#stonyversity

[bluemoonperegrine]

Wolf Be Upon Yeet: Part III

In which @vicarious-rebel and I chatted via DM about the Werewolf By Night and Moon Knight crews in her headcanon which includes Elsa’s pet eldritch horror Stony, which had been the Bloodstone but is now literally a monster. Here are part I and part II.

Stonyverse short fics: 

“Of blood and stone” by Vi

 “Something Awful This Way Comes” (ao3 link) by me

"In which the Bloodstone is a little shit" by Vi

This amazing, adorable gif that's eventually relevant to the silliness below it is @toothyclown's creation. (Toothy, If it's not cool that I saved the file and posted it here, lmk and I'll delete it immediately.) Here's the original post with the gif.

This edition gets Looney-Tunes-style silly. 🤣

Vi’s text is black. bluemoonperegrine’s text is blue. (I mean, of course.)

I'm thinking about writing some Stony stuff, so I'm rereading your fic introducing the adorable li'l scamp. There "was the body and eight legs of an arachnid but a bony humanoid torso where the chest and head portion should be. The arms were long and thin but ended in clawed hands large enough to close around a human head." So he has eight spidery legs and two arms. The arms are generally human-like, right? Just kind of warped and horrific?

Stony is huge! It sounds like when standing his abdomen is 7 ft off the ground. If his torso and head are roughly human-sized, that would put his head about 4 feet higher.

I think Stony shouldn't have much of a scent. In any case, it would freak Jack out even more if this creature that partially looks like a skinned human doesn't smell like blood and flesh at all.

This idea popped into my head: the moon boys teaching Stony to walk on his humanoid hands. Jack would pass out on the spot the first time he saw it.

If Stony is as big as I described above, someone's gotta ride him like a steed sent straight from hell. Elsa makes the most sense.

I read this part of our chat--"considering Ted's acid is a reflex"--as "Ted is acid reflux" initially. 🤣

Random idea: Elsa finds a way to make Stony temporarily smaller so it's easier to bring him on hunts. Or maybe discovers that he can go back into gem form but doesn't want to. Elsa would need a truckload of chicken nuggets to train and reward Stony for stuffing himself back into gem form for a while.

Stony: screech-growls in protest

Jack: flinches, then fidgets

Elsa: It's only for a few hours. As we clear out the nest, you can eat every single one of those shambling mounds!

Jack: shudders

Stony: perks up

My brain keeps circling back to Stony's origin story. Why was he suddenly able to manifest in monster form? I'm thinking that during a big fight the Bloodstone got a hairline crack. That disturbed some sort of containment spell and Stony could break free.

yup his arms are pretty human-looking, just disproportionately long for extra body horror eldritchness

Regarding Stony's scent, I do imagine him to smell of blood but it also makes perfect sense for him not to smell of anything bc he's supposed to be in a rock.

You're right that it would freak Jack out. It'll make him develop Stony-sense.

TINY STONY! I imagine him looking the same just…. smaller

My Little Stony 🤣

The question is how tiny is tiny Stony? horse-sized? large dog-sized?

He could change to multiple sizes: stone-sized or dog-sized Regarding how he manifested, something like a spell or whatnot "dissolving" the bloodstone and releasing the sentience

When Stony's out, the actual Bloodstone is gone and not in its frame because it's not a stone anymore

Jack sees something crawling on the floor, assumes it's a spider, then "oh wait oh shit it's That Thing"

Poor Jack sees one of the moon boys teaching Stony to do a trick and he just nopes out

Jack wakes up one morning to find tiny Stony curled up on top of him (on top of the covers) sleeping soundly… and is promptly launched across the room by shrieking Jack who runs for the hills

Tiny stony usually sleeps on Elsa's bed. 🤣

I think I just want to terrorize Jack.

Or worse, sees Elsa actually train it for combat and legs it Hasn't Jack suffered enough?

(No.)

Terrorizing Jack is so much fun. He's our damsel in distress

Someone save the werewolf from the eldrich tarantula

A favorite visual of mine in this AU is Stony deliberately trying to freak out the resident smol woof and Marc just deflecting him like "ok that's enough, you're gonna stop it or no chicken nuggets for you"

Jake not too secretly eggs Stony on. Sneaks him a spicy chicken nug when Marc's not looking

Jack looks at him, betrayed "I loved you… Trusted you…. And you BETRAY ME?!"

Jake: Man up, woof boy

Steven: Jake, I won't tolerate this sort of misogyny and misandry. That's no way--

The system devolves into bickering again. Jake: it's all in good fun

Steven: good fun? you're traumatizing him

Maybe Steven let Jack know about something that wigs Jake out so he can give him a little of his own medicine. He could be afraid of butterflies or something.

Marc standing off to the side, rolling his eyes

Yeah, Steven likes fairness so he'd do that

Jake: whispering to Stony in Spanish Jack: I CAN HEAR YOU AND UNDERSTAND YOU, GILIPOLLAS.

Steven: steal his gloves and crinkle them Jake: DON'T YOU FUCKING DARE Stony just being confused bc he doesn't know Spanish but he gets spicy nuggets so he's fine with it

The moon boys bickering is the best

Jake's cheeky and teases ppl but it really is all in good faith

The smol woof needs a pack. he likely sees Elsa and Ted as his… and eventually, reluctantly Stony as well. He'd be more than happy to include the moon boys and Layla

yeah, they're all his pack Stony is on thin ice tho

I can imagine Jack getting angry at Stony for something and informing him that he's out of the pack.

Stony: no response

He doesn't understand and wouldn't really care even if he did.

Elsa, feigning shock: you Kicked him Out? Jail! In this AU werewolf Jack looks just like he did in the special. I assume he's not a mindless killing machine. In the special he went on a killing spree because he was attacked and tortured via Bloodstone and then guards. So is he basically wolflike? How much human Jack is in there?

I'd say about 10% human Jack, he tends to act very wolflike but can occasionally retain info/memories between transformations but they tend to be vague and blurry (like trying to remember a dream but the only thing you remember is having a dream and maybe some detail or feeling and that's it)

For instance, werewolf Jack can recognize ppl by scent (esp if he's been around them long enough) and has some of the same preferences as his human form, like his penchant for salmon paste

Is salmon paste like lox?

Nah, it's like regular salmon ground down to paste, it's got a similar consistency to any paste and it tastes and smells like smoked salmon

It's pretty good. I pretty much headcanon it as one of Jack's favourite snacks after he discovered it. (Marc absolutely uses that to his advantage when dealing with werewolf Jack)

So there isn't a panic at Bloodstone at each full moon if only the usual suspects are around

Bloodstone Manor is like the Addams family mansion. There are a couple of weird creatures, a werewolf, a monster hunter and two avatars of Egyptian gods and everyone's having a grand old time. And then there's Billy Swan, the only normal one in any room, doing his thing like this is all perfectly normal. Also, where is the manor? Outside Boston?

I read somewhere that in the special it's in Arizona. The garden/labyrinth looked kinda the American SW to me, so that clicked in my head and I used it in my fics. Also I love the desert SW so I was happy to set stuff there.

I honestly have no idea, geography is kinda fluid in my brain. It's somewhere in a forested area and that's all I know abt it

gotta have room to roam (for Ted and Jack) and probably also Stony bc big eldritch horrors gotta stretch

I imagine that Elsa removed all of the monster heads mounted on the walls as well.

... if Elsa hadn't removed the monster heads, Stony may have eaten them 😬

I imagine they're stuffed/preserved somehow, in which case Stony wouldn't so much eat them as chew them up and spit them out in disgust

Jack's doing his own thing and BOOM, Stony pops up and fucks up his day

vlog proposal: Decorating With Stony

After the reveal Stony weighs in by destroying things or not. It's the ultimate interior decor assessment. The releases people have to sign are insane

--------------------

Sheesh, I still haven't gotten to the part that inspired this series' title! I'll get there eventually.

[seleneperez94]

"El cielo y el café deben amarse... El café y el cielo se aman" Inspirado en un relato corto que pertenece a Cenk gotique pasen a darle amor: https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=421157108501485&id=322221431728387 #stony #stonyverse #ironshield #mcu #tonystark #steverogers #blueeyes #browneyes #love https://www.instagram.com/p/B0xii8PAHJ1/?igshid=7ml8pxq8wwsb

[averagemarvelbitch]

The One With The Red Sweater - Part 2

The one where Steve and Tony are celebrating their one year anniversary, Bucky has a big mouth (and regrets it) and everything goes wrong.

Relationships: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark

Tags: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - No Powers.

Chapters: 2/2

AO3

Tagging because I thought you guys might like to read the second part! @barnesbuchananjamie @instantlyshadowen @stonyverse @iron-captain

Tony stayed the next three days at home. Fooling Jarvis was rather easy. He only had to tell the butler he felt really sick and with his red eyes and runny nose (from all the crying) it was an easy sell. Jarvis did look a bit suspicious, but said nothing, and let Tony stay at home for as long as he needed.

Tony knew he had to go to school sometime. He couldn’t avoid Steve, and everyone else, forever. But he was so embarrassed. God, why did he have to tell his friends all those things about not ever being chosen? Now they knew how he felt AND they knew Steve had never really liked Tony, he was just being polite, like always. And oh god, the dates. They dated for a year. They kissed, they cuddled. Had Steve been uncomfortable in all this situations? Had Tony forced himself on Steve without knowing he wasn’t welcome? This is the worst thing that’s ever happened to me, he thought groaning loudly and hiding his head under the pillow once more.

His cell phone didn’t stop ringing for one minute. Some calls from Pepper, some from Rhodey and Nat and Sharon, and about a million calls from Steve. Tony ignored all of them. At one point, he sent a simple text to all his friends (except Steve because he was still mad at him) saying he didn’t want to talk about it and turned off his phone. After that, Steve started calling his home. He called almost every hour and every time Jarvis or Ana would pick it up. They would come to Tony’s room and every time the brunette would shake his head and turn around, leaving the butler and his wife to make some excuses.

When Steve finally realized the phone calls wouldn’t work, he started sending other things. On Friday, he sent flowers with a note. I’m sorry, please, let me explain. I love you. All they did was remind Tony of the fact that Steve wanted Sharon, not him. He threw both of them away.

On Saturday, Steve sent a small robot plushie with another note. You mean everything to me. Please, forgive me. I love you. Tony threw away the note and gave the plushie to DUM-E, who happily took it to his charging station and kept it there.

On Sunday, nothing came. No phone call, no gift, no note, nothing. Maybe Steve had finally given up, realized Tony wasn’t worth the hassle and it was better to just take this opportunity to get out of the relationship he never even wanted in the first place. Tony was fine with that. He was fine.

On Monday morning, he got dressed and turned on his cell phone. He sent Rhodey a text, asking for a ride. His best friend promptly answered on my way. Tony took a deep breath, trying to get himself ready to face the day, and walked down the stairs, straight to the kitchen to have some breakfast.

Jarvis and Ana watched, in silence, as he ate some toast and drank some coffee. He could tell they wanted to say something, but were holding themselves back.

“Just say it. Come on”, he huffed, putting his coffee down.

“He told us what happened, dear. I’m very sorry”.

“Indeed we are, master Anthony. But… Perhaps we could give you something to think about?”

Tony nodded, nibbling at his toast.

“You see, master Anthony. Some people are able to choose exactly who they are going to love. Like your mother. She saw your father at a benefit and decided that was the man she was going to marry”.

“Yeah. Bad choice”.

Jarvis wrinkled his nose, as if trying to stop himself from agreeing. “Maybe so, master Anthony, but she made her choice. Other people, like Mrs. Jarvis and myself, are victims of fate”.

“What do you mean?”

“Objectively speaking, there was no reason why Mrs. Jarvis and I should meet. A war was raging outside and I was merely a soldier, unable to afford even a drink at the hotel she worked. But fate intervened”.

“That’s right. The general, who never ate anything other than meat and potatoes, that very night decided to try some local cuisine. He spent the night throwing up and called Mr. Jarvis for help. I was tasked with cleaning up the room. And that’s how we met. Fate”.

“And then you stole a letter of transit and was almost court martialed for her”, Tony replied, grinning.

Jarvis cleared his throat and took Tony’s plate. “Well, some people are worth committing a crime for, master Anthony”, he said, earning himself a kiss on the cheek from his wife.

“So, what you’re saying is Steve and I were meant to be?”

“All I’m saying, master Anthony, is that Mrs. Jarvis and I believe that some people are destined to meet. And sometimes, when people are being stubborn, or clueless, or when the world decides to make it difficult, fate intervenes and puts those people on each other’s paths. What happens after that, well, it is up to them, isn’t it?”

“But… He didn’t want me, Jarvis. He wanted Sharon”.

“Perhaps, in the beginning, master Rogers had a different idea of what love could be. Maybe, before you showed up, love had the face and shape of Miss Carter. And perhaps, when fate put you in his path, he realized love was much different from what he believed it to be”.

“Yeah, but he still didn’t choose me”.

“My dear boy”, Jarvis said with a smile, “He chose you every time he came over to watch, yet again, those silly space movies you love so much. He chose you every time he comforted you after a fight with your father. He chose you when he introduced you to his mother, his only family in this world, as his boyfriend. He chose you when he gave up a scholarship at another school only because he could not bear to be parted from you”.

“How do you know about that?”

“We’re the help, dear. The help knows everything”, Ana said, laughing softly.

“He may not have chosen you at first, Anthony. But he chose you again and again and again for a year. And he kept on choosing you every time he called this house, heartbroken and desperate, and every time he sent a gift with what I can only assume were very remorseful notes. You made each other happy, Anthony. Perhaps you ought to give the young man a chance to prove his love to you”.

Tony didn’t have time to answer. The Imperial March started playing, a sign that Rhodey was waiting for him outside. He smiled at Jarvis and Ana, his way of saying thank you for the talk, thank you for being so good to me, thank you for always looking out for me, and left.

The car ride wasn’t exactly fun. Sharon had spent half of it apologizing to Tony and assuring him she had no interest in Steve (which was fairly obvious since she was dating Pepper). Tony, then, put her mind to rest, saying he didn’t blame her at all and that she had nothing to worry about. They’d been friends since they were in diapers and nothing would change that. That’s when Sharon started sniffing and touching the corner of her eyes, trying to hide the tears.

“Are you crying?”

“No, I have allergies, your cologne is gross”.

The moment they arrived at school, Tony knew something was wrong. He walked in with his friends right behind him and noticed how everybody kept glancing at him. Great, everybody knows what a huge loser I am, he thought, frowning. And that’s when he saw it. A huge piece of paper on the message board that almost took half of it.

I fell in love with you when you came to my games to cheer me on even though you hate football ― yes, Tony, I know you hate football.

Right under the saying was a drawing of a football field with many players. On the side, there was a small brunette cheering and, beside him, a robot (who looked very much like DUM-E) holding a sign that said “Go Team”. Tony smiled.

“Uh, Tones? There’s more of that”.

Tony turned and looked to where Rhodey was pointing. Indeed, the corridor was full of posters with phrases and little drawings. He started walking, slowly, stopping at every single one.

I fell in love with you when we watched Star Wars and I looked at you and you were so excited and so happy it made my heart burst.

A drawing of two figures, a blond and a brunette, pointing at the many spaceships that flew around the paper.

I fell in love with you when you spent five days with me in the ER because my ma was sick ― and you stayed even though they have terrible coffee.

This time, a drawing of a small brunette figure making a face at a cup of coffee while holding hands with the blond little man.

I feel in love with you every time you smiled, every time you laughed.

This one had a very realistic drawing of Tony smiling. It was beautiful. Is that how Steve sees me?, he thought with tears in his eyes.

The posters covered all of the corridor.

… when you introduced me to DUM-E…

… from the first time you called me sweetheart…

… when I was sick and you made me soup ― even thought you burned it…

… every time you called me to tell me about your day…

Tony read every single one of them with a small smile on his face, completely ignoring everyone else who just stood there, watching him. He finally got to the last one.

I fell in love with you the day you kissed me under the bleachers. I was just too stupid to actually notice.

Suddenly, Steve was there, holding flowers and looking very nervous.

“Hi”.

“Hi”, Tony replied, biting his lip.

“I’m sorry. I should have told you. It’s just that… After you kissed me and you told me we should grab a burger, I thought, okay, I’ll tell him the truth at the diner and… I didn’t. Because that day I had the best time of my life. You were funny, and smart, and gorgeous, and damn it, Tony, I was terrified that if I told you, you wouldn’t want to see me ever again. So I didn’t. And I should have. I’m sorry”.

Tony smiled and nodded, taking the flowers. But Steve continued.

“I know you think I didn’t choose you. But, you know, ma used to tell me that sometimes we’re too blinded by the world to actually see what’s right in front of us. So sometimes fate helps. And I think it really was fate who made you cold enough to steal Sharon’s sweater. Because, honestly? I can’t imagine what my life would be like without you. And I thank fate everyday for knowing better than I did. I may not have chosen you that day, Tony, but I swear I’m gonna choose you every day for the rest of my life. Because I love you. I really do. Can you please give me another chance?”

Tony smiled and, instead of using words, just pulled Steve down for a kiss, holding him tight and letting himself be held by him. The people near them started laughing, and cat whistling and clapping. But suddenly, all the noise stopped and the couple heard someone clearing the throats forcefully. They interrupted the kiss, looking for the source.

