steve hoped that that was
enough for JARVIS to understand. He was aware of the risks....
but some chances you have to take. Steve would give Tony some of
his blood... and Tony would also get what comes with it,
strength. Maybe if he was lucky, it would take a lot to get Tony
drunk as well. Steve knew that wasn't going to happen, but it
was worth a shot to try to cheer himself up a little.
Steve grabbed one of the rolling chairs near him, and sat down
next to Tony. He had seen plenty of nurses give people stitches
when he was in World War II, so hopefully, he could do it too.
Steve cleaned the blood off of Tony before going to work on
sewing him up. He was actually doing a good job... a great job.
Every now and again, Steve would glance up at the reactor to see
if it had started showing any signs of life. So far, nothing.
Steve kept going though, stitching Tony up until he was done.
Steve sighed for what was coming next. He took one needle from
the machine and stuck it in the vein on Tony's forearm before
doing the same to himself. He studied the buttons on the machine
until he found the one he needed to press. Steve waited for a
second, looking at Tony. The man would never be exactly the same
after this.... Steve shook his head. It had to be done. "I hope
this works, Tony," whispered Steve before pressing the button.
"JARVIS, tell me when enough blood has been transferred please,"
said Steve, setting back down in the chair. "And don't worry if
I'm running low..." Steve added as an afterthought.
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
JARVIS had no reply to that -- he did not know or understand
love. He understood that loyalty that came with it, that was
programmed into him, but he did not know the foreign concept of
feelings. But he could not protest -- even if he did not
understand love, he acknowledged the Captain's need to express
it.
It was a quiet wait -- JARVIS estimated it would be a while
until Tony was 'full', so to speak, and he sat, calculating the
rate of blood flow and amount of blood loss based on the size,
amount, and fatality of the wounds. It went by like a ticker in
his hard-drive, and perhaps JARVIS was wrong (unlikely) but he
was sure that he was picking up a very faint heart-beat.
"That should be sufficient, sir," said JARVIS, after an
extensive amount of silence. Tony had not moved. How could he?
His heart was pumping so slow he wasn't sure whether or not he
was dying again or coming back to life. He felt a constant prick
in his arm, something seeping into his veins that felt like
liquid fire and not-so-liquid gravel. It burned and tore at him,
ripped through his heart, pushed at it until it was beating like
a rabbit's. The arc reactor flickered to life.
Tony's eyes flew open, a gasp escaping his lips as he exploded
back into life, huge, rapid breaths tearing open a few of the
recently sewed wounds. He winced at the feeling, both of being
torn apart again and the feel of bones shifting inside him in a
way that was definitely not good. His dark eyes were wide and
harried, full of fear and confusion. He gripped at the sheets,
turning his head, and found Steve. He was attached to him, a
machine and tubes filled with scarlet blood between them. Blood?
Was that the thing ripping through his veins?
Somewhere amidst the chaos of his mind, Tony find his voice,
though it came out hoarse and scratchy and ruined. "Steve?" he
asked, confusion lathered onto his words, "Are you okay?" And
yet, despite that confusion, Tony still had eyes for only one
person. Tony was fine, or so he thought -- if he was alive, then
he was fine. If Steve was alive, well, that was even better.
#Post#: 10--------------------------------------------------
Re: 1x1 || TinyGoliath & MagicNightStar
By: TinyGoliath Date: February 6, 2013, 8:13 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
✩Steve✩
"I won't judge you.
I'm not going anywhere.
You got me."
Steve placed his head on his hand that was on the arm rest.
Steve could feel himself losing a lot of blood. He felt a little
dizzy, but it wasn't anything serious. When JARVIS said he had
given enough blood, he was about to unhook himself until he
heard it... Tony's voice... calling his name.... asking him if
he was alright.
Steve's head shot up quickly, making him feel a bit more dizzy.
Sure enough, Tony was awake. Steve had never felt so much joy
and relief before in his life. A huge smile swept over his face
as sparking tears of joy feel from his eyes. He had done it. He
had saved Tony. Tony was alive. "I've never felt better,
Tony..." said Steve unhooking him and Tony from the machine
before quickly sewing up the stitches that had popped open back
together. "Don't move too much..." Steve told Tony, taking
Tony's hand in his own.
"Thank goodness you're alive, Tony. For a minute, I thought I
was never going to be able to show you..."
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
Tony's eyes bored into Steve's, at this spectacle that was all
his, all his and holding his hand which, sure, was a little
weird, but Tony could care less for the moment. He obeyed,
keeping still, not moving a muscle, though perhaps not because
Steve told him to. Perhaps it was because he was afraid if he
breathed, even he made any kind of sudden movement, he would
break out of this dream-like state, and Steve would float away
like dust in the wind.
It would be so easy to reach out to Steve, to put his hand on
the man's face or run it through his hair, but this moment was
fragile and just like Tony's rapidly thudding heart, he felt
like it would break apart any second, tear as easily as tissue
paper and break into a million little pieces. And, more than
anything, Tony did not want to break this moment. This moment
was for him, and for Cap, and for whatever feeling was building
in his chest.
Tony blinked, unsure if Steve meant to finish his sentence, but
when it became apparent that he wasn't going to, Tony leaned
forward (no matter how much it hurt his ribs), eyes searching
for an answer. "Show me what?" he murmured, squeezing Steve's
hand, his voice as fragile as the moment.
✩Steve✩
"I won't judge you.
I'm not going anywhere.
You got me."
Steve stared into Tony's eyes while Tony did the same to him. It
was time. Steve slowly reached out to place a hand on Tony's
face. "To show you how much I love you," said Steve before
leaning into Tony. His lips gently meant Tony's lips that were
soft and wonderful. Steve had never felt this way before about
anything or anyone. He closed his eyes and lost himself in the
kiss. A few moments later, Steve drew away. His lips tinggled
from the loss of contact, and Steve wanted to kiss him again so
badly but couldn't because Steve just realized what he had done.
He had told Tony Stark he loved him... and kissed him....
Steve remembered last night at the party when Tony seemed to
show no interest in Steve's feeling, but instead kissed a girl
and remembered that when he was sober. How could Tony ever love
him? 'He doesn't, thought Steve, 'And you just kissed him. This
man three days ago was morning over the loss of a loved one
leaving him... You haven't done him a favor, you made things
worse.'
Steve stared into Tony's eyes again. Was it true? Had he just
made things worse? Steve didn't want to know. He couldn't bare
to listen to Tony break his heart right now.... Not after Steve
just fixed his.
"I'm so sorry, Tony." Steve turned and quickly left the
basement. A tear rolled down his face and he quickly sweeped it
away. He was tired of tears. Steve made it to the front door,
but turned his head to look back. "JARVIS.... Tell him
everything that happened.... make sure he sees a doctor.....
It's was very nice knowing you, JARVIS," said Steve, smiling at
the ceiling sadly. With that, Steve was gone.
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
I am kissing Steve Rogers.
Tony never though he would be so thrilled at the revelation, but
electricity danced down his spine, a kind that filled the
emptiness that pain had left him, a kind that settled deep
inside him and stayed there, lingering even after they pulled
away. Somehow, Tony's hand had ended up on the side of Steve's
face, resting there so naturally that Tony wondered why he had
never done this before. This was the answer, then -- but it
sprung up a million other questions. Questions that he didn't
have a chance to ask.
"Wait," Tony pleaded, trying to scrambled out of the bed as
Steve apologized and turned to leave. Why would he leave? Why,
after that, was Steve leaving? "Wait, Steve, please--" Tony's
voice rose as Steve climbed up the stairs, disappearing, and
Tony finally tumbled out of the bed, falling heavily on his
knees. His stitches split open again and damn in hurt, but Tony
got up anyways, pushed himself forward like he was trying to get
through Dreadknight's force-field again, weak and disoriented
and desperate.
"Steve!" he shouted up the stairs, "Steve, don't you dare...! By
the time Tony made it to the top of the steps, his ribs ached
and Steve was nowhere to be seen.
"I'm afraid he's gone, sir," JARVIS said apologetically, and
Tony crumpled against the wall, coughing up blood and
shuddering. He closed his eyes, and for once wished he were a
crier instead of a drinker, but Tony Stark hadn't shed a tear
since he was seven years old. "Perhaps you should go see a
doctor, sir."
Tony didn't go see a doctor. Instead, he dragged himself to the
bar, grabbing anything off any shelf, but it was suddenly a lot
harder to get drunk and Tony could only think why, why, why. Why
did he have to have this damn electromagnet in his heart, why
was he barely drunk after half a bottle of Everclear, and why
had Steve left? It was the pain of Pepper leaving except ten
times worse, and Tony couldn't help but wonder, again, why was
that?
He asked JARVIS this, once he was finally hammered and he was
slumped pathetically in the corner. "I believe it was because he
loved you, sir," the A.I. had answered, but Tony had cursed and
told him that he didn't make sense and what did he know about
love, anyways? Love didn't make you leave. Love made you want to
stay, love made you want to break through a force-field to save
someone from a bomb, love made you want to take a fall and
nearly kill yourself for a certain red-white-and-blue man that
had left.
Love made Tony Stark pass out drunk in the corner, and have
nightmares of blonde hair and blue eyes exploding and burning
and blowing away on the wind.
✩Steve✩
"I won't judge you.
I'm not going anywhere.
You got me."
Steve ran, going who knows where before he finally collapsed on
the side of the road. Steve sat there with his knees on the
ground along with his arms.... crying. Crying so hard it hurt.
Steve punched the ground with his fist, actually making a hole
there. He hated himself.... He hated himself for leaving Tony
like he did, he hated himself for kissing him and probably
making him more hurt, he just.... hated himself.
'Maybe I should just lie here and wait for someone to kill me or
wait for me to kill myself.' Right now, death seemed like the
best option, but then again Tony almost died trying to keep
Steve alive. He didn't know why.... He didn't know why someone
as incredible as Tony would want to keep Steve alive, but he
did. Now he probably wants Steve dead too.
About two hours past with Steve just sitting there, crying.
Then, he heard footsteps approaching him slowly. Steve didn't
even look up. He didn't care who it was anymore. Even if it was
Dreadknight, somehow still alive he wouldn't care.
"Captain Rogers..." Steve recognized the voice right away.
"What do you want, Fury?" Steve spat.
"I want you to get up and tell me what happened!" Fury said,
sounding irritated.
Steve scoffed, "It doesn't matter what happened..."
Steve heard something fall next to him and looked to see that it
was a phone. He looked up at Fury, confused.
"You'll find the numbers of Banner, Romanoff, and Barton in
there. I want you to call one of them and stay with them for
awhile."
Steve continued to stare at Fury. "You shouldn't be so nice to
me, sir..... I don't deserve it," he said before picking up the
phone. He knew Fury wasn't going to leave him alone until he
called one of them. Steve chose Bruce mainly because if Steve
was going to vent to someone, Bruce would take it the best.
Steve waited as the phone rang.
Bruce started as the phone rang, his doze cut short as he stared
at the device that blasted a cheery ringtone from hell on his
coffee table. Of all people, who would be calling Bruce Banner?
He picked it up, looking at the caller ID -- unknown number, of
course. Bruce didn't really have any contacts in his phone. He
was suspicious -- perhaps somebody was trying to track him down,
even though he wasn't exactly living inconspicuously.
"Hello?" he asked, holding the phone to his ear. If it was a
weird kind of call, he'd hang up right away. He didn't need
anybody tracing him.
✩Steve✩
"I won't judge you.
I'm not going anywhere.
You got me."
Steve shivered in the cold night's air and waited for Bruce to
pick up. Finally, he did.
"Bruce, it's Steve Rogers. Captain American," he said, wishing
he could get out of the cold.
"Listen... my house has been destroyed, you know that, and...
somethings happened and I need a place to stay.... You wouldn't
mind, would you?" asked Steve as if begging him or something.
Steve wanted, no, needed to tell someone what happened. And
right now, he only trusted Bruce with the information.
"Steve," Bruce replied fondly, friendly but at the same time
distant -- you could never get too close, after all. He listened
attentively, frowning slightly, and smiled at the end, even if
Steve couldn't see. "You're welcome here," he said, pausing,
"But I don't live in New York." Luckily, being a part of the
Avengers Initiative didn't make that much of a problem. "I'm in
Canada, near Niagra Falls. Fury should know. Take a Quinjet
here, maybe, it shouldn't take you long from where you are.
✩Steve✩
"I won't judge you.
I'm not going anywhere.
You got me."
Steve managed a very small smile as he listened to Bruce.
"Thanks.... I'll see you soon." Steve hung up while getting up
before handing the phone to Fury.
"Think you could give me a lift, sir?" asked Steve.
"Shouldn't be too much of a problem," replied Fury, leading him
to the helicopter.
•••
When they arrived at Bruce's house, Steve jumped from the
helicopter. He turned and gave Fury his signature salute while
putting on a fake smile and watched as he left.
Steve walked up to Bruce's front door and knocked twice. He felt
like a bomb ready to erupt. Bomb.... Steve shook his head after
being reminded of Tony saving his life.
Bruce had long since learned to distrust helicopters, but this
once he forced himself to remain calm, opening the door to a
slightly disheveled Steve. Bruce has obviously taken a beating
with the battle of Dreadknight -- his arm was in a sling and he
walked stiffly, though for the most part everything seemed to be
intact. Not everyone had fared so good -- as in, everyone else
had pretty much needed intensive care. Being a giant green
monster kind of helped a little.
"Hey Steve," Bruce smiling, opening the door and side-stepping
to allow Steve inside. "I hope you don't mind, I've only got one
bedroom..." He motioned toward the couch, which had been
ready-made for sleep with extra pillow and a comforter thrown
over the back. "I don't really care who sleeps where."
Bruce crossed the living room to grab the cup of tea he'd been
drinking, leaving the worn book on the end table. Bruce's home
was tiny, not much more than a storage shed and far off from
most civilization, but Bruce had grown used to silence. "What
seems to be the problem?" he asked, sounding, in his opinion,
entirely too much like a man who knew what he was doing.
