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Daycycle 124 [January 29 - February 4]

daycycle 124

[Jan 29 - Feb 4]

[OOC Plotting for this Dacycle can be found here.]

Early Morning [0800 - 0900] — All Troubleshooters Report for Duty

No Specials will be selected for a mission today.

Morning & Afternoon [0900 - 1600] — Service Firm Positions
All Troubleshooters not assigned a mission should report to their Service Firm for their daily duties.

At 0900, Allison Argent will be reassigned to Armed Forces' Very Special Forces firm under Steve Rogers.

At 1300, VIOLET judge Bethany Abbott will be discovered dead in her chambers. Her death will ultimately be ruled murder by poisonous gas. Mind Control will immediately begin running coverage on her accomplishments, including the controversial decision less than a week ago to drop the treason charges against Oliver Queen and Parker and return them to Alpha. Once again, the letters "MOD" will be found at the crime scene. This time carved across Abbott's desk underneath her slumped body.

Gracie Cannell will be pulled from her blog to cover the breaking news due to her Special status.
News of the murder will spread like wildfire across Alpha, inciting fear in higher clearance citizens because VIOLET citizens were believed to be untouchable. In lower clearance citizens, the event will be enough to get ASS vocal again. Within hours there will be anti-special messages spray painted across Alpha.

Evening [1600 - 2200] — Citizen Improvement
All Alpha citizens are encouraged to better themselves through Alpha’s wide variety of educational, entertainment and cultural opportunities offered each evening. Attending these sanctioned events are not mandatory, but is highly encouraged by The Computer. Citizens choosing not to take advantage of these opportunities, have a growing number of other options available to them in how to spend their hard earned credits and free time.

Tonight’s event will be at 1800 in the Wagon Wheel, floor 25, Room H and will be held by the Extreme Ironing Club. This group is for those Alpha citizens who can't get their uniforms wrinkle-free enough. (Though anyone who may attend this incredibly boring sounding meeting, will actually find an established Free Enterprise dice game in progress instead.)

During the dinner rush, at 1900 a group of twenty ASS members in masks and armed with steel bars will form a brief demonstration in the Commissary in which they chant "Down with Specials." If there happens to be any Specials present in the Commissary at that time, they will attack them with malice.

Alpha Curfew Restrictions
All Alpha citizens should be in their quarters within the Wagon Wheel by 2200, unless they’ve been given permission from a GREEN or higher clearance level citizen. Sleeping Aid gas is dispelled each night in the Wagon Wheel at 2200 to assist citizens in getting a productive sleeping period.

Confession Booths
There are hundreds of confession booths available around Alpha Complex if a citizen would like to communicate directly with the computer. Please use these confession booths to report mission statuses, report treason or terrorist acts, unregistered mutants, confess your trespasses against Alpha Complex, request propaganda or speak with Your Friend, The Computer, at any time.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Steve still remembers that day in Manhattan when mid-fight, Tony had turned to him with his gauntlet raised. Steve had known exactly what to do.

Compared to how far they’ve come, back then, well, they'd barely known each other. But that day, without any planning or even eye contact (which is impossible for Steve to establish by the way, if Tony's inside his suit), Steve knew to lift his shield and tilt the surface to redirect an incoming sustained repulsor blast. They barely thought. They just did. And trusted. Steve trusted Tony wasn't going to hit him by accident, just as Tony trusted Steve to reflect the blast away from him.

Saving the world, ultimately, is what had brought them then together, and after New York and Sokovia, it had become their shared life experience. Which is why Siberia, and all that time Steve had spent fighting against Tony ... it still weighs on him more days than not, because Steve knows he'd still make all the same choices except one. But given how he feels about Tony now, he knows how much harder it would be, and how much more it would hurt both of them.

Which is why now, it's so much harder for Steve to see Tony get hurt. Surely, after all the things Steve had put him through, Tony had reached his quota. Because he’s running towards Tony, he sees the pipe come down on Tony’s side, but there’s nothing for Steve to throw that would make a difference. But he’s almost there. In fact, in three more seconds he is there, and Steve doesn’t hesitate to lasso his arm around the attacker’s neck, putting him in a chokehold and pulling him away from Tony.

“Easy,” he says, almost to both of them. To the man losing his breath, it’s a threat. But to Tony, it’s to let him know that he’s finally here.

The A.S.S. member lets go of the pipe almost immediately and his hands fling up to claw at Steve’s arm. But once he’s sure the man is no longer tangled up with Tony, Steve flips and slams the assailant into the ground. Even he’s still conscious after that, the man isn’t going to be getting up anytime soon.

But this isn’t over. There’s four more guys coming and Steve sure as hell doesn’t plan on letting any of them bash a pipe into Tony. “You doin’ alright?” he asks, as he unlocks his own firearm out of its holster and hands it to Tony. Steve doesn’t like to use guns, but that doesn’t mean Tony can’t bring a gun to a pipe fight. He doesn’t say that it’s loaded with six laser shots — there’s no time and Tony probably already knows. Instead, as soon as Tony takes the weapon, Steve kicks up a tray from the floor and catches it in his hand. Then he takes one step forward and stands at the ready, shielding them both.

When Steve inevitably goes barging forward to meet their attackers, he trusts Tony to find the right targets. He always does.

There's a moment, as Steve slams the man onto the ground, that Tony tries to take a breath again and his knees almost buckle in again. That's the first sign that he gets that the hit had managed to break something. With the weight of the arc reactor, and the way that it's drilled into his sternum, the broken rib feels like it's stabbing him internally and he already knows he won't be able to fight the way he had been.