Vice-Principle Coulson had what seemed to be the ghost of a smile on his lips. “No kissing in the corridors”.

“Oh, come on, you heard the speech”, Bucky complained from the other side of the crowd.

Coulson huffed, shaking his head. “One more kiss only in the corridor, Stark, Rogers. And keep it PG-13. This is not some teen movie High School. This isn’t Hannah Montana”.

“Wait, Coulson watches Hannah Montana?” Steve whispered and Tony tried to swallow a laugh.

But Coulson had, apparently, heard him. “She is a normal teenager by day and an internationally famous singer by night. She’s Batman. What’s not to like?”

While everyone laughed, Coulson shooed the others. Steve smiled down at Tony.

“I’m really happy you forgive me, Tony”.

Tony smiled. “I had no other choice”, he said, and when Steve shot him a confused look, he replied, “Who am I to go against fate, right?”

[stonyversity]

Quarry Dealings

First Year. November 2009:

Steve walked into his dorm room and he nearly walked back out thinking it was the wrong room – which was ridiculous considering he had to use his key to unlock the door and that key only went to one room in the entire four story building (basement included). The room was a disaster. Clothes were thrown everywhere; Clint's bed, his bed, the floor, the desks, the closets, the windows. Nothing was in its proper place, not even Clint's sacred television and DVD collection that was not to be touched or shifted or dusted without going through a substantial amount of paperwork.

He paused in the doorway, after he stopped himself from retreating and gazed about the empty but chaotic room. He was going to have to have a stern discussion with Clint, which was odd. After living together for two months they hadn't had any problems other than the standard dorm room issues but even then, Clint was chill and Steve was tolerant. There were certain habits of Clint's that he still didn't approve of but Clint had been more than considerate and usually did it somewhere else. But this – this wasn't okay. Even Steve's belongings had been rooted through – not as drastically and thoroughly as Clint's possessions but his drawers and closet were open, his sheets turned down, everything on his half of the shelf was on his bed... what could have happened to cause Clint to destroy their bedroom?

Rather than comment on it, however, Steve chose to address the state of the room first – even if he didn't quite get that chance. “Clint, what happ-”

“I'm out! I'm all out!” Clint shouted as he continued his frantic search through piles of objects and clothes that had to have been turned over at least three times by this point. “Only two months in and everything is hopeless. It's all Stark's fault. I was doing so well but he had to come along and-”

“Clint, slow down. Explain what's going on.” Because it was starting to sound as though... Steve really didn't know if he was comfortable going down that path. It all seemed very awkward with friends he'd only known for two months, even if they were a group of friends who hit things off strangely fast.

“Look, I know you're a prude and I don't judge you for it. But some people like a little deviation from the norm.” The drama major stopped in his efforts to throw his arms up in defeat, falling back onto his bed. “And it helps me memorize my lines.”

Steve narrowed his eyes, watching his roommate suspiciously when the light bulb in his head went off and while this wasn't something he approved of... it was something he was more comfortable talking about compared to the alternative with Tony.

“You're out of-”

“Yes. What'd you think I was talking about?” Clint asked the ceiling nonchalantly, as he didn't bother sitting up to glance in Steve's direction.

“N-nothing. Exactly that. I guess I don't approve of it no, but I'm sorry that you're unhappy.”

“Typical, Rogers.” Clint laughed but did not get the chance to elaborate because there was a knock that the door. Clint startled and rolled over on the bed to get a look at who was there while Steve merely turned his head toward the door.

“Hey man, couldn't help overhearing – and you might wanna be more careful about that yeah? But if you need some I know I guy.”

“Yeah?” It took two seconds for Clint to propel himself off the bed and practically slide over to the door. “I haven't found anyone on campus yet, who is he?”

“He's a townie, really odd guy too but his is quality and the price is decent.” The guy, who Steve recognized from down the hall as Jim, or Pat, or Ted? Some three word name that he'd forgotten from their lack of contact. It might have also been his permanently red eyes that turned Steve off from really getting to know him.

“Doesn't sound half bad as some of the people I've bought from before.” Clint shrugged and then shivered what Steve had to assume was an unpleasant memory attached to one of his previous dealers. It sounded terrible in his mind... dealer. Clint may make fun of him but it was illegal, he'd regret it if he got caught. “What's his name?”

“Wilson. But he calls himself Deadpool – don't know.” Jim/Pat/Ted waved off the impending question on Clint's lips. He must have gotten it a lot.

“Whatever, still not as weird as I'm used to. Where do I find him?”

.

.

Clint stood in the cold, early, Winter air. He was in the middle of nowhere, some stupid ravine, quarry bullshit across the road from the dorms on the south side of campus and through a ridiculously narrow path through the woods. Luckily Clint was used to the freezing air from those sparring times when he spent time on the streets or without proper heating in cheap living spaces.

It was quiet in the space, not even a twig snapping. Only the wind and the birds tweeting softly. Which was why Clint jumped extraordinarily high when he felt a tap on his shoulder.

“Jesus shit!”

“No but if he did it would probably smell heavenly.” The man was hidden by shadows behind him but Clint could tell he was grinning. He could also see in the dark, that his eyes had thankfully adjusted to, that the man was wearing a long, vibrant trench coat and a matching beanie. Seriously, what kind of drug dealer wore a bright red trench coat with black down the sides and a matching beanie? Who matched their beanies to their jackets?

“You're... Deadpool I imagine?” Clint asked, narrowing his eyes skeptically at the man as he contemplating trying to find his way back out of this maze of a death trap. It was a good thing Clint was so intuitive and could handle himself in a fight, otherwise coming out here all alone to this desolate place would have been the biggest mistake of his university life.

“The one and only, pretty boy.” The young man held out his arms as though he was showing off the goods, but the trench was buttoned closed... He believed he was the goods. Oh how cute, Clint mused.

“What's that stand for? Find a dead body in a pool when you were a kid?”

Even in the darkness, Clint could see Wade's lips curl into a sinister smirk but that was all the response Clint was given.

Clint sighed, shaking his head and rolling his eyes at how much this guy got off on being mysterious. “You gonna crawl on outta the shadows or you gonna make me Guess Who? what you look like? Does he have brown hair? Does he look like a punk?”

Except Clint's grin faded when Deadpool took a step forward into the light from the houses overlooking the quarry. The skin of the man's face was contorted, almost like it had been put through a meat grinder but Clint could tell they were remnants of burn scars. What Clint found shocking was not the fact that he had these burns but how extensive they were. He could that they dipped well below his collar bone covered by the coat and his loose black t-shirt underneath and Clint couldn't help but wonder how far down they went.

“80% of my body.” Deadpool offered when Clint's eyes trailed down the man's torso. “House fire when I was ten.”

“Shit man, sorry.” Clint scratched the back of his neck, unsure of how exactly to respond that how nonchalant Deadpool was about that sort of tragedy.

The dealer shrugged his shoulders, lowering his arms and letting the coat billow around his sides. “Chicks dig the scars.”

A smile threatened the corners of Clint's lips, “I bet the do.”

“Guys do to – usually more than the ladies.”

Blue eyes narrowed suspiciously as he tried to access whether or not Deadpool was flirting with him. “So you got a real name or what?”

“Peter Parker.”

“I know for a fact that your last name is Wilson.” As mentioned by the kid in his dorm who alerted him to Deadpool's existence.

“Nah man that's a volleyball.”

“If you're gettin' some from Tom Cruise it would explain that ridiculous jacket.”

“Low blow, dude. Can't be giving our name to a guy dissin the coat even if he seems kinda cool.”

Great, now he was speaking in third person. That was always a good sign from a sketchy guy in the darkness of a secluded ravine.

“We already gave him a fake name... No, I don't think he's born yet... Depends on what issue you're following...” Deadpool went on for a few minutes, seemingly talking to himself, before Clint interrupted him.

“You do know we're the only two people here, right?” Clint half joked, half questioned for his own sake... depending on the man's answer he would be taking off very shortly.

Deadpool's attention shot back to the drama major immediately, playful smile gracing his features. “I'm livin' in a world of reefer, leave me alone! And it's Wade.”

“See that wasn't so hard.” Barton grinned, taking a step closer to the dealer and patting his shoulder with an open palm. “I'm Clint, by the way, and do you actually have anything on you or do you get off on luring nice boys out into the dark.”

Wade's reply was pulling a small bag from one of his pockets with the familiar substance Clint had been craving. “Come on tweetybird,” the man moved forward to flop down by the edge of the quarry, legs dangling over as his coat curled around his body, “I'll give you a free sample.”

Clint shook his head, all the reasons why doing this in such a remote location with someone he barely knew – and had fair suspicion that he wasn't in the best mental condition – was a bad idea. Yet he followed suit and let his own legs hang over the edge as he scooted up next to Wade.

.

.

“And that, kids, is the story of how I fucked your uncle Clint.” Wade smirked, clapping his hands down on his knees.

“Ugh...”

“Gross!”

“Why would you-?”

“Pics or it didn't happen.”

All eyes turned to Tony for a moment, almost as disturbed with him as they were with this Wade Wilson character who was suddenly a part of their lives. By that, the group meant that he randomly showed up to one of their movie nights claiming Clint had invited him and that they needed to hear the story of how he and Clint met.

It was hard for anyone in the group to believe Wade's telling of the tale as truth.

“Clint?” The gaze of the peanut gallery shifted to the theatre major, sitting behind them with an unreadable expression.

“No, he's being an ass. We did not – and will not-” he added for good measure, “-sleep together.”

Wade opened his mouth, ready to retort but instead he sighed heavily and frowned.

“Okay.” Bruce interrupted. “Now that that's settled can we start the movie? Some of us-” he turned a stern gaze upon Tony, to which the playboy pointedly avoided, “-have a midterm in the morning.”

“All right fun, let's rock this Bea Arthur!”

No one bothered questioning Wade. They wanted to watch a movie, not listen to another fraudulent story. Although the night was more rambunctious than usual and there was popcorn thrown at Wade several times when he wouldn't keep his mouth shut and kept spoiling the events of the movie, despite the fact that he claimed he'd never seen the film before.

Later, when everyone had left the lounge and it was only Natasha and Clint cleaning up – because Steve had to be up early and Thor was needed to forcibly remove Wade from the premises – Natasha gave Clint a look. Her eyes digging right into the core of Clint's being as she interrogated him with only her eyes.

Clint sighed, slamming the cover of his DVD case. “I don't know, all right! We were fucking wasted-”

Natasha's lip curled up into soft, knowing smirk.

“You're such a bitch.” Clint groaned, gathering his belongings into his arms and stomping out of the room. The least he could do was make a dramatic exit after all that and leave Natasha to clean up their mess as a punishment.

[acecorvid]

College AU stony because I just read some that got me hooked. /please/

I would love to darling but at this point, I’m not capable of writing college AU stony anymore because it all comes back to mine and Serenity’s University AU blog/verse that we’re writing and deviating from that verse in my head isn’t possible anymore.

Here’s the link if you’re interested: [x]

[bluemoonperegrine]

Wolf Be Upon Yeet: Part I

@vicarious-rebel and I have been chatting about her headcanon of the Moon Knight and Werewolf By Night characters hanging out in Bloodstone Manor Addams-Family-style. My favorite part of her headcanon is the monster OC she dreamed up: a sentient version of the Bloodstone. She introduced monster!Bloodstone in the short fic "Of blood and stone". 

I enjoyed. Had questions. Asked them. Vi replied. We started riffing on stuff, and it's hilarious.

We decided that some of you goofballs might enjoy our silliness and are sharing edited versions of it. Well, we might be. Here's the start of it. I'll see how this post goes over to decide if I want to edit more of our back-and-forth into something intelligible for everyone.

So, the least you need to know:

Elsa, Jack, and Billy Swan live at the manor full-time.

Elsa and Jack are good friends.

Jack is over 200 years old. He doesn't have control of his wolf form. Werewolf him looks just like he did in the special.

Ted, Marc/Steven/Jake, and Layla visit the manor a lot.

Some or all of them go on missions together.

Vi's text is black. bluemoonperegrine's text is blue. (I mean, of course.)

aight so you asked how the Bloodstone would react to Khonshu and I think that depends on whether it considers divine and monstrous to be the same or similar enough conceptually

it considers Jack a monster even though he really only transforms during a full moon so "human for the most part" doesn't cut it

still I don't think we have any info on how it reacts to divine beings (and I'm not really a comic nerd but there's nothing there either as far as I know)

so if the only distinction it makes is human vs non-human, then it would probably react to Khonshu the same way it did to Jack

but it wouldn't be successful in actually landing a hit

yeah, I'm with you on how the Bloodstone would perceive Khonshu: monster. It's pretty binary: there are monster and not monsters. Unnatural and natural.

Ironically, monster!Bloodstone is inherently unnatural. Hence the identity issues you mentioned the other day.

It would be funny if it looked in a mirror and realized "Oh shit. I'm a monster!"

How intelligent is Stony? (monster!Bloodstone needs a shorter name, lol) Like a mammalian alpha predator? Smarter than that?

Stony <3 I love it, it's like a pet name

I'm not entirely sure, to be fair with you. It's definitely smart enough to recognize faces and tell edible from inedible things (maybe even tell reflection from actual thing apart) but that's all "in development", I guess.

He's literally a pet rock. With... viscera and stuff

speaking of Jack, I was actually kinda worried his reaction was ooc

hmm. lemme reread it keeping in mind that he's an old man

bc Jack is a monster and he's certainly seen some freakier ones but on the other hand how often do you see the ultimate weapon against monsters become a monster and then go for your neck?

pff Jack is an old man, please have mercy on his heart

he looks fantastic for 257

i'd say it's a 50/50 chance that he'd run for his life or freeze. Of the four responses to a threat (fight, flight, freeze, fawn), fleeing or freezing make the most sense.

I think he'd have run if Marc weren't there.

yeah, I think so, too. It seems to be his go-to reaction to threats

but maybe his instinct went "wait, someone close to you is here, you can't leave them"

or maybe he freezes depending on the situation (if you can count his reaction to Elsa in the maze as freezing)

I think his brain went offline for about a minute when Stony showed himself

Jack.exe has stopped working, please restart

Once some of the adrenaline had waned Jack would probably think "I can't abandon my friends even though this thing could end me in a fraction of a second"

LOL jack.exe

* opens task manager, kills thread *

from what I understand the Bloodstone is only supposed to weaken monsters so that kinda holds true for Stony boy here

it was basically trying to paralyze Jack

I know nothing about the Bloodstone other than what was in the special

It's interesting to think about a werewolf's reaction to stuff that can seriously hurt them. It's a very short list.

same here but from some of the easter egg/analysis channels I've watched they sometimes talk abt the Bloodstone in the comics and so far none of them mention anything abt it being able to properly kill a monster

so I think of Stony as being able to send just enough neuroparalytic toxins or electric shockwaves to incapacitate a monster but not necessarily kill them

not that Jack knows that in the moment

or any of them really

I like how your mind works. You're figuring out how Stony ticks. The characters may or may not catch up

I am indeed figuring some of this stuff out as we speak

I'm already imagining Elsa trying to figure out how to take care of Stony. What does he eat? Steel? Cinderblocks? tiny ghosts?

she throws all this random crap in his space and watches what he does

Jack watches from far away with binoculars

lol, Jack and Ted watch the show from afar.

"I don't know what she's thinking, Ted. I mean... look at that thing!"

the serious version of what Stony eats would probably be raw meat/blood/whatever else it needs to maintain the viscera

the funny version would be if Elsa eventually figured out it can run on a chicken diet bc of that

Have you watched Death Note?

long time ago, yeah

"L, did you know gods of death like apples?"

that and "I'll take a potato chip...AND EAT IT."

I like the serious and funny versions of figuring out Stony's dietary needs

Ted, nodding along to Jack's concerns

Stony would make for a very efficient clean-up crew after a hunt

he's the goat of monsters

it gets even funnier when you imagine it wasn't Elsa but one of the mk crew to figure it out

gotta be either Steven or Jake

Marc or Jake casually throw a chicken nugget at it for funsies and whoops, what do you know it likes it

they train it to do tricks

they would!

I just love the image of Marc being completely unphased by the thing after the initial encounter so when the system n Jack are visiting Elsa for whatever reason and Stony pops up we have

Jack: internally screaming in terror

Marc: oh hey bud

Marc keeps chicken nuggies in a ziplock bag in a coat pocket for Stony

the system overall gets along with Stony, Steven especially likes teaching it tricks and playing fetch with it

Jack: Marc, have you been eating a lot of chicken?

M: ...no?

J: You... always smell like chicken now. Cooked chicken, I mean. Fried, to be specific. Just a little.

M: * pulls a ziplock bag with nuggs out of his coat. It says "Stony <3" in Sharpie*

J: ...oh.

lmao Jack being secretly jealous

(Why don't *I* get chickie nuggies?)

"how come this thing gets chicken nuggets from him all the time? what does it have that I don't??"