- - - - - -
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
The first thing that Tony was aware of when he awoke was that
someone was knocking entirely too loud on the door. His mind was
muddled and he could barely remember his last name, what with
the jackhammer making progress on his skull.
"Let 'em in," Tony mumbled into the floor, where he lay in a
pool of liquor and blood. JARVIS, apparently, had no words for
him, but he heard the door obediently open anyways. It was
quiet, except for the quiet click of heels across the floor.
"Tony?" a hesitant voice called, a familiar voice that for some
reason threw a spear through his heart. He didn't reply. "Tony,
are you-- oh my god, Tony!" And suddenly the steps were quicker,
a rapid clickclickclick that got closer and closer until they
stopped completely. Something heavy dropped down beside him, and
Tony watched the hem of an A-line skirt just above a pair of
knees that he couldn't quite put a name on yet. "Tony, what did
you do..."
Tony is flipped over onto his back, doesn't protest or bother to
voice his pain. Pepper is kneeling above him with a kind of
horrified expression, and Tony looks at her blankly. "What are
you doing here?" he asks, and his voice is slightly accusatory
and all pain.
"I-I just heard about the-the guy, the big, the scary guy, and
I, I got worried, and, I, just, needed to... come and see
you..." Pepper looks sincere enough, but her eyes aren't quite
the right shade of blue. Tony isn't sure exactly what kind of
blue he's looking for.
* * *
"They're mostly healed... you just ripped the small ones, I-I
think you'll be fine..."
Tony is cleaned up again, liquor and blood washed off his body,
even though he doesn't say anything about the blood that he
coughed up a while ago. It doesn't really matter, anyways.
Internal bleeding is kind of the least of his worries, now that
the memories are coming back.
"Thank you," he says quietly, and perhaps if she'd been the one
hanging around him for the past three days she would know why
the Iron Man sounded so broken.
"You're an idiot," Pepper says fondly, "That was so unbelievably
stupid of you, I don't know what you were think--"
"I was thinking I could find something to fill the void," Tony
said, his voice suddenly poisonous. "You know, the one that you
left me with."
Pepper is silent for a moment, unsure of herself, something that
Pepper never is, and her next words are quiet and laced with
regret. "I'm sorry about that."
Tony nods. "I know you are."
Somehow, Pepper ends up kissing him, and it's the closest Tony's
ever going to get to blonde-haired-blue-eyed-beauty, so he lets
her. He lets her scoot closer and lets their mouths part and
lets the kiss get more heated because why not? None of it
matters, not really. They talk very briefly, Pepper saying this
is a mistake and Tony agreeing absolutely, then Pepper climbs on
top of him with her hair falling around her shoulders and Tony
whispers I love you in her ear. She doesn't reply, but Tony
doesn't take that as an insult.
It wasn't meant for her anyways.
✩Steve✩
"I won't judge you.
I'm not going anywhere.
You got me."
Steve frowned even more when he saw Bruce in a sling. He wished
he could have helped more... but.... Dreadknight didn't want to
kill anyone but Tony. Steve wondered if the others even knew
what happened to them or Dreadknight...
Steve stepped inside and turned to look at the sofa Bruce was
motioning at. "I'll sleep on the sofa," he said, simply. "Thanks
again," he quickly added.
Steve followed Bruce into the living room and took a seat on the
sofa. It took a deep breath to prepare himself for what came
next. "It's Tony.... I-I.... I love him." Steve went ahead and
spit it out. He told Bruce about the past three days and paused
right before he told him about the kiss. "Then I leaned down
and... kissed him." Steve looked away from Bruce as he felt
tears building up again. "Bruce... I had to leave him... I know
he didn't truly feel the same way. The whole thing was just a
stupid... stupid mistake." Steve put his head between his knees
and covered the back of his neck with his hands. "I couldn't
bare the thought of hurting him..."
"You love him," Bruce repeated before Steve launched into his
story. Wow. Okay. That was -- a lot, he guessed. Not that he was
judging -- it was just -- wow. But he managed to fight past the
shock so he could listen -- and that was something he was
particularly good at. Bruce watched, sympathy in his eyes as
Steve bent over, obviously upset, and couldn't help but feel a
flicker of familiarity to the situation at hand. When Steve fell
silent, his story done, Bruce gave a little sigh and a sad kind
of smile.
"When I first figured out... what I was... I ran away from the
girl I loved. I figured that she would be scared of me, would
hate me for what I had become, so I avoided her at all costs,
and I really thought I was doing the right thing, to keep her
away from a guy like me." Bruce looked down, pursing his lips,
driving himself to continue. "It was a long time before I
figured out she didn't feel that way. She accepted me, she loved
me back. And, really, I only wish that I could've figured that
out sooner. I could have, maybe, been with her longer if I had."
He looked back up again, putting his elbows on his knees and
leaning toward Steve. "My point is," he said, "Did you even
bother to ask? Are you sure you knew how he felt about you?"
✩Steve✩
"I won't judge you.
I'm not going anywhere.
You got me."
Steve listened to Bruce very carefully, frowning sadly as he
listened to his story. Steve sighed, "No... I didn't ask. I ran
out so quickly... I-I should have asked," said Steve, lifting
his head up slowly and turning to look at Bruce. "But I'm going
to... tomorrow." Steve decided. Besides, he wanted nothing more
than to see Tony again... to feel Tony's lips again. However, if
the feeling wasn't mutual after all, Steve would only be able to
see Tony, which was still enough.
"I'm sorry to just drop all of this of you. I know it must a
little awkward, but thanks. I really do appreciate it," said
Steve. There was a few moments silence.
"Well! I better be letting you get off to bed, thanks again."
Steve slowly lowered himself onto the sofa almost instantly feel
asleep.
Bruce smiled softly as Steve fell asleep, content with just the
fact that he had done something to help. The Avengers worked
well as a team -- it'd be a shame to see two crucial members
have a big blowout. He made his way to his bedroom, sighing.
However soothing it was to know he had helped Steve feel better,
he couldn't help but think that Tony must have done something to
screw this up. I mean, Tony was great, but he always managed to
throw a wrench in the whole operation -- sometimes it was good
and sometimes it was bad, but he hoped the genius had kept his
head on straight.
- - - - - - -
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
Miles away and late at night, Tony woke with his arm draped over
Pepper's bare back and the familiar headache, but he didn't get
out of bed (and since when did they get on the bed anyway?). He
was much too busy feeling sorry for himself to care. He knew, in
the morning, he would wake up and wonder what he'd done, but for
now he was content (though not exactly happy) drawing invisible
circles on the shoulder of the woman next to him.
He would deal with it all somehow, though later, because his
eyelids were heavy and he was thinking that his body really only
woke him up to scold him before he drifted back into sleep.
✩Steve✩
"I won't judge you.
I'm not going anywhere.
You got me."
Steve awoke the next morning quite early. Funny, he didn't even
remember going to sleep. He quickly stood up and hurried to the
door. He had to see Tony right now, but not without leaving
Bruce a note.
Steve managed to find a sheet of paper and a pencil as he wrote
a note apologizing about having to leave so soon, thanking him
again, and signing it by simply saying that he'll let Bruce know
if things work out or not.
He quickly opened the front door to nearly have a heart attack
when he saw Nick Fury standing in front of a large black car
with the passenger door open. "To Stark's? he asked with the
tiniest of smiles. "To Stark's," Steve repeated, getting into
the car.
•••
Fury pulled up into Tony's driveway, and Steve got out as quick
as he could. He had to see Tony to check on him, ask him, and
apologize to him.
Steve walked up to the front door and smiled. "Morning, JARVIS.
May I come in?" he asked instead of knocking on the door.
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
Tony woke up without a hangover, surprisingly enough, and he
wondered, exactly, what was going on with him. Usually he'd be
puking his brains out by now, but he only felt a tad clammy. He
wondered if this was just him recuperating, or, perhaps,
something different. From downstairs, Tony was fairly certain
that he could hear JARVIS welcoming someone inside, which was
odd, because JARVIS always asked for permission first. Maybe it
had been his imagination.
"Hey."
Tony looked over at Pepper, with her tiny, lazy little smile and
her petite frame hidden under the covers, and gave a little
smile himself. "That was stupid-- we should definitely not do
that again." Tony hummed his agreement as Pepper leaned over to
kiss him, and, briefly, he returned it, before gently taking her
shoulder and pushing her away.
"Later," he promised, and hated him for it, how the word rolled
so easily off his tongue. "First, coffee." Because Tony really
could not go a morning without it, hungover or not. He rolled
out of bed, finding the cleanest-looking clothes he could in the
room, and pulled them on as Pepper pulled the sheets around
herself and sat up, not protesting.
✩Steve✩
"I won't judge you.
I'm not going anywhere.
You got me."
Steve walked down the familiar halls until he made it to Tony's
room, but what he saw next stopped him in his tracks. There lied
Pepper, only covered by a sheet and Tony.... Steve was
speechless for a moment or two.
"I knew it. I knew you didn't love me," said Steve, shaking
slightly with anger. It was ironic how Pepper just magically
showed up right after he left. And after all that Pepper said to
Tony... he still slept with her. Steve was utterly and bitterly
disgusted.
"I was a fool to ever love you.... But I'm afraid I'm still a
fool because I still love you!" said Steve, his voice rising.
Steve had never felt more hurt in his life. This was even worse
than Dreadknight's force field.
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
Tony stiffens at a familiar voice rings true behind him,
surprised because a) holy sh-- Jarvis actually let someone in
without telling him and, b) he's pretty sure his heart just
skipped a beat and a half. Tony whirls around, shock clear on
his face, hurt suppressed behind anger.
"Did you seriously learn to sweet talk my A.I. so that you could
break into my house?" he demands, striding forward. He knows
Steve doesn't deserve that from him, but the Captain's hurling
accusations at him and they burn, and Tony only knows how to
retaliate.
"Wait, what?" Comes the octave-higher reply from the bed, and
Pepper is staring, suddenly clothed because yes, being naked
around Captain America (aka a complete stranger) was a little
unnerving.
"Get out of here, Pepper," Tony snaps, and doesn't even look at
her, all the fake affection gone from his voice. She stills
abruptly, her jaw set in anger, and she does just that, storming
out and slamming the door behind her. Once they are alone, Tony
turns his back to Steve, running his hand through his hair in
frustration.
"Are you... you're upset with me?" Tony asked furiously. "You're
the one who left!" and suddenly he is turned around around,
pointing an accusing finger as he comes nose to nose with the
Captain. "I came running up the stairs for you and you're the
one who made that choice, Steve, you're the one who left when
you said you wouldn't! You... you said you wouldn't let anything
hurt me, and look where we're at, Steve!" Something flashed in
Tony's eyes, something empty and heart-wrenchingly painful that
was quickly swallowed up by anger. "You're the one who hurt me!"
✩Steve✩
"I won't judge you.
I'm not going anywhere.
You got me."
Steve could feel himself choking up at Tony's words and was glad
Pepper had left. Tony was wrong, but also right.
"I left because I loved you," said Steve, holding back tears and
his voice growing more quiet. "I left because I knew you didn't
love me back, and I didn't want to make things anymore worse
than what they already were for you. I thought about you every
second after I left... I thought about killing myself Tony!"
Steve's voice grew a tiny bit more again. He allowed one tear
fall down his face. Steve felt horrible. All of this was his
fault.
Steve sighed and tried to pull himself together. "I didn't leave
you, Tony. I can never leave you. My blood rushes through your
veins," said Steve, looking Tony dead in the eyes. "I'm sorry I
hurt you Tony, but... you hurt me just as much..."
Steve stared into Tony's beautiful brown eyes that he loved so
much. Tony was right, Steve didn't keep his promise.... he hurt
Tony when he thought he was helping him.
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
Tony grabs at his hair, shaking his head like a dog because, no,
he doesn't want to hear it and he doesn't want this anymore, he
just want the smiles and the meaningful glances and the stupid
tension that fills the air but he can't have that, no like this,
with everything crumbling in on itself.
"I have, literally, never met anyone as dense as you," Tony
hisses. Why in all that is holy would you think that I am worth
your life?" He doesn't seem to know where to go, he's just
turning and looking anywhere but Steve, trying to make sense of
it all. "What the hell do you mean, your blood--" he shakes his
head again. Not of important. "No, no, don't answer that."
It's clear that Tony is struggling, grasping for words in a way
that he's never had to do before. He's never had anything just
out of reach, but now he knows, he knows what it's like to have
something on the tip of your tongue. "Did you ever think," he
begins, "That maybe I wanted you to kiss me? Did you ever think,
maybe, that you are the I think about every second I can? You
ever think that there's a reason I nearly killed myself for
you?"
The words are there, bouncing around in his skull, but they lack
the conviction he wants, so he finally looks at Steve, he grabs
at him, gripping his hair and his shoulder, keeping him right
where he is. "Do you think that you can get it through your
obscenely thick head that this only hurts so much because I love
you back?" And as soon as he's said it he knows that it's true,
that he's fallen for Steve, and he drags the man down with him,
crashing their lips together in something angry and urgent and
all together wonderful.
It goes on forever but isn't nearly long enough, but Tony breaks
away anyways, throws himself off and swerves around the man in
front of him, slipping his feet into shoes, jamming his arms
into his jacket sleeves. "I'm going for a walk," he snarls, and
it is obviously not an invitation for Steve to join him -- it is
a message of I need my space, I need to think. He flings open
the door so that it hits the wall and storms downstairs,
offering no other explanation, and soon he gone, his house is
out of sight and his face is in his hands as he sits on a park
bench, cold and alone because that's the only thing he's ever
known how to be.
✩Steve✩
"I won't judge you.
I'm not going anywhere.
You got me."
Steve watched with pain in his eyes as Tony shook his head. He
listened to every word Tony said to him, wanting to fight back,
knowing what he was going to say. However, when Tony grabbed
Steve and implied that he loved him back, Steve's heart seemed
to skip a beat.