And it's frustrating beyond belief, but there's not much he can do. It's even especially frustrating because he doesn't want to leave Steve hanging, he doesn't want to leave him on his own even if he knows damn well that he'd be fine on his own. They're fighting together, after all; the fact that that got taken away from him is infuriating in its own way, and it's what makes him nod towards Steve as he tries to keep his expression neutral. He doesn't want to lie to him, mainly because he can't demand honesty from him if he himself isn't giving it, but at the same time he doesn't want him to bench him or tell him to leave. Because, let's face it, there's no damn way that Tony would allow either one.

"I'm fine," he breathes out, managing to not wrap his arm around his side as if to protect it from any further hits that may come form the A.S.S members coming their way. But, then Steve is handing him his gun, and Tony blinks up at him.

With one look, that's all he needs. People don't know how good of a shot he is, because Tony doesn't go around showing off about it, but considering the family business, and the fact that he built weapons since he was a teenager... He wouldn't just build them, he also liked to test them himself. He didn't care for others to do it, which is why every handgun and firearm that he built, he would test until it was right. It was his job, after all, to make sure it was perfect. Now, with Steve's gun, there's a look in his eyes that show no hesitancy at the fact that he knows what he has to do.

That is why, as he turns towards the masked people, he shoots first at a random spot. It may seem like it's a misfire, like maybe he didn't aim properly, but it's actually his attempt to see the range of the shot. He doesn't know this weapon by heart, after all; this is his way to make sure that he won't be wasting any shots. And, sure enough, as the masked assailants rush towards them, Tony barely blinks before he shoots at each of them. He's not aiming to kill, because that's not what this is and he just can't bring himself to do that, but this is more than just a warning to them. He shoots at a kneecap each, trying to immobilize them sufficiently so that they won't be able to get up and keep terrorizing people. Because, let's face it. If he would have shot their shoulder or even their side, they could have kept moving. This, now, it's his attempt to stop them from being able to get up properly and, when another one tries, he uses the last shot to shoot at his other kneecap. He may not be able to fight with a busted rib, but he'd be damned if he doesn't do whatever he can to stop them from hurting Steve, and everyone else.

He doesn't say anything, but he doesn't need to; the look on his face says it all. Stay down. It's moments like these, where his anger spills over, that he's more like Howard than he would ever wish to admit, but right now... Well. He's protecting others. He's doing it to stop them - and yes, partially out of anger because one of them stopped him - so he really doesn't have any qualms to spill some blood over that. It's not something he's proud of, but at the same time, it's not something he can apologize for, either.

Steve doesn’t hide the fact that when he passes Tony his gun, he noticeably studies Tony’s side, trying to gauge how serious his injury might be from a momentary glance. But when he looks back up and sees that look in Tony’s eyes, the one that says he’s ready to keep fighting, it’s all Steve needs to know. They’ve all been to battle. Steve knows that injuries aren’t enough to pull someone out of a fight, especially if they don’t want to leave.

The attackers are almost here — the Commissary is a big place, after all, and it’s still booming with chaos. Instinctively, Steve lowers himself a little, so that he doesn’t block Tony’s field of vision as his eyes glance from one assailant to the next. He’s making tactical decisions, one after the other about how to proceed, how to make sure that none of them are able to make it past him to Tony when-

Tony takes his first shot, and it hits a table in the distance. He doesn’t have time to react or analyze it before he hears the rest of the shots pulsing out of the barrel like clockwork, and one by one the men who are running towards them start to fall at the knees. One tries to get up and Steve hears one last shot before yeah, none of them are trying to get up anymore.

That’s the first time that Steve looks back at Tony, his own expression a reflection of the pride that he’d first had on his face when he got here and saw Tony holding his own. He’d expected Tony to be good, but not that level of good, and he’s about to say something when Steve sees the anger. It’s brewing hot, and Steve’s eyes narrow in concern before he turns back to the four men laying on the floor and walks over.

He kicks their weapons away from them, even if they all clearly don’t look like they can use them anymore, and carefully, Steve leans down to pull off their masks and uses the elastic to bind their hands. He’ll remember their faces from now on, but in the end, they’re mostly men in their thirties and forties. But the last one, the one Tony shot twice, the one who was healthy enough to try and get up after one knee cap was hit, looked just like a kid. Probably eighteen.

There’s no doubt that they yell things at both of them, but Steve doesn’t seem to respond to any of it. Instead, he takes out his PDC and makes sure that IntSec is on its way to make the arrests and that Medical knows to expect incoming. Tomorrow, he’ll file a report to Armed Forces to account for the shots taken from his handgun.

After hearing the laser shots however, the rest of the action in the Commissary seems to die down as well. A.S.S. knows that they have a disadvantage and whoever is left, maybe just a straggler or two, is retreating. That’s when Steve comes back to Tony, the tray he’d been holding before long forgotten on the ground. Without saying anything, he ducks himself under one of Tony’s arms, so he can use him as support.

“How bad is it? Should I take you to Medical?”

Tony recognizes the glance that Steve gives towards his side for what it is, and he knows he's worried, but he doesn't bring attention to it. Right now they have a job to do, and there's no point in focusing on what they can't fix. His broken ribs and the fact that Tony won't leave for anything are two things that won't change no matter what, so as far as he's concerned, there's no point in even addressing it.

Thankfully, the adrenaline helps him forget about it even if it's temporarily. Or maybe it's the way the anger just pulses through him, making him forget about what he's feeling. Either way, as he aims, his hold on the gun doesn't falter. He's as steady as ever, and even once they're all down, he doesn't seem to relax. He may be out of shots, but he's ready to use the gun and pistol whip whoever he needs to in order to get his point across.

