UPGRADES

02.10.2016: HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!

manufacturedpower:

🔧— “No, but the body attached to it can, thanks.”
He mumbles it quietly, a sick feeling in his… gut area.
What if Steve is right?  What if he isn’t real?  What 
sort of cruel joke is this to play on himself?

And Steve.

No.  No, he has to believe that he’s somewhere,
that his body is at the end of this flight, in Troy or
somewhere.  Please, God, let there be-

Steve’s eyes, so focused, his whole body seeming
tense, on edge, ready to leap, worry Tony far more.  
Is it because he thinks Tony isn’t real that he lets
himself be like this?  Has he felt this way before but
hidden it so well that even Tony, who likes to claim to
be his best friend, didn’t notice?  Either way, Tony can’t
stand the sight.  He hesitates only a second before
reaching down to put a hand on Steve’s shoulder.  
He needs to offer something, some sort of comfort.  Anything.

“And I’m not a hologram right now, I’m a suit of armor.”
Tony wishes he could smile crookedly, but only the cold
stare of the Iron Man faceplate is allowed.  “Come on, Cap,
keep up.”

_{★— It was largely the same deal – the better of two evils one could say. On one hand he was glad he was receiving contact of some sort, the other knew it was a} CRUEL _{joke - and it wasn’t REAL. It was an illusion that was playing with his psyche, that was already far gone and damaged.} 

            _{Either way, eyes set forward and he continued to pilot – dare he face the face plate that stared back at him – so empty and devoid of emotion.} 

manufacturedpower:

“You come before important lab duties.” He
says it without even thinking, with a bright smile 
on his face.  His cheeks turn red but he attributes
it to the cold.  He glances away slightly, smoothing
out his wrinkle-free coat.  “Lab stuff can usually wait.
Unless it’s of the dealing-with-world-ending-event
variety.  Then, I’m sorry, Steve, but you do come second.”

Stop talking, Stark.

“Wow, hey, it’s nice out, isn’t it?” He quickly adds.
“Love that winter New York air.  Yep.”

_{★— Now that was a COMPLIMENT – one he wasn’t expecting. An it was spoken so NATURALLY, Steve couldn’t help but smile to it, quickly carding his fingertips through his wind-swept hair.} 

        _{Already, the cold brisk air had managed to get to his skin.} 

        ❛  _{I’m holdin’ on to that compliment – and yeah, y’know I usually hate the cold, but there’s something} DIFFERENT _{about this.} ❜

_{★— He can’t help but linger on the thought of it, of his
best friend. Little did Tony know that Arnie was his FIRST
best friend, someone who had been through the think and
thin with him and truly someone who had taught him that
LOVE knew no boundaries; to not be afraid, to embrace
that person and never let them go. He doesn’t really think
that he would be sitting like this, curled up in a bed side
by side with Tony, casually, without Arnie’s input in his
life. His mind lingers on it, about how they REPLACED
him. He had to just move on, and think that this was another
screw up, as sad as it was that his best friend had been
erased from the movies.} 

                    _{He deserved more.} 

_{He relaxes when he feels Tony’s fingers intertwine with his,
his thumb grazing over Tony’s knuckles and the reassuring
weight is placed on his shoulder.} 

_{Steve looks over at Tony for a second when they mention Stark
Industries in the movie, and an attractive young man appears on
the screen. He snorts and shrugs a little.} 

_{“Fella they cast ain’t half bad lookin’, he’s got a little more charm
than your old man though.” He teased, but realising that it was a
pretty distasteful joke he raises his hand to brush through Tony’s
hair. “Y’know what? This movies awful– and it’s gettin’ worse.
You wanna put yours on?”}

_{★— Steve looked at his watch, then before he
knew it Tony was stood in front of him dressed
to impress, quite clearly. He had a fancy black
pea-coat on, and his hair was neatly styled, beard
trimmed and looking far sharper than he did an hour ago.} 

_{Not too shabby.} 

_{“And here I thought your important things in the lab
may have taken longer than I thought..” He gave him
one last inspection before smiling softly and opening
the door, leading the way out.} 

_{The cold hit him the second he walked out, tucking his
nose and mouth under the high fluffy collar of his jacket.} 

_{★— The suit obviously reacts as any symbiote
would to a host; the urge to gravitate toward it, a
couple of loose tendrils seemed to pull toward the
crack of glass while Steve was yanked away from it.} 

_{He looked over his shoulder at it, then snapped his
attention back to Tony.} 

_{“That should be back where it BELONGS, back in
space, somewhere!  Wherever you found the symbiote!”} 

_{Obviously that whole talk about Tony’s weapons had
fallen on deaf ears.} 

manufacturedpower:

🔧— ‘  I’m sorry, my ears must be playing tricks, because I thought you just said that we should go deeper.  ‘ 

        Tony deadpans the words, looking at Steve incredulously.  Go further into the creepy cave?  Tony feels like he’s stuck in a bad horror movie and Steve is the guy totally convinced they should go after the thing they just saw head into the basement.

       Still… Tony looks toward the entrance of the cave.  Water splashes in with a gust of wind and Tony shivers as the cold air touches his face.  He can keep himself warm, for sure, for a long, long time, certainly long enough to wait for rescue, but Steve… Steve runs a little hotter than most and will certainly last a while, but eventually the cold will get to him, Tony’s sure.  He looks back into the endless dark.

