mrtonystark (mrtonystark) wrote in valarlogs, @ 2014-02-02 12:28:00 |
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Entry tags: | !complete, steve rogers (captain america), tony stark (iron man) |
Who: Tony and Steve
When: After CES
Where: Tony’s Lab
What: Talking about Dreams
Rating/Warning: Low/None
Status: Complete
CES was great. Seeing how far Vegas had come since the craziness of last year was also good. Tony was glad to be home, though. He wanted to get to work on his next project. It’d been lingering in the back of his mind, like a song he couldn’t stop singing.
He was in his lab again, looking over some blueprints that he was collaborating with Jarvis to create when he heard the door swing open and a familiar set of footprints enter the room.
“So, Pepper was impressed,” he called out to his friend. “Just thought you should know.”
“Uh, congrats?” Steve said, laughing as he wandered further into the lab. He was so glad he could finally come talk to Tony about all of this. Sure, in Steve’s dreams, he and Tony hadn’t had the best of starts, but here, Steve felt like they were pretty good pals. And Steve had been wanting to tell Tony about Captain America, and even Howard, for a while.
Steve just hoped that Tony’s dreams matched up with his own.
Tony didn’t have that many people in his life that he could call friend. There was Jarvis, sure, but that was more of a hetero-life-mate situation. And Pepper, but there were feelings there, and he didn’t want to think about that. David and Kevin, too, but those were more… friendly rivalries? Though Kevin had asked him to stand beside him at his wedding, so… maybe they were closer than he’d originally thought. Anyway, Steve was among the short list of Tony’s friends, and Tony wanted to make sure it stayed that way, Dreams or no.
“That wasn’t my main reason for making the donation, but I’d be lying if I said it wasn’t one of them.” Tony finally lifted his head from his work to glance over at Steve. He was remarkably sober, considering. Perhaps it was working on the suit that made him a bit more focused. “CES was great, thanks for asking.”
Steve just laughed again. “It’s fine. Everyone was pretty stunned when they found out. I think you’re going to be getting a lot of thank you cards and gift baskets soon,” he teased. He wandered over a bit, to peer at what Tony was doing. Steve might not have understood science, but he could recognize those plans easily enough.
“You’re going to build it?” he asked. He blinked, but he couldn’t stop the pleased look that spread across his face. Like something was fallen into place that he didn’t even know he was missing.
Funny, that's how it felt to Tony, too. He was excited. He felt like he had a purpose. For the first time in a long time he was driven. Not drinking, no girls. He was distracted--but the good kind. "We're going to build it." He agreed, grinning like Christmas.
“That’s incredible.” Steve had wondered if the Iron Man armour was even a possibility in Orange County, but if anyone could do it, it would rightfully be Tony Stark. And anyway, Steve was practically a super soldier himself at this point, so why wouldn’t anything else be possible? “It’s going to be amazing, to see it in person.”
Maybe something like it would be possible? Tony wasn’t sure that he could find all of the things he needed to make the same armor, but… well, he’d give it his best. And with Jarvis on his team? It was going to be amazing, Steve was right. “See it in person? I’m expecting you’ll give it a trial run, Mister.” He said, then lifted a hand and patted Steve’s arm.
Steve laughed. “No, thank you. Me and technology, especially something like this, aren’t so compatible. Maybe I’ll help you test it out. Give the ol’ iron armour a trial run against the vibranium shield.”
“Now, that’s a plan,” Tony said, lifting his hand to point a finger straight at Steve. “A date, even. Speaking of which, I’ve got a question for you. And I don’t want to turn this into a scene out of a middle school locker room, all right? I already feel ridiculous enough as it is even bringing it up, so… You know what? Nevermind. Forget I said anything.” Tony succeeded in talking himself out of asking Steve for advice.
“Oh?” Steve’s eyebrow went up, and he leaned up against the work table. “Come on, Tony, what is it? You can’t just say all that and get it geared up and then bail on me.”
“Well…. say I were to start having… unusual feelings for a certain… woman.” Tony said, now actually blushing slightly and feeling hot around his collar. He lifted his finger, hooked it in there, and in a vaudevillian gesture loosened it to let a little cool air in. “...I’m not exactly sure how to proceed.”
It was rare for Tony to not know what to do. It was even rarer that Tony would admit to it.
Steve saw right through it. Even someone who was blind and just acquaintances with Tony Stark could see where those feelings might be directed, and Steve almost rolled his eyes with relief that it was finally going to happen.
“You finally have come to terms that Pepper is possibly the love of your life and you don’t want to mess up. Yeah, I don’t blame you. She’s a classy dame.” Steve paused. “A real swell lady.” He paused again. “She’s great. Pretty sure she won’t admit it so easily, but I think it’s a mutual feeling.”
Tony simply blinked at him. Dame? Swell? He frowned a little, then shook his head. “It’s not Pepper. It’s… some other… it’s another woman. Really. Honest.” ...of course, the truth was clear to anyone with eyes and ears. Especially to one of Tony’s closest friends. “So… anyway, I don’t know what to do.”
Steve rolled his eyes. Hard. Of course it was Pepper. “Have you thought about, you know, asking her out?” He paused. “Though, you might need to do a bit of … Not being a jerk. No offence. But you do have a reputation, you know? You might need to ease up a bit on the boozing and the womanizing a little. And let her know you’re serious.”
“Not being a jerk.” Tony repeated, and gave a little nod. That made sense. The funny thing was that even before Steve mentioned it, Tony had been doing those things. Easing up on the drinking, taking it easy on the women. He hadn’t thought about it logically, hadn’t realized what it might mean that he wasn’t… well… himself. Did that mean that he was serious? Did that mean he was ready for… a real relationship? “Well, I haven’t been drinking as much scotch lately.”
“That’s a start.” Not that Steve was really qualified, he felt, to be giving advice. When it came to girls, they just made Steve turn all sorts of shades of red, and he always stumbled over his words and got nervous. Which was apparently ridiculous, but he couldn’t help it. “Something tells me you’ll be just fine.”
“Thanks.” Tony said. And it surprised him a little bit how comforted he was by those words. Steve was more than just a friend in that moment, but a confidant. Something Tony had no idea that he needed as much as he did. “Hey, let’s go out. You hungry? There’s this great Italian place.” He added, rolling up the blueprints and grabbing his jacket off the back of his chair.
“Oh, geez, I’m always hungry.” And Steve wasn’t lying. He had no idea how dream-him managed with the constantly going metabolism, but his cost of groceries was going through the roof. “I’ll rack up the bill in no time.”
Tony chuckled. “Good. I’ll put it on the expense account.” He said, swinging the jacket up onto his shoulders. He gave his friend a grin as he turned to lead the way to the elevator.
Steve just gave a low whistle, then muttered something about how that was going to be some expensed dinner, but he followed Tony with a grin of his own.