It doesn't come to that, though, and Steve is quick to move in and handcuff them. In the meantime, Tony's eyes scan the area, making sure that no one is going to pop out of nowhere and hurt him, but it seems like the commotion is dying down everywhere else.

It's until then that he begins the feel the pain again, but he still doesn't let go of the gun. There's a cut on his lip from a punch he had taken before Steve had arrived, and later he's sure his body will remind him that maybe fighting without a suit isn't a good idea, but... All in all, it's not so bad, right? They're still standing, that has to count for something.

Suddenly Steve is ducking under his arm, and for the first time the cold anger in his eyes goes away as his expression begins to soften at the edges. "No, not necessary. I think he broke a rib or two, but it'll be fine."

There's nothing they can do for him, anyway. This is not the first time he has dealt with broken ribs, especially with the arc reactor wedged into his sternum, and considering this place he doubts it'll be the last. Besides, with their healing rate here, he knows it won't last as long as it would back home. That's why he tries to be as reassuring as possible as he looks up at Steve. "Really. I'm okay."

It's that anger he saw in Tony's expression earlier that stops Steve from pushing when he normally would have insisted they go to Medical. Broken ribs can take a month or two to heal, but Steve is willing to bet that Medical could take care of something like this in 20 minutes. He doesn't know that for sure, but given the other Medical marvels he's seen here, he wouldn't be surprised.

But still, whatever just happened, he can tell that Tony's going through something more than just the physical pain, so yeah, okay. He won't insist today.

"Alright." He slips the gun out of Tony's hand then, and puts it back into his holster. "Come on. I've got ice back in my apartment."

He also knows that Tony's going to ache in the morning once all the adrenaline truly wears off. If Steve can get Tony to go back to his place, then at least Tony can sleep in a bed all by himself and not have anyone disturbing him. And in the morning, Steve will cook him something piping hot to help warm him up.

And yeah, technically speaking, they were also supposed to have their first real date tonight. But given everything, Steve's pushed that to the back of his head. Now that the fighting's over, and he sees the other Specials in the room taking care of each other, his focus is completely on making sure that Tony's gets everything he needs to heal.

There's a moment where Tony wonders if Steve will insist on taking him to Medical Services, but thankfully that never comes. His shoulders seem to relax slightly as soon as Steve says 'alright,' and then it's Tony's turn to nod in agreement when Steve suggests going to his apartment.

"...do you have to stay here? If you do, I can just go back to my place instead."

Not that he wants that at all. Hell, Tony himself had been looking forward to their dinner tonight, so he wants to spend time with Steve. But, at the same time, he knows Steve's sense of duty. He knows that he feels the need to take care of everyone, and he would understand it if he needs to be here. Because, well, Tony may act like he thinks very highly of himself, but he doesn't expect Steve to drop whatever he needs to do tonight in order to take care of him.

At the same time, though, if Steve begins walking them back to his apartment, he's ready to start walking. He may be trying to be noble about this whole thing, but at the same time, if Steve insists on going back to his place... Well. He's selfish enough to follow and be with Steve wherever.

“I’ve called Internal Security. They’ll handle it. But- give me a moment?”

It’s more politics than he’s comfortable playing, but in the normal world, Steve believes strongly in a division between the police and the military. This kind of attack on Specials is something that should be dealt with by the police. It’s never a good thing to mix the two, and he’s realized he’s been too liberal in trying to make a military platoon do the same job as a police force.

Especially since the assassination, Steve’s been rocked by how much he no longer trusts his own sector, so comparatively, he’s been trying to figure out how corrupted IntSec is on the inside. Calling them in to handle this situation takes him a step closer to that goal.

But Steve does just need a moment, just to check in with a few of the Specials who are still left to make sure they’re all right. When he leaves Tony alone though, he makes sure he has a place to lean or sit first with a good vantage point, and only then does he carefully slide himself out from beneath Tony’s arm.

“I’ll be right back.”

And he does come back fairly soon. Tony would be able to see him going up to a few people, but within five minutes, Steve returns. By then, some IntSec agents have arrived as well, including another GREEN officer who’s clearly looking to see if Steve is here when he arrives. But even if they do see each other, Steve doesn’t make any motions to go speak to him.

On their way up in the elevator, after Steve pushes the button to his floor, just one floor down, he gives Tony a light grin.

“I never knew you could shoot like that.”

"Yeah, that's fine."

He's even about to offer that he could walk off to sit on his own, but Steve is too much of a gentleman for that. He's already helping him to go to a spot where he could lean, and Tony gives a quiet thanks.

As Steve goes off to work, Tony watches him for a moment before using his fingers to try and figure out where the pain on his side is stemming from. Sure enough, he can feel the inflammation even trough the jumpsuit, and yeah. He really had broken something. His neck feels sore, too, from where the pipe had been pressed so he could suffocate, but at worst it'll be a bruise tomorrow. It's definitely something he has dealt with before, so why worry?

Leaning his head against the wall, he watches the rest of the Commissary, taking in the remnants of the fight. Before he can push himself off the wall to at least walk around, though, suddenly Steve is coming back and Tony follows him towards the elevator.

And...that's definitely not what he expects to hear once the door closes, and Tony's lips quirk slightly. "It's...not something I really share a lot. But I learned to shoot after I started building handguns. Figured I couldn't sell them if I didn't know how well they actually worked."

If Tony looks like he could benefit from alleviating some weight from the bruised side of his ribs, Steve would wrap Tony’s arm around his shoulders again, just to give him something to lean on as they make their way to the elevator. But if he looks like he’d rather manage on his own, Steve will stay alongside him as Tonys walk on his own for the rest of the distance — they’ve certainly seen worse than this, and they don’t have a long way to go. GREEN is only one floor down.