He'd start hanging around in wolf form in hopes of treats 😂

crackpot theory: Marc has some kind of natural way of getting along with monsters

just Marc, or the system?

just Marc

however the rest of the system also has their way of getting around

Steven would use his big brain

Steven manages to get on most monsters' good side by being his genuine, curious and respectful self while Jake has more of a chill vibe that can disarm even monsters with time

and speaking of wolf Jack, yes he'd absolutely start sticking around the system more often for treats

especially when you consider Marc gives me dog person vibes he'd probably cave at some point

Elsa sighs, rolls her eyes, and points this out to the boys

Ted just wheeze-laughs

oh Ted has the time of his life teasing Jack for it

Elsa, too

I love this so much words can't do it justice

my general idea of the WBN crew is that they are a tight squad and teasing is just a given

"I'm not that dog-like!" *scratches behind ear*

it's good-natured teasing. if anyone crosses a line, the other party backs off and apologizes, if indirectly

Elsa: you're jealous that Stony gets all of Marc's attention, aren't you?

Jack, sweating: I don't know what you're talking about

aight we've touched on Jack being jealous for attention

aside from hanging around the system more in wolf form, he also tries to spend more time with them as a human

preferably outside of Bloodstone manor

first off, he's not jealous of that thing you guys, he's noooooootttt

and secondly, since Stony can be surprisingly quiet for a giant monster he can lurk the house and sneak up on anybody

that essentially means it constantly tries to sneak up on Jack and he can smell when it's near and that freaks him out

also I headcanon that Jack likes bubble tea and routinely tries to get the system to try it but they're obstinate

he lets up on Steven when he says he's vegan but the others aren't so lucky

plenty of puppy eyes

also it just occurred to me that it would be double funny if Layla also started showering Stony with affection and Marc was secretly a little jealous as well

he would never admit it ofc but he also wouldn't have a grudge against it bc hello???? it's Stony

the thing kinda has a soft spot for Marc bc of the treats (and that first encounter bc I think it would appreciate bravery, somehow)

Does Stony like Jack? Why is he sneaking up on him?

I can almost imagine Stony as a scary/annoying kid hanging around Jack looking for attention. Maybe

Bubble tea! 😆

So who exactly is the WBN crew? Elsa, Jack, Ted, Stony 😂, the system, and Layla? Anyone else?

I can only see Elsa and Jack being at the manor full time, or at least a lot. Being 200 yrs old, Jack must have a few places... unless he's largely itinerant. And Ted has to guard the nexus in the Everglades

the WBN crew are Elsa, Jack and Ted while Layla and the system are the MK crew

Stony would initially stalk him bc "monster bad" but he does eventually realise that's not the case for Jack but still does the stalking bc he is in fact A Little Shit

what are the other naughty things Stony does?

Stony usually bumps into things or pokes them bc he's curious about his surroundings

this leads to the endearing cat-like behaviour of "push things off the ledge and see what happens" and what happens is that sometimes things break

Lol Stony. He's like a cat and a dog

exactly

Does Stony have anything like catnip? Stonynip? lol

Stoned Stony

The bad jokes/puns write themselves 😆

maybe bloodroot (sanguinaria). It grows wild out here.

I'm not sure he'd have something like that tbh (plus the bloodroot sounds like it could actually hurt him but who knows, we're talking about an eldritch being spawned from a frekin jewel)

which would be funnier: Jack never getting over Stony and freaking out every time he saw it or getting to a point where he just sees it and goes "not you again"

I think the "why not both" option is for him to be in "freak out every time" mode for, like, weeks, then slowly transition to "oh god, you again"

from "oh god, you again"(terrified) to "oh god, you again"(exasperated)

Maybe the MK system and Elsa have an intervention with still-freaking-out-over-Stony Jack to encourage him to chill. If he doesn't he'll repeatedly have coronaries, heal up, then have more. Ugh. 😂

oh yeah, poor him

constantly on the verge of a heart attack

Swan's reaction to Stony would be fun to play with, too.

lmaooo yeah

I fully picture him agreeing with Jack at first that Stony is freaky but then he sees how it treats Elsa and he's like "actually you know what? this thing's chill, I don't even have to clean up after it"

-------------------------

Congrats to anyone who got this far!

There's a backstory to the title of this post. It'll be revealed in a later one.

Also, for anyone who wants to read more Stony hijinx, see my short fic "Something Awful This Way Comes."

[bluemoonperegrine]

Wolf Be Upon Yeet: Part II

In which @vicarious-rebel and I chatted via DM about the Werewolf By Night and Moon Knight crews in her headcanon which includes Elsa's pet eldritch horror Stony. Here's part I.

Stonyverse short fics: "Of blood and stone" and "Something Awful This Way Comes" (ao3 link).

This edition is more philosophical and about character development than silly. There's plenty of silliness to come!

Vi's text is black. bluemoonperegrine's text is blue. (I mean, of course.)

Talk to me about what 200+ year-old Jack is like. Other than [another character], I've never written a very old character before. I just... I have no idea. Can't fathom it.

When writing the [other character] I was able to lean on wide-eyed innocence and fish-out-of-water stuff.

Jack is not innocent. He's seen and been through A LOT, yet has held on to kindness and trust somehow.

Jack is a very tortured soul who tries really damn hard to keep his humanity intact no matter how hard it is and even though there are times when he fears he might let his anger slip and lean into the more bestial side of his nature, he still tries to compensate for it somehow

I imagine him much the same. At 42 he's still a baby werewolf so he's not too tortured yet.

I see him as someone who's also gone through a lot of heartbreak so he's not at all careless when it comes to who he lets in

What I don't get about long-lived characters is how they have the motivation to keep going. Life is a mix of good and bad, but after you've been through 200+ years of bad, is the good enough? Or is it hope or wanting to repent or help others?

In Jack's case it's a mixture of optimism and stubbornness. He sees just a little bit of hope in another's eyes and it's enough for him to keep going. And it's cumulative

Every time he helps a person or a monster and sees the relief/joy/gratitude in their eyes or when they gift him something as thanks for helping them, he clings to those things like a lifeline

then Jack looks into Stony's eyes and is like run away 😆

but Stony is an odd one so we can forgive him for that

In my headcanon, Jack avoids looking at Stony's eyes at all costs. Then again, he generally avoids Stony, so easy peasy

Jack: don't look it in the eye, don't look it in the eye, don't look-

meanwhile Marc is totally unbothered, playing around with it

Marc: Hey, Stony's eyes are like convex mirrors.

Steven: Like a funhouse! *makes faces*

Jack: *speechless* *aghast*

Jack would totally get worried over Marc being so casual about Stony

Jake, on knowing Stony wouldn't hurt them, likes to stick his mouth in its jaws and watch Jack become pale as a ghost just to mess with him.

I can imagine one of the moon boys casually leaning against Stony while snacking on something. He/they share the snack with Stony. Stony prefers freshly killed meat, but will settle for a good burrito.

gotta love everybody just acting natural around Stony like he's always been this way and Jack's just shaking at the knees

Jack has oddly inconsistent fear reactions, I think. Like Stony freaks him out but potentially getting found out at the Bloodstone funeral is like "this would be bad but eh"

a monster could kill him? not ideal but he can work around it

and Ted doesn't freak him out.

When they first met, was Jack not afraid from the start?

Maybe Jack stumbled upon Ted in a horrible situation and rescued him. No fear then.

saying something slightly too close to werewolf experience and someone gives him an odd look? fuck, shit, fuck i fucked up, i shouldn't have said that

it'd be very interesting to find out how he met Ted and whether or not he was afraid of him, considering Ted's acid is a reflex

it's funny; in my baby werewolf version of Jack he totally shrugs off saying stuff that suggests he's not fully human. Example: he tells a human he's working with an odd detail about a monster's scent. Gets a weird look.

Jack: I have a sensitive nose. *shrug*

Now, if things happen and he's exposed as being not human, he goes straight into "shit shit shit" mode.

yeah, I really want to write baby werewolf Jack meeting Ted. I have no idea how that happens yet. Won't let myself go down that rabbit hole just yet.

I think in my case it's because Jack didn't know he was a werewolf until it was too late, by that time he had heard many stories of monsters and knew how people reacted to them and he had to figure stuff out on his own because by that time his father was dead and he had no one to guide him

and he was pretty scared about being found out and killed and potentially his loved ones meeting the same fate

that's one of the things I hate about the comics canon: if you're a parent and know your kid is going to turn into a monster, how do you not prepare him or her? I mean, that's unconscionable.

Perhaps Laura wasn't sure if Jack and Lissa were cursed.

If I were her I'd have tried to prepare them anyway

I headcanon that Jack's father [Gregory] was actually working on what he thought was a cure to the curse through the Darkhold, so he didn't prepare his kids because he hoped he could break the curse before Jack turned 18

Part of why my WBN is such an AU is that I decided that Laura tells Jack and Lissa about the werewolf curse when Jack turns 17.

The kids don't believe her at first, of course.

I changed other stuff so that there's a viable pathway for them to believe her. Jack actually has some help and support, and shit still goes off the rails.

it didn't happen though, because he [Gregory] was killed before he got anywhere with it and since Jack's family started running after that, his mother was usually occupied with other things

When did Laura die, and where's Lissa?

I see Jack as eventually going solo so his mother and sister don't have to move constantly in fear for his life

he finds out from Lissa when their mother died but didn't find out when Lissa herself died until he passed through a graveyard one day and saw her name

How itinerant is Jack? Does he have multiple crash pads?

since Jack's always on the move she didn't always have a way to contact him

yeah, and much of their lives were pre-telephone

Jack moves around but really only bc he has to, he otherwise tries to settle down and I like the idea that he often stays at monster communities

He's lucky because he can pass for human most of the time

How do horses react to Jack?

horses are wary of him but generally only try to run if he gets too close or tries to touch them. That's how ppl get suspicious of him sometimes

the horses don't vibe with him and they're immediately alert

Jack was very happy when trains became commonplace lol

Trains are a godsend for Jack not least because he actually does enjoy traveling and trains allow him to go long distances

What's the deal with his werewolf form? Is it like the special? Does he have a hybrid form he can control?

the form in the special is what he really looks like when he transforms

he's a smol werewolf

at this stage he doesn't know how to control it or tap into it. But I have a darker version of him that absolutely has control over it

which does he prefer: cars or motorcycles? Also, how many languages does he speak?

cars bc they can act as shelter and a barrier to outside stimuli

I see him as speaking Spanish, English, French and a bit of Latin

[bluemoonperegrine]

Wolf Be Upon Yeet: Part IV

The origin of this series' title is revealed FINALLY.

For anyone who's unfamiliar with this insanity, @vicarious-rebel and I chatted via DM about the Werewolf By Night and Moon Knight crews in her headcanon which includes Elsa’s pet eldritch horror Stony, which had been the Bloodstone but is now literally a monster. Here are part I, part II, and part III. See the very end of this post for links to Stonyverse fics.

On with the show, which gets positively absurd!

Vi’s text is black. bluemoonperegrine’s text is blue. When I can't remember who wrote what, the text is purple.

We previously established that Jack's favorite snack is salmon paste, which is literally pureed salmon. Healthy and delicious! 😂

I can see Marc just trying to cook salmon for himself and werewolf Jack is prowling nearby. He has to constantly shoo him away or distract him while trying not to overcook/burn the food.

Marc grills salmon when he thinks Jack is off running errands or something. Then suddenly, hungry werewolf.

Marc: dammit throws 1/3 of the steak at the wolf, who catches it in midair and swallows it whole

Jack comes back from grocery shopping and immediately smells salmon, sides up to Marc and does the puppy eyes thing Marc: Jack, no Jack: pls? Marc: no Jack: (puppy eyes intensifies) Marc: fuck… fine!

omg, Jack workin' those green puppy dog eyes. Resistance is futile.

He'd bat his lashes. Totally.

His eyes are his greatest weapon and he knows it. Closely followed by his smile.

What if Steven is immune to Jack's puppy eyes bc he himself has puppy eyes energy?

They have puppy-dog-eye-offs IDK who wins really

Now I'm imagining Marc going to great lengths to keep his salmon to himself. After checking Jack's schedule, he checks weather conditions. Takes the grill downwind from the manor.

Doesn't matter. Jack will sniff out the salmon.

Jack can be a formidable persistence hunter when it comes to his fave treats

It's a tie obviously, they both puppy eyes

Jack: "I can do this all day" puppy dog eyes

God help anyone who gets puppy eyes treatment from both of them at once. Insta kill

I can imagine Layla or Elsa "deploying" them both. "Boys, go get 'em."

Have you seen the clip from Mozart in the Jungle where they riff on Gael's eyes? Never fails to crack me up. Rodrigo is such a drama queen.

"WhY aRe YoU sO dRaMaTiC???" he says and falls to the ground sobbing dramatically. Self-awareness: -100

I'm working on my Stony fic now. Doing my damnedest to not let it turn into something… long. IT DOESN'T HAVE TO BE LONG, DAMMIT. channeling Rodrigo: "Why why WHY does everything have to be LOOOOONG?"

because the characters are greedy YES it's their fault 😂

Jack is just an enthusiastic cook and wants to feed all his friends. Prime mom friend behaviour.

Yep, and providing for his pack. He's psyched to learn new dishes because he's 237 years old and hadn't been to Ethiopia before.

He has a long list of dishes he can make and he just wants to make it Longer

He's the kind of cook who can just whip stuff up based on what's on hand. If he's totally new to something he'll look at recipes. After that he's just throwing stuff in a pot and it all works out 99% of the time.Jack is intuitive AF in my mind

It's def heightened by his werewolf senses but even without them he's still pretty good at guessing things/reading people

I think he and Jake have that in common bc Jake has certainly had to learn how to gauge people but maybe he's much more suspicious than Jack.

Jake assumes the worst in people. Jack doesn't. He's not naive, but gives people a chance.

Jack wants to give people the benefit of the doubt, whereas Jake is in full-blown Protective mode all the time

Yes. That was Jake's job for most of the system's life

Jake is the mother hen whether he likes it or not. He'll never admit it.

Jack, on the other hand, is pretty open about being a mom friend. He's spent so much time alone that he looooves having a pack to take care of and be with

Jake: fuck all of y'all (one of them bumps their toe or something) Jake: (internally screaming, cue the kill bill sirens)

Jack and found family ❤️

Can you imagine the mother-henning from Jack if one of the MK/WBN crew got sick? Like the flu? omg In my headcanon Jack never gets sick, but still has allergies that make him sneeze a lot.

If Jack so much as hears someone sneeze or cough One Time, that's it. "here's a blanket, drink this tea, get some rest, eat this soup" it's almost overbearing but he does it out of genuine love and concern so it's not like anyone can hold it against him

After he tucks them into bed, he's in the kitchen making chicken soup from scratch and whatever Mexican equivalents are

Plus Marc is most in need of mother henning in those times bc he's gonna be adamant that he's fine and Jack's just not having it.

He needs it and wants it but hates that and tries to deny himself that. Jack just bulldozes through all of that and takes care of him and Marc secretly is all ❤️

Elsa is similar in my headcanon, but not as extreme

Marc: (through clenched teeth) I'm fine (meanwhile he's had a migraine for three days, his nose is stuffy and he just started coughing) Jack: no, you're not (mother hen mode activated)

I'd say Elsa would be similar but in her case it's out of pride (I'm a Bloodstone, I will not be defeated by a mere cold) Jack: Elsa, please Elsa: oh, fine but only because it's my favourite tea

In my Elsa headcanon it's about needing to be invulnerable, not needing any support. (although she does)

She does strike me as a bit hyperindividualistic

[I'm omitting an emotional scene from one of my fics here.]

Jack doesn't understand some of Elsa's behavior, but accepts it. Sets boundaries as needed. And Elsa is totally baffled by him, but grateful.

Mostly she wants to go beat something up.

Elsa: I don't talk about my feelings, I go beat someone or something up about them

Elsa: AND IT'S WORKED PERFECTLY FOR 40 YEARS THANKYOUVERYMUCH

Jack just pouts and shakes his head, "but it's not healthy" Elsa: grumbles

time passes Elsa: Talk later, okay? I'm gonna work the body bag for a bit. Jack: smiles

Jack accidentally catches Stony's eye and freezes Marc: (sigh) Elsa please get Stony, he's scaring Jack again

Elsa quickly trains Stony to not enter the wing of the manor with the kitchen. It's a total no-go zone so Jack doesn't lose his mind.

Idea for a crack fic: Since Jack freezes when Stony stares at him, the gang figures that's one of his powers. So they go on a mission and try to use it.

It doesn't work. The monsters don't care that Stony is staring. The battle doesn't go very well, but the gang wins in the end.

Jake: You're telling me that ONLY JACK freezes from Stony? It's all in his head???

Jack: retorts in agitated Spanish, including something about people living in glass houses throwing stones

Elsa and Layla have to calm everyone down

Yep, with Jack freezing up every time it's understandable if they think it's an ability and not just the resident werewolf tapping into prey instincts he didn't know he had

Jack: Puta madre! I'M AN APEX PREDATOR!

Everyone else: laughs

Steven: actually, you're TWO apex predators

Jack: Right?!?

Jake: snickers

Marc: you'll be the first apex predator to freeze up out of fear Jack: you watch your mouth Marc: careful or you won't get salmon

Comment on a GREAT wbn fic on AO3: "Jack is such a brave cinnamon roll I just want to hug him ❤️ "

I want that on a bumper sticker.

