#could have been ironhusbands

[themculibrary]

Tony And Rhodey (Ironhusbands) Masterlist 3

part one, part two

All I Know is Darling, I Was Made For Loving You (ao3) - orphan_account tony/rhodey, ana/edwin, roberta/terrence, past tony/tiberius, peggy/danielT, 25k

Summary: Tony Stark. Nobody needed to know anything beyond the name to make assumptions. He was a Stark, strong, independent, a man who had the power of nations at his disposal. Loved by the public yet called by the tabloids unlovable. So who expected him of all people to be born with a soulmark?

When James was born, nobody was surprised when they discovered a soulmark. But they were surprised at the location. It was directly on his chest, a detailed triangle surrounded by a circle.

Or..

What happens when fates collide? If you're Rhodey and Tony, you learn the lesson of love-it stretches beyond understanding.

Through the questions, the years, and the days lost to time, Rhodey and Tony know one thing: when you know you were made to love someone, it becomes your sole purpose.

A Soulmate Cannot Be A Mutual Acquaintance (ao3) - lovelyirony T, 12k

Summary: Tony and Rhodey are soulmates. They're in love with each other.

You'd think, at some point, that they might tell each other that.

Better Never Lasts Forever (ao3) - PlanetsCollide T, 4k

Summary: Five times Rhodey and Tony almost kissed, and one time they did.

Guide Me Home To You (ao3) - MagicaDraconia16 T, 31k

Summary: When his 15th birthday passed without him either gaining the spiked senses of a Sentinel or the empathic surge of a Guide, Tony Stark was marked as a Null. His MIT roommate and best friend James Rhodes had presented as a Guide but hadn't found his Sentinel yet.

When Tony is captured and held in Afghanistan for three months by the Ten Rings, it marks the longest he's ever been away from Rhodey since they first met all those years ago.

And after that . . . everything changes.

Incomplete Wish (ao3) - Rkssk G, 1k

Summary: Tony plays the piano for Rhodey. It's the first time and Rhodey's mind has some things to confess to himself.

i place your hands around my neck (ao3) - fanfictiongreenirises tony/rhodey, steve/bucky, happy/pepper N/R, 27k

Summary: "Rhodey could practically feel his lungs getting heavier again, weighed down by roots of plants that he’d thought would never take hold in him again."

 Or: the one where Rhodey's been pining over Tony for much longer than either of them realised and develops the Hanahaki disease

little fears (ao3) - sara_wolfe T, 1k

Summary: “I don’t want to do this, anymore.”

-or- Jim's got some insecurities about his relationship with Tony. Turns out, Tony does, too.

Love is Blind (ao3) - inukagome15 T, 17k

Summary: They say love is blind, but Rhodey thinks he and Tony have got things pretty well figured out at this point. They were plenty blind before, but now they're communicating and things are amazingly perfect. Even the team seems to think so, especially since Tony and Rogers have also worked their own problems out.

Pretend We're In Love (The Heartache Still Hurts) (ao3) - InsaneJuliann T, 51k

Summary: Rhodey's dad is dying, and what he's always wanted is for Rhodey to be happily married. Tony and Rhodey were best friends, and haven't spoken in years. But after a chance meeting at the airport, and a desperate, insane idea on Rhodey's part, they end up pretending to be engaged.

But how much of it is really pretend?

Reaching Out (ao3) - gokailyger84 G, 3k

Summary: After shutting down his company's weapons manufacturing division, Tony continues on his new path of self-accountability. Starting work on his new project, he realizes he's an amateur in this field and needs the help of someone more experienced.

Seas Between Us (ao3) - Copper_mouth M, 16k

Summary: There's a distance between them after Afghanistan, and it's widening each day. Rhodey is no longer Tony Stark's trusted right-hand man, his confidant and protector. Iron Man is.

Star Lit Dreams (ao3) - JarvisUandDUMEtoo G, 10k

Summary: Rhodey has come home for the holidays and decided to participate in a local charity event. The only problem? His assigned partner is none other than his ex boyfriend Tony Stark. Rhodey assumes its going to be difficult to be civil with Tony for long enough to finish the event, but instead he finds himself falling for Tony all over again.

still into you (ao3) - graveltotempo G, 13k

Summary: cause after all this time...

I'm still, into you

OR: James "Rhodey" Rhodes and Tony Stark's relationship, throughout the years.

A love story.

Tell Me You Love Me (I Want to Believe) (ao3) - inukagome15 T, 17k

Summary: As much as things have changed after the Accords, so much else hasn't and Tony has no idea where to even begin fixing things. Happiness seems like an elusive dream, no matter how much Rhodey encourages him to reach for it. After all, the one thing he wants to be happy will never happen. Will it?

Tender Loving Care For Lack of Better Titles (ao3) - AfroGohan T, 1k

Summary: The crash had punched the air out of him, throat clogged with spit and smoke as he climbed from one damaged section to the next.

A dreadful paralysis crept up his arm as he swept the wreckage for survivors. Equipment failure, the pilot said as they lost altitude and plummeted into the clearing. That was all she said before impact.

He hauled what and who he could before sprawling in the grass, staring up at the mid-morning sky as the smell of gasoline met his nostrils.

Rhodey lands in the hospital. Company makes it easier.

The Art of Persistence (ao3) - hollyandvice (hiasobi_writes) T, 15k

Summary: When James Rhodes first meets Tony Stark, they're at a party. He's watching a kid way too young to be here get drunk off his ass and all James can think is that whoever brought this kid here should really meet him in the parking lot because this shit is irresponsible and downright illegal.

The story of how Tony's drunken shenanigans lead him to the love of his life.

The Power Throuple of the Century (ao3) - holistic_alcoholic T, 3k

Summary: Life was good. Life was perfect. Nothing seemed amiss.

So when Steve Rogers, Captain Apple Pie and Goodness himself, cornered Tony with a worried expression and told him, in a voice both awkward and sorrowful, that his husband cheated on him with Iron Man, Tony was utterly unprepared.

Too Well Tangled In My Soul (ao3) - dixiehellcat G, 2k

Summary: A couple of decades of Tony and Rhodey, what grows between them, and what might threaten to keep them apart.

when we were eighteen (ao3) - graveltotempo, Violettavonviolet G, 12k

Summary: After the Rogues are pardoned and the world starts once more demanding too much of Tony, he and Rhodey say "fuck this" and go on a road trip together.

From New York to California, with the memories of another road trip 26 years ago before, and a love that has and will never fade.

you are gold (ao3) - makifa, thompsborn tony/rhodey, may/pepper M, 36k

Summary: His smile is tense and odd and twisted, too high on one end and turned a bit down on the other. He isn’t sitting, yet it feels as though he leaps to his feet upon their arrival anyway, bounding towards James with an almost relieved sounding, “Mr. Rhodes! It’s wonderful to meet you. I’m Tony, and this—” he gestures behind him, towards the teenager that only sinks lower in his seat, scowl deepening even further, “—is my son, Harley.”

Despite the clear disinterest in the situation, Harley still glances towards James and huffs out a reluctant, “Hello, Mr. Rhodes,” before turning his head towards the wall and acting as if none of them are there.

James smiles at him, even though he’s no longer looking. “Hello, Harley. It’s nice to meet you.” Then, turning towards Tony, he extends a hand and says, “And you, Mr. Stark. You can call me James.”

Tony’s face twists. “As long as you call me Tony."

-

this is not what james, former high school teacher on the hunt for a job, had expected when he applied to be a tutor at the start of the school year.

[shipskicksandgiggles]

what's your favorite fic of all time, and why?

is it weird to say I actually don’t have one? this has been sitting in my inbox for days while I’ve been trying think of an answer, but the fact is, I don’t have one. I’ve been reading fic for coming up on a decade now, and my tastes have changed so much in those years that “of all time” becomes a bit hard to sum up

I still remember so many. I remember the Percy jackson fic that lead me to a song I wanted to fall in love to. I remember the stucky fics that were so stunningly written that I would come back to even after I stopped shipping them. I was thinking of one of my favorite winteriron fics earlier this week because of the impact it had on me. the irondad ones, parkner, ironhusbands, the stranger things fics that more recently have cemented themselves in my soul

I carry them all with me. my favorite now probably won’t be my favorite in a month because I’m starting to branch into another fandom, and that’s what I love about fic. because it’s incredible and vast and i can’t choose just one

sorry for the non-answer, anon, but it’s the truth. I don’t have a favorite because how could I possibly choose

I’m always open to curious anons

[every-marveler-ever]

Laughter, Relationships and Partners

Fluffbruary Day 12 | @fluffbruary | Tenderness

Bucky Barnes Flash Bingo | 📚 @buckybarnesbingo | Underdog

IronHusbands Bingo Round 4 | 🗯️ @ironhusbandsbingo | Words Unsaid

masterlist :: (ao3 link)

RATING: General WARNING(S): Relationship drama, Open relationship, Marriage open relationship, Bad communication

It wasn’t Bucky’s intention to get between a relationship, especially not one as strong as Rhodey and Tony’s, but in his defence, he didn’t know they were dating. (A bad description). | Tony Stark/James 'Rhodey' Rhodes/James 'Bucky' Barnes

fluffbruary 2023 | bbb 📚 flash | ihb 🗯️ round 4

Bucky was extremely lucky he understands that he has complete access to Tony’s lab with his one fingerprint unlocking the glass sliding doors that Tony keeps locked. The lab is Tony’s sanctuary and to have any access means that Tony trusts him which Bucky didn’t think when he followed Steve into the Avengers tower.

.

“Who is this?” Tony says not in the nicest tone of voice, Steve had been getting on Tony’s nerves. He had given him a home, a new uniform, and food, yet none of it seemed to be enough for Steve, for somebody who came from nothing Tony thought Steve would appreciate the luxury he provided. Instead, Steve seems to take advantage of his kindness by dragging in a lost puppy behind him, “and what does he think he is doing here?”

Steve smiles not sensing the strained sense of tone in Tony’s voice, he has a smile on his face, “this is Bucky, he came out of the ice. I thought he could stay here, maybe train with us and,” Steve's face drops as he looks back to his friend, and moves over an inch, this is the first time Tony sees why this guy is such an underdog, “maybe you could help with his arm?”

Tony knows who Bucky is, he was Steve’s bestfriend, his right-hand man, and his Rhodey (without all the relationship stuff), Tony read history books about this man and went to museum collections detailing his fall from the train and how devastated Steve supposedly was. Never in any of the books, collections or articles did they mention a silver arm, a rusted, badly built silver arm that must be killing him from the weight alone. Tony hates to admit it but that arm is reason enough for Tony to house the man. 

“Yeah I’ll give it a look at, um” Tony blinks a few times before taking a deep breath, this has changed his day of pace, “the spare room on your floor is clean right? If not I can call the cleaner but I’m not quite sure when she will get here…” Steve smiles brightly and quickly reassures Tony, “yes one of the rooms is clean he can definitely stay there, thank you, Tony.”

Steve quickly pulls Bucky away from Tony and leads him to the elevator to move up to Steve’s. 

Tony hates to admit how quickly he pulled up blueprints and began sketching a new arm, Steve’s new friend is cute and Tony can’t get him out of his head, because it is clearly because of the arm, just the arm. 

.

When he does sit in the workshop with Tony sometimes it is because he is getting his arm looked at and Tony has exciting new blueprints to show him, but other times it because he just wants to sit and watch Tony. 

These are the times that Bucky notices the wedding band.

There are all ways words unsaid in the situation because how do you bring it up to the man that you thought might be flirting with you. 

.

Bucky sits in the lab one day because he felt like he needed the quietness that the lab brings, he feels bad because Tony isn’t here and he is in Tony’s space but he needed it. Steve had been nice since moving into the Avengers tower, but he always feels like he was intruding when he sees Sam and Steve cooking in the kitchen, or lounging on top of each other during movie nights. 

The lab offers quietness that the spare room or the floor he is taking residence in can’t. “You’ve come to escape have you?” Tony jokes announcing himself to the room, laughing along with his own comment. Bucky nods along as he watches Tony sit and pull up blueprints and doesn’t seem fussed by the fact that Bucky just let himself in, asking JARVIS to play some music as they both just appreciate each other's presence. 

Bucky doesn’t get out a stark pad or read like he normally does when they are both in the lab, he just watches Tony which is when he notices the ring. “Are you married?” The question comes out of nowhere as he watches Tony stop fiddling, “sorry,” Bucky winces when he realises his upfronts, “it’s just you were playing with what looks like a wedding ring and it’s definitely on your ring finger so I just assumed, sorry.” 

Something Tony and Bucky both have in common is their rambling and when Peter is also in the lab with them both it becomes quite a lot for anybody else that may join them, but as both nerds the rambling is normal.  

Tony doesn’t stop what he’s doing, “yeah in 0’11, right after the bill was passed, we had been engaged for years but it wasn’t until then that we actually tied the knot.”

Two things in this conversation shock Bucky, 1. He’s right and Tony is actually married which feels weird because he thought they were flirting and 2. Tony is gay (or bisexual, or whatever term he chooses) which he assumed but Tony also just seemed charming to anybody he meets. 

But Tony is married with a ring and everything, and Bucky is nothing.

.

Rhodey is extremely nice to Bucky and doesn’t wear a wedding band which seems like the perfect situation in Bucky’s predicament. Rhodey is Tony’s best friend but when Tony sees Bucky sitting on Rhodey’s lap he doesn’t complain or fight it, most of the time he smiles with warmth over at them.

It makes his heart tender thinking about being with Rhodey but them he remembers the moments in the lab and his heart seems caught between. 

.

“Movie night!” Peter screams as he enters the lounge on Clint and Natasha’s floor, this month's movie night location. Movie night traditionally transferred from floor to floor each month, except for Tony, Tony never seemed interested in hosting a movie night and so he was never included in the mix. 

Rhodey was happy to include Bucky in movie night when he joined the tower despite the weariness of Steve and Tony, Rhodey saw the excitement Bucky had in his eyes when he discovered new things, completely different to the confusion that used to show on Steve’s face when being introduced to the new world. He quickly introduced Bucky to all new types of work, “are we continuing James Bond tonight?” 

Bucky smiles brightly which is enough for Natasha to roll her eyes and turn on James Bond, as Peter talks about random James Bond facts he found out since last month. 

The movie plays with minimal talking as everybody finds themselves intensively watching You Only Live Twice, and Bucky’s head slowly falls onto Rhodey’s shoulder for the first time and suddenly Rhodey is no longer interested in the movie, as the smile on his face may suggest. 

. 

Bucky never thought of himself as an underdog he was a soldier who thought in war, but now he feels like he is the most underdog of them all.

When Natasha tells him that Rhodey and Tony are married Bucky’s tender heart breaks because it just can’t be true, he is dating Rhodey, they made it official just last week, and they were dating. Now Bucky just feels like he’s a mistress. 

“How could you do this to me!” Never before had he questioned that they slept on the same floor, never had he questioned that Rhodey always sleeps in his room when they sleep together, never even being invited to Tony’s floor.

Bucky for the first time steps onto Tony’s floor yelling a storm. There is a part of him that is glad the elevator didn’t lock him out of getting there, that eventually, he would have found out on his own because the elevator door opens and he can see wedding photos on the grand piano with them both in matching white suits. 

He is met with confused looks from Rhodey and Tony who are sitting on the couch next to each other, arms around each other, sharing a StarkPad. Bucky breathes a hard breath, fuming, “you’re married, to each other,” you can tell he’s really angry from the wild hand signals he is using, “and neither of you, my boyfriend nor my friend thought you would tell me!”

Rhodey pushes his eyebrows down and together even more confused than when Bucky walked in, if Bucky wasn’t made he would call it super cute, “you didn’t know?” And Tony begins to laugh so loud that he is nearly falling off the couch, hitting Rhodeys knee forcefully, “he doesn’t realise we’re open and both dating him,” Tony explains in a fit of laughter.

 Bucky tilts his head like a lost dog, “open relationship? But you’re married?” He’s no longer screaming and is instead the one confused in the whole situation. 

“Open relationships can relate to marriage, and in our case it does, it just so happens to be that we both really like you,” Rhodey explains with a wincing smile. He moves over to the lounge while simultaneously pushing Tony back onto the lounge as the older man recovers, “sit down” he pats the spot he just made, “and we can discuss this all. No words unsaid this time, we promise”

Listening to the suggestion Bucky sits down between them and leans his head on Rhodeys shoulder looking at Tony, “this would explain the coffee dates, and kissing my forehead in the lab,” he says and Tony spills out into more laughter.

Bucky can work with this.  Laughter, relationships and partners. 