In the elevator, what Tony says makes sense, especially since Steve’s seen firsthand how much Tony likes to throw himself into his work. And it's not like Steve could ever forget that Stark Industries built its empire on weapons manufacturing. But Tony had gone through so much, and what Steve knew about Afghanistan he’d read from a file or saw in the footage Fury gave him as background. By the time Steve actually woke up from the ice and was recruited into the Avengers — by the time he actually met Tony for the first time — Stark Industries had already changed. To Steve, it’s focus on renewable energy and countless other projects were the norm.

But right, weapons. Tony had grown up designing and selling weapons, and of course he’d learned how to shoot.

“Not everyone who learns how to shoot could’ve done what you did back there,” he says gently, because the elevator opens again, and he starts to guide Tony out. The door to his apartment is just down the hall. Steve knows he’s got two first-aid packs stored away, and he’s already making plans to get one out as soon as he can get Tony through the door and seated on his couch.

From the Commissary to the elevator, Tony's able to walk as normal as possible even if now that the adrenaline is wearing off, he's finding himself having a hard time even just inhaling as he breathes. Once the door closes, he leans against the wall almost casually, but there's a brief moment as he talks where his hand reaches up to his chest, almost as if adjusting the arc reactor - or trying to, anyway - in an attempt to ease the pressure he's feeling, but it doesn't last for long. It's quick, and it's done almost without him noticing. When he does realize what he's doing, he just goes back to his 'relaxed' stance as he speaks.

"I built a lot of weapons," he explains with a small shrug, even if there's a moment where there's shame in his eyes as he says that. Because that time in his life is tainted thanks to Obadiah and his stay in Afghanistan, and... Well. He had raked in a lot of money thanks to his deathly inventions.

"I was a teenager when I built my first one. Quality control was a big thing - I was the...number one weapons manufacturer for the army. I had to make sure they worked." A beat. "I don't like it, honestly. Using guns? I can build one, no problem, and shoot it. But I prefer the blasts my suit can do over bullets."

Which is why his suit doesn't have that as a default and let's Rhodey handle that kind of thing. Tony's more into blasts and explosions.

When the door is open for them to get out, Tony pushes himself off the wall as his arm tries to subtly cradle his side as discretely as possible, but Steve catches that and in no time he's wrapping his arm around his shoulders to ease the weight off his side. Which Tony appreciates but, not wanting to feel like a burden, he smiles faintly over at him. "It's okay, it's not that bad."

I don’t like it, honestly. As Tony keeps going, Steve actually gives him a surprised look — he had no idea. He’s noticed, certainly, that the suits have blasts instead of bullets, but he’d always imagined that for someone like Tony, who took so much pride in all his work, the fact that he doesn’t like using guns- Well, it’s a surprise.

But what feels even more unexpected, is how something like an attack on the Specials, could lead him to find out something he and Tony had in common.

“I don’t like using ‘em either.”

Maybe it’s not surprising for anyone else to hear him say that, but Steve still feels like he’s sharing something personal. Even if there are still black and white film strips out there — Howard probably kept a lot of them — that depict him with a gun in hand, jumping off the back of a jeep. Even if he’s stormed into a base, gun blazing. Because that’s how wars were fought in WWII. But ever since Steve learned how to fight with a shield, using anything else feels wrong. After all, for Steve, the whole point of fighting is to defend those who can’t defend themselves.

Steve isn’t sure exactly how much Tony’s injury hurts at the moment, but the fact that Tony’s trying to play it down gives him a clue. So as he begins to guide them down the hall, and Tony makes that comment, Steve just smiles back at him.

“Yeah?” The way his eyebrows are lifted tells Tony that he doesn’t believe him, but instead of calling him out on it, Steve’s going with another strategy. “Well- What if I just kinda like havin’ your arm around me?”

It’s funny how, if all he was doing was flirting, Steve would never be able to get that sentence out. But when it’s to help someone? All the rules start to change.

Tony catches the surprised look, but he gives a small smile - one that should accompany a shrug, as if to say 'yeah, well, surprise.' Mainly because he knows the irony behind it, of being a weapons manufacturer - of being as good and as well known as he used to be - but he hadn't really liked firearms. The thing is, in the grand scheme of things, he had just been good at it. Really good. He did it to get the job done, to carry on the legacy he had been expected to uphold, and to do it as well as he could.

But then Steve is admitting that he himself doesn't like them either, and Tony's smile becomes more relaxed. Less awkward from his own admittance. "I used to wonder about that, actually."

It's said quietly, almost as if it's another admittance. And, heh, it is. Steve doesn't know how long Tony admired Captain America, doesn't know how closely he watched those film strips when he was a little boy, but...it's really not a lie. Even from the time they worked together, he did wonder about that; Tony could build weapons for his team all he wanted, but Steve was generally prone to use his shield instead.

As they walk over to his apartment, and Steve gives him that look, Tony almost narrows his eyes at him. But then he says something so completely unexpected, and he can't help but huff out a quiet chuckle, even if his breathing hitches by the end of it. "That's... I guess I can't argue much with that."

He's tempted to lean over to kiss his cheek, but they're suddenly at Steve's door, and he's letting them inside. Tony almost assures him again that it's okay, he can walk in on his own, but Steve is guiding him to the couch and, before he sits, he 'steals' a quick kiss. "...I hadn't done that tonight yet," he explains with a smile.

“I always thought you kinda suspected,” he says, giving a quiet chuckle. “I think after the third or fourth attempt at making me something new, you stopped showing me anything unless it was for the shield.”