I'm trying to imagine what they'd binge watch on TV

Universal monster movies and Jack's just riffing on them "that's not accurate" "That's what everyone thinks, but actually…" "Dracula is not that cool, come on! Bela Lugosi is hot tho" "dracula has a mean left hook" "cReAtUrE FrOm ThE bLaCk LaGoOn"

In my MK s2 the gang watched Ancient Aliens on the History Channel and had a ball jeering it. Steven got a little incensed at the inaccurate Egyptian stuff, though. But he got over it quickly

MK/WBN crew watching dracula Marc: oh hey that reminds me (calls up Dracula) You still owe me money, bitch

Steven: WITH INTEREST Jack, rubbing his hands: you know, if you want help with him I could chip in

Jack, under his breath: I hate that guy it's personal for him 😂

Marc and Jack hating on Dracula be like You know that whole time travel thing about going back in time to kill hitler? Jack would totally do it to off Dracula

Jack: you can't curse my family if you're Dead

Elsa: practical to an extreme Jack: head-in-the-clouds poet You know, it's kind of like Spike being a vampire. It was genius to make William a soft, sappy poet

it's even better because Jack gets all poetic in life-or-death situations like the whole crypt scene, he talks about family and then he drops the "We could die here" oh so casually

his whole hand-wavy thing describing family being an atmosphere gotta love how he talks with his hands like that

What was it he said? "It's an option. Not my choice, but an option."

WTF, man. 😂

Definitely said like someone who's lived a long, long time

"we could definitely die here but eh, it could be worse I guess"

There are things worse than death. Monsters have seen it 😬

We need a lot more Ted, and definitely them working with MK and Layla!

Jack would so not be phased by Khonshu and Taweret he's be mildly surprised, maybe. Then be impressed by their costumes

another crack fic idea: Jack, having seen way too much in his long life: ok so the thing that gives me hell every month is governed by a mummified pidgeon-headed skeleton, whatever

"cool suit tho"

for reasons, the WBN and MK crew encourage Jack to write poetry. Some of it's good, some not so much. It takes practice.

Jack gets writer's block and gives up.

His friends arrange for Stony to scare the crap out of him. Writer's block goes poof

also "I didn't think the moon would be so petulant"

within a year of Stony hanging around Jack's gray has gone all white 😂

Jack: my salt and pepper hair is losing the pepper

He thought he'd been long-suffering before. Enter Stony 🤣

His friends assure him that he looks great all white. jack still pouts sometimes. Glares at Stony

Jack being all dramatic abt things he's been through and then he sees Stony and goes "I'd still go through it again in place of dealing with That"

In my WIP there's an alternate universe for a little while--I won't get into why--and Jack remembers original him. He soon discovers that alternate him dyes his hair. He's like "Seriously? That's lame" (paraphrasing)

"That's some weak game, me"

fun headcanon time: Elsa once gave Jack a few pairs of her old leather pants bc she couldn't fit in them anymore and to everyone's surprise they fit Jack perfectly

Elsa: I can't squeeze into them anymore but I like them so I don't wanna just throw them away and you're skinny af so here

"Jack, where's my black [something]! You keep stealing it!"

Jack: I'm not skinny. I have a swimmer's physique. (OK, he wouldn't say that. IIRC Niles said that in an ep of Frasier and it was hilarious.)

Elsa: give me back my jacket Jack: no, it's comfy and you can't even close it anyway Elsa: I don't care, it's a fashion statement, now hand it over Marc: Jack, are you wearing Elsa's clothes? Jack: purses lips Jack: it's not what it looks like, I swear Jake: it looks like you're wearing Elsa's jacket and those leather pants are more her style than yours, amigo

Steven: And you both look fantastic in it! 😁

Steven wants to take everyone clothes shopping. Marc and Elsa would rather fight horrible, nasty creatures than do that

Marc and Elsa, the stubborn not-this-mundane-shit duo we didn't know we needed

before long Steven and maybe Jack would be clothes shopping for Elsa. They find really cool stuff actually

Elsa likes it but doesn't want to admit it Layla helps them out bc she and Elsa are the same size and that's how Elsa and Layla end up with lots of matching clothes

It's like an extended cast version of Three's Company (sitcom from around 1980 if you're not familiar), but without the homophobia

Sometimes something just looks So Good on Layla and she likes it so she buys one for herself and one for Elsa

Layla: Jack, I know that's Elsa's because I have the same shirt.

Jack: 👀

Out of convenience and wanting to travel light, the three expect to borrow each other's clothes… too much. So they run out of stuff to wear on a mission.

OK, this is getting really silly now

and to come full circle, Jack rarely steals something of Marc's and that's usually by accident bc Marc gave it to him post full moon shenanigans so he's not naked/cold

Jack would not admit it but he likes Marc's white hoodie the most bc it's very soft

and it smells like his friend

he makes "sweater paws" with it yes the familiar smell is def a comfort

[Omitted because I can't find it 😢 : an image of a small and fluffy white dog whose hair is sticking straight out in all directions due to static electricity.]

Jack after being shrunk by a witch's spell (it'll wear off eventually) and being scared by Stony for the 1000th time

his hair will never be the same again imagine Elsa putting tiny Jack in a terrarium or one of those giant doll-houses

tiny Jack growls ferociously and adorably.

He's an ankle-biter and Kenough ankle-nibbler I'm laughing and crying over here

his tiny jaws aren't even strong enough to leave a lasting mark his struggles are adorable to watch tho

I hated the dollhouse my mom tried to get me into when I was a little girl. She tried her best and had good intentions, but we're very different people. She enjoyed putting together these splintery bits of wood to make tiny furniture, then sand them.

I wanted to get back to putting Barbie's black boots on Chewbacca to make him super tall and beating up Darth Vader and Barbie.

it wouldn't take Jack too long to give up and curl into an adorable ball of sulkiness.

Ted would scoop him up, scold Elsa, and take him away until the spell wore off. He wouldn't let Stony near. he can't have his BFF having a total breakdown. ❤️

oh yeah Ted is definitely not risking Stony getting near tiny Jack

Seriously, I have vivid memories of playing with those OG Star Wars figures.

I lost Luke's lightsaber pretty quickly and was sad. He and his dad had to take turns with dad's.

he could actually get eaten like that

I think at this point Stony wouldn't eat him, but best to play it safe

Stony can still be a lil shit tbh, he'd try it just for sport

omg, tiny Jack with a huge salmon steak bad Stony! Bad! No pukwudgies for you!

Jack just slamming his face in the jar of salmon paste

Marc: I thought it was bad enough when you were regular sized but this is something else

I once volunteered at a ferret rescue.

You haven't lived until you've seen eight baby ferrets with unopened eyes placed around a paper plate with some sort of meat-based soft food. They were fuzzy little worms of nomming eating their way to the center.

Just like tiny Jack would be.

Jack wonders "What did I do to deserve this? And why have things gotten so weird all of the sudden?"

That's what you get for being soft and lovable, my guy and now pocket-sized

Also your ferret mention now got me thinking of Jack tipping over into the jar of salmon paste and just goes "oh well" and starts munching into it Looney Tunes style

Someone later finds the empty jar with a sleepy Jack in it

He's being responsible. Cleaning up after himself until the food coma hits

Elsa tries to make him a purse dog and fails because Jack is a miniature whirling dervish of nails and teeth.

Elsa went from monster hunter to monster gatherer

collect them all! I'd say this is going full circle, but it's mostly spiraling into higher levels of absurdity

How else would we reach "pocket werewolf" territory? I just imagine Jake yeeting pocket werewolf Jack at someone "wolf be upon ye"

He so would! but "wolf be upon ye" (upon yeet?) in Spanish

Tiny jack running in circles around everyone's feet because he wants to go on the mission and help his pack

careful, you'll get squashed

everyone is very careful not to step on tiny wolf jack

Jack: I wanna help Marc: (takes him and puts him in his shirt pocket) there, keep watch Jack: takes his watch duty very seriously (and adorably) just imagine his tiny howl of alarm everyone is momentarily distracted by how cute it is and then they see the danger everyone: Aww!

Someone tries to pick Marc's pockets and get a surprise bite from Jack

The thief yanks his hand back and Marc punches him in the face. Then he holds up still-snarling Jack. "My li'l buddy here's a werewolf, so see ya at the next full moon, pal."

Thief: wets himself

(but it's okay because Jack can't infect others with lycanthropy in my headcanon) The thief doesn't know that tho, so he's freaking out The thief chains himself up for the full moon and is like WTF when nothing happens

but relieved and pissed at Marc and Jack

That sounds like a backstory for a new MK villain It's like MK crossed with Venture Brothers. "I'm gonna find that tiny werewolf if it's the last thing I do!"

Joke's on him, the werewolf is no longer tiny.

The guy's going to monster bars asking about tiny werewolves and getting weird looks. He's thrown out on his ear.

The gang is in there. Maybe Marc is elsewhere at the moment.

-------------------------

Stay tuned for part V next week. There's more Tiny Jack Adventures to come!

Stonyverse short fics

“Of blood and stone” by Vi

 “Something Awful This Way Comes” (ao3 link) by me

"In which the Bloodstone is a little shit" by Vi

"The Only One Left" by Vi (no silliness in this one)

[stonyversity]

A Pleasure, Miss Potts

First Year. October 2009:

Tony was going to kill himself. He was actually, for once, contemplating the idea of depriving the world of the sheer awesomeness that was Tony Stark because this group project was making his eye twitch unpleasantly and the pencil he was gripping in his hand was three seconds away from plunging into his eye socket.

First year projects are bullshit. First year group projects is a teacher's way of getting their revenge at having to teach the bullshit of a first year course because if the students aren't suffering with them than what as the point? The long tedious and mundane work that prepares the high school students that weren't actually prepared for university. That's all it was. Because honestly what generic high school actually prepares you for university?

Tony was lucky to be such a genius and he skipped right by all that nonsense without having to listen to a single teacher because he was too busy correcting all of their errors and less than mediocre teaching methods.

The pencil was about two inches from his eye when he noticed something bright and colorful across the room that was suddenly more interesting than the pencil he wasn't even using.

“Can I have my pencil back Mr. Stark?” The shy boy of the group who was going to be in charge of the PowerPoint asked, hand shaking as he reached up to prevent the possibility of being an accomplish to Tony's suicide.

“Yeah sure kid, take it.” Tony muttered and dropped the pencil into his outstretched hand. Without glancing around at the round table of the four first year science students he was stuck with, Tony stood up with his eyes locked on his destination. “I'm gonna head to the bathroom. Don't plan anything too exciting without me.”

“Just hurry back before we get to the-”

“Sounds like fun! Wouldn't miss it for the world.” Tony was walking away, waving his hand at them in dismissal, before her sentence finished and let his feet carry him across the room of the study lounge.

He had his eyes on a particular woman across the room, up the small set of stairs to the cafe section. Beautiful red hair, definitely natural – none of that bright dye and wishful thinking – a stern but kind smile, gorgeous slender body that looked amazing in that pinstripe skirt. She was standing in line at the student center's cafe with a salad bowl, a bottle of Fruitopia, and an apple.

“A nutritious diet. Quite ambitious for a university student.” Tony sidled up next to her in line, award winning smile lighting up his face.

She turned to face him and regarded him with a suspicious smile in return. Tony wouldn't call her startled, but this interaction was certainly unexpected for her.

“Why thank you, Mr. Stark. I do try to make an effort.”

Well that was an interesting development, now who was the one taken off guard. His mind was instantly searching his databases of faces which he promptly forgot after one night stands. Of which he hadn't been having many this past month. He was taking the start of this new year slowly. Furthermore, a face like hers... with that confident expression... he'd like to think he wouldn't have forgotten.

“So... you know me then?”

She laughed softly, a more genuine smile crossing her lips at the idea of Tony Stark not being on his toes. “Every self respecting Commerce student knows about Stark Industries.”

Tony's flattering smile nearly faltered at the mention of his father's company. Figures. Woman as professional and together as her... she would respect what his father had done for the world. Not what Tony was capable of doing on his own without the shadow of his father's legacy.

“Right. Dad's made quite a name for himself. People are constantly impressed with the new and innovative technology and weapons he's putting out into the world.” Tony shrugged and the woman only laughed harder.

“Do you always talk about you're father when you're hitting on girls?”

“Hey, you brought him up first!” Tony pointed an accusative finger at her as he moved with her further up the line until she was at the counter. “And what makes you think I'm hitting on you.”

She shook her head, turning away from him to put her items on the counter and pay with her student card. Tony watched as she placed the food back into her arms in a reasonable arrangement to allow her to walk with ease before stepping away from the counter with a kind word to the server. Naturally Tony followed her because he had nothing to buy from this quaint excuse for a mini-cafeteria. Thankfully she stopped before the stairs back down to the lounge area of the student center.

“So-”

The redhead spun around, gentle smile on her face and no giveaways as to what she was thinking. Hard eyes to read that one. “Thank you, Mr. Stark, for that delightful conversation but I have a group meeting to attend.”

“And you're going to eat during it. That seems rude. You pegged me as a more considerate type.”

That made her poker face much more revealing, even if it was judging him more than a little. “Have a good day, Mr. Stark.” She was walking away, turned her away from him and started down the stairs but he still had time to recover.

“Yes. I always do. It was a pleasure Miss...”

That didn't glance back, didn't stop in her steps that led her in the opposite direction of him, but she did throw a name over her shoulder. “Potts.”

“To our next encounter, Miss Potts.” Tony toasted without anything in his hands and smirked to himself. He always liked a challenge.

.

.

It wasn't until the weekend, when Tony and Clint were out at the student pup that Tony saw the red flowing hair out of the corner of his eyes. She was in a beautiful blue dress, backless, with her hair down, and not in a bun as it had been in the other day, and there were ringlets at the ends... she looked nice with curls.

Miss Potts was at the bar with two friends it seemed, neither of which caught his attention enough for him to notice anything about them other than the fact that they were female and laughing along with Potts for whatever reason young university girls laughed about. It was interesting being relatively the same age as the university freshmens for once. Not that it made a difference to his powers of seducing women beforehand...

At his table in the middle of the room, Clint was busy trying to get Tony's attention to help him in his failing argument with Natasha. She had joined them shortly after they arrived and Clint desperately wanted to dance while Natasha swore she would break the throat of the next drunk frosh that stepped on her foot with heels. Valid.

Tony didn't pay him any mind, he was too focused on watching Potts' two friends go off to the dance floor. They tried to drag Potts along with them but she held up her hand in refusal and leaned against the bar to make herself comfortable. Someone hadn't wanted to come out to the social gathering it seemed and Tony took that opportunity to stride across the room and move up to the bar when her attention was lingering on the dance floor.

“You're going to go on a date with me.”

Tony smirked confidently when he was faced with a face of contempt, then surprise when she realized who she was prepared to reject. “Mr. Stark.” She nodded with a serious and almost strained look – as if she was trying to contain the smile that Tony could see in her eyes. Apparently more readable after a couple drinks, he assumed.

“You want to go on a date with me.”

“Jedi mind tricks, Mr. Stark? Is that what your genius is spent on?”

“So you think I'm a genius?” Tony grinned and Potts rolled her eyes, turning around on the bar to place her empty glass down, ready get the attention of the bartender.

Tony didn't let her bother. Instead he waved a finger and summoned one of the three working. He placed a rather large bill in his hand and ordered a whiskey on the rocks for himself and another of what Miss Potts was having. Martini with extra olives it appeared. Classy tastes that he could respect considering most of the girls ordered Porn Stars and Sex on the Beach – then again Clint ordered Porn Stars and Sex on the Beach... and not in the way Tony would envision because that was his Spring break two years ago.

“Miss Potts, you fascinate me.”

“Really?” She didn't seem all that impressed or surprised that Tony was saying these seemingly cliché things, but that was only the start of Tony's charm.

“You have no first name, that I've been privy to. You're a gorgeous girl out on the night and not on the dance floor. You're a Commerce student, secretary and treasury for the student council when you're only a first year and you're single. The math does not add up and I am, as you know, one for equations. I would propose we solve this one.”

Miss Potts pressed her lips together to hold back the smile that she was having no luck in containing. It was wide despite her efforts and he could here her muffled laughter. “Math?” She finally giggled. “You're hitting on me with math?”

Tony shrugged, taking a sip from his glass as he handed Potts her new drink. He was never cheesy... unless he wanted to be. “You struck me as someone who enjoyed cheesy. Thought I'd give it a shot.”

She bit her lip as she shook her head but her smile didn't fade which meant he was right. And Tony Stark was always right. He was also blessed with the luck of perfect timing. The fast paced mainstream remix songs switched into a slower beat.

“Care to dance?” He offered his hand as he put his glass down on the bar.

“I... I don't really-”

“I insist.” Tony plucked the martini glass from her hand and set it on the counter, taking her hand in his own and leading her into the center of the dance floor. It almost surprised him that she followed without protest.

He spun her around, placing his hand on the small of her back and shifting their joined hands into the proper configuration. She followed suit and let her free hand rest on his shoulder as he led them in small circles on their section of the less crowded dance floor.

As they danced, they arrived on the discussion of degrees. Tony bypassed talking about himself – for once, he could freely admit – and instead found himself lost in her exuberant eyes as she talked about her passion for commerce, the economy and her various business plans which were incredible. She would work her way up to being a CEO of a prestigious company in no time. But it was how she talked about it that fascinated Tony. She was dedicated and clearly not attending university as a mandatory step in life.

The song was coming to an end, Tony could hear it in the repetition of the lyrics, the slower pace it was presenting. “Miss Potts.” He spoke up during a lull in her sentences and she smiled at him to continue. “I would, very much, enjoy the pleasure of taking you out on a date.”