Cards:

[woomashin]

looking at my last post & lmao. not to ~get into iiiiitt~ but i really think blackpepper & carolmaria are like, the only femslash ships i can actually sink all 36 of my teeth into. they're currently the only femslash ships i can definitively say "yeah i ship that," like i do with ironhusbands, ironfalcon, warfalcon, etc. (ironwarfalcon is on a different level ok & pepper x nat x maya has been the only one to reach it)

because every other femslash pairing feels like... like either it is poignantly obvious that these are the only interesting/prominent female characters we have so we're doing that thing that slash folks do where we're smashing them together regardless if the dynamic is canonically narratively or intellectually compelling, or on the other hand they feel like thought experiments 🥼🧪, which i don't think is bad like i literally do that all the time already (smash 2+ characters together just to see what happens) but again, those aren't ships i ship, something i sink my teeth into.

ultimately idk. it honestly could be that i don't find the current most popular/''in my face'' femslash ships compelling whether it's cause of the reasons mentioned above or something else entirely

[kiliosthestarmaker]

Things weren't supposed to go this way.

James Rhodes watches his best friend stand at the altar smiling. He then glances at his best friend’s future husband, Steve Rogers. He was also smiling. It was full of love that James had to remove his eyes from the sight.

He was a coward.

James did his part as a groomsmaid for his best friend. He smiled and congratulated them. He listened to their vows and idly thought back to a long time ago.

A much more simple time. 

He chuckles as Pepper catches the bouquet of flowers when Tony throws them before looking at her partner, Natasha, with a smile. He watches as Harley, his sister, Peter, and Riri go to congratulate the newly wedded couple. He waves at Happy who stood next to May.

He wonders when he thought that it would him who married Tony.

He never speaks upon it. He preferred his best friend to be happy. He gives his speech and threatens Steve about hurting Tony. He laughs, he smiles, he drinks, he talks.

And when he gets home he cries. A black box that collected dust for years on his dresser. A Note that is now crumpled up on the floor.

He leaves the next day. “Duty calls.” Was his excuse. When he arrived back home, to his mother and niece, he tells them about the marriage hoping for a cheer.

All he gets is sad looks, they knew the truth. 

When he lays in bed that night, he gets a text. It was short and 4 words but it tore him apart.

A Text From His Best Friend

I Loved You Too.

[rabentochter]

since you said you could give ironhusbands a shot...... hehe... angst, 49: "i wish we never met"

Clarity wasn’t something Tony enjoyed having. It had its uses, its advantages, it sure did but they seldom worked out for him.

Rhodey was sleeping on him, his breaths soft and even. Snoring only a little bit.

Usually hearing his lover snore would make Tony smile. It would make him feel something. The TV was still turned on and some yellow car raced over a street. Rhodey was deeply asleep. Tony almost unconsciously started to stroke his Rhodey’s neck, worked out the kinks there, drawing soft noises from his love.

It was too late for him to be awake. He’d long stopped caring about what was happening on the screen, the voices and the blue flicker had turned into a background noise. It left him thinking and thinking—? Thinking never did him any good.

Because he then had to come to terms with what kind of person he was.

And in all honesty? Tony didn’t like himself. He liked the person he was when he was around Rhodey. That Tony was a— not a good man but he had fun, he had a man at his side who he loved and was loved by in return. And dark clouds were as far from them as they could be, Rhodey was his sunshine and his eyes, so deep and warm, were also Tony’s stars and his moon.

When he didn’t have Rhodey with him then his life turned dark. Pepper’s bright hair couldn’t compare, the warmth of Happy’s smile didn’t have the same effect. No. Rhodey was his actual arc reactor and helped him move on, to go on and—

What did Tony do? His nails scratched over Rhodey as he got lost in his own musings. Bitterness crawled over him and stuck to him like flies who’d smelled prey. Perhaps he was the foulness.

The TV was too loud in the background. Rhodey had the remote somewhere hidden because Tony hated how music and voices never were on the same noise level, always one louder than the other and it irritated him so much—he played with the volume almost every scene and Rhodey hated it because he wanted to, “Watch a movie” and not argue with the volume.

It wasn’t Tony’s fault that he was bothered by it.

Often, he thought about not doing it anymore, of simply letting everything be but he couldn’t because it did his head in. Rhodey suffered for it but no, he couldn’t give in because it was about him, it always was—

Rhodey was still snoring softly. His face was half buried in Tony’s shirt and he felt his breath warm against his skin. Affection curled in Tony’s chest and he kept on stroking Rhodey, his hand slipping beneath the shirt like a thief at night into a house.

Tony had just lost his house and while it was just a house – it had been his home. He still didn’t like going to sleep—

Perhaps that explained why he still wasn’t asleep. Apart from all his troubling thoughts, nesting inside of his head and refusing to let go of him. They didn’t tear him up from the inside out. No. It was almost worse because they settled in him like a cat walking onto a pillow and making itself comfortable there. Nobody would think of chasing the cat away, only pet it and encourage it to stay.

Tony didn’t have the energy to shoo the thoughts away. They sat on his shoulders like a scarf did, snug and oh so comfortable that he almost didn’t feel himself being choked by it.

Rhodey had offered for him to join him, to finally move in and DUM-E as well as U were in the kitchen and charging.

Here he was, Tony Stark, also known as Iron Man and was again abusing his love’s generosity.

He wondered when he would ever stop doing that.

We can take the chance and spend finally more time together again, Rhodey had said with his excited smile and the fucking love that Tony had felt. This intense whirlwind of emotions. And while Rhodey had been happy, so excited that Tony was coming with him that they were together now—

All that he had felt was dread.

Not because he didn’t want to spend more time with Rhodey— but because he hadn’t noticed again how little time they’d spend together. Everything had been crazy the last few months. A fucking alien invasion. How fucked up was that? Nobody had said that this was possible and while a part of Tony had loved it because aliens were real, he needed to buy area 51, he couldn’t believe that it had happened either.

And Rhodey had only been a target of Killian because of him.

Happy still was at the hospital. Because of him.

Pepper was scared and had been an explosive bomb. Because of him.

Everything— because of him.

Tony wondered how he could be worth that. How he could be worth that his friends got so much damage dealt with only so he would end up hurt. And hurt, he did. He took a shuddering breath, his other hand buried in his thigh.

One day— one day if he wasn’t careful he’d end up with more dead friends than he wanted to have.

Perhaps it would be Rhodey.

Because if someone got Rhodey into his hands? Tony felt his gut clench in fear. He wasn’t sure what he would do then. Go ballistic, tear everyone and everything apart until he had him back, safe and sound in his arms where nothing and no one would harm him.

There wasn’t anything that Tony wouldn’t do for him.

And it was terrifying. To feel so much for a single person. Was Rhodey aware of how much he meant to him? What power he had in his hands? It was scary, it was so scary that facing the Mandarin and the Ten Rings seemed like a joke now.

Rhodey’s presence felt like too much and yet, Tony wouldn’t want to let go of him. He wanted to keep him at his side, selfish as he was — but at the same time he wanted him only from a distance. He could (not) live with Rhodey being away from him, a relationship could work like this too. He knew it, at the end it would be a long-distance relationship only the distance more in emotional terms than in distance-distance terms. But if it would keep Rhodey safe and have him not end up dead?

Maybe it would be better that way.

It wouldn’t give anyone the idea to take Rhodey from him.

He’d be doubly safe.

And yet, the knowledge that Rhodey felt safe and comfortable enough around him to fall asleep, that he hadn’t given up on him yet where others surely would have—? It made him want to never let go of him.

He turned his head so that he saw Rhodey better in the blue light, a Transformer exploded on the screen.

“I wish,” he whispered when everything started to become too much again, “that we never met.”

Rhodey stayed silent, sleeping unperturbed by Tony’s growing desperation on his couch.

If they had never met — Rhodey wouldn’t be War Machine. But he also wouldn’t be in as much danger as he was when he stayed with Tony, that was for sure. It was a given, granted, foolproof.

And in the end, it would all depend on if Tony was selfless enough to let Rhodey go or if he would keep him at his side with his charm and whatever he threw at him in the hope it was enough to have him stay.

<< Send me a Sentence Prompt >>

[ceealaina]

Title: There’s Nowhere on Earth That I’d Rather Be Ship: IronHusbands Rating: Teen Major Tags: Autumn, Friends to Lovers, Domestic Fluff, Fluff and Humour Card Number: 5023 (Tony Stark Bingo) 3002 (IronHusbands Bingo) Square: R1 - Flight (Tony Stark Bingo) I1 - Autumn (IronHusbands Bingo) Link: AO3 Summary: Tony's absolute favourite time of year is fall. Rhodey might need a little more persuasion do really appreciate the beauty of the season, but if there's one thing Tony's good at, it's persuasion.  Word Count: 4552

Tony woke slowly, burrowing deeper into his blankets as he did. The apartment he and Rhodey shared tended to run fiery-pits-of-hell hot, so he’d left his window cracked open overnight. But now his bedroom was cool in a way that made him feel all snuggly and cozy, even as he pressed his nose into his sheets to hide it from the chill. It felt like… Fall. 

Tony’s eyes popped open, and he hopped out of bed, yelping as his toes hit the cold plank flooring. He ran over to the window and opened it wide enough to lean his whole upper body out (something Rhodey was always yelling at him for, convinced he’d fall out the fifth story window and break his neck) and breathe in deep. It was already late morning, the sky bright and clear, but for the first time in weeks there was no trace of heavy, oppressive humidity in the air. The heat of summer had been lingering on and on and on through September, but now the air was crisp and fresh. He knew it was his imagination, but Tony could even smell apples. 

Humming happily to himself, he pulled his head back inside and then skidded over to his dresser, rifling through the drawers until he found his favourite pair of cold-weather socks, the thick wool ones that Jarvis had knitted for him a couple Chrismasses ago in a gaudy splash of all Tony’s favourite colours. Another drawer, and he was pulling out the heavy, too-big cream-coloured Fisherman’s sweater he loved. He didn’t bother with pants at all, still wearing the boxers he’d been sleeping in. He looked ridiculous and he was going to bask in every second of it. 

Dancing into the kitchen, Tony leaned down and crawled halfway under the sink, shoving aside pots and pans in search of the enormous bag of apples he’d stowed there a few days ago, saving them for just this occasion. Technically he had class this morning, but the coursework was stuff he could have completed when he was twelve, and everyone knew that the first day of fall weather should really be a federal holiday anyway. Turning on the oven, he got to work. 

***

Fridays were currently Rhodey’s least favourite day of the week. Whatever genius had decided that his mandatory class would only be offered at 8:30 in the morning deserved a special place in hell, as far as he was concerned. Add to that the rest of his classes, office hours for the class he was TA-ing, and lacrosse practice, and although they were barely a month into the semester, Fridays had already turned into a never-ending nightmare day. 

This Friday seemed especially bad. He hadn’t slept well the night before, already exhausted when his alarm went off, and he hadn’t realized how cold it was until he’d stepped out of the building. He hadn’t been dressed nearly warm enough for the day, but the thought of going back up five flights of stairs to their apartment felt like too much, so he’d headed out, figuring he’d warm up on the walk. 

That had been a mistake. While the walk to campus was short, by the time he got there he was so chilled that he was seriously considering using up one of his two allowed absences for the semester to go back home and crawl back into his warm bed. He was still debating the trek back home when the prof showed up, and then it seemed too embarrassing to say he was leaving because he was cold, so he decided to just stick it out. 

The day seemed to match Rhodey’s mood. The weather was cloudy and drizzly, and it felt like everybody he interacted with was doing their very best to annoy him. By the time his classes and office hours were over, he was cranky and irritable and still so fucking cold. He only had a very short window to grab food, and he was ready to punch something when he spotted Mike-from-Lacrosse, waving his arms at him from across the student centre. Bracing himself for another shitty addition to his shitty day -- and also for missing his crucial food window -- Rhodey headed over. 

“Hey bro.” Mike grinned at him. “Coach told me to tell you that practice is cancelled tonight. Something about the field being double booked or something.” He shrugged, unconcerned. “Whatever. We’ve got the night off anyway.” 

Rhodey blinked down at him, feeling weirdly like he might start crying, or maybe hug Mike or something. “Oh.” He cleared his throat and then forced a smile when he realized that Mike was giving him a strange look. “Cool, great. Thanks for letting me know!” He turned away quickly, waving a hand over his shoulder as he headed for the door, irrationally worried that if he lingered too long practice would somehow be un-cancelled. 

The walk home was even colder than the walk there, despite the late afternoon sunshine, and he was shivering by the time he made it into the lobby, goose pimples popping up on his bare arms. He trudged his way up the stairs and down the hall, fumbling with the keys to their door, and then couldn’t help his whine when he pushed it open and was immediately met with a draft of cold air, especially jarring after the brief relief of the warmer hallway. 

“Tony?” he called, dropping his bag by the door and heading inside, flat-out pouting when he spotted all their windows wide open. “Tones? You home?” He started pushing them shut. “Why the fuck are the windows open?” 

“Kitchen!” Tony hollered back, not explaining anything, and Rhodey took a deep breath, counting to ten, before making his way down the hall. 

Despite how irritated he was, he couldn’t help a soft huff of laughter when he spotted Tony. He was bent over their finicky oven, boxer-clad ass bopping around as he rocked his hips to some song that only he could hear. Leaning against the doorframe, Rhodey sighed. 

“What are you doing, man?” 

Tony straightened at the sound of his voice, and turned to face him. His hands were covered with oven mitts, a casserole dish balanced between them and he beamed at the sight of Rhodey, but before he couldn’t open his mouth to explain, Rhodey was frowning. 

“Is that my sweater?” 

Tony’s lips curled into a pout as he quickly set the dish on the countertop, hugging himself protectively and burying his nose in the sleeve of one arm. “No?” 

“The sweater my grandma knitted for me?” 

“I’m pretty sure she really intended it for me,” Tony told him airily, attitude belied by the cheeky little grin playing around his lips. “She likes me better than you.” 

Rhodey rolled his eyes. “She hadn’t even met you when she knitted that,” he protested, but didn’t bother asking for the sweater back. He wasn’t going to admit it, but Tony looked kind of adorable with his boxers and sweater and socks. Rhodey’s clothes were a good look on him. “Are you going to tell me what’s going on?” he asked, shivering a little. “And why it’s so fucking cold in here?” 

Tony beamed again. “It’s fall, honeybear!” he chirped, dancing across the room and giving Rhodey a smacking kiss on the cheek, because that was what Tony did. “We’ve gotta celebrate.” He wrapped a hand around Rhodey’s forearm, starting to drag him into the room properly, and then dropped him again with a frown. “Christ, you’re freezing,” he said. “What happened to you?” 

Rhodey gave him a pointed look. “It’s fall,” he said, echoing Tony’s words, if not his tone. “Some of us didn’t have the luxury of hanging around home all day.” He narrowed his eyes. “Didn’t you have class this morning?” 

“Uhhh…” Tony gave him a disarming grin. “It’s fall!” he declared again. “Everyone knows the first day of fall weather should be a holiday.” 

Rhodey blinked at him and then rubbed at his forehead. “No, Tones,” he told him. “No, they really don’t.” 

Tony shrugged, unconcerned, and moved over to fiddle with the oven again. “Well, they should,” he decided. “They’re missing out.” 

“Sure, Tones.” Rhodey had long ago given up on trying to understand Tony’s quirks. “So you decided to celebrate by freezing out the apartment?” 

Tony shot him a withering look over his shoulder, heaving a long, put upon sigh. “God, you’re a sourpatch today, huh? I celebrated by baking. The windows are open because I wanted to enjoy the fall air.” He came back over to give Rhodey a shove back toward the doorway. “Go away, you’re killing the vibe.” 

He looked put out, but there was a gleam in his eye that had Rhodey grinning. “Sorry,” he started, but Tony waved him off.

“Nope, too late, you’re cranky, and I won’t have it. We need a do-over. So go, take a hot shower, put on some warm clothes, take a nap, whatever you need to do to get that stick out of your ass. And then we’ll start again.” Tony winked at him, and Rhodey shivered for reasons that had nothing to do with being cold. “Go!” he insisted, brandishing a tea towel threateningly, and Rhodey hurried down the hall.

***

One hot shower later, Rhodey felt infinitely better. He’d grabbed his own favourite sweatshirt from his bedroom, along with a pair of well-worn-but-still-warm sweatpants, and that helped a lot. It had started to rain while he was using up all the hot water, heavy drops against the window that just sounded cold, and he couldn’t help being even more relieved that his practice had been cancelled. The thought of being out there in the rain was miserable, and left their apartment feeling even more comfortable than usual. 

There was a faint crash from the living room and Rhodey grinned to himself as he followed the sound, preparing himself for whatever nonsense Tony had gotten up to this time. The man in question was bent over the couch and he whirled around at the sound of Rhodey’s arrival, pillow held against his chest and hair askew. He offered Rhodey a crooked grin before tossing the pillow down and stepping aside so Rhodey could see the full extent of his work. 

“Welcome to the party,” he teased, waving his arms up and down in a poor rendition of a game show hostess. 