Steve remembers at the beginning that Tony had made all sorts of weapons for them, including improvements on their current gear, but also new weapons that could adapt to the way they fought. And yet, the only thing that had ever interested Steve were improvements to his interactions with the shield. The ability to call it back to his arm was game-changing. So was the moment he could snap it onto the harness onto the back of his uniform. But the final magnetic locks Tony had built him after Sokovia to replace the hand holds — that was an improvement he didn’t even think was possible. It made the vibranium feel like a natural extension of his arm.

Even before they got here, Steve really did appreciate everything Tony had done for him.

When Tony laughs a little and acquiesces to letting Steve help carry some of the weight, he smiles. “Well alright then.” Soon enough, Steve’s pressing the electronic card to his door and it unlocks. He pushes the door in for both of them and by the time he gets Tony to the couch, Steve is already planning to get the first aid kit when he feels Tony kiss him. It a pleasant surprise, but it happens too fast, and Steve doesn’t get a chance to properly kiss Tony back. So before he leaves to grab the kit, Steve sits down briefly, right next to Tony before he leans in for something deeper. When he’s kissing Tony, a stray thought passes through his mind: they’ve never actually kissed here before, in Steve’s apartment. He’d always come down to visit Tony in RED.

But the kiss is limited to just one. He’s not about to start making out when he wants to see how bad the injury is. Just in case there’s something that broke skin, or if there’s obvious internal bleeding, Steve wants to know.

“I’m gonna go get a first aid kit from the bathroom. I bought two a few months ago, they should still be good. In the meantime, can you unzip and take off your shirt? I wanna see how it looks.”

Tony remembers those days, too, and he gives a nod as the look on his face becomes more fond than anything. Because, yes, he had suspected that before; whenever he would build something with Steve in mind, but he never seemed very interested in it. It's good to know his suspicions were right, though, and he can't help but smile a little brighter because of it.

After the quick peck that Tony had given Steve's lips, he hadn't really been expecting anything else after that. But then he's sitting down next to him, and he's kissing him, and for the first time tonight he manages to relax. It even feels as if his breathing comes a little easier, and it's a wonder that Tony doesn't pull Steve back in for another kiss. He wants to tell him that everything else could wait, that he was fine, but it all ends too quickly and Steve is getting back up again.

And...he's asking him to unzip and take off his shirt. Somehow he manages to not choke at the surprise, but he grins. "You know, I didn't think I'd be undressing for you so soon after we started seeing each other..."

Not that it would be a new concept for him. Tony generally doesn't wait this long to sleep with someone while dating them, but with Steve it's a whole different ballgame. Not that he minds it - they both need time, each for their own reasons - but he still can't help the teasing tone in his voice.

The playfulness disappears pretty quickly, though, when he realizes what taking his shirt off will mean. It will mean Steve seeing the scars from the bombing, the arc reactor, the remnants of old injuries from back home. That's on top of whatever other markings he might have been left with during the fight, and Tony is suddenly tempted to just get up and find a way to distract Steve. Somehow. Maybe if he just starts kissing him, that will just make him forget about the first aid kit?

But, he knows the answer to that before he even stands, so he doesn't. With a sigh under his breath, after some hesitation that he tries to not show, he unzips the top part of the jumpsuit and carefully takes it off down to his waist. Pulling his arms out of the sleeves already tells him that taking off his shirt will be a bitch to deal with, but after sucking in a breath, he forces himself through it. There's a bruise forming on his lower back, where a pipe had hit him in the beginning of the fight, but the most obvious one is the one on his side. There's some inflammation as well, but at least he wouldn't require stitches for anything. Which is probably a good thing, considering the scars that are already scattered along his chest. There are markings from where the shrapnel had torn through his skin along his chest and shoulders during the bombing. And, as if that wasn't enough, there were the marks from back home - the old gunshot wound on his left shoulder from his escape from the cave Afghanistan; an old scar that looks like something stabbed him deep runs along his side, almost down to his hip and, while he can't see it from this angle, he knows exactly where there's another scar on the back of his right shoulder blade, making almost an indentation where a small piece of skin never quite returned properly.

Of course, the one he hates the most is the big glowing circle that is embedded in the middle of his chest. He shifts awkwardly in his spot, ready to put his shirt back on again, but Steve is suddenly walking back into the room and he lets out a small sigh under his breath as he looks down at his shirt. Mainly because, if he does so, maybe he won't see Steve's reaction to seeing him for the first time.

"...it's not that bad. I don't think you need the...first aid kit." Can I put my shirt back on now?

Steve can sense the way Tony’s body seems to let some of the tension go when he kisses him, and it’s a good feeling. It nearly makes him not want to get up again, but Steve knows they’ll be time for that later. So he breaks away and asks Tony to take off his shirt. When he hears Tony say undressing for you so soon however, Steve’s lips part and his eyes get just a little bigger, like he’s about to insist for the sake of his honor that this is for wound-inspection only, but in the end, he just lets out a breath, smiles as he glances down, and shakes his head. When he looks back up, he gives Tony another kiss on the cheek before he stands and disappears down the hall and into the bathroom.

When he comes back, Steve’s got one of his first aid kits in his hands, as well as one of his own white cotton shirts.

Oh Tony.

His forehead furrows in concern as Steve takes it all in, his eyes running over Tony’s body as his feet carry him around the coffee table and he kneels down next to Tony’s legs.

He notices the arc reactor because it’s impossible not too see it, but the growing worry on his face is from the scars. Everywhere he looks, there’s one more, and every time he finds the next one, he feels a bigger and bigger pain in his chest, and soon, Steve’s knuckles are starting to turn white from how hard he’s holding onto the shirt in his hand.

Steve couldn’t have predicted how much it’s hurting him to see the way the shrapnel markings are littered across Tony’s chest and shoulders. But he knows that’s only the tip of the iceberg — the freshest layer on top of layers of pain and suffering from years past, and as his eyes pass over the gunshot wound and that long scar along Tony’s side, Steve …

He tries hard not to look like he wants to stand guard between Tony and the world for the rest of time.