“Pepper.” To which Miss Potts received a curious look from Tony because they hadn't quite gotten to the restaurant where she could ask for pepper on her dish. “Pepper Potts.” She added because Tony could be rather slow sometimes when it came to genuine social interaction.

Tony grinned, taking that for a yes and as the beat picked up and more people flooded the dance floor, he lifted her hand to his mouth and placed a gentle kiss – to which she rolled her eyes. Tony did, however, not miss the smile that touched her lips as she turned to make her way back to her friends at the bar, which meant that even though this was a challenge... he did have a chance.

[stonyversity]

The Rain Reveals

Second Year. August 2010:

“I am not doing it.”

“Don’t be such a spoilsport, Stark, it’ll be fun!”

“Fun my ass.”

“Come on! We all decided to do this—”

“No Barton, you all decided and dragged me along. I, frankly, do not give one flying fuck about going out on some water in a flimsy log.” Tony kicked the canoe lying in the grass at his feet.

“I could build a better boat in less than ten minutes,” he muttered.

“Could it be that our friend is fearful of water?” Thor teased.

“I—what? No!” Tony sputtered.

Bruce smiled, “Then you have no logical reason to object.”

It was the end of summer and school was soon going to be back in session. The group of six decided that they all wanted to do something together as a sort of celebration to the end of summer. It was then that Bruce suggested the cottage. It turned out that a couple hours’ drive from their university town some of Bruce’s relatives had a cottage on a lake. He had described it as a quiet, relatively secluded spot that was nicely encircled by the forest.

“I have been there plenty of times in the past and they have always extended an open invitation to me. I’m sure they wouldn’t mind us using it for a weekend if we asked.”

And they didn’t. They were rather pleased, in fact, that the camp was going to get some use and told the group they could go down anytime.

Everyone was enthusiastic about the idea; just the chance to get out and get away from the town was incentive enough. Tony was the only one who was not as excited.

“We’re going to the middle of nowhere!” he had complained and lamented the fact that he would be without wi-fi and his lab equipment, to which Bruce had simply replied that he could probably use a few days without.

That left them where they were now, standing at the edge of the lake in front of the quaint cottage with three canoes laid out before them.

“You know,” Tony spoke up, “on second thought, I really am afraid of water, so I’m just going to go back to the cottage and—GAH!!”

He was suddenly lifted up from underneath his arms, almost as if his assailant was going to put him in a full nelson.

“You spend far too much time with your machines, my friend. It is time you enjoyed the fellowship of your comrades and the simple joys of the wild.”

With that, Thor plunked Tony down in one of the canoes and started pushing it towards the water.

“Hey, hey, hey, HEY!” Tony tried protesting as the others smiled and laughed.

“Dibs on Thor!” Clint shouted as he began dragging one of the other canoes to the water.

“Why?” Steve inquired as he went to reach for the other canoe, but discovered that it was already in the water and being pushed off by Bruce and Natasha.

“I want to reach top speeds with this baby,” Clint grinned, patting the side of the canoe, “and, no offense man, but Thor has some muscles. Hey! Big guy!” He motioned for Thor to join him.

That left Steve with…oh. He saw Tony floating in the boat, trying to find a way to get back on shore without getting wet. Not giving him another moment, Steve grabbed the two oars in the grass, hastily kicked off his shoes and went in to the just-over-ankle-deep water before getting into the canoe.

“Oh good. My savior has come to rescue me,” Tony deadpanned. They were facing each other with Tony at the front. “Now take me back to shore.”

“Nope.” Steve replied simply as he stuck an oar in the water and began rowing, water droplets still clinging to his bare feet and shins and providing a nice relief from the hot day.

Tony looked at Steve closely. “What did you just say?”

Steve shrugged. “We’re here to go canoeing and have a good time, so that’s what we’re going to do. You can sit there and complain all you want,” he began as Tony opened his mouth, “or you can pick up the oar and help me and enjoy yourself.”

Tony closed his mouth and paused for a moment.  Reluctantly, he picked up the second oar. “So how do I use this thing?” he mumbled.

Steve burst into laughter. “Is the great Tony Stark asking me for help?”

“Shut up Rogers or I’ll push you into the lake.”

“I’ll take you with me.”

Tony grumbled. “Just show me how to use the damn thing.”

Steve slowed the canoe. “Well first you have to turn around so we’re both facing the same way,” he explained, still smiling, “Be careful though! We don’t want the canoe to capsize.”

Tony continued to mutter as he righted himself.

“Now put your oar in on the opposite side as me and just try to match my pace. I’ll take care of the turning.”

It took them a few tries, but Tony quickly got the hang of things and they were soon sailing across the lake. It was a rather large lake, not terribly wide but it stretched and made curves and had tendrils snaking around groves of trees and out of sight, so it was impossible to know just how far it went on.

Steve noticed that Tony had begun to relax and was settling easy into the rhythm and even tried turning a couple of times.

“So how is being out on the water in some flimsy log?” he teased.

Tony just ‘hmph’-ed in response but in Tony language that meant it was good. Tony then quirked his head slightly and looked around. “Where did the others go?”

Confused, Steve looked around and noticed that they were near the far end of the lake and the four others were nowhere to be seen. He was surprised that they had lost track of where they were going to go so far and was about to suggest turning back when they heard a strange sound echoing from across the water.

“JUST AROUND THE RIVERBEND! JUST AROUND THE RIVERBEND!”

Curious and puzzled, the two men looked behind them to see their missing friends out in the middle of the lake, Clint and Thor moving surprisingly fast with Natasha and Bruce taking a much slower and relaxed pace. Their voices were easily carried across the water so the two men could hear them clearly, although they could have probably heard Clint regardless.

“Clint…”

They definitely heard the warning in Natasha’s voice, and apparently Clint picked it up too:

“Faster my minion! Faster!”

Thor did not seem to mind Clint’s proposal and so with a broad smile on his face carried on rowing even harder, though it was probably no exertion for the large man.

“I LOOK ONCE MORE, JUST AROUND THE RIVERBEND! BEYOND THE SHORE, SOMEWHERE PAST THE SEA! DON’T KNOW WHAT FOR—”

“I swear to god Barton, if you keep singing I will knock you off your canoe and hold you under until you drown.”

Clint immediately froze, lowering his arms from where they were outstretched and making movements to accompany his lyrics. Her voice was calm but it held that unspoken and deadly promise.

“Why did you cease in your serenading, Clint? It was quite good. You would have made a fine bard in ancient times.”

Clint must have muttered something Steve and Tony couldn’t hear in response to Thor because the larger man gave a hearty laugh and kept rowing, his long hair flowing rather magnificently in the wind.

Bruce spotted Tony and Steve and waved to them and they responded in kind.

“Did you want to start heading—”

“Hey, what’s over there?”

Steve looked in the direction Tony was pointing and saw one of the wider side flows of the lake that made a wide turn around the shore and continued out of sight.

Tony turned to Steve, “Wanna go check it out?”

Steve couldn’t help but smile at the childish grin Tony had on his face and nodded, “Sure.”

They floated on in silence for a while, which was odd because Tony was never quiet for this long. It was as though they were both lost in their own thoughts as they admired the scenery around them , the quietness of the woods with only the gentle rushes of water with the strokes they made. Steve couldn’t help but notice the serenity present on Tony’s expression whenever he would turn his head just enough. His brown eyes were widened slightly, taking in their surroundings but they were calm and his lips were curved into a soft, slight smile. Each stroke of his oar became slower and gentler as he became absorbed in his thoughts, and Steve had to remind himself to focus before he slowed too much as well.

As they rounded the next bend, they saw that they had reached their destination.

“Well this is…anticlimactic.”

Steve nodded in agreement and grimaced slightly. They had simply reached a small, shallow pool covered in algae.

Tony sighed, “And here I was hoping we’d find something cool like waterfalls or the entrance to a cave.” He threw his hands in the air, oar included.

Steve chuckled, “Well, we found out where this led at least.” It was then he noticed, now that he wasn’t so distracted by the…scenery, that it was not nearly as bright out. He glanced up and saw darkening clouds were the sun had previously been brightly shining.

“We’d better head back; looks like it’s going to storm.”

Tony glanced up and nodded and together they turned the canoe around and pushed back off, at a quicker pace this time around.

As they navigated their way back through the twists and turns to the main lake, a thought struck Steve, something that had bothered him earlier.

“Tony?” he ventured cautiously.

“Hm? Yeah?” Tony glanced briefly over his shoulder.

“Well, uh…” Tony was probably going to laugh at him and think him an idiot, and Steve said as much.

Tony laughed once and grinned. “Probably, but try me.”

“Are you…are you afraid of water?” Steve forced the argument of the beginning of the summer and the terrifying mental images to the back of his mind.

Tony immediately stopped and turned his torso to look at Steve dead-on. He had the most incredulous look on his face and started to laugh, “Am I what?”

Steve studied Tony carefully for any trace of deceit before he let himself look away in embarrassment. “Nevermind,” he mumbled.

Tony continued to laugh, “You really are something Rogers.” Steve could have sworn that out of the corner of his eye he noticed Tony let his gaze linger a bit long before turning back to the front and continuing to row, but he convinced himself that he was imagining things.

“Since we’re apparently interrogating each other,” Tony started after a few moments, seemingly restored to his normal, chattering self, “are you going to tell me why you go out so much in the middle of the night?”

Steve was not quite sure how to respond. It took him a minute to remember, but he might have mentioned something to Tony when he happened upon him and his little accident.

“C’mon soldier-boy,” Tony continued, apparently reading the blonde’s thoughts, “even if I didn’t remember what you told me last month, don’t think I of all people haven’t noticed you coming home late and going out in the middle of the night. You always return home all hot and bothered; could it be that innocent and pure Rogers has a secret love affair?” Tony turned his head to smirk impishly at Steve.

Steve blushed furiously from embarrassment, because Tony was not far from the truth.

Tony’s eyes widened as he saw the red creep up Steve’s cheeks. “I’m right, aren’t I? Little Stevie has a lady friend hidden away from the rest of us!”

“That’s not it at all, Stark! I told you, I go out when I need to think,” Steve exclaimed.

Tony’s smile faded slightly. “Oh. Well that’s a letdown,” he sighed, though he didn’t look quite as disappointed as he said.

“Just keep rowing Stark, we’re almost there,” Steve muttered, and indeed they were, for they could now see that the main lake was just around the corner.

Tony rolled his eyes and faced forward again but refused to let the subject drop. “You can’t tell me that that’s all you do when you’re gone; you’d have to have a lot to think about.”

“Drop it Stark.” Steve’s voice was low. Tony pretended like he hadn’t heard.

“What is it that’s got you so riled up that you have to go out almost every night to clear your head?”

“I said drop it.”

“I mean, it sounds to me like you’re running from something.”

Steve tightened his grip on the oar in frustration and was about to snap back at Tony when a loud clap of thunder suddenly roared overhead. A moment later rain began to fall, slight at first but it quickly became a downpour. Neither man spoke, both silently agreeing that getting back to the cottage and out of the waterfall of rain was their priority. By the time they reached the shore, they were both soaked through their clothing so Steve didn’t mind jumping out of the canoe and getting his legs a bit wetter to pull it further onto the bank. Tony got out, almost tripping over the edge of the canoe, and together the two men picked it up and hauled it underneath the large, overhanging deck where the other canoes had already probably long been stored.

“So are you gonna tell me?” Tony piped up as they finished securing the canoe in place.

Steve groaned. “For God’s sake Stark…”

Tony grinned like a madman, having a delightful time tormenting Steve. “C’mon Rogers, tell me!”

Steve sighed heavily and grit his teeth. He turned so he could see Tony full-on. His smirk was wide and impish, showing his teeth. In the shadows Steve could make out the sharp angles of Tony’s face from his cheekbones to his jaw line and the way the water trailed from his darkened, soaked hair down the side of his face and dripped off. The dark shirts he wore were a little more form-fitting due to the water and were tight especially around the shoulders where the short sleeves gave way to lean and wiry arms that also had water running down them, dipping into every muscle curve and causing his skin to glisten in the half-light. He was stunning, and Steve had to clench his jaw harder and run a hand through his own drenched locks to distract himself.

Would it be so bad if he told Tony the truth? The worst he could do is reject him and was that really any worse than never knowing? Steve mulled over these thoughts quickly as they passed through his mind.

It was as if Tony could sense Steve’s resolve falter for he sidled a little closer and raised his eyebrows expectantly.

“Well?”

Steve looked away and murmured something.

Tony raised an eyebrow questioningly, “Didn’t catch that.”

“It’s you, okay?” Steve snapped, whipping his head back to Tony.

Tony looked genuinely surprised. “What?”

Steve placed his hands on his hips and shook his head out of frustration and embarrassment. “You’re what has been on my mind. You’re what makes me go out for runs in the middle of the night.”

Tony stared at him for a moment before scoffing and rolling his eyes. “Yeah right Rogers, good joke. If you really want to avoid the question that badly—”

“I’m serious Tony!”

The sharp tone shut Tony right up. Steve had no idea what he was doing but at this point he was ready to just go with whatever came out of his mouth.

“I can’t…it’s difficult to explain but…I think about you and worry about how you’re doing…but there’s also…uh…” He fumbled and made gestures with his hands, fidgeted, all trace of the well-trained and composed soldier gone. This brought him back to the time when he asked Peggy to be his girl and he smiled inwardly at the thought. There was no pang that came with it, not even a dull one at the thought of her, but it did not come as a surprise to him; he welcomed it.

“So you’ve taken this whole mother henning me to a new level, is that it?” Tony sneered. “You know, I can look after myself Rogers, and I damn well don’t need you hovering over my shoulder at everything I do.” His brown eyes were dark with fury, replacing the teasing light they previously held.

“No! Tony, that’s—that’s not it!” Steve held up his hands in an attempt to achieve some calm to the situation. This was one particular time he really didn’t want a fight to break out between the two of them. “I don’t—I don’t mean to invade your personal space, and I have been trying really hard not to, to let you have your own peace when you need it. But,” he straightened and his blue eyes softened slightly, “I also don’t want to see you disappear. You’re a good person Tony, even if you don’t always see that, and you shouldn’t hide that from the world because it will miss you.” I’ll miss you. I already do. “I only try to get you out so you won’t miss out on anything either. You won’t take care of yourself so try and help. I ask how you’re doing and if you’re okay because I actually care about knowing and I can tell when you’re lying.”

He sighed. “I don’t mean to be annoying, and yeah, okay, I probably have been a bit overbearing. I can try to stop, if that’s what you want, but I won’t be able to. I’ll always be thinking of you and wondering if you’re all right and wanting to try and make things better. Because I…” He paused. This was it, there was no turning back now; his next words could not be undone and he would deal with whatever came of them. He looked Tony in the eyes.

“Because I care about you.”

He kept his voice steady and strong, trying to attach his emotions and his intentions to the words as best as he could.

Tony had just stood silent during Steve’s whole speech, not even making an attempt to interrupt. He had just let Steve talk and now that Steve was done he still did not utter a word.  It was a bit of an awkward silence that followed, neither knowing what to say and Steve waiting for a response from Tony.

“So,” Steve tried when Tony did not answer, “does that answer your question?” He chuckled, but it was empty.

“Uh, yeah. I guess it does. But,” Tony furrowed his brow, as if encountering a math problem that he couldn’t solve and it was his turn to be tongue-tied, a rarity for the young genius. It appeared as though Steve hadn’t been clear enough for Tony, or that he didn’t quite believe what the blond said. Steve watched as he concentrated and tried to reorganize his thoughts, opening and closing his mouth several times in an attempt to start a sentence, observing the way his lips moved, sometimes subtly, and his ‘fuck it’ instinct took over just as Tony regained speech.

 “Does that, I mean what you just said, how—”

He was cut off by Steve gently but firmly grasping the back of his neck, pulling him closer and pressing their lips together. Steve was soft and only moved his lips slightly against Tony’s, not wanting to do too much even though he longed to push for more. Tony’s lips were rough, slightly chapped, and had just a hint of the blueberries that Tony had at lunch still lingering on them, and Steve relished in it.

He noticed that Tony did not respond, and he really hadn’t been expecting him to, but he resisted against himself and pulled away before he lost himself a little too much. He opened his eyes that he didn’t realize he’d closed to see Tony staring up at him, wide-eyed and maybe even a little bit dazed.

“That’s what I meant,” he breathed, face still incredibly close to Tony’s.

“Oh,” Tony replied softly, and when he said nothing else Steve panicked.

Had he gone too far? Did he push Tony’s boundaries a bit too much? He let his hand quickly drop from its comfortable place on Tony’s warm neck and backed up a step. The chill from his drenched form finally set in as reality came rushing back to meet him and it merged painfully with the contraction in his chest.

“I, um,” his throat felt thick and difficult to speak through, “we should head back inside. Get changed. The others are probably wondering where we are.”

He hesitated briefly just to see if Tony would say anything else, but when he didn’t Steve quickly turned and ventured out from under the deck. He walked back into the pouring rain, letting it soak him further and cool the burning of his cheeks and quell the pain in his chest before getting inside.