The windows were closed now and their radiators were clicking as heat pushed its way through, leaving the room warm and heavy with the scent of hot dust. Tony had apparently raided both their bedrooms while Rhodey was in the shower, and the couch was now transformed into some kind of nest, piled up with every blanket and pillow that they owned. 

Rhodey shook his head, grinning. “You’re such a dweeb,” he grumbled, although he had to admit that it looked ridiculously inviting. You’re not cool like, at all.” 

Tony just shrugged, not concerned in the slightest, and immediately bounced onto the couch, rolling himself up in one of the blankets. “You love it,” he told him. “Tell me you don’t want a piece of this.” 

Rhodey knew he meant the couch, and not Tony himself, but he’d be a liar if he tried to pretend like the answer to both wasn’t, ‘yes.’ He shrugged instead of admitting that though, flopping down on the couch and kicking his feet up on the coffee table that Tony’s mother had gifted them after she found out they were just using a pile of textbooks and old monitors. Tony tossed a blanket his way, and Rhodey was just settling into that deep-seated comfort that could only come after spending the day truly miserable when Tony suddenly popped up again. 

“I almost forgot the best part!” he hollered, already disappearing into the kitchen. There was some more crashing and rattling and then he was returning with the aforementioned casserole dish, two forks and a pair of steaming mugs precariously balanced on top. “Apple crisp and apple cider!” he declared, looking extremely pleased with himself before he started to wince. “Ow, okay, that’s hot. Help!” 

Rhodey leaned forward quickly, snatching the mugs so Tony could set the dish down with a heavy clunk. “Is this our dinner?” he asked, laughing at Tony’s withering look. 

“Of course not. I ordered us pizza, Rhodes, I’m not a monster. I can bake, but you know I can’t cook.” 

“Because that makes sense.”

“It does make sense! Baking is just chemistry, and you know I love chemistry.” This was said with a cheesy wink and a weird body undulation that had Rhodey snorting into his mug of cider. “Cooking is like magic or some shit, I have no idea.” 

Rhodey just sighed and shook his head. “You’re such a dweeb.” 

Far from looking offended, Tony just waggled his eyebrows and winked, like Rhodey had paid him some compliment. “Obviously.” 

Tony hadn’t bothered with plates, and the crisp smelled amazing, so Rhodey grabbed a fork and dug in. It tasted even better than it smelled, and he cursed softly under his breath as the tart flavour of the apples burst across his tongue. 

“Fuck man,” he mumbled around a low moan, not caring that his mouth was still mostly full. “This tastes amazing.”

Tony gave him a sweet, pleased grin before grabbing his own fork, leaning across the nest of blankets to steal his own bite from the dish that Rhodey was hoarding in his lap. “Hmm,” he said, savouring the piece in his mouth a moment before swallowing. “I don’t know, it maybe needs a bit more nutmeg.” 

“Shut up, man.” Rhodey kicked out with his leg, half getting tangled in the blankets and half catching Tony in the thigh, making him giggle. “It’s delicious and you know it.” That got him another grin, shyer this time. Tony ducked his head a little, peering at Rhodey from under his eyelashes and the soft look made Rhodey’s heart flutter. 

“Yeah, it’s pretty good,” he finally admitted before his smile turned big and cheesy again. “But wait until you taste my apple pie!” 

Between the two of them they polished off the entire crisp in about twenty minutes. His cider was still steaming on the table beside him, but Rhodey couldn’t help pulling one of the blankets up to his chest, snuggling back against the cushions and letting the warmth leech the last of the cold from his body. 

He hadn’t even realized he was dozing off until the loud jangle of the phone jolted him awake, making him startle as he tried to remember where he was. 

“Shit, shit, sorry,” Tony was saying, scrambling beside him to grab the phone and buzz the delivery guy in. “I was going to meet him downstairs, but I lost track of time.” He gave Rhodey a smile, half apologetic and half something else that Rhodey couldn’t quite place. “Go back to sleep, I’ll be back in a minute.” 

He was gone before Rhodey could say anything else, and he shrugged at the empty room. He thought about getting up to grab plates or soda or beer or something from the kitchen, but he couldn’t quite bring himself to move, and he was still lying on the sofa thinking about it when Tony returned a few minutes later, propping open the door with his foot as he balanced a steaming-hot extra-large pizza in his arms. 

“Oh fuck man,” Rhodey groaned, leaning back blissfully against the cushions instead of making any move to help Tony. “I think I love you.” 

“Yeah, you do,” Tony told him without a hint of shame. “I’m the best sugar daddy you’ll ever have.” He dumped the pizza box on the coffee table, shoving the empty casserole dish haphazardly to the side, and then headed over to the TV. The pizza was still way too hot to eat, but Rhodey couldn’t help grabbing a slice anyway, cursing as it burnt his fingertips and tongue and watching with half interest as Tony fiddled with the VCR. Once the screen loaded he hopped to his feet, doing some weird rendition of jazz hands. “Ghostbusters!” he crowed. “Nah nah nah nah nah nah.” 

“Such a nerd,” Rhodey teased, laughing as Tony scrambled back onto the couch beside him, burrowing under the blankets and making grabby hands for the pizza box. 

Rhodey lasted three slices of pizza and fifteen minutes of the movie before he was dozing again, head rolling on the cushions. He didn’t even realize he’d tipped over into Tony until the other man was shifting underneath him, pushing Rhodey into semi-wakefulness. 

“Shit,” he muttered, blinking blearily. “Sorry, man.” He didn’t make any real move to get up, Tony nice and warm beneath him. 

“No, you’re good,” Tony told him. “My leg was just asleep but I’m good now.” He combed his fingers over the back of Rhodey’s head, making him melt a little more. “Get some sleep, Boo Boo.”

There was something about the way he said it that roused Rhodey a little further, lifting his head enough to eye him suspiciously. “Why…?” 

Tony positively beamed at him. “Because tomorrow we go to the farmer’s market!” 

***

Rhodey had to admit that, dressed appropriately in a sweater and a leather jacket, and after getting a good night’s sleep (first on Tony’s shoulder and then in his own, extremely comfortable bed), the farmer’s market was kind of nice. He’d never actually been there before, or gone on the bus ride this far out of town, but it was all cozy and quaint. There was the usual array of fruits and vegetables, and the biggest assortment of pumpkins he’d every seen. There were also stalls selling artisanal cheeses, and ciders, and fancy honeys, and a whole lot of other stuff that should have been ridiculous -- was ridiculous -- but in a way that was still kind of nice. 

Of course probably a good 90% of that was just Tony. He looked so happy, bouncing around from stall to stall, delighting in all the offerings, and it was inevitable that his happiness would rub off on Rhodey. He hadn’t expected the farmer’s market to be one of Tony’s normal haunts, but apparently he was a regular here, greeting half the stall owners by name and having an in-depth conversation with the cider guy about some ideas he’d had for creating a peach-apple cider. 

“Okay,” Rhodey said when they’d made their way to the end of the stalls, and Tony had a bunch of things being packed up for him to pick up on their way back through. “Who are you, and what have you done with my best friend?” 

Tony rolled his eyes. “Shut up,” he grumbled, although he didn’t really look upset. “I just really like the fall, okay?” He shrugged again, a hint of self-consciousness slipping into the movement. “I don’t know, when I was a kid Dad usually had a fall business trip. He’d take Mom, and I was never invited, but I liked it that way. It would just be me and Jarvis and Ana for a couple weeks, and we’d bake pies, and go for hikes upstate, or if it rained we’d sit in the library and Jarvis would read Lord of the Rings outloud, and we’d stay up late watching movies, and nobody yelled at me for jumping into leaf piles. We felt like a real family.” He cleared his throat, apparently having shared more than he intended, and then shot Rhodey a blinding, slightly goofy grin. “Hey, there’s a corn maze! Wanna go through?” 

Rhodey waited until they were deep in the throes of the maze, nobody else around, before bumping his shoulder against Tony’s. “Hey, I’m sorry for giving you a hard time.” 

Tony snorted, clearly not offended in the slightest. “I’m not that soft, Rhodes. You didn’t offend me. The fact that you can’t appreciate what a perfect season this is is your own problem.” 

“Hey, no, I”m serious,” Rhodey insisted, even though it was clear that Tony was too. “I like that you like fall so much. Enthusiasm is a good look on you.” 

Tony snorted again, ducking his head a little to peek up at Rhodey from under his eyelashes. “Yeah?” 

“Yeah! And I’m glad you had those good memories growing up. That all sounds really nice. And uh…” Rhodey cleared his throat and fiddled with his fingers, suddenly feeling like he was revealing too much about himself. Tony was looking at him curiously though, and Rhodey decided ‘fuck it,’ drawing in a deep breath. “And I’m glad you want to share some of that with me. That you… Care about me enough to want to recreate it. With me.” 

He felt squirmy and awkward, couldn’t make himself meet Tony’s eyes, but when the silence drew on too long he finally forced himself to look back up from the ground, finding Tony staring back at him with an expression he couldn’t place. 

It went on for long enough that Rhodey was racking his mind for something, anything to say just to break the silence when Tony made a sudden jerking movement and then jolted forward, pressing his lips against Rhodey’s. It was awkward at first, unexpected, their lips just kind of smooshed together, Tony’s hands hovering awkwardly around Rhodey’s waist, not quite touching, Rhodey’s own arms hanging limply by his side. Then he got with the program, curling his hands around Tony’s sharp hips and kissing him back properly. Tony melted into him at the motion, meeting Rhodey’s kiss and tightening his grip around his waist with perfect pressure. 

When he felt like he might pass out if he didn’t take a breath Rhodey finally pulled back, although it was barely far enough for an inhale, lips still brushing together. “Tones,” he breathed, uncertain but thrilled at what this meant for them. 

Or at least, that’s what the name was supposed to reflect. Maybe his tone was off, more uncertain than thrilled, because a beat later Tony’s hands were gone, leaving Rhodey feeling shivery in the cool October air, and then he was stepping back entirely. 

“Fuck,” he whispered, eyes wide and horrified and a little humiliated. “I’m so sorry.” And then he was turning on his heel, disappearing down the path before Rhodey could say a word. 

Rhodey stood there for way too long, wondering if that had really just happened. And then he suddenly snapped to attention because he was a fucking idiot, wondering what had led Tony to kiss him when Tony had kissed him and now he was gone. 

He got lost no less than seven times on his way out, naturally. And Tony, with his genius brain, had probably had the entire maze mapped out the second they stepped inside, or had subconsciously been calculating the statistical possibilities of each turn being the way out. Regardless, by the time Rhodey finally made it back to the parking lot, Tony was long gone. 

It was getting dark by the time he got home, the late afternoon sunshine giving way to a cold drizzle. Rhodey had briefly considered stopping by the MIT labs first, in case Tony was hiding out there, but he was tired and he was hungry and he still had no idea what he was actually going to say to Tony (what if it was actually Tony who regretted the kiss?), so he’d gone home. 

Surprisingly, the apartment was all lit up when he got there, the heat turned up, and Rhodey could hear pots banging in the kitchen. He followed the sound and then paused in the doorway when he found Tony once more leaning over the oven. He seemed to know Rhodey was there, unnaturally still, and there was a beat before he straightened and turned to look at him, expression somewhere between sheepish, hopeful, and terrified. 

“I, um… I made muffins. Apple pumpkin. They’re in the oven now.” 

And there were so many things that Rhodey had to say to Tony, so many things that he wanted to tell him, all tangled up in his brain, but none of them came out. All he could manage to do was stride across the room and grab hold of Tony’s hips, pulling him in for another kiss. 

Tony sank into it immediately, hands fisting in Rhodey’s t-shirt, and it was several long moments before they pulled apart again. Tony blinked up at him, eyes dark and wide and hopeful again. “Yeah?” he asked, tongue flicking against his lower lip and nearly distracting Rhodey. 

“Yeah,” he told him, grinning back. “Definitely yeah.” 

“I thought…” 

“I know what you thought,” Rhodey said, not needing him to explain. “I don’t know if you know this, but for a genius you’re kind of an idiot.” 

“Wow,” Tony drawled, positively beaming now. “Is that anyway to talk to your…” He stumbled a bit. “Guy you’re making out with?” 

“Guy you’re making out with?” Rhodey repeated. He stroked his thumb over Tony’s hipbone through the denim of his jeans. “Good god, man. We’ve been living together for years now. I think we can skip straight to the boyfriends part.” He felt his own flicker of nervousness, low in his belly. “You know, if you want.” 

“Yeah,” Tony told him, laughing like he couldn’t help himself. “Yeah, I definitely want.” 

Rhodey leaned in to kiss him again but was interrupted by the oven timer going off. He had to make do with the quick peck that Tony gave him before he whirled around to take the muffins out, bending forward and giving Rhodey the chance to ogle his ass instead. 

“Hey,” he said. “I like your muffins.” 

Tony glanced over his shoulder to give him a smile, then saw where his gaze had landed and snorted instead. “Really?” he asked, but he couldn’t stop his lips from curling up in a smile. “There’s something wrong with you.” He turned back to the muffins, and Rhodey didn’t miss the little hip wiggle he gave, drawing attention right back to his ass. 

When he finished setting them out to cool he turned back to Rhodey, stepping in close until they were almost chest to chest. “Hey, so, I’ve got an idea,” he told him. “It’s raining. You wanna open all the windows, grab a bunch of blankets and watch a movie?” 

“Are you bringing the muffins?” Rhodey asked, reaching down to squeeze Tony’s ass. Tony burst out laughing, burying his face against Rhodey’s chest, which was really nice. 

“Yeah,” he told him when he could speak again. “Yeah, I’ll bring the muffins.” 

“Well in that case, I’m all in.” 

Rhodey left to grab the blankets from their bedrooms, and when he came back Tony had the lights low, the windows open, and a plate of muffins sitting on the coffee table. 

“Hey,” Rhodey said, coming up behind him and rubbing a hand over his spine, making Tony shiver. “You wanna read Lord of the Rings instead?” 

He’d meant it as a genuine offer, but when Tony turned around, hands on his hips, he looked incredibly put out. “Seriously? You can’t make out with me if you’re reading, dumbass.” 

And well, he had a point. Rhodey shrugged, conceding. “Movies it is!”

[the-chickenshit-oddity]

IronHusbands 9:

Companion to the previous post, Rhodey is meeting important people outside of the Air Force for once (or going to a party, something like that) so he can't just wear his uniform like he always does but his life outside of the job has just been hanging out on the couch at home with Tony and some cats so it's not like he knows what's fashionable now and well, he asks Tony for help. Maybe he shouldn't have.

(could be an art prompt as well)

[reachingforaspark]

👀

I have a few MCU WIP’s hanging around- although I admit I haven’t been working as much in the fandom!! 

Here is a snippet from an IronHusbands Christmas fic “Sweatshirt rules for Sweatshirt weather” that didn’t quite make it -it’s very rough but I ain’t editing it now!! 

From Chapter 1

They're on the floor of their dorm, drunk on cheap whiskey and post final fatigue. Tony squints up at the lights, twinkling pink, green and blue. It’s like a children's stories of home. It's mesmerising, the light dancing through amber liquid and spilling into Tony's half shuttered eyes. His hair rolls in dopey curls. It looks soft. It looks like it would feel nice. The air changes a split second before Tony turns his head, and James looks away, his own shot glass resting loosely between his own fingers that burn a little.

"What're you thinking about?" Tony asks.

"There's lint under the corner of the bedpost." James says, "it was your turn to vacuum."

Tony snorts. "I'll get the butler on it."

He raises a lazy hand, and clicks a button on the device beside him. The butler is little more than a dustpan attached to a remote control car, not that James would say that out loud, and risk a week long sulk from Tony. 

They watch the little buggy zoom around the room, clumsily banging into furniture.

Tony's brow furrows and he sits up. "Probably could recalibrate that right hand sensor-" he mutters, almost to himself.

"Hey," James gives into the burning in his fingertips and reaches out, wraps his fingers loosely around Tony's wrist. He can feel heartbeat beneath his fingertips. "No disassembling shit at our party."

Their Christmas party of two, pitiful as it is, James told Tony he'd forgotten about it until tonight, when he was supposed to be the one to organise it, but when Tony mentioned hanging lights he realised that's what he wanted, just him and his weird little roommate, without the spin of alcohol and the high flush on Tony's cheeks of something that's not alcohol, without grabbing hands and shrieking laughter.

Tony stares at the James’s hand, at the fingers that wrap. All the way around his wrist and meet at the other side. He licks his bottom lip uncertainly. "I bought you a Christmas present." He blurts out.

[ambivalentmarvel]

you know who i love? ali aka @sreppub! you know what ali loves? domesticity, rom-coms, and ironhusbands, and i am perfectly willing to capitalize on that. enjoy and congrats!!!

have pie and eat it too

Tony, as usual, has been the perfect house husband.