Steve was going to say something... he really was, but it was
kind of hard to say something when Tony Stark kisses you. There
was lots of anger and desperation behind the kiss, but Steve
didn't really care. He closed his eyes and let Tony kiss him,
and he kissed back. The kiss seemed to go on forever, making
Steve hunger for more which was something Steve never wanted
every other time he had kissed someone. The kiss was wonderful
and mind-blocking, but sadly, it ended. Tony pulled away and
simply said he was going for a walk.
Now who was the one that left? Although Steve wanted to be a
little angry with Tony, he couldn't. Steve could hear his heart
beating fast, thinking about the kiss him and Tony just shared.
#Post#: 11--------------------------------------------------
Re: 1x1 || TinyGoliath & MagicNightStar
By: TinyGoliath Date: February 6, 2013, 8:14 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
☠ Fury ☠
"And then he rose."
Fury followed Tony to the park and sat down next to him. "Stark,
I don't like you very much, but I'm going to attempt to knock
some sense into you," said Fury, pulling out his laptop device
and opening the footage of Steve. It showed Steve on the first
night after he went to Tony's when he told Fury it that checking
up on Tony wasn't about S.H.I.E.L.D. it was about Tony, and when
Steve gave that reporter woman one hundred dollars to not run a
humiliating story about Tony, it even showed Steve telling Tony
he loved him for the first time and Tony say love you too, buddy
back, and when Steve shouted Tony's name continuously when he
thought Tony was dead, and not letting him go when they where
both placed on the helicopter, and when Steve replaced Tony's
reactor, gave him stitches, and gave Tony lots of his blood to
save him, it even showed Steve lying on the grass next to the
road, crying his eyes out and punching the ground, it showed
Tony everything he didn't know Steve did for him.
When the footage stopped, Fury closed his laptop. "Do you see
everything that man has done for you? If you ask me, I call the
true love." Fury didn't feel like talking to Tony anymore, so he
got up and left.
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
Tony did not expect what Fury was about to do. The man came up
to him, stiff and unlovable as always, and Tony heaved a massive
sigh, bristling. What in the world would Fury show him that
would make all this, somehow, better, or at least done with? How
could showing Tony something, anything, on a laptop that by his
standards was obsolete, and make it all--
Oh. Wow. Okay.
Tony suddenly watched with renewed... perhaps not interest, but
speculation, at least. He was trying to make himself as detached
as possible, because just for the moment he did not want to feel
anymore, but the images flickering on the screen shot a guilty
bullet through his heart, one after another. He knew Steve had
saved his ass once (and then left, he reminded himself, because
he did not want to feel sentimental or fond or even appreciative
-- that didn't work out so well, but hey) but now... well, it
seemed kind of like, in the last four days, Steve had done
nothing but cared. And that alone dug deep and tore at something
inside Tony, made him feel terrible, like the scum of the earth,
and he just couldn't wrap his brain fully around it.
Tony watched Fury leave, stone-still, until, finally, he called
out, "How did you override JARVIS' optical?" because that was
the only thing he could ask anybody besides Steve that wouldn't
make him seem weak. "Do you literally have nothing better to do
than just... watch us? Do you even have a job besides that?" But
Fury was already gone by the time Tony was done yelling after
him, and even mockery didn't make him feel any better about this
-- about himself, about Steve, about everything.
Tony debated going to sleep on the bench. He would feel like a
fool, going back, because then he would have to apologize and
that was something he never did. But then he laughed at himself,
because he was Tony Stark and he was rich and he was not going
to fall asleep on a bench on the side of the road and maybe he
was a fool anyways. He sat in turmoil for a while longer,
battling with his pride, before he finally ripped it from
himself, flung it aside, because he was tired of keeping himself
from Steve for whatever reason -- the prospect of humiliation
was not going to keep him.
By the time Tony made it back, shivering in the cold and still
angry at JARVIS, he had, for the most part, come to terms with
what he had done -- what he had to do.
"Honey, I'm home," he called, because no matter how serious he
would have to get it would have to start out with a joke -- or
else he couldn't defuse himself safely.
"Welcome back, sir."
"Wasn't talking to you, JARVIS," said Tony dismissively,
lingering at the front door -- he felt like he was intruding,
even if it was his own home, even if Steve hadn't even asked to
come in anyways. He shuffled his feet, fingers digging into his
palms, and called out, warily, "Steve?"
✩Steve✩
"I won't judge you.
I'm not going anywhere.
You got me."
Steve sat on the end of Tony's bed with his elbows on his knees
and his head in his hands. He thought about leaving at least
twenty times, but found himself unable to do it. He couldn't
'leave' Tony again, even if Tony was angry with him.
What seemed like hours passed by before he heard the front door
open. "Honey, I'm home!" Tony's voice echoed throughout the
house. He heard Tony called his name, and Steve stood up right
away as if he was one of Tony's machines. However, Steve had
unfinished business with Tony, but this time no raised voices.
Steve walked downstairs and to the front door where Tony was.
"Tony you are worth my life. You mean the world to me, and
losing you or not being able to be with you would kill me," said
Steve, saying what he wanted to say before Tony kissed him. "I
love you so much, Tony.... A day without you is like a year
without air." Steve slowly and gently placed a hand on the side
of Tony's face. "I can understand if you want me to leave, but
like I said before, I'll just come right back. I have to come
back." Steve stared deeply into Tony's eyes. Steve made sure all
his words were filled with as much love as he possibly could. It
was true, Steve couldn't live without Tony.
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
It was a mix of relief and worry as Steve came into sight,
though Tony wasn't sure what to think until he started speaking.
Despite his words, despite how happy it made him, despite the
warm hand on his face, which he leaned into, he still couldn't
shake the guilt that was weighing down on him.
Tony stepped closer, putting his hand over Steve's, turmoil in
his eyes. "I never want you to leave," he says quietly, and he
moves forward, as if to kiss Steve, but instead buries his face
in the other man's neck, wrapping his arms around him like he
did those few night ago. "I'm sorry," he breaths, his voice on
the edge of breaking. "Fury showed me everything. I'm so sorry,
Steve, I've been... stupid, and... I just... love you. I just
love you so much." He squeezes Steve as tightly as he can,
afraid to let him go, afraid to cut this short. Sorry is not
good enough, Tony quickly realizes, but he can't think of
anything else for now, so he just hugs Steve as tight as he can
and hope that he can make it up to him somehow, somewhere,
someday.
✩Steve✩
"I won't judge you.
I'm not going anywhere.
You got me."
Steve watched as guilt covered Tony's face while he put his hand
over Steve's. He listened to Tony as Tony buried his face in
Steve's neck and wrapped his arms around him.
Steve slowly wrapped his arms around Tony, putting on arm around
his waist and the other on his back, placing a hand on the back
of his head to pull him in closer. He kissed Tony on the head
when he said he loved him. "I know you do, Tony... I know..." he
breathed. He squeezed Tony back, wanting him to know that he
wasn't ever going to leave Tony... ever.
After awhile of being wrapped up in one another, Steve slowly
and gently pulled away. "Tony... you know my house is gone, and
if Fury did show you everything then you know I'm almost flat
broke...." Steve knew what he was trying to get at, but he just
didn't really know how to ask. "Tony... Can I stay here with
you?" he asked, spitting it all out. "I could sleep in the guest
bedroom, and help you around the house, I could even make fondue
sometime, I here it's just bread and cheese, and I could be
there when you need me, and watch over you like I said I would,
and protect you." He knew he was rambling on, but he desperately
wanted to stay with Tony.
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
Tony looks up, eyes glowing at the prospect of Steve actually
living, here, in his house. Of course, the man starts babbling,
and Tony can't help but give a tiny smile. "Stop," he says,
chuckling, putting both his hands on either side of the man's
face and pulling him in for a chaste kiss. "You aren't staying
in the guest bedroom," he says, raising his eyebrows as he
smiles genuinely.
"Sir, Ms. Pepper Potts has requested somebody to remind you
about your press conference tomorrow." JARVIS' voice cuts the
moment in half, and Tony frowns. Of course, it would only be a
matter of time until Pepper stopped talking to him -- he
supposed this was it. But he found himself not really caring --
he had somebody else to worry about and obsess over now,
somebody else to love.
"Thanks JARVIS," said Tony, and he only had eyes for Steve.
✩Steve✩
"I won't judge you.
I'm not going anywhere.
You got me."
Steve stopped right when Tony told him to like Tony had complete
control of him. Tony kissed him quickly, once again taking
Steve's breath away. Steve's eyes glistened when Tony said he
wasn't staying in the guest bedroom. Steve's mouth form a
perfect smile, thinking about being able to fall asleep looking
at Tony each night. He remembered how nice it felt to be
intertwined with him as they drifted off to sleep.
Steve was interrupted from his thought when JARVIS said
something about Pepper wanting Tony to know he had a press
conference tomorrow. Steve frowned and looked at Tony who was
also frowning and couldn't help but wonder if he still had
feelings for her. However, when Tony thanked JARVIS he just
somehow knew that he didn't. Not that way anyways. Steve grabbed
Tony's face and pulled him in for another sweet and gentle kiss
to let him know how grateful he was and how much he loved him.
He made sure it lasted for at least a minute before pulling
away.
"I wish I could tell you exactly how much I love you," said
Steve, smiling again. This time, Steve wasn't sure if he could
ever stop smiling. He was so happy.
Then, Steve thought about something "Tony... I what we have to
be serious... meaning no flirting, kissing, or doing things to
girls, okay? I know you're use to being a playboy, but I can't
bare the thought of you kissing someone else or flirting, or
doing anything with someone else.... It would hurt me very
badly...." Steve was quite aware of Tony's reputation with the
ladies, and Steve just couldn't handle something like that. He
also hoped that Tony wouldn't do anything like that if he got
drunk either.
Steve took Tony's hands in his. "Also, I'd like to come with you
tomorrow, if you don't mind. After all, it's not everyday you
get to see Tony Stark live at a press conference," he joked.
"And... Tony.... I don't want the world to know we're
together... If our enemies find out.... Tony.... I can't risk
losing you again. Next time I might not act as well..." Steve's
mind went back to watching Tony dig his nails into the concrete
while his reactor slowly destroyed him piece by piece as he was
being shocked by Dreadknight's whip. A small tear slipped down
Steve's face as he thought about it, and squeezed Tony's hand
tight. "If I lose you, I will die."
Steve shook his head, trying to push the thought of losing Tony
away. Remembering what happened last night reminded him of
something else. "By the way, when Fury showed you the footage, I
don't know if he told you or not... or if he even knew.... Tony,
when I gave you my blood, some of my serum got into your
bloodstream. Tony, you have some of the effects of my serum."
Steve knew it was true, but he didn't exactly know which
qualities were transferred into him. Now that Steve thought of
it, Tony did look slightly more muscular. "I'm sorry Tony, but I
had to do it..." Steve said, fearing that Tony wouldn't except
or like the fact that he, in some ways, had super strength.
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
Tony managed to look a bit more irritated every time Steve
opened his mouth, keeping calm under the influence of the other
man's touch, but only just so. When Steve was done, Tony took
one of his hands away from him, flexing the fingers, looking at
his hand like it was some kind of oddity. "So you're inside of
me," he said, obviously amused, and his eyes flickered to
Steve's as he raised a suggestive eyebrow. "That's fun."
Tony reached out, putting the hand he had freed on Steve's face,
wiping the tear that had rolled down to the Captain's chin off
his face. "I guess that explains why I'm not hungover," he
murmurs, his voice suddenly quieter. His brings his face closer
to Steve's until their foreheads are resting against each other,
dark brown eyes meeting sea-blue. "I have to admit though, Cap,
that's a lot of changes... celibacy, secrecy, sobriety... that's
kind of my whole life style flipped around..." But Tony doesn't
look unsure or unhappy -- he looks, maybe, the slightest bit
lost, like such a big change in his life might change him
completely, too, but he's willing. For Steve, he's willing to do
anything.
"Just... one condition, though," he adds, his eyes swelling with
emotion. "If you ever have any doubts... in the name of all that
is holy, can you please just ask next time?" His voice is
serious, but not angry, a hint of something playful mixed in. He
couldn't imagine having to go through this turmoil again -- and,
okay, perhaps he would've denied it the first few times if Steve
had outright asked him about his feelings, but he was Tony
Stark. This was new to him. Even with Pepper, there had always
just been this unspoken agreement that they were together, it
never had to be finalized or discussed or thought about. And now
there was this -- and it was wonderful, but it was also
confusing, and Tony would need someone to lead him through it.
✩Steve✩
"I won't judge you.
I'm not going anywhere.
You got me."
Steve frowned as he watched Tony flex his fingers. He seemed...
unhappy about something. 'Oh god... What have I done to him?" he
thought, continuing to listen to Tony.
"I know what I'm asking seems like a lot, but Tony.... I can't
loose you...." Steve shook his head a little. Was he being too
selfish? "But I want you to be yourself... Even if my blood has
changed you a bit." Steve knew guilt was all over his face and
in his eyes. He felt so bad for changing Tony with his blood,
but he had to do it. It was that, or Tony die and that couldn't
of happened.
•••
Later that night, Steve walked into Tony's bedroom. He had
realized moments before that all of his clothes had been
destroyed in the explosion. Now all he had was his Captain
America suit. Steve sighed and sat on the edge of the bed in his
undershirt and tights and stared at the wall. Steve didn't
really think about all the stuff he had lost until now.... He
had lost his house, clothes, personal belongings, personal
treasures, everything. He placed his head in his hands. The only
thing he didn't lose that day was Tony... and that was enough.
He turned to look at the top part of his suit lying on the floor
in front of him before it struck him. His shield. Great. He lost
his shield. The only thing besides himself to fight with. How
was he suppose to get another shield like that?
Steve sighed again, and fell back on the bed. He didn't need to
be thinking about that right now. He would find a way to get
another shield. All that mattered was Tony. He had saved Tony's
life that night, and Tony was all he needed now.