As his eyes fall back onto the bruising, he focuses though, knowing that there’s still a few things he can do now, to help ease the pain. Tony’s right, in that they don’t need the first aid kit, so Steve sets it down on the table.

“Here,” he finally says, his grip finally loosening on the shirt in his hands as he offers it to Tony. “I brought you one of my shirts. It should be big on you, so it’ll be easier to get on and off.”

Steve stands again though, that look of concern never really leaving his eyes, before he turns and walks the few feet between the couch and the kitchen. He seems to just stare motionless at his cabinets for a moment before he opens one and pulls out a box of ReadyRice (the Alpha brand of instant grains, probably) and throws it into his freezer. He’ll need the rice to make a better ice pack later, but he knows he also needs to make something that he can use right now. So from the freezer, Steve pulls out a half dozen heirloom tomatoes, each one frosty and frozen solid. They’re part of what he’d planned for dinner tonight, but right now, they have a more important job to do.

When he comes back to Tony, Steve got them wrapped up tight inside a clean dishtowel, and offers it to Tony before kneeling down next to him again. With both the towel and a shirt in between Tony’s skin on the tomatoes, the makeshift ice pack should be cold but not uncomfortable against Tony’s side.

“How does it feel when you breathe?” Is anything pressed up against an organ?

He shouldn't enjoy making Steve flustered over the tease of his shirt, but he does. Not maliciously, but just because Steve gets that look on his face that makes him want to kiss him all over again, and thankfully he's leaning in for another kiss before he needs to ask him to.

That playfulness is gone from Tony's features, though, by the time Steve is back. The old scars had already been enough, but with the ones from the bombing... Well. Those are new enough to make them more obvious - or at least that's how it feels, although that might also be because of how much he hates them - and Tony just looks at anywhere but Steve when he's back in the room. Because, god, he looks hideous. Steve is quite literally the definition of perfection, and here he is. With his chest all marked, and the glowing thing in his chest essentially attracting attention now that it's in full display.

It's not until Steve offers him his shirt that Tony speaks again, a quiet thanks although he doesn't quite move just yet, and he also doesn't really make eye contact. It's not until Steve goes into the kitchen that Tony moves again, pulling the shirt on as carefully as possible even if he has to bite back a groan when he makes a movement that's apparently too quick. He almost stands again, ready to make some sort of distracting conversation, but suddenly Steve is back and offering him an ice pack of sorts.

"Thanks," he repeats, and carefully presses the towel against his side. "It... I mean, it hurts, but it's not a big deal." I'm used to it, he almost says as well, but. "It's fine, really. This is helping."

“Good.”

The word is short, and Steve nods as he sets his hands on Tony’s knee, squeezing it gently as he looks up at him. He’s noticed the way Tony’s been avoiding looking at him, like he’s scared to see his reaction. For a moment, Steve considers not asking about it and distracting Tony with dinner instead, but … in a way, he has to. He can’t see a situation and not address it.

“Hey,” he starts, as he moves himself up onto the couch, back to where he'd been when they'd kissed. “Tony, what’s wrong?”

There's a moment, no matter how brief, that Tony had hoped that they could just move past all this without addressing any of it, but... Well. Steve asks that question, and honestly it's not surprising at all.

"Nothing," he assures him and even tries to smile at him, even if he can tell by Steve's expression that he's not being very convincing. Shifting slightly in his seat, he forces down a sigh. "Nothing, it's...I know it looks pretty awful. All of this," he motions to his chest uncomfortably, once again his eyes focusing on anything other than Steve for a moment.

"You know, I used to have no problem taking off my shirt before." There's a small wry smirk as he speaks. "Now, though, it's... I guess I'm not used to it anymore."

There had been one scar in particular, near the bottom of the arc reactor, that Steve hadn’t been able to place. It hadn’t been a gunshot, and it had been closer to a stab wound, but the healing doesn’t match exactly. He still wonders where that’s from.

But Tony’s assurance really isn’t convincing at all, and then he seems uncomfortable even talking about it — and Steve still can’t quite put it together. To him, the scars don’t make Tony ugly, or hideous. They make him strong. So in Steve’s mind, the only reason that Tony could be this uncomfortable, is if he’s embarrassed that he’d gotten those scars in the first place. But that doesn’t feel right either. Tony’s a proud person, but he’s not so proud that he thinks he’s untouchable.

It’s … difficult, how little sense Steve can make out of this, and Tony’s still not looking at him.

“Yeah?” he asks, when Tony says that about his shirts, and a for a moment, he plays along. “Well, I think I’d get jealous, if you really had no problems taking off your shirt.”

But soon enough, that playfulness eases into gentleness, and Steve lifts his hand to slide up against Tony’s cheek. Lightly, he guides Tony back to him, and leans in for a soft kiss. It’s much more chaste than what they’ve gotten used to, especially after what Tony’s showed him, but it’s mean to help soothe Tony more than distract him.

Even when Steve pulls back, he doesn’t go far. Instead, he just leans himself into Tony’s shoulder, and let’s Tony do the same. Together, they make a little arch with, but the important part to Steve is that a position like this still lets them be close, but it doesn’t force any eye contact from Tony.

“Why is it hard to look at me?” he finally asks.

Tony's lips twitch into a small smile when Steve plays along and mentions that he would get jealous of him taking off his shirt without a problem. The gentleness that Steve is using with him isn't something he's entirely used to, but it's a pleasant surprise. It makes something inside him relax a little, to the point that by the time that Steve is kissing him, his shoulders relax a little all over again.