[stonyversity]

Flaws in Subtle Lines

First Year. December 2009:

The first week of December and the year was slowly coming to an end. These were the last few classes before exams started and Steve was lucky to have less exams than most first year students considering he was a fine arts students. His 'exams' were finishing large projects rather than sitting in a gymnasium for three hours writing out everything he could remember from study sessions. Except he did have a couple of those, mainly because he'd taken Art History which did have an exam. However, it didn't mean he wasn't stressed. He'd spent a good few weeks staying up much later than he normally did trying to get his projects finished on time.

Now he had the majority of his work done and he could relax until he started studying for his exams. It made sitting in front of his easel and large sketchpad for his drawing course much easier to focus on.

Steve's eyes widened when the model for the class walked in, long red and silk robe covering his body. His gait confident with an edge of smugness and Steve held back a scream of frustration or a groan of annoyance (they were practically synonymous) when his eyes through a suggestive glance in his direction.

Why the hell did Tony have to volunteer to be a model for his class? Then he remembered... last weekend...

“There is no way you would do it!” Clint shook his head, determined in his argument as he filled the blender with more fruit, rum and ice.

They were having yet another party in the lounge of Steve and Clint's dorm where they hosted their movie nights. This time alcohol was involved, even though Steve and Bruce weren't drinking, and they weren't planning on watching a movie, instead they were playing games. Thor and Natasha were sitting on a couch regarding their two feuding friends with amusement while Steve tried his best to ignore the conversation entirely – preferring to talk to Pepper about what her campaign to be president of the Commerce group, while Bruce was in the middle of dealing a new round of cards for Apples to Apples – which Tony stated as a boring and lame version of Cards Against Humanity, only Natasha laughed in acknowledgement as the rest of the group had never heard of the game.

“I have no qualms with the idea of a little exposure.” Tony shrugged, taking a swig of brandy.

“Little exposure?” Clint gaped, brow rising in astonishment. “Dude, it's the Full Monty. Not Half Monty, not partial Monty, not just a wee bit of Monty. Full. As in Clint Jr. would be there for everyone to see.”

A few members of the group shuddered, Thor laughed heartily.

“Not a big deal. Hell, I'd audition but there's no way I'm doing the whole song and dance of the wild, flamboyant theatre student.”

Clint responded by pressing down the button on the blender and letting the loud, whirling noise fill the room as he glared angrily at their resident playboy.

“Fine,” Clint spoke after turning the blender off, uncapping the lid as he started pouring the fruity concoction for the group to try. “I'll make you a deal.”

Tony nodded, lips curving into an interested grin.

“I'll audition for the Full Monty if you expose yourself publicly on campus – even if it means streaking illegally because we all know you can manage whatever the fine costs-”

“Around $1000, it varies from state to state and it can include no more than a year in prison.”

“Your knowledge of this concerns me...” Pepper added, shooting a disapproving look at her boyfriend that Steve interpreted as Tony being in the doghouse if he considered indecent exposure.

“Don't worry, Pep. I will not tiptoe over the law, this time.” Tony flashed her an honest yet arrogant smile before turning his attention back to Clint. “Challenge accepted.”

Now Tony was standing before him, taking off his robe and exposing himself for the entire class to see and Steve's first instinct was to avert his eyes, instead finding the blank canvas of his sketchpad far more interesting.

Why did he have to win the bet his way? It's true Steve had joined the rest of the group in betting that Clint would lose because it was Tony, he was going to expose himself and have no qualms about it because... well it was Tony. The only thing Steve didn't understand was why he was the one being punished for this. He didn't deserve a whole three hours of staring at Tony's naked body, sketching the various poses as he let it all hang out.

His professor passing by him woke Steve out of his stupor. Why should it matter who the model was? Steve had drawn nude models for an entire semester and not once had he let it get to him after that first day of being uncomfortable. The human body was a natural and beautiful thing... it shouldn't be awkward that he knew the model or that he was male. He simply had to see this as another model, another reference for sketching, not his friend who often made him question why they were friends to begin with.

Steve took a deep breath, but not too deep as to draw attention to himself in the room that was silent save for the pencil scratching on the paper and the slow, occasional footsteps of his professor, and he glanced up. Tony was in a standing pose, head lowered and eyes focused on the floor to his right, his hands followed his gaze in a point, his right hanging in a straight line next to his body while his left was bent at the elbow in front of his chest. It was a good pose and Tony seemed to be acting rather professional about the whole ordeal, making Steve's job easier.

His pencil followed the lines of Tony's body, focusing on the silhouette of his limbs as he was only doing a thirty second pose, and would be doing them for the next fifteen minutes. It wasn't until Tony started doing three minute and five minute poses that Steve started to draw his body in greater detail, but still his eyes only swept over his body, barely seeing anything other than the broad shape of it.

It was when the professor announced the model would be doing fifteen minute poses that Steve finally let his pencil see the subtle curves of Tony's lithe body. He was sitting in this pose. Back straight, one leg stretched out while the other was bent at the knee, his arms on either side of him as he stared in the direction of his extended leg. Tony's shoulders weren't as wide as his own but they were solid, as were his muscles. Again, not as well defined as Steve's but it was clear Tony was taking care of his body. His skin was more of a bronze than the majority of people who paled out in the winter and it was astonishing how young and serene Tony seemed when he wasn't putting on airs and being smug and superior about everything. His expression had softened as he let his mind wander, not a single muscle flinching or twitching in the position he chose. He looked... relaxed and calm in his own little world, not a care or concern for the people glancing up at him occasionally as they sketched the layout of his body.

Steve found himself putting far more detail into Tony's face with that pose rather than the rest of his body. The shape of his ear, the curve of his strong and expressive eyebrows, his jawline, nose, eyes, facial hair, everything looked at specifically while the rest of him was glanced over. He found it amazing that even in Tony's blank state, his face was expressing countless things to Steve. It was... impressive.

The next pose Tony kept a similar position as he brought his extended leg closer to account for his upper body leaning forward, pressing into his knee, arms on either side of the leg bent close to his body, wrists crossing above his foot. This time Steve paid closer attention to the detail of his body. The length of his spine that curved as he stretched forward, the muscles of his leg and arms taut and flexed in their position, even the shape of his foot and individual toes.

What he found his attention particular centered on Tony's hands during this pose. The lines as his wrists extended into his thumb; his long, nimble fingers; nails that were well taken care of but clearly used to a significant amount of work. He was fascinated by the contrast in his hands. Well worked but gentle and smooth. Steve knew how much Tony worked with his hands, they were his main tool despite using a ridiculous amount of tools – most of which Steve had sworn he'd invented himself – and that only meant Tony must moisturize, among other things, to keep his hands that healthy.

He got wrapped up in the detail of Tony's hands, the rough knuckles juxtaposed with his smooth skin, that he was startled when the timer went off. That was the last pose.

Tony got up, stretching limberly without care that he was naked before he replaced his robe over his body, and once again Steve had to avert his eyes as Tony's default expression of Stark-superiority fell into place. He vaguely wondered what Tony would be like if he didn't have the fame behind his name...

“Enjoy the show?” Tony grinned as he strutted over to Steve's easel.

Steve found he had to clear his throat before he could look up and meet Tony's gaze. “You, uh, you were very professional. I'm... amazed.”

“At the wonders of my masculine body?”

“At your ability to remain still without flaunting your body to the young, impressionable ladies that were drawing you.” Steve quipped, slowly recovering his ability to banter with his loud-mouthed friend.

“Who's to say I wasn't making eyes at a few of them when I had my back to you?” Tony shrugged, barely thrown by Steve's sarcastic response.

“Pepper.” Steve said simply, a smile tugging at his lips because he knew he'd win.

“Well, yeah technically Pepper I guess...” Tony grumbled, rolling his eyes and Steve couldn't help but wonder what his drawing would look like with a ball and chain attached to Tony's leg. Thankfully, however, he'd flipped the page to a blank one before Tony walked over.

“Either way,” Tony finally continued, completely dismissing their previous conversation now that his fun had been taken away. “You can tell the rest of the group that I followed through. Challenge completed. Twinkle-tights now gets to show the whole school his package.”

“Uh, technically,” Steve didn't want to say that he loved spoiling Tony's fun but... yeah he really did, “The bet was that if you exposed yourself publicly then Clint would audition for a role in the Full Monty. There's no guarantee that he'll get the role, and even though Clint is a good actor, there were no rules that stated he couldn't purposefully bomb the audition.”

Tony's grin was gone in an instant before it transformed into something nonchalant as he shrugged his shoulders. “Oh well, not like Clint won anything. I've been nude in front of far more people. This one time-”

“Please, Tony. I do not need to know the details of what happened that one time at science camp.” Steve held up his hands to urge Tony to stop talking before he stood up from his seat and began collecting all his belongings.

“Fine,” Tony grinned, backing away from Steve's easel, “wouldn't want to offend your delicate sensibilities. Especially after I made you sit through three hours of basking in the glory that is my flawless body.” He turned around then, walking back toward the model's changing room and leaving Steve alone in the room.

Steve rolled his eyes at Tony's antics. He hardly had a flawless body, as he flipped back through his many sketches he could point out many of Tony's flaws... but flaws were what made people who they were. Steve shook his head, unsure about the strange feeling in his stomach, and shut his sketchbook before packing the rest of his supplies into his bag. He was probably hungry, having skipped breakfast that morning, because any other explanation would be absurd.

[stonyversity]

Three Weeks Guilty

First Year. January 2010:

It was nearing the end of January. It had been three weeks since Tony had been stolen from the lives of his friends and family. Three weeks of news that confirmed nothing; where was he? What was the motive of taking Tony Stark? Why had there been no ransom? Was Tony still alive?

His friends were driving themselves crazy with worry. Thor didn't smile as widely, only polite smiles in return when he was prompted, but there was a heavy shadow cast over his eyes. Apparently his parents and their International contacts were assisting in the search; but there wasn't much they could be doing. Steve was calm on the outside but everyone could see how frantic he was. Constantly checking his phone for news about Tony from his friend in the military. He didn't sketch often these days either. Clint was brooding in the corners more than usual. He was quiet, contemplative, and nearly forgot to audition for any of the upcoming shows. It was Natasha that had dragged Clint to the theatre after helping him memorize a monologue. She was keeping it together the best. Nothing phased her, but there were moments when her composure faltered. The mention of Tony's name when she wasn't expecting it brought a sadness to her eyes and her lip trembled before she pulled herself back together.

Until now. Without Tony, the group was fractured and it was easier to wallow alone in their sadness and distract themselves with school work or random videos on the internet or learning lines than it was to face the reality that they may have lost one of their closest friends.

It was when Bruce stopped showing up at meal hall for lunch and supper at their usual time that the group of friends became concerned for his well being. They always ate together. No matter what. If they couldn't make it because of labs or schoolwork or dates, they texted someone. It was their thing; to sit in meal hall for hours on end, especially in the evening when they chatted until the staff kicked them out to close up. Now their meals consisted of silence, distant looks, brief conversations and sad laughter.

There was no response on Bruce's part to text messages from each one of the group – including Loki who had sat at their table today, he also appeared affected by the group's loss, whether because he missed Tony too or because he wasn't able to mock them when they were so miserable... others weren't entirely sure. Phone calls were made. None answered. A frosh who shared classes with both Bruce and Tony overheard their discussion about Bruce's absence and informed them that he hadn't been attending classes either. It called for action and with everyone's busy schedules with midterms coming up and rehearsals, Natasha volunteered.

She made her way into the large dorm adjacent to the meal hall that Bruce lived in on the first floor. It was the same dorm that Tony lived in, only in the basement. She waited until someone from the building went to unlock the door and slipped in, striding down the hallway to Bruce's door where she rapped gently but urgently on the wood.

She received no answer. It didn't even sound as though someone was inhabiting the room but Natasha knew he must be there. If he hadn't been going to class, it was unlikely that he was at the library or up late at one of the labs that might still be open.

“Hey Bruce, you in?” She called through the door, not bothering telling him who it was because he would recognize her voice.

“Fine, Nat. See you tomorrow.” Was the clipped response that made Natasha press closer to the door to listen, his voice almost too low for her to hear him clearly. It worried her. Not because he was quiet. Bruce was often quiet. He called her Nat. Never once had Bruce called her anything other than Natasha. Not Nat, not Tasha, not Romanova.

“Bruce.” Was all she said. It wasn't threatening, not in the way that you threaten someone's kneecaps with a baseball bat, but it was stern with a hint of picking the lock to let herself in.

She heard rustling on the other side of the door, as though Bruce hauled himself out of bed or from the desk that he was normally planted at. It was followed by a soft thunk against the door but no doorknobs were turned, no lock was clicked, just the knowledge that Bruce's body was leaning on the other side of the wooden door between them.

“I miss him, too. It's not the same without his loud, obnoxious mouth is it?” Natasha grinned as she settled herself against the door frame. Ready to stand and listen to her friend where he was most comfortable at the moment.

“It's my fault.” Was the quiet and barely audible whisper from within the room.

“What do you-”

“He was texting me... before it happened.”

Natasha's eyes widened and she gazed pointedly at the door, as if she could stare right through it to Bruce. He hadn't mentioned anything about Tony texting him. Of course, they'd all received text messages some time before Tony was kidnapped but no one had been near their phones at the time. Why hadn't Bruce told them-

“I was wrapped up in my project. It was early here... I wanted to get things finished and he was- he was distracting me." Bruce choked out the last bit of that sentence as though it physically pained him. Natasha turned her body into the door, placing her palm on the wood despite how little this would do to calm her anxiety ridden friend.

He was breaking down at the thought of betraying his friend, at the idea that he could have changed things if only he hadn't been caught up in his own world. Natasha had been there before.

She could whisper "It's not your fault." She could tell him that there was nothing he could have done to help. It would do nothing. The same sentences had been spoken to her, and even if the fault hadn't been with her, she still would not have believed them.

All she could do was hope for Tony's swift return. For the man who Bruce believed he wrong to tell him he was being a raging idiot - Tony's words not hers - and have his conscience cleared. Tony wasn't going to blame him... there would have been nothing Bruce could have done from America when soldiers in the same vehicle had failed to protect him.

There wasn't much a first year student could do to help in the search either, even if he was a certified genius. They were all young, they were all trapped in their daily routine, waiting for the more experienced people of the world to find their friend and bring him home. It didn't matter that Natasha and Clint had practically raised themselves and could live on the streets better than the majority of America. Nor did it matter how influential and professional Pepper was for her age. Thor and Loki had done the most by contacting their parents who sent out their connections, though the extent of assistance they gave was unclear. Steve was the oldest of them all, had the most connection to the military, and all he could do was wait by the phone for his faithful old friends to call him and give him the same information they could have easily watched on the news.

A soft scraping sound followed by a light thump came from the other side of the door. Natasha immediately pictured Bruce slumped on the floor from where he'd slid his body down. Following suit, she knelt down, stretched her legs out to reach the opposite frame of the door and let her head rest against the wood.

"I'm here, Bruce. I'm here." She whispered reassuringly, not missing his muffled sobs. What she could give him was her presence, the knowledge that she was there for him, even with the solid barrier that sat between them.

(previous Kidnapped Plot  next)

[stonyversity]

Hidden Away

Second Year. July 2010:

Fingers twitched restlessly above the keyboard without fully pressing them, leaving the email window empty save for the words he'd received.

Tony was frustrated and more than a little pissed off with himself. He hated that he was known as a reclusive person now. The time he spent hidden away surrounded by technology hadn't necessarily increased from the -as Pepper and Rhodey had often out it -absurd amount of time he normally spent with his machines; but he wasn't spending the rest of his time surrounded by people either.

At his old university, and for the majority of his known life, Tony had been a social butterfly. His life was in the limelight and he enjoyed it that way; constantly in the presence of people, partying and having fun. Now he was sitting in his room spending more time than necessary on his school work or reading every book on his course lists for a school semester that hadn't even started yet. The most time he spent with other people were the weekly movie nights his house continued to host or when he was down in the lab at the same time as Bruce – which wasn't all that often because Bruce mostly did his work in the morning when Tony was turning in for the... 'night'.

The proximity of the voice behind Tony was so unexpected he almost jumped, but he caught himself. His shoulders tensed and his hands flinched but he kept his composure enough to breathe properly before calmly closing his laptop.

“Morning, Rogers.” Tony spoke evenly, patting the top of his closed laptop.

Steve moved around Tony at the kitchen table and sat down adjacent to him. “You okay, Tony?”

Tony shut his eyes and inhaled deeply. How many times had he heard Rogers ask him that in the past few months. Ever since move-in day there's been a certain tension and he can feel Steve approach the question cautiously before speaking it every time. It makes Tony feel like he's made of glass. He hates it.

“Fine, Rogers. What's it to you?”

Steve's expression didn't falter, he didn't apologize or take offense; he simply remained eye contact and continued on with his thought. “I didn't mean to snoop but that was an email from the Fine Arts department, right?”

Tony's brow rose and it was easy to tell it meant he was agitated, but still Rogers carried on.

“You should model again. You were... you were good last time. More professional than most models we get, they tend to fidget or not practice their poses beforehand, and we don't get many male models either.” Steve continued on about the differences of anatomy and how beneficial it was for the artists without realizing that he was rambling but Tony didn't stop him.

He watched his face. How his lips moved; his mouth was slowly curving into a smile that extended all the way up to his eyes... the kind of smile that people got when they were talking about their passions. Art was something Steve had always been passionate about. He could see it in his eyes when he was drawing, the way his brows furrowed in concentration. It was fascinating to watch him when he was like this. To actually see Steve being... himself without censorship.

