Tony Stark (616), cool exec with a heart of steel (tonystark) wrote in thedoorway,
Tony | Dorian
Are you both okay? I bet he's moping, like a little-- Connor seems like a decent kid, though I mostly know him from what I've seen on TV. Seems like he's grown up a lot since that weird plot where he was raised to kill him. But anyway. If you see any indication that Angel's gone back to old habits, I hope you'll call me right away. Angelus has tried to bring about more than one apocalypse, and he really seems to like screwing with the people Angel cared about. They could build monuments to that guy's self-destructive tendencies.
I'll do my best to keep the world saved for you. It's a pretty good one, I'd hate to lose track of it. Certainly before we've found a decent replacement world.
Well, it was done in my day, but I've never done it. I can count the relationships I've had with men on one hand, and still have fingers left over. I never told anyone. In high school, college, there was my dad to worry about, and other students. The 80s, you know. Once I started the Avengers, I was living so many double lives it was hard to keep track of them all, but it was still better than telling people. There were a lot of reasons. I was a public figure. I was a defense contractor, so most of my work was with the military. And I still, I guess, thought people might be right to judge me for it. I like women, obviously, so it was easier to just. Ignore it. Hide it. Blame college, or alcohol, and pretend it wouldn't happen again. I got pretty good at hiding it. The idea of being open about it now, is... weird. It runs contrary to my instincts. Even with Steve, when Pepper asked about it, it was obvious that she knew, and I still lied. When I left town with him, I didn't tell anyone where I was going, and made up a story about Extremis test subjects when someone figured out we were there together. I've never been "out." I've always had a lot of good reasons not to be. You know? The stigma. The bull shit. The second people find out, everything related to your sexuality is suddenly public domain. People think they get to ask you questions about it, speculate, like it's any of their business. And you're the asshole if you don't want to tell them. I sort of think Anderson Cooper had it right.
So this is... new for me. I haven't really done this in twenty years, and before I got here, my last serious relationship ended in her death. I can't promise I'm not going to suck at it.
I think so. It's better, really, than if only one of us wasn't sure. It's harder to talk about problems that arise when there's an asymmetry like that. Harder to keep them from taking it personally when you feel some sense of anxiety or apprehension. Maybe better, even, than both of us being entirely unafraid. If you're not afraid of something important, maybe you're being foolhardy. Maybe you're not thinking clearly, or maybe you're taking for granted things you should be thinking about. Or maybe we're both a little freaked out and we're just trying to make ourselves feel better. But that's okay, too.