(He’s actually a mechanic who owns his own business, but the details here aren’t important.)

After coming home early from the shop, he, among other things, vacuumed the entire apartment twice over (it’s less than 1000 square feet, but still), did the laundry they’ve been putting off for the better part of three weeks (annoying, but it had to be done), and baked a golden brown, perfectly flaky rhubarb pie (disgusting, but it’s Rhodey’s favorite). The apartment is fucking sparkling and smells like a hometown bakery, and Rhodey is a neat freak with a sweet tooth. Tony has this in the bag.

And by this, he means the rom-com marathon he wants to have instead of going out with their friends on a Friday night.

It’s a battle Tony has to put in extra effort to win for a variety of reasons. 

For one, Rhodey hates canceling on people. It’s a trait Tony usually admires, true, but not today, not after the week he’s had. Customers have been irritating, and while Tony has enough demand to turn assholes away at his leisure, there are only so many times he can tell people to piss off before Pepper calls and scolds him about tanking the reviews on the website she designed for him. To boot, Howard’s been trying to get in contact with him for some reason, and it’s getting increasingly more difficult to ignore him, so yes, Tony would very much enjoy a casual night in, even though they have drinking plans with Steve, Natasha, Sam, and Clint.

Second of all, Rhodey . . . strongly dislikes rom-coms, so Tony figures a little bribery can’t hurt.

The bottom line is that by the time Rhodey walks in the door, Tony has a master plan for persuading him to see things his way that starts with a flour-dusted apron and his hair tousled just the way he likes.

“Hi, honeybear,” he beams, greeting him with a sweet—but not sensual—kiss. If he lays it on too thick too fast, after all, Rhodey will catch on.

“Hey,” Rhodey grins back, setting his briefcase on the ground. “How was work today?”

Tony shrugs. “Slow—“ A white lie. “—so I closed up early for the weekend. How about you?”

“If Jason—“

“Fuck Jason,” Tony, who has heard more than one complaint about him, chimes supportively.

“—doesn’t e-mail me the blueprints I need by Monday, I’m filing a complaint with upper management.”

Tony crosses his arms as Rhodey undoes his tie. “I already told you I could mess with his computer if you wanted.”

Rhodey laughs, rich and genuine in a way that warms Tony down to his toes. “And I told you that would be a little obvious, and I’d like to keep my job.”

So picky.

“They can’t fire you!” Tony protests. “Aerospace engineers aren’t exactly easy to come by, especially ones as good as you.”

“I’m not losing my job over Jason,” Rhodey amends. “How’s that?”

Tony harrumphs, but he supposes Rhodey has a point. He usually does, hence why Tony put a ring on it the second he got a chance.

(Technically, they both tried to put a ring on it the second they got the chance, which was very messy despite the wonderful story it makes now, but that’s not relevant.)

“Fuck Jason,” Tony reiterates.

“Jason sucks,” Rhodey agrees, but his eyes are sliding past Tony to the kitchen. “But more importantly, what’d you bake?”

Part one of Tony’s plan: check.

“A rhubarb pie,” he explains brightly, “for after we get home later tonight.”

Rhodey’s expression falters. “For later?”

“I thought it’d be nice to come back to!” Tony interrupts and walks away, headed for the (freshly cleaned!) bathroom, but if all goes well, he won’t make it. “I should probably go comb my hair. We said we’d meet up around 5:30, right?”

He can feel Rhodey’s disgruntlement. “You don’t need to fix it.”

Part two: check.

Tony pauses and turns around, the picture of innocence with his wide eyes and ever-so-slightly cocked head. “I don’t? Sourpatch, I know you like it, but it’s a little messy for going out and about. This,“ he protests, pointing to his curls that toe the line between unruly and bedhead, “is not for public consumption, so unless you want to stay in—” he trails off.

Rhodey pauses. His eyes slide to the couch, and Tony can visibly see him considering the idea. “We have plans,” he tries.

Tony raises a brow, leaning against a wall and dusting something off the apron, expertly drawing Rhodey’s attention to how quaint and lovable he seems right now—when he’s not dressed to leave the house. “Not if we don’t want to.”

Tony pretends to shiver and pads to the couch, which, on top of everything else, he’s primped with throw pillows and blankets to look as appealing as possible. He draws their favorite throw around his shoulders, and he sees Rhodey’s shoulders slump. Tony leans his chin into his palm to keep from smirking.

Part three: check.

“The apartment does look great,” Rhodey admits, putting his suit jacket over his arm as he looks around.

“I cleaned it when I got off,” Tony offers helpfully.

A little too helpfully, apparently, because Rhodey’s eyes narrow in dawning suspicion. “You hate cleaning.”

“I was in the mood?”

Rhodey laughs, and Christ, Tony loves him. “You planned this, didn’t you?”

Oops. He drags a hand through his hair, milking the rumpled effect while he can, even if he’s been caught. “You can’t prove anything.”

“Tony—”

He pouts, which should be a crime to have to do in an apron as cute as his. “Please? I’m tired, and they’re loud.”

“They wouldn’t be as loud if you didn’t—”

“Please?” 

Tony knows he’s almost there, and as he’s starting to consider what other incentive he’s going to come up with—

Rhodey sighs. “Fine.” His lips slide into a smile that’s equal parts fond and just shy of exasperated. “But after I change, I’m having a slice of that pie.”

And that’s a wrap.

“Anything you want,” Tony swears, and he waits until Rhodey is in pajamas and has a mouthful of the foulest flavor of pie in existence before starting on the other half of his fight. “So, you know how you just love rom-coms?” 

And when Rhodey—the most perfect husband ever—sighs again, Tony knows he’s going to have a great rest of his night.

[joyful-soul-collector]

❄️Week 1: December 9-15❄️

stars in the city ch. 10 by @parkrstark (Pt. 3 of constant as the stars above)

Summary: Peter and Steve are finally settling into their new life with Tony. Recovery isn't always a straight line, especially with a four-year-old, but they're trying their best. Their newfound fame has Steve juggling between his private life and the one plastered on the front page of every tabloid. He shouldn't have been surprised that the public didn't believe in his rags to riches love story. Tony usually makes it easier for him to handle it all. Until he starts to distance himself from Steve, as if now he's the one hiding something. And Steve is left wondering if he's about to lose Tony for good this time.

Relationships/Tropes: Stony, Irondad, Papa Steve, Homeless Peter Parker, Homeless Steve Rogers, No Powers AU, (Coffee Shop AU??? Sorta)

Review: This fic just always makes my heart ache in the best way. So much fluff, so much angst, it's a perfect balance that I'm just absolutely in love with!

❄️

Devils Roll The Dice ch. 9 by @ephemeralstark

Summary: “I miss you Mr. Stark,” Peter admitted as he stared up through the leaves overhead at the stars that twinkled promisingly at him, “I wish you were back here. I would give anything to fix things, I would give anything for you to be alive today.” What Peter didn't know, as he made that wish and closed his eyes, letting the tears fall shamefully, was that the Universe was always listening, and it was dangerous to make a wish and offer up anything. - Tony Stark wakes up in his bed one morning, not realising that months have passed since his death - that's going to be awkward to explain to the world. Peter Parker has been living on the streets, trying to hide his identity as the entire world wants Spider-Man dead, and dealing with the trauma that Beck left him. To make things worse - it's now his fault that yet another bad guy thinks they're entitled to owning Earth.

Relationships/Tropes: Irondad, Spideychelle, Pepperony, Happy Hogan/May Parker, Homeless Peter Parker, Post-FFH, Post-Identity Reveal, Tony Stark Comes Back To Life

Review: Oh man this fic is so sad and so sweet, I love it so much! I love how it combines Peter's trauma after Mysterio with his reaction to finding out that Tony is alive again, it's just so creative!

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His Heart Bloomed Sunflowers (and he wore them on his skin) by @littlemissagrafina (Pt. 24 of Comfortember 2020)

Summary: Peter honestly didn't know how no one had discovered his tattoos yet. He wasn't broadcasting them but he wasn't exactly being the most subtle either. Although he was partly grateful for it since he was dreading what would happen when May on Tony saw them. But he was pleasantly surprised at the reactions that he got when he was found out. Peter had expected anger, disappointment, maybe annoyance at the very least. What he got was far from that. (A sequel to Comfortember Day 4. Anxiety) Comfortember Day 29. Make/Build/Create Something Beautiful

Relationships/Tropes: Minor Spideychelle, Tattoos, Comfortember

Review: I love this fic so much! I loved the description of how the flowers wilted when the ones he'd drawn had faded, and how the ones he got tattooed never wilted again :']

❄️

I’ll drive all night (to keep them warm) by @littlemissagrafina (Pt. 23 of Comfortember 2020) 

Summary: For the next hour they tried to calm Morgan again but, just like the rest of the day with Tony and Pepper, nothing was working. No teething rings, gel, nothing. The little girl was just well and truly grumpy, tired, and sore.

Suddenly an idea came to Peter and he turned to Tony and Pepper. 

"Can I try something?"

They both nodded at him, prompting him to continue with his idea.

"Can I take her for a drive?" He asked. "I'm not sure if it'll work but Ben used to do it for me when I was younger and it always calmed me down."

Comfortember day 28. Car Ride

Relationships/Tropes: Irondad, Peter & Morgan, Pepperony, Baby Morgan, Car Rides, Comfortember

Review: This one was so cute! I love Peter being a good big brother to baby Morgan, and I relate to finding trips in the car relaxing and nice :D

❄️

It’s What Brothers Do by @littlemissagrafina (Pt. 22 of Comfortember 2020)

Summary: Morgan was somehow full of even more energy than usual that day and wanted to see if she could do the monkey bars that were attached to the jungle gym herself. Before Peter could stop her, she had already grabbed hold of the first one and let herself swing towards the next one.

But the little girl had misjudged just how heavy swinging your own body weight was and almost immediately started falling. Peter shot forward from his place on the ground, jumping and diving, just managing to catch her before they both hit the grass of the park grounds. Comfortember Day 27. Park

Relationships/Tropes: Minor Pepperony, Peter & Morgan, Irondad, Peter Protects Morgan, Comfortember

Review: Another cute Big Brother Peter fic! I love that Peter was really protecting Morgan in this one, he loves her enough to put himself in harm's way to protect her

❄️

The Burger Debate by @littlemissagrafina (Pt. 21 of Comfortember 2020) 

Summary: Tony and Peter shared a lot of similarities, there was no doubt about it. A lot of their mannerisms were the same, personality quirks (especially in the lab), occasional recklessness, selfless hero personas, etc etc. However, one thing they didn't share was their taste in burgers. Whenever the topic came up there was a friendly, yet heated, 'disagreement' as Tony called it. No matter what anyone ever told him, Tony thought that a cheeseburger was the holy grail of burgers. And Peter, well… he happened to think the same only for chicken burgers.

Comfortember Day 26. Junk Food

Relationships/Tropes: Irondad, Peter & Morgan, Pepperony, Infinity War Compliant, Not Endgame Compliant

Review: This was so sweet and so sad, especially the part where Tony couldn't eat burgers while Peter was snapped because it hurt him too much. It showed his grief really well

❄️

Career Day Drabble by @jen27ny 

Summary: uncle happy and uncle rhodey come to peter’s career day

Relationships/Tropes: Happy & Peter, Rhodey & Peter, Happy & Rhodey, Minor Irondad, Career Day

Review:  I loved this story so much! I really appreciate seeing some nice Uncle Rhodey and Uncle Happy content!!

❄️

Gifts by @wayward-fairchild (Pt. 5 of Holiday Collection 2020) 

Summary: Rhodey and Tony have been together to the point Rhodey sees the kids as his own. Maybe that is why the kids agree to help with Rhodey's biggest gift to Tony yet.

Relationships/Tropes: Rhodey & Tony, Irondad, Rhodey & Peter, Christmas, Kid Peter

Review: This was just absolutely adorable! I love some Irondads content and this was very sweet

❄️

evermore by @lyssismagical

Summary: Just a Solid Vent Fic. I wanna do 30 days of Taylor Swift-inspired fics (folklore and evermore) lmao but idk yet we’ll see lemme know tho

Relationships/Tropes: Spideychelle, Irondad, Peter Overworks Himself

Review: I loved this one a lot! I definitely relate to Peter with tending to overwork myself during school and letting other things fall away, and then feeling quite exhausted after it's all over haha. I'm glad MJ and Tony were able to help him <3

❄️

Two Hours Spent Cuddling by @skeeter-110 (Pt. 2 of Twelve Days of Christmas)

Summary: A giant snowstorm takes out the power in the tower. While waiting for the backup generator to come up, the Stark-Rhodes family finds a way to stay warm.

Relationships/Tropes: Ironhusbands, Irondad, Papa Rhodey, Kid Peter, Christmas

Review: I. Love this story. So much. I haven't seen very many stories that center around Rhodey being a father-figure to Peter, and this one definitely filled all my desires for such a story! It's so fluffy and sweet, and I loved every word :D

❄️

Three Stark-Rhodes’ Decorating by @skeeter-110 (Pt. 3 of Twelve Days of Christmas)

Summary: Tony, Rhodey, and Peter Stark-Rhodes begin decorating for the holiday season.

Relationships/Tropes:  Ironhusbands, Irondad, Papa Rhodey, Kid Peter, Christmas

Review: This story was absolutely adorable! It was another featuring Papa Rhodey and Dad Tony with Little Peter, and it was so well done! I love that Tony's robots and JARVIS each get a stocking hung over the fire too, and the way Peter pronounce ornaments as "orminents" was so cute!!!

❄️

Four Poorly Wrapped Presents by @skeeter-110 (Pt. 3 of Twelve Days of Christmas)

Summary: Peter has two presents each for his Daddy and his Papa. The only problem was, he had no idea how to wrap them. He figures the Avengers could help.

Relationships/Tropes: Ironhusbands, Irondad, Papa Rhodey, Avengers Family, Kid Peter, Christmas

Review: This was so sweet! Clint, Nat, and Steve treat Peter with such sweetness, and it made my heart all fuzzy and warm <3

❄️

If you look at any these stories, be sure to show the author your appreciation with a comment/kudos/reblog where applicable!

Click here for more fanfic rec lists!

[lovelyirony]

"a single thread of gold/tied me to you" for ironhusbands?💛

If there is one thing that James Rhodes cannot stand, it is “love at first sight.” In his professional and personal opinion, there is no such thing. It is simply a concept that Disney invented so they could make cutesy stories about princesses finding their princes immediately and give people hope about love, but in the end it is all about the money. 

“You’re a cynic,” his sister Jeanie tells him over breakfast. She flings a stray Cheerio at him. “You are a cynic and you’re never gonna date someone because they’re going to think you suck.” 

“People are going to date me and realize that I’m a good, realistic choice,” James responds, sticking his tongue out and stealing a drink of her orange juice. “People are going to date you and you’ll be disappointed because you watched too many romantic movies and you let it taint reality.” 

“Loser.” 

“Dork.” 

And then he’s in college. 

Surprisingly, he doesn’t meet Tony Stark for two years despite the fact that every single year, they live in the same building on different floors. He has had to evacuate about twenty different times because Tony cannot stop himself from doing experiments in his room. 

The third year, James is an RA and required to live with one of the residents because of “experimental tendencies.” They don’t elaborate on why he’s stuck with a roommate, what the tendencies are, or who he is. 

“You’ll know,” comes the email from the coordinator, and he has never wanted to curse so badly in an email before, but here he is. 

But he’ll deal with it. Just like how he’s going to deal with everything this year. 

-

He thought he would get the room to himself for a little while before everyone moved in and brought everything and he would check them in. 

But no. 

There’s his roommate, lounging on a bed, and grinning. 

“Simply enlightening to meet you, James. They told me I could come back if I had a trusted roommate.” 

“And they stuck you with me?” 

“Well they were going to stick me with some dude who got the email, and then immediately transferred to Dartmouth. So I think you were the second option.” 

“Great.” 

He hates life, maybe just a little bit. 

Tony wants to do things. Which is fine, but he isn’t really in the mood to have the conversation of the fact that he can do things, but he doesn’t want to do them. He has to focus on being an RA and preparing for the Air Force. 

“Why prepare for that when you could be living?” Tony asks, lounging on Rhodey’s bed. 

Oh yeah, that’s new too. Rhodey. Apparently, “Jim,” “James,” and “Rhodes” were unacceptable nicknames. 

What is acceptable is Rhodey. And of course, the “honey bunches of oats” and “loveliest RA of all time in the history of MIT” and “sugar-puff” and “sweetness overload” 

He’s responding to all of them, by the way. 

Rhodey didn’t think his mental health would get this bad by the beginning. He had actually scheduled it to be around October. 

- 

And then the students come. There are nervous freshmen, the sophomores who don’t say anything as they move in and get settled, and the returning juniors and seniors greet Rhodey and Tony with familiarity and laugh about the posters that Rhodey’s worked hard on. 