Lately, Tony had become annoyed with the constant mother-henning Steve was exerting over him; making sure he wasn't injured, making sure he ate properly, slept properly... he could tell Steve was trying to be nice, to be a good friend and he tried to do it without invading Tony's personal space which... was something everyone avoided now that Tony had made it clear that physical contact with him wasn't... preferable. But it was frustrating. For the most part, Tony put up a front, made it seem like it didn't bother him. Although there were times when he did appreciate Steve's newfound concern... Tony flexed his arm that was still bandaged from last week's incident.

Their whole friendship right now... didn't feel honest. It felt forced and fake. Both of them putting up fronts that made them forget about move in day and about Tony's trauma and Steve's insistence on making everything okay.

It was moments like this, when Steve actually let himself go. Let himself get caught up in the moment and ramble on and not be centered around Tony's wellbeing that made Tony want to get swept away as well. He felt as though he could listen to him talk for hours and never get bored, which was a rather new and potentially confusing notion that Tony pushed to the back of his mind.

A smile threatened his lips as Steve continued to ramble and laugh over embarrassing moments with models in the past and how terrible some of them had been, even one who hadn't understood what lounging poses were.

Suddenly all Tony could see was the sketch Steve had drawn of him while he was sleeping. Had that been a good lounging pose? The sketch was certainly beautiful... Steve was a brilliant artist and he was surprised that it had been the first time viewing any of his sketches. He hadn't even seen the ones Steve drew during the time Tony modeled for his class. Maybe if he modeled again he could sneak a -

Tony's heart went cold. His heart that was only beating because of a metal contraption in the center of his chest, glowing brightly from the arc reactor underneath the many layers of clothing meant to prevent the light from escaping.

The smile that was so close to surfacing dissipated and any joy that he'd received from listening to Steve fell from his eyes. Without speaking, he stood up, picking up his laptop and tucking it under his arm.

“Tony?” Steve's blissful muttering stopped and Tony let his eyes focus on the table, refusing to look at the confused expression that consumed Steve's previously carefree smile.

“I'm not modeling anymore. I'll be too busy catching up on everything I've missed.”

“I thought that was what the summer classes were for.” Steve spoke without missing a beat. He was never afraid to call Tony on his bullshit and it surprised Tony every time because very few people -besides Pepper and Rhodey- could realize he was bullshitting.

“They were but... I have a lot to do. Some of us have already done the undergrad scene and have a Master's degree to get next year.”

“You're planning on getting your Masters in two years?”

“Why not? Got my undergrad in three years. Masters isn't much harder. I was already overloading courses last year and I've taken more summer courses that you're advised to. Therefore, I won't have time to dwindle my time away standing exposed for all your little art friends, as much as they want to admire and lust after my body again.”

Steve rolled his eyes and shook his head, getting up from the table and stepping further into the kitchens. He spoke as he opened one of the cabinets and pulled out a box of cereal, “Always so full of yourself, Stark.”

“Wouldn't want to disappoint.” Tony smirked and gave a half-hearted salute before leaving the kitchen. His smirk faded as soon as his back was turned and he frowned, listening to the sound of the cereal hitting a ceramic bowl.

Tony ascended the stairs and his hand moved up to press against the arc reactor through the layers of clothing, fingers tapping gently on the fabric covering it. Ever since he got back he had taken endless precautions to make sure the contraption it remained hidden. And it would always remain hidden.

[stonyversity]

Welcome Home, Sir

Sequel to Don't Waste It

First Year. March 2010:

Tony stopped outside his dorm room, startled to a stand still. It's familiarity felt foreign to him. For six whole months he had seen that door every day. One Christmas vacation and a three month holiday in a cave changed all that.

He flipped the keys over in his hand, having already used them on the front door to his dorm building. He said goodbye to all his friends but Bruce in the quad. Told them he wanted to be alone for a little while, settle in for the night. No one argued and he kissed Pepper on the cheek before heading to the large building next to the mealhall that he'd come to call home. He and Bruce split up in the stairwell, Bruce heading up to second floor while Tony ventured to the basement.

Tony was actually surprised to find that tiny bit of social interaction, with people who cared about him and greeted him with open arms and wide smiles contrasting their sad eyes, to be incredibly overwhelming. He was exhausted from smiling back at them, from pretending that everything was okay when...

“Welcome back, sir!” The British voice boomed over the speaker system Tony had installed before the break. He had forgotten that JARVIS was now completely operational, for the limitations of a dorm room. He also did not expect to see his first robot, DUM-E, stationed in the center of his room with a paper hat formed out of printer paper with scribbled, almost unintelligible words written on it.

“Happy birthday.”

Tony froze. His eyes fixed on the paper hat and the birthday themed music that JARVIS was now playing over the speaker. His mouth was open, lips trembling but no words would come out, not that his mind had provided him with any to speak.

DUM-E whirred, as if prompting Tony to speak but all he could do was step forward and let the door swing closed behind him, locking automatically thanks to JARVIS.

“It's late, sir. As your date of birth is on the third of March. But in your absence we have-”

“JARVIS.” Tony interrupted the A.I., voice strained.

“Yes, sir?”

With a sharp inhale, Tony fought the rising feelings in his stomach, but when he spoke he could only choke out a quiet sob.

He'd forgotten. His birthday. It had passed while he was in the cave, planning his escape with Yinsen by his side. He was nineteen years old now.

Tony pursed his lips together. Everyone always talked about Tony's age. How bright he was, how talented he was, how arrogant he was for someone so young. So very young. And for the first time in his life. He felt it. He felt how truly young he was.

“Sir?” JARVIS's concerned and slightly robotic voice asked over the coms but Tony simply sniffed back his tears, shaking his head.

He had managed to survive. Another year was under his belt and he could have lost it, easily. Without the help of Yinsen... who wouldn't have another birthday again... he would have died. Alone and forgotten in a cave. At the age of nineteen. Possibly even eighteen if he hadn't managed to bluff for three whole months.

And his robots, two objects he'd spent a considerable amount of time working on, remembered his birthday when he hadn't. True, JARVIS was programmed for such matters, but that didn't change how it felt. It was weeks past, overlooked and unimportant by this point, but his robots wanted to celebrate his birth as if it was something that couldn't be pushed under the rug with everything else that had taken precedent.

Tony pressed the back of his hand to his mouth, attempting to stop the sobs that refused to be held inside any longer. For three whole months he'd been strong. He'd put on a steely disposition and didn't let anything penetrate the barrier. It was broken now.

He sank to the floor with his back against the door. Hitched breaths filled the room as he buried his face in his hands, finally letting loose all the emotions he'd been holding back, been too afraid to feel – because if he had felt them it would have cost him his life.

He could never say it. Never admit it. But Tony was scared. He'd been terrified of dying, of being left to rot in that cave, never to see his friends again. And now he was changed, both physically and mentally, and there was no going back to his old life.

JARVIS was silent above him, but a whirring sound was added to the muffled cries and Tony felt a presence next to him. He glanced up from his wet palms and out of the corner of his eye he found DUM-E, the silly little invention that did nothing but screw up, lingering beside him. The robot's hand stretched out toward him, almost comfortingly nudging his shoulder as gently as it as able. Tony choked out another sob, turning his face back into his hand but using the other to reach up and grasp the robot; holding him near, keeping him pressed close as he continued to breakdown in the safety of his room with the most consistent thing in his life.

[stonyversity]

Stormy Revelations

Second Year. August 2010:

(sequel to The Rain Reveals)

So here he was.

Sitting in a canoe, with Steve Rogers no less, listening to the distant sounds of Pocabarton echoing across the river.

He knew he would regret this decision the moment Bruce had walked into the kitchen and told the five of them about this cabin on the lake. It wasn't as though he had a fear of water... anymore. Sure there was a certain spark of memory every time he stepped into a shower but now that he'd created his arc reactor there were no exposed battery wires to simultaneously electrocute him. It was only water.

The worst part was having to walk around in the sun of the summer wearing the layers he wore to protect himself and the prospect of water would make it how many shirts he was wearing all the more obvious.

Fun and Tony weren't things that mixed well these days. He'd given up his late nights partying and getting too drunk to remember whose bed he woke up in. Of course, Pepper had helped to change that before January but she didn't stop his excessive drinking, gambling or partying. Being mistaken for his father changed all that.

“Did you want to start heading-”

Steve began but Tony was too zoned out to fully pay attention to his request to head back to the group they'd unwittingly distanced themselves from.

“Hey, what's over there?” Tony focused his sights on a bend in the water that turned around the shore. It seemed interesting and a Stark was always up for adventure – and Tony would never admit it but being out on the quiet water, only accompanied by the odd sentence from Rogers, had him feeling... calm and unhindered by his own mind.

Steve and Tony agreed to float down the small path of water and Tony let his mind carry him away on the gentle rocking of the water. The landscape surrounding them was made more beautiful by the fact that Tony never took the time to appreciate nature. He'd spent most of his life watching Howard destroy it for demonstrations of his latest weapons. Weapons that Tony did not approve of anymore. If his father found out some of the things he was currently working on in his own lab... technology that could disrupt and target Stark Industries weapons... he'd be written out of the will.

It would be worth it. To protect places like this. People like Steve...

Tony didn't let his mind wander on that thought for too long because the shallow pool filled with grass green algae destroyed all notions of natural beauty.

“And here I was hoping we'd find something cool like waterfalls or the entrance to a cave.” Tony threw his hands and oar up in the air dramatically. Perhaps that would convince Rogers that he hadn't simply been enjoying the scenery and hadn't given a second thought to what exactly they found, he had only wanted to enjoy the moment for a while longer.

That was when Rogers noticed the storm rolling in and they both agreed to head back to shore, roaring at a quicker pace back to the main section of lake they had ventured off from.

“Tony?” Steve's curious, hesitant voice chimed through the silence hung around them.

“Hm? Yeah?” Tony glanced over his shoulder. He was still caught up in his own thoughts that had steered away from nature and back to the technology in his lab for the time being.

“Well, uh... you're probably going to laugh at me and think I'm an idiot...”

Tony laughed and grinned. He didn't know what sparked Steve's sudden interest in proper conversation but it was a nice addition to their adventure, “Probably, but try me.”

“Are you... are you afraid of water?”

Tony could swear his arc reactor shot a spark straight down to the heart it was preserving. Where the hell did that come from?

Being who he was and having the ability to bluff anyone under the table, Tony let his shoulders relax as he turned around to face Steve dead-on with the most incredulous look on his face. It was followed by a rehearsed laugh, “Am I what?”

He watched Steve's eyes study his features, looking for any sign that Tony was lying to him and, technically, Tony wasn't lying. He wasn't afraid of the water. Not anymore. It was simply a minor inconvenience to his life when he wanted to be topless.

Steve's gaze averted as he mumbled an embarrassed, “Nevermind.”

Tony kept laughing, “You really are something Rogers.” But his eyes swept over the man, carefully considering how he had arrived at his particular fear. He couldn't know anything about the reactor, that wasn't possible. It was interesting though... the concern that had laced Rogers' voice.

A few minutes after Tony had turned around in the boat, he let himself speak. It was better than getting carried away with his thoughts again, that was for sure. He knew why he brought it up. Steve had been sneaking out at night quite a lot recently and it was toying with Tony's mind. He was curious and potentially... something else he couldn't figure out... when he focused on why exactly Steve would be going out in the middle of the night and coming home hot and bothered. He was seeing someone, that's the conclusion he'd come to but he need confirmation from the blonde man himself.

Tony knew why he brought it up. He didn't know why he wouldn't let it go.

The rainfall cut his interrogation off on the ride back to shore but once the canoe was returned to the storage unit, he started up again. Steve's patience was practically non-existence at this point yet Tony couldn't stop himself from pushing.

“C'mon Rogers, tell me!”

Steve sighed and gritted his teeth as he turned to face Tony, eyes sweeping over his features and Tony felt a chill run down his spine as his friend's eyes lingered far to long on his chest where the layers of shirts were clinging to him from the rain.

“Well?” Tony pried further, mostly because he was maybe feeling a little self-conscious with how utterly focused Steve's gaze was... not that Starks ever felt self-conscious...

Steve muttered something but Tony didn't catch it and he made that known to Steve who snapped out the repetition.

“It's you, okay?”

That was... unexpected and Tony was too unprepared to let his expression show anything other than his genuine surprise. “What?”

“You're what has been on my mind. You're what makes me go out for runs in the middle of the night.”

He was... but he couldn't be that was... Tony scoffed and rolled his eyes. Rogers was fucking with him. Of course he was. Let's make Tony feel special because I want to avoid the subject. “Yeah right Rogers, good joke. If you really want to avoid the question that badly-”

“I'm serious Tony!”

Steve's harsh tone shocked him into shutting the hell up. It had been a while since he'd heard Steve truly snap at him but this was... different. This was real and this was... a confession apparently because that's what tumbled out of Steve's mouth. Steve was worried about him, about how he was doing. Wonderful. They were right the fuck back here again.

Tony sneered, his eyes growing dark and bitter. “So you've taken this whole mother henning me to a new level, is that it? You know, I can look after myself Rogers, and I damn well don't need you hovering over my shoulder at everything I do.”

He was close to storming off but Steve held up his hands as he tried to explain himself. Tony's brows furrowed as Steve quickly attempted to remedy the situation and somehow it was working. He hit Tony deep, right where it mattered. “I don't want to see you disappear.” He vaguely remembered Pepper saying something like that to him in the last crumbling moments of their friendship, when Tony tried to win her back. “You're disappearing on me, Tony. I don't know who you are anymore. I don't think you know who you are anymore.”

Tony listened to Steve. There wasn't much else he could do. He was frozen in place by his words, his honest words. “Because I care about you.” That's what he said... in the end... Steve cared about him. It was... it didn't make sense yet it did. It was obvious and confusing and every coherent thought in Tony's mind seemed to be tangled around each other making it hard to process anything Steve had been saying.

“Does that answer your question?” An empty laugh... what did that mean? Did it... Tony furrowed his brows. Technically yes, he guess it did answer his questions but...

“Does that, I mean what you just said, how-”

Tony wasn't allowed to finish his sentence and that was probably a good thing because he hadn't quite finished formulating the sentence anyway. Steve's hand was on the back of his neck, pulling him in and pressing their lips firmly together. Tony's eyes went wide and he tensed immediately at the physical contact, at the threat of being discovered, at the feeling of Steve's unnaturally soft lips against his own rough mouth. He didn't respond to the kiss, but he didn't pull away either. It was as though his mind had short circuited and Tony was fairly sure it had.

Steve was kissing him... Steve kissed him. Of his own free will. He cared and he was...

“That's what I meant.”

Tony felt Steve's breath on his face from his close proximity. He hadn't even noticed the kiss had ended.

“Oh.” Was Tony's reply. It was all he could get out. He didn't trust his voice or his current brain capacity with anything else because what the hell was Rogers doing kissing him and caring about him and liking him in any sort of that sense? It didn't make sense to him. It was not logical. Everything in their history of being friends went against the notion of Steve liking him. Steve tolerated Tony. Steve criticized everything about Tony silently in his head with blue eyes so unwilling to judge others. Steve didn't kiss Tony.

Steve muttered something about going back inside to get changed and that was... that was an image Tony hadn't expected. Tony's gaze shifted minutely to stare at how Steve's t-shirt was clinging to his muscles, the same muscles the shirt would cling to when he pulled the shirt over his head to change, the same muscles that Tony recalled licking like ice cream during the first time they met. Now that was an image. Tony felt his body lean forward, ever so slightly, seeking the warmth of Steve's completely lickable chest when suddenly Steve's body wasn't there anymore.

Tony had been wrapped up in his... thoughts that he didn't notice Steve walking away. He jumped when he heard the door to the patio close and his gaze shifted from where he had been wanting to do something to Steve's chest -

“Where the hell did that come from?” Tony muttered in the safety of his own room. He shook his head and blinked rapidly to get these... thoughts from out of his head because they didn't belong there. That specifically was the section of his mind where he kept important math equations and these slightly obscene images of a man he was meant to be friends with weren't supposed to be there. “I'm going crazy. That's the only answer. The fresh air and plants are poisoning my head. That has to be it.”

He barely remembered getting to this room, walking into the house was a daze before Clint clapped his hand on Tony's shoulder to announce they were going out to the backyard to have a bonfire and roast marshmallows, tell horror stories and not listen to Clint singing campfire songs as Natasha added with a sharp tone. Tony told them he'd meet them out there in a bit, he had to make some calls and check up on JARVIS to make sure Wade hadn't broken into their house... again.

Everyone let him. No one argued. Not even Steve, who might not have been in the room at all, Tony practically had blinders on him that led him from the front door to his temporary bedroom he was sharing with Bruce.

Now Tony was pacing around the room, hands running through his hair that was nearly dry from the rain at this point. Nothing made sense... nothing at all. How could- they didn't like each other. That was a thing. They were complete opposites. Steve hated people like Tony. People who took advantage of their privileges, had egos the size of Australia, who were loud and obnoxious and had questionable morals. Sure they got to know one another on some level, tolerated each other and could manage to joke around and be civil but they weren't... they weren't that close of friends. It was Bruce and Clint and Natasha and Thor that made them friends.