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
To put it bluntly, Tony got over the change. He had to. For
Steve.
It was a good morning, one of the best of Tony's life, and the
afternoon wasn't too bad either. Tony managed to fix at least
half of his suit, but he had asked JARVIS to rewire and repaint
everything, god knows how long that would take. But every time
Tony looked up from tightening a bold or banging out a dent,
Steve was there, and Tony would send him a little smile or a
little look and continue with his work. He barely stood all day,
which was fine by him -- he was perpetually lazy anyways.
But by the time the sun had set, Tony was definitely not fine.
Steve had gotten up and gone to the bedroom, and Tony had stayed
down for a few more minutes organizing his tools, which was
weird because Tony never did that. His legs were just feeling
heavy -- he didn't really feel like standing up. Once Steve was
gone, though, the urge to stay seated was replaced by the urge
to run upstairs and kiss the man, and Tony did so -- or, rather,
he tried.
Tony stood up, expecting complete normalcy, but that was not the
case -- instead, his legs gave out under him. Tony hit the
ground hard, on his hands and knees, but that proved to be too
much as well, and he dropped to his stomach, eliciting a sharp
gasp. Had he not noticed the chills, the clammy-ness in the heat
of the soldering iron? Had he not noticed his clenching stomach
in the midst of all the butterflies every time he looked at
Steve?
"JARVIS," Tony asked, limbs shaking as he forced himself into an
upright position and slumped against his desk. "What's going
on?"
"I believe Mr. Rogers blood is receiving a negative reaction
from your body, sir."
Tony lets out a shaky breath, grasping for the edge of the desk,
something to pull himself up. "Is it fatal?" he huffs, shaking
as he pulls himself upward, leaning heavily against the desk.
The blood in his veins burns and feels cold as ice at the same
time, his brain frazzled as he finally slumps over, just barely
standing, held up by his shaking arms on the desk.
"Not likely, sir. There may be some discomfort, though."
"Yeah, I got that." It doesn't hurt so much as it does weaken
him -- his muscles feel limp and uncoordinated, ready to melt at
any moment. Slicked in sweat for the -- what, third time that
week? -- he stumbles toward the door and pushes as hard as he
can -- the door barely opens, but it's enough to slip his hand
in, shove half of his body through and fall, dragging the rest
of himself out toward the stairs. "How long, JARVIS?"
"Until your body gives out, sir."
Tony's unconscious before he can call for Steve.
✩Steve✩
"I won't judge you.
I'm not going anywhere.
You got me."
Steve lied on the bed for what seemed like ages, waiting for
Tony. Soon, he got a little worried if something had gone wrong
with the suit and that's why Tony wasn't there. Steve had tried
to put on a big smile all day, but he couldn't help feeling bad
for.... everything. For ripping his suit to pieces and
transferring some of his serum into Tony.
Steve sat up and got off the bed, going to check on Tony. He
made his way to the steps to the basement before his heartbeat
grew with worry. "Tony!" he said, rushing over to Tony's body on
the floor. "Tony, are you okay?" he continued, shaking him
slightly. Steve quickly flipped him over on his back and checked
his heartbeat. He was alive, but unconscious. "JARVIS, what
happened?" Steve placed a hand on Tony's face. "He seemed just
fine..."
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
"I'm afraid the Super Soldier Serum is disagreeing with Mr.
Stark's body," JARVIS piped helpfully, "It is unlikely to be
fatal, from what I observe it is only temporary."
And temporary it was, because at that moment Tony woke again,
limbs still weak and hands still clammy, but feeling perhaps not
so bad. He sucks in a large breath, seeing Steve above him and
grabbing for his arm. "I'm okay," he assured Steve, though he
looks stunned and pale. "Just... not meant to be a
super-soldier." And despite the slightly pained expression on
his face, Tony manages a short laugh. He moves his hand from
Steve's arm to his shoulder, and pulls himself into a sitting
position, keeping his breathing as level as he can. "Help me
up?" he asks, having a feeling that he can't do it on his own.
✩Steve✩
"I won't judge you.
I'm not going anywhere.
You got me."
Steve sighed in relief when JARVIS said he would be alright.
"Thanks JARV-" at that moment Tony opened his eyes. 'Well that
was fast...' thought Steve, watching Tony grab his arm. He
looked awful.... and to think that he was the cause of it.
"I thought so too..." Steve said, referring to Tony's comment
about not meaning to be a super-soldier. He smiled a little when
Tony laughed. "I'll do more than that," replied Steve, picking
Tony up bridal-style like Tony once did as Iron Man. He carried
him up to the bedroom in which he carefully lied Tony down on
the bed before sitting down next to him.
"Tony... if you don't want to have the effects of my serum, just
tell me. I'll try everything I can to undo it. I just think,
after the discomfort, it'll really help you if you're stuck
without your suit in battle..." said Steve, wanting Tony to be
honest with him.
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
Tony gave a tiny smile as he settled into the bed, sighing. "I'm
okay," he repeated earnestly, "I just... wasn't prepared. You're
right -- it'll be... useful."
It was then that Tony's eyes flickered to Steve's clothes, which
were actually his tights and an undershirt -- he frowned. That's
right, Steve's house had been blown up. He didn't actually have
a lot now. "You wanna borrow some sweatpants or something?" he
asked, eyes flickering up to Steve's face. Concerned, it seemed.
"Just until we can get you some actual clothes. And don't say
no," he warned, "You've already done too much for me." He felt
guilty enough that he was pretty much completely dependent on
Steve, that because of him he was actually alive -- giving the
guy his clothes was the least he could do.
✩Steve✩
"I won't judge you.
I'm not going anywhere.
You got me."
Steve smiled and brushed a strand of Tony's hair out of his
face. "You should feel better in the morning," said Steve,
giving him a quick kiss on the forehead.
Steve looked down at his tights and laughed a little. "Then I
guess I'll have to say yes!" he said, quickly getting dressed
into a pair of Tony's sweatpants. "Thank you." Steve lied back
down next to Tony before smiling again. "We better be going to
sleep, you have a press conference tomorrow." He slowly wrapped
his arms around Tony like the first night he slept with him and
whispered in his ear, "Sweet dreams." before closing his eyes,
and surrendering himself to Tony's warmth.
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
Tony made a content little voice in the back of his throat as
Steve wrapped his arms around Tony. Tony returned the gesture,
sighing happily as he drifted off. More than once, he dreamt of
being swallowed in darkness, or Steve's face burning in the
fire, but whenever Tony woke up, eyes flying open, ready to
scream, he would come face-to-face with Steve and his heart
would immediately slow its rapid pounding. It wasn't a perfect
sleep, but then again perfect was very tiring to achieve.
* * *
Tony's eyes fluttered open, persuaded by the sun that rose over
the ocean view of the house. JARVIS softly recited today's
temperature and weather, though Tony could barely hear them. He
only looked at Steve, hair slightly disheveled from sleep and
eyes closed, completely peaceful. The man was so breathtakingly
beautiful it was unfair. Tony rose up a little, planting tiny
kisses from the man's temple to the corner of his mouth, before
falling back against the pillows again, bewildered about how
this had fallen into his lap.
✩Steve✩
"I won't judge you.
I'm not going anywhere.
You got me."
Steve slept peacefully through the night. It was strange how the
man who had been through World War II and so much more could
have dreamless sleeps about every night. Maybe after you sleep
for seventy years you just stop dreaming. However, waking up to
the feeling of Tony Stark kissing you seems like a dream. But it
wasn't, Steve woke up with Tony right there next to him, still
intertwined. "Morning, Soldier Stark," said Steve, giving Tony a
small kiss on the cheek.
He could tell that Tony was still tired, so he slowly let go of
Tony and stood up. First, Steve made his way into Tony's closet,
getting a nice suit and tie out for him. It was a gray suit with
a light blue tie for Tony's press conference. Then, Steve made
his way to the kitchen. Good morning, JARVIS. Mind if I help you
with breakfast?" He grabbed some eggs from the refrigerator
before grabbing a pan, putting it on the oven, and cracking the
eggs. When everything was done cooking, Steve set the table and
went back into Tony's room.
"Hey, get up. You have a press conference today, remember?
Breakfast is ready, and I set a suit out for you." Steve walked
back into the kitchen where he quickly made a cup of coffee for
Tony using the coffee maker again. He wanted Tony to be nice and
awake for the conference.
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
Tony tried as much as possible not to move during the mornings
-- granted, he was a busy man, so that didn't really work out
for him, but he gave an unconsenting groan as he sat up anyways.
His hair was similar to that of a startled cockatoo, sticking
out at every imperfect angle, but he didn't bother to fix it --
this was breakfast, after all, not a ballroom.
He got up, actually able to support his own weight and feeling
considerably better than last night, and shuffled obediently
downstairs, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. The freshly-cooked
smell of eggs and coffee lured him into the kitchen, and he set
his eyes on what he basically considered a feast.
"You're too good for me," Tony said to Steve, walking over to
him, smiling, a hand brushing his arm as Tony gently took the
cup of coffee from his hands (because waiting was not in Tony's
vocabulary). "Thank you," he said genuinely, "But are you sure
we can't just skip the conference? I'm pretty sure they don't
need me there, and you're much more fun."
✩Steve✩
"I won't judge you.
I'm not going anywhere.
You got me."
Steve smiled as Tony came downstairs and took the coffee. "No,
you're too good for me," he said, running a hand through Tony's
hair. "And they do need you there. The press conference is for
you. Besides, if you don't go I won't let you kiss me... nor
will I kiss you," said Steve with an evil smirk. He took a seat
at the kitchen table and began eating his eggs. Steve loved
this, living with Tony, being with Tony, loving Tony and Tony
loving him in return. Things couldn't get much better. Also,
Tony seemed to be feeling much better after the serum started to
act up. Yep! Looked like Steve could now be perfectly happy.
After all, what was there to really be sad about?
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
Tony frowned, murmuring something about cruel and unusual
punishment before sliding into the seat across from Steve,
shoving food in his mouth. He really just hoped the conference
could go quickly -- I mean, yeah, sure, questions were great and
exciting, but often nobody even put up a good one and Tony could
be stuck repeating himself for two hours. Hopefully that would
not be the case.
"They're probably going to ask me about clean-up," Tony
speculated as he ate, "Why do they always assume I have the
money to rebuild an entire city block?" And, sure, it was true,
he did, and sure, he mostly did end up paying for it all, even
if SHIELD was supposed to, but that wasn't important. He just
felt like complaining.
"Sir," JARVIS piped, "Your conference starts at eight o' clock."
"Yeah?" said Tony, staring up at the ceiling, "What time is it
now?"
"Eight o' clock, sir."
Tony seemed mildly amused by this, if anything could be told by
the grin on his face. "I've got time to spare," he said coolly,
but was already getting up, brushing himself off, and headed
upstairs.
✩Steve✩
"I won't judge you.
I'm not going anywhere.
You got me."
Steve shrugged. "Because people think we can do everything, I
guess. Especially with money. Don't let it bother you too much.
Besides, I'll be there the whole time, waiting to give you that
kiss," Steve said with a wink.
Steve frowned when JARVIS said the time. Now he didn't want Tony
to leave, but he had to. He quickly ate his food so he could get
dressed, but then he remembered he couldn't really get
dressed.... I mean, showing up to Tony's press conference in his
Captain America outfit would probably attract too much
attention. But then again, how could Steve possibly distract
people from Tony Stark?
Steve went upstairs and grabbed his suit and got dressed. He
really needed some new clothes. He walked into the bathroom and
ran his fingers through his hair since he didn't have anything
to brush it with. Things were still really difficult when all
you had was a suit and someone you loved.
"Tony... do you think it would be alright if I called you my
boyfriend?" asked Steve, a little nervous. Steve didn't think
Tony had even ever had a girlfriend for that matter. I mean, he
had Pepper, but they didn't really seem to be boyfriend and
girlfriend, they just seemed.... together.... Also, Steve had
never had a girlfriend or anything liked that, he just had a
love interest.
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
Tony was just buttoning up his shirt when Steve appeared,
popping the question of calling Tony his boyfriend. Surprised,
Tony turned around, mouth open slightly. "Um..." he started,
sounding unsure, because, just wow. That would institute that he
was serious. "Uh, yeah, I guess..." Tony turned and grabbed him
jacket, throwing it over his shoulders. He was very pointedly
not looking at Steve.
But yeah, I guess didn't seem fitting, no matter how daunting
the question was, so when Tony crossed the room, he grabbed
Steve's hand, looking up at him earnestly. "Yes," he said, with
a finality. "I mean, I am-- a boyfriend... yours. Your
boyfriend." He seemed a little embarrassed, stumbling over his
words, and couldn't seem to help the blush from creeping up on
his face. "We're getting you new clothes after this," he
mumbled, and apparently, yes, he was embarrassed, what with
trying to change the subject and all.
Suddenly, though, Tony seemed to brighten, and he gave a little,
mischievous kind of smile. "But if I am your boyfriend..." he
said shadily, "That means I don't have to wait to kiss you." and
with that, Tony grabbed Steve's face in his hands and pulled him
in for a short, albeit passionate kiss, pulling away and
actually having the audacity to wink. "To the conference," said
Tony, stepping away from and around Steve -- you really couldn't
miss the smugness in his voice.
✩Steve✩
"I won't judge you.
I'm not going anywhere.
You got me."
Steve smiled as Tony tripped over his own words. He was so cute
when he did that. Steve wanted to kiss him then so bad, but
remembered what he told Tony. Steve looked down at his suit and
sighed. "Yeah, that would be nice."
Steve was about to dodge the kiss that Tony was about to give
him, but too late. Steve debated about kissing him back or not,
but decided to do so... he kind of had to do so. He was just so
happy that Tony, his boyfriend (and wow was it great to be able
to call him his boyfriend), had accepted Steve's request. When
Tony pulled away and winked at Steve he was speechless. "Uh...
yeah... conference..." said Steve, stunned from the kiss.