“So, we’re having joint-RA’s or something?” Miles asks, throwing his comforter over his bed. 

“No, we’re not,” Rhodey says, hoping his expression is somewhere along the lines of not-showing-emotion. “Tony’s just...” 

“I’m simply too exhausting for Housing to deal with anymore, so I have a babysitter,” Tony says with a wink. “And who better than our lovely Rhodey?” 

“Don’t call me that.” 

“Sugar-puff?” 

“Still no.” 

Miles snorts. 

“This year should be good. Tony, you gonna pull any fire alarms this year?” 

“Rhodey has expressly banned experiments in the building, unfortunately,” Tony sighs. “It’s like he doesn’t want everyone to bond over having to leave at two in the morning...” 

“Nothing says bonding like hating a rude wake-up call,” Rhodey says, and Tony nods. “We’ll let you get all moved in, Miles. Remember that floor dinner is at six!” 

“You got it!” 

Rhodey gives Tony a look. 

“You know, I can do this on my own.” 

“Aw shutterbug, I’m not gonna let you.” 

“Are you really this intent on following me around?” 

“Well, what if I want to overtake your position next year? What if you tragically get a raging headache and it’s up to me to know what to do? What if your mother kidnaps you and never lets you come here again?” 

“I’m sure the college kids will be fine,” Rhodey stresses. “And I’ll still have access to email and the groupchat, genius.” 

Tony just laughs. 

“Alright, okay. I gotta go get some shit for my new class. The teacher sent out an email stating that the textbook is mandatory, and we have to do book work. This feels like eighth grade all over again.” 

Rhodey snorts. 

“Is it for Professor Casper?” 

“Yeah, did you have him?” 

“Yeah, you don’t need the book. You can find it online for free, and he never collects the book work. It’s a waste of time to get the book.” 

“You’re an angel-and-a-half, love of my life,” Tony says. “And for that, I’ll snag an extra pudding for you at the dining hall.” 

“Is it vanilla or chocolate this time?” 

“Chocolate with cookies in it.” 

“Oh my god, seriously? Already?” 

“Guess they must have had a jump,” Tony teases. “I’ll see you at dinner.” 

- 

Tony has a specific way of getting people to open up and actually talk with others that Rhodey envies. 

If Tony wasn’t so hellbent on convincing the group that if Miles and Kamala create a distraction, they could totally sneak out one of the pictures of the mascot. 

“We are not doing that the first week,” Rhodey says. “Maybe the last.” 

“It’s a beaver,” Tony whines. “Who’s gonna miss it, a Canadian?” 

“It’ll be the floor bonding activity,” Gwen says, finishing off her fifth (maybe sixth) slice of pizza. “Better than talking about your feelings about the campus or whatever.” 

“No.” 

“We’ll convince him soon,” Tony whispers conspiratorially. “Also, who here is a freshman? I have some advice regarding the math classes and which teacher you want...” 

- 

Rhodey does have to admit, that sometimes it’s easier to have Tony around, who is so willing to stay up until the late hours because of some stupid drama or to help Peter at his chemistry homework and also ease his anxiety about leaving his Aunt May all alone. 

Tony isn’t all wild and crazy as stories have led him up to be. 

"I wore out all my crazy freshman year after going to two frat parties and deciding that no one knew anything about how to have fun,” he declared. “I mean, come on. Why have beer pong when you could quiz people about obscure fashion facts?” 

Rhodey snorts. 

“Don’t make that the next game night. Hey, what do you think about having a movie night this Friday? I’m thinking something not scary, we’ve been doing a lot of those.” 

“It is October, what do you mean not scary?” 

“Some of our residents don’t like scary,” Rhodey reminds him. “Honestly, I think we could do with a bit of Halloween fun.” 

“Hocus Pocus? Double Double, Toil and Trouble? If you want to be slightly scared of old women and clown parties, I’d recommend it.” 

“You weren’t scared of clowns beforehand?” 

“Of course not, I wanted what they have; the ability to fit eighteen people in a car.” 

“Couldn’t you just gut the car?” 

“Not the same effect, honey-pie. Not the same effect.” 

Miles and Peter both end up lobbying for Hocus Pocus, with little to no competition other than a promise that the other choice would be shown later on in the semester. 

They’ve shoved all the chairs together and multiple people have brought out their own chairs, and Tony saves a seat for Rhodey under the premise of “Rhodey organized it, he gets a seat.” 

It’s a tough squeeze, and Tony and Rhodey get all tangled up together. 

Tony smells like expensive cologne and coffee, and he grins up at Rhodey and maybe the lights from the TV aren’t bright enough, but for a moment his heart skips a beat. 

Well. Shit. 

When he goes home for Thanksgiving break, Tony seems a bit...sad. 

“What, your mom cook the worst turkey in the world?” he jokes. 

"Sure,” Tony says, eyes unfocused. “Yeah.” 

"Dude, you okay?” 

“Yeah,” Tony says, turning. His smile brightens, eyes crinkling. “Why wouldn’t I be fine, buttercup?” 

Rhodey gives him a look. 

“I’m gonna call you when I get home, okay? You better answer.” 

“I always answer to you,” Tony says, and damn Rhodey’s mind shouldn’t be going where it is. 

Rhodey waves, gets in his car, and thinks about how Tony most likely has a problem on his mind, how he should probably not room with him, and his Aunt Ada’s green beans. 

God, he loves those green beans. 

- 

Tony is alone for Thanksgiving. Jarvis and Ana got an opportunity to visit Aunt Peggy in England, and he knew that they hadn’t seen her in two years. He didn’t want to be selfish, have them stay just for him. 

So, it looked like deli turkey sandwiches were in his future. If there’s still some soda in the fridge, maybe that too. 

He sighs, and turns towards the lab. Dum-E’s not even here, as he didn’t fit in the travel car, so Tony let him loose on the floor to “keep guard” over the dorms and make sure that no one broke in or stole the cords that he knows he accidentally left in the common room. 

The odd thing is, he had almost told Rhodey. Almost let him know that he’d be alone for Thanksgiving, but is that weird? That’s weird, right? To tell people your emotions just...it’s so messy. 

They have to deal with it, you have to deal with the fact that they’re dealing with it, and then other people know that you both are dealing with it and it’s just a whole mess of epic proportions, you know? 

-

Rhodey finds out on Thanksgiving, when they’re doing the parade on the TV and there’s a new snippet on the gossip channel when they go on commercial break. 

Howard and Maria Stark, vacationing off the Mediterranean Coast. 

“It’s reported that Tony Stark has preferred to spend his time in the vacation home,” the news reporter said, her smile wide and placid. 

“Tony’s lucky,” Mama says, wrapping golden yarn around her fingers as she works on another sweater. (A small one, a tiny one. It’s for the new baby in the family for Christmas.) “He tell you about it?” 

“He’s not there,” Rhodey says numbly. 

“He’s not?” Dad says, eyes raised over the newspaper. 

“No.” 

“He didn’t tell you, did he?” Dad asks. 

“No, no he didn’t.” 

“Well then. Next time he’ll come with us.” 

Rhodey nods. 

“Christmas?” 

“Clear it with his parents if they’re not spending time together.” 

“Got it.” 

- 

Rhodey’s Thanksgiving is...nice. He can’t stop thinking about Tony going alone. 

So he calls him. It’s two in the morning, he might be asleep, and Rhodey’s not sure if he got the “eight” in the last four digits right or not. 

“Howard’s out, who is it?” comes a sleep-addled voice. 

“Good thing I’m not looking for Howard, Tones.” 

“Rhodey? Why are you calling me?” Tony asks, and Rhodey can imagine his eyes lighting up and that’s...that’s something. 

“You spent Thanksgiving alone, I wanted to see how you were.” 

“Aw, checking in your residents?” 

“Checking in on you.” 

Tony stills for a moment at the phone. 

Besides Jarvis, no one had ever really checked in on him. 

“Um, I’m fine?” 

“You sure?” 

“Yeah. I mean, it sucks to be alone on Thanksgiving, but I don’t really like any of the foods that people usually have, so I’ve been fine. I ordered wraps from my favorite place.” 

“Good to hear, good to hear.” 

There’s a silent pause for a moment, the one where they both try to find something to say. 

“Listen,” Rhodey says. “If you’re ever stuck for a holiday alone, you’re coming with me, okay?” 

“I don’t want to intrude on your family,” Tony says softly. 

“They all wanna meet you. Jeanie says she can kick your ass at ice hockey!” 

“You guys can actually play ice hockey?” 

“With limited degrees of success.” 

“Oh, now that I gotta see some time.”

- 

They come back to college, and Tony is back to his usual antics, greeting everyone who comes through the elevator with a shower of shredded paper. 

“Welcome to Winter Wonderland! Next stop: suffering through finals!” 

“Ugh,” Kamala groans, “stop it. Stop making me think. I have to memorize Byronic poetry. Do you know how boring that is?” 

"Speak for yourself, I have to build a wooden chair,” Riri whines. “Who works with wood these days? It’s so old-fashioned.” 

“Create the most bitching chair alive,” Tony says. “And I’ll help you with the necessary tools. Your professor isn’t expecting much, mainly just that it can support the weight of two people, you’ll be fine. Kam, Byronic poetry is not that bad, you will be good. We will bake cookies.” 

“Can we even bake cookies? I thought our floor got banned from kitchen usage,” Peter says. “Hey Rhodey.” 

“Hey kiddo,” Rhodey says. “First of all, yes we are banned from the kitchen. Second, we’re only banned and get in trouble so long as they know we’re there. And since more than half of us are nocturnal creatures and I am willing to wake up to help, we can bake cookies.” 

There are cheers around the room, and Tony mocks offense. 

“You don’t trust me to help the future youth?” 

“Given that we’re not allowed to rent out any more equipment from the front office? Yes.” 

“You wound me, darling.” 

“Only as much as kitchen equipment goes, sweetheart.” 

Tony grins. 

“Aw, you missed me.” 

“Yeah, I did. Now come on, you gotta help me with a billboard about the movie night this Friday. We thinking a romantic comedy or something mildly terrifying but probably won an award?” 

“Mildly terrifying!” Gwen calls from her dorm. “If we watch two people falling in love I’ll choke! We’ve been doing it all year!” 

“We’ve only watched, like, three rom-coms?” 

Gwen rolls her eyes, as if he’s missed something completely obvious. 

“You don’t get it. I’ll try again later. Hey, are we doing floor dinner tonight?” 

“They’re serving pizza sandwiches, so obviously,” Tony says. “We will feast like kings.” 

- 

Christmas is a festive time for Tony. He loves it, and goes overboard with decorations. Rhodey lets him, because you can’t stop Tony once he loves something (and Rhodey is kind of. Fond of him). 

Pepper comes up from the fifth floor, whistling. 

“Damn, Jim. I knew you would do a good job with decorations, but not this good. Is this...did you buy a miniature village? How was this budgeted?” 

“It wasn’t,” Rhodey says. “Tony’s really into Christmas and the floor convinced him that the theme should be Christmas Village. He’s been crafting identities for each villager instead of studying for any exam. The craft store employees know him by name now.” 

“Well, we all have our vices. You two seem to get along well. Housing is pleased that he hasn’t blown up anything yet.” 

“If they try to serve cheese ravioli again, he might.” 

“That’s a problem for Dining,” Pepper reminds him.  

“Still, it’s abominable. Where did they get them, bottom of the Hudson River?” 

She snorts, adjusting her shirt. 

“Probably, but hey. They still got eaten, even if that one freshman threw them all back up at the entrance.” 

“It was payback, they were vile.” 

Tony waltzes into the lobby, arms filled with glittering tinsel. 

“We are not letting you hang that,” Pepper says, gaping at it all. “Do you know how hard it is to get rid of tinsel?”

“We’ll manage!” Tony says. “Also, are you free at six-thirty?” 

“No, that’s when we’re getting dinner on my floor, what do you need?” 

“Just that little tidbit of knowledge,” Tony says, looking down at his phone. 

A message buzzes from the groupchat, and Rhodey glances at it: 

We are a go for the real Christmas tree. I have the vacuum, and a believable lie. Rhodey’s gonna tell us when the RA on duty is gonna come so we can hide it. 

Rhodey looks at Tony, grinning. He smiles right back. 

“Is there some weird roommate telekinesis I’m missing here?” Pepper asks. 

“Yes,” Rhodey says. “We’re discussing dinner plans.” 

Another text from Harley: 

I’m already picking one out with Peter. I have good taste. When is the ornament-making party? 

Pepper looks at them. 

“You’re planning something that I probably would have to disapprove of. I’ll tell people I got your floor watched tonight.” 

“Pepper, light of my life, my absolute sunshine? You’re the best,” Tony says, grinning. “Rhodey-darling, help me with tinsel?” 

He can’t say no. Simple as that. 

That is how tinsel gets strung throughout his hair as he’s watching Tony climb onto chairs that shouldn’t be climbed on to hang it from everywhere. 

“People deserve to have a good-looking Christmas,” he says. “Besides, I wanna win the decoration contest.” 

Rhodey laughs. 

“Okay, okay. I think we got it in the bag.” 

Later on in the week, Tony can be seen flitting about from room to room with help and jokes to lighten the mood. 

Rhodey has to admit, being an RA with Tony around is...nice. Better than he thought. 

And maybe he has feelings. He’s not going to say anything about it. After all, they’re roommates. He also isn’t allowed to have a relationship with anyone on the floor, regardless of anything. 

It doesn’t mean every RA follows it. God knows Sharon’s snuck down to the fourth floor to see Sam near-about every night, and her residents usually keep it a pretty good secret. 

Still. There’s also everything else to consider, and the fact that he doesn’t even know if Tony likes him like that. 

He doesn’t have to focus on it. 

- 

At least, not until the week of finals when he’s dying and Tony’s made him peppermint hot chocolate and sits on his bed, just about an inch away from his notes for his history class. 

“Do you remember what you told me on the phone?” Tony asks softly. 

“You up to compete against Jeanie for this year’s ice hockey championship?” Rhodey asks, smiling. 

Tension releases from Tony’s shoulders. 

“Only so long as you’ll have me.” 

“Always, genius. Always.” 

- 

After the last resident leaves for the holiday and Rhodey checks in with those who are staying, he and Tony hit the road, dragging suitcases behind them. 

“Are you sure I’m allowed?” Tony asks. “I can always find a hotel along the way...” 

“Mama wants to meet you, I keep telling them a ton about you,” Rhodey says, laughing. “They told me they want to hear your side of the great Glitter Debacle.” 

Tony laughs. 

“You mean the truth?” 

“Uh, I’m sorry, how are you going to convince them that green glitter was needed? And that you could clean it out of carpet?” 

“Determination and grit?” 

Rhodey laughs again as they pull onto the highway. 

- 

After a couple of hours, they make it to Rhodey’s home. His sister comes out, hugs for both. 

“Good to meet you Tony,” Jeanie says. “I’ve heard a lot, and I think we’re going to get along awesomely after I tell you every single embarrassing thing that Jim’s ever done.” 

“Only if I get to share stories too,” Tony teases, grinning. “Aw, they call you Jim?” 

“What do you call him?” Jeanie asks. 

“Jim-Jam, angel-dear, sugar-puff, Rhodey. You know, the usual.” 

Jeanie snorts, taking one of Rhodey’s bags. 

“Calling you the first one from now on.” 

“Tony did you have to let her hear any of those?” Rhodey asks, exasperated in a teasing manner. 

“Of course I did,” Tony sing-songed. “Now after you, I’m sure your mom is waiting to hug the living daylights out of you.” 

- 

It’s not until Rhodey gets all settled in and Tony is downstairs competing with his dad in a round of chess that Jeanie sits on his bed, the intention to annoy. 

But it’s...different. She looks at him. 

“You love him a lot, don’t you?” 

Rhodey stills. 

“You wouldn’t have told him he could come here if you didn’t.” 

“You’re right.” 

“I’m always right,” Jeanie says, flipping braids over her shoulder. “Nice of you to finally realize that I’m the smart one.” 

Rhodey doesn’t say anything as she saunters out of the room. 

He makes the decision not to tell Tony. 

If it goes wrong and if Tony says no, he doesn’t want it to be an awkward family event but more importantly, the most awkward rest of the year ever. He can say it as they’re moving out, and that’s that. 

He tells Jeanie as such. 

“I thought you didn’t believe in love,” she says as they’re preparing the soup for dinner.” 

“I don’t believe in love at first sight,” Rhodey says. “I do believe in love. There’s a difference.” 

There’s a hell of a difference. 

First sight, you don’t know everything. The second, third, fourth, fifth, and so on? Oh you learn so much more, and they become that more important. 

He learns that he doesn’t mind picking up tinsel, so long as Tony is laughing and singing along to all of the worst Christmas songs ever, and maybe. Just maybe he could picture looking at Tony underneath the fairy-lights that they hung in the dorm room for all time. 