Then January happened and he was gone. Three months he wasn't even there for Steve to get to know him below the surface of bullshit and barriers. He'd come back bruised and broken in a lot of ways... there wasn't much of Tony there for Steve to like. The summer was... the summer was tension and Steve mother henning him and... Tony thought he was a charity case. That's what he felt. He was something for Steve to fix and nurture into a better person but jokes on you Steve, Yinsen already got to me...

“Apparently I was wrong.” It was possible. For the great Tony Stark to be wrong. Steve being there... all the time, watching him, making sure he was eating and sleeping properly and drawing him when he was sleeping. He was the one who put the blankets on him whenever he passed out on the couch. It had gotten to the point where Tony would watch the clock and make bets with JARVIS on the next time Steve would come down to the lab to check on him. And when he didn't...

“Fucking hell Stark, you've really done it this time.” He fell back onto his bed, letting his head hit the mattress as the box spring squeak beneath him.

How did he ever let this happen without his notice?

“I have to talk to him... that's all there is to it. A nice, civil conversation about his feelings and my... feelings. Yeah that's not going to happen...” Because he did have them. Feelings. They were there whenever Steve was around. This tight feeling in his chest that wasn't the hunk of metal pressing against his sternum. Longing whenever Steve wasn't around to scold him about his behaviour. All of these things with Steve that had developed into second nature for Tony. It was irritating.

Tony sighed, sitting up. He had to talk to Steve. Whether it was about feelings or if talking meant placing his lips on those gorgeous muscles of his to prove a point which was... well he was unsure what the point was but he was sure it was a good one. It was that simple and it was going to be awkward no matter what... he just had to get it over with.

“It's decided then.” Tony stood up, making for the door when his legs fell out from under him. His entire body tensed and he felt a sharp pain sink into his temple, spreading through the rest of his body, constricting his lungs.

“Oh, I don't think you're going anywhere right now.” A familiar voice, too familiar, taunted him as hands gripped around his arms.

“Breathe, easy, easy.” The voice calmed him as Tony's back was settled against the bed, he felt his head roll back onto the mattress from where he was positioned on the floor and he was faced with his father's good friend and his mentor.

Tony struggled to move his mouth, to will his lips to speak the words on his mind but his vocal chords were absent.

“Hello, Tony.”

Tony choked on his own breath. Everything felt claustrophobic, like the air was pushing in around him. He couldn't move.

“You remember this one, right?” His eyes were presented with the old device that caused short term paralysis. He did remember it. It hadn't been approved by the government.

“Ah Tony,” he muttered, taking the devices that kept him safe from his ears and pocketing them, “when I ordered the hit on your father, I had no idea they could be idiotic enough to kidnap the wrong Stark.”

Tony's eyes widened. Of course they knew that Tony had been accidentally mixed up with his father but Obadiah...

“You have caused me a world of trouble. Do you know that Tony. They didn't kill you. They knew how much you were worth – though not to your father, am I right Tony? He didn't even try that hard to find you. It was the military that was desperate to find the miniature Stark. The prodigy. That's what you are Tony. The one who will lead everyone to victory when your father passes away. One more obstacle for me but being so young, you could be manipulated. I could always count on that. You always looked up to me. The man that gave you more attention than your father. Did you actually think you were someone I cared about, Tony?

“With your father out of the way, I could have used you to make the company into what I wanted it to be. It would have been simple. But you had to get in the way, didn't you Tony? You had to get in the wrong van and now your father, the delightful Howard Stark whose funeral should have been months ago, has found the ransom video. If they had killed you, like they were meant to kill your father, nothing could have traced back to me but you had to be the prodigal son. Now they want to arrest me and that's why I'm here. I'm sure you've figured that out. Being as bright as you always have been. You're my bargaining chip.”

“I don't think so.” The door swung open and a steely gaze walked into the room, hands in fists and at the ready. From the looks of things, at least from what Tony could make out from his dazed and disoriented view on the floor, Steve had been standing at the door listening to Obadiah before he entered.

If he could, Tony would sigh and sink back into a more relaxed position, but the device still had him paralyzed for at least fifteen minutes.

Obadiah stood up, hand reaching for his pocket but Steve beat him to it. He grabbed Obadiah's arm, twisting it until Obadiah was forced onto his knees from the pain of what was definitely a sprained wrist. The man continued to fight back, attempting to take out Steve's legs but again, Steve was too fast for the older man. Steve and his military training, his superior muscles mass, his fist that collided with the side of Obadiah's head knocking him out cold.

Steve released the unconscious man's arm, letting him fall to the floor, and rushed to Tony's side. His hands were on the paralyzed man's shoulders, shaking him gently as his face entered the close proximity of Tony's.

“Tony! Are you okay?”

He whined out a breath that was supposed to be “No, not really but thanks for eavesdropping.” Steve smiled, apparently able to translate Tony as being unharmed and he dropped his head in relief.

“Hey guys, you're missing the best stories, are you- Woah what's with the dead guy?” Clint halted at the doorway, taking an unconscious step back as his finger pointed to where Obadiah had been abandoned on the floor.

“He's not dead,” Steve informed him, his voice calm but strict enough that there could be no way for Barton to argue with him, “but call for the police and an ambulance.”

Clint nodded, muttering several things under his breath as he pulled his cellphone from his pocket and doing as instructed.

Steve let his gaze settle on Tony's much less strained eyes. They were blood shot from the effects of the device but he was no longer stressed and worried that he was going to die at any moment, which was a plus. It was when Steve let his hand cup Tony's cheek that something warm and comforting settled in Tony's stomach, allowing him to let everything Obadiah had said to him go for the time being.

“We'll talk later.” Steve whispered softly, confirming Tony's suspicion that Rogers had come here for the same thing Tony was planning on finding him for. Even if Tony would have to wait for the paralysis to wear off, and for the police to interrogate him, and for his father to do the same... eventually, later, yes, they would talk.

[stonyversity]

Divide the Stress

First Year. April 2010:

Pepper had been fine for the first month of Tony being back at university. He had been absent from school for two months, having been kidnapped at the beginning of January and returning during the first week of March. It was only logical that he would need the time to catch up on his courses; although any normal person would take the semester off and start up again in the fall, catching up as much as they could with summer courses. While Tony was planning on taking summer courses, he stated clearly that he wasn't about to take these meaningless, dull and coma-inducing first year science courses again.

Pepper was understanding. She gave him the space he required to mull over notes, read the books that he could probably write better than some of the authors, and then go to work on A+ papers. 

Tony spent the majority of his time in his room. With the door locked. Pepper equated this to paranoia, possibly something to do with post traumatic stress. She wasn't going to push. She was going to wait until Tony was ready to talk to her about what happened while he was in captivity. Many people in Tony's every day life didn't notice anything abnormal about him. He put on the Stark charm and his over confidence clouded any doubts people would have about his well being.

Pepper, and his five close friends, saw things differently. From what they observed, Tony was weary of physical contact. Thor would throw his arm around Tony's shoulder as he always did during the entirety of first semester and Tony would shy away, making some excuse to get away from him. Pepper or Clint would move to hug him and Tony would turn away, playing it off as though he didn't notice a hug was their intent or made some joke about note wanting Clint's show glitter to get all over him.

He stopped going to the gym. He no longer accompanied Steve to the pools on the off days that he usually would. He left early from the table at meal hall when he was usually the one convincing everyone to stay just an hour longer which would turn into thirty minutes longer which turned into the staff kicking them out because they were closing.

Tony Stark was becoming an introvert. He was turning into someone Pepper didn't even know, couldn't possibly know because he never talked to her anymore. They went out on dates still, when Pepper managed to drag him out of his room and convince him to go downtown and get something to eat at the only decent restaurant in their small university town. But everything was at arm's length. He barely touched her anymore; just lingering fingertips or brief kisses. They didn't even sleep together anymore – and it wasn't that Pepper was upset about the lack of sex because that wasn't it – he wouldn't lie down next to her at night to sleep by her side, to hold her in the hesitant way Tony did... afraid he would appear to attached or vulnerable. He would leave her room when she got ready for bed and returned to the sanctuary that was his high security dorm room that no one but Tony entered anymore.

The closer Pepper tried to get without bringing up anything unpleasant, the farther Tony drifted away from her. Some thing unspeakable had happened when he'd been kidnapped. It was burning inside Tony and he refused to let anyone in, not even Pepper who he was supposed to trust with everything. That's how much they'd bonded in only one semester. Now he was hurting. Something was eating him up inside, forcing him to stay secluded and miserable and push everyone he loved out of his life.

After a month, Pepper couldn't take it anymore. She was anxious all the time, worried out of her mind about what had happened to Tony, about why he wouldn't confide in her, about where their relationship was going if he wouldn't even hug her.

After a month, Pepper decided to confront Tony about the truth. It wasn't going to be easy, but a month had passed after his three months of captivity and he hadn't made a single appointment with a therapist, he hadn't uttered a word about it – he barely acknowledged that he had been absent during the semester at all.

“Tony?” Pepper had been sitting next to her boyfriend on her bed. The laptop in front of them was the only thing illuminating the darkness of the room – it was some kind of action movie they'd both been wanting to see but Pepper had spent the entire first half of the movie wringing her hands together as she tried desperately to formulate this conversation in her mind.

Tony grunted a response but didn't take his eyes off the screen.

“Tony,” Pepper breathed deep, her heart hammering on the inside of her chest. “I need to you tell me what happened while you were kidnapped.”

Even though there were explosions and yelling from the movie, Pepper felt the silence of the room close in around her as if the walls were caving in. It was nerve wracking and she was surprised the bed wasn't squeaking from how much she felt she was shaking.

When Tony finally answered, his voice was sarcastic and playful but his eyes didn't move from the screen. “You haven't read the new articles after a month? Man Pep, someone with your major has to keep on that shit.”

Pepper shook her head and sighed. It had been too much to hope that he would come right out and tell her. This was Tony Stark. Of course he was going to deny things and make a joke out of it. “No, Tony. That's not what I'm talking about and you know it. Something happened over there and you haven't told anyone about it-”

“Nothing to tell, Pep. Now pay attention,” he gestured to the screen where a high speed car chase was in full tilt, “you're missing important details of the movie.”

“Tony, please. Look at me and tell me what happened. You can't keep a secret forever.”

“Pepper, honestly. You worry too much. Nothing hap-”

“Stop saying that, Tony. You... I'm worried about you. You're so different now and it's confusing. I know you've been through a lot and I didn't want to push you-”

“Then don't.” Tony's voice wasn't nonchalant anymore. That was a threat straight out of the son of Howard Stark. Cold and calculated, leaving no room for discussion.

“Tony...”

“Seriously, Pepper. I'm not different that I was, it was a thing, it happened, it's over, let's move on. I haven't changed.” His voice was light, his smile reassuring, his eyes glazed over with well-meaning lies.

“Then why won't you touch me?” Pepper's voice nearly broke. She hadn't been expecting this to creep up on her like that. She had meant to stay level headed and keep her emotions out of this, to prove to Tony that she could handle whatever he had – she could take some of the weight off – and even if she did get emotional, she still could.

Tony's brows furrowed, confused and off balance in his lies for the first time. “I touch you.”

“Barely. You don't hold me anymore. What happened to the heated make out sessions where I had to lock the door to keep you off of me long enough to study for a test? We haven't had sex since before... but it's not just that. You don't sleep over anymore. You don't cuddle me in public – you normally crowd around me letting everyone know I'm yours but I'm lucky to hold your hand these days. Tony... I miss you.”

Another silence, only this time Tony was staring straight at her and it almost killed her. If Pepper had been expecting Tony to be oblivious about the distance he'd been putting between them she would have been horribly surprised. But seeing that acknowledgement, that guilt that could only come from full awareness that he'd been pushing her away... it hurt more than she could have guessed.

“Tony, you're pushing everyone away from you and we only want to help you.”

Tony's head shook slightly, as though he couldn't take in that information, and he averted his eyes. “That's not what I'm doing.”

“You have to tell someone, anyone, what happened over there, Tony. It's changing you and it's alienating us. We can't help you if you keep pushing us-”

“I'm not pushing anyone away.” His tone was strict, not cold like before but level and perfectly real now. No hint of a Stark's flawless ability to fabricate the truth. “That's exactly what I'm avoiding. You, Clint, everyone, you kept me sane... you're the people I cannot lose.”

Pepper narrowed her eyes and gazed into his eyes, trying to figure him out but there was nothing in those eyes that couldn't help her understand. “You don't want to lose us? Then why don't we see you anymore? Why don't you talk to us? Even Thor's anxious around you because you shrug him off any time he tries to hug you. You don't even spend as much time with Clint anymore, as much as I hate you two getting high all the time, you haven't done it once since you got back.”

“I can't just go back to normal, Pepper.” Tony cut off her rambling and she was almost grateful for it. “Things happen... things that change people and sometimes it takes more than a month for people to forget about them and move on. I'm trying. I'm doing my best to focus on graduating this year and I know I'll have to take summer courses but I'm expected to get through this. If I don't, people like my father will be suspicious and that take priority. I don't... I can't have people invading my privacy right now.”

They stared at each other for a moment, Tony's serious eyes attempting to persuade her to drop the subject, as though that cryptic message would be enough to satisfy her. “What does that even mean, Tony? Keeping whatever happened a secret from your father takes priority over having a functional relationship with your girlfriend and best friends?”

“No, Pepper that's not-”

“It's what it sounds like Tony! And I can't... I don't understand... I know it's been hard for you but you have to-”

“Pepper.” The way he said her name made her stop talking. It was soft, but firm, full of concern and affection, almost as though the real Tony had come back to her for a moment. She swallowed any words that wanted to fall from her lips and nodded at Tony to continue. “I don't have to tell anyone anything.”

“What?”

“It's not a requirement. I'm not ready to tell anyone what happened – if something even did happen and hell, I can't really lie about that anymore can I? Something happened. Something always happened. I was kidnapped. It wasn't a walk in a candy filled park, now was it? Bad things happen when people get kidnapped and I'm lucky I don't have PTSD.”

“Don't you?” Pepper cringed as soon as she spoke. She wanted to bite her tongue to keep her from slipping up like that again but it was too late.

“You think I have post traumatic stress disorder?”

“You have a lot of the signs...” She spoke hesitantly but continued on in a hurry before Tony could get a word in. “I'm only trying to look out for you, Tony. I can't begin to tell you how stressed I am because of how much I worry about you, about us, and it's driving me mad knowing that you experienced terrible things and can't- won't tell people about it.”

“No, I won't tell people. But it's because it's my business, Pepper. If I don't want to divulge every secret that I could ever possibly have, then I don't have to. I am not obligated to tell you everything that happens in my life, especially the stuff I am entirely not comfortable accepting as reality. Yes, it was real and right now I would like more than anything to ignore it and forget it happened so I can go back to the way things were but there are extenuating circumstances which hinder my ability to do so. And no, it's not something I want or need to talk about Pepper. I'm allowed to have secrets, regardless of what you may believe. I'm sorry my unwillingness to share every horrendous detail about my life is making you stress out or have doubts about our relationship but I'm not ready to talk about this with JARVIS let alone a living person, so you're going to have to accept that.”

Silence was the theme of the night, only this time the movie had ended and it was real, oppressing silence that filled the room. Pepper was breathing hard and everything Tony had said hurt her. She understood that she couldn't push him to the breaking point, that she wasn't entitled to know everything about Tony, especially the parts he didn't want uncovered. But the way he'd said it... he way he made it sound like she was the enemy...

“You know, Tony. I don't think I was having doubts about our relationship until you said it.” She couldn't believe she'd said it, but these were words she didn't want to take back.

Tony blinked, as though he didn't remember saying the words in the first place but his face soon shadowed with the sour realization of where this conversation was leading. “Oh that's fantastic, Pepper. That's what you want to change the topic to?”

“No, Tony. It's right on topic because I don't think I can do this anymore.” She pressed her lips together, finding her resolve and willing herself not to breakdown.

Tony practically sneered, his eyes full of disbelief. “All because I won't tell you-”

“Not that, Tony. You're so wrapped up in trying to keep yourself hidden that you can't see what your absence is doing to me. You're emotionally unavailable to anyone, including yourself... and I can't be expected to hold up this relationship anymore. You don't treat me like a girlfriend anymore, you treat me like a task – something you have to do to convince everyone in the public sphere that you're normal. It's exhausting. For both of us. The healthy thing to do is let it go, before either of us gets hurt.”

Pepper did her best to keep her voice even, her eyes open and free of tears. It was a struggle to keep herself grounded for that and it was harder to watch Tony's features contort because of her words. The anger, the betrayal, the sadness, the guilt, too many emotions for Pepper to catalog at the moment because an onslaught of her own emotions were pounding on the barricades of her willpower.

No more words were spoken as Tony gritted his teeth and stood up abruptly from the bed, long strides bringing himself to the door of her dorm room where he paused. He turned and their eyes connected one last time, his mouth opening and closing with thoughts that wanted expressing but couldn't quite form on his tongue. He scoffed, a low and solemn sound that echoed in the empty space. Then he was gone, out the door with a hard close just shy of a slam.

Pepper took a deep breath, lifted herself up from her bed and moved to the doorway. She listened to Tony's footsteps carry him down the hallway to the stairwell and it was only after she locked her door and returned to the safety of her bed that she allowed herself to break.

  (previous Kidnapped Plot next)