"Do you always get what you want?" Steve asked jokingly as they
made their downstairs.
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
Tony smirked as he looked back at Steve, all bashful gone and
replaced with an air of accomplishment. "I have you, don't I?"
he replied easily, seeing that as answer enough. As he reached
the bottom of the stairs, JARVIS calls out the time again: 8:10.
While this isn't particularly troubling to Tony, because this is
usually early for him, he's not sure how Steve feels about being
late so he's actually trying to be kind of on time.
Apparently, though, everybody always expected Tony Stark to be
late, so be the time he arrives, only half an hour late, hardly
anyone is there. When Tony asks the nearest reporter why (and
there aren't many near), they give him an odd look and say that
he's always at least an hour and a half late.
"Hurtful," Tony frowns, but he turns back to Steve and smiles.
"But maybe this means I can get it over with quickly."
#Post#: 12--------------------------------------------------
Re: 1x1 || TinyGoliath & MagicNightStar
By: TinyGoliath Date: February 6, 2013, 8:17 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
✩Steve✩
"I won't judge you.
I'm not going anywhere.
You got me."
Steve gave Tony a little smile. "No Tony, you got me," he
whispered, repeating what he had told Tony the night of the
party before heading the rest of the way downstairs.
Steve and Tony arrived half and hour late to find only a few
reporters. "Whatever you say, Mr. Stark," said Steve before
whispering, "Remember, no one can know we are boyfriends... In
public, I am your bodyguard," in Tony's ear. It was sad really,
to not be able to be exclusive in public. Steve would like
nothing more than to show Tony off to the world, but he
couldn't. No one but the Avengers could know about them. And so
far only Bruce and Fury knew. Well, Bruce kind of knew...
Anyway, if the enemy ever found out they were in a relationship
Tony would be in even more danger, and Steve couldn't risk that.
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
Tony gave a tiny little smile at that, giving an almost
imperceptible nod of his head. "Yeah," he said, "I know." He
certainly didn't sound very happy about it, but he understood.
Kind of. Something about protection. "Come on," he said,
clambering out of the car and heading toward the building. The
few reporters there looked on with odd kind of expression, like
they couldn't believe that the infamously late Tony Stark, but
once the initial shock passed, he was swarmed, with only the
Captain as his shield.
"Answering questions inside!" Tony announced, and it was passed
down among one another until they all slowly moved with him
inside the building, like a swarm of bees. Tony passed through
the doors and, taking his words a little too literally,
everybody was suddenly shouting at once. Tony really wished he
could shut them up until he made it to the podium, but the most
he could do to calm himself was brush his arm with Steve's (that
was the most contact he could really make without being
suspicious) and make his way slowly up to the front.
Finally, though, he made it to the podium, and made a point to
clear his throat, taking his time before he appointed the first
asker of questions: an apparently very enthusiastic young
reporter.
"SIR HOW DO YOU EXPECT TO PAY FOR THE DAMAGE TO THE CITY."
Tony rolled his eyes. This was going to be a long day.
✩Steve✩
"I won't judge you.
I'm not going anywhere.
You got me."
Steve made sure to make people give Tony enough room to be able
to breathe as they walked into the building and up to the
podium. A chill went down his spine as Tony brushed his arm,
making it hard for Steve to focus. However, Steve was use to
resisting temptation... even if this temptation was
irresistible...
Steve stood next to Tony when they arrived at the podium until
he stepped back a step or so to not try to appear as if he was
trying to steal Tony's spotlight. Now the questions began....
Steve rolled his eyes about the same time as Tony when the first
reporter asked their question. Now Steve could understand why
Tony didn't want to come here. Steve on the other hand, had
never had a press conference really and thought it would be
quite interesting in a way. Then again, he would probably just
get asked a lot of World War II questions... and Steve didn't
really care to talk about that except to Tony.
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
It was surprising, Tony thought, that one group of people could
be so desperate for information. Furthermore, while he knew
that, yes, okay, he was used to this and it would be easiest, it
was always him doing these things -- why not the entire Avengers
Initiative? Eventually, though, the topic of Dreadknight had
been mulled over long enough and it instead turned toward Tony's
recent... escapades.
"Mr. Stark, was there a reason you left the charity banquet
early?"
"Mr. Stark, how much importance did this gathering hold for
you?"
"You were seen dancing with Captain America, care to explain
yourself, or are you only going to give another imprecise and
frustrating answer?"
That question was asked by Christine Everhart, a snarky reporter
he had met a few years ago and seemed to keep popping up in
Tony's life. He smiled at her. "I think we all know that I would
choose the latter," Tony said congenially, "But the answer to
that, unfortunately, is not anything fantastic to put on your
tabloids -- the fact is that I was drunk and the Captain's just
about the only one who would put up with me."
"And you believe that getting intoxicated at a charity banquet
is socially acceptable?"
"I think that you have no right to talk about self-preservation,
Ms. Everhart." Tony throws her a pointed look among a few
taken-aback murmurs, and the blonde-haired woman shuts right
back up, giving Tony the stink-eye. How long has it been? Tony's
already bored out of his mind and it's felt like hours -- how
are there so many questions?
The questions eventually diminish and come far and few between,
and an exhausted Tony Stark thanks the all-too-nosy, bothersome
reporters whom he really doesn't thank at all and motions for
Steve to follow as he makes his way down from the platform, out
the door, and to his car, barely bothered at all. He leans
against his vehicle for a moment, drawing in a deep, tired
breath before he slips inside, fingers drumming on the wheel as
he waits for Steve to climb in.
✩Steve✩
"I won't judge you.
I'm not going anywhere.
You got me."
Steve was a bit shocked at some of the questions asked,
especially the one about them dancing. Well, at least that
reporter that Steve paid wasn't there.
Once the conference was over, Steve followed Tony out the door,
but not before saying, "That's all the questions Mr. Stark will
be taking right now, so please don't ask him any at his car."
Steve gave a quick and small sort of bow to the reporters before
heading out and getting into Tony's car.
Steve wasn't exactly sure why he thought of this now, but he was
somehow reminded of the time Tony quickly turned off the radio
when a certain song started playing. Perhaps it was because of
all the questions about the banquet they had just heard and now
they were in the car where just a few nights ago they shared an
emotional moment.
"Tony... why exactly did you turn off the radio that night
before the party? You said bad memories were associated with it
but... Tony..." Steve wasn't exactly sure how to put, I know you
said the song brought back bad memories but I still want to know
without being insensitive "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have brought
that up," said Steve finally, deciding it was best not to pry.
If Tony wanted to tell him, he would.
Another question Steve had always wanted to ask was how Tony had
gotten his reactor and why he needed it. Steve decided to ask,
thinking that wouldn't trigger bad memories... hopefully. "There
is another thing I've always been curious about.... How did you
get your reactor... Your first, that is, and why do you need
it?" Steve shook his head. "I'm sorry, Tony, really. I know you
just got out of a press conference... but... I just feel like
you have all these things you're keeping from me, and I feel
like I hardly even know you, and Tony.... I want to know you."
Steve stopped right there because he didn't want to make Tony
angry or uncomfortable. Why did he suddenly have to be so...
nosy?
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
Tony was only mildly surprised at the sudden questions -- it
wasn't as if he wanted to relive those memories, exactly, but he
figured it was only a matter of time. "It's... fine... It's
just... it's a long story," Tony said quietly as Steve
apologized, though judging by his tone of voice it was decidedly
not fine. It was a very long while before Tony spoke again. It
was almost as if he wasn't going to at all, but he, finally,
gave a heavy sigh and slumped against the wheel.
"A few years ago," he began, "I went to Afghanistan for a
weapons demonstration... back... when I still sold weapons...
and I was being escorted back, joking around, listening to the
radio... and I don't really know why, I just, I remember the
song, that song, so clearly... the car in front of us blew up.
Everybody went out to fight, and I... I saw them all die...
there was some kid, Cap, he couldn't have been older than
twenty..."
Suddenly the story was spilling out of his mouth, about running
out of the Humvee and being blown up by his own missile, about
waking up with the Ten Rings, still being half-awake when they
put the first electromagnet in his chest, about the shrapnel in
his chest and being tortured to build the Jericho and even the
little details about having to lug around a car battery to save
his life. He told Cap about building his own arc reactor (he
would save the story of palladium poising for another day) and
the first Iron Man suit, about Yinsen, how he still felt guilty
for the man's death, about escaping and wandering the desert for
days before, gloriously, he was rescued. By the end he was
mentally and physically exhausted, and it wasn't even half the
story.
Tony kept his voice as even as possible, trying not to let the
waver show as the past ripped through him. Talking about it had
brought it all back, fresh and raw and painful. "That's it," he
said quietly, and though he'd tried to hold it back you could
tell he was on the verge of breaking down. "That's how...
everything." He pursed his lips together, hands shaking on the
wheel, his knuckles white. "Can we just go now?" he asked -- no,
pleaded -- with his eyes rimmed red. But he wouldn't, he
couldn't cry, not like this, not here, he didn't want Steve to
see him so weak when he'd already done so much for Tony, so much
that Tony could never repay him.
But a normal Tony would've been gone by now -- he would've
started the car and pushed back the memories and the pain and
the fear and the guilt and forgotten about it until he dreamt
about it and woke up screaming again. Normal Tony would've been
home already, staring at the gun he'd bought a long, long time
ago, never touching, just thinking. But Tony wasn't normal with
Steve -- he was, in his own eyes, stupid and foolish and way too
emotional even if he barely ever betrayed his feelings. Tony
Stark didn't cry, though -- he was Iron Man, he was the Iron
Man, he kept himself in a shell -- but Steve was somehow peeling
through that it days, tearing down the wall it'd taken years to
build, turning him into the shaking, shuddering, red-eyed man in
the driver's seat.
✩Steve✩
"I won't judge you.
I'm not going anywhere.
You got me."
Steve listened and watched as Tony revealed his past life to
Steve, making him feel guilty for asking. How could a man like
Tony go through so much pain? Steve could feel himself breaking
down as he listened to Tony. God, just watching the man made
Steve want to die. Tears began to fall from his face as he sat
there with the man he loved. However, he held most of them back,
preparing to speak to Tony.
"Tony... I-I'm so sorry. No man should ever have to go through
anything like that...." Steve scooted over as much as he could
toward Tony. He had to feel him, had to hold him. Steve wrapped
his arms around him tight as he whipped some of Tony's hair out
of his face. He pain and sadness that was on Tony's face was
easily mirrored on Steve's. "Tony... I'm never going to let
anything like that ever happen again to you, do you hear me? I'm
not going to let anything hurt you... ever not even myself.
Tony, please understand that I am here for you, and it wasn't
your fault those people died, Tony. It was the people who killed
them fault. Don't ever think for one moment that someone's death
is your fault. Watching someone die is probably the most painful
thing you can ever witness.... Tony I'm so sorry...." Steve
broke down again as he whispered the last few words. "Tony I
love you.... I love you so much...."
Tears continued to pour down Steve's face and he couldn't stop
them. There was so much more he wanted to say to Tony, but every
time he tried to speak, more tears would come. So... Steve took
Tony's face in his hands, turned his head to where he was
looking at Steve, and kissed him. Steve kissed him with so much
passion and love, wanting Tony to know he was never going to
leave him. Heck, he would die next to him if he had to. The
kissed lasted until Steve's lips grew sore and he slowly pulled
away and placed his forehead on Tony's. Then, very gently, Steve
placed his hand over Tony's arch reactor-- No, Tony's heart.
"Tony, no matter what people say, you have the biggest heart in
the world.... Anthony Edward Stark, you're perfect." Steve let
one of his hands slide down to take one of Tony's and squeezed
it. "You shouldn't be ashamed to cry, Tony. Like I said before,
I won't judge you. Crying does not make you weak.... I'm here,"
Steve whispered to Tony, kissing him gently on the cheek.
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
Tony was tearing.
With every word, every syllable Steve spoke Tony trembled with
emotion, his throat tight, unable to speak for fear he would
betray himself and break down. But he tried to convey what he
could in touches -- brushing his shaking fingers against Cap's
jaw, his arm, his waist, words tasting sour in his mouth. When
Steve kissed him, Tony had to freeze completely, fragile, afraid
that a single movement would shatter him like brittle glass.
And the bad thing was that Tony was good with words -- no, he
was great with them. But only if they were superficial, only if
they didn't matter, and now, when it all mattered so much,
everything was wrong. Nothing sounded right for Steve, Tony only
wished he could describe the man's beauty, inside and out, or
the feeling that he gave Tony every time they shared a glance or
a smile or, especially, a kiss, but this was one thing Tony
Stark could not do.
"I love you," Tony whispered against Steve's shoulder, his voice
breaking, shattering into a million little pieces.He squeezed
Steve's hands, hard enough to crack a normal man's hand, but
Tony knew that Steve was far from normal, and he had to keep Cap
here, even if he said he wouldn't leave. This way, even if he
did, he would have to drag Tony along with him, no matter where
or when he went. To a normal person, it would just seem at is
Tony had stilled, was pressing himself as close as possible to
the other man, and while this was true, there were also silent,
almost secret tears slipping out of his eyes.
But Tony never could stay still for too long, and soon he shook
again, head to toe, leaning up to kiss Steve again and knot his
one free hand in the other man's hair. It wasn't for any
particular reason, but Tony tried to convey himself, because it
was easier to convey how you felt in touch than it was with
words, and Steve was so good at reading him that there would be
no question to what he was feeling. Tears felt strange on his
face, foreign and maybe a little painful as they squeezed out of
his eyes, but they would be gone soon, anyways. It was hard,
staying strong, but Tony also couldn't let himself fall to be
too weak.
✩Steve✩
"I won't judge you.
I'm not going anywhere.
You got me."
"I love you." Those were the only words Steve needed to hear. He
allowed Tony to squeeze his hand very tight. It didn't hurt.