But then Steve asks that impossible question, and Tony breathes out a sort of sigh under his breath. It hurts to do it, because there's a twinge of pain immediately as he breathes out, but it comes out almost before he can stop himself from doing so.

"It looks...awful." Hideous, he means to say, but apparently even that word alone is hard to get out. "The bomb left a lot of recent scarring that I'm still trying to get used to, I guess. Including the reactor. Then you add everything else, and it..." He pauses for a moment before shrugging very slightly, and continuing a lot more quietly than how he had been speaking, "I thought it'd...scare you or something."

Or at least cause some sort of pity look that Tony cannot possibly deal with. Because, while he's not fond of his scars, he doesn't want pity for them, either.

Being gentle, of all things, is honestly a side of him that Steve’s never shown Tony. Being gentle isn’t a luxury that Captain America had been able to afford back home. But this is different. It’s Tony’s comfort he’s worried about tonight, and as Steve listens to Tony explain, all he can think about is one question over and over again: Why would it scare me?

It takes Steve a moment of silence before he realizes — it’s not that Tony thinks Steve would be afraid of him. No, Tony’s worried that his scars, the reactor, his past, all of that would scare Steve away. Suddenly, the lack of eye contact suddenly makes a lot more sense.

Steve pulls back, his movements soft as he slips his hand back around Tony’s cheek and gently guides him to make eye contact again.

“Can I show you something?”

Being a guy gives Tony an unfair advantage in this situation. Steve grew up at a time in which close friendships between men was something to be cherished, and while he’d never had his feelings extend past friendship in those situations, he’s still used to things like seeing other men with their shirts off and being comfortable with that. But if Tony had been a dame? Steve would’ve never asked her to take off her shirt. Never in a million years. He also wouldn’t be comfortable taking off his own shirt in front of her. Like he’s about to do.

Once Tony nods, Steve unzips the top of his GREEN jumpsuit, revealing the same cotton shirt he’d had on when he’d been shot five days ago, and his arms cross over his chest and his fingers tug the corners of his shirt up until Steve can lift the fabric over his head.

And yeah, by all ways of measuring it, Steve’s body looks picture perfect.

“When I was little, I got into a fight with a kid at school. He’d been throwin’ rocks at another boy on the playground. Said it was cause his family was Italian and so they didn’t belong in America. I didn’t think it was right so I stepped in. Got hit by a rock so sharp … right here … that my Ma had to take me to the hospital just to make sure I’d be alright.”

But when Steve says right here and points to spot on his side, there’s nothing there except perfect skin.

“After I got the serum, that scar disappeared. Gone like nothin’ ever happened.” Steve pauses, eyes glancing out into the distance for a second before he looks at Tony again. He hadn’t thought about that memory for years.

“Back in New York, when we were fighting the Chitauri, I got scraped and cut so many times I lost count. My uniform afterwards, you saw, it was fallin’ apart. I remember — before we’d figured out how to close the gate — I’d gotten bombed out of a building and my body was thrown a few stories down onto a car. A piece of metal cut left a gash down my left side … here. But that’s gone too. Like it never happened.”

There’s suddenly a moment when Steve realizes what he’s admitted: that the serum is working again. Tony’s probably put it together by now, but the serum isn’t the point of him saying these things, and he doesn’t want it to be, so after a brief hesitation, Steve just keeps going.

“Five days ago, I was shot in the stomach, trying to save the girl from INFRARED who had no business being dragged onto that stage for show and tell. But that scar … and the one from the shot I took to the back, they’re both gone too.

“I’m not complaining, because the serum gave me a chance that every kid wants growin’ up: the opportunity to make a difference for his country. But Tony, your scars — they don’t make you look awful. Seeing you with so many of ‘em? It doesn’t scare me. It just reminds me how much you’ve had to go through, and that despite everything people have thrown at you, you refuse to give in, or give up. It makes you look stronger than I ever will.”

Steve gives him a small, comforting grin.

“I gotta be honest. I probably look like the kinda guy who goes to the gym every morning, but isn’t ever willing to risk his life — or his perfect skin — to protect what really matters. But you … I see you and I …”

What could he say, except the truth?

“Tony, you blow me away.”

Edited (no business instead of business, whoops) 2017-02-17 14:23 (UTC)

It's hard to tell what Steve is going to do when he asks if he could show him something, but Tony just gives a slight nod anyway. It's the last he could do, after all, considering what he has been doing for him so far, and how he has been treating him. Then he starts unzipping his jumpsuit, and...Tony pauses, as if trying to figure out what the hell is going on. But, maybe he's going to show him the scars that he had gotten at the shooting? Yeah, he thinks, that's probably it.

All thoughts disappear, though, when he gets to see Steve shirtless. It's... Wow. Wow. Tony has always known that the serum had made Steve into, quite literally, the definition of perfection, and--

And Steve has no scars. Which, knowing what the serum did, it doesn't surprise him that he doesn't have any markings from the fights that took place back home. But, there should be at least one scar after the shooting. Steve had been shot only a few days ago. Tony's own scars from the bombing are proof that, even if they heal you quickly around here, it doesn't mean that the scars would go away completely, and...Steve's torso is perfect. Then he remembers how quickly he had gone back to work, when he and Cisco had taken days to completely be back to normal, and that's when everything fits together. Steve has the serum back. He has the serum back.

He doesn't interrupt to ask, though; instead, he just keeps listening to what he's saying. Until he says that his scars make him look stronger than Steve ever will, and Tony immediately shakes his head slightly. Because, really, that's not true at all. At least not to Tony. But Steve continues, and he says that somehow he blows him away, and Tony doesn't quite know how to react. How could it be possible that he blows him away?