Love is terrifyingly exhilarating, even when it isn’t supposed to be. 

Rhodey did not think his heart would race so much as Tony listened to his Mama talk about her wedding china, about the utter disaster that his father was. 

“He forgot his tie,” Mama said, smiling. “Oh my lord, my mother had a cow about that. I thought he looked kind of dashing.” 

Tony’s eyes drift towards the wedding pictures, which are slightly shaky, but everyone had such wide smiles. 

It’s a far cry from the publicity photos from the Stark wedding, Rhodey remembers the solemn expressions, the stuff tuxedos. 

“I love it,” Tony says softly. He looks at Rhodey across the table, setting down the final plate. “Tell me more, Mrs. Rhodes.” 

“Call me Mama, honey, Mrs. Rhodes is for people I don’t like that much. I think you’re gonna be my new favorite.” 

“Even over me?” Jeanie says, grinning as she kisses Dad on the cheek. “I’m your favorite.” 

“You’re my favorite until now,” Mama says. “Don’t think I don’t know that you skipped out on setting the table because Tony was here and graciously offered.” 

“It was nothing,” Tony says. “Just happy to help. Thank you for letting me stay at your home for the holidays.” 

“We’re always lucky to have guests,” Dad says, setting down the main dish. “Now let’s eat.” 

Family dinner is a brand new concept to Tony. He’s had maybe four or five of them, and the majority of which were staged for some holiday shoot or some “celebrating American values” shoot. 

It was awkward, weird, and he didn’t get why. 

Now, he does. Jeanie has been steadily moving mashed potatoes away from Rhodey’s plate, and Mama caught her eye and winked, distracting him with talk about his college major and news about the neighbors. 

Mr. Rhodes watches it all with a careful eye and a lax smile. 

After dinner, they play cards. 

It should be boring, but Jeanie puts on an old record and Rhodey keeps trying to count cards, and Tony didn’t think you could count cards in a game of Spoons. 

“You can’t, he’s just a try-hard,” Jeanie stage-whispers. 

“You-” 

Jeanie laughs, rolling herself out of Rhodey’s grasp as he chases her around the family room. Tony leans back into the couch, and shouts with surprise as Jeanie trips Rhodey into the couch. 

His body twists, and Rhodey’s facing him on the couch and they’re close and with the fire roaring in the fireplace and the Christmas lights outside shining through the windows, it’s almost magic. 

It is magic, but Rhodey is kind of terrified of that. 

Tony breathes in, breathes out. 

“Hello sugar-puff,” he says. 

“Hello genius,” Rhodey says, a smile on his face. 

Oh. 

The night does not get much sleep. 

Tony doesn’t sleep anyway, but Rhodey finds that quite often he can’t sleep without some softly-playing rock in the background, doesn’t matter if it is a highly-questionable AC/DC song. That and Tony softly murmuring about his plans, and it’s like a personalized lullaby. 

Rhodey cannot sleep. Tony’s in the guest room, and he can’t sleep. 

There’s a soft knock on his door. 

Tony’s there in shorts and a t-shirt that’s probably expensive, but he’ll never say if it is or not. 

“Can I...I can’t sleep.” 

“Get in here, Tones. I can’t sleep either.” 

The bed is a tight squeeze, but they make it work. 

Rhodey whispers until he drifts off to sleep about Christmas and school and everything else. 

Tony watches with quiet eyes, interjecting with his own stories occasionally. 

They fall asleep tangled up together, and Rhodey doesn’t mind it one bit, not as he pulls Tony in closer. 

-

Waking up is bittersweet, honestly. Rhodey has Tony in his arms, and that’s...that’s perfect. He thinks this is going to be the best thing that’s ever happened in his lifetime. 

“It’s too early, darling,” Tony groans. The light from outside is already peeking through the blinds, and he has stuffed his head right back into a pillow. 

“Jeanie’ll be here soon to bother us for Christmas breakfast,” Rhodey says. “And unless you want her pouncing on the bed and landing on wrong everything, we better get down there.” 

Tony smiles sleepily, stretching. 

“Thanks for letting me sleep in your room, honey-bunch.” 

“No problem,” Rhodey said. “Missed the constant AC/DC and late-night discussions about robotics.” 

“Not like I did much talking, Mr. Sap,” Tony teased. “Or was it me who mentioned that they had a favorite plate for dinner?” 

“Listen, it’s superior and you did not once interrupt that story to complain. I think I did a great job explaining it.” 

Tony laughs. 

“I’m gonna go get dressed, okay?” 

“Not until after present unwrapping,” Rhodey says. “We stay in pajamas.” 

“I’m cold,” Tony whines. 

Rhodey chucks his sweatshirt at him. 

“Then here you go.” 

Tony’s eyes light up as he shrugs it on, wiggling as he brings it up to his nose. It shouldn’t be that cute. But it is. 

“You are the light of my life.” 

Rhodey laughs, rolling his eyes. 

“Maybe. Now come on.” 

They head downstairs together, and they both get swept up into the speed of things, with Jeanie racing around the house and telling Tony that he got treats too, they just didn’t have a back-up stocking. 

“Hush,” Mr. Rhodes says, handing Tony a carefully wrapped gift. “After breakfast, we’ll go ahead and open it.” 

He smiles, and Rhodey thinks it’s the best thing he’ll ever see. 

- 

Christmas gifts, Rhodey thinks, are his new favorite thing to see Tony interact with. 

It’s painfully obvious that he’s never really had any personal gifts, anything that reminds people of himself. He carefully unwraps the paper, careful not to rip it. 

“You nerd,” Rhodey says, grinning. “Come on, show us what you got.” 

Tony laughs as he opens a box with two coffee mugs from the rest of the family, emblazoned with “Rhodes” on one cup, and the other being a simple red with gold trim. 

“They’re perfect,” he says. “Thank you so much.” 

“You’re feeding his coffee addiction,” Rhodey answers. 

“Like you aren’t doing the same,” Jeanie teases. “You made him his cups of coffee this morning.” 

“That is because I have trained him well,” Tony says, grinning. “Rhodey, here’s my present to you, open it.” 

He’s nervous. 

Both of them are, but Tony especially so. 

He told Rhodey once that he’s not good at shopping for other people. He tends to have the phrase “go big or go home” permanently circling in his mind, and it can lead to...complications. 

(Rhodey remembers the overhaul of his closet for his birthday, complete with a visit from a rather well-known designer.) 

Inside is a beautiful jacket. It’s all patchwork, artfully sewn together with embroidery thread spelling out “James” at the lapel. 

“I commissioned Janet,” Tony says, smiling softly. “She wants you to still walk in her fashion show, by the way. Says you’re a model.” 

Rhodey snorts, shrugging on the jacket. 

“You helped with this, right?” Rhodey says. “I can see it in the gold thread you got on the sleeves.” 

“I may have had some creative input.” 

“I love it,” Rhodey says. “Now here’s mine.” 

Tony breathes, and Rhodey wonders if this gift will be enough. He feels a bit stupid, it doesn’t seem like that great of a gift, in retrospect- 

It’s a puzzle. 

A puzzle of their favorite cafe and restaurant to go to at MIT. It was in a shop window, and Rhodey could tell that Tony would love it. 

On top is a scarf, since Tony gave away his last one to another student in their philosophy class. 

“I love it,” Tony breathes, tackling Rhodey in a hug. “I love it, I love it! We have to do the puzzle after this.” 

Mrs. Rhodes sends her husband a look. 

Yeah, Tony would be around for a long time. 

- 

They set up the puzzle on the floor of Rhodey’s room, clearing away any luggage. It’s silent for a while, Tony moving around the pieces and Rhodey looking for edge pieces. 

They work closely together, side by side. 

Rhodey can’t stop staring. 

He should be able to. He’s stopped himself before, but now? 

Sunlight is coming in through the window, playing around Tony’s fingers as he nimbly picks up puzzle pieces, and this is the eternity that Rhodey wants so badly. If he died right now, he thinks he would choose for Heaven to look like this. 

“You okay?” Tony asks, eyes looking up. He took his contacts out, and now he’s just in his tortoiseshell glasses, the ones that he secretly likes more and Rhodey loves. 

“I’m in love with you,” Rhodey blurts out, because he can’t stop thinking about how beautiful Tony is and how much he loves him. 

He realizes that this could very well be considered a mistake. Because they still have to live together and drive back together and it won’t be the same, and the residents will notice no matter how well they both act--

Tony pops his head right under Rhodey’s chin. 

“Kiss me?” 

That’s all it takes. 

They mess up part of the puzzle, but that’s okay. They find they don’t mind it too much. They can work on it later, when Tony’s done getting Rhodey out of his new jacket and Rhodey works his hands underneath Tony’s sweatshirt. 

-

Mama takes one look at them for dinner and grins. 

“Jeanie, you owe me a night of dish-washing.” 

“Seriously?” 

“Mama!” Rhodey hisses, embarrassed beyond belief. 

Tony just cackles, and elbows Rhodey out of the way so he can get to his chair at the table. 

“Couldn’t have fooled you for a second, could we?” Tony teases. 

“Not at all,” Mama states proudly. 

Rhodey rolls his eyes and squeezes Tony’s hand under the table. All will be well. 

- 

When they both get back to college, none of their residents are surprised, at least not until they have to have a “knocking before entering” policy put in place after one particular late morning. 

[shipskicksandgiggles]

Omg the story you wrote for the tiny hands prompt was so incredible!!! Like it was literally amazing so now I had to go back to that prompt list to pick another prompt. So I picked 6. hugging and gently holding the other’s head. Once again I want to see who this reminds you of and what scene it makes you think of! I’m so excited to see what you come up with! -🌸

are you ready for the sappiest goddamn shit I've ever written? you better be because I am ajashajhdad okay? this is at it's fucking core ironhusbands, you gotta know that prompt: hugging and gently holding the other's head (from this list)

Read Light of My Life here on ao3

~~~

For all anyone knew, it wasn’t intentional. How could it have been? People hugged every single day, this was no different.

It started on a dull November day sometime in 1987. Tony had hoisted himself up on the counter of their apartment and proceeded to annoy him while he was trying to cook dinner.

“What am I going to do without you?” he groaned.

“You’ll live,” Rhodey responded. “Honestly, you have a better chance of staying alive without me than you do if you keep stealing ingredients.”

Tony, as per usual, chose to ignore him. “Actually, I’m asking the wrong questions here. What did I do before I had you to cook for me?”

“Professional chefs and Ana Jarvis,” he answered. “Anyways, you’ll be back to being a menace in my kitchen the second you get back from break.”

A piece of carrot hit him in the head. “Our kitchen, Platypus.”

“Sure. Where do we keep the cookie sheets then?”

There was no response, and when Rhodey redirected his attention to him, Tony seemed to be lost in thought.

“Tones?”

“Sorry, sorry, thinking. They’re… in the cabinet above the pantry?”

“Drawer under the oven,” Rhodey corrected. Then he set down the knife he was using and turned down the heat on the stove. “What’s on your mind?”

“I don’t wanna go home,” Tony muttered. In fact, had Rhodey not been intent on hearing him, he probably would have missed it.

He moved to stand in front of him and tilted his chin up. It wasn’t always obvious that Tony was only 17 being that he was about to finish up his first (of Rhodey believed many) degrees, but when it came down to emotions, his demeanor showed how much of a kid he still was.

“You won’t be gone that long,” Rhodey reminded him.

“Yeah, yeah, I’ll be home the day after Christmas.”

Given that they had an apartment, it wasn’t like they couldn’t come back earlier, hell, Rhodey was, but Tony was still under 18 and Howard needed him home to be a happy family until Christmas was over. It would have been until New Years, but Maria managed to convince him that Tony was allowed to have fun, so he didn’t have to stay into January.

“And the day you get back, I’ll make you your favorite.”

“Promise?”

“Promise. I’ll try to find blueberries too even though they’re not in season. You can help me make a pie if you want.”

“What did I do to deserve you?”

“I don’t know, boy genius, but you’re stuck with me now. You gonna be alright?”

“I think so.”

Rhodey stared him in the face for a moment before pulling him into a hug. Tony’s head rested just below his chin, so he cradled the back of his head in his hands and ran his fingers through the hair at the base of his neck. They stayed like that for a few moments until Rhodey had to pull away and finish making dinner.

“You should get a haircut before you come home. One of these days, you’re really gonna start looking like a college kid.”

Another carrot hit him in the head, and he grinned.

~~~

After the first time it happened, it didn’t really stop. From casually tugging Tony into a hug from wherever he was sitting to some of the worst moments of either of their lives, Rhodey always seemed to be able to find an excuse to run a hand through his hair when his head was level with his chest.

“Our height difference isn’t that drastic,” Tony said on one of the more laid back occasions.

“Who said it was drastic?”

“The fact that my head hasn’t even been close to level with your chest since you were 18, that’s who.”

“Mm, don’t care. Unless you want me to stop…?”

He rolled his eyes. “I don’t mind, I’m just saying you’re weird.”

Rhodey cuffed his head lightly. “You’re one to talk.”

“I’m just stating the facts, Honeybear.”

He rolled his eyes and pushed him away. “Whatever man. C’mon, I have to leave in a few hours, so let’s paint the town red.”

~~~

“How was the Fun-vee?”

Tony didn’t have the energy to respond with more than a giddy smile. Rhodey was there, he was gonna be okay.

When Rhodey pulled him into his chest, Tony had no qualms about collapsing into him immediately, letting the feeling of Rhodey’s hands remind him that not all touch was torture, that he made it out, that he made it home.

“Next time you ride with me, okay?”

He nodded as best as he could, but he was already starting to black out. All that mattered was that Rhodey was there, and Rhodey was safe.

~~~

It was Pepper’s fault that he was even here. She was convinced that Tony was going to propose tonight, finally after all these years. When she confided in him, he said he’d hide out, make sure he got pictures of the event so they would have those memories captured from someone that wasn’t artificial intelligence. JARVIS would understand.

He had his doubts. Tony hadn’t said anything to him about ring shopping, which while they didn’t share every detail of their lives with each other, he felt like Tony would have mentioned if he was going to propose.

So here he was, carefully hidden in an alcove of the Tower, close enough to see them and aided by JARVIS so he would know when Tony popped the question.

Except that never happened.

Tony had seemed fidgety before Pepper walked in the door. He had been pacing like he planned to wear a hole in the carpet.

By the time she walked in, he’d perched himself on the arm of the sofa and was sketching something out on his phone. When the elevator dinged, he shoved it away too quickly and dropped it. He went to pick it up, and even at this distance Rhodey could see the sheepish smile on his face.

Pepper always seemed to look like she was about to ruin the lives of no less than 50 businessmen, and today was no exception. Had it not been for the fact that she was holding her heels instead of wearing them, Rhodey would have feared for Tony’s life.

Seeing his struggle, Pepper headed over and steadied him before he fell off of his unconventional seat. They exchanged a few words that Rhodey couldn’t make out, and he watched as she tucked his head underneath her chin.

Tony pulled back almost immediately, but Rhodey couldn’t get the image out of his head. He didn’t quite know what he was feeling, but it made his stomach hurt.

He couldn’t stay and watch. JARVIS’ pictures would have to be enough.

Thankfully he knew the whole layout of Tony’s apartment and was able to get out onto the balcony undetected. From there he jumped onto the balcony of the apartment next to his. Thankfully he knew who lived there. He dialed a number in his phone.

“Pick up, pick up, pick- Hey Bruce, are you home? I need a favor.”

~~~

“Pepper and I broke up.”

He hadn’t planned on it. Tonight was really just supposed to be dinner, but something felt wrong, and he couldn’t place it, so he made his choice.

“What?” Rhodey glanced up from his work station. “Are you okay?”

Tony waved him off. “Yeah, I’m fine. Better question is, what are you doing down here so late?”

“That is not the better question.”

“Says you.”

“Yes says me. Tony, what happened? I thought things were good.”

“They were, they just weren’t right, you know?” It was the truth. He has no idea why they weren’t working the way he wanted them to. They just didn’t.

Rhodey nodded. “Wanna blow some shit up?”

As much as that would usually help, he wasn’t really feeling up to it. Instead, he sat down at his own desk and picked up whichever blueprint he’d left there last. “Not really.”

He didn’t say anything for a minute. Tony figured he’d gone back to working until a pair of shoes landed in his line of sight.

“Hey, look at me.” Rhodey tilted his chin up so he could look him in the eye. “Seriously man, what’s the matter?”

Tony sighed. “She’s… not what I need right now. She doesn’t deserve that.”

“What do you need?”

That was the question that had been nagging him for months. “I don’t know yet.”

“Well, when you figure it out, feel free to let me know.”

He dragged Rhodey closer and let his head drop against his chest. Rhodey seemed to pause at the sudden outburst of affection, but after a minute, Tony felt a hand reach up to support the back of his head.

Neither of them spoke, but Tony was lost in thought. Pepper had tried to do this exact same thing, but it hadn’t felt the same. This was something only Rhodey could do.

“You’re gonna be okay. Everything’s gonna work out,” Rhodey whispered. His hands reached around to cup Tony’s face, encouraging him to look up. It took a second to realize he was crying, and Rhodey swiped a thumb under his eye to wipe the tears away. “Maybe the lab isn’t the best place for you to be right now.”

A broken laugh erupted from his throat. “Maybe not.”

“C’mon, you remember the routine from college. Sketchy 24 hour diners and movie nights are the cure for any broken heart.”

“Have we tried the one over in Queens yet? Looks 50s themed, almost definitely run by the mob?”

“We have not, but I’m game. What’s the address? I’m driving.”