Nothing could hurt in this moment except seeing Tony so...
miserable. "I'm not leaving you... I swear on my life I won't,"
whispered Steve, filling the words with love. Even if Steve was
on the verge of death he would stay for Tony. Even if it was
impossible to survive, he would prove the odds wrong. Even is
someone cut out his heart he'd still live and manage to love
Tony.
Steve watched as Tony began to shake again and went in for
another kiss. Steve kissed him back as much as he could, his
lips burning with pain. He could feel Tony's emotions through
the kiss, the squeezing of the hand, and the way Tony was
gripping his hair. It was as if the serum in Steve's body gave
him the power to feel emotions in touch more than words. Then
Steve felt it, a single tear fall on his hand. Tony Stark was
crying. Forgetting the pain in his lips, Steve continued to kiss
Tony until he was sure it had lasted an hour. He pulled away
slowly... as if he never wanted to stop kissing him... and he
didn't. The pain returned to his lips once again, hurting like
crazy, but Steve didn't care.
He allowed the hand that was around Tony's waist to rise to his
face and gently make circles around Tony's cheeks. "I love you,
Anthony. Words can't even describe how much I do..." Steve felt
like saying how much he loved him a thousand times, but not even
that would be enough. Nothing could describe how much Steve
Rogers love him.
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
Tony sniffled, actually goddamn sniffled before he stopped
squeezing Steve's hand and wrapped both his arms around the
other man's waist. The parking lot was empty by now, everything
around them silent except for the rustle of fabric or
soft-spoken words. Tony was reminded of that one particularly
terrible night of dreams. Just like then, he clutched Steve as
tight as he could.
"You're always there for me," he said quietly, looking up at
Steve. He had stopped crying -- his voice still shook and his
eyes were still red, but shedding even a few tears had been more
than Tony had been prepared for. "You're so beautiful," he said
again, but that didn't seem right, either. There was nothing for
this perfect man, nothing that sounded worthy enough for him,
nothing enough to thank him--
"Thank you," he suddenly breathes -- and, perhaps it wouldn't
hold so much gravity in those two words if it were not Tony
Stark, but his thanks were shallow and slightly sarcastic at
best. But this was a new meaning -- this was Tony Stark thanking
another person, being genuinely grateful, and it was obvious
that the gratitude did not come lightly. "Thank you, Cap, thank
you so much, I just-- I-- thank you..." Tony couldn't find any
words that were as fitting as those, so he left it as that,
looking up at Steve, lips trembling with a million words he
couldn't find -- but that was okay, because thank you was good
enough, at least for now, when he had nothing else to offer.
✩Steve✩
"I won't judge you.
I'm not going anywhere.
You got me."
Steve smiled at Tony, "And I always will be," he told him. He
squeezed Tony a little tighter when he called him beautiful,
knowing it wouldn't hurt Tony.
Steve inhaled sharply at Tony's words. Did he.... just thank
him? Then, Tony did it three more times. If there was one thing
that Tony Stark was not known for, it was thanking people. But
here he was, thanking Steve four times. He was a bit speechless
afterward, but managed to put on a bigger smile. "You're
welcome, Tony." Nothing else needed to be said for everything
had been said at that point.
Steve slowly let go of Tony and sat back down in his seat.
However, he didn't let go of Tony's hand and he didn't plan to
soon. "So... How about we get those clothes now?" suggested
Steve, looking away from the man he loved so he wouldn't have a
strong urge to kiss him again.
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
Tony nodded slightly, rubbing his thumb over Steve's hand and
giving it a light squeeze before he started the engine. He
certainly did not like the feeling that replaced Steve's warm
arms, but it wasn't like he could drive like that. He glanced in
the side mirror, fighting a wince -- had he ever looked so
broken? Did he really want to go out in public like this? But he
would shake it off by the time they got to wherever they were
going, or he would just wear his shades.
He really just ended up driving until he passed some place that
looked like it sold clothes, and then he screeched into the
parking lot and sat there, staring at he and Steve's hands,
intertwined.
"All right," he sighed, "Let's go." His voice was different,
back to aloof and sarcastic and, perhaps, guarded. The moment
was over, that much was clear -- frankly, it had scared him.
Tony didn't even he could break down so much.
✩Steve✩
"I won't judge you.
I'm not going anywhere.
You got me."
Steve squeezed Tony's hand lightly back. Even that little
gesture was filled with lots of love. How many days had it been
since Steve found Tony drunk and mourning over Pepper leaving
him? Six? That sounded right, but then again not. Was it really
possible to love each other this much in six days? That's less
than a week! Steve looked at Tony from the corner of his eye.
Handsome, sarcastic Tony with his slightly now red eyes. Yeah,
it was possible.
Steve looked out the window as they drove down the road. He
wondered if he'd ever have to share his story with Tony. How
he'd been the smallest man anyone had ever seen. How he'd gotten
bullied and beaten up about everyday. About how his knew Tony's
father and how at first he was completely jealous of him for
"fonduing" with Peggy. How he had literally lost everything with
he crashed the plane and froze..... How he shouldn't even be
here. Steve shook his head. No.... the past was the past. Now he
had Tony. He regained everything he lost through Tony. Howard's
son who he was in love with. Steve chuckled a bit, imagining the
look on Howard's face if he could be here right now, seeing him
hold hands with his son.
Then, the car stopped. They sat in silence for awhile before
Tony said, "Let's go." Steve nodded before reaching over Tony,
still keeping their hands linked, and grabbing Tony's
sunglasses. "Here," he said, putting the shades on Tony's face.
"Better?" he asked, giving him a little kiss on the corner of
his mouth. Steve knew Tony didn't want to be "humiliated" by
being seen with pink eyes.
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
Tony smirked as Steve slipped the shades over his eyes,
returning the tiny kiss with one on Steve's cheek. "Aren't you a
mind reader," he says, reluctantly letting go of Steve's hand as
he climbed out of the car. He was prepared to reattach himself
as soon as Steve got out of the car, but remembered that Steve
didn't want them being made public, which, of course, made him
frown. But he supposed that was why Pepper had left (and then he
cursed himself for thinking about her), and he knew it was the
best thing to do. Not that he liked it, but, you know.
The store (he handed bothered to turn his head and look at the
name because, come on, that was exhausting) was neither too
flashy nor too bare, which was good because neither was Steve.
It was weird, though -- tony hadn't been in a clothing store in
god knows how long. He didn't shop -- people did it for him. And
Steve probably hadn't been able to check out all the latest
trends trapped in ice, either, so Tony prepared himself for
equal amounts of cluelessness on both sides.
✩Steve✩
"I won't judge you.
I'm not going anywhere.
You got me."
Steve frowned when Tony let go of his hand. He really, really
wished they could be exclusive... but he knew they couldn't....
it was for Tony's protection. Of course, Steve would try to slip
in a kiss or two when he was sure no one was looking.
He looked up at the store, squinting because of the sun. He had
never been in a modern store before.... SHIELD provided him with
clothes when he woke up, gave him his house, and Steve would eat
in diners when he was hungry. Steve had avoided stores all
together. Then again, Steve was sure Tony didn't really go
shopping much either. He linked hands again with Tony as they
walked up to the store, and let him go when he saw someone.
'Here we go...' thought Steve as the doors automatically opened.
Steve looked around, noticing things weren't too different...
"So um.... I'm just going to go ahead and say this is going to
be a bit... awkward for me..." said Steve, walking over to what
seemed to be the men's department. That fact that he was wearing
his suit and shopping made the whole situation a little more
awkward for he had already received lots of stares.
Steve searched through the racks, picking out about two plaid
long-sleeved shirts. "These look nice..." he mumbled, studying
the shirts. Why did things have to be so awkward? He didn't want
to pick too much stuff out if Tony was going to be the one
paying for it. Steve already felt guilty. He peaked in his
wallet quickly to find he still had ten dollars, which would be
enough for... one shirt. Steve sighed a little before looking at
Tony. "I really feel bad that you have to pay for this stuff...
maybe I should get some hammy downs or something..."
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
Tony rolled his eyes as Steve shifted through racks of clothing,
stifled and awkward and quiet. Okay, he looked a little odd, in
his suit and all, but Tony could see past it. The thing that
really annoyed him, though, was that Steve actually felt guilty
about having Tony pay for him. Scoffing, Tony peeked at a shirt
Steve had in his hand, looking for the size, and proceeded to
grab what looked like everything in Steve's size from the racks.
"I could buy this entire place and break even in an hour," he
said, "I think I can spend a few hundred dollars." Finally, when
he had thrown t-shirts and sweaters and jeans and even a suit or
two in Steve's arms, he gave a tiny smile and added. "You should
try some of those on, by the way. You know, I could probably
help with that. Both the putting on and the taking off. There
may be an opportunity for something else between the two." Tony
raised his eyebrows suggestively, his head tilting toward the
fitting rooms toward the corner of the store.
✩Steve✩
"I won't judge you.
I'm not going anywhere.
You got me."
Steve looked at the clothes Tony had placed in his arms. Steve
knew Tony was rich... but... he just still felt a little bad. It
was what Tony said next that really caught Steve's attention.
"In your dreams, Mr. Stark," said Steve, giving Tony an evil
smile. "But you can wait outside the dressing room door."
Steve took his things to the dressing room, studying them once
he got inside. He had to admit, Tony had very nice taste. Then,
another evil smile spread across Steve's face. Quickly, he
walked out of the dressing room and back to the men's section.
He made sure Tony couldn't see him as he picked out two more
things. He snuck them into the dressing room, and sat them aside
for later.
Then, the "fashion show" began. Steve tried on each thing Tony
had given him, making sure Tony got to see them outside as well
for his opinion. When he was done going through the things Tony
had given him, he moved on to the things Steve had snuck in. He
didn't plan on buying them, but instead decided to play a little
trick on Tony. A trick called teasing. Steve grabbed the light
blue v-neck shirt and the low rise jeans he had also gotten. The
shirt hugged Steve in all the right places, showing off his
muscles. Oh yes, Steve was going to have fun with this. Slowly,
Steve stepped out of the dressing room to show Tony. "What do
you think?" he asked, smirking. Why did Steve have to be so evil
sometimes?
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
Tony watched Steve disappear and reappear inside and out of the
dressing room, ever so often giving an appreciative glance at
certain articles of clothing. For the most part, he toyed with
his phone -- he had to admit, though, Steve looked very, very
nice in a suit. Even if it did cover entirely too much of his
fabulous body.
It was what Tony assumed what was the last outfit that really
grabbed his attention. In all it's tight-fitting,
muscle-defining, low-riding glory, it didn't leave a lot to the
imagination, and Tony felt a streak of desire course through
him, red-hot and wanting. His throat went a little dry, and he
licked his lips, paying very close attention now.
"I think..." he started, practically undressing Steve with his
eyes, "That you are entirely too sexy." He moves toward Steve,
glancing left and right to make sure they are alone, and grabs
the shirt, using it to pull Steve down for a kiss that is a
little too long to be simply playful. "I also think that you're
buying this," he adds as he pulls away, hands trailing down the
fabric.
✩Steve✩
"I won't judge you.
I'm not going anywhere.
You got me."
That got his attention. Tony licked his lips and pulled Steve in
for a pretty long kiss. When they drew away, Steve smiled evily
again. "Sorry, Mr. Stark, but not today," he said, walking back
into the dressing room and shutting the door. Oh yeah, he was
defiantly buying that outfit when Tony isn't looking. He checked
the prices and they both surprisingly added up to nine
dollars... without tax, of course.
When Steve was dressed in his suit again, he literally smacked
himself in the head. What was he doing? He just teased Tony
Stark! He just teased Iron Man. He looked at the outfit again
and sighed. He was still buying that outfit.
He grabbed all the clothes (hiding the v-neck and low-risers),
and walked back out to Tony. "Ready to go?" he asked him, trying
to keep himself from laughing.
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
Tony gave a frustrated growl as Steve closed the dressing room
door on him, and he glared until it opened again. He scowled at
Steve's question, arms crossed over his chest.
"No," he growled in answer, his brow furrowed unhappily. "You're
a tease, you know that? You are a tease. I think I legitimately
hate you now." He accused, before turning on his heels and
making a dramatic exit from the dressing rooms. Steve would pay
for this, somehow. Tony couldn't be the only one who wanted to--
and he stopped himself there, because that was certainly not an
image he needed in his head, especially not now when he was
supposed to be angry.
"I am very angry at you," he called over his shoulder grumpily.
"If it weren't for you looking good in a suit then I would let
you walk around as Captain America for the rest of your life."
✩Steve✩
"I won't judge you.
I'm not going anywhere.
You got me."
Steve chuckled a bit at Tony's attitude. "You better watch
yourself or I'll tease you more," he warned, following Tony.
It was the last thing that Tony said that caused Steve to turn
pink. Tony wasn't be exactly very quiet when he said that, so
Steve looked around to find one man... staring at the with
interest. "Very funny... Mr. Stark." Steve tried to get Tony's
attention by making sure he said Mr. Stark very slowly. Tony had
to be more quiet. The man that was staring at them raised an
eyebrow. He looked no older than twenty-five and seemed...
strange. Where had he seen that man before? Steve thought for a
moment before it hit him. He was at the party and the press
conference. Steve shrugged it off and turned away.
The car ride back home after buying the clothes (and Steve
secretly buying the "sexy" outfit) was fairly quiet. Tony was
still pouty, but Steve took his hand in his own again before
they drove away from the store. It was kind of cute seeing Tony
all pouty...
When they arrived home, Steve put his outfits away and came back
downstairs to Tony. "I'm really sorry about teasing you back
there, Tony. Do you forgive me?" he asked, pecking Tony on the
lips and running a hand threw his hair.
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
When they were home, Tony helped himself to one glass of scotch,
because, honestly, he kind of needed it. It was the first time
in a while that he had drunk anything to get drunk. Steve
eventually came back downstairs, apologizing, and Tony almost,
almost forgave him as they kissed, but he had his dignity. Kind
of.