      ‘  But, sure, fine.  You’re the Captain, here, Nolan.  We’ll go deeper.  ‘

     Tony takes a deep breath, shuffling a little closer to Steve.  He claps a hand on his shoulder.

      ‘  I’ve got the flashlight, so I guess I go ahead.  If something grabs me from the dark, I want you to know that it’s been an honor and a privilege and to run like hell.  ‘

_{★— The reference went RIGHT over Tony’s head. He just had one thing in mind; warmth. And the way to obtain that was to veer as far away from the mouth of the cave as possible. He could feel the way that Tony held onto him, which only indicated that he had somewhat of a backing, as hesitant as Tony’s tone was.} 

             ❛   _{The further away from the rain we get, the better.}  ❜

            _{He held himself high, chin up, chest out. With no hesitation he began to lead the way, distancing himself from the drops of rain that spat into the cave. It was as though there was another draft picking up though, this time from INSIDE the cave – which raised his curiosity.} 

            _{He’d always read books about being an adventurer, so it was embedded in his nature - and was something he had carried through even to this day. Perhaps it was seen as reckless, but it was letting his heart guide the way as cheesy as that may have come across as.} 

            _{Another few steps closer and his arm almost flung back as a bat squeaked and flew its way past him – he should have anticipated that, but where there was one there was usually many. For a second he needed to take a while, needing to steady his heart that had almost jumped out of his throat after the tiny scare. But he couldn’t let it show.} 

            ❛   _{Keep an eye out, careful… It’s gettin’ narrow around these spots.}   ❜

manufacturedpower:

🔧— Tony glances back outside and shivers simply from the sight of the pouring rain and flash of lightning.  The armor is keeping him relatively warm, but where he’s folded back the face plate he can feel the chill seeping in.  The glow of the reactor provides soft, if eerie, illumination to the cave.

       ‘ Yeah, and not get killed by whatever calls this place home, hopefully, ‘ he says dryly, ‘ or the creepy hermit that lives off of hallucinogenic berries that shows up in the night.  When that happens, don’t say I didn’t warn you. ‘ 

       Tony raises a hand, using a repulsor as a makeshift flashlight to shine deeper into the cave.  The cave extends back so far that the light dissipates into complete darkness in the distance.  Tony holds back a shudder and maybe steps closer to Steve unconsciously.  

       ‘ Maybe we ought to block that up… ‘

_{★— Eyes follow the stream of light that illuminates the darkened cave, bathing it in a cyan hue. The CRASH of thunder above forming ripples in the small puddles in the cave. It was clear they needed to get as far away from that exit as possible, to seek shelter before the conditions found themselves inside too.} 

                _{Steve shook his head at the silly remark about hermits, but come to think of it, it wouldn’t be TOO far-fetched. It just forces him to raise his guard cautiously, making his way further inward.} 

                ❛   _{Come on, maybe we can find some dry spots in there, it’ll keep us warmer. Maybe there’s some torches inside, who knows who was in here before us. Instead of blocking it up lets go deeper.}  ❜

^{★— He’s trying to think of something to DO in his position. His restlessness drives his anxiety to become more apparent; when he’s stationary all he can do is THINK about what to do – then all he can do is THINK. It’s a vicious circle that he can’t push himself out of.} 

                   ^{After a while he turns his head to a side to see Tony attempting to drag him down, putting weight on his stress-tensed-shoulder to put them on the same level. Again he wants to protest but he realises then that Tony’s concerned about him, that he’s being very OBVIOUS about his mental ailments. Which was really the opposite of what he wanted. He couldn’t make it obvious and arouse suspicion, nor could he allow someone who was here seeking help to be the help-provider.} 

                  ^{With reluctance he slid down until his head met the pillow. The worry washed over his face, and his eyes closed but he knew he couldn’t allow that to linger. With a deep breath he focused on the foreign warmth that was by his side – the feeling of someone else in his bed felt STRANGE.} 

                  ^{The concern was nice, he had to admit. But this was about Tony – not him. Even as he was covered by the sheets his hands moved to make sure Tony had more of the sheets, wordlessly.} 

_{★— For a fleeting moment he bows his head, he doesn’t WANT to show how painful it is to try to sleep, he doesn’t want to show FEAR or the slightest hint of anything that could possibly raise suspicions ( although it’s probably too late). Living a life, largely alone, meant that he had to be strong not only for others — but for himself, too. It wasn’t just about having to be strong for Tony – even though, it mostly was.} 

               ❛   _{Don’t mention it.} ❜

              _{He replies as casually as he can as his wrist slips away from the hold, his heart beating a hundred miles an hour as he sits back on the bed, moving as far back until his back rests against the headboard. Hardly a SLEEPING position, his hand reaches into his pocket and he rests his phone on the table next to him – staring at it as if willing it to ring with some important call.} 

              _{Then he shakes his head, reaching for the blankets which he practically drops over Tony – thick sheets made to endure the harsh winters of Brooklyn, apparently. He not only does that, but moves around ( distracting himself ) by tucking the sheets over and under him – maybe a little T O O much but he knows the place lacks heat, and can get cold at night. If there’s one thing Steve hates – its the COLD.} 

              _{He acts nonchalant about it all, once he’s done inspecting his work he turns his head back to his bedside table, clearly looking for something else to fidget with.}