~~~

Now he knew how Rhodey felt. This was a goddamn nightmare.

“How dare you? How fucking dare you? You stupid bastard-”

“Tony-” Rhodey rasped.

“Don’t you ‘Tony’ me! You’re not the one who makes the sacrifice play.”

“It was unavoidable, Tones. You of all people should understand that.”

“You could have waited for backup,” Tony hissed. “I was minutes out.”

“Didn’t have minutes. Everything worked out. It’s fine.”

“James Rupert Rhodes, do not give me that tired excuse when you are lying in a hospital bed.”

The lights were too bright, and the monitors were starting to give him a headache, but he couldn’t tear himself away from Rhodey’s side.

“You look like shit.”

Tony snorted humorlessly. “Really? If you think you look any better, you would be sorely mistaken, my dear.”

He grunted in response, but seemed to let it go. “I thought they only let family back here.”

“Okay, first of all, you are my family and if you ever imply that we’re not, I’m calling your mother just to prove you wrong. Second, even if I weren’t, I’m Tony fucking Stark. What are they gonna do, stop me?”

Rhodey hummed lightly. “When was the last time you slept?”

He shrugged.

“Tones…”

“I couldn’t sleep with you like this,” Tony admitted. “Needed to make sure you woke up.”

“Well now I’m awake. Go home Tony.”

“If you think I’m leaving your side, you would be sorely mistaken, Sourpatch.”

There was silence, and Tony thought maybe Rhodey had passed back out.

“Fine, don’t leave my side. Lay down with me.”

Tony realized it would be pointless to argue, so he debated the best way to lie down without disturbing him too badly. Rhodey rolled his eyes and pulled Tony closer.

It had been a while since he slept, he realized as he felt his consciousness slipping away quickly with Rhodey’s chest falling up and down underneath his head, fingers playing in his hair, and a feeling of peace he hadn’t known in years settling in his chest.

~~~

The arc reactor had been there for years, but to Rhodey it never seemed to lose it’s charm.

“You’re staring at me,” Tony reprimanded lightly. “I get something on my shirt?”

“No.”

He set down his wrench and turned to face Rhodey. “Okay, I’ll bite. What are you thinking about?”

“Nightlights,” Rhodey answered seriously.

“Nightlights,” Tony repeated.

“Mhmm.”

“You having nightmares again?”

“Not so much. I was just wondering if you use the reactor as one.”

Tony blinked as if taken aback. “Pardon?”

“I’m just saying, you have a built-in nightlight. No one would hold it against you if you actually used it for that once in a while.”

“Honestly I hadn’t thought about it. I usually cover it up at night. Who knows if it would even be effective.”

“JARVIS, lights off.”

The lab plunged into darkness, but Rhodey already mapped out where he was going. Tony startled when he made his presence known.

“Shit Platypus, I have a heart condition.”

“You do.” Rhodey nodded. “Can I-” he picked at the hem of Tony’s shirt.

“If you wanted me to take off my clothes, you could have asked, sweetpea.”

“I am asking.”

He gaped for a moment. “Oh.”

“Is that a no?” Rhodey moved to back off, scared he’d overstepped.

“It is definitely not a no,” Tony said, encouraging Rhodey to tug the shirt up and over his head.

The arc reactor’s light spilled over the two of them, creating a halo of blue that illuminated the rough scars around it.

“You’re beautiful.” Rhodey rested his hand over the source of the light. “Shit, you’re beautiful.”

“Never thought my tech would get you going like this Rhodes. Does the War Machine suit have this effect on you?”

Rhodey crowded him against his workbench, pushing aside some spare parts so he could sit Tony above him. “You have this effect on me,” he said. “I mean, god, look at you. That thing keeps you alive, and it’s fucking gorgeous.” He traced the individual ridges and bumps surrounding it, admiring the patterns it created in his skin. “Fuck.”

It was shockingly cool to the touch. Without even thinking about it, he leaned in to rest his head against it. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, letting the residual light wash over his nerves.

A pair of hands scratched the base of his scalp. “Rhodey?”

“Hmm?”

“Rhodey.”

He drew back and looked into Tony’s face, and an expression of awe met him. “What?”

Tony’s hands moved to grip the sides of his face, dragging him up as he leaned down and pressed their lips together, hot and desperate. Rhodey grasped at the first thing he could reach, and found himself pulling Tony closer by his hips.

They were both panting when they pulled away. “Upstairs?” Rhodey asked.

“Uptairs,” Tony agreed.

~~~

Later, when they were lying in bed, basking in the afterglow literal and metaphorical, Tony let out a contented sigh. “This.”

Rhodey looked up at him like he was crazy. “What?”

“You asked me what I needed. Back when I couldn’t figure out what it was. This is what I needed. I needed you.”

“Sap.”

“Also, I think I finally understand why you always hug my head to your chest.”

“Do you now?”

“I feel like I can keep you safe like this.”

He laughed. “Whatever you say, Tones.”

“You know I’m right.”

Rhodey snorted, but reached up to kiss him anyway. “Shut up you dork.”

Tony just grinned. He was right.

[every-marveler-ever]

Out Of My Limit - Live

Fluffbruary Day 16 | @fluffbruary | Glasses

IronHusbands Bingo Round 4 | 🗯️ @ironhusbandsbingo | Free

masterlist :: (ao3 link)

RATING: General WARNING: N/A

A/N: I’ve been trying this new drabble idea by writing a plot bunny from whatever song shuffles from my liked songs on Spotify, so far it has definitely worked. I'm also actually using a Free Square for once which I am so excited for!

James stares at the customer in front of him, “uh sorry sir but we don’t have any of that,” because who walks into a service station and asks for a poppyseed muffin. | Tony Stark/James 'Rhodey' Rhodes

fluffbruary 2023 | ihb 🗯️ round 4

“Hey can I just get a poppyseed muffin and a caramel lattee?”

James stares at the customer infront of him, “uh sorry sir but we don’t have any of that,” this is the first time the customer looks up from the phone that he is hastily messaging on. It is Tony Stark, the man James is serving is Tony Stark of Stark industries. The guy who saved him without even knowing it. “I can get you a chocolate muffin and fairly bad cup of coffee instead?” How does he, a service station employee, tell Tony Stark no.

The Tony Stark in question raises the sunglasses off his eyes to rest ontop of his head, his attention fully of James now rather than the phone, “could I get a cup of you?” Tony looks the guy up and down, inquiring with subtle flirtation.

“I am pretty sure I’m out of your limit,” Rhodey says while taking a blueberry muffin out of the display shelves. Plugging the price and code into the machine he slides the muffin towards Tony, “on the house,” he mentions off handidly, trying to ease the tension between them.

Tony smiles gracefully sliding a personal business card in tandem with taking his muffin, “I am pretty sure you are,” he taps the card twice “please use it anyway, maybe hit below your level.” He leaves without another word.

He sees the reflection of James' excitement as he puts his glasses back on and his smile doesn’t fade. 

Cards:

[ofbardsandmonsters]

I’m supposed to be working on my STB bingo card and Ironhusbands bingo card and my Stony Loves Steve piece

Instead, I accidently an entire oneshot because it wanted out of my brain

So I give you a Stuckony mafia-esque au. You can also read it here on ao3

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

Bucky was steadily losing hope that he and Steve would make it out of this alive. The men that had taken them were obviously experienced, and had planned for the capture of two ‘wolves. The ropes binding them felt like they were laced with wolfsbane and dipped in silver. The mixture made them weaker and confined them to their human forms, unable to fight back. He could see Steve drooping beside him, the blonde’s breathing growing more ragged by the minute.

He dropped his voice to a whisper low enough that only his packmate would be able to hear. “Come on, Steve. You gotta hold on. The pack will be here soon. We’re gonna get out of this.”

“B…Buck…”

Just as he was opening his mouth to respond, Bucky heard a commotion at the other end of the warehouse where they were being kept. Thick, unnaturally black smoke was pouring in from under the door and the hunters were pointing their guns at it, clearly shaken.

Within seconds the smoke filled the entire front half of the large room. Everyone seemed to be holding their breath, waiting. A few more moments passed, and then the cloud of smoke seemed to part. A short, dark-haired man in an elegant suit stepped through, flanked by four hulking bodyguards. Bucky’s eyes widened in shock. He knew this man. Everyone in the city knew this man.

The man stopped in the middle of the room, one eyebrow raised at the guns pointed in his face. When he spoke, his voice was smooth, but colder than the arctic.

“Gentlemen. I believe you have two puppies that belong to me. It would be in your best interest to return them to me. Immediately.”

Bucky felt Steve perk up beside him, groaning a little as he struggled to open his eyes.

“Took… took you long enough. I was… just taking a nap.”

“Terribly sorry, sweetheart. These men are good, I’ll give them that. They hid you well. But they’re not better than me.”

Bucky’s eyes went back and forth between Steve and their unlikely savior. What in the hell was going on here?

“Steve, buddy, pal… why is the head of the most powerful coven on the east coast calling you ‘sweetheart’?”

Even in his weakened state, Steve managed a tiny blush as he cleared his throat. “You remember how you’ve been hasslin’ me about all the time I’m spendin’ distracted by my phone?”

He didn’t think it was possible, but somehow Bucky’s eyes got even wider. He glanced at the newcomer again, then went back to staring at Steve. “This is who you’ve been sneakin’ off to see?” He barked out a laugh, tilting his head back to stare at the beams that made up the ceiling of the warehouse. “Oh ho, Sam’s gonna love this.”

Across the room, the leader of the hunters that had snatched them was instructing his men to lower their guns as he cautiously approached the intimidating witch. “M-Mr. Stark, I had no idea these ‘wolves were under your protection. Please believe that I would never have—”

“Spare me. You may have been smart enough to hide from me until now, but you were also stupid enough to go hunting in my territory. Every man, woman, and child—human or otherwise—in the entire city and beyond are under my protection. I don’t take kindly to those that break my rules.” He turned to the four men that had accompanied him through the smoke. “Happy, show these men the error of their ways.”

The largest of the four men stepped forward and curled his big hand into a fist. The sound of men screaming was merely background noise, because all of Bucky’s focus was on Stark as he came toward them. A snap of his fingers and their bindings were gone. He went to Steve first, pressing two gentle fingers to the blonde’s forehead. Bucky blinked, and suddenly his best friend was good as new. As he stared, Steve slumped forward to wrap his arms around Stark’s waist and buried his face in the other man’s stomach.

Stark threaded the fingers of one hand through Steve’s hair in return, wrapping the other arm around his shoulders. He suddenly looked much softer, more like the terrified partner he clearly was and less like the cold and ruthless coven leader. “By the gods, Steve, I was so fucking worried when you stopped answering my messages. Pepper tried to tell me everything was fine, but I knew. I just knew something was wrong.”

Bucky’s enhanced senses, no longer dampened by the silver and wolfsbane, picked up the minute trembling in Stark’s hand where it rested on Steve’s head. The other brunette turned his head, eyes like the finest expensive whiskey capturing Bucky’s own. “You must be James. Steve talks about you constantly. I’ve honestly been a little jealous until now.”

“It’s Bucky, actually.”

Stark’s nose wrinkled like he smelled something rotten, and he used the hand in Steve’s hair to pull the blonde back enough for their eyes to meet. “I refuse to call him that. There’s nothing dignified about the name ‘Bucky.’”

Bucky made a sound of outrage and scrambled to his feet, hands clenching into fists at his sides. “I’m so sorry that my name doesn’t meet your standards, your highness.”

“Buck—”

The lazy smirk on Stark’s face just made him more furious, and Bucky took a step forward. “And where do you get off thinkin’ you can call me anything—”

Steve struggled to his feet, sliding smoothly into Bucky’s path, both hands held up in front of him in a placating gesture. “Come on, Buck. Just take a breath, okay?”

Stark patted Steve on the arm and stepped around him, lifting his chin to meet Bucky’s eyes with that same lazy smirk. Despite the anger swirling in his gut, Bucky’s stupid wolf brain whispered that the witch had the prettiest eyes he’d ever seen.

“My apologies, James, I meant no offense. In case you hadn’t heard, I am quite old and as such, am used to more… refinement. Ask Steve how long it took him to convince me to stop calling him Steven.”

Bucky looked at his best friend over Stark’s shoulder, and Steve only shrugged with a fond smile on his face. Then something Stark had said bounced back and Bucky turned back to the older man. “What did you mean, ‘jealous until now?’”

Stark’s smirk shifted into something more sly, almost seductive, and it transformed his face. Bucky’s wolf brain sat up at attention, and if he had been in full wolf form, he was sure his tail would be wagging.

“As I said, Steve talks about you often. And I was jealous, see, that I would have to share his affections. I don’t usually like to share. But I cherish Steve, a great deal more than I’ve ever cared for someone before. And I would do anything to make him happy. Even sharing. That is, until I saw you for myself. And now I understand perfectly.”

Bucky’s wolf brain was practically salivating as it followed where Stark was heading faster than his human brain did. It’s reaction was so strong, that even in full human form, Bucky could practically taste the scent of mate on his tongue.

“What, exactly, do you understand?”

Stark took a step forward, and then another and another until he was practically chest to chest with Bucky.

“I understand that sharing Steve’s affections will be the easiest thing I’ve ever done. Because, if you’re amenable, I’d be more than willing to share mine as well.”

Bucky’s wolf brain howled in response, and it took a large chunk of his self control not to let the sound come barreling out of his own mouth. He glanced at Steve, who had a desperately hopeful look on his face, then back at those intoxicating brown eyes.

“I’m… yeah. Definitely amenable. To all of that.”

That seductive smirk blossomed into a bright and happy grin, making Stark look soft and boyish as it lit up his entire face. It was a heady thing, to bring about that kind of joy in someone so powerful. Bucky made a silent promise to do whatever it took to bring that smile out all the time.

Stark held out his hand, and Bucky accepted it without hesitation. The witch towed him backward until the three of them were sharing the same space. He shivered at the way their scents mingled together.

“I’m still calling you James.”

Steve snorted. “Tony.”

“Keep saying it like that, doll, and you can call me whatever you like.” Bucky let a little growl slip into his voice, and celebrated a silent victory at the way it made Stark—Tony—shiver.

“I’m sorry, Steve, but you’re no longer my favorite.”

Steve spluttered, and Bucky tugged a laughing Tony against his chest. “Sorry, Stevie. Not my fault our little mate likes a bit of a growl and you’ve never given it to him.”

“Little—!”

Bucky ducked his head to claim a kiss from their new mate, cutting off his protests. The sounds Tony made in response set his blood on fire. They needed to get out of this hellhole. Now.

“Can you do that little smoke trick again, take us home?”

Tony grinned and lifted his hands.

“With pleasure.”

[thompsborn]

do you have any spare ironhusbands or sambucky headcanons?