"No," he said, giving Steve a smile, "At least not until I get
you back." He thought back to exiting the store, and Steve very
pointedly saying his name. He'd looked back, but couldn't see
anything for the life of him. "By the way, what were you trying
to get my attention about, back in the store?" he asked, patting
the seat on the couch next to him for Steve to sit down.
✩Steve✩
"I won't judge you.
I'm not going anywhere.
You got me."
Steve smiled at Tony. "Good luck," he joked before joining Tony
on the couch. "There was a man who overheard you saying I looked
good in a suit. I've seen him before. He was at the press
conference and the party. Tony... I think he knows something..."
he said, giving Tony a worried look. What if that man was a
member of the press? That man would have seen them dancing,
heard Tony saying Steve looked good in a suit, and maybe.... no.
Steve shook his head lightly. There was no way that man saw what
happened in the car when Tony broke down and Steve kissed him.
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
Tony frowned, slinging an arm around Steve's waist as he
examined the other man's worried face. "Hey, relax," Tony said
gently, "Even if he does, so what? The word gets out. People try
to hurt us. I think the point of being a super soldier is that
you wouldn't be very good at being held hostage anyways." The
hand around Steve's waist moved to brush lightly up and down his
spine, comforting. "You want a drink?" Tony offered, waggling
his glass. It wasn't exactly the best coping device, but it was
pretty much the only one Tony knew about. Besides, apparently,
for crying into Steve's shoulder, but that was new.
He thought about it, though -- could one man truly produce such
a danger for them? He doubted it -- after all, even if word did
get out and an enemy went after them, they could both easily
fight their way out of a hostage situation. Besides for that,
they had the entire Avenger team on their side -- one villian
had no chance against all of them. Tony decided to be
unconcerned for now.
#Post#: 13--------------------------------------------------
Re: 1x1 || TinyGoliath & MagicNightStar
By: TinyGoliath Date: February 6, 2013, 8:19 pm
---------------------------------------------------------
✩Steve✩
"I won't judge you.
I'm not going anywhere.
You got me."
Steve frowned and stood up. "No I don't want a drink. Tony,
Dreadknight almost killed you. Imagine if more enemies came
after us like that and knew about us! Tony I have to protect you
and shrugging it off and drinking isn't going to help that!
Sure, I want the world to know we're boyfriends, but not if it
puts you in anymore danger."
Steve sighed and sat back down. This time, farther away from
Tony. He needed to realize how serious this was. One man could
cause a lot of terrible things to happen. "I'm sorry, Tony. It's
just... I love you and I promised to protect you." Steve pulled
out the letter from Pepper that was still in his pocket and lied
it down on the table. "I can handle the explosions, the blood,
and the injuries, Tony, but I can't handle losing you."
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
Tony stared at the letter on the table, looking more than
slightly miffed about it. He fingers curled around his glass
before he set it down, directly on top of Pepper's letter. When
he turned back to face Steve, arms crossed, his expression was
dark.
"So what?" Tony challenges, "Just because some guy just happens
to see us holding hands or something, you think someone like
Dreadknight is going to come and try to tear us apart? Listen,
Cap, it doesn't matter if we're together or not -- we're always
going to be hunted down by these guys! That's what villains and
heroes do, it's our job! I'm not getting cold feet just because
there's the possibility that it's revealed we're together! I'm
not like that!" He points to the letter on the table, jaw set.
"I'm not like her."
Tony really wants to leave right then -- he wants to storm down
the stairs to the basement and lock himself inside and get rid
of the override codes so no one can get through but himself, but
he knows he won't. He has to stay here, has to listen to what
Steve has to say because, despite the spats and the turmoil and
everything, he loves the man. And there's also, you know, the
possibility of him coming back up to apologize (again), which is
just too embarrassing.
✩Steve✩
"I won't judge you.
I'm not going anywhere.
You got me."
"I know, Tony, but please try to understand. I know that
villains are going to try to kill us anyway, but Tony... if they
find out that my only true weakness is you, do really think they
aren't going to try to get you more? Tony, if they hated me bad
enough, they'd kill you just to kill me. Because I cannot live
without you. Tony, please... just not now.... Someday when we're
both stronger and wiser we can let the world know. Right now we
are just two people who fell in love two days ago. We need to
wait." Steve scooted closer to Tony, and took both his hands in
his own. Hopefully, Tony would understand.
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
Tony, no matter how hard he tried not to, unfolds his arms and
lets Steve take hold of his hands, though grudgingly. He's still
irritated, because Steve's still bashing him for drinking and
because he doesn't like the sight of the letter and Tony does
not want to wait because he is definitely not a patient person.
But Steve just keeps touching and looking at him...
How can he stay angry?
Tony heaves an enormous sigh, looking down. "I know," he says,
defeated, "But I don't like it." Despite his protests, though,
it's obvious who won the battle -- Tony simply does not want to
fight anymore. Instead he leans forward, giving Steve a chaste
kiss (because, honestly, he just can't stop kissing the man) and
leaning their forheads together, his eyes closed. "You're
right," he admits, a tiny smirk creeping across his features,
"So how does it feel to out-logic a genius?"
✩Steve✩
"I won't judge you.
I'm not going anywhere.
You got me."
Steve smiled a small sweet smile and let Tony kiss him yet
again. Then Steve chuckled. "Quite good. You see? You don't have
to know everything about technology to be a genius." Steve
winked at Tony before pulling him in for another kiss. When he
drew away, he looked at the clock. "Come on, let's eat dinner."
Later that night, Steve got dressed in his new pajama pants and
undershirt. It felt nice to have his own clothes again. He let
out a sigh as he lied down on "his" side of the bed and waited
for Tony before he went to sleep. However, Steve's tiredness got
the best of him and he fell asleep before Tony even made it.
Steve lied there, watching Tony get shocked by the electric
whip. His fingers dung into the concrete and his face reflected
pure agony. Steve couldn't take it anymore. He fought the
paralizers and got up. He turned, expecting to see Dreadknight,
but instead found himself looking at the man who Steve had saw
at the store. Then, the scene changed. Steve was now someplace
that looked like a battlefield. He looked to see Tony fighting
off the same man. The man looked behind him and said something.
Suddenly, five more people appeared behind the man. Steve
watched as the Avengers came and began to fight off the new
enemies. He looked down and saw his shield lying in front of
him. He quickly grabbed it and ran toward the strange man, ready
to strike. The man turned to look at Steve and gave him a kind
of smile that said, 'I know everything'. That's when the man
took a huge gun and shot Tony through his reactor and into his
heart.
"NO!" screamed Steve, waking up from his first nightmare in over
seventy years. He was covered in sweat and grasping the bed as
hard as he could.
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
Tony had decided to clean up downstairs, which was weird,
because he had people and things to do that. But he'd cleaned up
the table, but the glass he'd been drinking from in the sink,
and stared at Pepper's letter for a while, thinking. Of course,
that wasn't necessarily cleaning, but he made up for it by
throwing it in the quickly dying fireplace. That chapter of his
life was over.
And then he heard the scream.
Tony practically flew up the stairs, yelling at JARVIS to have
his suit ready just in case, and burst through the door to his
bedroom. He hesitated, just for a second, as he examined the
situation, and after the initial relief that Steve wasn't in any
immediate danger, he was overcome with worry. "Steve!" he
called, almost launching himself at the bed in attempts to get
to his boyfriend. When he was finally kneeling beside him on the
bed, Tony grabbed one of Steve's hands in his, putting the other
on the side of his face, concern consuming his features.
"Steve, you're okay... ssh, it's okay... just a dream..." Tony
murmured, planting a kiss on the man's temple, trying to comfort
him. But Tony wasn't all together too good at comforting --
counting that it wasn't ever something he'd really done before
-- and he was unsure. He just followed what his instincts told
him, hoping it would be enough.
✩Steve✩
"I won't judge you.
I'm not going anywhere.
You got me."
Steve was relieved to see Tony burst through the door. His
boyfriend jumped up on the bed, gabbed his hands, and cupped his
face. "I know, Tony... I know.... Thank you...." said Steve, now
trying to calm the other man down. Steve's mind flashed back to
Tony getting shot.... Steve quickly grabbed Tony by the shirt,
and pulled him in for what had to be the twentieth time they've
kissed today, glad that it was all just a dream. He pulled Tony
the rest of the way on the bed, not for one second breaking the
kiss for one second.
After awhile Steve pulled away from Tony's lips. "I'm sorry...
it's just.... Never mind," he said, not letting go of his grip
on Tony's shirt. "Promise you'll come to bed soon?" he asked,
finally letting go of Tony. He wanted Tony with him this time
before he went back to sleep. He needed to wrap his arms around
him so he'll not dream again.
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
Tony was kissed breathless by the time Steve pulled away, and
had a to paused for a moment before he nodded, wrapping his arms
around Steve's waist. "Yeah, Steve, coming to bed right now..."
Tony assured him, unable to keep the worry and guilt off his
face. All throughout his broken glory, Steven had been there,
ready to comfort and help and make everything better -- so much
so that Tony forgot that Steve might harbor fears of his own.
Steve just always seemed so strong, though, solid as a rock,
unbreakable -- and immediately, once he thought it, Tony felt
foolish. Of course Steve still had buttons to be pushed -- Tony
felt guilty for ever thinking that he didn't.
Tony, somehow, needed a way to make it up to him -- and almost
immediately, a particular scene of Fury's laptop materialized in
his head, showing him and Steve dancing. Tony had been drunk,
then, hadn't he? Steve deserved another chance at that --
something classier that stumbling around in a drunken haze. Tony
made a mental note to wake himself up early tomorrow as he
planted one last kiss of the tip of Steve's nose, murmuring a
good night to his boyfriend, and he drifted.
✩Steve✩
"I won't judge you.
I'm not going anywhere.
You got me."
Steve wrapped his arms around Tony's waist, mirroring his
movements. He stared into his boyfriend's eyes and smiled. He
had Tony wrapped in his arms now, meaning he could go to sleep
in peace and sleep peacefully.
Tony looked a little guilty as Steve began to slowly go back to
sleep. Why would Tony feel guilty? He was here, wrapped up in
Steve's arms. "It's okay, Tony..." Steve didn't really know what
he was talking about, but Tony didn't need to feel guilty so it
was true.
Steve closed his eyes as Tony kissed him and said goodnight, and
went back to sleep.
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
Tony, thankfully, managed to force himself awake early, trying
not to get lulled back into Steve's warmth as he slid quietly
out of the other man's arms. He only hoped that Steve wouldn't
wake before Tony was finished.
First came the note. Meet me in the gym, it was writ, Wear
something nice. Tony placed it on his side of the bed -- Steve
would see it when he woke up. With that finished, Tony went to
the basement to retrieve Dummy, brought him to the gym, and with
the robots help he managed to shove everything to the sides of
the room. Tony left it to JARVIS to choose the music and mood
lighting, and left Dummy in the kitchen with a very precise
recipes for crepes, just so he wouldn't mess anything up.
It was really only a matter of dragging in a small table,
setting a table-cloth, and getting out his finest bottle of wine
until the room was ready. With that done, Tony grabbed himself a
quick cup of coffee (because, seriously, he was tired) and
climbed quietly back up stairs, rifling through his closest
until he pulled out a tuxedo. He got dressed, even going so far
as to slick his hair back, and when he was back downstairs
JARVIS suggested he retrieve a red rose from the garden he
barely knew he had and stick in in his pocket. Tony gratefully
did so, and when he came back to the gym Dummy had already
placed breakfast on the table and disappeared, and JARVIS had
dimmed the lights and set soft, soulful music. For the first
time in a long time, Tony was excited -- he was quite proud of
surprise.
Now all there was left to do was wait.
✩Steve✩
"I won't judge you.
I'm not going anywhere.
You got me."
Steve slowly opened his eyes the next morning. He felt very well
rested even after that nightmare he had last night. When his
eyes were fully open, he noticed Tony wasn't there, but in his
place was a note. Steve read it and raised an eyebrow. Why would
Tony be in the gym? And why on earth would Steve need to dress
nice? He shrugged and sat the note down. He went into the closet
where he picked out the suit Tony seemed to like the best on him
and put it on. Then Steve brushed his hair and such, making sure
he looked very nice before going down to the gym. What was that
man planing?
Steve casually made his way down to the gym where he was met
with the most astonishing sight. The whole gym had been
transformed. Soft music played, the lights were dim, a table sat
there covered with a beautiful breakfast.... and right in the
center of the room stood Tony. When Steve spotted him, he felt
as though the breath had been knocked out of him. He was wearing
a black tuxedo, a red rose, and his hair... oh god, his hair.
Steve could feel heat rising in his face as he stared at Tony.
He felt as though is he moved, Tony and everything would vanish
and it all be a dream. He hoped it wasn't a dream because Tony
looked even more dazzling than usual.
"I... I... um.... Hi..." said Steve, feeling silly. He couldn't
even describe what was going through his mind right now. He
wanted to look around the gym again, but he could just not seem
to take his eyes off his boyfriend.
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
Tony grinned as Steve opened the door to the gym, staring at him
dumbfounded -- by the way Steve managed to speak, he seemed a
bit flustered. Tony held back a laugh -- the man was kind of
being adorable, not to mention he looked very nice -- it was
refreshing seeing him in something else besides his suit.
"Hi!" Tony said cheerily, striding over and grabbing his
boyfriend's -- and, you know, it did feel good to call him that
-- hand, smiling from ear to ear. "Are you surprised?" he asked,
and it was obvious that he was just a little too thrilled with
Steve's reaction. "Don't answer that -- of course you are," he
added, and pulled Steve closer to him, spinning him around, feet
moving nimbly, over to the table. "Here's a good question --
would you rather eat or dance first?"
✩Steve✩
"I won't judge you.
I'm not going anywhere.
You got me."
Steve's heart skipped a beat at the way Tony said hi. He seemed
so happy and it made Steve want to pass out. Too bad if he
passed out he couldn't stare at his boyfriend. He made a strange
noise at the back of his throat when Tony pulled him closer and
spun him around. This man was a god....