Steve doesn't look like he's lying - if anything, he has that look on his face that tells him he's being painfully honest, and Tony is rendered speechless. For a moment, anyway. Without a word, he sets down the towel with the frozen tomatoes, and stands so he can break the distance between them. It's not far, anyway, so even if he feels the painful tug on his side, he doesn't show any discomfort. If anything, he just loops an arm around his waist to pull him in for a kiss. It doesn't last very long, but when he pulls back it's only so he can look up at him.

"For the record, that's not how I see you," he says quietly, this time not breaking eye contact. "I see you, and..."

I'm surprised you're with me. I don't know how this happened, I figured--

"...I'm very lucky, to have you."

One day, far far off in the future, when he has the clarity of hindsight, Steve will realize that luck had nothing to do with how they fell for each other. He’ll know that despite all their differences, it wasn’t chance but rather fate that had brought him and Tony together. A lot of things could have gone wrong, might still go wrong, but one day, he’ll be able to see what a rare thing it is to find another human being who doesn’t question sacrifice. A who person who also doesn’t think of himself, not because of an inherent selflessness, but because of a complete lack of self worth.

Right now however, all Steve can think about is how cold Tony’s arm feels against his bare waist, how the only thing between him and Tony right now is a thin cotton shirt, and how he doesn’t even remember when his lips got this close to Tony’s and he’s … he’s kissing Tony back. Ever since the serum, his body naturally runs hotter than a normal human being, but right now, Steve feels like he must pushing a fever. His face, his neck, everything feels hot, and his heart feels like it’s pounding against him. While it’s been a few days since Steve’s blushed in front of Tony, there’s no mistaking the deep scarlet spreading over his cheeks.

When Tony begins to speak again, Steve’s eyes open and he’s still flustered, but Steve stops breathing entirely when he hears ‘…I’m very lucky, to have you.’ His eyes search Tony’s like he’s waiting for him take it back, and it’s only when he doesn’t that Steve starts to breathe again, and a small, unbelieving smile curls along his lips.

“Tony I…” I never thought you’d ever really think that, after everything. “I feel lucky too. That you gave me another shot. That you’re still here.”

Isn’t it odd how, just a moment ago, he was completely at ease with his body, and now, with just the loop of an arm, Tony’s changed everything? Because as nervous as he might seem, it’s not because Steve can’t handle laying out their feelings, he’s just not prepared to go through that kind of emotional journey completely topless.

“Tony I should- put my shirt back on,” he says, eyes looking down into Tony’s like he’s asking for permission. In a way, he is, because Tony’s still holding him, and for a reason he can’t understand right now, Steve can’t bring himself to pull away. His hands, which had found their way to gently holding Tony’s biceps during the kiss, don’t so much as move an inch.

The warmth that Steve is more or less radiating is impossible to miss, especially when he himself runs cold by default. It makes him want to stay there, and just pull himself closer against Steve, but he already knows that he's pushing boundaries right now. Or, rather, it hadn't fully hit him that he's putting Steve in a possibly uncomfortable position by getting so close and wrapping his arm around him, until he saw the coloring on his face.

Still, since he's not pushing him away, Tony doesn't let go. Especially when he kisses him back, and Tony can only stare at him when he smiles. He won't say it, but there are days that he himself is surprised that he had given him another shot, that they're really here, but ever since they clarified their intentions with each other... There hasn't been a single moment that he has regretted this. Any of this. And, who knows. Maybe it's wrong, maybe he should question things more. After all, a lot of things had happened back home between them, but he would be lying if he were to say that his feelings for Steve had only begun here. He would also be lying if he were to say that this place hadn't accelerated things in a manner that he never would have expected, because the life-and-death situations just push it to the forefront of his mind that they cannot waste any chances. That they cannot waste any time.

Still, he's wiling to pull back if Steve doesn't feel comfortable about being this close. It's hard to remember sometimes that they had agreed to take things slow, because Tony wants nothing more than to take off his own shirt now as well and maybe find their way to Steve's room, but...

"Yeah, sure." He waits for Steve to let him go, because he himself doesn't want to move. Ultimately he moves his arm, but only to settle his hand against his hip, his fingers brushing gently across the small of his back in the process. He'll step back, his eyes almost say, when Steve lets go. Until then, Tony's just fighting the temptation to kiss him all over again.

Maybe that’s just it. Being stuck in this place has escalated things at a pace that would have never happened back home, because every day actually could be their last. Because hell, Tony’s already survived a bombing. Steve survived an assassination. Just thirty minutes ago, they were fighting two dozen men who wanted them dead.

But this time, what happened earlier in the Commissary felt manageable, because compared to the disasters that had come before, a small riot was something Steve and Tony would have been overqualified to handle back home. And yet, Tony was still injured. Even with the serum, Steve hadn’t been able to protect him.

Maybe only two or three seconds really pass in silence as they both stand there, holding each other, eyes locked, as a voice in Steve’s head reminds him of what he should be doing. He should step back. He should put his shirt on. He should make the dinner he’d planned and gotten ingredients for three night ago. He should settle Tony down with his ice pack, to make sure he doesn’t strain his broken rib any more than he already has. He should, he should, he should- But he doesn’t.

Maybe Tony saw it coming all along, Steve thinks as he leans in, his arms wrapping around Tony nearly instantly. This kiss … this kiss is hungry and filled to the brim with a purpose that Steve couldn’t have predicted.

It’s as if for the first time, he really understands that either of them could be gone tomorrow, and Steve doesn’t want to get there with the regret of having done not what they both wanted, but what they thought they ought to do.

Edited 2017-02-18 06:10 (UTC)

daycycle 124

[Jan 29 - Feb 4]

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