ABSO-FUCKING-LUTELY

oh my god okay i’ve been so fucking wrapped up in both ironhusbands and sambucky and absolutely nothing else for WEEKS because of tfatws (obviously if you have seen my endless spam of reblogs but can you BLAME ME) and the portal closed has ironhusbands so i’ve been just. oh my god i am happily drowning in this and them and i do not need nor want air. ok.

also these are all hc’s based just in canon not au, and lol warning this got so long help me, though my brain is so scrambled from tfatws finale that all sambucky thoughts are scrambled and jumbled so i wasn't able to coordinate them as well as ironhusbands so the ironhusbands section is definitely longer pfighf i'm so sorry i'm like this

ironhusbands:

when they met at mit tony didnt know shit. like. like nothing. he didnt know a single god damn thing about anything. like he was a genius he could solve any equation given to him and baffled professors when he was handed like two supposedly impossible equations to this fuckin fourteen year old and he just looked at them with like a mcdonalds burger or some shit hanging out of his mouth and just answered them no problem, but he was still such a hopeless idiot, and rhodey, also a genius attending as a sixteen year old, had to teach him the basics of life, like. making toast. tony how do NOT know how to make toast. its TOAST. you put it in the TOASTER. have you NEVER SEEN A—OH MY GOD HOW DID YOU FUCKING CATCH IT ON FIRE—

he does not perfect the clearly impossible task of making toast until he is 17 and rhodey buys him a cake to celebrate the momentous occasion even though tony went though 528 toasters

you are gold by the national parks. thats it. thats all i have to say. listen to the song and look up the lyrics. you’ll get it.

and also paper planes by jon bellion but specifically for after rhodey tells tony he’s gonna join the air force and tony is worried but doesnt know how to show it and they have like a chill night in and all tony can think about is how stupid he is and how he’s such a coward because he cant get himself to tell rhodey that hi!! i love u!! and im scared to lose u and that you’ll get hurt and maybe die or smth!!

when rhodey finds out about how tony was raised (going with mcu, where tony wasnt physically abused but more emotionally neglected and ignored by howard and always talked down to and compared to others and wasnt treated like he was worthy and never was told he was loved and everything like that) he gets PISSED. like he is MONUMENTALLY angry. and it takes YEARS for him to find out about this too. and it actually puts a bit of a strain on their friendship for awhile when they meet too

like rhodey knows about the starks obviously and he assumes tony is going to be this obnoxious arrogant rich boy asshole and is so not looking forward to being roommates but he was raised to have an open mind and give everyone a chance, but tony was raised to be wary of everyone and keep his walls up and his emotions in shackles because whatever he shows can be used against him, so they clash, you know? they dont fight or anything but theres tension bc it isnt right and they dont get each other.

rhodey tries to be nice and tony doesnt understand nice because his only example of nice is jarvis and his mom and even then his mom and jarvis are always off with his dad so he barely sees them so its still rare for him to experience the nice of them so he doesnt know how to be around someone nice all the time, and so he gets defensive and thinks about how howard drilled it into him to be wary and he thinks maybe rhodey isnt ACTUALLY nice but someone PRETENDING to be

and rhodey starts to feel justified in assuming the worst about tony stark because tony is all cold and distant and rude and is about to stop the keeping an open mind thing about a month into their first year but then he comes back to their dorm early from class one day and tony doesnt come in so rhodey is just standing there and watches for a minute as tony sits there staring down at his twenty sixth attempt at a letter he wants to send his mom becauss he knows his mom likes letters even though he could just call but they havent really called him (howards fault but he’s fourteen still and its hard to rationalize that howards busy life and controlling thumb extends past his son) and rhodey is just confused because tony just suddenly sighs and sniffles a bit and murmurs “this is so stupid” and crumbles up the paper and throws it in the garbage and rhodey cant help but peer into it and barely sees the words hey mom scribbled at the top and that. that. hm. okay.

so rhodey keeps trying because he wasnt supposed to see that but he did and now he kind of has a feeling that maybe tony isnt all that cold and distant and rude as he seems, maybe he just doesnt really know how to be any different, so he thinks about all the subtle little ways that his family has shown him they care about him and starts to invite tony to go get food or to study together even though neither of them really need to study or to help each other with assignments or just anything thats mundane enough to not raise suspicion but still starts to open the door and make tony relax around him just that little bit and then before tony realizes it the end of their first year is there and theyre like friends or something and it hits him that he’s gonna miss rhodey.

for the first time ever there’s someone other than his mom and jarvis that he’s actually going to miss.

rhodey grins at him and says that they’ll be roommates again next year because they have to be and that the summer will be over before they know it and the sentiment is nice but tony spends the summer alone wandering around a house too big and empty after being in a dorm that’s small and has a friend.

but rhodey doesn’t know this. like he knows that tony isn’t the kind of guy he originally assumed but he doesn’t know that he’s literally ignored and neglected and like emotionally and sometimes verbally abused so he’s kind of surprised when the next year begins and they DO end up being roommates again (because tony kind of asked his mom, on a rare day when he got to see her and howard wasnt around, to get mit to make sure they could be) and tony just HUGS him like its been years and they’ve known each other forever but he goes with it and hugs him back because maybe tony’s just more affectionate once he gets to know someone and rhodey is okay w that.

they get closer as the years go by and they graduate from mit together and they’re BEST friends and at the end of the year rhodey invites tony to spend new years eve w his family but tony cant bc howard is having some kind of gala starting at 5 because hes weird and dumb and tony hates it and he also isnt given the option of not going even though he doesnt want to but the entire way there howard drills into him about not fucking up and berates him for all the times he has in the past and when they get there tony is already just not feeling it so he’s like nope!! no!! i simply cannot!!

so he goes in and finds an exit thats in the back and he leaves and finds a fucking payphone of all things and he has rhodeys home number memorized for years now and he calls and someone he doesnt knoe answers and theres music in the background and voices and tony’s entire stomach is in his throat and his heart is sunken into his twisted gut because he just wanted one night where maybe he could smile next to his parents and feel like he fit with them but he couldnt have that and he asks to talk to rhodey and then he is and asks if its too late to accept his invite and rhodey is like yeah of course do u need my address bc its still only 5 pm and its a 2 hour drive between south philadelphia and manhattan so he’d make it with plenty of time before it got to midnight so yay

and tony is like. oh. hm. i dont know how to drive actually. that was a thing that no one ever thought to teach me even though i asked about it about ten million times. and rhodey is used to tony not knowing how to do things that most people their age can (see: the toast) and plus its not uncommon for people from new york to not drive anyway so he doesnt think anything of it and instead asks for tony’s address to come pick him up instead and they’d still make it back by like 9-9:30 so that would work too

and thats when tony is like. well.

about that.

he might be calling from a payphone.

on a random street corner.

and its kind of raining. and he’s cold. and he’s a bit dulled out from everything so he doesn’t really think about the fact that admitting this is going to lead to having to explain what happened and also why and that is happens often. but that doesnt matter because he kind of just wants to be with his best friend and not back at that gala with his dad right now.

rhodey is like,,, ok. ok. wheres a coffee shop nearby u can wait in. and tony thankfully is by a 24 hour one and tells him the name and the street corner its closest to and rhodey is like i’ll be there asap and tony goes and he waits.

a two hour drive turns into an hour and a half because rhodey is Worried™

but when he walks in tony goes from being all dulled out to being all HOLY SHIT because rhodey has a SPLIT LIP and he’s like WHAT THE FUCK HAPPENED WHAT THE FUCK WHAT

and rhodey’s like no no its good my uncle was having fun and trying to wrestle with me and he accidentally elbowed me its all good man dont worry about it

tony isnt used to accidentally being hurt tho so he’s still like hmmm but he takes rhodeys word on it and they head out and tony wont say what happened or why he was calling from a payphone ?? which btw tony literally only was able to do bc there happened to be dropped change on the ground because boy would not have change on him ok, but rhodeys like alright lets go with this for now

so they gets to the rhodes house and it is in full swing with family and extended family and adopted family bc they are 100% the family that just adopts the neighborhood kids and the people who have no one else and like ex boyfriends and ex girlfriends even after the relationship ends bc they still are family despite not dating whoever it was they had been dating in order to be introduced to them so its a LOT of people and tony is like. this is semi familiar in terms a lot of people but this is NOTHING like what he has ever seen before holy fucking SHIT

rhodey is just like oh u have a small family then? so ur used to smaller gatherings?

and tonys like wtf are gatherings

and rhodey is starting to get a feel for what might be wrong but just takes tony inside to get him changed because he’s not spending new years eve at the rhodes house in a fucking expensive suit ok

tony is completely out of his element and like he’s not the only white guy there bc again the rhodes adopt people and those people are of every race and nationally you can imagine but he just isnt used to the vibe there are people laughing and sitting close together and playing games and theres music playing but not like classy music its music people can dance to and are dancing to and the food isnt the food he’s used to at galas and shit and nothing is what he’s used to and he just sticks to rhodey’s side like a fucking lost puppy and tries his best not to look like an idiot when rhodey introduces him to people and a lot of them know who he is but dont judge him or assume shit about him bc obviously if he’s friends w rhodey then he’s a good guy and they want to know him and thats enough

but tony is v overwhelmed bc what the FUCK IS HAPPENING this is nothing like anything he has ever experienced EVER

so eventually rhodey can tell he’s getting overwhelmed and takes him inside and lets him have a breather and then asks him about whats going in and thats when rhodey learns about what tonys life at home is really like and. anger.

SO MUCH anger

because not only has every single assumption he has ever made about tony been proven wrong, but now he knows that the best person he knows has never been treated the way he deserves and has never known a true home and comfort and love and safety and

and he’s gonna fix it

and this is the first step

so he takes tony back out and they’re still just friends but this is the day they both quietly realize they might kind of definitely like each other as more because tony is still so confused by the fact that what he knows isnt the normal and overwhelmed by how much there is and how different it is but rhodey holds his hand as a grounding point and whenever it might be too much they move off to the side where they arent completely gone but its less hectic and a bit more quiet and its just nice

tony goes to rhodeys house for every holiday despite whatever howard says

rhodey decks howard the only time they ever meet before tonys parents die and he has the most shit eating grin on his face afterwards that tony cant help but lose his shit laughing his ass off

anyway i didnt mean to ramble for so long about that specific idea so i’ll end the ironhusbands ramble with this one last thought, which is as follows:

rhodey gets hurt in the air force at some point, and it isnt that bad tbh but he does have to go the hospital and shit and gets stitches or whatever idk i dont know what specifically happens i just think it’d be just bad enough that it takes him a few weeks to be able to go back to work but he’s not like OH GOD HURT yk?

but like stated above tony was scared and worried when rhodey told him he was gonna go into the air force so he hears about this and they’re probably like almost 30 at this point because they’re dumb and it takes them forever to get their heads out of their asses (i say this even though in the portal closed it takes them even longer but i digress) rhodey has like his mon his sister his niece visiting him and they were worried but they know hes fine so theyre just talking and in a good mood and then—

door slams open. tony stark enter stage left. disheveled suit, fresh from a meeting he definitely was not supposed to leave, having flown in from maibu the second he heard and then had happy drive him and then got impatient because of traffic and ended up sprinting like ten blocks while happy was like what the FUCK

of course rhodeys family are well aware that these idiots are desperately in love with each other so they’re just like lol ok and just leave the room while tony starts fretting over him like he’s about to die himself if he doesnt know if rhodey is okay and rhodey is like tony tony dude tones stop tony im okay tony stop it

until finally tony just fucking breaks down like full on tears in his eyes voice cracking hands clasped as he leans against rhodeys bed and tells him that he was so scared and he is so scared all the time whenever rhodey is out there because all he can think about is losing him and him getting hurt or dying and it’s maddening and this is when they get their heads out of their asses and kiss for the first time

(irony at its finest bc later when they are married and tony becomes iron man rhodey refuses to not have a suit of his own because if tony is going out there in a metal flying tin can then he isn’t going alone and wow what a power couple)

sambucky:

firstly i’m going to go post tfatws, but i’ll make a bullet point before going into it so if you wanna read up until that point you can but most of this will be random little headcanons based post tfatws

also it isnt like a whole plotline thing like the ironhusbands ones ended up being these ones are more random and kinda all over the place but loosely connected

update from after writing this: i lied

let me start by saying my interpretation of why they are the way they are in civil war is because of steve

thats not saying steve is the bad guy i mean to say that they’re jealous of each other because they thought that THEY were steve’s best friend who the fuck is THIS guy i dont want him here go away

children. they are children.

which i find very funny to imagine from sams pov because he literally is a licensed therapist and would 100% recognize why he’s acting how he is but he’s petty enough to do it anyway

and also he literally was helping steve track bucky down but i like to imagine that sam didnt think they’d ever really find him again and it’d just make him and steve like super mega best friends or something because hes a CHILD

and then from bucky’s pov steve goes through all this trouble to find him and protect him and then this random guy is acting like steve’s best friend and gets to sit in the front seat ??? bullshit. absolutely bullshit. worst thing ever. so stupid.

its so funny to me okay its SO funny

its like that schoolyard thing where your friend makes another friend and you hate it so much that you do something stupid like color on their drawing or put gum in their hair or whatever but they’re adults with 1. super soldier serum or 2. a superhero reputation/avengers status and suit with wings. so thats a thing.

post civil war i dont think they get much yk. because bucky is out in cryo and team cap is on the run and i doubt theyre able to return to wakanda much, if at all, and then it’s infinity war and then it’s endgame and after endgame there’s the aftermath and the aftermath is a mess

i like to think they have some moments before tfatws though. not many but enough for that slight foundation thats we can kind of see in episode 2 yk.

okay NOW it gets into post tfatws so!!

SO post tfatws everything is different because now they not only have spent all this time together, but they understand each other in a way that they didn’t before. in a way no one ever has. not even steve, who may have known them before, but he isn’t here anymore and he wouldn’t understand who they are now vs who they were before and it’s different.

bucky finds comfort in sam’s home town. sam finds comfort in watching bucky find a home there and he doesnt know why.

also sam treats redwing like a puppy and lets him fly around on his own and gets pet and stuff and bucky acts annoyed but the longer it happens you can tell he’s like “oh my god why is this thing endearing”

bucky has nightmares and sam knows this but bucky doesnt know that sam also has nightmares until one night when they’re still in sams home town and they’re staying on the boat because sams nephews are having a sleepover with some friends and they didnt want to get in the way or smth idk i just want an excuse for them to be on the boat and somewhat secluded from people but bucky already woke up from his nightmare and is out on the deck to get some fresh out and then oop

sam havin a nightmare too

because fucking of COURSE sam has nightmares he has been through some shit too!! not being able to catch riley and everything that happened since meeting steve and thanos and he turned to dust alone in the bushes ok like yes everyone that died were traumatized undoubtedly (peter my baby boy baby im so sorry that you got the worst of it) but bucky was around people but sam was laying on the ground and probably just watched his hands as he disappeared and he was alone and like. jesus christ ok.

and then steve trusted him with every weight and everything that comes with the shield not knowing how much more the shield has when he gave it to a black man and just like he has nightmares everyone in marvel does its a fact

but bucky finds out like this and he is shocked even though he realizes he probably should have been able to guess that this is a thing and he knows so much more about sam now than he ever did but this is how he learns more. he learns about riley. he learns so much.

sometimes bucky has those like “oh shit” moments where he’s like “maybe i was kind of a dick to someone who didnt deserve it” and he already had one of those with sam about the shield but he has another one because he assumed shit about sam when they were being all childish and jealous about someone else being friends with steve but like fuck

steve and sam probably got it

the not catching someone. the way it felt to try and to reach out and to miss and to have to choice but to watch as they fell.

what’s different is that steve got bucky back. he got to have that relief, eventually, even if there was the pain of knowing bucky had been taken by hydra, but at least he knew bucky had made it.

sam didn’t have that. riley didnt make it.

therefore, bucky has his “oh shit”

and bucky was already going soft around the edges with sam (as clearly seen in the last two episodes of tfatws, ESPECIALLY the finale because like did tou SEEZ ALL THE HEART EYES oh my GOD) but it’s this that really makes something in him melt and he just. he loses the last remnants of whatever tension or resentment or whatever negative feeling he may have been clutching onto.

there wasnt much left. but now theres none. now its all washed away.

its gone, and he gets it.

sam is a licensed therapist and he knew the reason he was being all dumb and childish and jealous with bucky was because steve had another best friend but also because steve’s other best friend was the guy that had been a big factor in how him and steve understood each other and how they bonded and it

it had kind of felt like they lost part of that when they found bucky again in civil war and he kind of wanted to blame bucky for it even though he didnt actually blame him at all so all it translated to was that dumb kind of jealous thing instead

but now it’s just them. its sam and bucky and it isnt steve and it isnt about steve and it shouldnt be because its about them. its about the boat and the water and the way they sit and watch the waves while the silence settles over them and the way that bucky says, “im sorry.”

its the way sam says, “me too.”

and bucky says, “you dont have to be.”

its the way they stay there until sarah comes to get them for breakfast and sams nephews convince them to play with them and their friends and the world is still shit and there is so much to do but

but its this and its them and that can wait

it can wait

they can take their time if they want to

maybe they’ve earned that much, at least

(it isn't a fast development because they're a complicated pair and there's so much to the two of them that need to figured out individually before they can even realize how well they work together, but the steps are so much easier knowing that they have the other in their corner and bucky knows that sam's home town is a place he's welcome to go and sam helps him make his own dreary little apartment into something that feels real and tangible with a bed and a couch and when they've become something that resembles stable and they've found a balance and they're okay, that's when they realize that maybe they can try for the more that sometimes bubbles under their skin and that they started to think about the more they spend time together. the warmth that sam feels every time he sees bucky playing games with his nephew and the smile that bucky has to fight to hide and still can't fully suppress when sam stands tall and proud with the shield in its rightful place, and it takes time, it takes work, it takes carefully placed bricks to build the foundation they need, but they get there, and when they do...

when they do, they're already happy, and it just makes them happier, and that's what makes it so much better.

that's what makes it worth the wait.)