It was then that Steve realized that Tony had asked him a
question. "Um... I.... uh.... eat." Steve quickly sat down,
separating himself from Tony. He had to get away from that man
before he went nuts. He looked at the amazing meal placed before
him, finally managing to stop staring at his boyfriend. Then he
noticed the wine that he was defiantly willing to drink now. He
needed a little something something to take the edge off things.
Something to calm down with.
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
Tony grinned as he sat down at the table, motioning for Steve to
do the same as he uncorked the bottle of wine. "I know it's
early," he said, and he actually sounded a little apologetic,
"But I figured since neither of us can really get drunk now,
it's fine." He poured the red liquid in each of their glasses,
and motioned again to Steve. "Come on, sit down, sit down."
Tony took care to eat slowly, because he honestly did not want
to get anything on this suit -- it had been terribly expensive,
and he'd tailored it to fit him perfectly. A stain would kind of
ruin it, at least for the morning. And, okay, maybe he finished
his first glass of wine too quickly, and maybe he refilled it,
but it wasn't important. It'd take a lot for him to get drunk.
He could down a few glasses. Probably.
✩Steve✩
"I won't judge you.
I'm not going anywhere.
You got me."
Steve obeyed Tony, sitting down as though he were a slave. He
picked up his glass of wine and tried not to drink it as though
it were a shot. Then, he began to eat, but the whole time he did
this he just continued to stare at Tony. It almost seemed like
time itself had slowed as he stared at Tony, not even realizing
how much the man was drinking.
"You're gorgeous," said Steve breathlessly, happy he was able to
form a sentence. "I mean really, really gorgeous," he continued.
"And what you did with the gym.... You're so amazing." The only
sentences he could seem to form where ones about Tony. He
chuckled a little and hid his face in his hand for a moment due
to embarrassment. Why did Tony decide to do this? Who cared?
Steve lowered his hand and continued to stare dreamily at Tony
until his glass was empty and his food was gone.
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
Tony chuckled as Steve stared, reaching across the table to rest
his hand lightly over Steve's. He had finished with his food and
had, okay, a bit too much to drink -- he a little tipsy. That
wasn't bad, right? He would probably only stumble a little bit.
"Let's dance," he suggested lightly, pulling up Steve to
accompany his onto the big, empty space in the middle of the
floor.
Tony pulled Steve closer as he took the lead, spinning slowly
around the room, a soft smile still on his lips. "I... didn't
think that I had thanked you enough," he explained, leaning up
to kiss Steve's cheek. "And might I say you look breathtaking?"
Tony whispered against Steve's ear, kissing down his jaw, and,
okay, maybe he was getting payback and maybe he was looking for
something else as well, but you know what, that was okay, that
was normal and Tony didn't feel even a little bad about it. Oh,
and, yeah, Steve's eternally dumbfounded expression kind of made
it all worth it, as well.
✩Steve✩
"I won't judge you.
I'm not going anywhere.
You got me."
Steve inhaled sharply as Tony drew him close again, taking the
lead. Then Tony began to kiss him all over his face. Steve
closed his eyes and tried to breathe evenly but it was no use.
This whole moment was amazing to him. "I love you," he breathed
as Tony began to kiss his jaw. Steve began to wonder if this was
the payback Tony had been talking about for yesterday. Oh
well...
Steve took the hand that was placed on Tony's shoulder and moved
it to place on the back of his neck, pulling Tony even closer.
Steve eventually buried his face in the crook of his boyfriends
neck, enjoying the moment. "Gosh Tony, you are wonderful,"
whispered Steve, hopefully sending shivers down Tony's spine.
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
Tony hummed against Steve's neck at his contact, smiling
inwardly, his hands roaming down to Steve's hips. "And you're
amazing," Tony said, kissing Steve's neck and then moving back
up to catch his lips in something needy and urgent, because
suddenly he wanted.
Tony stepped closer -- or, at least, he tried -- but his foot
caught on something, he didn't know, he wasn't looking, but
suddenly he was toppling over, pushing on Steve's chest and then
they were on the floor, which, honestly, suited Tony fine.
"Sorry," he said, not sounding sorry and all, and resumed the
kiss. Feeling lucky, his hands moved up, hands working at the
buttons of Steve's shirt. Okay, maybe this was taking advantage
of Steve. He may not have had as much to drink as Tony, but he
probably felt looser, not to mention he had been stricken down
by Tony looking all elegant and classy. But Tony couldn't help
it -- or, at least, he didn't want to.
✩Steve✩
"I won't judge you.
I'm not going anywhere.
You got me."
Steve kissed Tony back, opening his mouth slightly to let things
heat up. He didn't know what was going on with him. All he knew
is that he actually wanted Tony Stark.
When Tony fell on top of Steve for the second time it was like
he had awoken from another deep sleep. This wasn't right....
Tony began to kiss Steve again, and he surprisingly allowed the
kiss to heat up again, but when Tony began to unbutton Steve's
shirt, he had to draw the line. "Tony.... Tony, stop." Steve
pushed Tony away a little. "I'm not ready," he said, breathing
heavily. He didn't want to stop Tony, but... he had to.... He
just, wasn't ready. "I love you so much, Tony... but... I
can't." Steve then realized the smell of alcohol on Tony's
breath. Too much alcohol for one glass of wine. "And you're
tipsy. Anthony, I don't want my first time to be like this." It
was so hard to be saying these words to a gorgeous Tony Stark,
but then again it wasn't. Steve knew how he felt, and he just
couldn't do it right now.
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
Tony actually whimpered as Steve pushed him back -- granted, he
didn't move from his position on Steve's lap, but his hands
stopped moving and he moved back his face so that he could take
a better look at Steve. "Steven," he whined, going so far as to
say the man's real name because this just wasn't fair. "Come on,
it's not like I'm doing this because of the alcohol," he
complained, giving Steve an exasperated expression. "We're
boyfriends, and I know we both want this."
Tony leans down again, fingers splaying out against Steve's
chest as he kisses him again, short, but promising something
more. "Please?" he asks -- having to tear himself away from this
now would be absolute torture. I mean, god knows when they'll
get another chance -- they're superheroes, for god's sake,
they're busy people. His face hovers inches from Steve's,
waiting, expectant, pleading, even.
✩Steve✩
"I won't judge you.
I'm not going anywhere.
You got me."
Steve fought hard to keep his head together. I mean, Tony just
used his whole first name, and he did want him, and Tony's kiss
was almost teasing, and he was pleading with hi-- No. It wasn't
right. "Tony. No," said Steve, sounding almost as if he was
talking to a dog. "I'm not ready." This time Steve pushed Tony
all the way off him, not being as gentle as before.
He stood up before buttoning his shirt back up. Everything had
felt so right until they fell. He looked back at Tony who was on
the floor, and found his looks somewhat resistible now. (It was
the hair that was really throwing him of.) "Come on Tony, lets
just finish our dance like civilized people," Steve suggested
calmly. He wasn't even sure if that seemed appropriate at the
moment.
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
Tony gave a little oof as he hit the ground, his head dropping
until his jaw hit his chin. He was only mildly surprised -- he
hadn't really expected Steve to let him explore any further. But
nonetheless, he was still very, very disappointed, though if he
weren't intoxicated perhaps he would have the sense to scold
himself for his selfishness -- this was for Steve, after all,
not for Tony to get his kicks in.
Tony looked very pathetic, sitting on the floor, shoulders
slumped, a few strands of hair hanging limply over his forehead.
"A nun," he finally murmured, turning his face up to glare at
Steve, sulking. "You are trying to turn me into a celibate nun."
However mad he was, however, Tony slowly helped himself up,
trying to show exactly how very sad he was in each and every
movement so that maybe Steve would change his mind.
"You sure you still want to touch me?" he grumbled once he was
up, swaying slightly on his feet, "Or are you not ready?" And,
okay, that was terribly mean and Tony would definitely regret
saying that later, but right now he was tipsy and bitter and
arrogant and he just didn't care.
✩Steve✩
"I won't judge you.
I'm not going anywhere.
You got me."
Steve felt anger rise up inside him. How could Tony be so
selfish? They were having a nice time.... if only Tony hadn't
fell.
"Actually Tony, I don't think you're ready to take this
relationship any further due to how selfish and arrogant and
immature you are!" This was getting way too out of hand. How
could Tony say he was doing this for him when he didn't even
seem to care how he felt about the matter?
Thankfully, Tony's phone started ringing.
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
Tony's mouth fell open at that -- but with his slurred mind, he
couldn't really think up a good comeback. Not that he had time
to, anyways, because at that moment his phone started ringing.
Tony cast a very angry, furtive glance toward Steve before he
turned away, whipping out his phone to display the caller ID --
oh, joy. To add to his list of fun, Fury had decided to make his
day and call him up.
"What?" Tony growled into the phone as he pressed it to his ear.
Hopefully Fury was calling to make him kill a space cow or
something, because he really, really needed to take his
frustrations out.
✩Steve✩
"I won't judge you.
I'm not going anywhere.
You got me."
Steve managed to catch a glace at who was calling and smiled
when he saw it was Nick Fury.
"So glad you're already enjoying this conversation," said Fury
without much feeling. "A meeting is being held right now. You
and Rogers are need. If you'll just get changed into your suits
and fly up here, we're directly above your house." And with
that, Fury hung up.
"What does he want?" asked Steve, brushing himself off and
trying to stay calm for Tony.
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
Tony stared at his phone as Fury abruptly ended the call, then
looked up to the ceiling as if he to see through it to the
(probably invisible) Helicarrier above. He was going to need to
put up some sort of defense against that -- no airships above
the Stark home. It made him nervous.
He was brought back to reality by the sound of Steve's voice,
and grit him teeth, turning around slowly. "Meeting," he said
curtly, "Get your suit on and meet me in the basement when
you're done -- I'll take us up." And with that, Tony whirled
around and climbed the stairs, discarding his tuxedo for
something a bit more comfortable before he stormed to the
basement, where his suit was ready and waiting for him. Tony
felt an odd sort of calm descended upon him as nut and bolts
tightened -- here was his protective shell, here was his mask to
hide his emotions. He was Iron Man again.
He waited for Steve by the tunnel that would lead them up, up,
away, and out of the house, still miffed, but feeling just a tad
bit better.
✩Steve✩
"I won't judge you.
I'm not going anywhere.
You got me."
Steve simply nodded at Tony's words before heading upstairs and
putting his suit on. He almost moaned at the fact that when he
finally gets to wear something normal, he has to put his Captain
America suit back on. When he was finally done, he went to the
basement where he saw Iron Man waiting for him.
"No bridal style this time," Steve said, giving Tony's face mask
a small kiss. He really didn't want to be upset with Tony, nor
did he want Tony to be upset with him. Sadly, Steve was more
forgiving than Tony.
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
Tony said nothing as Steve appeared and kissed him on the cheek,
turning his head away instead. Okay, so he wasn't exactly angry,
but he could still give Steve the cold shoulder and pout, which
is exactly what he chose to do. He was taller in the suit, too,
he noticed, which made him feel more... in control, he guessed.
Remaining wordless, Tony shrugged and instead grabbed Cap from
behind, hauling him up and jetting them off through the tunnel
until they emerged outside, rocketing up to where Nick Fury said
the ship would be. Tony couldn't see it, of course, and he
expected that was because of the reflection panels, but JARVIS
quickly located the aircraft for him, as well as the nearest
entrance, and soon they were inside, Tony letting go of Steve as
soon as they were.
✩Steve✩
"I won't judge you.
I'm not going anywhere.
You got me."
Steve frowned when Tony turned his head away, but let it go as
they flew up to the airship above. Once inside, Steve made his
way to the giant round table with the SHIELD logo on it with the
rest of the Avengers. He took an empty seat and waited for Tony
to sit next to him. He smiled when he saw Bruce. "Hey Bruce,
sorry about having to leave so quickly that morning."
{:: T O N Y ::}
"Is everything a joke to you?"
"Funny things are."
Tony sat down next to Steve, hesitating before letting his face
plate lift. It was very obvious that he was sulking -- his jaw
was set and his head was turned almost completely away from
Steve while he toyed with his phone. Thor, sitting next to Tony,
seemed particularly interested in the device.
"Stark," he says in a quiet voice, or, at least, as quiet as he
can manage -- Thor pretty much just booms everything he says.
"Explain to me how you suspend such fragile figures..." his
giant hand waves through the holograph projected above Tony's
phone, distorting it momentarily, and Tony raises an eyebrow --
but the demi-god looks so hopeful, it's not like he can just
ignore him. So, quietly, because he still doesn't feel like
talking, he attempts to begin explaining technology.
- - - -
Bruce gives his gentle little smile as Captain America greets
him. "It's fine, Steve," he says kindly, and reaches under the
table, rolling out something round, flat, and metal -- a shield.
"You left this in Brooklyn, by the way -- Fury asked me to get
it to you." He leans the shield against Steve's chair, examining
the Captain's face for a moment before glancing over at Tony.
"Either it didn't go well... which I doubt," Bruce began, "Or it
went swimmingly, and someone's just sleeping on the couch
tonight."
"Wait, what?" a more feminine voice cuts in, a Natasha, who
never lets anything slip by, looks up from her conversation with
Clint to focus her attention on Steve and Bruce. To a normal
person, what Bruce had just said would be completely confusing
and not at all important, but if you were an Avenger, which
Natasha was, you would happen to know exactly what Bruce was
talking about -- especially since they'd been waiting for it to
happen ever since Steve and Tony first met. "Are they...?" she
starts, letting the question go unfinished, but when she is met
by no protests from Bruce, she smiles widely. "They are."
Bruce gives an apologetic kind of smile toward Steve at his
slip-up, as Natasha laughs, Clint wolf-whistles, Thor looks
vaguely confused (because he's pretty much the only clueless
one), and Tony looks up from his phone, looking vaguely
surprised, but not surprised enough to stop sulking.
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