#ANyways nark <33 | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

ad1thi · 6 years ago

Text

the closet

the thing is, Tony isn’t out

Flamboyant, raucous, over-the-top Tony Stark isn’t out

its a shame nobody told Bucky that

It starts, as most things do, with Tony falling in love

Tony’s 15 years old and desperate for any sliver of attention and Rhodey is just so good that falling in love is more of an afterthought than a conscious action

and then he’s 17 and he’s well and truly happy (even if Rhodey refuses to do more than some heavy petting until he’s 18) and Howard mails Rhodey a $50,000 dollar check with no note

but Tony knows what it’s for

he breaks up with Rhodey, gets on his knees for Tiberius Stone in an extremely well lit alley, and ends up in the hospital with multiple contusions

in that order

he’s 18 years old and he’s hanging on for dear life

he’s 18 years old and his parents are dead

they died while he was in a coma that his father put him in

he’s 18 years old and Rhodey has magnanimously overlooked the Tiberius incident, but has firmly said that they’re better off as friends

he’s 18 years old and Obie puts a hand across his shoulders, looks at him and says, “It’s a stocks thing boy. You understand”

And as he rubs the bruises on his lips, he does understand

It goes on something like this

Tony is 23 years old and he’s gone twelve for twelve with Maxim cover girls

well, kind of

he and March had a scheduling conflict, but December was twins

(actually, December was triplets but the third was a boy and he didn’t talk about that kind of stuff)

Tony is 27 years old and he’s dying

so he does the responsible thing and gives Pepper Stark Industries

she basically runs it anyway

between finagling her into accepting and subtly giving Rhodey a suit, he doesn’t have much time for his new PA Francis Barton

he has just enough time to appreciate the way the man fits a suit, and then there’s a glint in his eyes that Tony can’t ignore so he moves on

(later, when he meets Clint in Randy’s Donuts he’s oddly proud of himself)

(but he still trashes Fury’s servers for sending in a male nark)

(Tony doesn’t talk about this kind of stuff)

Tony is 33 years old and Steve Rogers is at his door

“A young boy killed himself last night”

Tony pauses his tinkering on his tablet to look up at him

“Steve sweetie,” the pet-name slips out from habit, “You can’t save everybody”

“He was being bullied because he was gay,” Steve’s eyes are red, “I thought that was okay now?”

Tony sighs, “It is, technically. But that doesn’t mean bigots don’t still exist. The best you can do is be a good role model, and hope others follow, you know?”

“Be a good role model, as in..?”

“Like,” Tony taps his fingers against his knee, “someone who’s publicly in support of LGBT+ people, or someone big coming out as queer”

“Someone who’s in the TV a lot?” Steve’s voice is slightly squeaky, and Tony briefly looks up and nods

Steve’s head cocks to the side, and even before he says it Tony knows that he’s gonna hate it

“Tony why haven’t you come out yet?”

(he was right)

“Get out.” Tony’s voice is shockingly firm, a stark contrast to the shaking of his fingers

‘No think about it, you’re one of the richest men on the planet, you’re in the news everyday, and you’re Iron Man. It’d be sensa-”

“Get OUT” Tony’s voice raises a few octaves and Iron suits materialise in the air, repulsors aimed at Steve

“Wha- Tony call off the suit”

The whirring of the gauntlet makes Steve take a step back

“I won’t ask again Rogers.”

“Get out”

Steve leaves

It ends, as most things do, with Tony falling in love

Tony is 36 years old and he’s in love with James Barnes

who is currently going at it with a lollipop and making Tony extremely uncomfortable in a public space

Tony is 36 years old and in love with James but still in the closet but apparently nobody told James, because he notices Tony staring and smiles before walking over and pressing his lips to Tony’s

in public

in front of cameras

where everyone can see

The thing is

Tony understands

Howard and Obie made sure that Tony understood

and he does

he swears

Tony is 36 years old and he’s in the goddamn closet but James is kissing him and he stumbles back, breath coming out in short pants

his vision is blurry and he can feel his heart thundering against his ribcage

he winces and flinches away, hands raised in a defense position when he feels someone come close to him, because he understands he swears

Fin

341 notes · View notes